Christmas: A time for Recognizing God With Us

 

Isaiah 52:7-10
John 1:1-14

So, for us in the church, this is the Fourth Sunday of Advent – a time for us to contemplate why we celebrate Christmas anyway.

Again, this year, during these weeks before Christmas, we have been looking at the very earliest documents we have to ascertain just how those earliest Christians celebrated Christmas –
hoping to find clues as to how we might have a better understanding and actually experience a better Christmas this year.

The first week of Advent, we looked at the very earliest writings we have –
the letters of Paul and some of the writings that were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammurabi and other places in the desert country of Egypt and Syria and Palestine,
and the very earliest Gospel in our Bible:
the Gospel of Mark – which was published around the year 70.

We actually have several texts now that were published during these early  years – during the first 75 years or so after Jesus was killed.
And, look as we may, it is obvious that none of these texts say anything at all about the birth of Jesus.  
It just was not important to those earliest believers.

Yes, Jesus was a pivotal figure in their history,
yes, Jesus was a pivotal figure in their faith,
yes, Jesus was a pivotal figure in their life experience –
in their understanding of who they were and what they to do.
Clearly, they each articulate a faith that in Jesus, they saw God incarnate – God in the flesh –
for them,  Jesus was Emmanuel – God with us.

The second week we looked at the second Gospel of Matthew, published some 15 years after Mark, and intended for a somewhat different audience.
Matthew begins his Gospel with a detailed genealogy setting Jesus firmly in the Jewish camp – a descendent of King David,
and even Father Abraham, himself.

In the 15 years between Mark and Matthew an interest in birth stories had developed.
Matthew’s community wanted to believe that their Jesus was no less a god than the mighty Caesar or any of the other gods they encountered among the cosmopolitan culture of the Roman Empire.
Every other god had a miraculous birth story to show their specialness, so, Jesus should have one, too.

The Gospel of Luke is the third Gospel of the collection in our Bible.
It was published some 15 years after Matthew.
And, again, it was intended for a different audience than Mark or Matthew.

Again, we are reminded that during these early years, indeed, for the first 100 to 150 years, there was no separate Christian church.
They were Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah and revered as Emmanuel – God with Us – and they would meet as small groups –
sometimes even sharing meals and resources and living arrangements –
but, when they worshiped, they went to the Temple.

We see Luke being addressed primarily to a predominately Gentile audience to show that belief in Jesus in Emmanuel conflicted in no way with their ability to serve as good citizens of the Roman Empire.

And, we see that each of the Gospels have a very different starting place.
Matthew starts very differently than Mark does – again with that long genealogy.
And Luke starts differently than either Mark or Matthew does with that miraculous birth story – not of Jesus, but of John.

And, here in the Gospel of John, we have an even stranger beginning.

Most scholars agree now that this Gospel of John was published no earlier than 110 years after the death of Jesus.
Clearly this Gospel was addressed to people under stress –
there was a conflict between the communities of believers in Jesus as Messiah
and the communities of believers in John as Messiah;
and there was a widening rift between these communities of Jesus believers
and the other believers of Judaism.
The break that we know today was occurring by the time John was published.
And this Gospel is written in that context.

Again, dwelling on establishing the specialness of Jesus with stories of his birth was not important to these people.
What was important, was how their faith in this radical new religion based on Emmanuel –
based upon the Incarnation –
based on God now being with us instead of dwelling from on high –
how life based on this new faith fits into the cosmic scheme of things –
and how it is different from the old ways of doing.

Curiously, we know from the writings of a Jewish Greek philosopher from Alexandria, Philo, that this concept of God as the Doer, the Speaker, the One who Acts, the Word
was emerging in Alexandria some 50 years before the Gospel of John was published.

Here, Jesus is remembered not primarily as a specific man at a specific time in history, but
as the embodiment of a wisdom, a sophia, that pervades all things and all people.

The Word has existed from the beginning, and the Word came and dwelt among people, “they knew him not.”

Here, John tells the story in a radically new way.

Jesus is identified with the Logos – the Word of God –   and becomes something other than a man from Nazareth born of flesh and blood –
but nothing less than a construct of God –
a part of Almighty himself –
a very part of the cosmos itself.

Like I concluded last week,
I think it is important for us to ask why each of the Gospels treat the birth of Jesus differently.
And to remember that the story that you and I have learned and could tell on a moments notice, actually does not occur in any of our gospels.

The story you and I learned,
and the story you and I tell,
is really a composite of the stories we see in the Gospels.
We tend to take a part from one and combine it with a part from another and a part from another, and lo, we have our story.

But, if we actually did what those early Christians did, we wouldn’t revere any of the details of any of these stories;
but, we would come up with our own story –
like they did.
A story that begins with an experience with Emmanuel –
an experience of God being with us –
and then coming up with an explanation as to how special that experience is.

For you and me to fully understand and celebrate Christmas, we have to seek out and identify times of Emmanuel for us:
times we have been in the presence of God,
times we when we have been absolutely convinced that God is with us.

And, so we say Where or where is Emmanuel today?
And we are on the lookout for signs of Emmanuel in our times:
for some, like the shepherds in Luke’s Gospel, it is in celestial music;
for some, it will be in coming to the Lord’s Table;
for some, it will be in helping feed the hungry at the food closet;
for some, it will be in sharing special time with loved ones;
however and whenever and wherever;
this Christmas will be the best you have ever had when you open yourself to the presence of Emmanuel and recognize God with us.
Amen.

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, experienced this sermon during a worship service December 24, 2006

Christmas Is for Adults - About the Adult Jesus

The bottom line is this:
however touching they are to our heartstrings,
however much we love to hear them and to sing about them,
however much we enjoy the feelings prevalent this time of year,
the birth stories are not really about the baby Jesus.


The birth stories are told and remembered because of the adult Jesus –
and what people experienced with him during his earthly ministry,
and what people experienced because of him after his death –
and what people have experienced through him through the ages,
and what people continue to experience with him day and day out.


For me, at its essence, Christmas is really about Emmanuel.
That Hebrew word that means “God With Us”.


The Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 12:2-6
Matthew 1:17-25

For over 1500 years, the church has set aside this time before Christmas as a time of preparation –
a time for believers to engage in opportunities of study to better understand the enormity of what it is we celebrate at Christmas and its profound impact on the faith passed on to us from previous generations.

This year, in an attempt to help us focus on the real reason for the season –  what is so central to the faith we hold – I am trying to address what was important to those very earliest of Christians.

Last week we looked at the writings of some of the very earliest Christians and looked at what they had to say about the birth of Jesus.   
The very earliest writing we have in the New Testament is a letter from The Apostle Paul, written around the year of 35 AD.
The earliest Gospel we have is attributed to Mark.  The Gospel of Mark was most probably published around the year of 50 AD.
In the past 60 years, many other documents have been discovered that date back to the very first decades after Jesus’ death.
When we read these documents looking for what they say about the birth of Jesus, we discover one thing in common.
None of them have anything to say about the birth of Jesus.  Nothing.
It simply was not important to them.

Oh, for sure, they were all convinced that the experiences they recalled with this Jesus of Nazareth were extraordinary.
In fact, as the years went by, they were convinced that they had experienced nothing less than the in-dwelling of God Almighty.
That, for sure, they experienced the holy –
that, for sure, for a while, and even now, they experienced Emmanuel –
[a Hebrew word that means God With Us].

[As a side note: I related to the congregation an article that was published just the day before by Bayler University’s Center for Christian Ethics, wherein, the author spells out much of the same things I did in our sermon last week!
I just wanted them to know, and the reader to know, that really, I don’t make this stuff up!]

Now, the second oldest Gospel text is the Gospel of Matthew.
It was written about thirty years after Mark – around 80 AD.  

Matthew is somewhat different than Mark.
Matthew obviously knew about Mark’s Gospel.
Matthew includes the entire Gospel of Mark.
Yes, he edited freely and rearranged some of the scenes, but its all there.
Everything you read in Mark is in Matthew.
But, Matthew includes much more.
And, the editing and rearranging he does reflect his own emphasis, and are worthy of study and noting.

Matthew also includes writings and sayings from a second document that was circulating during those days –  
a document that Luke knew about and used also;
a document that Mark did not know about or didn’t care about.  
(Scholars call this the "quelle" document  – or “source” document.)
Matthew also knew and used material from a third source –
stories that were circulating among some circles that were becoming known as the infancy narratives – stories relating to the birth of Jesus.

I believe we are lucky to be living in these days, because we are discovering new source material all the time.
It seems that every month or so, something new crops us that provide new light on old documents, and old practices, and old beliefs.

One of the most exciting discoveries, to me, is that we are discovering that those earliest Christian believers were a pretty diverse bunch.
Contrary to what we may have taught, those early Christians, right from the beginning were not of one mind about their belief
or about their practices
or about their place in the world.

