Are you ready for Christmas?   I mean, have you finished all your shopping, decorated your house inside and out, done all your baking, written your Christmas letter, sent out all your cards, created all your hand made presents, wrapped all your gifts, sent all those packages that you need to, completed all your charitable giving, honored all your church commitments, watched several special programs, cleaned your house thoroughly, planned for any special trips or house guests, maybe hosted a gathering at your home--and attended several more?   Are you really ready?

We could say-have you spent all your money?  Eaten all you could handle? Totally worn out-exhausted-yourself?  Perhaps become un-friendly in the process.  I confess I have overindulged myself already. In one day here, just over a week ago, we had the Red Candle Tea, the Wonder Full Wednesday dinner, and the end of class celebration for the Christian Believer study. Everybody had cake.  Did I hold back?  No, I went for the full experience! And I know too many sweets make me just about sick. Diabetes runs in my family and I think I've gained two pounds just since Thanksgiving.  I won't even mention what I ate on that day.

We people-even those of us who call ourselves Christians-are so vulnerable at these times, aren't we?   Think about our susceptibility to media ads and the "commercial way of the world!"  Oh, we might think we're resistant, but we don't really know what subtle influences might be impacting us subconsciously.  Advertisers do or they wouldn't spend big bucks doing it.

A pastor serving his first church was struggling to make ends meet on his minimal salary.  He became livid when he came across a receipt for a $250 dress his wife had bought.  "How could you do this?" he confronted her.  "I was outside the store looking at the dress in the window, and then I found myself trying it on," she explained.  "It was like Satan was whispering in my ear, 'You look fabulous in that dress.  Buy it!'" "Well," the pastor replied, "You know how I deal with that kind of temptation.  I say, 'Get behind me, Satan!"  "I did," replied his wife, "but then he said,  'It looks fabulous from back here, too!'"

Looking at the big picture, we know things are a lot worse in the world than the view from our corner alone would indicate.  We do know of the wars, famine, homelessness, disease and hunger that are prevalent.  We hear much of those great needs and we are a lot closer to some of the problems than others, especially in this church, so we know the international situation, in general, is serious.  The world is really messed up, and it's apparent we people are largely ineffective in dealing with today's problems wherever they are.

Jerusalem and its subsidiary town-described as "daughter of Zion" and under the protection of the walled city-likewise had a history of so many problems.  There was oppression throughout, rampant idolatry, cheating, arrogance and pride.   Her prophets were known to be wanton, faithless men, while her priests were criticized as ignoring her problems,  as they elevated rites over the functions of the priesthood. She was betraying the Eternal.  This was the world in which the prophet Zephaniah appeared, the religious center of ancient Israel.   Zephaniah who, in his faith, believed that despite the failure of that generation, the future was bright.

I'm reminded of a short story of a grandfather and his granddaughter who were traveling together on a deserted road in a very rural area, a ranching area, possibly like Montana, where the homes were few and far between. Their pickup develops a serious problem and they're forced to stop, yet they manage to reach one lone nearby ranch.  The rancher is friendly, and it's over the radiator problem that he recognizes the grandfather as the former major league ball player that he is.   Meanwhile, the little girl's been wandering around the ranch and discovers a flock of chickens contained in a chicken wire enclosure.  She gets very excited at the appearance of one of them and runs to her grandfather to tell him of the "funny chicken."

The grandfather immediately recognizes the funny chicken for what it is--an eagle.   He questions the rancher about this, and is told a chicken hatched the eagle egg, after it was saved from near destruction. So here we have an eagle who has never known any existence except the confined life of a chicken.  The eagle now acts like a chicken and simply goes around pecking at the seed on the ground, never flying.  ( I mean, have you ever seen a chicken fly?)   Grandfather picks the eagle up and then lets her go, but she just drops to the ground and continues to act like a chicken.

Flashbacks to his childhood come to the grandfather. He was told he "couldn' t play ball," he was "no good", when he heard his father's words to him as so long ago:  "No one knows anyone's true potential," and "You'll never make a home run looking at the ground."

As the rancher shares his memories of some of the grandfather's most famous ball plays, the old ball player thinks of the eagle and asks if he might try to help the eagle fly.   The rancher consents, and the ball player flashes back to his life at about 8 years old.  He couldn't hit the ball, he was being taunted, and he strikes out.  He tells his dad he's sorry and his dad replies, "Don't be; you tried.  Just aim a little higher."

The flashbacks to his early difficulties and his dad's coaching continue as grandfather, with his young granddaughter, decides to take the eagle higher. He remembers "Sometimes you need a better view before you can see where you' re going."  With the rancher's permission, the two of them hike to a high spot in the mountains.   "Every step up should take us to the expectation," he hears.  And, "If we continue to reach, eventually we'll be able to see where we're going."  Grandpa says, "We're going higher," and they climb and they climb. and the eagle starts turning his head, looking around.  Grandpa flashes to his first young home run, when he connected powerfully with the ball on the third pitch.  He holds the eagle high and says, "You're an eagle, not a chicken.  Spread your wings and fly."  He runs and releases the eagle-and it soars and soars.

Friends, this is the message of God to the Israelites-and to all of us-through the prophet Zephaniah.  God was in their midst when they had thoroughly messed up all that they were doing.  They were on the ground, looking down, and lacking in faith.   They did not know what they could do. Zephaniah let them know that God commuted their sentence, when they were worthy of judgment and condemnation.

It's a message for today that God is in our midst and has removed all fear. He not only lifts us up, but He does so with great joy, for there's victory-we will soar with His leadership.   Like the old coach, we do not yet know what our potential is, but we know that our lives with be intertwined with our God, and that we are part of that vision of the future that Zephaniah had.

We may have been with the chickens on the ground, but with the birth in the manger we may soar with the eagles, for only God knows what we can do.   Our changed lives, believing and not limiting ourselves, as our  God will not, can lead us to a world that will then never be the same. That's reason for each of us to burst with a joy from within, a joy that starts as in the warmed heart of John Wesley, when his faith had been challenged and then experienced so deeply, a heart full of passion and love for His God.

It's a joy and passion that we can carry through all of our days, and in getting ready for Christmas, a joy that enables us to live out our lives as He would have us, with anticipation, yes, but with thoughtful reprioritization of all that we do and renewed relationships with those from whom we have been alienated,  knowing that our God will be with us each step along the way.

It's a great joy that comes from experiencing ever deeply the great love that our God has for us, a love that lasts for all of our days and beyond, a love that gives us great reason to celebrate even now, as we approach the great celebration day that marks that astounding birth of our faith.  Let us join together now in sharing today's reality and the ever-growing expectation, that we might be fully ready for Christmas. In God's great love, we shall be renewed.

Please stand as we sing a song of celebration for that great joy of God's tremendous love: Emmanuel, Emmanuel.  We hear the unmistakable Good News that the Lord is in our midst as our Redeemer, Our Peace, and our Renewer. Rejoice in the Lord!