Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,
a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.
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sermon. God Bless. We're going to consider some
of that passage, that gospel passage from Luke,
so if you want to turn your bulletin there. Actually,
no. First, turn your bulletin to the front cover,
okay? I'm going to give you three seconds to
find Mary and Joseph. Starting, are you all there?
Now. Wow. Okay, Gordon got them. Maybe some of
you found them. We've had about three seconds.
That's probably enough time. I don't know. Maybe
you found them, maybe you didn't. Maybe like
many, you don't see the Lord in this season.
I mean, we are swallowed up in busyness. I brought
some of my children even today to find presents
for each other. And it's Christmas even if you
don't know it's a day that pastors tend to have
a little more going on and just a little more
in our heads and stuff. Anyway, we get caught
up in the shopping lists and the deadlines and
all of the wonderful baking is taking place.
And sometimes we get caught up in the worry of
family meals. Is the uncle gonna ask that question
like he did last year? It's a real question for
some of us. Sometimes we're overwhelmed with
the sadness of the season because there are emptier
chairs, chairs that were once filled. There's
a song that Jess has sung for us in years past
for communion in this season that I love by a
group out of Seattle called The Sing Team. It's
called Make Room. The first verse is like this.
I always feel such a struggle as some of you
know. I so want to sing it, I'm not going to.
It's like this, blinded by lights, burdened with
choice. That's one of the great. burdens of our
day, you know, we go down the chip aisle and
we're frozen. Burdened with choice and distracted
by the shiniest toys, the traditional chaos and
the ritual noise drown out the wonder of the
still small voice. So if you look back with me
at this beautiful painting by Peter Bruegel,
the Elder, what you see is just everybody seemingly
going about a normal winter day in 16th century
Holland. It's a Dutch scene, the 16th century.
Some guy, maybe you see that actually sort of
right in front of Joseph, is tapping an enormous
keg. An enormous keg that's carried by these
huge wheels. There's another person slaughtering
a pig, it looks like. There's sledding and skating
taking place on the pond. people are carrying
their burdens. A lot of people are carrying burdens.
There's a lot of people gathered together at
what is probably a store. Maybe it's an inn of
sorts. There's about 200 people actually in this
painting. I was reading about it this week and
it's just a busy normal kind of life. It just
depicts the mundane Dutch winter life in the
16th century. And of course it's a deliberate
anachronism. Bruegel never thought Mary and Joseph
appeared into a 16th century Dutch town. He had
read what we read tonight that they made their
way from Nazareth up in Galilee down to Bethlehem
in Judea. But what Bruegel is doing is what I
want to suggest to you is that we must do today.
He's inviting us to see Jesus, and in some ways
the ordinary, mundane reality of our life. What
he's saying is that Jesus doesn't just come 2
,000 years ago in a way, but the reality of Christmas
is the gift of God, not just for them long ago,
but for us, the reality of Christ dwelling now,
today. So he depicts them in his time. And I
want to suggest to you in a way that that is
also what Luke does. He points us to Jesus coming
into the ordinary of our lives. And so I want
to do that this evening by highlighting for us
a few details that if you have been to a Christmas
Eve service, or if you have heard of the Christmas
story from the Bible, you likely know these details,
but I want us to highlight some of them, okay?
So verse one. Verse one, if you have it open
there, the Luke passage, it begins this way.
I'm gonna read one to three. In those days, a
decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be registered. This was the
first registration when Quirinius was governor
of Syria, and all went to be registered, each
to his own town. If you know Luke, he's the doctor
and he's very specific and he's wanting to tell
you this happens in real time, in real space.
There's a date, there's a specific event into
which Jesus comes into the world. But what I
want you to see in some ways this morning is
what we have right at the beginning, is that
some of the ordinariness into which Jesus comes
is the ordinariness which we don't choose. These
are faithful Jews. Rome is in charge. Rome says,
we're having a census. You need to be registered.
And you got to do it now. So they went. You had
to do it. You had to go to your own hometown.
