The Rev. Ronald G. AbramsChristmas Eve 2015
Finding Refuge and Building a House
During the difficult years of World War II, Americans found refuge through music and movies.After a recording sessionat the CBS building in New York City, one of the most popular singers and actors of the day exited the building and was confronted with a large group of fans and reporters running toward him as if they wanted to tear him to pieces.Running in the opposite direction, this man, who offered refuge to millions through his talents, was now seeking refugeof his own, which he found in a diner he often patronized around the corner.Breathlessly entering the diner, he encountered the owner, a widow in her fifties.With three sons of her own fighting the war in Europe, she had great compassion for this young man as if he was one of her own.She quickly grabbed his arm and escorted him to a storage room in the back of the diner until the coast was clear.When the crowd disbursed, this kindly woman led the young man down a back alley and pointed him safely home.
A few years later as the war was ending, this entertainer—now more popular than ever—became alarmedand disheartened by the lack of tolerance he saw taking place in America.Recalling the compassion he experienced a few years before andagainst the advice and ridicule of many of his Hollywood friends, he had the courage to produce and star in a short film entitled “The House I Live In.”Ironically, the same people who criticized his actions, soon thereafter bestowed onhim an Academy Award for this movie when their eyes were opened to the reality of injustice and intolerance taking place.
In the movie, as he did a few years before, he exits a building after a recording session.This time though, he sees a bunch of boys chasing a smaller boy who was in fear for his life.He stops the boys and inquires what they are doing.They announce that they want to beat up this boy because he is Jewish.This gives the entertainer the platform he needs to explain that our American house is composed of many religions and cultures and that America is a place where everyone is welcome and should be treated with respect and dignity.He reminds the boys that we are all different, yet we belong to the same house!He ends the film by singing the song, “The House I Live In!”Some of the lyrics go like this:
The children in the playground,
The faces that I see,
All races and religions,
That's America to me
The place I work in,
The worker by my side,
The little town, the city,
Where my people lived and died.
The church, the school the clubhouse,
the millions lights I see,
But especially the people,
Yes especially the people,
that's America to me.
On this holy night, we gather to celebrate God’s entrance into our human house through the birth of the Christ Child.Christmas is God’s divine love entering humanities house so that we might find refuge for the brokenness we encounter each day.
Five Hundred years before Jesus’ birth, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: “For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of the oppressor, you have broken!”This wonderful counselor, this mighty God, this prince of peace will come into our world so that we might find refuge from the misfortune and difficulties of this world.
Tonight we celebrate this everlasting gift in the birth of Jesus Christ.
Tonight, we not only celebrate Christ’s birth, we should also celebrate and embrace the gifts, the tools, the blessings the Christ Child bestows upon you and me so that we can to build a healthier and holier house for ourselves, and for all God’s children here on earth.
How do we do this?I believe the kind diner owner and this courageous singer’s actions are the embodiment of what Christmas is all about.
Like the celebrity making the movie, Christmas is about courage.The courage of Mary and Joseph to follow God’s call.The courage of the shepherd’s to leave their flock in order to discover the Great Shepherd, the courage of God to become vulnerable in the form of a human infant to ensure us security and salvation.This is the Christmas courage we are called to live out in our lives as well.Nowhere is the word courage used in our reading tonight, but it is indeed at the heart of the Christmas story.
The diner owner manifests two other significant elements of the Christmas story: refuge and compassion.On this holy night, Mary and Joseph find refuge because of the compassion of an innkeeper.In doing so,God’s redeeming grace enters our world.In many ways, Mary and Joseph are symbolic of you and me.When you think about it, we are all refugees seeking compassion and a place of safety and peace from the trials and tribulations of this world, so new life can occur.As Christians, I cannot think of a higher calling than to show compassion and offer refuge to the sick, the burdened, the lonely, the hungry and homeless this holy season.Christmas is indeed about compassion and refuge.
And for those of you who might be wondering, the courageous celebrity was Frank Sinatra and the compassionate diner owner was my grandmother.Merry Christmas!