Put on some Lizzo - The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

We often forget the strangeness of this story that comes to us Because we've cleaned it up and made it so nice and familiar This sweet little baby this silent night all cuddled up and swaddling clothes But it wasn't like that was it? It was so much more real and raw and messy. A refugee family seeking shelter among animals A message of social upheaval and the destruction of the political system that kept things in order. The chosen messengers, poor and dirty and odd. A most highly favored lady, but no lady by the queen's standards. This story is all about how things are changing, how God is flipping the script on the way things have always been, and we are told, do not be afraid, and maybe, if you got it in ya, you could sing. The message of Christmas is completely counter cultural. Look at how our world has been wrapped in fear. Segregation, isolation, the hoarding of resources, contempt for our neighbor, contempt for our planet, the insidious presence of cynicism that claims everything is terrible. I have nothing to be grateful for, nothing to be happy about, and that constant reminder of failed expectations, which allows fear to become the status quo. But Christmas, Christmas stands in opposite, in opposition to fear, to bring us a story of how when Mary and the shepherds heard the good news, heard that God was coming to dwell among us, heard that Jesus was coming to change the world, their response was to sing. So singing, we are taught, is the first step in letting joy. Replace our fears in our lives, our real lives. When the house is a mess and your kid is whining about how crispy or not their chicken nugget is, put on some Lizzo.