Scripture: Luke 2:1-20
Tonight’s sermon is entitled, “The First Christmas Song,” and I’m going to talk a lot about Christmas songs…
And why not? I love Christmas music—both the sacred hymns and carols that we sing in church and the secular Christmas songs… the ones that are about the season of Christmas itself. Now, I don’t love all of the secular Christmas songs. I’m not a big fan, for instance, of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Or what about that dog barking out “Jingle Bells”? Don’t like that. And “Frosty the Snowman” makes me sad… because he melts at the end. I know, I know… “He’ll be back again some day.” But still… I don’t like it!
But the more I listen to these secular Christmas songs, the more I’m struck by the undertone of sadness and longing that these songs often contain. How about “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”?
I’m dreaming tonight of a place I love
Even more than I usually do
And although I know it’s a long road back
I promise you
I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents under the tree…
Sounds good so far until this:
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
Oof…“If only in my dreams”… That’s the kicker. When the singer says that, you know he’s not really going to be home for Christmas—at least not in flesh-and-blood reality. And unless all these loved ones waiting for him at home also have the power to transport themselves into the same dreams that he’s having, what good will his dreams do for his family and friends?
See what I mean…? It’s sad. And to make it even more poignant, this song was originally written from the point of view of American soldiers in overseas during World War II, who likely would only be home for Christmas in their dreams. And some would never even make it home!
Sad!
Or how about “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”? The original version that Judy Garland sang in Meet Me in St. Louis.“Next year/ Our troubles will be out of sight”… Or, “Next year/ Our troubles will be miles away.”
You and I both know that’s wishful thinking, right? Next year is going to have plenty of trouble all its own. In fact, in the original version, Judy Garland sang, “Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow.” Because she understood that right now, at this very moment, she’s having a very difficult time.
But the version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” that became the “standard” for us is the Frank Sinatra’s. He asked the songwriter, Hugh Martin, to change the lyrics. “Next year” became “from now on”—as if everything is perfect right now and doesn’t need to change. Plus, he asked Martin to change the line about “muddling through.” Sinatra was recording his 1957 Christmas album called A Jolly Christmas. He asked Martin to “jolly it up” a little. So Martin changed the “muddling through” line to “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.”
I prefer the more melancholy original. It’s more realistic. Life often feels like “muddling through.” It’s often hard! So what’s wrong with Christmas songs reflecting that reality?
Besides… the very first Christmas song ever… written and sung by the angels in Luke chapter 2, verse 14… was written and sung in the context of great difficulty for the main participants in the Christmas story.
Do you not believe me? Mary miraculously conceives her child—out of wedlock—and has to have a difficult conversation with her fiancé: “Joseph, I’m pregnant… But let me explain!” And Joseph doesn’t believe her at first. Almost breaks off the engagement! And of course, if it was difficult for Joseph to believe Mary, how about their fellow townspeople in Nazareth. From now on, Mary and Joseph will “muddle through” by hearing the “whispers” and “gossip” about this scandalous pregnancy!
And what about this census… referred to as a “registration” in tonight’s scripture. Mary was probably eight months pregnant at this point. Yet she and her husband had to travel about ninety miles south from Nazareth down to Bethlehem, which was Joseph’s ancestral home.
Talk about muddling through somehow!
To add insult to injury, once the couple arrived in Bethlehem, Luke reports that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
It’s fashionable these days to say that the English word “inn” isn’t the best translation of the Greek in verse 7—that Luke himself, for instance, uses a different Greek word for “inn” in the parable of the Good Samaritan—and why wouldn’t he use that same word here if he was referring to the first-century equivalent of the Motel 6? That’s the argument. So some scholars say that “inn” should instead be translated “guest room.”
In which case, Mary and Joseph would have been staying—or attempting to say—not in a motel but in the home of a relative. So the NIV, among others, translates the word as “guest room.” And that’s fine…
But I just want to say, “It doesn’t matter! Same difference!” Whether there was no room in the inn, or no room at a cousin’s house, can’t we all agree that no mother wants to give birth in a stable, a barn… very likely with live animals in that barn! No mother wants to lay her child in a manger, which is a feeding trough for animals. No mother dreams of laying her newborn sonon a bed of hay!
These are not ideal conditions under any circumstances!
So once again, Mary and Joseph have to muddle through somehow!
And yet… There’s something incredibly important that we need to remember about “muddling through”? And it’s this: God is in the midst of our muddling!
