Ugly Christmas Sweater
By Pastor Jonathan
Buescher - Zion Lutheran Church & School - Mount Pulaski |
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[December 21, 2016]
Have
you ever received a bad Christmas present? A present that looks nice
and well-wrapped, but when you open it, it is the exact opposite of
what you were hoping for? Maybe it was socks or underwear, or maybe
it was one of those famous “ugly Christmas sweaters” - something you
would never leave the house wearing, let alone even try it on.
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 In the Gospel of Matthew, before we get to the more well-known
parts of the Christmas story, we have something of an “ugly
Christmas sweater.”
Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus, which is at
first a pretty boring read, like getting socks for Christmas. But if
we stop for a few minutes and pay attention to what is listed there,
we realize there are some genuinely ugly things written.
The first of these ugly things we read about are the sons of Judah
he has with Tamar. This might not seem unusual, until we remember
that Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law. That is not exactly a story
of the family history you want everyone to know.
As we continue with the genealogy we get more: we eventually come to
King David, but not before we hear about his grandfather, Boaz, who
was born to Salmon and Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute who helped
Israel conquer the walls of Jericho. Again, not the best headline
for one’s family.
As we read on we come to King David’s own “ugly sweater.” David
stole the wife of Uriah, whose name was Bathsheba. He committed
adultery and then murder to cover up his indiscretion.
 There are a lot of skeletons in the closet for Jesus’ ancestors; a
lot of ugly Christmas sweaters wrapped up to be opened by anyone who
would read Matthew’s gospel. Why would Matthew include those
unsightly parts of Jesus’ past? Why wouldn’t God make sure the
ancestors of Jesus were better people, who would look good on paper
when the eyes of future humanity read them over and over again?
Simply this: there are no better people. Murder - Incest - Adultery
- Prostitution. Those were all a part of the lives of Jesus’
ancestors. And it is precisely this reason that Jesus needed to be
born.
If Jesus’ family tree were picture perfect, then there would have
been no need for the Messiah to come. But because there are sinners
in every family tree, the world needed a savior.
You might not have the same skeletons in your closet; the same ugly
Christmas sweaters wrapped up and out of sight. But we do all have
ugliness in our past that we would rather the world not know about.
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 The Good News is that Jesus came as the Messiah because of that
ugliness. The ugliness of the world, of my sin and yours, is why
Jesus was born in Bethlehem and why he died in Jerusalem. But
because he died for the ugliness of sin, we have been given the
beauty of forgiveness, life and salvation.
There are a lot of beautiful things this time of year: decorations,
lights, the smell of our favorite foods. But at the same time there
is a lot of ugliness in the world, and no amount of decorating can
cover that up. Jesus came to turn our ugliness of sin into the
beauty of salvation by his death and resurrection.
So when you see the beautiful things all around this season, let it
remind you of the Beautiful Savior who takes away the ugliness of
sin and death, and instead gives you eternal life and salvation.
And if you’re disappointed with your Christmas presents, remember
the Messiah born in Bethlehem: best gift the world has ever
received. Merry Christmas,
Pastor Jonathan Buescher
Zion Lutheran Church & School - www.zionmp.org
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