Feast of the Incarnation

"for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)

"In those days" a great leader – "great" in the same way that what we Americans call the First World War Europeans still call "The Great War" – this great leader decreed that "all the world should be enrolled." In those days, this great leader wanted to know just how many people he had under his thumb. The great leader then was Caesar Augustus, though he had been born as "Octavian." In those days he had claimed the name of his uncle, Julius Caesar, the man who first brought dictatorship to Rome. Then over the years he had, indeed, brought a kind of peace to the known world; at the price of all his enemies' lives. Now he was known as "Augustus," that is, the Great. His birthday, September 23rd, had been adopted in the Eastern half of his Empire as the beginning of the new year, the beginning of a new time. Eventually, the Great Emperor died. According to one Roman historian, his wife Livia poisoned him to make room for her son to become Emperor. Caesar Augustus was cremated, then entombed in a mausoleum of marble to last for all time. Until the year 410, when German warriors sacked the city of Rome, broke into the mausoleum and scattered the ashes of Caesar the "Great" to the four winds.

But for now, these are the days of his power. And when Caesar Augustus says that the whole world must be "enrolled," so that he will know how much potential revenue he has to draw on, the whole world jumps to attention. Those who have not the power to tell Caesar, "No," must go to be counted. It matters not to Caesar that a young woman is on the verge of childbirth. Why should he be occupied with such small things? He is the son of a God. The priests have said that his uncle Julius has ascended to the mountain of the gods. This enrollment is the sign of Caesar's power, a power that will not die, but will go to the same immortal mountain that his uncle has gone to. By his wars he has brought peace to a world that calls him "Savior." He is the Lord of all.

But God has different plans for this enrollment, this great power grab. For a different king is coming. Indeed he has already come. And the royal announcement is made by the angels, not to those who already have more wealth and power than they need, but to those who were seen as dishonest. In the old American West, those who settled the land resented the cowboys whose cattle ate whatever grass was in front of them. The cowboys had no respect for others' property. So it was in ancient Judea. Landowners resented the shepherds who let their sheep wander to wherever the grass was green and plentiful. But it is to them that the greatest royal birth announcement of all time is made on "this day."

Those days of the powerful lording it over the powerless are coming to an end. Those days of owners and workers fighting over who gets the biggest piece of the pie are coming to an end. Those days of political partisans screaming at each other and trying to knife the other in the back are coming to an end. Those days of husbands and wives, parents and children, sisters and brothers, stewing in personal hurts that explode at the worst time are coming to an end. For this day is born to us a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this day Jesus of Nazareth, lying in a feeding trough, begins to bring peace into our world; not by destroying his enemies but by challenging them in love. This day Jesus Christ walks with the oppressor and the oppressed, challenging them to reconciliation. This day Jesus walks with those who are broken hearted, and challenges the rest of us to join them on that journey.

Jesus Christ the Lord did not come in "those days" for a brief time, and then leave us alone again. Two thousand years of our time may have come and gone. But ever since "this day" of that great birth announcement, it has always been "this day" of Jesus our Emmanuel, "God with us." There has never been a time when there was no God. Of course, you might say. But think that idea through. If God has always been , and always will be, then there is no "yesterday" with God, and no "tomorrow." There is no past with God, nor any tomorrow, but one eternal present, one eternal day, "this day." And if God was with us once, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, then God is always "Emmanuel." Jesus is always with us. He is with us in the Word of Good News that is spoken and heard. He is with us in the bread and wine, in which we get a taste of eternal life. Jesus was with us today as we brought food to the poor and shut-in and let them know that they are not alone.

Jesus is with each one of us here, at this late hour. And we are here because in our own way we have caught a glimpse of that never ending day. I pray that something of "this day" will take hold in your heart and your mind and your soul. I pray that what you see and hear and smell and touch and taste "this day" will renew your sense of the divine in your life. And I pray that as you open your senses to the risen Jesus that "this day" will never end for you. For "to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."