1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 (New International Version) 18 But Samuel was ministering before the LORD -a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the LORD." Then they would go home.
Colossians 3:12-17 (New International Version) 12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I really like old movies. Especiall, the black and white ones from the ‘30’s and 40’s. Most every Christmas, and this year is no exception, I want to watch one of those movies by the name of The Bishop’s Wife. It first came out in 1947 and stars Loretta Young, David Niven, Cary Grant and Monty Wooly – just a bit of trivia for those of you who relate to this kind of thing or even know who these folks were.
The film is about an Episcopal bishop, his wife and an angel. It’s about how muddled life can become when we get off track. Specifically, the film is about this bishop named Henry who rose from a poor parish to become bishop, but somewhere along the way lost track of what’s important. He lost his compassion, his joy and his love for both the church and for his family. Henry became obsessed with the plans for a grand, new cathedral in the diocese, plans, which aren’t going that well as the movie begins.
The film opens with a stressed and frustrated Henry turning to God for guidance. You know the phrase – be careful what you pray for. Guidance, for Harry, came in the form of a good-natured, yet meddling angel played by Cary Grant. The angel does his work, and, as with most movies of this era, the ending is happy. Priorities are set straight, joy and compassion are restored and relationships are mended.
In the final scene, the bishop begins a Christmas Eve sermon at his former parish – a sermon penned by the angel:
“Tonight I want to tell you a story about an empty stocking. Once upon a midnight clear there was a child's cry. A blazing star hung over a stable and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven't forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees and the cry of bells and gifts - but especially with gifts. You give me a book. I give you a tie. Aunt Martha always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry could do with a new pipe. Oh, we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled. All that is, except one. We have even forgotten to hang it up, a stocking for the child born in a manger. It's his birthday we're celebrating. Don’t let us ever forget that. Let's ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then let each put in his or her share - loving kindness - warm hearts - and the stretched out hand of tolerance - all the shining gifts that make peace on earth”. (Excerpt from The Bishop's Wife Movie)
It is a good movie that encourages us to ask a good question. What would He, the child born in a manger, wish for most? What does Jesus want from us? This is a good question to ask and a good question just days before the wise men follow the star to present their gifts to this child. It’s a good question for us to ask ourselves as individuals, an essential question for us to ask ourselves as His church not just now, but at other times and often throughout the year.
What is it that Jesus would wish for most? The first part of the answer is the most important part of the answer. Jesus wants most for us to know that we are "God’s chosen, holy and beloved." Jesus wants most for us to know that we are God’s own and that God values and loves us. In essence, the first thing that Jesus wants most is to give us the gift of God’s love.
What a gift! The creator of the sun and the moon and all the stars, the creator of heaven and earth, loves us. We are God’s chosen, God’s holy and beloved. We need to be clear that being chosen, being holy and beloved in no way means that we are better than anyone else or that we’re more righteous than anyone else or that God’s love is reserved only for us. To put this in scriptural context, the first chapter of Colossians reminds us that in Christ "all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven . . . (Col. 1:19)."
As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, [we are to] clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. [We are to] bear with one another . . . forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven us, so you also we must forgive. Above all, [we are to] clothe ourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (3:12-14).
Nice words, wonderful ideals – compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness and love – a stocking for the Christ child filled with loving kindness, warm hearts, out-stretched hands. Yet, are these just the ideals for sentimental movies? You can imagine, of course, that my answer is "no." These are ideals, yes, yet they are the very real promises of the hope and joy that come because we have done what Jesus wants most – to accept God’s enormous, life changing love that was given to us through that baby in a manger. That love can and does change our lives so that we become the human beings that God wants us to be.
We don’t, however grow into the se wonderful ideals, these clothes of compassion, kindness, etc. overnight and we don’t do it by ourselves. Remember, the boy Samuel. Imagine, again, like I did with the children. Imagine those robes hanging side by side getting a little bigger each year. Just like Samuel, we don’t grow into the clothes Jesus wants us to wear overnight. And, like Samuel, we don’t do it on our own.
We don’t experience the life changing love God shows us in Christ on our own. We learn about this love together. We begin to believe it together. We mature into its meaning for our lives together. And, we call that togetherness the church. It is together that we learn, "[l] let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly." It is together that we "teach and admonish one another in [God’s] wisdom." It is together, "with gratitude in [our] hearts, that we "sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God" (Col 3:26). And, finally, it is only together that we have a prayer of being able "in word or deed, [to] do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
We can commit ourselves, together, as God’s holy and beloved, as Christ’s church and a nation, to staying on track. We can commit to asking ourselves “what would Jesus want most?”
An empty stocking to be filled with loving kindness, warm hearts, tolerance – a new life in Christ clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Will we be the same people, the same church, the same world when Christmas 2009 or the next or the next Christmas rolls by?
I think that Jesus wants the answer to be no and wants to hear the answer loud and clear in a thankful chorus from his chosen, his holy and beloved. Christ’s church and our nation can answer no – things won’t be the same because we commit to being the place where, above all else, the love of God unites our togetherness, where the love of Jesus dwells deeply in us and where the word of love is taught in everything, in all we say and do. God came as that little baby in the manager so that we, as God’s holy and beloved people, could lead the way showing the world that it can change, that it is possible to live from love and not fear. We can lead the way to becoming the human beings God wants most for us to be. We can lead the way when together we begin to take very seriously the fact that we are holy and beloved, that God values and loves us more than we can imagine, and when we begin to let that love dwell richly in us influencing everything we do.
All glory and thanks be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit now and forevermore I pray this day in Jesus’ name. Amen
