Are we ready
Many of us are ready for tonight. We’ve been ready for a long time. We’ve been following Advent, waiting for Christmas, looking and waiting and expecting Christ to come… standing at attention for the advent of God - for this special night when the music feels so light and peaceful, and familiar, when everyone is dressed so nicely, when the sanctuary looks so beautiful, and the candles add such a warmth and mystical glow.

But for others of us, this night has snuck up on us and caught us by surprise. We’re not ready. We’re too stressed out. We’ve got too much on our minds. And we just don’t feel the peace of Christmas. And deep down inside, we might even admit that we’re a little sad… we feel like we’re missing something. If this is you, now is a time to let it all go. This is a time when all of history can relax and take a deep breath; when you and I can let go and enter into the Christmas story and enjoy.

Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, to us a child is given; all authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Advent Waiting/Advent Readiness
During a presidential visit to the People’s Republic of China, President Ronald Reagan was shown the famous archeological site of the one thousand terra-cotta soldiers. The President stood at the viewing platform and expressed respectful amazement to his hosts, but the comedian in Ronald Reagan couldn’t resist a humorous possibility in the presence of the great antiquity they were all viewing. The President called out to the stone soldiers, “At ease!” Everyone including his Chinese hosts laughed heartily. Soldiers permanently frozen at attention; Ronald Reagan thought it was time to give them a rest.

It’s Christmas. Relax and enjoy it. Forget all that’s on your mind. Focus in on the sign from heaven - and what it’s trying to say to you.

A Sign is Given
New Testament Scholar Tom Wright says that if you try to point out something to a dog, the dog will often look at your finger instead of at the object you’re trying to point to. And it can be frustrating. But it illustrates a natural mistake we all make from time to time when reading the Christmas story.

He says, “What do people know about Jesus’ birth? They know about the manger; the most famous animal feeding trough in all of history. You see it on Christmas cards. You see them in gift stores and in churches… and sometimes we ask people to say their prayers in front of them.”

We know about the manger. But the manger isn’t where we should be focusing our attention. He says, “To concentrate on the manger and to forget why it was mentioned in the first place is like the dog looking at the finger rather than the object.”

Focus on the Child
Our focus tonight is on the child. Not just any child, but the one lying in the manger. My wife and I are expecting a child. And while that birth will be special and magical, a miracle for us, a precious gift… we know that she will not be THE child. There is something different about THIS child.

At this point in the story, the only people who know this child is special are his mother and father (and his aunt and uncle). No one else knows about the importance of this child. And then this child is born, on the road. No hospital. No doctor. No hotel reservation. Not what you would expect for such a special child. But fortunately, someone else knew.

Shepherds. An angel appears to the shepherds and tells them the good news. The savior has come - the Messiah - in the city of David. The Lord, a new king has come into this world. And if they wanted proof, all they had to do is look for the sign. All they would have to do is go into Bethlehem, find the child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger and then they would know that everything the angel said was true. The manger is a sign.

Imagine being Mary and Joseph and hearing the timid tap at the door. Perhaps you would think you’re in the wrong room. And before the shepherds could say anything, Joseph apologizes, “We’re sorry. We didn’t know. The man upstairs said that we could stay here. Here, we’ll get our things.”

The shepherds had just received the good tidings of great joy for all people. They had just been told that the prayers of the world had been answered. The hope of their people was being fulfilled. They were told that this day in the city of David, a Savior is born, who is the Messiah, the Lord. The one for whom the prophets have written. The one for whom an oppressed people and nation were waiting. It is the birth of a new king.

Imagine the relief to Mary and Joseph. An unexpected source confirms what was, up until now, their private secret. It’s true. This child is the One.

A New Kind of King/A New Kind of Kingdom
Who is the child? What will become of him? Not only is this a new king, this is a new kind of king. A king whose throne is a manger. A king whose heralds are some lowly shepherds. A king who is born not in a palace, but rather a royal city. A king who has come to challenge and confront the kingdoms of this world.

