A Sign for You (Christmas Eve)

Sermon prepared by Gregory Kaurin
for Messiah Lutheran Church, Auburn WA
Christmas Eve, 2010

A Sign for You

Do you know the comedian? His trademark joke is that some people should have to wear signs, especially people whose bulbs don’t burn very bright.

Bill Engvall. Like the day my brother and I came off the lake with a long stringer of fish and someone asked us, “Wow, you boys catch all them fish?” My brother answered, “Nope. We talked ‘em in to giving themselves up. Here’s your sign.”

Bill’s humor may be a bit mean or sarcastic, but signs in life and signs in the Bible are meant to do the same thing. Right or wrong, signs label; they warn or guide or give directions; they convey meaning. The angel could’ve said, “Go and look around in Bethlehem and you’ll find a newborn babe swaddled in a manger.” Instead, the angel clearly says to the shepherds that, “This will be a sign for you: you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloth and laying in a manger.” It will be a sign for them.

Thirty years later, when Jesus was ministering the Bible says that he performed signs and miracles and that people came looking for those signs to prove that he was the Messiah.

John 2:11 – [After he turned water into wine,] Jesus did this, the first of his signs…

Matthew 12:38 - Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to [Jesus], "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." Prove yourself to us.

The Old Testament, in a few places, it says that when this or that happens, it will be a sign. Something specific happens here on earth as a sign of the bigger picture of what God intends. One of the famous passages we Christians associate with Jesus is from…

Isaiah 7:14. 700 hundred-plus years before Jesus, the prophet Isaiah was trying to convince King Ahaz that God was on his side, but King Ahaz was too afraid to even ask for a little sign. So, Isaiah said, “Is it too little to weary mortals that you wear God out, too? Therefore, God himself will give you a sign.” There was a young girl, the Greek version says she was a virgin, who was pregnant, and would give birth to a son named Immanuel, which meant God is with us, on our side. Isaiah said that by the time that child was born and could tell right from wrong King Ahaz and all of Israel would be victorious over their enemies.

So, long before Jesus, there was a child named Immanuel. God with us. He was a sign when Isaiah prophesied in about 720 BC… but it becomes a greater sign in the New Testament, Matthew’s gospel: Look, the virgin [a new young woman] shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel (which means, God is with us).

Of those signs or labels that the angels attach to Jesus are “Messiah,” or “Christ” in the Greek, which meanst anointed, as in the promised anointed King of Israel. But the Greek title “Savior” in Luke’s day was also startling; it was a politically charged word, especially when Jesus was born.

We talk about Jesus as our Savior all the time, but that title “Savior” for Jesus is only used a few times in the Bible, by Luke, once in John’s gospel, and once in Paul’s writing, because it was a Roman word and it made people think about the Caesar Augustus during the pax romana, the Peace of Rome. After a number of victories, when his reign was firmly established, about the time Jesus was a young boy growing up, Caesar Augustus was repeatedly called the “Savior of all people,” or the “Savior of the world.” It was chiseled in stone for everyone to read, …still is.

So, when the angels say it and when Luke recorded it about Jesus, they meant it in comparison and in stark contrast to Caesar who supposedly brought peace and salvation through his wars and political victories.

There, in the middle of this, the angels declare that Jesus would be the true Savior of all, the true peace, not chiseled in a stone, not by Senate decree, but to shepherds. Was it going to be through war or conquest? Would he prove himself savior through political victories or alliances? Would he become the next high priest of the Temple or a zealous rebel against the Roman government? No.

The gospels talk about the angels, and how the glory of the Lord shone about them, but against everything you’ve ever sung or seen in movies or postcards, the Bible says nothing about some blue glow from the manger or the Child. What made that scene special, important, what made it radiant was the simple beauty of a plain common girl holding her newborn baby boy. The radiance of the child was not some visible miracle, but its simplicity and truth.

It was no more or less miraculous than when I looked through a window and saw my wife, Pauline, holding each of our boys in the florescent lights at a hospital. There were babies and nurses and noises all around, but I remember nothing else than that simple scene, and my place in it.

So, when the angels say that this will be a sign for you, shepherds: “You go, find a child swaddled in a manger,” they mean that how you find him, where you find him, and the fact that we’re sending you, common shepherds, to the little town of Bethlehem to hail this birth, these are all signs about how God is choosing to save the world.

Not by conquest or decree, not even by a church Reformation, but through a simple, common birth, a girl and her child in an antechamber off from the rest of the house, with a borrowed feeding trough for his crib. His birth was probably not all that different than the shepherds’ own births. But God was choosing to save by relationship, by being one with his people, coming to people like shepherds, or to a young girl and her dazed husband. To people.

By joining himself to each person in Baptism. By calling each one of us his adoptive brothers and sisters.

Today, Christmas Eve, be honest, many of us are here, not because we are planning to grow deeper in faith, or because we are looking for a life change tonight. Most of us are here because Christmas is wrapped in traditions. This is how we do Christmas; there just have to be the right carols, the candlelight, the singing of “Silent Night.” It’s just not Christmas, otherwise. We even have traditional complaints every year about how the secular world is taking over or changing Christmas, or the greed of Christmas; I can prove to you that the same complaints and sermons against these have actually been preached for over a hundred years. How many movies are all about rescuing Santa or finding the true Spirit of Christmas and making it happen again.

