The Strange Case of the Missing Baby Jesus

Sermon preached Christmas Eve 2015

Opening
Well, its pretty great to be here, isnt it? Christmas Eve services are so beautiful, so
moving, so much fun. And Christmas itself - so many different things we love:
Theres all the beauty of the decorations - we drag trees into our house and festoon them
with lights and shiny ornaments, we put lights outside our homes, downtown
Chambersburg especially - its breathtaking - the tree on the Square, the trees with the
pure white lights...they say its the most wonderful time of the year, its also maybe the
most beautiful time of the year.
Theres the fun of getting presents for people you love - let me tell you, when you have
grandchildren like we do, thats the best of all - because you can get them things their
parents cant or wont get them - we got our two oldest grandchildren a trampoline.
Bwah-hah-hah! Or youre ga-ga in love with someone - the act of giving them a present
youve thought about and searched for and watching them open it and the delight - well,
theres nothing like it.
And then the food - the food! Most everyone has Christmas food and meals and treats
that are traditional to their families, to their ethnic heritage. In our house, for Christmas
only, Susan bakes these amazing pecan tassies - theyre like little pecan pies - you can
pop them right into your mouth and somehow eating seven of them doesnt feel as bad as
chowing down a whole big piece of pecan pie.
And one other thing - manger scenes - maybe carved of olive wood, or maybe made of
clay pieced together by the hands of your first-grader. A scene of Joseph and Mary and
shepherds and wise men and maybe a donkey and a sheep looking at baby Jesus with
wonder, amazement. Manger scenes - theyre like a glimpse into the verse of the
Christmas hymn that goes, All is calm/all is bright. Manger scenes - whether theyre
hand-carved from olive wood or made from lumpy clay - somehow they capture the
beauty and power of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Meaning of the Incarnation
The manger scene gets it right. The meaning of Christmas should and does provoke
wonder, amazement. What this means - that God - the Almighty, the creator of the
universe - would visit this planet and come as a helpless baby born to a peasant couple and they put him in an animals feed trough - thats what a manger is - its either
completely crazy or astonishingly wonderful - one thing its not, is trivial or forgettable.
The writer Madeline LEngle put it like this: What I believe is so magnificent, so
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glorious, that it is beyond finite comprehension. To believe that the universe was created
by a purposeful, benign Creator is one thing. To believe that this Creator took on human
vesture, accepted death and mortality, was tempted, betrayed, broken, and all for love of
us, defies reason. It is so wild that it terrifies some Christians who try to dogmatize their
fear by lashing out at other Christians, because tidy Christianity with all answers given is
easier than one which reaches out to the wild wonder of God's love, a love we don't even
have to earn.
Thats what Christmas means. God says, Im with you. God came in Jesus and hes
with us and for us - he comes down to our level and stays with us - the Message
translation of the first chapter of Johns gospel says, The Word became flesh and blood
and moved into the neighborhood. Where we live. No matter where we live.
Jesus went missing
Thats the beauty and power of what the manger scene hints at. And we are privileged to
host the community manger scene out front of the church building here.
But four years ago - baby Jesus went missing from that manger scene. One day he was
there, and the next day - he was gone. Snatched from the manger during the cover of
darkness.
The strange case of the missing baby Jesus got media coverage all over the world, Im
told. It got people wondering, who would abscond with a plastic baby Jesus from a
manger, and why? Was it nefarious atheists? Was it the Grinch? Was it a prank?
No clues as to where he went. No ransom note demanding we pay up or well never seen
baby Jesus again. We hurriedly put our spare baby Jesus in the manger - you should
always have a spare baby Jesus - because a manger without a baby Jesus, well thats just
not right. But then some days later, baby Jesus turned up, the miscreant or prankster who
kidnapped him put baby Jesus in the arms of one of the statues around the fountain on the
Square. And now when we put up the manger, we zip-tie Jesus in there, youd need a
pair of bolt-cutters to get him out.
But we learn something from this
But whoever took baby Jesus from the manger, inadvertently provided us with a teachable
moment. Reminding us that while Jesus came as a baby in a manger, he didnt stay in the
manger, he didnt stay a baby either.
I am reminded of the wonderful scene in the movie Talladega Nights. At one point in the
film, Ricky Bobby prays. What was really unusual about it was that he prayed it to the
little baby Jesus. Dear tiny Baby Jesus in Your tiny baby crib, with Your tiny little hands
and feet, watching Your tiny little Einstein Baby Development videos, use Your tiny little
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superpowers to keep me winning on the racetrack. Amen.

