Let Us Remember This Christmastide the Disappointed, the Downhearted, the Rejected, the Forlorn, and the Forsaken.

 

The little bird perched by itself on a bare branch in the photo is an English robin, my namesake. Originally robins were birds of the forest and the wood. Now they live in hedgerows and gardens.

One legend of how the robin got its red breast is he burned himself on a fire he fanned to keep the baby Jesus warm.

According to another legend—

"...the robin’s breast is red because of his association with Christ’s death and crucifixion. When Jesus was on the road to Calvary it is said that a robin plucked a thorn from Christ’s temple and a drop of Jesus’ blood fell on the robin’s chest, turning it red."

That story is a reminder that the babe whose birth we celebrate on Christmas Day was himself rejected by the people to whom he came. He was forsaken by his disciples and his friends. He was nailed to the hard wood of a cross and there suffered an agonizing death.

Before we do anything else on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, let us ask God’s forgiveness for any unkindness that we have shown to anyone or any wrong that we have done them.

The one whose birth we celebrate came into the world not only to put things right between God and ourselves, but also to teach us to love others, to treat them as we ourselves would wish to be treated, to do good to them and not to do harm, and to be faithful reflections of himself, forgiving others, and showing them same love as he has shown us. He gave his disciples a new commandment:

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 NRSV

Christina Georgina Rosetti, a nineteenth century English poet and author wrote this poem. It was later set to the Irish traditional melody, GARTAN, and now is sung as a Christmas hymn.

Love came down at Christmas,
love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, Love divine;
worship we our Jesus,
but wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token;
love be yours and love be mine;
love to God and others,
love for plea and gift and sign.

“Love shall be our token.” A token is a thing that serves as a visible or tangible representation of something else. Love is what marks us as disciples of Jesus. In his letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul gives us a description of the kind of love that is to set us apart from the rest of the world.

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 NRSV

It a good description of the kind of love against which we can measure the love that we show not only our brothers and sisters in Christ but also all people.

One other thing besides asking God’s forgiveness for our unkindnesses and wrongdoings, which we may wish to do before anything else on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is to take stock of how well we are doing at showing love to others—forgiving them, being kind to them, being patient with them, being generous with them, showing caring and concern for them, being thoughtful of their feelings.

Would the love that we show mark us as disciples of Jesus?

What can we do to be more loving?

Heavenly Father, you have shown your love for us by the birth of the Holy Child at Bethlehem, help us to welcome him with gladness and to make room for him in our lives; so that we may live in peace with one another, and in good will with all people; through the same your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace give you his peace, and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be with you and remain with you for ever. Amen.