The Time Has Come

1. Children’s Sermon
It’s time! [Holding up a large clock], well, what time is it? [Children say what time the clock says.] And what day is it? [Children say, “It’s Christmas Eve!”] Yes, it’s Christmas Eve. For twenty-four long days, we’ve been waiting for Christmas. We’ve been watching and waiting, sometimes patiently, sometimes less patiently. We’ve been opening or reading our Advent calendars one day at a time. Most of the time we’ve been nice to each other – and to strangers too – but sometimes we’ve gotten tired and cranky, maybe even disappointed, worried, or angry. We’ve watched – and helped – as the house got cleaned and decorated, the Christmas tree was bought or unpacked and then decorated. Maybe someone in your house baked or bought special cookies, or cakes, or pies. Maybe you’ve been preparing for a special Christmas dinner. Maybe you have plans to visit or talk with distant relatives.

All this preparation for Christmas! And now all the preparation is finished, and the time has finally come! The presents have been bought, wrapped, and put under the tree. Now the time has finally come! Jesus is finally here! Jesus has been born and is lying in the stable with his mother and father and all the animals. Finally, after all the waiting, we can celebrate again that Jesus was born. We can celebrate again our faith that Jesus continues to come to us today, tomorrow, and all the days of our lives. We can celebrate again our faith that when Jesus comes he changes our lives. We can celebrate again that God is with us tonight and is always with us. So what are some of the things you see in this church that remind you that Jesus is always with us? [Let children mention a few things: e.g., the crèche, the cross, the Jesus window, the Bible, even the hymnals.] That’s really good. Now I have a special job for you. I’m going to talk to the adults for a bit. While I’m doing that, I want you to give these out papers and these treats to the adults. Can you do that? [Children pass out candy and invitations to “Come celebrate the birth of Jesus!”]

2. Adult sermon
The time has come! The time has come to savor again the joyous, mysterious message of Luke’s story of Jesus’ birth. The story starts in chronos, historical time: “when Quirinius was governor of Syria.” This was a time when an emperor could force all his subjects to travel in order to respond to the census-takers’ demands. Joseph and a very pregnant Mary, even travelling in caravan, would have needed at least a week to comply with this demand. This was a time when Roman rule was and continued to be oppressive and hated by all those subject to it. This was a time when one of the emperor’s puppets would order the murder of all boys under two years old in Jerusalem. This was a time of subjugation, capital punishment, war, conquest, destruction, and even natural disaster. This was a time of darkness.

Is our time any different? We too live in a time of war – unending so it seems in Afghanistan, with precious little to show for it but soldiers’ deaths and wasted taxpayer dollars. We too live in a time of climate change and natural disasters. Have we already forgotten the devastation and destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy? We too live in a time of glaring social inequality, not only between countries, but also even within this country. The poor are still very much with us. We too live in a time of horrific violence, when innocent children and teachers can be gunned down in their classrooms. We too find ourselves stunned by the often unexpected deaths of those we love. We may feel – with justification – that we too live in a time of darkness.

Yet, in the midst of the historic darkness of Luke’s story, something happened. A birth took place, a birth that was scarcely noticed. I’m reminded of a carol we’ll sing in our Lessons and Carols service o Sunday. It’s one of my favorites, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It was written in the nineteenth century by Episcopal bishop Philips Brooks. “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given,” the carol says of Jesus’ birth. It wasn’t that Mary didn’t shout with the pain of her labor, that the midwife didn’t offer comforting words, that Jesus didn’t cry when he was finally born, or that the animals didn’t low and moo with all the commotion in the stable. Rather, in that corner of conquered Judea, Jesus’ birth didn’t make any “noise.” It went virtually unnoticed. Jesus was just another child born to poor parents in a backwater village of the empire. No one important knew about it. No royal birth announcements were sent out.

And yet here is the good news: this birth changed the world forever. Into a dark world came a burst of light, as angels made an astounding announcement – not to Augustus or any other powerful person, but to poor, ragged, dirty, despised shepherds. The angels announced to the shepherds that in the old, dark world this birth had set in motion a new kind of time, Kairos, God’s time. The angels announced that in a stable in Bethlehem God had entered history today, that a savior, a messiah, God’s anointed one, had been born. And although the birth was as yet unnoticed, the angels’ announcement of it was nonetheless a proclamation of good news for all people, an assurance that the old dark time had come to an end, and that God’s good time had begun. And what of those poor, ragged shepherds? Naturally, at first they were afraid. But once they understood what the angels were telling them, they leapt up to see this child for themselves. And when they saw him, they were full of joy, singing out their praise of God.

This is the good news that we too are invited to share. This birth, this change from historic time to God’s time is good news for us too. Because of this birth, we too can hear the angel of the Lord say, “Do not be afraid.” Because of this birth, we too can let go of our fears. Because of the one who was born this day, we too can be joyful. We too can trust that darkness does not have the last word. We too can trust that war, destruction, subjugation, violence, natural disaster, and untimely death have been overcome and transformed by the one born this day. We too can have faith that God continues to come to us, transforming and changing us, as we live into the joyful reality of this birth in our own lives. We too can wait with hope for the final realization of the time ushered in with Jesus’ birth, God’s time, a time when all people will live in peace, freedom, abundance, and justice under Jesus’ most gracious reign.

This then is the holy mystery we have all come to celebrate tonight: that time itself was forever changed that holy night, that that silent birth forever transforms us, and that as Jesus’ disciples we already live our lives on a new and different plane. Because of that holy birth, we too can “sing to the Lord a new song.” We too can sing with all our hearts, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”