God, You Can’t Make Me!

Sermon Jonah 3:1-5, 10 January 25, 2015

God, You Can’t Make Me!

So friends here we are in the middle of the whale tale that we heard as children. We have heard the Scriptures tell us this morning that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time… “Go to Ninevah…and proclaim the message I told you”.

Jonah is a fabulous tale of the human response to God’s grace. We all imagine ourselves as wonderful followers of God and as ones who appreciate God’s grace in all circumstances and for all creation.

Yet, Jonah puts some comical truth to our own responses, should we be the ones to live in his shoes.

Jonah demonstrates his reaction to serving God with great exaggeration

through flight from reality,

the holding of himself and others hostage in his anxiety,

and his resistance to the fullness of grace and love.

Jonah is called by God to get on a ship to Ninevah to cry out to them that God is aware of their wickedness.

Well, Jonah is no fool.

The Ninevites are the worst enemy of the people of Israel.

He would be putting his life on the line.

He would be walking into a death trap and would probably be burned alive, as these Ninevites were in the habit of doing.

To help us understand his position, who are the people we imagine as our worst enemy?

Who is the person we cannot fathom ever showing love to?

This story is so unlike the stories of the disciples who jump out of their boats and come running to Jesus when he calls them to a life of discipleship.

That is the idea we hold in our minds and hearts when we think of responding to God’s call.

But here in the story of Jonah we discover the raw reality of fear.

 And the rapid response of running away.

In psychology this is known as the flight or fight response in the presence of danger.

And for Jonah the presentation of his call to be a prophet in a foreign land puts him in the face of danger.

He responds with a defiant, “God, you can’t make me go!”

And seriously folks don’t you think our first reaction to this idea of following God or even believing in God is more like Jonah than Peter?

 Because this turn around new way of living for God can either catch us by surprise with a falling down on our knees in awe of our maker or it can scare the bergeebers out of us.

SO in the face of what was before him Jonah decided that his best solution was to go in the opposite direction. He rushes down to Joppa and jumps on the first cruise line headed to the Spanish coast. The Tarshish beaches are most appealing and so is the scenery in that part of the Mediterranean. Can you see him already kicked back on a beach chair soaking in the warm rays of the sun?

He has no idea that his flight away from his troubles does not free him from danger but puts him and now others in the direct path of disaster. His actions have caused others to become hostages to his anxiety. The storm rages and the waves crash across the deck of the boat. The ship is tossed in all directions and is taking on water and it appears that it will sink unless some of the cargo is tossed overboard to distribute the weight and keep it afloat. Jonah who has carefully kept himself hidden from the crew recognizes that God is the one who has sent the storm.

The crew fear God and don’t want to throw Jonah overboard even though he insists. Finally they relent and do as he asks and immediately the storm stops. The crew fall on their knees in awe of God and believe. Jonah becomes the instrument of God’s salvation. They are no longer held hostage by Jonah’s fears.

But God now holds Jonah captive in the belly of the fish that swallowed him up after he was hurled into the sea.

There he is in a three day, dark, damp, smelly, time out set by God for him to have a ‘think it over again’ opportunity.

Now the Scriptures say that he repented and that he sang hymns and psalms and prayed and raised his voice in thanksgiving knowing that God is the One who saves.

It would appear as we arrive at our text for today that Jonah was now in full swing of God’s claim on him.

The fish has spit him out just one days journey from Ninevah.

How convenient.

He will go and do what God has called him to do.

He enters the city of Ninevah and with a loud voice calls out to the people, “Forty days more and Ninevah will be overthrown.”

Wow!

That felt good.

Just one sentence is all it took.

He didn’t have to fear so much after all.

He yelled out the doom and gloom God told him to do and that was it.

Perhaps he could still go back to his people and bring grand news of the end of a wicked people. ‘Ok, God,’ he thinks, ‘perhaps you can make me do it if this is all it takes.’

I know for a fact in my own life, even with profound faith in God and earnest prayers to God I have prayed for God’s justice to prevail on people who I knew and still believe are wicked. But much to my dismay and especially to my serious frustration, God has not honored my prophecy of destruction.

As a matter of fact often I still remain hostage to my anger, my fear and my anxiety over these things. And rather than being helpful it becomes like the storm that pervaded the ship and affects way too many people, more than I could ever have imagined.

God honor the depths of Jonah’s desire.

As soon as the king hears the news he jumps to action.

He is so repentant and ready to turn to a new way of life he orders the entire city of 120,000 people to put on sack cloth and ashes and turn their hearts to God.

Not only does he want God to know how serious he is about his change of heart and his faith in God he does one more thing.

He makes sure that all the animals all of God’s creation are included in this act of repentance and facing God in love.

So there you have it, cows, sheep, goats, camels, pigeons, and people all covered with soot from head to toe.

An entire city sitting in a heap of ash, and shouting out to God that they will not only believe but will no longer live in wickedness.

The people were not destroyed at all.

God’s mercy rained down on them. God’s grace flooded the city over all of the creatures of the land.

This is where the story of our childhood stops.

This is the point that most sermons stop. Jonah preached God’s word and the people repented and everyone went home and lived happily ever after.

But, Scripture doesn’t make it that simple.

None of the stories are Cinderella fables.

The most important chapter of this book is the fourth chapter. It is the ‘Paul Harvey’ twist to the ‘rest of the story’.

Jonah is MAD! He’s like, “Why’d you even bother with me in the first place-you could have done all this without me-I could have stayed on that sunny beach in Spain and all this love of yours would have happened anyway!”

He’s so mad he tells God to, ‘just let me die!’

