Sunday after Christmas (Gal 3:23-25; 4:4-7) – 12/27/2009

Arriving home after the 11pm Christmas Eve service, I discovered my family was nestled all snug in their beds, not a creature was stirring, not even my two dogs. The TV was still on and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a marathon showing of “A Christmas Story” on TBS. “A Christmas Story” has become a classic holiday movie. The movie is about the trials and tribulations of a young boy named Ralphie, whose greatest wish is to have an official Red Ryder BB gun given to him as a Christmas present. Throughout the movie, we experience Ralphie’s hopes and fears, his joys and his frustrations, and share more than a few twists and turns in his life as he becomes lost in his quest to obtain what he desires.

Thinking back on my days as a young boy I can relate to many of Ralphie’s experiences and I can vividly remember a time that I felt lost while shopping with my mother. My family was shopping in a local department store and my brother, sister, and I were all closely following my mother so as not to get lost. All was going rather well until we entered the dangerous toy section of the store. I noticed a few of the Hot Wheels racing cars and became preoccupied with the different cars on display. I closely inspected the cars to find which ones I already owned and which cars I would like to own in the very near future. In short, I was lost in my own world and soon I realized that I was also lost in the department store, as my mother, brother and sister had continued on without me. Life was so good just moments before, but now the aisles quickly seemed to be much longer, the display racks appeared much taller, and I immediately felt the need to do something in an effort to help my present unfortunate condition.

Lost and feeling the need to take charge. This morning we hear just a small piece of the Apostle Paul’s passionate and insightful letter to the Christian churches of Galatia. The Christian people of Galatia to whom Paul writes were likely both Jewish Christians and Gentiles who converted from their various religious backgrounds to become Christians. Paul had dedicated time to these people during his missionary trips to teach them about the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection. Paul taught these early Christians that although the many Jewish laws had a place in their religious heritage; the life saving gift of Christ’s grace was full and sufficient for our salvation. With time, however, the Jewish Christians of Galatia began to teach the Gentile converts that they must follow the Jewish laws if they were to be considered good Christians. In other words, from Paul’s perspective, the Christians of Galatia followed their own understanding and had lost the powerful message of God’s gift of his only Son, the Word made flesh. As we hear in John’s Gospel account this morning, “From Christ’s fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1:16-17) For Paul, the passionate message from his letter to the Galatians is that we are all saved through faith in Christ. The Galatians had received Paul’s teaching about the saving grace of Christ, but had eventually lost their understanding of the power of Christ’s coming and had begun to create their own understanding of how Christians must live their lives to be faithful to God.

This morning, just two days after Christmas, perhaps many of us are a bit weary from the busy times that the holidays bring. As we move beyond the coming New Year and the days that follow, the message of Christmas can become packed up and put away like a holiday decoration. Like the Galatians, we hear and understand the message of Christmas: that God has sent his only Son, the Incarnate Word of God, to live among us and bless us with his saving grace. But we must also live in this world, and like the Galatians, we can become lost and struggle to understand how God works in our daily lives. As both Paul and John’s Gospel account tell us this morning, if we receive the message of the Gospel and believe in the Good News of Christ, we have the power to become children of God. And as children of God, we have the confidence to believe that even as we are lost, God will find us. If we feel sad when we think we should be happy, God will find us. If we are tired and need to rest when we think others need us to be strong, God will find us. When the cares of the world appear to overwhelm the glad tidings of Christmas, God will find us. God will find us in our joy and in our sorrow. And we should remember that God will be with us and the power of Christ, as revealed to us in the Gospel, is enough for us…especially when we think we are lost and we need to take charge of our lives. May the blessings of this Christmas season be upon you and remain with you throughout the year. Keep the faith of Christ and the joy of Christmas in your hearts and remain confident that when you think you are lost and need to take charge, God is there to hold his child’s hand. Amen.