Sermon for November 29th

Now that Thanksgiving is over, everyone will turn their focus to Christmas. Of course, many people, especially those in charge of retail stores, have already been focusing on Christmas. A few weeks ago, my children were referring to all the wrapped presents and holiday lights hanging around particular stores saying, “Is it Christmas already?” No, it wasn’t even Thanksgiving. Some seminary friends of mine on Facebook have said that they get very annoyed that they are already hearing Christmas music when they go to the local coffee shop. By the time Christmas Day actually comes around, will anybody care anymore?

Today’s gospel text encourages us to be on guard so that our hearts are not weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the worries of this life, so that the day does not catch us unexpectedly, like a trap. It must not be talking about Christmas. With all the holiday festivities, Christmas parties, shopping trips, and Christmas concerts, most of us can’t imagine how we could possibly be caught unexpectedly by Christmas. And yet, you may have noticed in Christmases past, that it is easy to be caught by surprise at the Christmas Eve service, barely aware of what you were celebrating all those weeks before in the first place.

By the time Christmas Day has arrived, there is very little to look forward to. I mean the parties are over and you are already sick and tired of hearing Jingle bell rock for the umpteenth time. Even coming to Christmas worship services seems like an annoyance, or a chore, because you are so busy preparing for meals, hosting family members coming from out of town and buying or wrapping last minute gifts. It is just too easy to go through the entire holiday season and forget about Christ. Will you miss the point this year? Be alert, because there are many traps before December 25th.

I have never been drunk in my life, I really don’t drink anything but communion wine to be quite honest, so do people like me just get a free ride when reading these last verses in Luke that talk about not being a partier and getting drunk? Well, to be honest, alcohol is not my drug of choice. I’m addicted to other things. Mostly, I am addicted to me. I want my free time. I want my work time. I want to eat what I want. I want to watch the movies I want. I want to read when I want to read. I want to sleep when I want to sleep. I am addicted to me. These things are legal, even seen as positives for many people who like to focus on “self-care” and “boundaries”, and yet they take my focus off of God. What is your drug of choice?

For many people, in Jesus’ time as well as in ours, it is alcohol. However, there is nothing sinful about alcohol (I mean, we DO use wine for communion after all). But when you go to a Christmas party, what do you use it for? To celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ? Is that what’s on your mind? Or are you a social drinker, since everyone else is doing it? Or do you just want to get a nice buzz going? To drink away the worries? The memories? Most everyone would say that a party isn’t a party without some alcoholic beverages. What might Jesus say? Perhaps, that a Christmas party isn’t really a Christmas party without Jesus Christ at its center? What is going to be the focus of your holiday season? Jesus Christ or something else? Just to be very clear, this text isn’t about misusing alcohol, even though for some it might be about that as well. This text asks: Are you ready for Jesus to come again? Would you even notice if He did? Even at a wild and crazy Christmas party with some of your best friends?

The text today, from the gospel of Luke, is also not about Christmas. It is about the second coming of Christ, not his birth. But it certainly applies to this time of the year. Are you aware that the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas might be the most difficult time to be alert, aware and on your guard for the coming of Christ? That seems wrong somehow, doesn’t it? But, sometimes, it is our most pious feelings, our greatest virtues, and our most religious holidays that pull us away from God the most. Not just because there are so many traps to fall into, but because we are lulled into complacency.

You all remember the disciple Peter when he very thoughtfully took Jesus aside one day and explained that Jesus really shouldn’t be talking about dying on a cross in front of all his followers? He rebuked Jesus, the text says. And I’m sure that Peter felt very righteous in doing so. He was one of the twelve, after all, and Jesus was on a roll, ministry wise. It couldn’t have been very uplifting to hear Jesus talk about suffering and dying. But Jesus rebuked Peter right back and said, “Get behind me Satan, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” It is easy to confuse our desires and God’s desires, our righteousness for God’s righteousness.

How many times do you think parents repeat this mantra to their children before Christmas: “Christmas is about giving, NOT receiving.” Or “Tis better to give than to receive.” How many times? It’s like the motto of Christmas to make it seem like a nice holiday, a nice religious holiday, just without any mention of God or Jesus. So Santa becomes God who packs his bag full of goodies to give to the “nice” boys and girls. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas brings out the best in everyone, right? We all feel very righteous at Christmastime when we give to the Salvation Army bell ringer outside of the grocery store and then show up at the Christmas Eve service. We’ll all feel very splendid when we see the pews full, hopefully, and breathe a sigh of relief that all is right in the world again. Ahhh.

But Christmas isn’t about what we are giving to others; it is about what God has given to us. Not because we are nice, but because we are naughty. Santa Claus got it all wrong! If the long lines of shoppers and gigantic credit card bills are any indication, even during the most wonderful time of the year, most of us have our minds, not on divine things, but on human things. And the scary thing is that we all feel very self-righteous about that, don’t we? Some of you might even be thinking, how dare I talk about Christmas in such a mean way? You don’t want to come to church to hear the Grinch give a sermon!

But maybe we’ve just learned to be inspired by the wrong things. Like a drug user who can’t find happiness apart from a high even with a beautiful family at home, a great job and all the blessings of the world at his or her feet. Maybe we’ve become confused about what makes a great holiday party and now we are just going along with traditions? Perhaps we’ve become confused about what makes Christmas great, that it’s NOT the giving at all, but, in fact, it is the receiving, the receiving of a Lord and Savior who didn’t come just for the nice, but came especially for the naughty like you and me.

Today begins the season of Advent. Or, perhaps I should say, “Only four worshipping Sundays left before Christmas Day!” Jesus Christ is coming soon. He will come like a thief in the night. What better time than Christmas. No one would expect him then. Would you?

So if the time before Christmas is not about human things, buying gifts and partying, what is left? It is the same time as always: It is time to be alert. To be aware of how has Christ works in your life. How will He find you when He comes again? Now is the time to pray, that you may have the strength to escape all the traps of this season that might pull you away from Christ. Be on guard so that, four weeks from now, Christmas does not catch you by surprise. So that, come Christmas Day, you might have actually prepared more than the Ham, the gifts and the house for company, but you will have prepared yourself to hear the good news: Christmas is about giving, it’s just that YOU are the one who always receives the gift: Jesus Christ was born for you. Be alert: He will come again. Amen.