Sermon by Reverend Lillie Mae Henley, written for services on December 20, 2009. Church services were cancelled due to heavy snow.
This weekend when the snowstorm blew through the Washington D.C. and the Eastern seaboard, it was just the right size. It stopped trains, planes, and most automobiles. The only cars that were “supposed” to be out were emergency vehicles, but you know, there are always those who want to see if their four-wheel drive can really stop on snow and climb that overpass packed with 12-inches of snow!
The storm was just the right size, because it gives us all a chance to stay in, find a warm place to cuddle, and drink hot tea or cocoa. It gives us a chance to spend some time contemplating, reading, appreciating what we have, but it is not so awful that we won’t be able to go to work sometime this week.
Of course, I was supposed to go to church today and preach this sermon on the Fourth Sunday of Advent; but I was snowed in, and still am snowed in until Fairfax County decides to send a snow plow to our neighbor.
Being snowed is in an excellent time to ponder on the birth of little baby Jesus and what it means to us. This Advent, at our church, we have explored the radical ministries of John the Baptizer and Jesus from Nazareth. Two individuals so radical that the even caught Josephus’ attention; Josephus, as you probably know, is the Jewish historian of the First Century who wrote about them in his Antiquities. We asked ourselves, if are radical enough to be called Jesus-followers.
On the second Sunday of Advent, we asked ourselves if we trusted God as much as Mary, Jesus’ mother, and Elizabeth, John’s mother. We explored the opportunities God gives to trust the Process, to trust in our relationship with God.
And last Sunday we explored what the birth of Jesus and the birth all babies can mean for us. All children are holy, all children born, could save our world.
Today, we are celebrating the birth of that one little baby boy in Bethlehem.
Today, we are celebrating. [Luke 2:13-18 New International Version]
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
We are celebrating as the angels and the shepherds celebrated—the hope for a better world for the people of the tribes of Israel.
What did Micah and the other Old Testament prophets predict?
2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (Ef rat ha)[meaning fruitful],
though you are small among the clans [a] of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins [b] are from of old, from ancient times. [c] "
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be their peace.
We now know that the people of Israel have never seen the radical peasant from Nazareth as their messiah. There were though, many from the tribes who called themselves Jesus’ followers. If it were not for the few people of the tribes of Judah, who would have believed and passed on those beliefs after Easter?
Recently I read Glenn Beck’s novel The Christmas Sweater. The young boy could only think in terms of what God could do for him, and in this instance, it was make sure Santa brought him a bike, a Huffy to be exact. It was as if unconsciously he was testing God. You took my father, you let him die, you can at least give me a bike.
But when the young boy got a hand-knitted sweater from his mother instead of a bike from Santa Clause, he had no reason to celebrate. Perhaps, this is why the people of Judah did not expect the radical Jew from Nazareth to be the Messiah. They expected more than they got, so it was a good reason to turn their backs on YHWH and open themselves up to the loss they would experience in the loss of the Temple in the seventies and the accompanying dispersion of the tribes.
The young boy doesn’t want to celebrate Christmas because he didn’t get what he wanted.
Is that the way we are? If life isn’t going our way, we pout and fuss, and make life miserable for ourselves and our families and our friends, and our co-workers.
What we “want” for Christmas is not that important in the scheme of things. What is important is the celebrating of the Jesus’ birth. The birth of all those who can save the world.
Listen to Michael Jackson’s words from “Man in the Mirror.”
As I, Turn Up The Collar On My
Favorite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs
If we celebrated the birth of every little baby who has the potential to save the world, we would quit expecting, demanding, and wanting. When we forget the real reason for the season: a Messiah was born. A messiah who made a difference in the lives of those who knew him, and a messiah who made a difference in the world.
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself And
Then Make A Change
There are many reasons to celebrate, because that one little baby boy changed his world; it is easy to understand how Luke would write
“… and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among…’ all.
Do we celebrate as the angels and the shepherds? When we put up our tree, decorate our table, hand wreaths on our front door, crawl to the top of our roof to put up lights, are we celebrating the birth of that tiny little boy who became the Christ?
OR, we going along to get along?
What makes us happier than just about anything else in this world? New babies make us happy. Our own—if we are so blessed—our sisters’ and our brothers’ babies make us happy. Watching them grow up, hoping for the best in their lives. Celebrating their accomplishments and living with the children through their challenges.
What about the baby in the ghetto. What about the baby next door, no matter where we live, we have a baby next door who is abused, neglected, denied even the simplest of necessities. And we shouldn’t kid ourselves, abuse and neglect is everywhere, in every part of town, rich or poor or in between. Once again I quote Elvis Presley’s song “In the Ghetto,”
People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man someday
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way
If we are to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, we have to celebrate the birth of all human beings. We have to celebrate each child who could be a Savior, if we are to celebrate, we need to, we must, “lend a helping hand…”
The lesson we learn from the multitude singing and praising God is that we all are meant to celebrate, the Source and the Power of that which Connects us and makes us One.
We need to celebrate that One who came, and all those who will come—whose fullest potential would be to save the world.
This weekend the snowstorm was just the right size. It stopped trains, planes, and most automobiles. May it stop us, may it give us time to celebrate. We must sing, and we must live the song, live the celebration, live the hope for joy, peace, hope, and love.
Amen and blessed be.