ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS?
A meditation by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk
Harundale Presbyterian Church
December 24, 2003
Text: “To you is born this day…a savior.” (Luke 2:11)
First Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7
Second Reading: Luke 2:1-14
Well, are you ready for Christmas? How many times have you heard that this past month? Inevitably, when someone asks us the question we rehearse in our minds all things we have yet to do. There are gifts to buy, presents to wrap, cards to send off, cookies to bake, menus to plan and the days just go by faster and faster. The closer we get to Christmas the more frenzied becomes our response. The other day I asked someone if they were ready for Christmas and she rehearsed for me how busy she’d been and the many reasons why she hadn’t had time to do any of the preparations needed to be so-called ready for Christmas.
The reason I say “so-called” ready for Christmas is because we so easily fall into the trap of the commercial nature Christmas has assumed. When someone asks if we’re ready for Christmas our response should be, “of course I am. I’m ready to welcome the birth of the Messiah anew into my life.” Unfortunately that’s the last thing we think about, which is a shame. What a witness we could make to anyone who asks us the question if we were to answer that way. It would immediately take them back and, quite honestly, make them think about how far we’ve come from the true nature of the holiday. Sure, we throw out the phrase, “put Christ back into Christmas,” but we’re not making a personal confession when we say that. We’ve making a statement. When asked the question, are you ready for Christmas? I want us to use the opportunity to make a confession of faith, “Yes, I’m ready to welcome Christ anew into my life!” We’d use the opportunity to make a statement of who we are, whose we are and the Christ we claim to be at the center of our life.
This is the direction the prophet Isaiah takes us in what we heard read a moment ago. Are you ready for Christmas? Yes, I’m ready for Christmas. I’m ready to welcome the son who has been born for us, whose authority rests upon his shoulders, who’s called the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to shed some of that authority that seems to weigh so heavily upon our shoulders? Pastors often find themselves face to face with people in the office who have real difficulty handling all the responsibilities people expect from them. They come in depressed, feeling not good about themselves, confused about where to turn and what to do first. They admit that some days it gets the best of them and when they don’t accomplish all that’s expected of them that only gets them more depressed and less able to function. So, the pastor helps lift some of that authority that weighs so heavily upon their shoulders and transfer it to Son of God promised by Isaiah. Remember the words of Jesus, “Come to me all you that labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28, 29)
Are you ready for Christmas? Yes, I’m ready to walk with a Wonderful Counselor. In our prayer class we had during Advent we experimented with different names for God. The point made was what you call God in your prayer helps to set the tone of the whole prayer. For example, what if you were to begin your prayer to God with Wonderful Counselor? Immediately that puts you in the frame of mind to take seriously what God has to say to you. After all, why call God Wonderful Counselor and then not take God’s advice! A Wonderful Counselor will never lead you astray, but always direct your feet in the path God intends you to take.
Are you ready for Christmas? Yes, I’m ready to worship the Mighty God. Those who experienced our worship service of Lessons and Carols last Sunday will agree that it was one of the best worship experiences of the year. The chancel choir, the bell choir, the readings so appropriate to this time of the year, the ageless carols that we love to sing and the whole tenor of the morning came together in wonderful praise and thanksgiving to our Mighty and Almighty God. Everyone left the sanctuary with a feeling of having worshipped in thought, word, deed and voice. If there’s one service that no one should miss during the year that’s the one.
Are you ready for Christmas? Yes, I’m ready to trust in the Everlasting Father. Two weeks ago I was asked to write a definition of discipleship for the General Assembly. I went to the Brief Statement of Faith that we confess every Sunday and came up with the following definition. Through discipleship “People grow in the conviction that in life and in death they belong to God. The one Triune God, who alone we worship and serve, becomes the focal point of the search for our core identity, the center from which we move and have our being. Through worship we renew our identity as children of God through participating in the sacraments, theological study and conversation, educational pursuits and ecumenical dialogue. In so doing discipleship focuses our quest as people of faith on the Holy Spirit who rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture and calls women and men to all ministries of the church”
Are you ready for Christmas? Yes, I’m ready to focus my efforts on the Prince of Peace. This past week we received a list of servicemen and women who are part of the Coalition Forces currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and on various bases in this country. Some of them have not received any mail at all while they’ve been on duty. Others crave something we take for granted like Cocoa Puff cereal. Others are collecting school supplies they can give to the Iraqi school children. Others just want some home backed cookies or candies that remind them of home. So, we are getting a group of people together who will donate their time to write letters, help buy supplies that we can send for the children, pay for postage, or do some baking that we can send the troops. Regardless of what anyone may think about the war in Iraq now is the time to support our troops and do whatever we can that will enhance their efforts for peace in the name of the Prince of Peace.
By now, people have probably stopped asking if you are ready for Christmas. However, come next year they’ll ask again. Think what a statement of faith, what a disarming idea, what a thought provoking confession it would be to respond whenever they ask, “Are you ready for Christmas” to answer them, “You bet I am and if you want to hear why let me tell you.” I guarantee it will change the whole tenor of the conversation and re-affirm for you and them just what the meaning of Christmas is all about.
Thanks be to God,
Amen