Read the Lectionary Texts

Let’s sing a little Christmas song together, just to get ourselves re-energized after an exhausting Thanksgiving holiday. 

We wish you a merry Christmas!

We wish you a merry Christmas!

We wish you a merry Christmas!

And a happy New Year!

Great! We’ll sing that again in a moment, but before we do, let’s share an ancient Advent tradition. It is customary on the first Sunday of Advent for people in church to turn to those they love and give them a nice Advent kiss. So turn to the ones you love right now – either relatives or not – and give them a big smooch, and say, “Happy Advent!”

Nice! And if you’re wondering how “ancient” this custom is – you can go all the way back to our 8 AM service this morning when I made the tradition up!

Now, let’s sing again!

We wish you a merry Christmas!

We wish you a merry Christmas!

We wish you a merry Christmas!

And a happy New Year!

 Well, here we are in the season of Advent! And we do wish you all a merry, merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year – once it gets here.

I understand Wal-Mart is very happy as the season begins. They did a jillion dollars worth of business on Friday! I know my son is happy. He was 5^th in line when Best Buy opened the doors at 6 AM the day after Thanksgiving, got everything he wanted, and has something like $250 worth of rebate checks coming. Imagine that? 250 bucks! Probably cost him $4,000 for those rebates, but hey…

And kids everywhere are excited. Christmas lists are being made, Santa Claus is being visited, and – as the poem says, “Visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.” I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds pretty cool to me!

And speaking of sounds, everywhere you turn, Christmas music is playing! In fact, my favorite radio format is called called, “All Christmas, All The Time!” There’s something about Christmas music that makes us feel good! It’s full of joy. And hope!

I sincerely hope for you … ALL the wonderful blessings of the holiday season.

But I also wish you a higher hope!

You see, there is another song being played this holiday season that’s a little different than all the others. Instead of wishing us holiday joy, or wonderful gifts, or good health and happiness, this song wishes us much, much more. It’s the song of God through the prophet Jeremiah, and it goes something like this (chanted):

“The days are coming when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: In those days, and at that time, I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.”

Now I’m not sure that’s the exact tune, but it’s the lyric that I think is truly great. This is a song that hopes not for just a peaceful holiday, but for peace on earth. Real peace. True peace. Shalom peace.

This is a song that sings not about getting all the stuff we want, but of a day when the world becomes a just and righteous place – when no child ever goes hungry again, when cancer no longer grips the lives of the millions of people who suffer from it, when every person has the ability to earn a decent wage, and put food on the table, and dwell in a safe and warm house. This is a song that sings about old people no longer being discarded because they’re too old, and young people no longer being ignored because they’re too young, and people of color and gender and physical limitation no longer being excluded, and abused and discriminated against.

Its not a song – I’ll grant you – that they play while you’re walking through the Mall. The tune is very ancient and not pleasing to the ear. The lyrics don’t always rhyme, and it would take more than a lifetime to understand all they mean.

And yet, in our world today, there are still small pockets of people that keep this song alive – this song of God’s highest hope. Hope for peace on earth, and good will toward all. Hope for true justice. Hope for the kingdom of God. And those small pockets of people who keep the flame burning are often found in places like this – churches and other settings where people of goodwill gather to testify to the promise God sang through the prophets.

The promise not of a better holiday, or of a happy new year– but of a new world.

So while the vast majority of folks enter the holiday season pre-occupied by preparations for family gatherings, mailing out Christmas cards, and making lists of what we want both to give and to receive, we followers of Christ do something truly unique.

We gather to keep Hope alive. Oh, we sing all the songs everyone else sings.

But then we sing one more.

We sing the song of God’s new world.

There will be peace one day! Racism will be overcome. Poverty will be eradicated! The whole world will be fed! Humanity will become a family whose members love God and love one another! Our diversity will be gloriously held together by God’s inclusive grace! Cancer will be no more, and death will die! And the Bible tells us that – in that day – every human tear will be wiped away as we are reunited with our loved ones, and with our Lord!

I want to live in that world! I want my children and grandchildren to live in it too. And I want it for you, and for your kids and grandkids as well!

So today, I want to invite you to believe in something.

Come and believe in God’s dream for our world – believe in peace on earth, believe in justice for all, believe in reconciliation between people and families and nations. You know, someone recently asked me what they have to  believe to be considered a Christian. Good question! It’s more than believing a doctrine, you know. It’s more than believing a birth. It’s more than believing in angels and mangers and wise men from the East.

To be a Christian means to believe in Jesus and why he came.

 “The days are coming when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: In those days, and at that time, I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.”

Come and believe in God’s dream for the world. Over the centuries people of faith have sung songs about it, written poetry about it, and even made mysterious symbols to express it’s grandeur. Some of those songs, poems and symbols come together today in a beautiful way as we gather around the Chrismon Tree! Let’s sing God’s song of Highest Hope together! And then let’s go into the world and live for that dream every day!

