Mary and Herod: Two Roads Christmas Unwrapped Part Two Pastor Glenn Barteau December

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1 Mary and Herod: Two Roads Christmas Unwrapped Part Two Pastor Glenn Barteau December What do you think is the greatest Christmas carol ever written? It wasn t written by Burl Ives, Mel Torme or even Bing Crosby. It s not I m Dreaming of a White Christmas, It s not Away in the Manger, it s not even Silent Night It s Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley no, no, no just kidding. It was written 2,000 years ago by a poor Jewish girl it s called the Magnificat. In the 1980 the government of Guatemala banned the public reading or reciting of the Magnificat. Why did they do that? No one has ever banned Blue Christmas, or Santa Baby. They banned it because they believed it was too subversive. Because they thought that if downtrodden people or people hungry for hope and meaning in life were to read the Magnificat they might suddenly feel valued and empowered if they could hear the boldness of this little teenage peasant girl they might be motivated to rise up. And the government didn t like that. Luke 1:46-48 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. This is a good who is mindful of the hungry, the lonely, the hurting. Luke 1:48-50 From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. She just pours fourth this song about how much people matter to God. How He cares for them. Now the subversive part the part that causes governments to twitch a little the part that makes kings a little nervous. Luke 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones. Now Mary had to sing or recite this song enough that people remembered it, after all it was included in Luke s gospel. And, when Mary sang her song, everybody knew who the King was. Right It was Herod and he made sure everyone knew he was the king. What was his nick name? Herod the Great. Do you know who gave him that name? Herod did. Herod knew how the world worked he knew how to get things done. Thirty years before the birth of Christ the Roman Senate gave him the Title King of the Jews. He started by buddy-ing up to Julius Caesar, and when Julius was assassinated he told Mark Anthony that he was really a Mark Anthony guy, and When Mark Anthony was over-thrown and ran off to Egypt he convinced Caesar Augustus that in his heart he had always been pulling for Caesar Augustus.

2 2 Herod knew how to gain power. And he was ruthless when it came to keeping and holding on to his power. When he was being confirmed by the Roman Senate a group of 50 respected Jewish men traveled to Rome and asked if Jerusalem could be put under Syria in that way they wouldn t be under Herod. The Senate said no, but thank-you for participating in the political process (upon arriving home these men were promptly arrested and executed). Herod probably had 12 wives His favorite wife was Miriam. The only woman he married for love. She bore him 7 children. They were his favored children. But he felt a little threatened by two of them so he had them smothered that was being nice. Their barber tried explaining that they really weren t being subversive but Herod felt like the barber was waffling a little on enough of a Herod guy so Herod had the barber killed as well just to be sure. He killed 2 of his brother-in-laws, later he had his mother-in-law killed but I think everyone saw that one coming. In the last days of his life Herod while on his death bed he was worried that his favorite son, the oldest from Miriam was getting a little to ambitious so he had him thrown into prison. His son had heard his dad had died, so he tried to bribe the guard to let him out but Herod wasn t quite dead found out about the bribe and had his son killed. In the end Herod even felt threatened by Miriam and he had her executed. Right before his death he had 70 of the most popular citizen in Israel arrested and put in confinement in the Hippodrome in Jericho. He gave his sister Salome instructions to have all of them killed the day he died so that on the day of his death there would be great wailing in all Israel. Herod never lost his power until he died but prior to his death he was able to outwit, outplay, and outsmart everyone else. Herod would have been very good contestant on CBS s Survivor. One day a caravan of wise men come out of the East. They were called Magi and they were people of wealth, power, and great influence. And they began to ask Matt 2:1 "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?" King of the Jews born king of the Jews this is a political title. A title Herod worked very hard to get and keep. What do you think Herod s emotional state was at this point? Mat 2:1b we have come to worship him." Imagine some of Herod s employees & staff hearing this oh no this is going to be bad this is going to be very bad. Now you can understand this next phrase. Look at verse 3. Matt 2:3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, (And you can also understand the next phrase as well) and all Jerusalem with him. Because when Herod isn t happy nobody s happy. All the while Mary is singing her little song. Luke 1:51-52 he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. Who might that be?

