Christmas Eve Lk. 2:1-20 “Christmas Colors”
A window opened in the yellow straw, as a black nose, two pinkish ears and a gray paw poked out to see the strange sound in that stable. The gray little mouse saw the brown hues of the ox, the donkey and the camel in the silver glow of that star. In the glow of the lantern and fire burning brightly, he saw the lambs with their white coats shinning , baaing softly as their attention was riveted on the manger which used to be their feed trough. the little mouse began to wonder out loud about this strange occurrence in the stable by the inn.
He wondered,” Why are the mother and father here in this stable this night?” Why is there a baby sleeping quietly in the manger? Why are the inn keeper and his wife smiling so softly?”
The mouse could not answer his own questions, but the wise owl who had been sitting high in the rafters, flew down to the mouse and began to speak.
“You see, my little mouse friend, ( quite a statement coming from an owl, but this was indeed a strange night) those people are Mary and Joseph. They came to Bethlehem for the census, but because they had to travel slowly, they arrived late. The inn was full. But the inn keeper knowing they needed a quiet place because the baby was coming soon, thought this stable would be an ideal place. The baby was born a little while ago, they named him Jesus. The innkeeper and his wife are checking to see that everything is ok.”
The little mouse began to speak, but just then a band of shepherds dressed in drab brown clothing came in the stable breathless and full of excitement. The little gray mouse ran into the pile of straw for safety as the owl flew again to the rafters to watch. In the darkness of the straw, the mouse could not see or hear much. He couldn’t wait to peek out of his little window again, but for now he thought it best to remain hidden in the straw.
Time past. The mouse peeked out again. It was all quiet. the shepherds were gone, Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus were sleeping quietly. The little mouse looked up to the rafters, the wise owl saw him and flew down.
The mouse asked eagerly, “What happened? Why did the shepherds come?”
The wise owl answered, “What I am going to tell you, I couldn’t believe. But after the shepherds told Mary and Joseph so many time, I began to believe it, too.”
“Belief what?” ask ed the mouse.
“Oh,” said the owl, “ I guess I’d better begin at the beginning. The shepherds said they were attending their sheep on the hillside outside of Bethlehem. Everything was quiet, when an angel appeared in the sky.
The angel said, ‘Be not afraid, I bring you good news of great joy, for to you is born this day.... a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.’ The shepherds continued then the angel was joined by a whole host of angels singing glory to God in the highest. The shepherds told Mary and Joseph, the angel informed them where to find the baby here in the stable wrapped in white clothes lying in a manger. So they hurried to see if it was true. And sure enough it was true.”
The little mouse asked, “Isn’t this strange?”
The owl answered, “I heard May and Joseph talking aster everyone left. It seems they knew this baby was special because an angel appeared to them many months ago. Told them what name they should give to this baby. Imagine that.”
The little mouse could not understand all of this. He wasn’t as wise as the owl. But he understood that something very special, something very wonderful had happened in his stable, by his pile of yellow straw this night. he watched as the baby Jesus stirred in the manger and Mary dressed in a blue robe comforted him by humming softly and cradling him in her arms. It was such a wonderful sight. The donkey, the ox, the camel were all breathing softly and it seemed they were humming along. the owl flew to the top of the rafters again as the silver light from that strange bright star shone, it seemed, more brightly bringing a warm glow to all in that stable. the little mouse fell asleep feeling warm and happy, wondering what it all meant.
The little mouse saw, experienced and learned about the Christmas even, but he could not understand it. he fell asleep wondering what it all meant. I wonder how many of us really understand Christmas? I wonder if we are as perplexed as that little mouse at the events which we relive this evening and tomorrow? I wonder if there is a certain mystery about Christ that is just difficult to understand.
So this evening to help us understand this event better, I would like to look at the Christmas event through the vivid colors which were present at the manger as described by our little mouse friend.
First the color white. The angels were described as being white, so were the coats on the lambs, the baby was wrapped in white clothes, the angels announcing His coming appeared as a white light in heaven. And in our tradition, it is usually white outside as snow covers the land. the color white, through our history has stood for cleansing, for redemption. White has been the color of purity and newness.
As we try to understand the Christmas event, the color white reminds us of the redemption, the reconciliation, the cleansing, the newness that God brought to earth through the Baby born in the manger. The Christmas event, the Christ event, was the beginning of the process which brought the creation and the creator back together. The Christmas event. the Christ event, is centered on the baby born this night whose task it was to bring a reconciliation, an union, to the creator and the world. The Christmas event, the Christ event, is much more than the sweet sentiment of a Baby who is born in a drafty, stable. It is more than a time to exchange gifts, in is more than a time of celebration, it is the beginning of the process which joined us one again to the God who created all this and all that is to come. It is a time to celebrate reconciliation, it is a time to be joyous because an union has been established again, a bridge has been built between God the Father and his wayward children. This bridge was built by the body and blood of the baby born in the manger this night.
