Year B
Luke 2:1-20
The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn
Weren’t the children just wonderful this evening? They are so precious and beautiful. They make Christmas special. I’ll never forget the Christmas mornings with my daughter when she was a child and when possible later with my grandchildren when they were little. Well many, many years ago, there was another very special child who made his appearance into our world and this child changed everything for you and me. This child whose birthday we celebrate tonight was God Almighty who came to us as a little baby in a manger. This baby, made of the same stuff we are made of, is named Jesus-Emmanuel- the God who is with us who came to save us.
How can we not be filled with wonder and amazement, like the shepherds out that night who hear the angel say, “To you is born this day, a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord and you will find this child in a feeding trough wrapped in bands of swaddling clothes” God in swaddling clothes? As if a stable wasn’t humble enough a beginning. Yet, swaddling clothes was God’s sign to the shepherds that they would know the Christ child, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. This sign was part of God’s deliberate plan. God’s gift to the world, the Redeemer and Prince of Peace, wrapped in the clothes of humanity.
The Holy Child wrapped in the ordinary so that nothing might confuse us as to where the real Christmas gift lay. His presence from the beginning and to this very day is directed clearly to the places of pain and hurt, brokenness and sinfulness. Jesus experienced all that swaddling clothes imply, including our human vulnerabilities, our need for love and affection. He knew our pain on that path from the manger to the cross. And on that path, those swaddling clothes took on an even greater meaning because Jesus conquered our human condition and redeemed it. His swaddling clothes on the cross are traded in for the glorious resurrection clothes of salvation.
The resurrection of Christ assures us that the one whose birthday we are celebrating tonight is the God who is with us, the living creator of heaven and earth, the one who owns all things, the one who has given us life, this life, and one day life with God forever for all who open their hearts to Jesus. In Christmas, God offers salvation to all creation through Christ as a gift to show us the way of God, the awesome love of God for God’s creation. But most important in Christmas, God tells us in the small babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a feeding trough that God is not above or beyond our need and reach.
Now, more than ever our world needs those who love this newborn baby, to step out of our places of comfort and into our community to proclaim, not just in words but in action God’s favor, God’s hope and God’s love. This Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace is for all time, all people, and is the light that breaks through the darkness until all things are made well. This infant of Bethlehem is sufficient for the salvation of the world.
So with those on that wondrous night, the angels and shepherds, who witness and share the news with others and are amazed, we stand amazed. With Mary and Joseph, we treasure the extraordinary, ordinary things of Christmas, pondering them in our hearts because in Christ we know God loves us and is with us, wherever we are and in whatever condition we find ourselves all because our Lord and Savior entered this world in flesh and blood among animals and filth. This is Good News for you and for me this Christmas…Emmanuel, God is with us and this news changes the world forever. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus.