"Christmas: The Imperfect Gift"
(John 1:6-8, 19-28)
Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn
John 1:6-8
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
John 1:19-28
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." 21And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." 22Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23He said,
as the prophet Isaiah said.
24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" 26John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
INTRODUCTION:
One of my favorite sources of illustrations used to be the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. I miss that little miscreant and his stuffed tiger. In one of the strips, Calvin is talking to Susie (remember, his arch enemy) about a test they had just taken and asked her: "What grade did you get?" Susie says, "I got an A."
Calvin replies, "Really ?Boy, I'd hate to be you. I got a C."
Curious, Susie asks, "Why on earth would you rather get a C than an A?!"
Too which Calvin smugly replies "I find my life is a lot easier the lower I keep everyone's expectations." (1)
I know, you're thinking, didn't we cover this whole expectation thing last week? Well, if you look at the passage, we're back, once again, with our weird uncle John the Baptist again. That's not what any of us expect at this time of year. We can usually stand one visit, but two, that's pushing it.
We expect to hear about the birth and about Mary and Joseph. We expect to hear the history of Christmas Classics like Away In a Manger, Silent Night and O' Little Town of Bethlehem. Take for example the interminably long "12 Days of Christmas."
Did you know that according to a spreadsheet I have that summarizes the cost analysis of all the gifts mentioned in the song, that, there were a total of 404 gifts given. And that with shipping, taxes, environmental impact fees, union wages for the performers and animal wranglers, feed for all the livestock, housing, royalties, insurance and clean up that the 12 Days of Christmas would have cost the sender $486,931.80. (And that's 1995 figures. It would cost more today.) I've got the spreadsheet if you would like to see it.
Actually the 12 Days of Christmas was developed as a teaching song. How about a short history lesson. From 1558 to 1829 Roman Catholics in England were not able to practice their faith openly so they had to find other ways to pass on their beliefs. The song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is one example of how they did it. "The 12 Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something of religious significance. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help young Christians learn their faith.
The song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..." The "true love" represents God and the "me" represents the Christian.
The "partridge in a pear tree" is Jesus Christ who died on a tree or cross as a gift from God for the whole world.
The "two turtle doves" are the Old and New Testaments.
The "three French hens" are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (I Corinthians 13).
The "four calling birds" are the four Gospels which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The "five golden rings" are the first five books of the Bible also called the "Books of Moses" or the Pentateuch.
The "six geese a-laying" are the six days of creation.
The "seven swans a swimming" are the "seven gifts of the Holy Spirit." (I Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12, Ephesians 4)
The "eight maids a milking" are the eight beatitudes.
The "nine ladies dancing" are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
The "ten lords a-leaping" are the Ten Commandments.
The "eleven pipers piping" are the eleven faithful disciples.
And the "twelve drummers drumming" are the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed.
I'll bet that's not what you expected is it? But then Christmas never is what we expect. That's why you shouldn't be surprised by meeting John the Baptist again. We might not expect it, but if we really look at the passage for today, John the Baptist and those who came to question him, teach us a very important lesson about expectations, God and Christmas.
I. CHRISTMAS IMPERFECT:
A. The group of Sadduccees and Pharisees who came to visit John in the wilderness, came because they had questions. The chief question was, "Are you the Messiah?" You see, they were still looking and searching for the coming of the Messiah thirty years after his birth. John makes sure they know he IS NOT the Messiah.
But that encounter got me to thinking. Why didn't they know that JESUS was the Messiah? What happened to the shepherds and the Wise Men? What happened to the story they told? Or did they all just think it was a dream? Why weren't people expecting Jesus as the Messiah 30 years later?
I think it's all because that first Christmas was so unexpected and as a consequence, so imperfect. I can't think of one thing, from a worldly point of view, that was expected or right with the birth of the Messiah. From a worldly point of view I wish God had hired a better consulting firm before putting this plan into motion. Have you ever really thought about the characters and events involved?
B. Mary: Look at Mary. Yes, she came from the right family. And she was available for the job. She even had the right kind of attitude, she loved God. But she was so young. Some historians have estimated that Mary was only 16 years old. Even the ones who credit her with being older don't put her much past 19. So this young mother who gave birth to this baby who was the Savior of the world, was only a babe herself.
C. Joseph: And then there's Joseph. Depending on which historian you read he was either like Mary, way to young to be involved in this sort of thing or way too old to be marrying a young girl like Mary. And is a carpenter really the right kind of parent for the Messiah. Shouldn't Joseph have been at least one of the faithful Pharisees and be learned in the law so he could share that with Jesus as he grew from a boy to a man. His trade might have helped while they were in Egypt but it never would have happened if Joseph had been a religious leader.
D. Innkeeper: Then there was that innkeeper. Couldn't God have found a more sympathetic ear or spirit? Couldn't he see how close to term Mary was? Couldn't God have come up with an innkeeper with a more tender heart?
I read a story about a little boy who played the Innkeeper in a Christmas pageant. And when Mary and Joseph came to the Inn, he delivered his line perfectly. "I'm sorry. We have no room in the Inn." But just as the dejected Mary and Joseph turned to leave, the whole audience watch the Innkeeper's lower lip start to tremble. And then he cried out, "Wait. Wait. You can have my room. It's not very big but it's better than the barn."
