Dec. 25, 2012 Christmas Day

John 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
    3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
    6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.[b]
    10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
    14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christmas is a love story.  It is a story which has moved hard
people to do beautiful things and cold people to let others warm up in their love.  It has stopped war, inspired great music, and warmed the heart of many a lonely, lost person.  

Christmas is the celebration of the sacred sign given to us in human form, that God is love.  Whoever loves is of God and God is of them.
As John tells us:
“God is love, and the (person) whose life is lived in love does, in fact, live in God, and God does, in fact, live in (them).”  I John 4:16 (Phillips)

God isn’t moved by power, prestige, fame, or fortune.
God’s isn’t impressed by what we do to show how holy, righteous, or important we are.  God is moved and impressed by how we love!

As Mother Teresa put it:  “We are not called to do great things for God;
we are called to do small things with great love.”

What we celebrate in Christmas is love, for
“Love came down at Christmas
love all lovely, love diving’
love was born at Christmas,
star and angles gave the sign.”
Therefore:
“Love shall be our token ,
love be yours and love by mine,
love to God and all (people)
love for plea and gift and sign.”


“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.

We are to live our words and live The Word so that even our flesh becomes a presence of the God who became human and dwelt among us in Jesus.

God’s Word - God’s best word to us is seen before it is heard. felt before it is known, experienced before it is understood, lived before it can be spoken.
It became flesh and dwelt among us so we could best know it in the most human ways possible.   And that is also how we share it - by living it.

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!

Dec 23, 2012 Advent 4

Luke 1: 39-55

 39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

    46 And Mary said:
   "My soul glorifies the Lord
       47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
    48 for he has been mindful
      of the humble state of his servant.
   From now on all generations will call me blessed,
       49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
      holy is his name.
    50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
      from generation to generation.
    51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
      he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
    52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
      but has lifted up the humble.
    53 He has filled the hungry with good things
      but has sent the rich away empty.
    54 He has helped his servant Israel,
      remembering to be merciful
    55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
      even as he said to our fathers."


There was nothing about Mary to make her stand out among all the maidens of Israel.  In fact, she was one of the lowliest of a downtrodden people.   In all likelihood an orphan, a mere servant, tending the cattle and the house with no more esteem than a maid who does her appointed chores. She was probably between 13 and 15 years old and her name, which in Hebrew form is Miriam reveals something of her life, which was bitter and hard - it means “bitter myrrh”.

Yet it was this one God chose to use to give birth to God’s Son.  When you stop to think about that for a moment, it suddenly becomes clear that the miracle here is not just that God did it, but that Mary believed God and let God do it.

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

The extraordinary occurs in the ordinary...the uncommon in the common...the divine in the human.  This is the mystery we celebrate when we celebrate Christmas, God coming to dwell with us...to take on human form and to touch the ordinary with God’s extraordinary grace.

 It is for this reason that we can say, where ever love is in human form, something of God is there too, in divine form and it is for this reason that we can say that nothing is too insignificant for God and no one counts for nothing.

 Mary reminds us to, as a Norwegian relative put it, trying to deal with our many colloquial phrases, “keep our eyes skinned”(pealed),  open for the miracle which is hidden in the common, and see with the eyes of faith that which Mary saw when she went along with this extraordinary plan God laid on her.

“Journey Into Blessing”

Mary is called “blessed” because she allowed herself to be used as a blessing.  She humbly believed what the Lord said to her and let it be accomplished.

God needed Mary to do God’s will.  God couldn’t have done it, at that time in that way, without Mary.

God needs us to do God’s will in our world.  As unbelievable as it sounds, there are some things God can not do at this time without us.  To follow God’s lead is to discover God’s blessing.  It comes in the doing.  Blessing is a serendipity.  Something which happens in the process of surrendering to God’s will.  There will always be a blessing in doing God’s will.  For that is where it all ends up with God!

Dec 16, 2012 Advent 3

Luke 3:7-18
 7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with[a] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

“What Then Shall We Do?”

John got their attention.  He broke through their blindness, pricked their conscience, penetrated their hearts so they asked, ”What then shall we do?”

It is a question we must ask too, for it is never enough to talk the talk; we must walk the walk.
We must let God get to our hearts and change our way of being, or at best were just sincere hypocrites, “honoring God with our lips while our hearts are far from God.”

And what is it we are to do?

We are to “bear fruit that befits repentance”.
Repentance means changing from the inside out.
To be authentic from the inside out?  How?

We are to “Share with the one who has none."_
“Collect no more than you are required to".”  That is, be fair.
“Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely- be contented with your pay.”   Be kind

When I share with someone I identify with them; this is how we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

The mark of a religious person is that he/she can be trusted to keep their word. Honest!

Being fair is being aware of more then just what is right; it is being aware of what the effects of a given act is on someone else, and not taking advantage of that person.

To live lives which show that our hearts are really changed is the on going task of repentance.  For to repent is to turn around again and again and again, and be opened to change;  open to becoming who we never thought we would be.

Dec 9, 2012 Advent 2

Luke 3:1-6

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

   “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
   make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
   every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
   the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

“Preparing for Christmas”

Our preparation for Christmas is distracted by the litany of commercialism and the litany of indulgence.  To offset this we need to “discern what is best” about this celebration by going deeper and deeper into the mystery which is Christmas.

This means we do things which enable us to love more, for Christmas is love.

The measure of how successful our Christmas has been is not in how exhausted we are at the end of the celebration,  but how excited we are about living Christmas all year long as we share the mystery of God’s love.

The word repent is an appropriate word for our Christmas preparation.  A careful look inward is a necessary part of “discerning what is best and pure and blameless”,  what is “ filled with righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.”

This is what Advent is all about.  Getting ready!  When I am ready, I am more able to experience, more able to see.  Ironically, I can also be more spontaneous, more open to chance; call it planned spontaneity, prepared enough to be free to be spontaneous.

A song writer once said,  “Tunes simply pop into my head all the time.
But of course, your head has to be arranged to receive them!”

Louis Pasteur,  “Chance favors the prepared mind.”

We celebrate Christmas because something great has happened and something great is going to happen!  Some unexpected things are going to happen, human things, like getting the wrong number and have a visit with a lonely old person, or being touched by a need in someone's life and then doing something to meet that need.

God has some surprises in store for those who are ready to see them.
Are we prepared to see the salvation of God happening in our midst, in with and through us?  Are our hearts and heads “arranged to receive” the love which is Christmas?

Dec. 2, 2012 Advent 1

Luke 21:25-36

 25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
 29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

“In A Celebrating Mood?”

The issue of when Jesus is coming again is mute; it is a dead end street.
What is important today is not the content of our text, but the mood set by the text.  For our mood is vital to our relationships.

And the mood of our text is a “positive, joyful hope of redemption.”
Celebration - the mood of the Gospel!

There is great heresy in correct theology without correct mood.
The power of ”Jesus Christ Super Star” and “Godspell” is the mood they set.

To celebrate life at all times and in all places.  To see the good surrounded by the bad.  To be thankful when all is going wrong.  To be hopeful when all seems lost.  This is the mood of the Gospel.  This is the mood of Jesus.  Celebration of life, for it is good.

“We communicate best when we celebrate most.”

 “The Second Coming”

There is much speculation regarding the return of Jesus Christ, the second advent.  The truth is, IT IS GOING TO BE A SURPRISE!

To try take the surprise out of the second coming by predicting when it is going to happen is the highest form of idolatry known to man.  It is playing God!

The important question for us is not “When will the Kingdom of God come?”, but ”How has it come to us already?” and, “How can it come through us again?”

The answer to the first question is, “Yes, in Jesus .”
Is this not what we celebrate in Christmas!  Emanuel, God with us!

And to the second one, the answer is, “ It comes in the human drama of love and forgiveness; compassion and caring, when ever and where ever it happens.”

That is, it comes as we let Christmas be more then an observation.  Let  Christmas live through us.  For wherever two humans touch in a meaningful way, God is also present.

November 25 2012 Christ the King Sunday

John 18:33-37

 33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

 “Not Of This World”

His Kingdom is not of this world.  It is a Kingdom where things are reversed in a strange yet powerful way.  The first are last and the last first.   The great are the lowly and the masters are the servants.  The little is much and the poor are rich.  The widows mite is much and the rich peoples much is little.

A Kingdom where money is not as important as love and relationships;  where nothing can happen which is beyond becoming a blessing, redeemed by God’s love.  It is a Kingdom which cannot be destroyed and will never end.

“Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I (Napoleon Bonaparte) have built great empires.  but upon what did they depend?  They depended on force.  But centuries ago Jesus started an empire that was built on love, and even today, millions will die for him.

“All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as the one who was born to be a king...of another kingdom.”

“Not Of This World”

The Kingdom of God came as and is yet today a surprise.
The disciples missed it...
the people missed it...
the religious leaders missed it...
the church misses it...
and we miss it more then we get it!

It isn’t always the way we see it.  It’s power is weakness; its wealth is poverty; its prestige is meekness.

To be meek is not to be weak (spiritless); it is to be of a gentle spirit.
A meek person is strong enough to not have to be bias, prejudiced, close minded, defensive.  A meek person is strong enough to be open, understanding, compassionate, long suffering, humble, and of such is the Kingdom of Jesus.

In the Kingdom of God we are challenged to hunger and thirst after righteousness - the wealth of the Kingdom.  It is found in right relatedness, right living, right relationship to God and each other.  It dares to forgive rather than condemn; be merciful rather than judgmental; patient rather than demanding. It leaves room for mistakes rather than demanding perfection.

We also are challenged to be poor in spirit...humble minded.  To know that I am spiritually poor is to be open to see what I could never see if l were rich.  It is to hear what I could never hear; to believe what I would never otherwise believe.  It is to be open, alive, looking, questioning, searching, knocking, asking, seeking.  And then discovering the promise given!
Indeed the Kingdom of God comes as a surprise.
The challenge of faith is to not miss it!

“A Kingdom Of Grace”

Jesus answer to Pilate betrays what appears to be happening and reveals a majesty which baffles Pilate and us.  It is a majesty of grace by a King whose Kingdom will never be destroyed.
God is best known as a God of grace and God’s kingdom is a kingdom of grace!
In a Kingdom of grace the King is first of all a servant, truly a servant of all!
In a Kingdom of grace the bottom line is not what is cost effective, but what is fitting and appropriate for all - and fair.
In a Kingdom of grace patience is more important than efficiency; faithfulness than merit; truth than dishonesty, deception or expediency.

“Jesus addressed economic questions more frequently than he did violence, sexual morality, or heaven and hell.  The most fundamental principle of biblical economics... is the notion that economic activity is not an end in itself but exists to serve higher purposes.
...The biblical emphasis is not so much on the mechanics of producing and distributing material goods as on how such activities reflect a right relationship to God and one’s neighbors.  ...The primary standard the Bible gives us for judging any economic system is the priority of the poor.  The righteousness of a people is to be seen in how they treat the weakest members of society.”  Sojourner staff person

“We can do things to diminish our humanity and resist God’s sovereignty over us, but we cannot do things that can dethrone God nor stop Him from loving us.  That is invincible.”

November 18, 2012 25th Sunday After Pentecost

Mark 13:1-8

1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

   2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

   3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

   5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.


Let me pass on to you these words of Mark E. Wegener which put this text in a healthy perspective.
.
“If you are tempted to decipher Jesus' apocalyptic predictions and discover their fulfillment in current events, remember this: Over thirty years ago a popular volume entitled The Late, Great Planet Earth (1970) was published. It predicted that the end of the world would occur soon. It sold millions of copies and can still be found on the shelves of some fundamentalist, "evangelical" bookstores. Its author made three predictions: (1) things will get a lot worse, (2) the end of the world will come soon, and (3) most people will make fun of these predictions. So, of course, as soon as responsible theologians contradicted the first two predictions, the third one automatically came true! Most amazing was the fact that this book "interpreted" dozens and dozens of biblical passages, except the clearest single statement on the subject, namely, Mark 13:32, where Jesus says, "Concerning that day or hour nobody knows."

All that we know is that Jesus will be there at the end and no matter what, it will be good!  So watch, keep awake, stay alert, and don’t worry about it!

Also these words from David F. Watson, New Testament professor at Union Seminary, Dayton, Ohio.

“These are complex (words), deeply rooted in Old Testament language, history and theology.  Yet, despite the difficulties that they present, they are also powerful (words) that teach us not to follow false messiahs and prophets.  The dangers of overzealous nationalism and reactionary violence are clear in this  passage.  Violence begets violence.  (Amen to that!)  Followers of Jesus are to trust in God’s providential care even if the world around them seems to be falling apart before their eyes.”

And that takes a lot of  faith courage!