A Christmas Stocking for Jesus One of the things I enjoy about the holiday season is all the Christmas films on television. One of my favorites, one that was shown a few weeks ago, is a movie from the 1940s: The Bishop s Wife. An Episcopal Bishop, played by David Niven, has been working on plans to build a new cathedral. The work is literally killing him. He is exhausted, cynical and angry. He finds pleasing donors difficult; accommodating different viewpoints almost impossible. He is stressed out and at his wits end. All the joy of ministry has been drained out of him, and it affects not only himself but his marriage, his wife and daughter. He wonders why he ever became a priest, let alone a bishop. In desperation he prays to God for help. God responds by sending him an unlikely angel by the name of Dudley, played by Carey Grant. Dudley does indeed help, but not in a way that the bishop might have preferred. He helps the bishop to gain a new perspective on life, to return to his priestly roots, to renew his faith and his marriage, and to begin to take hold once again of the true meaning of Christmas. In the final scene, the bishop delivers a Christmas Eve sermon at his former parish. The sermon was penned by Dudley, but it reflects the bishop s heart. He says this: Tonight, I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking. Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child s cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven t forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with
gifts. But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Harry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child in a manger it s his birthday that we are celebrating. Don t let us ever forget that. Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched-out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth. I love that little sermon because it captures the true spirit of the season. At the center of Christmas is Jesus. We can think about Christmas in so many ways when it s really about Jesus this baby coming into our world, born in dire poverty, an outcast with his own people, and not even a room in the inn for him this birth is at the center of history and at the heart of our faith. But you may ask, how is it that this little baby born in one of the most obscure and inconsequential parts of the world and such a long time ago, is of any importance to us today? It s a fair question. Certainly, there are instances of one unlikely person making a difference in the world. Take, for example, a plaque in Hodgeville, Kentucky that records a conversation that happened in 1809. Any news in the village, Ezry? Well, Squire McLain s gone to Washington to see Madison swore in, and ol Spellman tells me this Bonaparte fella has captured
most of Spain. What s new out here, neighbor? Nothing, nothing at all, except for a new baby born to Tom Lincoln s. Nothing ever happens out here. Well, the birth of Abraham Lincoln turned out to be a pretty significant event after all. Sometimes big things happen in small places. But even Lincoln s birth pales in comparison to the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus birth literally divides history into B.C. and A.D. The world, or at least that part of the world influenced by the gospel, is now more humane, more compassionate, even more civilized than it was during the time of the Roman Empire. Many of the things we take for granted today from hospitals and universities and social service agencies would not have existed before Jesus was born. We are not perfect, to be sure, but at least we affirm the dignity of human life, the equality of men and women and people of every race and ethnicity, and the importance of justice and fairness in the rule of law. Much of this progress we can attribute to Jesus and his influence throughout the centuries. But it is not just human progress that Jesus makes possible. This baby laid in a feed box for animals is God with us the God who comes to us and shares our humanity the God who cares for us and saves us, the God who loves us so much that he would even die for us, because in Jesus he did. If you have ever asked the question, Does God care about me? You have only to look to Jesus who demonstrates God s total and unconditional love for every one of us. This Christmas Eve we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of one of the most popular songs ever written, Silent Night. On
Christmas Eve 1818, in the church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf near Salzburg, Silent Night was sung for the first time. A Catholic priest, the Rev. Joseph Mohr wrote the words as a reflection on peace after a summer of violence and riots in Salzburg. The world was tumultuous then as it is now, and Father Mohr knew that what humanity needed was precisely what the Son of God brings peace. Mohr asked his friend Franz Xavier Gruber, the organist at Oberndorf, to set his words to music. Gruber did so, and together that evening at Christmas Eve Mass, the two performed Silent Night for the first time, Mohr singing and Gruber playing the guitar, since the church organ was not working. What is it about Silent Night that so captures our imagination? I suppose because we all want to believe that peace on earth is possible, that good will among the men and women can occur, that people can put aside their differences and even their hostilities and together worship the child lying in a manger, Jesus the Son of God. It was not by coincidence that in 1941, after America entered the Second World War, President Franklin Roosevelt and the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill stood on the balcony of the White House and joined the crowd gathered in front to sing Silent Night. Yes, Jesus the Son of God brings peace on earth. Jesus brings peace in our hearts. Jesus transcends differences, overcomes hostilities, puts aside prejudices and offers us the hope of new life in God. This is the message we need to take into every prison, every migrant camp, every nursing home, every hospice, and every addiction recovery center in this land. We also need to take it into every home from the finest mansion to the lowliest shack God is with us, because Jesus is born.
That, dear people, is what Christmas is all about. God can touch ordinary lives and turn them into something beautiful. God can comfort every aching heart. God can soothe every hurting soul. God can transform lives, so that no one is ever helpless or hopeless. Why because a baby was born in the little town of Bethlehem who is Christ the Lord God-with-us Jesus the Son of God. Let me return to where I began, with the bishop s sermon. At the end of his sermon, the bishop says that we are to hang a stocking for Jesus, and in it let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched-out hand of tolerance. Wouldn t these be wonderful gifts to give back to God for his gift of Jesus to us? To make the world a little kinder by how we treat one another; to have a warm heart of affection that reaches out to the least, the last and the lost among us; to show tolerance and respect to those who may be outwardly different from us but inwardly are the same precious children of God? How much brighter and better the world might be if each of us, in our own way, cultivated loving kindness, a warm heart and the hand of tolerance? When I lived in San Diego, there was a megachurch that was preparing for the annual Christmas play. In the church school, there was a boy by the name of Robert who was mentally challenged and, I think, also autistic. He was a slow-learner and had to struggle to keep up with the others in his class. Robert wanted to be in the play, but his Sunday school teacher knew he was not capable of memorizing lines. However, the other children in the class begged the teacher, Let Robert have a part. So, the teacher cast Robert as the Bethlehem innkeeper. He had to say only two words, No room. And after Mary said something,
he was supposed to say for a second time, No room. Finally, there came the first night of the performance. The church was packed. The pageant unfolded in all its splendor with live animals, costumes, an orchestra and beautiful background settings. Mary and Joseph approached the inn and knocked on the door. Robert the innkeeper opened the door and flawlessly proclaimed, No room. Then Mary said, But I m tired and I m sick and I m about to have a baby. I must have a place for him to be born. Then she began to cry. Robert paused for a few moments and then said, I know what I m supposed to say, but you can have my room. At that everyone in the church burst into applause that didn t stop for a whole minute. Thank God for people who dare to violate scripts so that they can follow a higher impulse of love! This Christmas hang a stocking for Jesus. Put in it as much kindness, affection and tolerance that you can give. Make this world a brighter, better place because love s pure light and the dawn of redeeming grace has come among us in Jesus. Yes, Jesus, Lord at thy birth. Jesus, Lord at thy birth. Dr. Gary Nicolosi December 24, 2018 Text Luke 2: 1-14 Christmas Eve, C