Christmas Eve

“The Storyteller”

Luke 2:8-20

Listen to this Sermon!

Do you remember the first time you heard the story – about Mary and Joseph – and the shepherds in the fields – and the angels in the sky – and the wise men from the East – and the little town of Bethlehem – and the stable – and the manger – and the baby?

Do you remember the first time you heard the story?

Do you remember who it was that told you the story the first time you heard it?

I’m thinking that, in our family, it was probably my mother who first shared the story of Christmas with us children as she guided us in setting up the crèche on the mantle in our living room. It was one of those magical moments when the porcelain figurines were unwrapped from the tissue paper that protected them and each one was carefully placed in position as though it was the most precious object in the world. I remember that Mary was always dressed in blue and she was kneeling, and Joseph was always standing, and the shepherds struck various poses, some holding lambs, and others leaning against their shepherd crooks, all looking worshipfully toward the still-empty manger. Then came the wise men, and a camel or two, and we children really didn’t care that we had gotten the events out of order with the magi arriving before the birth of baby Jesus instead of afterwards.

And finally, when everything was in its sacred place around the stable on the mantle, the baby was carefully unwrapped. And – with a delicacy that could only be born out of love – one of us children would get to place the swaddling-cloth-wrapped infant in the manger.

And then we would stand in awestruck silence. Just like the figurines in the crèche, we stood silently, just watching. And our imaginations would fill in the rest of the story – the starry sky, and the singing angels, and the sights and sounds and smells of Bethlehem.

Can you remember when you first heard the story and who it was that told you?

No doubt many of us early on heard the story in church. In fact, we’ve heard the story told so many times, the words are pretty well seared into our memory, and we can almost repeat the story word-for-word. Help me tell the story, will you?

“In those days a decree went out from (Caesar Augustus) that all the (world should be enrolled)…and Joseph also went up from (Galilee) from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David which is called (Bethlehem) to be enrolled with (Mary) his wife who was (with child.) And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth her (first-born son) and wrapped him in (swaddling cloths) and laid him in a (manger) because…(there was no room for them in the inn.)

“And in that region there were (shepherds) in the fields (keeping watch over their flocks by night). And an (angel of the Lord) appeared to them, and the (glory of the Lord) shone around them, and they were (filled with fear). And the angel said to them, (“Fear not!) For behold, I bring you glad (tidings of great joy) which will come to all (people). For unto you is born this day in the city of David, (a Savior who is Christ the Lord).

The story is deeply implanted in our memory because those who told us the story told it often and told it well. And now, all these years later, many of the storytellers are gone, aren’t they?

But the story goes on!

There is a little verse in that famous first chapter of John’s gospel that would be easy to overlook because of all the other more spectacular things that are written there. After we are told that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…”- and after we read that “In him was life and the life was the light of men… and still, after we listen to the declaration that, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” we are drawn to the next, almost unnoticeable verse – verse 6:

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.”

Although we almost skip right over that verse to get to the rest of the passage about the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, we need to stop here at verse 6 and consider what it says. God sent John to bear witness – to give testimony of God’s love in the birth of Jesus.

In other words, God sent John to be a storyteller!

God obviously wanted the story of Christ’s coming to be told – by John – by shepherds – by wise men – by faithful people in every generation - by ordinary people like my mother and your mom – and my boyhood pastor and yours. The birth of Jesus, you see, gives birth to the greatest story ever told!

And God needs storytellers to pass it on, and for a very important reason.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.”

So that all might believe!

But believe WHAT?

Long before theologians were invented to so overcomplicate the simplest things of life that they lose their meaning, people on their own came to BELIEVE some important truths that are made clear in the story of Jesus.

First of all, that God LOVES us!

Where, in this Christmas story, can you find the judgmentalism that characterizes the story some people tell about God today? Where is the anger toward a sinful world? Where is the wrath of God, and the threat of burning in hell that is so much a part of the story told in so many pulpits and through so many religious people? Can you find any of that here in the story of Christmas?

If there is judgment in the birth of Christ, it is the judgment that we don’t truly believe in God’s love. And so God gives us a story that is drenched in love, and calls people to become storytellers that ALL MIGHT BELIEVE!

A second truth of the story is that God’s love is UNIVERSAL.

I’ll be preaching about this in a couple of weeks, but I’m amazed at the negative reaction of some churches in our state over Governor Bredeson’s Christmas card. The cover is a painting of a pensive young Afghan girl – a Muslim. Inside the card, the message reads: "May the peace and joy of this Christmas season be with you and your loved ones throughout the coming year. While it may seem odd to put a portrait of a young Muslim woman on a Christmas card, this Season reminds us that He loves His children most of all. May the miracle of Christmas help bring peace to this young woman and her wounded land. ”

Well right away, many Christians went bonkers over this card. A Muslim girl on a Christmas card?

Why that would make about as much sense as a Christmas card with a Jewish girl on the cover! Oh – what? – Mary is Jewish? Joseph is too? The shepherds don’t even go to church? And the wise men practice astrology?

Why do we find it so difficult to believe that God loves Muslim children as much as he loves Christian children, and Jewish children, and the children of agnostics, atheists, skeptics and more? What more appropriate message of Christmas – especially in the world today - that God loves every child no matter what religious or national label they are given?

I wonder what WE can do to help people understand that God loves ALL the children of the world, and that Christmas is the proof of it?

Well, what we can do is to tell the story – over and over and over again – SO THAT ALL MAY BELIEVE THAT GOD LOVES THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!

And one more truth that’s found in the Christmas story:

That God introduces himself to us as a baby!

Not as a king. Not as a warrior. Not even as a grown-up.

God introduces himself to us as a baby – as if to say, “Don’t be afraid…I’m not going to hurt you…come and hold me…see for yourself…and more than anything else, just love me the way you love your own children, and you will learn how I love my children.”

That’s a much better story than the story of Atlas and Hercules, don’t you think? It’s far more compelling than the stories of the nature gods that give and withhold rain. It is a story that stands in stark contrast to all the religious stories out there that portray God as standing outside the world, just looking for reasons to punish. It is a story that casts shame on crusades and jihads and self-righteousness of all kinds.

It is the greatest story ever told.

Thank goodness for the storytellers of Christmas! Who have they been in your life? Which of them do you remember tonight?

Many of those who first told us the Christmas story are gone now.

And now it is your turn – to be the storyteller of Jesus’ coming – so that all may believe in the God of Christmas!

Go tonight…and tell the story!