The Symbols of Christmas - 4th Sunday of Advent 2019

22 December 2019 – 4^th Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25

When I began my pastoral ministry, a parishioner asked me what “Chrismons” are.  At the time I had no idea and little concern about it.  Years later I learned the word “Chrismons” is trademarked by Ascension Lutheran Church of Danville VA, that trademark having been entrusted to them by Mrs. Frances Kipp Spencer.  It was she who originated the concept of Chrismons in 1957. 

The Chrismons were Mrs. Spencer’s effort and determination to “Christianize” trees in the worship setting.  She believed the traditional ornaments were too secular to have a place in the church’s sanctuary.  The word itself combines Christ (or Christmas) and monogram – Chrismons.  These are symbols that tell the story of The Lord as revealed in Christ.  Many of the symbols are from the early days of the Church as well as from the Crusades of the Middle Ages, and some use the Greek alphabet as well.

I learned something from that period of willful ignorance in not knowing – or caring - what Chrismons are or the meaning they hold.  That lesson is this: though we may have little concern for such things that seem harmless, Christians can’t “not know” of such things while also embracing them just because they look good, give us the warm-and-fuzzies, or because “everyone’s doing it”. 

It is not at all about “overthinking” anything.  It is, rather, being careful not to embrace something without first vetting it, coming to understand it, and then deciding whether we agree with it.  As Christians, as witnesses to the Truth, everything we do, everything we display, and everything we say is a testament to what we believe to be True.

Symbols can be powerful reminders of what this Holy Season means … but only if the believing Church teaches and uses them faithfully.  These symbols, while well-intentioned, can also be a detriment to the Christian witness.  The fish, for instance, is a common ornament many stick on the backs of their vehicles.  Yet when the driver of that vehicle is driving and acting very un-Christ-like, the symbolism of the fish is lost and non-believers laugh and mock.

Another example would be the upside-down cross which has become a symbol commonly associated with Satanism.  Yet in the early Church it meant something entirely different.  Legend has it that when St. Peter was to be crucified, as Jesus was, he asked his executioners to turn the cross – and him – upside-down, as he was unworthy to die in the same manner as the Messiah (This is actually written in the apocryphal Acts of Peter).

The challenge we face is whether the many symbols we use and display have anything at all to do with Jesus or His birth.  I do not mean to demonize what have become common practices and symbols of the season, but we must always ask ourselves whether the symbols and practices and public displays articulate and convey the honest traditions of our faith without a lot of linguistic gymnastics – or if they are only cultural symbols of a more secularized Christianity.

There are many Christian groups – and, of course, non-Christian religions - that do not recognize December 25 as anything other than a date on the calendar.  Some of these Christian groups use Jeremiah 10:1-5 to dispute the use of a tree for any sort of association with The Lord and will not have one in their homes or their churches.  At the very least, they do not recognize December 25 as the birth of Jesus simply because it is not explicitly stated in the Scriptures.  What is worse is we call these guys “strange” … and that is only if we’re being kind.

So what is an appropriate symbol of Christmas – the Mass of The Christ?  What can we look to and hold to such esteem that the Greatest Gift Of All is not dismissed or disregarded or mocked?  How can we show Christmas to be The Lord’s greatest Gift to all of humanity?

How about Joseph, the “son of David”, as the angel called him?  St. Joseph is the most understated hero throughout the Scriptures.  There is not a spoken word attributed to him in any of the Birth narratives.  We encounter a simple man who had first believed himself to have been wronged by his beloved Mary.  Yet because of his integrity and profound sense of righteousness, he refused to publicly expose her because it would have meant not only “public disgrace” for Mary but, quite possibly, her life as well. 

What we find in Joseph is everything we are called to be and to do.  Joseph had every right to be angry and to respond not only in haste but in what for most would have been vindictive, irrational emotion.  He may have felt all those things, but he didn’t act on them.  Instead, he thought of a way to end it without further harm.

Yet when he was made aware of the significance of Mary’s pregnancy, he did not hesitate to respond in faith and obedience to the Word of The Lord.  No words from Joseph were necessary to tell us what we need to know.  There was only the heart of a man who was entrusted with the care of our Mother; the Holy Church which birthed then – and must still birth now – the Living Word of the Living God.

The symbol of the true meaning of Christmas is found within each of us and can only be displayed by our faithful responses to “the Word which became flesh and dwelt among us”.  It has nothing to do with physical symbols.  It is who we are, who we are called to be, who we had perhaps always hoped to be.

Let our lives be the enduring Symbol of Christmas, lives filled with gratitude and hope; and let Christ Jesus shine forth from all we do, all we are, and all we share.  Then people will understand Christmas.  Then they will understand The Father.  And then will they finally have something to rejoice and hope in.  Amen.

The Ransom is Paid - 3rd Sunday of Advent 2019

15 December 2019 – 3^rd Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 1:47-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

“The ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”  Isaiah 35:10

Meaning: The Lord had already paid a price for the release of His beloved from their exile so they may return to Zion – the ideal established by The Lord for His people.  The Promise.

While it may seem Isaiah’s meaning has more to do with the Exile and Judah’s return to Jerusalem, we Christians may think in terms of what is still yet to be – even after the Incarnation, the birth of Messiah.

Coupled with the reading from the prophet, this passage in Matthew makes John’s question to Jesus perplexing.  Evidently having come to know more of Jesus and His public ministry, John had sent word to determine whether Jesus really is the One to come or if they should keep waiting.  What makes it perplexing is the Baptizer’s previous declaration in John’s Gospel: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29).  We also remember the Baptizer’s words when Jesus presented Himself for baptism: “I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?” (Matthew 3:14).

By these statements it seems clear John already knew who Jesus was and what His presence meant, yet he sent one of his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are You the One?” 

Some have suggested because John was imprisoned, he may have lost some measure of his faith or, at least, his focus.  If we were to evangelize so faithfully and then be imprisoned because someone took offense, would we not wonder whether we got it wrong or used the wrong approach?  Would we not – and do we not - need some sort of affirmation in our darkest moments?  Even as we go our merry way, do we not all from time to time need to be reminded of His Presence in our lives?  Of course!  It is not a matter of losing faith more than it may be a matter of losing our way.  And we’re pretty good at that – especially when we are too self-absorbed.

There have been other suggestions that John probably knew he would not get out of that prison alive; so rather than allow his disciples to linger about with him when he was clearly going nowhere, and perhaps given that he was aware that “Jesus must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30), it was maybe time to cut the cord and send his disciples to the One they had been waiting for all along, the One John told them was coming. 

Now that Jesus was among them, they no longer needed a messenger – they needed the Message.

What is more perplexing still – especially for us - is the virtual utopia Jesus presented to John’s disciple who had come to ask, “Is it You?”  Jesus presents the evidence; “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Matthew 11:5).  A virtual paradise we only read about.

By what we can see, there are schools for the deaf and the blind to teach them how to function without sound or sight.  There are all sorts of handicapped persons who may never walk again.  Leprosy and other debilitating diseases are still very much a part of our world.  We have not seen a resurrection, and there is still poverty. 

From what we can see with our eyes, the birth of Messiah changed nothing.  And yet perhaps everything has changed, and we’re missing it by being so focused on our own problems, our own lives, our own joys, our own sorrows. 

We read the stories of miracles performed by our Lord while He walked the earth and we read the stories of miracles performed by His apostles after Pentecost, but those miracles in our time are far and few between.  Surely, then, there is something else we need to be more aware of, something more we need to anticipate, something much greater we must have the faith to see. 

The third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday, Gaudete meaning to “rejoice”.  In real life and real living and real disappointment and real heartbreak, especially during this time of year when depression really sets in for some, how do we capture – or recapture – the Joy that is proclaimed?  How do we regain the “first love we have abandoned” (Revelation 2:4)?

