22 December 2019 – 4th 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.
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