The Nativity Of Our Lord
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Isaiah 9:2-7 (C, RC); Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7 (E)
This passage stands forth from all the Old Testament as the high moment of recognition, the declaration of history's crowning hour in time. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." That grand announcement signaled salvation, not only for a troubled people living nearly 2,600 years ago, but for all humanity. "For to us a child is born."
Honest exegesis requires us to recognize that some earnest scholars believe this announcement referred to a specific king of that era. But most Christian believers hear something so authentic, so beyond the criticism of our little minds in its truth as to require that we claim it as our Christmas song. G. G. D. Kilpatrick, writing of this Isaiah passage, said: "When the Christian Church reads or sings these words, it is to exult in the gift of God's love in Jesus Christ. It is his song and we sing it in thanksgiving...."
Here, then, is the triumph song of a suffering people whose darkness will now be banished by the light, whose gloom will now be overwhelmed by joy. Words must surely fail us poor preachers as we try to understand the power of this declaration, much less, tell it to the world. Yet that is our mission.
Lesson 2: Titus 2:11-14 (C, RC, E)
We were all shocked at the murder of young Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die in the cold out in Wyoming. Thankfully, the two men and the young woman who committed this crime were quickly apprehended. But a shocking aftermath occurred across the street from St. Mark's Episcopal church in Casper, Wyoming. Friends of the murdered man's family had gathered there to console the grieving loved ones. Standing behind barricades was a crowd of people shouting, waving banners, all declaring anti-gay slogans, epithets denouncing the young man who had died, showing absolutely no compassion for friends or family. This hatred was spewed forth by a group of "Christians" who claimed membership in a Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. (Since one of my dear friends is a Baptist pastor, I have to assume these people were from some other kind of Baptist Church.)
Conclusion? Just calling myself a Christian doesn't make me a Christian. The world is, sadly, filled with people whose claims to the faith are not validated by their values, actions, and attitudes. Titus, in this passage, informs us that there will be two clear indications that the Incarnation of Jesus has worked its power in us. One, we will renounce godless ways, and that surely includes hatred of anyone, prejudice against people different from us, and unethical actions of any kind. Secondly, we will strive to devote ourselves to being zealous for good deeds. Emerson was quoted as saying "What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say you are." Amen.
Gospel: Luke 2:1-20 (C, E); Luke 2:1-14 (RC)
The Christmas story. Almost every Christian knows this one by heart, not memorized perhaps, but its essence is dear to all of us. Perhaps its heart is these words in verse 10: "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid -- for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.' "
This is not a time to debate the existence of angels, or other details of this report. My old preacher used to say that "some things are true to fact, and some things are true to life." This is an example. The supreme event in all history, brought about by a God whose ways we shall never explain, is here announced. Familiar as the message may be to our hearers, it is well that we all hear it again. Whether the existence of angels is, in fact, true to fact, it is true to life in regard to the fact that we all, if we are open to it, sense a guardian force in our lives.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Darkness Overcome"
Text: Isaiah 9:6b
Theme: There are four designations of the nature of the Christ child in this passage. He is (1) Wonderful Counselor, (2) Mighty God, (3) Everlasting Father, and (4) Prince of Peace. He is, thus, the One who understand the deepest yearnings of our hearts, possesses power by which to alter things, loves us with unfailing love, and has the ability and the willingness to bring peace into troubled hearts.
1. Wonderful Counselor. Christ, uniquely, has walked where you and I walk, and has experienced the tragic dimension of human existence. Unlike anyone else, he understands what we are feeling and understands why.
2. Mighty God. He has the power to change my life. If I am willing to allow it, to cooperate with his power, he will do just that.
3. Everlasting Father. Granted, some people wish Jesus had used a more general reference to God as parent. But the Bible uses "Father" since the role of fathers in ancient times combined elements not currently in that role definition. But it included protective love that won't allow anyone to hurt the child.
4. Prince of Peace. One author told of visiting a seashore during a dangerous hurricane warning. He saw an old man settled down in a lawn chair, his eyes drooping with near-sleep. He asked the old fellow how he could be so calm when such violent weather threatened. The old fellow looked up, smiled, and said: "I'm not worried. I know Jesus." Naive? I suppose. But that man knew a peaceful heart in the midst of turmoil all around, and according to him, it was because Jesus brought peace into his heart.
