The Colors of Christmas: Six Sermons and Object Lessons for Advent and Christmas
Sermon
A Christmas Journey
A Collection of Resources for Advent and Christmas
Object:
Advent 4
Children's Message
Blue
Good morning, boys and girls. What color ribbons do we have this morning? Blue. Yes, we have blue ribbons today. Blue is our color of Christmas for this morning. But, before we pass out the blue ribbons and talk about them, let's review the three we already have. First, we had green. The green ribbon stands for what? Correct, life and growth. Next, we had the purple ribbon. It reminds us that Jesus is the King of kings. Last Sunday's ribbon was red. Through the color red, we remember that Jesus died on the cross to save us all.
And now the blue ribbons. Once again, the women of the choir will help you pin on your blue ribbons while I talk to you about the color blue as a color of Christmas.
This morning, the altar paraments are blue in color, just like our ribbons. Blue. When a new baby is born, and the baby happens to be a little girl, in what color is she often dressed? Pink, that's correct. What color is used if the baby is a boy? That's right, blue. Blue seems to be the color for boys, doesn't it? But, there's more behind the color blue than the fact that Jesus was a baby boy. Blue is also the color of heaven or eternity. What color is the sky on a bright and sunny day? That's correct, it's blue. Likewise, when we think of water, what color comes to mind? Blue again. And what do we use water for in the church? Baptism, that's right. When most of you were little babies, you were brought here to the altar and baptized. The pastor took water and poured it over your head, so that you might become a child of God. During the Christmas season, we remember once more the coming of the Child of God, Jesus. He came down to us from heaven. He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. He is God's Son and our Savior for eternity.
As you can see, there are several good reasons that blue is one of the colors of Christmas. Wear your blue ribbon proudly. It reminds us of the baby boy born in Bethlehem, Jesus, our eternal Savior! And through the color blue, we can remember our baptism also as a child of God!
Advent 4
Sermon
Blue, the Color of Eternity
Romans 6:3-11
I once heard of a dream about Christmas. It's not the usual dream of a baby boy in the manger in the stable at Bethlehem. Rather, the dream goes something like this:
One day, our Lord Jesus entered the office of the angel in charge of foreign relations in heaven. "I just heard that I might be making a trip down to earth...." The angel allowed his gold pencil two taps on his desk. "That's right ... and soon, too." "Well," continues Jesus, "what I want to know is where? Where on earth? Rome? Athens? Corinth? Alexandria? There's a fine library in Alexandria, and I hear that the emperor's symphony at Rome is even better than the Athens Philharmonic, and I would love to see the Parthenon in person, too...." His voice trailed off.
Without speaking, the angel got up and went over to the large map on the wall. He took his pencil and found the Mediterranean Sea; he touched Rome. Jesus' heart stopped for a moment ... then moved east to Corinth and Athens ... the Lord held his breath. The pencil continued to move east, then south. The angel seemed to be having a little trouble finding the place he was looking for. Then he spotted Jerusalem; holding the pencil point on Jerusalem, he looked around it in a small circle. "I guess it's just too little to be on the map." "Too little? What's too little?" the Lord asked. "Bethlehem," was the answer.
"Bethlehem!" The Lord's jaw dropped. "You mean I'm going to Bethlehem?" The angel didn't deny it. "But ... but there's nothing there, nothing at all. No symphonies, no libraries, no works of art, no centers of learning. There won't even be decent living accommodations ... just a little rundown inn! How can I set up my office there?"
The angel cleared his throat and tried to find just the right words. "We weren't thinking of having you set up an office. You'll be going steerage this trip."
"Steerage! No office -- Bethlehem! I had hoped for something a little better than Bethlehem. Well, I might as well start packing."
At this point, the angel put his hand on the Lord's shoulder. "Ummm, that won't be necessary! I don't know how to tell you this, but we're sending you in the same way all humans enter the world ... we're sending you as a baby."
There was a long, long silence. "As a baby! As a baby? Are you sure? Why, there isn't even a decent hospital in Bethlehem!"
"I know, I know," said the angel gently. "You'll just have to make the best of things."
Slowly, the Lord walked out of the angel's office, mumbling to himself, "To Bethlehem -- not to Rome, or Corinth, or Athens. Bethlehem? To a dingy, dirty, out-of-the way place like Bethlehem ... and going as a baby on top of it all! Bethlehem, of all places! With my luck, the inn will probably be full up when I arrive!"
