I Samuel 2:18-20 & 26
Luke 2:41-52
One fine morning, a young boy got out of bed determined to have an adventure, to see the world.
He put on his boots and coat, and recognizing the world is a pretty big place, he made himself a peanut butter sandwich, and packed this with a can of Root Beer and Christmas cookies in his back pack.
He walked up East Lake Road to Genesee, came passed the churches, came passed the park with the little house with a point on top that has no walls, and passed the fire house. As he started up the hill, he was getting tired, so seeing someone sitting on a bench in the cemetery, he went and sat beside her. The old woman did not say very much, so he filled in, telling her all about his adventure, how he had seen geese, not the geese that are regularly here, but others that are here on vacation. He told her about how green the grass was underneath the snow. He told her about snow melting and refreezing to make ice and how you could go ice skating on the sidewalk. He told her about baby Jesus and the Shepherds and all that is Christmas.
He became hungry while talking, so tore his sandwich in half and gave some to her. Opening the Root beer for the lady, he graciously allowed her to have the first sip. Then they were able to enjoy their cookies, describing which looked like a snowflake and which was a camel. After eating, he was rather tired, so snuggled up against her side, with her arm around him, and went to sleep. With a full tummy and sleeping child beside her, the woman drifted off to sleep as well. When they awoke a short time later, they recognized how late it had gotten and each went their own direction.
When the boy came in the house, his parents were frantic where he had been. He nonchalantly said “I been talking with God! You know, she is a lot older than anybody thinks.” Then he went to his room.
Meanwhile the woman returned to her home, where her son was equally as frantic, as Mom had been very forgetful of late. “Mother, where have you been? Were up at the cemetery talking to Dad's headstone again?” The woman said, “I set out to, but I was talking with God instead. My, he does talk a lot. God is a great deal shorter than anyone realizes. And all these years I thought he liked bread and wine, but it turns out he likes peanut butter and root beer and Christmas cookies!”
Would that we could each greet one another, as if speaking with God, or treat them as a gift from God. Would that we saw life as a grand adventure, where everything is exciting. Would that as adult children caring for our loved ones, and as parents caring for our children, we could feel the depth of concern and love for one another that we feel when we are anxious and worried about them. According to Scripture, Hannah and Mary and Joseph each came to the Temple regularly, to honor tradition and give thanks to God. But that for Jesus, this was more than a house fro worship, this is a Sanctuary where people can ask questions and share ideas, where no one is ever lost or alone, where each can come as they are able and find their needs addressed.
I was very fortunate to have had wonderful teachers, one of which was Jim Forbes for preaching. Jim described that as creative and innovative as you might be, you cannot come up with an idea that has not been thought and preached before! The church has been in existence for 2000 years, and humanity and faith in God, for thousands of years before that. BUT what you can do, is create ideas and apply practices that are innovative and new for you and for your community.
Someone once described that PRAYER, TALKING WITH GOD, BEING IN OUR FATHER'S HOUSE is hearing a single pure note, and trying to tune ourselves to it. Hearing a pure note or idea, or image of beauty and trying to tune ourselves to that note.
The culture around us is radically changing. This does not mean we abandon everything we know and believe, but that in addition, we find ways to reach out to others. For over twelve years, we have talked about creating a Labyrinth, to provide a space for those who are searching to pray differently. Just as we have made the church available as a place for Scouting Fellowships, for Music and Education, for Tai Chi and Yoga and Reiki, we can also make the church available for those wandering and searching, to talk to God, and find their way. This year, we will create other ways to pray and search for faith.
Repeatedly over the years, I have been told a terrible story. The story of those with a child, who wanted to share their faith with them, to have them baptized, but because they were not part of the church they were turned away.
In recent years our Session has come to a far different understanding. There have been those whom we married, who work and reside in communities far from here, but who return home regularly like Mary and Joseph and like Hannah, to give thanks to God and celebrate their faith with their child. As we have been here when they wanted to be married before God, so also we can be their church home and share the Sacrament, affirming the love of God and our prayers for their child. Bob and Laura were married here, a year and a half ago. Bob and Laura now reside throughout the year in Florida. They have given birth to a child Braden and want to share their faith and commitment for him. Bob and Laura have family in Auburn, whom they visit, and they want this to be their church. Their joining the church while living in Florida seems especially appropriate this morning, as we read of Hannah going to worship each year, and Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to Temple at 6 Days and again at 12 years.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
PRESENTS & THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS, Dec 20, 2009
Luke 1:5-23 & 39-45
Hebrews 10: 1-7
It is 5am, Sunday morning, so cold you can see your breath, your toes went numb long ago, and nostrils are stuck together. In the midst of the dark of night there is a brilliant florescent light, the swishing sound of skates on ice, then the crash of bodies against a plastic wall, the slap of wood against a puck and the droning sound of a buzzer.
