Someone with a little skin on

John 14:1-14

One night, a little girl, Lisa, we’ll call her - lay in her bed as storm clouds gathered outside. Soon, there was a full-blown thunderstorm going on right outside the windows of her bedroom. Thunder crashed and blinding flashes of lightening lit up her bedroom over, and over again.  Little Lisa was frightened. She cried out to her dad, who was in the next room, "Help me."

Immediately, she heard his voice respond, "Honey, God loves you and will take care of you."

Another bolt of lightning and clap of thunder caused Lisa to cry out again, "Daddy!" Again, she heard her father’s voice, "Honey, God loves you and will take care of you."

The storm continued to rage and Lisa, now frightened nearly out of her wits, called out yet again; her father's response was the same. But the little girl replied, "Daddy, I know that God loves me, but right now, I need someone with skin on."

Don’t we know that feeling?

Isn’t that sometimes our experience? I know God loves me, but right now, I need someone with skin on.  When we go through the struggles of life, when we have questions about why losses and difficulties and troubling things come our way, we need someone with skin on.

When we are frightened because the storm has gotten way out of hand and we are facing illness or joblessness or changes in our relationships, even betrayals; when the well-planned future we had counted on shifts and changes and when circumstances out of our control threaten the security we worked so hard to build, we want someone with skin on.

When Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem, he came as God with skin on. As he lived his life as one who was at the same time both fully human and fully divine; as he gathered disciples, ministered, healed, preached and taught his followers, he was, in fact, God-with-us – with skin on.

That is what we call the Incarnation; that in Jesus Christ, God became flesh. Jesus was that “someone with skin on.”

The conversation depicted in today’s gospel lesson took place on the night in which Jesus was to be handed over to the Roman officials. It is his last opportunity, the last word that he can give to his disciples before he leave this mortal plane, and he wants to make clear to his disciples that he is indeed, God with skin on.

In the days and weeks and years to come, Jesus knows that it is essential for them to continue believing that in him, God has come into the world and that God’s physical presence with them, while about to change in substance, will not change in reality.

Believing in Jesus we come to know that one true God – the one who is at once creating and redeeming; the one who transforms us in love; the one who promises never to leave us, but to abide with us forever. And that is a promise that stands – forever.

Jesus is not just “like” God; Jesus is the embodiment of the one true God. Through his life and his teachings he has shown his followers the full-bodied character of God – forgiving, healing, subversive, despising evil, loving good, inclusive, transforming, peace-loving, and possessing power over life; he is God with skin on, and even after his death he showed his disciples that he lives.

In his post-resurrection appearances, Jesus continues to be God-with-us – our God with skin on. As the fully human incarnation, Jesus died on the cross. This was not a theoretical death or an imaginary death. It was a real death, preceded by unimaginable pain and suffering, feelings of abandonment, fear and despair depicted in our scriptures.  Jesus knows well our suffering, for he endured the same.

Just as we will one day die, Jesus truly died on that cross for us. But Jesus changes the reality of what death means for all of us. Because the thing is, Jesus’ resurrection changes more than just our death. It changes our life. And in that night when the still-living friend and master, Jesus, sat down for the last time with his disciples, knowing what was coming that very night, he shared these final words with them.

They are words of hope, and promise, and expectation. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” he tells them, and then he goes on. Believe in me, because in so doing you will know the Father. You will know his love, his forgiveness, his promise.

God has sent his love and presence to you in me, Jesus is telling them, and you will know them simply by the works you have seen in me, the signs you have witnessed, and, in the deeds you do as you follow in my footsteps. Other people will come to know God through you. These, my friends, are the promises of God for abundant life.

The word that we read today as “if” – “if you know me” – could also be translated as since – the same Greek word means both things, and I think translating it this alternative way gives us a better understanding of Jesus’ words. Since you know me you know the Father. Disciples of Jesus know him through his revealing love in action.

And, just as in this gospel of John love is an action word – something you do rather than simply something you feel, knowing God through Jesus and believing in him inspires and even commands a different kind of life, because the truth is, this kind of belief has power over our lives.

Now, it may be that even before today you were familiar with the words of this morning’s gospel because of a funeral that you have attended. Perhaps, even the funeral of a loved one, someone very dear to you. If so, you might be tempted to associate these words only with death; with sadness tinged with hope, with a day you would rather forget. But Jesus gave these words as both comfort and command, as both hope and promise.

So far during this 50-day period of Easter, our gospel texts have reflected Jesus’ post resurrection visits to his disciples and his continued teaching and preparation of them to carry on the mission and ministry to which he devoted and for which he gave his life.

Then, in last week’s gospel, Jesus called himself the gate through which the sheep of God’s own redeeming must pass. Today, Jesus he tells his disciples, on this pivotal night, the night in which he would be handed over to Roman officials to be tried, condemned, and crucified, that he is the Way, calling us out of darkness, into light.

Our identity as God’s children offers us hope and gives us momentum to live as God intends, following the Way of our Savior. Jesus gives us a model and framework within which to understand that this way, which is not always easy and will sometimes lead to struggle, hostility, and an unknown future, but is shaped by the promise offered here in this gospel.

Jesus is the tangible evidence of God in the world – God with skin on. That is the truth and core of Jesus’ very identity. He is God’s attempt to establish meaningful relationship with us. Every religion in the world reflects the human attempt to reach God. Through Christianity, we come to know Jesus as God’s plan to reach humanity. That makes all the difference.

Through the Incarnation, the infinite God took on the form of a tiny baby boy. The Son did not cease to be God when he became a man. He added humanity but he did not subtract deity. He was fully God and fully man. He was, in short, “God with skin on.”

Ponder that for a moment. The Almightiness of God moved in a human arm. The love of God beat in a human heart. The wisdom of God spoke from human lips. The mercy of God reached forth from human hands.

In Jesus, God was wrapped in human flesh, promising for all of eternity a bond with humanity that cannot be broken by suffering or death, by trial or disappointment, by failure and doubt, by fear and despair.

