Keeping It Real By Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

I love Christmas! I really do. I have a big heart. And I love the simplicity of the story of Jesus’ birth. I love the goodness and the generosity of people at Christmas time. I love all the heart-warming stories of people showing kindness. I love it that Christmas can bring out the best in people.

Yeah, I know it brings out the worst in folks too. I know it has been a hard month for some of you. Your families have been on their “worst” behavior. And yeah I know the traffic is awful. And truth is, you won’t catch me near a shopping mall if I can help it. The rampant over-commercialization of the birthday of our Savior is NOT what I love.

But I love Christmas. And here is why. On Christmas night – God comes down from heaven where everything is wonderful and perfect and beautiful, to live right here on Earth, with us, in the muck and the mess of our everyday human existence. God is keeping it real. Born just like the rest of us – to human parents, in poverty, in humble beginnings, in some no name place called Bethlehem. It would be like being born in Blissfield, or Stony Ridge. Just a little blip on the map.

But God soooo wanted the people to know how much God loved them. (And loves us.) And they just were not getting the message. So God sent Jesus. We call this the INCARNATION – the embodiment of God in human form—God becoming real—flesh and blood. I call it God “keeping it real.”

Here at The Village, you may not know this, but one of our jobs, is to practice what we call “incarnational theology.” That means, we live out our faith in the world; we keep it real. We believe that God’s spirit actually lives in each one of us, and is active in the world in our actions.

Jesus used lots of metaphors, images, to try to help folks understand this “incarnational theology.” He said to his followers: "You are the light of the world. Your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to God in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).

People NEED to see God in the world. People are experiencing a lot of darkness right now. People have lost their jobs. They are losing their homes. They are frightened, because this is the worst economy many of us have seen in our life- times. We need hope. We need light. We need Jesus.

One of our members, Robyn Georgius and I were talking a couple of months ago about her work with the AIDS Resource Center here in Toledo. She is a case manager. She goes and meets with potential new clients. People who have recently been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, and who make less than $36,000 per year. Her agency can help them get medical exams and treatment, transportation, and sometimes help with food assistance and some other items like personal hygiene items. But recently, as some of you have heard, the Federal Government cut the programs, and Ohio followed suit, and they have been unable to sign up any new clients for the program that helps with the medication, which can cost $2000-3000 per month. They just get put on a waiting list, and so far, since July 1, no one has moved off that waiting list.

I asked Robyn what The Village could do to help, with a Christmas offering, and she said, if we could just help provide Christmas baskets, that would be great. Last year they were only able to provide 20 baskets, and they were very small. She said they would love to be able to provide 75-100 this year. “It would mean so much to our clients”, Robyn said.

But this is the part that made me really sad, and not just a little sad, but angry. She said, “You know, our case-workers are pretty much told, not to bother trying to ask churches for help. There is such a stigma with our clients, having HIV and AIDS, churches don’t want to help us.” I know in my head this is true. I even know why. But I don’t like it. In fact, I HATE IT. And in fact I’m pretty darn sure that Jesus would hate this fact.

Well, you know what happens when your pastor hears about injustice. I am like a mother protecting her children. I get ready for a fight. Let me at ‘em! So I said, “We will raise the money. You will get your food baskets!” And raise the money we have done. We set a goal of $3000 and so far we have raised $3500!”

Last Friday the Case Managers went and bought 75 turkeys. Last year each person just got one of those little Cornish hens. (We like to keep it real, so this year they get REAL turkeys.) On Monday a group of folks went to fill the bags of food. Each person got: potatoes, bread, apples, crackers, canned goods, pancake mix, gloves, mustard, cranberry sauce, stuffing, raumen noddles, homemade cookies and AND a hand-made card from The Village.

I got a thank you note from one person: I am a client of ARC (Aids Resource Center of Ohio) and received a basket overflowing with items this year that you helped to supply. We live in a world where it is so easy to criticize everything but no one takes the time to stop and say Thank You.....so I wanted to do just that. I cannot thank you enough that I will be able to have a Christmas dinner thanks to your church. HIV and AIDS seems to fall through the cracks due to the medications on the market....most people are under the understanding that the HIV epidemic is solved.....but when you are living daily with it....and all the side effects from the medications....it feels quite different. Organizations like yours that take the time to make a difference are appreciated more then you know.

May God bless you for all that you do, not only at this Holiday Season....but all year long.

You see, we are being the light of Christ for that one person, and for many more. It’s just that simple. But Robyn and the other case managers had been told, “Don’t ask churches, they won’t help us.” Don’t ask the followers of Jesus to do something generous and kind at Christmas time. What the heck? (I wanted to say something else)

I believe have to “keep it real” – we have to keep the message of God’s radical love and Jesus’s radical love real by being the light that shines in the darkness. All we had to do was collect some money and buy some food. So far, we have raised $3500 in less than one month this year. We did that without even breaking a sweat. Next year, we are going to raise $10,000, because we are going to start earlier and get some of our sister churches to help us. We are going to challenge them if need be.

This is what it means to live out an incarnational theology. God is living IN US in the world. Jesus said: "WE are the light of the world. And OUR light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing OUR good works, they may give praise to God in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).

I LOVE Christmas – because there are so many signs of God’s love in the world. There are so many opportunities for us to be generous. Tomorrow morning, my family is going to go downtown to the Library at 10 a.m. and help the folks with Food for Thought give away more food and hygiene items to some folks that need them. We don’t know who will show up on Christmas day, but we will be there. I will be there because my 11 year old has decided SHE wants to be there and she is dragging the rest of us there, quite honestly. It was her idea. Becca is living out incarnational theology. The people there ask for razors each week, so Becca went to COSTCO and bought 52 razors, tied a ribbon to each one, and made a homemade card.

You see, God had a great idea. God said, I’m going to SHOW my love to them, in flesh and blood. It’s the only way. It’s the only way for them to really GET it. God had tried everything else God knew to do. And finally God tried Jesus. A baby. God in human form.

And now God has us. We are the ones that God has in the world to MAKE IT REAL and KEEP IT REAL. So let’s do it. Let’s help God, keep it real. Amen. May the peace and joy of Jesus be on you as we celebrate his birth again.