Texts used – Luke 2:1-20; John 1:1-14

• I’m going to kick things off with something that might be a little controversial tonight, all. Everyone have their Christmas Eve seatbelts on? Are you ready? I want you to do me a favor and look through the text of the Luke passage, and let me know when you find the word “stable.” [PAUSE] Anybody? That’s because it’s not there. There is nothing in Scripture that says Jesus was born in a stable.
  • Multiple mentions of Jesus in a manger → traditional elaboration has led us to believe this means stable → Because nowadays and for at least a few generations now, the type of animals that eat out of mangers/feed troughs are kept in their own space: barns, stables, and so on. But this isn’t always how it’s been.
    • Tradition of bringing animals into the shared home at night
      • Protects them from the elements, especially in places where it gets colder at night (also provides much-needed extra body heat in those places!)
      • Protects them from other animals that may way to snatch them and eat them
      • Protects them from thieves who may try to come by in the night and steal them
    • Fabulous scene from the movie A Knight’s Tale in which the protagonist, William, who is trying to rise up out of the peasant class into which he was born is arguing with the noble woman he’s fallen in love with → She’s trying to convince him that they can run away together so he can avoid a deadly duel he’s set on fighting, and he’s trying to describe to her what a peasant life will look like. He says to her, “And where will we live? In my hovel? With the pigs inside in winter so they won’t freeze?” And she responds, “Yes, William, with the pigs. With the pigs.”

