A professor of mine from seminary told us this story: When he was a young man, all of 23, he had the opportunity to take a summer tour of Europe as a graduation present, he was from a well to do family. He traveled about Europe by train, boat and sometimes by bicycle. Finally he ended up on the beaches of France where he was determined to spend the rest of the summer. His parents, who had paid for his trip, insisted that he stop by to see relatives in Switzerland. This was the last place that he wanted to go, he wanted to stay at the beach. But his mother would not let up, she insisted that he visit the relatives in Switzerland, and she warned him to make a good impression. So, reluctantly, he took the train to the Alps.
He had spent all of his money on having fun at the beach and as a consequence he only had three dollars left in his pocket when he had arrived in his relative’s town. He knew he needed to make a good impression or his mother would be livid, and perhaps call him home before the summer was up. As he walked into town he looked in the store windows to see what he could buy for three dollars to make a good impression for his mother. As he walked, he realized it was hopeless, he had spent all of his money at the beach and there was no way he could afford anything of value as a gift for his relatives. As he pondered his situation, a beautiful young woman caught his eye, she was working in a fine crystal shop. He immediately went into the store, even though he knew he could not afford anything in the store.
Forgetting about his dire situation, he began to flirt with the young woman making her laugh – and she promptly dropped a very expensive crystal bowl breaking it into three pieces. The owner of the shop yelled at the young woman who fled into the back of the store crying. It was then, that that the young man realized his hopeless situation was now solved. He purchased the broken bowl for three dollars and asked the shop owner to gift wrap the bowl.
Upon his arrival at his relative’s house, he fake tripped through the doorway, and dropped the gift wrapped box to the ground. Everyone was taken back. He picked up the present apologizing for his clumsiness, but knowing his time at the beach would now be extended. He gave the banged up box to his aunt who opened the box finding a beautiful crystal bowl, broken into three pieces – and each piece was individually wrapped in white tissue paper.
The young man’s gift, was a gift of obligation. It certainly was not heartfelt, it was an attempt to satisfy his parents, nagging, to get the deed done, and move on to what he really wanted out of life.
Have you had to buy a gift this year out of obligation? For someone you work with, or maybe a neighbor. Sometimes buying an obligatory gift is just a part of life isn’t it? I find those are the hardest kind of gifts to buy. I have such a hard time deciding…I think that is because the gift is not really heartfelt.
I once worked with a guy who would, every year, place a call to a local florist on Christmas Eve and order two gift baskets, one for his teenage daughter and one for his wife. It was a quick call, lasting about twenty five seconds. The florist would always ask what he wanted in the baskets and he would reply, “Whatever adds up to $250”. His Christmas shopping done, he could get back to his own self absorbed world.
I think we can say all kinds of things about the commercialization of Christmas, how we as a society get so caught up in the obligations of Christmas that we look past what Christmas is really all about – but the truth is, for most of us, a true gift given at Christmas is about our love for that person, and not obligation.
There was a school district that had banned using the name of "Christ" in any of their Christmas programs. They began calling the Holiday programs things like "Winter Festival". They could use the word Christmas still and so one music teacher decided to include a presentation using the words "Christmas Love". Each of the 13 letters were drawn on to cardboard, and 13 children would each hold up a letter spelling it out. "Christmas Love". They practiced and when it came time for the program, the kids held up their respective letter, except it didn’t say, "Christmas Love", for the little guy holding the 7th letter, had his letter upside, and instead of Christmas Love, it now read "Christ was Love".
Here on this night, we celebrate the birth of a little child, born over 2000 years ago in an obscure corner of the ancient world….born to parents of little consequence, into a nation of little significance and actually ignored by pretty much everyone – but here on this night we, half way across the world, culturally removed and thousands of years later, celebrate the birth of this child – Jesus. Those little children in that Christmas play had it right didn’t they, “Christ was love”.
