“The Way In A Manger”
Text: Luke 2:1-14
12-24-2024
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Do you know what a “typo” is? It’s when a letter or letters accidentally get typed into a word which then brings a totally new meaning to it. Yes, it even happens in church publications. Years ago, one of my Pastor-friends typed up the bulletin and it said they’d be singing “Away in a Manager.” Another Pastor-friend told me that one Sunday his bulletin said that the kids were invited to come forward for the children’s “massage.” He thought that sounded a bit creepy. So, in the future he’s going to just call it the children’s sermon. Those typos were rather innocent and a bit humorous. Sometimes they’re rather embarrassing. But sometimes it can bring a new perspective and deeper meaning to the original sentence. Such is the case tonight with the title and theme of our sermon. Did you notice it? Instead of “Away in a Manger” it says “The Way in a Manger.” Now, I honestly don’t know if that was originally a typo or if it was on purpose. Either way, I really like how it brings out the deeper meaning of the Christmas story that we hear over and over each year. You see, for some people they’ve heard it repeated so many times that it just becomes a sentimental scene of baby Jesus lying in a manger who we sing a lullaby to. But it’s much more than that. And that’s what I hope you’ll see tonight.
“The Way in a Manger.” What does that mean? Well, in order to grasp the significance of this new phrase we need to go to the Book of Acts. St. Luke tells us in chapter 11 that people began calling the disciples of Jesus “Christians.” But there was a more popular name for the followers of Christ at this time. Can you guess what it was? They were called, and they even called themselves, “Followers of “The Way.” It appears 6 different times whereas Christian only shows up twice. You can tell which designation they preferred. And we’ll see why in just a minute.
The word “way” in Greek simply means a road or path. To be fair, other religions of the world use this word to describe their spiritual teachings. For example, in Buddhism you can seek the “way” or the path of enlightenment. However, in Christianity we know that “The Way” is not a thing like a road, but rather, a person. That, of course, begs the question: Why did the early disciples choose this almost cryptic name for their group? Were they trying to form a secret cult? Not at all. Instead, they latched onto a title that Jesus applied to Himself. And it was a name with deep meaning for true believers in Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That really stuck in the minds of those disciples. He was telling them, and us, that there is only one path to God and heaven. There are not many different ways. No, Jesus says He is THE Way to eternal life. It was a powerful truth that the disciples clung to by faith.
Now let’s apply that to our phrase and perhaps you’ll grasp the deeper meaning for us as we celebrate Christmas. Lying in the manger at Bethlehem was no ordinary baby. Despite what the song says, He wasn’t unusual because He didn’t cry. He certainly did cry, because He was fully human. Like any other baby, crying was how He signaled to His mother that He was hungry. No, what made baby Jesus extraordinary is that He is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God who united Himself with human flesh. He became one of us so that He could one day go to the cross and pay the price for our sins. By His innocent suffering and death, He opened the way to paradise for all believers. But He doesn’t just show us the path to heaven. It’s much more than that. He Himself is The Way of salvation. All we need do is trust and believe in Him. Now, we can look at that manger in Bethlehem and see more than just a baby. Now we can see lying there The Way to eternal life in the human body of baby Jesus. Like the shepherds, may we now join together and bow down to worship the “Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria