The Good News!

Welcome! I am the Rev. Ken Saunders. I serve as the rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Greeneville, Tennessee (since May 2018). These sermons here were delivered in the context of worship at the various places I have served.

[NOTE: Sermons (or Homilies) are commentaries that follow the scripture lessons, and are specifically designed to be heard. They are "written for the ear" and may contain sentence fragments and be difficult to read. They are NOT intended to be academic papers.]

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Year A - Christmas Eve

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Trinity Episcopal Church 
Towson, MD
December 24, 2016

Year A - Christmas

Isaiah 9:2-7
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
Psalm 96


We have just heard an amazing story… An amazing story of a miraculous birth… A wonderful story of a child that was born who was called Jesus (God Saves)… Emmanuel (God With Us). A child who, before he grew up, was referred to as Lord and King.
           
The lesson that was just read from the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of Luke is probably one of the most well know chapters in all of holy scripture. Folks who consider themselves Christian, who have heard the story before, but probably couldn’t tell you what chapter or book it’s from, could probably recite a few verses of Luke 2 from memory. That’s how well known it is... A story this deep and this meaningful goes deep into your soul and gets into your DNA… It becomes part of you.

Can you remember the first time you remember hearing the story? It could have been when you were very young, or it could have been just last year, or last week, or even 3 minutes ago. Remember? Remember how it made you feel deep down inside? Remember the simplicity, the mystery, the magnificence, and the harshness… all rolled into one tight-knit, complex story.

Most of you know that I have been working on my Christmas sermon for a little over a month now, amid all the other complexities of my life. Kelly is not home this Christmas, she continues to improve, but will not be discharged from the hospital until Tuesday. So, it is through this lens that I am thinking about the story… the story that is deeply part of who we are. I decided to have you think back a bit because that is what I have been doing these past few weeks…

I can remember when my sister and I were little… I’m talking little-little…  too little to go to “late church” on Christmas Eve. My parents would go to midnight mass and we would stay with my Grandparents who had come to spend the Holidays with us.

But before my sister and I went off to bed, we would always be allowed to open one Christmas gift from under the tree. I was ALWAYS a new pair of pajamas. See, my dad was a photographer, so the Christmas morning outfit had to be just right for pictures!

After we opened the gift, my sister and I would crawl up in my father’s lap on the couch in the living room, and he would open up the Bible to Luke, chapter 2. He would open it up and start reading, “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed…

And with the poetry and rhythm of the Victorian English in the King James version, the story was shared. Shared… shared outside of the church, shared in the comfort of a living room in a father’s lap… shared while surrounded by family. Shared within a family by a family.

My family wasn’t uber-religious. They were just simple believers with a deep and profound faith. A deep faith that was developed, sustained and nurtured by practice. We went to church and practiced our faith. Practiced, because proper preparation takes practice. So, we showed up and participated… I would like to think it played a part in my continuing faith formation. I think that it has helped me become the person of faith that I am today…

There is another tradition in our home around Christmas time. It is watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas Special.” Some of you may have seen it. It has run every year since December 1965. 51 years of Charlie Brown and Linus and the Peanuts gang, the poor raggedy excuse of a tree, and of course, snoopy and his overly decorated dog house…

The part of that animated special that always sticks out for me was the part during the preparations for the Christmas play at their school, directed by Charlie Brown, of course, Good Ole Charlie Brown asks the question, “does anyone know what Christmas is all about?”

And then you could have heard a pin drop when Linus perks up and takes center stage and the spotlight goes on him and he starts reciting a portion of Luke 2 that we just heard read…

“And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

And then simply turns back to Charlie Brown and says, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

I must have seen that show 40 or 50 times. I know that I’m only 49 years old, but some years I watched it twice! It wasn’t till this year when I read something that was written about the creation of the famous Christmas animation. Then I watched it again, and understood that Charles Shultz, with the wonderful characters and animation, gave us a message within the Christmas story. Gave us a message that we would only notice if we were paying careful attention to what was going on in the action of the scene.

The character of Linus, who was Lucy’s brother, was an intelligent, yet insecure and somewhat immature young man who carried a security blanket and sucked his thumb right up into elementary school. This character, Linus, who needed to hold onto his blanket to feel safe to feel secure in this cruel and broken world…

When he gets to the part where he says that the angel said, “FEAR NOT,” he drops his blanket and continues to tell the story.

At the words, “Fear not,” he releases everything in this world that he holds onto to feel safe and trades it for the peace of this newborn hope...
Fear not, when we would be otherwise be terrified and riddled with fear cowering in a corner In a puddle of our own tears…

Fear not, of the evils of this world of the destruction and danger and death around the block, down the street, and over the seas…

Fear not, of the powers and regimes, of kingdoms and presidents and governments and economies and other principalities and prisons, both physical and psychological.

“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Brothers and sisters, this is the day where we start anew. Start anew with a fresh hope that God is indeed with us… Immanuel

A fresh hope that comes to use amid the terror, death and destruction that we bring upon our selves…

A fresh hope, born in a stable in Bethlehem of Judea those many years ago.

I asked you to stop for a minute to remember. Remember the ancient story and how it was revealed to you. How you came to know the story. It could have been through a parent a father or mother, or another relative. Or it could have been a friend, or a pastor, or teacher. Or possibly you could have heard it the first time when watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Or you could have possibly heard it for the first time tonight.

Regardless of how or where, you’re here tonight because this story means something to you.

It hopefully means that you haven’t given up in your quest for understanding…

It means that regardless of how bad things are or how bad they may get, you know that your real security… your real faith is based on things that can’t always be explained…

It means that we trust in a truth revealed to us by fulfilled prophecy…

It means that we believe in a story that brings hope, love, and peace in the midst of despair…

A holy story about a holy child who is God with us…
A holy child, Jesus, who is God saving us…

“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Hearing the story again, what does it mean to you? Is it a part of you, part of your DNA that you will share with others? How will you let it change your life? How will you let it change the world?


Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace!                

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