December 25, 2004
| We are part of the story being told through out the world today While we may tell the story in the past tense,we live it in the present.It is not just about shepherds and angels. It is about you and me.Those shepherds were not the only ones who hear good news in the night.They are not the only ones who get up from what they are doing and go seek the promised one, Christ the Savior, Immanuel.We have heard a message the Gospel.We are up in the night, and have come here seeking what has been promised. The coming of our God continues, and God still uses the most simple and humble of ways to be with us. That birth in Bethlehem was a way of getting us to look and see. From all its humility and simplicity, we learn to look and see God’s presence not in riches and finery, not in power and palaces, but in the poverty of two homeless refugees and the helplessness of an infant. Christmas is the very beginning of God’s revelation to us, not the end. Our assembly here continues the story being told and the revelation unfolding.The God who once came to Bethlehem in infant’s flesh and blood still comes to this place through bread and wine.Those who can see God in an infant and see God on this altar can discover God in all of life.The presence of God in the gi of the Eucharist is not an isolated event but the clue to how all of creation is to be seen. The coming of our God continues, and God still uses the most simple and humble of ways to be with us. That birth in Bethlehem was a way of getting us to look and see. From all its humility and simplicity, we learn to look and see God’s presence not in riches and finery, not in power and palaces, but in the poverty of two homeless refugees and the helplessness of an infant. Christmas is the very beginning of God’s revelation to us, not the end. So we have no need to go to Bethlehem to discover the Lord.Christ waits here and where ever there is human need and an opportunity for service.There Christ lives as if in a mangerThose who seek the spectacular will not notice.The real presence of Godis only revealed to those who know what Bethlehem is really all about. This Christ is not found only at Christmas.He is within reach at all times and seasonsfor those who can recognize God in the ordinary and the simple. To keep us from losing this vision because it is so common, Christmas happens once a year to remind us of how things are. So we come here tonight asking God for a new way of seeing things,and a new way of recognizing God in these times and in the things we do that are so ordinary, common, and every-daySince the simple humility of God in – Christ is seen most clearly in the sacrifice of the cross,we come asking for the ability to recognize the humble presence of the Lord wherever we encounter suffering, pain, rejection, lonelin·ess and despair. While they are important as a way of showing our love, the best gift of Christmas is not found in brightly colored packages around a tree.There is a gift with no wrapper and no ribbon.It is a gift given to us all the ability to discover the divine in our lives and the willingness to offer ourselves to any of God’s daughters and sons who need help, encouragement, and strength.If these things seem too ordinary, too human, too simple, we have missed the message and the truth of Bethlehem.And so we have this day of reminder that comes once each year that our God is Emmanuel, “God With Us”He was not born in Rome or Jerusalem, but in an obscure village of Judea,and so His kingdom for us will not be found in Washington, in New York, or any of the seats of powerFor us it will be found in Norman, Oklahoma one house at a time. Emmanuel was not born in a patace with attending royal physicians.He is born again and again in ever human heartwhen forgiveness restores life to what has been broken or dead. This is the beginning of the feast of Life itself It is the first day of the new creation.It is the first hour when Light comes leaping into the darkness, and we have been awakened to the dawn of our salvation. The gifts we find as we awaken this Christmas are simple: bread, wine, and the work of human hands.If we can see God in a simple new-born baby, then we shall God in the gifts we bring to this altar. Come, let us adore. |