2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirin′i-us was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. 7 And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Lk 2:1-7)
In a story of just 123 words, 83 of them are devoted to helping us understand when and where the birth of Jesus took place. And those 83 words are punctuated with the names of two Roman rulers, a reference to a census that was designed to guide the Romans in taxing their subjects, and four place names in ancient Israel which help the reader understand where Joseph and Mary were from, where they needed to enroll, and how they were related to David, the one-time king of Israel.
If you have heard the story before, it is easy to let the story wash over you and even easier to miss the significance of the way that the story begins. But apart from Judaism – of which the earliest Christians considered themselves a part – no other religion on the face of the earth is this specific about God’s activity in history.
But why is this story so specific? Why is it focused on a particular time and a particular place?
The answer, in part, lies with the conviction that God is the creator, and the allied conviction that God will not give up on his creation. Contrary to popular belief, the Christian tradition is not about life “somewhere over the rainbow”. And Christians who rightly understand their faith do not believe that we will jet-off to another world, as so many shining points of light to an existence far from here.
We believe that God will reclaim our lives and – with us – the whole of his creation. And that reclamation cannot be reaffirmed at a distance. Abstractions won’t suffice. So, we need to know when, where, and how that process of reclamation began. We need to know where we are in that reclamation, and we need to know what our place is in God’s work.
The emphasis on specifics means we have a history, with all the benefits that come with one. The story of Jesus has a long history. It did not begin on the day he was born. It begins with creation. It was worked out in the history of the Jewish people, beginning with the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; in Moses’ care for the children of Israel; in the lives David and Solomon. In the lives of the prophets and finally in the life of Jesus and his disciples.
And the truths of that long story accord closely with what we believe about God, our experience of creation, and our encounters with one another. That history provides us with vocabulary that helps us to understand who God is and what God longs to give us. It provides us with stories that explains what it means to be made in the image of God; and it chronicles the danger that we face, if we ignore that truth about ourselves and others. Intuitively we know that there is no hope for us if Jesus did not enter into the brokenness of our world and forge a way through for us – in his own body, in a specific time, and place – in his body and blood.
But there is still another reason that the story of Christ’s birth begins in a specific time and place. In short, it is this: If God is not anywhere in particular, then God isn’t anywhere at all. And, conversely, if God is removed from our experience, our history, and – in particular – our brokenness, then to say he loves and cares for us is a mere abstraction.
So, in the birth of his Son God picks a specific time and place to give his love its fullest expression, bringing light into the world. Giving us reason to celebrate and rejoice — and hope if we faulter.
We are more than two thousand years — and thousands of miles from that place. But the time and distance from the birth of Jesus are not really the issues.
The birth of Jesus is about the presence and power of God. His life is a window into the true nature of our lives. His birth offers the assurance that we are not alone. The promise that we are – in fact – loved, healed, and restored.
This night I invite you to appropriate that message for yourselves. Let it fill your hearts. Let it give joy to your celebration.
Merry Christmas, dear friends…