Christmas Eve 2011 Saturday, December 24th, 2011
Occupy Bethlehem – Rev. David Mundy
Luke 2:1-20
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You may have seen that Time
Magazine’s Person of the Year was actually “persons” in 2011, the
unlikely worldwide gang of nobodies dubbed protestors.
Some of those protestors are
in the nations of North Africa and the Middle East where change has come about
with considerable cost and we are still seeing grass roots uprisings in several
of those countries. Dictators and tyrants have been deposed and others may
fall.
The more controversial
protestors were the so-called Occupiers, the majority of them young, in cities
around the world. It all began in the Big Apple, New York City, and Occupy Wall
Street quickly went from being a minor irritant and curiosity to a movement
which caught the world’s attention.
For those of us who were
observers we weren’t always sure of the message of the Occupiers. The initial
message tossed in the communal pot was that the one percent of the wealthy and
powerful controlled the fate of the ninety-nine percent who were just trying to
get by in a bleak economic scenario. There was controlled outrage that the
financial “powers that be” emerged from the economic downturn relatively
unscathed while many suffered.
After that, though, the stew
became a tad muddled with a bewildering array of concerns and complaints. You
may have been supportive of what happened, or skeptical, or both, depending on
the day. Eventually city officials ran out of patience and the occupiers were
removed, most of the encampments dismantled. With few exceptions, this unfolded
without incident. It’s hard to say whether the core message of equality and
fairness for all will be pushed into the background again. It should be
mentioned that in many places the encampments were alongside churches and
Christian leaders offered their support.
This evening we have come
together as brothers and sisters in Christ to ponder once more the two thousand
year old Occupy Bethlehem movement and the unlikely story of a peasant
baby whose brief life, criminal’s death, and mind-boggling resurrection changed
the world.
Most of us have heard Luke’s
“birth of Jesus” story through a lifetime, and it is a sentimental favourite –
angels, shepherds, baby – what’s not to like?
We could easily gloss over
the part at the beginning about the census by the “powers that be” in the form
of the Roman Emperor Augustus. The land of Jesus’ birth was occupied by
the most effective empire that had ever existed and once a land was conquered
by the Romans they set out to conquer the minds and imaginations of the people.
These subjects were even required to worship the emperor as Son of God,
Redeemer, Liberator, Saviour of the World – those were the terms the Romans
used.
We could forget tonight that
the pregnant Mary and husband Joseph were temporarily displaced persons as they
did their best to comply with the census requirements. Or that Luke is
different from Matthew in telling us that it the announcement of the angels is
not to the upper class Wise Guys but to “certain poor shepherds in fields as
they lay.”
Then there is the manger. “Were you born in a barn?!” we sometimes ask
in exasperation. The baby Jesus, aka Saviour of Humanity responds “as a
matter of fact, yes.” The odds were not good for this child. He could
easily have died at birth or in the days following. Somehow though – could it
be a miracle? – he became the focal point of the
religion we are part of two millennia on.
Even though Christmas Eve is
an understandably sentimental and heartfelt time for many of us perhaps there
should be a grittier, earthier feel to what we do this year. Our emotional
response to the birth of Christ can open our eyes and our ears to a world where
there are still many inequalities and needs.
We’re certainly being told
regularly that even in the wealthy nations of the world the gap between the rich
and the poor, the “haves and the have nots” is
growing. A November report out of the United States, currently the most
powerful earthly empire finds that seventeen percent of Americans are living in
poverty. Even in this country with its social safety net somewhere between ten
and fifteen percent of Canadians live below the poverty line. At the beginning
of this month CBC radio did a piece on what they described as the ten percent
of those amongst us who are living in poverty.
There was a huge response to
that program from people who were jolted by the realities of those who are
often invisible, as well as those who are caught in the soul-crushing grip of
never enough. A follow-up to the original program included interviews with a
mother and daughter from a rural Nova Scotia family. This is loving family with
parents fiercely committed to the education of their four children, but dad
lost his job and mom has been trying to upgrade her education and care for her
brood at the same time. So, the six of them live in a
trailer, scraping by.
The eight-year- old daughter
whose name is Santana is remarkably articulate and thoughtful about their
situation. In a sweet child’s voice she spoke about what it is like to be the
kid in the class who has no money for trips and activities. She admitted that
there are times when she leaves the family table hungry because there really
isn’t enough food for everyone. When the interviewer asked what she would like
for Christmas if they could afford it Santana suddenly sounded very grown up.
Santana said that she wouldn’t talk about that, as though she was keeping a
firm lid on expectations which couldn’t be met.
I found myself getting more
emotional with each of her responses but I assumed I was under control. Until
Santana was asked what she wanted to do when she grows up and she said firmly
that she wouldn’t talk about that either. I have to admit that I cried when I
heard her say this. How can an eight-year-old Canadian child already be at the
place where she will not speak about her hopes and dreams for the future, the
sorts of enthusiastic aspirations which often make us smile as adults?
You may be wondering, “Hey,
am I supposed to feel guilty tonight – after all, it’s Christmas Eve?” No,
we’re not supposed to feel guilty – just Christian. What a wonderful gift of life-changing faith
we have been given.
The great mystery and joy of
Christmas is that our hearts can still be occupied by Jesus. We can be changed
by our openness to this story, and to this person whom we follow and worship as
Son of God, Redeemer, Liberator, Saviour of the World.
I want to be Christ’s person December 24th, Christmas Eve, 2011.
This isn’t just about tonight though. I also want to be Christ’s follower on
March 24th 2012, and June 24th and September 24th,
and all the days beyond. I want to aim both lower and higher as a Christian, to
dream of the coming of Christ’s reign for all the
world, and to make a personal difference in my day-to-day choices and living.
There is a hymn written back
in the 1960's when a lot of people were idealistic about a better world – a lot
like the protestors Time acknowledges this year. The hymn is called I
Am the Light of the World and the chorus has Jesus saying to us:
'I am the light of the
world!
You people come and follow
me!'
If you follow and love
you'll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
Listen to the verses:
1 When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and the shepherds have found their way
home,
the work of Christmas is begun:
2 To
find the lost and lonely one,
to heal the broken soul with love,
to feed the hungry children with warmth and good food,
to feel the earth below, the sky above!
3 To
free the prisoner from all chains,
to make the powerful care,
to rebuild the nations with strength of good will,
to see God's children everywhere!
4 To
bring hope to every task you do,
to dance at a baby's new birth,
to make music in an old person's heart,
and sing to the colours of the earth!
'I am the light of the
world!
You people come and follow
me!'
If you follow and love
you'll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
Thank God for Occupy
Bethlehem, for the coming of the Christ who changes hearts and who is the
Prince of Peace.