Sermon - First Sunday of Christmas

I Sam 2:18-20, 26; Luke 2:41-52       

                                                                  Caring for the Children

Wow!  What happened to Christmas and cute little Baby Jesus?  The last time we gathered in this place we were hearing stories of his birth.  How is it that in five short days we have moved from his birth to considering the actions of his teen years?  I know, from raising three children of my own, that they grow up fast.  But this is a bit ridiculous, wouldn’t you agree? 

We will get one more Sunday of Baby Jesus stories.  Next week, which happens to fall directly on Epiphany, we will hear of the visit of the three wise men and the presentation of their gifts to the Baby Jesus.  But let me warn you, those readings have a tragic ending.  When Herod realizes that he has been tricked, he will set out and kill all the male babies under the age of two.  But that is next week.  What about this week? 

On Tuesday it was the birth of Jesus.  Today it is this story of his visit to the Temple, at age twelve.  How did this happen?  So fast? 

There are a couple of things I would like for you to notice; things that most of us already know; we just don’t stop to think about it.  Scripture doesn’t spend a lot of time on Jesus’ birth.  It seems to be a terribly important story – especially this time of year.   But most of that hype is driven by the commercial aspects of the season.  Ask yourself how much of the conversation is about the theological significance of the incarnation as opposed to the gifts we give or the food we prepare.

Danielle pointed out in her Christmas Eve sermon that in order to have a full blown Christmas pageant you have to pull every piece of information from every possible source.  Matthew speaks only of Joseph’s experiences and the story of the Wisemen.  Luke is the only place we ready about Elizabeth and Zachariah (the parents of John.)  The announcement of Jesus’ coming is told in Luke through the eyes of Mary – which puts a certain slant on the meaning given to these events. 

There is nothing in either Mark or John about the birth.  Nothing.  Nill.  And in all of his writings, Paul never mentions the birth of Jesus.  It just wasn’t all that important to these three writers. 

There is so little in the bible about the child.  As a result, it is difficult to fill the days of Christmas with stories.  But Luke tries.  He tries mightily.  And along the way he helps us to realize that while Jesus is the one stepping onto center stage, there are a whole host of characters whose role should not be overlooked or forgotten.  And two of those characters are Jesus’ Mommy and Daddy.

I am sure that Jesus could have overcome a difficult childhood.  I imagine that even if Jesus’ Mommy and Daddy had not brought him to God’s house that Jesus probably would have found a way to learn God’s Word on his own.  But that isn’t necessary.  Mary and Joseph do take him.  Mary and Joseph instill in him an appreciation for the rites and rituals of the House of God.  But this isn’t something they did in order to teach their son something.  They do it because it was part of their ritual as well. 

This is the thing I hope each of us will carry away from today’s gathering in this place.  I hope that we will see how important it was that Jesus (yes, even Jesus) be brought to the Temple by persons who valued what went on there.  Verse 41 of Chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke tells us that each year, it was a custom for Mary and Joseph to go up to Jerusalem for the observance of Passover.  They went that year, as usual.  And they took Jesus, too. 

Jesus may have found his own way had he not had these persons as his parents.  I am sure that the Son of God was not going to be deterred in his mission by accidently being born into a non-religious family.  But such speculation misses the point.  The point seems to be that even Jesus needed someone to guide him along the way.  This is the significance of an incarnational theology.  That God does not remain in the realms of heaven and send us dictums of what is expected of us.  God takes the risk of sharing our flesh, living among us, and allow Himself to be vulnerable to human actions.  This is the very risk which will eventually cost Jesus his life.   

Here is the first thing I would like for you to think about this morning:  I want you to think about who it was that brought you to God’s house:  the first time; or the time which resulted in your choosing to come again later on you own?  Who was that person?  Turn to someone next to you and say the name of that person.  Make sure that they say a name back to you. 

Few of us, if any of us, stumbled into God’s house on our own.  Most of us, if not all of us, were brought by someone else:  usually a parent, sometimes a boyfriend or girlfriend, occasionally a roommate or co-worker.  We all need someone to help us get to the place where that Word of God can find a finger hold in our lives.  We all needed some sort of a boost to get to that place where God can begin to re-form us into the persons God would have us to be.   

We all need it.  Jesus needed it.  So did Samuel. 

I had attempted to send an email to folks, when I realized the Wednesday e-news was not going out, asking you to refresh your memory of Samuel’s story.  I apologize to those of you who didn’t receive it.  I will expect an apology from those of you who did receive it, but didn’t read those first chapters of I Samuel. 

You can flip through the pages of I Samuel as I make sure we all remember the basics of the story.  Samuel is born to a woman named Hannah.  Hannah is one of the wives of Elkanah.  Elkanah had children by his other wife, but Hannah has none.  She goes to the temple and prays.  The priest, Eli, observes Hannah’s distress and assures her that she will have a son.  When that son is born, he is given the name Samuel and Hannah returns him to the Temple, to serve Eli. 

You may have noticed that the selection for today is one of those cut and paste jobs.  The Lectionary wants us to know part of Samuels’ story, but only a small sliver.  And that sliver has to do with the same thing we learned about Jesus’ story.  Hannah and Elkanah return to the temple, to see their son, and to make for him a “little robe.”  Each year, they would carry this new garment to Samuel and present it to him. 

Samuel will preside over the coronation of Saul as Israel’s first King.  Samuel will be sent to anoint David as Israel’s greatest King.  But as a child, Samuel was attended to by a loving mother and father.  Each year, they made a little robe and brought it to him to wear, in his service in the Temple.  Without them, Samuel would never have gotten to where he is going. 

Think once more about that person you named earlier.  Just to get us thinking about them once more, repeat the name again, out loud please.  Thank you.  This is the person in your life who did for you what Mary and Joseph did for Jesus; what Hannah and Elkanah did for Samuel.  And, as was true in the case of Mary and Joseph and Hannah and Elkanah, great things have come from their actions.  Without their actions, you would not be here today, right? 

You know there is another shoe to drop.  And you can probably imagine what that shoe is.  Shift your thinking from identifying with Jesus and Samuel and image yourself in the role of Hannah, or Mary, or Joseph, or Elkanah.  Who is it that you might assist, in finding their way into God’s house?  Who is it that needs to see your dedication and devotion to God’s house?  Who would benefit from your attempts to put the Word of God in their lives? 

I was visiting this week with a member of the congregation who has already identified the person they most want to assist.  It is a child – an adult child in fact.  And I know that the person is probably speaking the name of that child over and over as I near the end of this sermon.  Sometimes, even when we do our very best, it seems that our actions do not meet the hoped for results.  But we never know.  Sometimes what seems like a failure is anything but a failure.  Remember that on Good Friday the first followers of Jesus scattered, thinking that it had all been a waste of time. 

Who is that person in your life which you need to view as the teenage Jesus or the boy Samuel?  For whom do you need to provide care?

I did get to do a bit of reading during my December vacation.  One of the books spoke of the cultural shift around us in which fewer and fewer see themselves as ideological Christians.  The general mood is away from what is believed toward how any claim of belief makes a difference in the way we live our lives.  The impressive part of Luke 2, is the value Mary and Joseph see in returning to the Temple for Passover.  When Jesus sees that this is important to him, he comes to realize it might have value for him, too.

The person who brought you to God’s house seemed to have been able to pass on to you that this was something of value to them.  Your passing on the faith to another will hinge on your ability to allow others to see how being here is re-forming you, changing the way you live your life.

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, December 13

Given that our campus ministry group is at that point in the often repeated cycle where there are a larger number of first year students, I thought it appropriate to end the semester and send you home for Christmas break with a bit of advice:  Be ready for the difficulty of re-entry.

While you may have been home for a weekend or two during the fall, the next couple of weeks will be a real test of how wise you have become and the maturity which is emerging from you.  You go home a different person than the one who left in August.  Your parents and siblings have also changed, but maybe not as much.  Their environment has remained the same as the one in which you all lived together.  You have been in a strange land, hearing strange voices (mine included.)

Add to all this that the time of the year when you return home is Christmas - a time when we have a higher than normal amount of "traditions." Pretty soon you will begin to rub up against those traditions which have been a part of family life for years without anyone wondering why you do things that way and someone (most likely you) exploring options for doing things somewhat differently.

Christmas homecomings are joyful;  but they are expose how much you have changed and how God has guided you during these last months. 

There this the story in our bibles of Jesus' mother and family coming to see him.  He doesn't immediately go out to hug them and remember good times.  In fact, he says that his mother, his brothers and sisters are those who do the will of his father.  Jesus - the one who is often lifted up as the champion of family values - does not give preferential consideration to his blood relatives.  His words remind us that we make choices and that some of the choices which lead us to the place God would have us go also lead us away from those who once held sway in our lives.

Do not go home and look for ways to distance yourself from family or old high school friends.  But be aware of the new things God has done in your life and look for the examples of how your following Jesus may have lead you in the directions which are uniquely yours.  All those folks back home are excited for you to become your own person; they just haven't seen how these new thoughts and behavior patterns fit into the marvelous person God is molding you to be.

God will be with you during Christmas Break - as will my prayers.  Be happy, be safe, post photos on Facebook and tag them to our LCM Fan Page.  Use the time away from reading text books to read the Gospel of Luke - it will serve as our gospel lessons in the year to come.  And I look forward to being with you in four weeks.

Devotion - Wednesday, December 12

A popular song among our selections for Wednesday night gathering is "Here I am Lord."  The song takes its title from Isaiah 6.

The prophet is caught up in a vision.  He sees God sitting on a throne, with seraphim flying around praising God.  Considering himself unworthy to be seeing such a sight, Isaiah declares, "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips."

One of the seraphim takes a burning coal from the altar and touches Isaiah's lips.  "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven."

When God asks who will go and deliver His message to the people, Isaiah says, "Here I am, Lord.  Send me."

The message he is to share is a bit harsh.  Remember this is the first section of Isaiah, the section where God is telling the people that their unwillingness to listen will result in their being taken into captivity by the Babylonians.  Isaiah's excitement ("Here and I am, send me.") may have been tempered when he heard the stern call to obedience God was entrusting to him.  Speaking for God sounds like a great thing to get to do; until we begin to realize the message God would have us deliver.

God's Word is always good news.  It is always a word of promise and an invitation to live.  It just isn't always the invitation to continue living as have been living.  The word of God strips us of our pretense and allows us to see the way in which our lives match the will of God and the ways in which we are deceiving ourselves. 

I love to stand among you all and sing, "I will go, Lord, if you lead me...."  It is an empowering moment in our worship services.  I only hope the power of the moment continues when opportunity presents itself to speak, on God's behalf.

Devotion - Tuesday, December 11

Martin Luther is often quoted.  I don't mean in religious journals or research papers or even sermons.  I am thinking of the one-liners which both expressed his theology and generate smiles.  Some (perhaps most) are folklore - but they serve their purpose just as well. 

He is quoted as saying, "Lowly maggot fodder that I am - if God could love me then God can love even the lowest scoundrel among us."

Keeping this thought in mind, it is much easier for me to overcome disagreements with those around me.  Luther's words remind me of the ease with which we identify the faults and the lowly intentions of others; while excusing or totally overlooking our own.

I Thessalonians ends with the admonition "Be at peace among yourselves."  Being at peace means being understanding of the other and making allowances for the actions which might give cause for ill will - except for the deeply rooted awareness that I am likely to take note of the actions of another while overlooking my own.  Being at peace is easier when I remember that "lowly maggot fodder that I am," I am likely to have offended in ways I don't even realize.

There is no intended target out there for this message.  I do not have a particular situation in mind as I write.  What came do mind as I meditated on this was the tendency for misspoken comments to find a foothold when we are under stress or strain - which you certainly are these days.

Be understanding of each other.  Be self-aware.  It allows for a greater opportunity to be at peace among our friends and fellows

Devotion - Monday, December 10

At this time in the semester, the LCM Lounge (and many of the Sunday School rooms) turn into study carrels.  The Church set it up that way, making sure there is 24/7 access, Wi-Fi, a printer, etc.  When I arrived last evening I saw the three or four studying students in the Lounge itself;  only after my meetings ended did I realize there was someone squirreled away in the far back room.  This was the student who remained on my mind and in my heart as I approached this morning's time of reflection and prayer.

As this student was leaving the building, my offering of rather generic, encouraging words ("Do well on those exams.") was met with a request ("Please pray for me.")  I took that as equally generic and replied, without hardly looking up from my work, "I will.  Every day."  To which the reply was, "Could you pray with me right now?"

How often do we fail to understand the specificity of a request from a sister or brother?  Why are we too inclined to promise to do something for you - later.  And in the case of prayer, to do it when we are alone, rather than in your presence?  And the most troubling question of all -  do we forget to return to the person or the issue when we are in our time of dedicated conversation with God.

"Could you pray with me now?"

Why did the one who felt the need for prayers have to ask the one from whom prayers were requested to be specific and immediate?  Why had I not realized the request was timely?  Isn't the request for prayer always urgent?

The LCM Lounge and the SCS rooms will be open for you this week.  Come by and use the building.   There are goodies in the frig and some remaining items from the UniLu Christmas Party Stocking Stuffing extravaganza.  Most importantly (but humbly) there is a pastor sitting in the first office to the left, praying for you.  Praying for you by name.  Praying for you; praying with you.

Sermon - Advent 2, Year C

Luke 3:1-6 & 1:68-79          

                                                                               Malachi 

Anyone who had been assigned to read the lessons on Pentecost Sunday or at an Easter Vigil liturgy had to smile a little smile this morning when you heard me stumbling over the names for the regions presided over by Philip, brother of Herod.  “Ituraea?”  “Trachonitis?”  “Abilene” is rather easy to pronounce, but what of the guy who ruler of this city – “Lysanias?”  Like the readings on Pentecost, difficult names to pronounce, of places and people we have long since forgotten.  If you were the lay person asked to read on those other occasions, you had to be thinking this morning, “About time one of the pastors had to read the difficult list.” 

Why are all those names included in Luke’s text?  I had this discussion earlier in the week, with the pastor at Walhalla, Frank Honeycutt.  I asserted that they were there in order to document the year when John begins his ministry.  “One reference would have done that,” Frank replied.  Besides, this reference only confuses the time line.  While each of the persons mentioned eventually figures into the unfolding story, their reigns don’t align as purely as Luke 3 would have us believe.

“No.” Frank insisted.  “They are mentioned so Luke can drive home the point that all these powerful people are passed over when God has a word to share.”  Look right there at the last phrase of verse 2.  The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  The word of God does not reside in the structures of power – whether that be structures of political power or structures of religious power.  The word of God goes where it will – and God wills it to go to John, out there, in the wilderness. 

Luke will employ such a tactic many times in his writings.  And we had all better get used to it, because we are in the year of Luke.  From now till next Christ the King Sunday, we will be reading from Luke on Sunday mornings.  And throughout Luke there is a theme of God passing over the rich and powerful in favor of the lowly and powerless.  Such a message was an added “good news” to Luke’s readers.  I guess it is yet to be determined if we will accept this aspect of his presentation as good news. 

Emperor Tiberius, Governors Pontius Pilate and Herod and Philip; high priests Annas and Caiaphas – the word of God is spoken to them, but not by them.  The word of God is spoken by John, the guy living out there along the river bank. 

Or I should say, it will be spoken by John, eventually.  Did you notice or realize that John doesn’t speak in today’s readings.  He is spoken about, but he does not speak.  Others speak about him. 

The first to speak about him was his father.  Zechariah’s song is in Luke 1.  (Luke 1:68-79)  It serves as our Psalm for today, and is printed on the bulletin insert.  The lines of this song are unique, a collection of verses and thoughts from various Psalms.  The message is clear and straight forward – God has looked with favor upon His people and is sending to them one who will save them “from the hands of our enemies.”     

Zechariah’s speech is notable for other reasons.  Do you remember that when a messenger from God told him that he and Elizabeth would have a child; Zechariah doubted that such a thing was possible.  Elizabeth was old and considered barren.  Zechariah lost his ability to speak.  It is only at the naming of the child, when Zechariah affirms that he is to be named “John” that he regains the ability to talk.  And Luke 1:68-79 is what he says. 

As Pastor Hartsell noted in his sermon last week, God sees us and remembers His promise to us.  God comes to us, giving us reason to hope and then fulfilling our hopes.  Zechariah’s song addresses this, “The dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” 

That is what Zechariah has to say about John.  In Chapter 3, we read what Luke has to say about him. 

These lines are borrowed from elsewhere in our bibles.  Do you remember where?  I think I pointed this out in the E-news note to prepare you for this morning.  We talked about it around the dessert table at last night’s progressive dinner.  Luke quotes from Isaiah 40:  The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  Prepare the way of the Lord.  Again, high hopes and welcomed promises.  Luke remembers the words of Isaiah, spoken to people who had lived through some of their darkest days.  Luke repeats Isaiah’s assurance that God will come and set them free from the hands of those who hate them, the tyranny of those who oppress them. 

In Luke’s day, it was the ruler of Rome – all those folks mentioned in verse 1.  In the time of Isaiah, it was the Babylonians. 

If you turn in your bibles to Isaiah 40, you might have footnote, similar to the one in my bible.  Isaiah 40 begins what is sometimes called Isaiah II.  There are three sections in Isaiah: one which speaks to the time just prior to their being overrun and carried off into exile; one (the one that begins at Chapter 40) which is offered during the time of transition in their fate; and a final section which speaks of the rebuilding of their lives and their religious practices.  Isaiah 40 was an assurance that God had not abandoned His people.  They were sitting in darkness and may have feared that they had lost their status in God’s eyes.  “Not so,” God assures them. 

Same situation, same message, some six-hundred years later.  This time it is Rome who rules over them; this time the message will be none other than the long expected Messiah.  Tiberius and Pilate and Herod and Lysanias and Annas and Caiaphas – these are not your liberators or redeemers.  The one who can save you is the one whom God is sending. 

This is the John Heyer moment.  Whenever he critiques my sermons, which he does practically every week, he asks me, “What do you want me to do?”  Here is what I understand this text is telling us to “do.” 

We are too often enamored with the power structures of our world.  We come to rely on the alliances we have made and the systems we have put into place.  They usually function very well – particularly for those who created them, because in the creation process we tend to make them favor us as much as possible.  But the message of Luke 1 and Luke 3 is to remind us that we cannot find our salvation, or our hope, or any reason to be encouraged in such structures.  The word of God goes to the wild-eyed guy living in the wilderness.  It goes to the one who cares not what happens to the rulers of the state or to the rulers of the religious structures.  It goes to the one who isolates themselves from all of that and listens for the word.

This is an established pattern – for God and God’s word.  And what we need to do, today, as we go home is to consider the degree to which God is also saying this to us and to our structures.

Is Christmas about what God did back there, in that place and time; or is Christmas the perpetual arrival of the One who turns the tables in the Temple, angers those in authority, upsets the social norms, and is eventually executed at the insistence of the crowd who had once welcomed his word but turned on him when they learned the ramifications of accepting that word? 

I join the majority who like the way things are.  I live rather comfortably in the configuration as it is.  But all week I have struggled with the question of whether the rest of the world’s populations would accept my complacency.   

That list of difficult to pronounce names were the who’s who of Luke’s day.  All of them are gone.  The only reason their name are remembered is because they are included in someone else’s story.  The nations and regions they fought so desperately to control – wiped off the map and given different names by new rulers who were themselves eventually overthrown. 

But the word of God continues.   

This is the John Heyer moment:  when we decide whether we will remain wedded to the systems of our day or if we will find a way to place ourselves in the wilderness where we might silence the noise long enough for the word of God to come to us. 

I hope so. 

Amen.

Devotion - Thursday, December 6

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

December 6 is the feast day of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra.  At a time when the Church was just finding acceptance in the world, Nicholas defined what it means to be a Christian and a servant of others.

He lived at the turn of the 3rd and 4th centuries.  He was alive and serving during the years of Constantine's conversion.  Myra, where he served as Bishop, is now known by the name "Demre,"  Which is in modern-day Turkey.  He would have been witness to the establishment of Constantinople as the center of Christian life.

Nicholas is acclaimed as a Saint because of his generosity.  The legends include his slipping out of the manse at night in order to give money to those in need.  His attempts to be hidden by darkness was compromised when the recipients would see his red Bishop's cape fade into the darkness of night.

In a world in which Church seems to collect money, Nicholas is a reminder that Christ came to give.  He instructs all of us on what it means to follow the way of Jesus.

The modern day facsimiles of St. Nicholas still give gifts.  But their gifts are seldom anonymous, and rarely are they presented to those in need.  Occasionally, you will see one standing by a red kettle, ringing a bell.  But they attract far less attention than those who leave new automobiles in driveways or diamond pennants hanging on the tree.

On this St. Nicholas Day, remember the servant of Christ who (long before there was a celebration of Christmas every December 25) understood and acted on Jesus' instructions to those who have plenty.  He is a favorite of Children.  And all God's children need to learn from him what it means to share.

Devotion - Wednesday, December 5

The words from the book of Isaiah inform so much of our Christmas story.  This Sunday's Gospel Lesson consists of verses from Isaiah, spoken in reference to John the Baptist.  Isaiah will return to prominence when we hear the words, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman^* is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel"

The words of Isaiah are front and center during this time of great anticipation and expectation.

How wonderful it would be if the Isaiah verses appointed for today were embraced with equal zeal.

Today's verses are Isaiah 2:1-4.  Read them.  Read them several times.  Meditate on them.  And keep them in your heart as you catch glimpses of TV News.  In a world that is torn apart  by war; in a world where we turn to war as a way to solve differences; in a world where we believe that violence (and here I would include violence sanctioned by a nation or country) can somehow stop violence - in such a world the words of Isaiah 2 need to be repeated, shouted, and applied to our lives.

When the house of the Lord is lifted up as the highest of the mountains, then our spears will become plowshares and our swords pruning hooks.

Here are those verses from Isaiah:

In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
   Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more.

Devotion - Tuesday, December 4

On Sunday mornings, we make use of the "Sundays and Seasons" worship aids.  This includes the prayer petitions, for The Prayer of the Church.  This past week, there was a petition for "nations of the world experiencing distress."  There was the encouragement to name such countries.  In preparing the assisting minister at the 11:00 service for this petition, he replied, "I am going to need more sheets of paper, if you want me to list them all."

It may be that electronic media and the ability to travel quickly to any region of the world means that we are more aware that we once were.  Or, it could be that there are more and more societies and civilizations in upheaval.  There is distress among the nations.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of distress among the countries.  He wrote of the causes of these hardships; he also wrote of how God might guide the people through them.

Isaiah writes:  "Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness."  Justice - righteousness.  These are attributes which never cease to reveal God's hope and promise.

Those parts of the world where uprisings and conflicts are found might be quietened with a good dose of justice.  Yes, it is true, justice can sometimes be politicized.  But we know what is fair; there is a reluctance to move there when it costs me something.  Here is where righteousness compliments justice - if I am righteous in my own life, then justice becomes personal and I begin to consider what is the right and proper thing for me to do.

The Advent we seek is more than a personal gift; it is an event for the whole of creation.  The heavens announce the birth of Messiah.  Our preparations and our celebrations need to include such a cosmic understanding of what it means to welcome the Christ child - not merely into our hearts, but into our world.

Devotion - Monday, December 3

The calendars collide this time of the year.  In my readings this morning, I was directed to passages appropriate for the beginning of the season of Advent.  These next four weeks are to be given over to preparing our hearts, our lives, and our world for the arrival of God's Anointed One.  Yesterday was the First Sunday of Advent; there are three more to follow.

It is so very important that we prepare. 

I was a bit stronger in my presentation at the 8:30 services yesterday.  By 11:00 I had enough encounters with God's children, presenting themselves and seeking God's outpouring of grace, that I softened my tone.  Even Jonah discovered that God's tough words are conceived far from those to whom we intend to speak them.  When he get up close and among them, Jonah's convictions were confirmed, that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and Jonah's harsh message melted away.

Realizing yesterday the needs among God's children for a word of Grace,  I had lost the harsh edge by the time we got to the 11:00 service.

Earlier, when it was just me and my thoughts, I had introduced the season of Advent by saying, "Unless there is a need in your life for the arrival of Messiah, why should Messiah come?"  This morning, I am once again alone with my thoughts, and so I return to the harsh and sometimes critical question of "Are you making any room for the Babe?"

God is gracious and merciful.  And (following a Christmas theme) he will love you even if you have been naughty.  It isn't that God punishes the naughty, it is their own actions which block the inflow of God's presence and thus leave them with a life less than God would offer.

Don't come up short.  Don't receive a sample and think "This is enough."  Prepare your heart and your life for the arrival of God's Anointed One.  Move deeply into the season of Advent.

Yes, Christmas is coming.  I know, you are entering exam period.  There are conflicting calendars and events compete for our attention.  But don't allow Advent to be the one that takes it on the chin.  Look carefully and discern where Christ needs to become a part of your life, then welcome Christ in.

Devotion - Thursday, November 29

I continue to read from Zechariah.  Today it was Chapter 13, verses 1-9.

These speak of the shepherds being struck down, and the resulting scattering of the sheep.  You may recall that this imagery is used in reference to what happened to Jesus' followers, when he was arrested.  "Two thirds" of the sheep will "be cut off and perish."  Two thirds!

The other third will be put into the fire.  God will "refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested."

Some within the Church see the need for such a process in today's Church.  They speak of turning our attention away from gathering the masses and to focus on refining those who are of pure heart.  Their proclamations of the Gospel say it matters not how large we are; what matters is how faithful we are.

Two weeks ago I spoke to you of the Gospel reading in which Jesus' disciples were warned not to be "led astray."  I was asked, "How do I know if I am being following a false teaching or teacher?"  In those conversations, I acknowledged my fear that the Word I speak might lead astray, rather than leading into all righteousness.  These verses from Zechariah expose one of the areas where there is great debate about what has passed through the refiner's fire, and what is of our own desire.

There is a teacher, followed by many, by the name of Yoder.  He was at Union Seminary, reaching the height of his prominence about 30 years ago.  He had many admirers, one of them taught at our Lutheran Seminary in Columbia.  Another like-minded professor was one of my teachers.  To him I owe my understanding of the Trinity and Christology.  Brilliant man and wonderful teacher.  While it is not Yoder who influenced him, Pope Benedict (while still the Bishop of Passau, Germany) wrote of a similar need for the Church to be devoted to purity of teaching, rather than to be focused on gathering as many as possible under its wings.

I do not share their zeal for doctrinal purity.  I am much more inclined to seek including others, and even to allow my own statements of faith to be adjusted so as to allow the continually forming community to speak to and for all of its members.

While wanting to avoid (completely avoid) labeling one as "right" and the other as "wrong," there are choices to be made.

I have a captive audience - you read these humble offerings.  In them, you are surely collecting some of the revelation given to me.  I am convinced it is a revelation from God.  But form time to time I need to acknowledge there are other voices, and I need to make sure you realize I am self-reflective enough to wonder, "Would these words make it through the refiner's fire?"

It is the question we each must ask yourselves - of what we read, of what we think, of what we say, and of how we live our lives.  Zechariah lifts up the image - we are the one who applies it to our lives.

Devotion - Wednesday, November 28

I cannot say enough about the benefits of following a proscribed lectionary. When we pick and choose what verses we will read, we tend to look for answers in the Bible, rather than allowing God to inform us of the essential questions.

This week, my lectionary is directing me to verses from Zechariah.  This is a book I would seldom refer to, if left on my own.  If you open your bibles and start to read this short  book, you may say, "With good reason!"  There are images and references in there which could confuse us and make us wonder about the geography of the ancient world.  He names cities and countries which have long gone away or been renamed.

But the message of Zechariah's contribution to Holy Scripture comes through.

In the 11th chapter, he recounts an experience of serving as shepherd.  He serves not just any flock, but over "the flock doomed to slaughter."  He sets about the task of admonishing the other shepherds, with the aim of providing "Favor" and "Unity."  But there is a rebellion and Zechariah is opposed.  Finally, he leaves the sheep, doomed to slaughter, to their end.

What is it with these sheep?  Why do they reject the oversight and care of the shepherd attempting to be helpful?  Why is there a rejection of the one who comes in order to make things right?

Good questions.  Pertinent questions.  Eternal questions.

We never seem to fully grasp the opportunity which is set before us.  We have been shown a King who uses his position to serve and provide; we choose instead the kings which enslave and drain us of life.

There is something alluring about that which glitters and sparkles and offers us the chance at self-aggrandizement.  But life is found, life occurs when we devote ourselves to those things which unite us and make us one with each other, with creation, and with the God who created us. 

During this week of Christ the King, we reflect on the daily decision of which king we will follow.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 27

In our Gospel lesson this past Sunday, when asked whether he was a king, Jesus spoke of his kingdom as one that "was not of this world."  He said that if his kingdom were of this world, his followers would come and fight for him.

Too often we make assumptions about such Jesus comments.  We may be inclined to think, "In the place where Jesus is King, the followers do fight for him."  I am of the mindset which believes that Jesus is saying, "My subjects belong to a kingdom in which no one is threatened or harmed or murdered.  In my kingdom, the subjects lay down their lives for others.  Even for their enemies."

Jesus sets before us a choice between Kings, and between kingdoms.

The Kingdom of God is like so many things, yet it is unlike anything we have ever experienced.  It is different, so entirely different.  And we need to be careful not to think of it as more of the best of what the kingdoms of the world so desperately seek.

One of the challenges of this Christ the King week is to be able to discern the kingdom(s) which currently hold sway in our lives.  to what degree are we able to even discern the cultural assumptions which abound around us?  Whole books have been written about this.  Two which I recommend are Carter's "Culture of Disbelief" and Hall's "Stewardship of Life in a Kingdom of Death."

We "sell our soul to the devil" in so many ways and are not even aware of it.  The transaction seldom involves the 30 pieces of silver, but it does rob us of all that is precious and dear and life-giving.

When Jesus says, "Be in the world but not of the world" he is encouraging us be aware of the ways in which we are lured away from the loving, giving, caring, forgiving way which he reveals in his life and in his words.

Devotion - Monday, November 26

I am grateful to our friends at Peace Congregational Church who brought Lilian Daniel into our community.  Pastor in Glen Elyn, IL, Lillian was a contributor to the "Animate" curriculum we use on Sunday morning.

She used as her text a reading from James and a reading from Romans - both of which raised the issue of criticism and coveting. 

"We live in a culture of critique," she said.  We have learned the erroneous lesson that the strongest person in the room is the one who can tear down everyone else in the room. 

On coveting, she reminded us that the abundance of God debunks the myth of a limited sum gain.  Jesus' feeds the 5,000 with a few morsels of fish and bread.  In God's Kingdom there is plenty to go around - so long as we share.

"What would it be like if we responded with gratitude?"  How might the world be different (be more like God intends) if we interjected into cycles of criticism the attributes of the other?  When we covet, often it isn't simply that we want something - we want to take that something away from someone else.

This is the most appropriate time of the year for us to have these kinds of conversations.  All around us there are enticements to abandon God's call to look for the lowly and to embrace our own greed.  We are being asked, "What would you like for Christmas?" by family and friends.  "What I want is for God's will to be done." 

God's will will be done, but in our prayer we pray that it might also be done in our lives. 

Let us pray that God's will strengthen us in our resolve to overcome a culture of critique and a culture of covetous.  In their place might we come to  live in a culture of gratitude and gratefulness.

Sermon - Christ the King Sunday

John 18:33-37    

                                                       Christ the King 

It is Christ the King Sunday.  I reminded you of that last Sunday – sort of looking ahead.  And, as promised, I did sit back there and listen to the chatter as you were coming in – whether you were talking about your preparation for Christ the King; recounting stories of Thursday’s meal; bragging about Friday’s shopping; or bemoaning or Saturday’s football game.     

I had no intention of shaming you with the results to such an informal and completely unscientific poll.  I know that Christ the King Sunday is a difficult sale.  There are just too many things vying for our attention.  It comes at a bad time, right?  This time of the year is given over to family gatherings, and to parties, and to wrapping up the fall’s activities.  It is difficult enough, when it comes the Sunday before Thanksgiving (which is usually the case.)  When it comes Thanksgiving weekend – you can almost forget it. 

Calendar aside – Christ the King is a difficult sale.  It isn’t a concept which plays very well in our society or among our culture.  This great nation was birthed at the overthrow of a “King.”  We are getting along just fine without one, thank you very much.   Aren’t practically all the images of “king” negative ones?  Aren’t they the folks who sit on thrones and expect loyal subjects to be – well – subject to them?  It is difficult to convince freedom-loving people everywhere that we need to place ourselves under the control of a “king.” 

Something within the psyche of most red-blooded Americans recoils at such a suggestion.  

That may be our reaction at the front of our cerebral cortex.  But deep within our subconscious and down there within our learned behaviors allegiances have been made and we do allow ourselves to form strong devotions.  And those glittering images which have competed for our attention these past seven days are working to expose the king or kings to which we are devoted.  There is a reason why advertising folks make so much money.  They are really good at selling us an image of ourselves – an improved self-image.  Of course that improved self-image involves owning their automobile or giving the perfect diamond to our love-interest.  It is not all about buying things – there are also many allegiances sought for listening to the right kind of music or following a particular political agenda, or presiding over the ideal social gathering. 

We do allow a number of “kings” to rule over us – we just aren’t always aware of their power and influence. 

The task of Christ the King Sunday involves asking us “to which king will you devote your life?”  It is also devoted to helping us realize that some kings are power-hungry and demanding, while other kings (can be) serving and life-giving.  This day is not merely a choice between which king you will serve; it is a choice about the kind of king we will follow.

Practically all the language about Christ as King comes from those portions of the Gospels where Jesus is on trial or about to be executed.  This reading from John 18 has been very carefully selected.  Inherent in the exchange between Jesus and Pilate is this debate over what kings and kingship is all about.   

Pilate was the most powerful man in Jerusalem.  He was there, assigned to this post, by the Emperor.  He was the ruling authority; he was the one to whom allegiances were to be made.  And yet, particularly in the Gospel of John, we can see his wavering over what to do about Jesus.   

Look carefully, back at the 33^rd verse.  See that word, at the end of the first phrase?   “Again.”  Pilate enters the praetorium “again.”  He had been moving between Jesus and the Jewish leaders and the angry crowd – trying to find a way around this impasse.  In the extended story (which stretches from John 18:28 to 19:16 Pilate moves back and forth a total of nine times.  This movement back in forth of the one who is supposed to be the one with authority is contrasted with Jesus, who will not be moved – physically or in his words.   Jesus remains.  Jesus is unflappable.   

Pilate asks him if he presumes to be a “King.”  Notice in verse 34 Jesus’ reply to him.  Jesus, on trial for his life, remains unimpressed with Pilate’s power and authority.  Jesus’ reply moves Pilate to the point of personal decision.  “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  It is practically the same question put before the disciples as Jesus moves them past “Who do people say that I am?” to ”But who do you say that I am?”  Remember that it is that question which leads to Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ.” 

It is pretty clear, by this point in the story that Jesus isn’t going to make it.  All of the forces have been aligned against him.  He has been warned of the danger which awaits him in Jerusalem but goes there anyway.  He was told to stay out of the Temple but goes back and continues to heal on the Sabbath.  But it is not a defeatist attitude which motivates Jesus at this point – it is his single minded dedication to bringing the Good News to the poor, mislead people.  “You want to know what kingship looks like?” he asks.  “Here it is.” he says.  “Devotion to God and to God’s created ones.” 

Here is where you need your Bibles.  If you have them, look at the verse which is cut off from today’s appointed text.  Look at John 18:38.  (By the way – this is the latest excuse for your smart phone going off during worship.  If you download a bible on your phone, and start to use it, you have a built in excuse if yours starts to ring.  “I had it on so I could look up the verse the pastor said wasn’t in my bulletin.”) 

Look at John 18:38.  Jesus and Pilate have been going back and forth about Kings and kingship and whether Jesus fits the mold.  Jesus is working to break the mold.  In the exchange (and this part is on your bulletin,) Jesus says “For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Jesus isn’t about public opinion or presumed power.  Jesus is dealing with “Truth.”  The stinger is when he says that everyone (not just some but EVERYONE) who belongs to the truth will listen to his voice.   

The verse which is cut off, is John 18:38.   It reads, “Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’” 

And while you have your bibles turned to that verse – look at what comes next.  Pilate shuffles again.  He breaks himself away from Jesus’ presence and goes out to the Jews to tell them, “I find no case against this Jesus.”   

Pilate knows; he understands; is realizes that he is being asked to choose.  Maybe I should have  worded that differently:  Pilate’s portrayal, in the Gospel of John, is of one who realizes that we will all choose between kings; that we will all have to decide whether we will be devoted to this way of thinking, or to that way of living.  And, the writer of John’s Gospel allows it to be Pilate who teeters between choosing the truth and merely going along with the crowd. 

It is Christ the King Sunday.  It is the day designed to ask each of us, “Who do you say Jesus is?”  You have heard that question earlier in the church year, when we read the story of Jesus asking his disciples.  Now, at the end of the Church Year, we hear it again.  This time, the stakes are higher.  It isn’t simply a matter of opinion, this question as to who we see Jesus to be, it is a matter of life and death.  In the story, it is Jesus’ life or death.  Here, today, it is ours. 

Amen.

Devotion - Tuesday, November 20

If you are on Facebook you no doubt have at least a couple of friends who are about mid-way through their "30 days of thankfulness."  I do not mean to sound critical; I have been very impressed with their posts, and impressed at the depth of their reflection.  It is a good discipline, and one which has given increased attention to the portion of my morning prayers in which I express my thankfulness to God.

We do have so much to be thankful for.  More than we can imagine; more than we can recall. 

In The Small Catechism, Luther encourages us to remember this as we pray The Lord's Prayer.  "Give us this day our daily bread," is a request that God will provide for us bread, but also life and family and a means of making a living.  All that we have is a gift from God; a gift which comes to us daily.

The Manna came daily to the Israelites, wondering in the wilderness. It came daily so they would not horde, so that they would be continually reminded that it is God who provides.  Part of my morning prayer of thankfulness gives a nod toward remembering this - even as I remember the money in my retirement account or invested.

What are you thankful for?  How actively do you list those things?  And do you realize those things to be gifts from God? Or things which you have earned and thus deserve?

Mostly, I am thankful for you all.  It is a wonderful thing to have a community where I can be myself (spelling errors and all) and yet know that you care about me.  It is a gift from God to be connected to others and to have persons praying for me and for whom I can pray.  It is an expression of God's grace - to be in this relationship with you.

Devotion - Monday, November 19

It isn't often that the appointed lessons for Sunday match the appointed daily lessons.  This is happening, now.

Yesterday's gospel reading was from Mark 13 - the so called "apocalyptic" chapter of Mark.  Today's daily reading is from Luke 12 - his inclusion of the same sort of thoughts. 

Luke is less comforting that Mark; in his writings, Jesus is more critical.  He says, "You see a cloud rising in the west, and you say at once, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is... You hypocrites!  You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

I want to pull your attention from the insult, to encourage you to focus on the question.  Why is it that we can interpret so many other signs in our world, but are so slow to recognize what God is doing?

Perhaps it is the image of God which developed during the Newtonian period of history.  That would be of God as unchanging, unflappable.  When researchers were shaking the solid foundations of everything, Christians developed this notion in order to provide comfort and security.  Just as we have moved a bit beyond Newtonian physics, so also has theology found other ways to speak of God.  The creativity and spontaneity celebrated in more recent physics theories is more in line with the Bible's talk of God as a living, active presence among us.

This moving, active presence among us is changing things - changing us.  And, there are signs and indications that this change is occurring.

Are we able to read them?  Do we even see them?

If today's reading is like yesterdays; then today's devotion ought to end a bit like yesterday's sermon - not with some dictum but with questions:

1. What are the signs in your life, today, of God's activity?
2. How will you interpret them; how will you act on them?

I know - you have classes and projects and many other things to be learning.  But this time my often repeated tease is appropriate - choose between things which will fade and end with the semester or your collegiate career and the things which envelop us in eternal salvation.

Sermon - November 18, 2012

25^th Sunday in Pentecost – Year B(Pr 33)  

Mark 13:1-8, Daniel 12:1-3    

                                                                  Just What is the Crisis? 

I didn’t stay for the whole game yesterday, but I was there to experience the first quarter.  In case you aren’t football fans, Clemson jumped out to a 13 point lead – which was pretty much expected.  The only thing surprising about those first three Clemson drives is that two ended in field goals rather than touchdowns.  What happened next was not expected.  And as it occurred, there was a palatable gasp of disbelief making its way through the stadium.  NC State rattled off 21 unanswered points – 14 of them in two, one play drives.   

The conversation in the stands, prior to the kickoff, was “Which BCS Bowl is Clemson going to.”  As the 21^st NCSU point went on the board, the world seemed to be crashing around us. 

The world crashing around us is a scary thing.  To think that everything we had aspired to might be removed is frightening.   

