Homily given by Rev. Frank Clarkson; instrumental music by Delia Black, Emma Clarkson, & Aidan Wertz, piano by Melody Jenkins Fried, singing by the UU Haverhill congregation!
We just sang “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” and I wonder, do you count yourself as among that number, as one of the faithful? In this tradition, we’re open about our theological diversity, we celebrate that we don’t all believe the same thing So I can imagine that some of you might be thinking, “I don’t know how faithful I am,” or might say, “Don’t callI me faithful!”
Over my years here, what I’ve learned about faith, often from you, is that it’s not so much about what you think or believe as how you live. Faith is about showing up, trying to keep an open and courageous heart for whatever comes. There’s a line from a poem that says it plain:
“I learned that whatever we say means nothing,
what anyone will remember is that we came.” (Julia Kasdorf)
Christmas invites us to show up, to be present to one another, especially to the people who need what we have to give. The story of God incarnate, come to earth as a tiny baby, asserts this radical thing—that the Holy is not out there somewhere, distant and aloof, but right here, in our midst. That we are more likely to sense God’s presence in common, everyday places and people, like Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the innkeeper. What about in ourselves, and in our companions?
Do you know that expression, “the kindness of strangers”? In recent days I have felt some of the most moving connections with people whose names I’ll never know; meeting in passing, just making eye contact, and saying, “Hey,” or “How you doin’?” Feeling moved and blessed by these encounters, it dawned on me that these people are like angels in human form, saying “I see you,” reminding me that God is here, with us, all the time, if we will only notice.
Who among us does’t need some this? The angels’ message, “Fear not—you don’t need to be afraid. I’m bringing you good news; that this day and every day Love is being born, right here, in your midst. And if you look up and look around, if you open your eyes and your heart, you will see signs of this Love all around you.”
We need Christmas to remind us that along with the trouble and injustice and hatred in our world, there is always goodness and grace. As John’s gospel put it, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Here’s my simple message on this night—it may be a stretch for some of you—but it’s this: you are here to be the presence of God in the world. You are here, and needed, to be God’s helping, healing hands in our world, in the particular ways that you have to give.
And to do this, you need to trust that what Rebecca Parker says is true: “You have to know your body as the home of God.”
“This is the key to the mystery
The Word became flesh.
We are the dwelling place.”
This is the gift and call of Christmas—to see ourselves as no less than bearers of the holy. Modern day angels in civilian clothes, disguised as you and as me; moving through our days, blessing those we meet. Blessing them.
May this be our song, and our prayer, in these days, and all the year long:
O holy Child of Bethlehem, O Spirit of love and grace, come to us, we pray;
Take away our fear, and hold us near: be born in us today.
So we can do our part to help to heal and bless our world.
Now and forever,
Amen.