| December 25 200I Isaiah 52:7 10 + Hebrews 1:1-6 + Luke 2:15-20 |
| A parade of human life passes before us in the story of Christ’s birth. An aging priest in the temple and his childless wife, a young couple engaged to be married, night workers in a field watching sheep, an old couple waiting in prayer for a promise to be kept, an anointed Jewish King who turns out to be a brutal killer, wise men from far away places travel a great distance, lost and not sure about what they seek, all are part of this story as much as the child himself The homeless, the rich, the poor, the powerful, the political, the wise, the innocent, young and old all parade before us affirming humanity in all its glory and its brokenness. The human is the bearer of the divine. That is the wonder of what we proclaim by our prayers, hymns, gifts, parties, dinners, and celebrations in this Season: the human is the bearer of the divine. |
| The birth of that child would have made no difference, it would have been just another Hebrew baby born in Palestine were it not for that odd parade of people to whom it made a difference. Had he simply been there for only one of them, the story would have ended before it began. But in this birth and in this story, there is no favorite nor privilege, there is simply human kind in all its misery and grandeur, there to be transformed by the birth we celebrate, for this birth needs to be our own. |
| It is not only then the birth of Christ that we celebrate today, but rather the birth of the human family, born again, lifted from its past of sin and death and raised now to it’s true dignity, to the divine image in which it is created. What was broken is healed. The God who walked in communion and intimacy with those loved and fashioned by divine hands is now held in human hands and beheld byhuman eyes. It is a thought so profound that we too easily turn over its meaning to theologians and scholars, yet what is so profound about the gift of a child? The simplicity of it all is what confounds the powerful and confuses the proud. |
| A fifteenth century mystery play suggests that the Wise Men were not the only gift bearers who came. Prior to their arrival came the shepherds with three pointless, useless presents: a bowl of cherries, a pet bird, and a tennis ball. Humble gifts in contrast to Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh. In truth, God has no need of our gifts. All God really wants, I suspect is our delight in the gift of a little child given to us. Yet overwhelmed by the gift we have received and in which we rejoice today, we gather in this place surrounded by useless gifts of art and beauty, ritual and music, but these are gifts that liberate our joy And when our joy is liberated, so will our generosity and compassion be. These are gifts of God for which this world still waits. |
| What we come to understand as we reflect on this birth is that the world is no longer waiting for God to act. In the gift of this child, we have all that we need and all we have waited for to heal what was broken long ago and drove us from the Divine presence. It is a gift everyone can understand, everyone; from shepherds to Wise Men, kings, priests, old and young, anyone who has experienced the pain of loneliness, distance from God, hunger for love, and longing for peace. It doesn’t take a degree in theology to get the point. It is simply a matter of eeing in theface of a baby the divine smile looking into our hearts with love and a passion to be with us. |
| What the world awaits these days then, is for us to act not God. It waits for us to reach into the mystery of our second birth and share the gifts it brings: forgiveness which is the only way to peace; joy, generosity, and compassion. Whether you have come here to get something or to give something, I hope that you will leave here a little more free to be what God has made you to be on this Holy Day I hope that the music, the beauty, the flowers, the ritual and prayers of this day, the company of friends and family around you will awaken, a Joy in you that may liberate compassion and generosity to make you more and more like the Divine and Holy one who is so powerfully revealed to us this day |
| None of us can escape the parade that passes us by in the story of this day, and in it’s passing, none of us ought to fail to fall in with them. For no one is left out, no one is forgotten, no one is without a place in this life and a share in its riches.All have something to give in praise and thanksgiving, and the world waits yet again for us to make it so. |