It is like the boy in the following: “A young girl ran away from from to get married. Her father was angry and hurt and declared he would never forgive her or wanted to wee her again. She was sorry for her act and wrote long letters seeking forgiveness. But still the father remained unforgiving. She eventually had a son. One day when the boy was old enough to run and play alone and idea came to her why not send her son to her father. He would be a living letter telling the father of her love for him and that she still very much wanted his forgiveness.
They drove to grandfather’s house. The boy had not been there before, but the house was as his mother remembered it. She told the boy to knock on the door and when Grandpa answered, he was to give him a big hug and a kiss. The boy went to the door, knocked, grandfather answered, the boy reached up, kissed him and give him a huge hug. His heart melted and the father motioned for the girl to come as she was standing just a few feet from the door.”
Reconciliation happened that day just as reconciliation happens this night between God and his children. Jesus is God’s sign of his love for us and his power to forgive us or wrongs. Jesus, the baby born in the manager, is God’s hug and kiss for each of us as he seeks to love us and forgive us as we are.
But Christmas is more than the color white. It is also the color brown, the color of the shepherds clothes, the drab color of the animals of burdened, the donkeys, the ox and the camels. Brown is the color of the manger holding the baby Jesus, brown was the color of the cross holding the broken body of Christ. Brown in the shepherds clothes is the brown of work and sweat, the brown of the burden of work, the drabness of life, the brokenness of toil, is the clear reminder that the Baby came to be with us, to walk along side of us in all the brokenness of life, in all that reminds us that we are indeed live in a fallen world.
The color brown reminds us that the Christmas event, the Christ event has not come to completion yet. We still live in the in-between time, where we have experienced the joyousness of heaven, but not it fullness. We live in the time when we need the comfort and the hope, the assurance of the promise of salvation as we live with and in the brokenness of the world.
“A Christmas card was printed long ago with the title, ‘If Christ had Not come.’ The card had a clergyman falling asleep and dreaming of a work in which no Christ had come.
In the dream, he saw a world at Christmas time or what was suppose to be Christmas time with no joyous decoration, no churches with spires pointing to Heaven, no cross on the churches and no joy. The doorbell rang and a little girl had come to ask the pastor to come because her mother was very sick. The pastor went, as he and the child stood near the bed, he reached for his Bible, turned to the New Testament to read some words of comfort, but surprisingly the bible ended with Malachi. There was no comfort, no encouragement, no Gospel of good news in the face of trails, they wept together in despair.
Two days later, he stood beside the woman’s coffin, but because Jesus had not come, there was not message of consolation, no mention of glorious resurrection, no heavenly home, not mention of a Saviour who walks with us through the valley of the shadow, only the mournful lament, ‘dust to dust and ashes to ashes’ was said as a long tearful farewell was experienced.
The minister awoke with start and realized was the Christmas event, the Christ event, really meant and sang refrain of O Come All Ye Faithful. In our brokenness, Christ comes.
Another color of this season which was present at the stable was the color red, the red of the fire which kept the tiny baby warm, the pink, rosy red skin of that newborn laying quietly in the manger, the red in today’s candy canes, the red of excitement, the happiness which comes because of the salvation which is ours because of this Christmas event, because e of this Christ event. There is a a joy, a happiness, an excitement, to this night because of the reconciliation, the salvation, the togetherness which is ours because of the baby born in the manger. Red is a tradition color for Christmas, the red of holly, the red of Poinsettias, the red of that jolly man;s suit, the red of the fire warming the home on a cold winter’s night, we could go on and on. Red, I think, is the color which ties all the joy, the excitement, the hope, the reconciliation, the promise, the salvation which began this night, ties it all in one huge package of peace.
A closing story which tells of the power of this night as told by Bishop Paul Weger the LCA bishop of the Iowa Synod.
“Ton and John Peterson had lost their father. He willed the farm to the, ‘to keep his sons together.’ It had not worked that way. John had married and lived in a small town with his family. Tom, who was single, lived alone in the old farmhouse.
‘John is always pre-occupied with his family,’ Tom thought, ‘I do more than my share of the work,’ he began to resent his brother John.
‘Tom is always so grouchy,’ thought John. ‘He is jealous of my wife and children.’ W wall of resentment built up between them.
They attended the same little church in town and sat on opposite sides and didn’t speak at the Christmas Eve service.
On the way home, John said to his wife, ‘Tom is alone and has no one to share Christmas. Maybe we can take a warm dinner to him.’ His wife prepared a delicious meal and it into the sleigh and John started out to the farm.
Tom, sitting alone, said to himself, ‘Life is too short for this. John is my only brother and he has it hard with his wife and family. I will load my sleigh with wood for the fire and gifts for the children.’ When he finished, he drove to town.
Down in the valley between the farm and the town, they met. They got out of their sleighs, walked toward each other. Stood for a moment in silence. Then they ran toward each other, hugged, embraced and shouted Merry Christmas so that they valley ran with their words of joy, peace and reconciliation.”
Amen
