Christmas - Right Side Up

Luke 2:1-14 

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

World War I ended one hundred years ago this year. Toward the beginning of that war something remarkable happened one Christmas Eve. A soldier on the German side put a make-shift Christmas tree up on top of his trench, lit it up with candles, and started singing Silent Night.  The English and the French didn’t know the German words but they knew the tune, and they too began to sing.  Then, slowly... here and there... someone would stick their head up out of the trench to see if the other side would shoot.  No one did.  Make shift signs saying, “WE NO FIGHT.  YOU NO FIGHT” and “MERRY CHRISTMAS” were put up. Eventually men climbed out of the trenches and headed across no-man’s-land to meet with soldiers on the other side.  They retrieved their wounded and buried their dead together.  Then they exchanged food, tobacco and souvenirs with one another.  They sang carols together. They played soccer together.   

It has since become known as the Christmas Truce.  It was a truce that didn’t come negotiated by diplomats or ordered from above.  It came literally from the people in the trenches.  It started with just one person... just one tired, lonely, scared, and hungry person who decided to put up a make shift Christmas tree and sing Silent Night instead of choosing to continue the fight.  Words like “unbelievable,” “impossible,” “unprecidented” and “up side down” are always used to describe this Christmas truce.  But what if, in reality, in that brief Christmas Truce, the world WASN’T actually UP SIDE DOWN but instead... in that brief time when grudges and hatred and anger and violence were set aside... what if in those moments, the world was, for once… actually… finally… divinely… RIGHT SIDE UP?  

Why do we think that returning violence for violence is normal?  Why do we believe hatred and grudges and being divided... is NORMAL… but setting aside all that pain and anger… sharing a drink… some food and a few songs is “unbelievable” or “up side down”?  This 100 year old story reminds us, that with the power of Christmas... with the power of God coming in Christ to live among us, the ways of pain and hurt and resentment that so many in the world call “normal” are really not “normal” at ALL and they don’t have to be our way any more.  

After all, if a soldier that had been shot at, shelled, bombarded and gassed... if a soldier who had been living in the mud and muck of a barbed wire topped trench with not enough to eat or drink... if a soldier who had been through all of that could decide, strengthened by the power of Christmas, to set up a little, candle-lit tree and sing Silent Night instead of holding onto hate and grudges and continuing to fight, isn’t there a chance that with the power of Christmas... with the power of God’s love lying in the manger… we could do it too?

One Hundred years ago it started with just one soldier... just one!  He set up a make shift Christmas tree and let the power of God in Christ begin to work.  The power of Christ, it turns out, had the power to transform the most violent place in the WHOLE WORLD that night!  What would happen if we set that same power of Christ loose in the world again this night?  It started back then with just one soldier. Is there any reason you and I could not choose, right here... right now, this night, to do the same?

May the lights on the trees in our homes... May our glowing candles here tonight… May our singing of Silent Night… and most importantly, may the power of Christmas... the power of Christmas... the power of God with us... strengthen us to pass on God’s infinite and unconditional love to everyone we meet in this coming year.  May each of us choose each new day, not to live the ways that kaisers, kings and presidents say is “normal”, but instead, may we choose to live our lives in the power of Christmas, the power of God with Us, making the world right side up with love and light and life.  Amen.