1
Christmas 2016
My hunch is that a good number of you have visited the Taj Mahal and certainly most are familiar with its origins. The colorful legends which surround this magnificent mausoleum are all fascinating, but there is one legend which haunts and disturbs. Shah Jahan, the powerful 17th century Mughal emperor, was devastated by the loss of his favorite wife. He decided to honor her by constructing an incredible monument, the likes of which the world had never seen. This monument would serve not only as her tomb but would be an everlastingsymbol for the world to see of his enduring love for her. His wife’s temporary coffin, a simple wooden box, was placed in the center of a large parcel of land and construction of the breath-taking mausoleum began around it. But as the weeks turned into months and the months into years, the emperor’s grief was eclipsed by his passion for the building project. As time passed, he hardly thought of his late wife at all anymore or mourned her absence. He was now completely obsessed with the construction of the tomb.
One day while hurriedly crossing from one side of the construction site to the other, he accidentally bumped his leg against an old wooden box. The prince was irritated. Impatiently, he brushed the dust off his leg and ordered the workers to throw the box out immediately. What was it doing here anyway in the middle of the building? I am sure you have already guessed. The box held the remains of his beloved wife. He had forgotten she was there.
Could someone really build a temple and forget why? Could someone sculpt a tribute and forget the hero? Could someone throw a party and forget the guest of honor? Could someone create a memorial and forget who is supposed to be remembered?This legend is a painfully relevant parable of the way many people today celebrate Christmas. Thepoint is a simple one. Sometimes we get so involved in the tasks and details of Christmas that we forget the one we are honoring.
Five little words in the Gospel of Luke say it all:“No room in the inn.” There is a deep pathos in those words, “No room for you here.” That was the very first thing the world said to Jesus Christ, and that experience would continue to haunt him the rest of his life on this earth, and indeedit does so even down to this present moment. “No Room!”“We are already too overcrowded! Sorry. Try again some other time, Jesus. So, if you'll please excuse me, I've got a million and one things to do!” It’s sad to say, but like Shah Jahan, we get so busy with the details of Christmas that we forget the one that it honors.
A great preacher of the last century, Harry Emerson Fosdick, once put it like this: “The crucial difficulty of Christ's life, which denied him the service he longed to render, which closed to him the hearts he so longed to change, and which brought him at the last to Calvary, was something so simple, so familiar, so little recognized as a tragic evil – yet so universal among us all that one almost hesitates to name it—inhospitality.” No Room!
Let us be honest. Is this not our problem, yours and mine? We get so busy, so tired, so preoccupied with the incessant demands of our crowded lives that we shut out the very birth of the one we so desire to know, indeed need to know. Several years ago in a publication known as Amish Country News there appeared this reworking of Phillips Brooks’ beloved hymn:
“O little Inn of Bethlehem, how like we are to you.
Our lives are crowded to the brim, with this and that to do.
We are not unfriendly to the King, we mean well without a doubt.
We have no hostile feelings, we merely crowd Him out.”
My friends, won't you let Him in this Christmas? Won't you offer Him your warmest hospitality? Won't you welcome Him into your life this year with open arms? Won't you receive Him into your life as never before? Won't you “make room” for Him?
Do you recall the old story about the little boy who was asked by his Sunday School teacher why he was a Christian. He answered: “I don't know for sure, but I think it runs in our family!” That's a cute answer, but we need to add a cautionary note: We can ride on the coattails of our Christian family for just so longbut sooner or later each one of us has to make his or her own decision for Christ. When I was doing field work in a parish prior to ordination, I was assigned to visit several families who appeared on the membership rolls, but who rarely showed up to worship. I recall visiting one man, and after some pleasantries, I said, “It would be nice to see you in church more often”. His response was, “I don’t need to bother with church. My grandfather was the Bishop of Chicago and I know he’s up there looking after me”. I thought at first he was just joking but after some time, it was clear that he was perfectly serious.Certainly our families can help us in our Christian journey and it is great when they do, but each of us at some point has to make that personal choice. The birth of the Christ Child invites us to make that decision.
