Matthew 4:12-23
Ordinary Time
Elizabeth M. Deibert
So did you decide to follow Jesus? I did -- back when I was fifteen. I remember a particular week – a conference I attended, but I also remember the weekly youth group meetings, playing the guitar for youth group retreats. I remember picking up my Good News Bible by my bed, underlining verses which meant something, and singing in the choir weekly in worship. Maybe you decided when you were growing up and it was a gradual sort of thing or perhaps you have a specific date, a moment of confirming your baptism, of making a conscious decision to follow Jesus. Maybe you had faith pushed on you in some uncomfortable way and you’re still struggling with whether or not you do want to follow Jesus. But you’re here today and I’d say that for most of you that means, you made a decision this morning to follow Jesus, to be part of the body of Christ today, to worship God, to receive the sacrament, to pray, to respond to God’s grace today.
And while I don’t want to dismiss the significance of those major life decisions, I want to emphasize the importance of daily decisions. Twenty-six years ago Richard and I decided to get married. That major decision needed to be made carefully and prayerfully, but do you think we knew what we were doing? How could we? So I would venture to say that just as significant as that initial decision is the decision we make every day to live into the commitment. Will I be kind? Will I forgive? Will I be faithful and watch boundaries? Will I work at communicating well? Will I go to couples enrichment classes when I can? Will I read books on strengthening my marriage? And the questions and decisions points are endless. And for some of us, our marriages have folded for some reasons beyond our control. But suffice it to say, healthy marriages stay reasonably healthy only through constant attention. And sometimes they become unhealthy to the point of death without a serious and long period of resuscitation.
So it is with our decision to follow Christ – to be a Christian. The daily decisions we make really determine over time just how committed we were to the first, the one-time decision.
We’re reading the story of the call to the fishermen. I expect Jesus called many people, but the ones who stuck with him, who were still there, still making the choice to follow him three years later -- they got recorded in the Scriptures.
Hear how easy it was to make that initial decision. God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, was so compelling, they just dropped their nets, left their boats and the family business behind, and started a new life with Christ. I suppose they had heard his preaching about the kingdom of God coming near. I’m guessing they had been around him and sensed that God’s light was shining brightly in him. I figure they knew that there was something different about this prophet. We don’t know how long Jesus had been in Capernaum by the sea of Galilee, preaching a Gospel of repentance and forgiveness. In the story it seems rather sudden – this initial decision of the first disciples. But who knows – they may have been following John the Baptist previously. They may have known Jesus for some time, but however they came to the first decision to follow, we know that the subsequent decisions of these two sets of brothers, to continue following Jesus were life-changing for them and for many of us who have followed them. Listen for what the Holy Spirit is saying to you, the church:
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea,
in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,
casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen.
19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers,
James son of Zebedee and his brother John,
in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets,
and he called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
So let’s talk about what following Jesus means. Following Jesus means you’re looking to see where he’s going. Our family took a trip to Disney World one New Year’s Eve. While it was exciting to be there for the fireworks show that night, I do not recommend going at that time. From about ten o’clock onward, the Magic Kingdom was so crowded, we had to literally hold onto one another to keep from losing someone. We were one shove away from separation, due to the pressure from the crowd. Following Jesus when life’s pressure is crowding in around you means holding onto to him tightly, so you don’t lose track of him. Following Jesus in normal conditions means watching him, paying attention to see what he does and where he is going.
Judi Creneti had been struggling for six months to discern what God was calling her to do next – whether she needed to stay in her current position, spending 20 hours each week working for Peace to prepare bulletin and powerpoint for worship and to our keep membership database current, or whether God was calling her to do something different with her time and energy. Sometimes the answers are not obvious, sometimes circumstances help with decision making. She prayed and listened, talked to close confidants, paid attention to context, and sought clear direction from the Spirit of God in this process.
You cannot have any idea who Jesus is or what he’s calling you to do, or where he’s calling you to go, if you’re not listening to him. There are a lot of distractions. Prayer is more than talking. Knowing Jesus is more than talking to him. Think about it. You also have to listen. Are you doing all the talking? Can the Lord get a word in edgewise? If you’re doing all the talking in a relationship, your listener will know a lot about you, but you will know very little about him, if you do not stop talking and listen. How do you listen to Christ?
1. by being still and listening in prayer, by being actively tuned in to God in worship.
2. by reading scripture, you hear the words of Christ and the words of those who have also been seeking to follow Christ or to obey God before Christ came to earth.
3. by being an active part of a church’s life and trying to discern with others what Christ is calling you to be and do.
4. by being humble enough to accept the direction and advice of other Christians
And then, you act on what you know. You see, too often we Christians notice our leader, our Head, Christ going in a certain direction. We’ll talk about it. We’ll say, “Yes, to be a truly faithful Christian means to move in that direction.” But we do not act on the truth we know. Christ keeps moving in that direction and we stop and watch, ‘til he is distant from us. Oops! He did not want to leave us behind but we did not have the courage and discipline to keep following, to do what we know to be right and good and holy. “And they dropped their nets and followed him.” Are you still hanging on to some net you should have dropped? “And they left their boat and their father, and they followed him?” Is there some relationship or some possession standing in your way of following?
Jesus says to the fishermen, “I will make you fish for people.” Your primary vocation as a Christian is to fulfill the Great Commandment – loving God and loving people – no matter what you do. It is also to fulfill the Great Commission – fishing for people.
So to a roofer, maybe Christ would say, “Provide shelter for people, and help them know that I am the One who shelters them in the storms of life.”
And to a banker, maybe Christ would say, “Make people rich in the things of God, as much as in the things of this world.” And to a teacher, “Lead people toward God’s wisdom more than mere human knowledge.” And to someone in the insurance business, “Follow me and help people to know their real security is in my hands.” And to someone in health care, “Care for people with such compassion that they know that I love them -- heart, soul, and body.” Jesus used an analogy that made sense in their world of fishing. Jesus called them to turn their vocation into something that demonstrated the value of following him. And so I ask you – what are you doing to turn your everyday activities into acts of following Christ and invitations to others to do the same?
Jesus calls us all to serve him in whatever we are doing. We are called to a wide variety of tasks, but with the same goal – glorifying God in whatever we do. It is easy for us to compartmentalize and think that we do a job for the practical need for money and that then in our free time we serve God as much as we can. But no, our calling is to serve the Lord well in everything we do.
Athletes and musicians do not get better at what they are doing without hours of practice. Writers and artists do not compose perfectly the first time, but keep tossing paper and canvas in the trash and starting over. Serious academics and researchers do not get where they are without hours of study. Should it, could it be any different with our primary vocation as God’s children, as Christ’s followers? The word vocation comes from the Greek word vocare (to call). We have keep working hard to get better at following through on our calling.
My mom has always told me that the job of parents is summed up in setting boundaries and following through in love. She always emphasized the follow-through. It is easy to make a rule or decision or commitment, but hard to follow through on it with steady resolve. For those of us called to parenting, following through is elemental.
The Christian life is essentially about following through on our decision to follow Christ. We need to remind ourselves and one another of the healthy boundaries of the Christian life – to follow through by staying on the path. We need to remind ourselves and one another weekly, daily, even hourly, that our goal is to follow Jesus – to look and listen to see where He’s leading – and stop being distracted and pulled away by all the pressures and people of this life. We need the disciplines of worship, scripture reading, prayer, and honest Christian companionship – to keep us on the right track. If you think you can hold onto your faith while spending lots of time with people who don’t share your faith, watch out. Do you think Peter and Andrew, James and John, would have been strong disciples if they had just continued hanging out with their father and the other fishermen, the ones who did not follow Jesus. No, the renewing light of Jesus’ preaching and life would have faded in their memory, just like those mountain-top experiences of ours fade when we do not follow them with a disciplined, faithful Christian life.
But because they made a daily commitment to keep following Christ, to have the dust from his feet right there in their faces…Because every day no matter the temptation to be distracted, they kept listening to him, walking where he walked, doing what he said to do, they became known as the twelve disciples, the faithful followers, including the women who went to the cross and the tomb in their faithful following. Because of the time they spent following Jesus, they had the strength and power and wisdom to share their faith, even after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. He was gone, but they were filled with His Spirit to share good news with all the world.
And look, here we are 2000 years later, our lives transformed by Christ and by the faithful example of the first followers in following through. Let us make a new commitment today to follow though daily in following Christ, even if it means leaving certain people and some unfinished jobs behind …so we may keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, keep our ears tuned to listening to him, and keep our feet walking in his direction. And then we will be fulfilling our calling as followers of Jesus Christ.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
No Body But Yours
John 1: 29-42
Tricia Dillon Thomas
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.1
Nails.
Toenails. Fingernails. Feet. Hands.
That's what I think of when I hear the poem by Teresa of /A'-vu-la/. It exemplifies incarnational theology. At its foundation, incarnational theology reminds us that God became incarnate-became flesh in Jesus Christ-to fully embody God's love for the world. We are called to be Jesus Christ to the world.2
What did Jesus' hands look like? What did his feet look like? I can't even imagine with all the walking.
I can tell you what my grandmother's looked like. My grandmother, I can only describe, as the closest person I witnessed being the Body of Christ. And her hands. They were awful. She never, ever got a manicure.
Her nails? Cracked. Uneven. Torn. Oh, and she had these ridges all along the nail. Like they weren't curved, but flat, tilt, flat, tilt. When I was a child I hoped I never inherited those nails. Those hands.
-----------------------
1 Terea of Avila (15‐15‐1582), "Christ Has No Body."
2 Rodger Nishokia, "John 1:29‐42: Pastoral Perspective." Pages 260‐ 5 in Feasting on the Word. Year A Volume 1 of Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary. Edited by David L.Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press,2010.
And her toes? They were her fingernails and then some. When I was young Grandma had a Black Recluse bite her toe, and the nail got all gross and rotted. It was like the infection never healed and half of the toenail on the big toe was always kind of missing.
And I remember in the hospital room before Grandma was moved to hospice, my mom was cutting Grandma's toenails, which was just horrible because we both have this phobia of feet. And anyway, she just skipped right over that nasty ole big toe. And I mouthed to my mom, "Cut the big one, it's gross." Now it was gross and long. And my mom did that face where she's mouthing "no" with a clenched jaw to hush me up so Grandma wouldn't know mom had skipped over Big Nasty.
But what my grandmother did with those feet and those hands. She used those feet to bring her closer to whomever needed her. Her friends mourning the loss of spouses. Her children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren when we just couldn't do it alone. She used those hands to drive friends and neighbors to doctor's appointments and to feed their cats and dogs when they were out of town. She used them to prepare each of our favorite meals and make her famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. Her hands were used them to answer phones at the church, count offering after worship, to help edit the bulletin. She used those hands to embrace the world¼ and scratch my back and head.
I've noticed in the past 10 years that my nails have started to flat, tilt, flat, tilt, and I don't even mind. In fact it's a blessing of a reminder, than I am a child of God, and I am called to be the hands and feet of Christ, no matter the burden. That I'm called to be the mouth, the tongue, the breath, no matter the sacrifice. No matter how ugly my hands and feet may get.
Let us hear now how the Spirit is speaking to her church.
READ SCRIPTURE-John 1:29-42
My new favorite biblical character, John the Baptist sees Jesus walking toward him. He declares, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" He's the one I was talking about when I said, "After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me." Remember how I told you the one who sent me to baptize with water said the Messiah would be the one the dove descended on and stayed there?" That's him. He's the one! Jesus is the Son of God!"
And the next day, John is with his disciples when he sees Jesus again. Did you catch that? HIS disciples. John's Gospel is the only one that claims the disciples were his before following Jesus. We'll get back to that. John the Baptist is the first to witness to Jesus the Christ, perhaps the original evangelist. He proclaims, "Look, here is the Lamb of God." So the two disciples here this and they follow Jesus. Now Jesus, aware he's being followed turns and says, "What are you looking for?" And they say, "Where are you staying?" Jesus responds, "Come and see." This response from Jesus, "Come and see" seems weighty to me. It is beyond location to conduct. Come and see. And so they do. The disciples leave John and follow Jesus.
