Category: Sermons - Page 27 - We Get There By Walking

Epiphany

From the Bible: Matthew 2: 1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.” When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:
      You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
      by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,
      because from you will come one who governs,
      who will shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.”  When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.

Introduction:
All around us Christmas is over.
Packed up and put away.
But here, it lingers for a few moments more.
So, out of sync or onto something, you decide.
This morning we celebrate Epiphany.
Remembering the journey of the magi…and the final day in our celebration of Christmas.
One carol that we do not often sing as we get ready for Christmas is The First Nowell.
But we will sing it this morning as we remember and retell the story;
A verse or two at a time with brief reflections between our singing.
The carol is #56 in your hymnal.

The First Nowell (verse 1)

Reflection:
I read it on Christmas Day or maybe the day after.
A tongue in cheek response to a comment someone made about not having gotten everything done in time for Christmas. “Don’t worry,” the responder said. “Christmas has just begun. You have 12 more days to get it all done.”
And, so we did.
Not to get it all done, per se but to remember and relive the story.
Where the world “out there” ended Christmas on December 25^th, for Christians,
If we allowed it…
If we made space for it…
Christmas was just beginning.
Twelve days to allow the unfolding story of shepherds and angels and wisemen and child;
And a pondering what it all meant young mother to weave its way into our lives again.
And, while the 12^th Day of Christmas – Epiphany – was two days ago, here we are, just in time, to recall the story one more time and to do our own pondering about what it meant and what it means, and to allow it to sink deeply enough into our hearts, minds and souls so that weeks from now or months from now, when you need it most, the meaning and message and promise of these days might find its way back into your life again.

Here we are – Epiphany.

The First Nowell (verses 2 and 3)

Reflection:
Wisemen.
Magi.
Astrologers.
Star-struck star gazers.
Whoever they were.
Courageous enough or crazy enough to leave it all behind and to follow a star.

What strikes me as I listen, again, to the way the author of Matthew’s gospel tells the story is this:
In a world dominated by family and clan and tribe and nation;
Where ethnicities and language and customs carved out sharp dividing lines between peoples;
Making clear who was in and who was out;
Who was to be trusted and who was not;
Who was a friend and who was the enemy;
These star-struck star gazers leave not just home, but all the rest of it behind, as well.
Crossing borders and barriers and all kinds of boundaries…
To follow a start.
To find a “king” who was not their own, but who, in another way, was.
Maybe there is a lesson in all of that for us.
For our world still divides itself along those very same lines of clan and tribe and party and wealth.

The God of this story from the Bible…
The God who comes, again, to be God with us…
The God whose name and presence we invoke each Sunday;
And, also, each time we whisper Thank you God or Please God;
That very same God comes to be the God of all, not just our God.
And, maybe there is something about that God’s call to us…
A call for us to find ways to reach across and to step across all those self imposed, self erected boundaries to meet the one on the other side.
God calls to us to use our faith;
And, our everyday witness to what we believe;
And our everyday efforts to put into practice our best hopes and our bravest values;
In such a way that faith and God and what we believe are experienced by others…
More as a door than a cause of separation;
More as a window onto the Holy than a wall which divides;
More as an open hand than a back turned.
More as an invitation than a threat.
An invitation to see in the other…
In all others…
The imprint and image of God.
Maybe a star still beckons…
And God still waits for us to follow.

The First Nowell (verses 4 and 5)

Reflection:
So, here we now are…
Almost at the end of Christmas for another year.
For all the excitement and anticipation leading up to Christmas , it often comes as a relief when it is finally over and the decorations are repacked and put away and the trees are taken down and life returns to a more normal pattern.
But, before that all happens here…
Look around one more time.
Take one more moment to ponder in your own heart the meaning and message and promise of Christmas.
The promise that God comes to be God with us.
Not above or aloof or apart for us, but with us in the very midst of life as it is.
And, to remember and to hold on for dear life to the Christmas dream of Peace on Earth.
A dream which is still sung or hummed and hoped for and worked towards by hundreds, if not thousands or tens of thousands, of everyday angels.
Can we, too, take up that angel song?

Take one more minute…
To remember and to claim, again, the promise and the hope of Christmas.

The First Nowell (verse 6)

Benediction – The Work of Christmas

When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are back home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins.
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To teach the nations,
To make music in the heart.

