I BelieveA Sermon preached by The Rev. Michael White
on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2004
In the children’s book and recent holiday movie The Polar Express,
only those who believe in the magic of Christmas can hear the ringing
of a small bell. When a child stops believing, when the faith is
lost, he or she can no longer hear the bell. The train, The Polar
Express, takes these select children on a ride to the North Pole in
hopes of restoring their belief in the magic of Christmas. The
true “magic of Christmas” is not Santa or elves or reindeer. The
miracle of Christmas is the child - a child born to a virgin mother,
Mary - a child born who contained as much of God as could be contained
in a human vessel - a child born to restore all of creation into
harmony with God and each other. This is the miracle of
Christmas. Do we really still believe? Is it just a part of
the holiday tradition to talk about the story of the nativity that
happened long ago? Over the years has the bell lost its sound?
Each year the Sunday after Easter we hear the story of Thomas, the one who doubted. Thomas gets a bad rap in the reference of “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas did not question out of any kind of malice. He really wanted to believe. He just did not want to put himself or his friends through the pain of holding on to a lost dream. Thomas basically said, “If Jesus is dead, then let him be dead, and let’s move on. Let’s not torture ourselves by holding on to some false sense of hope only to be let down again. Maybe, it is time to be real.” This year it has struck me in a way that it never has before that Thomas and his doubt are also linked with Christmas, not just Easter. The Feast Day of St. Thomas is December 21. We are given the witness and example of Thomas and his earnest struggles in the week of Christmas.
Through the eyes of our Thomas side the real Christmas story can be a lot to take in. A virgin birth, an angelic chorus, shepherds, wise men coming to worship. In our Christian Creed, the Nicene Creed, we say that we believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, that he was fully God and fully human, and that this was God’s act of self giving love reaching out to the whole world through the birth of this little baby. This really is quite a Christmas miracle. Do we still believe in the magic of this moment - the wonder and mystery of the birth of God incarnate, Jesus?
The varying details of the different Gospel accounts can begin to get in the way for our more Thomas-like minds. The Gospel of Luke has Shepherds come but no wise men. Matthew has no shepherds and only wise men. Mark skips it all altogether and begins with John the Baptist. The Gospel of John takes it all the way back to in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word became flesh in the person of Jesus. But, John has no nativity scene at all, just this theological poem stating that Jesus was God incarnate, and then it skips to the story of John the Baptist. What are we to make of this? At times, to be honest, I am not completely sure. And, being a good Episcopalian I am not one to tell you exactly what you should make of it, but I can tell you what I make of it.
Something happened! Something way outside of the ordinary! This was no ordinary birth. Mary and Joseph, both, had some sort of mystical experience that assured them that this was a most special child. Somehow others in the area, the larger community of people (be they shepherds, wise men, or other) also experienced something outside of the realm of regular. There was something going on. People other than just Mary and Joseph were being impacted by this birth. Wise men, shepherds, Angels, the Gospel writers are trying to describe an experience that is indescribable. How do you describe a mystical experience of God? How do you talk about an experience that you have never had before and know that you will likely never have again? The details can be hard to articulate. But, what does appear to be clear is that it was, for lack of better word, a birth that was especially magical. And, this child grew into a life that at each point things accompanied his presence that were miraculous, unexplainable, outside the ordinary. But, how do you speak of the stuff of magic and miracle in ordinary language. When you do, you don’t get caught up in the details of the description, but in the impact the experience had on those present.
The Miracle of Christmas is what it did to those who believed. The Miracle of Christmas is what it still does in us, even tonight.
Can we still hear the bell? Do we believe in the magic of Christmas? Can we again say, “We believe”? “We believe in Jesus Christ God’s son, born of the Virgin Mary.” Can we believe on the completed side of childhood? Can we believe on this side of the experience of pain and loss? I am not asking can we believe every little detail of human attempts to describe the indescribable story of the first Christmas, but can we believe that it is in the babe of Christmas that God came and that it is in this child, Jesus, that God continues to reach out to us? Can we believe that in Christ, God still seeks a place in our lives today? Do we believe? Can we still believe? Can we say it until we mean it, “I believe. I believe. I believe.”
Amen.
Return to Christmas PageEach year the Sunday after Easter we hear the story of Thomas, the one who doubted. Thomas gets a bad rap in the reference of “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas did not question out of any kind of malice. He really wanted to believe. He just did not want to put himself or his friends through the pain of holding on to a lost dream. Thomas basically said, “If Jesus is dead, then let him be dead, and let’s move on. Let’s not torture ourselves by holding on to some false sense of hope only to be let down again. Maybe, it is time to be real.” This year it has struck me in a way that it never has before that Thomas and his doubt are also linked with Christmas, not just Easter. The Feast Day of St. Thomas is December 21. We are given the witness and example of Thomas and his earnest struggles in the week of Christmas.
Through the eyes of our Thomas side the real Christmas story can be a lot to take in. A virgin birth, an angelic chorus, shepherds, wise men coming to worship. In our Christian Creed, the Nicene Creed, we say that we believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, that he was fully God and fully human, and that this was God’s act of self giving love reaching out to the whole world through the birth of this little baby. This really is quite a Christmas miracle. Do we still believe in the magic of this moment - the wonder and mystery of the birth of God incarnate, Jesus?
The varying details of the different Gospel accounts can begin to get in the way for our more Thomas-like minds. The Gospel of Luke has Shepherds come but no wise men. Matthew has no shepherds and only wise men. Mark skips it all altogether and begins with John the Baptist. The Gospel of John takes it all the way back to in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word became flesh in the person of Jesus. But, John has no nativity scene at all, just this theological poem stating that Jesus was God incarnate, and then it skips to the story of John the Baptist. What are we to make of this? At times, to be honest, I am not completely sure. And, being a good Episcopalian I am not one to tell you exactly what you should make of it, but I can tell you what I make of it.
Something happened! Something way outside of the ordinary! This was no ordinary birth. Mary and Joseph, both, had some sort of mystical experience that assured them that this was a most special child. Somehow others in the area, the larger community of people (be they shepherds, wise men, or other) also experienced something outside of the realm of regular. There was something going on. People other than just Mary and Joseph were being impacted by this birth. Wise men, shepherds, Angels, the Gospel writers are trying to describe an experience that is indescribable. How do you describe a mystical experience of God? How do you talk about an experience that you have never had before and know that you will likely never have again? The details can be hard to articulate. But, what does appear to be clear is that it was, for lack of better word, a birth that was especially magical. And, this child grew into a life that at each point things accompanied his presence that were miraculous, unexplainable, outside the ordinary. But, how do you speak of the stuff of magic and miracle in ordinary language. When you do, you don’t get caught up in the details of the description, but in the impact the experience had on those present.
The Miracle of Christmas is what it did to those who believed. The Miracle of Christmas is what it still does in us, even tonight.
Can we still hear the bell? Do we believe in the magic of Christmas? Can we again say, “We believe”? “We believe in Jesus Christ God’s son, born of the Virgin Mary.” Can we believe on the completed side of childhood? Can we believe on this side of the experience of pain and loss? I am not asking can we believe every little detail of human attempts to describe the indescribable story of the first Christmas, but can we believe that it is in the babe of Christmas that God came and that it is in this child, Jesus, that God continues to reach out to us? Can we believe that in Christ, God still seeks a place in our lives today? Do we believe? Can we still believe? Can we say it until we mean it, “I believe. I believe. I believe.”
Amen.
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