Mercy, Compassion, and Wisdom

In the name of God, merciful Father, compassionate Son, Spirit of wisdom.

Jesus calls us into new relationships: new relationships with God, with self, with each other. He calls us out of the old painful relationships of pain, punishment and retribution.

This might seem odd: in today’s gospel, isn’t God calling Jesus the sacrificial goat? No. God offers to humankind his only Son, as Savior and as Lord. Jesus breaks the cycle of violence – he does not complete it.

Here he is walking by the river Jordan. He is not even calling his disciples: they are coming to him. And they come to him because John, the prophet, the one who baptizes for turning away from sin, points him out to them. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The Passover Lamb is a sign; the people of Israel are remembering that the Lord set them free from bondage. (Exodus 12)

The Lord offers his Son as a gift: as a liberator from bondage, from slavery, from sin. This is the ‘epiphany’, the revelation of God’s Son, which we share in today.

“Great things are they that you have done, O Lord my God!” (Psalm 40:5a)

You take no pleasure in sacrifice and offering – you have not required burnt offering or offering for sin, and so I say,

Behold, I come. I love to do your will, O my God; your law is deep in my heart. I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance; let your love and your fidelity keep me safe forever.

Jesus frees us from sin. He liberates us from our old oppressions, personal and moral, social and political – yes, even political. He calls us out into a larger world, away from the structures of the demonic obsession with guilt and death, into the realm of eternal Life.

And he calls us into service beside him. As he is the light of the world and we are the light of the world, he is the Lamb of God and we too are the Lamb of God. What are we called to do?

“It is too light a thing,” says the Lord to his Servant, “that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob.” There is more for you to do.

Isaiah goes on to say: “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Of course he was not speaking to you and me – not at first. But we are not getting off the hook. First of all, these prophetic words came to the people Israel while they themselves were in bondage – in exile in the land between the waters, then Babylon: now Iraq.

Of all the people in all the places of the world, he had to walk into their lives – and tell them, not only that they themselves were to be set free, but that they were to be signs to the world.

And Jesus takes on this challenge: he embodies to the world the liberation of God, just as the Passover Lamb represented to the people of Israel their freedom from the land of Pharaoh: “Remember that your ancestors were slaves in Egypt.” They were slaves, strangers, sojourners – traveling through on their way, however windy and long, to the Holy Land.

Jesus is walking by the riverside; John points him out to his own disciples, and points out who he is: The Lamb of God. The two disciples hear this, and off they go: they go to meet Jesus, to see where he is living, and to – as it turns out – to follow him.

“Come and see,” Jesus invites them, innocently enough. As it is four o’clock in the afternoon, perhaps on the eve of the Sabbath, and the daylight is fading, they “remain with him that day.”

Oh, dear. That was a mistake. It was a mistake if they wanted to stay the way they were. For by morning, someone at least has heard the dime drop.

Andrew, the first disciple to be mentioned by name, goes to his brother Simon, and tells him: “We have found the Messiah, the anointed one: the one who is come to set his people free.”

Nothing could be clearer than that. And Simon trusts his brother – and he comes to Jesus, and lays – as it turns out – his life at Jesus’ feet.

“You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (Aramaic, for rock), that is, you are a rock. And on this rock – this embodiment of faithfulness, this human trust – Jesus builds his church.

But we still are not off the hook. From Isaiah’s Servant, perhaps one man, the prophet, perhaps the people of Israel, we have moved to Jesus – and to Peter.

In Greek, the naming of Peter is a play on words: petros, a rock; petra, rock en masse; bedrock.

We are the second: the people of God, the body of faithful people, the ones called to be the foundation stones of God’s Temple. A temple not built by hands: but made of them, and of feet, and eyes, and ears, and all the parts of the body, glorified and inglorious together.

We are the body of Christ, the people of God, and on this foundation God builds the new world. What is he looking for? What does God want from us?

Does he want sacrifice? Some ritual atonement, to make us even, to square us in his books for some past oversight? No, he wants to free us from that: and the Lamb of God is his sign to us that he is accomplishing that – in Jesus.

