Hope Forever

Sermon Jeremiah 33:14-16 November 29, 2015 Advent 1 yr C

Hope Forever

God’s promises are new every morning!

Those words stare me in the face from the side of my mug as I sip my coffee during the awakening of the day.

I turn the mug- not ready to see or believe these words-as I wait for the effects of the caffeine to kick in. But, slowly reality comes alive-this is a new day, there is a new dawn, and there is opportunity on the horizon.

The prophet Jeremiah is telling the people who are now living in captivity in a foreign land that there is a new day coming!

There is a day when war will be no more, a day when everyone will be able to return to their homes, and a day when righteousness will rule the earth. There is a day when no one will go hungry and all people will find shelter and there will be enough for the whole world. The days are surely coming says the Lord.

We enter into this Advent season as we do every year, on the heels of Thanksgiving.

The entrance is abrupt as if we aren’t prepared for it.

It jolts us out of our complacency

and throws us into a whirlwind of activity

that we knew was coming

but thought we had more time.

It happens every year like this-year after year-we say

                                    we’ll do better next year and be more prepared.

But, here we are again this year,

           and for young families there is more to do than the year before

                                                                     and we wonder how it will all get done.

We are jolted into the season set aside to reflect and wait and wonder about the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He comes to us incarnate-God with us-as a babe all over again every year.

God’s promises are new every morning!

This season;

        let’s give ourselves the chance to witness the newness of the birth of the Christ child.

Let us allow this birth to take form in our hearts.

A newness, a new birth within us as God’s promises are fulfilled in the new day.

You might decide that I need a check with reality because the world around us is still living in fear. Our brothers and sisters of various colors of skin and ways of living are still under attack in a world where freedom is supposed to ring for all people. Little girls are still denied an education. Men are afraid to go out at night for fear of being arrested. There is no longer a place to call safe space.

You might decide to tell me that my words are foolishness because I haven’t recently visited the hospitals or the jails where suffering and pain, death and injustice are still occurring every day.

It is true that for thousands of years it appears the world has not changed. It is true that humans continue to wreak havoc upon one another.

Yet, it is also true that goodness keeps coming forth. It is also true that people are relentless in random acts of kindness. It is also true that wherever we turn there are hardworking people seeking to provide light and happiness and wonder for others.

·         And this is where we find ourselves on the heels of Thanksgiving as we are launched into Advent; hardworking people seeking to bring a little light into a world of darkness through many acts of kindness, love, and care. !!

Today is the Sunday of hope.

Hope is an active way of being.

Hope is more than a desire for a future outcome.

It is a way of living in the present.

Hope provides the reality that we can live to our fullest as each new day dawns despite what rules the world and despite those who seek to diminish us.

There are many people out there who can only make themselves feel good about who they are by discrediting and diminishing everyone around them. If you meet someone like that it is time to turn and go the other way.

Our goal as faithful believers of Jesus is to spend our time talking about the good we see in each other.

This is how we live out an active hope.

Emily Dickenson wrote this short poem about hope:

Hope is the thing with feathers-

that perches in the soul-

and sings the tune without words-

and never stops at all.

As we are launched into the season today, do not despair.

Live into hope.

Live with the faith we have been given through God with us. God, as we witness in Scripture and history, has been faithful throughout all the generations.

Let’s discover together how we can live this Advent season filled with hope and encouragement-not just for each other but for everyone we meet.

Let us make this Jesus we believe in real! The love of God coming to us all brand new, wrapped in swaddling cloths, ready to offer all the love we are able to receive.

Let us share the news of God’s love in a way that people not only hear this but they desire this love too.

Let us reach out with sincerity to our neighbors and our friends and invite them to experience life together.

·         We may be retired but that doesn’t mean we have stopped living and being active and filled with a life of hope for today and tomorrow. God is calling us to share the love of Jesus in every new day that dawns.

·         We may be working full time scrambling to make ends meet, but that doesn’t stop us from smiling as we pass people on the sidewalk or the grocery store or the highway.

·         We may be alone but that doesn’t stop us from proclaiming the truth of God present with us in all of our ways and days.

·         We may be young and wonder where life is leading us. We may be worried about a future we know nothing about. But, that doesn’t stop us from trusting God and being faithful. It doesn’t stop us from actively seeking to show God’s love in our decisions.

·         Getting up every morning is not an option. It is a call of God to get up, receive, and give.

Yes, Advent has snuck up on us again this year.

It is here whether we are ready or not.

And so it was with the coming of our Lord then and now.

His birth, his return, comes without warning.

It comes without fanfare.

It comes as Advent should, as a new day dawning.

Let our hearts be open to receive, ready or not.

Amen.  

The Sky is Falling.

