A Homily for Christmas Day All
Saints’ Episcopal, Southern Shores, N.C. December 25,
2012 Thomas E. Wilson, Rector
Today, Christmas Day 2012, the time of
the shopping, pageants, services, and receiving presents is over. It
is now time to be still, marvel, and give.
The Gospel lesson tells us that the
Shepherds went home marveling, and Mary pondered in her heart while
caring for her child. Now that it was over, it seemed time to ask
what did this all mean?
What did it mean for the Shepherds? I
wonder if one had thoughts like this:
The Angels said,
“Fear Not”. I spent my whole life looking for God acting in this
world. I heard stories about God being made plain to other people or
in other places, but for schmucks like me, God happened to other
people. Yes, I go through the religious obligations and services, and
other, luckier people seem to enter into it all, but something, I
don't know what, has always kept me from committing myself. I saw a
baby, and I thought that was all that I had seen. But as I get still,
I wonder if I see God not in the Angels, not in the singing, not in
the ritual, but in the still small moments of life. Maybe God is
telling me that the Divine is in every incarnation. The family we saw
is a disposable family- I see hundreds of people like them on the
road. Their lives go nowhere. At least I have a job. Yet, maybe this
child named Jesus is the one who God uses to open the door for us to
see the full worth of God in every disposable person. Maybe the full
love and worth of God are even in those people I work with. Some of
them seem to be bad news and can be difficult. Maybe the experience
of this child is pointing out that it wasn't just one Holy night, but
that all days and nights are holy. I wonder if this is what God was
saying through the angels and this child? Let me be still a bit
longer and ponder this, and then maybe look again at all those
disposable moments and people in my life.
What did it mean for Mary? I wonder if
she had thoughts like these:
The Angel nine months ago said: “Fear not.” I just think that
words are not good enough. Joseph say he loves me, but if he really
knew all the things that I had thought while living with him, I'm
afraid he would be so hurt and offended that he might never come
back. I was just about to lose it when those noisy, unwashed, and
half drunk- that would be the only way to explain their behavior –
shepherds said that they were just in the neighborhood. I had to
smile and be nice - because what can you do when it seems like your
home is a pigsty? I was afraid I would scream at them and tell them
to leave me alone. I am so afraid of so many things. I'm afraid, I'm
afraid I am not going to be a good mother. Look at this child, so
small. He felt so big inside me and don't get me started about him
coming out. I could drop him. I could hurt him because of my
inexperience. I might say things to him that might scar him for life.
What if he grows up to hate me for being so insistent on having
things my own way? Or if he gets irritated at my own neediness? Yet,
he is a gift, a gift given out of love. As I hold on to him, can I
hold on to that concept, and each time see not just him but look
through him, and his behavior, to the gift he is? I am surrounded by
gifts I don't deserve. Who knows? Maybe the shepherds were a gift…
I wonder what does this day mean to
you?
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