Christmas

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Christmas
PROPER: C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: December 24 – 25, 2000


TEXT: Luke 2:1-20 – But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, The Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

ISSUE: Few stories in the Bible have created so much attention as this story found in Luke’s gospel account called The Christmas Story. A simple poetic story is a kind of overture to the Gospel spelling out the fact that a savior has come to all the world. In lieu of the many problems of the world the story gives great hope in a savior and Lord that can be picked up and embraced.
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We have come to another Christmas Eve. We gather here this evening to do some reflection on one of the most beautiful and poetic stories in the Bible, Luke’s poetic narration of the birth of Jesus. Just as an opera has an overture, the story is something of an overture to all that follows in the Gospel, which includes a marvelous extending of God’s undeserved love, which we call grace, to the world. The story is rich in subtle meaning and profound grace.
It tells of a world whose powers centered in Augustus Caesar are oppressive and manipulative, and quite insensitive to human need. A peasant carpenter and his wife, according to Luke, are forced to make a journey back to their homeland for not very clear political reasons. Yet, Mary and Joseph journey to a town where the birth of their child will take place. It is in Bethlehem, the city of David who had been Israel’s greatest charismatic king who had brought unity, peace and prosperity to his people. The name “Bethlehem” is translated from the Hebrew, The House of Bread. Jesus is born in a king’s town and a place known for its sustenance and nurturing.
The story tells of cultural system that demeans many people. Joseph and Mary have no place to stay, no place to lay their heads in comfortable surroundings. More prestigious and honorable folk have made claim on the best places to stay. They find only very humble surroundings where peasant children are born, in a manger. There’s likely to be meaning in that as well, for the manger is a tray, or a place of feeding. It seems to be a preliminary hope and looking forward to the nurturing and spiritual food that Jesus Christ will give in his ministry as told in the stories of the Feeding of the Multitudes.
Finally, with no honor or place, nor family to sing simple welcoming songs to the child, Angels are given that role to announce to shepherds. The shepherds in the area of Bethlehem were the shepherds who raised the sheep that were used for sacrifices in the Jerusalem Temple. The angels announce the birth to these same shepherds of the birth of the Lamb of God, who will also give his life as a sacrifice for the world at his eventual crucifixion in Jerusalem. Little do the shepherds know that they embrace The Good Shepherd of the Sheep, and the very Lamb of God that will take away the sin of the world. They raise him up in their arms. The Angels announce: “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke prepares his readers: Into a harsh and cruel world God is coming to his people bringing hope and a new way of life to enlighten the darkness and despair of those lives.
While we come here this evening in joy to greet once again the coming of the Christ at Christmas, we also come with all of our humanness, and our human frailty. We gather with our heartaches, our pains, and our sufferings. We live in a world that can also be harsh, cruel, manipulative, and insensitive. We live at the mercy of circumstances in our lives that we cannot control, and circumstances over which we have little control. Think of the people whose lives have been disrupted by the recent tornado in Alabama, or the volcanic eruption in Mexico. Many people in the world are lonely, especially older people whose friends and relatives have died. Many people weep and grieve this night for broken relationships or lost loved ones. Many of us live with our health issues that are bothersome and worrisome. No one of us escapes our humanness. No one escapes that fact that we are at times less than honorable people ourselves. We live too in a world that has such enormous difficulty in finding peace. Think of the situation in Northern Ireland, and especially the great and long feuding in the Middle East that has world wide implications, not to mention the great suffering of its own people and especially the children.
Why does Luke’s story get our attention? Perhaps, it is because it tells us a Savior is born, who is Christ the Lord. Christ is the Savior who comes in great humility and even great dishonor. But at the same time, He is available. He shares our common humanity, and you can reach out to him, and pick him up out of the manger and hold him to your breast. In doing so we hold peace, fear is diminished, love abounds, spiritual food is given and you could just eat him up. He is our light for those who walk in darkness. He is our wonderful counselor, Mighty but humble God, our everlasting Father, our prince of peace. To those who walk in darkness, he is our new life, our light and our hope. “Come into my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee.”