We will not be getting together at Mountain View Academy to worship God this Sunday. Instead, we’ll be getting together in our LTGs (small groups) to hang out, watch the Super Bowl, and eat food together. Invite friends and have a good time. If you’re not part of an LTG, use this as an opportunity to check one out. Check out the LTG page for details and more information about each of the LTGs that are currently running.
Our passage for this morning is a really familiar one: Luke 2:1-7, the birth of Jesus Christ. There are a few things about it that I think are easy to skip over because we’re so familiar with it.
The first is that this Jesus is Joseph and Mary’s first born child. For those of you who have kids, think about the time when you were having your first born. Recall the feelings. All that anticipation. All that excitement. And yet, at the same time, all that fear. All that anxiety. Joseph and Mary were likely an emotional mess.
The second is that the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that trip that they took late in Mary’s third trimester was an 85 mile trip through some steep inclines. And if you’ve ever ridden an animal, you know that that’s still a physical exhausting mode of transportation. Think of the time when you were late in your third trimester. How far were you able to walk? Jospeh and Mary were physically exhausted. They were running on fumes.
And lastly, Bethlehem was Joseph’s “own city”, verse 3. Though it’s unclear whether Joseph’s parents were still alive, it’s almost certain that Joseph still had close relatives in Bethlehem. And considering Middle Eastern hospitality, it would’ve been inconceivable for Joseph and his new family to stay the night in some random barn as it’s portrayed in many of our Christmas pageants and plays.
Joseph and Mary likely stayed in one of his relatives’ home as did many of his other relatives, hence, why there wasn’t enough room for their entire family to sleep. With everybody coming back to their hometown to be registered for the census, there was likely a family reunion in the house where Joseph and Mary stayed. There’s music, dancing, massive amounts of food, laughter, and hugging. Jesus is getting passed around the room from family member to family member. And at the end of the day, after the party’s subsided well into the night, Joseph and Mary lay him down in a manger, a step below the living area but under the same roof.
There is very little that’s silent about this night. Very little is calm. And there’s little sleeping in heavenly peace.
If anything it’s a chaotic night. They’re emotionally and physically exhausted before they even get to Bethlehem. And when they do get there, they’re greeted by Joseph’s extended family who are excited to see the new addition to their family.
But Jesus is there with them. And for that reason, one of the lines from Silent Night rings true. It was a “holy night”. Being holy isn’t about being composed and calm, about having it all together with your sins properly managed. Being holy is about being with Jesus, abiding in Him.
I know that many of you are in a place right now where you feel like life is too chaotic to be connected to Jesus. Well, our relationship with Jesus is a two-way street. Jesus reaches out to us as well. Jesus loves you.
But will you notice? Will you notice Jesus loving you in the midst of the chaos of your life?
To notice, consider group life, being part of an LTG. When we live life alone, in seclusion it’s all too easy not to notice Jesus. Our spiritual vision gets near-sighted as we just live through the routines of our lives. But as we share about our lives, chaos and all, others in our LTGs can speak into them revealing Jesus at work in it. And as we pray together through the chaos of our lives, we can tangibly feel Jesus ministering to us through His body, the Church.
Discussion Questions:
31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
About a month ago, Alinn@ had an interesting conversation with another Christian person about the Kingdom and personal finances. After the conversation, Alinn@ had a lot of food for thought and of course, asked me what I thought about it.
The other person’s stance was this: The way that Americans (both Christian and not I’m assuming) spend their money is evil.
Not just misguided but evil. And I think I mostly agree… at least so far.
Here’s why. I think most Christians would say that human slavery is evil. Yet we spend our money on things that further promote human slavery. Most of us don’t buy slaves, but we do buy things that are reliant upon slaves. It’s a few steps removed, but we often spend money in ways that support the slavery industry. We buy clothes most probably made in sweatshops, jewelry coming from regions of conflict, and food from regions and farmers who aren’t given a fair wage. Just the other day, I was browsing the baby section of Target and I saw a onesie that had the triangular recycle emblem and the words “Green Baby” on it front and center. I looked at the tag and it was selling for $1.50. Here’s the irony, it said it was “Made in Bangladesh”.
Since that discussion, Alinn@ and I are starting to make some changes. With regard to clothes, we’re trying to exclusively buy things that are “Made in the USA” (not foolproof from a human slavery standpoint, but safer) or buy/borrow used clothing from friends/Craigslist/eBay (to not further feed the slavery machine with our money).
For jewelry, well, with Alinn@’s engagement ring it’s too late, but we decided that we would probably offer to pass it down to our kids when it’s their time. For what it’s worth, I have a Christian friend who consciously did not buy a diamond engagement ring because of the social ramifications. Instead, he bought a ring with a semi-precious stone that was certified to have come from a non-conflict area. Need I say that I felt extremely guilty after watching the movie “Blood Diamond” with Leonardo DiCaprio?
And for food, I think Alinn@’s food politics are pretty widely known now. We buy most of our groceries at the farmer’s market where we give money directly to local farmers. We also buy our year’s supply of beef from a local rancher on a single day in June. S@m’s milk comes from a local dairy farm. My coffee is fair trade.
Thoughts? Comments? Corrections?
Baylight Church Community | (650) 559-5640 | info@baylightchurch.org | Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).
