December 25, 2003
God has broken the silence that settled on the earth after the goodness of creation was spoiled by human pride and freedom was seized for self-service. A long night of darkness settled on creation with sin; but with the coming of Light from Light, True God from True God, that long night of sin is at an end.
“I am the Light of the World.” he says in the midst of darkness, and then at the third hour when darkness seemed to settle over everything smothering all hope, there was a loud cry, and the silence was broken. God had entered human history to face it fear and it pain. A gracious presence sets us free from the past of darkness, sin and silence. That past, for all of us, cannot be undone; but the meaning of the past can be defined by what we do in the present, and the way we choose to live the future. In some wonderful way, that is what we celebrate today: the past, the present, and the future.
Our telling of the Bethlehem story could easily become a way of just remembering the past – God’s past. Yet to do that is to step out of the story. The journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem happened at a particular moment of time, Quirinius was governor of Syria. But this is not the only journey. We are going to Bethlehem, making a journey like them in faith, uncertain of the future, but confident from the past that the final word of this story will be one of light shining in darkness and life triumphant over death. But God too makes a journey to Bethlehem. From a history of darkness and silence, God comes to Bethlehem. From a history of infidelity, God comes into an uncertain future. Now silent no longer, using no prophets or angels to speak for Him, God speaks. Into the darkness comes the Light.
We are the ones, God seeks and we gather in this holy place, our Bethlehem, that we may see and hear God’s voice at long last. We are not here to be entertained by children or briefly moved by sentimental carols. We are here to celebrate the truth that our God is not hidden in heaven, that our God is not silent any longer, and that the darkness of this night in a terror ridden world will not last. God did not enter human history to bring us a set of guarantees about the future. God came to liberate us from a paralysis of the past but only if we have the confidence necessary to be liberated. God did not enter human history to solve our problems or cure our complaints, aches and pains. On the contrary, God entered human history to experience all of that with us and show us the way to rise. God did not come to make peace, but to show us how to achieve it by forgiveness if we have the confidence necessary to desire peace.
A spiral of violence marks our past. Suicide bombings, military assaults that destroy homes and families feed the flames of hatred the consumes another generation of terrorists. The story of Bethlehem points to another strategy of hope that does not rely on power or weapons, but upon the deepest instinct of the human heart.
It is a long way to Bethlehem, and it seems very dark. Instead of God’s voice, we hear bombs and the cries of the innocent. But the human heart when purged of anger and resentment knows the way. In Bethlehem it is a baby – vulnerable, simple, trusting. It is a baby that brings thoughts of peace, simple joy, and dreams of a future. What is born in Bethlehem is not only the divine into the human but also in Bethlehem is the human is born into the divine. In that birth comes our future filled with a gracious God who stirs anew the deepest longings and desires of the human heart
Our past does not bind us. We may give it new meaning by what we do in the present and what we choose to do in the future. The silence is broken. The dawn comes, and this night of sin in which we live is over. Our first glimpse of this God for whom we have waited, this God who has come for us is a baby. Now the past is no more. Now there is only the future and what we shall choose to do.