Good morning, Sunrise! It's good to be in God's house here on this second week of Advent. If you remember from last Sunday, this season that we are in, Advent, derives its name from the Latin word adventus, which literally means, arriving - not just coming, but more urgent than. The way I often think of it is with that old song, "She'll be coming around the mountain, when she comes." Within the context of Advent, she's not just going get here when she gets here, but you can hear the hoofbeats of those six white horses.
To help us make some last spiritual preparations for Christmas, we here at Sunrise are using this theme (I'll Have a) Blu-ray Christmas. By looking at some clips from the classic Christmas movies that you're bound to see over the coming days, we see that even in a capitalistic culture, there are glimpses of truth to be found.
So, as we get started on this second Sund...Oh my gosh!!! I just realized that today is Dec. 4th. That means Christmas is three weeks from today! Twenty-one days! No,....more urgent than that - twenty shopping days. But considering that my family is starting to get together on the Friday before, that leaves me with about eighteen good days to shop. No...not even that with some of all the other things I've got to do...Geez, I probably only have hours!
Well, sorry about this, but this may be short today - I have got to hurry up. I got to get all this preparation stuff "out of the way."
Alright, let me think through the list...
- Katie - check
- Emily - check
- Kevin - check
- Karen - check
- Kellie, Will, Patrick, Kermit, Barbara...
Still have Jonnie, Rich, Shelley, Michelle, and Oh, and some of the in-laws (I don't know why...yeah I do, because they always get us something)
Geez. I hate Christmas! No, I really don't. I just get uptight about all the pressure that comes from buying gifts for people. But as you know, that's important...isn't it?
The Grinch (Video Clip 1 - Where Grinch claims presents are garbage)
It's easy to get caught up in all of the stuff associated with Christmas, isn't it?
- the excitement of Christmas
- in the madness of Christmas
- in the celebration of Christmas
- in the goodwill of Christmas
- in the guilt of Christmas
Really, in doing just what we think is best. But we are not the first to fall in the trap of missing the point.
Back just before Jesus began his earthly ministry, the religious leaders of the time thought they knew what was the right thing to do. They had set up rules were supposed to help people remain holy, but the problem was that the rules actually became the focus rather than pointing to God. Problems arose as the Pharisees and Sadducees began judging who was being faithful to these rules.
Then along came a man named John, who was unlike anyone else. He dressed differently, ate differently, and spoke with boldness that began to upset the status quo. Let's look at his story.
Matthew 3:1-12
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' " 4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Wow. That's a Merry Christmas speech, isn't it? It make you wonder why would anyone read that as a way to prepare for Christmas? I mean, it doesn't say one thing about peace, love, goodwill to one another. What is its gist? Repent.
Now there's a word that can make us a little uneasy. Normally, the only time we see this word outside of church is on the sign of someone who most consider religious nuts. But what does that word really mean? Repent - must change our direction of our lives.
Why must we repent? Because:
- We want the wrong things.
- We go after the wrong things.
- We believe the wrong things.
Although we want better lives and change so that we can, we only manage to dig ourselves deeper into the mess we are already in.
But here is something that you need to know about repentance. Repentance isn't about doing something else; repentance is about quitting doing some things. It means to quit trying to save ourselves. We can't save ourselves, so stop trying to be God.
This year has been rather difficult for me. The year began with both of my parents being gravely ill. Then in mid-January, my father died. Seven weeks later, my mom died. My life went into flux. I knew that I needed to be different, to get back to the way I used to be, back to my normal self. I tried to force myself to be normal, but I couldn't do it. I finally learned I had to stop trying to be normal. What used to be normal was a thing of the past - I have a new normal now.
Until I learned (and am still learning) to repent, I became grumpy. Or in the context of the day, I was an unintentional Grinch
The Grinch (Video Clip 2 - where the Grinch finally realizes that Christmas is something more)
"Maybe Christmas means a little bit more." It would be hard to find a truer statement. But then again, not just about Christmas, but about Christ himself. Jesus is more than we often visualize him to be. But not just us! Do you remember John, whom we read about earlier. Look at what he said about Jesus just eight chapters later"
Matthew 11:2-3
2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
- Jesus did not fit the expectations John had of the Messiah
Now, let's think about this for a moment. Matthew could have left John's story out of his gospel account out, but he didn't. He could have written his gospel in a way that John's theology fit exactly with who Jesus was, but he didn't. Matthew could have also written his good news book to where Jesus could have fit John's interpretation. But he did not. He chose to write it where there is some contention, some misunderstanding, some room for growth. I believe that's Matthew's point, that our Christology, that is our understanding of Christmas of Jesus must be interpreted in light of Jesus' advent.
So, what can we take from this? Maybe it is simply this: Instead of trying to force our expectations onto the Advent/Christmas season, maybe we must allow ourselves be transformed by the season. Instead of looking for how it doesn't fit with our perception of how it's suppose to be (because that's how it's always been done), we just allow Advent, Christmas to come to us and open our hearts and minds to what God is doing today. For his name is Emmanuel - God with us. And that, my friends, is the Way of Christmas.
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