"A Christmas Lifestyle"

Luke 2:41-52

Someone I was talking to a few days ago was remarking about how fast Christmas passes - all that preparation, and then one day, and it's gone. Of course, I reminded them that, as Lutherans, we do celebrate twelve days of Christmas - it isn't over until Epiphany, on January 6. When we were living in the South you certainly didn't get that sense. The trees go up on Thanksgiving, and come down the day after Christmas, so that everyone can get ready for New Year's. Even in the north, they stop playing Christmas music the day after Christmas, and the Christmas decorations go down to make ready for the white sales.

I always liked the twelve days of Christmas. Growing up in a pastor’s home, Christmas really was a twelve-day celebration. The days after Christmas were a time when we went out to visit family - oftentimes people that we only saw around that time of the year. It was a time to renew acquaintances, to draw the strings of family ties a little closer. The culmination of this was always on New Year's Eve, when most of my dad's family would get together at my Uncle Geardy and Aunt Laura's house and eat things like pig knuckles, pickled pigs feet, pickled herring and blind robin, do a lot of laughing and arguing, and finally bring in the New Year together. I miss those times, and that gathering of the extended family. For me, that was as much of Christmas as Christmas morning.

In the lesson today, we have the story of Jesus in the temple. But it's just as much a story of family, and of an extended Christmas celebration. We aren't told much about Jesus' growing up years - only this story, here in Luke's Gospel, no doubt as remembered by his mother, Mary. A couple of other stories are found in other writings that didn't make it into the Bible, stories that have Jesus making sparrows out of dust and sending them off flying, or about him getting mad at someone and withering them - but here, we have a real story, about a real boy, who was already beginning to experience a sense of his calling. And it is also just as much about his mother remembering the incident, tucking it away with her store of memories, in some deep recess of her heart, until Luke one day asks her, "what was Jesus like as a child?" Then she remembers, "Yes - yes - I remember how it was. I remember when he was a boy ..." and then the memories flows. The gift of the child lingers on - past diapers, past toilet training, even into his youth and adolescence. The gift of Christmas continues - it's not left in the crib.

It is easy - too easy - for us to move on too quickly after Christmas. Even the Gospels seem to move on quickly - too quickly - from Christmas, into his years of ministry, and right into Lent. Jesus is left in the stable, while we put away our decorations and Christmas carols and, before we know it, suddenly it is Lent, and he is on the cross. Christmas gives away to the post-Christmas blues, to Christmas bills, and Income tax time, and all the problems of facing a New Year again.

But maybe we ought to pause a moment first. This is a special time for us as Christians. Now that our eyes are no longer blinded by colored lights and the glitter of ribbon and the delight of presents; now that our hearts are feeling a bit more empty, no longer puffed up with the hype of the season, in the quiet of a late December morning, we can think about Christmas a little more realistically. We can now, perhaps, away from all of the shopping and craziness of the season, with the shelves bare and the Christmas wrapping paper and ribbons waiting for the garbage collectors - perhaps now we can begin to think of Christmas in new terms - not as a day or a season, but as a lifestyle.

In human life, the birth of a baby is an occasion for great joy. But the joy doesn't stop with the birth - the celebration is life-long. And excitement over the baby doesn't decrease as the birth day moves further and further into the past. In fact, exactly the opposite is true. Each new development, each new learning is met with increasing glee. And the longer the baby is around, the closer you feel to it, and the more it is loved and cared for and fussed over. At least until they hit their teens! Parental pride for their children never subsides - it only grows more intense. Check the Christmas letters - you know it's true!

So what about this baby boy - God's baby? Jesus has come to us - he has been born in our midst. He is Emmanuel - God with us. He will never leave us; we can look forward to an eternal lifetime of growing with him and being loved by him. The happy days are just beginning for us. This child was born in a stable and laid in the manger. But he didn't stay there. And God doesn't want us to leave him there either. He wants us to lift him from his manger bed, and take him home with us. He intends for us to love this great gift, talk to him, learn from him and be comforted by him, and receive from him the peace that only he can give. That is why Christmas must be more than just a season of the year for us - it must become a way of life: a lifestyle of hope and joy that celebrates Jesus' birth and his continual rebirth in our life every day that we live.

Of course, troubles will come - they always do. But Christ has been born and he desires to make his home with you. Life may often look more like a can of worms than a bowl of cherries, but Jesus has been born in the stable and into our heart, and promises to begin his rule there. God's promise has entered your life, in the guise of this child; He will never leave you, nor will He forget His promises to you.

We live in a country that has only six percent of the world's population, but over half of the world's wealth. We live in a nation where there are such wonderful educational opportunities, job possibilities, where cars, boats and campers overflow garage space, where toys are a multibillion dollar industry. Yet, in the midst of all of that affluence and abundance - where there is so much - people live joyless lives. There is very little zest, little noticeable joy evident in the homes of our nation.

There is no excuse for joyless living. Certainly there is much cause for concern in our world. There is much that is not right. Many people in our own congregation face difficult problems - even life-threatening problems. Yet, even in the midst of that, we should be joyous. It's interesting, I find, that those who have the greatest problems are often the most joy-filled people. When you have decided that every day and every moment of love is a gift, then your day is filled to overflowing with joy. The celebration of Christmas is not over - in fact, it's just begun, and it can last a lifetime - and then some.

An anonymous poet once wrote:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost, to heal the broken,

To feed the hungry, to release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations, to bring peace among people,

To make music in the heart.

The joy we knew on Christmas is only a sample of what lies ahead. May you always live with the song of the angels in your heart. And may the presence of Christ become the focus of your life. Merry Christmas to all. Forever and ever. Amen.