This is a set of readings that we have used in various combinations of lay
and clergy readers, drawing attention to the many decorations of the season.
I've borrowed parts from many sources and written some myself. It concludes
with a brief meditation on symbolism. Feel free to adapt as needed.

Rev. Peter K. Perry
Prescott United Methodist Church
505 West Gurley Street
Prescott, AZ USA 86301
mailto:pkperry@cableone.net
http://www.prescottumc.com
520-717-1688 Home
520-778-1950 Work

The Significance of the Bells
Bells have been used for centuries to call people to worship, to announce
both good news and bad, to proclaim the births of, to celebrate the end of
wars. Today we ring the bells in gladness, sharing the great and glorious
good news of the coming birth of the Messiah.

There is a legend that once upon a time there was a great cathedral whose
bells suddenly refused to ring. Nobody could tell why they would no longer
sound. A messenger appeared, however, announcing that God had decided not to
let the beautiful bells sound again until the gifts of His people were once
more satisfactory. On Christmas eve the citizens all brought the most
expensive gifts they had, and laid them all on the altar of the great but
silent cathedral. Still the bells did not ring. Finally, the king of the
land laid his crown upon the altar, and stepped back, awaiting the sound of
the bells. But there was only silence.

When the service had ended and the people sorrowfully began departing, one
small boy, a beggar's son, who had but one small piece of silver with which
he had meant to buy bread for his family, crept up to the altar, lay the
silver there, and knelt to pray. Suddenly, the bells pealed forth, more
beautiful than ever before.

May the bells we hear this Christmas season call us to remember that God
asks for one gift only: the gift of our hearts given to the Christ who is
coming into the world.

The Significance of the Candles
From prehistoric times, people have wondered at the mysterious beauty of
fire. The ancients believed that all fire came from the sun, and so they
honored it with bonfires, torches, and later candles. As Christianity spread
throughout the world, it was natural that the flickering flame of
candlelight would become a part of the mysteries of the faith. Jesus said,
"I am the light of the world." John said of Jesus, "He is the true light
shining in the darkness and the darkness cannot put it out." And Jesus said
to us, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven."

We always have candles in the sanctuary. On the altar there are two
candles. One candle to symbolizes the life He lived; the example he gave by
both words, and deeds. This one candle reminds us of the man, Jesus.
The other candle reminds us that Jesus is the son of God. He was with the
Father in the Beginning. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He
ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. The second candle
on the altar reminds us that Jesus is God.

Advent proclaims the coming of a messiah, a God incarnate among us. Light
has been an important symbol of this Messiah from the time the star shone in
the east and led the wise men to Bethlehem.

During the Middle Ages, a time when darkness filled the world, Christians
told stories of the Christ child wandering through the night, looking for a
place to stay. On Christmas Eve, families put candles in their windows as a
sign of welcome to the little wanderer. On that night, no stranger was ever
turned away from the door. Today the candles of Christmas, as well as the
lights we string around our homes, remind us to welcome the Christ child
into our hearts once more.

Advent is a season of light coming into the darkness, and we symbolize that
with the candles and lights of Christmas.

The Significance of the Wreath
The wreaths of Christmas are very special symbols of the season. Wreaths
represent a love that knows no end. Much like the wedding bands that couples
exchange when married, the wreath has no beginning and no ending. So too,
the love which came down at Christmas is eternal love and the wreaths
symbolize the love of God that never ends.

A very special wreath of the season is the Advent wreath. We add four
candles to the wreath as a way of preparing for the coming of the Messiah.
Each week we light one more candle. We call them the candles of hope, of
peace, of love, and of joy. At the center of the wreath there stands one
more candle, the Christ candle which is lit on Christmas Eve in
commemoration of the birth of the baby of Bethlehem.

I think the wreath has become my favorite symbol of the holidays. For me
the wreath, with it's shape that has no beginning and no ending, is a very
visible reminder of the flowing of the years, and the repetition of the
holidays and seasons. Winter leads to Spring, which leads to summer and
Fall, until winter comes again, and the process is repeated. In the church,
Advent leads to Christmas which moves through Epiphany to Lent and Easter
and Pentecost and Ordinary time until we come once more to this day, the
first Sunday of Advent and begin the telling of the Christian story once
more. That story, our story, God's story, like the wreaths of Christmas,
knows no end as it inspires and changes each of us again and again.


