CHRISTMAS EVE - A - 16 LUKE 2. 1-20
“While they were there (Bethlehem), the time came
for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped
him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room
for them in the inn.”
I have been
fortunate enough to have visited Bethlehem on two separate occasions. It is not
a very large place even today, and at the time of Jesus’ birth it was even much
smaller.
I have stood on the Shepherd’s hill and gazed down
at the site of Jesus‘ birth, where the Church of Holy Nativity stands today. I
closed my eyes and tried to envision what the little town of Bethlehem must
have looked like on that night the Holy Family faced the challenge of trying to
find a room.
There were simply not enough inns or rooms available
for all those who had come for the census. Thanks to the Roman Emperor who
called for a census in order to raise taxes the place was packed. That’s the
reason the Holy Family was there. That’s the reason there was no room for them
in the inn.
What was a political occasion for all those who had
come to Bethlehem suddenly became a religious one for those lowly shepherds who
left their flocks on the hillside. Having at first been startled by the angels’
message, they quickly recovered and descended to a common manger, with the
angel’s song still ringing in their ears, to see their new-born king.
“When they saw this,” Luke tells us, “they made
known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherds told them.”
Pope Benedict pointed out in his book “Jesus of
Nazareth” the very fact that there was no room for them in the inn should cause
us to reflect on the reversal of values found in Jesus Christ and his message.
From the moment of his birth, he belongs outside the realm of what is important
and powerful in worldly terms.
But alas, that is not what many of us think of at
Christmas. Because of the commercialism surrounding it today, the real meaning
of Christmas is often lost beneath the mad rush of buying and wrapping,
fighting traffic, standing in line, and beating the dead line at the post
office.
We no longer count the days of Advent, but rather
the shopping days until Christmas. Cashiers no longer greet the customer with
Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays as they ring up a sale, but rather, with “please
turn your card around the other way the chip is on the other end!”
When we talk about getting back to the “real meaning”
of Christmas, what we mean of course, is the religious meaning. Christmas is
the celebration of the birth of our Lord. Christmas is about what God in Christ
is doing in and for the world, the joy, the grace, the hope and the peace which
the birth of the Christ-child brings into our lives.
Christmas is a Holy day.
It is a sad failure that Christmas must now take
place in a materialistic environment which obscures its genuine splendor.
However, Luke reminds us that the very first Christmas, the day of Christ’
birth, was not a holy day, but a working day. Jesus was not born during a
worship service but during a tax census.
The day Jesus was born was a time for filling out
forms, people standing in long lines to beat the dead line for being counted,
snarled traffic in the streets, and crowds everywhere. There was not a room to
be found. A simple manger would have to do.
When the angels announced the Christ-child’s birth,
it was not to priests lighting candles in the Temple, it was to shepherds
earning their livelihood in the fields. The true meaning of Christmas was being
revealed to the world. God had entered the world in flesh and blood in Jesus
Christ. And the angels could not help but sing.
God did not choose to enter the safe world of silent
sanctuaries and hallowed spaces, but the rough and tumble, workaday world of
people with jobs to do, fields to tend, more anxiety than they know how to deal
with, and the government asking for more taxes. If this were not so, the news
of Christmas would not be the good news that it is.
No wonder the shepherds, upon hearing the news that
a Savior had been born, dropped everything, and hurried to see for themselves
if what the angels had told them was really true. Wouldn’t you? Isn’t this why
we are here; to hear the good news of the Savior’s birth proclaimed; to hear
the angels sing?
And afterwards, like the shepherds who were the
first to hear the good news, we may return home with joy glorifying God and
praising him for what we have seen and heard. The joy of Christmas is ours to
keep year round, day in and day out, but only if we make room for Him in the
manger of our hearts.
Christmas is a Holy day that comes in the midst of
all that we do and all that we are. Christmas stands as a reminder that God has
come to us and continues to come to us in the ordinariness of our lives
bringing joy, grace, hope and peace by the gift of His extraordinary Love.
Like the shepherds, who after seeing the
Christ-child for themselves made known what had been told them about this
child, we as Church, have been given the responsibility to see that the real
meaning of Christmas is not lost in a sea of commercialism, but remains what it
is - a Holy day.
That’s the challenge of Christmas we face, you and
I; a challenge with God’s help we joyfully accept in Thanksgiving for the Love
of God that sent Jesus into our world, bringing salvation to all.
“While they were there (Bethlehem), the time came
for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped
him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room
for them in the inn.”
May there always be room for Him in our hearts.
Merry Christmas. AMEN+
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