The Stable

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Good morning Chapel family. We’re taking this Advent season to look at the concept of Emmanuel, which is Hebrew for “God with us.” You hear that a lot around Christmas, right? We sing about it in carols, we see it on cards. But we’ve been saying that Emmanuel is much bigger than Christmas; it’s actually the key to life. Because if we don’t have it—if we’re disconnected from God—there’s a selfishness and a destructiveness that tends to take over in our lives, and we spiral downward. But if we do have Emmanuel, we’re capable of really beautiful things.

So two weeks ago, we started in the Garden of Eden, where the first humans had God with them…but they also had free will. And they used their free will to push God away. Rejection. And immediately their lives started to disintegrate. Then last week, we looked at the Jewish Temple, where God made a way to re-establish his connection with people. So they once again had God with them, but like any organized religious system, the temple led to some negative things like guilt and segregation between people. So we characterized that whole thing as ritual. So we’ve gone from rejection in the garden to ritual in the temple. And today we’re finally ready for something better.

So here it is—Luke, chapter two, beginning in verse one—let’s hear God’s Word…

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. This is the Word of the Lord.

Here’s what we learn from this passage—two things: The Invitation of Emmanuel, and The Imitation of Emmanuel. The invitation of Emmanuel, and the imitation of Emmanuel.

So first: let’s talk about The Invitation of Emmanuel. For all those centuries that the Temple system was operating, it was hard to come into the presence of God. Because God was holy and perfect, so humans couldn’t just walk up to him. There was the Most Holy Place, at the center of the Temple, where God’s presence dwelled; but only the High Priest could go in there. There was that second most inner part of the Temple called the Holy Place, where other priests could go. And then there was the outer courtyard area, where regular people could go. In other words, it was very segregated and exclusive. So if you were a regular Israelite, you were always several steps removed from the actual presence of God. And that would have been the only concept of God and religion that you had ever known. That’s just the way it was.

And then Christmas happened.

And on that night, shortly after the birth of Jesus, the first birth announcement was made to a group of shepherds. In first-century Israel, shepherds did not enjoy a very high social standing. There is historical evidence that shepherds were considered so untrustworthy, they were not permitted to testify in court. To make matters worse, if you were a Jewish shepherd, you couldn’t even enter the temple courts to participate in worship—because your work required you to touch sick animals, and dead animals…so you were considered ceremonially unclean. So if God wanted to pick a class of people who were the exact opposite of the High Priest, he would have picked shepherds…and he did.

And that’s what makes the angel’s announcement so amazing—listen again to these words: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Everything about that announcement is inclusive and inviting. He says this news is for all the people. He says a savior has been born to you. And you will find a baby. In other words, “You—shepherds—you guys are being personally welcomed into the presence of the Messiah.”

The angel’s words are radically inclusive and inviting! And that’s not lost on the shepherds. Did you see their response? Let’s go! We have to see this! So think about it: these social rejects—who, if they ventured too close to the temple courtyard would have gotten icy stares from the religious people—walked right into the presence of God.

So Christmas marked this epic change in how people could approach God. And here’s what I’ve realized: that moment—the birth of Jesus—set a trajectory of “touchability” that the rest of his life continued. I’m going to fast-forward to Jesus as an adult, and let’s think about how touchable and available Jesus made himself…

Right after he called Matthew the tax collector to follow him, Matthew threw a party at his house—with all his tax collector friends—greedy, immoral partiers. Guess who showed up? Jesus. Yeah, he hung out with those people.

At a different party, Jesus was reclining at the table, and a woman showed up who had a reputation for being sexually immoral. And she was so overwhelmed by God’s forgiveness that she poured perfume on Jesus’ feet, and then she cried all over him, and dried him with her hair. And Jesus let her do it!

People whom the Jewish law labeled as unclean—diseased people and crippled people—not only did Jesus talk with them, he had no problem touching them.

People that priests and Pharisees felt were “beneath” them—like women and children and gentiles—Jesus hung out with all the time.

And when Jesus got interrupted—like when he was heading off to help an important person, and on the way, a desperate, bleeding woman came up to him in the crowd—he stopped, and he gave her his time and his compassion and his healing.

This past week I saw a news story that I’m kind of embarrassed I read. Here was the headline: Jeff Bezos, the multibillionaire former president of Amazon, was seen in Miami, with his girlfriend, eating… at a regular restaurant with regular people. That was the story! Why is that a story? Because people like that don’t usually eat with people like us. They’re way too important and way too wealthy. So when they rub shoulders with regular people, it makes the news! The paparazzi take pictures!

