By Reverend Laurie DeMott

How's that for an opening to a sermon? Don't worry, this is really not going to be a sermon on postmodernism or quantum physics -- I just wanted to prove that everything I am about to say has been substantiated by people smarter than I am because what I am about to say may seem a little unbelievable.

Because what I want to argue today is that the way in which you observe the world, changes the world. All of your assumptions, all of your experiences, all of your biases and beliefs and attitudes and faith and doubts, everything that is going on in you when you look at the world around you not only affects how you see the world but it, in fact, it actually changes the world. Let me say that again, what you believe not only affects how you see the world, it affects how the world really is and what it will become.

Let's look at an example of this. Almost three thousand years ago, around 920 BC, the land of Israel was facing a leadership crisis. Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, had been designated as the heir apparent to the throne, but, concerned that Rehoboam would continue his father's habit of worshiping foreign idols, God decided to anoint another man named Jeroboam as the new king of Israel. Consequently, when King Solomon died, both Rehoboam and Jereboam claimed that God had given the throne to him.

In an attempt to avoid civil war, however, Jereboam offered to concede the throne to Rehoboam if Rehoboam would just promise to treat the people with respect and serve them with compassion. Rehoboam said, “Let me talk it over with my advisers,” and he called together the elders of the court and asked, “What do you advise I do?” They told him to accept Jeroboam's proposal and pursue a path of peace with the people. Rehoboam said, "Let me get a second opinion," and then he gathered together all of the younger men of the court and said “What do you advise we do?” They replied, “Whip the people even harder and then you will be a mighty ruler.” Rehoboam chose to follow the advice of the second group and tried to suppress discontent by the terror of might but his despotic rule resulted in civil war and the eventual dissolution of Israel.

Now, at first glance, it may seem that Rehoboam just made an unwise decision, but when you look more closely at the story you realize that Rehoboam’s beliefs about the world in fact made that world come into being. When talking to the elders, he had asked, "What do you advise I do?" but when talking to the young hotheads of the court, he asked, “What do you advise we do?” In other words, before ever asking their opinion, Rehoboam had already allied himself with the younger men who believed in the rule of might. He may have gone through the motions but it is clear that Rehoboam never really believed in the possibility of peace and because he didn’t believe, he ended up with a world in which peace was impossible.

What we believe determines the shape of reality.

Many generations after Rehoboam and his disastrous rule had turned to dust, a descendant of Rehoboam would trudge through the countryside of Galilee preaching the possibility of the peace that Rehoboam had rejected. Though that man would be taunted, whipped, beaten, and even crucified -- though a doubting broken world tried desperately to prove him wrong -- Jesus refused to see any other reality but peace, and his belief brought a new world into being. Two thousand years after his death, we sing songs of joy proclaiming Jesus the Prince of Peace.

And for the four weeks of the Christmas season, as we rejoice in the coming of the Prince of Peace, people believe. For four weeks, we believe in peace, harmony, and good will to others, and because we believe, reality changes. In spite of frazzled nerves, people are nicer to one another than they might otherwise be because it’s the season of good cheer. Because we believe, people are more generous at this time of year than any other. At Christmas time, nursing homes echo to the sound of carolers who believe in reaching out to the forgotten. Christmas baskets overflow with food for families in need. During the Christmas seasons families make a special effort to get along and may even put aside past grudges in honor of the season. For four weeks, the story of the Prince of Peace changes our reality.
Oh sure, the skeptic would say, but after four weeks, all that charity and good will goes away. If what we believe really changes reality then why wouldn’t Christmas bring a peace that lasts? And I would answer that it is not because belief doesn't change reality but rather because most people stop believing after the four weeks are over. Rather than having faith in the message of Christmas as a lasting reality, we treat it as a temporary escape from reality. "For four weeks," people think, "we’ll pretend that everyone can be kind and generous but then we’ll go back to 'the real way' that people act." And so, after four weeks people intentionally and deliberately stop believing. And when they stop believing, the world in turn goes back to its old worn out weary ways.

If we are really to believe a new reality into being, we must refuse to let go of our faith in the power of love and the possibility of peace even after the tree has been taken down and the creche put away. It is the people throughout the centuries who have insisted on believing in the message of Christmas throughout the rest of the year who have brought the gospel to life and changed the world. It is those who refuse to put aside their belief when Christmas is over who have brought peace to their communities, who have carried peace into the lives of their neighbors, who have made peace possible for countless hurting souls, who have become peace for others. They have believed Christmas into being because they know that what we believe shapes the very nature of the world.

A woman who signs herself only as C.C. tells the story of her transformation at the hands of someone who believed her into new life. "My Dad was extremely abusive," she recalls, "and I couldn't wait to leave home. As soon as I was old enough, I ran away and got involved with some I met pretty rough guys who introduced me to drugs, sex and the street, but during a trip to hospital for a drug overdose, I met a nurse who looked underneath everything I had become to see a different person wanting to be born. Rather than berating me and urging me to go home to my parents, she asked about my dreams and my talents and then asked how those dreams for my future were being realized by being on the street. When I left the hospital we arranged to meet again and in those meetings, she encouraged me to explore other options, to build on my talents, and to find ways to heal the wounds inside me. With her support I got a job doing exactly what I wanted to be doing. It took some struggle and a few years, but it was worth it. After all, I'm alive."

That nurse literally believed that young girl into a new life. She chose to see the girl with the eyes of hope and faith instead of doubt and cynicism and because she looked upon her with faith, the girl could become what that nurse believed her to be.

What we believe not only affects how we see the world; it changes the world. As the rest of society puts away Christmas and goes back to its normal weary ways, let us hold fast in faith to the promise of the Prince of Peace, and believe a new world into being.