Please forgive me for saying it again; rejoicing in something which has already happened and will not happen again is short-lived and short-sighted.  It is a Day marked on a calendar.  There is great anticipation – and rightly so! – but it will come to an end, and we will stop waiting, we will stop anticipating.  After the last present is opened (and broken or torn or dirtied) and the tree is back in the box or thrown to the curb, what joy is left?  Do we really have to wait until next December to “bring back that lovin’ feelin’”?

The joy of Advent is in the Promise yet to be; and while it is very easy to lose sight of what is to come, we must learn to focus on what we’re waiting for, where we’re going, and how we will get there.  This is why the discipline of Advent is so important to us in developing new habits of holiness; being reminded to use the means of grace – e.g., praying, fasting, studying the Scripture, and worshiping with fellow disciples who are on the same journey.  We are reminded, as we must often be, that the greatest thing we can know is that the Best is Yet to Come.

The ransom has been paid.  What is left while we’re stuck here in this world in which blindness and deafness and disease and poverty are still the reality of a broken world?  We have each other to remind us our Ride Home will surely come.  It will come, but we must learn to wait patiently and faithfully because it will come in His Time, not ours; as Peter proclaimed, “Like a thief in the night”.   And it cannot be overstated; this is not a THREAT – it is His Promise.  And we who wait patiently and faithfully will rejoice … because “sorrow and sighing will flee away” – as surely will our blindness. 

That is the Promise and the fruit of our faith.  To the Glory of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit – in Life Everlasting.  Amen

Hope Springs Eternal - 2nd Sunday of Advent 2019

8 December 2019 – 2^nd Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

“Lead us not into temptation”.  This phrase from The Lord’s Prayer is one that has caused confusion for some, so much so that Pope Francis proposed a change.  Rather than “Lead us not into temptation”, it may be read, “Do not let us fall into temptation”.  It is also written in The Didache (late 1^st, early 2^nd century document meaning “Teachings of the Apostles”); “Lead us not into trial” (VIII.2).

What is the difference?  The pope suggests the traditional text can lead one to believe The Lord deliberately leads us into “temptation” rather than giving us the tools and the means of grace to avoid falling into temptation.  We might be splitting hairs, but I think maybe we can see how easily interchangeable the words “temptation” and “trial” may be in the greater, biblical context. 

A “temptation”, in our common language, is generally thought of as a thing which has the potential to draw us away from a sound, moral life.  A “temptation” has a certain common appeal.  A temptation may appear harmless, but in the light of the Word of The Lord, the nature of that temptation may be revealed as more diabolical – especially if it distracts us from what The Lord wants from us; if it pulls us from our Journey and “tempts” us to make up our own way.

A “trial” is not something we would even be tempted with because we may or may not be exonerated.  From a “trial”, as we understand it, comes a judgment.  In a “trial”, we are being examined according to a specific accusation.  We may be afraid of a “trial” because we know our own nature, we know our own weaknesses, and we know our own truth which may not be compatible with the biblical narrative - so we hope we will not be so exposed and publicly declared guilty.  Asking The Lord to spare us a “trial” is a hope that our façade of righteousness, our exterior self, will not be compromised. 

Yet in the biblical context, “temptation” and “trial” can be likened to “test” as The Lord had tested Israel in the wilderness.  He didn’t lead them to temptation, but He didn’t shield their eyes from the world around them.  I often think of biblical “test” in the same way as tests we take in school.  The test is the means by which it is determined whether we are prepared and ready to move to the next level.  In the context of Divine Love and our Father’s desire that “all be saved”, we cannot deny that the “tests” and “temptations” and “trials” of our lives may trip us up, but they do not have to be our defining moments.

Either way, the “baptism of … fire” with which Jesus will baptize us (Matthew 3:11), as the Baptizer himself points out, is a means of purification, the “refiner’s fire” of Malachi 3:3 in which that which is worthless will be burned away so our sacrifices, the products of our faith and our lives, may be acceptable to our Father.  It sounds unpleasant, even painful as it surely must be, but the nature of this “fire” is one of Grace, of purification rather than of final judgment.

