Super Greatness

Mark 9:33-37

Rev. Doc Newcomb

February 5, 2012 (Super Bowl Sunday)

            What a great day today is!  Super Bowl Sunday!  It’s by far the most popular unofficial holiday in the United States, and, by many standards, is even more popular than most actual holidays.

            Just to show you how popular the Super Bowl is in our national consciousness, consider some of these facts:[1]

·         More than 151 million people worldwide watch the Super Bowl.

·         Of the 10 most-watched television shows of all time, 9 of them are Super Bowls.  (The real question is: Which show was not a Super Bowl?  The last episode of MASH.)

·         A 30-second ad for the Super Bowl costs $2.8 million.  The production costs for those ads, many of which are quite elaborate, also run into the millions.

·         People spend more than $50 million on food for the Super Bowl in the four days leading up to Super Bowl Sunday.

·         Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest winter grilling day of the year.

·         8 million pounds of guacamole are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.

·         325.5 million gallons of beer are drunk today.

·         Not surprisingly, Super Bowl Sunday is the second-highest day for drunk driving arrests.  Any idea what the highest drunk-driving arrest day would be?  I’d have guessed New Year’s, but it’s…St. Patrick’s Day.

·         Traffic nearly comes to a halt during the Super Bowl.  It’s a good day to travel if you don’t care about the game…until all the drunk drivers get out.

It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it?  We spend so much energy to watch…a football game.  But not just any football game, is it?  The winning team is crowned World Champions and gets a beautiful silver trophy in a special presentation at the end of the game with confetti raining down.  The players get a big ring, get paid a lot of money, plus have the opportunity for endorsements to make even more money, they get leverage in their contract negotiations since they won a Super Bowl, and they get the best bragging rights of any championship game of any sport. We’ll adore the winners for a long, long time on NFL Films and in our own stories.  Woo!

Some of you think this is all really silly, don’t you?  You wonder how anyone could invest even a passing interest in such nonsense.  All the hype and excitement is completely lost on you, because you just don’t care.  In fact, you might have even forgotten today was the Super Bowl until I mentioned it.  And now that I have, you think it’s even more ludicrous. 

Sure…there are some folks like that.  You’re in the vast minority, but you’re there. 

But don’t go dissing the Super Bowl too much.  As a man, I have to say that sports have had a positive influence in my life.  Not only from playing sports, but from the way the men in my family have connected to each other by watching and talking about sports.  The last time these two teams played in the Super Bowl—four years ago—it was one of the most exciting sporting events I’d ever seen, since the Giants upset the highly favored, undefeated Patriots who were expected to do what only the Miami Dolphins did, which is to win every game, and the Super Bowl.  After that game I had one of the nicest talks with my son, man-to-man.  I told him he’d always remember that game—like I remember when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record when I was a kid—a record that still stands.[2]

So, much as it might seem odd to some of you, sports are a good thing.  And the Super Bowl, as crazy as we are as a society about it, can also be a good thing. 

But sometimes we do get carried away, don’t we?  We say the winning team are World Champions, and we laud them as the greatest.

But are they the greatest?  If so, then why do sports talk shows continue to debate the best teams of all time?  If so, then why do they have the Super Bowl the next year?  And the year after that?  And the year after that? 

How long does that fame and fortune for the winning team last? 

Contrast our idea of what it means to be the greatest with what Jesus said about being the greatest.  Not surprisingly, his standard is different.  But his idea of what true greatness really means might surprise us.

In the scripture reading we heard for today, Jesus talks with his disciples about what true greatness is.  He’d heard them arguing about greatness, but none of them would admit that’s what they were arguing about.  So Jesus made everyone gather around to listen.  He had something important to teach them, and he didn’t want them to miss out.

And he taught them that being great doesn’t mean you come in first place or win the Super Bowl.  No, for Jesus, being first means being…last.  If you want to be great, he said, you need to be a servant of everyone.  The word servant here in the original Greek language is the word we use for “deacon,” which referred to a common house servant of the time.  It was a person with low status.   A servant like this might not have been as low as a slave, but it was still a person who was very low in status—not a person who’d be thought of as great.  Greatness comes not from being the one everyone serves, but the one who serves everyone, Jesus is saying.

And then, to continue his surprising teaching about greatness, Jesus takes…a child.  This would have been unheard of then, because children in those days were non-beings.  A child’s place would have been with the women, but here Jesus, a man, takes a child and puts him or her (we’re not told which) in the midst of them—a group of men—as an example.  Of what greatness is.  And Jesus held the child. 

The winning Super Bowl players tonight will likely have their children join them on the field, and it’s cute to see those big men with their pads and eye-black on holding their little son or daughter.  We see that as being sweet and precious.  In Jesus’ time, that would not have been done, because children had no place in society.

Jesus is saying…true greatness is being like a non-person—someone who’s not even really noticed.  And Jesus identifies himself as great not by talking about the amazing deeds he’d done so far, but by saying, “Whoever welcomes this child, welcomes me…and the one who sent me.” 

Now it doesn’t appear the disciples got what Jesus meant.  Because not long after this (Mark 10:35-45), two disciples, James and John, asked Jesus to promise that they could sit on either side of him in his “glory.”  Now whatever that means exactly, it certainly means a place of high honor and greatness.  This caused the other disciples to be angry when they overheard it, thinking James and John were going to get some special privilege of greatness.  But Jesus said [read from the Kindle]:

“…Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant [“deacon”], and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45, italics added by me).

This idea of giving up your status and greatness in order to serve others is something Jesus was showing by his life…and especially by his death.  True greatness in God’s reign isn’t about winning Super Bowls…but about humility and serving.  About being like Jesus who gave up his own glory to become human and become a slave to others and die on the cross…according to the famous passage by Paul in Philippians (2:6-11). 

This is the Jesus who did what a servant was supposed to do and washed his disciples’ feet, who welcomed sinners, who spoke to women and children, who touched unclean people like those with leprosy, who cared for the poor, who carried a cross so they could nail him to it. 

Our greatness is found not in how much we gain…but in how much we give up.  What might that look like?

I’m going to show you a funny commercial from a few years ago featuring Peyton Manning, the great quarterback from the Indianapolis Colts…arguably one of the best quarterbacks of all-time, Super Bowl XLI MVP (when he beat the Bears), and a champion if there ever was one.  He didn’t play this year because of an injury, and we heard this week his doctors say he can play again, but his team isn’t so sure.  Peyton is the brother of Eli, who’ll be playing quarterback for the Giants today.  In this commercial, Peyton the great cheers for ordinary people doing ordinary things.  Take a look…

[Peyton Manning is tail-gating and cheering as ordinary people walk by.  He says, “Here we go, insurance adjusters, here we go!”  Then he’s at a deli and cheers as a worker runs the slicer: “Cut that meat!  Cut that meat!”  Then he cheers as a guy fills up his gas tank.  Finally he’s leaning over the wall as workers go into an office building, and he says he’s their biggest fan, would they please give him a high five.  Someone slaps his hand, and he says he’ll never wash it again.  The MasterCard logo morphs as two football helmets collide.]

“Cut that meat!  Cut that meat!” 

We laugh because that’s ridiculous…to see the great Peyton Manning cheering for everyday people.  But that’s what Jesus calls us to be like if we want to follow him and know true greatness.  Super greatness.

According to Jesus, super greatness isn’t standing at the 50 yard-line as the confetti rains down after you win the Super Bowl, although that’s a lot of fun.  Super greatness is when you spend time helping a child read.  Super greatness is when you spend time serving at Lot 12.  Super greatness is when you go out of your way to serve our neighbors in Honduras as some of our folks here do…or at Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota…as some of our folks do.  Super greatness is when you’re part of the youth mission trip traveling to Pennsylvania to work on the homes of people you’ve never met before.  Super greatness is checking on your neighbors in the winter and helping people when their car stalls on the side of the road.  Super greatness is all those many things we do to serve another person that we never expect any reward or notoriety from.  Super greatness is putting other people first.

Super greatness is taking up our cross and following Jesus.