His defiant words are his way of saying, ‘God, you can’t make me appreciate your love for others!”

This riptide of resistance is what catches us!

Everything about God’s grace runs counter to Jonah’s intent! God keeps gushing forward with love for the most unlovable and Jonah keeps running up against that love with anger.

But it only gets worse for Jonah.

He stomps out of the city and sits on the hill overlooking it and waits. He still hopes that God will destroy the city!

As he is pouting God provides a plant that brings him shade and comforts him.

But when God causes the plant to die exposing Jonah to the hot sun and a miserable desert wind kicks up, Jonah cries and whines at the loss of this precious plant.

And here is where God leaves Jonah and the story open ended, with the same question God had asked Cain, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

You are upset about your losses, your comfort, your circumstances…and here is an entire city at a loss and where is your mercy?

We can yell at God telling God you can’t make me in the way we live,

the way we treat others,

the way we do church,

the way we work,

the way we share the gospel message,

 but God’s mercy is greater than any riptide that tries to run counter to God’s intent.

Grace wins, it always wins, and it will keep on winning.

In the end, if God calls on us to share the gospel and we decided to run in the other direction,

look out for storms,

big fish and

shriveled plants.

Amen.

“Who Needs Sleep Anyway?”

Sermon 1 Samuel 3:3-10 & 11-18 January 18, 2015

“Who Needs Sleep Anyway?”

Well, it seems clear from our reading this morning that Eli and Samuel have joined the “who needs sleep anyway” club!

Eli, three times in one night is awakened by a noise, by the child he’s trying to train, his imagination, his worries, his impulses, his surroundings interrupting his deep dreams.

We've been there.

All of us.

Perhaps even this week we've all been through a night filled with interruptions.

My daughters have called me and my friends have posted on face book and my mother has emailed me, yes and my mom is 87 and she uses email, go mom.

They were telling me of how the baby, the dogs, the neighbors, the late night phone calls, the snoring of a spouse and the fear of tomorrow have disrupted a perfectly needed good night’s sleep.

God knows we need sleep!

I did some research about sleep and discovered the creatures like bullfrogs and dolphins who we assume do not sleep have some kind of activity that demonstrates that even while they are in motion they sleep.

Humans especially need sleep. A recent study aired on a daytime talk show said we even need naps. They said if we learn something new and then take a nap, we will remember all the details. If we learn something and don’t take a nap the chances of us remembering the details is much less. It’s been proven that sleep improves memory and sleep improves daytime performance and productivity.

Yet, God shows up calling in the night.

God shows up in the middle of dreams and disturbs the night. It makes me wonder why then are we so fascinated with this story even today in the Christian church? It’s one of our favorite stories!

Perhaps it is that on this second Sunday of Epiphany we witness a story about the appearance of God without all the fanfare that occurred at Christmas-no star, no angels voices, no shepherds or wisemen to guide the way.

Here in a bedroom in the middle of the night is

a sound,

a voice,

one that calls out,

‘Samuel, Samuel!’

We have heard our names called out in the night whether it was a wee little one that wanted a glass of water, or a pager calling us to our fire fighter duties, or the dreaded call to let us know the sad circumstances of someone dear, we have heard our name called in the night.

It’s hard to discern those voices when they come.

It’s hard to know in the fuzzy brain state to be clear what we are hearing.

The voice of the Lord was rare in those days of Eli we are told.

And perhaps for the church we feel the same today, perhaps we too sense that the voice of the Lord is rare.

And so, with Eli and Samuel we too wonder what is happening during those untimely interruptions at night.

Not knowing any better, Samuel assumes the only person that would call him would be Eli.

So he runs to him and says, ‘I’m here.’

 Samuel responds out of impulse,

he jumps out of bed,

before he has the time to discern the call of his name.

He does this three times to Eli!!

Poor Eli!!

 He’s old now, he’s blind.

They didn’t have the equipment for cataracts, or macular degeneration back then to aid in the diminishing vision that comes with age.

So, Eli was dependent on Samuel.

He was in a role reversal with this young man who he had raised up to tend to the Temple and to follow the ways of the priests.

Eli was aware that these were troubling times in Israel.

He was aware that his own sons had followed the way of corruption.

It’s hard to discern a voice in the dark. Perhaps Eli was no longer listening for God. He was ingrained in the duties of his job.  Perhaps he had let go of the idea that God was always present.

Are there moments in our lives when we are so caught up in life and the duties surrounding them that we are no longer listening for God?

And then in the middle of the night when we desire our sleep and our rest the most, there comes the interruption.

And all we notice is the fact that we have been disturbed.

It took Eli until the third time before it dawned on him what was happening.

Too bad God doesn’t always come with blaring sirens and clanging cymbals.

God’s voice isn’t always obvious.

God’s presence isn’t always flashy and clear.

Perhaps, that’s part of the reason we gather together on Sundays to seek God’s voice and be in God’s presence even if we are not quite sure what that sounds like or looks like.

If God can be in the midst of normal circumstances and in the midst of troubling times, then that perhaps this God is a God we can believe in.

Eli and Samuel are obedient to God in this moment.

Eli responds to Samuel and guides him with a final word. “When you hear the voice again say, ‘Speak, your servant is listening.’”

And when the voice came again Samuel does what Eli told him.

He hears God’s call and he speaks and God is near in the midnight hour.

That is one of our greatest comforts and consolations as believers; to know that God is near. God is our refuge and our strength. God is our rock and our redeemer.

It is a comfort to know that God calls us by name and grants us a calling to a life of purpose. This is why we love this story.

The trust and faith of Eli to respond to God for the call of Samuel is one of humility before God.