– Howard Thurman

A Reflection for New Year’s Day

So, here we are…
New Year’s Day 2012.
10+ hours into a new month and a new year.
With a new calendar to hang on the wall to help us keep track of the passage of days.
And the opportunity to learn a new skill…writing 2012 instead of 2011.

I have to admit I am not a big New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day person.
I have no desire to go to Times Square for New Year’s Eve.
(Though I did enjoy celebrating New Year’s Eve and welcoming in the New Year in White Plains last night!)
I am not big on resolutions or “out with the old and in with the new.”
Yet, today being the day that it is…
And the fact that we are together in this place…
Maybe it is a moment to stop for a moment to consider the times of our lives.

As I get older I better understand the comment my father made to me as he was considering retirement. He said, “At this point in my life time is more valuable than a bit more money.”
While it may not be true for all…
Especially those who struggle each day just to make ends meet…
It probably is true for most, if not all of us.
Time is our most precious commodity.
That being true, then this question…
How do you use…
How do you want to use…
The time that you have?
When I was younger I couldn’t wait to grow up.
Now that I am older (notice I didn’t say grown up!), I drag my feet in a desperate, but futile effort to slow time down.
So, as I thought about this morning…
And about our being here together…
I found myself thinking about how we understand the times of our lives.

First, we should recognize and treat each day as a gift.
Maybe the first thing that we should say when we get up each morning is Thank you. And, to do our best to live with that sense of gratitude as we go through the day.
I have to admit I am not very good at this.
And, maybe you are a bit like me.
Instead of Thank you I often wake up immediately thinking of what I have to do.
Either looking forward to what is on my list or feeling the weight of too many things and not enough time.
And, too often, I allow the unimportant…
The making sure everything is neat and in place and that outward appearances are just so…
To usurp the truly important…
Paying attention to the person in front of me;
Carving out time for those whom I love;
Allowing that which I believe to push its way to the surface of my life and outward to touch another with kindness or hope or compassion.
But maybe today…
First things first.
Each day is a gift.
Begin it by saying Thank you.

A second reflection is this…
Maybe the author of Ecclesiastes and Pete Seeger are right.
That there is a time for every purpose under heaven;
Which, in many ways, runs counter to the cultural expectation which surround us:
That all of the time we should always be and should always feel happy and successful and confident.
The Bible is more honest than that.
It knows and names that there are times of joy and times of sadness; that there are times when we mourn and times when we are to dance; that there are times keep and to hold closely and times to let go and to throw away.
And, all of that is okay.
And, how life is.
And, all of it…
All of it…
Remains wrapped up in the providence and grace of God.

Finally, the Biblical witness does its best to remind us that my time and your time partake of the Eternal. Our lives are intertwined with the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end; Our lives a part of God’s making all things new.
Our lives doing their small part to bend that long arc of history in the direction of God’s Kingdom come.
While maybe fleeting in the grand scheme of things, our lives are not futile.
Not just here and gone.
Not just for ourselves alone.
Our lives find purpose and meaning and direction and hope as we open our lives to that which we know and name as God, and those whom God names as our neighbors.

New Year’s Day 2012 and the times of our lives.

Santa Claus is Easy – A Reflection for Christmas

I have been practicing a song all week so I could sing it for you tonight.
Ready.
Hmmmmmm.
You better watch out. You better not shout. You better not cry I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.

So, here we are…
Once again on the doorstep Christmas.
For, at least, the last month all of us have seen and heard far more about Santa and Rudolf than we have heard those age old words that describe the Dream of God and speak about swords into plowshares and peace on earth and that long ago birth of a child. Santa has been seen on the Village streets, in the stores where we have shopped, selling jewelry on TV and even using the new i-Phone to get directions and to check appointments. A hundred times over, if not more, Santa Claus has, indeed, come to town.

Yet, despite all his appearances and all the publicity…
Here we are…In a church, of all places;
On Christmas Eve.
Could it be there is something about the Christian witness about the meaning of Christmas; something about that age old story about a young mother and an anxious father and the birth of a child and shepherds in the field keeping watch.
Something about that dream of peace on earth and God with us…
That remains powerful enough to push its way past all of the commercials and all of the tinsel and all of Santas finding its wayinto our lives and touching something deep into our hearts and minds and souls. So much so that, for a moment at least, we need to be here and not someplace else.
I hope so.

