g Eye of the Storm - A Christmas Sermon - 16 DEC 2007

“The Eye of The Storm” – A Christmas Sermon

Luke 2 8-12

CH (CPT) Lyde Andrews

We are now entering the Christmas season with all of its hustle, bustle, and celebration.  It’s a time for singing chorals, exchanging gifts, sipping eggnog, eating too much, and just basically basking in the merriment of the season.  As Andy Williams so beautifully sings (and of which I can’t):

It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It's the hap- happiest season of all

          Wow – with a party like that, who needs any old manger story and just a single old Eastern star?  Now, in fact, we have festivals of lights where, for just $20 per carload, we can travel through miles and millions of a myriad of lights and other festive decorations.  You would think that we’ve got it made with all these bright lights and blaring music, not to mention the incredible sale prices, especially if you arrive at 6:00AM when the stores open their doors for your convenience.  With all the Christmas parties, caroling and such, it’s not just the hap-happiest season of all, it’s also the “bus-busiest season of all.” But is this what Christmas is all about?

There’s the story of when a child was asked “What is the meaning of Christmas?,” and he quickly answered, “Well, everyone know that it’s when Santa Claus was born.”  In many ways, Santa has been transformed from a jolly figure of giving into the God of Consumerism.  And that false God is creeping into the church.  Now, we, as a society, worship at the alter of the storefront, and we present our offerings in the collection plate of the cash register.  However, through it all, there seems to be something missing…some nagging absence …something’s just not right.

<pause>

Ø Between the myriad of bright lights, there’s a haunting darkness. 

Ø Lurking behind the sparkly carols lies a lonely silence.

Ø Away from the overflowing barrage of gifts there’s a God-sized void inside us that no pre-wrapped, mass-produced trinket can ever fill.

Without even realizing it, we’ve managed to take Christ out of Christmas!  But how could that be?!  I’ve put up and decorated the Christmas tree, setup the wicker reindeer out in the yard along with the light that helps to spotlight them at night, and I’ve got more garland and tinsel up than you can shake a stick at.  In addition, I’ve got stockings hanging over the fireplace, spiced coffee brewing in the coffeepot, and the top 40 Christmas hits constantly playing on the stereo. But…somehow, it’s still empty.  <pause> 

For many people, Christmas is not a happy time; it’s not a joyous time at all.  For many, Christmas has become the loneliest, darkest month of the year.  It’s not a coincidence that December holds its fair share of depression, dispair and suicides.  Amid the chorals, garland and festive decorations also lay broken hearts, shattered dreams, and utter despair.  Silent night has been replaced with quiet tears.  Instead of joyous praise, we are left with bitter questions:

Ø Is this all there is?

Ø Is this what Christmas is really about?

Ø Where is Jesus in all of this?

Christmas used to mean something. <pause>

For some people, Christmas is a fake; it’s a fraud.  It promises something that it either can’t or doesn’t deliver.  You see, Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace and joy, but it’s not.  If we’re supposed to be celebrating the birth of Jesus, and Jesus came so that we would be saved and brought back into right relationship with God, then something has fallen short of this dream.  If Jesus is supposed to bring Peace on Earth, then maybe it’s a failure.  Look around us – we’re in the midst of a war where men and women from all sides are suffering and dying.  Disease, suffering, loneliness, selfishness, greed – they are all alive and doing quite well, thank you.  Could it be true that the material world has won out over the religious claims of peace and God’s love? 

In the midst of this hurricane of our lives, where is Christ? A hurricane is right.  Things are turbulent and chaotic.  Our world is moving by so fast that it seems almost impossible to just hang on for our lives and not get struck down by all the debris and disillusionment flying all around us.  But even the hurricane has an eye; there is this calm in the midst of the storm.  This period when the turmoil and the destructive chaos ceases, and a strange silence envelops the land.

<pause>

While in the eye, we can even look up and see blue skies and the sun. However, we know that even in the middle of this peace the storm will return.  The eye doesn’t represent the end of the storm; just a respite –a temporary rest from it.  Soon, the storm will return and continue its destruction and devastation on the land.  So, while in the eye, we take a moment to breath, to be thankful we’ve made it thus fall, and to prepare ourselves for the inevitable return of the storm.

Christmas itself can be seen as the eye of this frantic, hectic hurricane.  Yes, this world is tumultuous.  Yes, our lives can be way too fast, too frantic, too busy.  But as Christmas approaches, a peaceful stillness inevitably descends.   Despite the best efforts of the consumer culture, a quiet tranquility settles upon us.  This peaceful presence… is the Christ child; the baby Jesus.  At Christmas, it’s as though Christ breaks through the chaos to comfort us.  Christ serves as the corrective to the comsumeristic vision regarding Christmas.   During this season of the “eye of storm,” instead of looking up into the sky to see the sun, we look down into a manger to behold the Son – the Son of God – the light of this world.

