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St. Andrew's Church
An Anglican Church • Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
Preached by
Stuart Pike
Rector
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Christmas Eve 2006
St. Andrew's Church
Isaiah 9: 2-7
Luke 2: 1-20
To me there always seems to be such a disconnection between the noise and bustle and business of Christmas, and the real event of the first Christmas which was a much lowlier but more meaningful occasion. The glitter and tinsel seem to detract from the holiness of the season.
As Christmas has been approaching and I have been trying to turn my attention to what I might preach about on Christmas Eve, there have been many images and themes running through my mind. Sometimes these images appeared to me to have been distractions from my task. More recently, I realized that integrating these supposed "distractions" into my sermon is what the spirit has been prompting me to do.
When listening to the news I have been struck often by the stories told about our military overseas who are trying to restore peace and order in whichever situation or country they find themselves. There have been many stories about their courage and their hardship. And there have been far too many deaths. Since the mission in Afghanistan began Canada has lost 44 soldiers and two civilians in the violence there.
While many Canadians have been worried about the frightful task of negotiating their way through the crowds of Christmas shoppers, our soldiers have been risking their lives working in miserable conditions, trying to bring peace to an impoverished and largely forgotten people.
Isaiah writes: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined." (Isaiah 9:2)
Part of what Isaiah is referring to as this "deep darkness" is the violence and war which exists in the world. But Isaiah foretells of the coming of the prince of peace. As we have been preparing for the coming of the prince of peace I've not been able to stop thinking about those whose lives are caught up in war. What does the birth of Jesus Christ mean for them? And for their families? How will they spend Christmas?
"... the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. ..... For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of Peace."
The other theme which has been running through my mind has to do with a new volunteer task which I have taken on which has begun to mean much to me. In the summer I started a volunteer position as the clergy support for the Niagara West Palliative Care Team. The team which is made up of doctor's, nurses and some counsellors, has the task to support people who are most likely in the last year of their life.
One of the things which the team does is to meet every two weeks to go over what has been happening with the patients, and to ensure that their needs are being met. We care for the whole person: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. What I have found during the last few months is that I have been entering into these people's stories: stories of hope and fear, pain and even, perhaps not so surprisingly, peace.
What can all of this have to do with Christmas?
I suppose it has to do with how the first Christmas wasn't a story about a commercial enterprise. There was no tinsel in the stable.
Christmas is a story of how humbly this prince of peace came to be born among us. Born not in a royal palace, with attendants and fanfare. But born instead in a stable and laid in a feeding trough instead of a crib. The poverty of Jesus' birth reminds me of why he was born. The circumstances of his birth match the desperation of the world's need. Our saviour wasn't recognized by the people in power at the time. There was no feast, no frivolity. Or if there was on that night, it was happening at the other end of town and the feasters, in their merriment, were completely ignorant of the wonderful event which was happening.
Instead, it was the lowliest and roughest of people who were awed by the holy event. Could it be that the people of such low estate were the only one who could have noticed? We are much more open to the holy when we are at our most vulnerable. Perhaps it is because there is less to distract us.
Somehow I feel that it might be those who are in the midst of war, who feel more keenly the need of the prince of peace. Jesus was born for them. The people of Afghanistan and our people who are there, the people of Iraq, those who are experiencing violence and discord anywhere and all people who aren't feeling peaceful in their hearts: Jesus is born for you.
Somehow I feel that it might be those who feel closest to death, who reach out more eagerly for the lord of life. Jesus was born for them. The people who are ministered to by the palliative care team, those who have just found out that they have a terminal illness, those who have lived a long life and are yearning to be carried home, those who have lost a loved one, those who feel that they are not fully alive: Jesus is born for you.
The meaning of Christ's birth is grasped when we participate in his life and work. Christ is born for us when we are agents of Christ's peace, when we are caring for the dying or the bereaved, when we are reaching out to help the poor or those in need.
And it is when we participate in Jesus' life and work that we can truly celebrate Christmas with hearts full of joy. What a wonderful gift that God gave us in Jesus: meaning for our lives.
Despite the noise and the glitter that this season now brings, may we find the quiet space this Christmas to be filled with awe and wonder at Christ's birth, just as the shepherd were. I pray that Christ may be born in our hearts this Christmas. May we be made poor that our hearts may be a fitting place for him. And, having Christ in our hearts, may we reach out to do his work. May we joyfully experience his peace and his abundant life. A joyous Christmas to you all. Amen.
