It’s all rather ironic when you read the account of the Christmas story in the Bible, because what you find when you read the story carefully is that no one was home on the first Christmas. Mary and Joseph weren’t home. Their home was Nazareth and they found themselves in Bethlehem. The shepherds weren’t home. They had to work that night out in the fields. The Wise Men from the East weren’t home. They had traveled a great distance. And in a very real way, Jesus was very far from home. The Bible reminds us that Jesus voluntarily left the security and splendor of his home in heaven in order to carry out God’s will here on earth. So you see, Jesus was a long way from home too.

But somehow, whenever we see a nativity scene, when we see a make-shift shelter with a manger and parents huddled around it, most of us never give a second thought to the fact that no one was home on the first Christmas. Have you ever tried to define what home really means? Have you ever attempted to discover what the dynamics of home are all about? Think back to the Christmases of your childhood. What memories or feelings come to mind?

If you grew up in a loving and nurturing home environment, I’ll bet there was a feeling of belonging. Maybe you didn’t think about it consciously in those days, but most of us remember feeling that home was the place where we could be ourselves. We knew our status with our brothers and sisters. We had a sense of attachment to our parents and our grandparents and our cousins and other relatives, a sense of relational warmth and connectedness. So for many of us, home is about belonging – belonging to people who love us.

What else comes to mind when you think of home? A sense of security is probably right up there, too. A true home is a safe place. A true home is a place of comfort and protection from outside forces. A true home is a familiar place. It’s a predictable environment where certain family traditions provide a sense of continuity and stability, especially around Christmas. That’s where we first learn many of the traditions and rituals that will travel with us throughout our lifetime.

What were some of your Christmas traditions? Maybe you were a real-tree family or perhaps you were fake-tree people, like me. Maybe you opened all your presents on Christmas Eve or you opened them on Christmas morning like you should (lol). Maybe you always read a certain story or watched a particular Christmas program. Perhaps you went to one person’s place on Christmas Day and another on Boxing Day.

You see, those and a host of other family rituals were a whole lot more important than you realized as a child because they gave you an underlying sense of security.  That’s an essential ingredient in what home is about. Home has something to do with a sense of belonging and it has something to do with a sense of security.

But what does living in the real world do to our understanding of home over time? When young people grow up and they leave the cocoon of home and they begin to find their own way in the real world, what happens? Sooner or later, they’re forced to redefine what a sense of belonging is all about, because as the years go by, relationships change – even the ones you thought were permanent.

The unthinkable happens. Marriages break up. You weren’t planning on that. Loved ones leave or die. And somewhere along life’s journey, that strong sense of belonging begins to shift and change, and eventually, an honest person wonders if they will ever be able to recapture a sense of security and stability again.

Can I bring it down to a personal level? Some of you thought that this Christmas was going to be just like all your other Christmases, but it didn’t turn out that way. For some of you, there’s a husband missing this Christmas, there’s a mother who isn’t around this year. There may be the piercing pain of a recent death or sudden unexpected illness. This Christmas some of us are going to think a lot about how tenuous and fragile the real world is.

Some of us will find ourselves standing in front of nativity scenes. We see loving people huddled around a baby in a wooden manger, and we wonder if maybe God’s Son, the Christmas child, will be able to address the needs that our homes once met, but maybe this time he’ll address those needs in a permanent way and in a perfect way. To those who are wondering about these kinds of things today, listen to me carefully.

The Bible says that God knows you. God knows your name. God knew your name before you knew your name. It’s been on his lips 10,000 times and it’s on his lips again today. God knows that you have a deep need for a lasting sense of security. God knows that about you because he’s the one who wired up human beings in the first place. You see, God is trying to say to each of us this Christmas, ”You matter to me, and through this baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, I will one day make a way for you to belong to me permanently.”

“Through Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross,” God says, “my Son will provide the way for repentant people to become members of my family, my eternal family, and once you’re part of my family, you will belong to me throughout this life and on through eternity, and nothing and no one will ever be able to break the bonds of belonging.”