(Here follows a Chrismon service)

Chrismons are Christmas decorations with Christian symbols on them. They were first made by Frances Kipps Spencer at the Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, Virginia. She described these decorations as “Chrismons” – Christ monograms. Chrismons are traditionally white and gold and include many Old and New Testament symbols representing Christ.

The Tellico Village Chrismon Tree

On the First Sunday in Advent each year at Tellico Village Community Church an undecorated  Christmas Tree was placed in the Chancel (front stage of the sanctuary). Following a brief sermon the tree was decorated with a sampling of Chrismons, some carried forward by members of the congregation and others by the pastors. Readings and song verses were used to accompany the placement of each Chrismon.

The Chrismon Service used at Tellico generally followed an order like this:

A Chrismon Service

Triangle and Circles

The first symbol on our Chrismon tree is the Triangle With Three Circles. The Triangle is one of the most ancient symbols of the Trinity, representing God’s power and majesty. The Circles represent eternity, reminding us that God’s love and promises are forever. The Book of Genesis tells us that “In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth.” By this we know that the eternal God is the very Source of our lives. As this Chrismon is brought forward, let us sing “Holy, Holy, Holy”. 

Open Book

The next Chrismon depicts an Open Book. It represents the Bible, the faithful and true Word of God. And the Bible points to another Word. The Living Word of God. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” As this Chrismon is brought forward, let us sing a verse of “Jesus Loves Me”. 

Rose

One of the important understandings of our faith is that life is difficult. Because humankind chooses life without God, God’s good and perfect will for the world is thwarted. But God, in love, will not give up on us. From of old, God has spoken through prophets and others, promising that light will one day shine in the darkness through the coming of a Savior. Solomon described this Savior as the Rose of Sharon. Isaiah spoke of  the desert breaking forth with flowers! The next Chrismon is a beautiful cross-stitched rose, representing the joy that will blossom in sorrow. As the rose is presented, join your voices in singing, “Lo, How A Rose E’re Blooming”.

Shepherd’s Crook

God’s promise to us is that he himself will be our shepherd. Psalm 100 says it well. Listen:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God!
It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Is it any wonder then, that when the time came for the Savior’s advent, among the first to hear the news were shepherds out in the field? As the Chrismon representing the Shepherd’s Crook is presented, let us sing, “The First Noel.”

Stars

John 3:16 says that, “God so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only Son..” The symbol of the Star is important because it represents the great truth that God’s love is for everyone, everywhere. By a Star, God appealed to wise men living in the East to come and worship the newborn King. As the Star is carried forward, our song is “As With Gladness, Men of Old”.

The Names of Jesus

From the time of his birth to the present, women and men have tried to describe the beauty and meaning of who Jesus is. Sometimes, words alone were not enough, and so symbols were created. There is the familiar IHS  – iota, eta, sigma in Greek. These three letters are the first letters in the Greek word for Jesus. There is the common Alpha and Omega – meaning the beginning and the end. Another symbol is the ICTHUS – a fish-shape containing the first letters in Greek of the phrase, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. In our faith tradition, there are many symbols representing Jesus. All of them remind us that the love of God expressed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is too high and wonderful to ever be captured in words alone. God’s love can only be experienced. As several symbols representing these descriptions of Jesus are brought forward, let us join in wondering about Christ’s meaning in our own lives as we sing, “What Child Is This?” 

The Cross

When we think of Jesus, we think not only of his birth, but of his life, death and resurrection. As several Chrismons depicting various kinds of crosses are presented, let us sing, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord”. And let us gather around the table for Communion.

The Crown

Read Mark 16:1-7

The Scriptures tells us that, by life, death and resurrection, Jesus has become our King of kings, and Lord of lords. We are promised that he will reign for ever and ever and ever. So even today, many years removed from the events themselves, we know that we are a part of what God has done and is doing to bring new life and freedom. We place the Crown on the very top of the tree to help us look up, for our salvation draws nigh! And let us sing, “Crown Him With Many Crowns!”

Fish

The last symbol placed upon this year’s Chrismon tree is the Fish. It reminds us of how Jesus multiplied the fishes and loaves. It also causes us to remember that followers of Jesus in every generation have to make choices about following him. In the early days of our faith, when Christians were hunted down and killed by Roman authorities, the people developed a code by which they could tell who was a believer and who was not. One person drew an oblong arc, and then invited the other to complete the code. Those who did not understand the meaning of the Fish could not complete it, and gave away their identity as agents of the State. Those who were fellow followers of Jesus, knew that the drawn oblong arc only needed to be mirrored on the bottom, forming the Christian Fish. This symbol today is the symbol of our church as part of the International Council of Community Churches. Together, we seek to complete the circle with others so that the power of Jesus’ love may be known to the world. As we place the Fish symbol on the Chrismon tree, let us look forward to the day, and vow to work for the day when Jesus returns, and all God’s family is brought together in love! This Advent hope is expressed in the song, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.

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