Were you paying attention when
the words of Psalm 96 were read? Listen again to verses 11 and
12, "Let
the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar
and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in
it. Then shall all the trees of the field sing for joy before
the Lord; for he is coming..." (Psalm 96:11-12, NRSV)
Perhaps you have heard the roar of the ocean as waves have come
to shore. Maybe you have been blessed to hear whales calling
to each other. No doubt all of us have heard birds singing. But
have you ever heard trees and plants singing for joy? Even if
you have you may not admit it for fear of someone questioning
your sanity.
Try to imagine what it would be like to have all of nature praising
God. What might it sound like to hear the entire earth engaged
in a love song? For a few precious moments during this particular
hour every year, I try to imagine this and every year the music
gets stronger.
As hard as this is to do in the face of reality, I try to find
a few moments when I can dare to allow myself to believe that
it is possible for all of Creation to be in love with each other.
I try to imagine what it would be like to have even a few moments
where the whole world is at peace. All needs are met. Each person
is important and affirmed.
I believe this is God's intended gift and I so very much
desire to experience it and be able to share it with you. God's
gift of Divine Self—forgiveness, acceptance, affirmation,
a sense of belonging, joy, peace, fulfillment, contentment, harmony,
oneness and life. All of these, I believe, are intended by God
to be present in Jesus—God's gift of Self for each
of us.
What is it we sing? "The hopes and fears of all the years
are met in Thee tonight." Everything we hope to have and
everything we fear losing or not having are somehow all wrapped
together in the Christ-child.
Roy T. Lloyd shares this story called "The Gift of Light" on
his Web site (December 29, 2002, day1.net), "There
was a time during WWI when soldiers confronted each other from
their respective trenches. It was Christmas Eve. A German soldier
was heard singing "Silent
Night, Holy Night" in German. British soldiers began to
sing back in English. Soon both sides were singing and an unofficial
truce was declared as soldiers, under white flags, joined each
other in no-man's land. They celebrated Christmas together.
When they returned to their respective sides, they wouldn't
fire on each other any longer. The enemy now had a face and it
looked like theirs. The troops had to be replaced on each side
because they fired over each other's heads rather than
at each other.
Christmas has a way of doing this. It is meant to break down
barriers and make us more aware that all of us are created in
God's image." (Homiletics, December 2005, p. 65)
Every year I spend time looking for a special story which I
believe captures the intention God has for Jesus' birth.
I had all but given up on this when I found the following which
I want to share with you. It is called "Peace Child" and
is told by a missionary named Don Richardson.
"Don, his wife and their young son were missionaries among
the Sawi people of Papua, New Guinea, in the 1960's. The
people were pleasant but the work was hard because no one had
reduced the Sawi language to writing, nor produced any translation.
That was to be Don's work. A further difficulty arose when
Don found the men applauding Judas in the story of Jesus' Passion.
Don learned that one of the most profound expressions of manhood
among the Sawi was of what they called "fattening the pig
for the slaughter"—a euphemism expressing prowess
at making friends and then betraying those friends for a cannibalistic
ritual. Needless to say Don was frightened. Was he being befriended
in order to be eaten? Would his son be served at the next community
festival?
Before the missionary couple had time to think about what their
next move might be, war broke out between the Sawi and a neighboring
tribe over hunting territory. As the fighting progressed, the
Sawi began to whisper about the possible need for a peace child. "What
is a peace child?" Don asked. "Sometimes," said
the Sawi elders, "when tribes battle too long and the cost
is too great, one of the tribal chiefs will grab a newborn from
its mother's arms and run with the child across the battlefield
and throw the screaming infant into the lap of a woman from the
hostile tribe. This is the peace child. He is the symbol that
one tribe wishes friendship with the other. The peace child will
be raised as a member of the other tribe, but will always be
seen as someone who came from the other side. As long as this
person from the other side lives among the new tribe its people
will pledge themselves to peace with the other tribe."
Don was intrigued. He asked a further question. "But
what if someone from the new tribe kills the peace child?" A
look of shocked horror washed over the faces of the Sawi. "Kill
the peace child? No one would ever do that! It just wouldn't
happen. No people could be so immoral or bad!"
Now Don tells this story. Once upon a time there was a tribe
in heaven that found itself at war with the tribe on earth. After
generations of conflict, the Chief of Heaven's tribe grabbed
his own son and brought him across the lines of battle and placed
him in the lap of a young mother from earth. A Peace Child!
There is more to the story, including the treachery by which
the people of the earth tribe killed the Peace Child. But on
this Christmas Eve those who are sent up as watchmen on the walls
in this incessant human/divine conflict see the Chief of Heaven's
tribe coming with the Peace Child. And a great celebration erupts
in the village square as peace is declared." (Emphasis,
November/December 2005, p.54-55)
Tonight the Peace Child has come. Do you hear the earth rejoicing
and the trees clapping their hands? |
