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12.27.09
1st Sunday after Christmas
IMAGE BREAKERS
MICAH 5:2-5a: LUKE 1:39-55
- The Wonder of Christmas
- Shattering Expectations
- Christmas is all about seeing things differently, breaking traditional images, and getting outside the box
- Mary’s visit to Elizabeth isn’t just a meeting between two pregnant women, it’s the introduction of a Messiah named Jesus to a prophet named John
- The kick of an unborn child isn’t simply a sign of fetal vitality, it’s the muscle-flexing of John the Baptist leaping for joy
- Mary’s unplanned pregnancy isn’t really a problem for her
- It’s a reason to rejoice in the great things God is doing
- And the child that Mary is carrying will be a mighty king, but not a traditional king in any sense of the word
- He will be the Messiah God uses to bring down the powerful from their thrones and lift up the lowly
- Christmas shatters our expectations and pushes us outside the box
- It blows away our understandings of what usually happens when two women get together to support one another
- It helps us to see things differently—to see a hug between Mary and Elizabeth as a meeting between Jesus and John, a kick in the belly as a fist-bump of recognition, a song of praise as a celebration of God’s ability to turn the world upside down
- Iconoclasts
- Christmas shatters the traditional images of what we think the world is all about
- It attacks our traditional images, ideas and institutions
- An image-breaker is the definition of the word “iconoclast,” and Christmas definitely shatters the icons of our culture
- People who are image-breakers aren’t devoted to destruction
- In fact, the work they do is usually quite creative and constructive
- By shattering the icons of the past, they help to create a better future
- Iconoclasts do what tradition-minded people say cannot be done, and they do it by seeing things differently
- Elizabeth and Mary were both image-breakers because they saw things not for what they were but for what they might be
- First century conventional wisdom would have trapped these women in the box of second-class citizenship, with the extra constraint of shame placed upon Mary because she was an unwed mother
- But when Mary greets Elizabeth and John gives her a kick in the womb, Elizabeth exclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”
- With the help of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth sees that God is breaking tradition and doing things differently by sending the Lord Jesus into the world through a young girl named Mary
- Mary is also an image-breaker
- Her simple knowledge of human biology tells her that what the angel Gabriel told her is impossible, yet she believes that with God, it is possible for her to have a baby without a human father
- That takes faith that is beyond the conventional
- Her response to this news is to simply accept what Gabriel said to her as possible with God, and to praise God for looking with favor upon her, even though she has done nothing to earn or deserve God’s attention
- The gift of Jesus is a pure gift—all she has to do is accept it in faith and trust God to continue to work good in her life
- “His mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation,” she sings, going on to predict how God will turn the world upside down—scattering the proud, bringing down the powerful, lifting up the lowly and feeding the hungry
- She knows that God isn’t trapped by traditional ideas or institutions and that God will show favor to those who respect God—not on those who have the most power or possessions
- God’s mercy is “for those who fear him”—not for those who have the biggest bank account
- Breaking Into the World
- The Prophecy of Micah
- That God’s design was to shatter the expectations of the world is evident in the words of the prophet Micah
- At no time did anyone ever expect a great king to come from such an insignificant little village as Bethlehem
- Yet, that tiny village in such a remote part of the world became the place from which, not one but two, great kings would come
- David was the first king to emerge from there, and of all the earthly kings to sit on Israel’s throne, David was, by far, the greatest
- The nation of Israel flourished under the leadership of David like it had under no other king
- Not even Solomon, with all his wisdom, was able to do for Israel what his father David did
- The second great king to come from Bethlehem was Jesus Christ
- It is this king of whom the prophet Micah speaks
- This king, unlike the other rulers of Israel, will not be an earthly monarch
- Instead, he will become the King of kings and Lord of lords
- His kingdom will not be an earthly kingdom but a heavenly one because he will be the Savior of all the earth
- Unlike Israel’s earthly rulers, who often exploited the poor and oppressed the weak, this King will shepherd God’s flock with the strength of the Lord, bringing security, justice and peace to all who are part of his flock
- Shattering the Images of the World
- So what could it mean for us to celebrate Christmas in such a way that we, too, work to break some of the traditional images that are part of our celebration of Christmas, and part of the normal routine of our daily living?
