Preparing for God’s Moment in Time and History

December 24, 2017

What we do with our time becomes our history.  As we gather realizing our time is precious and it will lead us to many places, many commitments and many gatherings in the next 48 hours, we come to church to hear how God rewrites our history.  The angel Gabriel becomes the herald of God’s Kingdom, sharing with us the story of the call of Mary to be the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God.  It is an incredible moment in history when God changed the world through the birth of His only begotten Son.  It is this rewriting of history that began long before Mary received the news from the angel Gabriel that she was full of grace.  It began when she was born without original sin, so that she could be the sinless vessel to carry the Christ within her womb in a sinless body.  With free will she accepted the invitation.

What we do with our time creates our history.  God is inviting us and He longs to rewrite our history through grace.  This Christ Child for whom we have been preparing is willing to suffer and die for our sins.  He is willing to pick up His cross.  He does all of this because God rewrites our history.   As we gather from place to place and as we cherish moments with family and friends, we are invited to help the mission of God to rewrite history.  Words of compassion and healing can bring joy to every table at which we find ourselves seated. Finding the time to be filled with mercy for those who have hurt us in the past can bring peace to the table.  Traditions speak loudly at this time of year and the way we bring to these traditions a newness of heart will allow them to last with dignity and respect.

When I think about all of the traditional Christmas meals we had growing up, I remember the joy that was found in conversation.  It was a special time on Christmas Eve when my mom’s side of the family gathered.  There was no talk of the things we could not change, such as politics; rather it was about the blessings experienced during the year and hope of the things the New Year would bring.  It was a time when engagements were celebrated, pregnancies were uplifted, employment of any kind supported.  To rewrite history God sends us to announce glad tidings, to be true to ourselves, as Mary was at the sight of an angel and He sends us to become the messenger of hope to others.

What we do with our time creates our history.

May we use our time wisely.

Reverend John J. Ouper