Tired of Christmas?

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 25, 2013

Christmas Day

Isaiah 52:7-10

Hebrews 1:1-4

Psalm 98

John 1:1-14

Tired of Christmas?

            Merry Christmas!

            Here in church we’ve just gotten started celebrating Christmas.

            We took Advent very seriously. During the four Sundays of Advent, here in church and maybe in our lives outside of church, we tried, with God’s help, to slow down at least a little. During Advent we tried, with God’s help, to be a little quieter than usual.

            During Advent, we prepared with John the Baptist, reflecting on the ways that our ways are not God’s ways – and repenting, aiming, with God’s help, to turn our lives around in a God-ward direction.

            During Advent, we prepared with Mary, the young girl who said “yes” to God and carried God into the world in the most intimate way imaginable.

            And during Advent we prepared with Joseph, the righteous man who from the start offers mercy to Mary and her unborn child and, in the end, is willing to risk something big for God.

            And then on Sunday, after our service, we finally moved into Christmas.

            It was a little chaotic in here, with parishioners putting up Christmas wreaths, flowers and decorations; the choir rehearsing; the acolytes being put through their paces; and the girls practicing their dance moves.

            It was crazy-busy on Sunday afternoon, but it all was done out of love and joy – it was all done so we could offer God – and so we could offer our community – our best thanksgiving for God’s greatest gift, Jesus.

            Merry Christmas!

            Here in church we’ve just started celebrating Christmas.

            But, of course, out in the world a lot of people seem to have been celebrating Christmas since, what, Halloween? Or maybe even earlier.

            By now, by Christmas morning, much of the world – including maybe some of us – may be just plain tired of Christmas – or just plain tired.

            One year when I was in my early twenties and unemployed, I took a job at Macy’s Herald Square during the so-called Christmas season.

            I spent about three months working in the store’s book department. It’s long gone now, but back then Macy’s actually had a pretty good book department.

            There were some things about the job that I liked.

            First of all, I needed the money. So that was good.

            And I loved working around books.

            And I loved being in the middle of the city at that time of year.

            But, there were other things I didn’t love so much – and that convinced me that I never wanted to work retail again.

            Many of the customers – even in the book department – were stressed out by the holiday and willing, either consciously or unconsciously, to take out their stress on the help.

            It was also physically exhausting work.

            I was young then but I remember being so tired – and my feet were so sore – by the time I got home.

            And, finally, after a while, I just got tired of Christmas.

            Of course, Christmas music was piped throughout the store. But the book department was right across the hall from “Santa Land” so there was also other Christmas music, along with the screams of hundreds of excited and impatient children, echoing across the hall, and into our department – making for a cacophony of holiday “cheer.”

            Tired of Christmas.

            Of course, it’s not just people working retail who get tired of Christmas.

            I think of parents, who on top of all that they do day in and day out, work so hard to provide a beautiful holiday for their children.

            I remember my own parents on Christmas morning when I was a kid.

            My sister and I (though more me than her, to be perfectly honest) would usually get up very, very early on Christmas morning – more like sometime during Christmas night – because we just couldn’t wait another minute to open our gifts under the Christmas tree.

            My parents would without fail join us and share in our excitement and joy.

            I never gave it a thought at the time, but they probably could have used at least a little more sleep.

            Maybe some of you’ve had a similar experience.

            So, after months of what the world calls the Christmas season and these busy, busy, last few days, it’s perfectly understandable if we’re feeling just a little tired of Christmas.

            And, whether we’re bursting with excitement and joy or just plain tired or even maybe depressed by the holiday cheer that we’re not feeling, this Christmas morning we’ve all come to the right place.

            Last night, we heard the story of Jesus’ birth as told by the evangelist Luke. It’s a very earthy story of the heavily pregnant Mary and her fiancée the good man Joseph making their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem where she gives birth to her son and places him into an animal’s feeding trough, the best she and Joseph could do for the Son of God.

            It’s a glorious story of angels appearing to shepherds, proclaiming the most amazing – the best – news of all time: the Messiah, the Savior, the Lord is born nearby. Naturally, the shepherds go to check this out for themselves. And discover that it’s all true.

            But today, we heard a very different Nativity story – the story of Jesus’ birth as told by the evangelist John.

            John pulls way back – way back from Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and the angels.

            Using some of the most powerful and beautiful language of all time, John gives us the really wide view – the cosmic view - of Jesus’ birth.

            “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

            The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not – does not – overcome it.

            We weren’t in Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph and the angels and the shepherds.

            But, this morning, we celebrate the most amazing – the best – news of all time.

            In and through Jesus, the light of God has entered the world.

            In and through Jesus, including right here in Jersey City, right here at St. Paul’s, the light of God continues to enter the world.

            And the darkness of the world – the darkness of our tiredness, the darkness of our burdens, the darkness of whatever makes us sad, the darkness of poverty and homelessness - the darkness of this violent and broken world has not and can never overcome the light of Christ.

            Just look around.

            So, whether you’re tired or bursting with excitement, merry, merry Christmas to all of you – Merry Christmas to us all.

            Amen.