Pastor's Pen - January 2009

Friends in Christ, Dear

 

We are in the midst of the 12 days of Christmas. Yes, that is right, Christmas is not yet over. In fact in the Eastern Church, presents will not be exchanged until the season ends on January 6^th, the festival of Epiphany. On that day the Church remembers the magi and the star that witnessed to the birth of a savior for the entire world. Gifts are exchanged as a reminder of the gifts brought for the Christ child. It is important for us and for the world that we hold on to the season of Christmas and to not allow it to simply becoming a single day bracketed by market-driven consumption.

 

Christmas as a season is a celebration of the greatest gift, the gift of God incarnate, and the power that gift gives to us that we may be generous givers as well. When Anna and Simeon had the privilege of encounter the infant Jesus with Mary and Joseph in the temple, they did not thank God for themselves but thanked God that a gift of salvation and deliverance had been given for the sake of all of God's people. A commercialized Christmas leads to a focus on self and one's own wants and desires. The fullness of the church's celebration of the Christmas season calls us out of ourselves to be engaged with the world around us. To see the gift of Jesus as a gift that transcends place and time.

 

The green season of the Sundays after the Epiphany will provide us the opportunity to see ways in which God's presence is and has been revealed for the sake of God's people. We pray that the Spirit will be at work in our lives that our eyes may be opened to see the great things that God has done and continues to do in our lives and in our world.

 

The world continues to be in darkness. It appears that 2009 will begin with more areas of conflict in the world than before. The economic difficulties will not be resolved quickly. If one were to simply look at the circumstances of the world and measure life by them, there would be many reasons for feelings of despair. Yet it is in that very darkness that the light of God has shown and continues to shine. That is the message that we have to share with the world. That is the good news of the incarnation. That is the gift that we have that continues to give to a world that struggles and is in need.

 

In the seasonal cycles of the church year, we celebrate the gift of Christmas, God's incarnation, God's own self present for the sake of the whole world.  It is a celebration without end, se we rejoice always.