Sermon Mark 13:1-8 November 15, 2015 Ordinary Time B

The Sky is Falling.

“The sky is falling!” yelled Chicken Little when an acorn fell on her head. She was so panicked by this occurrence she immediately set out to find the lion who would grant wisdom to this horrifying incident. Along the way to the lion she met Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky and others who chose to join her on her venture. They too became panicked as she shared with them the fact that the sky was falling. They entered into her world of hysteria and fear. It is not long before they all are lured into the foxes den and do no return to the light of day. A sad tale for children, for sure; a sad tale for grown-ups too.

It’s a tale to remind people of their own moral health, it is a diagnosis of humanity. People tend to panic and jump to conclusions at the best and worst of times. This panic and reactive behavior creates even more problems than the original incident.

An acorn fell on a chicken’s head and she interpreted it to mean that the world was coming to an end. As humans we have a habit of looking to every disaster and every tragedy as an opportunity to testify to the end times, to rant on about the end of human decency, the end of the world as we know it.

Last night-Friday night I learned of two disasters, one in a country I once called home and one locally of one of our own in the church. The people of France where caught unaware as the people of New York had been in 2001. They were caught in the crossfires of bullets claiming lives for reasons we do not know-terrorism, random violence, horror.

The Arvidsons, Rick and Tracey, were caught unaware as their son Matthew and his father were in a rollover car accident. They were hit by another vehicle on their way home from a football game-somehow, not sure how, they walked away from their totaled vehicle.

We could all rant about how these are the end of times and make predictions about the inhumanity of humans.

But, we recognize in the midst of this reality of the human condition comes the opportunity for mercy and forgiveness,

for healing and mending of the world

from one family to another to another,

from one country to another to another.

The prophecy that Jesus shares with his disciples is not a prophecy stated to create panic or to be misinterpreted for the immediate end of times.

As a matter of fact the words of Jesus were words of Old Testament style of prophecy. They were not a crystal ball prediction of the future as much as they were a statement of the current human condition.

They were words of judgment coming from the Savior as he sat on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives by the way, was the place where people of the Old Testament believed the Messiah would appear. And here is Jesus sitting there talking to the disciple about the condition of the world and what is to come.

He tells them-These large stones will be no more. They will come crumbling down and the life as you know it will never exist again. New life will emerge from the death of the stones. The way things have been in your understanding of community and relationships with God will take new form.

When Jesus warned the disciples to look out, He was preparing them for a life ahead that should not be dependent on what currently looks as though it will be permanent. How many of us would ever have imagined that typewriters and phone booths would one day become obsolete?

Jesus was preparing the disciples to live out his message of redemption, his message of repentance, his message of healing, his message of love for all the people of the world not the things the people of the world had made, but the Creation God had made.

We have trouble seeing past the obstacles and tragedies we experience day after day. We have difficulty witnessing the Kingdom of God present with us in the midst of oppression and the struggles of life. We have trouble seeing past our massive structures of tangible treasures to experience the intangible grace of God.

Perhaps Jesus, was saying what later the poet Warsan Shire said, “Later that night I took an atlas in my lap, ran my fingers across the whole world, and whispered, where does it hurt? it answered, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.”

Pain, suffering, tragedy will be with us, wars and rumors of wars will fill our lives. But, Jesus brings hope in the midst of all of the present circumstances.

At this past week’s conference I attended the speaker (Rev. Alan Storey) began with the words, “I have no hope.” Immediately our hearts fell and our own sense of the future seemed dashed. As I read and prepared for the sermon this week, his words swirled around me and I thought this must be how the disciples felt when Jesus gave such words of hopelessness when he talked about death and destruction. Rev. Alan Storey  went on to say that part of our problem in the Christian church and as pastors is that we deny our despair. And when we deny the despair we feel in a world that seems intent on destroying itself and others we create false hope. He explained that it is exactly when he admits his despair and sense of helplessness and powerlessness to things of this world, it is in this lament that he finds his hope.

When we turn away from our faith in buildings and societies and policies and politics and turn our hope to the things of Jesus, (the things of grace, loving those no one loves, mercy, forgiveness), we turn our hearts to God. Here we find our strength and our ability to walk through the shadows of our dark selves and raise up into the gift of mercy and love, forgiveness and rebirth.

Jesus want us to know how to live in a world that collapses all around us every day. He is FULL of HOPE for us in these times and all times to come.

Richard Rohr, teaches from his book, Falling Upward; in crisis that we learn life’s greatest lessons. It is from disappointment and struggle that we learn what is truly important; it is in meeting failure and loss that we find the richest contents for our lives. It is at difficult times that we realize that our soul within is greater than any of our earthly bodies. (from sermon of Rev. Rey)

So we enter into the world of a new day and allow the words of Jesus to be our guide. Here are three things to take with us today. Here are three ways to live out hope. Here are three ways to live out this passage of Scripture:

1.       ‘The end is still to come; this is but the beginning…the beginning of remembering God loves us and calls us to love others at least as well as we love ourselves. This is a powerful way to begin our new way of life with Jesus.

