Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Guengerich Hutson
Jeremiah 31: 7-14 + Wisdom 10: 15-17 + Ephesians 1: 3-14 + John 1: 1-9
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Merry Christmas! That’s right, in the Church year, it is still Christmas, although it comes to a close tomorrow, January 6th, which is the Feast of Epiphany. Epiphany is the day when we remember Jesus being shown in the world – that the light of Christ shines and is made known. It is the time when we traditionally recall the magi who made it to the Christ child and found God with us. So, for this one more day, we get to sing carols and perhaps enjoy the lights on our trees in the darkness of one last evening.
This season of Epiphany is a time when the readings and lessons of the Church remind us of the places where Christ is shown in the world. Where we have an “epiphany” if you will, that AHA! God IS with us. No matter what is happening at this moment…look! Behold! Fear Not! God is here, too.
The prophet Jeremiah, in our first reading this morning sees God present in the way that the people are gathered back together. The scattered people of God, flung widely in their stubborn disobedience to God, return…gathered from the farthest parts of the earth, Jeremiah says, the blind and the lame, those with child, those in labor. They are weeping in their return and God brings them back with tender compassion.
In our Psalmody, which is from the Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon, God is present in Wisdom as a shelter by day and a starry flame through the night. What beautiful images – a shelter by day, providing a place for rest and safety and a starry flame through the night, driving out the darkness.
In the reading from Ephesians, Paul writes that God is known to us in the ways we are called God’s children, through Jesus Christ. That because of Jesus, each one of us, no matter where we come from, no matter our heritage or our age or our background, because of Christ, we are sons and daughters of God.
I wonder, where do you see Christ being shown in the world? I don’t know about you, but far too often, I am so busy, so hurried, that I rush by those places where Christ is being made known – where the glory of God is shining like a starry flame through the night. So, as I was sitting with these texts, I was drawn to recall and share a few stories from this Advent/Christmas season, of Christ’s being shown in our world.
During this year we baptized sweet Mackenzie. She is a bright and precious child of God, and has that unmistakable way of every pre-school child, full of innocence and certainty. The story I heard of Mackenzie during this season was that her grandmamma took her to look at Christmas lights and as they were riding about, they spotted a manger scene. “Look Mackenzie” her grandmamma said “There’s Baby Jesus over there”. “Oh grandmamma” said Mackenzie, “I’ve already met him.” I’ve already met him. In the waters of baptism, at the table, and in the stories she hears from her teachers and her family, Mackenzie has met Jesus. He is made known to her and to us, through her witness.
Jeremiah writes in our first reading this morning that God’s people
who are known here as Jacob, shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion and be radiant over the goodness of the Lord. And I am reminded of another way Christ was shown in the witness of folks in recent days. On Dec. 22nd, our Sunday School children led us in a wonderful telling of the nativity story – and it was told in song. Through their leadership we were able to sing along with the story of how Christ came to earth. A sweet Mary, a reluctant Joseph, and a baby doll were the holy family. A boy with a baritone and another with a drum called us into the story and led us out. All of these children were radiant over the goodness of the Lord, and that radiance spilled out into the day as five of us went to visit some of our homebound members to sing carols to and with them. The delight on their faces as they knew that their community of faith remembered them enough to bring a cheer basket and sing the carols of the faith was a joy to behold. As I was driving my car of carolers back to the church, I asked if they wanted to join me at I went to Northwest Hospital to visit Archie Arnold, knowing from my visits earlier in that week that Archie was in his last days. We gathered around Archie’s bedside, along with Jeff, his beloved grandson, and sang to Archie….Silent Night, Holy Night. Sleep in heavenly peace. Archie was surrounded by the people of his community of faith, singing the story of the faith and Christ was made known. Those words in that song became a shelter for Archie by day and a starry flame through the night.
On the first Sunday in Christmas we were blessed by the presence of many visitors. One of those people was clearly emotional during the service, openly weeping in her pew. When the time came for Holy Communion, the usher invited her to come to the table. Because she is not Lutheran, she did not understand the invitation and was reluctant to join us. But she quickly asked the usher “Is this where Jesus’ body and blood are?” and assured that it was indeed where Christ is found in bread and wine, body and blood, she made her way with all of us, tears streaming down her face…among people she did not know, and yet, like us, adopted into the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ, who was made known in bread and wine.
As this season of Christmas draws to its ending, I invite you to consider where you have seen God made known. Have there been times and places where the Holy One seemed to inhabit every inch of the room? Have there been days and moments that seemed completely full of the divine love that is God?
And then I invite you to a harder exercise….in what ways, if any, have you longed to see and know God and found only emptiness? Because, just as surely as those starry flames blaze across the sky, our lives can sometimes feel as empty and vast as the sky itself, and we grope in the dark searching for God….searching for the Christ child who has come to change everything.
Maybe this exercise in thinking about God’s showing forth and our searching for God is something that will take you only a few moments to consider, or maybe it will take longer, or maybe you will forget before you even leave here today.
And even if that is so….this is what I hope you will remember. Each one of us are called to manifest Christ to one another. We are called to bear the Christ light, in our actions, in our songs, in our visits, in our going to look at Christmas lights. We are called to reflect the light of Christ as we exist in community, as we worship, and as we come to the table and wash in the holy waters. Some days this may seem very ordinary – as ordinary as coming to worship and saying hello to our friends, sharing the peace, and a cup of coffee. And some days it will seem and be extraordinary….it will be holy ground….like when a granddaughter reminds you that she’s already met Jesus….or when you are enveloped in a tide of people streaming to the altar, who can carry you burdens with them….or when you sing to a man in his last hours….sleep in heavenly peace.
And so, sisters and brothers, as we end this Christmas season, may the Word made flesh, who is the light of all people, be a starry flame through your night and shelter for your days. And may we all bear the Christ light to one another and to the world.
Thanks be to God. Amen.