Isaiah
9: 2–7 / Psalm 96 / Titus 2: 11–14 / Luke 2: 1–20
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker
on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at 4:00 PM and 11:00 PM, and at Trinity, Tyrone, Pennsylvania at 7:00 PM that same day.
“LOOKING HEAVENWARD,
LOOKING EARTHWARD”
LOOKING EARTHWARD”
Let’s consider the matter of
preaching, and especially the matter of preaching on a festival day like
Christmas, an occasion where nearly all of one’s hearers will know the basics
of the Gospel story.
The process of learning the craft of
preaching often takes awhile to get used to and to become proficient at. Part
of that formative process involves learning what the challenges are.
For example, in seminary, those who
are preparing for ordained ministry, which usually involves learning to be
proficient at the business of preaching, take homiletics classes. In my own
experience, some of the topics we considered in our homiletics classes included
discussions about an optimal length (in time) for a homily (the consensus was
that about seven minutes was a good length, given the shortened attention span
of many people these days, and especially if one is a part of a church whose
worship includes the frequent celebration of the Holy Eucharist). We also
looked at ways to organize our homiletical material, and how best to use our
own natural gifts to best effect.
As to the business of preaching on a
familiar holy day, the challenge is to approach a very familiar subject with a
fresh perspective, perhaps in a quest to shed light on an aspect of the events
that would allow us to see something differently.
To the subject of Christmas, we now
turn.
Of course, to nearly all of us, the
narratives of Jesus’ birth are very familiar. It’s possible that many of us
could recite the Matthean or Lukan narrative from memory. (Neither Mark nor
John record any of the events about Jesus’ birth.) Some of us who are of a
certain age might be able to recite those narratives from the Authorized (King
James) Version of the Bible.
What then, might we say about the
birth of Jesus, the One who is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God?
This preacher would like to suggest
that Jesus’ birth causes heaven to look down upon earth, and it causes us human
beings to look heavenward.
This double focus is due to the nature
of this unique child. The Gospel narratives make clear that Jesus’ birth came
about as a direct result of the action of God, working through the Holy Spirit.
But, at the same time, there is a human element, a human role in this birth,
for the Gospel narratives also make clear that it was the agency of the Virgin
Mary that made it possible for this divine child to take on our humanity.
The heaven/earth connection, made
possible through the coming of Jesus, the Christ, tells us much about heaven,
and about earth. For the reality of God’s love, seen and known in God’s sending
of His Son, makes it clear that this earth and those who live on it are
extremely valuable to God. Conversely, as we come to the realization that God
has come among us in the person of Jesus Christ (one of the titles given to
Jesus is “Immanuel”, meaning “God with us”), prompts us to lift our eyes
heavenward, to exclaim that God is, indeed, working and active in human
affairs. The work begun with the coming of Jesus Christ continues in the world
today, for He has assured us in Holy Scripture that he will be with us until
the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
What happens in this life and in this
world matters to God. That’s one conclusion we can draw from the coming of
Jesus Christ. Likewise, we can affirm that our lives have purpose and meaning.
Heaven meets earth, and earth meets
heaven, in the birth of Jesus, the Christ.
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
