Finally! For 4 weeks of Advent our church has been slowly adding light - to the trees, to the Advent Wreath, to the candles in the windows... and tonight - at LONG LAST, "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light! Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone!" The Light has finally appeared on the earth!
Do you see it? Do you see the light of Christ all around you tonight? Yes - we all do - especially at this very special Midnight Mass. There's just a mystique about Midnight Mass - the darkness, the first moments of the new day - of Christmas Day - and the first moments in which Salvation is offered to you and to me - we are invited into the Light of Christ! So, why is it still so dark out there?
I don't mean "dark - dark" - I mean - DARK - sad, difficult, overwhelming, mean... If the Light has finially come in the form of this child, born in a manger so many 1000's of years ago, why is it SO dark out there?
Because, even 2010 years later - we have YET to learn the lessons that God teaches us in the birth of His Son in Bethlehem. Remember, this is not just a child, but also God. It's that what the angles announced to the shepherds and what the 3 Kings recognized in bringing their gifts of gold & frankincense and myrrh? So, if this child is God - there is not a single ti He does or says that is not a lesson for us.
What are the lessons we are taught by His birth? What Light has He shown on us in order to lead us more fully into God's Light? First of all, he was poor. God, who holds the whole world in His hands, strips Himself of Glory - and "takes the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men." But poverty is what opens us up to God!
If you have everything you want - on whom do you rely? God?
If you have everything you ask for - do you really understand what is of greatest value?
When I was a kid - we had what we needed - but not everything we wanted. We grew up in a very "status symbol" community. If you didn't have just the right jeans or sneakers, you were nothing. But we couldn't afford those expensive things. Dad worked for the church as an organist and school teacher (not a lot of money in that, is there?) Mom worked at home - taking care of the house and me and my brother.
I really wanted that Atari set that the DeBoards' across the street had - but I never got it - we couldn't afford it. Know what? I lived! I guess that was the first lesson I learned - you won't DIE if you don't have everything that you want. I also really wanted those Levi jeans instead of the ones from Hill's. Did you have Hill's stores here? The kids knew I didn't have the right jeans - and I wanted to fit in. I never got those jeans - only those ones from Hill's - until I got a paper route - and started to make a couple of bucks - then I brought my own jeans - the kind I really wanted - but, boy, were they expensive! And the very next week, the were "out" of fashion. Even if I did wear them, it wouldn't matter anymore.
I guess the 2nd lesson I learned was: be content with what you have - becuase what you want in this world is not guaranteed to make you happy.
Poverty. Christ was born into poverty to teach us something VERY profound: Happiness is not to be found in an abundance of things - of earthly goods. Happiness is found when we "find" the Light of Christ in our hearts.
Look at the shepherds. These poor men, probably smelled something awful! Out in the field with just those sheep. What fills them with joy? The message of Truth, who had been born in their midst. The song of the angles, which reminds them, and us, where our peace and joy comes from - not a "thing", but from God: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to those on whom HIs favor rests."
Joy, Peace, Happiness: these are all thing that our world wants SO bad! Why can't we find them? Because we are looking in the wrong place - we've filled our lives with stuff - and they'll never fulfill us. Only the LIGHT will bring us warmth - only finding favor with God will bring us peace. Only if we reflect Christ's light through our lives will we ever find what we most desire: inner peace and joy.
If we have God, if Christ's light is in our hearts, it doesn't matter what we have - or what we don't have - so long as we have the Light of Christ. THAT is what really matters, and that is what Christ teaches us by His poverty: being born in a stable, not a palace. Like Christ, we need to learn to live a life detached form the "things" of this world. The designer jeans won't make you happy - only God will.
But this child in the manger also teaches us something else - humility. God humbled Himself in order to allow us to get near to Him, so that we could give our love to Him, so that we might freely bow before Him - not out of fear of His power - but in awe and wonder of His humility. Where do manger scenes come from? Why did we start using them? Well, not everyone could imagine the circumstances of Christ's birth - and not everyone can travel to SEE the place where it all happened.
This past summer some pilgrims from our parish journeyed with me to Israel and, of course, we also went to Bethlehem. In the town - the "Little Town of Bethlehem" - there is an ancient church, the original, mosaic floor of which dates to the 4th century, and there are some key features to this church.
The Door. It's called the "Door of Humility." No one can stand up straight and walk through it. Everyone must bend over to enter. Originally it was to keep carts and looters out of the church, but later we came to understand that no one can enter into this church - and thus into this mystery - without bending low - without HUMILITY. Humility is NECESSARY in order to meet the new-born Christ.
Then, you go under the main altar - down a flight of steps into an ancient cave - the very place that, since the 2nd century, has been honored as the location of Jesus' birth. In the days of Jesus, it would have been common to have a small home built right next to (or even inside) a cave, as it would provide some additional shelter, cooling, and also a place for the animals and storage. In this cave there is an altar, and under the altar a large silver star on the ground. And on it it says, "Here, of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ was born."
Pilgrims pause, climb down under the altar, and with tears in their eyes, touch the spot on which Salvation, the LIGHT, entered into our human history. Then, our group of pilgrims stood back and, in the middle of July, broke out into song... Silent Night... Holy Night...
There are few moments like this in life - standing in the place where Jesus was born, singing that song. A visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem teaches you that humility is the only way to approach God. If you want to enter, you stoop through the "Door of Humility" and, if you want to touch the spot, you climb down, crawl under and touch the place on which God was made flesh. The place where God humbled Himself to become one of us, to give us His Light, to show us the way to live in His light: Poverty and Humility.
Why is it so dark outside? Because we have YET to learn two simple lessons:
- Poverty - if we are filled with all kinds of "things" we'll never be filled with God;
- Humility - if we are filled with ourselves, there's simply no room for Christ in our "inn."
The thing in which we rejoice tonight is that the Light has come - the Way to happiness and joy and peace is made flesh and proclaimed today - Christ the Savior is born! O Come, All Ye Faithful... come, in poverty of spirit, bent low in humility, and you'll find the Light that shines in the darkness - the "Good news of great joy."
Christ our Light is born. That's what our Christmas lights tell us - that's what those luminaries tonight tell us - those lights that beckoned us into the church - the Light has finally come! "Come, let us adore Him - Christ, the Lord."
To all, a very blessed Christmas!
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