Thoughts for December, 2008
Merry Christmas!
That greeting has generated quite a lot of debate recently, with some opting to switch to “Happy Holidays” in its place in order to avoid using the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But I am wondering if the first part of that greeting seems appropriate to those of us in the church, especially this year when we face more serious situations than we have for quite some time. To be truthful, I’ve often wondered, even before this, if we think that Christmas is really a time to be merry. Joyful – yes! Merry? I’m not so sure. Joyful seems to allow for a range of deeper considerations. There can be joys in the face of great sorrows as well as grateful exuberance. Merry sounds more like an old English version of happy hour. (I can envision a Merry Old Inn or Pub!) Just a step above silly. You know, “Merrily we roll along…” While the rest of the world is agitated by Christ in “Merry Christmas,” I’m wondering why the church hasn’t ditched “Merry” some time ago.

Still, personally, I like “merry.” For two not-so-frivolous reasons.

First, I do like that it reminds me of holiday gatherings that focus less on what is holy. Although the word merry isn’t a word we use every day, I'm sure it was more common years ago. However, even then, it was more of a worldly word than a strictly church-y word. 'Merry' can connect me to the broader world – to places where people, who long to have their spirits lifted as much as we do, don't yet understand that something critically significant happened at Christmas. Like that Bethlehem Inn, perhaps, where people who were so close still missed the event entirely. Shepherds from surrounding hillsides arrived, yes, but there are no bible verses about room-occupants coming out to the stable. I need to remember that people have always sought other, less gratifying reasons to be merry -- that they still do-- and that the Lord who came, came precisely for that reason. To communicate to those who do not seek God out. To make a way for them to know him and turn to him.

Secondly, I like merry because it reminds me of the tone that I hear much later when people of God consider Jesus' life. It's the tone I hear in Paul’s voice when I read, 1 Corinthians 15: 55, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" By all human accounts, we shouldn’t be feeling this good in the face of death. We have no right to be this assertive and bold and even impudent. But in Christ, we absolutely are this free, maybe even a little giddy with the amazing, surprising relief that floods over us when we no longer have to fear death and punishment for our sins.

I think merry is a little like that. ‘The Lord has come! God is with us. God is for us! Who would ever have expected this child? Oh, let’s be…merry!’

Merry – it’s a throw-caution-to-the- wind word. But is it an appropriate word for this Christmas when we are all so care-full? Not if we are trying to adjust the season to the cares of this world, but if we are shaping this holy day by the one whose name it bears, we might insist on that old word, merry.

After all, Jesus said, “"I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me. In this world you will have trouble. But cheer up! I have won the battle over the world" (John 16: 33, NIRV).

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Shirley