Rev. Dr. M. Taylor Bach

Hebrews 10:5-10 Luke 1:39-45

Can you remember a Christmas when you received a gift that was very disappointing? Did it affect your whole Christmas? I remember one. When I was ten years old, I had asked my parents in every conceivable way I could think of to give me a BB gun. And like that movie The Christmas Story that came out several years ago about a little boy's Christmas in the 1940's, my mother said, “You can't have one. You will shoot your eye out.” But I expected one and when I saw my gifts under the tree, there was a big long box. I thought, “Oh boy, this is it!” They gave me a cork gun! A cork gun! What did I learn that year? I learned that a cork gun could shoot nails and I could be the most formable ten-year-old in the community. But I also learned, it's not about the gift. It is not about commercialism. In the scriptures that we read a few minutes ago and even in the skits that the children gave, we discovered that there is a contrast between the real meaning of Christmas and the commercialism of this time period. I don't know about you, but I resent the fact that some businesses have their Christmas displays up now in September. It used to be that no one did that until Thanksgiving. But stores are pushing their merchandise on us and telling us that we will be unhappy unless we buy this particular gift or that particular gift or if we give the wrong gift; doing it early. And it is not about the gifts! It really isn't.

Herod was symbolic of the commercialism of Jesus' time. Herod was the king at the time of the birth of Jesus. He was a narcissistic interesting character who tried to make everything all about him. When the wise men came to him announcing that they were following a star to find the king of the Jews, he was threatened because he saw himself, as appointed by Caesar, as the king of the Jews. Then Marc Anthony had Caesar assassinated as you know. So then Herod said, “Hey, I'm your man, Marc. All along I've been behind you. Keep me in my position here in Israel and things will be fine.” Then Marc Anthony was killed and Caesar Augustus took over and guess what Herod said? “Hey Caesar Augustus. I'm your guy. I've always been behind you. And oh yeah, can you send me some money from Rome so I can build some more buildings and finish this temple so I can be seen as Herod the Great?” But this is the oddest thing that Herod did&he realized that in taxing the Jews in order to build their Temple, he was taxing the poor and he was hated. So he ordered that at his death, seventy Jews be killed so there would be at least somebody sad in Israel at the time of his death. He realized none of the Jews would be sad otherwise.

Contrast that mentality with Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus. The scriptures that Tom Matthew read point out that Mary was really from a peasant family. She was virtually penniless. She had an angel appear to her and in a sense blessed the fact that she was an unwed mother. So God's ways were not our human ways. God's ways were not the ways of our society that Herod might represent. It is not about selfishness. It is not about gifts. God came to just flip everything upside down and shatter expectations. When Jesus was finally born, He wasn't born in splendor. He was born the king in a stable. This is to assure us that, as Mary said, you bless the lowliness of a handmaid. You come to people that are humble and you come to people who are willing to lean upon you and make you their Lord and Savior. Jesus actually turned everything topsy turvey Himself. They expected a Messiah warrior king and they found a suffering servant. They expected someone who would send angels to thwart His arrest. At the time of His arrest only Peter had a sword. Jesus scolded Peter for cutting off the ear of one of the Centurions. Jesus was killed and the cross, a symbol of degradation and torture, became the symbol of grandeur and salvation. So Jesus was here to turn the world topsy turvey, to let us know that Christmas is not about commercialism. It is not about the gifts but it is about yours and my salvation. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He sent His son.” That means that God loves you. Sometimes registering that shatters all expectations. What? God loves me? God loves you? Doesn't that sound astounding? He doesn't love you because of your position. He doesn't love you because of your financial holdings. He doesn't love you because of anything you have accomplished. He doesn't love you because of a position that you have at work. He loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way. So this Christmas, let's don't make it a conventional Christmas, all about things. Let's make it a Christmas that changes our lives.