Letting God
Many of us feel like Atlas… We’re carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, we’re weighed down, stumbling, and falling under the burdens we feel.
Christmas is Jesus pulling up alongside us and asking, “You want a hand with that?” Jesus invites us to lay the weight of our burdens on him because he cares for us and he can handle them so much easier than we can alone.
Christmas is Jesus inviting us to journey on the road of life with him, putting the weight of the world on his shoulders, not our own.
“For unto us, a child is born. Unto us a Son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
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“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, & wrapped him in swaddling clothes, & laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, & the glory of the Lord shone round about them: & they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, “Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, & saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”
Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us, a child is born. Unto us a Son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
We enjoy watching Jeopardy and one of the categories last night was mythology. In ancient Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan condemned to support the heavens upon his shoulders. Statues of Atlas usually reveal a well-proportioned man with huge shoulders, rippling muscles, and enormous thighs. But his head is often looking down and his legs are bent as he is weighed down from bearing the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.
As 2019 draws to a close, there are people who feel they’re bearing the weight of the world on their shoulders. I can’t imagine the stress on the leader of a global organization like Human Rights Watch, UNICEF, World Relief or Doctors without Borders. Or what about being the Secretary General of the United Nations and trying to deal with issues that are global in scope involving dozens of nations with so many competing aims and desires, with such different values, histories, languages, cultures and traditions. I know how much I’ve aged in 30 years of ministry; I can’t imagine the pressure on global leaders. But we know the weight of leadership weighs on people who bear so much responsibility for others. They must feel like Atlas.
In the Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Bayley, played by Jimmy Stewart, feels like Atlas. The pressures of work and the expectations of other people are crushing him. He sacrificed the future he wanted for himself in order to help others fulfill their dreams. And then because of his Uncle Billy’s incompetence, George is facing bankruptcy, scandal and prison. Deep in depression he mistakenly thinks he is worth more dead than alive and is contemplating suicide. He stuffs his life insurance policy in his coat pocket and goes to his friend’s restaurant and bar, where he bares his soul in prayer. Even though he’s not a religious or praying man, he cries that he’s at the end of his rope, the weight is too much for him, and he begs God to show him the way.
There are people here tonight who feel like George Bayley. We get to the end of our rope and we pray to God and life doesn’t immediately seem to improve. Among us are parents whose hearts are breaking for children caught in the throes of addiction to alcohol and drugs who haven’t been able to get free. There are husbands and wives who struggle to get along, and children who carry the weight of their parent’s pain. There are those who are the primary caregivers for a spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild, child, or friend – who are physically and mentally exhausted. Some of us are dealing with chronic or even terminal diseases. There are people who have lost their jobs in the last weeks and months,
Jill and I spent time talking to two young men at the Olympia Sports store in Orleans this past week who will both be out of work when the store closes in a few days. That’s a tough way to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Whether we lose a job suddenly or unexpectedly or if we’re told it’s coming doesn’t make it much easier. Some of us have lost loved ones or friends to death in the last year, and weight of grief is at times overwhelming especially around Christmas. Some of us are unsure about and worried about the future, are wrestling with decisions, are stressed about all the wrapping, preparations, cooking, and packing and traveling we have yet to do…and its Christmas Eve! There are many people who feel they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Under the weight of the stress so many people are feeling tonight, Christmas comes for us with a simple truth: Let God bear the weight of your problems.
God never meant for us to bear the weight of the world on our shoulders like Atlas. But we do it. We’re self-centered. We’re control oriented, and we try to bear the weight of the world. The beauty of Christmas is that the immediate government or authority of the world was never meant for our shoulders. Isaiah says in the words we began the service with tonight that the government is to be upon Messiah’s shoulders. They’re big enough to take the responsibility. Dr. George McCauslin was one of the greatest YMCA directors the world has ever seen. Years ago, he was serving a YMCA in western Pennsylvania that was losing membership, had financial difficulties and terrible staff problems. George found himself working 85 hours a week, getting little sleep at night, and taking little time off. And when he was off, he was worrying about the problems of this YMCA. He went to a therapist who told him he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had to learn how to let go of his overwhelming sense of responsibility and to let God into his problems. He didn’t know how to do that.