And he is accomplishing that in us, if we dwell with Christ; if we, like Andrew and the other disciple, go and see – go and see – where he is living, and abiding still, then we too will take part in the new work of God, the building of the temple.

The purpose of this temple is not to look beautiful, it is not to win a reward; it is to be a light to the nations, the peoples of the world, so that God’s salvation, his healing, his atonement, may make at one with God all the peoples of the world.

“Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers – that is, like Israel was at the time of the Babylonian Captivity, like Jesus was as a captive before Pilate, like we are if left to ourselves in the mire of sin and falsehood – thus says the Lord to them, to him, to us:

“’Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,’” because of – not because of us – “’because of the Lord, who is faithful,’” - who keeps faith and keeps his promise – “’the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you….’”:

Indeed he has chosen us. He walks by the lakeshore as of old, and he – the Messiah, the holy one of Israel – calls to us, by his very being. And we want to investigate, we want to go find out: who is he? Where is he living? Where can we abide with him?

God is faithful. He calls you into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. You are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place – and generation – call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. The grace of God has been given to us in Christ Jesus.

In every way we have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind – just as the witness of Christ has been made stronger among us – so that we lack no gift of the spirit as we wait for his coming.

He is coming; he is here now, and he has been here with us from the beginning. His new kingdom is being heralded, as he was heralded by John: the old dominion of sin and slavery and death and bondage is gone; new life and new hope is found in Jesus Christ.

We are called to share in Christ’s work of building the kingdom, of being the light of the world, the lamb of God.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen/let’s get started.

JRL+


Epiphany2a, Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42.

Thanks to Tom Sine of Mustard Seed Associates http://www.msainfo.org/ for helpful insights and general encouragement.

Sources & Resources for Study and Preaching

Bibliography

Abingdon Bible Commentary (1929)

David Adam,
Clouds and Glory: Prayers for the Church Year: Year A (London: SPCK, 1998)
Traces of Glory: Prayers for the Church Year: Year B (London: SPCK, 1999)
Glimpses of Glory: Prayers for the Church Year: Year C (SPCK, 2000)

Christopher Irvine,
The Pilgrims' Manual (Glasgow: Wild Goose, 1997)

Herbert O'Driscoll, The Word Today: Reflections on the Readings of the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 1 (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 1998)

Nicholas Thomas (Tom) Wright,
Matthew for Everyone, ed. 2 (London: SPCK, 2004)

Barbara E. Reid,
New Collegeville Bible Commentary: The Gospel According to Matthew (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2005)

Fred B. Craddock, John H. Hayes, Carl R. Holladay, Gene M. Tucker,
Preaching Through the Christian Year: Year A (Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1992)

Mary Hinkle Shore, Herman C. Waetjen, Richard Eslinger, Melinda A. Quivik,
New Proclamation: Year A, 2007-2008: Advent through Holy Week (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007)

The Lectionary Page http://www.io.com/~kellywp/index.html

The (Online) Book of Common Prayer http://www.bcponline.org/

Oremus Bible Browser http://bible.oremus.org/



Michael Hardin, Jeff Krantz & Anthony Bartlett,
Preaching Peace http://www.preachingpeace.org/

Anthony Bartlett,
Bible Studies at Preaching Peace http://www.preachingpeace.org/biblestudies.htm

Paul Nuechterlein,
Girardian Reflections on the Lectionary http://www.girardianlectionary.net/

Jenee Woodard, ed.,
The Text this Week http://www.textweek.com/

Mark I. Wallace and Theophus H. Smith, editors,
Curing Violence: Essays on René Girard (Polebridge Press, 1994)
http://www.westarinstitute.org/Polebridge/curing.html

Gil Bailie,
The Cornerstone Forum http://www.test-cornerstone.org/index.html

René Girard,
"Violence and the Cross", CTNS Forum, The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, February 11, 2003. http://www.ctns.org/news.html

the first servant song - and the son of man

January 13, 2008
The Servant Song and the Son of Man

Isaiah 42:1-9 Acts 10:34-43 Matthew 3:13-17 Psalm 29

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us – that we might share your gospel, and do your work. Amen.