• • • Something done by homesteaders in American history
    • Lots of places around the world where this is still the case today
  • Non-stable idea = work of theologian Ian Paul, professor at Fuller Seminary in California → cites Kenneth Bailey, renowned scholar in field of 1^st-cent. Palestinian culture: Most families would live in a single-room house, with a lower compartment for animals to be brought in at night, and either a room at the back for visitors, or space on the roof. The family living area would usually have hollows in the ground, filled with hay, in the living area, where the animals would feed.[1] → This is certainly a far cry from the traditional home layout that we’re used to, so along with a traditional misunderstanding leading us to the stable, we’re also laboring under a cultural misunderstanding.
  • One more misunderstanding layered onto this that makes a huge difference = grammatical → And this one is understandable because it has to do with translation from the original Greek.
    • Gr. for “inn” as we think of it nowadays = word that referred to a shelter for strangers that included a common cooking/eating space and a large communal sleeping space → Think modern-day hostels: large communal room with separate beds, shared bathroom, communal kitchen.
    • But the thing is, the Greek in Luke’s story is not that word. → another word that specifically refers to a spare upper room in a private house that was set aside for guests (no payment expected)
      • Same word used for the Upper Room in which Jesus and his disciples share their last supper together[2]
  • Ian Paul gives us a glimpse into what this means for our understanding of the Christmas story that we know and love: What, then, does it mean for the [inn] to have ‘no space’? It means that many, like Joseph and Mary, have travelled to Bethlehem, and the family guest room is already full, probably with other relatives who arrived earlier. So Joseph and Mary must stay with the family itself, in the main room of the house, and there Mary gives birth. The most natural place to lay the baby is in the hay-filled depressions at the lower end of the house where the animals are fed.[3]
• Okay … pause and take that in for a second. Now, I know that for a lot of years, all sorts of people – pastors included … myself included! – have used that image of Jesus … of the Son of God, God-With-Us, Emmanuel … being born in a stable as a metaphor for God coming down into the lowliest of lowly and inhabiting humanity in the most humble, modest, commonplace way. And that’s a powerful metaphor. But tonight I want us to look at and think about this miraculous birth in another way – a way that sheds a whole new light and dawns a whole new meaning onto the passage from John’s gospel that we also read this evening.
  • Jn passage begins with description of all the ethereal exceptional-ness of Jesus: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word nothing came into being. What came into being through the Word was life, and the life was the light for all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.[4] → John wants to be sure we understand from the very outset how truly Other this Jesus – this Word-Made-Flesh – really is.
    • Jesus has always been AND has always been with God
    • Everything came into being through Jesus
    • Jesus was light and life – a light so powerful, so eternal, so other that even the most impenetrable darkness is no match for this Jesus-Light → It wasn’t. It isn’t. And it never will be. “The light shines” … as in a constant and perpetual action, an ongoing action … “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t” … as in a fixed and terminable action, a limited action … “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.” The light goes on and on, so much so that the darkness no longer has the final word.
  • It’s this Everlasting Light – this Wonder Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, as the prophet Isaiah called him … it’s this Light of the World that was being born that night. It is God Incarnate – the Almighty Creator of the entire universe – who is choosing to take on the frail, vulnerable, precious form of a human baby. God chose a heart that beat just like yours. God chose flesh that ticked and itched, tingled and ran with goosebumps just like yours. God chose lungs that breathe in and out just like yours. God chose eyes that cried and lips that smiled and a stomach that rumbled just like yours.
  • Where was this miraculous God Incarnate born? → If we follow the reasoning and scholarship of Ian Paul, that precious and world-altering little baby Savior was born … in a home. A peasant home. An ordinary home. In the most used, the most communal, the most shared room in that house – the main room in which most of the family’s whole life took place.
    • Yes, they guarded/sheltered their animals there
    • Shared everyday family life there
    • Probably birthed other babies there
    • Jesus Christ … God’s only begotten Son … the Savior of the world … the one who came to put hands and feet and a heart and breathe on the Love of God … was born literally in the midst of the everyday lives of people.
    • Ending of Jn passage: The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.[5]
• Throughout Advent this year, we’ve been talking about the theme “Where We Belong” and how God meets us wherever we are on our journeys and brings a holy, blessed presence to that place. Tonight is the absolute, ultimate culmination of that idea – of finding belonging in God because God chose to belong with us. Fully. Without exception. In our homes. In our lives.
  • Tuhina Verma Rasche, ELCA minister who put together the main ideas for this sermon series: The reality of life – well, reality, at least as we know it – is filled with muck. Highs. Lows. Joys. Sorrows. Messy, and sometimes more uncensored than we can bear. In the midst of an uncensored reality, God took on our nature, took on our form, and came into a very real and broken and beautiful world. The Word made flesh came to truly make our stories and God’s story come together, become close and relational and passionate and full of feelings. … Let us remember the Word made flesh that came to live among us, to be with us, and to live out our experiences. This is a gospel of embodiment, not mere words, but the Word.[6] → That home and those circumstances that Jesus was born into weren’t perfect. Mary and Joseph ended up in that communal, family space because they showed up later than everyone else and the honored space specifically for guests was already full. But into that difficulty and overcrowded space – into all the awkwardness and the annoyance of that situation – God made space anyway. God made space for the Light to shine in the darkness. God made space for shepherds and the adoration and alleluias they would bring. God made space for Love and Hope to be born, making God’s own home among us. “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors!” Thanks be to God. Amen.

[1] https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/jesus-wasnt-born-in-a-stable-and-that-makes-all-the-difference/.

[2] Lk 22:11.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Jn 1:1-5.

[5] Jn 1:14.

[6] Tuhina Verma Rasche. “Advent/Christmas series: Where We Belong – Christmas Eve: Home in the Word” in A Preacher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series: Thematic Plans for Years A, B, and C, vol. 2. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019), 86.

