Isaiah
9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-20
Tonight, is a night of proclamation and hope! Tonight, is truly
a night of expectation and wonder! Tonight, is the night that we experience the
pure and unadulterated joy of celebrating the birth of Jesus. And all of us
have received the same profound gift. For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
This phrase took on new meaning for me this year when I saw the
play, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” I heard these words in a new way when
the young girl playing the angel – who had a star shaved into the side of her
head – pointed a fairy wand into the crowd and said repeatedly, “Unto you!” She
did it with such urgency and sincerity that I realized that this message was
for me as much as it was for her.
It mattered for me to receive it, and it mattered for her to say
it. She said it for the whole audience, as much as she said it to each of us.
I’d like to unpack the gift of those words a little tonight. I
know it’s early, but indulge me. These words were given first to the shepherds,
then from the shepherds to Mary, then from the shepherds to everyone they met.
This
one that was born was the Messiah, God’s anointed one; the one God had chosen
to be revealed through; the one who would offer salvation.
This
is one of the places that I think the “you” in scripture should be rightly
translated as either “y’all” or “all y’all.” It’s not just because I’m
southern. It’s because we need to know that this message is for us as
individuals who are connected to others and also for all people everywhere.
And
that reminds me that the other thing that we need to lift out of this box of
words and view with wonder is what it means that Jesus is the Christ who offers
salvation. One has to wonder how much of that the shepherds got right. Even
they were looking for a political solution or a military warrior king. Did they
hear the words “great joy for all people” and really expect it to be for all
people?
One
can only hope.
How
about you and me, though? What will our proclamation be? Will it be about a God
that enters into the chaos of our lives, the brokenness of our hearts, and the
hopefulness of a people who still expect God to be active and present? I hope
so.
Will
it be a message like the letter to Titus – one that recognizes that we need to
be reminded to try our best to be good and decent people, even as we wait for
God to finally fulfill all God’s promises?
Our
maybe it will be the kind of thing that isn’t just about words. Maybe it will
be about recognizing God’s love for us and the claim it places on our hearts. Then
all that we do is a response to the gift we have received – the gift we
celebrate at this table again and again and again.
You
know, somehow it has not occurred to me in the past that this sacrament is the
first gift of Christmas. The first gift is from God, and it received from this
table. So, Good Christian friends, let us rejoice in heart and soul and voice
that Christ was born for this. Christ was born to restore what is broken and to
let us know that even if our proclamation has been off the mark, restoration is
still possible.
We
see that at the table together, and it plays out in our lives as we demonstrate
what we believe. Because, just like the angel, it matters to us to say it just
as much as it may matter to the one who hears it. So, this Christmas – and the
days that follow, let us proclaim the birth of Christ by forgiving an offense,
by letting go of old wounds, by being kind for the sake of being kind, by
welcoming a stranger, by appreciating the beauty of God’s creation, by
laughing, by weeping with those that weep, by speaking our love again and
again, and by recognizing our need to love as much as our need to be loved.
Yes!
Let us celebrate the God who makes all things new; the God who breaks open the
heavens for shepherds, and even leaves it up to us to proclaim that salvation
has come. Even here, even now. And to God be the glory now and always. Amen!
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