December 24, 2016

Cate Thorn     

Christmas Eve     Isaiah 52:7-10     John 1:1-14

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So here we are, too late for any more shopping, too late to get more food. As I thought of this a prayer from night prayer came to mind, it goes, Lord it is night, it is night after a long day, what has been done has been done, what has not been done has not been done, let it be. Perhaps we could rephrase a little, Lord it is Christmas, Christmas after a long year and lots of preparation, what has been done has been done, what we have is what we have, it is enough, let it be.

Whew! Christmas! Now we’re here, what’s it all about? I suspect you’ll get about as many different responses to that as there are people or combinations of people. Likewise how the project of Christmas is approached varies widely. There are some who prepare well in advance, who know clearly the protocol of order – Christmas shopping tied up by June (yes, I did have a friend who was that organised). And then others who specialise in the Christmas Eve dash. Some families have established traditions of food and order of festivity, who know whose hosting or whose turn it is, of who does what best, of who is in and who is out and absorb the inevitable expansion and contraction of family unit in that. Other families have traditions that specialise in avoiding anything that resembles a formal or set tradition. Still others do a bit of both and family expands to include any who might otherwise be alone. The traditions that make Christmas ‘Christmas’ as opposed to any other gathering, celebrating occasion, even as they may vary, we sort of know, don’t we? Things may fluctuate, change be negotiated but Christmas has its own particular rituals.

Increasingly, it seems to me, Christmas has acquired more trappings, a greater attention to the appearance of things. The requisite decorating of tree now has added to it the lighting of house and yard, complex liturgies of end of year Christmas do’s, of gift purchasing, of menu deciding around the ‘only at this time of year’ special food and latest fad eating. It’s less likely these days that Christmas will include religious participation, although many to enjoy the Carols in the park public events. The lead up to and Christmas itself can actually be exhausting. I sometimes wonder if we look forward to the pressure being over – as long as the day is good – as much as the day itself.

Makes you wonder really, what does Christmas mean? We know it’s the time of year with emphasis on the importance of family, of people gathering together. A time of year in which the gap between those with disposable income and those without is made apparent, a gap we seek to narrow by giving, so all can have chance to enjoy the gifts and trappings of Christmas. Close as Christmas is to the end of the year we can be drawn to reflect on the year and Christmas’s past, to remember and to give thanks for loved ones now absent or the gift of new family. As we get older the size of the event of Christmas tends to diminish, or maybe our role in the larger family affair does. Christmas can become a bit of a pared back affair and we might wonder more closely about what actually matters.

Even if that is so, even if Christmas is quieter, less frenetic, less full of gifts and abundant food, there’s still something about Christmas day that is distinct, that makes Christmas ‘Christmas’ even if the trappings are less. During those full on family time Christmas day occasions, have you ever had one of those moments – perhaps after presents are opened and food consumed – when you just feel glad it’s Christmas. Funnily enough, even though the food’s been great and the gifts appreciated there’s a moment of what you might call ‘still happiness’ just because the day is Christmas. Maybe in part its glow of Christmases past, about remembering and reconnection. Maybe it’s because the rush is over and holiday time beckons, maybe it’s that the weather’s warm and most are paused from their busy lives, which changes the feel of things.

It’s as if something arises in us. You might call it joy – joy of being alive, tinged with excitement, inkling of life’s potential, a moment of gladness for life, however fleeting the moment – it’s there.

At Christmas we tell the story that God comes to life, is alive in real time on earth. Make startling claim that we humans can bring God to life, vulnerable, needful of us and that we know how to nurture this God life for it to flourish. John’s gospel tells of the Word: God, life, through whom all things come into being, born into the world, knowable, not concealed from us. God with us, in midst of our ordinary life, part of the rhythm and pattern of life we know, of birth and death, immersed in God are we humans. That moment of ‘still happiness’ – perhaps it’s our touching this, our somehow knowing of this, we’re secure for we belong. This beautiful, complex vulnerable world is the place of God dwelling. Through intimate, complicated, vulnerable, tangled relationships in this world, life comes into being. We’re gifted life and belonging by a God who dwells intimate with us, knows what it is to be human in all its complicated messiness.

Taking the story of Christmas seriously means human life, existence is filled with light and purpose and meaning. If God really did this, if God chooses to be with us in this way, what does that do to our importance, what does that mean for our significance, what might it require of us? Let us ponder but not be overwhelmed by the implications of what this might mean or demand of us, rather let touchstones such as Christmas remind us of the simplicity, the smallness, the familiarity and the ordinary wonder of meeting God.

It is expression of our very human belonging to engage busily in outward trappings of Christmas celebration. But let them not so distract us that we forget, or pay no heed, to those fleeting moments of ‘still happiness,’ of joy, of thanks for life, our precious life and the precious life of this world which is given as gift to us.