Xmas Eve 2010

Ann Weems wrote:"we wait in December darkness." the wait is over for Christmas Eve this year.Many of us have ambivalent feelings at Christmas. Try as we might, we keep looking for more in the season than anything is capable of giving. Were the shepherds intrusive?did they feel as intrusive as the new companion a child brings home, or advice from new in-laws?e Did angels sing at the manger as they did for the shepherds. What helped the Grinch who stole Christmas was the realization that Christmas was not wrapped up in the tinsel, but that the tinsel was a shining symbol of people able to celebrate the season of love and giving.

John has no patience for trying to figure out the  biology for the identity of Jesus. No manger, no shepherds, no Wise men populate his beginning of the story. He echoes genesis and goes back to the beginning of , well, everything.He says that the wisdom, the plan, the vision of God for creation is present in this Jesus born on some long ago far away day we designate as Christmas John uses the great Christmas image of darkness that fits us perfectly as the days are just starting to grow longer now in the bleak winter. Bill Adams told a story years ago about a Christmas pageant where the shepherds processed, elegantly clad in flannel bathrobes and towel headdress. One move dot Joseph and said, well Joe when do you pass out the cigars. People tried to stifle their laughter but that only made it worse. The angel above the scene fell off her chair and took all of the sets with her.The only thing of the pageant that survived was the light bulb placed in the manger to represent the light of the world.

 

God chooses to make a dwelling, a place to stay, to rest, inside a human being named Jesus, one of us. God works from the inside out. God dwelt among us, not far off, but within our condition. Ann Weems also wrote: 'in each human heart lies a Bethlehem." In being born in Bethlehem, Christ allows Bethlehem, as the hymn says, to be born in us this day.

Almost ten years, with more or less avidity, we have been in Afghanistan, so Lord knows we need to hear again peace on earth goodwill to all. Our commitments to war mock the easy Merry Christmas, the easy reference to the Prince of Peace. So too does all of the attendant anxiety at family gatherings, where we walk on eggs shells to keep at least the veneer of civility shiny. It is hard to fathom the effort people make to be together for something they dread.

Yet, those soldiers in harm's way miss the home fires of simple family gatherings and traditions and conjure up the memories frame by frame in their minds. they think of the two year old who gets an expensive present and then plays with the box.

 

Andy Rooney said that one of the most glorious messes ever made is on the living room floor on Christmas...don't clean it up too quickly.

God bless the singing and playing of Silent  Night by candlelight. No matter how cold the evening, it warms the heart. We all live within a manger of grace, of god's good gifts to us. All of us are shepherds who witness to the miracle once more.Cynthia Rigby  said "in particular moments finite creatures realize their participation in the artistry of God." Lots of folks perform artistry at the table, with decorations, with wrappings of presents.We speak easily of Christ in our hearts. The incarnation is not about feelings alone but the very matrix of life. Auden wrote remember in a stable, for once in our lives, everyone became a You and no one an it. May all of us honor the Christ within, the God with us, in this season.