CHRISTMAS 2008#2

Merry Christmas my brothers and sisters in Christ!

Last night our family went out for dinner and my wife Kathy and I were talking about how Christmas had come so fast and how it didn’t feel like Christmas. But then I got up early on Christmas Eve to go and write this sermon.. went in to get some coffee.. and some coffee cake…. because it was Christmas Eve.. and as I walked out of the shop I felt it… sheer Christmas joy. And then I got in the car and on the radio they were playing a boys choir from Latvia and there it was… by God’s wonderful grace.. that sense of Christmas joy.

We can feel it tonight. The church is beautifully decorated. Hearing the children sing and act out the Christmas story. The joy of being together with family and friends. Singing the familiar Christmas carols. I can remember sitting in church with my family on Christmas Eve. My mother always had a hat on, and white gloves..and some strong perfume, and we would sit there and my mother would act like a kid.. which she didn’t do often.. talking and looking at everybody. My first church was a converted horse stable.. with a concrete slab floor and hard, wooden pews, built by my dad and Bill Hanna of Hanna and Barbera cartoon fame. But even there, when the lights went out, and we saw the lighted tree, and sang Silent Night… even as a kid, it didn’t get any better than that.

And then the joy of waking up on Christmas morning and opening the presents, and eating fudge and playing with toys and then the big family meal. One Christmas, when I was nine, my folks bought me a three speed, blue Schwinn bike. Oh the joy! I loved that bike.

Just a minute ago we watched that brief video clip of the Apollo 8 astronauts reading a few verses from the creation story as they looked out at earth on Christmas Eve. I like watching that clip because we can capture a little sense of these men’s wonder at the beauty and mystery of creation.

Tonight is a night of mystery and wonder. Our minds, in a sense, should be put on hold as we gather to worship the Christ child, born in a small town many years ago. Who can understand or fathom the depths of love that exists in the heart of God? The creator of all things, the earth and the vast, almost infinite space, joining us in our humanity. The church calls this day the feast of the incarnation. It is the greatest mystery of all faiths. As St. Paul wrote once:

1 Timothy 3:16 ( NRSV ) 16Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

I know this is a corny illustration, but have you ever wondered what your dog was thinking? But if you could become a dog, you would know what they think and feel. Or if you wanted to know what an ant thinks of feels, you could become an ant.. and then know. This is what the creator of all has done in Jesus. He became one of us.. and thus, we can say, no matter what you are going through, good or bad, God knows and understands. This is why one of the early New Testament writers says that we can go to God in prayer during times of need and trouble. God, who was with us, understands.

Of course, all of this is a great mystery. The story of Jesus’ birth in Luke that we just read is all very simple, but who Jesus was and is makes this night one of mystery and wonder. And it all is so very amazing, because if Jesus is a King, the Son of God, the Savior, how come this king arrives in such a lowly manner?

I read this from Philip Yancy’s book The Jesus I never knew:

Queen Elizabeth II had recently visited the United States, and reporters delighted in spelling out the logistics involved: her four thousand pounds of luggage included two outfits for every occasion, a mourning outfit in case someone died, forty pints of plasma, and white kid-leather toilet seat covers. She brought along her own hairdresser, two valets, and a host of other attendants. A brief visit of royalty to a foreign country can easily cost twenty million dollars.

In meek contrast, God’s visit to earth took place in an animal shelter with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn king but a feed trough. Indeed, the event that divided history, and even our calendars, into two parts may have had more animal than human witnesses. A mule could have stepped on him.

In almost every way, this baby Jesus, as he lived his life, violated so many of our human ways of thinking. Jesus came not just to be our savior, but to teach us a better way to live.

He came not in power to rule over us, but in weakness and love to woo us, to win us, to court us, as it were.

I like to think that this season is God’s voice from eternity pleading with us to do better, to live more god like lives. Some Christians say that God became one of us so that we could become more like God. I think there is truth in this. When Jesus began his public ministry his first message was repent. In saying this he was saying that we can do better… we can love more, we can give more, we can care more, we can forgive more. We were not created to be hateful, unforgiving, and selfish.

Our faith believes that everyone of us was created in the image of God, But this image has been damaged and twisted, often so badly that it is hard to recognize. Christmas is the voice of God calling to each one of us. It is a voice that tells us that we are loved, we are forgiven, and we are called, so turn around and live in harmony with God. Learn to love, to give, to forgive, to be gentle, kind, patient.. and fight against all of our sinful desires that draw us away from this way of life.

I don’t know why you are here tonight. Some of you might be here because your children were in the pageant. Some are here because family members brought you. Some are here because, even though you don’t go to church much, it wouldn’t be Christmas without Christ’s mass. And some of you are here because on this holy night you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Because this is a children’s service. Let me say a few words to the parents. There is no greater gift you can give your children than the gift of faith, born and nurtured in the community of faith. The greatest gift my parents gave me was not my Schwinn bike, but it was the gift of faith. I am here tonight because I was brought up in the community of faith. Yes I was given love, and an education, and food and clothing, but now, as I look back, I am so thankful for my life growing up in the church. So I challenge the parents here tonight, to think about what is really valuable in the life of your children. When they are my age – ordering off the seniors menu at Denny’s, what will be important to them?

I know very well that at this time, not all of us feel the joy of this season. As a matter of fact, we can be more depressed and sad at this time than at any other time during the year – the joy that others feel only heightens our loneliness and pain. If this is you, I can only recommend to you to see in the baby born in the manger the great love of God for you. You are loved. We celebrate Christmas, in a real sense, in the face of suffering and darkness. Jesus came as a light into the world, and so we light a candle to bring light into the darkness. We celebrate to remind ourselves that love is stronger than hate, life more powerful than death, and beauty more wonderful than evil and ugliness.

And finally, because my old systematic theology professor will roll over in his grave if I don’t say this. In any crowd like this there are some who, for various reasons, are not happy with their life. Maybe the outward things are OK, but inside you feel lonely, or empty, or really unfulfilled. One person wrote that many of us life lives of quiet desperation. If this is you, let me tell you that there is an answer, and that answer is the reason for this night. Jesus came to give us abundant life. Over and over again he called us to himself. We call this putting our faith in him, or committing our life to him, or surrendering our lives to him, or asking him into our hearts. If you feel a strange tugging at your heart.. a yearning and a longing to give your heart over to Jesus, tonight would be the time. I can guarantee you that there is no more exciting and fulfilling life than that of following Jesus. All you need do is decide, pray, and then follow him. AMEN!

Let us pray.