The Rev. Robert Lundquist Christmas 12/25/05 St Paul’s, Ft Collins

This is the season for telling stories, isn’t it –

“’Twas the night before Christmans, and all through the house…” or

“But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?” but most importantly,

“Now in this same district there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch through the night over their flock, when suddenly there stood before them an angel of the Lord…”

This is the story of Jesus’ birth as related by Luke the Evangelist. It’s the most familiar, and draws us in with its comfortable phrases. The Gospel of John tells the same story, but with a directness that can be bracing. “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=2818410

The beauty of a story is that good one needs no explanation. A good story will also quite often lead to another story. I’d like to tell a story that has to do with the Incarnation, the birth of Christ. It’s a tale that tries to tell, I think, the story from God’s perspective…

It was a cold and windy Christmas Eve, and the blizzard outside whistled and blew against the frame house. The farmer sat reading in the living room as his wife and daughter prepared to go into town to attend the Christmas Eve service at church. The farmer didn’t put much stock in things religious, and it seemed especially foolish tonight with the snowstorm so bad. It just didn’t make sense to him, all this fuss over a baby born two thousand years ago. His wife and daughter would be all right, he figured – the snow tires were on the SUV, and it was stocked with shovel, sand, blankets and such. Still, it seemed a big bother to him, and he certainly wasn’t getting out on a night like this. He kissed them goodbye and sat back in his chair. He heard the car engine warming up, then pulling away down the drive, and finally fading away into the sounds of the blizzard. He sat back and returned to his reading, feet propped up towards the warm fireplace.

Then, above the roar of the storm, he thought he heard a tapping noise. Looking around the room, he seemed to hear it again, at the window. Getting up to investigate, he found several small birds perched outside on the window ledge, trying to get in. They’ve probably been blown away from where they need to be, he thought, and they’re attracted to the light and warmth of the living room. He went back to reading, but found he couldn’t concentrate. “There must be something I can do to keep those birds from freezing,” he thought. So, not knowing exactly what he was going to do, the farmer bundled up, putting on this heavy parka, warmest hat, and winter boots before heading out into the storm. Outside he headed toward the barn as he formulated a plan. “If I can get them into the barn, then they would be shielded from the wind, and could nest in the straw.” And so he pushed open the barn doors and secured them against the wind.

He went over to the window ledge at the house – and tried shooing the birds toward the safety of the barn. But they merely returned to the window. “Maybe it’s the light they’re attracted to,” he though, so he lit a lantern and hung it in the open barn doorway, hoping to lure the birds. But this failed too. The tiny creatures remained perched on the window ledge within the glow of the living room lights.

In a flash of inspiration the farmer went into the kitchen to get some bread. He carefully laid a trail of breadcrumbs from the house to the barn. Yet the birds remained where they were, their tapping becoming more and more feeble as the wind and snow stole the warmth of life away from their small bodies. The farmer stood halfway between the barn and the house, feeling frustrated and hopeless. What could he do to save these birds? He said to himself, “If I could become a bird like them for just one moment, I could show them the way to safety!” And in that instant he began to understand what Christmas is all about.

“The Word became flesh, came to dwell among us, and we saw the glory of the Word.” That sentence captures it all, it captures the truth of Jesus’ birth and life. And it says three very important things to us about ourselves.

First: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word did not “inhabit” or “possess” or “become like” or even “appear as” flesh – God’s Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. The farmer’s wish to become a bird flows from the same compassion, the same love that God lavishes upon us. God’s willingness to become just like me by becoming flesh is nearly impossible for me to comprehend. And it’s something I quite often take for granted.

Second: The Word becoming flesh redeems humanity. We are lovable and worthwhile just as we are – otherwise there would be no Jesus, no Incarnation. Some preachers will tell you that all humans are a wretched and sorry lot. But if that were true, why would the Word become flesh? Just as the farmer cannot ignore the birds at his window, God cares for and loves each of us, regardless of our foolishness and our inability to care for ourselves. If the flesh were truly and thoroughly corrupt, it could not become the Word of God, the Word made flesh. In the birth of the Christ we are all redeemed, if we will but accept it.

Third: The Word made flesh is an example to us. Our now-redeemed flesh is a home for grace and truth. The Gospel says, “We have beheld his glory,” and inasmuch as we see Jesus to be like ourselves we begin to realize how much God has given us. The farmer of our story wanted to become an example to those small birds, in order to save them from the cold. And so God’s Word has become for us an example, the One who shows us the Way.

Three truths, then, about ourselves in the Christ story: the Word became flesh, just like me; the Word becoming flesh lets me know that God loves me, even though I’m human – especially because I’m human; and the Word made flesh in Jesus is an example for me – I know I can love God and all of God’s Creation every bit as much as Jesus did.

There is much to consider in this season of stories. “If I could become a bird like them for just one moment I could show them the way to safety.” To understand that feeling is to begin to celebrate the true spirit of the Christ Mass, the coming of one like us to show us the Way to salvation.

May you have a peace-filled Christmastide which stays with you throughout the year! AMEN.

A Parish For All People!