SteveAndersen.com

I try not to literally preach here, but it is a major festival, and I am out of work. So you will be ok with it.

Luke 2.1-20 (NRSV)

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

This is about the most difficult sermon of the year for any preacher. You might be surprised to hear that. The reason that this is the hardest sermon of the year is that everyone knows the text, every one knows the story. Christmas is such a huge event in our society that even non- or anti- Christians can tell you the Christmas story. Everyone can tell you the story of the virgin Mary, her labored trek on a donkey to Bethlehem with her new husband Joseph to be enrolled in the census. Everyone can tell you about how there was no room for the newlywed couple in the inn, and about how the expectant parents were put up outside the inn in the stable for the night, how the baby Jesus was born there in the hay, and laid in a manger. Everyone can tell you about the three wise men who strode silently across the desert with gifts for the baby, and everyone knows about the Shepherds who where napping quietly in the fields when scores of angels came and ushered them in to see the baby. We have all seen it on the peanuts TV special, we have all seen children’s Christmas pageants, and we all have heard the story told in so many different ways that by December 26th most of us are glad that it is over. What is surprising is that - given how familiar the story is - This is not the important story of Christmas.

Yes, that is what I said. Christmas is not about a baby born 2000 years ago in the City of Bethlehem. Go ahead, catch your breath.

Some people might nod in agreement, saying… “well surely the story of the nativity of our Lord is only the first step in the journey, what Christmas really is, is a sign post pointing to Easter, to the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, a sign post pointing to the fulfillment of the covenant of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins God made with us in our baptism.” Those people sound like my seminary professors - and they are wrong. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ IS indeed an important aspect of Christian life… it is not however what Christmas is about. Christmas is more than a sign post to Easter - as important as Easter is.

If you think this has been surprising so far… hold on to your hats. Christmas is not about Santa Claus. Christmas is not about a big, jolly, red suit clad, flying sleigh riding, chimney-wriggling down, once a year, if your good, present depositor. Don’t get me wrong - Santa is a great guy, and I am a big fan of his work - but Santa, nor his eight tiny reindeer - not even Rudolph, is what Christmas is about. That probably comes as less of a surprise. Santa certainly fulfills a role doesn’t he? Even if the entire holiday is not about him, Santa, or at least the idea of Santa play a big role in Christmas…

Here in America, probably the most salient aspect of Christmas is the Christmas gift exchange. Is that what Christmas is about? Giving something of value to our friends, neighbors and family. The exchange of goods between acquaintances. Perhaps some here have even been part of a secret Santa exchange… The exchange of gifts Can be an exciting time, a time when we put aside our differences and try to do our best for our neighbor. Indeed the yearly exchange of goods is frequently a fun and exciting custom - and their is nothing wrong with the custom… but it is not what Christmas is about.

What about family and friends? The spirit of Christmas is certainly about visiting with relatives who live in far off lands who make it back home only once a year on Christmas eve to spend the holiday with brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents… all sitting around a huge dining room table, the matriarch of the family having brought out her best china, placed it on top of no fewer than three layers of linen on the table… a huge portion of some unfortunate, but tasty, beast - cooked to perfection. Certainly this is what Christmas is about, the reunification of long lost relatives over a sumptuous feast? No. Reunification and reconciliation are important aspects of the Christian faith, and because of the opportunity for conversation that the holiday very often provides, reunification and reconciliation frequently does occur during Christmas - but that is not what Christmas is about.

Surprisingly the core of the Christmas message is not the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem 2000 years ago; the core of the message is not who that boy will grow up to be, and what he will do on Easter morning some 33 years later; it is no real surprise that the core of Christmas is not about the jolly fellow in the red suit - though we often wish it was; the core of Christmas, the real meaning of Christmas cannot be found in family, or friends or our good intentions towards others - as wonderful as those things sometimes are… and it is no real surprise that the core of Christmas is not about the exchange of gifts - thought that is frequently our favorite part of the holiday.

