Hope for a Bleak Midwinter: Luke 2:1-20 - Nativity of Our Lord

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Gentile, da Fabriano, ca. 1370-1427. Adoration of the Three Kings - Birth of Christ, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46685

Unlike much of today’s music, which is essentially manufactured to ensure broad commercial appeal, most of your favorite hymns—including Christmas carols—were inspired by the real-life experiences of their composers. When I say “experiences,” I mean struggles and sorrows.

Silent Night was composed because the church organ was broken, and the church needed a hymn they could without iton Christmas Eve. O Come All Ye Faithful was composed by a refugee who emigrated to France due to persecutions of Roman Catholics in England. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear was written during the buildup of tensions leading to the American Civil War.

As the years pass, we have stories about what our beloved hymns mean to us. In times of joy and in times of sorrow, we cling tightly to them.

With the pandemic raging and our congregations closed once again, I’ve found one Christmas hymn has captured the spirit of this moment: In the Bleak Midwinter.

The lyrics were composed by the poet Christina Rossetti, who imagined Jesus being born the harsh winter climate of England—rather than in Bethlehem, where it rarely snows. She and her family were living in England as political exiles, having been forced from their native Italy. Due to her father’s severe illnesses, she grew up on the edge of poverty. When she was just a teenager, she suffered a severe depression and dropped out of school. Her poetry provided a much-needed outlet for emotional and spiritual struggles. 

So, when we elevate Christmas to “the most wonderful time of the year” and idealize it with fairy tale family gatherings, extravagant gifts, and falling in love, we ignore the true spirit of what God was doing in that little town of Bethlehem, so long ago. 

If Jesus came to the world in the usual way; or was born in the lap of luxury like other royal babies, he would have instantly fallen short of everything God promised him to be. He’s not born of kings, for kings. He’s not the savior of those who don’t really need saving, because life is so easy and good. Just as he made his birthplace a manger, Jesus lives among the people for whom life is hard. 

That’s good news to us tonight, as we are worshipping apart from each other. That’s good news following an agonizing year, as Covid-19 continues to wreak devastation and death all around us. That’s good news for you, whatever grief, sorrow, or fear fills your heart this night. 

Remember what Mary and Joseph went through over the past nine months; that this humble yet faithful woman who bore the fullness of God in her body with Joseph at her side; delivering the baby Jesus in the most inhospitable of places; remember Jesus’s newborn lungs taking in the foul stench of animals. Remember the shepherds in their loneliness, toil, and poverty. Remember this new family, so vulnerable and exposed the shepherds could show up unannounced, and just walk right in. All was not well in Bethlehem—but there was rejoicing nonetheless, because God showed up. There was rejoicing—not in the warm, decorated beauty of church sanctuaries or even the comforts of home, but out in the elements, under the stars; away in the manger; in the bleak midwinter.

Despite us idealizing Christmas into something so grand that real life never quite measures up; Jesus comes alive where there is no celebration; where there is no feasting, where all is neither merry nor bright. This means that if you’re not “feeling the Christmas spirit” tonight, you’re in good company.

Whoever you are, whatever you are going through, Jesus is born for you. He is God’s love, for you. To rejoice is to receive him as your own. If all you can offer him tonight is your heartbreak and exhaustion, that’s enough. That’s all he wants! Just you!

And yet, with God’s children crying out in hunger and brokenness, you can’t stay wrapped up in our own affairs. Real rejoicing happens out there in the world, among the hungry, lonely, and forgotten. Christmas awaits you in whatever you share with another—be it a meal, a prayer, a listening ear, or your time. Like the shepherds were to Mary and Joseph, your loving presence gives the assurance of God’s loving presence. This bleak midwinter is not so bleak when love is given and received.

This may be the most difficult Christmas you’ve ever faced. And we have a lot more winter ahead of us. How can anyone rejoice in such dire circumstances? Because God has come to earth in Jesus Christ. Because you show up and share the love of Jesus. Because we show up as the Body of Christ and proclaim the love that turns the tide against all that has gone so wrong. 

And with Jesus journeying beside us, we will get through this bleak winter; and there will be rebirth, there will be healing, there will be rejoicing.