Why I Celebrate Christmas

Isaiah 12:2-6
John 1:1-14

Well, ready or not, Christmas is coming. 
With every catalog we get in the mail,
with every card we receive,
with every Christmas song we hear in the stores and on the radio,
with every television special we see,
with every advertisement we see and hear and read,
with every invitation we receive,
we know Christmas is on the way.
And, it will come, wether we are ready or not.
And, so we begin to get somewhat anxious about it all, don’t we?

It is almost as though there are two Christmases:
one of the lights and trees and decorations and presents and reindeer and parties and snowmen –
and . . . .  and . . . . and . . . .
The one we talk about in church.

Sometimes, it seems that the two Christmases are not even of the same wavelength.

We know the Christmas story that most of the world around us celebrates – and we know it well – and we participate in it willingly and knowingly – often for very good reasons. 
We like the feeling that comes with giving and thinking about others and going out of our way to make someone’s day. 

But, you know, the earliest Christians did not celebrate Christmas.
    It just was not important to them.

No one knows when Jesus was born . . .
    No one kept a record – maybe he never told anyone – we don’t know
    It just was not important to them.
There is no record of the Disciples ever singing happy birthday to Jesus.

Of course, the first Christians knew Jesus,
they lived with Jesus,
they heard Jesus talk,
they saw Jesus laugh,
they felt Jesus hurt,
they saw Jesus sleep and eat and drink and do all kinds of bodily functions –
they experienced a living breathing person just as you and I experience each other. 

But, after a few hundred years, some believers began to question whether Jesus ever really lived at all.  
He was being remembered and worshiped as more of a god – than remembered as a real living breathing man who lived and died during certain days and years of the Roman Empire.

So, a small faction began to think it was important not to forget that Jesus was a real person. 
And if he was, when ought to remember when he was born.

Trouble was, nobody knew when Jesus was born.

The very earliest writing we have in the New Testament is a letter from The Apostle Paul, written around the year of 35 AD.
The earliest Gospel we have is attributed to Mark.  The Gospel of Mark was most probably published around the year of 50 AD. 
In the past 60 years, many other documents have been discovered that date back to the very first decades after Jesus’ death.
When we read these documents looking for what they say about the birth of Jesus, we discover one thing in common. 
None of them have anything to say about the birth of Jesus.
Nothing.
It simply was not important to them.

A strong vocal faction of early believers thought it was just plain wrong to celebrate Jesus’ birthday – because that was too much like the world around them did when they celebrated the birthdays of the pagan gods, the Caesars and the Pharaohs.

But, there appeared a major debate in the middle of the third century.
Whether or not we would celebrate it, it would be nice to know when Jesus was born. 
So the speculation began. 
After a careful study of scripture, one prominent theologian of the third century calculated the birth date of Jesus must be May 20 [Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215)]
The debate began.  Others calculated that it must have been  April 18,
others thought it was April 19, and
still others were fairly certain it was  May 28.
One of the leaders of a powerful faction thought Jesus’ birthday should be remembered as
January 2 [Hippolytus (c.170-c.236)]
Others calculated it to be November 17,
others November 20, and
some, March 25.
And, so it went. 
It took over 300 years for the church leaders to agree on a date of December 25 to recognize as the birthday of Jesus.

And, even at that point, the believers were at odds with the culture around them.
Most of the world already celebrated major festivals on December 25:
the natalis solis invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"),
and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers.
The winter solstice, another celebration of the sun, fell just a few days earlier.
There were a lot of major celebrations going on at this time of year in most of the cultures of the world – and they had nothing to do with the church.
So, many believers thought it would be most inappropriate to celebrate Christmas at all.

And, in fact throughout history, there are long periods of years when nobody celebrated Christmas at all.
But, Christians have always had an uncanny ability to find ways to celebrate. 
And, in almost every culture where Christians found themselves, they appropriated local events and customs and made them their own.
And, oftentimes there were movements that would spring up to convince believers they should not participate in the cultural seasonal festivities –
sometimes by trying to convince people to remember the reason for the season,
sometimes by campaigning to put Christ back in Christmas,
sometimes by actually passing laws to ban Christmas celebrations altogether!

