St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
December 24, 2021
Christmas Eve
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20
Making Room For Christ
Merry Christmas!
So, this is Christmas at St. Thomas’ Church!
Most of you know that this is my first Christmas here, and, while I had heard that our celebrations would be pretty spectacular, I confess that I was not fully prepared for how beautiful this old holy place looks, for how glorious the music sounds, and for just how much joy I feel being here with all of you.
Thank you so much to everyone who has worked very hard to prepare for this day.
And, most of all, thank you to God – the God who never gives up on us, the God who will never let go of us, no matter what.
Today’s gospel lesson is a story that somehow never loses its power, no matter how many times we hear it.
It’s the story of God coming among us, but not with pounding drums or flashing lights, not with any spectacle at all.
God comes among us as a newborn child, a child born to people nobody saw as important or powerful, born to people who could not even provide proper shelter.
Imagine their anxiety and fear, giving birth far from home, far from the people who had known Mary and Joseph their whole lives, far from the women who knew just what to do at a time like this.
Far from home, the best that Mary and Joseph could do for the child was to place him in a manger, a fancy word that we use to dress up a harsh reality: the Son of God spent his first night on earth in a feeding trough meant for animals.
See, from the very start, the world had trouble making room for Jesus – the world had trouble making room for this holy child born far from home.
The world had trouble making room for Jesus – trouble making room for a messiah who spent a lot of time with the wrong sorts of people – trouble making room for a savior who calls on us to love one another, to love especially the people we may not like or maybe trust, to love even our enemies.
The world had trouble making room for Jesus – a lord who got on his knees to wash the feet of his friends – a king who gave away his life in service to others - the Prince of Peace whose life of love seemed to end in the pain and shame of the cross.
It’s an old story.
It all happened long ago.
As Luke reminds us, first century Judea was a land ruled by the faraway Emperor Augustus. It was a land where crucifixion was a common event. It was a land where many people were frustrated, angry, and frightened – a land where at least some people still held on to the hope that God would act again as God had acted in the past – a land where people dared to dream that someday soon God would show them the way back to the garden, back to how life was always meant to be.
But, when God finally did act, the people of first century Judea had trouble making room for Jesus.
Each year we tell this story, not just because it’s old and powerful, not just because we’ve always done it, but because it is still true today.
One of my heroes, Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker, once said, “It is no use to say that we are born two thousand years too late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born too late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts.”
“Christ is always with us, asking for room in our hearts.”
A few years from now, after I’ve been here a while, maybe I’ll take for granted the beauty of this place – maybe I’ll get used to the glorious music, and the joy of us being here together.
I hope not, but maybe.
But, I’m pretty sure I’ll never get over the hospitality and generosity of this parish.
I’ll never forget the welcome you have given to my wife Sue and me. Honestly, our first Sunday here felt like Christmas in July – and it feels like there have been a lot of Christmases since then.
Much more important, I’ll never get over the many ways you open your hearts to people in need – making all of those sandwiches for the guests at Paul’s Place, giving 185 Thanksgiving dinner bags to help people we’ll probably never meet have a wonderful holiday, and most recently, for our Christmas Extravaganza, you donated over 350 items of warm clothing, over 1600 diapers, 52 bags of toys, and 70 gift cards for guests at the Community Crisis Center and for Afghan refugees.
I’m sure that everyone who gave thought that they were just doing what they could, doing what they were supposed to do, just happy to help neighbors in need.
That’s all true – but in a very real way you were making room for Christ – making room for Christ in our troubled world, making room for Christ in your heart.
Soon our beautiful celebration will be over and we’ll head back home, maybe for a little more Christmas or maybe just for a good night’s sleep.
The world will soon move on to the next thing, but let’s hold on to Christmas, at least for the full twelve days, but hopefully even longer than that.
Like Mary, let’s ponder all of this in our hearts:
God never gives up on us, never lets go of us, no matter what.
God comes among us, not with pounding drums and flashing lights, but born to a couple of nobodies who could barely take care of the newborn child.
And, today, right and here and now, Christ is asking for room in our hearts.
Even after just a short time together, I’ve learned enough about you to know how you will respond.
Merry Christmas, St. Thomas’ Church.
Amen.
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