We know that after Jesus’ death, his followers scattered and hid.
But, shortly after, many came to the conviction that something extraordinary had happened – something that changed their perspective on who Jesus was and he would mean for the future of their movement.
It was their experience of the resurrection experience that led the disciples to come to think of Jesus as somehow more than just a prophet, but as the Messiah himself.   
And that’s when they began to organize around his memory.

But, we must remember, the earliest form of the movement was as a sect within Judaism.
Jesus was a Jew.
Jesus disciples were Jews.
Jesus was a Jewish Messiah.
They are followers of a Jewish apocalyptic tradition.
They are expecting the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.
It was a Jewish movement.

For sure, it was made up of small groups.
At least one of them was based in Jerusalem, but others were spread all over the countryside, including at least one or more in Galilee.
These were small, homebased groups, that met together weekly, studied together, ministered to one another, and prayed for and with one another.
But, when time came, they went to the temple for worship.

What we have discovered is that pretty much, each of these small groups developed their own take on what they experienced with Jesus of Nazareth and what had happened to him at the end of his public ministry.

Some groups seemed to be in competition with one another –
especially as they considered how closely they were to observe the Jewish laws of the Torah.

One historian writes, “Christianity, or one should rather say “Christianities,” of [the early years] were a highly variegated phenomenon.”
We can see from recent discoveries that there were very different views of Jesus in the various types of Christianity.
Another historian reminds us that it was “a time where there was no fixed formulation what the set of Christian beliefs should be.
What Christian rituals should be.
What they should think
or what they should tell about Jesus.”

The Christianity of Rome was different that Christianity of North Africa
and that was different from what we find in Egypt,
and that was different from what find in Syria
or back in Palestine.
So, we see each form of Christianity beginning to tell the story of Jesus in different ways.

And, so we see different “Gospels” emerging from these different groups.
You have heard about the Gospel of Thomas that has been translated and published with the last few years.
There is also the Gospel of Philip,
the Gospel of Truth,
The Gospel to the Egyptians,
the Apocryphon of John,
Secret Book of James,
Apocalypse of Paul,
the Letter of Peter to Philip,
the Apocalypse of Peter,
the Acts of Thomas, the Acts of Paul,
and the list goes on and on and on.
So far, some 52 different Gospels have been discovered – besides the four found in our Bible.

And within our Bible, we see how this gets played to a small degree.
We noted that Mark just wasn’t concerned about Jesus’ birth.

Matthew was.
Matthew was very concerned about showing Jesus as being the embodiment of Hebrew prophecy –
the presence of the long-awaited-for Jewish Messiah.

This was important to Matthew because at that time, another man, Simon bar Kochba, was leading a Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire.  bar Kochba was imploring his kinsmen to take up arms: “Come join us to fight against the Romans.
You believe God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel, don’t you?  Join us.”  

bar Kochba was leading the revolt as the Jewish Messiah.

And, this set some of the Jewish Christians back a bit.
“Bar Kochba can’t be the Messiah – we already have one.”

And so, Matthew takes a clue from the Romans who gave all of their gods some sort of divine birth story.

Others were circulating birth stories of Jesus to show that Jesus was second to no Roman god.

So, Matthew includes some of the stories that were circulating at the time.
But, Matthew wanted to make clear that not only did Jesus have a special birth like the Roman gods,
but that Jesus was clearly a Jew.

The religious community that produced the Gospel of Matthew took pains to place their understanding squarely within its Jewish heritage
and portrays Jesus as one whose Jewish identity is beyond doubt.
After copying Marks first verse, Matthew begins by tracing Jesus’ genealogy.

Now, everyone knew, he only needed to show that Jesus was a descendent of King David.
But, Matthew takes no chances.
He traces Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Abraham.
It was that important to Matthew.

He wanted to show Jesus as even greater than Moses.
And, he edits his narrative to have Jesus constantly reinterpreting what was commonly known as Jewish law.
“You’ve heard it said . . . But, I say to you . . .”

The bottom line is this:
however touching they are to our heartstrings,
however much we love to hear them and to sing about them,
however much we enjoy the feelings prevalent this time of year,
the birth stories are not really about the baby Jesus.

The birth stories are told and remembered because of the adult Jesus –
and what people experienced with him during his earthly ministry,
and what people experienced because of him after his death –
and what people have experienced through him through the ages,
and what people continue to experience with him day and day out.

For me, at its essence, Christmas is really about Emmanuel.
That Hebrew word that means “God With Us”.  

For all those early Christians,
for all those writers of faith documents for their communities,
this word reflects what they affirmed had happened in this man from Nazareth –
what they continued to experience long after he had gone –
that Jehovah –
the Great I Am –
God Almighty –
Creator of the Universe and all the worlds that are –
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob –
the One God of the faith of our fathers and mothers –
deigned to enter our world and become as we are
to let us know there is no separation now from holy and mundane,
from sacred and profane,
from work and ritual.
No.
In this man from Nazareth, we see Emmanuel!
Through this man of Nazareth, we know Emmanuel.
With this man of Nazareth, we experience Emmanuel.
God is With Us.
That’s what we hear.
God is with us.
That’s what we sing.
God is with us.
That’s what we believe.
God is with us.
That’s what we celebrate.
Each and every year at Christmas.
Each and every week in worship.
Each and every morning when we get up.

Emmanuel!  This Christmas.
Emmanuel!  All year long!
Emmanuel!  Every minute of every hour of every day of your life!

Amen.

 

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon as a part of their worship service Sunday, December 4, 2011 - the Second Sunday of Advent.

Christmas is About Emmanuel

The Christmas we celebrate-- and the world around us celebrates -- really has little to do with the Christmas that is so much a part of our faith history.

It may surprise you to know that for over 300 years nobody celebrated the birthday of Jesus.

The stories and pictures that you and I value about the birth of Jesus and all the events around that — simply were not important to the early Christians.
 
For 300 years they did not worship a baby.
They worshiped an adult "Emmanuel" —
through which they kept having encounters with the holy.
These encounters were important to them.
It was the basis of their new faith.

First Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 40:3-,9
Luke 3:1-11

Today is the  First Sunday of Advent —
a time the church has set aside for us to prepare for the coming of Christmas.
Christmas is the most universally loved holiday of all the church holidays.
It's hard not to get caught up in the "Christmas Spirit", [isn't it?] as the markers go up that announce to everyone that the holiday is approaching:

The Thanksgiving Day parade,
the shopping frenzy known as Black Friday,
carols on the muzak,
decorations on the street poles
lights in the yard,
lights on the house,
lights on the roof,
lights on the chimney,
lights in the trees,
Santa at the mall,
Santa at MacDonalds,
TV specials,
TV commercials, and, of course,
catalogs galore!

Everywhere you look you are reminded that Christmas will soon be here.
And the unannounced task is that "you'd better get ready."

For the most part, we like the feeling that comes with this season, don't we?
We like to see the smiles on children's faces.
We like to receive cards from people we haven't seen in ages.
We like to give gifts to special people in our lives.
We like to share time and meals with people we just don't seem to have time for at other times of the year.
For the most part, Christmas is a happy time.

But the Christmas we celebrate -- and the world around us celebrates -- really has little to do with the Christmas that is so much a part of our faith history.

We say, Christmas is for children, and so it has become in our American culture.
It may surprise you to know that in most cultures in the world, Christmas is NOT primarily a day for children.

In fact, throughout our faith history Christmas was and is for adults.

It may surprise you to know that for over 300 years nobody celebrated the birthday of Jesus.

But, there is ample evidence that Christians have always recognized and celebrated the specialness of Jesus — universally called the Christ — and identified in Matthew as Emmanuel — God With Us.

Each Sunday, from now until Christmas, I intend to look at how those earliest Christians celebrated Emmanuel —
and look for clues as how you and I can have the very best Christmas ever this year,
celebrating the Presence of Christ, God With Us, Emmanuel.
 
When we sing one of the most ancient of all our songs, 0 Come, 0 Come, Emmanuel,  we place ourselves squarely alongside Christians through the ages who approach this season with a profound faith.

Of course, we all know (intellectually, if not out front)
that none of our New Testament was written at the time of Jesus.
No one was going along taking it down in Gregg Shorthand – or what ever they had in those days.
No one was observing events all day and writing in a diary at night.

All of the writings we have about Jesus were written some years after Jesus was killed.

The very earliest writings we see in our New Testament are the letters of Paul.
The very earliest of these letters – I and 2 Thessalonians –
were written around 25 years after Jesus was killed.

The very earliest Gospel we have is Mark -- which can be dated to around 50 years after Jesus was killed.

