Do You See?
12/24/06
Christmas Eve 2006
Luke 2:1-20
Dear friends in Christ,
Of all the church services held throughout the year, Christmas Eve is for me, the most peaceful and comforting. Easter is the most triumphant, God’s victory over death and the grave. But Christmas is the more reflective as we pause to ponder what it means for God to come to earth as a baby, one of us.
The beautiful carols of Christmas contribute to this mood. Many seem timeless, although they’re really not that old. “Away in a Manger,” for example, first appeared in 1885 with lyrics and tune by an unknown composer. It was referred to as Martin Luther’s Cradle Song, though there is no evidence it was actually written by Luther. So of the 2000 years in the history of Christianity, it has only been 120 years that “Away in a Manger” has been with us.
Probably the carol most associated with Christmas Eve is “Silent Night.” This was composed by Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber. It was December 24, 1818, in Oberndorf, Austria. The assistant priest, Mohr, went to the home of his friend, Gruber,the organist of the small church. He brought the words of a poem that he had written two years earlier and asked him to write a tune to it, to use at the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. The organist, Franz Xavier Gruber, reminded Fr. Joseph Mohr that the organ wasn’t working and so they would not be able to have music for the service. Fr. Mohr went in the other room and got a guitar. Gruber strummed a few chords, then started humming. He exclaimed, "The song, it sings itself." A few hours later, he had composed the tune, and the two men presented the carol for the first time that Christmas Eve. So, although it seems like Silent Night must have been sung at the manger on the first Christmas, we have only had it about 190 years.
There is still another carol, younger still, written in 1962, only 44 years ago. This carol has become a favorite already, “Do You See What I See?” Kirby Smith sang it for us earlier, in his best Bing Crosby voice, who originally recorded it on November 22nd, 1963. It was written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne. This is a carol that asks questions, do you see, do you hear, do you know, will you tell? These are questions for all of us to think about tonight.
It seems clear that only a very few saw, heard, knew, or told what was taking place in their midst that first Christmas night. There are actually two words in the Greek language meaning “to see”. The first word is the word, blepo. It literally means “to see.” I see you. I see the poinsettias. I see the Christmas tree. I see the choir. I see the angels in the windows. I see. That is one Greek word for the word, see. But there is a second word, the word, horao. Horao, means to see deeply. It is not sight, but insight. It is to look more deeply at what is there.
Michelangelo, the famous sculpture, when he was in Florence, Italy, saw an enormous piece of granite that no one knew what to do with. Everyone would walk by and notice that big piece of granite, but Michelangelo, with his eyes, saw into the granite, and he saw the possibility of the creation of his famous sculpture, David. He went to work with his tools, and by the time he was finished, he had created the most beautiful sculpture this earth has ever seen, and it stands today in a cathedral in Florence, Italy. He saw more deeply.
It is clear on the first Christmas that only a few saw, horao, with insight. The people of Bethlehem saw just another pregnant woman with her husband in town for the census required by Governor Quirinius. The innkeeper saw another customer needing a place for the night in his already too crowded inn. I guess they could use the stable in back, he suggested. The learned scribes and Pharisees, the ones who studied the Hebrew scriptures and the prophesies concerning the Messiah, had no idea what was taking place in Bethlehem. They missed it. Just another baby born.
Certainly very few people in Palestine saw and heard and understood what took place that night. The choirs of angels singing were drowned out by the haggling and trading going on in the Jerusalem bazaar. There was a bright star in the sky, but only a few turned their eyes to the sky to see it.
There was something to see that night, but only a few saw, horao, with meaning and insight. The first were the shepherds. The dirty, smelly, lowly, working class shepherds. While everyone else was going about their daily business, the shepherds saw the angel of the Lord, believed the message, and went to see the baby. Not the scribes, not the Pharisees, not the King or high priest, but the shepherds. The message was clear. This baby was born for all people, regardless of economic status or political power. Most missed the star as well. The only ones apparently to pay any attention to it were pagan astrologers from the East. They were foreigners, not even Jews, who were led by the star to the baby Jesus. The Messiah had indeed come for all, even the foreigners of a different country and race.
Why did some see with insight, that God’s Son, the Messiah, was born, while most simply saw the birth of another baby or missed it entirely? It could only be one thing, they saw with the eyes of faith. They received the gift of faith, which allowed them to see things very differently than everyone else. I am convinced that had two people been there that night in Bethlehem it is quite possible that they could have heard and seen two entirely different scenes. God never presents himself in revelation in a manner in which we are forced to believe. We are always left with a choice in how to respond to what we have seen. So one person can say by faith “It’s a miracle”, while another says “It’s just a coincidence." You see, what we see and what we hear and what we know and what we tell in life depends largely upon what’s inside of us. Do we look with eyes of faith, or depend only on what we see before us. In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Christmas Past has just paid a very discomforting visit to Ebenezer Scrooge. Clearly the old miser is shaken by the entire ordeal. But when he awakes from his sleep, does he take the message to heart? No, he simply dismisses it by saying: “Bah, humbug! It wasn’t real. Just a bit of last night’s undigested beef.” At that point he would not allow himself to believe, to go deeper, to see with insight, his own sad life.
What do you see this Christmas night? “Said the night wind to the little lamb, Do you see what I see?” Do you see only with sight, or do you allow God’s spirit to enter your life to see with insight?
Christmas is a feast for the eyes. What do you see this Christmas Eve when you see the beautiful lights? What do you see when you see the candles flicker? Is it only setting a mood, creating an atmosphere? Or is it something more. Do you see the splendor of the lights pointing to Jesus Christ, the light of the world? Do you see hope in the midst of darkness, a guiding light to see us through our darkest times?
Or how about the Christmas presents? They are wrapped so beautifully under the tree. And when we open them we receive a gift. It could be something practical, it could be something needed, it could be something special, it could be something quite unexpected. Is that what you see? Or do you see that underneath all the presents that were exchanged this year is the present of God himself for you? Do you see the gift that God gave you in Christ, a gift, never earned, never deserved, but always freely given in love, like any present?
What do you hear tonight? “Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear?” Do you only hear the beautiful melody lines of the carols we sing and the four part harmony of the choir? Or in that music do your hear more deeply the sounds of the angels rejoicing at the birth of the savior? Do you hear the children’s voices tonight, the babies and the toddlers and the preschoolers and the elementary age ones, with such excitement on Christmas Eve. In their voices are you reminded of the miracle of God, that God came into the world like each one of us, a baby, born of Mary.
What do you know tonight? “Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, Do you know what I know?” Do you know that Christmas is about family and friendship and giving and a baby? Do you know that Jesus was a fine moral teacher instructing us how to live good lives? Or do you know more deeply. Christmas is all of that, but so much more. Do you know that Jesus is the very presence of God on earth? Do you know that he grew up to be our savior, dying on the cross for all the mistakes and imperfections and inadequacies and wars and tragedies that plague humankind? Do you know that by receiving him by faith we can live with God now and forever? Do you know that there is hope, that God loves the world despite its broken condition, a love shared in the gift of Jesus? Do you know?
And will you tell? Will you show what you know? “Said the king to the people everywhere, Listen to what I say: Pray for peace, people everywhere.” Is Christmas something that we take out and look at for a few weeks each year? Do we come for the big show on Christmas Eve, observers, like concert goers, given a temporary lift to make us feel better? Or does Christmas change us? Does it lead us to tell others of the hope we find in Jesus? Does it inspire us to act upon the gift given to us in Jesus? Will we pray for peace in our war torn world? Will we work for peace in our families, our neighborhoods, our nation, and in the world? Will we give with generosity so the hungry may be fed and those in need will be cared for? Will we serve others, knowing how God in Christ has served us? Will we tell, in word and deed, the good news of God’s love revealed so plainly this Christmas Eve?
Only a few saw, heard, knew, and told that first Christmas long ago. There was Mary and Joseph, there were some dirty and smelly shepherds, and a few foreign astrologers following a star. So many more missed it. The same thing happens today. We have sight, but not insight. We see, but don’t look deep enough. May this year be different. May we see with insight, through the eyes of faith. For then we can join the night wind, the little lamb, the shepherd boy, and the mighty king of the carol, in worship, witness, and service to Christ our newborn king. Amen
Luke 2:1-20
Dear friends in Christ,
Of all the church services held throughout the year, Christmas Eve is for me, the most peaceful and comforting. Easter is the most triumphant, God’s victory over death and the grave. But Christmas is the more reflective as we pause to ponder what it means for God to come to earth as a baby, one of us.
