Ponder These Things...

December 9, 2007
Connections Community Church

Charles Dickens is synonymous with Christmas. Everyone knows his famous tale- a Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, Tiny Tim- great stuff. But Dickens wrote another story that, in my opinion, captures the spirit and experience of Christmas even better than he did in the Carol. I don’t think he knew he did, and I don’t think anyone else, to my knowledge, has ever made this connection. But the very first line of his famous Tale of Two Cities rings true for most of us this time of year-

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!”

For most of us Christmas and New Years is sort of like the best of times and the worst of times. I hope all of us have some great memories of Christmas, and are already making new ones. Just yesterday I took all my kids out skiing to the Boler Bump. It was my 3-year old son’s first time. He was awesome- just like his dad at that age! And my daughter Karis, 5 years old, lost both of her front teeth this week. Both of them! You can’t plan stuff like that! We are already making some amazing Christmas memories.

But not everything is great this time of year. There’s only 15 more shopping days left until Christmas and you haven’t even made your list yet. Just out of curiosity, who here has finished their Christmas shopping… Most of you haven’t even sent out your cards yet. Some of you forgot until right now that you are supposed to send out cards.

For some of you this is actually the hardest time of year. This is your first Christmas without your spouse, or without your children, or without your parents. You are already dreading this season. You already have bills to pay through June. You have to figure out how you are going to visit with four different sets of family. You know that Uncle Joe is going to show up with his new girl friend, and nobody is going to like her. You already know that Dad is going to drink too much eggnog and make a scene, but everyone will be polite and make excuses for him. And while this past week held some great memories for my family, one of my high school friends died lost he battle with cancer this week. On his birthday. A guy my age. His mom made the blanket you see my son constantly holding onto. This is the worst of times for his family now.

Christmas can be the best of times and the worst of times. And you know what, there’s not much I can do to fix that for you this morning. You probably can’t fix everything to micro- manage a perfect Christmas for your family (Although this doesn’t stop millions of Moms and Dads from trying to put the veneer of a perfect family Christmas together). There’s nothing much that you can do to fix a lot of circumstances out of your control this morning, or in the coming weeks. Yes, you can and should make some decisions that are in your control- don’t over spend. Don’t over eat. Don’t over drink. Don’t go and see the movie Fred Claus, no really, don’t.

But here’s the thing- here’s what we can do- just stop. Just pause. And just ponder what this is really all about. Because if we do that, we might just gain the perspective we need to make it through. We might just gain the insight we need to know what this season is all about. We might just push the balance a bit, so that this is not so much the worst of times, but is a bit more the best of times.

You know what else- this is really nothing new. I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special the other night with my kids, telling them how I watched it when I was there age. I watched as the credits rolled- 1965. For more than 40 years kids and parents have been watching that special- and the message of it rings as true today as it did back then- Charlie Brown laments that everyone’s forgotten the real reason for the season- his own sister, his own dog, all his friends have gone commercial. Finally, in desperation, Charlie Brown screams out- “Isn’t there anyone who can tell me what Christmas is all about?” Hey, watch it for yourself…

And if Linus had continued he would have said this,
“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2: 8-19

What would it look like for us to stop, to pause, and to ponder these things in our heart? To ponder what Christmas is all about, instead of getting caught up in the craziness of it all. To ponder, can we make this the best of times?

So this morning I want us to ponder two things…
First, the classic Christmas question-

what do you want for Christmas?

What do you really want for Christmas this year? For some of you you’re already there! You want the car, you want the vacation, you want the new game system, you want something. And you know what, that’s cool. I want new skis. I don’t care if you want some stuff- stuff isn’t bad. Cordless drills are cool. I like my son’s remote control car more than he does. Buying my wife jewelry brings her happiness, makes her look good and then through a chain reaction of events eventually leads to a very merry Christmas for me. Stuff isn’t all bad- so I’m not knocking stuff.

But you know it can take over. You know it can consume you, and usually does. You know it doesn’t lead to real happiness and joy and fulfillment and peace. So I’ll ask again, what do you really want for Christmas? What do you want that goes beyond the stuff? Can you name it?

There are at least four words very closely associated with Christmas- we see then in card after card, hear them in song after song- hope, peace, love and joy. Many churches light what are called Advent Candles- each standing for one of those things. These are the kinds of things I’m talking about pondering. Look at your life, ponder your deepest needs, what do you really want? What do you want to arrive in your life this year?

Ponder Hope. Do you want hope? Are you in what seems to be a hopeless situation? A hopeless marriage, a hopeless addiction, a hopeless job, a hopeless future? Are you held hostage to a bottle, to a pill, to a person, to a pleasure? You have the proverbial monkey on your back. You can’t stop thinking about that person, even though it can go nowhere. You can’t stop looking at pornography, even thought it only makes you feel worse about, everything. You are in this downward spiral that is spinning out of control and it just seems hopeless? What are you hoping for?

Ponder Peace. Is your spirit restless? There is a war going you’re your life. A war that rages for your heart and soul and mind and strength. You don’t know what to do with your life. You feel like you’re just going through the motions, punching the clock, paying your dues, working for the weekend. You are so ill at ease that your goal is not to get in touch with your feelings or your dreams, your goal is to get numb. To get through the day. What difference would peace make in your life?

