Christmas Message

[Guest guest]

Rick is right, we are losing sight of the Reason for those of us who profess

Christianity. The slogan " Jesus is the reason for the season.?

As one Archbishop reminded me today, Christ was not the reason for the season

2000 years ago.

For the Jewish folks it is Hanukkah, in the early days it was the feast to a

pagan god at the winter solstice. t is no great secret that many of our

Christian traditions that surround the

celebration of Christmas originated with non-Christian peoples. Some of our

most cherished religious customs during Advent and Christmas came from people

who not only did not know or believe in Christ, they worshiped other deities.

The very date of Christmas came from the Greco-Roman world that honored the "

unconquered sun " on the winter solstice. Our Christmas tree and Yule log came

from the ancestors of modern Germany who worshiped a forest god.

Many other Advent and Christmas customs came from people who never intended

them to honor or be associated with Christ.

But, the very early Church saw fit to adapt those traditions to Christianity and

we have celebrated them since.

We really do not have much documentation on Christ's birth and scholars still

debate that today, however that should not be used as a reason to take Christ

out of Christmas. Christmas is a uniquely Christian celebration.

My Advent and Christmas Ramblings

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

These oft-quoted words are the words that begin the book, A TALE OF TWO CITIES,

by Dickens and I repeat them to you today because they are words that

are true about the times in which we live - just as they were true in Dickens

day, and indeed in the days of and ph.

It was, and is, the best of times, And it was, and is, the worst of times.

Today as we celebrate, and get rady for Christmas we look at the Adven Candles

are all lit, the candles of hope, peace, love and joy; I want to ask you all to

remember that in these times there is much to celebrate and that this is always

true, that there is always much to celebrate, no matter how bad the times are

and no matter how much worse we think the times may become.

The Christmas message is that God is with us - Lord Emmanuel, and no matter how

many Grinches may try to steal our Christmas, no matter how many negative forces

may try to rob us of the hope, the peace, the love and the joy that God intends

for us nothing can take from us that which is good, and true, and pure, and

lovely, and gracious.

Jesus was born in a world like ours, in fact, in a world even worse than ours,

it was a world in which tyranny ruled everywhere, and poverty and hunger and

suffering was overwhelming for all but a very few.

When you look at the time of Jesus realistically you might easily think that it

was the height of foolishness for to sing for joy to God as she did: what

after all was there for her to celebrate but some strange dream, some vision;

and a pregnancy that had almost led to her being rejected by her betrothed one,

by ph?

I really think of and her Joy, and then ph. I can see walking up

to her betrothed and whispered two words young men realy like to hear, " I'm

Pregnant " . Poor ph probably got rocked back on his heels at the

announcement and even before he had had a chance to recollect his thoughts,

told him the whole story.

The times were bad - and everyone knew that they were going to get worse. This

was as plain to see as Caesar's armies and Herod's tax-collectors, and the

crosses that so often appeared along the roads and highways. The times were

also bleak for , if ph rejected her, her family would reject her. She

would be tossed out of the family dwelling along with her baby, the Illigitmate

child.

What was there to celebrate in Judea 2000 years ago? Instead of reject, ph

and both said Yes to God's plan for their son.

What is there to celebrate in our towns today. We have to face the fact that

People we love get sick and die, our jobs and our security are continually

threatened, our children's futures are uncertain, and around the world newly won

freedom is turning to into Blood baths, anarchy and chaos, even as millions

starve in the midst of plenty.

It was then, and it is now, the worst of times.

But my friends, it was then, and it is also now, the best of times.

I say that because the Spirit that took hold of , and conceived within her a

child, is here today.

And just as the Spirit, working in , brought forth life and light to the

world in the person of Jesus -- so it still brings forth life and light to the

world through its working in us and in those around us. That light and that life

cannot be destroyed - no matter how bad the times are. In fact that light and

that life often appears stronger the worse things get in the world.

The Grinch who stole Christmas in the Dr. Seuss story, tried to steal Christmas

by taking from the villagers all their Christmas decorations, all their trees,

all their presents, all their food, all the exterior things that they enjoyed so

much - and yet Christmas continued despite this theft because the villagers had

Christmas inside them.

And as it was with the villagers in Who Town, so it was with and ph and

and Zechariah, and so it is and so it can be today with us. So it

should be for us today.

Some people, grinches, keep on trying to steal Christmas by looking ` at the bad

things and forgetting that good things exist too, and that good things exist not

in some kind of splendid isolation, but in the midst of all that is, and that

goodness shines brightest in those places where it is most needed - right next

to the bad things - indeed - often right in the middle of them. As it says in

the Gospel of - The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and

truth.

Where is Christmas today as it used to be? Where it has always been - among the

humble and lowly, and with those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

And with those moved by the Spirit of love, the spirit of Christ.

It is found in the story of the welfare mother back East, a woman with three

boys, who some three weeks ago just after cashing her mother's allowance cheque

lost the money while looking after her infant son. She faced an incredibly bleak

Christmas - so desperate in fact that her oldest child, a seven year old, tried

to get a Salvation Army worker to give him his donation kettle one afternoon and

then suggested later to his mother that he could steal some flowers from a local

stall to brighten things up.

" They have so many they'll never miss them, " he told his mother.

The story of the woman's loss appeared in the newspaper, and two days later a

man appeared at her bank, carrying the news clipping, and deposited, without

giving his name to the clerk, the sum of $540 in her account.

When the bank called the mother the son jumped up and down for joy and shouted

" We're rich, we're rich " - and indeed, in a sense that only they can appreciate

to the fullest, they are - as is the man who blessed them with his caring.

Where is Christmas to be found?

It is to be found in the volunteer firefighters who collect items for Food

Hampers and in the children and adults at Irvine School who gathered and donated

items for those in need.

Christmas is found wherever there is caring and sharing, and caring and sharing

my friends exists all around us. And nothing and nobody can steal this from us,

even when, and if, we live in the worst of times.

God chooses to dwell in the midst of his people, his son was born in Bethlehem,

one of the least of the towns of Judah, and he was born to be the servant of

many, rather than to be a king.

He spent his time with ordinary people, and he healed and he helped those that

others ignored, and he was killed.

But his life was not destroyed. He rose, and he bestows upon all who would

receive it his spirit, the spirit of love, and of hope, the spirit of joy, and

of peace, and this makes Christmas what it is...it makes this the best of times,

for those who believe.

The spirit of Jesus - the spirit of Christmas - is alive this year everywhere.

So many - so very many - are giving birth to hope, to love, to joy and to peace

in this way - so many are giving birth to Jesus Christ.

This Christmas ponder the events around you - consider what God has done -

consider God's very great promises to us - accept his commands- act on the

promises and you too will give birth to Jesus.

Through you, as through , God will come to bless this world and we will be

able, with joy, to say with :

" Our souls magnify the Lord and our spirits rejoice in God our Saviour! "

and with Zechariah:

" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He has visited and redeemed His people! "

Amen

Sorry for the length folks

+Dave