December 20, 1998
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco
Wonder of Children
Last week Joy and I attended the Semanon’s Christmas gathering at Henry and Sue Ng’s home in Fairfield. With a sudden rap on the front door, Santa Claus came with a big red bag, full of Christmas toys. While some of the children thought they knew what was happening, the littlest believed Santa was here. Henry and Sue have twins, Conners and Kathleen. They believed. When Santa asked Conners if he wanted to go with Santa to the North Pole, he readily climbed into the big red bag after it was emptied of presents. Their faces were filled with wonder and belief.
Something unbeknownst to us caused us to take the wonderment out of our lives. Maybe it happened when:
*We first touched the stove and burned our finger
*Maybe it happened when our mother was late in picking us up from school
*Perhaps when we thought our school teacher was unfair in how she mediated over a fight
*Maybe when our best friend lied to us
*Or when we realized that our American history books are written only from one group’s perspective
*Maybe when we learned that people don’t really mean what they say
*Or that our president did have an affair
*Or that Santa Claus was really Steve Lessler
What happened to us? What happened to the wonder and awe that we used to have as children? I want to go back to Peter Pan’s Never, Never Land where we never have to grow up!
There’s a story in one of those Chicken Soup for the Soul books about a little girl named Sachi.
Soon after her brother was born, little Sachi began to ask her parents to leave her
alone with the new baby. They worried that like most four-year-olds, she might
feel jealous and want to hit or shake him, so they said no. But she showed no
signs of jealousy. She treated the baby with kindness and her pleas to be left alone with him became more urgent. They decided to allow it.
Elated, she went into the baby’s room and shut the door, but it opened a crack—
enough for her curious parents to peek in and listen. They saw little Sachi
walk quietly up to her baby brother, put her face close to his and say quietly,
“Baby, tell me what God feels like. I’m starting to forget.”
Last Sunday, I believe many of us felt what God is like when our children came into worship to decorate the Christmas tree. With their little creations in their hands, they blessed us with their faces of wonder and awe. We caught a little glimpse of wonderment from our very own children.
More Worry than Wonder
I wonder why is it so hard to wonder today? When we grew up, life became complicated. Rather than playing with our friends outside until dinner, we are now the ones making the dinners. We spend more time worrying than wondering.
We worry about getting all that Christmas shopping done for everyone on our shopping list. We worry about finding just the right gift for Uncle and Auntie. Then we worry about how to pay for it.
We worry about all the crowds at the shopping malls and parking spaces crammed with cars. And with all of this humanity encircling us, we also worry about how lonely we might be.
We worry about making it to all of the Christmas get togethers with our families and with our coworkers. Our weekly planners are filled with activities on top of other activities. We worry about cooking if they’re coming to our house.
When we worry so much during Christmas, we have no time to wonder. No time to stand at awe that God came to earth to be with us. When you take away all the glitter and Christmas shopping music, the true meaning of Christmas is that God came to earth to be with us. In Matthew, it is recorded that an angel spoke to Joseph telling him that the baby in Mary is from the Holy Spirit. And that they are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins and that he is “Emmanuel” which means “God is with us.”
God With Us
When we lose our sense of wonderment and worry so much that we don’t have time to wonder, we can find ourselves going through all the motions about “doing Christmas” and not really understanding the powerful meaning of Christmas at all! We think that because we are sending out Christmas cards, buying presents, playing Christmas music, and even attending morning worship services, that we are celebrating the meaning of Christmas.
In our Scripture Lesson for today, it is revealed to us the wonderful mystery of how the Almighty God comes to earth to be one of us. This passage contrasts the encounters between the divine and the human, the heavenly and the earthly, God and us.
Jesus is a member of a family tree
Luke sets the stage for this heavenly encounter by listing a richly detailed history of where and when Jesus was born. It was during the time when Augustus was emperor and Quirinius was governor of Syria, that Joseph and Mary was required to register their
citizenship. They 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. Luke establishes a real human family tree for Jesus. And God joins this family.
