Robert T. Young - "Overcoming the Sadness of Christmas" (December 15, 1974)
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| - | If with all your heart, ye truly seek me, | 0:17 |
| ye shall surely find me, thus sayeth our God. | 0:20 | |
| Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. | 0:25 | |
| Humble yourselves before the Lord, | 0:29 | |
| and He will lift you up. | 0:32 | |
| (hymnal music) | 0:37 | |
| (organ music) | 1:45 | |
| - | Together, let us humbly confess our sins to Almighty God. | 6:37 |
| Oh Lord, again, with the turning of the year, | 6:44 | |
| we begin our pilgrimage toward Christmas. | 6:48 | |
| Our hearts as ever rejoice in the glad tidings of Christ, | 6:52 | |
| who is born in Bethlehem to be the savior | 6:58 | |
| of all the world. | 7:02 | |
| Yet with all our joy | 7:04 | |
| and the long centuries behind us of hearts made glad | 7:07 | |
| by His coming, | 7:11 | |
| we know there is much in us that deafens our ears | 7:13 | |
| to the sound of angel anthems. | 7:17 | |
| Much that blinds us to the side of guiding stars | 7:20 | |
| amid the darkness. | 7:24 | |
| Much that crowds our hearts and minds | 7:26 | |
| leaving little room for the humbler benedictions | 7:30 | |
| of this life. | 7:33 | |
| If repentance can purify our hope, | 7:35 | |
| if for this season, we may become pure hearted, | 7:38 | |
| if now in this place, | 7:42 | |
| we can welcome you with all our soul and all our strength, | 7:44 | |
| then grace, us with your most wondrous blessing | 7:50 | |
| through Christ who was born in the winter's dark | 7:54 | |
| to be the light of the world forever. | 7:57 | |
| Amen. | 8:00 | |
| Let each of us now confess his or her sins silently. | 8:02 | |
| Here are these words of comfort and joy. | 8:43 | |
| Be not afraid for behold, | 8:47 | |
| I bring you good news of great joy, | 8:49 | |
| which will come to all the people. | 8:52 | |
| For to you is born a savior who is Christ the Lord. | 8:55 | |
| Fo God so loved the world that he gave His only son | 8:58 | |
| that whoever believes in Him should not perish, | 9:03 | |
| but have eternal life. | 9:07 | |
| (epic hymnal music) | 9:27 | |
| - | Today's words from the Old Testament | 16:33 |
| come from Isaiah chapter 40 verses one through 11. | 16:35 | |
| Comfort my people, says your God. | 16:41 | |
| Speak tenderly to Jerusalem | 16:44 | |
| and cry to her that her warfare is ended, | 16:47 | |
| that her iniquity is pardoned, | 16:50 | |
| that she has received from the Lord's hand | 16:52 | |
| double for all her sins. | 16:55 | |
| A voice cries in the wilderness, | 16:58 | |
| prepare the way of the Lord. | 16:59 | |
| Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. | 17:02 | |
| Every valley shall be lifted up | 17:06 | |
| and every mountain and hill be made low. | 17:08 | |
| The uneven ground shall become level | 17:12 | |
| and the rough places the plain, | 17:14 | |
| and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. | 17:16 | |
| And all flesh shall see it together | 17:19 | |
| for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. | 17:22 | |
| A voice says cry, | 17:25 | |
| and I said, what shall I cry? | 17:26 | |
| All flesh is grass, and all its beauty | 17:29 | |
| is like the flower of the field. | 17:32 | |
| The grass withers, | 17:35 | |
| the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. | 17:36 | |
| Surely the people is grass. | 17:40 | |
| The grass withers, the flower fades, | 17:43 | |
| but the word of our God will stand forever. | 17:46 | |
| Get you up to a high mountain, oh Zion, | 17:50 | |
| herald of good tidings. | 17:52 | |
| Lift up your voice with strength, Oh Jerusalem, | 17:54 | |
| herald of good tidings. | 17:56 | |
| Lift it up, fear not. | 17:58 | |
| Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God, | 18:01 | |
| behold the Lord God comes with might | 18:05 | |
| and his arm rules for Him. | 18:07 | |
| Behold his reward is with Him | 18:10 | |
| and his recompense before Him. | 18:12 | |
| He will feed His flock like a shepherd, | 18:15 | |
| He will gather the lambs in His arms, | 18:18 | |
| He will carry them in His bosom | 18:20 | |
| and gently lead those that are with young. | 18:22 | |
| Will the congregation please stand for the gospel | 18:26 | |
| of the good news. | 18:28 | |
| Gospel lesson is from Matthew chapter 11, | 18:34 | |
| verses two through 12. | 18:36 | |
| Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds | 18:40 | |
| of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples | 18:42 | |
| and said to Him, | 18:45 | |
| "Are you he who is to come or shall we look for another?" | 18:46 | |
| And Jesus answered them, | 18:50 | |
| "Go and tell John what you hear and what you see. | 18:52 | |
| The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, | 18:55 | |
| lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear | 18:59 | |
| and the dead are raised up | 19:01 | |
| and the poor have good news preached to them. | 19:03 | |
| And blessed is he who takes no offense at me." | 19:06 | |
| As they went away, | 19:10 | |
| Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. | 19:11 | |
| What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? | 19:14 | |
| A reed shaken by the wind? | 19:17 | |
| Why then did you go out? | 19:19 | |
| To see a man clothed in soft raiment? | 19:21 | |
| Behold, those who wear soft raiment are in kings' houses. | 19:24 | |
| Why then did you go out, to see a prophet? | 19:28 | |
| Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. | 19:32 | |
| This is he of whom it is written. | 19:35 | |
| Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, | 19:38 | |
| who shall prepare thy way before thee. | 19:41 | |
| Truly I say to you, among those born of woman, | 19:44 | |
| there has risen no one greater than John The Baptist. | 19:47 | |
| Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven | 19:50 | |
| is greater than he. | 19:52 | |
| From the days of John The Baptist until now, | 19:55 | |
| the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence | 19:57 | |
| and men of violence take it by force | 19:59 | |
| for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. | 20:02 | |
| And if you are willing to accept it, | 20:06 | |
| he is Elijah who is to come. | 20:08 | |
| He who has ears to hear, let him hear, amen. | 20:11 | |
| (hymnal music) | 20:17 | |
| - | Let us join our hearts and our voices | 21:02 |
| in affirming our faith. | 21:04 | |
| We are not alone, we live in God's world. | 21:07 | |
| We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 21:12 | |
| who has come in the true man, Jesus | 21:18 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 21:21 | |
| who works in us and others by His spirit. | 21:24 | |
| We trust Him. | 21:29 | |
| He calls us to be His church, | 21:31 | |
| to celebrate His presence, | 21:34 | |
| to love and serve others, | 21:37 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 21:39 | |
| to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 21:43 | |
| our judge and our hope. | 21:47 | |
| In life, in death, in life beyond death, | 21:49 | |
| God is with us. | 21:54 | |
| We are not alone. | 21:56 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 21:58 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 22:01 | |
| (congregation respond indistinctly) | 22:03 | |
| Let us pray. | 22:04 | |
| Oh, God of love, who sent your son, Jesus Christ | 22:14 | |
| to be the light of the world, | 22:18 | |
| that all who follow Him might not walk in darkness, | 22:20 | |
| but have the light of life, | 22:24 | |
| we ask your mercy and blessing this morning upon the sick, | 22:27 | |
| the sorrowful, the lonely, the tempted. | 22:31 | |
| That they may know your healing and sanctifying power | 22:35 | |
| and may obtain the victory of faith. | 22:39 | |
