Everyone is looking for something at
Christmas. From what I hear X-boxes and iPods are popular items this year.
Others among us may be holding out for the more traditional gift-jewelry or
another sweater to add to the collection, some after shave or a brand new
leaf blower. What are you looking for this year? Still, even in this day and
age, it is still possible to experience a sense of wonder and surprise for
that which defies even our greatest expectation. As many of you know, our
boys Max and Luke have birthdays one day apart at the end of December, so
almost fourteen and then twelve years ago this week, Jenny and I found
ourselves as full of expectation as a young couple could be. After nine long
months of anticipation and preparation, our boys' arrival into the world was
immanent. Of course in both cases we opted not to find out whether we were
having a boy or a girl, so when at last our waiting was over, there was
still that moment of surprise when the doctor announced. "Look it's a boy"
and then, "another boy, what do you know about that!" But then, when you get
right down to it, I guess that's what Christmas is all about-expectation and
surprise!
Mary certainly knew that something was up. I
mean, playing host to an angel who informs you that you are going to become
pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God would raise at
least some level of expectation, don't you think? Still, she knew that the
child she was about to bear was entering a harsh and often brutal world
particularly for poor, young children like hers. Had all that talk of how
the child would be great and be called the Son of the Most High who would
reign over the house of Jacob been just a dream? Poor old Joseph probably
wasn't too sure about what he'd gotten himself into. Here he was, a good Jew
with a young pregnant wife on his hands, and not just pregnant but pregnant
by someone else albeit the Holy Spirit. Still, there's no question he'd have
a hard time explaining that one down at the Nazareth coffee shop. Although
Mary had shared with him the details of the angelic visit and all that
happened when she went down to stay with her cousin Elizabeth, he was
already thinking about how he was going to provide for his little family.
And then there are the shepherds who more than likely weren't expecting much
if anything-another cold night in the field, huddling close to fire as they
kept a watchful eye on their keep, maybe a nip or two or three from the
Ancient near Eastern equivalent of Old Crow, just another night followed by
another day, another night, another day and so on.
And what about the expectations we bring with
us on this Christmas Eve? We long to hear the familiar story. "In those
days, a decree went out from Emperor Augustus." We look forward to singing
the beloved carols of Christmas, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", "0 Little
Town of Bethlehem" not to mention, "Silent Night, Holy Night." Tomorrow we
can pretty well count on opening a few gifts, some of us a little earlier
than others I would imagine. Then we'll head off somewhere or have everyone
over to our house where we'll open a few more gifts, have lots to eat, and
then after our fill of family, food and fun begin to move on for yet another
year. More than likely, we'll do full of the expectation and hope maybe that
2006 will be just another year, no surprises, nothing out of the ordinary.
Then soon enough, in just three hundred and sixty five shopping days, we'll
be right back here again singing just another verse of the same old song.
That's not to say we're open to some sense of
surprise--that look on the kids faces when they see all the presents under
the tree, or the beloved family member who shows up announced, like the
soldier who surprised his wife and family with a visit for Christmas who 1
heard about on the news the other night. Laying eyes on him as he walked in
the door his wife cried, "What are you doing here." "I came all this way
just to see you," he replied. So long as it tugs at our heart, so long as it
leads to "happily ever after" endings, surprise is good. But when surprise
with something that calls into question our priorities, our values, our
assumptions about the way things are supposed to be, that's a completely
different story.
For you and for me, there is security in a
world where nothing changes, where year in and year out, where the song
remains the same. After all, we have a lot invested in the present ordering
of things, in the status quo. We count on the doctor to keep us strong and
healthy, so that we can get up and do things that need to be done week in
and week out. If there's a problem, take a pill, see a specialist, read the
latest book. We depend on a robust economy to ensure our personal
satisfaction, to allow us to enjoy the standard of living we've come to
expect, to enjoy the good life we all certainly deserve. Sure we feel bad
for those who are hurting this holiday season, the sick, the hungry, the
homeless, the forsaken and brokenhearted. Goodness knows it's the season of
"peace on earth and goodwill to all". We don't wish anyone ill, but there's
never quite enough to go around and you can only really deal with the
negative stuff for too long until it starts to bring you down too. And none
of us wants that, especially at Christmas?
But like it or not, Christmas is about
surprise-the shattering of human expectation, the beginning of the end of
the world as we know it. And the surprise comes not as armies rattle their
swords, through the wealth of nations or in seeking out life's magic elixir,
the key to success, the proverbial quick fix. No, the surprise comes in as
unlikely a package as they come "a child wrapped in cloth and lying in a
manger." And if cynicism and fear renders us unwilling to be surprised, if
we're re reluctant to approach the stable in all its dinginess, its
dirtiness, its messiness, if we aren't able to let go of our many layers of
self-protection, the night will remain dark. We won't see the manger.
We won't recognize Him whose birth both angels and shepherds proclaimed, the
Savior who is Christ the Lord.
Sixty years ago, in the midst of the
darkness that was Nazi Germany, Theologian, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer
declared that "all who at the manger finally lay down all power and honor,
all prestige, all vanity, all arrogance and self-will; all who take their
place among the lowly and let God alone be high; all who see the glory of
God in the lowliness of the child in the manger; these are the ones who will
truly celebrate Christmas. 1
So, Jesus is never found where we expect him
to be found. He's not pushing a political agenda in Washington DC or down at
the Capitol building. He's not waiting somewhere over the rainbow or at the
end of seven steps towards complete fulfillment and happiness. He's down on
some forgotten street because there is no place in the inn, because the
world can not, will not accommodate him. So, if you and I are going to catch
sight of him we'll have to look where we aren't so willing to look-in the
eyes of the poor, the weak, the lowly, those of no account, the written off,
the forgotten, those of no account in the eyes of the world, but who in eyes
of God are blessed. The story that begins tonight is one that leads to the
weakness, suffering, and forsakenness of the cross, to Jesus offering up his
own life for us all, "that he might redeem us from all iniquity and
purify for himself a
people of his own who are zealous for good deeds." And the gift of his life
for us is the greatest gift ever given, a gift that comes to us undeserved
and free, for which we cannot even begin to repay.
Christ is the Savior is
born in us today. Expectation and hope have become a vocation, a calling for
us all, to join with unsuspecting shepherds awakened from their slumber to
make known what has been told about the child. The true gift of Christmas is
gift not to be kept or held, but shared, given away, if not in shepherds
fields then in the lonely places, the dark streets of our world wherever
they may be, wherever God leads us.
The
season of waiting is over. "Unto us a child is born, a son is given." Jesus
Christ, Savior of the world has come. Come, let us walk in the light of his
love. Amen.