After all, why were Mary and Joseph having to go to all this trouble in the first place?
You say, “Well that’s easy… Caesar Augustus called for a census, which required all of Rome’s subjects to travel to their family’s ancestral home.”
“That’s why Mary and Joseph have to do this.”
But not so fast… For all of Caesar’s awesome power—a power by which he could move his royal subjects, including an eight-month pregnant young woman, around his empire like chess pieces, on a whim, just because he says so…
For all Caesar’s unprecedented power, even he was nothing compared to God!
In fact, like so many other unprecedentedly powerful kings and rulers before—like the Pharaoh in Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, Cyrus in Persia, and many others—Caesar Augustus simply couldn’t help but accomplish God’s will—even though he didn’t know that that’s what he was doing… even though he didn’t even believe in the God of Israel, the one true God.
Caesar himself was nothing more than a pawn in the hands of almighty God!
Why do I say this? Because… by calling for this empire-wide registration… Caesar had no idea that he was helping to fulfill the ancient prophecy from Micah 5:2:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
The Messiah, the Son of God, was supposed to be born in Bethlehem, King David’s birthplace! And even though Mary and Joseph believed they were giving birth to the Messiah, they apparently weren’t planning on making the trip to Bethlehem on their own, before Jesus was born… Therefore God used Caesar Augustus to make it happen… Because God, of course, has the power to do stuff like that!
Of course he does! The prophet Isaiah puts it well in Isaiah chapter 40:
No, for all the nations of the world
are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
as though it were a grain of sand…The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.
In his eyes they count for less than nothing—
mere emptiness and froth… 1
No person or power or problem in our world—in our universe—poses any threat to God and his plans. He’s infinitely more powerful than Caesar Augustus—the most powerful man who’s ever lived… Which means that God is infinitely more powerful than any obstacle, any enemy, any challenge, any trial, any disappointment, any heartache, any addiction, any circumstance that you and I might be facing right now.
See, this is relevant because every single person in this room has the equivalent of a “Caesar Augustus” in their life… by which I mean, every single person is struggling in some way… every single person is facing some problem—you lost a job, your marriage fell apart, your career has gone off track, you flunked a class, your kids don’t speak to you, you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, you have money trouble, legal trouble… you have health problems… you’re facing a scary diagnosis.
That’s your “Caesar Augustus”… and guess what? It feels like “he’s” in charge; he’s calling the shots; he’s going to really cause harm to you.
And tonight’s scripture—alongside so much of the Bible—says, “No! Not even close!”
Psalm 118:6: “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Answer? Nothing at all… except that which almighty God allows human beings or circumstances to do, according to God’s good plans for you.
Romans 8:31: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Answer? No one… and nothing… God will use everything that happens to you for your ultimate good.
These promises are for all of us… on one condition, at least…
To see what I mean, let’s turn our attention to the shepherds in verse 9: “And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.” Of course they’re filled with great fear. For the fifth time in four weeks of my Advent preaching, an angel is telling us human beings not to be afraid. They’re always telling us this because when we are in the presence of angels, we are very close to being in the presence of God—dangerously close. There are so many examples in scripture. I won’t list them all. But whenever one of us sinful human beings gets too close to our holy God, we become afraid for our lives.
Take, for example, the apostle Peter: in one of his earliest encounters with Jesus in the gospels. Peter has been fishing all night; he’s a professional fisherman. He’s been fishing all night, but he hasn’t caught anything. And now it’s morning time. Sun’s up. Jesus tells him to cast his net over there, and he’ll catch fish. And Peter probably shook his head and thought, “Amateurs!”—but despite his reservations he did so, and ended up catching more fish than he’d ever caught before!
So… is Peter happy? After all, he caught so many fish his nets were literally bursting at the seams. But he’s not happy. He’s terrified for his life and falls at Jesus’ feet: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”2
Why? Because he recognizes that even though Jesus is a flesh-and-blood human being, he is also standing in the presence of God. And Peter knows the Bible… And he knows himself to be a sinner… And he knows that sinful man cannot even look at God’s face and live.3 And he knows that he will surely die if he gets too close to God!
Do you know what Peter needed in that moment to alleviate his fears? He needed Christmas.
You see, it’s one thing to be terrified of God. But literally no one has ever been terrified of… a baby.