Imagine that, outlawing Christmas!
In the seventeen century, you may recall, Christian religious zealots took over the government of England. 
Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan Party actually passed legislation that outlawed Christmas. 
To them Christmas had become a time for lavish and raucous celebration and behavior and commercial exploitation – sound familiar? 
So, that was it. 
Plain and simple.
No more Christmas. 
(Sounds like a Dr. Zeus story, doesn’t it?)

And, it gets stranger. 
The people were outraged.
There was rioting in the streets.
Secret Christmas celebrations broke out all over England.
But, Oliver Cromwell retaliated.
Parliament decreed penalties of imprisonment for anyone caught celebrating Christmas.
Imagine that!
Being rounded up and being put in jail because you dared to celebrate Christmas!

Each year the “Christmas Police” would go through the streets a few days before Christmas warning people against celebrating Christmas. 
Businesses were not to be closed during the day  and there were to be no displays of Christmas decorations.

They went around and broke up any sign of Christmas celebration with force of arms. 

And the people rose up.
And the jails filled to overflowing.

The people would not be denied.
They took to the ballot box and voted the Puritans out of power.
Christmas was back.
The very idea. 
Outlawing Christmas.

Meanwhile, over here in the new country, the zealots persisted. 
Christmas was outlawed and not celebrated in many colonies for years. 
In fact, Christmas remained illegal in Massachusetts until sometime after 1850!

So, there is nothing new here. 
It seems that ever since day one, there was some controversy between what the church thought should be remembered and celebrated
and what and how the world around them celebrated.

Recognizing this historical reality doesn’t really do much to ease the conflict today, does it?
Christmas is celebrated in public schools without singing Christmas songs or telling Christmas stories.
All kinds of merchants appropriate seasonal music and messages to sell their products.
And fa-la-las are sung in synch with cash registers.

And, as it so often happened in the past, today the Christmas of the church gets short-shrift in our celebrations.

For the church, Christmas celebrates one of the most fundamental of beliefs – what is called incarnation. 
Specifically, the incarnation of God – that is, literally, God in the flesh. 
What we also call Emmanuel – God is with us!

The profoundness of this message is shown in the beginning words of the Gospel of John:
"This is a time to recall that God existed before time began –
and all things that are and that ever will be were brought into existence by God. 
God is described as the eternal logos – the Word with a capital W. 
And John reminds us that this eternal logos, this Word, this God,
came into the world with flesh and blood –
bridged the gap – came to be one of us – came to live with us." 
And that is Emmanuel means.
God is with us. 
– a profound statement, to be sure.

At this time of year we take time to hear that God is no longer “other”,
God is no longer “out there”,
God is no longer to be appeased with sacred rites and sacrifices,
God is no longer relegated to the realm of religion – apart from where we live and work and play.

So, I am kind of on a personal crusade to never slough over the essential message of the season – the reason we in the church have celebrated the season for so long. 
Because, this is the only place that this message will be proclaimed this year –
you won’t hear it in the schoolroom,
you won’t hear it on television,
you won’t hear it on the radio,
you won’t read about it in the newspaper or magazines,
you won’t hear Rush Limbaugh talking about it,
you won’t hear Charlie Rose talking about it,
you won’t hear Oprah talking about it,
you are not likely to hear your neighbor or friend talking about it.

The bottom line is this:
however touching they are to our heartstrings,
however much we love to hear them and to sing about them,
however much we enjoy the feelings prevalent this time of year,
the birth stories are not really about the baby Jesus.

The birth stories are told and remembered because of the adult Jesus –
and what people experienced with him during his earthly ministry,
and what people experienced because of him after his death –
and what people have experienced through him through the ages,
and what people continue to experience with him day and day out. 

