Christ Episcopal Church
July 13, 2014
Christmas in July
My favorite Christmas in July story comes from the year Bishop Breidenthal celebrated this feast day with us. He and I were standing at the back of the church, near the font, listening to the prelude when someone walked up to me and asked what he should do with the bag he was holding, which clearly contained socks and underwear for the baby Jesus. Without really thinking, but in full earshot of the Bishop, I said "You can put your underwear at the creche at the offertory." The Bishop's eyebrows raised ever so slightly. How many priests get to say that in front of the bishop and still be a priest? Christmas in July is edgy and unexpected, but the underwear we place at the creche is actually about as non-outrageous as an offering can get. What is outrageous is that there are children in this community who are in real need of the socks and underwear we offer this day. But I think our good Bishop wondered what would happen next in a church that offers underwear at the creche!
Christmas is the great feast of anticipation. Our readings from scripture are full of hope and anticipation this morning. Isaiah has just given the Israelites a thorough tongue lashing for their deep unfaithfulness when our reading picks up this morning. The great kingdom that was established by King David has now split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Neither kingdom is very strong and both are tempted to make allegiances with other nations to protect themselves, rather than trust in God, but those allegiances come with a cost. The people are paying the price as a conquered people who live in a land of deep darkness. Now, Isaiah promises the people, God will act and bring them out of that land of darkness. The light will shine on them. The people will rejoice, and be free. A child will be born for them who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. How will these events come to pass? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah's words this morning are soaring, full of hope and anticipation. But why should the Israelites believe anything Isaiah says? What reason do the people have for believing the Lord of Hosts will intervene on their behalf? The reason is that God has acted in the past. God parted the Red Sea to delivered the people from slavery in Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and brought them to the Promised Land. The Israelites all know that story. Their deliverance from Egypt is the pivotal story of their faith. If God delivered them once, God will surely act again. Their knowledge of God's saving act in the past allows them to anticipate God's action in the future. What will happen next in a world where God can part the Red Sea and lead God's people to freedom?
The Christmas story in Luke's gospel is also full of anticipation as we wait to see what God will do. We know Mary is great with child as she sets off with Joseph to go to Bethlehem to be registered. We remember that the prophet Micah foretold that the long promised ruler would be born in Bethlehem. Joseph, we are reminded, is from the house of David, also part of the prophecy about the Messiah. Something spectacular is about to happen, but there is no place for this baby to be born. Thanks to the hospitality of a stranger, Mary gives birth to Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem, the angels sing, the shepherds visit, and Mary ponders all these things in her heart. This must be some baby! What will happen next in a world where the power of God comes into the world as a newborn baby?
"What will happen next?" In a world where God can part the waters to deliver the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt, in a world where God becomes human as a vulnerable baby, what might happen next? We believe God will act in the future in our own lives because we believe God has acted in the past. But our trust that God will act in the future is based on something more than simply belief that God acted in the past. Our trust is based in gratitude-in thanksgiving-for all that God has done. We are people of thanksgiving. Every Sunday, week in and week out, we gather at this table to give thanks, to make our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving in the Eucharist, a word that means thanksgiving. We give thanks for God's mighty acts through out history and in our own lives.
During my sabbatical, one of the things I realized as I traveled around and visited other churches is how easily we can take for granted all that God has given us at Christ Church. From our beautiful, well-maintained building, to our children who are deeply engaged in the life of this parish and budding theologians in their own right, to financial resources that allow us to engage in ministries beyond our own means, to parish leaders who step forward and make a whole host of ministries happen, to the joy with which we greet each other on Sunday morning, we are richly blessed here. I speak only for myself, but I know I am not the best steward of the things I take for granted. Perhaps that is true of others of us as well.
We are in a time of great excitement and anticipation at Christ Church as we engage each other in conversation about new ministry initiatives. We know that God will act because God has acted before, both in the story of scripture as well as in our own lives and in our life together as a congregation. I invite us to be equally engaged in a time of thanksgiving. In your announcements today and each Sunday through the rest of the summer, you will find a small form inviting you to thank a fellow parishioner for some act of kindness, large or small. Gratitude is a developed discipline, and I invite us to develop that discipline and let gratitude transform us as we watch for the ways God acts in our lives through each other.
Christmas in July is our somewhat uncomfortable but always joyous reminder us to watch for the ways that God is acting in our midst- all the time. Christmas in July calls us to live in gratitude for all that God has done for us, and to live in anticipation of what God is about to do. What will happen next in a church where people offer underwear at the creche, where people anticipate the Christ child's birth in July and all year long, where people live in deep gratitude for all God has done for them and where people see the Christ child in each other and in all people? What will happen next?
Amen.
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