Mary\u2019s time had come. After the long journey, the road to Bethlehem, and the days of worry before that \u2013 what would Joseph say when he found out she was pregnant? How did this happen anyway? But Joseph had stood by her, and now the time had finally come, in a strange city, with no family there to help, and the barn would have to do. There was no room in the inn, but how could they have afforded that anyway? Money was hard to come by. The baby at last was coming, and Mary was terrified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the shepherds, too, were terrified. Like Mary and Joseph, they weren\u2019t sleeping inside that night: They were out in the fields, and it was cold. And suddenly this Angel of the Lord was confronting them, and this glory of the Lord was nearly blinding them, and this multitude from heaven was declaring peace on earth. There hadn\u2019t been peace for a long time; how was this baby lying in a manger going to bring peace now? It didn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have heard this story before, and we are probably not terrified tonight, as Mary and the shepherds were. But maybe we should be. Because if Christmas really comes, the way we say we want it to, things will have to change. The world will be reborn. The Kingdom of God will come on earth, as in heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, like Mary, we have been waiting, and praying, and hoping for this night. When the Angel Gabriel told her she would bear God\u2019s Son into the world, Mary\u2019s response was, \u201cHere am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary agreed to do this, despite the strange and unusual circumstances. She knew people would think the wrong thing and look down on her. She knew that Joseph might not understand. Even knowing how hard this would be, she said yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also have a choice. We are not here merely to remember what happened so long ago on a cold night in Bethlehem. Like Mary, God is asking us: Will you bear Christ into the world? Will you carry Jesus in your heart?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our road is different from Mary\u2019s, but it is challenging in its own way. A new baby always changes things. Your life is no longer your own. If you agree to let Jesus be born again tonight, your life will change, maybe in ways you don\u2019t expect. So be careful how you answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Christmas story can so easily be lost under a sentimental blanket of snow, with cows gently lowing and stars brightly shining. This is true with the carols we sing, too. They are so familiar that we sometimes miss the real meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example: \u201cIt came upon the midnight clear.\u201d The really interesting stuff in this carol happens in verse 3. This is true of most Christmas carols, actually: The real theology happens two or three verses in. Here\u2019s the third verse of \u201cIt came upon a midnight clear\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYet, with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long;
beneath the heavenly hymn have rolled two thousand years of wrong;
and warring humankind hears not the tidings which they bring;
O hush the noise and cease your strife and hear the angels sing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here\u2019s the second verse of \u201cIn the bleak mid-winter\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur God \u2013 heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christina Rosetti, who wrote this carol, is making a bold theological claim in this verse. When God comes \u2013 if God comes \u2013 heaven and earth will \u201cflee away.\u201d Heaven and earth as we know them now \u2013 everything we know, everything we see \u2013 will simply stop. Vanish. And then what? What comes next? Well, what comes next \u2013 what happens when God comes \u2013 is what Rossetti wants us to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the best example of Christmas carol theology is \u201cO little town of Bethlehem.\u201d The first couple of verses are sweet, almost cloying \u2013 all those \u201cChristmas angels\u201d and \u201csilent stars.\u201d But Phillips Brooks, the famous 19th<\/sup>-century preacher who wrote this carol, knew what he was doing. He has given us a perfect sermon in miniature. Here is the last line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cO holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; The carol has gotten rather serious by this fifth verse. \u201cCast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today\u201d \u2013 not so sweet, is it? It may be what we need \u2013 it may even be what we want, what we are praying for \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t sound easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCast out our sin\u201d brings to mind some lines from the Magnificat<\/em>, the Song that Mary sings after she hears from Gabriel that she is pregnant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[God] has cast down the mighty from their thrones, There\u2019s some resonance between God\u2019s tearing our sin from us and casting it out, as in the carol, and God casting down the mighty from their thrones, sending the rich away, empty. Being sent away empty isn\u2019t a punishment, you see \u2013 its a blessing. If we allow God to cast out our sin \u2013 if we allow God to empty us out \u2013 then we will be blessed indeed, just as Mary was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what is it, exactly, that we need to be rid of this year? What is the sin that needs casting out, the thing that\u2019s getting in the way of God being born in us? Our desire to be important? To have all the right things? To have more than we need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is it that occupies your heart this Christmas? Maybe it\u2019s sadness, frustration, anger? The feeling that you\u2019re not good enough or smart enough or kind enough? Or maybe you\u2019re lonely or afraid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever is in there, God wants to be in your heart, too. And if you let God in, even just a little bit: Watch out! Cast out our sin and enter in. He has sent the rich away, empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is only after we have been emptied \u2013 of all the ridiculous things, all the needless stuff that gets in the way of God\u2019s love \u2013 only when we are emptied of these worries, these desires, are we ready to be filled with the love of God. Only when we are empty can Christ be born in us. Only when we are empty will Christmas come. We can sing the carols and put out the cr\u00e8che, but unless we are willing to be emptied out, there won\u2019t be any place for God to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the inside work, the thing that must happen inside our hearts, in order for the outside work to move forward. And the outside work is the coming of the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heaven and earth shall flee away, you see, when he comes to reign. We are being asked to bear God into the world, just as Mary did. And just like Mary, we know that this is not going to be easy, and it\u2019s going to change everything. Are we brave enough to do this, knowing that if God\u2019s kingdom really comes, our lives change forever? Are we willing to be cast down, emptied out, so that God may be raised up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This labor, this bringing about the Kingdom of God, will not be easy. But this is Christmas; the time has come, and our call is to bear Jesus into the world, just as Mary bore him so long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are called to put flesh on the values of God\u2019s kingdom, to put hands and feet and brains and shoulders to work for peace and justice and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel. Be born in us today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This sermon was written by the Rev. Jason Cox<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mary\u2019s time had come. After the long journey, the road to Bethlehem, and the days of worry before that \u2013 what would Joseph say when he found out she was pregnant? How did this happen anyway? 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cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n