Fr. Ron Feister: A Present for Christmas

Sermon delivered on Sunday, Advent 4A, December 22, 2013, at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, Columbus, OH.

If you would like to hear the audio podcast of this sermon, click here.

Lectionary texts: Isaiah 7.10-16; Psalm 80.1-7, 18-20; Romans 1.1-7; Matthew 1.18-25.

Over the last three weeks of Advent, we have been focusing on the coming of Christ, not in his first visit but at the time of His final coming in Glory to complete  His Kingdom. During  Week One we were warned that the time of his coming would be sudden and without warning. The transformation will be dramatic and not all will be delighted in its happening. We were encouraged to have an attitude of anticipation of that great day.  Week Two continued the same theme, but called us especially in the Gospel from Matthew and the recounting of the Baptist’s criticism of the Pharisees to have a conversion of our hearts which is real and not just for show. Week Three’s Reading call the believer to have Hope.

It also contains an acknowledgement that we sometimes may have doubts, but that Jesus does not condemn such doubts, but rather reassures us that He is the Messiah who gives sight to the Blind, cleanses the Leper, allows the deaf to hear, raises the dead and gives good news even to the poor.

But finally we come to today’s readings. the view shifts, we are no longer looking at the future, but a marvelous, yes glorious event. We are not yet fully rejoicing in the Birth of Christ, but we are now feeling in the life of the Church that sense of immediate anticipation that the secular world has been feeling at least from Thanksgiving.

Our Old Testament Reading comes to us as a prophecy or for shadowing of the coming of the Messiah. One who would be born of a young maid and who would bear the name Immanuel, God is With Us. The Epistle in what is only the beginning of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, assures that the coming of Jesus was foretold by the Prophets, that He was descended from David, the Great King,  that we was declared to be the Son of God, and that he came for both Jew and Gentile (that’s us) alike.

The Gospel starts to prepares us for the birth event with a story of great faith. Mary is with child, but has not yet been married to Joseph to whom she was engaged. Joseph at first determines to end the relationship, but in a kind way. When he instructed by the Angel of the Lord that this child was conceived by the work of God and not a man, to save us all from sin, he shows a level of faith that few of us could imagine.

Quickly now the story will take us from Nazareth to Bethlehem and the birth of the child – a birth we celebrate next week with much joy, good food, and presents. Wait a minute, how did we get from the Second Coming to Presents? It might help if we look at how the Church came to celebrate the birth of Christ as a separate holy day or feast.  In the earliest days of the Church, the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ were all celebrated within the Easter season or some period of time close to that Feast. Over time the Church felt a need to spread the celebration of these events over a longer period of time and to allow more focus on each particular aspect. Today we know this as the church calendar. But where in the year, should the birth of Jesus be celebrated.

Today in America, we keep detailed birth records, and with few exceptions , we know the date a person is born, and if we want to celebrate their birthday, we would do it on the annual anniversary of that day. Unfortunately those records, did not exist for the birth date of Christ. So the Church just had to pick a date. Now at the time that the Western Church was trying to decide on the date, there were a large number of pagan holidays and one major one which had their celebrations in the month of December. The pagans had a great time during these feasts of theirs. Good Food, music and dancing, and the giving of presents. I am sure that the Christians noticed their pagan neighbors having a good time and would have liked to join in the fun. Maybe this is why the Western Church chose to celebrate the Birth of the Christ at the same time. Or perhaps as the Church has often done, it saw this as an opportunity to transform (perhaps a better term would be to convert) the Pagan Feast to a Christian One.

In any case, the Western Church determined that the birth of Christ would be celebrated on December 25. While the church rejected many of the Pagan practices of celebrating, it saw nothing wrong with good food, music, and presents. It was seen as an act of Christian Love to not only give presents to  their friends and love ones, but to see that presents would be given to the poor and less fortunate.

There were, of course, examples of gift giving, to support this practice. After all did not the Wise Men, bring presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the child Jesus and his family and we cannot forget about the great St. Nicholas who was known for giving gifts to the children and to those who because of their poverty might otherwise has been forced into terrible life situations. Just last week this parish followed that example by obtaining and wrapping presents to be given to various families who have not been blessed with an abundance. As we give presents to others we are in a sense giving presents to Christ as we celebrate His Birth since Christ is now to be found in our lives as members of the Body of Christ.

I do not know about you but I find that I have a number of challenges in gift giving especially at this time of year. First I often find that selecting the right gift for a person is a challenge of its own.  Will they like it? Can it be returned if it is the wrong size or type?  Is it appropriate? Then comes the wrapping. Some people like our own Father Kevin seem to have the talent as I found out last week that others of us do not. We want the present to stand out to express our joy in giving even before the package is opened. Timing is important. Do we give the present before services or after, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or both. Our family follows a European tradition of gift giving on the Feast of St. Nicholas as well as at Christmas.

In giving presents we almost always want to share something of ourselves with the receiver. As we approach this coming Christmas, it is my hope and prayer that we can not only give presents to one another, but really give a present to Our Lord. We may find it difficult to decide on that gift, but as with all gift giving this is almost always the hardest part.  Whatever we give to the Lord we know it will be the right size and it will be appropriate, if we choose from the heart. We know that it will not be rejected or returned. Let us wrap that present in the most amazing ways with acts of forgiveness, charity, and love – with the desire to transform our own lives to be more like His. As to the timing of that gift we need not worry for the Lord of Lords always and every moment is open to receiving the gifts we bring to Him. In giving our Present to Christ let us truly make it a giving of ourselves.

Why give a Present to Jesus? Because he gave himself as the ultimate Christmas gift. I share with you now the words of song by the Hoppers:

Mary wrapped a present to the world
The snow was falling down that night with no place to rest in sight
soon she would bring forth a son

The inn was full so instead he was born in a stable bed,
there his life had just begun

but how was she supposed to know
as she wrapped him in swaddling clothes her precious newborn son
would be a sacrifice

Yes he would run and laugh and play
but she knew there would come a day,
when for the world he would choose to die

Mary wrapped a present to the world,
on that first Christmas morn when her baby was born,
Mary wrapped a present to the world

No decorated Christmas trees, just one bright star for all to see
the way to Bethlehem that winter night,
Many gifts they brought for him but a greater gift she gave to them,
for though her son would come eternal life

Mary wrapped a present to the world,
on that first Christmas morn when her baby was born,
Mary wrapped a present to the world

There is one “tradition” connected with presents and that is the practice of re-gifting. Normally looked down upon, with the Precious Gift of Christ, may we all be re-gifters for the more we give this gift away the richer that Present of Christ in our lives becomes.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.