Title: "The Evidence Of True Faith"
Text: Titus 2:11-14
Theme: Kind and loving words and actions are the evidence of our true faith. Paul Tillich spoke of our "ultimate concern," that which, deep within us, determines who and what we are. In spite of all our claims and protestations, that fundamental, inner ultimate value will decide our destiny. Claims to "faith" can easily be false and destructive. Tillich pointed out that "the danger of faith is idolatry and the ambiguity of the holy is its demonic possibility. Our ultimate concern can destroy us as it can heal us. But we can never be without it." People who mask their prejudices and jealousies with self-centered versions of Christianity which they call "faith" or "faithfulness" inflict many an injury on the innocent. Only when we respond to our fellow men and women with kindness and generosity, with encouragement and empathy, with sacrifice and unfailing loyalty, do we evidence the kind of faith which Jesus died to make possible. The person who would evidence this faith in truest form must constantly struggle against one's baser instincts and biases, and this necessitates highly developed self-critical faculties.
1. Repentance is the beginning point for true faith. We are all sinners. We all have biases, petty little impulses, dishonesties which threaten to undo us. Repentance begins with a courageous look at those characteristics, and a willingness to do battle with our own sinfulness.
2. Jesus Christ -- the Holy Spirit -- enables us. It begins to make us dissatisfied with our lesser selves, makes us wish to be better than we are. Acts of kindness begin to come naturally. Our biases begin to loosen their holds upon us. We change. Some people change all at once, some evolve. But, though the process will never be complete in this life, the new direction is always toward those pure qualities.
3. We add the weight of our own initiative to the process. We stop the car and help the lady whose car is out of gas, even if it makes us late. We write a check to help feed the homeless, even when we're having trouble paying our bills. We stifle that angry impatience and smile, speaking kindly to the harried store clerk who is doing her best, though she's not exactly skilled at her work. The little things. Jesus once said that he who is faithful in little is faithful in much. This is where our faith is most manifest: in the little, everyday encounters in the home, the school, the marketplace.
Title: "Wonderful News"
Text: Luke 2:10
Theme: One of my treasured memories is Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Portland. After dinner on Christmas Eve my brother and I were sent to bed to "take a nap." Of course we were totally unable to sleep, but we made a half-hearted effort. We knew what to expect. We just didn't know how it was done. Our "nap" was to last about an hour. When it was over, Dad would come up to awaken us, and we were allowed downstairs where, lo and behold, Santa had been there, put up and decorated a marvelous Christmas tree, and placed underneath an array of gifts. They were few in number by today's standards, but they sure did gladden two little boys' hearts. The rest of the evening was the joy of family Christmas together. It always seemed to snow in Portland, and some of the residents had sleighs pulled by horses. Oh, how could I ever find fault with the Santa Claus aspect of Christmas? I'm a total believer in it, and am convinced that children who experience the closeness of family ties, of traditions peculiar to their own family, of traditional family dinners, and laughter, and all the rest, will be totally open to the good news which will come to them later.
There may be purists among us who decry the commercialism of Christmas. I agree, if that means finding fault with the way some stores market their goods. I'm sad to see so much television brainwashing of small children. Ann Landers recently printed a letter from a woman who had lived outside the United States, in four different countries, for several years. Finally returned to the States, she said she was delighted to be home at last. But she said one thing dismayed her when she returned. Let me quote part of her letter: "I watched children in Algeria play all day with sticks and old wheels. They were thrilled to death with the bean bags we made for them. Now I'm back home, and watch American children scream and grab toys in discount stores, while their mothers push shopping carts piled high with gadgets." Yes. But there's a right way to do this, and I'm a believer that a pastor should devote at least a little time to the giving of guidance in these matters.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Wasn't it pleasant, O brother mine,
In those old days of the lost sunshine
Of youth -- when the Saturday's chores were through,
And the Sunday's wood in the kitchen too,
And we went visiting, me and you,
Out to old Aunt Mary's?
And, as many a time have you and I --
Barefoot boys in the days gone by --
Knelt, and in tremulous ecstasies
Dipped our lips into sweets like these --
Memory, now, is on her knees,
Out to old Aunt Mary's.
These words by James Whitcomb Riley catch the spirit of nostalgia which sometimes brings smiles, or perhaps sad tears as we turn our thoughts to our own days gone by.
