Dr. J. Lawrence Cuthill

January 3, 2010

Winter Park Presbyterian

Well here we are -- having crossed a threshold from the past; 2009, into a New Year; 2010. Tradition-ally it’s a time to recap the events of the past year. It’s of some value to do a little personal reflection as well; otherwise we are less inclined to learn from our mistakes and appreciate our blessings. The Roman god, Janus, from which we get the word JANUARY, was depicted with two faces – one facing forward, the other back.

The media put together their year-end retro-spectives which, among other newsworthy stories, will include what was recently named #1: The Economy, followed by the Health Care Reform debate, the inauguration of the first African-American President, the year when “tweeting” entered our vernacular, a troop surge in Afghanistan, the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett and Ed McMahan, and of course the tumble from stratospheric heights of Tiger Woods.

In the spring, we had the Swine Flu panic – also known as the “A-pork-alypse” or a “snout-break”, or a “ham-demic” (sorry…)

For the Chinese, 2008 was the Year of the Pig, but 2009 gets my vote. Incidentally, if memory serves -- 2010 will be the Year of the Tiger… Too bad it didn’t come sooner for the fallen golf legend.

Back to the Year of the Pig. Perhaps it is our Judeo-Christian heritage that has given this most intelligent barnyard animal such a bad name. Recalling Scriptural accounts, it’s an animal considered unclean. Your average Jew of Biblical times wouldn’t touch one with a 10 foot pole.

The Prodigal Son parable tells us that slopping with the Porkers is about as low as a man can sink. So if the Year of the Pig is dismal, and it is representative of the past, what are we to make of the future? More Porcine? More of the same, particularly if you subscribe to Georges Santayana’s advice: “Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat its mistakes.”

There are those who contend that the past is the best predictor of the future. Expect more of the same. That sounds pretty dismal. It could even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our expectations do have a powerful effect on our view of reality, and can have a profound effect on what happens … or how we perceive it.

But have we then forgotten so soon the news we celebrated only two weeks ago: the Incarnation of the Christ? If it is only a sentimental myth relegated to one short season, then it hasn’t the substance to sustain hope. If it is only a momentary escape, then buckle up because we’ll just be trampled by the resumption of business as usual … and business isn’t so good.

Does hope simply melt away, evaporate in the face of harsh reality? If so, we Christians are vulnerable to our critic’s charges that we have invested our lives and faith in a vaporous fantasy. We have constructed a comforting myth to deal with our fear. Is that all there is to it?

Of course not. The Scriptures are not naïve.

God knew well that salvation’s cost was dear. It must confront and overcome a most powerful opponent – FEAR. From the beginning of the Nativity Story, we see that word, FEAR (phobos) appear seven times. It was/is a drama which opens (and continues) against a setting of fear. There was the fear of people caught in the grip of a piggish empire, a local tyrant paranoid about maintaining power, the fear of poverty and bringing a child into this harsh world … the fear of the unknown, fear of the future, and even the fear of God … So much that the phrase is repeated numerous times by the angel messengers: “Do not be afraid.”

We’re not asked to join in some collective denial, some mass illusion of an escapist utopia. If this God cannot be trusted, then we are at the mercy of a world that seems to have gone mad, a world which at heart is ruled by survival of the fittest; the law of the jungle.

This view of reality is portrayed for us in perhaps the least known account of the incarnation; call it the unknown nativity (which certainly would be a challenge for Christmas card companies). Recall the passage from Rev. 12, “A woman … clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet … and she was with child, and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.” That’s a bit more graphic and realistic description of birth. “…and a great dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth… in order to devour the child.” Evil knows the centrality of this birth event to the whole fate, the future … and will expend every effort to nip it in the bud. The account continues, “… She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule the nations … and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.”

When it looked like the child would not survive and all hope was lost, God intervened. We know more of the story from the Gospels … the life of this Son as Teacher, Healer, Savior, crucified but risen and reigning. But from the very beginning, in the midst of all the phobias and anxiety, the story calls our attention from the pig to the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sins and fears of the world. The pigs, the beasts, the tyrants, whatever form they take – do not win; the little lamb does. Put your money and your life on the lamb. All you’ve got to lose is your fear of the future, your regret over the past, your sin. And what do we have to gain? Freedom from fear; hope; purpose … tomorrow, an eternity of tomorrows in peace. Just you wait and see.

AMEN