Presents Under the Tree

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
The First Presbyterian Church
Washingtonville, New York
December 4, 2005
The Second Sunday in Advent

Presents Under the Tree
Mark 1:1-8
Isaiah 40:1-11

She said it as only an older sister could:
The tone was imperious;
It was neither a suggestion nor a request:
it was a command.
“I am not buying you a Christmas present this year.
I am not buying anyone a Christmas present this year.
I do not want you to buy me a present this year.
I don’t want anyone to buy me a present this year.”

Before my other sisters and I could react, she explained:
“For your Christmas presents this year
I am going to make donations in your names to charity.”
That’s what I am going to do for everyone
for Christmas from now on.”

My three sisters and I had been buying one another presents
for Christmas and birthdays for more years than we cared to count.
Over the seasons we had done it all:
We’d given presents we bought at stores,
presents we had made,
services offered, such as a car wash, or a prepared meal;
On rare occasions, when ideas failed us,
we’d given gift certificates, and even cash.

But we had always looked forward to the hunt
for the perfect present.
There is something special when you watch a person’s face
as they tear the wrappings off a present
and realize that you'd got them the perfect gift.
So my sister’s edict did not go down well
with my other two sisters or me.
We all had the same reaction:
“Fine: she doesn’t have to buy me a present,
but if I want to get her something, she’s not going to stop me!”

But then the more I got to thinking,
the more I realized that she was right.
What did a new necktie or sweater or a CD
have to do with Christmas?
What the wise men started two thousand years ago in Bethlehem
has turned into month of frenzy beginning with the
ominous-sounding “Black Friday” with its “doorbuster specials”.
So we all jumped on the bandwagon.

We talked to one another
to learn about what charities, what causes,
and what ministries were of interest to one another.
For my older sister, cancer research has been at the top of her list,
so we have made contributions in her name
to the American Cancer Society
and to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, where she works.
For my middle sister, her church in Charlotte is a top priority
so we have made contributions there in her name.
She also loves music, so we have found music programs
and ministries in her community that she loves.
My sisters have made contributions in my name to
Princeton Theological Seminary,
as well as to Scenic Hudson, Riverkeepers,
the World Wildlife Fund,
and other organizations that support a healthy stewardship
of this earth God has entrusted us with.

We’ve learned that many organizations have special memberships
and programs for children, so we expanded our giving to
include nieces and nephews, as well as children of friends.
When they were younger my nephew was thrilled with
his own membership at the zoo, and my niece
with her own membership at the aquarium.
The Heifer project catalog has a number of opportunities
that will help those in need and also delight children.

We keep looking for ways to enlarge
our circle of ministry through giving
as we go through the holidays.
For some years now, Pat and I have bought our Christmas cards
from UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens’ Fund.
It is a small way for us to help provide food and medicine
to children as we share greetings with family and friends.
My sister’s hospital sells beautiful cards made by children
who are cancer patients at the hospital.
There are many worthy organizations that sell cards and paper
year round now.

What we are trying to do, in our own small ways,
is follow the call of Isaiah,
the cry of John the Baptizer:
We are trying to make straight the highway of God:
the roadway that connects our hearts with God
through Jesus Christ.
In each thing we do, we are proclaiming:
proclaiming love, the love we have been given
in Jesus Christ;
the love we are called to share in everything we do.

In each gift we give or card we send
we try to respond more meaningfully to Christmas,
and as we do so, we make the link
between ourselves and Christ more direct,
straighter, less winding and curving,
a road with fewer obstacles, detours and dead-ends.

Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest who was martyred for his faith
near the end of World War II, wrote shortly before he died,
that if we are paying attention to the call of the prophet,
to the meaning of Advent, then we will “know….what it means
to clear away the rubble and make paths smooth again.
[And we will also understand that]
we will have to… do it for years to come.”
That our work on the roadway is something that is continuous
ongoing, in our every act, our every word.
(from “Watch For the Light”)

Each year there are many who say loudly
that we need to put Christ back in Christmas.
That is not a new complaint;
people have been saying this for decades.
But putting Christ back in Christmas
is not about nativities in town squares
or carols in classrooms, as some would have it.
No, putting Christ in Christmas is a very personal task,
something that is up to each of us individually.
And we do that by working on the highway between ourselves
and Jesus Christ.

The first step to rebuilding your own highway
is to skim off the old top layers:
the layers of selfishness,
of self righteousness,
of judgment,
of pettiness.
Only then can you put down a new layer of forgiveness,
of kindness,
of charity
of mercy
of justice,
of love.

The challenge in Advent is to
to look at each thing you do, each thing you say,
as you buy presents, decorate your home,
send cards, greet family and friends:
does each thing you do,
does every word you say proclaim love,
love for strangers as well as for family?
If you can answer yes,
then you are making straighter the highway
between you and Christ.

The paradox in this is that you will know
that you are doing the right thing
if you find yourself filled not only with a sense of joy
as we go through the holiday season,
but also discomfort:
discomfort that in this time of excess,
there are so many in this world who are hungry.
Discomfort that here in Orange County
there are women and children who will spend the holidays
living in fear of domestic violence.
Discomfort that in this season with its outpouring of warmth,
there are many elderly who are scared
that come January they may have to choose between
food and heat.

Perhaps the presents under your tree might include
a donation in a family member’s name to Safe Homes,
or a workday for the family at Habit for Humanity,
or book of invitations for an elderly neighbor
to come to dinner.

Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us an invitation now:
an invitation to come to this table
to share in this meal which he has prepared for us.
He invites us to come to his table
so that we can be renewed and refreshed in Spirit.
But then he has expectations for us:
that we will go from this table
and serve, making straighter our own highways.

Come to this table and
and then work on making straighter your own highway.
For "from his fullness,
we have all received grace upon grace.”
Amen.