Why Aren’t You?

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
December 16, 2007
Third Sunday in Advent

Why Aren’t You?
Isaiah 9:2-7
Luke 2:8-14

Grumbling,
griping, groaning,
grousing, grimacing,
grinching:
these are words that describe much of our December experience.
There’s too much to do,
stores are too crowded,
traffic too heavy,
there are too many things to buy,
too many cards to send,
too much to prepare for.

It is easy to fall into mild case of grumpiness in this season,
a season that should be as bright and festive
as lights on a Christmas tree,
but a season when stress can get the better of us.
We risk winding up
with a mild case of grinchiness,
something short of “bah humbug”,
but still a long way off from “joy to the world!”

But “joy to the world” is what we should feel.
It is what we should want to shout out,
sing out, throughout the month
even while we wait in long lines
that move with speed of frozen molasses
for this season’s must-have gifts.

Joy!
Our hearts eager to rejoice,
for unto us a baby has been born!
A baby born for us,
born for you and me.
Born to bring us life.
Who can be even the least bit grumpy
around a baby!

A colleague who is now retired after serving as a pastor
for more than 50 years
was fond of the word “disgruntled”.
He was a cheerful man, with a ready smile,
and a twinkle in his eye,
and the word “disgruntled” really did not fit him;
He always seemed content, and happy.
Still, he loved to use the word,
“I am disgruntled about this;
they’re disgruntled about that”.
Perhaps he just liked the way the word sounded.

One Christmas Day a few years back,
after a wonderful meal with his family,
with everyone feeling pleasantly stuffed,
the atmosphere of his home pungent
with peace and contentment,
his young granddaughter turned to him and
said to him, “Grandpa, that was such a wonderful dinner!
Aren’t you feeling gruntled?"
You can imagine his delight,
in hearing what his granddaughter
had done with his word,
how she had turned the negative “disgruntled”
into the positive “gruntled”.
She had turned a frowny face into a smiley face.
He leaned over to his granddaughter,
and with a warm embrace and a smile, said,
“yes, I am feeling very gruntled.”

This is the season to be gruntled!
This is the season to be merry!
This is the season to be jolly!
Ah, but it is more than that.
this is the season to be filled with joy.
to rejoice,
for Christ has been born for us,
born to save us, born to lead us,
born to give us life,
born to tear down the curtain we put up
between us and God.

Read the birth stories in Matthew and Luke’s gospels
and we’ll find the word “joy”
appearing again and again:
When Mary went to visit Elizabeth,
Luke tells us that the child in Elizabeth’s womb,
who would become John the Baptizer,
“leapt for joy” on hearing Mary’s voice.
(Luke 1:44)

When the Wise Men saw that the star they had been following
-- for how long: days, weeks, even months --
when they saw that the star
had stopped over Bethlehem
they were filled with joy.
Joy… not relief that their journey was over,
but joy that the one they had been seeking
was there, bathed in the light of the star,
Light that lit up their faces, their hearts,
light that chased away the darkness
that night and forever.

In Luke’s gospel that we just heard,
the angel called out to the shepherds,
“behold, I bring you good news
of great joy for all the people”
Good news of great joy,
for all people… all people,
for every one, of every nation.

That’s why we sing “Joy to the world!”
Not just joy to us, but joy to all the world,
All because of a child, a baby born for us,
a child given to us.
The baby born to be
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
and, of course, Prince of Peace.

It is so fitting that the theme of the Third Sunday in Advent is Joy.
For we should set aside stress, worry, anxiety,
any feeling other than joy.
We should take all those other feelings,
and pack them in a box
and put them up in the attic.

In the lectionary studies and guides we clergy use,
we are urged to keep Christmas carols
tucked away till Christmas,
in order to maintain our focus on Advent,
on the coming of our Lord.
I’ve always been pretty good about following that guidance
during the first two weeks in Advent,
but by the third week,
I am ready to let Christmas out of the box,
to sing carols, to celebrate that joyful news
the shepherds heard on that first Christmas Eve.

Singing helps us to feel that joy.
Is it any wonder we love Christmas carols?
And is it any wonder that God encourages us to sing
by telling us to make a “joyful noise”?!
So we sing out:
“Joyful all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies,
with angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.”

