And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
On this day of celebration and tradition, every family has their own pageantry.
In our household, the go-tos are: decorated twinkle trees twinkling, Advent candles lit, Christmas placemats and napkins on the table, Christmas cards taped on the banister, a German Apple Pancake Breakfast. The stockings have already been opened but we’ll save the presents until after lunch when we are drinking eggnog, some of which will be spiked.
Christmas is celebrated throughout the world. We think it must have always been this way. But that wouldn’t be true. It’s a far piece from where it all started in Bethlehem to where we are today. Odd as it may seem, Christmas Day was not given a place on the church calendar until the year 336. Easter and Pentecost were earlier placed. And back then there was not an overly marked distinction between the birth of Christ, Christmas, and the manifestation of Christ, Epiphany. But it was given the date December 25 by Bishop Liberus of Rome to coincide with the Feast of Saturnalia, a solstice celebration, Roman citizens were already observing.
Over the centuries, customs from different cultures and countries became associated with and incorporated into Christmas: evergreen trees, reindeer, wassail, candle wreaths, gift giving, St. Nicholas. By 1643, in England, community celebrations of eating, dancing, and singing had gone from very merry to very rowdy and Christmas was declared unlawful. Even mincemeat pie was outlawed. The Puritans brought this sentiment with them when they came to America. It would not be until the turn of the 19th century that Christmas would begin to look more familiar to us.
Christmas trees became popular in 1848 after Queen Victoria’s husband, German born Prince Albert put one up in Windsor Castle. The first Christmas card was created in 1843 and by the 1860s had overtaken the number of Valentine Cards sent in America. (As an aside, the first Christmas stamp would not be printed by the post office until 1962.) Our beloved Christmas carols Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, O Holy Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, The First Noelle, Deck the Halls, even Jingle Bells were all composed in the 1800s, as were Clement Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas” and Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
Sadly, I think we can all acknowledge that Christmas has actually become a secular version of itself. A season of economic commerce rather than a day of religious observance. And, with that in mind, thank you for being here this morning, marking the day here at St. Matthew’s.
I also can’t help but think, especially as we have been observing our Bicentennial this year with our focus on the century between 1750 and 1850, that at the mid-point of the 19th century, this country was a world in turmoil leading up to the Civil War. What did Christmas look like / feel like then? For the planter class? For the enslaved? And, what about now, is the way we celebrate Christmas just a means, a brief time-out, a pause, providing cover for an uncertain present and future? God’s words of peace for humankind that the angels sang of are in stark contrast to the dearth of peace among people and nations. The purchase of 25 million Christmas trees does not and will not bring about a lasting peace and genuine goodwill. We have to go deeper.
The original Christmas didn’t have these outer and glitzy markings. There was no homecoming or homegoing, no feasting on favorite foods as Mary and Joseph prepared for the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph were definitely not home. It was undoubtably a worrisome time as Joseph contemplated taking his near-to-term wife on the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem: a distance of over 90 miles. A trip that would have taken five days to a week and a half. A trip made not by choice, but by compulsion.
By its end, they were, in fact, in desperate need of a place to call home. The shelter available to them was less than they surely hoped for, but was, nevertheless, an answer to prayer.
It seems a little odd that God did not think it necessary to provide a - what would have been for Mary and Joseph, more comfy and familiar place for the delivery of the Christ child. Mary was by all accounts far from any support system. No mother or sister or auntie to assist as she labored. No neighbor or friend to help as she recovered. But I have to believe that God was at her side, ready to be her mid-wife. That she actually was in the place God had prepared for her: a place of rest, reassurance, and safety. All of creation is God’s, all of the earth is holy and known to God, and loved by God, and was the birthright of his son. Jesus’ home was anywhere and everywhere. Maybe Mary had an inkling of that.
A lowly manger and a common stable coupled with God‘s extravagant birth announcement was an unusual combination of humble means and miraculous accoutrements. The heavenly choir for the shepherds and the guiding star for the Maji made a lasting impression. Perhaps the shepherds checked in on the new family throughout in the days following the birth bringing food and supplies. And maybe the Maji’s gifts provided much-needed financial security for the years ahead.
This summer The Rev. Lachlan Hussman gave the homily out at St. Mary’s Chapel for their annual Homecoming service. It was one of the most beautiful sermons I have ever heard. In it he related how church architecture sets the stage for the Christmas story. Look about you at St. Matthew’s now. The Nave, the portion of the church in which you sit is large with a high ceiling. The Chancel where the choir would be sitting and where I am, in fact, standing is slightly higher. But the Altar Room’s floor within the Chancel is higher still, its ceiling is lower, and its side walls are narrower. You are looking at what he called a “diminished space.” Visually, symbolically, and theologically, it depicts a stable. And the altar suggests a manger. In his words:
Every church structure is a type and image of the stable in Bethlehem. Every altar, whether in Hillsborough or Durham or London or Kyoto is Christ’s cradle.
So, when we come to the altar at the Eucharist, not only are we remembering Christ’s death and resurrection, we are attending Christ’s birth, coming as shepherds to see this thing that has come to pass.
Like every church which has an altar, each of us has within us, an altar. Our heart of hearts. This is also a place where the baby Jesus can be laid.
Martin Luther wrote the carol “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come” in the 16th century. Of the many verses, this is my favorite:
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
within my heart, that it may be
a quiet chamber kept for thee.
On this Christmas Day we celebrate both the past and the present. Jesus born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago and the mystery and miracle of Jesus, born again today. The son of God, the son of woman, born into our world, who lived as we live, suffered as we suffer, rejoiced as we rejoice, loved as we love. A brother to us, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood, bone of our bone. Laid here on the altar at St. Matthew’s. And laid on the altar of our hearts, if we make space for him. Snuggle him right up close to the “How Can This Be?” space that we all have, that his mother Mary herself had. We can know and not know / understand and not understand at the same time.
Have we not been nesting as a full-term woman, this Advent Season, and even now? Preparing a place for the newborn. Sweeping out the dust bunnies. Hanging the freshly washed linens to dry in the sun. Lighting the candles. Looking for the star. Listening for the angelic voices. Ready to sing the welcoming lullaby.
And so, let us rise up, like the shepherds of ore, and recognize the babe in the Eucharist we are about to receive: The Body of Christ; The Bread of Heaven. The Blood of Christ; the Cup of Salvation. Let us take that offered bread and wine into our heart of hearts, wrap that newborn in swaddling clothes, lay him upon our mangers. And for the rest of our days may we, like Mary, treasure and ponder this most precious Christmas gift.
Merry Christmas!