Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC December 24, 2015 Prelude Unwrapping Christmas the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:10-11 I often wonder, what is it about this night that entices us out and draws us together for worship? What is it that we seek? A holiday time out, the church providing respite care, offering socially acceptable interlude from our frenzied and fearful lives? Do we seek in this night what is elusive if not absent in the day a centering moment of grace, a holy pause in which to rest, and believe in the night what is denied in the day, however tangled and knotted our lives may be, however internally confused and externally conflicted, however mad, mad, mad the world, that all is calm, all is bright? Is it a favorite carol we seek, well sung, well played? Do we come with preconceived expectations? We don t tamper much with the order
of this worship year to year. We tweak here and there, but nothing approaching major revision. Page 2 Ding Dong! Merrily on High now that s the spirit of Christmas, isn t it? O Come, All Ye Faithful, Angels, We have Heard on High, Silent Night, Holy Night, can you imagine Christmas worship without these (I was thinking this week, for 1,500 years Christians celebrated Christmas without singing Silent Night. How did they manage? In the church s long history many of the songs we cherish are relatively recent.)? In store, in shopping mart or mall, I m not so particular. I m content with Holly, Jolly Christmas; Jingle Bell Rock; Reindeer, Santa songs, Elvis singing blue Christmas songs. But in church, there is a rather short list of standard fare, largely expected. Who would dare wrap this eve without including Away in a Manger, Joy to the World? Many of you may be aware that I ve been away for a few weeks, and in returning, my eye was wanting to see certain things around here; I had a checklist: green wreathes with red ribbons at the door; the graceful Lady, our Narthex angel, providing welcome to the sanctuary; and within the tapestries in place, and advent candles (to the left), and crèche (to the right); and the poinsettias, sentinels on the chancel steps. Everything in place, just so, good presentation, quite right to charm a feeling, to ameliorate a mood. Christmas confession: I want Christmas wrapped with feel good, and I m on guard for those who would tamper with
and step on my sentiments. Yet if this is the only layer of concern wrapping the Child present, then a word of caution is necessary for strong are the cultural trappings that mislead, and strong also the powers that deceive with no intent other than to lead us into nostalgic quest for a lullaby good for us but of no consequence for the world. The world that is our home, the world God loves, can be so coarse, so cruel. Do we not need to unwrap Christmas, and discover hope for our humanity? Do we not need to unwrap Christmas, and listen for the song of the angels that melts the coldest and most callous of hearts, breaking the spell of fear and apprehension? Do we not need to unwrap Christmas to embrace yet again, with fresh fervor, the Child born for us, that we might attain a fullness of life, with peace, and love, and joy, with enough for all to share, and none to be denied? ***** ***** ***** ***** This is a night of great mystery for Christians who revere the way of Jesus. The mystery is that of a Love that transcends, of Divinity that draws near, assessing humanity worthy to serve as a dwelling place; and favoring us, blessing us, with the Child able to save, deliver, and redeem us. The poet, Denise Levertov (1923-1997) captures this sense of awesome wonder in a poem that sees the birth of Christ as a gift stemming from God s compassion for what is ugly. Page 3
On the Mystery of the Incarnation Page 4 It's when we face for a moment the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know the taint in our own selves, that awe cracks the mind's shell and enters the heart: not to a flower, not to a dolphin, to no innocent form but to this creature vainly sure it and no other is god-like, God (out of compassion for our ugly failure to evolve) entrusts, as guest, as brother, the Word. If we, in our endless human scheming, give evidence of anything, is it not of our ugly failure to evolve. Yet what wondrous love that God would come to dwell, to speak, to entrust to us saving Word, loving Word, healing Word. This is an unwrapping of Christmas urgently needed today. ***** ***** ***** ***** There is another layer of Christmas that we need to unwrap, and it is the sense that Christmas is all over, past tense, a drama lodged in the long ago, with neither claim nor power to impact our day. We under-wrap the love of God if we mistakenly liken Christmas to the way we often see Creation, as Great Birth, a compliment to Big Bang. The Nativity we honor this eve is not a one-and-done novelty; the Word wrapped in flesh does not refuse earth an encore. This is why Christmas comes with an edge. We should rightly wonder: where next? For it is in the nature of the God we revere to come, to dwell, to abide, to birth us,
to seek and to save us, to work in us, for us, to complete us - in spite of our ugly failure to evolve. Page 5 If God can deliver in Bethlehem, then there is no earthbound person or place off limits to the wild pursuits of God s love. This means, in the words of Frederick Buechner, that we are never safe, that there is no place where we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from God s power to break in two and re-create the human heart, because it is just where God seems most helpless that God is most strong, and just where we least expect it that God comes most fully. Frederick Buechner, The Hungering Dark, 1985 Unwrapping Christmas. It is one of the great challenges we face in the church. Untying the bows, picking apart the sticky tape, slicing the ribbons that bind, working through tissue and paper designed to keep concealed what treasure lies deep within. We often need the help of others in unwrapping the life-changing gifts that come our way, which is why I think our nativity lessons in the Bible employ angels. They are skilled in deciphering what is most important. Such is the angel that interrupted the shepherds so long ago. Do not afraid for I bring you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord This is getting to the heart of the matter: Good news great joy for all the people birth of a Savior to you today. May this gift, unwrapped in labor, unveiled in stable, spare us our folly and lead us through our every night to the daybreak of joy, now and forever. Amen. (Sermons are typically composed in haste, for the demands of the day are many; so be charitable as you read; and remember: the contents of this sermon have not been edited and may or may not have been a part of its public presentation)