The beautiful carols of Christmas contribute to this mood. Many seem timeless, although they’re really not that old. “Away in a Manger,” for example, first appeared in 1885 with lyrics and tune by an unknown composer. It was referred to as Martin Luther’s Cradle Song, though there is no evidence it was actually written by Luther. So of the 2000 years in the history of Christianity, it has only been 120 years that “Away in a Manger” has been with us.
Probably the carol most associated with Christmas Eve is “Silent Night.” This was composed by Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber. It was December 24, 1818, in Oberndorf, Austria. The assistant priest, Mohr, went to the home of his friend, Gruber,the organist of the small church. He brought the words of a poem that he had written two years earlier and asked him to write a tune to it, to use at the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. The organist, Franz Xavier Gruber, reminded Fr. Joseph Mohr that the organ wasn’t working and so they would not be able to have music for the service. Fr. Mohr went in the other room and got a guitar. Gruber strummed a few chords, then started humming. He exclaimed, "The song, it sings itself." A few hours later, he had composed the tune, and the two men presented the carol for the first time that Christmas Eve. So, although it seems like Silent Night must have been sung at the manger on the first Christmas, we have only had it about 190 years.
There is still another carol, younger still, written in 1962, only 44 years ago. This carol has become a favorite already, “Do You See What I See?” Kirby Smith sang it for us earlier, in his best Bing Crosby voice, who originally recorded it on November 22nd, 1963. It was written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne. This is a carol that asks questions, do you see, do you hear, do you know, will you tell? These are questions for all of us to think about tonight.
It seems clear that only a very few saw, heard, knew, or told what was taking place in their midst that first Christmas night. There are actually two words in the Greek language meaning “to see”. The first word is the word, blepo. It literally means “to see.” I see you. I see the poinsettias. I see the Christmas tree. I see the choir. I see the angels in the windows. I see. That is one Greek word for the word, see. But there is a second word, the word, horao. Horao, means to see deeply. It is not sight, but insight. It is to look more deeply at what is there.
Michelangelo, the famous sculpture, when he was in Florence, Italy, saw an enormous piece of granite that no one knew what to do with. Everyone would walk by and notice that big piece of granite, but Michelangelo, with his eyes, saw into the granite, and he saw the possibility of the creation of his famous sculpture, David. He went to work with his tools, and by the time he was finished, he had created the most beautiful sculpture this earth has ever seen, and it stands today in a cathedral in Florence, Italy. He saw more deeply.
It is clear on the first Christmas that only a few saw, horao, with insight. The people of Bethlehem saw just another pregnant woman with her husband in town for the census required by Governor Quirinius. The innkeeper saw another customer needing a place for the night in his already too crowded inn. I guess they could use the stable in back, he suggested. The learned scribes and Pharisees, the ones who studied the Hebrew scriptures and the prophesies concerning the Messiah, had no idea what was taking place in Bethlehem. They missed it. Just another baby born.
Certainly very few people in Palestine saw and heard and understood what took place that night. The choirs of angels singing were drowned out by the haggling and trading going on in the Jerusalem bazaar. There was a bright star in the sky, but only a few turned their eyes to the sky to see it.
There was something to see that night, but only a few saw, horao, with meaning and insight. The first were the shepherds. The dirty, smelly, lowly, working class shepherds. While everyone else was going about their daily business, the shepherds saw the angel of the Lord, believed the message, and went to see the baby. Not the scribes, not the Pharisees, not the King or high priest, but the shepherds. The message was clear. This baby was born for all people, regardless of economic status or political power. Most missed the star as well. The only ones apparently to pay any attention to it were pagan astrologers from the East. They were foreigners, not even Jews, who were led by the star to the baby Jesus. The Messiah had indeed come for all, even the foreigners of a different country and race.
