christmas

Dream.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“Oh God, our provider and sustainer! Your end has no end, but we find ourselves ending and beginning a new year. We ask that your compassion protect us this year from evil, that you call us sweetly to follow you, that you give us a longing to leave our old self behind, and that you guide us to walk in your love. May your grace bless the universe and shower us with favor.”

-A Prayer for the New Year, adapted from Rumi (Chuck Hoff, Cloisterseminars.com)

Matthew 2:13-23

The Escape to Egypt

13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

The Massacre of the Infants

16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[b] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[c]17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

The Return from Egypt

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[d] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 2:14 Gk he
  2. Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
  3. Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
  4. Matthew 2:21 Gk he

It is interesting to see how our world defines kings or power.  We are all about the sense of regality, of power and a sense of certitude that a king can bring.  The idea that a new king has been born is a part of the Christmas message.  What gets missed in the Christmas message though is that the story doesn’t end with Jesus’ birth in a manger and the wise men and shepherds coming.  No, this story has more twists in Jesus’ early life.

You see, as we’ve been saying throughout Advent, God entrusted God’s self to us in Jesus.  The Trinity, the 3 in 1 God flows into humanity through Jesus by the power of the Spirit.  It is a beautiful story, but rather than coming as a conquering king or in splendor and glory, Jesus shows up as a little baby born to first time teenaged parents in the middle of political and social upheaval.  God comes to us, not in regal authority, but in true humility, which has more power than any conquering army.  

After the birth in the manger in a dirty stall, our passage on this 1st Sunday after Christmas Day details Jesus’ first few days after the Shepherds and wise men (and/or women) visit.  

King Herod, who was the ruler under Roman authority, was a ruthless politician.  He had wide latitude and the Roman army to back him up.  He committed many atrocities to keep his hold on power.  He was rather thin skinned and narcissistic I’d imagine…and furious that the wise men had visited Jesus and did not tell him where to find Jesus as they were told.  So, he ordered all of the boys under 2 years old in Bethlehem to be slaughtered.

Joseph is warned in a dream by an angel to flee Bethlehem before this happens…but to make haste and do it that very night.  Dreams are interesting, they can be windows into our hearts, our souls.  The Divine was deep within Joseph, warning him, telling him to move his young family to safety.  So, he got up, got Mary and Jesus and fled to the relative safety of Egypt to escape Herod’s persecution and to save the life of his son, and probably his and Mary’s.  And, if you remember from the gospel lesson last week, God spoke to Joseph in another dream to not divorce Mary…and Mary and others had so many dreams!  

Friends, this story is so important to us as we close 2025.  This has been a year of many ups and downs for all of us I’d imagine, but it is also a year where we have seen one of the largest refugee crisis in the history of the world throughout the world.  Through wars, famine, and political upheaval, there are now an estimated 60 million + refugees.  

We should recognize that Jesus was a refugee and if we are called to identity the image of God in each person, and to identify with all of humanity, and especially those on the margins through Jesus, then when we see a refugee, we are looking at Jesus through our shared humanity.  

According the UN, the definition of a refugee is as follows:  

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

I would say that definition certainly fits with Jesus in our story this morning.  Jesus knows what it’s like to have to flee a country as a child, to know that his life is in danger.  And his earthly father knew that he had to do whatever it took to get him to safety.

I’m also reminded of a refugee that I met in Brussels, Belgium a few years ago.  He shared what it was like to have his boat overturn in the Mediterranean and to swim to the relative safety of a rock with his family and to watch 23 other humans drown who weren’t so lucky.

This amazing story of Jesus as a refugee was one wrought in peril, in danger.  It could have gone bad as many refugee stories do.  Even when Jesus and his family return to Israel, they don’t go back to Bethlehem.  It’s too close to Jerusalem, and even  though Herod had died, his sons and others still may not take kindly to Jesus.  So, Joseph is instructed to go to Nazareth, which had recently become somewhat of a more independent region.  This also fulfills a prophetic word about the Messiah coming out of Nazareth…as well as add to the narrative that God comes out of nowhere, and out of those in poverty.  Nazareth was not of any importance in that day.  

