Christ mass
Commentary
How we conceive Christmas is critical to our faith. If we spend all our time cooing and gooing over the baby Jesus we are likely to forget that story we read in the New Testament was written backwards.
It's true of course.
First came the resurrection. Nobody had taken too much notice till then. That he was raised from the dead -- that had to be accounted for. And how else but to conclude that he was God's Messiah.
You can just hear them. "Now I understand." "I knew it all the time; there was something different about him." "How could we have been so dumb?"
Then they begin to remember. They remember his actions, his healings, and what he had to say. Now all they remember begins to shine with new relevance. They had not seen it before but now it was clear. He was God's Messiah.
One must never come to the manger without first coming to the cross and the empty tomb. To do so is to get the story backwards. Stand at the cross and at the empty tomb and remember how he lived, and what he did, and what he said. Then, suddenly the light flashes on and one understands. Then, nothing can stand in the way. They will begin to inch back in memory, to interview all they know, to dig up stories and tell them over and over.
They will see connections between their own experiences and the experiences of their ancestors. They will even begin to see models in their scriptures which seem to them to foreshadow all that has taken place.
That is what we are meant to do.
Come and stand at the manger. But first, visit the empty tomb.
OUTLINE I
The Cry of Salvation
Isaiah 62:6-7, 10-12
Introduction: If chapters 56-66 of Isaiah are post-exilic or at least nearly so then there is surely a need for reassurance that God is, in fact, bringing about their deliverance and salvation. All one needs to do is to read Ezra and Nehemiah to discover that all was not well in Jerusalem. The walls are broken down, there is a problem with intermarriage, those who are the descendants of those left behind at the time of the exile have not improved things. Word came to Nehemiah about how bad things were and he was overcome. Even when rebuilding was underway there was opposition from those threatened people in nearby territories. Things did not look good. Had they come back to a disaster that could not be recovered? Would God keep his promises? Isaiah seeks to furnish an answer.
A. Remind God of his promises. I like this attitude. These people are not going to let God forget what he has promised. Sentinels will be posted on the walls and will shout out continually that reminder. They are to continue their shouting until Jerusalem is reestablished.
B. Verses 8 and 9 are a reminder of what God has sword to do.
C. A processional is called for. The people are to build up the highway in preparation for the return of the rest of the exiles. They are encouraged to look for signs of God's salvation and to greet it with joy. And they are given a new name. They are to be called "The Holy People." See Leviticus 19:1 for this same theme. These are the "Redeemed of the Lord." Jerusalem is to have a new name also. She is to be known as the "Sought out, 'a City not forsaken.' "
Conclusion: The writer of 2 Isaiah is at great pains to encourage a discouraged people. It is no easy task to keep them upbeat when all around them there seems good reason for despair. But God's promises are God's promises says the author. Whether we read too much into them we do not know. We know that Jerusalem never did recover her glory. From the exile on, things seemed to go from bad to worse as they were victims of the Greeks and the Romans. One bright spot shined through when the Maccabees rescued them from foreign domination for one hundred years.
For the Christian the promise still stands. It is a promise that is current and for the future. One can trust God's promises and ought not to be quick to color in those promises with one's own dreams.
OUTLINE II
Undeserved Grace
Titus 3:4-7
Introduction: When one reads the words of today's selection it is difficult not to think of similar words in Deuteronomy 7:6ff in which Israel is reminded that it is not because they were more in number than other nations. They are chosen because God loves them for no good reason at all. In Deuteronomy 9:4ff they are also reminded that they are favored not because of their righteousness but because God is one who keeps his word. The writer of Titus picks up that theme and gives it a Christian interpretation.
A. We are saved, not because of our righteousness but because of his mercy. Good Pauline stuff whether Paul wrote it or not. God's mercy is unmotivated, freely given, set upon whoever he pleases.
B. Through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Here the author adds a dimension that is not strictly Pauline but does not violate his thought either.
