Christmas Fun

This is just a fun Christmas-time activity. Because I am verbose beyond description, I cannot simply answer the questions with one or two words. Sorry!!!

I'd love to hear your responses to the questions. Copy and paste this into the comments section and add your own answers. Or, email me (you can look in the "About me" section on the left-hand side of the webpage, and click on "view my complete profile"; there is is link to my email on my profile page).

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags: I'd have to say gift bags, though I feel guilty about that, since this holiday season, Americans will produce 44 million tons of waste, a 25 percent increase over the rest of the year. I've heard of people using the comic pages of the newspaper as wrapping. I like that idea!

2. Real or Artificial tree? Artificial...because you can put it up any time, keep it up as long as you want, and not worry about starting your house on fire.

3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Not until Epiphany on Jan. 6th...since that is when Christmas officially ends.

5. Do you like Eggnog? It tastes like toes.

6. Favorite Gift you received as a child? Books...the consistently great joy of my life.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? several...but the wise men are still on their way and not part of the "scene" yet.

8. Hardest person to buy for? my dad...he has everything...

9. Easiest person to buy for? my nieces, because there are so many cute things for girls

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? Cash, from a boyfriend in college...seriously...it was a nice amount of cash ($75), but he gave it because he couldn't think of anything to get me. That was the beginning of the end.

11. Christmas Cards: Snail mail or E-mail? I like Christmas cards and all, but whenever I get them, I feel guilty for not sending them...and I really don't have time to send them. So, they are a bitter-sweet experience!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie/Show? I love them all, especially the sappy, Christmas romance movies on Lifetime and Halmark. "Charlie Brown Christmas" is my eternal Christmas favorite!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? A little bit here and there from about October on...still somehow, no matter how much I plan, I end up at a store the week of Christmas to get a last minute gift...which I HATE...especially Easton, for anyone who lives in Columbus. You have to drive around the parking lots there for half an hour before you can even find a place to park...not an efficient use of my time and it makes me want to murder people! Things that lead to homicidal tendencies are not good, generally speaking.

14. Have you ever 'recycled' a Christmas present? Not really...but then again, I have a bunch of things (former gifts) that I never use, stored in my basement. I should probably start re-gifting.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? sugar cookies...with icing and sprinkles...shaped like Christmas things. LOVE THEM!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I like both...but this year have colored lights on my tree. It feels more festive...but not as polished looking.

17. Favorite Christmas Song? "We Three Kings" (the words to the verses are fabulous!!!)

18. Travel at Christmas or Stay Home? As long as I am with the people I love, either is fine.

19. Can you name Santa's Reindeer? yes, only because I learned "Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer" as a young child.

20. Do you have an Angel or a Star on top of your tree? An angel...which seems more holy to me than a star...it isn't more holy, that is just my perception. Besides, the angel on the top of my tree most likely looks NOTHING like the angels of the Bible, which were probably very scary-looking beings.

21. Open the Presents Christmas Eve or Morning? We always opened Christmas presents on Christmas even with my mom's side of the family and on Christmas day with my dad's. Now, being a pastor, Christmas Eve is a pretty crazy day, so the last thing I am thinking about is opening presents.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Traffic, crowded malls, hearing modern versions of "The 12 Days of Christmas" played every ten minutes on every radio station in the universe.

23. Shopping: Online...the parking at the malls seriously makes me crazy!

24. Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside(or at all?) Does a wreath on the door count as decorating outside?

25. Favorite Christmas cookie? Never met a Christmas cookie that I didn't like...but, the buckeye (a chocolate, peanut butter confection shaped like, well, a buckeye) ranks up there...guess that isn't really a "cookie"...

26. Do you own Christmassy clothing or jewelry? I bought my first "Christmas" sweater this year and wore it to every church-related Christmas event that we had. I half expected someone to ask me to start teaching 3rd grade when they saw that sweater, but I have yet to receive that job offer...

27. Do you believe in Santa? I believe there was a St. Nicholas. I believe that there are santas at the mall. But one person, living at the north pole, delivering presents to all the good children of the world...not so much.

28. Favorite Christmas tradition? Attending a late night, Christmas Eve candlelight service. I love singing "Silent Night" while everyone holds candles.

29. Favorite Christmas memory? There are many, but I loved spending time with my grandparents (who are all passed away) at Christmas. I remember my Grandma Ehrnschwender's (that's really her name) steak and potato pancake Christmas Eve dinners. I also remember waiting for my Grandpa Dietsch on Christmas morning. He always had to shave and do his morning routine on Christmas morning, while we waited to open presents. I swear it took him 45 minutes to shave. It was almost unbearable!

30. Embarrassing, Chaotic, or unexpected Christmas moment? When I was a senior in high school, I was the "head angel" on Christmas Eve. At the late night Christmas Eve candlelight service, the high school girls would dress as angels and pantomime the lyrics to "Silent Night" in front of the altar. It sounds cheesy, but it was really very beautiful...and something that the younger girls dreamed of being old enough to take part in. All the angels faced the altar, with their backs to the congregation. The "head angel" was in the very front, right at the alter, with everyone watching and following her lead. At one point of the song, we had to get down on our knees. When I,as head angel, went to stand back up, I stepped on the hem of my long white robe, tripped, and fell head first into, and onto, the altar. I pushed myself off the altar, got back into place, and finished the song...horrified and embarrassed. The choir, who had a front row perspective of my "fall", were the first to make comment after the service (but not the last). This began a series of jokes that continued for years, referring to me the "fallen angel". At first, I cringed when people said it. It became funny after a while (like, maybe, by the next Christmas!!!)