| But we remember that we must include ourselves among those | 22:43 | |
| for whom we pray. | 22:46 | |
| We cannot be as the Pharisee who looked upon the poor man | 22:48 | |
| and prayed, God, I thank you that I am not as other men are; | 22:52 | |
| extortioners, unjust, adulterers | 22:57 | |
| or even as this poor man. | 23:01 | |
| Lord, we know when we are honest with ourselves | 23:03 | |
| that we are as other men and women, | 23:07 | |
| and what we ask of you for them, | 23:10 | |
| we need just as much as they do. | 23:14 | |
| So this morning, as we pray for others, | 23:17 | |
| we pray for ourselves as well. | 23:20 | |
| We beseech you to have compassion upon our infirmities. | 23:24 | |
| To those giving and grading exams, | 23:29 | |
| grant wisdom, justice, understanding and mercy. | 23:31 | |
| To those taking exams, | 23:37 | |
| grant knowledge, honesty, a clear mind, | 23:40 | |
| a calm spirit and above all, | 23:44 | |
| the ability to keep the whole enterprise | 23:47 | |
| in the proper perspective, | 23:50 | |
| important, but not ultimate. | 23:52 | |
| Almighty God, we give you most humble and sincere thanks | 23:56 | |
| for all your goodness and loving kindness to us, | 24:00 | |
| and to all people. | 24:04 | |
| We praise you for our creation, preservation | 24:06 | |
| and all the blessings of this season. | 24:10 | |
| We thank you for this beautiful campus, | 24:13 | |
| for the joys of advent | 24:16 | |
| and for the expectations of Christmas. | 24:17 | |
| We thank you most of all for your infinite love | 24:21 | |
| and the redemption of the world by our Lord, Jesus Christ. | 24:24 | |
| Keep us mindful of the true reason | 24:29 | |
| we are celebrating this occasion, | 24:31 | |
| and help us not to become so caught up in the tensile | 24:34 | |
| and gift wrap that we forget to be grateful | 24:37 | |
| for your gift to us through your son. | 24:40 | |
| Help us to show our gratitude and praise | 24:45 | |
| not only with our lips, but with our whole lives. | 24:47 | |
| Indeed, dear God, let our entire existence | 24:52 | |
| be a celebration of the love you have shown to us | 24:55 | |
| and have commanded that we show to our fellow men and women. | 25:00 | |
| Lord of life, we ask that you be with those of us | 25:05 | |
| who will be traveling to near and distant places | 25:08 | |
| in the weeks to come. | 25:11 | |
| Bring us safely back to Duke, relaxed, refreshed, | 25:14 | |
| and ready once again to perform the tasks | 25:18 | |
| for which you have called us to be in this place. | 25:22 | |
| Bring us all to the new life you have granted us | 25:26 | |
| in Jesus Christ your son, | 25:29 | |
| and keep us ever mindful that wherever we might be, | 25:32 | |
| we stand unfailingly in your presence. | 25:36 | |
| We ask all these things in the name of the one | 25:41 | |
| whose birth we are celebrating, | 25:44 | |
| who taught us to pray together. | 25:47 | |
| Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, | 25:50 | |
| thy kingdom come, | 25:55 | |
| thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. | 25:57 | |
| Give us this day, | 26:02 | |
| our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses | 26:03 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 26:08 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 26:12 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 26:14 | |
| For thine is the kingdom and the power | 26:17 | |
| and the glory forever, amen. | 26:20 | |
| Let me call your attention to the insert | 26:27 | |
| that you will find in the bulletin this morning | 26:29 | |
| concerning the Edgemont Community Center Christmas house. | 26:31 | |
| This is an excellent opportunity for those of us | 26:36 | |
| who have so much to share some of what we have | 26:39 | |
| with others less fortunate. | 26:42 | |
| So I urge you to read this insert carefully | 26:45 | |