What I want to say to you tonight…
On this Christmas Eve…
Is this:
Despite all his appearances and the cultural push in his direction, Santa Claus is easy. Maybe that is why he is so popular. In a conversation I had this past week the person I was speaking with said, in all seriousness, that the nice thing about Santa was that you only had to worry about whether you have been naughty or nice. I know…there are times when all of us wish or wish we could pretend that life was that simple.
Just naughty or nice.
But, despite all our wishing or all our pretending, life is not like that, is it?
It is never that simple or neat or clean.
And maybe that is where the real meaning of Christmas begins to make sense.
And, where we might find hope enough to hang onto as we find our way in and through this wonderful and sometimes crazy world in which we live.

I believe the meaning and message of Christmas is this:
That which we know and name as God is not up there or out there or somehow distant from or removed from your life and mine, or peering over the edge of heaven to see if we have been naughty or nice. The meaning and message of Christmas is that which we know and name as God comes to be God with us…
To mix it up with life as it really is for us.
In all those places where life is anything, but simple.
God with us…
Right here and right now. Just as you are. Just as life is.
The story begins that way with real life issues.
Roman taxation. A young woman unexpectedly pregnant. A mother’s dream wrapped up in the birth of a child in an occupied land. And, it continues from then to now.

God with us…as strength and steadfastness and patience. That which you need as you do the hard work of raising children and sustaining relationships.

God with us causing us to lift our eyes and unwrap ourselves from our sometimes shrink-wrapped lives to see the other as we sort through the difference between what we want and what we need and how that gets lived out in a culture and climate that incessantly tells us more is always better.

God with us as vision and hope and possibility as we wrestle with the complexities of the issues that face us – hunger and war and poverty and unemployment and political stalemate – the complexities of all those issues and the absolute simplicity of human need.

God with us…Right in the middle of all those places where we do our best to follow our best angels and hold faith and values and a vision for tomorrow close amidst the push and pull of life as it is.

God with us…that unnerving, ever hopeful, not settling for good enough presence which continually challenges us to turn strangers into neighbors, and enemies into guests at the table, and to look not just inward at our own family, but outward towards that larger human family.

The promise of Christmas is that God is with us in all those moments…and more.
And tonight, one more time, we get to decide what Christmas is really about.
And about which story is true.
We get to decide between Santa Claus who is easy, but doesn’t hold up to life as it is.
And, the God who comes to be…
Hope.
Promise.
Peace.
Presence.
Compassion.
Who comes to be God with us…
In every moment of every day in life just as it is.

Two Reflections for Advent

From the Bible:

I will take my post.
I will position myself on the watchtower.
I will keep watch to see what the Lord says to me;
And how God will respond to my complaint.
Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Write a vision and make it plain upon a tablet so that a runner can read it.
There is still a vision for the appointed time;
It testifies to the end; it does not deceive.
If it delays, wait for it; for it is surely coming;
It will not be late.” (Habakkuk 2: 1-3)

Reflection:
I love the picture these few verses paint.
Can you envision it, as well?
The challenger, in order to make sure his or her complaint is heard, climbs to the top of the watchtower at the top of the fortress purposefully built on top of the hill on in order to get as high as possible; as close to God as possible to make sure that God hears what she or he has to say. There, shaking a fist at God, the complaint is made on behalf of the people and an answer demanded of the Most High God.

And, God responds with this…
“Write down the vision.
It does not deceive.
If it is delayed, wait for it for it is surely coming.
It will not be late.
Write it large enough that the runner can read it.
The messenger running past way down there in the valley below.”

“Write down the vision…”
How large do we dare write the words of God’s vision for your life and mine, and for the world in which we live entrusted now to our care and keeping? How large do we write it across the landscape of our lives daring to describe the vision of what we imagine or dream or hope as we turn the corner towards the promise of Christmas?

This big (words on a 9×11 piece of paper)?
Or, this big (words on a piece of newsprint)?
Or, this big (large words written across a piece of paper 10’ long)?
How large do they need to be so that another might see?

Maybe there is…
At least in God’s scheme of things…
Something about Christmas…
That is more about proclamation than celebration.

From the Bible: Genealogy of Jesus (from Matthew 1)

A record of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Aram.
Aram was the father of Aminadab.
Aminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. (the genealogy continues…)

Reflection:

Biblical scholars will point out all the nuances and inconsistencies that are a part of Matthew’s genealogy. Names out of places and years that don’t add up.
That is there job.