All the other writings were later than that. Since the Bible was codified, we have discovered a whole slew of other writings of the time – you have heard about some of these found among “The Dead Sea Scrolls” or other places in the desert within the last 40-50 years.
The earliest non-cannonical gospel that has been found has been recently published as “The Gospel of Thomas.”

So, curiously, when we ask the question: what do these very earliest writings say about the birth of Jesus?
The answer is: Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zero.  Nothing at all.

It was of no importance to them.


The fact that is was important to three of the Gospel writers is what we will be looking at in the weeks to come.

But, today, these very earliest writings — say nothing about the birth of Jesus.

They say nothing about the birth of Jesus, but they all write about the specialness of Jesus —
that through their experience with the adult Jesus, they were sure they were experiencing the holy — Emmanuel — God With Us.

No one celebrated Christmas at all for over 300 years after Jesus died!
It just wasn't done.

This was the time of the Roman Empire.
And Israel was part of the Roman Empire.

You know the Romans had a whole slew of gods
that were important to their life —
and each of the conquered territories usually came
with a whole slew of gods the indigenous people worshiped.
There were pagan gods everywhere.

To the Jews, and we need to remember, these early Christians were Jews,
these pagan gods were not even close to the One they knew and
experienced through a thousand year history.

And so, we have discovered writings from around 200 years after Jesus was killed, that deal with the fact that because the pagans celebrated the birthdays of their gods, it would be wrong for Christians to celebrate the birthday of Jesus.
Jesus was special.
Jesus was God with Us.
Jesus was Emmanuel.
But, Jesus wasn't like the pagan Gods.
And shouldn't be treated as such.
No birthdays for Jesus. (Out of principle.)

Of course, another issue was that nobody knew when Jesus was born.
Again, there were no records kept.
No one was around filling out forms to be filed.
We have no mention of the Disciples ever celebrating Jesus' birthday,
so we assume that it was not of great importance to Jesus.
Apparently, he didn't tell anyone when his birthday
was — and apparently no one asked.

But, as you can guess, that didn't keep folks from speculating.

After some 150 to 200 years passed, people starting trying to figure it out.
One popular writer wrote that Jesus must have been born on May 20.
Others presented convincing arguments that Jesus' birthday must be April 18,
others favored April 19,
others thought it more likely was May 28.

Within a few years it became a popular pastime to speculate on the date of Jesus birth.
The well-known Hippolytus thought, for sure, that Jesus was born on January 2.
But others carefully figured it must be November 17, or November 20, or perhaps March 25.
In  243 it was promoted that Jesus' birth should be celebrated on March 21, because that was believed to be the date on which God created the sun.
The debate went on for over a hundred years.
There was no agreed on date of Jesus' birth.
There was no celebration of Jesus birth.

In fact, it was the year 336, when the Christian church first celebrated Christmas –
and it was on December 25.

This was one of Constantine's first acts to make Christianity the religion of the empire.

So many other pagan religions already had some sort of celebration at this time, that it was natural to tell the people, "you are to stop these other celebrations to these other gods, and make this one common celebration of the birth of Jesus."

As one theologian wrote in 320 about December 25: "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made the sun."

And, so for nearly 1700 years now most Christians celebrate the birthday of Jesus on December 25. [Except for the Armenian Church and some Orthodox Churches —
the birth of Jesus is important to them, but it is celebrated on January 6 along with his baptism and Pentecost.]

As we look at these earliest writings reflecting the faith of the very earliest Christians, we find some common threads that speak to us and give us clues as to the kind of celebration that is appropriate for us.

First of all, it is clear that people had extraordinary encounters with this Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus "connected" the people who encountered him with a life other than they knew --
where downtrodden were lifted up,
where the lame walked,
where the blind could see,
the lonely befriended,
transgressions forgiven.
Through encounters with this Jesus, people experienced "the Holy".

(Was it encounters of a third kind?]

Was it encounters with Yahweh — Jehovah — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the Great I Am?

And, these encounters with Jesus - this experience of the Holy - didn't stop with Jesus' death.

The "People of the Way" still had "holy" encounters with and through this man they knew as Jesus.
They could explain it as "Emmanuel".
For them, Jesus was "God With Us".
For those that encountered him, Jesus was Emmanuel.
The heart of Jesus teaching was that anyone could -
and would - encounter Emmanuel when certain things were done.

For me, a crucial part of what we celebrate here at Christmas is Emmanuel

That our celebrations are just not complete until we go looking for Emmanuel.

It's kind of like those children's books, Looking for Waldo.  
 You and I are called to go looking for Emmanuel.

As we do, we need to put a few things aside:
first of all, forget what you think Jesus looks like.
Forget the pictures of Jesus.

Again, we don't know what Jesus looked like.
No one was there to take video of his birth or ministry.
No one was there to take a photograph.
No one was there to sketch a portrait.
Again, it wasn't important to them.

But, not only are we called to look for him, we are called to minister to him.
And we are given some very specific instructions.
This is what Matthew 25 is about.

Christmas can be truly special if we are purposeful about our decorations
purposeful about our trappings
purposeful about the stories we tell and read
purposeful about the movies and videos we see.

Christmas is really about encountering the holy.
But the truth of the matter is, that most of what we do —
most of what we will do between now and Christmas Day —
has nothing to do with encountering the holy at all!

My favorite Christmas Stories are ones in which the hidden Christ is revealed:
stories about encounters with ordinary people that turn out to be encounters with the holy —

So, stories and pictures that you and I value about the
birth of Jesus and all the events around that —
simply were not important to the early Christians.

For 300 years they did not worship a baby.
They worshiped an adult "Emmanuel" —
through which they kept having encounters with the holy.
These encounters were important to them.
It was the basis of their new faith.

And, as they found out,  anyone could have these encounters
by feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked,
tending the sick.

That's how they found Emmanuel.
That's how they knew Emmanuel.

And, today, that's where — that's how — you and I will know Emmanuel.

May this Christmas be your best ever.

Amen.

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard these words during a worship service on the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011.

Why I Celebrate Christmas

Isaiah 12:2-6
John 1:1-14

Well, ready or not, Christmas is coming. 
With every catalog we get in the mail,
with every card we receive,
with every Christmas song we hear in the stores and on the radio,
with every television special we see,
with every advertisement we see and hear and read,
with every invitation we receive,
we know Christmas is on the way.
And, it will come, wether we are ready or not.
And, so we begin to get somewhat anxious about it all, don’t we?

It is almost as though there are two Christmases:
one of the lights and trees and decorations and presents and reindeer and parties and snowmen –
and . . . .  and . . . . and . . . .
The one we talk about in church.

Sometimes, it seems that the two Christmases are not even of the same wavelength.

We know the Christmas story that most of the world around us celebrates – and we know it well – and we participate in it willingly and knowingly – often for very good reasons. 
We like the feeling that comes with giving and thinking about others and going out of our way to make someone’s day. 

But, you know, the earliest Christians did not celebrate Christmas.
    It just was not important to them.

No one knows when Jesus was born . . .
    No one kept a record – maybe he never told anyone – we don’t know
    It just was not important to them.
There is no record of the Disciples ever singing happy birthday to Jesus.

Of course, the first Christians knew Jesus,
they lived with Jesus,
they heard Jesus talk,
they saw Jesus laugh,
they felt Jesus hurt,
they saw Jesus sleep and eat and drink and do all kinds of bodily functions –
they experienced a living breathing person just as you and I experience each other. 

But, after a few hundred years, some believers began to question whether Jesus ever really lived at all.  
He was being remembered and worshiped as more of a god – than remembered as a real living breathing man who lived and died during certain days and years of the Roman Empire.

So, a small faction began to think it was important not to forget that Jesus was a real person. 
And if he was, when ought to remember when he was born.

Trouble was, nobody knew when Jesus was born.

The very earliest writing we have in the New Testament is a letter from The Apostle Paul, written around the year of 35 AD.
The earliest Gospel we have is attributed to Mark.  The Gospel of Mark was most probably published around the year of 50 AD. 
In the past 60 years, many other documents have been discovered that date back to the very first decades after Jesus’ death.
When we read these documents looking for what they say about the birth of Jesus, we discover one thing in common. 
None of them have anything to say about the birth of Jesus.
Nothing.
It simply was not important to them.

A strong vocal faction of early believers thought it was just plain wrong to celebrate Jesus’ birthday – because that was too much like the world around them did when they celebrated the birthdays of the pagan gods, the Caesars and the Pharaohs.

But, there appeared a major debate in the middle of the third century.
Whether or not we would celebrate it, it would be nice to know when Jesus was born. 
So the speculation began. 
After a careful study of scripture, one prominent theologian of the third century calculated the birth date of Jesus must be May 20 [Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215)]
The debate began.  Others calculated that it must have been  April 18,
others thought it was April 19, and
still others were fairly certain it was  May 28.
One of the leaders of a powerful faction thought Jesus’ birthday should be remembered as
January 2 [Hippolytus (c.170-c.236)]
Others calculated it to be November 17,
others November 20, and
some, March 25.
And, so it went. 
It took over 300 years for the church leaders to agree on a date of December 25 to recognize as the birthday of Jesus.

And, even at that point, the believers were at odds with the culture around them.
Most of the world already celebrated major festivals on December 25:
the natalis solis invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"),
and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers.
The winter solstice, another celebration of the sun, fell just a few days earlier.
There were a lot of major celebrations going on at this time of year in most of the cultures of the world – and they had nothing to do with the church.
So, many believers thought it would be most inappropriate to celebrate Christmas at all.

And, in fact throughout history, there are long periods of years when nobody celebrated Christmas at all.
But, Christians have always had an uncanny ability to find ways to celebrate. 
And, in almost every culture where Christians found themselves, they appropriated local events and customs and made them their own.
And, oftentimes there were movements that would spring up to convince believers they should not participate in the cultural seasonal festivities –
sometimes by trying to convince people to remember the reason for the season,
sometimes by campaigning to put Christ back in Christmas,
sometimes by actually passing laws to ban Christmas celebrations altogether!

Imagine that, outlawing Christmas!
In the seventeen century, you may recall, Christian religious zealots took over the government of England. 
Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan Party actually passed legislation that outlawed Christmas. 
To them Christmas had become a time for lavish and raucous celebration and behavior and commercial exploitation – sound familiar? 
So, that was it. 
Plain and simple.
No more Christmas. 
(Sounds like a Dr. Zeus story, doesn’t it?)

And, it gets stranger. 
The people were outraged.
There was rioting in the streets.
Secret Christmas celebrations broke out all over England.
But, Oliver Cromwell retaliated.
Parliament decreed penalties of imprisonment for anyone caught celebrating Christmas.
Imagine that!
Being rounded up and being put in jail because you dared to celebrate Christmas!

Each year the “Christmas Police” would go through the streets a few days before Christmas warning people against celebrating Christmas. 
Businesses were not to be closed during the day  and there were to be no displays of Christmas decorations.

They went around and broke up any sign of Christmas celebration with force of arms. 

And the people rose up.
And the jails filled to overflowing.

The people would not be denied.
They took to the ballot box and voted the Puritans out of power.
Christmas was back.
The very idea. 
Outlawing Christmas.

Meanwhile, over here in the new country, the zealots persisted. 
Christmas was outlawed and not celebrated in many colonies for years. 
In fact, Christmas remained illegal in Massachusetts until sometime after 1850!

So, there is nothing new here. 
It seems that ever since day one, there was some controversy between what the church thought should be remembered and celebrated
and what and how the world around them celebrated.

Recognizing this historical reality doesn’t really do much to ease the conflict today, does it?
Christmas is celebrated in public schools without singing Christmas songs or telling Christmas stories.
All kinds of merchants appropriate seasonal music and messages to sell their products.
And fa-la-las are sung in synch with cash registers.

And, as it so often happened in the past, today the Christmas of the church gets short-shrift in our celebrations.

For the church, Christmas celebrates one of the most fundamental of beliefs – what is called incarnation. 
Specifically, the incarnation of God – that is, literally, God in the flesh. 
What we also call Emmanuel – God is with us!

The profoundness of this message is shown in the beginning words of the Gospel of John:
"This is a time to recall that God existed before time began –
and all things that are and that ever will be were brought into existence by God. 
God is described as the eternal logos – the Word with a capital W. 
And John reminds us that this eternal logos, this Word, this God,
came into the world with flesh and blood –
bridged the gap – came to be one of us – came to live with us." 
And that is Emmanuel means.
God is with us. 
– a profound statement, to be sure.

At this time of year we take time to hear that God is no longer “other”,
God is no longer “out there”,
God is no longer to be appeased with sacred rites and sacrifices,
God is no longer relegated to the realm of religion – apart from where we live and work and play.

So, I am kind of on a personal crusade to never slough over the essential message of the season – the reason we in the church have celebrated the season for so long. 
Because, this is the only place that this message will be proclaimed this year –
you won’t hear it in the schoolroom,
you won’t hear it on television,
you won’t hear it on the radio,
you won’t read about it in the newspaper or magazines,
you won’t hear Rush Limbaugh talking about it,
you won’t hear Charlie Rose talking about it,
you won’t hear Oprah talking about it,
you are not likely to hear your neighbor or friend talking about it.

The bottom line is this:
however touching they are to our heartstrings,
however much we love to hear them and to sing about them,
however much we enjoy the feelings prevalent this time of year,
the birth stories are not really about the baby Jesus.

The birth stories are told and remembered because of the adult Jesus –
and what people experienced with him during his earthly ministry,
and what people experienced because of him after his death –
and what people have experienced through him through the ages,
and what people continue to experience with him day and day out. 

For me, at its essence, Christmas is really about Emmanuel. 
That Hebrew word that means “God With Us”.  
For all those early Christians,
for all those writers of faith documents for their communities,
this word reflects what they affirmed had happened in this man from Nazareth –
what they continued to experience long after he had gone –
that Jehovah –
the great I Am –
God Almighty –
Creator of the Universe and all the worlds that are –
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob –
the One God of the faith of our fathers and mothers –
deigned to enter our world and become as we are
to let us know there is no separation now from holy and mundane,
from sacred and profane,
from work and ritual.
No.

In this man from Nazareth, we see Emmanuel! 
Through this man of Nazareth, we know Emmanuel.
With this man of Nazareth, we experience Emmanuel.

God is With Us.
That’s what we hear.

God is with us.
That’s what we sing.

God is with us.
That’s what we believe.

God is with us.
That’s what we celebrate.

Each and every year at Christmas.
Each and every week in worship.
Each and every morning when we get up.

Emmanuel!  This Christmas.
Emmanuel!  All year long!
Emmanuel!  Every minute of every hour of every day of your life!

We have a story to tell.
We need to find significant ways to celebrate the incarnation and the revelation of this one we call Emmanuel – Jesus our Christ.

Somehow, we have allowed non-Christians to take over our territory, our message, our celebration.
We should be the ones known for partying.
We should be the ones known for celebrating.
We are, really, the only ones that have anything worth celebrating, don’t you think?

This year, let us – you and me – be the ones to tell the stories, to tell the news.
Let everyone who lives shout and sing!
Our God is great and lives among his people!
Emmanuel!  Amen.

The Congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon December 6, 2009,

'Twas the Beginning of Advent

'Twas the beginning of Advent and all through the Church
Our hope was all dying –  we'd given up on the search.
It wasn't so much that Christ wasn't invited,
But after 2,000 plus years we were no longer excited.
         
Oh, we knew what was coming –   no doubt about that.
And that was the trouble –  it was all "old hat."
November brought the first of an unending series of pains
With carefully orchestrated advertising campaigns.
         
There were gadgets and dolls and all sorts of toys.
Enough to seduce even the most devout girls and boys.
Unfortunately, it seemed, no one was completely exempt
From this seasonal virus that did all of us tempt.
         
The priests and prophets and certainly the kings
Were all so consumed with the desire for "things!"
It was rare, if at all, that you'd hear of the reason
For the origin of this whole holy-day season.
         
A baby, it seems, once had been born
In the mid-east somewhere on that first holy-day morn.
But what does that mean for folks like us,
Who've lost ourselves in the hoopla and fuss?
         
Can we re-learn the art of wondering and waiting, 
Of hoping and praying, and anticipating?
Can we let go of all the things and the stuff?
Can we open our hands and our hearts long enough?
         
Can we open our eyes and open our ears?
Can we find him again after all of these years?
Will this year be different from all the rest?
Will we be able to offer him all of our best?
         
So many questions, unanswered thus far,
As wise men seeking the home of the star.
Where do we begin -- how do we start 
To make for the child a place in our heart?
         
Perhaps we begin by letting go
Of our limits on hope, and of the stuff that we know.
Let go of the shopping, of the chaos and fuss,
Let go of the searching, let Christmas find us.

We open our hearts, our hands and our eyes,
To see the king coming in our own neighbors' cries.
We look without seeking what we think we've earned,
But rather we're looking for relationships spurned.
        
With him he brings wholeness and newness of life
For brother and sister, for husband and wife.
The Christ-child comes not by our skill,
But rather he comes by his own Father's will.
         
We can't make him come with parties and bright trees,
But only by getting down on our knees.
He'll come if we wait amidst our affliction,
Coming in spite of, not by our restriction.
         
His coming will happen -- of this there's no doubt.
The question is whether we'll be in or out.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock."
Do you have the courage to peer through the lock?
         
A basket on your porch, a child in your reach.
A baby to love, to feed and to teach.
He'll grow in wisdom as God's only Son.
How far will we follow this radical one?
         