His wife said to him: You know, I dont think you are supposed to pray to the little
Baby Jesus, because He grew up and became a man, and I think youre supposed to pray
to Grownup Jesus.
Ricky Bobby says: I dont want to pray to that Jesus. I like praying to the little Baby
Jesus, because it makes me feel good just to think about Him being a little, tiny infant...
you can pray to the Grownup Jesus...or whomever you want to, but I like...a cuddly
little baby Jesus.
On Christmas eve, when we gather around the manger and look at the miracle of baby
Jesus, look on in wonder and adoration - thats a good start. But its just a start. Because
Jesus grew up and left the manger, left babyhood and became a man and began ministry
and went right towards people who were suffering, outcast, broken, searching. He went
to the cross and died for us and then rose to everlasting life to free us. Free us from the
awful abyss of death, the dying of the light that wants to snuff us out forever. Free us
from the power of evil that finds a place in our hearts and leads us to do things and say
things that are destructive to us and others. And to remake this broken, suffering world.
On Christmas, its not just about the baby. Its about the risen Christ who comes into our
lives at the darkest moments in times we are most lost and alone and hurting, to save us.
God-with-us, forever
One of the cool things we do during these services is sing Silent Night to candle-light.
Everyone gets a candle and everyone gets their own little light.
So much symbolism in that. The light of Jesus Christ, comes into the dark and hurting
places of our lives and our world.
And thats what we really need, isnt it?
I love the energy and excitement of these services, and most of us are happy to be here (a
few of you may have been dragged here half against your will but it isnt so bad, was it?)
But many of us come here with stuff. With hurts. With doubts. Cant find a way
forward in life. Cant get free of something that is slowly killing us and our relationships.
Family conflict. A child gone off the rails. Or maybe were worried and discouraged
about the state of our world - terrorism, and such anger and meanness and fear in our own
country; so much suffering and poverty and lostness right here in our community.
Christmas is kind of odd, in that it papers over the stuff in our lives and were able to
forget, partially and for a little while, the problems and pain we face - but at the same
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time, it can make it feel worse - because there may be an empty place at the table
tomorrow where someone we loved used to sit; or we worry this will be our last
Christmas, or we know that after tomorrow we have to face the same stuff that is slowly
sucking the life out of us. And after Christmas, what?
Heres the story of how Jesus showed up in one mans life:
Locked behind the razor-wire fences of a Florida prison is no place to spend a
holiday. I'd spent 15 Christmases under these less-than-festive conditions, but this
year..I was stuck in confinementa prison inside a prison where the supposed
troublemakers are sent. In reality, anyone can find himself in the hole by irritating
the wrong person.
Because I was going to be locked in a cell 24 hours a day through Christmas, I
figured nothing memorable could happen. Beyond a five-minute shower three
times weekly, there wasn't much to look forward to.
Christmas night in confinement, alone in my cell, I read in my Bible about Paul
and Silas, who were also inside a prison. Despite their miserable predicament,
they were praying and singing hymns to God while the other prisoners listened.
The lights went out and I stared at the ceiling from my bunk, wondering if I could
praise God in the midst of my circumstances. I could hear a mouse nibbling on
some crackers I left out for him. Then suddenly I heard a voice come out of the
vent above the toilet. It was Andrew in the next cell. "Merry Christmas, Roy," he
said.
"Merry Christmas, Andrew," I replied.
"Do you know any Christmas songs?" Andrew asked.
"Yeah, I know a few."
"I'll sing one if you'll sing one," he said.
"What should we sing?"
"Joy to the World." And he sang every verse. I sang the chorus with him. Then it
was my turn and I chose "Silent Night." Then he sang "O Come All Ye Faithful,"
and I answered with "Feliz Navidad."
"I have another song," Andrew said, and sang "O Holy Night." Silence filled the
quad as everyone listened. It was a moment I'll never forget. It...reminded
me...(that) every day is Christmas when God has arrived. It wasn't just another
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day, and I wasn't alone. Emmanuel was in confinement with me, in my cell,
blessing me.
God has arrived, in Jesus Christ. Came as a baby. And thats a profound, awe-inspiring
gift. But Jesus didnt stay in the manger. He grew up and lived and died and rose from
the dead to free us from evil and death. And hes in our world now and in our lives,
ready to bring us healing and freedom, to bring us strength and courage and hope, Lord
how we crave hope, to bring us even peace and joy that last beyond the beauty of this
night. He wants to give us those things. He wants to give you himself. As we sing
together about Christ coming into our world, may we open our minds and hearts to him
that he can come into our lives. Amen.