There is an old story about this night. It comes to us from the battlegrounds of the First World War, where trench warfare was the strategy of choice. On Christmas Eve, in probably 1916 or 1917, the soldiers were hunkered down in the trenches. Each side did not dare to peak over the edge of the trench for fear that an enemy would be there to shoot them down.

In this curious mixture of abject fear and utter boredom, one of troops decides to pass the time by singing. It's Christmas Eve after all and he begins to sing a familiar carol quietly. Before long, his comrades in arms join him and the music grows louder. And then curiously enough, they begin to hear a sound in the background. More singing, only it sounds like it's coming from the enemy trench. The soldiers continued their musical revelry, when curiosity finally overcomes one of them and he peaks his head up. Yeah, their suspicions prove correct. The other singing is indeed from the enemy trench, across the yards and yards of no-mans land between them.

Curiosity turns to courage and the soldier does more than look, he climbs out of the trench. To his pleasant surprise, he sees an enemy soldier doing the same. Some of his comrades in arms climb out as well, as do more of the enemy. They cautiously approach each other, still singing Christmas carols. They meet in the middle and fear and distrust begin to fade. They exchange pleasantries, probably pass a few cigarettes and maybe some liquid cheer (if they have it) back and forth. Suddenly, all that they had been fighting each other about fades away, in that one single moment of peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

I do not know if this story is true or not, but in many ways, it does not matter. I love this story, because to me, this is Christmas. For many Christmas becomes a time when you to try to create this perfect moment, one that shuts out the real world and all of its troubles. But the real world doesn't go away, not even for Christmas. The war all those years ago did not stop because of Christmas. The struggles of life today do not stop because of Christmas. Were we to turn on the news, CNN or Fox or whatever, tomorrow morning, we would likely hear about the recession, the activities of government, news from Iraq, and so forth. For many, such reality would seem an imposition on their perfect Christmas. I say, as would those soldiers all those years ago, let us be thankful instead that Christmas is an imposition on reality.

Christmas is an imposition on reality. It shoves itself into real life, forces its way into our lives to remind us that there is more to life than trials and troubles. There is also hope. There is also peace, and sometimes these things come when we least expect them.

That was certainly true for those soldiers in the trenches, to find themselves celebrating with their enemies. It was certainly true for the province of Judea about 20 centuries ago. One of the things I appreciate about Luke's telling of the Christmas story is how determined he is to anchor this story within the reality of the day.

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)” There's your real world, your reality. You can almost imagine Anderson Cooper on TV saying “Today, Caesar Augustus announced a new tax for the people of the Roman Empire.” Now, the readers of Luke's Gospel know that such a piece of information means something. Caesar does not levy taxes out of whimsy, however much people might believe it. He has a purpose in mind. Specifically, he means to go to war.

Caesar is looking to expand the empire, probably against my ancestors in Germania. To rally an army, he needs money to pay the soldiers, to buy weapons and armor. To rally an army, he needs conscripts, some perhaps from the outer provinces of the Empire, if nothing else to replace career soldiers that will be shifted to the front. All this reality suddenly comes rushing into a small village in Judea known as Nazareth and into the lives of the newlyweds known to us as Joseph and Mary.

But these newlyweds are about to turn reality on its head with the birth of their child. Because this is no ordinary child that is coming. This child is the Son of God, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who brings true hope, true peace into the world. Here in the midst of Caesar's preparations for war, preparations that have swept up his parents, Jesus comes and he comes to bring peace and good will between men. Comes to bring hope that this life is not all there is, that there is more, that there is a kingdom of heaven where pain and struggle are but a distant memory. In the midst of war, God brings peace.

And on a battlefield almost a hundred years ago now, two groups of soldiers from opposite sides showed us that truth, even if only for a brief moment.

Tonight, it is my hope and prayer that all of us remember this simple truth. Life can be tough. Each of us have had our struggles, some of them may be close to us even now, hovering just outside this solitary moment. But God is not unaware of these things. The human species has had to struggle through life from the very beginning of civilization and even before. And in a manger in a backwater town of Judea 2000 years ago, he imposes his desires to change all that in the form of an infant child.

In the midst of war, God imposes the Prince of Peace.

In the midst of disease, God imposes the gentle healer.

In the midst of hatred, God imposes a love so great that it dies for us.

In the midst of death, God imposes an empty tomb.

This is what Christmas is truly about. It’s not some illusory fantasy of bliss that vanishes on the morning of December 26. It’s about the kingdom of God imposing upon this world of sorrow, bringing with it hope, life, peace, and salvation. All of which appears, like enemies exchanging good will on a battlefield, in the most unlikely of places: a rustic stable in Bethlehem.

Let this child impose upon you this night and remember the man he becomes, Jesus Christ. He is the one sent by God to bring life, to bring hope, to die on a cross, and then rise again on the third day. This is Christmas. Amen.