Friends, we may have gone through a lot this past year.  And, as we face 2026, we will have some struggles to face personally, as a congregation, community, city, country, and world.  Yet, even as we use the symbol of a baby as the new year 2026, we approach it with eager expectation.  We don’t know what will happen, or where hope will appear, but we can have faith and commitment to a God who promises to be with us  

When I became a dad, I looked at my kids with all sorts of amazement and wonder, I did not know what life with them would bring, how they’d turn out, but I knew I was committed to them.  And, I know that in this new year, as I continue to grow, even in my late-fifties, that my kids are a part of birthing something new in me.  

Let us not forget that, just as we reminded in this morning’s gospel story, that God weeps with us and looks out for us.  That the Christmas story is about what is being incarnated, fleshed out, birthed within us.  May we have the listening ear, wisdom, and trust of Joseph to follow God’s voice, even if it takes us places we may not want to go…but, as we go, be reminded that we are not alone and that God will make a way for us in 2026 and beyond…and is constantly birthing something new within and all around us.

Ponder.

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Luke 2:1-20 

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

In our church traditions, we read this passage almost every Christmas Eve.  Growing up, my dad would read this to our family…from the King James Version no less.  One thing about my dad, he was pretty consistent!  It’s a good tradition, it’s the Christmas story…and it’s the promise of new birth coming to us in the darkest of nights, the darkest of days.

This year, many of us have had to ponder on a deeper level what Christmas is about, it’s about something new being birthed…in us and in the world around us, and that can be hard, even painful, in very uncertain and troubling times we often live in.  Childbirth isn’t easy, it’s painful as I’ve been told…yet, what do we call babies after they’ve arrived?  “Little bundles of Joy”.  Possibility, mystery, love, struggle, suffering, growth, and presence are all wrapped up into babies.

December 25 was decided by the early church fathers and mothers because it is close to the annual winter solstice.  The winter solstice is also known as the “longest night”.  It is the day of the year where it’s darkest the longest.  It is to remind us of the darkness of life that we all experience.  And also that there is hope, because after the longest night, when it is the most dark, the light shines forth, dawn comes…and we can see what is being  birthed in the night more clearly and we can see something of the path ahead.  Kind of like giving birth!  

Tonight, let’s slow down a bit and ponder on the darkness of  the first Christmas night…there is a great stirring, a birthing, a movement towards something new that brings joy, hope, peace, and love. 

The passage that we read tonight is also full of subversive beauty!  Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor was the head of a political cult that set him up to be divine, a savior, the lord, one who claimed to not have any failings, in his ego, Caesar was a winner at all costs…and he lived in imperial power exacting a census that was a sign of his authority and ability to collect taxes and contribute to the wealth of Rome, and especially his own wealth.  Yet, Jesus comes to us impoverished, on the run, and in a dirty stable.  His coming is announced to a group of outsiders, literally, shepherds and not some great proclamation to the entire empire, this proclamation came from the heavens to a few shepherds and wise men and women (side note:  there is speculation that all of the wise men were actually women) so that it can be carried to and for all of creation.  Amazing!  As we said last Sunday, this is a different kind of power from God…not power that is top down, but bottom up!  It is subversive power that emerges out of unforeseen places.  

Into that dark night, a baby is born.  Emmanuel or “God with us”!  Jesus, Emmanuel, born in and through us, humanity.  God, entrusting God’s self to us, in darkness, and to a couple of young folks who were still trying to figure things out…talk about pondering!  God, who gives hospitality and relationship receives hospitality and relationship and is being birthed into the world by a teenager!  

Into the night, a small light came on to the scene of history that grew to a blazing fire illuminating hope, peace, grace, friendship to ALL…a birth that changed history from a dirty stable…a birth that we all experience.  

One of our Christian mystics from the middle ages, Meister Eckhart, says this:  “What does it avail me if this birth takes place unceasingly and yet does not take place within myself?  It is quite fitting, however, that it should take place within me.

We have opportunity after opportunity to meet God in the deepest darkness of our lives, in the stillness of the night metaphorically, this night and every night…really every moment.  May we lean into the darkest places, the deepest innermost place of our lives, into the dark night of our souls as another mystic from the middle ages, John of the Cross would say, and grow as we experience Christmas every moment as we are birthed from darkness into people of radiance, a shining forth forth people, even as we wait for the morning light!  