I know many of us will be watching that game today…I sure will.  And I’ll enjoy it, and I’ll talk to my son and my dad and some other guys I know.  And I’ll be happy for the winning team.  But when you see them celebrating together at the end.  Remember what Jesus said.  Remember what super greatness is really all about.

A Faith that Heals

Mark 1:21-28

Rev. Doc Newcomb

January 29, 2012

            Here’s a question for you: Why do you come to church?  What makes you get out of bed early on Sunday mornings to come here in bad weather? 

·         For the kids?

·         It looks good for the right people?

·         Gives you a sense of connectedness and belonging?

·         Out of duty or obligation?

·         You’re afraid you’ll be punished by God if you don’t come?

·         Searching for answers?

·         It’s uplifting?

·         Pretty cheap entertainment for that five bucks you put in the offering plate?

·         Or maybe you have your own reason…

Whatever the reason, I’m glad you’re here.  But did you ever stop to think that going to church can be good for you?  Sure it can!  Studies appear all the time that demonstrate the health-value of prayer and faith.  Church-going people tend to live longer.  People of faith, in general, tend to be stronger emotionally and adjust better to the pitfalls in life. 

I see this when I conduct funerals.  Church families with a strong faith background manage the grief and loss better, in general, than families who don’t have that faith connection. 

So faith is life-giving.  Faith has a healing quality.

That’s what’s happening in our scripture reading for today, as Jesus casts out unclean spirits or demons from a person.  Of course our present-day scientific minds have a different understanding of mental illness than they did in Jesus’ day.  Any disorder—from a headache to schizophrenia—was blamed on invisible demons that caused all kinds of trouble for people.  The author of Mark’s Gospel is showing Jesus’ power and authority by depicting him having command over demonic spirits.

Whether we actually believe in demons or not—and I don’t—we do deal with all kinds of brokenness, pain, destructive actions, illness, addiction, and fractured living.  There is evil and sin in the world.  We bear burdens of pain and shame and fear.  We need healing.  And I’m here to say our faith can be just that source of healing.  Jesus can be a healing presence in our lives. 

I’ve seen it happen.

I’ve seen friendships and broken relationships restored and strengthened by faith.  I’ve seen people with all sorts of hurt and pain find strength in Jesus.   Some of those people are in this room today.  We’re people who’ve lost spouses and family members through death, some of us have lost jobs, some of us have had serious illnesses, some of us have been through divorce and all sorts of things.  Some of us here today are hurting a great deal.  If so, you’ve come to the right place. 

At one church I served, we started a divorce recovery group since we had quite a few people who’d gone through that.  One of the women was just getting back to normal after an abusive marriage and a difficult divorce.  She’d met a new man and was experiencing real happiness for the first time in a long time.  The group and I were very happy for her.  Then one Sunday before church started, I got a call from her: her new boyfriend had suddenly died of a heart attack.  He was in his mid-40’s.

It was a difficult funeral, but our divorce support group all went to the funeral home together and brought flowers.  They were Jesus for her. 

Jesus still appears to us in the midst of our brokenness and strife…and heals us.

I know sometimes we get a little uncomfortable with the idea of healing, because we’ve seen some of the so-called “faith healers” on TV.   Some of these people even sell products you can use that they’ve prayed over to help you be healed.  Some of them put on elaborate displays and shows where people supposedly get healed.  Much of that stuff isn’t real and is mostly hype that helps the “faith healer” make a lot of money. 

I’ve thought of having a real healing service sometime…something where we gather and anoint people with oil and pray for whatever hurts we have and need healing from.  [Pastor Lora had done this here before, and I think it might be good to do again.]  It’d be about connecting our broken spirits go God’s Spirit of wholeness.  What do you think?

Don’t expect signs and wonders.  And maybe it’d be good here to note the difference between being healed and being cured.  At least the way I see it, anyway.  Being cured means your ailment is over—you get over your cold, or a broken bone is mended.  It refers to a physical completion.

But we can be cured and still carry scars from our hurt or sickness.  Healing, on the other hand, refers to a restoration of our spirits.

I know cancer patients, for example, whose physical affliction has been cured, and they have no signs of cancer anymore, but they still need healing.  Some still bear the pain and results of their battle with the disease: whether it’s from the radiation or chemo or surgery.  Those scars are still there.  And may always be there.

I also know cancer patients who’ve come to terms with their cancer and have been healed in the spirit—that is, they’ve learned to live in spite of cancer.  But these people still need to be cured¸ because the cancer continues.

And I know people who’ve been both cured and healed because they’re closely intertwined.  As I said earlier, people with faith tend to be stronger and healthier. 

What do you need to be healed from?  Maybe we can be Jesus for one another and bring healing to each other. 

As I said, we have hurts of our own. Each of us here has scars somewhere on our bodies.  This scar right here [indicate under my chin] comes from when I was 6 years old.  In my parents’ room there was a TV high on top of a wardrobe closet.  But I could reach it to turn it on if I stood on my tippy-toes on the bed post.  We didn’t have remote controls back then.  And as I was stretching up to reach the TV one time, I slipped, and I came down hard and my chin hit the bed post.  Wham!

There was a lot of blood, and it really hurt, and I got 3 stitches—my first stitches ever.  And now there’s a little scar where my beard doesn’t grow.

That’s one scar I have.  Now I’d like you to take a minute or so and share about a scar you have with someone next to you—and you don’t have to show it!  Take about 30 seconds to a minute each to share one scar you have and what it came from.  Go.  [Allow a couple minutes.]

Thank you for sharing.  That’s one thing we all have in common.  We have other scars, too.  Scars that don’t show.  Scars deep down inside that come from loss and grief and wounds to our emotions.  Those scars need healing, too.

We have other scars, too.  Scars that don’t show.  Scars we have deep within us…scars people can’t see but are just as real.  Now I’d like you to tell your partner about another hurt you have that doesn’t have visible scars…maybe a loss you’ve experienced, or you’re separated from someone you care about, or some burden you’re carrying.  Take a moment or two to share with your partner about that kind of scar. [Allow a couple minutes.]

You might have noticed there are band-aid strips in the pews in front of you.  Each person needs one, but don’t open it.  Take a pencil and write your name on the paper wrapping of the band-aid right now.  [Allow a moment.]  Now exchange your band-aid with your partner’s band-aid.

Good.  It’s good for us to bring our hurts to one another and support each other like this.  Here’s what I’d like you to do with the other person’s band-aid you just received.  Put it somewhere where you’ll see it often…in your wallet or purse or some place like that.  Then, if you’re out and about and you see someone bleeding, you can be right there with a band-aid to help them!

But also…every time you see the band-aid, you’ll remember to pray for that person.  Maybe you’ll even be motivated to send them a card or a note or whatever to let the person know you’re helping carry that burden a little bit. 

That’s how I’d like to close now.  I’m going to give us a few moments to pray quietly for one another, then I’ll close in prayer…and we’ll sing together.  So take a few moments now to pray for your partner.  [Allow prayer time…then close in prayer for healing.]   

A Whale of a Tale

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Rev. Doc Newcomb

January 22, 2012

            Today we get to look at one of the more famous prophets in the Bible: Jonah.  And what do we know about Jonah?  [People will say, “The whale.”]  Right!  The whale! 

            We all know about the whale.  We even had a big whale for the children to go inside at VBS this summer.  How exciting!

            The book of Jonah is short—you can read the whole thing in about 15 minutes—and the whale plays a minor role, really.  And the animal mentioned here is called a “big fish,” which we know is different than a whale.  Jesus calls it a “sea monster” when he mentioned it (Matthew 12:40).  But why quibble?  The heart of the story is what we read today—about Jonah warning the residents of Nineveh that God wanted to destroy them.  But, of course, the whale is much more exciting, so we’re more familiar with that.  Today we’ll look a little closer at this funny little book and see what else God wants to tell us from this whale of a tale. 

            A little background information might help us appreciate how special this book really is.  You might be surprised at what Jonah does…and see how we’re too often like him.

            The best explanation I’ve seen about Jonah is it was intended to be satire…that is, a ridiculous and funny story to poke fun at ourselves and our feelings.  Stephen Colbert is satire about our politics.  The Onion is a satirical newspaper.  Jonah’s like that.  What’s being satirized?  Let’s dive into the story and see.