We learn that one of the disciples who left John and followed Jesus was Andrew. After spending the day with Jesus, Andrew is convinced and runs to find his loved ones to tell the good news. The first person he runs into is Simon Peter, his brother. And he announces: "We have found the Messiah!"
I'm not quite sure about the family dynamics of the sons of John, but in my family, there might have been a big smile to the tone of na-nana-na-na. And YOU didn't. But they were probably way more mature than our family.
So he announces we have found the Messiah, and they take off together towards Jesus.
We have found the Messiah!
So now what?
We have found the Messiah. You and me, and now what? Do we leave here and get back into our cars and go home, and do homework, and make dinner, and come back the next week?
Nails. Hands. Feet.
If the story ended here it would be a cliff hanger. You have found the Messiah and what? Nails? Hands? Feet? What are you going to do now that you have "Found the Messiah?" Isn't that the question for us all? What are we going to do now that we have "Found the Messiah?"
You know what else I love about this story? I love how it ends. Jesus meets Simon Peter, takes one look, and says, "You are Simon, son of John. You are to be called Cephas.
It means Peter.
Some of you know that names in the biblical tradition were really important. Peter means Stone or Rock. But here's something else. It can also mean rock-y.
Rocky. As in not perfect, not smooth, but flat.tilt.flat.tilt.
Peter was rocky. Not perfect. Always trying to please Jesus, and often messing things up. And if that doesn't make you feel good about being able to follow Christ...if he can do it flat.tilt.flat.tilt, then I can certainly try.
And Rocky. As in a little off? Flat.tilt.flat.tilt.
Well, Peter's brother was a follower of John the Baptist, and maybe he was too. And we know that guy was strange. Remember locusts? Honey? Camel's hair?
But I think Jesus means that we need to be rocky to follow him, too. Look, following Jesus Christ is risky business and it's foolish. I took a class once called the "Foolishness of the Gospel." If we hear what the Bible has to say, and we try to follow, we need to be a little rocky. We can't live how our peers and all the books, magazines, and TV shows tell us how to live. We can't live by the world's standards. We have to live as Jesus showed and taught us. He called us to word and deed. And this living, this foolish living it is both blessing and burden. It is reckless devotion. And it is rocky. Nails. Hands. Feet. Lips. Tongues. Breath. Rocky.
But it's not really a new concept to this church is it? Rocky. Rocks. Gratitude. It is our grateful response for the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that moves us to be these nails and hands and feet.
May we be Christ's body on this earth.
May we be his hands and feet on this earth.
May we be the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.
And may we each be a little rocky.
Tricia Dillon Thomas
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.1
Nails.
Toenails. Fingernails. Feet. Hands.
That's what I think of when I hear the poem by Teresa of /A'-vu-la/. It exemplifies incarnational theology. At its foundation, incarnational theology reminds us that God became incarnate-became flesh in Jesus Christ-to fully embody God's love for the world. We are called to be Jesus Christ to the world.2
What did Jesus' hands look like? What did his feet look like? I can't even imagine with all the walking.
I can tell you what my grandmother's looked like. My grandmother, I can only describe, as the closest person I witnessed being the Body of Christ. And her hands. They were awful. She never, ever got a manicure.
Her nails? Cracked. Uneven. Torn. Oh, and she had these ridges all along the nail. Like they weren't curved, but flat, tilt, flat, tilt. When I was a child I hoped I never inherited those nails. Those hands.
-----------------------
1 Terea of Avila (15‐15‐1582), "Christ Has No Body."
2 Rodger Nishokia, "John 1:29‐42: Pastoral Perspective." Pages 260‐ 5 in Feasting on the Word. Year A Volume 1 of Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary. Edited by David L.Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press,2010.
And her toes? They were her fingernails and then some. When I was young Grandma had a Black Recluse bite her toe, and the nail got all gross and rotted. It was like the infection never healed and half of the toenail on the big toe was always kind of missing.
And I remember in the hospital room before Grandma was moved to hospice, my mom was cutting Grandma's toenails, which was just horrible because we both have this phobia of feet. And anyway, she just skipped right over that nasty ole big toe. And I mouthed to my mom, "Cut the big one, it's gross." Now it was gross and long. And my mom did that face where she's mouthing "no" with a clenched jaw to hush me up so Grandma wouldn't know mom had skipped over Big Nasty.
But what my grandmother did with those feet and those hands. She used those feet to bring her closer to whomever needed her. Her friends mourning the loss of spouses. Her children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren when we just couldn't do it alone. She used those hands to drive friends and neighbors to doctor's appointments and to feed their cats and dogs when they were out of town. She used them to prepare each of our favorite meals and make her famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. Her hands were used them to answer phones at the church, count offering after worship, to help edit the bulletin. She used those hands to embrace the world¼ and scratch my back and head.
I've noticed in the past 10 years that my nails have started to flat, tilt, flat, tilt, and I don't even mind. In fact it's a blessing of a reminder, than I am a child of God, and I am called to be the hands and feet of Christ, no matter the burden. That I'm called to be the mouth, the tongue, the breath, no matter the sacrifice. No matter how ugly my hands and feet may get.
Let us hear now how the Spirit is speaking to her church.
READ SCRIPTURE-John 1:29-42
My new favorite biblical character, John the Baptist sees Jesus walking toward him. He declares, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" He's the one I was talking about when I said, "After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me." Remember how I told you the one who sent me to baptize with water said the Messiah would be the one the dove descended on and stayed there?" That's him. He's the one! Jesus is the Son of God!"
And the next day, John is with his disciples when he sees Jesus again. Did you catch that? HIS disciples. John's Gospel is the only one that claims the disciples were his before following Jesus. We'll get back to that. John the Baptist is the first to witness to Jesus the Christ, perhaps the original evangelist. He proclaims, "Look, here is the Lamb of God." So the two disciples here this and they follow Jesus. Now Jesus, aware he's being followed turns and says, "What are you looking for?" And they say, "Where are you staying?" Jesus responds, "Come and see." This response from Jesus, "Come and see" seems weighty to me. It is beyond location to conduct. Come and see. And so they do. The disciples leave John and follow Jesus.
We learn that one of the disciples who left John and followed Jesus was Andrew. After spending the day with Jesus, Andrew is convinced and runs to find his loved ones to tell the good news. The first person he runs into is Simon Peter, his brother. And he announces: "We have found the Messiah!"
I'm not quite sure about the family dynamics of the sons of John, but in my family, there might have been a big smile to the tone of na-nana-na-na. And YOU didn't. But they were probably way more mature than our family.
So he announces we have found the Messiah, and they take off together towards Jesus.
We have found the Messiah!
So now what?
We have found the Messiah. You and me, and now what? Do we leave here and get back into our cars and go home, and do homework, and make dinner, and come back the next week?
Nails. Hands. Feet.
If the story ended here it would be a cliff hanger. You have found the Messiah and what? Nails? Hands? Feet? What are you going to do now that you have "Found the Messiah?" Isn't that the question for us all? What are we going to do now that we have "Found the Messiah?"
You know what else I love about this story? I love how it ends. Jesus meets Simon Peter, takes one look, and says, "You are Simon, son of John. You are to be called Cephas.
It means Peter.
Some of you know that names in the biblical tradition were really important. Peter means Stone or Rock. But here's something else. It can also mean rock-y.
Rocky. As in not perfect, not smooth, but flat.tilt.flat.tilt.
Peter was rocky. Not perfect. Always trying to please Jesus, and often messing things up. And if that doesn't make you feel good about being able to follow Christ...if he can do it flat.tilt.flat.tilt, then I can certainly try.
And Rocky. As in a little off? Flat.tilt.flat.tilt.
Well, Peter's brother was a follower of John the Baptist, and maybe he was too. And we know that guy was strange. Remember locusts? Honey? Camel's hair?
But I think Jesus means that we need to be rocky to follow him, too. Look, following Jesus Christ is risky business and it's foolish. I took a class once called the "Foolishness of the Gospel." If we hear what the Bible has to say, and we try to follow, we need to be a little rocky. We can't live how our peers and all the books, magazines, and TV shows tell us how to live. We can't live by the world's standards. We have to live as Jesus showed and taught us. He called us to word and deed. And this living, this foolish living it is both blessing and burden. It is reckless devotion. And it is rocky. Nails. Hands. Feet. Lips. Tongues. Breath. Rocky.
But it's not really a new concept to this church is it? Rocky. Rocks. Gratitude. It is our grateful response for the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that moves us to be these nails and hands and feet.
May we be Christ's body on this earth.
May we be his hands and feet on this earth.
May we be the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.
And may we each be a little rocky.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Baptismal Identity
Acts 10:34-48
Baptism of the Lord Sunday
Elizabeth M. Deibert
This is the day that Presbyterians and many other Christians focus on the Sacrament of Baptism. We remember the story of Jesus’ baptism and we remember our own Baptism. I wonder how many of you can name your own baptism date. Some of you were old enough to recall the event. Others of you were baptized as babies so you don’t remember it any better than you remember your own birth. But you do celebrate your birthday, so why not your baptism day? If you consider baptism an important event (and you should) then why not celebrate it every year? Make it a special day. Light a candle. Say a prayer. Read a scripture. Be thankful for the gift of God’s grace in your life.
Jacob Jordan was baptized on this Sunday one year ago and Troy Ballou two years ago on this Baptism Sunday. I was in the church where I was baptized last Sunday. I sat so close to the baptismal font, I could view the water inside. I had this urge to reach out and touch it. Sacraments are touchable, visible, physical reminders of a spiritual reality.
Baptism is the moment of inclusion for Christians. It is moment when we say, “You belong to God.” Of course, it is not that God loves us only after baptism, but baptism is an important moment of marking us as God’s children, of celebrating how great is God’s love toward us.
When Jesus was baptized by John, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved. With him I am well pleased.” That’s what God says to you too. There’s nothing you have ever done or can ever do to separate yourself from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Our scripture lesson from Acts recounts one of the most significant stories in the early church after Jesus’s death and resurrection. It is the story of the baptism of Cornelius and his relatives and close friends. Cornelius was not a Jew. He was a God-fearing Gentile. The encounter between Peter and his fellow believers and Cornelius and his household is monumental. It is hard for those of us in the 21st Century to understand how awkward a faithful Jew, even one who loves and follows Jesus like Peter, feels when he is asks to associate with a Gentile. It was against all that Peter had been taught in the temple. It just wasn’t right.
But Peter has this vision and was told to do what his family and religious authorities had always told him was wrong. Peter thought he understood God’s love and God’s commandments, but now he was being told to break the rules he had learned and faithfully obeyed. He was being told to associate with, to include people whom he had previously considered outside the circle of God’s grace.
Hear what Peter (the insider) had to say:
Acts 10:34-48
Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality,
35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ-- he is Lord of all.
37 That message spread throughout Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power;
how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;
40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear,
41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses,
and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 He commanded us to preach to the people
and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.
43 All the prophets testify about him
that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.
45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded
that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,
46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.
Then Peter said, 47 "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people
who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
48 So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Then they invited him to stay for several days.
Peter had lived and served with Jesus. He knew Jesus, but he still needed to learn that God doesn’t leave anyone out. Peter said, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality.” He summarizes the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ from Jesus’s baptism to his ministry of healing and good works, to his death on a cross, his resurrection on the third day, and his appearance and communion meals before ascending into heaven. I love the way Peter speaks about preaching peace by Jesus Christ. That what we are called to do – to preach peace by Jesus Christ. Preaching peace happens by Jesus Christ. We do not need to leave out the truth we know in Jesus, nor do we need to ignore that the message is about peace.
