The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Christmas Eve 2006
Sermon Notes of The Reverend Robert A. Picken
Church of the Ascension, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
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My favorite Christmas story is, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I presume you all know the story. Charlie Brown, that lovable character, in whom I think we each see a little bit of ourselves, wants to find the “true meaning of Christmas” amidst all the materialism and commercialism of the holiday. It was Lucy, who wanted, if you recall, a big aluminum Christmas tree – pink, I believe – who told him, “Look, Charlie, let’s face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.” And, even though Lucy could give five good reasons why someone should listen to her, Charlie cried out, “Isn’t there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?”
That’s why we gather here tonight, isn’t it? The true meaning of Christmas. We listen to the words of the prophets from long ago. We journey with Mary and Joseph to that little town of Bethlehem. We kneel with the shepherds and sing with the angels. And, we bring with us, the “hopes and fears of all our years.”
Amazing; isn’t it? A little baby. A newborn child born in some remote part of the Roman Empire, in some remote stable. He was a child like any other. Yet, he was child like no other; for this child was God.
God did not come with great cosmic force to topple the powers and dominions. No. God entered this world silently. As the hymn says, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.” And, in this quiet, passing moment, heaven and earth were joined in a wondrous way, with us, humanity, at the center of the joint.
This story is about God being with us. It is about the humanity of God. It is about God becoming part of His creation through creation. It is about God coming into the world as a man to reclaim it, even if it be as slow as one soul at a time. It is about God connecting God’s story with our story.
That’s what Charlie Brown was searching for, wasn’t it? What is this all about? He was searching to connect his story with the story of Christmas.
Year after year, we gather at the stable. We gather to connect our story, whether for the first time and for the 100th time, with the story of Christmas. Most of us come to the crib, gaze into it and wonder. Some of us wonder if the light of the Christ Child is really strong enough to overcome the great resistance of the darkness. Some of us wonder what possibilities God may have in store for us.
The Good News is that no matter how we look at it, this is a story of very good news. We can bring all that we have and all that we are and lay it down in the manger with this child: the hopes and the fears. This is the child who bears all our burdens and shares in all our joys. This is a child who represents hope for each one us and for our world.
“Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child, where misery cries out to thee, Son of the mother mild; where charity standing watching and faith holds wide the door, the dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.”
This "Christmas child" doesn’t just give us hope, this child is hope. In the midst of war and homelessness, poverty and loss, we hang onto this child. In the midst of our souls hunger and nakedness, we hang onto this child.
Charlie Brown bought that little, Christmas tree. It wasn’t big. It wasn’t aluminum and pink. But, he saw something in it; he had hope for it. And, that tree turned out to be spectacular in the end.
“O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!”
Tonight is about hope. “For a child has been born for us, a Son given to us.” Let the hope that is Christ overcome your fears. We have a Savior and that Savior is Jesus, born in that little town of Bethlehem. Beloved, God is with us.
I close with a quote from the great evangelist, Linus Van Pelt, “And, that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” Amen.
