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Homepage >> Ministry >> Worship And Music >> Sermons >> The Tall Tree Shining in the Light The Tall Tree Shining in the Light
Late one night last
week, I looked out the window of our apartment that overlooks the courtyard and
I called to my wife, “Eve, come look at the tree.” The tall Christmas tree in
the courtyard was covered with snow, and in the dark night the small white
lights lit up the fresh white snow against the dark green of the fir tree. The
snow covered Christmas tree was shining gently in the darkness. and the glory of the Lord shone
around them (Luke 2:9) How I love the tall fir
trees – Sarah Orne Jewett’s pointed firs of the Jesus on the mountain, shining in
the light the glory of the Lord shone around
them Matthew, Mark and Luke
all three tell a great story of the shining glory of the Lord, the story that
one day Jesus took three of his closest disciples with him on a mountain climb.
We are not sure which mountain, although Mark sets the story in the north of
Israel, so a candidate is Mount Hermon, rising nine thousand feet, which is not
very high in Colorado where you begin a mile high, but in the Middle East so
close to the coast you begin at sea level, then nine thousand feet is a lot. In
the unfolding Gospel story, we are told Jesus made this mountain climb just at
the time he had decided to head south to the city of Luke (from whom we read
tonight) tells us Jesus went up the mountain to pray, and while he was praying “the appearance of his face changed.” His face was radiant with light, so radiant it
seemed his clothes were shining. Mark says Jesus was transfigured (the Greek
word is metamorphosis). Jesus shone, like a great tree in the light, like the
light off the snow, radiant in the light. The disciples saw, and we see, in the
words of the familiar old carol we sing after Communion, “radiant beams from
thy holy face” (Silent Night, Hymn 111). I believe his face shone
with the light of the love between the One he called abba, Father and Jesus,
the love at the heart of God the Trinity, the love which is the very nature of
God the Trinity. The title “father” does not mean God is male – both male and
female are created in the image and likeness of God. Jesus took this word, from
the Jewish tradition, and also, as that tradition had done from everyday life to
be a sign, just as Jesus took bread and wine to be a sign. “I am the gate” The Son of God took on
our flesh – came into flesh, was incarnate, into carne, into the flesh and blood and spirit and soul that are human
life – in order to bring us into Jesus’ relationship with the One he called
Father, the relationship at the heart of who God the Trinity is. The unique Son
of God became flesh and blood, born tonight in Jesus invites us to share in his
prayer Jesus invites us to
share in his prayer. This invitation is not a vague “you must come sometime”
sort of invitation. It is an invitation in this hour, here and now. The
invitation is made specific and concrete in two simple ways Jesus gives us of
sharing his prayer – not the only way of sharing his prayer, but the gifts given
in this hour, as his gifts, to bring us into his greatest gift, through the gate,
through the door. Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer which we say in a few
minutes, and the Eucharist, the Great Thanksgiving, a prayer addressed to the
Father, in Jesus’ Name, by him and with him and in him. Jesus invites us to
come, to trust we have a place at his table – it is his, he is host – to trust
we are loved by God, and to return that love. God will always give us, at his
altar, the love to give. For love is both virtue and gift, something we choose
to do and sometimes have to make heroic and sacrificial choices, and if you
think you can love someone truly and deeply, as a lover or parent or friend
without sacrifice, well, you have something to learn about life. Love is a
virtue and it is also, in a great mystery, a gift: the gift of being loved –
may God give us the gift of wisdom to see that and open our eyes to see that –
and the gift given by God just as much to return that love. “Come here Eve, look out
the window.” I have been catching sight of the tree covered with snow in the
light all week, from my office, from the apartment, from inside the
church. and the glory of the Lord shone
around them (Luke 2:9) In John’s Gospel, the
hour of glory is the hour when Jesus laid down his life in love for us on the
cross. God’s very nature is self-giving love, and we see that in all its glory
when we see him make the full act of love, laying down his life on the cross. Jesus
did not run away. Jesus faced what came in love, and offered his very life in
love. And the Word became flesh and lived
among us, and we have seen his glory... (John 1:14) The Eucharist is the
memory of his one offering on the cross, but it is not only a memory. For
Jesus, risen from the dead, lives at the heart of God the Trinity, and
eternally offers his love to the One he called Father. Jesus calls us – it is
the heart of our vocation to discipleship – to join with him in offering our
love to God, here in the Eucharist, so we pray in a few minutes, “Unite us to
your Son in his sacrifice.” God sends us out from the Christmas
altar And then God sends us out
from the Christmas altar, to bring God’s greatest gift, the love and compassion
of Jesus, to other people: to those we love; to our children; to friends; to
those in any human need – in loving, servant ministry, to heal and teach and
make something beautiful, in acts of servant ministry that are great – making a
world-class hospital happen, saving a life, making a great orchestra happen. Or,
in the eyes of the world, much smaller things: helping a former convict make a
new life; making a meal for a neighbor who could use one; helping someone get a
job; visiting someone sick; welcoming a stranger to this altar – not such
little things after all. My favorite novel of C. S. Lewis is The Great Divorce. Borrowing an image
from Dante, in heaven the redeemed, some of whom were little people in the eyes
of the world, are very big, like mountains in Dante. Just so, a very small
action such as cooking a meal may, if we are given the eyes to see it, be like
a tall tree radiant in light, for all acts of loving, servant ministry are all
of a piece on the way of Jesus’ discipleship, on his way of self-giving love,
the way of glory. That in sometimes very dark and unlikely and lonely places
there will be a moment of light, a moment of glory. May God give you a
glimpse of the glory of God’s love for you in this hour, in this season. Merry Christmas!
(This sermon was preached by the
Rev. Raymond Webster, Rector, in St. Chrysostom’s Church, Chicago, Illinois, on
Monday, December 24, 2007, The Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord.)
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