Jesus came into the world through childbirth
Luke said Joseph went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. Imagine how Joseph must have felt. When Joseph discovered Mary’s untimely condition, he decided to divorce her quietly rather than to humiliate her. This young couple must have been scared—knowing what they know and not knowing what to do. Employing the most basic human miracle, God comes into the world as a baby, just like the way you and I have come into the world. The angel said to Mary,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now you
will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
The Son of God, the Son of the Most High, the Prince of Peace comes into the world by childbirth. The divine encounters the human.
The birth of Jesus was announced to lowly shepherds
When God wanted to announce the good news of Jesus’ birth, he didn’t let scholars or court officials know first. He turned to shepherds. Shepherds were among the poor, and by the standards of the most religiously meticulous people, they were outcasts. They lived a hard life out in the field, far removed from the comforts and leisure that would allow them to follow the rules for food preparation, purification, and other aspects of religious practice. They lived a life wrapped in danger as they tried to protect their animals from both human raiders and various wild beasts. But it is with these outcasts, that God sends an angel to announce the birth of Christ. Luke writes,
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.
Once again, the heavenly and the earthly were together in that region where there were some shepherds watching their flock by night.
The same message is repeated over and over again. The true meaning of Christmas is that God came to be one of us. Down through the centuries, we have remembered this day of Christmas as being the best news that has ever been told: God is with us. The divine encounters the human. The heavens meet the earth and the glory of the Son of God is shone around. This is good news. We are once again, filled with wonder and awe.
When the first Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin shot into outer space, he made a flippant observation that he didn’t see God. The problem is that he was looking in the wrong place; he wasn’t looking low enough. The Christmas good news finds Christ in the
lowliest, earthly places: a family tree, a young couple in a manger, and poor shepherds in their fields at night.
Wonder Leads to Worship
When the shepherds heard about the good news from the multitude of heavenly host, they could not restrain themselves from going to Bethlehem to see what has happened. They went in haste. The shepherds testified to others about what was told to them, and these people were amazed. They found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger and told them what the angels said to them. They probably knelt in front of Jesus in wonder and awe. Of course, they did! Whenever we are with a baby, we “ooh and ahh” and our faces are filled with wonder. The shepherds came seeking for answers to what they heard. And they returned, glorifying and praising God. From their wonder and awe, they worship the Prince of Peace.
We are like the shepherds. When we come week after week to church for worship, Sunday school, and fellowship, we are seeking for answers to what we have heard about Jesus Christ. We come with the hope that we will leave glorifying and praising God.
There is some purpose in the madness that we create for ourselves during Christmas. Like the shepherds we go out of our way to find meaning and truth in our lives. We too are saying, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”
Why do we crawl upstairs in our dusty antics to bring down the boxes of Christmas decorations each year? Why do we rearrange all of our furniture so that we can bring in a evergreen tree that should be left outside and then proceed to string it with color lights, homemade ornaments, and candy canes? We do this because we are seeking answers to what we have heard about Jesus. With all this extra stimulation of lights, scents, and holiday foods, we want to wonder and be in awe.
Why do we light one of our Advent candles in worship each Sunday? Because we are seeking and anticipating as each week goes by, that we may find answers to what we have heard about Jesus. The flickering candles create a sense of wonder and awe.
The answer that we are seeking is Jesus Christ is born. The God of the Most High came to earth to become one of us.
Go ahead and trim that Christmas tree with all the tinsel and ornaments that you can find. Go ahead and wrap all those beautiful presents with silver and gold ribbons. Go ahead and dress up as Santa Claus and see the wonder on their faces. Go ahead on Christmas eve and set out a few cookies and a glass of cold milk for Santa. Come on Christmas eve to hear the story of Jesus and sing the carols and then receive the Light of Christ to brighten our darkened world. Let us celebrate Christmas with wonder and awe. Let’s try to remember how we used to wonder and be in awe for the wonder-full act of God is to be with us.
“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 and goodwill to everyone.”” Have a Wonderful, Merry Christmas!
Let us pray.
O Mighty and Precious Father God of us all, touch our lives and reminds us about the wonderful gift of your son, Jesus Christ, joy to the world. We seek your presence in our lives. Give us wonder and awe, Emmanuel, God with us. Amen.