Fo rgot ten J oy 2011 Advent Guide Hyaets
inspire enrich & embody community
Introduction “I just want to be happy,” I often hear one of my neighbors say when things get tough. At the end of the day, we all want to just be happy. Sure we have varying ideas and opinions about what happiness is and what it means, but happiness seems to be a universal goal. I wonder about this feeling of happiness. When I hear my neighbors speak of it, I wrestle with what exactly they mean. I know that they do not mean a happiness that comes from money or even stability because I see moments of happiness within them even when they do not have those things. I also know that they mean something more than a feeling because I have seen laughter and smiles in the midst of longing for happiness. We have a word in the Christian faith for what my neighbors speak of when they say happy. It is not a long word. It is easy to spell. We speak and sing about it often in our churches. There are moments when my neighbors do use this word and usually those times are accompanied by intense feelings of loss, sorrow or despair. In those moments, my neighbors speak of their deep longing for joy. Many middle-class US-Americans, when returning from foreign trips to impoverished countries, speak
of their admiration of the people they met who owned few material things but embodied a great sense of joy that is practically indescribable. I admit that I too have had such experiences and have found myself in awe and wonder. I agree with many that it is our materialism that often prevents us from understanding this joy. And I believe that there is more to this joy than we can imagine. Our society seeks to find joy in many ways. We try to buy it. We follow self-help strategies to attain it. We work hard to feel and believe our way into it, despite what our authentic self tells us. We sometimes fake it. We try to understand it. We often pray for it. Yet I believe that the root of our dilemma is that we have forgotten, perhaps never known, what joy really is. Though seemingly short and simple, joy is a difficult word. It is not a simple idea. It is not simply an emotion. Rather, joy is something much deeper. Joy is a word in the grammar of faith that moves us beyond our humanity and connects us deeply with the Divine, our Creator. Each Advent we light candles in our churches to anticipate the coming of Christmas. One of these candles we call “Joy.” This candle is
a reminder that there is something about Christmas that is joy. But what is it about Christmas that is joy? I believe this to be an honest and fruitful question. When I think about joy at Christmas I cannot help but to remember that wonderful children’s story by Dr. Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I think of the joy of the Whos down in Who-ville. I think of the lack of joy within the Grinch and his failure to understand the real joy of Christmas. I remember the Grinch’s “wonderful, awful idea” to take away all the Whos Christmas trimmings in order to stop Christmas from coming. But most of all, I think of the scene towards the end
where the Grinch is changed and his heart grows three sizes. In that moment, the Grinch is literally filled up with joy. I long for that kind of joy in my life. A joy that increases my heart, my capacity to love and my willingness to serve. The Grinch is a story of Christmas Joy. It is a beautiful children’s story that, perhaps, can offer guidance to us if we listen carefully. So let us read it together this Advent. Bring the kids into this year’s Advent devotions. Read, talk, and play through this guide with family and friends. Most of all be willing to listen and invite the joy of the Christmas Child into your life this advent.
Hyaets
inspire, enrich & embody community
Hyaets’ 2011 Advent Guide is created, designed and produced my members of the Hyaets Community in Charlotte, NC. Hyaets is a community building organization which branches out in several directions, including an urban ministry, an intentional Christian community, and retreat experiences. The ministries of Hyaets are based upon a holistic, relational, need-meeting model. At the core of Hyaets is an intentional Christian community that lives in a lowincome, high-risk area of Charlotte, North Carolina to minister with and learn from those that society would call “the least of these.” This community partners with individuals, families, churches, and parachurch organizations to provide a number of ministries to the poor, marginalized, and forgotten of Charlotte. Through these ministries and partnerships, Hyaets seeks to inspire, enrich, and embody community by building bridges between the poor and the affluent.
Week 1 The GrincH
Part 1
Every Who Down in Who-ville Liked Christmas a lot... But the Grinch, Who lived just North of Who-ville, Did NOT! The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason. Whatever the reason, His heart or his shoes, He stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Whos, Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown At the warm lighted windows below in their town. “And they’re hanging their stockings!” he snarled with a sneer. “Tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here!” Then he growled, with his grinch fingers nervously drumming, “I MUST find some way to stop Christmas from coming!”
Monday “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Even before Halloween arrives, we begin to hear songs about the joy of Christmas. For Christians, advent has been the time of anticipation for Christmas Day for centuries. Yet our consumer culture has realized the profit of extending Advent by a month or two. In doing so, the market ends up squeezing Christmas joy right out of us from October through December. Squeeze might just be a more appropriate word for Christmastime than wonderful, for it is perhaps this time more so than any other time of the year that we feel most squeezed. We feel the squeeze of our wallets and purses. We feel the squeeze of the clock as we work frantically to decorate our houses, our neighborhoods, our places of work and even ourselves. We feel squeezed of energy and resources as we tirelessly search for gifts and cards for friends and family. We feel the squeeze of our clothes as we indulge in an overabundance of turkey, stuffing, collard greens and sweets. Some of us feel the squeeze of tense relationships as families gather together. We sometimes feel so squeezed that in January we are finally just glad to see Christmas behind us. For those of you yet to admit you feel the stress of Christmas, hear
Reflection this: in 2002 psychologists from Coventry University said that “most of us suffer from stress at Christmas, but do not recognize it.”. They cited “extra responsibility”, “a radical shift of daily patterns,” “an overload of people, alcohol, food, spending and over-excited children” as contributors to increased levels of stress, which are too easily “passed off as tiredness.” Christmas has become a season filled with a long list of feelings, and joy is just not at the top of the list. Rather, stress, anxiety, dread and fatigue tend to be the feelings that dominate our hearts and minds during Christmas. We may not be so blunt as the Grinch to say we hate Christmas and just want it to stop. Yet we seem to have a proclivity towards desiring the end of Christmas due to our feelings during the season. What does it mean, then, to speak of Christmas Joy? How do we understand the joy of Christmas amidst the array of emotions we experience during the season? Do our less than joyful feelings and the experiences from which they arise rob us of Christmas joy? How do we embrace and embody Christmas joy in the shadow of these other feelings? Have we forgotten (perhaps never really known) what Christmas joy truly is?
Tuesday
Advent Wreath
One of the Christmas traditions associated with Advent is the making of an evergreen wreath. The evergreens symbolize God’s eternity and new life. Five candles are placed within the wreath. Weekly, a candle is lit to remind us of our waiting for the birth of the Christ child. The candles represent the hope, peace, joy, and love of the coming of Christ. Advent Lessons Week 1 = Hope = purple or blue candle Week 2 = Peace = purple or blue candle Week 3 = Joy = pink candle Week 4 = Love = purple or blue candle Christmas Eve = Jesus’ birth = white candle Notice the color of the candle for joy! Also, notice that the candle for joy is lit at the mid-point of advent. Ask yourself these questions: Why might this candle be different in color? What could this symbolize? Consider setting up an Advent Wreath in a prominent place in your home in place of another Christmas decoration that you have used in the past. Weekly, read scripture, sing songs, and light the candle to reflect on and celebrate this season of hope and anticipation. How does the Advent Wreath in place of a Santa statue, mistletoe, lighted tree or other ornament change the anticipation of Christmas for you? What other ways could we exchange more secular or cultural Christmas trimmings for traditions that better connect us to the joy of Christmas?
Wednesday Directions for Advent Calendar: Use the provided materials to make an Advent Calendar.
Step 1: Method 1 - Use the pages from the Advent Guide: • Staple or Tape this page to the following page. Method 2 - Print 8.5x11 Pages from Internet: • Download the Advent Calendar and Artwork Page from the internet at: http://hyaets.org/adventguide2011extras.html
•
Print the Advent Calendar Page and the Christmas Artwork Page.
•
Attach the Advent Calendar to the Artwork Page by placing the calendar on top of the artwork and taping or stapling at the top of the page only.
Step 2: •
Each day of Advent, cut away a square from the calendar, beginning on November 27th with square number one.
•
The joyful image of Mother and Child is revealed as you cut away the “extras” indicated on the squares.