In a few moments, we will confess our faith using the words of the Apostle’s Creed, in the second article of which, we will state who we believe – by the preponderance of our religious identity - Jesus to be. If we could fully believe and embrace those words; if we could fully grasp the meaning of what we say, the troubles of our hearts would be silenced and our faith would be a real power over the whole of our lives. Because we could then experience God with skin on, Jesus Christ, as the real power and fullness of life not only for ourselves but for the world.

My friends, the real power of this gospel is that it contains the uncompromising promise of Jesus that, while still unseen, God abides in us forever, loves us forever, and empowers us to be Christ in the world, revealing the loving nature of God who refuses to let us go, and has gone through such extraordinary lengths to not only prepare a place for us when we die, but to secure our faith, our love, and our commitment to live the life of abundance which we receive in his name, that others may come to know and believe in the one who came to reveal God’s love for the world. By the power of Jesus Christ, God with skin in, may it be so. Amen.

The Original, Honest-to-Goodness, No Strings Attached Gift

Christmas Day Sermon 2016

Merry Christmas! May the grace, peace and love of God be with you on this holy day, and may it grow in you, throughout the coming year. Amen.

          I am so excited to be with you this morning, on Christmas morning, no less. Christmas Day services are a bit unusual here at Grace, but today being a Sunday, it seemed only right. So I am especially happy to see all of you here today as we get to celebrate “the reason for the season” on the holiday itself, right?   

          Truthfully, most years, about this time on Christmas morning like many people, we are embarking on our family celebration. Here is what that would look like in my family, back from the time I was just a pup; the turkey would be entering the oven about now; gifts are being distributed; the coffee and hot chocolate are being poured; and we would be settling down for an epic Christmas gift opening session with the entire family.

          Growing up, these sessions took hours. With 3 kids, plus my parents and grandparents all together, we carefully took turns, each person opening one gift at a time with the appropriate amount of time oo-ing and ah-ing and picture-taking over each gift. Hence, the epic amount of time our gift-opening took.

          And as my husband and I were raising our kids, we tended to carry on that same tradition. Oh, and not to forget, in addition to all the people receiving gifts, we could never neglect the animals in our lives. The cats and dogs got to open their gifts first. Predictably, the dogs were always more cooperative, sniffing out their gifts and gleefully tearing them open, with cameras flashing and lots of encouragement.

          Giving and receiving gifts is fun, and on Christmas Day, part of the fun of the season, is the gift exchange.

          But sometimes, totally unexpected and surprising gifts come our way.

          So just imagine my surprise when, the other day, I received a message that I had won a $100 gift card to a store of my choosing. And just last week, I won a cruise to the Caribbean for seven days and six nights aboard a luxury cruise liner. And a couple of weeks before that, I was awarded a brand-new iPad. Not just any iPad, either. This was the iPad Pro – the new Super Computer.

          The thing is, each of these gifts and prizes came with some strings attached. There was something I had to buy, or ‘do’ to obtain this “gift” or “prize.” Something like taking a survey, or giving up my left kidney or selling my firstborn child, I’m sure. Nothing is ever truly “free,” is it?

Needless to say, I won’t be receiving any of those gifts any time soon. They were all too good to be true.

          But today we celebrate the best gift possible. One that is truly free, unmerited, and with no strings attached. A gift for the ages. A gift beyond our wildest dreams. Today we celebrate the day ‘when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared.”

          What a gift we have in Jesus! This is a gift that won’t wear out, come in the wrong size, or come with strings attached. It is revealed to us in the words of the gospel from Luke. And this gift changes our lives, it changes everything.

          Today we hear those words we have heard so many times, as the nativity story has been repeated every Christmas Eve, in  many a Christmas pageant, and with every showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

          In the gospel we encounter the fear-turned-wonder of the shepherds, and the angel song, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

          Our gifts to each other pale in comparison to the wonder of the divine gift of God, the gift the Lord made known to those, unlikely-to-be recipients of free offers and brightly wrapped packages – shepherds, living out in the fields.

          The lowly shepherds could never have expected such a gift. They hurry as quickly as they can to the stable in Bethlehem, where they find the gift that the angels had unwrapped for them – the child, lying in a manger. They heard the words of the God’s promise, delivered by the angels, to you is born; for you is given. For lowly, outsider shepherds, for Mary and Joseph, for us today, this is good news indeed.

          The words from the letter to Titus today reveal the extraordinary value of this gift, for all people–this child is true gift , given out of God’s goodness and lovingkindness. For the people of old these words – “goodness and lovingkindness” signify the manifest favor and generosity of God.

          “Goodness” and “lovingkindness” of the Lord in the Old Testament was code for the unmerited, gracious mercy and love of God, which is now embodied in Jesus.

          The text from this letter unpacks for us the meaning of this gift : that God, out of God’s great store of love for humankind has given us this gift of God’s own Son, not because of anything that we have done or will do, but according to God’s mercy.

          Jesus is God’s response to the sin and death in the world; Jesus is God’s solution to the chaos and hurt of humanity. Jesus is the saving Lord, the one who brings us eternal joy and salvation. Jesus is God’s assurance of constant presence, secured for us through the Holy Spirit.

          The constant movement of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is revealed as we are reminded of our baptism, when God washed us clean and created new lives in us, forever.

Once again today, we are reminded that God gives this gift not because of who we are or what we’ve done, but because of who God is and what God has done through Jesus, beginning on a Bethlehem night and continuing through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the child born there. In Christ, the Messiah, God promises and delivers a unique peace to the entire world.

          This is the real gift of Christmas, freely given to us all today: That despite the chaos and hurt of this world, despite poverty or oppression, despite our griefs and our failures, our sin and our brokenness in all its forms, God has come into the world, in the incarnation of this child born to us this day, and has delivered the perfect gift of love. This is the great surprise of Christmas Day, given in and through Jesus Christ, our newborn king. Let us all rejoice and be glad in this most perfect, amazing, glorious gift of all!

Alleluia! Amen.

