"Don't Outgrow Christmas!"
A sermon preached on Christmas Eve at Edgemont Chrsitian Church (Disciples of Christ), by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp.
Yesterday in my sermon, I shared with you Miriam’s response as she prepares for Christmas - it has indeed been one of excitement, and enthusiasm and thrill. In fact, since the beginning of Advent she has been wild and hyper - almost to the point of being uncontrollable at times. And, I guess with the excitement of seeing the house decorated, the presents under the tree and knowing that Christmas is coming soon, as well as Santa Claus, it is a natural response for her, as well as any child. But you know, that should be our attitude as well. We too should be filled with excitement, and enthusiasm and wonder as we prepare to celebrate Christmas and contemplate God’s gift to us through Christ. Sadly, many of us get so caught up in the preparations of this season and all of the work that must be done that we loose this sense of wonder and excitement and enthusiasm that we should have. Sadly, many of us have outgrown Christmas. No longer are we like little children, but instead we are like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the proud parents who brought their firstborn home from the hospital and placed him in a beautiful wooden cradle. Over the months and years as he grew, the cradle that had once swallowed him could no longer contain him. He began to look like a giant in a baby bed. His parents, though, kept the cradle as a symbol of their son’s birth; but the boy could not stay in the cradle forever. He outgrew it!
And the same is true of Christmas. Certainly, we cannot have Christmas without the cradle; but the fact remains, Jesus did not stay in the manger - he outgrew the cradle and eventually became a man who would become the Savior of the world!
The fact is, we spend most of our lives outside the cradle. Jesus experienced life as any of us. He experienced the stages of life and growth that all of us experience and go through. His growth was natural and normal. As a child, he grew in wisdom and stature, we are told! We sometimes have this misconception when it comes to Jesus - thinking that he somehow escaped all of the rigors and developmental processes of infancy and childhood that all of us must go through. And partly that is the fault of the gospels. But Jesus went through the natural stages and development of growth, as any of us.
Outside of Jesus’ visit to the temple with his family at the age of 12 there is no information pertaining to his childhood years. In fact, scholars refer to them as "The Lost Years" of Jesus’ life. And, of course, as you might imagine, there have been many traditions handed down through the centuries, as well as speculations made pertaining to those "The Lost Years". Some traditions have stated that Jesus, as a teenager would have made trips with Joseph of Arimathea to other parts of the world; others claim that Jesus traveled to India and the Orient. In fact, there is even one, Gnostic writing, titled The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which relays additional stories about Jesus’ youth. In these stories, Jesus comes across as a wonderworking Dennis the Menace, if you will. In fact, one story even has Jesus, as a young boy, striking dead a neighborhood friend for annoying him; but, don’t worry, Jesus brings the boy back to life when his father complains. This writing, of course, is considered forgery and there is no reason to believe it as being accurate; but it does offer an interesting perspective, to say the least, on those "The Lost Years" of Jesus’ life.
However, we do know from historical and biblical records that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a town with a population of about 2,000 people. However, Nazareth was about 3 ½ miles from Sepphoris. In fact, recent archeology has discovered that the city of Sepphoris was a large metropolitan city, which dispels this notion that Jesus grew up in a rural area. Many scholars believe that Jesus’ childhood would not have been much different from most Palestinian children. Living in Nazareth, Jesus would have been exposed to intellectual diversity. He would have attended synagogue school and learned the Torah, along with the history of the Jewish people and, perhaps even learned the Hellenistic and Greek cultures. He would have learned Hebrew, Aramaic and, probably, some Greek. He probably followed in the trade of his father as a tekton, a carpenter, but not so much in the sense of working with wood, but probably more so with stone - a stone mason. Especially since, Sepphoris was a city that was in the process of being built up during Jesus’ younger years, and tektons, or stone masons would have found plenty of work there. But, Jesus’ childhood would have been a common one in regards to his lifestyle and education.
Now friends, it is true that Jesus wasn’t actually born on December the 25th. You see, we observe the 25th day of December as the birthday of Jesus because of what has been passed on to us by the traditions of the 3rd century church, to at least the time of Constantine. The date marking Christmas was born out of the Roman pagan festival of Saturnalia, which honored the sun – it was, in a sense, the birthday of the sun. But the Church, seeking to put an end to such pagan festivals replaced it with honoring of a different "son" – the Son of God! And as we learned on the First Sunday of Advent, at our Hanging of the Greens service, the church adapted many of the pagan customs and traditions, giving them all Christian influence and meaning. Certainly the decorations and carols of Christmas all point to Christ and who he is.
There’s a Christmas Carol that was written by Frances Chesterton titled; "Children’s Song of Nativity." I want to share with you the lyrics to that carol:
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the proud parents who brought their firstborn home from the hospital and placed him in a beautiful wooden cradle. Over the months and years as he grew, the cradle that had once swallowed him could no longer contain him. He began to look like a giant in a baby bed. His parents, though, kept the cradle as a symbol of their son’s birth; but the boy could not stay in the cradle forever. He outgrew it!
And the same is true of Christmas. Certainly, we cannot have Christmas without the cradle; but the fact remains, Jesus did not stay in the manger - he outgrew the cradle and eventually became a man who would become the Savior of the world!
The fact is, we spend most of our lives outside the cradle. Jesus experienced life as any of us. He experienced the stages of life and growth that all of us experience and go through. His growth was natural and normal. As a child, he grew in wisdom and stature, we are told! We sometimes have this misconception when it comes to Jesus - thinking that he somehow escaped all of the rigors and developmental processes of infancy and childhood that all of us must go through. And partly that is the fault of the gospels. But Jesus went through the natural stages and development of growth, as any of us.