C. All this is made known through Jesus Christ and we have become heirs of the hope of eternal life. It is clear that the author sees continuity between what God has done before and what he has done in Christ.
Conclusion: It is especially important at Christmas time that we not only repeat the story but that we seek to reveal its meaning.
Surely that is what the writer does here. In these brief passages he has set forth what Paul meant when he wrote to Corinth that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" and what the writer of the Gospel of John meant in John 3:16.
All too often we let ourselves be overwhelmed by the "babe" stuff at Christmas that we fall victim to some mushy interpretations that have little to do with what God had in mind. You can use this passage from Titus to spell out the Christmas message according to the early church.
OUTLINE III
Luke's Addition to the Story
Luke 2:8-20
Introduction: Just as Luke added a dimension to the birth stories when he recorded the visit of the angel to Mary and rounded out the story that had been told by Matthew, here he once again does it. Matthew has told the story of the great coming to the birthplace. Luke sticks to his knitting and speaks of the lowly coming. And who could be more lowly than a shepherd. Many considered them the dregs of society, incapable of salvation, unworthy of any honor. And yet, Luke brings them to the manger to make sure the story is complete and that we understand that all are invited there.
A. Good news of a great joy. But the key words are "for all the people." Not just for the mighty, but for all. The shepherds were the kind of persons who could believe what was told them. One wonders if the angels made other visits but were written off as apparitions, a bad hangover, or off the mark in talking of a child in a manger.
B. Listen to the angels. Note how Luke, just as did the writer in Isaiah 6, does not let heaven and earth wander apart. In these lines he keeps them stitched firmly together. "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace. Heaven -- earth. These are go togethers and there is a reminder to all who would separate them that God does not do that.
C. Witnesses. While Matthew's wise men return home another way and do not take word back to Herod, Luke's shepherds hasten to tell others. Luke is reminding his church, and ours, that that is our task too.
Conclusion: Who can resist the charm of Luke's story? And who can miss his point? All of us are included. All of us live on an earth that is not God forsaken but in which he is present. And all of us are called to witness, to tell others of what God has made known to us. When we know these things then we know what Christmas is all about.
It's true of course.
First came the resurrection. Nobody had taken too much notice till then. That he was raised from the dead -- that had to be accounted for. And how else but to conclude that he was God's Messiah.
You can just hear them. "Now I understand." "I knew it all the time; there was something different about him." "How could we have been so dumb?"
Then they begin to remember. They remember his actions, his healings, and what he had to say. Now all they remember begins to shine with new relevance. They had not seen it before but now it was clear. He was God's Messiah.
One must never come to the manger without first coming to the cross and the empty tomb. To do so is to get the story backwards. Stand at the cross and at the empty tomb and remember how he lived, and what he did, and what he said. Then, suddenly the light flashes on and one understands. Then, nothing can stand in the way. They will begin to inch back in memory, to interview all they know, to dig up stories and tell them over and over.
They will see connections between their own experiences and the experiences of their ancestors. They will even begin to see models in their scriptures which seem to them to foreshadow all that has taken place.
That is what we are meant to do.
Come and stand at the manger. But first, visit the empty tomb.
OUTLINE I
The Cry of Salvation
Isaiah 62:6-7, 10-12
Introduction: If chapters 56-66 of Isaiah are post-exilic or at least nearly so then there is surely a need for reassurance that God is, in fact, bringing about their deliverance and salvation. All one needs to do is to read Ezra and Nehemiah to discover that all was not well in Jerusalem. The walls are broken down, there is a problem with intermarriage, those who are the descendants of those left behind at the time of the exile have not improved things. Word came to Nehemiah about how bad things were and he was overcome. Even when rebuilding was underway there was opposition from those threatened people in nearby territories. Things did not look good. Had they come back to a disaster that could not be recovered? Would God keep his promises? Isaiah seeks to furnish an answer.
A. Remind God of his promises. I like this attitude. These people are not going to let God forget what he has promised. Sentinels will be posted on the walls and will shout out continually that reminder. They are to continue their shouting until Jerusalem is reestablished.
