In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
(Luke 1:5-17)
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
According to the old familiar song, “’tis the season to be jolly.” And I have no arguments against being jolly – leading up to Christmas or any other time of the year. But as we’ve moved into December, into the Advent season, and as Christmas starts to appear on the horizon, I note one other thing: “’tis the season of silly internet memes and perhaps a wee bit of paranoia to top it off.” We’re going to start to hear from people that “there’s a war on Christmas.” But no there isn’t. There’s no war on Christmas. No one anywhere in this country is going to try to prevent you from celebrating Christmas in whatever way you choose to celebrate it. We’re going to hear people grumbling about those who say “Happy Holidays.” Well … so what? Say “Merry Christmas” back. I’ve never yet had anyone get offended when I respond to whatever seasonal greeting they choose with “Merry Christmas.” Usually, it elicits a smile in response. You’re going to hear people saying “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Often that’s in response to public schools that organize holiday concerts that don’t include Christian carols about Jesus. But why in the world would we want to force people who aren’t Christians to sing hymns about Jesus? If keeping Christ in Christmas is your concern, then my advice is simple: try being Christ for Christmas. Act like him, speak like him, live like him and love like him. That’s the best way to keep Christ in Christmas. And you’re going to hear people saying “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Well, actually, Saturnalia is the reason for the season. It was a giant pagan festival in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice and the church decided to take it over to celebrate Jesus’ birth – since there was already a big party going on anyway. Ahhh. A big party. “’tis the season to be jolly,” “’tis the season for silly internet memes,” and ‘tis also the season for parties. They’ve already started. One of our local grocery stores in Beaverton had a sign up at the cash registers a few days ago to say that they were closing early on November 24 for the staff Christmas party. A bit early for a Christmas party, methinks – but no one from Fisher’s Independent Grocer consulted me about it.
Parties galore. Everyone has a Christmas party. Food and music and all sorts of other things. If you’re involved with enough activities it’s easy to get consumed by all the parties that go on, because literally almost every group has a Christmas party. And, of course, it’s understandable. While we may as Christians sometimes lament the lack of a spiritual focus on Christmas and sometimes even the lack of Christ in Christmas, it’s just a reality we have to contend with that the culture has taken over Christmas, and the culture decides what’s important. For many people today, Christmas isn’t so much about Christ – although many will still show up in church as Christmas approaches. And while I don’t rail against the secular Christmas with all of its distractions, I do think that it’s important for us to be reminded that the distractions are a sideshow and that for all the various parties and celebrations that take place out there in the world, this season of the year is more than just a giant party.
I sometimes think that parties in the world today have an air of escapism to them. We’re regularly confronted by the problems of the world around us – whether far away things like natural disasters or things that hit closer to home like the closure of the GM plant in Oshawa. And often we feel helpless and overwhelmed. And perhaps to escape those feelings we choose to throw parties. Or we face personal crises involving our health or relationships and we prefer not to face them, instead choosing to avoid them with fun but largely empty celebrations. In contrast, let’s go back to our Gospel reading this morning: Zechariah and Elizabeth were old. They had lived good and righteous lives, but in a society that often measured a person’s worth by how many children they had, Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless. There may have been a sense of satisfaction in their lives that they had lived in a way that had pleased God, but there was likely little joy; little hope. Perhaps there was even a sense of doubt in their minds that they had actually been able to please God – after all, why hadn’t God given them a child? And yet, in the midst of their doubt and perhaps despair, something wonderful happened: a message from God! “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.” That sounds a little bit like a party - “joy and gladness” - but it’s not the kind of party we usually associate with the Christmas season. This was going to be a celebration of God, who works in wonderful and mysterious ways – not a raucous, music-filled social event, but an awe-filled time of rejoicing in what the divine can accomplish in our lives and in our world.
In the Bible it’s so often the birth of children who reveal the presence of God in our midst. Abraham and Sarah were both old and childless so how could God’s promise of a great nation arising from Abraham’s descendants possibly come true – and then Isaac was born and became the bearer of God’s promise. Moses was destined to be killed at birth by an evil Pharaoh who wanted the Hebrew babies destroyed – but he was born and he survived and called by God he became the liberator of his people. The great prophet Samuel was born to Hannah after Hannah prayed to God in earnest after being been abused and made to feel worthless because she couldn’t have children. Our story today makes the birth of John the Baptist – who would prepare the way for Jesus - another sign of God’s presence. And, of course, there’s the greatest biblical birth story of all: the birth of Jesus; the incarnation of God. The hymn writer Christina Rosetti once wrote a Christmas carol that says “our God becomes incarnate in every human birth.” I’ll be honest – I don’t agree with that. She’s overstating the point by essentially making all of us “Emmanuel.” But if she worded it poorly, I think I understand what she was trying to say – each of us, in our own way, is a revelation of God; each of us made in the image of God. Each of us have a responsibility to bear witness to God in the world around us. People come to know God through us. Someone once said that it’s a great responsibility to be a Christian because you may come to be the only Christ some people will ever know.
Parties are great – Christmas parties are lots of fun! I don’t want to give anyone the impression that if you’re a Christian you can’t go to a Christmas party and have fun. But let’s remember that this time of year isn’t all about parties. We’re celebrating God’s appearance in the world, and that divine appearance doesn’t promise us a party. It promises us a blessing; and it promises us great responsibility. So in all the celebrating we do at this time of year, let’s remember that the purpose of this season isn’t to give us an excuse to party – it’s to give us an opportunity to focus, to watch, to prepare for what amazing thing God might do. In the words of Henry Van Dyke, “In praying and praising, in giving and receiving, in eating and drinking, in singing and making merry, in parents’ gladness and in children’s mirth … God bless us every one, with the blessing of Jesus.” This time of the year is about far more than parties – it’s about more than the food and gifts and music you’ll find at them. This time of year (and all year, really) is about the blessing of Jesus – and that gives us reason to celebrate and to look to God with awe and wonder.
No comments:
Post a Comment