Too Small
The Problem With Christmas - Part 3
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Luke 1:26-45
The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
Luke 1:30-32
Listen to this week’s sermon here:
"Go Big or Go Home"
That's the motto of our culture. Everything has to be big. Everything is evaluated on size. The size of our homes. The size of our bank accounts. The size of our office (metaphorically speaking as a symbol of how high on the corporate ladder we have climbed). The size of our social networks.
In the church world it translates to the size of our congregations, our buildings, our offerings, our events, etc. Bigger is always better and the bottom line on our statistical reports often determines whether or not a church is perceived as healthy or dying.
And if all of these things are not getting bigger, it is often assumed that something is wrong with us.
But sometimes bigger is not better. At some point our physical bodies stop growing taller and they begin to grow wider. And all of the sudden we get concerned about being too big. Our doctors start to warn us about more health problems and bigger medical expenses. These are not things we want to get bigger.
Some segments of our population are beginning to realize the value of the simple life. Smaller homes. Less clutter. It's a painfully slow shift, but it’s a reminder that our metrics for growth and success don't always equate to happiness and joy. It is often those who have the most who find themselves the most anxious and stressed trying to hold on to what they have and always get more. Depression is at least as common if not more common among the rich than the poor.
If Jesus' birth was measured by our metrics, one might say it was an insignificant blip on the radar of history. Only Mary and Elizabeth could comfort each other through their pregnancies because only they had the slightest inkling of what God was doing. There were no big family celebrations. There was no big baby shower with lots of gifts, and despite popular belief, even the extravagant gifts from the Magi didn't arrive until a few years later.
So few people even knew, let alone came to experience the birth or even the first few years of Jesus' life. He was born in obscurity. Just a small thing, unnoticed by the world.
So how can it be that a birth so insignificant, so ordinary, so inconsequential to almost everyone around them, be the event which has fueled an entire economic, consumer season that lasts for more than two months of our fiscal year. It's Christmas... for Christians and non-Christians alike, it is by far one of the most celebrated seasons of the year.
Have we missed something our efforts to make each Christmas bigger than the last. Did Jesus come to earth to encourage us to shop more and pad the pockets of the retail leaders at the end of each year? Does the number of presents under the tree reflect the amount of love we have for each other or for our children?
The metrics by which we evaluate the Christmas Season are endless... the amount of food, the number of gifts or parties, the attendance at the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service... the list goes on.
But what if there is a reason the first "Christmas" was so small? What if God didn't want to be found amidst the frantic crowd buried under the glitter and the gloss?
Sometimes it takes a tiny little baby to make us realize just how valuable something small can be.