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Luke 2:1-20 Christmas Eve I know that there are lots of symbols of Christmas out there, but I’d like to add one more to the mix this evening. This one: (a DOWN ARROW). If you get nothing else out of tonight’s message remember this arrow, for this little arrow sums up who our God is and what he is about. To get started tonight, I need to tell you about Art. I don’t know him very well, but I met him a couple weeks ago over at Java G’s. He’s this cute little guy and he has this really cool stocking hat that I’ve very envious of. We met because he noticed my iPod touch and wanted to know what the difference was between that and his brand new iPhone. We had a friendly discussion for about 10 minutes and then he left. Since then, I’ve seen him a few times over there and we’ve acknowledged each other, but not much more than that. I see him sitting there in the comfy chairs working on his iPhone and drinking his coffee. In conversation with one of the coffee shop’s employees, I’ve learned more of his story. Art is 74 years old, although he doesn’t look a day over 60. Evidently, he’s recently moved here from Minnesota. And the project that he’s working on right now, while he drinks his coffee, broke my heart when I heard about it. Art is creating a website to host his End of Life Sale. He told my friend who works there that he is just getting older and wants to sell his stuff before he dies. Now, I haven’t seen Art since I heard about his website project, and so I haven’t had a chance to talk with him about it and I hesitate to look too deeply into it. But for some reason, the thought of Art’s End of Life Sale, especially for someone in good health with a lot of life left to live, really struck me. To me, he sounds like someone is who running preciously low on hope. And I know he’s not alone. As I talk with many of you, as I read the papers, watch the news, and hear the stories of people who come into my office, I hear stories of people losing hope. I hear stories of cancer, of broken marriages and abuse at home. I hear stories of addiction, of good folks losing their homes or jobs, of empty Christmas trees, of tragic deaths, and of people just being overwhelmed with life. This is a tough Christmas for a lot people this year. At times it seems like the whole world is running preciously low on hope. And it seems like if we could just somehow get God involved, that everything would be okay. If we could somehow reach up to God and grab hold of some of his mercy or his healing or his power, that maybe life wouldn’t be so bad. Here’s where that arrow comes in. Tonight, on Christmas Eve, we remember that God comes down. God comes down into our dark world to bring us what we desperately need – hope. Now, he doesn’t come like a white knight riding on a beautiful stallion to save the day. He doesn’t come with a massive army ready to take back the world by force. He doesn’t even come with power and riches ready to bailout everyone who has fallen on hard economic times. That’s not the way our God works – he’s not the US government. Here’s how our God works. He comes down, into our darkness, and brings a solitary light. It’s tiny, its vulnerable, it doesn’t look like much, and with one whiff, it looks like it could be blown out. Yet, when that little light is God incarnate, when that little light is the very flesh of God, there is nothing that can stop it or stand in its way. That one little light comes and touches something else, which begins to softly glow. That flame then touches another one and before you know it, there is an overwhelming light of hope in the darkness. I’d like to show you a movie clip that illustrates how I think God works in the world. Its from Lord of the Rings, part 3. Times are very dark for the country of Gondor, they are under attack and they are not sure where to turn. Yet, a system is in place to connect them to who can help – Rohan in the north. Here’s how the help comes: SHOW CLIP OF LIGHTING OF THE BEACONS Four years ago tonight, a retired pastor sat in those pews, and struck up a conversation with the interim pastor. God came down and that little conversation grew into a call from God and brought us Pastor John. About two years ago, a mass email came across my computer asking if anyone might be interested in taking a trip to an orphanage in Haiti. God came down and that little email grew into two tons of Kids Against Hunger food. In February it will grow into the first floor of a medical clinic and into new bunkbeds for all the girls in the orphanage. Over 18 years ago, God came down as a small group of people asked themselves, “How can we serve our neighbors in need?” They got together with some folks from two other Lutheran churches asking the same question, and those sparks turned into OASIS Food Pantry, which now provides food and basic necessities for over 400 families in St. Charles every month. But it was just over 2000 years ago that the original flame was lit in the form of a little baby, born to a homeless, unmarried couple, finding shelter with the animals. God came down to this least hopeful of all circumstances and the beacons were lit. The first sparks to catch fire were some outcasts, shepherds who were prevented from entering God’s presence because of their jobs and their “uncleanliness.” God came down and gave these riffraff hope. That little light grew to include tax collectors, women, prostitutes, lepers, the demon-possessed, sinners, and even dead people. The Light of the World that came down that very first Christmas morning is still being passed on today. Jesus Christ is that light and the Holy Spirit is the one makes sure it doesn’t go out. The Holy Spirit offers you that flame tonight. Perhaps your light has gone out and it needs to be relit. Perhaps your world is so dark you don’t even know where your candle is. Perhaps you are considering an end-of-life sale yourself. If this is you, please know that God came down and brought light into the world. Once the light is in the room, the darkness begins losing power. The darkness is indeed fading and the light is slowing growing. Perhaps life is good for you right now, your flame is burning bright. Maybe then you need to light someone else’s flame. I know that next time I see Art, I will try to pass that flame on to him. God comes down to our dark world. Later this evening, as your candle is lit, let this be a sign that God has come to you personally. There is always hope now that Jesus is in the world. Tonight, hope has been rekindled.
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