Grace, peace, and mercy are yours from
the Triune God. Amen.
The four Gospels present
four unique and yet complimentary pictures of Jesus in the way they record the
birth of Jesus: Matthew presents Jesus as the King of the Jews worthy of
obedience and worship; Luke shows a humane Savior that brings good tidings and
liberation to the poor, neglected and marginalized; Mark presents Jesus as Lord
that serves in secret and thus shows a new way, free from the fight for
supremacy and status; and finally, John presents Jesus as God, who comes as the
Word become flesh and shines in the darkness to bring a new beginning in this
world.
The most well-known and
the most recited account of the birth of Jesus (especially if you’re a fan of
Charlie Brown!) belongs to the Gospel of Luke, of which we heard today.
Luke’s Gospel is an
attempt to put in place an orderly account of the birth, ministry, life, death
and resurrection of Jesus. Luke wrote his Gospel primarily for a Gentile
audience and focuses on the traditionally marginalized and neglected groups in
First Century Mediterranean societies. Thus, Luke’s Gospel is full of
references to women, children, the sick, the poor, and the rejected, like the
Samaritans.
This special and caring
focus on the neglected and rejected also features in Luke’s account of the
birth of Jesus. Luke’s birth narrative is the longest out of all of the four
Gospels and gives special attention to the role of the Holy Spirit and to the women
in the story. Here the angel appears to Mary (not to Joseph as in Matthew’s
Gospel) and it is Elizabeth, and then later again Mary, that each has words of
praise and blessings recorded. Luke, in his human focus, records the “homeless”
status of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem, the special care given to the baby
Jesus as he is born, and how a lowly feeding troth becomes a crib.
As if to further
emphasize this consistent focus of the poor and the rejected of society, the
angels appear to shepherds in Luke’s account, not to the rich, privileged, and
powerful wise men in Matthew’s account. It is the ordinary shepherds that
witness this glorious event and became the first messengers of God’s peace and
goodwill towards people on earth. The beautiful birth narrative of Jesus in
Luke’s Gospel illustrates God’s relinquishing of the divine in Jesus, born
amongst the poor and rejected, bringing good tidings of peace and goodwill to
all.
So instead of singing
“happy birthday to you” as we would any other baby, to celebrate the moment we
happily join with millions of Christians around the world in remembering the
birth of our Savior by singing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” We
celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace with joy, and praise, and song!
And yet, despite being
in a season of joy, sometimes we see and hear only the worst of what is around
us, neglecting the simplest joys, and thinking that our times are so much worse
than those faced by people in the past. Or perhaps we have reached the point of
assuming that it's all up to us to bring the peace our hearts long for, with
God not bothering to participate at all. Can we even begin to make everything
right, without any help at all? Where are God’s caring hands in all of this
desperate search for hope?
But isn't Christmas
about God intervening in human history? Isn't Christmas about God telling us
not to give up hope after all, telling us not to believe that we are all on our
own? While we can't do it all, we can do something, and if we do this something
together, just think of the great wonders God will work. Christmas is a tough
time for many and we are tasked as God’s children to take the message of hope
found in Jesus and to spread our love and joy to others, now and all year
round.
We can’t forget the
suffering of God's children this Christmas season. This may be our biggest
challenge: how do we sing, and feel, joy when, for example, people are freezing
to death in the streets? The world just seems so dark and hostile. So I wonder
what this Christmas will feel like when so much of the world seems to be in
turmoil and the angel’s cry of “peace on earth” seems like more of a wish than
a blessing and we who gather to sing carols, light our candles, and hear the
Christmas story seem so very small against the backdrop of this troubled world.
Now more than ever, it is important that we become instruments of God's compassion and justice, and sing with our whole hearts, as we strive to put ourselves in God's service, to participate in what God is doing. Think about the angels singing that night, even though Rome had its boot heel on the throat of the Jewish people. Those angels sang anyway because they brought tidings of hope and of great joy. That is where we turn for help in dealing with the news on TV and on social media, and I hope that in some small way we might become tidings of great joy, and a word of hope, to those whom we meet each day. That work is the kind of music, the kind of singing together, that will change the world, and it is the melody God is calling us to join in and sing.
So when you leave tonight, I pray that you will take the birth of Jesus into your hearts, and the joy and love and hope that his birth carries. In Jesus, God has brought us the light we need to shine in the dark places, to bring hope to the discouraged, insight to the lost, and the promise of peace for all those who long for it. It is this vision of the world that is indeed good news of great joy for all people.
Amen.
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