A CHRISTMAS PRESENCE (COLOSSIANS 1: 10-20)  

12/ 24/ 2000  Worship service            
          
An elementary student desperately wanted a bicycle.  Watching all his friends riding around on their bicycles exacerbated his desire to have one of his own.  The boy's family were Catholics, and the boy's mother suggested that he pray and convey his wish to the Virgin Mary.  Before he went to bed that night, the boy wrote his prayer on a piece of paper, which read "Mary, mother of God, could you see to it that I get a bicycle?  

All my friends have one.  Amen."  The next night, he wrote his prayer on another sheet of paper and placed it next to a statue of Mary in his room before he went to bed.  The next morning, he still did not get his bicycle; not the one to be discouraged, however, the boy would repeat his ritual every night for the duration of the week.  However, the bicycle never materialized.  Greatly irked that his efforts did not pay off, the boy decided to resort to the last-ditch effort.  He took the statue of Mary, next to which he placed all his prayer sheets, wrapped it up with a towel, and hid the statue in the bowels of his closet.  Before he went to bed that night, the boy offered up his final prayer:  "Jesus, if you want to see your mother again, I better get that bike!" 

 Today is Christmas Eve.  Tomorrow is the day that we have been waiting in the midst of great hope:  Christmas.  The most peculiar characteristic about modern day Christmas is that it has been excessively, and exorbitantly, commercialized.  The period when department stores in the US record most sales, throughout the course of a year, is Christmas season.  Eleven years ago, in 1989, Americans used 28,497,464 rolls of wrapping paper, sent 372,430,684 Christmas cards, and decorated 35,200,000 trees during Christmas season.  Today, it is probably safe to assume that those numbers would be doubled.  Countless items from children's toys to automobiles are being sold as Christmas presents.  Should Christmas disappear from our calendars, there would be a severe impact on not only the US economy but global economy as well.   

 The blame for this over-commercialization of Christmas, however, should not be levied against the producers and the retailers; rather, the responsibility falls squarely on our own shoulders.  Unbeknownst to us, our hearts and minds became commercialized, and the real principal of Christmas, Jesus Christ, was placed on the back burner, in the back of our minds.  In New York, a man named Bill McKibben and members of a small, country-side county's United Methodist Church gathers each year and kicks off the annual "One Hundred Dollar Movement" before each Christmas season.  

This campaign advocates expenditures of less than one hundred dollars on Christmas presents, per household, to save money.  When asked why he started such a campaign, McKibben answered, "It wasn't because we wanted a simpler Christmas.  But it was because we wanted a more joyous Christmas.  We were feeling cheated--as if the season didn't bring with it the happiness we wanted.  We were Christians, and we felt that the story of birth of this small baby who would become our Savior, a story that should be full of giddy joy, could hardly break through to our hearts amid all the rush and fuss of the season."  That is right.  Just as McKibben stated, we must start our own campaign to bring the focus of Christmas back onto Jesus Christ.  

 About 2,000 years ago, the conditions surrounding the first Christmas was similar to today's ambience.  With the exception of the few who were destitute and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Messiah, majority of the people had little interest in the birth of baby Jesus.  

Fishermen cast their nets, merchants sold their goods, housewives did their chores, carpenters were busy nailing, scholars were focusing on their studies, and inn keepers were busy greeting their customers.  These people did not feel the Christmas Presence; they were busy conducting their day-to-day chores and duties.  In the midst of such conditions, baby Jesus came to us, to be amongst us.  Shepherds and the wise men, who studied the stars, or astrology, felt and saw the Christmas Presence.  In welcoming this Christmas, we must be able to feel and sense this Christmas Presence.  Then what meaning does this Christmas Presence, the perception that baby Jesus is next to us, behold?

          First, when we feel the Christmas Presence, all fears subside.  In Psalm 34, verse 7, it is stated, "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him."  In the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, Daniel falls out of favor with Babylonian government officials and is thrown into the lion's den; however, with God's protection, he comes out unscathed, with nary a scratch on his body.  Each Christmas, thousand angels give us messages of happiness and free us from all fears.  Those who sense the Christmas Presence will overcome all present and future fears in their lives.

          Second, those who feel the Christmas Presence experience the guiding hand of God.  We discover that God, Who knows where we're headed, guides us to the most secure and blessed path.  In book of Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 6, the Bible states "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."  

Peter Marshall was a man who served as a chaplain for US Senate.  One day, while in Scotland, Peter was returning home, crossing a field, in the middle of a pitch black night.  All of a sudden, Peter heard someone call out his name out of nowhere.  Greatly surprised, Peter tripped and fell down.  When he stood up, Peter realized that there was a deep hole in the ground in front of him.  Had he not fell down, he would have fallen into this bottomless pit, perhaps even losing his life.  Because someone called out his name, he was able to avoid this great danger.  Peter was confident that the person who called out his name, and hence steered him clear of this danger, was God.  The name of Jesus is "Emmanuel," which means "God is with us."  Lord Emmanuel always is with those who feel the Christmas Presence, and guides them to the safe and blessed path.  

          Third, those who feel the Christmas Presence will not be lonely.  Loneliness is the most formidable ailment that afflict people of this modern day.  Those who seem successful and glamorous on the surface suffer from deeper degrees of loneliness.  God will chase loneliness away from those who live with baby Jesus, the King of Peace, in spirit.  Rekindle the peaceful image of the birth of baby Jesus in your minds.  There is only tranquility, peace, happiness, and love.  As it is stated in Luke 2, verse 14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!" will spread throughout all four corners of the earth.  

          Fourth, those who feel the Christmas Presence truly respect and praise baby Jesus.  Worship service is not offered to make us pious or wiser.  When we gather around the altar to offer services, the pastor and the choir are not the principals of the service; nor are the members of the congregation the audience of the service.  The pastor is a prompter, who reads the script to the gathered congregation, and the members of the congregations are performers.  God is the audience of our worship services.  Worship service is our performance that is designed to impress and please God.  

The first thing that the wise men, who had been studying the stars in faraway Persia, did after traveling the great distance to witness the birth of baby Jesus was to kneel and bow to baby Jesus, to show the utmost respect.  And they prepared the most precious gifts to offer to baby Jesus.  Those who sense the Christmas Presence sanctify the worship services offered to God.  Let's offer, with the purest and the most sacred of hearts, the respect and praise to God our Father.

 Colossians 1, verses 10 through 20, summarizes clearly, in a theological aspect, who Jesus Christ is.  Jesus Christ, as stated in Colossians, is a crucial part of the Holy Trinity, who created all things that are in heaven and on the earth, who delivers us from the power of darkness and leads us to the light and salvation.  Through the blood of His cross and resurrection, Jesus will help reconcile all things between us and God.  

That Jesus came to us on Christmas.  However, He come to us not only on the annually celebrated and boisterous December 25; He comes to us on each one of 365 days out of the year, 24 hours a day.  Christmas must continue, 365 days out of every year, in our hearts.  I pray, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the deep blessing and grace of the Christmas Presence overflow within each and every one of us.  Amen.