Clearly, the Baptizer is not referring to a literal fire nor is he implying a Divine Threat of hell fire.  In the prophet Malachi’s context, it is the fire which burns away what is useless so gold and silver may be exposed and rendered pure of contamination.  This is to say, what has been sullied by the world – even after baptism by water - must be purified rather than condemned.  The sins of Judah (in Malachi’s context) – even after the covenantal circumcision - rendered the sacrifices they offered in the Temple impure and unacceptable (chapter 2).  Yet by The Lord’s good mercy, Judah – and we – must be purified.

This is our HOPE.  It means The Lord refuses to give up on His creation, we who have been created in His Image, we who are called to greater things than what the world may try to offer.  Even we who have sullied ourselves may dare to HOPE – IF we are willing to endure a baptism of fire.

Let’s face it.  When we were children, we did not thank our parents when they punished us – regardless of the form of punishment!  We never said, “Gee, mom/dad, thank you for your wisdom and love and care by spanking or grounding”.  If anything, we did everything we could to avoid such “purification” – even lying if we thought it might save us!  Some adults still do!  It was only when we became parents ourselves that we began to appreciate the usefulness of discipline in teaching our children right from wrong and, when necessary, punishment in putting our children back on the right path. 

So it is with the coming of Messiah – not at Christmas when we can feel good about ourselves but at the end of time as we know it so we may have confidence in Him!  As foreboding as it may sound, Judgment Day and all, it can still be a time of great expectation, of joyous anticipation.  It will be that time when those who have subjected us to unnecessary temptations and trials will have their own reckoning to face.  Yet it is not their destruction we hope for; rather, it is our own purification, that by His mercy and whatever trials we must face, we will be declared whole.

There is no reason to “hope” Christmas will come because a calendar indicates it certainly will.  So the Promise must be of something greater, something that will draw us from our past and into the future our Holy Father continues to offer even to those of us who will go to great lengths to avoid the discomfort, the pain, maybe even of the humiliation of purification.

We all have bad days, days that can overwhelm our senses and make us feel less than worthy of love.  These are the kinds of days in which all hope seems lost.  This is not restricted only to those who suffer from mental health challenges such as depression.  We all have those moments of despair, and it doesn’t take much to trigger such feelings.

But this is exactly what is wrong with losing ourselves in our emotions.  Regardless of the nature of the emotion, we can be misled into false assumptions.  We need facts.  More than this, we need Truth.  And in Truth, which is the Messiah Himself, there is Hope.  In His Eternal Mercy, there is always Hope.

This is the essence of Advent.  Yes, we are called to pray, to fast, to worship, to study the Scriptures and draw near to our God.  But these are the means of grace offered to us so even in our darkest days, there will always shine that Eternal Ray of Hope.  It is the Messiah of the Living God sent to remind us to get over ourselves and follow Him – so “we may abound in Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” and the Eternal Love of our Father who is in heaven – where we may, by His mercy, dare Hope to be.  Amen and amen.

The Season Upon Us: the days of Noah - 1st Sunday of Advent 2019

1 December 2019 – 1^st Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 24:32-44

What can be said about the season of Advent that has not already been said?  Some believe Advent is little more than a count-down to Christmas.  There is nothing wrong with properly commemorating the Incarnation, the birth of the Messiah, with worship and enjoying the season.  What is wrong is the focus.  We say ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’, but do we live and worship and work and give of ourselves - as He did - as though this were true?  

We have our fun with Christmas – as long as we understand it is far from over after the last present has been unwrapped and the decorations are put away.  The Lord is still coming back and the Church is still called and encouraged to “wait patiently” … but not silently – and certainly not anonymously.  The reality of His Return must be announced throughout the year – not as a threat but as His Promise - because this Advent box of goodies must not be packed away and forgotten until next December.
 

Originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas.  The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”.  Scholars believe during the 4th and 5th centuries in parts of Europe, Advent was a season of preparation - not for Christmas but for catechumens who would be baptized on the feast of the Epiphany.  During this season, those preparing for baptism would be expected to spend 40 days in penance, prayer, fasting, and learning about life in the Church, life in Christ, life as a disciple.
 

By the 6th century, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ, but the “coming” they had in mind was not reaching into the past for something which had already taken place – His birth; it was His second coming as the Judge of the world.  It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was explicitly linked to the Incarnation.

Like Lent, Advent is intended and ordered to be a disciplined season of preparation, a season of reflection, a season of repentance, a season of renewal lest we continue to take our roles as disciples of Christ and life in the Church for granted.  If we think we have nothing from which to repent, we must heed St. Paul’s warning to the Romans: “… it is now the moment for [us] to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the Day is near” (13:11).  

So even as we look back to remember with gratitude the birth of Messiah and that extraordinary moment in Eternity, we prepare for, and anticipate, the coming of Messiah.  We remember our own longing for, and need of, forgiveness and a new beginning … because I doubt there are many among us who would not like to get over our past and start anew.  The world won’t let us forget our past, but our God and Father does not hold grudges against those who truly repent.  As I shared last week, it is too easy to fall into the trap of being defined by any single moment – good or bad though those moments may have been.  Let us instead focus on where to go from those moments!  Let us learn to focus on what is ahead of us – not behind us.

Since we will certainly celebrate the birth of Messiah – by spending money we don’t have for stuff we don’t need, by making vows we have not kept, by determining we will do better by the Church and by one another until we are distracted by the latest new fad – we must ask ourselves exactly how we can honor His birth and His life while preparing for His Return.  Practices that have their origins in paganism are not getting it done.  If anything, these are pushing us further away; the Messiah of The Lord must never – EVER – become an afterthought.

When Jesus refers to the “days of Noah”, He is using those days as an example, an analogy of the contemporary days, days not unlike our own.  It is a mistake for us to presume to think we would have had the presence of mind or the state of heart to go aboard the Ark before the Great Flood.  In fact, the Judgment had already been made long before the waters began to rise.  

It is easy to imagine the grief Noah may have endured by those who watched him building this Ark and laughing at him for wasting his time with such a project when there was so much of life to enjoy, places to go, things to do, people to see.  In spite of how it has been portrayed in some movies, there is no biblical indication Noah warned anyone nor was he commanded to warn anyone.  He was only told to build the Ark, and he was told whom and what would be on board.

Yet “all flesh … were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” as though that was the life to which they had been called.   In itself, there is nothing wrong with these things – EXCEPT there was no mind toward the well-being of one another, no sense of community; there was only the indulgence of self, as it is written; “God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth” (Genesis 6:12).

Even before the time of Jesus, the faithful could see this “corruption” as they prayed for The Lord to come.  They knew something had to happen.  And it did.  A Light shone in the darkness.  The world caught its breath when the Savior was born.  There was a sliver of hope, a moment of peace.  Yet almost as quickly as it had begun, it came to a violent end.  On the surface, nothing seemed to have changed.  The world was still corrupt, they were still “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage”.  On the surface.

Beneath the surface and in the depth of Eternity, something had changed.  It is not that we had been given a new season to celebrate, a season that centuries later would lend credibility to our indulgences.  From the time of our Lord’s Ascension began a season of preparation, a season of reflection, a season of repentance, a season of renewal, a season of perpetual waiting with hope.  It is this time in which we are called away from the corruption that has engulfed our world and our lives – and in great measure, the Church.  But by Grace and the Father’s heart, it still is not too late.

Like the early Church, let us resolve to put this time to good use.  Let those who are yet unbaptized – young and old – be prepared for life in Christ and the Church.  Let those yet unconfirmed be prepared to take their own places in the Eternal Covenant and the Body of Christ.  Let us all reflect on the past year and determine to make 2020 truly AD, “anno domini” – ‘the year of The Lord’.  And come January 5 and the Feast of the Epiphany, let us revel in our renewal!

The season upon us is one of preparation.  As the Baptizer called upon the people of Israel to “prepare the Way of The Lord”, so must the Church continue to prepare the Way.  But not before we prepare ourselves.  To the Glory of the Most High God and to peace to His people on earth until He comes again.  Amen.