Does it Make a Sound?

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 1/27/13

Scripture- Luke 4:14-21

Now I know that the Christmas Season has passed and we are now on to the season after Epiphany, but as I read the scripture for today I cannot help but to think about one of my favorite childhood Christmas books; The Polar Express. For those who have not read the book,  it is about a young boy on Christmas Eve who desperately wants to believe in Santa Claus, but finds himself in a world of doubt. Until that night after waking from his sleep, he hears a train outside. The train is called the Polar Express, and where else would it be going, but to the North Pole to see Santa Claus. The boy jumps onboard and the excitement of the story ensues. What reminds me of this Scripture is the symbolism of the small silver bell in the Polar Express. During the story, the boy finds two companions who accompany him on the trip. At one point they claim that they hear the sleigh bells from Santa’s sleigh but the main character is unable to hear it.  As Santa’s sleigh passes over the children one of the silver bells falls off, the kids ring the bell but once again the main character cannot it. He is told that you have to believe to hear it. Eventually, the boy comes to believe in the spirit of Christmas and can finally hear the bell. When Santa asks the boy what he wants for Christmas, boy simply asks to keep the sleigh bell; his wish is granted and he put the bell in his pocket, only later to find out that there was a hole in his pocket, and that he had lost the bell. The next morning, Christmas morning, the boy is back home and after all of the presents under the tree had been opened, they find one more small present. He opens it up to find that silver bell, and as he rings it he and his sister bask in the beauty of the sound, while the parents comment that it must be broken, because they cannot hear it. The books ends with the narrator telling us that as his friends got older they stopped being able to hear the bell, that even his sister stopped being able to hear it, but that for him, he could always hear its beautiful music. I love the imagery in this book between faith and being able to hear the beauty of a small bell. It is a sound that so many people had heard once in their lives, but then had lost the ability to hear its beauty; they had lost their belief that something transformative, something amazing could really happen.

            This story reminds me so much of what is happening in our scripture for today, though it may take a little while for it to become clear why. Our scripture starts out with Jesus returning to his home in Nazareth, surrounded by all the people who knew him and watched him grow up. They had probably worked with Joseph, the have probably visited with Mary. In other words, it was a community that knew who Jesus was, and knew his family. Now in the surrounding areas of Galilee there had been a lot of rumors about Jesus, people were starting to talk about him, people were even starting to worship him. I’m sure that some of these rumors had gotten back to the people of Nazareth, and I’m sure since they knew Jesus as a child, that they were probably a little skeptical about Jesus’ return. With that being said, as they gathered in the synagogue on the Sabbath, it seems as though things were pretty normal. They gather to hear scripture, and Jesus is handed the scroll to read for the people. Luke goes out of his way to tell us that this was the custom, which tells us that nothing really unusual was going on, That by all accounts this day was just like any other Sabbath day.

            Now let me stop here to explain the custom a little as we go through the story, so that we might be able to better understand what is happening. In a service like this, what would normally happen is that part of the Torah was read and after it was read then there would be a lesson on the scripture.  Kind of like a mix between a sermon and a Bible study. In those times the did not have books in the same way that we do.  There are things called codexes that were out around the time of Jesus, which would flip in the same way that our books do, but they were made out of papyrus or some other material, and in general were tedious to make, making them quite expensive. Most people in those times still had to use scrolls which were more accessible and cheaper. I mention this because we must realize that with a scroll, you simply cannot flip between books of the Bible. That usually, you would read through the different books, and would roll the scroll to where you stopped and the next person would continue from that point. This puts more meaning into our story because Jesus doesn’t really get to choose his text, Isaiah is given to him. Jesus begins to unroll the words of Isaiah until he finds these words, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”   Then what would be custom for the service would be for the reader to sit down and either them or some other leader of the synagogue would sit and teach about the scripture.

            So we have all of this happening in our Scripture. Jesus in handed the scroll of Isaiah, he gets up, finds this particular spot, reads it and sits down to begin to teach. Nothing is out of the ordinary, nothing so far would cause any alarm, until Jesus sits down and says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”  Wait, what?! This son of  Mary and Joseph just told us that scripture has been fulfilled in our hearing it. This kid that we knew ever since he was little, is now telling us the he is the fulfillment of scripture. He is telling us that the spirit of the Lord is upon him, that he has been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor. That he has been sent to free prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free. He dares to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  The people of Nazareth get angry because they realize the Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah that they had been hearing about and learning about, and studying about their whole life. In their minds there is no way that Jesus can be the Messiah.

            But why?  When this scripture is preached about, often preachers point towards the fact that they knew Jesus, and that you simply cannot go back home. This is not an incorrect understanding of the passage, in fact later parts of the passage make this point explicit, but I wonder, what if it Jesus wasn’t from their hometown. What if Jesus was just a stranger, a guest speaker? I feel as though there would still be outrage and disgust and him making the claim that he is fulfilling scripture. I can imagine that these Jews were faithful Jews. They had probably all followed the laws of Judaism, they were after all observing the Sabbath day. I can imagine that they knew scripture pretty well; while most probably could not read, I’m sure that they had heard the scripture many times in their lives, it had been taught to them and explained for them by the teachers of the synagogue. I’m sure they even revered the scripture and treated it respect. And yet for all of this, there seems as though one thing is missing. It seems as though they did not believe that any of the beautiful stories and prophesies in the scripture could actually happen.  If for centuries they had been reading, and teaching about a Messiah who would come to set at liberty those who were oppressed, who would give sight to the blind, who would proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, then why are they so angry when it actually happens? Jesus comes to tell them that the Messiah has come, and yet their first response is to try and kill him. Could it be that they were angry because they didn’t actually believe that it could happen? That they wanted to kill Jesus because there is no way that someone could really be the Messiah that was prophesied about. Was there such an uproar when Jesus said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” because they didn’t truly believe that scripture could truly be fulfilled? Did they stop hearing that beautiful silver bell?

