Sermon
Christmas Day 2014
Christ Church, St.
Michaels Parish, MD
Luke 2:1-14 [15-20]
Merry Christmas!!
First of all I want to thank all
of you for the warmest welcome that I have ever received - anywhere. Devin and
I are deeply grateful for your love and support.
I also want to thank Mark and the
Vestry for their faith in my ministry and the opportunity to serve alongside
them here at Christ Church. My hope is that I will be with you all for a long
time, and that together we will continue to carry out our mission as Christ’s
disciples, lighting this, sometimes, very dark world, and inspiring hearts and
lives with the love and compassion of Christ.
As I began to plan my sermon for
today, I thought about stories and how stories shape our identity and our
lives. I don’t know about you, but the older I get the more stories I have to
tell – and, for the most part, my stories reflect who I am - who I have become
over these many years – they form my identity.
I am quite proud of some of my
stories. But, truth be told, I am not very proud of many of my stories. When I
look back at all the stories that remain in my memory – the good and the bad –
I see how impossible it is to live a life that is comprised of only “good”
stories, and how easy it is to accumulate stories that lack any saving grace. Indeed,
my good stories are few and far between, and, for the most part, came at a
price. Perhaps you would all agree, good stories – stories that we are proud of
– are rare and achieved only through hard work, sacrifice, persistence and
courage.
This Christmas Day we hear a
story that is, in every sense of the word, a good story. It is a story that far
outdistances our various and meager life stories. It is the story of the birth
of the Christ child- the baby Jesus –the overarching and ultimate story of all
time. The Nativity story is the story that defines what all of our stories
should look like. It is the story that provides the norms by which we should all
live our lives. It is the story that encourages us all to regulate our way of
life, according to the model provided by Jesus, as we proceed in our work as
Christ’s disciples in our personal lives, in this community and in the larger
world.
It is a story that both guides us
and walks beside us, lovingly and compassionately, as we struggle with the
challenges of a darkened world, personal difficulties, desolate grief, and the
anxieties generated in the chaos of this post-modern world.
It is a story told year after
year. It is a story that never changes. It is a story for each and every one of
us. It is a story that we read and listen to with joy and great hope as, each
year, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
We have no way of knowing the
historical accuracy of facts reported in Luke’s birth story. However, we do know
that about 4 BCE Jesus was born somewhere in the Galilee area, and we do know
that his parents were poor. These are salient historical facts, but more
important than historical accuracy are the elements of the story.
Jesus is born to Mary, a virgin
who had found favor with God and in whose womb a baby was conceived. A baby who
God commanded would be named Jesus. This Son of God arrived not in a mansion;
not in a comfortable place fit for a king. Jesus arrived in a cold and dirty
manger, attended only by his mother Mary and his father Joseph. The first to
learn of the birth were shepherds, the lowliest of the low. Asleep at night
they were awakened by a terrifying light and an Angel who spoke to them. The
angel informed these cold, dirty, and bedraggled shepherds that their Saviour
had just been born. “Hurry along to pay him a visit,” commanded the angel. Off
they went, in faith I might add, to see this miracle with their own eyes.
Astounded by the power of their visit, they rushed back to their meadows,
excitedly telling all whom they encountered of what they had seen and heard.
The Nativity story is indeed much
more that a story based on historical fact. It is Luke’s way of alerting us to
the fact that God is with us. The God who created the world and who has spent
the rest of historical time wanting to heal and restore a broken creation, that
it may become an organism of true reconciliation and peace, is with us in a
very real and urgent way. For God so loved the world, that he sent his Son to
be with us, to be among us, to experience the full range of human emotions and
to be in dialogue with us – to show us the way, the light, the gate that will
open our hearts and minds to the Kingdom of God.
Luke is telling us that the God
of Creation has sent his Son, Jesus to be a player in the massive effort to
restore creation. Jesus who will restore sight to the blind, who will heal the
lame so that they may once again walk, who will heal the sick and restore
hearing to the deaf, raise the dead and bring good news to the poor is among us.
Jesus whose compassion will rock the world, refocusing attention and worship
away from the empire ruled by Rome and return it to the Kingdom of God is here
to show us the way, the truth and the light.
The story of the Nativity, or
God’s involvement with the world, is a story that never changes. The gift of
the baby born to a virgin somewhere in a cold, dark Galilee over two thousand
years ago, is the same gift that we – you and I - have received, and will
receive, from God each year. Each year the gift of Christ our Saviour remains
the same, and the fact that this gift was meant for all remains the same. Our
gift from God in the person of his Son Jesus, is our reminder that we are now
and always will be in relationship with God.
What then does this mean for us
and our personal stories? A great deal I believe. I believe that the Nativity
gift of Jesus calls us to be terrified shepherds in the cold and dark field;
to, in faith, follow the commands of the angels to visit the newborn child; to travel
a difficult journey in order to see and to experience – to know - the Son of
God; and then, to return to our communities and spread the good news of great
joy to all.
In other words, our stories, if
they are to be good stories, should reflect intentional efforts to receive the
gift of Jesus in a way that allows us to know him, know him deep within our
hearts and our souls. Our stories should be developed out of a dialogue with
God, making every attempt to understand his will and not ours. Our stories
should be uninhibited in their proclaiming the good news of great joy – news
that informs the world of the need to reconcile and to heal. Our stories should
make history and make faith possible for future generations.
Throughout Scripture we read, and experience, in one way or
another, that we are all created in the image of God; that God dwells within us
all – at the very center of our beings; that we are all holy, because God, the
God within us, is holy; that we are all sacred beings called to servant hood –
servant hood to God and to all God’s creation; that our ultimate duty is to do
right and trust in God.
In this challenging time of violence, terrorism, political
unrest, and economic uncertainly, let us, more fervently and prayerfully than
ever, seek the holy within us; put on the armor of God; and go forth in faith
in seeking ways to bring God’s creation back into right relationship with him. This
is the dialogic response that God is seeking as acknowledgement of the gift of
Jesus in the manger this Christmas morning. This is the template from which our
stories should be formed.
It does not matter that Christ was born long ago in
Bethlehem unless he is born in you today.
(Meister Eckhart) AMEN.