But, here is what strikes me…
Beyond all the grand titles that are given to Jesus and put into words as we sing our Christmas carols:
Messiah.
Savior.
Son of God.
Lord of Lords.
King of Kings.
And, at a time of the year when we surround Jesus with halos and angels and have him greeted by great Kings from the east.
Matthew begins his story about Jesus by rooting him…
Deeply rooting him…
In a family tree.
Ancestory.com if you will which links Jesus to grandparents and great-grandparents and great, great, great grandparents.
And, on and on and on.
Stretching back in time…real time.

Rooting him deeply in a family and a history.
And, in the fabric of humanity.
And, in the end, in our family and history and humanity.
Can you believe it?
God with us.

Saying Yes to God

From the Bible:
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for [God] has looked with favor on the lowliness of [God’s] servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is [God’s] name’” (Luke 1:46-49).

Sermon:
This morning we lit our third Advent candle with the opening words of what, traditionally, is known at the Magnificat. Mary’s poem of expectation and hope sung out loud when she was pregnant with Jesus. “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior…”
A poem which rehearses the abiding promises of God drawing on the Jewish tradition of the exodus and the exile, now pulled into this new time and place.
Naming…and praising…and, one more time, remembering the faithfulness of God…

Who refuses to forget those too often forgotten:
Who refuses overlook those who find themselves oppressed:
Who scatters the proud and who turns power on its head;
Who lifts up the lowly and who fills the hungry.

Rereading these verses again this week allowing them to run through my mind as I prepared for meetings and played tag with the children who came for Joyful Noise…
I found myself lingering over the word magnify.
As in magnifier…to make larger.
And, as in magnificent…to be noble or great or held in great esteem.
“My soul magnifies the Lord…”

You know that I think that the Bible…even this most treasured part of the Bible…is as much about you and me as it is about them. And, as much about here and now as it is about then. And, if I am right, and that is so, then do these words –“My soul magnifies the Lord…” – apply not just to Mary, but to you and me, as well?
My soul making God greater?
My soul making God larger?
My soul …the very essence of who I am…adding to the nobility and to the esteem of God?
Really?
My soul?
And, your soul, as well?

You see the Bible is safe if we keep it about them, but risky if it suddenly becomes about us.
And, if I am right…
Or, even close to being right…
About how I read the Bible and how I understand these verses…
Then, maybe…just maybe…
Just as God depended on Mary…
Could it be that God now depends on you and me for God to be visible, manifest, magnified?
Large enough to see and real enough for others to experience?
I wonder.

But, back to Mary for a moment.
That Mary could say those words, at all, goes back to one prior word, I think.
One word that Mary said in response to God.
One word that God may now wait for you and me to say.
And, that one word is…Yes.
The difficulty we have is that we want to say two words, not one.
We want to say Yes, but…”

Yes God, but not today.
Yes God, but not my checkbook or credit card.
Yes God, but not in the boardroom or the conference room.
Yes God, but not with them.

Yes, God, but…
And, here may be the difference between ourselves and Mary.
The author of Luke’s gospel tells us that Mary said yes with her entire being.
Yes as only a pregnant woman can say yes.

Is that what it takes in our own lives?
For our hearts, our minds, our souls, our lives to magnify God?
To make God large enough to be seen by others and real enough to be experienced by others?
Maybe.
And, God only knows…
That Grand Dream of God that you and I know in Jesus…
That we, once again, claim as we celebrate Christmas…
God with us and for us…
God with all and for all…
Waits, once again, to be embodied and to be made manifest and to be magnified in this the world God continues to love so much.

Today, as we continue our preparation for Christmas, we catch the echo of Mary’s words…
Waiting now to be made our own.
Yes, God.
Here I am.

Turning Towards Christmas – A Sermon

From the Bible:
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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.” (Luke 2:8-10).

Sermon:
So, here we are…
Already the beginning of December. Not quite halfway through Advent.
Despite the pace and sometimes pressure of these days, this continues to be my favorite time of year…standing front and center in terms of what I believe.
But, in something I read this week, written by a person who I consider to be a thoughtful and insightful thinker about the church today, the comment was made that,
“Advent is the answer to a question that no one asks.”
Maybe he is right.
All around us the preparation for Christmas started weeks ago long before you and I opened our Bible to read or reread the visionary poetry of Isaiah that speaks of swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks and nations no longer learning the art of war. Or the poetry set to music that speaks about a child being born for us. Or, before we turned to the verses for this morning about shepherds and angels and some sort of good news.
Yet, here we are anyway…
Right smack dab in the middle of it.
Advent.
Well on our way towards Christmas.
And, at least for me, still with a long list of what needs done to meet my own expectations and the expectations of others. And with longings that push downward towards the depth of my soul.

