As a young child, Christmas was always the
most magical time of the year. The lights downtown, the decorations in the
mall, the carols on the radio, the pageant preparations, the parties, the good
food, the Advent calendars, the weather reports about Santa and his sleigh all
filled me with an excitement I could hardly contain. I would sometimes stop and
wonder, “Is this real life?” “Am I living in another dimension?”
Obviously, over the years, the magic of
Christmas dissipated. I got older. Family life got more complicated. The magic
of it all wasn’t powerful enough to hold my attention anymore. However, that
magic has recently been reignited as I see my children, especially Mary
Katherine, experience the Christmas season.
Mary Katherine has taken it upon herself to
plug in the Christmas tree in the morning. She makes sure to count down the
days using the Nutcracker Advent calendar. For her, it truly is the most
wonderful time of the year.
But as magical as this time of year is for so
many, it can make the vulnerable even more vulnerable. A multi-billion-dollar
industry has been built around Christmas – the toys, the gifts, the
decorations, the cards, the food, the wine, and the list goes on. In a way, the
pursuit of a magical Christmas creates a bigger chasm between the haves and
have nots.
Not that I’m a “have not” by any means, but I
do live across the street from Gus Colvin - the Chevy Chase of Selma. And every
year I’m reminded that his exterior illumination is better than my exterior
illumination. And so does Mary Katherine.
On a somewhat more serious note,
as a young boy, I dreaded going back to school and sharing with the class what
I got for Christmas. It’s not that I didn’t get a lot of great toys. I grew up
in a very privileged family. However, there were others in my class who were
even more privileged than me, who got bigger and better toys than me.
So,
in a very small way, I know the experience of not getting what others got. In a
very small way, I was forced to ask questions like, “Am I less special because
my parents don’t have as much money as his parents?” I know this might seem a
little trivial but the experience was very real for me and real for many other
children in more significant ways.
As magical as Christmas was and still is, what kind of message are we sending
to the world when Christmas is reduced to the plot line of Christmas Vacation? Don’t get me wrong. The movie is
a favorite of mine.
But
how is that message consistent or inconsistent with the message that God is
sending? To sort out this question we must return to the original message, the message of salvation that the angels announce to the shepherds tending their
flocks by night.
First
and foremost, we must remember that the first Christmas was not a celebration
that the privileged took part in. The first Christmas didn’t take place in the
suburbs of Chicago but on the rural outskirts of Jerusalem. It did l, however,
feature a dysfunctional family which was is part of the good news of this
night.
The
message of salvation on Christmas is told through ordinary people who are
living pay check to pay check. The message of salvation is told through a
couple who doesn’t have access to a hospital bed. The message of salvation is
born out of the most vulnerable of circumstances. As Paul says to the
Corinthians, “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”
As I
have grown older, it isn’t the magic of Christmas that holds my attention but
the mystery of God being born to a lowly mother in a stable in Bethlehem which
makes my heart grow in awe and wonder. For in this mystery, we discover a truth
that money cannot buy, we discover a place where all - rich and poor alike -
have a seat at the king’s table, we find a love that takes us to another
dimension, a new world.
Except
this other world is real, this other world lasts. This other world isn’t a
fairytale. It doesn’t depend on a Christmas bonus. This new world reveals God’s
heavenly reality established on earth. It is a world that depends on a God who pays
the ultimate price to save us - the gift of his only Son.
This
heavenly reality starts to become real in our lives and our communities when we
search for God’s Son among the vulnerable, the poor, and the lowly - in all the
proverbial managers of Bethlehem. This reality starts to become real when we
take our place in God’s new story of salvation and lay our gifts, not at the
feet of the rich and famous, but at the feet of the weak and helpless, at the
feet of the infant Jesus lying in a humble manger.
Over
the past few weeks, you at St. Paul’s have been a part of the new story that
God writes in Jesus on Christmas. You have laid gifts at the feet
of the Christ child. You adopted 40 angels, most of whom were provided by the
Family Resource Center. In particular, you gave Christmas gifts to children who
are represented by the Dallas County CASA program. You also provided 8 food
boxes for the elderly who are a part of the Meals on Wheels program. And not to
mention the outreach you do during the other 11 months of the year through
places like the Food Pantry.
You
remind some of the most vulnerable among us that they too are special, that
they, in fact, are the essential part of the Christmas message, that they too
have a place at the King’s table. Ultimately, your service to the vulnerable
should remind us all that without Angel Tree or Meals on Wheels or the Food
Pantry, the true message of Christmas wouldn’t be sent to the world – at least
not the Christmas message that God makes known through the Christ child.
Now,
I hope you don’t hear me saying to stop participating in the magic of
Christmas. I’m not advocating you stop watching Christmas Vacation. In fact, the very figure behind
“secular” Christmas is an excellent example of someone who understood what this
time of year is all about.
St.
Nicholas is known for paying particular attention to the poor especially
children who were poor. He gave anonymously and generously. His witness to the
gospel of Jesus Christ is a powerful reminder that true joy is found when the
poor and lowly are given hope and light in a fearful and lonely world. For if
there is hope for even the least among us, there is hope for the rest of us.
As
we leave church on this Christmas Eve, many of you will be fortunate enough to
experience the magic of Christmas. Be thankful and enjoy it. But also remember
that some will not know the magic in Christmas this year. The good news,
however, is that there is something greater to be discovered this night – there
is even something greater to be shared - the mystery of God’s love as told
through the birth of our Savior.
The
Nativity of Jesus is a story that has the power to transform every heart – a
mystery that grows out of the most vulnerable of circumstances, a mystery that
invites us to grow in the truth that salvation is found in the very places the
world would rather forget, a mystery that even Cousin Eddie can grasp (he’s on
Crescent Hill).
May
the same Love that Mary treasured and pondered in her heart some 2,000 years
ago be born in your heart this night. And may the mystery of that Love convince
you more and more that you and everyone else are God’s beloved child through
Christ the newborn King. Merry Christmas and Amen.
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