Christmas Eve Sermon; Luke 2:1-20

How much of our American mythology of Christmas do we take as fact? Or maybe just gloss over and don't pay attention to?

Here's a little quiz for you; well, not really a quiz, but more like a Red Light Challenge on Cash Cab: Name eight things most often placed in Nativity scenes: Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Star, Angel, Shepherd, Wise Men, Animals.

If we pay attention to what Luke actually wrote about the scene of Jesus' birth, however, there is no star, no angels, no Wise Men and no animals.

The star and the Wise Men appear in Matthew's gospel. The angels appear to the shepherds, but do not hover over the place of birth. And although animals are implied since Jesus was laid in a manger, the text never says that any animals were present.

So why am I shattering your perfectly manicured image of your Hallmark Nativity set? Because I want you to look beyond the myth to see this birth story without the angelic hosts and without conflating two different stories into one creche scene. If we take away all non-essential items and look at simply the birth of Christ . . . it is really no different than any other birth of any other child in similar circumstances. It is, actually, quite unremarkable.

But it is in that unremarkable-ness that makes it so remarkable. This story reminds us that not only does God create, not only does God part the sea, rain manna from heaven, feed widows with one jar of flour, walk on water and raise the dead, but God is also present in the mundane of everyday life.

At this moment in the church cycle, Mary gives birth to a baby boy. There are cries and tears of pain, maybe a few words of anger, ragged breathing, and then . . . and then there are tears of joy and the cries of one seriously unhappy baby. For those of us with kids of our own, or for people who have been present at a birth, this is pretty typical of how it goes. Let's face it: babies don't arrive all cute, cuddly and cooing with love. And the birth of Jesus was no more remarkable than any other birth.

But as I said, it was in this normal, everyday occurrence that God was present. And it was through this normal, everyday event that God worked.

If we go back through the Bible, it can seem like there's a miracle every other page. God creates, walks among us, sends a flood, allows old couples to have children, rescues Israel time and again, and on and on and on. Here's the funny thing about miracles, though -- they tend to lose their impact over time. Oh, sure, God parted the seas and sent manna from heaven, but what has he done for me lately?

So maybe God decided to do something new. Maybe God decided to work in the everyday mundane-ness of life. Maybe it became apparent that the old ways of bringing people back to God simply weren't effective.

So rather than try to dazzle people with miracles that might get our attention for maybe a generation, God decided to meet us where we are. Since we can't get to heaven, God came to earth in the form of a man. And rather than simply beam down to earth and declare his omnipotence, God arrived like every other man since the dawn of time -- he was born.

God's new way of doing things was found in the ordinary, everyday act of relationship. This is one of the most important differences between Christianity and other religions. We believe that God did a new thing by being born to Mary. We believe that God did a new thing by focusing on relationships.

Jesus was born like any other person. As he grew, he developed a relationship with his mom and dad, as well as with the other kids on the block. Later in life he called twelve men to be his disciples which, over time, developed into friendships. These friendships then were the basis for communities of faith that were born, grew and passed away.

But even though a specific place passed away, the community of faith did not. It may change and move over time, but the fact remains that this thing we call Christianity will always exist as long as we are willing to be in relationship with others and as long as we are willing to tell others.

God did a new thing with the birth of Jesus. That new thing was based on interaction and relationship with each other and with God. And maybe the reason for this was because the old ways, the way we've always done things, simply were not effective. Part of this new thing is to make us responsible for bringing people back to God.

In the birth story from Luke that we heard tonight, there were no angels or stars over the birthplace announcing the arrival of the Messiah. In short, there was nothing miraculous about it. Instead, God sent the angels to tell the shepherds to tell the others.

Tonight, we are shepherds. Tonight, we are the ones who will go and proclaim the Messiah's birth. Tonight marks the beginning of a new thing, a new way of spreading the news about God and inviting people to join us in a holy relationship.

As we go from in here to out there, let's ask ourselves: What are the old ways of doing things that are no longer effective, and what might be a new way of proclaiming the gospel to those around us?

Tonight a child is born. Tonight God does something new. Will we be willing to take the same risk that God took for us?

Merry Christmas and Happy NEW Year.