            Before we start to pile on the Jewish people of Nazareth, let us turn and look at ourselves. Do we truly believe in the fulfillment of scripture? When we hear scripture read in worship, when we hear it preached on, when we read the psalms together, when we study the word in Bible studies or by ourselves at home, do we truly believe that it means something? Do we hear and think, Wow those are beautiful words, or that teaches a good lesson. Do we simply use scripture as a checklist of morals that we need to follow, or do we truly believe that the words that we hear and study mean something. Do we truly believe in a savior who is the fulfillment of scripture? Do we truly believe in a Christ who has declared the year of the Lord’s favor? A Christ who came to heal the blind, Christ who came to set at liberty the oppressed, a Christ who came to set the prisoners free, a Christ who came to preach the good news to the poor?! Do we truly believe that these words, that our savior can transform the world around us?

            Then why do so often act as if there is no transformative power in the sacred words that we hear? Why do we listen to all of the pessimism in the world around and let that tell us that there is no hope, when we know that there is hope in Christ, hope in a savior who is the fulfillment of scripture? And if we are truly followers of Christ and truly believe that Christ has come to heal the sick, set the oppressed free, preach good news to the poor, then why do we so often sit back and watch sadness in the world and throw up our hands and say that there is nothing that we can do?

            If we truly believe in a Christ who is the fulfillment of these scripture, then we truly believe that Christ can work through us to transform the world. Our savior gives us hope. He gives us hope that all of the things hoped for in Isaiah are fulfilled in him. He gives us hope for eternal life, but he also gives us hope of new creation here on Earth. A hope that we can make a difference with the power of the Holy Spirit. A hope that the world is not destined for doom and destruction, but rather a hope that we may all be made new through Christ. That we may be restored from our brokenness to perfection in love. If we truly believe that scripture is fulfilled in Christ, then all of this is not some fairy tale, it’s not some utopian idea, it’s not just wishful thinking, but it is a true hope that we are able to have in our savior Jesus Christ; and not a hope like I hope to win the lottery, but a hope as in an expectation, a goal worth living and striving towards.  When we truly believe in this reality, then scripture becomes like that silver sleigh bell, a beautiful sound that reminds us of the heart and Spirit of Christianity. Just the pure sound of the words brings joy into our lives, challenges us and gives us hope. So as close this morning I have one question for you, when you hear these words of fulfillment and hope, are they like the silver bell to your ears, does it make a sound? If you answered yes then treasure that sound and never let the beauty fade. If you answered no, don’t despair; instead be like the boy in the Polar Express, search for that sound, long for it, if you earnestly seek after it, one day you will hear the beautiful ringing. Today scripture is fulfilled in your hearing it. Does it make a sound?

 

The Best is Yet to Come

Sermon as Preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 1/20/13

Scripture John 2:1-11

 

Today’s scripture is an account of what has possibly become one of the most well know and miracles of Jesus. If you were to go around and just ask people on the street to name a miracle that Jesus performed what would they say? I’m sure some would mention a healing, but it would probably not be a specific instance, people might mention the fact that he walked on water, but I bet you that one of the most common responses would be that Jesus turned water into wine. Even most non-Christians would know about this miracle. There are references made to it in countless stories, movies, television shows, It almost has even become routine to see water a party and joke about turning it into wine. Our society knows this miracle pretty well, but for those in attendance at that wedding, and for all who would come to hear about it, this would be a moment of revelation.

            Up to this point this point talk about Jesus had mostly been all anticipation. We have the prophets foretelling his coming, the angel coming to Joseph and Mary declaring that Jesus was the Messiah. The shepherds and wise men came from all over the Earth and declared the same to be true. John the Baptist even began preaching telling the world that the Messiah, the promised one was coming. Then we have the baptism of Jesus, the heavens opened and the voice of God was heard declaring that “this is my son with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus had even began to gather some of his disciples, who believed what was said about Jesus was true, and decided to follow him. Still, up to this point all we have had so far is anticipation. Jesus is now around thirty years old, For thirty years, people have been hearing about how this man was the Son of God, this man was the savior. They had heard probably heard him speak and interacted with him, and possibly thought to themselves something is different about this man, but still thirty years have passed and Jesus has not done anything to prove that he is truly is the Messiah. 30 years of waiting, and still no toppling of the Empire, no setting free those who are oppressed, not even a sign that this man is any different from the rest of us; that is until Mary, Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding. At first this seems like nothing special, Jesus is not the center of the attention that of  course would be the bride and the groom. Jesus is simply a guest, a wallflower. The wedding seems to have gone well, everyone is celebrating with a party, they are having wine, and once again nothing special is happening. Until, they start to run out of wine. Mary comes up to Jesus and tells, they are running out of wine you’ve got to do something. Mary knows what Jesus is capable of, she did after all raise him, but Jesus indicates that the timing is not right. He says, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." Jesus pretty much says so what, you know what I can do, I know what I can do, but the rest of the world does not, This is not the time for me to reveal that. Or how it probably sounded to Mary, “Mom, Not now, I don’t wanna.”

