Sermon from Christmas Eve, 2006 – 7, 9, 11 p.m.
Dan Henninger, a journalist with the Wall Street Journal recently wrote this about the War on Terror (http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110009323): "One may assume that in some Himalayan redoubt, history's latest homicidal utopians, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, believe that coupling their ideology to Islamic suicide bombers – in New York, London or Baghdad – is more than a match for the will of a morally diminished West. Are they wrong?"

The present Pope Benedict said ten years ago that "it is Islamic belief ... that 'the Western countries are no longer capable of preaching a message of morality, but have only know-how to offer the world,'" (ibid).

I came across an example that explains why some thoughtful people have serious concerns about our Western way of life. Last May, the president of Iran, Mahmood Ahmadi-Nejad, wrote a letter to Presdient Bush. I will not comment on the political meaning of this letter. What matters to me as your pastor is its moral confidence. The letter was 17-18 pages long. It was permeated with religious language and religious ideas. It challeneged President Bush politically and religiously.

Near the end of the letter, the President of Iran wrote this to our president: "And surely, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path.

"We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point – that is the Almighty God. Undoubtedly through faith in God and the teachings of the prophets, the people will conquer their problems. My question for your is: 'Do you not want to join them?'" (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad%27s_letter_to_George_W._Bush_%288_May_2006%29).

According to the BBC, "US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed the letter as 'offering nothing new' and the White House said there would be no formal written reply," (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4752831.stm).

And we wonder why we are losing the battle of ideas in Asia! A hundred million Muslims around the world heard what the President of Iran said, and a hundred million Muslims around the world heard the two most powerful people in the most powerful nation on earth dismiss the letter as "offering nothing new" and saying that "there would be no formal written reply."

Mr. President and Madam Secretary, with all due respect, we have to do better than that. I hope there was an informal reply. No reply at all would seem discourteous to many Muslims, and, more important, it would confirm their idea that the West cares only about technology and has lost its soul and therefore its moral voice.

Has the non-establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution so tied the tongue of a Christian president that he cannot respond to that letter on equally religious grounds? Do the media and government officials simply dismiss President Ahmadi-Nejad as a religious crackpot? Do they think his unchalleneged religious ideas and religiously-based accusations of our president carry no power throughout the world?

The only figure on the world stage, who seeks with reason, faith, and civility to respond to Muslim ideas with alternative ideas, is Pope Benedict XVI. Western heads of state have fallen strangely silent. Is it because the secular West is morally diminished?

How might we answer the President of Iran? I will tell you part of what I wish that person of great stature would say to him. It would go something like this:

"Mr. President, in your letter to our President, to the surprise of us Christians, you spoke of a coming 'unified international community which Christ and the vituous of the Earth will one day govern,' (ibid). We Christians also believe that, so perhaps we have common ground for on-going conversations. Let me elaborate. There is scripture, which we share with our Jewish covenant partners, and which fuels our hope for suh a day as the one you spoke about. It comes from the Prophet, Isaiah 2:3-4:

"In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.

"The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

"We Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the one, who will usher in this Golden Age of humany. This weekend, we celebrate the first decisive step that will ultimately lead to the world we and you hope for. Angels announced that decisive step.

"'Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'

"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests,' – Luke 2:11-14.

"Mr. President, a Savior is what our dangerous world needs, isn't it? We Christians find it especially appropriate that this Savior was born in a place called Bethlehem. Beth-lehem is a Hebrew word, which means 'house of bread.'

"Jesus said one time: 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty' – John 6:35. We Christians believe that Jesus, language of your letter, is "the only road leading to salvation" (ibid). From Him comes hopes of God's forgiveness. From Him will come the justice our world sorely needs.

"We agree with you 'that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point – that is the Almighty God,' (ibid). Christianity and Islam speak powerfully to that spiritual longing. We also agree with you that the prophets of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam declare that "the day will come when all humans will congregate before the court of the Almighty, so that their deeds will be examined," (ibid).

"On that judgment day we believe 'that at the name of Jesus every knee (shall) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father' – Philippians 2:10-11.

"We will bow, and we will confess. You will bow, and you will confess Jesus Christ. We anticipate that day already in our worship. Do you not wish to join us now in anticipation of that salvation and justice we all long for, and which Christ will bring?"

"Merry Christmas, Mr. President!"

Holy Father, whose will it is to restore all things in your Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.