At Christmas, Jesus came to earth as a baby boy! The mighty Son of God -- the Lord of all nations -- the Prince of Peace! A baby -- a little baby boy. And we know that the color blue is the color of baby boys!
But, like the green, the purple, and the red that have preceded it, blue has a deeper meaning as well. It is also the color of eternity. It reminds us of heaven, of the place where we are going in order to be with God, the place from where Jesus came in the first place! Eternity -- a relationship we have with this little baby boy of Bethlehem. It's a relationship that is borne out, that begins with baptism. Listen with me to the words of Saint Paul from Romans, chapter 6.
(Read the text.)
Alive to God in Christ Jesus! Doesn't sound much like the Christmas story, does it? More like Easter? Exactly! And that's the point. This baby boy, dressed in blue as a color of Christmas, is the same victorious Christ of Easter. And the victory, the glory, the hope and promise of eternity is ours, through the blue water of baptism!
My little "dream" about Jesus descending to earth as a child, I believe, points out vividly to what great lengths God our Father went to save us, his children. His only begotten Son, reduced to a mere infant, a baby boy, the child of Bethlehem.
Matthew tells the story of the angel's appearance to Joseph. What a conversation Joseph and Mary must have had the night before! "You're what? Pregnant? What a disgrace! You're nothing but a harlot! You've ruined my reputation and your own!"
But the angel comes with these words: "Joseph, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins!" So the gift God gave the world at Christmas was the greatest gift he could possibly give. His own Son, his own little boy, the Child who comes to give us the gift of eternity!
A December issue of Readers' Digest from many years ago had this little story that shares with us much of the truth of Christmas:
There was once an African boy who gave his missionary teacher an exquisite sea shell as a Christmas gift. The lad had walked miles and miles for it, to a special bay, the only place where such sea shells were found. "How wonderful of you to have traveled so far for this present," said the teacher. The boy's eyes shone as he replied, "Long walk, part of gift!"
It was a long walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem, from eternity to Bethlehem, but the long walk was part of God's gift ... that we might know eternity ... that we might experience life as God intended ... that we might be with him forever!
Blue, the color of eternity. One of the colors of Christmas. Think about your baptism and God's gift to you of the baby boy at Bethlehem, as you celebrate your Christmas in a few short days. Because of the Christ of Christmas, we have the gift of eternity. Enjoy your gift, your Christmas gift from God, this Christmas. Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Amen.
Children's Message
Blue
Good morning, boys and girls. What color ribbons do we have this morning? Blue. Yes, we have blue ribbons today. Blue is our color of Christmas for this morning. But, before we pass out the blue ribbons and talk about them, let's review the three we already have. First, we had green. The green ribbon stands for what? Correct, life and growth. Next, we had the purple ribbon. It reminds us that Jesus is the King of kings. Last Sunday's ribbon was red. Through the color red, we remember that Jesus died on the cross to save us all.
And now the blue ribbons. Once again, the women of the choir will help you pin on your blue ribbons while I talk to you about the color blue as a color of Christmas.
This morning, the altar paraments are blue in color, just like our ribbons. Blue. When a new baby is born, and the baby happens to be a little girl, in what color is she often dressed? Pink, that's correct. What color is used if the baby is a boy? That's right, blue. Blue seems to be the color for boys, doesn't it? But, there's more behind the color blue than the fact that Jesus was a baby boy. Blue is also the color of heaven or eternity. What color is the sky on a bright and sunny day? That's correct, it's blue. Likewise, when we think of water, what color comes to mind? Blue again. And what do we use water for in the church? Baptism, that's right. When most of you were little babies, you were brought here to the altar and baptized. The pastor took water and poured it over your head, so that you might become a child of God. During the Christmas season, we remember once more the coming of the Child of God, Jesus. He came down to us from heaven. He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. He is God's Son and our Savior for eternity.
As you can see, there are several good reasons that blue is one of the colors of Christmas. Wear your blue ribbon proudly. It reminds us of the baby boy born in Bethlehem, Jesus, our eternal Savior! And through the color blue, we can remember our baptism also as a child of God!
Advent 4
Sermon
Blue, the Color of Eternity
Romans 6:3-11
I once heard of a dream about Christmas. It's not the usual dream of a baby boy in the manger in the stable at Bethlehem. Rather, the dream goes something like this:
One day, our Lord Jesus entered the office of the angel in charge of foreign relations in heaven. "I just heard that I might be making a trip down to earth...." The angel allowed his gold pencil two taps on his desk. "That's right ... and soon, too." "Well," continues Jesus, "what I want to know is where? Where on earth? Rome? Athens? Corinth? Alexandria? There's a fine library in Alexandria, and I hear that the emperor's symphony at Rome is even better than the Athens Philharmonic, and I would love to see the Parthenon in person, too...." His voice trailed off.
