December 19, 2004
By Jack Price

Read through the passage from Isaiah listed above and then ask yourself a question:  “What strikes me in this passage?”   It’s a powerful text with several thematic ideas.  What strikes me in particular is the theme of “journey”.  My favorite part is the line:  “not even fools shall go astray”.  That’s really good new that I can’t mess up or get lost on this journey.  The other good news is that the journey is crowned by joyful singing.

There is a new movie out now call The Polar Express.  It’s the story of a boy’s journey to belief and self-discovery.  He learns to trust and to find the truth that lies within himself.  On a magical Christmas Eve train ride, he is challenged to trust the source of his truth.  The conductor reminds him that the biggest step is to get on the train and begin the journey.

            Journeys define us.  Our life journey shapes who we are and what we become.  In the language of faith, God calls us to journey from what we have been to who we will be.  The mythic understanding of all human experience often takes the shape of journey or quest.  The Judeo-Christian faith is built around this journey theme, the journey experience.

Noah journeys on the ark from destruction to new life.  Adrift on an ocean of chaos, the remnant of humanity huddles together, united by the desire to survive until chaos subsides and firm ground lies underfoot once again.

The patriarch Abraham journeys from civilization to a promised land, from the familiar to what is new.  On the journey, he is at home only in God.

Jacob and sons travel a journey of desperation from famine in Canaan to hospitality in Egypt.  Joseph leads them.  Their descendents set off in Exodus from Egyptian slavery through wilderness to the Promised Land.

The Israelites take a journey of nation building and of temple building.  There comes a sad, terrifying journey from home to exile -- from the familiar to the unknown.

There are other journeys of exile as well.  West Africans journeyed to slavery in the new world.  Via the Underground Railroad, many journeyed to freedom.  The struggle for civil rights continues to be a journey toward justice and wholeness for all people.

There are other types of exile as well.  There is the exile of shattered dreams, of unrealized hopes, and of broken relationships.  There is the terrible         weight of unresolved grief, festering anger, and numbed passion.  Isaiah speaks God’s call for all people to set out across the wilderness from exile to home, from bondage to freedom, from fear to hope, darkness to Bethlehem.

It is time.  Our journey through Advent is complete.  We are bound for  Bethlehem, our promised land, home, freedom.  It remains for each of us to decide what that represents.  What is Bethlehem for you?  Where is your freedom?  In order to find your freedom, you may first need to ask “where are you in exile?  The journey to freedom begins by leaving the place of exile.   This is the journey to Bethlehem and beyond to see this thing that the Lord has made knows to you, to us.  It is to turn from darkness, from hopelessness, from meaninglessness to see the light of the world – to move into the light of the world – to embrace the light within you.

To travel the highway of joy is to believe that ordinary people like you and me can live extraordinary lives because we are free to choose what we will do as vocation.  We are free to choose how we treat each other.  We are free to live with hope, free to live with integrity.  We are free to embrace joy -- free because we choose to kneel in Bethlehem to God who is with us, God who is with all of us.

The poet Ann Weems writes:

In each heart lies a Bethlehem, an inn

where we must ultimately answer

whether there is room or not.

When we are Bethlehem bound,

we experience our own Advent in his.

There was a religious order, founded in the 17^th century, that had flourished once upon a time.  In recent days, however, it had shrunk to but five elderly monks.  They lived together in one enormous house on many acres of land.  It had been years since any new members had joined and there had been no inquiries for quite some time.  As a result, the brothers became downhearted and began to turn in on themselves.

One day, a local rabbi’s request for occasional use of an empty cottage for quiet and retreat was gladly agreed to by the community.  They were pleased to be asked.  A few weeks later, the abbot visited the rabbi and they began talking.  Almost at once, they discovered they had much in common.  Bemoaning the lack of religious commitment in these modern times, the abbot asked for advice to rekindle the life of the community.  The rabbi’s response was somewhat strange.  “One of your community members is the Messiah.”  That’s all he said.  This confused the abbot, even though he know rabbis were famous for their obscure sayings.  Still, this seemed to be a little too much! 

Later, the abbot shared the results of this conversation with the other monks.  At first, there was astonishment, then laughter.  “What a stupid idea,” was the common and unspoken opinion.  This is a crazy rabbi.  Yet, the thought kept coming back.  As the monks went about their daily lives, the questions persisted, “Who could it be?”  Could it be the abbot or brother Henry, or William or Aidan?  Each candidate had strengths, yet also weaknesses.  Each of the monks thought:  “Certainly not me; I’m just an ordinary person.”  “Maybe?”

Slowly, the monks began to treat each other with a little more respect -- just in case.  They began to see their appreciation, as well as their expectations of each other and themselves, grow.  Before long, the community had a different feel about it and this new attitude was reflected in the grounds.  There was a new atmosphere around the place.  Even casual visitors saw a difference.  Within a year, there were two new postulants who joined and the community began to thrive.  Eventually, they once again became a center of light and spiritual power.

Brothers and sisters, God comes to be with us at Bethlehem and to be born in us at Christmas.  Christ comes in you and in me.  No less than this, Christ comes through each of us and through all of us.  This is the meaning of Christmas:  Christ is born in you.

God with us still in Bethlehem

  be in us now we pray.

Let love begin.  O enter in,

  be born in us today

We are the Christmas angels,

  your great, glad tidings tell.

Be born in us, bring joy through us,

  breathe love, Emmanuel.