Text used – 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

• One of my favorite shows to watch with my family when I was home from college was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
  • Show that used to be on ABC → family would be nominated by friends, family members, co-workers, community members for an elaborate home makeover
    • Families were always people who were living in a house that was not good for them
      • In disrepair
      • Dealing with issues like mold
      • Inaccessible/physically troublesome for someone with a disability → e.g. – doorways too small for a wheelchair
    • Families were also always people who did good things
      • People who made their communities better
      • People who made the world better
      • People who, despite being “down on their luck,” still found ways to give
  • Host Ty Pennigton and his team would show up at the family’s home, talk to them about what they needed and what they liked, send the family on an amazing vacation, and either fix/add on to their home or build them an entirely new one … in just one short week
    • Focus family’s extended family members would come help
    • Friends and co-workers would come help
    • Sometimes an entire community would come out
    • And at the end of the week, there’s be this huge, amazing reveal where the family got to walk through their new home for the first time and see all of the amazing stuff that the team did. And, especially toward the end of the series, the family usually learned that whatever remained of their mortgage had been paid off as well. It was the kind of show you couldn’t watch without crying.
      • So much gratitude
      • Powerful to see people so blessed
      • And one of the things that really got me was always how humble the receiving family was. They never felt like they were anyone special or deserving of this incredible gift. They never expected any kind of recompense for the kindness that they put out into the world. They were always just amazed that someone else had thought of them in that way. It was that flip-flop – them being on the receiving end of kindness and generosity instead of the giving end – that really got me.
• And that’s not so different from where we find King David in our Scripture passage this morning.
  • Background
    • Still closer to the beginning of King David’s story
      • Whole debacle with Saul is over and done with → Saul is dead[1], and David is the settled king over the whole of Israel[2] (before northern and southern kingdoms split)
        • Find David riding a bit of a high
          • Just after being made king, David and his forces marched against the city of Jerusalem, held by the Jebusites at the time, and conquered it, establishing it as David’s city and building his palace within.[3]
          • In addition → Philistines have heard that David is now king, so they come to march against him (payback for the whole incident with Goliath when David was a youth) à But despite the fact that the Philistines attacked David and his army, the Philistines were defeated.[4]
          • And after these victories, David decides to bring the ark back into the city[5] – God’s chest, the chest that, according to the book of Hebrews, contained “a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant”[6]
            • Chest had been kept safe in the home of Abinadab and Eleazar after being stolen, then returned by the Philistines before Saul was made king[7]
            • Brought in with much fanfare, sacrifices, and dancing
  • And it’s on the heels of that celebration that we join David’s story with our passage this morning. Clearly, David is in a good place! – beginning of today’s text: When the king was settled in his palace, and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies
    • Heb. “settled” = connotations of being established and enduring → There is a finality and a permanence to the way David feels as our text begins this morning.
      • Reiterated with Heb. “rest”: calm, remain → It’s another word that carries implications of being settled in comfort and safety.
    • And in that settled state, King David looks around and realizes that, while he’s safe and comfortable in his lavish palace, “God’s chest is housed in a tent!”[8] And this thought appalls him. Now, our text never actually says that David decides to build a temple for God – a grand and glorious home like the one David himself now enjoys. But the implication is there.
      • Nathan’s words: “Go ahead and do whatever you are thinking, because the Lord is with you.”[9]
      • Directly following that = God’s words to Nathan in a dream that night: Go to my servant David and tell him: This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build the temple for me to live in.[10] → So it’s pretty apparent that that’s what David was in the early stages of planning.
• And it’s what God says next that brings this passage into the realm of Advent and this theme that we’ve been talking about this year of where we belong and finding that place of ultimate belonging with God. – God’s continued words to King David (through prophet Nathan): In fact, I haven’t lived in a temple from the day I brought Israel out of Egypt until now. Instead, I have been traveling around in a tent and in a dwelling. Throughout my traveling around with the Israelites, did I ever ask any of Israel’s tribe leaders I appointed to shepherd my people: Why haven’t you built me a cedar temple? So then, say this to my servant David: This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be leader over my people Israel. I’ve been with you wherever you’ve gone, and I’ve eliminated all your enemies before you. Now I will make your name great – like the name of the greatest people on earth. … Your dynasty and your kingdom will be secured forever before me. Your throne will be established forever.[11] → Now, I know that’s a lot, but it’s all important, so let’s break it down a bit.
