“I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!” – Luke 2:10-12
Verse 12 might be one of most ridiculous statements ever written.
The Lord of the Universe that you have been waiting for is here. Finally. Oh, and this is how you will recognize him: the Lord of all of history will be a baby lying in a manger. The Savior, Messiah will be wrapped not in royal robes but in strips of cloth.
I know we have heard this Bible passage a lot. It is a cute story with shepherds and sheep and some singing angels, but we also know that this isn’t just cliché- this is the story of History. This is our story, and the reality of this passage doesn’t just mean something on December 25th or the weeks leading up to Christmas. The truth of this passage changes everything. It changes how we see God. (you want to talk about love?) It changes how we see his purposes and plans (He stepped down, He cares, He is on the move). It changes how we view OUR mission in the world.
Yesterday, we sang a song at church called, “How many kings?” The song speaks of this unlikely hero, this savior who is so small and frail. The song seems to be asking this question: Is He is the One? He is not what we expected. Is He the One who can put us back together again? Is he the Son of God? By way of comparison, the song asks, “how many kings have step down from their thrones and how many lords have abandoned their homes. How many greats have become the least for me?”
The answer is a resounding NONE. None of them laid down their scepter, took of their royal robes for me. None of them left their palaces or gave up their rights to the throne.
Except for One. This One who the shepherds would find lying in a manger.
Paul captures the utter ridiculousness of it all saying to the church of Phillipi that Jesus, “Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8
Jesus left the heights of heaven and came down to the depths of earth. He humbled himself and walked where we walk. Lived where we live. He ate with people. Hung out with them. Weeped with them. Laughed with them. Touched them. Healed them. Spoke truth to them.
It would be one thing if Jesus did all that with the pretty, respectable, “have it all together” people.
But Jesus, well, he goes to the broken. The hurting. The lepers. The outsiders. The weak. The marginalized. The lost. The prostitutes. The sinners. The forgotten.
Those verses that Paul writes to the Philippians are amazing. Kind of takes your breath away. There’s just one thing. That whole passage starts with something I like to call verse 5. Verse 5 that says “Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.”
So let’s put it altogether now: Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.
You see that little verse in Luke 2 about the Messiah coming as a baby. Weak. Dependent. Lying in a manger. Humbled. Poor. It speaks not just to the Christmas story, but to how I live tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that.
Because I worship and serve and follow a God who says I will get my hands dirty. I will come to you. I will let go of my rights and privileges. I will be where you are.
You could look at the world around you and say too dirty. Too messy. Too broken. Too hard. Too costly. To go. But you could also look to Jesus and say I want to be where you are.
How many kings step down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many 9th graders would love those unlike her? How many college student would go to the inner city and be with the people there? How many respectable citizens would rub shoulders with the people in homeless situations?
Some things to ponder: what does it mean for us to incarnate the gospel? How do we do that? The gospel is one of weakness and foolishness- what does that mean for how we proclaim it- in words and in the way we live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaVc-Qqw6oA
- Katie Dayton
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