And this is just the fact of life. Much of your
life, much of the ordinariness of your life is
the stuff in which you don't choose. It's forced
upon you. I read the other day that many Many
adults actually love contemplation, the contemplative,
to contemplate and to have some stillness. But
children on the other hand, love action, they
love play, they love movement. If you are with
children tomorrow morning, observe how they unwrap.
They probably won't do it the same way you do.
I remember watching my dad, now he was an architect,
he's a pretty meticulous person, but he would
so carefully undo the wrapping and we would just
go for it. And in some of our best moments as
Christians, we wanna sit and be with the Lord
in prayer and in His word and contemplating His
ways. And in many of those best moments is just
when... There are fight breaks out upstairs,
and we are called into parental action, breaking
the peaceful contemplation which we were cherishing.
I read a lovely little book a couple years back
by the Catholic writer, Ronald Rollheiser. Maybe
some of you have read him. It's a little book
titled, Domestic Monastery. And the point of
the book is very simple. He's suggesting that
the mother's life, the mother's work mirrors
in many ways the work and the life in the monastery.
The monks give themselves, give up their power
over their time and over their life. And so when
the bell tolls, they wake up. When the bell tolls,
they go to prayer. When the bell tolls, they
eat. When the bell tolls, they pray. Their life
is kind of put upon them. They do the work that
they're told to do by the abbot. And when the
baby wakes, You wake. And when the baby's hungry,
you feed the baby. And your life is now in some
ways not your own. It's sort of this life that's
forced upon you. But here's the truth is that
in both of those times and in those places is
when sort of the value and the gift of powerlessness
is learned. Oftentimes we actually meet God in
the times that are forced upon us. Places where
we say, I'm powerless. and God is present. God
often shows up when we aren't in charge in the
ordinariness in which we don't choose. Look with
me at another detail that you will know, verse
six. Maybe you have this memorized. And while
they were there, the time came for her to give
birth. Remember that part? Why? Why? Why this
timing? Christians believe that God is over all
things. He speaks and the world comes into being.
Certainly he can choose to be born when they're
at home. When Mary and Joseph had not had to
make the long journey, as I mentioned on Sunday,
the journey being about 90 miles from Nazareth
down to Bethlehem. Why did they have to meet
the promise to Messiah when all the others who
are of the house and lineage of David happened
to be in Bethlehem at the same time? And why
did Bruegel depict a holy family coming into
town when it was winter and snow? And if you
noticed, if you found Mary, what you found was
that she was bundled up. What an inconvenient
time for a mother. Did Bruegel do this because
Christmas happens in winter? Maybe. Maybe he's
teaching us something. He took so many other
liberties in the painting. I wonder if what he's
saying is that God meets us in the inconvenience
of it all. And I want to suggest this too, that
it's true that sometimes we are more ready to
receive God when things seem a bit off, when
our life just doesn't seem to be going as we
had planned it out to. to go. When we're thrown
a little bit off kilter, when there isn't room
in our calendar for Him, maybe we actually meet
God when we've had another fight with our spouse
or when our child angrily left the house and
we come face to face with our life is not quite
what we thought. The inconvenience of life. But
there are more details here, more details that
you know. Think of the shepherds. Sometimes,
again, I think maybe often, God shows up when
there's just the tapping of the keg and the normal
slaughter of the pig and putting on the ice skates
or dinner. Maybe you have these planned dinners
tonight or tomorrow or festive time with friends
or coffee down at Little Amps. doing life, right?
I mean, the shepherds, verse eight, and in the
same region, there were shepherds out in the
field keeping watch over their flock by night.
And if you were living at that time, you would
have been like, yep, that's what they do, right?
I mean, this is the most ordinary statement about
shepherds. It's nothing like flashy. they were
doing something crazy and an angel appeared to
them nope not at all they're just doing normal
shepherd life watching their flocks so that some
other animal predator won't come and snack that
snap them away eat them up but again i want to
suggest to you that this is again the way of
god we love the mountaintop experiences the camp
high is real The experience when you're out in
the woods with friends and you're having to do
something you don't think you can do, and you
do create some bonds in those experiences, that's
true. But so often, God is present in the folding
of diapers, in the normal friendships that are
made over time spent playing pickleball together,
hopefully not twisting your ankle. The long slug
of just doing the same job day in and day out,
sometimes going, I love this, sometimes going,
I don't really like this so much, maybe I should
do something else. And God just ends up appearing
in those just normal shepherds in the field watching
over their flocks by night, moments. Let me give
you another detail, one that you will be familiar
with yet again. There's no room in the inn. So
verse seven tells us this, and she gave birth
to her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger, because there
was no place for them in the inn." Which is to
say in some ways that they were alone, Mary and
Joseph. More or less they're alone. I mean, it
is likely that they were around donkeys and sheep.
What is the manger for? For a feeding trough,
right? But they're alone. There is no room. And
think about this in some ways. I want you to
think about the details of this little verse
because I think it also connects with how often
is the case that God meets us in this kind of
place, in the aloneness or in the feeling of,
man, I wish I'd planned this better. Why did
this happen? How had this happened to me being
cast away? The town was full. for the mandated
registration, the census that was commanded by
the Romans. And yet it seems like they relate
to the game. There was an in. Can you imagine
Joseph? I can imagine being Joseph and thinking,
why didn't I leave earlier? I knew that this
drive was going to take me this long. And now
my wife, who's nine months pregnant, might not
have a place to rest her head. And just feeling
like nobody else does this kind of thing. Why
am I doing this? This is a lone dejected kind
of, why can't I get my stuff together place?
How do we know there wasn't room left in the
inn? Well, what we get at the end of the text
is that Mary treasured all these things up in
her heart. It's almost certain that Mary was
the one that was sharing these stories about
what had happened. And you can imagine. You know,
she's sharing the story of how, of all people,
they, nine months pregnant, I'm nine months pregnant,
and I go and they won't let me in. There's all
these other people, you know, it's like getting
on the Metro in New York and you're like, all
the seats are taken. There's a pregnant lady,
you're supposed to get up and let her in. Let
her sit down. A normal, crazy aloneness. And
of course, what mother wouldn't want the best
for her child? Do you think she was thinking
like, well, this will do. I don't mind giving
birth to the long promised Messiah who is conceived
by the Holy Spirit next to some animals. That's
totally fine. But again, I just want to suggest
to you that in these details, we're learning
something deeply important. It's the same lesson
that we're getting from Bruegel that so often
God meets us in these sort of ordinary places
and so often our ordinary lives are our lives
where we feel so alone and so incapable and so
wondering what is happening in my life right
now. The places we least desire. He meets us
when we come to the end of our abilities and
the roadblocks, the plans. God comes to us in
crowded places. He comes to us in busy places
where we don't really want Him. At times when
we don't expect Him. When we're just going about
our normal business when we're alone. And my
guess is that as I list some of these, maybe
you don't associate with all of them, but my
guess is all of us associate with something.
Maybe this is where you find yourself. Maybe
you aren't so sure about Him. Like I said at
the beginning of our service, maybe you have
more doubt than faith. Maybe you're so frazzled
with all that we have going on in this season.
Maybe your heart really is aching because there
actually is an empty chair. I know, if you're
part of this congregation, you know that there
are empty, there are places in our pews where
there were people that sat there last year that
aren't sitting there now. Maybe because they
had gone on to glory, maybe because they had
left, moved away. They're no longer a part of
our community. Maybe you're dreading some of
the demands upon your time and emotions that
others are putting on you. Maybe you are just
so busy and so excited inside of yourself, children,
more likely you than the adults, about what is
going to be under the tree tomorrow. But what
I'm suggesting to you is that this is the good
news. The ordinary life is where God meets us.