____________
Dutch historian Pieter Geyl, writing from a concentration camp in the 1940s, gave us a terrible yet beautiful description of despair:
"The cold universe,
Boundless and silent, goes revolving on
Worlds without end. The grace of God is gone.
A vast indifference, deadlier than a curse.
Chills our poor globe, which Heaven seemed to nurse
So fondly. 'Twas God's rainbow when it shone,
Until we searched. Now, as we count and con
Gusts of infinity, our hopes disperse ...
And the sanctuary of man's heart is empty,
A void place, through which blows a bitter wind,
Rustling the worn leaves of a lost beauty,
Stirring the barren twigs of a vanished peace."
____________
One of the characters in Peanuts explained: "I've got this whole Santa Claus bit licked, Charlie Brown. If there is a Santa Claus, he's going to be too nice not to bring me anything for Christmas no matter how I act. Right? RIGHT? And if there ISN'T any Santa Claus, then I haven't lost anything. Right?" Charlie Brown reflected, then answers, "WRONG! But I don't know where."
____________
One of Thornton Wilder's three-minute plays was titled The Angel That Troubled The Waters. In it he tells of a man who had waited at the pool of Bethesda, hoping to get into the water, as tradition held that the first person in the pool each day when an angel troubled the water would be healed. At last, his turn came. But as he was about to step into the pool, an angel came to him and whispered in his ear:
"Stand back; healing is not for you. Without your wound, where would your power be? ... Not the angels themselves in heaven can persuade the wretched and blundering children of earth as can one human being, broken on the wheels of living. In love's service only the wounded soldier can serve."
And so the pain-wracked man stepped back, and gave his place to a lame old neighbor. So, the angel troubled the water and the lame man stepped in and was healed. Then, joyously, with a glowing smile, the healed man went to the other who stood silently, like a grieving statue, dreaming of what might have been and what would not be. He said to him:
"Perhaps it will be your turn next. But meanwhile, come with me to my house. My son is lost in dark thoughts; I do not understand him. Only you have ever lifted his mood. And my daughter, since her child has died, sits in the shadow. She will not listen to us. Come with me but one hour."
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 96 -- "O sing to the Lord a new song."
Prayer Of The Day
Oh joyous day, Oh joyous day! Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus!
Lesson 1: Isaiah 9:2-7 (C, RC); Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7 (E)
This passage stands forth from all the Old Testament as the high moment of recognition, the declaration of history's crowning hour in time. "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." That grand announcement signaled salvation, not only for a troubled people living nearly 2,600 years ago, but for all humanity. "For to us a child is born."
Honest exegesis requires us to recognize that some earnest scholars believe this announcement referred to a specific king of that era. But most Christian believers hear something so authentic, so beyond the criticism of our little minds in its truth as to require that we claim it as our Christmas song. G. G. D. Kilpatrick, writing of this Isaiah passage, said: "When the Christian Church reads or sings these words, it is to exult in the gift of God's love in Jesus Christ. It is his song and we sing it in thanksgiving...."
Here, then, is the triumph song of a suffering people whose darkness will now be banished by the light, whose gloom will now be overwhelmed by joy. Words must surely fail us poor preachers as we try to understand the power of this declaration, much less, tell it to the world. Yet that is our mission.
Lesson 2: Titus 2:11-14 (C, RC, E)
We were all shocked at the murder of young Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die in the cold out in Wyoming. Thankfully, the two men and the young woman who committed this crime were quickly apprehended. But a shocking aftermath occurred across the street from St. Mark's Episcopal church in Casper, Wyoming. Friends of the murdered man's family had gathered there to console the grieving loved ones. Standing behind barricades was a crowd of people shouting, waving banners, all declaring anti-gay slogans, epithets denouncing the young man who had died, showing absolutely no compassion for friends or family. This hatred was spewed forth by a group of "Christians" who claimed membership in a Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. (Since one of my dear friends is a Baptist pastor, I have to assume these people were from some other kind of Baptist Church.)
Conclusion? Just calling myself a Christian doesn't make me a Christian. The world is, sadly, filled with people whose claims to the faith are not validated by their values, actions, and attitudes. Titus, in this passage, informs us that there will be two clear indications that the Incarnation of Jesus has worked its power in us. One, we will renounce godless ways, and that surely includes hatred of anyone, prejudice against people different from us, and unethical actions of any kind. Secondly, we will strive to devote ourselves to being zealous for good deeds. Emerson was quoted as saying "What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say you are." Amen.