Listen: Jesus was the most important person who’s ever walked this earth, and he constantly spent time with regular people. And when you read through the Gospels, that just gets underlined and highlighted and shouted again and again: God became flesh and lived among us.

And then, at the cross, Jesus dealt the final blow to the barrier that blocked people from God. Isaiah 59:2 says your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. And that separation was symbolized by a thick curtain in the temple, that guarded the Most Holy Place. But when Jesus breathed his last, that curtain was torn in two, opening up the way to God. That’s why Hebrews 4:16 says Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence. Because the birth of Jesus and the life of Jesus and the cross of Jesus changed everything. He’s the same God of holiness that He’s also been…but now the door is open to everyone. Even shepherds.

So—big picture: in the Garden of Eden we saw rejection. In the Temple of Jerusalem we saw ritual. But in the stable of Bethlehem we finally have relationship. Because Christmas happened, we can have a real-time, interactive, surprising, fulfilling, comforting, empowering relationship with our Creator. That was God’s invitation to the shepherds; it’s still His invitation to us. Have you responded to his invitation? Don’t wait till you feel worthy of it, because you’ll never be. You just have to humble yourself before God, admit your need, and say “Yes—I believe, and I receive Christ as my Savior and Lord.” That’s the starting point.

And then, as believers, God calls us to intentionally live the way Jesus lived. So let’s go to point number 2, The Imitation of Emmanuel. If Jesus made himself accessible and approachable and available, starting with the shepherds in the stable and continuing throughout his life, what would it mean for us to live in the same way? And let me answer that question on two levels.

First, what does it mean for us In our church. It is so important that we don’t present God as distant and hard to reach. This is why, for the most part, we try to avoid formality and ritual. It’s why we don’t have a big, ornate pulpit up here. (By the way, when I first came here, 25 years ago, there was a massive pulpit—it wasn’t ornate, but it was huge. You could hide a small family in there. We got rid of that!) It’s why you’ll never see a pastor wearing a robe up here. Some of might be thinking, “But Pastor Dave, don’t you want to represent God with dignity and holiness?” Yes. But ultimately, I want to represent God the way Jesus did. And when I look at the life of Jesus, from Bethlehem onward, I consistently see him rejecting formality in favor of approachability. So if our church wants to be like Jesus, that’s how we’ll be.

This is also why our church is passionate about the 12-Mile Bridge. Because the gospel is good news of great joy for all people. Think about it: if shepherds felt a little left out of society, how about guys—or

the women—who live under the Route 80 overpass in Paterson, or who live in a cardboard box on the train tracks? Or the guys in rehab at the Good Shepherd Mission, trying to get off heroin for the fifth time? By showing up consistently for them, and making ourselves touchable to them, we are acting like Jesus did. If Jesus’ first appearance on earth was in a stable, there shouldn’t be any place our church isn’t willing to go to represent him. Amen?

If you were a shepherd in first century Israel, there were significant barriers that kept you from connecting with the faith community, and Jesus came to do something about that. In 2023 New Jersey, there’s another group of people that has significant barriers keeping them from connecting with a faith community. Do you know who I’m talking about? People with special needs. It’s so challenging for people with certain disabilities to be involved in church, and by extension, it can be really hard for their parents. That’s why I’m so thankful for our one-on-one buddies and our Ark class on Sunday mornings, our Night Out events, and coming up in less than two months, the Night to Shine. This is such a beautiful ministry. and by prioritizing it, and funding it, and volunteering in it, we are representing Jesus really well.

Jesus removed barriers, so people could experience Emmanuel. So if our church wants to be like Jesus, that’s exactly what we need to keep doing. And we will.

Now: let’s make it more personal. What does it mean to imitate the approachability of Jesus In our personal lives? Let me frame this around four questions.

First, Am I hard to reach? If you’re a parent, If I asked your kids, “Hey—is it hard to get a hold of your dad?” or “Is it hard to get mom’s attention?” What would they say? Have you made yourself inaccessible? Do your friends know that if they really need something—like if they have a big crisis—they can call you any time of day, and you would drop everything and be there for them? Or would they say, “Well, he’s really busy. He doesn’t answer his phone. He doesn’t respond to texts. He’s concerned with more important things than me.” What would your friends and family say? Maybe you should ask them.