He comes to us so often in the mundane. At the
place where there's no room in the inn, where
the shepherds are just doing their stuff, our
normal lives. Sometimes it's not when we want
Him. Sometimes it's when we absolutely need Him.
Sometimes it's just when we're busy with other
things. Sometimes it's when we're deeply alone.
In some ways, this is just the whole good news
of it all, that God comes to us. It's not just
some other life. That's not really good news
if God only shows up to you when you're at camp
with your friends. That's not really good news.
We'll hear in our final reading that he takes
on flesh and he dwells among us, makes his habitation
in our neighborhood, pitched his tent around
us, just moved in. Not far off, but close. Not
to some mountain high, but into the normal life
that you live, God comes. And part of the beauty
of Bruegel's painting is how sort of inconspicuous
Mary and Joseph were. Gordon did find them quickly.
Maybe some of you did. Some of you are really
smart. I get it. But in some ways, they're just
there. They're just there. They look so normal.
Jesus arriving into town, They're all just doing
their thing. And I think that's part of the beauty
of it. God is coming to us. That's the message
of Christmas, that God actually takes on flesh,
this real life flesh, and he does it for us in
our normal, real lives. It's into your life that
the angels are declaring there's glad tidings
and great joy. Okay. So we've considered one
of these great classic paintings of the Christmas
season. Now, to close, though, it's going to
take me a little bit of time. So don't think
like, sweet, it's all done. To close, I want
us to consider together a modern Christmas masterpiece.
And that masterpiece is the movie, Home Alone.
That's right. Right, buddy? Yeah, you know what
I'm talking about. It's a favorite in our house.
So I saw this video last week, and I remember
hearing about this a couple years back. And I
want to tell you, or kind of read to you some
of what I watched. But I hope you know the story.
I mean, it really is a favorite in the Rowan
household. And if you know the story, Kevin's
family leaves, and he's there at their home.
They're on their way to Paris for Christmas,
because that's what people do. And he does all
this crazy stuff. He's watching movies, and he's
ordering pizza, and he's just vegging out. And
he has to go buy a toothbrush, and he ends up
at a church, and all this kind of stuff. And
then, of course, the big thing that happens is
the wet bandits are coming. They're gonna rob.
And he puts together this elaborate booby trap
scenario, and it's awesome. And I don't feel
like I'm gonna give any of it away, because I
would guess that 98 % of you have watched it,
and the other 2 % should. If you haven't by now,
you know, get on the bandwagon. But here's what
I want to suggest to you, is that old man Marley,
you know the neighbor, the old grouchy kind of
neighbor, is actually, he's a Jesus figure. So
the first time you see old man Marley, he is
salting, throwing out salt. He's serving his
neighbors, he's salting. He's salting the earth.
He's out serving people. The second time he shows
up, Kevin's kind of talking to himself. It's
almost though Kevin, it's praying in a way. And
there's Marley in the scene, old man Marley's
in the scene. And he says, I'm not afraid anymore.
And then Kevin of course runs off because he's
actually scared. So he sort of rejects this presence
of somebody, right? The third time, and this
is when it gets really good. And I remember hearing
this a few years back. The third time is when
Kevin's in the convenience store. He has to buy
the toothbrush. And in walks old man Marley and
a bell tolls. What happens when a bell tolls?
An angel gets its wings. Y 'all have watched
other Christmas movies, good job. But also bells
are places where like the monastery is calling
you into the presence of God. Oftentimes churches
have bells, right? This is a religious symbol
oftentimes. And so in walks old man Marley and
he puts his hand down on the convenience store.
And actually there's, if you watch this, there's
a little shot from below looking up through the
glass of the convenience store counter. And you
notice that his hand is bandaged and it's bloody,
right? It's bloody in the middle. And Kevin leaves,
rejected again. Rejects old man Marley there
again. So next time we see him, Kevin is in church,
that beautiful church scene. and he sees old
man marley and this is kind of amazing too because
the choir is singing oh holy night and y 'all
know that song hopefully we're singing that song
tonight right first i don't know where jess is
i think we're singing that song i feel like i
should know what songs we're singing but i don't
um so they're singing that song right and the
one of the great parts of that song is fall on
your knees you know and what what does old man
marley do He stands up at that point. But you
say he's not the worshiper, he's the one who's
worshipped. He's not falling on his knees, which
is the posture of worship. And then there's that
scene, the choir says, oh, hear the angel voices.
