The light shines in the darkness, Christmas Eve

Isaiah 9:2-7

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-on them light has shined…. ⁶For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Luke 2:1-14

¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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            A lot of the time we feel like God is far away. Sometimes we’re glad for that because, honestly, we kind of want to be left alone. We have plenty to do without thinking about God. The kids need to go to basketball and cheerleading and Scouts. The deadline is Friday, the mortgage is almost due and mom’s having trouble with her nurses again. We’ve got enough on our plate without staring off into heaven looking for meaning when we know the world is really about cold, hard facts.

            Sometimes we feel like there should be something more, but there doesn’t seem to be. When we lose a relative or a relationship or a job we feel this emptiness that doesn’t fit with the idea we heard long ago about a God who loves us deeply. Maybe we try talking to God and all we hear is silence, or we pray for a miracle and no healing comes.

            Maybe you used to believe, but now we’re not sure. Maybe you’ve been sitting in the same pew or one that looks like it for thirty years, but the words just don’t have the impact they used to. The promises you learned when you were young seem so hard to believe now because the world is hard and the nights are long.

            Maybe you want to believe but you’re carrying a burden that keeps you away from God. Maybe there’s something in your past you’re ashamed of. Maybe someone hurt you so badly you can’t let it go and the anger eats away at your soul. Or maybe somewhere along the line you got the message that Christianity is for good people, or successful people or straight people. Maybe someone told you you didn’t fit in, didn’t belong.

            Sometimes the small words are the most important. Isaiah says, “To us a child is born.” He says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” The angel tells the shepherds he is bringing, “Good news of great joy for all the people.” “To you,” not to the rich, the famous, the powerful, but to you, the ordinary, the struggling, the outcast…. “To you is born a savior.”

            Jesus didn’t appear for the folks who have it all together. He didn’t come because heaven was boring and he wanted a change of scene. He didn’t come to reassure the folks in power that they were doing ok and that keeping people down was fine. Jesus came for us, for you. He came for everyone, and especially for those who sometimes feel like no one is on our side. The people who walked in darkness now see a great light.

There have been dark times this last year. Right across the bay a year ago two brave firefighters were murdered and two more were injured as they tried to do their job. Many people have lost jobs, lost family or lost relationships. Others have recently seen great light: a new job, a new baby, a deepening relationship.

In all the ups and downs, Jesus comes into our world, into our hearts to save us. To save us from despair and loneliness, to save us from complacency and self-satisfaction, to save us from spending our whole life chasing success instead of following love.

            Jesus came to bridge the gap between God and the world. He came to show us a whole different side of God, a whole different side of power and of love. The story of Jesus is all about God stepping out of power, taking on our weakness and our trouble and jumping into the middle of everything hard about human life.

Even at his birth Jesus tears down boundaries. The radical move of becoming human wasn’t quite enough for Jesus. He chose to be born in a barn to parents who weren’t married yet. The rest of his life follows that pattern too. Jesus keeps reaching out to people who are on the outside, people who are looked down on, people who have to struggle to survive.

Jesus is a savior for everyone. Whatever is keeping you away from God, keeping you from feeling at peace, keeping you from being who you are meant to be, Jesus came to save you. That doesn’t always mean he’s going to take the burden off your shoulders, but he can transform it and transform you.

The illness isn’t cured, but the stress of care giving is redeemed by a deepened love for your mom. The job doesn’t change, but as you trust God’s love more you find space for joy in the small moments of your work. The relationship isn’t healed, but you find a way to let go, to lay down the burden of the past. The shepherds return from the stable to their work, not free from struggle, but free from struggling alone.

           

            To us a child is born, for us a son is given. Good tidings of great joy for all people. Come to the stable and be renewed by the light of God’s love in the darkness. Thanks be to God.

"Shepherds in the fields", Christmas Eve

Isaiah 9:2-7

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-on them light has shined…. ⁶For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Gospel Luke 2:1-14

¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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            This is a crazy story we’ve just read together. It’s even crazier because somehow, even in our increasingly secular society, millions of people hear this story every year. Those of us who grew up in the church can even forget how amazing the story is because it’s so familiar. It’s a story we keep coming back to for many reasons. We come back to this story because it is familiar: it feels good in difficult and changing times to be with people we know in a safe place hearing this wonderful story in words and music.

            We come back to the story too because it is comforting: God’s love and hope breaks into a dark and cold world in the birth of this special baby. New babies always remind us of hope for the future, and this baby’s arrival in a stable but still surrounded with love and protection is hope itself.

           

            We come back to the story because there’s just something about it that is compelling. Some of us wrestle with institutional religion; some of us wrestle with ideas like resurrection and miracles. But there’s something about Jesus that just feels right and true, something that calls us even if we can’t figure out why. His teachings cut through all the nonsense in his world and in ours; his words of welcome and challenge ring down through the ages. There’s a sense in the Gospels that Jesus is speaking right to us, because he is.