Your baptismal identity is that you are named beloved, but not favorite. You are God’s Beloved, but you’re not in an exclusive club. You are Beloved, not so you can do whatever you want, but beloved so you can be all you were meant to be. Too many Christians think God has favorites. God does not love Presbyterians more than Baptists or Catholics. God does not love people in large well-developed churches with beautiful building more than God loves people in small developing churches with no building of their own.
God does not love Christians and Jews more than Muslims and Buddhists. God does not love Americans more than Iraqis or Sudanese or Haitians. God doesn’t love young people more than old people, or married people more than singles, widowed and divorced folks, straights more than gays. God doesn’t love the rich more than the poor, the hard-working more than the lazy, or the A student more than the failing student.
God doesn’t love a particular political party and would chastise both Democrats and Republicans for their (for our) ridiculous polarizing tactics. God does not love upstanding tax-paying citizens more than prisoners or drug-addicts. Preachers more than pimps, pediatricians more than pedophiles. Like a perfect parent, God loves all us children just the same. God wants the best for all of us, and asks the best of all of us. And sometimes is very disappointed by us, by the way we ignore who we really are – beloved children of God. God wants to be in close relationship with every one of us, building in us Christ-like character.
Peter’s lesson was so difficult for the early church, and the challenges of appreciating the breadth and depth of God’s love continue to our day. While we have made strides in understanding people different from us, we continue to polarize and divide ourselves into camps, failing to appreciate that God intends us to live as one human family, united by love. We, of all people, should understand that Christ came to throw open the doors, break open the covenant, to touch the whole world in such a way that it will never be the same again. That’s the message we have to pass on and it is great news, nothing exclusive, just an endless ocean of God’s impartial love for the whole world with waves rolling in, one after another, after another.
As you begin a new year, remember who you are. You are the people marked by baptism as beloved sons and daughters of God. You are the people who know about this endless ocean of God’s love, which washes over every one of us.
No matter who we are, no matter where we’ve been, no matter what we’ve been doing, no matter how we’ve been thinking. God’s love surrounds us, fills us, restores and makes us clean. Come to the font today, as you come to communion table. Touch the water and remember that you belong. You have been washed clean. You can begin again. Live as a new person. Be the Christian you are called to be.
Think of your baptismal identity in this way. You are a Christian. Parse the word like this. Christ – IAN – I am new. In Christ you are new. You are a new creation. Come to the font, as you come to the table. Dip into the water, make a sign of the cross on your forehead or splash in the water with your hand. Remember your baptismal identity and be thankful. Say to yourself, “I am God’s beloved. I am a new creation, marked by Christ.”
With all our warts and our broken-ness and our terrible failures and our shameful embarrassments, we can come to the baptismal font and the communion table, and know that we are a new creation and continually being made new by a powerful and loving Lord. We’re truly beloved. We’re truly accepted. We are part of the family of God. And you know what? So are they.
Faithful God, in baptism you claimed us; and by your Spirit you are working in our lives,
empowering us to live a life worthy of our calling. Remind us today of the depth of your unconditional love for us and your high calling on us to live faithfully. Establish us in your truth,
and guide us by your Spirit, that, together with all your people, we may grow in faith, hope, and love, and be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit
be honor and glory, now and forever.
Baptism of the Lord Sunday
Elizabeth M. Deibert
This is the day that Presbyterians and many other Christians focus on the Sacrament of Baptism. We remember the story of Jesus’ baptism and we remember our own Baptism. I wonder how many of you can name your own baptism date. Some of you were old enough to recall the event. Others of you were baptized as babies so you don’t remember it any better than you remember your own birth. But you do celebrate your birthday, so why not your baptism day? If you consider baptism an important event (and you should) then why not celebrate it every year? Make it a special day. Light a candle. Say a prayer. Read a scripture. Be thankful for the gift of God’s grace in your life.
Jacob Jordan was baptized on this Sunday one year ago and Troy Ballou two years ago on this Baptism Sunday. I was in the church where I was baptized last Sunday. I sat so close to the baptismal font, I could view the water inside. I had this urge to reach out and touch it. Sacraments are touchable, visible, physical reminders of a spiritual reality.
Baptism is the moment of inclusion for Christians. It is moment when we say, “You belong to God.” Of course, it is not that God loves us only after baptism, but baptism is an important moment of marking us as God’s children, of celebrating how great is God’s love toward us.
When Jesus was baptized by John, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved. With him I am well pleased.” That’s what God says to you too. There’s nothing you have ever done or can ever do to separate yourself from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Our scripture lesson from Acts recounts one of the most significant stories in the early church after Jesus’s death and resurrection. It is the story of the baptism of Cornelius and his relatives and close friends. Cornelius was not a Jew. He was a God-fearing Gentile. The encounter between Peter and his fellow believers and Cornelius and his household is monumental. It is hard for those of us in the 21st Century to understand how awkward a faithful Jew, even one who loves and follows Jesus like Peter, feels when he is asks to associate with a Gentile. It was against all that Peter had been taught in the temple. It just wasn’t right.
But Peter has this vision and was told to do what his family and religious authorities had always told him was wrong. Peter thought he understood God’s love and God’s commandments, but now he was being told to break the rules he had learned and faithfully obeyed. He was being told to associate with, to include people whom he had previously considered outside the circle of God’s grace.
Hear what Peter (the insider) had to say:
Acts 10:34-48
Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality,
35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ-- he is Lord of all.
37 That message spread throughout Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power;
how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.
39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;
40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear,
41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses,
and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 He commanded us to preach to the people
and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.
43 All the prophets testify about him
that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.
45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded
that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,
46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.
Then Peter said, 47 "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people
who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
48 So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Then they invited him to stay for several days.
Peter had lived and served with Jesus. He knew Jesus, but he still needed to learn that God doesn’t leave anyone out. Peter said, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality.” He summarizes the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ from Jesus’s baptism to his ministry of healing and good works, to his death on a cross, his resurrection on the third day, and his appearance and communion meals before ascending into heaven. I love the way Peter speaks about preaching peace by Jesus Christ. That what we are called to do – to preach peace by Jesus Christ. Preaching peace happens by Jesus Christ. We do not need to leave out the truth we know in Jesus, nor do we need to ignore that the message is about peace.
Your baptismal identity is that you are named beloved, but not favorite. You are God’s Beloved, but you’re not in an exclusive club. You are Beloved, not so you can do whatever you want, but beloved so you can be all you were meant to be. Too many Christians think God has favorites. God does not love Presbyterians more than Baptists or Catholics. God does not love people in large well-developed churches with beautiful building more than God loves people in small developing churches with no building of their own.
God does not love Christians and Jews more than Muslims and Buddhists. God does not love Americans more than Iraqis or Sudanese or Haitians. God doesn’t love young people more than old people, or married people more than singles, widowed and divorced folks, straights more than gays. God doesn’t love the rich more than the poor, the hard-working more than the lazy, or the A student more than the failing student.
God doesn’t love a particular political party and would chastise both Democrats and Republicans for their (for our) ridiculous polarizing tactics. God does not love upstanding tax-paying citizens more than prisoners or drug-addicts. Preachers more than pimps, pediatricians more than pedophiles. Like a perfect parent, God loves all us children just the same. God wants the best for all of us, and asks the best of all of us. And sometimes is very disappointed by us, by the way we ignore who we really are – beloved children of God. God wants to be in close relationship with every one of us, building in us Christ-like character.
Peter’s lesson was so difficult for the early church, and the challenges of appreciating the breadth and depth of God’s love continue to our day. While we have made strides in understanding people different from us, we continue to polarize and divide ourselves into camps, failing to appreciate that God intends us to live as one human family, united by love. We, of all people, should understand that Christ came to throw open the doors, break open the covenant, to touch the whole world in such a way that it will never be the same again. That’s the message we have to pass on and it is great news, nothing exclusive, just an endless ocean of God’s impartial love for the whole world with waves rolling in, one after another, after another.
As you begin a new year, remember who you are. You are the people marked by baptism as beloved sons and daughters of God. You are the people who know about this endless ocean of God’s love, which washes over every one of us.
No matter who we are, no matter where we’ve been, no matter what we’ve been doing, no matter how we’ve been thinking. God’s love surrounds us, fills us, restores and makes us clean. Come to the font today, as you come to communion table. Touch the water and remember that you belong. You have been washed clean. You can begin again. Live as a new person. Be the Christian you are called to be.
Think of your baptismal identity in this way. You are a Christian. Parse the word like this. Christ – IAN – I am new. In Christ you are new. You are a new creation. Come to the font, as you come to the table. Dip into the water, make a sign of the cross on your forehead or splash in the water with your hand. Remember your baptismal identity and be thankful. Say to yourself, “I am God’s beloved. I am a new creation, marked by Christ.”
With all our warts and our broken-ness and our terrible failures and our shameful embarrassments, we can come to the baptismal font and the communion table, and know that we are a new creation and continually being made new by a powerful and loving Lord. We’re truly beloved. We’re truly accepted. We are part of the family of God. And you know what? So are they.
Faithful God, in baptism you claimed us; and by your Spirit you are working in our lives,
empowering us to live a life worthy of our calling. Remind us today of the depth of your unconditional love for us and your high calling on us to live faithfully. Establish us in your truth,
and guide us by your Spirit, that, together with all your people, we may grow in faith, hope, and love, and be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit
be honor and glory, now and forever.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas Sermon
Titus 2.11-15 & Luke 2.8-20
Elizabeth and Richard Deibert
Elizabeth:1 God With Us, O Word made flesh, give us, we pray,
a spirit of Wisdom, that we might see you and know how
great is the hope to which we have been called. Amen.
Richard: One of the favorite books in the Deibert household for
72 child years has been this little volume called Joyful Noise:
Poems for Two Voices,2 in which a parent and a child read a
poem side by side, carefully constructed to clash and to ring
and to sing about the glory of God’s world. We have written
a poem in two voices, based on these two texts before us on
this Christmas Sunday. It is our gift to you and it requires you
to suspend your rational left brain and to relax your imaginative
right brain. It will be an entirely new homiletical experience for
you. So sit back and enjoy this gift on Christmas morning.
Hear the Word of the Lord from Paul to the young pastor Titus
about the glory of Christmas:
Titus 2 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,
12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the
present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,
13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself
for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
15 Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority.
Let no one look down on you.
Luke 2 8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord
stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and
they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid;
for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the
Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child
wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth
peace among those whom he favors!" 15 When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let
us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord
____________
1Elizabeth read the right column; Richard read the left.
2Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise: Poems For Two Voices,
illustrated by Eric Beddows.HarperCollins, 1988
(winner of the 1989 Newberry Medal).
____________
has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary
and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this,
they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and
all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But
Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they
had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Richard
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all.
Elizabeth
In that region there were shepherds
living in the fields, keeping watch
over their flock by night.
Richard
The grace of God has appeared.
Elizabeth
Then an angel of the Lord stood before
them, and the glory of the Lord.
Richard
The grace of God.
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Shone around them.
Richard
The grace of God appeared.
Elizabeth
And they were terrified.
Richard
Bringing salvation to all.
Elizabeth
But the angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid.”
Richard
Bringing salvation.
Elizabeth
“Do not be afraid.”
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
“Do not be afraid.”
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
“For see — ”
Richard
The grace of God has
Appeared!
Elizabeth
“See!”
Richard
The glory of the Lord
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord
Richard
shown around them.
Elizabeth
shown around them.
“See — I am
Richard
Bringing
Elizabeth
Bringing
Richard
To all
Elizabeth
You
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
Good news.
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
of great joy.
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
Good news.
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
For all people.
To you.
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
Is born this day
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
In the city of David
Richard
Our great God and
Savior
Elizabthe
Savior.
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Who is
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
The Messiah,
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
The Lord.
Richard
The grace of God
Elizabeth
Good news.
Richard
Has appeared
Elizabeth
Great joy.
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
For all people.
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
You will find a child wrapped in bands
of cloth
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
Lying in a manger.