What the core of Christmas is about is God. It is not about the birth of a baby boy, but it is about what that boy is at his birth. The Core of Christmas is about God who is not distant, who is not sitting on a gold throne perched atop a fluffy white cloud somewhere, judging and condemning our actions… but of God who is present with us here in our world, who has indeed walked among us as one of us who knows our triumphs as well as our tribulations. The miracle of Christmas is that God is here with us - when God could be anywhere God wants to be - or not be anywhere God does not want to be… the miracle is that God is present here - with us now. We tell the story of the baby boy who was born in Bethlehem so many generations ago, we tell it because the story is a good one, and it helps us to remember the truth of Christmas - not that there is a cute baby in the manger, but that there is the all powerful, all loving, all knowing, ever present, God, Lord and Savior of all creation, present with us in that baby some 2000 years ago, as well as with us here - now - today.

So I have today joined the 21st century and purchased a flat panel monitor.

I know – it IS about time.

But you know me – cheep, and poor – and it is hard to justify a new monitor when the one you have is working perfectly well.

Well my frontal lobe can stop it’s whimpering now. No more electron-guns aimed at it. My CRT is no more. It finally gave up the ghost. It had an interesting failure mode – it would work like a charm – when it worked – but it started to fail to wake from sleep, or to start up when I would boot the computer up. In fact – it still works like a charm when it starts up.

So I took the opportunity to justify buying a new flat panel. A nice 19” Westinghouse refurb. I know, Westinghouse is not exactly the first name in flat panels – but they do appear to be the first name in CHEEP flat panels. A 19” monitor for $199.00 with no rebates is not to be sneezed at my friend. They also have a 17” wide screen that I almost bought instead – but I saw it at Best Buy a week or so ago – and if it was 17” – then so am I. If they marketed it as a 15” widescreen I would have believed it. Perhaps they were measuring the bezel too, ala CRT measurements?

Anyway – so my new monitor is home and installed and I am happy. It is analogue (cheep remember) so I do wish that text were a bit crisper – but it is certainly serviceable. Images are nice and crisp, it is plenty bright (in fact I have the brightness set at 30 out of 100) contrast is good. The refresh could be better, my curser doesn’t skip, and movie playback is fine, but I wouldn’t want to play halo on it. But then I don’t play halo – so no loss for me. The viewing angle is more than sufficient for my needs. Of course, moving up from a 19” CRT to a 19” LCD means that I have a bit more real estate to play with… and that is nice – it is not a WHOLE lot more – I was running 1024X768 before and now I am rollin’ on 1152X864 – the monitor will do 1280X1024 – but then text gets to be a bitch to read – and I read a LOT of text – so… it’s an issue. I get good blacks, especially with the brightness not cranked up so high – I am happy with the rest of the colors – certainly not calibrated – but I can’t tell a HUGE difference between this and what my CRT was displaying… so I am happy. Most importantly – no dead pixels. Happy person.

The one thing that is driving me crazy – and cracking me up at the same time – is that as I look at the screen – I perceive it bowing inward slightly – as if it were convex, instead of flat – as if the center of the screen were further away than the edges. It looks as if horizontal lines are bowed ever-so-slightly. Less now than earlier this afternoon – but still. With a CRT I would futz wit the pincushion control until this went away – but that is not an option here. I went so far as to bust out a ruler and measure a line along its arc, to see exactly how bowed it is. It turns out that the line is not bowed at all.

My guess is that I have been looking at my nice round CRT for so long, my brain has learned to compensate for the sexy curvy glass. Now that I am looking at something flat – my poor frontal lobe – still recovering from years of electron bombardment – is having trouble learning to NOT compensate. But it is getting better. Of course it could be something else entirely – but I think it is getting to be less and less significant. What do I know?

In any case – I’m a pretty happy guy for now, and this will make a nice second monitor when I finally get my grubby mitts on the monitor of my lust.