            It begins with Jonah being called by God to go to a city called Nineveh to tell them God isn’t happy with their wickedness.  Now Nineveh might not mean that much to you, but in Jonah’s time everybody knew it.  Nineveh doesn’t exist today, but the city closest to it is Mosul, Iraq.  At the time, Nineveh was the capitol of the hated nation of Assyria.  Assyria was a powerful empire that conquered many nations in their region of the world.  This included the Northern Kingdom of Israel—which was defeated by Assyria around 720 BCE.  In 2 Kings, Jonah is listed as a person who supported the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  So Jonah is being asked by God to go right into the capitol city of the country they feared and hated the most and deliver a message from God.  Nobody would have wanted to do that.

            What might be that place today that we consider to be our enemy that we wouldn’t want to go to with any message from God?  Any ideas?  Repeat some ideas back that people say.]  I was thinking more like Green Bay, WI. 

            (I know we have Packer fans here today, and I love you…very much.  But you have to admit that was funny, I don’t care who you are.)

            As a satire, the story begins with an outrageous request—to go to the heart of the hated enemy’s country.  And Jonah responds in an outlandish way—he goes the exact opposite direction.  Nineveh was to the east of Israel.  Tarshish was west—where Jonah heads by boat.

            But immediately a big storm hits, and the ship is about to break apart.  While the crew goes into desperation mode to save the ship by throwing things overboard, Jonah is calmly sleeping below deck.  The sailors cry out to their various gods for help, and the captain wakes up Jonah.  (This captain would have been much more responsible than the captain of the Italian cruise ship you’ve been hearing about this week.) 

            By casting lots, the sailors determine the storm is all Jonah’s fault.  “What have you done?” they asked.  Jonah had told them he was running away from God.  “What shall we do with you?” the sailors asked him.  And Jonah said, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea.”  But at first the sailors don’t do it, but they do pray to Jonah’s God, but the storm doesn’t stop.  So…they throw Jonah into the sea…and the storm instantly stopped.  This caused the men on the boat to turn to God and make sacrifices.  The point being that Jonah is so inept he inadvertently helps people turn to God even when he’s thrown overboard…sort of the opposite of It’s a Wonderful Life.  People were really better off with him thrown into the sea.

            And then the famous whale comes in.  “A great fish” swallowed Jonah, and Jonah was inside it for three days.  It’s only mentioned in this one verse.

            This story works much better when you see the humor in it.  A man inside a big fish!  Here’s another funny story about funny characters inside a whale…it comes from Finding Nemo.  Nemo is an orange and white clown fish that got lost in the ocean, so his dad, Marlin, goes swimming across the ocean to find him.  Along the way he meets a blue fish named Dori—voiced by Ellen Degeneres—who has a hard time remembering things, but fortunately she can speak “whale.”  Enjoy this funny scene and see if we can identify with ol’ Jonah.  [Show the clip where the whale swallows Dori and Marlin.  Marlin tries to escape, while Dori enjoys the currents.  Marlin is overwhelmed with worry while Dori is too clueless to care but does try to speak “whale,” much to Marlin’s annoyance.  Marlin gives up and drifts to the whale’s tongue in defeat, feeling bad because he promised Nemo not to let anything happen to him.  Dori says that’s a silly thing to promise.  Suddenly the whale starts to move and the water lowers.  There’s exciting action as they try to keep from going down the whale’s throat, but eventually they lose…only to be sprayed out the whale’s blow hole and fall down safely into the ocean again.  Marlin laughs and says, “We’re alive!”]

            Isn’t that cute?  And just like Marlin and Dori in the whale, Jonah also thinks things over.  He offers a strange prayer of Thanksgiving, all of chapter 2, which seems so insincere.  Nevertheless, God spoke to the fish, and it burped Jonah up on the land. 

            This is where we read our scripture today.  The size of Nineveh is exaggerated—as are many things in this story—which is the point of satire.  It says it was a three day’s walk across, or about 60 miles.  From Dixon to the Mississippi River is 56 miles, so you get the idea of how exaggerated the story is.  And Jonah walks through it and speaks a message of destruction, seemingly only once— with no gospel, no hope, nothing good.  Just this: “In 40 days, Nineveh will be overthrown.”

            Imagine me walking through Green Bay saying that.  Who would pay attention?  Jonah was doing what God asked, technically, but his heart wasn’t in it. 

            But still…Nineveh repented!  They mourned their sins and wore sackcloth.  Even the king called for people to repent.  And even the animals wore the sackcloth.  Again…absurd, but it makes the point that everyone repented.  And God decided not to destroy Nineveh afterall.

            Jonah’s response?  He was mortified!  What?!!  God was gracious to the most horrible people of all???  No way!  Jonah was so angry, he begged God to take his life!  So Jonah sat and sulked in the hot sun.  God caused a shrub to grow up and give some shade to Jonah, but then God killed the bush, and this made Jonah mad again. 

            So God reminds Jonah that God can save whoever God wants to save…and God scolds Jonah for being more upset that a bush died than how all those people of Nineveh could have died. 

            And that’s how the story ends.

            And that’s where the satire is.  It’s about how we sometimes think God hates the same people we hate.  We think God should punish the people we don’t like, but God has a much broader scope in mind.  It’s making fun of us in our limited understanding and self-centered view of the world…and about how we forget who’s in charge here…and what God’s like. 

            And in all this exaggeration and silliness…and the whale…there’s a reminder.  The reminder that God’s mercy and God’s love is for everyone…even for the people we can’t stand: our enemies, the people who would destroy us, and, yes, even people from Green Bay. 

            A verse in the New Testament says it this way: The Lord doesn’t want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.  (2 Peter 3:9) 

            The way Peder Eide sings it in one of his songs is this: “You’re never too lost to be found.”  Even if your sin is doing the bad things like the people of Nineveh.  And…even if you’re so full of yourself like Jonah that you expect God to see things the way you see them…and hate the people you hate.  There’s hope for everyone.

            Jesus would show us something Jonah just didn’t want to hear…and sometimes we don’t want to hear, either.  No matter what you’ve done, no matter where you’ve gone, no matter what you’ve been through, God still loves you.  You’re welcome here.  You belong here.  This place is for you.  Whether you’re from Nineveh…or Green Bay…or even from inside a great big fish.  God loves you. 

            And that’s a whale of some good news.

The Thing about Baptism

Mark 1:4-11

Rev. Doc Newcomb

January 15, 2012 (Baptism of the Lord)

            I can just imagine the scene when Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.  Imagine a dusty, hot day…out in the open countryside of the Jordan—a place of archetypal significance for Jewish people, because that’s where their ancestors had crossed into the Promised Land.

            Imagine the fiery prophet John the Baptist—crazy-looking and wild, demanding people to repent now, because God was sending the Promised One.  And when people repented, he’d baptize them.  I suppose to outsiders, John and his entourage would’ve looked like a bunch of freaks, getting all worked up about their religion.

            And there, looking up into the sun, they see a figure.  John recognized him as Jesus.  And John knew this was the One they’d been waiting for.  I’m sure when Jesus walked down to them, the wild excitement of this unusual group calmed down a bit—like when the sheriff walks into the saloon in the old Westerns. 

            And Jesus wanted to be baptized, too. 

            In Mark’s version of the story, Mark doesn’t tell us about any conversation between Jesus and John, but in Matthew’s version, John protests and says he’s not worthy to baptize Jesus.  But Jesus insisted, so John pushed him under the water and brought him back up. 

            What happened next was remarkable.  It’s not clear if only Jesus saw what happened the way Mark tells it, but the sky was “torn apart,” and the Holy Spirit came down like a dove.  Then a voice spoke from the skies—God’s voice: “You are my Son, and I’m so proud of you.”

            What a moment.

            Was your baptism like that?  What?  No?

            We practice infant baptism in the United Methodist Church.  Proudly!  And we love to see those babies all cute and adorable—who have absolutely no idea what’s going on.  So those of us who were baptized as a baby probably won’t remember anything that happened.

