CHRISTMAS DAY 2005: LUKE 2:1-20

ISAIAH 62:6-12
TITUS 3:4-7LUKE 2:1-20
“GOD COMES”
CHRISTMAS DAY 2005
COMMUNION MEDITATION

Merry Christmas!

The day is here – and because it is a Sunday we are gathered here this place where we worship God –gathered as a community of faith – gathered to worship God on this holy day — gathered around God’s table to partake of the Sacrament that reminds us of God’s love for us and for all who will follow Him.

Merry Christmas!

As we gather on this day I want to ask you a question –

What does Christmas mean to you?

For some Christmas might mean Santa – what Santa is going to bring – toys and candy and all the things a child can imagine. That vision of Christmas can excited us.

What does Christmas mean to you?

For others Christmas might mean shopping – getting gifts to give — trying to pick out a “perfect gift” for a friend or loved one. That vision of Christmas can tire us.

What does Christmas mean to you?

For others it might mean family gatherings and good times together. This vision of Christmas is – for the most part – one that warms our hearts.

For many Christmas might mean decorations – houses with bright lights and decorated trees – and these days even decorated yards complete with lights shaped into statues of deer of larger than life inflatable Santas or snowmen.

What does Christmas mean to you?

I suspect Christmas mean a combination of things to you. I know it does for me.
I can remember Christmases when I was growing up.
Being the youngest I kept the excitement and wonder of Christmas longer than my older sisters. My family would always go to Charlotte to see “The Singing Christmas Tree” – a wonderful choir singing from a Christmas Tree shaped platform. We would then go out to eat – and maybe go to see the lights – not to mention the sights of sounds – of downtown Charlotte – complete with store windows at Belk’s and Ivey’s department stores decorated with animated Santas, elves, and the like.

I was always enthralled with downtown Charlotte at Christmas.

About a week before Christmas I would get a phone call from Santa. That would be a highlight of the season for me.

On Christmas Eve we would go to Church – then come home and get ready for bed. We would put out cookies and cokes for Santa and each of the reindeer – including, of course, Rudolph.

It would seem like the longest night of the year – until finally Christmas day would dawn – and my sisters and I would bound into the Living Room to see what Santa had left us. For me it would usually be a cowboy hat and pistol – or an electric train – or an electric football game – or a ball. One year I got a Rocking Horse on springs that I rode and rode – wearing out countless sets of springs – for many years. I also remember the year I got my first drum “real” set. I’m not sure Mom and Dad ever forgave Santa for that – for drumming became a passion of mine that grew more and more expensive with each new drum or cymbal – and also because louder and louder. I really don’t see how my parents tolerated it!

Then – by late afternoon when the house was a wreck and everyone exhausted – it would be time to go to my Grandmother’s house for the “family gathering” – complete with cousins and other folks you didn’t know.

So – my memories of Christmas are a combination of sights – sounds – and emotions.

Yours probably are, too.

But – what does Christmas mean to you?

Increasingly – for me – Christmas has come to mean a celebration of God’s love – and the wonderful fact that God has come into our world through Christ – and continues to come into our world.

Christmas is a celebration of love.
A celebration of God’s love – a love so great that God did not let us die in sin but provided salvation for us through Jesus Christ – this baby in the manger who became an adult on the cross – and who died for our sins and yet rose again so we can have everlasting life.

Christmas is a celebration of God’s coming into our lives through Jesus Christ.
Irenaeus – a Christian leader from the first century – put it this way:
“The Son of God became a son of man – so that the sons of men could become sons of God’
What a beautiful – wonderful thought that is. The thought that God would become like us – so we can become like Him.

I believe that the coming of God into our world through Christ tells us a lot about God.

God does not let us die in our sins without the opportunity for salvation.
God does not leave us in our suffering and sorrow of this life. God does not abandon us in the hardest and harshest times of our lives.
No – in the hardest and harshest times – God comes.
God comes with hope and with new possibilities.

Look at our Old Testament passage from Isaiah.
The people of Israel were in the worst of times. Jerusalem was a wasteland and the people in Babylon.
But Isaiah saw that – even in the midst of such destruction and waste and hopelessness – God would come – and rebuild. Jerusalem would be a great city again – because God would come.

The good news the angels brought to the shepherds on that first Christmas night was the news that their lives as the poorest of the poor in a country occupied by the Roman army could be different. God had come – Christ had been born – and all things could be different.

