12-31-23 “Christmas Community”

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Luke 2:22-40

“Christmas Community”

I want to start with something funny I found on an internet site. A Sunday school teacher of preschoolers was concerned that his students might be a little confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth. He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred a long time ago, that he grew up, etc. So he asked his class, “Where is Jesus today?” Johnny raised his hand and said, “He is in heaven.” Mary was called on and answered, “He’s in my heart.” And Robert, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, “I know! I know! He’s in our bathroom!!” The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response. The teacher was completely at a loss for a few seconds. He finally gathered his wits and asked Robert how he knew this. And Robert said, “Well, every morning my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells “Jesus Christ, are you still in there?!”

We had a fantastic Christmas season.  We decorated the churches beautifully, and lit the colorful lights at the church, our homes and on the streets.   We waited for Christmas and then .celebrated Baby Jesus’ birth with our Christmas Program. Perhaps some of you had a new experience being a part of the Christmas Eve service. I appreciate all our Sunday school and youth teachers, who made these Christmas program happen, and all of you who willingly joined in on the participatory dramatic theater at the Christmas Eve service. So, now, where is Jesus, who came to us as a baby with fancy decorations and colorful lights? I wonder if perhaps we may have put Jesus in the box with all the old Christmas decorations.

Let’s think of Christmas: Why we celebrate Christmas day. The word “Christmas” is a compound word made up of two words, “Christ” and “Mass.” In other words, “Christmas” means that “worship Christ.” Therefore, there should be a confession that we worship Christ in celebrating Christmas Day. We, who celebrated and worshiped Christ during the Christmas season are a “Christmas community.” In other words, we are a community worshiping Jesus Christ. You perhaps, have heard that we are a faith community.  Yes, we are. But in more detail, we are a Christmas Community, rather than a faith community because we may name other religious communities a faith community as well. We, Christians, are a unique community, worshiping Jesus Christ. You know, the word “Christian” also comes from people who follow “Christ.”

The first Christmas Community had, as we know very well, three Wise Men, shepherds, and angels. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the three Wisemen (Magi) came from the east. The scholars say, “They must be rich and intelligent.” The reason they thought this was that they had traveled from the east, which was far from Jerusalem, and spent their time, energy, money, and passion to see baby Jesus, the Messiah. And, they must have been foreigners in Israel. On the other hand, the scholars say that the shepherds were the poorest of the poor, uneducated people at that time and native Israelites. They, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, foreigner or native to the region, they came to baby Jesus through the guidance of angels or stars, having one goal, which was worshiping Jesus Christ. Even though they were very different, they had the same goal (vision) for their journey. The same goal to worship Jesus Christ led them to a Christmas Community. They gathered at a barn in Bethlehem, Israel, and worshiped Christ with the hope of seeing the Messiah, who brings a better world.

Then, the second Christmas Community is in today’s scripture. Mary and Joseph brought Baby Jesus to the Temple by the Law of Moses. During the exodus journey from Egypt, experiencing the firstborn son’s death, which was the last disaster out of ten, Israelites believed every firstborn belonged to God. Since that time, they brought their firstborn to the Temple and gave God the sacrifice of their firstborn required by Law. Jesus was born into a Jewish family, which kept the Law of Moses, and he was blessed at the Temple by the Law. At that time, we found the second Christmas Community, who were Simeon and Anna. Simeon was an old man in Jerusalem, who was waiting for Israel’s consolation from the colony of Rome. He received an answer to his prayers that he might see the Messiah before he died, and He would release them from their oppression and suffering. He came to the Temple by the Holy Spirit and worshiped Baby Jesus Christ. He praises the Lord, “I see the Messiah as you have promised.” The other is Anna. We may assume she was an old lady, perhaps over one hundred years old because she had been married for seven years and had been a widow for eighty-four years. She stayed at the Temple while fasting and praying. She was a female prophet. The second community that worshiped Jesus Christ had Simeon and Anna, who were male and female, and were righteous and holy. Their same goal was to wait for the Messiah, praying throughout their whole life.

Now, think about all of us! Who are you? Why are you here? We are also very different, varying in ages, cultural backgrounds, family histories, faith journey stages, education, and faith experiences. Why are we here at the same church? For what reason? Yes, we are here to worship Christ. Even though we are full of diversity like the first and second Christmas Communities, we have the same goal which is to worship God and follow Jesus Christ. We are here because we are a Christmas Community.

I went to the Korean Clergy and family retreat at Wisconsin Dells last week. At the retreat, we had several speakers who gave lectures. One of them, I would like to share with you. A-Hyun Lee, a professor of Garrett Evangelical-Theological Seminary, gave a lecture, entitled “Leading Together: Nurturing Communal Care by Unleashing “Group Dynamics” in Cross-Racial and Cross-Cultural Ministry.” According to her, every group has cross-racial or cross-cultural dynamics, whether we recognize it or not, in appearance. Then, every group has stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Listening to her lecture, I imagined our parish ministry and where our parish ministry is. I want you to think about where we are in our ministry.

I was appointed to this parish in 2019. I felt our parish was grieving for the two former pastors. I respected the time you needed to grieve your former pastors, although it delayed forming/reforming our ministry, it was important. Then, the Pandemic hit, and of course, it affected our parish ministry. Before we reached the forming/reforming stage, we had a storming stage in our ministry, losing members, and shutting our doors. However, the storming stage led us to the reforming stage. Through the Pandemic, we made a bandage for the three churches, which is reforming as a parish ministry, worshipping together via Zoom and at outdoor services, then we reaffirmed that we are one parish. The new norm, as one parish, led us to supporting one another.  We came together to support Atlas church and the Vacation Bible School (VBS) program. You all did an excellent job working together!

Now, what are we going to do? Is it enough? According to Professor Lee, after performing, it goes toward adjourning or moving forward depending on our vision. If we develop the same vision or goal as the first and second Christmas Community, we may move it forward. Otherwise, it is time to adjourn our ministry. What do you want to happen? It is your choice.

Let’s keep the Christmas Spirit, which is excitement, expectation, hope, visioning, passion, and brightness always, and move forward together, expecting what is next for our ministry, and expecting God to lead us. Thanks be to God. Amen!