Keeping Christmas Pursuits

Keeping Christmas Pursuits

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, Dec. 8, 2019

Luke 1:67-79; Philippians 4:4-8 GNT

“…And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:7 GNT

The days leading up to Christmas seem to cry out for more, and more, and more pursuits as each year goes by.  For instance, there seems to be more and more commercialism.  Even before Halloween, on October 29, in fact (I took note of it) I saw the first Christmas commercial on television.  It was a collaboration between Walmart and Capitol One featuring the song, “Here Comes Santa Claus.”  And I commented to Mary Lou, “That’s just wrong to have Christmas commercials before Halloween!”  And also before Halloween, I saw the first Christmas tree in front of one of our town’s jewelry stores.

And that brings up another thing—more and more spending and going into debt.  If you are like us, then you have a long list of friends and family that you would like to buy for.  And in many cases one gift per person doesn’t seem adequate.  So we may feel that we have to buy three, four, or more gifts for those special people in our lives—our spouse, children, and certainly our grandchildren.

And that leads to yet another conundrum that those of us who are grandparents may find ourselves in.  In some cases we may feel like Christmas gift-giving to our grandchildren is a contest with the other sets of grandparents.  We find out that they have or are planning to spend much more on the grandchildren’s gifts than we had planned to spend, so we feel like we have to go out and spend more so we don’t look so cheap.

And then there are more activities in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  More shopping, more meal planning, more programs to attend at schools, more services and special events at church.  And what about Christmas cards to address and write (we haven’t started yet) and all those gifts mentioned earlier to wrap.

And along with all these “mores” of the holiday season come more anxiety, more short tempers, more angry encounters in mall parking lots, and more heated family arguments over the dinner table.  Eh, eh, eh! As they say.  All of these holiday mores—more commercialism, more consumerism, more running here and there, and more strained relationships at times may make us want to yell “Enough!  Time out!  There must be a better way to celebrate Christmas.”

Well, instead of letting ourselves get so caught up in the stress-producing pursuits of the holidays that I have mentioned, how good it would be if we could somehow focus more on the calmer, soul-satisfying, shall we say the spiritual aspects of the season.  A list of spiritual ideals that fit well is given in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, one of the more touching letters that Paul left us.  Philippians is one of the so-called “prison epistles,” since Paul wrote it while in prison.  The original receivers were the church members at Philippi, the first church that Paul established on European soil. 

In this letter Paul encourages all who read it to live a life of joy, gentleness, humility, prayerfulness, and thankfulness.  He calls upon us to think about what is true, just, and pure.  And if we can do these things, then the peace of God which surpasses understanding will be with us.  And isn’t having peace in our lives part of our deepest longing?

As a parenthetical side note, these qualities—joy, gentleness, humility, prayerfulness, thankfulness, truth, justice and purity—are religious qualities that are universal in nature and qualities to be found in other great religious traditions, such as Tibetan Buddhism.  So whatever one’s religious leanings, these qualities are worthy of serious consideration.

What it boils down to is the commitment to work on the inner person and improving the man or woman we are by:

·                seeking each day to find joy in the simple things of life;

·                being more gentle and understanding as we deal with others;

·                being more humble by removing self from the center of our universe and seeing ourselves as being interconnected with all living things;

·                cultivating a more prayerful spirit;

·                being more thankful for what we do have rather than being anxious over what we do not have;

·                seeking after the truth, but realizing we will never have a complete handle on it;

·                working for justice for the oppressed and disadvantaged;

·                and seeking to live the pure essence of life that is stripped of all selfish motives and actions that are not life-affirming. 

If we really want to observe the Christmas season in the true sense of the term, then maybe we will make a commitment to becoming better men and women by seeking to live out these ideals of the season. 

In that vein of thought, there is a piece by Henry Van Dyke that has become a Christmas classic and is one of my favorite Christmas readings.  Van Dyke was a Presbyterian minister, religious writer, poet, hymn writer, lecturer, and statesman, among other things.  He wrote the words to “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.”  The Christmas piece that I want to share today is called “Keeping Christmas.”  I am sure you have heard it.

Are you willing...

·       to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;

·       to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;

·       to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;

·       to see that men and women are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;

·       to own up to the fact that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;

·       to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness.

Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing...

·       to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;

·       to remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;

·       to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;

·       to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;

·       to try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;

·       to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke;

·       to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open—

Are you willing to do these things, even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing...

·       to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world—

·       stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death—

·       and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?

Then you can keep Christmas.

And if you can keep it for a day, why not always?

But you can never keep it alone.¹

     Well, reconsidering all those Christmas pursuits that I spoke of in the beginning, some of them are not nearly as burdensome when we approach them from the perspective of human relationships and in the spirit that Van Dyke elevates in “Keeping Christmas.”  The shopping, the meal planning and preparation, the programs, the gatherings, the special services, and the card writing and gift wrapping are much more satisfying when we remember we are doing these things for and with others; and it is in relationship with others where real life happens.

     As Henry Van Dyke suggests, and I think the Apostle Paul would agree, the real pursuit of Christmas that we all do well to focus upon is becoming more of the men and women, more of the boys and girls, we are meant to be by seeking to increase joy, gentleness, humility, prayerfulness, thankfulness, truth, and justice in our lives.  And we do well to remember that at the heart of all our Christmas activities should be fostering better human relationships.  And when we devote ourselves to these Christmas pursuits, then perhaps we will know something more of Christmas peace.  May it be so.  Amen.

¹Six Days of the Week, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924 and 1952.