A Christmas Night

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On this night we gather in solemn celebration of a birth. No-one knows when this birth actually occurred, but we have chosen this night to celebrate it in absence of any definitive report. Tradition has it that the season of birth was mid-winter, although that may be a concession to earlier pagan beliefs that winter was the season of rebirth leading to a new spring and summer. Our Scripture tells us that it was the time of a great census by Rome, a time most likely to happen in winter when people would not be encumbered by the needs of food production and other preoccupations of an agrarian society. It is recorded that it was during that required pilgrimage to fulfill the census that this birth took place. The actual time of year of the birth is not of particular significance, though.

For this birth was the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God

There are other things that matter far more than the exact time of year. One aspect of this birth, contested by some, that the mother was virgin is only one remarkable aspect of this birth. Far and away, though, the most significant point of this birth was the nature of the child himself. God, the awesome creator of the universe we inhabit, He who brought forth all that is, including all that we are, chose to project Himself into the body of a helpless infant, vulnerable, defenseless, wholly dependent on others, born as we all are into this world. For this birth was the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, so called that we might have some inkling, however imperfect, of His true relationship to our Creator, our Father, maker of all that is. In this world, and in this life, we can only have a partial understanding of that relationship, and only by way of a metaphor based in our common experience. We express our understanding in the form of a paradox of a triune entity - a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit, united in a Trinity, a concept that serves more to illustrate our limited understanding than to describe the humanly inconceivable reality of this God who claims us as His people. But this child, born as all of us are, with the defiant, willful spark of divinity within us, that bit formed in the image of God Himself was given to us to prove God's understanding of the experiences of our lives, and to remind us of what we can only dimly appreciate. Growing, as children do, suffering the difficulties as well as the joys of childhood, experiencing the hopes and dreams and successes, as well as the defeats and disappointments of maturation, this being, this Christ demonstrated by example a full understanding of humanity.

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In such times, we can find comfort and succor in the record of the experiences of another Child

He showed us that He understood what it means to be human, to grow, to learn, to live, and to die, to suffer pain and loss, to know love and hate, to experience companionship and loneliness - in other words, to prove an understanding of life as we know it so that we could never justly claim that we had a God who did not know His people. This being, this Jesus, who having the incomprehensible power of the Creator at his disposal and command, chose, yes, chose to come among us to show His love for us, His creation. Even unto the experience of death to share our experiences did He partake of our lives. At any point He could have said "enough is enough - I've proven all I need to prove", yet He persisted. Even through betrayal by one closest to Him and through a painful and humiliating death He persisted. Is it any wonder, then, that we should choose to celebrate this birth, this humble entry into the world of One who loves us so much that He would endure all that we endure so that we might know with certainty that we are not alone, that we have not been abandoned to an uncaring universe, but rather that we may find comfort in the experience of a transcendent love. We often complain about the circumstances of our lives, and may even doubt the existence of a caring God. Such complaints and doubts more reflect our lack of understanding rather than any failing of the Divine. In such times, we can find comfort and succor in the record of the experiences of another Child, who had the same occasions for doubt and complaint that we have. We are given His example that we might know that we, too, are loved as He was loved, and that there is meaning and purpose beyond our limited understanding in our experiences. We can know that being made Holy is a purpose far beyond being made comfortable. Indeed, it may involve being made deeply uncomfortable at times, yet that purpose is an expression of love, just as a parent's love may sometimes require actions which a child, in their limited understanding, may deem unjust or hurtful.

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Unto us a child was sent to ensure that we would know that we were loved and that the path to the divine would always be open to us

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Unto us a child was sent to ensure that we would know that we were loved and that the path to the divine would always be open to us, even in the most dire circumstances and to the point of ultimate distress. A Child who could prove in mystery beyond comprehension that we are more than the mundane, the banal, an accidental collection of material substances, but who was given as proof of love beyond measure. So we gather in solemn celebration of that for which no celebration can ever be sufficient. We give thanks for that for which no thanks can ever be enough. We gather in knowledge that, inadequate as it might be, our appreciation is accepted by that Love that accepts us as we are, accepts us as the imperfect vessels of the Divine Image that we are. We gather in remembrance and in reminder that we are made in His image and of our purpose. We gather to remember that in His choice of humble beginning, we can find our own example for humility. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not upon thine own understanding: In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the LORD, and depart from evil" Amen