The things of greatest significance in this life have something to do with birth, death or conjugation. The arch of a life is defined on both ends by baptism and a funeral and marriage at the center holds equal place of import. The very creation and fullness of the human, male and female is summed up in marriage. Likewise the new creation is fulfilled as Christ and His bride the Church.
Not many of us are from noble stock or the aristocracy- (is anyone here from the aristocracy?) we should relish this story which draws attention to the simple poor rustic shepherds who were lowly esteemed laborers in their day. And it is even more impressive that Luke devotes so much space to them. They who were invisible and lowly esteemed by society have been highly esteemed by the Evangelist who goes on and on about them, they were highly esteemed by the angels who put on quite a show for them, they were most highly esteemed by God Himself who arranged all of this and has had it recorded for all the ages to delight in.
Tonight, the Lord of Hosts, Judge of Nations and terror of the wicked- is a small, helpless, vulnerable baby who is crying and wants his mother. The Man of War is a crying baby, and his mother coddles him, wraps him tightly in strips of cloth and holds him close and nurses him. This is the man of war, a plump little baby crying for his mother.
We must feel some tenderness knowing the holy baby Jesus. Tenderness that His mother feels for him. For all the talk of war, and enemies, and hard brutality and destruction- On this night, this festival reveals our God, our man of war as He also is to us, a tender precious, gentle, weak, vulnerable baby.
This sentiment is every bit as central to our faith as that of war and the destruction of the Devils works- more so, because the war will end but the tenderness will only grow and the sweet fragrance that we enjoy in this festival of Christmas will wash away all the residue of the ugly and hard battle of our punishment.
We are often befuddled by the Jews rejection of Jesus. Even with all the physical evidence staring them in the face, the astonishing undeniable miracles- I mean they tried to kill Jesus after he raised Lazarus from the dead- It is bewildering to us to conceive of their rejection of Jesus after all he did. But we are told in the Gospels repeatedly the reason they rejected Jesus- they rejected him because their hearts were hardened. Ok… That’s no reason to crucify Him. Well this is only bewildering because we do not understand what a hardened heart can do to a person- it makes them insane, incapable of seeing clearly, of making wise decisions, of knowing what’s what. It takes away their reason and makes them beasts. That’s the reality of someone who’s heart has become truly hardened. Now who wants to be a foaming pet on a demon’s leash? Good news is we know how to avoid such a condition. Repentance- that is the cure and preventative medicine for a hardened heart.
John was a man -sent from God. We know that his conception was miraculous, next to our Blessed Mother and the Savior John’s nativity is the one other nativity feast we celebrate- he was slightly older than Jesus, of the priestly class, they met while in their mothers wombs and John leapt for joy. We read that John was filled with the Holy Spirit while in the womb- he went out into the wilderness and became a great ascetic and to be with God. He knew God in the Wilderness, God spoke to him and told him things as he did the prophets of old but John was greater than all the prophets of old, there had been no one greater born of women.
I have heard recently of a person who is very angry at God for all the awful things he does to people or allows to happen to people- which I suppose, in this person’s mind is the same thing- if he allows it, he might as well have done it himself- in the final tally, He is responsible for all the awful things. It is a somewhat understandable position to assume and one that God anticipates. He is quite aware that this is how things appear and He warns us repeatedly of the threatening delusion.
God is not the author of evil, can not be tempted by evil nor does he tempt any man with evil. And yet all the same he does test our faith that it might be proven. Proven to be true- and proven as in refined and made perfect. And the testing of our faith consists in a fiery trial of suffering- in some form or another. Why does he have to be so mean, can’t he just prove our faith another way, with walks by the lake and mimosas at brunch? We’ll no he can’t as a matter of fact or else I’m sure he would.
There is no one without sin. Our confidence is not in our sinlessness but in the Goodness and mercy of God to forgive the honest sinner who fears and waits upon the Lord. What does it mean to fear and wait upon the Lord? To wait is one who has hope in God’s mercy and goodness, to fear is to recognize the uncompromising nature of reality, that is the Holiness of God- that this eternal blaze of glory, goodness, joy and truth will destroy all that is treacherous and disloyal. Jesus said if you deny me before men I will deny you before my Father in heaven. God does not just forgive the honest sinner but he invites him into his divine counsel and gives him and his descendants the earth.
Jesus warns us in the gospel this morning that there is a great tribulation coming. Whether he speaks of something yet to happen or something that has already happened- there will be tribulations until the end. He promised us in the world you will have tribulation. Why? He is God, He is good and wants us to be happy, I mean he created us for the express purpose of being filled with delight and joy. So why doesn’t he just fix it all with a wave of His hand- why this tribulation? Apparently it would not be what is best for us or else He would.
A phrase from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians caught my attention this morning. He tells the Ephesians to redeem the time because the days are evil. The days are evil… It’s hard to image something written 2K years ago that could sound more contemporary. We are likely in the beginning throws of the collapse of a civilization. It has happened before, and if Jesus tarries it will happen again. Feeling our contemporary demise acutely we may miss the obvious, St. Paul was also in days which were evil, and that was long ago with much historical and social water under the bridge. We have no corner on evil days, mankind has been living in days which are evil for a very long time.
When we study Jesus' life in the Scripture he appears as many things, he is a shepherd carrying for his sheep, a vintner growing and tending his vine, a creator bringing things into existence, a teacher showing the way, a miracle worker setting people free, a destroyer of death, a redeemer who offers his life to pay the price of our salvation and deliverance from enslavement to the enemy. He is certainly all of these things and more. The first clear apostolic proclamation to the world was: JESUS IS LORD!