He'll lead us to challenge the way that things are.
He'll lead us to follow a single bright star.
But that will come later if we're still around.
The question for now: Is the child to be found?
         
Can we block out commercials, the hype and the malls? 
Can we find solitude in our holy halls?
Can we keep alert, keep hope, stay awake?
Can we receive the child for ours and God's sake?
         
From on high with the caroling host as he sees us,
He yearns to read on our lips the prayer:
          Come Lord Jesus!
As Advent begins all these questions make plea.
The only true answer: We will see, we will see.
      
   
By  J. Todd Jenkins
      First Presbyterian Church
      Fayetteville, Tennessee 

Note:  I have been sharing this poem for some 25 years, and have long touch with J. Todd Jenkins.  If anyone knows his whereabouts, please get in touch with me as I want to give him full credit.

First Sunday of Advent: Preparing for Christmas When Times Are Tough

First Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40:3-5,9
Luke 1-38

Today is the first Sunday of Advent –
Advent is the season set aside by the church for centuries as time to prepare ourselves for Christmas.
For the church in the Western world, Christmas happens on December 25 – and the Christmas Season continues for 12 days until what we recognize as Epiphany, January 6.
There are Christians that celebrate Christmas day at other times, but we won’t get into that today.

The season of Advent begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas. 
So, this year we have 29 days to prepare for Christmas. 

Many churches don’t make much out of Advent.
Presbyterians didn’t used to.
But, for the past 40 years, or so, I have placed great emphasis on this time before Christmas.
Because Advent and our celebration of Christmas is so out of synch with the rest of the world around us, we need all the help we can get to help us see the significance to our faith.
Christmas is basic to our faith.
Christmas explains a lot about what our faith is about.
In my opinion, Christmas is the very most significant  celebration we have in our church. 
It is that important.

But, we won’t messages about this anywhere else this year.
It is very possible to even attend church for 50 or 60 years and never hear messages like this.

But, Christmas succinctly and effectively summarizes our relation to God - and to each other.

Christmas is about Emmanuel! – God being with us.
Christmas is about God – the Creator of the universe and all the worlds that are
and all that dwell therein –
the omnipotent, the almighty, the Great Jehovah, the Great I Am –
Christmas is about God becoming one of us.
Christmas shows just how radical this faith we are a part of is.
God, the Ground of all Being, no longer is relegated to some other-worldly plane.
Our God is here, not there.

We say “Christmas is for children” –
and we do so enjoy the look on children’s faces when they get caught up in the wonder of the season;
But, really, Christmas is much much more.
Christmas is for adults.

As the world around us celebrates Christmas with the parades,
the decorations,
the commercials,
the music,
the sales,
we use this time to prepare for Christmas
amidst believers,
looking anew at the Biblical stories of Christmas to hear what Christmas really means –
to our faith,
and to us.

One contemporary theologian wrote last week:
“We in the Christian churches need to take back the message of the coming birth of Jesus.
The time leading up to Christmas is not primarily about fluffy angels, or even worse, to be confused with guys in red suits or shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

The central message about the impending birth of Jesus should be, as it is in the Bible, about how God-with-us means overturning the extremes of wealth and poverty.

The coming of Jesus is the coming of a strong prophetic message: the Kingdom of god is here and now, ‘in our midst.’”
(Susan Thistlethwaite, professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary)

Today, I want to look at how we can prepare for Christmas when times are tough.

There is no question that times are tough these days for many many people.
We have been through eight years now of the worst depression in what, 80 years?
Folks have seen their savings diminish radically,
their pensions disappear (totally in many cases),
and what we thought was a secure investment in a house became a burden instead of an asset.

Many have experienced the recent loss of a loved one – and the loss seems to be exacerbated at holiday times.

And many come to this particular season in ill health – suffering great pain just trying to do our daily do.

These are tough times for many people.
And it is hard, sometimes, to “get in the Christmas mood” when times are tough.

When we read, or hear, or tell, the Christmas stories, it is so easy to overlook the underlying backdrop in which the stories are told.

Mark, Matthew and Luke are very clear about
when these stories take place.
What to us may seem like a casual throwaway dropping of a name or two here and there,
is to the story-tellers concrete citations that these birth stories take place during tough times –
very tough times.

Yes, Israel had their own “country-state” governed by Herod from the capital city, Jerusalem.
But, Israel was taken over by the Roman Empire and was subject to Roman rule.
Whatever the Caesar in Rome wanted, Caesar got.
Rome ruled in matters of taxation, laws, education, and all sorts of life matters.

These were not good times for folks who practiced a faith that demanded unqualified allegiance from the God who led them out of Egypt and gave them 10 commandments and so many purity laws that they were to follow for the faithful life.

These were not good times to be a woman –
and certainly not a young girl.
Women in general, and young girls in particular were thought of as property and had no rights at all.
Young girls were traded off in marriage at a very young age.

The stories of Christmas are set in tough times, indeed.

It seems to me that the Christmas stories come more real to us when we are going through tough times.
More real, that is, if we take time read the stories, to hear the stories, to tell the stories.

Because, what the early disciples knew to be true –
And what our fathers and mothers in the faith affirmed for thousands of years, now –
that God –
the Creator of the Universe and all the worlds that are
the Author of life itself
the Power that infuses the turbines and the nuclei of the world –
became incarnate –
became one of us –
at a particular time in history,
in a particular place,
to a particular people,
in a particular way –
through a baby being born to a young unwed immigrant couple in an unlikely place at an unlikely time –
a time when things were tough all over.    

That ‘God entered our world and became incarnate’ is an essential tenet of the faith we have come to inherit and to know.

It seems to me that it is very good news –
good news that should be shouted from the roof-tops –
that in tough times God came to be part of our lives.

It was in tough times that Emmanuel was affirmed.

In the midst of persecution by Rome and Rome’s puppet, Herod, Emmanuel–God came to be a part of us.

To a frightened, underaged, unwed mother who was about to loose it all (possibly her life itself) –
Emmanuel – God was with her.

To Joseph, trying to do the right thing, and be fair, not understanding at all, Emmanuel – God came to be.

And it is particularly good news for you and me,
especially in the tough times we are living in,
Emmanuel!:
That’s the message of Christmas!

Our God is with us.
Today.
And in the days ahead.
No matter what happens around us.
No matter what personal tragedies we experience.
No matter how tough the times are for us.
Emmanuel!
God is with you.

God is with you,
comforting,
consoling,
healing,
leading,
enabling,
ensuring,
enlivening.

I encourage you to take time this year to prepare for Christmas by reading the stories,
join in the conversations,
tell others what we are doing here.

Emmanuel!

When times are tough, let us find a song to sing.
A song like:
We need a little Christmas
right this very minute . . .
I need a little angel
sitting on my shoulder,
need a little Christmas now.

For we need a little music,
need a little laughter,
need a little singing
ringing through the rafter,
and we need a little snappy
“happy ever after,”
need a little Christmas now.

Emmanuel!
God is with us –
especially when times are tough.
Amen.

The congregation of The Memorial Presbyterian Church of Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, heard this sermon as part of their communal worship service, Sunday, November 27, 2016.

The Christmas Stories Are Stories of Theophanies

Advent is a time the church concentrates on preparing for Christmas. 

Christmas is so important to our faith. 
It is so basic to our understanding of God and Jesus. 
Without Christmas – and the stories that are told about it –
the rest of our faith would be nonsense. 

I really like Advent and Christmas and Epiphany. 
It gives us a chance to get down to the raw basics and to hear stories that impact our faith and how it gets expressed in our lives.

The Christmas stories are stories of theophanies – encounters with the holy – culminating in the ultimate theophany: Emmanuel! –
the incarnation of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the Creator of all that is,
the great Jehovah, into our very lives. 

The Christmas stores are stories of cracks that occurred in the cosmic egg that traditionally separates the holy from the mundane –
cracks through which people were able to glimpse the divine,
cracks through which people encountered the holy. 

Traditionally, during this Advent season our churches purposefully focus on these encounters with the holy from days gone by – through the stories we hear and the stories we tell.

Through our telling and hearing these stores again, this Christmas, maybe, just maybe, you and I can encounter the Holy.

Oh, I am convinced that we do encounter the holy just as we hear they did in days of yore. 
It’s just that usually, we don’t recognize it when it happens. 
Even when the very skies open and the celestial voices sing, we are prone to ignore it –
perhaps because we are so preoccupied with enhancing our own display.

The stories of our faith are good stories. 
And, they have lasted through the years because they speak of truth – truth that ring to the heart of all who hear them.

But, if we let them remain as stories of people of another time, of days gone by, we do them – and we do us – a disservice. 
For, they are true. 
And they speak to our reality.