He is able to relinquish his authority to Samuel.

He realizes this is his time to let go and let God.

He becomes the conduit so that God’s work can take place; to relinquish the old guard and respond faithfully to God’s call on Samuel even if it means bad news for him…

how many of us are willing to let go when we need to?

I know I've had trouble letting go and letting my children grow up. I’ve had trouble letting go and letting someone else drive…there are many situations where we can find that our faithful response is to do and sometimes to hand over.

If we stop at verse 10 then this story we love, this story we want to hang on to is a very personal story about me and God and it has an intimate feel to it. While we may want to think of Samuel’s response to God’s call as a personal call to faith and a personal call to transformation, (because that is what we want, a God and me kind of life).

The truth is God’s call to Samuel was one that put him at high risk.

It was a call to bring the nation to social transformation.

It was a call that we read later that put him on the run for his life.

We know that God is the one who gives us life, who knows our name and who provides us with a presence in the very depth of trouble.

But, God also puts us in places of discomfort.

Places where we are called to follow through with obedience even when it isn’t popular.

Pope John Paul II, said in 1993

 “The Christian is called, with the grace of God invoked in prayer, to a sometimes

heroic commitment.~ Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth)

I think of the founders of our nation were in that situation.  At the time their ideals and their decisions were not popular. People like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington who did not always agree with each other yet, put those differences aside to work for independence and the creation of these United States of America.

I think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose faith in God was so strong that he forsook his safety to stand up against the Nazi regime and to tell the truth about a people who were slaughtering the innocents.

I think of Martin Luther King Jr, who we celebrate tomorrow, who wrote from the Birmingham jail, “The time is always ripe to do right.”

There are those who are called to be prophets to lead a people and transform nations. God places people in positions such as Esther, ‘for such a time as this.’

Yes, we love this story. Yet, Walter Brueggemann said that God’s new thing that is happening in the call of Samuel is not a grand religious act but a fresh invitation to a dangerous social beginning.

And we have all lived long enough now to be witnesses to new social beginnings because of those who responded to the call that came in the night.

The call to respond in a time that was ripe to do right.

Even the disciples answered the call of Jesus. They heard their name and followed him.  After his death they followed through in the most uncomfortable and most difficult circumstances because they believed in the call placed upon them.

As we are here in the church of the 21^st century do we hear God calling us in the night?

Have we heard a voice that we are not sure about?

Are we wondering about the direction of our lives? (We are always   wondering about the direction of our lives)

It might be for parents of children and the church alongside them to stand up to local and state governments for funding for education.

Perhaps it’s equal housing or healthcare or the rights of the elderly.

When we are part of that, “who needs sleep anyway” club,

what disruptions are getting our attention?

Because even if it’s a baby needing to be fed

or

have a diaper changed,

or

if it’s worry about where tomorrow’s food will come from

or

how to pay the mortgage,

even

if it’s just a noise we do not recognize

-perhaps this is just the moment for us to say to God,

‘speak, Lord for your servant is listening.’

Amen.

Tear Open the Heavens and Come Down!

Sermon Mark 1:4-11 January 11, 2015 Baptism of the Lord

Tear Open the Heavens and Come Down!

This week it has been hard to avoid the news of the world.

It has been difficult to pretend that the evil of humanity doesn’t exist.

It has been almost impossible to be unaware of the pain that has pervaded the lives of so many people. 

With the loss of a Charlie Hebdo and many others in France

and

the loss of an entire family from Accomac from an auto accident,

the reality of suffering is at our back door

and

we cannot hide from it!

The world and families are torn apart and God’s Word in the midst of this insanity has a hard time finding its place.

I found myself screaming with the prophet Isaiah (64:1),

“O that you could tear open the heavens and come down!”

I’ve been struggling all week with what to say and how to say things about this madness in the world. I’m lost at how to respond to this insanity of humanity.

And then I turn the page and I find the words of the gospel writer Mark.

I turn to something new.

Something that changed the way of the world then and continues to change the way of the world today.

Mark doesn’t want to waste any time to get us to the heart of the matter of faith and who we are in relationship to God.

We immediately enter into the intentions of God for all people.

There, out there, in the real world is this crazy looking fella named John.

He didn’t dress like most people.

He was dressed in camel’s hair and ate locusts and wild honey.

He was the kind of guy that your momma warned you to steer clear from.

He didn’t fit into the normal Temple going people. He wasn't walking the paved fine high road to the religious Temple to hang out with the fine religious priests and rabbis. He had something those high and mighty religious people didn’t.

And perhaps that’s exactly why others were flocking to him. People were coming from all of ‘out there’, going down dirt trails and dusty paths, narrow and winding to find him at the river.

He was a down to earth man living ‘out there’ where everyone could see him.

He was honest about what people needed.

People needed a fresh start and chance to turn their lives around and begin something new.

John the baptizer didn’t sugar coat or make palatable the needs of humanity.

He put the insanity of human existence in people’s faces!

He was meeting them where they were in the very depths of their despair.

He knew they were anxious to experience a new day. (Kate Huey)

And to be honest I’ve heard a lot of despair this week.

And I have struggled with God to find where this fits and where in the world can we find a new way

and

where will God show us how to do this thing called life day after day?  

And then Jesus shows up.

Jesus joins the line of people to be baptized.

He stands with those who are looking for something new.

He is alongside the human race in the midst of earthly things.

And when he comes up from the water the words of the prophet Isaiah come to life!!

 The heavens are torn apart and God invades the world as God’s Spirit dive bombs into the scene. (Hare)

God IS here!