In the Psalm we have recited together this morning, the voice of the Lord is heard as thunder. Over and over again the gigantic voice booms out: trees split, mountains tremble, the wilderness echoes with the great sound. And among the people of God assembled in the Temple, the response is to reply likewise with one great voice, “Glory!”

The Lord is the Thunderer, the Lightning-bringer: the triumphant and majestic one. And it is he, this very one greater than all the earth, who is Israel’s friend. It is he sustains the people of God in the wilderness and brings them in safety into a new home. It is he who gives peace.

It is the one who gives peace, the one who guides his people safely, who appears, also, in the prophet Isaiah. And yet here he is gentle, calm, small. A reed he will not bend. No longer the voice of thunder, or earthquake, or flood, or wind, or fire: God is heard in a still, small voice, a gentle, quiet voice.

A few days before Christmas, in Seattle’s Town Hall, I listened to a performance of Handel’s Messiah. There was a quiet soprano voice, not too loud, but clear: and it sang, “Unto you is born a Savior." Unto you!

The love of the Lord comes quietly to us, personally to us, bringing us the peace and reassurance of a loving Savior traveling by our side. This is the same Lord whose majesty is over all creation. The One who creates heaven and earth is great, beyond all measure or boundary, and yet the smallest creature is his special delight, his particular care.

Peter, in the story from Acts that we have heard today, is in the house of Cornelius, a centurion, a Roman military commander, a Pagan – not a Jew. He has been astonished to find that, yes, God’s hand extends even this far: beyond the national boundaries of Israel, beyond nationality, even into the homes of the people he may have felt most distant from, the occupiers of his land. God’s hand reaches out and reconciles the most polarized of opponents. He is that mighty. He can bring peace.

And, in the story of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John, he not only brings peace: he embodies peace. He comes himself to establish the reign of peace.

At the river the Servant appears. The one in whom the Lord delights, the chosen, the Savior, here he is: fulfilling all righteousness, doing what is fitting for any human being, taking on the sign of baptism, of repentance, of turning again to the Lord and thereby finding new life, this very one who embodies salvation in his person, is here now with us.

John steps back: what are you doing, coming to me? I should be coming to you! No. He is here already. God has sent him and he is doing more than we could ask for: he is taking on our humanity, not saving us by remote control, but by his very being with us, risking alongside us, living alongside us.

Good news: The Servant that Isaiah sung about, the one we have been waiting for, the one that all creation and all nations are waiting for, is Jesus. He is here, in the river, immersed in the water of life.

Great news: The Servant that Isaiah sung about, the light to the nations, called by God in righteousness, is more than just one man. And more than Jesus, standing by himself, wet to the skin, newly emerging from the river water. The people plunge in. They are baptized, too, and they too rise to new Life.

They are the people of God, the people who turn to new life, the people who offer the salvation of God to the whole world. The Servant that Isaiah sung about: is us… We are the people of God, endowed with God’s spirit, sent by Christ into his world to make disciples of all nations, and to embody the love of God.

Jesus is the Servant, yes. He is the one who shows us the way, who is the way. But he is not alone. The whole people of God are the Servant that Isaiah sung about. The people of God are called to follow Jesus into this new world, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon into light.

Peter sees it all at once and just as a beginning: through Cornelius of all people, a Roman centurion, he sees that God shows no partiality but that anyone of any nation who truly worships God and follows righteousness, that is, who does justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God, is accepted by God.

Jesus Christ – he is Lord of all. The whole world trembles, and rejoices. The clouds split, the oceans roar, and the people sing in the temple, Amen. “Glory!” they shout.

As Peter said: We are witnesses to all that he did. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate – they hung him from a tree; on the third day he rose again from the dead – God raising him; and he appeared to the witnesses chosen by God, those who eat and drink with him after his resurrection.

Oh, wait a minute: that’s us. We are going to eat and drink with him, this morning, at his table. And we are all welcome. Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. All are welcome at the Lord’s table.

