The Cost of Christmas

As I think about several of the ones which I sampled, it seems that the fact of Jesus born is Bethlehem has been said many times over in story and song, but not so much has been said or sung about what that means.

The “so what” factor has not been stressed as much as it should be.

One of the things which could have been said concerns the costliness of Christmas.

By that I mean more than the price paid for all of the presents we have all received.

I'm talking about an even more significant cost than that one.

Just remembering whom it is that we honor on these three days, the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th days of Christmas should be enough to make it clear about the great cost involved in having Jesus born.

Upon Christ's coming, everything is changed.

As his presence is felt, and later, as he catches hold of people, their lives are never again the same.

These people are ones who bear witness now not to the approach of Christ, (as we had with the Old Testament prophets) but of his continuing presence now.

Remember that the Greek word for one who bears witness is martus, martyr.

December 26 is the Day of St. Stephen, the first who willingly gave his life for the faith.

Because of the boldness of his witness, he was killed by the crowd; a martyr in word and deed.

We remember that St. Paul was complicit in his death, much to his later sorrow.

December 28 is the Day of the Holy Innocents, remembering the children of Bethlehem who were killed by the anger-crazed King Herod in an attempt to get rid of the baby Jesus before he could grow up and cause any trouble for the ever-suspicious king.

Those children gave their lives, but not willingly.

They are martyrs in deed, not in will.

Today, December 27, is the day of St. John, who according to the old stories was the only one of the apostles not killed for the faith, although he would have willingly offered his life if need be.

He was a martyr, one who bore witness, by a long and faithful life of preaching and teaching.

That kind of life has its own sorts of difficulties and challenges.

As we think about these three days, and their witness, what does it cost to have this Jesus here?

1.It costs changed lives form all whom Jesus touches in any way.

2.It may cost a very untimely and terrible death if bearing witness in a threatening situation, such as those about which we have heard and seen in the Middle East and elsewhere.

These are tremendous costs.

Let's shift for a moment for another cost.

Scholars have been arguing for many years about the authorship of the Gospel of John, the letters of John, and the book of Revelation.

Some scholars think that three or perhaps even four different persons wrote those books that are ascribed to John, and that perhaps none of the four was the apostle John.

The arguments go back and forth about those ideas, but if they are true, what does that tell us about the faith?

No scholar says that one is right and the others are fakes; however many authors there are, all of them are bearing faithful witness to the truth of Christ, passing on what they have heard and seen from the witnesses before them.

Thus, their individual fame is not at all important.

They use the name of the disciple beloved of the Lord Jesus, who was likely the founder of their particular community of the faith.

There are times when we get so busy tooting our own horns that we forget why we toot, and whose message it is that we toot.

One little example:

From time to time we try to acknowledge with thanks for the many persons who assist in the ongoing service projects, worship leadership, etc. in the parish, with a published list of names.

As hard as we try, it is so easy to miss a name in preparing those lists.

For the most part, folks are patient and understanding, but once in a while, someone will get snippy about it.

That is when we need to take a deep breath and ask ourselves about what is the focus of our work.

Our work is for the glory of God and the aid of our neighbors inside and beyond the congregation, and not for recognition, listings, or public acclaim.

Our feelings of self-importance need to be far down the list.

This brings us to the situation which prompts the Gospel lesson today.

In the verses immediately preceding, the risen Lord Jesus is charging Peter with his task.

“Feed my lambs and tend my sheep,” he says.

“Do you love me? He asks of Peter three times, “then do your job.”

Peter turns around, sees John, and then in what sounds like jealously, asks Jesus “What about him?”

Jesus' reply in essence is: “Don't worry about others whom I may call.

Just get going and do what I have sent you to do.”

Pride and place and position are not so important, but rather faithful witness in whatever skill and gifts you have and use.

That may step on our prideful toes.

We do like to cover up problems within ourselves as well as in relationships.

Sometimes we will say enough to get along and avoid saying what should be said because it is hard thing to say.

For short, we'll call this garden-variety sin.

I remember one of those situations.

I was in conversation with someone in the hospital, not a member of the congregation when another person made a thoroughly objectionable racist remark and then repeated it so there was no mistake about what he said.

I was so startled and intimidated by the remark that I said nothing.

It was a nurse who happened to hear it also who gave a clear witness that this behavior is wrong.

I am so glad that she did, and greatly annoyed with myself that I didn't.

It was the cost of his own life for Jesus to be here among us.

And it also costs us something to have this Jesus around in the world, and we may be asked to pay a portion of that cost at any time.

The cost involves:

--our pride in ourselves,

--admission of own failures,

--perhaps an untimely death,

--and certainly a whole life reoriented.

But these costs are well-worth bearing, because in advance of it we have received the greatest possible gift, God with us, Emmanuel. 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.