Isaiah 9:2-4,6-7                        Psalm 96 or 96:1-4,11-12        Titus 2:11-14                Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

The saying “absolute power corrupts, absolutely” is one that comes from the experience of humanity.  For centuries, people have cried out for justice and factions have emerged that bring with them a new sense of hope, a promise of a new future.  Many have succeeded in gaining control of the nation only to fall to temptation.  And why is this?  Why does one party take control, only to become what they criticized?  Why does the control of those in authority keep shifting from one side to another, then back again?  Is it because absolute power does corrupt absolutely?  Is it possible to live a life where temptation is everywhere and not yield to the temptation to think of ourselves, our wants and desires, first? 

Over and over again, the people of the tribe of Israel yielded to temptation and over and over again God called them back into relationship with him.  We see this in the story of the great Exodus, where God lead them out of bondage in Egypt, through the wilderness and into the Promised Land.  God spoke to the people through Moses – God gave them the Ten Commandments.  Yet, when they were afraid, or when they had all they needed, the people of Israel turned from God and worshiped false idols.  In the Promised Land they forgot the giver of all gifts and so they lost everything – they were conquered by the Babylonians and sent into exile.  It was not until they were in exile that the people listened to the prophets who spoke of God’s desire for the people of Israel.  They remembered the Law and Prophets and understood these were also gifts from God, gifts that they had received to teach them what it meant to live in peace with each other and God.  God wanted good things for his people, but not at the expense of relationships.

The Israelites were allowed to return to the Holy City of Jerusalem, but they continued to struggle with what God wanted as we do today.  The Romans took control and were the ones in power.  The Jewish authorizes kept the people focused on Jewish Law.  The people longed for the day the prophets had foretold – the day when a Messiah, Christ, would restore their Holy Kingdom.  As frightening as it might have been to have the angels appear, the shepherds had to have been awestruck.  Imagine, hearing angels say, “unto us a child is born this day, a child of the Most High, a child of the house of David – the Messiah!” 

And where was this hope of the future born?  The Christ child was born in a stable, wrapped in a cloth and laid in a manger!  A manger, a trough used to feed donkeys, and cattle!  The hope of the people, the great messiah, son of the Most High was not born in a castle, was not even born in a home, but among the animals.  

Equality as puzzling is the fact that the angels announced this to shepherds!  Not the priests and the Levi’s, not those in power who held authority in the church, but to shepherds tending their flocks by night.  Perhaps the angels did first appeared to those in authority, but if angels did, it is clear the religious leaders did not hear what the angels were saying.  We know that those in power did not welcome the message of Jesus when he spoke in the synagogues.   Jesus came not as one in authority, but he came as one with authority.  And, as we know, he was indeed the messiah – but the salvation he brought to humanity was not what anyone expected.  Kingdoms and nations have come and gone, but Christ’s message lives on today. The difference is that Christ’s message was and is God’s message.  To fight corruption, to resist temptation, we must keep our focus on God – not ourselves.

Since creation God has been trying to teach us to live in relationship with him and with each other, but over and over again, God’s people have forgotten this.  God therefore came to us, to live and die as one of us.  In Christ, God taught us that power and authority in society is not to be desired.  What is to be desired is to live in peace.  This begins with our relationship with God, through Christ, and spreads into our relationships with our family, friends and the community in which we live.  The peace that God has promised is one that will come when we accept Christ into our lives and allow him to work through us.  It is in the loving relationships we establish with other.   But, in the end, it is the loving relationship with God that sustains us in the midst of our grief and in the midst of our struggles.  In Christ we have hope and we have a future.  This is the good news!  Christ’s birth gives us hope for our future.  God is living among us and in Christ we receive life itself. 

In this week’s Communiqué, our bishop wrote:  “To whom does the good news go?  On the first Christmas it was to shepherds.  Today it is just as likely be to a neighbor who is lonely, or to a mother whose children are ill, or to immigrants who speak little English.  And we are the angels (literally, the messengers) through whom the glad tidings are spread.  We don't need to head to Bethlehem to hear the good news; if we are God's messengers, then it will be heard as clearly in Helena and Mena and Mountain Home as it once was in the Palestinian countryside.”

            Yes, we are all God’s messengers, and we proclaim the good news whenever we serve others.  Whether it be by helping with Angel Food Ministries, Kindness, Food Basket, Serenity House, the hospital’s auxiliary, hospice or any of the other many ways in which members of this congregation reach out to help others in our community – all of this proclaims the good news that God loves each of us, that God cares enough to send his Son to us.  The Apostle Paul said that Church is now Christ’s Body in the world – and one need only look at the good work being done in this community to know he was right.  God has called upon us to be the messengers.  As we celebrant the birth of our savior tonight, the hope of our future, let us not forget that God is calling us into relationship.  So let’s share the good news!

Let us Pray.

            God, on this night, we give thanks for the birth of your Son, our savior Jesus Christ.  In him, you came to live among us and preach the good news of your love for us.  Help us to speak with authority of your love and respond to the needs of others.  We pray to you in the name of your Son, our savior, Jesus Christ.  AMEN.