Friends, Westwood First is birthing new life, as we, together, embark into new chapters, may we too ponder and wait on God’s time that is shedding light at just the right time in unforeseen places…even dark places.  My goodness, we have some amazing stories being written and told in this season at Westwood First!  As we allow ourselves to embrace what the night brings, there is a light shining and leading us into a future.  A future that is emerging, birthing right before us with wild, sometimes weird, and wonderful possibilities. 

So friends, into the darkest nights of our lives as Christ is born again in us and around us…may we proclaim and rejoice in this king, this savior, this lord, this friend, this ever deepening Presence being born in us with the world!  And, in this looking in, may we experience the birth of Christ that is happening within us, all of the time.  

May the joy of the promise of new birth, the story of Christmas, be with you every day, every moment of your life.  Merry Christmas!

Love.

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Old Testament Reading

            Lesson from the Prophets

Isaiah 7:10-16

Isaiah Gives Ahaz the Sign of Immanuel

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 Then Isaiah[a] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.[b] 15 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

Footnotes

  • 7.13 Heb he
  • 7.14 That is, God is with us

New Testament Reading

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 1:18-25

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 

“Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son,
    and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son,[b] and he named him Jesus.

Footnotes

  • 1.18 Or Jesus Christ
  • 1.25 Other ancient authorities read her firstborn son

Isaiah, the prophet.  Promising that “Immanuel” would come to us.  Immanuel, the word literally means God with us.  Now, God has always been with us, always, before time and before we were formed and life breathed into.  

But, we need stories, stories with power, with agency.  So, Isaiah says that a child will be born…and with some other wild stories about this child’s life around honey and curds.  But, a promise of a physical reminder that God is with us and will come to us in the flesh.

Our Gospel lesson follows upon this prophetic story from Isaiah, from the prophets.  It gives us an intimate picture of Mary becoming pregnant by God’s actions.  Joseph wants to honor Mary and decides to divorce her quietly.  In those days, being engaged was on the same understanding of being married.  But, an angelic being, a messenger of the Divine, comes to Joseph and calms him and tells him in a dream to stay with Mary, that she will give birth to a son and he will be “Immanuel”, God with us.  

Friends, when something new is about to happen, something that brings great change.  It can be disorienting, yet God sends messages all of the time reminding us that something deeper is happening.  We may not always see it, and it may be hard and challenging.  But, we can trust that something is happening.  New life and growth springs forth.  

As Meister Eckhart reminds us from the middle ages, Christmas, the birth of the Christ child, Immanuel, not only happens in our imagination around the winter solstice, but it happens every day and every moment.  Our only “sin” if you will, is to live lives of unawareness around this reality.  May we have our ears and eyes open to God being with us…showing us how to love…and may we experience that love of God’s Presence with us, in us, and around us!  May we experience peace, hope, joy, and love as we celebrate with amazing music today…and may we celebrate in our hearts and lives everyday!

Word.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

In out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, 

This beginning has been quietly forming, 

Waiting until you were ready to emerge. For a long time it has watched your desire, Feeling the emptiness growing inside you, 

Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; 

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; Soon you will home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

– John O’Donohue 

John 1:(1-9); 10-18 (NRSV)

The Word Became Flesh

[1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life,and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.]

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,who is close to the Father’s heart,who has made him known.

In the middle of winter, it can seem like things are bleak.  The days are shorter, it’s cold and cloudy, (although it has not been cold again this winter…on the contrary, very warm…strange new weather patterns my friends…)  the sun doesn’t seem to shine as much.  Plus, in Cincinnati, we seem to get a lot of “in-between” weather.  Doesn’t really snow a lot, but still cold and wet.  We long for spring!  

In our lives this past year, we may have experienced things that have been bleak, dark, and we may have felt like we are in an “in-between place”, or a s threshold space, as well.  We may have been sensing that a change is necessary, we have longed for the warmth of hope, just as we may have longed for the hope of warm sunshine in the spring after a long winter.  Our days get shorter, we experience darkness as we move through the changing seasons.

