Christmas

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

What a wonderful salutation! You can hear the prophet shouting it from a hilltop. “Someone is coming,” Isaiah yells, “someone grand, someone wonderful.” And then, in our Gospel reading, the long awaited event occurs.

“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

God sends out invitations to only a select few, and the choice of guests is most interesting indeed. In the Mishnah, a small section of the Jewish Talmud, the life of the shepherd is used several times as an example of inappropriate conduct for a good Jew. Shepherds were, in fact, thoroughly despised by devout, religiously observant Jews, because the occupation of shepherd involved being neglectful of the rules in the Torah, especially those concerning the Sabbath, a day on which the orthodox, even in the present, do not work. Shepherds were scum, and they knew it. The last thing these men would have been expecting was an engraved invitation from God.

“Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.”

In the shepherds’ minds, fear must have mingled with confusion. What are angels doing in a field, in the dark, with an outcast segment of the population? Why aren't they in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, appearing to those good and pious Jews who keep the Law, follow Torah, and to whom the birth of the Messiah would have had all sorts of theological and religious significance? Why is a field suddenly flooded with bright light, while those who sleep in warm beds remain in darkness?

Something new is happening. A new order is appearing. Those who feel secure in their ways, following the law, keeping the rituals and feasts of their faith, need to awaken! If you are a good and well respected person, a churchgoer, a pillar of the community, take note. Know now that all the angels of heaven have chosen, not the goodly people of the town sleeping in their warm beds, but the cold and lowly shepherds watching sheep on a hill somewhere out in the middle of nowhere.

“And they were terrified.”

These poor and forgotten shepherds are addressed by a heavenly messenger, by the angel, and thus are suddenly transformed into prophets and children of God. In an instant, in the blink of an eye, the glory of God appears, and their lives are changed forever. Despite our peaceful Christmas images of the placid animals, the gentle mother, the adorable babe --the coming of God into the world, into our lives, is the end of everything we have ever known, and the beginning of something new. This is a mighty and terrifying experience.

“And the angel said, ‘Fear not!’”

Words of comfort and strength to those whom God has chosen. We too sometimes find ourselves afraid in the face of God’s will for us. How do we put aside our fear? “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” There comes that moment in each of our lives when we are asked to put aside our own sense of power and control. In that moment, God offers us a choice, our fear, or His love; our sense of being total “masters of our fate”, or the sure and certain knowledge that all we ever need and all we are or ever will be is provided for us through God's love. The baby in the manger is our moment, our salvation.

The shepherds listen and heed the angels’ words. In the midst of a totally overwhelming experience, they put away their fear. “For unto you, is born this day, a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” While choirs of angels fill the sky, these cold, forgotten shepherds open their hearts to the sure and certain knowledge that He who will remove all fear has been born this day. We are called to do the same.

Where do we find Jesus? “And this will be a sign to you, you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

Or, to put it into modern language, “You will find a baby wrapped tightly in some rags, lying in a cattle feeding box.” This is not the place where we would expect to find him, and often not where we look for Him today. At the very least, we reason, he ought to be sheltered in the common room at the inn, but he isn’t there. He is not in the comfortable spaces, not with the acceptable people. He is amongst the poor, the outcast, in those unpleasant places, where we are not comfortable. This is where the work of love begins.

Today, our Savior is born among the animals, where lowly beasts are the first worshippers. “Ox and ass, bow down before him.” Something new has begun, and it is not what everyone expected. There is no comfort here, not as the world defines comfort, but only rough things, animals, the smell of cows, rags, poverty, and the presence of those forgotten and rejected by society.

Today, now, the sun has set, and by the old calendar it is Christmas Day. Are you ready for that glorious light, so bright that you can never look directly into it? Are you prepared for the voices of each and every angel in heaven singing the praises of God?

“Unto us this day a child is born, a Son is given,” and we are called to join our voices with angels, and archangels, and all the company of heaven.

However, we are not worthy to be included amongst the shepherds. Jesus has never asked us, as the shepherds were asked, to worship and adore him. In the course of his life he will wander far among the poor, the rejected and the unclean. He will eat with tax collectors, heal lepers, perform miracles, and always caution those who perceive his divinity to keep quiet. The baby born today will grow up to repeatedly ask of us only one thing, “Follow me.”

This is not an easy path, this Pilgrim's Way that opens up to us today. This Holy Way leads not to feather beds, but to suffering. “Foxes have their holes and birds their roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” We are called to accept the life of a pilgrim, to wander among the horrors of this world dispensing the Love of God, the praise of Christ. We know where it leads. Far down the road there is a tree on which the Son of Man is lifted up.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.” If we are fortunate enough not to be asleep in the town as the Savior of the world is born, if we open our hearts to that great love that frees us from fear, from sin and death, God will grant us a place, not among the shepherds, but among the sheep, and one or two of us, perhaps, among the ass and oxen.

“Unto us a child is born. Unto to us a Son is given.”

This is not just a baby, this is the Judge of the world, this is God incarnate, and we dare not gaze upon the brightness of his face. Yet, “We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” Let us, on this glorious day, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.”

“Sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord all the earth.

Sing to the Lord and bless his Name;

proclaim the good news of his salvation.”

Let us pray:

O God, you have taught us through the generations that You would come to save us; We give you thanks for bestowing upon us this holy Child. We know that this child is all that is true and noble, just and pure, lovable and gracious, excellent and admirable, and that through him our lives are filled with peace, freedom from fear, and love. Confirm our great joy on this day by granting us the continual and living knowledge of your constant presence with us, and give us calm strength and patient wisdom to follow the path set before us, following the example of our shepherd, He who is born this day, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN.