Sermon
Christmas Eve 2023
St. Thomas, Wharton
By C. Andrew Doyle
Lena
His wife called him
A mad scientist
Most people knew him
As Leo Auffman
One day
A whimsical notion
Came to Leo
An inventor
He would
A mad scientist
Most people knew him
As Leo Auffman
One day
A whimsical notion
Came to Leo
An inventor
He would
build a machine
He built
An 8ft square
Orange
Box
It was
A happiness machine
He and his machine
Were located in
Green Town
(Itself a place
Imagined by
The creative mind
Of author
Ray Bradbury)
Once inside
The machine
Sitting in a chair
Enclosed by
Its orangeness
Knobs and whistles
Thing ama-bobs
And buttons
The machine
Would show
You
Lovely things
Happy things
All the best things
Lena got in it
To see what it was all about
It showed her
Sunsets
Her in her youth
Her and Leo
It showed her
Sunsets
Her in her youth
Her and Leo
Dancing in Paris
(despite the fact they had not
been to Paris)
It showed her
Whatever
Happiness
she
Imagined
[pause]
We stand
Upon the eve
Of
boxes too
an eve
Of happiness
And hopes
The gift
That will make
Life just right
Boxes to be unwrapped
And opened
The only
Thing we
Really wanted
It all awaits us
Magically so
We look into
Boxes every day too
Whatever
Happiness
she
Imagined
[pause]
We stand
Upon the eve
Of
boxes too
an eve
Of happiness
And hopes
The gift
That will make
Life just right
Boxes to be unwrapped
And opened
The only
Thing we
Really wanted
It all awaits us
Magically so
We look into
Boxes every day too
phones
computers
Boxes we carry
In our pocket
Sit on our lap
We can
work and play on them
they
show us
Endless streams
Of the things
That make us happy
They record
All our favourite
Things
Even
Fix our blemishes
For the perfect picture
To share
These boxes
Help us curate
Our lives
Displaying
To others
Everything
Neatly tied
with a bow
Festooned for
Public consumption
[Pause]
I have been
On several pilgrimages
To Israel
With some dear friends
Every time we go
We start one of our days
At a site near
The prophet Amos’
Hometown
There we
Climb
And scuttle
Down into a cave
And there
We see
It is actually an
Old manger
Where animals
Were kept
Over a
Thousand of
Years ago
We are told
About caves
And their use
Years ago
And
how
It is possible
That just such
A site
Is
Similar to the
Birthplace
Of Jesus
And
in that
Little cave
I remember
Standing there
With the walls
partly caved
In
Damp
dusty
And
Yet feeling
As though
Perhaps
I was experiencing
Something
Quite close
To holy
And there
Is a stone
manger
a Carved out
stone box
rough hewed
A manger
For feeding
The livestock
Something
Perhaps like
What Jesus
Might have
Been laid
Within
[Pause]
Boxes we carry
In our pocket
Sit on our lap
We can
work and play on them
they
show us
Endless streams
Of the things
That make us happy
They record
All our favourite
Things
Even
Fix our blemishes
For the perfect picture
To share
These boxes
Help us curate
Our lives
Displaying
To others
Everything
Neatly tied
with a bow
Festooned for
Public consumption
[Pause]
I have been
On several pilgrimages
To Israel
With some dear friends
Every time we go
We start one of our days
At a site near
The prophet Amos’
Hometown
There we
Climb
And scuttle
Down into a cave
And there
We see
It is actually an
Old manger
Where animals
Were kept
Over a
Thousand of
Years ago
We are told
About caves
And their use
Years ago
And
how
It is possible
That just such
A site
Is
Similar to the
Birthplace
Of Jesus
And
in that
Little cave
I remember
Standing there
With the walls
partly caved
In
Damp
dusty
And
Yet feeling
As though
Perhaps
I was experiencing
Something
Quite close
To holy
And there
Is a stone
manger
a Carved out
stone box
rough hewed
A manger
For feeding
The livestock
Something
Perhaps like
What Jesus
Might have
Been laid
Within
[Pause]
I imagine the
Hopes laid
Upon him
By parents
But others too
People
With whom
In that moment
The child
Had not met
And could not
Fathom
Yes
The hopes
And fears
Are met
In thee…we sing
I wonder
If you might
Ponder with
Me tonight
This very
Curious thing
Christmas
Isn’t about
The boxes we open
Or even
Our celebration
Christmas
Is not about a
New beginning
Another attempt
At the best-curated life
Or the most toys
It isn’t about something
That might happen
I hope you see with me
Christmas
Is about the
Child
That was laid
Within that
Stone box
That manger
Those many years ago
a present
Already opened
The gift already received
Consider what
The reformer
Martin Luther
Wrote:
I would not have you contemplate the deity of Christ, the majesty of Christ, but rather his flesh. Look upon the baby Jesus. Divinity may terrify a person. Inexpressible majesty could crush one. That is why Christ took on our humanity, save for our sin, that he should not terrify us by rather that with love and favor he should console and confirm us.
Tonight
Is about
Remembering
That gift
That birth
Yes,
We know the rest
Of the story
Our prayers
Hymns and carols
Will tip our hand
And seek to
Draw the end
Of the story
To the beginning
A reverse chronology
an inverted narrative
- And some folks love that
But tonight
Perhaps
Tonight
We let the
Beginning
Be
Well
The beginning
And we ponder
That this person
Jesus was
So close
So deeply connected
So filled with love
So godly
That
Those
Who gathered
Around him
Saw
Something…
Someone
They had been waiting for
[Pause]
Lena
(Leo Auffman
The inventor’s
Wife)
Arose
Out of the
Happiness box
That great
Orange thing
In their basement
In Greentown
And said
When
The box is opened
And we
Climb out
We must face
The fact that
We grow old
There is life,
Dirty dishes,
Children to be fed
…she says
She suggests
Happiness Machines
- That box of yours Leo –
Lies
And promises Things
it can’t deliver upon
perhaps
from Lena
we can learn something too
all the boxes
that promise
happiness
can’t deliver
and what we need
as people
as family
and friends
brothers, sisters, siblings
coworkers
and churchgoers
and all the rest
what we need
is actually
to marvel
at Jesus
Saviour
messiah
wonderful counsellor
prince of peace
Emmanuel – God with us
who was born
such a long time
ago
in a little town
called Bethlehem
and
who
was laid
in a stone box
open for the world
to receive
