"The Expectation of a Savior"
Micah 5:2-5a
December 24, 2006 (4th in Advent)
Saint Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John A. Fleming
When it comes to Christmas, I would have to say that I am a pretty traditional guy. In fact, the memories and the traditions of the days before and the day of Christmas is where I hang my hope. For a few minutes, I would like for you to hear about the tradition of the Fleming family Christmas tree.
Early in December every year, my dad would go and pick out a Christmas tree. If I went with him, I can't remember it! Dad would bring it home, place it in our carport, and then find a small saw and our Christmas tree stand. With the saw, daddy would cut off just an inch or so of the bottom of the tree and then he would, I am sure, with a little help, raise the tree and put it in the stand. He would screw the eye bolts that held the tree in place. With all that done, my dad and brother (and me when I was older), would start the long journey from the carport, around the front of our house, up the three steps and then two more steps, through the opened front door of our living room and to the place where the tree lived during my growing up years. This task was no small accomplishment. Furniture had to be moved, needles had to be swept up, scratches on faces from the needles had to heal. But it was all worth it.
My dad's job was to get the tree bought, prepared, and into the house. It was my mother's job to do the rest. She enlisted her children to help her once the hard work was done.
My mother strung the lights, matching end on end, and making sure that all of the branches had plenty on them so that when evening came, the lights would glimmer and could be seen from the street. Next came the ornaments, carefully laid out on our living room couch, in boxes, protected by tissue paper and cardboard cut outs where the ornaments just fit. My mother, of course, placed the breakable ornaments herself. She learned that, I suspect, the hard way. Mother placed the breakable ornaments high on the tree, out of the reach of her young children. Our job was to place the other ornaments, the ones that had little chance of breaking. They were the ones we made in pre-school and kindergarten classes. Some of them were made of cardboard and others of them were made with popsicle sticks. There were a few metal ornaments that had our names and the year that were given to us etched in them and since they were our ornaments we put them in a special place on the tree. The trimming was complete with plastic icicles that were placed on branches.
I used to love to go in our living room, at night, when the tree was turned on. I would sit on the couch and look at the lights. There would not be any other lights on in the room with the exception of the tree's lights. I would look deeply into them and then over at the ornaments. Then I would look down at the presents that already had my name on them.
Susie's family had a Christmas tree tradition, I suspect. One of the things she and her brother did was to sleep under the tree the first night it was up.
So there are traditions surrounding the Christmas tree. It's supposed to look a certain way. The ornaments are supposed to be placed in certain places.
So have you heard about this? One of the new trends is to hang your Christmas tree upside down, suspended from the ceiling. Now it seems to me that there would be some problems with that. First of all, it's not traditional. It is not the way it was done at my house! That is the real problem with it. There are other problems. If your tree is real and not artificial, how would you water it? If you have a tree topper, like a star or an angel, where would you place it? If the tree is supposed to point towards God in the heavens, then, well, you see what I'm saying.
There are artificial trees of course, pre-lit ones, sold at places like Target, but good look getting one. They've been sold out for months. Those who market the trees make all kinds of cases and say things like, "Think about it, there is more room at the bottom of the tree for larger presents! Think about it, you can put your prized ornaments at eye level instead of near the ground where the strong branches are."
Traditional people like myself just cannot swallow the arguments. There is nothing like messing with someone's Christmas traditions. Do it and you will hear about it. You just don't mess with Christmas!
For many people, I guess the biggest fear of the season is that their Christmas won't be perfect, that it won't go according to their well thought out plans. The fear is that something will happen that will ruin Christmas. All of the Christmas specials take that on as their theme. The Grinch sets out to stop Christmas from happening. Rudolph saves the day one foggy Christmas Eve. There is always the fear that something or someone will ruin Christmas.
I heard about a preacher who was fresh out of seminary and serving his first church. Christmas Eve came around and he planned the worship service. The pastor of the church always did that. He thought it went well. He thought it was glorious. When it was over, he walked to the back of the church and shook the hands of those who were there. One of his members refused to shake his hand. She walked right up to him and said, "Thanks, preacher, for ruining my Christmas!" His eyes were big. He was shocked. He thought about what he might have done. She said, "We always sing Joy to the World as the last hymn. We've always done it for as long as I can remember! Without it, it's not Christmas! Preacher, you've ruined Christmas!" Yikes!
We all have our expectations and our hopes and our perfect scenarios for tonight, Christmas Eve night. An upside down Christmas tree has no place, thank you very much!
But now that I think about it, maybe it should. Maybe there is a little room for upside down things this Christmas. If you will remember, Jesus came into the world and turned it upside down. He was born in a world, amid a swirl of expectations about a messiah who would save his people in a certain way. He would come with power and might. He would yield a sword, not a shepherd's crook. He would take care of business and restore Israel to its rightful place.
Jesus didn't do that. Instead he turned messiah expectations upside down. He preached love over vengeance for enemies. He spent time with sinners and outcasts. He told them they were the "in-crowd." He was a great teacher, the best ever. One of his greatest lessons was one that we've come to call an object lesson. Jesus came around a table with a towel around his waist and a wash basin in his hand. He knelt and washed his disciples feet. The lesson was strong. This is what a servant does. We all need to serve others.
For Jesus the categories of rich and poor, in and out, great and humble, even life and death were all flipped upside down. No wonder people who held on to traditions did not like him. They thought Jesus was ruining things. They didn't like change. They wanted him out of the picture.
And now many people come to this day and even to this night, this Christmas Eve night looking for the perfect ending to their plans. They want the story. They want the manger. They want the candles. They want the carols. They want the tree. They want the hope. They want it to be perfect. We all do.
As we look into the manger, we see the baby Jesus. He will be born tonight. And according to the great hymn, Away in a Manger, we sing, "The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes..." What a chance we have this morning. This baby does cry. He cries despite the words of the song. This baby cries out for justice. This baby cries out for mercy. This baby cries out for compassion. This baby cries out for things to be different because the way things are is not working! This is the baby who will turn the world upside down! Nobody, no one expected him to come the way he came. It would have been too much and too different.
And yet he came. The prophet Micah prophesied about it some seven hundred years before the baby arrived. Micah said that one day the baby would be born, born in the small town of Bethlehem. Micah said that this baby would grow up and do three things. He would feed his flock in the strength of the Lord. His greatness would be our security. And finally, he would be our peace.
Talk about your world being turned upside down. Travel to the hill country with Mary as she visits her older cousin, Elizabeth. Both are pregnant, unexpectedly. One was past the time when you had babies. She had never been pregnant before. The other was just a baby herself.
I don't know what you are expecting this Christmas. My hope is that you will be expecting a savior. Let us pray.
(Special thanks to my parents and my sister and brother who helped to make each and every Christmas season special. May my sister rest in peace. Look down on us this Christmas. Special thanks to the writers in Homiletics Magazine who helped with the image of upside down Christmas trees and the world being turned upside down. Merry Christmas. Expect a Savior!)