Sign language - Rev Allister Lane
REading: LUke 2:8-20
12This will be a sign f:or you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger
The ‘shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night’ are visited by an angel who shares with them the good news.
And they are told to look for a ‘sign’ And here is the sign for you… a baby. …wrapped in bands of cloth. …lying in a manger.
This is a simple sign.
Human live for razzle dazzle.If we’re honest, we prefer something more dazzle-ly.
Think about some of the excesses we use to express what’s important…
Rugby games at the stadium have cheerleaders, mascots, pyrotechnics, all shown on the biggest TV screens available.
It is similar with the opening Ceremonies of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
We express political power with grand ceremonies to open Parliament, or Inaugurations of Presidents.
Queens Honours are given at elaborate investitures – with ornamental regalia: crowns, sceptres and swords.
And celebrities walk a red carpet to glitzy Academy Award ceremonies.
Big signs. Big events. That is our style. We like it that way.
It is not God’s way.
12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger
God comes in humility, with simple signs.
Wouldn’t our faith be stronger if God would stop the humble stunt and show his hand in a gala performance?
It’s not going to happen! Because God’s arrival is not a stunt. The incarnation is not some quirky PR exercise. The Lord Jesus, in that stable, stays true to God’s nature.
12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger
Jesus’ ministry was humble. In his own ministry, Jesus shows distrust of flamboyant signs and a refusal to satisfy those who demanded them.
And, in characteristic humility, he completed his purpose for coming to the world. He suffered as an abused prisoner, took the shame of the cross (for the sin of all) and (when he rose again) who did he appear to…? Kings? Emperors? No, he appeared to the women and his fishermen friends.
God uses simple signs.
12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger
This simple sign given to the shepherds has symbolism for them. To understand what they would recognise about this sign, we need to know about the context for the shepherds.
Scholars suggest that in the fields very near Bethlehem special ‘Passover lambs’ were carefully raised. These were the lambs raised for the religious sacrifice, as part of the covenant-keeping with Yahweh. Passover lambs needed to be without blemish, and therefore were raised with great care.
It’s likely the shepherds who cared for these special Passover lambs were the ones to whom the angel announced the good news that God’s Messiah was born. These shepherds were familiar with a special process of preparing their Passover lambs for sacrifice.
The Rabbi would inspect the lamb for any blemishes – and he’d do so by placing it in a manger.
Then (if the lamb was without blemish) it would be carried into town by the Rabbi for the Passover sacrifice.
What might happen on the way? What if this special lamb wriggled out of the arms of the Rabbi on the way? The Passover would be ruined!
And so, the lamb would have it’s legs bound – it was wrapped in bands of cloth!
Do you see the symbolism for these shepherds?
12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger
This ‘sign’ in Luke’s Gospel points to the destiny and purpose of this baby. Wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in manager prefigures the truth that Jesus is the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’.
Our context is different, but we are still given simple signs.
The Church is given simple signs of the Lord’s presence – bread and wine. These basic elements, that nourish our bodies, are offered to us at the Table of the Lord. Here our spirits are nourished as we share Communion with God, together.
These are the kind of signs that God specialises in. And they unite us with people around the world. Just plain bread and wine. It is consistent with the baby wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in the manager at Bethlehem.
This baby was worshipped by malodorous shepherds, and this baby is worshipped still today – by us.
Hail, redemption's happy dawn!
‘Christ is born in Bethlehem!’