Good News?
“The spirit of Yahweh, GOD is upon me, / for Yahweh has anointed me; / God has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, / those who are poor, / to bind up the brokenhearted, / to heal broken hearts, / to proclaim liberty to the captives, / release to those held captive, / liberation to those in prison;...” — Isaiah 61:1
I am sure many of you know or knew the Rev. Dr. Susan Polizzi, formerly Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Norwich, currently pastor of the First United Baptist Church in Lowell, Massachusetts. Susan is, by her own admission a professional smart aleck. (I suppose, in contrast, that makes me only a semi-professional smart aleck, right?)
In a post on her Facebook page Susan first reemphasized she is a professional smart aleck. Then she wondered out loud (or at least as out loud as you can be on Facebook page) why people worry about the political correctness of saying “Merry Christmas” before it’s actually Christmas Day. After all, to invoke the saying— “Merry Christmas”— is not at all a correct thing to say, politically or otherwise, before December the 25th, before the very day.
You see, the season of Christmas runs from December 25th through January 5th. Before December the 25th Susan, professional smart aleck that she is, insisted that one should say something like “Have an Enlightened Advent” [on the recording of the sermon laughter is heard here and several times] or “Enjoy Your Season of Preparation for Celebrating the Birth of the Messiah.” And after January 5th, Epiphany being the season which runs from January the 6th, through the movable feast known as Ash Wednesday, if one is still in the mood to wish a merry anything to anyone, it should be something like “Joyous Epiphany” or “Happy Epiphany.” (Slight pause.)
Needless to say, that Facebook posting brought out the “smart aleck types” among the many friends of Susan on Facebook. Indeed, it turned out a lot of people besides Susan are smart aleck types, since so many responded to her initial post.
These ranged from a simple suggestion which said appropriate greeting for the season we are in would be (quote) “Advent tidings to you and yours” to a more mocking suggestion that aimed at gift giving. One said we should be gifting on all the days people celebrated world wide as gift giving days. These days range from Boxing Day, December the 26th, to the Epiphany, January the 6th, to the two days on which the Feast of Saint Nicholas is celebrated— December the 6th in the West and December the 19th in the East. Add December the 25th, and that makes five days for gifting in the course of a month. (Sounds good, right? {In response to a word of agreement from a choir member, the pastor says: “She’s there.”}
And of course, one wag did say to Susan (quote): “They pay you to be a smart aleck? How did you get that job?” Indeed, great frivolity was had by a bunch of smart alecks as comments flew back and forth. (Slight pause.)
And, of course, what was Susan poking fun at? As you may be aware, one cable news channel persistently claims there is a war against Christmas. A reporter from that network recently ambushed a Governor after a tree lighting ceremony and asked why that official called an evergreen a (quote): “holiday tree.” “After all, Governor, what holiday are we celebrating?” asked the reporter, shouting and sounding indignant, as the Governor scurried to a waiting car.
That Governor missed an opportunity. The obvious answer: “What holiday are we celebrating? Why, we Christians are celebrating Advent. Only someone whose understanding of Christmas is totally based in secular ways would not know which season this is” should have been the response. (Slight pause.)
We find these words are from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “The spirit of Yahweh, GOD is upon me, / for Yahweh has anointed me; / God has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, / those who are poor, / to bind up the brokenhearted, / to heal broken hearts, / to proclaim liberty to the captives, / release to those held captive, / liberation to those in prison;...” (Slight pause.)
Last week, the Second Sunday in Advent, we heard these words from the Gospel known as Mark (quote): “The beginning of the good news of Jesus, the Christ, Child of God.” And, indeed, when we Christians refer to Jesus, we often speak about “Good News.” We connect “Good News” with Jesus.
But as was mentioned when the Isaiah was read, this passage speaks about “Good News” also. And this passage was written in exile in Babylon, at least 500 years before the birth of Jesus. So, what’s the difference in this “Good News?” (Slight pause.)
