Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on December 24, 2007
(Christmas Eve, Year A, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Christmas I                         Christmas II
    Isaiah 9:2-4,6-7                  Isaiah 62:6-7,10-12
    Psalm 96                            Psalm 97
    Titus 2:11-14                     Titus 3:4-7
    Luke 2:1-20                      Luke 2:(1-14)15-20

Merry Christmas! You know, it’s funny. Here it is Christmas Eve and the appropriate time to discuss the true meaning of the season and basically I’m tongue-tied. Part of me wants to talk about the birthday of Jesus. I mean, what is he? Somewhere between 2007 and 2015 years old, and he doesn’t look a day over 33. And isn’t Christmas a strange way to celebrate a birthday? Everybody gets presents except the guest of honor. And no cake! What’s a birthday without a cake?

But it’s no ordinary birthday, and it’s more than just a birthday party. It’s about the Incarnation; God taking on the flesh of a human being. So what can I possibly say about this unique event that hasn’t already been said by far more eloquent people over the centuries? Not much.

Now through the ages, many people have declared that they were god. Why, even at the time of Jesus’ birth, the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus had recently declared that his dead uncle/adoptive father Julius Caesar was god, which, in his mind, made him the son of god. The point is that the god/man stuff was out there. But no matter which story from whatever culture, it always seems that the person who is declared god is all grown up. And the declaration is made by another grown up human being.

That isn’t the case with Christmas. First of all, it was God Himself who declared through His own heavenly messenger that He would be making a personal appearance, and secondly, He did not come in the form of a fully grown, adult male but rather He appeared as a newly born baby! Remember what the Angel of the Lord told the shepherds, “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” These are all divine titles being given to an infant wrapped in the equivalent of 1st century pampers. Talk about a non sequitur!

Now the shepherds were terrified by the glorious appearance of an angel of the Lord but at the risk of reading something into the text, in reality, they had just become the recipients of the biggest joke of all time! “Now let’s get this straight. Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth and everything in it, has decided to pay us all a visit, and he’s dressed like a baby? What? He is a baby! You’ve got to be kidding! Who ever heard of a baby god? Are we on Candid Camera? OK, now supposing He is a baby; which baby is He? Bethlehem’s a bit crowded right now with the census and all. How are we going to tell Him from any of the other babies?”

OK, I admit that’s a bit irreverent. But at least one of those shepherds had to be thinking these things because the angel goes on to give them a sign: It the baby who is lying in a manger.

Now this is very important because Luke mentions it three times within this passage. In the 7th verse of chapter 2 it says that Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and…laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. In the 12th verse the angel says that the shepherds will find a child lying in a manger. And in verse 16 the shepherds find Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. The child is not the point of the passage but rather the manger is.

And this is where I get tongue-tied! What is the significance of the manger that Luke makes a point of saying it three times? It’s probably nothing more than what it appears to be: a way for the shepherds to correctly identify the proper child. But doggone it, there has to be more! I want there to be more!

Could it be that God began His humanity in an instrument made of wood thus foreshadowing the end of his humanity on an instrument made of wood? Could the manger, which is basically a feeding trough, symbolize the future sacrament of feeding on Jesus through Holy Communion? Could the manger be a further symbol of humility to emphasize the already dependent state represented by the child in order to show us the dependence that we all have on Divine Providence.

It could be any of these things or none of these things. It doesn’t really matter because just like the Incarnation itself, it’s a mystery.

There are certain things in our lives that we just aren’t going to understand no matter how hard we try but we need to believe them anyway. Not just to believe what we see, as the shepherds did, but to believe even when we are not given the opportunity or allowed to see at any given moment. You see, faith is easy when you’re standing in front of a miracle but the real test of faith is when there aren’t any signs. If you have faith, you don’t need signs or miracles but if you are a doubter, then no miracle or sign is enough.

So here we are on the eve of the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Maybe it’s good to be tongue-tied, and not fully understand or rationalize what God has accomplished through this event. Maybe it is best to remain silent, and enjoy the music that only comes around once a year. Maybe it is best to stare at the flickering candles and imagine being under a star-lit sky so many years ago when an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds. Maybe it is best to stand in reverential awe of a mysterious God who loves us so much that He humbled himself to come and live among us in the flesh of a little child wrapped in swaddling clothes. And believe me, this is more than we could ever hope for or deserve.

Gloria Patri