The Significance of the Evergreen
The boughs of greens we hang about this sanctuary represent the eternity of
life and the constant presence of God. Evergreens, unlike other trees and
shrubs, never die; through all the seasons of the year they remain ever
green. By surrounding ourselves with evergreens during this season of cold
weather and short days, we are reminded of the Spring to come and the
promise of new life in through Jesus Christ.

There is holly and ivy and mistletoe, toe, but of course, the Christmas
Tree is the best loved of the evergreens. Our use of Christmas trees is so
widespread, we have forgotten the beginning. Hear the legend of the first
Christmas Tree.

Seven hundred years after the birth of Christ, Pope Gregory wanted to send
a Christian missionary to the pagan tribes of Northern Germany. He called
on Winfred of England (later known as Saint Boniface) to go to Germany for a
three-year period to teach Christian ways to the pagan tribes who lived
there. One day, as Winfred was traveling among the people there, he came
upon a gathering for a pagan ceremony in the forest. With the ritual about
to take place, the spirit of the forest was being worshiped with a human
sacrifice. The usual ceremony involved the blood of an innocent child
sprinkled around an oak tree to please the god of the forest. Winfred
begged that the ceremony be stopped, but his words were ignored. In a
desperate act to stop the ritual, Winfred grabbed the ceremonial ax and cut
down the oak tree. The people were furious, but their anger turned to
amazement as they saw a small fir tree spring up to replace the fallen oak.
A shaft of light caused each twig on the fir tree to glisten and the people
listened and believed when Winfred told them the tree was a symbol of the
birth of life through Christ.

Thus, began the custom among German people of using a fir tree as a symbol
to acknowledge the birth of Christ. It was another seven hundred years
before the great reformer of the church, Martin Luther, put lighted candles
on his tree to recapture the glistening twigs of the tree in the forest
which Winfred had seen. He also topped his tree with a star to commemorate
that star which was in the Bethlehem sky as recorded in scriptures.
One our tree this year, as in previous years, we hang Chrismons — Christ
monograms — each of which represents another part of the messiah's story.

* the white lights represent Christ being the light of the world
* the star on top represents the bright star of Bethlehem
* the lamb recalls Christ's sacrifice
* the triangle and circle ornaments represent the Trinity
* the butterfly ornaments represent Easter and new life
* the rose ornaments represent Mary, the mother of Jesus
* the dove ornaments represent the Holy Spirit

Our Chrismon tree is a tree of symbols, reminding us all that the true
meaning of Christmas is not gift wrap and glitter, Santas and reindeers, but
the birth of a baby and the incarnation of God.

The Significance of the Crèche
A church held a live nativity on their front lawn each year. They had been
doing this for years. The live nativity would run the week before Christmas.
The church was located in a busy part of town. Many travelers would pass by,
and many would stop to look and enjoy the live nativity.

Every year the live nativity scene got bigger and better. A bigger stable
was built. More live animals were added, including sheep, chickens, calves
and a donkey. One year they even borrowed a camel from a nearby zoo. More
and more people wanted to take part in this tradition. More characters were
added each year. The innkeeper's wife now had a couple of children at her
side. More shepherds were added, and last year they even had servants
following the three wise men. More angels were added. It was literally a
host of angels fifty voices strong. One year there were seventy-five people
participating in the week long live nativity.

One year they decided to advertise to see if more people would drive past
and perhaps even stop. The pastor knew of an older gentleman who was a
retired painter from the congregation who could design and paint an
advertisement on a billboard near the highway. This was a great idea.
Thousands of people would see it. The committee was in total agreement. The
gentleman agreed to paint the huge billboard. He always wanted to do
something special for the church and now that he was retired he had the
time. This was truly going to be their best live nativity ever.

When the billboard was completed many persons from the congregation as well
as other people from the community went to see it unveiled. The mayor was
present along with the pastor. There was even a live remote from one of the
local television stations. The junior high school band was playing Christmas
Carols. It was truly a magical evening as the mayor addressed the crowd that
had gathered.

