Praise God with all of your Life

First Sunday of Christmas December 29, 2014 Year A Let your life be a praise for God Psalm 148 Matthew 2:13-23 Is Jesus Dead in this time after Christmas? On Christmas Eve, I talked about how the people in Japan celebrate Christmas just as much as we do here in America. There are Christmas trees, and decorations, and Santa, and elves. There is one big difference – most people in Japan are Buddhist. They understand the symbols of Christmas, but they don’t know the meaning of Christmas. In many cases, they don’t know who Jesus is, or why Christmas is significant. A reporter stopped a woman on the street in Japan and asked her if she knew why Christmas is important - she hesitated for a moment, and then asked, isn’t that the day Jesus died. The day Jesus died – that is not Christmas day – that is the Sunday after Christmas – right before New Years. Christmas is this magical time of year, where everyone is giving, every one is happy, every one is in a spirit of unity and caring for one another. As soon as Christmas is over, life goes back to normal. They say that even the crime rate goes down, all of the thieves are at home with their families on Christmas – and as soon as that day is over- people go back to normal. Just like Christmas never happened, and Jesus is indeed dead, even though supposedly he was just born. Even for me this year, I spent all month putting up Christmas decorations, and took half of them down the day after Christmas – it was as if I didn’t need them anymore. I refuse to take down the tree, or to turn off the lights – at least until after New Year’s. I think that there is something about holding onto Christmas for a little bit – letting it linger into the New Year for a little bit that is important. You know as far as the stores are concerned – Jesus is dead, and it is now time to move onto Valentine’s Day. But as far as God is concerned – Christmas has just begun. I have shared this poem by Howard Thurman before at the Christmas Eve service, but not everyone has heard it – but I think that it is important to our faith to think about… it is called the work of Christmas. The work of Christmas Dr. Thurman is an African American theologian who writes a lot about the African American experience – He says when the songs of the angels are stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and the princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins – to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers, to make music in our heart. Whatever else we may have gotten for Christmas this year – we have all received the presence of Christ. Whatever our circumstance, God is with us. that is the true meaning of Christmas – Emmanuel – God with us. A story of God with us Mrs. Maxwell had had a difficult year. Her husband had just passed away. Her social security was reduced because of his death. She had to work hard just to hold onto the house that she and her husband had shared through so many happy years. And even though she lived in a mild area of the country – it still got to be 30’s outside at night – and the temperature was just the same in her house. She got behind a couple of months on her heating bill and eventually the city turned off her heat. Sitting in the cold, she read the paper one day, she read an article about how their were many companies in the city who had not paid their gas bill. They owed the city thousands of dollars – and yet they still had heat. Upset at her own condition, she called the newspaper to ask why her heat had been turned off. Her letter caused such a stir in the city. One day she heard a knock at the door – it was the mayor of the city – he said that he had a message to deliver – the city would be turning her heat back on and putting her on a payment plan to pay her bill. She was excited at the news, but asked why the mayor had bothered to come to see her – why couldn’t he have sent a city worker or even a letter would have been suffice. The mayor smiled and hugged her – and said that he felt that it was important enough to deliver the message himself and he gave her a hug. God has done the same thing for all of us – God had a message to deliver to all of humanity – and he came in the form of a little baby- who grew up into a man – to tell us personally that in the midst of all that life gives us – he is with us. God loves us on December 24th, on December 25th, on December 26th, and December 29th just the same. He loves us in the good times and the bad, when we are up or done, before Christmas and after Christmas. God’s presence in our lives in all that we go through is our special gift. A Letter to God You know that when children (or adults) write letters to Santa addressed to the North Pole – the local post office holds onto those letters, so that people can do the work of santa, and answer those letters. But there are also quite a bit of letters that are written to God – but where do you send a letter for God. Well, many of them end up at the Jerusalem post office. They get an overwhelming amount of letter to God – and they don’t always know what to do with them. Well one day a postal worker – being a good jew – a servant of God opened one of the letters. It was a man who needed