At the end of most Christmas Eve services, we sing Silent Night! Holy Night!. With lit candles, we exit as quietly as possible so that we might not wake up a baby “sleep (ing) in heavenly peace.” In “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” we sing, “How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given!” And in “Away in the Manger,” even when Baby Jesus awakes, the little Lord Jesus, “no crying he makes.”
Before this holiest of nights, there’s noise—registers ringing, holiday greetings, horns honking, and some children are crying. We live in a frenetic pace of activities especially during the few days left before Christmas that just the thought of a silent night is unheard of. Most businesses close early on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day with the exception of a few Chinese restaurants. It’s been said that if you want to eat out on Christmas Day, you can probably eat Chinese.
For the next couple days, there will be silence in the world. There’s an old story of opposing soldiers silencing their guns to have a Christmas dinner together. For the most part, your smartphone won’t be getting any messages. And you can drive down the highway with little or no traffic. There’s an uncanny, abnormal, holy silence that comes when God breaks into our world as a Baby Savior. I will enjoy the silence before the storm.
After Christmas, the noise in the world will begin again: registers ringing for returns and 50% off sales, bombs and gunfire will be heard in Aleppo and Iraq, highways jammed with cars going back to work, your smartphone is smart again. Soon with the New Year approaching, our country and the rest of the world will be anticipating what will happen with Trump as our 45th President.
Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, the silence we are enjoying leads to a cacophony of noises in 2017. While undocumented, hard-working and tax-paying people will be fighting to live out the American dream. Scientists and eco-justice leaders will protest weakening our commitments to addressing climate change. People like me who believe in an inclusive, diverse and welcoming human family will stand up against misogyny, white exclusiveness, and any other form of discrimination and prejudice.
When Baby Jesus grew up, he became active in the synagogue, in the marketplace, on the highways and byways of life. While he retreated for moments of silence, Jesus was in the thick of things. Enjoy the silence before the storm before we do what Jesus did—“Bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recover sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:16-19)
Enjoy the silence before the storm of being God’s activists in the world. Let’s get busy and make a lot of noise! Just your simple preacher.