            Even here when Jesus isn’t saying anything, the story still speaks to us. We think about Mary and Joseph, newly married and full of hope. We think about them having to travel for this census when Mary is nine months pregnant. We imagine them far from home and without family or friends to care for them when it’s time for Mary to give birth. Soon after their son is born they will have to flee the country to save him from King Herod’s persecution. They will have to pick up their lives and start over again. In a year like this one that story speaks to all of us.

            But even in the midst of all that uncertainty, in the middle of a strange town full of people they don’t know, they find a way to keep Mary and the baby safe. They find a warm place with hay and some protection from the elements. And in that stable filled with amazing love, they bring a new life into the world. In that stable they became a crucial part of bringing God’s hope and promise into the world in a new way.

            We come back to this story because it’s our story. It’s a story for everyone. Mary and Joseph are regular people chosen for the incredible ministry of raising God’s son. The shepherds are regular people working overnight to make a living. Many people wouldn’t want much to do with the shepherds, covered with mud and worse from their weeks of sleeping in the fields with the sheep. But the angel makes a special trip to tell these shepherds the good news of Christ’s birth.

The King's Judgment, 11.20

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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We may not know Ezekiel as well as Jeremiah and Isaiah. His visions and actions are often strange, though this vision is easy enough to follow. Ezekiel preached in the years before and after Judah’s defeat and occupation by Babylon. His prophetic words combine criticism of injustice with hope for Israel’s future. Let’s see what Ezekiel has to say to us this morning.

Ezekiel 34:1-24 (pg. 803-804)

1 The word of the Lord came to me: ²Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel:

Let’s start out by getting our parts straight so we can understand this passage. Who do you think Ezekiel and God mean by the shepherds of Israel? Who are the sheep in this passage?

We’ll find out more about this in a minute, but why do you think God might want Ezekiel to prophesy against Israel’s leaders? Don’t worry if you don’t know the answer, the passage will get to it, I just want to get our brains warmed up by thinking about where we might be headed.

²Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? ³You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them.

What’s a shepherd’s job? How is a king or business leader like a shepherd? What’s their responsibility to the people they lead? What does it seem like these leaders were doing instead?

Check this out: Ezekiel says that Israel’s shepherds, Israel’s leaders, are so bad that they aren’t really shepherds at all.

⁵So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. ⁶My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

What happens to sheep without a shepherd? What does being scattered mean in this case? How does God feel about this situation?

⁷Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.

God warns the shepherds, the leaders of Israel, that they haven’t done their job. They haven’t taken care of the sheep, so God is going to kick the shepherds out and take care of the sheep himself. In other words, even though it seems like the powerful can take advantage of the weak forever, even though it seems like the leaders of society can ignore the needs of others and pile up riches for themselves, it won’t always be that way. God is going to step into the picture and take care of people in need. God is going to take his flock back from the selfish leaders and give them the care they aren’t getting from their shepherds.

¹¹For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ¹²As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

God’s sheep, God’s people won’t always be scattered in the wilderness. Israel and Judah are exiled from their land now, but it won’t always be that way. One day God will bring back the exiles and make sure everyone has good land to feed on. God will make sure everyone has enough.

no room in the inn (12.24.10)

First Reading Isaiah 9:2-7

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-on them light has shined…. ⁶For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Gospel Luke 2:1-14

¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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            If there’s anyone here who doesn’t know this story, I’m really glad that you’re here tonight. I hope you’ll leave your name and contact information on one of the visitor cards in the pew rack in front of you. I would love to hear your first impressions of this amazing story. If you’re new to the story of Jesus you have a unique contribution to make to the way we hear the story, because for many of us, it is so familiar it has lost some of its fire. Still, as familiar as this story is, God keeps opening our eyes to see different parts of it in a new way.

            Last year in November I read all the Advent passages in a row to think about the big picture of Advent and Christmas. I remember coming to this passage and reading for the hundredth or thousandth time, “She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

            There I was, sitting on the carpeted floor of my office at home, when my voice broke and tears ran down my face. A pregnant woman travelling with her new husband was about to give birth, and there was no room for them in the inn. Christ the Lord came from heaven to save us, and there was no room for him in the inn.

            I wept, but I certainly can’t judge, since I don’t always make room for Jesus either. How often do we lock Jesus out of our homes, out of our decisions, out of our hearts? How often are we the innkeeper who sees the young mother in need and decides not to make room? How often do we hear Christ knocking at the doors of our life and pretend we are not home? Why don’t we make room for Jesus? Why wasn’t there room for Christ at the inn?