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Get your own, Free HomepageHow many of you here this morning are fans of "The X Files?" Even if you're not an avid watcher, you surely are familiar with the existence of this television series and the feature film it spawned. Devotion to the series has reached almost cult-like levels. I recently read that an "X Files" search on the Internet turned up over 1 million sites!
For those few among us who may not be familiar with the show, it features two fictional FBI agents named Fox Mulder and Dana Scully; they investigate unusual cases that seem to have no logical explanation - often involving the supernatural. Those cases are known as the "X files."
X is the 24th letter of our English alphabet. Mathematicians or teachers among us know that "X" is also the symbol for the unknown...as in, 2 + 7 = X, or 3 x X = 12. "X", then, is the missing element needed to balance the equation. That's the sense in which X is used in the television series title. That is also the sense in which X is used in the title of today's message: "The Xmas Files." As we begin the season of Advent and reflect upon the familiar stories that lead up to Christmas, we will encounter events that seem to have no natural explanation.
In Greek, in which the New Testament of the Bible was written, X is the letter Chi...which is the first part of the word Christ. Since ancient times, X has been a symbol for Christ. When seminary students take notes, they often use an X to abbreviate Christ. Now many people, myself included, have long discouraged the use of the word Xmas in an attempt to remind us to keep Christ at the heart of Christmas. Actually though, in one sense, perhaps using an X in Christmas is theologically more accurate.
Jesus was the missing factor which made the equation of life balance. The birth of Jesus brought the missing piece to the world's puzzle about what God is really like. As we begin the preparations and celebrations of Christmas, let's take another look at the mysterious circumstances surrounding Christ's birth. Just like "The X Files" proclaims: "the truth is out there." Perhaps, if we are open-minded, we will be able to see with fresh eyes the wonder of what happened nearly 2000 years ago.
To review the strange events and mysterious revelations that accompanied the birth of Jesus, we go to the Gospel of Luke. Now Luke seems to have a lot in common with Agents Mulder & Scully. He was not an eye-witness to the events about which he wrote, but he was careful to discover the facts and record them so that everyone might know the truth. That unusual Gospel reading we heard from the introduction to Luke's book of "Good News" sounds a lot like what Mulder might say in one of his reports. Luke says, "...since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, so that you may know the certainty - [the truth] - of these things...."
And if you then proceed into the first two chapters of Luke, you will discover among his reported findings some really bizarre stuff! There's a possible alien abduction, there are visitations from strange beings, an occurrence of psychic phenomenon, and multiple sightings of U.F.O.'s - and these U.F.O.'s don't just hover...they sing, too! There are things in Luke's report that would definitely bring agents Mulder and Scully running to investigate. These age-old mysteries must definitely qualifjr as "The Xmas Files."
Case #1: old Zechariah...husband of Elizabeth, eventual father of John..known to us as John the Baptist...the forerunner of Jesus, the one sent to prepare the way. But before John was born...in the process of finding out that he was going to be a father...Zechariah' experience, as described in Luke chapter I, was one that Agent Mulder would surely chalk up to alien abduction.
You see, Zechariah was a member of a priestly clan...a family whose male members were born into the honor of serving as priests - the only ones ever allowed to enter the inner sanctuary of the temple - the place where the presence of God was believed to dwell. One of the priests' duties was to keep the sacrificial incense burning. Because there were so many priests then, a lottery was held to determine who would be allowed to enter and serve at the altar; after decades of waiting, the lot finally fell to Zechariah.
While the people were outside worshiping and praying, the old priest went in alone and disappeared from sight behind the heavy curtain that kept the Most Holy Place hidden from view. Scripture says that Zechariah was gone inside a very long time - far longer than usual - so that the people began to wonder if something had happened to him. When he did finally emerge, he was obviously shaken and could not speak...but he kept making signs, trying to tell them about some strange experience he'd had.
Now, you know Agent Mulder would be all over this as an obvious alien abduction case! I don't know what you believe about such things, but research has shown that over 50% of Americans who live in trailer parks claim to have been abducted themselves, so it could be a plausible explanation!
What really happened, as Luke explains, is that the angel Gabriel appeared to tell Zechariah of the impending birth of his son and because Zechariah argued that he and his wife were too old to have children and doubted the message from God, he was, for a time, rendered unable to speak until the baby John was born.
None of this would have come as any great shock to the people of Zechariah's time. They knew that when you went into the presence of God, most anything could happen. They didn't need aliens; God's presence on earth was mystery enough for them. Us and Mulder, though...we'd rather believe in abductions.
Case #2: a young girl named Mary. She experienced what an "X Files" report would call a "visitation" by an "other worldly being." Gabriel's visit to the teenaged Mary, to tell her that she would give birth to the Messiah, was probably the most famous visitation of all time, at least until 1982. That year hundreds of millions of people watched as a small boy had his own visit from on high. Ironically, that visitor was lured in by Reese's Pieces. Unlike E.T., Gabriel didn't enable Mary to fly off on a bicycle, but his message did change her life...because she was open to hearing the news and willing to be obedient to what the angel said God wanted.
This season ofthe year is filled with angels. We see them everywhere. With Zechariah...with Mary. The Gospel of Matthew tells us they visited Joseph to reassure him that, even though Mary is pregnant with someone else's child, he should still many her. In two weeks, we will devote our entire service to lessons and carols about "The Angels In Advent." And that whole shepherd incident...well, we'll get to that in a few minutes! One thing's for sure: the presence of so many angelic visitors to so many common but receptive people is surely a major piece of the puzzle that comprises the Xmas files.
