No One is a Failure Who Has Friends

Luke 2:8-20 (KJV), And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men.


December 24, 2015, Christmas Eve
Luke 2.8-20, No One is a Failure Who Has Friends
Pastor Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Audio only[powerpress]

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.”

I know that many of you are guests tonight visiting with family or friends so I want to catch you up on what we’ve been doing in worship. Over the last four weeks we’ve looked at scenes from the movie It’s A Wonderful Life. If you’re unfamiliar with the film it teaches us lessons about giving thanks for every day blessings and that all you can take with you is that which you’ve given away. We were reminded in tough times to pray for help. We’ve seen that every day each of us touches more lives than we realize.

In the movie, George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, has very real problems to confront – he’s facing a financial deficit at his job through no fault of his own, a warrant for his arrest, bankruptcy, scandal and prison. At a deeper level, George had spent much of his life not appreciating who and what he had all around him because he kept thinking about how much he wanted to be somewhere else; he wanted to get out of Bedford Falls and see the world and build bridges and skyscrapers and to make his first million dollars before he was thirty.

Instead, the reality of his life is that he drives a rundown car with a troublesome door that doesn’t want to open or close, he and his family live in a house that had been abandoned that his wife Mary worked on tirelessly for years to turn into a home. He doesn’t have the material things that many of us pursue thinking they’ll make us happy. Thanks to Clarence, his Guardian Angel, George gets to see what life in his community would be like without him and he realizes what a wonderful life he has and how much he wants to live regardless of his problems and he wants nothing more than to get back to his family and friends.

Thankfully all the good George has done for others in his community throughout his life, all the acts of love, kindness, caring and generosity comes pouring back to him as soon as people hear he’s in trouble and needs money. The whole town comes streaming into his living room to help him and gives him far more than he needs. His childhood friend Sam Wainwright sends word he’ll personally cover far more than necessary. As George sees the faces of those he knows and loves and who know and love him, he and his wife Mary are overwhelmed. Mary says, “It’s a miracle.” Earlier, Clarence, George’s guardian angel, had asked George if he’d help him get his wings. George asked how he could do that and Clarence said, “By letting me help you.”

doug-feature-thumbIn the climactic scene George suddenly sees a book on the table in front of him and a bell rings on the Christmas tree. George and Mary’s youngest child Zuzu says, “Look daddy, teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” The inscription in Clarence’s copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer says, “Dear George: Remember, no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings! Love, Clarence” No one is a failure who has friends. That’s true. That doesn’t mean if a person is feeling like he or she doesn’t have friends that he or she is a failure. The point is that George had been thinking of success and failure in terms of climbing a ladder of material prosperity and the pursuit of his own goals rather than of the influence and impact he had on the people around him every day and the love and friendship they felt for him. What a blessing it is to have friends.

Some of us may find we get along better with our friends than with our family. If you feel that way, don’t nod in agreement while you’re sitting next to them! It really shouldn’t surprise us if we find we get along better with our friends than some of our family members because we choose our friends; most of us don’t get to choose our family. We choose our friends and they choose us and for many of us our friends are among life’s greatest gifts. On December 12th I went to lunch and to the Boston Bruins game with three friends I’ve known since elementary school. We’ve known each other for more than forty years. Whenever we get together we pick up right where we left off. I hope many of us have friends like that; people who love us, care about us, and accept us for who we are. There is another time in our life when people tend to love us, care for us, and accept us for who we are and that’s when we’re a baby.

The story of Jesus’ birth reflects the kind of love, care, and acceptance that we experience with our best friends and that we experience as a baby in a healthy family. Joseph and Mary are trying to do all they can for their baby in difficult circumstances. We’ll end this service by singing Silent Night, Holy Night, which has become a tradition in churches all over the world, but the funny thing is a birth taking place in a manger the way Luke describes it followed by a visit from who knows how many uninvited, unexpected Shepherds was likely anything but silent and probably didn’t seem too holy to Mary either. It was probably noisy and earthy and too crowded for her liking; some of you may even feel that way tomorrow!

But if Mary was like many mothers we know, then, when Jesus was born she felt a bond and a connection with her baby and loved him just because he was her son. Henri Nouwen said, “The central truth of your life – of all of our lives – is to know, to know truly and completely, that God loves you just for being you.” He goes on to explain that we spend all of our adult lives doubting this, talking ourselves out of this, refusing to believe it, arguing against it. But every once in a while we experience the profound conviction of God’s radical unalterable love for us. And that is a powerful, transformative moment of grace. If we’ve experienced that, we know a profound gratitude that permeates our whole being.