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
And suddenly there was with the angel
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
A multitude of the heavenly host,
Praising God and saying,
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
“Glory to God in the highest heaven”
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
“And on earth peace among those
whom God favors!”
Richard
“Glory to God in the highest heaven”
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Richard
“And on earth peace among those
whom God favors!”
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Richard
“Glory to God in the highest heaven.”
Elizabeth
“Glory to God in the highest heaven.”
Elizabeth
When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven,
Richard
“On earth peace.”
Elizabeth
the shepherds said to one another, “Let
us go now to
Richard
“Peace.”
Elizabeth
“Bethlehem
“And see this thing that has
Richard
“Appeared.”
Elizabeth
“Taken place.”
Richard
“Taken place.”
Elizabeth
“Appeared.”
Richard
The blessed hope.
Elizabeth
“On earth.”
Richard
The manifestation.
Elizabeth
“On earth.”
Richard
A people of His own.
Elizabeth
“On earth.”
“Peace.”
Richard
“Peace.”
Elizabeth
“Which the Lord has made known”
Richard
“To all.”
Elizabeth
“To us.”
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
“Peace.”
Richard
“Peace.”
Elizabeth
Salvation.
So they went with haste and found
Mary and Joseph, and
Richard
Our great God.
Elizabeth
A child
Richard
Our great God.
Elizabeth
Lying in the manger.
Richard
Our great God.
Elizabeth
Wrapped in bands of cloth.
Richard
A child.
Elizabeth
Our great God.
Richard
Lying in the manger.
Elizabeth
Our great God.
Richard
Wrapped in bands of cloth.
Elizabeth
Our great God.
“To you is born this day
Richard
“A Savior.”
Elizabeth
“A Savior
Richard
Our great God,
Elizabeth
“The Messiah.”
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
He it is
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
Who gave Himself
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
For us
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
That He might redeem us
Elizabeth
A Savior.
Richard
From all iniquity
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
Richard
And purify for Himself
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
Richard
A people of His own
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
Richard
Who are zealous for good deeds.
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
When they saw this, they made
known
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
They made known
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
What had been told them
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
About this Child.
Richard
He it is Who gave Himself.
Our great God
Elizabeth
This Child.
Richard
And Savior,
Elizabeth
This Child.
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
And all who heard it were amazed
at what the shepherds
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
Told them.
Richard
Told them.
Elizabeth
Declare these things.
Richard and Elizabeth
Declare! Declare!
Elizabeth
But Mary
Richard
Let no one look down on you.
Elizabeth
Treasured all these words
Richard
Let no one look down on you.
Elizabeth
And pondered them in her heart.
Richard
Let no one look down on you.
Richard and Elizabeth
Mary. Mary.
Treasured. Treasured.
In her heart. In her heart.
Elizabeth
The shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God.
Richard
Glorifying.
Elizabeth
Praising.
Richard
Praising.
Elizabeth
Glorifying.
Richard
Glorifying and praising.
Elizabeth
Praising and glorifying.
Elizabeth
For all they had heard and seen.
Richard
The grace of God has appeared.
Elizabeth
Heard and seen.
Richard
Appeared.
Elizabeth
As it had been told them.
Richard
Good news.
Elizabath
Great joy.
Richard
Grace.
Elizabeth
Peace.
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
Christ is born!
Richard
Glorify Him!
Christ is born!
Elizabeth
Glorify Him!
Richard and Elizabeth
Christ is born! Christ is born!
Glorify Him! Glorify Him!
Richard
One Lord,
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ,
Richard
The only Son of God,
Elizabeth
Eternally begotten of the Father,
Richard
God from God,
Elizabeth
Light from Light,
Richard
True God from true God,
Elizabeth
Begotten,
Richard
Not made,
Elizabeth
Of one Being with the Father;
Richard
Through Him all things were made.
Elizabeth
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
Richard
He came down from heaven,
Elizabeth
Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit
Richard
And the Virgin Mary
Richard
And became truly human.
Elizabeth
And became truly human.
Richard
For our sake he was crucified under
Pontius Pilate;
Elizabeth
He suffered death and was buried.
Richard
On the third day
Elizabeth
He rose again in accordance with the
Scriptures;
Richard
He ascended into heaven
Elizabeth
And is seated on the right hand of the Father.
Richard
He will come again in glory
Elizabeth
To judge the living and the dead,
Richard
And His kingdom will have no end!
Elizabeth
And His kingdom will have no end!
Richard
The Word was made flesh!
Elizabeth
Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Son of the Living God,
Elizabeth
Splendor of the Father, Light eternal!
Richard
Glory to You, O Lord!
Elizabeth
Jesus, King of Glory, Sun of
righteousness,
Richard
Born of the Virgin Mary!
Elizabeth
Glory to You, O Lord!
[PowerPoint shifts to bring
congregation into the litany on the
refrain, “Glory to You, O Lord!”]
Richard
Jesus, Wonderful Counselor,
Elizabeth
Mighty God, everlasting Lord!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Prince of Peace,
Elizabeth
Shepherd of souls, perfect in holiness!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Friend of all,
Elizabeth
Protector of the poor,
Richard
Treasure of the faithful!
Elizabeth
Treasure of the faithful!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Good Shepherd,
Elizabeth
Inexhaustible Wisdom,
Richard
Our Way, our Truth, and our Life!
Elizabeth
Our Way, our Truth, and our Life!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, joy of the angels,
Elizabeth
And crown of all the saints!
Congregation
Glory To You, O Lord! Glory To You, O Lord!
Elizabeth and Richard Deibert
Elizabeth:1 God With Us, O Word made flesh, give us, we pray,
a spirit of Wisdom, that we might see you and know how
great is the hope to which we have been called. Amen.
Richard: One of the favorite books in the Deibert household for
72 child years has been this little volume called Joyful Noise:
Poems for Two Voices,2 in which a parent and a child read a
poem side by side, carefully constructed to clash and to ring
and to sing about the glory of God’s world. We have written
a poem in two voices, based on these two texts before us on
this Christmas Sunday. It is our gift to you and it requires you
to suspend your rational left brain and to relax your imaginative
right brain. It will be an entirely new homiletical experience for
you. So sit back and enjoy this gift on Christmas morning.
Hear the Word of the Lord from Paul to the young pastor Titus
about the glory of Christmas:
Titus 2 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,
12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the
present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,
13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself
for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
15 Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority.
Let no one look down on you.
Luke 2 8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord
stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and
they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid;
for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the
Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child
wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth
peace among those whom he favors!" 15 When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let
us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord
____________
1Elizabeth read the right column; Richard read the left.
2Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise: Poems For Two Voices,
illustrated by Eric Beddows.HarperCollins, 1988
(winner of the 1989 Newberry Medal).
____________
has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary
and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this,
they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and
all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But
Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they
had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Richard
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all.
Elizabeth
In that region there were shepherds
living in the fields, keeping watch
over their flock by night.
Richard
The grace of God has appeared.
Elizabeth
Then an angel of the Lord stood before
them, and the glory of the Lord.
Richard
The grace of God.
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Shone around them.
Richard
The grace of God appeared.
Elizabeth
And they were terrified.
Richard
Bringing salvation to all.
Elizabeth
But the angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid.”
Richard
Bringing salvation.
Elizabeth
“Do not be afraid.”
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
“Do not be afraid.”
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
“For see — ”
Richard
The grace of God has
Appeared!
Elizabeth
“See!”
Richard
The glory of the Lord
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord
Richard
shown around them.
Elizabeth
shown around them.
“See — I am
Richard
Bringing
Elizabeth
Bringing
Richard
To all
Elizabeth
You
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
Good news.
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
of great joy.
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
Good news.
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
For all people.
To you.
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
Is born this day
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
In the city of David
Richard
Our great God and
Savior
Elizabthe
Savior.
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Who is
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
The Messiah,
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
The Lord.
Richard
The grace of God
Elizabeth
Good news.
Richard
Has appeared
Elizabeth
Great joy.
Richard
To all.
Elizabeth
For all people.
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
You will find a child wrapped in bands
of cloth
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
Lying in a manger.
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
And suddenly there was with the angel
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
A multitude of the heavenly host,
Praising God and saying,
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
“Glory to God in the highest heaven”
Richard
The glory of the Lord.
Elizabeth
“And on earth peace among those
whom God favors!”
Richard
“Glory to God in the highest heaven”
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Richard
“And on earth peace among those
whom God favors!”
Elizabeth
The glory of the Lord.
Richard
“Glory to God in the highest heaven.”
Elizabeth
“Glory to God in the highest heaven.”
Elizabeth
When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven,
Richard
“On earth peace.”
Elizabeth
the shepherds said to one another, “Let
us go now to
Richard
“Peace.”
Elizabeth
“Bethlehem
“And see this thing that has
Richard
“Appeared.”
Elizabeth
“Taken place.”
Richard
“Taken place.”
Elizabeth
“Appeared.”
Richard
The blessed hope.
Elizabeth
“On earth.”
Richard
The manifestation.
Elizabeth
“On earth.”
Richard
A people of His own.
Elizabeth
“On earth.”
“Peace.”
Richard
“Peace.”
Elizabeth
“Which the Lord has made known”
Richard
“To all.”
Elizabeth
“To us.”
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
“Peace.”
Richard
“Peace.”
Elizabeth
Salvation.
So they went with haste and found
Mary and Joseph, and
Richard
Our great God.
Elizabeth
A child
Richard
Our great God.
Elizabeth
Lying in the manger.
Richard
Our great God.
Elizabeth
Wrapped in bands of cloth.
Richard
A child.
Elizabeth
Our great God.
Richard
Lying in the manger.
Elizabeth
Our great God.
Richard
Wrapped in bands of cloth.
Elizabeth
Our great God.
“To you is born this day
Richard
“A Savior.”
Elizabeth
“A Savior
Richard
Our great God,
Elizabeth
“The Messiah.”
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
He it is
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
Who gave Himself
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
For us
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
Richard
That He might redeem us
Elizabeth
A Savior.
Richard
From all iniquity
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
Richard
And purify for Himself
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
Richard
A people of His own
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
Richard
Who are zealous for good deeds.
Elizabeth
Do not be afraid.
When they saw this, they made
known
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
They made known
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
What had been told them
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
About this Child.
Richard
He it is Who gave Himself.
Our great God
Elizabeth
This Child.
Richard
And Savior,
Elizabeth
This Child.
Richard
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ.
And all who heard it were amazed
at what the shepherds
Richard
Declare these things.
Elizabeth
Told them.
Richard
Told them.
Elizabeth
Declare these things.
Richard and Elizabeth
Declare! Declare!
Elizabeth
But Mary
Richard
Let no one look down on you.
Elizabeth
Treasured all these words
Richard
Let no one look down on you.
Elizabeth
And pondered them in her heart.
Richard
Let no one look down on you.
Richard and Elizabeth
Mary. Mary.
Treasured. Treasured.
In her heart. In her heart.
Elizabeth
The shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God.
Richard
Glorifying.
Elizabeth
Praising.
Richard
Praising.
Elizabeth
Glorifying.
Richard
Glorifying and praising.
Elizabeth
Praising and glorifying.
Elizabeth
For all they had heard and seen.
Richard
The grace of God has appeared.
Elizabeth
Heard and seen.
Richard
Appeared.
Elizabeth
As it had been told them.
Richard
Good news.
Elizabath
Great joy.
Richard
Grace.
Elizabeth
Peace.
Richard
Salvation.
Elizabeth
Christ is born!
Richard
Glorify Him!
Christ is born!
Elizabeth
Glorify Him!
Richard and Elizabeth
Christ is born! Christ is born!
Glorify Him! Glorify Him!
Richard
One Lord,
Elizabeth
Jesus Christ,
Richard
The only Son of God,
Elizabeth
Eternally begotten of the Father,
Richard
God from God,
Elizabeth
Light from Light,
Richard
True God from true God,
Elizabeth
Begotten,
Richard
Not made,
Elizabeth
Of one Being with the Father;
Richard
Through Him all things were made.
