Keeping It Well

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

December 18, 2016—Fourth Sunday in Advent

Keeping It Well

To you is born this day … a Savior,

who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

(Luke 2:11)

“Humbug!”

“Humbug!”

Who among us doesn’t know that word well,

the favorite word of Ebenezer Scrooge,

Charles Dickens’ miserable, miserly,

money-grubbing,

misanthropic creation.

Ebenezer Scrooge,

who thought Christmas a waste of time

because it kept people from business.

Scrooge, who barked at his nephew,

“you keep Christmas in your own way,

and let me keep it in mine.”

To which his nephew retorted,

“But you don’t keep it!”

Ebenezer Scrooge,

described as a “squeezing, wrenching,

grasping, scraping,

clutching, covetous old sinner.

Hard and sharp as flint.”

He couldn’t have cared less about Christmas,

considered it a humbug,

which back in Victorian England

of the 1830s and 40s,

meant that he thought those who went around

with smiles on their faces saying,

“Merry Christmas” to any and all,

were hypocrites,

insincere, phonies, frauds:

“What’s Christmas time,” he said,

but a time for paying bills without money,

a time for finding yourself a year older

and not an hour richer.”

There was no joy on Christmas Day for Scrooge,

nothing that tied the day in his heart or mind

to the words of the angel to the shepherds:

“I am bringing you good news of great joy

for all the people:

to you is born this day

in the city of David a Savior,

who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

                 

Nothing that tied the day in his heart or mind

to the story of the Wise Men,

who “set out; and [followed] the star

that they had seen at its rising,

until it stopped over the place where the child was.

[And] when they saw that the star had stopped,

they were overwhelmed with joy.

[And] on entering the house,

they saw the child with Mary his mother;

and they knelt down and paid him homage.

Then, opening their treasure-chests,

they offered him gifts of gold,

frankincense, and myrrh.”

So, in Dickens’ marvelous story,

ghosts—spirits—

came to visit Scrooge,

came to visit him to open his eyes,

his mind, his heart

to the joy of Christmas;

came to help him see how others

celebrated the day with all their hearts;

came to help him see how men, women,

and children kept Christmas,

and kept it well.

It was the Ghost of Christmas Present

who showed Scrooge how even his own clerk,

Bob Cratchit, and his family,

kept the day joyfully,

kept the day even after Scrooge had earlier

snorted at Cratchit,

“You, a clerk, on 15 shillings a week,

with a wife and a family,

talking about a merry Christmas.

I’ll retire to Bedlam”.

Bedlam: London’s terrifying asylum for the insane.

Bob Cratchit may well have been a poor clerk,

making barely enough to get by,

but in his home,

as small as the room might have been,

as spare as the furnishings surely were,

as threadbare as was the clothing

he and his family wore,

there was warmth, happiness,

peace, contentment,

joy and love

as he and his family kept Christmas.

Scrooge’s eyes were finally opened, of course;

the ice that had encased his heart

finally melted away

by all that he saw that Christmas Eve

in the company of the three spirits.

As he finally said to the

Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come,

“I will honor Christmas in my heart,

and try to keep it all the year.”

And, as the book and the many movies tell us,

“Scrooge was better than his word”.

Watch my favorite version of the story,

the classic 1951 British film starring Alistair Sim,

and you’ll see Scrooge walking

through London’s streets,

a smile on his face,

waving to shop keepers and passers-by,

putting a coin in the cup of a beggar,

petting a dog,

and then, of course, walking home

hand in hand with the healthy Tiny Tim.

This is what Christmas is;

This is what Christmas should do to us:

melt our coldness,

warm our hearts,

fill us with joy.

This is what it is

not just to keep Christmas,

but to keep it well.

        

Last week our Confirmation Class students

talked with our children about what presents

we might get Jesus for his birthday.

How easy it is to overlook the fact

that it is Jesus’ birthday we are celebrating;

We should get him a gift,

hang a stocking for him and fill it.

But what gift should we get him?

What should we put in Jesus’ stocking?

What should we get Jesus,

As our confirmands asked our children:

should we get Jesus a football?

the newest video game?

a bicycle?

Jesus was always on the go –

maybe a gift card to Starbucks.

NO! our children all shouted out.

They understand,

even if we grown-ups forget.

