Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Christmas Sermon

You may wish to read Pastor Petersen's Christmas Eve sermon which expresses appreciation for the secularization of the holiday.
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous12/29/2006 5:29 PM

    I don't know that it's really my place to comment, but since you called attention to Pastor Petersen's sermon and recommended it, I read it with interest. Pastor Petersen is surely one of the finest preachers around, and I almost always appreciate and benefit from his sermons. I'm sorry to say that I didn't particularly find this one to be among his best.

    His comments on "secularization" struck me as more of a hook or a gimmick than as an integral part of his proclamation. And I'm not sure that what he was applauding is what I would identify with "secularization," anyway. But perhaps I'm one of those adolescent individuals that is simply to be indulged with tired patience. Still, what I heard incessently throughout the Advent season was not Christmas carols, but winter jingles that rarely even mention the Lord Jesus Christ or God's peace on earth. Perhaps the stores and elevators in Fort Wayne do better than those in South Bend.

    Of course, as always, there was the proclamation of the Gospel with beautiful clarity in Pastor Petersen's sermon, for which I give thanks to God. But I was struck by a remarkable lack of any straightforward preaching of the Law unto contrition and repentance, which I normally find Pastor Petersen handling so masterfully. At least in my reading of this sermon, I found the world to be congraluated and thanked for serving the Christmas season. What I didn't find was any exposure of the very real sins that fuel and accompany the "secularization" of the season: and I don't mean on the part of Madison Avenue (which was presumably not in attendance at Redeemer in Fort Wayne on Christmas Midnight), but in the hearts and lives of the hearers. Worldly promotion of Christmas carols notwithstanding, there remains greed and selfishines and covetousness and self-centeredness. It is for the forgiveness of such sins that Christ the Savior is born.

    I would agree that Christmas Midnight is not the occasion for a full-bore "fire and brimstone" preaching of the Law. Nevertheless, it is for sinners that Christ has come, and the sweet Gospel is for those who have fallen short and broken the Law.

    Probably it is simply that I am a Scrooge, myself, and get defensive and huffy about things, but I was troubled by the fact -- so far as I could tell -- that while the world was congratulated for promoting Christmas (even if for the sake of bankrolling the economy), and the people addressed by the sermon were not really called to account for their own sins, the one group of people singled out for criticism were pastors who express frustration with the secularization of Christmas. No doubt pastors need to be called to repentance, too; although I didn't get the impression that it was the pastors in attendance that were being addressed.

    Well, anyway, it just didn't seem so appropriate to me. Some of us pastors are jerks, to be sure, but defending the world's love of money against a well-intentioned critique by brothers in Christ strikes me as misplaced.

    But I'm weary and irritable these days, and not feeling very jolly; so I've probably misinterpreted things. Perhaps I need to listen to more Christmas carols.

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  2. Susan12/29/2006 9:41 PM

    Pr Stuckwisch, I guess this year I had the same experience as Pr Petersen with regard to Christmas carols. You know me: I like Ambrose and Gerhardt and Luther and some of those hymns from the 1600s. But this year I was noticing the carols from the 1800s (not usually my favorites) and how much gospel really is intrinsic to them. I noticed myself walking through Walmart, singing aloud "Hail, the Sun of Righteousness. Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings." And I was thinking that, last year, Walmart wouldn't even let the clerks say "Merry Christmas."

    I will agree with you that there is far too little preaching of law in most sermons. It's a problem I seldom (if ever) notice from Pr Petersen. I didn't notice it in this sermon; maybe there was law there that I heard due to my circumstances in life that didn't hit you the same way. I'm going to have to let you two guys disagree on this without my picking sides, because I have a lot of respect for both of you.

    I'm sorry you're not feeling very jolly. I hope LaRena is improving and that Gerhardt is growing and bringing joy to the family. Your family has been in my prayers.

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  3. Anonymous12/29/2006 10:16 PM

    Dear Susan,

    There's no need to pick sides over anything. I don't assume that every preacher will be at his best in every sermon, and it really wasn't my point to find fault or pick a fight with Pastor Petersen.

    I don't disagree about the benefit of Christmas carols, in any case. But I don't identify Christmas carols with the "secularization" of Christmas; so I don't understand the connection.

    Thank you for your thoughts and prayers on behalf of my wife and family. It has been a difficult and exhausting month. Thankfully, the infection finally seems to have run its course, after four weeks of antibiotics.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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