One night that Changed the World

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Christmas Eve Service, December 24, 2005

In a small town, six miles southwest of Jerusalem , a teenage girl has given birth to a son. The couple had been traveling for three days down from Nazareth , traveling because they'd been ordered to by the government to a town that was not their home. Arriving in the over-populated city of Bethlehem , finding no place to stay, finally disgruntled, at their wits' end, they're ushered into a stable out back. There, she gives birth to her son.

Not many people in town probably noticed the couple, didn't really give them a second look. Not many, I imagined, even knew of the blessed event and what had happened or were back there to congratulate them on the birth of their son. No, for the majority of the city of Bethlehem , it was a night like any other night. And yet, some 2,000 years later, we sit here this evening celebrating that night, celebrating the birth that took place on that night. So significant is the event of this evening, that all of history can be divided by this night. We refer to the years before tonight as “Before Christ” and now we count the years after Him. This is one night that changed the world.

Certainly, the world changed for a group of shepherds out watching their flocks at night. Shepherds, the outcasts of society, the lowest of the low. People didn't really want to associate with shepherds and these men who we're talking about, they're really low on the totem pole. They got the short end of the stick because they got the graveyard shift. They have to stay up all night long making sure the dumb sheep don't wonder off. And yet, because they were there, their world would change forever.

Would this group of men ever stare up at the sky, look into the stars, and not remember? Not remember the night angels serenaded the sheep? When they walked past the stable, did they stop momentarily, gaze inside at the animals, remember back to the young couple? Did they ever watch as the animals were feeding in the troughs and remember back when a trough was filled with hay and an infant boy was laid in it? For the shepherds, their world would never be the same, forever changed.

But is there something more? Is there something more than choruses of angels singing in the sky? Is there something more than the strange sight of a couple and their newborn babe in a stable? Is there something more significant about this night? Well, certainly the world changed for Mary and Joseph. The moment Jesus entered into the world, their world changed. All the concerns they had leading up to this point. Who knows, Mary might have worried that she was going to give birth on the road there, that they wouldn't make it to Bethlehem . You can almost hear Joseph arguing with the innkeeper, saying, “How can you delegate us to the stable? Can't you see that my wife is going to have a child?” And yet, all of that's a distant memory as they now stare into the eyes of the newborn boy. The world changed for them in an instant.

I suppose it changed for them like it does for every first-time parent. Every first-time parent has to come to the realization that when their child arrives, at that moment, their lives are forever changed. Every routine they knew beforehand wouldn't be the same anymore. You and I know what that's like. When the first child arrives, you go from driving a Mustang to maneuvering a minivan. You go from getting up at 4:00 in the morning to go fishing to getting up at 4:00 in the morning to go fetch a bottle. Life changes when you have a baby. Everything changes.

Everything changed for Mary and Joseph but even more so for them. Mary, as she holds the infant baby in her arms and she looks down at the eyes of her son, does she see the eyes of God looking back at her? Joseph is given the job of raising this boy, raising him as his son. Joseph would teach him a trade, his trade as a carpenter. But did Joseph ever stop and wonder, “How can I teach this boy how to shape wood when His hands have shaped the universe.” On this night, the world changed. But is there more?

Is there more than just a change in routine and priorities for Mary and Joseph? Is there more than just the strange circumstance on which their child came into the earth? Is there something more significant? Is there a bigger change that's happened this night? Ever since that night, the world has never been the same. All of history has been changed because of that night. Even now 2,000 years later, we still have the ripple effects of what happened that night in Bethlehem . The weeks preceding Christmas, the world is a different place, is it not? People do things they don't normally do. There's a shift in attitude on people's hearts. Hardened hearts all of a sudden are melted. People are more giving. They're more compassionate. They're more loving. People do things they don't normally do.

Two weeks ago, in the Des Moines Register , it talked about a couple who was moving from Missouri up to Minnesota . They made it as far as Des Moines . In Des Moines , they ran out of luck, they ran out of money, and they ran out of gas. Their U-Haul truck, which had all of their earthly possessions, was impounded and the couple was in the homeless shelter. Just last week, another article in the Register , an anonymous person paid for the impounding fee, paid the rental on the truck, and the couple now have their possessions back. Things like that happen around Christmastime, things that don't normally happen.

A year ago in Denver , a man walked into a homeless shelter with a wad of $100 bills. And every homeless person he met, he handed out $100, in total over $35,000 he gave away on that night, all centered around this time of Christmas. People are different this time of year, Christian and non-Christian alike. There's something happening in our world.

The holiday of Christmas, there is more preparation, there is more celebration, there is more anticipation surrounding Christmas than all the rest of the holidays combined because the world has been changed. But is there more? Is there more than just a change in attitude? Is there more than just a giving spirit? Is there more than just showing compassion to our fellow human beings? Did something more significant happen on this night? Was there a bigger change than what meets the eye? Certainly, on this night, the world changed. But on this night, eternity changed.

You see, there are all kinds of events in human history that have changed the world, but there are only two events that have changed eternity. Both events center around the same person. Tonight, we celebrate His birth. In the spring, we'll celebrate His death and resurrection. Tonight changed eternity. Because tonight changed our relationship with God forever. Tonight we remember when God came into our world, where God invaded our world. But when God came into our world, He didn't come just to visit. He didn't come to show us His glory. He didn't appear in splendor and majesty. He did not appear as the all-powerful, all-knowing God He is. Instead, He incubated in a womb for nine months and He entered into our world the same way you did and the same way I did. God took on flesh and blood. He crossed the line between creator and creation. For now the creator has become part of creation.

God becomes a human being, and God is forever changed. From this moment on, He will always be the God-man Jesus Christ. He will always be God, and He will always be man. That means God understands His creation. He understands them because He's experienced everything His creation has experienced. God understands what it is to be sad because He experienced sorrow. God understands what it is to be lonely because He was alone. God understands what it is to lose a friend and God understands what it means to celebrate with others. God understands what it is to laugh and be full of joy and what it is to cry and be filled with pain. Because God became one of us, God understands us. Because God has experienced all of us.

It means our relationship with God is changed for an eternity. A relationship with God is forever changed. He's revealed Himself as a loving God and a compassionate God, a God who was willing to do anything to have a deeper relationship with you. He was willing to come and to live among us, to walk among us and to teach us and to show us His glory and to demonstrate His love. He came and lived among us knowing He would die for us. For although He was God's Son, He never in the slightest degree sinned, never once had a wrong word or a bad action and yet He went to the cross and died for us so we could be with Him for an eternity. He was born in Bethlehem so He could die on Calvary and He could rise again on Easter Sunday. He came, He lived, and He died and He lived again so we could have an eternity with Him. Tonight eternity changed and tonight everything changes for you.

Tonight, if you're surrounded by your family, maybe some have traveled a great distance and you're all huddled together in a pew and you're looking around saying proudly, “You know, we fill this whole pew up. That's kind of neat,” and you've got a joy and a warmth in your heart, know where that joy comes from. It comes from this night. It comes from God's gift that He gave to us.

You see, I'm also aware of the fact that not everyone is full of joy tonight. Not everyone has a happy heart. You may be facing Christmas for the first time without someone you love. They've been taken from you. And so tonight is a mixture of pain and celebration all at once. But tonight makes the difference because tonight says your loved one, because of their faith in Jesus, is celebrating Christmas with Jesus this year. And tonight says that one day, you'll celebrate again with them because you'll spend an eternity with Jesus. There's comfort in tonight. There's hope tonight brings.

There are others of you out there that have painted on a face for tonight, have you not? Put a smile on your face? You look holly and jolly for everyone else. You didn't want the kids to see the pain that's behind that. And instead of coming in here to celebrate, you have so much on your mind. You have more bills than you do gifts. Maybe the relationship ended. Maybe you have a lot of pain and sorrow in your life right now. But tonight says you have hope. Tonight proves that God keeps His promises. He said He would send His Son. He said He'd send a Messiah, and He made good on that promise. That means He'll make good on all the rest of the promises. The promise that says that He will walk along side of you every moment of every day. You don't have to face anything alone. The promise that says He can take the worst situation and turn it around for your good. All those promises are certain because of tonight.

So tonight, maybe tonight will change you. See I also know some of you are here tonight only because the family bugged you. Maybe it was the spouse nagging on you all week or maybe it was the kids saying, “Oh, come on, won't you go to church with us?” And so, reluctantly maybe, you drug yourself in here. Well, the first thing I want to say to you is thanks for doing that because you've shown the love you have for your family because you did something you didn't want to do. But maybe tonight can change all that because maybe God's love can come bursting through and you can see His compassion and His grace in a whole new light.

It is this night that we celebrate one night 2,000 years ago that changed the world, one night that changed eternity. Amen.

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church