Welcome Christmas - Christ the King - Matthew 2:1–6; Matthew 28:18–20

You know, it's really interesting. If if if I had to pick a word to describe the birth of Jesus through the eyes and the acting out of these kids, I would say cute. But if you read the story of the birth of Jesus and all the events surrounding it, I don't think cute would be the word that we would pick out. In fact, here's the word that I would pick out. If I had to find one word to describe all the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, here's the word I think I would use. Messy. And you might ask the question, why messy? Of all the words you could choose, why would you describe the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, the Messiah? Why would you describe it as messy? And here's why I would choose that word. Because that's what it was. Like, if you could step back in time with me to the actual stable, to the actual place where Jesus was born. And the book of Luke tells us about this. And here's what Luke says. First of all, Luke says that he was born and said stable. We're not sure if that word means a stable or a cave. Um, some historians believe this that there was actually because it was a hilly area, there had been a carved out area. And actually Jesus was born kind of just in this shallow part of a cave. Um, might have been born at the house at a stable. The houses back in those days were really built many like many stories, many um, homes here kind of a twotory. The bottom level would have been the places where all the animals would have been housed and the people would have slept and lived on the top layer. So many historians believe the stable would have been just basically first floor of the family house or the stable truly might have been what we think of as a stable. There might have been a pin and a farm or pin with some area around it and just an old shed like you see here. But regardless of which of those three ways, three types of stables it was, it would not have been clean. It would have been messy. If you step back in time with me, think about it. There's a stable here. And what stays in a stable, animals, cows, goats, maybe some pigs, maybe a donkey in there. I'm not sure the last time you invited that type of clan over to your house. Some donkeys and some sheep and some horses and some cows. They're not the cleanest people that you would want inside your house. And so the night there was no place in the end. There was no room for them to stay in. So, the Bible says in the book of Luke that Joseph took his wife Mary and she was due any moment. And the only place they could find was a dirty, messy stable. And though the Bible doesn't say what animals were there, because it was a stable, we can guess that as they're kind of getting comfortable and getting ready for the night and getting ready for the delivery and the birth of this child, there would have been some mooing and there would have been some bang and there would have been all the animals around them. Well, you know what you get when you get noises and animals? You get smells and animals. You get the stinky stuff of the animals. And so that's the reason I say you describe that night. It would have been messy. In fact, the Bible goes on to say that when the baby Christ child was born, laid him in a manger. Manger, that word is nothing more a fancy word for feeding trough. See, Joseph was a carpenter. And we like to think in our hallmark way of thinking about that first Christmas story that Joseph got there and he went and got some wood and he carved it and he nailed it and he formed it and he made this beautiful crib for his new baby that his wife was going to give birth to. Best we can tell from the account of Luke that there wasn't time for that. That Joseph was probably spending more time shoveling the stuff out of the way so they wouldn't step in it than he was making a crib. And so they grabbed the first thing they could find, a feeding trough. Probably cleaned it out the best he could. He probably didn't have any sanitary wipes that my wife would insist that I would use if we were there that day. But he cleaned it out the best he could. Probably put some fresh hay in there and just looked at his wife Mary and just kind of shrugged and said, "Best I can do." A little messy, but the best I can do. The Bible also describes this that when baby Jesus was born, Mary wrapped him in what the Bible terms swaddling clothes. Can I give you the most basic definition of swaddling clothes? Rags. It's not like when they left to go to Bethlehem, Mary's like, "Oh, no. I picked out four or five outfits for our baby. Which one I going to take? This onesie or this ones ear? This onesie?" No. No. She just picked up whatever she had, which is some spare rags, some spare clothes. And the Bible says that swaddling clothes, she probably probably tore them in strips and when the baby was born, she wrapped those around him to keep him secure and to keep him warm. Rags. I remember when my daughter was born 30 years ago, just a few days ago, celebrated her 30th birthday. And so just a few days before Christmas, the doctor said, "You can go home now." And they had this great big stocking that we took her home in. We still had that picture. Had I walked into that room, said, "Honey, let's go. And here's some rags I brought from home that we could put the child in." I think probably my child and my wife would have went home and they would have told me find some other transportation to get there if that's what I would have wrapped that baby in. But do you see what I'm saying? a little messy. A stable, smelly, dirty animals, dirty hay, a feeding trough to put the baby in, swaddling clothes. It was just kind of messy. So, it leads me to ask the question, why God? I mean, one of the most familiar verses we have is John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave as a gift his son to us. So God, if you're gifting your only son to us on this earth, wouldn't it make more sense that you gifted him in a more pristine, prestigious way? Wouldn't it make more sense that he was delivered in a palace, not a stable, in a manger? And so I asked myself the question, God, why? Why would you of all the things that you could do as God, as all the ways that you could bring your son Jesus into this earth, into these people, why would you choose such a messy way? And there's a reason. And the answer is this. Because God did it that way to remind us that God meets us in our mess. You know, if he would have set up the palace and it was prestigious and it was pristine and it was just way above our way of living, we might have felt like, "How could we ever step towards that type of God? How could we ever be one that might walk into a Jesus in his presence when that's the type of person he was?" But I believe God sent Jesus in a messy way to remind you and I that he meets us in our mess. Can I be real honest with you as a pastor? I have a lovehate relationship with Christmas Eve. Now you're like, as a pastor, how can you have a lovehate? It's like should be love only. Here's my love and hate. I love Christmas Eve. I love Christmas Eve services. I love it's that one time a year that everybody kind of comes on the same day. So, seeing people that you don't normally see. I love seeing families come together. I love seeing extended family. Christmas Eve services to me are something I've looked forward to for 30 years. I really do love them. And you all take showers and you all brush your teeth and you all put on nice clothes. It's just a really nice service. But here's my hate part. And maybe hate's kind of a strong word. Dislike.