Without speaking, the angel got up and went over to the large map on the wall. He took his pencil and found the Mediterranean Sea; he touched Rome. Jesus' heart stopped for a moment ... then moved east to Corinth and Athens ... the Lord held his breath. The pencil continued to move east, then south. The angel seemed to be having a little trouble finding the place he was looking for. Then he spotted Jerusalem; holding the pencil point on Jerusalem, he looked around it in a small circle. "I guess it's just too little to be on the map." "Too little? What's too little?" the Lord asked. "Bethlehem," was the answer.
"Bethlehem!" The Lord's jaw dropped. "You mean I'm going to Bethlehem?" The angel didn't deny it. "But ... but there's nothing there, nothing at all. No symphonies, no libraries, no works of art, no centers of learning. There won't even be decent living accommodations ... just a little rundown inn! How can I set up my office there?"
The angel cleared his throat and tried to find just the right words. "We weren't thinking of having you set up an office. You'll be going steerage this trip."
"Steerage! No office -- Bethlehem! I had hoped for something a little better than Bethlehem. Well, I might as well start packing."
At this point, the angel put his hand on the Lord's shoulder. "Ummm, that won't be necessary! I don't know how to tell you this, but we're sending you in the same way all humans enter the world ... we're sending you as a baby."
There was a long, long silence. "As a baby! As a baby? Are you sure? Why, there isn't even a decent hospital in Bethlehem!"
"I know, I know," said the angel gently. "You'll just have to make the best of things."
Slowly, the Lord walked out of the angel's office, mumbling to himself, "To Bethlehem -- not to Rome, or Corinth, or Athens. Bethlehem? To a dingy, dirty, out-of-the way place like Bethlehem ... and going as a baby on top of it all! Bethlehem, of all places! With my luck, the inn will probably be full up when I arrive!"
At Christmas, Jesus came to earth as a baby boy! The mighty Son of God -- the Lord of all nations -- the Prince of Peace! A baby -- a little baby boy. And we know that the color blue is the color of baby boys!
But, like the green, the purple, and the red that have preceded it, blue has a deeper meaning as well. It is also the color of eternity. It reminds us of heaven, of the place where we are going in order to be with God, the place from where Jesus came in the first place! Eternity -- a relationship we have with this little baby boy of Bethlehem. It's a relationship that is borne out, that begins with baptism. Listen with me to the words of Saint Paul from Romans, chapter 6.
(Read the text.)
Alive to God in Christ Jesus! Doesn't sound much like the Christmas story, does it? More like Easter? Exactly! And that's the point. This baby boy, dressed in blue as a color of Christmas, is the same victorious Christ of Easter. And the victory, the glory, the hope and promise of eternity is ours, through the blue water of baptism!
My little "dream" about Jesus descending to earth as a child, I believe, points out vividly to what great lengths God our Father went to save us, his children. His only begotten Son, reduced to a mere infant, a baby boy, the child of Bethlehem.
Matthew tells the story of the angel's appearance to Joseph. What a conversation Joseph and Mary must have had the night before! "You're what? Pregnant? What a disgrace! You're nothing but a harlot! You've ruined my reputation and your own!"
But the angel comes with these words: "Joseph, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins!" So the gift God gave the world at Christmas was the greatest gift he could possibly give. His own Son, his own little boy, the Child who comes to give us the gift of eternity!
A December issue of Readers' Digest from many years ago had this little story that shares with us much of the truth of Christmas:
There was once an African boy who gave his missionary teacher an exquisite sea shell as a Christmas gift. The lad had walked miles and miles for it, to a special bay, the only place where such sea shells were found. "How wonderful of you to have traveled so far for this present," said the teacher. The boy's eyes shone as he replied, "Long walk, part of gift!"
It was a long walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem, from eternity to Bethlehem, but the long walk was part of God's gift ... that we might know eternity ... that we might experience life as God intended ... that we might be with him forever!
Blue, the color of eternity. One of the colors of Christmas. Think about your baptism and God's gift to you of the baby boy at Bethlehem, as you celebrate your Christmas in a few short days. Because of the Christ of Christmas, we have the gift of eternity. Enjoy your gift, your Christmas gift from God, this Christmas. Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Amen.
