Bible Reading: The Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55.

At Christmas we experience more ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ emotionally than
at any other time. There is more happiness as families get together and more suicides as
families come apart. We Christians experience the joy of the world that the Lord has come,
and also great sadness that the real meaning of Christmas has been negated by
commercialism/ the bottom line…

There are four emotions I’m feeling at this time: maybe they’re yours too:

1. ANGER is the appropriate gut-response to injustice. Righteous anger is the rage good
people feel when others are treated as less-than-human. In BURUNDI 800,000 Hutus are
locked up in camps controlled by the Tutsi Army: they’re suffering starvation,
disease, and torture. Similarly in INDONESIA where 180,000 East Timorese on the West Timor
border are still terrorized by Army-sponsored militias.

There are WARS AND ETHNIC CLASHES today in Nigeria, the Sudan, Chechnya, Afghanistan,
Ambon, Aceh, Irian Jaya, Burma, and against 300 million indigenous peoples throughout the
world.

There’s serious PERSECUTION against Christians throughout the Muslim world and in
India, China, Vietnam.

Mary’s Magnificat is one of Christianity’s greatest hymns.
‘Magnificat’ is the first word of her song in the Latin Bible. She is not only
rejoicing in her privileged position (vss. 47-49) – through her God is fulfilling his
promises to Israel – but she also extols God’s mercy and justice (vv. 50-53). The way
the prophets (eg. Micah 6:8) and Jesus summarize the Gospel (eg. Matthew 23:23, Luke
11:42) is all here in Mary’s song.

God is against the proud and powerful people who misuse their power against the
‘lowly’. God is concerned about the disparity of wealth between the rich and the
poor.

And so should we be, in a world where the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer
everywhere; where one fifth of the world’s people go to bed hungry every night in a
world with plentiful food; where the poor – particularly women and children – are the
victims of war and natural disasters. In this morning’s news we hear that it’s
the poor in Grozny who cannot escape the city; it’s the poor in Venezuela whose
shanty-homes are washed away in the floods; it’s the poor in India who died in the
recent cyclone there.

2. COMPASSION is the next emotion I invite you to feel this Christmas.

Compassion is love-in-action. This feeling in the Hebrew and Greek languages – the
languages of the Bible – is centred in one’s guts (remember the King James’
version’s ‘bowels and mercies’)?

So my question is: Who can I be as a resource for a hurting other?

A young man – we’ll call him Trevor – couldn’t go home at Christmas: he felt
he wasn’t wanted there. He was a heroin junkie, a depressive, and very lonely. He
used to sell magazines on Melbourne’s city streets. But a few months ago he died of a
heroin overdose. At Collins St Baptist Church, in a moving service led by Rev. Tim
Costello, we each lit a candle in his memory. At our place every Christmas day we have an
open home for anyone to enjoy our family’s love. Part of the day is an all-in cricket
game. Everyone plays (we have our own rules which benefit everyone). Trevor came
sometimes, and enjoyed himself.

So who is lonely and needs your company? Who is hungry and poor and needs help? It has
been good to hear of churches in Australia sending work-parties and food parcels to East
Timor…

3. GRIEF/SADNESS is another emotion many of us feel at Christmas. Grief is the
experience of loss we feel when someone / something we love is removed. The loss may be of
a loved one, a pet, a job, or opportunity, or community. The pain is worse when others
withdraw. For some here it may be their first Christmas out of work, or without a partner,
or parent, or child…

When John was five years old, his dog dies, a dog that had become his special companion
and with whom he spent many hours. John was distraught, but his parents said ‘We can
buy another dog’. The message: bury your feelings, and replace the loss as soon as
possible. Later John’s bike was stolen, and again he was told ‘We’ll get
another bike.’ The message again: bury your feelings, replace the loss as soon as
possible. As a teenager John had a gorgeous girlfriend but she jilted him for another guy.
His Mum says: ‘Don’t feel sad; there are plenty of other fish in the sea!’
The message again: ‘Don’t feel sad; replace the loss as soon as possible.’

One day the principal came to John’s maths class to tell him his grandfather had
died. John broke down in uncontrolled sobbing. His grandpa was his best friend, with whom
he went fishing, with whom he talked often… The teacher said John could go to a quiet
room for a while. The message: ‘Grieve alone. No more close relationships!’

To those of you who grieve this Christmas: God’s way is to feel your feelings, to
acknowledge and reflect on your loss, to grieve in community. If a friend or loved one is
grieving, it is not usually wise to say things like ‘It was God’s will’,
‘He’s better off now,’ ‘She had a full life’, ‘I understand
how you feel.’ No one really understands how another feels. Touch and presence is
important when another is sad. Let them, grieve, let them cry.

At this time my wife Jan is sad. She has just resigned from a pastoral position: her
life’s calling to minister to people has fallen in a heap.

Not many have had helpful comfort to give her. She feels close to tears often.
She’s grieving, and it hurts, and when she’s ready we’ll have a good cry
together…

4. Finally GRATITUDE is a wonderful response to God’s love expressed in Jesus.
Here’s a story we ran on our clergy/leaders’ mail-list last week:

A CHILD’S 57 CENTS

A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away
because it ‘was too crowded’. "I can’t go to Sunday School," she
sobbed to the pastor as he walked by. Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor
guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her
in the Sunday School class. The child was so touched that she went to bed that night
thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.

Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings and the
parents called for the kind-hearted pastor, who had befriended their daughter, to handle
the final arrangements. As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse
was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump. Inside was found 57
cents and a note scribble in childish handwriting which read, "This is to help build
the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday school."

For two years she had saved for this offering of love. When the pastor tearfully read
that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red
pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion. He
challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building. But the
story does not end there!

A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a realtor who offered
them a parcel of land worth many thousands. When told that the church could not pay so
much, he offered it for a 57 cent payment.

Church members made large subscriptions. Checks came from far and wide. Within five
years the little girl’s gift had increased to $250,000.00 – a huge sum for that time
(near the turn of the century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.

When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating
capacity of 3,300, and Temple University, where hundreds of students are trained. Have a
look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses
hundreds of Sunday scholars, so that no child in the area will ever need to be left
outside at Sunday school time.

In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the
little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history.
Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russel H. Conwell, author of the
book, "Acres of Diamonds."

So this Christmas, I give you permission to feel your feelings:

righteous anger against injustice and oppression; compassion for those who need your
help; sadness and grief over your loss; gratitude expressing itself in a life of
sacrificial love – to God and others.

So: happy, angry, sad, compassionate, grateful Christmas to you all!

Rowland Croucher

December 19, 1999.