OUR CHRISMON TREE

        It was twenty-two years ago in December of 1989 on a snowy Saturday when Joyce and I made our first visit to Lexington.  I will never forget walking into the sanctuary from the vestibule and for the first time seeing the huge and impressive Chrismon Tree.  It was breathtaking!  

        Our churches are full of symbolic visuals.  The open Bible, the cross, communion table, baptistery, the candles, the different colored paraments, even the robes the ministers and choir members wear have a symbolic meaning.  But every year during Advent and Christmas we see the most beautiful symbolism in the Chrismon Tree. 

        The Chrismon Tree originated in 1957 with The Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, Virginia.  According to the founding church, “The evergreen tree, which symbolizes the eternal life which our Savior has won for us, is a background for tiny white lights and white and gold Chrismons.  The lights speak of Him Who is the Light of the World, and the Chrismons (CHRISt + MONogram) proclaim the Name, the Life, and the saving Acts of Jesus the Christ.”

        Sometime in the 1970s our long-time Minister of Music Al Martin took a small group of ladies to visit the church in Danville where the Chrismon Tree was born.  They were inspired to return and start working on the beautiful Chrismons for our own tree. 

        The tree that Joyce and I saw in 1989 was a live tree and it was huge.  My first question was, “How did you get that tree into this sanctuary?”   “It’s wasn’t easy,” was the response.

        A number of our men would get the tree and place it in the sanctuary.  Vinnon Williams loves to tell the story of the year the tree was so large that the men had tried several times without success to lift it up in the sanctuary.  Several said, “This simply cannot be done!”  But R. N. Hardin came to the rescue and said, “Why don’t we pray about this?”  And he did.  After the prayer the tree went right up!

        A lovely couple in our church, Henry Lee and Ruby Ann Williams had a beautiful evergreen in their yard that they donated one year for the Chrismon Tree.  They were so proud to have their tree serve this great purpose in their church which they loved and served. 

        At some point in the 1990’s the Fire Department put a stop to live trees in the sanctuary.  (I’ve always held my breath about the lighted candles on Christmas Eve, but so far there are no restrictions)  That was when we went to the smaller, but much more functional, artificial tree. 

        This Sunday we are celebrating baptism, one of the most powerful symbols of our faith.  (Rachel Morgan and Jonathan Leonard are being baptized)  Baptism is in itself a sermon.  I’m going to let the Chrismon Tree preach the rest of the sermon, focusing on the primary Chrismons in the center of the tree on the big circle.  The large circle represents the everlasting God (a circle never ends) and it proclaims the Triune God with a hand coming out of a cloud to represent God, a lamb to represent Jesus (the Lamb of God) and a descending dove to represent the Holy Spirit. 

        One could literally spend hours exploring all the different Chrismons and their meanings.  There are so many little and exciting symbols that most people never know.  For example, on the big circle there are two large Chrismons that have a star as the background.  They represent the two primary ordinances of the church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  The Chalice represents the cup of communion and is on a six pointed star.  Why six?  Isaiah 11: 2 lists six attributes of the Messiah, “wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.”  A seashell on an eight-pointed star represents baptism.  Of course, the shell is for water, but why eight points?  In 1 Peter 3 there is a reference to Noah and the flood and baptism.  It states that only 8 people were saved by the grace of God in the flood (Noah, his three sons, and their wives), but by the resurrection of Jesus anyone can be saved!  

        This can get complicated!  But there is one special Chrismon that is different from all of the others and it hangs on the lowest branch of the tree, so children can easily find it.  While all of the other Chrismons are symbolic, this one is pictorial.  It is a tiny Nativity Scene, a Creche. 

        Children don’t understand all of the symbols and hidden meanings of Christmas, but every child knows and loves the baby Jesus.  In the birth of a baby God’s love becomes known to us. 

        “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”

        “And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”