Favor With God

It is not easy to be politically correct during the Christmas season. I mean just listen to this new version of “The Night before Christmas.”

Twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s a wreck. How to live in a world that’s politically correct? His workers no longer would answer to Elves, vertically Challenged thy were calling themselves And labour conditions at the North pole were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety, released to the wilds by the Humane Society. And equal employment had made it quite clear. That Santa had better not use just reindeer. So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid were replaced with four pigs and you know that looked quite s --- well you know the word, we don’t say that word at my house and for me to say in the pulpit would surely cause a stir.

The runners had been removed from his sleigh; the ruts were termed dangerous by the EPA and the people had started to call for the cops when they heard sled noise on their rooftops. Secondhand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened. His fur trimmed red suit was called unenlightened. And to show you the strangeness of life’s ebbs and flows, Rudolph was suing over unauthorized use of his nose. And had gone on Geraldo in front of the nation demanding millions in overdue compensation. So half the reindeer were gone and his wife who suddenly said she’d enough of this life joined a self help group, packed and left in a whiz Demanding from now on her title was Ms……

How society has twisted and changed even the most innocent of things? Even the biblical story of Christmas is not safe. There is a politically correct version of it as well. “There’s a problem with the angel” said a Pharisee who happened to be strolling by the stable. As he explained to Joseph, angels are widely regarded as religious symbols, and the stable is on public property where such symbols are not allowed to stand.

Besides, said a Sadducee who was with him, There are no such things as angels and telling a child that they’re real will only hinder the child’s emotional development. “”And I have to tell you said the Pharisee this whole thing looks very much like a religious Nativity scene. That’s a no no too. So Joseph had a bright idea, What if I put a couple of reindeer over there near the ox? He said eager to avoid sectarian strife…Just to clinch it, throw in a candy cane a couple of elves and snowmen too the Phariasee said,. What does a snowman have to do with my son, asked Mary. “Snowperson” CRIED A YOUNG WOMAN, CHANGING THE SUBJECT BEFORE IT VEERED DANGEROUSLY TOWARD RELIGION…

It is a humorous and yet painful twist of the Christmas story. We shake our heads in dismay, shaking our fingers at those who would play around with the story and yet…the church is just as guilty of twisting the story to make it fit what they think or want it to say.

Most religions accept Mary as the mother of Jesus. The Greek Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and Islams all highly exalt Mary to almost the point of venerating her as equal to Jesus and God. While most Protestants churches only allow Mary a cameo appearance in Christmas cards, carols and nativity scenes. We overestimate or underestimate and ignore the fact that Mary is a significant part of the Christmas story, an innocent vessel of God’s will that we need to understand and emulate but not worship. We don’t need to give Mary what is Jesus’ to proclaim. We need to look the Christmas story from Mary’s point of view. We need to see her example and her witness and we need to grow in faith. This advent season my Christmas Sermon series is Mary Christmas as each we explore the weeks leading up to christmas through Mary’s eyes. We will look a fresh at the story and try to understand it not as a parody of society, a politically correct social statement or even as a dogma or belief of the church but as a revelation of God and his love, joy, peace and hope for all people.

Behold the handmaiden of the Lord ..." Tradition says Mary was born in Jerusalem, the daughter of Joh-uh-kim, Joachim and Ann, a direct descendent of David. Other sources say Mary was born in Nazareth. There is even an ancient record that points to Sepphoris a town a few miles from Nazareth as her birth place. Wherever she was born, Mary’s life was most likely unfolded in the staunch Jewish settlement of Nazareth in the hills of Galilee, not far from the important caravan routes linking Egypt and Mesopotamia.