"Your Sign"

My friend Stewart Pattison, after hearing some pastors complain about how commercialism has taken over Christmas, offered a very wise thought. He said he no longer worried about that side of Christmas anymore. “I can’t defeat it, that kind of Christmas is too big and powerful. Nor do I want to feel defeated by it, what joy is there in that? I’ll let that kind of Christmas go its own way and good luck to it. I’ll focus on a different kind of Christmas, the kind of Christmas that gives me hope, peace, wonder and joy”. I was reminded of Stewart’s wisdom yesterday when I went shopping for one last present. It was a daunting task, a congested parking lot and swarms of people. Before I even reached the front door of the store I was already close to my breaking point. And then when I got inside, all of our favorite Christmas songs, wonderful testimonies of faith, had been turned into a sound track for consumer shopping. So I gritted my teeth and found the aisle with the item I wanted to buy, and at that point I did reach my breaking point. There was a full range of product choices, but a quick reading of each box indicated that every one of them had been manufactured in China. I was struck by the absurdity of buying a product that accelerates unemployment. I’m not against trade with China, but something is way out of balance when there is nothing on the store shelves except products from China. I felt like the swarms of shoppers were just compounding our economic problems, and I was about to join them in this absurdity. So, sorry, Robin, I decided to walk out and I didn’t get that special gift for you. I’ll give you a nice hug instead! Remembering my friend Stewart’s wisdom I was glad to get back home and to begin working on my Christmas Eve message. I was glad to get back to the story that we find in Luke’s Gospel, the story of Mary and Joseph, the journey to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus in the barn, the angels and the shepherds. It is one of the most familiar readings in all of Scripture and I love sharing it with all of you on Christmas Eve. Each time I read it, I find something new, something inspiring, something life-saving. And I am excited to share what I found with you. As many of you know this has been a very difficult year for me, so I love how a short verse or a simple phrase in the Gospel has the power to touch my life and transform the things that trouble me. You heard the story: the angels appear to the shepherds, and this is their message to them: “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger”. Since ours is not a long-ago faith but a living one, we are right to assume that the words of the angels are also directed to us: “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger”. This will be a sign for you. Aha! This is it. God has given you a sign! Some signs are easy to understand. Between my home and here there are all kinds of signs: stop signs, yield signs, speed limit signs, highway numbers, street signs, warning signs for curves in the road, intersection signs. In order to get a driver’s license you have to show on the driver’s test knowledge of what all these signs mean. But some signs are more difficult to understand. I have this wireless phone, sometimes there’s a red light flashing, sometimes a green light, an important sign of some kind, but I don’t know what it means – red phone call, green e-mail, blue tidal wave about to wash through Byron? Some bright person here will suggest that I take a look at the instruction booklet that came with my phone to figure out what the different flashing lights mean. Great idea you’re helping make a hard to understand sign much easier. So what kind of sign are the angels telling us about? Is it a sign easy to understand or one that is difficult? Two weeks ago people here in church on Sunday morning enjoyed a performance of “The Real Meaning of Christmas”. It was written by Emily George, one of our high school students, and performed by the members of our youth group. When Emily wrote her script for the program she seemed to think the meaning of this sign is self evident. Two children are arguing about what they want to get for Christmas. An angel appears and takes them back in time to see the manger scene. The real meaning of Christmas? Emily seemed to think it was obvious. Just look at Joseph and Mary and the baby and you will get it. But is it obvious? Do you know what this sign means? Let’s consider the possibilities. What does the baby in the manger signify? Let’s try this … has anyone here ever held a baby in your arms, looked into the baby’s eyes, made goofy sounds and just loved that baby to pieces? There’s got to be a sign in that – somehow the sight of that baby changes your perspective. You realize that your life isn’t just about you, but that you have an opportunity and a responsibility to care for that baby and to do everything you can to make the world around that baby safer and happier. You begin to see that what matters is not what you have or need, but what you will pass on to those that follow, children and grand-children and beyond. When you begin to see the world in that way, what you are hoping to GET for Christmas becomes a lot less important than what you can give. To that baby. To your community. To the whole world. To babies everywhere. It’s true that God gave Jesus as a gift to the world, but that triggers something in me to be as equally generous in the world around me. And I think it happens to all of us when we are in the presence of a baby. So this baby in the manger is a sign for you, an invitation to be as generous with the world as God has been generous with you. What else could this sign mean? What does this baby in the manger mean to you? There is something wonderfully simple about this sign. The sign is a baby, not detailed instruction manual, not a shelf of encyclopedias filled with doctrines and theories. There something about the beautiful simplicity of this sign, a baby in a manger, with parents loving every moment of it, that suggests so many of the problems we face in this world might benefit from simple things like love, sharing, peace, care and generosity. To receive the gift of Jesus does not require a complicated contractual commitment from us, just a willingness to approach life’s problems, the world’s problems, with the simplest gestures, and to trust they will make all the difference. What else could this sign mean to you? This sign, a baby, inspires music, poetry, hopes and dreams. Just consider all of the beautiful songs we are singing tonight, the words and the music inspired by a simple scene in a barn. Look for simple things in your life to be an inspiration – smiles, hugs, prayers, and more. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this sign means, and that is a good thing. Each season of our lives, each up or down, each left or right turn we take, gives a new perspective on what this sign means. A child may be drawn to the light in the story and just simply enjoy beauty and wonder and joy. A teenager may be drawn to the music in this story and begin to dream of creating her own music or art to tell the story of God’s love. An adult may be drawn to the hope in the story, having had too many experiences of loss, defeat, grief, sickness, or violence, but knowing that in the baby born in Bethlehem God’s plans are only just beginning, and if this is a new beginning for God then you can have a new beginning, too. With my friend Stewart I’ll let that other Christmas go its own way, and good luck to it, but with all of you tonight I will feel wonder, joy, inspiration and hope. God has given us a sign, God has given you a sign. Amen! “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel” [Isaiah 7:14]