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| THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 18 December, 2005 The Rev. Robert C. Granfeldt |
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I’ve been thinking, this morning, of that corny saying that I quoted to you just a
couple of weeks ago in my Annual Report: “Time flies when you’re having fun!” I
guess I’m having some kind of fun, because I can hardly believe this is my 7th Fourth
Sunday in Advent with you – and next Sunday will be our seventh Christmas!
And I’m remembering, too, our second Christmas, here at Calvary, and how I shared
with you how odd it seemed to me to have the 4th Sunday of Advent fall on Christmas
Eve, as it did that year! I couldn’t understand why that combination should seem so
odd after 30 Christmases since my ordination – until I did some calculating, and
realized that, what with our years in Campus ministry and the years spent caring for
our daughter, and after, Christmas 2000 was only our Second 4th Sunday in Advent-
Christmas Eve combination that we had ever spent in a Parish in all those three
decades!
Time is funny.
And now, six years later, we have another combination that seems odd to me:
Christmas Day a full week away and falling on Sunday! Again, I couldn’t imagine,
yesterday, when it occurred to me, why that seemed so odd to me – after, now, 35
years in Holy Orders. After all, in 35 years, any particular date is going to average out
as falling on any particular day in the week 5 times! So I did some checking, again,
and sure enough, I found that while I’ve spent 4 Saturday Christmases in parishes
over the years; and on the other side, I’ve spent 5 Monday Christmases in parishes;
between those same oddities of being in and out of parish ministries that I mentioned
five Christmases ago, and the effects, over time, of leap years, it turns out that, once
more, this is only the second time in – now! – 35 Christmases that we have been in a
parish for a Sunday Christmas! And it does seem odd to contemplate next weekend!
Of course, a Sunday Christmas also makes this the longest, possible Advent season!
And it also affords me the longest, possible time to be my usual curmudgeonly self at
this time of year!
I do, by the way, admit to being something of a curmudgeon – especially in Advent!
But you know something? It’s my job.
It’s my job and it’s my vocation.
It’s my job to remind you what we’re all about!
It’s my job to remind you – when the whole culture begins to celebrate “Christmas”
(and please note, I put that in quotes!), when the whole culture begins to celebrate
“Christmas” on the day after Halloween (which happens to be All Saints Day) that we’
re still actually two seasons away from that feast!
It’s my job, to remind you that Jingle Bells, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, and I
Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus are not Christmas Carols, but the seasonal songs of
our culture.
It’s my job to remind you that the twelve days of Christmas are Not the last twelve
shopping days before the 25th! Nor – as I’ve been hearing this year for the first time –
nor are there 25 days of Christmas, starting on December 1st!
It’s my job to remind you that parties, at this time of year, are wonderful things – but
they’re “holiday parties” (because we do have a “holiday season” from, roughly,
Thanksgiving to January 6, that usually includes the Ramada, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,
and Christmas holy days – but not Christmas parties, because Christmas doesn’t start
until the 25th!
And it’s my job to suggest to you that that we need to recognize a difference
between, “custom” and “tradition:” that our Christmas Shopping custom that is now
such a vital element of our economy really got rolling only after World War II; that the
“holiday season” and it’s celebration is a custom that really got it’s start as anything
we would recognize, only with Charles Dickens’ “Christmas Carol,” in 1843; and that
the origin of our quaint idea of “Santa Claus,” and his 8 tiny reindeer had it’s
beginning only in 1822, with the publication of Clement Clark Moore’s, A Visit From
Saint Nicholas; and that all of these are very different from the “traditions of the
Church,” that go back 500, 1000, 1500, or 2000 years in Christian Practice! So, yes, I am
a curmudgeon when it comes to holding out to you the importance of our Christian
tradition and of the liturgical calendar that guides and forms our life, together.
But this morning I want to address something more directly that has to do with this
year, especially!
I suspect you’ve all noticed the flap that’s been going on for some time, now, but
really taking off this season, that is the growing objection to the increasing
reluctance – as a matter of company or public policy – of shop-people and clerks to
say “Merry Christmas” at check-out counters, and such, replacing the term with
something like “Have a nice holiday!”
The criticism of the practice has grown, considerably, this year – which makes me
suspect there is a concerted, and probably at least semi-organized effort behind the
objections, by our Evangelical brethren.
