December 26, 2021
Isaiah 9:6-7
Introduction
It is December 26th, the day after Christmas. Has anyone taken down their Christmas tree yet?
For most Americans, Christmastime! begins in early November, and ends on December 25. And we pack within those few weeks all the warm fuzzies of Christmastime! we dream about and love so much. We let ourselves believe that in just 30-40 days Mary and Joseph were visited by angels, Mary became pregnant, visited her cousin Elizabeth, traveled to Bethlehem, had a baby, laid him in a manger, angels sang Silent Night, shepherds tending their flock by night came to see this “thing” made known to them, and three wise men from afar came with gifts—impractical ones for a newborn baby no less—to pay him homage, and ta da—we’re done! Bring on college football bowl season—because now we’re dreaming of National Championships—wait, no. Dreaming of NFL Playoffs—wait, not those either. Dreaming of losing 50 pounds… or 25…or maybe we just won’t let ourselves gain any weight.
Regardless, come today, December 26th, for many—including many Christians—Christmas is over. It’s what today’s culture has come to believe, but it’s not what God would have us believe.
Retail stores, if they haven’t already, are done with Christmas—taking down decorations and relegating Christmas items to 75% off, scattered haphazardly across disorderly disheveled shelves, while they roll out Valentine’s Day displays and product.
The radio station that had been playing all our favorite Christmas songs ended their programming last night at midnight—or if you listen to a particular station in Michigan where a friend of mine is from, the radio station playing favorite Christmas songs ended their Christmas music programming yesterday at noon!
And just last night at 9 p.m. I find out that 24 hours of “A Christmas Story” isn’t 24 hours anymore—and instead of getting to watch Ralphie dream about a Red Rider carbine, I was greeted with “All Elite Wrestling Rampage!” To their credit, it was the All Elite Holiday Bash Wrestling Rampage—but still not the Christmas night warm fuzzy I was looking for.
That’s what today’s cultures says and does, and we let ourselves accept it too— come December 26th… Christmas is over.
To be clear, that is a general “we”. But we have all seen Christmas trees on devil strips the day after Christmas. My sister had a best friend growing up whose mom took their tree down on the afternoon… of Christmas day!
Now I get it. I’m being judgey—and that’s not cool, especially as a preacher from the pulpit. Forgive me. And I get too that all good things come to an end. We aren’t going to be like my dear friend Agatha—God rest her soul—who put her tree up on November 1st, and didn’t take it down until after Valentine’s Day.
So to be clear my struggle with all this is less about when anyone takes down their decorations—(although yes, probably didn’t convey such very well because that was all more than a little rant)—but I’m more concerned about how quickly we go from advent, incarnation, birth of the child who has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” to… business as usual.
We don’t do that with any other baby whose birth we celebrate, right?
I know a new mom who is required to (and gladly and easily does) send a picture of her son to multiple family members everyday—and will get reminder texts (friendly ones) if that daily pic hasn’t come in timely manner. And the little guy recently turned one. And I think that’s great! Celebrating, loving, embracing a child is awesome.
But baby Jesus? Jesus was born and so I get presents. Thank you Jesus for being born. Bring on college football bowl season…or for us this year All Elite Wrestling Rampage.
Well, I gotta tell you what you already know… that ain’t how it’s supposed to work. And Christmas ain’t over.
Move 1
So I thought on this first Sunday of Christmas, a little liturgical lesson would be fun!
Don’t worry, I won’t “Preacher-splain” the whole liturgical year—just Advent through Epiphany.
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The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus which means “coming”.
The season of Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ: Preparation to celebrate Jesus’s birth at Christmas, to receive faithfully the risen Christ who comes to us in word and spirit, and to await with hope Christ’s coming in final victory.
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The Christmas Season is a time of celebration, thanksgiving, and praise for God who is present with us in Jesus Christ. The name comes from the first service of the season Christ Mass and eventually evolved into Christmas Day, when the Feast of the Lord began being celebrated on December 25 in Rome sometime between 336 and 354 AD.
Here’s where this gets fun…
And why did all this land on December 25th? Because that’s when Jesus born? Hate to burst your bubble, but Christians have been adapting and transforming the cultural customs of the world around them to keep pace with society for centuries. And so we celebrate Jesus’ birthday on December 25th not because that’s what his birth certificate says, but because a pagan winter solstice festival: The birthday of the unconquered Sun, was already being celebrated on December 25. Christians adopted that date to celebrate the birth of the son of God because everyone else was already having a party, and the Church was losing people to that party.