It's not your birthday...

A friend of mine (who is a youth pastor) is challenging her youth to have a "slim Christmas". She encouraged them to ask their parents for LESS presents this year, with the idea that the parents would then give that money which would have been spent on presents to a mission project for the Sudan (which I will discuss in more detail below). Can you imagine American teenagers saying, "I don't want more stuff. I have enough ipods and cell phones. Christmas isn't about me. It's about Jesus. And I want Jesus to be known in this world. What I want for Christmas is to make a difference for Jesus Christ." The amazing thing is, the kids are on fire over this, wanting to bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Their youth group is also selling t-shirts, with all the proceeds going to the Sudan project. On the front, the shirts say: "It's not about me". On the back: "Living simply so that others might simply live". I've had this mental picture all day of a typical American Christmas list placed next to the list of a Sudanese child. I grew up as an American child. I know what it is like to make a Christmas list: stuff, stuff, stuff, and more stuff. Imagine the African child's list: food, clean water, shelter, safety. That really put things in perspective for me.

My youth pastor friend got this idea from a church in Tipp City, Oh called Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church. The pastor, Mike Slaughter, first challenged his congregation about 5 years ago (I believe) with the idea that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, not yours. His idea was that we can celebrate our own birthdays, but for Christ's birthday, maybe we should celebrate in ways that are more fitting His mission and purpose. Slaughter proposed that people in his congregation spend half as much on Christmas as they normally would and give the other half to mission. The specific mission that their church has embraced is in the Sudan (Darfur), which the U.N. has identified as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.

From the Ginghamsburg website: "In Darfur, Sudan, 300,000 people have died over the past three years as a result of civil unrest, lack of food and disease. Two million children, women and men are refugees, with little food, drinkable water, protection or hope."
Check out more at their site: http://ginghamsburg.org/sudan/

It is a challenging message and witness for all of us. What does it really mean to be a follower of Jesus? What effect does/should our commitment to Christ have on how we live and how we give? And what does it really mean to celebrate Christmas? What kind of Christmas celebration is most pleasing to God?

Three answers from Scripture come to mind:
1) "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

2) "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

3) "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' " Matthew 25:31-40

Let us remember Christ and the meaning of His birth, and let us live every part of our lives in a way that brings Him the most glory.

Being an innkeeper

For Advent this year, a group of people from my church have been reading a book called "Christmas From the Backside" by J. Ellsworth Kalas. Kalas was my preaching professor in seminary...an extraordinarily gifted preacher and man of deep faith and passionate commitment to Christ.

We used to laugh in seminary, as he would critique our sermons. He would chose a part of your sermon and say something like, "I like what you did there, but you could also do something like this..." And off he would go, preaching a new sermon--a phoenix rising from the ashes of your old sermon. His impromptu sermons were some of the most beautiful I've ever heard, leaving us breathless and often in tears. It is rare that I have been in the presence of such greatness, but once you've experienced it, you never forget.

Kalas has a collection of books whose titles include the phrase "from the backside": parables from the backside, new testament stories from the backside, old testament stories from the backside, on and on, etc. He likes to take familiar stories and look at them from a new perspective (i.e. "the backside"). One thing I remember most from his class was a concept he often repeated. The idea was that we, as preachers, need to find something unique to say in each sermon. Not something no one in the history of the world had ever thought of before, it just had to be new to us...an "aha moment". That's probably not a bad principle for any public speaker...or really anyone who speaks, ever: Before you talk, make sure you have something to say! In a world of too many words, we were inspired to actually speak with meaning, hope, excitement...speaking as if God is really alive and active and doing someting in the world and in our lives. I try to do that in sermons, to feel like I have something--at least one thing--that needs to be said because of its depth and originality. Some Sundays are better than others, but that is the nature of life, I think!

In reading this book during Advent, there are several things Kalas has brought to light for me, making me think about the Christmas Story in a new way. In one chapter, he discusses the innkeeper (the one who had no room for Mary and Joseph in his establishment that first Christmas Eve). I really liked what Kalas had to say and appreciate what is has meant to me this season, as my heart prepares more room for Christ.

