CAN IT BE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR?
Malachi 3: 1-4
LUKE 1: 67-79
DECEMBER 8, 2024 – SECOND SUNDAY of ADVENT
This Sanctuary was certainly filled with the Christmas spirit on Friday evening. Nearly 100 individuals of all ages came to St. Paul’s to sing, to laugh, and to listen to amazing music from a variety of folks including Joe singing the GRINCH song. FISH came prepared with a laundry list of Christmas humor and I think each and every one of us … who took the time … left here in the Christmas spirit.
You know, O Come All Ye Faithful … Joy to the World … Silent Night … ah that gift that arrived in the Little Town of Bethlehem and of course reminders of the gifts from the the three kings for God’s gift, which when you think about THAT Christmas carol its message makes Christmas complete … God gives to us a child in the manger and in return we give back a variety of gifts to God.
As I walked back home, I looked at the red house across the street wondering when their incredible Christmas display will go up because they really do a job that Chevy Chase would be proud of. Earlier in the day I had opened my mail and yes, once again, Rich and Diane won the prize for the first Christmas card of the season.
And, as I sat down Friday evening recovering from the 12 days … the ice cream … and my vacation escape … it was the words of the prophet Malachi that came to me circling in my mind as I began to wonder once again if Christmas can be different this year.
Can this Christmas season finally be the season when each person who calls out ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays’ actually makes a conscious decision to accept God’s gift rather than hiding Jesus the rabbi … Jesus the teacher … Jesus the Lord and Master from their lives. And, that we not only accept God’s gift but that we do our best to give God a gift of our faith … our service … our reflection of Christ’s light in return.
Friends, perhaps you can recall Isaiah’s description of God’s gift to us in Jesus the Christ … “For unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given. He will be called WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER. PRINCE of PEACE.”
Interesting … very interesting isn’t it how many folks who are busily putting up their Christmas trees or chopping down trees on tree farms … or playing incredible Christmas playlists on their streaming services ACTIVELY choose to deny and reject the benefits and teaching of God’s gift to humanity.
More than likely, the majority of individuals who already have been out Christmas shopping or have begun arranging garlands and inflatable Christmas decorations on their lawns are choosing to worship celebrities or their things or things of the world while rejecting the teaching of God through Jesus Christ. I would suppose that there are more individuals focused on shopping lists this season rather than on considering who to invite to church with them during Advent … ok, most don’t even consider coming to church during Advent but many are planning on attending a Christmas Eve service but that’s tradition right? Rather than being considered an opportunity to bring someone from their collective of friends, neighbors or family into a church sanctuary for the worshiping of God and Jesus Christ they just want Silent Night and a short service.
Does it make you wonder … or do you feel at all challenged to represent God’s gift to humanity by being one small light for Christ in the world? During the Christmas season? Oh, I know some choose a manger scene card to mail out, but I mean actually being a vocal and invitational person of faith who values worshiping God during Advent and this Christmas season before another year begins.
In Luke we heard a prophesy from Zechariah “Because of our God’s deep compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon US.” I did look up the definition of the word US this morning just to make sure my coffee-wake-up clarified that word from the Gospel. It means “a speaker or writer uses US to refer both to himself or herself and to one or more other people.”
Well, I think we all understand that if US is referred to in the Bible it refers to … well us. So, as I consider this Christmas season as an opportunity to make a difference let’s just say that Zechariah in Luke’s Gospel is referring to … US and all other believers when he said, “Because of God’s deep compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon us.” That’s his way of saying Christmas will arrive because the AWAY IN A MANGER NO CRIB FOR A BED was still months away. He continues with a challenge to us “to GIVE LIGHT to those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide US on the path of peace.”
So, we have the father of John the Baptist before Jesus’ birth offering a teaching moment that after Jesus, “the dawn from heaven,” arrives we are to give light to those who sit in darkness. Perhaps that’s this morning’s call to all of us. We need to go down our Christmas card lists and consider who might be available to come to church next Sunday or on Christmas Eve when we have TWO SERVICES, one at 5pm and one at 7pm. You know … start a new personal Christmas tradition this season something different… by being invitational with the goal of giving light beyond those twinkling lights on your living room trees. Simply by asking friends and family to hang out with you for an hour on a Sunday morning or for an hour on Christmas Eve.