         

Good News of Great Joy: The Expected yet Unexpected Gift

Christmas Eve Sermon 2016        

            Merry Christmas on this most beautiful, holy night.

            For some of us, this night brings excitement, anticipation and joy. I’ll bet for some among us it is even your very favorite night of the year, this night on which we hear the good news of great joy for all people – Christ, our Lord, is born!

            Some of us may be feeling content tonight, reflecting on sweet, sentimental memories and anticipating the new memories you will make this year. The sights and sounds of the evening may bring a bit of sweet nostalgia.

            But this is probably not true for everyone. Perhaps it is not true for you. Maybe you are among those whose memories are tinged with a bit of sadness for changes or challenges in your life.

For others, this season brings memories which include unhappy times that no amount of nostalgic gloss can repair. If so, you may be searching for healing peace, and I pray it will be yours this Christmas.

Still others of us are all too aware of the magnitude of grief and terror in our world tonight. For all our holiday joy, we cannot ignore the pain that surrounds us because, as our Bishop, Bill Gohl reflected recently on an icon rewritten to include the image of the wounded child of Aleppo, "Christmas is for the child in all of us - we just can't forget that every child is our child - not just the one in the manger."

The truth is that as we gather this holy night, we come from vastly different experiences of life and of Christmas. But from wherever we come, we gather in homage to our newborn king. Because, we share the good news of great joy for all people—Christ, our savior is born!

            I wonder, how many of us have arrived at Christmas Eve utterly exhausted? Exhilarated perhaps, hopeful perhaps, observant and even expectant, perhaps. But still, well and truly exhausted from all the preparations: the shopping, the decorating, the cooking, the baking, the gift-wrapping, the Christmas card writing, the music preparation and so many other things you have been doing while still living your everyday lives in the days and weeks leading up to this Christmas Eve.

            For some of you there has also been travel that brought you across hundreds of miles, to be reunited with loved ones this holiday.

            The exhaustion of which I speak may come from our busyness, or from a deep well of grief and sadness that is only accentuated by the frivolity of the celebrations surrounding you.

            Indeed, this joyful season can take its toll.

            Yet, here we are tonight, surrounded by the glow of thousands of lights and regardless of what other feelings you may have brought with you, it is my prayer that you will be blessed by a profound sense of godly peace.

            Take a deep breath. Breathe in the tranquility of this moment.  And as you do, breathe in the good news of great joy for us all: the Messiah, the Lord, has come among us. <p>

            As we gather together tonight, let us remember that the blessing of peace for which we hope and yearn is brought to us not by the beautiful candlelight in which we delight, nor by the wonderful Christmas hymns we love to sing, nor even by the prayers we pray this night.

Rather, it is God who brings us peace, of God’s own will and through God’s love, not because our preparations and celebration bring God to us on this night, but because God chose long ago to be with us, to abide with us, to be present among us always, to save us from sin, and evil, and death for eternity; and God blesses us as God’s love incarnate, Jesus Christ, comes to us in this blessed birth to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise.

            Therefore, even and especially if you come from a place of sorrow and sadness, the Christmas message is for you. You have a place in this Christmas gathering. God’s word of grace and hope for all who long for peace and joy.

            In the birth of Jesus, God comes among us to fulfull God’s commitment to peace and justice with God’s own righteousness. And so we sing out this good news of great joy for all people, Christ the Lord, is born!

            Through this human birth – God takes on human flesh and form. It is an unexpected, awesome, miraculous, magnificent gift of pure love and grace for all people. 

            The birth itself is humble, and scary. The child’s mother is young and inexperienced. She is not surrounded by the knowledgeable and loving ministrations of her kinswomen as she gives birth to the Messiah, but is likely attended only by strangers, and perhaps her betrothed, Joseph, while laboring on her birth mat. What an unprecedented – and perhaps uninspiring? - nativity.  

            The Messiah, God’s anointed one comes to us not with a mighty army or with superhuman powers, or with well-honed weapons and zealous warfare as we might expect, and even desire.

            Instead, God comes to us in a messy, noisy, complicated human birth. God comes to us as a helpless infant, born to an unwed couple - homeless travelers, strangers without a place to stay in the city, surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of a stable, born into a time and place in human history marked by instability and oppression. What an odd setting in which to deliver God with Us, Emmanuel, Our Lord and Savior.

            Our text tells us that when Jesus was born, the first to hear the “good news of great joy for all the people” were lowly shepherds, living in the fields. They were the first to hear the glad tidings, from an angelic visitation, that the fulfillment of prophecy had come to pass; “born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

            The shepherds are sent to find this child, to pay him homage, and to witness this wondrous event.

            The angels tell them: the baby will be wrapped in bands of cloth; he will be lying in a manger – the feeding trough for animals--homeless as he is. And yet, the angels confirm, he is truly the Messiah, the Lord.

            All these details are so familiar to us – we’ve heard this story time and time again, and yet it still seems so unlikely. It must have seemed impossible to these simple shepherds.

            Yet God being God, the story of Jesus’ birth is all about the unlikely, seemingly impossible and even scandalous ways in which God operates, which is truly good news of great joy for all people – for God defeats the powers of earth—coming to us as a little baby to dwell with us, to teach us and lead us, and ultimately to die for us. Then he will once again be wrapped in bands of cloth and laid in a borrowed vessel –just like at his birth.

            But Jesus the Messiah will rise again, leaving behind those pieces of cloth that bound him in death – for nothing could keep him from his mission to ensure salvation and eternity for us.  

            My friends, this is indeed good news of great joy for all people, because – the Savior, Jesus Christ has come – and it changes everything.

He comes to bring healing, and peace, joy and mercy, forgiveness and grace, and everlasting love and life.

            The thing is that God redeeming the whole world through this birth, making not only the unlikely, but the impossible happen, may seem strange to us, but it is so in character for God. 