Thursday
Breath Prayer
Practicing breath prayer is very easy. Take 5-10 minutes to choose an Advent breath prayer from scripture or compose one of your own. Here are three different options: 1. Choose a prayer sentence from the following examples1:
• • • •
O Come, O Come Emmanuel Silently, Silently, we wait Bring us your hope Bring us your joy
• • • •
God With Us Come, Dear Jesus Bring us your peace Bring us your love
2. Turn to one of your favorite biblical passages to create one. 3. Spend a few moments in silence. Relax. Imagine Jesus standing before you, asking, “What do you want? What do you seek from me?” Respond with the first thing that comes to your mind. Write this down. Next, choose your favorite name for God (such as Father, Jesus, Lord, Abba, Holy One, etc.) and write it down. Now write a short sentence prayer that combines the name for God with your answer to Jesus’ question. For example, “Lord, give me peace”; “Jesus, help me to love”; “Father, give me courage.”2 Ideally, your breath prayer should be 6-12 syllables. After you have chosen or created a breath prayer, make a goal to remain in God’s abiding presence as you begin saying your prayer. Ponder the meaning and beauty of the words you are saying. Slowly say the first part of the prayer as you breathe in. Then slowly say the last part of the prayer as you exhale. There is no hurry or rush. Say your breath prayer throughout the day whenever you remember. This form of prayer can also serve as a “tape” that can replace negative “tapes” or “commentaries” that often swirl around in our minds. Whenever you observe that you are negatively reacting to a person, event, or thing, say your breath prayer. For example, you are stopped at a red light. The light changes to green. You slowly begin to move into the intersection when you notice a car that did not stop at his red light. Instead, he plunges through the intersection as if you were not there. instead of screaming in your car at the driver who nearly caused a wreck, say your breath prayer. God does not want you to embody the negative thoughts and feelings and thus poison yourself. Once you’re aware of the negative thoughts and feelings, gently say your breath prayer. 1 Adapted from Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart (New York: Continuum, 1992), 134-5. 2 Adapted from The Way of Pilgrimage: An Adventure in Spiritual Formation for the Next Generation: Leader’s Guide (Nashville: Upper Room Books), 100.
Friday
Discussion
Pull your family or friends together for a little sharing and story telling session. Recall together all your feelings about Christmas. Remember the Christmases of your past. Bring to mind all the memories and feelings conjured up by the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas. No doubt that as the years have passed your feelings have changed or evolved a bit. Talk through the following questions together. Adults, share your answers with the children around you. Allow the children to share and ask you questions as well. Be honest. Have fun. Listen well to one another. What was Christmas like for you as a child? What did you anticipate? What is your favorite Christmas memory? What other fond memories do you have? What memories do you have that are not so fond, perhaps even negative? Were there times of struggle for you during Christmas, perhaps over the memory of a loved one or familial tension? Have your feelings stayed the same over the years? Or have they changed, evolved or matured a bit? If they have changed, how have they changed or evolved? What are your current feelings about Christmas? What do you like most about Christmas? What do you like least? What positive or negative experiences affect your feelings? How do your memories shape your current feelings about Christmas?
Saturday
Challenges
Challenge 1: “to do list...to not do list” Write down your Advent and Christmas “To Do” list. Include your shopping list, errands, parties, family gatherings, meals, etc. Spend a moment looking at the list. Is there anything you can remove from the list? Challenge yourself to remove at least three things from your “to do” list and once you remove them, do not do them. You will gain extra time and resources by removing things from your “to do” list. Put these extra resources to good use: donate time and effort to a ministry or mission in your community.
Challenge 2: Advent Conspiracy Join the Advent Conspiracy and do something to restore your forgotten Joy (web address below). Be sure to watch the intro video on the Advent Conspiracy homepage.
Week 2 The GrincH
Part 2
“I know just what to do!” The Grinch Laughed in his throat. And he made a quick Santy Claus hat and a coat. And he chuckled, and clucked, “What a great Grinchy trick! “With this coat and this hat, I’ll look just like Saint Nick!” He slid down the chimney. A rather tight pinch. But if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch. He slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant, Around the whole room, and he took every present! And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly, Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimney! Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Whos’ feast! He took the Who-pudding! He took the roast beast! He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash. Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who-hash! Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee. “And NOW!” grinned the Grinch, “I will stuff up the tree!”