The changing of seasons is a good metaphor for our worshipping community called Westwood First Presbyterian.  At times this past year, it has felt like it has been a place of searching and change.  As a collective group of persons, it seems like we have been in an “in-between” place even as we co-create new things and move forward.  We may fill like we are on our way towards something, but we are still incomplete, not fully there.  We have wanted to change and grow in new directions, we’ve had a new pastor, we’ve been working on what it means to be a “community engaged” church, we are experiencing new relationships coming into the building even as we go out into the neighborhood, and we have embarked on a mystical journey together towards a deeper understanding of God’s revelation inside and all around us.  All of this is good, we are moving towards something, people inside the church and outside have remarked that there’s something different at Westwood First (and they like it!!!), and even different in our own lives, but we are still in between and not yet fully where we are called to be…at a threshold.

The very definition of the “darkness” means to be in a state of dark, it is an abstract noun.  Yet, it does not mean that one is “dark”, just living in a state of darkness.  That “state” or existence can be changed.  

Try an experiment this week.  Go into a dark room.  Pause for a moment, take in the darkness, look into it.  Then turn on a light and notice the difference.  Notice the change.

Our identity as Jesus followers gives us hope for in the midst of darkness and change, Jesus says this in Matthew 4:16 quoting from Isaiah.  

the people who sat in darkness

    have seen a great light,

and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death

    light has dawned.”

Sitting in darkness can really be disorienting.  We feel lost, yet the darkness does point us toward a need for light.  We actually need both.  Light and darkness, and the threshold times in between light and dark.  It is in those times that something new is created.  It is interesting to me that the word, “word”, or “logos” in Greek, in our gospel lesson this morning actually translates as “creative energy”.  

In darkness, we cannot see others around us as we should.   We stumble around often in relationships and because we are not able to see, we experience a break in relationship from folks because of something we’ve done or said, or something that was done or said to us.  Or we simply grow apart over time.  We often sit in darkness and darkness often leads to brokenness which can feel like living in the shadow of death.  And, in the brokenness, new things emerge, or are able to emerge and to cause creativity and growth.  

None of us are competent or good enough to get through this life deal without experiencing darkness, lostness, or brokenness.  The difference is how much light we want shining on our lives to expose us in our darkness.  

Author, poet, philosopher, Parker Palmer, in his book,  Let Your Life Speak, talks about depression and darkness.  He states that we need to embrace our wholeness as persons in those dark moments, our shadows, look into them, and use them as times of understanding who we are, our true selves as Thomas Merton, the great catholic philosopher and mystic might say.  

Friends, like a thief in the night, we can let darkness overwhelm us, but that is not our identity, that is not our true selves, we may live in darkness, but there is a light in the depth of that darkness…and this great light has entered the world and our lives…actually, this great light has been in us all along…made in God’s image means that God put God’s self in us from the beginning…”in the beginning was the word, and the word…”. 

Jesus, the light of the world, entered into the neighborhood of our lives, became flesh and bone just like us.  God  makes God’s dwelling, with us!!!  In us!!!  All around us!  Jesus is a visible expression of that divine expression that encompasses us and invites us to the work of awareness to live into…

Jesus came to reveal to us what it means to live in the fullness of who we are called to be in our truest selves.  We have received grace upon grace, we are given new opportunity to reinvent ourselves, to experience rebirth even in the midst of the in-between times.  The light of Jesus is here, we may not always like what we see, it may cause us to ask deep questions, but the light does transform us and can bring us into places of beauty in our lives in our neighborhood, work, and even in our church!  

This light was the word made flesh, Jesus, who invites us into this sacred moment where we can catch glimpses of his glory and experience fullness with others and with God…and we too can shine as sons and daughters of God as the “word” is made flesh in us and makes it’s dwelling in us…  

Treasure.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Celebration is an attentive and gracious joy of presence. When you celebrate, you are taking time to recognize, to open your eyes and behold in your life the quiet miracles and gifts that seek no attention; yet each day they nourish, shelter, and animate your life. The art of belonging in, with, and to yourself is what gives life and light to your presence; it brings a radiance to your countenance and a poise to your carriage. When your heart is content, your life can always find the path inwards to this deep stillness in you. 