Case #3. the obviously psychic phenomenon experienced by Elizabeth - wife of Zechariah and cousin to Mary. No doubts Agents Mulder and Scully would have rushed to the hill country of Judea to interview this pregnant old woman predicting the Messiah's birth. Maybe, this is an event worth our investigating, too.
The minute she saw Mary, Elizabeth not only sensed that her young cousin was pregnant, but she also knew the child was the one the whole world was waiting for. Scripture says, "When Elizabeth [who, remember, was also pregnant then with John] heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, 'Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear! " And she calls Mary, "the mother of my Lord."
We today would tend to say that Elizabeth was, of course, psychic. We love that idea. I read somewhere that, supposedly Sony has proven the existence of ESP. Apparently, they're trying to develop truly wireless communication. Perhaps Sony Walkmans might soon be replaced by Sony Psychmans! Can you imagine having a device that would allow you to read minds? It would, no doubt, lead to some of us being either arrested or assaulted!
But you see, Elizabeth didn't need a Psychman to know about the Christ Child to come...she had the Holy Spirit. God speaks to people like Elizabeth who are ready to hear. Perhaps Elizabeth's own pregnancy had made her soul especially sensitive to Divine possibilities. For us, cynicism has often replaced spiritual sensitivity. Even if we accept the truth of our own intuition, we probably would have immediately begun wondering how young unmarried Mary had gotten pregnant. Too often our souls are full of suspicions, skepticism, and judgement. How can God communicate to us when our souls are so cynical?
I love Lily Tomlin's line in her one woman play, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe." At one point in her role as Lillian the bag lady, she asks, "Why is it that when we speak to God we are said to be praying, but when God speaks to us we are said to be schizophrenic?"
I don't think Elizabeth was schizophrenic nor did she have psychic abilities we lack. She had a spiritual sensitivity we may have allowed to grow dormant. In today's world we put more faith in Psychic Hotlines than in the Holy Spirit. We're chasing a mystery alright; just not the right one!
Case # 4 of interest to Mulder and us: the sightings of U.F.O.s. Lots of famous people have reported sightings of U.F.O's, including former President Jimmy Carter. Such a sighting must be quite disturbing! Remember Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind?" After his "sighting," he developed a bizarre fetish for mud and mashed potatoes!
Luke's "investigation" contains a report of a dramatic and very noisy such "sighting." "Shepherds out in the fields, keeping their watch by night," Scripture says, suddenly saw stars in the night sky blotted out by a startlingly bright light and the silence of the valley around them resounded - not with a series of 5 tones played on a synthesizer - but with the echo of what sounded like a multitude singing and "praising God." Like Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary, who experienced the X- File events surrounding the amazing birth of the Christ, these poor, common shepherds would never be the same.
But what about us? These things just don't seem to happen to us. Why is that? In our day we have a scientific explanation for everything. We are logical, reasonable, and sensible. Our sense of wonder has been replaced by cynicism, skepticism and boredom. We come to the celebration of the divine being born into human life and our response is either, "Ho Hum," or "Bah Humbug." Unlike Zechariah, angels don't "abduct" us so we don't know that we're not too old to have our dreams come true. And unlike Mary we have no celestial visitation promising that we too can give birth to a miracle. And few of us ever have the life within us leap at the presence of the Lord, such as what happened to Elizabeth. Why isn't our quiet night ever disturbed by songs from on high? Why don't we have heavenly sightings? Like Mulder and Scully, we are perpetually seeking "X" - the missing factor which makes life meaningful, that makes life work. But we keep missing it because, in many ways, we have lost our ability to be amazed and take God's grace for granted. Unfortunately, we often spend our time looking and listening and searching for all the wrong things, in all the wrong places.
It was your typical children's nativity play. Except that the little boy who played the Inn-Keeper was not very happy. He had tried for the role of Joseph and was still peeved that it had been given to someone else. So when 8-year-old Joseph and Mary arrived at the Inn-Keeper's door, expecting to be turned away, the Inn-Keeper decided to throw them a curve and invited them to come in.
Little Joseph was so disoriented he had no idea what to say, and so, he started to go in. For a moment, it appeared the baby would be born in a hotel room that year. However, little Mary was much sharper. She stuck her head in the door ofthe inn and said, "This place is a dump! I'd rather sleep with the animals!" And so, once more all was as it should be. Even an eight year old little girl knows that the story about the coming of God's amazing grace into our world has to begin at the manger.
Perhaps, we need her wisdom to guide us in our search for the elusive "X." We still seem to be looking for meaning and purpose in places like Wall Street or Madison Ave. We still try to give our lives significance through our jobs. We still seek happiness in the arms of Mr. or Ms. Right.
It seems that we may have tried every possible meaning for "X" except the one that truly makes life's equation balance. The God of love became flesh and lived, among us, a life of tender compassion for the poor, the hurting, the outcast and the lost. Now that is truly a mystery worth seeking out and believing in. That truth really is out there...and in here!
The One who came at Christmas was the incarnation, the in-fleshing of God's love. When that love makes its home in us and finds expression through the compassion we show with our lives, we have made contact with God and found the true purpose of our lives.
Now is the time to close and seal the files on pointless and empty searching. During this Christmas season, I pray that you will discover that "X" marks the spot where Christ belongs and that you will have a "close encounter" with the Living God again. Amen.
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