Christmas Eve

 
That day is called the birthday of the Lord on which the Wisdom of God manifested Himself as a speechless Child and the Word of God wordlessly uttered the sound of a human voice. His divinity, although hidden, was revealed by heavenly witness to the shepherds by angelic voices. With yearly ceremony, therefore, we celebrate this day which saw the fulfillment of the prophecy…(St. Augustine sermon clxxxv)
  
Tonight, we come to the manger in Bethlehem to worship God’s own Word made flesh, beginning with a meditation upon the Incarnation by St. Augustine of Hippo. From the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, we can hear only silence. The Word of God made flesh is as speechless as every newborn babe. The Word of the Eternal Father, His only and everlastingly begotten Son, is made man for us and for our salvation. From conception in the Virgin’s womb, and now in His birth, He has come into the world to redeem fallen man.

But at first, there is the silence of the child himself. From the child, we hear only inarticulate cries. The sound of this infant’s voice must be heard but cannot be understood. We don’t expect to understand the vocation and calling of any baby. We must wait till he grows to discover what He plans to do. So tonight is shrouded in mystery.

But we believe that the birth of this child was foretold to the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Angel Gabriel and accomplished through the agency of the Holy Ghost. We believe that in some mysterious way Christ’s conception and birth are part and parcel of our salvation. Rather than saving us by some paranormal divine blast of divine thunder, God chose to become one of us. His intention is not hard to imagine. Because the whole of fallen man’s existence must be redeemed, God will begin at the beginning, first in the womb and then in the birth to reunite the whole of human life to God, from the manger to the Cross, from birth to death. And so, the Son of God allows Himself to be born of woman, held in her arms, nurtured and nourished in the way common to all men. In so doing, Christ blesses the conception and birth of all men. Christ takes on our human life from the womb to birth and beyond. And while most of the world was spiritually asleep, while most of the world didn’t notice, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. (St. John. i. 14)

But those who first welcomed God’s Word made flesh were simple men, shepherds abiding in their field by night. They were not philosophers or theologians. Philosophers and theologians always have trouble with the fact that God became a baby. To them, the Truth and Word of God belong to Heaven and the eternal realm. But to shepherds, God is a close friend who in the darkness of a dangerous night protects their flocks from robbers and wolves. They depend upon God for protection and care. There is always something childlike in a shepherd, whose life is simple and close to God’s creation. That God’s angels came to shepherds to announce the birth of the Savior should not surprise us. Shepherds’ lives are uncomplicated and unsophisticated. And unlike earthly kings and princes, they are relatively poor. Simplicity and humility are always ripe for the coming of God’s Word made flesh.    

That the shepherds should be the first to learn of His coming is most suitable. In Him, these simple men can believe that God has visited His people. As the shepherds care for their sheep, why shouldn’t God be made man to shepherd them? A newborn babe is of much greater interest to shepherds than to philosophers or earthy rulers. The shepherds live so close to a world where the barest of necessities of protection and love have meaning. They are used to being content with small things. God’s gift, a small babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, will be of great value to them.

Jesus Christ is God’s own Son born into the world. As God, He needs nothing. He needs nothing of the philosopher’s complicated rational demands. He has no use for the riches and palaces of the princes of this world. To save man, He needs only become a baby in need of His mother’s milk and loving care. The eternally begotten Word made flesh reveals Himself as content with the bare necessities of life. He needs only the simplest of things to begin His earthly journey. As a babe, He will be protected by his foster father, Joseph the Carpenter. Having all He needs, He will look out with awesome wonder and awe at the world He had made.

There was no room in the inn for the Holy Family. Civilized society rejects this birth. Civilized society treats the shepherds with equal scorn. No matter. The Holy Family and the shepherds can become the friends of God while the rest of the world is asleep, or too busy with their complicated lives to notice. What is hidden from the world is revealed by the Holy Family to those whom the world has rejected. God’s Word is made flesh in simplicity and first comes to simple men. Poverty is no obstacle to God’s revelation in His Son. Shepherds are not too mean and lowly to be made His first worshipers. The uncomplicated nature of the birth, in obscurity and hiddenness, has touched those who have little but their sheep, the fields, the sky and the stars above.
        
God desires nothing from men but a heart moved and touched by the arrival of His love. The shepherds have been vigilant at work, watching over their flocks by night, tired but awake to what might come next. Joseph is worn out having sought refuge for the birth of his foster child. The Blessed Virgin is exhausted having to give birth in a manger, a cratch, an uncomfortable place. Christ will be born and will begin to reveal himself in the brutal reality of hard and incommodious human life. Christ will be born into a world that is not expecting His arrival. God comes to reveal Himself in and through the earth and not on floating above it. There is no golden glow or rich pageantry to accompany Christ’s birth. Here we find a poor baby born on a rag of cloth, in a barn smelling of animals and sweat, on a dirt floor in a dark shed. Here we find the Saviour of the world worshiped by tired and dirty herdsmen.

Can this Word that was made flesh long ago be born for us tonight? Or are we like those who didn’t notice Christ’s birth, spiritually asleep or too busy to be bothered? Will the timeless One, the Word of God enter the brief span of our day and be born for us as He was in Bethlehem? If He will be born for us, as we remember His entry into our fallen world, perhaps we must recall where Christ was born and to whom. We do well to realize that more often than not, our lives are like dirty and smelly old mangers and barns. We are frustrated that our lives are too dysfunctional, ordinary, or complicated. We too are like the shepherds, consumed with our sheep, spending sleepless nights wondering what might become of us and our families. Are these obstacles or opportunities for the Christ Child to be born in our midst? No doubt, we are not as poor and desperate as 1st-century shepherds. But surely, we can identify with the manger and shepherds more than we might like to admit. To admit it, is necessary.

Christ’s birth seems inauspicious and unfortunate. But Christ heralds His coming into our world as one of us, destined to suffer and struggle for our redemption. Mary and Joseph struggled and suffered to find a place for this child’s birth. They must have been confused that God hadn’t provided more suitable accommodation. The birthplace is as solitary, dirty, disappointing, and seemingly ordinary as that of the shepherds’ fields. No sooner is Christ born but the Holy Family must flee into exile to escape the jealousy and wrath of King Herod. Christ’s birth heralds an adult life that will provoke rejection, envy, and rage. Later, far removed from the inconspicuous manger and the simple credulity of the shepherds, He will be attacked, maligned, and rejected by the philosophers, theologians, and princes of this world. Eventually, He will suffer and die at their hands in order to persist in the project of our salvation.

But none of this need present itself as an obstacle to our salvation. His humble birth in simple conditions should not keep us from Him. As the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world (ibid, 9), Christ has come into our darkness, dirt, dilapidation, and difficulty. The light shineth in the darkness and the darkness overcame it not. Christ the Light will shed light on our darkness if we welcome Him. His Light will shine on the hideousness of our sin. It is in our ordinary and sinful condition that Christ expects to find us. This is where He always reveals Himself. Let us pray for the humility and courage to go to Bethlehem this night. Still, He will shine the Light into our darkness. And if we realize that our darkness cannot overcome His light, a sparkle of hope will fill our breasts and our journey in hope will begin.  

Amen.
©wjsmartin