| and respond to it as generously as you can. | 26:48 | |
| Let me also remind you of the special advent service | 26:52 | |
| this afternoon at five o'clock here in the chapel. | 26:56 | |
| Professor Waldo Beech of the Divinity School | 27:00 | |
| will read Christmas poetry and members of the choir | 27:02 | |
| will lead us in singing Christmas carols. | 27:06 | |
| - | The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. | 27:27 |
| Amen. | 27:32 | |
| In W. H. Auden's Christmas oratorio, | 27:36 | |
| for the time being, | 27:41 | |
| there are some lines hauntingly descriptive of our time. | 27:44 | |
| He writes, if on account of the political situation, | 27:50 | |
| there are quite a number of homes without roofs | 27:55 | |
| and men lying about the countryside. | 27:59 | |
| And if it's unwise to say much in letters, | 28:03 | |
| that is not at all unusual for this time of year. | 28:07 | |
| If that were all, we should know how to manage. | 28:12 | |
| Blood, fire, the desiccation of grasslands, | 28:16 | |
| restraint of princes, piracy on the high seas, | 28:20 | |
| physical pain and fiscal grief, | 28:24 | |
| these after all are our familiar tribulations. | 28:28 | |
| And we have been through them all before many, many times. | 28:33 | |
| These are our familiar tribulations. | 28:39 | |
| We have been through them all before many, many times. | 28:43 | |
| You may have seen the cartoon that showed a man | 28:50 | |
| and his wife, a husband and wife sitting in the living room, | 28:52 | |
| which is decorated gaily for the Christmas season. | 28:56 | |
| The wife, however, has a deep frown on her face | 29:01 | |
| and looks as if she's completely exhausted. | 29:04 | |
| And the caption underneath the husband said, | 29:09 | |
| why, of course, you're depressed, | 29:11 | |
| tis the season to be jolly. | 29:14 | |
| Or like the comic strip "Peanuts" | 29:18 | |
| where Charlie and Lucy are walking down the sidewalk. | 29:19 | |
| And Charlie turns to Lucy and says, "I'm always unhappy, | 29:23 | |
| but why is it we have to have holidays like Christmas | 29:29 | |
| to remind me how unhappy I really am?" | 29:32 | |
| There are some cartoons that come so close | 29:38 | |
| to the truth about life | 29:42 | |
| to be really funny. | 29:45 | |
| And perhaps these are two of those. | 29:48 | |
| For right now in the midst of all of the sights | 29:52 | |
| and sounds and symbols that tell people | 29:55 | |
| that they ought to be merry and joyful and happy. | 29:57 | |
| And the sights and sounds that proclaim | 30:02 | |
| the promise of peace, | 30:04 | |
| amid all the tinsel and glitter and lighting of this season, | 30:06 | |
| there are many who find Christmas, | 30:10 | |
| a thoroughly saddening time of the year. | 30:12 | |
| Look for a moment at the words that we associate | 30:17 | |
| with Christmas, and then at the words | 30:19 | |
| which are descriptive of our days | 30:21 | |
| and see what this tells us. | 30:23 | |
| The words of the Christmas story are words such as joy, | 30:25 | |
| love, peace, goodwill, | 30:30 | |
| happiness, hope, goodness, life. | 30:34 | |
| And the words that are descriptive of today | 30:39 | |
| may well be words such as loneliness, | 30:44 | |
| uncertainty, confusion, anxiety, | 30:47 | |
| fear, hunger, wars, | 30:52 | |
| and rumor of wars, | 30:55 | |
| strikes, layoffs, unemployment, shortages. | 30:56 | |
| There may be many reasons for sadness at Christmas. | 31:04 | |
| Just for a moment or two, | 31:08 | |
| I'd like for us to look at some of these reasons | 31:09 | |
| so that we might try to understand some of our own feelings | 31:12 | |
| about this holy season. | 31:16 | |
| In the first place, | 31:19 | |
| because of unpleasant memories of Christmases past, | 31:20 | |
| there are some people who find this holy season, | 31:24 | |
| something less than the gay and joyous and light | 31:27 | |
