|
4 Advent, Year B, 2008
Mary's First Christmas
December 21, 2008
Luke 1:26-38
Christmas is just a few days away, and
I’m beginning to think about it a lot. And isn’t it interesting that
when we think of Christmas, our images are old images, not
contemporary ones. When we think of Christmas, we never think of a new
Hummer shifting into four-wheel-drive to slice through the snow. We
think of a sleigh, going over the river and through the woods to
grandma’s house. We don’t think of a high-tech artificial tree with
LED lights – even though we may own one – we think of a fresh-cut
tree, probably being dragged by that same sleigh.
And the music. Nobody wants to hear Brenda Lee singing “Rockin’ around
the Christmas Tree,” or – God forbid – Alvin and the Chipmunks. Can
you imagine the uproar if that’s what we sang on Christmas Eve in this
church? No, we want to hear the old stuff – the stuff that holds no
interest at all in other times of the year, but that’s what we crave
at Christmas. Songs about a silent night, about a bleak mid-winter
long long ago, about a little town of Bethlehem, about what came on a
midnight clear, about singing angels and joy to the world, about
coming together to adore him. That’s what we long hear.
And when I think about Christmas, I always think about my childhood,
about being with my parents and sister around the Christmas tree. My
parents, now long gone, are young and I see them so clearly. I
remember all the Christmases of my childhood, even the ones that were
hard, when my father didn’t have a job and we didn’t have much – even
those I remember with fondness because we were together and love was
there.
Download
full text (PDF)
Past Sermons (PDF files)
November
30, 2008 -- The Light Coming Into the World
November
23, 2008 -- Jesus our King, Christ the King Sunday
November 16,
2008 -- Treasure in our Hands, 27 Pentecost
November
2, 2008 -- Sainthood by the Numbers, All Saints Sunday
October 19, 2008
-- The Air I Breathe, 23 Pentecost
September 28, 2008
-- Standing on the Firm Foundation, 20 Pentecost
September 14, 2008
-- Over and Over Again, 18 Pentecost
September 7, 2008
-- Shouts and Whispers, 17 Pentecost
August 31, 2008
-- Being a Disciple, 16 Pentecost
August 10, 2008
-- Dancing on the Waves, 13 Pentecost
August 3, 2008
-- Not my problem, 12 Pentecost
July 27, 2008
--
We haven’t
missed the bus,
11
Pentecost
July 20, 2008
-- Gather at the River, 10 Pentecost
July 6, 2008 --
What would Jesus do is not enough, 8 Pentecost
June 29, 2008
-- On the Foundation of the Prophets and the Apostles, 7
Pentecost
June 15, 2008 --
How I Turned Out, 5 Pentecost
June 8, 2008 --
Follow Me, 4 Pentecost
June 1, 2008 --
Life on the Rock, 3 Pentecost
May 11,
2008 -- Behind the Big Red Doors, Day of Pentecost
May 4, 2008 -- Cast all your anxiety upon Him,
7 Easter
April 27, 2008 --
His story, your story, 6 Easter
April 13, 2008 --
The Lord is My Shepherd, 4 Easter
April 6, 2008 --
And He Walks With Me, 3 Easter
|