William Sloane Coffin, Jr., was, for several years, the pastor at Riverside Church in New York City. In his autobiography, he told of going back to France and visiting some of the places where he had been in World War II. One of those places was the town of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. The 82nd Airborn Division had dropped into that town.
While there for his visit, the mayor showed William around. They went inside the village church. The mayor pointed to a beautiful stained-glass window that depicted the 82nd Division parachuting into the town. On the window above the paratroopers, was the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child. The mayor said, “We designed the window like this so we might never forget that night.”1
When I read that, I remembered seeing that scene in the movie, The Longest Day. I remember how one parachute caught on the steeple of the church and one soldier was hanging there. It was an unforgettable scene.
I also remembered talking with a member of the church I served who was in that parachute jump. He had seen the movie, also. But, he did not need to see it to remember what happened that day, for he had experienced it. He had been there that day and that experience had been burned into his soul.
Here we are now on the other side of Christmas, with the feeling that it has come and gone. It is something we have done, and unfortunately for many of us, there is a sense of relief that it is over and also a bit of a let-down that nothing more has come about in our lives because of it.
On this side of Christmas we can hold onto the wonder of it all. Let the truth of what has happened in the great Christ event be for you an experience that has been burned into your soul.
I would like for us to think together about this: In the darkness of uncertainty, there is the light of wonder.
On this side of Christmas, the light of Bethlehem still shines on. Even though the times in which we live are uncertain, as all times are, and even though our own personal lives have times of uncertainty, the light of Bethlehem still shines. Let the light of wonder still shine upon you.
For those people who gathered there in Bethlehem on that night so long ago, there was a sense of wonder at the things they had heard, seen, and experienced. It was a night like no other, one they would never forget. We have not forgotten it, either.
Saint Luke tells us that when the shepherds came into town and found the child they “made known the saying which had been told them.” They shared what they had heard from the angels, ... and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
I have no way of knowing what happened to those shepherds after that night. It is difficult for me to imagine them ever getting over it. I cannot help but believe that they always remembered it, held onto it, and kept alive in their hearts the wonder of it. Perhaps, some of them were still around when Jesus came to Jerusalem, many years later. I can almost see them saying to each other, “Remember that night long ago. We knew then there was something special about him, and now here he is.”
I know Mary and Joseph held onto the wonder of that night. Parents always hold on to the wonder of birth, and this birth was a special birth. Saint Luke said Mary “... kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
Saint Luke wrote that “... the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” This experience turned them toward God. They worshiped God because of what had taken place.
In the experience of these people, caught up in the first Christmas, we see some hints for ourselves.
They lived in times more uncertain than our own. Those were dangerous times. They had none of the advantages and safeguards we have today. Human life was not worth much. The domination of Rome made life uncertain at best.
Yet, in spite of this, their lives were filled with wonder.
Do you feel like you are up against a wall? Do you think your life is filled with uncertainty and the darkness of it has fallen upon you? Let the light of wonder shine upon you and in you. Remember the things we see in this story:
I
Let the song of the angels continue to fill your heart.
When the shepherds came to Bethlehem, their hearts were full of what they had heard from the angels. It was because of that announcement that they said to each other, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.” When they got there, they shared what they had been told. From then on, the rest of their lives there must have been a song in their hearts.
Some of us need to catch that now. All of us need this song in our hearts, the song of the angels, the great anthem of Christmas.
What if we could take Christmas to heart? What if we could make it a part of us and internalize all of this?
Maybe that would keep us from making Christmas something we can merely find our way through and then pack up in a box and put away until next year.
When we do that, Christmas is something we get over quickly.
A preacher went to see an older lady in his church. She had not been well, so he wanted to check on her. As they talked, he noticed a bowl of peanuts on a table by the chair where he sat. He ate one and then another. Soon, they were all gone. He said to her, “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve eaten all your peanuts.” She replied, “That’s okay. I’ve already eaten the chocolate off them. That’s the only part of them I could have.”
Some of us live like someone has eaten the chocolate off our peanuts, licked the stripe off our candy cane, or popped our little bubble. Instead of being on top of the world, we live down in the dumps.
We let the uncertainty of life overwhelm us, but it does not have to be that way. Let the song of the angels continue to fill your heart.
Remember that Jesus was born into a world that was down in the dumps, filled with fear, frustration, suffering, and uncertainty. He was born to be the light of the world, in a very dark time.
