Their Shame to Praise

Scripture Lessons: Zephaniah 3: 14-20 and Luke 3: 7-18 Sermon Title: Their Shame into Praise Preached on December 16, 2018 It’s funny how that reading ends: that John the Baptist, “proclaimed the good news,” for it’s not immediately obvious why this news is good. But that’s until you step back and consider Christmas cards. I love Christmas cards. I bet that you love Christmas cards too, and I hope that you receive a lot of them because they’re so nice to get. One of the things that I love the most about Christmas cards is when the card is a picture, I can see how my friends have changed. Some of the Christmas cards that we get in the mail come from people who, when I first met them, weren’t nearly as respectable as they appear to be now. It’s so good to see them looking good and doing well. The kids grow each year. Dad’s hairline recedes more each year. And Mom’s getting better and better at maintaining that smile while saying, “sit still” to her children through gritted teeth. These cards bring a lot of Christmas cheer, don’t they? But sometimes the pressure to get them out gets to us. Every once in a while, I’ll overhear a conversation where one parent says to another: “I’m thinking that this year we’ll just send out a Happy New Year’s Card.” Some people are serious about Christmas cards. They feel good if they got them out early, they feel guilty if they didn’t get them out at all. We felt ashamed one year, because one year we got our first Christmas card the day after Thanksgiving. These friends of ours – they had it so together that they basically sent out a Happy Thanksgiving Card – and if that doesn’t make you feel bad for not getting your Christmas cards out by Christmas, I don’t know what will. Plus, with that over eager Christmas card came an announcement that mom got a promotion at work. Dad’s been running marathons. Youngest son is three, but has learned to read, and oldest son is five but is going off to medical school in the Spring. I remember one Christmas years ago when my grandfather made a point of reading us one of those Christmas letters that came with the card. You know what I’m talking about? Those are usually really nice to receive, because they give an update of what all has been going on, who’s been to camp and who’s playing the piano, all that stuff. But my grandfather took offense to this one, so he took it off the refrigerator to read it to us. He read the sentence about this family’s extravagant vacation, and he said, “Well, this is so full of braggadocio I don’t want to read another word.” At that time, I wasn’t too sure that “braggadocio” was even a word, but you know what he means. The point of the Christmas letter, just like the point of the Christmas card – it’s just to say, “Merry Christmas” and “let me tell you how we’ve been doing.” If you open your mailbox to find a Christmas card in there you can be certain that you are only receiving one because you are loved, but sometimes, sometimes these things, they inspire a little bit of shame or envy. So, the wife puts down the Christmas letter and says to her husband, “Would you look at that; the Johnson family has been to Paris?” and he knows exactly what she’s trying to say. In the same way the husband puts down the Christmas card from the out of town friends that includes a picture of all of them and says to his wife, “Would you look at Sally. Doesn’t she look great? I wonder if she’s been working out or something?” That sounds like an innocent question, but his wife looks into his eyes and wonders what this picture – meant to say nothing more than “Merry Christmas” has inspired in her husband’s mind. Christmas Cards! It might be that one of the Christmas Cards you received brings with it – not Christmas Cheer, but envy, desire, and longing for what you don’t have. And the truth is - it was already pretty hard to keep up with the Joneses before we found out their 5-year-old was going to medical school. So – you know what John the Baptist reminds us to do this time of year? Quit worrying about what they have and be satisfied with what you have. There he was at the river Jordan, and first he calls the whole crowd a “brood of vipers.” Not many pastors would think it wise to begin the sermon that way, but that’s what John does. Then, the crowds asked him, if that’s who we are, “What then should we do?” To the crowds he said, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” To the tax collectors he said, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed to you.” To the soldiers he said, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with you wages.” John the Baptist cuts right to the chase to say, “Be careful about wanting more – it’s dangerous! It can lead you to do questionable things – and – wanting more can keep you from being satisfied with what you have already.” That’s timely advice, right? You know a man who feels enormous pressure to provide for his family their every want and desire. You know a mother who keeps giving herself away so that there’s nothing left. You know the feeling of showing up to a kid’s school Christmas party with a box of cookies you picked up at Kroger, only to find that by the looks of things every other kid’s mom must be Martha Stewart. Life is such a competition – but you know what John the Baptist came to say? He came to say: “Enough.” Don’t ask Santa for another coat – go in your closest and if you’re lucky enough to have two, then give one away. Don’t work so hard for more money – if you have $1,000 in your bank account than you’re better off than the majority of people in this country already. And stop striving for so much; because what you ought to be doing this Christmas season is sitting back in satisfaction with what you have. “Be satisfied,” he said. It’s like a story I heard once that Dr. Fred Craddock told. Dr. Craddock is one of the truly great preachers. He taught at Candler School of Theology on the campus of Emory University, then went to live up in Ellijay, but he used to like to eat at the Waffle House. He said, “The Waffle House is a good place to go get a BLT. You have to take a shower after, but it’s a good place to get a BLT.” Well, once he was at the Waffle House. Waitress came up and he ordered a cup of coffee. Dr. Craddock asked for cream, and she patted down her apron and said, “I can never find anything in this capricious apron.” “Capricious?” Dr. Craddock repeated. Then she threw out six creamers on the table. He took two and pushed the four back toward the waitress, but she pushed them back towards him, saying, “Better to have and not need than need and not have.” Thinking to himself, “first capricious and now this,” he asked, “Well, are you a waitress or a philosopher?” Then he said, “But best is to take what you need and give the rest away.” There’s always been people who have more. There’s always been people who look younger than we do. There’s always been nicer houses than the ones that we live in. There’s always been families that seem to have it all together. There’s always come a time when what you have to do is stop looking at what they have to see what God has already given. And what has God given? A Son. So, slow down for a minute, and listen to God’s promise from Zephaniah one more time: I will save the lame. I will gather the outcast. I will bring you home. And will change your shame into praise – for the work that we’ve all been doing to ensure that ours is the perfect Christmas has already been done. Thanks be to God. Amen.