In September of 1971, I was installed as the Associate Pastor of the Little Church on the Lane in Charlotte, N.C. There were only two Moravian Churches in the whole city, and we were the larger of the two. By Christmas Eve, I felt like a celebrity.
We had three lovefeasts and each of the three was packed. It proved a very interesting experience for me.
At the first lovefeast, while everyone else was served the standard fare of a lovefeast bun and coffee laced with sugar and cream, I was served a lovefeast bun, several slices of country ham, and coffee black, my personal standard. I felt special.
At the second lovefeast, while everyone else was served the standard fare of a lovefeast bun and coffee laced with sugar and cream, I was served a lovefeast bun, sliced, but hiding no surprises, and a coffee laced with sugar and cream. Somebody in the kitchen was letting me know I was just like everybody else.
At the third lovefeast, while everyone else was served the standard fare of a lovefeast bun and coffee laced with sugar and cream, I was served a lovefeast bun, sliced, and hiding a piece of cardboard upon which someone had written the word “ham,” and a cup of lukewarm water, which, to be honest, I was afraid to drink. I had great expectations, but not all of them were realized.
It seems to me that my experience on that long ago Christmas is a perfect parable of this season.
Some people undoubtedly greet the approach of Christmas feeling pretty special. Perhaps you are young, with a wonderful future ahead of you. Perhaps you are older, but you have your health. You have a good job, or you have a good retirement. You are surrounded by a loving family, and you have lots of friends. Your Christmas message is the message of the wise men. They traveled from the east, bearing gifts for the infant king. They are blessed to be a blessing, and so are you. In 2 Corinthians chapter 9:8, St. Paul says, “And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.”
Some people undoubtedly greet the approach of Christmas feeling absolutely average, or maybe a bit below. Maybe, just once, you really stood out; but lately, that pleasure has been denied you. The Christmas message you need to hear is the message of the shepherds. God revealed the Good News to them while hiding it from the rich in their palaces. Then, on top of that, he took a group of very ordinary men and women, touched their lives through an extraordinary Christ, and turned the world upside down. You may feel ordinary, like me, but you can be sure that God has a plan for you, a plan for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. God is not interested in our ability, but in our availability. God does great things through ordinary people.
Finally, some people undoubtedly greet the approach of Christmas feeling a little let down. Your great expectations have not worked out. Perhaps your family life is on the rocks, or perhaps you are far away from the place you call home, separated from the people you love by distance, or by time, or by both. Or, perhaps you are unemployed, and you are running out of severance pay, and unemployment compensation, and you still have not found a job to replace the really good job that you lost. Or you know the pain of always finishing second. Perhaps you are always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Perhaps you just missed a big promotion. The Christmas message for you is the message of the Christ child, who grew up to be an extraordinary man. They are always the bridesmaid and never the bride. They just missed a big promotion, or the were runner-up to the gal who just became the new vice president. The message of Christmas is really for those who feel down. My favorite Christmas story is found in 2nd Corinthians 8:9. St. Paul tells it like this. He says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. “
In other words, the son of God was born in a stable, as a human being, that we human beings might know that we are the children of a heavenly king.
My favorite Christmas Carol is “O, Little Town of Bethlehem.” Unfortunately, we never sing my favorite verse. It goes like this:
Silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given,
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven;
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin;
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Green