My Christmas Confession

As I understand it, Christmas has a history of being hijacked. And I confess, I hope it gets hijacked again.

The first hijacking took place by the early Christians when they took December 25 from the Roman pagans who were worshipping “the unconquered sun” around that date. This may have been more about survival than anything. Long before the Christians had lots of money, giant cathedrals and political influence, they were a small, persecuted bunch whose story was continually in danger of being absorbed by the dominate culture that surrounded them. (Think: Being a Hindu or Buddist in Orlando today). So, the politically insignificant Christians thumbed their nose at Rome and said, “We know the ‘unconquered Son.’ His name is Jesus, and he is Lord. This is who we will remember on December 25.” Those were dangerous words at a time when proclaiming anyone but Caesar as Lord was punishable by death. That was the first hijacking.

I’m not sure where to pinpoint the second hijacking or who to pin the hijacking on. It was 1933 when the first Sears Roebuck “Christmas Wish Book” was published. In that catalog you could find “Miss Pigtails” doll, an electric (battery powered) toy automobile, a Mickey Mouse watch, fruitcakes, Lionel electric trains, a five pound box of chocolates, and live singing canaries. It was 2009 when, South Park’s Eric Cartman sang his version of O Holy Night. “O holy night! The something something distant. It is the night with the Christmas trees and pie. Jesus was born and so I get presents. Thank you, Jesus for being born.”

Was it Sears, South Park or someone else that thumbed a nose at the early church and said, “We know Jesus got presents on his birthday and we think it would be a good idea for everyone to get presents on Jesus’ birthday.” Strike that match in the middle of free enterprise and human greed and it isn’t long until you’ve got the kind of Christmas fire that we see in full blaze before Halloween in showroom and online stores. That was the second hijacking.

There’s a third hijack attempt that is about as popular as that first hijacking was with the Romans. This attempt meets with resistance from people inside and outside the church. I’m more familiar with the resistance inside the church since I feel it within my own soul. It is very difficult for me to imagine going through the “birthday party for everyone” version of Christmas and really honoring the incarnation of God and appropriately anticipating the coming reign of God on earth as it is in heaven. This has been a tension for me for as long as I can remember.

Lately I have thought that it’s a shame that this whole “birthday party for everyone” we know as Christmas couldn’t be sometime in July and called something other than Christmas. I’m not saying that I don’t like hanging lights, decorating trees, playing pretty music, eating great food and exchanging gifts. That’s fun! Who doesn’t like getting presents? Who doesn’t like making the ones we love smile – even squeal with joy – when they open up that present we gave them to find a great surprise or the toy they had been wanting? All that is great.

I just think we miss so much of what God’s incarnation in Jesus is about when it gets wrapped up in Eric Cartman’s version of O Holy Night.

Jesus wasn’t born so I could get an ipad, an xbox or a Furby. In fact, Jesus is known for calling a man to sell his ipad, xbox and Furby and come follow him. Jesus chose a life of homelessness and spent his time eating with outcasts and proclaiming that a new world was possible – a world without violence, where the hungry are fed, the vulnerable are noticed, the powerful are humbled, the blind receive sight, and people do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

The third hijacking of Christmas will not be as flashy or cool as the second hijacking. It will not appeal to our desire to be entertained. And if you work for Sears, it probably isn’t going to help your paycheck. This hijacking is born out of a desire to take Jesus more seriously than anything else, to live our lives in a way that make sense in light of the gospel that Jesus was born to proclaim, and to push back on a dominant culture that threatens to absorb the Truth that defines our lives.

If you are compelled to participate in this third hijacking of Christmas, I would recommend a little book called “A Different Kind of Christmas” and “Christmas Is Not Your Birthday” by Mike Slaughter. I would also recommend an online Advent retreat that is being offered by friends of mine, Rev. Jan Richardson and Garrison Doles. Perhaps you would also like to meet together with other Christians who would like to support you in your quest to remember the incarnation and anticipate the coming reign of God that look different from the “birthday party for everyone” version. Let me know and I will facilitate that gathering at Spring of Life.