to have an operation, and he needed $1500 to pay for it. The worker went to his fellow workers and said – you know we are the hand and feet of God, it is our job to do the work of God. We have to answer this letter and help this man. People were hesitant to give, but he has able to raise $1000 in order for the man’s operation. He wrote a letter to the man from God and put a check for $1000 in the envelope and mailed it off. He was so honored and proud to do the work of God and to help someone else. That was until a month later when this man sent another letter to God. In the letter he thanked God for answering his prayer. He was able to get his operation and was healing very well. But he asked God next time not to use the post office when sending his gifts. He knew that God had sent $1500, but those crooks at the post office kept $500 for themselves – and only gave him $10 – to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers, Doing the work of God means giving to people who are sometimes ungrateful, sometimes unkind, who sometimes don’t understand. And yet God calls us to help them. We help them not necessarily in hopes of receiving from them, but in thankfulness for what God has done for us. if we know that God is with us – the least we can do is to be with others.- so that they know that God is with them. God is not dead – God is not a season. God is the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives for all times. So I would encourage you to go out and to do the work of Christmas. – to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers, The most important part is to make music in our heart. Remember our psalm for today – psalm 148 – praise the Lord. Let them praise the name of the Lord for his name is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. Ring you bell – praise God with all of your life from this day forward. Let us pray…..

It is time to wake up!

December 1, 2013 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 “It is time to wake up!” First Sunday of Advent Year A So how did you sleep last night? Are you a morning person or a night person? How did you get up this morning. I am loving having service at 10:30. Having an extra hour and a half on Sunday’s mornings is like having an eternity. It can make up for so many evils in the morning. I am not a morning person. But I try to intentionally go to bed at night, because I know one thing. The way that we go to bed at night and sleep is the way that we are able to wake up in the morning. And the way you wake up, determines the flow of your whole day. There is nothing worse than having to go through the whole day, when you did not sleep well, and all that you want to do is go home and go to bed. And yet there are days that when you sleep well, you wake up rested and ready to face whatever happens in that day. Well the first words of Romans 13:11 is that now is the time for you to wake up from sleep. Salvation is nearer today than when we first believed. As you may know, advent is the time for us to wake up. Pay attention and prepare ourselves for God. And more importantly – what God has in store for us. This is the beginning of a new day – and the most beautiful part of a new day is hope and anticipation of what is to come. As a matter of fact, that is the difference between night and day. Between the darkness and the light. One is full of hope and anticipation. And one is not. There is no hope in the darkness. People who get used to living in the dark, never look for the light of hope. I was watching Jimmy Kimmel last week, and he had the comedian Tracy Morgan on. I was struck, as Tracy Morgan kept saying this is a dark world, living in some dark days. He used it as an introduction to say that we must truly live in dark days when the Pope actually gives the church a two week notice, that he is giving it all up, and becoming a regular priest, instead of the head of the church. But we can look at other things going on in the world and know – that we are living in some dark times. There are some crazy things going on in the world. But I want us to also remember Paul’s message for us. we may indeed be living in a dark world, in some dark times. But as Christians, it may still be dark outside, but the joy is that the dawning of a new day is just about to come. It is not 10 oclock at night dark, it is 5 in the morning dark – at a time when the sun is just about to come up. Things are about to get better – because Christ is about to come. Today, I am going to switch back and forth between the lesson of Romans and the lesson of Matthew. Usually even if I use both scriptures, I keep the lessons separate. But today I found that it was impossible to separate the lessons, because they were both chosen to help us to remember the themes of advent. Paul wants to shine a bright light on all our activities, all our words, all our behaviors, brining everything done by those who confess Christ into HD (high definition) focus. Although Paul uses the contrasts between light and dark to illustrate his discussion, ironically Paul’s point is that for Christians there IS no night vs. day, no dark vs. light. Since Christ’s arrival on earth, since Christ’s life among us for our sake and “our salvation” (v.11), we live in a different world than that of night and day, or dark and light. Christians live in a pre-dawn life, in the overlap of the ages, between the three stages of Advent. That’s right, you heard it correctly. In the Christian tradition there is not just one advent we celebrate, but three. 1. The First Advent is the coming of Christ to earth. 2. The Second Advent is the birth of Christ in each one of us on earth. 3. The Third Advent is the final return of Christ to earth. Dr. George Sweeting once estimated that "more than a fourth of the Bible is predictive prophecy...Both the Old and New Testaments are full of promises about the return of Jesus Christ. Over 1800 references appear in the O.T., and seventeen O.T. books give prominence to this theme. Of the 260 chapters in the N.T., there are more than 300 references to the Lord’s return--one out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 N.T. books refer to this great event...For every prophecy on the first coming of Christ, there are 8 on Christ’s second coming." SOURCE: Today in the Word, MBI, December, 1989, p. 40. Submitted by Guy Caley We are reminded that the whole point of us going back to remember the story of the baby Jesus coming in the world, is that he is coming back again a second time. We missed it the first time, but the second time is real to us and to our lives. When Paul tells us that it is time to wake up from our sleep, he is telling us that we need to morally prepare ourselves to meet our maker. In Romans, Paul tells us to wake up, but in Matthew – Jesus big message is that we don’t know when that moment will come. It may not be at midnight on Christmas morning. It could be anytime between then. One of the major themes of advent is that we don’t have much time. That the coming of Christ is imminent – it is coming any day now, so we have to be prepared THE DANGER OF SPIRITUAL PROCRASTINATION There is a fable which tells of three apprentice devils who were coming to this earth to finish their apprenticeship. They were talking to Satan, the chief of the devils, about their plans to tempt and to ruin men. The first said, "I will tell them that there is no God." Satan said, "That will not delude many, for they know that there is a God." The second said, "I will tell men that there is no hell." Satan answered, "You will deceive no one that way; men know even now that there is a hell for sin." The third said, "I will tell men that there is no hurry." "Go," said Satan, "and you will ruin men by the thousands." The most dangerous of all delusions is that there is plenty of time. (William Barclay: The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 2 [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975], p. 317. From a sermon by Matthew Kratz, The parable of the Faithful & Wise Servant, 7/17/2010 If you been around in life for any amount of time, you learn pretty quickly that in life – you don’t have time! Anything that you know that you need to do, you need to do now. Because you don’t know what tomorrow holds. You don’t know if the people you love will be there tomorrow, you don’t know that you will be there tomorrow. Or that you will have to means to do what you can do today. We are living in dark days, but we are also living in the days of the unknown. When Jesus says that the hour is unknown, he is not trying to scare us. But just remind us of the truth. In Matthew, Jesus gives us 4 things that we don’t know. We don’t know when the day of the Lord is coming, we don’t know when the flood will come and destroy our everyday life, we don’t know when we will be with a companion and one will be taken and one left behind, and we don’t know when a thief will break into our house. We don’t know a lot of things about life. but what we do know, is that in those dark days, sometimes that when you can see God the clearest. In the midst of the uncertainty of life, we know that God is with us. God has sent the good news that a new day is about to break, a new way of thinking, a new life. And we should prepare ourselves for that new day – by getting closer to God. Advent is about getting closer to God in the darkness, so that when the light comes – you can walk with God. In a world of uncertainty and what you don’t know, you can get to know God and what he has done for you, and what he will do for you in the future. Don’t look to the past, look to the future Before we go back 2000 years ago to a time long ago- the biggest lesson of advent is that real faith in Christ is not about the past. It is not about when God did for you in the past. It is not about how you got over. It is not about what you know, and about what you understand, and about what made sense to you yesterday. The dawn of a new day is coming! Things are changing, and instead of looking back, Jesus wants us to look ahead. Stop worrying about what you know, and think about what you don’t know. Stop worrying about what worked for you in the past – what works for you now! We cant do anything about the past- but we can be a part of creating a new future. God is a God of second chances, and second comings. Get yourself ready for a new day and a new coming of Christ in the world. We don’t have time to doddle around, it is time to