We’ve come through the season of Advent and Christmas, and now celebrate Epiphany. Epiphany marks the revelation of the Christ child to the Gentiles, as personified by the Magi. In the Hispanic community, Epiphany Sunday is known as Three Kings Day. Children leave their shoes out so that the Kings will leave them presents. In some Orthodox Christian communities, Epiphany is connected, not with the arrival of the Magi, but with the baptism of Jesus. In these Orthodox Christian traditions, Epiphany ceremonies involve the ritual blessing of water. These varied customs all point to God’s self-revelation, through the incarnation of Jesus, to humankind.
At the same time, we leave 2009, with all its trials and all its blessings, behind. For many, the trials of the past year have weighed heavily – and yet, even amid struggle and hardship, God has brought us through. A new year, 2010, awaits – a new year with untold possibilities and promise, a new year with new opportunities to love God and neighbor.
What will 2010 bring? In the coming year, how and where will God be revealed? How will we experience the coming of the Christ in our lives, in the life of our congregation, in our beloved community of Bridesburg? What strangers from the East – or West or South or North, from far away or from just next door - may come to Emanuel Church, asking where they can find Jesus, seeking to adore the Christ, seeking “God with us”?
Only God knows the answers to these questions. Come what may, may we walk in the confidence that our loving God watches over us and cares for us. May these words from the prayer known as the St. Francis Breastplate bring us comfort in days ahead:
Christ be with me, Christ within me
Christ behind me, Christ before me
Christ beside me, Christ to win me
Christ to comfort me and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger
Christ in hearts of all that love me
Christ in mouth of friend or stranger.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Leaping for Joy - A Sermon for a Snowstorm
(Philadelphia, like many cities on the East Coast, is under a snow emergency as I write this, and services at Emanuel Church, like those at many Philadelphia churches, are cancelled for December 20. We will have Christmas Eve services at 7 p.m. Since there will be no services on Sunday, this blog will be my only chance to "preach" this Sunday.)
For the past two weeks, we’ve been hearing from John the Baptist, the wildman in the wilderness whose ministry prepared the way for Jesus’ own. This week, the women finally have a chance to get a word or two in edgewise. And what words they give us!
In our Gospel today (Luke 1:39-56) pregnant Mary sets out to visit her relative Elizabeth, who in her old age is also miraculously pregnant. We don’t hear at this point from Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah; he was struck mute during his angelic visitation. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and her cry of joy is remembered by the Roman Catholic church in the words of the Rosary: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Mary’s response has been called by the church the Magnificat, from the Latin rendering of its opening line – “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” And she continues with words that lay out major themes in Luke’s Gospel – “[God] has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” Mary’s words also recall the song of Hannah in I Samuel 2:1-10, a response to her own miraculous conception of Samuel.
As we count down the final days of Advent, we can reflect on how God has used these simple, human stories – a visit from a relative, companionship during pregnancy, the birth of a child – to change the world. These small, human-scale stories are part of the great story of God’s salvation. We should never doubt that God can likewise use our lives, our stories, to change the world. One of my former pastors always told our congregation at Christmas that when God wants to change the world, he sends, not an army, but a baby.
What about those words of Mary (and of Hannah) about the downfall of the powerful and the uplift of the lowly. Mary’s words are spoken as if these things have already happened, but we who hear these words are still in the midst of seeing them come to fulfillment. The news of the past year has reminded us that the gap between the powerful and the lowly are as stark as ever, and perhaps even seem to be increasing. And yet Mary reminds us that, ultimately, Mary’s baby, and not King Herod (or the Herods of our time), carry the day. I’m reminded of a verse from the familiar carol:
O ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow –
Look now! For glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing.
Amid the rush of final trips to the mall, in days ahead may we all make time and space to hear the music of the angels.
For the past two weeks, we’ve been hearing from John the Baptist, the wildman in the wilderness whose ministry prepared the way for Jesus’ own. This week, the women finally have a chance to get a word or two in edgewise. And what words they give us!