            This church is the result of a marriage between two previous churches way back in 1975—almost 37 years ago.  Most of us here today weren’t part of the unification back then, but a few of us are.  One of the churches was United Methodist, and the other one—that met in this building—was the Christian Church.  The Christian Church practices “believer’s baptism,” so people are older.  And there used to be a baptistery right over here that was a big tank, big enough to hold an adult. 

            The front of the church here was remodeled in 2008, and the large baptistery was removed.  It wasn’t used much anymore.  Some of the tiles were saved for Frank Floski’s Eagle Scout project.  This is our Frank Floski’s grandson.  Young Frank put together some information about baptism in the two churches, along with some of the tiles from the old baptistery, and made a nice display that’s out in the hallway. 

            Baptism is an outward sign of God’s grace.  In the United Methodist Church, we baptize babies because it reminds us before we’re even aware of it, God loves us.  The Book of Acts tells stories of entire families being baptized, and that would likely include the smallest children.  And I hope the baptisms we celebrate here are special to you, because I’m hoping we all experience God’s grace in a special way when we get to see one. 

            If a person wasn’t baptized as a baby, we’re happy to baptize them at any age.  If they were baptized in a different church and decide to come here, we don’t need to re-baptize them.  And in the United Methodist Church we don’t quibble over how much water we use. 

            But when we baptize a baby, the baby most likely doesn’t know anything about what’s going on.  Do any of you remember your baptism?

            So when I teach Confirmation classes—Confirmation being about confirming the act of faith that was made for us at our baptism—I ask the young teenagers to talk with their parents about their baptism.

            What was it like?  Who was the pastor?  Where was it?  Did anything funny happen?  I encourage them to get pictures if they have any.  I hope they enjoy talking about it as a family.  Then I have them share what they found out in class.

            And I tell them about my baptism…or at least what I’ve heard about my baptism.  I was going to be baptized by the monsignor of the Catholic diocese where my family lived in Indiana.  I had on a beautiful white gown that had been my grandfather’s.  And just as we were getting ready to get in the car to go to the church…I had a blowout.  I don’t mean a tire blowout—I mean a diaper blowout.  I mean it was everywhere!  It was all over my beautiful white gown and in my hair and even in my ears!  My mom was such a wreck that my grandmother had to clean me up. 

            I guess it all worked out OK.  We got to the church, and I got baptized.  Can anybody top that story?  So far in all my Confirmation classes nobody has.

            Those stories are great to tell.

            Tell your kids about their baptism.  Ask your parents about your baptism.  It’s fun.  And if you can top my story, I’ll buy you a Coke.  Or maybe it’d be better to buy you a water—get it?  Water?  Baptism?  Huh?  Huh?  Oh, never mind.

            The point I’m getting at here is to emphasize the importance of baptism in our adventure of faith…and to point out it’s a starting point.  Our theology is all about the grace we experience at baptism, but it’s not a magic bullet.  It doesn’t give you some kind of immunity.  It’s not like you can say, “I’m baptized, so I can do whatever I want.”

            You remember the scene from The Godfather, when Michael Corleone was the godfather for his sister’s baby…and as he was affirming his faith in Jesus and promising to reject the forces of evil… his mob henchmen were out shooting people.  I thought of showing you that clip this morning, but it’s a little too violent for church.  Anyway…being baptized doesn’t mean you can go do heinous things like that. 

            That’s certainly not what Jesus’ baptism meant.  For Jesus it marked the beginning of his ministry.  Right after this he went into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting and testing before he began his mission.  It wasn’t the end for Jesus, it was the beginning…a very important beginning…but a beginning.  Mark emphasizes this by making it the first thing that happens in his Gospel about Jesus.  Before anything else…there was Jesus’ baptism…then it all got started.

            So how are things with you since your baptism—whatever age you were when it happened?  Are you acting on the faith made for you at your baptism?  Do you continue to confirm that faith?  Are you living the adventure of following Jesus?  I sure hope so, because it’s amazing.  I hope you don’t settle for just being baptized, but you’ll claim that faith and jump into the excitement of it all.

            Talking about Confirmation, at one Church I served we had 20 or so 8^th graders every year for Confirmation.  Because we had so many kids, I thought we should do something as a group that brought us together and symbolized what our time there was all about.  So at the end of each evening’s session, we met in the sanctuary and sang our theme song, “Sanctuary.” 

Then we gathered around the baptismal font like this, and I poured the water in it, like so.  Then I had them put one of their hands in the water.  And I said, “Remember your baptism,” and they responded, “And be thankful.”  We did that three times: “Remember your baptism…and be thankful.  Remember your baptism…and be thankful.  Remember your baptism…and be thankful.”  And on the third and final time we’d throw the water up in the air above us!

And the teenagers, being teenagers, would sometimes flick water at each other and me and get a little crazy.  Like this!  [Flick water on a few people in the front.]

And it was silly and fun and special.  To this day, if I said to any of those now young adults, “Remember your baptism.”  They’d reply, “And be thankful.”  And they’d remember how we used to throw water at each other. 

My best friend, Tim Casey whom some of you’ve met, would say that to his teenage kids before they went out on a date: “Remember your baptism!” 

So where are you in your journey since your baptism?  Are you a Christian on purpose, actively living the adventure and following Jesus?  Or is your faith sort of flat and lifeless at the moment?

And maybe you haven’t been baptized, and you’re thinking that’d be a good thing for you to do.  Or you have a child and would like to have him or her baptized.  I’d sure love to talk to you about that. 

Baptism is a wonderful act of grace—a free gift to everyone.  But it’s only the beginning.  Jesus calls us to follow him.  Will you follow Jesus into the wilderness and join the adventure?  Will you live a life worthy of your baptism?  Will you continually confirm the faith that was made for you when you were baptized? 

[Take big handfuls of water and throw it into the congregation.]

Remember your baptism!  And be thankful. 

Epiphany People

Matthew 2:1-12

Rev. Doc Newcomb

January 8, 2012

            We’re “Epiphany People!”  Did you know that?  We are. 

            At one time churches followed a liturgical calendar where there were specific days of the year for special events like Christmas and Easter.    But there were also other days before and after those days.  That’s not done as much anymore, and that’s OK.  You might be familiar with Advent and Lent, but there are other days that happen during the year, too…and one of those is Epiphany.  And that’s January 6.  Since we’re Epiphany People, I thought you’d like to know your day was yesterday, but we’ll be talking about it today. 

            The word “epiphany” means “appearance of God” or “show forth” or “shine forth.”  When we celebrate Epiphany the day, we celebrate the wise men seeing the star and following it to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus.  Here, let me read that for you now.  [Read the text.]

            Maybe you’ve heard that story before.  As Epiphany People, that’s your story! 

            Now let’s talk about these so called “wise men” for just a moment.  What do we really know about them?  Well…not nearly as much as you might think we do.  The word Matthew uses is “magi,” which could refer to many Eastern mystics of the time.  They were usually regarded as intelligent people who were mystical and spiritual—but not Jewish.  They believed in signs and in seeing spiritual significance in the world around them.  They were from a long way away.  They were outsiders.  Interesting outsiders, but outsiders.

            Did you know the Bible doesn’t tell us how many magi there were?  We’ve come to think there were how many?  Three.  But that tradition mostly comes from the three gifts they brought—and from stories like Amahl and the Night Visitors…where, not only were there three wise men, but they had names and personalities and the whole bit.  But the Bible doesn’t say that.  In fact, according to some Eastern traditions, there were 12 magi who came to visit baby Jesus. 

Oh, and despite the song, we know they were not kings…although they brought gifts worthy of a king. 

            So we don’t know much about them actually, but we do know this: like you, they were Epiphany People.  God appeared to them in a special way, and their lives were changed. 

            Matthew’s Gospel I just read says the magi followed a star.  The writer is clear this was a special miracle.  It moved ahead of them and stopped over the house where Jesus was born (in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus was born in a house and not outside like in Luke’s Gospel.)  The main point, though, was that the magi—the wise men—followed the star.  Being Epiphany People—like us—they recognized it as a special sign from God.  And it led them to Jesus.