Elizabeth
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
Richard
He came down from heaven,
Elizabeth
Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit
Richard
And the Virgin Mary
Richard
And became truly human.
Elizabeth
And became truly human.
Richard
For our sake he was crucified under
Pontius Pilate;
Elizabeth
He suffered death and was buried.
Richard
On the third day
Elizabeth
He rose again in accordance with the
Scriptures;
Richard
He ascended into heaven
Elizabeth
And is seated on the right hand of the Father.
Richard
He will come again in glory
Elizabeth
To judge the living and the dead,
Richard
And His kingdom will have no end!
Elizabeth
And His kingdom will have no end!
Richard
The Word was made flesh!
Elizabeth
Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Son of the Living God,
Elizabeth
Splendor of the Father, Light eternal!
Richard
Glory to You, O Lord!
Elizabeth
Jesus, King of Glory, Sun of
righteousness,
Richard
Born of the Virgin Mary!
Elizabeth
Glory to You, O Lord!
[PowerPoint shifts to bring
congregation into the litany on the
refrain, “Glory to You, O Lord!”]
Richard
Jesus, Wonderful Counselor,
Elizabeth
Mighty God, everlasting Lord!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Prince of Peace,
Elizabeth
Shepherd of souls, perfect in holiness!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Friend of all,
Elizabeth
Protector of the poor,
Richard
Treasure of the faithful!
Elizabeth
Treasure of the faithful!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, Good Shepherd,
Elizabeth
Inexhaustible Wisdom,
Richard
Our Way, our Truth, and our Life!
Elizabeth
Our Way, our Truth, and our Life!
Congregation
Glory to You, O Lord! Glory to You, O Lord!
Richard
Jesus, joy of the angels,
Elizabeth
And crown of all the saints!
Congregation
Glory To You, O Lord! Glory To You, O Lord!
Richard
Christ is born!
Elizabeth
Give him glory!
Richard
Christ has come down from heaven!
Elizabeth
Receive him!
Richard
Christ is now on earth!
Elizabeth
Exalt him!
Richard
O earth, sing to the Lord!
Elizabeth
O earth, sing to the Lord!
Richard and Elizabeth
Glory! Gloria in excelsis Deo! Glory! Gloria in excelsis Deo!
[PowerPoint shifts to hymn]
[Sung]
Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo; Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo.
Angels we have heard on high, Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains.
Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo; Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo.
Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be Which inspire your heavenly song?
Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo; Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Jumping for Joy
Luke 1:39-49 & Luke 2:8-11
4th Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Lord Jesus, our light, our peace, our hope, our joy, renew us by your Word and Spirit.
When our kids were little we had this little bouncy seat which hung from the door frame. The best way to make a fussy one year old happy was to put her or him in this bouncy seat to jump, jump, jump into joy.
I remember the joy of Christmas Eve as a child myself, where just the sound of bells outside the family room window would get me jumping up and down with glee. I remember faces of my own children when they walked out on Christmas morning. Tired parents. Joyful children to make all the tiredness worthwhile.
A friend of Andrew’s asked me on Friday if I was ready for Christmas. I said “No, how about you?” He said, “I’ve been ready since Thanksgiving.” Now I’m afraid that neither of us really had the right spirit of readiness. He had that boy-like twinkle in his eye about the day as if it could not come fast enough. I had that ultra-responsible adult attitude. “Well, of course, I’m not ready. There are still gifts to buy and wrap. There’s a house to clean and meals to plan.” And then my mind raced also to pastoral duties, which I did not mention. Ready for Christmas? Ha, no pastor is ever ready for Christmas on December 17. There are services to complete and people to contact and preparations to be made. I’ll be ready for Christmas when I walk in the front door of the house after our Christmas Eve service. That’s when I’ll be ready.
But what if I embraced a little child-like excitement (after all, Jesus said, unless we have the faith of a child, we will not inherit the kingdom.) What if I took the joyful enthusiasm of a teen and combined it with the adult awareness that I have of the meaning of this day – that in Jesus divinity and humanity were united. Well, then maybe I’d be jumping for joy, not literally but figuratively. What if I could acknowledge all the pain, all the strain, all the angst of this life, and yet still get excited about the supreme gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ?
After all, this day is not so much about preparing our homes and our meals, but preparing our hearts for Christ. This day is not so much about unwrapping packages as it is about unwrapping our tightly bound wills to the Spirit of the Living God. This day is not so much about journeying to a particular place to spend the holiday with friends or family, as it is about being on a steady journey with Jesus, walking with our companions in this life toward the trusted place called Home that is peace and joy and love.
Today we read about the shared joy of Mary and Elizabeth, in their mutual expectancy. We read about the joy the angels brought to the shepherds and how the shepherds first reaction was more fearful than joyful.
Hear now the word of the Lord from Luke:
Luke 1:39-49
In those days Mary set out and went with haste
to a Judean town in the hill country,
40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry,
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting,
the child in my womb leaped for joy.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
Mary and Elizabeth, with their unusual pregnancies, Mary being young and not yet married, with child of the Holy Spirit. And Elizabeth, too old to have a baby and yet here they are sharing the joy and nervousness of their mutual conditions. John is doing somersaults in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary enters. Oh sure, infants in the womb do this all the time, but when ordinary things happen at significant moments in our lives we sometimes pay attention and mark the experience. When ordinary things happen to people who are listening for the voice of God in their lives, they interpret them in extraordinary ways, as messages from the Holy One who sustains them.
So it should be with us – that we look for the voice of God, speaking through the events of our lives. Cultivating a life sensitive to God’s work and God’s will, feeling God’s compassion for those who are suffering, praying and working to alleviate suffering or to live with people in their suffering is our call as followers of Jesus Christ. Mary and Elizabeth were attuned to the will of God such that they could give birth to Jesus our Lord and John the Baptist, the forerunner who prepared the way for Christ.
While there must have been hardships for them and misunderstandings in the public about their pregnancies, as well as the radical behavior of their prophetic sons, they stood the course, and guided their children to become the faith-filled people they became. Was there some darkness, some conflict, some fear, some sadness in the day when when Mary visited Elizabeth. Probably, but as the story goes, there was great joy. How will the story of your life be told? We all play a role in shaping the stories of our lives in ways that tell of the joy of God’s love. But I hope, as we have focused this Advent Season on light in the darkness, peace in the conflict, hope for the fear, and joy for the sadness of life, that you have prayerfully taken these to heart, worked at them by faithful devotion to the disciplines of the Christian life. We are called to actively and repetitively place our trust in the faithfulness of the God who came to be one with us in our darkness, conflict, fear, and sadness, who came to earth to usher in the light, peace, hope, and joy that is ours as children of a Loving God.
Now let’s read of the good news of great joy which the angel brought to the poor shepherds in the field. Note that the glory of the Lord is frightening. They are existing in the darkness, and suddenly this great light shines upon them. But into their fear, comes this amazing news of the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. This is news of great joy for a bunch of no-named poor shepherds in our second reading from Luke.
Luke 2:8-11
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid;
for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is the Messiah, the Lord.
In every one of us is that desire to become a little more child-like at Christmas, to be surprised, to be jumping for joy at the thought of gifts, to set aside all overly- worrisome adult thoughts, to revel in being children of God, who know we are beloved by the One entered the playful joy of childhood himself. Think about it. Jesus cooed and squeaked like baby Wells Thomas. He danced with free abandonment like Tommy Zimmerman. He delighted in drawing pictures like Fields Thomas and Mimi Zimmerman. He smiled with his whole body like Chance Miller. These precious preschoolers of ours at Peace are gifts to remind us of the joy of Christmas. Think back to Funday Sunday and remember all the kids jumping for joy in the bouncy house and slide. Think of teens and the joyful abandonment of laughter. All these stages of life were part of Jesus’ life with us. And there is something of this joyful abandonment of worry and sadness which is at the heart of Christmas.
Because of the amazing gift of God with us, the incarnation, the infant Lord, we can all relax a little and experience the joy that rises higher than any struggle we might have, the compassion that is greater than any pain we might bear, the forgiveness that overcomes any sin we have committed.
There is a sense in which because God became a carefree cooing infant, we can re-enter childhood and know that we belong to the One who was a joyful child and glad to be our Savior, whose unity with us and with God is the substance of all true joy. It is this joy which lifts our spirits from the pain of life, allows us to still to laugh even when someone is dying, which allows us to make jokes about our mistakes, and to smile though we know someone else somewhere is crying or cold or lonely. The joy of Christmas lifts our spirits enough to give us bounce when we have hit rock bottom. If you have no spring in your step or want to remember those who are struggling come to our Longest Night Service at 7 pm.
Christmas joy is not a neglect of those who are suffering but a release from the heavy burden of pain and fear because of the angel’s message “I bring you good news of great joy” Christmas joy is not a neglect of responsible living, but a freedom from thinking it all depends on us because God came to earth in the rejoicing faith of a young woman, whose womb was home of a bouncing boy, a womb which gifted God with an amazing large leap into this life with us. The expression of joy is a leap, especially for those of us who are so serious. It is a leap of faith to be joyful, despite all the things about which we might moan or groan. I pray you will give yourself permission to jump from fear and sadness into hope and joy this Christmas, as an expression of your trust in God.
4th Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Lord Jesus, our light, our peace, our hope, our joy, renew us by your Word and Spirit.
When our kids were little we had this little bouncy seat which hung from the door frame. The best way to make a fussy one year old happy was to put her or him in this bouncy seat to jump, jump, jump into joy.
I remember the joy of Christmas Eve as a child myself, where just the sound of bells outside the family room window would get me jumping up and down with glee. I remember faces of my own children when they walked out on Christmas morning. Tired parents. Joyful children to make all the tiredness worthwhile.
A friend of Andrew’s asked me on Friday if I was ready for Christmas. I said “No, how about you?” He said, “I’ve been ready since Thanksgiving.” Now I’m afraid that neither of us really had the right spirit of readiness. He had that boy-like twinkle in his eye about the day as if it could not come fast enough. I had that ultra-responsible adult attitude. “Well, of course, I’m not ready. There are still gifts to buy and wrap. There’s a house to clean and meals to plan.” And then my mind raced also to pastoral duties, which I did not mention. Ready for Christmas? Ha, no pastor is ever ready for Christmas on December 17. There are services to complete and people to contact and preparations to be made. I’ll be ready for Christmas when I walk in the front door of the house after our Christmas Eve service. That’s when I’ll be ready.
But what if I embraced a little child-like excitement (after all, Jesus said, unless we have the faith of a child, we will not inherit the kingdom.) What if I took the joyful enthusiasm of a teen and combined it with the adult awareness that I have of the meaning of this day – that in Jesus divinity and humanity were united. Well, then maybe I’d be jumping for joy, not literally but figuratively. What if I could acknowledge all the pain, all the strain, all the angst of this life, and yet still get excited about the supreme gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ?
After all, this day is not so much about preparing our homes and our meals, but preparing our hearts for Christ. This day is not so much about unwrapping packages as it is about unwrapping our tightly bound wills to the Spirit of the Living God. This day is not so much about journeying to a particular place to spend the holiday with friends or family, as it is about being on a steady journey with Jesus, walking with our companions in this life toward the trusted place called Home that is peace and joy and love.
Today we read about the shared joy of Mary and Elizabeth, in their mutual expectancy. We read about the joy the angels brought to the shepherds and how the shepherds first reaction was more fearful than joyful.
Hear now the word of the Lord from Luke:
Luke 1:39-49
In those days Mary set out and went with haste
to a Judean town in the hill country,
40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry,
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting,
the child in my womb leaped for joy.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
Mary and Elizabeth, with their unusual pregnancies, Mary being young and not yet married, with child of the Holy Spirit. And Elizabeth, too old to have a baby and yet here they are sharing the joy and nervousness of their mutual conditions. John is doing somersaults in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary enters. Oh sure, infants in the womb do this all the time, but when ordinary things happen at significant moments in our lives we sometimes pay attention and mark the experience. When ordinary things happen to people who are listening for the voice of God in their lives, they interpret them in extraordinary ways, as messages from the Holy One who sustains them.