This is not the promise of everlasting peace free of pain and sorrow.  We know the storm and the chaos of our lives will return, and we will once again struggle to hear the still, soft voice of God in the midst of all the noise, all the distractions, and all the pain.  Even during the time of Jesus’ birth, the storm raged even harder afterward when Herod ordered that every male under two years old in the region be killed.  The storm returned with even more fury…as it always does.  Does the return of the storm invalidate the claims of Christmas or the proclamation of his birth?  Absolutely not!  The fact that the hurricane rages comes to no surprise to anyone.  But the fact that Christ continually breaks in to calm the storm is proof positive that has brought about a new kingdom.  The unbeliever looks at the storm as says, “See, there is no God.”  We reply, “Ah, wait, the eye is coming!”  And it always does.  And the peace we see in the eye is the same peace that sustains us in the storm.

So, for the moment there is peace…and the peace we celebrate and long for every Christmas season is nothing less than the reassurance of Christ’s presence in the midst of it all.  For this is the very Christ who said to the raging storm, “Peace. Be still” (Mark 4:39).  Each Christmas, Christ says to the raging storm of our lives and the world whirling around us, “Peace.  Be Still.” 

This is the same Savior who promises us in the book of John, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives” (John 14:27). 

·        The gift I give you is not contained in some wrapped package with a bow on top lying under the tree.  I don’t give the way the world gives. 

·        I do not give you pretty paper, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, or stockings hung by the chimney with care.  I don’t give the way the world gives. 

·        You see, I don’t give you illusion, I give you truth.  I give you peace; my peace.  And I give you my presence.  Through it all:

Ø Through the joy and through the pain

Ø Through the days and through the nights

Ø Through the ups and through the downs, I am with you.

You see, during this time, a child was born.  You will find him wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger.  The Messiah.  The Immanuel, which literally means “God with Us.”  When we celebrate Christmas as a body of believers, we are not just remembering a past event.  We are reliving and reclaiming the ever-constant presence of Christ in our lives.

As we discussed earlier, we now drive through millions of Christmas lights, but we are bored.  But, according to Scripture, when Jesus was born, the maji followed the single Star of the East and, “until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matt 2:9-10).

So, Christmas is the re-proclaiming of the eternal love of God for us and the promise, and reality, of Christ’s presence in our lives.

Ø Amid the joyous moments, Immanuel “God with Us” is there. 

Ø Among the family get-togethers, parties, and celebrations, Immanuel “God with Us” is there. 

Ø In the lonely, desolate space with no visitors nor any obvious reason to celebrate - Immanuel “God with Us” is there. 

God did not promise that life would always be rosy and perfect; however, God did promise that we would never be alone.  Christ reassures us in the very last sentence in book of Matthew, “I will be with you even until the age [forever].” (Matt 28:20). That is why we celebrate!  That is why we sing “Joy to the World”!

For out of the commercial corruption of Christmas comes the Christ child.  Out of the ashes of disillusion arises the reality of Immanuel “God with Us.”  So we CAN sing the songs with gusto, and we CAN celebrate the holidays with true joy because we know the true reason for the season.  For unto us a child is born.  The Christ child.

So, this is not some desperate, lonely night.  It’s a silent, holy night. A time to not just remember but to relive the birth of our Savior, our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

Let us pray <pause>,

“Dear Lord, amidst the hurricane of our lives and  hustle and bustle of this season, we thank you for your presence and the reassurance of your love for us. We thank you for being that eye in the storm.  Come, fill us with your peace, your love, and your promise to still the storm.  So we celebrate your birth and your life, which has brought us eternal life.  From the dawning of the day to the silence of the night, come to each soul here and grant them the peace that transcends all understanding.  Thank you for each day that we have been given, and may they be filled with an overwhelming sense of your presence.

In Christ Jesus’ most precious name we pray, Amen.”

Ø Play Silent Night and light candle.

Focus: Christmas as the eye of a hurricane and reminder to Christ’s constant presence in the midst of turmoil and pain.

Function: Reassure the congregation that Christmas is a reminder/reliving of Christ’s presence in our lives, and this presence is especially poignant during Christmas, and remind them of what Christmas is really about. 

Form:

I.                   What Christmas is supposed to mean

II.                What it is has actually come to mean

III.             Eye of the hurricane / symbol of Christ’s presence

IV.             The baby Jesus  / the Christ child

V.                Return to the true meaning of Christmas