Chrismas Eve Sermon
By the Rev. Dr. Calvon Jones
Assistant Minister/Director
Memorial Church of Harvard University
(The following is a transcript of the service audio, Dec. 24, 2024)
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Thank you for being with us here tonight. To Matt, thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I'm so thankful for you, Colette, and your beautiful family. Wishing you all a beautiful holiday. To Alanna, Emmanuel, Kelley, the staff of Mem Church, and all the seminarians, it is an honor to work here.
To all those who are gathered, I hope you look forward to gathering with your loved ones and gathering with those who you love, whether in person or in memory.
I'm super excited this evening because my parents are here from North Carolina. Mom and Dad, could you wave your hands? I'm so grateful they're here. I'm sure it's colder than North Carolina. And certainly, lastly, but certainly not least, to my beautiful wife, Alleya, I love you.
Will you pray with me? God of light and love, this night, we gather, remembering that in a small animal shelter, two young newlyweds came to take refuge. We remember under the candlelight, in the darkness of that winter night, God, you came to be with us. Now, let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. God, you alone are my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
(Singing)
Jesus is the light that shineth in me, that shineth in me.
Jesus is the light that shineth in me, that shineth in me.
Oh, Jesus is the light that shineth in me, that shineth in me.
Oh, Jesus is the light that shineth in me, that shineth in me.
If I love the way God wants me to love.
He will show up.
He will show up in me.
If you love the way God wants you to love.
He will show up.
Oh, He will show up in you.
Jesus is the light that shineth in me, that shineth in me.
Oh, Jesus is the light that shineth in me, that shineth in me.
Oh, Jesus is the light that shineth in you, that shineth in you.
Oh, Jesus is the light that shineth in you.
Can I say it one more time?
(Singing)
If you love the way God wants you to love.
He will show up.
God will show up in you.
If you love the way God wants you to love.
He will show up.
I know God will show up in you.
Jesus is the light that shineth in you, that shineth in you.
Oh, Jesus is the light that shineth in you, that shineth in you.
Jesus is the light that shineth in you, that shineth in you.
Jesus is the light that shineth in you.
Thank you, David. Let's give David a hand. I promise I won't be before you too long. There is a popular story that I heard years ago, and it blesses me every time I hear it.
And it goes like this. It was a cold and dark night in an old village. A young boy was sitting at his favorite seat, at his favorite table. As the little boy was staring out of the window, there was a lamplighter coming down the street, lighting the old-fashioned gas lamps.
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This begins to intrigue and fascinate the boy, and he calls out to his grandpa, "Papa, Papa, come quickly. There is a man coming down the street punching holes into the darkness." As the grandfather comes to see what his grandson is so ecstatic about, the grandfather sees this lantern lighter. And as the man was lighting the lanterns in this old village, it looked like the man was punching holes into the darkness.
I am sure if you live in this world today, you want to scream from the rooftops, "Is there someone who can punch some holes in the darkness of this world? Is there someone who can stop the pain and violence of this world? Will the darkness ever cease? Is there someone who can punch holes into the darkness? When will it ever stop?"
And when we gaze into the halls of history and memory, darkness seems to always rear its ugly head. From the Crusades to the Hundred Years' War, from the Hundred Years' War to the Ottoman wars, from the Ottoman wars to the Middle Passage, from the Middle Passage to the Haitian Massacre, from the Haitian Massacre to Manifest Destiny, from Manifest Destiny to the Trail of Tears, who will punch holes into the darkness?
From the Trail of Tears to chattel slavery, from chattel slavery to the Armenian Genocide, from the Armenian Genocide to the Holocaust, will there be someone who will punch holes into the darkness? From the Holocaust to Jim Crow, from Jim Crow to the Bosnia genocide, from the Bosnia genocide to the Rwandan genocide, from the Rwandan genocide to Darfur, from Darfur to the apartheid, darkness seems to always rear its ugly head.
Will there be someone who can punch holes into the darkness, from discrimination to war, from battle to battle, from ism to ism, from phobia to phobia? And today, it appears that darkness seems to yet show itself. From rising waters to melting glaciers to the violence upon black and brown bodies, to the violence in Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza, to the pain of refugees, to the growing gap between the poor and the rich, is there someone who can punch holes into the darkness?