– John O’Donohue 

Luke 2:41-52 

41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and 

friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for
him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parentssaw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”49 He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years,and in divine and human favor. 

The setting for this mornings’ gospel is a pilgrimage that Jesus makes with his parents and a whole host of others to Jerusalem to celebrate passover. It was a huge festival that every pious Jewish family would want to make.

It’s important to note that the authors up to this point in Luke have made Mary and Joseph the center of the story, Jesus doesn’t do anything without them. However, in this narrative, Jesus begins to take center stage. 

It’s also interesting to note that the authors give Jesus’ age. He’s 12. He is in the process of entering adulthood and this story is meant to mark a place of growth for Jesus. He’s making a statement. 

But, before that statement, we have the dramatic emotional experience that some of us as parents have gone through. Realizing you don’t know where your kids are. Now, I haven’t forgotten where my kids are for a complete day, but I have had a few moments in places like Central Park in NYC, King’s Island, or Disneyland where I’ve turned around for a brief moment and couldn’t find my kids…that sense of urgency in finding them brings up all sorts of feelings that we parents fear. 

Part of that emotion is out of a sense of wanting to protect our kids, but also the thought of losing them, of losing the relational connection, is overwhelming. That’s true not only with kids, but with anyone that we have a relationship with.

So, Mary and Joseph have left Jerusalem, they’ve been gone for a day before they realize that Jesus isn’t with them. Now, before you judge them as parents, remember that this is a different culture. Unlike today, Mary and Joseph are a part of a large clan of relatives. They all share a sense of responsibility for each other and for their kids. So, it would be natural for Mary and Joseph to assume that Jesus was being taken care of, and that when their clan left, that someone would have Jesus. 

But, that wasn’t the case here. They had left Jesus. When they went back to Jerusalem to find them, they searched for him for 3 days! Could you imagine the panic and the angst of his parents, missing someone they loved? 

After three days, they went to the temple. I’m not sure what led them there, maybe it was a sense of needing to go and seek spiritual comfort at the temple, or maybe they heard that Jesus may be there, who knows. But, when they got there, they found Jesus in the middle of religious scholars, listening, asking questions, being curious…it says that even the teachers at the Temple were amazed at his answers, his maturity, and understanding. 

Who knows what Jesus was talking about that day, but my bet is that it had a lot to do with God’s love being summed up by how much God loves us and calls us to love others…of a God who created us out of relationship, for relationship…a God who gives us community with one another, with God’s self, and with the world around us. Jesus was listening not only to the teachers, but also to God’s Spirit revealing to him where community can be made present. 

When Mary, as any mother would, asked Jesus why he put her through this…why the anguish of wondering where he was, Jesus responds, “why were you searching for me, you should have known I’d be in the one place where I can intimately experience relationship with others and with God.” 

Jesus refers to being in his Father’s house. We can get caught up in the masculine reference to God, but the Israelites used Father in a relational sense, it has much more to do with attempting to describe God in intimate, relational terms than subscribing to God masculine qualities, and, by the way, there are just as many examples in scripture of God being reference in the feminine and with feminine qualities. Language sometimes fails us in giving testimony to our experience. 

God is closer than any parent, God is within us and outside of us, God is “other”, we are not God, yet God reveals to us who were created to be, saved to be, and sustained to become.  

Jesus is experiencing God’s joy, God’s Presence, God’s love in the temple. 

It seems like Mary, like many parents, was not able to “see” or  “hear” her son in this moment…but, she paused, listened…and saw and heard him in that moment.  Mary doesn’t continue to scold him, she doesn’t understand all that Jesus is saying, yet she knows that her child is authentically experiencing God. She sees Jesus.  It says that she treasures these experiences in her heart. Treasure is a great word, it’s something of immense value. In other places in the new testament, there is the parable of giving up all that you have to find the hidden treasure, it also says that where your treasure is, there is your heart. 

Friends, this is a hard one…harder than we thing.  Where is your treasure?  Do the work of finding your heart…not others hearts, but start with yours!  

