Thomas J Parlette
“Pictures of Christmas”
Luke 2: 1-20
12/24, Christmas Eve
Tonight is a special night, as we await a special gift. For some that gift comes from Santa Claus. It used to be that you would mail a letter to Santa with a list of gifts you would like to receive. Macy’s department store used to be very helpful in this effort as they had those big red Santa mailboxes in all their stores – maybe they still do, it’s been awhile since I’ve been to a Macy’s.
But in our modern era, kids have taken to writing emails to Santa – much more efficient, although I don’t know what kind of internet access Santa gets at the North Pole. The means of communication might be different, but the requests remain remarkably similar.
For instance, 7 year-old Jon writes, “I’m sorry Santa, but I don’t have a chimney. But I’ll leave the cat flap unlocked for you, but watch out for the litter box!” Good advice.
Eight year-old Christian writes, “Mommy and Daddy say I haven’t been very good these past few days. How bad can I be before I lose my parents?” Good question. Future lawyer right there.
Or this, from Bruce, age 7, “I’m sorry for putting all that Ex-Lax in your milk last year, but I wasn’t sure you were real. Boy, my Dad was really mad.”(1) I bet he was.
Years ago, there was a cartoon in the Family Circus comic strip. A little girl is depicted standing on a chair and looking down into an open drawer. Behind her is a lovely creche’ scene. It’s obviously Christmas. But in the caption the little girl calls out, “We forgot to put the baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas Eve, Mom. He’s still in the drawer.”(2)
I hope that’s not the case in your household. I hope you haven’t left Jesus in the drawer. On this night, some gather in hopes of a gift from Santa. But we gather to celebrate the gift we receive from God – the gift of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
I sometimes wish I could have been there on that first Christmas with my camera – don’t you? We could have filled our Facebook pages for sure.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was Governor of Syria. And everyone went to their own town to register.”
Ah, yes, Caesar Augustus – that would be our first picture for this night. He’s the one who gets the ball rolling. Augustus assumed he was the most powerful man in the whole world – and he probably was. Roman coins even bore a graven image of Caesar Augustus. A caption on the coin read – “divi filius”, meaning “Son of God.” Romans believed that Augustus, the first of the Roman Emperors, was divine – conceived by a serpent as Augustus’ mother lay asleep in the Temple of Apollo.(3)
Augustus had thousands of Romans bow down at his name, tremble at his power: but he didn’t have a clue that in a few short years his reign would come to an end. Meanwhile, a boy was about to be born whose reign would last forever – King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Augustus had no idea that this baby born in the small town of Bethlehem in Judea was the true “divi filius”- Son of God.
He didn’t know it at the time, but Augustus played his part. It was his decree that put Mary and Joseph in the right place at the right time – in Bethlehem, to fulfill an ancient prophecy about the birth of the Messiah.
Augustus accomplished many fine things as the first Roman Emperor, among them the Pax Romana – Roman Peace, a largely peaceful period of two centuries in which Rome imposed order on a world long torn with conflict. He built roads and vastly expanded the empire. In fact, ironically, this allowed the spread of the Christian faith as the world became much more accessible thanks to the Roman network of Roadways. Augustus thought he was the most powerful person on Earth, in control of the whole world – and yet God was using him to accomplish the Divine mission of giving the world the gift of Jesus. That’s our first picture of Christmas – Caesar Augustus.
Our second picture is quite the contrast. It is the humble stable in which the newborn baby lay. It has always fascinated Christians that when God came down to Earth, God chose such simple surroundings.
In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey tells of a visit Queen Elizabeth made to the United States. He says that reporters delighted in spelling out the logistics involved: for example, “her four thousand pounds of luggage included two outfits for every occasion”… For some reason she carried 40 pints of plasma – just in case she was in an accident, I suppose. Most unusual of all, the list included “white leather toilet seat covers. She also brought her own hairdresser, two valets and a host of attendees. A brief royal visit to a foreign country can easily cost twenty million dollars.”
Yancey adds, “In meek contrast, God’s visit to earth took place in animal shelter with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn King but a feed trough. Indeed, the event that divided history and even our calendars, into two parts may have had more animal than human witnesses… ‘How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given’.”(4)
Professor Malcolm Tolbert once wrote an article asking and answering why Jesus was born in a stable. “Had Jesus been born in a mansion on the hilltop, few people would have felt welcome in His presence. But he was born in a barn – anyone can go there. The lowly shepherds did not hesitate to enter a stable and bow before the child. Then and now, anyone willing to humble themselves may come to Jesus.”(5)
So our second picture of Christmas is that simple stable with cattle and sheep and a humble couple with their newborn son.
The third picture is of shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flock by night. I’d like to capture that moment when the angel appears and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. What a moment! And the angel says perhaps the most important thing for us to hear – “Don’t be afraid – I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born! He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you – You will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
And then suddenly you would need a wide angle lens, as a great company of angels appear, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.”
It’s interesting that the first thing that an angel invariably says in these biblical encounters is “Don’t be afraid.” Fear is perhaps the most common emotion we have – fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of failure, fear of losing your job, fear of doing the wrong thing and embarrassing yourself - the list goes on and on, humans are a fearful breed.
The angels proclaiming a message of “Do not be afraid”, is one we all need to hear and take to heart.
Some of you may have the tradition of watching the popular TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas each year. Thankfully, Apple, who owns the copyright now, gave permission for it to be shown on network TV this year. James Moore, in his book Christmas Gifts That Won’t Break, tells about a beautiful moment toward the end of the program – a moment I’ve seen many times, but never really saw in this light before.
The scene, of course, is Linus, the fearful kid known for his security blanket that he carries with him everywhere he goes. Linus calls for a spotlight, and begins to recite the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke – but he adds a little bit of drama when he comes to the part about the shepherds receiving the news of Jesus’ birth. When he quotes the angel saying, “Fear not,” Linus tosses his blanket aside and finishes the story with both hands free so he can give gesture to the amazing announcement of the gift of love in the baby Jesus. I never really noticed that before. James Moore writes, “There are many messages of Christmas, but there is one that everybody in the story received as still receives today. And it is – Fear not. Don’t be afraid. It seems that everybody needed to hear it.”(6)
We do need to hear it. The world can be a scary place. But the world is far less scary to those who trust in the message of the Christ Child.
Three pictures – Caesar Augustus, the unsuspecting pawn in God’s grand plan; a humble stable where the true “divi filius,”- Son of God - was born; and the shepherds out in the field, watching over their flock, when an angel arrives to bring the Good News of Great Joy.
The Son of God has come to dwell with us. For to us, a child is born.
May God be praised. And shall we join together in prayer….
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol. XXXVI, No. 4, pg71.
2. Ibid… pg71.
3. Ibid…pg72
4. Ibid… pg72-73.
5. Ibid… pg73.
6. Ibid… pg74
