Extreme Humility

The best parents are those who can answer some immediate questions and guide the youngsters into exploring some of the other questions for themselves.

Imagine the patience needed by the Lord God as he hears all of our questions

“What is this?” and “Why is that?”

Some questions he answers over and over again, such as when we ask “Who is this Jesus and what is his purpose among us?” and he answers with the words and actions of his promises in Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion.

Other questions he guides us to explore and ponder such as Why is there pain and sorrow? and When is the Lord's final coming?

We throw all sorts of questions at God all the time.

With great patience he answers, or chooses to defer the answer to another time.

Such patience God demonstrates!

In the fullness of his wisdom, God has decided to answer our persistent questions about who he is not only with words, but with acted-out words.

It is as if we are all from Missouri, the Show-Me state, for it seems that

we are never sure about things until we see a demonstration,

and thus God submits to the great indignity and humiliation of taking on humanity himself in Jesus born in Bethlehem.

And it is humility:

He is proclaimed a king. and yet he is just a baby,

His throne is a scooped out place in a raised floor which is used everyday as a feeding place for cattle.

His mother is a peasant girl, and an ordinary workman is his step-father.

They face the scandal of a birth before all the steps leading to marriage are fully completed.

Jesus' birth is not in the capital city, but down the road a ways, in an obscure village.

Yes there are lots of elements in Luke's Christmas narrative which point to great humility for the situation of Jesus and his family.

Why does God choose this way and this set of circumstances for the birth of the one who is Messiah, the Lord of nations?

That is one of the questions to ponder this evening.

An answer revolves around Jesus' determination to reach us and win our attention.

And this birth in such meager circumstances is just the beginning of his determination that is going to continue throughout his life.

How do we define “gospel”?

Think of it this way:

it is the story of Jesus passion, death, and resurrection with a long introduction, which in Luke's telling of the story, extends all the way back to his birth.

Everything in the story of Jesus is connected with its culmination, and without that connection, it would lose its purpose.

It is not just that a baby was born, but that this particular baby is born to become the one

who lives and dies and is resurrected for us,

on our behalf,

as hope for us,

to show us the way to true and eternal life.

The angel's message to the shepherds is a summary form of the entire gospel from his birth through his resurrection:

Do not be afraid; for see—I bring you good news of great joy for all the people:

to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord.

Let's work back through that verse and focus on a few key works.

(1) We all know lots of folks who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

It is an amazing claim: this man, born in an obscure corner of the empire and brutally executed has in this humility taken upon himself the worst of what can happen with us

in order to show us new possibilities in the resurrection.

(2) There are lots of folks who deny that they need a Savior.

Here are the choices: either death wins or Jesus wins.

We are required to take our pick and bet our lives on our choice.

The angels as God's messengers invite us to bet our lives on Jesus.

(3) Lots of people say that because Jesus was not born into the center of power known as the city of David, Jerusalem, he must be nothing special.

Jesus found it much more effective to work around the edges of society, beginning in that other city of David, the humble village of Bethlehem.

(4) Lots of folks deny that Jesus is come for all the people, as the angels announce.

Some want to restrict him to a certain class or color or nationality.

Others want to say that there are other paths to God, or indeed, other gods.

We should not mistake humility for weakness.

Jesus is determined and resolute.

By the humility of his acceptance of death on the cross, he reaches out to all sorts:

--the thief crucified beside him to whom he announces “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

--the Roman centurion, who in amazement announces “Truly this man is the Son of God.”

How much is given to us by the angels' announcement!

His whole life and mission is laid out here.

Many centuries ago, a person was thinking about the humility of Christ and wrote an icon of Jesus being prepared for burial.

The icon has become known as “Extreme Humility”.

We can meditate on it and marvel that Christ has indeed gone through everything ahead of us.

And how shall we respond to this realization?

The angels again give us the cue:

Glory to God in highest heaven, they exclaim.

There are lots of things to be done, but we always begin right where the angels begin, with praise of God.

And so we sing tonight

Let no tongue on earth be silent,

Every voice in concert ring:

Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving

and unwearied praises be evermore...

... for Christ is born for us, in utter humility.

What else can we do, but sing? Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.