Intro
When you live in a time and a world where
chaos seems to be the only expected, you begin to long for the ability to
follow a leader who will bring peace and tranquility. This was the experience for those whom we read
about in our passage from Isaiah. Their
world was being flipped upside-down with a ferocity that could not be
handled. They were looking for something
or someone who would be able to slow down the riptide that they were being
thrown about by.
What they get is the prophet Isaiah who
speaks of a child who will ultimately rule with authority, and whose power will
foster endless peace. As Christians we
recognize the fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of the Christ child. The question is, will we be open to the leadership
that the Prince of Peace is offering?
The scripture reads this way.
Isaiah 9:2-7
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those
who lived in a
land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they
rejoice before
you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing
plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their
oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments
rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority
rests upon his
shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless
peace for the
throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from
this time onward and forevermore. The
zeal of the Lord of hosts will do
this.
Intro
When we think of a divine leader, our minds
are immediately drawn to the opulent, the amazing, the lavish and lush. While our culture has absolutely fostered
this sort of mentality, this sort of thinking has always been there. People envisioned princes being born from
kings and queens, and if not then they lead an army that is able to empower
their rule.
However, as we know, through these very
familiar words, that is not what we have in the retelling of the nativity. What we have here is a young, unmarried
couple giving birth to a child under the cover of an animal shed. Continuing the breaking of stereotypes, this
ruler, this prince of peace, was never destined to lead a mighty army who would
cause all people who came into his path to yield and bow down. That is not the ruler that the Creator of all
has sent into the world. The leader who
has been sent to us, this Jesus whom we are able to meet once again this
Christmas Eve, was meant to rule in our hearts.
Are you willing to open your heart?
Are you willing to open your heart and show through your words and
actions, your very being, that Jesus is your Lord? The scripture reads this way.
Luke
2:1-20
2 In those
days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be
registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while
Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be
registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee
to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from
the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary,
to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they
were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she
gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him
in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping
watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood
before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for
see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the
Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped
in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom
he favors!”
15 When the
angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the
Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found
Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw
this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and
all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But
Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen, as it had been told them.
“Lord of our Heart”
Christmas is a time when traditions take
precedence. You get to this time of
year, and no matter the circumstance, there are just certain things that you
do. The tree is trimmed in a particular
way. The gifts are positioned just
so. The tables are set and the food is
prepared just the way that it is supposed to be.
I saw a commercial on one of those ‘best of’
Christmas commercials countdowns (when you’re writing 4 sermons in a week, the
mindless distractions are needed!) that shows a mom and her young daughter
standing in the kitchen working on the Christmas turkey. The bird is looking absolutely wonderful but
one of the legs is missing. The little
daughter looks at her mom and asks, “why do we cut the leg off?” The answer that is given is, “that’s the way
my mother, your grandmother, always did it.”
The scene then kicks to a flashback where we see the grandmother trying
to stick a very large turkey into a rather small oven. The only way that the bird was able to fit in
was by, you guessed it, the removal of one of the legs.
We all have traditions, and attendance at
worship on Christmas Eve is no different.
Certain families come to particular services and in some cases want to
sit in specific pews, so those families get here early and get to listen to the
choir practice and watch as the minister runs all over the place trying to make
sure that everything is just so (after all, we minister’s have our Christmas
traditions as well!). Traditions can be
an absolutely wonderful thing.
It is with this in mind that I ask you the
following question: why are you here tonight?
There are lots of answers to that question: the candlelight, the music,
the feeling of peace that you get when gathered in a sanctuary, safe from the
elements. In the same breath I also know
that many of you may answer the question of why you are here with this answer:
“because this is what we’ve always done”.
And you know what? That’s okay. Like I said traditions can be a good thing,
especially when we begin to remember what those traditions are founded upon.
The reason that we gather here on this eve of
Christmas is to remember and celebrate presence of God coming into the world in
a totally new way. We remember and
celebrate that the one coming into the world is known as ‘Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ We remember and celebrate the birth of one
who came into the world to be the Lord of our hearts. That is why we gather. Jesus was born, lived, died, and was raised
so that we might be shown the way, shown the way back to God, and that begins
when we allow Jesus into our lives as the Lord of our heart.
The world is full of things that pull at us
in this and that direction. There are
many days when we feel like the Israelites to whom Isaiah was speaking to where
the only expectation is some variation of crisis and chaos is going to
reign. We look out at the world and see
the turmoil of war; we are experiencing a financial crunch that is still causing
world and economic leaders to run for cover; we hear story after story of how
difficult it is to live in the world today, always having to fear
something. These things pull us in
directions that cause us to fray down to the very core.
So the question then becomes, whom will we
lean upon? Will we lean upon the things
and leaders of the world, the very people who helped to bring us to where we
are?
Or will we do something different? Will we instead trust that the one whom we
celebrate in this season of tradition is the One who is the “Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”? Isn’t that what we long for? Peace?
Jesus was born into the world to grant us peace, one person at a
time. It started low those many years
ago with shepherds out in a field and now the Lord of our hearts is longing to
enter into each of our lives. How will
you respond?
This past Wednesday night, Three Bridges
hosted a ‘new to us’ worship service called “Blue Christmas”. The service was put together to speak to those
people who are dealing with some of those personal difficulties that cause us
to be rubbed down to our core. It was a
small group but even in that intimate gathering, the difficulties were varied.
The thing that I was so grateful for was that
each person came through the door with the desire, at some level, to be able to
turn those burdens over to God. It can
be so easy to lean upon the ways of the world (which many times means that we
act as if we are able to deal with all the stuff that we are carrying on our
own). But that isn’t the way that we are
made and it certainly isn’t the example that is put forward in the midst of
scripture.
What we hear there, is that we are to trust
in God with all things, regardless of how heavily the world may be leaning upon
us, pushing us to place our trust in something else (maybe even our
traditions). When that happens, then God
is no longer in the center of lives, in the midst of our hearts.
This Christmas, as you take part in all of
the familiar happenings, all of the wonderful traditions, remember that the
Lord of all is longing to enter into your heart. Open your heart to the Lord of all and allow
him to lead you through all your days.
The Prince of Peace is born and is longing for you to welcome him into
your heart, into your life! You will
never regret it. You will always be
thankful for it.
After Sermon Prayer
Holy and gracious God, we pray that we might
remember why we gather together tonight.
We pray this so that each of us, in our own ways, are able to open our
hearts and allow the peace that can only come from Your son begin to
reign. Lord, let it be so, so that
together we might live in the world in such a way that we know to whom we
belong, both for now and forevermore.
Jesus was born to be our Lord.
Help us to accept him into our lives.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.