            But of course Mom always wins, and so Jesus begins to perform his first miracle. He tells the servants to gather the water jars and fill them full of water, he then tells them to draw some of it out and to take it to the chief steward. Notice that the scripture doesn’t simply tell us that Jesus turned water into wine, but rather lets us join in on the anticipation. What is going to happen to the water? What is the chief steward going to say? What did he do? It would not be uncommon in those days if you were running out of wine to water it down to make it last longer. Maybe this is what Jesus did. Will the steward like it? But then we get the steward’s response, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now."  You have kept the good wine until now. That means that Jesus must have actually turned the water into wine! John writes the story in such a way so that we like those present at the wedding make the revelation for ourselves. This man Jesus, has done something incredible, he has turned water into wine. Not only has he turned water into wine, but the wine that he created is even better than the wine that they started out with in the first place! You see, it would be quite normal to deceive the guests at the wedding, serving the good wine first, waiting for them to get drunk, and then serving bad wine so that they at that point could not tell the difference. But the steward, the responsible one, the caterer or host of the party or whatever analogy you would like to use would know better, and yet he is even astonished that this new wine is even better than the original. 

            This is it, the first sign of Jesus Christ. Jesus has done something to make people take notice. This man is not just any ordinary man. This man just turned water into wine. All of the anticipation, all of the waiting, all of the prophecy, might just be true, because Jesus has just made the impossible, possible., I’m sure people were going crazy when they figured out what had happened. If this was in or day and age, it people would be texting, tweeting, facebooking, recording it on their iphone and putting it up on youtube, the media would have already come and interviewed people, debates would have been held on talk shows, it would be a madhouse, and I’m sure in its own way at that time, it was. And yet in the midst of that was going on Jesus makes it clear that his hour has not yet come. His hour has not yet come, how is that possible if he just revealed his power at this wedding?  To answer this question we must once again look at the response of the chief steward.

            He says, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." John is very clever author. All throughout his Gospel he words and phrases that have a double meaning. This is a perfect example of one of those double meanings. The first meaning is of course the literal meaning, that Jesus has saved the good wine for last, but at the same time this is also talking about this sign of Jesus. That this is but the first sign, that like the original wine it is good, in fact it is better than good, it is what was expected to be the best, and yet the best is yet to come. There is so much more ahead. 

            We have all experienced the opposite of this. You’ve seen commercials for a new movie that is coming out and the commercials look so good, the movie looks so funny, and then you go to see it and come to find out that the only funny parts of the movie, was what was shown in the previews, It becomes such a disappointment.  This is so common in our culture, we always try to present our best. We drive fancy cars, or have big houses, When guests come over we put out our best china and silverware. If we don’t have money than we flaunt our best attribute; if we’re funny we tell jokes, if we’re smart we show it off, we do whatever we can to portray ourselves as best as we can, but unfortunately that’s all we have. If people dig deeper, expect something else, we’ve already displayed the best we have.

            And yet the opposite is true with Jesus. This miracle of turning water into wine, is but a teaser for what is to come. It’s  like going to a firework show and they shoot of a firework that’s really big, or really loud, or beautiful, or it does something cool like swerves around the sky, or crackles like rice crispies, or my favorite droops like a weeping willow tree. We’re so impressed by these initial fireworks but then the show goes on and more a more fireworks are fired, the do more cool things, they are bigger and prettier, and they all lead up to the grand finale in which the sky is fully of fireworks, you can’t even hear yourself think, and you are simply stunned and amazed by what you have seen. This miracle of turning water into wine is like the first firework. It’s so amazing and beautiful, but compared to what is about to happen, it pales in comparison. My hour has not yet come. This is the first sign of Jesus Christ.

            Through this miracle, Jesus has given the world a glimpse of what is about to come, a foretaste of his glory, and Jesus is so right, that this is not his hour. It is amazing that he turned water into wine, but it was only a sign. What did it do?  It kept a wedding celebration from ending early. In this passage Jesus seems so disinterested in the plea of his mother. What concern is that to you and me, My hour has not yet come?  It even seems as if Jesus is being a little rude, Mary knows what he can do and simply asks for him to help out the celebration. But compared to what is to come, he’s right that this isn’t his hour. That changing water to wine is for the most part a menial and meaningless task.

            Jesus probably seems so disinterested in the request from his mother, because he knows that turning water into wine is not the reason he has come to Earth. This miracle, though his first is, far from his most important. After all he would go one give sight to the blind, allow the lame to walk, cast demons out of people, calm storms that threaten the lives of his followers, turn a small amount of fish and bread into enough to feed a multitude, he would raise a man from the dead, and most importantly he himself would be resurrected,  defeating our slavery to sin and death. Water being turned into wine, simply was not at the top of his list. And yet this sign is an extremely important sign because it was his first. I was the first time that anyone had witnessed his power. It is the first time that he had shown a glimpse of the power the so many people had been anticipating. This miracle would reveal for the first time that Jesus is truly the son of God. What really is so amazing about this miracle is that it points towards the wonderful works that still lie ahead. As the chief steward indicated, Jesus saved the best for last, but as we have noted that statement refers to much more than wine. Because what was it that Jesus was saving for last? It was of course his death, resurrection and ascension. The true miracle is that Jesus, both fully human and fully divine, gave himself up for us on a cross for the forgiveness of sins. That he rose on the third day showing that death no longer has a hold on humanity, That though we die, there is now eternal life. And after this Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the father. This shows us that Christ still is and always is in control. All of this to give us the hope of eternal life. The freedom from sin. Through the miracles we are able to truly know God love for us, and knowing all of this, remembering all of these miracles and yet seeing a world that is sad and broken, we may realize that maybe, just maybe, the hope that we have in Christ making all things new, the hope that we have in a new heaven and a new earth, the hope that we have in a savior whose most mundane act is the miracle of turning water into wine,  is telling us that the best is still  to come.

Musings: Gun Control and Moral Hypocrisy

The NRA's response to the gun control debate has exposed a deep hypocrisy in our moral discourse from both sides. In their statement, The NRA blamed violence in the media and in video games for events like the shooting in Newtown, CT. This is the same group that has used the argument over and over again that you cannot punish the majority for the acts of a few "crazy" people. They have argued that the government cannot take away or limit guns because the violence is not the fault of the guns but the fault of the individuals. This same group is now attacking the media for its portrayal of violence, taking the responsibility out of the hands of the individual and placing it on movies, TV. and videos games. Is the slogan now guns don't kill people, the media does? Am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy in this?