In our Gospel today (Luke 1:39-56) pregnant Mary sets out to visit her relative Elizabeth, who in her old age is also miraculously pregnant. We don’t hear at this point from Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah; he was struck mute during his angelic visitation. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and her cry of joy is remembered by the Roman Catholic church in the words of the Rosary: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Mary’s response has been called by the church the Magnificat, from the Latin rendering of its opening line – “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” And she continues with words that lay out major themes in Luke’s Gospel – “[God] has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” Mary’s words also recall the song of Hannah in I Samuel 2:1-10, a response to her own miraculous conception of Samuel.
As we count down the final days of Advent, we can reflect on how God has used these simple, human stories – a visit from a relative, companionship during pregnancy, the birth of a child – to change the world. These small, human-scale stories are part of the great story of God’s salvation. We should never doubt that God can likewise use our lives, our stories, to change the world. One of my former pastors always told our congregation at Christmas that when God wants to change the world, he sends, not an army, but a baby.
What about those words of Mary (and of Hannah) about the downfall of the powerful and the uplift of the lowly. Mary’s words are spoken as if these things have already happened, but we who hear these words are still in the midst of seeing them come to fulfillment. The news of the past year has reminded us that the gap between the powerful and the lowly are as stark as ever, and perhaps even seem to be increasing. And yet Mary reminds us that, ultimately, Mary’s baby, and not King Herod (or the Herods of our time), carry the day. I’m reminded of a verse from the familiar carol:
O ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow –
Look now! For glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing.
Amid the rush of final trips to the mall, in days ahead may we all make time and space to hear the music of the angels.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
What Should We Do?
When I was preparing this morning, an old church camp song came to mind. Raise your hands if you’ve heard it before:
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
And there are lots of other verses – stomp your feet, shout out loud, say amen! No end of things to do if you’re happy.
Today is the third Sunday of Advent, that season of anticipation for the coming of the Christ child. Once again, while our neighbors are at the mall, our Gospel reading (Luke 3:7-18) has us out in the desert with John the Baptist. And yet, today we also lit, along with the candles of hope and peace, the candle of joy. This year, our reading come from the Gospel of Luke, and, indeed, in Luke’s Gospel, joy is a recurring theme – joy that can last despite our circumstances.
Luke’s account of John the Baptist has much in common with Matthew and Mark – same guy dressed in camel skin, eating locusts and wild honey, same challenging words for those coming to him – “you brood of vipers” – you know, John’s not going to win many popularity points calling people snakes – same demand for repentance, same warning that their status as descendents of Abraham would not save them, as God could create descendents for Abraham from the stones on the ground. And, indeed, as God did create spiritual descendents for Abraham from the Gentile nations that accepted the good news gladly – and we here at Emanuel count among those spiritual descendents of Abraham that God has created.
But in Luke, the crowd pushes back at John a bit. “What should we do?” What do you want from us, John? As strident as John’s message has been so far, you might expect John to tell everyone to sell their homes and give away all their possessions and leave their families and flee the world and wear a hair shirt and come live with John in the desert – something really extreme – but John’s demands are – not that unreasonable. “Whoever has two coats must share with those who have none; those who have food must do likewise. Tax collectors, don’t collect more than is due. Soldiers, don’t blackmail or strong-arm or shake down the populace for money – be satisfied with your wages.” It may sound at first hearing like no more than “playing nice in the sandbox”, so to speak – don’t cheat, don’t extort – but more fundamentally John is asking his listeners not to abuse their authority, but to exercise it fairly. And there’s also a demand to share with those less fortunate. I would note that John’s demand to share a coat, if you have two, may be more demanding than it sounds. He didn’t say, if you have 22 coats, give away the one that’s the most worn out and threadbare…John’s demand is more like sharing half your possessions than just giving away one extra coat out of our surplus. So this would be costly - but this is all doable stuff – challenging, but doable. We can do this. And for a population that was used to being cheated and shaken down and watching others prosper while they starved, all of this would have been good news – cause for joy.
