26 December 1998
Against the backdrop of Isaiah's great hymn of triumph, the psalmist's praise of God, of Paul's instruction that by the Holy Spirit we can cry out "Abba! Father!" and the sublime and tersely worded prologue to John's gospel, I propose that we start our reflection this evening with a look at the newspaper comic page.
In the comic strip, Broom Hilda by Russell Meyers, we come upon this interchange about big things and little things in our lives:
Nerwin: When I grow up, I want someone to give me a million dollars.
Broom Hilda: There's no such thing as somethin' for nothin', Nerwin.
Third Character: Begging your humble pardon, but the sun comes up all day, every day; we have all the air we can breathe; the food grows right out of the ground (as he pulls up a carrot), none of which costs us a penny.
Nerwin: So I'll have to work for my million, huh?
Third Character: The big stuff comes free. We have to work for the little things. (1)
The big stuff comes free. Long before Stephanie Madeleine Larson was born, long before her parents, grand parents, great grandparents, long before any of us came to be, God was. In that beginning, as John reminds us, the big stuff already was: the stuff out of which all else has been commanded into being, the stuff out of which all that is good, healthy, wholesome, wise, loving, has come to be, the stuff out of which light has come, the big stuff, the stuff that comes to us for free, this existed from the beginning, with no help from us.
Likewise, with no help from us, the Word, the stuff from which all else comes, chose to "pitch his tent among us" to use the vernacular available to John in the first century. For free. The Light came into the world at no cost to us, with no demands beyond our acceptance of this gift offered freely. What a deal we celebrate at Christmas. What a deal we celebrate at Baptism. God gives himself to us, freely.
This big Christmas gift that we have all received is about to be shared with Stephanie. It will be up to her parents, and godparents, and her whole family to remind her of this gift. And we pray for them and promise our support. For her part, as she is brought to the waters of baptism she is a sign to the rest of us of our relationship to God.
First, others must bring her to this moment, to this encounter. So it is with us. Others have helped us into the relationship with Christ the Light of the World. And we give thanks. She is not capable of doing mighty works with the strength of her hands, she comes empty handed to God's presence. Though our hands are stronger and more experienced than Stephanie's, before God's hands ours our puny and powerless. She is not capable of fine speeches and eloquent words that will charm God. How often do we find ourselves equally speechless before the power of God, trusting that our mere presence will be enough because our words fail us. With trust in the ones who hold her she will be stretched over the waters of baptism and washed clean by God's grace. Likewise, trusting those whose faith has inspired and held us we have experienced the cleansing power of God's love. All this is big stuff, given freely, and a little child reminds us of this profound truth.
Though our bodies are older now, though our lives be filled with success and failure, good and ill, we come to the big stuff, we come to God's love, reminded of our own poverty by this little child. We come also with real joy, the kind of joy that radiates from Stephanie's family, since we know that God's love is given to us freely, again and again. We know that joy that shines in the faces and hearts of Stephanie's family.
In the ceremony, after her baptism, the parents and godparents will be given a candle lit tonight from our Christmas Candle. It will be a symbol to them and to us of the light of Christ now enkindled in her heart. It will remind them and remind us that Christ, the Light of the World, shines in our hearts, too. In fact, it is my hope that as you look at the Christmas candles in your own home, as you look upon the candles used here, as you look upon the candle given Stephanie and her family in baptism, you will always be reminded of Christ the Light of the World, whose light shines in your own heart, big stuff, given freely.
And recognizing that this "big stuff" the Light of World shining within your heart was a gift this Christmas (indeed, every day), it is my prayer that you will determine to share the light. Let your words and actions light the way for others, give God's gift of light away to others. Have the attitude of Howard Thurman who wrote,
I will light candles this Christmas:
Candles of joy despite all sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all year long. (2)
Through God's graciousness and love, the Light of the world, Christ our Lord, shines within us. May we have the grace to share that light day by day, for God's glory. Amen.
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
26 December 1998
(1) Russell Meyers, (Copyright 1995 by Tribune Media Services, Inc.) quoted at: http://www.deaconsil.com/stories/broomhilda.html
(2) Howard Thurman quoted in The Newsletter Newsletter, December, 1998