Long ago God spoke many times and in many
ways to our ancestors through the prophets.
And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an
inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son
radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he
sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat
down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This
shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave
him is greater than their names. Hebrews
1:1-4(NLT)
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and
faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one
and only Son. John 1:14(NLT)
Several years ago I got a fresh
reminder of the fact that, despite the crush of Christmas shopping, crowds,
hurry-up of extra meetings and worship services, it was the Word, Jesus,
the Christ, the Son of God who became flesh in that manger. It was not an idea or doctrine,
or a program
that was born – it was God who became “with us”, incarnate; eternity entering
time. The Messiah was born, and nothing
could ever be the same once the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
My reminder came in two
segments.
“Crises
in a church service happen in a split second, and you never see them
coming. I pick out offertories based on
the service, knowing the time it takes the ushers to pass the plates is longer
for Service 2 than Service 3. Also, as a
general rule, I play a shorter version for the early service because there are
fewer people in attendance. Timing
wouldn’t matter so much if the ushers would wait until I finish a piece and
begin the congregational hymn. However, they tend to start up the aisle when
they’ve finished their job without waiting for me. Over the years I learned it was better if I
looked over my shoulder and began winding up when the usher on the right side
of the church reached the last pew.
At the
early service today I had it about right.
The only usher I could see was about to walk behind the last pew to be
in position to go forward in the center aisle, and my music would end at just
the right time. John [Anne’s husband]
was there in the choir loft, and all of a sudden he jumped up and began to flap
his arms. Sometimes he tells me when the
men have finished, but this flapping denoted something much more urgent. ‘They are not ready,’ he hissed.
I
really don’t think people listen to filler music, but if anyone happened to be
paying attention today they would have heard the music reaching a
conclusion. Then there was a slight
pause, a fumble with a few notes and a resuming of the original piece somewhere
in the middle. Since I didn’t know what
was going on, I didn’t know how much longer to play. John told me later that someone sitting on
the middle aisle was writing a check, and the usher stood there waiting for
it.
I’d
like to tell the congregation once a year that I can’t see the middle aisle, so
if anyone is going to mess up the timing of the offertory, please do it on the
right side.[1]
Anne wasn’t ready for this
because didn’t see it coming. And how
could she? From the balcony, facing the
wrong way, her world is lopsided, and she can’t see the middle. How frustrating – whoever designed organs
facing the wrong way, anyway?
The ushers weren’t ready
because of the check-writer who wasn’t ready.
We’ll come back to this in a
moment.
My second reminder came the
next evening.
and my grandson in that red bowtie...priceless!
People were in a festive mood,
and the kids sang the obligatory numbers that choirs have been singing for
centuries.
They also sang “The Twelve Days
AFTER Christmas” (five gold rings that turned your fingers green, along with
three French hens that were turned into chicken soup to cure a cold….well, it
was a hoot!).
But that wasn’t Christmas – not
the word
become flesh.
The stage was decorated, the
kids wore elf hats and antlers; but that wasn’t Christmas, either!
What made it Christmas for me
was the rowdy crowd!
One group behind us must’ve had
bladder problems; I counted eight trips to the facility in the hour and fifteen
minute concert. The young lady behind me
was reclining on her seat, one leg draped over the arm of her chair, dangling
in the aisle; she was texting, playing video games, bouncing her baby sister on
her lap, talking to her boyfriend and singing (rather off key) from before the
opening curtain, straight through to Silent Night. It was like attending a combination football
game and tractor-pull. The crowd
distracted everyone who was trying to sing, play, direct or hear. Whew…talk about a “rowdy-crowdy”!
Back to our valiant organist in
the balcony: Anne was blind-sided by
events she couldn’t see in a lop-sided world; she was blinded from the main
event – she couldn’t see. Our “concert
rowdy-crowdy” was unknowing of the treasure those 7-9th grade kids
had practiced weeks to bring them.
Two events – one Blind and one
unknowing!
So, what’s the connection with the
word became flesh?
…God
came to the rowdy and blind…and he did it on purpose!
Humanity without God is blind
and unknowing. Most of our manger scenes
are quiet, very pastoral and serene. But
has farm life ever really been quiet?
With all due respect to Away in a Manger – when
cattle are lowing they are loud. They bellow because they’re ready for
something to happen…very ready! Goats,
sheep and pigs add to the noise too.
God chose to come to the middle
of a rowdy mess, like an interrupted offering, a distracted choir. That’s grace…we didn’t deserve it, but he
came anyway.
God chose to die for us – it
tells us the truth – we’re that messy!
He was full of grace and
truth…we’re that messy, and he loves us anyway.
He took our rowdy mess to the
cross; that is the glory we celebrate this morning.
He lived with us, died for us
and rose that his grace would carry us all the way to where he is now.
He died for us blind, lopsided
and rowdy all…
So what kind of child is this in the manger? He’s the one who came to us and loved us, blind,
lopsided, rowdy, warts and all!
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
Notes
[1]
Anne Maclin Mehrling
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