Sermonella: Catch the Feevah!

What follows is the story of my sermon from January 2, 2011. Apparently, God saw an opportunity for Danul to just go head first into the new year.

The morning of 1/2/2011 dawned cold. Seriously cold. As I waddled from my car to the sanctuary with five layers of clothing on, I decided to check the bulletin for any potential issues.

Depending on whether you see the glass as half-empty or half-full, this was either my first stupidly brilliant idea or my first brilliantly stupid decision of 2011.

The gospel text printed in the bulletin was completely and utterly NOT the text I had been working with for the past week. Faaaaaaaantastic. (I guess I'm more of a half-empty person for this story)

As I cursed my iPhone Lectionary App, I started pacing up and down the main aisle in the sanctuary, trying to figure out a way for my prepared sermon to reflect the printed gospel text. It didn't happen.

Suffice it to say, it turned out that it wasn't as big a deal as I was blowing it up to be, which is too often the case. The presiding minister (a jolly ol' retired pastor within our congregation) eased my nerves as he said, "we'll just liberally assume people will be able to get over it," a phrase that ironically fit very well into my message.

So, first, here is the text upon which my sermon is based: Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’

And here is what you've been reading this overlong blog post for in the first place:

(Disclaimer: this borrows some points from my Christmas blog...but hey, what would ministry be if we didn't recycle ideas?)

Let me start by saying that I have a certain…naivety when it comes to Christmas. I love this time of year. I love everything that comes with it. I love the music (I've been playing Christmas music in the office since late October). I love the decorations (a special thank you to our lovely secretary Tina, who gave me my tree). I love the commercials. I love the TV specials. And of course, I love love love the birth of Baby Jesus.

And I cannot comprehend it when people tell me they hate Christmas. What’s to hate? The cheery attitudes?The sale prices?The tinsel and twinkly lights?The shortened church services? What, pray tell, is so awful about Christmas that people cannot simply enjoy it?

Some say it’s become too commercial. Some say people don’t celebrate for the right reasons. Even pastors say it’s become a time when their roles as spiritual leaders are shrunk into roles as entertainers. I get all that. I really do.

After the weeks of stress that went into our Christmas Program, I can definitely sympathize. With all the complications our little pageant was confronted with, there were times when I wanted to throw up my hands at the impossibility of celebrating Christ’s birth with 20 kids who I had to bribe with confirmation credit (it’s a very funny thing how kids will do so much work just to get out of having to actively listen to a sermon that they have to sit through anyway). But when that first musical cue on that Sunday night began, that impossibility was unfolding very possibly in front of me.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that Christmas will most likely always be a commercial smorgasbord. It will likely always be celebrated by Christians and seculars alike. There will always be things that make you want to run over a snowman or smack an overly-cheerful bellringer.

So get over it. Stop second-guessing Christmas. Better yet, stop second-guessing the simple truth of the baby Jesus.

Our gospel today features Joseph. He’s a guy who we don’t hear from after the nativity story, so it’s a good thing his supporting role in the gospels can be used to no end for sermons at Christmastime.

The angel told Joseph, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt.” And what did Joseph do?

He immediately GOT UP and took his family to Egypt. He did not stop to complain. He gave no “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts”. He did not second-guess the message from God.

There were probably a million reasons Joseph could have given to not go to Egypt. I’ll bet he wasn’t looking forward to dragging an infant along on a cross-country road trip. I’m almost positive he wasn’t looking forward to Mary badgeringhim to ask for directions every two hours. I’m sure he could’ve justified not going.

But like I said, he went. He GOT UP and went. No second-guessing about it. Some could even call his unwavering obedience naïve. And this is an example we today should follow.

Being naïve about Christmas, in my ever-so-humble opinion, is the only way to approach this time of year. With all the secularization of Christmas, it boggles my mind that so many Christians opt to turn up their nose at the holiday instead of choosing to instill its true meaning. We cannot afford to let that stand in our way of celebrating the “most wonderful time of the year”.

We can even see this naivety reflected in other nativity characters. Do you think the shepherds thought themselves better than others because they saw Jesus? Do you think Mary and Joseph even began to grasp the weight of the events of that night long ago? No way. Instead they unabashedly, almost foolishly, celebrated the birth of Jesus, without regard for anything else.

Because really, what else matters? Too often people try to dissect Christmas to find some hidden “true” meaning. But the truth is that Jesus was born. That is the purest way I can say it. It’s awfully simple, isn’t it? And we didn’t even have to get our hands dirty. No second-guessing required.

By now, you’re probably thinking two things:

1. Daniel is really trying to get us think about “second-guessing God”.

2. Christmas is over, so why has he been rambling on about it?

You probably can see where I’m going with this, but I’ll say it anyway.

We as imperfect humans tend to second-guess God a lot. We do it throughout the year.

There will always be reasons not to do things. We might say no to teaching Sunday School because we think we have no time. We might refuse to be a leader in worship because we think we wouldn’t know how. We might back out of being a youth sponsor because of horror stories we’ve heard from the youth director.

But if Joseph has taught us anything, it is to just GET UP and answer God’s call.

God has brought us together as First Lutheran Church for a reason. He has given each one of us tools and talents that fill precise needs. And he wants us to be unashamed in using them.

Sure, this sounds silly. In any other area of life, we would be encouraged to considering all our options and choices. We are told to weight the pros and the cons against each other and see which is best. I do my share of that. When I was searching for jobs at this time last year, I had a list of all possibilities, with columns for the options I liked and one for those I didn't. But much like the naivety with which we should approach Christmas, we should approach doing things in the church with a similar attitude.

2011 is here. Whether we like it or not, whether we are young, old, or undecided, time has brought us to this point. As the director of youth and family ministries, a position that all have you have graciously chosen me to fill for almost a year now, I extend to you all a challenge.

I challenge you to GET UP. There will be ample opportunities for involvement this year. And no aspect of our ministry- not the youth/family, not the education, not the worship, not the music- will be possible if no one in the congregation answers God’s call.

He’s calling all of us in special, specific ways. You just need to GET UP and listen.

It really is that simple.

AMEN.