“DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?”
Luke 2:1-20
2:1 In those days a decree went out
from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This was the first registration and was
taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 All went to their own towns to be
registered.
4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of
David.
5 He went to be registered with Mary,
to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
6 While they were there, the time
came for her to deliver her child.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn
son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 In that region there were shepherds
living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 Then an angel of the Lord stood
before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, "Do
not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11 to you is born this day in the
city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be a sign for you: you
will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
15 When the angels had left them and gone
into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."
16 So they went with haste and found
Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
17 When they saw this, they made known
what had been told them about this child;
18 and all who heard it were amazed
at what the shepherds told them.
19 But Mary treasured all these words
and pondered them in her heart.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
And in that region there
were shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night. It sounds peaceful
doesn’t it? The shepherds were out there sitting under a quiet star studded
sky; far away from the headaches of the real world. I bet all that peace and
quiet sounds pretty good right about now; especially after all of the Christmas shopping and the baking and the decorating
you’ve been doing these past few weeks. This time of year can leave you
feeling the same way a mother felt when her son asked her what she wanted for Christmas.
“I told you,” the mother said, “all I want is a little peace and quiet.” The son nodded his head. “I know,” he said, “but
I just came from the mall and I think they’re all out of that.”
When it comes to peace and
quiet the shepherds had it made, or did they? Step away from all those bucolic
scenes that you see on the Christmas cards that you get and you begin to realize that it wasn’t easy being a shepherd. It was a lonely and boring job. You had to sit there by yourself hour after hour with
nobody to talk to; just you and a bunch of bleating sheep. Not only that, but
being a shepherd was also dangerous at times. You always had to be on the watch
for wolves and thieves. I bet it also got pretty cold when the wind started blowing
in the middle of the night. So, here’s a question for you. Do you think
those shepherds ever asked themselves, “Is this all there is? Is this all there is to life?”
That’s a question that
a lot of people ask themselves today. You’re driving down Route 128 fighting
the traffic to get to work and you wonder, “Is this all there is to life?”
You pull a big pile of laundry out of the dryer and you wonder, “Is this all there is to life?” You’re at school studying for another final and you wonder, “Is this all there is to life?”
The shepherds got an answer
to that question on this night long ago and the answer was a resounding “No!.”
“No! This isn’t all there is to life!” That answer came
from the angel who brought them tidings of great joy. It came from the angel who declared, “Be not afraid...for unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”
What that says to me is that
if you’re looking for something more out of life you’re not going to find it in the football games that you watch
on television. You’re not going to find it in the iPods under the Christmas
tree tomorrow morning or the promotion you might get at work next year. You’ll
only find that something more if you listen to those angels and do what the shepherds did on this night long ago. You’ll only find it if you listen to those angels and go over to Bethlehem
to see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.
My friends, those
angels didn’t stop singing this amazing love song on this night long ago either.
You can still hear them singing today. All you have to do is be still and listen. Consider if you will the Christmas
miracle that took place a little more recently. It happened back in 1972 when
a pastor was called to serve a small church in Brooklyn, New York. Shortly after he arrived the pastor discovered that the church was pretty run down
and needed a lot of repairs. So, he got a group of people together and they immediately went to work. Their goal was to have the sanctuary done in time for the Christmas Eve service, and things were looking
good until a terrible storm hit a couple of days before Christmas. Unfortunately, the roof leaked during the rainstorm and
that caused a large chunk of plaster to fall off the wall behind the pulpit. Since
there wasn’t enough time to repair the damage, the pastor didn’t know what to do until he went to a little shop
around the corner from the church. In that little shop he found a beautiful tablecloth with a gold cross embroidered on it. Well, the pastor bought the tablecloth and brought it back to the church. Before he went into the church though he noticed an elderly woman running to catch a bus. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it in time. Since the
next bus wasn’t due for another 45 minutes the pastor invited the elderly woman to come in out of the cold and wait
for the bus in the church. The elderly woman thanked him for the offer and the two of them went into the church. The elderly woman sat down in one of the pews while the pastor hung the tablecloth up behind the pulpit. As soon as he got it where he wanted it, the woman stood up and said, “Pastor,
where did you get that tablecloth?” She then asked him to check the lower
right hand corner of the tablecloth to see if it had the initials EBG on it. When
the pastor said it did, the woman explained that she actually made the tablecloth 35 years earlier when she and her husband
were living in Austria. Unfortunately, she lost track of both
the tablecloth and her husband when the Nazis came to power and the two of them were sent to different concentration camps.
After listening to her story, the pastor offered to return the tablecloth to her, but the elderly woman insisted that he keep
it for the church. The pastor thanked her and then showed his appreciation by
driving the woman home to her apartment. That in and of itself would be a wonderful
story, but there’s more. After the Christmas Eve service a couple of days
later, the pastor noticed an elderly man sitting all alone in one of the pews. When
the pastor walked over to him, the man asked him where he got the tablecloth behind the pulpit. The man went on to explain that his wife made one just like it 35 years ago when they lived in Austria. The pastor was stunned of course and took the man to the apartment he had gone to
a couple of days earlier. When the elderly woman opened the door the pastor saw a tearful and touching reunion.
My friends, things like that
don’t happen by accident. They happen because the song that the angels
sang on that night long ago is true. God’s goodness is real. God’s
grace is real. God’s love for you and for me is real. So, is there more
to life than the traffic on 128 and that load of laundry and the final exams you take at school? Absolutely, and if you listen
carefully you can still hear the angels singing today. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
December 24, 2006 – Christmas Eve
