December 24, 1999

Well tonight is the night that we have all been waiting for. It is the night when we remember the birth of Jesus and the impact this great event has had on our lives and on the history of the world. We all know the story well: In the bleak mid-winter, long time ago, the earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. Into this cold, cruel, darkness, where oppression, poverty, slavery, and hopelessness reigned, a baby was born to a simple Jewish couple in the small town of Bethlehem. This birth could have easily gone unnoticed because afterall, his parents were considered as nothings in this small part of the Roman Empire.

After his birth, Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger, for there was no room for the family at the inn. No cigars were passed out, no baby shower was held, no important person was around to make the announcement. However, a few shepherds who were scorned as shiftless, dishonest people because they grazed their flocks on other people’s land, came to look upon this new born baby. Perhaps they were not quite sure why they were motivated to leave their flocks and go to Bethlehem. But having been moved by a messenger of God, they went with haste to gaze upon the anointed one; the Christ, the messiah who would lead humanity towards wholeness.

This act of God coming to us through the person of Jesus is both a mystery and the greatest gift that has ever been given. For it was through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that God kicked into the universe, a new and powerful spirit that would make all creation new. Perhaps we take this birth for granted. Perhaps we might not even think that it is the most important event in history. But can you imagine what these last 2000 years would have been like had the incarnation of God in Christ never happened?

Last week, I saw an old Jimmy Stewart movie; It’s a Wonderful Life. As you recall in this movie, Jimmy Stewart is going through some very difficult experiences in his life. His business is failing, money has been stolen, and he is about to go to jail for something someone else has done. He begins to think that life would have been better for all concerned if he had never been born. The movie portrays how bleak the lives of those people who lived in his town would have been had Jimmy never been born.

This movie made me wonder how different the world might have been, had Jesus never been born. How different would human history and the course of our own lives be, had Jesus never entered into the physical realm? Let’s think about this for a moment. Perhaps the great commandment to love God and neighbor would have been replaced by every man for himself. Perhaps salvation by works rather than salvation by faith would be the operating theology. Perhaps the Greek philosophy that the body is something bad/to get rid of would have prevailed over the Christian perspective of honoring the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps the world would never have heard about the inclusivity Christ where all people are viewed as equals in the sight of God. Perhaps we would still look upon the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and the sick as victims of their own misdeeds, being punished by God for their infidelity. Perhaps we would be fearful of death, believing that death is the end of the story. Perhaps doctors and the rich would flee plague infested areas, leaving the sick to die alone rather than responding compassionately to the sick as the early Christians did, thus setting a new precedence. Perhaps childhood prostitution, slavery, and the dehumanizing treatment of the poor would never have been challenged. Perhaps the great music and art that was maintained and enhanced by the Church during the dark ages would have been totally lost to civilization. Perhaps the great learning and scholarship that took place in the monasteries would have never happened, leaving our minds ignorant and fallow. Perhaps people would not have been willing to sacrifice their lives for justice, love, and peace, resulting in a soulless society.

Certainly in this century, things would have been different had Jesus not been born. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would have never been inspired and sustained to lead the peaceful civil rights movement in this country. There would have be no Jesuits to denounce the inhumane treatment of the Indians in Central America. There would have been no Mother Theresa and the Sisters of Charity to pick up the poor off of the streets of Calcutta. The Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops who influenced the World Bank to forgive billions of dollars of third world debt would have never taken place last year. There would be no parish of St. Jude’s in which to congregate, grow in the faith, and to reach out as a community to those in need. There would be no rotating shelter here for the homeless during the month of January or a place for the Senior Day Care Center. If you think the world is in terrible shape now, imaging how it would be without the spirit of Christ moving humanity into compassion.

Though war and injustice continue to rage, thanks to the teachings of Jesus, we have found words to describe and condemn the cycle of human cruelty and man’s inhumanity to man. We can say no to these oppressions rather than praise them as we might have been tempted to do.

In the bleak mid-winter, long time ago, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. It was into this darkness that the Light of God came into the world through the person of Jesus. We are here tonight to affirm this Light and to allow it to illuminate our hearts with compassion. If the world is still dark, it is not because the Light of Christ is diminished. Rather, it is because people shield themselves from the Light. So on this Christmas Eve and the days that follow, go out into the world and spread this Light of Christ. Either be the light or be the mirror that reflects the Light.

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Is. 9) Glory to God in the highest, and peace to all of you tonight.

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