And on this night, as you have come to Memorial Church on this winter night, we remember when Christ shows up to punch holes into the darkness. This night, we gather to remember when the light and love of Christ shows up into a broken world.
And as we lit the candles of the Advent wreath, we are reminded that during the darkest time of the year, when the nights are the longest and the days are the shortest, the light of the world is born to dispel darkness.
We hear this familiar story year in and year out. We hear these familiar carols, but sometimes, we can get lost in this familiar story and miss the real, tangible, personal, human, and bodily details.
We are comforted by the stars in the sky, the angelic hope, and the beautiful image of the nativity scene. However, we must remember that Christ enters into a time of utter darkness.
The world to which this story is arising is one extreme violence. The story of Jesus is against the backdrop of a mighty empire and powerful rulers. Over six decades earlier, the governor of Syria and Pompey the Great was the Roman general, who had laid siege to Jerusalem and killed 15,000 people.
And in the text, as my wife read, Mary and Joseph are dealing with Herod, who we know will command a massacre to kill all male children under the age of two.
In addition, around the time that this gospel was written, tens of thousands were killed and the temple was destroyed. Jesus and His family emerges out of this world, and the shepherds do too.
We typically romanticize the shepherds, but they were considered the lowest of the socioeconomic ladder in Rome. And this night, the angel of the Lord appeared in the darkness to the shepherds, and the glory of God shone around them.
And the angel said, "Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy to you as born in the city of David a savior. This will be the sign to you. You will find Him wrapped in the banks of cloth and lying in a manger."
But what I love about this passage, beloved, is that after the angels gave this word and after the band of angels left singing their hosannas and glory to God and peace on Earth, the scripture says that the shepherds begin to seek after the light of Christ.
Although the angels appeared, although the great light appeared from the heavens, the shepherds did not stop and say, "Come back, light. Come back, angels. Can you bring that glory back from over yonder? Can the heavenly host come back and shine light on this broken Bethlehem?" But rather, the hope for light and hope did not come from over yonder.
The shepherds follow the light right here on Earth. They follow the light, "God is with us." They follow the one who can punch holes into the darkness. And in my homiletical imagination, I believe that the shepherds knew that God was nearby. They believed that the good news that God was with the family and in the stable. They knew that they had to go after this light.
And unlike Caesar and the Roman rulers who claimed divine origin and divine power, the shepherds had no power, and they had no money. But they knew that they were living in a broken world, and they could not wait for heaven to fix their issues. But they went after the light.
About two years ago, my colleague, Reverend Alanna Sullivan introduced me to Kintsugi. It is the ancient Japanese art of putting broken pieces back together. The word literally means mending broken pieces with gold.
Kintsugi is a repair technique in which ceramic pieces are put back together to form a new piece, where the scars are covered with gold. Broken pottery is a delicacy in Japan. You just don't throw out the broken stuff. Rather, you mend it. The gold used not only repairs that which was broken but reinvents the beauty of the vessel.
But what I also love about this Japanese art is that mending broken pieces also allows the light to shine in, like Christ. Christ comes to a broken world over 2,000 years ago to shine. And if God chose Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, God chooses you as well. And as the writer of Isaiah cries in hope, "The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light."
We are called to share that light right here to the poor, the sick, the refugees, and those who are marginalized. And in the words of Jan Richardson in her poem, How the Light Comes, "May we lift our faces to let it find us. May we bend our bodies to follow the arc it makes. May we open more and open still to the blessed light that comes."
Beloved, as I go to my seat, Christ's light comes to punch holes into the darkness. And He invites us to follow after the shepherds, to join in with Christ on this Christmas Eve to also punch holes into the darkness. May you join in with Christ and also walk into that light.
(Singing)
Walk in the light.
Beauty for light.
Come where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright.
Shine all around us.
By day and by night.
Jesus, the light of the world.
Walk in the light.
Beauty for light.
Come where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright.
Shine all around us.
By day and by night.
Jesus, the light of the world.
May you go forth punching holes into the darkness.
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