Seasoning the Season
TEXT: Luke 2: 9-14; Hebrews 9: 1-10
Sunday, November 24,2002
I’m always confused about this service because there are two things that need to be accomplished at the same time. Advent begins next Sunday and if we are to get the most out of our Advent season, it is important to hit it “running.” As a culture, we tend to begin preparation for Christmas the Friday after Thanksgiving.
For some people that isn’t true, however. For most of my life, I didn’t even know that people began shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I never knew that it was a big day. We began preparations the second Sunday in December, put up the tree, and did our own thing when we thought the timing was about right. My wife and I discovered, though, that there was something missing in our Christmas experienced and we wondered why that was. Then we got in touch with an old Christian practice that has been around for about 1,600 years called Advent. This is simply preparing for the celebration of the coming of Christ four Sundays prior to Christmas. Once we started doing this, we found that our experience was deeper and much more meaningful with a spiritual significance to it.
I think the themes of the Advent calendars which you now have give us focus. By practicing one per week, this helped us focus on the meaning of Christ-mas and helped us begin to celebrate it. By the time we reached Christmas Eve, we anticipated this long-expected Jesus.
At the same time, this week Thanksgiving is on Thursday. We don’t want to steal anything from the Thanksgiving service because it is a very important, religious, scriptural day. In scripture they celebrate the Feast of the Passover which is the feast of the harvest. The sacred assembly celebrated the fullness of the harvest that had come. Pentecost celebrated the beginning of harvest. It is right for us to give thanks as individuals, and it is right for us to give thanks as a nation. It is not as important to the universal church because the universal church does not
all live in America. This holiday is important for the American church and I know that as a society we have overlooked Thanksgiving. We go from Halloween to Christmas, and you see this in the decorations. You hardly see any harvest or Thanksgiving-themed decorations. I think the reason for this is that it is hard to get commercial with the Pilgrims.
We are going to tip-toe between these two holidays today. They do have some commonalities–they both have deep religious roots, they both include salient traditions, they both have an ambience that surrounds them, and they both include special foods that go along with them. They both have scriptural roots. At Thanksgiving the purpose is to give thanks. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
If there is any message for both holidays, it’s this: Keep the main thing the main thing. To help illustrate that, I have all the ingredients I need here to make a pumpkin pie. As you think of Thanksgiving, what are some of the aromas that tell you its Thanksgiving? Turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, hot baked rolls and stuffing. Pie-making is an art, and I have tried it at times but my wife is far better. If you don’t have the crust ingredients just right, it can be hard as a brick. Pumpkin by itself is kind of bland, but if you add the right spices and a little bit of sugar the flavor of the pumpkin is brought out. If you have a piece of pumpkin pie with a little whipped cream on top, there’s nothing better.
That’s the experience you get when you spice things the right way. The same thing is true with our holiday seasons, both Thanksgiving and Christmas. They can be a wonderful, deep, enriching spiritual experience if we spice them just right to bring out the proper flavor. As a church, we are going to look at ways that we can spice up our holidays to bring out the flavor of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
To help us remember, I put all these suggestions in “G” words. We are going to spice up the season by
*Seasoning our Greetings
*Seasoning our Giving
*Seasoning our Gatherings
*Seasoning our Glorifying
*Seasoning our Getting
Today, we are going to talk about seasoning our Garnish. How do we decorate in such a way to bring out the flavor of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are going to look at Hebrews 9: 1-10. I think this gives us some hints about whether it is scriptural to decorate our homes:
TEXT
One thing that is important to note about decorating for the holidays is that it is a good and righteous thing to do. It is not secular, it is not unspiritual, and it is not a sign of materialism. The key is the focus. It is interesting that God is very particular about how he decorates his place of worship. In fact, he is extremely detail oriented and he tells the people exactly what he wants in that place and nothing else. As noted in the text, there is a lampstand in the Tabernacle, there is a curtain which no one can pass through except the high priest, there is the Holy of Holies which houses the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat, there is the altar and the incense burner, and a whole list of traditions that are very important.
