THAT 1S ‘THAT - OR IS IT? DECEMBER 30, 1973 JOHN M. BUCHANAN
Isaiah 53:1-3 BETHANY Presbyterian Church
Luke 1K Lafayette, Indiana

\
aptetie on the front page of the Journal & Courier Thursday Evening caught the
prevail tng food of this week - and this Sunday after christmas. \ rt showed a pile of trash

~ waiting to be removed, and in the middle, at a garish angle, a forlorn and barren Christmas
v Cv,
tree.| The post-Christmas let-down is upon us After all, we began to prepare sometime in

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September or october. | In the middle of Novembeer, the tempo increased as store windows were
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decorated, yrs were laid away, parties planned. | In December we went full-throttle.

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Schedules wee full | everyone was hard at work:\ emotionally we were investing everything we

have in anticipating Christmas. \ And suddely, it's over.| What took months to come - came and
went sometime, last Tuesday. | And i think we may be forgiven if we feel a little washed out, —

or let down today.\ The phenomenum is evident around the Church The weeks_prior to
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Christmas wa are full and happy. \ Girl Scouts baking cookes in the kitcherl, Christmas
ayen routine mectims beemme speciat
- caroling, parties, people coming and going every day. \ But it's been deadly quiet this week.
ye Yet, deep down inside, I have the feeling that thisealong with the Sunday after EAster -
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NX] is one of the two most important days in the Church Year.\ We have celebrated_a birth -

Now What?
The late W. H. Auden captured the essence of the occasion near the end of his Christmas
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Oratario, “For the Time Being":

"Well, so that is that. | Now we must dismantle the tree.
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes -
Some have got broken - and carrying them up to the aétic.
The holly and the misletow, must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school.

There are enough Leftovers to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week -
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted - quite unsuccessfully -

To love all of our relatives, and in general

Grossly ovwrestimated our powers.

Once again as in previous years we have seen

the actual Vision and failed

To do more than entertain it as an agreeable

THAT IS THAT ~ OR IS IT? (2)
DECEMBER 30, 10973
Possibility, once again we have sent him away, |

Begging though to remain his disobedient servant..."

Well, the point of this xexxxee sermon is very simple - hamely, that the baby whose
birth we celebrated - was Jesus christ | To borrow from Auden, the agends for the Sunday
after Christmas is to prevent this) "Seeing the actual Vision and failing to do more than

entertain it as an agreeable possibility." when hw ovla nok always ceerpt - or even
; . re cinnia$ Goi's Servoas wala Wa & OHBared
Long before the birth itself, the prophet warned that Geor+schesenpenvaitewould-<net

| "Who has tdieved what we have heard?"} he mae th pees well be the question

Christians need most to ask on the Sunda after. :
The prophet knew that nese -ret—penyic iy 3 eT ‘edmor athe! See SasAS
pe THe ew, prevent “Rune Sie Peete * weruenk af Ade kara
— "he grew up before him like a young plant,

and Tike a dry root out of dry ground;
he had no form or comeliness that
we should look at him.

and no beauty that we shoud desire him. |

Suddenly we are removed from the pastoral simplicity of the man serinon
—_a &® Wark 3 love “foc

4.
on the Mount A Suddenly we are forced tg move beyond the

the axtip of
wee to the oe who always ended up loving the wrong ki d of people.

And the prophet won won't let it go at tha at\\ He throws a hal dful of ashes into the holiday

giow of Christmas by raising the spectre of hatred and violence directed toward this special

servant of tre Lord - a spectre that begins suspiciously to lobk like a cross:

_—

“He was despised and rejected....

a man of sorrows acquainted with grief:
And as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

ed Or take it from the New Testanent..\ I wonder if St. Luke had any idea of the alle-

gorical significance contained in his little vignette about thetr being no room in the inn?

