Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Luke 2:22-38; Mark 1:1-8

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
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Christmas has come and gone. Holiday visitors are thinking about heading back home. The presents have been opened. This holiday has been celebrated, and our focus is now on other things - perhaps the Bill's game today or more shopping, or any of a number of other things. New Year's Eve and Day are the next occasions. Christmas is a memory - a very recent one, but a memory of a holiday that has come and gone.

When you get right down to it, our society's pattern of celebrating and then mentally and emotionally moving on is a misunderstanding of what Christmas is all about. Think about it! The birth of a baby doesn't mean that everything's finished. It's not an ending, but rather a new beginning. Things have only just begun, and everything in your life is different because of that birth. A birth means that we have moved into new territory, new ways of thinking and being - less sleep and a focus in our lives that now revolves around a tiny baby. A birth means that we have taken on added responsibilities and it also means that we have received a wondrous gift of love.

In the same way, the birth of Jesus certainly wasn't an ending for Mary and Joseph. Earlier they had taken Jesus to be circumcised and then to the naming ceremony. Now, after Mary has completed the ritual time of purification, they present Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. They are seeking to be faithful in following all of the provisions of the law.

When they go into the temple they encounter two people who are moved by their encounter with the baby Jesus and have amazing things to say. They encounter a man named Simeon and then a prophetess named Anna.

Simeon we're told was a God-fearing man, who was waiting for Israel to be saved. We're told that the Holy Spirit was with him, and had assured him that he would not die before seeing the promised Messiah. Simeon immediately recognized that Jesus was the one whom he had been waiting for. He was the source of hope and salvation. He took Jesus in his arms and offered a prayer of thanks to God. Mary and Joseph were amazed at the things Simeon said about Jesus. In spite of what Mary had been told by the angels, in spite of the wonder of the birth and the arrival of the shepherds and magi, the full meaning of Jesus' birth had not yet sunk in. Simeon's words opened their eyes to some of the meaning of Jesus' birth. He gave them a glimpse of some of what lay ahead.

We're told that Anna was so moved by her experience of the Christ Child that after giving thanks to God, she went out and spoke about Jesus to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free. She went bearing a message of hope - that this is the one whom we have been waiting for.

You see both Simeon and Anna expected that amazing things would happen with the coming of the Messiah. They knew that their world and their lives were about to change because of God's amazing action. They didn't fear those changes, in fact they seemed to look forward to them, precisely because they were a part of God's plan.

Both of them expected that the Messiah would bring drastic changes to their world. Through Him God would work to bring justice and hope to all. They recognized that this required major changes, and that their world, their faith, their lives would be different after the Messiah came, but they were excited about these changes, because they knew that they came from God.

Now after a while, the world became complacent again. Jesus was born. It was an amazing event, and Mary & Joseph's lives were totally changed. But the rest of the world continued on, not really much different than before, so John the Baptist started preaching and teaching to let people know that they needed to get ready for something really big, really amazing that was about to happen. The Messiah was coming - and everything would be different as a result.

It struck me this weekend that we don't have the same expectation of change. We look forward to Christmas. There's a lot of planning and preparation that goes into getting ready. We come to worship Christmas Eve, Christmas day is a holiday - the stores are closed, and most people get together with family or friends. But then the next day comes and nothing has really changed, and we would have been surprised if it had. One more holiday has come and gone, and nothing is really different as a result.

Yet something within me was cries a loud "NO", things need to be different. I need to be different. You need to be different. Our world needs to be different. We've done a pretty good job of messing things up, and about most of those messes we find ourselves feeling helpless to change things. After all, how do we fix the economy or the problems that pollution is causing in our environment? Or how do we fix terrorism or poverty or the various wars that are being fought around the world? We shouldn't want to continue on unchanged. Things are a mess! We need to allow Jesus to change our lives and our world. We need Jesus to make a real difference.

When Christmas comes and goes and nothing is really changed, then somehow we've missed the real meaning of Christmas. After all, we aren't just celebrating a birth that happened 2,000 years ago and except for it being a holiday has no real meaning for us.

Jesus Christ was born in us and for us, and when we really experience that good news, our lives are different as a result. When Christmas is a time for us to see this sign from God more clearly, then we can make needed corrections in the way that we live, then we can allow ourselves to be really changed by this experience of God's grace. That's what it seems to me that celebrating Christmas is all about.

Christmas is not just about one more holiday, one more occasion for parties and a chance to receive a few presents. Rather, Christmas is about hearing God's word, about knowing God's presence with us as it has come in Jesus Christ, and about allowing ourselves and our lives to be changed by the experience, so that we live more faithfully, and are once again traveling along the road that God has chosen for us to follow.

This year let us keep Christmas alive in our hearts and our lives. Let us allow ourselves to be so changed by this birth, that we seek to live more faithfully and fully as God's people, a people who have seen the sign, and who seek to follow wherever God leads us.

Years ago Henry VanDyke wrote: "There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is keeping Christmas."

Are you willing...
To forget what you have done for other people, and
To remember what other people have done for you;
To ignore what the world owes you, and to think about what you owe the world
To remember that God's reason for our existence is not what we are going to get out of life but what we are going to give,
To stop focusing on what's wrong with life and to look for ways we can sow a few seeds of happiness

Are you willing to do these things for even a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough
To bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts

Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world, stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death.
And, that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem so many years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal love?

Then, you can keep Christmas.

This year let us remember that Christmas was only the beginning. Let us keep the spirit and meaning of Christmas alive in our lives throughout the coming year.

Amen.