One wonders what John might say today if we were to go out into the desert to listen to him. Maybe something like: hey, investment bankers, don’t grab every last dollar in the economy for yourself – share some with the rest of us. Health insurance executives, don’t cut off peoples’ benefits the second they get sick. CEO’s, don’t pad your own pay by firing every last worker you can spare and shipping your jobs overseas. You can probably fill in a few suggestions on your own.
Luke tells us that with many other exhortations, John preached the good news to the people. Luke saw John’s words about repentance and turning around our lives as good news. But good news for who? And the answer is, ultimately us, our neighbor, and everyone. It’s all steps on the way toward that day of joy envisioned in Zephaniah, steps toward that day of the coming of the Kingdom when God will deal with the oppressors – those of Zephaniah’s time, those of John the Baptists’ and Jesus’ time, those of our own time - will gather the lame and the outcast, and turn shame into praise and renown.
Let me be clear: This isn’t about trying to work our way into the Kingdom of God. None of us can do any of this perfectly, and we will always need to ask forgiveness from Jesus, the coming one who is greater than John, for those places in our lives that are broken and those times when we sin against God and neighbor. It is only by God’s working in us that we can do any of this at all. But John’s message is about clearing the path, smoothing the way for the coming of Jesus and kingdom of God. John is a transitional figure, a bridge from Judaism’s “law and prophets” to Jesus and the coming of the Kingdom. He’s preparing the way for the greater one who is to come, and preaches repentance. Now when we think of repentance, we usually think of confession and being sorry for the sins of the past week – and that’s a part of it. But for John, repentance is not just about changing one’s mind, but about changing one’s behavior, ultimately about changing one’s life. Perhaps John is challenging his listeners to begin to live into the kind of behavior that expected in the kingdom of God. If you’re happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it. If you’ve got the joy of Jesus in your heart, you won’t be able to keep it to yourself.
John envisions Jesus, the coming one who is greater than he, as coming with a winnowing fork, to separate the wheat from the chaff. In that time, the winnowing fork would have been used to throw the wheat up in the air, so that the wind would catch and carry away the lighter chaff, or waste, leaving the wheat on the floor. When we hear about the wheat being separated by the chaff, we may think of Jesus separating the good people from the bad people, the sheep from the goats – and that may be part of it – but it’s also separating the good from the bad in each of us. And so it is with us; as we turn our lives over to Christ and live into being a disciple of Christ, as we go through the trials and storms of our lives and we feel like our lives are being tossed around and turned upside down, over the years Christ works to remove those things in our lives that keep us in bondage. And as we are more in harmony with God and neighbor, our lives will reflect the joy that comes with discipleship. If we’re happy and we know it, then our lives will surely show it. Then our lives will reflect Paul’s words from his letter to the Philippians, which he wrote from prison:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
For worry is at the heart of so much that is wrong with the world. As a society, fear of scarcity, fear that we won’t have enough, drives us to take more than our share. And that’s as true for the investment banker who insists he really needs a $3 million bonus and can’t possibly scrape by on $2 million, as it is for someone at the food bank who may try to take an extra can of vegetables. Fear and worry for our own safety drives us to turn our backs on our neighbors. If you’re worried and you know it, clench your fists…if you’re worried and you know it, grind your teeth….if you’re worried and you know it then your life will surely show it….But we don’t have to live in worry. Rather rejoice – even in unsettling times like our own. Let your gentleness be known. Don’t worry, but rather take your concerns in prayer to God, with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God – not a peace that’s enforced at gunpoint, not a peace that’s just a break between conflicts, but God’s peace that passes all human understanding, that will guard our hearts and minds so that, even though all around us is in an uproar, our hearts and minds will be focused on Christ Jesus. I began with a camp song, and I’m closing with a gospel song that you may not have heard, but maybe it’s one you can take home with you:
I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Allelu Allelu Alleluia
So no matter what this hectic Advent season brings, may we keep our hearts and minds stayed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Amen.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
And there are lots of other verses – stomp your feet, shout out loud, say amen! No end of things to do if you’re happy.