And it's that time when Marley finally speaks.
And what does he say? He says, Merry Christmas.
And then they have that conversation. Remember
the conversation he talks about his son who's
estranged and how he longs to see him and be
with him. But in that scene again, actually,
he shakes Kevin's hand and we see the back of
Old Man Marley's hand, and it's bandaged and
it's bloody on the back. And what is clear is
that Old Man Marley has been pierced through.
His hands, his palms are pierced through. Now,
if you fast forward to the end of the movie,
which don't do when you're watching because the
next scene is the great scene with all the booby
traps, don't fast forward that. It's fantastic.
But Kevin calls the cops and he runs into the
neighbor's house, old man's Marley's house, and
he goes down to the basement. And in some ways
you could say that's when Kevin is reborn. He
actually runs through waters like the waters
of baptism. He rises up and the bad guys catch
him, right? Which is another symbol actually
when you're following the way of the Lord, they're
still after you. But who saves him? Right? Who
saves him? It's old man Marley. Old Man Marley
there saves Kevin. Now if you go to the end of
the movie, actually Kevin is looking through
the window, right? Maybe this is a detail you
should never miss watching that. This beautiful
music and he looks out and he sees Old Man Marley
hugging his son. Somehow through this work, there's
this reunion of this family that's been brought
back together. If you remember the conversation
they had in the church earlier in the evening,
it was that he wasn't united with his son and
that was his sorrow. But now you have this reconciliation
of God with his children. I mean, it's the Christmas
story. Now here's the thing, you're probably
saying, Peter, you're talking about how God comes
into the ordinary of our life through this text
in Luke. There's not a lot of ordinary stuff
in home alone. People don't often fly to Paris
with like all their cousins and all that. Rarely
are children left home alone. Rarely are bandits
breaking into big large houses when a child is
home alone. And we don't know of any news story
where that many booby traps worked that well.
So you're like, this is not normal. Here's the
thing. I was reading about this because I thought
this was also intriguing. The impetus for Home
Alone was actually a deeply normal life. So the
producer for Home Alone was John Hugh, and he
had this sort of ongoing fear of leaving his
kids, of leaving his kids. And I've had that
fear. He said, this is a story that needs to
be told. And that idea of leaving their children,
that fear of it, that in some ways is right at
the heart of what's happening at Christmas. God
says, I'm not going to leave you. I'm never going
to forsake you. You cannot wander so far. You
can't just be so distracted by all the shining
toys and the busyness. But I'm going to come
into that because I need to be reunited with
you. That is the glad tidings of great joy. That
the fear of being estranged from God cannot be
the final end of the story. That is not the end
of the story. Because God comes for us. He comes
into our life. And I want you to see him. Grab
a hold of him. I mean, please, if you don't know
Jesus, please consider again, afresh tonight,
the Christian story. God coming for you. God
giving his life for you. God desiring you. This
is the glad tidings of great joy that we announce
this season. Let me pray for us. Lord, we're
thankful for this common story that we have heard
time and time again. A full inn, a manger where
Mary can lay the Christ child swaddled in clothes.
Shepherds doing their business. God I pray that
in our lives that you would come Maybe in just
buying the toothbrush that you would show up
maybe in the place of deep fear Where we are
being chased you would show up We got to pray
that again We would all give ourselves over to
you the God who moves into the neighborhood takes
on flesh and dwells among us God change our lives
again by the wonder of this story, God for us,
humbled for us, birthed into this world for us,
crucified, risen for us. Please do this Lord.
We ask in your name. Amen. Thank you for listening
to Second City Sermons podcast. We hope this
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God bless.