Luke 2:8-14
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the
angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is
Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in
cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the
angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
NIV
I must have been
4 or 5 years old.
It was Christmas
Day and it had been a wonderful day.
The tree was
still up, the presents had all been opened. There were toys all over the
place.
But – my sister
had not been behaving. I’m sure of this,
it was all her fault. I’m sure I did my
best to get her to behave but for some reason my father thought both of us had
been naughty.
He was beginning
to threaten us with the most terrible prospect.
I’m not talking minor league threats.
He didn’t say he was going to put us in time out, or spank us, or ground
us or deprive us of food and water. He
threatened to call Santa Claus.
Up until then, I
had no idea that my father personally knew Santa Claus or had his telephone
number. Apparently, my father had more
power and authority than I’d ever imagined.
My sister and I
did our best -- I mean we really, really
tried to behave. But then it
happened. We did something that just
brought my father’s patience to an end.
He picked up the
telephone and called Santa Claus.
My sister and I
were in tears and we started begging him, “Daddy, Daddy please. Don’t do this.”
I mean how
humiliating would it be for Santa and his sleigh to show up in our drive way in
the middle of the day? The whole
neighborhood would see him packing our toys and taking them back to the North
Pole.
Other parents
would point to us and say to their children, “You see? You see, you don’t want to be like the
Pittendreigh children.”
Finally, after
intense begging, my sister and I, along with my mother, finally convinced my
father to relent.
Whew! That had been a close call.
For years after
that, every Christmas I would sit in Santa’s lap and the first thing he would
ask me was, “Have you been naughty, or nice?”
And I would know
that Santa remembered the day when my father had called him, waking him up from
his nap, and almost asking him to take back our toys.
The reality of
life is that we have to earn certain things in this world.
We have to earn our jobs, we have to
earn our homes, we have to earn our place in life. We have to work hard
for these things.
Remember the old
television advertisements of Smith Barney?
A distinquished actor, John Houseman would appear on the television
screen and say, “At Smith Barney, we make money the old fashioned way. We EARN it.”
But at
Christmas, a gift is given whether we have been naughty or nice. It is given freely, without strings attached.
It is a strange
scene in our New Testament lesson. Shepherds
are in the fields, minding their own business.
They have no expectation of anything happening out of the ordinary. A single angel appears to them, and announces
“good news of great joy for all people.”
For all people –
not for those who are rich enough, or powerful enough, or strong enough, or
famous enough, or good enough. It is for
all people.
We don’t have to earn the gift of
Christ in our lives.
The only thing more amazing than that
is that we so often fail to receive the gift.
A free gift, left unreceived.
On January, 12, 2007, a young man in
blue jeans and a baseball cap entered a subway station in Washington DC. He opened up the violin case he had been
carrying, tuned his violin and began to play.
For over 40 minutes he played six classical
pieces. One thousand, ninety seven
people passed by. Only 7 people stopped
to listen for at least one minute. Most
were too busy to stop and enjoy the music.
Twenty seven people tossed some money into his open violin case, earning
him a total of $32.17.
At the end of 43 minutes, he quietly
packed up his violin and walked away.
Not a single person applauded.
$32.17.
That came to less than one dollar a
minute.
Now what makes this story interesting
is that this was not a typical violinist.
It was Joshua Bell, one of the world’s leading classical musicians. Instead of making a dollar a minute, he
usually makes about a thousand per minute.
The violin he played is one of the most valuable ever made – a
Stradivari valued at $3.5 million.
A reporter stood by observing and
recording this event. You can see this
on youtube. Just Google Joshua Bell and
subway and it will come up. You will
hear the wonderful music, and you will watch the people just walking by,
ignoring the gift.
Except for two people. A postal worker named John - a
"smallish man with a baldish head". John had learned the violin as a
youth. He recognized the quality of Joshua Bell's performance and stood
enjoying it from the distance.
And then there was a demographer named Stacy. Stacy had seen Bell in concert 3 weeks
before, paying over $100 for her ticket. She recognized him. "And here he
was, the international virtuoso, sawing away, begging for money. She had no
idea what was going on, but whatever it was, she wasn't about to miss it. Stacy
positioned herself 3 yards away from Bell,
front row, center. She had a huge grin on her face. The grin, and Stacy,
remained planted in that spot until the end.
Stacy told the reporter: `It was the most astonishing thing
I've ever seen in Washington.
Joshua Bell was standing there playing in rush hour, and people were not
stopping, not even looking, and some were flipping quarters at him! Quarters! I
was thinking, Omigosh, what kind of a city do I live in that this could
happen?"
In another place, at another time, the night was filled with
heavenly music and brilliant light. Angels sang to workers who were busy with
their flocks. They proclaimed the birth
of Christ. His arrival was "good
news of great joy for all people".
Where would those workers of long ago find this glorious
child?
A palace?
A temple?
A concert hall with an orchestra playing perhaps?
No.
It was more like a subway station than a palace.
"You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in
manger."
Who would have expected to find the heavenly King there of
all places?
Usually he lived among angels; now among cattle.
No splendid costume; just the simplest clothing.
And not a mighty warrior, learned scholar or majestic ruler,
but a baby - humanity at it's weakest.
What a surprising place to find God.
Like a violinist playing in a train
station, God made himself accessible to the masses so we can all enjoy the
beauty of his gift.
It is surprising that God gives us
the gift of his Son so freely, whether we deserve the gift of not. But it is more surprising that so many will
ignore this gift, and not bring Christ into their lives.
So what of you? Have you received the gift of Christ?
Or are you just passing through on
this night, in a hurry to be on your way?
Copyright 2013, Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights
reserved.
For copies of other sermons, visit www.Pittendreigh.com