So, George McCauslin took an afternoon off, took a pad of paper, and went for a walk in the western Pennsylvania woods. As he walked, he began to feel the tightness in his neck and body relax. He sat down under a tree and sighed. For the first time in months he relaxed. He got out his pad and wrote a letter to God. He said, “Dear God, today I hereby resign as general manager of the universe. Love, George.” Then with a twinkle in his eye he said. “And wonder of wonders, God accepted my resignation.”
There may be some people here this Christmas Eve who may need to resign as general manager of the universe. Is there anyone here who is weighed down with trying to fix every problem, fix every person, shape up everything, get everybody just as you want them to be, trying to shape up or correct children and grandchildren and spouses and neighbors and friends, and all over the holidays? Is there anybody who feels like she or he has the weight of the world on your shoulders? Is there anyone who needs to resign as general manager of the universe?
Disney’s Frozen II was recently number one at the movie box office for three weeks and anyone with young kids know that the biggest song from Frozen was…Let it Go! “And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast. I’m never going back; the past is in the past Let it go.” That’s part of the message of Christmas. Let it go. Let God carry your burdens. It’s okay to resign as general manager of the universe and give God our problems. But you know what can happen sometimes even when we do that… we want to take them back and say, “I wonder how God’s doing with that?” The truth is we can’t fix someone else; but we can help by interacting with them in a loving, kind, humble, healthy and a mature way. We can love the people who we’ve been trying unsuccessfully to fix, but we cannot fix them. One of the most difficult things to accept in life is that we can’t control the decisions made by those we love but we usually must deal with the consequences of those decisions. As a family member, as a Christian, it’s often incredibly hard for us to deal with the fact that all we can do is love other people appropriately and give the rest to God. The good news of Christmas is we don’t have to carry the weight of their problems, our problems, or the weight of the world. The baby born in the manger will do that. God loves us so much that God chose to dwell among us. God sent a baby to express God’s passionate love for each of us, even though we didn’t deserve it, even when we feel we’ve failed to be the kind of people we want to be.
A baby’s mother tells the following story. “It was Sunday, Christmas Day. Our family had spent the holiday in San Francisco with my husband’s parents, but for us to be back at work on Monday, we found ourselves driving the 400 miles back home to Los Angeles on Christmas. We stopped for lunch in King City. The restaurant was nearly empty. We were the only family, and ours were the only children. I heard Erik, my one-year-old, squeal with glee. “Hithere,” the two words he always thought were one. “Hithere,” and he pounded his fat baby hands – whack, whack, whack-on the metal highchair. His face was alive with excitement, his eyes were wide, gums bared in a toothless grin. He wriggled and giggled, and then I saw the source of his merriment.
A tattered rag of a coat, bought by someone else ages ago, dirty, greasy, and worn; baggy pants; spindly body; toes that poked out of would-be shoes; a shirt that had ring around the collar all over; and a face like none other – gums as bare as Erik’s. “Hi there, baby. Hi there, big boy, I see ya, Buster.” My husband and I exchanged a look that was a cross between “What do we do?” and “Poor guy.”
Our meal came, and the banging and the noise continued. Now the old bum was shouting across the room. “Do you know patty cake? Atta boy. Do you know peek a-boo? Hey look! He knows peek a-boo!” Erik continued to laugh and answer, “Hithere.” Every call was echoed. Nobody thought it was cute. The guy was a drunk and a disturbance. I was embarrassed. My husband Dennis was humiliated. Even our six-year-old said, “Why is that old man talking so loud?”
Dennis went to pay the check, imploring me to get Erik and meet him in the parking lot. “Lord, just let me get out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,” and I bolted for the door. It was soon obvious that both the Lord and Erik had other plans. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back, walking to sidestep him and any air that he might be breathing. As I did so, Erik, all the while his eyes riveted to his new best friend, leaned over my arm, reaching up with both arms in a baby’s pick-me-up position. In a split-second of balancing my baby and turning to counter his weight, I came eye-to-eye with the old man.
Erik was lunging for him, arms spread wide. The man’s eyes both asked and implored, “Would you let me hold your baby?” There was no need for me to answer since Erik propelled himself from my arms to the man. Erik laid his tiny head upon the man’s ragged shoulder. The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands, full of grime and pain and hard labor, gently, so gently cradled my baby and stroked his back. I stood awestruck.
