"Stealing Home"

Message preached December 8, 2002
Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Glen Arm, Maryland USA
based upon  2 Peter 3:8-15a

Order of Worship

            In an episode of the television show, "The Simpsons," young Bart hatches a plan to awaken early Christmas morning and sneak a peek at what is under the tree. The fact that his mother has collected all the alarm clocks in the house does not deter him. He simply drinks many glasses of water before going to bed. This, indeed, awakens him up in the middle of the night, and he then proceeds downstairs to the living room, where he opens and plays with his presents.

            Unfortunately, the remote control fire truck he should have received at a later point that day malfunctions, and before he knows it he has burned down the Christmas tree and everything under it. Why the house is not engulfed in flames in the process is a useless question, for this is but a cartoon with its own kind of logic. Sort of like us, for our own logic at times tries to elude the inevitable consequences of our actions - right?

            Anyway, viewing the now melted mess on the floor, Bart comes up with another plan. You see, it’s a winter wonderland outside and he figures that the snow will cover his sins. So, he carries it all out on the front lawn and shovels it over with the white stuff. When he finally returns inside, convinced that he has succeeded, he is met by the rest of his family wondering why he was outside. They then discover the missing tree and gifts. "What happened, Bart?," they ask. With his brain working overtime, this Simpson kid hatches yet another desperate plan on the fly. "It was a robber," he proclaims. "He broke into the house and stole our Christmas. I saw him." The rest of the program reveals how this lie keeps growing and growing.
                           ["Miracle on Evergreen Terrace," originally aired 12/21/1997]

            How often, at this time of year, do we complain that Christmas has become so commercialized. I know I’ve done my share. Even from this pulpit. Christmas just isn’t what it used to be. That’s what we say. It’s been swallowed up in a mega-holiday, which we might call "Hallo-giving-Kwanz-ukah-mas." ... "Put "Christ" back into Christmas," becomes our mantra. We even go so far as getting upset when someone abbreviates the name of this holy day to "X-mas." It’s like some robber broke into our home and stole Christmas from us. Right?

            Of course, we had no role to play in the process, did we? Retailers tell us that the reason the Christmas promotions go up earlier and earlier is because customers demand them earlier and earlier. I’m not in that business, so I can’t say how true that is, but I do know the economic law of "supply and demand," and it’s us who are on the "demand" side of things. Busier and busier lives demand a longer season to get everything done. Now, I don’t want to let advertisers off the hook, for they play off our lust and parade it around under the righteous banner of "giving" at this time of year. Even so, if the truth be told, the stealing of Christmas is an inside job.

            By the way, when we complain about the "X" in the abbreviation, "X-mas," we forget something. Take some time later to look over the "Common Ground" insert in your bulletin, which reveals how the early church used the symbol of the fish to identify themselves, and how each letter in the Greek word for fish - "IX1US" ("ichthus") stood for something about our Lord. The letter "chi" in Greek, the common language of the Mediterranean area of that time, looks like an "X." In the fish symbol, it stood for "Xristos" ("Christos"), or "Christ." Thus, the abbreviation "X-mas" is not so out-of-line. Perhaps we are the ones who take the "Christ" out of the "X."

            There’s something else we fail to remember about Christmas. You might say that Christians "stole" this holiday from the pagans. Our "traditional" Christmas has some links to other religions which sought to alleviate some of the dread of a cold and dreary time of year by adding some color. Christians simply started associating with that "color" by bringing in a celebration of how God "colored" the world with his Son. They snuck into the culture with the gospel and appropriated (or, if you will, "stole") some of the symbols already there, and gave them new meaning.

            I hate to break your bubble if you didn’t know this, but Jesus probably was not born on December 25^th. In the first place, there was no "December" back then. They operated on a different calendar. Furthermore, we simply do not know the day on which he was born. It was many years later that the established church chose this particular date to celebrate his birth. Our Greek Orthodox friends, by the way, hold to a different day.

