11/25/2012 ~ Twenty-Sixth and Last Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-fourth and Last Sunday in Ordinary Time and Known in Some Traditions as The Reign of Christ (Proper 29) ~ 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18); Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37 ~ The Sunday After the Thanksgiving Holiday.
The Prime Mover
(When we read the Psalm we read it as an Antiphonal reading. As such, some words were slightly altered. These are the words of the first two verses of Psalm 93 as they are found in the Inclusive Language Version:) “Yahweh reigns, robed in splendor; / You are robed, Yahweh, girded with strength. / Yahweh has established the world; / it stands firm; / it shall never be moved; / Indeed, Your seat, / Your reign is established from of old, / from ages past; / from everlasting to everlasting / from eternity You exist.” — Psalm 93:1-2.
Suppose all the sales in all the stores on Black Friday went off on schedule and no one showed up? As you know, the day after Thanksgiving is commonly known as Black Friday. And as has been widely reported, shoppers crowd into stores as the doors open.
Bonnie and I have spent the last two Thanksgivings in the Saranac Lake area with my brother’s family. If you think Norwich is small, Saranac Lake is even smaller. There are no malls, Target stores or Walmarts.
Last year there was a “Black Friday” sale item I wanted at Radio Shack. As it happens and despite its diminutive size, Saranac Lake has a Radio Shack. The advertisement said the doors opened at 5:30 a.m.
Thinking we were a little late and the store would be sold out of the item, Bonnie and I got out of the house at about 5:15 and, as fast as we could, drove five miles to downtown Saranac Lake, making it just before the that 5:30 deadline.
Were there big crowds? No. There were two people in line. After all, it is Saranac Lake— small, small town America.
This year my brother wanted something at Radio Shack. So, given that we knew we did not have to be there exactly when the store opened. We got there at about 6:05, a half hour, a little more, after the opening time. We were the first customers. They had seen no one before us.
We asked the manager if he expected to see any crowd. “Yep,” he said. “When people get finished with the big stores down Plattsburgh way. We usually see a surge about, oh, 11:00 a.m. or so.”
Rumor to the contrary, year after year, the day which, on average, has the highest gross sales is not Black Friday but one of the days between the 16th and the 22nd of December, one of those seven days. Further, in more northern climates if it snows— not a heavy snow, just enough to remind people of the season, perhaps a little like last night— if it snows sometime in that stretch that will be the day with the highest sales.
Now, I’m not saying people shouldn’t shop. On a very practical level, I get it. Shopping at this time of year— and let’s call it what it is— Christmas shopping— all this Christmas shopping is an economic engine our economy would have a hard time replacing.
On the other hand, I do have an interesting fantasy about the link between Christmas and shopping. I have often wondered what would happen if the Pope— and with the centralized power of the Papacy the Pope is the only one who could do this— I have often wondered what would happen if the Pope unilaterally declared the Feast of the Incarnation, Christmas, was henceforth changed to May the 25th?
My guess is, after the initial shock, we would continue to be subsumed by a purchasing frenzy between the fourth Thursday in November and the last week in December. We would dub it a mid-winter holiday or some other name.
But why change the date? Most scholars agree, Jesus was not born in the winter but born in the Springtime. Scholars also agree there is no record that the Early Church celebrated a birth feast. It was not celebrated until the 4th Century. The implication is that, for the early church, the center of their faith lay not in the Incarnation, but elsewhere.
But as to this placement of this feast, we do know ancient Rome had a winter solstice celebration, celebrating the return of the sun. On the Roman calendar the solstice was December the 25th. It’s likely Christians adopted and adapted this date to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, as we claim Jesus to be the Messiah and the light of God born into our lives. (Slight pause.)
And these are the words of the first two verses of Psalm 93: “Yahweh reigns, robed in splendor; / You are robed, Yahweh, girded with strength. / Yahweh has established the world; / it stands firm; / it shall never be moved; / Indeed, Your seat, / Your reign is established from of old, / from ages past; / from everlasting to everlasting / from eternity You exist.” (Slight pause.)
As was mentioned at the start of the service next week, with the First Sunday in Advent, we shall begin the new church year. But what is this season of Advent about? How does it relate to Christmas?
