From the Pastor’s Heart

A recent trip to Virginia to visit our daughter and her family turned out to be very educational. The first evening we were there our grandson, Mac and I took the dogs for their early evening walk. I noticed a couple of the homes had colored lights strung around their doorways. I exclaimed, “Look Mac, Christmas lights!” He immediately responded, “No ‘Kistmas’ lights, Pappy!” And then he said something I could not understand. I naturally corrected my grandson asking, “Don’t you remember Christmas lights?” Aha! This was a perfect opportunity for some Christian education. I then went on to explain, “We put Christmas lights up to celebrate Jesus’ birth.” He just looked at me and said, “I’m telling my dad!” “Go ahead and tell your dad,” I said. “Pappy knows something about Jesus and Christmas.” Mac was now upset and said with a huff, “No ‘Kistmas’ lights Pappy!” And with that proclamation our conversation ended. He refused to engage in any more conversation about Christmas lights.

When we returned home I told my son-in-law, I tried to teach Mac about the Christmas lights that are decorating a couple of the homes but he got upset and insisted they are not Christmas lights.” Matt simply said, “He is right. They are not Christmas lights. They are Dewali lights.” “Dewali lights? What are Dewali lights?” I asked. He explained that in the Hindu tradition there is a celebration of lights called the Dewali Festival. When we got home I researched it on the Internet and found that the Dewali Festival is by far the most glamorous and important Hindu festival—the festival of lights. During this five day festival gifts are given and sweets are an important part of the festival diet. Sure enough my almost 3 year-old grandson had taught his old Pappy a lesson. Dewali lights, that is what Mac was trying to say to me. I have to admit I had never heard of them.

Here we are in the Advent season and quickly approaching Christmas. I wonder how many of us will miss the true meaning of this very holy season as I didn’t understand the Dewali lights?

It is like the little boy who returned from Sunday school with a new perspective on the Christmas story. He’d learned all about the wise men form the East who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. He was so excited; he could hardly wait to tell his parents.

As soon as the boy arrived home, he immediately began: “I learned all about the very first Christmas in Sunday school today! There wasn’t a Santa Claus way back then, so these three skinny guys on camels had to deliver all the toys! And Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, with his nose so bright, wasn’t there yet, so they had to have this big spotlight in the sky to find their way around!”

Even as adults we often end up not quite getting the meaning of the first Christmas. Matthew describes the gift of the season of Advent with a single word, my favorite of all the Christmas words—Emmanuel, God with us. Not God HAS BEEN with us, not God WILL BE with us; but God WITH US, RIGHT NOW, TODAY!

God didn’t send his Son to give us a sentimental holiday: he came to save us from sin. He didn’t come because we are nice people; but because we are lost people; and because if Jesus hadn’t come, we could never be found.

If we let ‘Merry Christmas’ become simply ‘Seasons Greetings,’ and if the ‘holy day’ becomes just a holiday—-well, it will be as if the shepherds leaving the manger had told their friends, “We’ve just seen the cutest little baby boy!” And as if the wise men had sent a congratulatory letter rather than traveled weeks in order to bring their gold, frankincense and myrrh.

My grandson taught me a great lesson about Dewali lights. Christmas, however, is not a lesson that we learn. Christmas is something we experience. May we hear and experience the angels great proclamation:

“And in that region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”

I know you have heard the story. Have you experienced it?

Christmas Blessings,

Pastor Russel

A couple of days ago I was sitting in an outpatient waiting room at one of the hospitals in Pittsburgh. I very much enjoy observing people. And, as I sat there, I saw an elderly couple sitting directly across from me. They both appeared to be very frail but I noticed that it was the woman who had the hospital band on her wrist. She looked weary and worn. She gently took the man’s hand and held it tightly. He gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. He looked confused and bewildered, and I could see a sense of fear in his eyes. But the frail woman obviously found solace in the man by her side. She put her head on his shoulder and tried to muster a weak smile as she closed her eyes. He continued to hold her hand and leaned his head over and rested it on her head. I allowed my imagination to work overtime. Did he know something she didn’t? Or maybe they both knew what they were about to face would not be easy. I wondered why they were alone. Didn’t they have any children or grandchildren that could accompany them? At the moment, all they had was each other, and that seemed to be enough. My heart was touched by the love and care they expressed for each other.

In whom do you find solace? Whom is the one in your life that offers the reassurance that is often needed? Who can you count on?

A true story I read in “Sermons on the First Readings” illustrates this kind of reassurance and dependability. “In 1989, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake flattened much of the state of Armenia and killed over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. In the midst of the utter devastation and chaos, a man left his wife in the security of others at home and rushed to the school where he had taken his son that morning, only to discover that the building was damaged almost beyond recognition. After he recovered from the trauma of his discovery, the man remembered a promise he made to his son a few years earlier: ‘No matter what, I will always be there for you!’ The man’s eyes filled with tears as he looked at the pile of debris that once was the school. Despite the apparent hopelessness of the situation, the commitment he had made continued to haunt him.

The father concentrated on where his son might be in the building, remembering where he had dropped him off that morning. When he felt he knew the location, he began to dig through the rubble. As he was digging, other forlorn parents, clutching their hearts and crying out the name of their child, tried to pull him off the pile, saying, ‘It’s too late! They are dead; you can’t help hem now.’ To each parent he only responded, ‘Are you going to help now?’ The police then came and said to the father, ‘you are distraught and angry, but in your actions you are endangering others. Go home; we will handle it.’ But again the father responded, ‘Are you going to help now?’ No one was willing to help.

Courageously, the man continued with his task, for he needed to know for himself if his son was dead or alive. He dug for eight hours—twelve hours—24 hours—36 hours and then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a huge boulder and heard his son’s voice. He screamed his son’s name, ‘Armand!’ The boy called back, ‘Dad, it’s me! I told the others here not to worry. I told them that if you were alive you would save me because you had promised, ‘No matter what, I will be there for you!’ You did it, Dad.’ The boy and thirteen companions had been saved when a triangle-like wedge formed when the building collapsed. The father called his son, ‘Come out, boy!’ ‘No, Dad,’ said the son, ‘let the other kids out first, because I know you will get me. No matter what, I know you will be there for me!’” This true account is an excellent illustration of how one man refused to give up. This young boy knew that he could count on his dad. It is such a blessing when we have others in our lives to whom we can turn for comfort and strength.

During that same visit at the hospital where I observed the elderly couple, I also saw a man who was all-alone. He had difficulty walking and had trouble hearing. He looked so very alone. I realize not everyone has someone to lean upon. Not everyone has a shoulder to turn to. The good news is we all have our Divine Creator, in whom we can trust our very lives.

This Sunday we will celebrate All Saints Sunday. It is a day in which we remember and celebrate the lives of those who have died in the last year. In that celebration, we find strength, comfort and peace in God’s promise: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” We also find solace in Jesus’ promise; “I will not leave you orphaned.”

We are not alone. Jesus takes each of us by the hand and gives a reassuring squeeze. Thanks be to God.

Blessings,

Pastor Russel