And in a booming voice, I say booming because nothing in Mark’s gospel is quiet. Everything that Mark writes about Jesus is full of energy and power. The Jesus that Mark writes about casts out demons and sets people on the road of action.

God proclaims Jesus as the Son, the Beloved!!

With the heavens torn open and the Spirit poured out Jesus is declared as God’s own. His identity and power are now clear for all to know that God is in the world.

                       
                               That’s what we believe about our baptism.

We believe that God has given us our identity and poured out the Spirit of power upon us!!

We too can claim that God has declared, with a booming voice, that we are sons and daughters and we are beloved! 

           AND this is what the world needs to hear-God's claim that they are God's own!

In our baptism, as we seek to remember it each day, we invite God’s Spirit to invade our lives. (reference to an Elton Brown comment).

It is in this remembrance that I can face the things that have happened this week.

                       As I recall God’s claim on me, I remember God’s claim on all people.

As I witness the horror of lost lives, I also witness the uniting of a world that refuses to accept violence as a way of life. I hear of people praying for peace and for consolation. I watch neighbors embrace those who have experienced loss to let them know they don’t walk this path alone. I observe others coming to the aid of one who is struggling with relationships.

As we invite God to invade our lives, we invite a turning toward that which provides for a new way.

We are able to be in the presence of this world.

 In this new way we are able to

show up

with power

and courage

to insist that

God IS here.

In the simplicity of the things of the earth, such as water, and bread and wine,

God brings the power of the Spirit.

In the partaking there is belonging and nourishment and sustenance. We are part of God, we are fed and our thirst is quenched.

Baptism is an active act of God.

It is an act that sets us out on the road of life.

It lets us know whose we are and gives us what we need to get about doing the work of God in this world.

We seek to live out our baptism daily until the day our baptism is complete in the arms of Jesus.

In response to God’s claim Jesus sets out immediately to fulfill the calling God has placed on him. He set out to do what he was called to do!

As children of God, sons and daughters, we have a job to do!

One of those jobs is to get out from the walls of the church and get into the world to let people know God IS present.

Our job is to share the love of Christ beyond the walls of this church.

Our job is to be in the faces of our neighbors and our families to let them know they matter and we care.

Our job is to show up at events and to show up in life because

God has called us to be part of a world that needs to hear

there is a way to turn around to something new.

The heavens have been torn apart and God’s Spirit of power is upon us.

Let the waters of our baptism be renewed in us and let us rise and be on our way.

Amen. 

The ‘Aha’ Moment or Starstruck!

Sermon Matthew 2:1-12 January 4, 2015 Epiphany

The ‘Aha’ Moment or Starstruck!

It was only two weeks ago that we sat in the pews and witnessed our children and adults present the story of the birth of Jesus. We were in the midst of pageantry and costumes, we were in the throes of song and cheer, we were in the height of wonder and amazement.

The work of Christmas was at work within us.

A spark,

a light,

the Light of Christ gave birth in our hearts once again and we were renewed

and

touched by the love of God.

Something compels us each year to be drawn to this story. Something attracts our attention to come back to the manger and propels us forward toward the wonder of this miracle of God come to live among us.

What did we see?

What got our attention?

We wonder what drew those magi, those wise men from far away to even consider traveling to claim the babe as king.

Only Matthew’s gospel felt this part of the story worthy of retelling. There was something in the sky that drew their attention. Something in the sky caught their curiosity and drove them to engage with this mystical appearance.

Yes, we have rationalized that they were astronomers and studied the heavens. We say they were men who studied the religions of the world and so were acquainted with the prophecies of the Messiah to come.

Yes, we say they were men who had already traveled far discovering the world and the heavens around them.

But, the power of God was at work as we listen to this story of a star in the sky that guided magi.

It was a star that brought them to their ‘epiphany’, their ‘aha’ moment! It’s okay to say that these men were ‘starstruck’.

The star is a reminder of God’s power in the world to steer nature to point the way to the Savior. As Augustine wrote, “Christ was not born because the star shone forth, but it shone forth because Christ was born.”

Dante wrote, “God is the love that moves the stars.”

Sometimes it takes foreigners, people unacquainted with the faith we speak to point out the very faith we hold in our hearts. Often it is those who walk around without any faith in God who demonstrate the very things of God’s love that we yearn to have in our lives.

Perhaps this story of the magi holding up God’s Word to God’s people to point to the truth of God’s Word taking on flesh is what needs to be heard in every age.

King Herod and his scribes and Biblical scholars feared what the magi told them. 

They couldn't imagine a king, a messiah would come in their lifetime 

and rather than rejoicing they felt threatened by the truth of God.

King Herod felt so threatened by the presence of another king that it caused him to do what he could to rid the world of this child.

The threat of God living and dwelling among humanity continued as Jesus grew. While many flocked to him in faith, many others were afraid and could not, would not believe.

Yet, God is determined to be known and to be found. And so, these unlikely characters become the agent of making God known to all the world. They open the way for all people to know they have a place with God.

Truly it was an insatiable curiosity that brought these men to the manger. The star stopped over the manger. It was a star that guided them all the way to Bethlehem and then it stopped where Jesus was and they were overwhelmed with joy.

When I read this story about their willingness to look to the stars and to seek to understand and to follow them I am reminded of my father. I cannot get past his childlike behavior when it came to the stars.

His insatiable curiosity in the heavens was contagious.

It drew his children into his wonder and amazement at looking up at the sky. He was so enthralled by those twinkling lights that he built his own telescope, he started his own amateur astronomer’s club and built an observatory.