And when we take in that good news of salvation, and spread it and act on it and live it, we become the Servant, the people of God, along with Jesus. When the voice from heaven, loud and thundering – or quiet and gentle, comes ringing in our ears, what we can hear is God’s pleasure.

This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.


Jesus comes quietly, at first.

The message he brings is simple, and new, and profound. God is doing a new thing, with us. God is not apart from us, triumphant and distant and untouched. He is with us, in our pain and sorrow and grief and joy and laughter and in every new birth, every new beginning. He blesses us.

This day, the feast of the baptism of Jesus himself, we remember our own baptisms as well. As we renew our baptismal vows today, on this feast day of the baptism of our Lord and Savior, we are blessed.

We are blessed by God with abundance of grace: we are fully alive, members of the new creation, the new thing God is doing in our midst, individually, corporately, socially.

Jesus leads the way, through the river – the water of baptism, repentance and newness of life. He leads the way across, into the challenge and promise of a new way of living, a new ordering of life. Jesus the new human being, the son of Man, is the first-born from the dead, who leads us forth from our tomb-like sins and sorrows into a new day, the day of the Lord, when he will refresh us and bring us this day into Paradise, the new world of God’s promise, the place of peace.

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

This is the promise of God: enacted at the Jordan river, embodied in Jesus; it is the voice of God, “new things I now declare” – calling to us – to follow Jesus, to become part of the new life, and to bear this forth into the world, to the peoples of the earth, becoming a light to all the nations, bringing the good news of freedom and new life.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (BCP)

still they seek him

The wise still seek him – and they still come bearing gifts. They bring to the Christ Child the symbols of his transcendence: gifts for royalty, for priesthood, for martyrdom. And what they bring is still less than what they receive, and being wise, they know it. That is why they come: because here at the feet of the Christ Child they are in the presence of a mystery greater than any king, any priest, any martyr, any prophet. They are in the presence of the living God.

In Jesus the fullness of God is pleased to dwell.

In Jesus we are ourselves invited to dwell: to live in his tent as he has come to live among us, as one of us.

Gifts, presence, manifestation and invitation: today we are invited to kneel with the wise at the feet of the Christ. We bear our gifts: our selves. We stand like them in the presence of the living One.

Shown to us by the leading of a star, or some less likely light, we too travel from afar to be at this manger side. We too have been chosen to receive the gift of his Light, and to reveal to the World his Word.




And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18-20)

Each of us is called to service, each of us is called to witness; but first, each of us is called to worship: to adore, at the side of his little bed, in the smallest of miracles, the quietest of triumphs, the living God, present among us in the form of a human being like ourselves.

With no trappings of glory other than those he receives from us – and from us he is more likely to receive, inevitably, a crown of thorns – he yet comes to us, bringing to us Light and Life and Hope.

The star in the east, the wise ones sought: and they followed. And they found him. We can do no less. And no less will we receive, in the cover of word and sacrament and Spirit, him whom they sought.

by the leading of a star

The season of Epiphany lasts from the Twelfth Day of Christmas until just before Lent. At the beginning of the season is the feast of Epiphany, or Little Christmas, also known as Three Kings Day; the feast of the Presentation, or Candlemas (Candelaria), February 2nd, marks its end.

On the feast of Epiphany, in some places, a lucky person will find a little clay (or plastic) baby Jesus – or a bean or a coin – in their piece of festival cake; that means they’re king or queen for the day, and it’s their turn to provide the refreshments at the next feast, on Candelaria DayCandlemas.

In between is the season of Epiphany, of ‘appearance’ or ‘manifestation’, celebrating the ‘shining forth’—or revelation—of God becoming present to humankind in the person of Jesus.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

The whole event of the Incarnation, including the Birth of the Messiah, the visit of the ‘Magi’ – the Wise Men or ‘astrologers’ – to the Holy Family at Bethlehem, all of Jesus’ growing up, his Baptism in the Jordan River, the Presentation in the Temple, the Wedding-feast at Cana, can becelebrated illuminates at this season; we pay particular attention to his Baptism on January 13th.