| and carefree time that we were told that it is to be. | 31:31 | |
| I heard of a young man recently who can never enjoy, | 31:36 | |
| for example, Christmas Eve. | 31:39 | |
| Once Christmas Eve has passed, however, | 31:43 | |
| he seems to be all right. | 31:45 | |
| But the days of anxiety that lead up to Christmas | 31:47 | |
| usually manage to take all the joy of the season for him. | 31:50 | |
| What he understands only vaguely | 31:55 | |
| is that when he was a small boy, | 31:57 | |
| Christmas Eve was always spent in fear | 32:00 | |
| that his father would come home drunk. | 32:03 | |
| And his father really didn't drink all that much, | 32:06 | |
| but Christmas Eve seemed to be one time | 32:08 | |
| when he would most likely drink too much. | 32:11 | |
| When his father came home drunk, | 32:15 | |
| his parents would always fight. | 32:18 | |
| And all of the boy's hidden insecurities would be aroused. | 32:20 | |
| So that each year he hoped and prayed that this year | 32:25 | |
| would be the year when his father would not get drunk. | 32:28 | |
| And he's never been able to get over the basic anxiety | 32:34 | |
| associated with Christmas Eve. | 32:37 | |
| Now that he has grown up and no longer is bothered | 32:41 | |
| over whether or not his father drinks or his parents fight, | 32:44 | |
| he still cannot escape the uneasiness and the depression | 32:49 | |
| that comes with Christmas Eve, or, | 32:52 | |
| if near some Christmas of the past, | 32:59 | |
| someone very close to you has died, | 33:03 | |
| or if there was a tragic accident | 33:06 | |
| or a separation in the family, | 33:10 | |
| or a very serious and irreparable disagreement, | 33:14 | |
| the feeling level of Christmas is so sensitive | 33:17 | |
| that unpleasant memories of these experiences | 33:22 | |
| do well up within us, and bring sadness to many. | 33:24 | |
| Or in the second place | 33:30 | |
| others may find Christmas a saddening time | 33:31 | |
| because the demands of the season | 33:33 | |
| are just too heavy for us to cope with. | 33:35 | |
| Christmas does make diverse, difficult, | 33:39 | |
| and innumerable demands upon us. | 33:41 | |
| And often these demands are such that, | 33:43 | |
| that a smiling and jolly Merry Christmas | 33:45 | |
| is the only socially acceptable response we can give. | 33:49 | |
| Have you ever felt really down or sad | 33:56 | |
| or been hurting inside and had someone come up to you | 34:00 | |
| and essentially order you to smile and be happy, | 34:03 | |
| when smiling may be the very last response | 34:06 | |
| you'd like to make. | 34:09 | |
| For no one can be happy always on demand. | 34:11 | |
| So when all around us people in songs and messages | 34:16 | |
| demand happiness, we often become frustrated and outraged | 34:20 | |
| and angry within. | 34:24 | |
| Happy or good persons, young boys and girls | 34:26 | |
| and other ages just as well do not get angry, | 34:31 | |
| so we often say, but especially at Christmas time. | 34:34 | |
| And that's a very difficult demand to cope with. | 34:38 | |
| Or another demand we all feel at Christmas time | 34:44 | |
| is that of giving gifts and that of giving | 34:46 | |
| just the right gift. | 34:49 | |
| Can we ever give the gift that will be just right? | 34:51 | |
| Often something as simple as a selection | 34:54 | |
| of a token expression of our love for another person | 34:57 | |
| somehow becomes so complicated and complex | 35:00 | |
| that the choice becomes a demand | 35:03 | |
| that we just are not prepared to meet. | 35:06 | |
| How can the rush of activities | 35:11 | |
| or the flood of unsolicited interest | 35:15 | |
| which we suddenly show in someone or the boxed expressions | 35:17 | |
| of concern really be believed when they're sandwiched in | 35:22 | |
| between desperate weeks of boredom | 35:25 | |
| and disinterest and loneliness and seemingly | 35:28 | |
