Reading: Luke 2:1-14
In this sermon I would like to ask one important question and provide a surprising answer.
In the gospel reading Luke provides a picture that we most associate with Christmas: the baby Jesus in “swaddling clothes” and a “manger”. And a host of angels appear to shepherds in the field singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among us with whom he is pleased.” (2:14). Usually, the wise men make an entrance, but sadly not in this gospel reading (see Matt 2).
Now my question: “Why the big fuss?” When you think about it, we all had a birth scene. When I was born 72 years ago, I think my parents were excited by the event, but it caused no ripples beyond my immediate family. It was not particularly notable, just a sanitised hospital, no manger, shepherds, wise men, or angels. Handel or Bach did not compose music, neither Leonardo da Vinci nor Rembrandt paint my nativity scene. There may have been a line or two in the newspaper (I suspect not) but that was it. Completely forgettable except that I’m standing here today!
But the birth of Jesus led to an excitement which has lasted 2000 years. You can visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and countless churches throughout the world similarly dedicated. The artistic and musical legacy has enriched our Western civilisation. I think of libraries such as St Mark’s filled with books, universities such as Harvard which started in a pastor’s study, even wars have been fought in Jesus’ name. Today, right now, we gather… and the fuss continues.
It is reasonable to ask why? Can we offer an answer that does justice to this birth of one child in relative poverty, with a hint of scandal (Mary was pregnant before marriage), not of royal blood and in a context of world events ? insignificant.
What kind of event has such an impact? We need to come up with an answer that does justice to it. And that is no easy task.
Here is my answer: God became one of us. I will repeat that assertion: God became one of us. That is the traditional, orthodox and biblical answer. It is in the major creeds and faith statements of the church. It is enshrined in church traditions including Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and more recently Pentecostal. Great theologians have wrestled with ideas of the Trinity, the Son of God being one of three consciousnesses in the Godhead, the idea of the humility of God through the incarnation, et cetera. This is my last of four sermons on Christology which includes who Jesus was and what he did for us. I acknowledge this is mind-bending stuff and hardly easy to follow, but you can step into the story wherever you like and of course step out.
I would suggest two entry points:
- Literally ? that an amazing miracle occurred in the virgin-birth of Jesus. A perfect human being, in the words the creed, fully God fully human, came into existence.
- Symbol ? that the birth of Jesus signalled a completely unique view of God and in a profound way identified humanity with divinity.
Your faith may not stretch to a literal belief in the assertion that God became one of us, but let us pause for a moment and consider how unique such a view of God is. The infinity of God ‘packaged’ in the human Jesus. This view of God, implied by the incarnation, is simply astonishing. God shared our common life, God saw life through human eyes, experienced human emotions, felt all the temptations we feel and even suffered an unjust and cruel death.
A few years ago Joan Osborne sang One of Us. The music video is on Youtube. She asked, “What would you ask God if you had just one question?” She went on to sing the following:
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us,
just a stranger on the bus,
trying to make his way home,
the way to heaven all alone.
Osborne is not a gospel singer but she expresses a depth of longing: God can you really understand us? The answer of Christmas is yes!
2022 has been another difficult year: COVID continues and people die, the invasion of Ukraine and wars of some kind persist on almost every continent, and now economic difficulties for many families and we are seeing a sharp rise in mental health problems in Australia. It is Christmas and we can only hope that in 2023 things will change for the better. What does the belief that God became one of us have to do with all this?
It means that God understands. This is not really possible if your view of God is a deity who remains in heaven and looks down on us. But if God became one of us, God understands our human experience. All our faults, frailties and fallible actions are completely intelligible.
In the church we affirm this view of God and keep the memory of Jesus alive. This is the message of Christmas. May the fuss continue…
Rev Dr Bruce A Stevens was the Wicking Professor of Ageing and Pastoral Theology at CSU (2015-2019). He is a minister in association at Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest and a clinical psychologist. He is the supply minister at GUC.