And it’s still happening today. The cultural customs of the world are still a challenge for the Church today because of the acceptance of the secular commercialization of the Advent and Christmas seasons.
Liturgically speaking—and here is the emphasis I want to make today—the Christmas season begins on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, and goes through the Day of Epiphany on January 6, which is…wait for it 12 Days. I think there’s a song about the 12 days of Christmas. Not very liturgical though. Lot of birds. No Jesus. But regardless.
What this liturgical lesson tells us is that Christmas ain’t over yet!
Move 2
Which brings us to Isaiah who was talking Christmas long before there was Christmas.
Isaiah was a unique prophet so filled with the word of God that he preached to the people even though his message was unpopular and controversial. He was the antithesis of the pseudo-prophets who simply told the rich and powerful what they wanted to hear. And for his social and religious criticism he was ridiculed, and rejected.
Isaiah was a critic of religion and society. And rightly so. He would look around his world and see the violence, impoverishment, exclusion, humiliation— the dehumanization— and was moved to compassion.
But Isaiah didn’t just see the doom and gloom of the world, and accept it. He knew of the divine promise of redemption and had hope in a future restoration, and then set out to share that good news about how it would be made a reality.
Isaiah was a visionary who saw beyond the destruction and trouble in the world, and dreamed of it all one day being changed. He dreamed Christmas Dreams long before there was a Christmas—dreaming about a day when God would send the Messiah, and authority would rest upon his shoulders, whose authority would grow continually, not just for 30-40 days, but continually.
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But there are many who have accepted Christmastime! for what it has become, and not what it is and what it does.
Christmas continually bears to us the gifts of God. And it continually bears those because a child has been born for us, and on him rests authority that shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace because justice and righteousness will uphold it.
And what that means is that Christmas ain’t over. And continually, it ain’t EVER over. And thanks be to God.
Conclusion
The season of Advent has ended. And so has Christmastime! But the Christmas season has just begun. Then on January 6th we will celebrate Epiphany—well we’re going to celebrate it on January 9th. And then the liturgical year will move forward from there.
But we move forward into the New Year and the new liturgical year, toward the endless peace of God established and upheld by the justice and righteousness of God because a child has been born for us, a son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders and he is named: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”
All of God’s goodness and grace, all of God’s hope, peace, joy, and love happens because of Christmas. And all the authority it brings, prophesized Isaiah, shall grow continually.
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So again, if you took down your Christmas tree already—it’s fine. I don’t care. Really. I don’t expect anyone to be like my friend Agatha. But I do hope and pray we all know that Christmas doesn’t end come December 26th. I hope and pray we know Christmas is a season that has just begun…but in truth and grace, Christmas ain’t over…ever. It goes on continually. And thanks be to God it does.
Merry Christmas. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer 12-26-21
Holy God, just a little more than a month ago it was Thanksgiving; the season of Advent got underway with one candle lit, then another, until it was finally Christmas Eve and you ushered into the world again your light in Jesus. After all the preparations, the anticipation; after all the shopping and merry making, Christmas has come at last.
We rejoice that the Christmas season has begun, but pretty soon if we haven’t already, we’ll pack up the baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the stable, the animals, and all the Christmas decorations, and put them away for another year.
Soon we’ll head back to work, and for most…Christmastime will be over.
But that is not what you would have us do—you would not have us just let it end. You want Christmas to continue in us and through us, so the light of Christmas continues to shine.
That is what we want too, so we pray you would bless us again that we might learn to carry Christmas, not just until December 26th, not even for just twelve days, but all year long.
Gracious and loving God, as we prepare to begin a New Year, help us who have received the light of the world to open our eyes to see the places your light needs to be shined.
Grant us the courage to use the gifts of Christmas to continually shine your light and share the Good News of your Son in ways that tells and shows all that because of Jesus’ birth, everything changes.
Do that in us and through us, and we are certain that this Christmastime, this Christmas season, and this New Year will be a blessing to us, and especially to others.
May you listen now, Holy God, to the prayers of our hearts, offered now, in this time of holy silence.
All this we pray for in the name of the light of the world, Immanuel, the prince of peace, Christ Jesus, the Messiah, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”