Why didn't God choose an Innkeeper like that?
E. Shepherds: And look at who God told first. Shepherds. Do you know that on the social ladder there was only one class of people that was held in lower esteem? And that was the lepers. The Pharisees thought more of the so called "Tax Collectors and sinners" than they did of shepherds. Why were they the first to know?
F. The Birth Place: And what was up with the whole "born in a stable" thing? I know Scripture said, the Messiah would "be born of low estate" but wouldn't a Motel 6 have been low enough? Did it have to be a barn with smelly old animals all around. At least in a Motel 6, they might have had a real crib and not a feed trough.
G. Time: And the time. Why then? The world was so backward. They didn't even have running water or indoor plumbing. There were no doctors and dentists. There was no radio, television and satellite news broadcasts. There was no e-mail. Can you imagine what God could have done and how many people Jesus could have reached if the Internet had been available back then? Just think of how many more people Jesus could have touched if the technology to set up an international satellite and internet simulcast of the Sermon on the Mount or the feeding of the 5000 had been available.
There was no mass marketing then. No advertising. I know you've read about the Bill Boards with messages signed by God that have been going up all around the country. Messages such as:
"Let's Meet At My House Sunday Before The Game — God."
"We Need To Talk — God."
"Loved The Wedding, Invite Me To The Marriage — God."
"That 'Love Thy Neighbor Thing,' I Meant It — God."
"Need Directions? — God."
"You Think It's Hot Here? — God."
"Tell The Kids I Love Them — God."
Can you imagine what could be written and the attention it would have gotten if Jesus had been born in our time?
There were so many things that were so imperfect about that first Christmas. It makes you wonder doesn't it?
II. IT ALL ADDS UP TO JESUS:
A. But you want to know something. As imperfect as that first Christmas was by worldly standards, I really can't see anything to improve it. All of the characters with their flaws, all of the places that seem so impossible and improbable, all of the encounters with horrible people like Herod, all of the other encounters with angels and shepherds and wise men, they all add up. You can't leave any character out. You can't change any detail without messing up the whole thing. Why? Because it all adds up to Jesus.
Christmas needs every one of those imperfections in order to bring about the perfection of the human spirit.
Every one of those imperfections remind us that the perfectness of the Christ child came to touch our lives. You see the perfect stepped into the imperfect in order to make the imperfect perfect by showing us how much we are loved.
B. The Good News of this day, the Good News of Advent is that Christ HAS come. That's the message of Advent and the promise of Christmas. God came into the world as the infant Christ. And God continues to enter into our lives through the risen Christ. God comes into our lives because God loves us.
Years ago I read a story about a young couple that gets to the heart of the Good News of this season:
She was eighteen and he was nineteen when they met. They fell in love, and one year later they were married. Some six years and three children later, while standing before the kitchen sink with a pile of dirty dishes in front of her and a pile of dirty diapers on the floor, she decided that she just couldn't stand it any more. She took off her apron and just walked out the door. Sometimes she would call home to check on the children, and on those occasions he would tell her how much he loved her, and he would ask her to come home. Each time she refused.
After a number of days, he hired a private detective to find his wife. The report said she was living in a second-class hotel in Des Moines, Iowa. He packed his bags, placed the children in the care of a neighbor, and took a bus to Des Moines. He found the hotel and made his way to her room. When he knocked on the door, his hand trembled because he didn't know the kind of reception he would receive. His wife opened the door, stood for a moment looking at him in shocked silence, and then fell apart in his arms.
Later, at home, when the children were in bed, he asked her a question that had long troubled him: "Why wouldn't you tell me where you were when you called? You knew I loved you. Why didn't you come home?"
She replied, "Before, your love was just words. Now I know
how much you love me, because you came for me."
Before that very first imperfect Christmas, to many, God's love was nothing but words. But God loved the world so much that He came to show us by coming for us. God took off his celestial robes, wrapped himself in the swaddling clothes of flesh and blood. And perfected that first imperfect Christmas.
CONCLUSION:
From a worldly point of view, Christmas is the most imperfect Holy Day of all. The characters and timing were all wrong. It's not what anyone expected.
Nobody expected a baby. Not God in an infant sized package. That shook everybody up. It was just too unbelievable. Who do they think we are, some kind of fools? And yet it is the fools who get it. And while nobody expected it, it's everything we ever expected. Because it all adds up to Jesus.
Who is it that advertises, the gift that keeps on giving? Well, Jesus is the gift that keeps on forgiving. And that's more than anyone ever expected.
The Scribes and Pharisees all came to John searching for the Messiah, they looked through worldly eyes and prejudiced eyes at the one John pointed to. But when they looked all they saw was they thought were the imperfections of Jesus, and said, "No, there's no way He could be the Messiah." And they missed him.
It may seem like it is an imperfect gift. But really it's the most perfect gift of all because it all adds up to Jesus. And what could be more perfect than that
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
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Bibliography
1. Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes, December 13, 1988
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Other References Consulted