LUKE 2:1-20
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that
took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria). And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the City of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whim his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about the child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

Are you ready for Christmas? Yes, the gifts have been bought, the cards have been sent, the parties have been attended and all the traditions of our cultural Christmas have been completed. But, as Martin Luther said “has God sunk into our flesh.” God became man; divinity became humanity and we immediately see God’s ways our higher than our ways. God became a baby through a young Jewish mother. As a child Jesus bumped and scraped his knees; he played hide and go seek. He grew up as a boy fully human, fully divine. As a man Jesus experienced rejection, pain, hunger, thirst and temptation-but he did not sin. Being tempted is

not a sin, giving in is the sin. Jesus, saw and healed people who were sick, people who were hurting, people who had leprosy. He wept when he heard his friend Lazarus was dead. This is Jesus the Lord who understands every human situation.

Faith is trusting and loving God completely and knowing that God honors His promises. We know from Micah 5:2 that the savior
of the world will come from Bethlehem. And what does God do; He uses Caesar, the earthly authority to lead two people to Bethlehem.
And so this young couple, Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem for the time had come for Jesus the Savior be born. God’s timing
is always the best time. From Proverbs 3:5 (NIV) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Joseph and Mary did not stay at the Hilton. There was no room in the inn so the Christ child had to be born in a manger. We live in a country where we frequently reject and abort babies because there is no room. But please realize there is room for every baby in this country. There is accommodation for Jesus to rule in every human heart. So here in this manger with Joseph and Mary, Jesus is born. The manger was a smelly place with animal dung; the manger was very humiliating yet very humbling. The manger was dirty, yet available. Jesus looks for the available person in the available place with the available heart. He will come into the depths of our hearts; He will come to the smelly places of our hearts and lives and if we are able and available He will use us.

And then there were the regular guys-the shepherds-the guys who did not have a thrilling job and were low on the pecking order. Yet God came to the shepherds through the incarnation. An angel appeared to the shepherds and through the grace of God, He chose the lowly shepherds. Jesus goes to the fields, to the jails, to the brothels, to the schools and offices to those who are weak and dirty. And He comes to clean us up and shape us up. The power of God comes to us to change us in an instant and sanctify us over a lifetime. The power of God delivers us from our addiction, from our destructive behavior, from our fears and from our worries. We need to let Jesus take from our lives that which we need to be free of. We need to let Jesus pour Himself into our hearts fully and completely. Our sins are forgiven and we have a relationship with the Lord. Jesus came to be born, to live, to die and to rise again-to give us everlasting life.

NIV 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” It’s about
Jesus; it’s about being saved; it’s about the joy of the Lord. It’s about becoming a saint; it’s about knowing we are a child of the
one true God. We need a savior because “the heart is desperately wicked and beyond cure.” And Jesus is our magnificent Savior. And when we find Jesus we want to praise God; we want to dance with joy; we want to raise our hands and most of all we want to spread the good news to all.

Amen!