For me, at its essence, Christmas is really about Emmanuel. 
That Hebrew word that means “God With Us”.  
For all those early Christians,
for all those writers of faith documents for their communities,
this word reflects what they affirmed had happened in this man from Nazareth –
what they continued to experience long after he had gone –
that Jehovah –
the great I Am –
God Almighty –
Creator of the Universe and all the worlds that are –
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob –
the One God of the faith of our fathers and mothers –
deigned to enter our world and become as we are
to let us know there is no separation now from holy and mundane,
from sacred and profane,
from work and ritual.
No.

In this man from Nazareth, we see Emmanuel! 
Through this man of Nazareth, we know Emmanuel.
With this man of Nazareth, we experience Emmanuel.

God is With Us.
That’s what we hear.

God is with us.
That’s what we sing.

God is with us.
That’s what we believe.

God is with us.
That’s what we celebrate.

Each and every year at Christmas.
Each and every week in worship.
Each and every morning when we get up.

Emmanuel!  This Christmas.
Emmanuel!  All year long!
Emmanuel!  Every minute of every hour of every day of your life!

We have a story to tell.
We need to find significant ways to celebrate the incarnation and the revelation of this one we call Emmanuel – Jesus our Christ.

Somehow, we have allowed non-Christians to take over our territory, our message, our celebration.
We should be the ones known for partying.
We should be the ones known for celebrating.
We are, really, the only ones that have anything worth celebrating, don’t you think?

This year, let us – you and me – be the ones to tell the stories, to tell the news.
Let everyone who lives shout and sing!
Our God is great and lives among his people!
Emmanuel!  Amen.

The Congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon December 6, 2009,

Christmas Is for Adults

Christmas is for children, we say.
And, who doesn’t enjoy the look of joy and excitement on the face of a child on Christmas morning!
Of course what we celebrate with children on Christmas morning has very little, or nothing at all, to do with the stories of our faith.

Even the nativity story we all know so well is an amalgam of many diverse stories melded together nowhere in our sacred texts.

As a pastor for some 45 years, I have labored for a more educated understanding of the basic truths that underlie the stories we know so well.

At the end of the day, Christmas is important to us not primarily for children; but, because it is primarily a story for adults.

Take a look at the very earliest writings we have –
the letters of Paul and some of the writings that were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi and other places in the desert country of Egypt and Syria and Palestine,
and the very earliest Gospel in our Bible:
the Gospel of Mark – which was published around the year 70.
We actually have several texts now that were published during these early  years – during the first 75 years or so after Jesus was killed.

And, look as we may, it is obvious that none of these texts say anything at all about the birth of Jesus. 
It just was not important to them.

Yes, Jesus was a pivotal figure in their history,
yes, Jesus was a pivotal figure in their faith,
yes, Jesus was a pivotal figure in their life experience – in their understanding of who they were and what they to do.
Clearly, they each articulate a faith that in Jesus, they saw God incarnate – God in the flesh –
for them,  Jesus was Emmanuel – God with us.

The Stories of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

The oldest of the old, old stories are found here in the Gospel of Mark – in their purest,
most unadulterated, form.

The Gospel of Mark appears to be a bridge between an oral tradition and a literary tradition,
between spoken word and the written word,
between stories told by word of mouth and stories read aloud to a group.

Isaiah 29:13
Mark 6:1-6
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
The Stories of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

Ever get a song stuck in your head?
A few weeks ago this song got stuck in my head – and its still there.
    Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
    things I would ask him to tell me if he were here:
    scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
    stories of Jesus, tell them to me.

So, I got to thinking, we have lots of stories of Jesus – some good stories – and  we should be telling some of them.
We should be telling them, because it is up to us.
We don’t hear these stories anywhere else these days.
They aren’t being told in schools,
they are not on television very often,
and, most families today don’t know the stories in order to tell them to their children.
So, we have an obligation, really, to tell the old, old stories . . . of Jesus and his love.

