Text: Luke 2:8–20; Luke 11:33–35
Topic: Experiencing the Wonder of Christmas
Introduction:
In Luke 11:33–35, Jesus says that because our eyes are the light of our bodies, living in "wide-eyed wonder" will fill us with light (The Message).
Illustration: Albert Einstein remarked, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is."
Few people would admit to experiencing a miracle.
Everyone experiences miracles; breathing itself is a miracle.
Illustration: Batterson explains the process by which oxygen enters the body and is processed through its cells.
Acts 17:25 says that God "gives all men life and breath."
Because every breath is a miracle, we experience roughly 23,000 miracles every day.
We can live as if nothing is a miracle or as if everything is.
Illustration: Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common."
The Christmas story is a miracle.
Let's look at the Christmas story from the perspective of the angels.
God uses angels to communicate special news; they have made many important announcements throughout history.
Because the proclamation of the birth of Jesus was their most important announcement, they were probably very particular about doing it right.
In their brainstorming session, they may have decided to make their announcement to the most important people in the most extravagant way.
God makes major changes to their plans when he instructs them to tell the most insignificant people in the most out-of-the-way places.
Illustration: Max Lucado said God announced Jesus' birth to the shepherds because they were most likely to receive the news with faith.
We must cultivate a theology of mystery. I find it fascinating that God didn't reveal himself to the religious leaders. The fundamental mistake the religious leaders made was trying to force God to fit in their religious boxes.
Illustration: In Rumors of Another World, Philip Yancey says there are two ways of looking at the world: "One takes the world apart, while the other seeks to connect and put together."
Similarly, there are two approaches to God. One approach is the theology of dissection, in which we make God manageable by reducing him to a set of theological propositions.
Illustration: A.W. Tozer suggests this kind of theology leaves us with a God who can "never surprise us, never overwhelm us, never astonish us, never transcend us."
The religious leaders were reductionist theologians. Matthew 23:23
The other approach is the theology of mystery. Isaiah 55:8 says that God's thoughts are further from the thoughts of humans than the heavens are from the earth.
Illustrations: Astronomers have discovered galaxies 13.2 billion light years away, which is about the distance our thoughts are from God's. Children naturally adhere to a theology of mystery.
Illustration: John Chrysostom suggests that while children readily accept the mysteries of the Bible, adults seek rational theories and explanations.
The shepherds exhibited childlike faith, because they assumed God could act in any way he wanted.
Illustration: Mark Nepo said, "Birds don't need ornithologists to fly." God doesn't need theologians in order to do miracles. God is looking for people who won't tell him what he can't do or put him in little religious boxes. The shepherds took God at face value; when they heard the news, they embraced it with a simple childlike faith. Sometimes we miss the miracle because we analyze it to death.
Illustration: Batterson recounts a humorous e-mail called "Santa Claus: from an Engineer's Perspective."
Conclusion
Illustration: Albert Einstein says that the person who cannot experience wonder has ceased living because he has ceased seeing. I hope that you can re-experience the mystery of Christmas—the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God of all Creation was born as a helpless little baby in Bethlehem.
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