Monday What if Christmas just stopped? No excessive shopping to do. No cards to write. No overexcited children. No more waiting in long lines at the mall. No decorations to buy, hang and pack back up. No three months of Christmas songs on the radio. No large January debt you have to find a way to pay off. No more worry about who you forgot to get a gift for. No stressful events to plan. No January diet to fear. No tense family obligations. No worry. No dread. No anxiety. No stress. Of course, I am playing on more negative Christmas experiences and the reality is that not everyone experiences all of these. Yet most all of us, if we are honest with ourselves, experience at least a few of these and would feel some relief if we did not have to experience them every year. So, what if Christmas did stop? Or, what if all the Christmas trimmings were stripped away just as the Grinch did in his story? What trimmings would the Grinch strip away today to try to end Christmas? No doubt he would remove all our gifts, food, decorations, trinkets and treats. But what else would he remove to stop Christmas? Perhaps he would take away our songbooks, candles, cards, radio stations, malls and nativity scenes. And our calendars, advertisements, TV specials,
Reflection seasonal recipes and parade floats. In fact, he would probably try to remove the entire month of December just to make sure there was no Christmas! Let us imagine for a moment if all this Christmas extraction actually happened. With what would we be left? How would this change Christmas (most likely the Grinch found a way to actually remove the word Christmas from our vocabulary, but just try to answer the question anyway)? How would the Christmas extraction change you? I think that the extraction of Christmas is a difficult scenario to imagine and that the questions we are asking are even more difficult to answer. Yet I invite you to mull it over in your mind this week. My own hope is that there is something of Christmas left. However, my fear is that our modern Christmas practices and habits have brought us to a place where the Grinch’s extraction would leave us in a state of amnesia. So, consider with me this week the effect our Christmas trimmings have on us. Do those trimmings invite or detract from joy? Do they habituate us as faithful Christ-followers?
Tuesday
Get Grinchy
The Grinch hated Christmas. He went to great lengths to take away all of the Christmas trimmings from the Whos to stop their celebration of Christmas. Remember all the trimmings he took away?
Pop guns! And bicycles! Roller skates! Drums! Checkerboards! Tricycles! Popcorn! And plums!
He took the Whos’ feast! He took the Who-pudding! He took the roast beast!
Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who-hash!
Now, these were all things that just annoyed the Grinch. They were the things about Christmas that stressed him out, gave him headaches and made him just plain tired and worn out. Are there some Christmas trimmings or traditions that have a similar effect on you? Let’s take some time today to be “grinchy.” What are the things that you truly would like to remove from Christmas? The tacky decorations of a neighbor? The “over-the-top” Christmas sweater your Aunt wears? Maybe a particular Christmas song that you just cannot stand to hear one more time? Could it be the Christmas pageant that just feels more stressful than it is worth? What about those relatives that make you cringe? Or a stuffy office Christmas party? The lines at the mall? I know, you would like to see the elves go because they just really creep you out! Be honest! Be creative! Have fun talking it over with a spouse or friend. Now the Grinch did not just stop at a few things. He extracted everything he could find from Christmas. What are those Christmas trimmings that may not annoy you or cause you stress, but the Grinch would nonetheless take them away? We imagined a few things in the reflection yesterday. What else would the Grinch extract? Here are some ideas:
Mistletoe Mall Santa Claus Caroling
Fruitcake Snow Christmas Eve
Candy Canes Apple Cider Angel Trees
Perhaps the Grinch would even use some new sci-fi technologies to zap away our Christmas memories (good and bad alike) just so there was nothing at all left of Christmas. What else would the Grinch take away? I am willing to bet the children around you have some great answers to that question! Again, be creative and have fun with this activity!
Wednesday
Coloring Activity
Spend some time today with family or friends coloring a picture. Talk about what it would be like if the Grinch really came to stop Christmas.