Mary’s treasure was in her son, the relationship they had, Jesus also treasured his mother, he didn’t intend to cause her anxiety, but he was also growing in his understanding of God’s love for humanity. God’s desire for us to experience love for God, for others, and for ourselves. God’s summary of the entire law, of the 10 commandments, into loving relationship. 

It’s fitting that we have this gospel lesson after Christmas, the coming of Christ bringing to us the promise of God’s loving presence…now, we are called to grow in our understanding of that Love by following Jesus’ example. In Luke 2:52, we have the only reference to Jesus’ life before his public ministry.  It says that Jesus grew in his teenage years up until age 30 in wisdom and in God’s and others favor. 

Jesus was marked with God’s favor as he grew in wisdom (which is, by the way, a feminine word)…Jesus represents all of humanity, therefore we are also favored by God. May we treasure these stories about Jesus, may we understand that our treasure lies in deep, abiding, and even curious love for others and for God…may we seek and see God in all that we meet and may we find ourselves in the Father’s house, which is the temple, which is the body of Christ, our bodies even, understood to be placed in the world and encompassing all of humanity.

Friends, may we experience God’s love as we practice loving the world around us with wisdom and living in God’s favor. 

Shine.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Oh God of peace, you fill our hearts with hope at every Christmastide, for we remember again that this is the world that you have loved. May that hope, peace and joy fill our hearts, this night. Amen.
― Celtic Prayer

Christmas Eve 2024.  What a year we’ve had…and now moving into a time of more change for me and for us together at Westwood First Presbyterian Church!  My goodness!  I know that for me, this year has been a time of tremendous growth, and I believe for this congregation as well.  We are experiencing deep growth coming out of a year of birth pains in our previsions years.  As we come to the end of 2024, I love that we read this passage on xmas eve.  Really, we read this same passage almost every Christmas Eve.  It’s traditional, it’s the Christmas story…and it’s the promise of new birth coming to us in the darkest of nights, the darkest of days. 

My dad would read this passage every Christmas Eve…from the King James Version no less.  He went to church every Sunday, was a church leader, but this was the only time I really ever remember him reading Scripture.  Yet, he did.  One thing about my dad, he was pretty consistent!

Luke 2:1-20 

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

This year, many of us have had to ponder on a deeper level what Christmas is about, it’s about something new being birthed…in us and in the world around us.  Childbirth isn’t easy, it’s painful…yet, what do we call babies after they’ve arrived?  “Little bundles of Joy”.  Possibility, mystery, love, struggle, suffering, growth, and presence are all wrapped up into babies.

Babies grow into adulthood through the throes of life.  Our faith does as well.  Sometimes we have to remember that things are formed in dark places, like the womb.  Faith also is birthed in darkness.  And, faith is not about certainty…it is simply trusting, deeply, that you are not alone in this world…that there is a God who resides within you and all around you that is with you…a God who entered humanity, became human, in the form of Jesus.  

December 25 was decided by the early church, really many of our Celtic ancestors, because it is close to the annual winter solstice.  It was actually a pre-Christian celebration, and our Christian ancestors borrowed a lot from those ancestors because it simply made sense with the story of the incarnation of Christ, the enfleshing of the divine in the world…which is a story that is also incarnated, birthed within us.   

The winter solstice is also known as the “longest night”.  It is the day of the year where it’s darkest the longest.  It is to remind us of the darkness of life that we all experience.  And also that there is hope, because after the longest night, when it is the most dark, the light shines forth, dawn comes…and we can see what was birthed in the night more clearly.  

Friends, the reality is that the church has so often preached a message of hope, of joy, of peace, of love, of triumph…without the darkness that we see around and in us, without struggle…but that’s simply not life is it?  There’s more to the story.  We have to have both…light and dark…struggle and growth go hand it in hand.  God is saying to us on the symbolism of this night…to look into the darkness in order to see a candle, a flame, of love…of promise, of hope, of relationship, of incarnation…

Tonight, may we remember the darkness of Christmas night, there is a great stirring, a movements towards something new that brings joy, hope, peace, and love.  There are shepherds seeing and hearing miraculous news while dutifully minding their flocks.  There are wise men and women seeking knowledge and growth.  