If so, the effort has been quite successful, because the refrain has been picked up,
this year, across a wide spectrum of American Christians. In fact, I have heard some
of our own members join in it – complaining about the “political correctness,” of not
mentioning “Christmas” in the marketplace – the shops and stores.
And yet…; and yet! (There’s always an “as yet,” or a “but” lurking somewhere, isn’t
there?)
And here, I pause. I pause because it is not my intention to offend anybody, or to hurt
anybody; but I do believe it is my job to point things like this out to you.
And, so, the, “and yet….”
We receive – Mary and I – quite a few Christmas cards in the course of the season, as
you might expect! But I have noticed something, this year, far beyond anything I’ve
noticed in the past. It is that, with all the flap, and all the complaints about the
disappearance of the wish for a “merry Christmas” from our public life, and all of the
laments we’ve been hearing about the disappearance of Christ from Christmas, we
have, so far, this year, received perhaps 4 cards, total, including dozens from you,
the members of this parish – 4 cards – that have any reference, visual or verbal – any
reference, whatever, to the birth of Christ or to the Christian faith!
We have cards adorned with birdies and snow scenes and wreaths on windows, of
families and homes and children; of Santa Clauses and elves and reindeer; of
fireplaces and ribbons and piles of presents; of sleighs and horses and evergreen
trees!
We have Christmas Cards depicting just about any “Christmas” theme you can think
of – except for the birth of Jesus Christ; except for the savior coming into the world
to save mankind from his sin; except Angels from the realms of Glory singing
hallelujah!
Now, I want to assure you that I pay no attention, whatever, to who sent what card!
Never have, never will - intentionally! But I do pay attention to trends; to patterns.
And this is the pattern I’ve noticed: more than ever before, Christ is almost totally
missing from the Christmas cards we’ve received this year! But I do have a job to do:
to tell you what I know; what I believe; what I think you need to be told!
The irony is that I hear so many of you agreeing with the evangelicals that the switch
to “Happy Holidays” from “Merry Christmas” is a detestable thing, along with the
disappearance of manger scenes from the public square and the public schools – yet
I agree with that change! I recognize – and honor – the fact that we live in a pluralistic
culture, a world of differing cultures and races and faiths and no longer a “Christian
Nation – if we’ve ever been one!”
But I see, at the same time, a loss of what Really matters! A loss of any personal
expression of faith, even amongst and between believers! Any personal regard for
the fact that Jesus Christ was born – the savior of the world, incarnating the living
God into Our flesh! Into mankind.
Some months ago I spoke to you about the need for You – the members of the Body
of Christ – to do your job as Christian believers! Part of that job, I said, was Thinking
about your own faith; about Learning what it’s really all about, and Reflecting on what
it means- or Should mean – to you and to your life; about Thinking about your faith,
and about how you live it!
Now this is something I want you to think about! What does Christmas Really mean to
you? Is it truly about presents and caroling and parties, and shopping and spending
time with the family – all very good things in themselves? Or is it about the coming of
the Incarnate one into the world, “to save us all from Satan’s power?”
The question is, in this increasingly schizophrenic culture, can you separate the two?
And are you really recognizing Both in your life? And (here’s the kicker) – if anyone
were watching you from the outside: could they tell?
Now, in a little while, when this service ends, I’m going to go downstairs to the
undercroft. I’m going to join in our coffee hour, and unless I’m mistaken, we’re going
to see a man in a red suit and big beard, and we’re going to see a “Christmas Tree”
going up! And then, I hope, we’re going to do some of what I call “rehearsals” for
next weekend (Wink! Wink!) by singing some carols! (“Rehearsals,” because, of
course, we would never even think of actually singing Christmas carols during
Advent!) And then – later today, or tomorrow, or the next day, I’m going to finish My
shopping and buying, and My wrapping – and I’m going to have a wonderful time
getting ready to take my part in a typical, American Christmas celebration!
But then, I plan to put aside all those things while I do what is Really important…,
what is Really appropriate to the season – and do it right: worshipping God in the
Beauty of his Holiness, and celebrating Christmas – celebrating the Christ Mass! I’m
going to put all the “cultural custom” stuff on hold, while I return to my roots, my
tradition – and yours, too – and celebrate the coming into the world of the One who
was born to die for us!
And if that makes me a curmudgeon, well, so be it!