Everyone joined in singing "Away In A Manger" as the moment neared. The
gentleman signaled for the cloth to be raised that was covering the sign. At
first there was a kind of quiet murmur that rippled through the crowd, then
gasps, followed by a din of wonderment which grew into what sounded like a
roar of disapproval. They could not believe what they were seeing! It looked
nothing like their beautiful nativity. The sign painter had painted a simple
cardboard shack with a contemporary Joseph and Mary who looked very much
like street people who lived in the park a few blocks from the church. Baby
Jesus was wrapped in rags and lying in a tattered disposable diaper box.
There were no shepherds or wise men, no angels with gold tipped wings. There
was only a bag lady and a cop who had come by on a horse.

I don't have to tell you that some of the church people were upset and even
embarrassed. This was not the way it was supposed to be. Who in their right
mind would have approved such a sign. This was not the way it was supposed
to be done. They were, after all, a respectable church with respectable
members.

The next day the telephones were ringing off the hook. The church secretary
was barely at her desk when the phone started ringing. She was kept busy
most of the day answering the phone. People were calling to say how much
they loved the billboard. Others called to say how meaningful it was for
them. There were reporters calling from around the state and disc jockeys
who wanted to find out more about this unusual advertisement. By Thursday
the retired sign painter was an overnight celebrity. He had appeared on two
national talk shows. And perhaps the most amazing thing was that on the next
Sunday the church was filled to overflowing.

Don’t let your beautiful nativity sets lull you into some kind of tinsel
and gift-wrap induced coma. Instead, let them remind you that on Christmas,
God came to be with us, to interact with human beings in every state of
despair, fear, and pain. The significance of the crèche is the central
doctrine of Christmas. God became real and lived among us. God knows today
us because a baby was born in Bethlehem.

The Symbols of Salvation
Try to imagine a world without symbols. There would be no flags, no
crosses, no wedding rings. There would be no road maps, no street signs, no
coins. There would be no Nike swoops, no Ralston Purina checkerboards, no
Texaco stars. Without symbols we wouldn't know donkeys from elephants or
wildcats from Sun Devils. You all know what a swastika means, and depending
upon your age, you think you know what this is…(hold up Peace sign
symbol…"two"). Our lives are built around symbols, good and bad.

No time of the year is as rich with symbolism as this season of Advent and
the season of Christmas that follows. As we've looked around the chancel
and the sanctuary today, we've seen the symbols of salvation that have
become so much a part of our lives, year in and year out. It has become a
ritual to put the decorations up and take them down again.

In this year's Advent devotional I wrote about a special Christmas
decoration that I remember fondly. The devotion got put in for Christmas
day, but if you have a book, or access to the Internet, I hope you will read
it early.

It's about a little plastic church with a wind-up music box and light bulb
inside. It glowed, and it played Silent Night, and probably only cost $3 or
$4 (if that) back in the forties when mom and dad got it. But it came to
symbolize for me the joy of this season of preparation. When I saw that
plastic church I knew Christmas was coming. When I saw the glow of light
bulb shining through plastic stained glass windows and yellowed plastic
walls, I felt the light of God come down at Christmas. When I heard the
tinny strains of Silent Night, I heard the voices of the angels. It was a
symbol.

The amazing thing about our symbols is their simplicity outwardly and their
complexity inwardly. Legends about Christmas trees and silent bells in
cathedral spires, images of candles in windows and wreaths that have no
beginning or ending. Such simple things which convey without words the
deepest depths of human belief and hope and longing. The symbols of
salvation feed a very real human need, and that's why they are symbols,
that's why we do the same things year after year. These symbols are our
unspoken language of faith.

We cannot see the crooked paths made straight. We cannot see the rough
places made smooth. We cannot hear the angel's song, or smell the fragrance
of the myrrh and frankincense borne by kings. We cannot rock the infant
Christ in our arms. We cannot stop the soldiers on their deadly night in
Bethlehem. But our symbols can . . . they can take the events of long ago
and make them real in our hearts today. And so we cherish the symbols of
salvation.

This Advent, as you get ready for the coming of Christ on Christmas, take
time to let the symbols touch you anew. When you put up your lights, think
of the star. When you set out the crèche, image holding the baby in your
arms. When you put up a tree, remember that God has always loved you and
always will. Amen.