It was just a few short hours
ago that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ; the one
we Christians believe is the Savior of the World. In even less
time than that many of us also celebrated the secular holiday
engaged in all types of activities that have come to be associated
with the day. Brian Marshall researched how Christmas works by
going to howstufworks.com and
came up with some interesting information. In 1867, Macy's
department store in New York City stayed open until midnight
Christmas Eve. Seven years later they had special window displays
for Christmas. In just over 100 years gift giving is now a multi-billion
dollar business, without which some retailers would not survive.
While the Magi brought gifts to Jesus it is Macy's to whom
we must gift credit (no pun intended) for our holiday giving.
The gifts the Wisemen brought to Jesus may well have been used
by Joseph to fund his family's trip to Egypt which was
necessitated by the fear that King Herod had of one he suspected
might be a rival. His fear was so strong that when he could not
locate Jesus he had all the boys in the region who were two or
younger put to death in the hopes he would somehow destroy the
One the visitors from the East had come to worship.
We usually do not stop to think of all the dangers Christmas
evokes. Last week you may recall I talked about the humiliation
if not danger for Mary and Joseph because of Mary's pregnancy
outside of marriage. They survived that but within the first
two years of Jesus' life on earth there was this new danger
presented by King Herod. Christmas isn't easy today for
many people. This season of the year brings emotional difficulty
to many who have lost loved ones or who are out-of-work. It creates
hardships for those who spend more than they can afford or drink
more than they should attempt to consume. Counselors will tell
you that there is usually an increased demand for their services
after Christmas. These come from those whose expectations were
not met. In severe cases it even leads some to suicide.
In the movie The Shawshank Redemption which
takes place in a prison, Andy says to his best friend played
by Morgan Freeman, "Hope is a dangerous thing. The reality
is that we are in here and hope is out there." Andy eventually
does get out which brings hope to those who remain imprisoned.
One has to wonder what must have been going on in Mary and
Joseph's minds. First there was the unexpected pregnancy
that shattered their hopes for a normal wedding. Then they had
to travel to a distant town where Jesus was born in a barn. It
was not the beginning of marriage and family they desired. Almost
before they could recover there was another dream and they had
to move again this time to a foreign country in order to preserve
their baby's life.
Christmas and the One whose day it is have a way of calling
us to new territory. It is an annual reminder of how much God
loves us and how God calls us to love others. Like Mary, Joseph
and Jesus we sometimes find ourselves needing to go to places
we do not desire to visit. We find ourselves being called to
do things we don't want to do.
I am indebted to Tony Campolo who was in Bloomington earlier
this year. He tells this story about the late Mike Yaconelli
who was a youth leader of national renown. Mike told a story
about a deacon in his church who wasn't "Deaking."
I came across this recently in the December 2004 issue of Homiletics,
page 69.
The fellow in question was not doing the work of being a deacon.
One day Mike said to the deacon, "I have a group of young
people who go to the old folk's home and put on a worship
service once a month. Would you at least be willing to drive
the kids to the old folk's home?" The deacon agreed.
The first Sunday the deacon was at the old folk's home,
he was in the back with his arms folded as the kids were doing
their thing up front. All of a sudden, someone was tugging at
his arm. He looked down and there was this old man in a wheelchair.
He took hold of the old man's hand and the old man held
his hand all during the service. The next month the same thing,
the man in the wheelchair came and held the hand of the deacon.
The next month the same and the next month and the one after
that.
Then the old man wasn't there. The deacon inquired and
he was told, "Oh, he's down the hall, right hand
side, third door. He's dying. He's unconscious, but
if you want to go and pray over his body that's all right."
The deacon went and there were tubes and wires hanging all
over the place. The deacon took the man's hand and prayed
God would receive him, that God would bring this man from this
life into the next and give him eternal blessings.
As soon as he finished the prayer, the old man squeezed the
deacon's hand and the deacon knew he had been heard. He
was so moved by this that tears began to run down his cheeks.
He stumbled out of the room and as he did he bumped into a
woman. She said, "He's been waiting for you. He said
that he didn't want to die until he had the chance to hold
the hand of Jesus one more time."
The deacon was amazed at this and asked, "What do you
mean?"
She said, "Well, my father would say that once a month
Jesus would come to this place. He would take my hand and hold
it for a whole hour. I don't want to die until I have the
chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time."
If Christmas has really worked this year, then you and I had
best be ready to travel to some unexpected places where we will
hold hands and do other things for those who will see Jesus in
us. If Christmas has just been another day we probably won't
go anywhere important and those without hope will have to look
for others to hold their hands.
What kind of Christmas did you experience this year?
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