What
Happens to the Sheep?
Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St. John’s
Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA; Christmas Eve, 24 Dec. 2013
Year
A RCL: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
The people who walked in
darkness have seen a great light, Isaiah tells us in tonight's
reading.
There are many kinds of darkness.
I remember the darkness
at Christmas when we'd lost a good-paying full-time job. My part-time
work supplemented my self-employment as a free lance writer. I
remember deciding to take a break from dismal financial figuring to
read a cheery- looking note in the stack of mail. The message from
United Thank Offering encourages me to save loose change to give to
the poor. I cry. Right now, we ARE poor. Every bit of loose change
goes to the next week's groceries at the discount store.
I
feel more depressed as I drive to my part-time job. I tell God I feel
really bad about not giving, but I have to use loose change to feed
our son. I can't see any hope, any way to help except to pray. I
can't look up. Eyes downcast as I get out of the car, I see a penny
on the ground & pick it up. As I put it in my pocket, I think
darkly: this won't do
any good.
On
my desk are 2 pennies. Hmmm. I pick them up & put them in my
pocket. I push open the curtains. On the floor sits a pile of
pennies!. . . . I inquire of co-workers. "No, they don't belong to
anyone. Guess, they're yours!"
God knows
I am slow to catch on, but light starts to break into my darkness. I
laugh a little & save the pennies to send to United Thank
Offering – someday – when I have more to send.
More
comes sooner than I expect. For weeks I find stray coins in the
oddest of places! . . . . I KNOW God IS in charge. God DOES provide
. . . in unexpected ways. God
meets us where we are.
Even
when we are downcast & cannot look up, God comes down to where we
are
&
looks
us in the eye with God's eyes of love.
The question is . . . . do
we see
God's love?
My
Brothers & Sisters, Jesus comes to redeem us & give us fuller
life & love. I know from experience this is
hard to remember when life is hard, when we are in the grip of many
demands. Some demands we self-impose as we strive to make the perfect
Christmas.
We can be
so busy (as
Glennon Doyle Melton writes in “A Christmas Miracle,”)
that we have no room in our hearts for Jesus1
& we send him away to the manger to get out of our way.
If the perfect Christmas
means we have every detail taken care of, tell me: Why at the first
Christmas do the shepherds leave their sheep? How could they possibly
herd all of them into Bethlehem that is so crowded Mary & Joseph
have to go to the stable? Why didn't God didn't have a plan to
protect the sheep from lions & wolves & bears?
I
wonder . . . . .if the shepherds laugh in joy they after they get
over being terrified. . . . . Joy & laughter are
gifts from God, who creates us in God's image. . . . We laugh, so God
must laugh. One good belly laugh raises the immune system for 3 days.
So laughter is healthy. It can instill
peace.
Maybe
the shepherds' laughter & joy join the joy of Mary & Joseph &
the angels & fill the world with God's profound peace – however
briefly on this night of nights. So that peace settles on the bear,
the lion, the wolf – peace that gives them deep sleep & freedom
from worry about their next meal. So the sheep are
safe in the peaceable kingdom we glimpse on this night of nights.
How
does
this night come to be? I wonder . . . . if one
day the Holy Trinity discusses the darkness we stumble in &
brainstorms how to bring light to us – Holy life-giving Light –
that will restore us fully in God's image so that we live in justice
& righteousness, as Isaiah says. . . . .
Maybe the conversation goes like this:
God
the Father says:
Y'all
we've got a problem on earth.
The
Holy Spirit says:
Yes!
The people – especially the leaders – ignore what we say through
the prophets about how to live.
The regular folk don't stand a chance
to live fully & know us fully.
God
the Father says:
We
promised not to zap them again with a flood. They rationalize natural
disasters & ignore their responsibility for caring for all of
creation.
If only we could talk to them one-on-one.
Jesus
says: Hey,
that could work!
What if I get born to one of them? Not as a prince
but as a regular person.
Oh, what if I get born in a stable &
sleep in a feedbox2!?
That's so funny . . . . it just might work!
At least it might give
humans some joy & a good laugh!
They are
so dreary.
The
Father says:
Son,
IF
you do this, many will remember &
set up little stables &
decorate trees with stars
& angels to celebrate.
I love it!
The
Holy Spirit says:
One
thing wisdom demands after you show them
how to live & how to
love:
you have to show them how to forgive.
You have to love them until
the end of life
& show them love
never dies.3
The
Father says:
Son,
you must realize they will betray you
& likely will execute you,
nailing you to a tree.
Jesus
says: I
know. I love them so much & I will do it!
They can celebrate my
birth & decorate all the trees they want to. All those trees can
remind them of the one tree only I can decorate.4
I WILL decorate that tree of death so that they may have life –
abundant life filled with joy & laughter, peace & good will.
It will become the tree of life!
The
Holy Spirit says:
Wonderful!
. . . .
Y'all do
remember we have given them
freedom to choose between good &
evil.
Jesus
says:
Yes.
Some WILL choose right.
They will be so filled with our joy &
trust in us that they
WILL share the Good News that we love them.
They WILL tell others that even in darkness,
we shine great light.
They WILL be zealous to do good deeds
– as their holy scripture
will say.
The
Father says:
Son,
who are they? How many?
Jesus
says: There
are
enough. Look:
There's a great group gathered right now at St. John's
in Bainbridge. They ARE so filled with our joy!
They WILL tell others
that even in darkness, we shine
great light. They ARE zealous to do
good deeds.
Bibliography
The
Catholic Company Christmas Gifts for Everyone.
CatholicCompany.com. Charlotte, NC.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
Gen. Ed: James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers.
1988.
Harper’s
Bible Dictionary. Gen. Ed: Paul
J. Achtemeier.
San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1985. p. 851.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press,
1989.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Melton,
Glennon Doyle. “A Christmas Miracle.” FamilyCircle.
December 2013. New York: Meredith Corp. 2013.
New
Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha.
Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger, eds. New
York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1977.
Robinson,
Barbara. The
Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
New York: Avon Books. 1972.
Voyle,
Robert J. “Blue Christmas Meditation: How Shall We Remember?”
www.appreciativeway.com.
Accessed: 31 Oct. 2013.
3
Note: Influenced by Voyle,
Robert J. “Blue Christmas Meditation: How Shall We Remember?”
www.appreciativeway.com.
Accessed: 31 Oct. 2013.
4
Note: Influenced by information
from Christmas
Catalog of The Catholic Co. (Charlotte, NC). P. 30.
CatholicCompany.com.
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