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December 25 - Luke 1, 2 - "Silly Season"

MPC 25^th December 2016.

Phil Campbell

It's Christmas, and if you've been to the shops lately you'll know it's been silly season since early November. And look, it's kind of fun, isn't it? The lights go up on our houses; the party season starts in earnest.

And we start to get seriously silly.

So you'll maybe wear clothes like this... to the office Christmas party.

Where you'll maybe drink too much and say too much and kiss the boss and do all kinds of other silly stuff that you later regret.

I heard on the news a couple of weeks back that some workplaces had banned mobile phones at office parties for exactly that reason. So that no-one could record any of the silly stuff. And put it on Facebook.

But look, it's all part of the fun isn't it? Because it's silly season.

Though I reckon Christmas bon bons are pushing the limit a bit. I'm guessing you'll have them on your table for Christmas lunch.

I reckon in my time I've heard hundreds of Christmas Bon Bon Jokes. There's a new crop every year. I reckon they exist to make dad jokes look good.

Like the one I got at a party a couple of weeks ago. "What happened to the man who didn't know the difference between putty and toothpaste?" The answer is, all his windows fell out.

I mean the punchline could have been:- his teeth never fell out. But the fact is it's one of the worst jokes ever.

But that's okay. Because it's silly season. And everyone at Christmas lunch will have a laugh no matter how bad the jokes are.

But look, as we come to the climax of yet another silly season, that's really lots of fun... it's maybe worth stopping a minute and saying something that might sound really silly. Because it goes against the flow.

And that's to say that in a world that thinks life, and especially Christmas, is all about consuming and being comfortable, in a world that thinks the purpose of life is about getting more and more toys... in a world that thinks our happiness comes from consuming and being comfortable and chasing after satisfaction and status... then the first Christmas looks very silly indeed.

The first Christmas turns all our world's ideas about what's valuable and what's important upside down.

And it's all there in a nutshell in the famous story of the first big public announcement of Christmas. To a bunch of cold shift-working sheep-herders in a paddock.

They're out under the stars, shivering in the cold, watching their sheep. While everybody else is at home asleep.

That's the scene in Luke chapter 2 verse 8. Reading number 4. Shivering shift workers shepherding sheep.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

And suddenly, to those humble sheep farmers; a cosmic announcement.

With a bright light. And an angel of the Lord in full flight. Verse 9 says,

An angel of the Lord appears to them, and the glory of the Lord shines around them...

and as you would be, I think, they were terrified.

But, I want to ask the question, if you were the Lord God of the universe and you were going to send an angel to make a grand announcement, who would you tell you angel to go to?

Go appear to Donald Trump maybe, and tell him.

Go appear to Rupert Murdoch, maybe. And make a splash in the newspapers.

Go appear to Katy Perry. Who can post it to her 94 million Twitter followers.

Well, it's 94,281,255 followers to be exact. More than anyone else in the world. Or it was last week.

Go appear to the important people; to the rich and famous. To the influential.

But here's the silly thing. At least in our way of thinking. The angel goes to a bunch of shivering shepherds. Who have got no Twitter followers at all.

And says to them in verse 10,

Don't be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

The king the nation of Israel's been waiting for. All these years. The one who brings great joy.

He's come at last. And I'm telling you guys.

It's silly. It's all upside down.

And look, here's the bit that's even more silly.

What kind of king... comes in these circumstances?

This is a baby king wrapped in cleaning rags.

This is a prince in a poor house.

This is majesty in a manger. A feed trough.

Look, I know I look like a city guy these days. But my dad was a farmer. And every weekend I'd help him out around our little hobby farm just out of town.

And we'd drive out to the farm in the old Toyota ute with few bags of oats and some hay bales on the back and we'd pour out from the bag into the feed trough in a cloud of dust and the cattle would come and push one another out of the way and they'd munch and they'd dribble and they'd lick till it was empty.

Take the feed trough. Then stick your king in it.

Doesn't make sense does it? If he's meant to be important.

But listen again to what the angel says to the shepherds. Verse 12.

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in rags and lying in the trough.

At the back of the shed. Where he's lying. Because there's no room for him. Anywhere else.

So silly it seems, for this to launch the career of a king. Who's going to bring great joy.

Because doesn't great joy come from our piles of presents?

News broke through the week of the American mum who's giving her kids 300 Christmas presents. I'd have to say opinion was divided. Some people on-line were saying it's a bit over the top. But you know, that's our vibe.

More stuff makes you more happy.

And so it sounds kind of silly, doesn't it? And unimpressive. To see a king lying in a feed trough. in rags. When we're so addicted to luxury and comfort.

To think a king like that can bring great joy.

You know, I wonder if the real silliness of silly season is maybe that as a culture, we don't know any more what really makes us happy. We don't know where to look... for real satisfaction.

And so maybe we pile up our plates and we pile up our Christmas trees... because we think happiness is there. That great joy comes that way.

And so silly season makes us do silly things like going into too much debt. Which we regret for the 11 months afterwards. Over spending on over-consumption. That just in the end makes us more and more unhappy.

The Australian Psychology Association website says "We're living through an epidemic of over consumption, materialism, debt, waste and stress."

I mean, that's a silly season. Isn't it?

And we're constantly being told to buy more stuff we don't really need - and we do, because we're addicted to over consumption.

When psychological studies over and over again prove that materialism doesn't produce happiness. But produces depression and anxiety instead.

And so the more materialistic we are, the worse our quality of life.

And we just don't believe that, because the ads keep telling us we should never be satisfied. That we should feel that what we've got is obsolete if it's not in this year's colour.

And that we shouldn't under any circumstances be content with humble circumstances. And we'd never... be satisfied to put our baby in rags. In a food box.

When the reality is, those kind of humble circumstances are right in keeping with the heart of God.

When Mary's first told the news of the coming birth; we heard it in reading 2 earlier on; remember how she broke into song?

God scatters those who are proud in their inmost thoughts;

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

Totally back to front. Silly. But that's what Jesus goes on to live out. And demonstrate. And prove.

God loves. The humble. And looks down on the proud.

Hates the bully. And loves the servant.

Steps into our world in flesh not with a birth in the best of hospitals or surrounded by hundreds of ancient midwives in a palace. But here wrapped in rags in a shed. With some shepherds watching on. And from there ends up on a Roman cross. Paying, the bible tells us, not for his own sins; but for ours.

Which is why the angels are promising great joy. Being found here. Instead of all the places we're looking in vain.

It's hard to know in Silly Season, isn't it? Where there's real wisdom in the midst of it all. I guess I just want to throw out the suggestion. In a sense the invitation. That when you maybe one day get to the point of finding the sparkle doesn't satisfy; when you've overdosed on the fun-drug and it's not giving you any more kicks. That maybe you should think back to this much more humble starting point and start over. Of a saviour who stepped into a shed. With the promise of great joy. The angel said,

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Can I say if you're visiting today, I know there are dozens of people sitting around you this morning who'll tell you without a moment's hesitation, that's exactly what they've found. And that it's not so silly. To look for the joy there. That you won't find anywhere else.