12-06-20 “God is looking for a new manger!”

2^nd Sunday of Advent

Scripture      John 7:37-42

          Sermon in a sentence = God is looking for another humble location to place his son, Jesus.
 
We come to something that took place on the last day of the feast of tabernacles. It had been customary on the last day to have a special service called “the pouring out of the water.” On that day a company of white-robed priests went down to the Pool of Siloam. They filled their jars with water from the pool, and then walked back to the temple and poured out the water in the presence of the people. This was to call to their minds the marvelous provision that God had made for Israel during the days of their wandering in the wilderness when Moses struck the rock and the water came out. 1 Cor 10:4b …for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
John 7:37-42
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
          40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"
 
Modern Day place of peace in the midst of political strife – Civically and Spiritually
Ancient times – David and others made it a Special Place
The birth of Christ made it most special
 
What was the significance of Bethlehem in ancient Israel?
Bethlehem of Judah is located 5 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem with an elevation of 2500 feet. The city is situated within the hill country of Judah, part of a central mountain range that runs north-south through much of Israel.
The origins of Bethlehem are uncertain, but archaeological records indicate that it existed as far back as the fourteenth century B.C.E. The city is first mentioned in the Bible in connection with the nearby Ephrath as the burial place for Rachel, the wife of the patriarch Jacob, buried there on their travels after given birth to Jacob’s 12^th son Benjamin.
Bethlehem was the home of an Ephraimite Levite and his concubine, and her murder sparked an intertribal war that resulted in the near destruction of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg 19-20). Bethlehem was the place where Jesse’s son, David grew up as a shepherd, who would become a great warrior, musician and the 2^nd and greatest King of Israel.
 In the book of Ruth, Elimelek and Naomi were from Bethlehem, and Naomi returned to Bethlehem from Moab with her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth, who soon married her kinsman-redeemer Boaz. In that story, Boaz and Ruth were the ancestors of King David (Ruth 4:17-22). The prophet Samuel anointed David as King of Israel in Bethlehem (1Sam 16:1-13). The prophet Micah prophesied that God was going to raise up a new Davidic king from the city of Bethlehem (Mic 5:2). Thus, Bethlehem was the place where David’s reign began and from which a new Davidic king would again come. That King would be born to a very average humble unknown couple from Nazareth named Joseph and Mary who conceived when the Holy Spirit of God overshadowed her as the angel had said.
          Matt 1:1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David.
In High School choir Mark Cornell asked me, How can Jesus be both the Son of God and the son of David? I am a son of Philip Kramb and of Richard Cooper. Philip Kramb was my grandfather and Richard Cooper was my father. But with Jesus it is somewhat different. In saying he is the son of God and the sone of David or Abraham is saying that he, unlike the rest of us is 100% of God and 100% of man = Jesus is the son of God and the son of man. And God is looking for more mangers where his son can find a home so that we can experience the kind of relationship that exists between God the Father and the son. Jesus explained that through a prayer for us…
John 17:20-26
My prayer is not for them (the disciples living at the time) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me (Christmas). I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.
 
Jesus is still looking for his Bethlehem, where he is invited in and welcomed – not put out on the fringes (nominal Christians – hot or cold) and not looked at with anger – slaughter of the innocents – with no regard to human life. Also, Jesus is not looking for a palace where everything is layered in gold where servants care for your every need. – he is looking for a manger in an animal stall – he is looking for a humble heart that doesn’t always smell the best or look beautiful.
When he is invited into that new manger – that humble heart, he will come and offer his own Living Water as he invites you to sit next to him at a great eternal feast.

Revelation 3:20     Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Detrick Bonhoeffer, In a letter to his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer, December 1, 1943)”
“I used to be very fond of thinking up and buying presents, but now that we have nothing to give, the gift God gave us in the birth of Christ will seem all the more glorious; the emptier our hands, the better we understand what Luther meant by his dying words: “We’re beggars; it’s true.” The poorer our quarters, the more clearly we perceive that our hearts should be Christ’s home on earth.
 
RECITE:     Luke 2:1-20
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
 
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
 
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.