A Christmas Eve Homily
Given to St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Charleston, WV
on December 24, 2014, based on Luke 2:1-14
Grace to you and Peace from God, our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
The Scriptures tell us that on the night when Jesus was born,
there were shepherds keeping watch over their flock, when suddenly, an angel of
the Lord appeared to them and announced the birth of the Savior, proclaiming
good news of great joy which was to be for all People.
A multitude of the heavenly host appeared with the angel and sang “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men, with whom he is pleased.” (Luke 2:14) The shepherds took heed of the message and went to see the baby.
Tonight it is as if we too are shepherds who have heard the message that Jesus is come into the world to save sinners. We have left our homes and traveled through the night, coming as it were, to the cave behind the inn to see the newborn baby and to worship Him.
Our story this night is full of hiddenness: the hiddenness of God partnering with an obscure Jewish teenaged girl to bring His Son into the world ... the hiddenness of the Christ being formed in Mary's womb ... and protected by a hidden man, Joseph ...the hiddenness of the Christ child being born into the world in the midst of darkness in a hidden cave, in a hidden town. Later, Christ would go on to live 30 years in obscurity until his ministry began in earnest.
A multitude of the heavenly host appeared with the angel and sang “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men, with whom he is pleased.” (Luke 2:14) The shepherds took heed of the message and went to see the baby.
Tonight it is as if we too are shepherds who have heard the message that Jesus is come into the world to save sinners. We have left our homes and traveled through the night, coming as it were, to the cave behind the inn to see the newborn baby and to worship Him.
Our story this night is full of hiddenness: the hiddenness of God partnering with an obscure Jewish teenaged girl to bring His Son into the world ... the hiddenness of the Christ being formed in Mary's womb ... and protected by a hidden man, Joseph ...the hiddenness of the Christ child being born into the world in the midst of darkness in a hidden cave, in a hidden town. Later, Christ would go on to live 30 years in obscurity until his ministry began in earnest.
Hidden. Hidden. Hidden…
However, in this story of Jesus’ birth we have a curious paradox. God did not send out an advance team of marketers to advertise that Jesus, the Son of the Living God was being born. He didn't do what someone did back in the early 1980’s, and take out full page ads in world newspapers, saying that the “Lord Maitraya” had arrived. …I never did hear what happened to that guy. Maybe the announcement was premature…Who knows? At any rate:
God did choose to announce the news to the Shepherds, who were the functional equivalent of Internet bloggers of that time. They went and saw the child, and afterward they became the first evangelists. They went out and made known to everyone what had been told to them and what they had seen.
However, in this story of Jesus’ birth we have a curious paradox. God did not send out an advance team of marketers to advertise that Jesus, the Son of the Living God was being born. He didn't do what someone did back in the early 1980’s, and take out full page ads in world newspapers, saying that the “Lord Maitraya” had arrived. …I never did hear what happened to that guy. Maybe the announcement was premature…Who knows? At any rate:
God did choose to announce the news to the Shepherds, who were the functional equivalent of Internet bloggers of that time. They went and saw the child, and afterward they became the first evangelists. They went out and made known to everyone what had been told to them and what they had seen.
“And all who heard it
wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.” And you can be
sure that this news spread throughout the region.
And yet, it was ultimately a small region, in a small country, midst a small people.
There is the sense that Jesus had been brought into the world in the darkness, in the hidden place, in order to be hidden - in order for God to manifest himself as DEUS ABSCONDITUS, the hidden God.
There is the sense that Jesus had been brought into the world in the darkness, in the hidden place, in order to be hidden - in order for God to manifest himself as DEUS ABSCONDITUS, the hidden God.
It’s amazing beyond comprehension that the
Lord of the Universe, the Word, the Logos, by whom and in whom and with whom
all things came into being, was born into the world to be our Savior – and yet
He was hidden from the World. Why did God do this?
Perhaps because He wants us to look for him…
The shepherds in the fields that night were watching. They were alert for predators, so they were watchful. They were available to hear the angels’ message when everybody else was asleep. Like them, we need to be awake to God and alert to his call. This is what Advent has been all about – encouraging us to be awake and alert, and to listen for His announcement of the birth of Christ.
When the Angel announced, “Today is born to you in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, the Shepherds’ response was, “Let us go see this thing that God has done.”
Perhaps because He wants us to look for him…
The shepherds in the fields that night were watching. They were alert for predators, so they were watchful. They were available to hear the angels’ message when everybody else was asleep. Like them, we need to be awake to God and alert to his call. This is what Advent has been all about – encouraging us to be awake and alert, and to listen for His announcement of the birth of Christ.
When the Angel announced, “Today is born to you in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, the Shepherds’ response was, “Let us go see this thing that God has done.”
Like Mary, they said,
“Yes, Lord”. Not: “No Way!” Not: “That’s nice…” Not: “I’ll think about it.”
But, “Let us go see this thing that God has done.”
This is an implicit acknowledgment of God’s existence, recognition of God’s Sovereign action in human affairs, and a response of Faith that puts legs to belief. The Shepherds responded correctly to God’s revelation by going to worship the babe laid in the manger. They looked with the eyes of their heart, with eyes of faith, - not upon the superficial appearance of a baby in a manger, but rather upon the Savior of the World, Emmanuel, God with Us.
This is an implicit acknowledgment of God’s existence, recognition of God’s Sovereign action in human affairs, and a response of Faith that puts legs to belief. The Shepherds responded correctly to God’s revelation by going to worship the babe laid in the manger. They looked with the eyes of their heart, with eyes of faith, - not upon the superficial appearance of a baby in a manger, but rather upon the Savior of the World, Emmanuel, God with Us.
In the purity of their hearts, they believed the angel’s message and they saw God - just as Jesus would later proclaim about the Humble in the Sermon on the Mount.
In that same Sermon Jesus also said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
In Jesus’ day, Shepherds were certainly the poorest of the poor. Often they lived in the open with only the clothes on their backs and they were frequently shunned because they smelled bad and were uncouth. They may have taken a lamb to offer the newborn King, but it’s certain they had nothing else of value to take with them.
In this way, they represent our essential position before God: Poverty. We are all poor as we approach our God. We have nothing to bring to him that he could possibly want or need. It’s the old story of trying to find something to buy for your father…What are gonna get for someone who literally has everything?
The song “In the Bleak Midwinter” has a wonderful last verse:
“What can I give him? poor as I am. If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can, I give him, give him my heart.”
Tonight we commemorate the birth of the Savior of the world, come to us hidden in the form of a baby, born to a hidden woman and a hidden man, in a hidden town, in a hidden cave behind a hidden inn. You have come here to worship – to give your time and to praise God for sending Jesus into the world.
Tonight, don’t so much come with your physical gifts, rather
be like the person in the hymn saying, "I don’t know what to give, I don’t have
anything to give but I’ll give Him myself".
Give him yourself. Do it tonight. Do it now.
Make these words your own: “What can I give him? poor as I am. If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can, I give him, give him my heart.”
If you do so, it will be the most wonderful Christmas ever. I Promise.
AMEN.
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