How Do We Get To Bethlehem?

Luke 2:1-20

            If you want to think in Sesame Street terms I guess you could say that our sermon for tonight is brought to us by the letter B.  B for baby.  B for boy.  B for birth.  B for Bethlehem.  The theme song could even be rewritten: “Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Bethlehem?”  It is the birth of a very special baby boy that brings us to Bethlehem tonight.  How we get to Bethlehem is more of a personal story though.

            In our gospel text we hear how Mary and Joseph get to Bethlehem.  They are just going about daily life.  They received a decree that the world should be registered, so Joseph went home to Bethlehem.  He went there because he was a descendent of the house and family of David.  He took Mary, his soon-to-be-bride with him to be registered. 

            We also hear how the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem.  They were nearby that night doing their typical shepherd duties, keeping watch over their flocks.  And then an angel appeared.  Of course they were initially afraid of said angel, but then the angel shared with them the good news of the birth of this baby boy named Jesus.  When the angel and the whole host of angels disappeared the shepherds left for Bethlehem. 

            Not in our gospel text for tonight, but a part of the Christmas story that you likely know as well, is the arrival of the wise men.  In Matthew 2 we hear that they saw a star at its rising and followed it to the place in Bethlehem where the baby Jesus was born.

            All of these roads led to Bethlehem.  Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men all arrived in the same place.  They all arrived in the stable in Bethlehem.  They all arrived to greet this new baby boy, the savior of the nations.

            This story is not just one of ancient times that we reread each year at the appropriate time.  This is not a stagnant story of yesteryear.  This story continues.  It continues because of its importance in our lives.  It continues because we are a part of the story.  This child was not just born for the community living over 2,000 years ago.  This child was born for us, too.  Before we were ever thought of and long before our own birth, this baby boy was born in Bethlehem for us.

            So, how is it that you arrived in Bethlehem? Why have you come to hear the story of a babe born in Bethlehem?  Maybe you have heard this story since your own birth, a story passed down throughout the generations.  Maybe this story has been part of daily life for you.  Maybe this story is new to you.  Maybe you have come tonight because of a dramatic revelation, a sign from the heavens.  Maybe some personal angels or the sighting of a star has led you here.  Whatever the source or reasoning for your arrival is, you are here.  Welcome to Bethlehem!  You are here to worship the newborn King.

            This is a king who is the bringer of peace.  He brought peace to a place that was lacking peace under the reign of Caesar Augustus.  He was born into Roman oppression and he became someone who raised up the oppressed and overthrew the powerful.  He came into the world as a helpless baby, just like each of us.  His life, which started in a feeding trough and ended on a wooden cross allowed him to identify with the powerless, the poor, and the homeless.  Unlike us, Jesus is a different type of baby, though.  He is a baby that is both fully human and fully divine.

             Jesus, fully human, ultimately knows what the human experience is like.  He knows the feelings we have, because he has had them.  He knows that being in relationship with other people is difficult.  He knows sadness and happiness.  He knows despair and joy.  He celebrated and he cried.  Jesus knows us.  He knows what it is like to be human.

            But, Jesus wasn’t just a human.  Jesus is also divine.  It is because of his divinity that he can love us regardless of our own mistakes.  It is his divinity that brings peace.  It is his divinity that offers forgiveness, wiping the slate clean over and over again.  It is his divinity that gives us salvation and life everlasting. 

            It is the combining of his humanity and his divinity that makes him Jesus, the holy child of Bethlehem.  And that is what makes this story so profound.  It is the word made flesh that came to dwell among us that brings us here tonight.  It is the birth of a baby boy that brings us to Bethlehem.  And not just the birth of any baby boy, but the birth of Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Messiah, God made flesh, Emmanuel.  That is what brings us to Bethlehem this year.

Jesus didn’t come into the world just for Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men.  He was ordinary and he came for the ordinary, not only the ordinary people that came to his stable that night.  He also came for us in our ordinary state.  He came for you and me.  The angel made that very personal announcement to the shepherds.  The angel very clearly said, “To YOU is born this day.”  The angel didn’t say “to them” or “to those people over there” or “to the rich people” or “to the important people.”  The angel told the shepherds that Christ had been born for them.  I imagine they were a bit stunned to have been visited by an angel, but then the angel’s message was so profound.  A savior had been born for them, for lowly shepherds. 

