Those of you who know me well know that every Christmas Eve,
I hold my breath until the worship service is over. There’s a reason for that.
Christmas Eve is the one service of the year when things seem to go wrong. It’s
the night that gremlins hide in the woodwork and pop out at the most
inopportune moment! During one of my first Christmas Eve services here at
Nashville, just as I was about to begin the service of candle lighting, the
sound system let out a feedback screech that a banshee would have been proud
of. (I am relieved to say that we put in a new sound system shortly
thereafter.) On another Christmas Eve, as we sang “Silent Night” and held our
lighted candles high, one of the worshipers passed out. He fell over sideways
and right out of the pew; and we had to perform CPR on him while the squad was
on the way. It turned out that he was simply dehydrated from a long day of
activities and not enough food and drink; but it ended the worship service
rather abruptly. Sometimes the gremlins don’t even wait until worship starts to
play their pranks. One year, as I was pulling into the parking lot, I was
greeted by a dead, bloated raccoon lying right in the middle of the driveway.
Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like roadkill. And Christmas Eve is the one
worship service in the whole year that I want to be perfect. I want it to be
perfect for all the worshipers who gather here to celebrate the birth of the
Savior; and I want it to be worthy of that Savior who was born this night! But
things don’t always go the way that I want them to.
You’ve probably felt the same way every now and then. You
don’t have to worry that a worship service is going to fall apart right before
your eyes; but I’ll bet that, from time to time, you have hoped something else
would run smoothly. Maybe it was a family reunion that you organized. You
remember that reunion. Aunt Maggie and Uncle Ted were both invited; but Aunt
Maggie is a staunch Democrat, while Uncle Ted is Republican all the way. “Please,
please,” you prayed, while visions of screaming matches over the potato salad
danced through your head, “just let them both be polite.” Sure, we’ve all felt
that way. And sometimes things go just fine. But other times, they don’t. On
those times, your perfectly organized event falls apart at the seams, and there
isn’t anything that you can do about it.
We want perfection. Let’s face it, when we envision what we
want, it’s perfect. We yearn for a perfect marriage with no fights over whose
in-laws to visit for the holidays. We dream of having perfect children who
never throw tantrums, always do their homework cheerfully, and would never even
think of sneaking out at night to
attend a drinking party. We want a perfect job with no stress; one in which the
boss is unfailingly understanding and compassionate. But deep in our hearts, we
know that there is no such thing. No perfect marriage, no perfect children, no
perfect job. This world is imperfect. It always has been, and it always will
be. And the good news of Christmas Eve is that God came into our world anyway!
That might be the most amazing aspect of the miracle that is
Christmas. It is miracle enough that the creator of the universe took flesh and
came into our world. But it is even more of a miracle that the creator came to
live among us despite our imperfections; despite our mistakes, despite the
downright cussedness that is in the heart of each and every one of us! God
didn’t wait until we loved one another, and dealt justly with everyone, and
stopped running after power and wealth. God didn’t wait to come to us until we
perfected the world. The world wasn’t going as God wanted it to go when Jesus
was born. On the contrary, it was full of violence and greed and injustice.
Tyrants oppressed the people that they governed, and manipulated events for
their own benefit. Poverty lived with the common people; hunger sat at their
tables; and hopelessness slept at their bedsides. Our world was broken; and God
came anyway. And things haven’t changed much. Violence, greed, and injustice
are still the order of the day. Tyrants still cling to power; and many people
are still poor, hungry, and hopeless. But into our broken world, where nothing
is perfect and never has been, God comes anyway!
A poem by Madelaine L’Engle expresses both the miracle and
the hope of Christmas.
This is no time for a
child to be born,
With the earth
betrayed by war and hate
And a nova lighting
the sky to warn
That time runs out and
the sun burns late.
That was no time for a
child to be born,
In a land in the
crushing grip of Rome;
Honor and truth were
trampled by scorn –
Yet here did the
Savior make his home.
When is the time for
love to be born?
The inn is full on the
planet earth,
And by greed and pride
the sky is torn –
Yet Love still takes
the risk of birth.
On this Christmas, rejoice!
In our imperfect world, Love has come to live among us.
Glory be to God!
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