From Christmas From the Backside by J. Ellsworth Kalas (Abingdon Press: Nashville, 2003, pp. 42-43)
"I understand the innkeeper. I've learned that so many of us shut God out of our lives, not necessarily because we're hostile to him, but simply because we are 'filled up' with other things. Indeed, that's the tragedy of most of our lives, especially since so much of what fills our lives is trivia. So often persons who have passed through a crucial illness say that at the edge of death, they got a new understanding of what is worth living for. Everything seems to conspire to fill our days with life's transients--and then, when Eternity knocks at the door, seeking a place, we have to report that our rooms are full. You and I are often like the innkeeper: We shut Christ out, not because we hate Him, but because we are preoccupied. In fact, I ponder a quite uneasy thought. The innkeeper never knew, I'm quite sure, that he had just shut out the very Christ; he was simply filled up. And this is just the way some of us go through life--not knowing that Christ has sought admission. We get so occupied with other matters that we don't even recognize the divine inquiry.
And so Christmas comes even to those who aren't seeking it, who don't even particularly want it. It comes to hotels that are filled, to lives that are crowded, to people who are preoccupied. And always, it comes saying, 'I love you. May I come in?'...(several paragraphs omitted) and then, of course, the question comes, just as it did twenty centuries ago: Will we make room for Him?"

The Tale of Three Trees

We had a Christmas party for our church women's group tonight. I was in charge of the "program". The program is meant to be short, sweet, and meaningful...and Christmasy in nature.

So, we took a Christmas quiz, read the Christmas story, sang some Christmas carols, and then I shared a story that has become meaningful to me. I'm not sure why this particular story impacts me so deeply. As I read through the story again this afternoon, in preparation for tonight, I was suddenly teary-eyed. I guess it makes me ponder the precious and lasting parts of life. That is an important reminder, because I am easily distracted by lesser things. I remember a line from St. Augustine's Confessions, where he discusses his life before loving Jesus. He says of his pre-Jesus life (and probably true during certain seasons of his life after Jesus): "I fell in love with beauty of a lower order". We miss Truth and Perfection because we are often focused on lesser things...still beautiful things, but not the most beautiful. We each have hopes and dreams about good and enduring things, but nothing compares with the beauty of Christ Himself. Nothing compares with the beauty of the dreams God has for us.

The story I read tonight speaks about expectations and dreams...the hopes we have for who we will become and what life will be like. Sometimes, many times, things don't work out the way we originally pictured. In those moments, it would be easy to think that God does not care about our wants and dreams. The truth is that God has bigger and better dreams in store for us than anything we can imagine.

Christmas is a wonderful picture of how God works in ways that defy imagination. I would expect God to come to earth with chariots and trumpets, making a lot of noise and fuss, with some profound scene of regal importance. Yet, when God wants to show us what divinity is all about, He comes to earth as a baby...weak, helpless, needy, messy. God's plan is so different than what I imagined. Somehow, in the end, God's idea is better.

Here is God's idea:

Colossians 1:19-20 "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

I need to be reminded, over and over and over again, that God really knows what He is doing. I like to tell God how things should be, both in my life and in the world. Forgetting that, maybe, just maybe, God has had a plan all along...and that plan far exceeds the wildest hopes of this inconsistent dreamer.

The legend of these three trees...and, more importantly, the true and amazing story of God's entrance into our world...reminds me that God is up to something, always. We can trust our dreams into His hands, because God is the best dreamer of all.

The Tale of Three Trees--an anonymous folk tale

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!"

The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world!"

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.

"Years passed and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" the first tree said.

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!"

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me." He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, nor with treasure. She was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty ship was made that day. Instead, the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river. Instead she was taken to a little lake.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God...

"Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest Treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

Winter Wonderland

Walking my dogs tonight, I was awed by the beauty of snow. It is the first time snow has fallen with any constancy this season. My dogs like to jump up and catch it on their tongues. So do I, if truth be told.

I love this time of year, when snow is still new and exciting. By February, snow becomes burdensome, gray, and depressing. But now, at the beginning of its winter reign, the snow is a gift. Something about snow makes life seem magical, as if anything can happen, at any time; the world is filled with expectation. While it is falling, everything seems bright, crisp, new, clean.

There is a section of trees not far from my front door. They are huge evergreens, all clumped together, with an antique light post directly in the middle. Tonight, surrounded by evergreens, standing in front of the misplaced light post while snow fell with unrelenting gentleness, I felt like I was transported into a Narnian land.

In C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" series, a light post is accidentally transplanted in the ground as Narnia is created. The light post becomes a landmark during the consecutive books, an oddity that stands out in the midst of the wintery forest. Narnia instantly captured my imagination as a young reader (it still does, as an older reader). Narnia is an enchanted land of surprises and wonders. It is a land of talking animals, most notably, Aslan...the Lion. Aslan is meant to be a Christ-figure.

Whenever I think about Narnia and about Aslan, there is one scene from the books that always comes to mind. It is a discussion about Aslan's nature--what He is really like.

(From: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe")

"Is - is he a man?" asked Lucy.

"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly.
"Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion."

"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."
-----

I love that line: "'Course he isn't safe. But he's good". What a perfect description of Jesus. Jesus is the Judge, the King, the Ruler, the One who "calls the shots"...but lest we become frightened that He is some despotic ruler, we remember that He is good.

That is a great reminder for this season of the year. Christmas is not just about a baby. It is about a baby who is King. He is so big and powerful that our minds can't contain Him, but He is so good that He takes on our weakness to show us His love.

I will close with lyrics to a song...a song about a King who became a baby...a King who is not safe, but is always good.

"Welcome to our World" by Chris Rice:

Tears are falling,
hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile fingers sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorns
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world