Reverend Ref +

CHRISTMAS EVE

What makes this night so special? Why do people who don’t normally attend church attend this service? And before you get the idea that I’m picking on you, I’m not. People all over the world brave all kinds of weather conditions and winter roads to attend maybe their second service of the year. Why is that?

In part I think it’s because Christmas touches on an important event in our life: birth. Births are a happy and joyous occasion if everything goes right. What’s the first thing a new parent does? Well, if you’re like me, you counted fingers and toes. I wanted to make sure everything went right. And this one went right.

Why are births such happy times? Simple. Babies attract us. Is there anything better than flirting with a baby? We see those big eyes and that goofy smile and we just fall apart. We play peekaboo, we stick out our tongue, we wink. People more dignified than I are heard saying, "Oooh whudda koot widdle thing you are! Yes you are! You’re so kewt!" Or, "Oogie woogie boogie thhppp!" Or, "Bippity boppity boo, I love you. Bippity boppity woop! I got your nose. Yes I do, I got your nose!" Babies remind us that life is precious and joyous and miraculous all at the same time.

But there’s something else to this service. Something deeper that, at some level, we all know is there but might be afraid to acknowledge it. Because if we acknowledged it, then we might have to admit that, not only does God exist, but that we need God in our lives. So maybe, coming to service on Christmas eve is a sort of compromise. We come because we feel we are expected to, but we don’t want to come too often so that we give up control of our lives. But God is everywhere, even in babies.

And speaking of God and babies, I remember hearing several times that, as a parent, I would be perceived as God by my child. Afterall, I protected her, clothed her and nourished her. When she cried out, I answered. It was this they had in mind. I was that all-powerful being that would be seen as God, so I had best behave myself.

But you know what? They got it wrong. I wasn’t God. God was in my daughter. In her face I saw pure, unadulterated love. In her face I saw trust. In her face I saw the reason to do my best. In her face, I saw God.

The ancients talked about "thin places" where this world and the spirit world came into contact. Sometimes that thin place was a physical place, a holy site, like here. Sometimes that thin place was a time, like Hallowe’en or Christmas. Sometimes that thin place is a person, like a baby. Babies are thin places. We can look at them and see something other-worldly. Babies are places where we see God.

I am convinced that every person in every church tonight recognizes that God is in the face of a baby. And isn’t this why we are here, to gaze upon the face of a child in whom God resides?
On Sunday we’ll hear from John and his writings on light and dark. We get a little of that from Luke tonight: "The shepherds were watching their flocks by night," and, "The glory of the Lord shone around them." Babies have a way of lighting up a room, don’t they. Babies radiate that light of pure love that makes us smile.

And so it is with baby Jesus. Except that this baby not only lit up a manger in Bethlehem, this baby lit up the whole world. Isaiah testified to it when he wrote, "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." Our collect testifies to it when we prayed, "this holy night shines with the brightness of the true Light." And we testify to it when we gather to gaze upon the light of Christ in a child and proclaim to the world that he lives among us and in us.

Why is this night special? Because on this night we see the living God, lying in a manger, with wide eyes and a goofy smile. Because this night we can hold God in our arms and say, "Oooh whudda kewt widdle thing you are! I gotch yer nose, yes I do!" Because this night we can gaze into the face of God and know that our overwhelming love for our children is the same overwhelming love that God shows us. Because this night we can say, "God is with us."