Before this come across as a pure attack on the NRA, let me point out that the hypocrisy also exists on the other side. Those who know me know that I am fairly liberal. I support gun control and that I am also against the censorship of media and video games etc... My argument, like most people’s, has always been that violence in the media does not cause someone to commit violence, that violent people will already have had some sort of disposition to violence or will have had some stressor in their life to push them over the edge. It is people like me, who hold this view about censorship that so often cry for gun control, and now I see the hypocrisy in this as well. How can we take a hands off approach on one of the issues, and a position of censorship and control on the other. Hypocrisy rests on both sides. I know that both issues are far more complex than this portrayal, and yet we must recognize that there is some hypocrisy there. I do not have the answers on how to respond, I don't even know if the hypocrisy changes my stances, but I feel as though it is something that must be acknowledged before we move forward in discussions on both issues.

Be Prepared

Sermon as Preached 12/9/12 @ Lambs and Evington UMC


Scripture: Luke 3:1-6

 

 

 

Something you may not know about me is that when I was younger I was a boy scout. I remember that as you try to advance through the ranks in boy scouts, one of the first things you had to do was memorize a bunch of different sayings. There was the scout oath, “On my honor, I will do my best  To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” Then there was there was the scout law, “A Scout is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. There was also the boy scout slogan, “Do a good turn daily” Out of all of them, the easiest one to remember, and yet the most helpful saying was a short two word saying, the scout motto, “Be prepared” This saying taught us a lot. It  taught us if you were going to go before the scoutmaster to try to meet one of your requirements, that you better be prepared, you had better have put the work into learning everything that you needed to know. Most of all it taught us that when there is something happening in the future, whether it was a trip, or a service project, or just a regular meeting, that you need to truly think of everything that you need to do before the event, and also everything that you might need for the event. If the boy scouts taught me anything it taught me to be prepared.

            Our scripture this morning is all about this idea of preparation. In it, we find John the Baptist in the wilderness and in all regions around the Jordan. His message was simple,  Christ is coming, be prepared. He  says, “The voice of the one crying out in the wilderness,  Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and high shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” While many times when we read this we think of John the Baptist as some crazy man out shouting something new and radical that the Israelites had never heard before, this is not entirely the case. Now I’m not going to question whether John the Baptist looked crazy, because wild hair and eating bugs sure does give that appearance, but what he was saying was nothing new. John was quoting scripture, Isaiah, something that the Jews had heard so many times before.  John however was taking the message to heart, Christ is coming, and we need to be prepared.

            We are not that much different in our times now. We know the Christmas story, we know that Christ came as a baby in Bethlehem,  we know that Christ died and rose again, and we know that Christ will come again. When we hear it we are either like scrooges, we turn our hearts away from the news, we don’t want to hear it or we just simply don’t care; or we get Christmas fever, we want to sing all of our favorite Christmas tunes, decorate our houses in special ways, and yet how often do we do this and when Christmas passes our lives are not changed at all from the way they were before we celebrated the Christ child? In our  eagerness to celebrate Christmas, we forget to get ready for it. We aren’t prepared, and because of that lack of preparation, Christmas flies by, the joy is short lived, and life continues once again how it has always been. Do we truly take time to prepare for Christmas?

            When people hear the phrase “be prepared” there are usually two different ways of interpreting the statement.  The first is what I will call the bomb shelter mentality. Some will hear the message of be prepared and think that it means brace for impact. It the idea that something devastating is coming and you have to be prepared for all the bad things that might happen.  I call it the bomb shelter mentality, but we see the same reaction to natural disasters. The meteorologist forecasts a huge storm or forecasts tons of snow, and everyone stocks up on the essentials like water and non-perishable food items so that when that storm does come, they are prepared. When many people hear the term be prepared, this is what they think of. Even when applied to the coming of Christ, this is often how we act.  We recognize our sin, accept Christ into our lives, and do nothing about it. We use the church as a bomb shelter to hide in, waiting until it is safe to go back out into the world. But this is not the type of preparation that John the Baptist is calling us to. He says, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight his paths.” This is not an invitation to hide in our bomb shelters away from all that scares us in the world, but instead it is a call for us to go out into the world, a prepare the world for the coming of Christ.

            This type of preparation I like to call the special guest, or with my particular situation, the wedding preparation.  As most of you know Heather and I are getting married next October. While that seems like so far away, it is unbelievable the amount of preparation that goes into that day.  First we picked a location, we wanted somewhere that had been special to both of us, and so we decided to pick the church at Randolph-Macon since after all that is where we met. Then we had to pick a date, which seems simple enough until we found there were a lot more factors to consider than we thought. We knew we wanted a fall wedding, but since our wedding was on campus we had to plan the wedding around Parent’s Weekend and Homecoming. Columbus day is also one of the best days for business at my dad’s work, and since he works off of commission we didn’t want to do it on that day either. We found that something so simple as picking was actually quite difficult.  Next we have to make invitations, get bridesmaids dresses, rent tuxedos, find decorations, figure who is participating in what parts of the ceremony, including who is going to officiate. We have to find somewhere to go for premarital counseling, decide where we are going for the honeymoon, and whether or not we can afford it,  find a photographer, find a caterer or someone in our families who will cook for the reception, and it seems as though the list for preparation goes on and on and on. All of this leading to a wonderful day in which we can finally celebrate together in the joy of marriage.