Judge rules against ’intelligent design’

Ok – I feel like I have to comment on this whole thing. But I am not sure what to say – I have a lot of thoughts about it – and it is an issue that ties into a lot of other issues I have been wrestling with recently (look for a definition of a Christian here in not too long). I started a set of comments about this whole debacle a month or so ago when it was Kansas that was in the spot light. But I am still not sure what the point is. Maybe that is the problem – what exactly is the point of teaching something that is so obviously a lie – even to those who are pushing to have it taught.

OK – to prevent (further) rambling my comments in brief are as follows:

DUH. Intelligent design is STUPID. When I was in 7th grade, in a Christian Jr. High, and was taking Science (that is all it was called then – no physics, or chemistry – just science) and it came time to teach evolution my teacher stated (and this is not a direct quote) “Evolution and the scripture are not at odds with one another; the bible does not preclude evolution. A theory that states “A happens, and then B happens and then… God does something … and then C happens as a result, is not science.” It was the 1980’s folks – I was 13, but I got it. Why is it that 20 years later – middle aged conservative “Christians” can’t figure it out now?

Finally the government does something right. Thank God judges at the national level are appointed and not elected, like school boards and presidents are.

Any one who insists on a literal reading of the scripture, and insist that Evolution is wrong as a result, has far too immature a faith, and far too infantile an intellect, and far too little understanding of what scripture is to be taken seriously, at least in matters of faith.

What exactly are the conservative “Christians” so afraid of?

So… can the “religious” “right” please stop making themselves, and Christians, look so stupid?

I grow weary now. This is such an absurd non-issue that has been forced upon us as a nation – and it is time to stop spending so much time on it.

Don’t make fun, if you spent all day, every day upside down, you would go a little crazy too.

I do love Christmas. Nothing quite like a drunken Santa to set the mood for the Nativity. Now where did I leave that Egg Nog?

OK – here is the thing:

George W. Bush is not, as far as I can tell, a Christian; at the very least he has NO clue what it means to be a Christian.

Much like John Kerry stated during the last presidential campaign when the same charge was being leveled against him, at some point, being a Christian is about caring for people.

And that is the point that W. doesn’t seem to get.

I hate to be the one to break this to America, but Christian morality has a LOT less to do with pornography, drinking, and homosexuality – and has a LOT more to do with feeding the hungry, and clothing the poor, and providing healthcare, and – call me crazy – NOT torturing people.

The thing is that not only is caring about people not simply some extraneous part of Christianity, that can be ignored when it gets inconvenient – it is at the bloody core, right next to Christ who stated – wait for it – “If you love me, feed my sheep.”

So now W. is FIGHTING, PUBLICLY to retain the ability to impose cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (read torture) on those held in foreign prisons (don’t think that it will be long before he extends this ability to torture Americans in American prisons) Like in the European torture camps W. set up. What is wrong with this man? Is there some provision in the constitution that allows for the removal of a president in case that president is just smack-ass-nuts? Yah, sure Clinton got an extra-marital hummer – and that shouldn’t have happened – we all agree. BUT HE NEVER HAD PEOPLE TORTURED, like Saddam Husain did, like W. does. If you want to impeach someone – impeach the steaming pile that violates the fundamental laws of human decency.

Christians are supposed to stand up for the poor and oppressed, Christians are supposed to advocate for those being tortured, and do what they can to make it stop – not be the shitheads doing the torturing.

It seems to me that W. is far more Roman than he is Christian, that if we were transported back 2000 years he would be the guy whipping Christ before nailing him to the cross. And that is FINE with me – the world is going to have those types in it – it is an imperfect place. But those who want so desperately to torture – should not be able to hide their morally repugnant behavior behind the cloak of Christianity – because the Christian faith never told anyone to torture anyone – nor can it condone the torture of any one.

“What you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.”

And so I ask you Mr. President, Who Would Jesus Torture?