Believe!

The theme of Macy’s 2009 Christmas promotion is “Believe!” The following invitation appeared on Macy’s website. “This holiday season we believe more than ever. In the spirit of Christmas and the power of community, join the fun and tell us why you believe. We can’t wait to hear from you!” The website includes a link to the story “Yes, Virginia” and also to Santa’s post office. The “believe meter” shows the words “imagine, wish, dream and believe.” Just exactly what does Macy's want us to believe?

In a tongue-in-cheek article in this month’s Christian Century magazine (December 01, 2009 Vol. 126, No. 24, p. 13), Bishop William Willimon writes an imaginary editor’s rejection letter to the evangelist John regarding the forth Gospel. As editor, Willimon points out that John doesn’t make Jesus come across as someone who we would necessarily “like,” and John doesn’t write in a way that would attract readers. “Surely,” Willamon writes to John as he criticizes his style, “you can find more efficient ways for Jesus to convey his message.”

It is a criticism I sometimes get as a preacher. Scripture doesn’t always give us the easiest, most uplifting, or inspirational material to work from. Sometimes, Jesus comes across as a mean and surly leader who can’t get anyone to do what he wants. “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house into a marketplace!” (John 2: 16) Sometimes, he speaks in confusing parables that are almost impossible to understand. “You must be born from above. The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3: 7-8) Sometimes Jesus challenges us with words that make us uncomfortable. “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world – therefore the world hates you.” (John 15: 19)

And then, sometimes, Jesus’ words are filled with love and hope and direction that is simple to understand and to follow. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 34-35)

We have to live and work with all of it, the good, the confusing and the difficult. As preachers, it’s not always easy to speak words that light a fire in the bellies of our listeners. And to be honest, we are not in the fire-lighting business. We preachers are in the business of reminding you, our hearers, over and over again, that whatever Jesus says, he says it because God loves you so much “that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

In a column called “Life, Death and the Task of Preaching,” Dr. David Lose writes, “We preach the Christian story, and by preaching it we invite our hearers into it so that it becomes their story. So that the promises the Christian story revolve around become promises they hear and believe, and through believing discover hope, meaning, and courage.”

That hope, meaning and courage may inspire you to head out of church and change the world. It may simply comfort and strengthen you in the face of a frightening situation.

In this Advent season, my prayer for you is that you hear and remember the true message of Christmas, and that you find, in listening to the familiar story again, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” (Phil 4: 17) and that you believe! Amen.