First Reading:
2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined. 3You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. 4For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. 6For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Second Reading:
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the
world should be registered. 2This was the first
registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of
Syria. 3All went to their own towns to be
registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because
he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He
went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was
expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came
for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her
firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a
manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8In that region there were shepherds living in the
fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then
an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the
angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for see — I am
bringing you good news of great joy for all the
people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a
Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a
sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and
lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth
peace among those whom he favors!
15When the angels
had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has
taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.
16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and
the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this,
they made known what had been told them about this
child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the
shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these
words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen, as it had been told them.
Imagine the innkeeper's surprise. It was a night like any other night, that is until Mary and Joseph showed up. Sure there were relatively lots of people in town and the house was full. There wasn't much room, but this couple was asking for a place to stay and it was clear that they needed it… especially the woman… It had been a long journey for them and let's face it… it was obvious that the baby was coming soon. There wasn't room for anyone else on the main floor but if they wanted to stay with the animals… well, that would be fine.
Imagine the surprise of the other people who were staying at the house. For them it was a night like any other night. It was perhaps a bit crowded but they expected that because everyone who had ventured away from their hometown, and gone to the big city of Jerusalem, or anywhere else for that matter, had to come back, by order of the emperor… to be taxed. It was relatively peaceful night, but from the moment they let Mary in it was clear that the night was going to change. She was in labor and all of a sudden, who knew what the night would hold… surely there would be hoping and praying, maybe screaming, maybe crying… Lots of mom's didn't make it through delivery… lots of babies didn't make it either. Giving birth was certainly a matter of life and death. But if we're lucky, by the end of the night we'll hear a new baby wail as it gets used to being outside the womb, and we'll hear a new mother sob with joy as she realizes the wonderful and amazing power of bearing life to the world.
Maybe Mary and Joseph were the only ones who knew some of what was coming that night. They were miles away from home. They must have known it was getting close to time for the baby to come and the journey from Nazareth had only accelerated the process. But months ago the angel Gabriel told them what was coming, and now that it was time, they really didn't need much, a little bit of space and some shelter… What was coming would come. There's no way to stop it now… He was to be named Jesus and he would be called the son of the most high God. Yes, the angel Gabriel told Mary that the baby would be special. But they had no idea how quickly the word would spread.
Imagine the Shepherd's surprise… it was a night like any other
night: sitting out under the stars, watching the sheep, basically
doing their usual shepherd thing… until the angels showed up.
It was the middle of the night when the glory of God came to them
shining like the sun. And they were struck all of a sudden with fear,
no terror might be a better word… how could they even begin to
make sense of what was going on? Could they possibly have listened
when the voice said to them, Do not be afraid—I bring good news of
great joy for all the people.
Could they possibly have known what
was going on when the chorus of angels sang, Glory to God in the
highest and on earth Peace.
Or was it only after the angels were
gone that their fear subsided enough that they looked at one
another… and when they did, there was only one response. The
sheep can take care of themselves, I don't care if it's the middle of
the night. We have to see what's going on, let's go and see if it's
true. Let's go to Bethlehem and find this child that the angels speak
of.
Imagine Mary and Joseph's surprise… of course, for them it was
not a night like any other. They had just been through the birth of
their first child. He was there lying in a manger, tightly swaddled,
wrapped in bands of cloth… They were brand new parents filled
with joy and pride and hope and wonder: exhausted and probably even a
little bit afraid as they thought to themselves, Now what do we
do?
… and that was before the knock at the door. Yes, Gabriel
told them that their son would be special, that their son would be
great and have a never ending kingdom. But tonight it was as much
about who he was as what he was going to do… tonight he was a
baby…Before he could walk, before he could talk, before he
could eat solid food, even before his first sunrise, Mary and Joseph
found themselves greeting strangers, sheepherders in the middle of the
night sharing an amazing story of being visited by angels and being
told about the birth of the messiah, the one who would save them.
Mary heard their story and treasured it in her heart… The
shepherds were filled with hope… they were giddy with
excitement… they told the story to anyone who would listen and
everyone who heard it was amazed.
Of course it would take 30 years or more for the shepherds to see what the object of their hope would look like… he became a rabbi and a prophet who challenged the religious leaders by breaking traditions that stood in the way of people connecting with God. He reframed rules and renewed relationships for the sake of the community. He welcomed people whom most would have said had no business being in the presence of God… In the life of the one whose birth we celebrate tonight it was one surprise after another… right up until the point where he was killed as a criminal, hung on a cross without a fight and the ultimate surprise came when he rose again three days later… It's been said that you cannot separate a person from the work that they do in their lifetime, and from the moment he arrived on this earth till the moment he left it people were surprised by Jesus…
But then I guess that's how God works.
And I tell you what, two thousand years later, in a lot of ways, December 24th is just another night… We don't expect to be surprised… maybe by Santa, but not by Jesus… The celebration of Christmas is poised to be swallowed up by the cultural icons of Santa and Rudolph… And if we let the Christmas story be romanticized and turned into some sort of ideal scene removed from our reality we miss something. If we let Christmas be only one night a year, we miss something… because the celebration of Christmas isn't only a celebration of a birthday. It's also to celebrate that God entered into human history as one of us…
The message of Christmas is not only that the Christ child was born in the middle of the night long ago to bring a different way of being to the world, it's also that the Christ child can be borne in us as we come to know him, to trust him and to live differently in the world by building our lives around his, by carrying his message with our hands and feet and voices, wherever we go.
The invitation of Christmas isn't only to look for surprises under the tree one day a year. The invitation of Christmas is to be open to what God is doing… in our every-day lives and also in the things that surprise us. In fact one of my favorite definitions of God's grace boils down to three words surprise-gift-love and the times we feel the least deserving or the least ready for it might just be the times when we're most able to receive that grace… So don't be afraid when God does something surprising
Christmas isn't only good news because the shepherds heard of Christ's arrival. It's good news because we get to hear it too, right along with people all over the world and throughout the ages… this good news is worthy of hearing… it's good news worthy of sharing… and it's good news worthy of treasuring in our hearts. Immanuel, God is with us… always has been, always will be.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
The foregoing sermon was given by Rev. Dan Holland at the United Parish of Bowie on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2009.
© 2009 Daniel Holland
