The final sermon on the Advent/Christmas preaching series on ornaments. As an addition to the sermon, "Joseph" walked down the center aisle after the Scripture reading and laid down on the top step of the chancel area. At the point noted in the sermon, he jumped up and raced down the center aisle out of the sanctuary. "joseph" did a great job, but I do not think it added to the sermon as I imagined it would.
“Ornaments: No Ornaments” SAPC, December 29, 2019,
Now after they [wise men] had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[h] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[i] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[j] 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[k] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
Keith comes down center aisle and lays down on top chancel step.
Move 1: one of our family Christmas traditions in OH was to cut down our Christmas tree.
All our home videos and Christmas photo albums have two rounds of Culps at the Valley View Farm – the first when we tagged the tree; the second, when we cut the tree and brought it home (usually one round of photos had everyone smiling; one round recorded an obvious spat among the girls)
One round of photos usually involved cold weather with heavy jackets and often snow on the ground; the second set was usually warmer.
Except one year. One year it was warm in the photos when we tagged the tree and it was warm when we cut the tree down and brought it home. In fact, that year, it didn't really get cold until after Christmas.
Not being tree people, we did not understand the consequences of not having a cold spell before cutting down the tree: with no freeze, the bugs were still alive all through tree.
I was at work when I received one of those emergency phone calls from home. “Bugs are everywhere – in the tree and in the room where the tree was. Stop everything and get home.”
But I could not get home fasts enough. My wife and daughters had solved the problem.
They had found some Raid bug spray in the garage and sprayed the tree from top to bottom. Although it seemed like a good idea to my wife and daughters, it began a daily transformation of our Christmas tree from pretty green to very dry light green to brown to rapidly shedding pine needles.
We generally waited a few days after Christmas to take down the tree, trying to stay in synch with the twelve days of Christmas.
but not that year. Dec. 26th arrived and the ornaments were removed. The ornament removal process created a cascade of falling brown pine needles, leaving a tree with bare limbs that made Charlie Brown’s tree look grand and glorious.
The stark contrast between Christmas and the day after had never been greater.
December 25th may give way quickly to December 26th, but the impact and implications of the coming of God in the christ-chid continues.
What are we to do in response to the arrival of the Christ-child?
Move 2: Look at Joseph, Mary’s husband and the earthly father of Jesus for a few clues.
a. We mostly remember the birth fo christ as told by the Gospel of Luke.
1. Pregnant Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem.
1. no room at the inn.
2. Angels in the sky announcing good tidings
2. Shepherds hearing the good news and heading to Bethlehem.
3. Mary treasuring things in her heart.
4. not quite, but almost a Hallmark Christmas movie.
b. If we wander into the gospel of Matthew, we limit ourselves to the wise men following the star to Bethlehem with gifts for the Christ-child.
1. We generally stay away from the part of the story we read today.
2. somehow, our image of Christmas does not have room for baby Jesus being whisked off to Egypt and King Herod killing infant.s
3. but i think we can learn a lot from the Gospel of Matthew about how to move on beyond Christmas.
c. Listen to what happens.
1. An angel of theLord appeared to Jospeh in the night and commands: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.
Keith jumps up and runs down the center aisle out of the sanctuary.
2. And Joseph did.
Mov 2: two thoughts:
a. First of all, Joseph did what God told him to do.
1. he did not stop and think about it.
2. He did not check out his other options.
3. he did not do a cost-benefit analysis.
4. He simply grabbed baby Jesus and Mary and took off.
5. no questions asked.
b. The birth of Christ asks us this question: Since God came into the work to join with us, will we join with God?
1. Even as the Presbyterian part of me struggles with Joseph’s immediate response with no thoughtful reflection, his response reminds us of our call to follow Christ into the world.
2. If the one who is for us asks us to go, shouldn’t we go?
3. Christmas continues beyond December 25th when we respond to God’s call and give our lives over to serving Christ.
c. Secondly, we are reminded in this story that God is continually working to save us.
1. the prophet Isaiah tells God’s people that the messenger is coming who is bring us God’s salvation.
2. that messenger has arrived in the Christ-child.
3. God’s desire to redeem and save continues as God has Joseph take baby Jesus away from the death king Herod desires for him.
4. I do not know the mystery of God’s ways or why the King Herod’s of the world continue to threaten with death.
5. But I do know the God who desires to redeem and save.
6. I know this God most fully in Christ Jesus, the one who comes to live among us.
7. So we dare to follow Christ into the world because the God who sends us has joined with us to redeem and save the world.
Conclusion: The ornaments are gone, but the work of God continues. Get up and go into the world serving Christ.
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