wake up, for salvation is nearer then you think. Finally, this year I have been thinking about advent in a new way. Advent is our chance to get close to God, but we need to get close to the people around us also, and this is a perfect time to do it. Christmas and Easter may be crazy times, but it is the only two times of the year where the world comes looking for the church. Usually the message of advent is that there is secular Christmas and then there is holy Christmas, and that advent is our chance to be a part of holy Christmas. The problem with that is that we leave out the rest of the world at a time when people are looking for Christmas in the church. This year, let us let there be just one Christmas, for one Christ. It’s Not Christmas Here! It was the first day of the first semester of my first year in college. Like every other new student, I was anxious and nervous and afraid, but it didn’t help at all that I was also ten minutes late for Freshman English 105. I opened the door and 30 faces watched me turn red. Then the professor stopped his lecture and said to me “Physiology 400?” Totally embarrassed, I turned around and walked out. A moment later the door opened and a student called down the hall “Hey kid, come back. It’s English 105.” Today, you probably feel the same way I did all those years ago. You came to church fully expecting Christmas in your face! But surprise! It’s not Christmas here. It’s Physiology 400. Instead of “Deck the Halls” its fear and foreboding over the last days, when the world, as we know it, will end. Where the heck is Christmas? That’s what you all are wondering. Steven Molin, Surprise! People come to the church looking for Christmas, and we tell them know it is not Christmas – it is advent. Well this year, I want us to be Christmas for the rest of the world. Let’s sing Christmas carols, and say Merry Christmas and tell people the good news – that it may be dark now, but dawn is about to come! HAS ANYONE EVER ASKED YOU? Opal Whetset is a Christian writer. One night she was on a Greyhound bus between Flagstaff, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a cold February night and the bus stopped in a small Indian community. A young American Indian teenager boarded the bus and sat down behind her. Maybe it was the warmth of the bus or the rocking motion but she could tell by his breathing he was soon asleep. Sometime later he woke and ran down the aisle to ask about a certain stop where he was supposed to get off. The driver snapped back and said, "We passed that stop a long time ago. Why didn't you get off then?" The young man went back to his seat. She could tell he was anxious and upset. He got back up, walked back to the driver, and said, "Will you stop the bus and let me get off and walk back to where I was supposed to get off?" The bus driver said, "No, it's too cold and it's too far. You'd freeze. You've got to ride the bus all the way into Albuquerque then catch another bus back to your stop." The young man sat down in his seat behind Opal. She could tell he was upset. She turned around to this young man she never met before, and said, "Are you afraid? Is there anything I can do to help?" He said, "I don't know what to do. I've never been to Albuquerque, and besides, I don't have any money. They're going to make me pay again. I don't know what to do." She said, "Well listen, don't worry, you just stick with me. When we get to Albuquerque, I'll make sure you get on the right bus. And if they want to charge you, which they shouldn't do, I'll buy your ticket." Then Opal went up and talked to the bus driver and explained the situation. She said, "Can you make sure the next bus he gets on, they don't charge him to take him back to where he needs to go?" The bus driver finally agreed. Opal went back and sat down and turned to the young man behind her and said, "It's all taken care of. Don't you worry. Everything's going to be okay." After riding for about ten minutes in total silence, Opal felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and the young man leaned forward, and asked her this question. He said, "Ma'am, are you a Christian?" Has anybody ever asked you, "Are you a Christian?" (From a sermon by Bob Joyce, This advent, I want someone to ask you are you a Christian? Paul says it is time to wake up and prepare for the day. By waking up, he is saying prepare your life, be aware of your actions, live your life in a way that is pleasing to God. And finally for real this time – I want to leave you with this advent edition of the 23rd Psalm I Shall Not Rush Here is a version of the 23rd Psalm that ought to be mandatory reading each day of Advent, and a unison reading each Advent Sunday. The lord is my pace setter . . . I shall not rush He makes me stop for quiet intervals He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity He leads me in the way of efficiency through calmness of mind and his guidance is peace Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret, for his presence is here His timelessness, his all importance will keep me in balance He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility My cup of joyous energy overflows Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours for I shall