Being Present with Light

CEB Luke 2:1-20 In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. 2 This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. 3 Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. 4 Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. 5 He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom.

8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. 11 Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14 “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” 15 When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.”

16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. 18 Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. 20 The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told.

INTRO

Our scripture lesson this evening is ominous in nature; it begins not with words that evoke feelings of Joy, Hope, or Love but despair. “In those days, Caesar August declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists.” Other translations sound even more gloomy: “In those days, a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.”

Luke goes to great lengths to ensure we understand the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. In fact, Luke is the only New Testament author who refers to a Roman Emperor by name. The Emperor’s name is “Augustus,” which in Greek means reverenced. Caesar Augustus built libraries, sponsored lavish performances for the public’s entertainment, and boasted that he had founded Rome. In fact, inscriptions have been discovered that hailed Caesar Augustus as a god whose “birthday signaled the beginning of good news for the world.”

Inscriptions celebrating his reign speak of Augustus as “the father of his divine homeland, inherited from his father Zeus, and a savior of the common folk. His foresight not only fulfilled the entreaties of all people, but surpassed them, making peace for land and sea, while cities bloom with order, harmony, and good seasons; the productivity of all things is good”

To the world, Augustus is identified as God, as the Son of God, and savior; he is associated with peace, hope, and good news. This “agent” of good news calls for the whole world to be counted. Ceasar thinks the world belongs to him. In his power and arrogance, he can move people from one place to another simply by demanding it. In the days leading to the birth of Jesus, a census was to be conducted not to benefit the people but for the purposes of taxation. Taxes were a burdensome imposition for those who barely had enough to eat. A census meant an inventory of the region's wealth, its people, its animals, and its crops so that the government would be able to impose the maximum amount of taxes. It's the announcement that greater poverty and exploitation at the hands of Augustus, the Savior, would be coming… After all, there is a cost for peace…and that cost must be paid to Rome.

I imagine the shepherds out guarding their flock in the middle of the night had much to say about this census from Caesar. They lived in the fields, suffering all kinds of dangers in order to protect their flocks…but with this census, it is a new danger more daunting than wolves or any other four-legged beasts; it will probably wipe out their livelihood. Can you hear their angry voices? “More taxes!! We can barely afford to eat now! We lost enough sheep from the wolves last night! We sure don’t need Caesar’s tax collectors stealing our sheep!” They’re wide awake through the night, venting in anger and frustration, talking in such a way that the authorities would likely consider their talk to be rebellious in nature, which is a punishable crime. After all, peace is fragile in nature.

This idea of “peace” is not foreign to us. Even today, the idea of being taxed by the government is anxiety-producing. The idea of paying more in taxes while the richest pay nothing even now sparks outrage. The idea that we here in the state of Virginia might move from income-based taxes to higher sales taxes bears a word of harm to those who cannot afford to pay their rent and eat. Surely, the darkness, the gloomy, ominous introduction of Luke, speaks to us in a world where we have often opted for fear and anxiety over hope, terror has become weaponized, and where many lack the basics of shelter, bread, and water. Frankly, we are more interested in building walls than we are in building bridges. This is evident in our refusal to send aid to Ukraine or the Gaza Strip.

Yes, even now, here on the cusp of darkness, we celebrate the inbreaking of God’s reign into the world. On this night, we celebrate. Christ, the Savior, is finally born! On this very evening, we who come longing for a glimmer of hope come to see the Christ, the Savior of the World, the Light in the Darkness; we come for the long-awaited Messiah who will spark a revolution, change the World, and make all that is wrong, right again. Let us seize the moment and dispel the darkness; let’s fight back! Our hope and anticipation build, our calls for justice are rising up, and our desire to fight the evils of this world is met not by a mighty warrior but a helpless babe.

While the birth of a king should have resounded from the halls of Caesar, we are instead met by a couple unknown to the powerful, forced by the empire to come to Bethlehem, surrounded by family and friends, welcoming a child. How is this good news?

The proclamation of the gospel is that the light has come. According to Saint Luke, the savior, Christ the Lord, the Messiah, is not found in the king who can command people to gather for a census but rather the true Son of God, and Savior of the World, is found in the infant lying in a manger. The light of God, the joy of salvation, is not found in armies, the powerful, or in emperors voicing their demands. Rather, true power is found in the cry of a newborn child, an exhausted mother who survived.

The contrast between darkness and light is an interesting paradox. Indeed, God in Jesus Christ has turned the world upside down; it seems light is found in vulnerability. Jesus needs Mary’s milk, her love, her lap, her gaze, and that of his father. In fact, one of the most important things you can do developmentally for a newborn is to hold them. Infants can focus their eyes on an object twelve to fourteen inches away, the distance between the eyes of the infant and the eyes of the one who holds their child. When infants and parents look intently at each other, their brain activity increases, they get to know one another, they learn to love each other, and they begin to develop compassion and empathy for one another.

One commentary says it this way: “Healthy human beings need to develop the ability to see the face of God in other people and to recognize that they are worthy of love, care, and respect. This can happen only if they have first been gazed upon by a loving person.”

In Christ, we are gazed upon by a loving person. At the manger, we see Christ surrounded by love. At the manger, we see the beginnings of restoration. In popular folklore, shepherds are accused of stealing, they would prey on lonely travers and robbing them. They exist outside the community and are not even able to be witnesses in a court of law. One commentary notes, “There is no more despised occupation in the world than that of shepherds.”

Yet, the very people who are disqualified from serving as witnesses in legal cases are the first to witness the gospel. In Christ, people are seen, heard, empowered, and loved!! The gospel of Jesus Christ results in the coming together of disparate groups who hear, speak, marvel, ponder, and glorify God.

Church, the Christmas narrative, this celebration of Christ’s birth, begs the question…how are we being the light of Christ in the world? Are we, like Caesar, filled with demands and concerned about ourselves? Are we oppressors? Are we proclaiming a false peace that is predicated on one’s theology, how they look, where they work, and what they look like? This is not the way of light…rather the way of light call us to nurture others as Mary nurtured Jesus. We are called to welcome all voices to be heard even those whose voice would not hold up in the court of law.

We are called to love! This is the way of light; this is the way of Christ! To love means we need to learn to receive and offer love. We need to acknowledge our limits as we graciously offer love. We need to see beyond brokenness and sin, physical limitations, beyond one’s place in society; we need to see the image of God in all people… that as we gaze upon, hear, and empower those who are not like us, we like Mary and like Jesus will learn to love each other, and begin to develop compassion and empathy for one another. This is how we prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming…we see the humanity and the holiness in one another.

Friends, hear that good news! Christ has come! Christ is Born! Emmanuel, God is with us! In Christ, you are seen, you are heard, you are loved! In Christ, you are liberated; in Christ, love’s healing presence is made known; in Christ, the Lord, God our Savior, looks upon you with love. Receive Christ, love, go forth to see others, hear their story, and love them just as Christ first loved you!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.