Gospel: Luke 2:1-20 (C, E); Luke 2:1-14 (RC)
The Christmas story. Almost every Christian knows this one by heart, not memorized perhaps, but its essence is dear to all of us. Perhaps its heart is these words in verse 10: "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid -- for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.' "
This is not a time to debate the existence of angels, or other details of this report. My old preacher used to say that "some things are true to fact, and some things are true to life." This is an example. The supreme event in all history, brought about by a God whose ways we shall never explain, is here announced. Familiar as the message may be to our hearers, it is well that we all hear it again. Whether the existence of angels is, in fact, true to fact, it is true to life in regard to the fact that we all, if we are open to it, sense a guardian force in our lives.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Darkness Overcome"
Text: Isaiah 9:6b
Theme: There are four designations of the nature of the Christ child in this passage. He is (1) Wonderful Counselor, (2) Mighty God, (3) Everlasting Father, and (4) Prince of Peace. He is, thus, the One who understand the deepest yearnings of our hearts, possesses power by which to alter things, loves us with unfailing love, and has the ability and the willingness to bring peace into troubled hearts.
1. Wonderful Counselor. Christ, uniquely, has walked where you and I walk, and has experienced the tragic dimension of human existence. Unlike anyone else, he understands what we are feeling and understands why.
2. Mighty God. He has the power to change my life. If I am willing to allow it, to cooperate with his power, he will do just that.
3. Everlasting Father. Granted, some people wish Jesus had used a more general reference to God as parent. But the Bible uses "Father" since the role of fathers in ancient times combined elements not currently in that role definition. But it included protective love that won't allow anyone to hurt the child.
4. Prince of Peace. One author told of visiting a seashore during a dangerous hurricane warning. He saw an old man settled down in a lawn chair, his eyes drooping with near-sleep. He asked the old fellow how he could be so calm when such violent weather threatened. The old fellow looked up, smiled, and said: "I'm not worried. I know Jesus." Naive? I suppose. But that man knew a peaceful heart in the midst of turmoil all around, and according to him, it was because Jesus brought peace into his heart.
Title: "The Evidence Of True Faith"
Text: Titus 2:11-14
Theme: Kind and loving words and actions are the evidence of our true faith. Paul Tillich spoke of our "ultimate concern," that which, deep within us, determines who and what we are. In spite of all our claims and protestations, that fundamental, inner ultimate value will decide our destiny. Claims to "faith" can easily be false and destructive. Tillich pointed out that "the danger of faith is idolatry and the ambiguity of the holy is its demonic possibility. Our ultimate concern can destroy us as it can heal us. But we can never be without it." People who mask their prejudices and jealousies with self-centered versions of Christianity which they call "faith" or "faithfulness" inflict many an injury on the innocent. Only when we respond to our fellow men and women with kindness and generosity, with encouragement and empathy, with sacrifice and unfailing loyalty, do we evidence the kind of faith which Jesus died to make possible. The person who would evidence this faith in truest form must constantly struggle against one's baser instincts and biases, and this necessitates highly developed self-critical faculties.
1. Repentance is the beginning point for true faith. We are all sinners. We all have biases, petty little impulses, dishonesties which threaten to undo us. Repentance begins with a courageous look at those characteristics, and a willingness to do battle with our own sinfulness.
2. Jesus Christ -- the Holy Spirit -- enables us. It begins to make us dissatisfied with our lesser selves, makes us wish to be better than we are. Acts of kindness begin to come naturally. Our biases begin to loosen their holds upon us. We change. Some people change all at once, some evolve. But, though the process will never be complete in this life, the new direction is always toward those pure qualities.
3. We add the weight of our own initiative to the process. We stop the car and help the lady whose car is out of gas, even if it makes us late. We write a check to help feed the homeless, even when we're having trouble paying our bills. We stifle that angry impatience and smile, speaking kindly to the harried store clerk who is doing her best, though she's not exactly skilled at her work. The little things. Jesus once said that he who is faithful in little is faithful in much. This is where our faith is most manifest: in the little, everyday encounters in the home, the school, the marketplace.
