What Went Down at Christmas

What Went Down at Christmas

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

December 30, 2018

at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Zuni, Virginia

Psalm 148

Philippians 2: 5-11

Let us pray,

Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside our minds

Help us to be more than our lives

            For your eyes show us the way

            Your mind knows the truth

            Your being is the life.

Amen. 

We made the journey through advent

We circled in slowly towards Bethlehem

Stopping to think about Hope and what it means

Stopping to think about Peace and what it is

Stopping our thinking all together just to be joyous

And Stopping our self interested intents to Love

We listened to the Angel’s promises

We heard their singing and their calling

We saw the new star in the East and followed it across the sky to the West

And Somehow, Somehow we knew the right path to take

And in doing so we made our way to the Bethlehem Stall.

And found the God of all Creation lying in a trough where cattle and sheep might feed.

The Lord of all Creation, now a child, a human child, frail, vulnerable, weak, and in need.. . .

So much has gone down at Christmas. . . let’s stop for a moment and take it all in. . . .

Who is this God who is in this manger. . .

Let’s start with our Old Testament Reading, one of the Psalms of Praise Psalm 148

Psalm 148

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights above.
² Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
³ Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars.
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the skies.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for at his command they were created,
⁶ and he established them for ever and ever—
    he issued a decree that will never pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding,
⁹ you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars,
¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,
¹¹ kings of the earth and all nations,
    you princes and all rulers on earth,
¹² young men and women,
    old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
¹⁴ And he has raised up for his people a horn,
    the praise of all his faithful servants,
    of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

We can say praise God for so many things. . . for everything in fact

Think to your own lives, and think of everything that has been given

Think of every detail,

how things have just happened

How it couldn’t have happened any other way

How each event just pieced together so perfectly. . .

And by perfectly. . . I don’t mean easy. . . because there were hard times. . .

things that at the time didn’t make sense, but somehow with the gift of time and perspective

It just couldn’t have been any other way. . . as Spurrier said hindsight is 50/50

Think of the world and its perfection

I was listening to a podcast about Venus. . . our closest neighbor in our solar system. . . .

A planet very much like ours, but just a little bit closer. . . cosmically speaking to the sun

But who’s surface temperature is 864 degrees Fahrenheit. . . toasty huh, uninhabitable. . .

We stand at the fragile place where life is possible. . . amazing. . . and in that delicate balance

Is the perfection of a holy and amazing plan. . . .

That is the mystery of our existence, but it pales in comparison to the

The mystery of our consciousness

That we can know,

that we can speak,

that we can think,

that we can wonder,

and come to wonder,

and come to speak,

and come to think,

and come to actually know this God who makes it all possible. . .

that we can long for what we wonder about. . .

that we can yearn and thirst for more. . .

and that yearning and thirsting is natural in us,

because of our making, and because of how we are made,

and what we are made for,

for relationship. . . with each other though we are strangers to each other,

and to God. . . though we have been separated from him from our Sin.

Think of all he has done in this world from its Creation and beyond its falling

All of the covenants. . . pulling us closer. . . teaching us. . . revealing to us Himself

Noah. . . the rainbow

Abraham . . . the promise

Moses . . . the Law

He didn’t forsake Cain in his hatred. . . marking him and rendering him safe, but wandering

He didn’t forsake Jacob in his trickery. . . wrestling with him. . . keeping the promise

He didn’t forsake Joseph in the pit his brothers put him in

He didn’t forsake his people in the desert though they grumbled and pined for their chains

He didn’t forsake Ruth, but through her made a king

He didn’t forsake the people when they chose to be led like the other nations by a king

And when the time came for the lesson of exile

He left a shred of hope, a continued promise. . .through Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel

Daniel in Babylon, Esther, Malachi, Micah

All pointing to a new possibility a new covenant written on the stone of our hearts

Could it crack through the stone?

What would it take to break the powers of the world. . .

For Xerxes had conquered, and Alexander pushed farther, and finally these Romans had created a solid steel trap administration, emperors who had brought strong armed peace. . .

But real peace could come

Real love

Real hope

Real Joy

And we find it in the Manger. . . this manger. . . this child. . . is He

'

What a Strange Way to Save the world. . .

I'm sure he must have been surprised   at where this road had taken him

'Cause never in a million lives   would he have dreamed of Bethlehem

And standing at the manger  He saw with his own eyes

The message from the angel come to life   and Joseph said·

Why me,       I'm just a simple man of trade

Why Him, with all the rulers in the world

Why here,     inside this stable filled with hay

Why her, she's just an ordinary girl

 Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say

But this is such a strange way   to save the world

To think of how it could have been,   if Jesus had come as He deserved

There would have been no Bethlehem     No lowly shepherds at His birth

But Joseph knew the reason Love had to reach so far

And as he held the Savior in his arms, he must have thought (Chorus)

Its this line I wanted to get at. . .

Joseph knew the reason Love had to reach so far --- but how

Why does love reach far this way?

What goes down at Christmas

Down

Down

Down

From heaven to a manger --- Condescend

Philippians 2: 5-11. . . but I want to hold out verse 5 till the end. . . so I’ll start with 6

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Love had to reach far--- right. . . how far. . . that’s another song that was in last year’s cantata

How Far. . . how far. . . love has come to bring us home. . .

Or from this year’s ---

Oh, the wonder of it all

that He would reach so far

from Heaven down to Earth

to meet us where we are.

Oh the wonder of it all,

how great salvations cost!

and so what can we do

but stand in awe

Of the wonder of it all!

Why does love require such a fall?

Why a manger

Why was there no room

Why so poor

Why a baby

Nothing but a child

Steve Earle

Verse 1:

Once upon a time  In a far off land

Wise men saw a sign  And set out 'cross the sand

Songs of praise to sing They travelled day and night

Precious gifts to bring           Guided by the light.

Verse 2:

They chased a brand new star Ever towards the west

Across the mountains far  But when it came to rest

They scarce believed their eyes   They'd come so many miles

The miracle they prized           Was nothing but a child

Chorus:

Nothing but a child               Could wash those tears away

Or guide a weary world            Into the light of day

Nothing but a child               Could help erase those miles

So once again we all              Can be children for a while.

Because everything must be included. . . from the top to the bottom. . .

From the first to the last---

From Let there be Light

To no room in the Inn

It must be all the way to the bottom,

or one might claim or try to claim that someone doesn’t count

But love goes all the way down. . .

And if a shivering cold baby wasn’t enough

Wasn’t weak enough

Wasn’t vulnerable enough

Wasn’t far enough into the depths

There is always the cross as well. . .

This time I’ll include verse 5

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

How could you not?

How could you not because how else could it have been?

With this God, how else could it have been?

And so how else could we follow?