If I were to give this sermon a title I would call it "Christmas - the best of times, the worst of times." It acknowledges that sometimes if you are having a rough time in life all the joy in others at Christmas can make your own pain worse.
Christmas 1996
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. Valerie A Hart
We all are
familiar this time of year with Charles Dickens classic story “A Christmas Carol.” But there is
another story that he wrote, “A Tale of Two Cities” which begins with the
memorable line. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
“It was the
best of times, it was the worst of times.” Sometimes that statement seems to describe
the Christmas season. It is the best of times because of all the joy we see in
the faces of those we love, especially in the children. It is the best of times
when families come together to enjoy each other, and old friends reach
out to be in contact again. It is the best of times as we sing and talk of
peace on earth, of love and of hope. But it is the worst of times if you are at
a difficult time in your life. It is the worst of times if you are in grief
over the death of a loved one or the end
of a relationship. The holidays just seem
to magnify the lose. It is the worst of times if you are alone, unable to be
with family, when everyone else seems to be surrounded by love. It is the worst
of times if you are struggling with addiction in yourself or someone you love.
All the parties, all the celebrations, all the happy news, just puts a
spotlight on your own pain. It is the worst of times if you are depressed,
because at this time of year you are “supposed” to be happy.
The
Christmas season, it is the best of times it is the worst of times.
For Mary
and Joseph, it certainly was the best of times and the worst of times. It was
the best of times because they were about to give birth to their first child.
What a wonderful and joyous event. But it was the worst of times - that long
difficult journey with Mary nine months pregnant, the frustration of having
nowhere to stay, the loneliness of giving birth without her mother and friends to
help, the humiliation of spending the night in a stable. Surely Mary and
Joseph must have felt it was the worst of times, yet all that was overshadowed
by the birth of a son, and it became the best of times.
It was the
worst of times for the shepherds. The days were short and the nights were long
and cold. Being a shepherd was a low status job; it was hard, often lonely, work.
That long night must have felt like the worst of times, until the angels
appeared and everything was transformed.
It was the
worst of times for the people of Israel. They were under the fierce rule of
Rome, they had no freedom, they were over taxed, and Herod, their own ruler was
vicious and heartless. Things were dark in Israel - it was the worst of times.
There had
been other bad times for the Israelites.
During the time that Isaiah wrote the first reading today, Israel was being
attacked by several enemies and was ruled by a weak king who reached out to
Assyria, a conquering empire, for help that would turn into destruction. Life
was hard in Israel then, there seemed no hope, and their king was certainly not
up to the needs of the time. In this “worst of times” Isaiah wrote of hope.
Hope that the people who walked in darkness would see a great light. Hope that
in this time of suffering there would be joy. Hope that God would send a great
leader to reestablish God’s reign through David. Out of this “worst of times”
would come the “best of times.”
Isaiah’s
message of hope, of people in darkness seeing a great light, is as relevant to
us today as it was 27 hundred years ago. When it is the worst of times, when
darkness seems to overshadow us, that is often when we are most receptive to the
light, to the message of hope that is Christmas. Christ, the best of gifts, was
born at night, in a stable, in the worst of situations. The good news was
proclaimed first to shepherds, the least of those, the ones most in need of
hearing the good news.
Christmas
is always associated with light, with the star in Bethlehem, with Christ being
the light of the world. After all who is it that needs light, why it is those
who are in darkness.
When
it is the worst of times it is the time we most need to remember the best of
times. To remember Christ’s birth.
But
what is this light, this hope that is born into the world on Christmas? It is
the assurance that God cares. John’s gospel expresses it most clearly “For God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but may have eternal life.” That is the Christmas message.
God so loved the world. God so loved the world that God chose to be born as a
child on earth. God so loved the world that God became one of us, walked with
us, suffered with us, and sacrificed for us.
What
greater light could there be to dispel our darkness, than the knowledge that
God loves us so much that God gave us the greatest of all gifts. In the darkness,
in the stable, humbly, God gave of God’s very self to us. In the worst of times
God gave the best of gifts - total, passionate, unconditional love.
All
we are asked is to receive this gift of love. To stop long enough in the
busyness of our lives to receive the gift of God’s love. To let God love us.
Sometimes we experience God’s love as a bright sun, filling us with light and
love and joy. Sometimes it is but a glimmer in the darkness. A spark of hope in
the hopelessness.
That
is the Christmas miracle - light in the darkness. The light of love in the
darkness of our hearts. The hope, the promise that we are loved. The hope, the
promise that even in our darkest times, especially in our darkest times, we are
loved by God. Even in the worst of times, when we feel unloved and unlovable,
we are passionately loved by God.
The
angel said, “Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great
joy for all the people.” The good news is that God loves us, each of us, at
both the best of times and the worst of times. “For God so loved the world that
he gave his only son.” Born in stable, a great light for people who walked in
darkness.
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