Why did some see with insight, that God’s Son, the Messiah, was born, while most simply saw the birth of another baby or missed it entirely? It could only be one thing, they saw with the eyes of faith. They received the gift of faith, which allowed them to see things very differently than everyone else. I am convinced that had two people been there that night in Bethlehem it is quite possible that they could have heard and seen two entirely different scenes. God never presents himself in revelation in a manner in which we are forced to believe. We are always left with a choice in how to respond to what we have seen. So one person can say by faith “It’s a miracle”, while another says “It’s just a coincidence." You see, what we see and what we hear and what we know and what we tell in life depends largely upon what’s inside of us. Do we look with eyes of faith, or depend only on what we see before us. In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Christmas Past has just paid a very discomforting visit to Ebenezer Scrooge. Clearly the old miser is shaken by the entire ordeal. But when he awakes from his sleep, does he take the message to heart? No, he simply dismisses it by saying: “Bah, humbug! It wasn’t real. Just a bit of last night’s undigested beef.” At that point he would not allow himself to believe, to go deeper, to see with insight, his own sad life.
What do you see this Christmas night? “Said the night wind to the little lamb, Do you see what I see?” Do you see only with sight, or do you allow God’s spirit to enter your life to see with insight?
Christmas is a feast for the eyes. What do you see this Christmas Eve when you see the beautiful lights? What do you see when you see the candles flicker? Is it only setting a mood, creating an atmosphere? Or is it something more. Do you see the splendor of the lights pointing to Jesus Christ, the light of the world? Do you see hope in the midst of darkness, a guiding light to see us through our darkest times?
Or how about the Christmas presents? They are wrapped so beautifully under the tree. And when we open them we receive a gift. It could be something practical, it could be something needed, it could be something special, it could be something quite unexpected. Is that what you see? Or do you see that underneath all the presents that were exchanged this year is the present of God himself for you? Do you see the gift that God gave you in Christ, a gift, never earned, never deserved, but always freely given in love, like any present?
What do you hear tonight? “Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear?” Do you only hear the beautiful melody lines of the carols we sing and the four part harmony of the choir? Or in that music do your hear more deeply the sounds of the angels rejoicing at the birth of the savior? Do you hear the children’s voices tonight, the babies and the toddlers and the preschoolers and the elementary age ones, with such excitement on Christmas Eve. In their voices are you reminded of the miracle of God, that God came into the world like each one of us, a baby, born of Mary.
What do you know tonight? “Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, Do you know what I know?” Do you know that Christmas is about family and friendship and giving and a baby? Do you know that Jesus was a fine moral teacher instructing us how to live good lives? Or do you know more deeply. Christmas is all of that, but so much more. Do you know that Jesus is the very presence of God on earth? Do you know that he grew up to be our savior, dying on the cross for all the mistakes and imperfections and inadequacies and wars and tragedies that plague humankind? Do you know that by receiving him by faith we can live with God now and forever? Do you know that there is hope, that God loves the world despite its broken condition, a love shared in the gift of Jesus? Do you know?
And will you tell? Will you show what you know? “Said the king to the people everywhere, Listen to what I say: Pray for peace, people everywhere.” Is Christmas something that we take out and look at for a few weeks each year? Do we come for the big show on Christmas Eve, observers, like concert goers, given a temporary lift to make us feel better? Or does Christmas change us? Does it lead us to tell others of the hope we find in Jesus? Does it inspire us to act upon the gift given to us in Jesus? Will we pray for peace in our war torn world? Will we work for peace in our families, our neighborhoods, our nation, and in the world? Will we give with generosity so the hungry may be fed and those in need will be cared for? Will we serve others, knowing how God in Christ has served us? Will we tell, in word and deed, the good news of God’s love revealed so plainly this Christmas Eve?
Only a few saw, heard, knew, and told that first Christmas long ago. There was Mary and Joseph, there were some dirty and smelly shepherds, and a few foreign astrologers following a star. So many more missed it. The same thing happens today. We have sight, but not insight. We see, but don’t look deep enough. May this year be different. May we see with insight, through the eyes of faith. For then we can join the night wind, the little lamb, the shepherd boy, and the mighty king of the carol, in worship, witness, and service to Christ our newborn king. Amen