ADVENT 2019: Week 1 - The Dragon at the Manger
Powell Butte Christian Church
English - December 01, 2019 18:00 - 29 minutes - 13.5 MBChristianity Religion & Spirituality sermon church pbcc powell butte christian Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
I love nativity scenes. As a kid I would rearrange the characters every other day, it seemed. I loved how the little lamb in our main porcelain nativity had a broken leg that made it always bow towards the manger.
I even love how my kiddos decided a couple of years ago to ADD to the nativity scene, and – running the risk of being a bit sacrilegious – I brought a picture of the additions.
(There’s Luigi, and the troll doll, and of course Nemo. I like how the angel is laying down in front of the manger. And then you got one of the TMNT, Donatello, guarding the baby Jesus. And just to the left of the manger – Bowser, a bad-guy from Mario Bros., growling at the whole scene.
Ah! Almost dragon-like, if you catch what I’m talking about. Which brings up a very interesting point to consider as we launch into our Advent season this year – Advent meaning preparing to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ…
Now if you say my nativity scene is all wrong, I’d throw it back to you: do you have the magi there with the shepherds? That’s wrong. They came later. And while we’re on the magi, does your set include THREE wise men? If so, it may be wrong – we are never told how many magi came to the house where the baby Jesus was staying. (Yes, it was a house – not a stable – where the holy family was staying when the magi showed up.) Does your set include an angel? Not included in the biblical account – at least not at the manger. The angels were outside of the city, telling the shepherds where to find the baby… So the traditional set has many things “wrong” – but one of the most important things we get wrong is leaving out the dragon at the manger scene.
Turn with me to Revelation, chapter 12. What? Isn’t this CHRISTMAS TIME, Trey? Yep. And I want you to see an overlooked account of the Christmas story. You want the story from an earthly point of view, check out Matthew and Luke. BUT if you want to see it from a cosmic point of view, you have to look at Revelation 12.