Nochebuena/ Christmas Eve + It's a Miracle! / Es un milagro! + 12.24.22

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M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Isaiah 9:2–7 (= Isaias 9:1–6 DHH); St. Luke/ Lucas 2:1–14, (15–20))

“It’s a miracle!”[1]

This forms part of the opening song for the show The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The effusive “It’s a miracle!” came to me as I was thinking about the sermon this week.

Pensé en la frase “¡es un milagro!” cuando pensaba en las lecturas de esta semana. ¡Porque el nacimiento de Jesús fue un milagro!

I thought of the old song, too, “a weary world rejoices….” Una canción muy conocida en ingles dice que el mundo, aunque agotado por los años, regocija en el nacimiento de Jesús.

And today we celebrate. Hoy regocijamos.

In Isaiah, we hear the yearning, the yearning of generations upon generations of people looking for hope. Un pueblo que ha estado en exilio esta prometido esperanza y en el libro de Isaías hablan de esa promesa.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light

una luz ha brillado para los que vivían en tinieblas

A great light is seen…. ¡Una luz ha brillado!

And yet for those spoken to in Isaiah it was another age until Jesus came. Fue para esta gente otro tiempo largo hasta que vino Jesús.

But they knew… “Something’s coming, something good!” Sabían que algo iba a venir.

And we may relate. Posiblemente entendemos.

Dos milenios más tarde, estamos esperando de nuevo. Two millennia later, we wait too.

Because the celebration of Christmas may sound like just a bit of nostalgia. Like a remembrance of a time past. Albeit a very important time when hope broke into the whole universe and shattered the barriers between us and God… but still a long time off. Puede a veces parecer en Navidad que solo estamos recordando algo en el pasado, aunque algo muy importante que cambió el mundo por siempre…

But we wait too. Pero esperamos también. Just like the people of Isaiah’s time. Nuestro exilio también va a terminar.

Even as we claim the good news that in the birth of this child salvation has come to all of us, we also remain in hope for a time when all of us will see the true promise of Christmas revealed. For a time when there will be no pain or suffering but perfect love and unity and harmony.

Aun mientras clamamos las buenas nuevas que, en el nacimiento de este niño, la salvación nos ha venido a todos y todos, también permanecemos en esperanza para un tiempo en que todos y todas verán la verdadera promesa de Navidad revelada. Un tiempo cuando no habrá sufrimiento ni dolor, solo un amor perfecto y una unión y armonía entre todos.

Does that sound like too much to hope for? ¿Esto suena como demasiado? ¿Algo que no podemos esperar, porque es demasiado grande? Sometimes we feel our dreams are too big, and we have to cut them to size. Why be happy all the time? We just count on one really jolly day. ¡No contamos con un solo día de felicidad! We are made for boundless joy! ¡Contemos con gozo sin limites!
Dream big! It’s a miracle!

And if you feel a little small, don’t worry. You’re in good company. Si siente un poco tímido, no se preocupe. Sintieron temor los pastores. Y María guardaba todo esto en su corazón. The shepherds were terrified, and Mary pondered all these things in her heart. Ahora, cuando dice “guardaba todo esto” – la palabra en griego es συμβάλλουσα (symballousa). The word in Greek for “pondered” when Mary thought on what had been revealed to her, is symballousa. Literally it means, “thrown together.”[2] Ella literalmente está juntando información y tratando de procesarlo. Un poco como un cocinero juntando ingredientes para hacer una cena. Mary is throwing together the information she has received in her mind, trying to synthesize it like a master chef throwing together ingredients to make a delicious meal. Or how a potter may think of throwing a pot. Un alfarero puede pensar en hacer una olla. Si María, que estaba en el medio de todo esto, no pudo entenderlo, ¿cómo puede nosotros? I mean… it’s a miracle! It’s a mystery! If Mary, who was right in the thick of it, pondered and threw together and tried to make sense of all of this, we can be forgiven for having some questions, too.
Entonces es natural que tengamos preguntas. It is okay to have questions. It is a miracle! It is a mystery! But we hold on to hope, because in the birth of Jesus we know we are born to hope big. ¡Esperamos por un mundo mejor, por razón de este niño precioso y para todos los niños del mundo! Let us hope big this Christmas, because of baby Jesus and on behalf of all the precious children of the world.

Amen.


[1] Jeff Richmond, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Theme Song.”

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