Today is the third Sunday of Advent, that season of anticipation for the coming of the Christ child. Once again, while our neighbors are at the mall, our Gospel reading (Luke 3:7-18) has us out in the desert with John the Baptist. And yet, today we also lit, along with the candles of hope and peace, the candle of joy. This year, our reading come from the Gospel of Luke, and, indeed, in Luke’s Gospel, joy is a recurring theme – joy that can last despite our circumstances.
Luke’s account of John the Baptist has much in common with Matthew and Mark – same guy dressed in camel skin, eating locusts and wild honey, same challenging words for those coming to him – “you brood of vipers” – you know, John’s not going to win many popularity points calling people snakes – same demand for repentance, same warning that their status as descendents of Abraham would not save them, as God could create descendents for Abraham from the stones on the ground. And, indeed, as God did create spiritual descendents for Abraham from the Gentile nations that accepted the good news gladly – and we here at Emanuel count among those spiritual descendents of Abraham that God has created.
But in Luke, the crowd pushes back at John a bit. “What should we do?” What do you want from us, John? As strident as John’s message has been so far, you might expect John to tell everyone to sell their homes and give away all their possessions and leave their families and flee the world and wear a hair shirt and come live with John in the desert – something really extreme – but John’s demands are – not that unreasonable. “Whoever has two coats must share with those who have none; those who have food must do likewise. Tax collectors, don’t collect more than is due. Soldiers, don’t blackmail or strong-arm or shake down the populace for money – be satisfied with your wages.” It may sound at first hearing like no more than “playing nice in the sandbox”, so to speak – don’t cheat, don’t extort – but more fundamentally John is asking his listeners not to abuse their authority, but to exercise it fairly. And there’s also a demand to share with those less fortunate. I would note that John’s demand to share a coat, if you have two, may be more demanding than it sounds. He didn’t say, if you have 22 coats, give away the one that’s the most worn out and threadbare…John’s demand is more like sharing half your possessions than just giving away one extra coat out of our surplus. So this would be costly - but this is all doable stuff – challenging, but doable. We can do this. And for a population that was used to being cheated and shaken down and watching others prosper while they starved, all of this would have been good news – cause for joy.
One wonders what John might say today if we were to go out into the desert to listen to him. Maybe something like: hey, investment bankers, don’t grab every last dollar in the economy for yourself – share some with the rest of us. Health insurance executives, don’t cut off peoples’ benefits the second they get sick. CEO’s, don’t pad your own pay by firing every last worker you can spare and shipping your jobs overseas. You can probably fill in a few suggestions on your own.
Luke tells us that with many other exhortations, John preached the good news to the people. Luke saw John’s words about repentance and turning around our lives as good news. But good news for who? And the answer is, ultimately us, our neighbor, and everyone. It’s all steps on the way toward that day of joy envisioned in Zephaniah, steps toward that day of the coming of the Kingdom when God will deal with the oppressors – those of Zephaniah’s time, those of John the Baptists’ and Jesus’ time, those of our own time - will gather the lame and the outcast, and turn shame into praise and renown.
Let me be clear: This isn’t about trying to work our way into the Kingdom of God. None of us can do any of this perfectly, and we will always need to ask forgiveness from Jesus, the coming one who is greater than John, for those places in our lives that are broken and those times when we sin against God and neighbor. It is only by God’s working in us that we can do any of this at all. But John’s message is about clearing the path, smoothing the way for the coming of Jesus and kingdom of God. John is a transitional figure, a bridge from Judaism’s “law and prophets” to Jesus and the coming of the Kingdom. He’s preparing the way for the greater one who is to come, and preaches repentance. Now when we think of repentance, we usually think of confession and being sorry for the sins of the past week – and that’s a part of it. But for John, repentance is not just about changing one’s mind, but about changing one’s behavior, ultimately about changing one’s life. Perhaps John is challenging his listeners to begin to live into the kind of behavior that expected in the kingdom of God. If you’re happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it. If you’ve got the joy of Jesus in your heart, you won’t be able to keep it to yourself.
