Sermon: The Birth of a Family
Luke 2:8-20
Have you ever listened to the birth stories your family members tell? Or maybe you have told them yourself…
My children like to hear their birth stories: how they were born and what happened before and on the day of their arrival. My two sons were born at home. My older son Peace was laid on my bosom right after his birth on the warm bedroom floor (Not all Koreans sleep in beds.) My younger son Jah-bi was born “in the bathtub” at the lovely blue house we first rented on Vancouver Island; That’s the way I tell the boys about their births. Then, Peace, who was 4 years old when his “little baby brother” was born, and my partner don’t even wait to chime in and tell their parts, … in detail (You know what I mean!). But as the mother, what I often like to highlight is the moment of amazing mystery of the first eye contact I made with my children. The moment that tired baby Peace, about to cry, was laid on my chest, he opened just one eye with effort, just halfway, and when our eyes met, it seemed that he knew where he was and then he did not cry.
Adoption stories are often very powerful and moving, too. The families carefully weave together their own birth story through experience and memories: the story of how they first met, when and where, their first moments of the mysterious and powerful feeling of an immediate deep connection. By sharing the stories each year, or any time when the family wants to, the parents and children honour the birthday of their incredible love as a family.
Birth stories are often extremely powerful. They can immediately bring us back to a joyous moment, they can sadly remind us of some couple’s struggles with infertility, they can stir our imaginations with children hoped for, and they can make us aware of the difficult circumstances some people had to overcome in their lives.
Birth stories are charged with deep emotion.
Ask any parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle, and of course, older siblings about the birth of a new baby (or the welcoming of a child to the family), and they typically can describe the event in great detail (Karyn Wiseman). As most birth stories begin, the storyteller sets the stage… They describe the setting and the situation into which the child was born. They bring us into the realities of the event. In the Gospels, we are told of the reasons the family travelled so late in Mary’s pregnancy. We are brought into the place of the birth and why the location of his birth came about. The power of Jesus’ birth story lies in its humbleness - - a babe born in a stable, wrapped in simple cloth, and laid to rest in an animal trough. It is the reality that reflects/represents so many birth stories in the world. It’s the story of real poverty. It’s the story of marginalization. It’s the story of many refugees and immigrants. It’s the story of the babies, the children of God, whose family can’t find accommodation, haven’t received the generosity, kindness and acceptance of society… if we only look at the stable scenes, the manger scenes, the humbleness or the dire situation that Mary and Joseph suffer or embrace…
And yet, in today’s Gospel, all of a sudden, the others begin to chime in to not lose any time to tell their parts and to weave the whole of the story together…
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| “ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS” BY MURILLO |
First, the shepherds came in a hurry, and they told their story to Mary and Joseph with great joy. (Indeed, we are told that “Thus is born the true saviour of the world - not Caesar Augustus, the oppressor, the colonizer, the false saviour of the world, the protector of those with power and privilege, but Christ the Lord, whose birth is ‘good news of great joy for all the people.’” Shepherds tell the story: “Mary, Joseph. We are the shepherds living in the fields near here. As you know, our job is just the same, every day. We keep watch over our flock by day and by night. But tonight was different. Just before we came to you, Oh My Lord, we were terrified. We were not sure what we were seeing at first, but an ANGEL of the Lord appeared and stood before us! You should have seen the glory of God. The light, … the beautiful light shone and surrounded us. We were frozen in the moment, terrified, and curious. We didn’t have time to ask each other, What’s going on? Can you believe this? We just couldn’t turn our eyes away. Then the angel spoke to US. The Angel’s voice was so soft, tender and kind, and the Angel said, ‘Do not be afraid; See — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. … This will be a sign for you: You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ AND THERE WERE SO MANY ANGELS – a whole heavenly choir, and they sang, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favours’. So the angel told us to come here and tell you this and see the baby, and when an angel tells you to do something, you HAVE to do it, right? This baby is special – wait, what’s his name? Jesus is God’s child, and a blessing for you and for us, the whole entire world… Never doubt that.” The Bible tells us, “All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”
Maybe the thing about remembering the birth of a baby and telling the story is that everyone has their memories and they are all different. We are all natural meaning-makers, story-tellers, connecting what we see and hear with our own life situations, identity, hopes…, drawing lines between the dots - which have sometimes been laid aside, neglected and forgotten - and adding colours to the event to celebrate and experience again and again when the stories are shared with more people and in more places.
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| Ryan Carreon Aragon, Phillipines |
Count the actors in the Nativity stories. Shepherds. Mary. Joseph. The Angel. The Magi. The Innkeepers. Even King Herod… The narrative becomes more complex, richer - just like any family’s life becomes richer and more complex with the birth of a child…
The mystery of Christmas is that somehow we all can relate ourselves to the story of a baby wrapped in simple cloth and laid in a manger. It offers an entry point into our life’s and world’s complexities. It is, after all, the birth story of all birth stories and it’s a story of family. For many people, Christmas is both an exciting and a stressful time. Some families struggle with overwhelming burdens of care. For others, memories of closeness are accompanied by memories of loss and grief. Christmas is a space which invites the coming together of many significant life issues - experiences, often unexamined or unarticulated… Perhaps that’s when the stories of the birth of the holy child makes connection to the weary, tired part of our lives: We need the angels, the romance, the starlight, the symbols and the colour of the story. We can enter the story, find ourselves there, make our own exploratory journeys with the shepherds, just to see, to be there, and tell our part of the whole of the story… Then, and there, God joins the family… The Starlight falls down to the earth, “spreads diamonds” to the hearts of those who await hope and good news at midnight, rather than just watching over the earth and its people. God joins the family with both its fragility and strength, trading the freedom of power and distance to join us. God, out of all the judgements God has wielded, God chooses to “sacrifice” judgement and become vulnerable in order to fully exist with us, in the story of the humble birth of hope, and make permanent connection with us. And this story of the birth of the holy child is told generation to generation, place to place, all the time, every year.
Concluding this message, I believe it is quite a relevant and true blessing to share the reflection of Stan McKay (Newsletter, Dec 2019, of Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre): The Birth of a Child.
“In my home on Fisher River First Nation, we have celebrated Christmas for many generations. We understand the importance of the birth of a child as a sign of hope and new beginnings. We are discussing ceremonies for celebrating with families whenever a baby is born. In our cultural understanding, we know that every time a child is born there is a renewed hope for the future of our community.”
This Christmas, how about telling the stories of a birth of a child, a baby, a family’s love, a new hope in your family? Joy, hope for healing, accompanies us when we tell our stories of new birth, in wonder, beauty, kindness and friendship…
Ha Na Park
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