So it should be with us – that we look for the voice of God, speaking through the events of our lives. Cultivating a life sensitive to God’s work and God’s will, feeling God’s compassion for those who are suffering, praying and working to alleviate suffering or to live with people in their suffering is our call as followers of Jesus Christ. Mary and Elizabeth were attuned to the will of God such that they could give birth to Jesus our Lord and John the Baptist, the forerunner who prepared the way for Christ.
While there must have been hardships for them and misunderstandings in the public about their pregnancies, as well as the radical behavior of their prophetic sons, they stood the course, and guided their children to become the faith-filled people they became. Was there some darkness, some conflict, some fear, some sadness in the day when when Mary visited Elizabeth. Probably, but as the story goes, there was great joy. How will the story of your life be told? We all play a role in shaping the stories of our lives in ways that tell of the joy of God’s love. But I hope, as we have focused this Advent Season on light in the darkness, peace in the conflict, hope for the fear, and joy for the sadness of life, that you have prayerfully taken these to heart, worked at them by faithful devotion to the disciplines of the Christian life. We are called to actively and repetitively place our trust in the faithfulness of the God who came to be one with us in our darkness, conflict, fear, and sadness, who came to earth to usher in the light, peace, hope, and joy that is ours as children of a Loving God.
Now let’s read of the good news of great joy which the angel brought to the poor shepherds in the field. Note that the glory of the Lord is frightening. They are existing in the darkness, and suddenly this great light shines upon them. But into their fear, comes this amazing news of the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. This is news of great joy for a bunch of no-named poor shepherds in our second reading from Luke.
Luke 2:8-11
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid;
for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is the Messiah, the Lord.
In every one of us is that desire to become a little more child-like at Christmas, to be surprised, to be jumping for joy at the thought of gifts, to set aside all overly- worrisome adult thoughts, to revel in being children of God, who know we are beloved by the One entered the playful joy of childhood himself. Think about it. Jesus cooed and squeaked like baby Wells Thomas. He danced with free abandonment like Tommy Zimmerman. He delighted in drawing pictures like Fields Thomas and Mimi Zimmerman. He smiled with his whole body like Chance Miller. These precious preschoolers of ours at Peace are gifts to remind us of the joy of Christmas. Think back to Funday Sunday and remember all the kids jumping for joy in the bouncy house and slide. Think of teens and the joyful abandonment of laughter. All these stages of life were part of Jesus’ life with us. And there is something of this joyful abandonment of worry and sadness which is at the heart of Christmas.
Because of the amazing gift of God with us, the incarnation, the infant Lord, we can all relax a little and experience the joy that rises higher than any struggle we might have, the compassion that is greater than any pain we might bear, the forgiveness that overcomes any sin we have committed.
There is a sense in which because God became a carefree cooing infant, we can re-enter childhood and know that we belong to the One who was a joyful child and glad to be our Savior, whose unity with us and with God is the substance of all true joy. It is this joy which lifts our spirits from the pain of life, allows us to still to laugh even when someone is dying, which allows us to make jokes about our mistakes, and to smile though we know someone else somewhere is crying or cold or lonely. The joy of Christmas lifts our spirits enough to give us bounce when we have hit rock bottom. If you have no spring in your step or want to remember those who are struggling come to our Longest Night Service at 7 pm.
Christmas joy is not a neglect of those who are suffering but a release from the heavy burden of pain and fear because of the angel’s message “I bring you good news of great joy” Christmas joy is not a neglect of responsible living, but a freedom from thinking it all depends on us because God came to earth in the rejoicing faith of a young woman, whose womb was home of a bouncing boy, a womb which gifted God with an amazing large leap into this life with us. The expression of joy is a leap, especially for those of us who are so serious. It is a leap of faith to be joyful, despite all the things about which we might moan or groan. I pray you will give yourself permission to jump from fear and sadness into hope and joy this Christmas, as an expression of your trust in God.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Hanging on to Hope
Matthew 2:2-11
Revelation 21:3-4
3rd Sunday of Advent
Rev. Tricia Dillon Thomas
John the Baptist is not really a character I had paid much attention
to. I thought he was rather strange, eccentric. Called those he
was sharing the good news with, a ‘brood of vipers’ (and I knew
that model of ministry wouldn’t hold up very well in a newly
chartered church in LWR). I knew he wandered the desert, I knew
he ate, what my husband likes to call a combination of salty
and sweet—locusts and honey, I knew he had a really bad choice
of wardrobe on a pretty big day. I mean, really, camel hair,
leather belts…he couldn’t dress it up a little more for the baptism
of…OUR LORD!? I knew he preached repentance and that he
was preparing the way for the Lord. And I know the Lord did
indeed come, and John baptized him, and witnessed the heavens
tear open as God declared Jesus “beloved.” I know these stories,
but everyone kind of falls to the shadows when Jesus is around,
so I hadn’t really given too much thought to the character of
John. I met John, anew, however when I came to today’s
scripture. So let us hear together how the spirit is
speaking to her church…
Read Matthew 2:2‐11.
This is such an interesting passage. It seems to be a passage about
identities. Who is John? Who are we? Who is Jesus?
I don’t know if you caught that first part, so listen again: “John sent
his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come,
or are we to wait for another?”
That seemed strange to me at first. That John, who preached in
preparation for the Lord, baptized the Lord, and watched as our Lord
was declared beloved, would all of a sudden be asking, “Are you for
real?” Of all people, John should have known Jesus was for real. He
prepared the way for him. What changed?
The first verse reads, “When John heard in prison what the
Messiah was doing…” What’s changed, is that John is in prison.
He’s been put in prison for a variety of reasons, specifically
because John told Herod it was wrong for him to marry
his niece; but generally because John was considered a prophet,
and the good news he preached didn’t seem so good for the
wealthy and powerful. He was threatening to them. So
Herod had him arrested.
But being arrested in John’s time is different than being arrested
in ours. And John knows this. He knows prison isn’t a
punishment in and of itself, like in our society; he won’t stay
there to serve out a term.
Prison, in John’s time is a holding cell for one of three actions:
exoneration‐he can be let go; exile‐he can be forced to flee
the country; or execution‐he can be put to death. John led a
faithful life (Jesus, in fact, calls him the greatest prophet ever
born later in the passage), and John knows his faith forced
him to take stances that put him at great risk of
losing his life. And that’s what’s changed.
The question John asks, “Are you the one we’ve been waiting for?”
all of a sudden has urgency. Are you for real, John is asking?
Are you the Messiah? Because I have lived my life in preparation
for your coming, and the time has come for me, and I need to know
that you are the real thing. That there is not another. That you
are the one that is to bring in a new heaven and a new earth.
This past week Gretchen and I studied this passage together. And
when we talked about what John was really asking Jesus, she said,
“Isn’t this the question we all ask when it comes down to it?” John
is suffering; he is scared, powerless, removed. He wonders, we all
wonder when we near the end, did I take the path I was supposed
to? And Gretchen’s right, when the urge for clarity is high, even the
most faithful turn to God and ask, “Are you for real?” This life I’ve
led. It’s been hard, and I’ve tried to be faithful, was it worth it?
ARE you for real? ”
Have you seen the Movie, A Christmas Story? It’s a really funny
movie I grew up watching, and most of it is focused on the
antics of an elementary aged boy named Ralphie who really wants
this one present for Christmas. So fast forward, it’s Christmas
morning and Ralphie can hardly contain himself. His parents
finally give the go ahead, and he and his younger brother tear
through the boxes. Wrapping paper is flying and we see Ralphie
and his brother open their first gift. It’s something like underwear
and socks. Present two, again paper flying, anticipation high,
and wah‐wah‐wah…matching bunny suits that his mother
makes them immediately try on. Time goes by, and we watch
Ralphie and his brother open all their gifts.
After Ralphie has opened his last present we can tell he is really
grateful for his gifts, but what he really wanted is missing. And
he turns to his father with eyes that seem to express his yearning,
and his father says, “What’s that over there behind the tree,
Ralphie?” Ralphie races over reads the tag and sees it is for him.
The anticipation of the entire story line boils over as Ralphie tears
the wrapping paper away from the gift he had waited for all season.
Immediately after addressing John, Jesus turns to the crowd
who has overheard this conversation, and asks, “What did you go
out in to the wilderness to look at?” Jesus is referring back to
Matthew 3 when the crowds (even the Pharisees and Sadducees)
meet John in the wilderness to hear him preach.
Why were you there? He asks them no less than three times:
What did you go there to see? A crazy miracle worker? No?
What then did you go out to see? A king? No?
What then did you go out to see? A prophet?
What did they go out to see? What were they hoping to find in the
wilderness?
What do we go out to see? Why do we come to church every
Sunday? What are we hoping for? Is it the fellowship, the classes,
maybe it’s to hear great preaching…it’s not that we aren’t grateful
for this building, or these people, or these classes, or even the
preaching. We are, we are thankful for these gifts, but we come
because we yearn for something more. Like Ralphie, we raise our
eyes towards our father because we yearn for what we’ve been
given a glimpse of.
In our passage Jesus answers John by telling John’s disciples
to return and describe what they have seen and heard: the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news
brought to them! This might seem an abstract answer to those
of us not rooted in the scriptures, but by announcing the
fulfillment of these things, Jesus is confirming that he is
indeed the Messiah as was written by the prophet Isaiah.
In advent we prepare. John prepared the world for the coming
of the Lord. And the Christmas gift came; it came in the
form of a baby.
Christmas is a season of waiting and anticipation. We hope
that the morning will open our eyes, will bring us clean hearts.
But our hope is sometimes mired by the ambiguity of life.
As Gretchen confirmed, when the time is near, the
frivolousness melts away, and what is important becomes
urgent.
So Jesus answered John, I am for real. Look at what you have
seen and what you have heard. And while it is comforting
to know that Jesus dwelled on this earth and took on the
suffering of this world, it’s not where our hope lies.
This Christmas miracle is only a glimpse of what is to come.
Jesus the Messiah, the Emmanuel, showed us what the kingdom
on earth can be.
Here these words from Revelation:
READ REVELATION.
Because we have seen and heard, we need not fear, but hope.
I love this picture. It’s a collage done by Judi. This is what I
hope for.This is what I imagine when our Lord comes again.
That like the scriptures promise, we will dwell with God and
we will be God’s people. And God will embrace us, and wipe
away every tear, and death, and mourning, and pain, and
crying, will be no more. Friends, this is where we place our
hope. This is Christian hope. In the promise of Christ’s return.
In Christ’s ministry we’ve seen the lame walk and the prisoner
set free. And so we wait. We wait for the day when all will be
made whole and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Amen.
Revelation 21:3-4
3rd Sunday of Advent
Rev. Tricia Dillon Thomas
John the Baptist is not really a character I had paid much attention
to. I thought he was rather strange, eccentric. Called those he
was sharing the good news with, a ‘brood of vipers’ (and I knew
that model of ministry wouldn’t hold up very well in a newly
chartered church in LWR). I knew he wandered the desert, I knew
he ate, what my husband likes to call a combination of salty
and sweet—locusts and honey, I knew he had a really bad choice
of wardrobe on a pretty big day. I mean, really, camel hair,
leather belts…he couldn’t dress it up a little more for the baptism
of…OUR LORD!? I knew he preached repentance and that he
was preparing the way for the Lord. And I know the Lord did
indeed come, and John baptized him, and witnessed the heavens
tear open as God declared Jesus “beloved.” I know these stories,
but everyone kind of falls to the shadows when Jesus is around,
so I hadn’t really given too much thought to the character of
John. I met John, anew, however when I came to today’s
scripture. So let us hear together how the spirit is
speaking to her church…
Read Matthew 2:2‐11.