            Christmas has become wrapped in symbols linked to people who live in the upper northern hemisphere of this globe. Our carols sing of the "cold of winter" (see vs. 1 of "Lo, how a rose e’er blooming," #211), which must seem a tad interesting to our friends on the other side of the world. Our congregation has recently been blessed with some women who grew up in Brazil and Chile, for instance, where December 25^th takes place in their summer. What would it mean for them to dream of a "white Christmas?"... I’ve talked over the Internet with my Anglican priest friend in Australia, who relates how they celebrate Christmas outside with steaks on the "barby." ... We probably should recall that while Israel is in the northern hemisphere of the globe, it’s climate is comparable to southern California or Florida. Snow is not unheard of in Bethlehem, but is highly unusual.

            With all this in mind, who really stole Christmas? You know, I began this message with an illustration from an unusual source. I mean, really, "The Simpsons?" What better example is there of the banality of television? That show makes a mockery of everything. Why pay attention to Bart or Homer or any of the other ludicrous characters on that primetime cartoon? A recent issue of "The Christian Century" (vol. 118, #4, 1/31/01, pp. 12-14) asked whether, in truth, "The Simpsons" was "TV’s most religious family?" Strange question, indeed. Unlike other programs, God is part of the show. Homer and his family do go to church. The pastor there is a stereotypical windbag, but at least he is there. Evangelical next-door-neighbor Ned Flanders may be the object of much humor, but he also is a constant presence. The characters, though wacky, operate "in a moral universe in which evil often - if not always - is punished with consequences" (p.14).

            Bart, for instance is able to fool everyone that a robber stool their Christmas tree and all the presents under it. Along the way something good happens, as news of this robbery brings out the best in people, and neighbors far and wide replace the Christmas that was stolen from the Simpson house. Of course, snow eventually melts and the truth comes out. That’s how it is, isn’t it? - unlike in other programs where consequences don’t necessarily follow.

            Now, I’m not making a case for or against "The Simpsons." I merely showing how we can "steal" our way (if you will) into something that, on the surface, doesn’t seem all that connected to Christ. To be honest, Homer Simpson is probably so popular in our culture because he looks very familiar. Many of us recognize ourselves in him, and Bart, and Marge, and Lisa, and all the rest. There’s a connection.

            Christmas is really about how God has connected with us. If you will, he "stole" his way into this world through Jesus, who became someone with whom we could identify. That’s what that big word "incarnation" means - "in flesh and blood" ... "one like us." He looks familiar. We all entered the world pretty much the same way. No, we weren’t all "laid in a manger" in a barn soon after we were born, "wrapped in swaddling cloths." But, we were born of a woman. We grew up in a home. Maybe not a perfect home, but we had a place. Remember, Jesus lived with an adopted father. Joseph, scripture says, wasn’t his biological Dad. And at some point along the line, though we don’t know when or why, Joseph exited the picture. Sound familiar? Not every family is perfect. In these ways, and more, God in Christ has "stolen" his way into our hearts.

            But this whole "thief" image doesn’t stop there. This world is, as yet, incomplete. God is not finished. There is more to come. Traditionally, Advent is a time for preparing your heart for the coming of the Lord. But it’s a multi-dimensional type of preparation, for while we get ready to celebrate how God "stole" his way into this world as an infant long ago, we also prepare the way for Christ to enter our hearts and lives today. Furthermore, Advent points beyond the present time to how God, ever the "thief" will "steal" his way into this world to finish what is yet undone.

            "The day of the Lord will come like a thief," it says in 2 Peter (3:10),"the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed." In other words, the snow won’t always hide everything. God will make things right. When? Now there’s the million dollar question.

            "With the Lord one day is like a thousand years," it says in 2 Peter, "and a thousand years are like one day." Things will happen in God’s own time. Furthermore, "the day of the Lord will come like a thief," unexpected, without warning (see Matthew 24:43, Luke 12:39, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Revelation 3:3, 16:15). Things will happen in God’s own way. "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," God’s people have prayed down through the centuries, wondering how and when. It all boils down to faith .

            Okay, Christmas is now 397 hours away - that is, according to our measuring of time. Instead of asking who stole Christmas (because deep down we know it was an inside job); or instead of crying out that everybody else should put "Christ back in Christmas" (because we know that if "X" marks the spot anywhere, it needs to begin right here); let’s prepare the way to receive the Lord. Brush off the snow with which we might be trying to hide our sins. Turn from whatever wrong path we may be meandering onto. Regain the sense of balance that only God can provide. Trust in the promise. And let the love of Christ steal it’s way into your home.

©2002 Peter L. Haynes

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