Twin Oaks Nursing Home Xmas Sermon

Did you know Isaac Newton was born on Christmas day? That’s ironic, since it was his discovery of gravity and other natural laws in the early 1700’s that led philosophers to come up with theory called the clockwork universe. Some kind of God set things in motion, they thought, but it seemed to them that he wasn't still involved. Natural laws were in charge. 

But the thing is, as scientists have learned more and more about the universe, this idea has fallen apart a bit. Figuratively and literally. As science has gotten deeper and deeper into the atom, they’ve reported that things just aren’t all that predictable.

And at the opposite extreme, everything in the universe is LITERALLY falling apart. Science says the edges of the Milky Way are expanding. But I mean more personally. As in, turning to dust. The earth, our bodies, everything wears out. 

But another child was born on Christmas day. And his birth didn’t tear things apart, it put them back together. His birth had been expected for eight centuries, ever since Isaiah---one of Israel’s greatest prophets---predicted it. There are a lot of names for Jesus, but one of the most meaningful is Immanuel.  

It’s from the biblical Hebrew Isaiah is written in. Without going too deeply into it, the “Im” in this name is that language’s word for WITH. Hebrew has vowels, but they aren’t exactly the same as English ones, which is why you sometimes see this word as Emmanuel, sometimes as Immanuel. The true pronunciation is somewhere between the two. (Incidentally, this is the same reason hanukkah sometimes has a C and sometimes doesn’t. )

“El,” as you may know, means GOD. You can see this in names for God, like El Shaddai, or biblical characters’ names, like Elijah. And even the “anu” that forms the center of this name has meaning,  signifying US. So Immanuel is not just a random word symbolizing Jesus, but is a short sentence that means the opposite of that clockwork universe the enlightenment envisioned.

No, this is a God with us. Here. Today. Right now. A divine being who cares so much about humanity that he became one of us. Do you remember the first time I talked about the 23rd Psalm, I described how trying to earn your way to heaven is like swimming across the ocean? If we think of things that way, God isn’t just a boat passing on the horizon. He’s not even a boat that allows us to climb aboard and save ourselves. 

No, Emmanuel means that the creator of the stars and planets jumps right into the water with us, like a lifeguard. 

It’s hard for our minds to grasp how completely different these two ideas are. Why on earth would an all-powerful God do something like this? By his own choice, he wasn’t  born in the palace which he certainly deserved more than any human king ever has. Not in a warm and loving house, surrounded by soft blankets and pillows. Not even in a packed hotel in a city filled with people from governor’s census. Josephy and Mary couldn’t even get a room in the hotel! I’m sure you’ve heard this before, because it’s said every Christmas, but if we said it a million times, it would still not make any logical sense that the Savior condescended to come to earth and become one of the creatures he created and be born in a barn. He was placed in a manger! A feeding trough! 

We have romanticized mangers because of their association with Jesus. But don’t forget. This is where animals ate their food. We’ve all been in a horse stable, haven’t we? It’s not that much different than if a baby was born in the horse barn at the Topsfield Fair. Well, except that you’d need to take away the modern sheet-metal barn and replace it with a cave. A cave that could very well have been wet. And was most certainly smelly.

But why? Why did God do this? 

OK, he’s not a clockmaker. 

OK, he came to be with us. But why? 

Because he’s always loved us. Even in the garden of Eden, God’s plan was to be personal. Genesis describes Yahweh walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. But it was our choice, our original sin that ruined things.  So he had to come up with another plan. And he did. 

But that plan didn’t just involve being born as a human being. Christmas often stops with this picture of the shepherds, wise men, and angels gathered around a cute little baby. And that’s significant because of what it started. But Jesus didn’t come to earth to sit around a fire with us and drink eggnog. That birth in a stable would eventually mean enduring the ultimate penalty. In a way, the wood of that manger would be rearranged 33 years later to form a cross. All of this, because God wants personal relationship with us. He has no interest in creating the universe and leaving it alone. Instead, all of this…points to the fact that he wants to be close to us. 

But he’s not going to force you to be close to him. We all know how good it feels to be hugged by a small child. Like the baby Jesus became just a few years after that first Christmas. But how much is that hug worth if it’s clear that the child doesn’t want to do it but their parents are making them do it? 

In the same way, God doesn’t want a relationship with us where we’re compelled to love him. He could! I have complete faith that he could put on a display of power and might that would scare every one of us to fall on our faces before him in a matter of moments. But that would be fear, not love. He wants us to choose to love him. That’s the real gift we can offer to him at Christmas.

So what would it mean to love this God that’s come to be with us? Everybody with any sense would ask what something costs before they buy it. 

Well, let me quickly try to answer that. (and trust me that I could go on about each of these points literally all day long. Ask my wife or my daughter if you think I’m kidding)

 If I choose to be close to Jesus, it means four main things: 

Two involve agreeing, and two involve doing. 

First, if I’m going to have a personal relationship with Jesus, it means admitting that I’ve done wrong. I’ve gotten dirt on the pure and clean garment that is a clear conscience; Second, it means agreeing that in the grand scheme of things, my wrongdoing, what theologians call sin, deserves punishment- but Jesus paid that price. Now we come to the two things I have to do. Third, I have to believe in my heart that Jesus can take my guilt away, and has the desire and the power to make me clean from the stain of my mistakes; and fourth, I have to confess to faith in him. I have to put my money where my mouth is, and say out loud that I’m accepting his offer.  

So that’s what this gift costs, if you want to give it to God this Christmas, or anytime. That’s totally up to you. I’m not here this morning to tell you how to feel about any of these things. But it is important to me that you hear clearly, at least once, what all this Christian talk really means. 

This is what it truly means to have Emmanuel---God with Us. This is his 1-item Christmas list. It’s all he’s been asking for.