Christmas Day (Isaiah 9.2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2.11-14; Luke 2.1-20)

It is a known fact that Christmas has become quite romanticized and commercialized. I’m quite tempted to talk with you about how much you actually spent on Christmas decorations or gifts. Facing this rather distorted image of Christmas in which we might feel forced to be happy or jolly as if all the troubles are going away, I would like to reflect on a couple of biblical images from today’s gospel reading: a single teenage pregnant girl with her fiance, a manger, and shepherds.

First, we might often forget the fact that Mary, the mother of Jesus was a teenager. Biblical scholars say that she probably was around 13-15 years old. She became pregnant even before she actually got married to Joseph. We can imagine that the situation both Mary and Joseph were put into wasn’t a very good one. It would draw social and cultural judgment and gossips. In the case of Mary, she had to respond to the call of God and say “yes” (fiat) to that call in which she as a virgin would bear a child who would be the Son of God. This probably was a terrifying and daunting task for her. What about Joseph? He also had to respond to the call of God and say “yes” (fiat) to that call in which he would marry Mary no matter what.

This household of Joseph and Mary wasn’t the ideal one from our modern perspective. They’re not economically well off. Their social status is not of the middle or upper class. They lived in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. Nathaniel, one of Jesus’ disciples, once said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) This Holy Family, we call, is not of the privileged class but of one of the vulnerable families. And now they’re in Bethlehem as refugees. Bethlehem was a besieged city, governed and controlled by the Roman Empire. It is still a besieged city in our time. It is in Palestine.

In this besieged city of Bethlehem, these refugees Joseph and Mary have no place to stay. Of course, there’s no place to keep their newborn baby but in a manger. Have you ever seen a real manger? I have. Horses or cattle eat from this long open box. It’s a feeding trough. The only available cradle for Jesus is this manger. “God” in Jesus of Nazareth wrapped in bands of cloth is laid in the trough where food for horses or cattle is contained.

And this is where the shepherds find the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, good news for all people. Speaking of shepherds, their occupation is not of a noble one. In Jesus’ time, Shepherds are a despised occupation. They live in the fields, watching their flock by night. Their social status generally was very low. In today’s gospel reading, however, these are the people that the angel of the Lord stands before them and the glory of the Lord shines around them. They’re the first witnesses who hear this good news of God becoming flesh, God being born in this world.

Now, let us gather all these pieces: Mary and Joseph fleeing from Nazareth to Bethlehem as refugees, giving birth and laying their son Jesus in the manger, first surrounded and greeted by the shepherds who belong to a vulnerable group. God chooses the womb of a single teenage refugee girl who is not of a noble family. God chooses to be born as a powerless and helpless baby in the besieged city, Bethlehem. God chooses to lay God’s very own self in the manger. God chooses to be greeted and welcomed by the humble shepherds.

It seems God chooses to join and be present in the places where neither divine nor human glories can possibly appear. God chooses to be in the places where nothing good can come out. We also have other images where God rides on a donkey, not on a chariot or a horse. God carries the cross where he is crucified and killed. Where God chooses to be born and with whom God chooses to be matter to us Christians. God’s kingdom is never to be found in the Roman Empire of Augustus. God’s power is never to be found in the worldly power we might want to possess whatever we want. God’s glory is never to be found in luxurious places or materials.

Instead, God’s kingdom is born out of the womb of the vulnerable teenage refugee girl. God’s kingdom is lived out and realized in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth who burns “all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood.” (Isaiah 9:5) God’s power is shown from the power of the cross where God makes Himself totally vulnerable to suffer together with those who are still suffering in this world. God’s power is revealed in the most powerless ones. God raises not only the crucified Jesus but also resurrects all other crucified ones in Jesus. God’s glory is present in Jesus’ love and compassion he shows to the poor. God’s glory is still present in those who seek the face of Jesus in the poor and become sisters and brothers with the poor. God’s kingdom, power, and glory are most vividly seen and revealed in the most vulnerable, marginalized, and darkest places of the world.

So during this season of Christmas, if we want to see Jesus, it’s the manger where he is to be found. It’s the besieged city, Bethlehem, now in Palestine. He’s to be surrounded by the refugees who have no place to stay in. He’s greeted and welcomed by the shepherds living in the fields.

And before anywhere else I invite all of us to meet Jesus first in our hearts, particularly in some dark places where we have our wounds and scars that we would like to cover up and hide from others. That’s the darkness in our hearts. And in that darkness comes the Light. In that darkness, through those wounded cracks in our hearts shines the Light of Christ. And because of this great light in our hearts shining through the wounded cracks and healing our scars, we become the mirror of Christ which reflects his light and shines to the world of darkness.

Because of the light becoming flesh in the midst of darkness, Christmas, the birth of Jesus, invites us Christians to proclaim to the world that the Light has come to the world. No matter how dark the world is becoming, darkness can never overcome the Light. Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” This is what the angel of the Lord does in today’s gospel reading, being able to see the light despite all the darkness. The angel sings in the lowest and darkest places, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” This is the song we are also called to sing. We sing the glory of God in the highest heaven in the lowest places and the peace of God Jesus brings.

So it is my prayer for all of us here that may we proclaim this Light in the darkest places of our hearts and of our world. May we respond to the call to become the mirror that reflects the Light of Christ. And lastly, may our hearts be filled with the joy our Lord and Savior Jesus brings to places of suffering and despair as we enter the season of Christmas. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.