Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7

Text: Luke 2:1-20

Weekly Bible Study: Bible Study Blog

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I’m going to begin tonight quoting a theologian. It’s not a name that you would normally associate with great thinkers about God. He’s just a regular guy like you and me. But in a way we are all theologians. We all think about God at special times in our lives. Christmas is one of those times; we come to church and think about the birth of Jesus. We are all theologians.

 

It might surprise you to know that I am aware of the person whom I’m about to quote.  In fact, I’ll admit to some embarrassment that I listened to him. My only excuse is that of being the father of a teenage boy who introduced me to this wise man in a deeply theological movie titled “Talladega Nights.”[1]  Now before you shut me down completely, I agree completely with the reviews that Talladega Nights is crude and has few redemptive moments. But there is one scene when the theologian of the evening, Ricky Bobby begins by saying a prayer. It’s an interesting prayer and it goes this way: 

 

 

I know this is not what you expected on Christmas Eve. But there is more. Hang in there with me.

 

Ricky Bobby’s wife, who is only slightly smarter than Ricky Bobby, says to him:

“You know, I don’t think you are supposed to pray to the little “Baby” Jesus, because He grew up and became a man, and I think you’re supposed to pray to “Grownup” Jesus.”

 

Ricky Bobby says, “I don’t want to pray to that Jesus. I like the Christmas Jesus best. I like praying to the little “Baby” Jesus, because it makes me feel good just to think about Him being a little, tiny infant. So when you’re praying, you can pray to the “Grownup” Jesus, or the “Teenage” Jesus, or the “Bearded” Jesus, or whomever you want to, but I like “Christmas” Jesus. I like a cuddly little baby Jesus. I’m going to pray to Him.” And he does, starting his prayer over saying,  “Dear tiny Jesus, with your golden fleece diapers and your balled up fist, …eight pound, six ounce, new born infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet but still omnipotent, so cuddly…”

 

What struck me when I saw this movie and the clip on YouTube to prepare for tonight’s sermon is we are a lot like Ricky Bobby. On Christmas Eve, we like the Christmas Jesus best. There are several reasons beyond the obvious reason that it is the birthday of Jesus. The pictures we’ve been seeing all month long are baby Jesus pictures. This is one of the reasons; baby Jesus is on our mind. Another reason is babies are easy to love. I don’t know anyone who hates babies----even people who don’t want babies. There is something about a new born baby cradled in your arms that is wonderful, peaceful. We like holding the baby Jesus in our arms on Christmas Eve.

 

An additional reason is this. When we hold someone else’s newborn baby, then we can hand them back. There are no demands made on us. This tiny baby Jesus, in the golden fleece diapers, won’t make you get up in the middle of the night to comfort him. You don’t have to feed him every four hours. There are no diapers to change. Like a neighbor, you can stop by, offer a gift, look into the crib and congratulate the parents. The cuddly little baby Jesus makes us feel good.

 

This is an important part of Christmas Eve and I don’t want to take it away from you. I hope that somehow you’ll embrace the warmth of a newborn baby tonight and for at least a moment experience peace. I held a newborn in my arms this week in the hospital and it was wonderful, peaceful, calming.  If this happens to you tonight, then we accomplished something in the worship service. I hope you can hold the new born Savior in your arms and experience warmth and peace. But I also hope for much more.

 

Every Christmas Eve, when I think about accomplishing more than just a warm, peaceful experience, I am mindful that there are a couple of missing chapters in the Bible which never get talked about. What happens after the shepherds and the wise men visit the baby Jesus? Luke tells us that “the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen…” (Lk. 2:20) Where did they return to? From the information we have in the gospel of Luke, we can only assume they “returned to watching their flocks by night” because “they were living in the fields.” 

 

Did it make any difference to the shepherds? Did it change their lives, seeing the Savior of the world lying in a manger? If it did, if it made a difference in the lives, that chapter of the Bible is missing. We don’t have any information to indicate that the first visitors did anything but go back to tending sheep and feeling good about God. 

 

It is pretty much the same thing with the Wise Men. The gospel of Matthew tells us that they bowed down and worshiped him. “Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matt. 2:11) What happens then? “….they left for their own country by another road.” (Matt. 2:12) It doesn’t say they became followers of the child that they bowed down to. It doesn’t say they spent the rest of their life trying to find him, like Henry Van Dyke’s short story, “The Fourth Wiseman.”[2] They just went home by another road.

 

The shepherds went back to their home in the field. The wise men go home by another road. I don’t think this is what God had in mind when he imagined our “Christmas homecoming.”  Either there are missing chapters to their story or Jesus simply remained the cute little cuddly baby they saw. Either their story is lost or the first Christmas for those who witnessed his birth was nothing more than a feel good experience. For some, this is what Christmas is all about—feeling good.

