But in the midst of this very contemporary story of human migration, unjust governments, unjust social orders, war, exclusion, unhealthiness and refugees is the birth of a Child, a Child heralded by joyful choirs of angels, adored by the most common shepherds, and worshiped by wise men from the East, a Child who is God’s answer to this broken and troubled world.
The Child is not born in a rich palace, pampered with many nursemaids. The “Word become flesh” is born among the humblest beings of creation, the animals of the stable, amongst the dirt and manure of the world. Those who first come to worship are shepherds, the bottom of the social scale, rough and ragged. The message is clear: God takes on all of humanity and all of its surroundings, including the dirtiest and the messiest. It is in those messy surroundings that the angels joyfully proclaim the birth of the Messiah, the one who will transform the world with the message of unconditional divine Love.
Therefore, as Christians we are not called to run away from the messiness of the world, from the wars and conflicts of the world, from the homeless and refugees of the world. We are not called to run away from difficult personalities or difficult personal situations. We are not called to economic privilege or separation from the pain, conflict, injustice and poverty of the world.
Rather, as God sent his Son into the very messy world of his time as the Messianic Ruler who would bring peace, justice and love to the world, we are sent, as we are able, into the broken world of today, participating in the Incarnate, Crucified and Risen Christ’s loving mission in the whole world.
What are some ways we might do that? The expression “No room in the inn” has become proverbial for unfairly excluding those who need our love and support. Let this parish and our homes never be places of “No room in the inn”. But, beyond that, let our minds and souls and attitudes never be overtaken with that “No room in the inn” mindset when faced with people very different from ourselves needing our love and affection. So radical and unconditional hospitality is a reflection of what the homeless One came into the world to achieve in his Messianic reign. In many Christian monastic traditions, the stranger is Christ and is to be treated thus. In our contemporary Canadian context, that unconditional hospitality includes welcoming refugees with love, support and affection.
Another way to incarnate in our lives the “Word become flesh” is always to be on the side of peace and peacemaking. The angels declare at Jesus’ birth, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.” Despite the assertions of some modern scholars, Jesus was not a Zealot, not an armed militant leading an armed revolution against the Romans. Rather, through simple human relationships of equality, mutuality, honesty, joy and vulnerability – a vulnerability reflecting that of the Christ Child in the crib – reflecting both the Suffering Servant and the reigning Messiah of Isaiah – divine Love enters the world and transforms it. That Love suffers and leads to the Cross but it is lifted up and joyfully proclaimed in Resurrection.
As such, we are all called to ministries of peacemaking – whether in the parish, in the diocese, in our cities, in our homes, in the nation or in the world. Rooted and grounded in Christ, we are called to be Christ-like in our calmness, peacefulness, patience, and respect for the other. And we pray that Canada as a nation on the world scene will go in that direction. Peacemaking and reconciliation require us to be willing to let go of hurts and wounds of the past. They are swept away in this joyful night of the birth of the Prince of Peace.
Finally, and perhaps we are getting a bit ahead of our story, we are called to keep on moving, to keep on growing. The Birth of Christ in a stable in Bethlehem does not hallow or privilege that situation and place. Mary, Joseph and Jesus do not settle down in Bethlehem because such an important event has taken place there. Indeed, they are forced into exile, forced to become refugees. They travel into a strange country, though eventually make it home to Nazareth. But that flight into Egypt was hallowed by Christ’s birth, and all our journeys, all our travels into new territory, are hallowed and blessed by Christ’s birth.
Christ’s birth does not give simple sure answers for the future. Jesus’s own life was often a journey into the unknown, both to pain and glory. The Incarnation opens up all the world to us: God is in every culture, every religion, in every part of nature, in science, in music, in imagination, in play, indeed, in all of creation and in all the works of human hands and minds. God has taken on and blessed all of our material world through the Word made flesh. Thus, like Mary, Joseph and Jesus, headed to unknown territory in Egypt, we are called to new voyages, new places, new relationships, new futures. And even if we are old and tired and think there is not much new for us, we are ensured that in the Incarnate Christ we are blessed and the possibility of new futures is always before us. And even what we already have, we are encouraged to look upon anew, as it too is a reflection of God in Christ in this world.
So tonight we celebrate a divine and cosmic event that changed the world, God taking on our human flesh in the Christ Child born in a common manger, amongst the wretched of the earth and amongst rejection and poverty. But that event raises us up to ministries of hospitality and peacemaking; and new directions and new beginnings, while not disrespecting the old, as we take on the character and mission of God in Christ in this broken and troubled world, among broken and troubled people. And the angels will be with us, joyfully proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.” Amen.
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