2.     Remember the early church began and was built on loving and bringing in her enemies-Jews and Gentiles shared the bread at the Table and were baptized in the same waters. Who are our enemies? It’s time to invite them to eat with us.

3.      Live fully in the light of new beginnings-what we think is permanent may collapse around us, but it will not stop us from proclaiming the lasting love of Jesus. God is calling us into new life through Christ. Let us live by expanding the grace we have received as we offer to another, and another, and another…

Don’t let the Chicken Littles of this world drag us into a fox’s den. Stay alert, see the truth and reach out to offer the power of mercy and love.

Amen.

A Second Chance

Sermon John 11:32-44  November 1, 2015 All Saints Day

A Second Chance

Today is November 1, 2015.

We have started a new month and in two months this year of 2015 will come to an end. The next year will begin and we will be on to the next year of beginnings.

We go from day to day, month to month, year to year, around and around, cycle after cycle, season after season.

Our lives move from one beginning to one end and then another. In this cycle of beginnings and endings we witness the joys of birth and experience the sufferings of loss. The church calendar acknowledges all our beginnings and endings with celebrations throughout the year in the same we experience the life. All Saints Day is an important day for the church to celebrate.

It allows each of us to come together in unity and rejoice in the lives of those we have loved and lost and yet continue to remember. It helps us as the church to know that the beginnings and endings of those precious to us remain with us in ways that mold us from day to day.

We recognize the importance of the cycle of life so much so that it has even appeared in movies for children such as the Disney movie the Lion King where the song Circle of Life was introduced:

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love

Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life.

Perhaps this song was a hit because of the music that Elton John composed to make it popular or perhaps the words ring true for all of us we hear them again. Our lives form a circle, a cycle that moves through our time here on earth and into our time in heaven.

So on this day of remembering the people we have loved and lost, we honor their memories. We do this not reopen wounds or stir up long settled grief. But, we do this because grief is a human experience. We name the elephant in the room. We take hold of grief and allow it to happen here in this sanctuary. And while grief is something we have lived through alone and in loneliness, here in the church we join together in the solidarity of our experiences, our memories, and our unity with Christ. We have a second chance and a third and fourth, from year to year to join in the unity of remembrance.

Here in the gospel lesson from John, Jesus enters the place where his friend Lazarus has died. We witness the raw suffering of one who has learned about the death of a dear friend. Jesus who has walked among so much pain and disease and hunger now breaks down and weeps at the tomb of his friend. Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah has entered into the human experience of suffering. Jesus, God with us, has come to the moment of loss and personal grief.

It is deeply personal.

And in this moment we too enter in with Jesus.

In this moment we enter the fullness of God with us as we witness Jesus among the people who are mourning.

He is there with Mary and Martha as they struggle to understand why Jesus was absent when they needed him.

He is there with the crowd as they struggle to come to grips with life without Lazarus.

He is there feeling as helpless as they do in their grief.

He has truly been with us in all of our moments for he too has experienced them.

SO, Jesus, in the depth of grief, cries out to Lazarus to come out. Jesus cries out to claim that even in this life God has the final word.

Even here on earth God has victory over death.

Jesus calls Lazarus out to remind us as we remember those long gone that God has claimed them and God has called them out.

And in the cycle of the church we call them out year after year to remember them as the saints of God. We call them out in the sacred space of the sanctuary of God.

Their lives are holy and our hearts renewed.

I was watching a clip from a PBS awards celebration where Fred Rogers was being honored for his years of service to public television. Many people came out to honor him and to share the joy of his gift through the show Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Fred Rogers responds to the crowd who has paid him homage with a speech about his service in the television industry. He invites the crowd to think about the future and how they can make an impact in the television in the age to come.

“How do we make goodness attractive?” He asks.

“By doing whatever we can to bring courage to those whose lives move near our own. By treating our neighbor at least as well as we treat ourselves and allowing that to inform everything we produce.

Who in your life has been such a servant to you?

Who has helped you love the good that grows within you?

Take ten seconds to remember those people who have loved us and wanted what was best for us in life.

Those who have encouraged us to become who we are now.

No matter where they are either here on earth or in heaven, imagine how pleased those people must be to know that you thought of them right now.”

We have this day to remember the One, Jesus, who is with us always.

Imagine how pleased he is to know we have thought of him.

And as we gather at the Table of our Lord we remember and we rejoice in the power of the resurrection and the power and wonder of the gift of life as we cycle and circle through from this life to the next. Amen.