The Incarnation - Christmas Eve Sermon

December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve Service
The Incarnation
Isaiah 9
Luke 2:1-20

When is Santa going to die – asked 4 ½ year old Jonathon to his uncle. He is not going to responded his uncle. How do you know- asked Jonothon. Mommy says that everyone dies and Santa is getting pretty old. So one day, Santa has got to die. His uncle responded that he knew that Santa was magical – so he was not going to die. And if you talk to 4 ½ year olds – they have a wisdom that we lose in our older years- because they are never satisfied with just any answer. How do you know asks Jonothan again – because I live next door to his cousin – and he told me that santa has been alive forever. This story takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The uncle is in America. In the mind of his nephew – was a strange place where anything is possible. So it would make sense that his uncle from America would like next door to Santa’s cousin.
But my friend tells me this story because it bought back memories of his own childhood and the questions that he had asked his mother about santa. He had just moved, and his burning question to his mom was how was santa going to find him in a new house. His mom told him that all children are born with a little star inside of their heads. Santa uses this little star to keep track of us wherever we may be – that’s how he knows what we have been doing all year.
Christmas is a magical mysterious time of the year. Christmas is a time when fantasy and reality meet in the traditions of our lives. We have all kinds of traditions that we do this time of year, some are universal, some are unique to our family. Santa Claus has always been an important part of Christmastime. Santa Claus is a real man – with a real history in the life of Saint Nicholas. And sometimes we make up all kinds of stories about santa – such as living next door to his cousin. But the important stories about Santa are the ones that we witness every year.
In my friends story about santa – he remembered the magic of Christmas for his family. He remembered going to cut down the life tree – which in his neighborhood in Denmark was not a big deal – he remembered the popcorn garland his mother would spend so much time on, he remember the ornaments that he would make out of construction paper. He remembered the special Christmas dinner his mother would make, and the time that he would spend with his family. In those memories he knew in his heart that santa would live forever. There was no way Santa was going to die. But he would never share the real reason that he was so sure of that fact to his nephew. He knew that Christmas would never die because his mother would never allow it. As he and his sister grew up – his mother made sure that they carried on the traditions of their family. And now that his mother was gone, his sister still cooked the traditional Dutch Christmas meal of duck, and roast pork and rice pudding. And he would go out and pick a Christmas tree that his mother would be proud of , and make sure that is was decorated and taken care of. He and his sister were the next generation of the keepers of the dream. And as long as the dream was there at Christmastime – santa would always be a part of the magic of Christmas.
How did he know that Santa would never die – he knew for sure because he knew in his heart that his mother would never allow it.
That story stuck out at me this year, as someone commented that as for someone who says that they don’t like Christmas, that I seemed to be awfully caught up in the spirit. And that I seemed to be doing a an awful lot to celebrating. I too realized in my heart – that my mother would never allow me to do anything different. I am grateful that my mother is still with me – when most of my friends do not have their mother’s with them anymore. The truth is that I don’t have to really like Christmas to celebrate it- because I really have no choice. In my house – celebrating the birth of Christ was something that you did. Putting up the Christmas tree, and hanging the stockings, and playing Christmas music is something that we did in my family. The truth is, Christmas was my mother’s holiday. But in the moment that I was questioned, I realized that as my mother’s child – I was and in reality have always have been a pretty spoiled child. A child who was always blessed as a child – not just by my gifts – but by the love that I received from the magic of the time. And as an adult – things have not always turned out the way I wanted them to, My life has been a time of gaining much, and losing much. Even today I could lose my collection of 50 santas, I could lose the Christmas tree, and the ornaments to mark the years of my life, I could lose the angel at the top, and even the presents under the tree. But no matter what – they one thing that can never be taken away from me – are the memories of my mother’s Christmas. I will always be my mother’s child – and all of the wonderful things that we did to celebrate Christmas will be with me. How do I know that santa will never die – because my mother will not allow it.
Christmas is a magical time of year. But it is also a time of many mixed emotions. We all go through a lot of trouble to make the holiday special. We spend a lot of money, we do a lot of preparation. There are many others of other religions who criticize us as Christmas as getting caught up in materialism and overindulgence at this time of year – we take celebrating Christmas to an extreme.
We are all guilty of doing too much for Christmas – but isn’t because we are all looking for something deeper – something more – something special. The special moment with our families – the connection of love and care that we don’t feel for the rest of the year. That special reason to say I love you, that special reason to believe that the future will be more, that special reason to believe that we really do live in a wonderful world filled with wonderful people. In a world that sometimes seems cruel and out to get us – wouldn’t it be nice to know that God is with us. That God is one of us – that God understand us, that santa will put what we really want in our hearts under our tree this year – good health, dreams come true, a secure future, true love.
The good news is that we celebrate not because of what we wish for – but for what we already have. Santa bought us the greatest gift that we could ever imagine
A baby boy – born in a manger – Immanuel – god with us - wonderful counselor, everlasting father, prince of peace. God right here with us – constantly reminding us that no matter what it’s always going to be okay.
Tonight we celebrate the incarnation – the indwelling of God in our lives. A magical experience – something that we cant explain, much less always relate to. But something that will last far beyond the magic of tonight and tomorrow. A spirit of love, peace , hope joy, that you can feel now – but take it with you in your life, your relationships, your worries, your fears, your hopes and your dreams. The spirit of Christmas never ends – it just recreate, reinvents itself, renews itself whenever you need it. How do you know that santa wont die – it goes deeper then our mothers, and our mothers mothers. It goes even further back then a baby in a manger – it goes back before the beginning of time – when God loved so much that God thought of ways to be with you – to relate to you, to speak to you in the language of your heart. Keep the memory alove – there is are many behind you – waiting, listening, hoping for God to be present with them in the spirit. Tell them that santa

Things We EnJOY about Christmas

December 20, 2009
Things we Enjoy about Christmas
Luke 39-55
The Magnificat of Mary
Hebrews 10:5-10
Year C

As we have been talking about the advent wreath – we have been talking about the 4 themes of advent- which are?...... hope, love, joy and love. And guess which one we are going to talk about today? Joy, Joy, Joy.

That was God’s message to me this advent – to focus on joy. This is a tough time for the world – there is a lot of darkness, a lot of sadness, a lot of questions about the future, there is truly a lot going on in our lives to mourn and be worried about. But the message of Christmas is to look beyond all of that – and to focus on the real intention of the season – the coming of Christ into our lives – bringing a promise of salvation, healing and love to a hurting world. To have hope for the future- that the world that we see today – is not the world the God is creating.

But in order to have the hope, peace, and love – that we have to have joy – we have to be willing to celebrate the Christ in Christmas. The book of Hebrews is not really a Christmas book – but it is used today – because it reminds of that in order to save us from sin, that God had to come into the world and put on flesh, in order to get rid of the old ways – and show us the pathway to a new life – a life of salvation.

As I pulled out my Christmas books, I found one of my favorites. 3001 things that I love about Christmas - It is a cool little book with stories of people’s favorite Christmases, of Christmas carols and a list of 3001 things about Christmas – such as Frosty the Snowman, Christmas cards with music, Christmas cards without music, furry santa claus hats, the smell of baking Christmas ham, telling the night before Christmas story from memory.
Actually one of my favorite parts of Christmas is the 4th Sunday of advent. I don’t mind preaching about the second coming, and about John the Baptist – but I love being able to preach about the story of Mary. Mary is my favorite bible character, and her story is the one that I identify with the most. And I love the version of her story in Luke the most. As I look back on my 15 years of preaching, I have a lot of 4th Sunday sermons – partially because the sr pastor doesn’t like to preach on the Sunday before Christmas, and partially because it is always the Sunday that I ask to preach – because I love this story.
You would think that with all of those sermons, that I would not have had to stay up until 6 this morning writing a new sermon. But usually I focus on the mystery of Mary’s pregnancy – and today I wanted to focus on Mary’s joy. Mary’s magnificat.
The first words that come out of her mouth are that God shall call her happy for what God has done to her. She is grateful to be considered God’s servant.
She is excited to be used by God, excited to be given a new vision, excited to see promises fulfilled in her lifetime.
In honor of Mary’s song I am wearing my flip flops – Mary says that everything will flip flop. Those who are on the bottom of society will be honored and elevated and put on top. I have a version of Handel’s Messiah which says that the the top becomes the bottom and the bottom becomes the top and even there it doesn’t stop.
I share in Mary’s celebration of the flip flop God. A God whose capable of doing anything.
Last night we watched the movie – the Nativity Story – it is an excellent visual of the story of the first Christmas. In the movie one of the plots was of the insecurity of King Herod. He needed to be in control and did not want to be challenged by anyone. When he heard there would be a new king of Israel – he was looking for a man who was strong enough to challenge him – he never in a million years thought to look for a teenage mother from a peasant background – traveling with her husband – carrying not only a baby – but a dream, a promise , a mission.
A flip flop God can use the lowest times in our lives, and the most unexpected people to not only change the world – but to change our lives and our paths. A flip flop God can do anything.