So, for the next few Sundays, I will be telling some of the stories of Jesus.

Last week we looked at the very oldest stories I could find about Jesus.
The very first stories of Jesus that we know of.

Just to remind us, the obvious needs to be stated: no one was following Jesus around with a tape recorder loading sound bytes for future generations.
No one was following him around with a pencil and papyrus.

And, again, as a reminder, none of the documents in our New Testament were written when Jesus was alive –
all of the stories of Jesus we have in our Bible,
the stories we have heard all our lives,
were written long after Jesus lived.

We know that almost all of our Jesus come from the four Gospels in our Holy Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And, Biblical scholars from all persuasions agree on general dates each of the Gospels were written.

And, it has become clear from studies in last 60 years, or so, studies of the Dead emphasis Scrolls,
the Nag Hammadi library,
and other “recent’ discoveries of ancient documents,
each of the Gospels in our Bible comes out of a different community reflecting different traditions, (different denominations, if you will) –
communities of “Christians” that differed in some ways from other communities of Christians –
differed in their practices,
differed in their racial/ethnic make up,
differed in their emphasis,
differed in their theology behind their understanding of Jesus.

All Biblical scholars seem to agree that the very first Gospel (the earliest one that was written) is the one attributed to Mark.
(This document is called Mark because it stems from a community that was influenced by the Mark the Evangelist. 
No one thinks that the Gospel of Mark was written by the Apostle called Mark –
The Gospel of Mark was written around 80 AD – about 50 years after Jesus was executed.
That would make the Apostle Mark an unbelievably old man for his day.
But we have found out that there were a number of Christian communities that came to be because of Mark and his work as an apostle after the death of Jesus.
These people heard Mark’s preaching,
followed Mark’s teaching,
and heard Mark’s stories of Jesus.
(The old, old, stories . . .)

The Gospel of Mark appears to be a bridge between an oral tradition and a literary tradition,
between spoken word and the written word,
between stories told by word of mouth and stories read aloud to a group.

Mark is the first of the Gospels to be written,
and it is the shortest.
It is a page-turner. 
For centuries, readers have participated in fast-paced episodic stories about the life of Jesus –
whom was called Christ.
It has long been recognized to be a document to be read aloud in a group, rather than alone for instruction or meditation or inspiration.
It is composed for the ear rather than the eye.

It is unique from the other Gospels – Matthew, Luke and John – in that it is about events – what Jesus did –
really, with very little concern about what Jesus taught.

Mark’s Gospel was published and circulated first – before all the others.
Matthew and Luke knew of Mark’s work, and copied most of it.

So, by definition, Mark has some of the earliest stories of Jesus we know of.

Mark doesn’t mince words.
Words are used sparsely and carefully.
Again, to carry a punch when read aloud.

The very first verse begins with an affirmation – just to be clear –
This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

But then, unlike the other Gospels, Mark launches into a story about John the Baptist.

Again, like we saw in the Apostle Paul, the very earliest believers had no interest in Jesus’ birth,
no interest in Jesus’ genealogy,
no interest in Jesus’ ancestors,
no mention of Jesus’ parentage,
no Bethlehem stories,
no shepherds,
no star,
no wise men,
no angels of glory.

He starts out with a story about John the Baptist.
Why would he do that?
Why start here?

There is an undertold story about John the Baptist.
The Gospel writers knew it first hand.
We have “discovered” it in the revelations of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi documents, and some of the archeological discoveries of recent years.

They have found evidence of communities – congregations – of people who followed John the Baptist –
perhaps these were people who were baptized by him, or folks who were baptized by those who were baptized by John.
They organized their lives around the ministry and teaching of John the Baptist –
and many thought him to be the long-awaited-for Messiah.

But, there was this caveat: 
John claimed that he was not the messiah.
His mission was to get folks ready for the one who was to come.
“People get ready, there’s a new world coming . . .”