In Jesus Christ’s Name, so be it!
couple of weeks ago in my Annual Report: “Time flies when you’re having fun!” I
guess I’m having some kind of fun, because I can hardly believe this is my 7th Fourth
Sunday in Advent with you – and next Sunday will be our seventh Christmas!
And I’m remembering, too, our second Christmas, here at Calvary, and how I shared
with you how odd it seemed to me to have the 4th Sunday of Advent fall on Christmas
Eve, as it did that year! I couldn’t understand why that combination should seem so
odd after 30 Christmases since my ordination – until I did some calculating, and
realized that, what with our years in Campus ministry and the years spent caring for
our daughter, and after, Christmas 2000 was only our Second 4th Sunday in Advent-
Christmas Eve combination that we had ever spent in a Parish in all those three
decades!
Time is funny.
And now, six years later, we have another combination that seems odd to me:
Christmas Day a full week away and falling on Sunday! Again, I couldn’t imagine,
yesterday, when it occurred to me, why that seemed so odd to me – after, now, 35
years in Holy Orders. After all, in 35 years, any particular date is going to average out
as falling on any particular day in the week 5 times! So I did some checking, again,
and sure enough, I found that while I’ve spent 4 Saturday Christmases in parishes
over the years; and on the other side, I’ve spent 5 Monday Christmases in parishes;
between those same oddities of being in and out of parish ministries that I mentioned
five Christmases ago, and the effects, over time, of leap years, it turns out that, once
more, this is only the second time in – now! – 35 Christmases that we have been in a
parish for a Sunday Christmas! And it does seem odd to contemplate next weekend!
Of course, a Sunday Christmas also makes this the longest, possible Advent season!
And it also affords me the longest, possible time to be my usual curmudgeonly self at
this time of year!
I do, by the way, admit to being something of a curmudgeon – especially in Advent!
But you know something? It’s my job.
It’s my job and it’s my vocation.
It’s my job to remind you what we’re all about!
It’s my job to remind you – when the whole culture begins to celebrate “Christmas”
(and please note, I put that in quotes!), when the whole culture begins to celebrate
“Christmas” on the day after Halloween (which happens to be All Saints Day) that we’
re still actually two seasons away from that feast!
It’s my job, to remind you that Jingle Bells, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, and I
Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus are not Christmas Carols, but the seasonal songs of
our culture.
It’s my job to remind you that the twelve days of Christmas are Not the last twelve
shopping days before the 25th! Nor – as I’ve been hearing this year for the first time –
nor are there 25 days of Christmas, starting on December 1st!
It’s my job to remind you that parties, at this time of year, are wonderful things – but
they’re “holiday parties” (because we do have a “holiday season” from, roughly,
Thanksgiving to January 6, that usually includes the Ramada, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,
and Christmas holy days – but not Christmas parties, because Christmas doesn’t start
until the 25th!
And it’s my job to suggest to you that that we need to recognize a difference
between, “custom” and “tradition:” that our Christmas Shopping custom that is now
such a vital element of our economy really got rolling only after World War II; that the
“holiday season” and it’s celebration is a custom that really got it’s start as anything
we would recognize, only with Charles Dickens’ “Christmas Carol,” in 1843; and that
the origin of our quaint idea of “Santa Claus,” and his 8 tiny reindeer had it’s
beginning only in 1822, with the publication of Clement Clark Moore’s, A Visit From
Saint Nicholas; and that all of these are very different from the “traditions of the
Church,” that go back 500, 1000, 1500, or 2000 years in Christian Practice! So, yes, I am
a curmudgeon when it comes to holding out to you the importance of our Christian
tradition and of the liturgical calendar that guides and forms our life, together.
But this morning I want to address something more directly that has to do with this
year, especially!
I suspect you’ve all noticed the flap that’s been going on for some time, now, but
really taking off this season, that is the growing objection to the increasing
reluctance – as a matter of company or public policy – of shop-people and clerks to
say “Merry Christmas” at check-out counters, and such, replacing the term with
something like “Have a nice holiday!”
The criticism of the practice has grown, considerably, this year – which makes me
suspect there is a concerted, and probably at least semi-organized effort behind the
objections, by our Evangelical brethren.