Outside of Jesus’ visit to the temple with his family at the age of 12 there is no information pertaining to his childhood years. In fact, scholars refer to them as "The Lost Years" of Jesus’ life. And, of course, as you might imagine, there have been many traditions handed down through the centuries, as well as speculations made pertaining to those "The Lost Years". Some traditions have stated that Jesus, as a teenager would have made trips with Joseph of Arimathea to other parts of the world; others claim that Jesus traveled to India and the Orient. In fact, there is even one, Gnostic writing, titled The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which relays additional stories about Jesus’ youth. In these stories, Jesus comes across as a wonderworking Dennis the Menace, if you will. In fact, one story even has Jesus, as a young boy, striking dead a neighborhood friend for annoying him; but, don’t worry, Jesus brings the boy back to life when his father complains. This writing, of course, is considered forgery and there is no reason to believe it as being accurate; but it does offer an interesting perspective, to say the least, on those "The Lost Years" of Jesus’ life.
However, we do know from historical and biblical records that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a town with a population of about 2,000 people. However, Nazareth was about 3 ½ miles from Sepphoris. In fact, recent archeology has discovered that the city of Sepphoris was a large metropolitan city, which dispels this notion that Jesus grew up in a rural area. Many scholars believe that Jesus’ childhood would not have been much different from most Palestinian children. Living in Nazareth, Jesus would have been exposed to intellectual diversity. He would have attended synagogue school and learned the Torah, along with the history of the Jewish people and, perhaps even learned the Hellenistic and Greek cultures. He would have learned Hebrew, Aramaic and, probably, some Greek. He probably followed in the trade of his father as a tekton, a carpenter, but not so much in the sense of working with wood, but probably more so with stone - a stone mason. Especially since, Sepphoris was a city that was in the process of being built up during Jesus’ younger years, and tektons, or stone masons would have found plenty of work there. But, Jesus’ childhood would have been a common one in regards to his lifestyle and education.
Now friends, it is true that Jesus wasn’t actually born on December the 25th. You see, we observe the 25th day of December as the birthday of Jesus because of what has been passed on to us by the traditions of the 3rd century church, to at least the time of Constantine. The date marking Christmas was born out of the Roman pagan festival of Saturnalia, which honored the sun – it was, in a sense, the birthday of the sun. But the Church, seeking to put an end to such pagan festivals replaced it with honoring of a different "son" – the Son of God! And as we learned on the First Sunday of Advent, at our Hanging of the Greens service, the church adapted many of the pagan customs and traditions, giving them all Christian influence and meaning. Certainly the decorations and carols of Christmas all point to Christ and who he is.
There’s a Christmas Carol that was written by Frances Chesterton titled; "Children’s Song of Nativity." I want to share with you the lyrics to that carol:
"How far is it to Bethlehem?
Not very far.
Shall we find the stable-room
Lit by a star?
Can we see the little child,
Is he within?
If we lift the wooden latch
May we go in?
May we stoke the creatures there,
Ox, ass or sheep?
May we peep like them and see Jesus asleep?
If we touch his tiny hand
Will he awake?
Will he know we’ve come so far
Just for his sake?
Great kings have precious gifts,
And we have naught,
Little smiles and little tears
Are all we brought."
Notice the language the writer uses – "Shall we find?" "Can we see?" "May we peep?" "Will he know?" Such child-like phrases – always asking, always curious, ever seeking. These young ones, in this carol, seem quite aware that they have no right to be there. They realize that they bring not great gifts, only tears and smiles, and themselves. Yet, they enter in, hoping to see him, and wanting to touch him. But isn’t this just how God asks us to approach God – in humility and innocence, awe and wonder – with child-like excitement and thrill!
Let us not outgrow Christmas! Oftentimes, when we outgrow something – we abandon it! But, we must not abandon Christmas! For this is one event in a series of events that brought about our salvation. But, at the same time, we cannot remain at Bethlehem’s manager. We have to move beyond the manger – beyond the cradle to the cross and ultimately to the Resurrection. One of the greatest things we do on this night is celebrate Holy Communion. And while this is a weekly observance for us, Disciples; tonight, I pray that it will take on a whole new meaning and realm, if it hasn’t already. As we come to this table to receive the gifts of bread and wine, may the Christ-child, who is also the Risen Christ be born anew and afresh in you. And may we embody and possess a child-like faith as we celebrate God’s gift to us through Christ. And may we never outgrow that spirit of wonder and awe, excitement and enthusiasm when it comes to our faith; but instead, embrace it and live it, "for to such the kingdom of God belongs." Amen.
Let us not outgrow Christmas! Oftentimes, when we outgrow something – we abandon it! But, we must not abandon Christmas! For this is one event in a series of events that brought about our salvation. But, at the same time, we cannot remain at Bethlehem’s manager. We have to move beyond the manger – beyond the cradle to the cross and ultimately to the Resurrection. One of the greatest things we do on this night is celebrate Holy Communion. And while this is a weekly observance for us, Disciples; tonight, I pray that it will take on a whole new meaning and realm, if it hasn’t already. As we come to this table to receive the gifts of bread and wine, may the Christ-child, who is also the Risen Christ be born anew and afresh in you. And may we embody and possess a child-like faith as we celebrate God’s gift to us through Christ. And may we never outgrow that spirit of wonder and awe, excitement and enthusiasm when it comes to our faith; but instead, embrace it and live it, "for to such the kingdom of God belongs." Amen.
posted by Pastor Christopher @ 2:06 PM
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