John envisions Jesus, the coming one who is greater than he, as coming with a winnowing fork, to separate the wheat from the chaff. In that time, the winnowing fork would have been used to throw the wheat up in the air, so that the wind would catch and carry away the lighter chaff, or waste, leaving the wheat on the floor. When we hear about the wheat being separated by the chaff, we may think of Jesus separating the good people from the bad people, the sheep from the goats – and that may be part of it – but it’s also separating the good from the bad in each of us. And so it is with us; as we turn our lives over to Christ and live into being a disciple of Christ, as we go through the trials and storms of our lives and we feel like our lives are being tossed around and turned upside down, over the years Christ works to remove those things in our lives that keep us in bondage. And as we are more in harmony with God and neighbor, our lives will reflect the joy that comes with discipleship. If we’re happy and we know it, then our lives will surely show it. Then our lives will reflect Paul’s words from his letter to the Philippians, which he wrote from prison:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
For worry is at the heart of so much that is wrong with the world. As a society, fear of scarcity, fear that we won’t have enough, drives us to take more than our share. And that’s as true for the investment banker who insists he really needs a $3 million bonus and can’t possibly scrape by on $2 million, as it is for someone at the food bank who may try to take an extra can of vegetables. Fear and worry for our own safety drives us to turn our backs on our neighbors. If you’re worried and you know it, clench your fists…if you’re worried and you know it, grind your teeth….if you’re worried and you know it then your life will surely show it….But we don’t have to live in worry. Rather rejoice – even in unsettling times like our own. Let your gentleness be known. Don’t worry, but rather take your concerns in prayer to God, with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God – not a peace that’s enforced at gunpoint, not a peace that’s just a break between conflicts, but God’s peace that passes all human understanding, that will guard our hearts and minds so that, even though all around us is in an uproar, our hearts and minds will be focused on Christ Jesus. I began with a camp song, and I’m closing with a gospel song that you may not have heard, but maybe it’s one you can take home with you:
I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus
Allelu Allelu Alleluia
So no matter what this hectic Advent season brings, may we keep our hearts and minds stayed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Amen.
A Voice In The Wilderness
Today is the second Sunday in advent, our period of waiting for the coming of the Christ child. Earlier today we lit the candle of peace. Yet our Gospel reading today features John the Baptist in the wilderness preaching repentance, preaching change. His words don’t always sound very peaceful. John the Baptist isn’t the first person who comes to mend when I hear the word “peace”. And yet John points to a peace far deeper and far more lasting than the “peace and quiet” for which we so often yearn.
Each of the Gospel writers shape their stories in various ways. Remember that last year, Mark’s Gospel started out with the words, “the beginning of the good news of Jesus” and then went right into talking about John. Luke, writing 20 years later for a wealthy patron whom Luke names as Theophilus, is very careful about setting out the background for his Gospel. In fact, he introduced his gospel by saying that he’d heard from the eyewitnesses to Jesus and read earlier accounts, and wanted to take all this material and set it carefully in the proper order so that his readers would understand. And so Luke 3rd chapter gives us historical context, telling us who society’s key players, the movers and shakers, were at the time – “Let’s see…15th year of the Emperor Tiberius Caesar…Pontius Pilate governor of Judea, Herod the tetrarch or ruler of Galilee, Herod’s brother Philip the tetrarch in charge of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanius the tetrarch or ruler of Abilene…Annas and Caiaphas in charge at the Temple. After telling us “who’s who” from the view of the society of the day, Luke then begins to tell us who’s really in charge…”the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Last Sunday during the Bible study and coffee hour we talked a little about John’s birth. John’s father was Zechariah, and John’s birth to the aged couple Zechariah and Elizabeth was announced by the angel Gabriel. Zechariah was one of the priests in the Temple at Jerusalem, and had been offering burnt incense when Gabriel appeared to him. Zechariah was a priest, and you know what they say about “PK’s” or preachers’ kids…they have a reputation for rebelling and running wild. Whether it was “PK syndrome” or for some other reason, Zechariah’s son John did his ministry in the wilderness, far away from the Temple establishment, and in fact John was quite critical of the religious leaders, calling them a brood of vipers. He grew up among them, surrounded by them, so I guess he’d have known what he was talking about. Even so, I’m sure Zechariah must have been perplexed at his son’s harsh criticism of all Zechariah had devoted his life to, and you might imagine Zechariah’s conversations with his priestly colleagues…. “what did I do wrong?...well, maybe John just had to find his own way…he always did kind of march to his own drummer….”