Thursday
Discussion
Take some time to sit down and talk with those around who you consider family. Reflect upon the materialism and consumerism of Christmas. Here are some questions to get you started.
Discussion Starters for Children: • If you have a Christmas Wish List tradition, what things are on it this Christmas? Why did you choose those items? Which items are “needs” and which are “wants”? Explain. • What do your possessions say about you? How would your life—or status—change if you suddenly lost them all?
Discussion Starters for Parents: • When you consider your Christmas traditions, what do you want to pass on to your children? • If your children were to define Christmas based upon your Christmas traditions, what would they say or write?
Questions for Adults: • How much do your Christmas traditions reflect and conform to those prevalent in our consumer society? • How does materialism affect your celebration of Christmas?
Discussion Starters for Us All: • Choose one Christmas carol or hymn that is meaningful to you and/or your family. Sing it together. Why do you love this song? What does it say about Christmas? Why is it meaningful to you? • How can your family have a meaningful “nonmaterialistic” Christmas?
Friday
Prayer
Dear God, Deliver me from the phony Christmas, the one that reaches its materialistic tentacles out to capture me and rob me of the real thing. Deliver me from the mania and madness of harried schedules, from frantic shopping...the acquiring of goods for people who don’t need them, don’t want them, won’t wear them and can’t use them. Save me from the folly of mood changes brought on by holly, mistletoe, wreathes, boughs and eggnog. For once, O Lord, clear my ears of the ringing of the cash register and in their place let me hear the angel’s song. For once let me fill my soul with the reading of the Christ-child, the wisemen, the angels, and the star instead of feeding my body on fruit cake and caloried candies and cakes. O God, don’t let me fall prey again to all the trappings of the season to the point that I miss the real event. Lord, deliver me from over fondness of food, a yen to party, the urge to spend with the plastic cards, and the temptation to overdo it in every department. And Lord, in the giving and exchanging of myriads of gifts, let me not forget to give a worthy gift to Him whose birthday it really is. Amen
Dr. Bob Moorehead former pastor of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church
Saturday
Challenges
Practice some “grinchy” Christmas extraction this year. Consider two or three traditions that you can give up to make Christmas less materialistic. Replace those traditions with more faith-centered ones. Be sure that these are traditions or rituals, not tasks on your “to do” list as in last Saturday’s challenge. Perhaps you can give up an annual family Christmas shopping trip and make homeade gifts instead. Or you could choose not to give material gifts and instead choose to give your time to charities, ministries or service organizations. You could even give up Santa Claus this year in order to focus more clearly on the birth of the Christ child. Journal your experience of giving up these traditions.
• Did you miss the tradition?
• How did you feel about giving the tradition up?
• Did you find yourself avoiding certain people, places or things?
• What did you learn by giving up the tradition?
• Was the tradition as important as you thought it was? Why or why not?
• DId giving up the tradition free up some time?
• Did it result in less stress?
• Did you see or sense something about Christmas that you had not before?
The GrincH
Part 3
He turned around fast, and he saw a small Who! Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was not more than two. She stared at the Grinch and said, “Santy Claus, why, “Why are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?” “Why, my sweet little tot,” the fake Santy Claus lied, “There’s a light on this tree that won’t light on one side. “So I’m taking it home to my workshop, my dear. “I’ll fix it up there. Then I’ll bring it back here.” And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head And he got her a drink and he sent he to bed. It was quarter past dawn, all the Whos, still a-bed All the Whos, still a-snooze when he packed up his sled,
W e e k 3
Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings! The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings! Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mount Crumpit, He rode to the tiptop to dump it!
