St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen and Church of the Incarnation, Jersey City NJ
December 25, 2015
Christmas Day
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-4
John 1:1-14
“P.S. Please Do Not Forget the Poor”
Merry
Christmas, everybody!
We
certainly had a spectacular Christmas Eve here at St. Paul’s.
The
children of St. Paul’s and Incarnation, under the leadership of Gail and with
the assistance of other adults did a beautiful job with the Christmas Pageant,
telling the story of our Lord’s birth in such a touching way.
And
then last night at 10 we had an over-the-top gorgeous “Midnight Mass” with
outstanding music lifting the spirits of everyone who was here in our sacred
space – which, by the way, I don’t think has ever looked better.
And
now it’s Christmas morning!
I
loved our celebrations last night, but, you know, there’s something just a
little extra special about being here this morning with our reduced numbers in
a simpler celebration.
Somehow,
at least for me, the relative simplicity and quiet of this morning makes it
easier to see the light of Christ shining in the darkness.
And,
let’s be honest, we all sorely need the light of Christ – the light of Christ
shining in the darkness.
The
Light of Christ that can never be overcome by the darkness.
We
sorely need the light of Christ because it has gotten so very dark in our
world, our country, our city, and in some of our lives.
Out
in the world, brutal violence and terrorism continues to flare up, forcing
refugees to flee from Africa and the Middle East, leaving just about everything
behind, desperately searching for refuge, for home, in places that are not always so welcoming to newcomers.
In
our own country, we have endured terrorist attacks by both homegrown and
foreign fanatics and there will surely be more where that came from.
In
our country, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, with the
rich growing ever wealthier and the poor losing hope and the middle class being
squeezed out of existence.
We
have homeless members here at St. Paul’s while so many other parishioners are
just barely hanging on.
And,
we are in the midst of a presidential election campaign that has already sunk
to previously unimaginable lows – and we have eleven more months to go…
Finally,
large parts of our city have been scarred by despair and violence – with little
or no economic activity besides booze and drugs - and we’ve suffered more
homicides this year than the last.
Yes,
it has gotten very dark in our world, our country, our city and in some of our
lives.
Yet,
the light of Christ shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not – will
not – cannot - overcome it.
And,
sure enough, when we allow ourselves some quiet – when we really look, we see the light of Christ shining so bright even in
the midst of such darkness.
I
saw the light of Christ shining in our beautiful kids and the adults who helped
them put on the pageant last night.
I
saw the light of Christ shining in our glove collection here at St. Paul’s –
242 pairs of gloves for those in need. And I saw the light of Christ as I
watched those gloves and many other items being distributed to our very poor
brothers and sisters at the homeless memorial service last week.
I
see the light of Christ shining in the way our beautiful congregations make room
at the table for absolutely
everybody, people people of faith and people who don't believe any of it - including especially the very poor and even the homeless – sharing
and receiving the light of Christ with each other.
And,
I even see the light of Christ shining from the past.
A
couple of days ago I received an early Christmas gift. It was a story in the
paper that really touched me.
Fifteen
years ago a man renovated the fireplace in his New York apartment. As part of
the renovation, the man’s brother opened up the fireplace and inside he found a
letter – a letter to Santa.
It
read, “I want a drum and a hook and ladder.”
The
letter was dated 1905 and signed by a boy named Alfred McGann.
Cute.
Amazing that a letter could survive that long in a fireplace. A nice piece of
history, right?
But
then they found something else, an envelope addressed to Santa in
“Raindeerland.”
And
inside the envelope was a letter to Santa from two years later – from 1907 - written by Mary McGann, Alfred’s
sister.
She
wrote, “Dear Santa Claus: I am very glad that you are coming around tonight. My
little brother would like you to bring him a wagon which I know you cannot
afford. I will ask you to bring him whatever you think best. Please bring me
something nice what you think best.”
Mary
signed her letter and then added, “P.S. Please do not forget the poor.”
The
man did some digging to find out information about Mary and Alfred. He
discovered that their father, Patrick had died in 1904. So, the children were
being raised by their mother, Esther, who was a dressmaker.
Which
means they themselves were poor. Probably very poor.
And,
yet, apparently Mary was aware of others less fortunate than she and her mother
and brother so she felt that need to add her little reminder to Santa:
“P.S.
Please do not forget the poor.”
Yes,
today it has gotten very dark in our world, our country, and our city.
And,
yet, the light of Christ shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not –
will not ever – cannot ever - overcome it.
We
see that light shining so brightly at St. Paul’s and Incarnation.
And
we see that light in a long-ago letter to Santa from a girl named Mary.
Merry
Christmas.
“P.S.
Please do not forget the poor.”
Amen.
Posts