Luke follows the pattern of Mark and Matthew in tying John’s ministry – a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins – to words from Isaiah 40. The Isaiah 40 passage begins softly – “Comfort, comfort ye my people.” Handel’s “Messiah” has a single tenor voice singing these words – “Comfort ye….comfort ye my people, says your God, says your God” Isaiah says to speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry that she has served her term – in context, her exile in Babylon – and that her penalty is paid. And then Isaiah moves to the words quoted in the Gospels – “A voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. And then we get words that sound like a project for PennDot – “make straight in the desert a highway for our God – every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain brought low, the crooked straight and the rough places plain.” Our civil engineering project having concluded, Luke, quoting Isaiah, says, “then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Repentance. Forgiveness. Valleys lifted up, mountains leveled. In a word, change. Earlier today we lit the candle of peace, but the idea of change doesn’t always bring peace. In fact, change usually brings anxiety. What’s wrong with the way things are now? If we change, we’ll have to learn new ways of doing things. We might make mistakes. We might fail. And for all the talk in church about repentance – change for those not in church - church is probably one of the places most resistant to change. Congregations have split over matters as trivial as the color of a new set of curtains in the social hall. There’s an old joke among pastors that the seven last words of the church are “we never did it that way before….”
Change brings anxiety – unless our current situation is a painful one, in which change may be very welcome. If the status quo is comfortable, we’ll resist change, but if we’re already in a world of hurt – well, when you think about it, what do we have to lose? And those who heard John’s message gladly were in a world of hurt – economically impoverished, politically oppressed and beaten down by Rome, spiritually oppressed by a corrupt religious hierarchy that had lost its way, much of which was in Rome’s pocket. For those in positions of comfort and power – the Caesars and Herods and Annases and Caiaphases of the world, the bad news was – things were about to change. For those who were at the bottom and on the margins of society, for those who were hurting, the good news was – things were about to change. For those whose lives were a perpetual struggle, the prospect of change brought, not anxiety, but hope and peace – the candles we lit today.
How about us? How we respond to John’s message may depend on, to use a favorite United Church of Christ phrase, where we are on our journey of life. If we are in a world of hurt, conscious of the brokenness in our lives, conscious that our actions have alienated us from God and neighbor, John’s message may be welcome – we know the status quo isn’t working, isn’t making it any more, and we’re overjoyed that change is even an option. Change may involve struggle and hard work, but we’re happy to embrace change – happy to repent, to leave our old ways behind – to have the chance for something better. And if you feel that tug of the heart, that voice of God calling you to change, to repent, I urge you to listen, and to respond. If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.
If we’ve been in the church for a while, I’m concerned that John’s message may fade into background noise…We hear about John every year about this time, hear about a voice in the wilderness, a highway for our God, baptism of repentance…yep, we’ve heard it all before. After all, we may think, it’s those people out there that need to change. We’re already in the church. We’re saved. We’re ok. It may be unsettling to consider that the religious leaders of John’s day were the ones for whom John had the harshest words. It may be unsettling for us to consider that God, who has done so much for us and in whom we’ve had faith for so long, may yet again be doing new things in our midst, may yet again be calling us forward to new acts of obedience…. to move out of places that at one time nourished us but now have us stuck, to change direction; in a word, to repent.
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill
shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” Luke 3:4-6
In the days and weeks ahead, may we prepare and clear the path for the new things that God will be doing in our midst. Amen.
