Some of you will remember an old comedy team from the early part of the twentieth century named Oliver and Hardy. They produced some marvelous work. Their comedy was slapstick, but it also showed a deep understanding of human nature.
Conrad Hyers, in his book And God Created Laughter tells about an early Laurel and Hardy film from 1925 titled Big Business. Stan and Ollie are Christmas-tree salesmen in California going from house to house in a Model T truck loaded with trees.
The story begins innocently enough with a touch of the Christmas spirit and good cheer. Before long, however, things deteriorate considerably.
Stan and Ollie come to the door of one homeowner who has a somewhat salty disposition and is in no mood to put up with door-to-door salesman. He is not interested in a tree.
When he shuts the door after declining Stan and Ollie’s offer, a tree branch gets caught in the door jamb. Ollie rings for the irritated homeowner to open the door and release the branch. Then as Stan is explaining the reason for this second intrusion, the man slams the door and catches Stan’s coat in the door. Again the doorbell is rung, and as Stan is apologizing, the incensed homeowner slams the door and once more catches the tree in the jamb. When the irate homeowner comes to the door for a fifth time, he brings along clippers, with which he cuts up the tree and tosses it on the lawn. Stan concludes, “I don’t think he wants a tree.”
By this time, however, Ollie is furious. He pulls the man’s doorbell off the wall. When the dismayed homeowner picks up the phone to call the police, Ollie cuts the wire to the phone as well. The film then records a gradually escalating conflict in which the homeowner destroys Stan and Ollie’s truck and trees, piece by piece, while Stan and Ollie destroy his house and shrubbery, piece by piece. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” wins the day. What had started out with a “Merry Christmas” ends up with two piles of rubble. (1)
Sometimes what happens between individuals also happens between nations. Today’s words from the prophet Isaiah are some of the beautiful words ever written about humanity’s longing for peace. Listen to some selected words from Isaiah’s writing: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse . . . The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD . . . with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth . . . The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them . . . The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
In other words, Isaiah says, when the Messiah comes in all of his fullness, all people will live in peace and dignity and love together. This is where the world is headed. The birth of Jesus was the beginning of a grand and glorious invasion of divine love. In the language of war, a beachhead has been established. The seed of the kingdom of peace and love has been planted. The love of a tiny infant will someday overcome all the anger and hostility and hatred that reside in human hearts, and we shall all know that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. And all people across this globe will live in peace and dignity together.
That’s Isaiah’s message to us today. Even though young men and women are still giving their lives in faraway places like Iraq and Afghanistan, there will come a time when war will be no more.
War is a terrible thing. Some of you have been there. You know. Sherman was right. War is hell. Someone once said, “War never decides who’s right . . . only who’s left.”
A few years ago there was a movie titled War Games which some of you undoubtedly saw. In this movie some young kids hack a government computer and set off a simulated thermonuclear war that moves within inches of becoming a real world war. In the end, one of the teenagers and a scientist who invented the simulated war game for the government try to beat the computer at its own game and end the threat of war. In a final move, they ask the computer how to win this war. The computer answers, “The only way to win is not to play the game.” (2)
That is the only way to win the game of war, not to play the game. Or as they used to say in the 1960s, “What if they threw a war and nobody came?”
An elderly man saw some six and seven-year-old children at play, and asked, “What are you playing?”
“War,” responded the kids.
“Why don’t you play peace instead,” said the man.
The children stopped, put their heads together, discussed something among themselves, then looked puzzled and finally ran out of words. One of them went to the elderly man and asked, “Grandpa, how do we play peace? We don’t know the game.” (3) I fear that this is all too often true. We’ve been at war so often that we don’t even know how to play peace.
I picked up another piece of trivia. Did you know that between five and ten people are killed or injured in Guatemala every Christmas by falling bullets? Each December police call on revelers not to fire pistols into the air to celebrate. “Lots of people die when bullets fall on their heads,” a police spokesman said. “This tradition of shooting in the air is a very dangerous practice.” (4)
I don’t want to be critical, but, to me there is something very unsettling about firing guns in the air to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. War is a terrible thing.
