Two times in our Bible, we have the record of people who travel to see Jesus when he was just a child. You all know the first time it happened! It happened on the night Jesus was born. Some shepherds came. They were the “night shift.” They had been out in the fields watching their sheep. After the angels gave them the good news about Jesus’ birth, they hurried into Bethlehem to see the baby. And this visit seems perfectly fitting.
When I was growing up, my dad had some words of economic wisdom that he shared with my siblings and me. He would say, “You can spend a dollar once.” That’s a pretty good principle of fiscal responsibility. But the principle holds true not only with money.
Today’s Christmas service includes meditations on three different scripture verses.
Once again, our thoughts turn back to that first Christmas night, and to the starlit fields outside Bethlehem, and to those shepherds vigilantly watching over their sheep. If we could stand with those shepherds out in the Judean hill country under the moon and under the stars that night, what sort of conversations do you think we would hear?
I hope what I am about to say is not a “spoiler” for anyone. But I am sort of hoping that most of you have seen at least one of the many productions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Story. Remember that scene towards the end where Scrooge is in the cemetery with the Ghost of Christmas Future? The spectre points to a gravestone he wants Scrooge to look at. Scrooge resists and protests. He has a hunch he knows whose name is on the stone.
We’ll begin tonight by reminding ourselves where our theme comes from this year. We are meditating on verses in the Old Testament that contain the Hebrew word, “hin-nay.” Hin-nay is word that would be roughly translated in English as “look” or in old English, “behold!” We might say today, “Check this out!”
We have now reached the third Sunday in the season of Advent, and from ancient times, this Sunday has been known as Rejoicing Sunday, or, in Latin, Gaudete Sunday. This Sunday’s emphasis on rejoicing is represented here in our sanctuary: if you look to your left to the banners on the wall, we have one banner for each of the four Sundays in Advent. The third of those banners shows a rose colored-candle with the word “Rejoice” written on it.
Impossible. It just does not happen. A child is not conceived and born without the involvement of a human father. Any biology textbook will tell you that. Any child support office will tell you that. Any soap opera from the 1990s will tell you that. A human child is not born without a human father. It is impossible. It does not happen, unless – unless the Almighty God has determined for it to happen.
Are there certain voices you have come to associate with this time of year? There are voices that have become iconic during this season. Maybe nothing quite gets you thinking Christmas thoughts like hearing Judy Garland sing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Or Elvis Presley singing Blue Christmas. Or Nat King Cole singing Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.
