Date:   12/20/09

Text:   Luke 1:39-55

Title:   An Unexpected Christmas

Theme:   Christmas is a celebration of God's outside the box work among mankind.

Introduction:

  When we watch the Little League soccer games, we see the players all go after the ball. Wherever the ball goes, we see the entire team going after it. Meanwhile the coach would be yelling, don't follow the ball, move over there. In order to win the game, the team has to learn how and where to go, and to expect the ball to come their way. Or when we say, don't run in the hallway, there will be one or two who would be jumping as they walk. In every class or group, there are individuals who think outside of the box. They do the unexpected things.

  I think of two unique time periods in my life. Not because of what I was doing but what was happening around me. In the early to mid 70's, I was working as a post-doc at Stanford. I did everything within the box, completing the projects and papers expected of me. It was very challenging for me to think and to plan outside the box. During that time, in the city of Cupertino , within a few miles from where we lived, there were two young men, barely in their 20's, trying to put together some kind of computer in their family's garage. One was a college dropout and the only class he liked was Calligraphy. Can you imagine telling your parents that you are quitting college and the only class you will continue to audit is Calligraphy? Parents, being parents will ask, What can you do with Calligraphy? What kind of ‘job' can you find? Well, these two young men were: Steve Job and Steve Wozniak. The computer they put together was Apple. You see, without that Calligraphy class, there won't be those beautiful fonts and graphics on a Mac. And from Apple, we have iPods, iPod touch and iPhones. Even Queen Elizabeth of England has an iPod Touch. These two young men refused to do what was expected for, they operated outside the box.

  Around the same time, in 1976, an 8 yr old boy immigrated with his mother from Taiwan to San Jose , again, near where we lived. Come to think of it, it is highly possible that we might have run into this mother and son in one of the Chinese restaurants in San Jose . At that time, the only English he could say was ‘Shoe'. He was given the first name Jerry. However, 3 years later he mastered the language and was admitted to the English AP class.

  Now, fast forward to 1994. I was still trying to figure out how to think and do ministry outside of the box. I still tended to follow the ball, go where everyone else was going. Like many others, I was learning to type; http://www . . .Com. Wasn't sure if it was forward or backward slash. By now Jerry was in graduate school, he and his friend wrote something called, Jerry and David's guide to WWW. Later they changed the name to Yahoo.

  Around the same time, two young men, Page and Brin weren't happy with how people were using the internet. They owned a company called Backrub.com. They were convinced that www can organize an infinite amount of information. Well, there is a word which means 1 followed by 100 zeros. It is close to this idea of infinite amount of information. It is spelled Googol. This is how Google came from. Now Google has become a verb; go Google this and Google that. (I have a gut feeling that even as I speak, some of you are googling this subject).

  Do we remember how we used to look for old cameras or projectors that were either no longer in the stores or being too expensive? We would go to Saturday garage sales or the flea markets hoping someone would be selling it there. Then came along eBay and now, there is Craigslist. Of course, there are the Bill Gates of Microsoft, Amazon, and the list just goes on and on. These companies and services came into existence because someone refused to think and do things inside the box. They itched to do the unexpected, outside of the box. Instead of following the ball, they went to the place, expecting the ball to come. And by doing this, they have changed how we live today.

  This brings us to the Christmas season. Do you ever feel, it is Christmas time again. I have heard those songs many many times. How many variations can you come up with Silent Night? Often we follow the crowd; the parties and the presents. We see Christmas within the box. This morning we want to look at Christmas in the outside the box manner. After all, Christmas is very much an outside the box event, it defies all human understanding. This is why non-Christians have such a hard time trying to explain to their children the true meaning of Christmas. We'll be looking at two characters; Elizabeth and Mary.

  First Elizabeth, Mary's relative. By the time Elizabeth was pregnant, she was already quite old and humanly speaking it was impossible, it defied all human reason. However, Elizabeth knew this pregnancy was a miracle from God, it was God's work. She also knew that the baby inside her was the messenger for the coming Messiah, as prophesied in the OT. We don't know how much she knew about Mary's pregnancy. When she saw Mary and heard her greeting, Elizabeth's baby jumped. 39-41, “ 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry….” When you were pregnant and the baby kicked, moved or jumped, what would you do? Oh, you might say, the baby is kicking, come and put your hand here. Do you feel it? Oh, did you see that. This is what we would usually say, it is an inside the box reaction. However, Elizabeth, with the help of the Holy Spirit, said, 42-45, “ Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”Mary, you are blessed. The baby within you is not an ordinary baby, it is the Lord, the Messiah. What Elizabeth saw and said were outside the box, it was not expected.

  Secondly, Mary. We remember when the angel appeared to Mary and told her that she would be pregnant with Jesus, the Messiah, the son of God; her response was disbelief. Knowing her Biology 101, she knew this was impossible. There is no way a virgin can be pregnant. So the Angel explained that it was God's power over her that would make this happen. It is not a false pregnancy, it is the real thing. Mary then responded to the Angel in vs. 38, “ 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” We often say this is not an easy obedience, but a simple obedience. Mary simply obeyed. You see, in the birth of Jesus, God had worked in a very unexpected way, totally outside of the box. He is really the mother of all outside the box thinkers.