The good news God brings to us today is that – even in the midst of the tragedies of our lives – the times when things seem to be the lowest they can be – times of war and violence – times of economic distress and joblessness – times when children go hungry while adults do what they want – times when poverty is rampant — times when despair and depression want to grab us and not let us go – even in all these times and despite all these things – God has come – Christ has been born – things can be different.

The news of Christmas is good news – Christ has been born – God has come!

Christmas means that God has come!

God has come!
God has come!

In the midst of our lives – God has come – and God continues to come and to work in our lives and in our world for His will for salvation and love and justice and healing.

Christmas means that God has come.
Christmas means that God comes.
God comes into our lives.
God comes into our world.
God comes with hope and healing and love and grace.
God comes.

That’s the message of Christmas.
God comes.

Friends – that is what Christmas is really all about.

Sure – Santa and gifts and decorations and family are all a part of what Christmas is all about – but beyond all these things – Christmas is all about God – who comes into our lives and into our world and changes them with His great love.

God comes.
Into our lives – whatever situations we may find ourselves in – God comes.
Into our world – whatever situations there may be – God comes.

God comes.
Realize it.
Claim it.
Share it with others.
Make a difference for God’s glory in the lives of others.
Be God’s instruments of love and grace and a different way to live in the lives of those who need to experience God’s love – God’s grace – and the difference God can make in the world.

You know –when we share God’s love and God’s will with others – we experience it again for ourselves.

The Son of God became a son of man – so that the sons and daughters of men could become sons and daughters of God.

God comes.
That’s what Christmas means.
God comes.

As we come around the table this morning to celebrate the Christmas day -=- celebrate the fact that God comes to make a difference in this world – and be strengthened so you can make a difference for God in the world.
God comes.
Amen.

ISAIAH 61:1-4, JOHN 1:6-8,19-28

ISAIAH 61:1-4,
JOHN 1:6-8, 19-28
“CHRISTMAS PROFITS
AND
CHRISTMAS PROPHETS’’
ADVENT 3 DECEMBER 11, 2005
READ SCRIPTURE

We are now well into our celebration of Advent – and our preparations for Christmas.

In the Church we have many things going on to celebrate the coming of God – the coming of Christ – into our lives and into our world. Times of worship and fellowship are filling us with joy and anticipation – not to mention filling our calendars and with busy schedules – as well as our stomachs with good food!

In what some call “the real word” we have many different things to do – shopping, parties to attend, and many other things – and our jobs don’t slow down at this time of year either.

The Christmas season – for many — is about shopping – and the merchants are sure to tap into the shopping sprees. I guess the Holiday Shopping Season (which is what many call them now to avoid offending anyone and to be “politically correct” – although that’s changing some now) really begins the day after Thanksgiving with it’s early store hours and sales – even though many stores decorate and begin promoting Holiday gifts well before this.

For many the month of December is about making a profit.
Stores depend on their Holiday sales to make their year profitable.
The profits of Christmas sales is followed on Wall Street and debated on the news and talk radio. Advertisements fill our newspapers and our mailboxes.

I heard about one particular shopper who was so weary that when the “store greeter” wished them a “Happy Holiday” they snapped back –

“What’s so (expletive deleted) happy about it?”

Yea – even if the “store greeter” had said “Merry Christmas” the shopper may have shot back

“What’s so (expletive deleted) merry about it?”

Yea – for some – Christmas – the Holidays – whatever you choose to call it – is filled with busy schedules – and shopping, shopping, and more shopping.

And the merchants hope it is filled with profits, profits, and more profits.

But – back in the Church – we are not in the Season of Christmas yet – we are still in the Season of Advent.

Advent is a time for promise — for hope — for anticipation — for preparing for the coming of God — the coming of Christ — touching our lives with God’s mysterious love — and compelling us to have our lives changed by that love.
Advent is a time for seeing how God comes to us in mysterious — marvelous — exciting — and life-changing ways — not just with the baby in the manger so many years ago — but also here — and now.
We are not playacting during Advent — pretending to be people who are waiting for the Messiah to come. We know that God has come to us in Christ — and made His love made known to us in surprising ways. But sometimes we have to take the time to stop and remember what this season is really all about. Sometimes we miss the important fact that God continues to come to us in ways that are just as surprising as a baby in a manger. Sometimes we become so consumed in the world’s celebration of Christmas that we miss the continued work of God in the world — and we fail to join in that work — calling for different lives and a different world.