The passage that we read tonight is full of subversive beauty!  Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor was the head of a political cult that set him up to be divine, a savior, the lord, one who claimed to not have any failings, in his ego, Caesar was a winner at all costs…and he lived in imperial power exacting a census that was a sign of his authority and ability to collect taxes and contribute to the wealth of Rome, and especially his own wealth.  Yet, Jesus comes to us impoverished, on the run, and in a dirty stable.  His coming is announced to a group of outsiders, literally, shepherds and not some great proclamation to the entire empire, this proclamation came from the heavens to a few shepherds and wise men and women so that it can be carried to and for all of creation.  Amazing!

Into that dark night, a baby is born.  Emmanuel or “God with us”!  Jesus, Emmanuel, born to us, humanity.  God, entrusting God’s self to us, in darkness, and to a couple of teenagers who were still trying to figure things out!  God, who gives hospitality and relationship receives hospitality and relationship.  God being birthed into the world by a teenager!  

Into the night, a small light came on to the scene of history that grew to a blazing fire illuminating hope, peace, grace, friendship to ALL!

One of our Christian mystics from the 1400’s, Meister Eckhart, says this:  “The light is satisfied only in the innermost place, where no one dwells. It is within you even deeper than you are in yourself. It is the ground of simple silence that is motionless in itself. Yet from its stillness, all things move and all things receive their life, that they may live in accordance with this reason and be conformed to it within themselves.”

We have opportunity after opportunity to meet God in the deepest darkness of our lives, in the stillness of the night metaphorically, this night and every night…really every moment.  May we lean into the darkest places, the deepest innermost place of our lives, into the dark night of our souls as another mystic from the middle ages, John of the Cross would say, and grow into people of a radiance, a shining forth, as we wait for the morning light!  

But, we have to wait at times and even be still.  The shepherds, wise men and women (there is speculation is that the magi were actually all women) and even Mary and Joseph, had to wait…to let things emerge.  Friends, as Westwood First is birthing new life, as we, together, embark into a new chapter, may we too allow yourselves to wait on God’s timing that is shedding light at just the right time.  My goodness, we have some amazing stories being written and told in this season.  As we allow yourselves to embrace what the night brings, there is a light shining and leading us into a future.  A future that is emerging right before us where there are possibilities. 

So friends, into the darkest nights of our lives as Christ is born again in us and around us…may we proclaim and rejoice in this king, this savior, this lord, friend, this ever deepening Presence being born in us with the world!  And, in this looking in, may we experience the birth of Christ that is happening within us, all of the time.  

As we go into the night, hear some more words from Meister Eckhart:  

“This birth which takes place unceasingly in eternity is the very same birth which has taken place within human nature.” 

May the joy of the promise of new birth, the story of Christmas, be with you every day, every moment of your life.  Amen and Merry Christmas!

Love.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Love is the only light that can truly read the secret signature of the other person’s individuality and soul. Love alone is literate in the world of origin; it can decipher identity and destiny.”

“I would love to live like a river flows,
carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”
― John O’Donohue

Luke 1:39-55 


Mary Visits Elizabeth 

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill
country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would bea fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” 

Mary’s Song of Praise 46 And Marysaid, 

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 

48  for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
 
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
 

49  for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
 
and holy is his name.
 

50  His mercy is for those who fear him
 
from generation to generation.
 

51  He has shown strength with his arm;
 
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
 

52  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
 
and lifted up the lowly;
 

53  he has filled the hungry with good things,
 
and sent the rich away empty.

54  He has helped his servant Israel,
 in remembrance of his mercy,
 

55  according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
 to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 

Sermon:                                               

Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent, the Love Sunday! 

Love is an interesting word. It gets tossed around quite a bit in our culture.
I also found this description online: 

Love is unconditional affection with no limits or conditions: completely loving someone. It’s when you trust the other with your life and when you would do anything for each other. You hide nothing of yourself and can tell the other anything because you know they accept you just the way you are and vice versa. 

Regardless of how love is defined, it’s safe to say that love has lots of meanings to different people. I would say, at its core, that love is a deeply relational term that has a meaning of commitment, loyalty, joy, faith, compassion, grace, honesty, and deep affection.

