PREFACE TO THE HOMILY FOR CHRISTMAS 2009

Delivered on January 3, 2010

          The celebrations of the past several days (or rather the lack of them) are revealing, for they show us once again just how fragile are the plans of men, and how subject we are to the whims of nature and of nature’s God.  Little did we suspect as we prepared for Christmas, with the “hanging of the greens,” rehearsals for the children’s pageant, and the anticipation of singing the beautiful carols of Christmas once again, that in this Church, as well as in many others on Christmas Eve and Christmas, and on the Sunday after Christmas, not a creature would be stirring, hopefully not even a mouse.

          It was with a deep sense of disappointment that I pondered and prayed, and then reluctantly decided to cancel our Christmas Eve observance, and even worse when it happened again on the Sunday after.  But I believe they were not only the right decisions and the only ones that could have been made, considering the circumstances.  We are not invincible, and sometimes we must bow to those forces of nature, which are beyond our control.  It is sad, of course, to “cancel Christmas,” but it is a reminder (or should be) of who is in charge and who calls the “shots.”  It is not you or me, or any one of us, and the fact we are celebrating today – as tardy as we are – proves beyond doubt that one may indeed put off the celebration of our Lord’s Nativity, but we can never stop its triumph over all the negatives of this world – even a blizzard that buried us for a time.

CHRISTMAS 2009

St. Augustine Anglican Church

“And they were sore afraid.”

The Rev. Gerald Parks +

          The story of the birth of Jesus, as told in St. Luke’s Gospel (Luke 2: 1-14), is one most of us have heard so often that we could easily recite most of it from memory.  And that is as it should be, for it is perhaps the most beautiful, as well as the most beloved of all the Gospel stories. It has also inspired great and noble works of art and music, as well as being the inspiration for one of the greatest of all liturgical hymns, the Gloria in excelsis.  But, could it be that the constant telling and retelling of this glorious and familiar story, the circumstances of Jesus’ nativity, has caused us to focus so much on the “how” it happened that we tend to forget or to ignore the “why” it happened – proving the old saw, “familiarity breeds contempt,” or if not contempt, at least indifference.

          Any discussion of our Lord’s birth should start with the fact that His was a real human birth.  He was not just a figure in a tale, but a real person who was in every physical way just as we are.  That He was to become the founder of a great world-wide religion, or that He is the source of faith and the inspiration for countless millions of faithful throughout the world are important facts, to be sure; but they are “future facts” when seen in the light of His birth, and are not relevant to this day.  For, this day we celebrate the coming into the world of the Son of God and Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ.

          Looking back on the old story of our Lord’s birth, as told in Luke’s Gospel, as beautiful as it is, we realize that it is without much (if any) real detail; which has never stopped people from adding their own – expanding and ornamenting the original story with fanciful details, which while generally doing no harm, tend to obscure its meaning.  But one salient detail stands out in the original, untouched by anyone.  And that is the reaction of the shepherds, “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night,” (Luke 2: 8) to the appearance of the angel of God: “And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” (Luke 2: 9)

          The fact is, they were terrified.  And who wouldn’t be?  Science fiction writers and movie-makers have tried for years to scare us to death with their special effects and gimmicks depicting imaginary beings and circumstances, but here was the real thing – the ultimate other worldly event.  And those simple country shepherds, so courageous in protecting their flocks from wild beasts, knew real fear, as we all would.  But their fear was short lived: “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (Luke 2: 10)

          Fear is a great motivator, as we all know, and it has the power to change us in ways we might not think possible in ourselves, without it.  Sometimes our response to fear is to run away from it, or to close our eyes to the reality of its threat.  But here were the shepherds, no doubt trembling in their sandals (if indeed they wore any) and trying to make sense of what the angel of the Lord told them.  Curiosity is also a great motivator, potentially greater than even fear; and it was their curiosity that won the day.  That, and the angels words, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” (Luke 2: 11-12)  So, they went to Bethlehem and found everything to be as the angel had described, and all their fear left them and was replaced by the joy of the love of God presented to all of us in the birth of Jesus.

          In many ways, the shepherds’ story is the same one lived by anyone who has experienced a conversion from fear to grace.  The Christmas story reminds us that, as St. Paul wrote, “This is a true saying and worthy of all men to be received, That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” (1 Tim. 1: 15)  It is not the manner and not the place of His birth that is important, not the time of year or the date, or any other single detail.  It is the fact that He who is without sin came into a world filled with sin, to save it from itself.  And we have the record of that miraculous event forever preserved for us in Holy Scripture.

          It is the single most important event in the whole history of the world – before or since.  Jesus birth changed history, and it has the power to change forever the lives of sinful men.  For, on the night when the shepherds of old were so sorely frightened, the world received the light of a new covenant between God and men, in the form of a human, yet divine, child.  No longer would men have to live in fear and darkness, for all the power of God – the light of grace and the joy of love – was concentrated in a tiny baby of David’s royal line, as had been foretold by the prophets.  His mission was to bring to the world the message of the light of salvation, and to live among us for a brief time, showing us how, through the grace of God, we might obtain everlasting life.  His birth, then, was to bring forth a new age, an age in which man would not longer have to fear the darkness of death, but live in the glory and light of God.

          “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2: 13-14)

Merry Christmas