From the Pastor |
There’s a story about an old Jewish man who would get up at the break of dawn every day and go to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. There he would spend hours praying fervently. A journalist from the London Times had observed him do this day after day, and one day she asked him: “You come every day to the wall. How long have you done this and what are you praying for?”
The old man replied, “I have come here to pray every day for 25 years. I pray for peace and reconciliation among the people of this land who are so divided by hate and conflict.” The journalist was amazed. “How does it make you feel to come here every day for 25 years and pray for these things when so much conflict remains?” she asked. The old man looked at her sadly and said, “Like I’m talking to a wall.” Every year at Christmas we take the time to gather together with our family and friends… we come to church to hear once again the familiar Christmas Story as told through the scriptures and through the Christmas hymns. We light our candles and sing “Silent Night, Holy Night all is calm… all is bright,” with the idea of “Peace on Earth and Good will to all people” echoing in our minds. We pray that the Prince of Peace will come forth to change the world… to bring Peace on earth. But does it make a difference or does it feel like we are talking to a wall? Look at the world we live in… there are days when it seems all we can see is unrest, violence, hatred… pain and destruction. Look at our nation… we are more divided than ever before… politics, race, religion… gender… age… the divisions run throughout our country, our community, our workplaces and even our homes. Look at ourselves… pain, stress, sorrow… a longing for something more… something better. It seems we are quite far from Bethlehem these days (and I am not talking about the 2000+ years and the 5600+ miles). It seems like we are quite far from the peace and goodwill that our Christmas Story proclaims. Let’s be honest… this world is a mess. Things are not as they are supposed to be… But then… that is why we are here tonight… why we are able to celebrate and find joy even in the midst of this crazy, broken world… We have a Christmas to celebrate because God refused to give up on us… to leave us in the darkness… to leave us without hope. Isaiah spoke about it centuries before it happened… about a child who would come who will be a light in the darkness. A Messiah who would come to bring the world together, draw people back to God, and bring God’s peace for all people. His name…Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace… We gather to celebrate tonight because Christmas brought the arrival of this Prince of Peace… but he came in a most unexpected way… born as a tiny baby in a small, nothing of a town. Jesus, whose name means “God saves” was born to bring God’s peace, God’s shalom into the world. Shalom (the Hebrew word we translate as peace) is more than the absence of conflict… it is the presence of something more… wholeness, interconnectedness, justice, beauty and goodness… the epitome of God’s very spirit. It is the peace that tears down walls and provokes love even in the midst of disagreements. The Swiss theologian Karl Barth called this the “impossible possibility”—a God who is able to do what we… no matter how hard we try…cannot. This child of Bethlehem would grow up to be the man who would lay down his life in a sacrifice of love. The one who would burst forth from the tomb three days later and be crowned Lord of all. The impossible possibility. And now the world can really be different. Through faith we can find our way to the peace of Bethlehem… to find God’s shalom in the midst of this troubled world. Through the child in a manger, God comes to us… over and over again… year after year… For in this child… in Bethlehem… peace has come. So it is on this very night that we celebrate the fact that with God… all things are possible because the Hope of the World… the Prince of Peace… has given us the Good News that God’s love knows no bounds. Charles Dickens wrote, “I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open up their hearts freely, and to think of all people as if they really were fellow passengers in life, bound on the same incredible journey”. That is so true… this time of year it seems that more people open their hearts freely… in generosity and caring and kindness… more than any other time. People also seem more open to the realization that the Christmas Story has meaning… that its significance brings hope… a hope that can never be extinguished… a light that the darkness cannot and will not overcome. Jesus came into the world and the world will never be the same. There is still trouble and pain and sorrow, but the birth of Jesus brought us the good news that we are loved and that we can love; however, love needs to be shared. That is the radical, world changing message that Jesus came to deliver to all of us. This world where injustice, poverty and loneliness, discrimination, pain and prejudice, inequality, hurt and war are a part of our everyday existence can be changed because of the love of God and our love for each other. We truly celebrate Christmas when we give glory to God by becoming the embodiment of God’s love in the world, and we do this by whatever means we can as we search for justice… offering compassion, kindness and love to those we meet and helping those in need. We honor Christ in our hearts when we continuing the work Jesus began and bring God’s peace to the hearts of others. Howard Thurman, author and civil rights leader, put it best when he wrote: When the song of the Angel is stilled, When the Star in the sky is gone, When the kings and the princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers and sisters-- To make music in the heart. That is the work of Christmas… the true Christmas message… it is the message that opens our hearts to all the possibilities that can be accomplished when we accept the love that is given and then share that love. It is the message that brings us closer and closer to Bethlehem. When we learn to live our days with our hearts near the Christ child… when we let the love he revealed fill our hearts…we are not that far from Bethlehem… where all our hopes and joy began. So, let us rejoice and be glad, for unto us a child has been born who is Christ the Lord; our God Emmanuel – God with us… who dwells in, and works through us. Praise be to God. Amen
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Yeon Shin
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