Many of you know what it means to belong to God in a permanent way. You know it in a personal way and it’s a powerful feeling. Many of us know what it’s like to be permanently and eternally attached to the God of the universe in a warm, loving and life-enhancing relationship. And it sort of makes you feel like you’re home, no matter where you are because you know you belong to God.

You see, God is saying to all of us this Christmas: “I know you and I understand fully your need to belong to something bigger than yourself. And I know the world situation too. I know the economic uncertainties. I know that right now planet earth is an unpredictable place to live at best. But fear not (God says that 365 times in the Bible – one time for every day of the year) fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.”

You see, high on God’s list of priorities is a desire to make his children feel safe and secure, no matter where they are, in a lowly manger or suburban Oshawa. He knows how important it is for us to feel secure in uncertain times. God puts it this way, “I will never leave you or forsake you. Call upon me in turbulent times and I will always be there for you.” That’s a promise from God. They were the words that were read from John’s Gospel during the lighting of the Candle of Peace.

And even beyond promises, God gives us his very presence. Sounds mystical, I know, but many in this church can attest to the fact that in the deepest valleys, in times of personal tragedy and heartbreak, they have felt the sustaining presence of God in such a powerful way that somehow, even while their world is seemingly falling apart, they felt a strange sense of security.

Some of us have stood by hospital beds or at gravesides. Some of us have received devastating medical reports or pink slips at work at the wrong time – is there ever a right time? And while our world was crumbling around us, we felt a genuine awareness that God was not going to let us sink into the abyss of despair, but rather, somehow, in some way, he was going to put us back on solid ground where we could eventually feel stable and secure again. When you grow in your relationship with God to the point where you regularly feel secure in his care, it feels a lot like being home. No matter where you are, you feel at home simply because God is with you.

So you can see the irony in the Christmas story. The Son of God leaves his heavenly home and he’s born in a make-shift shelter. Then Jesus, the man, continues to identify with homeless people all throughout his public ministry. He’s even buried in a borrowed grave. And yet, through his death and resurrection, through the sacrament of Holy Communion, he enables all wandering people, like you and me, to recapture a sense of home in this life, recapture a sense of belonging, and beyond that, he promises a permanent home in heaven forever.

I want to close by asking all of you a personal question? How many of you are home? How many of you are enjoying the fact that you belong to God? How many of you feel secure in God’s care?

Now for those who might be feeling far from God, why don’t you come home this Christmas? God is not interested in judging you – human beings are pretty good at doing that anyway. That’s not what God is about. God’s arms of acceptance and reconciliation are opened wide. “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people – not just some, but for all people – for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour – not a judge – a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”

What an announcement! And you know what? All you need to say to God is this, ”I accept your love for me and I want to come home. Help me find my home in you.” Some need to pray that homecoming prayer all over again today. And if you do, God will be there for you, already waiting with his arms outstretched to welcome you home.

When you come forward for Communion today, remember that God knows your name and loves you unconditionally. You are a child of God and a special part of God’s family. You belong to God and you are safe and secure in his arms.

For Christians around the world, the focus of the Christmas season
is still a “babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
But how should we interpret the accounts of Jesus’ birth
as recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke?
Were the gospel writers simply recording factual details
surrounding the circumstances of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem ?
Or were they somehow trying to convey through their writings,
through the stories of angels and stars and shepherds and Magi,
the essence of who this baby really was - the Messiah –
who would one day grow up to be the Saviour of the world.

Let me try to explain what I’m getting at in this way.
We may say of someone – they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Does that mean we should look for a piece of cutlery in the baby pictures?
Of course not – if you were to interpret this expression literally,
you would miss the point altogether.

Let me give you another example.
Did you know that it was said of St. Ambrose,
that while he was still a baby, a swarm of bees was discovered in his mouth?
Now, I think it’s safe to say only a fool would ask for a picture to prove it.
This is simply a literary device which is used to convey the idea
that Ambrose displayed honeyed eloquence when he spoke.
It’s not a lesson on the hive-building activities of bees.

