The Rev. Mark Pendleton in Christ Church Episcopal

2 years ago

Christmas Eve Sermon 2022 The Rev. Mark Pendleton Christ Church, Exeter   The Nativity Story Looks Back at Us      As a gray-haired preacher, people have been known to ask me if I go to my file of past sermons and preach them again -- take them out for another spin, so to speak. As much as the idea of “re-gifting” my sermons might make for a more relaxing Saturday night, I must say that I rarely do. I have 30 years of Christmas sermons to browse, but as I look back over them what I realize is that I am not the same person I was when I preached them. As life has moved forward and the world has changed, so too have I. In so many ways, I don’t think the same as I did.  As the earliest believers of Jesus were called followers of the Way before they were called Christians, I like to think that we all are finding our way through life -- being moved and changed by what we see and experience.    What have I learned and seen?  The years have taught me a few more things about human behavior so I shouldn’t be so surprised when people – you and me – act the way we do. I have grown a bit more capacity to learn from setbacks and disappointments. Time can invite us all to tend to the relationships that matter most.  When the dust settles in moments of confusion and trial, the values that are most important to us – family, friends, faith -- find a way to become clearer and more present.    So, on a night such as tonight, I like to take it all in. Past memories and traditions of Christmas. Today’s reality and challenges. And the hope for what is still to come.    We are here. Together. We’ve seen a lot, endured much, lost, and loved and yet we are drawn to gather again to sing carols, light candles and pray that that joy and hope can crowd out any darkness, conflict, despair, and fear. We fill this space with light in the darkest time of the year.    And we hear again: The angel said to Mary and Joseph, "Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.    What I have discovered in my dusty sermon file, is that I’ve probably looked at the story of the birth of Jesus from every angle and frame possible.  From the surprising and unlikely birth announcements to both Mary and Joseph, to their journey to Bethlehem and the meaning of that town for Israel, to their fleeing for safely in Egypt in the months after Jesus’ birth.  I have taken on the view and voice of the angels, the shepherds, the innkeeper, the star, the Magi, the villain King Herod – even the animals in the manger.    I suppose that there is nothing wrong with that approach to this familiar and foundational story, but maybe I spent too much time looking at the nativity story without pausing to wonder how the story looks back at my own life – at all of our lives. What does the birth of Jesus, of God becoming one of us, say about you and me?    When and where in our own lives have we heard something totally unexpected that challenged us to our core? That we first couldn’t or didn’t want to accept to be true. In an instant, life as we know it can go in different directions based on the decisions we make.  It turns out that life does present forks in the road and moments of decision.  When and if unsettling news comes our way, after the shock, doubt and uncertainty that might follow, what do we do?  This or that may not be how we imagined our life to be.    Mary and Joseph can look back at our lives as we look at theirs. What did they do?  They both remained open to the sound and voice of God and believed. They found a way to move forward into the next day – they held onto their faith and did not lose their way.     Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.    Some of the greatest learning and growth in our lives can come from the journeys we make and the distance we create from what is familiar and known. New places, distant lands, different people challenge us in good ways. We venture out from the known and comfortable, we might even meet people along the way.   In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.   I believe there are people in our lives who somehow keep watch over us. Maybe on this holy night we might dare to call them angels. They find a way to be there and show up when we need them most.   They call out of the blue. They find a way to say what we most need to hear or just speak through their presence.     The shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.    Tonight, is a good night to remember and lift up in our hearts the names of those in heaven and those with us still who fill the mangers and rooms of our lives when we need them most and new things are happening.    I always love that last scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy wakes up in bed from this amazing dream surrounded by loved ones. What did she say about his journey to Oz: “And I tried to get back for days and days… bit it wasn't a dream. It was a place. And you, and you, and you… and you were there. And I remember that some of it wasn't very nice. But most of it was beautiful.”   Dorothy had a pretty good take on Oz and our world today: some of isn’t very nice but most of it is beautiful.    I was in a clergy group years ago when the leader posed a question to us. He asked us this: what do we think would happen if all of the Bibles on earth vanished in an instant? Vaporized, deleted, fell into piles of dust.  We sat with this question for some time, long enough for the leader to offer up what he thought.  He said: I think if all of the Bibles disappeared, and there was no recorded history of Israel, the Prophets, Jesus, Mary, Paul, the early church, that people would find a way to write and create a new Bible all over again. Because the story has to be told and be reborn in every generation to keep it and us alive.     The story we retell on this night has a way of looking back at us. It keeps us alive. We are invited to believe again. In hope. In love. In service and sacrifice, generosity and compassion, justice, and mercy. In God at the heart of it all.