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Pastoral Pondering:
Never losing sight of the true reason for the season |
Christmas has come. I am really aware of that this week as I anticipate
several special events and a couple of extra meetings and try to tidy up the house before
you all come to the open house on Sunday.
I love this season and the hustle and bustle, the twinkling lights and good
cheer, but sometimes things get a little frenzied and I feel a touch of
“grinchiness” in some of the people I meet.
The “Ho Ho Ho” gets all mixed up in the “Bah, humbug,”
which leaves little room for tidings of comfort and joy. At such times, I find that
humming “Silent Night” helps to slow down the frantic pace and to bring Christ
back into the Christmas scene. The gentle rhythm of the Christmas cradle song can lull me
to a place of quiet contentment.
This Advent I have been thinking about the message of that carol. We sing it
quietly, reflectively, on Christmas Eve in the darkness of the sanctuary as we light our
candles to fill that sacred space with a soft glow and a sense of awe.
That is always a high and holy moment for me that gladdens my heart and
restores my soul. But I wonder, was that what it was really like? The carol sings of peace
and calm and a sleeping baby but ... how calm was it? If we pay close attention to the
story of the gospel we’ll see that “calm” is perhaps not the best word to
use to describe the circumstances of Jesus’ birth.
Bethlehem was bursting at the seams with the crowds. So many people had
gathered for the census that there were no vacancies anywhere. People wandered the
streets, slept where they could and some caroused into the the wee small hours.
In the village square, all was not calm.
The shepherds who guarded Bethlehem’s sheep were solitary types who
enjoyed sitting in the stillness and darkness, but their peace was disturbed by a whole
flock of angels who sang at the tops of their voices and told them to get up and hurry
into Bethlehem right this minute.
The shepherds were quaking in their shoes. Out in the fields, all was not
calm.
There were those astrologers. Or were they kings, or just wise guys? They
came following a celestial sign, bearing an odd assortment of gifts. They traveled a long
way, at great expense, to witness the beginning of a whole new era. They were anxious to
reach their destination.
Out in the desert, all was not calm.
Then there was the whole political scene. The Romans were enforcing a census
so more taxes could be levied.
The people were restless, chafing under the oppression of foreign rule. Herod
was growing suspicious about the threat of a new ruler and was determined to maintain what
little power he had.
Throughout the land, all was not calm.
“All is calm?” Well yes. There, right there at the manger. Where
they knelt and gazed at the baby and considered all his potential and hoped for promises
to be fulfilled.
There, right there, even in the midst of all the noise and chaos and
confusion, we can know Christ’s presence, feel the radiance of his love and see the
dawn of redeeming grace.
“Christ the savior is born.”
Jane Shaffer is the pastor of the First United Methodist Church. |
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From Dec. 27,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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