December 25th, Christmas Day

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable to you this day, our rock and our redeemer.
Today, I am going to start by telling you a story which I have told before, and which I will probably tell again, simply because it seems to be so appropriate here.
One of the greatest theologians who ever lived, Karl Barth, was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Now, you need to know that Barth does not write easy books. In fact, even books written ABOUT him can be difficult. He was brilliant, and could have done just about anything he wanted to do, as an academic. However, he was a theologian and preacher, and was in great demand as a guest speaker. At the end of the closing lecture at this particular university, the president of the seminary announced that Dr. Barth was not well and was quite tired, and though he thought that Dr. Barth would like to be open for questions, he shouldn’t be expected to handle the strain. Then he said, “Therefore, I will ask just one question on behalf of all of us.”
He turned to the renowned theologian and asked, “Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?
It was the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put into print. The students held pencils right up against their writing pads, ready to take down verbatim the premier insight of the greatest theologian of their time.
Karl Barth closed his tired eyes, and he thought for a minute, and then he half smiled, opened his eyes, and said to those young seminarians, “The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. And isn’t that the truth? And isn’t that the point of today, of Christmas Day, that Jesus loves us. And that is why I chose to title my sermon today “Love Story”, because Jesus does love us, and will continue to love us. But that is one of the things that many of us don’t think of, in our day-to-day lives. It is for that reason that I am glad that Christmas comes once a year, to remind us of this great love. For many of us, Christmas is the first time that we become aware of God’s love, in the story of the baby born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.
You know, when you think about love, you have to realize that it is truly a miracle. It is amazing how we just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Paths cross when they need to, in order for us to fall in love with another human being. I would ask you to think about the first time you were in love. What had to happen in order for this to happen? Obviously, you had to meet the other person. For some of us, that initial meeting happened when we were too young to remember it, because our parents were friends. But for more, it happened because of choices both halves of the couple made. Will I go to this university or that one? Will I take a job in this community or a different one?
My parents were from different parts of the world – one from Newfoundland, which was its own country at the time, and the other from Australia. Had it not been for World War II, they would never have met. Now, I’m not saying that the war happened in order to facilitate their meeting, but there were certainly a great many young women from other countries who ended up in North America because they fell in love with a young man from this part of the world. And I don’t believe that this was a coincidence. I believe that this was all part of God’s eternal plan of love. Paths crossing, lives intersecting, and the world changes as a result.
Today, Christmas Day, marks the intersection of our lives with the life of Jesus Christ. This is the commemoration of his first meeting with humanity, the meeting that had been planned from the beginning of time. And it was planned because we are loved.
Someone once commented that true love doesn’t happen because someone is perfect. Rather, true love happens when we know all about the other’s imperfections, and love them anyway. And that is how God loves us. He – better than any human being possibly could – knows exactly what we are. He knows all of our secrets, all of our imperfections, and loves us anyhow. And here, today, in the manger, we have proof of his love for us. The most quoted verse in all of Scripture has to be John 3: 16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but should have everlasting life. But it had to start somewhere. Our paths had to cross at some point, and what better way for them to cross than with the birth of a baby? Not only is a baby a sign of love, but it evokes love in those who see the little one.
But who would have expected the intersection to come in the tiny town of Bethlehem, in a stable, rather than in a metropolis, maybe in a palace? It happened as it did so that we would be able to identify with the baby, and so that the baby would eventually be able to identify with us.
This amazing love, which caused the first Christmas to happen, still growing. In God’s love, we are not expected to be perfect. In God’s love, we are forgiven, unconditionally. In God’s love, we are saved.
As well as a time of love, Christmas is a time of peace – a peace which begins with the knowledge that God loves us. But for some, it is a time of sorrow, as we remember those who are not with us to celebrate. We long for just one more Christmas with our parent, our child, our spouse. And these feelings sometimes threaten to overpower the joy that is Christmas. And, you see, without the joy that is Christmas, these feelings can do just that.
The children’s story was about a nativity pageant, and I would like to tell you a different one, one which the children may also like. Of course, like the first one, this one didn’t go quite as the Sunday School teachers had planned. The youth group at a certain church was performing a manger scene. Joseph and Mary and all the other characters were in place and ready. They did their parts with seriousness and commitment, looking as pious as they possibly could.
And then it came time for the shepherds to enter.
— Dressed in flannel bathrobes and toweled head-gear, the shepherds proceeded to the place in the sanctuary where Mary and Joseph looked earnestly at the straw which contained a single naked light bulb that was playing the part of the glowing newborn Jesus.
With his back to the congregation, one of the shepherds said to the person playing Joseph, in a very loud whisper for all the cast to hear, “Well, Joe, when you gonna pass out cigars?”
The solemn spell of that occasion was not simply broken by his remark, it was exploded. Mary and Joseph’s cover was completely destroyed as it became impossible to hold back the bursts of laughter.
The chief angel, standing on a chair behind them was the worst of all. She shook so hard in laughter that she fell off her chair and took the curtained back drop and all the rest of the props down with her. She just kept rolling around on the floor holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard. The whole set was in shambles.
But do you know what? The only thing that didn’t go to pieces was that light bulb in the manger. … it never stopped shining.
— My dear friends in Christ, that baby in the manger is the light of my world, even when my world is in shambles…For in that baby the Divine and the human cross paths. The infant Jesus is our living, breathing sign of the immeasurable love that God has had for all of us from the very beginning. Christmas is the living promise that we are never ever alone. No matter where we are in life, no matter in what condition we find ourselves, no matter how far we might stray away, or how unfaithful we are, God, the supreme lover, will pursue us in love for eternity!
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. It’s a love that never stops shining. Thanks be to God.

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