The Life of Christmas Present: Look Upon Me (Sunday, December 11th, 2016)

Bible Reference(s): Matthew 2:1-18

Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn

Thank goodness for the beauty of this morning's music because the scripture reading from Matthew's gospel sure doesn't do much to instill a sense of Christmas joy, does it? Don't get me wrong...the wise men following the star to worship the baby Jesus is an integral and lovely part of the Christmas story. We would never want to skip it. But the massive slaughter of innocent babies is one of those things we'd rather not mention.

Unfortunately though, when we bypass the slaughter of the innocents we ignore the raw, ugly reality of evil surrounding Jesus' birth. We neglect to appreciate what a troubled and troubling world was waiting for him. We forget that Jesus born into abject poverty and oppression. Not just poor, but barely surviving poor. Not just financial oppression, but "I can order you killed if I feel like it" oppression. Mary and Joseph and their community were not just a meek people, they were a silenced people. Without power. Without voice.

Not at all unlike the people surrounding Scrooge...people to whom he was oblivious.. .people who were poor and powerless, people who, according to Scrooge, were a drain on society. People whose jobs and wages were so meager they could not provide for their basic needs...people who were homeless....people (young children) who were enslaved to sweatshops...people who did not have access to medical care...people who worked in dangerous, substandard working condition. People Scrooge did not see...lives of which we was not aware. People who, despite all the technology available to connect us to each other, are still unseen in the world today. People, suffering in silence.

Folks, when we refuse to mention Herod 's evil nature we deny the presence of intimidation and fear which defined the context of Jesus' birth. We lose sight of the fact that the Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem because their government insisted they be rounded up and counted. We forget that while the people of Jerusalem may have had some basic freedoms, they were beholden to both Herod and the Empire he served. They were a people who struggled to survive, who suffered greatly under oppression, and who lived mostly in fear. And you know, given Herod's heartless order to have all babies under the age of two killed, the people of Jerusalem had very good reason to be afraid.

It's like the old saying goes: power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well, perhaps we should add a third stanza: absolute power, when challenged, turns absolutely evil. This was certainly the case in the first century, and the current state of affairs in the world suggests that it still holds true today.

So, as much as the ugliness of this story rains on the parade of Christmas celebrations and the excitement of Advent worship...it also sheds light on the significance of Jesus' birth. Ultimately, it gives us even more reason to be joyful in Advent...in worship...and in life. This story reminds us that ours is a God who chooses to come dwell right smack-dab in the middle of it all that suffering. It tells us that there is something about the power of God's love that scares the heck out of evil. It reminds us that God could have chosen to dwell among his people in any way, , or form God wanted. God could have come as a powerful person...as a mighty lion...as vortex of supernatural force. But God chose to come as a powerless, utterly dependent infant, because that's where God's heart resides.

Scripture is clear that God has a preference for the poor...for those whose lives are lived at the margins of society...the oppressed and those in need. So, pure love came down on that first Christmas to be one of the poor...one of the oppressed...one of the overlooked...so that we, his people, will learn to seek God there. It is as an early, church father once said, "If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find him in the chalice." In other words, we can give a person money for a cup of coffee and it will meet their immediate need. There's nothing wrong with that. But when actually sit down to see and hear another while we drink the coffee together, we offer them love. The first is giving from our position of power and wealth...the other is giving from a place of mutual poverty...from our common humanity...and our shared need for connection and love. The first is about what we are doing, the second is about what God is doing. When we see each other, and hear each other, and respect each other, and love each other...we encounter God in the truest and most holy form. It is where we find true joy and experience God's deep peace...even in the midst of our suffering and pain.

It seems that the Ghost of Christmas Present came to teach this lesson to Scrooge. To help him see that the people he dismissed because they were poor...whom he considered to be a nuisance...were, in fact, those who embodied the meaning of Christmas...who were joyful and trusting God despite their circumstances...no bitterness or blaming...people who were actually more blessed than Scrooge...not with finances, but with love. The ghost shows Scrooge scene after scene of impoverished people, like Bob Cratchet ,who were surprisingly happy with their life...and suffering people, like Tiny Tim, who offered blessing and joy to others.

But the Ghost also shows Scrooge the harsh reality of inequity and injustice that plagued his world. He showed him the "collateral damage" if you will of greed and unholy power. In fact, the Spirit goes as far as to imply that the blood of the poor and powerless were on Scrooge's hands, along with those who used their position of power to neglect the cries of those in need or to refuse compassion toward them.

In the original story, Dickens puts it this way: "Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child."

In Herod's case...FEAR drove his response to decide who would live and who would die. The fear of being challenged...the fear of being forced to reckon with the voice of the people (which is what a new king would be)...the overwhelming fear of losing power...fears that drove him to a response filled with evil toward humankind. He launched a pre-emptive strike, if you will, of killing all possible threats, real or imagined.

