Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 24 Dec. 2014, Christmas
Eve/Christmas 1
RCL: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
Merry
Christmas!
It
is delightful to say “Merry Christmas” after all the weeks of our
waiting, anticipating & preparing
through Advent
& before that!
When we say “Merry Christmas” we often have a mental picture of
Mary with Baby Jesus; it's as if we say “Mary/M-A-R-Y”
Christmas”, overlooking Joseph or seeing him away in the back of
the stable.
I
wonder how Mary AND Joseph felt on that night of nights. We know a
bit about how each received & reacted to the unexpected news that
Mary would have a child. The angel Gabriel gives Mary the news. In a
dream, Joseph learns this is God's plan. Mary goes to visit her old
cousin Elizabeth for 3 months & then comes home to finish
gestating. When it's almost time for Mary to deliver the baby, the
emperor demands a census, requiring the people to travel to their
family's hometown – what a pain in the neck at Christmas! Think how
you would feel if the government demanded each of us go to Atlanta
Dec. 24th
so the government could get a headcount.
I
wonder about the stress Mary feels walking or riding a donkey on that
5-day/90-mile1
forced-march with none of our amenities, no car or public
transportation, no welcome center, no restrooms. I wonder how Joseph
feels having to go on that long trek. It would be tough enough if he
could go alone, leaving his young, pregnant fiance at home to be
tended by family or friends. But NO: the emperor insists, “Everybody,
report to your family's hometown.” So Joseph has to take his
beloved Mary, who is about ready to deliver this Baby!
We
know that Joseph is a carpenter whose work demands planning. This
trip demands planning. Joseph prepares carefully in case Mary goes
into labor en route. He studies the route, packs plenty of supplies,
does all he can to prepare.2
How does he expect to find a place to stay in Bethlehem?
Obviously
he didn't call ahead to book a room. Joseph & Mary finally arrive
& the inn keeper says: “No room. We're full.” Joseph has no
Hilton Honors card to flash his diamond status to demand that 1 room
that's always available for the elite. What does Joseph feel with no
place to stay? He's planned so much. They've come so far. They're
finally here.
Think
of a time you traveled when you would have preferred to stay home,
when the journey was hard or inconvenient. “There are times in our
journey when we think the end is in sight. The hard part is
over...we're about to (finish &) something happens...(It seems so
hard, so unfair)...(Why can't this be easy?)”3
Our
journey with God has times “of excitement, joy, & even rest,
but it's unlikely that the journey will ever be easy.”4
The
several times he preached here some years ago, the Rev. Charles
Hoskins of Savannah
regularly
reminded us of this. He
would say & repeat these 3 sentences: “God
is good all the time. All the time God is good. But God is never
easy.”
My
Brothers & Sisters, Jesus comes to show us how to live especially
when life isn't easy & we encounter roadblocks on our journey.
Jesus comes as a human boy to show us how to look differently at our
un-easy times.
Despite
how difficult the emperor's demand is that makes Joseph go to
Bethlehem, it is God's plan for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. For
Jesus to be born in a stable assures us that God has down-to-earth,
first-hand experience with the hard times of human life.
Joseph,
the planner & doer, this man of action who earns his living by
the work of his hands has done all he can to provide for Mary. As she
gives birth to Jesus, so much of is out of his hands5.
The labor is Mary's work6:
Joseph can wipe sweat from her brow, help her breath, give her some
water.
Suddenly
Mary's labor is completed. A new life is swaddled & cuddled in
Joseph's arms. Imagine how Mary looks at Baby Jesus when Joseph hands
this precious infant to her.
Imagine
Joseph's surprise as this unexpected bunch of shepherds appear
suddenly, crowding at the stable entrance. As if Joseph needs one
more surprise, these outdoors men tell him:
“So
we're in the fields like always watching our sheep when – Schzaam!7
– an angel stands in front of us. God's glory shines all around us
& we are terrified – scared stiff – until the angel says:
'Don't be afraid. I've got good news: a brand new baby is born, &
this is great joy for everybody! He's the Savior – God's Anointed
One8.
You'll find him in a manger – no kidding in a manger – yep,
you'll see him in an animal's feed box.'
“So
there we are trying to take all this in & Schzaam! a whole bunch
of angels joins in praising God. We just stand there open-mouthed &
then try to sing along: 'Glory
to God in the hrighest heaven, & on earth peace...'
“Then
we say to ourselves: we gotta go to Bethlehem & see this Baby! So
we drop everything & here we are. We found you! And we're still
amazed. We're as amazed as you are & everybody who hears this
Good News!
“We'll
tell you how good this news is: We left our sheep & we're at
peace about their safety on this night of nights “
“What
a night! “What a beautiful Baby.”
“Did
you see that? He smiled! He opened his eyes & looked right at me
& smiled. Don't tell me newborns don't open their eyes. I saw
him.”
“Wow!
What a night!”
What
a night indeed!
This
night is special & different. This amazing news calls the
shepherds to be adventuresome. This amazing news calls us again &
again to come & see Jesus, then to go & tell others about
Jesus.
This
night – tonight – is special & different. God has called you.
me – us – here this night to come & grow in grace, to be
nourished with the gift Jesus gives us in Holy Commmunion – this
gift of life & love, this gift of Jesus himself.
Know
this: ...”It's not how you (plan for the journey) that's important,
it's being willing to take the journey & go wherever God leads
you.”9
As
you journey with God, remember Joseph with his rough, practical
carpenter's hands, holding the Baby Jesus. Think of the awe that must
fill him as he holds Jesus, breathing his first breaths of earth's
air. We know that God is awesome & far other
than we are. Joseph knows this, too. Yet here he holds Baby Jesus,
God's Son, God Incarnate – God In Human Flesh. Awesome. Holding new
life IS awesome.
“Awesome
and above being possessed by mere mortals, this mighty God calls us
friend and beloved child. God's fearsome love for us (leads Jesus) to
the cross where Jesus dies for us.”10
“Once
we have truly known God, that same fearsome love compels us to lay
our life on the line, pick up our cross, and follow.”11
As
we follow Jesus, we have abundant opportunities to share the Good
News to people who are in darkness. Shine the light on them. How you
shine the light depends on your personality & your unique gifts.
The “how” may be different. The work is the same: share the Good
News. As St. Francis tells us: Always preach the Good News & use
words when you must.
Bibliography
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Kautz,
Richard. A
Labyrinth Year: Walking the Seasons of the Church.
Harrisburg: Morehouse. 2005.
The
New American Bible for Catholics.
South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
Robinson,
Barbara. The
Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
New York: Avon Books. 1972.
Tenney,
Merrill C. Handy
Dictionary of the Bible.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. 1965.
3
Ibid. P. 9.
4
Ibid.
5
Note: Thought from Ibid. Kautz. P. 13.
6
Note: Ibid. Kautz. P. 13.
9
Ibid. Kautz. P. 6.
10
Ibid. P. 15.
11
Ibid.
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