Sunday, December 28, 2014

Jan 4, 2015 - Christmas 2

John 1:1-18

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. 1:3 All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. 1:6 There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 1:7 The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. 1:8 He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. 1:9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. 1:11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 1:12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: 1:13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 1:14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 1:15 John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” 1:16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. 1:17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.

John puts the Christmas story in theological language.  Deep, powerful, penetrating language which grapples with the mystery of it all in words which grasp that mystery and holds  it before us that we might penetrate it with our minds and embrace it with our hearts,

Here is what he tells us:  We are a people of the Word, not just any word, not just a word, but THE WORD!  The word which makes God known and creates faith in human hearts.

This Word is our life blood - the source of all we believe and the reason why we love.
It is a living Word living in us and living through us.  It makes us a people of faith - it becomes “a power and passion in authority among the powers and passions of our lives.”
(P. T. Forsythe)

It also makes us a people of grace - a people who partake of grace at the Lord’s Table; and who practice grace in our living.  Who believe in the real presence in the bread and wine and who practice the real presence in our daily living.

All because of the Word which became flesh and lived among us - full of grace and truth.
We are a people who trust in “God’s love which never ends and God’s dazzling grace which always is.”  William Sloane Coffin

“The Word Became Flesh”

Christmas is here; and will soon be past.  The celebration of Christmas, which begins earlier each year, will soon be over.  Yet Christmas is never over.  It never ends.  It is hidden in every day, every word, every deed of our lives.

As we celebrate the Word which became flesh and dwelt among us, we also celebrate the Word becoming flesh - our flesh - and dwelling still in our midst.

Henri Nouwen:  “The most important question for me is not, ‘How do I touch people?’  but, ‘How do I live the word I am speaking?”

Indeed, Christmas is not just once a year.  It is yesterday, today, and forever, as the Word becomes flesh in us and dwells among us.
Indeed, Christmas is every day!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Dec. 28, 2014 Christmas 1

Luke 2:22-40

22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
   25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
   29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
   31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
   and the glory of your people Israel.”
   33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
   36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
   39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

“A Sign Spoken Against”

Jesus came as a sign; a sign of God’s love; a sign to be spoken for or against.

Many spoke against Jesus in his days - those who loved their religious ritual and formalism more then a living faith.  They didn’t want to lose their importance as religious leaders to one who would make it so easy to be a child of God. The Rich Young Ruler spoke against Jesus; he wanted to buy his way in; not enter through the grace of God. The Pharisee’s spoke against Jesus - they were too proud to live by grace.

The question we all have to struggle with is “Do I speak against the sign God has given us?”  With Christmas over -  do I live as one who has celebrated it’s mystery and experienced its joy?

  “To Be Or Not To Be”

What we believe is basic to who we become in life.

To surrender to Christ is to become a child of grace; it is come alive and discover real self identity and self worth.  I am not a no body, no matter how insignificant I feel; I am a child of God and that makes me somebody - somebody unique, precious, and loved.

Out of surrender to Christ comes new birth in Christ.   A life of becoming, including a life of good works.  We become what we believe.  When I believe I am a child of God -- I can fail and not be destroyed;  I can have worth even when I don’t feel worthy... even when I have preached the worlds worst sermon.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Dec21, 2014 Advent 4

Luke 1:26--38

   26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
   29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
   34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
   35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
   38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Smuggling God Into The World

The extraordinary occurs in the ordinary, the uncommon in the common, the divine in the human.  This is the mystery we celebrate in Christmas.  Where ever love is in human form, something of God is there too, in divine form.  Our task is to “keep our eyes skinned“, open for the miracle which is hidden in the common.

It wasn’t as easy as it looks, believing this promise and living with the mystery.

Consider Mary as Barbara Brown Taylor seeks to capture the moment the angel comes to her.

“If you decide to say No you simply drop your eyes and refuse to look up until you know the angel has left the room and you are alone again.

Then you smooth your hair and go back to your spinning or your reading or whatever it is that is most familiar to you and pretend that nothing has happened...Or you can set your book down and listen to a strange creature’s strange idea.  You can decide to take part in a plan you did not choose, doing things you do not know how to do for reasons you con not entirely understand.  You can take part in a thrilling and dangerous scheme with no script and no guarantees.  You can agree to smuggled God into the world inside your own body.”  (Mothers of God, pp. 150-53)

We stand with Mary and Joseph this morning in pure amazement at the wonder of Christmas and how God did it and continues to do it, in loving in human form.


“Blessed Is She Who Believed”

It is incredible - that Dr. Luke  would report that a young woman would conceive without a man in her life; that Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph would believe what they were told, by angles.
It is incredible -not that God could do it.  But that they believed it would be done through them!

The miracle of Christmas you see, is not that God was born of a virgin, but that a virgin believed God was to be born through her.  Not that the Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive, but that Joseph believed it was the Holy Spirit who did it.

As Luther says, “The miracle of Christ as Virgin-born, is a trifle for the mighty God.  That God becomes a man is an even greater miracle.  But the most amazing of them all is that the maiden finds the angle’s message credible and that the Child he promised would be hers.”

God chose her.
God chooses us, to also be God’s instruments.  To be a human vessel through whom something of God’s love and grace becomes human and lives among us.
Blessed indeed are those who believe that there can be a fulfillment of God’s purposes through them, for they shall see God.  And know the true meaning of Christmas.




Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Dec 14, 2014 Advent 3

 John 1:6-8, 19-28

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
   21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
   He said, “I am not.”
   “Are you the Prophet?”
   He answered, “No.”
   22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
   23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
   24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
   26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
   28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

“One Whom We do Not Know”

                         “Love came down at Christmas,
     love all lovely, love divine;
     love was born at Christmas,
     star and angles gave the sign.”

And the world did not know him...
And his own people did not accept him.
And as strange as it sounds. even among us,  more often then we would like to think, He stands as “One whom we do not know.”

He is among us in places we least expect, in people we find it difficult to be civil toward let alone love and in ways we are far from wanting to take as our way on this earth.  For His way is the way of love and that is the hardest thing for us to come to in this world.  We say we know what love is yet we reject it as the way to run our world.

It is too soft, we say; too sentimental, too easy, too forgiving.  It’s a good way to get yourself killed,  And of course, that’s exactly what happened to this Baby who commands so must attention at this time of the year.
   
Without love, as Paul reminds us so emphatically in his hymn to love, no matter what we do or believe, we are nothing!

That’s what makes this season such a powerful time of the year.  This is no casual thing we are celebrating.  This is the cosmic event of all time!

For Jesus is pure love coming to dwell in a world where hate has its sway and such love is always on the cutting edge of life going where we do not want to go and asking us to follow in places we would never go alone.

Indeed,
         “Love came down at Christmas,
love all lovely, love divine;
love was born at Christmas,
star and angles gave the sign.”

To believe this is to also have to, want to, dare to, rejoice to sing:

          “Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all people,
Love for plea and gift and sign.        


“One Whom You Do Not Know”

God is always a surprise.  There is always more mystery than knowledge with God.
God came in human form and God comes in human form.  It is the challenge and task of faith to see God in places we expect Him not and in people we know not.

Jesus was a surprise to all who thought they knew what to expect from God.  He was not the One they were looking for - they didn’t want a ‘word become flesh’ - that was too close for comfort.

God is always new even as God is forever of old.  God is always close to us, even as God dwells in the far places of heaven.  God is deeply intimate even as God is powerfully creative.  God is among us as One who would change us into His likeness day by day as we walk with Jesus and dare to see him as the One God sent.  This means that we become more human not less, more alive, more joyful, more loving, more real and that our religion becomes not something which keeps God in our control , but something which opens us up to the mystery and surprise which God always is!




Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Dec 7'14 Advent 2

ADVENT II ; IS. 40:1-11; 2 PETER 3:8-14; MK 1:1-8

Nov. 24, 1968  “But God Has Promised”  2 Peter 3:8-14  (Was Trinity-last)

For a child so much in life depends on the promises of Mom or Dad.
That is why they will turn even a hint of a promise - “We’ll see.”, “Maybe.” into a possible promise.  So much depends on it.

For the child of God so much depends on God’s promises.  Promises which turn us on, reassure us in our needs, and comfort us in our struggles.  My faith does  not make the promises real, but it does make them real for me.
To live with God is to live with promise; the promise of forgiveness, the promise of sustaining grace; the promise of compassion; the promise of eternal life.

In a letter written from Stalingrad, a man wrote to his wife and said, “The Fuerer has promised...” to get us out.  It wasn’t enough.  It was an empty promise.
In the face of much which would defeat us, we can say, like a child, “But God has promised!”
It is enough!  For God can do what God promises!

Dec. 6, 1981  “The Mystery Hoped For”

There is a lot of mystery in our religion.  Today we look the end in the eye and are not afraid, for we wait for what God has promised, a new heaven and a new earth.

There is a lot of mystery when we get close to God.  Perhaps the greatest mystery is grace - that God will never give up on us.  He waits patiently, lovingly, eternally, for our turning to Him and then as a Shepherd gathers and carries us in his Bosom.  This is the mystery we hope for - and live in!

Dec. 9, 1984  “The Mystery Foretold”

What if the mystery of mysteries which is being foretold in our texts for today and is hidden in the simplicity of the Christmas story is that the final act of God is grace!

I believe it is!  Listen!
Is. 40:1-11
II Peter 3:9
Rom 8:31
Even God’s judgment, which is never God’s last word, is a part of God’s grace.
The mystery that grace is the final act of God!

“Come To Repentance””

Today we are reminded not to rush headlong into our celebration of Christmas.  To not start the celebrating until we have had time to be still and discover again how deep is God’s love.

We are reminded that we may well need to clean up our own act first, to come to repentance and open ourselves to change, before we can really celebrate Christmas.


Repentance - sounds like cold water on a happy time, but it isn’t.  It is the way to make a happy time happier.  For it opens us to the joy of forgiveness and the joy of Christmas.  God waits for us to come to repentance, so God can love us in a way which make a real difference in our lives.  So God can soften our hard hearts and make us more loving, as God is loving.

There is something of Scrooge in all of us.  We are reminded today to confess this so we can truly celebrate Christmas.

Story:  A Christmas Ballad for the Captain”  (in my Christmas story file.)
“A Happy Book of Happy Stories”, pp. 17-26