A Simple BirthA Sermon preached by The Rev. Michael White
on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2003
It
is easy to fall into the trap of glamorizing the story of the first
Christmas. We cling to certain pieces that make the scene much
loftier than it really is. We tend to exaggerate these parts, and the
cost is that we loose sight of the true simplicity of this birth.
In Luke’s Gospel, the story of Christmas actually has the angels
appearing and singing to the shepherds in their fields. There are
no angels singing at the manger. They keep their distance from
the birth. We are usually more prone to focus on the account in
Matthew where instead of lowly shepherds that come to worship, we have
wise men. But, we prefer to call them Kings (Kings are a little
more important than just wise men.) In the Church's liturgical
telling of the story of Christmas we wait twelve days for the wise men
(or Kings) to travel to the baby Jesus. So, even when it is Kings
instead of Shepherds for Matthew’s Gospel, the Kings are not there at
the site of the birth. They come much later. We long to
make this a grand birth. In the early Church there was even a
tradition that Jesus passed from the inside to outside of Mary’s womb
in one pain free movement of light. Poof! No pain, no mess, nothing
mundane and nothing ordinary.
But, this is not the account from scripture. It was a lowly and humble birth -- no glowing radiance - no angels singing in the manger. We casually recognize that they were in a barn and that the animals were there, but rarely do we stop and think about the smells and the sounds in a barn with animals. I have yet to see an authentic scratch and sniff nativity book. We do not like to think about the smells, the dirt, the pain, the blood, and the fear of giving birth in a stranger’s barn. It was not a pretty sight.
HOWEVER, in that moment, the moment of Jesus’ humble birth, everything changed. The world stood still and held its collective breath as the Messiah, the Savior was born in the most base and mundane way that one could ever imagine. God joined with this ordinary, dirty, smelly world of ours. God became flesh -- not aiming to be born in a palace, but in a stinky barn.
For me the call this Christmas is to recognize that as the apostle Paul said, “The same Spirit that dwelled within Christ now dwells within me.” No matter how ordinary I think my existence is, Jesus’ was more so. If the spirit of God was at home in the birth of this poor Child in a barn, then the Spirit of God is surely at home within you and me. When I truly accept that Christ is in here (within me), I will act differently. I will treat myself differently. And, when I accept that Christ is within you, I will treat you and everyone better than I do now. The Incarnation calls us to live this way and in doing so the Incarnation of God continues through us.
This night, Christ is born. May Christ be born anew within each of us, and may Christ grow and mature within our hearts throughout the year and forevermore. And, because Christ is born anew this night, we join our voices with the angels visiting the lowly shepherds in the field, and we sing “Glory to the newborn King.” Amen.
But, this is not the account from scripture. It was a lowly and humble birth -- no glowing radiance - no angels singing in the manger. We casually recognize that they were in a barn and that the animals were there, but rarely do we stop and think about the smells and the sounds in a barn with animals. I have yet to see an authentic scratch and sniff nativity book. We do not like to think about the smells, the dirt, the pain, the blood, and the fear of giving birth in a stranger’s barn. It was not a pretty sight.
HOWEVER, in that moment, the moment of Jesus’ humble birth, everything changed. The world stood still and held its collective breath as the Messiah, the Savior was born in the most base and mundane way that one could ever imagine. God joined with this ordinary, dirty, smelly world of ours. God became flesh -- not aiming to be born in a palace, but in a stinky barn.
For me the call this Christmas is to recognize that as the apostle Paul said, “The same Spirit that dwelled within Christ now dwells within me.” No matter how ordinary I think my existence is, Jesus’ was more so. If the spirit of God was at home in the birth of this poor Child in a barn, then the Spirit of God is surely at home within you and me. When I truly accept that Christ is in here (within me), I will act differently. I will treat myself differently. And, when I accept that Christ is within you, I will treat you and everyone better than I do now. The Incarnation calls us to live this way and in doing so the Incarnation of God continues through us.
This night, Christ is born. May Christ be born anew within each of us, and may Christ grow and mature within our hearts throughout the year and forevermore. And, because Christ is born anew this night, we join our voices with the angels visiting the lowly shepherds in the field, and we sing “Glory to the newborn King.” Amen.