They get it:

we should fill Jesus’ stocking

with love,

compassion,

goodness,

forgiveness,

kindness,

patience,

unselfishness,

all those things the apostle Paul calls

the fruits of the spirit.

As the Bishop in another classic Christmas movie,

“The Bishop’s Wife”, suggests,

“the stretched out hand of tolerance”.

Doesn’t our world need that now more than ever?

Aren’t those the gifts

we should put in Jesus’ stocking?

And, if we did that,

wouldn’t that help us, each of us,

to keep Christmas,

keep it well,

help us to do as Scrooge promised to do:

honor Christmas in our hearts,

and try to keep it all the year?

In a few minutes our Choir will sing a lovely piece,

and the words, if we listen to them,

if we hang onto to them,

if we take them with us,

will surely help us keep Christmas:

“Let the stars in the sky

remind us of man’s compassion.

Let us love ‘til we die,

and God bless us, ev’ryone.

In your heart there’s a light

as bright as a star in heaven.

Let it shine through the night,

and God bless us, ev’ryone.

‘Till each child is fed,

‘til all men are free,

‘til the world becomes a family.

Star by star up above and

kindness by human kindness,

light this world with your love

and God bless us, ev’ryone.”

“It was always said of Scrooge

that he knew how to keep Christmas well,

if anyone alive possessed the knowledge.

May that be truly said of us,…all of us.

And so, as Tiny Tim observed,

God bless us, Every One!”

For “I am bringing you good news of great joy

for all the people:

to you is born this day … a Savior,

who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace

and goodwill among all people.”

God bless us — everyone.

AMEN  

Let Go

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

December 11, 2016 - Third Sunday in Advent

Let Go

Psalm 126:3

The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoice.

A woman,

a young woman,

a girl, really,

so young – 13, 14, we’re not sure.

A young woman from an ordinary family –

a family without power,

connections,

influence, money.

A young woman named Mary –

this was the woman,

of all the women in the world,

this was the woman God sent the angel Gabriel to,

to say to her,

“you will conceive in your womb

and bear a son,

and you will name him Jesus.

He will be great,

and will be called the Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give to him

the throne of his ancestor David.

He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

(Luke 1:31-33)

This was the woman who was chosen by God

to give birth to our Savior,

the Messiah,

the Son of God.

The Bible tells us so little about Mary.

Later writers tried to fill in the pieces

with fanciful stories that are fun to read,

even if they are not scriptural.

One story tells us that Mary’s father Joachim

was a man of great faith

and was in fact quite wealthy.

One day an angel appeared to his wife Anna

to tell her that she would give birth to Mary:

telling her in language reminiscent of Gabriel’s,

“You will conceive and give birth

and your offspring shall be spoken of

in the whole inhabited world.”

The story goes on to tell us that

when Mary was three years old,

Joachim and Anna took Mary to the Temple

to be raised by the priests,

her life devoted to God.

Her parents left her

and she lived in the Temple

where, the story tells us,

“she received [her] food

from the hand of an angel.”

(The Infancy Gospel of James)

As fun as stories like this are to read,

the Bible tells us

all we really need to know about Mary.

Her response to Gabriel,

17 short words,

not even a proper tweet,

paint as complete a picture of Mary

as we could hope to have:

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord;

let it be with me according to your word.”

Or, in the more elaborate Elizabethan English

we find in the 400-year-old King James Bible:

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord;

be it unto me according to thy word.”

(Luke 1:38)

These words tell us everything:

They tell us that Mary, child of God,

mother of the Son of God,

was a woman of such profound faith,

such deep faith;

a woman who put her trust,

her life,

completely in God’s hands,

completely:

“let it be with me according to your word.”

She let go

to let God lead her through life.

Mary’s faith –

so strong as she stood looking into

the eyes of Gabriel,

the very same angel who had visited

her cousin Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah

in the temple

to tell him that Elizabeth would give birth

to one who would,

“be great in the sight of the Lord,”

and … who would,

“make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

(Luke 1:17)

Our text from last week.

Mary would faithfully follow her son

throughout his ministry,

follow him with hesitation,

every step along the way;

all the way,

even to the foot of the cross.

No parent should have to witness a child’s death

as Mary did,

and yet still,

her faith was unwavering.

After Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection,

Mary remained with the apostles,

listening to Jesus’ teaching before his ascension,

his words to all of them, including Mary:

“But you will receive power

when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

in all Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.”

(Acts 1:8)

Mary returned to Jerusalem with the apostles

to await the coming of the Holy Spirit

on that first Pentecost,

She and the 11,

all of them together, Luke tells us,

“constantly devoting themselves to prayer”,

as they waited,

waited in faith.

It is too easy to hear Mary’s story

and see just the nativity Mary,

the Mary of the crèche,

the tender mother rocking her newborn son,

singing the baby Jesus a lullaby

with Joseph quietly standing watch,

a flickering lantern in his hand

casting shadows on the oxen, cattle and donkey.

We need to look beyond that Mary,

to the Mary who pondered,

treasured in her heart

the words of the shepherds;

pondered, perhaps, the words of the prophet

who had spoken of the one on whom

“the spirit of the Lord would rest,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord..

who would decide with equity for the meek

and judge the poor with righteousness.”

(Isaiah 11:2ff)

We need to see the Mary who welcomed the Wise Men,

strange men who had come from far distant lands,

foreign men who had come seeking her son,

her son,

telling her that they’d been guided by a star.

Mary occupies such a prominent role

in the Roman Catholic faith.

Prayers are offered through her,

Ave Maria’s sung to her:

“Hail Mary, full of grace”.

Within the Reformed tradition

that we are part of,

we tend to shine a light on Mary

primarily during the Christmas season

as we hear the birth narrative,

but then we turn our attention elsewhere.

There is so much we can learn from Mary,

from her life, her faith.

Mary shows us how we are to live:

humbly, obediently,

letting go,

letting God lead us;

as we rejoice in the Lord.

Our 150^th Anniversary Committee

has chosen as its text

words from the Psalmist:

“The Lord has done great things for us,

and we rejoice.

(Psalm 126:3),

our text today.

Mary could have written those words.

“The Lord has done great things for me,

and I rejoice.”

She would have understood Paul’s words

written to the Philippians,

a Christian’ community established by Lydia,

another woman of deep and profound faith:

“Rejoice in the Lord always;

again I will say, Rejoice.

Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

The Lord is near.

Do not worry about anything,

but in everything by prayer

and supplication with thanksgiving

let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God,

which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds

in Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 4:4ff)

Christmas is a time of rejoicing,

a time of great joy as we prepare ourselves

for the coming of our Lord:

the baby born in the stable,

and our Savior who will come again in glory.

Christmas is a time of lights, gifts,

music, food,

family and friends.

We sing “Joy to the World!”

for we rejoice in our Lord,

rejoice that God is with us,

our Immanuel;

rejoice that Mary had her baby

and named him, Jesus. 

We can rejoice, even if we are struggling,

feeling ourselves knocked about,

burned out,

worn out,

left out,

for Christmas brings us hope:

“The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness cannot overcome it.”

(John 1:5)

Even in the midst of our rushing around,

our busy-ness,

we can find joy in faith,

we can know peace in faith,

we can find comfort, assurance in faith.

All we need to do is let go,

and let God’s Spirit fill us,

let God’s peace wash over us.

As Mary once sang out,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor

on the lowliness of his servant.”

(Luke 1:47)

Mary invites us to join her song,

to rejoice with her,

not just in in the weeks leading up

to Christmas,

but always.

For the Lord God has done great things for us,

this church, and each of us,

God’s beloved children.

And God will continue to bless us

with his grace and his love—

our Christmas gifts

from God through Jesus Christ.

We rejoice!

AMEN 

Speak to Us of Smooth Things

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

December 4, 2016 - Second Sunday in Advent

Speak to Us of Smooth Things

Luke 1:5-17

In the days of King Herod of Judea,

there was a priest named Zechariah,

who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah.

His wife was a descendant of Aaron,

and her name was Elizabeth.

Both of them were righteous before God,

living blamelessly according to

all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.

But they had no children,

because Elizabeth was barren,

and both were getting on in years.

Once when he was serving as priest before God

and his section was on duty,

he was chosen by lot,

according to the custom of the priesthood,

to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense.

Now at the time of the incense-offering,

the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.

Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord,

standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified;

and fear overwhelmed him.

But the angel said to him,

‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah,

for your prayer has been heard.

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,

and you will name him John.

You will have joy and gladness,

and many will rejoice at his birth,

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.

He must never drink wine or strong drink;

even before his birth

he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

He will turn many of the people of Israel

to the Lord their God.