Ponder Love. Do you want to feel the love of your parents? The love of your spouse? The love of your children? The love of another human being because you are isolated and alone? Do you want to know the love of God?

Ponder Joy. Have you lost your joy for living? Are you weighted down with the burdens of the world? You worry about family and kids, and work and school and government and poverty and world hunger and war and all the other bad things in the world- because we know they are out there. But there can also be joy- beauty and laughter and joy in life.

So ponder what you really want in your life. Ponder that which would bring you true hope, true peace, true love, true joy. And be as specific as you can get- name it. Because something happens in naming the need. I drive my wife crazy every Christmas- what do you want George? “Oh you know, whatever, something that I like.” That’s really helpful because she was seriously thinking about buying me something that I would really detest! Just like it helps to actually name the gift we want (skis), name the longing in your life. You have to bring it forward and bring it before God.

Then second, in light of what you are longing for, in light of what you really want,

ponder this story

Ponder, as Mary did, all these things. She pondered all that had happened in the previous year…

A young girl, a teenager most likely, was dreaming of the day in the near future when she’d be married to Joseph. Six months after a visit to her old relative Elizabeth, an angel came to Mary. She was troubled, as everybody always is when an angel visits. But the angel comforted her and gave her even big news- she would give birth to a son, and he would be named Jesus, which means save, for he will save the people from their sins. He will be great and he will be the son of the Most High God. He will establish a kingdom that know no bounds- of place or of time.

Mary asked how this would be, for she was a virgin, pledged to be married. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and the child born would be the Son of God. Even now, he said, your relative Elisabeth is six months pregnant- for nothing is impossible with God. And Mary’s response was simple: I am the Lord’s servant- may it be unto me as you have said.

Joseph began to notice a change in his fiancé Mary. The whole tale would be hard to swallow. So he decided to quietly divorce her because he didn’t want to put her through any more shame. So there was another visit by an angel- he came to Joseph in a dream and told him the plan. Joseph woke up, went to Mary, and took her home as his wife.

Some months later Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census be taken, and that all people needed to register in their hometown. So Joseph and a very pregnant Mary started their journey to Bethlehem. The town was so full that they could find no place to stay but a stable, and it was there that Jesus was born and laid in a feeding trough.

That very night the angel appeared to the shepherds and told them all that had unfolded. “Do not be afraid! I bring you good news of great joy for all the people of the world- today, in Bethlehem, a savior is born, he is Christ the Lord!” And then the sky was filled with angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth people to men on whom his favor rests!”

I tell the story because I have no idea if you know it or not, but it is so important to me, and so important to all the world, I want to be sure you hear it at least once this Christmas. I want you to have the opportunity to actually ponder this story, to treasure it in your heart, and decide what you make if it.

I invite you to stop, to pause, and to ponder this story because maybe here lies the answer to all the things we really want this Christmas- all the things we really want in life. I invite you to ponder this story because here we find the one who can bring us hope in a world of dead ends. Here we find the one that can bring us peace in the war that rages in our soul, and even the wars that rage in our world. Here we find the love that we long for, the love we were made to receive, and extend. Here we find the joy that brings purpose and meaning and beauty to life.

There is a fifth candle that is traditionally lit at Christmas in many churches- one that is lit on Christmas Eve. A candle that sits in the center of the other four: taller, bigger, brighter. It is the Christ candle. This is his story, the story of Jesus. The story of the God that came us as a baby born in a barn in Bethlehem, to become one with us, to live among, to eventually die for us so that me might have the forgiveness of our sins and new life in his resurrection.

Here’s the thing, I’m not at all surprised that the world tries to squeeze this story out of Christmas. That’s just what the world does, that what life does. It wants to squeeze God to the margin, squeeze out the meaning and the beauty and the art of it all. You know what surprises me? That it still hasn’t happened, and that I don’t think it ever will happen. Despite all our troubles, and all the bad stuff that happens, all the craziness of Christmas of shopping and traveling and visiting and sending cards and office parties and everything that squeezes in on us this time of year- despite all that, we haven’t forgotten the meaning. You haven’t forgotten the meaning. You’re here! You’re learning the story, or remembering the story. You know what Christmas is all about- a God who loves us so much he became one of us. A God who loves us so much he came not in power, but as a helpless babe. A God who loves us so much he set aside his glory and the riches of heaven to become flesh and blood and in a barn in Bethlehem.

In two weeks, on Dec. 23, through song, through word and through drama we are going to tell the story again- in way you’ve never heard even if you’ve heard it before. We are going to tell it in a way that will make you ponder it as you never have before, and maybe help you to understand it in a way you never have before. We are going to tell it in a way that you can bring your family, your friends, you neighbors to hear- and they won’t be criticized for never coming to church. They won’t be confused by how the service runs. But they might just hear this story for the first time, or in a way that finally makes sense. And they too may ponder these things in their hearts- and find hope, peace, love, joy- the God they have longed for all their lives. The God we have longed all our lives.