This continuing celebration of the mystery of the Incarnation, of ‘God in Man made manifest’,—in Christ— shows forth to the whole of creation the love of God.

The star in the east, the pilgrim kings bearing royal and mysterious gifts, the night flight of the holy family, the descent of the dove as Jesus emerges from the river water, Cana — all these portents point to the question, “Who is Jesus?” Who is he now, here, in our lives and our world? Who will he be for us? How will God be present to us in our lives?

And how will we make God present to others? Epiphany is the season to explore that…

No one has ever seen God...

We might envision the Solar System as a vast arena of bleak spaces, cold small stones separated by uncrosseable distances, held together only by the distant pull of a tiny dot of fire.

In his science-fiction novels, Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, C. S. Lewis reimagines the Solar System as the Field of the Sun, a glorious cloth-of-gold dance-floor across which parade the celestial giants, whose rays illuminate its farthest reaches.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

• In the beginning was the Word,

At the very beginning of all things, before anything was made, Christ already was.

• and the Word was with God,

Jesus is the second person of the Trinity; he is the face of God that we see.

• and the Word was God.

Christ and God are one.

• He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

The Word – the logos – is the organizing principle through which all things come into being. This is he who redeems us. The one through whom we are made is the one through whom we are redeemed; the source of our creation is the source of our salvation.

• What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

• The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Dark as the world may appear, God is light: and this light surrounds us. We live in the light, we are children of the day.

• [There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.]

• The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

“The light which shone in Jesus, and which shines on as the name of Jesus is proclaimed throughout the world, is none other than the light of God himself, his first creation, the light that enlightens every human being.”—Lesslie Newbigin

• He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.

• But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

• And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

The logos, the Word, the Christ, the One through whom all things come into being, this of all things the organizing principle, yet became human. This is the organizing principle of the universe – what kind of organizing principle is it that becomes a BABY????

One that is very close to humanity.

One that is personal, and loves us.

One whose Spirit acting in us causes us to cry out to God like children, “Abba! Father!”

• God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4:6)

• (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'")

• From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

This divine presence, this Word that dwells among us, brings the overflowing abundance, the full being of God, into human life. No wonder he is alive! No wonder that to be near him is to become – to be called to be – fully alive.

• The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, compares the Law of Moses to a pedagogue, the slave responsible for accompanying young children to school.

• The law was our pedagogue until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. (Gal. 3:24)

The Law, in more modern terms, was like a schoolmaster or a teacher, or a big brother, or perhaps an au pair or a nanny, making sure a child got to school and learned its lessons.

But eventually you outgrow nannies – you don’t have someone dogging you or guiding you that closely. You make your own way to school. And you go on, into adult life.

• But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a pedagogue. (Gal. 3:25)

You grow up, and take responsibility for your own growth and development, your own learning. You put away childish things; you stand on your own feet.

Among the childish things you put away are the legalisms, the bad habits and false pieties, old patterns that hold you back from knowledge of the true and living God. They shielded you once from experiencing God more directly. Now they are as appetizing as baby food.

Puréed carrots. Strained beets.

It is time for something more grown up: nourishment for the adult soul.

How about some water, some oil, some bread and wine?

Grace and truth, mercy and faithfulness, come through Jesus Christ.

• No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

But how do you learn the ways of God? Nobody has ever seen him.

You learn by following Christ.

This Jesus, whom his friends knew, ate with, talked to and laughed with and wept with, this same Jesus whom Mary held close to her and nursed: this Jesus who was presented in the Temple, this Jesus was the Son of God.

And the Son has made God known, not as will and idea, principle or precept, but as living “Abba”, Father.

Through following Jesus we get to know the heart of God. And that heart is a heart of love. So in knowing Jesus, this one whom the shepherds watched as angels sang, we learn that the organizing principle at the heart of the universe is – love.

Love God, and love one another, as he has loved us. This is the heart of God.

