Jesus - God Came Down
Christmas Eve - I did three sermons - The one you read below is for our classic service at 7 pm, but I also adapted it as a conversation with Kermit the frog for our family service at 4 pm (you will see my rough Script at the bottom).
Both of those services are available to watch:
4 pm Link: https://youtu.be/tCun_c2OCkA
7 pm Link: https://youtu.be/bK1rMfiG7gI
Readings: Isaiah 9:1-7, Psalm 96, Luke 2:1-21
Today, we hear about one of the greatest misteries about God as the creator of all things becomes a little baby. Many people would ask how, but when we start to dig into the why, we see that this infinitely loving God has used his power at every turn to give us hope.
There are as many ways of looking at God as there are names we can call him by. He is the just, but also the merciful. He is our Father, but also the feminine in our creator. He is the all powerful and yet he is the humble. He is our king and yet he is our servant. He is the grand and all encompassing God and yet he is the present, intimate and close friend. To most, especially outside of the church these can seem like contradictions. That is until you get to know God.
The God we meet through Scripture, the God we meet in Jesus Christ and the God we can meet every day is the living combination of these seeming contradictions and that is exactly who he needs to be. The Bible shows us that God is bigger than opposites, He is the Alpha and Omega, He is the victorious, but also suffers with us, the highest and yet the one that came down, because that is God who encapsulates all and does all for us.
It is important that we understand that this doesn’t come easy to God. It is who He is, but He has given up a lot to be the God we need. In terms of creation He gave us freedom, He gave us dominion and leadership, He gave us this world, knowing full well that we would misuse all of it - that we would choose ourselves over him. In Israel he chose representatives to bear his image, knowing that they would bear his image falsely and today He gives us His very self, knowing what we would do with Him as this baby becomes a man. Yet while he suffered, at every moment he showed us that it is part of His plan and He is guiding it for good, so that we might be changed through his generosity.
The amazing thing about Christmas is that we see God for who he truly is. The infinitely giving God, who changes us and the world through the generous gift that is God’s life with us.
Just look at the story of Jesus’ birth, which was foretold in our passage from Isaiah. Even before Jesus is born, he is forced to follow the edict of another king, which means that his mom and him have to struggle to travel a great distance, yet in terms of spiritual purpose this means that Christ is born in Bethlehem, which lives into the prophecy of Micah and the promise given to King David that one of his seed would reign forever. Mary and Joseph can’t find a place to stay and so they are forced to give birth and place their child in a manger (a trough for feeding animals). Yet at the same time this trough becomes a sign for the shepherds, but it also points the way forward in that Jesus would feed many with his very body and as he was born beside animals he would begin to restore Edin. Those that first witnessed to Jesus would be a few shepherds, often outcasts and yet it was also the heavenly host that sang God’s glory and this would become a sign for the kingly shepherd that Jesus Himself would become. The strange dichotomy of who God is lives itself out, as God is continually humbling Himself to lift us up. It is our baby God that lifts up Mary, Joseph, this stable, these shepherds, Bethlehem and so much more to be people and places that are infinitely special.
One of the greatest acts of love and humility is that God was born at all. Think about how drastic of an act this is. Imagine someone gave up everything they had to depend on us. Now imagine that person is someone who can do anything, who is immune to all hurt and agony, who can rise above the world, who knows everything, who is in an endless loving community and now imagine that this person who has everything gave it all up to depend on us, to be with us, to take whatever we threw at Him. Times that by a million and we might be approaching how much of a humble sacrifice this was for the infinitely powerful God to come to us.
Yet God knew this is what we needed. He knew that the only way we could see him is if we looked him face to face and so he did what we needed. He gave us the greatest gift we could ever receive: Himself. It would be easy to minimize this gift and compare it with the great joy that comes from a child, or to have a prayer answered, or anything that fills us with that peace and excitement that we crave, but this would not do it justice, because this is a peace and joy that surpasses correlation, it surpasses our understanding.
God coming into the world is like hope itself becoming flesh and changing humanity so every life, and every moment has hope to realize God’s love and potential. It is like someone who could never see, hear, speak, or move suddenly having light, sound, and a voice pour in and out of them as they dance joyously in the most peaceful garden. It is like the most broken situation, person and family suddenly flipped and became the most joyous situation, person and family. It is not just joy and life, it is restoration, redemption, and hope from a loving God.
This contradictory restoration is still possible and true to this day. Because God was born into the world in Jesus everything is different. The very possibility of God has been offered to us and lives in us. It may not play out as we would like it: a child might be born in a barn, or parents might be forced to move and struggle to live, but because Jesus has been born, that very struggle can become the very source of joy and hope.
I could tell you countless stories from my own life, how God has proved this to be true. I could tell you how I was deaf and how God brought back sound and wonder into my life. I could tell you how I was bullied and beat up and yet God gave me a chance to love and care for people through it. I could tell you how I struggled to walk across Spain and how God gave me greater strength and confidence through it. I could tell you how my parents gott divorced and yet God created a greater foundation for me in his love. I could tell you how I was lost and alone and yet God brought me to a greater purpose and community than anything I had known.
The truth is that all of our lives have God’s amazing humbling and uplifting story built into them. God has come down in Jesus, but He is continually coming down for us too. That immense and impossible hope born on that day, that servant king is still living and working. And today we celebrate the greatest gift that God Came Down. AMEN
Rough Script for Kermit in the fields Sketch
Hello Everyone, I have a friend coming to visit today. Where could he be? (in a box behind me)
WAAAHHHHH!!!!!
What’s going on Kermit?
Holy Mackerel, you would not believe what happened?
What happened Kermit?
Little Shepherds and their little sheep
Munching on grass
Angels appeared
The greatest king and saviour
More than that - a secret God
Why would the biggest God, powerful, wise, King become a little crying, sleeping baby?
Could it have something to do with love?
So that we would know and experience his love in a way that is hard to ignore
His love is so big that it can be hard to see or understand - like standing at the bottom of a really tall building and trying to see the top
So that he could change us - this is a really big idea so listen closely - bringing godly potential into humanity
So we might know how important it is to love God
He wants us to love him not because he needs it, but because he knows we do - we are changed by our willingness to give and sacrifice for him like our parents are changed by their giving and sacrificing for us. - We are changed by our loving him
Kermit I know the rest of this story - God loved us more than all of that because he wasn’t born to a rich family in a nice hospital or home - he was born in a place where animals sleep. This big God was willing to become really little and weak for us. Yet the beautiful thing is that when he was born with all those animals at peace - he showed us the world he was hoping for - a world where we would be at peace with one another and the animals around us
The Shepherds saw this - they were amazed and excited by God’s love for them that they told everyone about Jesus - maybe this is also how God wants us to show love for him
