SANTA CLAUS and CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS A sermon preached by the Rev. Aaron Billard St. John’s United Church, Moncton, NB November 28, 2010

I read this week something that resonated with me: “People of faith are not unrealistic. We know that the world can be a dark place. But we also know that the darkness is not all. There is a reason to hope, because there is a light always shining.” (Following the Star: A Daily Online Advent Devotional Guide)

Recently, I’ve had three questions put to me: the first question was from a woman in her late 80s who has been given six to nine months to live. She isn’t ready to talk about dying just yet, although we did talk for a few moments about what happens when we die. I think everyone has a different answer. She said, after a lifetime spent nursing and raising a family, she didn’t want to know. She wanted one final mystery. I liked her answer, and I may use it as my own from now on. The second question put to me was while I was still at the hospital. Quite often, I know the people I’m visiting, but because of St. John’s history, I meet a lot of people who used to go to this church. She asked me who I was, to which I replied, “I’m the minister from St. John’s.” She said, “Are you MacEachern?” Now, with all due respect to Doug, we look nothing alike. So I just said, “No, but you’ve just paid him a wonderful compliment.” The third question came from a young person whom I only know from a distance. He’s an atheist. He sent me a message asking, “Why do you believe in God?” Like a number of my friends who do not believe in God, his question was asked out

of respect instead of condescension. If there’s one thing I’d like to think I’ve done in my ministry it’s to show people that you don’t have to be closed-minded in order to believe in God. His question reminded me of two weeks ago when Milton Palmer, a former elder of this church, brought me a few books. One book was, “With or Without God” by Greta Vosper, and the second book was “God is not Great” by Christopher Hitchens. I’m not sure what Milton was trying to tell me... but actually, Milton, who is in his 90s, showed me that he is a true elder to his core by educating both himself and his minister. In his book, Hitchens tells the story about a teacher he had when he was nine years old, living in England. Mrs. Jean Watts instructed his class on lessons about nature and scripture. She would take the class for walks and talk about the different birds, trees, and plants. Later, she would give them an assignment called, “Search the Scriptures.” They would receive a slip of paper that would contain a single verse from the Old or New Testament, and the assignment was to look up the verse and to tell the class what the moral of the story. Hitchens loved the exercise and he excelled at it, often getting the top grade in his class. He would read the chapters leading up to the verse, and the chapters following the verse so that he knew the story as well as he could. Hitchens took issue with his teacher when she said that it was God who made the plants green, rather than the process of photosynthesis and chlorophyll. He was at the beginning stages of trying to merge intellect and faith, and finding there was little room for intelligence in religion, he parted ways. He came to the conclusion that an ethical life can be lived without religion, and religion hasn’t caused people to conduct themselves any better than anyone else. In fact, he argues, at times it has made religious people behave worse because we 2

have spiritualized our indiscretions. We’ve justified them. Just look back on any number of pastors and priests who have fallen because they became all-powerful in their churches, and soon enough, they are either dipping into the funds, having fun with the flock, or using their group to lift themselves up as the Christ figure rather than actually letting God be God. (Note to readers: The book actually goes quite a bit further into Hitchens’ issues with religion. It’s a fascinating read.)

I don’t disagree with Hitchens on these points. In fact, I’ve had my own run-in with a Mrs. Watts, except her name was Mrs. Bonnar who led a class when I was a child in a summer Bible camp at the Presbyterian Church. She opened her purse and said, “Who do you think puts money in there? Certainly not the government! Jesus puts money in my purse!” To this day, I can remember the fear welling up within me as I said, “No he doesn’t!” And guess which child in that class became a minister! On Friday night, Hitchens debated former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a recent convert to Catholicism, at the Monk Debates in Toronto at the Roy Thompson Hall. When the Globe and Mail interviewed them, a few surprising details emerged. Mr. Hitchens, who lives in Washington, D.C. has had a Christmas tree as long as he’s been a father and observes Passover. He discovered his family’s Jewish roots late in life; his wife, Carol Blue, is also Jewish. According to the article, Blair’s father, Leo, a retired law professor, is a “militant atheist.” The long-time politician also revealed in his recently released memoir, A Journey: My Political Life, that he has always been more interested in religion than politics. In a poll that was taken this past September and released on Friday, Ipsos Reid said that 52 per cent of 18,192 global 3

