"The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen ."
Thank you for being here, for braving the storms, both those outside, and those that might be churning around in your head. Most of the world is probably a bit sullen today. The excitement of Christmas has passed for them. The house may await cleaning from two holidays now, and there's no Rose Parade to allow further procrastination, at least not until tomorrow. But we have something much better to occupy our time than the Rose Parade. We have a question of great importance to think about: What is it that the shepherds heard and saw? They went to a barn in the middle of the night. They saw a couple huddling there with a baby. What made such a sight so special that they would cry out news to everyone they saw and with all the voice they could muster glorify and praise God?
They saw what an angel promised they would see. They were excited because they had heard a divine message and found it to be trustworthy. They had heard something they could bank on. We have heard a further message this morning from another messenger, from our brother Paul in his letter to the Galatians. He has assured us that the birth of this baby has somehow done something marvelous for us. It has made us the adopted children of God. By being born as one of us, God has adopted all humankind as family. Can we trust in this as the shepherds trusted the message they received? What does it mean to trust that we are adopted children of God?
We talked about this question in one of our final Ruth Group meetings last week. After pondering quietly for some time, one member of the group offered an insight I found quite marvelous-being a child of God means it's OK to still be learning. I think sometimes we aspire to get everything about this life figured out as soon as possible, so we'll have some time to just coast, so to speak. But if this life is spent as children of God, that's not a likely scenario. We may grow and learn, but we won't get it all figured out. We'll keep learning.
At least if we are all adopted children of God, we can count on doing the learning with lots and lots of brothers and sisters! I had a recent experience of continued learning with brothers and sisters that was also spurred by a Ruth Group. The first session encouraged us to pray about our feelings without filtering to make them pretty. When I thought about what I had been feeling recently, I realized that uninvited jealousy kept surprising me and spoiling my appreciation of many encounters. Jealousy was absolutely NOT the feeling I was aiming for during Christmas preparations. I prayed about it, in the presence of this window reminding us of two older brothers, Peter of Galilee and Paul of Tarsus. In the course of praying, I asked them if they ever had any problems with jealousy. It seemed best to put that in the form of a question, even though we have pretty good reason to know they both did. In any case, I made clear I could use the benefit of their experience. Now what I am about to say is absolute fact. The sky did not part. I didn't hear any voices from beyond. But a few hours later I realized that every time I encountered another person that day, a feeling of great gratitude for that person and their gifts swept over me, a feeling of appreciation for them and God's work through them. Do you hear what I'm saying? Thanksgiving replaced jealousy. I didn't try to do that. I hadn't figured out that's what I needed. I didn't know what to ask for. I didn't have to know, for as Paul has assured us, our adoption means that God has placed the very Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry for us and with us.
Another Ruth Group participant told her group about a powerful experience gained through crying out. She prayed fervently for years following a tragic loss. It felt like no one was listening. She expressed how forlorn she felt in prayer. After some time passed, she realized that she felt healthier than she had in years. The group asked her what she meant by "healthier." She said she felt healthy because she was free of the need to judge others. She had begun to feel a love toward others, an eagerness to be of help and service to them that took her out of her own loss. God had filled her emptiness with God's very own compassion.
I am willing to bet that many of you have a story like hers to tell. Chances are that you are here either because you have one or you want to hear one. I encourage us all to tell those stories whenever the situation invites it. We all need new ways to experience that what we have heard from Paul about out adoption as God's children can be trusted, that it can be experienced and seen.
In just a few moments, we will all have the opportunity to know more deeply, like the shepherds, that what we have heard can also be seen. We will be invited to come forward for anointing, laying on of hands and prayer. The words we hear will house the faith of the church in the Holy Name of Jesus. Come forward with whatever emptiness, pain or hurt troubles you. As we leave this place, we will have the opportunity to learn anew in our own lives that what we have heard can be experienced and seen.
May this be a day and 2006 be a year in which we all gain greater cause to join the shepherds in glorifying and praising God because of all we have heard and seen.