            The magi recognized the star as an epiphany.  In the story the star seems to have been visible to everyone, but only the magi responded the way they did. 

            Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever experienced something extraordinary that moved you…but other people around you didn’t seem to think it was a big deal? 

            This past week, one of my Facebook friends was so moved by the sunrise that he took pictures of it and posted it on his page—pointing out how beautiful it was.  And I looked at the pictures and thought, “Hmm…yeah, I guess that’s nice.”  His epiphany meter was dialed up a little higher than mine…but then again he saw it first hand, and I only saw the picture.    

I’ve been in movies when a scene was so profound to me and touched me so much that I had to fight back the emotion…but the people around me didn’t seem to be phased by it at all. 

            Sometimes an epiphany is in the eye of the beholder.  It’s based on your state of mind and your openness to God…having an open heart.  In fact, one person’s epiphany might be another person’s frustration.  When my sister Mandi was little, she was riding in the car with my parents, making a long drive at night.  Mandi fell asleep in the backseat, and my parents ran into some bad traffic because of an accident or something.  They had a long way to go, it was nighttime, and they were stopped.  And all you could see was an endless line of cars with red brake lights on.  It was maddening to my parents.  But just then my sister woke up and poked her head up.  She saw the long line of brake lights stretching out in front of them and said, “Isn’t it beautiful!” 

            Epiphany People—like us—notice the work of God in the things around us in a special way…in ways other people might not see. 

            What’s been an epiphany in your life?  For the wise men it was the star.  Maybe it’s been something bold and dramatic like the star was.  But more likely it’s been smaller things that made you more aware of God.  Epiphanies can be small things, too.

            I think the most recent epiphany I had was in our worship service on Christmas Eve.  If you happened to be here, there was something unbelievably beautiful about the candle-lighting at the end of the service.  The sanctuary was all dark except for the Christmas lights up front and the candles on the altar.  And we lit our little candles and sang Silent Night.  And there was something so beautiful, so precious and real.  It was one of those moments when you knew—just knew—God was right here with us.  It was one of those moments that Celtic Christians refer to as a “thin place,” where the separation between us and God is very thin. 

            I’ve had other epiphany moments, too.  That one was one of the more pronounced recent ones. 

            A couple times when I was hiking in the mountains when I lived in Colorado the beauty struck me in such a way that I sensed God was right there.  And the sunsets there with the mountains to the west were…unbelievable.  I can’t even describe them.  There have been times when I’ve heard music that touched me at a spiritual level—and not all of it was so-called “Christian” music either.  There have been moments with my kids or my family when the level of joy I felt just being there—or with something they said to me—was so precious that I knew—just knew—God was right there. 

            What about you?  When have you had an epiphany?  Or…when have you had an experience where you knew God’s presence more closely and fully?  It could be something simple, or it could be something profound.  It could be in nature or music or art—like Starry Night by Van Gogh on the screen today…or it could be in a special worship time or something spectacular like that. 

            In the youth Workcamps and VBS for the children, we call these God Sightings.  When something happens or you see something and know God’s there. 

            Epiphany moments—or God Sightings—typically have an emotional response.  Even for us men.  Try to get Dick Schmidt to tell you about his experience with the youth mission trip last summer.  He can’t get through it without getting emotional—there was something so amazing about it—God’s presence is moving like that.  Or I could tell you about a friend I met recently who found out I was a pastor, so he started telling me about working at a plant in Chicago with all these big guys, and one of them asked him if he knew Jesus.  Next thing you know, he said, he’s crying—right there at work with all these big guys around who think he’s a wimp.  Epiphanies sometimes have that reaction.

            Anyone wish to share your epiphany moment with us?  I’d like to hear a few of them.  In certain Christian circles they call this “testimony time.”  But it’s just as fair to call it “epiphany time.”  Go ahead and share with us your epiphany moment, and I’ll repeat it so the rest of our congregation can hear.  [Allow time.  By the way, if you’re reading this online, I’d like to hear your epiphany moment, too!  Sometimes it’s affirming to share our epiphanies with other people.  Send me an e-mail at doc@disciplesumc.org.]

            God’s with us all the time.  No matter what happens or where you go, God’s presence is there.  But it sometimes takes an epiphany for us to be aware of it.  Those epiphanies might be ordinary things or big, amazing things…you just have to know how to appreciate them.  The magi were skilled in recognizing an epiphany when they saw one…and that might be the only difference between those Epiphany People and us…they knew how to look.

            And so, Epiphany People, I encourage you to look around you.  To see God’s presence coming to you in ways you might not have noticed before.  To see the beauty and the joy and the glory of God.  It’s there.  Epiphany people…know how to see them. 

The Best Christmas Tradition of All

Rev. Doc Newcomb

Christmas Eve, 2011

            [The sermon begins with a sketch about a family that has celebrated many wonderful Christmas traditions together.  But things have changed.  The kids have gotten older and moved out.  People move away.  And the traditions now seem empty without everyone there.  The sketch ends with the mother feeling sad but holding the baby Jesus figure from the manger scene their family had put up for years.  Is this where hope comes from?  As “O Holy Night” plays, she realizes Jesus is the best Christmas tradition of all.  She sets the figure down on the altar and walks off.  I walk up, pick up the baby Jesus figure, and begin the sermon.]

            What if the baby Jesus were all you had at Christmas?

            We have lots of wonderful Christmas traditions.  And they’re good.  They help mark sacred time from ordinary time, and they bring us together.  Christmas has a lot of traditions, because Christmas is a sacred time.  But those traditions don’t last, do they?  And when our traditions change, it can be hard.

            Talking about the Nativity set, I was reminded of something funny about a Nativity set we had when I was a kid.  It had plastic figures of the different people and animals, but we didn’t have a stable for them to go in.  I didn’t know that nowhere in the Christmas story is a stable or animals ever mentioned.  We’ve conjectured that there might have been animals and maybe a barn or stable, because the baby slept in a manger—which is an old English word for feeding trough that animals would eat from.  But most Nativity scenes have a stable, right?

            So I made a stable out of a little cardboard box.  I colored the walls and roof brown for the wood, and I cut a window or two out of it, and I colored the bottom yellow to look like hay. 

            That was all fine.  But my younger sister and I argued big time over where the characters went.  And I mean we had huge knock-down drag-out fights about it.  Yes…we were fighting about the Nativity scene!  I don’t remember all our issues, but I do remember I thought the angel should go on the roof, but she thought the angel should go inside the stable behind baby Jesus.  (I’m sure the theological implications of that are deep and multi-faceted.) 

            The matter of where the angel should go was deeply important to her and me.  So mom resolved the issue by saying we had to take turns.  My sister could set it up her way one day, and the next day I could set it up the right way!

            We might laugh, but the issue of our Christmas traditions are deep and meaningful to us.  When you get married you realize you’re marrying into a family that has different Christmas traditions than you do.  For example, some of us grew up in families where we open the presents on Christmas Eve.  And some of us grew up in families where we open the presents on Christmas morning…as God said and ordained we should do.  (I’m kidding.)  But merging those traditions together can be difficult…because they’re so important to us.  

            And then there are issues such as where to spend Christmas, and who cooks, and whether you have an artificial tree or a real tree, and whether you use white lights or the colored lights that my 17-year-old daughter still calls “rainbow lights” which she insists are so far superior to white lights she wonders why people even bother with white lights at all.  (I hope her future husband is OK with that.) 

            Traditions change over time, too.  Not just because of families trying to blend traditions together, but sometimes for other reasons.  If you’ve been part of our Church family the last few weeks, you’ve heard of how different traditions have changed over the years.  Christmas cards have changed over the years.  Christmas trees were sometimes viewed with contempt as pagan symbols.  Christmas lights were originally candles, but Thomas Edison’s company started making electric lights to sell more of his light bulbs.  Christmas presents were originally small and inexpensive until the 1800’s. 

Traditions change.