| an endless, endless routine for someone else. | 35:31 | |
| There are so many things in our daily lives | 35:35 | |
| that tend to make us feel inadequate, | 35:40 | |
| that the extra demands from family and friends | 35:42 | |
| at Christmas time may seem almost unbearable. | 35:45 | |
| Or in the third place, Christmas is an unhappy time | 35:51 | |
| for many, because they know that the future | 35:54 | |
| will never be like the past. | 35:57 | |
| We do have emotional attachments to the good people | 36:03 | |
| and the good memories of the past. | 36:06 | |
| And yet the past somehow or other must be left behind | 36:08 | |
| even with all its feeling and with all its hope, | 36:11 | |
| for life is a process of discovering, | 36:14 | |
| of becoming attached to someone | 36:17 | |
| and then of having to give up. | 36:20 | |
| But some of us have been so deeply hurt | 36:23 | |
| in having to give up relationships | 36:26 | |
| that they've lost the sense of risk and daring | 36:28 | |
| for reaching out and establishing new relationships. | 36:31 | |
| They fear that they will indeed become attached | 36:35 | |
| to someone else and they dare not risk | 36:38 | |
| being hurt all over again. | 36:41 | |
| Holidays, especially Christmas seem to emphasize | 36:44 | |
| the separation of past from present and future | 36:49 | |
| and sadness comes. | 36:52 | |
| These words about the sadness of Christmas | 36:56 | |
| have been personally oriented, | 36:58 | |
| and very person centered, | 37:01 | |
| focusing on memories of the past and feelings of the present | 37:04 | |
| for us as individual human beings. | 37:08 | |
| But I know as well as you this morning, | 37:12 | |
| that there are major worldwide critical issues, | 37:13 | |
| which make this Christmas a frightening and a sad time. | 37:17 | |
| But my interest with this word from God today | 37:23 | |
| is on the person, | 37:25 | |
| you and me, and what we experience at this time of year. | 37:27 | |
| Most of us know that Christmas is not all the gaiety | 37:33 | |
| and joy and happiness that it is commercialized to be | 37:37 | |
| because there is a touch of sadness in each of us. | 37:41 | |
| But it is just for such persons, | 37:45 | |
| say Isaiah and Matthew, | 37:49 | |
| that the Messiah comes. | 37:52 | |
| Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. | 37:54 | |
| Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. | 37:57 | |
| Isaiah tells us that when the Messiah comes, | 38:02 | |
| we will know for our valleys shall be exalted. | 38:06 | |
| Our every mountain and hill shall be made low. | 38:13 | |
| Our crooked ways shall be made straight. | 38:17 | |
| Our rough places made smooth, and all of us | 38:21 | |
| as the choir will sing, shall see the glory of the Lord | 38:27 | |
| and know the salvation of God. | 38:32 | |
| And the words of scripture from Isaiah | 38:37 | |
| that were read this morning ended with the tender, | 38:39 | |
| moving, poignant words, | 38:43 | |
| He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. | 38:46 | |
| He shall gather the lambs with his arm | 38:51 | |
| and carry them in his bosom, | 38:55 | |
| and shall gently lead those who are with young. | 38:59 | |
| Matthew writes, the blind receive their sight | 39:06 | |
| and the lame walk, | 39:11 | |
| the lepers are cleansed, | 39:13 | |
| and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up | 39:15 | |
| and the poor have the good news preached to them. | 39:18 | |
| Sadness. | 39:21 | |
| Sadness? | 39:23 | |
| Sure. | 39:25 | |
| But it is for those who are saddened, | 39:27 | |
| those who are searching, those who are lonely, | 39:30 | |
| those who are hurting, those who are lost, | 39:32 | |
| those who are uncaring and uncared for, for us, | 39:36 | |
| that the Christ comes. | 39:43 | |
| So again and again, and again, we say Merry Christmas, | 39:46 | |
| Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. | 39:50 | |
| When I was in high school, | 39:53 | |
| I worked at the A&P store and at Winn-Dixie as a bag boy. | 39:54 | |
| And when I was in divinity school here, | 40:00 | |
| I worked at Sears and Roebuck. | 40:01 | |
| And at Christmas time, | 40:02 | |
| I used to say Merry Christmas to so many people | 40:04 | |
| and say it so many times, I thought I was going batty. | 40:07 | |
| For you can feel the incongruenty, the ambivalence, | 40:14 | |
| the unreality of it so much | 40:19 | |
| because of the sadness and the hurt that you see | 40:21 | |
| on other people's faces that you think that, | 40:24 | |
| almost think we ought to drop these words as a greeting. | 40:29 | |
| But you know, I've tried to find | 40:33 | |
| or think of a substitute for these words. | 40:36 | |
| And really can't find one that is adequate, | 40:39 | |
| or even with all of the sadness of the Christmas season | 40:42 | |
| at its very root and heart, | 40:45 | |
| there is also something merry and joyful | 40:46 | |
| in the midst of Christmas. | 40:49 | |
| I've often experienced the feeling described by Susan Tifft, | 40:53 | |
| as she wrote in the recent issue of Archive magazine here. | 40:58 | |
| It's a little poem entitled, "Love's Linguistic Lament". | 41:04 | |
| And she writes, where is the exclamation point in my time? | 41:09 | |
| Everything is a drab dreary prose. | 41:16 | |
| And you whom I thought the prime semantic craftsman | 41:20 | |
| now blow no chilling life into my sentences. | 41:25 | |
| Where is the syntax of feeling love | 41:29 | |
| that used to be a lively verb reeling | 41:34 | |
| in its own devilish complexity has become | 41:36 | |
| an unfortunate singular noun. | 41:39 | |
| So the real message of Christmas, of Christ coming | 41:46 | |
| is that your time and mine can have | 41:50 | |
| an exclamation point in it. | 41:52 | |
| That love rather than being an unfortunate noun | 41:55 | |
| can become a living vital, active verb again. | 41:58 | |
| Christ's presence can be that exclamation point, | 42:05 | |
| can give us that life-giving love. | 42:09 | |
| The true joy of Christmas | 42:14 | |
| does come through its religious significance. | 42:16 | |
| The bells and carols and decorations | 42:21 | |
| may be no more than a cover for sadness, | 42:24 | |
| but they also may symbolize and reflect | 42:27 | |
| a far deeper meaning and joy. | 42:29 | |
| They may even reflect a hazy perception on our part | 42:33 | |
| that despite their universal presence, | 42:39 | |
| merriment and tinsel and gift-giving | 42:42 | |
| and even goodwill are not God's price for His love. | 42:44 | |
| For there is no price | 42:53 | |
| on His love. | 42:57 | |
| It is given. | 43:00 | |
| It is given fully and freely. | 43:04 | |
| So we do well to remind ourselves that the world | 43:12 | |
| into which Christ was born, | 43:15 | |
| was not the world of Charles Dickens, | 43:17 | |
| nor was it a world filled with fantasies | 43:20 | |
| of dancing sugar plums, and little wooden soldiers. | 43:23 | |
| That world was very much like our world. | 43:26 | |
| It too was a world with its share of sadness, | 43:29 | |
| torn by war, prejudice and fear, | 43:32 | |
| filled with suffering and injustice and insecurity. | 43:35 | |
| And contrary to those peaceful pictures | 43:39 | |
| on our Christmas cards, Bethlehem was a crowded, | 43:41 | |
| dirty, congested city filled with people | 43:44 | |
| who looked upon their neighbors with suspicion, | 43:48 | |
| and upon strangers with hatred. | 43:51 | |
| And my friends, it was there where God was to be found. | 43:55 | |
| It was in just such a place | 44:03 | |
| that God was to reveal His boundless love. | 44:05 | |
| The Jews were a rejected, despised and divided people. | 44:09 | |
| And yet God took upon Himself their identity | 44:14 | |
| and became one with us through them. | 44:17 | |