            The same God who created the universe out of a shapeless void, who freed the Israelites from hard-hearted Pharaoh, who parted the Red Sea, brought forth food from the sky and water from a rock, who made barren women like Sarah and Hannah and Elizabeth bear of their own, is certainly capable of bringing about the birth of the savior of the world in just this way: as good news of great joy for all people.

            Whoever you are and from wherever you come this Christmas night, may the insurmountable peace of Christ be with you. Know that Jesus is truly God’s love made manifest, for you; Jesus is savior of the world, for you; Jesus defeats sin and death, for you. And his coming changes everything, for you.

            God speaks to us through the great good news of this gospel – you who are weary, I will give you rest; you who are struggling, I will bring you strength; you who sorrow, I will increase your joy; you who feel excluded and isolated, I am with you; you who walk in darkness – the light of Christ shines for you and on you; you who mourn – you will rejoice as with joy at the harvest; you who are burdened, put your yoke upon the Lord, and he will give you rest. And for you who are jubilant, excited, expectant and hopeful, God bless you as you share your joy and this good news.

            For this child, of humble birth, will establish God’s kingdom with justice, peace, and mercy.

Now let us continue our celebration as we praise and glorify him with song and prayer. And may the blessings of peace and joy of this Christmas-good-news unfold in your lives day by day. Amen.

             

           

           

           

Telling the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth

John 1:6-8, 19-28

          A voice cries out in the wilderness!

          We’ve heard these words before. Recently, in fact. They came to us both from the gospel of Mark, and from the prophet Isaiah in Advent II. “A voice cries out in the wilderness!” And now again, we hear these words today, this time from the gospel of John where the testimony of John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way of Jesus, is recounted.

          As we read this text on this Third Sunday of Advent, we are reminded that now is the time to Prepare! To prepare our hearts and minds for the advent of Jesus Christ – for the coming of Christ among us, even as we are reminded of the paradox that while we are preparing, the Lord is indeed already with us, working through the Holy Spirit, changing hearts and minds, and helping us to prepare. And part of our preparation is telling the story of Love that changed the world.

          Listen again to these words from today’s gospel text. In fact, I would appreciate it if you would help me out here. Fill in the blanks in the following message. (If you need to cheat a little, that’s okay – you’ll find the answers written in the gospel lesson, in your worship bulletin):

“There was a man sent from God,  whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”

          A witness testifies to what they know as truth. And in our gospel accounts, that is exactly who John is, and what John does. John, in fact is an important witness and in today’s account, you could say that he is the star witness. But John does not witness alone. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are all continually invited to share in the work of witnessing.

          As the star witness, John gave testimony for the world to hear about this light, Jesus Christ, who was coming into the world; John meant for all people to hear and to believe that this light was the light which would dispel all darkness, and give life to those languishing ones. Once again, that is what witnesses do. They tell a story. They want their listeners to understand their story, to believe it. They hope that their story will help guide and perhaps even determine the outcome of events that are playing out. John gives his testimony in the hope that he might help determine the trajectory of hearts transformed by God as they are claimed by Jesus Christ.

          Have you ever served on a jury? I have. I have to admit that I found the process of the legal system at work to be fascinating. Once the testimony began it was especially interesting listening to witnesses, presumably testifying to the truth as they knew it. Witnesses speak from their experience. Witnesses keep their answers direct and to the point. If not, they are stopped – and redirected. An important part of good testimony – is that you don’t confuse the central issue with a lot of extraneous “facts” or details. A good witness is almost invisible. The testimony is not and should not be, in most cases about them. It is the event or the person they are witnessing about that is crucial.

          Today’s gospel text reads like a testimony given in a courtroom; a testimony given in response to an interrogation of sorts. It has a lot in common with the kind of testimony I heard in court. Extraneous facts and confusing details are not welcome. The gospel writer wants to make sure that the central part of the story is about Jesus. In the verses just before these, he has already laid out the central facts: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Jesus is that light.

          Then, the action in the gospel turns to John, this messenger who points to Jesus as the light.

          The Pharisees in Jerusalem have sent the priests and Levites from Jerusalem out into the countryside to question John. Word has reached Jerusalem that he has been causing a bit of a stir. He has been testifying that a “light” has come into the world. There may have been some confusion, as there often is in stories that are transmitted word-of-mouth. What they are concerned about, is who this John is. They wonder if he is the one or if he is claiming to be the long-expected anointed one who is to come set the world to straights. Or, is he claiming to be Elijah, also a figure they have been expecting to return. They wonder if he is a prophet, sent to them with another of the kind of messages that prophets usually deliver. It is quite possible that all of these are versions of the stories the Pharisees have heard filter through to them in Jerusalem. So, who exactly is John and what is he saying? Should they be concerned?

          We don’t know exactly what John has been saying to attract so many to come to him; we don’t know exactly what has stirred the interest of the temple elite. I mean, it’s like he’s been holding Black Friday sales without a license, he hasn’t been decorating shrubs out there in the Judean countryside, creating a fire hazard in the arid olive groves with the flames of all those brightly lit candles. But we do know that people have been coming, have been listening, and have been embracing this word of hope and expectation central to his witness, and many have been baptized. All of this has attracted the attention, and perhaps suspicions, of the Jerusalem officials.

          So they send emissaries to come to see him.

“Who are you, John?” they want to know.

Instead of telling them who he is, he tells them who he is not.

“I’m not the Messiah, the Christ,” he tells them.

“What then, are you Elijah?”

“I am not,” John tells them. Like a courtroom witness, he goes no further – this is not really about him. This is about the one who is coming after him; this is about the one whose sandals he is not worthy to untie.

“Are you the Prophet?” they ask.

“Nope,” John answers them. “Not even the prophet.”

“Well, then, who in the world are you?” the interrogators demand.

“Why are you here? What are you doing?” They plead for an answer – after all, there are those they need to answer to. I think if I was John, at this point, I would have said, “You are asking the wrong questions. It is not me you should be asking about. It is the light you need to hear.”

