Gospel Text for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning 24 December 2021

Luke 2:1-20        In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph 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. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And 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.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

Reflection        Glory and Peace. Peace and Glory.  What is this peace of which we and the angels sing? It is the calm contentment of a newborn, carefully swaddled and tenderly tucked in his homeless mothers arms. What is this glory we proclaim? It is the awe and wonder experienced by new parents, aunts, uncles, friends even shepherds in the presence of the least among us, an utterly dependent newborn.  Peace and glory, glory and peace, these two handmaidens tend the birth of peasants and nobility.  Peace and glory, glory and peace, this holy couple is the right response of humanity to the birth of a child because peace and glory acknowledge the arrival of hope writ large on the stage of despair.

And that, dear people of God, is the reason ‘this day’ more than two billion Christians around the world are telling the humdrum tale of an impoverished couple and their newborn “child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” Have you ever wondered why there are more reruns and reproductions of this epic saga than any other other drama in history?  I believe it is because this is a story for all people and all time. It delivers the message our hearts pine for, that even in our dreary dark nights the promise of new life is born, full of peace and glory, glory and peace.

This day many of us are exhausted. Much like Mary and Joseph we have been plodding through the wilderness of uncertainty; wandering and wondering when we will arrive at a safe and happy place where something good, beautiful and true is born?  We are tired of evading surging storms, a shape shifting virus, and heated partisan voices stoking ill will, anxiety and unrest.  But the Way of Faith is not about waiting for a utopian happily ever after life. Cinderella is not the rising star at the heart of the Christian story. 

Ours is a story that bows before the inevitable anguish and adversity of being human and insists, in the depths of our desolation the seed of consolation is born. Our humdrum tale of an impoverished couple and their newborn “child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger”  reminds us that even in dark nights of distress the promise of new life is born, full of peace and glory, glory and peace.

Perhaps you are pushing back and asking, “Have you not heard the news? A global plague is surging. The economy is slowing. Tides, temperatures and inflation are rising. Differing opinions have divided our families, friends, colleagues and country. Suspicion and violence have become the coins of the realm. How can we possibly say, this day is full of peace and glory?”

My point precisely. Right here, right now, this day, in the midst of social and political upheaval, in the throes of a plague and the shifting tides of fortune and misfortune, right here, right now, the angel of God breaks through the dark night and speaks to us in words that are as fitting for this day as they were two thousand years ago.

“Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people.” New light pierces the heart of darkness, and it is here, this day. We do not have to wait for someone to discover a magic elixir and wipe out all disease. We do not have to wait until our debts are paid and retirement secure. We do not have to wait until the perfect assembly of government officials justly rules the land because even in the midst of the most troubled times peace and glory, glory and peace is born. This, my friends, is the gift of Christmas; a newborn wrapped in rags, born on a dark and dreary night, manifestation of hope writ large on the stage of despair.

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                      Merry Christmas

 Luke 2:1-20        In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph 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. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And 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.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When 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." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Reflection  Have you ever wondered why we must celebrate Christmas every year? Perhaps it is because we have not yet fully given birth to the living, breathing, human Christ. In truth everyone of us is pregnant with the extraordinary Christ life potential but rarely do we allow it to manifest fully through us. Until all that we say and all that we do is an expression of the Christ present with us, the Incarnation of humanity will be incomplete and so, we need Christmas.

The revelation of the Christ on earth did not come with flashing neon lights and snappy slogans, did not burst through space on a rocket or float to earth on a stairway of clouds. The revelation of Divine Presence came in the flesh and bloody birth of the peasant Mary’s child arriving just like our wet and wrinkly newborns. 

Reflecting on the Christmas blessing the twentieth century theologian Carl Rahner puts it this way. “(It) is not the deepest blessing of Christmas … that (Jesus) was born as the infant child of Mary but rather that he was born to become fully human, and with the promise that we too might be so.” In other words, Divinity is realized in the fullness of humanity and the blessing of Christmas depends on all of us becoming fully human.

What does it mean to be fully human? I believe it means to be precious and vulnerable, humble and unique, and blessed to be a blessing, just like Jesus; the infant, the itinerant teacher, friend, rabbi and rebel, loved and hated, feared and revered, delighted, frustrated and aggrieved. In our preciousness, our vulnerability and all of our broken places we are blessed and meant to be a blessing, laboring to make Divinity manifest by becoming fully human. 

As Rahner attests, the historical event of the birth of Jesus points to something more, to ‘the promise that we too might be so.” This is the blessing of Christmas.  Do we dare to receive and allow it to manifest through us?

The time of expectation and waiting is over. For us who have prepared our hearts Jesus is born again this and every moment.  Our present moment is full of Jesus, the Christ child, God with us. It is of this that the prophet Isaiah sings to God; “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.”

The time of searching and waiting for God is ended. We are no longer in the dark, no longer seekers. We are believers, receivers and manifesters. All that remains for us to do is put aside our complaints, our multitasks and distractions, to cradle  the blessing that makes each one of us fully human.

This is the heart and the height of Christmas. Being full of Jesus we are fully human. Amen.

                        Merry Christmas!

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Gospel text for Christmas 24 December 2017

Luke 2:1-20        In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph 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. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And 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.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

When 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." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Reflection      Something happens to us at Christmas when we set aside our need to know and make sense of the facts. “Why did Augustus decree that all should register? Was it to pay taxes? What was the tax rate? Was Jesus actually born on December 25th? Was there an astrophysical event that the shepherds saw? Was it a rocket delivering satellites? Were shepherds living on the fields at that time of year? Seems unlikely.” 

At Christmas time we set aside our demand for answers in favor of believing and welcoming a glimpse of something more, something more that we cannot fact check and comprehend. Perhaps the shepherds in this timeless wisdom tale experience something similar. The light of awareness breaks through the dimness of their minds and they catch a glimpse of something more, something of God that is grand and glorious that they can not understand. It is no wonder they are terrified.

The prospect of God being born and present might not have seemed like good news of great joy to the shepherds. Remember, until this moment the shepherds and all of humanity understand God to be distant, remote, demanding, almighty and most definitely unapproachable. Perhaps this is why the new story of God born, a naked infant wrapped in rags and lying in a feeding trough, continues to reign throughout the centuries. A newborn child is anything but terrifying and intimidating. God born and revealed in humanity as a newborn child offers an unlikely and utterly approachable image of God.

Jesus is born, like a singular star, breaking new ground on the landscape of human consciousness. But it is not enough to proclaim the birth of God in humankind, to light our candles and sing joy to the world then set the moment aside for another year. The light of the star, God born and revealed in humankind, must be recognized and treasured in our hearts and then reflected in our lives.

Each one of us is like a new star coming to light in the empyrean. With each of us is born the prospect of consciousness, the possibility of new light added to transform the night sky into daylight, to transform senseless neglect and  disregard into sense and sensibility, to be the light of hope given for all humanity. At Christmas Eve we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the new light of hope for all. For the next three hundred and sixty four days it is up to us to reflect that light in our lives. 

Merry Christmas!

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