C, The Second Sunday after Christmas - John 1: 1-2, 14, 16-17, Ephesians 1:7-8, 11-14 "Grace Upon Grace"

Today is the Second Sunday after Christmas.  Epiphany follows on January the sixth.  Epiphany continues the Christmas season, switching the focus from Jesus as a human child, to being also the Son of God from eternity.  But today marks the end of the twelve-day Christmastide church season from Christmas Day to now.  And it's from where we get the seemingly trite carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. 

For the sake of time, we'll hear just the last verse which summarises all that's given in cumulative number over the twelve days. 

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: Twelve drummers drumming – Eleven pipers piping – Ten lords a-leaping – Nine ladies dancing – Eight maids a-milking – Seven swans a-swimming – Six geese a-laying – Five golden rings – Four calling birds – Three French hens – Two turtle doves – And a partridge in a pear tree!

But the carol has deeper purpose than what we first might hear.  The carol contains a code that reveals God as a gracious giver, who lavishes us with gifts, one blessing after another - a giver of grace upon grace.

From John's Gospel we hear, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth.  And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.  For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."  (John 1:1-2, 14, 16-17)

However, for many today Christmas has become not so much about God and the gifts he lavishes upon us in all his grace and glory.  But rather Christmas has become a melting pot of pressure and things we have to do in a terrible hurry. 

A parody of the Twelve Days of Christmas is the Twelve Pains of Christmas and perhaps you might sigh as you see yourself with, at least, just some of the trials this song portrays.

The twelve things at Christmas that's such a pain to me: Singing Christmas carols – Stale TV specials – Batteries not included – Finding parking spaces – Children wanting stuff – Charities – Facing my in-laws – Five months of bills – Sending Christmas cards – Hangovers – Rigging up the lights – And finding a Christmas tree!

This "me-centred" consumer Christmas is not a very nice picture!  But with all parodies, humour comes about because there's a sense of truth hidden in the satirical song.  Perhaps this parody is more realistic than we would like to admit.  Such is what Christmas has become in a world where Jesus Christ is taken from Christmas. 

If Christ is removed from being the centre of Christmas and its glory and the season becomes "me-centred", perhaps we should call the season "christ-is-me" instead of Christmas.  And if that's the case, then Christmas is an anti-Christ-mass orgy.  When you place yourself at the centre at Christmas, you come against Christ and become an antichrist!  What happens is one ends up doing all sorts of things to glorify the human ego rather than glorifying God.

However, returning to the regular Twelve days of Christmas carol, we hear twelve times in twelve day what "my true love" is giving.  Who is this true love?  God our Father, is of course!  God is love, because his being is the perfection of love.  Our being is human and flawed with our desire to love on conditions, and it's fleeting at best.  But God's love is pure, powerful, self-giving, all-encompassing, and his love is eternal. 

In his love, God gives!  He gives of himself out of love for us.  But God’s love is also jealous!  We hear from Exodus chapter twenty. “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:5b–6 ESV)

This jealous love God gives to us is not just a love bound in feelings.  Rather, it’s a love which comes to us in a real way, encompassing all of God’s being and benefits more than just our emotions.  His love is a love that's practical, physical, spiritual, and as we've already heard, it's eternal - it never stops!  But the greatest thing about God's love is — it's for you, for us, and for all people!

The twelve days of Christmas is a festival of God's love lavished on us.  His love for you is unfaltering kindness and generosity.  It's a gift and it's the most useful gift one will ever get.  It's a practical gift!  It's a spiritual gift!  It's a physical gift!  And this gift is Good News!  This gift is God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and through him we are lavished with even more gifts.  From the one gift we receive a Pandora's Box of gifts.  One might say, "Gifts upon gifts!"

In fact, these gifts upon gifts come from the fullness of God's grace and truth.  Each day of this twelve day season your true love, your true Lord, gives upon giving.  Favour upon favour, blessing upon blessing, gift upon gift, grace upon grace!

In the song The Twelve days of Christmas what is given on the first day is also given on the second day with the second day's gift.  And these gifts continue to flood each day onwards so that on the twelfth day we have received gift upon gift.

Do you realise that this is an eternal progression?  What you received in baptism on the first day to the glory of God, you have received every day since!  You have received blessing upon blessing, forgiveness upon forgiveness, salvation upon salvation, and unfaltering kindness upon kindness.  And it will continue despite your sinful nature, because of the fullness of God's love towards you.  And this fullness is found in Jesus' death on the cross.  As we’re continuing to receive these gifts upon gifts, let us return thanks with thankfulness upon thankfulness!  Let us be repentant upon repentant!

Why? In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.  (Ephesians 1:7-8, 11-14)

For us in these twelve days of Christmas and beyond, our job is to continue to allow the Holy Spirit access into us to continue pouring the eternal blessings of God's love upon us, and through us.  We do this by remaining focused on Christ and the forgiveness he brings us every day. 

If one forbids the Spirit’s work, and the faith he brings, then we walk precariously towards cutting ourselves off from God's grace and the guarantee of our inheritance.

So, let's see the multiplying effect of the twelve days of Christmas as our grace upon grace eternal gift from God as we unlock the song.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree is Jesus born a baby on the first day.  Two turtle doves are the two Testaments of God's Word.  The third day our true love gives us three French hens, which are faith, hope, and love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)  The greatest of these being love, because it's God's being and unlike faith and hope will continue in eternity.

Then four calling birds given on the fourth day are the Gospel proclamations of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John!  And on the fifth day of Christmas, the five golden rings are the five books of the Law, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The six geese-a-laying represent the six days in which God laid the foundation of creation.  Seven Swans A-swimming are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11).

Eight Maids A-milking are the eight Beatitudes: Blessed are, 1) the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. (Matthew 5:3-10)

Nine Ladies Dancing are the nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness, 6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control.  (Galatians 5:22)

Ten Lords-a-leaping represent the Ten Commandments.  Eleven Pipers Piping are the eleven faithful Apostles.  And on the twelfth day our true love, our True Lord, gives us Twelve Drummers Drumming the twelve-part confession of the Apostles’ Creed.

So, surging and snowballing from the fullness of Christ is grace upon grace.  Let the Holy Spirit carry you in the eternal crescendo that centres on Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection for you.  As you think of the Twelve days of Christmas remember the eternal reality hidden in the song; the grace upon grace God gives to you!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true Lord gives to me:  The Apostles' Creed confession – Eleven disciples preaching – Ten Commandments guiding – Nine fruits of Spirit – Eight beatitude blessings – Seven holy gifts – Six-day creation – Five books of Law – Four Gospel records – Faith, hope, & love – The New & Old Word – and our Lord Jesus born a baby.

Amen. 

B, Pentecost 17 Proper 20 - James 3:13 "The Great Bone of Contention"

James 3:13 (ESV) Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

The great bone of contention in the church is sin.  But it is a hidden and buried controversy in many ways. 

We as Christians are fearful of being seen to sin, as being sinners.  However, in the bible we learn that we are never free of sin because we all carry the nature of sin from our earthly origin in Adam.

As Christians many of us are led to believe we are to appear as though we are without sin, that we are good people, without much consideration over what goodness is in the eyes of God.

Then, there is the degree of the sin committed.  A little white lie or a devilish delight is believed not to be as bad as murder or adultery.  Theologians discuss the differences of these as venial sins or sins that are minor and forgivable, as opposed to mortal sins that are deadly and separate one from God.

However, on the one hand, scripture teaches, sin that is forgivable can become unforgivable, when one believes they don’t need forgiveness for it. Therefore, in not asking for forgiveness show themselves as unbelievers.  But on the other hand, a sin that appears to be unforgivable and mortal can indeed be forgiven by God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Luther pointing to our baptism into Christ Jesus says, “Even if a Christian would, they could not lose their salvation, however much they sinned, unless one refused to believe.  For no sin can condemn except unbelief alone.  All other sins, so long as the faith in God’s promise made in baptism returns or remains, are immediately blotted out through that same faith or through the truth of God, because he cannot deny himself if you confess him and faithfully cling to him in his promise.” (The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, LW 36:60 edited here with inclusive language)

The flip side of the sin coin is forgiveness and grace, where cheap grace is pitted against unaffordable grace.  Unfortunately, this discussion is more about the individual and their justification for forgiving or not forgiving rather than the expensive but free grace that comes from God for us all.  In fact, grace is cheapened or made unaffordable when sin is not dealt with appropriately. 

Therefore, while we fail continually to consider what sin is and fail to learn from our sin because we are pretending to be finished with sin or hide from the reality of sin because of our fear, we hinder God bringing us to maturity and giving us wisdom in Jesus Christ.

It seems we Christians when exposed to learning something from our sins, and the forgiveness of them, are like a dog who guiltily cowers because he’s been caught in the act of chewing his bone.  We quickly want to hide and bury the bone of sin.

Yes, it is true, we can become so focused on sin that we end up losing focus on God.  But the opposite is also true when we lose sight of sin, we end up becoming focused on gods and idols that have nothing to do with our Triune God!

