December 6, 2009
Pastor Caroline Satre

Unlikely Messengers

(Show on the screen: "It's not Xmas, it's CHRISTmas.")

Did you ever notice that, when a message like this comes from someone you don't expect, it makes more of an impact? For example, if I said this was the message this morning, you would probably yawn and think to yourself, "Is that all you could come up with, Pastor Caroline?" But if I told you that this was on a billboard along the tri-state a few years ago, it might pique your interest. If I tell you whose billboard it was, you might look at it in a whole new way. Does anyone remember this billboard and what it was advertising?

It's not Xmas, it's CHRISTmas was an ad for the shock jock radio show "Mancow in the Morning," or as I call it, Chicago's version of Howard Stern. He's one of the last people I'd expect to be "evangelizing" along the tri-state... especially in a more or less appropriate way. I suppose that's why I remember it even years later... because the message came from such an unlikely source.

I suppose that's also part of the appeal of Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol, and why Hollywood has put out its own updated versions through the years. In all its various forms, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge not only has a great message, but the way the message is delivered makes it even more memorable. Take a look. (Show clip of ghost in "Scrooged.")

Those of us who have been around the church for a while... and who have heard the Advent texts year in and year out... have become accustomed to John the Baptist, the messenger God chose to prepare the way for Jesus. But the truth is that he is just as unlikely a messenger as the "ghost of Christmas present" and Mancow in the Morning. Here's a man who lived in the wilderness, dressed funny and ate "Fear Factor" food. Yet, as Luke's Gospel tells us, "... the word of God came to [him]... and he went into all the region around the Jordan [River], proclaiming... Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

I imagine that all of us here this morning have heard that great message before. We have heard the "good news of great joy." We know that we are preparing once again for the most unlikely messenger imaginable... God in human form, a baby, who will bring hope and peace and joy. We know that so well that, in the manner of people driving down the tri-state and a miserly old man named Scrooge and the people in the region around the Jordan River, it might take something... or someone... out of the ordinary to pique our interest... to get us to sit up and take notice. That's why my hope and prayer for all of you is that an unlikely messenger will startle you out of the normal routine of the season, allowing you to enter into the story of Jesus' birth in such a way that makes the message of God's hope and peace and joy rings true for you again.

The minute I say that I know a few of you will prefer I neither hope nor pray for such a thing. I know there are a few of you who, like I, don't necessarily appreciate being startled. We like to have our ducks in a row... be on task... be prepared. While there is some merit to that way of operating (if I do say so myself), there are times when leaving a little room for the mystery of God might serve us well. After all, God does tend to work in ways we don't expect and through an amazing array of unlikely characters. Truth be told, when a message comes from someone we don't expect, it does tend to make more of an impact.

Therefore, may someone startle you out of the normal routine of the season, allowing you to enter into the story of Jesus' birth in such a way that you not only receive the message of hope and peace and joy, but begin to relay it as well. (Clip from the end of "Scrooged.")

That wasn't a blatantly Christian message... not straight out of Luke's Gospel. It's still Scrooge, it's still Hollywood, it's still Bill Murray... but you get the point. Because we have heard this "good news of great joy" before and can carry on at such a pace that we can overlook the usual and predictable, may something... or someone... startle you out of the normal routine of the season, allowing you to enter into the story of Jesus' birth in a way that touches your heart and mind and soul. Then, in the manner of John the Baptist, Scrooge, and Mancow in the Morning, may you become one of God's unlikely messengers yourself.

Gracious God, in these busy days, come to us once again. Surround us with your love, speak to us your healing and saving word, give us your peace. Then, as you are apt to do, put your words in our mouths and your will in our hearts, that the Christ in us may startle someone else with your hope and peace and joy.

Amen.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church § 824 N. Lewis § Waukegan IL