KEEPING CHRISTMAS
Colossians 3: 12-17
During my childhood Christmases, many
evenings we read stories and watched television specials; we were part of the
Christmas Eve services and we sang Christmas carols; and each year we heard the
Bible story retold. At the beginning of this decade, writer John Grisham moved
out of his law firm box and wrote a short novel that he called SKIPPING CHRISTMAS. In it Luther and
Nora Krank decided to skip Christmas. Since their daughter announced she would
not be coming home that year, they decided to do what some in
Today can be a day to start over for
us as well; on the threshold of a new year we can say “be gone!” to our nasty
habits, to hateful hurtfulness, and to hearts filled with darkness. The
fictional character Scrooge was miserly,
selfish, and materialistic; descriptions that, like a suit of clothes, some
people in our world wear even now. Today
it is time to go shopping; it is time to cast off the old clothing that the
Apostle Paul described to the Colossians as sexual immorality, indecency, evil
passions, and greed as described in Today’s English Translation. The list
continues with some other characteristics that are difficult to dismiss:
“anger, intense destructive rage, doing things deliberately to hurt someone
else, insults, and foul language.” How often people have been hurt physically
or emotionally by the anger of another; schools children may become victims of
insults because of how they look or act or dress; and in public I have heard
strings of words from others that made me and others cringe; I’ve even heard
parents in shopping centers use them as verbal land mines that poison and
corrupt their children. Children speak
as we speak; what a shame to hear what they are being taught. But we can change
all that! We can choose to be less involved with people whose anger, improper
contact with us, greed, or words make us uncomfortable. But we can also give a
tremendous gift to those around us if we will choose to “clean up our own acts”
instead of using the lame and indefensible excuse, “That’s just the way I am.”
The whole story of Jesus’ ministry describes people changing because they have
met him. You and I can change too. This week is New Year’s resolutions week.
Why not start today with a life change that will change eternity for you?
From the beginning of creation in
Genesis, God has given human beings choices; we can move in lock-step with the
qualities that the Apostle Paul describes: “impurity, idolatry, sorcery,
enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness and
carousing.” The tentacles from each of
those activities start to choke, cripple, and even destroy its victims. But Paul has another list that brings life.
If we are people of God’s promise, accepting God’s offer to repent, we can have
life like we’ve never had before. It takes work and will in our walk with God. One
commentator, Leonard Klein, wrote these words when he looked at our Colossians
text in light of Christmas: “[Christmas] is not just a matter of thinking warm
thoughts about others and throwing some coins in a kettle. It is about
reclaiming the new identity that is ours in Christ. The baptized (vs. 12) are
‘God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.’ Therefore they should clothe themselves
in ‘compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.’” [THE LECTIONARY COMMENTARY,
Women, children, and even men are
likely trying on new clothes that they’ve received at Christmas to see if they
fit. And if they fit they might have even worn them already. Paul
implores us to try on clothing for choosing: so we will make good choices that
help us to keep Christmas, to remember our baptisms, and to honor the Christ
who we call Savior. Imagine, if you
will, going to a wardrobe or your own closet, and taking off a garment of hate
and anger and obsession, and putting on a garment of compassion and patience,
of kindness and forgiveness. In
likelihood the garment will be white, and the one you have just taken off will
be soiled. This white garment makes you feel new, and fresh, and changed.
Imagine that garment as your baptismal garment. In some traditions, people put
on special baptism gowns or robes to symbolize how they are made new in their
Christian baptisms. But by the end of the ceremony, or at least by the end of
the day, their garments are removed; only then can we can decide if we will
retain our Christian spiritual qualities.
We know that the birth of Jesus is a
highlight for Christians and the world. But without his meaningful death and
his theological identity as Son of God, that birth in
Jeffrey Sumner