A question we often
ask someone when we initially meet is, “Where are you from?” Because I have
lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, California, Texas, Oklahoma and
Illinois, I often tell people, “I’ve Been Everywhere.”
We are familiar with
Johnny Cash’s version of “I’ve Been Everywhere” because Choice Hotels aired it for
years. Without going into detail[1], I use the song to
introduce my sermon – origin and meaning.
We are generally
interested in people’s origins, that is, where they are from. While few people
consider it rude to ask the question, most of us are quite comfortable
answering it. As one who has lived in six houses in the five years I have been
married, I am quite comfortable listing the places I have been.
When we ponder the
longer history of our origins, the narrative of our personal history reads like
the genealogy of Jesus in the first seventeen verses of Matthew. As I ponder
the genealogy of my grandchildren, I am fascinated how they might turn out.
Will they have their parents’ penchant for sports? Our interest in religion?
Their extended family members’ dispositions? I would be fascinated to know extensive
details about fourteen or more generations of their ancestors. Would that read
like Matthew’s genealogy, complete with irregularities in marriage and
ethnicity? So, we turn to Jesus’ origins.
Our passage begins with “Now the birth of Jesus Christ,” or
in some versions, “This is how Jesus Christ came to be born.” We wonder if Jesus
was born in a stable, cave or barn, and if shepherds visited the birthplace. While
some sentimentalize, commercialize or politicize the account, and moved so far
from the reason Matthew wrote two chapters of Jesus’ origins, we must ask why
Matthew prefaced Jesus’ public ministry with two chapters of his origins. To
understand Matthew’s nativity narrative, we must explore it in terms of the
entire Gospel.[2]
We know the Gospel is about Jesus of Nazareth from
conception and birth to death and resurrection. Matthew’s account, like every
story, has a beginning, middle and end. He introduced Jesus; recounted his
public ministry; and relayed the account of his suffering, death and
resurrection. Matthew placed the conception and birth story immediately after
the genealogy to highlight the rest of the story. For in these first two
chapters, we find suffering, death and new life.
The key to understanding how the story of Jesus’ birth
relates to the rest of the story lies in the interpretation of a little word in
verse 18 – the Greek word genesis. Genesis has a wide range of English
meanings, depending upon the context of where we find it. Most translators
prefer the English word birth, but we can also translate it as origin.
Origin has a broader scope than birth because it implies
relationships to parents, grandparents and a line of ancestors. If we consider
the Christmas story in relation to the first 17 verses, Matthew summons us to
reflect upon not only Jesus’ relationship to Mary and Joseph, but also the
lineage of David, Abraham and God.
Matthew calls us to accept the virginal conception and the
fulfillment of prophecy regarding Jesus’ birth; and as our narrator, he
seamlessly relates the Christmas story to Jesus’ human and divine origins in
the 17 verses that precede it and the 27 chapters that follow it. To illustrate
that relationship, Matthew focused on the child’s three names and titles:
Christ, Emmanuel and Jesus.
In verse 18, Matthew raised the claim that the child is the
Christ, the most prominent title. The name Emmanuel fulfilled the divine
prophecy of Isaiah.[3] Yet,
the high point in naming the child is the angel’s declaration to Joseph in a
dream. “You shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins.”[4]
The name Jesus calls attention to salvation. In Jesus, God saves. In Jesus, God
is salvation. And so, after Joseph awoke, he did what the angel commanded and
named the child Jesus.
Why did Matthew reference three names? He highlighted these
names for us to ponder Jesus’ identity and his relationship to his heavenly
Father, his spiritual ancestors and us.
As Jesus, he saved his people from their sins. As Emmanuel,
one saw in him God’s hand at work. As the Christ, the child’s primary title, one
understood that he was privy to the “thinking of God.” Recall Jesus’ words
after rebuking Peter, “You are not setting your mind on the things
of God, but on the things of man.”[5] As
sinful man, Peter was not privy to the thinking of God, but settled on the
thinking of men. His Lord knew the difference for only he was privy to the
thinking of God.
In two paragraphs, Matthew informed readers of the identity
and ancestry of his hero’s origin, ministry and significance. He then filled in
the details and related this to the rest of the story.
What does the account of Jesus’ origin mean to me? To answer
that, I suggest we ask not only how we relate to our familial and spiritual
ancestors, but also focus on what we do at Christmas.
We exchange presents, and our exchange is reciprocal. We
give to those who give to us. We give presents to family and friends, employees
and beauticians, teachers and pastors. Gift giving at Christmas is
unequivocally Christian, but not in the way that we necessarily practice it
today.[6]
Some of us give to ease fears and feelings of inadequacy, but according to the
familiar account in Matthew, the main reason for our custom stems from the
presents given to Jesus by the Wise Men: frankincense, gold and myrrh. They
presented gifts to him, but he gave them – and us – a greater gift.
The Incarnation and Jesus’s sacrificial gift of his own life
on the Cross are the greatest gifts to humanity. When I count as gift God with us and salvation unto eternal life, as well as my own life, I cannot help
but thank God.
When you think about it, everything is God’s gift to me. I
had no choice regarding when and where I was born. That was God’s gift to me.
The color of my eyes and hair – God’s gifts to me. My parents and siblings, the
language I speak and my sense of humor – God’s gifts to me. The schools I
attended and my classmates – God’s gifts to me. My wife’s family and my
grandchildren – God’s gifts to me. Everything is God’s gift.
My friends, if you have a few quiet moments this Christmas,
spend it not watching the NBA or cable news, but ponder all that God has given
you as gift. When you do, pray these words: Take, Lord, and receive all my
liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will – all I have and call
my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is
yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is
enough for me.
When you pray those words, may the peace of God that
surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I've_Been_Everywhere
[2]
Jack Dean Kingsbury, The Birth Narrative of Matthew in The Gospel of Matthew in
Current Study. David E. Aune, editor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company
(2001), 154-165.
[3]
Isaiah 7:14
[4]
Matthew 1:21
[5]
Matthew 16:23
[6] http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2013/december/what-we-get-wrong-about-gift-giving.html?paging=off
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