This is Christmas Eve, the eve of mystery and wonder. Some of you may
indeed be full of wonder tonight. Wonder that you once more darkened the doors
of a church. Wonder that you let your family talk you into coming. Wonder that
you came because your house was empty and you thought maybe, just maybe, coming
here might make it seem a little less
empty when you got home. Wonder that you managed to escape your family by
coming to church. Or wonder that you tried to escape and some family member decided
to tag along. Probably some of you that come here all the time wondered how
you’d feel if you didn’t come.
Congratulations to all of you; because despite what you may think, it was the mystery
and wonder of God that drew you here tonight.
I suspect the shepherds probably wondered a lot too on that night so
long ago. They wondered some of the same things you are sitting here wondering.
But mostly, I think they wondered how they ended up at that manger. After all, it
was just a baby: a little squalling baby, wrapped in bands of cloth, in a cow
stall or a cave. And they were just shepherds. Not important people; probably
mostly young boys. And suddenly they found themselves frightened out of their
wits by angels and followed a star to see a baby!
And so the shepherds came to the manger wondering. And, like the
shepherds at the manger, we come here wondering, too. Deep in our hearts, we
wonder if we come to the manger what will happen. If we come to the manger can
God really put our broken pieces back together?
You came because of that wonder. Your heart was drawn here by the
mystery and wonder of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Your feet
somehow managed to obey your heart because your heart is still open to wonder
and mystery and your broken pieces cried out for mending. Even if your head
told you, “No, no,” your heart said, “Yes, go.”
That is what the shepherds did. Their heads may have said, “No, no,” but
their hearts said, “Yes, go.” And they came. They came and saw God in human
flesh; God made just like us. If you’ve ever wondered if human beings are
created in God’s image remember this. God in Jesus was made in the image we
know as human beings. We are human beings of flesh and blood and hearts. We
have hearts to draw our feet to the manger. And somewhere in each of our hearts
is a longing to encounter the wonder and mystery of God and have our broken
pieces mended.
This is still it, after two millennia: There is a welcome for all here. This
is the place where broken pieces can be mended; where we can be made whole. No
matter what, no matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve done; the light
from the manger falls across your life and puts the broken pieces back together.
God was here and is here, and is with us in the form of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This night is the place and the time we celebrate that holy mystery of God made
flesh. This night is the time to wonder and delight that born this day in the
city of David is the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord God in human flesh. This is
the night when God made whole the broken pieces of the world.
So on this night, rejoice in the mystery and wonder that Christ became
human flesh to put our broken pieces back together. Rejoice in the mystery and
wonder that God was and is human. God is here: Emmanuel, God with us. And by
this one act of God becoming human flesh, all the broken pieces are put
together into something new and everything
is made new, including you! AMEN.
The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2015
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