by Rev. Carole Horton-Howe
Please note that the following sermon text was provided prior to the audio recording. The two versions may differ substantially.
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.
—Luke 2:1-20 (NRSV)
Merry Christmas! It’s Christmas Day. And it’s time to celebrate the day when everything changed. This glorious morning we see both a sort of grand finale in God’s work through the extraordinary choices of humble people. And a grand opening of possibilities for them and for us.
Remember Mary who courageously said yes to God’s call to be the mother of God on earth at tremendous personal risk. And Joseph, a righteous man faithful to God, who could have abandoned her, but who listened to God’s angel and made the choice to take his pregnant fiance as his wife.
Today we hear about the angels appearing to the shepherds, announcing the birth of Jesus not to a royal court but to a few guys looking after sheep. In spite of being half scared to death they made the choice to leave what they knew for the possibility of something extraordinary.
Fr. Bill pointed out in his sermon last night that Jesus came at time when the Jewish people lived under systems of power and rules. Power of the Roman rulers whose harsh treatment left them poor and abused sometimes to the point of death of they refused to worship the emperor as their god. And rules – the rules of life that insisted on compliance in order to be good standing with God. And these too were difficult and oppressive. Their lives were one hardship after another in poverty and brokenness. God sees them, hears them, knows their needs and loves them. Into this world comes a tiny baby, God’s gift to mend their broken lives and offer them nothing less than salvation.
This process of mending reminds me of an ancient Japanese art called Kintsugi. A literal translation is “golden joinery” but a better understanding might be gold mending. It is the process of mending broken pottery with gold. The Kintsugi master sees flaws and imperfections, and applies precious gold to create an even stronger vessel, even a beautiful piece of art
I’ve asked Andrea to share a photo of a bowl that has been mended by a Kintsugi master. You can see that it’s pretty ordinary. Any of us that have eaten rice or soup in a Chinese restaurant have probably held a bowl like this. When it broke, though, it wasn’t discarded. Brokenness is part of its history to be seen, rather than something to disguise. Every break is unique and instead of trying to repair something in a way that covers or erases the breaks, kintsugi actually highlights the “scars" as a part of the design. And it’s a lovely work of art now.
When I was unpacking the figures for our own crèche I came across this little guy, one of the sheep. It looks to have broken in at least 7 or 8 pieces. He’s clearly been put back together. Maybe one of you knows the story. Maybe you were the one who it back together. It couldn’t have been easy. But here he is. It’s not fine gold, it’s more like Elmer’s glue from someone’s kitchen drawer. But it is whole and present along with all the other figures in the crèche. His presence is important.
Using this as a metaphor for our own healing points us to an important lesson: Sometimes in the process of mending what is broken, we actually create something unique and resilient. A mended Kintsugi piece is believed to be more beautiful, more valuable and stronger because it has been transformed by suffering out of suffering.
You might relate better to the beautiful Japanese bowl with it’s gold mending or the little lamb with globs of glue. But either one points us to God’s redemptive transforming love that is present in the manger on Christmas morning.
We are all broken because of pain. We have all been dropped and shattered in some way. For some, the shards are bigger than others but the brokenness is all the same.
What is on offer today is salvation. Not trying to wipe out or cover up our wounds but filling them in and becoming whole again. Salvation is wholeness. It isn’t perfection. The cracks and breaks aren’t going away, we’ll always have them. But if we lose ourselves in the joy of the coming of a savior we will be made whole – stronger, more resilient and beautiful.
Starting today, with this story, we have God’s qualities of forgiveness, joy, mercy, and compassion in the teaching and life of Jesus Christ that binds us back together with love. He makes us whole. He restores us. Because of his life, death, and resurrection, we have life on earth transformed and life eternal with God.
No matter how many times we hear this story, we can be always be amazed, feel the drama and passion so that our eyes may be opened once more to things we may not have seen or heard before.It is the unfolding story of the birth of Jesus, named “God is with us” and the start of our own story of hope, healing, wholeness and redemption through God’s loving intervention and presence. Amen.