It Came to Pass…
Luke 2:1-20
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Yes, the text for this Christmas message is from the King James Bible! And it’s not just because this is the version Linus recites when answering Charlie Brown’s question about the meaning of Christmas, either. It probably IS showing my age, however, as I grew up hearing the Christmas Story from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke from the “King Jimmy.” And there is something “poetic” or even “Shakespearean” about how the “Old English” renders the narrative. I don’t really know what “sore afraid” means, but it carries the mail on how much these humble shepherds must have been jarred by the celestial visitor. And if angels look anything like some of the “heavenly beings” described in Revelation, they may have been “sore afraid” because that can happen when you run into trees retreating at a full sprint!
Phrases like “Once upon a time,” “It came to pass,” or in the contemporary lexicon, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” are the magic words that let us know a story is coming, and it is going to be an epic one. “Once upon a time” tends to denote a fable, or a fairytale, while “It came to pass” signals a moment in history, and one that has come to mark time, itself. (The Star Wars “A long time ago” screen crawl is meant to lift the viewer out of their seats and invites them into a very different world for a couple hours of what writers of drama call “the willing suspension of disbelief,” on the part of the audience. We’ll get back to these well-known story intros in a moment.
First, let’s revisit the Christmas Story in Luke, itself. As we listen afresh to the beautiful words of the second chapter, is it any wonder that the birth of Jesus became such a powerful phenomenon in human society? It’s a perfect story! The census that brings Joseph and his pregnant “betrothed” to tiny Bethlehem, nestled on the West Bank of the great city of Jerusalem—the mythical “Zion” of the Jews. The inn is full, but the innkeeper takes pity on the couple and offers them space in the hollowed-out cave that sheltered the animals. While not the best of accommodations, it was at least private, unlike the crowded rooms in the Bethlehem Inn. Out in the fields, shepherds are visited by a bevy of angels bearing a wondrous message of the birth of a Savior in a stable in nearby Bethlehem. Of course they go, probably trailing their flock of sheep behind them, and they find Mary, Joseph, and the babe, sheltered among the animals belonging to the other travelers staying in the inn.
Now, let’s look at a few of the pieces of real magic in the story. First, Luke tells us that Jesus is born in a manger, or a feeding trough for the animals—animals that were surrounding the newborn Jesus. I imagine that these animals knew who this little child was. From deep within their genetic history, they probably felt the “familiar” vibes of the loving creator who had formed their kind at the foundation of the world. While a tiny, fragile package as an infant, the beasts may well have recognized the Incarnate God of the Creation. They paid their homage first to the Christ Child, long before the Magi would arrive to do likewise. I can guess that when the sheep arrived with the shepherds, they, too knew the significance of this “little light” born into the world on that night. Some have suggested that these particular sheep were being raised on the West Bank near the Temple as sacrificial animals. If so, they may well have been clued in as to the efficacy of Jesus, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. A number of works of fanciful fiction have been written about the role of the animals on the night Jesus was born, but was it really just fiction? I don’t think it is a stretch to imagine that the animals were essential to the story, and rejoiced and praised God just as fervently as did the humans in the stable for what they had witnessed.
And speaking of witnesses, I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed in the Luke 2 narrative how the shepherds, after the angels’ visit, and after witnessing first-hand the Holy Family, “…made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.” They were really the first Apostles! The “good tidings of great joy” they experienced became a story they shared everywhere they went. I would argue that these shepherds met the “standards” of apostleship: they had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, they were called of God (a personal angelic visit would qualify here), and they spread their witness “abroad” what they had heard and seen. Like the animals, the shepherds are essential to the affective quality of this narrative.
We love to sing the great hymns and songs of Christmas, don’t we? But have you noticed that the “heavenly host” did not sing? They praised God and SAID: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,” a promise that we still embrace today like a child snuggles a precious blanket. One doesn’t have to have a set of musical pipes to speak forth God’s Word, be a witness, or even to properly offer praise to God. Every Christmas, as part of my personal ponderings, I revisit Longfellow’s famous poem, “Christmas Bells”:
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
T
hen pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.
