Zealous - Christmas Eve
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
December 24, 2024
Friends, our second reading tonight,
from Titus, urges us to be “zealous for good deeds.” Zealous isn’t a word we use all that often,
so it caught my attention. What does it
mean to be zealous? Well, synonyms for
that word include eager, earnest, passionate, and even fanatical. I’m pretty zealous about dark roast coffee
and books. What are you zealous
for? Penn State football? Vacations at the beach? We’re all zealous about something, but
I suspect most of us are not zealous for good deeds.
As I think back to Christmases as a
boy, I’ll tell you something I was not zealous for. Socks and underwear. As a kid I considered them the absolute worst
of all possible gifts. And so in the
week or two before Christmas Eve, as wrapped gifts gradually started to
surround the tree in our living room, I engaged in regular, ongoing, systematic
surveillance of all the packages. My
work was conducted with great secrecy and silence. It involved identifying the presents that had
my name on them, and carefully squeezing the wrapping to determine if it
concealed those deadliest and least desirable of all gifts: socks and
underwear.
In the event I detected socks or
underwear, I mentally noted which packages held the offending gifts and
resolved to open them last, after I had opened all the really good things, namely the toys and games. My
plan usually worked pretty well, but at some point I think my mom discovered
what was going on, because she started putting the socks and underwear into
cardboard boxes, which of course upended all of my careful planning. I’m guessing that watching my distress was a
little Christmas gift she gave to herself! But for me, that disruption of my expectations just magnified my
disappointment.
Strangely enough, friends, that
leads us to Jesus. For centuries and
centuries, God had promised to send the people a messiah, a savior,
who would liberate them from everything that oppressed them. In the midst of slavery, humiliating military
defeats, heartbreaking exile, and oppression of every conceivable type, it was
the promise of a messiah and the hope that promise conveyed that sustained
God’s people when all of their circumstances would have otherwise encouraged
them to give up.
Our first reading, from the prophet
Isaiah, contains one of those promises. In words made unforgettable to us through Handel’s Messiah, we hear the
reassuring pledge that God will send a savior bearing divine authority, a hero
who will be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and a Prince
of Peace. Naturally, the people hearing
this assumed God’s promise would be fulfilled through a mighty military
commander who would gather armies, inspire an insurrection, free them from
their bondage, and decisively upend the status quo.
Instead, after hundreds of years of
desperation, waiting, and hoping, they got… a baby… born under
questionable and perhaps even scandalous circumstances to a young girl and some
carpenter from the north country, people so obscure and impoverished that the
baby had to be born amidst livestock, with a makeshift crib fashioned from a
filthy feeding trough. Where was the
ferocious general? Where was the
powerful leader? Where were the armies
of liberation, and the swords and spears that would destroy their enemies and
bring freedom? That was a far greater
disappointment than getting socks and underwear for Christmas.
Of course not everyone rejected the unexpected gift of a savior born as a helpless infant. Mary was the very first one to say “yes” to
Jesus, even though she couldn’t fathom how God could deliver a gift in this
manner, and why God would choose her. She simply trusted and believed. Joseph had initial doubts, but in time he too surrendered his fears to
Jesus. So did the shepherds. It defied reason that news of the birth of God’s
Son would come to a mangy group of shepherds in the forlorn and forgotten fields
outside of Bethlehem. That’s not how the world works! But the shepherds put
their fears aside and trusted that this is how God works.
As an adult, Jesus asked those
around him: “Who do you say that I am?” So what about you, my friends? Are
you zealous for Christ? Because let’s be
honest. This story still defies rational
understanding. A savior who comes to us
in such smallness and vulnerability? A
savior who proposes to conquer sin, death, and the devil not with powerful
armies, worldly wisdom, and astonishing wealth but with humility, meekness, and
love? A savior who doesn’t taunt or
out-shout his worldly opponents but quietly and silently walks to his
execution, knowing that ultimate victory will come not from exalting himself at
the expense of others, but by pouring himself out in love, even for people who
refuse to love him back?
I understand if you’ve struggled to
make sense of Jesus, because he works in ways that are so counter-cultural,
even today. It’s easy to be drawn away
by the bigger, flashier, shinier objects of this world which shout to us that over here we’ll find happiness, identity, worth, and meaning. And so we invest ourselves in our careers,
our education, our hobbies, our politics and causes, and a host of other
things, most of which are not inherently bad. But when we elevate them to the primary place in our life, they crowd
out the simple truth of a savior like Jesus, who comes to us quietly as a baby
and whispers his abiding love to us, even when our hearts are set on other,
noisier things. We are zealous for so
many things in this life that aren’t Jesus. But friends, his zeal for us never diminishes.
But how can I be sure? Well, I’ll tell you just one story to show
why I believe this. This Christmas is
our first without Dad. He died back in
February, so we’re feeling a lot of emotions. In all honesty, if Dad were alive tonight, I doubt we could’ve convinced
him to come to church. I’m sure he had
his reasons, but it was something I could never understand.
But as life was slowly draining out
of Dad in the hospital, we had an experience together that for me was no less
miraculous than a virgin birth or an infant savior. Jesus was as present with us in that
intensive care room as he was in the manger on that very first Christmas
Eve. You see, Jesus knew there wasn’t
going to be another opportunity in this life for Dad to come to him. So Jesus came to Dad. The peace that flooded his room that day
continues to heal, bless, and resonate even now. Jesus has been no less zealous in his dogged,
determined pursuit of me throughout my life. So you can see why I feel zeal for Jesus, and why it’s so important for
me to try to find the words that will persuade you to make space in the manger
of your heart this night for him. Because
Jesus is just as zealous for you.
But be forewarned that when Jesus
takes up residence within you, he never leaves you the same as you were. Your priorities will shift. Your interests will change. And suddenly, Jesus’s zeal for you will
kindle a flame in you to be zealous for Jesus. And before long, that flame will begin to blaze
so that, as we heard in our reading from Titus, you’ll be zealous for good
deeds, like loving your neighbor, even those who can be challenging to
love, not because Jesus forces you to, but because the divine fire in your
heart will glow so brightly that it will light up all the darkness around you.
Friends, this Christmas Jesus comes
to you as the gift that you might not have wanted or valued, the gift you were maybe
even avoiding. But put your trust in
him. Set aside all the other shiny
packages, and this Christmas seek nothing but Jesus. And then just watch how his grace and love illuminate
and transform you and your world. Merry
Christmas. Amen.
Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2024 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
Gospel
Text: Luke 2:1-20
1 In those days a decree
went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of
Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of
David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of
David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged
and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time
came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her
firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 In
that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their
flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before 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; for see-- I am bringing you
good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth
and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom
he favors!"
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken
place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they went
with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen, as it had been told them.
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