Sometime before Mark’s gospel there must have been efforts to bring together – to merge – the Christians – Jesus’ people;
and the Johannines – John the Baptist’s people.

So, Mark begins,
this is the story of the Good News of Jesus the Christ – the Son of God –
and it begins with John the Baptist.

Finally, for the early believers, here in one place we have a collection of all the stories that people have heard told about the life of Jesus.
These are primarily stories of events,
what Jesus did.
And, Mark emphasizes that they together they provide more than enough proof that Jesus was God’s son.
We have stories of miracles.
We have stories of healings.
Jesus even exhibited power over forces of nature:
he could walk on water without sinking,
he brought dead people back to life,
he stilled the howling winds,
he calmed the troubled waters.
(All in all, the picture is presented more akin to a Roman god than any of the prophets of Jewish literature.)

Again, Mark is like an archive,
a collection of the stories that were being told about Jesus.
Mark was a re-teller of the stories
(the old, old, stories),
not so much an editor as a collector.

For instance, there is the story of the feeding of the multitude.
Mark includes two versions of the same story.
Somewhere along the way of transmitting the story  by word of mouth over the years,
stories about details of the event changed.
There were two separate traditions with their own stories by the time Mark collected them.
Rather than editing them to fit together, they both were included (Mark 6:32-44 and Mark 8:1-10).
And, those that study these things, point out that before these two different stories came to be, there was another story – the one that got changed.

One version talks about five loaves and two fishes.
The other version mentions seven loaves and a few fish.

One version fed 5,000 people, the other 4,000.

One version had twelve baskets of left-over food, the other version had seven baskets of left-over food.

In one version, after the event, Jesus got in a boat to Bethsaida,
in the other version Jesus got in a boat to Dalmanutha.

There are a lot of other examples that are fascinating to those who study such things.


I find it fascinating that most of the stories of Jesus that we like to hear –
our favorite stories that we like to repeat –
the Christmas stories,
the parables,
the sermon of the mount,
the Lord’s prayer –
these were not the oldest, old stories,
these were not the earliest stories of Jesus,

It took another 30 years, or longer, before these stories came into being and were being told within and to the Christian communities.

The oldest of the old, old stories are found here in the Gospel of Mark – in their purest,
most unadulterated, form.
It’s short enough to read at one sitting.
I encourage you to read it again –
to find out what those earliest believers were being told.

Tell me the stories of Jesus that I long to hear . . .

Tell me the old, old, story of Jesus and his love.

I encourage you to continue singing the songs,
and continue telling the stories.
There is no one but you and I that are telling the stories.
Keeping the stories alive is a sacred task.

I will keep on searching for the old, old, stories of Jesus – and keep you posted on what I find out.
As we continue next week with another episode of The Stories of Jesus.

Amen.

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 16, 2012.

Christmas Is for Adults - About the Adult Jesus

The bottom line is this:
however touching they are to our heartstrings,
however much we love to hear them and to sing about them,
however much we enjoy the feelings prevalent this time of year,
the birth stories are not really about the baby Jesus.


The birth stories are told and remembered because of the adult Jesus –
and what people experienced with him during his earthly ministry,
and what people experienced because of him after his death –
and what people have experienced through him through the ages,
and what people continue to experience with him day and day out. 


For me, at its essence, Christmas is really about Emmanuel. 
That Hebrew word that means “God With Us”.


The Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 12:2-6
Matthew 1:17-25

For over 1500 years, the church has set aside this time before Christmas as a time of preparation –
a time for believers to engage in opportunities of study to better understand the enormity of what it is we celebrate at Christmas and its profound impact on the faith passed on to us from previous generations. 

This year, in an attempt to help us focus on the real reason for the season –  what is so central to the faith we hold – I am trying to address what was important to those very earliest of Christians.