Linzi was an 80 year old woman who lived in a nursing home. When Linzi announced that she was expecting, people thought that it was dementia. That was three months before Stephanie came to work at the nursing home as a nursing assistant. That was three months before Stephanie found out that she was pregnant. When Linzie would talk to Stephanie about being pregnant – she thought nothing of it. She was very polite and understanding of Linzie until she discovered that she was having a baby herself. All throughout the pregnancy – she would share stories with Linzie. Linzie was a hair dresser in her earlier life and she had never had a baby. But she and Stephanie always seemed to have a lot to talk about. Stephanie would let Linzie feel her stomache, and feel the baby jumping. When Linzie would talk about her pregnancy – she was always willing to listen and to go along with her story. Finally Stephanie had the baby – and of course she brought the baby to work so that everyone could see him. Linzie was the first person she took him too. Linzie was very excited about the baby – she started to ask Stephanie about the birth experience – what did it feel like, what happened, how did she react, who was there to help. Stephanie felt close enough to Linzie to share all of these experiences. When it came time to show the baby to everyone else – Stephanie asked if Linzie wanted to go with her as she showed off the baby – Linzie was delighted. They put Linzie in her wheelchair and handed her the baby. And as they went throughtout the nursing home – Linzie told everyone that her baby was here. She told people that she was pregnant and here was the baby - This was baby Joshua. Stephanie’s baby was not named Joshua – but Stephanie knew that Linzies baby was Joshua. And that for some reason God had brought the two of them together, so that they could share their journey together.
I don’t know about you, but I worship an amazing flip flop God. A God who can do anything – even allow 80 year old women to give birth for the first time. If my God can do that, surely God can address anything going on in my life. As amatter of fact, the bible is full of the stories of women who could not have children, having children – and those babies of promise going on to do amazing things. If God can make an 80 year old woman give birth – what can god do for you. God flip any flop and turn it into a miracle.
As a matter of fact you would have thought that it would have been Elizabeth’s magnificat and not Mary’s. Elizabeth was the woman past her prime – who was having a baby – not Mary. Elizabeth had something to celebrate. But the flip flop God wanted to move beyond the obvious to something new.
But God’s work in all in or perspective. How we choose to see things.
When Elizabeth saw Mary she could have chosen to see a teenager in trouble. When Joseph saw Mary, he could have seen an unfaithful Fiance, when Mary saw the angel, she could have seen a situation that was impossible in her culture. A story that would never work.
Instead she saw the hope of God’s future. Revolutionary change was all in her perspective, her willingness to be used by God.
When Elizabeth saw Mary – the baby inside of her jumped for joy. The baby’s were excited to see each other. Elizabeth was excited to be a part of that moment in time. Who was she to be a part of God’s plan. Who are any of us to be a part of God’s plan – and yet we have been chosen to touch the presence of God and celebrate. When we touch God, when we are touched by God – do we jump for joy – or do something else. It all depends on our perspective. What we chose to see about life.
In my last example of why joy is so important – I want to point out that in the daylight, you can take a quarter out and put it up to the sun and totally block it out. But in reality – which is bigger – the coin or the sun? Which is more brilliant - the coin or the sun? From our perspective – the coin is bigger, the coin is right in front of us – but the sun is out there somewhere. We can touch and feel the coin – but we can only imagine the sun. Henry Fosdick says that a penny can hide the sun if we hold it close enough to our eye. And a passing difficulty can shut out from a fearful soul, all of life’s blessings and all of the endless horizons of God’s divine will. It is all in your perspective. It all depends on what you choose to see.
This Christmas – what will you see in the manger? A crying baby, another worry, all of the darkness of the world, all of the bleak things to deal with in January? All of the things in life that can’t possible happen? Or the promise that God is making you a part of a transformed world beyond anything that makes sense to you now? Why you? Why now? Why have a reason to enjoy the seaon? Let us pray…. Amen.

The Heart of Joy

This advent I told you about the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius. The daily examine is a big part of that. Setting aside the end of your day to look at what happened and to see how God is working in your life. One of the challenges of the examine is to also look at the emotions that you felt that day – what was going on for you and why.
For me this has been a week of looking at some of the difficult emotions. Happy, sad, worried, stressed out, angry – concerned. Those are actually easy – because usually you know the cause of those emotions. And you don’t have to explain or justify why you feel the way you feel. Because the feeling is not about you – it is about something out there.
The hard emotions are jealousy, resentment, guilt, rejection, inadequacy. Those are hard because they are about you and what is going on inside of you. They are all feelings that we feel, but it is a little harder to justify where they come from, and why we feel that way. And often if you share those emotions with someone else, they will try and talk you out of them as if you shouldn’t feel that way.
When every feeling that we have is justified within our own soul. And sometimes it may not be appropriate to act on that emotion out in the world – but it is always important to examine that emotion and to see for ourselves what it is saying about our soul and our needs in the world.
This has been a week of examining hard emotions for me because of certain events. In October, I participated in a spiritual workshop for pastors. We are supposed to take our knowledge and go and start support groups for other pastors. In applying for this program, we were all told about another program that we could also sign up for. A writer’s support group for pastors. We had to send in our writing samples to be a part of the group. What they didn’t tell us until we were all together that this was a chance to fly to a retreat center in San Antonio every three months for a weekend retreat. We would write and critique the writing of others, and at the end of a year we would be treated to a book deal with a publisher looking for pastors to write on their experiences. A writers dream experience. Well it turns out that half of the group applied for this special group – 25 people, and there were only 7 positions open. So we were told that we would have to compete for those 7 positions. I got all of my paperwork in on time and waited for an answer. On Thursday I get this email saying more info on the writing group. So I know that email is a confirmation that they liked my application and would be accepted. But as I read the letter attached to the email – it is a rejection email. I didn’t make the cut for one of the 7 spots. And I am devastated. I was really looking forward to being a part of this group. I thought I had did such a good job on all of my writing samples, and explaining why I would be a good asset to the group.
So this week I have been reliving all of the rejections on my life. All of the bad relationships, all of the times that I was turned down by the board of ordained ministry, all of the jobs that I didn’t get. Every time in my life when I really wanted something and it just didn’t turn out. What does that say about me, when do I get my turn, when do I get to win, when , why how – and all of those questions and emotions that come along with being rejected.
And of course it didn’t help that I saw that one of my facebook friends, had befriended an old boyfriend. And this old boyfriends profile was a picture of his smiling wife and their two beautiful children – when I saw the picture I couldn’t help but think to myself – o isn’t that special.
Rejection, jealousy, resentment, anger, - this has been a week of tough emotions.
And of course I am left with the ensuing conversation of how do you move on from here. That writing group would have been a perfect opportunity – but will I find something else that is just as fulfilling? Just because they turned me down does that really mean that I am a bad writer. Or was I too good a writer and they thought I was showing off? Who knows. And what is God telling me in the midst of this experience, I am being called to perhaps start a local group for pastors who want to write and get published. Of course I have had this conversation with God before, that I learn much quicker if I just get my way and what I want, then from the times when I have been turned down. But of course God doesn’t listen to that conversation.
And yet God reminded me that it has been those times of moving on that have become the fundamental shape of my character. That in those times of moving on (and I have not always been willing to move on) I became stronger, more confident, more willing to work on myself, and able to even show my talents in skill in the face of the chance of being rejected. Those times of moving on and going forward have been the times when I was most willing to listen to God and to walk with God in a new and different way- In ways that I never thought possible.
Zephaniah talks about the journey of his people from darkness to light. Zephaniah is the cousin of King Hezekiah if that means anything. King Hezekiah had a reputation for bringing reform to the people of Israel. They had gotten comfortable with themselves and stopped thinking about their relationship with God. King Hezekiah and his son Josiah set them straight and reminded them to let God be the center of their lives and their worship. Today we celebrate what quality in the advent cycle? Joy – Joy comes from knowing that whatever you are going through – wherever you are in life, whatever you are feeling – God is with you. The opposite of joy is not sadness – it is apathy. It is that feeling that you have no reason to celebrate or to be happy. The opposite of hope is not the feeling that there is no hope – it is the feeling that it really doesn’t matter what I feel or what I do.
The people of Israel were guilty of those feelings. God didn’t matter to them anymore. God being with them didn’t matter anymore. They could do what they wanted – because they just didn’t care that God was in their midst. Zephaniah is made up of 7 sections, where Zephaniah is trying to straighten up the people. And tell them that they have got to do better. That they have got to care about God and if they don’t then them are going to be punished. The ultimate punishment fo the Hebrew people was being banished from their own land by the babylonions. The story of faith is the story of how they were able to move on from that experience and recognize that God was leading them to a new place. Our whole bible is a story of them moving on. But Zephaniah’s prophecy comes even before that. Zephaniah worns the people that they have to get out of their apathy and turn their lives toward God. And in the midst of that journey – Zephaniah and the people realize that indeed God is with them. And they can go on with their lives. Finally Zephaniah is able to tell the people to rejoice because the journey is over – they can celebrate that God allowed them to struggle, but today the struggle is over. All of their troubles will have meaning, all those who fought them will honor them, all that they attempt will happen, all that they have lost will be restored. Simply because they have come out of their apathy and realized that God is with them on the journey. Joy is knowing that God is with you on the journey. Joy is not in whether good things or bad things happen, joy is in knowing that everything that happens for a reason, and that God will reveal that reason.
Joy is in having a deep longing for change and knowing that change is about to come. Joy comes when you can see for yourself that joy is coming- it doesn’t have to be here just yet, but you know that it is coming.
Someone once said that joy is the flag flown from the heart when the king of glory is present there. Joy is looking into the face a baby for the first time, joy is sitting down to have coffee with a friend and having a good conversation, Joy is watching an amazing sunset, joy is coming home after a long day and smelling fresh bread in the oven, Joy is watching the man down the street who yells at everyone being willing to help older neighbors shovel the snow from their driveways. Joy is not a feeling, joy is an experience in life that brings you closer to god. I have mentioned what joy is to other people, I invite you to think about what joy is for you. When have you felt the overwhelming presence that God is with you and that all is right with the world? Joy is our peace in the midst of the storm. Joy is knowing that whatever happens, no matter how many rejections you get, that does not change who you are and how much God loves you. It is usually in our deepest moments of sorrow and pain that we learn the true meaning of joy. The truth is that You can’t separate the two. And you can’t have one without the other.
A woman- who was relatively young – 53 passed away after a long battle with cancer. At her funeral – they did a presentation of her life. There were baby pictures, pictures of her growing up, pictures of her family, pictures of her prom, her graduation, her wedding, pictures of her when she had children. Actually she had a pretty normal life. There was nothing really noteworthy about her life or about her pictures. The pastor noticed that while this was going on, her husband was holding the hands of his children. And he was smiling. He was actually very excited and happy, he was really enjoying those pictures. And as he watched the montage on the screen, he was reliving his life with his wife. All of those memories and good feelings were coming back to him in this touching moment of grief. The pain and sorrow of his loss had carved an empty space in his heart. It created a longing for relief. And ache for healing. And God was filling that woundedness with joy in that moment. If God can enter into that moment and heal the pain of death, then surely God can heal the pain of the difficult emotions in our life.
C.S. Lewis – a Christian writer writes a lot about joy he said that joy was the guiding principle of life for his. In his book surprised by joy he says that joy is not a pleasure or happiness, joy is a longing, perhaps a deep satisfaction in life that all is cared for.