Four extremes tend to arise when one is challenged on sin.  The first is, now that I am a Christian, I am no longer a sinner. And because I am no longer a sinner I no longer sin. 

This so-called “sinless one” naturally burdens others as they become puffed up proclaiming that stopping oneself from sin is easy.  Forgiveness for “the sinless one” also becomes a thing of the past because if one no longer sins then there is now no need for forgiveness.

The question then goes begging, “If they are no longer a sinner, why then do they need Jesus or the Holy Spirit anymore?” Rather, the so called “sinless one” really doesn’t have a biblical view of sin because they have become their own god.

Opposite to this is the second extremity: The Christian who believes their sin cannot be forgiven. This is either someone who cannot stop sinning because they struggle with sins of addiction or they commit a one-off sin they believe cannot be forgiven.

For the addict, the proof is in the pudding due to the cycle of sin in which they live.  This person lives a life of guilt and effort to work the guilt away.  They continually attempt stopping sin which entices them even more with its temptation to please.  However, pleasure quickly becomes pain as sin sours them the moment gratification is reached. The more one focus on the sin the more one is absorbed by sin. 

Or, the person may not struggle with a sin of addiction.   But having believed they were the “sinless one” the person is found to be with sin.  They are crushed by the shame of their misdeed.  They end up believing they have fallen too far from their Christian ideal to be forgiven.

Both the addict and the idealist fall into a cycle of shame. It’s a cycle that kills the person’s spirit and destroys any true faith that struggles to exist under the futile faith of their idealism.  This shame can lead a person to spiritual and even physical suicide.

These two extremes are one end of the bone of contention where sin is focused on too much.  One focuses on the extreme of one’s ability to not sin while the other is absorbed in not being able to stop sinning.

Then there are the third and fourth extremes on the other end of the bone of contention.  Where there is not enough attention to sin as defined by God’s word. 

The third extreme or “knuckle on the bone” is still a variant of the first.  This is where the presuming “sinless one” is confronted with God’s definition of their deeds as sin according to his word.  The result is they work tirelessly to demonstrate why they are not a sinner.  In reality, they are thrown into chaos by this revelation and work to blame and deflect their sin as someone else’s sin or they justify themselves by redefining God’s word on sin. 

This person is tempted to walk even further away from God because the ideal they have held, is shown for the hoax that it is, especially when life gets difficult, someone dies, or they are led into suffering.  The god they have upheld is an idol and not the Triune God. 

When a crisis comes the person cries out, “God if you will save me, I’ll be good, and start coming to church etc. etc.”  Then the moment they hit the clear God is jettisoned from their minds once again.  There is absolutely no importance attached to sin by this person. This person walks to the beat of their own drum.  God is not important to them. 

The fourth and last nub of the bone is the person who believes, “because I’m a Christian I can do as I please”.  Jesus’ death on the cross is a get out of jail free card to be played on judgement day.  They live life never learning anything from their sin or the forgiveness of it.  They ignore the reality of their sin.  Therefore, they have no understanding or awe of the depth of God’s work undertaken to forgive them. 

Between these four extremes there are many variants and mixes. Every one of us sits somewhere between the knuckles on this bone of contention.

In fact, sin is also the one great similarity between Christians and non-Christians.  Outside the church a person might call it human nature, passions, guilt, or narcissism rather than plain old sin.

If we are to reach out into a world that struggles with the same sin, we owe it to God for his sake and for the sake of our neighbour’s salvation, to understand our sin and the forgiveness of it, so we can share that forgiveness in the world.

Learning from our sin teaches us more about God’s work of salvation and in this learning, we are plunged further into the unfathomable depths of God’s grace and love for us. 

What a wonderful thing to be proclaiming to the world!

When we think we are facing enemies around us, when it seems like someone is going to steal our bone, and we try to bury and hide it, God wants us to chew on this bone and leave it in the light.  It is he who has given us Christ to chew on in the word of God. We are called into this meekness of wisdom. A good work to see our sin, confess our sin, and proclaim Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of our sins in this bone of contention. Amen.

Thankyou Lord Jesus for serving each of us and saving us from sin by taking your place on a cross that should have been each of ours.   Thank you, for continually sending the Holy Spirit into the hearts of your people to show us our sin but also to show us the way of meekness, maturity, and wisdom is found in no one else other than you.  Help us to learn from our sin, to trust you so we are freed to confess you and our forgiven sins to others who need the same forgiveness as us. Amen.