Monday I have always been a bit confused by the Grinch’s elaborate lie to little Cindy Lou Who. In my imagination, the Grinch plays the part a little too well. The fact that he was so smooth with his lie suggests that he was thoroughly formed by the trappings of Christmas as much as, if not more than, the child. The Grinch’s belief that removing the trimmings would stop Christmas illustrates the extent to which he bought into the materialism of Christmas. Through his observation of the Whos, down in Who-ville, the Grinch understands only the lie of Christmas told by the material things he sees. His experience begs the question: How do the trappings of Christmas lie to us as we observe and celebrate Christmas? We know from the end of the story that the Whos represent those whose Christmas joy has not been obscured by materialism and consumerism. Their celebration continues in spite of the Grinch’s efforts to stop Christmas. For most of my life I have identified primarily with the Whos. I suspect that I learned this identification from the people and societal practices around me. And I imagine that this is true for most of us. We read the story of the Grinch in such a way that it reinforces our own perceived virtue. It reminds us
Reflection that despite the trappings around us, we, like the Whos, are not fooled by them. It is through our true understanding of Christmas that we help change the Grinches around us. We all want to see ourselves this way and I imagine that desire directs us away from a more selfcritical analysis of the story. If we allow the story to reflect our practices and habits back to us as a mirror, I believe a different picture emerges. The Whos do not represent the virtue within us. Rather, they represent the virtue to which we aspire. The Grinch, then, becomes the character with which we most identify. This reading allows us to look deeply into ourselves to discover the ways that our Christmas traditions deceive us. How might the anxiety, dread and fatigue produced by our material and consumer Christmastime traditions contribute to a spiritual amnesia? Might we, like the Grinch, need to extract the Christmas trappings around us from our vision in order to grow our understanding of the true joy of Christmas? In the end, a story like the Grinch can serve to underwrite our perceived virtue or it can challenge us to live more faithfully. If we truly desire to follow the life and teachings of the One we seek to celebrate at Christmas, then the latter will guide our Christmas reflection.
Tuesday
Creche
A nativity scene, or crèche is a depiction of the birth of the Christ Child as described in Matthew and Luke. Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 (a “living” one) intending thereby to cultivate the worship of Christ, having been inspired by his recent visit to the Holy Land where he had been shown Jesus’s traditional birthplace. The scene’s popularity inspired communities throughout Christendom to stage similar pantomimes; eventually, the nativity scene became an archetype in Western culture, inspiring an infinite number of works of high and popular art. from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_scene
Create your own two or three dimensional nativity scene. Read the stories of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke and recreate the scene utilizing any number of artforms: sculpture, collage, drawing, or painting. Place your Nativity scene in a prominent place in your house - perhaps in place of some other more secular Christmas scene.
Wednesday
Instructions: Uncover Christmas Joy by finding the hidden pictures below. Baby Jesus
Sheep
Mary & Joseph
Wise Men
Shepherd
Thursday
Prayer
With family or friends, listen to the song “Everything Santa Knows� by Kyle Matthews at:
http://hyaets.org/adventguide2011extras.html
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you will work for justice, equality and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy. And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.
Author Unknown
Friday
Discussion
There are many stories at Christmas time. There is the story of the Grinch we have been reading. There is A Christmas Carol, The Night Before Christmas, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, It’s A Wonderful Life, Miracle of 34th Street and the list could go on and on. What is your favorite Christmas story? There are at least three different Christmas stories in the gospels:
1) Matthew 1:18 - 2:12 2) Luke 1:26-56; Luke 2:1-20 3) John 1:1-5
Take some time alone or with family to read each of these three Christmas stories. Then discuss the questions below together. Involve the children. You never know what insight they will have! What Christmas story do you like best? Which have you most often heard? With which character do you most identify? Why? What might your answers to these question mean about yourself and the world around you?
Saturday
Challenges
Spread Joy! Take time with friends and family (especially children!) to: •
Write encouraging words on the street and sidewalks with sidewalk chalk
•
Leave messages of encouragement on community bulletin boards
•
Write encouragement notes to others, especially strangers
Make it your mission to spread joy to others today!
Week 4 The GrincH
Part 4
“Pooh-pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming. “They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming! He stared down at Who-ville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise! Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, Was singing! Without any presents at all! He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same! Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. “Maybe Christmas...perhaps... means a little bit more!”