B. Verses 8 and 9 are a reminder of what God has sword to do.
C. A processional is called for. The people are to build up the highway in preparation for the return of the rest of the exiles. They are encouraged to look for signs of God's salvation and to greet it with joy. And they are given a new name. They are to be called "The Holy People." See Leviticus 19:1 for this same theme. These are the "Redeemed of the Lord." Jerusalem is to have a new name also. She is to be known as the "Sought out, 'a City not forsaken.' "
Conclusion: The writer of 2 Isaiah is at great pains to encourage a discouraged people. It is no easy task to keep them upbeat when all around them there seems good reason for despair. But God's promises are God's promises says the author. Whether we read too much into them we do not know. We know that Jerusalem never did recover her glory. From the exile on, things seemed to go from bad to worse as they were victims of the Greeks and the Romans. One bright spot shined through when the Maccabees rescued them from foreign domination for one hundred years.
For the Christian the promise still stands. It is a promise that is current and for the future. One can trust God's promises and ought not to be quick to color in those promises with one's own dreams.
OUTLINE II
Undeserved Grace
Titus 3:4-7
Introduction: When one reads the words of today's selection it is difficult not to think of similar words in Deuteronomy 7:6ff in which Israel is reminded that it is not because they were more in number than other nations. They are chosen because God loves them for no good reason at all. In Deuteronomy 9:4ff they are also reminded that they are favored not because of their righteousness but because God is one who keeps his word. The writer of Titus picks up that theme and gives it a Christian interpretation.
A. We are saved, not because of our righteousness but because of his mercy. Good Pauline stuff whether Paul wrote it or not. God's mercy is unmotivated, freely given, set upon whoever he pleases.
B. Through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Here the author adds a dimension that is not strictly Pauline but does not violate his thought either.
C. All this is made known through Jesus Christ and we have become heirs of the hope of eternal life. It is clear that the author sees continuity between what God has done before and what he has done in Christ.
Conclusion: It is especially important at Christmas time that we not only repeat the story but that we seek to reveal its meaning.
Surely that is what the writer does here. In these brief passages he has set forth what Paul meant when he wrote to Corinth that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" and what the writer of the Gospel of John meant in John 3:16.
All too often we let ourselves be overwhelmed by the "babe" stuff at Christmas that we fall victim to some mushy interpretations that have little to do with what God had in mind. You can use this passage from Titus to spell out the Christmas message according to the early church.
OUTLINE III
Luke's Addition to the Story
Luke 2:8-20
Introduction: Just as Luke added a dimension to the birth stories when he recorded the visit of the angel to Mary and rounded out the story that had been told by Matthew, here he once again does it. Matthew has told the story of the great coming to the birthplace. Luke sticks to his knitting and speaks of the lowly coming. And who could be more lowly than a shepherd. Many considered them the dregs of society, incapable of salvation, unworthy of any honor. And yet, Luke brings them to the manger to make sure the story is complete and that we understand that all are invited there.
A. Good news of a great joy. But the key words are "for all the people." Not just for the mighty, but for all. The shepherds were the kind of persons who could believe what was told them. One wonders if the angels made other visits but were written off as apparitions, a bad hangover, or off the mark in talking of a child in a manger.
B. Listen to the angels. Note how Luke, just as did the writer in Isaiah 6, does not let heaven and earth wander apart. In these lines he keeps them stitched firmly together. "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace. Heaven -- earth. These are go togethers and there is a reminder to all who would separate them that God does not do that.
C. Witnesses. While Matthew's wise men return home another way and do not take word back to Herod, Luke's shepherds hasten to tell others. Luke is reminding his church, and ours, that that is our task too.
Conclusion: Who can resist the charm of Luke's story? And who can miss his point? All of us are included. All of us live on an earth that is not God forsaken but in which he is present. And all of us are called to witness, to tell others of what God has made known to us. When we know these things then we know what Christmas is all about.
