Overtaken By Events - Christmas Eve 2020

Very early in 2020, before we knew how this year would unfold, I was introduced to a new term. We were working as a task force on an issue that seemed to be of utmost importance to the life of the church… and some news broke and made our future work unnecessary – at least for the time being.

A long-time member of Faith noted our work had been “overtaken by events.”  O.B.E.

Circumstances had changed quickly, significantly.  And our work was untethered – not useful, not resolvable, not relevant.  

We had been “overtaken by events.”

Who knew those words would come to carry so much truth throughout the year to come.

We have been “overtaken by events.”

I confess that it has been really hard to imagine what to say on Christmas eve this year.  

If you are like me, Christmas eve has a rhythm and an energy and an excitement.  It is about place and people and certain foods and certain songs and certain specific sounds and smells and tastes and decorations.  It is about traditions and rituals and expectations.

And here we are. With many of those things stripped away.

We have been overtaken by events.

And it can feel hard. Disappointing. Sad. Untethered. Unhinged.

It is important that we make space to sit with that, to not rush past that. Our loss is real. We get to grieve and lament all the things.

Our collective grief colors how we hear what is happening in the world and how we understand what is happening in the world and how we participate in what is happening in the world.  It is like a kind of yeast that feeds and grows and bubbles within all of us, changing us.  

So I think it is important to look at all of that honestly. To name the hard things and the hurt. That is important, vital work.

And then, maybe we are better able to reflect on why it is that we gather on Christmas eve without all of those other things.. 

Maybe I have a new opportunity because I am not thinking about one thousand other things like baked goods and candles and how the choir will move and how the liturgists will move and what I will eat between multiple services…

I have space to think about the reason we gather. 

“While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child…”

Surely Mary and Joseph’s very lives had been overtaken by events. 

“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified.”

Surely the Shepherds’ work and comfort had been overtaken by events.

“All went to their own towns to be registered…”

Surely Bethlehem itself and all of the surrounding territories had been overtaken by events, crowded by weary travelers.

I wonder…

I wonder if this year being overtaken by events gives us a unique opportunity.

I wonder if this year being overtaken by events creates for us a once-in-a-lifetime shared experience with everyone else around us. 

I don’t mean to say our experiences are the SAME because they are not, but we are ALL having a changed life experience right now. There is a unique quality of universality in this moment.

What if we can see what is happening around us today in a pandemic and see how every single thing is affected – and then bring that awareness to the story of Jesus born in Bethlehem.

The gospel of John describes it in much more cosmic terms – 

“In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

What if what overtakes us tonight is awe and wonder and light as we consider the bigness of how God entered the world? What if tonight we are overtaken by the power of God’s love in creation, in a baby named Jesus, in a Rabbi who was persecuted and overcame death, in the power of the Holy Spirit whose lifeforce courses through and around us?

What if we are overtaken like Mary:

“Mary treasured all these words and pondered them on her heart.”

What if we are overtaken like the shepherds:

“The shepherds returned to the fields, glorifying and praising God.”

It is true that much of our life right now has been overtaken by events. 

What if tonight we are overtaken by light that cannot be overcome?

What if we are overtaken by the sense that everyone, everything belongs to this light?

May it be so.

Amen.