Christmas Eve Reflection

December 24, 2007

The Rev. Douglas M. Donley

University Baptist Church

Minneapolis, MN

 

            There is little the preacher can say on a night like this that has not already been said in the scriptures, in the music, in the warmth of the faces here, in the respite of this evening from the winter’s harsh cold.  So let me say just this.

            It’s good to be together.  Remember the story.  And dream God’s dreams.

            It’s good to be together.  That sounds so simple.

            We are together with the people sharing our pews.  We are together with the people across this city and even across this world that celebrate this magical evening. 

We are together even with those who are far away.

We think of those whom we hold dear. 

We know that our prayers are mingled with theirs.

We wish them well and God’s continued blessing for their lives. 

We give thanks for all of these people.

We are also connected with those who have left this earthly life and who look upon us with compassion from another plane of existence.  We give thanks for them too.

            I think of my late grandparents and the Christmas memories around roaring fires as we came home from the Christmas Eve service every year.  I remember my siblings, once so young and sometimes fighting as the anticipation of Christmas made for unrestrainable kinetic energy. 

I think of us now scattered across the country, but visiting each other in the coming days, watching our own children mirror our memories of decades before. 

As the bells played “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming”, I was transported back decades ago when all four of us Donley kids were together at Christmas.  We grew up singing in the church choir and decided that we would try to muddle through some choruses of the Messiah and a couple of carols in four part harmony.  We badly mangled the Messiah, but recovered as we realized we could sing with more confidence the familiar hymns of our childhoods.  My brother stopped playing the piano and we sang the four parts acapella.  It was “Lo How a Rose” that was the real memorable one.  When I hear that song, I join my siblings at that piano decades ago.

I think of the people in our sister church in Leon, Nicaragua.  Remembering how we gave them an ornament or two for their tree.  I wonder what they dream of this year.  It’s good to be together.

            It’s good to remember the story.  It’s important to remember who we are and from where we came. 

We remember whose celebration this is anyway. 

We remember that this story is one where God chose to come into the world under the oddest of circumstances. 

This ought to reveal something to us about God’s nature. God chose to come to us, even us, not the aristocracy, not the government leaders, not the military leaders.  Not the ones with power and influence.  Not the even acceptable and predictable.  No, God came as child born to an unmarried couple, scorned by their family and community, on the run for their very lives. 

The first people who heard about the birth were shepherds and odd foreigners.  This is how God upsets the rules and brings hope to formerly hopeless people. 

If you’ve ever felt like you were in need of some hope, if you’ve ever felt that people had abandoned you or judged your or not given you a break, if you live in fear for your livelihood, for your safety, for your security, then it is to you that Jesus was born on this night of nights.  If you have been left out in the cold either literally or figuratively, then Jesus was born for you.  We need this story.  We need to remember the amazing grace that God gives to us. 

Growing up the 11pm Christmas Eve service always included the tenor soloist singing “O Holy Night.”   The tenor soloist had become the music director, so one of the only times anyone got to hear him sing was on Christmas Eve.  Well he came to church that night with a bad cold and had just a shadow of his usual voice.  It just wasn’t going to be Christmas Eve without Jim’s solo.  One of the great thrills was that his voice rang out so loud and clear that it filled the entire gothic sanctuary.  When it came time to sing, he sang in the softest falsetto and you could hear a pin drop.  The song became less a performance and more of a compassionate holding up of Jim as he struggled to give his gift to the congregation.  It is still my favorite rendition of that classic Christmas Eve song, not because it was sung so well, but because it was delivered and received with such compassion.

            Finally, the story and the togetherness ought to cause us to reconsider our place in this world.  We are to dream God’s dreams today.  The stories of the nativity are filled with dreams.  The Magi are warned in dreams.  Joseph is warned in a dream.  Through the Magnificat, God dreamed that Mary’s son would help create a world where the hungry are fed, the poor are blessed and God remembers all of the people in need. 

What do you dream about this night? 

What do you give thanks for as you look around the room and you look around your home? 

What do you dream of for yourself and for our world? 

This is the night of dreams.  It is when God’s dream for a savior is mingled with our dreams for a better, more hopeful, more just and joyous world. 

As the music and the stories wash over you, think about the fact that you are in a room full of people who have the same kind of hopes and dreams that you do. 

Imagine us talking to each other about our dreams. 

Think about what would happen if even some of our dreams were put into action. 

What a truly blessed and holy action would happen because of this night.

            So sisters and brothers, give thanks for the togetherness that is here.  Give thanks for your family and friends, for reunions and remembrance. 

            Remember the stories and mingle those stories with your own.  God is writing your chapter and verse each and every day.  Pay attention to the ways that God moves in you and your community.

Finally, dream this night, not just of sugar plums, but dare to connect with God’s dreams for you.  Remember that you have a community of people dreaming too.  If we dream together with God at our side, there is no telling what will come of our lives.  Thank God.

            Maybe our dreams will join with the music and will have us humming along out in to this most holy night.