Second question: Has success made me aloof? When you feel like you’ve advanced to a certain level, it’s so easy to feel like you don’t need the people who are beneath you on the social ladder. Like the pro athlete who’s too busy to sign autographs (of course Tommy DeVito will never be like that. He will always remember his roots and his mom’s chicken cutlets). The executive VP who never even makes an effort to learn the name of the guy who delivers his mail. It’s human nature. And that’s why Jesus was so revolutionary! Because he had kind of an impressive position, didn’t he? The Messiah. But he made himself available to everyone. So if you’ve achieved some level of success, ask yourself, “Have I become kind of a jerk?” And then say, “God, I’m sorry for being a jerk. Would you make me available to people, like Jesus was?”

Third question—I have to go here: Is my cell phone damaging my relationships? Uh-oh. Yeah, this is a thing. there was an article in the Wall Street Journal, called “How Smart Phones Hijack our Minds.” And reading this article affected me so much, it’s actually changed the way I use my phone. They cite this fascinating experiment: they recruited 520 college students, and they tested their ability to focus on a task. The only variable in the experiment was the location of the students’ smartphone. One group was told to place their phone in front of the on their desk; one group was told to place their phone in their pocket or their purse; the third group was told to leave their phone in a different room. All of the phones were placed on “silent,” so they never rang, buzzed or beeped.

The results were stunning. The people who had their phones on the desk in front of them did the worst on the test; those who had their phones in their pocket or purse scored right in the middle; and

those who left their phones in another room did the best. To quote the article: “As the phone’s proximity increased, brainpower decreased.” They followed up with the subjects after the study, and almost everyone said, “I wasn’t distracted by my phone. I didn’t even think about my phone.” In other words, they were oblivious to the reality. The article cites another finding that just having your cell phone present diminishes your ability to show trust and empathy to another person. I mean, this really rocked me.

I really believe this affects the way we imitate Christ. So ever since I saw that, when I am in meetings; when I’m talking to someone one-on-one, I’ve been making a point of leaving the phone in my pocket, or putting it in a drawer, or not even bringing it into the meeting. Because I want to be fully present with the people I’m with.

So you can choose to blow all of this off, or you can ask yourself: Am I letting my cellphone damage my relationships?

Okay—one last question: Am I annoyed by interruptions? Like, “Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know I have an agenda to keep?” Or do I view them as divine opportunities? Am I willing to realize that maybe the most important thing God has for me today is not on my Outlook calendar at all?

In the stable of Bethlehem, God made himself available; accessible; touchable. He truly was “God with us”—with all of us—including shepherds. So if we’re following him, we’ll live the same way.

Years ago, I discovered an author named Roy Borges. He writes about the Christian life. And the thing that makes him unique is that almost everything he wrote, he wrote from prison. He was arrested about 35 years ago for robbery, and he served about 30 years in a Florida state prison. And he wrote about a time, a few years ago, it was right before Christmas, and he broke some prison policy, and they put him in solitary confinement. So he sat there in his cell, on Christmas night, and the lights went out. All of a sudden, he heard this voice from the ceiling vent. It was Andrew in the next cell. He said, “Hey Roy—Merry Christmas.” Roy said, “Merry Christmas, Andrew.” Andrew said, “You know any Christmas songs?” He said, “Yeah, I guess.” Andrew said, “I’ll sing one if you sing one.”

So Andrew sang, “Joy to the World, the Lord is come/Let earth receive her king.” Roy was feeling a little less festive, so he sang “Silent Night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.” Andrew sang, “O Come, All Ye Faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem…” and Roy started cheering up, and he sang “Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad…”

Then it was quiet for a while, and Roy said, “You know what? I guess the real meaning of Christmas is that no matter where you wake up or what day it is, God has arrived. Emmanuel is with us. He’s here to bless us and save us and give us peace.”

And finally Andrew said, “Hey, I have another song.” And he sang “O Holy Night/The stars are brightly shining/It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.” And Roy said the entire wing of the prison was silent, as everyone just listened. “Long lay the world, in sin and error pining/Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.” And he wrote this: “It was a moment I’ll never forget. It made me realize every day is Christmas when God has arrived. It wasn’t just another day, and I was not alone. Emmanuel was in confinement with me, in my cell, blessing me.”

At the end of the day, this is what Christmas is about. Something deep in us knows that life is meant to be lived in the presence of God. We long for that. And on Christmas, God came to be with us. He comes to shepherds; he comes to prisoners; he comes to families with precious special needs children and adults; he comes to people living under bridges in Paterson. He comes to us…because he loves us.

That’s why he came to the stable of Bethlehem, and that’s why he went to the cross. So we are going to close our series by going to the cross.

Let’s prepare our hearts for communion…