“A Simple Birth, But Oh So Great!”
Text: Luke 2:1-7 & 1 Corinthians 1:20-31
12-25-2021
In the name of Him who through a lowly birth came into this world to save us, dear friends in Christ. I’m pretty sure that all of us know someone whose birth was anything but boring. Sometimes there are physical complications with the labor and delivery. For example, Gayleen had a long and tiring labor with our oldest child, Elizabeth. When Andrew was born the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and that made his delivery a rather dangerous and tense time. But sometimes there’s a problem with the external things like the location and circumstances. I have a Pastor-friend whose child was born during a major earthquake, which kind of shook things up in the delivery room. {Yes, that pun was intentional.} But the great majority of births are uneventful like with our youngest child, Rebekah. Things progressed so smoothly and rapidly that the doctor barely made it in time for her arrival. {Kind of makes you wonder what he got paid for—but I digress.}
Well, in our Gospel Lesson for today, St. Luke tells us the uneventful and pretty minimal details of Christ’s birth. Oh sure, you can point to the part of Him being laid in a manger because “there was no place for them in the inn.” But even though you might be aghast at that it wouldn’t have been all that astounding for a poor family back then. In many cultures, the women of the lower economic class would sometimes have their babies while out working in the field. So in a way, a manger with some clean hay or straw would be a step up.
All that may be true, but what’s really puzzling about this snapshot of the nativity is Whose birth we’re talking about. This was the incarnate Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the almighty God and King of the Universe. Why would He choose to be born in such lowly circumstances? Well, being informed by Scripture we can discover God’s wondrous plan and purpose behind it all. And we can rejoice that even though Jesus’ birth was relatively uneventful and simple it was oh so great!
First, let’s consider Christ’s birthplace of Bethlehem in the text. Why would God send Mary and Joseph to this sleepy, little podunk town for Jesus to be born? Yes, we know that it was because they had to be registered at the hometown of their ancestor David. It was a census by the Roman government for the sake of taxing the people. But why not have the birth take place in the major metropolis of Jerusalem where David had lived and reigned as the King of Israel? The problem with that idea is that this is what everyone expected of an earthly king who would be born from David’s descendants. However, when God made the original promise to David, He had something different in mind. Remember what Jesus told Pilate? He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” His is a spiritual kingdom. So all the more reason for Christ to be born in the town where David was chosen by God’s grace and anointed to be Israel’s king long before he ruled over an earthly kingdom.
Next, why have Jesus born to a poor, working class mother and father rather than wealthier parents from David’s line? Here again, that’s what we’d expect of royalty in an earthly sense. But Christ Himself said He came to serve, not to be served. And think about what Mary said in her Magnificat. She said God “has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” The rich were the ones who were taking advantage of the poor. They trusted in their wealth, prestige, and the power that came with it. Christ’s Kingdom was not based on any of those earthly things. Luther said it so well in his hymn “From Heaven Above To Earth I Come.” Stanzas 11 & 12 go like this: “Instead of soft and silken stuff, You have but hay and straw so rough, On which as King, so rich and great, To be enthroned in royal state. And so it pleases You to see, this simple truth revealed to me: That worldly honor, wealth, and might, Are weak and worthless in Your sight.”
This and so much more point to the wisdom of God in choosing the lowly circumstances of Jesus’ birth. You see, it was sinful pride that had caused the first sin of mankind back in the Garden of Eden. It’s pride that wants a Savior King based on the achievements and standards that humans use to define greatness. The salvation that Jesus came to bring to our fallen world has nothing to do with human accomplishments. Rather, it is totally reliant upon God’s grace. And so, in the birth of Christ, the Lord turned those human standards upside down and inside out. He did the unexpected.
The circumstances that God chose for His Son to be born seem like utter foolishness to our sinful world. And yet that was precisely His purpose and plan. Listen again to what St. Paul said in our Epistle lesson: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” In the wisdom of God, Jesus came in such a way that all pride and boasting was eliminated. A poor, lowly virgin girl from a little podunk town was chosen. The place of His birth was humble and not connected to any earthly power or wealth. Once again, removing all possibility of boasting. It all points to God’s gift by grace.
And we know that Christ’s simple and humble birth set the stage for His life and death. His crucifixion seemed like foolishness and a failure when judged by worldly wisdom. But we know now that by His death we have the glorious gift of salvation through faith in that lowly Child of Bethlehem. It is in Him and His accomplishment for us on the Cross that we can boast. By grace, He has chosen us lowly, undeserving sinners to be the recipients of His salvation. Ponder that as we thank God for the simple birth of Jesus which was oh so great for our lost and dying world. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!