The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment, and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, “You take care of this baby.” And somehow, I managed “I will,” from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest, unwillingly, longingly, as though he was in pain. I held my arms open to receive my baby, and again the gentleman addressed me. “God bless you, Ma’am. You’ve given me my Christmas gift.” All I could mutter was “thanks.” With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. Dennis wondered why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly. And why I was saying, “My God, forgive me. Forgive me.”
The true meaning of Christmas is in this story. One-year-old Erik is God. The “bum” (in the woman’s words) is us. Erik is God’s yearning and passion for us weighed down and burdened bums with our tattered lives, tattered hurts, tattered relationships, and our tattered sins. Erik is two arms determined to hug us. Erik, like Jesus, is a fierce little baby who makes no distinctions and would embrace the least likely people, like you and me. The little loving and hugging arms of the baby Jesus would become the strongest arms in the world that stretched out on a cross and bore the weight of all our sin and shame. Arms strong enough to bear our heaviest burdens, if we will let him.
Years ago, there was a television commercial I still remember for a pickup truck that featured a truck driver crossing desert-like terrain and passing Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders in the form of a large globe. The driver passes by Atlas, looks in the rearview mirror and considers Atlas’ predicament. Then he stops, puts the truck in reverse, and asks, “You want a hand with that?” Atlas looks up surprised and dumps the world in the bed of the pickup truck with a thud. The commercial closed with Atlas riding in the cab of the truck, looking at the driver with a appreciative look of gratitude and the driver smiling a look back that seems to say, “No problem, you’re welcome, glad to be of help.”
In a sense, that’s what Christmas is about. Many of us feel like Atlas, or at least like George Bayley. We’re carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, we’re weighed down, stumbling, and falling under the burdens we feel.
Christmas is Jesus pulling up alongside us and asking, “You want a hand with that?” Jesus invites us to lay the weight of our burdens on him because he cares for us and he can handle them so much easier than we can alone.
Christmas is Jesus inviting us to journey on the road of life with him, putting the weight of the world on his shoulders, not our own.
“For unto us, a child is born. Unto us a Son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
A Christmas Prayer for Loved Ones
Generous God, for those of us who have an abundance of love, a bounty in heart and home, keep us mindful of those who do not, and help us lift our voices often to you in gratitude. For those who struggle with a lack of this world’s material goods, those who know what unemployment and empty pockets feel like, help to meet their needs and gift them with blessings which are more valuable than earthly treasure.
For those of us carrying hurt, anger and other heartaches, help us to feel the peace which only you can give and us the grace to let go of long burdening memories.
For those whose faith has grown dim and whose sense of you seems far away, raise in their hearts a great yearning for you that will not cease and a desire for the truth that cannot be ignored.
For those who are tired, weary, and worn down from a constant generous giving of their lives in love, be their energy and enthusiasm, be a strong, deep spark of light and happiness within them.
For those who grieve the goodbye of a loved one whose hearts are lonely this time of year, touch them with dear memories, make clear new ways to share the love they have in their hearts, and transform the inner missing and heartache into a vision of what lies far beyond this time and place.
For those who are growing older bless them with peace and serenity, let them know how important the witness of their life continues to be for those who are following in their footsteps.
And finally, savior God, for those with young eyes and for whom we pray many decades of life, love, and service still lie ahead; keep their hearts full of wonder, faith, gratitude, and a commitment to the common good & we thank you for slipping some of their delight and simplicity into our own hearts as we celebrate Christmas.
Amen
A Christmas Blessing
May there be harmony in all your relationships.
May sharp words, envious thoughts, & hostile feelings be dissolved.
May you give & receive love generously. May this love echo in your heart like the joy of church bells on a clear December day.
May each person who comes into your life be greeted as another Christ. May the honor given the Baby of Bethlehem be that which you extend to every guest who enters your presence.
May the hope of this sacred season settle in your soul. May it be a foundation of courage for you when distress occupies your inner being.
May the wonder & awe that fills the eyes of children be awakened within you. May it lead you to renewed awareness & appreciation of whatever you too easily take for granted.
May the bonds of love for one another be strengthened as you gather with your family & friends around the table of festivity and nourishment.
May you daily open the gift of life & be grateful for the hidden treasures it contains.
May the coming year be one of good health for you. May you have energy & vitality and care well for your body, mind, & spirit.
May you go often to the Bethlehem of your heart & visit the One who offers you peace. May you bring this peace into our world.
May the love, joy, & peace of Jesus Christ be ours now & forever. Amen
Joyce Rupp