walk in the Pace of my Lord and dwell in his house for ever. A version of Psalm 23 from Japan, as reprinted in Mother Teresa, Life in the Spirit: Reflections, Meditations, Prayers, ed. Kathryn Spink (San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1983), 76-77. Amen. William Sloan Coffin Metro Moments One of the great things about Washington, D.C. is the Metro system, a network of public transportation, much of it underground, that serves the District of Columbia and a growing area round it. One reaches a number of Metro stations by taking escalators deep down beneath the surface of the city. Some of these escalators, I am told, are among the tallest in the world. Once you reach the appropriate track, the train you seek will come within only a few minutes, unless it is there already. The train platform is a remarkable place. Why? Because it is governed by a single reality: the coming and going of trains. The people gathered there, whether many or few, have this common point of reference, and all of them are aware of it. There on the platform the coming and going of the trains is inescapable. The train has either left; or the train has stopped, however momentarily; or the train is expected to arrive. People on the Metro platform have an awareness which sets them utterly apart from Noah's distracted neighbors. Those neighbors were preoccupied by the ordinary business of life, enough to miss the train, or in their case, the ark. People on the Metro platform, however, are governed by the single reality of trains that have gone, trains that have stopped, and trains still to come. The Christian is someone who recognizes a single reality like that. Not trains, but the Christ who has come, is here, and is yet to come. As Christians, we must avoid the distraction that spelled disaster for Noah's neighbors. We need the sense of awareness, a shared awareness that characterizes the people on the Metro platform. We can have our Metro moments when we recognize that the common point of reference, the determining reality, is the Human Holy One, Jesus, who has come, will come, and is present now among us. Charles Hoffacker, Metro Moments I remember seeing a cartoon depicting a church that had been built in close proximity to an active volcano. In the picture are the church, its sign - "The Church Next to the Active Volcano" - and two men standing in front of the church, one of whom is wearing a clergy shirt and appears to be speaking to the other man. The caption reads, "Of course, there is a high degree of risk being located here, but it lends a great sense of urgency to my preaching!" Johnny Dean Wake Up! by Brett Blair Passage: Romans 13:8-14 • Lectionary: Advent 1 Item 10 of 17 | Back to Results Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate the urgency of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Props: An alarm clock Lesson: How many of you like to wake up in the morning? (response) How many of you like to lay in the bed and sleep, and find it hard to get up sometimes? (response) Me too. How many of you can get up easier if you know that you're going to do something really neat that day?(response) That's kind of like me, too. I remember two different times that it was time for me to wake up. One time I didn't. The other time I did. When I was little, my grandparents stayed with my family. The morning that they were to go home, my alarm clock went off (make the alarm sound for a moment, then shut it off) and I simply turned it off and went back to bed. When I woke up later, I remembered that my grandparents were supposed to leave that morning. I loved them very much, and I wanted to be sure and tell them goodbye. So I rushed into the kitchen, but only my mom was there. She told me that they had to leave earlier. They said to tell me goodbye, but they didn't want to wake me. I was sad. And I still remember that today, because I didn't wake up when I was supposed to. Another time, it was the 4th of July. And we had lots of people coming to our house. We were going to have a cookout, and play volleyball, and have corn on the cob. But we had a lot to do to get everything ready. My alarm went off, (again turn the alarm on and off) but this time, I got out of bed. I helped my Dad set up the volleyball net, and then I picked corn and shucked it so that everyone could have corn. We did a lot of work, but it was worth it because we all had a good time. And I was able to do a lot because I woke up. Did you like my two stories? Application: You know, the Bible says that it's time for Christians to wake up. How about that? St. Paul said that now is the time to wake up and walk in the light, because Jesus is not far away. Isn't that exciting news? One day soon we will all see Jesus, but we have a lot of work to do, and a lot of people to tell. So as Christians, there is not time to lay in bed. The Bible has sounded the alarm, and we don't want to go back to sleep. We have much more joy when we get up and do all the things there are to do, and share Jesus with everyone we can. Let us Pray: Thank you God for giving us the Bible to wake us up. Help us to spend our days preparing for Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen. Brett Blair, ChristianGlobe, 2000