He dragged his children in a blue rambler station wagon from Miami up to Cape Canaveral to watch the Apollo launches. He was caught up with the desire of the nation to launch rockets to reach the stars.

Through his energy and excitement we received our moments of joy and wonder. When he pointed to something that he had not seen before he shared it with us and we gained even more curiosity to learn about these stars in the sky.

What is it that stirs our curiosity? What is it that guides us? Where is our growing edge?

Howard Thurman says, “

Look well to the growing edge. All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new lives, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge! It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and men have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash. The birth of a child — life's most dramatic answer to death — this is the growing edge incarnate. Look well to the growing edge!" 

That's the point, isn’t it?

To have a beginner's mind,

and see with the eyes of a child,

but not to be a child, nor a beginner.

But to be able to see a world being born all around us. "wow!" (Andy Parker).

The story of the magi is perhaps then to spark in us the will to look up.

The story is a way to get our attention,

to pay attention to the things of this Christmas season that have created

                                             a new beginning and to see things in a new way.

In this New Year, on this day of epiphany, may we too find our ‘aha’ moment, may we be ‘star-struck’, may we believe God incarnate in Jesus Christ, may we be stirred with curiosity and find our growing edge.

You will be given stars this morning and on them there is a word. (STARWORDS)

You may use it as a guide or a ‘watchword’ for this year. You may use it to guide your prayers, your devotions, your Bible study and your family time. Let us be as open as the magi were to be guided to new conversations and new ways to live with Christ born anew in us.

 Amen.

“I’m Gonna Keep on Singing”

Sermon Luke 2:21-40 Christmas 1 December 28, 2014

“I’m Gonna Keep on Singing”

Andrea Crouch from the 70’s sings, ‘I’m gonna keep on singing, I’m gonna keep on singing that Jesus saves!’

Well, I’m with him!

I’m still holding the candle of Christmas Eve and singing Silent Night in my mind and yet all around me the songs of Christmas are silent.

The trees are coming down, the green wreaths are now withered and worn, the stores are jumping to Valentine’s Day, and music has all but forgotten the season now passed.

“But, I want to keep on singing”, I whine.

“It’s time to get back to reality”, I’m told.

“But it’s the twelve days of Christmas and we still have 9 more days until Epiphany”, I say, “we need to keep singing!”

 The church calendar says we can now finally start singing of Christmas, the Advent waiting is over and now we can sing all the carols to our heart’s content.

“We’re weary of the music,” I hear a radio announcer say.

Seriously!

Weary of Christmas music! It’s not possible not in my mind’s eye.

But, perhaps we have come to this Sunday weary,

perhaps we are worn out from all the festivities

and we want to return to the routine

and go back to the reality of every day ordinary living.

When we read today about Joseph and Mary, they have returned to reality.

According to Luke the holy couple has left the stable and is now at the Temple. They are going about their business as all new parents do. They are carrying out the routines of ordinary everyday living.

The fanfare of angels and shepherds, the gifts of the wise men and crowds are far behind them.

Joseph and Mary have stepped forward into the new life of obedient parents and they follow the ritual of bringing the baby Jesus for the naming ceremony at the Temple.

It’s all routine.

It’s all normal.

It’s all rather ordinary.

And then it happens.

An old man comes forward and takes the baby in his arms and begins to sing a song.

He praises God for this child. He comes and holds this baby because the Spirit of God has come upon him. Three times Luke affirms that he has been led to this baby by the Spirit. It is clear that we are to hear that Simeon has been called by God to claim this child.

As we listen to his song it’s not just about praising God for this child who brings salvation to the world,

 but it’s the prophecy,

the forward telling about the conflict that even salvation brings.

This child will cause the rise and falling of many.

There will be people who will be confronted with their own frailties, their own injustices and their own corruption.

People for generations into the future will be faced with decisions about who this child is and whether to follow and believe he is from God bringing salvation and new life to all.

Simeon is convinced that holding this child releases him from the waiting he has done for all these years.

He can now let go.

He let loose of all the waiting and wondering.

He can be done.

He can die in peace because God has revealed to him the glory of what salvation looks like in the face of a baby, the son of God, the Christ child.

It’s not exactly the kind of Christmas song of joy that we would expect to hear.

Yet, it is the song we need to hear.

It is the song that reminds us that God’s promises from ages past propel us into the open door of God’s promises fulfilled.

As we witness these promises of old come forward into new life and new light then our hope is renewed.

We receive the courage and confidence we need to face each day, each moment, into the future.

We become aware that God is doing something NEW.

Anna comes forward and proclaims the good news, the New news of God in Christ.

She sings of God to all who will hear her.

Isn’t that what happened for us this year?

As we peered into the manger didn’t we hear the songs of the angels in a new way?

As we saw the Christ candle lit didn’t we witness the rekindling of the flame of God’s Spirit in our hearts?

Were we aware that God is beckoning us to move into a new way?

What were the subtle nuances of this season that touched our hearts?

That grabbed our attention?

 Let us pay homage to those moments.

As we step forward into the days ahead how will we respond to this new way of being to which God has called us?

We can enter into the reality of our lives with new confidence and with courage.

We can enter into the future with continued expectancy, with anticipation of how God will be revealed in our everyday, ordinary ways of life.

As we are obedient to God raising our children;

(you might say, “I’m done raising children.” But we all raising the children of the church, a job that is always happening)

following the routines and rituals of faith, we are surrounded by the faithful among us and those who have gone before us. We are aware of how God has fulfilled the promise of love in their lives and how we are touched by them.

We become in tune with how the words of prayers of those who sit and pray make a difference.

We listen with open hearts as many share their hopes and dreams.