So – while the Christmas Season – or the “Holiday Season” in the “real world” may be a time that the merchants hope is filled with profits, profits, and more profits – for us as Christians it needs to be a time filled with prophets, prophets, and more prophets.

Now – it may seem that I just said the same thing.
Let me explain.
For the merchants Christmas may be a time for profits –P R O F I T S.
For us as Christians it needs to be a time for prophets – P R O P H E T S.

For us as Christians it needs to be a time filled with prophets, prophets, and more prophets.

Prophets – that can help us have our vision renewed — and help us see God and God’s work in the world in a new way.
It is a time for prophets that can help us allow the coming of God into our world make a difference in our lives — so we too can be prophets — showing God’s work and will to others in all we say and do.

Christmas can be a time for profits – PROFITS – but it can also be a time for is a time for prophets – PROPHETS.

Prophets like John and Isaiah – but also prophets like you and me.
Advent is a time for prophets.
Christmas is a time for prophets.

Many of us may contribute to the sounds of the profits – PROFITS — at the local stores and even online at the many web sites –
But do many of us contribute to the voices of the prophets – PROPHETS – who try to point us to God – and the true reason for what we do?

John was a prophet.
So was Isaiah.

Frederick Buechner — a Presbyterian minister and author — writes that prophets never have an easy time in life.

“There is no evidence to suggest” — Buechner sarcastically writes — “that anyone ever asked a prophet home for supper more than once. In fact, no prophet is on record as ever having applied for the job.”

John was a prophet — a man with a mission — and his mission was to tell people of the coming of Christ into the world — indeed the coming of God into the world — and to call people to repentance — to make their lives ready for Christ — who was already among them — but whom they did not see. John knew his mission — and he carried it out well — but it didn’t make him popular. Many people didn’t want to hear John — or see Christ. They were too interested in protecting their own ideas and opinions of how things should be to see that God was among them — that something new was happening and life could no longer be “business as usual”. Too worried about their own profits to listen to this prophet. Things could be different — very different — but many were missing the new life Christ offered all together. They had no interest in hearing John or seeing Christ because John’s message and Christ’s work would mean change for them — and they liked things the way they were. They didn’t want to let John’s message change their lives — and they definitely were not interested in seeing Christ.

They could not see the one who stood among them.
They refused to see.

But John was a prophet.

John saw — and understood — and proclaimed that God was at work in a new way in the world. God was at work in the world through Christ — who showed God’s will for justice — for love — for righteousness — for peace — ways that would change the way things were into the way God would have them to be.

This understanding — this proclamation — did not make John very popular — but he kept on understanding and proclaiming — for he was a prophet.

An Advent Prophet.
A Christmas Prophet.
A Prophet who was committed to showing God’s will at work in the world – working for God’s will in the world – and proclaiming that God has come into the world through Jesus Christ to change the world.

An Advent Prophet.
A Christmas Prophet.

In our Old Testament lesson we see that John is not the only one who understood how God was going to challenge the ways of the world and establish the ways of God. Isaiah proclaimed that he was anointed with the Holy Spirit — and had a mission in the world to work for salvation — peace — justice — and righteousness.

Like John — Isaiah was a Prophet.

But — people had no intention of listening to either Isaiah or John — or seeing God who was coming to the world through Christ to change the world — they wanted to live their lives as they saw fit — whether it was the way God saw fit for them or not.

Yes — John and Isaiah were prophets – – maybe not popular — but faithful — faithfully seeing God in the world — faithfully proclaiming the presense of God in the world to others.

Yes – – Christmas can be a time for profits – PROFITS – but it also should be be a time for is a time for prophets – PROPHETS.

So – here’s a question for you today: as you help the merchants with their profits this season – are you also being a prophet for God and God’s work in the world?

Are we prophets — PROPHETS?

We celebrate Christmas — but does the fact that God has come into our world through Christ really make a difference in how we live our lives? Does it make any real difference to us at all?

Do we let Christ truly change our lives?
Do we see how Christ can and does make a difference in the world — see and proclaim how the coming of Christ can change our lives and change the world?

Or — is Christmas simply a time for us to somehow just nod at the manger and the birth of Christ as we rush about our busy lives — too caught up in the things of the world to see and experience and proclaim the things of God?

Are we Christmas Prophets?

Friends — Christ has come.
God has come into our world.
Christ is among us.
The work of God is among us.
But — do we see Christ?
Here and now?
Does it make a difference to us that Christ has come into our world?