C.S. Lewis talks about another image ... at the end of a long
dusty road (life) -- being bathed in the Presence of God.
Bathed not in the sense of dutiful washing... but bathed as in a child's
bath time - full of gleeful splashing and playing with the water upon and around
them - enjoying the water (the Presence), enjoying the 'wet-ness', enjoying being refreshed more than 'merely' being washed.
He reminds us that just being aware of the presence of God in our lives is the difference between joy and something else going on. As long as we know God is with us- anything we go through is a learning experience to make a better person. We don’t have to stay stuck in those difficult emotions that something must be wrong in our lives. The symbols of advent are hope, peace, joy and love. Joy is the heart of every one. Without joy you cant even begin to think of the others, much less feel them and put them in your lives.
Joy is not some frivolous emotion, it is knowing that God is here with you – so sing Cornerstone – rejoice with all of your heart. Let us pray…. Amen.

It all begins with joy

Just a few days ago while walking through the North Riverside mall, a woman was passing out flyers, telling everyone to bring their old gold to her, and she would give them money for it. Everyone seems to want you to sell you old rings, jewelry, even the gold fillings in your teeth for money. I have even heard of gold parties – like a Tupperware party – but you bring in all of your gold – a salesman tallies it all up and gives you money on the spot for your gold.
And that don’t care what it is that you are selling, because they are just going to take it and melt it all together into one lump of gold. Gold is a rather malleable metal, so when you put it into the fire – it melts and refines itself pretty easily.
Malachi speaks of we as people being put into the fire and refined ourselves – so that we can come out as pure. Sounds pretty painful. Someone said it is a lot like being put through a carwash without a car – you might get pretty beat up – but at least you have had a really good bath.
Malachi is the last book in the Hebrew bible. We don’t know who Malachi is, or even what he was trying to address. From his language, we can guess that he was probably a priest in the temple, who realized that things needed to change. People were going through the motions of being religious, but no one was sincere. Not the people, not the priest. Something had to change. Malachi is not a proper name, but a generic term for a messenger. People were beginning to ask, where is the god of justice? The message was that God was sending a messenger who would make everything right. The question is not where God is – but where are you? What part do you play in the present situation of injustice? And are you really doing what God calls you to do, or are you going along with the flow? Are you following the path that God made for you, or are you following the path of everyone else.

Story of lady visiting the silversmith
A group of women in a bible study were looking at this verse from Malachi, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Malachi 3:3), and they wondered what on earth it could mean. One of them decided to find out about the process of refining and purifying silver, and promised to report back to the women in the Bible Study at their next meeting.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you k
Now when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy-when I see my image in it."

The question is not where is God – where are we? We are the silver –being refined to reflect the image of God.

Advent is a time to reflect on how our lives reflect God to others.

I am so excited – this advent the united Methodist news service started a program reminding churches of the importance of prayer and getting back into prayer ministries. Prayer is our way to see how god is working in our lives, and where God is leading us to, what god is calling us to leave behind, and what we are being called to turn away from as we turn to god.

That is the message of Malachi – God is coming the god who promised us salvation is coming- in order to be prepared we have to turn away from whatever we have been doing and be willing to turn to god – to repent and receive god’s forgiveness.

Going through the carwash with a car may indeed by a challenge, it may even be painful but it is not meant to punish us. Saying things that challenge us is not always a bad thing – it is often an act of love. Only those who love us are willing to be perfectly honest with us and tell us that we need to change.

God loves us enough that God is not going to let us get away with being incomplete and not living up to our full potential. If there is something that God sees in us that needs to be worked on, God is not going to leave us alone until it is finished. God’s work in this world is salvation, he began it long ago, and he continues to bring people in the world and in our lives to work with us so that we can be a part of the great work. God made a promise that God would fulfill all of our needs and give us all grace, peace, love and joy. And God will not stop until that promise is fulfilled. That work begins here in our hearts, but it is fulfilled amongst the people. Philippians says that God began a good work in you and will complete it in Jesus Christ.

Advent is the season of hope, peace, love and joy. I still believe that everything starts with joy and is interspersed along the way with joy.

At the thanksgiving service – Rabbi Weiss told three stories of the abiding joy of faith in our lives. My favorite was a question – like that asked of Malachi – where is the god of justice. Why should we praise God in the good times and the bad? Why should we thank god for bad news, just as well as good. Why should we treat god the same when things go our way as well as when things don’t. there was a man who set out to ask that question – he went to all of the rabbis to get understanding, he read all of the books and someone told him to visit a farmer – and ask him – why should we love and honor god in all things – why should we feel the same things about God no matter what happens. The farmer replied – that is a very good question, but I don’t know why someone would ask me – I wouldn’t know the answer to that. Perhaps you should ask someone who gets depressed all of the time – because I don’t know why you I wouldn’t praise and worship God in all things in all times. There is never a time in my life when I don’t love God and long for a relationship with God.
The message in that story for me is that in order to have hope, peace and love – it all has to start with joy. Joy is the condition of our hearts. Joy is the good work that begins in us and gets completed in Jesus Christ.
Philippians is actually called the epistle of joy. Paul is writing to his favorite church and praising them for supporting him while he is in prison. He begins with a prayer of thanksgiving for them. And he encourages them to continue to good work that they started – God will complete it. My prayer is that your love will overflow with knowledge and insight to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless and produce a harvest of righteousness.
God is about to do a new thing – a terribly new thing. New because it is different, terrible because it is challenging. It will challenge our sense of wellbeing, our understanding of us, and our sense of normalcy in the world. Who can stand and endure the pain of that day.
Those who begin their advent season with joy, and are able to carry it all the way through. Let us pray…… Amen.

Prayer of Tears - All Saint's Day

November 1, 2009
All Saint’s Day
Isaiah 25:6-9
John 11:32-44
Year B


Let me start by rereading the Isaiah scripture – it is not very long.

On this mountain the Lord will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well ages wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take way from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he moght save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

God makes a profound promise in this passage – he will swallow up death. Then God will wipe away the tears from all faces. Everything that we are struggling with at the moment will disappear.
This is a profound reversal of the human condition. Living on this earth just naturally causes pain, tears and suffering. It does not matter who we are. Every year – at All Saints day we need to stop and to honor the grief in our lives.
I just returned from a wonderful spiritual experience at the Upper Room in Nashville. Trevor Hudson was our spiritual leader for the week. Trevor is a pastor from South Africa- but he travels all over the world to talk about the spiritual journey. He talked about what it meant to be a minister. He said that it is important to listen to the life of everyone. All of us have a pool of tears next to us in life. There is something that we are struggling with. And it is important in ministry to acknowledge that sadness in every life. We need to give a healthy place for our grief.
Another profound part of the text in Isaiah is that God promises that there is a place for us to go and to meet God – to be fed richly and lavishly by God. The church is that place to come and to feel safe to grieve.
As a child, every year in my grade school we had this haunted house. As we got older and saw the same exhibits year after year – you got use to them, but we still went anyway. The highlight of the haunted house was sticking our hands into the black cardboard box. We were supposed to be grossed out by what was in the box. By the fifth grade, we all knew that the box had cooked spaghetti in it. But we stuck our hand in anyway.
I tell you that cheesy story because in many ways All Saints Day is that black cardboard box. It is the place we come to be in touch with the spirits that have passed on to the other side. We all know that this is just an ordinary candle – but in some way we also know that it contains the spirit of the departed. We are a part of the mystery and the veil between life and death. This is the day to realize that there is a thin line between our world and God’s world. There is a thin line between life and death.
Originally All Saints day was created because it was believed that departed souls had not made it to heaven, they needed the prayers of the faithful to finish their journey.
Today we celebrate the presence of loved ones. They are here with us. I used carpenters tape to keep our pictures of loved ones up and displayed, and they continue to fall down anyway. That is a reminder that this moment is not intended to last forever. Their spirit is with us right now, but wont be here forever.
A saint is a child of God – so they now have a place in God’s world. The sickness, the trouble, the pain, the suffering of this world is no longer present for them. They are at God’s table enjoying the feast. Their spirit is free and they have a new life.