It is the first day of Spring, still cool but warm sunshine warms the marrow of your bones, bright blue sky and grass that never has seemed so green, there is the smell of hotdogs, peanuts and stale popcorn, the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, the Call: “Play Ball”, the crack of a bat and cheers as a wave goes up through the people.
There is the sound of a calliope like organ, the smell of animals, we sit on wooden bleachers, as strangely decorated people with elongated smiles and rubber noses invade our space to make animals out of balloons, amid the sounds of people collectively gasping and cheering, a voice cries out “Ladies and Gentlemen, Children of All Ages”.
In each of these settings, we know where are.
There is ritual of time and space, smells and sounds: to a Hockey Game, or Baseball, or the Circus. YET, in the midst of the ritual, we expect to witness and be part of something unique that day.
How much different, if after waking at 4, driving to a match, feeling our toes and cheeks grow numb, that one who slapped the puck and scored the goal, was your child!
How many of us have hoped and dreamed that not only would our team hit a Home Run, but the ball would drop out of the sky, right into our hands?
So why at Christmas, do we see the red leaves of poinsettias, smell cookies and taste eggnog, see the sparkle of ornaments and lights on a tree, hear the carols singing “Silent Night, Holy Night” amid the glow of candles, and imagine that all there is is our giving of presents and sharing of tradition?
We are asked what we want, and we mumble something about “PEACE ON EARTH & GOOD WILL” knowing full well we will get a book or tie, or some new electronic gadget.
How different Christmas is for those in Afghanistan this year? How precious and vital thoughts of GOOD WILL among All Humanity, when you are “Peacekeepers in Iraq” or fighting terrorism in Pakistan, fearing weapons testing in Korea and Iran. How different, HOPE for the NEW YEAR feels, when you know you are beginning to lose your memories, worried you will lose your mind and never come back, or when you have Cancer or Leukemia, or you are more than the Care Giver, you are also the spouse or child of those who do. What if, in the midst of all the piles of presents, we believed in the GIFT of Christmas?
The Gospel of Luke does not begin with the Genealogy of who BEGAT WHOM, or rush to the Baptism as Mark does, Luke does not go back to Beginning of Creation to assure us Christ was there. Luke begins with Rituals and traditions that have been followed for Centuries. Luke immerses us in the culture that everyone knew, the singing of songs, the reciting of poetry, that allow us to slow down to transcend, to know this is mystery, this is to be awed.
MOSES who led the people from Captivity in Egypt through the Wilderness to the Promised Land, MOSES who gave the people the LAW of the 10 Commandments and the TORAH, this same Moses had a brother Aaron. While many of us remember Aaron for the Golden Calf, Aaron was the first Priest of Israel, Aaron was the father of 24 sons, who each represented an order of the Priesthood. Throughout the years of taking possession of the land from the Canaanites, the priests had heard peoples prayers and offered sacrifices. Throughout the building of the Monarchy during David, and the building of the Temple of Solomon, throughout all the wars with Assyria and Babylon, the priests had heard the Joys and Concerns of the People and Offered Sacrifices. Throughout the invasion by Alexander the Great and the Greeks, throughout the invasion by the Roman Legion and their Caesar, people lifted up their hopes and dreams, and fears in prayer and sacrifice at the Temple. According to ritual and practice, each of the 24 Orders took turns being the Priests at the Temple, listening to people's confessions and prayers, and offering the people's sacrifices. With 24 Orders of Priests, it came to each, twice a year, that they could choose among their all priests, who had never before offered the sacrifices. For a Priest of Israel, regardless of which Order, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Zechariah was advanced in age, and never before in all his life had he offered the prayers and sacrifice. For all these Centuries, from the invasion of the Assyrians and Babylonians, the Greeks and Romans, the People of Israel had PRAYED that their sins would be forgiven, that God would hear their cry as God had done with Moses, and God would send a Savior. For all their married life, Zechariah and Elizabeth had wanted a child, but it had not been for them, and they were advanced in years, beyond the age of conception.
Zechariah listens to the people, as a pastor hearing each of their concerns, their hopes and prayers and wishes, he takes their sacrifices to offer for the people then enters the Holy of Holies and prostrates himself before the altar in prayer as priests have done for as long as there have been priests. When what to his wondering eyes did appear, was not a Miniature sleigh and reindeer but an ANGEL, Gabriel one of the Four Great Angels of the Old Testament. And the first words of the Angel, the first words spoken by anyone in the Gospel of Luke, were “PEACE, BE NOT AFRAID.”
The angel reveals God's Plan of GREAT JOY, that Elizabeth is to give birth to a child who will be a Prophet and Priest, who will live his life as an Old Testament Priest of Levite, like Samson or Samuel. AND Zechariah says “No”. As the Son and Son in Law of Presbyterian Pastors, who has been a Pastor now for over 25 years, your pastor for 13, I know there is no vocation like this. And yet, for my own children, like Zechariah, I would wish for them a different life, that instead of preaching and praying week after week, that they would change the world. In response to which God through the ANGEL says to Zechariah, you shall not speak until the child is real. Unable to speak, the priest cannot exit the Temple to offer the people ASSURANCE OF PARDON, the priest cannot bless the people.
The same angel appears to MARY, a young child, and again the first words of the Angel are “PEACE, BE NOT AFRAID” and “I bring you GREAT JOY”. The irony is that what the Angel is saying is “You will have a child out of wedlock, and the child born to you will be arrested as a criminal against the State, he will suffer and die as a Sacrifice for Humanity.” And instead of saying “NO” Mary says “Blessed am I to be an Instrument of the Lord.”
For NINE MONTHS, Zechariah cannot speak, until the child is born. 8 days later, when the community of faith gathers for the Circumcision, the people would have named the child Zechariah like his Father, but Elizabeth and Zecharian both speak as the Angel had instructed, “His NAME IS JOHN”. In the Bible, Names have meaning, Jesus like Joshua means SAVIOR, John means “THE GRACE OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD”.
Hebrews 10: 1-7
It is 5am, Sunday morning, so cold you can see your breath, your toes went numb long ago, and nostrils are stuck together. In the midst of the dark of night there is a brilliant florescent light, the swishing sound of skates on ice, then the crash of bodies against a plastic wall, the slap of wood against a puck and the droning sound of a buzzer.
It is the first day of Spring, still cool but warm sunshine warms the marrow of your bones, bright blue sky and grass that never has seemed so green, there is the smell of hotdogs, peanuts and stale popcorn, the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, the Call: “Play Ball”, the crack of a bat and cheers as a wave goes up through the people.
There is the sound of a calliope like organ, the smell of animals, we sit on wooden bleachers, as strangely decorated people with elongated smiles and rubber noses invade our space to make animals out of balloons, amid the sounds of people collectively gasping and cheering, a voice cries out “Ladies and Gentlemen, Children of All Ages”.
In each of these settings, we know where are.
There is ritual of time and space, smells and sounds: to a Hockey Game, or Baseball, or the Circus. YET, in the midst of the ritual, we expect to witness and be part of something unique that day.
How much different, if after waking at 4, driving to a match, feeling our toes and cheeks grow numb, that one who slapped the puck and scored the goal, was your child!
How many of us have hoped and dreamed that not only would our team hit a Home Run, but the ball would drop out of the sky, right into our hands?
So why at Christmas, do we see the red leaves of poinsettias, smell cookies and taste eggnog, see the sparkle of ornaments and lights on a tree, hear the carols singing “Silent Night, Holy Night” amid the glow of candles, and imagine that all there is is our giving of presents and sharing of tradition?
We are asked what we want, and we mumble something about “PEACE ON EARTH & GOOD WILL” knowing full well we will get a book or tie, or some new electronic gadget.
How different Christmas is for those in Afghanistan this year? How precious and vital thoughts of GOOD WILL among All Humanity, when you are “Peacekeepers in Iraq” or fighting terrorism in Pakistan, fearing weapons testing in Korea and Iran. How different, HOPE for the NEW YEAR feels, when you know you are beginning to lose your memories, worried you will lose your mind and never come back, or when you have Cancer or Leukemia, or you are more than the Care Giver, you are also the spouse or child of those who do. What if, in the midst of all the piles of presents, we believed in the GIFT of Christmas?
The Gospel of Luke does not begin with the Genealogy of who BEGAT WHOM, or rush to the Baptism as Mark does, Luke does not go back to Beginning of Creation to assure us Christ was there. Luke begins with Rituals and traditions that have been followed for Centuries. Luke immerses us in the culture that everyone knew, the singing of songs, the reciting of poetry, that allow us to slow down to transcend, to know this is mystery, this is to be awed.
MOSES who led the people from Captivity in Egypt through the Wilderness to the Promised Land, MOSES who gave the people the LAW of the 10 Commandments and the TORAH, this same Moses had a brother Aaron. While many of us remember Aaron for the Golden Calf, Aaron was the first Priest of Israel, Aaron was the father of 24 sons, who each represented an order of the Priesthood. Throughout the years of taking possession of the land from the Canaanites, the priests had heard peoples prayers and offered sacrifices. Throughout the building of the Monarchy during David, and the building of the Temple of Solomon, throughout all the wars with Assyria and Babylon, the priests had heard the Joys and Concerns of the People and Offered Sacrifices. Throughout the invasion by Alexander the Great and the Greeks, throughout the invasion by the Roman Legion and their Caesar, people lifted up their hopes and dreams, and fears in prayer and sacrifice at the Temple. According to ritual and practice, each of the 24 Orders took turns being the Priests at the Temple, listening to people's confessions and prayers, and offering the people's sacrifices. With 24 Orders of Priests, it came to each, twice a year, that they could choose among their all priests, who had never before offered the sacrifices. For a Priest of Israel, regardless of which Order, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Zechariah was advanced in age, and never before in all his life had he offered the prayers and sacrifice. For all these Centuries, from the invasion of the Assyrians and Babylonians, the Greeks and Romans, the People of Israel had PRAYED that their sins would be forgiven, that God would hear their cry as God had done with Moses, and God would send a Savior. For all their married life, Zechariah and Elizabeth had wanted a child, but it had not been for them, and they were advanced in years, beyond the age of conception.
Zechariah listens to the people, as a pastor hearing each of their concerns, their hopes and prayers and wishes, he takes their sacrifices to offer for the people then enters the Holy of Holies and prostrates himself before the altar in prayer as priests have done for as long as there have been priests. When what to his wondering eyes did appear, was not a Miniature sleigh and reindeer but an ANGEL, Gabriel one of the Four Great Angels of the Old Testament. And the first words of the Angel, the first words spoken by anyone in the Gospel of Luke, were “PEACE, BE NOT AFRAID.”
The angel reveals God's Plan of GREAT JOY, that Elizabeth is to give birth to a child who will be a Prophet and Priest, who will live his life as an Old Testament Priest of Levite, like Samson or Samuel. AND Zechariah says “No”. As the Son and Son in Law of Presbyterian Pastors, who has been a Pastor now for over 25 years, your pastor for 13, I know there is no vocation like this. And yet, for my own children, like Zechariah, I would wish for them a different life, that instead of preaching and praying week after week, that they would change the world. In response to which God through the ANGEL says to Zechariah, you shall not speak until the child is real. Unable to speak, the priest cannot exit the Temple to offer the people ASSURANCE OF PARDON, the priest cannot bless the people.
The same angel appears to MARY, a young child, and again the first words of the Angel are “PEACE, BE NOT AFRAID” and “I bring you GREAT JOY”. The irony is that what the Angel is saying is “You will have a child out of wedlock, and the child born to you will be arrested as a criminal against the State, he will suffer and die as a Sacrifice for Humanity.” And instead of saying “NO” Mary says “Blessed am I to be an Instrument of the Lord.”
For NINE MONTHS, Zechariah cannot speak, until the child is born. 8 days later, when the community of faith gathers for the Circumcision, the people would have named the child Zechariah like his Father, but Elizabeth and Zecharian both speak as the Angel had instructed, “His NAME IS JOHN”. In the Bible, Names have meaning, Jesus like Joshua means SAVIOR, John means “THE GRACE OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD”.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
"What Child Is This?" December 13, 2009
Zachariah 3
Luke 3
There is a message being whispered and sung through all the children of all the houses of this Village...
“You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why:”
When I was very young, my parents had these elves, whom they described as being sent from the North pole to watch us and report back who had been naughty and nice.
But the message of John the Baptist and Zephaniah Ben Cushi is exactly the opposite!
NOT that you should CRY and POUT and not be careful, but rather that instead of trying to hold it in and stuff your feelings until Christmas is over, because Santa is watching, Santa is coming and in 12 short days it will be over...
Instead, that we would listen, listen to our hearts, listen for a different voice, for God among us, that we need to be true to who we are as human beings loved by God. Instead of trying to act as adults filled with fears and responsibilities. Instead of suppressing what we feel for 12 more shopping days, 'til Christmas is over for another year, that we follow a different direction the rest of our lives, that we recognize a child is going to be among us, for ever more, so how shall we live?
For thousands of years, children and adults have acted out this story. As portrayed this day, it needs no words. The reason we portray the events in a play each year, are not simply to make grandma and grandpa proud that I was a SEEP, but for each of us to go to Bethlehem, and feel what they each felt.
What would it be to be MARY? Still a child, living with your Mom and Dad, when an Angel appears. Would we say, “Yeah Right, an Angel, and I am supposed save the world?” Would we be imagining “What will my father think, I am 14 and Pregnant?” Would we be like Mary, innocent and trusting, and greet this as an awesome event and how marvelous to be chosen by God to give a gift to the world?
What would it be to be JOSEPH? You are a Middle aged man, successful, set in your ways. All your life, you have lived alone, working hard, making a career. Finally, the time has come, when you can settle down, and have someone to share life with, someone who will care for you. The whole community has celebrated your engagement, when suddenly Mary is found to be with child, and you know the child is not yours! Would you stay beside her and share this? Would you believe her story, that this is a gift from God, even if you had a dream, would you accept the child and his mother as your own?
What would it be to be KING HEROD? You were born to be King, and yet yours is an occupied territory of the Roman Empire. The Nation of David is a long distant piece of history. The wealth of Solomon has been carried off. The Babylonians besieged your nation for 70 years of war. Then the Persians; then Alexander the Great and the Army of the Greeks, imposed their culture, their language, their Gods. Then The Roman Legion terrorizes your people. The taxes you raise, are taken by Caesar. All you really have left as King is the title and authority of being King. When it is reported to you that a child is to be born, who is a challenge to you as King.
What would it be to be the INN KEEPER? Your quaint village suddenly filled with hundreds of thousands of tourists! Every room has three families sharing. The demands of so many people, you cannot offer the hospitality you desire, because there are so many who want so much. When suddenly there is a knock at the door and you know you have no room. But the woman is about to give birth anytime. Would you turn them away, or would you try to find them a place, and witnessing the birth of the Savior, how would it change you?
What would it be to be an ANGEL given responsibility to share with all the world that GOD has a GIFT, A CHILD who will change the world!
What would it be to be a SHEPHERD that night. Every day has been pretty much like every other. We graze our sheep. We protect them from wolves. We bed them down by lakes and streams and good pasture. You lay on your back marveling at the stars, when suddenly, there appear in the sky a Choir of Angels, singing of the glory of God! Would you be afraid to move? Would you want to go and see this thing that has taken place, to go and tell everyone what has been told to you? And expecting a miracle, expecting to see the Son of God, what would you feel entering a dark cave or barn and seeing a poor couple with a newborn babe?
Over the years, we have had Several Wiseguys, a few Wisewomen, even a couple of camels,... What would it be to be a Wiseman, a learned teacher, selling off everything you have to travel the world in order to see the birth of the Savior.
Now, having witnessed these events, feeling the thoughts and emotions of Mary, of Joseph, of the Angels, Shepherds, Wisemen, and Inn Keepers, what will you do, how will you “Go Tell It On The Mountain” that Jesus Christ is born?
THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH ben Cushi declared that we need to REPENT. NOT a momentary change of heart, a singular charitable give away, but going from being a people afraid, who argue and squabble and fight, who can find no good in the world and suck the joy from the marrow of life; to become a people of God, a people of compassion, a people who hope and believe, and act differently because of what they believe.
APARTHEID in South Africa was the domination of one people by another, the outgrowth of centuries of persecution and slavery, for over 30 years in the last half of the last Century, APARTHEID involved entering people's homes in the middle of the night, taking your husband and sons to be forced into the army, taking your daughters for worse. When all the fighting was done, ArchBishop Desmond Tutu was asked to serve as the judge over the REPARATION TRIALS, to find justice for those who had been so abused. One of the stories, is of a woman 80 years of age, who stood in court and identified the men who had taken her husband from their bed, had carried him off and murdered him. She identified the men who had taken sons and forced these children to be soldiers. She identified the men, who had taken daughters to be sold as slaves. Desmond Tutu then asked her “Mother, what would you have us do with these men?” And she, asked that every year on her husband and sons' and daughters' birthdays and Christmas, these men would come to share the day with her, identifying with the sons and daughters and husband they had taken.
JOHN THE BAPTIST responded to the people, with the world's first great stimulus package: Go through your closets at home, and if you have two coats, give one to someone in need. If you have toys you no longer play with, share them with those who have none. Why should we have things taking up space, when we could give them to bring joy to others?
We know what Child this is! This is Emmanuel, GOD WITH US! But the question that comes to every believer, young or older, in the time of Zephaniah 600 years before Jesus, or the time of John the Baptizer, 30 years after his birth, or in 2009, is what shall we do, how shall we respond to God in the living of our lives? Acting with compassion and caring toward other persons, being humble and humane, reveals our humanity.
Luke 3
There is a message being whispered and sung through all the children of all the houses of this Village...
“You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why:”
When I was very young, my parents had these elves, whom they described as being sent from the North pole to watch us and report back who had been naughty and nice.
But the message of John the Baptist and Zephaniah Ben Cushi is exactly the opposite!
NOT that you should CRY and POUT and not be careful, but rather that instead of trying to hold it in and stuff your feelings until Christmas is over, because Santa is watching, Santa is coming and in 12 short days it will be over...
Instead, that we would listen, listen to our hearts, listen for a different voice, for God among us, that we need to be true to who we are as human beings loved by God. Instead of trying to act as adults filled with fears and responsibilities. Instead of suppressing what we feel for 12 more shopping days, 'til Christmas is over for another year, that we follow a different direction the rest of our lives, that we recognize a child is going to be among us, for ever more, so how shall we live?
For thousands of years, children and adults have acted out this story. As portrayed this day, it needs no words. The reason we portray the events in a play each year, are not simply to make grandma and grandpa proud that I was a SEEP, but for each of us to go to Bethlehem, and feel what they each felt.
What would it be to be MARY? Still a child, living with your Mom and Dad, when an Angel appears. Would we say, “Yeah Right, an Angel, and I am supposed save the world?” Would we be imagining “What will my father think, I am 14 and Pregnant?” Would we be like Mary, innocent and trusting, and greet this as an awesome event and how marvelous to be chosen by God to give a gift to the world?
What would it be to be JOSEPH? You are a Middle aged man, successful, set in your ways. All your life, you have lived alone, working hard, making a career. Finally, the time has come, when you can settle down, and have someone to share life with, someone who will care for you. The whole community has celebrated your engagement, when suddenly Mary is found to be with child, and you know the child is not yours! Would you stay beside her and share this? Would you believe her story, that this is a gift from God, even if you had a dream, would you accept the child and his mother as your own?
What would it be to be KING HEROD? You were born to be King, and yet yours is an occupied territory of the Roman Empire. The Nation of David is a long distant piece of history. The wealth of Solomon has been carried off. The Babylonians besieged your nation for 70 years of war. Then the Persians; then Alexander the Great and the Army of the Greeks, imposed their culture, their language, their Gods. Then The Roman Legion terrorizes your people. The taxes you raise, are taken by Caesar. All you really have left as King is the title and authority of being King. When it is reported to you that a child is to be born, who is a challenge to you as King.
What would it be to be the INN KEEPER? Your quaint village suddenly filled with hundreds of thousands of tourists! Every room has three families sharing. The demands of so many people, you cannot offer the hospitality you desire, because there are so many who want so much. When suddenly there is a knock at the door and you know you have no room. But the woman is about to give birth anytime. Would you turn them away, or would you try to find them a place, and witnessing the birth of the Savior, how would it change you?
What would it be to be an ANGEL given responsibility to share with all the world that GOD has a GIFT, A CHILD who will change the world!
What would it be to be a SHEPHERD that night. Every day has been pretty much like every other. We graze our sheep. We protect them from wolves. We bed them down by lakes and streams and good pasture. You lay on your back marveling at the stars, when suddenly, there appear in the sky a Choir of Angels, singing of the glory of God! Would you be afraid to move? Would you want to go and see this thing that has taken place, to go and tell everyone what has been told to you? And expecting a miracle, expecting to see the Son of God, what would you feel entering a dark cave or barn and seeing a poor couple with a newborn babe?
Over the years, we have had Several Wiseguys, a few Wisewomen, even a couple of camels,... What would it be to be a Wiseman, a learned teacher, selling off everything you have to travel the world in order to see the birth of the Savior.
Now, having witnessed these events, feeling the thoughts and emotions of Mary, of Joseph, of the Angels, Shepherds, Wisemen, and Inn Keepers, what will you do, how will you “Go Tell It On The Mountain” that Jesus Christ is born?
THE PROPHET ZEPHANIAH ben Cushi declared that we need to REPENT. NOT a momentary change of heart, a singular charitable give away, but going from being a people afraid, who argue and squabble and fight, who can find no good in the world and suck the joy from the marrow of life; to become a people of God, a people of compassion, a people who hope and believe, and act differently because of what they believe.
APARTHEID in South Africa was the domination of one people by another, the outgrowth of centuries of persecution and slavery, for over 30 years in the last half of the last Century, APARTHEID involved entering people's homes in the middle of the night, taking your husband and sons to be forced into the army, taking your daughters for worse. When all the fighting was done, ArchBishop Desmond Tutu was asked to serve as the judge over the REPARATION TRIALS, to find justice for those who had been so abused. One of the stories, is of a woman 80 years of age, who stood in court and identified the men who had taken her husband from their bed, had carried him off and murdered him. She identified the men who had taken sons and forced these children to be soldiers. She identified the men, who had taken daughters to be sold as slaves. Desmond Tutu then asked her “Mother, what would you have us do with these men?” And she, asked that every year on her husband and sons' and daughters' birthdays and Christmas, these men would come to share the day with her, identifying with the sons and daughters and husband they had taken.
JOHN THE BAPTIST responded to the people, with the world's first great stimulus package: Go through your closets at home, and if you have two coats, give one to someone in need. If you have toys you no longer play with, share them with those who have none. Why should we have things taking up space, when we could give them to bring joy to others?
We know what Child this is! This is Emmanuel, GOD WITH US! But the question that comes to every believer, young or older, in the time of Zephaniah 600 years before Jesus, or the time of John the Baptizer, 30 years after his birth, or in 2009, is what shall we do, how shall we respond to God in the living of our lives? Acting with compassion and caring toward other persons, being humble and humane, reveals our humanity.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Repent: BHAV, December 6, 2009
Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 3:1-6
The Scriptures for this morning are not what we are accustomed to. For many of us this calls attention to the most radical and frightening concept of faith. For, we are a people who “make do”, we know how to cope and get along, no matter the circumstance, and the Word that comes from Malachi and from John the Baptist is not Make Do, but rather REPENT. Do we still believe in REPENTANCE? Literally, turning around to go in a different direction. Little by little, through so many fears, our hope and our humanity have been compromised.
We hear of Wars and Rumors of Wars. Terrorist attacks and Economic crisis. We listen to the NEWS and hear reports of a Veteran returning home, who then stabs and kills his friends; we hear reports of a young man murdering his Grandmother over money for drugs; we have become so accustomed to stories of a Postal worker going on a rampage, we have created the term “Going Postal”; and we affirm, there may be hard days but we are not yet that bad.
I sit on the Ethics Committee for a local hospital, and the Psychiatrists tell me that they no longer use the classification “Sanity versus Insanity”, in part because there are so many different Dementia and Depressions, in part because of the stigma of Mental Illnesses, but more because all of us in our coping, in our making do, have accepted realities that are a little insane.
Of necessity we have created a PROGRAMMED CULTURE. On one extreme is Chaos and disorder, on the other are the looming multitude of increasing responsibilities. A few generations ago, we spent our entire life in a single community, knowing the people our parents and grandparents had known. Today, we are connected around the world, we have the opportunity to travel, to learn, but our contacts and contracts and things we have to do, have grown exponentially, to where the only way we could function was to make do, make accommodations and program a controlled routine. The fallacy of a Programmed Culture is that as rational and reasoned as we are, we are also human. Humans need to BELIEVE, we need MYSTERY and MIRACLE. Without Mystery, a programmed culture is flat, ordered and routine, a stagnant image of what once was. Without Miracle, there is only what is, and not what could be. Recall and remember how a friend with Cancer, had that Cancer go into remission. Recall and remember stories of shipping the tools and materials for the Clinic Sudan around the world, with reports of their being hijacked, and lost, when suddenly they drove up to exactly where and when they needed to be. Recall and remember that when the contractors needed water to make concrete, and the only well had run dry, they went to a wedding in the community and a well-driller came as a guest. Throughout the last five years, we have supplied medicines and staff, but in order to change mortality we needed to change birthing practices and mothers who had lost pregnancies were those delivering others. This week the first class of Birth Attendants were trained, and where the goal was to be 20, 25 completed the course.
Rather than Making Do, making accommodations, programming ourselves, we need Repentance, to believe in a Vision beyond ourselves and beyond our ability to program and control. We are in a season of preparation, but not the preparations we have listed. We have lists, of home repairs and honey-dos, of Christmas cards and letters, shopping, decorating, making certain everyone has what they want, even if not what they need. But the Gift of God that is Christmas, is not automatic, not programmed, not for us to buy or make. The gift of God that is Christmas is the Only HOPE of the Hopeless, Faith to those who have Lost Believing in anything, Love to those who Cannot Feel.
To Repent, is not to focus on Our Hopes: for a Flat Screen or a Wii, a Puppy or Coat, a Diamond or a Car. To repent is to name the wounds and hurts and hopelessness of our lives, to name it and claim it as our own, and to believe beyond that reality, beyond what we know, that Only God can provide Hope. Speaking with a group of friends recently, each described having a Grandson or daughter returning home from a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, with possibility of having to return. A friend whose wife has a number of tumors in the brain. Church leadership divided over this issue and that. Couples married for decades considering divorce. Children away at College wrestling with depression and loneliness. In our humanity, we can make allowances, we can make do with all these circumstances, a little of us dying with each one. Or, we can Hope against Hopelessness, trusting that God can and will change reality.
Our PREPARATIONS are to name the Hopelessness, to own our responsibility for these, and also to name our intent to change, to stand with one another, because alone is hopeless, but wherever two or three are gathered there is the assurance of God's Spirit, and the possibility of fellowship, encouragement, trust.
In previous years we have named that Jim Collins is a Business Management expert, who coined the phrase BHAG to represent Big Hairy Audacious Goals, like American Architects creating the Empire State Building in response to construction of the Eiffel Tower, Kennedy's pledge in response to the Russians putting a Dog in Space that within a decade we would land on the Moon. For the Church, for this Advent, I would challenge that instead of setting Goals we believe in Big Hairy Audacious Visions. A Vision is beyond ourselves, a Vision is from God.
John the Baptsist's Vision was that Mountains and Hills would be brought low, and valleys would be lifted up. The reality is that all of life cannot be a HIGH, we cannot go from Mountaintop to mountaintop experience, in part because our stride is human, smaller, but also because we need to come down to dwell among other people to share the vision, to work together to repent, to change the world. Mountains and Hills being brought lower, is a metaphor that we can use our gifts, our abilities and opportunities to fill in the rough places, to raise expectations. In addition, what I love about BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS VISIONS is that rather than being a BHAG that means nothing to us, this acronym is BHAV, that our Vision creates in us new Behaviors, repentance to live life differently.
Luke 3:1-6
The Scriptures for this morning are not what we are accustomed to. For many of us this calls attention to the most radical and frightening concept of faith. For, we are a people who “make do”, we know how to cope and get along, no matter the circumstance, and the Word that comes from Malachi and from John the Baptist is not Make Do, but rather REPENT. Do we still believe in REPENTANCE? Literally, turning around to go in a different direction. Little by little, through so many fears, our hope and our humanity have been compromised.
We hear of Wars and Rumors of Wars. Terrorist attacks and Economic crisis. We listen to the NEWS and hear reports of a Veteran returning home, who then stabs and kills his friends; we hear reports of a young man murdering his Grandmother over money for drugs; we have become so accustomed to stories of a Postal worker going on a rampage, we have created the term “Going Postal”; and we affirm, there may be hard days but we are not yet that bad.
I sit on the Ethics Committee for a local hospital, and the Psychiatrists tell me that they no longer use the classification “Sanity versus Insanity”, in part because there are so many different Dementia and Depressions, in part because of the stigma of Mental Illnesses, but more because all of us in our coping, in our making do, have accepted realities that are a little insane.
Of necessity we have created a PROGRAMMED CULTURE. On one extreme is Chaos and disorder, on the other are the looming multitude of increasing responsibilities. A few generations ago, we spent our entire life in a single community, knowing the people our parents and grandparents had known. Today, we are connected around the world, we have the opportunity to travel, to learn, but our contacts and contracts and things we have to do, have grown exponentially, to where the only way we could function was to make do, make accommodations and program a controlled routine. The fallacy of a Programmed Culture is that as rational and reasoned as we are, we are also human. Humans need to BELIEVE, we need MYSTERY and MIRACLE. Without Mystery, a programmed culture is flat, ordered and routine, a stagnant image of what once was. Without Miracle, there is only what is, and not what could be. Recall and remember how a friend with Cancer, had that Cancer go into remission. Recall and remember stories of shipping the tools and materials for the Clinic Sudan around the world, with reports of their being hijacked, and lost, when suddenly they drove up to exactly where and when they needed to be. Recall and remember that when the contractors needed water to make concrete, and the only well had run dry, they went to a wedding in the community and a well-driller came as a guest. Throughout the last five years, we have supplied medicines and staff, but in order to change mortality we needed to change birthing practices and mothers who had lost pregnancies were those delivering others. This week the first class of Birth Attendants were trained, and where the goal was to be 20, 25 completed the course.
Rather than Making Do, making accommodations, programming ourselves, we need Repentance, to believe in a Vision beyond ourselves and beyond our ability to program and control. We are in a season of preparation, but not the preparations we have listed. We have lists, of home repairs and honey-dos, of Christmas cards and letters, shopping, decorating, making certain everyone has what they want, even if not what they need. But the Gift of God that is Christmas, is not automatic, not programmed, not for us to buy or make. The gift of God that is Christmas is the Only HOPE of the Hopeless, Faith to those who have Lost Believing in anything, Love to those who Cannot Feel.
To Repent, is not to focus on Our Hopes: for a Flat Screen or a Wii, a Puppy or Coat, a Diamond or a Car. To repent is to name the wounds and hurts and hopelessness of our lives, to name it and claim it as our own, and to believe beyond that reality, beyond what we know, that Only God can provide Hope. Speaking with a group of friends recently, each described having a Grandson or daughter returning home from a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, with possibility of having to return. A friend whose wife has a number of tumors in the brain. Church leadership divided over this issue and that. Couples married for decades considering divorce. Children away at College wrestling with depression and loneliness. In our humanity, we can make allowances, we can make do with all these circumstances, a little of us dying with each one. Or, we can Hope against Hopelessness, trusting that God can and will change reality.
Our PREPARATIONS are to name the Hopelessness, to own our responsibility for these, and also to name our intent to change, to stand with one another, because alone is hopeless, but wherever two or three are gathered there is the assurance of God's Spirit, and the possibility of fellowship, encouragement, trust.
In previous years we have named that Jim Collins is a Business Management expert, who coined the phrase BHAG to represent Big Hairy Audacious Goals, like American Architects creating the Empire State Building in response to construction of the Eiffel Tower, Kennedy's pledge in response to the Russians putting a Dog in Space that within a decade we would land on the Moon. For the Church, for this Advent, I would challenge that instead of setting Goals we believe in Big Hairy Audacious Visions. A Vision is beyond ourselves, a Vision is from God.
John the Baptsist's Vision was that Mountains and Hills would be brought low, and valleys would be lifted up. The reality is that all of life cannot be a HIGH, we cannot go from Mountaintop to mountaintop experience, in part because our stride is human, smaller, but also because we need to come down to dwell among other people to share the vision, to work together to repent, to change the world. Mountains and Hills being brought lower, is a metaphor that we can use our gifts, our abilities and opportunities to fill in the rough places, to raise expectations. In addition, what I love about BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS VISIONS is that rather than being a BHAG that means nothing to us, this acronym is BHAV, that our Vision creates in us new Behaviors, repentance to live life differently.
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