Think about how we act around babies! We suddenly don’t have to be dignified and respectable. We don’t have to be cool. We make funny faces. We make funny sounds. We speak in a funny voice. And we don’t give it a second thought!
See, the angel in tonight’s scripture invites these shepherds not merely to behold God from some some safe distance… No, the angel invites the shepherds literally to hold God, to cradle God, to snuggle God, to kiss God, to put God’s cheek against their own; to smile and coo and laugh and make funny faces… at God in the flesh! To take God as a tiny, fragile, vulnerable baby boy into their arms and love him! No fear! Only joy! Only peace. All is calm. All is bright. The shepherds were invited to do that! How can they stand to be so close to God now?
After all, who gets to be in a hospital room so soon after a baby is born? Only the closest, most intimate family members! So what does it say that these dirty, smelly, uncouth, and uncultured shepherds—of all people—were invited to be the first visitors after the birth of this child? How is that possible? What on earth has changed?
The angels give us a clue to what has changed in verse 14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” That’s what the ESV translation says. In fact, every modern translation says something along these lines. The NIV reads, “peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Same difference.
But in this song that the angels sing to the shepherds, they are saying, in so many words, “There are now people in this world with whom God is especially pleased”—or people “on whom God’s favor rests”—and these people, and only these people, have peace with God. There’s a rare Greek word underneath the English word that gets translated “pleased” or “favor.” The word is eudokia (yoo-dok-ee-a). It is not found often in ancient Greek literature. But there is one place it is found: In the gospel of Luke, chapter 3, verse 22: After Jesus is baptized and comes up out of the water, his Father’s voice from heaven says, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Underneath the words “well pleased” is the exact same Greek root!
So tonight’s scripture is saying—somehow, as hard as it is to believe—that there are now people in this world who have peace with God, whom God loves exactly as much as he loves his only-begotten Son Jesus, whom God cares about exactly as much as he cares about Jesus, whom God favors exactly as much ashe favors Jesus!
In other words, the good news that the angels announce to the shepherds is that they are now God’s beloved sons and daughters; they’re part of God’s family.
And you can be, too!
It’s all made possible by two things that Jesus does for us: First, by living a life of perfect obedience to the Father—a life which we were unable to live ourselves. Jesus lived that life on our behalf. And second, by dying his God-forsaken death on the cross—a death which we otherwise deserved to die.
Through faith in Christ, his record of perfect obedience now counts as our new and perfect record. His God-forsaken death for sin now counts as if we ourselves had died that death. Therefore the penalty for our sins has been paid. Our debt before God canceled. We stand before God as if we had never sinned at all!
Now, through faith in Christ we owe nothing. Through faith in Christ we are forgiven! Through faith in Christ, we are made a part of God’s family forever.
And it’s all God’s doing… not our own… It’s all grace! We can’t earn God’s love. We don’t deserve it. We can’t pay for it. We can’t make ourselves worthy of it… We can do nothing to receive it… other than ask for it!
We’re not naturally comfortable with grace… We don’t understand it… That’s not the way the world typically works…
In fact, with this in mind, I want to talk about one more Christmas song… You’ve heard it a million times…
“You better watch out/ You better not cry/ You better not pout, I’m telling you why/ Santa Claus is coming to town… He sees you when you’re sleeping/ He knows when you’re awake/ He knows if you’ve been bad or good/ So be good for goodness’ sake.”
Listen, there’s no bigger fan of Santa Claus than yours truly. I love him. But it’s because I love Santa—the real Santa—that I hate the song, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” I mean, that song does not communicate the truth about the Santa that I know!
Because when I was a kid, I was “bad”… plenty of times… I was bad even after my parents warned me, as they inevitably did—starting around Thanksgiving—that Santa wouldn’t come to our house if I was “bad.”
Or even if he still decided to come to my house, I should expect him to bring me far less than what I would have otherwise received… if only I had been good.
All of us kids back then just sort of accepted this truth. It was part of the propaganda of Christmas.
But here’s the thing: I never saw any correlation between the extent of my “badness” in the months leading up to Christmas and the amount or quality of amazing gifts with which Santa unfailingly supplied me on Christmas morning—thank heaven for that!
My point is, the Santa Claus that I experienced growing up was not the Santa Claus described in “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”; like the good Christian saint he is, Saint Nicholas operates on the basis of pure grace!
And that’s what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. That’s the way God loves you.
Receive that love… Receive this gift of love that God offers you through faith in his Son Jesus. Amen.