Christmas Eve Lika ‘Dis!

So, because it’s Christmas Eve (or thereabouts), let’s talk about gifts!

I don’t know about you, but I believe that the greatest gift that you can give someone is the freedom and permission to be their best self. Not a copy of someone else! Not needing to pretend or strive to be someone or something that they’re not! Which is why I believe that the greatest gift you can give someone is the gift to be who and what God made them to be, with all their unique—and sometimes quirky—gifts and talents.

As I near my last days as a pastor here at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (this is my next to last sermon), I want to thank God, first, for giving me that freedom and permission to be my own quirky self. God’s love and forgiveness frees us to be who and what God made us to be.

But, secondly, I most honestly and sincerely also want to thank you for giving me that same freedom and permission! Steadfastly, you have allowed me—not to be someone else; not to be someone’s ideal of the perfect pastor or the clone of someone who came before me—you have allowed me to be myself in this role, using my unique—and sometimes quirky—gifts in fulfillment of my role.

And that is the greatest gift that anyone can give another. And I thank God—and you!—for giving me that!

So, for one last time, let me be quirky self and share with you what I believe Christmas is all about. And, I bet, you already know the drill! Are you ready? Christmas is God’s gift for us to be Lika ‘Dis with God. And with others! Lika ‘dis!

As best as I can remember, I first began using this gesture rather spontaneously while Pastor Harkness and I were teaching First Communion classes. I’d been encouraging the kids to use their hands to act out the creation story in Genesis. And so, it seemed rather natural to me to have them also use their hands to understand God’s intention in creating the heavens and the earth.

I said something like, “God made creation—and God made you—so that you could be like ‘dis with God.”

Later, it made perfect sense to use that same gesture in trying to convey what communion means.

Like ‘dis! What does communion offer and bring about in us? It means that God enables us to be with him—and with others—lika ‘dis!

Little did I know then that this gesture was a gift that I could keep giving. And giving. And giving!

It worked at helping convey on a Reformation Sunday what being made right by God’s grace received through faith is like. (It’s lika ‘dis) It worked on Easter to help us understand what the living presence of Jesus in our lives always holds and makes possible for us (Lika ‘dis!) And several weeks ago, it helped convey what it means to be called by God to be a saint on All Saints Sunday! (It means to be with God and others lika ‘dis) 

But, above all, when God sent his Son to earth to take on human flesh and give his life for us so that we might one with God and with others, it meant that the true meaning of Christmas is …

Lika ‘dis!

As I’ve already indicated, Christmas is not the first or the only time or way that God has given us this message! It’s as old as the first moment of creation and as new as your very next breath!

But it’s at Christmas that this message is perhaps clearest and dearest! On Christmas, God the Son took on human flesh on a cold winter’s night in Bethlehem, living poor and vulnerable so that we might truly come to know and to abide in him. Lika ‘dis! 

I’ve given you a simple gesture—but it’s a profound gesture and a true one—because I want you to remember it! And embrace it! And to cherish it!

God has poured himself into human flesh so that—forever—we can be in a close and intimate relationship with God and others. Lika ‘dis!

Thank you for calling me as your pastor. Thank you for accepting me. And thank you for allowing me to use my gifts and talents—such as they are—to serve you.

The greatest gift that someone can give another, I believe, is the freedom and the permission to be their best self. Not a clone of another. Not needing to strive or pretend they’re someone or something other than who and what God shaped them to be.

That is the gift that God gives each and every one of us! In Jesus we see that love and acceptance. In Jesus we hear that call to follow and find our lives in him. In Christ we are—and become—our best selves.

But as my days rapidly close as your pastor, thank you for also allowing me to be myself in this role, using my unique—and sometimes quirky—gifts in fulfillment of God’s call.

As God is Lika ‘dis as Father to Son and Spirit, as that same God is Lika ‘dis with all of creation, restored in Jesus Christ, so you will always be Lika ‘dis to me!

Merry Christmas! In Jesus’ name. Amen!