Christmas Eve Reflections/Carols - 2003

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Dallas ·    Rev. Todd Freeman

Away In A Manger

The birth of Jesus was the moment when Christians recognized that the Holy God had now emerged in human history in a self-conscious way. In the birth of Jesus, Christians celebrated the recognition that the God who had been perceived as holy and other now was revealed to be present in the heart of human life... This birth was a sign that the infinite could be known in the finite, that the eternal could be met in that which is transitory, and that the divine and human could not be separated.

Bishop John Shelby Spong, Why Christianity Must Change Or Die, 1998

As we sing Away In A Manger keep in mind this divine/human connection that is a reality in all humankind.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing recounts the part of the birth narrative when angels appear to startled shepherds out in the fields. The angels, as messengers of God, sing of both glory and peace.

We are the shepherds in this story. They were going about their own business. They are doing just what they usually do when suddenly they experience a divine interruption... Here at the beginning of the story of Jesus there is a song to the glory of heaven and a message of peace on earth... The shepherds act upon what they hear, and they do not return the same people who left those short hours before. They return as those who have heard the Word and seen the vision.

David Bartlett, Professor of Preaching, Yale Divinity School, 1999

Any divine interruptions in your life as you were going about your routine business this year? How did you emerge differently?

Joy To The World

The season of Advent, which ends this night, has been a month of anticipation and preparation for the celebration of Christmas Day. Among all the many emotions which surround this celebration, joy is primary.

Joy and happiness are not the same thing, for joy is not dependent upon our life's circumstances and situations. Joy is born out of the experience of hope, peace and especially love.

A church worker from Indiana in a Salvadoran refugee camp in Honduras told me a story of a refugee woman who once asked her why she always looked so sad and burdened. Yvonne talked about the grief she felt over all the suffering she was witnessing and her commitment to give all of herself to the struggle of the refugees. The refugee woman gently confronter her: 'Only people who expect to go back to North America in a year work the way you do. You cannot be serious about our struggle unless you play and celebrate and do those things that make it possible to give a lifetime to it.'

Every time the refugees were displaced and had to build a new camp, they immediately formed three committees: a construction committee, an education committee, and the comite de alegria - "the committee of joy." Celebration was as basic to the life of the refugee as digging latrines and teaching their children to read.

Joyce Hollyday, Clothed with the Sun: Biblical Women, Social Justice, and Us , 1994

The particular revelation of God that began with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is indeed a cause to sing Joy To The World ! As we do so, now, reflect upon the reasons and experiences of joy in your life.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

"Come to Bethlehem... Come and behold him... Come and adore him." Did you realize that in the first verse alone of O Come, All Ye Faithful , this verb "come" is repeated 7 times? It is meant for us to take notice of this as an important theme.

This carol reminds us of the invitation that is inherent in Christianity. Jesus will later call his disciples with the simple words, "Come, follow me." God is always inviting us into relationship. How we respond to that invitation is up to each one of us.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

In biblical times, Bethlehem, the hometown of King David, was a small rural community located just a few miles south of Jerusalem. Isaiah prophesied that it would be the town from which a new leader would come.

This carol speaks of a peaceful yet dark place, a place ripe with the hope that Isaiah's prophesy would soon be fulfilled : O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark street shineth the everlasting light; The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

Bethlehem is where we live. The stable is in our town, Christ is being born now, here, and we should pay attention.

Neil MacGregor, Resourced for Preaching and Worship, Year B:

Quotations, Meditations, Poetry, and Prayers , 2002

Good Christian Friends, Rejoice

This good news - that we are loved, that we can love - needs one thing more to make Christmas really real. It needs to be shared. Not hugged to ourselves, like a private affair, not even kept within the safety of church walls. It needs to be told out, not in words but in action.

The word became flesh, not mere words. It lived among us. We give glory to God by living good news, by being the word of love become flesh; in our healing of wounds, in our restoring of right relationships, in our struggle for justice, in our daily care-giving, in our delight in life.

Kathy Galloway, Getting Personal , 1995.

Resourced for Preaching and Worship, Year B: Quotations, Meditations, Poetry, and Prayers , 2002

May it be so in our own lives and in this community of faith. Good Christian friends, rejoice!

Invitation to the Table - Sacrament of the Lord's Supper

God's Word became flesh so that Jesus may serve as bread for us, so that God's Word in Jesus may be transformed to flesh within us as the Body of Christ. As that body, we reach out for love and in love we touch the unclean and embrace the outcast, we offer ourselves for the transformation of the world in unorthodox ways. God's Word will not return to God empty, but will accomplish what God intended: Truth. Justice. Mercy. Grace. Love. Joy. Peace.

Chris Glaser, Reformation of the Heart:

Seasonal Meditations by a Gay Christian , 2001