- We all know what we’ll see this Christmas: presents, given and received, decorations, parties, visits from family members and friends
- That’s the way it is
- But Mary invites us to see things differently and to find true joy in the gift of God’s favor
- God really loves us, and God’s affection has nothing to do with our education, our achievements, our job security, our bank account or our marital status
- The surprising insight of Mary’s song is that God “has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” (vs. 48)
- She announces that God favors us in our lowliness, in our humility, in our simple willingness to lean on God
- And that’s good news for all of us, especially in a year of economic turmoil, layoffs, investment losses and personal instability
- When the world doesn’t seem to care, God favors us
- When the future seems uncertain, God promises to do great things for us
- How can we proclaim that message of hope, not only at Christmas, but every day of the year?
- How can we work to shatter some of the images our culture clings to that perpetuate disappointment, despair and hopelessness for so many?
- Mary’s words to us declare that Christmas cannot be limited to new insights into our personal relationship with God
- It also has to include participation in what God is doing in the world
- That means that we must enlist with Mary’s son, Jesus, to bring down the powerful from their thrones, lift up the lowly and fill the hungry with good things
- There are any number of images that need to be broken, values of our culture that are contrary to the values of God, that we, as Christians, must work to overturn, not only at Christmas but each and every day that we live
- Let me suggest several of them
- By seeking to shatter those cultural images, we will do our part in making life better, not only for ourselves, but for those who are less fortunate
- And by doing so, we will work to bring the realm of God into reality on earth
- Images That Need To Be Broken
- The first image that needs to be broken is that Christmas is all about us
- Our focus during this holiday season is on what we can do for ourselves
- Our motivation in gift giving is this: if we give bigger and better gifts, we will get bigger and better gifts in return
- Christmas is not about us; it’s all about God and what God has done and will do for us
- When we focus on the gift of God’s love, Christmas becomes more about sharing that gift rather than accumulating more “stuff”
- That leads us into the second image that needs to be broken: Getting is more important than giving
- A popular bumper sticker reads, “He who has the most toys wins.”
- That is the mindset of our materialistic culture
- According to the teachings of Jesus, “He who has the most toys loses,” for Jesus teaches, “What good is it if a man gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”
- Human value is found, not in the accumulation of wealth and material possessions, but in our willingness to share what we have with those who have less
- Thirdly, there is the mindset that “What I have is mine to keep,” and that is based upon the false assumption that “I have earned and deserve all that I have”
- The message of Christmas declares that the only thing in life that really matters is the gift of God’s love and grace given to the world through Jesus Christ
- Everything we have flows into our life as a result of that love and grace
- Even life itself is the gift of God, and God’s gifts are never intended to be hoarded
- They are given to us to be shared with others
- We earn nothing, and all we deserve is our fair share, only what we need to survive
- Everything beyond that is to be used to help others
- Since we do not earn or deserve what we have, it is wrong for us to think that we own it
- Everything comes from God and everything belongs to God
- Therefore, whatever God gives us must be used according to God’s will for the benefit of God’s people
- Finally, there is the idea that the poor must continue to get poorer while the rich continue to get richer
- In our culture, everything is balanced on the backs of the poor
- Systems allow them to be exploited and taken advantage of
- They do 90% of the work while gaining only a fraction of the profit
- Jesus came to reverse that
- As Mary reminds us in her song, through her son Jesus, God will scatter the proud, bring down rulers, lift up the humble, fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty
- God is on the side of the weak, and it is our responsibility, then, to confront systems that oppress and bring an end to injustice
- Unless we do, Jesus’ birth is meaningless, and his death and resurrection were in vain
- Christmas ought to teach us to see what might be instead of what is
- This means that Christmas ought to be more than a season of benevolence toward the hungry and poor, it ought to be a way of life with specific actions year-round that assist the marginalized to embrace new opportunities and changes for themselves
- Christmas is all about seeing what might be instead of what is
- It’s about breaking the mold of conformity to traditional values
- That’s what Elizabeth did when she welcomed an unwed mother with joy
- That’s what Mary did when she rejoiced in God’s favor
- That’s what Jesus did when he entered the world to save us from our sins and bring justice to the poor
- Image-breakers—that’s what Christmas challenges us to be