3 He has brought down rulers from their thrones Who s sitting on a throne? Herod but has lifted up the humble Who is doing the lifting? Jesus 3 Mary understands all of this. In a strange way Mary understands Herod better that Herod understands Herod. On the outside he is the most powerful man in the land. He has control over vast numbers of people he can have people executed on a whim He commands armies. The other is a teenage girl without a penny to her name she commanded exactly nothing. And yet she lived with a boldness and strength a sense of being filled filled with hope and love that surpassed anything Herod knew. Imagine Mary singing her song He has brought down rulers da na na` na, down from their thrones Imagine people around her hearing the song Mary honey iks-ne on the ong-se it will get you in a lot of trouble. See who was the one really ill at ease Mary or Herod? Who was the one struggling with insecurity Mary or Herod? Who was the one really lonely Mary or Herod? Who was truly poor & truly rich Mary or Herod? I believe Herod was a very, very hungry guy. Did 12 wives bring him true love? Did his title free him from guilt? Did crushing enemies bring peace? Did his great palaces give a lasting sense of self-worth? Did snuffing out the lives of his sons bring security? No all of Herod s earthly power and glory didn t bring him what he really wanted. He was a man hungry for purpose and love. Jesus himself had a word to describe this Lost. Lost like a sheep without a shepherd. Lost like a son without a dad. A lost human separated from his or her creator. Little Mary sees all of this with amazing clarity. There are two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of this world. With all of its promises, and bling but it will leave you empty and lost because it will always leave you to yourself Mary understood there was another kingdom. The kingdom of God and it comes as this amazing gift. The true meaning of Christmas is an invitation: God has come and we are invited to give up our empty, hungry, broken lives to God, and in re-turn we find new life in him. In reality Herod had a choice: He could have chosen the path of the Magi. He could have bowed before Christ He could have given his life up to God. He could have trusted his life to Christ. But He ends up dying alone in total agony after years of battling syphilis until it finally took his life. He never says: God what can you do with my life

4 He never says: God I m a sinner lost & broken. He never says: God I m a lonely, broken, empty sinner I give my life to you. The reality is in a way we are no different than Herod we may not have done some of the terrible things Herod did but without God we are still empty, broken, lost souls. 4 The true meaning of Christmas is an invitation: God has come and we are invited to give up our empty, hungry, broken lives to God, and in re-turn we find new life in him. The important question the real question I want to ask this morning is where are you? Are you hungry for a sense of value and purpose? Are you hungry for grace and forgiveness? Are you hungry to love and be loved? Have you ever considered trusting Christ with your life. Sometimes we think God expects us to work really, really hard to be good, and hopefully someday when we die we will be good enough to get into heaven. I want you to think of the birth of Christ as God invitation to you to have life with God to experience His grace and power in your life to yield your life to Him, and experience the transformation He can give you in a life with Him. Mary sings Luke 1:53a He has filled the hungry with good things. The true meaning of Christmas is an invitation: God has come and we are invited to give up our empty, hungry, broken lives to God, and in re-turn we find new life in him. The Gift of Grr-Face Mrs. Ellis took Kenny to the doctor s office. Kenny s eye s were bandaged, and they had been that way for the past six weeks. In one hand he held Grr-Face his favorite teddy bear, with the other he could balance on any furniture he could climb on before his mom would pull him down. Grr-Face was old worn-out stuffed animal. He was torn and ragged, one of his arms was missing both eyes were gone but Kenny loved him. And while Kenny s mom had wanted to get rid of the old bear but she just couldn t after the accident. Six weeks prior she had a pot of soup cooking on the range, she was on the phone when she heard a scream. Somehow Kenny had dumped the nearly boiling pot of soup on the side of his face. She was filled with fear that he would never see again. Their pediatrician had become a God-send. He had done more than just care for Kenny. Dr. Harris poured comfort, and peace into a mom who felt empty and guilty and worried. Dr. Harris clipped the bandages off Kenny, and after a quick examination of both of Kenny s eye s were at a 100%. And of course the mom is over-joyed, she takes a deep sigh and says to Dr. Harris we ll never in a million years be able to pay you back for all you ve done.

5 5 Kenny grasping a little bit of what was happening walked up to Dr. Harris and held up his broken, one-arm bear and said, Take Grr Face he ought to be worth a lot of money. Dr. Harris was tempted to decline, but could see this was important to Kenny, so he took the broken bear into his arms, and said thank you very much. Life was starting to get back to normal around the house, then on Christmas Eve a package was delivered to the door. Addressed to Kenny he opened it up, and pulled out Grr Face, only now he had all of tears sewn back together, he had a new arm and two new button eyes with a note Thank you Kenny, what I couldn t do Mrs. Harris could do. With great love she re-made Grr.. Face, Merry Christmas. Canfield Chicken Soup Christmas Cheer p.22 If only Herod had said those words to God If only he had come to God with his brokenness, and emptiness but here s the beauty you can Christmas is an invitation.