CHRISTMAS EVE

"The problem of Christmas”
Luke 2:1-20
Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian Church, December 24th 2010

A printable PDF file can be found here

In the face of an increasingly skeptical and disbelieving world Christmas becomes ever more poignant. Society is, at the same time, becoming both more religiously diverse and more secular. Peoples conceptions of what God may be like, or even if there actually is anything to the notion of there being gods at all are expressed in many ways, both in printed media, on screen and across the internet.

If we were able to time travel back to the days of Christ’s birth, I wonder if the environment we discovered would have been any less diverse or any less hostile to the notion that Jesus was born to be Savior of the World. The whole idea of Christmas would be seen by many to be intellectually incomprehensible and by others as dangerous and subversive, both in terms of politics and religion.

It was not just upon a whim that Herod became terrified at the thought of a new King for the Jews being born in Bethlehem. Herod had little trust in God, but trusted in the power of human alliances and power to maintain control of ones position.

It was no accident that the greatest opponents of Jesus turned out to be the religious establishment. The idea of God taking root in our midst, spirit being united with flesh, the holy taking on the earthly, was a scandal. God is ‘this’, we are ‘that’, and never the twain shall meet. The incarnation (the theological word for God coming to us in Jesus Christ) remains a heretical notion to believers of other faiths.

There is such an insignificance to the characters and places of the Nativity story. Bethlehem was not an important town. There is nothing more secular than the taking of a census and the paying of taxes. Carpenters with young wives had no great status. Shepherds were considered as being on the fringes of society and the object of ridicule. ‘Did you hear the one about the shepherd…’ That in the midst of such peoples and such places earth-shattering revelation should occur was highly unlikely.

Yet this is Christmas. This is what the gospel declares. That there came to the lives of unlikely people in insignificant places a revelation of God that has left the world a different place. What we do with this message is another matter.

Some will dismiss the whole thing as being incredulous, impossible and a rather dangerous kind of fairy tale. Some will look upon it as a beautiful mythical account, full of meaning and interest but ultimately only having the sentimental value of a Hallmark Card or Thomas Kinkade painting.

Yet some will accept what the gospel authors proclaim. That through these events something awesome, indescribable and unbelievable was coming to pass. God, in Christ, was breaking through into the circle of time and history in a redemptive way that can bring hope and joy and love to all those who allow themselves be transformed by His Holy Spirit.

Those who accept the gospel accounts as being more than just idle tales will not see Christmas as the whole story but interpret Christmas through the light of the life Jesus would lead, the deeds He would do, the teaching He would give, the death He would die, the claims that would be made about Him after His death, including those of resurrection and ascension and the power of His Holy Spirit that ignited the early Church.

Taken in isolation the Christmas story does offer much to celebrate. Light in the darkness, the giving of gifts, the lifting up of humble lives and insignificant places as being capable of being infused with great significance… all this is good stuff.

But look at it through the lens of the whole story that weaves in and through the 66 canonical books of Christian Scripture we call the Bible and it takes on an even greater meaning. Christmas becomes not an isolated event, but a significant Act within the great drama of revelation and salvation. Central to that whole drama is the life and love of Jesus Christ.

It is that whole story that gives significance to the communion service you are invited to be a part of this night. It has its roots in the Exodus experience of the Israelites and their great celebration of Passover. It recognizes the significance of Jesus Christ as one heralded by prophets and foreshadowed by events that shaped a nations life; the establishment of monarchy, the rescue of exiles, the proclamation of peace and justice, the hopes of a future defined by forgiveness and grace.

Communion declares the mystery of our faith. The mystery of what happened in Bethlehem. The unfolding revelation to His disciples of His unique nature. His call to be servants of one another, as He took a basin and washed His disciples feet. The sacrificial act of His crucifixion during which His body was broken and blood poured out as He prayed “Forgive them Father for they don’t know what they are doing”.

The proclamation of resurrection by His disciples. The coming of His Holy Spirit as they gathered in prayer at Pentecost. The ongoing life of His Church which has always found nurture and strength through participating in acts of worship around a table laid with bread and wine, declaring as Paul writes, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim His death until He come”

There always have been and will continue to be those who dismiss Christian faith as mumbo-jumbo and superstitious nonsense, particularly when we express our faith through rituals and acts that we ourselves describe as symbolic and mysterious. They will see the problem of Christmas as being symptomatic of the problem they have with belief in general.

I do not share their reservations. I cannot accept that everything in life can be explained by rational experiment and logical deduction. I do not accept the notion that mystery is unimportant and insignificant. I cannot believe that the very state of consciousness that causes us to wonder and reflect and seek for meaning is something that has ‘just happened’. I reject the idea that truth and beauty and love and hope are just part of our programming. I have experienced too many answered prayers to dismiss answers too prayer as always coincidence.

I dare to believe that the Christmas story is one of great significance. That rightly understood and related to the larger story we see in the Christmas events hope for all humankind.

It’s not a hope that anybody can be argued into. It’s something to be received. Something that seeps in rather than a blinding light of revelation. Something that can only be approached through music and silence, through taking and tasting, through wondering and questioning.

To our ‘so sure we can save ourselves world’ the proclamation of a Saviors birth may indeed be a problem. Yet … in the words of one of our Christmas carols… “O Little town of Bethlehem”…I suggest that ‘where meek souls receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.”

So I invite you to share in our communion celebration, not because you have life all sorted out and settled, but because you are open to being unsettled and changed. I invite you to participate in this celebration not because you believe without question, but because you have many questions that find no answers.

I invite you to be a participant in this sacred drama, not because you have your path in life all mapped out but because you are open to the direction and leading of a God whose call You seek to hear and whose Holy Spirit alone can give you strength for the journey.

The problem of Christmas is not a problem in any way to those who believe our world needs a Savior. It is the good news of our Saviors birth. In the name of Jesus Christ you are invited to seek for His love to be born afresh in your hearts and lives this night.
Amen.

Adrian J Pratt