With the spirit and power of Elijah

he will go before him,

to turn the hearts of parents to their children,

and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous,

to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’

**********************************************************

Stress –

don’t we have enough of it in our lives?

Would any of us ask for more?

I wouldn’t, that’s for sure,

and I am guessing that everyone here

would all say the same thing.

And yet here we are, all of us,

having just crossed the threshold

into the most stressful month of the year.

We’ve entered the room called December,

a room filled with lights, gifts,

carols, food,

travel,

family, friends,

…and stress.

We so look forward to Christmas,

to hearing the story of the

baby born in the stable,

the shepherds watching in the fields,

the Wise Men following the star,

a story that can fill us, truly,

with heavenly peace.

But it always seems like there is so much to do

before we can get to the story,

so much stress to endure

before we get to that peace.

And church provides no respite,

for even here,

before we get to the Christmas story,

there’s so much to do.

And then, on top of all the activities,

John the Baptist enters,

insisting on taking the stage;

John the Baptist insists on being heard.

John is no gauzy,

avuncular Christmas character,

someone who speaks to us warmly, soothingly,

someone whose presence is like

a warm fire on a cold winter’s day.

No, John comes blaring at us

with a voice that I imagine

must have sounded like

someone speaking through a tinny megaphone –

you know: the kind the police chief uses

to tell Humphrey Bogart or Jimmy Cagney

that the building is completely surrounded

and they’d better give up.

John’s very voice raises our stress,

as he bellows and thunders at us,

and that’s even before

we begin to listen to his words,

“repent, you brood of vipers”.

John is one more in a long line of God’s prophets,

those chosen by God to speak for God

to God’s people

to tell God’s people of their waywardness,

their need to repent,

their need to turn back to God.

God has always known his children,

including you and me,

how easy we find it to turn from God,

turn from God’s way and God’s will:

“For they are a rebellious people,

faithless children,

children who will not hear

the instruction of the Lord;

who say …to the prophets,

“Do not prophesy to us what is right;

speak to us smooth things,

prophesy illusions,

leave the way,

turn aside from the path,

let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

(Isaiah 30:9-11)

God knows we need to be shaken up,

and so God has sent his prophets.

And every December

God sends us John the Baptist,

to call us back from chasing wind,

as Ecclesiastes would put it,

from chasing the things of this world,

rather than the things of God’s world.

The ascendance of fake news,

what some are calling the troubling emergence

of a post-truth world,

with facts curated,

facts created,

facts fabricated,

reflects that we do want to hear

only what we want to hear:

“Speak to us of smooth things.”

God will have none of that.

And into the room called December

God sends his best prophet,

tough, gritty,

fearless,

calling out to us with that megaphone voice,

to tell us that we are surrounded,

surrounded by God’s love,

God’s goodness,

God’s mercy

We should surrender,

surrender to God’s will.

John is insistent,

dogged, determined,

He has a job to do:

“...[he is to] get the people ready for God.”

John is in the room called December

to help you and me get ready for God,

get ready for the coming of our Lord.

John is the herald of Advent,

the herald of God coming into the world.

John speaks God’s truth,

caring not a Figgie pudding

for whether we like it or not;

caring not a Figgie pudding

whether we like him or not;

for John works for God,

and God alone.

As Paul would later say to the Galatians,

“Am I now seeking human approval,

or God’s approval?

Or am I trying to please people?

If I were still pleasing people,

I would not be a servant of Christ.”

(Galatians 1:10)

John is the refiner’s fire,

as the prophet Malachi put it.

(Malachi 3)

And we need to listen to him,

you and I,

pay him heed,

for he speaks to us

not to add to our stress,

but to take it way,

so we can know the peace that comes only from God,

only from Christ.

“Advent is a time when we ought to be shaken

and brought to a realization of ourselves.”

(Alfred Delp)

and that’s just what John does for us:

shakes us,

holds a mirror in front of us,

for our own good,

to help us make ourselves ready

for the coming of our Lord.

“Prepare the way of the Lord,”

John says to us.

“Make his paths straight.

Bear fruit worth of repentance.”

At the threshold of December,

John calls us to live fully not in Christmas joy,

but in Advent anticipation

for “there shines on us

the first light of the radiant love to come.”

(Alfred Delp)

“Prepare yourself!

Prepare the way.

Prepare for the One who is to come!”

AMEN