Christmas Eve
Luke 2:1-20
“Christmas Colors”
A window opened in the yellow straw, as a black nose, two pinkish ears
and a gray paw poked out to see the strange sound in that stable.
The gray little mouse saw the brown hues of the ox, the donkey and the
camel in the silver glow of that star. In the glow of the lantern
and fire burning brightly, he saw the lambs with their white coats
shinning , baaing softly as their attention was riveted on the manger
which used to be their feed trough. the little mouse began to
wonder out loud about this strange occurrence in the stable by the inn.
He wondered,” Why are the mother and father here in this stable this
night?” Why is there a baby sleeping quietly in the manger?
Why are the inn keeper and his wife smiling so softly?”
The mouse could not answer his own questions, but the wise owl who had
been sitting high in the rafters, flew down to the mouse and began to
speak.
“You see, my little mouse friend, ( quite a statement coming from an
owl, but this was indeed a strange night) those people are Mary and
Joseph. They came to Bethlehem for the census, but because they
had to travel slowly, they arrived late. The inn was full.
But the inn keeper knowing they needed a quiet place because the baby
was coming soon, thought this stable would be an ideal place. The
baby was born a little while ago, they named him Jesus. The
innkeeper and his wife are checking to see that everything is ok.”
The little mouse began to speak, but just then a band of shepherds
dressed in drab brown clothing came in the stable breathless and full
of excitement. The little gray mouse ran into the pile of straw
for safety as the owl flew again to the rafters to watch. In the
darkness of the straw, the mouse could not see or hear much. He
couldn't wait to peek out of his little window again, but for now he
thought it best to remain hidden in the straw.
Time past. The mouse peeked out again. It was all
quiet. the shepherds were gone, Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus
were sleeping quietly. The little mouse looked up to the rafters,
the wise owl saw him and flew down.
The mouse asked eagerly, “What happened? Why did the shepherds
come?”
The wise owl answered, “What I am going to tell you, I couldn’t
believe. But after the shepherds told Mary and Joseph so many
time, I began to believe it, too.”
“Belief what?” ask ed the mouse.
“Oh,” said the owl, “ I guess I’d better begin at the beginning. The
shepherds said they were attending their sheep on the hillside outside
of Bethlehem. Everything was quiet, when an angel appeared in the
sky.
The angel said, ‘Be not afraid, I bring you good news of great joy, for
to you is born this day.... a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.’
The shepherds continued then the angel was joined by a whole host of
angels singing glory to God in the highest. The shepherds told
Mary and Joseph, the angel informed them where to find the baby here in
the stable wrapped in white clothes lying in a manger. So they
hurried to see if it was true. And sure enough it was true.”
The little mouse asked, “Isn’t this strange?”
The owl answered, “I heard May and Joseph talking aster everyone
left. It seems they knew this baby was special because an angel
appeared to them many months ago. Told them what name they should
give to this baby. Imagine that.”
The little mouse could not understand all of this. He wasn’t as wise as
the owl. But he understood that something very special, something
very wonderful had happened in his stable, by his pile of yellow straw
this night. he watched as the baby Jesus stirred in the manger
and Mary dressed in a blue robe comforted him by humming softly and
cradling him in her arms. It was such a wonderful sight.
The donkey, the ox, the camel were all breathing softly and it seemed
they were humming along. the owl flew to the top of the rafters
again as the silver light from that strange bright star shone, it
seemed, more brightly bringing a warm glow to all in that stable.
the little mouse fell asleep feeling warm and happy, wondering what it
all meant.
the little mouse saw, experienced and learned about the Christmas even,
but he could not understand it. he fell asleep wondering what it
all meant. I wonder how many of us really understand Christmas? I
wonder if we are as perplexed as that little mouse at the events which
we relive this evening and tomorrow? I wonder if there is a
certain mystery about Christ that is just difficult to understand.
So this evening to help us understand this event better, I would like
to look at the Christmas event through the vivid colors which were
present at the manger as described by our little mouse friend.
First the color white. The angels were described as being white,
so were the coats on the lambs, the baby was wrapped in white clothes,
the angels announcing His coming appeared as a white light in
heaven. And in our tradition, it is usually white outside as snow
covers the land. the color white, through our history has stood
for cleansing, for redemption. White has been the color of purity and
newness.
As we try to understand the Christmas event, the color white reminds us
of the redemption, the reconciliation, the cleansing, the newness that
God brought to earth through the Baby born in the manger. The
Christmas event, the Christ event, was the beginning of the process
which brought the creation and the creator back together. The
Christmas event. the Christ event, is centered on the baby born this
night whose task it was to bring a reconciliation, an union, to the
creator and the world. The Christmas event, the Christ event, is
much more than the sweet sentiment of a Baby who is born in a drafty,
stable. It is more than a time to exchange gifts, in is more than
a time of celebration, it is the beginning of the process which joined
us one again to the God who created all this and all that is to
come. It is a time to celebrate reconciliation, it is a time to
be joyous because an union has been established again, a bridge has
been built between God the Father and his wayward children. This
bridge was built by the body and blood of the baby born in the manger
this night.