If the horror and dread of losing something as relatively unimportant (yes – I said something as relatively unimportant) as a football game could do that to Tiger fans everywhere, what is to be our response to losing something which really matters? 

Maybe there is nothing which matters more than football.  I will have to say, it seems that way, at times.  We have to put up signs and threaten to tow cars in order to keep the parking lot from becoming a disaster on Saturday.  I know it can be tough to get a spot on Sunday morning, but there are plenty across the street – an option not available on game day – the parking deck is full, too.

Sometimes it seems that the things designed to amuse us or impress us hold our attention very well.  While the things to which we claim our lives are committed – well, they are held a bit closer to the vest.  And, while no one may doubt our allegiance with regard to the Pack or the Gamecocks – do they know of our convictions with regard to the coming of the Kingdom of God? 

We have just heard two apocalyptic readings.  In each, images are shared of great anguish and of great buildings being thrown down.  Both Mark and Daniel felt it important to speak to a people who were looking, at horror, at what was happening before them.  And, they weren’t talking about the Saturday afternoon football game.  They were referring to the future of the people of God.

It is impossible to know whether the people were worried before Daniel or Mark did their writing, or if Daniel and Mark were pointing out the tenuous nature of the lives they were living.  This is particularly true in Mark – where all of this conversation arises as the disciples are looking up, at the impressive buildings of the temple.  They are rather amused by what they see and impressed with what human ingenuity has been able to accomplish.   Jesus tells them to stop prairie-dogging it and pay attention to the things which really matter.  

I wrote a little about this in the e-news on Wednesday.  There are an increasing number of doomsayers around us these days.  Some seem to just be stirring things up; others seem to be right on target.    

In Harcombe on Tuesday, a guy I hardly know gleefully announced to me that there are now thirty states with petitions underway to seek succession from the Union.  Really?  All this over the results of the last election cycle? 

One surprising and alarming sub-plot of the election was the shifting of political allegiances after Hurricane Sandy hit New York City.  The politician in question said he had to support for President someone who would take global warming seriously.  If you have seen the photos from Venice you might understand why those living near the sea level have fears of doom and gloom.  Serious and worrisome stuff. 

If you have a Facebook account or are checking your Twitter feed, then you know of the tremendous shock waves circling the globe over Thursday’s announcement that Hostess would no longer be making Twinkies!  “How will live without them?” was re-tweeted more times than I care to count. 

Israel and Hamas have resumed bombings.  Those of us who came of age during the time when nuclear winter was an active fear remember that what we feared most was a middle-east confrontation in which two or more of the nations there had nuclear capabilities.  What happens if Hamas gets a rocket to make it to Jerusalem, and Iran loans them the nuclear fuel?   

I would raise a different sort of concern.  Practically every indicator which exists tells us that the role of organized religion is on the decline.  The mirage of a few large, mega congregations distracts us from the continued and steady dead of more local, neighborhood churches.  There aren’t as many folks joining the big ones as there are leaving the small ones.  “Church” as we have known it is certainly changing.  You can call it a re-adjustment; or you might label it as an ending. 

There are doomsayers all around us.  And they have lots of fodder to feed on.  Do you feel anxious?  Are you worried?  One of the books I recommend to parents of college students is titled “College of the Overwhelmed.”  In it, the director of mental health services at Harvard University puts together a persuasive argument that the world into which they have stepped is overwhelming to the current collegiate generation.  What about you – their parents, (or grandparents)?  

It is the aging of the Church which has me most concerned and anxious.  

Were the people to whom Daniel and Mark wrote already anxious, or were Daniel and Mark trying to wake them from some amusement induced indifference?  Hard to know.  Impossible to say.

But, I fear it is indifference, or a paralysis of anxiety, which most threatens us.  A professor at Luther Seminary asks how we read these texts differently if the danger on the horizon isn’t the Roman destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, but the slow demise of the Church.  Are we alarmed?  Do we see the danger at the door?  It is not about institutional preservation – what worries me is an end to the proclamation of the Good News.  Of course, some would say that proclamation has already ceased; that the current decline is a result of churches becoming more of a social club than a center of life-changing study and devotion. 

Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples there are no reasons to be concerned.  There are reasons – lots of reasons.  And, he tells us, there will always be reasons.  There are many facing us - as a nation, as inhabitants on planet earth, as persons on the membership rolls of Christian churches.   

Now that we are feeling a bit anxious, it is time to remember that “apocalypse” is really a “revelation”.  And what is revealed is our Biblical apocalyptic writings is God’s steadfastness.  What is revealed to us is that God will remain by our side and in our midst.  These are but the birth pangs.  They are the interlude which stands between us and the joy and happiness which is to come. 

Will we experience that joy and happiness?  Probably not unless and until we share in the prophet’s pain.  It is unlikely to occur, so long as we lose our voice yelling at a Saturday afternoon football game, when all we muster on a Sunday morning is a few well scripted and softly stated “Amen’s.”   

Today, this Sunday, is the final Sunday of Ordinary Time.  Next Sunday, our church year comes to an end.  Next Sunday, we will be asked to affirm Christ as our King.  During the week to come, it is appropriate for us to reflect on all that the past year has brought us, all that a year’s worth of readings and sermons have taught us.  That is what we ought to do during the week, so that next Sunday when we walk through those we are prepared to shout at the top of our lungs, “YES, JESUS!!!  YOU ARE MY LORD AND MY MASTER!  AND I AFFRIM YOU AS MY KING!”

That is what is supposed to happen next Sunday.  But I am going to sit in that chair back there and listen and I am going to keep a tally.  And I fear that there will be more conversations about the football game with USC than discussions of what our commitment to Christ as King means in our lives.   

Please don’t let that happen. 

I think I can survive wars, rumors of war.  Even famine and earthquakes do not scare me as much as a lukewarm Church filled with folks whose devotion to Christ is about as deep as a puddle of rainwater on the sidewalk. 

The thing which frightens me the most is the intensity with which we seek out our amusements; and the mediocrity with which we approach our professions of faith.  And I fear that even God’s faithfulness can never fully overcome the latter. 

Amen.