I return my thoughts to a spontaneous moment in WW I in the trenches of no man’s land in 1914. ‘Joyeux Noel’ is the fictional movie account of this true story.

There on Christmas Eve songs began to filter into the air.

Songs of home.

Songs of desires.

And then came the song of Silent Night, sung together in all languages

and

for a moment;

a short moment,

peace was felt.

Truce was called. The enemy took on a face of humanity.

In the moment the song had power.

The song had the power to change the face of war.

Gifts were shared, the dead were buried, a football game ensued. And when the truce was over the shots could no longer be fired, because the soldiers had experienced a new thing. They saw in the face of the enemy, the face of salvation, the face of a brother.

Anna and Simeon saw the face of salvation in the face Jesus, the face of God, the face of promise, the face of a brother.

And after this:

Joseph and Mary returned to life. They returned home and Jesus was raised in the obedience of the faith with them. There in the ordinary circumstances of daily life the extraordinary was allowed to enter and Jesus grew and the favor of God was upon him.

The door is now wide open for us as we return to the ordinary routines of our life.

The favor of God is upon us as we grow.

We can keep the momentum of this new thing stirring in us going.

We can keep singing.

We can sing the songs that have the power to change the world.

We can raise our voices and dance and let the world know that God has brought salvation to us through Jesus Christ.

We can go tell it from the mountains and in the plains.

We can carry the courage and the confidence with us.

We can live with the expectation and anticipation of the future promises to be fulfilled.

I’m gonna keep on singing!

Amen.

Celebrate the Wonder- Christmas Eve sermonette

Celebrate the Wonder                                                                                  Christmas Eve 2014

There is a celebration of wonder as we come out at night on Christmas Eve; a wonder of listening to the Word of ages past and finding comfort in the familiar sound of syllables that lilt and lull and lift in the rhythm that fills our souls with the goodness of the season of Christmas love.

There is a wonder in soft lighting and people who travel from afar to gather on this night of all nights to be with one another and find peace.

Perhaps this is the only night some gather within the walls of the sanctuary.

For on this one night, the wonder of the miracle of Christmas of the birth of our Savior rings through song and prayer and familiar ways.

This one night there are those who can come and all the world will melt away and the strong sounds of the bells of Christmas will ring in truth and joy and keep the wonder of life alive.

Some are drawn to the sounds as they are drawn to a warm fire in winter. It is as if this one time a year grants a grace and a message of hope even to those who do not believe in this God we proclaim tonight.

There is a mysterious pulling that brings all those of faith and those without to this one night, this one night of traditional and ages old music, liturgy and beauty.

We celebrate the wonder this night. We stand at the edge of the manger and peer once again at this new life, this mystery, this miracle, this God with us, Emmanuel.

The glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see the salvation of our God." - Isaiah 40.5

Perhaps, we like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who lost his wife, have had too much pain or too much sorrow in our lives. Perhaps the ways of the world weigh too heavy for us. Too much struggle, too much violence, too much anguish. Perhaps the thought of love and joy and wonder is beyond our imagination this year. And so we hear the words of the song Longfellow wrote:

 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

There is a wonder in those ancient candles that continue to glow and the bells that ring throughout the night.

Here we are this evening gathered once again on this eve of all Eves, to see God again as if for the very first time.

Again, 

he comes to us 

and

we celebrate the wonder of this love come to us,

this love that always comes to us, 

that keeps coming 

and coming

and so we make room for this love,

our Jesus,

our Savior,

to enter in

and

we celebrate

with wonder.

Amen.

The art of play dates

The art of play dates

Everyone knows that the holidays in ministry can be hectic to the point of losing all holiday cheer.

I've been rudely awakened this week to one reality that makes all the difference.

A play date in the middle of all the hurry and work at the height of the frenzy is an absolute must.

I get so busy working and scheduling and not sleeping that I lose track of having fun. A minister might be able to hide the feelings of stress and lack of joy for a while but, seriously folks, when we aren't having fun anymore no one else is either.

We can’t go around rejoicing about the spirit of the season and be bedraggled. It doesn't work and all our congregants start to feel sorry for the poor overworked pastor. And this season is not about us-it’s about the Savior we preach.

A few years ago I was exhausted as usual and I was worried about how all the events and special services and extra commitments were going to fall into place. And then in the midst of it all my husband ‘kidnapped’ me for the day. It was the week before Christmas and I strongly protested and went with him kicking and screaming with expletives to boot. He insisted I had permission from the elders to escape the mayhem for a day and a night.

As we drove away from town to a destination that was still a secret, we talked and laughed and renewed our friendship with each other. I was still very leery about this escape plan in the height of when I needed to be at church.

We drove for hours and finally arrived in Dallas, Texas. After we checked into a hotel we dressed formerly for an evening event that was still a secret. He escorted me to the Dallas concert hall and there we received the entrance to the Michael W. Smith Christmas concert with the Dallas Symphony.

I was in heaven as I listened to the symphony and the power of the music lifted me beyond any of my concerns. It was pure joy. In that moment I realized how important it was to play. I realized how important it was to hang out with your best friend. I realized how important it was to get centered in the love of life.

That Christmas my energy and enthusiasm was at a high. The work that still had to be done didn’t disappear but I came to it with a new attitude. I approached the final days before the ‘big’ event with a renewed and refreshed spirit.

This past Monday I took the time to play. I had no idea that a lunch date and a trip to an antique store would be a play date. But, when the day was over I realized once again, that play and having fun in the midst of a highly stressful time is a must.

Our parishioners deserve to have their pastors fresh, renewed and full of joy and hope. If we refuse to take the time to have fun then we deprive ourselves of offering this message to those who come to hear God’s Word proclaimed.