All Saints day is for the living – for those left behind. It is for us to acknowledge that we still live in that world of pain. We are the ones to carry on the legacy of their life lived here on earth. We need to acknowledge our pool of tears. The spirits are here with us for now, but they are now seeking eternity.

John says that Jesus was so touched by the human condition that he wept. What is it that makes Jesus cry? He wept for us, yet reminded us of new life.

In scripture today – Jesus woke Lazarus and told them to unbind him and let him go on with his life. What is is that binds us today? What do we need to let go of in order to move forward to journey to that glorious banquet waiting for us?
We need to acknowledge the abundant feast we have before su everyday as our loved ones join us.

A man’s newborn daughter died recently. She had been sick for her whole life. One night he had a dream about his father and his wife’s father – both of whom had passed on. His wife’s father was holding a baby girl but he did not make the connection. Both men talked to the man and told him that everything was okay. They were both watching over the family from heaven. That their family spanned both heaven and earth. They were taking good care of the baby and she was happy. It was then that he realized that his was his baby girl – and he realized the wonderful connection he had to heaven through his loved ones. He woke up with a feeling of comfort and peace.

We cant have life without death. There are times like these that our friends and family come from heaven to invite us to the feast no matter what. We are all part of God family. We are at those thin places in life were for moments we are reunited.

All will be reconciled by God. We will all one day be at that table of God. But we cannot have the reconciliation of our whole family without hospitality, welcomness, forgiveness, and acknowledgement of our grief.

Tears are a part of life.
Finally I want to leave you with this poem
This is from a book by Edward Hays – called Pray in all ways. He says that our lives are a prayer, and that we can pray in many ways – with our hands, our feet, our hands. Our tears are even a prayer. There are times when we may not have to words to express our pain and request to God – it does not matter – God can read our tears….. This is the prayer of tears

Lord, beloved God,
since all communion with you is prayer,
may even my tears be psalms of petition
and canticles of praise to you.
This is a prayer that you value greatly:
the prayer of my tears;
it is a prayer that you always hear
for you are a compassionate and kind God.
And, Lord, I know you understand
that whan I am overcome by my tears -
unable to speak or form a prayer -
that these very tears voice volumes of verse.
All truly great prayer
rises from deep inside
and springs spontaneously to the surface.
It would then seem
that from among the many beautiful prayers,
the sacred songs and canticles of praise,
my tears may be the best worship of all.
Help me not to be ashamed of them;
show me how I can let go of control
and let this prayer of my heart, my tears,
flow naturally and freely to you,
my blessed Lord and divine Lover.
In times of joy or sorrow,
blessed be my tears,
the holy prayers of my heart.
AMEN.

Ten Special Words

Ten Special Words
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50
Sixteenth Day of Pentecost
Year B

A man travelled to Calcutta to learn more about faith, and he had the opportunity to meet with mother Theresa, she said that she would pray for him, but what did she want him to pray for? He said that he came here for clarity – so that was his prayer to see more clearly. She told him that there are a lot of times in life when we wont see very clearly. As a matter of fact, most days we wont see things clearly, and yet we need to go forward. I wont pray for clarity – I will pray for trust. I will pray that in the midst of all of the confusion – you will still decide to trust God anyway I think in life, most of us are like that man. We are waiting for things to finally make sense. For all of the answers to come. We are waiting for God to finally come clean and to tell us what all of life is all about – why we go through all that we go through. And when we don’t get the answers that we have been looking for – then there must be something wrong with God – prayers don’t really work, there is no real reason to have any faith. When we hear those stories about how prayer has worked for others – we take it personal – maybe we are not doing it right. Maybe we don’t know how to pray. Maybe we don’t understand this whole prayer thing.
Well, we are at the end of our study of the book of James. Our book of practical wisdom. And all throughout the book, we have had the same advice. Prayer is an important part of the life of an faithful person. We are to pray in the midst of all circumstances. Pray not for clarity, but for trust. Trust God in all circumstances. Our verse for today begins with a three step process for trusting in God. If you need something pray for it, If you are happy then sing about it and if you are sick go the elders and ask them to pray for you. That is good advice for all of us to remember – when you need something you should do what? When you are happy you should do what? When you are sick what should you do?
That last piece of advice has always got me. I first read this advice as a young adult in a bible study at my cousin’s Pentecostal church. And if you know anything about Pentecostals – they love to pray. The pray about everything. But not always in a positive way if I must say so myself. So I have always had this image of being very dubious about that advice. Who are these elders anyway – and why would they have so much power to pray for me – when I couldn’t pray for myself. I would think that they wold judge me and call me a bad person, which is why my prayers didn’t work. There was a story in the tribune last week of a woman who had members of her church arrested for praying on her front yard. She was sick, and another member of the church did vow that it was because she was a sinner in need of prayer. So she and the pastor came to the front yard and prayed. The police were called, but the lady came back again, and the second time was arrested. Perhaps the lady was following the advice of james to pray – but James doesn’t say that our prayers work because of our judgement of others.
Who is worthy of being called an elder anyway. If you look on the picture in the bulletin – those are the elders – the jewish elders. In the United Methodist Church the pastors are the elders, in other denominations they are lay people who have been entrusted to be leaders of the church. For some reason, in our humanness, we think that James is saying that the elders are special people with special powers. They are people that have been specially trained to do their job. They are people who may have a right to judge us. Theyare people up there somewhere.
But if you read further in James, it does not say that at all. Their power comes not from training or a special connection. Their power comes from being a part of the community of Christ. He says therefore confess you sins to one another, pray or one another. He uses Elijah as an example, that he was a faithful man that prayed that it not rain, and his prayer was answered. He prayed that it rained and the heavens opened up.
We tend to think that you have to have some special training for God to answer your prayers. But that it not so. God will answer the prayer of any sincere person. You don’t have to use special words, or have special intentions, or special gifts. Just use the words you have, the thoughts that you have, the faith that you have, the trust that when you pray you are being heard, and your prayers will work.
John Wesley says that everything in life is in answer to someone’s prayer. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Just because they are faithful. Whether you have gone to church everyday of your life – or made a deathbed confession you are the same in the eyes of God. And god responds to us all just the same. It is our faithfulness that is powerful, not our ego. Prayer is not the right words, and it is not even the right spirit, it is the right relationship. And the only relationship that we can ever hope to have with God is a relationship of trust. Prayer is not our clarity about life, it is our willingness to trust the will of God for our lives.
A famous muslim holy woman was once asked how she go to be so holy. How did she come to know God. She replied that she was willing to lose all that she had attained in the will of God. How do you know God – she was asked. You want to know God – I know God without knowing how to know him.
There is nothing that you could ever say to God that will be just the right words. There is no way that you can ever speak for God. There is no way to ever be able to see clearly who God is or what God is exactly doing in the world. But it doesn’t really matter. The prayers of the righteous are still powerful and effective. Because God loves us enough to listen, no matter what we have to say or how we say it.
As we leave the book of James - let us remember his advice. When you need something pray, when we feel joy sing, when you are sick come to the elders.
All of us together are the elders of the church – the faithful. Our strength is in how we work and trust together for ourselves, the church, and the world. Let us pray…..

The Person in the Mirror

August 30, 2009
James 1:17-27
Mark 7
The person in the mirror
Year B
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Story of mirror woman
There once was a wolf pack – who stuck together to just make a living. There were willing to share with one anther – but also with others. One day this very strange woman came to live with them. And they were willing to share what they had with her. But they could never really see what she looked like because she hid her face with a mirror. They called her mirror woman. She would also show the faces of the wolves in the mirror. Whenever they would try to hold a conversation with her – she would hold up the mirror. And she would point out all of the bad things that she saw in others from this mirror. The wolves saw themselves so much, that they started to believe everything that she said. They started to believe they were the bad behavior in the mirror. Until one say the den mother explained, that they were so much more than the mirror reflected. There was some bad things, but there were also some good things. They actually started to resent mirror woman, and asked her to take the mirror down. But she was afraid and left the pack. She did not want to think about her own bad, it was easier to see that in others. But when she was gone – they started to reflect the love that they wanted to see in others.

