The Light of love is constant

Christmas Eve ● December 24, 2023

Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:1-7, & Luke 2:8-20 (The Inclusive Bible)

Rev. Jeff Wells © 2023

You can view the full worship video recording at:

https://youtu.be/4DpO1k3wCNo

Scripture readings and reflections from the Lessons & Carols service.

Isaiah 9:2-7

The people walking in darkness are seeing a brilliant light –

upon those who dwell in a land of deep shadows

light is shining! God, you have made the nation greater –

you have brought them abundant joy!

They celebrate in your presence as with the harvest celebrations,

or as warriors celebrate when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them,

the weight on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors –

you have shattered it, as you did at the defeat of Midian. 

For every boot that tramped in battle,

every cloak that was dragged through blood,

is now used as fuel for the fire. 

For a child is born to us, an heir is given us, 

upon whose shoulders dominion will rest. 

This One shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Strength of God,

Eternal Protector, Champion of Peace. This dominion, and this peace,

will grow without end, with David’s throne and realm

sustained with justice and fairness, now and forever. 

The zeal of YHWH, all-loving, will accomplish it!”

Reflection:  

The passage we just heard was written more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Many scholars believe it was originally composed as an announcement of the birth of a crown prince, who would one day assume the throne. Later, Isaiah or a compiler of Isaiah’s speeches, appropriated it to use in declaring what God was doing among the people of Judea. The poem first offers thanks to God for strengthening the nation and bringing joy. It describes how all the people celebrate the liberation from oppression that this event represents. In its original form, this announcement undoubtedly pointed to the deliverance of Judea from the boot heel of the Assyrian empire. 

This poem is not a foretelling of what will happen, but a pronouncement of what has already happened. Yet, in the context of Isaiah, it can be read as future hope. It can be heard as a proclamation not that one conflict has ende, but that all violence is at an end. All of the garments of war will become fuel for the fire – because a child is born, an heir in the line of King David. It concludes with an assertion of hope for what needs to happen: that this royal child will bring an era of peace with justice and fairness. Isaiah expressed a longing and a hope for what humanity needed to do in response to God’s beckoning and God’s desire for the world.

This famous passage was in no way a prediction pointing to Jesus or some other Anointed One (which is what the words Messiah and Christ mean). Yet, it is easy for us to see why many early Christians re-appropriated this passage to support their claim that Jesus was the one anointed by God. We “re-hear” this passage with our own understanding of who Jesus was – from the Gospel accounts, from the interpretations offered elsewhere in the New Testament, from other writings, and from our own experience of the spirit of Jesus among us. And because of all of that, we can be inspired by Isaiah, too. We can see how the child Jesus, born into a particular set of circumstances, was invited and guided by God to grow into an extraordinary person who helped and still helps draw many others to dream and work toward visions of human society in which love and peace might prevail. The light of love is constant. 

Luke 2:1-7

In those days, Caesar Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the whole Roman world. This first census took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All the people were instructed to go back to the towns of their birth to register. And so Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to “the city of David” – Bethlehem, in Judea, because Joseph was of the house and lineage of David; he went to register with Mary, his espoused wife, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her delivery. She gave birth to her firstborn, a son; she put him in a simple cloth wrapped like a receiving blanket, and laid him in a feeding trough for cattle, because there was no room for them at the inn.

Reflection:  

I need to begin my reflection with a spoiler alert. I know we are all fond of the various stories of Jesus’ birth that get congealed together in the Christmas Pageant every year. These tales have a lot of emotional and spiritual meaning for us. That is rightfully so and I don’t want to take away from that. But I am going to offer an alternative understanding of the story from Luke’s Gospel. 

The narratives of Jesus’ birth were written long after his death. The story we heard today from the Gospel of Luke was composed 50-60 years after Jesus was executed. The author put in a few details that give it the flavor of historical authenticity. But we know now that there is no evidence of a Roman census of the whole empire at the time. Doing a census of Galilee and Judea would have made no sense since the Romans had put King Herod in charge of collecting taxes. Even if there was a census, Joseph would have been registered and taxed where he resided, not where he was born. So, there would have been no need to travel to Bethlehem. 

