I went to Church on Christmas Eve.
As always, we listened to a homily, sang a few carols, and held aloft our candles. But most of all, we heard the Story, read by the pastor and dramatized by the children.
The Story is the important part: priests and prophets, Mary and Joseph, angels and shepherds and wise men from the East, all gathered around, with emperors, governors, and kings peering through the windows.
Is there a more famous, more important Story?
The Hebrew Bible describes how God made us—all of us—in the divine image; this Story describes how God—all of God—takes up the human image, becomes one of us. Incarnation, we call it. “The Word became flesh”, the gospel writer asserts, “and lived among us, and we beheld his glory”.
Is there another Story that can compare?
Not any I know: not the stories of Middle Earth, or Narnia, or that galaxy far, far away. Not the stories of war and peace, or love and loss; not the stories of Dante or Homer or even JK Rowling; not the stories of Asia, Africa, or anywhere in America.
This Story has it all: the rich and the poor, the powerful and the impotent, the family and the foreigner, the righteous and the wicked, the aged and the infant, the human and the divine, with the angels thrown in to stir the imagination and give it a measure of mystery.
I love the Story, don’t you?
The celebration of this event is the most popular festival in the world. Everywhere, on every continent, people gather with friends and food, candles and cards, music and, yes, a little mayhem! Not to mention gifts. Wise men from the East brought gifts, and we’ve been doing it ever since.
I don’t mind all the gift-giving. Yes, buying and selling sometimes displaces the Story. I saw an ad on television with some version of this message—Celebrate Christmas! Buy a new Car! It is a little off center, don’t you think? But it does not offend me. I grew up associating the birth of Jesus with unwrapping gifts. It made Christmas the most wonderful time of the year.
Some folk get stuck on that buying part of the season, but most people move on to the giving part: giving to friends and to strangers; giving to the Big Red Kettle or some other organization doing good in the world. I’ve been moved by the trend toward mega tips during the holidays. I saw one story of 10 friends who conspired to dine out and present their waitress with a $100 tip…from each of them! Their extravagance was a holy act. The dear, hard-working waitress could do nothing but cry and neither could I.
We need this Story.
After twelve months of strain and struggle, of selfishness and sinfulness, of warnings, threats, and demands, we need this Story. It touches our souls with simplicity, stillness, and sacredness. It fills our minds with joy and peace. It offers the promise of forgiveness and friendship. It sings the song of hope.
All of us, not just the children, are characters in this Story. We are people traveling away from home. We are people making a space for a newborn baby. Some of us are scheming to protect our place, and others are looking for a sign that life can be better, even righteous. Yes, there are Herods among us bringing chaos into the world and forcing others to play the part of Joseph trying to get his family to safety.
But, praise God, all around us there are angels: seen and unseen, above us and behind us and going before us—some with wings and songs that startle but others who look like neighbors and sometimes like nobody we know. They pay our bill, give up their seat, or simply say hello, with a smile and a nod. They offer what they have so we can have what we need. The share, sacrifice, surrender. They are full of the Spirit and some of that Spirit ends up anointing us. They are angels, named and unnamed; they are from God, they are for us; and that is the Story—from God, for us.
Sometimes, I wish we could sing the carols every week and light the candles; but here is what we can do—be an angel: for somebody, to somebody, with somebody. Maybe, just maybe, our simple angel act will usher into somebody’s life the very Spirit of God, the very same Jesus that the angels announced on the original Christmas Eve.
I went to church on Christmas Eve. I heard the Story once again. It is the most wonderous Story.
(Christmas 2019)
Merry Christmas Everyone!!