Why was God so detail oriented? What was so important about these things? There was really nothing sacred about these things in and of themselves. What made them sacred is that they pointed to a reality beyond themselves. They pointed God’s people back to what God had done beforehand. As people saw them, they were supposed to bring them back to the event in time when God performed miracles in their lives. There was a spiritual reality behind them that exists in heaven. They also pointed to what God was going to do in their lives, as well.
All through the Old and New Testament, you find that God uses physical objects to help us remember what he has done in our lives or is going to do in our lives. The rainbow reminds us that God is not going to destroy the earth with a flood again. The whole Passover meal recalls a different event in the Exodus story about how God delivered his people from Egypt and how he will deliver them in the future. God told the people to put up the Ebenezer stone when he had delivered them from the Philistines as a reminder of what he had done thus far. Various standing stones throughout the country reminded people of what God had done in various places, much like historical markers play a role in the life of our nation.
Jericho has remained unbuilt so that when people walked by that pile of stones, they would recall that God delivered them. He was the one who brought down the walls of Jericho. It was the Lord’s battle. In the New Testament, we see the bread and the juice as signs of communion. There is nothing important about these elements alone. The key is what they remind us of. The broken bread and the poured juice remind us of what God has done for us through Christ on the cross.
The early church used symbols to remind themselves about who God is and what he has done for them. They used the cross, the fish and the egg. Pilgrims used symbols to remind them of God’s blessings. They placed five kernels of corn on each placemat which represented the ration that they ate for the day during the harsh winter. The kernels represented the hard times, and the full plate of food represented the bounty of God and how he had blessed them.
What did God do to prepare the way for Jesus? What kind of ambience did he set for the day? First he had angel visitations with grand proclamations. God commissioned the angles to peel back the night sky and fill it with a blaze of light. God commissioned a celestial choir to serenade some startled shepherds. God provided the cosmological anomaly that we can’t really describe, but we call it the star. It was very unique and different. God sent a caravan of wise men, very wealthy kings, to find the king of the Jews. God arranged the birth of Jesus in very memorable and meaningful surroundings.
If God did all these things for the birth of Christ, then I don’t think he will get too upset that we garnish our homes with some physical reminders of what the day means, do you? He won’t be upset that we garnish our homes at Thanksgiving to remind ourselves how blessed we are as long as we decorate in such a way that it helps us celebrate the true meaning of the day.
To start with, what can we do on Thanksgiving to decorate our homes in such a way to remind us of our blessings? The good news is that we don’t have to create a whole new decorating thing for our homes. A lot of what we already do point back to what God has done for us. All we need to do is spice them up with the heart of Thanksgiving and focus on God. The name itself reminds us to give thanks. A good thing to do in your homes is before you cut into the turkey, go around the table and have each person give one reason that they are thankful. At least have a table grace and give God thanks.
The foods themselves point back to the original Thanksgiving. It is important to have these foods to remind us of the original Thanksgiving and why we are celebrating. You may even want to include some things that are not on your table such as venison or wild game. Turkey was used because it was bountiful. Corn was used because God sent the Indians to teach them how to grow corn. Pilgrims and Indians became symbolic because they were the people who experienced the first Thanksgiving. A fun thing to do is to come to the meal dressed for the part.
On Thanksgiving Day, the Pilgrims and the Indians had a lot of reasons not to like each other. There was a lot of mistrust and history of savagery. But for one day they set this all aside and lived out God’s eternal vision for us–that one day all will come from the north, south, east and west and sit down at his table. It was a day for reconciliation and toleration. They celebrated people, and people matter to God. Maybe it would be a good thing to put into practice around our Thanksgiving tables that for one day we set aside all conflicts within our families and invite people from our families or our churches that we don’t necessarily get along with and let the conflict die and go back to the heart of Thanksgiving which is the celebration of people. People are more important than some of our ideas. I don’t think it’s at all wrong to decorate with haystacks or cornstalks or mums or the colors of harvest. They recall to us that we have a God who creates tremendous beauty.
It is good to practice charity. This is an outworking of the fact that God has blessed us and we want to be a blessing to others.
