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.