            Even how we celebrate Christmas Eve worship has changed over the years.  It wasn’t too long ago that the “right” time to have Christmas Eve worship was late at night…like at midnight as was the tradition in Catholic churches, although many Protestant churches were fine to have Christmas Eve service at 11:00 p.m…so worship got out at midnight.  But more and more families started wondering why they had to wait so late to have Christmas Eve worship…and they had a good point.  So we moved it up to a more reasonable hour like 7:00.  But I’ve had a couple people express to me how that’s just not really Christmas Eve worship.  This year, St. Mary’s in Oregon moved up their midnight mass this evening to 10:30 tonight. 

            Some of us even heard at a workshop last month that with Christmas on Sunday this year and more people traveling, the best time to have the candlelight service might be earlier in the week when people are still in town.  So maybe even the day of our Christmas Eve worship might change.   

            We get attached to our traditions, don’t we?  And it’s hard when they change.  But they do change.  Like we saw in the sketch…people get older, they move out, they get married, they get divorced, they die.  Life moves on.  Change is inevitable.  But those traditions were what made Christmas so special before all those changes, weren’t they?

            And it can be hard when change comes to our families.

            I know of lots of families who are experiencing something different for Christmas this year.  Quite a few families I know are celebrating Christmas without a loved one who died earlier this year.  I know of one family that’s gathering for the last Christmas in the house they grew up in this year; soon they’re moving out, so everyone’s getting together one last Christmas.  I know of another family where the kids have moved out and are celebrating Christmas in their new locations with new people…so the parents are having an empty nest Christmas.  And that’s sad.

            But…I know of others who are experiencing wonderful new things in their lives this Christmas.  For the couples I married at this altar this year, it’s their first Christmas together.  There are some families celebrating their first Christmas with a new baby in their home this year.  And I know of quite a few couples who got engaged this Christmas and are celebrating a very happy time in their relationships.  One of the young people in our youth group, whose faith has taken off and blossomed this year, told me how Christmas is so much more meaningful for her this year because she gets what it’s all about now.

            So traditions change…because we change.  Families change.  The best advice I read for dealing with loss at the holidays…is to start new traditions.  Maybe this is the year you step back and see what Christmas can be instead of looking back at what it used to be.  To be grateful for what happened more than feeling sad that it’s over.

            And that’s where this little reminder comes in [hold up the baby Jesus figure]. 

            What if baby Jesus were all we had at Christmas? 

            Christmas certainly wouldn’t be as fattening, would it?  We wouldn’t get into trouble by spending too much. 

            Because when you get right down to it…all those wonderful traditions: family, trees, lights, presents, cards…it all comes down to this. 

            Into a world of change and constancy…

            old traditions and new

            war and creation

            grief and joy

            new beginnings and sad endings

            marriage and divorce

            life and death

            progress and regression

            unity and separation

            Into all the wonderful messiness and strangeness of our lives…

            A baby was born.

            And he was wrapped in bands of cloth and laid in a cattle trough.  Angels sang and shepherds came.  And who knows if there was an angel on the roof or by the baby’s bed??

            But that baby makes all the difference. 

            Jesus was God’s gift of God’s very self to us, a way of saying, “I’m here.  It’s OK.  I love you.  All is not lost.  There’s still hope…there’s still joy…there’s still a promise of an adventure of faith that’ll change your life so you’re never the same again.  And you’re not alone.” 

            Of all the traditions that come and go, that give our Christmas that extra special sheen of joy, that make our lives richer…the most important tradition is…Jesus. 

Into our darkness a new light has shined.  May the light of Jesus fill you with a new hope tonight.  God is with us.  Jesus is born.  Merry Christmas.

Christmas Traditions: Presents

Matthew 2:1-12

Rev. Doc Newcomb

December 18, 2011

            Only one week to go!  Are you ready?  How many of you have your Christmas shopping done?  [Comment.]  How many of you haven’t even started?  [Comment.] 

            Yes, those Christmas presents are really something, aren’t they?  They keep us busy and cause us maybe to spend a little too much sometimes.  But oh how much fun on Christmas morning—or maybe Christmas Eve if that’s how your family celebrates it—to open those presents!  I’d guess most people associate Christmas with the tradition of giving presents more than anything else.  It was certainly that way for me when I was a kid. 

            This Christmas we’ve been talking about the different traditions we have at Christmas and hearing what God has to say to us through those traditions.  So far we’ve looked at Christmas cards, Christmas trees, and lights.  On Christmas Eve this Saturday evening we’ll talk about family.  But today it’s presents.

            What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?  Turn to someone next to you and take a minute to share that with each other.  [Allow time.]  Do we have a couple people who’d share what you said?  [Hear a couple responses.]  What?  Nobody got a Red Rider BB Gun like Ralphie in A Christmas Story? 

            OK, now here’s the next question for you to discuss with your partner.  What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever given?  [Allow time.]  Would anyone like to share what you talked about?  [Take a few comments.]

            Now, which was easier: thinking about the best present you ever gave or the best present you ever received?  [Get some feedback.] 

            I suppose the best present I can remember receiving was the stereo turntable I got as a senior in high school.  My parents got it for me for my dorm room the following fall.  Not only was it a great gift for me at that time, but my parents wrote a sweet note on it that told me how proud they were of me. 

            The best gift I’ve ever given might have been a magnetic screwdriver.  I gave it to a person in my life who was becoming quite special to me when I was in 4^th grade.  He would eventually become my step dad.  And he showed me this summer that he still has that screwdriver, and he thinks about me whenever he uses it.  He also told me about tools he got from his dad. 

            Presents are important. 

            The tradition of giving presents this time of year actually goes back to the ancient Romans.[1]  They’d give presents to celebrate the New Year.  The association of presents with Christmas goes back a long way as well.  At first it was believed that the Christ child would give a small gift to the children. 

Then there was a great man named St. Nicholas, who was born to wealthy parents in Russia in the 4^th century.   He became a bishop in Turkey, and his parents left him a large inheritance.  He was determined to use that money to help the poor.  So children in that part of the world started the tradition of leaving shoes out on Christmas Eve for St. Nicholas to put chocolate or coins in them.  In other parts of the world children hung stockings by the chimney.  And of course St. Nicholas is where we get Santa Claus. 

At first, the gifts at Christmastime…or even at Epiphany—when Christians celebrate the coming of the Wise Men—on January 6…were generally small.  Maybe they were chocolate or baked goods or a few coins.  But in the early 1800’s gifts at Christmas began to be more and more extravagant as retailers began to make a bigger emphasis on Christmas.  I read that the complaint people make, "Christmas today is all about presents, not like when I was a kid" has been made by people ever since.  Harriet Beacher Stowe wrote a story in 1850 about how Christmas had gotten too commercial.  It’s been that way a long time. 

So presents are here to stay…and I’m glad.  Because I like presents!  I know we spend way too much money on them, and I agree with those churches who utilize a campaign started by the Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Ohio called “Christmas is not your birthday.”  They encourage people to spend money in ways that would honor Jesus, like helping the poor or supporting various missions to people in need.  And I get it.  But still…presents are so much fun! 

The Wise Men in Matthew’s gospel brought presents to the new baby.  The writer of Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ birth quite differently than Luke does.  In Matthew’s story, Jesus was born in a house, and wise men came bringing presents worthy of a new king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  A lot of traditions have arisen about the wise men—or “magi” as they’re known in the Bible.  All we know is they were non-Jewish spiritual people from the East who apparently saw a sign in a star.  We don’t know how many of them there were, and we don’t know their names.  But they brought presents—elaborate and wonderful presents!

And we bring presents, too.  And…lucky for you, I have a present for you this morning.  Or at least for one of you.  [Bring out the present, wrapped nicely.]  One of you in this room will get to open this present and take it home.  I’m going to give the present to one person here, but don’t open it.  Then there’ll be a series of instructions as to how the present is to be passed around…based on what I draw from this basket here.  Once we’ve drawn all the directions about passing it around, the person who has it last gets to open it!  And you can take it home.  Let’s have some fun!

[Give the present to someone about halfway back in the church, then begin drawing from the following instructions, randomly moving the present around, until there are no more instructions.  Here are the instructions:

·         Move it three people to the right.

·         Move it 10 people back.

·         Move it 3 people forward, then one person toward the Advent Wreath.