            This is more of the preparation that John is calling us towards, this is more of the preparation that Advent calls us to partake in. Now the keen observer may start to wonder, “wait a minute, I thought Advent was a time of waiting, anticipating, not rushing, I thought Advent taught patience. How can all of this work be part of patience? That is an excellent question to ask, how does all of this preparation fit into the purpose of Advent? It is for this reason that I chose the example of a wedding, I didn’t just choose it because it is on my mind, though that is true as well.

            In my example I described a special day, a day of celebration, and that will forever change the lives of not only Heather and me, but our family and close friends as well. With a day like this, the first instinct is to go ahead already and do it. Certainly we could have, we could have gone to the courthouse and eloped so that we could be married today, we could have had a quick, small wedding, and trust me it has been tempting, both of us want that day to be here already, but we know that in order for us to make the wedding as meaningful of possible we have to be patient. In order for us to truly be ready for marriage, there needs to be a time of engagement. But as I said earlier this engagement period has not been a time in which we just sit on our hands waiting for the day in which we are married, it is a time that helps us truly understand and prepare for that special ceremony and what it means for the rest of our lives.

            Christmas and Advent are very similar. Christmas is that wonderful celebration that we all look forward to, it is that feast that will forever change the lives of those who celebrate it. Christmas is like the wedding, but like the wedding there needs to be a time to prepare, and wait, to anticipate what Christmas really means for our lives and to get ready for  that transformation. This time, this engagement period is why we celebrate Advent.  Just as Heather and I are taking time to prepare for marriage, just as we will take premarital classes to help strengthen our relationship, so too during Advent we need to take time to strengthen our relationships not only with each other, but also with God. Advent is a time for us to prepare our hearts and our souls for the gift of Jesus Christ, sometimes that includes confessing our sins and repenting, sometimes that means bringing our burdens before his feet. That may mean that we need to truly reflect on what our relationship with Christ is like. Do we pray, if we do, do we pray enough? Do we pray earnestly and truthfully?  Are following the call that God has put on our lives, or do we keep ignoring it, or putting it off until later?

            Advent is not only a personal preparation, but it is a time in which we are called to prepare others for the good news of Christ’s redeeming love, of Christ’s arrival on Earth. Just as Heather and I prepare to share the joy of our wedding with others, Are we preparing others for Christmas. Are we telling people about the good news? Are we inviting others to church, or to our Christmas programs?  Are we feeding the hungry, healing the sick, visiting those in prison, advocating for the end of oppressive systems in our nation and around the world? When Christmas day comes will we be ready? Will we have done our part? Will people truly believe that Christ has come to Earth  to bring love and justice to all, because they have experienced it through us? When a child opens up their gift on Christmas morning and gives their parents a hug and tells them thank you, will that parent be able to give thanks to God because that gift was only possible through Christians who believe that all should be able to experience the joy of Christmas. Maybe the biggest question is when Christmas passes, when it is time to take down our trees and our lights, when the shops and malls are no longer decorated with the seasonal cheer, when the novelty of whatever gifts we received that year has worn off, will our lives have been transformed, and will we have helped to change the life of someone else. Will Christmas mean anything to us? If in your heart the answer is no, then maybe we need to take this time that we have now, this time of Advent to truly prepare for Christmas. Not hurry or rush the coming of Christmas, but take time to prepare for it. Take time make straight the paths for the Lord, so that when it comes, and rest assured it will come, we will be prepared for Christmas, that the joy of the season will forever transform our hearts, our souls, and our minds.

Long Dark Winter of the Soul

Sermon as Preached 12/2/12 at Lambs and Evington UMC


Scripture- Jeremiah 33:14-16

Last week, we talked a little about the liturgical calendar as we celebrated Christ the King Sunday; the last Sunday of the liturgical year. And so today we turn back to the beginning of the calendar, a time that many of us have loved ever since we were kids, and that is of course the time of Advent, a time where we eagerly anticipate and celebrate the arrival of Christ on Earth. It is a time in the calendar full of joy and hope, the sanctuaries are decorated in anticipation, we light the Advent candles and read the meaning behind each candle, all leading until the time in which we can light the Christ candle, signifying God’s arrival on Earth in the form of a small baby, born in a manger. It is a time of the year that Christians have come to love as the famous song says, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” While there is so much talk about the liturgical season of Advent,  it is rarely mentioned how fitting it is that Advent occurs during this season of the Earth. During Easter the link is almost always made between Spring and Easter, between the new life of plants and trees, and the resurrection. (This does show the Northern hemisphere bias of the liturgical calendar because for those south of the  Equator, Easter is during either fall or winter.) But for us here, there is a clear link between spring and Easter. We should also make a connection between our season now and Advent. Sure it isn’t technically winter yet, but the weather sure is starting to feel like it. The leaves have fallen and trees are now barren. Frost has begun killing our grass and our plants. The temperature has dropped and now with every wind, our bones are chilled and we find places to huddle for warmth. The days have grown shorter, there is more darkness, and even in times of daylight, there is often a hazy overcast that can at times be outright depressing. And this, this is the season in which we begin to anticipate Emmanuel, God with us.

            And yet it is so fitting. Our scripture from today is from Jeremiah, who like many of the prophets, has seen the sad and dark days of Israel. The Babylonians have conquered and destroyed Israel, and the people have been kept in captivity.  It is a time of darkness for the Israelites. It is a time of despair, a time of depression, it truly is a long dark winter of the soul. Even Jeremiah creates the imagery of the  death of vegetation, he paints a picture of a dark, cold, barren wasteland.

