December 25, 2001 - The Nativity of Our Lord

Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20

The Reverend Vernon L. Suter

Have you ever heard the term, Mountain Top Experience? I would imagine that term is familiar to a great many of you, but for those for whom that term doesn't ring a bell, I'll do a little clarification. The shepherds in our Gospel story are a good example. They were living in the fields, watching over their sheep, minding their own business, and suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared before them announcing the birth of Jesus. At first, understandably, they were scared to death. Once the message they heard from the angel of the Lord sank in, they weren't quite so frightened and decided to go see what it was all about. After all, with the angel and the multitude of heavenly host singing, - - - - the glory of the Lord was everywhere. This, most certainly, fits the description of a mountain top experience. I wouldn't doubt that once they got to the manger and actually saw Mary and the baby Jesus, just exactly as the angel had described it, they had another tremendous rush; - - another mountain top experience. After all, they had been told this was the son of God, the birth of their savior, and they had the privilege of having been on the spot witnesses to this once in a lifetime experience.

I've had mountain top experiences. I can tell you that I considered it a mountain top experience when I was ordained deacon, and then again when I was ordained priest. I will forever remember when, almost nineteen years ago, right here in this church, Bishop Morton and a number of priests laid their hands on my head and the Bishop said, "Therefore, Father, through Jesus Christ your Son, give your Holy Spirit to Vernon; fill him with grace and power, and make him a priest in your Church." - - If you don't think that was a magnificent mountain top experience for me, think again. To put it mildly, I was blown away. I cannot describe the feelings going on inside of me at that time.

I also have another one to share. This one may seem a little different in the way of a mountain top experience, but I'd like to share it anyway.

One Christmas, many years ago, Bonnie and I decided to spend Christmas in San Francisco. We were going to fly to San Francisco the day before Christmas Eve, spend Christmas Eve in San Francisco, attend Midnight Mass at the Cathedral, rent a car and drive down the coast on Highway 1, eventually ending up in Phoenix where our families lived. We had never seen San Francisco, so it sounded like it would be a good way to celebrate Christmas. Now, you might think that our mountain top experience was going to the famous Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Though it was a beautiful and moving experience, our most moving experience was before going to the Cathedral.

We had been down to Garadelli Square enjoying the sights and people. It was getting dark, so we decided to take the trolley up the hill to our hotel, change and get ready to go to Mass. The trolley was packed with people carrying arm loads of packages from their last minute Christmas Shopping. Suddenly, someone started singing Silent Night. One by one, people started to join in and in a matter of moments, it was like standing right in the center of the most beautiful choir in the world. All I can think of is that it was like the shepherds experience, suddenly being surrounded by the angel of the Lord and the multitude of the heavenly host, praising God. One Christmas Carol after the other filled the air from that packed trolley car struggling it's way up that San Francisco street. When Bonnie and I got off that trolley, we were speechless, literally. I think we were mesmerized. - - - - In my opinion, we had a momentous mountain top experience.

Many have reported similar feelings or experiences. Some have had them when they were baptized, some when they were confirmed, or in many cases when the glory of the Lord simply overcame them while in prayer. I'm sure many in this church today can report similar experiences.

But you know, there's a problem with Mountain top experiences. Actually, it's a fairly big problem. The problem is that these events seem to slip away from our memory, - far into the background somewhere. We, and I am as guilty as anyone with this, - - We seem to forget all too quickly that the only claim to fame we have is that we are children of God. We are who we are and what we are only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The pity is that so often we are forgetful of this truth. We move along in life pursuing our personal satisfactions as though it is by our will and our will alone that we accomplish these things that seem so important to us in life. Our human pride goes to work big time. We begin to believe that if we struggle hard enough, work long enough; if we out-fox the other guy, if we do whatever we have to do, we will acquire fame and fortune, or whatever it is that we want. We become convinced that if we carry on the feverish pretense of the importance made up of what we have rather than what we are, that we will then be happy. The problem is that often we are not happy. Rather, we find ourselves desperately wanting and sad. - - - - It seems like mountain top experiences have short lives in our memory.

However, there is some good news here. The good news is that as the years go by and the world moves on, there is growth. It is growth that I think we make by God's precious grace. The problem is that in spite of this growth, and perhaps because of this growth, we think the world has moved on because of all the great things we have accomplished through our own tenacity and intelligence. As a result, as great as this growth is, there are some areas in which we seem to have come to a place of religious lethargy. Religious lethargy, as I call it, is certainly not of God. Religious lethargy is a product of human pride. We have many schools, social organizations, people in helping professions; I can go on and on with examples, many of which have proceeded on the theory that religion is unnecessary. It only seems necessary that the purpose or idea behind this is that we grow simply by being kind to our neighbors, and that these projects or ideas are lovingly conceived. The thought is that we can get good will on earth and establish peace on earth without depending on any power higher than ourselves. We can do it on our own as long as the intention is good and it is amiably conceived.

Of course, we here today all really know better than this. That's why we're here. None-the-less, we do tend to loose track of our mountain top experiences. In spite of our short memories, however, the experiences are there and because of their having taken place, we have learned from them. For one thing, we have learned that if we forget God, it is not so easy to exalt humans and keep them exalted for any length of time. It is not easy for us to exalt ourselves and stay exalted for very long, without the memory of the presence of Jesus. Without an infinite confidence grounded in something greater than ourselves, a confidence enhanced by our mountain top experiences, how can we possibly know that humanity is worth the long effort it takes to help our world grow? If we are not the children of God, how do we know that we are any more worth saving than anything else which happens to emerge and flourish a little while and then die off as an accident of the universe?

We are all here today to honor the very biggest and most important mountain top experience since the existence of the world. We are here today to honor the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the son of God. I doubt we can even come close to the feelings the shepherds had on this day almost 2000 years ago, but perhaps being here amongst all the trappings of the church, the beautiful music and decorations, and the manger scene, we, in prayer, can come a little closer to the realization that God sent Jesus to us for the sole purpose of guiding us and saving our eternal souls.

Perhaps today, we can walk away from this service savoring another mountain top experience, the greatest of all mountain top experiences, and remember it long enough to know that Jesus is always with us, giving us what we need, so that we can enhance our own lives as well as the lives of the rest of those in this world.

Amen