·         Move it four people in the direction of the organ.

·         Move it eight people forward, then three people back.

·         Move the gift one person toward the nearest person wearing red earrings.

·         Move the gift one person toward the nearest person wearing a green shirt.

After the last slip has been drawn, have that person open the present and hold it up for everyone to see and applaud.]

            Wasn’t that fun?  And presents should be fun!  That’s why we give them. 

            But, while this Christmas present was random and nobody, including me, knew who was going to open it this morning, the best Christmas present of all wasn’t [the gift that was just opened] or [list a few things that people shared earlier about best gifts received or given].  The best Christmas present of all wasn’t even gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

            No, the best Christmas present of all…was Jesus.  God’s gift of God’s very self to us.  I’m sure if we asked God what was the best Christmas present God has ever given, God would say it was Jesus.  And it wasn’t just a random present just for one person, it was intended for everyone. 

            That present has changed my life, transformed who I am, given me a whole new life.  And it can be the same for you.

            I know it’s a busy week for so many of us with so much to do.  But I’d encourage you, as you’re shopping for presents or wrapping presents or even opening presents this week…to remember the best present of all—Jesus.

            We’re going to conclude today’s service by singing one of my all-time favorite Christmas carols.  It’s not one that’s known very well, but it’s beautiful.  It’s a lullaby.  As you sing it, imagine Mary or Joseph holding little newborn Jesus and singing this song to him…the best Christmas present of all.  [Rock-a-bye, My Dear Little Boy]

Traditions of the Season: Lights

John 1:1-5

Rev. Doc Newcomb

December 11, 2011

          Christmas is one of the most beautiful times of the year.  There are the beautiful songs, the decorations, and the excitement in the air…and all the lights.  Oh those lights!  Can you imagine Christmas without Christmas lights?

            This Christmas we’re looking at the different traditions that help make Christmas special…to see what God has to say to us through those traditions.  We’ve already talked about Christmas cards and Christmas trees.  Next week we’ll be talking about presents.   And on Christmas Eve we’ll be looking at family traditions.  But today is about those beautiful Christmas lights.  And for my family, I’m not sure there’s a better tradition than Christmas lights.

            When we were kids, one of my most precious Christmas experiences was when the family got in the car at night and drove around to look at the lights.  We’d play Christmas music and drive around.  I can still remember my little sister when she was a toddler (now she’s in her 30’s), going, “Haaa!  Pretty!” when she’d see a good display.

            I’ve done that with my own kids.  When they were little, they loved to put on their PJ’s, get snuggled under a blanket in the back seat, listen to a Christmas CD, and drive around looking at lights.  They still talk about it.  They’re both in high school now, and when I told them about Sinissippi Park* last year, we had to go there and drive through it. 

            My daughter is the oldest: a senior in high school and going to college next fall.  She posted on her Facebook page last week that people in her town needed to hurry up and put their Christmas lights up so she could see them.  And when she was little she developed a love for the colored Christmas lights instead of the white lights.  She called the colored lights “rainbow lights,” and she loves them.  Does not like the white ones.  For that reason all the Christmas trees in our family have rainbow lights.  Isn’t that cute?

            So Christmas lights have an emotional connection to us. 

            Have you noticed how Christmas lights have changed over the years?[1]  Originally people used candles—actual lit candles—in the tree.  We talked last week how Martin Luther started that.  As you can imagine, open flames and dry trees don’t mix well, so people usually only kept their candles lit a short while each day, and I read they’d keep water and sand ready to douse the flames if they got out of hand—which they did so often that insurance companies in 1908 refused to pay for damage caused by Christmas tree candles. 

            Thomas Edison actually made that a selling point when he developed light bulbs.  They were safe and wouldn’t burn your house down!  Here’s an actual ad from circa 1880 [Show it on the screen.]

Edison was quite the marketing genius, and when he realized he could sell a lot of light bulbs by making them different colors for Christmas, he decorated his Menlo Park, NJ laboratory with them so people would see it when they went by on the train.  The lights were red, white, and blue then, and they eventually caught on. 

            At first, Christmas lights were pretty expensive, even for people who could afford to have electricity.  A strand of lights cost about $12 around the turn of the last century, which in today’s dollars would be more like $300.  But as more and more people wanted them, and they produced more, the prices came down. 

            The technology has changed quite a bit.  The first Christmas lights developed by Thomas Edison and his team were about the size of a ping-pong ball.  Around the time of World War II they were those pointy kind, like a night light.  Those got hot, and children notoriously burnt their fingers on them—myself included when I was a baby.  Then they developed the smaller cool-burning lights, and even those have gotten smaller over the years.  And now, of course, the rage in Christmas lights is what?  LED lights that burn really bright!

            Christmas lights are wonderful and great, but of course you can’t talk about Christmas lights without talking about the Griswolds.  Enjoy this little gem from Christmas Vacation. 

            [Show the clip where Clark’s wife finally figures out how to turn the lights on, and they blaze in glory!  The neighbors are blinded and fall down.  An alarm rings at the power plant and someone flips a switch.  The family oohs and aahs.  Chapter 10 on the DVD.]

            I love that movie, I do I do I do I do I do. 

            Well, despite the way Thomas Edison used Christmas lights to promote sales…or even the way some people get carried away like Clark W. Griswold, Jr…Christmas lights actually have a spiritual meaning, too…like I was telling the children. 

            Having Christmas during the darkest season of the year, while accidental, symbolizes the nation of Israel waiting for the promised Messiah.  To those who looked forward to the days when the Promised One would come and deliver them from their bondage, the prophet Isaiah wrote this… [Have all these scripture quotes on the screen, and read them from there.]

            The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

            those who lived in a land of deep darkness—

            on them light has shined.  (Isaiah 9:2)

            And then later, Isaiah describes what it feels like to be without hope, how it feels like we’re groping around in the dark, when he writes this…

            We look for light, but find darkness,

            for brightness, but walk in gloom.

            We grope like those who have no eyes;

            we stumble at noon as in the twilight.  (Isaiah 59:9-10)

            The darkness, then, is symbolic of the hopelessness the people of Israel felt as they looked for their Messiah, their deliverer, the one they believed would establish a new reign of peace and glory. 

            Let me read to you from the Gospel of John in the Bible.  This is the beginning of his story of Jesus, and he begins it like the book of Genesis begins… “In the beginning.”  Listen to how light plays into the story as John describes it…

            [Read the text here.]

            In the creation song in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the world was “formless” and “void” and “darkness covered the face of the deep” (Gen. 1:2).  That is, before God began the act of creating, there was nothing and it was dark.  Darkness is symbolic of nothingness: the world without God. 

            So just as God said in creation, “Let there be light,” John writes that all things came into being through the Word, meaning Jesus.  And what came into being is “life.”  And that life was the light of everyone.  And then John wrote these words…[on the screen]

            “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  (John 1:5)

            How do you feel when it’s dark?  Scared?  Lonely?  Confused?  Sleepy?  Light brings hope in those situations, doesn’t it? 

            Maybe we find ourselves in all sorts of “darkness,” don’t we?  Perhaps it’s the darkness of fear because of job concerns.  Perhaps it’s the darkness of health issues.  Perhaps it’s the darkness of grief and loss.  Perhaps it’s the darkness of addiction?  Perhaps it’s the darkness of strained relationships or conflict.  Perhaps it’s the darkness of sin.

            The good news of Jesus coming into the world is that a very special light has shined into our darkness, and, John writes, “the darkness did not overcome it.”

            And so all those beautiful pretty Christmas lights…shining in the darkness…are a symbol of the light of all people: Jesus.  Light that can overcome whatever darkness you’re living in right now.

            We celebrate this reality on Christmas Eve when we light our little candles and hold them up.  And the sanctuary is so beautiful with only the candles and the Christmas lights.  Here’s a picture from a couple years ago.  [Show the picture from Christmas Eve with the candles held up.]  And we’ll do that again this year.  I sure hope you can be here.     

            Remember this stuff…as you’re driving around looking at the lights…or even as you’re sitting in your own home and looking at your lights.  Whatever darkness you find yourself in this Christmas, the lights remind us of hope.  God’s hope given to us as a baby lying in a manger.  God’s hope that’s a light that flashes as brightly as Clark Griswold’s Christmas display! 