| God did not wait until all the people | 44:22 | |
| and the relationships of this world | 44:24 | |
| were filled with goodness and light. | 44:26 | |
| He sent His son into the world, | 44:29 | |
| the sum of who's brokenness could only be described | 44:31 | |
| as being filled with sin. | 44:34 | |
| Indeed Christ was born, | 44:37 | |
| not in spite of the terrible mess of this world, | 44:40 | |
| but precisely because the world was in a terrible mess. | 44:44 | |
| Thus, the Christian meaning of Christmas | 44:51 | |
| breaks through the external trappings, | 44:53 | |
| and speaks its message of forgiveness and love | 44:57 | |
| to the very core of any sadness we feel | 44:59 | |
| so that it really is joy to the world, | 45:03 | |
| the Lord is come. | 45:06 | |
| Joy to you and me. | 45:08 | |
| The word of God's love is spoken, | 45:13 | |
| not just to those who are the good people of this world, | 45:16 | |
| whoever they may be. | 45:20 | |
| The message of God's love, | 45:23 | |
| the Christmas message is spoken to those of us | 45:24 | |
| who need to be forgiven, | 45:27 | |
| who need to be loved | 45:31 | |
| and who needed to be saved from ourselves. | 45:34 | |
| So we can say, and we can experience merry Christmas. | 45:39 | |
| Not because there is no sadness for us, | 45:43 | |
| but because we are reminded, | 45:47 | |
| God has heard, | 45:52 | |
| has understood, and has responded | 45:55 | |
| to the needs of our lives. | 45:58 | |
| Auden ends his Christmas oratorio with these words; | 46:03 | |
| to those who have seen the child, | 46:11 | |
| however dimly, however incredulously | 46:17 | |
| the time being is in a sense the most trying time of all, | 46:21 | |
| for the innocent children who whispered so excitedly | 46:28 | |
| outside the locked door where they knew the presents to be | 46:31 | |
| grew up when the door opened, | 46:34 | |
| and now recollecting that moment, | 46:39 | |
| we can repress the joy, but the guilt remains conscious. | 46:41 | |
| Remembering this table | 46:49 | |
| where for once in our lives, | 46:52 | |
| everything became anew | 46:55 | |
| and nothing was and if. | 46:59 | |
| God will cheat no one, | 47:03 | |
| not even the world of its triumph. | 47:06 | |
| Then he ends with these magnificent words of the trilogy | 47:10 | |
| from the words of Jesus. | 47:16 | |
| He is the way, follow Him through the land of unlikeliness. | 47:17 | |
| You will see rare beasts and have unique adventures. | 47:22 | |
| He is the truth. | 47:27 | |
| Seek Him in the kingdom of anxiety | 47:29 | |
| and you will come to a great city that has expected | 47:31 | |
| your return for years. | 47:34 | |
| He is the life. | 47:37 | |
| Love Him in the world of the flesh | 47:39 | |
| and that your marriage, | 47:42 | |
| all its occasions shall dance for joy. | 47:44 | |
| Remembering this table, where for once in our lives, | 47:52 | |
| everything became a new instead of (indistinct). | 47:59 | |
| May the love, peace | 48:09 | |
| and the joy of God | 48:12 | |
| be yours this Christmas. | 48:16 | |
| Amen. | 48:22 | |
| (hymnal music) | 48:52 | |
| - | Oh, God, of whose bounty we have all received, | 58:37 |
| accept this offering of your people. | 58:41 | |
| And so follow it with your blessing, | 58:45 | |
| that it may promote peace and goodwill among men. | 58:47 | |
| And advance the kingdom that you sent your son | 58:51 | |
| and our savior to inaugurate, amen. | 58:54 | |
| (hymnal music) | 59:02 | |
| - | The peace of God, which passes all understanding, | 1:02:50 |
| keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God | 1:02:54 | |
| and of His son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 1:02:58 | |
| And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, | 1:03:02 | |
| and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always. | 1:03:05 | |
| (hymnal music) | 1:03:12 |