And yet he depicts this imagery while presenting an image of hope. Jeremiah says, “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”  A righteous branch to spring up for David. God gives the Israelites a promise, a hope, that in the middle of all they are going through, in the midst of the despair, the darkness, the cold, a branch is going to up and to bring justice and righteousness to the land. God gives them hope that from the cold and darkness of winter, when everything else has died, there will be new life; life that will restore the land, life from the branch of David.  As Christians we know where and when this hope would come, as Christians we hear the story of the story of Christ’s arrival on a yearly basis, we know the story by heart, we love it and cherish it, but for the Israelites, they did not yet know this good news. All they had was a promise from God, that there would be a Messiah to come and save the people. The Israelites did not know when this would happen, they did not know who the Messiah would be, for the most part their lives were very much the same, they were still in exile, they had still lost their land, their homes, their Temple, and yet now the Israelites had something else; they had hope. Hope that one day, they would be saved, and not by just anyone, but the Messiah would come from the root of David.

            We cannot underestimate the power of this hope. In fact, Matthew even starts his gospel around this hope. The first chapter of Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus. While many of us today find it to be one of the most boring parts of the Gospel, or it is the one that we pray that the pastor doesn’t ask us to read, (you know how it goes, so and so begat so and so, and difficult to pronounce name begat even stranger name and so on.) but for the Jews who read this genealogy, it was a passage of great hope. Because the gospel traces Jesus’ genealogy back to David, Jews could now see that this truly was the Messiah. This is the one that God has been promising us, and best of all, he is one of us, he knows our hurt and our pain. And he shall be called Emmanuel, God with us. Emmanuel, we use this word a lot around this time of year, but how often do we really stop to think about what it means. God is not only with us in spirit, God is not only with us through prayer, God, Emmanuel, was one of us. Someone who knows our pain, or fears, or hurt, God became human. Out of the darkness, out of the cold, out of our brokenness and despair, sprouted a new branch, a little baby child, who would forever change the world, God with us.

            This Sunday, as we begin Advent we are usually so quick, so eager to for the arrival of Christmas, we don’t want to wait to tell that Christmas story, we want it now, but let us stop and learn from our season. This time of year is a great reminder of the purpose of Advent. That from the cold, the frost, the darkness of the shorter days, that in the midst of a season that in all honesty would normally cause depression and despair, we have hope. We must take time to recognize the beauty of this hope.  We have become so accustomed to hearing the good news, that we tend to forget why we need to hear it in the first place. The Israelites did not know when Christ would come, they did not know where, or in what manner he would come, the Israelites did not know the same Gospel story that we know today. What the Israelites had was hope, a hope that God would save his people. This morning let us learn from Israelites, let us not take the good news for granted. Let’s us truly think about the areas in our lives that feel hopeless. If there there are no such areas in your lives, the let us thank the Lord, but then let us be reminded of those whose still today live life with very little hope. Even in our community there are those who feel hopeless. Those who do not see this season as a time of joy, but rather see it as a time of pain. There are those who have lost loved ones, there are those who struggle to even put food on the table let alone a Christmas feast. There are many who see the changing weather not as a sign of cheer, but an obstacle to overcome, of simply staying warm through the winter. And yet, this morning we have lit the first candle of the Advent wreath, the hope candle, a light that signifies that even through the cold and the dark, hope is coming. If you are one who is feeling hopeless today, know that there is hope. If you aren’t, then let this candle remind you to be a bearer of hope to those who are hopeless. Christ is coming to bring life to this dead world… .  there is hope.

The Mystery of Faith

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 11/25/12

Scripture- Revelation 1:4-8

As a kid I used to love mystery novels. I would read the Hardy Boys all the time, in fact I probably read them all, or at least almost all of them. There was also another book series that I used to really like, and that was Encyclopedia Brown. Encyclopedia Brown was a book series about a young boy, whose dad was a police officer, set up his own detective agency and would take random cases, not real cases, but more like schoolyard mysteries. What made the Encyclopedia Brown series so interesting, was that it was written in a way in which you the reader had to piece together the clues, and solve the mystery. Only after you figured it out, then you read the final page to see if you were right. I loved mysteries so much. My sister and I used to play a board game called Crack the Case, which was very similar to Encyclopedia Brown where you were given a scenario and had to solve the case. We played this game so much that we went through all of the scenarios in the game. I just loved mysteries. Or so I thought, but what I really enjoyed was solving mysteries. I loved to see how events that seemed random would fit together, I loved finding the flaws in the logic of the criminals that revealed the truth of what happened. I loved mysteries because out of the chaos, the intrigue, the unknown, came a clear, a logical answer for what had happened.

            But is this a real mystery then? If it is something that can be totally explained and understood by us, is it really a mystery? It’s what we have come to expect out of mysteries, so now when we hear something described as a mystery, we still expect that we should be able to figure it out, that we should be able to understand. More and more we have lost the appreciation for a real mystery, something that we just can’t explain, but know is true. We have even come to believe that if we can’t explain it then it must not be true, but how foolish are we to think that we are supposed to understand everything. As Christians, we must not only accept mysteries, but we must learn to appreciate them, If we were to understand everything about God, everything that God does, has done, or will do, then why would we even need God in the first place. But we know that we are but human, that we are fallible, we make mistakes, we aren’t all knowing, and so as Christians we have learned to embrace the mystery, instead of fighting it.

            In our scripture today  God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last, so in other words God is saying I am the A and the Z. I am all things, I am the beginning and the end. And then we have the interesting phrase, “who is, and who was, and who is to come.” This is a true mystery, how is it possible to be the one who is, who was, and who is to come? While many people would hear a statement like this and try  to break it down, dissect it, find the logical flaws within it, try to either prove it right or prove it wrong, but we as Christians do none of that, we simply embrace it. To us this is the mystery of faith, and it is not a mystery that troubles us because we can’t completely understand it, but it is a mystery that we embrace because of the hope that is contained in that mystery. It is a mystery that we partake of when we gather together for Communion, as we even profess it in our Communion liturgy, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” It is a mystery that lets us look back and see what Christ has done for us, through his life, death, and resurrection. It is a mystery that allows us to embrace the fact Christ is here present with us, present with us every day through the power of the Holy Spirit. And still it is a mystery that allows us look ahead with hope; hope of a day in which all things are made new, where the lion lies down with the lamb, where people from all tribes, and nations, and languages are gathered together at that heavenly feast. It is a mystery of faith, hope, and love.