When we have played in the midst of the frenzy we are more able to recognize the joy in doing and being. So, friends in ministry, it’s a few days away from Christmas and I offer you these few words. My prayer to you is to take the time to play today.

God is about to become incarnate and we are about to receive him. Will we be ready to receive the child as a child?

Blessings to you all and Merry Christmas.

Love Came Down in Joy

Sermon Luke 1:45-55, Isaiah 61:1-4, 10-11 December 14, 2014 Advent 3 yrB

Love Came Down in Joy

Mary’s song, the song of Isaiah, the praise of the psalmist ring out loud and clear this Sunday that God is the one who brings us joy. God is the one to whom we lift our voices and God is the one who causes righteousness and praise to spring forth!

This third Sunday of Advent brings into focus our joy for life, our joy for God, our joy of salvation because of the wondrous things God has done for us. The Scripture lessons are filled with words of laughter, joy, rejoicing, praising, shouts, exultation and being clothed in garments of salvation!

BUT, some of you might say to me, those words of joy are cloaked in lament and difficulty, they are surrounded by challenge, loss, and devastation.

Yet…

Sometimes we just need to step into moments of Joy. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of all the good & beauty that exists.

What brings us joy? Where do we find joy in our hearts and in our daily lives?

Three ways to look at how we experience joy are through 1. laughter, 2. wide-eyed wonder, 3. assurance-confidence. We are limited to finding joy only through these means but these are a start.

1. laughter,

Our Oxford dictionary folks tell us that, “Laughter is to make spontaneous sounds and movements of the body and face that are instinctive expressions of lively amusement.”

Part of my self-imposed ritual of the Christmas season is to watch the movies that make me laugh and remind me to loosen up a little and enjoy this time that is so short. My two favorite Christmas movies are Elf and the Christmas story.

Elf is just so incredibly funny because of his pure innocence and joy. When he is asked how did he get to New York, his answer, “I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.” How Will Ferrell’s Elf (2003) found his way to New York

We can’t help but laugh with Will Ferrell. Laughter we’ve been told by the experts about how it is healthy for us. I have a friend who has been trained as a laughter coach. She has gone around to share with us how to have fun. Workshops were held all over Southern Indiana to remind us as Christians to learn to laugh a little. to trigger laughter to find the things to get us started is all we need. And if we can’t do that we can fake it. Because even faked laughter initiates real laughter and helps others laugh. Laughter like coughing and sneezing and yawning is contagious. Laughter increases blood flow, releases endorphins, decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection fighting anti-bodies. Science has done a lot to bring us to an understanding of an innate human function. And Scripture affirms for us people who found themselves in places where they could burst out with laughter.
Mary’s song is a song of joy. And we know that singing has a way of lifting our spirits and even our ability to laugh. We have several songs, hymns, moments of great delight where the people of God find themselves dancing and feasting and rejoicing together.
Another way of finding joy is through wide-eyed wonder. In our ability to ask why we set out on a path of discovery and wonder. Children know very well and start very young asking these questions. And they do not have to be the only ones that ask why. We can still wonder about the wind, how the sun gives us warmth, how a shell gets its shape and why are we the only creatures with opposable thumbs? When we have an insatiable curiosity we explore and we search and we spend our energy in discovery. In these moments we find a depth of joy as we learn how things work and how we are made. Conrad Hyers said this years ago about Scripture, “We discover that sense of marvelous absurdity and incredulous, wide eyed wonder that attaches itself to great surprises, sudden amazements and comic twists.” How absurd, yet a great surprise that our God has reached down from heaven and entered the world in the flesh of a baby.
When we recognize the gaiety and delight of our salvation represented in the birth of an infant we are filled with the wide-eyed wonder of God.
Then there is joy through assurance and confidence.

Rick Warren, the one we know from Saddleback Church and his book Purpose Driven Life says this about his definition of joy:

Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.

Mary’s simple obedience set in motion God’s story of redemption. Her act was a simple response to the Spirit that came upon her. Her confidence, her assurance, her yes, made it possible for our yes to God.
We might think of Mary as a meek and mild, dressed in blue, quiet woman. But, when we listen to her song we find that she was not the woman we have made her. She boldly proclaims that this child of hers will be strong, will scatter the proud, will bring down kingdoms and will bring justice to those who have been margined and sidelined. Mary knew what was to come for her child and she chose to sing about it for all to hear her. She demonstrated courage to sing the truth and proclaim all of what was to come. She was so assured that she did not shy away from the truth.
May we too have the assurance and courage not to shy away from the truths surrounding us that need to be told and heard and acted upon.
As she sings we discover that she is a mother who will know pain and suffering. She will witness her son’s pain and she will not be immune to his suffering. She will experience isolation as he goes away from home to begin his ministry without her. She will suffer as others mock her and her family that a man can call himself the son of God.
Her song is a place where we can pause to wrap our lives around too.
Many of us have had a tough year. Some have lost a parent, some have lost work, some have experienced health issues that have changed or altered daily living, some have experienced strained family relations, others that you perhaps know have lost homes, or been separated from their loved ones. These challenges can make it difficult to enter into Christmas and find a way to rejoice.
Mary’s song puts reality into perspective when she points the way for us to sing the Lord’s song even when we know the way will not be easy and the way will challenge the current norm. She reminds us of God’s fulfillment through all of life for all of life. The world will be turned upside down and then right side up. God in his heaven has poured out grace upon grace so that we can walk in love and joy.

Sometimes we just need to step into moments of Joy. Amen. 