Last week we looked at the writings of some of the very earliest Christians and looked at what they had to say about the birth of Jesus.   
The very earliest writing we have in the New Testament is a letter from The Apostle Paul, written around the year of 35 AD.
The earliest Gospel we have is attributed to Mark.  The Gospel of Mark was most probably published around the year of 50 AD. 
In the past 60 years, many other documents have been discovered that date back to the very first decades after Jesus’ death.
When we read these documents looking for what they say about the birth of Jesus, we discover one thing in common. 
None of them have anything to say about the birth of Jesus.  Nothing.
It simply was not important to them.

Oh, for sure, they were all convinced that the experiences they recalled with this Jesus of Nazareth was extraordinary. 
In fact, as the years went by, they were convinced that they had experienced nothing less than the in-dwelling of God Almighty. 
That, for sure, they experienced the holy –
that, for sure, for a while, and even now, they experienced Emmanuel –
[a Hebrew word that means God With Us].

(As a side note: I was particularly interested in an article that was published just yesterday by Bayler University’s Center for Christian Ethics, wherein, the author spells out much of the same things I did in our sermon last week! 
So, really, I don’t make this stuff up!)

Now, the second oldest Gospel text is the Gospel of Matthew. 
It was written about thirty years after Mark – around 80 AD.  

Matthew is somewhat different than Mark.
Matthew obviously knew about Mark’s Gospel.
Matthew includes the entire Gospel of Mark. 
Yes, he edited freely and rearranged some of the scenes, but its all there. 
Everything you read in Mark is in Matthew.
But, Matthew includes much more.
And, the editing and rearranging he does reflect his own emphasis, and are worthy of study and noting.

Matthew also includes writings and sayings from a second document that was circulating during those days –  
a document that Luke knew about and used also;
a document that Mark did not know about or didn’t care about.  
(Scholars call this the quelle document  – or “source” document.)
Matthew also knew and used material from a third source –
stories that were circulating among some circles that were becoming known as the infancy narratives – stories relating to the birth of Jesus. 

I believe we are lucky to be living in these days, because we are discovering new source material all the time. 
It seems that every month or so, something new crops us that provide new light on old documents, and old practices, and old beliefs.

One of the most exciting discoveries, to me, is that we are discovering that those earliest Christian believers were a pretty diverse bunch. 
Contrary to what we may have taught, those early Christians, right from the beginning were not of one mind about their belief
or about their practices
or about their place in the world.

We know that after Jesus’ death, his followers scattered and hid. 
But, shortly after, many came to the conviction that something extraordinary had happened – something that changed their perspective on who Jesus was and he would mean for the future of their movement.
It was their experience of the resurrection experience that led the disciples to come to think of Jesus as somehow more than just a prophet, but as the Messiah himself.   
And that’s when they began to organize around his memory. 

But, we must remember, the earliest form of the movement was as a sect within Judaism.
Jesus was a Jew.
Jesus disciples were Jews.
Jesus was a Jewish Messiah.
They are followers of a Jewish apocalyptic tradition.
They are expecting the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.
It was a Jewish movement.

For sure, it was made up of small groups.
At least one of them was based in Jerusalem, but others were spread all over the countryside, including at least one or more in Galilee.
These were small, homebased groups, that met together weekly, studied together, ministered to one another, and prayed for and with one another.
But, when time came, they went to the temple for worship.

What we have discovered is that pretty much, each of these small groups developed their own take on what they experienced with Jesus of Nazareth and what had happened to him at the end of his public ministry. 

Some groups seemed to be in competition with one another –
especially as they considered how closely they were to observe the Jewish laws of the Torah. 

One historian writes, “Christianity, or one would rather say “Christianities,” of [the early years] were a highly variegated phenomenon.” 
We can see from recent discoveries that there were very different views of Jesus in the various types of Christianity. 
Another historian reminds us that it was “a time where there was no fixed formulation what the set of Christian beliefs should be. 
What Christian rituals should be. 
What they should think
or what they should tell about Jesus.”

The Christianity of Rome was different that Christianity of North Africa
and that was different from what we find in Egypt,
and that was different from what find in Syria
or back in Palestine.
So, we see each form of Christianity beginning to tell the story of Jesus in different ways.