Title: "Wonderful News"
Text: Luke 2:10
Theme: One of my treasured memories is Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Portland. After dinner on Christmas Eve my brother and I were sent to bed to "take a nap." Of course we were totally unable to sleep, but we made a half-hearted effort. We knew what to expect. We just didn't know how it was done. Our "nap" was to last about an hour. When it was over, Dad would come up to awaken us, and we were allowed downstairs where, lo and behold, Santa had been there, put up and decorated a marvelous Christmas tree, and placed underneath an array of gifts. They were few in number by today's standards, but they sure did gladden two little boys' hearts. The rest of the evening was the joy of family Christmas together. It always seemed to snow in Portland, and some of the residents had sleighs pulled by horses. Oh, how could I ever find fault with the Santa Claus aspect of Christmas? I'm a total believer in it, and am convinced that children who experience the closeness of family ties, of traditions peculiar to their own family, of traditional family dinners, and laughter, and all the rest, will be totally open to the good news which will come to them later.
There may be purists among us who decry the commercialism of Christmas. I agree, if that means finding fault with the way some stores market their goods. I'm sad to see so much television brainwashing of small children. Ann Landers recently printed a letter from a woman who had lived outside the United States, in four different countries, for several years. Finally returned to the States, she said she was delighted to be home at last. But she said one thing dismayed her when she returned. Let me quote part of her letter: "I watched children in Algeria play all day with sticks and old wheels. They were thrilled to death with the bean bags we made for them. Now I'm back home, and watch American children scream and grab toys in discount stores, while their mothers push shopping carts piled high with gadgets." Yes. But there's a right way to do this, and I'm a believer that a pastor should devote at least a little time to the giving of guidance in these matters.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Wasn't it pleasant, O brother mine,
In those old days of the lost sunshine
Of youth -- when the Saturday's chores were through,
And the Sunday's wood in the kitchen too,
And we went visiting, me and you,
Out to old Aunt Mary's?
And, as many a time have you and I --
Barefoot boys in the days gone by --
Knelt, and in tremulous ecstasies
Dipped our lips into sweets like these --
Memory, now, is on her knees,
Out to old Aunt Mary's.
These words by James Whitcomb Riley catch the spirit of nostalgia which sometimes brings smiles, or perhaps sad tears as we turn our thoughts to our own days gone by.
____________
Dutch historian Pieter Geyl, writing from a concentration camp in the 1940s, gave us a terrible yet beautiful description of despair:
"The cold universe,
Boundless and silent, goes revolving on
Worlds without end. The grace of God is gone.
A vast indifference, deadlier than a curse.
Chills our poor globe, which Heaven seemed to nurse
So fondly. 'Twas God's rainbow when it shone,
Until we searched. Now, as we count and con
Gusts of infinity, our hopes disperse ...
And the sanctuary of man's heart is empty,
A void place, through which blows a bitter wind,
Rustling the worn leaves of a lost beauty,
Stirring the barren twigs of a vanished peace."
____________
One of the characters in Peanuts explained: "I've got this whole Santa Claus bit licked, Charlie Brown. If there is a Santa Claus, he's going to be too nice not to bring me anything for Christmas no matter how I act. Right? RIGHT? And if there ISN'T any Santa Claus, then I haven't lost anything. Right?" Charlie Brown reflected, then answers, "WRONG! But I don't know where."
____________
One of Thornton Wilder's three-minute plays was titled The Angel That Troubled The Waters. In it he tells of a man who had waited at the pool of Bethesda, hoping to get into the water, as tradition held that the first person in the pool each day when an angel troubled the water would be healed. At last, his turn came. But as he was about to step into the pool, an angel came to him and whispered in his ear:
"Stand back; healing is not for you. Without your wound, where would your power be? ... Not the angels themselves in heaven can persuade the wretched and blundering children of earth as can one human being, broken on the wheels of living. In love's service only the wounded soldier can serve."
And so the pain-wracked man stepped back, and gave his place to a lame old neighbor. So, the angel troubled the water and the lame man stepped in and was healed. Then, joyously, with a glowing smile, the healed man went to the other who stood silently, like a grieving statue, dreaming of what might have been and what would not be. He said to him:
"Perhaps it will be your turn next. But meanwhile, come with me to my house. My son is lost in dark thoughts; I do not understand him. Only you have ever lifted his mood. And my daughter, since her child has died, sits in the shadow. She will not listen to us. Come with me but one hour."
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 96 -- "O sing to the Lord a new song."
Prayer Of The Day
Oh joyous day, Oh joyous day! Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus!