That’s what Christmas seeks to remind us –of God’s radical unalterable love for us and for all people. To every person who is open to God, we have a friend who loves us and will never leave us. Like a mother of a newborn, God loves you just for being you. When you realize how much God loves you, you want to love God back. And the desire to express that gratitude knows no end. But how do you love God back? Kerry Robinson tells this story, “When our son Christopher was a little boy, he received what his heart desired most on Christmas Day from Santa: a small plastic saxophone. So full was his joy, so immense was his gratitude that he turned to the bevy of aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents assembled by the tree and pointing to his uncle Rich said, “Pretend your Santa Claus!” And then addressing Uncle Rich said, “Thank you, Santa Claus! Thank You! Thank you for my saxophone!” and he rushed forward to wrap his small arms around his uncle in total abandon. To be sure, Christopher believed in Santa, but he needed Santa to be incarnate, physically present, in order to express more tangibly his gratitude.

This is what we experience as adults, too, when we know of God’s love: the extraordinary desire to love God back, to say thank you, to express how much the gift of God’s love (and friendship) matters. The way to love God back, the way to express gratitude to God for the blessings of God’s love, is to love all that God created and therefore also loves: creation, each other, life.”[1]

In 1908, Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton led an Antarctic expedition seeking to reach the South Pole. They came closer than anyone ever had but, 97 miles short of the pole, had to turn back. In his diary Shackleton told of the time when their food supplies were exhausted save for one last ration of hardtack, a dried sort of biscuit, that was distributed to each man. Some of the men took snow, melted it, and made tea while consuming their biscuit. Others, however, stowed their hardtack in their food sacks, saving it for a last moment of hungry desperation.

As the fire was built up, and weary, exhausted men climbed into their sleeping bags to face a restless sleep, tossing and turning. Shackleton said that he was almost asleep when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of his most trusted men sitting up in his sleeping bag and looking about to see if anyone was watching.

Shackleton’s heart sank within him as this man began to reach toward the food sack of the man next to him. Shackleton watched as the man opened the food sack and took his own hardtack and put it in the other man’s sack.” What an act of love and friendship. Christmas is a reminder that when the baby Jesus grew up he put his life and friendship “in our sack.” He gave us all he had to offer of himself. The friendship of Jesus as well as the friendship of other people nurtures, feeds, and sustains our life with love and joy. As George Bailey discovers at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life, friends in need are friends indeed. Jesus is not only a Savior who saves us from the consequences of our sin and the finality of death, he’s not only the best Leader we can follow and the wisest Teacher to guide us; he’s a Compassionate Friend who wants to share life with us in good times and bad and everywhere in between.

Writer Robert Louis Stevenson said, “A friend is a present you give yourself.” On Christmas morning, many of us will unwrap presents; some will please us, some we’ll return, some will surprise us, others we expect (thanks for the socks, underwear, and pajamas). Many Christmas gifts are soon forgotten, broken, or discarded. The gift of Jesus, the gift of love to our family and friends, these never go out of style and never decrease in value, in fact, they often become more precious as time goes by. Zig Ziglar said, “Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either, “I wish I had,” or “I’m glad I did.”

Christmas is not just about songs and the familiar story of angels and shepherds and the holy family. It’s not just about getting together with our family and friends and exchanging presents. As we’re gathered in this lovely and peaceful place in the safety and beauty of Cape Cod, there’s also much work to be done in the world. Howard Thurman who was an influential African American author, theologian, civil rights leader and Dean of the Chapel at Boston University School of Theology for many years wrote the following called “Now the Work of Christmas Begins”
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost, To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among people,
To make music from the heart.

            My mentor at BU School of Theology liked to tell the story of an angel who wasn’t as diligent at his job as Clarence. The angel had fallen asleep and was awakened by the light of Jesus ascending into heaven. The angel looked at Jesus and said, “Where have you been?” Jesus replied, “I’ve been on earth.” “How long were you there?” the angel asked. “About thirty years.” “How did it go?” Jesus said, “They crucified me.” “That’s awful,” said the angel. “but you must have had a large following.” Jesus said, “I had twelve disciples.” The angel asked, “What will become of your work?” Jesus replied, “I left in the hands of my friends.” “And if they fail?” Jesus said, “I have no other plans.”

Jesus left his work in the hands of his friends. May each of us do our part to complete the work of Christmas from this night forward and as long as we live.

 

Let’s Pray: Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.May the Christmas morning make us happy to be your children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

(A Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson

[1] Imagining Abundance, page 31-32, two paragraphs.

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