SERMONS Not What We Expected Who Does God Invite to Christmas? Luke 2:8–12 December 20, 2020 Rev Ellis White Introduction Who is typically around your table for Christmas dinner? Growing up, we celebrated Christmas with my grandparents, like many people, but my parents made it a habit of always inviting someone who might otherwise have been on their own at Christmas. One year it was a nanny who came from another country. Another year it was my sister’s soccer coach. Other years it was a neighbor who lived by herself. Who is typically around your table for Christmas dinner? Family? Close friends? Strangers? And why is it that group of people? How do you determine the invite list? Maybe this year the list your criteria for an invite is a little stricter than normal! My name is Ellis and I’m one of the pastors at Chapel Hill. You’re joining us in a series called “Not What We Expected.” 2020 has certainly been a year that has defied our expectations in a bad way. And we believe a life with Jesus also defies expectations, but… in a good way. A life with Jesus is full of surprises and twists and turns that propels us to something greater than we could even have imagined. A life with Jesus isn’t what we expected, it’s better. And it all began with Jesus’ birth. On that first Christmas over 2000 years ago, the people who were invited were not necessarily the people we might expect. Today I want to explore the question, who does God invite to Christmas? My hope is that you will find the answer to be surprising, and perhaps a little challenging! Who does God invite to Christmas? Three groups of people. First, the unwelcome. 7700 Skansie Ave, Gig Harbor, WA 98335 | 253.851.7779 | chapelhillpc.org 1 1. Unwelcome Have you been watching the Crown on Netflix? Let me know in the comments your favorite character. Let’s just say, Prince Charles is not high on my list. Perhaps my favorite character was Michael Fagan. Michael Fagan was a young man who was living in government housing, separated from his wife and kids, surviving on unemployment benefits, and most likely struggling with addiction to alcohol and drugs. He is portrayed as a social outcast, rejected by all. Michael wants some money to renovate his apartment, but after being told by the local authorities they couldn’t help, and visiting his local political representative who didn’t listen to him, Michael decides to visit Buckingham Palace to secure an audience with the Queen herself. Unfortunately for Michael, he is not welcome at the palace, because, well, he’s a social outcast. And so, Michael takes matters into his own hands and decides to break in. The Christian claim is that Jesus is the King of Kings—in other words he is the greatest King who had ever lived. On the occasion of his birth, you would expect that only royalty would be present. Yet, that is not what we find. The people who God invited were much more like Michael Fagan, than like Elizabeth II. This is how the early Christian writer Luke records it: “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, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”” (Luke 2:8–12 NIV11) Shepherds were the Michael Fagans of their day. They were social outcasts, unacceptable in society, pushed to the fringes. They would have been un-welcome at the birth of most people, let alone the King of Kings. And yet, who does God invite to Christmas? The unwelcome. 7700 Skansie Ave, Gig Harbor, WA 98335 | 253.851.7779 | chapelhillpc.org 2 Michael Fagan did manage to break into Buckingham Palace and, according to Netflix, just as the sun was rising, he entered the Queen’s bedroom to secure his audience with the monarch, Yet, what is most fascinating to me, is the Queen’s response. While initially startled, once she realized that all Michael wants is a conversation, she decides to sit down in a chair next to him and have a chat. The Queen of the United Kingdom welcomes and listens to the objections of a socially outcast subject. At least, that’s what Netflix told me, so it must be true, right? In the very same way, the King of the universe welcomes the unwelcome. Those whom society rejects; God accepts. Who does God invite to Christmas? First, the unwelcome. Second, the irreligious. 2. Irreligious Who came to visit you in the hospital after the birth of your child? Was it your family? A close friend? Or, if you haven’t had a child, whom have you visited after the birth of their child? After my first child, Evelyn, was born, in the next 24 hours we were visited by no less than 6 pastors! Sadly, I only got pictures of three of them. Of course, for the child of a couple who were both religious leaders, like me and my wife, that shouldn’t be surprising. You would expect religious leaders to visit the birth of the child of religious leaders. Jesus was a religious leader. Many would say the greatest of all time. So perhaps we would expect God to invite religious leaders to the birth of his Son. Yet that is not what we find. One of Jesus’ followers, Matthew, records this in his account of Jesus’ life. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”” (Matthew 2:1–2 NIV11) 7700 Skansie Ave, Gig Harbor, WA 98335 | 253.851.7779 | chapelhillpc.org 3 Some of the first visitors to Jesus after he was born were Magi. You may know them as wise men, which is a nice way of putting it. In reality these men were experts in magic arts, as their name Magi might suggest. They were men who were involved in astrology—using the movements of stars to predict the outcome of human events. They were not religious, in fact, they were very irreligious. Some might call them pagans or heathens. Not exactly who you would expect to get invited to the birth of a great Jewish religious leader. At one point, a member of my family in England trained to be a medium—a person who trained in magic arts to seek to gain information and predict the outcome of human events. After a time, she left her practices behind, but the premonitions didn’t leave her. She would have out of body experiences at night, visitations from evil spirits, and at times would wake up feeling like she was being strangled. Eventually, she couldn’t sleep and it all became too much. One day, she heard a voice tell her: “burn the books.” So, she did. She took all her occult material outside and had a bonfire. And so, began a journey of Jesus inviting this most unlikely of people into a relationship with him. Through several people in the church, who loved her and prayed for her in the name of Jesus, she began a process of healing that took many years. Today she loves and follows Jesus and is free of her afflictions. God doesn’t invite people into a relationship with him based upon their religious background. In fact, God invites those who are irreligious into a relationship with him. People like the Magi and my family member. People who seem the most unlikely people to be invited, get an invitation. Who does God invite to Christmas? First, the unwelcome, second the irreligious. And third, you. 3. You It may seem unexpected that God invites the unwelcome and irreligious to Christmas, but I believe the most unexpected person that God has invited is you. The story of Christmas is the story of a God who welcomes and invites every single person to come to sit and eat with him. 7700 Skansie Ave, Gig Harbor, WA 98335 | 253.851.7779 | chapelhillpc.org 4 Later in his life, Jesus tells a story about a king who prepared a wedding banquet. The invitations went out to guests and when it was time for the party, he sent his servants to tell those invited to come, but they didn’t come. He invited them again, and they didn’t come. Finally, the king says this to his servants: ’The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:8–10 NIV11) Who does God invite to Christmas? All the people his servants can find. If you are listening to this, it is highly likely that at some point, one of God’s servants, that is a person who follows Jesus, invited you to come to church either in person or online.