“DASHING THROUGH
THE SNOW TO THAT SILENT NIGHT”
LUKE 2:1-20
Happy
New Year and while I’m at it, the luck of the Irish to you. He is Risen. Good bless America. Trick or Treat. Happy Thanksgiving
and Merry Christmas. There! I’ve just covered a years worth of holiday
greetings and salutations. If it seems like I’m rushing things a little
that’s the way we do things these days. I saw that last year on the day after Christmas.
I walked into a supermarket, that shall remain nameless, and do know I saw? The
first thing I saw was a giant display of candy and cards for Valentine’s Day!
You couldn’t miss it. It was right there at the door. I remember thinking to myself, “Oh come on. Can’t you let let me enjoy a few more days of peace on earth and goodwill to
all before we rush on to the next big spending opportunity on the calendar?”
These day’s it easy to feel the way a man up in Portland, Maine felt when he was late for work one morning. The man lived on an island in Casco Bay and didn’t want to miss the ferry. So, he quickly showered, shaved and brushed his teeth.
Then after gobbling down a bagel he grabbed his briefcase and ran down the street like a mad man. When he got to the dock he was relieved to see that the ferry was about 8 feet from the dock. The man thought to himself, “I can still make it.” So,
he ran as fast as he could and jumped with all of his might. When the man came
down he landed on the deck of the ferry with a big thud. A crewmember immediately ran over and helped the man up. “Wow,” the crewmember said, “that sure was some leap but I don’t understand. If
you had just waited a couple of minutes we would have reached the dock and you could have walked on.”
Rush,
rush, rush and then rush some more! That’s the way life is these days.
Even Christmas has its share of rushing from here to there. You rush to get all your shopping done. You rush to get your Christmas cards to the Post Office. You
rush to get all the decorations up. Rush! Rush! Rush and then rush some more!
That’s the secular Christmas though. The sacred Christmas isn’t about
rushing around. It’s about waiting and watching and wondering.
Just
look at Marry. After she was told that she was going to give birth to God’s
only begotten Son she had to wait for nine months while she carried the child in her womb. Plenty of time to wait and watch
and wonder. Then there was the long journey that Mary and Joseph had to make from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It was only 60 miles or so, but because they were poor they had to walk and it probably took them 4 or
5 days. Plenty of time to wait and watch and wonder.
Then
there’s the long journey that the wise men made from that far away eastern country. It must have taken them a couple
of months because we know that they didn’t get to Bethlehem until after Jesus was born.
You can also see the waiting and watching and wondering in the shepherd. What
were they doing on that night? They were out in the fields silently keeping watch
over their flocks by night. Here’s the other thing about the shepherds. After the saw the angels and heard the glad tidings they didn’t rush over to
Bethlehem for a quick look and then rush back to their flocks.
We
know that they stayed awhile because they told Mary and Joseph about everything that they had seen and heard. Then the shepherds returned to their homes glorify and praising God.
In other words they did rush. They took their time coming and going so
they could enjoy the moment.
That
may be the message that the Christ child has for us. It’s a simple message.
nothing
had happened. They stayed for a while and then returned to their flocks glorifying
and praising God for all they had seen and heard. Sit down and stay for a while. Don’t spend your life rushing from
one thing to another, from one deadline to another, from one appointment to another! Slow down enough so you can see and receive
all of God’s grace filled moments; all the grace filled moments that make life worth living; not only the grace filled
moment that is waiting for you in that stable but the grace filled moments that God gives you each and every day.
The
need to slow down is the reason why I like an essay that compares our lives to a train ride to a far away destination. It goes like this:
“Tucked
away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling
by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways,
of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon
row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls. But
uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Bands will
be playing and flags waving. Once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit
together like a complicated jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damming the minutes for loitering waiting, waiting,
waiting for the station.
"When we reach the station that will be it!" we cry
"When I'm 18
"When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!"
"When I put the last kid through college."
"When I have paid off the mortgage!"
"When I get a promotion."
"When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"
Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and
for all. The true joy of life is the trip…So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains,
eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived
as we go along. The station will come soon enough.”
The
Bethlehem child would also tell you to love more people and let him love you a little more as well. So, now that you’ve made it to the stable why don’t you sit down and stay for a while?
Amen.
Rev.
Dr. Richard A. Hughes
December
24, 2008 – Christmas Eve