John and Isaiah were prophets. They saw and experienced and proclaimed that God was at work in their world and things could be completely changed for God’s glory. Yes — they were prophets — seeing and proclaiming the things of God.

What about us?

Are we Christmas Prophets – PROPHETS — seeing and experiencing and proclaiming to the world that things can be different because Christ has come — or are we like those who John and Isaiah addressed — those who wished John and Isaiah and prophets like them would just shut up so they could go about “business as usual” – making our own profits – PROFITS — or helping others make their?

Are we more like Isaiah and John — prophets — or more like their skeptical audiences?

We need to let the message of John — the message of Isaiah — sink in.
Christ is among us — and our lives — and our world — can be changed.

Let Christ change the way you live.
Understand your need for Christ — for salvation.
Understand your need for the new life that only Christ can bring.
That life that Isaiah spoke of – of healing – wholeness – peace.

Then — be a prophet.
Tell the world their need for Christ.
Tell others their need for the salvation Christ offers.
Tell others of that healing – wholeness – and peace Christ offers.

Be a Christmas Prophet.
Don’t just talk about people’s need for the life of salvation – healing – and wholeness Christ offers – but see yourself as being a Prophet — sent to – as Isaiah put it –

Bring liberty to the oppressed
Bind up the brokenhearted
Proclaim liberty to the captives

See the needs all around you – and do what you can to meet them with God’s amazing and life changing love. Reach out to people all around you with the good news of God’s love in your words and actions.

Be a Christmas Prophet.
Dare to go against the grain of those only interested in making profits or helping others make a profit – and declare that there is much more to this season that just profits — PROFITS.

There can be prophets – PROPHETS. People who point to God’s amazing and life changing love and lead others to it.

It may not be what the world wants to hear — in fact it probably won’t be. It may not make you very popular. You may confront the way people live — it may not make them comfortable — but — you will be seeing and proclaiming God — and the real message of Christmas – to the world.

You will be a prophet.

We must be prophets — calling for all to repent and believe in Christ — but also being about God’s work by reaching out to the poor — working for and calling for peace when others are working for and calling for conflict — giving to others instead of keeping so much for ourselves — feeding those who are hungry — warming those who are cold — proclaiming that Christ is among us — and the world will never be the same again.

Be a Christmas Prophet.

See to it that this Christmas season is not just filled with profits, profits, and more profits – PROFITS – but also Prophets – Prophets – and more Prophets – PROPHETS.

Amen.

ISAIAH 40:1-1, MARK 1:1-8

ISAIAH 40:1-11
MARK 1:1-8“THE GOOD NEWS”
ADVENT 2
DECEMBER 4, 2005

We are now well into our celebration of the season of Advent — and our preparation for the day of Christmas.

In Advent we wait — and prepare for the coming of Christ — the coming of God — into our lives — touching us and changing us with God’s mysterious love — a love so great that God breaks into our lives in surprising ways — like a baby in a manger who becomes an adult on a cross — and invites us into deeper and more meaningful relationships with God and others.

In the Church year the season of Advent is a season of expectant hope — but in what people call “the real world” the weeks before Christmas are filled with hectic, frenzied activity — trying to get too many things done too quickly.

If we are not careful, it can be a depressing season — not a joyous season.

So maybe you’ve come to church hoping for a break from all the frenzy — activity — and guilt.

Well, if that’s what you’re looking for today – I apologize because what we have before us today may not at first appear to not have a calming effect you may think you need.

You want a moment of peace and not worrying about things?
Sorry.
It not going to happen today.
Not yet, anyway.

You see — today we come face to face with John — a religious fanatic.
It’s not much of a break at all, is it?
Not much of a calming effect.

You may find yourself yearning for some relief — and instead find yourself face to face with John — this wild eyed fanatic with a single message:

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

Not much relief here!

What a sight it must have been — this John the Baptist dressed in camels hair with a leather belt tied around his waist — standing on the bank of the Jordan —

The Jordan –

that river so important to the Hebrew people —

that river that in the history of the Hebrew people stood for healing as Namman – a Syrian, no less — washed in it and was healed of his leprosy —

that river that in their history finally brought them to a new home as it parted for them as they entered the Holy Land —

that river whose waters meant healing and home for the Hebrew people.

And now on the banks of that river that meant healing and home for the Hebrew people – stands John — who must have seemed like a fanatic — the wild eyes — the unkempt appearance — the single message — the label fanatic seemed to fit.

