Advent Devotional | Christmas Eve | Year C | December 24th, 2015

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Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Christmas Eve is finally here!  For some, we welcome today with quiet wonder and awe.  For others, we greet this day with a great sigh of relief saying, "whew!  I made it!"

No matter how you greet this day, it is a magical day when, as Barbara Brown Taylor puts it, "the membrane between heaven and earth is so thin you can almost see through it."  (Home By Another Way, page 20).  She goes on to say, later in the same sermon, that "none of heaven's escalators are going up tonight.  Everybody up there is coming down tonight, right here, right into our own Bethlehem, bringing us the God who has decided to make his home in our arms."  (Home By Another Way, page 24).

When was the last time you really waited for something? I'm not talking about a quiet, patient wait, but a wait where you just couldn't stand it!  Like the boy who knows he's getting a new bike for Christmas but can't ride it until that day.  Like the mother who cannot wait for the child to arrive.  Like the dog who cannot wait for her owner to arrive home.  Like the preacher who cannot wait for Christmas to get here so she can go on vacation!

Tonight is the night when anticipation builds and we gather with friends and family to listen to familiar stories.  To listen to the story of some shepherds minding their own business until a heavenly host interrupts their quiet evening.  To listen to the story of Mary and Joseph who could not find room in an inn and, therefore, had to make their beds in a lowly manger.  To listen to the story of Jesus being born while the animals quietly (or perhaps not so quietly!) watch from their beds of straw.  

Tonight is a night filled with memories that get mixed with expectations of what is to come.

For me, my memories of this evening are of ones where I would spend probably six to eight hours at my home church, playing handbells and singing in various services, dressing up as a shepherd or wiseman or sheep, hanging out in the youth lounge with my friends between services eating Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, worshiping in the late service while the lights dimmed and one flame lit hundreds of other candles during the singing of Silent Night.

Even as I remember those picturesque memories, I also recognize that my experience of nostalgia has somewhat colored these memories.  I don't quite as easily remember the moments that I'm sure happened as well; the moments when my mother was stressed out from corralling all of us to get to church on time, the time when the handbells screwed up, when I messed up my solo in choir, or the time when my family struggled when it was the first Christmas after my parents got divorced.

Such is probably also the truth about Luke 2:1-20.  Although Luke paints for us a picturesque story, we must remember that there was probably a lot more to tonight story.  Joseph might have yelled and kicked at the door of the 12th inn that had refused them shelter.  Mary was probably screaming in pain as most women in labor do.  During this, I highly doubt that the barn animals remained quiet.  Jesus' birth was like any other human birth:  messy and bloody with icky things that the movies and tv shows often edit out.

Now, please don't let this ruin your experience of Christmas Eve.  I merely remind us this to say that Christmas Eve, like the human experience, is a time of calm as well as chaos.  In some ways, I like it that way; it reminds me that this evening is not so "purified" as to be distant from my life experiences.

So, whether tonight is a calm, silent, holy night for you, or whether tonight is a night of controlled chaos, remember that God is in your arms no matter what.  Remember, that all we have waited for these past four weeks is coming to fruition.  Remember that Mary and Joseph pondered these things because they realized that God had come to them in the most real way possible; as a beloved and loving newborn baby.  Remember that God comes to us, that heaven's escalators are all coming down tonight, that Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us is no longer a theoretical thing we anticipate but an enfleshed gift to be welcomed with open arms as one does with a new born child.  

Prayer of the Day:
Birthed God,
on this holiest of nights,
keep me in your loving arms as I welcome you into my own.  Amen.

 



 

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Stephen Fearing

Stephen was born in 1988 in Cookeville, TN, where his parents met whilst attending Tennessee Tech. Shortly after, they moved to Dalton, Georgia where they put down roots and joined First Presbyterian Church, the faith family that taught Stephen that he was first and foremost a beloved child of God. It was this community that taught Stephen that it was OK to have questions and doubts and that nothing he could do could every possibly separate him from the love of God. In 1995, his sister, Sarah Kate, joined the family and Stephen began his journey as a life-long musician. Since then, he has found a love of music and has found this gift particularly fitting for his call to ministry. Among the instruments that he enjoys are piano, trumpet, guitar, and handbells. Stephen has always had a love of singing and congregation song. An avid member of the marching band, Stephen was the drum major of his high school's marching band. In 2006, Stephen began his tenure at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC where he majored in Religion and minored in History. While attending PC, Stephen continued to explore his love of music by participating in the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Jazz Trio, as well as playing in the PC Handbell ensemble and playing mandolin and banjo PC's very own bluegrass/rock group, Hosegrass, of which Stephen was a founding member (Hosegrass even released their own CD!). In 2010, Stephen moved from Clinton to Atlanta to attend Columbia Theological Seminary to pursue God's call on his life to be a pastor in the PC(USA). During this time, Stephen worked at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Silver Creek Presbyterian Church, Central Presbyterian Church, and Westminster Presbyterian Church. For three years, Stephen served as the Choir Director of Columbia Theological Seminary's choir and also served as the Interim Music Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church. In 2014, Stephen graduated from Columbia with a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Arts in Practical Theology with an emphasis in liturgy, music, and worship. In July of 2014, Stephen was installed an ordained as Teaching Elder at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church in Shelter Island, NY. Later that year, Stephen married the love of his life, Tricia, and they share their home on Shelter Island with their Golden Doodle, Elsie, and their calico cat, Audrey. In addition to his work with the people who are Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, Stephen currently serves as a commission from Long Island Presbytery to the Synod of the Northeast and, beginning in January of 2016, will moderate the Synod's missions team.