The following message was given at the Blue Christmas Service at Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. on December 10, 2008 by the Reverend Canon J. Michael A. Wright, Rector
Welcome to our BLUE CHRISTMAS service at Grace Church. In this advent season we have been wrestling with various symbols of the Advent and Christmas seasons. Symbols and themes that might help some of us who have difficulty with celebrating a joyous Christmas because of having suffered a particular loss, the death of a loved one, the anniversary of a death, the loss of a home or a job or income, a broken relationship, a deepening depression. . .
One of these symbols or seasonal themes is
Darkness
Like the wilderness stories of the Bible it helps to remember that if we know our stay in such places isn’t forever we can more readily allow ourselves to spend some time in such less than friendly places. Darkness is clearly one of these places.
“Forty days” means there is an end to such desert times; an end as well as a meaning. We need to see both sides of this reality. And so, framing darkness in terms of night means, similarly, that this time will pass as the promised dawn does arrive – not always soon enough, but arrive it does.
Christmas and Darkness
Christ is born, as custom teaches us, at night – born in a darkened cave in the hours of deepest darkness. Christ is also born in winter. . . “in the bleak midwinter”. . . or so the carol hauntingly proclaims. Bleakness, winter – this is the first home for Christmas. And so we are in good company, not understanding this truth. The Christ child is born when earth is darkest in the northern hemisphere, alas, but so too is he born when the light has begun to return.
How many times did my mother quote to us as children “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”! That adage says it all. . . never deny the darkness, but never plan to stay there too long, either! In the darkness, after a while, if we dare to spend time there, we will begin to see things we would never have seen previously: there is more to see – we are not alone – we can get through this – all revelations we can only experience if we first submit to spending time in the darkness of our own grief – in the darkness of our depression – in the darkness of our brokenness – in the darkness of our own circumstances, all the while knowing that if any story can speak to us it is the story of Bethlehem’s stable: that first Christmas – more blue than white. A story of poverty and shame, a story of rejection and exhaustion and the gift of a closed door.
Our gospel story of the Visitation reminds us that, however we get through the desert days we do it best of all when we do it together. That’s why we’re here. In company with others who know our journey and others who simply wish to walk this road with us. And with all who have gone before us. Remember, heaven was first to celebrate the Christmas miracle. That means all, and all whom we love but see no longer. . . they too join our Christmas chorus of angels.
Part of our fear of the darkness, of the wilderness, of grief and the like, is that we do not (for obvious reasons) readily choose to live among such difficult places. It is, then, unfamiliar territory for many. That means we have spent little time in such spaces before we are suddenly overwhelmed by them. Less time in such dark places means we haven’t been conditioned to what they really involve. We are so busy trying to race away from the wilderness – the darkness that we don’t seem to stay around long enough to discover in these different places God’s riches of healing grace. This we discern only if we dare to spend time there and do not use all of our reduced energy to try to escape!
Jesus discovers through 40 days in the wilderness the things that really matter!
Another theme in this Advent season that we need to uncover is LONGING. This is Hope’s best friend. They need each other. Longing necessarily directs our troubled lives forward. In case you’re wondering – that’s where your future is – not back there!
A favorite Advent hymn explains this well.
Thy kingdom come! on bended knee
The passing ages pray;
And faithful souls have yearned to see
On earth that kingdom’s day.
Remember the darkness? Don’t mistake time spent there as lost time. It does serve a purpose. As the hymn goes on to teach us:
But the slow watches of the night
Not less to God belong;
And for the everlasting right
The silent stars are strong.
And lo, already on the hills
The flags of dawn appear;
Gird up your loins, ye prophet souls,
Proclaim the day is near.
Keep longing and keep learning. The work you and I do now will be built upon. All will be well, as the hymn reminds us, at last.
The day in whose clear shining light
All wrong shall stand revealed,
When justice shall be throned in might,
And every hurt be healed.
Darkness – where it all began – darkness – the place out of which all life and light will soon emerge. Choose to believe it.
Living in darkness. Finding purpose in the desert. Making room to long for what is yet to come. Choosing to embrace the life that is yours today.
Born in darkness – Christ’s gift is light.
Born in poverty – his promise, riches that can never be diminished.
Born in weakness – his assurance, strength and more for all of life’s journey.
And so –
Call this Christmas white –
Call this Christmas blue – just
Welcome in the Christ-child
The gift of Christmas true.
