Contrasting Christmas

Well we made it!  We are here!  Christmas is here!  We are hopefully done with all we needed to do, and if not that is okay.  It’s been quite a month outside these church walls  – baking; decorating;  attending parties, programs, events, worship services and concerts; thinking of the right presents to buy, shopping for those presents, wrapping those presents, delivering those presents; grocery shopping, cooking and eating;  trying to find a parking place even!  Phew!  Lots happening this past month outside these walls. 

In contrast this past month was Advent, too, when we tried to not get too caught up in everything going on and stave off Christmas for just a bit so we could get ready for Christ’s coming  and  spend time in reflection and contemplation.  Our themes each of the past four weeks of Advent focused on one of the meanings of the Advent candles on our wreath:  hope, peace, joy and love. 

Our December and time of Advent in the church was in sharp contrast to the Christmas preparations outside these walls.  Here:  quiet, lots of the color blue for peace and tranquility, and a time of thoughtfulness.  Out there:  busyness, lots of the colors red and green for Santa, a time of rushing to get things done.  Both are times of preparations.  Both need to be done.  But, they are in sharp contrast of each other and need to balance each other out. 

There is also a sharp contrast in our emotions this Christmas among people.  What emotions are you feeling?  There are a lot of contrasting emotions. 

Some are feeling hope while others feel desperation.

Some are feeling peace while others feel confusion.

Some are feeling joy while others feel depression.

Some are feeling love while others are feeling aloneness.

Contrasting emotions sometimes felt right within our own selves.

That first Christmas even the shepherds felt contrasting emotions.  They were at first terrified and then were in awe and finally were so excited with what they had heard and seen that they couldn’t wait to go and tell others.

There are contrasts in the story of Jesus birth found in Luke 2 as well.  Names of important people are listed – Ceasar Augustus, Quirinius, Governor of Syria.  Joseph.  King David.  Mary.  Yet in sharp contrast, we do not hear the baby’s name mentioned at all.  The most important character in this story.  The  shepherds are told by the angels that this baby will be the savior, the messiah, the Lord.  Yet his name remains unspoken.

Also in great contrast is the fact that the first people told about Jesus’s birth are poor shepherds in a field looked down upon by most of society.  This great event isn’t told to the great officials listed - Ceasar Augustus or Quirinius Governor of Syria. 

Another contrast is the place of Jesus’ birth.   A stable.  Jesus is later called the King of Kings and King of the Jews.  How many kings are born in a stable with animals?  This isn’t an event to write home about yet many people have written about this event and those writings have lasted for thousands of years. 

My thoughts on contrasts this Christmas season were inspired by an Episcopal theologian, Paul S. Nancarrow who writes so well:

“The Christmas story is a mass of contrasts: there is squalor, and there is splendor. There is the stinkiness of the stable, and the aurora of angels. There is the violence of the Roman imperial overlords, and the peace proclaimed to God’s people on earth. There is the exclusion of the “socially unacceptable” shepherds, and the utter and ultimate inclusivity of God’s justice. There is the way Mary and Joseph are pushed off to the sidelines of things in the stable, and the way the birth of Jesus makes that stable the very center of the world. The Christmas story Luke tells us is a mass of contrasts. And I think that is why the story has such power for us; that’s why we keep coming back to it year after year after year: because our stories are masses of contrasts, too; and Luke’s story tells us that it is precisely into those contrasts that God’s embodied love always comes. God’s love isn’t just for the pious and the perfect, God’s grace doesn’t come only in moments of quiet contemplation, when everything else is all wrapped up and all settled down and all put to bed—but God’s love breaks in on us precisely when everything else is going on, precisely when everything else is chaos and commotion, precisely in those days when it is the last time and place we would expect God’s love to be: in the emergency room, in the homeless shelter; where people’s hearts are breaking, where people are struggling for justice; in the choice between war and peace, in the decision between generosity and greed; in the moment of love when everything seems loveless, in the flash of hope when everything seems hopeless, in the sudden joy that breaks through even the deepest sorrow. It is precisely into these contrasts that God’s love comes, it is precisely these contrasts God’s love holds together, just as it did in a stable in Bethlehem; and suddenly the world is hushed, and the chaos pauses for a moment, and the angel appears, and the heavenly chorus sings, and the Savior is there, and new life begins. That is the story of God’s Incarnation; those are the days in which God’s love is embodied for us.”

One final and important contrast tonight that we must be aware of is found in the Christmas Tree.  A tree in the woods brought in to become a Christmas tree.  Later a tree in the woods is made into the cross.  The cross is hidden in the Christmas tree.  Without the cross the Christmas tree would just be another pretty decoration with lights.  If this we have a real Christmas tree we could saw off the branches after Christmas and cut off part of the trunk to make a cross for Lent and Good Friday to remind us of the contrast in events in Jesus life.  The beautiful Christmas trees seen at his birth become transformed into an instrument of his death as a cross.  That is important.  We must remember that this beautiful baby born in a manger tonight whose birth we celebrate is also true man and true God who loves us so much that he died to take away all our sins, all the wrong things we do, and rose again on Easter so that we might have eternal life with him in heaven. 

Christmas is just the season premier of the story of baby Jesus.  I hope you attend worship every Sunday to hear the rest of the story unfold and the contrasting events of our Lord’s life– the Epiphany, the miracles, the healings, the Palm Sunday celebration,  Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter and the Ascension when Jesus tells us once again that he is with us always.  Always.  No matter what!