Sermons

Dec 24 - The Rev. Brian C. Taylor - Christmas Eve - Credible Christianity

Christmas Eve, 2006
The Rev. Brian C. Taylor
Credible Christianity

This baby in the manger in Bethlehem we honor tonight went on to become the young man Jesus - teaching, healing, gathering followers. Then the resurrected Christ continued to spiritually guide the early church as it took shape. What has become of the movement that was founded by this baby in the manger? What became of his message and what has been done in his name?

Many good things – education and hospitals, spiritual guidance, compassionate service for the poor, a thirst for justice and peace. We all know the dark side, too: suppression of science, the Crusades and the Inquisition, the colonization and oppression of people all over the world.

And what do we have today? What is the public face of Christianity in our time? Fundamentalist evangelicals that sometimes hold more rigorously to the political right than to Jesus’ own teachings. Megachurches that celebrate success and prosperity as the highest value. A Vatican that, in some ways, seems out of touch with the reality that most people, including Catholics, live in. And a message that many might summarize like this: You’ll only get to heaven if you believe the right things about Jesus and practice traditional morality. In light of this public face of Christianity, sometimes it is embarassing to identify myself as a Christian.

Why do I bring this up on Christmas eve, of all times? Because the scene in the manger in Bethlehem points to a very different kind of Jesus. It points to a credible Christianity for our time - indeed for any time in history.

Tonight I want to draw attention to two things we see there in the manger: first, a very human, earthy Jesus who would go on, in his humanity, to teach about how to live; second, a divine, spiritual Christ who still transforms us spiritually, if we want him to. In the manger in Bethlehem, they’re both there: earth and heaven – they came together and became one. They still do.

Part of the appeal of this night is the earthy humanity of it all. A cold night, a dirt floor in a stable, animals and lowly shepherds, lanterns emitting a soft glow, and a pregnant mother giving birth in a difficult but tender setting. Perhaps it awakens unconscious memories in us: breast-feeding in the middle of the night, a vigil by a hospital bed, or tears shed on the shoulder of a loved one. Tenderness, humility, real human stuff. It’s all there in the manger as Mary and Joseph attend to their new-born baby.

This human Jesus of Nazareth was from a large family that was surely poor, living in a small town, never traveling more than a hundred miles from home. He was an observant but non-dogmatic Jew. He became a charismatic leader, healer and teacher. In his parables he would draw from the harsh, worldly realities they all knew only too well: brutal Roman occupation, economic exploitation and religious rigidity. But in the midst of their struggles, he invited his followers to a higher way.

This human Jesus taught them, and he still teaches us, how to be connected to God and in harmony with others, how to be free in the midst of our struggles. We are to forgive, to reconcile and make peace, loving even our enemies, not aggressively bullying them. We are to be simple, humble, and generous, denying ourselves when it serves the greater good. We are to live without fear, trusting that God will bring good out of any circumstance. We are to challenge everything that hinders God’s ways in this world. And above all else, we are to love. Love God, love neighbor, love life.

This is the path that Jesus invited us into. He said that if we followed him there, we would be blessed, and be a blessing to others. He is still our human teacher, the one whose voice Christians are called to listen to above all others. He is our role model and our guide along the way.

But the baby in the manger is more than this. He is the Christ-child, the Son of God. The Christmas story tells us that this divine baby was announced by angels. Prophets and wise men heard of his coming, and they followed a miraculous star that lead them to Bethlehem. A chorus of angelic beings sang his praises: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth! We speak of this birth in the most exalted way: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, full of grace and truth.

This divine reality was a part of Jesus’ adult life as well. Surely in his love, in his healing and other miracles he performed, in his resurrection, he was recognized by some as the light of the world. They were struck dumb, in awe of the God who shone so transparently through him. And after he left them, he continued to live, in Spirit, with all who placed their trust in him.

He continues to live with us. He is not just a human teacher, but a living presence for any who call upon him. He lives his way through us, if we let him. He accomplishes in us what we cannot do by ourselves alone. Over time, we become, in some small measure, like him. As St. Paul said It is no longer I who live but Christ in me. And even more boldly We have the mind of Christ.

And so through this sacrament of his Body and Blood, his real presence among us, we take him into our body and soul. We are baptized into his life, and we renew this life every time we call upon him in prayer and devotion. We see glimpses of him in our homes through crosses and icons. His words in the four gospels come alive for us; he speaks to us in the here and now. Through his presence in our lives, we are brought into the same union with God and all creation that he knew.

This is the credible Christianity that I know. It is a religion where we are challenged and encouraged by this remarkable human teacher, Jesus of Nazareth. It is also a religion where the spirit of the divine, risen Christ lives through us.

This human and divine path has been there from the very beginning. It was there in the manger in Bethlehem, with oxen and angels, sheep and exotic kings, when earth and heaven came together. It has been there through the church’s darkest days, and it is here today, in the midst of much nonsense that passes for Christianity. For Christ is light in the world, and the light that shines in the darkness will never be overcome.

Tonight he calls to you from the manger. All that he was as a baby, all that he became as a man, all that he is today for those who follow him – he calls to you. He invites you into his gracious life, and he promises that you will become blessed and a blessing to others. Respond to this invitation by following the man Jesus, and by abiding with the divine Christ.

Then heaven and earth will come together this night once again, in the manger of your heart.