We Make Room

 

Rev. Debbie Cato
Luke 2:1-20
Fairfield Community Church
December 24, 2023 – Christmas Eve

Loving God, We have heard this story before—the story of a star in the sky and a baby who was laid in a manger. We have heard this story before— passed down in hopeful whispers through the generations.

So this night, as we lean our hearts and our ears closer to you, we ask that you would make room in our souls to hear this story again. Make room in us for awe. Make room in us for wonder. Make room for heartache and compassion. Make room in our hearts for you. Pull us into the narrative, that we might hear the truths in this ancient Word as if it were the first time. For we know that you are still speaking. So speak to us again tonight. We are listening. We are already making room. Amen.

We Make Room

 

Every year we come to church on Christmas Eve to hear this story.  It’s always the same; nothing changes.  We read how Joseph and Mary make the long trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem  because they have to register for the census so that Ceasar Augustus can properly assess taxes.  When they arrive, all the inns are full – or all the guest rooms as Luke tells us, so tradition tells us that they made themselves comfortable in a stable and when Mary gave birth, they wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. 

 We love hearing over and over again, year after year, how the Son of God, Christ the King was not born in a palace fit for a king, or even in an inn with a clean bed and sheets for Mary to give birth in.  The very Son of God was born in a barn and laid in a feeding trough for the animals.  The Messiah would not be a Lord for royalty but a Lord for the humble and the meek.  He would be a Lord for the ordinary people – people like you and me.

But the story doesn’t stop here.  Ordinary, simple shepherds working the nightshift are out minding their own business.  They are on high-alert watching for wild animals who might try to attack their sheep or thieves who might try to steal them.  Their work is dangerous.  Suddenly, an angle appears in the sky – imagine!  An angle appearing in the sky!  The glory of the Lord shone all around them and they were terrified.  But the angel said, “Do not be afraid!”  The angel tells them about the birth of the Christ child.  Then the sky filled with a heavenly host praising God, saying: “Glory to God in the highest heaven,  and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels disappear and go back to heaven, the shepherds leave for Bethlehem where they find the Christ child just as the angels said.  After seeing him, they were so amazed, they spread the word to everyone they saw about what they had seen and been told. 

 This is amazing, friends!  These simple, ordinary, nobody shepherds were the first to see the baby Jesus.  Not religious leaders or important rulers or community leaders.  Dirty laborers.  Ordinary people like you and me.  God had come to earth for people like us.  For you.  For me.  And after they saw for themselves, they told people!  They became evangelists!

So the question for us on this Christmas Eve is this.  Will this just be a wonderful story that we come to church on Christmas Eve to hear that makes us feel good?  Or, will we make room for Christ in our lives each and every day of the year?

It wasn’t just Christ’s birth that was humble.  Jesus’ whole life and ministry modeled humility.  Jesus taught us how to love one another.  He taught us to take care of one another – especially those who have less than we do.  He taught us to work for justice and mercy.  He taught us to  work for peace.  He taught us to accept one another.  If we follow Christ, if we love Christ, then we must make room for what He taught and modeled in his life.

Our task during this Christmas season and every day after, is to make room. We must acknowledge that the world is weary from grief, war, a pandemic, political strife, personal crises, and the list goes on.  Although these weary acts take place, our joy happens when we encounter life together. When we change the story as it might seem to be and make room for shared moments to rejoice. Let’s not lean on our own understanding but in all our ways trust God to direct our paths—offering God our best by making room for others. The room we make will allow a weary world to rejoice.[1]

Let’s be a Christmas people who love to hear the story, told but then every day let’s make room for Christ to live out in our lives.  Let’s be a community that makes room for kindness and love, for acceptance and justice.  Let’s be a community of service to one another.  Let’s make room to be the  hands and feet of Christ each and every day and live out this beautiful story we love to hear every year.

Have a blessed Christmas.  Amen.

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[1] Sanctified Art,  A Weary World Rejoices.  Christmas Eve.  “We Make Room.”  Commentary.  Cecelia Armstrong.