So we gather here in our own little Bethlehem tonight to hear the story from Scripture once again, to sing the well-known carols, to pray for others and ourselves, to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, the body and blood of our Lord, and to light a candle.  We don’t just gather out of ritual or tradition.  We gather to remember how God entered into history through a tiny little baby, born to unwed parents, that was placed in a feeding trough.  And because we believe in that miracle, we also gather to recognize that the same God, who is, who was, and who is to come, is entering into our lives, breaking into our world, and bringing us once again to Bethlehem.  We gather because of the angel’s message, that indeed a savior has been born for us, for each and every one of us.

This Christmas may you know the promise that Jesus, fully human and fully divine, was born for YOU.  May you be surrounded by the hope that the birth of this baby boy brings.  And may you never, never forget how to get to Bethlehem.  Amen.

Parachute Packers

Matthew 3:1-12 

Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam.  After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.  Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands.  He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.  He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb!  You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.  You were shot down!"  "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.  "I packed your parachute," the man replied.  Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.  The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"  Plumb assured him, "It sure did.  If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man.  Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform:  a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers.  I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning,' 'how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."  Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"  Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.  Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute.  He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

There are people in our world, past and present that are parachute packers.  They make the way for others.  They provide what others need to make it through the day.  They ensure that today is a better day than yesterday and that tomorrow will be even better.  The role that these people play is very important, but sometimes can be overlooked.

Some of you may have heard of the story of Charles Plumb, but you probably hadn’t heard about his parachute packer.  Many of you can think of additional parachute packers from our world.  With the death of Nelson Mandela this week, I cannot think of a better person to give the title of parachute packer.  Mandela faced much adversity throughout his life as he worked to end apartheid in South Africa, including spending 27 years in prison.  He eventually became South Africa’s first democratically elected president.  Mandela prepared the way for all of South Africa.  He ensured that tomorrow would be brighter than yesterday for a whole nation.

If we go back to our text from Matthew, I would consider John the Baptist to be a parachute packer.  Sure he may have looked a little funny in his clothing of camel’s hair and those who dined with him might have been perplexed by his diet of locust and honey.  But John the Baptist was a parachute packer.  He prepared the way for Jesus.  He proclaimed the coming kingdom and encouraged repentance.  John the Baptist made the paths straight.  He made it known that someone more powerful was coming.  That person was so important that John was not even worthy to carry his sandals.  That person would baptize with the Holy Spirit. 

If you know the musical Godspell, then you know the tune that John the Baptist sang.  It is the ultimate theme song of the parachute packer, of someone who does preparation for others.  He sang, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.  Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”  John the Baptist, in all of his preparations, packed a pretty good parachute for Jesus.  His works were a prelude to the coming of Jesus and they ensured a safe landing for the King of Kings. 

During this season of Advent we prepare for the coming of the Christ-child, a babe born in Bethlehem.  We make our hearts and our minds ready to welcome this newborn child who has changed the world.  He is the one who has packed our parachute for life.  He has promised that we will have what we need to make it through the day.  He has protected us over enemy territory.  Jesus has ensured that we will ultimately reach safety.  Jesus, the one who is, who was, and who will come again, is the ultimate parachute packer of our lives.

Mandela, John the Baptist, and Jesus are well-known parachute packers, but there are other parachute packers that are not as well-known.  In daily life it is easy to miss what is most important.  We ignore those around us, failing to say hello, please, or thank you.  We minimize occasions that deserve congratulations, compliments, and recognition.  We get to busy to do small random acts of kindness.  Those parachute packers around us deserve to be treated as humans.  They deserve to feel important. 

As you go through this week, this month, this season of Advent, this coming year, I would invite you to consider and recognize who has packed your parachute.  Also, in this season of giving, reflect on whose parachutes you have helped to pack.  How can we help prepare the way for our friends, our family, and those whom we do not even know?  How can we help to prepare the way for them to know our Savior, Emmanuel?  May you be parachute packers for those you love.  May you be preparers of the way for the coming kingdom, the kingdom of God here on earth.  And may you always recognize those around you who help to pack your parachute.  Amen.