            The Christian Calendar even embraces this mystery. The Christian calendar is set in a way that allows us as Christians to live out the Gospel story. We start in advent, preparing for the coming of Christ, which of course we celebrate with Christmas. We then celebrate his revelation to the world through Epiphany, celebrate his baptism, and then journey with him through the wilderness in Lent. We celebrate his entrance into the Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, his death on Good Friday, and of course his resurrection on Easter. We then celebrate his ascension, and the moment at which the spirit anointed the church at Pentecost. The rest of the calendar after that is a time of celebrating the life of the church, working as the body of Christ until we get to today, the last day of the Christian calendar, which fittingly enough is Christ the King Sunday, celebrating the fact that Christ is King and celebrating the day in which Christ comes in final glory. It is quite a wonderful calendar to follow because we are able throughout the year to celebrate the work of God from the beginning to the end.

            But as I said, this calendar embraces that mystery. How you may ask? Well I’m glad you asked, or I’m glad I assumed you asked.  Think about it today is Christ the King Sunday, a day in which we celebrate when Christ comes in final victory, but what happens next week? We start the calendar all over and begin with Advent, begin anticipating Christ’s coming on Earth. Think about it we celebrate Christ’s coming, we celebrate the final victory, and the very next week we start all over. As they say in the infomercials, but wait there’s more! You see, when we start with Advent preparing for Christmas, it is clear and obvious that what we are celebrating, what we are anticipating, is Christ’s coming as they say in Talladega Nights, “little baby Jesus” but once you run through the calendar once, once we come to the end of the calendar, when we come to Christ the King Sunday, when we celebrate Christ’s coming in final victory, and then the very next Sunday is Advent and move to a time of anticipating Christ’s arrival on  Earth it starts to beg the question of which arrival we are anticipating? When we sing hymns like Come thou Long Expected Jesus, or O Come, O Come Emanuel, are we simply reliving the anticipation of Christ’s coming in Bethlehem, or are we anticipating the future coming of Christ? The answer is yes! But wait that wasn’t a yes or no question, but that is exactly the mystery that we embrace, the celebration that Christ has already come, and the celebration that Christ will come again.

            So that begs the question what are we supposed to do now? How do we live in a kingdom that has already been established by Christ, that at the same time when look around it is quite obvious that the Kingdom is not how it supposed to be, or how it is going to be in the end? Are we simply made to play the waiting game? Unfortunately too many Christians would say yes to that question, too many people believe that life is all about being saved, and then waiting until we are able to go to heaven. That idea, however leaves out one important factor of Christian life, and that is how we are supposed to live in the meantime. We do have a promise of salvation that all of us can receive through the death and resurrection of Christ, and we all do have a hope of eternal life that we can eagerly anticipate, but to leave out our role as Christians in the meantime to serve the Lord our God, is well, quite frankly selfish.

 Listen again to what our scripture says, “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood,  and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” We once again see that mystery of faith that I was talking about, “who is, who was, and who is to come, but we also see John telling us what our role as Christians is. It is very subtle and easy to overlook but he says, “and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father.” We are called to be the Kingdom! The same Kingdom that Christ established on Earth over 2000 years ago, and the same Kingdom that we place our hope in at the end of times, this Kingdom is the kingdom we are called to be now! We are called to live out what Christ has established and we are called to  strive towards that glorious vision of the full glory of the Kingdom of God. We are not called to sit on our hands and wait, we are called, to be the kingdom.

            But what does this mean, if we are the kingdom now, does that mean we have full reign, does that mean we are in charge? The answer is of course no. Christ is King, the one who is, who was, and who is to come. So then what is our role? Once again that passage from Revelation tells us, but it is also again easy to overlook. The passage tells us that we are to be, “priests serving his father and God.” We are called to be priests in this kingdom. Now the understanding of the term priest has been lost over the years. Now when we think of priests we normally think of Catholic or Episcopal clergy persons, we think of priest, to mean someone who is ordained to lead the church. And while this understanding of the term priest is not necessarily a wrong one, when the term priest is used here in the Bible, it is simply meaning someone who acts as a mediator between God and the people. This, is something that all of us are called to do. As Christians we are called to be God’s agents, God’s servants to all those who do not know God. As Paul puts it, we are called to be the body of Christ. We are called to be the arms and the hands of Christ, reaching out to world. We are called to be the kingdom of God.     

             When I was serving at an internship down near Myrtle Beach, the pastor at the church gave me a gift. It was a glass pyramid, and though I thought it was a beautiful gift, I had no idea what it was, until he explained it to me. He told me that these glass pyramids used to be used on ships. They would hang them upside down leading down below the deck. He told me that the were used as lights, the would take the light of the sun and reflect it into below the deck and it would light up the ship and allow them to see. This is what we are called to be, we are called to be like those glass pyramids. We are called to reflect God’s like into the darkness. We ourselves do not produce the light, we really have no power, but when God’s light shines through us, then we can shine that light into the darkness. So to go back to the original question, how do we live into this mystery of faith where Christ has died, Christ is risen, and where Christ will come again? How do we live a Christians in a Kingdom that has already been established and yet has not come in its full glory? We do it by shining God’s light into the darkness, guiding others in Christ love, and guiding the world towards that wonderful day in where Christ comes in final victory and we all can feast at his heavenly banquet.