Or perhaps we all need to do a better job of taking on the role of a peacemaker in our lives because we do worship God together and I am assuming that you hold the PRINCE of PEACE to be essential in your life? And when Jesus delivered those essential messages from His ‘Sermon on the Mount’ Jesus declared “blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God.” I know I certainly want to be called a child of God … bet you do too.
We sing … “let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” But, do we really want to tell our friends and family and strangers that we not only worship and hold the Prince of Peace as our personal Savior whom God has gifted to us because God loves all of humanity but that we are His peacemakers today on earth … that we are the ones who refrain from verbal attacks or alignment with those who stir up challenges for others because of who they are? Are you ready to consider this Christmas season as a Holy and transformational season making it more than aligning your manger scenes and focused on being different this year … because you know you need to be wrapped up with God’s Son who was given for all of us.
And, yet the Christmas season arrives and the obligation to represent Jesus Christ is one we suggest someone else take on …. Actually, friends, I am not sure if we even bother to suggest that anyone should represent Jesus Christ out in the dirty, hate-filled world where daily we read stories of the powerful gaining more power by using the most non-peaceful means that they can utilize to gain followers while trampling over others.
I did say that the words of the prophet Malachi from today’s Scripture came to me on Friday night. Malachi shared God’s message, “Look, I am sending my messenger who will clear the path before me. Frankly …. THAT IS US!
We heard in the Gospel message Zechariah’s story that Luke recorded. Zechariah talking about his son John whom we remember as John the Baptist. But what is often negated in this reading is the lesson of sharing a message of faith … perhaps what I am sensing is our need to make this a different kind of Christmas season. A season when we clear up our other definitions of Christmas to become messengers of our faith. Zechariah shared that a messenger of faith will “tell their people how to be saved through the forgiveness of their sins.” That’s the story of Christmas and the Gospels.
So, people of faith … are you willing to unite in clearing the muddied, dark, and cluttered paths of your small worlds by sharing your faith this Christmas season?
We have allowed this Holy Season to be taken over by well … lots of things and as one who loves his Christmas-season EGG NOG I am not here to condemn the bonus realities of the Christmas season. I keep my Christmas tree up all year long and I have lots of crèches decorating my home. I love sending and receiving Christmas cards and I miss walking through neighborhoods caroling. The music from my friends who created Trans Siberian Orchestra is a must of the season as are the playlists with so many songs of my life that I excitedly start to listen to after Thanksgiving. That warm feeling in my heart when I hear Bing and David sing their duet again. I absolutely enjoy seeing the sparkles in Dax’s eyes as he talks about Christmas and already he is wondering what is inside the wrapped packages with his name on them that are already under one Christmas tree.
But … as I stood with my family inside a store filled with Christmas gift possibilities in the Jersey Beach Town of Lavallette yesterday, my son-in-law pulled up a posting I had shared on FACEBOOK about XMAS. He smiled and thanked me for sharing the message. He said he knew that the X in XMAS represents the first letter in the Greek name of Christ, CHRISTOS, and he knew the fact that the early Christian church used the X to represent words that began with Christ. So XMAS is an honorable representation of CHRIST-MAS and includes Jesus in Christmas although for so many who are focused on disruption rather than peace XMAS has been a target for years of the religious ones when the truth is it represents Jesus the Christ for the faithful.
So, as we move through ADVENT … are you focused in on ways to share the light of Christ just like those who used the term XMAS have been doing for years?
Can you make Christmas different this year because you need to … we need to … the world needs more of the LIGHT of CHRIST. Are you taking DELIGHT in the coming of Jesus as Malachi declared that the faithful should be doing? Inviting others to church? And, like the three kings in that carol of old … are you willing to offer a gift to God and to Jesus in thanks for God’s everlasting gift of a messiah to us … For unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given. He will be called WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER. PRINCE of PEACE.”
Today, the SKI family is offering us a gift of the season and Logan is here to share what this gift means …