This is my first time ever celebrating Christmas as a priest. I'm a little nervous. I don't know who is coming to church, or if they will ever come back to church after tonight. And so all of the human feelings of needing to be "on" are bubbling up inside of me while remembering the higher ideal that this is NOT about me. Even when other people want to make it about me, I keep pushing back. Because if people's relationship with God and the salvation they seek is about me... ohhh...noooo!
Usually, one would likely preach about the Gospel; however given the times we're living in... and all that we've been through between COVID, and insurrection, and racial reckoning and war...the Isaiah reading really was capturing my attention.
Besides... this is one of the rare times in the calendar when we will have Christmas ON a Sunday, so I saved the Gospel for Sunday morning's service.
Texts: Isaiah 9:2-7; Ps. 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14
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Prayer: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)
Friends, let us pray: May God’s word be spoken, may God’s word be heard, and may it infuse our hearts in wonder of God’s love. Amen.
The prophet Isaiah gives us such rich and beautiful imagery.
Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.
Is it any wonder why Handel couldn’t resist this language when composing the Messiah?
The prophet’s poetic oracle paints a vivid picture of both what is in the present and what is coming in the yet-to-be future.
In the present… we see a time of emergence for a people breaking out of doom and gloom and oppression and into light and joy.
This is such a hope-filled passage.
It comes around every Christmas Eve, and yet somehow, it seems this particular season… it’s a much-needed lesson.
It feels to me as if we are people who have endured a lot of darkness… so much division… far too much toxicity and anger.
We all could stand to see a great light!
That’s the reality of our times.
The reality that existed for Isaiah’s people was one of war.
Assyria had conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel…just one of many invasions and times of mourning and exile that would scatter the people.
The life on the ground for those living in the Northern Kingdom was a time of suffering…broken wills…defeated souls…terrible despair and disillusionment.
Life during wartime is like that. Both then and now.
We’ve all been witnessing what has been happening these past ten months in Europe with the ongoing war in Ukraine. With the harsh winter starting…and temperatures as cold and colder than what we’re experiencing here…Ukrainians are in the midst of a land of deep darkness.
Literally.
There is no electricity, no heat, and no running water in parts of the country.
Russia has bombed apartment buildings…theaters…even children’s hospitals.
As Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky told our U.S. Congress this week, Ukrainians will be lighting candles for Christmas…
Not for any romantic vision of God’s Messiah…but because that’s the reality of how his citizens must live.
And yet… even with the brutality continuing to cause such terrible suffering … President Zelensky talked about the faith of the Ukrainian people.
War has not broken their spirits.
And they hold fast to their belief that good will overcome evil.
Just as with Isaiah’s prophecy…there is a confidence in the Ukrainian people that those who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
A light which keeps them going in what sometimes must seem almost like a battle of David vs. Goliath.
It has shown up in the way that world has responded to their cries for help. Nation upon nation have condemned what the Russians are doing. Journalists have not shied away from telling the truth and few are believing the Russian propaganda.
And not just the governments of the world.
Individual citizens here in Georgia have opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees.
I saw a report where St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis accepted Ukrainian children battling cancer who had to be evacuated out of the country as bombs were dropping around them.
Cities and towns have taken in people from war torn areas such as Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan and helped them to get settled.
Such generosity of spirit provides that flicker of light in the darkness.
That light kindles the fire of hope in the hearts of those people who have been in a dark place in their lives because of the evil actions of others.
It is so appropriate that when Isaiah expresses the Hope for a Future… he says it will come in the form of newborn child.
As with any baby… the reality is that this life represents a promise of a future … with lots of potential.
The hope expressed in Isaiah is that this child will grow up and bring about a new reality…one in which those qualities of “wonderful counselor” and “prince of peace” will become the new normal for a weary and troubled people.
These words are associated with the coronation of a new king… much like the names that were spoken of the kings of Ancient Egypt. But they also hold special meaning for us as we consider the meaning of the birth of Jesus in our own story of Christianity.
We hear the term wonderful counselor.
The textbook definition of “counselor” is one who dispenses advice.
When we think of someone who is a wonderful counselor… we aren’t getting the cookie cutter counsel out of a textbook.
A wonderful counselor is a person who has lived and seen things… knows how the world operates… and can guide us toward making wise decisions through their street smarts.
The best counselors don’t tell us what to do…but engage with us.
They urge us to tap into wisdom as they walk with us on a path toward deciding what we will or will not do.
If we follow the life and ministry of Jesus… we see how he dialogues with people… encouraging them to open their eyes wider to see the reality he presents to them. A reality where there is good news brought to the poor. Sight for the blind. Freedom for the captives and liberation for those who have felt the yoke of oppression.
We also hear “Prince of Peace” or in the Hebrew “shalom.”
This isn’t peace like peace and quiet… birds chirping… pretty flowers… and dancing unicorns prancing through the fields.
That’s a really sweet and beatific kind of peace… which works for Hallmark but doesn’t resemble our real world.
Shalom is more like the peaceable kingdom kind of peace…where wolves and lambs live side-by-side.
It’s a peace that is holding a tension between enemies.
To bring it into our modern-day context… it would be a kind of peace if Russia would stop attacking Ukraine.
The two sides would agree to sit down and talk instead of fight.
The damage done in war will never be forgotten…but there’s an effort to reach forgiveness and seek a relationship where both sides can get along.
This is not easy work.
It may even seem to be impossible work.
And if dominance of the other is the only goal… then we really do need a Prince of Peace to lead us in the way toward a place of peaceable coexistence.
And that brings us back to this new life… and the people emerging out of the darkness.
Isaiah wants us to see a vision… a hope for a future as we look for the promise that comes from the son given to us.
The prophet… like the angels singing the Gloria at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem… is calling to us to see the hope that is breaking into our world.
This new life is bringing more love… a spirit of compassion… and will be encouraging us to keep our light burning bright even during the darkest days.
Our Advent wreath…now with all five candles lit… stands as a symbol of that light of Christ we bring to the world.
We are joined in this season with other traditions also seeking a reality where there is more love, more justice, and more mercy for those who are hurting.
May we join our light with those on the Hanukkah menorah and the Kwanzaa Kinara to be beacons for those seeking peace.
In the name of God…F/S/HS.
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