Reverend Maureen Frescott
Congregational Church of
Amherst, UCC
December 24, 2015 –
Christmas Eve
“Lights
Please”
“Fear not. I
bring tidings of great joy, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a
savior, who is Christ the Lord,
and this shall be a sign unto you.”
For
many of us of a certain generation, when we hear these words from the Gospel of
Luke we can’t help but hear them spoken in a familiar voice,
one
we’ve heard deliver these prophetic words year after year -
the
voice of Linus from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.
For
many of us, Linus and the Christmas story are forever entwined in our minds and
in our hearts.
Because
Linus is the one who told the story.
While
Snoopy is caught up in getting the light display on his doghouse just right,
and Lucy is trying to convince Schroder to play Jingle Bells on his piano,
and
Charlie Brown is stressing out over the fact that no one seems to know what
Christmas is really all about,
it’s
Linus who calls for the spotlight and tells the simple story of the Good News
from the Gospel of Luke.
“Fear
not. I bring you tidings of great joy, for unto you is born a savior.”
This
is the story we strain to hear in the world outside the walls of our faith
communities.
In
our wider culture, the Christmas story we encounter is about red nosed reindeer,
magical snowmen, and TV commercials that try to convince us that Santa wants us
all to wake up on Christmas morning and find a brand new car in our driveway with
a giant red bow on it.
I
think we all know THAT is not the real Christmas.
It
may be the Christmas we remember from our childhood – when we’d lie awake at
night anticipating Santa’s arrival while visions of candy canes, tinsel, and
toys danced in our heads.
And
it may be the reality of the Christmas we celebrate as adults – where we run
ourselves ragged trying to find gifts for everyone on our list, and eat too
much, drink too much, and spend too much, all in our search for holiday cheer.
That’s
the Christmas we celebrate out there.
But
it’s not the Christmas we celebrate in here.
Which
is why many of us come here on Christmas Eve.
What
draws us here – beyond the music – and the candle light – and the
tradition – what draws us here is the story.
This
story of a baby being born on a cold winter’s night.
A
baby who was destined to save the world.
Not
in the sense that we picture superman or the X-Men saving the world.
Jesus
did not have the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound or send bad
guys careening across the room with a wave of his hand.
Jesus
came to save the world with a much greater power…
The
power of compassion, and grace, and love.
These
are powers that we tend to undervalue in our world….and in ourselves.
When
we become enmeshed in the events of our world that invoke fear and distrust and
hate in our hearts, our instinct is to respond with even more fear, distrust,
and hate.
We’re
not conditioned to respond to fear with compassion,
to
respond to distrust with grace, to respond to hate with love.
Yet
we’ve all witnessed how acts of compassion, grace, and love have the power to
change hearts, change minds, and change the outcome of events that could have
gone so differently.
Just
in the past week, we’ve seen three examples of this extraordinary power.
On
Monday, when Islamic militants ambushed a bus in Kenya with the intent of
singling out the Christian passengers and killing them, a group of Muslims shielded
the Christians and told the attackers they were prepared to die together.
The
Muslim passengers, who were mostly women, told the militants to kill them all
or leave them alone. The attackers
left them alone.
Love
was more powerful than hate.
On
Tuesday, a local TV news program in Chicago aired a story about the city’s
homeless population and the public’s assumption that most were violent or
mentally ill.
The
segment featured a brief interview with Latoya Ellis, a single mother with
three children who was laid off from her job and then evicted from her
apartment.
The
family of four was living in a shelter.
After
the segment aired an anonymous donor stepped forward, helped the family find an
apartment and prepaid their rent for an entire year.
Compassion
was more powerful than fear.
A
few weeks ago, police in Orem, Utah showed up at the home of Rebecca Freemont
to arrest her for shoplifting.
Expecting
to find a stash of stolen goods, officer Jared Goulding was taken aback when he
instead found a single mother with two children living in a nearly empty
apartment.
With
no furniture, no TV, no books or toys, and nothing on the walls, except for a
picture of a Christmas tree on which the kids had hand colored ornaments and
decorations.
Officer
Goulding then learned that what Rebecca Freemont had stolen was a few cans of food
for her children. She had taken nothing for herself.
In
response, the Orem Police collected money and furniture donations amongst
themselves in order to help the struggling mother.
When
word of their charitable act got out, the police started receiving cards and
money from strangers who also wanted to help.
And
as of yesterday, the Orem police received enough money to buy the Freemont family
a real Christmas tree, presents for the kids, and -- most importantly – bags
and bags of groceries.
Grace
and mercy was more powerful than distrust and judgment.
These
stories of random acts of kindness and extreme acts of courageous compassion
can’t help but warm our hearts, at any time of the year.
But
what we often fail to realize is that acts like these are much more common and
much more powerful than we think.
While
our attention and our news media tends to gravitate towards the acts that feed
our fear, our distrust, and our hate, there is a quiet revolution happening all around us – one that is born out of
our God given drive to embody love, to feel compassion, to exhibit grace.
When
Mary looked down at the wriggling infant that she gave birth to on that cold
winter’s night she may have known
that he was destined to change the world, like the gospel writers claim…
or
she may not have had any idea who he would turn out to be,
or
the legacy he would leave behind.
An
entire faith – now 2,000 years old – is built on the belief that this baby had and has the power to save us from
ourselves.
He
brought with him the radical message – firmly rooted in his Jewish faith - that
it is in our best interest to love our neighbor, to show hospitality to the
stranger, to help the weak and the suffering, and to liberate those held
captive by tyranny, oppression, and fear.
Because
we are all connected – one to the other.
Jesus
lived a life born out of the belief that we are created by a loving and
forgiving God who offers unconditional grace not to just a few, but to all.
A
God who empowers each and every one of us to partake of the bounty and beauty
of this created world.
A
God who welcomes us all at the table –
regardless
of our gender, our race, our abilities, our ideology…
...regardless
of who we love, who we are, or who we’ve been.
If
we’re all equally precious in the eyes of God then it stands to reason that we
should treat each other – and ourselves - as if we too recognize how precious
we are.
The
Christmas story is our annual reminder that we have it in our nature to come
together and celebrate all that is good in us and the world.
Because
despite our inclination to one up each other,
to
look down upon those below us,
to
wrap our arms around what we own and what we love and live in fear that someone
will try to take it from us,
….we
were created to be much more than this.
The
Christmas story reminds us that each one of us has within us a power that is
greater than all our fears put together.
The
power of compassion, love, and grace.
Every
year at Christmas time, when Linus steps out on that stage
and
recites the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke,
we
can’t help but lean in and listen –
and
feel drawn to the hope and promise that this simple story of a baby born in a
manger brings into our lives.
For
a brief moment all the other things clamoring for our attention fall away.
For
a brief moment we get a glimpse of who we are and who we were created to be.
“Fear
not. For unto you this day is born a savior.
Who
is Christ the Lord.”
Amen.
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