 

A few years ago, I received a letter from a dissatisfied customer after Christmas Eve services.  I know it sounds harsh to describe her this way but she admitted that she only attended worship on Christmas Eve and that she was very unhappy with our “product” that we were now offering. Product was her word, not mine, so I think I’m in my right to call her a customer rather than a congregant. She shared with me that I’d ruined her Christmas Eve service. Again, she admitted that the only time she attended our church was on Christmas Eve. But it was her service, one which she had attended on a number of occasions and she felt it was in her purview to express her displeasure. She offered several complaints including the temperature of the sanctuary and the size of the crowd. But her biggest complaint she offered as the reason she wouldn’t worship with us again.  She said: “I won’t be with you next Christmas Eve. I don’t like to think on Christmas Eve. It is a time to feel good about baby Jesus and then go home to be with family. Everybody knows what happens to Jesus when he grows up so why do we have to talk about it on Christmas Eve. Don’t expect me next year.”

 

The irony is I haven’t a clue who she is. I received this note five years ago well before the movie “Talladega Nights.” Nevertheless, she is a Ricky Bobby Christian.  She likes the Christmas Jesus best. The problem with being a Ricky Bobby Christian is you’ll never make your home in Christmas.

 

This is what we are called to do tonight, to make our spiritual home in Christmas.  At Christmas, God makes his home in the world. God comes to live with us. When we look into the manger, we see the incarnate presence of God. We see Emmanuel, God with us.  John saw this in his vision from the island of Patmos, “See, the home God is among mortals, He will dwell with them and they will be his people.” (Rev. 21:3) Christmas is when God makes His home in us and we are to make our home in him.” To accomplish this, we need more than a vulnerable, cuddly little baby.

 

Look again at the baby in the manger. Look carefully; see beyond the cute Christmas Jesus. See the Teenage Jesus who confounds the Temple Elders that even at a young age, he is a Wise Teacher.  Look carefully again and you’ll see the grown-up Jesus who is led by the Spirit and promises us that the Spirit will live with us. There in the stable is the great Healer with the capacity to mend whatever brokenness you have tonight and the Social Prophet who challenges us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

 

In the manger, hidden from the first visitors’ sight but clear to us is the Lamb of God who sacrificed dignity and life for our salvation and the Resurrected Lord who destroys death’s hold on us. Isaiah said his names would be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace Add to this the titles Teacher, Healer, Prophet, Lamb, and Savior. It is a wonder that Jesus is able to fit into the stable, there is such a crowd.  Do you recognize who this baby is?

 

There is a new biography of Walt Disney, the wonderful gifted creator of Mickey Mouse and Disneyland. When his daughter was a little girl, she didn’t know that there was anything special about her dad. He was just daddy. Everybody else had a daddy and Walt Disney was no more special to her than other dads were to their sons and daughters in southern California. One day, when she was six or seven years old years old, somebody at school told her who her father was. She came home that day and looked him in the eye s and said, “Why didn’t you tell me? You’re Walt Disney!” She found out that the man she thought was just daddy wasn’t just a man. He was much more and she said, from that day forward, it truly changed her home. It made a difference. [3]

My hope for you tonight is very simple. I hope that you will find your home in Christmas. I hope that when you leave here, you will say “this is where I belong. This is where I’m grounded.” I hope that Jesus is, for you, something more than just a cute little eight pound six ounce newborn Jesus. For Jesus to transform your life, to guide you when you are lost, to heal you when you are broken, to lift you when you are down, make a difference when you are lost, to give meaning to you when life is easy, to motivate you when you are selfish, and  to give you peace when you are troubled, to do any and all of these things, you have to see beyond the cute, cuddly Christmas Jesus and embrace a Savior.  

 

You may wonder why I kept that letter of criticism. I keep two folders of mail. The first folder is a folder of criticism. It is good to have such a folder. Sometimes when you are busy doing God’s work and things are going well, a minister can think too highly off himself. We can start thinking “I’m doing this” instead of remembering that God is working through you. When you begin patting yourself on the back too often, it is good to take out a folder with notes of criticism which humble you, painful as that might be.

The second folder is of positive notes. I encourage young ministers to do the same thing. I call it “the stay in the ministry file.” On days when you feel like you aren’t making any difference, that you are spinning your wheels, that everybody you encounter wants a Ricky Bobby relationship with Jesus, you can take it out and re-read these notes of encouragement.

 

There was a note that arrived on my desk on the very same Christmas Eve when I was criticized for making my customer think. It was very short and to the point. It simply said, “Pastor, you don’t have to worry about me anymore. Tonight, I finally got it.” Having watched him the past five years, I think he did. He got it. On Christmas Eve, he was changed.

 

Tonight could be your night. I know that may surprise you but tonight could be the night that finally makes a difference in your life.  It happens every year. Someone gets surprised; someone finally sees beyond the Christmas Jesus and goes deeper.

 

I don’t really know what brought you to this service tonight. It may have been tradition. It may have been to keep peace in the family. It may be tradition, or loneliness or the music or habit. Whatever it was, Christmas is that time when once again, someone’s life is going to be changed, someone might finally get it and it might just be you. On the chance that it is you, pray with me.

 

Dear tiny Baby Jesus, with Your tiny little hands and feet, we know those tiny little hands and feet will eventually have the marks of nails. We know that your mother will wrap you again and lay you, not in a manger but in a tomb. We confess tonight that we need you to be more than a baby. We need you to be a Savior, born once again in our hearts.  So come into our hearts again tonight. Be born in us anew. Make your home in us and, we promise, we will make a home in you.   Amen.

 

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