Homily: A long time ago, in a Galilee far, far away...

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Sharon McCormick
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1 Christmas Eve: Candlelit Service of Lessons and Carols Of Mystery and Miracles First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia Rev. Abbey Tennis December 24 th, :00 PM Homily: A long time ago, in a Galilee far, far away... A poor homeless Palestinian teenager name Mary was visited by an angel and told that she would become pregnant with a child who would be called Son of God. Around that time, the military governor, Quirin-us, who had been appointed to suppress a nearby revolution, called for all people to be registered for a census to be taken of all the citizens. And so the very-pregnant Mary and her husband Joseph traveled 90 miles on foot through winding mountain trails from Nazareth to Bethlehem so they could be counted amongst Bethlehem s people. When they arrived they could find no one who would take them in. After failing to find a safe, warm, place for Mary to give birth, they finally gave up and made the best of a nearby barn, where Jesus was born amongst the animals. Jesus had no onsie, and no crib, so Mary wrapped him tightly in strips of cloth and settled him into one of the animal s feeding troughs a manger for the night. That night, angels came again this time appearing to the shepherds who were caring for their flocks and told them of this poor child wrapped in a makeshift blanket and lying in a makeshift crib. The angels sang with joy about the holiness of the child; they praised God and exclaimed that this child would bring peace to the world. Three Persian Zoroastrian Astrologers the Wise Men, or Magi, also heard of the child s birth, receiving a prophecy that he would become King of the Jews, and so they set out to pay him homage. When they reached the capital Jerusalem - and asked the sitting King Herod where the child was who would become king of the Jews, King Herod became afraid. Believing that Jesus would pose a political threat to his rule, he sent the Magi ahead to find the child, pretending he too wanted to honor the newborn Jesus when instead he planned to murder him. The Magi found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, honored the tiny child with precious gifts, and then, suspecting King Herod s murderous intent, they went back to their own country without telling him where the baby was. Soon after, after being warned about Herod in a dream, Joseph, Mary, and the baby fled Israel to become refugees in Egypt. This is the story of Jesus s birth told in scripture and sung in Christmas carols and seen in inflatable manger scenes bobbing around on neighbors front lawns. Mainstream Christianity 1

2 honors this holiday as a miraculous time rejoicing in the miracle of the birth of the Son of God, the Savior, to a Virgin woman. Some of us find the story moving, some find it cliché, and some, I m sure, frankly find it a bit ridiculous. A Virgin birth? Really? A Savior of what? When I was a child, I would go to my church s Christmas eve service every year with my family. I loved singing Christmas carols next to the rich alto of my mother s voice, I loved the beautiful candles in the Sanctuary, and I loved the cookies afterwards, and I COMPLETELY zoned out during all of the scripture readings. I m sure some of you did that tonight, right? Quirinus what-now? Which one is Nazareth again, and where is Galilee? That s why I told you the story again. I must say, though, the story feels deeply relevant to me this year. Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus, under threat of violence and political persecution, were forced to become refugees in a strange land. The most recent UN Refugee Agency data says there are 65.3 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, including 21.3 million refugees, more than half of whom are, like Mary was, under the age of ,972 people a day are forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. These are the highest levels of displacement on record. Jesus, a child of color born to impoverished parents, grows up to be murdered by the state at a young age. In the past few years, the Black Lives Matter movement has brought increased attention to the enormous long-standing crisis of young men of color being regularly killed by state violence here in this country. Herod the king, a power-hungry leader, lies about his motives to the wise men who come to him in good faith, and secretly plots to kill the baby Jesus who was prophesied to someday become more powerful than him. When his first plot to find and murder Jesus was foiled, he callously ordered the death of every young boy in the area, thinking if he killed all baby boys, certainly Jesus would be among them. A ruler who thinks more about his own maintenance of power than the horrific murderous implications of the policies he ordains well, that too feels devastatingly relevant. And at the same time, the story of the Jesus s birth is, indeed and miraculous story. Each birth is a mystery. Each child born is a miracle. Each night a child is born is a holy night. A time for singing, a time for wondering, a time for worshiping. A little over a year ago, I received a text message that another miraculous baby had been born. 2