This year I invite you on a quest to encounter the holy. 
I am convinced that we can.
I know that we do. 
Let us take this time before Christmas to sharpen our senses and to hone our skills so that, like the people in our Christmas stories, we can point to times the holy breaks through in our lives,
to recognize it when it happens,
and to celebrate when it does.

So, in church each week we will be looking for the breakthroughs in the stories of our faith and in the days of our lives.

We will pay attention to the messengers of the Lord that come to us – is they did to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds.
Our stories tell us to be alert to our dreams and heed them as Joseph and Simeon and the Magi did;
to listen for the celestial song – the music of the spheres – as the shepherds heard;
to see what happens when hospitality is practiced – remembering  the Innkeeper and the Table of The Lord; 
and, to learn to celebrate the incarnation – Emmanuel! – Christmas Day and every day.

May you encounter the holy this Christmas.

All Our Religious Experience Is for Naught Unless We Know and Experience Emmanuel – God With Us.

For many of us, Christmas can be a confusing time, can’t it? 
Bright lights, crowded stores, parties and obligations to keep track of, ads for this and ads for that – there is much that vies for attention, isn’t there?

In the midst of all of the busyness, it is difficult to know which way to turn. 
We may want to experience the joy and peace of the season, and yet we often don’t know were to begin.

Within the ever-present cacophony of the world around us, our church tries to focus attention on the real reason for the season.

Especially these days, I think, we are called to be alert, to watch out, to look around, to keep hoping, and to be proactive in welcoming Emmanuel. 
For indeed, all our religious experience is for naught unless we know and experience Emmanuel – God With Us.
That’s what Christmas is all about. 
That’s what we affirm.
That’s what we celebrate.

This year, promise yourself to take time periodically to read the stories of Emmanuel:
the stories of John the Baptist,
the story of Mary the mother of Jesus, the story of Joseph, the stories of the birth of Jesus,
the story of the wise men, the story of the shepherds,
the story of old Simeon,
the story of old Anna.

Once again, I ask, where are these stories being told today? 
Not on TV.
Not in school. 
Not in many family gatherings. 
It is so important to make church a part of our schedule – especially at this time of year. [Perhaps there should be a rule: no opening of presents until after the Christmas Eve Candlelight service of stories and songs.]

Children need to hear these stories. 
Adults need to hear these stories. 
We all need to hear these stories. 

Churches all over the country will be telling the story with song.
We will be telling the story with words.
We will be telling the story with prayer.
We will be telling the story with communion.
We will be telling the story with visual symbols.
We will be telling the story with graphic symbols.
We will telling the story with candlelight.
We will be telling the story in a hundred ways.

Yes, we affirm Emmanuel!
We celebrate Emmanuel!
Our God is with us!
Don’t miss his presence this year!

See you in church –
and bring someone with you.  

Christmas Not Primarily About the Birth of A Baby

The Christmas we -- and the world around us -- celebrates really has little to do with the Christmas that is so much a part of our faith history.

It may surprise you to know that for over 300 years nobody celebrated the birthday of Jesus.

The stories and pictures that you and I value about the birth of Jesus and all the events around that — simply were not important to the early Christians.

For 300 years they did not worship a baby.
They worshiped an adult "Emmanuel" —
through which they kept having encounters with the holy.
These encounters were important to them.
It was the basis of their new faith.
In most cultures in the world, Christmas is not primarily a day for children.

In fact, throughout our faith history Christmas is for adults.

Although the early believers simply did not celebrate the birthday of Jesus, there is ample evidence that Christians have always recognized and celebrated the specialness of Jesus — universally called the Christ — and identified in Matthew as Emmanuel — God With Us.

Especially in these days and times, I think it would do us well to look at how those earliest Christians celebrated Emmanuel —
and look for clues as how you and I can have the very best Christmas ever this year,
celebrating the Presence of Christ, God With Us, Emmanuel.

Advent 2012: Preparing for Christmas . . . in most distressing times

What is Advent in the wake of such tragedy?
How can we “Prepare for Christmas” when there is so much pain and hurt?

These were the circumstances God chose to change things and enter this world of wailing and crying –
this world of unjust actions by a few.
Yes, this is precisely when God became one us.

It is in times like these that we need a little Christmas.
And, it is times like these that we need a little Advent in church to help us prepare for Christmas – 
a real Christmas.

Third Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah 31:15-17, 31-33
Matthew 2:16-18

So, this is our third Sunday of Advent –
that time the church sets aside for us to use to prepare for the coming of Christmas.
The theme I am working with this year is
Preparing for Christmas . . . when times are tough.

I personally have found this to be a particularly tough week.
There was this killing at a shopping in mall in Portland, Oregon.
And Friday, the event in Newtown, Connecticut.
(And these events were right after the event in upstate Pennsylvania where a man pulled his gun during church and shot the organist.)

I was pretty much glued to the television Friday as events unfolded and more and more details of the tragedy were uncovered.

And sometime yesterday, I decided I just could not go on with the sermon I had planned for today.
 
The first response I had was to pray . . .
Pray for those innocent children,
pray for those adults who lost their life protecting the children . . .
Pray for the children who survived the tragedy . . .
(some having seen the bloody lifeless bodies of their friends and teachers) . . .
Pray for the families of those children who perished,
pray for the families of all the children in the school who are now dealing with the aftermath .. .
Pray for the professional responders who arrived at the school building in very short order,
and entered the building not knowing what they would find,
and observing the carnage laid out before them,
and escorting all the hiding children from the building to safety and to reunite with their families,
and dealing with all the those little lifeless bodies.
(There were pictures of some of these responders – grown men – weeping openly at what they had seen and what they had to do.)
And, prayers for the whole community now weeping for the overwhelming loss.

"For those who bear tonight the unbearable burden
of unimaginable grief,
who in their agony yell at the forces of fate...
For those who moan and those who faint,
for those who rage and those who pray,
we moan and pray along with you.
For tonight, those were our children too.
Dear God, May a legion of angels
come upon these parents.
Bring to them an otherworldly touch,
an otherworldly comfort,
an otherworldly sense that their children are well --
that they are safe with God
and shall be with them always.
Give to those who grieve what no mortal can give...
the touch of Your Hand upon their heart.
May all touched by this darkness
be Lit by Your grace.
Please wipe away all tears, dear God.
as only You can do."

What is Advent in the wake of such tragedy?
How can we “Prepare for Christmas” when there is so much pain and hurt?

Of course, we were reminded a couple of weeks ago, that this is precisely the way things were when that first Christmas came to be.
Times were tough all over.

Lives were controlled by forces over which there was no control. 
What Rome wanted, Rome got.
What Herod ordered, Herod got.

In fact Herod was so ticked off at the wise men’s trickery, that he flew off the handle,
and sent out armies to find and murder all baby boys in the land under the age of two.
There was wailing and crying all around.

These were the circumstances in which folks were living then.
These were the circumstances God chose to change things and enter this world of wailing and crying –
this world of unjust actions by a few.
Yes, this is precisely when God became one us.
Emmanuel! , we say.
God-is-with-us.

The Christmas message is a message of hope in a hopeless world.
The message of hope in a hopeless time.
The message of hope for folks who had little reason for hope.

John would write “light came into the world of darkness.”

And this gets us back to what Advent is for, and what Advent does for us.
Advent is the time for us to be reminded of what we really celebrate at this time of year.

Yes, it’s true, like the rest of the world around us, it is so easy for us to get distracted from this most basic message of our faith.
It is so easy for us to begin to think Christmas is about something else –
something like gifting presents,
or sending cards,
or going to parties,
or family dinners,
or singing of carols,
or any of the other “secular traditions” that have
sprung up at this time of year.


After all, Christmas makes us feel good.
That is, unless we are too stressed out.
Unless we our loneliness takes over.
Unless the tough times of our life prevent us from celebrating like we are told we should.
Unless we are ill, or experiencing pain, or simply unable to do much of anything at all.
Unless there are no children in our lives – so we see nothing to celebrate.
Unless we are just too old to care much anymore.
Unless we experience a tragedy in our lives –
a tragedy that trumps celebration.
Then Christmas does not make us feel good.

But, this is when our church says Christmas begins to make the most sense.
This is when Christmas becomes real.
This is when Christmas takes on whole new meaning.

You see, Christmas is about Emmanuel!
Christmas is about God being with us now.
Christmas is about hope.
Christmas is about hope in a hopeless world.
Christmas is hope in hopeless times.

“The time will come,” the Lord says through the prophet Jeremiah, “when I will be your God and you will be with me.”
Christmas is about Emmanuel . . . in times of trouble.
Christmas is about Emmanuel . . . in times of distress.
Christmas is about Emmanuel . . . in times of distraction.
Christmas is about Emmanuel . . . in times of uncertainty.