Christmas Program Naomi Makemie Presbyterian Church Rejoice, Christ is Born

Christmas Program Naomi Makemie Presbyterian Church

Rejoice, Christ is Born

Using anthems from “I Hear a Prophet Calling & “A Blest Messiah is Born”

2014 December 21, 2014

Prelude

Call to worship

The heavens are bursting forth with God’s glory!

We are witnesses to God’s mighty acts of power and love!

From the darkness of night, God has brought forth the Light of salvation!

Praise be to God who came as a little child. Let us rejoice for Christ s born!

Opening Hymn             O Come All Ye Faithful   #41

Performance notes are in italics: narrators read these opening words with an electric sense of anticipation-as if the congregation wants to lean forward to hear the story.

The children are waiting in their places ready to come forward and take their place and speak their part.

Props & other notes: chairs needed for narrators to sit down in between anthems and scenes. Manger needed to be placed center chancel. Lights on cross to be off until the wiseman points to the star. We’ll need large cushions or stools for Mary and Joseph to sit on.

Sound: Not sure how the overhead mics can pick up the voices of the children will need to test this.

Narrator 1: Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Narrator 2: Listen to the story, hear the story, see the story, for God is coming to us. God is coming to us today as has been told many times before. Open your ears, open your heart. For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.

Come and listen as God’s Holy Word unfolds before us.

Pause-count to 15 then continue with narration

Narrator 1: Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.

Choir The People Who Walk in Darkness

Narrator 2: Isaiah 11 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

Trio Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

Narrator 1: Luke 2:1,3-7 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to his own town to register.

Narrator 2: So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Narrator 1: While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Scene I

Mary and Joseph come forth down center aisle. At the first pew they receive the baby and move to the chancel and settle into the stable. They face the congregation as they say their lines, loud and slow!

Joseph: We made it! It’s hard to believe we found a place to stay. And just in time! Our son is here!

Mary: It is a simple stable and that’s a good place for God’s Son to come.

Joseph: It is warm and safe. And now that he is here we will call him Jesus.

Mary: He is here to save all people.

Mary, Joseph and baby sit quietly as the choir sings

Choir Rockin Slow and Even

Narrator 1: Luke 2:8-14 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them: and they were sore afraid.

Narrator 2: And the angel said unto them: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

Scene II

Shepherd appears with sheep at the bottom of the chancel steps (chancel right) looking around. Angels appear from chancel left and stand on the steps in order at an angle.

Shepherd: Look!! (Said with fear-remember to be loud and slow so everyone can hear)

Angel 1: Do not be afraid.

Shepherd: (looking quite scared) Who are you?! What do you want?

Angel 2: I have good news to share.

Shepherd: (no longer scared but now excited to hear) Tell us the news!

Angel 3: A baby has been born in Bethlehem and his name is Jesus.

Shepherd: Let’s hurry to the stable and see him. Let’s go to Bethlehem!!

Sheep: I’m going too!

The shepherd, sheep and angels go to the stable. They stay there until the end of the program. After they arrive and take their places at the manger the narration continues.

Narrator 1: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the so the shepherds made their way to the stable and as they came to Mary and Joseph they kneeled before him. And all who heard were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

Narrator 2: Mary treasured these words and pondered them in her heart.

Hymn                     Angels we have heard on high   #23

Narrator 2: Luke 2:18,20 The shepherds were changed forever and when they left the Christ child they went throughout all of Judea praising God and telling everyone what they seen. They were glorifying God and telling the news as it had been told to them.

Scene III

All of the cast stands at this point and they say together (since our wiseman has not appeared yet-he will be up there during the two songs without cape and crown:

ALL: God sent us salvation. Jesus Christ is born!!

Choir & cast Go Tell it on the Mountain

Following this anthem the cast remains standing for the next song

Narrator 1: I wonder what these animals did in the stable.

Narrator 2: In the stable they felt safe and protected. They were warm and well fed.

Narrator 1: But, if the baby Jesus was there, I wonder what they thought and I wonder if they did something special?

Scene IV

the tiny animals appear. The animals speak if possible or the choir speaks for them:

Donkey: I gave Jesus a home

Cow: I gave Jesus a bed

Sheep: I gave Jesus clothes

Dove: I sang Jesus to sleep

Cast is standing

Choir & cast The Friendly Beasts

As soon as this anthem is finished the wiseman leaves the chancel and goes chancel right to have his cape and crown put on and he goes to the back of the sanctuary. Here he picks up his box of gifts.

Narrator 1: Matthew 2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

Narrator 2: When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
    who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

Narrator 1: Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 

Narrator 2: When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.

        When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  

Scene V

Wise man standing at the back of the sanctuary points to the cross.

Wiseman: look, the star!

Wiseman: It has stopped over the stable.

Wiseman: I must hurry to see the new king

Wiseman comes forward down the aisle and kneels at the manger. He opens the box and lays the gifts in front of the manger

Wiseman: Gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh are yours.

Joseph: Jesus is our greatest gift!

Mary: Let all receive him as a gift of love.

Sheep: I like presents!

Cast remains seated

Choir What Star is this, with Beams so Bright?

Finale

All of cast and choir stand

Shepherd: The Lord is come. Let every heart receive him!

Angel: Joy to the world! Rejoice, Christ is born!

Mary: Rejoice, our God is with us!

Joseph: Rejoice, give thanks and sing!

Sheep: I am so happy!

Wise man: Jesus our Lord, he is our greatest gift!

All & Choir: Let us rejoice, Christ is born!

Offering and announcements (children receive a gift during the offering)

Closing hymn Joy to the World 

Benediction

Postlude