Scripture: Luke 2:1-20
- All Through Advent we reflected on the different characters around Jesus’ birth:
- They lived in a culture with deep injustices and inequities
- Their nation had been conquered by other nations
- they had been exiled and then had to return and rebuild their homeland
- They lived under harsh rulers who taxed them unfairly and threatened them with violence if they rebelled.
- But they had heard and taken to heart the promise that God was sending someone who would be a different kind of leader, a Messiah, and that they should get ready for that.
- So each person who was made aware of the birth of Jesus found a way to respond:
- Zechariah and Elizabeth listened to the Holy Spirit and let their lives be disrupted by God, raising a child who would help make the way for the coming Messiah
- John preached and washed people off in the wilderness, many of them people on the fringes of society who were considered unclean
- Mary trusted the words of an angel who asked her to do something dangerous, and she shared her vision of how God would turn the world upside down with the birth of the Messiah.
- These people emphasized obeying God over obeying the usual social codes;
- They reached out beyond the centers of political power to tap the power and imagination of ordinary people
- They emphasized cleansing and renewal over shaming and judgment
- They rejected the lust for human power and instead yielded to God’s power
- They worked through love and reconciliation instead of hate and violence
- They dreamed not of hoarding and looting to acquire wealth, but of sharing power and resources equitably with everyone
- Now we are at Christmas, and the cast of characters is growing to include new people:
- Ceasar Augustus and Quirinius and Herod –political leaders who were hostile to the idea of a rival king
- Joseph, Mary’s husband, who took upon himself the protection of his unorthodox family
- The shepherds, a caste of people so unclean they never came into town but lived outside the margins of polite society
- the host of angels who broke through the borders of heaven to announce to the shepherds that they would be the first to be invited to worship a baby Messiah
- Later, the wise prophets who came from another religious tradition and another country to acknowledge the spiritual leadership of the Christ Child
- And even the star, who managed to defy gravity to give light and guidance to the whole event
- Christian tradition has added other characters who aren’t actually in the bible, but who we’ve decided must have been there:
- The innkeepers who said no to Jesus’ family; who weren’t ready to welcome God’s power and presence
- And the animals in the barn who did make room for Jesus’ family
- Some of you may have these characters standing around on your piano at home, or under your Christmas tree or on a bookshelf
- Who has a creche or nativity scene at home?
- Here’s the one you put out for Christmas at Lyndale
- (Does anyone know where this one came from?)
- The characters here illustrate some different ways people responded to Jesus’ birth: some are singing, some protecting and cradling, some are bringing gifts; some are sharing the good news…
- And this scene can also invite us to consider how we’re responding and how we fit in to the scene in the barn?
- Maybe you, like Mary, feel like you are giving birth to something new God is creating and you’re here to foster it
- Maybe like Joseph, you’ve been called to protect God’s promise, or to carry that promise into a new place,
- Maybe like the shepherds and wise prophets, you are called to places you don’t really belong where people may judge you, but you go anyway because God has called you.
- Maybe you have found some small way, like the animals, to make safe space or show hospitality to Christ in your world.
- You may even feel like Jesus did: small and vulnerable
- If you want, you can come up here and look closely at the characters in our nativity scene, and choose one that reminds you of yourself.
- Of why you come out to church on Christmas Eve to honor Jesus.
- Or why you’ve let your life be disrupted by his teachings:
- What motivates you, like these characters, to follow him?
- Take a moment to think about who you are in this scene and why YOU are here? And what you’ve been called to share with, or because of, Jesus?
- Each person, each animal, every star, every divine messenger has power and agency from God to give birth to something redeeming, to feed and protect someone vulnerable, to travel across borders, to sing, pray for, to illuminate God’s dream for the world and Christ’s coming reign of love.
- On this night we use the name Emmanuel to speak of God: “God is with us”.
- We say that because Jesus is literally God with us;
- That means whatever way we are called to embody Jesus’ love, we don’t have to do it alone;
- We have a God who will walk with us through whatever is coming:
- Whatever truths we are called to shout about
- Whoever we are called to protect and nurture
- Whatever pain we have to endure in the birthing of a new world
- Whatever powers we need to escape or resist
- Whatever death we must grieve, or borders we need to cross, or rejection we have to endure
- We can do it with Christ walking beside us – empowering us, inspiring us, leading us forward, always closer to the promises of God.
- And the other good news is that we have each other!
- Jesus was not alone when he was born: he had all these people who had braved the circumstances to be with him and take care of him!
- Look around here: we have each other on our journey too.
- That is why people gather in churches to listen to the Good News, make friends, pray, sing and eat!
- With God, and with each other, we are getting closer to the time when God will birth the new world God has promised us.
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