Dispatches from the pulpits

Renewal and keeping Christ in Christmas are the themes two Baldwin area clergyman hope to pass on to their congregations this Christmas.

The Rev. James Smith of Bethlehem Lutheran Church said that the concept of renewal is “the theme that I’ve used for the entire Advent season. In the Lutheran world, we celebrate this as the beginning of our year, so everything is made new.”

That includes the birth of Jesus Christ, he said, explaining that congregants celebrate the wait and the arrival of the Baby Jesus.

“We celebrate the birth every year. It’s another year of recognizing that the Savior is born,” he said. “We tell the story over and over to make sure to remind ourselves of the sacrifice that Jesus will make.

“It’s like watching a movie over and over and each time finding new things about it.”

For his part, Msgr. Steven Camp of St. Christopher’s Roman Catholic Church in Baldwin said he hopes to put the “emphasis on keeping Christ in Christmas.”

“It’s more than just saying, ‘Merry Christmas,’” he said. “It means a willingness to work for all. Helping others. Practicing the call for mercy.”

The message of the gospels is that “we proclaim Christ in how we live our lives,” he added.

Camp recalled that in Pope Francis’ visit to New York in September, the pontiff proclaimed 2015 as a Holy Year of Mercy.

“He [the pope] tried to direct a great awareness of what mercy is. God is forgiveness,” Camp explained, but mercy relates to “how we treat people around us. In the current political climate, one thing we need is a greater sense of civility in each other.

“If you really listened to his [the pope’s] address to Congress, he [offered] great insights. One thing he highlighted is the lack of civility, and because of the lack of civility, the progress of the human race has slowed down,” Camp said.

Smith stressed that the story of Jesus is both timeless and universal. “It’s that long expectant hope, and something we can share,” he said, “and as we share it each year, it goes to future generations. It crosses religious lines, whether or not we celebrate Jesus as the Son of God.

“It’s something that brings us, as we look at the text, as we share that story with one another [back together], and it brings families back together.”

He explained that the story of Jesus’ birth shows a “commonality” among peoples.

“It’s not limited to just Christians,” Smith said. “When Jesus came, he came for everybody. Sometimes that’s the struggle. People think Jesus came for Christians. But at no point in time did he say, ‘I only came for Christians. He’s for everybody.

“One of the promises Jesus made was to “‘Let all the children come to me,’ especially in times when they need healing. He was out and about, and his ministry was not limited to one specific area. That blessing is there, it’s not limited to one specific set of people.”