The composer John Rutter even managed to capture
the joy he imagined the donkey
must have felt as he carried Mary on his back
on the journey to Bethlehem.
“Donkey skip for joy
as you go on your way
Alleluia, Jesus is born today.
Hark, the bells ring out with their message clear.
Rejoice and sing that Christ our Savior is here.”
(Rutter, Donkey Carol)

We can almost picture the donkey with a twinkle in his eye,
wanting so badly to skip along the way in joy,
but knowing that the precious cargo he carried
required a steady, solid, sure-footed pace.

“Joy to the world!
The Savior reigns,
let us our songs employ!”
Is it any surprise that composer Isaac Watts tells us to,
“repeat the sounding joy”.

It is Luke who captured the joy of that first Christmas
so magnificently, especially in the version
we find in the old King James Bible:
For “in the same country there were shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them,
‘Be not afraid, for behold
I bring you good tidings of great joy
which shall be to all people,
for unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior
who is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you:
you will find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’
And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace and goodwill to all men’.”
(Luke 2:8-14, King James Version)

Glory to God in highest heaven
and joy to the world!
For love came down from heaven that night,
love was born in that stable,
love lay in the manger.

The poet Christina Rosetti,
who wrote the words of the hymn
“In the Bleak Mid-Winter”,
wrote a poem that says just that:
“Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
star and angels gave a sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
love incarnate, love divine.
Worship we our Jesus,
but wherewith for sacred sign.
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine.
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea, and gift, and sign.”
(Rosetti, “Love Came Down at Christmas”)

Love came to us on that first Christmas,
Love that is merciful,
love that is forgiving,
love that is unconditional,
love that is unwavering,
love that knows no boundaries,
has no limits
love that is all, in all
and for all.
How can we not sing “joy to the world”?

Have you been feeling mildly grumpy this past week?
Perhaps even a little grinchy as you think about all you have to do?
Maybe you have been even a bit disgruntled?
We are quick to say things like,
“Christmas has become too commercialized”
but watch that wonderful classic movie
“Miracle on 34th Street”
and you’ll realize that we’ve been making this complaint
for the past 60 years!
Pack up all those negative feelings and
ship them off to parts unknown.
And let the good news of the birth of our Savior envelope you,
let it take hold of you,
for in Christ’s birth each of us
has been “made radiant by the Light of the World”.
each of us has been made luminescent,
made to glow in our joy,
and called to take that light out into the world.

If you are feeling your “joy” batteries running low,
sing a Christmas carol.
Any carol will do.
sing in the car, sing as you take a walk,
sing off-key,
but just sing in a joyful noise to the Lord.
And if that doesn’t work,
spend some time with young children.
Children bring us joy,
especially this time of year in their excitement,
as they focus so intently on being nice,
on not being naughty,
on not pouting,
on being gruntled.
They help us to set aside all our petty concerns,
all our selfish concerns,
all those things that cause us to be disgruntled.
Children get it, get the message of joy.
At what age do we adults lose that?
At what age do we learn to attach the “dis” to “gruntle”?
Do you see how wise Jesus was when he said to his disciples
to let the little children come to him?

In the birth of our Lord came light,
light that overcomes all darkness,
the darkness of violence,
the darkness of incessant war,
the darkness of poverty,
the darkness of loneliness,
despair, pain,
and hopelessness,

Joy abounds, for hope abounds.
In Christ, we are reconciled to God,
put back in that garden,
invited to walk again in the cool evening air
with Emmanuel, God with us.

Christmas is a joy because it is promise,
an unfolding of what is God’s hope for us:
peace on earth,
and goodwill to all humanity.

I am gruntled. How about you?
I am joyful, joy-filled.
How about you?
I am gruntled and joy-filled because
I am focused on the message the angel
brought the shepherds on that first Christmas Eve:
Behold I bring you good news of great joy,
for unto you,
unto me,
unto each of us
a child has been born
a savior given to us
who is Jesus the Christ.
Glory to God in highest heaven
and joy to the world!
AMEN