And, so we see different “Gospels” emerging from these different groups. 
You have heard about the Gospel of Thomas that has been translated and published with the last few of years.
There is also the Gospel of Philip,
the Gospel of Truth,
The Gospel to the Egyptians,
the Apocryphon of John,
Secret Book of James,
Apocalypse of Paul,
the Letter of Peter to Philip,
the Apocalypse of Peter,
the Acts of Thomas,
the Acts of Paul,
and the list goes on and on and on.
So far, some 52 different Gospels have been discovered – besides the four found in our Bible.

And within our Bible, we see how this gets played to a small degree.
We noted that Mark just wasn’t concerned about Jesus’ birth. 

Matthew was.
Matthew was very concerned about showing Jesus as being the embodiment of Hebrew prophecy –
the presence of the long-awaited-for Jewish Messiah.

This was important to Matthew because at that time, another man, Bar Kochba, was leading a Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire.
Bar Kochba was imploring his kinsmen to take up arms: “Come join us to fight against the Romans.
You believe God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel, don’t you?  Join us.” 
Bar Kochba was leading the revolt as the Jewish Messiah.

And, this set some of the Jewish Christians back a bit. 
“He can’t be the Messiah – we already have one.”

And so, Matthew takes a clue from the Romans who gave all of their gods some sort of divine birth story.

Others were circulating birth stories of Jesus to show that Jesus was second to no Roman god.

So, Matthew includes some of the stories that were circulating at the time.
But, Matthew wanted to make clear that not only did Jesus have a special birth like the Roman gods,
but that Jesus was clearly a Jew. 

The religious community that produced the Gospel of Matthew took pains to place their understanding squarely within its Jewish heritage
and portrays Jesus as one whose Jewish identity is beyond doubt.
After copying Marks first verse, Matthew begins by tracing Jesus’ genealogy. 

Now, everyone knew, he only needed to show that Jesus was a descendent of King David. 
But, Matthew takes no chances. 
He traces Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Abraham. 
It was that important to Matthew.

He wanted to show Jesus as even greater than Moses. 
And, he edits his narrative to have Jesus constantly reinterpreting what was commonly known as Jewish law. 
“You’ve heard it said . . . But, I say to you . . .”

The bottom line is this:
however touching they are to our heartstrings,
however much we love to hear them and to sing about them,
however much we enjoy the feelings prevalent this time of year,
the birth stories are not really about the baby Jesus.

The birth stories are told and remembered because of the adult Jesus –
and what people experienced with him during his earthly ministry,
and what people experienced because of him after his death –
and what people have experienced through him through the ages,
and what people continue to experience with him day and day out. 

For me, at its essence, Christmas is really about Emmanuel. 
That Hebrew word that means “God With Us”.  

For all those early Christians,
for all those writers of faith documents for their communities,
this word reflects what they affirmed had happened in this man from Nazareth –
what they continued to experience long after he had gone –
that Jehovah –
the great I Am –
God Almighty –
Creator of the Universe and all the worlds that are –
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob –
the One God of the faith of our fathers and mothers –
deigned to enter our world and become as we are
to let us know there is no separation now from holy and mundane,
from sacred and profane,
from work and ritual.
No. 
In this man from Nazareth, we see Emmanuel! 
Through this man of Nazareth, we know Emmanuel.
With this man of Nazareth, we experience Emmanuel.
God is With Us.
That’s what we hear.
God is with us.
That’s what we sing.
God is with us.
That’s what we believe.
God is with us.
That’s what we celebrate.
Each and every year at Christmas.
Each and every week in worship.
Each and every morning when we get up.

Emmanuel!  This Christmas.
Emmanuel!  All year long!
Emmanuel!  Every minute of every hour of every day of your life!

Amen.

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon as a part of their worship service Sunday, December 4, 2011 - the Second Sunday of Advent.