Now his parents gave him the name Jesus, which in Hebrew is Yeshua, which means God saves. Jesus is also referred to as Emmanuel, which means God with us. See, from the time of his birth, some people knew that there was more to this Jesus than meets the eye. Jesus is not known as God AMONG us….but God WITH us. Jesus is not out there somewhere, or over here, or up there – He is right here.
Tonight we read from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew gives a very brief description of the Christmas story doesn’t he? No angels singing. No shepherds visiting. He just gets right to the point. What does he talk about? The reality of a potential divorce between Jesus’ parents, and how they worked through their differences and stayed together. Isn’t that great? Jesus wasn’t born into this perfect little family made up of perfect little people with perfect little lives. Jesus was born to real people with real problems – yet, yet God saw them through.
Did you know that Christmas was not celebrated during the first two centuries after Christ’s life on earth. In AD 245, when a group of scholars attempted to pinpoint the exact date of Christ’s birth, a church council denounced the endeavor, declaring it wrong to celebrate the birthday of Christ "as though he were a King Pharaoh." Yet in spite of official disapproval, various attempts were made to pinpoint the nativity, resulting in a confusion of dates. Among the earliest: January 1st, 6th, March 25th, and May 20th. By the middle of the 4th century, December 25th was associated as the birthday of Christ. Pope Julius formally named December 25th as the day for Christmas in AD 349.
December 25th was widely celebrated day in the Roman world. On that date, citizens observed the Natalis Solis Invicti (the Birthday of the unconquerable Sun) in honor of the Sun god, Mithras. The festival took place just after the winter solstice of the Julian calendar. Many modern Christmas customs, such as decorating a house with greenery, exchanging gifts and enjoying festive meals, originated with this pagan celebration. Scholars believe that pope Julius selected December 25th as the date of the nativity in order to win followers of Mithras as well as giving Christians an opportunity to honor Christ on his birth date, but this is only conjecture.
In 17th century England, the Puritans objected to Christian celebrations because they had no clear biblical basis. As a result, in 1643, the parliament outlawed Christmas, Easter, and other Christian holidays. However, December 25th was so popular as a festive day, that by 1660, the citizens reclaimed it. Their neglect of the religious aspects of December 25th resulted in a growing secularization of the holiday and we still see the results today.
The Christmas tree tradition was started in Germany in the late 15th century. At that time a popular play depicted the expulsion of Adam Eve from Eden, by a fir tree hung with apples. Soon trees were placed in the homes of Christians who interpreted it as a symbol of the coming Savior – that Jesus came to save us from our sin, the apples represented the original sin of Adam and Eve. The apples were at some point replaced with small white wafers to represent Communion. Later, the wafers were replaced by small pieces of pastry cut into shapes of stars, angels, hearts, flowers, and bells.
In fact the origin of Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas originated with the Greek Christians. "X" is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ (Xristos="Christos"). Later Christians, unfamiliar with the Greek origin, mistook the X as a sign of disrespect and an attempt by unbelievers to rid Christmas of its central meaning. Some Christians still disapprove of the abbreviation, when actually Xmas is very Christian. I always enjoy people who use the term Xmas over Christmas because they don’t want anything to do with Jesus.
So it seems that our commercialization of Christmas – might not be so commercial as we make is seem, I mean everyone has a tree in their house representing our need to be saved from the sin that destroys our lives – a tree that points from the manger of Christmas to the cross of Easter. Even Santa Claus has Christian origins. Yes it’s true, St. Nicholas is more than a children’s Christmas legend. He was flesh and blood, a prisoner for Christ, bishop of the Mediterranean city of Myra.
St. Nicholas was born to wealthy parents in the city of Patara about 270 A.D. He was still young when his mother and father died and left him a fortune. As a teen-ager, Nicholas’ humility was already evident. He had heard about a family destitute and starving. The father had no money for food, much less the dowry needed to marry off his three daughters. He was ready to send his oldest girl into the streets to earn a living as a prostitute. So, under the cover of night, Nicholas threw a bag of gold coins through the window of their humble dwelling. In the morning the father discovered the gold. How he rejoiced: his family was saved, his daughter’s honor preserved, and a dowry for her marriage secured.