Monday I think we realize that the trappings of Christmas have much to do with our feelings and attitudes during Christmas. Whether Christmas trimmings create stress or glee within us, we are faced with the reality that they too often detract from the true joy of Christmas. We get lost in what we see around us and find ourselves in a state of spiritual amnesia. And when asked about the real “reason for the season” we perk up our heads long enough to hold a candle, sing “Silent Night” and respond, “Jesus is the reason” only to jump right back into the mounds of wrapping paper, Santa figurines, tree lights and credit card bills. Sure, there are those that would offer an explication of the importance of celebrating the birth of Christ in light of the salvation offered through his death and resurrection. But Easter has not yet come in our faith story which begins each year with Advent. Christmas joy is not based on Easter resurrection. Surely there is joy in the incarnation of God that is not prefaced with death. It seems to me that the church today has an unhealthy obsession with death and resurrection. I do not mean to imply that salvation through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ is not healthy. Rather, I am suggesting that we have forgotten the saving joy of incarnation. And our
Reflection Christmas habits, practices and trimmings have contributed significantly to this amnesia. Let’s take a few minutes to jog our memory: Birth is a joyful occasion. It signifies the creation of something new from something old. It is the Godgiven practice through which we enact the primal command to “be fruitful and multiply”. And, as each of us is made in the image of God, it is the way that God continues to be imaged in God’s ongoing creation. Each birth marks the continuity not only of the human species, but also the ongoing presence and work of God in the world created by God. As we are the hands and feet of God, our lives embody God’s ongoing work to cultivate, develop and sustain creation. The incarnation of God through Jesus is the clearest revelation of God’s intention for humanity. Yes, Jesus comes to save us from death. But first, Jesus comes to show us how to live. Christmas is the celebration of His coming! Many Christians today assert the primacy of salvation through belief for the purpose of attaining eternal life. Yet too often this foundation fails to understand the joy of the incarnation through which God came to be with us to show us how to live. In today’s world, such
an attain-ment theology can only create a people obsessed not with this world, but with the next. The primary task of these people is to consume what is needed in order to attain life in the next world. Our current practice of Christmas is symbolic of this reality as it is more about happy consumption than joyful incarnation. We must learn that worrying about life after death is not our primary task as children of God. Rather, we are created to be God’s image in the world God created. Our example is Jesus. He shows us through His life and teachings how to live in the image of God. The Grinch hated Christmas because he did not understand how to live. All he saw around him was the Whos’ consumption. Yet when material things were stripped from the Whos, the Grinch was able to see their joyful living. Within the Grinch, joy was begotten. The Grinch, not the Whos, did the work of stripping away. In the end, perhaps it was the Grinch’s work which changed the Whos. By stripping away the trimmings of Christmas, the Grinch invited the Whos to show forth their true joy. Perhaps you and I need the same work in our lives. The story of the Grinch is incredibly ironic. The Grinch’s actions precipitated the Whos’ faithful response. This, in turn, invited the Grinch to see something about Christmas he
had not previously seen. And, as we know, the Grinch accepted that invitation! Will you be willing to give and receive such invitations this Christmas or will you work to safeguard your traditions and trimmings? What needs to change about your current Christmas practices in order to bring about more Grinch-like experiences within yourself and those around you? What practices (like the “WhoChristmas-Sing”) might better illustrate joyful incarnation in your life? Honest and thoughtful answers to these questions could help create a people who better incarnate the Way of life taught by Jesus, the Christ. A Way marked not by consuming a past tense salvation (I am saved). Rather, a way marked by living the present and ongoing salvation (I am being saved) of the incarnation. Such a shift in our understanding and practice could radically change us. We might just become the joy-filled followers for which Jesus was begotten.
Tuesday
Family Albums
Gather with family or friends and pull out all your family albums with baby pictures. Share those pictures with one another. Let the children around you see pictures of themselves as babies. Show them pictures of other family and friends as babies,too. •
Can the children recognize themselves?
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Can they recognize you and your friends or other family members?
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Can the adults around recognize pictures of one another as babies?
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What has changed about each of you from your baby pictures?
Perhaps you can make a game out of this activity. See who can recognize the most baby pictures! •
What are your earliest memories as a baby or child?
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Share those with one another, especially the children around you!
We all started as babies, just like Jesus. We are all made in the image of God. We are all God’s children. •
Why is the birth of a baby such a joyous occasion?
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What is so joyful about birth?
