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December 7 2008 -Holidays or Hollow Days?- Rev. Ney
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December 7, 2008 “Holidays or Hollow Days?” Rev. Vicky Ney
Text: I Thessalonians 3:9-13
There were some groans coming from the manse this week. Did you hear them? The Christmas decorating began! Richard put up two trees, we decorated one, I got out house ornaments, Richard put out some outdoor lights (he really loves it so much he always waits for 20degree weather to get the full effect!) I used my day off on Friday to get into the mad rush of a One Day Sale at Macy’s. It’s so much fun to wait in long lines to use my $10 off $25 purchase before 1 p.m.! In the midst of the hubbub, and my long wait in the checkout line, I thought of a story where a woman was doing Christmas shopping just like I was. Her arms were full of bulky bags and packages waiting for an elevator. Finally the door opened and the elevator looked full. Nice people, taking pity on the shopper, squeezed together and let the poor woman in. As the doors closed she blurted out, “Whoever is responsible for this whole Christmas thing ought to be arrested, strung up, and shot!” A few people nodded their heads or grunted in agreement. Then, from somewhere in the back of the elevator came a single voice that said, “Don’t worry. They already crucified him.”
There’s also a story about a lady going through a crowded store with her little boy. At one point she leaned over and said, “No one is quite sure how Christmas worked out like this, dear. Theologians are working very, very hard on that question right now.”
That may be true! How did this Christmas mess happen? The fact is, if early Church theologians saw us today they would hardly recognize our Advent season. They would probably be scratching their heads in confusion. You may already know that the origins of Advent, from the Latin word Adventus, means “Coming” or “the coming of the Savior.” In order to get ready for this spectacular event each year, Advent used to be a very holy season in the early Christian church. Historically speaking, from around the eight century, the season was regarded as a time of penitence—a time of fasting as strict as that of Lent. Obviously, that tradition has been relaxed! We seem to eat and drink MORE during Advent than the rest of the year! The church seems to have acquiesced and taken on the ways of the secular society. But still, I hope you will hear from our services, from this pulpit, and from our Bible studies that this is a time of preparation—the preparation of our hearts and minds—for the coming of Christ into our world, again.
When I first read our scripture passage this morning, I thought about this wonderful letter that Paul was sending the Thessalonians. Paul had “planted” this church and then had to leave abruptly. Afterward he heard that they were going through hard times of persecution. He worried that their young faith might collapse under the pressure. Then he got word from Timothy that the Thessalonians were doing just fine—the church was strong—it just needed some encouragement. So Paul wrote this letter telling them of his joy and hope and giving them further instructions for their faith life.
The idea came to me that Paul was sending a greeting not unlike our Christmas cards. Hallmark, that great greeting card giant, has the motto “when you care enough to send the very best.” Paul was sending his “Hallmark Best” greeting to the Thessalonians. He was sending his very best in love and hope.
Paul had hope that they would grow as a church, and he had hope that he would be able to visit them personally in the near future. His hope was rooted in the providence of God. He had complete confidence that God would help the church and him reach their goals. He had complete confidence in God’s strength and in God’s timing. Paul’s words of encouragement meant a great deal to that young church in Thessaly.
Paul’s words of encouragement are the same words we need to hear this morning. Many of us need encouragement. These are hard times. We’re reminded of that every day. Sometimes we’re reminded by way of bank statements or by searching for jobs, sending resumes and going for interviews. Or we’re reminded by doctor appointments or by phone calls about difficulties with family members. These are hard times. We need encouragement in the midst of hardship. Even more so, because these holidays are for many people—hollow days.
That thought was triggered by a Christmas card I received a couple of years ago from a friend of mine. She sent me her Hallmark card that was imprinted with the words: Got lots of happiness to share this Christmas! In her own writing underneath, she wrote this personal greeting: “Sending love and prayers for the hollowdays.” She obviously misspelled holidays.