JRL+


The Lectionary Page http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearABC/Christmas/Christmas1.html

Oremus Bible Browser http://bible.oremus.org

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary http://www.m-w.com/dictionary

New Proclamation, Year A, 2007-2008, Advent through Holy Week (Fortress Press, 2007)

Preaching Through the Christian Year, Year A (Trinity Press International, 1992)

Herbert O'Driscoll, The Word Today (Anglican Book Centre, 1998, 2001)

HarperCollins Study Bible, Rev. Ed. (HarperCollins, 2006)

Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Introduction to the New Testament (Yale, 1997)

Lesslie Newbigin, The Light Has Come (Eerdmans, 1982)


+

workingman's life

In those days…

Rome was strong, and young in its strength. It had a ruler so powerful he was called a living God, king of kings, and prince of peace. His name… didn’t matter: he was called Caesar Augustus, and he was Emperor of all the world we knew.

His Legions, each five thousand strong, tramped the straight roads of empire, leveling high places and raising the low before them, arrow-straight through the heart of the nations, ruling them all and binding them all, in the darkness of imperial power. He closed his fist in his might, his boots trod across the world.

And he made peace: the peace of Rome, the quiet of empire, the velvet night of unchallengeable authority.
There was no questioning who was in charge… of this world that we knew.

Who were we?

We were just ordinary workingmen trying to make a living – shepherds, staying out in the fields all night, tending the sheep, guarding the flock, keeping watch.

We had seen a lot of strange things, at night, out in the fields. We had our share of bear stories, wolf stories; we'd fought lions.

But we had never seen anything like this. Right in the middle of an ordinary night, right in the middle of an ordinary job, something broke through from a realm beyond our sight.

A choir of heavenly messengers filled our eyes. Unto you, they sang - unto you!

Salvation comes, the king is born, and God has fulfilled his promise. Go and see: go into the town and look for a baby, an ordinary baby, all wrapped up and ready for bed, but sleeping in a manger – that's him.

That BABY is God incarnate: a baby lying in a manger, gently breathing, his folks standing by. This is the sign of God that everyone has been waiting for. This is the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Son of David, Christ Almighty – don't you want to tell somebody about it?

We're no angels. We're just shepherds, working the night shift on a far hillside. The mother herself saw no angels tonight, only us -- bringing the message, confirming what she knew in her heart, that today, in the City of David, is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

He had come, the Savior, the Messiah we were looking for – but not as we were looking. He came to us as a helpless infant, a baby: the hope of the world wrapped in swaddling cloths.

And this child, born to marginal people in a marginal town in a marginal province on the distant edge of the greatest empire the world had ever seen, quietly moved to the center of life. Humble and obedient, Joseph and Mary became more exalted than Herod had ever been; and their son, their Son, was in his infancy more powerful – though invisible in his majesty – than any Caesar would ever become.

Somehow, through this child, peace and righteousness and justice began to work their way in the world, the world that – after all – God, not Herod, had made. And into God’s world he sent his own Son, who became for us the Bread of Life.
We were ordinary workingmen, leading a workingman’s life. Into the very fields where the sheep lay came the extraordinary messengers, bearing glad tidings.

“On earth peace, good will toward men!”

Our lives were changed. Even after, later that night, as we trudged back up the frosty hill-paths to our flocks, we knew that the dawn that was breaking that morning was a new day indeed, for us, for our people, and for the whole world.

How then on an ordinary day are you to recognize the Christ Child? How is he born in your life – in your town?

You go about your business in your ordinary way – and yet: something extraordinary is happening even now, in your heart, in your life, in your will.

Christ is being born. God has sent his Redeemer to you, to establish the way of peace, to bring righteousness and peace to the world he has made, to the person he has made, to you.

Unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

What child is this who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping, whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping? This, this, is Christ the King; whom shepherds guard and angels sing: haste, haste, to bring him laud, the Babe, the Son of Mary!

JRL+

Fred B. Craddock et al., Preaching through the Christian Year (Trinity Press International)

Herbert O'Driscoll, The Word Today (Anglican Book Centre)

Hugh Keyte & Andrew Parrott, eds., The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford, 1993) No. 53.

St Alban's Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Washington
December 24, 2007.