Christmas Eve Sermon - 12/24/2010

Well, we made it. It is Christmas Eve and nearly all of the preparations are done for Christmas. As a church those preparations involved the advent conspiracy bible study. Through it and our time together we learned that Christmas can still change the world so long as we don’t let ourselves get caught too much into the Christmas Preparations and gift buying to forget that Christmas is a time of worship. It is a time to remember the gift that God gave through the birth of His son, Jesus Christ. As a church we talked about what it would mean if we worshipped fully, spent less, gave more, and loved all. It was a challenge to all of us to slow down and really think about all that we do at Christmas time and figure out if it adds to our relationships, if it adds to our worship, and if changes the lives of those around us. And yet, even though we talked about slowing down and celebrating Christmas in a new way, it is still hard to do that all the time. I am going to share a story with you this evening, it is the story of My Perfect Christmas tree, or at least that’s what I thought it was going to be.


This year I got into the Christmas spirit early and I couldn’t wait to get a tree. My wife, Rebecca, and I went out to a couple of tree farms but never picked out a tree so it was already about a week after I really wanted to get a tree and I was getting antsy in anticipation. Then one afternoon we went out to a farm walked through the fields and found our tree. The attendant cut it down, tied it up, and tied it to our roof and we were on our way home.
I had read online that the best way to keep a tree fresh is to soak it in a bucket of water for a few days so, naturally the waiting continued and I really wanted to bring this tree into the house. I was patient however, and waited. Finally we brought it in and then we didn’t have time to decorate it for a few days, so again I was waiting for the time when that perfect tree would be decorated in our living room with lights and ornaments.


A few days later, we invited my mom and my sister over to help decorate the tree. It was our first afternoon free and I couldn’t wait to get it up and I thought it would be a good time.


Now you may be wondering what this has to do with Christmas but I ask you to indulge me a few moments to set the scene. I love model trains. I have always wanted a model train around the base of my tree, but I knew it was an impossibility with a 75-pound puppy that likes to eat everything and a cat that likes to bat at everything that moves. Then one day, as I was walking through the store, I found it. The train that would solve my problems and it would look perfect. It was a train that went around the upper part of the tree. A clamp wrapped around the trunk and struts came out to support the track. It was perfect. This perfect train solved the problem of my less than perfect cats and it would go around my perfect tree and everything would look perfect, I couldn’t wait.


And then things started to go wrong. As I was reading the directions I saw that the clamp needed a four-inch space without smaller branches on the trunk. So naturally, my first inclination was to remove a few small branches. So a snip here, a snip there, then I had my space to put the clamp. I didn’t even look at the tree and I began to put up that perfect train and got all the parts together. I put the train on the track and pressed the button and it didn’t work. I replaced the batteries, put the train on the track and pressed the button and it started to make noise. The bells were ringing, the conductor was yelling, “All aboard” and yet the train never began to move. So my perfect train, which was kind of harder to put up didn’t work. In the mean time I never really stepped back to look at the tree now that it had lights and the train on it. Rebecca came into the room and suggested I step back and take a look. And when I did, my heart sank. It turns out the little branches I trimmed were kind of important to the ascetics of the tree. Just above the train track there was a balk spot that wrapped ¾ of the around the tree. There was just a small strip down the back that hadn’t been touched. If my heart could go any lower than it had before it would have. I took my perfect tree and my perfect train and turned it into a broken train and a scalped tree. And while all this was going on, I burned dinner. In my mind the evening was ruined, my mom and Rebecca tried to console me and say it would be ok, but I wouldn’t hear of it. My perfect tree was ruined.


It wasn’t until a few days later when I tried to “fix” my tree that my attitude started to turn around. After a few dowel rods, some fishing line, and a few extra branches that I really did have to remove around the bottom of the tree, it looked fairly normal. My only prayer was that it would last until after Christmas without burning the house down. After all, nothing gets the board of trustees on your side like a fire in the parsonage. Finally, after about a week, I came to my senses and realized how my behavior ruined that evening more than the tree. I was caught up looking for the perfect Christmas tree, the perfect train, and the perfect evening and nothing went like was planned and I let it get to me. Now I am sure that I am not the only one who has had this same problem. We get caught up in the act of trying to create the perfect Christmas that we lose track of what is really important. And the surprising thing is that the story of the first Christmas tells us that things don’t always go as planned.


Mary and Joseph were betrothed, I am sure they planned out their perfect life. Then all of a sudden an angel appears to marry and then to Joseph and says “behold you shall bear a son and you shall name him Jesus.” Can you imagine the shock to the system? They had everything planned out and then the unexpected happened.
When they got used to the idea that Mary would bear the Son of God, they probably started to plan the perfect birth in their home with family and friends near by. That too was not meant to be. Rome decrees a census to be taken and the family needs to return to Bethlehem. Here is Mary, very pregnant and she and her husband need to travel 4 days to get to where they needed to go.


While on this journey they may have imagined finding a room where they could get comfortable. They might be able to clean it up a little and Mary would have this newborn child indoors. Here again, our story tells us that that too was not meant to be. When they arrived in Bethlehem, they could not find a room. Either there were no rooms present or they didn’t have the money to get any of the rooms that were left. Their new expectation of a perfect birth in a room at the inn was dashed because they could not find one. Instead they are directed to a stable and a manger where there are animals, some unpleasant odors, probably some noise, and some probably frightened animals. And this is were this unexpected child who should have been born at home but needed to leave, who should have been born in a room in the inn but could not find one, is born in a stable and it works out in the end anyway. It works out for the salvation of all and this good news is shared to all, starting with the shepherds, who even they may have thought they would have a perfectly quiet night watching their flock.


You see, the Christmas story is full of unexpected events, dashed imaginations of perfection, and probably a little let down as each new problem arose, and yet it lead Mary and Joseph to where they needed to be for the Savior to be born as God intended it. Everything worked out.


Over the next couple days, I can guarantee that something will not turn out quite right. Pies will be burnt, toys will not work, and guests may not be able to show up. You dreams of the perfect Christmas will probably be dashed at some point along the way. If you have gotten caught up in the preparation of Christmas and not the celebration of Christmas, you may be devastated, but when you are caught up in the celebration of the even that changed the world forever, you will be like Mary and Joseph, take it in stride and look toward the beautiful baby that lay in a manger. Who came in an unexpected way that went against the vision of perfection of those around him? Celebrate the birth of Christ this day and when things don’t go as expected, do not fret, but look toward the king and celebrate because not everything goes according to our plans.

Amen.