I want to tell
you a true story about a woman named Sara. Sara was an adventurer. She traveled
all over the world as a journalist, covering the most newsworthy events of the
day. She was hungry for experience and she seized everything that was offered –
worked with all kinds of people in all kinds of places. Unafraid of a
challenge. Sara was always looking for something.
Eventually,
after many years, she slowed down, settled down. She bought a house, got a dog.
And she started taking walks around her neighborhood. This was the extent of
her travels now.
One morning on
her walk, she came by a church. It was a Sunday. She could hear the sounds of
worship from inside the building. Without really thinking about it, Sara went
inside. She found the congregation standing in the center of the room in a
circle. She walked right up to the circle and stepped into it. Someone handed
her the bread, the cup.
That morning
Sara met Jesus for the first time. It was the beginning of a new life for Sara. It happened just a short walk from her house.
All the other
journeys of her life had been preparation for this one. Those few simple steps
into the circle that transformed her.
During this
season of Advent we have been traveling to lots of interesting places – important
places: Rome, Jerusalem, cities that are in the news every day. Then we went to
Nazareth, a place that is most vivid in our imaginations, perhaps, as Jesus’
hometown but now is a bustling modern city.
And after
visiting all these places we ended up in Bethlehem. In a stable. At a manger.
Because God has something to show us there.
In this place we
are shown a people who looked for salvation for generation after generation. They sought a land of promise, a land of milk
and honey where they might live in peace.
In this place we
see a nation looking for a savior who would break the chains of slavery;
relieve them from oppression and war and hunger.
And in this
place we find a man and a woman, about to become parents, who were simply
looking for shelter and the safe delivery of their child. They weren’t certain they understood why they
were in this place at this time. But this was where the circumstances of their
lives and their faith had led them.
And we are here,
too. You chose to come here.
And that is,
perhaps, an unlikely event, that you ended up here.
Because you have
choices. There are so many places you can go, so many things you can do and
experience. There are so many ways to celebrate a day so festive and merry. You
could be at a party, at a dinner table loaded down with rich food and drink.
You could be exchanging gifts with friends. You could be standing under the
mistletoe, roasting chestnuts on an open fire, just a few of the things on
offer at this most wonderful time of the year.
You could be at
home on your couch watching Christmas movies, the endless stream of It’s a Wonderful Life, or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,
or any number of other classics.
There are so
many things you could be doing tonight, but you made the journey here, to this
sanctuary. You carved out time and space in your life to be here – in a time
when fewer and fewer people do. You did, so perhaps there is something in you
that knows God has something to show you.
Two thousand
years ago God showed the world a new thing in the birth of a baby in a stable
in Bethlehem. There the word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and
truth. Through this child, God continues to show us the way. The way of love. The
way of care for the least and the last, the most vulnerable in this world.
God’s way of love softens this hard world. Perhaps this is what you came here
to find.
You and I are
born to be seekers, every one of us. Some of us seek far and wide, traveling
the world to find ourselves, our purpose. Others of us confine our journeys to
no more than a few miles, seeking the answers right where we are. Many will
seek their own enrichment, often at the expense of others, but some will seek
that way of love and care, to bring more light into this world.
The light that
shines through the darkest night and will always guide our journey.
photo: ChurchArt.com
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