I am always amazed at how people quickly the people who don’t go to church like to use that word hypocrite when a talking about Christians.

How many times have I heard that people don’t go to church, because the church is full of hypocrites. What does that mean? And why do you need to say such a thing.

It is just like the woman in the story – who was so busy blaming and accusing others, that she did not take the time to look at her own character. She did not see that what she was doing was even more destructive for the group, then anything that she accused them of doing.

The word hypocrite – comes from greek – it means an actor. In the days of classical theater- an actor would put on one of those masks – either with a happy face or a sad face – to show what character they were playing in a play.

It was very clear that they were not the person they were playing on the stage. They were putting on a persona – taking on a personality that was not really their own.

There are many people today besides actors who have a professional persona and a personal life. That is just a part of the job they have. There is nothing wrong with what they are doing. And most of the time these are really nice people. And their persona is just an exaggeration of their real self.

Hypo – means under - crite means truth – which means under truth or understatement – not overstatement.

Over the years – it seems that the word has taken on a negative connotation that was not intended. Today to word means someone who intentionally takes on a religious or moral persona to hide their true self.

That does not describe the average Christian.

I told you about the workshop on safe sanctuaries. On making the church a safe place for children. The FBI agent warned us that child predators look at life in a totally different way then we would. He also said that many of them intentionally develop a persona of being thought of as a good person. They intentionally go to church, they intentionally try to be a nice guy. So that you don’t question their behavior.

The agent says that usually at the trial of these people, the family members or friends will spit on him, or yell at him. And say that the offender is really a nice guy – look at all of the things he has done in the community. He loves children.

That is the problem – he loves children, that is why he is being prosecuted. To me I would say that is the true definition of a hypocrite.

In Mark 7 as jesus is talking to the Pharisee – he calls them hypocrites.

It is a part of the tradition of the elders – to wash your hands before you eat. Every jews would have known that. The tradition was a set of unspoken rules that everyone would have known and everyone would have obeyed without question.

To jewish tradition to be clean was everything. In order to be close to god you had to be clean. As a Pharisee, you had to be intentional to make sure that you did not do anything that would dirty your hands or your body. That meant you were not fit to worship god. Today, when you enter into a muslim mosue – before you can pray – you have to ceremonially wash your entire body. Even though they are intentional to tell visitors that is only intended for muslims, others are not bound by that custom.

In the Christian church – we don’t have ceremonial cleanings, even though it is still tradition to dress up and look nice when we come to church. We still have the tradition of the elders.

And that was what Jesus was trying to attack when he called the Pharisees hypocrites. The tradition of the elders was not scripture - it was something someone made up. It was something that you just did without question and no one really knew why. Jesus point was that we should stop doing things because they were tradition and to give some thought to what they were doing and why. Maybe the intention of what you were doing was more important than following tradition. And jesus had a mission to fulfill, more important than the way it was always done.

Jesus went on to point out that it was not the tradition of being clean that caused the real evils in the world – it was the condition of the heart – the human heart – to lie, to steal, to criticize, to hurt when we have been hurt.

So we shouldn’t spend so much time worrying about the outside – but concentrate on the inside.

It is not just Christians, or people trying to be good who have those things – but all of us – it is human nature. In some ways we are all hypocrites. Not just Christians, but all people.


The lesson for us as Christians is not that we don’t have those tendencies inside of us, and not that we don’t have an inner self and an outer self. Being a Christian means that we know what is inside of ourselves and we acknowledge that we are sinners and we work to do something about it. We don’t exploit our sin to hurt others, to know that we are sinners, totally dependent on the grace of god to deal with our sinful nature.

For an outsider to be obsesses with calling a Christian a sinner is like the mirror woman finding the faults of the wolf pack – they spend so much time talking about others, that they forget to correct themselves.
Jesus knows that we will always sin, but some of us will look in the mirror and be able to fix what we see is wrong.

James talks about uses mirrors as a metaphor for looking at our selves and our actions too. He says that when we know the will of god and we don’t do it – we are like someone who looks in the mirror and forgets what they look like.

We look like the sons and daughters of God. In the message – Euguene Peterson says that when we know the word of god but we don’t do it – it is like we forget the face we were born with. We forget that we were all born sinners, but we were all born in the image of God. That is the true persona of all people – to reflect the love of god in their lives in some way.

Yesterday, sydaney and ray and I attended the workshop on stewardship. Great speaker, he told a story about a docter who went on a mission trip to Honduras. Before he left, he went to church, but it didn’t mean anything to him. He went through the motions, but it had no meaning. But when he went to help the people of Honduras – he saw the word of god being put into action, and he started to understand why he was really coming to church.
When we returned, he gave more in the offering plate, he volunterred more, he even was able to share his faith with others in a meaningful way.
There was something that was changed in his inner heart – that changed his outer actions. It was the cleansing of his inner heart – that made his outer heart clean. That is all jesus is trying to say to us. Cleansing comes from the inside out – not the outside in.
When we go outside of the sanctuary there are still those who will look on the outside and be critical no matter what. There are still non Christians who need to call Christians hypocrites, there are still neighbors who tell us that they need to see a change in our behavior to really trust us and to believe that we are who we say we are.
I hope you will always be able to admit that you are a sinner saved by the grace of God. Someone who has a heart of jealousy, anger and all kinds of bad things. But a sinner who has been touched in your heart by God, who lives a life not mandated by the mirror of others, but the light of God’s love for you.

Is God the answer to our modern questions?

October 18, 2009
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
Hebrews 5:1-10
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Year B
Is God the answer for our modern questions?

Joe was going to bed when his wife, Susie, informed him he had left the light on in the garden shed; she could see it from the bedroom window. But Joe said he hadn't been in the shed that day. He took a look, and there were people in the shed stealing things.

He called the police, but they told him that no one was in his area, so no one was available to catch the thieves. Joe said okay, hung up, counted to thirty, and called the police again.

"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were thieves in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now; I just shot them all."

Within five minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, an armed response unit-the works. Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said to Joe, "I thought you said you shot them!"

Joe replied, "I thought you said there were no cops available."[1]

In these days of budget cuts, this story cuts very close to home. As we expect help from others, and get an answer that no help is available. I just recently called the police myself, and was surpised when asked if I was expecting them respond to my call. In many ways I guess that is a sign of the times.
But the call for help in times of need is universal. The concern when those you depend on don’t help is also universal. That is why we have the story of Job. Where is God when I need God – is a universal question that we have all asked at some time or another.
God seems to hear Job asking questions and demanding personal audience, and comes to speak to Job personally. Job is convinced that he is innocent. He has done nothing to deserve all of these horrible things. And he does not intend on changing or doing anything to get out of all of this stuff. God has a responsibility to rescue him and make it all better. But when God does speak to him – God could care less about whether he is innocent or not. Whether he has been faithful, or even whether he deserves all of this bad luck.
Job has some unanswerable questions, but God has God’s own set of Questions. Where were you during creation? Do you know how to make the sun set? Do you know how to call the wind to blow? Job realizes that his ways are not God ways. And that God is always much wiser than we could ever be. God is much more in control of the the world than we could ever be. And we are a part of God’s plan, God is not a part of our plan. God has a reason for doing everything in life. And there is no way to be privy to God’s plan. Faith in tough times is just a matter of trusting that God has a reason for everything. Faith that things turn out for the good of those who believe in God.
Life is full of suffering – we cant do anything about it. Sometimes going through that suffering makes us stronger that we could ever believe. When we think about who we are today – much of what forms our character and personality comes from overcoming adversity and challenge in our lives.
God’s point to Job still applies to our modern day lives and our modern day problems. Today we experience illness, economic problems, accidents, times when we are doing the right thing, yet still suffering, Times when we see loved ones struggling and stand by feeling helpless. All of these things are in the Job story, all of these things are in our story. And yet God wants us to know that when we stop and think about it – God is with us. We can see the presence of God in our lives. We can see the hand of God, when we feel out of control. For me I can see that so clearly. And even when I don’t see that – I still trust in that. God is on control – even in times when I am at loss for what is going on – which is most of the time.
Last Thursday I went to the Borders in Schaumburg – hoping to get Julie Andrews to sign my book. Something told me to call ahead of time – but no, when I got there, they were not allowing anyone else to get in line for her signature. In order to pass the time away – I looked at al l of the bestsellers. One really caught my attention. It is called “The New Atheism”. New atheism – I have enough problem with the old atheism, for there the be a new one. Isnt that why our churches our dying? – because people don’t want to believe in God. When they see the evil of the world – they don’t know what to think, they don’t know how to recognize God’s presence in our lives. So people conclude that there is not God. Our experience tells us that once a person dies, they cant come back to life – so there is no need to take the story of Jesus seriously. When faced with the answerable questions in life – an atheist cant look beyond the questions.
It seems that the new atheism is a movement that has come out of observations of the events of 911. A group of scientist concluded that the events of 911 would never have happen if it wasn’t for religion. Thus it is their task to free the world of ignorance, myth and doctrine. They believe that believing in God has hurt more people than anything else. They take offense that in the aftermath of 911 that our politicians seemed to justify their policies of war and destruction with religious language.
I find it interesting that many of those call themselves new atheist are scientist. Scientist who believe that everything in the natural world can be explained by scientist, so there is no need to explain it by an outdated notion of God.
Yes it is true- science can explain most things in the natural world. Today we know why the sun rises. We know how the sun rises. We even know that heaven not up there in the sky- in the sky is the atmosphere of earth, space, the solar system, the sun and many universes beyond. And yet science has not found anything that resembles a heavenly throne room. As we look at the natural world – we can explain how everything that exist today came into being.
And yet when God talks with Job, he does not ask how creation came into being. Science has a very different answer than faith to that question. God consistently asks Job if he was there when creation came into being. Job says no, we have to say no, and the atheistic scientist have to answer that question no. you can explain the wind, but can you make the wind blow – can you control the weather? We may not understand why God makes the wind blow, but I can assure you that if it were humanly possible to stop a hurricane or to change its course – we would but science cant do that. We can explain nature, but we cant control it. Which is God’s reminder to Job. As much as we want to be in control of our lives – God is still in control. Our ways are not God ways. And and how and why God does anything is still mystery to us. How do we explain the events of 911 – personally I think it goes much beyond the fact that there were a few people zealous for God wanting to hurt us. There was history, there were consequences, there social reality, there was the human spirits desire to move beyond hurt and pain and learn to heal. All things which cant be defined simply be a scientific explanation.
Job came to God because he wanted to prove his innocence. There was no reason for these things to happen to him. God never doubted that Job was innocent. As a matter of fact, God had enough faith for Job to hold onto to his innocence and his faith no matter what happen to him. It was faith that bought him through to this point. Victor Frankl – a jewish man who went throught the holocaust said that as long as you have a why – you can endure any of the hows that life throws at you. As long as you have something to look forward to – all that happens to you is just a means to an end. It is not the end for you.
Job has many chances to become a new atheist and to say that there is no God. We have those same chances – to walk away at any moment and to join others in the world. Yet Job made a choice – to hold onto his faith in God not matter what. To know that God would make things clear if he asked in faith, and to accept whatever answer he received. If I am faithful – then I have to choose obendiance in good times and in bad. The lord giveth, the lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord.
I believe in the sun, even when the sun doesn’t shine. I believe in the daylight, even when it is dark, I believe in God even when God is silent, and out dated. What about you?