But there was a lot of truth in the word “hollowdays.” The dictionary defines “hollow” as without substance, worth or character….a cavity, hole or space, a void. Does that sometimes feel like a description of Advent to us?
It may be that we’re so rushed with hectic activity that all that is left is this hollow feeling at the end of a long exhausting day where even more activities have been crammed in. Days that should be full of energy and joy are instead empty with weariness and despair—despair that we’re ever going to be able to get everything done in time. Or it may be that the whole holiday season is hollow because it is just a reminder of what is NOT in our lives—a reminder of other years that seemed happier, sharing it with people who are no longer with us. Psychologists tell us that depression runs rampant at the holidays—making them indeed more like hollow days than anything good.
I think we need to recover the theology of the Incarnation. When I say that, I mean recover the mystery of it—recover the holiness of it.
I’m not saying that we should do away with all of our syrupy sweet traditions. There are a few I’m not willing to part with either. But if all the trappings of the holiday make it a hollow day, it’s gone too far from the original meaning.
You see, Christmas is God breaking into our world. God came into the world as a baby to be one of us. Majesty in the midst of our mundane world. Holiness in a smelly dirty stable. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a barn, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter. This same baby had overseen the making of the universe. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. And the worshiping angels had been replaced with kind but bewildered shepherds.
Why? Why would God do that? Because that’s how much we’re loved—that’s how important we are to our God. That kind of love—that kind of sacrifice—that our world has never been the same since that first Christmas night over 2000 years ago, should leave you in awe and absolutely speechless.
Christmas—Christ’s birth—is a mystery. It is holy. It is totally miraculous.
The days leading to Christmas ought to be viewed and experienced as holy days, not a mad frenzied blur of activity. Advent needs to be a hallowed time, not a hollow time. We need to savor the Savior’s presence in this world. One pastor put it this way: “I would rather focus on the power of a ministry of ‘presence” than a ministry of ‘presents.’”
These are days to remember that God is with us now. These are days to give us hope for a future that rests in God’s capable hands. These are days to remember that because God came to us at Christmas, he will always be with us.
During these holy days of Advent leading to Christmas, we should run to church and sing the great hymns and carols proclaiming the God who lives in our “now’s” and who invites all of us to live our “nows” fully, authentically, and joyfully.
This is what Paul meant when he said, “We thank God for the joy we have in his presence because of you.” (I Thessalonians. 3:9). The key word in Paul’s greeting is “presence.” God always lives in the present. God is love. God is here. God is….. God lives in what ever is happening in your life. God is concerned about what is happening in your life. You are not alone. Help is on the way.
So… is there nothing we should be doing this season? Just sit back and reflect on these holy days?
Actually, I think Paul told the Thessalonians—and tells us—what we need to do. Paul put heavy emphasis on love in his letter. He said “abound in love…for all.” (I Thessalonians 3:12). Part of the characteristic of Christian love, is that it intentionally reaches out beyond the Church, beyond our own little community.
When we reach out in love, we become holy—people who are set apart to be used in God’s service. The church is God’s community that sends “love and prayers” for the hollow days people experience. The spiritually sound thing for us to do is to reach out this Advent and Christmas to the lost, lonely, forgotten, abused and oppressed people—people around us and people far away. We do that when pay special attention to people who are vulnerable—doing things that will tell people that we are aware that they’ve lost a loved one, or that they may be lonely, or that they’re separated by thousands of miles from a family they love, or that they have a husband or child fighting in Iraq. We reach out by helping those who are poor and hungry—by supplying food and clothes for people nearby—even by purchasing animals for our Heifer mission project for people half a world away.
Like the Hallmark motto, care enough to send the very best of yourself this Advent and Christmas. Wherever we go this season, whatever we do, we can be the living greeting cards of love and hope God sends to all people.
i Max Lucado, Grace for the Moment Vol. II, J. Countryman of Thomas Nelson Publishing
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