First Sunday in Christmas and Last Sunday of the Year

 Here we are at the end of year, poised for the beginning of a new year.

            So this is going to be a sort of New Year’s sermon.

 

In this new year you will be working on calling a new priest,

            and a year from now it just may very well be

            that your new priest may be standing here preaching to you,

                                    like I am now.

As we come to the end of one year and are about to begin another,

            this is a good way to think about it.

And, as an aside, I am all for just yanking the 2020 calendar off the wall

                        and tossing it in the trash bin!

 

But in spite of it all, you have hung in there faithfully.

            Your generosity in giving does not go without notice.

            Pledging is coming along, 

                        and for those who haven’t sent in your pledge card for 2021 yet,

                        or an end of the year donation,

there are still a couple of days remaining in which to make a difference.

 

In the whole Body of Christ you are a shining light.

            You may not think of yourselves that way, but it is so.

I hope you hear that as good news, a reassuring word

            in the face of concern or anxiety about the future.

 

But I should also tell you that 

            there is responsibility that goes along with being a light.

It is about continuing steadfastly in being faithful to our Lord, 

            and in being willing to go deeper in our understanding of the calling

                        that each of us has received in our baptism

            being active in shining that light for each other 

                                                                                    and in a world of need.

Because, you see, the calling process is not just for the next clergy person,

            but also for each of us in living out the baptismal covenant

                        that outlines for us what we are called to do in ministry.

 

And while I’m at it, this is a good time to tell you 

                                    that the annual meeting is not that far off.

            It will be different this year, so watch for all the details.

You will be electing vestry members

            who will be working with the Profile Committee,

                        and appointing the Discernment and Transition Committees.

Just that thought ought to stir a number of you up 

            to want to serve on vestry, right?

 

But let me also put all this about the new year for Nativity into a faith context.

 

Unless our Profile and Discernment Committees’ choices

                                                                        are based within a faith context,

unless our budget planning is based within a faith context,

unless our deliberations at the annual meeting are based within a faith context, 

            we are ignoring our biggest and best resource of help.

Indeed unless we face all this as a faith issue,

            we will be frustrating the Holy Spirit,

  and we will have abandoned our very reason for being and our Source for being.

            We need to faithfully follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

 

The church, after all, does not belong to you or me.

The church does not belong to the diocese or this denomination.

The church belongs to Jesus, as his bride, as his very body.

 

And as his body, that is how we are then able to claim to be heirs 

            of all that the Father entrusted to the Son,

            heirs of the Kingdom of God.

 

From the Epistle reading for today, Galatians 4, we read:

4   But when the fullness of time had come, 

            God sent his Son, born of a woman, …

5   in order to redeem those who were under the law, 

            so that we might receive adoption as children. 

6   And because you are children, 

            God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, 

            crying, "Abba! Father!" 

7   So you are no longer a slave but a child, 

            and if a child then also an heir, through God. 

 

And this brings me to the Gospel reading for today.

 

The first Sunday after Christmas Day, 

the Gospel is always what is called the Prologue of John,

            the first 18 verses of John’s Gospel.

 

It is also the Gospel from the third set of readings 

                                                                        that can be read on Christmas Day, 

as well as showing up 6 times 

            as the assigned reading in the Daily Office lectionary!

So you can get the idea of its significance just from the frequency of its use.

 

In this profound passage is the heart of the mystery of our faith

            in regards to creation, incarnation, death, resurrection, 

salvation, and life in Christ.

We are told in this passage how everything has been taken care of.

 

In the beginning…

in the words of Genesis 1:1…

in the beginning, the origin, the source…at the source of it all

            there is always God, the Divine Self,

and this Divine Self is continually expressing, continually creating.

The beginning or origin point, the source is always present here and now.

 

You see, God did not just create at some temporal beginning point 

            and then leave it all to evolve on its own.

Creation is continuing to happen moment by moment,

                                    continuous Divine Self-expression.

            Is it not self-evident?

 

The whole passage then becomes more and more rhapsodic 

            about the LOGOS, the Word, becoming flesh, 

that is, entering into the created order, 

            a one-time begetting by the Father, 

so that all living beings, all of us can see for ourselves 

            the glory, the richness, 

the fullness of one grace after another

            showered upon us,

            revealing to us the very essence of God. 

 

In the whole passage the only thing we have to attend to 

            is receiving, owning for ourselves, 

            what has been provided for us – 

                        our adoption as children of God.

 

The adoption done for us is what brings us into union with God through Jesus.

The Resurrection Spirit of Jesus fills us, 

            envelopes us, 

            swallows us up, 

and we live and breath and have our being within the Heart of Christ.

 

All we have to do is receive, take the Word, lay our hands on

            the LOGOS, the Life, the Light,

                                    by having faith in his Name.

 

Verse 12: “As many as received him, who believe in his name, 

            to them he gives power to become children of God.”