Each of the Gospel writers shape their stories in various ways. Remember that last year, Mark’s Gospel started out with the words, “the beginning of the good news of Jesus” and then went right into talking about John. Luke, writing 20 years later for a wealthy patron whom Luke names as Theophilus, is very careful about setting out the background for his Gospel. In fact, he introduced his gospel by saying that he’d heard from the eyewitnesses to Jesus and read earlier accounts, and wanted to take all this material and set it carefully in the proper order so that his readers would understand. And so Luke 3rd chapter gives us historical context, telling us who society’s key players, the movers and shakers, were at the time – “Let’s see…15th year of the Emperor Tiberius Caesar…Pontius Pilate governor of Judea, Herod the tetrarch or ruler of Galilee, Herod’s brother Philip the tetrarch in charge of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanius the tetrarch or ruler of Abilene…Annas and Caiaphas in charge at the Temple. After telling us “who’s who” from the view of the society of the day, Luke then begins to tell us who’s really in charge…”the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Last Sunday during the Bible study and coffee hour we talked a little about John’s birth. John’s father was Zechariah, and John’s birth to the aged couple Zechariah and Elizabeth was announced by the angel Gabriel. Zechariah was one of the priests in the Temple at Jerusalem, and had been offering burnt incense when Gabriel appeared to him. Zechariah was a priest, and you know what they say about “PK’s” or preachers’ kids…they have a reputation for rebelling and running wild. Whether it was “PK syndrome” or for some other reason, Zechariah’s son John did his ministry in the wilderness, far away from the Temple establishment, and in fact John was quite critical of the religious leaders, calling them a brood of vipers. He grew up among them, surrounded by them, so I guess he’d have known what he was talking about. Even so, I’m sure Zechariah must have been perplexed at his son’s harsh criticism of all Zechariah had devoted his life to, and you might imagine Zechariah’s conversations with his priestly colleagues…. “what did I do wrong?...well, maybe John just had to find his own way…he always did kind of march to his own drummer….”
Luke follows the pattern of Mark and Matthew in tying John’s ministry – a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins – to words from Isaiah 40. The Isaiah 40 passage begins softly – “Comfort, comfort ye my people.” Handel’s “Messiah” has a single tenor voice singing these words – “Comfort ye….comfort ye my people, says your God, says your God” Isaiah says to speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry that she has served her term – in context, her exile in Babylon – and that her penalty is paid. And then Isaiah moves to the words quoted in the Gospels – “A voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. And then we get words that sound like a project for PennDot – “make straight in the desert a highway for our God – every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain brought low, the crooked straight and the rough places plain.” Our civil engineering project having concluded, Luke, quoting Isaiah, says, “then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Repentance. Forgiveness. Valleys lifted up, mountains leveled. In a word, change. Earlier today we lit the candle of peace, but the idea of change doesn’t always bring peace. In fact, change usually brings anxiety. What’s wrong with the way things are now? If we change, we’ll have to learn new ways of doing things. We might make mistakes. We might fail. And for all the talk in church about repentance – change for those not in church - church is probably one of the places most resistant to change. Congregations have split over matters as trivial as the color of a new set of curtains in the social hall. There’s an old joke among pastors that the seven last words of the church are “we never did it that way before….”
Change brings anxiety – unless our current situation is a painful one, in which change may be very welcome. If the status quo is comfortable, we’ll resist change, but if we’re already in a world of hurt – well, when you think about it, what do we have to lose? And those who heard John’s message gladly were in a world of hurt – economically impoverished, politically oppressed and beaten down by Rome, spiritually oppressed by a corrupt religious hierarchy that had lost its way, much of which was in Rome’s pocket. For those in positions of comfort and power – the Caesars and Herods and Annases and Caiaphases of the world, the bad news was – things were about to change. For those who were at the bottom and on the margins of society, for those who were hurting, the good news was – things were about to change. For those whose lives were a perpetual struggle, the prospect of change brought, not anxiety, but hope and peace – the candles we lit today.
How about us? How we respond to John’s message may depend on, to use a favorite United Church of Christ phrase, where we are on our journey of life. If we are in a world of hurt, conscious of the brokenness in our lives, conscious that our actions have alienated us from God and neighbor, John’s message may be welcome – we know the status quo isn’t working, isn’t making it any more, and we’re overjoyed that change is even an option. Change may involve struggle and hard work, but we’re happy to embrace change – happy to repent, to leave our old ways behind – to have the chance for something better. And if you feel that tug of the heart, that voice of God calling you to change, to repent, I urge you to listen, and to respond. If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.