          John isn’t there to talk about himself. He is there to point to another, to point to the one the prophets did foretell, to introduce the one the Scriptures spoke about, to witness to the fact that this light that is coming into the world is the light of one who is larger, more important than he, is in fact a game-changing light for the world. He is there to witness to the Lamb of God who embodies God’s mercy, who takes away the sins of the world. He is there to give testimony to the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire – who will transform a broken, dark, lonely, chaotic world, and will love it to pieces.

          All of our scriptures today point to the great light and hope that comes to us through the incarnation of God among us, Jesus the Christ. This Sunday, we can feel the excitement building. We see the anticipation of Christmas all around—crowded stores, too many cars on the road, long lines at the post office…and, yet, many who partake in this excitement and anticipation do not know the true story and value of Christmas. Many in our community have never had a good witness to testify to them about the light…or, they have, but it was a long, long time ago. Some of us even here in this room have perhaps forgotten about the Light changes the world – for the better.

          For many, even sometimes, for us, Christmas is about the department store and online sales. For many, you know it’s Christmastime when the lights go up, inside and out, powered by batteries and cords. It’s easy to forget that Advent is not about the countdown to unwrapping all those beautifully prepared gifts and downing the special foods and drinks you only really share at this time of year. Traditions like those may help us celebrate, but they are not what this season is about. You know it, and I know it.

          What this season is about, is a love so strong that the powers of evil a

nd even death itself are overcome. What Advent invites us to prepare for, is the power that comes from above, the Light to which John testifies, the incarnation of God in Christ Jesus, whose story is a story worth telling over, and over again. Surrounded as we are in our media and in our world by stories that reveal that earthly powers and evil are run amok, there is a powerful story of healing and love and goodness we have to tell. In the story of Jesus Christ, there is a story of redemption that has the power to touch and transform every broken heart, redeem every failure, heal every hurt, and shine saving light into every dark corner of the world. 

        Like John, each of us has a story to tell, a testimony to give. Each of us have an experience with Jesus to share, testimony that our world desperately needs to hear. John gives us the perfect introduction to the story…”

          We can fill in those first few sentences from today’s gospel, replacing our own gender and name in the appropriate places.

 “There was a man, woman sent from God, whose name is your name. He/She came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through her, him.  She/He herself/himself was not the light, but he/she came to testify to the light.”

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, may we be blessed as we preach it!

Amen.

News Worth Waiting For

Isaiah 40:1-11, Mark 1:1-8     

        Have you heard the news? Just a little over a year from now, on December 18, 2015, the new Star Wars movie is debuting. Back in the late 1970s, when Jim and I had just started dating, the first of the Star Wars movies had just come out, and I think we actually went to see it on one of our first dates. Jim loved the pyrotechnics and the special effects not to mention the Science Fiction storyline, a favorite genre for him. I loved watching Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, - and Chewbacca, of course. Every three years after that, a new episode of the trilogy was released on the big screen, each one a blockbuster in its own right. I have to confess that we made our own contribution to the billion dollar-plus draw of the franchise.

        Sixteen years later, three more Star Wars movies were released, once again, at three year intervals. Now, these movies were not sequels. They are what are  level, and the rough places a plain.” As the incarnation of God in John’s own time, Jesus will, once and for all, level all the obstacles placed before humankind to receive God’s mercy and grace; Jesus will level the playing field of people of every time and every place to take part in the glorious kingdom of God.

        Back in the 6^th century B.C.E., the People of Israel, exiled for more than a generation in Babylon, needed to hear these words of comfort and promise from Isaiah. But these words, repeated by John the Baptist also fed the hope of the people of first century Palestine, oppressed and living under Roman occupation and rule. And in the 21^st century world of today, we acknowledge that these are words that we, who are living in an often hostile, violent, and broken twenty-first century world hunger and thirst for as well. In the wilderness of our world, we witness and absorb acts of brutality of one person or nation against another played out daily on the local, national, and international scene. Yes, we need these words of promise, and we acknowledge that we continue to hunger and thirst for the love and grace of Jesus to dwell with us, and in us, and to abide in our world today.

        Comfort, comfort now, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,…” For years, the people of Israel had been inhabitants of the great city of Jerusalem, with its temple, the central symbol and locus of their religion. Their status as God’s chosen people was central to their lives and to their identity, and yet, they had forgotten about their role in keeping covenantal relationship with God, had sinned appallingly against God, had neglected the poor, the widows and the children.

        And then they became a conquered people, long exiled to Babylon. A generation passed away and another came of age following the conquest destruction of their city and the desecration and annihilation of the Temple, the locus of their ritual life with God. Finally, the prophet calls out the word of the LORD, “Comfort, O comfort…cry to her that her penalty is paid.”

        Isaiah is announcing to the people that something spectacular is about to happen. God is about to come, to rescue God’s people, to lead them home. God will give them the comfort, God will deliver them from their hopelessness, and God will transform their lives. Have no fear, the messenger is telling his people – wilderness, mountains, valleys and rough places hold no threat against this coming of the LORD. God will indeed come. God will lead them home.

        What must it have been like for those people, who have languished their entire lives in this land of Babylon, to hear those words, “Comfort, comfort now my people,….The glory of the LORD shall be revealed and all people shall see it together…” What was it like, for the people in first century Palestine, living under Roman occupation, watching and waiting for the promised Messiah, the anointed one to arrive, to deliver them from their oppression, to hear the words of John, words that connected them to their backstory – to their beloved Scriptures – “As it was written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”?

        As we read these words today, I wonder if we can see the remarkable way in which they reach out and draw us into this story of God’s advent? I wonder if we can see parallels in these stories of the ages? Like the people of Isaiah’s time, we might often feel that we, too are languishing. We might feel that we, too have lost our way. Whether we are personally experiencing a rich harvest or famine in our lives, we have to acknowledge that that are so many points of connection between our story and the Israelites – or the people of 1^st century Palestine – or any time in between.

        Throughout the history of humankind, we have seen cycles of conquest, exile, rebellion, and the continuing fight of good against evil. The Israelites lived it. The people of first century Palestine experienced it, and it is part of the landscape of our world today.

        Our Old Testament and gospel readings each refer to the wilderness. Wilderness can be described as inhospitable terrain, empty or pathless region, uncivilized, wild, or uncultivated state. Wilderness is symbolic of much of human life. Wild. Unpredictable. Uncontrollable, no matter how much we like to think we can and do have control. In many ways, especially when we consider its vast potential, the wilderness of our lives is barren.

        Yet it is in this barren place that we hear God’s promise. “Comfort, comfort” proclaims the prophet – our God promises and will provide, Comfort. In Jesus Christ, every valley is lifted up, every mountain and hill made low, the uneven ground is smoothed out, and all those rough places are made a plain; leveled, like a field.

        And yet, we know that the fulfillment of this promise is not yet complete. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, this leveling, this comfort, this promise is breaking through the wilderness, and we are part of its revealing. The good news of this gospel is that God is now present, now working, now comforting and consoling, now coming, now feeding empty stomachs, now clothing, now encountering, now embracing the suffering, the hungry, the thirsty and the lowly ones. In the mystery of the ages, God has come among us in Jesus, who remains with us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus will come again, bringing this promised leveling and lifting up to a complete and glorious end.  

        We are surrounded each day by images that stay with us and inform our world view. Lately, many of those images are disturbing: Violence in Ferguson, Ohio and New York, terrorism in Syria and Somalia, racial and ethnic unrest, disgraced celebrities and politicians, beheadings, massacres, innocent children suffering every manner of torment, and more. But the scriptures we have read today deliver God’s word to us that is more powerful than any worldly power or the power of evil itself. Comfort, comfort, now my people….I am sending my messenger….Every valley shall be lifted up…every mountain and hill be make low…uneven ground become level….the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.

And so, I would like to leave you with other images today…images from just the past week: Pope Francis I and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I  of the Eastern Orthodox Church embracing, and the pope bowing for blessing by the patriarch in an historic moment of reconciliation; white police officers embracing young black men; black women holding the hands of white officers and praying with them and for them; lists of names published daily in the local paper, of people in our community who have contributed to a fund to help the needy; piles of Christmas gifts forming in my office, donated by Grace members to provide Christmas for poor families; people of many backgrounds coming together to contribute to the needs of refugees; there are so many more.

        In our text from Mark, a messenger has come once again. John the Baptist delivers the good news that God has entered human history in an amazing and unprecedented way, and the same message is given, “See, I am sending a messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” WE are part of the good news of the advent of Christ. May we be comforted in our work and in our lives. May we be inspired to daily acts of loving kindness and reconciliation. May we pray and daily support peaceful resolution of worldwide conflict. And may we, who live yet in the wilderness, find our rest in Christ, the one who came, is coming, and will yet come again, freeing every captive from every thing that binds us. Amen.

Nursing a Legacy of Love

Matthew 5:21-37 ~ February 16, 2014

We’ve all heard them. Pithy sayings and Proverbs like “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Or, “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but the one who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” Or my personal favorite, “It is the fool who does not control his anger.” And yet, let’s face it. We all get angry sometimes. Our spouse doesn’t listen to us, or our kids don’t obey us; our friend disappoints us, or our co-worker or boss abuses us, and we get angry. The world just doesn’t understand us, the bullies around us thrive on our suffering, injustices occur to us and around us each and every day, and we get angry. We get dangerously cut off in traffic by that so-and-so jerk in the flashy little sports car, and we start fuming. Sometimes, it seems that selfishness and lack of consideration are rampant, and there exists a deplorable lack of ethics and morality all around us. The world is going to hell in a hand-basket, and We. Get. Angry. It’s just natural, right?

Then we hear words like these spoken by Jesus and it feels like Jesus is pointing his finger right at us, saying that anger is just wrong, wrong, wrong, and since we know ourselves well enough to know that it is impossible to shut off the anger switch, we just shut down. We stop listening. Because you know what? It’s just too hard, Jesus. Sometimes, I do get angry, and I can’t help it. I cannot not be angry sometimes. I know that it is impossible for me to keep from getting angry in some situations, with some people, at certain times.

For instance, if you want to see me angry, just let me see someone disadvantage or abuse a child, the elderly or an animal, or anyone who is smaller, weaker, more vulnerable than themselves. Want to see me angry? Exhibit hatred, prejudice and racism, and claim that you are doing it in the name of Christ. If you want to see me really angry, catch me when I’m tired and overwhelmed with work and then attack someone or something I love, disparage someone I care about, or defame a cause close to my heart, spewing ignorance and calling it fact.

And yet, even though anger is often perceived as a negative emotion, and many believe that a good Christian simply doesn’t get angry or show anger, ever, we know that anger is sometimes useful and even healthy. Psychologists will tell you that while we often view anger as a “bad” emotion, it can motivate us in positive ways. For instance, it can motivate us to improve a bad situation, or address an injustice, or assert our rights and needs. Anger can sometimes help focus our attention on something that really needs to be changed. Properly channeled, anger can actually stimulate the part of our brain that leads to creativity and problem solving. Most of us may remember that Jesus sometimes displayed anger, most notably when he overturned the money-handlers tables in the temple and called them out for their un-godly behaviors.

So then, what does it mean when Jesus equates anger with murder? For that is what Jesus seems to be doing this first of what scholars call Jesus’ “six antitheses”? – these statements that begin, “You have heard it said,….” followed by a common teaching, and then the words, “But I say to you”….. followed by a new teaching or explanation. What Jesus says is, “You have heard that it was said …, ‘You shall not murder’; and whoever murders is liable to judgment.’ “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment,” and so on.

Our second year Confirmation students can tell you that the sin of killing doesn’t just refer to someone taking an ax or a gun and physically assaulting another until they are dead, rather, the commandment not to kill includes a prohibition against doing anything to ruin or damage another’s personhood, reputation, or relationship within the community. These things are not only hurtful to the person upon whom they are heaped but also destructive to the life of community.

Let’s remember that in this long discourse known as the Sermon on the Mount that began with the beatitudes, Jesus is addressing the disciples and those who are following him, teaching them the way of discipleship. Jesus has already told these followers that in the kingdom of heaven, where God rules, and into which all are invited, the status quo has been reversed. There is a new way of living interconnected lives as disciples in community that lives God’s justice and righteousness. In this kingdom, lives are transformed, hearts are made pure, and love is measured and treasured as never before. What you do and what you say matters not only to the individuals involved but to the community at large and by extension, to the very kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said, those who follow him and belong to God, are salt and light. We are valuable, and we add flavor and meaning to the community of the followers of the Son of Man. And here, in today’s text we get a glimpse of what God’s kingdom looks like. Previously, Jesus has said that he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. And within the framework of the antitheses, Jesus is re-teaching the fundamental truths of what that means. Jesus is not giving us a new set of laws, as the gospel of Matthew points out, rather, Jesus is teaching and showing the intention of the law as God established it, especially as it pertains to living and working together. Jesus wants his followers to be people of integrity, people of honor and people of love.

The kingdom of heaven is not entered lightly. The kingdom of heaven makes its demands. The kingdom of heaven, in fact, demands radical discipleship, discipleship that shapes our behaviors, our thoughts, and our words. Belonging to this kingdom and doing this kingdom work requires that every thought and action is transformed by, guided by, and indeed is ruled by God’s reign and God’s Word.

And so, in this Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is teaching the Jesus-followers of every time and place what it means to be a community shaped by God’s righteousness and God’s love, we receive a lesson on how we should treat one another, how we should let God’s love and God’s command to love guide our pathways. We hear illustrations by Jesus of just how important relationships and life within the community of Jesus-followers really is. At the forefront of this message is the overarching theme that being blessed in community frees us from nursing anger.

When Jesus refers to those who “are angry” he is talking about continuing, unresolved, simmering anger. He is talking about the kind of anger that occurs when grudges are held onto, hurts and disagreements are harbored, where heels are dug in and insults, gossip and name-calling damage the communal spirit. The destruction caused by this kind of rupture in relationship is so devastating, that Jesus gives an extreme example of how it should be addressed.

So here it is: Imagine that you have just traveled all the way from home to the temple at Jerusalem, a distance that takes you several days to travel, in order to make your sacrifice, a sacred obligation to God. So in our context, imagine that our temple is located in California. We each have a holy duty to take ourselves there and bring God an offering to be presented there and only there. Since suggesting you would fly from home here in Easton, Maryland to California would be anachronistic, let’s just say you’ll drive. It’s going to take you a week. But once you arrive, as you stand at the altar prepared to offer your gift, you remember a grievance between you and a sister or brother within here at Grace, back in Easton.

God considers it is so important that you heal that rift that Jesus says, leave the gift. Set it down. Do not present it as sacrifice just yet, it is not the more important thing to do at this point. Instead, go back, and reconcile that ruptured relationship. Then you may return; then and only then should you give your gift to God. To do any less than this has repercussions throughout the community. To do anything less is an assault on the community and on the kingdom of God. Close communities need to maintain social order and harmony to exist, says Barbara Lundblad. In all matters of conflict and disharmony, Jesus bids us to avoid seeking revenge, from bearing grudges, or from nursing an anger that eats away at the fabric of community and the mission God. Disharmony in the faith community makes an appalling witness to the larger society.

Jim Wallis in his book “The Call to Conversion” makes this connection: “When I was a university student, I was unsuccessfully evangelized by almost every Christian group on campus. My basic response to their preaching was, “How can I believe when I look at the way the church lives?” They answered, “Don’t look at the church—look at Jesus.”

Wallis continues, “I now believe that statement is one of the saddest in the history of the church. It puts Jesus on a pedestal apart from the people who name his name…Such thinking is a denial of what is most basic to the gospel: incarnation.”

There is no getting around it, my friends. God’s grace, bestowed on us at baptism sets us apart as Jesus followers. And that means something. The Spirit of God rests within each and every one of us, and that Spirit directs our activity through the giving of gifts, and the establishment of community, the blessing of ministry and relationship with God and with one another. Christ went to the cross for our sake, and in the crucifixion draws us all to himself in loving forgiveness of sin and restoration of the broken. As workers in the kingdom of God, sharing God’s goodness and mercy, embracing grace as a way of life, God blesses us to harbor not hate but love, not resentment but generosity, not grudges, but the life-giving love of God.

Let us pray:

O compassionate God, you have mercifully absorbed the worst of human anger and rage in the crucifixion of Jesus. Free us daily from any contempt we might harbor towards others, and help us to risk taking steps of reconciliation towards those with whom we feel at odds. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Revolution

John 1:[1-9], 10-18

Greetings to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, on this, the Second Sunday of Christmas; a Sunday in which we in the church are focused, one last time this year, on the gift of the child born in Bethlehem. Our crèche is still sitting, now, so close to Epiphany with the Magi approaching the stable, right here, front and center. Tonight has long been known as twelfth night, the eve of Epiphany, and according to the old English Christmas Carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” we are preparing to receive the gift of twelve drummers drumming.

Meanwhile, though we may find ourselves in the Christmas season, waning as it is, the rest of the world has already moved on. The year has turned – and we are already several days into a new year, with new challenges and new possibilities. Merchants are displaying Valentine’s Day wares.  You’ve probably already hung your 2014 calendar, you might be in the beginning stages of gathering your documents together for tax season, and you’ve probably even made your New Year resolutions, if you do that kind of thing – and as we are only five days into the New Year, so far, chances are you’ve even kept the resolutions you’ve made – so far.

I’ve seen an AT&T commercial a few times in the past couple of weeks. In it, there is a man sitting at a pint-sized table with a group of small children in what looks like a preschool or kindergarten classroom. He begins a brief conversation with the children, asking an open-ended question – a really risky thing to do with small children, as I have learned the hard way in children’s sermons over the years.

In this ad, the man begins by asking, “Is it better to be more reliable or less reliable?” Of course, the kids all answer, in unison, “More reliable.” So far, so good – I’m sure this is the answer that man is looking for, given that it is a commercial for AT&T, after all. Then he asks the kids, “Why?” One little boy answers in all sincerity, “So you can keep your New Year’s revolution.”

“A New Year’s revolution! Oh no! What are you going to do?” the man asks, in mock alarm at the thought of kindergartners in revolt. (Which, I admit, is a pretty scary thought!)

The boy then answers, “I would have more time to eat jelly beans this year.”

Relieved, the man responds, “Oh, so it’s not so much a revolt, more just like you eating things that are bad for you.”

“Yeah,” answers the little boy, nodding.

“I can deal with that,” the man responds.

This commercial gave me a chuckle at first, but then I got to thinking about the intersection of these words - resolution and revolution – in the Christmas story. Let me explain.

As Christians, we know Christmas not just as a holiday or festival, but rather as a time that witnesses to a reality that permeates our whole life. While God’s love for God’s creation and people has not changed from the beginning of time, in the birth of the savior, God’s tactics for how that love is made manifest not only changed but ignited a revolution.

In the past, God resolved to love, provide for and accompany God’s holy people into the Promised Land in a covenant relationship. And when the people’s sin and corruption and betrayal repeatedly broke that covenant, rather than cut them off forever, God did something revolutionary; God resolved to save God’s beloved from sin and death by entering the world in fleshly form. And God’s revolutionary presence in the world upset things so much that, in John’s words, “his own didn’t know him……they did not accept him.” Instead, they killed him and hung him on a cross. But God’s revolution in Christ Jesus prevailed in victory over death and the grave in the resurrection of Christ.

Our revolutionary reality is that in Christ, God inhabiting human form, God taking on flesh, makes us new. David Lose writes, “God has become flesh, entering a world of sin. God goes to the cross and dies. God becomes our dust so that we are given God’s life and resurrection. The sacred enters the profane and the world will never be the same.” That, my friends, is revolutionary. And it is balm for a world thirsting for peace and for justice.

For while it is still true that through God’s love we are given all we need to live and to love in harmony with one another and with God’s whole creation, sin persists. We find ourselves in conflict, broken, disappointed, defeated, and wandering. The Old Testament text from Jeremiah today reflects experiences of the people of God in the time of exile, but it also describes our own condition: devastated and lonely, lost, experiencing life filled with zigzags, detours and derailments; we find ourselves stumbling, staggering, and falling down. Yet unfailingly, God responds to our overwhelming need, and guides us back to brooks of refreshing water through baptism, where our mourning is turned into joy.

In our gospel text today, John’s Christmas confession extends beyond the baby born in a lowly stable and wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger. It is the belief that he existed before creation and comes to us and lives among us now; that he was always and is always participating with us as we explore what living as heirs of God’s magnificent reign of love means in our lives. In Christ, God is revealed. In Christ, God becomes known. In the Word, this incarnation of God born of Mary, Jesus the Christ, God’s revolutionary stand is burned into the history and life of the world.

As we gather today, we still have the nativity scene here to remind us of the Christmas story that we heard on Christmas Eve. That story includes a baby in a manger, parents traveling to Bethlehem, angels, shepherds, and a star. Later, it includes the magi, too. In our gospel text today, John gives us a version of the Christmas story as well. In John’s rendering, the attention shifts from Jesus’ birth story, to ours. For in this text, we are reminded of our birth as children of God – that, Jesus came into the world so that we – you and I might become children of God.

In John’s telling of the Christmas story, there is no baby, no manger. There is no report of parents traveling to Bethlehem. There are no angels, no shepherds, there is no star nor report of magi bearing gifts to greet the newborn king. This is no historical account of the birth of Jesus Christ, the messiah. Instead, in the gospel of John, we get a statement of faith about God’s incarnation, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only begotten son, full of grace and truth.” And it is through this Word, the only Son of God that the fullness and true extent of God’s love becomes known to us and is shared with the entire cosmos, and it changes everything.

For those facing despair, the Word gives us cause to take heart and realize that we are not alone, and that these trials will not overcome us. The revolutionary Word of God is a word of hope for all people. The revolutionary Word of God, whose coming has made us children of God, refuses to allow our lives to be dominated by the trials we face, nor by the circumstances in which we find ourselves. It will not allow us to be identified by the clothes we wear or the color of our skin; it does not count our age or gender, accomplishments or sexuality, the measurement of our intellect or bank balance. God’s revolutionary Word became human and entered the struggle of human life as love incarnate, as God’s inclusive word of compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation with and for a fallen world. Revolutionary indeed.

Kae Evensen writes, “Our lives are messy stuff but God entering every corner of the world means that there is no place God is not: the linen cloth that held the Christ child becomes the Veil that has been torn, and from it we are unbound. Jesus is in our midst. Now, sins are forgiven, wounds are healed, the dead will rise.”

What is ordinary now bears the extraordinary, revolutionary promises of Christ. Promises like unconditional love, salvation, grace and mercy extended to all people.

As God’s resolution for the salvation of humanity took on the form of revolution with the birth of Christ, as God joined intimately with the whole of humanity, God invites each of us to join the revolution as well. We are called as children of God and heirs together in Christ to share the love of God within this world in which we live. Jesus comes into our midst calling us to revolution as well. We are invited as children of God to resolve that we will follow in the Way of Christ, forgiving, healing, and disturbing the status quo that denies the reality of God’s sovereignty. To follow through on this resolution means that we will revolt against all forms of slavery, oppression, discrimination, injustice, poverty and hatred.

On this Sunday and every day may it be our resolution to actively take part in the revolution of God in Christ. In this most powerful, meaningful, transformative revolution, led by God and demonstrated in the live, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us bear witness to the miracle that takes place not only in a stable in Bethlehem but each and every day within the hearts of every child of God. May we declare with every sound of the drum that as we have received from God grace upon grace, we resolve to dedicate our lives to the peace, equality, love, mercy, and care for all of God’s creation and for all people.