December 16, 2020 – Advent Text: Luke 2:1-6
Dear Friends in Christ,
Are you ready to take a trip? A man and woman with child are required to take this trip. Before the greatest miracle in the history of the world can take place we have got to get them to where they need to be. God will see to that. You sit back and enjoy what it means for you.
“THE TRIP”
What was your trip like when you had your children? Did any of you not make it to the hospital in time? Was there anything unusual about the day or night? Anybody not go in a car?
The two births in the Lueck family were a little bit different. The first birth was a planned event. What I mean is that we checked into the hospital as if a surgery was going to take place. There was no rush because Toni was going to be induced. We were escorted to the room and we waited. It was a Monday evening and I watched a football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. I tried to sleep on the floor with my winter coat as a blanket. Toni tried to rest, received an epidural and eventually child one would come into the world.
Birth two took place in a more traditional way, as did the trip. Toni’s water broke and she woke me up on an early Tuesday morning. We gathered the belongings that we needed and headed for Bro-Menn Hospital. Being the gentleman I am I steered the donkey, I mean the car through the quiet streets of Bloomington-Normal. Child number two came a little quicker later that day. No roadblocks. No complications. No bad weather. The trip was smooth.
Joseph and Mary had a little farther to go. They had a three-day trip ahead of them from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Most of us just filled out a 2020 census earlier this year. It came in the mail. If you didn’t do it this way, a government official stopped by your home. None of us were asked to take our family to Washington D. C. Wouldn’t that be a sight if we crammed 350 million of us into the banks of the Potomac!
These pagan Romans had no idea they were part of God’s plan. Many consider Caesar Augustus the greatest Roman emperor. He expanded the Roman Empire and brought stability and peace. The census was used for military service and taxation. Jews were exempt from military service but still were taxed. Even Mary was under this law since she was past 12 years of age. This is why she made the trip with Joseph even while being so close to giving birth.
Even with his great work, Caesar Augustus still remained God’s instrument. God used the decree from this pagan leader to fulfill the promise of Micah 5:2 – “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient of days.” The trip had to take place to fulfill the prophecy that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. FYI – Bethlehem was the prophet Micah’s hometown.
Do you see what God was able to accomplish through the trip? Salvation was born. Grace and mercy sprang forth. Love came into the world with skin on. God made this intrusion into the world in order to save the world.
When we travel what is one of the things most of us do? We pray for protection. Keep our car on the interstate, the plane in the air, the cruise ship above the water. We need the Lord and his holy angels to watch over us. Haven’t we all had close calls but for the grace of God . . .?
We need the Lord’s protection in other ways as well. We take some trips down some dark highways. We linger on the edge of canyons. We test the captain with our behavior. Maybe in life we have left the tour group of our Christian brothers and sisters and went exploring for other ways to the Kingdom of God. Or maybe the Sunday morning trip was no longer part of our weekly itinerary.
The Lord gathers us together tonight to remind us that this is no solo trip. It is orchestrated by a wonderful Counselor, Mighty God who knows the roads have bumps, the waters have waves, the air has turbulence. He finds us on the map and brings us home. Home to the forgiveness of sins. Home to life in the Lamb of God. We make the trip to the baptismal font and to the altar and eventually we make the greatest trip to be with Him and the angels and the archangels and the whole company of heaven.
All of our trips to the hospital brought new life. Life that came from our Creator. He gives this to us daily as we make our way home. Enjoy the trip led by our Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.