 

Quoting from a commentary on the Prologue of John,

            written by my meditation teacher:

 

“…faith is not belief in doctrines, 

            is not about ideas held with conviction, 

            is not even fundamentally a self-generated trust in God 

                        for the sake of one’s own ultimate well being. 

No. Faith is the wakeful potency of the Word in us and as us. 

Faith is the power of our being as divine life.” 

 

Faith is a participation in the creative power of God,

            the ability of God’s creativity in us.

Faith is fundamental and essential to our being human;

                        we are beings of faith.

 

But it is God who empowers faith in us;

            there is a huge potency of faith in us.

And Jesus is the One who lived that potency of faith as light for us all.

 

Verse 12 again:

“As many as received him, who believe in his name, 

            to them he gives power to become children of God.”

 

You see, adoption into the family of God is only the beginning.

There are the benefits of adoption 

                        – salvation, resurrection life, union with God – 

but there is also the rest of what goes with 

            belonging to a family when one is adopted: 

the obligations and the way of life and the work of the family.

 

 

And – note this – 

the work is the same work that Jesus had to do – the will of the Father.

The way of life is the same as the way Jesus walked – the way of the Cross.

Discipleship is the way of life in this family for those adopted into it.

 

So the context for our life together at Nativity

            is faith awakening and ever burgeoning within us,

                                    as light shining in the darkness

            as ever increasing awareness of who and what we are.

 

Coming to see this, 

coming to greater understanding of this,

coming to grips with this

            is the spiritual work before each of us

                        now at the end of 2020

                        and as we enter a new year and a new chapter 

                                    in our life together as the faith community of Nativity.

Two Christmas Sermons!

CHRISTMAS EVE

 O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;

cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

 

Here we are – the Church of the Nativity

            and it is Christmas Eve – the Feast of the Nativity

and you are all at home watching this on your computers.

 

One might think this is a sad state of affairs 

            for us, for the parish, for the country, for the world.

 

Is it the saddest day, though, for the Church of the Nativity?

 

As soon as I started thinking that this had to be the hardest year for Nativity,

            I suddenly recalled some of the earliest history of this congregation.

That wasn’t hard because we have reminders of it 

                        right here in this building,

            beginning with the Nativity window above the altar.

It was given in memory of two children who had died.

The Good Shepherd window also given 

by parents remembering their children who had died, 

            and other windows commemorating a total of 8 children who died.

 

Those where not happy Christmases, those years back in the beginning

            when too often parents buried their children.

 

Yes, there have been times of grief and blue Christmases here in the past,

            especially in those early years.

 

And yet here is this parish, faced now with a  new challenge, 

                                                                                                one not encountered before, 

            but this faith community is nevertheless continuing,

            feeling our way through to new ground.

 

Admittedly this is second best, at the most, 

            coming to you through this medium instead of being together.

Nevertheless this IS a way to connect, for us to be together

                                                                                                on this most holy night.

So it is good to be present here tonight,

            to choose to sit before the screen 

                        here in the midst of whatever else is occurring

                        in your homes and your lives for this holiday.

 

For many throughout the world tonight life is particularly hard and dark

            either from the pandemic or climate migration 

            or from a continuous denial of justice

            or from the aftermath of angry violence 

            or from loss of job and income

            or loss of house and home

            or any other catastrophe happening at the moment.

 

Instead of what we so deeply long for in terms of being together – 

            the familiar carols and faces of family and friends around us,

instead as you sit before the screen, let us focus on that first Christmas Eve,

            that night when Jesus was born and what that brought to the world.

 

When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem

            there did not seem to be anyone, any family there 

                    who would greet them and offer them a place to stay in their homes.

Instead at the local caravanserai, 

            the motel of the ancient world located just outside the city walls,

all the rooms were taken by those who had arrived before them

                        or those who had money to buy them a way in.

But Mary at nine months pregnant was in desperate and immediate need.

 

So I imagine that there was at least a modicum of compassion expressed,

  since shelter was given in stables under the rooms of the caravanserai above.

 

Was anyone there to be midwife to Mary?

            I would guess that there was, some angelic soul of a neighbor or two,

                        that rose to the extraordinary occasion of 

            giving birth so far from home and among strangers.

When faced with a dire situation, remember the words of Mr. Rogers

            quoting his mother: “Look for the helpers.”

 

The Holy Family were not alone.

            There were fellow travelers and local villagers 

            and rustic shepherds streaming in from the fields

                        all drawn to this newborn human being

                                    in such a hurry to be born into this waiting world

                        that he did not wait for his mother to settle into a proper home,

                                                            a proper place in which to be born.

 

And so the Christ Child rushed into the place that needed him most,

            a small village, 

                        not Jerusalem the capitol with all its assets and advantages,

                                    but a small village,

and in a way station for weary travelers,

            among the displaced and the un-housed,

            among an oppressed people feeling the pinch of the Roman tribute tax,

            among the aching, longing hearts filled with hopes and fears.

 

This is where our Lord rushed to be born.

            

And so here today in such a  heart sick world

            would not our Lord also rush to be born anew?

