On the Occasion of Christmas Eve, which we celebrated at our friends and neighbors, Peoples' United Methodist Church, after evacuating our worship space due to heavy flood damage.
Friends, this is the Christmas in our church that even the youngest children of our congregation will probably talk about with their grandchildren, years from now.
I want to venture a story with you tonight, that let's say, Mary and Joseph were looking forward to celebrating the birth of their first child in their own home, in familiar surroundings. Sure, the news of Jesus' coming had been unexpected, but let's say that like all good parents, they did their best to prepare for the new baby. Joseph was a carpenter and they were a newlywed couple, so we could safely assume the house was probably newly built and filled with well-crafted furnishings, made just for them and their new family. I would even guess that Jesus had a fine little wooden crib waiting for him, up in their home in the Galilee. And Mary had probably spent the past several months preparing all sorts of baby clothes and blankets and diapers, and anything else you might need for a first-century nursery.
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| Dining at home with family and friends, typical first-century home. Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_18496_Nazareth_Village.jpg |
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| Photos of re-enacted first-century household life: dining and making textiles. Source: http://www.100words.ca/?m=201211&paged=2 |
In such familiar surroundings, I imagine that these expectant parents also thought their folks would come over to bring them casseroles, keep the house tidy and help change diapers those first few days. Maybe they thought the first people to welcome their new baby and hold him would be Grandma and Grandpa, or maybe Aunt Elizabeth and newborn cousin John.
Now imagine all that, nursery prepared and all--that right as you were getting ready to celebrate the birth of this child--something BIG happens, that is unavoidable, and you have to leave your home behind.
Where would they go? And how would they celebrate the birth of that child?
I am going to guess that Mary and Joseph never imagined they would share the birth of their son with sheep and goats, cattle and donkeys, or having a bunch of shepherds fresh out of the fields, or strange travelers from a foreign country showing up, not even with casseroles, but instead with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (That is, air freshener and embalming spices, but at least the cash might come in handy?)
And I imagine that even though they had to travel to Bethlehem for this census, that they thought they'd at least be going home relatively soon, say, maybe a few weeks. At any rate, there's just not that much stuff you can pack up and put on the back of a donkey along with mother and child. So the news that Herod was coming for them and they would have to flee Egypt for a couple of YEARS, must have really been...well, beyond words. So much for celebrating a birth as planned!
Well, I'm also going to venture that for those of us who are gathered here tonight, we can kind of relate.
We can relate, right? A beautiful new church, halls all decked, tree all trimmed, banners up, choir tuned and ready, to celebrate the birth of Jesus--and then something BIG happens.
And yet, most important of all, despite all the disrupted plans and scrambling to make do, then and now--the most important thing to remember in the midst of our human worries, is this: the gift, the greatest gift, has still been given to us. God gave us his Son, Jesus Christ, to teach us how to love one another. It was Jesus that brought together such an unexpected collection of people together in an unexpected place. And the unusual circumstances and the enormous obstacles they faced together, and the reason for which they did so--only add to the richness of the story of this first Christmas that we tell over and over again, to our children and our children's children.
We might feel we're having a manger experience of our own tonight, but really, we are in the finest room in the inn--anywhere in town! Here we are surrounded by warmth and comfort, and banners, and advent wreaths, and inside decked halls and there's a place for us, and for the kids, and for the choir, and all of us can celebrate this birth of the Christ child together. And together, we can say the words of Isaiah, that:
A child has been born for us, a son given to us...and he is named Wonderful Counselor...Prince of Peace.
We have been given so rich a gift this Christmas. We are surrounded by family and friends and neighbors. We have been given such extravagant hospitality from our dear friends here at Peoples' Church. We've been given willing and dedicated volunteers to help make everything better, even in the face of many challenges. Certainly these last few weeks we've walked in darkness, but we have also seen a great light.
Sure, this Christmas isn't like what we'd planned, but it is still beautiful, and meaningful, perhaps even more meaningful, than if everything had gone according to plan. And we're not alone; we're with each other, and we're also here among our friends. And above all, God is with us--Emmanuel; bringing hope, joy, love, and peace to us and to all the world. May we, like Mary, in the midst of all this excitement and chaos, may we treasure these things in our hearts, on this Christmas night, and always. Amen.
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