New Testament: Luke 2:39 - 40, 49 - 52: And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, my God and my Redeemer!

Some of us started preparing for Christmas months ago. I remember buying Christmas cards last December to be mailed this December. At the same time, others started buying gifts for this year. We put a lot of time and effort into preparing for Christmas; preparing for the coming of the Christ. The choir learned the beautiful cantata - Rejoice; the Sunday School prepared for the presentation of its pageant, which we will always remember as "Baa Baa Baa Baa!" Jane Workman and her crew decorated the church to a state of great brilliance. June Gnagy and the bell choir rang out the Good news. We gathered food and gifts for those we felt were in need; Gert Bruno ordered the poinsettias for us and set them out, and on and on - a lot of work and a lot of "Things" to do.

Then the BIG DAY arrived, greeting many of us here in this very sanctuary. We acknowledge Jesus' Birth, opening our gifts, and enjoying our feasts, family and friends.

Then the day passes and the very next day we run to the stores to catch the sales on cards and items, which will become next year's gifts.

As I reflected on the preparation for Christmas Day, and the celebration of the Day, and I wondered what it was or is that we are to get out of it, what are we to take from it - in other words, "And Now What?" Being a little curious, I went to the Bible to see what those individuals who were the main players of the cast of the Christmas Story did. What guidance would be there to tell me what I should be about between Christmas Day and Lent. I scanned through the four Gospels and it turned out that Joseph had to sneak his new family into Egypt to escape the possible murder of his and Mary's son. They remained in Egypt until Herod had died. Joseph was told in a dream that he could now return to the land of Israel, and so they returned to Nazareth. I found nothing relating what others who acknowledged the Miracle Birth did after making that acknowledgement. So I searched for what Jesus did.

In my reading, I was drawn to that second chapter of Luke, v. 40 - "And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit; filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him." I wondered if this is a possible answer to my question - And Now What? Are we to use our time between Christmas and Lent to grow and wax strong in spirit and to increase our level of wisdom? It makes sense to me, but just how does one grow and wax strong in spirit? My feeling is that spiritual growth is enhanced by study, prayer and experiences. Studying the Word is a basic part of our religious practices, we believe that the Bible is the Word of God. It is from the Bible that we learn of God"s historical interaction with man. We learn what it is that God wants in a relationship with us, for us to accept His absolute sovereignty and His absolute love for us. We learn of His desires for us through our Sunday School classes, our individual Bible study and from sermons from our minister, just as Jesus did while He was growing. So that's the studying part. What about prayer?

Through individual prayer you are given the opportunity to withdraw to your inner most self, taking time to solidify your relationship with God. It can be so comforting to retire to a quiet spot and just concentrate on communicating with God. I find it inspiring to let my thoughts just flow - I can usually face up to what it is I'm doing that is wrong, and what it is that would be acceptable in God's sight. Our comfort at such times stems from our belief that we might rest in the assurance that God is forgiving and He will strengthen our resolve to turn away from our sinning. That's the prayer part.

Remember, I also mentioned our experiences as a part of growing in spirit. I was thinking about the times when you have an experience that might be so good that you are forced to face the fact that you were not and could not have been the controlling factor in bringing such goodness to into your life - surely God must have been involved. Times when you just escaped serious injury, if not death, times when you came out of a particularly rough period in your life, that you just know that God must have brought you through. What about those times when you have met a person who adds great value to your quality of life and you realize that the manner in which you met was totally uncanny - and you think, "God must have been involved." Then there is the supreme of all experiences, when one truly feels deep down that Jesus Christ is his/her personal Lord and Savior and Deliverer!! You do not choose God, for as it is written in Isaiah 43:10 "You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He." Yes, through these avenues, we grow in spiritual strength, AND in wisdom.

Have I convinced you yet that the challenge for us during the time between Christmas and Lent is to grow?! If not, let me see if I can help you gravitate to my way of thinking by exploring some of my thoughts on how we might recognize and express our growth. For openers, you realize that you as individuals and as a congregation have a lot to share - Love, Knowledge, Labor, Finances and Faith. And while it might go without saying, I am happy that many of you here at Good Shepherd have expressed yourselves in just these ways. I would not, however, have us rest on our laurels, because I want us to concentrate on growth. The aim of every Christian is to be Christ-like. As a part of his growth process, Christ spent His time between Christmas and Lent trying to reach more and more people who were non-believers and to strengthen the faith of those who did believe - John 4:39-41 "Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word." Making believers of non-believers, this too is our challenge. Jesus tried to help those who WERE believers understand just what it was they had as believers and just how much power they commanded as believers - our challenge too! Christ tried to empress upon the Jews the fact that the God they served is a loving God and that they were charged to share that love - not just with friends, but also with those they saw as enemies - our challenge as well!

Christ spent time extending God's love across all sorts of false boundaries - we too must reach across the boundaries of race, economic and educational boundaries as well as religious boundaries - working constantly to eliminate all types of "-isms" always extending God's love. Christ spent time healing, feeding and comforting - our challenge? To do even more than we do now! Realize, however, that we must not do the work of Christ with a grudge, We should accept our challenges with the Spirit of excitement and joy. We must not take the attitude that we are "doing for God" as much as the attitude that we are "doing with God" for we must have the spirit of God dwelling within us, just as Christ proclaimed that God dwelt in Him. So as you go about your day, smile, not because you might be on Candid Camera, but because you have God with you and it is His eye which is upon you.

So you might say that my answer to the question "And Now What?" is that I must take on the challenges signaled by the birth of Christ, to grow in spirit, to give myself to the task of becoming Christ-like so that when we reach the time of Lent, I will be ready to accept God’s promise of salvation and resurrection! What will be your answer? How will you mark your time between Celebrating Christ’s Birth and acknowledging his death and resurrection?

(Sung:) Christ the Savior is born! Christ the Savior is born!

Prayer: Holy Father, we give you thanks for the birth of the Messiah. Grant us the presence of mind to accept His birth and to use His life's work as a guide for our growth in the spirit - Amen!