Singing Christmas

We were singing the Christmas carols from memory. Someone would call out a name, and we would all sing the first verse together (the first verse seems to be the most we can manage from memory).

Stock photo for dramatization (not me)

The First Noel

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Away in a Manger

Then someone said “Go Tell it on the Mountain” and we all started to sing the refrain:

“Go tell it on the Mountain, over the hills and everywhere;

Go tell in on the mountain…” but there was confusion at the end.

“…that Jesus Christ was born” sang some.

“…that Jesus Christ is born” sang others.

The first one makes sense. We are the carol singers, and we are singing with joy because of the day long ago when Jesus Christ was born. Past tense. It is the day we remember every year, the day when the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

But that isn’t how the lyrics go. We sing in present tense: “Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!”

If we think about Christmas in the past tense, we miss the message. Christ comes to be among us in our own time. Christ is born in whatever place will make room for God -actually, Christ is born even if we don’t make room. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you. Jesus said that by reaching out to others we are reaching out to him.

Sermon - What Time It Is

Preached on December 1, 2013, the first Sunday of Advent, at First Congregational Church of Tallmadge, UCC.

Scripture: Romans 13:11-14

¹¹Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹²the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; ¹³let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Sermon

Living by darkness or living by daylight. Living as one asleep or waking up. The apostle Paul asks us to think about our by these stark contrasts. “The night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” For all of the complexity of life, for all the shades of gray that we live in, sometimes it’s helpful to put life into stark terms.

Do you remember the parable of the two wolves that comes to us from the people of the First Nations? A grandparent says to the grandchild, “there are two wolves inside of you. One wolf is good, kind, patient, loving. The other wolf is evil, mean, selfish, full of hate. They are locked in a great struggle.”

The grandchild asks “which wolf will win?”

And the wise grandparent answers, “the one you feed.”

What kind of lives are we living? And what lives will we begin today? “You know what time it is,” writes Paul. “Now is the time for you to wake up.” And here is where I think that Paul’s metaphor is really helpful, because Paul recognizes that it isn’t just up to us. We are awake when the sun is out and we sleep in the darkness. We are affected by what’s going on around us, sometimes by light and sometimes by darkness.