The title for this year’s Advent sermon series is, “The Hopes and Fears of All the Years.” It comes from a line in the Christmas carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem. Another section of the carol that I find quite meaningful is, How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of the heav’ns.
Consider what happened the night that Jesus was born. Bethlehem was an ordinary town, but full of people who had returned to register for the census. Joseph and Mary were probably traveling at a slower pace than the other people due to Mary’s advanced pregnancy, so the inns were full by the time they made it to Bethlehem. I can only imagine that with the influx of people returning to their families’ hometown, there would be a fair amount of gatherings and reunions going on. People meeting their second and third cousins, having discussions to bring each other up to date on what had been happening in their lives, and a fair bit of explaining how they were all related. Like typical reunions, there would have been lots of food, lots of laughter, and lots of children running around. The celebratory atmosphere would continue into the early hours of the morning as people made the most of their time together. But in one corner of the village, within muffled earshot of the festivities, Mary gave birth to Jesus.
For all the people who lived in Bethlehem and the ones who had come for the census registration, they didn’t realize what had transpired in the stable of an inn. Amidst all the noise of celebration that filled the town, there was a birth that would have seemed ordinary in the moment, but was truly extraordinary. No one in that town would have recognized how God had sent them, as well as all people throughout the world and throughout history, an incredible gift in the form of a baby born and placed in a manger.
How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given!
It is often during the “hopes and fears” moments of our life that we miss the presence of Christ in our lives. The celebratory times as well as the moments of loss are full of emotion that can blur our vision to the many ways that God continues to bless and comfort us. While we deal with the circumstances we face in life, the gift of Emmanuel is continually given to us.
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of the heavens.
This Advent, take time to give thanks for the presence of Christ in your life. It is the greatest gift given – Emmanuel, God with us.
Rev. Wendy Lambert, Senior Executive Pastor
