In the reading from Luke for Christmas Eve, we have a truly ordinary experience. Mary and Joseph are expectant parents travelling to take care of their business--the census. They don't have reservations at a fancy hotel. They aren't driving a luxury vehicle. There isn't a warm fire waiting for them when they arrive. Instead, they are two regular people, travelling by donkey to a somewhat unfamiliar place. As we know from the gospel and countless Christmas pageants and movies, there is no room at the inn, and so when it's time to settle in for the night--and for Mary to give birth--it is in a stable or barn. Generations of women before Mary had given birth, and generations of women after her would too. But this birth was special. It was the inbreaking of God. After months of waiting, wondering, and hoping, this birth, fortold by an angel, was happening. The extraordinary life of the Divine came into the ordinary world of humans. And who are the first to hear about it? Not family members or friends, but shepherds. Also very ordinary people. There they were out on the hillside with their sheep, and angels appeared to them proclaiming this extraordinary good news! Suddenly everything that was ordinary about that evening had become extraordinary. And so being led by stars and singing angels, the shepherds are the first on the scene, and they are privy to a miracle.
In that moment, everything changed. In the birth of Jesus, the bridge between the Divine and human was made manifest. In that most ordinary of events, all of creation woke up to a new beginning. It's not everyday that we witness these kinds of massive in-breakings of God. Instead, it's found in the little miracles that surround us daily. A sandwich for someone who's hungry. A card in the mail for someone who's lonely. A hug for someone in pain. These are all ordinary events in the ordinary lives of ordinary people. And yet, when we participate in these ordinary events with a heart of gratitude...we a privy to a miracle. You see, God needs all of us--even those of us who think we're 'ordinary'--to bring about the Kingdom of God. If you don't think it's true, just look around. Look into the face of the person next to you. How have they proclaimed the good news to you? In their words, in their actions, in their love? See...the gospel truth of God's steadfast love for us is found in the lives of ordinary people in ordinary places.
Some of our friends and families are not with us this Christmas because they are travelling to see others. And some of us are playing the role of host to our families and friends. What I think the good news is of the birth narrative from Luke, is that God calls ordinary people like us to help bring about extraordinary things. Sometimes we are called to go to places unknown or unfamiliar. They aren't necessarily places we'd consider 'home'. But when God is guiding us into these places, anywhere Christ is found, can become our home.
And so I invite you to consider where God is calling you and how you might participate in bringing about the extraordinary in this world.