December 24th:
A Village of Hope
Scripture: Luke 2: 1-14
Second: Luke 2: 15-20
Third: John 1: 1-14
Read: W&S #3; W&S # 7
A Village of Hope
Is there any chance at all
That you and I have sung the Christmas carols and hymns so often
That we don't give the meaning of their words
A second thought?
Perhaps, not even a first thought?
Have the Christmas hymns become a matter of
Memorization and recitation rather than information and inspiration?
Have they become so pleasant and so comfortable
That you and I are more interested in getting the words and the tune correct
Than in getting the emotions and the messages correct?
Tonight in trying to tell, understand, and be enriched by
the story of Christ's birth
We will focus on the words of our hymns
Allowing them to guide us through our celebration
With the hope they add depth and meaning to that celebration
We begin with the words that literally called us to worship
[and I can't read these from the pulpit without motions, so bear with me]
O come all ye faithful
Be joyful and feel triumphant,
O come, O come, to Bethlehem
Come so that you may see, behold, and experience him
For he (that is this child in a manger in that small town)
was born the king of angels
Yes, come O come O come
let us adore him
For the child born there is none other than Christ the Lord.
The one for whom we have been waiting and preparing
The one whose coming has been promised to us. [pause]
That"s what that hymn says
It calls us to come to him
Because he is indeed our lord and our king
"O Come All Ye Faithful" isn't just a hymn
It is an invitation
And when we allow ourselves to really hear its words - rather than melodically recite them
We recognize that we are being invited to Christ
And we want to accept that invitation.
Later tonight, after the candles have been lit
We will sing "Silent Night"
That is a hymn of comfort
I t is a hymn where the music is beautiful and sets the tone,
but where trying to get the music right
can make the wording less clear
These are the words (slightly modified for clarity)
It is a silent night. It is a holy night
All is calm and all is bright around the virgin mother and her child
an infant who in age is tender
and in disposition mild
and whose birth makes it possible for us to sleep as in a heavenly peace
And thus when we sing it
after the candles are lit
and while the baby is being placed in the stable
its music and its words, combine with our flowers and our candles
to create an atmosphere of both calmness and brightness
around us who follow that child
and we do feel that heavenly peace.
And, of course, we close, with "Joy To The World",
Thereby proclaiming what a joyous event we have experienced because we accepted the invitation
And praying that earth will receive her king
Something that will most assuredly happen
If all of us make room for him in our hearts.
Those hymns and our two hymn medleys
One preceding this time of reflection
And focused on the place of birth
The other following this reflection
And focused on the announcement of, and response to, the birth
Tell us
just like our candles reveal to us
the story of Christ's coming into the world
You and I have prepared for this day
By spending our Advent time
Getting help from the candles and the words
of Jeremiah, Malachi, Zephaniah, and Micah
Tonight that preparation reaches its climax
In the words of one of the hymns that focused on the place of birth
For its words,
Written long after those prophets
(but 144 years before we gathered to celebrate tonight)
Continue the dichotomy of tone given voice by their words
O, little town of Bethlehem
How still we see you lie
Above your deeply sleeping people
The silent stars go by
Thus the hymn begins by painting a picture of calm and quiet and peace
Very much like "Silent Night."
A picture that is to be dramatically altered, however, by what follows.
O, little town of Bethlehem
How still we see you lie
Above your deeply sleeping people
The silent stars go by
And then,
BUT YET
In your dark streets shineth the everlasting light
And thus
The hopes and the fears of all the years
The years of the past
The years of the present
The years yet to come
Are met in thee tonight.
In a manger; in a stable; in a small community,
Hope met fear and fear met hope
Just like the prophets whose words both
Subjected us to chastisement, warnings, and punishment
But also provided us with the chance -or even the assurance -
That we could trust God to make things better
Tonight we celebrate that in this little town
Some six miles south of the big city of Jerusalem
Our fears and our hopes came together
They met in this small child
Who was there and is here
to disturb and to alter our world and our lives
Through his everlasting light.
A dramatic change took place
Even as the townspeople slept
and the silent stars continued to go by.
Throughout the centuries people have had fears
Fears of drought that would destroy the crops
And of wolves which would eat the sheep
Fears of bandits and attacks
And of losing ones job or being ostracized
Fears of losing a loved one
And of being unable to make it alone.
The antidote
The means of preventing our fears from destroying us
is hope;
and hope is found in the love and the grace of Jesus the Christ
Thus when hope met fear and fear met hope
In that manger in that stable in that small town
You and I were given the freedom to live
By His everlasting light
Tonight we celebrate that light
And that it came into the world on that sleepy, silent night.