Sunday Sermon - 8 December
Last Sunday I had the privilege of attending the Community Carol Service at the Lakefield United Church. Not only did I have the privilege of attending, I was also given the honour to be “the closer” as they say, by leading in the final prayer and benediction and introducing the final hymn, Silent Night. This was my first time at this event and I have to admit, I was very deeply moved. The service was wonderful, the singing was beautiful and being with, laughing and having fun with, my fellow local clergy; Ann, Lyle, Peter and Chris made it even more special. It was also powerful to see members of the village, regardless of our denomination and religious or non-religious beliefs, join together to celebrate as a community.
On Friday night, I also attended the tree lighting and reception at Christ Church. I’ve only ever been to one tree lighting before, and it was the National Tree Lighting in Washington D.C. in front of the White House. Ours was better. The warmth of members of the community gathering in our little stone church harkens back to Christmases of old. The feeling of love and joy as we sang carols together was palpable. Both of these community gatherings, friends without distinction or division, united because we simply want to be together this season is a perfect way to set the spiritual stage as we prepare ourselves during Advent and into Christmas.
In today’s readings and throughout all of Advent, we are called to prepare for Christmas, for the annual celebration of the birth of Christ and for the future return of our Messiah King. The readings today invoke two different means of preparation that could be understood as Practical Preparation and Prophetic or Spiritual Preparation.
Practical Preparation is an external, usually action-oriented, form of preparation. Paul speaks to Practical Preparation in his letter to the Philippians when he expresses his gratitude for their good works that will be fulfilled when Jesus returns. He thanks them for their prayers for him as he suffers in prison, and he pleads that they continue their good work and thus will be blameless and pure in God’s eyes at the final day when Christ returns. Practical, external, visible actions.
Prophetic or Spiritual Preparation is internal, invisible to others. It is an interior focus that comes when we pay attention to our spirit deep within us.
John the Baptist, in Luke, speaks to this form of preparation. John the Baptist and other prophets are divinely inspired to prophesize about future significant events. The prophets not only tell us what is going to happen in the future, they call us to Spiritually Prepare for the significant event. John the Baptist tells us how to prepare for his prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. He calls us to repent of our past sins and turn away from the temptation of future sins. Today, The Baptist invites us to spiritually connect with God in a deep inner way - opening our hearts (as I spoke of last week) and aligning ourselves and our life choices with that of God’s will for us.
So, when we do our good works and acts of service for others, when we come together to worship and pray for the well being of others and for ourselves, when we build and foster a loving, open and supportive community (as Paul asks of the Philippians) we are Practically Preparing.
When we lean into ourselves, acknowledge our weaknesses and temptations, when we engage in seeking to understand our life’s frustrations and even our frustrations with God, when we meditate and pray, seeking a deeper connection with God, we are Spiritually Preparing.
So now it’s time for a little self-disclosure, maybe even a confession of some sort. These readings and the idea of Practical and Spiritual Preparation really struck a chord with me this week and here’s why. It has become abundantly clear to me that, through the course of my life, up until this very year, I have done okay, maybe slightly above mediocre, with the Practical Preparation throughout my Advents. But I have been terrible and have completely disregarded the Spiritual Preparation. This became most evident to me, in fact it hit me pretty hard, last Sunday night at the Community Carol event.
As I said before, although I’ve lived in Lakefield for 30 years, I’d never been to that event before and I’d never been to the Christ Church tree lighting event either. I even think that, over these past 30 years I may have come to church on Christmas three times? I’ve avoided the moments when I have been called to Spiritual Preparation during the seasons of Advent and Christmas. Sure, I’ve kept up with all of my Practical ‘outward’ Preparations, I did my work - led services at the College, led the school community in prayer, donated to charities, etc., all while avoiding my own inner Spiritual Preparations.
I’ve never really thought too much about it until this past Sunday night when I was confronted with the fact that I couldn’t avoid it anymore.
Here’s what happened.
Danny Bronson and his daughter Joanna were performing and their first song was Christmas Makes Me Cry. It’s a song I actually like but I generally try to avoid because Christmas does make me cry because I’ve experienced two tragic events on Christmas Day.
As my mother is the oldest in her family, she always hosted Christmas lunch at our farm in the countryside of a small town called Mt. Albert. One Christmas morning, when I was about 12 years old, while my uncle was driving to our house for our family gathering, his car was sideswiped by another vehicle. Everyone in the car was injured to varying serious degrees and my cousin Becky, who was three years old, was thrown from the car and died.
In 2001, my father-in-law, Janice’s Dad, at the age of only 65, passed away suddenly at 6am on Christmas morning of a heart attack. Now you have to know Paul, Jan’s dad, to appreciate the irony that his death on Christmas Day held. He was the original Clark Griswald from the movie Christmas Vacation. He loved Christmas, it was his all time favourite holiday. He’d buy all of the cheesiest decorations and had the whole house decorated with ridiculous ornaments and animated singing figures.
Now, I don’t share these accounts for your sympathy or compassion. I share these because it speaks about how difficult it is for many of us to engage in the depth of Spiritual Preparation that is asked of us throughout Advent and on Christmas. For many of us, Christmas is hard. Being vulnerable and digging into one’s spiritual self, Spiritual Preparation at this time of year can be tough.
We miss our deceased loved ones. Many are sick, infirm or shut-in. Many are in conflict with or estranged from their children, siblings or parents. Many are experiencing home and food insecurity, which hits even harder when it feels like everyone else is enjoying great feasts and big family gatherings in warm households.
However, the actual problem is this, the real message of Christmas has been robbed from us by a secular commercialism that only speaks of the joyous nature of the season, of Santa Claus and magic reindeer, of gifts and parties. The true meaning of Christmas, the sorrowful aspects of the life of this little baby are muted if not completely ignored.
The birth of Jesus only matters because of the life he led and the tragic death he endured. The birth of Jesus only matters because he died on the cross for our sins. The birth of Jesus only matters because of his glorious resurrection. The birth of Jesus only matters because He died to save us.
Christmas, in all of its profane ways, and amidst all of the noise that goes on around it, conflicts with real life experience. As a result, Christmas exaggerates our vulnerability and often deepens our sadness so, like me, you may be avoiding the Spiritual Preparation we are called to enter into because it just hurts too much.
However, when I sat in that Church last Sunday night listening to Christmas Makes Me Cry, amongst friends, and when I stood around that tree on Friday night as Tom McAllister lit the beautiful lights, amongst friends. And when I gather with you all in this church - our church - every Sunday, amongst friends, I know, I feel that I am safe. I feel spiritually safe to be vulnerable, to stop avoiding that which I am called to do, to open my heart and Spiritually Prepare for the coming of our Lord this Christmas. I pray that you all feel safe too, here in this place, amongst friends, to do so as well.
Today we read the words of our patron, St. John the Baptist, as he calls us to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Practically and Spiritually. Like me, you may find this really hard to do, to be vulnerable as you attempt to prepare your spiritual self this Christmas. But please know this, if you are sitting in a pew, in this beautiful little church today, or reading this online, know this, know that you are loved, you are amongst friends and you are safe. If the anticipated joy of Christmas brings you sadness, for whatever reason, please come and speak with me, I’d like to be of help if I can. I’ve shared my story with you so that you may feel safe in sharing your story with me.
Christmas, and preparing for Christmas, is indeed a time of joy for it is the time our saviour Jesus Christ was born. In the midst of this joy, we must also embrace the sadness that befalls Jesus in his life and is sometimes mirrored in our own. A sadness that is overcome by knowing God’s love for us, a love that is made known in our love and care for one another.
Amen.