It is like the boy in the following: “A young girl ran away from from
to get married. Her father was angry and hurt and declared he
would never forgive her or wanted to wee her again. She was sorry
for her act and wrote long letters seeking forgiveness. But still
the father remained unforgiving. She eventually had a son.
One day when the boy was old enough to run and play alone and idea came
to her why not send her son to her father. He would be a living
letter telling the father of her love for him and that she still very
much wanted his forgiveness.
They drove to grandfather’s house. The boy had not been there
before, but the house was as his mother remembered it. She told
the boy to knock on the door and when Grandpa answered, he was to give
him a big hug and a kiss. The boy went to the door, knocked,
grandfather answered, the boy reached up, kissed him and give him a
huge hug. His heart melted and the father motioned for the girl
to come as she was standing just a few feet from the door.”
Reconciliation happened that day just as reconciliation happens this
night between God and his children. Jesus is God’s sign of his
love for us and his power to forgive us or wrongs. Jesus, the
baby born in the manager, is God’s hug and kiss for each of us as he
seeks to love us and forgive us as we are.
But Christmas is more than the color white. It is also the color
brown, the color of the shepherds clothes, the drab color of the
animals of burdened, the donkeys, the ox and the camels. Brown is
the color of the manger holding the baby Jesus, brown was the color of
the cross holding the broken body of Christ. Brown in the
shepherds clothes is the brown of work and sweat, the brown of the
burden of work, the drabness of life, the brokenness of toil, is the
clear reminder that the Baby came to be with us, to walk along side of
us in all the brokenness of life, in all that reminds us that we are
indeed live in a fallen world.
The color brown reminds us that the Christmas event, the Christ event
has not come to completion yet. We still live in the in-between
time, where we have experienced the joyousness of heaven, but not it
fullness. We live in the time when we need the comfort and the
hope, the assurance of the promise of salvation as we live with and in
the brokenness of the world.
“A Christmas card was printed long ago with the title, ‘If Christ had
Not come.’ The card had a clergyman falling asleep and dreaming
of a work in which no Christ had come.
In the dream, he saw a world at Christmas time or what was suppose to
be Christmas time with no joyous decoration, no churches with spires
pointing to Heaven, no cross on the churches and no joy. The
doorbell rang and a little girl had come to ask the pastor to come
because her mother was very sick. The pastor went, as he and the
child stood near the bed, he reached for his Bible, turned to the New
Testament to read some words of comfort, but surprisingly the bible
ended with Malachi. There was no comfort, no encouragement, no
Gospel of good news in the face of trails, they wept together in
despair.
Two days later, he stood beside the woman’s coffin, but because Jesus
had not come, there was not message of consolation, no mention of
glorious resurrection, no heavenly home, not mention of a Saviour who
walks with us through the valley of the shadow, only the mournful
lament, ‘dust to dust and ashes to ashes’ was said as a long tearful
farewell was experienced.
The minister awoke with start and realized was the Christmas event, the
Christ event, really meant and sang refrain of O Come All Ye
Faithful. In our brokenness, Christ comes.
Another color of this season which was present at the stable was the
color red, the red of the fire which kept the tiny baby warm, the pink,
rosy red skin of that newborn laying quietly in the manger, the red in
today’s candy canes, the red of excitement, the happiness which comes
because of the salvation which is ours because of this Christmas event,
because e of this Christ event. There is a a joy, a happiness, an
excitement, to this night because of the reconciliation, the salvation,
the togetherness which is ours because of the baby born in the
manger. Red is a tradition color for Christmas, the red of holly,
the red of Poinsettias, the red of that jolly man;s suit, the red of
the fire warming the home on a cold winter’s night, we could go on and
on. Red, I think, is the color which ties all the joy, the
excitement, the hope, the reconciliation, the promise, the salvation
which began this night, ties it all in one huge package of peace.
A closing story which tells of the power of this night as told by
Bishop Paul Weger the LCA bishop of the Iowa Synod.
“Ton and John Peterson had lost their father. He willed the farm
to the, ‘to keep his sons together.’ It had not worked that way.
John had married and lived in a small town with his family. Tom, who
was single, lived alone in the old farmhouse.
‘John is always pre-occupied with his family,’ Tom thought, ‘I do more
than my share of the work,’ he began to resent his brother John.
‘Tom is always so grouchy,’ thought John. ‘He is jealous of my wife and
children.’ W wall of resentment built up between them.
They attended the same little church in town and sat on opposite sides
and didn’t speak at the Christmas Eve service.
On the way home, John said to his wife, ‘Tom is alone and has no one to
share Christmas. Maybe we can take a warm dinner to him.’ His
wife prepared a delicious meal and it into the sleigh and John started
out to the farm.
Tom, sitting alone, said to himself, ‘Life is too short for this.
John is my only brother and he has it hard with his wife and
family. I will load my sleigh with wood for the fire and gifts
for the children.’ When he finished, he drove to town.
Down in the valley between the farm and the town, they met. They
got out of their sleighs, walked toward each other. Stood for a
moment in silence. Then they ran toward each other, hugged,
embraced and shouted Merry Christmas so that they valley ran with their
words of joy, peace and reconciliation.”
Amen
Writtem by Pastor Tim Zingale