Contradictions really confuse,
and if I am honest, rather upset me. Telling me to do one thing, and then
expecting the complete opposite, aggravates me. Ask anyone who knows me, and
they will tell you – if you want to see Guy Johnson get riled up, give him
contradictory instructions or tell him contradictory facts. This is, friends
and family, why I am a little aggravated with myself this evening.
You see, I know that when we
come to church on Christmas Eve, we want the service to be happy and
celebratory. We want to ooh and ah over the birth of the Savior, Jesus. You
know the story – wrapped in swaddling clothing, lying in a manger. Born in
Bethlehem.
However,
let’s be honest for just a minute. The birth of Jesus was, for the people
involved, I’m sure, less than a happy event. While it’s not in Luke’s birth
narrative, we must remember that according to Matthew, had Joseph not gotten a
visit from an angel telling him that it was ok for him to marry Mary, a very
young, pregnant woman, a virgin she claims Had the angel not intervened, Mary
would not have been his fiancé, nor would she have been in Bethlehem that night.
Let’s stop there for a minute:
how can one be a virgin and pregnant at the same time? How can that be? Yes, we
believe that the Holy Spirit came over her and caused her to be pregnant, but
we know that’s a contradiction in scientific and biological facts. I ask this
question often: would you believe your very young daughter or sister if she
came to you with the contradictory statement “I’m a pregnant virgin?” I wouldn’t!
And think about this: this possibly
was not a happy birth, because, let’s be honest – who wants to travel during
their 9th month of pregnancy? Who wants to travel with someone
during the 9th month of pregnancy? I can speak from experience – my
good friend, Charlotte Davis, was 9 months pregnant while we worked side by
side, and I told her that if she went into labor while at work, I jokingly
declared I would crawl under the desk, pee on myself, and cry. She told me she
would kill me.
Who wants to have their first,
or any, child in a barn? Remember that they were in a barn, because there was
no room in the inn. Not only was there no room in the inn, but there were no
clothes for this baby – Mary wrapped him in bands of cloth – not swaddling
clothes, but rags. That’s not something to celebrate. That’s a contradiction!
Christmas itself is a
contradiction. We claim that the holiday is about the birth of the Christ-child
while pretty much relegating the baby to our manger scenes and carols. At the
same time, while claiming that we are striving for "peace on earth, and
good will to all men", we participate in rampant consumerism, and talk of
wars and rumors of wars.
In this country, the one that
we claim is a Christian nation, you know the one – America, the city shining on
a hill, America, the one that God has shed his grace on, that crown’s its good
with brotherhood from sea to shining sea – has leaders who act in ways
contradictory to this whole “Christian nation” talk.
What are you talking about,
Guy? I am so glad you asked.
You can’t talk about bombing
the crap out of other nations for oil if you claim to be a follower of Christ
and want to lead a Christian nation. You can’t talk about “outmatching” rivals
in a nuclear arms race if you claim to be a follower of Christ and want to lead
a Christian nation. You can’t cut health insurance to the sick, food benefits
to the hungry, and propose policies that will push people, minorities in
particular, into the “Primary School to Prison” pipeline and claim that this is
a Christian nation. You can’t hate your neighbor, whether they are black or
white, Baptist or Methodist, Muslim or Athiest, gay or straight, cis-gender or
transgender, and claim to be a follower of Christ. Those are contradictions!
We go into debt for things we
lose interest in three days after we get them, we eat too much and throw away
an amazing amount of food, yet demean people who don't do the same. We claim to
love this little baby, yet act in ways that are completely opposite of who and
what he represents. Even worse, we perpetuate the very behaviors we tell people
not to participate in!
The child’s
identity is a contradictory in nature too. You have the prophet Isaiah's words
that claim, "a child has been born for us, a son has been given to
us". While those words are true – a son has been born, Isaiah's words tell
us that he will be named "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace", but his birthplace was nothing wonderful,
the people who showed up were not mighty in any way. Had Herod had his way, the
baby's life would have never approached everlasting, and this same Herod had
declared war on all the babies under the age of two, in an effort to cancel the
"threat" this new prince represented.
Isaiah says
that this baby, the one born in a barn, will have his authority grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. I don’t
know about you, but when I hear the phrase “endless peace”, I anticipate there
being some kind of peace, and honestly, there is no peace in the world, and
there is definitely none in the region where David’s throne is based. They are
an occupied people. Did you miss that? The reason Mary and Joseph are traveling
while she is 9 months pregnant is because King Herod, a Roman king, has
declared that all people must go back to their hometowns to be counted. That’s
not peaceful, because if you don’t obey the royal order, there would be rather
unpleasant consequences.
The Isaiah
text tells us that He will establish this throne and uphold it with justice and with righteousness form this
time forevermore. We know that there is injustice in the world and righteousness
no longer exists in places of power.
You would
think that the “Prince of Peace” would have royal visitors. I mean, he is the
son of the KING, the ultimate King, yet the only people who come to the barn to
visit are shepherds who have the worst job in the pasture – living out in the
fields and watching their flocks overnight, and in some other accounts, some
wise men who are wise enough not to tell Herod where the baby is. This is not
how a king is supposed to be born. This is not how this is supposed to happen.
Or is it?
What if,
what if…the birth of this baby happened exactly the way it was supposed to?
What if the birth was supposed to upend everything we believe or expect? I
mean, Isaiah tells us that this baby will be called Wonderful! Counselor! The
Mighty God! The Everlasting Father! The Prince of Peace! What if these
circumstances are to show us that God can use less than perfect circumstances to
show us that God can make something amazing happen, in spite of, and maybe even
because of, contradictions. What we are supposed to realize and learn that, in
spite of the contradictions, we have one duty: worship the newborn king.
Yes, there
are contradictions in the story. This baby is born in less than perfect
circumstances, born to a teenaged mother and an unknown father, and a
stepfather who steps in. This baby is born in poverty in a barn, with animals
as attendants. This baby only had strangers to come welcome him to the world.
This baby had a bounty on his head from the day he was born. This baby was not
supposed to make it.
And that’s
what makes the birth so amazing – that one born with all of these factors
against him – one born in the midst of all of these contradictions - becomes a
king.
So my
friends: come, let us worship Christ the newborn king.
Amen.
