St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
December 24, 2013
Christmas Day: 4:00PM
Service
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20
God’s Helpers
Merry
Christmas!
It’s
Christmas Eve! The day we’ve been waiting for and preparing for during Advent
has finally arrived.
Christ
is born.
The
great transformation and renewal of the world has begun.
And,
no matter how many times we hear it, the story of Jesus’ birth as told by Luke
never loses any of its power, does it?
Luke
tells the story of Mary, a young girl maybe only 12 years old, pregnant with her
first child. She and her fiancée Joseph, a good man, make their way from their
hometown of Nazareth to Bethlehem. And once they get to Bethlehem, they can’t
find a decent place to stay, let alone a decent place to give birth to a child.
We
can imagine their exhaustion and their fear.
We’re
told that after giving birth Mary placed her newborn son in a manger. Which, I
guess, doesn’t sound so bad – and we make it look kind of nice in the nativity
scene below me – but a manger is a feeding trough used by animals.
A
manger is where animals eat.
That’s
how Jesus the Son of God was born.
That’s
how Jesus the Son of God spent his first hours on earth.
Now…not
that anyone has asked for my opinion, but if I were God I would have done
things very differently.
With
God’s way, only a few people know that the Son of God has been born. Only Mary
and Joseph and a few low class shepherds know that Jesus has been born.
But,
if I were in charge, I would have made sure that absolutely everybody knew that
the Son of God has arrived in the world.
If
I were in charge, there would have been flashing lightning and crashes of
thunder.
There
would have been the biggest parade ever.
And
there would be lots of beautiful music, performed by the best musicians and singers.
If
I were in charge, the Son of God wouldn’t arrive in an out of the way place
like Bethlehem but right in the center of the action, in a really important city
– like maybe New York, or Washington, DC or Rome or Jerusalem.
And,
actually, if I were in charge, the Son of God definitely wouldn’t arrive as a
helpless baby who needs the care of parents. No, if I were in charge the Son of
God would suddenly appear as a fully grown, walking and talking adult – ready
to teach us all the things that we need to know – a fully grown, walking and
talking adult ready to help us and to save us.
But,
obviously – and fortunately - I’m not in charge.
And
God chose a very different – a very unexpected - way to enter the world.
And
when we stop and think about the story of Jesus’ birth to a couple of nobodies
in an out of the way place in very primitive conditions, isn’t it amazing that this
is the way God chose to enter the world?
God
created the whole world, the whole universe, so that means that God could enter
the world any way that God wanted to.
Yet,
God chose to enter the world poor and helpless.
The
newborn Jesus really, really needs the help of Mary and Joseph. And, since we
know what babies are like, Jesus is going to continue to need Mary and Joseph
and other helpers for a long time.
And
they do it. They help Jesus grow up – feeding him, clothing him, and teaching
him.
Mary
and Joseph and lots of other people whose names we don’t know were God’s
Helpers.
Isn’t
it amazing that God needs helpers?
But,
you know, that’s God’s way.
God
always reaches out – reaches out to us - for help.
God
wants us – in a way, God even needs
us – to be God’s helpers.
When
we were Christmas caroling last week somebody gave me this hat. It says,
“Santa’s Helper.” No, I’m not going to put it on. But, maybe we can all imagine
ourselves wearing an invisible hat that says “God’s Helper.”
“God’s
Helpers.”
We
know what it meant for Mary and Joseph to be God’s Helpers. But, what about us?
What would it look like for us to be God’s helpers?
Well,
one way we could be God’s helpers is by telling people about Jesus and telling
people about how much God loves us. Today a lot of people have forgotten about
God and God’s love. And there are a lot of people who have never even heard
about God and God’s love.
People
– people right here on Duncan Avenue, right here in Jersey City – have
forgotten or don’t know about God’s love – the love that we see so clearly
today in the helpless newborn Savior.
But,
much better than telling people about God’s love is actually sharing
God’s love with people – with our family and friends and our neighbors and, sometimes,
even people we don’t know and will never even meet.
We
are God’s helpers when we don’t judge other people.
We
are God’s helpers when don’t pick on people who are weak or different – even
when, especially when, everybody else is doing it.
We’re
God’s helpers when we choose to sit next to the unpopular person, when we’re
kind to someone we really don’t want to be nice to – when we’re kind to somebody
we don’t even like.
And
we’re God’s helpers when we help the many people all around us who are like
Mary and Joseph – people who don’t have much of anything – people who don’t
have much food or clothing – people who don’t have homes and need shelter – people
who are hungry – people who are alone and lonely.
We
are God’s helpers when we share what we have with those who have less.
We
are God’s helpers when we help prepare the world for the great transformation
that began in the most unlikely and humblest place in Bethlehem two thousand
years ago – the great renewal of the world that continues right here and now.
It’s
Christmas Eve.
The
day we’ve been preparing for during Advent has finally arrived.
Christ
is born.
Christ
is born - not the way you or I would’ve done it, which, actually, would
probably look more like the kind of beautiful celebration we’re having today.
Instead,
Christ is born to a couple of nobodies in an out of the way place in very
primitive conditions.
Christ
is born helpless.
Christ
is born needing helpers.
And,
today, God still wants us – still, in a way, needs us - to be God’s helpers.
So,
let’s all put on our invisible hats - and be God’s helpers.
Merry
Christmas!
Amen.
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