Christmas Eve, 12/24/2014

Sermon on Luke 2:1-20, by Phillip Gagnon

You are not, but I Am.

It's interesting to watch the world as you go through the year. There are seasons of life as surely as there are seasons of nature. We have in Alberta our month of summer followed by a month of fall then eight months of winter followed by two months of wet Spring.

Then we go through the seasons of our lives - early childhood, youth, dating, marriage, old age and looking back. We contemplate joys and the angst of our lives, our successes, imperfections and mistakes, our sins and our sorrows, as we know them. We look forward into the future, yearning for something better, for less sorrow, sin, and angst. We look about us in the world and while we have known goodness and beauty, noble ideals and wonderful altruisms, but we have also known much darkness.

This darkness from within and without has lingered through the ages, marinating itself in the human race, adding a ugly seasoning to the realities of hatred and war, racism and terrorism and the deadening of the soul. There is a culture of death that has grown like a weed in the garden that was once Eden. We are tired of it all and so we seek to fill that which would satisfy. Throughout time we have yearned, hungry for satisfaction, for reconciliation, thirsty for peace and contentment in the midst of a desert of spiritual dryness -

Where is God in the midst of our world's struggles?

Throughout Advent we have walked through the shadows of the forest of life, of the valleys and deserts that lead to a small town called Bethlehem, to a place the world would not expect to find the answer to their questions, their searching and their sin. From Eden's gate the Lord God made a promise to provide a Saviour to his people and our souls have looked for his coming - ached for his appearing - written, sang, searched, and wept, "How long, O Lord?"

That night, this night, so long ago he fulfilled his promise. The Lord says to us,

You are not, fulfilled in your striving - but I Am the end of your striving, the Alpha and the Omega

You are not, without sin and fault, but I Am the Light that pierces the darkness

You are not, without tears and sorrow, but I Am the One who wipes away all tears and sorrow

You are not, immune to death and sickness, but I Am the Great Physician

You are not, joyful in the depths of your heart for you struggle in the midst of life, but I Am the Promise of God enfleshed for you

You are not, able to save yourselves, but I Am the Saviour and Lover of your soul

You are not, but I Am!

In a little place, populated by the "you are nots" of this world, in Bethlehem, where the little, the least, the lonely, the lost, are the last to be considered by the world's favoured are the first to see and know the blessing of the Christ the One who is the great "I Am."

Where we "are not," he "is" for us, always. It is this God, this Lover of our souls that we worship and adore this night. It is this compassionate God who defies the expectations and standards of this world birthed in a not so lowly a place.

For where the world esteems riches and power and the glory of royalty, the Lord comes to us clothed in the fabric of creation itself, the deep inky blue of the night sky and the stars are his jeweled canopy, flesh and blood and cloth and straw for his tabernacle and bedding, all created by the breath of his lips long before and as rich as the finest jewel or gold or fabric spun.

No, he doesn't give us the things the world expects, but gives us his very self, "Do this for the remembrance of me..."

For what we yearn for, truly, are not riches, or glory, or popularity or success. We yearn for love, for forgiveness, for reconciliation with each other and the God of this world. We yearn for peace, for shalom with the One who first formed us from the dust.

A friend of mine reflected on an experience he had, not so long ago at Costco. While waiting in line a fellow he knew in line behind him snorted and said, "Look at all this commercialism! Incredible!" When my friend asked him why he was there he replied, "Well, I just had to come in for a few things, not much, you know..."

And while commercialism and consumerism as "isms" are to be decried, what my friend saw was not commercialism run amok (and I agree with him), but family and friends rushing to buy gifts for their loved ones - acts of love and appreciation echoing what the essence of Christmas is part of - giving something of yourself to those you love and are in need. These acts of giving at their best are a response, an echo to what the Word spoke setting eternity in our hearts long ago - a hint of perfume that causes one to think about the source of that scent.

This Christmas, may you be blessed indeed, not only with the riches of this world and loved ones by your side, but by the Lord who gave himself for you and all people, glad tidings of great joy - the Saviour is born for you.

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace

A blessed Christmas to you and yours! Pastor Phil

Pastor Phillip Gagnon

E-Mail: pphil1961@icloud.com

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