His kingdom will be different. The last will be first. The poor shall be rich. The least will be the greatest. Weakness is strength. Giving is receiving. Dying is living. Lose your life and you will find it. Serving is ruling. He will be a king who instead of taking lives to build his kingdom, will give his own life, will willingly suffer at the hands of his enemies, and will die.

God Incarnate
For that child was not only special. That child was God in the flesh; God who had become one of us - God who is “with us” and who ‘comes beside’ us - the Son of God. This is the one who will be enthroned upon David’s throne forever and whose authority and kingdom will have no end. Talking about the significance of this night and this birth, Barbara Brown Taylor says, “Tonight we are living in the eternal now of God’s coming among us. The child’s name is Emmanuel - the God who is with us - who is made out of the same stuff we are and who is made out of the same stuff God is and who will not let either of us go.”

Tonight is about God’s love for the world; about God’s love for you and me. About God being willing to take on flesh and blood to become one of us - to come among us. This is a God who knows us. God knows our needs, our personalities, and our circumstances. God knows our pain, our weaknesses, our addictions, and our regrets. God knows our wounds, our fears. And God knows our gifts, our abilities, and our potential.

The Baby is a Sign
This baby is God in the flesh. Hope has entered the world. This baby is a sign that tells us God has neither forgotten nor abandoned us to the brokenness we have created. But rather has come and is coming, continually showing up into our lives and into our world, bringing a new way of living, a new way of being. Jesus shows us a new way of living and being and relating to God that is fresh and real. It’s a sign of hope, a source of joy.

The manger isn’t important. Wright says, “It’s a signpost, a pointing finger to the identity and task of the boy who is lying in it. When you see that manger on a card or on someone’s front lawn, don’t stop at the crib, see what it’s pointing to. It is pointing to the explosive truth that the baby lying there is already being spoken of as the true king of the world. The rest of the gospel will tell us how he comes into his kingdom and what this kingdom is meant to bring.”

O Holy Night
Tonight is a special night. But what makes it so special? Is it the anticipation of tomorrow... the opening of our presents... of seeing what’s in the box with our name on it under the tree?

Is it the sense that family and friends have gathered around us... that people have traveled far and wide to be with us; to remind us that we are loved?

Is it about what happens here tonight; the sense of awe and wonder and joy and beauty that fills our worship of the one lying in the manger?

No matter what it is, something is special about tonight. Beyond the presents, the candles and family and friends it has to do with the coming of Christ. For us, a coming that allows us to become human, truly human. When we come to the manger, we find that we, too, become shepherds; humble, awe struck and astonished by the power of God present in this little baby. The humility of the one lying before us rubs off on us and we kneel ready to serve. Because the one lying before us is not just a baby, cute and innocent, making no claims or demands upon us. He is also Christ the King.

More Human in an Inhuman World
Standing before the manger and looking inside, everything that life has been to us and meant for us is turned out of focus by the wonderful action of God. And we’re ready; ready to see in this child a better way of living, ready to see in the life and ministry, of this child, through his death and resurrection, a sharper image of what it truly means to be human. We are ready to let God teach us and shape into a new kind of people; a new kind of society with a new role to play in our world.

                    The coming of Christ by way of a Bethlehem manger
                              seems strange and stunning.
                    But when we take him out of the manger and invite him into our hearts,
                              then the meaning unfolds and the strangeness vanishes.
                                                                                                    -Neil C. Strait

So tonight, late in the night, in this special night, filled with hope and light, we remember that Christmas is not only about the baby Jesus. It is also and perhaps most importantly, about Christ the king. The Messiah has come. God's will for the world is revealed, made manifest for us to see. Let us go to Bethlehem and take a look for ourselves. We are not alone. God is with us; Emmanuel. God has become human and hopefully tonight so can we. The wait is over. The time has come. Merry Christmas.  Amen.