  • First part: God’s point about traveling with the people
    • God is making it clear that what God desires above all else is to be with the people
      • God doesn’t desire the extravagance of gold and cedar, of plush fabrics and bejeweled ornaments
      • God is saying to David, “I have spent all my time traveling with the people, living in tents as they did, and I never once complained because that is where I wanted to be: with the people.” God even emphasizes this by reassuring David, “I’ve been with you wherever you’ve gone” and reminding David that many of those places have been humble, simple places: “from the pasture, from following the flock.”
        • Certainly seems to turn David’s and Nathan’s expectations upside-down – scholar: According to the text, both king and prophet have misjudged the mind of the Lord. … David and Nathan misconceive the character and purpose of the One they worship. … The king and the prophet discover they are in the presence of the One who confounds human expectations and surprises even the faithful – or especially the faithful, who presume to know how God is acting because it is the way God must [12] → goes on to describe God as “the God who is not captive to human expectations and who – not only once upon a time, but time and time again – scatters “the proud in the thoughts of their hearts,” brings “down the powerful from their thrones,” lifts “up the lowly,” fills “the hungry with good things,” and sends “the rich away empty” (to quote Mary’s Magnificat from Luke 1)[13]
    • And it’s exactly this longing – God’s desire to be with the people in the midst of their everyday and their every circumstance – that we honor and celebrate and await in this season of Advent.
      • Wait for the birth of Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, God-With-Us → a time when God once again yielded lavishness and majesty for the humblest of dwellings: humanity itself
      • Waiting for Christ to return to this humble, broken, crazy world and bring us back into that way of peace everlasting
      • Scholar: Think about the vulnerability of a tent. The tents of David’s day would have been made of animal skins and woven materials or rugs. They would have been patched probably and torn by the winds. Even the tent of the Lord would have been threatened by the forces of nature and would have had to be rebuilt periodically. … The tent’s fragility is the price paid for its mobility. As we take the last steps toward our celebration of the incarnation, it seems appropriate to linger for a moment over the idea of a God who is constantly ready to pull up stakes and move where we go, sleep where we sleep, and be buffeted by the same winds that blow sand in our eyes and tear the roofs off the shelters we erect: Emmanuel![14]
  • But God doesn’t stop there with David. God is not content with turning David’s expectations upside-down. God also flips them back to front. → in response to David’s desire to build God a lasting and bountiful home, God promises to make David’s name great: “Your dynasty and your kingdom will be secured forever before me. Your throne will be established forever.”[15]
    • Tuhina Verma Rasche (architect of this particular Advent series theme): Of course, God is the God of reversals and surprises. God tells David, “I will establish you a home, for you and your people, and I will establish a dynasty.” This home, this dynasty? This is a significant proclamation to come from God. Especially for a people who have lived with displacement, who have a history of wandering, including a good forty years in the desert, having this home is paramount.[16] → This declaration is one we feel like we can gloss over nowadays because dynasties really don’t mean anything to us. But God is promising the people residence and roots. God is promising the people not only a place but an identity in which they can dwell. Yes, God sent the people wandering in the wilderness for 40 yrs. as punishment for their lack of faith, but not only is God saying, “I was with you in all your wandering,” but God is also saying, “That wandering time is over. I am bringing your wandering to an end. You are home.” Truly, it is the best kind of surprise. Thanks be to God. Amen.

[1] 1 Sam 31-2 Sam 1.

[2] 2 Sam 5:1-5.

[3] 2 Sam 5:6-15.

[4] 2 Sam 5:17-25.

[5] 2 Sam 6.

[6] Heb 9:4.

[7] 1 Sam 4-6.

[8] 2 Sam 7:2.

[9] 2 Sam 7:3.

[10] 2 Sam 7:5.

[11] 2 Sam 7:6-9, 16.

[12] Eugene C. Bay. “Fourth Sunday in Advent – 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 – Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – year B, vol. 1. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), 76.

[13] Bay, 76.

[14] Linda Lee Clader. “Fourth Sunday in Advent – 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 – Homiletical Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – year B, vol. 1. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), 79.

[15] 2 Sam 7:16.

[16] Tuhina Verma Rasche. “Advent/Christmas Series: Where We Belong – Advent 4: Pitching the Tent” in A Preacher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series: Thematic Plans for Years A, B, and C, vol. 2. Complied by Jessica Miller Kelley. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019), 85.