This is such an interesting passage. It seems to be a passage about
identities. Who is John? Who are we? Who is Jesus?
I don’t know if you caught that first part, so listen again: “John sent
his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come,
or are we to wait for another?”
That seemed strange to me at first. That John, who preached in
preparation for the Lord, baptized the Lord, and watched as our Lord
was declared beloved, would all of a sudden be asking, “Are you for
real?” Of all people, John should have known Jesus was for real. He
prepared the way for him. What changed?
The first verse reads, “When John heard in prison what the
Messiah was doing…” What’s changed, is that John is in prison.
He’s been put in prison for a variety of reasons, specifically
because John told Herod it was wrong for him to marry
his niece; but generally because John was considered a prophet,
and the good news he preached didn’t seem so good for the
wealthy and powerful. He was threatening to them. So
Herod had him arrested.
But being arrested in John’s time is different than being arrested
in ours. And John knows this. He knows prison isn’t a
punishment in and of itself, like in our society; he won’t stay
there to serve out a term.
Prison, in John’s time is a holding cell for one of three actions:
exoneration‐he can be let go; exile‐he can be forced to flee
the country; or execution‐he can be put to death. John led a
faithful life (Jesus, in fact, calls him the greatest prophet ever
born later in the passage), and John knows his faith forced
him to take stances that put him at great risk of
losing his life. And that’s what’s changed.
The question John asks, “Are you the one we’ve been waiting for?”
all of a sudden has urgency. Are you for real, John is asking?
Are you the Messiah? Because I have lived my life in preparation
for your coming, and the time has come for me, and I need to know
that you are the real thing. That there is not another. That you
are the one that is to bring in a new heaven and a new earth.
This past week Gretchen and I studied this passage together. And
when we talked about what John was really asking Jesus, she said,
“Isn’t this the question we all ask when it comes down to it?” John
is suffering; he is scared, powerless, removed. He wonders, we all
wonder when we near the end, did I take the path I was supposed
to? And Gretchen’s right, when the urge for clarity is high, even the
most faithful turn to God and ask, “Are you for real?” This life I’ve
led. It’s been hard, and I’ve tried to be faithful, was it worth it?
ARE you for real? ”
Have you seen the Movie, A Christmas Story? It’s a really funny
movie I grew up watching, and most of it is focused on the
antics of an elementary aged boy named Ralphie who really wants
this one present for Christmas. So fast forward, it’s Christmas
morning and Ralphie can hardly contain himself. His parents
finally give the go ahead, and he and his younger brother tear
through the boxes. Wrapping paper is flying and we see Ralphie
and his brother open their first gift. It’s something like underwear
and socks. Present two, again paper flying, anticipation high,
and wah‐wah‐wah…matching bunny suits that his mother
makes them immediately try on. Time goes by, and we watch
Ralphie and his brother open all their gifts.
After Ralphie has opened his last present we can tell he is really
grateful for his gifts, but what he really wanted is missing. And
he turns to his father with eyes that seem to express his yearning,
and his father says, “What’s that over there behind the tree,
Ralphie?” Ralphie races over reads the tag and sees it is for him.
The anticipation of the entire story line boils over as Ralphie tears
the wrapping paper away from the gift he had waited for all season.
Immediately after addressing John, Jesus turns to the crowd
who has overheard this conversation, and asks, “What did you go
out in to the wilderness to look at?” Jesus is referring back to
Matthew 3 when the crowds (even the Pharisees and Sadducees)
meet John in the wilderness to hear him preach.
Why were you there? He asks them no less than three times:
What did you go there to see? A crazy miracle worker? No?
What then did you go out to see? A king? No?
What then did you go out to see? A prophet?
What did they go out to see? What were they hoping to find in the
wilderness?
What do we go out to see? Why do we come to church every
Sunday? What are we hoping for? Is it the fellowship, the classes,
maybe it’s to hear great preaching…it’s not that we aren’t grateful
for this building, or these people, or these classes, or even the
preaching. We are, we are thankful for these gifts, but we come
because we yearn for something more. Like Ralphie, we raise our
eyes towards our father because we yearn for what we’ve been
given a glimpse of.
In our passage Jesus answers John by telling John’s disciples
to return and describe what they have seen and heard: the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news
brought to them! This might seem an abstract answer to those
of us not rooted in the scriptures, but by announcing the
fulfillment of these things, Jesus is confirming that he is
indeed the Messiah as was written by the prophet Isaiah.
In advent we prepare. John prepared the world for the coming
of the Lord. And the Christmas gift came; it came in the
form of a baby.
Christmas is a season of waiting and anticipation. We hope
that the morning will open our eyes, will bring us clean hearts.
But our hope is sometimes mired by the ambiguity of life.
As Gretchen confirmed, when the time is near, the
frivolousness melts away, and what is important becomes
urgent.
So Jesus answered John, I am for real. Look at what you have
seen and what you have heard. And while it is comforting
to know that Jesus dwelled on this earth and took on the
suffering of this world, it’s not where our hope lies.
This Christmas miracle is only a glimpse of what is to come.
Jesus the Messiah, the Emmanuel, showed us what the kingdom
on earth can be.
Here these words from Revelation:
READ REVELATION.
Because we have seen and heard, we need not fear, but hope.
I love this picture. It’s a collage done by Judi. This is what I
hope for.This is what I imagine when our Lord comes again.
That like the scriptures promise, we will dwell with God and
we will be God’s people. And God will embrace us, and wipe
away every tear, and death, and mourning, and pain, and
crying, will be no more. Friends, this is where we place our
hope. This is Christian hope. In the promise of Christ’s return.
In Christ’s ministry we’ve seen the lame walk and the prisoner
set free. And so we wait. We wait for the day when all will be
made whole and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Amen.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Praying for Peace
Isaiah 11:1-10
2nd Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Lord of light, draw us into the Light of your truth. Share with us your vision of peace that we may by your Spirit’s power, be transformed.
(Singing) I’m praying for a peace-ful world, NOT like the world I used to know. Where the palm trees glisten and children listen to hear… oceans of love flow. I’m praying for a peace-ful world with every sermon that I write. May God’s grace lead us into Light. And may Christ make all our darkness bright.
I’m praying for peace because this world is full of hostility – at school there’s bullying and disrespect. In the workplace, there’s backstabbing and verbal abuse. On the highways, there’s road rage and distraction. In politics, polarization takes the place of dialogue. In the church, there’s division instead of unity. On the web, people say whatever they want, all bars are down. Remember the teenager who killed herself because of a Facebook dispute. This is not a peace-filled world. We gobble one another up. It is a dog-eat-dog world.
Oh, we may have greater awareness of the diversity of people around the globe. We are more understanding of different religions, different lifestyles, and differing sexual orientations. In some parts of the world , we are more attuned to gender equality. But we still live in a world racked by the exertion of power in place of love, by the need to control rather than to share. We live in a world which increasingly lacks civility. People are angry and out of control.
The recession has not helped attitudes. Joblessness in our country is at a seven month high. 15.1 million people are unemployed. And house prices are in a fresh decline. The total number of houses in foreclosure is over 2 million with another 2 million more than 90 days delinquent. But our country’s problems are small compared to others. How would you like to be a Congolese woman near the border, near the UN, but still not safe from the attack of multiple male warriors?
Violence in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, four times higher than in 2007, says the Pentagon in a report last month. In Haiti health officials now estimate that 650,000 people could become infected with Cholera over the next six months. Tensions are mounting in South and North Korea, not to mention the Ivory Coast. In countries where millions of people have no food, health care, or education, an obscene amount of money is spend on the purchase of armaments. Might does not make right. Why do we keep fighting? Why is this such a dog-eat-dog world.
Isaiah lived in a world, where little people were being chewed up too. The Assyrians had taken captive most of the northern kingdom and turned the southern kingdom into a vassal state. The family tree of King was withering. It was like an dying tree, which needed pruning. Whack, whack. That’s what the last verses of chapter 9 say. The tallest trees will be cut down. The majestic forest will be taken down, clear-cut. And here’s the surprise, Isaiah sees it as God’s doing, not circumstantial. Isaiah sees this pruning as good. Perhaps with his help, we can see the pruning of our own nation as good. Maybe we can see the decline of our personal wealth and power, our growing humility as good too. Because God can do great things with a stump. Hear the good news about being whacked back.
Isaiah 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
This is the kind of vision which can keep us going. It is a ridiculously dreamy vision. An old stump producing new growth. It can happen.
My friend Kim lost her husband to cancer when the boys were young teens. A couple of years before George died, a huge pecan tree in their back yard fell. When the tree experts came, Kim wanted them to grind up the stump, but George liked the old stump, so they left it. After George died, a circle of beautiful mimosas sprung up around the old stump. I preached at that church this past Father’s Day and the now twenty year old Doug was there to give out chocolate kisses to all the dads in the congregation as a “thanks” to all the fathers he had there, who showed him God’s love. God can do great wonders, even in the horrors of untimely death. God can bring new life from the old stump in your life. Whether it is a dead marriage or a dead business, even if you have a dead faith, God can bring new life into that stump too.
Isaiah speaks of a new leader from the line of David. We Christians know this leader, this Messiah to be Jesus, who was fuller than full of the Spirit of the Lord. He was the Lord, God Almighty in human flesh, born of Mary and of the Spirit. He had a spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel and might, spirit of knowledge and deep respect for the awesome power of God. He delighted in serving, respecting, and obeying God. We don’t like to talk about fearing God, but maybe some of our civility is lost when we lose that deep, deep respect for our highest authority. Jesus was marked by deep respect for God, by right living, by caring for the humble, weak, poor and needy, being faithful and ready to rid this world of evil. Though he turned tables in the temple, he did rarely engaged in power struggles. Rather he used his power to teach, to heal the sick, to care for all. And he changed the world by being God with us – living with us and for us, dying with us and for us, being raised with us and for us. And Jesus taught us he is vine and we are the branches. All we have to do is stay connected to the vine and we will thrive.
And because of Christ’s presence with us, this vision of peace is even more real now than it was for Isaiah when he wrote about that shoot from stump of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David, the great king and the grandfather of Solomon, the wise king. After Solomon, the kingdom of Israel and Judah split and then slowly declined. There was no hope for the kingdom of Jesse’s lineage, according to normal expectation. The kings were corrupt. They abused justice, did not care for the poor, and ignored the commands of the God who had called them to leadership. Isaiah has the courage in the midst of widespread despair to announce that God can do a new thing. Do you believe God can do a new thing in your life? Maybe you feel like your life is dry and brittle, ready to break into a hundred pieces. Maybe you wonder why you’ve been pruned back and are having to start all over again – in work, in relationships.
When this new branch grows, here’s what Isaiah tells us will happen: animals who have always been enemies, unable to do anything but devour and mistrust one another will lie down together. Wolves in the same bed as lambs. Leopards and young goats warming one another. Calves and lions communing without harm. Cows and bears at table, together. Lions' diets changed for good. Little children leading them all. Nursing infants cooing harmlessly at cobras. Toddlers joyfully handling snakes. What a wonderful peaceable kingdom!
“Life without strife. Togetherness where togetherness used to be ridiculous. Hospitality without hostility. Radically altered behavior. Shared things and shared spaces. No more hunter and hunted, predator and prey. The oddest, but in the end, the most beautiful changes in power structures imaginable. No violence. No danger. No threat. No harm. ” ( R. Deibert)
Because we believe in a God who comes to live among us, to share in the agony and ecstasy of this earthly life, we have peace. Because we believe that God created the world good, and that God will make the world good again, we can withstand the storms of life – the evil forces that turn neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. Because we trust in Jesus Christ, we can still wait for new growth to come out of dead stumps. We can keep the faith and share peace with all the world.
As our 22 year old Emily said years ago when she was just a little girl, imagining a such a peace-filled world,
“Mommies won't fight daddies.
And birdies will want to be held.
And kitties won't scratch doggies.