The hopes and fears of all the years 

are met in thee tonight.

 

May you find a refuge of love and joy expressed here tonight in this liturgy

            in the midst of a world of anxiety, anger, loneliness and grief.

 

There have been times of grief and blue Christmases here in the past.

And yet here is this parish, faced with a challenge not encountered before,

            but nevertheless continuing,

                        feeling our way through new ground.

 

So let’s look at Christmas 2020 as the year we stood firm in our faith

            and celebrated Christmas quite differently than usual,

            but nevertheless celebrated Christmas.

 

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven
No ear may hear His coming
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still
The dear Christ enters in. 

 

AND CHRISTMAS MORNING

The blessings of the Holy Child born of Mary be with you! 

 

I hope you all have taken some delight and joy in the sharing of photos

            of some of the Christmas crèches and Nativity scenes

                        that you have in your homes.

We each take a model of a glorified stable 

            and adorn it with loving hands 

                        and place each figurine in it just so.

It is an exercise in which we make room abundantly available in our homes

            for the Christ Child to come,

                        and none of the other figures in the scene are left out either.

 

Assembling the crèche is an act of devotion to the baby in the manger,

                        as a small gesture as it is,

yet nevertheless it can give us an almost sacramental resource 

            to nourish and strengthen our hungry souls.

 

If your crèche is near at hand, you may want to take the little Christ Child

                        and cradle him in the palm of your hand.

You may find a refuge of love and joy through this simple act of touch,

                                                in a time when touch is so limited,

            a comfort and reminder of where our faith lies 

                        in the midst of this world so full right now 

                                    with anger, violence, loneliness and grief.

 

As I was pondering again the ancient story of the Nativity

            one word in the text stood out for me in an unexpected way.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host…”

            -- heavenly host,            host –

 

What is it that we usually picture in our minds for this?

Do we see an angel choir with cherub faces 

            floating aloft on gorgeous wings in the starry night sky 

                        and singing glory to God?

 

But that is not what the word host signifies here,

            because the word in the text, which is translated as host here,

                        is actually the Greek word for army.

 

That shifts the imagery significantly.

 

The shepherds out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night

            are startled by the appearance of a bright messenger from God 

                        there in their midst

            announcing the birth of their Savior who, oddly enough,

                        will be recognizable, because this will be a baby 

                                                            whose cradle is a feeding trough, a manger.

And then to compound the paradoxical news

            the angel is suddenly surrounded by an army vast in number,

                        an army of angel warriors.

 

And their war cry is “Glory to God in the highest,

            and on earth – peace!

 

What were the shepherds to think?  or us?  What are we to think?

 

The historical setting for all this taking place 

                                                was a particularly harsh and violent time.

The people to whom this angelic message came lived in a country 

            groaning under the oppression of a conquering army.

Any hint of rebellion was put down violently by the heavy military presence,

            and further discouragement for revolt came in the form 

                        of public crucifixion.

 

And these people were being forced to pay heavy taxes,

            taxes to pay for the military expenses 

                                                of the very soldiers standing over them.

Think of this – the largest part of the Roman budget was for the military.

 

What might the shepherds hope for?

            God’s army come to liberate them?

Yet what do the angels say?

            Peace on earth in those humans of good will,

                        for those whose will is consistent with God’s will.

 

And this will be accomplished for you and in you 

            through the Savior born that night,

born not in a royal palace to be the commander in chief, 

                                    but in an obscure and unlikely place.

 

What a wonder!

            In the midst of all this inhumanity and cruelty,

the Holy Divine intervenes 

            complete with an unearthly army of spiritual beings,

but not as a political, military supreme divine leader 

                                    to oppose the divine Roman emperor,

            but simply as a human being,

                        a human being who would live among us 

                                    and grow up and experience fully life in this world,

and who would show us what it really means to be a human being,

            what it is like to live into the full potential of human being.

 

And where did that full and mature humanity take him?

            Right to a Roman cross.

A violent end reserved for criminals and enemies of the state.

 

Yet that was the plan all along.

 

From the moment of the first breath of the baby Jesus

            his fate was sealed; there would be a last breath.

Thus it is with all of us.

            We are mortal, and Jesus joined us in that mortality.

                        What wondrous love is this?

 

The Savior would spend his life and give that last breath

            as a gift to all  --  the gift of himself to be in us 

                        that we might know, really know and experience

                                    that peace the angel army proclaimed.

 

This is liberation  --

            then and now

            from all that oppresses

            from every inhumanity that can be perpetrated.

 

If you do not know peace, the peace that passes all understanding,

            then come to the manger and gaze upon the Holy Child

                        until the peace comes.

 

I conclude with these words 

from another the Christmas carols we love so much,

            “It came upon the midnight clear.”

 

Yet with the woes of sin and strife 

            the world has suffered long;

beneath the heavenly hymn have rolled 

            two thousand years of wrong;

and warring humankind hears not 

            the tidings which they bring;

O hush the noise and cease your strife

             and hear the angels sing.