|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Isaiah 9:2-7 |
|
Titus 2:11-14 |
Luke
2:1–20 |
The story itself does not give us many details to go on. We know so little about Mary, except she was a young, ordinary village girl who said yes to an extraordinary request. Joseph was likely a relatively young man who also accepted what was told him. Like many of their ancestors, they were people who valued their history and trusted in God’s promises. Were Caesar’s decree and the journey to Bethlehem part of the plan the angels originally shared with Mary and Joseph? Or was it a rude adjustment, another hardship unexpectedly forced upon them by an indifferent bureaucracy? From what we can tell, they don’t seemed to have been offered much outside guidance besides the angels’ initial announcement.
What can be said with certainty is that Mary and Joseph never were given a script with the prophets’ words marked in red letters about a future messiah that clearly described the birth of their first-born son. Mary and Joseph weren’t trying for sainthood, they were trying to survive and to live as a family in an unstable, uncaring world that loved to tear people’s hearts to shreds and bludgeon any signs of hope into dust. While they did not understand their part in the Christmas drama, they were a couple of strong faith and they agreed to parent, to protect, and to nurture a child of hope. They knew that in Jesus’ birth, God was with them.
Unlike Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the other witnesses to the first Christmas, had little opportunity for regular religious observance and their knowledge of scripture was likely scanty at best. There were probably a few shepherds who were the exception, but as the migrant workers of their society, most would have been continually relegated to the margins. There is nothing in the Gospels to indicate any of the shepherds were exceptional. That they reacted positively to the angels’ message is remarkable in and of itself. Something in the angels’ song broke through a hard crust of resignation and fanned the small spark of hope still in their hearts into flames of fire. Why else would they rouse themselves from their night quarters and go to witness the birth of a peasant child? Why else would they realize that in a rough stable, God’s presence was very near, as close as the touch of a small finger of a newborn child.
Tonight we can’t really closely identify with Mary and Joseph. Though if we look back on our lives, many if not most of us can recall a time when we felt the presence of the Holy very close. Perhaps it was like receiving a message from a mysterious but deep or heavenly source. It may have been associated with a birth or a death. Maybe too, the feeling has long left us and never returned. It seems so far away or long ago. Nor are we total outsiders of society like the shepherds, although some of us have likely experienced ostracism, humiliation and scorn in some degree or another. The world may have begun covering us for years with its grimy crust of cynicism and frustration.
We all certainly live in a world that offers no peace to those who are not especially privileged, and genuine universal goodwill is very rare. It is difficult to really look at the future of this earth and not fear for the future of our children.
Yet Christmas still holds power. Aspects of it may haunt us like an unpleasant dream, but its presence is still undeniable. Despite all that corrupt, profane, ridicule, and trivialize it, Christmas still returns and won’t sink into oblivion. Through all the tears, despair, and disappointment of the ages somehow a message of faith and hope is never ultimately extinguished. Sometimes it is just a whisper. God has come to live among us. God has come to stay.
It may not seem to us that it is the best of times to be a person of faith today. Our world hardly encourages or supports us. In reply, Christmas says so what? When was it ever an easy time for people of faith? Mary and Joseph didn’t go to Bethlehem at a safe time. The shepherds knew neither comfort nor security. Everyone at the first Christmas experienced distress and bewilderment. However Mary and Joseph still knew God was with them. The shepherds for the first time in their lives still experienced true joy.
Christmas beckons despite all sorts of obstacles and barriers. Don’t let anything stop you, say God’s messengers. Do not fear, for this news is meant for all. Come, let Christ be born in you, let Christ grow in you. Yes, there may be rough journeys and the future will not be all mapped out. Mary and Joseph were not able to make reservations for their journey. The shepherds did not e-mail ahead. There are no guarantees that the places God will take us will be wired for hot spots and have cell phone service. In a sense Christmas calls us to be real pioneers in an increasingly dangerous and precarious world. For the real gift of Christmas is sometimes to provide a shelter for new birth, but more often than not it is to recognize that we too live in the very time and very near the space where the child of hope for all creation is born. Tonight, God has come to live among us. Tonight, God has come to stay.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
