“The God who Enters
in”
; Isaiah 11:14; Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-14
I am captivated by the song O Little town of
Perhaps it
is because it was written by a minister, Phillips Brooks
After he came back from a trip to
He was so captured by a 5 hour worship
service at the
Church of the Nativity that he wanted to write
a song
that
would express the magic of that moment.
He wanted to
write a song
that would allow
the children in his church
to enter into
the wonder on Christmas
that he had
experienced.
And
so the song starts with the words:
“O
little town of
Above
the deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.”
You
can imagine the sense of awe that Phillips Brooks
Was
trying to communicate to the children
When he penned these words.
I went to
We
had a good visit but different from Rev. Brooks.
We
also went into the Church of the Nativity
And
we sang O Little Town of Bethlehem in
the grotto,
the cave like place
where Jesus was born.
It was a
magical moment for me but
By this time
There
were Israeli soldiers all around the outside of the city
To
watch over and control this Palestinian city because
the Palestinians were
actively rebelling
from the Israeli
occupation.
There
was an aura of fear all around between the
Israelis and Palestinians.
It dawned on me in that trip that the
Was
probably more similar to Jesus’
The
In Jesus’ day there were also occupying
soldiers
But the
soldiers were the Romans.
When Jesus
was born into this world it wasn’t
Into a nice peaceful pastoral setting
but rather
Into a
world where hopes and fears collided.
That
was the
Phillips
Brooks captured in the second half of the first verse:
“The
hopes and fears of all the years,
are met in thee tonight.”
And that is the amazing thing about the Incarnation
of Jesus Christ
That we celebrate this Christmas and every Christmas.
It
is that God cares so much for us that God “entered in”
To
this drama we call life.
That’s
what Matthew and Luke’s Gospel’s are all about.
In Matthew,
a young couple is planning to get married,
And the groom discovers that the bride
Is already
pregnant.
God enters
into that broken relationship and
Calms Josephs fears and jealousy
And reconciles his
relationship with Mary
And
with God.
In Luke, God
enters into the poverty and despair
Of a poor community of
Roman rule and a registration
that had
Every worried about
it’s purpose.
Is it to get more taxes?
Is it to conscript men into
the army?
Is it to assess the
number and power
Of the oppressed people?
God entered into the hopes and fears of all the years and met
them
In the person of a small baby in a manger, Jesus.
And that is the message of Christmas,
From
the gospels and from the song that Phillips Brooks wrote,
“O Little Town of
I will be going to
And
part of our trip will also be to visit
Things
are a little different than they were when
Phillips
went to Israel in 1865,
And
even different that when I went before.
A recent
National Geographic article say of
“The little town where Jesus was born is now
one of the most contentious places on Earth.”
There is a concrete wall three stories
high with razor wire on top
You are searched by Israeli soldiers going in and out,
And
if you are cleared to go in you enter through
A
sliding steel door that slams shut behind you.
And
the barrier was built because of the suicide bombers who
Went from
There
is plenty of fear to go around on both sides of the conflict.
We can’t help but mourn the situation in
There
is a powerful witness to God’s love even and especially
In the current situation of fear and mistrust.
It is a
reminder that God enters into this fear and mistrust
As a vulnerable baby every Christmas
to bring a message
Of peace and hope to the
world.
The situation in
No
matter what struggle we are experiencing this Christmas,
No
matter how desperate life may seem,
No
matter how hope things may get,
We
are not alone.
As the song says: “cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us today”
The God who loved the world enough 2000
years ago
to come into
the world as a tiny vulnerable baby
in the Roman occupied
town of
loves us
enough to come into the world
of
security barriers and suicide bombers
to
demonstrate again God’s love for us.
That’s the miracle of Christmas this
year and every year.
“That
God enters in”
And
we trust this God so much that each year
We
sing:
“No ear may hear His coming but in this
world of sin;
where
meek souls will receive him still,
the dear Christ enters in.”
Now I bet you didn’t know that there is
actually a fifth verse
That
is not usually included in the hymnals.
Perhaps
because it is too stark in its depiction
Of
the world and yet that’s why is it so good and true and hopeful in this season of hope.
It
goes like this:
Where children pure and happy, pray to the blessed
Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of
the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching and
faith hold wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks
and
Christmas comes once more.