A friend suggested a reprise
of a sermon I gave years ago
She called it a rap, but I’m not that cool.
It was a poem, at best,
it read like a slam.
I thought I’d give it another go.
But history never repeats itself
It often rhymes, they say.
So I won’t do a re-run, that would be lame,
But I’ll try something new
– in the same vein –
about this baby who’s on the way.
I’m no Andrea Gibson or Maya Angelou
No Shel Silverstein or Doctor Seuss
I’m a preacher whose preached Christmas, 24 years plus one
So something a bit different seemed like something more fun.
I could preach and pontificate, I’ve done that before
I could rant, rail, and scare – you can get that next door.
Maybe this will inspire both your heart and your headAnd keep you from dreaming of sugar plums and bed.
The last time I did this –
rhymed my way through Christmas Eve –
My youngest – Max – had just been born
My oldest – Jack – wasn’t yet 3.
So much has changed, since then, for sure
18 years back, where’d you do Christmas Eve?
Think of what’s different in your life and our world
Did you celebrate something? Or have something to grieve?
And how have things been in just the last year?
More joys than sorrows, I pray.
As we gather again, with our candles and carols,
Are you counting your blessings? Or just surviving the day?
Whatever it is, this time around,
I hope God meets you in this place
That’s the message of Christmas: Immanuel – God with us
And among us, come what may.
And again, history doesn’t repeat itself
But they say it often rhymes
That seems to be true where faith is concerned
And how God shows up in real time
So let’s see what rhymes this Christmas Eve
Let’s turn back the clock to hear
Something old that could be new again
If we let God’s love come near.
The history of faith’s people
began in a garden long ago
Where God breathed life into dust and bones
But God’s children just couldn’t say “no.”
They refused to keep their hands off
of a tree that promised lies
They heard God in the sound of the evening breeze
And hid from angry eyes
But God’s eyes of righteous judgement
Envisioned hope in equal portion
The Creator could see, beyond their Sin,
A future of salvation.
Soon there was that awful flood
but God saved the family of Noah
and made a promise to love without end
And sealed it with a bow.
Then there was that Babel tower –
Humanity tried to reach the divine
Their sins of Greed and Pride and Power
Got them scattered far and wide
Generations later
God’s Chosen Ones were slaves set free
Lost and afraid, but guided,
By clouds and fire their eyes could see
They were passed over and spared
And they crossed through the Red Sea
They wandered the wilderness,
And they followed God’s lead
And there were tablets and tabernacles
Serpents, wonders and signs
All proof of God’s presence
The same, but different, each time
Because history doesn’t repeat itself,
But like God’s grace, it rhymes.
And across generations this history rhymed
As God’s people mastered losing their way
They counted their sins and hid from their God
Letting judgement and shame win the day
But God was never into just counting our Sin
For the sake of proving us wrong
God was all about leading with mercy and love
So we’d make a world that sounds like a song
A song of hope for those with none
A song of faith when fear has won
A song of peace when wars still rage
A song of love that might turn the page
A song that rhymes, not repeats, in beautiful ways
that started anew with a Son
Who was born so we’d see just what grace could do
when we walk in the way of God’s love
Because it’s not about you and it’s not about me
It’s all about “us” and about “them”
It’s about how – together – we’re part of this plan
To love one and all to the end
Because God may still show up in rainbows and clouds
In signs, in miracles, in dreams
But Jesus showed up to show God revealed
in people like you and like me
We’re alike and we’re different in beautiful ways
We live and we move and we breathe
We walk common ground, we fear, long, and need
But still forget who are neighbors can be
Like Jesus they don’t have a safe place to land
Like his was, their world isn’t safe
Like Jesus they rely on the kindness of strangers
Like him they’re dependent on grace
He’s the gay kid that’s bullied
He knows about poor, single moms
He’s the Dad with no papers
He hides underground from bombs
He shelters-in-place in the classroom
He takes cover beneath pews
He’s on both sides of our border
And he’s exhausted by our news
His nights aren’t as silent
As we pretend they should be
His future’s not certain
And he looks to you and to me
In Jesus God shows up, draws close, comes near
In Christ, God comes down from on high
In Jesus we’re called to do more of the same:
To get off our cloud and no longer deny
That grace isn’t just ours,
it’s ours to share at all costs
This Gospel’s only good news
When it’s shared with the lost
And God knows what it is to be utterly lost
This boy showed up and got lost on the Cross
He died there for our sake, so that we could see
What “once and for all” actually means.
If you need it today, then take it, for sure
If you’re hungry then, please, have your fill
But let this grace find, free, and change you
until your life overflows with goodwill
Goodwill not just for men, but for women, too
And for everyone else in-between.
Goodwill for the ones who are broken and hurting
For the hopeless, the loveless, the mean.
So, what might make Christmas rhyme once again?
We can’t repeat the coming of this Child
But if God stepped into skin once way back then
God can surely take root in our lives
Because we’ve seen it time after time before
history rhymes it doesn’t repeat
So let God show up this Christmas, once more
Making us Love’s voice, hands, and feet.
Amen. Merry Christmas.