Yes — and the message —

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

seemed to make him just that much more fanatical.

John had no time for beating around the bush or polite conversation. He had one thing on his mind — declaring that God was coming.

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

The urgency in his message must have been compelling.

Indeed — no time for rest — and no time relaxing.

Apparently he attracted a lot of attention. The whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem went to hear him — and many were baptized in the river Jordan — that place of healing and home.

A compelling prophet with a compelling message!

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

The Hebrew people had prayed for centuries for God to come into their lives in a new way. And now that those still living in the land promised to their ancestors were under Roman domination some prayed for freedom more fervently — while others were leading open revolts for freedom.

Into this volatile mix came this fanatic on the banks for the Jordan with the unkempt appearance and strong message.

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

It certainly struck a chord within the people. Many who heard him responded and were baptized in the Jordan — the message of John made a difference in their lives. They were desperate people — at the end of their rope — almost to the point of giving up. Why should God come and change their lives? And fanatical John kept standing on the banks of the Jordan — that river that stood for healing and home for the people — and kept shouting:

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

And the people kept coming to that man in that place — and kept listening — and kept repenting — and kept being baptized — and kept having their lives changed — and kept hoping for God to come and change their lives in a new, real way.

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

Now — we may feel we have an advantage over those who heard the words of John and repented — and were baptized in the waters of the Jordan — the waters of healing and home.

We may feel we have a distinct advantage.

We know what happened next.
We know Christ came.
God entered the world.
The world was changed forever.

We may feel this gives us an advantage — but — does it?

I wonder.

At least they let the coming of God make a difference to them.
At least they let the coming of God change their lives.
At least they made a response to the promises of God to come into their lives and change them. At least they let their lives be changed.

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

But — you know —

God still comes.

John’s message is still the same.

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

The people who first heard John’s message felt lost and alone. To them — John’s message was good news – it was life changing news. The time of feeling lost was over. God was coming. Being baptized in that river of healing and home was only an outer sign of an inward feeling of renewed life and hope as they believed in the coming of God — coming to change their lives and their world.

Many people feel lost and desperate today.
Many may be yearning for some message of hope.

Maybe John’s message is not a message for relaxation from the stress of our lives — but maybe it is a message of hope for us and for all the world.

It can be a message of hope for you.

Maybe to you the world seems like shattered dreams.
Maybe your marriage — family — relationships — may not be what we had hoped they would be.

Maybe your job doesn’t hold the potential you may want for your family or for yourself.

Or maybe your retirement years may not be what you had planned on their being.

Or maybe your health may be a problem instead of an asset.

Or maybe a friend or loved one is sick –- or dying – or maybe has recently died and you are grieving the loss.

Or — maybe you just look at the poverty — drugs — disease — violence — and tragedy in the world around you and wonder if there is any reason – any reason at all — for holding out hope for anything better.

Or — maybe just the celebration — the stress — the importance placed on the “perfect Christmas” that is impossible to achieve — is too much for you.

Well if that be the case – then I have good news for you today.
Listen up – because I am going to tell you something that can be the best news you have ever heard —

And not just those of you who are hurting in one way or another – but all of you – indeed all of us – need to hear this good news – the best news ever.

Are you ready to hear it?

Here it is:

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

Yea – the same words John proclaimed on the banks for the Jordan I proclaim to you today:

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY

If you feel lost — lonely — desperate — then the message of John is the best news you can hear.

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY

For all of us – indeed for all the world – the message of John is the best message of all:

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY

This message of good news is important – – but not only are the words themselves important – – but the place where John delivered the message — and baptized – is important.

The Jordan — the river of healing and home for the people of Israel.

The words of John – if you act on them and let them change your life – can be words of healing and home for you.

Hear the words of John:

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY!

On this second Sunday in Advent — as we approach the birth of Christ — hear this good news again.

To all who are weary.
To all who feel lost.
To all who feel hopeless.
Indeed – to all people –

The Good News is:

GOD IS COMING!
REPENT!
BE BAPTISED!
PREPARE THE WAY

The “waters of the Jordan” and the words of John the Baptist are indeed good news.

Today – now — let yourself hear and believe that God is coming into the world — and let that change your life.

Today – now — let the healing — cleansing — waters of the Jordan — the waters of healing and home — flood over you — and let you see what it means that God has come — and your life — and the world — can indeed be changed.

Let the good news – the fact that Christ has come — give you hope — and change your life — now and forever.

AMEN