I'd like to share with you a true story about Karl Barth, one of the greatest theologians that ever lived.  He was born on May 10, 1886- and died on December 10. 1968.  Dr. Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian, and one of the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas.  At one point in his ministry he was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School.  At the end of the breath-taking lecture, the president of the seminary announced that Dr. Barth was not feeling well, was quite tired actually, and even though he suspected that Dr. Barth would be open for questions, he shouldn't be held responsible for endless streams of them.  Consequently, the seminary president volunteered to ..."ask just one question on behalf of all of us." He turned to the renowned theologian and asked, "Of all the theological insights you've ever had, which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?

It was an exquisite question for a man infamous in his own time for having already written tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put into writing.  The students were held captive by their own baited breath of anticipation, ready to take down word-by-word THE insight of the greatest theologian of their time.  Karl Barth thought for a moment, and then half smiling said, "The greatest theological insight that I've ever had is this: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

On this night, we begin to celebrate the greatest love story ever told, the miracle and mystery of love made flesh -and as if that wasn't enough, this miracle was done on our behalf!  Can you believe that?  When so much else in our world tells us a different story about who we are, there is this eternal, ever-lasting other story at the center of all our stories, that Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave birth to and held in her arms the God of love that we might hold in our hearts the love of God. For this, God so loved the world.  That's the most awesome; the most astounding story ever to be told-THE INCARNATION--and the greatest challenge of our lives to embrace, claim and live into!

"The only Son of God, came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man."  After all the anticipation of Advent, Christmas Eve is here at last.  Having patiently (mostly) waited for what often has seemed like an eternity, the time arrives-breathlessly-the instant when the long divine journey "down from heaven" is almost done.

Beneath all the wrappings, ribbon, repeated excursions to the mall, e-commerce online, parties, travel and travail, we post-modern Episcopalians are sitting here on Christmas Eve, because we still find our hearts moved by this pre-modern story of the visceral arrival of God, the tiny but steady heartbeat of the Creator, come as creature, one of us.

• The Spirit is moving in Bethlehem-shepherds and seers alike are aware and hovering;
• Mary's wait is almost finished, as well as that of patient Joseph, reluctant ‘father' for her child;
• And God is poised on the brink, ready for a first gulp of the air of creation, about to become one of those so lovingly made of mud, yet fashioned in the divine image and likeness itself.

God is doing it all out of faith in us.  God wants to experience it all out of fondest hope for us.  God wants to risk it all out of the deepest love in us.  And that love itself-all of it-the word love, the powerful stirrings of love herself, God's own creation is given to us, again! 

And this night, a new journey is about to start!  Never again will humanity journey alone towards God.  From now on our journey will always be with God.  And it begins here, in this manger, with this child, with the journey of God through life as one of us-which begins our journey at one with God.

We cannot imagine where our own journey will take us, once we take to heart that we sojourn always and forever at one with God.  It's a journey out into an unknown, with pleasures and pitfalls we cannot foresee and never with a dress rehearsal or change to undo what's done.  Yet this is what God waits for, year after year...for each of us to share with Mary and Joseph giving birth to the holy...to create with our own hands the offering of generous compassion, the welcome of radical hospitality, to work for justice, give freely of ourselves for healing, to inhale with awe and delight all of creation, to make a difference in at least one child's life and to become as German mystic Meister Eckhart wrote, "mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born."

This night is the love story of all our lives made real, again, out of love on our behalf... that Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave birth to and held in her arms the God of love so that we might hold in our hearts the love of God...and it's this very love that surrounds you, prays for you and will love you through every heart-rending challenge and celebration of your life.  This same love will never abandon you and in the mystery of love made flesh can be seen in the eyes and touch of family and friends, colleagues and religious community, all those with whom you share this love story, this holy journey towards wholeness with.

O Come, let us adore him...for Jesus loves us, this I know!