Sermon
of December 25, 2005
Presented by Rev. Chuck Ericson
Scripture lesson:
John
1:1-14
“The Three L's of Christmas"
You’ve probably figured this out. I like alliteration. I like letters that all have the same beginning. Last week I did a message about preparing to serve and the first word I used in the sermon was extraordinary, and the second word I used was eloquent, so there’s “e”, this is the alliteration coming in, and later on, the third one was engage. Somebody in the choir later on, not somebody who’s here right now, so I’m not putting any of you on the spot, said I was wondering what that third one was going to be! There was actually somebody waiting in the choir, wondering what that third “e” was going to be. I also knew that out here were many people who had not idea about the “e” at all. You may not; did you know that there are points in sermons? I didn’t know that until I was in seminary. Somebody said yes, you have an introduction, then point one, point two, point three, and a conclusion and that’s your sermon. You have three different points to develop the idea. Now that I’ve divulged that secret to you, maybe you’ll pay attention to it!
So today, it’s the three “L’s” of Christmas, a little bit more alliteration. I noticed as I read this prologue from John. That’s another one for you – if you want to really impress your friends, especially your friends who know their Bible, you can say that in church Sunday we read the prologue from John; that’s what they call this first part in Seminary. In there, there jumped out at me this time two words with L’s – life and light. And later on I found another one that’s not in here but it comes up a little later and it’s directly connected. So I want to think about the three L’s of Christmas for just a few moments this morning.
The first “L” of Christmas is life. It’s says in John that Jesus came to bring us life and to be life for us. And I just wanted to say let’s think about how important that is and what that really means to us this Christmas morning, because often when we talk about life in our daily living, we’re thinking about our physical selves because we often equate life to being alive. We’re determined to be alive based on EKG’s, EEG’s, pulse rates, the fact that we’re moving and breathing, that we’re alive. And we think often as something that’s physical. The life that Jesus came to bring was not physical. The physical part of our lives is there, it is important – it’s critical. But what Jesus came to bring was something inner. There’s a life within us that Jesus came to bring to its fulfillment, to show us that the way we live our lives gives us life, a sense of peace and fulfillment, and joy and satisfaction inside.
Now I’m
going to give you an example that’s very controversial right now, and I
don’t want any booing, any snarling, any yeahs, any ha-ha, anything like that
– I’m going to talk about Johnny Damon for a minute, who just signed with
the NY Yankees and left the Red Sox. Now years ago I left the Yankees to root
for the Red Sox, so this is very hard for me. But something about what has
happened with him really fits in here, because apart from the money, which
obviously was significant, somewhere within him I think and I believe, there is
this feeling that I can stand in Yankee stadium where Joe DiMaggio and Mickey
Mantle and a few others stood, because that makes him feel alive. Not that
You see, life is about finding the place where God calls us to serve to use our talents and abilities to do something for others. That’s the life Jesus came to bring, and whether you agree with the example I just gave or not (you can make your own up), but I think it’s a good one. It’s looking to when we’re 86, 87, 92, 93,100 years old, sitting in a chair with a smile on our faces – what’s that smile going to be about? Not about all the awards we’ve gotten, all the money we’ve gotten, all the possessions we’ve gotten, but about what we’ve done if we’ve been able to use the gifts God gave us to feel free, feel alive and make people happy. So Jesus came to bring us life, “L”, that’s the first one.
The second “L” of Christmas is light. Jesus came to be the light to all people. Now today again, when we think of light, I think a lot of us think of bright lights. I do. In fact I still think of ball parks and those big banks of lights that go on and light up that whole field, that’s huge light. Or the spotlight that goes through the sky from the car dealers sometimes. Or when the youth group goes up to the cemetery every fall to have a little program about life and death, and we’re all supposed to bring flashlights, I always have the smallest flashlight and I always feel very inadequate, because some of these kids have these huge flashlights with these big batteries. And I just have this little flashlight that is flickering because the battery is almost dead. We like big, bright, powerful lights. That’s not necessarily the kind of light that Jesus called us to become. Sometimes Jesus calls us to become a flickering candle, or a burning ember (like a burning ember in a fireplace), sometimes that’s the only kind of light we’re called to be. Just something out there that brings a little flicker, a little light, a little warmth to somebody else.
That happened to me this morning. I’ve said before many times that my early morning routine, before coming in here, is to go down to the Mobil station and get a cup of coffee because I know I can get one there. I went down there this morning, it’s Christmas morning, and it was open; the usual suspects were there. And I got my cup of coffee, and I was thinking that I don’t know if Mobil made them stay open or somebody else. But I’d like to think that they chose to, because they know some people – that’s where they go in the morning on Sunday, and that may be the only place where some people have to go where they can meet a few other people; it’s where I got my cup of coffee this morning. And to me that’s being a light in the world, a little flickering candle a warm, glowing candle - just being there for someone else in some way. And God knows today that there are police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, x-ray technicians, armed forces people, and others that are out there today being a candle, an ember, for us, when we may have a need. So I think that’s Jesus is calling us – not to be the big bank of lights, lighting everything up, but sometimes just a glowing ember; being there for somebody to bring a little light and a little warmth in the middle of the day.
And then the last “L” of Christmas is love. Love isn’t in here, isn’t that interesting? In the prologue to John, there is no “L”, love, but there is in John 3:16, two chapters later: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal light.” If you’ve ever seen that sign at the ballpark, too, that’s what that is. It’s also reflecting back on Jesus’ birth, for God so loved the world that he gave Jesus. That’s the reason Jesus came was to bring us a feeling of love, also. And again today in our world, we think of love as the kind you see in movies, the romantic dinners and all of that kind of love. And yet love is something different for Jesus; that’s part of it. But part of it is just an outlook towards others. A feeling of God has given me some love, and I want to pass it on to someone else. Something that just wants to be giving to someone who needs it.
And I have one more good example. I had a car being fixed this week. And when it was all done, I went to pay the bill which was $500. And the owner came out and said we’re going to do some creative financing here. And I said, oh boy, here we go. He said, make me a check for $250, and I said, “Uh – the bill is $500.” And that was even a low price, because I got some other quotes, too. Make me a check for $250, and then take the other $250 and find somebody who’s in need and give it to them. This is a business owner. I said are you sure? He said I’m absolutely sure. I said, well I can give you the whole $500, and you can give me $250 back so you can get the tax credit. He said, no, no, no, I don’t care about that, I don’t want that – that’s not what I’m doing. Just give me $250, and take the other and find somebody who has a need, and give it to them. That’s love. Thinking that there is somebody else out there, unknown, a stranger – he doesn’t want to know who it is who gets it. Just find somebody else, somebody who has a need and give it to him. That’s the kind of love Jesus came to bring us, to show us, to give us, to teach us to pass onto others.
So this Christmas Jesus was born, Mortimer* put him back in his crib, Mortimer found a place to live, and the good news today is, all you have to remember is three “L’s” – life, light and love. May you feel all of these this Christmas in some way, and may you find a way to give all of those as well. Let us pray.
*
Reference to the children’s book “Mortimer’s Christmas Manger” by Karma