The Downtown Presbyterian Church

Sermons

Christmas Is Both At Once

Luke 3:1-18

Rev. Kenneth M. Locke

December 7, 2003

Note: This week’s sermon incorporated the communion service in the sermon itself. Italics indicates the communion elements of the service.

Eternal God, as you led your people in ages past, you direct our journey into the future. We give you thanks that you came to us in Jesus Christ, and we eagerly await his coming again that his rule may be complete and your righteousness reign over all the world. Then we will feast at his royal banquet, and sing his praises with the choirs of heaven. By your spirit, open our eyes to the generosity of your hand, and nurture our souls in all spiritual gifts. Fill us with gratitude overflowing that we may share life and love in praise to you, God of all the ages, in the gracious name of Jesus Christ, your Son, by the power of your Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Last week I was in the church kitchen one day and suddenly found myself pressed-ganged into separating eggs for the Waffle Shoppe. Not a problem, I know about separating yolks from whites, done it lots of times, so I stood and chatted with Paulino and April Mullins and Irene Wills and we all had a nice time. I probably separated 6 or 7-dozen before I got called away to the telephone and had to get back to work.

It struck me later an egg is not really an egg unless both the white and the yolk are together. A yolk without the white is not an egg, it’s an egg-yolk. And a white without a yolk is not an egg, it’s an egg-white. It takes a white and a yolk together to make an egg.

If you go talk to enough people, you’ll find many Christians separating our faith into two parts. On the one hand, there’s sharing what we have with others who don’t have much, loving people we don’t want to love, forgiving people we don’t really want to forgive. Christians aren’t into deceiving, lying, or hurting other people. That is, Christianity is a system of ethical behavior. It’s a way of interacting with God, other people, ourselves, the world around us.

On the other hand, there’s believing in a God who loves us, believing Jesus is in some way God and God’s child and through Jesus’ death we are reconciled to God and live in God’s gracious love. Christians believe the Scriptures are God’s words to us and they reveal God’s love for us. That is, Christianity is a system of belief. It’s a set of beliefs to which we adhere and hold to be very dear and important.

Most of us, however, understand our faith is not separable into just actions or just beliefs. Rather, our faith is very much like an egg. Just as a yolk by itself is not an egg, ethical behavior by itself is not the faith. Just as an egg-white by itself is not an egg, so belief by itself, no matter how orthodox, is not the faith.

On this day, by happy coincidence, our service is demonstrating the interconnectedness of our faith. “Bear fruits worthy of repentance” John says. Whoever has two coats must share. Don’t take more than you’re supposed to take. Don’t extort or lie or steal. In other words, our Scripture lesson is telling us to be on our best ethical behavior.

At the same time, our service is reminding us we absolutely believe Jesus came to save us from our sins, and doing so he upset the power establishment so much they found a turn-coat to sell him out so they could kill him.

And on the night he was betrayed by one of his closest associates, he took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying: Take, eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our savior, as we prepare the celebrate this sacrament of strength and unity he gave us, let us remember the faith he taught us cannot be separated, yolk from white, actions from belief. It is both at once: beliefs guiding and informing actions, actions bringing life to those same beliefs, each complementing and completing the other.

The joyful feast of God has been prepared for us and is now ready. We have prayed over the table and the food. The good news that our faith is a whole that cannot be separated has been proclaimed. The words of institution have been said, the breaking of the bread and pouring of the cup have been performed. It only remains for us to come together and by this act proclaim God loves us so much God sent the divine child to live and die for us, showing us how to live and nurturing us to this very day by his presence in our communing together.

Communion was served.