If we’ve been in the church for a while, I’m concerned that John’s message may fade into background noise…We hear about John every year about this time, hear about a voice in the wilderness, a highway for our God, baptism of repentance…yep, we’ve heard it all before. After all, we may think, it’s those people out there that need to change. We’re already in the church. We’re saved. We’re ok. It may be unsettling to consider that the religious leaders of John’s day were the ones for whom John had the harshest words. It may be unsettling for us to consider that God, who has done so much for us and in whom we’ve had faith for so long, may yet again be doing new things in our midst, may yet again be calling us forward to new acts of obedience…. to move out of places that at one time nourished us but now have us stuck, to change direction; in a word, to repent.
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill
shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” Luke 3:4-6
In the days and weeks ahead, may we prepare and clear the path for the new things that God will be doing in our midst. Amen.
O Come, O Come Emanuel
“And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Luke 1:47
We are once again entering Advent, the series of preparation and anticipation of the coming of the Christ-child. We also start the beginning of a new cycle of Scripture readings for the year, and this year our Gospel readings will come primarily from Luke’s Gospel. Luke’s Gospel is unique for its accounts of two angelic appearances: the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah in the Temple to announce that Zechariah’s aged wife, Elizabeth, would soon be giving birth to a son who was to be named John - and Gabriel’s appearance to Mary to announce that she would soon be bearing a Son conceived by the Holy Spirit. These angelic visits initially bring fear and confusion (and Zechariah is even struck mute for a time), but they end in great joy.
Joy is a recurring theme in Luke’s Gospel. Repeatedly in Luke’s gospel, through Jesus Christ, God’s grace reaches into unexpected places and embraces those on the margins of society, those who least expected to be remembered by God. As Jesus ministers to Jew and Gentile alike, God’s grace is understood in new ways, and confusion and uncertainty give way to great joy.
It is by God’s grace that we continue to have the joy of gathering at Emanuel each Sunday. By God’s grace this will be the third Advent season I have had the joy and privilege of sharing with Emanuel. By God’s grace we have the privilege of welcoming visitors, many of whom become friends and members of Emanuel. Through us, God’s grace continues to reach into unexpected places and light up with joy the faces of those who least expect it. As we await the coming of the Christ-child during Advent and prepare Him room at Christmas, may God surprise with joy all the members and friends of Emanuel United Church of Christ.
See you in church!
We are once again entering Advent, the series of preparation and anticipation of the coming of the Christ-child. We also start the beginning of a new cycle of Scripture readings for the year, and this year our Gospel readings will come primarily from Luke’s Gospel. Luke’s Gospel is unique for its accounts of two angelic appearances: the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah in the Temple to announce that Zechariah’s aged wife, Elizabeth, would soon be giving birth to a son who was to be named John - and Gabriel’s appearance to Mary to announce that she would soon be bearing a Son conceived by the Holy Spirit. These angelic visits initially bring fear and confusion (and Zechariah is even struck mute for a time), but they end in great joy.
Joy is a recurring theme in Luke’s Gospel. Repeatedly in Luke’s gospel, through Jesus Christ, God’s grace reaches into unexpected places and embraces those on the margins of society, those who least expected to be remembered by God. As Jesus ministers to Jew and Gentile alike, God’s grace is understood in new ways, and confusion and uncertainty give way to great joy.
It is by God’s grace that we continue to have the joy of gathering at Emanuel each Sunday. By God’s grace this will be the third Advent season I have had the joy and privilege of sharing with Emanuel. By God’s grace we have the privilege of welcoming visitors, many of whom become friends and members of Emanuel. Through us, God’s grace continues to reach into unexpected places and light up with joy the faces of those who least expect it. As we await the coming of the Christ-child during Advent and prepare Him room at Christmas, may God surprise with joy all the members and friends of Emanuel United Church of Christ.
See you in church!
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