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 strap 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.” (Luke 3: 16,17)

And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do? (Luke 3: 10)

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day about Christmas Carols that we never want to hear, ever ever ever again.  Mine is “Mary, did you know?”  I think you’ve all heard me rant about this song before.  But in case you haven’t:  Yes, Mary did know.  If you bothered to read your Bible you would not only realize that she knew, she also consented to this pregnancy, and then sang about it.  Its called ‘the Magnificat’.  My friend, her pet peeve was “The Little Drummer Boy”– because, you know, drumming for a new born baby is just one of the stupidest shower gifts ever.  I have had people complain to me about Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas”, Frank Loesser’s “Baby its cold outside”, and of course the English classic “the Twelve Days of Christmas”.  Oh, and while I think about it; Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is not a Christmas song, and for that matter is not a hymn even though it contains the word “Hallelujah”.  I challenge you to read the lyrics.  It’s a fantastic song, and contains exquisite poetry, but is a song about sexuality, not worship.  (Next rant will be about Hoozier’s “Take me to Church”).

There are other things I’d like to ditch that have become Western culture Christian icons.  I mean, really, who decided that “Elf on a Shelf” was a thing?  I’m kind of glad that it didn’t become ‘tradition’ until after my kids were older because I never would’ve managed to keep moving that little toy around in some kind of imaginative way.  I pretty much failed at Santa because, really, any gifts that I gave the kids, I actually WANTED them to know they were from me.  Right!  Because I had listened to them and tried to get something that they wanted.

I’ve thought a lot about Christmas this year, and what we’ve decided are “must-haves” to ‘properly’ celebrate this holiday.  I’m getting a little jaded in my old age.  There have been a whole lot of posts on social media asking for monetary assistance for families who “want to put something under the tree for my kids”.  I totally get the sentiment.  We really want our family to experience a little ‘magic’ this time of year; and experience life as abundant and overflowing.

But why?

Because, the story that we are celebrating, tells us that God came to us in the most humble of circumstances.  And that celebrating this birth, and this truth, is a matter of our hearts crying out with joy, not by moving a little stuffed toy around the house.  This season is about the miracle of God being one of us, and angels singing to working farmers and lighting a real star over a temporary accommodation; not by putting up trees inside our houses that cause financial burden, or by buying things that are not needed or even afforded.

And I wonder today, if this is the “chaff” that needs to be burned in the “unquenchable fire”.  Chaff, for those of you who aren’t in the grains business, is the part of a cereal grain that is not digestible by us humans, and so is considered a useless by-product in milling.  Sometimes its used as animal feed, sometimes its just burned off or composted.  The point being, of course, is that not only is it not useful, but it could cause digestive harm if it was eaten.  John the Baptist tells us that Jesus’ whole purpose here on earth is to separate the useful grains of our life from the chaff.  The analogy goes on to suggest that the useful grains will be ‘gathered in’, and the chaff will be ‘burned off’.

I’m thinking that maybe its time we helped gather grains, and burn off chaff, right?  The grains, or the usefulness of the season that include moments of joy, of relationship, and of worship, are the things that we need to gather in – to embrace – and to allow to be used to nurture our world.  And the chaff of this world?  The things that not only are not useful but also may be causing damage?  I think its time we got rid of those, right?  Things like competitiveness, pettiness, materialism and expectation.  Those things that are harming our lives, our spirits and even our communities.

What is your chaff?

I’m not sure I could name it all.  I am, after all, a product of our society too.  And there are plenty of Christmas Carols that don’t send me into self-righteous rants!  And plenty of Christmas traditions that I enjoy and take part in with relish.  But maybe this year, its time we looked at things with fresh eyes and really let go of things that cause harm, either to ourselves or to our neighbour.  But, at the same time, gather in all that is nurturing and nourishing for our world.

I’ll still cringe and be a little snotty when I hear “Mary, did you know?”  But truthfully, that song isn’t really damaging anything but my over-educated theological sensibilities.  But at the same time, I’ll also support people in making choices that mean that their Christmases involve much more celebration of the intangible rather than the material.  Celebrations that are moments of hearing Angels sing in joy, and babies born in love.  Moments where we know God is with us.

Blessings today, and remember you are Loved,

~Rev. Lynne