So, Luke’s story is not an attempt at historical accuracy. However, it is a powerful theological narrative. Luke wrote looking back, while already knowing who Jesus had become and his significance for communities of his followers. He knew they already called him savior, Messiah, the Christ. It was important, therefore, for the author to connect Jesus with Bethlehem because the hope for a messiah – an Anointed One – arising from the line of King David was an important part of Jewish spirituality at that time. 

And though it is not a literal “history,” the story Luke created for us captures so much that was true for poor and oppressed people in Judea, Galilee, and surrounding areas and for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in particular. They lived under the oppression and exploitation of Roman imperialism. As a lower class peasant or craftsman, Joseph would have paid something like half of his annual earnings in taxes to local authorities and their Roman overseers. It is also probably true that Mary delivered her baby in a cattle stall, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a feeding trough – a manger. That was common practice, since there was no privacy nor much extra space in the small and bustling homes of the working poor. Even with their families close by, being pregnant and giving birth entailed serious risks. They still do in many parts of the world today. I can’t help but think of Gaza today, where virtually no hospitals are functional, yet babies are still being born – in unimaginable conditions.

Importantly, Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus captures the truth that, as much as God loves every living being, God takes the side of the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. Jesus was born far from the kind of power exercised by Caesar and Herod. Yet, Luke projects back and sees in this child, Jesus, the kind of power that characterizes and emanates from God – the power of persuasive, uncontrolling love. The light of God’s love is constant. 

Luke 2:8-20

There were shepherds in the area living in the fields and keeping night watch by turns over their flock. The angel of God appeared to them, and the glory of God shone around them; they were very much afraid. The angel said to them, “You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim good news to you – news of a great joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in David’s city, a savior – the Messiah – has been born to you. Let this be a sign to you: you’ll find an infant wrapped in a simple cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in high heaven! And on earth, peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see this event that God has made known to us.” They hurried and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger; once they saw this, they reported what they had been told concerning the child. All who heard about it were astonished at the report given by the shepherds. Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart. The shepherds went away glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told.

Reflection: 

Like Isaiah, Luke announces – in the voice of an angel of God – that a child “has been born to you.” And this is no ordinary child. This is a savior – the Messiah, the Anointed One. But unlike the royal prince whose birth was announced in Isaiah, Jesus was born into poverty, not privilege. And, like Isaiah, the angel in Luke’s story proclaims peace on earth. Now, at the time Jesus was born, it was Caesar Augustus who claimed to be the “bringer of peace.” But that was a lie. Caesar and the empire brought only the “peace” of the sword, of violence or the threat of violence. Their goal was pacification, not peace. As we witness the slaughter happening in the world today, we know in our hearts that violence – no matter who it comes from or how it is justified, will ever bring peace. So, let us continue to pray and to act for the end to all war, terrorism, and violence and to hope and to dream that someday, all of the boots, the uniforms, and the instruments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. 

The stories of Jesus’ birth are meaningful for us today not necessarily for their literal historical accuracy, but for what they tell us about God, about Jesus, and about our own role in promoting God’s love in the world. The child grew up to be a powerful expression of God’s love, justice, compassion, and care. His teachings and his example have changed the world. The spirit of peace and nonviolence embodied in Jesus lives on in communities like ours – which we call the body of Christ.

God is never absent from us. God was with Mary and Joseph through all their travails. God was with Jesus from the moment he was born. He became an especially faithful expression of God’s constant love and deep desire for justice, compassion, peace, and flourishing. So, today, we remember the story of Jesus’ coming into the world as a powerful embodiment of God’s all-inclusive love. 

The light of God’s love is constant and flows through all time and in all places. And because God is always with us, inspiring and guiding us, we, too, can be messengers of peace, compassion, nonviolence, and love – even loving our enemies.

So, what shall we do in the days ahead? What do we do when Christmas is over? Let me offer inspiration from Howard Thurman, after which, I invite us into a moment of contemplation before we sing:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.

Copyright (c) 2023 - Rev. Jeff Wells
All rights reserved.