The Gospel - Luke 2:1-20
Homily by the Rev. Dr. David Smith
Today my son is born. His mother will squat on her knees in the straw and pull him from her body. There will be no doctor, no nurse, no midwife, no sister, no mother. Only a good-hearted man.... baffled and confused...like most men, and all new fathers.
Today my son is
born and the first thing he will smell is manure. Not to be glib, but it seems
only appropriate considering all with which he will be forced to contend. Manure and fur, and his mother’s
shawl...wrapping him against the cold desert night and the icy rudeness of
traveling taxpayers unaware.
Today my son is born and I am hopeful and happy... distressed and despondent all at once.... providence is paradox.... the first shall be last and the last shall be first. I am happy and hopeful, this timeless moment will change all time... I am distressed and despondent, seeing the time it will take. But, time I have... and can always create more.
Today my son is
born....and like all fathers my chest puffs and my head cocks...and though I
want to scream and shout and laugh and cry.....I do not....I cannot ...it is
not my style....instead, I moan....and I whisper.....I moan and I whisper,
breathing across that last remaining
chaos.....Breathing across the cruel anarchy and crude disarray of humankind.
Breathing across it I hope.... I whisper and I moan hoping someone will
hear. Because today my son is born.
Today my son is
born and all is well, might be well, should be well, could be well, would be
well......if only the cloudy cataracts of confused self interest cleared and
for once, just once, all the eyes of
despots and demons, criminals and crusaders...all the eyes of presidents and
pimps and sheiks and chefs...for once the eyes of all artist and anarchists and
financiers and failures ...their eyes would
clear and for once and forever see the fullness of time has come.
Today my son is
born and a light in heaven shines brighter than any other...an unmistakable
light... that brought the humble to their feet and the wise to their
knees. But who can possibly see
now? Head lights, street lights, mall
lights, yard lights, spot lights, stage lights....all lovely in their own
way....yet the blinding glare of a billion megawatts blots out the star...turns
it off... and no one looks up anymore....no one looks up, no longer amazed by
the Milky Way’s cloudy haze or overwhelmed by a single bright dot hanging on
the horizon....everyone is too busy looking down...or from side to side. Or
inside.... but rarely up.... if ever up.
Today my son is
born, and I know the end.....I see
sneering lips and clinched fists....I
smell the acrid pestilence of rotting souls.....I feel nails of indifference and tradition
snapping bones in hands that tenderly touched, healed, fed and prayed. I sense
the black despair of age-old fear and dedicate disappointment. I hear some laugh, others cry, some cluck
their tongues, but most go about the business of another day…it’s just another
day.. I know the end through and
through... and still he comes....I send him still.
Today my son is born in humility, to die in
disgrace.... for everyone to see ...in all its bizarre brilliance...the truth
of the ages made clear.... that open arms are stronger than closed doors, that
one’s presence is the best present.... that the power of profit pales when
compared with the profit of simplicity.... that wishes wilt but hope is
sure...that not all truth claims are true.... that the poor, homeless,
helpless, tired, hungry, sick and of course children are the source, the great
fount of wisdom...that there is no nuclear match for the power of love...
Today my son is born but don’t waste your time looking in the manger or the tomb...he has risen from there.... and gone about his way.... because he will not...cannot be boxed, wrapped, packaged and presented. If you want of glimpse of him look into the eyes looking into yours...squeeze the hand reaching out to hold yours.... wrap your arms around some little one close by and forbid them not...say the words most often hard to say.... “I love you.” therein you will see him.… Because today my son is born.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.