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As Christmas approaches, I can think of at least three things that seem different to me this year. First of all, our church is still in the wilderness. As nice as Marvin Memorial folks have been to us, this isn’t home. This isn’t the old familiar place. We won’t be home for Christmas. Many of the usual activities we just can’t easily do. I miss the old place. This makes me feel sad. Second, after 9/11 the world seems more frightening than ever. I worry about my family traveling over the holidays. I worry about the Middle East. It seems harder to find peace of mind, because peace on earth seems like a receding dream. All this is scary. And third, the older I get, the more I realize how little control I have over my life. I never feel really organized for Christmas. I never seem to get it totally together, yet I feel responsible for everyone having a wonderful time. However carefully I prepare for the holidays, I know I don’t have any control over the outcome. Last year I seemed ready, and ended up with a sinus infection on Christmas day. I was miserable and couldn’t even hold my little grandson. The best laid plans…So I feel sad because we are not at home; uneasy in a dangerous world; and not in control of much.

What I just said implies that Christmas can’t really happen unless I am at home, secure and comfortable, and in charge. But here is good news! Christmas is not our event. It is God’s event. We don’t create Christmas. God does. In fact, God gives birth to Christmas. Think about the coming of Christmas in the same way you think about the birth of a baby. Sure it would be nice to have everything ready when the baby comes – a safe, secure, comfortable home, in which everything is prepared and in its place. That is understandable. But baby is still going to come – even in the wilderness, even in a dangerous world, and mom and dad are sure out of control as to when or even where.

The baby whose birth we celebrate was not born in a modern hospital or in a safe and happy home, within secure national boundaries and blessed by a democratic form of government. Mary and Joseph had traveled far from home. Jesus was born in the wilderness of a backyard stable. Mary and Joseph were victims of the quiet terror of Roman rule. They were powerless. Yet Jesus was born. The first Christmas. And though Jesus was born into homelessness, fear and helplessness, that didn’t stop shepherds from rushing to the scene, wise men from presenting gifts, and angels on high singing "Gloria!" All the things we may think necessary to celebrate Christmas probably aren’t necessary at all.

So how do we best prepare for Christmas when we are far from home, when we are fearful of the world around us, and when we feel so out of control? Listen to the words of Isaiah, speaking to a generation of exiles. The Hebrews found themselves in the wilderness – the desert of exile, oppressed by their Babylonian captors. They had become slaves again. The prophet speaks words of hope, courage, and trust:

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing…

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
"Be strong, fear not!
Behold your God will come with vindication,
with the recompense of God.
God will come to save you."

That’s the message of how to prepare for Christmas. "Be strong, fear not!" The way to prepare for Christmas is just how you prepare for the birth of a child. You take the birth seriously. You do what you can do. You do the best with what you have and in the situation you find yourself. But the fact is you are not in charge. Instead you stand in awe of the mystery of it all. You seek to move with, in concert with, not in opposition, to the forces of life that are at work – at work in ways you have no control over.

"Be strong, fear not!" Christ is coming. Jesus will be born. Christmas will happen. And it will be fine. Just let it happen. Let yourself be moved and surprised. Let it be a gift. If we have some firm and fixed idea of when and how and where Christmas has to be, we may just miss it entirely. The real preparation for anything that is so important, birth or Christmas, is simply to "Be strong, fear not!"

And these words of trust and hope apply just as well to the three things that make Christmas different this year. We are in the wilderness this Christmas, as our home church is being renovated. But be strong, fear not. We are in the midst of the final labor pains of giving birth to a new church. Giving birth to a new facility that will be wonderful, but also to a new vision of our life as a congregation. It’s hard now. We’re tired. We’ve been away a long time now. Our temporary office space is cramped and a little chilly; the construction workers are taking up all the parking places in the lot at 9601; and the beltway is a mess – but "Be strong, fear not!" These are but the birth pangs of something amazing that is coming!

Yes, the world seems more dangerous than ever before. The threat of terrorism is not likely to end soon. We are vulnerable. Last week we saw the face of evil, up close and personal, the face of a malignant narcissism. But, be strong. Fear not! Behold our God is coming with vengeance and recompense. And indeed, all will be well.

And finally, if my life feels more out of control than ever, so what? The fact is that I make very little happen. I don’t have to feel nearly as responsible as I sometimes insist on. Really I should get clear that I am responsible only for this in life: to trust and wait patiently for God. The author of James’ Epistle says:

Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. You must also be patient.

Isn’t that really the same attitude as waiting patiently for a baby to be born? Patient waiting. I don’t mean waiting for the end of the world, or the Second Coming of Jesus in some literal way, or global upheaval, or my own death. No, it is living with the realization that God, the Holy, the Sacred, is poised to enter my life, my reality, my world – fully and completely, right now. And what if it doesn’t seem to be happening? Maybe it is not God’s time yet. Or maybe it is happening, and I am too preoccupied and am missing it. Or maybe I am looking in all the wrong places at the wrong time with the wrong attitude. Or maybe I am missing the birth of God in me and in the world because I am worried: worried about getting home, worried about my own security and comfort, and worried about being out of control.

But I can let go. Simply let go. If I can hear God saying to me now, "Be strong, fear not!" then I will be fully prepared to hear the angel’s words: "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." To me. To you. Today. Here. AMEN.

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