Text: Luke 2:1-20
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
All went to their own towns to be registered.
Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea,
To the city of David called Bethlehem,
because he was descended from the house and family of David.
He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth,
and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them,
‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
This will be a sign for you:
you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’[
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord has made known to us.’
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;
and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,
as it had been told them.]
Manuscript: Picture This
Picture this.
An unstable economy,
high unemployment and underemployment,
political and social unrest at home and abroad,
families in crisis,
aging and deteriorating health.
What will become of us?
I want to share a word of encouragement with you tonight,
Because, in view of the pictures I have just shared with you,
And the many more there are like them,
I think we could all use one right now,
And to do that, I’m going to trust that the old saying is still true,
One picture is worth a thousand words.
OF course, I’m now finding out that the opposite might also be true.
One word might also be worth a thousand pictures,
especially if that word is Facebook.
Are you with me?
There are literally millions, if not billions of pictures posted on Facebook,
And millions more that soon will be,
Especially after these holidays.
In fact, if you have a certain kind of technology on your person,
And know how to use it,
You can take a picture and post it on FB right now.
And hopefully, some of you will.
Hopefully, some of you won’t miss the opportunity to capture some of the beauty of this sanctuary on this festive night and share it with your Friends,
But not during the worship service. Smile.
Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, Son and Holy Spirit
who is with us now and forever. Amen.
IF you’re like most people, your pictures hold a lot of happy memories for you.
TO borrow the title from an old Rod Stewart album, Every picture tells a story.
Each one has the power to transport you back in time,
Back to the time and place it was taken.
And with that transport comes a flood of memories,
of stories that tell themselves again, each time you browse them.
It’s in this spirit, that I would like to share a few pictures with you tonight.
pictures that also hold memories and a story
that’s worth our telling and re-telling.
And since the technology you have now was not available then,
To view them, you are going to have to use some of that good, old fashioned technology called,
your imagination.
And in so doing, hopefully, we will find in them an encouraging word
that we can hold on to now and always.
Okay. Picture this.
Picture the world long ago on a cold, dark December night,
Just like this one;
Only this world has the strong menacing bands of sin and death wrapped around it.
It looks like they are trying to choke the life out of it.
It looks like this world is in deep trouble.
Many political, economic and religious commentators
say this is what our world looks like right now.
This is not a picture I would like on Facebook.
Now, picture this:
A man walking down a road holding a donkey with a young girl seated on it.
She looks pregnant, very pregnant.
IN fact, she looks like she’s holding on for dear life.
The man’s name is Joseph and the young girl’s name is Mary.
Picture a stable holding an ox and an ass.
It looks like they are completely unaware of what’s coming down the road.
And of course, they would be.
And, picture a pile of rags, bands of cloth really
that the young mother will use to swaddle her newborn baby against the cold, cruel world
That he is about to be born into.
This is another one I’m not sure I would “like,” because, to tell you the truth,
they rather remind me of grave-clothes.
Now, picture that same young girl, the one you saw on the donkey,
holding her newborn baby in her arms.
She looks happy.
She’s gazing down at him with a mother’s love,
And it looks like he’s smiling up at her.
Just behind them, you can see the manger,
The manger that will soon get its chance to hold him too.
Manger, now there’s an interesting word, all things considered.
We all know that it was nothing more than a hole in the wall that held food for the cattle,
But did you know that the word manger actually comes from the French word mange,
which literally means, to eat.
Remember that the next time you hear Jesus say, I am the bread of life. Mange.
Remember that the next time you hear your pastor say, “The body of Christ given for you.” Mange
Remember that the next ime you feel like God has abandoned you or this world. Mange.
These pictures tell one encouraging story,
The story of Jesus our savior, our Emmanuel, come to be with us.
But in order for us to hear this as a truly encouraging word,
there are a couple of more stories that we need to hear tonight.
and I have pictures that tell those stories too.
Picture this-
A young man kneeling down in a beautiful garden.
He’s praying, but clearly, he’s not at peace.
He appears to be disturbed about something, greatly disturbed.
his eyes are wet and full of sorrow and there are bright red drops falling from his face.
Picture the same man being dragged away by a hoard of angry men carrying swords and clubs
And another small band of men standing in the background with their mouths hanging wide open.
What has he done? Where are they taking him?
Now, picture an old wooden cross.
It looks rough and stained red.
There is a woman kneeling beside it.
She’s weeping.
If you look closely, you will notice that she bears a resemblance to the young girl we saw earlier,
Only this woman is older, much older
She too looks like she is holding on for dear life.
Jesus died to take away our sins.
That’s another encouraging story to tell.
but to make this encouraging word complete, we can’t stop here.
Because, there is still one more encouraging story to tell;
The one that far too many people lose hold of when they need it most.
And yes, I have pictures.
Or at least, a picture, just one.
But that’s all I need. That’s all any of us needs
to help us tell the last and most encouraging story of all
whenever we feel death’s strong bands beginning to tighten their grip on us.
And I definitely “like” this one,
And all my friends do too.
Picture this, the tomb where they laid Jesus’ body.
It’s a nice tomb, a nice new tomb, in fact.
But, it’s empty.
They took his body down off the cross and laid it in here. We know that.
But now, it’s gone.
There is no sign of it,
No sign, except what looks like another pile of rags,
the grave clothes they wrapped him in.
The tomb where they laid his body is empty, because he is risen.
The tomb where they laid his body is empty, because death’s strong bands
Weren’t strong enough to hold him,
And thanks be to God,
they aren’t strong enough to hold us either.
The tomb they put God in couldn’t hold him
And neither can the boxes that some political, economic and yes, even religious commentators
try to bury God in today.
An unstable economy,
high unemployment and underemployment,
political and social unrest at home and abroad,
families in crisis,
aging and deteriorating health.
What will become of us?
Let me tell you something.
Let these stories tonight tell you something, God is with us!
That’s the story of this night.
We who need it don’t always know how, or from where our help will come,
Especially when things seem to be at their worst.
But we can and do know that God is with us.
And we also know that the way of our salvation
Isn’t limited just to what mortals like us can imagine.\
His virgin birth testifies to that.
Just when it looks like the curtain has fallen between God and us,
God comes down and tears it open.
His death on the cross testifies to that.
And, just when it looks like life in this fallen world has finally beaten us down.
God raises us up again.
THE glory of the resurrection testifies to that.
God is with us.
Whether we are looking around the world or at our own lives,
The encouraging word on this most silent and holy night is just that,
God is with us in every way.
God doesn’t just know we are here. God is here with us.
God doesn’t jus know how we feel. God is feeling it with us.
God doesn’t just know how overwhelming it can all be for us,
God is with us in our struggles lifting us up..
This is the good news that filled the sky with a multitude of the heavenly host
and sent the shepherds away glorifying and praising God.
This is the encouraging word we proclaim on this night.
God is in it with us in every way and always will be.
This is the promise that God has fashioned into a cradle to hold us tonight and every night.
So, do not be afraid. For see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.
To you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, who is the messiah, the Lord!
Mange!