Prayers answered

“Prayers Answered”
November 15, 2009
Twenty-fifth Sunday of Pentecost
Year B
1 Samuel
Mark 13:38-44

It seems that every few years now there is a different prediction that the end is coming near. Remember all of the hoopla that was made about Y2K. None of the computers were programmed to read the year 2000 – and everything was going to shut down – and life as we know it would end. I am sure that I am missing another one since then.
Well now, it has been decided that the world will come to an end in 2012. The 5000 year old Mayan calendar will end in the year 2012 – And this end is not predicted by Christians waiting for Christ to return – this end is much older and deeper than that, so it must be true. People have been talking about it and preparing for it for years now – and now it is only 2 years away.
The new movie 2012 debuted this Friday – Friday the 13th mind you. That is not my genre of movie, so I didn’t watch it – but I saw the previews. They reviews say that this is the movie of all movies. The director took scenes from every destructive movie ever made and made this one even more destructive. You see all types of icons – the Vatican, Rio De Janero’s statue of Jesus, even the city of Los angeles – totally fall apart in this movie. Signifiying that this is indeed the end of the world as we know it. This is indeed a time of cataclysmic change. This is indeed the end of the world. The end of the world as we know it. That is just it. People have been predicting the end of the world for centuries. People – Christian and non Christian have been asking the same question of Jesus as asked in Mark 13 – when will we know – tell us when will this be, and what will be the signs that all of these things are about to be accomplished? When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, earthquakes and famine – this is but the beginning.
And we take Jesus at his word – and we believe that the end of the world must be total chaos and destruction. We have to feel and witness something big, and painful and worldwide in order for the world to change. In order for the world of Jesus to come into the earth – the earth must be totally destroyed. – right? Wrong? In order for the end of the world to come – we have to be destroyed. Right? Wrong. We got it all wrong.
This verse is called the little apopcalyse – the big apopcalyse is the book of revelation. And yet Jesus is not talking about endings – he says that this is the beginning of birth pangs. The world will not be destroyed – but recreated. Life as we know it does not come to an end- it simply transforms. The mayan prediction of 2012 – has been intentionally distorted by our culture – who seems to love sensationalism and exaggeration. The prediction is not that the world will end after 5000 years – but that after 5000 years a new era of understanding will be ushered in. A time when people are able to let go of old things – and look at life from a brand new perspective.
A time of cataclysmic change and transformation. But the transformation is not about what is going on out there somewhere – the change is about what is going on in here. Jesus constantly reminds us that God is not concerned about outward appearances – God is concerned about the condition of our hearts.
In a world that is in deep pain and groaning. In a culture that is asking itself some serious questions, in a time when life is seriously evaluating itself and its values – we are being asked to have a change of heart. A change in who we are and how we relate to the world.
We have no idea of what events will lead us to our final destiny – we have no idea of what the world will go through within the next two years, we have no control over even what the future holds for us – but what we do know is that the time has come for us to transform.
The thing is – we come to this point in our faith every year. As the old Christian year winds down- and the new year is about to begin – we are taken in scripture to the questions and the tumult of the apopcalypse. We are reminded of the end of the times. But we are never challenged to die – we are always challenged to begin again. To realize that in every ending – there is always a new beginning. It is time for us to start looking for those new beginnings, those unexpected births, those moments of faith.
Every year we relive the circle of life. Every year we relive the birth, life , death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior to be reminded that transformation is a normal occurance. The lesson for us is to be prepared for a catalcymic transformation in every moment of our lives.
If every moment is special, then every person is special. The entrance of every person into the world is a story to tell the began in the hopes and dreams of our ancestors long ago.
There is another theme for our scriptures for this time of year. A reminder that every great man who came into the world to bring about hope and change – was raised and nurtured by a faithful mother. That is an interesting pattern in the bible. In the story of Jesus, we learn about his mother Mary. In the story of David, we learn about his great grandmother Ruth, on the story of John we learn about his mother Elizabeth, and in the story of Samuel – we learn about his mother Hannah.
Samuel was a man who bought great change to the Hebrew culture. He was not a king, he was a kingmaker. HE ushered his people into a new understanding of leadership. He was the last of the judges over the people, and he made Saul and them David a king. He spent his life as a priest in the temple – he realized that even that system was not working – because priest had become corrupt.
Our scripture read is a celebration of his mother’s answered prayer. Where she acknowledges that it is time for a change, and that in God’s answered prayer the world would be shaken up and turned upside down, so that the people on the bottom would now be on the top.
Hannah was a second wife with no children, and she got tired of being mistreated by the other wife, who had plenty of children for her husband. Hannah prayed that if God would just give her a son – she would give that son back to God and raise him as a priest. Well – she got pregnant and after three years she did indeed give her son Samuel to be raised in the temple. It was her faith that gave the world a transformational leader. It was also her willingness to trust God to answer her prayer. How well do we trust God with our prayers?
A man was really sick and needed a very serious surgery. He prayed to God that things would go well for him. But just to sweeten the deal he promised the surgeon that he would donate enough money to build a new wing for the hospital if things turned out. Well the surgery turned out – and the surgeon came to the man a few months later – reminding him of he bargain that he had made with the hospital before the surgery. The man had forgotten about that bargain. He said o gee, I really must have been sick to have made a promise like that. I am better now, - I don’t need to pray anymore.
What would have happen had Hannah had the same attitude – and not kept her promise to God? What bargains do we make with God in our times of need – how are we in maintaining our faithfulness?
We would all agree that we live in some really tough times, and that we all have some really tough challenges ahead. We may not all agree on what it takes to change the circumstances, but we all agree that the circumstances need to be changed. We are all looking for that cataclysmic transformation for things to be different. For the peace that God promised us all to begin and to spread throughout the world.
Some need to see the sensationalism of 2012 in order to realize that things can truly be different. All of us – especially the faithful of God need to realize that every moment and every life is a part of the great change. God uses our lives, our moments, our faith to bring about the greatest change. The toughest jobs in life are given to the faithful who are willing to trust in God and willing to be used by the creative movement of the holy spirit – present and every changing our lives one prayer at a time. Amen.

Prayers Answered

The Widow's Club

November 8, 2009
The Widow’s Club
Twenty Fourth Day of Pentecost
Ruth 3-4
Mark 12:38-44
Year B

Why the Widow’s Club
Interestingly enough both of the scriptures for today are tales about widows. I think it is just a coincidence, don’t think it really means anything. A coincidence is just God wanting to remain anonymous.


The Widows in the story
Yet both the old testament and the new testament have a lot to say about widows. In many societies, it is a pretty significant thing to be a widow. So you paid attention to what they did.


A Widow’s condition
Friday night – we had a wonderful young adult group present to speak their poems. And one of the young women did a poem (I can’t remember the title), but her point was that as females we are taught that our whole lives revolve around a man.
Everything we do from a small child to an older woman is geared toward getting married, and even when we get married our lives are defined by that marriage.

