November 2016 Jottings

Jottings…

Yes. I as your pastor am guilty as charged. The charge? Thinking of Christmas too early. Of course the church has a time to focus on the Christmas story. We call it Advent. That will come later in November. Culturally, though, we push Christmas up earlier and earlier.

In my family tradition the earliest we heard anything about Christmas was Thanksgiving weekend. Santa would appear at the end of the Macy’s parade but we didn’t put our own tree and decorations up until the following weekend. You certainly didn’t see the store decorations and sales until then. Christmas is vital where retail sales is concerned so they push the displays and the sales up earlier and earlier.

Like many, I dislike the commercialization of Christmas and the extension of the holiday earlier and earlier into the year. As a pastor responsible for celebrating Advent I think and pray ahead about what our focus should be months ahead and I believe the Holy Spirit inspired me on this year’s theme while I was driving to Annual Conference back in June. I have been mulling over the details since then and we are preparing for our emphasis on Advent later this month. Thus I am guilty as charged of thinking early about Advent.

Still it is only now I am publicizing it to you. This year’s focus will be “The Hopes and Fears of All the Years”, taken from the hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. Hopes and fears lie deep within us and drive much of our behavior. They can be a strong force for positive or negative outcomes in our lives. The coming of the Christ is God committing to enter into our world and into our lives and into the deepest part of our being where our hopes and fears lie. Or, as the hymn focuses on the place of Christ’s birth as a celebration of the fact of God becoming flesh: “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

Plan on being with us throughout Advent at Cole Memorial UMC.

- Pastor Brian