Scrooge's response, however, was different...with a hint of humility and an increasing awareness of those around him. He did not want Tiny Tim to die. As the Ghost shows Scrooge the festivities in homes of his neighbors and more specifically, within his own extended family, he begin to take notice of their lives...of the joy that is present...but also of the hardships they face. Slowly we are witness to transformation in Scrooge. As he sees the loving kindness and genuine goodness in the hearts of those he had previously ignored, we see glimpses of thawing in his own frozen heart.

During the visit of Christmas Present, for the first time in a long time, or perhaps the first time ever, Scrooge sees, the meaning of Christmas. Scrooge sees what love looks like when it shows up in the midst of suffering and pain. Dickens doesn't say it outright, but it seems Scrooge finally receives Christ's love.

Friends, Jesus was born to bring love into our suffering. To be the one that counters pain with compassion and establishes a very different understanding of what it means to be blessed. He stood with those living on the margins, but he also chose to take on the "powers and principalities" of injustice and oppression that kept them there. He did not respond with physical assault or malicious attack. Instead, he chose the cross of compassion over a sword of revenge. Jesus stood with and among those held captive in fear...to love them, welcome them, sacrifice for them and bring them peace. Even in the midst of the evil...even in the chaos...even in the suffering and pain.

Jesus responded to evil with awareness and assurance.

He was aware and assured of his call and purpose...aware and assured that his was a message of grace and mercy...aware and assured that the love of God that was in him was greater than any earthy power.

Aware and assured, Jesus countered fear with love.

Defensiveness and preemptive strikes? Get to them before they get to us? Those are actions and attitudes associated with fear. Scrooge's version of this response was to isolate and accumulate...and the heck with everyone else...their problems were not of his concern.

As we approach another Christmas, the One whose birth we are about to celebrate calls us to leave these types of fear responses behind. Instead, Christmas invites us to respond from an awareness of our common humanity and the assurance that God's love always wins.

Now, I don't think I'm being too political to say that fear seems be the predominate emotion of the 21st century. And there is a lot about how we are responding to it that looks like Herod and Scrooge. But if the birth of Christ our Savior is to be of any significance beyond a Bible story, we must choose a different way of interacting with each other...the way of love and forgiveness...the way of compassion and mercy...the way of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

Folks, whether we're talking first century or twenty-first century...be it in a particular situation or a hardened heart like Scrooge's, when Christ enters, transformative love comes crashing in. And, much like the labored birth of a baby, it's not always an easy thing. It turns our world upside down and challenges us to see with a new and different perspective.

When love comes among us...we begin to see ourselves, each other, and the world through God's eyes of love.

When love comes among us...our understanding of powerlessness as something to be avoided, is re-shaped to an awareness that it is only in our personal powerlessness that we are able to experience God's power.

When love comes among us...our definition of blessing is redefined and we open our eyes to see that it is only God's grace, not our things or wealth or even health, that is our true source of joy.

When love comes among us...we realize that our worth is not defined by our mistakes or the world's definition or righteousness.

When love comes among us...we are aware that love...not some religious doctrine or political statement...is the force that connects us to God and to each other.

When love comes among us...fear goes away...and peace enters in.

When love comes among us...the powerful are threatened and the righteous redeemed.

When love comes among us...we are not only loved by God, we become an expression of God's love to a desperate, hurting world.

So as much as I am trying to keep the political environment of our nation out of our Advent worship, stories like this one from Matthew remind me that we cannot....at least not if we intend to be faithful to the God of love who originally authored it and is still authoring it in our lives.

We live in a world where there is wide-spread suffering. We live in a world where minority voices are unheard, where the poor are considered a burden on society, where basic human needs are unmet. We live with political leaders around the world whose responses look like Herod's..and whose hearts are as self-serving as Scrooge's was before he met Christmas Present.

We live in a fearful time and we are becoming a fearful people.

Yet we are also Christmas people. We know that the only thing that will ever transform the world from the uglinessness of evil is the beautiful presence of love. And folks, if there's ever a time we need love to come down, it is now...this Christmas Present.

Stephanie Mott of Kansas wrote a piece earlier this week that I feel captures this beautifully. Let me share it in closing.

We live in a world that is struggling to remember the value of unconditional love.

The end of our struggles cannot be achieved by adding fuel to the fire.

Our hope is to display the value of unconditional love with such brightness it will shine for all to see.

There are many who believe that now is the time to stand up courageously, and it is.

The call, far-too-often, is for responding to anger with anger.

But you can be angry, yet not do anger.

You can be angry, and do love.

What could be more courageous than love in the face of anger and hate?

Love is not weak.

Love is not silent.

Love is not passive.

Love is not afraid.

Choose love.

God bless us everyone.