Sermon - Christmas Eve "hey! unto you a child is born!"

Sermon – Christmas Eve
Luke 2:1-20
December 24, 2011
“Hey! Unto you a child is born”

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” written by Barbara Robinson, also made into a movie, is a story about a town’s Christmas Pageant. This year’s pageant was expected to be the same as every year. There was the standard script: the inn, a stable, a star, shepherds, wise men, Mary, Joseph. The youngest children would sing in the baby angel choir, and the most well behaved girl in the school would play the part of the angel. So the Sunday School children gathered after the service with the teacher to assign roles and rehearse for the pageant when all of a sudden… the Herdman kids showed up.

The Herdmans. Just to say the name Herdman in this down you would get a cringe. To say that these six kids exhibited bad behavior is an understatement. They lied, stole, cussed, smoked cigars, and hit the other kids. Rumor was that they burned down a tool shed experimenting with chemistry and matches, and then stole the donuts left for the firemen. Their father was out of the picture and their mother worked two shifts at a factory, so the kids basically raised themselves.

Now as soon as the Herdman kids came into the Christmas Pageant rehearsal, all the other kids got up and backed away, frightened of them. The Herdmans volunteered for the main roles, and the rest of the kids, were afraid, so they kept silent. The Herdmans were taking over the pageant.
The parents were in an uproar: how could you let kids like that in the Christmas pageant, it is sacrilegious! They were concerned that this would be the worst Christmas pageant ever.

So the first rehearsal began, and of course the Herdmans were misbehaving and whacking kids in the back of the head, etc. As they began to practice, they started asking a lot of questions about the Christmas story.
They hadn’t heard it before. After all this was their first time ever going to church.
“It’s the Christmas story from the bible,” the teacher explained, “from Luke.”
“Luke who?” they asked.
“You mean you’ve never heard the Christmas story?”
The other kids teased: “they don’t even know what a bible is.”
“Tell me the whole story from the beginning.” Imogene Herdman demanded.
So the teacher told the whole Christmas story, and the Herdmans all of sudden fell silent as they listened.
The teacher read: “and Mary was great with child.”
“That means she was pregnant” one Herdman said.
One of the other girls said: “you’re not supposed to say pregnant in church.”
The teacher read on: “and there was no room at the inn.”
Imogene protested: “There wasn’t any room for Jesus?!”
“They put him in a manger…a feeding trough for animals.” The teacher answered.
“You mean they tied him up and put him in a feed box? Where was the child welfare? The child welfare is at our house every five minutes.” Imogene explained.
Another girl says: “There wasn’t any child welfare in Bethlehem.”
“I’ll say there wasn’t,” Imogene replied.
The teacher went on: “…and lo an angel of the Lord appeared.” “Shazaam! “Gladys the Herdman to play the angel exclaimed! “you know, shazaam from the comics.”
Then the Herdmans wanted to know about the gifts that the wise men brought. “What’s frankincense?” It didn’t sound like a practical gift.
Then they were upset that Herod wanted to put baby Jesus to death.
So they began to plot how they would take care of Herod and how they would kick someone out of the inn so Jesus could stay there.

When Christmas Eve arrived, everyone was bracing for the pageant to be a disaster.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen,” the teacher admitted. “It may be the first Christmas pageant where Joseph and the wise men get in a fight, and Mary runs off with the baby.”
The teacher’s kids didn’t want to perform, they said Mary and Joseph looks like refugees.
“Well they were refugees,” their father explained. “They were a long way from home, they didn’t know anybody, they were probably cold, tired, hungry and messy.”

Then the lights dimmed and the music began. The two Herdmans playing Joseph and Mary suddenly appeared. But curiously there wasn’t any pushing or shoving, they just stood there looking uncomfortable. She held the baby Jesus ever so tenderly, burping him on her shoulder, making the baby seem real.
Then Gladys Herman playing the angel came running in with her tennis shoes and her halo on crooked as she yelled out: “Hey! Unto you a child is born!” “it’s Jesus and he’s in the barn! Go on now! Go on up! Hurry!”
She captured the excitement of the angel and the importance of Jesus’ birth. “C’mon, hurry up, you’ve got to see him!” And she made the shepherds actually tremble in fear (did I mention Gladys could hit hard?).
Then the three Herdmans playing the wisemen came on. Leroy Herdman (the kid who steals) brought the Christmas ham instead of Frankensence (thinking what is Frankensence anyway?). He captured what it really means to give a gift and the honor the wise men bestowed on the baby Jesus.

Then the lights went down, the candles were lit, and everyone began to sing “Silent Night.” And then mean ol’ Imogene Herdman (playing Mary) just stood there, speechless, and tears began to run down her face and she held the baby Jesus.
I think there is something very profound here. It doesn’t matter how mean or bad the person … The Christmas story is so powerful and compelling that it has the power to move the heart.

At the end of the pageant, the people in the congregation were also moved to tears.
On woman said: “This was the best one we ever had. I don’t know there just seemed something different.”
Another said: “Well the angel of the Lord was certainly different. Yes, she had some spirit. I like that, sometimes you can’t even hear the angel of the Lord.”
Others commented how they thought the baby Jesus was a real baby.

The congregation, who had heard the Christmas story so many times…they saw it really come to life this year: the pageant displayed the reverence, joy and excitement the Christ child brings. And so they experienced the true wonder and beauty of the Christmas story from a most unexpected source: the Herdmans.
I suspect we may be the same way, we hear the Christmas story year after year…but how can we open our hearts so that that we can experience the true wonder and beauty of Christmas.

What is Christmas about? A mother and father with no place to stay, fleeing the mighty and evil Herod, faithfully doing what God had called them to do. It’s about the birth of Jesus, and the love, hope, peace, faith and promise he brings. That God loves us so much to send God’s son to live among us, to bring salvation. This message the angels sing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all on whom his favor rests.” Compelling shepherds to go to the manger with haste, and wise men from far away to honor the babe with gifts.

When the Herdman kids left that night, they didn’t take the ham back. And so moved was Gladys the angel that it wasn’t enough to tell the shepherds the good news, but when the pageant was over, she goes out in the street and starts yelling to everyone. “Hey! Hey you! Unto you a child is born!”

Yes indeed, unto us a child is born. His name is Jesus, the Savior. May we share the good news to all that “Hey! Unto you a child is born!” Amen.