If so, the effort has been quite successful, because the refrain has been picked up,
this year, across a wide spectrum of American Christians. In fact, I have heard some
of our own members join in it – complaining about the “political correctness,” of not
mentioning “Christmas” in the marketplace – the shops and stores.
And yet…; and yet! (There’s always an “as yet,” or a “but” lurking somewhere, isn’t
there?)
And here, I pause. I pause because it is not my intention to offend anybody, or to hurt
anybody; but I do believe it is my job to point things like this out to you.
And, so, the, “and yet….”
We receive – Mary and I – quite a few Christmas cards in the course of the season, as
you might expect! But I have noticed something, this year, far beyond anything I’ve
noticed in the past. It is that, with all the flap, and all the complaints about the
disappearance of the wish for a “merry Christmas” from our public life, and all of the
laments we’ve been hearing about the disappearance of Christ from Christmas, we
have, so far, this year, received perhaps 4 cards, total, including dozens from you,
the members of this parish – 4 cards – that have any reference, visual or verbal – any
reference, whatever, to the birth of Christ or to the Christian faith!
We have cards adorned with birdies and snow scenes and wreaths on windows, of
families and homes and children; of Santa Clauses and elves and reindeer; of
fireplaces and ribbons and piles of presents; of sleighs and horses and evergreen
trees!
We have Christmas Cards depicting just about any “Christmas” theme you can think
of – except for the birth of Jesus Christ; except for the savior coming into the world
to save mankind from his sin; except Angels from the realms of Glory singing
hallelujah!
Now, I want to assure you that I pay no attention, whatever, to who sent what card!
Never have, never will - intentionally! But I do pay attention to trends; to patterns.
And this is the pattern I’ve noticed: more than ever before, Christ is almost totally
missing from the Christmas cards we’ve received this year! But I do have a job to do:
to tell you what I know; what I believe; what I think you need to be told!
The irony is that I hear so many of you agreeing with the evangelicals that the switch
to “Happy Holidays” from “Merry Christmas” is a detestable thing, along with the
disappearance of manger scenes from the public square and the public schools – yet
I agree with that change! I recognize – and honor – the fact that we live in a pluralistic
culture, a world of differing cultures and races and faiths and no longer a “Christian
Nation – if we’ve ever been one!”
But I see, at the same time, a loss of what Really matters! A loss of any personal
expression of faith, even amongst and between believers! Any personal regard for
the fact that Jesus Christ was born – the savior of the world, incarnating the living
God into Our flesh! Into mankind.
Some months ago I spoke to you about the need for You – the members of the Body
of Christ – to do your job as Christian believers! Part of that job, I said, was Thinking
about your own faith; about Learning what it’s really all about, and Reflecting on what
it means- or Should mean – to you and to your life; about Thinking about your faith,
and about how you live it!
Now this is something I want you to think about! What does Christmas Really mean to
you? Is it truly about presents and caroling and parties, and shopping and spending
time with the family – all very good things in themselves? Or is it about the coming of
the Incarnate one into the world, “to save us all from Satan’s power?”
The question is, in this increasingly schizophrenic culture, can you separate the two?
And are you really recognizing Both in your life? And (here’s the kicker) – if anyone
were watching you from the outside: could they tell?
Now, in a little while, when this service ends, I’m going to go downstairs to the
undercroft. I’m going to join in our coffee hour, and unless I’m mistaken, we’re going
to see a man in a red suit and big beard, and we’re going to see a “Christmas Tree”
going up! And then, I hope, we’re going to do some of what I call “rehearsals” for
next weekend (Wink! Wink!) by singing some carols! (“Rehearsals,” because, of
course, we would never even think of actually singing Christmas carols during
Advent!) And then – later today, or tomorrow, or the next day, I’m going to finish My
shopping and buying, and My wrapping – and I’m going to have a wonderful time
getting ready to take my part in a typical, American Christmas celebration!
But then, I plan to put aside all those things while I do what is Really important…,
what is Really appropriate to the season – and do it right: worshipping God in the
Beauty of his Holiness, and celebrating Christmas – celebrating the Christ Mass! I’m
going to put all the “cultural custom” stuff on hold, while I return to my roots, my
tradition – and yours, too – and celebrate the coming into the world of the One who
was born to die for us!
And if that makes me a curmudgeon, well, so be it!
In Jesus Christ’s Name, so be it!
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| Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale |
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