Today in modern American society – we as woman can look back at that reflect that maybe that mindset of having a man define us is not all that there is to life. Today there are laws and social norms in place to allow a woman to survive and have an identity after she has lost a husband.
That has not been true for all women in all societies in all times. In biblical times a woman was totally defined by her husband. She was not allowed to speak in public, she was not allowed to hold a job, or to manage a household, or have an income. Without a mate a women was absolutely nothing – a non entity. People knew you were there – but you were nobody. If you did not have a man to take care of you – then you were totally dependent on the charity of others for every means of life.
You notice in the bible, that there is an obsession with taking care of the widows. Paul talks a lot about church being in mission and helping out – his whole point was that the widows of Jerusalem needed some means of support- and if the good people of the churches and synagogues didn’t give it to them – they had nothing.

As a matter of fact, the word for widow in Hebrew means nobody – bereft, to be without, to have a large empty space in life.

To be bereft – empty, left with nothing. I entitled this sermon the widow’s club – because this is a sermon about widows. There are widows in our stories that teach us about life – but in a sense I think that all of us can relate at some place in our lives to feeling like a nobody – like an empty space that longs to be filled, to be acknowledged, to be cared about and loved.

Perhaps that is why thousands of years later, we hear stories of these widows and the lessons in life that they still have to teach not just other widows – but all spiritual beings.





Our first lesson comes from the book of Ruth. Naomi and her husband have moved away to the desert in hopes of a better life. They and their sons and their sons wives have all relocated. But for some reason the men in the story do not survive. And after they have died, the women are left alone. And in the world she lives in, Naomi knows that there is no such thing as fending for themselves. They are widows, they have nothing, and they have now entered into the societies of nobodies. As an act of caring – Naomi sends her daughter in laws home so they can be taken care of by their families. And yet Ruth refuses, she believes that in some way they will survive. Naomi knows that in this world that is not a possibility – but she does have a plan.
Ruth actually does have property that she has inherited from her husband. But she can’t have it – her husband has to inherit it for her. And her new husband has to be a relative of her old husband. Because he has to be willing to carry on the family name for the dead man.
Naomi tells Ruth to lie down next to Boaz on the threshing floor. She is to lay facing his feet, and when he wakes up he will be willing to marry her. I have always thought that part of the story a little strange – there has got to be something missing they they are not telling us.
But is works and Ruth and Boaz get married and have a son – Ruth gives the son to Naomi – so that she can have an heir. The family name continues.
That is the moral of the story – here is a woman who with a husband and two sons had everything – when she lost them she lost everything in life – including a future. And yet through faith and love and relationships she gained it all back. Her grandson became the grandson of the greatest king – king david. When you read the lineage of Jesus – it is the lineage of the males in Jesus family – yet there are 4 women listed one of them is Ruth – a foreign widow

We have to create it
The lesson there for us is that if spiritually we are all widows – person with an empty space in our hearts – we have to means to fill it. When we are hopeless – we have to be hopeful that God does indeed have a plan for our despair , and when we look at the world and see that we have no future – we have to create it. We have to use our faith, our love and our relationships to move forward anyway – and God will do the rest.

Lesson from widow 2
Now I want to shift over to the lessons of our second widow story. The widow in the temple that Jesus notices as she gives everything.

Picture the story
Now the Hebrew Temple was divided into sections – the priest had a section, the men had a section, the women had a section, the gentiles had a section, and foreigners had a section. It was expected that you would bring your money to the temple, and it was collected differently in each section.
This story takes place in the gentile section – there would have been large pots placed to collect money – and as you walked in you through your donation into a pot.
It is not hard to imagine being to hear the clanking of the coins as each person gave their offering. If there were a number of rich people in the temple – you would have been able to hear the coins as each person gave.
What is hard to imagine is why Jesus would have been standing there watching and basically counting and taking account for what each person gave.
He notices the widow as she comes in, he probably talked to her in the street and knows that she has been begging. He hears the clanking of the man before her in line, but when she gives – there is no sound, the coins she tosses in are so light, you cant even hear them.
Only Jesus would recognize that the little she gives, is worth so much more than all of the rich people before her. They gave out of their abundance, she gave out of her need. They have money left over, Jesus seems to believe that she has nothing else. Others wonder is it really appropropriate for her to take what she has been given and give it away to God. Obviously she trusted that God will use the money for a better purpose. We can never beat God giving, no matter how much we give – so she trusted that what she gave would be returned.


She gave everything that she had

She trusted God for everything

She didn’t just give her best to God, she gave her all to God. She took seriously that command to love to lord your god with all of your mind, all of your heart, all of your soul and all of your pocket book. That is not written in the but it is implied.

2 lessons – have hope in the future and trust for in our darkest hour
That is the second lesson for us widows in spirit – to trust god – trust God with everything.
Two lessons for us today – have hope in the future to create it, and to trust God in our darkest hour.

3rd story of a widow
I want to tell you the story of a 3rd widow.
Agnes lives on a farm in Iowa. She is very astute and together, but kind of strange. Her clothes are always clean, but a little outdated. Clothes from the 1920’s and 30’s. when you meet Agnes she is always complaining about something in life. She attends a lot of funeral these days, not to show her sympathies, but to get the free lunches. She doesn’t waste her time coming to church – but loves fellowship hour, she takes the leftover cookies. Her pastor came to her son one day and asked how the church could help her financially, since like so many older people, she was struggling. Her son revealed that Agnes was doing quite well financially – she has enough stocks and bonds to be comfortable well into her life. And yet she was not willing to give to others. Agnes was a poor widow – but not poor economically – but poor in spirit. Poor in love, poor in relationship, poor in faith.
Three widows stories for us today – three lessons.
Have hope to create the future
Trust God with all that you have – God is good for it,
Fill our empty spaces with joy and the love of God.

Who presides over your life?

October 4, 2009
Who Presides Over Your Life?
Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost
World Communion Sunday
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
Year B

As you go through life, it doesn’t take long to discover in life that there are questions – lots of questions for which there is no answer. You can ask the question – but there is never an answer. At least not one which is gonna shed any real light on the the situation. One of those questions – do I look fat in these pants. There is no answer for that. First of all, if ever asked, you know that it is never in your best interest to answer that question. But secondly, if someone was brave enough to answer that question- either yes or no. There is no answer that will satisfy the questioner – they will continue to ask and ask, never quite satisfied enough to just stop asking the question.
But seriously there are serious questions about life that we ask God. We ask ourselves, we ask life – we constantly ask – and there is never a good answer. Questions like why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? When will we finally see justice for all, where we are all treated fairly? If God is totally in control – then why are we allowed to suffer? If God is good, then why does it seem that the devil is allowed to prosper? When the world is so awful and cruel, what is the point of remaining faithful to God?
If you live long enough and you go through life long enough, then you have asked these kinds of questions. And with each crisis, we have to be reminded of God’s answer to us.
The closest you can come to straight answer is a story – about something that happen to someone else – that you can relate to.
Job is not a real person, and the events in the story did not really happen. There is no rich foreigner, who had been greatly blessed and lost everything. There are none of us who are so righteous and upright that we don’t have to take some type of responsibility for what it happening to us. And I would venture to say that there is a point in all of our lives when things can get so bad, that we can get mad and blame God for what we are going through. This story is not intended to be historical truth – it is intended to tell the truth of the human story. The story is intended to teach a lesson – God does not intend to answer all of our questions. Faith is not the answers to life – it is a story of how to remain faithful and trusting and loving in the midst of the questions of life.
I would like to believe that God, the angels, the heavenly beings, and satan don’t have daily staff meetings – where Satan is up there criticizing everything that I am doing. Questioning my life and asking God if he can have permission to test my faith and make me suffer just because. But of course what other explanation is there for horrible things happening to us, when we know that we are being faithful and good. Not even the book of Job can give us a satisfying answer to that question.
Wisdom has been a theme for this year. And Job is a wonderful book of wisdom – it a book of dialogue, between the events of Job’s life, his wife, his friends, himself and finally God. We will be reading this story for the next 4 weeks. This is a wise story because it tells the story very clearly, but in reality gives no answers. The author of Job probably didn’t have any answers to give. But it wanted to give you some tools to think about your own unanswerable questions.
The book of Hebrews also tackles those unanswerable questions – but from a different perspective. It reminds us that God did not give us a direct answer to our suffering, but God did give us a person – who makes our suffering and his meaningful.
Hebrews relates to Job also, because it talks about heavenly beings. It talks about how decisions on earth were started on earth – that that Jesus Christ was there in the midst of creation to make sure that we would have a voice in heaven to talk about what it in our best interest. So that we don’t have to worry about Satan being present to ask God to tempt us.
we celebrate Jesus and what he did for us, for all of us
- in every corner of the world.

We celebrate what Jesus did
-and what by the power of Holy Spirit he still does,
we celebrate the Jesus who considered family unity to be important,
we celebrate the Jesus that welcomed little children into his arms,
we celebrate the Jesus that took time to bless everyone,
- no matter who they were and no matter what others thought of them.