It almost becomes a contest. People try to make Christmas “real” by overdoing all the trimmings and trappings, or by completely eliminating them. Who in your neighborhood puts out the most lights on their house and lawn? Boy, they must really have the Christmas spirit!

Or you talk to another couple who say, “Oh we don’t exchange any gifts with anyone; in fact, our whole family spends all of Christmas serving in a soup kitchen.” Wow, who can beat that? They must really understand the Christmas spirit…more than me.

But you know what? This isn’t a contest. You can’t win or save or discover the true Christmas Spirit. And the Christ child isn’t just a warm ritual snuggie blanket that you can pull on with hot cocoa and a yule log. The true Christmas Spirit finds you. He is God, wanting to lead each of us to lives that matter more and mean more.

I can only ask you for a moment to derail yourself from all the Christmas traditions, competitions or expectations for a few moments and consider that tonight, the sign of Jesus coming so plainly and simply points to the fact that he came not just to religious people or as some kind of Christmas myth, but for you, to be a part of your life, and to change your life.

God our Father so loved the world that he came to the world, and became your brother. This is a sign for you. The rest of the year, the rest of Christianity, is learning what that means: for you.

Repentance & Kingdom Interruptions

Sermon prepared for Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma WA; Chapel Service
Monday, December 6, 2010

Text: Mark 1:1-4

Repentance and Kingdom Interruptions

Mark used the prophet Isaiah’s words, and pointed them almost 600 years later to John the Baptizer: A voice cries out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, straighten his paths!’ Or, as we’ll hear in a few minutes from the brass, ‘Prepare the royal highway, a level road appear!’ Mark passed on all the nativity, and took us right to the wild and wooly John, coming out of the wilderness. He came preaching a baptism of repentance.

Repent. We sometimes think of repentance as this thing we do where we come to worship and we pause for about 5.3 seconds, then admit that we’ve sinned thought word and deed. Then having briefly admitted our sinfulness, we’re told that we’re entirely forgiven. Or, for a more intense experience, you could go to someone and admit specifically what you’ve done, what’s burdening you, for what you need forgiveness.

But no. repent means—not just to re-tell your sins—but to turn aside for a moment, from the path you are on and re-think your life in light of a new situation and message. Or, in our case, in light of your relationship with Jesus, re-consider what you’ve been doing. Is it life-giving, or life-draining, for you or for others? In light of Jesus, who does, in fact, forgive you all your sins, and who also calls you to walk a new path with him, how does your life reflect?

Make way for the Lord, a pathway, in your life.

Paul wrote to the Romans, 13:12, to get ready for the advent of Christ, "The night is far gone; day is near: ...put on the armor of light." Your Kingdom come, we pray, and our Advent prayer is to let it come in and through us. Let people feel God's love and passion adventuring through us. We are called to be examples of new paths, a new way of living.

A couple of weeks ago I was reminded of this. I went to work, to my church in Auburn. I was tired, grumpy, but knew I had a lot to get done in the office. A private school meets in our building, and as I approached the doors to our church, I could hear children. Now, normally I like kids. We have two little boys of our own… which is why I sometimes don’t like little kids so much. And that day, I heard those kids and paused, “Should I walk through, or go around these noisy kids?” I decided to just duck my head and walk quickly through to my office.

"Pastor Greg!" One little boy called out and ran over to wrap himself around my leg. "Look guys, it's Pastor Greg!" Then, after I peeled that boy off, a staff member of school greeted me with a simple smile, “Good morning, Pastor Greg.”

They brought Kingdom, even tho' I didn't deserve it, was even avoiding, and potentially working against it. But instead, through them God allowed his welcome, grace and love to flow into me. I was reminded of what Jesus said about God's Kingdom: "Whenever you accept a child like this," Jesus said, "you accept me." "Whenever you welcome one of my servants, you've welcomed me." Being prepared for the coming Kingdom isn’t so much about behaving 24 hours a day and keeping your nose clean, as it is being open and allowing his Kingdom to come to interrupt you and work through you.

The rest of that day was full of interruptions, some as good and delightful, others more difficult or sad. It’s life. Does my work suffer for it? I'm behind in many things, I have plenty to schedule and do... Many of you can relate! And I suppose if it's all about a weekly quiz or score, or presentation, or papers to grade, syllabi to finish or books to order, what we produce may suffer to some degree when we allow these kingdom moments to interrupt our plans.

Now, don’t think that I’m giving you—or that God is giving you—an excuse to sluff off or procrastinate, especially this late in the semester. But keep it in perspective. Take the stress off of the urgent thing, even off the grade, and rethink it in light of what is truly important and significant: your relationship with Christ, your call to be Christ for others. Don’t let these relationships suffer for the sake of projects, grades or success. Love kindness. Love the kindness God has shown to you, so much, and allow his loving-kindness to show through you.

It's not, in the end, about the grades, achievements or products themselves. It’s about the journey, our advent through life with Christ. It is about being open and ready to listen and care. It is about all of the people and the creation that these projects, classes, and tests are meant, finally, to serve. It is about being able and willing to take sudden course changes when necessary… and you will.

He will work through it all. Along this great venture, I pray that he is making me and all of us into people for his Kingdom to pour through.

Will you pray with me?...[ad lib prayer]