Welcome to Part Four of our silly holiday special, Wesley the Warm-Hearted Waindeer! When our hero returns to the North Pole with his band of misfits, he is certain that Santa Claus and the citizens of Christmas Town will listen to the plight of those who have been cast out for being different. In the beloved holiday animated feature, Santa and the reindeer have a change of heart and feel pretty bad for the way they treated Rudolph for his shiny nose. But we all know in real life, the odds are 50/50 that the same people who dismissed you will come around when they hear your testimony.  For John Wesley and the early Methodist movement, being a different kind of Christian meant constant derision and even public suspicion cast upon them.

This week’s comic may be a little too cynical for Advent. Sometimes the misfits and the outcasts can’t find a voice, even in a supposedly representational church or society. So I’ll leave you with the hopeful song of Mary from Luke 1:46-55.

And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of the Almighty’s servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is God’s name.
God’s mercy is for those who fear God
from generation to generation.
God has shown strength with God’s arm;
God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
God has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
God has helped servant Israel,
in remembrance of God’s mercy,
according to the promise God made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”