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What do your answers to these questions suggest to you about the joy of Christmas, Christ’s birth?
Wednesday
Hospitality
Part of the joy of the Christmas gift, is that Jesus came to us in the form of a baby! The birth of a baby is a joyful time. Let’s celebrate birth. Let’s share hospitality to the newest members of God’s creation. 1. Think of someone in your family, church, or neighborhood that has recently had a baby or soon to give birth. Help them celebrate! 2. Make a homemade gift or picture for the family to share with them how excited you are over the birth of a new baby. 3. Write a poem or story for the baby. Have it framed or send it as a letter to the new baby. 4. Send a card to welcome the baby and let the family know how excited you are. 5. Go visit the new baby. Spend time with the baby and family. Experience the joy of holding the tiny baby. Ask the family what joy they have experienced since the birth of the child. 6. Visit a local hospital maternity ward and go to the nursery. As you see the babies through the window, say a prayer for each child.
Thursday
A Poem
What in tarnation is incarnation? Why, incarnation is Likewise, the justification John’s gospel provides education for our Christmas celebration that Jesus gave illumination when we make accommodation to a world in need of rehabilitation, to vacation that He was God’s personification, across the nation and that for the world’s darkness, to be with our relations. there would be expiration. Incarnation is God’s annihilation of sin’s domination; It’s God’s cancellation of our condemnation. Incarnation is the manifestation of our liberation from eternal damnation. It’s our anticipation of everlasting salvation!
So, from far away nations to the Appalachians, let there be joy and jubilation! And right here, may the incarnation bring transformation to our congregation; that because of our relation to the King of all creation, we may conquer sin and temptation and kneel in adoration to worship He who is our foundation.
And in this salvation So in joyful elation, there is no segregation; let us partake there is no discrimination. of this Christmas celebration; It matters not your denomination; the gift of incarnation just simply that we are in relation which is given for our salvation. to the one who is the foundation of creation. As told in Luke’s narration, He was born in the Israel nation to reveal God’s revelation, that salvation is for every generation who bows in prostration to the King of all nations.
by Jim Humphries, pastor, Christ UMC Charlotte, NC
Friday
Discussion
Merriam Webster dictionary defines joy:
1 : a feeling of great pleasure or happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being : GLADNESS 2 : something that gives joy <a joy to behold>
Do you agree with this definition? If not, what would you change? Read the following passages: 2 Chronicles 7.10 Nehemiah 8.10
Psalm 16.11 Isaiah 29.19
Matthew 2.10 Luke 1.14
In what way do you see joy in each passage? What does each passage teach you about joy? How does our faith define joy?
Saturday Challenges
Look beyond the trappings and trimmings of Christmas. Try to pay attention to the sacred time of the season. What faithful actions, rituals, practices, or habits can better help point your life towards the joy of the incarnation? Think back over all our reflections and activities over the past four weeks of Advent. Ask these questions from Tuesday’s reflection, again: •
What needs to change about our current Christmas practices in order to bring about more Grinch-like experiences within ourselves and those around us?
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What “Who-Christmas-Sing”-like practices might better illustrate joyful incarnation?
Make at least one commitment to change a personal or family practice that you think could help you and your family better illustrate joyful incarnation. Seek advice from the children around you!
Christmas Day And what happened then...? Well...in Who-ville they say That the Grinch’s small heart Grew three sizes that day! And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight, He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he...HE HIMSELF...! The Grinch carved the roast beast! Merry Christmas! Joy Begotten! We have journeyed through Advent with the Grinch, of all people! And at the end we find a changed Grinch. Has your heart, like the Grinch’s, grown in size this Advent? We hope and trust that careful reflection on our Christmas practices, all those trappings and trimmings, allows each of us to see clearer into the real meaning of Christmas and the ways that meaning is expressed, and too often forgotten, in our lives. Let us remember the joy that we celebrate on this day! Let our hearts grow three sizes this day! Let us shape our lives around those Christmas traditions that speak of the wondrous joy of the incarnation. And, as the famous Christmas hymn says, let that sounding joy repeat throughout all the earth! Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.