Cornerstone Notes
Christmas Love: Christmas Eve
Pastor Jeffery A. Raker December 18, 2011
Christmas is more than the details of the story we all know. In fact, there are details that are just plain wrong but tradition maintains them.
Was Jesus born in a stable? No, but there's more to the story.
Where was Jesus born, then, if not in a stable? In a relative's home, but in the lower part where the animals were kept because there was no room elsewhere. The word translated “inn” isn't the word for “inn” at all, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
So if Jesus was born in a home, why does the Bible say He was placed in a manger? See above!
What about some of the characters often suggested as being present at Christ’s birth? Shepherds and some animals, most certainly. Wise Men? Definitely not. 2 years later as a matter of fact which is why Herod was trying to kill all boys under the age of 2.
Okay, so we’ve eliminated the stable and the wise men from the Nativity. What about the date? Was Jesus born on December 25?
Maybe. It's a long story. Listen to the mp3.
God chose people at the bottom of the social ladder to be the first people to tell the Good News. That, to me, is Luke’s point. It’s the shepherds’ ability to run to the Savior without any ritual or cleaning. This is a Savior for them—these dirty people.
Luke 2:1-20 (Message) About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.
6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."
13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.
19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!
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Christmas is about loving God more than our plan
Can I be a manger through which God comes into the world today? If I love my plans more than God, the answer is no. The difference is do we want to use God to get what we want OR would we rather choose to live into God's plan for the world? Fill our hearts up with our plans – no room for God.
Mary and Joseph loved God more than their plans. I'm not sure how they did that. I remember our time of engagement and wedding plans. There was nothing going to derail those. But God did in this case.
When we fill our lives with what we want we WILL miss the manger. We'll be standing with the religious scholars who knew all the facts but missed the event.
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Christmas is about celebrating the lowly and the forgotten
God coming to the unknowns, the lowly, the forgotten. It's doing what Jesus would do.
If Jesus were born in our world today He wouldn't be born in a church or cathedral. He'd be born under a bridge among a homeless community or in a soup kitchen or in an orphanage in Guatemala.
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Christmas is an event for everyone
Christmas opens a new doorway, builds a new bridge, invites us into new relationship.
Christmas isn't about the lights and the trees and the presents or even the Christmas Eve worship times. Christmas is the celebration that God came near to us. What we couldn't do for ourselves, God did for us. He created a way.
John 1:10-14 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