So, how did the verses go that were read this morning as we lit our Advent candles?
“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields keeping watch keeping watch over their flock by night. When suddenly…”
I am sure you remember how the rest of it goes or you can look back at your bulletin to read it there. The story is so familiar. Even if you have never been to church or opened a Bible, you probably know something of the story from the familiar scenes on the front of Christmas cards or from holiday commercials or the music piped into almost every store that you enter.
Sheep.
Shepherds.
Ruebenesque type angels hovering in the air.
Safe. Secure. Warm.
Perfect lighting to illuminate all the right spots.
Is that how it was?
How the story really goes?
And, if it is, where is good news in all of that…for anyone?

But what if the story Luke intends to tell is really different from all of that?
Different from images created by Christmas cards or Christmas carols?
What if was all much more uncertain and much more unsettling?
Here is what I think the scene looks like:
Unwashed shepherds…hired hands…closer to day-laborers than salaried employees.
In the fields beyond the town watching over someone else’s sheep.
Kept at arm’s length from others because of who they are and what they do and how they look.
Living and eking out a living in a country controlled by an occupying army.
Doing what they do every day…day in and day out…when angels appear.
Not hovering cherubim or seraphim (whatever they are!), but a heavenly host. A heavenly army.
Messengers (which is what the Greek word for angels mean) sent direct from God or the gods who, at least in their understanding, were angry about something more often than not and in need of being placated more often than not.
A heavenly army possibly as grim and foreboding as Caesar’s army.
Or, our army.
Or, their army.
Or, anyone’s army.
Suddenly surrounding terrified shepherds only to say, “Be not afraid.”
Can you believe it? In a situation like that surrounded by that which threatens to overwhelm you in an instant…“Be not afraid.”

That’s the scene, I think.
At least the way I imagine it.
Which is all well and good, but what does it mean?
Where might we find that intersection between shepherds and angels with your life and mine as we move through Advent and turn towards Christmas.
Maybe here…
We live in what many describe as a fearful time.
Instead of occupying armies we have occupy Wall Street even creeping over into occupy Main Street. More children stand in line at our schools for free or reduced lunches than ever before.
Once secure jobs are now on the line not because you can’t do them or won’t do it, but because you are told that they can’t afford you any more.
And, all of that is just in our backyard.
We are told to be afraid.
Of them.
Of each other.

Of those who think differently than you or who take a political position different than you or worship in ways different than you.
Afraid of the stranger.
Afraid of the foreigner.
Afraid of the immigrant.
And sometimes even to be afraid of God…
Who we are told (not here, I hope, but certainly in the circles out there, including in an email I received again this morning) that God is more about judgment than grace. More about hell than about hope.
Be afraid.

And, into that mix of life and world as it is…
Our lives and world just as they are…

Working hard to sustain relationships and to raise our children.
Doing our jobs or hoping to keep our jobs.
Trying our best to make sense of these confusing times.

Into our lives and world come these surprising words…
God, one more time, turning perceptions and expectations upside down and inviting us to turn them upside down as well.
‘Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.”

The actual “good news of great joy” was not included in what we read this morning, but maybe you know the story well enough to know what comes next. The advance angel announces the birth of a child who will be known as Emmanuel/God with us turning the popular notion of God on its head.
Not God up there or out there or someplace else…
But God right here, right now with you and me just as we are right in the middle of life as it is.
Right in the middle of your life as it is.
God here not in anger.
Not here to get even.
Not here to pronounce judgment.
But here to be with you and with me and to turn our lives in the direction of…
Hope…and promise…and possibility…and peace.

All well and good, right?
Just what you would expect a preacher to say on a Sunday leading up to Christmas.
But here is the catch in the form of a question.
Is what I said about God true?
About God with us right here, right now, with you and with me and mixed up in this wonderful, unsettling, uncertain world as it is?
I cannot prove it and neither can you.
But, here is what I do believe.
We can chose to believe it and to live as if it were true.
And, that may, in fact, be just what is needed to do what God intends to be done…
And, in turn, turn us all in the direction of peace.

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Several things I believe: