Silent Night: Sermon from December 27th, 2015

Silent Night

Scripture: Luke 2:1-14

There is a moment every Christmas Eve that I cherish.  It’s a moment in Christmas candlelight service – has anyone here ever been to candlelight service?   It’s the moment after scripture tells the birth story, after the beautiful music has lifted us up, and after the Pastor has given us something to think about…  it’s that moment when the church lights are slowly dimmed to blackness, and all in attendance have put on their coats and grasp their candle in readiness, and one by one the tall candles at the end of the pews are extinguished, and darkness creeps towards the center of the church until all you see is the lone advent candle, holding firm in the silence of the darkness. 

And as all eyes are upon it as the only source of light, the Pastor says something like, “for darkness had overtaken the world, and chaos reigned…but into this darkness was born light, and darkness could not overcome it.”

Then the Pastor lights a candle from the single flame, and passes it to two ushers.

And at that moment, timidly from the shaky place deep in our hearts, starting from a whisper in the darkness, we begin, “Silent Night…holy night…all is calm, all is bright…” 

The ushers bring the flames to the first people in the first pew.  As they catch the flame, and pass it to their neighbor, light begins to filter back into the sanctuary.

And our singing grows stronger. “Silent Night. Holy Night.  Shepherds quake at the sight…”

By then the ushers have met with almost every pew, and the circle of light continues to grow in ripples from the heart of the sanctuary where that Advent candle that still stands tall, but is no longer alone.

And this reminds me, so clearly, how love spreads.  One by one, in ripples.

You see, when I’m at home, in my home church, I sing in the choir at Christmas Eve.  The choir sits in a half-circle behind the Pastor, facing all the other people in the pews.  So I have a special vantage point during this Christmas ritual.  I get to watch it from an elevated angle – and the experience of watching this part of the Christmas service is almost as good as all the singing.

By this time, when all the peoples’ candles are lit, we are usually onto my favorite verse – the third.  And as we sing, “Son of God, love's pure light, Radiant beams from Thy holy face”…I think about how radiance is beaming from each holy face in that sanctuary.  In that moment, as the sanctuary glows from within, it’s like each individual person is also glowing from within. In each face, I see reflected the light of Jesus - love’s pure light - placed in each of us by God.   

That’s how love spreads.  There have been times when I have sat in the pews during this service and enjoyed the moment. But you don’t see the ripples when you are in the ripples.  From far away – from my seat in the choir – it’s easy for me to see how light spreads from the center Advent candle, into our hearts and out into the world.   And, when we stand side by side in love, the light becomes a unified glow from within – single flames that become a block of light to extinguish darkness.

Our scripture this morning comes from the book of Luke.  As Saint Luke – or San Lucas – begins his gospel, he says he intends to set forward an ‘orderly account’ of the activities that take place in those times.  I appreciate that, because right now nothing feels orderly… am I right?  In fact, things feel kind of dark and chaotic.

 

It’s Christmas in Chicago, but there’s no snow on the ground.  In fact – on Christmas day my niece took a picture of a dandelion on green grass!   Last week some parts of the US had tornadoes – 24 tornadoes!  In December!  If you went to Michigan Avenue last week, you were more likely to find protestors than presents to buy.  The State of Illinois hasn’t had a budget since last July, and yet yesterday morning the paper said that leaders might not pass a budget until after the primaries next March!  There are bombings in Paris and shootings at office holiday parties, and political candidates suggesting that the only way to guard against it is to label a whole group of people with a mark similar to the Jewish Star worn in Germany in the 1930’s.

Every day seems to get crazier.  It feels like the world is in darkness, chaos is all around, and fear is just below the surface.

Fear.  Fear is a big motivator.  Fear is a strong persuader.  Fear seems to be what the politicians are peddling this year.  In chaos, it’s easy to let fear win.  But you don’t have to give into it.

In the midst of a silent night in the desert, an angel of the Lord appears to some unsuspecting shepherds, out of nowhere. The Greek and Hebrew words for angel actually mean ‘messenger’ – so this messenger from the Lord may have been a winged heavenly body, but could also have been a stranger walking along the road.  Perhaps half asleep, the shepherds were terrified of this stranger in front of them.  But the messenger tells the shepherds, “Do not be afraid.”  “I bring good news.” “This is a sign for you.”

Do not be afraid. “Fear Not” is in the bible over 80 times.  God wants us to shrug off fear, and to trust.  Trust God. Trust your neighbor. Trust love.  There is nothing that requires more courage than to reject fear – especially fear of what we do not know.   That’s what makes a good horror film – right?  It’s the mystery of not knowing what we should be afraid of that is scariest of all.  God says, over and over, “Be not afraid,” because God knows the destructive power of fear.

Fear can make us hate our neighbor. Fear can make us see suspicion where there is innocence.  Fear can make us demonize and blame a whole religion or a whole race for the actions of a few.  I’ve been listening to stories from Muslim friends who are being yelled at by strangers, in stores or restaurants, and are becoming afraid to leave their homes.  Fear can make us arrest people, or harass people, just because they look like a stereotype.  This is reality for most people of color every day.  Fear can make us think criminal intent where there is only abnormal behavior.  The Black Lives Matter movement has been showing us, over and over, how tragedy and grief follows this irrational fear. Fear can make a normal person go out of their way to say nasty things to a stranger, or cause a police officer discharge their weapon when patience would do.

The Lord’s messenger tells the shepherds not to be afraid of God’s sign.  I don’t know about you, but I am a little jealous that they had a sign!  In our world today, would a sign of God’s good news be too much to ask?

It’s important to remember that Luke – San Lucas – wrote his Gospel decades, maybe even 100 years, after Jesus lived.  He wrote it in hindsight, because things can seem orderly in hindsight or, like my seat in the choir, look different from far away.  It can be difficult to see things clearly when they are happening.  And I don’t know about you, but I’m much better at recognizing signs after they’ve changed the course of my life.

When I think back, I can find the exact sign that convinced me to apply to Seminary.  I see the specific coincidences and conversations that helped me turn, consider, decide, and move forward at different points.  In hindsight, the signs are very clear.  It’s easier to read the signs once we get some distance from the problem, so we can put them in an orderly telling of the situation. 

But friends – maybe WE are the sign.  We know the Good news: we don’t need to fear because into the world a child is born.  The child will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  This child is love’s pure light, and shows us how to bring good will to all.

Twice yesterday I read about people who sent letters to Mosques with kind words and a donation inside, letting their Muslim neighbors know that they have allies in their community.  They were being the sign of good news by saying, “do not fear.”  I saw white people, Asian people, Indian people and Latino people show that Black Lives Matter by joining them on Michigan Avenue.  I heard about dozens of residents rallying to maintain Lathrop homes.  I keep seeing displays of love’s pure light.

Because at times when fear is rampant, as it is today, God asks us to be the good news.  Fear will divide us, darkness can isolate us and chaos can confuse us – but our light will not be overcome when we are united in our love for our neighbors.  We must let that light within is – Love’s pure light – shine through our bodies to show our neighbors that we are not afraid.  In fact, that we stand with them in solidarity – radiant beams of light, united for understanding and good will – heralding the dawn of redeeming grace. Being the Good News.