Classical literature also tells us the orphaned child Romulus survived
because he was adopted by a pack of wolves and nursed by a she-wolf.
Again, one shouldn’t expect to see a picture of him with the rest of the pack.
This is a way of saying that Romulus was destined for greatness.
It’s not really a lesson on wilderness survival skills.

You see, anyone anxious to prove these stories were not true
would have to show, not that these events never took place,
but that Ambrose was not eloquent and that Romulus was not great.
We have to determine where the truth lies in these stories.

And the same holds true for the accounts of Jesus’ birth.
The Christmas story, as recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke,
are filled with truth about Jesus, but where exactly does the truth lie?
What is the story behind the story?

My roommate at the University of Western Ontario , Scott Warden,
his father was the Canadian High Commissioner to India at the time.
Every year, Scott, would fly to the Canadian Consulate in New Delhi
to spend Christmas with his family.

When he got back to school in January,
he told me when Christians in India recounted the Christmas story,
they always made sure to mention that Jesus was born in a stable
and laid in a manger between two cows.

This tidbit of information seemed rather odd,
especially since it’s not something we in the Western world
tend to emphasize in our re-telling of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem .
But can you see the importance for Christians in India ?
Cows are sacred and holy animals in their country.
Therefore, saying that Jesus was laid in a manger between two cows,
is a special way of saying that this baby was sacred and holy.

Now, you may remember from last week, the story of the wicked king Herod
trying to get rid of the infant Jesus by slaughtering all the babes in Bethlehem .
An unconscionable act of violence towards innocent children.
But you see, that’s really an echo of the Moses’ story,
when he escaped the plans of the wicked Pharoah
to murder all the first-born Hebrew children.
It’s a story which says: Jesus is a new Moses,
born to lead his people out of slavery.

And you will, no doubt, recall the title given to the infant Jesus
as he’s born in Bethlehem , which was also to be written on a sign
and placed above his head as he hung upon the cross: King of the Jews.
That’s really an echo of the David story.
David, the Bethlehem shepherd,
who became the greatest king the Jews ever had.
It’s a story which says: Jesus is a new David,
bringing that peace which all people long for.

And I know you’re familiar with the story of the wisemen
following a star from the east, and finding the infant Jesus
and offering him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
That’s really an echo of the Solomon story,
where kings and queens came from the east
to offer Solomon their gifts, and where the queen of Sheba ,
according to Jewish writings, was led to him by a star.
It’s a story which says: Behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

A new Moses, a new David, a new Solomon,
all that was most worthwhile about their past history.
That’s what the disciples had discovered Jesus to be,
in his life, in his teaching, in his death and resurrection,
and in their experience of his continued presence with them.
No wonder they wrote about his birth with such enthusiasm.

When I read the story of Jesus’ birth of a virgin mother,
it speaks to me of the utter kindness and generosity of God,
and of God’s creative power which can draw new life
out of empty wombs and empty tombs.

When I read the story of the message from heaven,
of angelic choirs, of glory to God in the highest and peace on earth,
I hear an echo of Christ’s own words as he said just that to his disciples,
“Shalom, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give you.”
And he’s continued to say that to millions of his followers ever since.

In fact, when I read any of the gospel stories,
I breathe a sigh of relief because that which is most deeply true
about Jesus has been preserved for you and me in beautiful stories
which can be repeated from generation to generation,
and not in abstract arguments which may be relevant today,
but tomorrow be as dead as October leaves.
It’s through these stories that Christ continues to come to us today,
and invites us to become part of the story of his life.

In closing, just listen to part of the story of Jesus’ birth once again,
and listen to the story behind the story of the wisemen.
“The star which they had seen in the east went before them,
till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother,
and they fell down and worshipped him.” (Matthew 2: 9-11)

When I read this, I am challenged to ask myself all over again,
“Am I willing to be numbered among the wise of every generation
who fall down and worship Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord?”
But my question doesn’t put the challenge half as strongly,
or half as beautifully as the story does.