Christmas is a recognition that God is with us.
God is with us –
comforting the distraught,
aiding the afflicted,
giving new life to old bones,
bringing relief to the displaced.

God is with us.
The light shines in the darkness.
And the darkness cannot put it out.
It keeps on shining.


Christmas is not to be belittled.
We ignore the message of Christmas at our own peril.
“We are lighthouses of sacred love”, Anne Lamott says. 
But, it is so easy to get distracted, isn’t it?
It is so easy to not get it.
It is so easy to forget, or to overlook, or to obfuscate the message and meaning of Christmas.

We so need this time in church at Advent to hear about Christmas.
Because when we don’t understand Christmas, it is easy to get bogged down in the wailing and the lamenting,
and the wondering why and wither,
and the projecting and conjecturing.

And – especially in days like we have been through – it gets overwhelming.
What to do?
Inaction becomes the order of the day.
We get depressed – and the song is no longer sung.


But, Christmas is about God being with us.
Christmas is about God embracing us.
Christmas is about God entering our very being – pulsing through our veins –
providing the life force
from which we can never sever.

We are not alone.
God knows.  We are not alone.
God wants us to know.  We are not alone.
We don’t have to experience our feelings alone.
We don’t have to live our lives in isolation.
We don’t have to have secrets that we keep hidden.
 
God is with us.
Caring.
Sharing.
Providing.
Enabling.

Like I’ve said every Sunday, it is in times like these that we need a little Christmas.
And, it is times like these that we need a little Advent in church to help us prepare for Christmas –
a real Christmas.

Listen to these words from Madeline L’Engle from her poem, First Coming:
 
God did not wait till the world was ready
till ... nations were at peace.
God came when the heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

God did not wait for the perfect time.
God came when the need was deep and great.
God dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. God did not wait

til hearts were pure. In joy God came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
God came, and God’s light would not go out.

God came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain.
God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

God came . . .
And became one of us . . .
A more significant act has never happened.
And it is something worth celebrating.
It is something worth singing about.
It is something worth talking about.
It is something worth sharing.

Friends, even in these most depressing times –
especially in these most depressing of times –
my hope is for you to have the most blessed Christmas ever.

Amen.

The Congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service, Sunday, December 16, 2012.

Advent 2012: Preparing for Christmas . . . when we don't feel like it

You and I are going to walk from here to Bethlehem?
That must be 70 miles as the crow flies – and the pathway is up and down, around and about.
No way!
And don’t give me any of that donkey stuff –
with this belly I couldn’t even get on one,
much less put up with his swaying and bouncing.

Because Mary made that trip (even when she didn’t feel like it) you and I experience a faith in this God who is with us - always.
This God who never abandons us.
This God who is a part of us – 
providing pulses of life in all kinds of situations.

The story of Christmas is our story.


So, this is the second Sunday of Advent 2012.
Advent is this time set aside for the church to prepare for Christmas.

Last week we looked for messages of hope and help preparing for Christmas when times are tough.
For most of, these are not ordinary times – the life we are experiencing is not what we signed up for.
Times are tough for a lot of us.
And we are reminded that times were particularly tough in the days of Herod and Joseph and Mary and their families and friends.
And that’s exactly when God chose to move into the neighborhood and become one of us.

And, today, I want to explore how it is hard for some of us to get into the Christmas spirit sometimes –
it is hard to prepare for Christmas when you don’t feel like it.

I was thinking this week specifically about the plight of little Mary.

Have you ever thought about how she must have gone through a roller coaster of emotions?

She was just a girl, really. 
From what we know, she was about 13 years old.
She had been told that a marriage had been arranged with the village carpenter’s apprentice – and she was pretty excited about that.
Not to have a husband was to continue to be burden on her mother and father –
and life was just better with a spouse.
And, one had been found for her.

We don’t know how much time had passed since her betrothal had been announced, but she and Joseph had been spending some time getting to know one another, and make specific plans about where to life and what they would need to set their new household, and such.

The future for Mary was promising.

And, then the angel came.
She didn’t understand that all.
She was fearful.
“But, how can that be?” was her response to the angel’s announcement.
Her future was up in the air now.
What about Joseph?
What about their plans?
What about her parents?
What about her friends?
What about the village?
What would her life be like raising a baby without a husband?
Her future looked bleak.

We don’t know just how long she harbored her 13-year-old feelings before she told Joseph about her situation.
But, apparently she did try to tell him.
And, apparently he wasn’t buying it.
Of course he couldn’t go through with the arrangement now.
Mary was damaged goods and carried unclaimed baggage.
That’s when the angel came to Joseph.
And, Joseph ended up doing the right thing and agreed to take Mary anyway.
Things were looking up for Mary.

No doubt, life was still hard for her – as well as for Joseph – in their village.
For sure no one else was convinced about their “immaculate conception” story.
They would have been shunned by their village, their families, their friends.
She had no one else at this point.
They had to turn to each other.
Times were tough for Mary and Joseph.

And, this ridiculous census was announced.
What was this about?
Why did Joseph have to travel so far?
Especially now.
She had been carrying this baby for a long time.
The time was surely at hand.
And, now he was to leave to town?
At this time?
Please!
Mary was stressed.

“Wait, wait!  And now you want me to do what?
Why do I have to go with you?
Look at me – heavy with child.
How am I supposed to get there?
We don’t have a car.
There is no bus, no taxi, no train.

You and I are going to walk from here to Bethlehem?
That must be 70 miles as the crow flies – and the pathway is up and down, around and about.
No way!
And don’t give me any of that donkey stuff –
with this belly I couldn’t even get on one,
much less put up with his swaying and bouncing.

To be sure, Mary didn’t feel like going.

Folks make that pilgrimage walk today.
Today, it takes folks 28 days to make that walk – walking at a pace presumably not too fast for an eight-month pregnant girl.

Do you think for one minute, Mary felt like doing that?

But, she did do it, didn’t she?

And, of course, the story goes on: after they finally arrived at Bethlehem, Mary suffered a double indignity - there was nowhere to stay.
Finally, after some wheeling and dealing, and a compassion-hearted inn-keeper, make-shift shelter was provided.
So, the young, frightened, country-girl, sheltered in a barn – presumably in the company with an assortment of farm animals.
Mary didn’t feel like making the trip in the first place, that’s for sure.
And she didn’t much feel like bedding down in the barn, either.

But she did.

Was she driven by her faith – bolstered by the encounters with the angel and her cousin, Elizabeth – or by her circumstance – having to accompany her betrothed because there were no other alternatives?
It really doesn’t matter much.

It is a wonder the baby didn’t come somewhere along the way.

When our first child was late, Suzanne received all kinds of advice:
go home and rearrange the furniture,
try to move the refrigerator,
go sit in a double feature movie.
(Just for the record, we did NOT have her try to move the refrigerator, but we did go to the circus for four hours one afternoon,
and watched a double feature movie showing of Oklahoma and South Pacific another afternoon.)
But, alas, there was no Laurie for Suzanne,
and no Jesus for Mary.

Mary did show a strong belief in her destiny as described by the angel Gabriel.
The song she sings after her visit with cousin Elizabeth demonstrates a familiarity with a radical restructuring of society that is about to be brought about.

For sure, Mary didn’t feel like making that trip.
But, she did.
And, that she did is a message of hope for all of us today.

Of course, we know how the story turns out.
The baby was born – healthy baby and healthy mom – without the help of a midwife or medical attention.
The baby was named Jesus –
and was recognized by all as Emmanuel!
God is now with us.

God chose to demonstrate this new reality through this unwed, homeless, teenage mother
in a hick-podunk town (mostly unheard of and ignored by the rest of the Roman Empire),
and in a barn at that.

Here in 2012, it may be hard to get in the Christmas spirit.  
We just may not feel like it – for a variety of reasons.
We may be grieving a loss,
we may be experiencing a debilitating illness,
we may just be tired,
we may be too busy or too distracted.
We may come up a very good excuse.

But, let’s remember Mary.
She surely did not feel like making that trip.
But, because she did step out and make the effort, look what happened.
The skies opened up.
The angels came out.
The heavenly chorus rang out.
The shepherds came in to town to see the new born.
Magi came from the East to pay homage.

And the powers of rule were scared spitless –
So much so that Herod sent out the order to kill all the baby boys in the land born near the suspected day.

Mary did not feel like making that trip.
But because stepped out and acted on her faith,
the world was changed.
Emmanuel was made known.
Societal structure was turned upside down.
The Kingdom of God was ushered in.

Because Mary made that trip (even when she didn’t feel like it) you and I experience a faith in this God who is with us - always.
This God who never abandons us.
This God who is a part of us – 
providing pulses of life in all kinds of situations.
This God who is manifest through acts of compassion, and justice.