It is fascinating, but also rather sad, to watch people chase after happiness and fulfillment. Many waste so much time, effort and money looking in all the wrong places. One right place to look can be found in these words from Luke’s Gospel: “Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all people for to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
The Holy Roman emperor Charlemagne made an unusual request with regard to his burial. He asked to be buried sitting upright on his throne with his crown on his head, his scepter in his hand, his royal cloak draped around his shoulders and with an open book placed on his lap. That was in 814 A.D. Nearly 200 years later, in the year 1000 the Emperor Otto III wanted to see if Charlemagne's burial request had indeed been carried out. He ordered that the tomb be opened. They found the body just as Charlemagne had requested. Only now, nearly two centuries later, the scene was gruesome. The crown was titled on the skeletal head. The scepter was tarnished. The mantle was moth-eaten. The body disfigured. But, there, open on his lap was the book Charlemagne had requested –the Bible. And one, bony finger pointed to this text in Matthew’s Gospel: “For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?” Won’t you welcome the Christ Child into your heart this night?
Secondly, won't you let him shape your attitudes? The real key to life is not so much what we do, as how we do it, and why. Attitudes, motivations – that is what Jesus talked about most, and that is what he was interested in. For example, think about the innkeeper. If, on the one hand, he said to Mary and Joseph, “Get out of here. I'm full up and don't want to be bothered with the likes of you!” That is one thing. But, on the other hand, if he said to Mary and Joseph, “Look, my friends, all my rooms are taken, but I see that you need help. It isn’t much, but I know a quiet, private place”. That is a very different story, and the difference is in the attitude.
Attitude –it is the key to life. Change your attitudes and you change your life. It is not just what you do, but how you do it and why. One of the most beloved Christmas songs is“The Little Drummer Boy”based on an old Czech legend. When the Christ Child was born, many wonderful gifts were brought to the manger, gifts of great beauty and splendor. One small boy was very poor and he had nothing to offer the Lord. This made him very sad. But then, he thought: “I know what I can do. I can play my drum for him!” And, so he did - “Pa rum pum pum pum, Pa rum pum pum pum.” He played with all the love in his heart and as he played, according to the legend, the Christ Child smiled at him, showing that at Christmas the gift of love is the best gift of all.
It was not so much what the drummer boy didashow he did it and why. The real key was not his drum playing –I am sure there were better drummers to be found –it was his attitude. That attitude of love, that is what made the Christ Child smile. And it still does.
Atlanta psychiatrist Thomas Malone says that people fall into two basic groups, those who are constantly screaming “love me” and act out accordingly, and those people who walk around looking for someone to love. He goes on to say thatif you see changes in the people who scream 'love me', it's because they have finally realized that if they just give up screaming and go about the business of loving others, they will receive the love they have been searching for all their lives. It is a hard lesson to learn, but it is life-changing when you do learn it.”
It is all a matter of attitude, moving from “Please love me” to “Please let me love you.” Jesus taught us that a long time ago. It is precisely what happened to Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus and The Prodigal Son. Grace changed their attitudes. Grace made them gracious. This is the good news of Christmas: We are loved, so we too can now be loving. Let the Christ Child into your heart. And then let Christ change your attitudes.
Won't you let him into your Christmas? Strange that we have to say that, but we do. Do you remember the old television show from the ‘60’s called, “I've Got a Secret”? That program is something of a parable for the way we sometimes celebrate Christmas. W. E. Sangster, the noted British minister and writer, once told a true and poignant story about being invited to a party to celebrate the wedding of some mutual friends. He arrived late and really did not know anyone there except the friend who had invited him. Everyone seemed in high spirits, dancing, laughing, singing, eating, and visiting. Seemingly everyone present was having a good time except for a beautiful young woman who was off all by herself. No one was paying any attention to her at all. When Dr. Sangster asked his friend who she was, the friend replied: “Don't you know? I must introduce you, she’s the bride!”
Dr. Sangster concluded by saying, “Can you imagine being left alone and unnoticed at your own wedding party? Can you imagine being ignored on your Big Day?' But is this not how Jesus must feel sometimes at Christmas? Many people come to the Christmas party and ignore the guest of honor.” So many people celebrate Christmas without Christ. Knowingly or unknowingly they fail to invite the guest of honor to his own party. This year, as never before, won't you let Him into your heart, into your attitudes, and into your Christmas?