This Sunday is often called the Sunday of birth, and also the waking of the church. That fits, because joy, hope, and peace, are a part of love and “love gives birth to new things”, it also awakens us to new realities. 

It’s fitting that we just had a great discussion on the medieval German mystic, Meister Eckhart, at the Westside Abbey.  It was a great discussion with Dr. Adam Clark, and we talked about God constantly giving birth.  Meister Eckhart even said this, “what good is it if Christ was born 1400 years ago but not being born daily within me?”  More on that later!

In our gospel passage today, we see this kind of love expressed in many ways. Mary, a soon to be teenage mom, is pregnant with Jesus. She takes a journey to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who is much older, and is also pregnant with John. She is much further along than Mary. 

Mary is also from a working class family, she doesn’t have much status in society. Elizabeth, on the other hand, is married to a priest and she comes from a priestly line. She has standing in society. 

Yet, that didn’t matter. They have a close relationship that transcends societal barriers and Mary goes to visit her. 

The authors of Luke are not trying to give out facts, they are telling a story of promise and deliverance for all who are enslaved to something, which is everyone. They make a point to say this is a journey, just like the Israelites were on a journey in the wilderness. This deliverance is a process that takes time, but something good is being birthed in us in the journey. Both of these women have been promised that they’d be blessed with pregnancies, although both pregnancies have difficulties: one has the stigma of being a teenaged mom who isn’t married yet, the other is an older woman well past her child- bearing years. Yet, they trust God and God’s love as birthing something new is never easy.

Mary goes, she is moved to action, she takes a journey to Elizabeth, out of relationship, out of love, and a need for comforting each other in what could be a difficult, albeit hopeful and joyful time. This passage is conveying to its readers that God makes promises to us, dreams big dreams for us, yet those dreams involve risk and may bring some anxiety…and seem complicated. Yet, God has given us God’s self, and God’s self, at God’s core, is about a crazy love for all of us, we can move through life with purpose and peace even in complicated, anxious times. 

When Mary greets Elizabeth, the words we read of greetings, multiple greetings, indicates an excitement, a joy, to be together. They are bond together. They can’t wait to see each other. There is an emotional response from both of them, as well as from Elizabeth’s womb. The baby John leaps! 

John, while still in his mother’s womb, senses Jesus, and leaps for joy…and for love! 

The love that John experiences is carried to him through the Spirit of God that embodies love. God’s Spirit fills all spaces and is present whether we recognize it or not. This love can be experienced through friendships, moments of great importance, during hard times when we feel like giving up yet something holds us together, through simple things like sunsets, music, or a small gesture of kindness. This love permeates everything and always wins! And, it’s for everyone! 

I found it interesting as I prepared this message reading and often seeing people that claim to be followers of Jesus, the very expression of God’s love for humanity and creation, talking about excluding others of different faiths, skin color, nationalities, etc.., even advocating for violence, denying safety for others, gossiping about folks, saying incredibly offensive statements, and encouraging division. 

Friends, if someone makes a statement that does not emanate from a deep love for another, it isn’t a Christian statement. 

We have come to this Advent season to celebrate the coming of Christmas, the coming of God into humanity as a human. We come to celebrate a God who keeps promises of being with and of loving us radically and unconditionally. As my late friend Brennan Manning would say, “God loves you just as you are, not as you should be, because you never will be as you should be.” This is the kind of message that should permeate our thoughts about ourselves and others. This is the kind of message that people should be hearing from Jesus followers, and experiencing! 

We should be telling others, as well as ourselves, that NOTHING can separate us from God’s Love as it says in the book of Romans. Nothing. This love is like a stream that keeps on flowing. It carries things, moves things, shapes things, fills every nook, and is relentless. This love changes us, just as streams grow into rivers and rivers flow into oceans…it is unstoppable. We can even nail that love to a tree, try to kill it, yet even death can’t overcome God’s love…it keeps moving! 

And this love keeps on creating and birthing new things.  It is a dynamic flow that cannot be stopped.  

New Year’s follows Christmas. Change happens as love is birthed into us and the world around us. 

Friends, may the Love of Christ cause us to leap with joy. May we be awakened to God’s delight and God’s Spirit washing over us and be reminded of God’s faithful and loving birthing relationship with and within us.