Manger and Mystery – Recalling the story, Restoring the Call (A Christmas message)

Manger and Mystery – Recalling the story, Restoring the Call (A Christmas message)

Reading: Luke 2:1-20

Introduction

We have been journeying as a congregation for the past four weeks as we have been preparing for this day. We have been following the theme called Manger and Mystery. And today we encounter the story where the manger holds the greatest mystery of all time…God in the form of a vulnerable human child.
It is clear to me that as we heard the story that was narrated to us this morning, many of us changed the gears in our brains to neutral. Why? It is because we have heard the story so many time that we already fill in the blanks.
Well today I want to re-present the story in a different manner. I have a video for us to watch entitled A brief history of Christmas. It is sure to remind us.
Show the video (a sample on Sermonspice.com)
So there we have it…in the end all we have is a cry of a baby. To new parents those first cries are mysterious. I can certainly remember that neither Ash nor I were able to say why Tayla was crying. We look back and are able to say that, wow we were clueless.

1. The Manger presents a Mystery

But that is just it. We all seem to be clueless about this seemingly simple thing, the Baby Jesus. But it is not that simple. We have certainly added our own biases to the whole event and clearly defined what Christmas is about. But they all fall short since it is an absolute mystery as to why God would even remove his glory as he did on that first Christmas.
As humans we have a habit of taking something that is mysterious and shrouding it with symbolism. When we do that, we have a handle on the mystery. There is nothing wrong with that perse. That is the way that we are built, our brains will always try to make sense of something we can’t understand. The trouble comes in when we put more focus on the thing that is used to explain the mystery, rather than the mystery itself.
I am not going to try to explain the mystery of the Christ child since whatever I say will be wholly inadequate. All I want us to see today is the result of that mysterious event.
It is through that manger, that feeding trough that God chose to reveal this mystery. And today we can still experience that Mystery. I challenge us to strip away all the stuff around the birth of Christ and hear the baby cry. That first cry that God experienced as a human being. That first sound that said to his parents and to the world…I am human for your sake.
Today as you all go to your celebrations with your families, as you open gifts, if you have not already done so. When you look at the Christmas tree, when you eat and when you drink please be aware of the presence of Christ and be aware that, as Christians, we set aside this day to celebrate him and not the season, or the celebrations themselves.

2. The Manger presents a call

Every person that came into contact with the Christ child 2000 odd years ago could not leave without being changed and without a sense of call on there lives.
The wise men left another way home so as not to alert Herod of where Jesus was. This insured that Jesus and his family were given a chance to escape the slaughter of all boys under two years of age. In doing this they fulfilled what God had said to them in a dream through an Angel, they were called.
The shepherds left praising God for what he had done and we are told that all had wondered at what the Shepherds had told them. It is then true to say that the Shepherds were in fact the first evangelists or preachers of the gospel.
We cannot ignore the fact that this is not just a feel good story, that we come to hear about how Jesus was born and ooh and aah about what it must have been like to see the new born baby. This child came to change to world and he came as a human to give us an example to live by.
When we come into contact with Christ, we should not only respond emotionally, but also respond to the call on our lives. Not all are called into full-time ministry but all are called to serve God.
I read a story of a little girl who received a brand-new crisp $20 (image that…it’s about R140) bill for her birthday (which was just before Christmas). This little girl went to the Christmas Eve service with her Grandmother where she would sing the carols and hear the Christmas story. The minister then announced that a special offering would be taken so as to provide meals for the homeless. He little girl promptly opened her little red purse and took out this beautiful crisp, now not so new $20 bill. Her grandmother who saw this leaned over to her and whispered “you don’t have to give that.” The little girl looked up and smiled. “I want to.” The grandmother said, “I’ll give you some change, so you don’t have to give it all” to which the little girl responded “I want to give it all,” and so with great joy she did, holding nothing back.
What a wonderful example of Recalling the story and the Restoring the call. She was clearly touched by what Jesus had done for her that she gave all she could.
What is it that God is calling you to do? We have already taken the offering so I’m not suggesting you must give more money now, which is not the intention of the story I told. I’m asking whether you have been open to hearing God’s call upon your life, are you able to hear it and then discern it. The likelihood is that he will call you to do something with what you already have. It may be financial resources, it may be time resources. It may be a talent you have or some special skill you have acquired. You need to figure that out.

Conclusion

Today we have come to Recall the story and to Restore the call. We watch a humorous recollection of the story which we all know so very well but we are challenged by that very humour to strip away the stuff and see and even be blown away by the mystery of a baby’s cry that was God’s first cry on earth.
In the mystery of the story it continues to challenge us to the point of recognising that there is more to the story than we expect…in fact it has everything to do with what God expects of us.
May your Christmas day continue to be a blessing to you personally and then may that blessing become a blessing to those around you.

Amen