December 25 2016 Born Again- Beautiful

December 25 “Born Again – Beautiful”   *Isaiah 52.7-10, John 1.1-14 Pastor Jacqueline Hines

It’s Christmas Day. Throughout the season we have had high hopes and great expectations everywhere in our lives. We anticipated joy-filled gatherings, [slide # 1 excited crowd]  awe-inspiring music, [slide # 2 musicians in choir] [slide # 3 musicians with strings] and refreshing family reunions. [slide # 4 family dinner]

No doubt, we found plenty of bargains [slide # 5 shopping crowd] and surprises that touched our hearts, [slide # 6 children] and the day is not quite over. Famous films, royal feasts and special phone calls are no doubt waiting in the wings for us. Christmas is a beautiful time of year.

But, the joy of Christmas did not just happen when Jesus came on the scene. [slide # 7 Jesus in manger] The joy of Christmas happened because we received him as king. We created a culture that acknowledges his royal highness. [slide # 8 king Jesus] We accepted the gift that God gave because God so loved the world.

The prophet Isaiah captures the essence of Christmas in verse 7: [slide # 9 verse 7] How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’

The joy of Christmas comes whenever someone brings good news that makes for peace. Peace makes for a beautiful Christmas!

As word spread of the birth of our savior, Christmas celebrations gradually became more public and more meaningful. Now we celebrate Christmas around the whole world.

One historian suggests that Americans began to really celebrate Christmas in the 1800’s. It was originally described as a “raucous carnival holiday.”  There seemed to be a great deal of tension between the haves and the have nots. Unemployment was high and gangs were rioting. In 1828 the New York City police department was formed. That period of time brings to mind some of the New Orleans celebrations of Mardi gras. Some are known to be very rowdy and the negative influence of alcohol is found in abundance. 

In the 1800’s it took social media to turn things around in America. A best-selling author named Washington Irving [slide # 9 Irving photo] began to write a series of short stories that penetrated the consciousness of the middle class.  He is famous for writing "Rip Van Winkle” and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" with that famous character, the headless horseman.

But the stories he wrote about Christmas remind me of modern television series like Downton Abbey that are sweet and intriguing. Washington Irving’s’ series of Christmas stories featured Christmas in an English manor house. A squire – landowner, big wheel - invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. “In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status.”

The peace Irving imagined in his stories are said to have influenced the development of peace in America! Christmas is beautiful when it is peaceful, and it is peaceful and peace comes when we allow Jesus to be born again and again in our hearts.

You may have read Our Daily Bread this week telling of 15 year old Kim Chin-Kyung who enthusiastically joined the South Korean army to defend his homeland when war broke out in 1950. “He soon found, however, that he wasn’t ready for the horrors of combat. As young friends died around him, he begged God for his life and promised that, if allowed to live, he would learn to love his enemies.

Sixty-five years later, after being one of the 17 survivors of 800 fighters and a political prisoner, Dr. Kim [slide # 11 Dr. Kim] had spent decades caring for orphans and assisting in the education of North Korean and Chinese young people. Bringing that level of peace makes for a beautiful Christmas.

As Isaiah says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, [slide # 12 peace dove] who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’

By the grace of our God, may we always follow a way that builds peace and makes Christmas beautiful. [slide # 13 people holding hands] Amen. [slide # 14 man meditating]