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University SDA Church- East Lansing

David Shin

Lying in a Manger

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this Sabbath, this memorial of creation and redemption.

We thank you for this time of year in which many people around the world remember and celebrate the birth of that babe that was born in that manger over 2, 000 years ago.

We pray now that as we pause for a few moments, we open your word that you would speak to our hearts.

We pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us with thoughts of heaven, the grandeur and the splendor of Your character and Your goodness towards us.

Pray that our hearts would be touched, uplifted to the very throne room of grace, for we ask these things in Jesus' name.

It was during my college years, don't let this baby face fool you.

Some people say, oh, David, you look like you're in high school.

But I think I'll be thankful a number of years from now, hopefully.

A number of years ago when I was in college, I took a summer off and I traveled with a group of individuals from Southern Virginia to Northern California, cross-country trip in a 15-passenger van.

We were part of a team that was going to be doing a youth camp on the West Coast.

We had to drive straight through, no time for hotels, no time for sightseeing, although I would like to see some of the national parks along the way.

And there were 4 drivers that were designated to go into rotation, taking turns sleeping and driving.

Fortunately, I was not chosen to be 1 of those drivers.

So in order to pass the time, I took with me my very own portable, state-of-the-art cassette player.

For those of you that were not born in the 90s and 2000, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

And for those of you that don't, you can probably find it in a museum somewhere.

I brought 1 cassette tape for the entire trip.

It was George Frederick Handel's Messiah, a collection of favorites, And I did not expect to do this, but for the majority of that 52-hour trip across the country, I listened to Handel's Messiah over and over and over again.

As you can imagine, they would look over at me with a smile and say, David, what are you listening to?

And there was 1 part of Handel's Messiah that just seemed to enrapture me to the very throne room of God.

And it was scene 1, part 4, number 15, the annunciation to the angels, Glory to God.

Glory to God in the highest, sung by the higher voices of the sopranos and the altos and the tenors and then the response, and peace on earth, sung by the lower voices in response.

I believe that that man was inspired to write that piece.

And as majestic as Handel's Messiah is, I believe that it pales in comparison to that angelic choir that sung those words over 2, 000 years ago.

Turn in your Bibles with me to Luke 2 as we look at the words that are sung in Handel's Messiah.

I have the words on the screen for you there.

Luke 2 8-14 1179, if you're using the Bible that's provided for you there in the pew, Luke 2 8-14.

I'll be reading from the New King James Bible.

You can follow along whatever Bible you have there.

Luke's account of that Christmas story, and I thought it appropriate for us, the Sabbath before Christmas, to look at Luke's account of the Christmas story.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood among them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord Messiah verse 12 and this will be the sign to you you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, and here are the words, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

I've heard some great choirs, but that must have been some choir.

I've heard 1 preacher say they believe that the angels can sing four-part harmony, 1 person.

Talk about surround sound, that must have been magnificent.

There's a lot of things that we can focus in this passage, but I want to hone in on verse 12.

The 1 angel gives this revelation to the shepherds, verse 12.

We read it a moment ago, I want to read it again.

And this will be the sign to you, you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a, what does it say?

This word manger is repeated 3 times in Luke's account.

It seems that Luke wants us to understand the nature of God's condescension in becoming a human being.

The word manger comes from the Latin derivative, which means to eat or devour.

And every single day we go through the same ritual.

I go out to where their food bin is, and I put their dog food in their dog bowl.

And an amazing thing happens, it's fascinating because as soon as the little bits of dog food clang around in that stainless steel dog dish, I can look over at my 2 golden retrievers and they are salivating.

They lick their lips and as soon as I back away, they make a mad dash toward their food.

And Jesus is not placed in a dog bowl, it was probably a donkey's food dish.

And the nature of this verse is quite astounding that the Son of God, the ineffable, glorious, majestic God of the universe was placed in a crib that was really a manger.

The parents were so poor they could not even afford a crib.

I want us to look at these 2 verses, 11 and 12, and I want you to notice the contrasting theme that is found in these 2 verses.

Verse 11, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

The word Christ comes from the Hebrew word for Messiah.

This is the Messiah, the Son of God, the glorious creator of the universe eternal Magnificent The person that is before all things and will continue on through eternity And that is the essence of verse 11, and in the very next verse, you have a contrast.

You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

The wonderful notion of the incarnation of the Son of God in becoming a human being.

I heard 1 preacher put it this way, God becoming human is like a human becoming a cockroach.

God becoming a human is like a human becoming a cockroach.

I think it'd be humiliating just to become an animal.

Now, I love my dogs, but I never want to become my dog.

That's a whole different level altogether.

The nature of the condescension of God becoming a human being.

It's Christmas time and this is that time of year that we take part in this tradition of exchanging gifts and millions of people across this country, collectively, Americans will spend millions, if not billions of dollars in buying presents for their loved ones.

And This is the part that's always challenging for me.

But every now and then, I am given the task of wrapping gifts, and it takes me longer than the average individual.

And this is what happens every time I wrap a present.

As I'm wrapping that gift, in the back of my mind, I think about all this work, it's really for nothing, right?

It takes a long time to put that, you know, and it never gets just right.

You tape it all up, you put a bow on it, and the moment that you give it to that person, especially if they're a child, they rip it to shreds.

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Lying in a Manger

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