Some time after, Nicholas secretly provided a dowry for the second daughter. Still later for the third. But on the third occasion, the girls’ father stood watching. As soon as the bag of gold thudded on the floor, he chased after the lad till he caught him. Nicholas was mortified to be discovered in this act of charity. He made the father promise not to tell anyone who had helped his family.
Then Nicholas forsook his wealth to answer a call to the ministry. When the area bishop died, the bishops and ministers from other cities and villages -- Nicholas among them -- gathered to choose a successor. Nicholas, a humble man referred to himself as “Nicholas the sinner," He was chosen as the new bishop and was destined to lead his congregation through the worst tribulation in history for in A.D. 303 with the Roman Emperor ordering a brutal persecution of all Christians. Those suspected of following the Lord were ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods. Nicholas and thousands of others refused. Pastors, bishops, and church members were dragged to prison. Savage tortures were unleashed on Christians all over the empire. Believers were fed to wild animals. Though many died, many survived, and Nicholas was one of these. Finally, after years of imprisonment, the iron doors swung open and Bishop Nicholas walked out, freed by decree of the new Emperor Constantine. As he entered his city once more, his people flocked about him. "Nicholas! Confessor!" they shouted. "Saint Nicholas has come home." Nicholas participated in the famous Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. He died on December 6, about 343, a living legend, beloved by his whole city.
The St. Nick of yuletide fame still carries faint reminders of this ancient man of God. The color of his outfit recollects the red of bishop’s robes. "Making a list, checking it twice," probably recalls the old saint’s lectures to children about good behavior. Gifts secretly brought on Christmas eve bring to mind his humble generosity to the three daughters.
Now, though we may not realize it, so much of what we do at Christmas, keeps going back to one person, doesn’t it? Jesus.
At the beginning of the sermon we saw the young man give a gift out of obligation with disastrous results. But Jesus, He is the gift of Christmas; and He is not a gift of obligation, He is a gift of love. Now remember that Scripture tells us that Jesus was alive and well before he was born as an infant that Christmas Eve, so many years ago. Jesus Christ is God himself, the second person of the Godhead Father, Son and Holy Spirit – eternal, all powerful, all knowing, all present. We heard in our reading tonight from the Gospel of John: “John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” We see that Jesus is much more than a holy infant, or a good man, or even a perfect example of love – He is in fact the creator who gave it all up and came as a human so you and I could be free of all this sin that entangles us in our relationships, that hurts our lives, that causes us so much grief – and that is a gift of love – not of obligation.
We read at our advent candle lighting 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. You usually hear that chapter read at weddings don’t you? Many of us know it as the chapter of love, and it is, but, it is also a description of the character of Jesus Christ. My favorite part is verses 7 and 8: 1Cor. 13:7 (love) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails…. Christ was love, and His love never fails.
The love of Jesus is not theoretical, hypothetical or even metaphorical, the love of Jesus Christ is tangible, here for us this very night. You know, it is easy for us in this American culture to get caught up in trying to get into what we call “The Christmas Spirit”. For some of us that means decorating, especially when you put up that favorite ornament; For others it is baking - that smell of ginger bread, that taste of your favorite cookie; For some people it is just not Christmas until they have sung a certain Christmas song – It could even be needing to see “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. But, you know, whatever it is, whatever that feeling is that we reach for, it quickly passes doesn’t it? Why is that? Because the true Christmas Spirit is not in an event, or an emotion or some kind of season, no the true Christmas Spirit is the person of Jesus Christ, the one who personifies love, the one whose love never fails, the love that we can reach out to with whatever is happening in our life.
Tonight, this hollowed eve, let us celebrate together, celebrate more than family, celebrate more than good times, celebrate more than the richness of life – let us celebrate the pure gift of love in the person of Jesus Christ.
May the Love of our Lord Jesus, the love that never fails, be with you and your family. Amen
