Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, December 25, 1994                   TAG: 9412270054
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: THE REV. VERNON MILLER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE OLD AND THE NEW OF CHRISTMAS|

In the maze of all that Christmas means both spiritually and in the secular world, it can be hard to focus on particular aspects of the season.

There are the old and the new of Christmas, which we must keep in balance to experience the day's full meaning. We emphasize the new. New toys, new gadgets, new clothes; let's see how many new things we can get for Christmas.

On the other hand, most of us have family traditions for Christmas, and we don't, and won't, forget these as part of our celebration.

In like manner, in our spiritual observance of Christmas, we should spend time meditating on the past and how it made Christmas necessary. Only then can we look honestly and meaningfully at the possibilities it holds of something new happening in our lives.

On that hillside long ago, angels announced to the shepherds crucial words for us to hear in our own time: "Unto you is born a Savior." A savior is needed now, because of the way we live.

We are caught up in old ways: power struggles, abuse, greed, murder, thievery, sexual misconduct and poor stewardship of God's gifts. We need to be honest. Christmas is a very serious business.

Christmas is God doing something about the way his children were living, and are living. It is a time for remembering that God has seen our distress and our constant choosing of the ways of darkness and has shown us another way.

With Christmas comes the opportunity to meditate on the possibility for newness in our lives, in our communities and the world.

"Behold, I bring you good tidings, of great joy, which shall be to all people ...'' The good news is we can move from an old way of life.

The supreme gift of Christmas is not the latest Power Ranger, not the latest electronic marvel, but the power to venture forth into a whole new way of experiencing and living each day of our lives, as God intended.

There is a diamond company whose ad suggests, "Let her know you really love her, give her a diamond this year." God let humanity know how much it was loved by sending the Savior, the supreme gift.

I hear so many people talking about how difficult it is to live in the world today, so much pressure, such high expectations, so many demands. After many years of the average work week declining in number of hours, it has begun to rise again. More is expected, more required, the pressure grows. We know people are looking everywhere for answers, for help, for ways to cope.

God's gift of Jesus Christ is a declaration that we are being offered the possibility to become what God intended us to be at our creation - beautiful, multifaceted, precious jewels of humanity, truly reflecting the being of the one in whose image we are created.

When we accept the real gift offered to us at Christmas, then peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, forgiveness, all those fruits of the Spirit will become the power by which we live in the world. Not only will we be new creatures, but the world will become more fully "the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever, and ever." Amen.

The Rev. Vernon Miller served as minister of Christiansburg Presbyterian Church on Main Street before his retirement this year. He now lives in Hilton Head, S.C., with his wife.