SermonStudio

HBO hit the jackpot! The ratings they achieved for their special on Michael Jackson were awesome. The program aired about four years ago -- before Michael's fall from grace. The special itself was to be a replay of an actual performance of Michael in Bucharest. Before that part of the program came on, however, there were 20 minutes of video hype introducing the audience to Michael Jackson. There were video clips of the great moments in his life. There were scenes from many of his concerts with young women screaming in delight, young men and women passing out from sheer excitement, fans of all ages adoring this young singer.

Pastor Grace Larsen watched the special with several members of her family. Pretty soon she started listening to what people in the room were saying about this prelude to Michael's appearance. "They treat him as if he were God," said her daughter. "Is he real?" someone else wondered out loud. Another said, "Bigger than life. Most definitely!"

This conversation got Pastor Larsen's attention. She started to pay closer attention to the way in which the appearance of this singing idol was presented. They really did treat him like a kind of god. He was bigger than life. The imagery was often quite blatantly religious. Much of the music under the video introduction sounded very much like sacred music from the past. Michael Jackson himself was shown several times in a pose that matched the position of Jesus on the cross. As the minutes ticked down to actual concert time, fire and smoke appeared as the mantle of his coming. Fireworks shot off. Spotlights danced with light. There was a hint of stardust in the air.

At long last Michael Jackson appeared in the flesh. His clothes enhanced his appearance. He stood immobile. The crowd went wild. They were in ecstasy. They seemed to worship the image. They adored the very presence of Michael Jackson. And it went on like that for the entire concert.

Pastor Grace watched the program unfold, paying particular note to its religious overtones. She didn't know many of the songs that Michael performed. Two songs at the end of the concert, however, really got her attention. One song sang about the challenge before all people to make the world a better place. The final song was a song Jackson had written called "Man in the Mirror." The theme of the song is that we can only make this world a better place if we look at ourselves in the mirror, and change our ways.

After this song concluded Michael Jackson got dressed in an astronaut's suit. With a power pack strapped to his back he blasted off from the stage in a burst of fireworks. "Mr. Jackson has left the stadium," the announcer said.

Pastor Larson thought and thought about the performance she had just seen. She liked it that Michael Jackson had appealed to all people to change their ways and change the world. She was disturbed, however, with the way he was portrayed. "They treat him as if he were God," her daughter had said. Pastor Grace thought about that line a lot while she was preparing her Christmas sermon. She played out the contrasts between the nearly "godlike" appearance of Michael Jackson and the appearance of the real God-made-flesh in Jesus Christ. There was no fire and smoke on the first Christmas night. Just a baby wrapped in diapers. There were no fireworks that shot off. Just a baby wrapped in diapers. No spotlights danced with light. Just a baby wrapped in diapers. There was no hint of stardust in the air. Just a baby wrapped in diapers. That's how it was when God became flesh to dwell among us, Pastor Grace thought to herself. Just a baby wrapped in diapers.