            “The people who walked in darkness have a seen a great light.”

            “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

            May that light shine brightly on you this Christmas.        

Traditions of the Season:

Christmas Trees

Romans 12:1-2

Rev. Doc Newcomb

December 4, 2011

            How many of you have your Christmas tree up yet?  Most of us do!  That figures, since the Christmas tree is the most central tradition to Christmas these days. 

            Those traditions and rituals we do are important.  They give meaning to times that are special and sacred to us.  During this Christmas season at church, we’ll be looking at different traditions we do to celebrate Christmas.  Last week, Mary Gardner talked about Christmas cards.  Next week we’ll talk about lights, then the following week it’ll be presents, and on Christmas Eve it’ll be family.  Today it’s Christmas trees.  We’ll take a closer look at what these traditions mean, and we’ll hear what God has to say to us this Christmas through them.  I hope you’ll invite some of your friends and neighbors to join us. 

            I don’t know about you, but in my house at Christmas, I have to have a live tree.  That’s how it was when I was growing up, and the traditions we had of decorating our tree and getting a new ornament to hang every year are precious to me.  I still have a lot of those ornaments.  I like the smell of the live tree. Sure, I’m still stepping on dead needles in July, but still I like it. 

            So here’s a question: When do you take your tree down?  [Get some answers.]  New Years?  How many of you remember when the tradition was you didn’t put the tree up until Christmas Eve and left it up for the 12 days of Christmas and took it down on Epiphany, January 6?  [Comment on responses.]  It’s a sign that traditions change over the years, and that’s OK.

            Actually, the tradition of the Christmas tree has a long, long history…that predates the birth of Jesus by centuries.  Are you familiar with it?

            For centuries before Christianity, different cultures in the world put up green plants in their homes during the winter as a way to show signs of life during the colder times of the year when there wasn’t much light. 

            On the winter solstice, December 21, the shortest night of the year, various pre-Christian religions used greenery in their homes as part of their religion.  Some religions believed the sun was a god, and when the days got shorter they believed the sun god was sick.  For the Egyptians, the greenery in their homes was a way to celebrate the sun god’s victory over death as the days started to get longer again. 

            In some countries it was believed green trees and boughs in your home were a way to ward off evil spirits and witches as the days got shorter and there was more darkness. 

            The Romans celebrated the solstice with a feast called Saturnalia, since Saturn was the god of agriculture.  After the solstice, they knew the days would get longer and soon they’d be able to plant the fields.  So they decorated their temples and homes with greenery as a sign of hope for the coming season of growth. 

            Lots of ancient cultures and pre-Christian religions used greenery during the solstice time to celebrate the end of the darkness and the hope of new life to come, including the Druids, the Celtics, and even the Vikings of Scandinavia. 

            So you could say the Christmas tree in your living room is an ancient pagan symbol. 

            Well it used to be.  Lots of our traditions used to be “pagan.”  Including the celebration of Christmas itself.

            In the 4^th century, when Constantine was the Roman Emperor, something rather extraordinary happened: he converted to Christianity.  Then, in 313, Constantine declared, in his Edict of Milan, that all of Rome would be Christian.  That was a relief to the Christians who were being persecuted for their faith not to have to worry about that anymore, but what to do about all those feasts and celebrations that weren’t Christian?

            They converted them, too.

            So…Saturnalia was changed to Christmas, the celebration of Christ’s birth.  Easter, a celebration of spring and fertility, was changed to Jesus’ resurrection.  People pretty much did the same things they’d done before, but they celebrated something Christian instead of something that wasn’t Christian. 

            Biblical scholars will tell you it’s not likely that Jesus was born in the winter.  We truly don’t know when he was born, and Mark and Luke, who tell us stories of Jesus’ birth, don’t give us a date.  But it’s nice to have a celebration of Jesus’ birth, and it’s nice to have Christmas trees.  But our celebration of Christmas and Christmas trees aren’t a Christian tradition originally. 

            Some stricter Christian groups over the years refused to celebrate Christmas or put Christmas trees in their homes for this reason.  The Puritans in the colonial days of the United States had strict rules forbidding people from celebrating Christmas or having trees.  In fact, in 1659, Massachusetts enacted a law that made it illegal to celebrate Christmas on December 25 or to hang any decorations.  People were fined if they broke this law.  Still today there are some Christians who refuse to celebrate Christmas or have Christmas trees because they see it as pagan and offensive. 

            (So the groups that get all worked up about “putting Christ back in Christmas” and being upset that people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas are a little misguided.  This holiday wasn’t originally a Christian holiday anyway.  And besides, aren’t there more important things to worry about than that?) 

            But that isn’t to say Christmas trees are essentially pagan.  It was Martin Luther, the 16^th century German church leader who founded Lutheranism, who started using evergreen trees in his home to teach his children about Christmas.  He put candles on the tree to celebrate Christ’s birth.  According to legend, he was walking in the woods one night, thinking of a sermon, when he saw some beautiful evergreen trees with snow reflecting the stars.  It was so beautiful it inspired him. 

            St. Boniface, also from Germany, in the 600’s used evergreen trees to teach about Christianity.  It points up to heaven, it’s the shape of triangle to remind us of the trinity, and it’s always alive as a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection. 

            So Christmas trees were widely used throughout Germany.  It was Germany that began the tradition of hanging ornaments on their trees, too.  The song, “O Christmas Tree,” that we’ll sing a little later, was a German carol, O Tannenbaum.  As more and more German people immigrated to the United States, the traditions of celebrating Christmas and having Christmas trees became more popular than the strict rules about not celebrating them. 

            You maybe didn’t know your Christmas tree had so much history…and controversy. 

            What should we make of the fact that Christmas trees were once part of pre-Christian, pagan celebrations?  Shouldn’t that be a concern, like the Puritans believed…and some Christians today still believe? 

            Not at all.

            Because the hope Jesus brings, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, is one of transformation…taking the ways of the past and making them new…giving us a new direction…setting us free from the falseness we once knew and repurposing us for truth—God’s truth.  Truth that God loves us so much that God sent us a tiny baby, born in Bethlehem. 

            The scripture we read for today speaks of that truth…how we’re transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Our minds are renewed by God.  Paul’s writing here is about how spiritual disciplines help us grow closer to God and lead to a clearer understanding of God’s will for us.  We’re transformed.  We’re renewed.  We’re given a new purpose. 

            And the Christmas tree in your living room is a reminder of that.   The green symbolizes life that God gives us even in the winter of our lives.  The lights and decorations that transform an ordinary tree into something wondrous symbolize what God does with us.  Like the song…

            Something beautiful, something good, all my confusion he understood

            All I had to offer him was brokenness and strife

            But he made something beautiful out of my life.[1]

            I want to show you a scene from a Christmas special I’m sure you’ll recognize.  It’s about a tree.  The tree symbolizes the life of the person who bought it.  Others make fun of it and criticize it for being so pathetic.  But with a little love…it’s transformed into something beautiful.  The intention of the producers of this special was to show that’s what Jesus does for each of us.  Let’s watch…

            [Show the clip from A Charlie Brown Christmas when Charlie Brown takes his sad little tree past Snoopy’s dog house, crazily decorated with lights.  He tries to put one of the ornaments on the tree, and the tree bends over with the weight.  Charlie Brown leaves in disgust at how he ruins everything.  Then the gang shows up and decorates the little tree with Snoopy’s lights, and it becomes beautiful.  Lucy says, “Charlie Brown is a blockhead, but he did get a nice tree.”]

            It doesn’t matter where the tradition of Christmas trees come from.  It’s how they’re used now.  And it doesn’t matter where you come from…what your past is, what you’ve done, or what mistakes you’ve made.  Christmas gives us the hope that God’s love can transform us into something beautiful and something good. 

            So the next time you get a few moments beside your Christmas tree—with the lights twinkling and all those ornaments and tinsel and garland—take a moment to reflect on how the baby in the manger wants to transform your life…into something beautiful.