John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our ancestor"; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax_collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing_fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing_floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

We need a little humor, right this very minute. This Ole and Lena story made me smile big.

Lena gets ready to leave work and can hardly see her hand in front of her face it is snowing so hard. She remembers what Ole told her, "The safest way to come home is to follow a snow plow." As she gets into her car she sees a snow plow and pulls in behind it. "Von’t Ole be proud," she says to herself.

She follows the plow for nearly thirty minutes. It turns right and it turns left and it turns right again. Lena stays right behind it. Finally, the plow stops and the driver gets out. He walks back to Lena’s car and say, "Are you ok lady?"

"O yah," she says. "I’m just doin’ what Ole told me. In bad veather follow the snow plow. Is that ok?"

"It’s ok with me," the driver said, "but I’m done plowing the K-Mart lot and now I’m heading over to Wal Mart."

Unless you have been vacationing far from the U.S. you are well aware that we are experiencing a battle over Christmas. Some call it "The Christmas Wars." What exactly is taking place? It has to do with religious displays on public property, Christmas trees in the public square and Christmas music and symbols in public schools. Examples:

In South Orange, New Jersey the school board banned an instrumental version of Christmas carols. The New York Public schools allow menorah displays but nothing that looks like a nativity.

In Fairfax County, Virginia the elementary school banned pictures of a Christmas tree. In Omaha, NE children were told not to put a picture of the Grinch on their classroom door for fear it would offend someone.

We all know that in the Seattle airport the tree is up, it’s down and it is back up again.

At WalMart Merry Christmas is in, it’s out, and it is back in.

• In Illinois, state government workers were forbidden to say the words "Merry Christmas" while at work

• In Rhode Island, local officials banned Christians from participating in a public project to decorate the lawn of City Hall

• Arizona school officials ruled it unconstitutional for a student to make any reference to the religious history of Christmas in a class project.

In most schools and in most towns, and in most stores common sense has prevailed. It is not impossible to say the "C" word or to acknowledge the existence of Christmas. Virtually no one expects schools to have Bible studies or to teach the faith. The question is: Is Christmas a part of our moral and cultural heritage? Some governments have answered a tentative yes. In our state capital a huge Christmas tree stands in the rotunda. Of course, this is Madison, and near the tree is a sign put there by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that begins, "At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail."

Whether reason prevails is debatable but peace is not yet here, and doesn’t appear to be imminent. Time now for the backlash. The Thomas More Law Center has begun a drive to increase the number of Nativity displays on public property this Christmas season after they successfully reached an agreement with two Florida cities (Palm Beach Gardens and North Miami), to display Nativity scenes.

The other night I did something I seldom do, I watched a segment of what I call Talk TV. The host talks about a subject, usually a subject that upsets her or him. Perhaps viewers gravitate toward people who are upset. The issue was the Christmas Wars. All of the issues I just mentioned were talked about. When the segment was finished I thought, "This isn’t for me." The reason I tuned out is that they were upset about Christmas and I’m still in Advent. I’m still in the preparation period. For me the time to get ready for the coming of the Christ child begins with repentance. No one mentioned repentance, or private prayer. Advent is a somber, reflective time. Christmas is a celebration. It is like Lent before Easter. So, I am already out of the loop.

The debate, one-sided I might say, was an offshoot of the Church/State debate. Obviously we won’t settle it here, but it does raise the question about how we celebrate Christmas. It raises questions like: What kind of help in celebrating this season do we expect from those outside our church and our homes? Do we need help from merchants and the city of Madison? Do we need back-up from our schools? To whom do we look for direction?

The Church starts in Advent with John the Baptist. He saw his job as helping people to prepare. It wasn’t exactly the same situation, but it was similar. He was telling people they ought to get ready for the coming of a special one, and so are we. He was announcing that the Messiah was soon to arrive, and so are we. Some wondered whether John was the Messiah. No one is confused about one of the pastors at Bethel being the Messiah. John told them how to prepare, and so might we. Here is what he said:

Those of you who have two coats, give one away to someone who has none.

Government workers, merchants, workers – be honest. Do honest work.

The starting place in preparing for the coming of the Christ is sharing your extras. Giving is the key to the season. Giving was how the Three Magi greeted the Christ child. Giving to people in need is still a great way to prepare.

John is telling us that decorating the tree and buying presents may not be as important as a simple act– haring your bread with those who have little. Perhaps many of you have already found ways to share your bread with the hungry. If bread seems like a very material gift in a spiritual season remember what Ghandi once said, "Bread for myself is a physical problem. Bread for a hungry neighbor is a spiritual problem."

You can focus your giving in a way that fits the birth of the Savior. Most of us have enough resources that we can not only buy something special for those we love and still have enough for people who have virtually nothing. Most of our families have more than they need already. Most of our grandchildren have lots of stuff that they never use, never play with. Most of us have to think of creative ways to get rid of all the extras...can you say Garage Sale? Perhaps the gift we give has something to do with time. Something to do with friendship, more than material.

My second suggestion is: prepare to meet the Prince of Peace by working on peace issues. You can start with a big one, like the Iraq War, or you can do something about your own private wars. You can pray for someone who has hurt you, someone you don’t necessarily like. You can work on forgiving the person. Start by understanding the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. They are quite different. Jesus told us to forgive; he didn’t tell us to reconcile, though when it is possible it is a wonderful thing to do. To reconcile is to come back together. At times forgiveness leads to reconciliation, but not always. Sometimes it is neither possible or wise. If someone abused you it probably isn’t a goal to become pals. But you can forgive them. You can stop carrying the anger and the hatred. You can wish them well. How? Give up any goal of revenge. You don’t need to get even. God will judge. Jesus died to lift these kinds of burdens from us. Forgiving makes this a great Christmas.

Prepare by finding quiet time. Prayer time. Don’t get caught up in the frenzy. And read the story of Christmas from Luke 2 and Matthew 2. If you have little ones near you, read it to them. It is a great story and until it is deep in our souls we really don’t get it. A homeless young couple finally find shelter in a barn. It is there that a baby is born and all heaven and earth came together. It was not just a Jewish event, Wise Men from the East, from Iraq came to make it an international celebration. And the music– it was angelic–or as the poet says, "Assemble here, celestial throng, in royal splendor come arrayed. Give earth a glimpse of heavenly bliss, a teasing taste of what they miss:"

It is wise for us to focus our attention not on what isn’t happening, but on what is. Rather than being upset with those who don’t sing hymns, we can fill our Christmas with music. We can find the best CDs for our families. If our children’s program at school doesn’t have Christmas carols we can make certain that they participate in their churches Christmas program. It will have a lot of carols. Sing at home. You have no control over what music others play but you have total control over what you play.

If there is something that you don’t like you can, of course, write a letter of protest. Or you can write a letter to someone you haven’t seen for a long time, someone who made a difference in your life. Do this instead of just signing your name on the bottom of your Christmas card. Do you know someone who is lonely, someone who is sick, someone who has little or no family? It could have a huge impact on their life.

This is not a season for war, it is a season for peace. It is a season of good will. We can focus on good will. Most of all we can focus on God. The time is drawing near. Be prepared.

© 2006