Readings for 24 December 2007
Christmas Eve
Midnight Eucharist
- Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
- I have posted sentinels;
- all day and all night
- they shall never be silent.
- You who remind the LORD,
- take no rest,
- and give him no rest
- until he establishes Jerusalem
- and makes it renowned throughout the earth.
- The LORD has sworn by his right hand
- and by his mighty arm:
- I will not again give your grain
- to be food for your enemies,
- and foreigners shall not drink the wine
- for which you have labored;
- but those who garner it shall eat it
- and praise the LORD,
- and those who gather it shall drink it
- in my holy courts.
- Go through, go through the gates,
- prepare the way for the people;
- build up, build up the highway,
- clear it of stones,
- lift up an ensign over the peoples.
- The LORD has proclaimed
- to the end of the earth:
- Say to daughter Zion,
- "See, your salvation comes;
- his reward is with him,
- and his recompense before him."
- They shall be called, "The Holy People,
- The Redeemed of the LORD";
- and you shall be called, "Sought Out,
- A City Not Forsaken."
When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
In those days a decree went
out from Emperor
Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first
registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All
went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the
town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called
Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.
He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was
expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to
deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped
him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no
place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
- "Glory to God in the highest heaven,
- and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Sermon
The Rev. Susan B. P. Norris
From this evening’s hymn: “Nail’s spears, shall pierce him through, the cross be borne
for me, for you.
Hail, Hail the Word made Flesh, the Baby, the son of Mary!”
And from
and the darkness has never been able to put it out.”
With fanfare and trumpets, with darkness and candle lighting,
the Christmas light has entered and quietly overtaken us.
All of you, everybody, look around for a moment.
Look, and actually SEE, this place, this time, and this year.
See the greens, the flowers, the candles, the altar, font, organ, crèche,
the great star, the coming banquet, and above all, the people.
You are possibly sitting next to family, or old friends,
people who have been sitting near ‘your’ pew for a very long time.
Our college crew are “home for the holidays”
Grandma and Grandpa and other relatives are visiting.
In legend and fact, an elderly old Bishop, who centuries ago
retired up north to raise reindeer, is at this very moment
circling the globe with presents for every child in the world.
According to NPR’s interview with a major worldwide freight transfer company, the proper – most efficient - location for Santa’s taking off to begin
Of course, I am seeing particularly vividly, because we won’t see
this place next year.
But, when I wonder whether our “new” Christmas will be “as good as”
the previous celebrations, I become an example of the blindness
by which we privileged folk may fail to see the full glory
of the Christmas Child.
You see, most of us come to Christmas from a life, which however
harried, crazy and not what we “want it to be,”
is, nonetheless, given to us with food, clothing, family,
shelter, heat, love, and people who will help us out when,
inevitably, we need help and support.
You possibly remember that yesterday I said that our ability
to see the God who comes to us tonight,
can to depend a lot upon what we are expecting to see.
So that, often, when we think of a “real” Christmas, we are
thinking of things that we already have some of –
love, peace, joy, patience, and forbearance –
even toys, clothes, books, and other treasures.
You might say that we are a people faithfully expecting the already
“pretty good” to be even better.
That first Christmas night, however, was not filled with the
“already pretty good.”
Our Crèche and our Star romanticize the gospel stories – and put them all
together in one place and one time.
Our shepherds, Holy Family, and Wise Men, even our animals
are warm, seemingly well fed, surrounded by companions,
well dressed and generally contented.
Nothing here tells us that the Angels were singing to ex-con types
probably exiled from the town by their “betters.”
That Mary and Joseph are refugees from the Roman legions,
as well as suffering from a rude and uncaring innkeeper.
Herod, the murderer of Children does not appear on our scene,
And the peaceful glory that surrounds our Christmas Altar,
does not tell us about the great danger
in which Mary and Joseph find themselves,
even in the midst of her first – solitary - childbirth.
Why don’t these things leap up at us?
Because we don’t want to talk about them!
Then because we don’t speak of them, we leave a whole lot of
our lives and the world’s life
“outside” of the Christmas light.
Apparently we humans still believe in dark “magic.”
Particularly we believe that talking
about something, anything, make it happen or causes it to be true.
So when we come to a major Holy Day like Christmas,
we stop talking about sorrow, war, death, poverty and evil.
After all, they are always with us, and we can go back
to talking about the genuine mess in which the world finds itself --
but tomorrow, please!
Let’s just keep this Christmas Day
Safe - for innocence, joy, and beauty – for the children.
(Do I not faintly remember a line from
new Christians pabulum instead of real food? – Could that apply to us?)
Christmas, my friends, is precisely ABOUT
war, sorrow, displaced people, and cultural enmity.
Think Mary and Joseph busily hunting for somewhere that would
let a Hebrew family anywhere near their guest rooms.
Christmas is about poverty, evil and outcasts –
See those shepherds out on the hillside watching someone else’s sheep
(and recall all those possibly undocumented immigrant workers who clean and plant and cultivate our houses and lawns.)
Christmas is about ugly dying –
Jesus, the innocent child, already marked for execution as an equally innocent adult.
Christmas is about all the horrors and evils that humankind
and the natural world can and do commit.
Christmas is about God come among us –
To assure us that NOTHING, and NOBODY
Here on earth, or in heaven or in any other galaxy or universe
Will ever, ever separate us from God’s love, God’s presence, and
God’s power, and God’s forgiveness.
Christmas promises us that in every poverty stricken cow byre
In every filthy rich nastily competitive building,
In every death, every illness, every loss of hope and faith,
AND
In every beauty, every joy, every loving deed, every hope,
in all songs, and feasting, in laughter and love,
in every glimmer of Peace and Justice and Truth,
God is present,
God is incarnate,
God is tenting among us.
The Christmas light shines in every darkness
And no darkness has ever been able,
or will ever be able to put it out.
That’s what all the fanfares and trumpets, all the gold and silver
The choirs of angels, the worship of animals,
The church decorations, the music,
And above all, the Christmas Eucharist celebrates.
Expectant or out of Hope,
Innocent or Guilty,
Rich or Poor,
High or Low
Alone, or surrounded by family,
Even out in rural
(Which is where the freight company says Santa should go from
The Christ Child comes to dwell within you.
That is and always will be true.
Nothing, not even the end of the world can change that truth.
So go home to celebrate as you will.
Make your house festive, share with the poor, and the stranger,
Eat, laugh, sing and celebrate together.
Love the people you are with while you have the good fortune
to be with them.
And remember, as we mostly make the good we are given even better,
That Christmastide is about watching as God Almighty
Stoops down, takes Hell into her hands, and fashions Heaven.
And know that noting, absolutely NOTHING,
Is even separate from the Incarnate Word,
Not even YOU.
And May God bless you richly and grant us all
A Holy and Blessed Christmas.
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