The Good News, as Isaiah refers to it, is meant to be an affirmation of the covenant of God with the people of God, despite the fact that they find themselves in exile— captive. And how is that covenant worked out, even in exile? It is worked out because, in covenant with God and one another, the people of God are called to work with and be in solidarity with the oppressed, the poor, the brokenhearted, the prisoners.
It is worked out— not thought of in terms of success or failure— because the people of God know the definition of covenant means that any one person— any one of them— is insufficient, unable to fully complete the task God has set before them. The covenant is, hence, worked out in solidarity with one another, with the knowledge that each person has shortcomings, each person has flaws, each person has limitations.
The covenant is worked out because of an awareness of the necessity of community, the necessity of relying on one another, the necessity of supporting one another. In short, the community needs one another.
This same covenant is made manifest, alive, in the Child, Jesus— the Child of God. Jesus born in a country occupied by the army of Rome. This occupation means the situation is not all that different from the exile. And that the presence of God seen in the birth, the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus explains the excitement among early Christians about Jesus.
With Jesus, the covenant is embodied, made real, tangible. And we, as disciples of Christ, are now to be empowered to be in covenant with God and one another and, as the people of God, are to work out the covenant— work with and be in solidarity with the oppressed, the poor, the brokenhearted, the prisoners. (Slight pause.)
Let me put that in a different perspective for you, perhaps a perspective with words which might sound a little more challenging to any of us than what I just said. Yet another colleague of mine wrote what follows on her Facebook page, again in reference to what people are call the Christmas Season— this “Happy Holidays” thing that people seem to rebel against. I hope these words are not too challenging for you. I suspect she was angry when she wrote it.
(Quote) “If you get angry when someone doesn’t say ‘Christmas,’ in a greeting perhaps you should try, instead, getting angry over the children of Christ who are dying of malnutrition or dying of AIDS. Try getting angry over the fact that the Christmas chocolate people buy is kept cheap on the backs of the poor, because of slave wages paid to workers to harvest coco beans in so called third world countries. Try getting angry over the fact that both in this country and world wide preventable diseases kills people, daily”— challenging, indeed. (Slight pause.)
That bring me back to the “Good News” when it comes to Jesus. What is this “Good News?” (Slight pause.) In my family when I was a child in my house there were never any gifts under the Christmas tree. There was a large bureau against the wall in the living room and all the gifts went on that.
What was under the Christmas Tree? A creche— a nativity scene, and only that. You see the birth of Christ is the real gift at Christmas. It is a gift from God. That was the only gift under the Christmas tree in my childhood home. (Slight pause.)
Recognizing that we need to tend to the oppressed, the brokenhearted, captives and prisoners is an essential way we can prepare not just for the coming of God embodied by Jesus, but for the real and tangible presence of God— Christ lives. Indeed, in the Gospel reading it says John (quote) “came only to testify about the Light...” You see, one temptation we face is wanting others to see us as the light, rather than to see us as witnesses to the Light.
When we tend to the oppressed, the brokenhearted, captives and prisoners we are not the light. We are witnesses. So, let me be clear: I have no trouble with someone saying “Merry Christmas”— even in July. I have no trouble with someone saying “Happy Holidays.”
What I do know is we, together, as community, need to keep Christmas holy. Indeed, we need to keep each and every day holy— set aside for God. Amen.
12/11/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “In a real sense I am quite liberal. I think all the traditions which have grown up around the celebration of Christmas— some secular traditions and some not so secular— are just fine. But the touchstone of Christmas— the central tradition— needs to be that the celebration of Christmas brings us to a deeper understanding of our relationship with God and with other people. When we lose sight of that centrality— when the traditions become an excuse to ignore the centrality of that covenant— then we have lost sight of what Christmas means.”
BENEDICTION: Let us be present to one another as we go from this place. Let us share our gifts, our hopes, our memories, our pain and our joy. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Amen.
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