Xmas Eve Sermon 2009
Jesus comes to us
Jesus comes - the Word made Flesh, God incarnate, fully human, fully divine
Jesus come to us - born a child in a manger
Jesus comes to us - unto us is born this night a king
This incarnation is strange from the very first - What kind of king arrives as a baby? Like the baby Moses, Jesus is in danger from the very beginning - it's dangerous to be a baby on the wrong side of empire.
But still, Jesus comes
Have you held a baby? A newborn?
They are so small, so warm.. snuggled into the crook of your arm, a baby is a warm bundle of warmth and life and flesh.
Babies are fleshy... They're needy. They suckle at breast or bottle - and sometimes they spit the milk right back up again. Maybe all over the clean shirt you just put on.
Babies.
Sometimes they get sick, and snot bubbles up and out their noses, smears across their cheeks. Or they throw up. Get sick just in time for Christmas dinner. Cranky, flushed with fever, unwilling to sleep in an unfamiliar bed.
Babies are physical. Bodies with all the bodily functions - sometimes they seem to be made up entirely of bodily functions... those times when they are little, and seem to do nothing but sleep, and nurse, and poop.
Oh, diaper changes. Those ones when the baby needs a bath more than a change - when the mess goes from their toes all the way up to their neck.
And little boy babies come with their own changing challenges.
God comes to us as a baby.
Jesus arrives.
And needs a diaper change.
The Christmas cards and carols can distance us - wise men and mangers and a star and Mary in blue in a stable - it can all make us forget that this is a story of a baby.
The arrival of God - embodied in human form, embodied in a baby , invites us to consider our own bodies... with all their needs and messiness.
Invites us to consider that bodies are beloved, sacred enough to hold God, to be God, that spiritual presence was not enough revelation and closeness for our God.
Too many times our culture denies the importance of our bodies.
Whether it's science fiction stories where minds are swapped in and out of bodies without consideration that who we are might be as connected to our bodies as our minds.
Or whether it's strands fo religious traditions that characterize the physical as sinful, as disposable or treacherous, while only the mind and body are pure...
The story of Christ born in a stable, a messy squalling baby born to inexperienced parents.
- This story challenges us , every year, to remember that God honours our physical selves, this physical world.
We matter.
Our bodies matter,
what we do with them,
how we care for them,
it matters.
It matters to God, for whom the Word and the Spirit were not enough, and so became flesh.
And it should matter to us.
And it is not only our bodies that matter.
If God wanted us to look after only our own individual bodies, surely the incarnation would have been as a fitness instructor, or God would have authored a series of healthy cookbooks.
Surely coming as a baby, in a politically volatile, dangerous time and place and then wandering around healing people...
Surely that points us beyond ourselves.
Think again of holding a baby. In order to find God, hold od in our hands, we need to reach out our hands and commit ourselves to caring for the bodies of others.
To care,
when elders in our communities have trouble with stairs, or managing appointments
to care when families can't afford to feed their bodies and keep their houses warm
to care when kids crash out on whatever couch they can find, or end upon city streets
to care about the violence done to women's bodies
to care about the bodies of those in hospital
to care about the strain on nurses
to care about the dangers faced by soldiers
to care about the bodies of civilans in Afghanistan and other conflict areas.
We are called
by the very presence of the Christ child in the stable
to care for bodies
to care for our bodies
and the bodies of everyone else.
We are called to pay attention to the places in the world where it is not safe to be a baby, a new mother... not safe for bodies.
Come to the stable
bring a gift of food
bring an extra blanket
bring a stocked diaper bag.
Come to the places where bodies are in need
and there we will find Christ
born into the world this night.
Amen.
Jesus comes - the Word made Flesh, God incarnate, fully human, fully divine
Jesus come to us - born a child in a manger
Jesus comes to us - unto us is born this night a king
This incarnation is strange from the very first - What kind of king arrives as a baby? Like the baby Moses, Jesus is in danger from the very beginning - it's dangerous to be a baby on the wrong side of empire.
But still, Jesus comes
Have you held a baby? A newborn?
They are so small, so warm.. snuggled into the crook of your arm, a baby is a warm bundle of warmth and life and flesh.
Babies are fleshy... They're needy. They suckle at breast or bottle - and sometimes they spit the milk right back up again. Maybe all over the clean shirt you just put on.
Babies.
Sometimes they get sick, and snot bubbles up and out their noses, smears across their cheeks. Or they throw up. Get sick just in time for Christmas dinner. Cranky, flushed with fever, unwilling to sleep in an unfamiliar bed.
Babies are physical. Bodies with all the bodily functions - sometimes they seem to be made up entirely of bodily functions... those times when they are little, and seem to do nothing but sleep, and nurse, and poop.
Oh, diaper changes. Those ones when the baby needs a bath more than a change - when the mess goes from their toes all the way up to their neck.
And little boy babies come with their own changing challenges.
God comes to us as a baby.
Jesus arrives.
And needs a diaper change.
The Christmas cards and carols can distance us - wise men and mangers and a star and Mary in blue in a stable - it can all make us forget that this is a story of a baby.
The arrival of God - embodied in human form, embodied in a baby , invites us to consider our own bodies... with all their needs and messiness.
Invites us to consider that bodies are beloved, sacred enough to hold God, to be God, that spiritual presence was not enough revelation and closeness for our God.
Too many times our culture denies the importance of our bodies.
Whether it's science fiction stories where minds are swapped in and out of bodies without consideration that who we are might be as connected to our bodies as our minds.
Or whether it's strands fo religious traditions that characterize the physical as sinful, as disposable or treacherous, while only the mind and body are pure...
The story of Christ born in a stable, a messy squalling baby born to inexperienced parents.
- This story challenges us , every year, to remember that God honours our physical selves, this physical world.
We matter.
Our bodies matter,
what we do with them,
how we care for them,
it matters.
It matters to God, for whom the Word and the Spirit were not enough, and so became flesh.
And it should matter to us.
And it is not only our bodies that matter.
If God wanted us to look after only our own individual bodies, surely the incarnation would have been as a fitness instructor, or God would have authored a series of healthy cookbooks.
Surely coming as a baby, in a politically volatile, dangerous time and place and then wandering around healing people...
Surely that points us beyond ourselves.
Think again of holding a baby. In order to find God, hold od in our hands, we need to reach out our hands and commit ourselves to caring for the bodies of others.
To care,
when elders in our communities have trouble with stairs, or managing appointments
to care when families can't afford to feed their bodies and keep their houses warm
to care when kids crash out on whatever couch they can find, or end upon city streets
to care about the violence done to women's bodies
to care about the bodies of those in hospital
to care about the strain on nurses
to care about the dangers faced by soldiers
to care about the bodies of civilans in Afghanistan and other conflict areas.
We are called
by the very presence of the Christ child in the stable
to care for bodies
to care for our bodies
and the bodies of everyone else.
We are called to pay attention to the places in the world where it is not safe to be a baby, a new mother... not safe for bodies.
Come to the stable
bring a gift of food
bring an extra blanket
bring a stocked diaper bag.
Come to the places where bodies are in need
and there we will find Christ
born into the world this night.
Amen.