Several years ago, on Christmas Eve, I drove through the streets of our town and watched the falling snow. I looked at every house and saw trees lit up, candles in the windows, and I listened to Christmas music on the radio. I became caught up in the wonder of Christmas. Yet, I went by homes where I knew there had been pain, sorrow, and suffering. I found myself saying, “God, bless the people in that house.” Then, I would come to another home up the street and I would say, “God, bless the people in that house.” The beauty, serenity, and the appealing thoughts of Christmas, with thoughts of quiet streets in Bethlehem, do not get our minds off the way life is. They remind us of life and the great needs all of us have, the great problems all of us face.
That is what this little boy Jesus is all about. Let the song of the angels continue to fill your heart — “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will among men.”
Remember this as well:
II
Let the light of the star continue to shine in you.
The light of the star pointed to where Jesus was to be found. Like the Wise Men from the east, the shepherds must have followed the light of the star to where he was.
Saint John began his Gospel by writing, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
The light of the star still points to where he is to be found, and it is a reminder of him who is the light of the world.
He is the light which shines upon us and warms us with the warmth of God’s love.
He is the light which shines around us to light up the road we travel, to help us find our way.
He is the light which shines through us, and calls us to be light and live light and share light, even when there is darkness all around.
There is still a great deal of darkness in this world. God calls us to be people of the light.
During the fourteenth century, the Black Death swept across Europe, taking the lives of thousands of people. In some towns, every person died. Many people locked themselves up in their homes, hoping to avoid the illness. On Christmas Eve, in the year 1353, in the town of Goldberg, Germany, there was a man who thought he must be the last person alive. He remembered the joy of other Christmas seasons. He decided that with his family and friends gone, he did not want to live any longer. He walked out into the street to face death. As he walked along, he sang a Christmas song, and was surprised that soon another voice joined his own. Several people came out and joined him, and when they reached the end of the street, they found they had a group of 25 men, women, and children. They all sang together. Then, they returned to their homes and began to put their lives back together again. The worst had passed. A tradition was begun there that lasted for centuries. Each Christmas Eve, the people march through the streets and sing these words:
To us this day is born a child.
God with us.
His mother is a virgin mild.
God with us. God with us.
Against us who dare be?2
In spite of the darkness that is in the world, this light can shine in us. It must shine in us and we must let it shine. We must let it shine because there is still much darkness that would attempt to stand against God.
The light of Christ shines in the midst of darkness, a darkness which cannot overcome the light.
Let the light of the star, the light of wonder, shine in you.
Then, finally, this:
III
Let the wonder of his birth continue to transform you. This is also something about Christmas we need to take with us.
The shepherds made known all they had heard. Saint Luke tells us “all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” Then, the shepherds went away praising God for all they had heard and seen.
We can let the good news of Christmas, and the joy of Christmas fill our lives with a sense of wonder which we can take away with us.
This sense of wonder can transform our lives and our living and give us a new purpose, a new direction, a new destiny.
This will lift our lives and our living above the ordinary and the mundane.
A farm couple was sitting in front of the fire one night. The wife said, “Jed, I think it’s raining. Why don’t you go see?” Without looking up, Jed replied, “Ah, just leave me alone. Why don’t you just call in the dog and see if he’s wet?”
Wouldn’t you hate to live with that kind of attitude? We do not have to live that way. We can let the wonder of the birth of Christ transform us and our living.
Some of you will remember the first of the great disaster movies, The Poseidon Adventure. It is still shown on television. It was the story of a ship that was turned upside down by a storm at sea. The movie centered around the surviving passengers searching for a way out of the ship. One of the central characters, the Reverend Scott, found a way to search for an escape from the rising waters within the ship. He climbed up a Christmas tree and tried to get others to follow him up to the next level of the ship. He kept calling them, “Come on up. It’s this way.” Only a few would go with him. The others were afraid and one shouted back at him, “Why don’t you mind your own business?” He was. He was trying to save them.
When I saw that, I could not help but think of how Jesus, the one born to be a king, dared to climb the tree in order to save us, and how he calls back to us, “It’s this way.”
In all the uncertainties of your own life, take this away from Christmas with you. In the darkness of uncertainty, let the light of wonder shine on you. It will fill your life with joy and wonder.
1. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., Once To Every Man (New York: Atheneum, 1978), p. 85.
2. Donald J. Shelby, “King Of The Nations, Their Desire And Cornerstone,” Santa Monica Sermons, December 4 (Santa Monica, California: First United Methodist Church, 1983), p. 7.