Christmas sermon
Given on Christmas 1996
At St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
By Rev. Valerie Ann 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 describes
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. 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 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 overtake us, 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 new 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.
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, sacrificed for us.
What greater
light could there be to dispel our darkness but 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. For God so loved the world that a child was born.
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
after all, 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 good 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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