Rev. Michael D. Halley December 24, Christmas Eve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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1 Reclaiming Christmas Rev. Michael D. Halley December 24, 2014 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Christmas Eve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have entitled tonight s meditation Reclaiming Christmas. I am indebted to the Rev. Angelo S. Arrando, who is pastor of St. Gregory the Great Roman Catholic Church in Danbury, Connecticut, for a stimulating article on this topic which he wrote for their local newspaper 1. I am not a bah humbug sort of guy. Please believe that. I am not trying to rain on anyone s parade or take the fun out of anybody s celebration of Christmas. But having said that, I believe that there are a few items concerning Christmas which we Christians should think and pray about. So here are some thoughts, prompted by Father Arrando. When does it all start? As early as mid-september, it seems that the malls, the big box stores, and other establishments began to saturate the airwaves with Christmas music, complete with ads about Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays. Now, it is December 24 and it is after 11 pm and I think we can safely say that the onslaught is over for this year. The choice of the word onslaught was deliberate, because it appears that our culture has sort of kidnapped Christmas and has made Santa Claus - - not Jesus -- the spokesman and the trendsetter for all things about Christmas. 1

2 Page 2 Now there is nothing at all wrong with our Christmas traditions, like the tree, the lights, Rudolph, the elves, gifts and wrappings, stockings and poinsettias. These are wonderful traditions. But if we are not careful, all of these can muddy the waters of the original message of Christmas. And oh how busy we are at this time of year. We prepare, decorate, illuminate, and dust off the nativity scene; we write, mail, shop, wrap, bake, cook, carol, exchange, and visit. Whew! Even reading that list makes me a bit tired! And, of course we pray and we worship, as well, as indicated by your presence here this evening. We also do good deeds for each other, and give gifts to each other, pick each other up, and drop each other off. But if we are not careful in all this hustle and bustle, we will not really connect with each other. Because of the busyness of our Christmas celebration, we don t really have the time to enter deeply into each other s lives like we want to do. Our highways have become our homes, because we are always on the go. Is this how we want to celebrate Christmas? What happened to the original Christmas message? Has it been silenced in all of our distractions of this season? And our wonderful modern technology may not be helping us to connect with each other in ways that are personal and real. Text used to be the book we purchased for a college class. We did not ever, until these modern times, put the words smart and phone together to describe the thing we wear on our belt. We are living a new reality, it seems. And how about our stuff? I wish the Rev. Tom Britton was here tonight, God rest his soul. He could tell us a thing or two about how we just have-to-have stuff that truly is not a necessity in our lives. If we see it and we want it, we buy it, often without ever asking How much stuff is enough? And our children and our grandchildren... what are they learning from

3 us? Do they know the difference from a want and a need? When they look at us, do they see someone who uses most of our time making enough money to buy everything we want? Forgive me, please, for painting such a dark picture on a night of such joy. So, let s move on to something much more positive: It is time for Christians to reclaim Christmas. Reclaim it from our culture or anyone who would make it other than what it should be in our lives. How would reclaiming Christmas look to us? Let me make some suggestions. We would first reclaim the passion for close connection and intimate contact with those we love most. And this is what Christmas is all about, giving ourselves away to others. Page 3 Christmas is about the coming of Jesus, and in that gift, God definitively placed human beings above institutions, flags and nations. I believe that in Jesus, God is saying that we need to take care of one another. To put it in the simplest of terms, Jesus is religion made simple. In this simple religion, people always come first. Not some people in some places, but all people in every place. Now, for me, that is what we mean by keeping Christ in Christmas. The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, came in human flesh to live in the dirt and grime and pain of this world, says that God took on our human needs and made them His very own. In Jesus, God asks us to do the same thing for each other. If we are able to make that a reality in our lives, this taking time to care for others, we would not have to worry about anyone taking Christ out of Christmas. In fact, we would be celebrating Christmas in our everyday actions, in our everyday words, and in our everyday lives. The world would know what

4 Page 4 it is we believe and what it is we are about, because we would be living that way each day. It is not the responsibility of the stores to help me or anyone else find Christ in Christmas. If we truly want to find Christ in Christmas, then let s go where God s people are, those who are the weakest and the least able to fend for themselves. Or come to church, as you have tonight, and read your Bible and pray. Mother Teresa, who spent her life with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, India, once said, It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you... Yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother [or sister] and offer him your hand. Thank God for Christmas! Thank God for the Son of God born on this day! Joy to the world, the Lord has come! +==+==+==+==+==+==+ All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome!

5 1. Adapted from Our Christmas has been ransomed, by the Rev. Angelo S. Arrando, pastor of St. Gregory the Great Roman Catholic Church in Danbury, Connecticut. Published at 9:26 pm, Friday, December 20, 2013, in The News-Times, Danbury, CT. Page 5

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