Let us pray: O God, on this night of wonders, we encounter you as God-among-us. You are there in the child in the manger. You are there in the scared and excited parents. You are there in the shepherds and angels, the animals, the stars. You are here in this place. You are here in the scared and excited parents. You are here in the children. You are here in the milliseconds and minutes of peace that might be found here, outside of the busy rushing, mad dashing, breathless preparations But you were also there, perhaps indiscernibly, inside of the busy rushing, mad dashing and breathless preparations. May those discernments be opened up to us on this eve, O God, that we might know you, in the still small voice, or the mighty chorus of Gloria. My words are offered up to be your words. Take them and use them. Amen.

About two decades ago, a small book that seems just right for what most of us have just gone through began appearing on the bookshelves of bookstores. They were bound books, e-readers really hadn't made a dent in the bookselling industry twenty years ago. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, it proclaimed, offering a breath of relief for stressed-out people living stressed-out lives. Maybe you even had a copy, but had so many things to do that you didn't get around to reading it, thus proving that you were following the book's counsel, or that you had delegated reading the book as the small stuff it referred to! And if you got past the title to the subtitle, you would quickly realize that this second option was actually covered. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff it continued to proclaim, with the secondary advice in smaller print right below: and it is all small stuff.

Now you may be thinking that this is wise advice for a list of things to do on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of July, but surely the author must not have experienced the Advent Season with small kids or small grandchildren. I had a Skype visit with my own grandkids this morning. Lucas, the eight-month old, had a sweat shirt on with a Santa Hat wearing Snoopy and the Christmas promise that Good things come in small packages. Lucas and his sweat shirt notwithstanding, Don't sweat the small stuff might be an appropriate approach to preparation for the season, but for most, if not all of us, none of it is small stuff. Even what might be the smallest detail can throw us off track, out of kilter, off centre, in our expectations and preparations for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day – whichever of the two (or perhaps both) figure most importantly in the way you celebrate the Holy Day.

Of course, it seems the sad truth that there always do seem to be the things that don't get done, or the traditions that evolve or mutate as the years pass and the characters in your story change. Or maybe it isn't the sad truth. Maybe it is the happy truth, that proves the point of the book. Maybe it is all small stuff in the long run. As I reflect on this a certain phrase comes to mind. I don't know if this phrase is on the list of phrases that seem to get published around this time of year as candidates for the phrase of the year, or as candidates for being removed from the language because of over-use, or the knack they have of befuddling the language even more than it is already, but I've heard the expression “it is what it is” more often in the past couple of years, than ever I heard it before. And it comes to mind in response to this reflection on the stuff that gets us so busy, the stuff that changes as the years pass, the stuff that may be small in theory, but gets pretty big in practice in the days leading up to this night and tomorrow. What is the phrase: It is what it is.

But what is it? What is the IT referred to in this particular case? Well I think there is a small “IT” referred to in that phrase at this time of year and there is a large “IT”. I'm going to say more about the large “IT” at the 10:00 o'clock service this evening, but I'm not doing that as a kind of “coming soon” or like a movie trailer to get you coming back later on tonight. After all you have too much to do (even though it is all small stuff, right!?). I'll give you just enough of what I have to say about the large “IT” that I hope you can go home relieved this evening without having to come back, but come back if you wish, by all means! And I will say just enough about the small “IT” at the 10 o'clock service not to disappoint those who missed this one! In case you think I'm kidding, let me give you a little sneak preview of the title of my reflection at the communion service. Magnified Light, Magnified God. Not really an IT at all unless you were reading the “Oddly Enough” news this week and read about the furor that erupted in the German parliament when a cabinet minister in a radio interview suggested that it was okay to refer to God with the pronoun “das” which in German (as I understand it – German speakers can correct me on this, if necessary) is a pronoun that does not suggest a gender as opposed to the pronoun “der” which is a masculine pronoun. Elected officials of all parties, including that of the cabinet minister, condemned what she said. And to be fair, there were others that lined up behind her and supported what she had said. Talk about turning small stuff into big stuff in one easy ten second sound bite, but that's just my opinion! So, perhaps it is no surprise that my big “IT”, the one I am going to speak about at the later service, is not an “IT” at all, but God. My soul magnifies God is what Mary sang when the full meaning of her pregnancy and the child she was to bear became real to her. And in that song she released a political statement, that has even been condemned in some political arenas because it sounded too much like communism, or socialism, or something that was likely to spark insurrection.

So the big “IT” is God, no disrespect intended at all, by the use of the word “IT”, just a way of clarifying what I think we mean when we say on this night “it is what it is”. And just to be clear I don't think this night is what it is in the slightest little bit. It is what it is implies to me that there is nothing we can do about it. It's the big Whatever, and even though I began by suggesting that we should do as the book says and “Don't sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff”, I am quite sure that this is not small stuff. Except that it is! Have I confused you yet?

When God is a child, there's joy in our song, the last shall be first and the weak shall be strong and none shall be afraid. What a powerful statement that is: When God is a child. Do you really every think of God that way, except maybe fleetingly on a Christmas Eve? We are in a world preoccupied with big.

And so it is a radical, world altering thing to start thinking about small. And this just isn't ordinary small this is God as small. What can we learn about God when God is small? What insights are there for us, when God can't even walk, or talk, or roll over. What can we know about God who can only make desires known by crying? Is that a hungry cry, or an I want to be cuddled cry. Is it a “I need my diaper changed” cry, or “Gee that air is sure cold cry?”

Well for one thing, we have to listen really carefully, and have you ever noticed that it is the Mom and the Dad who can figure it out the best. That says something about close relationship. That's what we learn when God is a child. And we have to pay really close attention – not a bad way to be with God, I think. And have you ever seen what happens when baby learns how to smile – and what that does to all the adults around her or him? Pretty powerful God we have there isn't it – to have the ability to bring joy to all around simply by moving a few muscles around the mouth. And have you ever noticed how quickly babies learn. Oh if only we could learn things at that pace as we get older. Approximately one year to start walking and another year to learn a language well enough to communicate effectively. Pretty powerful God we have there eh, when God is a child!

How many of you looked at the title of this reflection and thought – How small is my God – and felt bad about it. Surprise, surprise, it wasn't supposed to make you feel bad, it was to get you to think small with a sense of wonder – small is beautiful, small is rich, small is powerful, small teaches us a whole lot.

Yes, this world is preoccupied with big, and I like you am impressed with big too, but I've learned that there is for all practical purposes an infinite amount of stuff to learn and discover each time we go down a level of magnitude on the smallness scale. The news is full these days of nano discovery after nano discovery and I heard someone say the other day that perhaps the most important discovery of 2012 – the one that will make this year known for decades if not centuries to come is the discovery in the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva of the Higgs Boson Particle. In comparison to that particle a baby is huge!

How small is your God? Just imagine what you can learn when God is a child, when the God of the universe and the God of the Higgs Boson can exist in your head and your heart at the same time. How small is your God who can occupy the spaces between the spaces of your soul, and who can bring you to such depth and meaning on a night of wonders such as this. How small is your God? Just take a look around here tonight or wherever you may find yourself and see if you can make that child smile. God will smile back and you and your soul will fill up with hope and peace and love and joy. I just know it. Merry Christmas. So be it! Which of course, means Amen.