Why do we celebrate it as the beginning of the year? How does this connect with the Messiah and why do we go on shopping sprees around this time? (Slight pause.)
The four Gospels are Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. You probably noticed I did not recite them in the same order you find in the New Testament. I recited them in the order they were composed.
Among the Synoptic Gospels, Mark was written for a Jewish community, probably no earlier than the year 70 of the Common Era, at least 35 years after the resurrection. Matthew was written in Roman Syria for a Jewish/Christian community probably around 85 or 90 and Luke, probably a little later, written for a Greek community.
Notice, these are all written to different communities, different audiences, at different times. They are all really very different. There are birth narratives in two of them: Matthew and Luke. There are significant differences in these birth narratives. In Luke Mary and Joseph are pictured as being poor. In Matthew, they seem to have had some means.
There is no star over the stable in Luke. The star is in Matthew. The stable is in Luke. There are no angelic announcements to shepherds in Matthew. But there are magi.
I can go on and on about the differences and how inappropriate it is that we merge the two stories. It is one of many proofs of how Biblically illiterate our society is. [1] (Slight pause.)
And then there is John. I often say there is a Christmas story— not a nativity story but a Christmas story— a Christmas story in the First Chapter of the Gospel according to the school of John. It reads this way (quote:) “In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God, in the presence of God and the Word was God.” [2] (Slight pause.)
You see, the Christmas story is not about a birth of a child. Let me say that again: the Christmas story is not about a birth of a child. The Christmas story is about the in-breaking of God into our world.
And that brings us back to the Psalm and what the Season of Advent is about. The Season of Advent, you see, is also about the in-breaking of God into the world. It takes us down the road to that real Christmas story— the presence of God.
The Season of Advent is about the one God appointed the Messiah who recalls, refreshes and renews the ancient covenant which Yahweh, God, made with all people. This is the all forgiving God, a God of all mercy and all goodness, God whom we can more fully know— more fully know— in Christ, in Jesus.
And so, Jesus, who is the Christ, is the gift of God to all humanity. Hence, from the perspective of faith, giving gifts at this time of year is meant not as a shopping spree. It is meant to recall the greatest gift God gives us: Jesus, who is the Christ, the Messiah. (Slight pause.)
As I suggested earlier, I am not against shopping at Christmas. I understand the needs of the economy. But I do wonder if it might be productive to think about why any gift is given.
If a gift is given to impress someone, please do go buy something lavish. It might work and it will help the economy. But there might be other ways to impress. Perhaps one way is to set aside a portion of what you have budgeted to do something like this: make a donation in someone’s honor to a church or a charity.
Or, on Christmas Day, visit a fire station or the emergency room at the hospital, someplace where people need to work on that day for the protection of everyone. Drop off some cookies and say “thank you” to those staffing that facility.
In short, we need to remember what Advent and Christmas are really about. They are really about the coming of the Messiah, the presence of Christ.
So, shopping may be exciting or depressing, depending on your viewpoint. Either way, it is temporal. What we really need to be addressing with the seasons of Advent and Christmas is the eternal not the temporal.
You see, God who is (quote): “from everlasting to everlasting...” transcends our limited view, our temporal view. And God, because of the Christ, invites us to participate in the Dominion of God. God, through Christ, invites us to participate in eternal life. Amen.
11/25/2012
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 Congregational Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Miroslav Volf is a Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School. He has said this about giving thanks: I am (quote:) ‘Grateful— not first of all for all the good things, not even for life itself, but for the Giver of all gifts.” I want to suggest that Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas are about this: giving thanks for the Giver of all gifts.”
BENEDICTION: Let us receive the gifts of God’s grace and peace. Let us rejoice in the freedom to love as Jesus loved. Let the spirit of God speak through us today. Go forth and reach out to everyone you meet in the name of Christ. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
[1] When the reading from Revelation was heard, the following was a part of the introduction offered by the Liturgist: “Biblical prophecy has little to do with a foretelling of the future, but has to do with speaking the truth of the Word of God. It should, however, be noted that in our society many take this work to be prophetic in the non-Biblical sense, meaning they take it to be a foretelling of the future. Perhaps all this suggests is that we have a very Biblically illiterate society and society, generally, claims otherwise.”
[2] John 1:1 [ILV]
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