Midnight Mass 2018 St. Paul’s Athens

Canon L W Doolan

 

It all began even before the mists of time, if such a thing were possible. Tonight we pick up the story at a certain point. This episode begins with an Archangel appearing to a young woman in Palestine, and a conception that is a mystery, because it defies all logic. But then the Holy Trinity is not about logic.

God, in the form of Gabri-el, is present at this mystery; the begetting of the Son is taking place; the work of the Holy Spirit is at hand. This is an epiphany of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son , and Holy Spirit. This is truly a moment pregnant with grace and good news.

What originates as a mystery results in the very real evidence, proof; a baby born of Mary and placed in a crib. What could be more of a challenge to the intellect than this – God incarnate lying as a helpless baby in a crib. The first sign of breath accompanied by a cry of a tiny innocent infant, the last sign of breath on a cross accompanied by the words, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’

Christ is born and placed in a crib so that all the world could come and adore; Christ is killed on a cross, so that all the world could come and adore. At one point in the spectrum, ‘O come let us adore him Christ the Lord!’ At the other end of the spectrum, ‘we adore Thee, O Christ, because by thy precious cross and passion Thou hast redeemed the world.’ The Christ of the crib is the Christ of the Cross.

And what was changed by the crib and the cross? At one level nothing in particular. Bethlehem, the city of King David’s family, was crowded with people; inns were full and life was going on according to the requirements of civil registration, probably so that tax could be collected more efficiently. Golgotha, the place of the skull, in Jerusalem was also crowded and bustling. Huge numbers were there for Passover and Sabbath, a special day, and the Romans crucified so many people, it was common place – but life didn’t stop so people could watch the procession of someone called Jesus from Nazareth.

So both days were pretty normal days by the world’s standards.  A child born in a manger; a man dead on a cross – not really newsworthy, and all fairly ordinary events in their day.

So what changed? Nothing – and yet everything! In these two anonymous events God was revealing his love and compassion for humanity. Crowds would never take notice of it, because that is how people are with God. We don’t always see, we don’t always hear, we don’t always respond, we don’t always thank, we don’t always rejoice. So often God’s mysteries are going on all around us, and we are oblivious.

Yet, everything has changed, and nothing can ever be reversed. As St. John the Theologian informs us in his masterly introduction to his gospel, ‘to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God’.

So what changed through the crib and the cross? We are changed, and all who have eyes to see and ears to hear. We are changed, and the world is changed because God has transformed us and shaped us by crib and by cross, and he calls us, summons us, invites us to share in the life of this profound mystery. May you share deeply in the joy of this mystery, and may God bless you now and always.