We can do the same thing in our Christmas traditions. We don’t have to create anything new. Many of the things that we already use have tremendous spiritual roots behind them. It is a righteous thing to have a Christmas tree. It was chosen because it is green and never dies and is a symbol of constant life. The tree bleeds sap, a reminder of the fact that Christ bled for us on the cross. Candles are a great visible reminder. They were originally used to remind people that the light of the world has come. The James Isaac Watt’s hymn, Joy to the World, is a reminder to us about that. There is a trend to going back to the electric white lights because it fits more closely with the original idea of Jesus being the Light of the World or a reminder of the star that appeared. Colored lights can work as well. They remind us of the abundant life. Outside lights are a good way of celebrating the Christmas holiday. They provide a wonderful witness in your community, whether your neighbors know it or not. Every time they put a light up, it is a celebration of the light that has come into the world.
I admit that I was a Scrooge when it came to the lights. I calculated how many watts per light and how much it was going to cost me. Putting up the lights was such a hassle, too. I thought that God wanted me to be a better steward than that, right? Then I got to thinking about celebrating the one time of the year that the Light has come into the world, and I’m complaining about a few bucks when God sacrificed everything. I’m upset that putting up lights mars the woodwork on the outside of the house, but God was marred for us. Actually, for me putting up the lights has become a spiritual experience because it reminds me that God put forth a tremendous effort for me. It was a hassle for him to come down here, but he did it anyway.
Outside nativity scenes should be a part of every Christian home. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive. This reminds people what the holiday is about. As a family, we play “Find the Manger Scene.” When we travel or go shopping with the kids, it is stunning to realize how few there are. Make the nativity the center of your home. Some people even put it under the tree as a reminder of what is really important about the day.
Ornaments are a reminder of what God has done for us. Originally, I picked ornaments because they were pretty but I began to realize that they don’t remind me of the significance and the importance of Christmas. We began a tradition in our home and that is to pick at least one ornament each year that has something to do with our faith and the original story or that reveals something about the character of God. Over time, our Christmas tree has become not only a beautiful thing but also something that reminds us about the wonderful God that we serve.
The tree topping is an important tradition, whether it is an angel or a light. We have this light that twinkles, and our kids love it because it reminds them of the star of Bethlehem.
Poinsettias are great. Candles and greenery in the windowsills are a tremendous reminder of the season. How we decorate our homes is important.
Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him.” This includes decorating for the holiday. Therefore, whatever you do, do it all in the name of our Lord, giving thanks to God for him. In the process of decorating, do you give thanks to him? Maybe it would be a good thing to give our decorating over to God because if your experience is like mine, here’s what usually happens:
I go out to cut the tree and it falls on me and I get all prickled. I bring it home and try to put it in the stand, but it never goes up straight at the beginning and falls on me again and I get all upset. It’s the only time of the year that I swear. I’m all uptight and stressed out. I finally get the lights and the tinsel on, and we tell the kids not to touch anything but one of them always manages to break an ornament or step on a light. Suddenly, it does not become a celebration at all. It becomes a terrible experience for the children and myself. It is a Maalox moment. However, when you give your decorating to God, it can become a wonderful family celebration. As a family, we pick out the tree. We put on Christmas music before the decorate the tree. We drink cocoa and sing carols the whole time. We do it together and we don’t fuss about how it looks. At the end we turn the lights off and turn the tree lights on and sing and give thanks. Sometimes we read a scripture passage. It has made a tremendous difference to give our decorating over to God.
Symbols, physical objects, are powerful reminders. If you doubt that, let me read this last poem. It’s by Tony Orlando and Dawn, and you know the story. This guy has been in prison for three long years and he wants to know if his wife still wants him. If she does, she should tie one yellow ribbon around an old oak tree. If she doesn’t and there are no ribbons, he will stay on the bus. The song ends with these words:
“Well, tie a yellow ribbon ‘round the old oak tree.
It’s been three long years, do you still want me?
If I don’t see a ribbon ‘round the old oak tree
I’ll stay on the bus, forget about us, put the blame on me
If I don’t see a yellow ribbon ‘round the old oak tree.
Now the whole darn bus is cheering, and I can’t believe I see
A hundred yellow ribbons ‘round the old oak tree.”
What a powerful, graphic reminder and illustration of forgiveness. May our homes themselves be powerful, graphic reminders that we are in a season of Thanksgiving and a season of celebrating Christ.
