Dear Friends,
Much has been said about the excessive commercialism of
Christmas. And most of it is true. For the next few weeks everything will be
red and green, tinseled and frosted, and smelling of peppermint and apple
spice. Storeowners will be happier to see you while fellow shoppers may not. In
the malls, peace and goodwill are likely to be in shorter supply than this
year’s hottest-selling smart phone. And watch out for all those delivery
drivers delirious with sleeplessness and stress.
During this season, as wants and expectations expand and magnify,
people focus on “achieving satisfaction.” On Christmas Day, the spoils will be
laid out for evaluation and consumption. And on December 26, those who have yet
to be satisfied will swarm the stores, again.
What does it mean to be satisfied? To have a sense of
victory in an economic transaction? To silence the voice of one desire crying
out in the vast wilderness of our wants in order to prepare the way for one
which appears to have become more crucial?
The Holy Spirit promises an old holy man named Simeon that
he will not die without laying eyes on the Messiah. Just when Simeon is about
to resign himself to interminable life, a young couple comes and bothers him
with another eight-day-old boy to be circumcised. But when these common folk
hand him their son, the old man’s eyes brighten. His heart quickens. The
fulfillment of the Spirit’s promise squirms in his arms. Both he and the world
will begin to trade interminable for eternal. At long last Simeon is satisfied,
and in a trembling voice he says so.
But the old priest sees more. In addition to salvation and
glory, he says, this child will bring a lot of people to their knees and a sword
to pierce his mother’s soul. Now, that’s a fairly safe prophecy. What child
doesn’t? Simeon’s point, of course, is that, at first, the arrival of heaven will
hurt like hell.
The long-awaited gift is given at Christmas is a package
that includes Good Friday and Easter. The infatuation with stuff in December is
simply a vain attempt to be satisfied with Christmas alone.
The gift we celebrate at Christmas is a gift to be shared
among all of us. It will not go on sale December 26. It cannot be exchanged for
a different size or style. Nor will it satisfy us if we keep it to ourselves. In
truth, it takes a lifetime of sharing this gift even to begin to receive it.
Thank you, Jonesborough Presbyterian, for sharing so much
Christmas with my family and me over the last five years. I pray that we have
shared some of it with you, as well.
May God bless all of us with a most joyful, memorable, and
merry Christmas!
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