Because Mary made that trip when she didn’t feel like it,
you and I – and everyone we meet –
literally everyone we meet –
can celebrate Christmas even if we may not feel like it.

Because, time and time again, our experience shows,
and clinical research confirms,
that when we make the effort to celebrate events like Christmas –
even if we don’t feel like it –
magic happens.
The heavens open up.
We start seeing angels.
We hear the music.
We smile.
We sing.
We might even dance.
We gift one another.
We acknowledge one another.
We actually converse with one another.
The spirit of Christmas overtakes us
and we actually become a part of the message.

The story of Christmas is our story.
It is the story of Mary, yes.
It is the story of Emmanuel, yes.
It is the story of God and the inauguration of God’s Kingdom, yes.
But, the story of Christmas is the story of us.

This week Anne Lamott relayed a comment Wendell Berry told her some thirty years ago:
“It gets darker, and darker, and darker,
and then Jesus is born.”

That’s what Mary found out.
That’s what millions of believers throughout the ages have found out.
That’s what many in this room have found out.
It is just when things seem to be getting darker and darker and darker that the light comes and illuminates the world around us.

For sure, Mary experienced a brightness in her soul after making the trip she didn’t feel like making.

And, the thing is, you and I can try it out.
We can test it out for ourselves.
If you just don’t feel the Christmas spirit,
remember Mary and take action:
go to the Christmas party at the pastor’s house,
buy a turkey for a neighbor,
buy a gift card at the Acme and hand it to a person coming into the store,
make a call to someone you haven’t spoken to in over a year,
write a note to someone who is not expecting it,
sing a song of Christmas,
do something for another,
offer a prayer for another’s wellbeing,
well, the list goes on.

Like Mary found out, it will make a difference.
Like Auntie Mame said:
especially when we don’t feel like it,
we need a little Christmas, right this very minute.
We need a little laughter,
we need a little singing,
we need a little Christmas –
even when we don’t feel like it –
especially when we don’t feel like.

Amen.




The congregation of The Maxlife Church: Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon during a worship service the Second Sunday of Advent, December 9, 2012.

Advent 2012: Preparing for Christmas . . . when times are tough

Christmas is for adults.
In my opinion, Christmas is the very most significant celebration we have in our church.

Because Advent and our celebration of Christmas is so out of synch with the rest of the world around us, we need all the help we can get to help us see the significance to our faith.
Christmas is basic to our faith.
Christmas explains a lot about what our faith is about.
These are tough times for many people.
And it is hard, sometimes, to “get in the Christmas mood” when times are tough.

It seems to me that the Christmas stories come more real to us when we are going through tough times.
More real, that is, if we take time read the stories, to hear the stories, to tell the stories.
 
First Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40:3-5,9
Luke 1-38

Today is the first Sunday of Advent –
Advent is the season set aside by the church for centuries as time to prepare ourselves for Christmas.
For the church in the Western world, Christmas happens on December 25 – 
and the Christmas Season continues for 12 days until what we recognize as Epiphany, January 6.
There are Christians that celebrate Christmas day at other times, but we won’t get into that today.

The season of Advent begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas. 
So, this year we have 24 days to prepare for Christmas. 

Many churches don’t make much out of Advent.
Presbyterians didn’t used to.

But, for the past 35 years, or so, I have placed great emphasis on this time before Christmas.

Because Advent and our celebration of Christmas is so out of synch with the rest of the world around us, we need all the help we can get to help us see the significance to our faith.
Christmas is basic to our faith.
Christmas explains a lot about what our faith is about.
In my opinion, Christmas is the very most significant celebration we have in our church. 
It is that important.

But, we won’t hear messages about this anywhere else this year.
It is very possible to even attend church for 50 or 60 years and never hear messages like this.

But, Christmas succinctly and effectively summarizes our relation to God and to each other.

Christmas is about Emmanuel! – God being with us.
Christmas is about God – the Creator of the universe and all the worlds that are and all that dwell therein – the omnipotent, the almighty, the Great Jehovah, the Great I Am –
Christmas is about God becoming one of us.
Christmas shows just how radical this faith we are a part of is.
God, the Ground of all Being, no longer is relegated to some other-worldly plane.
Our God is here, not there.

We say “Christmas is for children” –
and we do so enjoy the look on children’s faces when they get caught up in the wonder of the season;
But, really, Christmas is much much more.
Christmas is for adults.

As the world around us celebrates Christmas with the parades,
the decorations,
the commercials,
the music,
the sales,
we use this time to prepare for Christmas
amidst believers,
looking anew at the Biblical stories of Christmas to hear what Christmas really means –
to our faith,
and to us.

One contemporary theologian wrote last week:
“We in the Christian churches need to take back the message of the coming birth of Jesus.
The time leading up to Christmas is not primarily about fluffy angels, or even worse, to be confused with guys in red suits or shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

The central message about the impending birth of Jesus should be, as it is in the Bible, about how God-with-us means overturning the extremes of wealth and poverty.

The coming of Jesus is the coming of a strong prophetic message: the Kingdom of god is here and now, ‘in our midst.’”
(Susan Thistlethwaite, professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary)

Today, I want to look at how we can prepare for Christmas when times are tough.

There is no question that times are tough these days for many many people.
We have been through four years now of the worst depression in what, 80 years?
Folks seen their savings diminish radically,
their pensions disappear (totally in many cases),
and what we thought was a secure investment in a house became a burden instead of an asset.
Many have experienced the recent loss of a loved one – and the loss seems to be exacerbated at holiday times.
And many come to this particular season in ill health – suffering great pain just trying to do our daily do.
These are tough times for many people.
And it is hard, sometimes, to “get in the Christmas mood” when times are tough.

When we read, or hear, or tell, the Christmas stories, it is so easy to overlook the underlying backdrop in which the stories are told.

Mark, Matthew and Luke are very clear about when these stories take place.
What to us may seem like a casual throwaway dropping of a name or two here and there,
is to the story-tellers concrete citations that these birth stories take place during tough times –
very tough times.

Yes, Israel had their own “country-state” governed by Herod from the capital city, Jerusalem.
But, Israel was taken over by the Roman Empire and was subject to Roman rule.
What the Caesar in Rome wanted, Caesar got.
Rome ruled in matters of taxation, laws, education, and all sorts life matters.

These were not good times for folks who practiced a faith that demanded unqualified allegiance the God who led them out of Egypt and gave them 10 commandments and so many purity laws that they were to follow for the faithful life.

These were not good times to be a woman –
and certainly not a young girl.
Women in general, and young girls in particular were thought of as property and had no rights at all.
Young girls were traded off in marriage at a very young age.

The stories of Christmas are set in tough times, indeed.

It seems to me that the Christmas stories come more real to us when we are going through tough times.
More real, that is, if we take time read the stories, to hear the stories, to tell the stories.

Because, what the early disciples knew to be true –
And what our fathers and mothers in the faith affirmed for thousands of years, now –
that God –
the Creator of the Universe and all the worlds that are
the Author of life itself
the Power the infuses the turbines and the nuclei of the world –
became incarnate –
became one of us –
at a particular time in history,
in a particular place,
to a particular people,
in a particular way –
through a baby being born to a young unwed immigrant couple in an unlikely place at an unlikely time –
a time when things were tough all over.    

That God entered our world and became incarnate is an essential tenet of the faith we have come to inherit and to know.

It seems to me that it is very good news –
good news that should be shouted from the roof-tops –
that in tough times God came to be part of our lives.

It was in tough times that Emmanuel was affirmed.

In the midst of persecution by Rome and Rome’s puppet, Herod, Emmanuel – God came to be a part of us.

To a frightened, underaged, unwed mother who was about to loose it all (possibly her life itself) –
Emmanuel – God was with her.

To Joseph, trying to do the right thing, and be fair, not understanding at all, Emmanuel – God came to be.

And it particularly good news for you and me,
especially in the tough times we are living in,
Emmanuel!:
That’s the message of Christmas!

Our God is with us.
Today.
And in the days ahead.
No matter what happens around us.
No matter what personal tragedies we experience.
No matter how tough the times are for us.
Emmanuel!
God is with you.

God is with you,
comforting,
consoling,
healing,
leading,
enabling,
ensuring,
enlivening.

I encourage you to take time this year to prepare for Christmas by reading the stories,
join in the conversations,
tell others what we are doing here.

Emmanuel!

When times are tough, let us find a song to sing.

A song like:
We need a little Christmas
right this very minute . . .
I need a little angel
sitting on my shoulder,
need a little Christmas now.

For we need a little music,
need a little laughter,
need a little singing
ringing through the rafter,
and we need a little snappy
“happy ever after,”
need a little Christmas now.

Emmanuel!
God is with us –
especially when times are tough.
Amen.

The congregation of The MaxLife Church heard this sermon during a worship service the first Sunday of Advent: December 2, 2012.