Luke 2:1-14 [15-20]
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.]
Are you going home for Christmas? So many of us hear that phrase repeated time and again. Checking in with family and friends, figuring out who might make it for Christmas dinner, wondering if we can fit everyone around the table now that we have two more with Kelly’s new girlfriend and Spencer’s new beau. We know that we can always fit in another chair or two, set up another table and use the everyday plates as well as the special china.
Are you going home for Christmas? Each of us feels a certain nostalgia at this time of the year when we think of home. Where do your thoughts go when you think of home? Is it that house in the city where you played hop scotch on the slate sidewalks or baseball in the park about 5 blocks away? Do you remember your parents coming home from work, your mother preparing supper as you and your sibblings set the table? Do you treasure heart warming feelings about home?
Are you going home for Christmas? Does the thought of home stir up not feelings of joy and security but uncertainty and threat? Do you remember an absent father or mother, verbal or physical abuse from those who should have cared for you, the isolation from friends because you were different, didn’t fit in, marched to you own drummer?
Are you going home for Christmas? In spite of the challenges of the winter storms creating chaos across the country, people always try to get home for Christmas. Home is more that that house in Elizabeth or Linden or Rahway or Roselle. Home brings together feelings of comfort, the security of parents and grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins whom we cherished as children that same deep comfort we create for our children. Home involves some elusive feeling we long for and desire but we also know the sense is as fragile as grandma’s English china or our own broken hearts.
Do you ever notice how all the Christmas stories in the bible never bring together home and Christmas? If anything, the bible assumes that that you will not be home for Christmas. When Jesus was born in a cold cave in Bethlehem, he found himself about 100 miles away from his home town of Nazareth. Shortly after his birth, this homeless baby flees as a refugee into exile in Egypt to evade a threat to his life by a ruthless leader. So many exiles from Ukraine, Venezuela, and across the world know the emptiness of being homeless at Christmas.
But there is a deeper sense of home which lies at the heart of the Christmas story. Before he took a baby’s flesh in the little village of Bethlehem, the Word of God left his heavenly home and made a home among us. He made a home among us to bring us back to our true home. That deep sense of longing that stirs in our hearts every Christmas, that deep desire for home, that profound yearning for a place points us to a place in the heart, an unfulfilled expectation that can only be filled by a love beyond this world. Christina Rossetti penned a beautiful carol with these words: “Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely love divine; love was born at Christmas: Star and angels gave the sign.”
That deep longing we feel at Christmas, that elusive sense of home, that seemingly unfulfilled desire comes from God and should lead us back to God. That longing for a home finds its fulfillment in the Baby born this night, the Baby who left his home in heaven to gather us together and bring us back home with him.
Are you going home for Christmas? Perhaps you may discover that you have already found your way home. For the Baby born in Bethlehem opens your heart to embrace a love to satisfy your deepest yearning.
Are you going home for Christmas? May you discover that you are already there.