The Gospel Symbols of Christmas: "Hanging the Greens"

* Read Mark 13:24-37

I like surprises. No…that’s an understatement…I love…in fact live for surprises. And for me, the Christmas season is the epitome of a surprise party. The anticipation of putting up the Christmas tree in my living room; shopping for presents for my family and loved ones; wrapping each gift and envisioning the look on it’s future owner’s face as it is opened. Now I admit, I love getting Christmas presents too…but for some reason it is not as exciting as giving them. I wouldn’t say it’s because I’m so generous…or even selfless. I can be as self-indulged as the next guy.

I will never forget Christmas morning as a child. I loved it. I would sneak out of bed on Christmas Eve night and sit in front of the Christmas tree, watching the lights twinkle…and count my presents under the tree. But I didn’t just count my presents, I counted everyone’s presents. One particular Christmas Eve, I was about 10 years old, I counted all of my siblings gifts. I went as far as putting everyone’s presents in little piles on the living room…and counted them. This one particular Christmas Eve I encountered an upsetting surprise. All of my brothers and sisters each had eleven gifts…except for me. I only had ten.

Now even as I retell this story, I feel a bit guilty. Not because I counted them, but because of what I did that next morning. I certainly expected after everyone had opened their presents, my eleventh present was hidden somewhere, either in a closet, or out in the garage. Just at the right moment, when all of the gifts had been unwrapped…Dad would emerge from his bedroom with my amazing, exciting, exhilarating…and very expensive, eleventh gift. I was just sure of it. And I just knew that this eleventh gift was a bright, shiny new bicycle. Not one of those little tike bikes that was no taller than my waist, but an adult sized bike. This was my year. I was ready for that bike.

I waited with anticipation…unwrapping each of my gifts…still thinking of what lay beyond my pile of presents. And yet when all was said and done, the living room floor full of wrapping paper and toys and gifts scattered about…there was no surprise eleventh gift for me. I sat there in the middle of the floor, a bit stunned and anxious. But wait, something’s wrong I thought. I went over to the tree, surveyed underneath its tinsel covered branches, looked behind the couch, peered into the closet, searched through my own collection of gifts…perhaps I had missed it. I couldn’t hold my grief and disappointment any longer. “Mom” I exclaimed, “I have 10 gifts and my siblings have 11 gifts each!” I thought I was making a fair claim. Something was not right. I had been wronged. Surely things were not as they seemed. I demanded an explanation!

And speaking of things that do not mean what they seem to mean, we have an unusual gospel text for the first Sunday of Advent. Just what do these apocalyptic words mean to the audience that the gospel writer was addressing? This is what we do know. Mark’s gospel was written during a turbulent political era in Judea. Judea was the area of ancient Israel that was occupied and governed by the Roman Empire. The time frame was about year 70 of the Common Era, or roughly 40 years after the death of Christ. The situation had become gravely dangerous. Enemies and spies were everywhere. It was not safe to be a known follow of Jesus. And people spoke in coded language for their own safety, especially members of that tiny, persecuted community called the church.

The author of the gospel of Mark writes, “Then (referring to the time after the suffering of the followers of Jesus) they will see ‘the Son of man coming in clouds’ with great power and Glory.” As I read this I have to ask myself, is this a reference to a literal ‘end of the world’ scenario? Growing up I was taught that this passage was evidence that Jesus was predicting the end of the world with very specific signs…and that only those who endure to the end would be saved. How many times have you heard that the end of time is closer than ever now? But what did these words mean to the people that Mark was writing to? We do know that Mark was indeed writing about the end of an era when Jesus died on the cross. That was the beginning of the end for Mark and that tiny Christian community. But Mark believed that the powers that ruled their world were toppled in the very moment that Jesus died on the cross. When Jesus stood up to the powers, it was the dawn of a new day, the beginning of the renewal of everything in the whole universe. . . . stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken, the scripture says. Nothing would ever be the same again.

And then Mark recounts Jesus’ story about a fig tree that is about to blossom signaling the end of one season and the beginning of another. Mark confirms that the old order of domination is about to end and a new day is about to blossom. It is happening now. . Jesus is near, at the very gates . . . Mark tells us. It is the moment of truth for the Christian community—a chance for things to begin. Pay attention! And then, just to make sure we get the point, another story hot on the heels of this one - about a man who leaves on a journey, leaving his servants in charge, telling them to be ready for his return, for they do not know when that will take place. It could be . . . in the evening.

“Ah,” members of Mark’s community would have remembered. “That’s when Jesus met with his friends in the upper room, wasn’t it? . . . or at midnight when Jesus was arrested . . . or at the cockcrow when Peter denied Jesus . . . or at dawn when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus!” You see? Code language that Christian people would have understood during those dangerous times to refer to the fact that they were living in a time of momentous importance.

“Beware, keep alert,” Mark writes, “for you do not know when the master of the house will come . . . or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. What I say to you I say to all. Keep awake.” It’s the same word Jesus used in the garden of Gethsemane when he begged Peter and James and John to stay awake with him. Stay awake! Stay alert! Stay conscious! Don’t go to sleep on me! This is the hour, Mark is saying in coded language.

I’ve often wondered why there is no story about the birth of Christ in the gospel of Mark. When it comes to Christmas, Mark is not concerned about a stable, a star, shepherds or Wiseman. For him, more cosmic things are happening. This passage is not a vision of the end of the world but words of encouragement to a dispirited group of Christians who were in danger of giving up the cause. The cosmic images and parables are ‘coded’ language, intended to remind members of the Christian community of the importance of remaining faithful in these dark days of world history, a time not unlike that time for Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.

Our Christmas symbols represent a similar coded language that is intended to remind us of exactly what we are waiting for during advent. The Christmas season has been developing through many centuries. It is still changing and continues to grow as our customs are refined and new traditions begin. However, some of these traditions actually originate in pagan customs and have little to do with the biblical account of Christ’s birth. For instance; The Poinsettia as a symbol of Christmas comes from an old Mexican legend. A poor little girl was heartbroken because she had nothing of beauty or value to offer the Christ child, so she plucked some weeks from the side of the road and, as her only possession in the world, laid them at the feet of the statue of the Virgin Mary. The legend says that the weeks were miraculously transformed into the scarlet brilliance of the poinsettia flower that we know today. In fact, in present day Mexico people still refer to it as the flower of the Holy Night. What do priceless gift do you possess that may seem worthless on the outside? What can you give as an expression of your love for the Christ-child? A smile for the depressed or grouchy person in your life? A warm embrace for the unlovable relative? A kind word for the sarcastic or hateful comment thrown in your direction? These seemingly valueless gifts can miraculously transform any situation or relationship this Christmas.

How about the wreaths that we hang on our doors and windows, or the greenery we string along our banisters and archways? Evergreens, which flourish when all else is brown and dead, are obvious symbols of enduring life. Our primitive fore parents brought in green branches at the festival of the Winter Solstice, which occurs every year on December 21st. They used them in magical rites to ensure the return of vegetation in the spring. Holly, ivy and mistletoe were strong life-symbols because they could bear fruit even in the winter. And wreaths represented the Teutonic fire wheel, a symbol of the sun god. Although these were pagan rituals, and were at one time forbidden by the early church, we understand that back them, like now they represented the ever-living, eternal God whose constant and abiding love is always ours…and that God is always present with us. What fruit will you bear when the environment around you seems cold and lifeless? How will you express the enduring life of God within you when all else seems dead and forgotten? That is our gospel duty, not just through tough times like we are experiencing today, but in all the challenges and conflicts we experience in this experience we call humanity.

Our Christmas tree comes from an old Germanic custom where bringing a tree into the house was like bringing God into the house, adorning offerings to their gods on the branches. (ornaments) This custom evolved into putting wrapped gifts under the tree that are intended for those that we love. These are gifts that draw our attention to who and what is really important in our lives. It is our connection to every one around us that is the gift we celebrate. That’s why it’s called the present.

Advent means coming. The Advent wreath symbolizes our journey of waiting for the Messiah, the anointed one who came to liberate us from our own personal bondage. The light has come to wake us up from our slumber and lead us to a new way of being.

Are you awake to these dark days of so many in our world? Do you read about the suffering of the poor, but have no desire to ease their pain? Have you fallen asleep spiritually? Do you snooze through the anticipation and excitement of Christmas? Have you dozed off from following the gospel—no longer alert to the realm of God around you?

I never did get an eleventh gift on that Christmas day almost 32 years ago. As you can imagine, my parents were not too happy with me. After all, they had given me more than they could really afford. And of course it wasn’t intentional. What was intentional was their love for me even in the midst of my self-centeredness. I learned a valuable lesson then…that has hopefully stuck with me now. It’s not what you get…but what you give that blesses you.

There is one present that I got that Christmas morning that I still have today. It’s these boots. Boot that I’ve worn since I was 10 years old. These are the boots that carried me through some rough times in junior high and high school. They took me into the Air Force and a transfer to Germany. They brought me back to the U.S., protected me as I wandered and worked in some dangerous cities, led me to college, transported me while I traveled, gave me a kick in the pants when I needed to go to seminary, and eventually led me on my journey to you. Yeah, these boots were made for walkin’. And I would have missed out on their specialness had I stayed asleep and kept looking for that eleventh gift. What’s the surprise on this first Sunday of Advent? That a baby is coming—to love the world. I for one, hope to stay awake for that! Amen.

(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “Don’t Go to Sleep on Me” for November 27, 2005 – www.fernstone.org)