Sermon Tone Analysis

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By Pastor Glenn Pease
One of the great paradoxes of Christmas is that almost everything the Bible tells us about this most sacred event, is secular in nature.
It is filled with what is temporal rather than eternal; physical rather than spiritual; and world oriented rather than heaven oriented.
Christmas is really a very earthly event.
This was by design, of course, for it marks the beginning of God's personal involvement in the flesh on this earthly level of reality.
When God became man he went all the way, and participated fully in the secular realm common to all men.
Just being born of a woman was as commonplace as it gets, for this is the universal experience of all men.
The Buddhist, the atheist, the cultist, and every other type of person, comes into this world by the same method Jesus came.
Birth does not take place in a sacred setting, but in a secular setting, such as a hospital or the home.
In the case of Jesus, the setting was even more secular than usual, for he was born in a stable.
It is also a very secular job to be running an inn, and keeping up a stable, and shepherding sheep.
Taking the census was also very secular, along with paying taxes.
The point is the whole setting of the first Christmas is a secular setting.
There is not a priest, rabbi, prophet, or preacher anywhere on the scene.
The angels do appear to the shepherds in the field and add the heavenly involvement to the story, and the star is seen by the wise men afar, but the fact is, most of what we see is simply secular.
Some of the secular props on the stage of history during this greatest of dramas have played a important role.
The church fathers considered the wise men to have been Persians.
In 614 A. D. when the Persians invaded and conquered the Holy Land, they did not destroy the oldest church in the world-the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
The reason was because they saw on the golden mosaic over the doorway the wise men depicted as Persians with their native headdress.
This was the only holy site they did not attack.
This trivial secular detail changed the course of history, as far as this site of the birth of Jesus goes.
Without it, the church could have been destroyed.
The trivial can play a tremendous role in history.
Never underestimate the impact of the seemingly insignificant.
The book, The Ugly American, is about an ugly-faced American engineer, Homer Atkins.
He was brought to Vietnam to build dams and roads.
While he was there he solved a century old problem by designing a bicycle treadmill pump.
No longer did the women have to carry water in pails up the hillside to water the paddies.
His wife Emma then made this suggestion, for she was concerned about the fact that every woman over 60 had a bent back.
The broom the women used had such a short handle, because wood was expensive and in short supply.
Emma discovered a long stock reed and planted some near her door.
Then she bound coconut fronds to one of the long reeds she cut.
She invited women to her house to see her sweep with a long handled broom.
It caught on, and years later when Homer and Emma were living back in Pittsburgh, they received a letter from the villagers, part of which went like this-
"In the village of Chang 'Dong today, the backs of
our people are straight and firm.
No longer
are their bodies painful and bent.
You will be
pleased to know that on the outskirts of the
village we have constructed a small shrine in
your memory...
At the foot are these words:
'In memory of the woman who unbent the backs
of our people.'
"
Her concern about such a trivial thing as the length of broom handles had a significant impact on the life of a whole people.
As we approach another Christmas it is of interest to focus on some of the trivial secular details the Bible records about this event.
We will see that trivia could be called significa.
Significa are the small and minor matters which, nevertheless, have great impact and influence.
Every trivial thing that Jesus touched He transformed into significa.
A cradle was a lowly thing
And held of little worth
Till Jesus in a cradle slept
When first he came to earth.
A woman was a chattel owned
To pamper, scorn, or sell
Till Jesus proffered Living Truth
To one at Jacob's well.
A child? Just one more mouth to feed!
Not held in high esteem
Till Jesus made a little lad
The center of his Theme.
The lowliest death there was to die
Was nailing to a tree:
Aloft his followers hold the Cross-
Symbol of Victory!
-Stella Fisher Burgess.
We are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, but sometimes they seem so trivial we tend to ignore them.
Christmas trivia is a good example.
Dr. Luke was a man of detail, and he records for us a number of things that can be called Christmas trivia, but which upon examination become Christmas significa.
Take his mention of Caesar Augustus, for example.
There have been few leaders in history who have been so loved by their followers that they celebrated their birthday with festivities spread over two days.
But the first character on the stage of the Christmas story was just such a man.
Augustus was one of the greatest leaders of history.
His birth was the biggest until the birthday of Jesus surpassed it.
People of all ranks in life would bring money presents to the capital, and Augustus would use the money to promote religion in Rome.
Augustus was a deeply religious man in a world that had gone sour on religion.
The average roman citizen had abandoned the gods, and had become skeptical.
Augustus was determined to bring about a revival of religion, and moral renewal.
He restored 82 temples in the city of Rome alone, and built temples and shrines all over the Empire.
He fought to strengthen the traditional family.
Men had forsaken marriage, and were being promiscuous.
The sensual life-style had caused the population to fall.
He passed laws that made promiscuity a crime, and which rewarded men who married and had three children.
He fought immorality on the stage, and promoted good entertainment.
He was fighting the very battles that Christians are fighting in our culture today.
He was far from perfect, and did some brutal things in his reign, but he held his power and reigned for 44 years, because he was a man for the people.
He was just and merciful and did all he could to meet the needs of the poor.
He sold government surplus at very cheap rates, and sometimes even gave them away.
He was able to establish an empire where there was peace and prosperity for 55 million people.
He did not believe in fighting wars just to prove he was stronger, like many rulers before and after him.
He said those who take great risks in battle for some small advantage are like a man who fishes with a golden hook.
Nothing he could catch would be worth the loss of the hook.
He was a man of peace, and when he did conquer a nation, he allowed their own people to continue as their leaders, and he formed friendly relationships by means of intermarriage, just as Solomon did.
He was greatly loved, and when he went on a tour of the Empire, his homecomings were events of great celebration.
The people and the Senate agreed he should be given the title that Americans gave to Washington-The Father of His Country.
When the Senate so proclaimed him, he responded with tears in his eyes and said, "Fathers of the Senate, I have at last achieved my highest ambition.
What more can I ask of the immortal gods than that they may permit me to enjoy your approval until my dying day?"
This wish was granted.
He was a pagan emperor, yet he is the first character in the Christmas story, because the God of the universe decided to honor him with the role of making a decree that led to the birth of His Son in Bethlehem.
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