3 Baby River Grace McHale Wagner decided to come early the text read. She s doing very well for a [7 week premature] baby. I m with her right now. She s a 5 pound 3 ounce beautiful girl. Anna had to have a C-section, and should be in recovery soon. I received this text between the 2 Sunday morning church services at the congregation where I used to serve in Oakland California, and rushed to get the exciting news announced from pulpit that morning. River Grace was, in fact, doing pretty well for one who arrived so much earlier than expected. But, like all significantly premature babies, she had to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, until she reached certain developmental milestones being able to regulate her own temperature and heart rate, for instance. So Matt and Anna, River Grace s parents, spent as much of their time in the NICU as possible, only driving the 10 minutes home to shower and occasionally take a nap, so they could be close to their tiny new daughter as she began to learn how to be a person in this world. River Grace shared that NICU room with another little baby, born around the same time. I ll call him Jordan. Jordan was premature as well, and had jaundice, so not only was he stuck in the NICU, he was stuck in his incubator receiving light treatment nearly 24 hours a day. Over time, Anna got to know Jordan s mom, who I ll call Vicky, as they both visited their new children. When one received difficult news about their little one that the baby would need an invasive test or need to stay in the NICU longer than expected, Anna and Vicky comforted one another. It s a hard thing, to have a baby in the NICU Anna told me, voice weary. Anna learned that Vicky lived in Antioch and it often took her an hour or more to get to the hospital. Vicky had also had a C-section, which made it impossible to drive herself, and she didn t have consistent transportation to come and visit Jordan. Vicky also had an older son to care for, making it even harder for her to make the long drive to the hospital to visit Jordan. When Vicky wasn t able to get to the hospital to visit Jordan, Anna started sending pictures of Jordan to Vicky so she could still see her son, but of course, that was never really enough. Anna s community was strong, and she was lucky to have a large number of friends offering meals, rides, and other kinds of support as River Grace was in the hospital. One day, a friend reached out to Anna and offered to give her a ride to or from the hospital. At the time, Anna had lots of help, and didn t need an extra ride. But then she thought of Vicky. And so she asked her friend if she might be willing to offer a ride to Vicky instead. 3

4 Over the next few days, Anna found a several friends who would be willing to make the drive from Oakland to Antioch to pick up this stranger Vicky, drive her to Oakland to visit her son, and drive her back a process that could take up to 4 hours in addition to the time spent in the hospital. Then Anna connected Vicky with another NICU mother she had met who lived near Vicky, so the two might carpool in to visit their little ones. Each birth is a mystery. Each child born is a miracle. Each night a child is born is a holy night. A time for singing, a time for wondering, a time for worshiping. ~~~ Another friend who is a new mother wrote these words when her baby was brand new: As a new mom during this season, I am very aware how much is unwritten in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John about Mary, Joseph and their new little baby [Was Mary] up late into the night worrying about her milk supply? Or peanut allergies? Did [Joseph] learn how to swaddle, like my husband, in the middle of the night, out of desperation to comfort this wailing little one?... Everyday, new aspects of parenting daunt me. Everyday I have to ask for help. I rely on others to care for me, to make me laugh and provided me needed perspective I wonder who stuck around and helped Mary fold all the laundry. Who brought over groceries and took out the trash? Who did Joseph call at 4am when the baby just wouldn t go to sleep? Who reminded them: No, You Are Not Failing and Yes, It Really Is This Hard. This Christmas, the savior I celebrate is the persistent, relentless love of community. This is the salvation I have known. 1 Anna, a new mother, aching from surgery, exhausted from lack of sleep, weary with worry about her fragile perfect tiny new daughter, also found herself held in the persistent, relentless love of community. Church community, family, friends, and others who offered to help wove together a network that held her and Matt through those difficult terrifying first few weeks of their firstborn s life. Community is a miracle. 1 Facebook Post: Emily Ann Hartlief, December

5 But the greatest miracle is this: when Anna found herself held by her community, she chose to expand the boundaries of that community to others she met in need. This is what Saves us the love shared with us, and the love we, in turn, share with others. Thousands of years ago, the very-pregnant Mary and her husband Joseph traveled 90 miles on foot through winding mountain trails from Nazareth to Bethlehem, only to find that no one would take them in only to find that their son s life was at risk as soon as he was born. But the animals heated the barn with their furry bodies and warm breath. The Angels sang. The shepherds came to offer their support. The wise men brought gifts. Time and time again, community came into being for them. And as they moved through life, we know that Mary, Joseph, and their son Jesus dedicated their lives to expanding the boundaries of community in order to help others in need. Each child s life is a miracle. But we need not create life to experience a miracle. In every moment, each of us has the choice to do the miraculous to weave the tapestry of love we call community. To welcome the stranger. To honor lives at risk. To join together for justice. To reach out to those in need. The scary and sad parts of the story of the birth of Jesus may resonate with us today. We too live in a time of refugee crisis, a time of babies at risk because of their color from early in life, a time of state-sponsored killing, a time of callous and cruel leaders. But the beautiful parts of the story may be ours as well. We can become the dwelling place for the holy when there is nowhere else to go. We can be the community that shows up for the refugee. We can be the ones who expand our community to help others in need. We can simply offer ours songs like angels, our gifts like wise men, our support like shepherds, our warmth like barn animals. We can make miracles. As you go forth this Christmas Eve, Feel the holiness of this night A time for singing, A time for wondering, A time for worshipping. A time for making miracles. Amen, and Blessed Be. 5

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