Now that's a precious and important part of the Christmas story.\ But let's remove the

varnish for a vonent. \ Let's take it out of plastic or ceramic or music:\tet's contemplate

THAT IS THAT - OR IS 17? }3)

December 30, 1973 |

for a moment a dirty barn, and a feeding trough used in haste|for a crib.\ But let's go
Penoeceenany Ra ne —

easy 4n the inn keeper.

He did what men have been doing ever since:| what the prophet said they would do - what

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in fact, our whole culture is in the process of doing this nopning\ He had other things on

his mind: making money, for instance, from this year-end bonanza of cash custoners. | We

can't very well blame him for that:\it was his bread and putter.\ an besides, a full-
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blown party was in pracess \the wine was f Flowing | taughter_£i filled the air.\ who wanted to

foot around with Galilean peasants¢ the girl very pregnant - nd unmarried someone said.
heptane dl ;

So

Put very simply - there was no room. But, of courge, the inn; keeper didn't Know who it was

he was inviting to sleep in the barn) and even his ignornance points toward the road ahead.

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_ For men have never been very good at recognizing God at work in their midst. Wh fa wah | Oh

stout

“nese Gur culture has done its best to acknowledge that Christmas has to do with a

irth\ But integrity forces us, on this day particularly to ask the prophetic question:

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"who has believed what we have heard?"

A letter w the editor last wed lag act that t e Nativity scene no Tonger
(OV Sadieies fo
g “adorns the White Mouse Jaw n. | But that/s not the probiem. | ow culture doesn't have any
xb eeceewe sect ee aed SAEED,

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difficulty welcoming the baby: fie s Ahe man who gives us tro trouble. \ Someone recer recently

observed that an American Christinas is a little like holding ‘a birthday party and not inviting

LY. Ti dae oo BK Byer
the honored guest. bx yet Ke nw Cible
—— : ———
In any case, our culture has always seen itself as basiaal ly religious: \ christian: |
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but without taking Jesug Christ ver serfously.\ We have no voom for him. f if we

woul

For example I gtr! like to read to you an except from Gatch 22, one of fe most

poputar novels about World War If. \a chaplain to a bomber soup in Italy is being put

on the carpet by his Colenel.

"We me were speaking about conducting religious servicgs in the briefing room before
each mission. Is there any reason why we dan't?"

"No, sir," the chaplain mumbled.

=

"Then we'll begin with this afternoon's nission."\ the colonel 's hostility softened

En —

THAT IS THAT ~ OR IS IT? (4)
December 20, 2082 1973

gradually as he applied himself to details.
"Now T want you to give a lot of thought to the kind of prayers we're going to say.| I

dan't want anything heavy or sad.\ I'd like you to keep it Light and_shappy, something that

will send the boys out feeling pretty good. \ Do you know what I mean? \r don't want any

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of this Kindgom of God or Valley of Death stuff. That's all ‘too negative.\ What are you

making such a sour face for?” |

Fn ae Fe iin |

"T'm sorry, sir," the chaplain stamered. | "I happened tip be thinking of the Twenty-

third Psalm just as you said that."
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"How does that one go?"

“That's the one you were just reférring to, sin, "The Lord is my shephered. I - ‘"

ween,

"That's the one I was just referring to. \ re! s out \ Have n't you got anything humorous

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that stays away from waters and valleys and Goa? I'd like to keep away from the subject of
religion altogether if we can.

The chaplain was apologetic. "I'm sorry sir, but just about all the prayers I know are

rather somber in tone and make at least some passing reference to God."
a Pn riptn
"Then let's get some new ones.\ The men already are doing enough trtching about the

missions [ send them on without rubbing it in with any sermorjs about God or death or

paradise | uy can't we take a more positive approach? | "eer hy can't we all pray for something

good, like a tighter bomb pattern, for example? \ Couldh‘t we. pray for a tighter bomb pattern?"

rena

“Well, yes, sir, I suppose so," tie chaplain answered hasitantly. \ "You shouldn't even
need me if that's all you wanted to do . You could do that ygurself."

