Tied to Advent, the Fourth Part (Luke 2:1-2)

2018’s tie has an Advent wreath reminding all who see my tie of the importance of Advent and a profession of faith. 2019 and 2020’s ties don’t have quite as overt Biblical themes as the others. 2019’s tie references Bohemian Rhapsody, the Song by Queen, but if you look at the faces you may notice that instead of the band members they are pictures of Heather, Sarah-Grace, Rebecca, and Susan around a Christmas Tree. Christmas Trees, off course, like the Advent wreaths, symbolize eternal life – so there is that reference to Scriptures. 2020 is an animal – a cat maybe?, the Christmas Star, and two pineapples making up the zeros in 2020. That is an inside joke. In 2020 there were a lot of pineapples in the food bank here and it made me a little concerned that we were handing these out to people who had no food and no means to eat them and  - while there were a lot of inside jokes that I won’t necessarily share here but this tie was certainly a personal act of love – just as God sending Jesus was the most perfect act of love.

2021’s tie has a picture of Augustus Caesar, a bunch of numbers, and Quirinius – because who doesn’t need a tie of Quirinius. It cites Luke 2:1-2: “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.”

Last year’s tie, 2023, which I wore at the Christmas Dinner and kick-off this year has a picture of someone standing at a kettle because indeed this is a tangible way that we can remember Christ and serve God by loving our neighbour this and every Christmas.

So today, I have shared with you a lot of my treasures; some of my most cherished gifts. Each time I put on a tie, I remember my children and how much I love them, all of them. And I remember how much God loves us that, as we commemorate at Christmas, He sent His only begotten Son as a child in a manger and even now we await his ultimate return, at the eschaton, where there will be no more suffering, no more death, no more tears; only joy to the world and the love of God. John 3:16-17: “For God so love the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send His Son to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.”