When the messiah comes war will be no more. That has always been the hope and the prayer of the people called Christians. The testimony of Scriptures is that there will come a time when all of God’s children will come to the realization that, in Christ, we are all brothers and sisters. Artificial boundaries will cease to exist. We will all belong to one kingdom, the Kingdom of God.
The early Christians did not bear arms. They believed that God would soon straighten out the world and that they should follow their Master’s example and lay down their lives for the world. However as time passed and Christ did not come as quickly as they had expected, they began to moderate their views on war. Sometimes it is necessary to don armor and fight in order to keep evil people from forcing their will on the weak and innocent. At such times it is permissible to take up arms, but this should be the last resort. War should always be the last option available. And we should always look for ways to be peacemakers. Further, we should always look for that day when the Messiah comes for the final time and the “wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them . . .” That’s a beautiful scene, isn’t it?
Rector Judith Davis tells about Christmas at her house. Her young son Jamie, a toddler, had a baby doll (they try to have gender inclusive toys, says Davis). Jamie mostly ignored his doll. The doll was a girl all dressed in pink in a pink bassinet.
They had been reading Jamie the Christmas story from a board book. The book showed baby Jesus in the manger at the stable and the familiar animal characters, the ox and donkey and cow and sheep gathered there. Jamie was at an age when he probably didn’t have a clue who baby Jesus is, but he knew the story on some level.
One day, a few days after they had been reading the story and showing him the pictures in the book, they found Jamie over by his baby doll with all his Little People farm animals and his Noah’s ark animals all lined up around the bassinet. The most wonderful part was that all God’s animals were there not just the donkey and sheep and cow, but giraffes, zebras, horses, pigs, lions, tigers, alligators, elephants, hippos and others. He was so proud of his scene, his recreation of the Christmas story in the book.
The next night his Mom went into Jamie’s room to tell him goodnight, and he had arranged his animals once again. Only this time, along with the turtles and the alligator and the horse and cow and sheep, were Pooh bear and Eeoyre and Barney.
“Out of the mouths and actions of babes we usually find the best theology,” says Judith Davis. And the theology today is that Isaiah prophesied the peaceable kingdom when all the animals would live in peace together and the lion would eat straw with the ox and the wolf and the lamb would lie down together . . .” (5)
What a perfect picture of Christmas. War is a terrible thing. When the Messiah comes there will be no more war. Until the day comes when Christ reigns over this world, let us do all within our power to bring peace to our little corner of the world.
An unknown author wrote something which I believe is important. He called it a letter from Jesus about Christmas. I hope you will listen carefully:
“It has come to my attention,” Jesus begins, “that many of you are upset because some folks are taking my name out of the season . . . How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate my birth, just get along and love one another!
“Now, having said that, let me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting my birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all my followers did that there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
“Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1-8.
“If you want to give me a present in remembrance of my birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way my birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don’t have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing to the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don’t you write and tell him that you’ll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford and they don’t need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of my birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don’t know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit-picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren’t allowed to wish you a “Merry Christmas” that doesn’t keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn’t make so much money on that day they’d close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary especially one who takes my love and Good News to those who have never heard my name.
9. Here’s a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no “Christmas” tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don’t know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other Christian charity, and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to me, then behave like a Christian. Don’t do things in secret that you wouldn’t do in my presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don’t forget; I am God and can take care of myself. Just love me and do what I have told you to do. I’ll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I’ll help you, but the ball is now in your court.
And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those you love and remember . . . I LOVE YOU, JESUS.” (6)
Stan and Ollie escalated a simple attempt at a sale of a Christmas tree into a horribly insane and destructive conflict. Christ wants us to do just the opposite. He wants us to escalate the peace and love of Christmas until it leads to a world of tranquility for all God’s children. Will you do your part?
1. (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1987).
2. Cited in Randy Rowland, Get A Life! (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992), pp. 160-161.
3. Dr. Eleazar Fernandez, http://www.peaceucc.org/sermons/sermon_030506_fernandez.htm.
4. William Hartston, The Encyclopedia of Useless Information (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2007), p. 165.
5. http://www.washingtonparish.org/christmas%202004%20sermon.htm.
6. Carol Richardson, MONDAY FODDER, http://www.fishermansnet.com/monday‑fodder/.