And girls and boys won't go to sleep hungry.
And hospitals will be empty, and we won’t need any more Band-Aids.”
Let’s pray for that world and begin to live in it, even when it is not fully here. Live into the vision of peace. When a child or a spouse or a parent or a close friend sorely disappoints you, find a way to communicate, to forgive, and to live in peace because the anger will destroy you.
We may see a world full of rage and incivility, but we know that it is possible to have a world full of kindness and love. And so we host a Funday Sunday, hoping to do a kindness for this community, especially for young families, chewed up by this world competition and stress. We will provide a moment of peace and joy.
We may see a world full of war, but we know it is possible to have a world of peace and goodwill toward all. And so we pray for peace and work for mutual understanding among people of different faith groups and cultures. We speak out against violence and injustice, believing that Christ calls us to be peacemakers in a world filled with mistrust and fear. And we teach peacemaking to our community at Peace in the Park and every week here at Peace in the way we live and nurture relationships.
We may see a world full of poverty and hunger, but we know it is possible for all people to have enough, and so we collect food for the Food Bank and send money, food, and volunteers on a regular basis to help with Beth-El Farmworker Mission. We celebrate the recent triumphs of the Coalition of Immokalee farmworkers in getting agreements from tomato growers to ensure fairer wages and better relationships between growers and pickers. We celebrate with Bread for the World the recent legislation which will guarantee healthier meals at reduced prices for poor school children.
Isaiah’s poetry invites not scientific calculations of reality, but visionary prayers and courageous lives, as we hang onto the promises and possibilities of God.
Do you think Martin Luther King could have imagined in 1960 that one day little white girls could indeed walk hand in hand with little black boys and people would smile? Yes, because he saw that by the power of God’s Spirit the world could be transformed. Do you think the people of Northern Ireland, living in the hostility of Catholic and Protestant divide in 1970 believed in the possibility of an end to the violence? John Hume and David Trimble by faith took courageous steps in the direction of peace. Do you think that Nelson Mandela and FW deKlerk, imagined a united South Africa in 1980? They, along with Desmond Tutu and others, worked hard to keep the possibility of reconciliation alive.
If people like this can work against all odds in such difficult circumstances to keep the vision for peace, we cannot give up on peace. When we feel like growling, we need to purr and wait. When we feel like biting someone’s head off, we need to stop and think about whether that might cause some indigestion. When we want to bark at someone, we might remember that cute bumper sticker which reminds us to bark less and wag more. When venomous language starts to spew from our lips, we should find a warm place in the sun to curl up and settle ourselves down. When we want to devour someone smaller or less significant than us, we should stop and remember that we are called to take care of the weak. Let’s pray for peace and live in peace with each other.
O come, please come Emmanuel. Free all who wait in the dark of night. Come fill all people with your light. O come, God with us, bind, all families/nations, one heart, one mind. Make envy, conflict, quarrels cease. Fill the whole world with heavenly peace.
2nd Sunday of Advent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
Lord of light, draw us into the Light of your truth. Share with us your vision of peace that we may by your Spirit’s power, be transformed.
(Singing) I’m praying for a peace-ful world, NOT like the world I used to know. Where the palm trees glisten and children listen to hear… oceans of love flow. I’m praying for a peace-ful world with every sermon that I write. May God’s grace lead us into Light. And may Christ make all our darkness bright.
I’m praying for peace because this world is full of hostility – at school there’s bullying and disrespect. In the workplace, there’s backstabbing and verbal abuse. On the highways, there’s road rage and distraction. In politics, polarization takes the place of dialogue. In the church, there’s division instead of unity. On the web, people say whatever they want, all bars are down. Remember the teenager who killed herself because of a Facebook dispute. This is not a peace-filled world. We gobble one another up. It is a dog-eat-dog world.
Oh, we may have greater awareness of the diversity of people around the globe. We are more understanding of different religions, different lifestyles, and differing sexual orientations. In some parts of the world , we are more attuned to gender equality. But we still live in a world racked by the exertion of power in place of love, by the need to control rather than to share. We live in a world which increasingly lacks civility. People are angry and out of control.
The recession has not helped attitudes. Joblessness in our country is at a seven month high. 15.1 million people are unemployed. And house prices are in a fresh decline. The total number of houses in foreclosure is over 2 million with another 2 million more than 90 days delinquent. But our country’s problems are small compared to others. How would you like to be a Congolese woman near the border, near the UN, but still not safe from the attack of multiple male warriors?
Violence in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, four times higher than in 2007, says the Pentagon in a report last month. In Haiti health officials now estimate that 650,000 people could become infected with Cholera over the next six months. Tensions are mounting in South and North Korea, not to mention the Ivory Coast. In countries where millions of people have no food, health care, or education, an obscene amount of money is spend on the purchase of armaments. Might does not make right. Why do we keep fighting? Why is this such a dog-eat-dog world.
Isaiah lived in a world, where little people were being chewed up too. The Assyrians had taken captive most of the northern kingdom and turned the southern kingdom into a vassal state. The family tree of King was withering. It was like an dying tree, which needed pruning. Whack, whack. That’s what the last verses of chapter 9 say. The tallest trees will be cut down. The majestic forest will be taken down, clear-cut. And here’s the surprise, Isaiah sees it as God’s doing, not circumstantial. Isaiah sees this pruning as good. Perhaps with his help, we can see the pruning of our own nation as good. Maybe we can see the decline of our personal wealth and power, our growing humility as good too. Because God can do great things with a stump. Hear the good news about being whacked back.
Isaiah 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
This is the kind of vision which can keep us going. It is a ridiculously dreamy vision. An old stump producing new growth. It can happen.
My friend Kim lost her husband to cancer when the boys were young teens. A couple of years before George died, a huge pecan tree in their back yard fell. When the tree experts came, Kim wanted them to grind up the stump, but George liked the old stump, so they left it. After George died, a circle of beautiful mimosas sprung up around the old stump. I preached at that church this past Father’s Day and the now twenty year old Doug was there to give out chocolate kisses to all the dads in the congregation as a “thanks” to all the fathers he had there, who showed him God’s love. God can do great wonders, even in the horrors of untimely death. God can bring new life from the old stump in your life. Whether it is a dead marriage or a dead business, even if you have a dead faith, God can bring new life into that stump too.
Isaiah speaks of a new leader from the line of David. We Christians know this leader, this Messiah to be Jesus, who was fuller than full of the Spirit of the Lord. He was the Lord, God Almighty in human flesh, born of Mary and of the Spirit. He had a spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel and might, spirit of knowledge and deep respect for the awesome power of God. He delighted in serving, respecting, and obeying God. We don’t like to talk about fearing God, but maybe some of our civility is lost when we lose that deep, deep respect for our highest authority. Jesus was marked by deep respect for God, by right living, by caring for the humble, weak, poor and needy, being faithful and ready to rid this world of evil. Though he turned tables in the temple, he did rarely engaged in power struggles. Rather he used his power to teach, to heal the sick, to care for all. And he changed the world by being God with us – living with us and for us, dying with us and for us, being raised with us and for us. And Jesus taught us he is vine and we are the branches. All we have to do is stay connected to the vine and we will thrive.
And because of Christ’s presence with us, this vision of peace is even more real now than it was for Isaiah when he wrote about that shoot from stump of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David, the great king and the grandfather of Solomon, the wise king. After Solomon, the kingdom of Israel and Judah split and then slowly declined. There was no hope for the kingdom of Jesse’s lineage, according to normal expectation. The kings were corrupt. They abused justice, did not care for the poor, and ignored the commands of the God who had called them to leadership. Isaiah has the courage in the midst of widespread despair to announce that God can do a new thing. Do you believe God can do a new thing in your life? Maybe you feel like your life is dry and brittle, ready to break into a hundred pieces. Maybe you wonder why you’ve been pruned back and are having to start all over again – in work, in relationships.
When this new branch grows, here’s what Isaiah tells us will happen: animals who have always been enemies, unable to do anything but devour and mistrust one another will lie down together. Wolves in the same bed as lambs. Leopards and young goats warming one another. Calves and lions communing without harm. Cows and bears at table, together. Lions' diets changed for good. Little children leading them all. Nursing infants cooing harmlessly at cobras. Toddlers joyfully handling snakes. What a wonderful peaceable kingdom!
“Life without strife. Togetherness where togetherness used to be ridiculous. Hospitality without hostility. Radically altered behavior. Shared things and shared spaces. No more hunter and hunted, predator and prey. The oddest, but in the end, the most beautiful changes in power structures imaginable. No violence. No danger. No threat. No harm. ” ( R. Deibert)
Because we believe in a God who comes to live among us, to share in the agony and ecstasy of this earthly life, we have peace. Because we believe that God created the world good, and that God will make the world good again, we can withstand the storms of life – the evil forces that turn neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. Because we trust in Jesus Christ, we can still wait for new growth to come out of dead stumps. We can keep the faith and share peace with all the world.
As our 22 year old Emily said years ago when she was just a little girl, imagining a such a peace-filled world,
“Mommies won't fight daddies.
And birdies will want to be held.
And kitties won't scratch doggies.
And girls and boys won't go to sleep hungry.
And hospitals will be empty, and we won’t need any more Band-Aids.”
Let’s pray for that world and begin to live in it, even when it is not fully here. Live into the vision of peace. When a child or a spouse or a parent or a close friend sorely disappoints you, find a way to communicate, to forgive, and to live in peace because the anger will destroy you.
We may see a world full of rage and incivility, but we know that it is possible to have a world full of kindness and love. And so we host a Funday Sunday, hoping to do a kindness for this community, especially for young families, chewed up by this world competition and stress. We will provide a moment of peace and joy.
We may see a world full of war, but we know it is possible to have a world of peace and goodwill toward all. And so we pray for peace and work for mutual understanding among people of different faith groups and cultures. We speak out against violence and injustice, believing that Christ calls us to be peacemakers in a world filled with mistrust and fear. And we teach peacemaking to our community at Peace in the Park and every week here at Peace in the way we live and nurture relationships.
We may see a world full of poverty and hunger, but we know it is possible for all people to have enough, and so we collect food for the Food Bank and send money, food, and volunteers on a regular basis to help with Beth-El Farmworker Mission. We celebrate the recent triumphs of the Coalition of Immokalee farmworkers in getting agreements from tomato growers to ensure fairer wages and better relationships between growers and pickers. We celebrate with Bread for the World the recent legislation which will guarantee healthier meals at reduced prices for poor school children.
Isaiah’s poetry invites not scientific calculations of reality, but visionary prayers and courageous lives, as we hang onto the promises and possibilities of God.
Do you think Martin Luther King could have imagined in 1960 that one day little white girls could indeed walk hand in hand with little black boys and people would smile? Yes, because he saw that by the power of God’s Spirit the world could be transformed. Do you think the people of Northern Ireland, living in the hostility of Catholic and Protestant divide in 1970 believed in the possibility of an end to the violence? John Hume and David Trimble by faith took courageous steps in the direction of peace. Do you think that Nelson Mandela and FW deKlerk, imagined a united South Africa in 1980? They, along with Desmond Tutu and others, worked hard to keep the possibility of reconciliation alive.
If people like this can work against all odds in such difficult circumstances to keep the vision for peace, we cannot give up on peace. When we feel like growling, we need to purr and wait. When we feel like biting someone’s head off, we need to stop and think about whether that might cause some indigestion. When we want to bark at someone, we might remember that cute bumper sticker which reminds us to bark less and wag more. When venomous language starts to spew from our lips, we should find a warm place in the sun to curl up and settle ourselves down. When we want to devour someone smaller or less significant than us, we should stop and remember that we are called to take care of the weak. Let’s pray for peace and live in peace with each other.
O come, please come Emmanuel. Free all who wait in the dark of night. Come fill all people with your light. O come, God with us, bind, all families/nations, one heart, one mind. Make envy, conflict, quarrels cease. Fill the whole world with heavenly peace.
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