These words, like those of Luke 2, still bring me to tears, year after year. Luke, because of the beauty, simplicity, and profundity of the birth of Jesus Christ, and Longfellow, because the promise of the heavenly host has not yet been fulfilled. In fact, in our time, hate and wrong seem to have an edge. Truth has been relegated to the ash heap, and good will? Not so much. But both the heavenly host and Longfellow are pealing out loud and strong that the final chapter on God’s justice and God’s peace for humanity hasn’t been written yet.
Santa Claus is real, and so is the Grinch, and so is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and so is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Let me tell you why: each is a witness to what that Christ Child is all about. Each is either a transformer of lives, or tells a story of redemption and transformation. You know the stories of each—think about it! Santa Claus brings joy to children—all children—and is an enduring symbol of hope, especially for the poor and down-trodden. The Grinch is a story of a stone heart becoming flesh once more—the Grinch who stole Christmas brings it back bigger and better than ever, and like Ebenezer Scrooge (after which he is modeled), he keeps Christmas in his heart forever. Rudolph is a story of a marginalized bloke with a disability that yields ridicule, and yet he becomes the hero of Christmas. And Christmas Vacation? A farse that collects all of its hilarious barbs first into a “crown of thorns,” but then morphs into an epiphany of redemption and good will.
The birth story of Jesus has become the greatest launching point for redemptive and hopeful stories in the history of humankind. That’s why the celebration it spawned is so universal, even apart from its theological roots. The Christmas Story is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “religionless Christianity.” It is the “Word made flesh.” It is “God in Christ, reconciling the world to Godself,” not following dogmas, doctrines, or ecclesiastical rules, but welcoming all…ALL! It has broken WAY out of the churchy box well-meaning Christians have tried to keep it in. And it’s still evolving, from year to year. And when Longfellow’s “hate is strong and mocks the song,” the lights of Christmas get brighter, the children get even more wide-eyed, and even some who are nasty, mean bastards through much of the year become Santa Claus, offering acts of kindness and generosity (they, too, are in the process of being redeemed!).
Back to those story-starters. “Once upon a time” may be the beginning of a fairytale, but the story of God’s intervention as the Incarnate Christ is bigger than any fairytale or fable ever written! “Once upon a time” Jesus broke into our world in a manger in Bethlehem, and the world has never been the same, and is still changing! A period was put at the end of the sentence to humanity’s enmity with God, and the new sentence speaks of God’s embrace, and God’s lavishly bestowing God’s grace upon humankind, “grace upon grace!”
As the promise of the heavenly host of “Peace on Earth, Good-will toward [all people]” continues to unfold, and as His-Story continues to help the “right prevail,” the distance and fantasy signaled by George Lucas’s “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” is drawing closer to reality right here on Planet Earth. In Jesus Christ, God is painting a redeeming act that knows no cosmic limits. Where there are people out there, past, present, or future, and regardless of what galaxy in which they may reside, God loves them and will embrace them!
Indeed, “It came to pass.” Maybe we should say “It (He) came to be passed along,” like the excited witness of the shepherds, who added their encounter with the Lamb of God to their flock, and wanted to tell the whole world about it. Jesus came to save me. Jesus came to save you. Jesus came to save every corner of the creation, here and across the cosmos. Jesus will save even those most seduced by evil and “wrong,” and will help “right prevail” in each and every life. Jesus saved. Jesus saves. Jesus continues to save. And Jesus saves because Jesus came to save, Period—a joy for ALL people, not just the ones who have deduced, published, and preached a theological meaning to the event. Indeed, “It came to pass!”
This Christmas, may you get a giddy joy out of the neighborhoods full of colorful lights and blow-up Santas! May you take time to really watch the wonder in the faces of children, or watch the violence with which they tear the wrapping off of their presents! May the beautiful hymns and corny songs of Christmas bring a tear to your eye! May the bit ‘o Grinch in each of us fade just a bit more this season, and may our generosity “kick it up a notch.” And when you light your candle in church and sing “Silent Night,” may the Story stroke your heartstrings one more time, and may you glorify God in the Highest.
And may we all someday…SOMEDAY…someday soon, “Live happily ever after!”
Amen.
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