Truckers
December 22, 2009
Luke 2:8-15
Hermee and Ruldolph sing a duet, “We’re a Couple of Misfits”
So, Hermee and Ruldolph ask some good questions. Who is it that says they can’t be who they are? Who sets the rules saying they don’t fit in? They both seem happy and confident with who they are and they go in search of a place that will allow them to be who they are. These Shepherds were a bit this way. They weren’t cityfolks. They were people who survived beyond the city gates. They didn’t own the flocks, they watched the flocks. They were out there living off the land in a way the townsfolk didn’t. They weren’t even living in a way that the farmers did because they had to move as weather changed, as water wore out, as sickness came to the flock. Shepherds spent most of their time alone with the animals. They were alone under the great sky looking out for those who didn’t speak and totally trusted. Shepherds. They didn’t quite fit in with the rest. They weren’t in the in crowd. They weren’t on any list to be King. They were definitely invisible, disposable people according to the empire. It reminds me of today’s truckers. They have a time table that’s different than the rest of us. They have goals that we don’t quite get and yet one snowflake or blown tire can change all of that. Their work day we’ll never understand. And mostly, they are alone. Even if they have a partner they drive while the other sleeps. They see more of America than any of us and yet they make us a bit uncomfortable or curious. We love or abhor their truck stops. They are a curiosity. These are the shepherds of today. And, we can see that the Empire doesn’t think they fit in. However, the truckers, the Shepherds, they have the last laugh…
Let’s stop by the “truck stop” of the misfits from the Ruldolph film, the land of misfit toys.
This is the gathering place where everyone talks of the hope of Christmas day when they will be pressed into service. Even if they aren’t quite the “normal”interpretation of things. A day when spotted elephants, trains with square wheels, birds that swim can all be loved, cared for, cherished and accepted, Christmas day. A day when we celebrate the birth of a new kind of kin-dom where all are welcome no matter where they come from or who they are! It’s a day of beginning again. And these new beginnings bring the promise of starting over, accepted, loved and cherished. And all of this is found out because the Shepherds…Rudolph and Hermee, The Shepherds, those who protect the sheep, the Shepherds guide us toward the light. The unexpected, misfits, the ones who are never seen in places of power, they receive the message and immediately begin to go towards the light…They bring us all to the light. And, they do this by keeping watch. Keeping watch for the Christmas sign that wonderful sign, the wonderful time when everyone, no matter who they are or how they are in this world, is brought together to the land of being wanted, being celebrated, being pressed into service because of who they are. And, it’s not because of Santa, it’s indeed because of this other unwanted being, this tiny child, being born in the wrong place, at the wrong time, to the wrong girl, in the wrong family. It’s because of this Jesus. This witness to us all the work of the misfit toys is just beginning, and right in the midst of them, we might just find a Savior, a Savior who will bring us into the land of wanted. Into the land of names. Into a story that was written just for us. Into a Presence that is so radiant we shine with the hope, that new beginnings, better days lie just ahead.
Lest we forget in all this Christmas spirit, the experience of being on the outside. It’s a difficult life. You’re out of synch with everyone else. You have no power. You have no voice. All you have is who you are and how you are in the world. And, sometimes that makes things feel pretty bleak. It’s when you are the poorest kid, and your guardian finally gets you a winter coat, only to have it stolen that same day by some bullies at school. Being in love with the Holy, doesn’t magically make a coat appear. It’s when you are watching a loved one suffer and die, in the midst of the world’s happiest time of the year, this time of the year, it’s disorienting, unbelieveable, it most certainly doesn’t feel merry. It feels lonely, cruel, and impossible. Being filled with the Presence doesn’t stop the dying, the sickness, the suffering. Sometimes we can feel absolutely desperate. Sometimes things can get absolutely desolate.
Show the third clip of the Land of Misfit toys, gathered around the campfire, waiting for Santa, and sure that they’ve been forgotten again…
The toys are sure they’ve been forgotten again. They are gathered, exhausted from 365 days of hoping, only to be gathered around the campfire, together with only themselves. All signs, that they aren’t loved, that being different is difficult. We often in the midst of our living feel like our dreams have all been taken away, smashed with the realities of this living. Where all children can’t be President. Where access to good education isn’t true for every child in our country. Sometimes it seems that our hardest times, the darkest moments are right before the dawn breaks. And sometimes, just as the toys can not hear the sleighbells ringing, because of their despair we too cannot hear God’s tears falling, feel God’s hands holding us, swaddling us, wrapping us up like a baby placed in the manger with the light shining upon us. Sometimes we are crying so hard, so long, stuck on the island of not being wanted, filled with the self loathing of that label, we forget. We forget that the Christ child came to be with us. God came to be with us. God loves us so much, that God came to be with us, to fill us with love, light and peace about all that we are. God came to be with us that we might be willing to create a new kind of kin-dom right here on earth. A kin-dom where the misfit actually is celebrated because of his unusual talent. A kin-dom where he’s not judged for his difference but celebrated for his passion to bring a more compassionate love to the earth.
God rearranged the plans of the Shepherds. What would happen if bands of angels turned up and asked all our truckers to convene in Tucson Arizona on Dec. 24, looking for the great light…And, what if that message was so compelling they actually did it? It would disrupt our daily living. It would change who we thought the messengers could be. It would disrupt things as normal. It would disrupt our attitudes of class and who is in and who isn’t. It would disrupt our consumerism. All of the things would be stuck in Tucson. It would change everything, the tables would be turned…What a great image to draw us to the stable! We are encouraged each year at Christmas to examine who it is in our lives that we have hardened our hearts toward because, God brings us all to the stable, to bow down and sing God’s praises. Let’s this final week of Advent prepare our hearts to be disrupted. Prepare our lives to be disrupted. Prepare our world to not run business as usual. But instead, to be filled with the Presence of God and to see into our world the possibility that we might be the ones shepherding a whole new light. Let it be so Holy One. Let it be so!