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.