Stark Contrast
Preached by Jason Abbott
October 2, 2016
Can You Spot Leonardo DiCaprio? Image 1
Can You Spot Leonardo DiCaprio? Image 2
Can You Spot Leonardo DiCaprio? Image 3
Let’s play “Can You Spot Leonardo DiCaprio?”. We’ll have three rounds. Here’s the first. Which one of these two pictures is of the real Leonardo DiCaprio? How many think it’s the one on the left? How many think it’s the one on the right? Nice work—though that was tough.Here’s your second round. Which one of these two is a picture of Leonardo? How many for the left? How many for the right? Good job! That was a bit easier, wasn’t it?Okay, here’s your final shot at it. Which one of these is of the real DiCaprio? How many of you think the picture on the left is Leonardo? How about the picture on the right? Everyone got that one because, outside of the sweet suit, Ben Bechtel looks nothing like Leonardo DiCaprio.You may be wondering what this has to do with the second chapter of Luke. Well, if you can believe it, we’re going to see an even greater contrast in this text than the contrast between a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio and one of Ben Bechtel. We’ll see a stark contrast between two kinds of king and two kinds of subject. Let’s read the passage together and then we will pray. (It’s on page 972.)
Luke 2:1-21
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Well, let’s see what the contrast between two kinds of king has to teach us, and then we’ll see what the contrast between two kinds of subject has to teach us.
1. Two kinds of king (vv. 1-7)
There’s a real danger in repetition. There’s a real danger in doing something or seeing something again and again because we can begin to take it for granted. We can begin to think we know it exhaustively when we really don’t.We see this all the time in sports. How many teams have lost to an opponent whom they’ve systematically beaten for decades because they were unprepared? So many so that we have clichés to describe it: They really looked past them, Jim! Yep Gary, they thought they could just show up and win!Friends, we could easily do something very similar with this biblical text. We could easily think we know everything there is to know about Luke chapter 2 because we have heard it preached and taught every single Christmas for years. But that’s a dangerous assumption. As one pastor warns, “Familiarity may lead us to assume things that are not in the text, and it may blind us to things that are.”1 Let’s not assume. Let’s not be blind. Rather, let’s be reverently curious!For instance, Luke reports that there was a Roman census that moved Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Did you ever think how inconvenient that must have been for them? Have you ever wondered why Caesar Augustus would order this census in the first place? Well, let’s get curious.The inconvenience—imagine multitudes of people in the region scrambling to their hometowns for this census. Rooms to stay in would’ve been at a premium. (No Airbnb back then!) Mary is super pregnant and, yet, forced along with Joseph to travel around 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It would have taken them about a week to make that journey. There would have been cold nights sleeping along the main route. There would’ve been very real danger from wild animals—lions and bears and wild bores—as well as from bandits.2So very inconvenient!The reason—just consider the purpose for this census. In Rome sits Caesar. Doubtlessly, he has politics and conquests and building projects on his agenda. Where is the money for them going to come from? Well from the people of course! Rome needs adequate tax revenue. So what Augustus did was send out a decree—just a wave of his hand—and all the scrambling began. “I am the king over you; now serve me.” So very like a human king!To sum this all up, the beginning lines of Luke give us a familiar report echoed throughout human history. Namely, those who are helpless and powerless in this world serve those who are not. Kings have subjects who are to serve them, not the other way around. So, Augustus gets all the benefits while Mary and Joseph (along with everyone else) get all the inconveniences.You can almost hear Tom Petty and Mel Brooks singing in perfect harmony: “It’s good to be king.”But there’s another kind of king here. And Luke really wants us to see him in stark contrast to Augustus Caesar. Yet, if we’ve gotten too familiar with the text, we might just miss the intended contrast. Here’s what Luke tells us about this king. He writes:
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (vv. 6-7).
Here’s a king who’s born in a cave-stable. Here’s a king wrapped in rags. Here’s a king cradled in a livestock feeding trough. Here’s a king without a room in the local motel. But looks can be deceiving.See, this king is no victim. He’s not here against his will. In fact, this is all according to plan. The eternal Son volunteered to put on flesh and live as a human at the pleasure of his Father and for the sake of this dying world. Here is a king who’s come to serve, not to be served. Here is a king who’s come to make us rich, not to get rich off our slave labor.He’s a king who stands in stark contrast to Augustus or his great-uncle Julius or any other human ruler who’s ever walked the face of this earth.Before we move on, let me just say that calling Jesus king, following him, most certainly means progressively learning to set aside our own kingdoms for his. It most certainly means learning to serve those who are broken, hurting, and lost. Perhaps that’s in a ministry in this church. Maybe that’s in one of the ministries which we support—like Center for Champions, Morning Star Pregnancy Services, or Bethesda Mission. Wherever it is, please learn to serve as Christ has served you. Don’t follow the way of Augustus; follow Christ!Let’s move now to our second point.
2. Two kinds of subject (vv. 8-21)
In this passage, we get a picture that expands our sense of God’s creation. We have this celebration uniting two types of creature—both angels and humans. Look at what happens again with me. Luke writes:
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God (vv. 8-13).
There’s simply too much here for us to cover in the time we have remaining. So we’ll just focus on a few details. First, notice that what is unseen is made seen. We get a picture here of what regularly takes place in the unseen heavenly realm, namely the angels celebrating the indelible progress of the Lord’s redemptive plans in human history. One angel announces the good news to this band of shepherds then suddenly a heavenly chorus breaks out praising God.Friends, we should keep this in mind as we move about this fallen world serving the Lord. When we step out to share the gospel and extend God’s kingdom, even though we may not see or hear it, there is a glorious party of God’s praise taking place. (Faith, when you set foot in Thailand, when the gospel goes to those who have never heard it, you’ll be initiating a grand and glorious worship session in the very presence of God.) What an encouragement this should be to us!Second, notice that this glorious group of subjects—these angelic hosts—deliver a message to average, everyday working class subjects—these shepherds. What’s being pictured is what’s being proclaimed. This good news of great joy is for all the people alike. Did you know that there’s a couple attending this church whom I met a few times before they ever showed up here on a Sunday morning? During those few interactions, I never invited them to visit because I just knew they’d never want to come.Friends, when they showed up that first morning excited to worship the Lord and find out more about our church, God gave me a loving but not so gentle punch to the back of my head. Who was I to presume that I knew the Father’s business?! This good news and great joy is to be spread without prejudice!Finally, what do the shepherds do when they receive this angelic message? Look at what Luke records. He writes:
. . . the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child (vv. 15-17).
These sheep herders become the first evangelists. They go and see the child for themselves, they verify. Then, they run about town gossiping the gospel to all. I’d take a congregation full of these guys.In his book, Honest Evangelism, Rico Tice explains that there are four kinds of evangelist and each Christian is one of them. There are Peters—just spits it out. There are Pauls—very logical and reasoned. There are the ex-blind man types—here’s what Jesus did for me. And, there are those like the woman at the well—just come to church with me. Nobody is all of these things, and nobody is perfect at any one of them—but we’re all called to share the gospel.So who are you? How are you sharing the good news about Jesus Christ? How are you being like these shepherds? Or like Peter or Paul or the ex-blind man or the woman at the well?This is a calling we all have. Let me pray that we would not neglect it.
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You can read his article on the potential dangers of familiarity
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You can read all about it
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