Yes, Mary had that simple obedience, but was that all? If God tells me to go to the city of Leh and I heard it very clearly. I asked where is Leh, he could say, Google it. I Googled it and found out that Leh is a city in Nepal, high in the Himalaya mountain range. I also found out that at Leh, it depends on snow and ice melt as its water source. Now, with the weather warming, there will be less snow, so water supply will be a problem for this little city. Being obedient, I will go. However, I probably will be telling people that God wants me to go to Leh. I'll go, but if I have a choice, I'd rather go to that big island, or Kauai. Yes, I obey, but grudgingly. But listen to Mary's response to Elizabeth. 46-50, “ 46 And Mary said,“ My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” We noticed firstly that it was a simple obedience but it was full of joy and hope. Her response to Elizabeth was so extraordinary that it is called the Magnificat, Song of Mary. Mary saw what others could not see.

  Mary was filled with joy in knowing that God had chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah.” Yes, people will give her that dirty look, what, an unwed mother, and mother of the Messiah. Who are you kidding? She willingly submitted to God's impossible and may be an unreasonable task. Yes, God worked outside the box, but Mary also responded in an outside the box manner.

Secondly, in Mary's response, we are given a glimpse of how God works. 51-55, “ 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” From these verses we learn that God brought down the proud, the mighty and the rich. He was full of mercy. He lifted up the poor, the weak and the powerless ones. This is so contrary to human way of doing things. We flock around the rich, the famous and beautiful ones. When was the last time you saw the paparazzi chasing after me or for that matter, anyone of us? They are after the famous ones. But isn't it also ironic, that they are the ones that made headline news when they fell? How sad it was to see the rise and fall of Tiger Woods right before our eyes.

  So from Elizabeth and Mary, we clearly learn that God worked outside the box, he did the unexpected. For that matter, Christmas is so unexpected. It is a celebration of the unexpected.

  Isn't this how God works in our lives as well? In this Christmas season, we are reminded that this Christ child came into the world for a lowly sinner like me. Yes, there is good and beauty in me for I am made in God's image. But in the light of His light, I am really nothing, right? Like the song we sing, all I have to offer to him is my brokenness. Yet he took me in as I am. I am not as pretty, handsome, tall, or intelligence as others. My job performance, even if I try hard is below average. There's nothing for me to boast about my salary for I don't make as much as others. My marriage fell apart even after fervently praying to God. I have no marriage to brag about. Or, I cannot brag about my children or spouse, for they are just average. People look down on me, and I sometimes do the same to myself. However, in spite of this, my Lord and Savior loves me very much; and He loves me unconditionally. He came into the world for a sinner like me. He takes me as I am, and made something beautiful out of my brokenness. This is the wonder of the Christmas story.

  There is more to this. In our Christmas pageant, as I pointed out to the Chinese congregation last week, there were several very touching testimonies. One father shared that if it were not for the birth of his handicapped child, he would have never become a Christian. Very often we see individuals, especially Christians, blaming God and turning away from him when we encounter unplanned and painful circumstances. Some holocaust survivors, such as Elie Wiesel said, “when I left the camp, I left God behind.” Yet, in recent years, he said, “I have forgiven God.” Other survivors have said that I met God there; He was very close to me in that horrible place. Even in that place of death, God was there. We also hear people said, because the army used real bullets on June 4, 1989, I realized how evil men can be. If there is evil, then there must be goodness, and this is how I became a Christian. We witness how parents, because of losing their children in accidents or tragedies, came close to the Lord or came to know him. God works in very mysterious ways. It is often unexpected and outside of the box.

  This is the spirit of the Christmas. We are here not to repeat some routine rituals every year. Instead, we come to celebrate the unexpected Christmas.

  Then, what does it mean to us? Since Christmas is an unexpected event, since Christmas is God's outside the box handiwork, we need to guard this from being overshadowed by the commercialization of this season. We are to make sure that this outside the box handiwork continues.

In conclusion, I have two suggestions. First we need to constantly remind ourselves and each other, not to let the worldly value of success, wealth, power and fame be the idols in life. We have to have them, or else life becomes meaningless. We are reminded of how God cares and loves even me. When our children are home with us, we all look forward to Christmas morning. After a special breakfast prepared by Cynthia, we would read the Christmas story from one of the Gospels. We pray and then we open our presents. Among them would be a letter from me to each of the children. The content is to encourage and affirm them. Along with this letter, there is also a monetary gift and the following words: this token gift is a reminder of God's great gift to us. You know, when we celebrate Christmas in this manner, it is always an outside the box experience.

Secondly, we are to go beyond the personal aspect of Christmas. Mary, and the rest of the scriptures constantly remind us not to neglect the poor, the weak, the powerless and the lonely ones around us, in this city and other parts of the world. Christmas and Thanksgiving can be the worse time for those without a job, without a family, including students, especially if you are from another country, those who have lost a dear friend, a child, spouse or parent in recent months. We want to include them in some of our celebrations. Not just during the Christmas season, but on a regular basis, to reach out and care for them.

May this Christmas be an out of the box experience because of God's unconditional, surprising gift of his son, Jesus Christ.