Advent Lutheran Church

"Seeing God for Others (Christmas Eve)"

Things as certain as Death and Taxes, can be more firmly believ'd. [1726 Defoe Hist. Devil ii. vi.]

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

[1789 Benj. Franklin Letter 13 Nov. in Writings]

 

A pastor friend of mine began his Christmas Eve sermon last year with that old adage:  “The only thing that is certain is death and taxes.”  Tonight we hear again the story which begins with an empire-wide registration for the purposes of Roman taxation, and climaxes in death.  This would, apparently, bear out the proverb, but the twist for us Christians, is that there appears to be something else that is certain…and that is:  God is love.

 

Pastors love to bemoan “Christmas” – especially during the frenzied weeks between Thanksgiving and this night – why, I’ve even done it!  In fact, we try very carefully to “hold back” during Advent, not decorating until late December, “saving” the Christmas carols and attempting to focus on the “Prepare! Repent! and Waiting” themes to make the distinction between the all-out cultural and consumer “Christmas” and our religious celebration of “The Nativity of Our Lord.”  But I believe that I am beginning to agree with the History Channel’s piece on the “history” of Christmas – that it is the one holiday that everyone can celebrate:  whether you put up a Hanukkah menorah and focus on the festival of lights, or fast and feast for Eid.  Whether you remember your roots in Africa through Kwanzaa - in Northern Europe by eating special foods or singing traditional songs, - or if you simply take a moment to enjoy decorating your home, yourself and your life with some good holiday cheer and merriment, 98% of Americans celebrate Christmas in some form.  To be honest, I don’t think that hurts the Christian faithful one bit.  For Christ will never be removed from Christmas, the same way that we believe that God will never abandon his church.  For those of us who celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem, the festival is kept where our deepest values reside:  in our hearts and our homes and our relationships.  Because just as God came down and the Word became flesh and lived among us…Jesus’ birth is a story of love, and relationship, and God’s promises to the crown of Creation:  humanity (you and me.)

 

Human beings require relationships and love to flourish, and even survive.  It’s how we were “stuck together” by God, to yearn for companionship, for people with which to share our lives, our work, and yes, our pains and our joys.  We know deep down inside that we were not meant to be alone, and even those of us who wish to be solitary - or to have more solitude - know that God loves us best through the ones with which we share our lives.  That is why God has given us the gift of love.  And children are born out of it; adolescents grow up and learn to yearn for it; teens require supervision because of it; young adults worry whether they’ll ever find it; grown-ups commit to it, get comfortable with it, lose it, grieve it.  Being loved and loving others is possible because God showed us how.  As it says in 1 John 4:19, “We love, because God first loved us.”

 

One of my favorite preschool songs is Bryan Sirchio’s, “Wherever Love is, God is There, too,” because it switches my childhood perspective of “God is Love” around to help me see it from the other side, the human side.  In other words, “Love is of God.”  Wherever we see love, or better yet, FEEL love, God seems so very present and so real to us, and for at least a moment, we are CHANGED by love’s presence.   Fr. Henri Nouwen says that having experienced God (in this way,) we have a lifelong desire to be with God and to proclaim to others the God we experienced…Seeing God in the most intimate moments of our lives is seeing God for others.”  Or, to paraphrase, seeing love is seeing God’s love for others.

 

We have been seeing God’s love for others all our lives, each time we experience “the spirit of Christmas.”   But, perhaps we are not convinced that the “spirit of Christmas” might actually be God’s Spirit, and we prefer to explain these love feelings as the normal way that human love is expressed in our lives.  We might write love off as “natural” or “instinctual” or even, “biological.”  But some may desire a more “miraculous” experience, similar to what the main characters in tonight’s story with “the spirit of Christmas.”

 

                        Mary had a visit from the angel Gabriel

                        So did Joseph, although his visit came through a visionary dream

                        Shepherds had the host of God’s heavenly beings in chorus

                        Wise Ones had that star

 

Why do we not get that kind of “miraculous” experience of the Presence of God?  Some people say: "I never had an experience of (God). ... I am just an ordinary person, not a mystic…" But God offers that gift in one way or another to all God's children…For some people the experience…comes in a spectacular way, as it did to St. Paul when he fell to the ground on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:3-4). But for some of us it comes like a murmuring sound or a gentle breeze touching our backs (1 Kings 19:13). God loves us all and wants us all to know this in a most personal way.” (Henri Nouwen)    

 

The Heart of Christmas is sort of a Christian Valentine’s Day – This is why we tell the story of how God so loved the world, that God came down in a form that we could hold in our arms, a child that would not frighten us, someone just like us, except for his amazing capacity to love us, even with the ultimate sacrifice.

It is a celebration of love, as begotten by God.  Not the darker side of human love, but the simple, exhilarating feeling that love evokes in us:  I am beloved.  I am acceptable.  My life has meaning.  I am not alone.

 

I had a friend some years ago who was a short term missionary to China.  She spent a few years there learning Mandarin and teaching English in a Christian school.  One of her first assignments for the children was at Christmas.  (from Liz Ingram Kennedy’s Hong Kong Log – “Assignments:  What Christmas means to me.”) 

                                    “To me, Christmas is a lot of people thinking about Jesus.

                                       I know I should think about Jesus more,

                                       but sometimes this isn’t easy. 

                                       So I think about Jesus for 1 or 2 minutes

                                                and then stop.”

 

My favorite story she told us was about class on the day before the big School Picnic.  Liz, attempting to teach her class of little ones about prayer, assigned them to ask God for the rain to stop.  They practiced together.  A solemn promise was extracted from each that they would pray all night for the rain to stop.  The next morning, rain.  As they lined up for the bus, one little girl commented to Liz, “Miss, rain today.”  “Uh oh,” thought Liz.  “Does she think God has let them down?  How could I have made such a stupid assignment?”  But then the student smiled shyly and said, “Somebody didn’t do their homework.” 

 

At this point I’d like to ask you to turn to the person next to you and tell them you love them. Even if you don’t know them, just remember the Bible verse, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) or, think of the song, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”  Oh come on!  I don’t care if you fought all the way over here.  And especially if you haven’t said those “three little words” to the person next to you yet, this will break the ice and make it easier. 

 

I remember my Mom’s advice when I started dating:  “When you say ‘I love you’ to a boy, the next sentence should be:  ‘and I want to marry you.’”  Perhaps we have all protected our hearts a little too much.  Perhaps we could all stand to repeat these words more frequently.

 

OK, I’ll give you another chance.  Look into the person’s eyes and say “I love you” again.  We need to practice this, because somehow it is difficult.  Sometimes it causes deep emotions to well up.  Sometimes we become complacent.  And sometimes we withhold it.  So say it again.  Say it with meaning. 

 

This is your “homework.”  Start tonight.  Tell people you love them.  Different kinds of people, different kinds of love.  Different relationships, different ways of loving.  But LOVE is where God is…and if we want folks to see God, to experience God’s presence, we need to learn how to see God for others, especially in those times when they cannot see God for themselves.

 

Say it, as if you were seeing God for someone else.  Say it as if you were conveying the very heart of God to someone who needs to know.  And, oh, by the way, I love you all.  Now, have a Merry Christmas.  Amen.