Christmas 2013

There was a first grade class that was presenting the Christmas story to their parents in the school hall. Everyone had memorized their parts – the shepherds and the angels, Mary and Joseph. The innkeeper was especially well rehearsed with his part in the story. And so the Christmas play began: Mary and Joseph set out from Nazareth on their long journey to Bethlehem.

When they arrived at the inn in Bethlehem, Joseph knocked on the front door of the inn. When the innkeeper came to the door, Joseph explained that they had come on a long journey, and Mary was pregnant and about to give birth to her child. She was very tired and worn out by the journey. The innkeeper knew his part: “There is no room in the inn.” Mary and Joseph seemed especially sad that there was no place for them to stay. As they were walking away from the inn, the innkeeper, this enthusiastic six year old spontaneously replied: “You can stay in my room if you would life.” While his response was not part of the script, this boy’s childlike invitation expresses the real meaning of Christmas: welcoming Jesus into the inn of our hearts.

This night of mystery had its origins on the darkened hills of Judea. In the dark of night, an angel proclaimed to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I proclaim to you good news of a great joy to be shared by all. Today in David’s city, a Savior has been born to you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

In a manger, in a town far away, among shepherds, and in the dark of night, Jesus is born. Our salvation is dawned with messiness, poverty, and weakness of ordinary human life. This hardly seems a very auspicious beginning of the dawn of salvation. We have hope not because we are perfect, but because Jesus was born into the house and family of our humanity.

That message echoes through the centuries to us this day bringing light and love to overcome fears. In this Christmas season of wonder, may we treasure more deeply the giftedness of our lives. May we love more recklessly the people who surround us. The meaning of Christmas is to be found in the presence of Jesus among us and in our love for one another.

The magic of the mystery of Christmas continues to happen when our children tell us the story we taught them. And we listen with grateful hearts knowing God’s love fills the hearts and spirits of our children. The story of Christmas is ageless, needing to be remembered and told again and again. May we know how the story of our salvation is revealed in Mary and Joseph, no room in the inn, the Savior born in swaddling clothes, the angel appeared to the shepherds and told them, “Do not be afraid.”

The mystery of Christmas is when we can connect the story of our own lives with the story of Christmas. The Christmas message is the story of God’s unconditional love for us. As his disciples we are called to fill this world with many other stories that mirror and give witness to God’s love for us. That is the meaning and the wonder of the Incarnation.

So how does the Christmas proclamation intersect with the reality of our lives? Christmas celebrates the revelation that we no longer need to fear the darkness. The inexplicable presence of Christ now penetrates and permeates our pain and darkness. The message of the angel is spoken to us as well; “Do not be afraid.”
Christmas is not simply about Mary and Joseph and the baby. It is about God becoming part of our daily struggle, transforming the world through us.

We are the people who walk in darkness – the darkness of sin, the darkness of war, the darkness of relationships that are broken, and the darkness of the threat of violence and terrorism. How many people in our world today experience “no room in the inn” because of race, color, religion, gender, sexuality? What attitude and actions of ours communicate to people in need that there is no room for them in the inn of our hearts? Do we ever in our parish life make people feel unwelcome and there is no room for them? The message of Christmas is that Jesus comes for people in dark places. The real, lasting and deep joy of Christmas is that light shines in the darkness.

You may be sure that to whatever area of our life we allow the Christ child to enter, the darkness recedes. The mystery of Christmas is allowing the person of Jesus to enter the inn of our hearts. It is an invitation to look at our present moment through a different lens, the mystery of the nativity of Jesus, the wonder of the Incarnation. This new lens enables us to see a new and radiant vision, a light for people who walk in darkness.
The story of Bethlehem points to a vision of hope, one that relies not on the exercise of military power but an on appeal to the common instincts of the human heart. These common instincts of the human heart are very spiritual – a spirit of peace, a spirit of joy, a spirit of family, a spirit of love, the spirit of Christmas.

When the Lord of history, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, broke the silence of the centuries and spoke in the darkness of that first Christmas night, he did not present an explanation for the future. He offered no triumphant design for global and personal peace. Instead, he spoke through a vulnerable infant in a manger.
Yet we may be confident that the final word of the story will be one of light shining in the darkness and life triumphant over death. The true gift of Christmas is the ability to discover God in the midst of brokenness and darkness. The spiritual power given to us in the mystery of Christmas is the power of our faith -- the faith that enables us to hear the Christmas story filled with the promise that our future is full of hope and that we always and forever are God’s beloved sons and daughters.

In the inn of our own hearts, there is an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. We are missioned to be the keepers of the mystery of Christmas – God is with us. We give birth to Christ when we allow the light that is within us to extend to our family, and our parish family, and to all of creation.