respondents believe deeply held religious beliefs promote intolerance and division in the world. On the other hand, 48 per cent of the respondents from 23 countries said religion provides the common values and ethical foundations that diverse societies need to thrive. Of the 1,000 Canadians who took part, 36 per cent said religion was a positive influence while 64 per cent said religious beliefs promote intolerance. The disconnect for me is when, with those statistics in hand, we (and hundreds of others) went to the Santa Claus parade. I’ve heard that the Moncton parade is the largest one east of Montreal. People lined Main Street to get a glimpse of the floats, which friends of mine have called the longest commercial you see all year. Let me state that we really enjoyed ourselves, and the little ones loved it. But, I couldn’t help but wonder, as Santa went by and the man in front of me jumped up and started waving like he was a 4 year old, how we might react if, at the end of the parade, Jesus was waving? I am assuming that most of the people who were out last night aren’t church goers. And I’m sure most of them weren’t puzzled by a giant limousine driving by with the words Merry Christmas on it. But the disconnect was there for me. What does any of this have to do with God? Or with the story of a woman bent over with labour pains as her husband leads her on a long journey through an occupied land? Where is the message to balance the hype? How do we connect that story with a group of Grey Hounds walking by with deer antlers fastened to their heads? Last year, even though I knew my wife was against the idea, I decided that I would take Allie to get her picture with the Santa at Champlain Mall. As we stood in line, I could tell that Allie wasn’t buying into the idea that this was fun, and despite what my inner voice was saying (and my wife’s potentially angry response) I still held out hope that we would 4

get that quintessential Christmas picture of Allie sitting on Santa’s knee. As our turn came up, the elf came over to us and said that if my daughter was anxious, just make sure she didn’t face Santa, and she (the elf) would get the shot quick. When it was our turn, I quickly forgot that advice and brought her over, and that’s when the screaming started. Santa yelled, “Don’t let her see my face!” as we tried to get the picture. Of course, then I had to get our money back, which was almost a Christmas miracle in and of itself. As we can tell with the snow last night, winter has arrived. I asked David Rummerfield, as we were walking into the sanctuary, if he had a lot to shovel this morning. He said, “God put it there, he can take it back.” This is the season of Advent. Sometimes we would rather not turn in God’s direction. Not to be in search of answers, mind you, but in search of grounding; in search of finding meaning in our own traditions as we push through the business. Sometimes going to the places where God is can be a frightening experience. Christopher Hitchens has revealed that he has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He said that he is grateful for the prayer groups who pray for him, even moved; however, there will be no deathbed conversion. I, for one, am thankful for people like Christopher Hitchens. He holds religion to account, and in so doing keeps those of us who participate in it more honest and down to earth. In a way, he actually helps me to connect some dots because the things he has identified as problematic with faith, I have identified myself. Where is the disconnect for you, with Christmas and the hype of it all? How do we connect the story of the birth of Jesus – a man who would change the world with his teachings, and with his actions - to the most consumer-driven event of the 5

year - where husbands disobey their wives and line up to see a stranger dressed as Santa Claus? Where is the disconnect for you with faith? What is blocking it? It’s good to name it because it helps us understand what it is we do believe, and what it is we don’t believe. And somehow, within all of it, I think God is ok with that. Doubt, questioning, and yes sometimes anger towards God is all good - because it means we are in a relationship. I’ll end where I began. “People of faith are not unrealistic. We know that the world can be a dark place. But we also know that the darkness is not all. There is a reason to hope, because there is a light always shining.”

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