"I know I could,” the colonel responded tartly\ "But what yeux do you think you're
here for?. You job is to lead us_in_ prayer, and from now on you're going to lead us ina
prayer_for a tighter bomb pattern before every mission. \ Is that clear? \1 think a tighter

bomb pattern is something really worth praying for. \ It will jbe a feather in afl our caps

with General Peckem.\ General Peckem feels see it makes a mgch nicer_arial photograph when

the bombs explode close together".
Colonel Cathcart began tramping back and forth reflectively.

waaee "T suppose we'll have to keepyou waiting outside unt) the briefing is over,

i tii ell

because all that information is classifted. \ie can slip you in while Major Danby is

THAT IS THAT - OR IS IT? (5)
December 30, 1973

synchronizing the wtches.\ I don't think there's anything secret about the right time.

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We'll allocate about a minute and a half for you in the schedule. | Will_a minute and a

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half be enough?"

"Yes, sir. If it doesn't include the time necessary to excuse the atheists from the

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room and admit the enlisted men."

Perm Ceara

Colonel Cathcart stopped in his tracks.\ "What atheists 4" he bellowed defensively,

his whole manner changing in a flash to one of virtuous and Hell igerent denial. "There are
a eee ree. a ese

no atheists in my outfit! \ Atheism is against the law, isn't it?"

"No_sir."

"It isn't?" The colonel was surprised. \ "Then it's un-Anjerican, isn't itt"

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"T'm not sure, sir." answered the chaplain.

"Well, I am!" the colonel declaired. \"I'm not going to disrupt our religious services

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just to accommodate a buch of lousy atheists. \They' re getting no special privileges from

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ve. \[hey can stay right where they are arg and paey with the rest of us. \ And--whrerta6--tebel
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i eechave- the =ewr-chaptatty cor

SF he greatest challenge to the Gospel is that in this culture people feel religious.

in a vague, ambigous way that has nothing to do with Jesus chist.\ There is, that is to say,
for Ane specie clowns - deaghiens > veurck chowder ~ Wa cureuued Cheitkion

no room It's not a problem of atheism - and never has sei The late Bishop James Pike

in his book "A Time for Christian Candor? Points out that an authentic atheist is very rare:

even an honest agnostic is hard to come by these day.s\ But the world is filled with the

STs, |

indifferent :\tose, in his words ("Whose diffidence is about like that of most people toward

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Negetarianism: \it's nothing they've ever been involved in or particularly thought about."

That's the issue that comes rushing in en=eed=Somtlay after Christsmas.\ And it_seems

iia ihdediialidieniialtitited

to me imperative to draw it as sharply as possible \Ei ther the claim that the child was

God incarnate is true or it is false. \iF it is true: rue: Jif in fact this lovely story is the
ene aaniaiaal dee

tale of God's love for man - it is the most astounding thing that has ever nappened| ses

%% true that God has come among us, the world is a new and different place,full of hope and

grace because of that coming. \" it is true that the Child was Jesus Christ me his words
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whet he did when he became a mau myth t be devibly jarypr dan fey

THAT IS THAT - OR IS IT? )6)
December 30, 1873

ought to instruct and judge everything we do.| 1 it is true that God gave him.to us - as
light in the darkness, as the assurance of -akmmmgan eternal life, then our lives ought to be

given to following him in happy gratitude.

If it is not true then the whole thing - the Chsistmas story - the Church - the faith
ought to be oppossed by men of good will a the cruelest hoax and most fantastic a _ever told.
ld SSS ae ee Sa <
There is no middle ground.\ He is our Lord - or he is apathetic joke.

So the trees will be discerded:\ the decorations put away in their Gard board boxes,

the children got ready for school .\ That_is that.\or is it?
, mmmniianicc maa" STE

We have seen the actual vision - we have entertained it as an agreeable possibility.

Let us not, this year, send him away claiming, lamely - no el AMEN

Eternal and Almighty God, we are grateful for the good and lovely celebration of your
son's birth. It has warmed our hearts. It has brought us closer to each other. Now -

as we return to normality, give us faith to be disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN