Luke 1: 26-38
In tonight’s concert you will hear a few phrases that are in
Latin- a language easy and beautiful to pronounce and the root language of many
that are used today. When we sing “Alleluia” for example, it is the Latin
way of writing the Hebrew word “Hallelujah!” which means “Praise the Lord!”
Indeed if I tell you that some have referred to the birth of Christ as the “Divinum Mysterium” those with a good
ear could tell that means “the Divine Mystery.” Likewise “O Magnum Mysterium” means “Oh, Magnificent Mystery” which refers to
God. And the words of Mary that were just read are called the “Magnificat” in Latin, from the main word
of the first sentence, “Magnifies; My soul magnifies the Lord!” So we can approach these Christmas events
with the eyes of detectives, which will unlock some of the meanings that have
been before us for years, but not fully understood.
Let’s begin by trying to figure out why the one called Son of
God and called Savior, the King of kings and Prince of peace, should come into
this world in such a lowly way. Let’s try to figure why the woman God chose to
bear his Son had such poor and bustling conditions for the birth of her Son.
And let’s try to figure out why the one who sends an angel to tell Mary not to
be afraid seems to forget her plight as she has to travel 80 miles, being great
with child. And finally let’s try to figure out why Jesus was laid in a manger,
a feeding trough for animals, instead of in a beautiful wooden crib made from
the skilled hands of Joseph, his carpenter father.
As we begin, some of you may hesitate to ask and probe about
things concerning Jesus’ birth. The story, after all, is classic, its
inspiring, and its beautiful. Christmas Eve we will honor that tradition of
reading the story and singing the carols. But there are insights to be learned
that will bring detectives closer to him and to the great mystery of his humble
birth.
First, the announcement is startling, having a stranger—an
angel no less—visit Mary and tell of God’s plans and invite her collaboration.
A young woman such a she, certainly just a teenager, faced an overwhelming
responsibility for one who had lived under that shelter of her family all her
life. She would disappoint her father by having a child during her engagement
to Joseph, the man her father certainly arranged for her to marry. She would
anger her townspeople by having them think she had been unfaithful to her
husband-to-be. Can you imagine trying to tell your family and friends that your
pregnancy was from God’s Holy Spirit? If you thought Noah had a hard sell when
he told others God said to build and ark, imagine how Mary felt about telling
this news! Instead she went away, to stay with her cousin Elizabeth for months.
Her cousin was having an exceptional pregnancy of her own announced by an angel
to her husband of many years. He would grow to be known as John the Baptist. And
what disgrace Mary’s news brought on poor Joseph too! In Matthew we read that
he was ready to break off his engagement to her when an angel talked him into
the idea, another scene that seems beyond belief. So the announcements are
incredible. Second, in Luke’s gospel, in a passage we will read Christmas Eve, we
read “you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
For three verses in the Bible, read at Christmas, we hear about a manger.
Nowhere else in the Bible is one mentioned, or is this story told. Jesus was in
a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. You’ll recall that
Luke says a census was called for by Caesar, and all had to return to their
hometown to be registered. That was the reason for the trip from
Again, the message we have to consider each Christmas is
this: a young woman conceives a son, not by her husband to be, but by the Holy
Spirit. An angel announces this news to her, and in a separate time, speaks to
Joseph about it. The child she is carrying is already named—Jesus—and she knows
his sex before our best tests today could tell it. He is said to be a holy
child. In spite of the holiness, Joseph agrees to a step-father arrangement and
is forced to travel 80 miles south with Mary to
Finally, we recall that the “Son and Savior” message has an
equally anguishing story awaiting us at Easter, when the faithful Son of God
dies a criminal’s death on a Roman cross.
If it were fiction few would believe this story; because we believe it
to be true, it is gospel: God came into the world like one of the poorest of
the poor to relate to them; he came in as a king, to relate to those in power.
His birth was announced in disgraceful ways in
Today we thank God for Mary, who had the human choice of
saying no, but said yes. We thank God for Joseph, who had the choice of saying
no to the strange arrangement before him, but he said yes. We thank God that
people of all walks of life—lowly and regal—were represented in the Christmas
story because it includes us. An old
spiritual looked at Good Friday and asked the haunting question: “Were you
there when they crucified my Lord?” Because of Luke’s gospel, we also have
descriptions about the angel and Mary, with dialogue included in such detail
that we almost feel as if we were there too. We are on the verge of Christmas
Eve; think of ways you can honor not only God for the gift of salvation, but
also the cast of characters who said yes to God’s plans. What plans might God
have for you in helping others to have a place to lay their head, and a bite of
food for hungry travelers? What will be your role in God’s unfolding drama of
the Divinum Mysterium? Jeffrey
A. Sumner