Christmas Eve, 2003
The Rev. Dr. Harold H. Weicker
Interim Rector, St. Paul's Church
December 24, 2003

Warmest Christmas greetings to each and every one of you, especially to those of you visiting with us. You have come to the right place at the right time.

I say "You have come to the right place" to those visiting with us tonight, because this is a parish family of love in which we all try to share our highest and best self with each other. When you came through these doors, you entered a place where first, your God-given uniqueness is appreciated and respected, and second, your wonderful value is honored and expected.

If this does not sound like the way you often are viewed and treated outside these doors, I say again, "You have come to the right place!"

You are here tonight, not just because it is Christmas Eve (even though you - or someone with a lot of clout over you thought this was the reason for coming), but because you and I are here to get close with God whose love and wonder can attract us all-- if we just show up. Wasn't it Woody Allen who said that 80 percent of success is just showing up? This certainly is true for faith and the spiritual life. We have to be "present" to get it. There are many ways of being present-- of "showing up." Awareness, or intentional, or conscious living, is one way of your being present to God. Taking an active part in a community of faith is an important way God becomes present to you. In truth, both ways are necessary, and all spiritual traditions-- not just Christianity-- acknowledge this. So here you are. You showed up to honor the gift of Jesus, so I pray that you truly will be present to God tonight. We might say that we need to be present to receive the present! This is true all our life.

As the world had little room for Jesus at his birth and in his time, just so our world today has pushed the essence of God aside-- or distorted it-- for all manner and sorts of self-serving reasons. I say "the essence of God" because the way so many people misuse the concept of "God," the very word, "G.O.D." is enough to discourage many thoughtful persons. Some of you might be in this group.

The essence of God goes far beyond anything I can define, but a loving and remarkable creation is what I can see.

A few days ago, I heard a well-known scientist give a new definition of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. This spiritually grounded man of science changed the traditional "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," to "God the Source; God the Child; God the Spirit." By this he was presenting the deep integration of his experiences of God: God, the Source of his life; God in him as a Child of God intimately and totally dependent on the Divine Source for life; God the Spirit that bound him together with all the creation, so that his life might be full and be sustained. Now there is a creed for the 21st Century mind! No matter what the doctrine of our religions around the world, we all could say, "I believe in God: the Source, the Child and the Spirit."

If there ever was a story that honors God as Source, Child and Spirit, the Christmas story has to be one of the best. In the story of the virgin birth, God is claimed as the source of Jesus. The fragile baby, nurtured and protected by a Holy Family is the God child totally dependent on God the Source for life. And the Spirit of vital love and deep peace in this union shines through the story as the gift of new life for all whose hearts was willing and open.

A Godless world is not interested in the fullness of a life deeply integrated with the Source. The world comes to us in various ways: many people come to use us as a resource to meet their specific needs. Often this is appropriate, but how many love us into being the person the Source of the Universe made us to be? How many people honor God in us as a Child of God? When Hindus and Buddhists place their hands together over their heart and bow to the other, this is a sign of prayer that worships God in the other person. How lovely, and how true. I pray that each of us have major participants in our life whose loving presence helps us along our way. God, in these good souls, blesses and guides the Divine Child in us. We call these special ones angels. And they, with others, were there honoring the child in the manger and calling people to him.

Life demands that we write big checks on our personal resources, but what are we depositing into our life's account? So many people are overdrawn in their souls these days these days, and they know it. Tonight, you can collect your Christmas bonus-- and balance your account. Tonight, you might discover the God Child in you and hear more angels in your life. I hope you do, because God is present here-- for you.

Now a word about God the Spirit who makes the creation a community. Some of you, who are here tonight, may not usually participate in the life of a church, temple or Mosque. According to several polls, over 72% of Marin does not consider faith based communities as necessary in their life-- a figure that falls to 29% nationally. This does not mean that all these people do not believe in God. Most of them say they believe in the God of their understanding. It is just that they do not see a faith community as necessary. Most of these good people who make up this extraordinary 72% in Marin don't understand the value of--to use Christmas Story words-- a God-centered Holy Family.

Here at St. Paul's we do not share a "common" faith. We are a gathering of individual believers. Every one has their own, unique understanding of their experiences of God. To the 72 percent who resist an institutional, or common, belief system, we do too.

What we do share is a deep love and interest in each other and all who come to try us out. We are a community who is surprised and strengthened by each one's enlightenment and life. We support each other when we are down. We rejoice together when we are up. We pray together for guidance when we are searching for a special way in our life, and we try to help each one along their way as best we can. The God we trust and follow is God the Spirit as known in the consensus of our community of faith, because we believe that the Great and Holy Spirit resides in us all. As an intentional, holy, family, we wish-- and work for-- the Best in everyone, both here and beyond our doors.

Does all this sound like something you can do by yourself? Or like something you would want to? Without a loving community behind you, it is so much harder to consistently honor God the Child within yourself and all others. Without "Holy Families" in your life, your sense of the universality and importance of God the Spirit is greatly limited.

"Institutional Religion" - or Denominationalism- is not the same thing as a community of faith. Institutional Religions are specified structures gathered around doctrinal systems. Communities of faith are unions of people and purposes centered in personal, spiritual experiences. There is so much negative baggage associated with Institutional Religion; I don't blame people for being reticent in going there. The heart that you find in the members of loving communities is the essence of God. When you look upon the beauty of this church building and the lovely Christmas decorations; when you sense the love and personal interest of all of us gathered here tonight, you are not experiencing God in an institution, you are drawing close to the Divine in everyday people like yourselves whose lives are being changed in ways that are so worthwhile! Previous communities of faith, who built and maintained this building for over 130 years, are not here now. They have long gone before us, but their love is here. All who practiced their higher life in this parish have shown us ways to reach that which ultimately counts. They are here as part of our living history. And we, the present community of St. Paul's, are here to keep this family of faith together and greet you with open hearts and arms, and with a message of love and respect.

Lastly, as I said at the beginning of my sermon this Christmas Eve, "You have come to the right place at the right time." The people of the world, and this planet itself, are growing weary of so much of its leadership. The leaders of nations, economies, religion, politics, and culture in so many of its aspects, are exhausting the people and the earth. Facing a darkening world, the famous Rabbi and scholar, Rebbe Menachem Schneerson (also known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe) wrote,

At the threshold of the ultimate good, where the sparks of Godliness lie on the ground before us, none bends over to pick them up. Where the greatest of miracles occur, none lift up their eyes to notice. The table is set for a feast, but we are all asleep-- and who will wake us from our dreams?