In the Key of Pain or the Key of Joy

But the world in which we live is like a piece of music by Charles Ives, who sometimes has a group of musicians playing in one key while another group is playing in a completely different key.

It is hard work to listen and figure out how it all fits together, how to make sense of one of those pieces.

So here is the question of the day:

Is Christmas in the key of pain from which we want to flee as quickly as possible?

Is it in the key of joy which we want to savor as long as possible?

Or, is it a mixture of the two?

It is a question which has been around from the very beginning.

We have wanted to keep things sweet and light, but other things keep crowding into our picture.

Even in ancient times, folks wanted to take the nastiness out of Christmas, and so a legend grew up that Mary gave birth without pain.

The Bible does not say that, and it is not necessary to infer that.

Christ came among us experiencing everything we know, except without sin.

But folks are even more nasty to him than they are to each other.

The message of God is regularly met with rejection, and that rejection may lead to the death of the messenger.

In today's 1^st lesson we heard of the death of Zechariah because he called the people to account for their abandonment of God.

In the 2^nd lesson we heard of the death of Stephen because of his bold witness to the Lord Jesus.

In the Gospel reading we heard Jesus' own lament because people wanted easy and light things that wouldn't challenge the way in which they do things.

A woman with two children was making her way through the shopping crowds getting more and more harried.

She got herself and all of her things wedged into the elevator, and announced loudly,

“Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be strung up and shot.”

From the back of the elevator can everyone heard the quiet voice respond, “don't worry, we already crucified him.”

The rest of the ride was very quiet.

The question is not “Will there be pain, sorrow, rejection, and all the rest?”

for we will undoubtedly be plagued with those things.

Rather, the question is “Who gets the last word in the struggle?”

Will things be in the “key of pain” or the “key of joy”?

Will the last word be death, or Jesus?

The best thing is to bet our lives on Jesus.

Many are unwilling to make that bet,

or who want to have some other plan,

just in case this Jesus thing doesn't work out.

It makes me sad when I run into a person who says, “I don't reject Jesus,

I just don't get too excited about it.”

Some time back I got a set of CDs with performances of all 40 or so hymns written by Martin Luther.

The vocalists sing with good tone and accuracy, but with no passion.

The singers perform each hymn like the one before, even though they are very different subjects and moods.

They are just not too excited about anything.

Let that not be our problem!

The Incarnation,

God come among us in the flesh,

is so marvelous a thing

that how could one keep quiet,

how could one be indifferent and unexcited?

It cost Stephen his life,

but he felt that was not too high a price to pay

for the Good News he had to share.

Is Christmas in the key of pain, or in the key of joy?

We know that it is some of each,

some joy and some pain,

but we also know which one of them gets the final word and note.

Joy wins!

And that is the good word on the Second Day of Christmas, 2010. Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.