First United Methodist Church Ashland, Oregon

 

Michael D. Powell Luke 2:1-20

"Good News of Great Joy"

December 24, 2000 Christmas Eve Day 4th Sunday of Advent

An old pioneer traveled westward across the great plains until he came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the Grand Canyon. He gawked at the sight before him: a vast chasm one mile down, eighteen miles across, and more than a hundred miles long! He gasped, "Something musta happened here! " A visitor to our world at Christmas time, seeing the lights, the decorations, the trees, the parades, the festivities, and the religious services, would also probably say, "Something must have happened here!" That's for sure. Something happened that changed the world forever, but do we get it?

Something happened so simple, and yet so profound, that in this day of wordiness and cxcessivc complexity sometimes we miss the directness and the simplicity of the old, old story. We just don't get it. Alexander Haig, when he was Secretary of State, was approached by a man who wanted a raise. Haig said, "Because of the fluctuational predisposition of your position's productive capacity as juxtaposed to government standards, it would be monetarily injudicious to advocate an increment. " With a puzzled look on his face, the man said, "I don't get it. " And Haig replied, "That's right. "

The Christmas story of the baby Jesus is disarmingly simple, and yet it has changed the world forever. There are just a few simple elements, and every one of them has direct relevance to your life and to mine. There's a census, a call to pay government taxes, and it involves an uncomfortable and inconvenient journey. I can identify with that. Mary is pregnant. She doesn't understand it yet, but the Holy Spirit of God has touched her, and a new life in the spirit is about to be birthed through her. This sacred birth offers healing and salvation to all who share in it, but it" s a birth that happens in the most unexpected of ways, and the journey to spiritual birth is often uncomfortable. And finally, the new life of Christ is revealed first to shepherds out in their fields, watching their flocks by night, when the heavenly host of angels sing glory to God. It's a wonderful story. It's your story, and it's my story. Every part of it has correlations in our own personal experience, and that's the "good news of great joy! "

The birth of Christ happens in the midst of an inconvenient and uncomfortable journey. It's been said that the only certain things in life are death and taxes. The journey of life is constantly being defined by obligations that are beyond our ability to control. So often Christmas has been compartmentalized, commercialized and sentimentalized, but it happens in the midst of real life. The birth of Christ does not wait to come until everything is sweetness and light. I go from hospital to shut-ins to nursing homes. I talk with people who are dealing with chronic pain, disappointment and depression. Some of them fully expect that this may be their last Christmas. What's the good news for them? Teenagers are confused and have lost their innocence way too soon. Parents are distressed.
Life is not fair. In the midst of a spiritual journey that is often uncomfortable and inconvenient, what are the good tidings of great joy?

A sacred birth was about to take place, but there was no room in the inn. It must be obvious that the business and the distractedness of our day to day obligations and responsibilities are the busy inn. We're the innkeeper, and we're not bad people. We're not rejecting Christ, we're not hostile to the birth of the baby Jesus. Who could have known it would happen in such an unexpected way, at such a busy and inconvenient time? God forgive us, we're doing the best we can, taking care of business, just trying to keep up with it all. There's a sacred manger in every one of our hearts, and we long to kneel in prayer and adoration before the birth of peace and love. In his book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. ..and It's All Small Stuff; Richard Carlson reminds us that when we die, our "In " box is not going to be empty. There's always going to be more to do. God help us not to miss the moment!

And just as we're like the innkeeper, we're like those shepherds too. They were out in their fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. In other words, they were working. We romanticize them in the biblical tale, but in fact sheep herders were not particularly honored or respected by the most pious and religious people of their day. Their work made it impossible for them to obey the details of the law. They couldn't always make it to the temple or synagogue for services. I've heard so many people say, "Well, I'm not very religious. I don't read my Bible every day or make it to church every Sunday. " But here's the point, here's the good news! God met the shepherds where they were, just as they were, at work" involved in their daily lives. The good news of great joy ~broke in and was revealed to them in the field of their lives. God is continually coming to us. The sacred birth is continually being announced. So often we judge oursclvcs as unworthy, and yet the good news of great joy is that God is breaking into our lives every day and every night, just as we are, wherever we are.

And what about those angels? It was the tradition in biblical times for the village musicians to gather whenever a baby was born. The neighbors would sing and play simple songs to honor the new parents and celebrate the birth of their child. But in Joseph and Mary's case there were no neighbors who knew and loved them. They
were virtually unknown, and there's another message of joy here for us. God provides, in miraculous ways, what the world is unable to deliver. The most sacred and beautiful events of your life, the spiritual insights, new understandings, birthings and breakthroughs may not even be recognized by those closest to you, but God knows, and God celebrates by sending choirs of angels to sing good tidings of great joy. I believe in angels. They're the heralds of Christ and the messengers of God" and they're appearing at all the great moments of our lives. I suspect that every one of you have experienced the joy and the mercy of angels, singing to you in the nighttime of your lives, but you may be the only one who heard them. Sometimes that's the way it works, but it's no less a miracle.

So, I'll end as I began. Something awesome and miraculous has happened! We can see the signs of celebration and new life all around us. But" do we get it? There's a wonderful and challenging poem by Stephen Vincent Benet in his Christmas play, "A Child Is Born." In it he has the innkeepers wife, who realizes that something, momentous has happened back in the stable, say these lines:

God pity us indeed, for we are human, and do not always see the vision when it comes. Or, if we see it, do not follow it, Because it is too hard, too strange, too new, Too unbelievable, too difficult, Warring too much with common, easy ways. And now I know this, standing in this light, Who have been half alive these many years, Brooding on my own sorrow, my own pain. Life is not lost by dying! Life is lost Minute by minute, day by dragging day, In all the thousand, small, uncaring ways.

Life can be lost without vision, but not lost by death, Lost by not caring, willing, going on Beyond the ragged edge of fortitude To something more - something no (one) has seen. You who love money, you who love yourself, You who love bitterness, and I, who loved And lost and thought I could not love again, And all the people of this little town, Rise up! The loves we had were not enough. Something is loosed to change the shaken world, And with it we must change.

Something wonderful has happened, and it's happening still. May Christ be born in the manger of your hearts this Christmas eve, and may you hear the angels singing good news of great joy. Amen-

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