Sometimes I think on Christmas Eve service, we put more about appearances about oursel than what's really on the inside. It's like I joked when you came this morning or this afternoon. We're all smiling on we're happy to be here, but you have no idea what took place in the car getting here. Have no idea what took place in home trying to convince everybody, yes, we're going to Christmas Eve service. Sometimes I talk to people and they're like, "I don't want to go to Christmas Eve service because if I don't go the other 360 odd days of the year, why would I go this day?" I haven't had one person tell me one time, "I don't think God wants me to go because he sees what I do the other 360 odd days." And so somehow we have this idea that that we have to put it all together, have all the right clothes, all the right smiles, all the right attitudes. It's more of a service that feels like we need to impress one another rather than embrace one another. It's like, yeah, Jesus came in the messiness, but we don't allow any mess in the door. And so, let me share with you my Christmas wish this year. As your pastor, here's my wish. That we would be okay with mess in the door. If God was okay for mess, here's what I promise you. He is okay with our mess.

And here's what I just wish for us. that we would embrace Emmanuel. Do you know the word Emmanuel? It's another name for Jesus. You know what that word means? God is with us. We don't go looking for him. He came to us in our mess. And so my prayer is this. My wish is this is that we would embrace Emmanuel in our mess.

to throw your arms wide open and just say, "God, I am a mess, but here I come." And here's what I promise he'll do for you. He will throw his arms wide open. Say, "Then come on." You'll never hear God say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can you go and got to get your stuff together first?" Look, he didn't get it together before he sent him. And he'll never ask us to get it together when we come to him. You know, I asked you all ago to um put your phones up. I'm going to give you some church permission here for a second. If you want, I'm going to let you take your phone out for a second because I'm going to give you three bulletsized things to take home about Jesus embracing the mess. And here's what I know. Your mind's already on cooking and your mind's already on gifts. And you're like, "Okay, what time is it? What time is it?" I promise you, I'm not going to call you tonight going, "Can you repeat the three things I told you? So, because I know you won't remember them, I'm going to give you the permission in church to pull out your camera and take a picture. And they're going to be right up here on the screen. And here's the first thing I want you to remember. Take this home with you. That Jesus comes close before we get cleaned up. You can bank on that. Jesus comes close before we get cleaned up. Here's number two. Jesus comes to rescue us, not to be impressed by us. Think about that. Think that just takes the pressure off, doesn't it? If I don't have to to impress Jesus and he's just coming to rescue me, Jesus, here I am. Come get me. That's what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. That's what Jesus still wants to do tonight. And then here's the last one. Jesus is accessible, not exclusive. He came for everybody. Think about the first person that they announced the birth of Jesus to. It was it was shepherds. Shepherds were considered one of the most lowliest, stinkiest, worst jobs known to man back in those days because oftentimes they would take the sheep out in the fields and they wouldn't bring them back every single day. They might stay out in the fields for three, four, five, six days, sometimes two weeks at a time. So, can you imagine living with sheep for two weeks? Like they came home and everybody knew they were coming home before they got home. Like the night they came to see Mary and Joseph, they didn't come knocking on the door of the stable and Mary and Joseph goes, "Oh, I didn't know we had guests." They're going, "I think we have guests coming." And so Jesus chose the lowliest of the low to be the first ones to meet Jesus. You know why he did that? because he was declaring to the world, Jesus is accessible to everybody. No matter where you come from, no matter your thoughts, no matter what you've done, he is accessible to everybody. And so that's why I say Jesus, his birth was a little messy, but it was the most intentional, messy birth that God could have dreamed of. And tonight, I invite you to the mess. Jesus invites you in your mess to him. Will you pray with me? Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that just you, somebody so much smarter than us 2,000 years ago, chose to write it down that we could remember it to this day. And God, more than the details of what the stable might have looked like or what the manger looked like or or some of the details of who came to see Jesus, thank you for those details. But Jesus, tonight we thank you

that you meet us in our mess. That you don't expect us to get cleaned up. That you don't expect us to look right. You don't even expect us to act right. You just you just invite us to come. And so, thank you for meeting us in our mess. And Jesus, I pray specifically for anyone here tonight that they're kicking the tires, not sure exactly what to do with you or how to do it or when to do it or where to do it. God, I pray tonight would be the night they simply just pray, "Jesus, I believe in you." And you will come running to them. And we pray this in your holy name. Amen.