Vision for 10 Years and Years to Come

It’s a big weekend for the people at Spring of Life United Methodist Church. We are celebrating ten years of ministry together. That we have become a community of faith with an average weekly worship attendance of 232, an average youth ministry participation of 25, an average children’s ministry participation of 60 and an average adult and youth discipleship group participation of 65 is a miracle of God.

Those are significant numbers of people and of course the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

From the time of our first worship service together on November 3, 2002 at the North Lake Park Community School cafeteria, we have said, “Spring of Life is a place you can come as you are.” So we all come with our habits, hurts and hang ups. We come with different levels of understanding about the God and the Bible. We come rich and poor, gay and straight, divorced and married, young and old, black, yellow, brown and white, faithful and unfaithful, confused and assured, anxious and at peace, sad and joyful. We come as we are to Spring of Life.

In time, we added to that by saying, “ . . . and become who God created you to be.”

Our conviction is that the God who has revealed himself fully through Jesus Christ is on a mission to remake the world. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the “first fruit” of God’s new creation. The forces and powers of evil at work in the world have lost their ultimate power. The victory over them has already been determined by Jesus’ victory over death through his crucifixion and resurrection.

The gift of God to us through Jesus is that we now have the power to live our lives in ways that make sense in light of God’s good news of Re-creation. We have the power to extend ourselves in vulnerable hospitality to strangers. We have the power to forgive our enemies rather than nurse grudges and seek revenge. We have the power to take responsibility for our brokenness and sin by saying, “I am sorry” - making amends with those we have harmed. We have the power to pay attention to the cries of the poor and powerless, and use our power as allies for the vulnerable and voiceless. We have the power to use our resources rightly, acting as good stewards of what God has entrusted to us, rather than being consumed by the consumerism of our culture. We have the power to recognize, understand and appreciate the differences that exist among us as we seek to become the beloved community that God created us to be. We have the power to hear God’s call in our lives individually and collectively and take the next step on the way with Jesus.

This is the vision of who God created us to be and who Spring of Life is becoming by God’s grace.
We bring what we have – all that we are – to God and God takes that raw material and weaves it into a beautiful tapestry.

Last week as Carolyn, Julia and I stuffed envelopes with financial commitment cards to send to people at Spring of Life, I recalled the many things God is doing through this community of faith. I leave you with this celebration of what God is making out of the people at Spring of Life!

Spring of Life is a church where people . . .

• Provide meals, hospitality and love to families at Ronald McDonald House

• Give us space to remember that God invites people of every nation, tribe and tongue to worship together

• Give encouragement to parents of teenagers

• Pray for our loved ones who are sick and comfort us when we grieve

• Help us to die with hope for resurrection and new creation.

• Help us find ways to serve God with the gifts and talent he gave us

• Pray for our children when they get into trouble

• Clothe the naked, feed the hungry and house the homeless

• Teach us who God is through Bible study and challenge us to live according to His will.

• Celebrate our marriage and support us in our married life

• Welcome us when we feel alone

• Help us guard against crippling debt and loving money and stuff more than God.

• Help us recognize understand and appreciate our differences politically – finding unity through Christ rather than our national identities

• Listen to our confession of sin and remind us that we are forgiven and free from guilt and shame

• Give us a sanctuary space when life is uncertain and chaotic

• Strengthen and heal our marriage when we are hurting

• Help us heal through a divorce that we didn’t want

• Show us the value of having relationships with people of all ages

• Support us when we are caring for a loved one who is ill

• Keep faith when we cannot make sense of why things happen the way they do.

• Show us the value of doing hard things that are right and good rather than taking the easy way out.

• Encourage us to take risks by stepping out of our comfort zone to serve God

• Welcome us into a life of following Jesus through the sacrament of Baptism.