Jesus - our saviour and our Lord,
Jesus - the promised one of God,
Jesus, the son of God - and yet a man:
a man like us....
a man who struggled to be faithful to God,
a man who was called to love his neighbours as himself,
a man who was tempted like we are tempted,
a man who suffered as we suffer.

The letter to the Hebrews, which our first reading came from today, speaks
of Jesus in exalted terms - calling him "the radiance of God's glory" and
"the exact representation of God's being", "superior to the angels";

And this is true - our whole faith speaks of it,

But the letter to the Hebrews also reminds us of something else that our
whole faith speaks of - it reminds us that here, on this earth, Jesus was
made like us - that he was made like us a little lower than the angels,
that Jesus was one with us, born of a woman,
born as our brother
to walk as we walk through this life.

Jesus was one with us,
able to sympathize with us,
able to identify with us,
able to rejoice with us,
able to suffer with us,
and, because of what he suffered and suffered in faithfulness,
he is able to intercede for us before God his Father, God our Father.

Jesus, one with us, Jesus our Saviour. Jesus our Brother. He understands us, he understands our questions.

My favorite aspect of Christ that we are reminded to celebrate in Hebrews about Christ is for a time he for a little while was made a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. We too as humans are made a little lower than the angels. We too are crowned with glory and honor.
We may never have to answer to why bad things happen to good people. But we can always have the love of God in our lives. No matter what happens, we can look to the heavens for our strength and support – because now, Jesus Christ is up there – rooting for us as his sisters and brothers. He know what we have been through - and through faith – we know what he is going through up in heaven.
Alister McGrath writes a story about her aunt who never married. When she passed away, her relatives were going through her possessions and found a picture of a young man. The young man had been the aunt’s true love. He died tragically, and she never loved another man. And yet she held onto that picture.
Through the years of loneliness and grief, she held onto the that picture. She needed to be reminded that she had a love in life. When people doubted that she ever loved anyone she could hold onto that picture. That picture was a reminder of her life as it could have been. But for some reason the reality of death set in.
Jesus is the image of God. When we want to know what God looks like we have a story to look at. When we want something to depend on, we have the words of Christ to hold onto. When we want to talk with God – when can pray in the name of Jesus and know that we are heard.
And Jesus knew that there would be days when we would have our doubts. There would be days when we would feel disconnected from God, there would be days when we wonder about the story of Jesus. If the story of Job is a fairly tale – then how do we know that Jesus too if not just a fairly tale. The signs before us today -- communion the bread and the wine, they remind us of how he came to be our Saviour, they remind us of what his love and his faithfulness cost him. On the night of his betrayal Jesus took bread and broke it,and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my body, given for you;and he took the cup and gave it to his disciples, saying, This is my blood, which is poured out for you. The next day, out of love for the world, Jesus died.
Jesus is our brother, jesus is one of us, jesus understand us, jesus knows our questions. While on the cross even he asks God why has he forsaken him.
Communion is our picture – our memory- or crutch to hold onto- our strength to hold onto – in the midst of the answerable questions.
Today we celebrate communion with Christians all over the world. In all types of churches
God has made us his family,
a family that stretches around the world,
a family that is called to love as we have been love,
to forgive as we have been forgiven,
to give as we have been given too.

As we share today in our family meal;
GIVE THANKS to God that we are not alone,
THAT WE HAVE BOTH each other and the Spirit of Christ amongst us,
the Spirit of him who was, who is, and who shall ever be one with us, and
one over us, and one under us, one who truly loves us.

Blessed be God - day by day. Amen

*Portions of this sermon borrowed from a sermon from Rev. Richard J. Fairchild “One with us”

A tale of Two Types of Wisdom

A tale of two wisdoms
September 20, 2009
Sixteenth Day of Pentecost
Year B


Have you ever had those moments in your life when you know God is there? When you know that in that moment – you know that someone or something had to have come from heaven to help you out of a situation? There had to be some angels from above looking over you and guiding you through the situation?
A colleague of mine tells about the time when he was helping his church prepare for the fair, they were selling cider, and they needed a press for the apples. In hauling it, he dropped it and an important piece of it broke. He tried to fix it but he couldn’t . And he remembered that the repairman that he went to- had recently died. The fair was to start in 3 hours – what would he do. He prayed and he found that indeed he did have to strength to try and fix it. As he started to work – this face appeared in his mind – the face of the repairman – and gave him step by step advice to fix the wine press- in two hours the press was ready and he could go to the fair.
Another colleague speaks of her mother in law who lived with she and her husband. The mother in law loved flowers – so they built her a greenhouse. One day she and her mother in law came home and found the house smelling like flowers. It was a very distinctive smell. The mother in law was particularly excited, because she said the house smelled just like her mothers house. I might add they never identified where the smell was coming from.
I have had one of those moments – when I knew God was near recently – when I asked for a prayer – and it was answered within a day. And when I asked for something expecting to have to wait and search for an answer – and as life unfolded – the answer was in an obvious very close place. I have had one of those times when I knew God was near. What about you – have you had those times in your life? God can sometimes be illusive, but comes to us in short glimpses, and unexpected ways. I am sure if you think about it, we have all had one of those encounters.
James point to us is that there are two kinds of wisdoms in the world – wisdom from above and wisdom from the world. James is making his point to us because we like to believe that all wisdom is the same. That we can play into the values of the world and the values of God at the same time, because they all fit intogether. We can believe both at the same time. James is telling us that they are not the same, and that they don’t fit in together. As a matter of fact, they are opposite kinds of wisdom, and if you will – they have two very different kinds of personalities. And two very different results.
One is self centered – about me- about my safety, my best interest, my concern. One is based on jealousy – which is a fear that I wont get what is coming to me. “those conflicts and disputes among you- where do they come from – do they not come from your own cravings that are at war within you? You want something and you cannot obtain it”
If there are indeed two kinds of wisdoms in the world – one from earth and one from heaven,which one is James speaking of?......
How is that different from the wisdom of God? …….

James goes on to say that we do not have, because we do not ask. And God does not give to us because we ask for the wrong reason. Once again, we ask for personal gain, and not the will of God.
Jesus actually picks up this theme in Mark. They are journeying along to Jerusalem – Jesus first tells of where they are going and why. But the disciples cant handle that conversation. But Jesus notices that they have been arguing. Who is the greatest among them? Is that a conversation using wisdom from above or wisdom from earth?.....
We know because it is a conversation about personal gain. A concern about where am I in the world. So it is an earthly conversation.
Jesus wants them to think about the things of God. So he pulls a little child aside and reminds the disciples the greatest on earth, and the greatest I heaven are different. Whosoever welcomes a little child in my name, welcomes me.
Now what is so cool about this story – is that we think of children very differently then they did 2000 years ago. Today – we do honor our children. We are a congregation which thinks about the best interest of the child. We understand that children need to be loved and cared for. And that they are not able to take care of themselves. We are willing to do what we can to take care of them. No so in Jesus times, children were nothing. They were a burden. You never knew if a child was going to survive into adulthood. Children were not allowed to own property. If they did not have a family – they were left to fend for themselves. In the eyes of the disciples they counted for nothing. They had absolutely no rights. They were essentially a none person. Today, we get a warm fuzzy feeling when Jesus grabs the little children and says let the children come to me. Then – they gasped in horror – how could Jesus even think of such a thing.
And yet he reminds us that these are the people who God loves the most – the people who the world values the least. There are two types of wisdom in the world – that from above and that from the earth. You cant embrace both at the same time – because they are very different – they are opposites. And they take you in two different directions. With two very different outcomes.
Speaking of Jesus loving the little children – did you see the film clip of the man at the Phillies game – who was fortunate enough to catch a foul ball. He was so excited about his souvenir that he gave the ball to his 3 year old daughter. And she does the right thing – she throws it back into the field. The father is looking on in horror as she has just thrown away his ball. But she is so proud of herself for doing the right thing – she runs into daddy’s arms for a hug. What else was there for him to do – but hug her back and tell her he loves her. Someone commented that perhaps he hugged her because he wanted to squeeze the life out of her. I wonder if his reaction would have been different without the camera rolling. But it captured the heart of America – because it was a God moment. A moment when God was truly present.
I think of the times in my life when I have done the very wrong thing – and God embraced me and loved me anyway. There are two kinds of wisdom in the world – wisdom from God and wisdom from the world- which kind of wisdom was present at this moment?....
Whereever gentleness, compassion, humility, and peace making are present – God is always there. Whereever there is an opportunity to do what you know is right – God is there. Wherever there are people like us – Christians, disciples of Christ present who are determined to put the will of God before their own interest. God is present. God will be seen by the world. The lesson for us today is to be those people who bring God into the world. Not by waiting for miracle, but by living out the wisdom from God in everything that we do.
The final words of James says submit yourselves to god. Of you resist wisdom from earth – the devil will flee, if you seek wisdom from above – by drawing near to God – God will draw near to you. Look for God in actions of others- but in the actions of your heart. And finally Mark reminds us that if you humble yourself – God will always raise you up. The Phillies gave the man in the stands another baseball, and signed jersey’s for the whole family for the love he showed to his daughter. How much more is in store for us? Peace.