December 2020

Pastor’s Newsletter Column

December 2020
Pastor’s Column

Brothers & Sisters, together we enter the season of Advent and as we decorate Christmas Trees, the Church Sanctuary, make cookies, prepare gifts and do the thousand-and-one things that all of us expect at Christmas time, I urge all of us to heed a warning I once heard from one of the wisest seminary professors I ever knew:
Beware the Baby Jesus!
I can already picture contorted expressions and confounded gazes as some of you read that warning:
∙ “What IS he talking about?”
∙ “Has the lack of hair on his head caused some sort of terminal ‘brain freeze’?”
∙ “What is this sudden fear over an infant all about?”
In order of question: no, I haven’t gone “a half-bubble off plumb;” no, my lack of hair hasn’t eliminated my ability to think; and lastly, no, I’m not suddenly afraid of infants.
That warning started swishing around in my head as I watched the Halloween candy and costumes being removed from the shelves of several different local stores and replaced with Christmas cards and toys on Saturday, 30 October — the day BEFORE Halloween! And all of that in a year like few others as we worry about COVID, the economy, thee elections and the numbers of people cramming out area food pantries.
All of this reminded me, again, that while we worry about those crises and focus on Advent and Christmas we need to remember that “Jesus IS the reason for the season.” We must also remember that as we celebrate and recall the First Advent, we are actually preparing for the second one.
The first Advent occurred as Jewish believers awaited the birth of Messiah and the fulfillment of Covenant Promises by God to deliver His people Israel from Sin and Death in a fallen world. There was confusion among those who expected a complete defeat of all earthly enemies and all evil. Many were convinced they would see the emergence of a conquering military hero who would destroy the Roman Empire. Those hopes were disappointed when an infant arrived who grew and matured for 30 years to be the prophesied Suffering Servant and living Sacrifice of Atonement for all who believe.
And yet, that is still not the end of the story. We still await the future return of that Messiah at the end of History to et all accounts to rights. He will conquer sin and destroy death and will sit in judgment over every person who has ever lived.
As we celebrate Advent 2020 we need to remember, give thanks to and glorify God for the Salvation He has won and accomplished for us through the birth, life, ministry, death and Resurrection of the perfect second Adam and Incarnate God. We must see that our perspective on Advent is hazy, fuzzy and limited. We don’t yet see the whole picture clearly. We know the first set of mountains we are crossing, but can only see the front side of the ridge we are preparing to pass over.
In other terms, how many of you have ever traveled on the interstate through the mountains? You look out at the horizon and perceive the full range before you, but at a distance cannot really perceive which set of hills is first and which set come later. It is only as you travel through the foothills that you begin to perceive the side to side width and depth of the mountains you encounter.
This is where we, as believers in the Resurrected Lord stand not only every Advent season, but every day of our lives! We do not follow, worship and serve the a plastic domesticated infant in a mock up manger, but instead the Risen Jesus who fulfilled the earliest messianic promise from Genesis 3 when He crushed the serpent’s head
The challenge for us is to remain faithful and fruitful in the midst of an annual parade of manufacturers and retailers who seek to convince us that our lives are over if we don’t own two wall-size flat-screen televisions, the latest video game system and our armpits don’t smell like roses.
This is when we remember that we are called to love, hope and charity. But as we heed those calls, we recognize that they are rooted not in some fuzzy and free-floating virtue that lacks substance but makes us feels warm and cuddly. We come to see and know that our love, hope and charity are rooted in the divine love that sent a savior to us to redeem humanity from its slavery in sin and death.
This is indeed the season of gift-giving. It is the time when we share the very best we have with those who need it most. It is the season when we recognize that our worship, thanks and praise are for our benefit and not for God’s. As St. Paul reminds us in Romans 11:33-36, “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?’ ‘ Or who has given a gift to Him, to receive a gift in return?’ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To him be the glory forever.”
This means that all of us are called to engage in a careful and sustained period of prayer, reflection, renewal and re-dedication to the One who awaits His Father’s command to come for us and redeem us fully so that we may share together as brothers and sisters around the Father’s Banquet Table, where we are told that “people will gather from east and west and north and south”.
Let us cautiously enjoy the seasonal festivities, but always with one eye fixed and one ear cocked to see and hear the Master’s return in glory. Let us celebrate the Christmas season with those around us, but let us do so in a spirit of preparation and anticipation. Let us give and receive gifts, but let us do so with the understanding that we are commemorating the greatest gift of God to His people.
As we deal with near- lockdowns, with anger, frustration and panic, let us spread love and a spirit of peace. As we see others join in the seasonal punching fests over the latest toy craze, let us be the ones God uses to return the spirit of hope and joyful anticipation to the season. The physical gifts we give, the holiday decorating we do and the seasonal preparations we make may be elaborate, simple or even non-existent. The point always is — or should be — the way in which they reflect, honor and proclaim God’s love for us in Christ Jesus, not how expensive or inexpensive they are.
This was a lesson driven home for many of the kids in my home church as we heard the testimony of the mother of twin girls from our youth group. Judy was an immigrant from the Carribbean who told of her childhood in a poor family when she and her siblings received only Christmas stockings filled with penny-candy and oranges. They were important gifts to her because they reminded her of God’s loves, grace and mercy.
So for all of us, the question again returns wrapped in a warning:
How will we manifest God’s love and honor the birth, ministry, death and Resurrection of our Savior? What will we do to proclaim His love to those in physical and spiritual need around us? Whatever we do, let us remember the warning, Beware the Baby Jesus! Like Aslan in C.S. Lewis’ children’s saga The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion of Judah is NOT a Tame Lion. He is the Lord and Savior of the two Advents we stand between.
Grace, peace, love and joy to you and yours in this Advent and Christmas Season.
Pastor Rusty+