November 30, 2008 Advent 1 “Christmas: God Walks Through The Rubble”
There’s a touching story from England during the dark days of WW II. Hitler’s air force
was dropping tons of bombs creating death and destruction all through London. Because
there was fear for the life of King George VI and his family, plans were made to transport
the King and his family to safety in Canada for the duration of the War. The King refused
to leave his people in their dark hour. Shortly after making that decision, it was reported
that the King was seen inspecting a bombed out area in London. While walking through
the rubble of death and destruction, an elderly man walked up to the King and said, “You,
here, in the midst of this. You are indeed a good King.”
Traditionally, we envision Kings up in their palaces, wealthy people living behind walls
and gates, and God in heaven. To see the King, you have to make an appointment, travel
to his palace, and wait to have an audience at his convenience. To see a wealthy person,
you make an appointment, and you’d better have a good reason, travel to their office, go
up in an elevator, and wait to see seen at his convenience. To see God at Christmas time,
you simply look in the manger. Our heavenly King is here in the rubble with us.
While God brings people together, like Jesus and us, it’s the nature of sin to separate. Sin
separates us from God and others often through our pride. I don’t like you. I don’t need
you. I don’t like the color of your skin. I don’t like the way you smell or where you live.
You don’t do what I want. Leave me alone. The only people I’m interested in helping are
those I love or those who can do something for me in return. If you’re as good as I am,
as rich as I am, living where I live, then I’ll take an interest in you.
God’s nature is to bring things together. God sent Jesus to be our Savior so we could be
together with Him in heaven. God forgives our sins so we can forgive others and find
unity. The message of God’s Word is one of reconciliation. Jesus is the Atonement, the
AT ONE MENT God sent to bridge the gap of sin. To do this Jesus was born with us, in a
stable, not a palace. His first visitors were smelly, dirty shepherds, who didn’t have an
appointment to see the Son of God. God’s angels invited them.
God sent His Son into the rubble of humanity. He came 2000 years a go to a land filled
with poverty, violence, and war. He came to a place with sad and lonely people. He came
to the poor, the crippled, the sick and dying. Jesus got His hands dirty with people just
like us. He saw our sin and loved us anyway. His love went all the way to the cross of a
common thief, so that through faith, we could have a home in His heavenly mansion.
Today we live with a war killing our children. We live in a world of violence like we see
in India right now. There is sadness, loneliness, hunger and an uncertain future all
around. We live in a world filled with lots of rubble. See the manger? Jesus, You, here, in
the midst of this rubble? You are indeed a good King. Amen…pastor matthews