Afterwards, as the dishes were being cleared,
the pies were being cut, and compliments on the meal were passed
on to the many cooks, her mother whispered, "You said grace
very nicely, but why in the world did you end with "thank
you for the blueberry pancakes?" The child replied, “Well
I knew that you worked so hard on this meal, and with all these
people here, I just wanted to make sure that God and everyone
around the table was paying attention."
Paying attention: That is what Christmas
is all about. All the poetry and symbolism of Christmas tell of
a God who, does not stay in an inaccessible paradise, disconnected
from humanity. The focus on the disclosure of God's love among
us is not up in heaven or away in some far off intellectual sphere,
but is active and present in the commonplace: a birth of a child,
to an ordinary couple, under quite modest, if not humble circumstances.
The light of the star of Bethlehem points down to earth, not up
to heaven.
The first Noelle was to poor shepherds
in fields where they lay. Shepherds would have been considered
the least likely to receive the announcement of any new initiative
of God's grace. After all, none of them were Biblical scholars
and you can be sure that none had been the star pupils in synagogue
school. Shepherds were the roustabouts and the rootless wanderers
of their society. If you didn't fit in or were kicked out of your
home, you couldn't join the circus, but you likely could run off
and be a shepherd.
The
fields of the shepherds weren't designated “triple A”
campgrounds run by the National Park Service. They were lands
outside the protection of the towns, outside the boundaries of
arable land. The fields were nameless waste places in areas no
one wanted. The point the Gospel writers make is that God pays
attention to those no one else likes to pay attention to, and
God reaches those into those places no one else cares about.
The other part of the Christmas message
is that we are called to join God in paying attention. Quite often
where God directs our focus is not where the world wishes to divert
us. That is why, of course, only the shepherds who were temporarily
staying outside Bethlehem saw Jesus, even though he was born right
in the middle of the city.
In our world, on this very night, signs
of Christmas will be disclosed: the persistence of hope, the signs
that the human enterprise is worth the continuing struggle, the
dreams of recovery will be seen in orphanages in Liberia, hospitals
in Iraq, Red Cross shelters in Afghanistan. Christmas joy comes
to thousands of other places and in countless ways to those who
remember God as the great giver. God gives to empty hearts and
reaches into empty places, not ones that are full.
The
world that admires its own power and its ability to be full has
trouble with that. Do not be surprised, therefore if the alleged
misdeeds of media-created celebrities who are rich and exhibit
the trappings of having everything, will get the most attention
of the outside world this Christmas.
That
is why it is wonderful and grand privilege that we are all here.
We live in a world in great danger of losing its memory. We live
in places where the melody of Christmas carols is usually played
without the words. The words have been forgotten and what is realized,
often when it is too late, is a culture without memory will never
be able to sustain itself or flourish as a true community.
