The story is told about a priest who spent weeks preparing his Christmas homily. By Christmas eve he had it perfectly composed. But the priest was still nervous as he saw people beginning to arrive two hours early and - as was his custom - he took a shot of whiskey to calm his nerves. Well, this Christmas homily was a big one, so he took a second shot, and then a third. He went to his room to finish getting ready and when he came back to his office, the priest could not find his homily. He searched all the desk drawers and shelves, but it was nowhere in sight. He even went through the trash can and recycle bin. After searching for half an hour, he became frantic. It was almost time for Mass to begin. He knew he could not give the homily without the text in front of him. Finally, in desperation the priest lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Lord, help me find my homily. If you do, I will never drink another drop of whiskey." When he looked down, there, right in front of him - as if by a miracle - he saw the homily. He lifted his eyes back up to heaven and said, "Never mind, Lord. I found it myself.”
Now, I promise that priest wasn’t me….. at least not this year…but I wanted to begin with a humorous story because it ties in with the theme of this Christmas homily. The English writer, G.K. Chesterton referred to Christmas as a "sacred jest." A jest is a lighthearted, playful joke. A good joke involves bringing opposites together in unexpected ways. The little story we just heard contained the contradiction between the priest's eagerness to receive something from God and his hesitation to give anything up. We laugh - or at least smile - because we recognize a similar struggle inside ourselves.
Christmas brings together the greatest of all opposites: God surrenders his power to become a helpless infant. The One who lives in the freedom of eternity, binds himself to a specific time and place to save humanity. God, the perfect, all-powerful, all-wise, unchangeable Being - takes on corruptible human flesh. And, as we hear in our Scripture readings, He who is pure light has entered our world of darkness and gloom - to bring us hope and joy. This is greatest jest of all. Chesterton expressed it in a memorable rhyme:
And on that sacred jest // the whole of Christianity doth rest.
When I say Christmas is a jest or a joke, it requires some context. Oftentimes, when we hear that word, we think of derogatory jokes, jokes that offend or hurt others by provoking a laugh at someone’s expense. When we say something or someone is joke, we are usually referring to this sort of humor; no one wants to be the butt of that kind of joke.
But there are also jokes that are healthy and good, jokes which make us laugh without making us feel bad about ourselves or others. These are the jokes with a punchline that surprises us, often with an unexpected, over-the-top conclusion. These are the ones that make your drink fly out of your nose, the laugh-til-it-hurts kind that come out of left field. Christmas is that kind of joke or, as Chesterton calls it, a sacred jest. The world was waiting for a savior who would be a serious, mighty, warrior-king. No one expected a helpless baby from the podunk town of Bethlehem. The ones at the receiving end of this Christmas jest are sin, evil, the devil, and anyone who is too proud to see God’s wit and wisdom. The punchline of Christmas is that what often appears wise to human minds is utter foolishness to God. What is that wonderful saying? “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”
To be Christian requires a certain sense of humor. We have to be able to see the oddness in our world - and in our self-made plans. And to laugh, or at least smile, at our existence which is often full of opposites and Divine surprises. Chesterton is often credited with saying: “angels can fly because they know how to take themselves lightly.” How often we take ourselves a little too seriously and act as though the weight of the world and work of our redemption rested on our shoulders. Don’t we all, at times, try to tell God how to do his job and attempt to control him according to our very limited knowledge. Christmas is a reminder that God’s ways are not always our ways and anytime we act as though we know better than the Lord, the joke is on us.
Even though jokes aren’t strictly necessary, they enrich our existence and bring us joy. In the same way, God did not need to create the world, but he did - and he pronounced it good. God did not need to redeem humanity after Adam and Eve messed things up in the Garden but He wanted to because He is crazy about us! Likewise, in order to save us, God did not need to become a tiny baby, but He did - and the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest”.
Christmas is the celebration of that completely unexpected, historic event when the Divine broke into human history as a helpless infant in a manger. Christmas is the story of opposites coming together in a way no one anticipated: St. Athanasius phrased it perfectly when he said, “God became human so that humans could become God.” Tonight/today we celebrate the most delightful joke of all, the sacred jest of Christmas. This holy joke does not make light of us or God’s majesty but instead turns the tables on evil and darkness and the wisdom of this world. We want to get the punch line, to revel in its joy, and allow it to move us forward in unshakeable happiness.
As we approach the manger, why don't we ask him for a holy sense of humor - the ability to take part in this sacred jest? Tonight/today we come to Bethlehem to laugh - or at least to smile with joy and delight- before the Infant God. In this newborn Babe, we see God knows best and humbly acknowledge that sometimes he unravels our plans to reveal his own. We thank God for moving towards us in the most unexpected ways and believe that hope, peace, and joy are never far away.
