Several years ago, the president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. was ousted by the students. Of course, that is not very unusual over the past two decades; but this president was finally deposed for a very unusual reason: she was not deaf, and Gallaudet University at that time served 21,025 deaf students.
In the aftermath of that controversy, the University elected a new 44-year-old president. The student body president, the chairperson of the Board of Trustees, and the new president met to talk about the future of the school. When they came out of that meeting, the president of the student body turned to the new president of the University, and said, with tears in his eyes, “There was no interpreter.”
That was true because the new president is deaf, as are the students he was chosen to serve. You and I can appreciate the need of these young people to have someone leading their school who was like them — who shared their struggle.
I wish I could tell you how many people in this world over the centuries have had their lives changed by this one thought, “God is with us.”
Some time ago, a member of the church where I served told this powerful true story that has both sadness and great truth in its message. Possibly, some of you have had a similar experience: Their mother, 85 years old, had a crippling stroke. As a result, she was unable to speak, walk, nor care for her basic needs. For five years, there was no indication she even knew her children. One Christmas season, the family was gathered for their family Christmas celebration. They decided to reenact a tradition of their childhood, and gather around the piano to sing carols. One of the daughters suddenly said, “Let’s go get Mom.” They brought their mother near the piano, and they began singing carols again. When they came to Silent Night, they could not believe what happened. Their mother, who had not spoken a word in five years, started singing Silent Night along with them. It was amazing.
The daughter telling the story described it like this: “Mom was singing, too. Her voice was soft, but she was on key, and she knew the words. Everybody was stunned, but they kept on singing. They smiled at her, and she nodded. They sang other carols, and she sang them all. It was a moment of incredible warmth and joy, blessing, and almost magical beauty. Even when she couldn’t recognize the faces of her own children, even when she seemed incapable of laughter or tears, the songs of Christmas faith were still alive deep within her spirit.” Deep within her soul, the songs of Christmas faith were alive and well, and somehow, miraculously she was able, as the Christmas carol puts it, to “repeat the sounding joy”.
Each one of us has deep down in our souls an incredible hunger to come home to the good news of Christmas; an incredible hunger to come to the manger; an incredible hunger to feel and celebrate the redeeming, forgiving, sustaining love of God; an incredible hunger to be in the presence of God. And that is why Christmas is so special because it reminds us that God is indeed with us.
In every circumstance of life, even when we are frightened, when we are lonely, and when we are in sorrow, we can claim the great Christmas promise — Emmanuel.
We know that life is not easy. Many of us are facing difficult challenges day after day. Aging. Sickness. Separation. Personal heartaches. Some of you have loved ones for whom you are praying for.
One of the most heart-rending books in our Bible is the little book of Lamentations. In the midst of plaintive cries, there is a section that begins like this: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness . . . .” (3:22)
God entered our world through a baby of Bethlehem. That baby grew into a man who was rejected by his own people and was crucified. But God raised him from the dead. Before he left his disciples, he promised that his Spirit will be with them. And on the day of Pentecost, that promise was fulfilled. God is with us. This is a gift from God’s heart, freely given. All we have to do is to open our heart to receive that gift. There are absolutely no strings attached.
You don’t have to carry your burden alone. There is a resource that is available to you greater than any resource the world has to offer. All you have to do is open your heart. Immanuel.
The beauty with this is that once we experience the presence of Christ in our lives, others around us can see and experience the Christ, too.
Henri Nouwen told the story of a student who, many years after graduation, returned to sit in his old professor’s office. When the student entered, he told his professor that he came just to visit, to be together. They sat for a while in silence, and looked at each other. One broke the silence by telling the other how nice it was to see each other. The other agreed, and then there was silence. Then the student said, “When I look at you, it is as if I am in the presence of Christ.” The professor remembers responding with, “It is the Christ in you who recognizes the Christ in me.” The student replied with the most healing words Nouwen had heard in many years. “Yes, Christ indeed is in our midst. From now on, wherever you go, or wherever I go, all the ground between us will be holy ground.”
The wonder is that no longer must we sit with family members whose divided attention leads to comments like, “She never listens to me”; no longer must we sit across co-workers who half-heartedly hear what we say; no longer must we be at church meetings and plan what we are going to say before the person speaking is ever finished; no longer must we come to worship so unfocused and distracted that we leave unfulfilled. Just remember, Christ is in our midst.
It is a time to examine ourselves on how we can be with each other in more meaningful ways. Listen, and really hear what we are saying to each other. Share one another’s pain, and make it our own. Know of one another’s joys, and celebrate as if they were our own.
There is this beautiful old Christmas legend that tells of how God called the angels of heaven together one day for a special choir rehearsal. He told them that he had a special song that he wanted them to learn that they would sing at a very significant occasion. The angels went to work on it. They rehearsed long and hard, with great focus and intensity. In fact, some of the angels grumbled a bit but God insisted on a very high standard for his choir.
As time passed, the choir improved in tone, rhythm, and quality. Finally, God announced that they were ready but then, he shocked them a bit. He told them they would sing the song only once and only on one night. There would be just one performance of this great song they had worked on so diligently. Again, some of the angels grumbled. The song was so extraordinarily beautiful, and they had it down pat now, surely, they could sing it many, many times. God only smiled, and told them that when the time came, they would understand.
Then one night, God called them together. He gathered them above a field just outside of Bethlehem. “It’s time,” God said to them, and the angels sang their song. Oh my, did they sing it! “Glory to God in the highest/and on earth peace and good will toward all/” And as the angels sang, they knew there would never be another night like this one, and that there would never be another birth like this birth in Bethlehem.
When the angels returned to heaven, God reminded them they would not formally sing that song again as an angelic choir, but if they wanted to, they could hum the song occasionally as individuals. One angel was bold enough to step forward and ask God why. Why could they not sing that majestic anthem again? They did it so well. It felt so right. Why couldn’t they sing that great song anymore? “Because,” God explained, “my son has been born… and now earth must do the singing!”
Once each year, Christmas comes around to remind us of that — God’s Son has come to earth, and now we must do the singing! Without question, one of the best and most beloved parts of the celebration of Christmas is the music! The good news of Christmas is so awesome, so full of wonder, that it’s not enough to just talk about it; we have to burst forth in song.
God chooses to be with us so that we might be with one another. May God’s love shape our relationships. May God’s wisdom guide our decisions. May God’s glory touch our ordinary lives. And may God’s gift live in us and through us, that what we experience in each other is the very presence of Christ.