It's The End of The World As We Know It

Sermon as Preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 11/18/12

 

Scripture- Mark 13:1-8

 

It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it.It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. I remember this song by R.E.M fondly because of New Year’s Eve Celebration when I was still in school. This was no ordinary New Years Eve however, this was December 31, 1999, The night we moved into the new Millennium. We all remember that New Years Eve, because the whole year prior to it the world had been hearing about Y2K. There was a scare that computers had not been programed to be able to switch into the New Millennium, and so when the clock struck midnight, they would revert back to 1900 and all chaos would ensue. There were rumors that all bank data would be lost causing wall street to crumble. Rumors flew around that transportation systems would be knocked offline and trains and airplanes would all crash. There was even rumors that we would lose control of our nuclear weapons and that they would randomly fire when the clock struck midnight. In essence, the new millennium would cause the destruction of the world. And so I sat with friends at a New Years celebration waiting and anticipating, and I remember as the ball was about to drop, that song, “It’s the end of the world as we know it was playing.” Tempting fate.  But the song ended, the ball dropped in New York City, and nothing happened.

            Predictions of the end of the world are nothing new. This year in particular we are hearing over and over again new predictions of the world ending.  Well actually the aren’t new at all, they come from predictions from the Mayans, because December 21, 2012 is when the Mayan calendar will end. While many of us laugh at this prediction, seeing it as a fun cultural reference to talk about, many people are also taking this very seriously. The see wars in other countries or the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran and say that it points towards this prediction being true. Others who are displeased with the results of the elections claim that it shows that the end of the world must be coming. Most troubling however, is that many Christians are using their beliefs to support a Mayan prediction.

            This is nothing new either. Even last year, Christianity and numerology in the Bible was used to predict that Christ was coming back on May 21. I remember this clearly as well, because it was the day that I was flying from America to South Africa. The joke was that we’d be stuck in the air because there was going to be nowhere to land. Sadly though, many people took this extremely seriously. People quit their jobs to spend more time with their families. People sold all they had, some even took advantage of the hysteria and collected money on “fire insurance.” May 21 passed, and once again nothing happened. These people who had thrown away their lives because they were so sure the time had come, were now left with nothing, nothing except humiliation.

            In our scripture for today, Jesus does talk about the end of times, but listen to what he has to say. He tells the disciples. “Beware that no one leads you astray. 13:6 Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.13:8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.”  This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.

            In our passage Jesus is warning us, warning us against many of the things I have just talked about. He tells us that there will be wars and rumors of wars, but that does not mean that the end is necessarily near. He tells us that nations will rise against other nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, but that the end is still to come. He even tells us that there will be earthquakes and famines and we can imagine other natural disasters around the world, and yet these are but the beginning of the birthpangs. Maybe most importantly, Jesus tells his disciples to beware of false prophets, those who claim to be Jesus, those who claim that they know the end is coming. In this passage Jesus is telling us, do not get caught up in every prediction of the end of times.

Let’s be clear though, Jesus doesn’t tell us that there won’t be a time in which he returns, in fact it is quite the contrary. After all that is something that is crucial to our Christian belief, we even celebrate it during communion when we say, “By your spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.” As Christians we have a vision of that day of when Christ will fully reign over the Earth. Revelation tells us that Christ will make all things new, and that in the end people from every tribe, nation, tongue and so forth will gather around the throne in praise and celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians it is important to hold on to this vision, but at the same time Jesus warns us about listening to the false prophets, he warns us about getting swept up in all of the end of the world talk. Even in this passage let’s look at what Jesus actually says.

After leaving the temple, the disciples say to Jesus, “Look Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings.” To which Jesus replies, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another, all will be thrown down.” It is to this statement that the disciples ask him, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished.” And it is to this question by the disciples that Jesus begins his discussion about not listening to the false prophets and that all of it is only the birthpangs. So what does this teach us. It teaches us that first and foremost, this discussion is far less about the destruction of the world and much more about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. That’s what sparked the conversation after all, the disciples were amazed by the size of the Temple, and Jesus tells them that one day it will be destroyed. We must remember that in those times the Temple was the center of both commerce and religion. The temple was revered, cherished, I would dare to say even idolized, because it was viewed as the place where God resided. When the first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians the Israelites went into great despair, as we hear in Ezekiel God tells the Israelites, : “I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,^[b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

            God fulfilled his promise to the Israelites, Jerusalem was restored, and a new Temple was built. But now we have Jesus, looking at this newly created Temple, this symbol of God’s presence and promise to the Israelites, and he is prophesying that this soon will be destroyed. Why? It is because here Jesus is showing us the beauty of our vision of the end of times, and that is a vision of hope, and vision of unity, and a vision of love. What Jesus is saying is that this Temple, this holy monument that symbolizes God presence with the Israelites will be fall, because there is a new king. God’s presence is no longer only with the Israelites, God does not reside in Jerusalem, The Lord is Lord of all, Jesus Christ is King and now Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slave and free are all part of this new kingdom, the Kingdom of God.  God fulfilled his promise to unite Israel under one king, and now Jesus is taking it one step further, now the whole world will be united under one king, and the King is Jesus Christ.

            So Jesus tells his disciples when you hear rumors about war and battles between nations, and when it comes to pass that the Temple is destroyed, don’t listen to those who claim that this is the end of the world, but know this is only the start. The destruction of the Temple was a sign a new kingdom has been established through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but Christ reminds us that it was only the beginning. That we now have a hope of a time where all people around the world are united by Christ, that we now live in a kingdom that has already been established but has not yet come into fruition.

            And so we hear this message of Christ, a vision of the kingdom of God, a kingdom where all are united in love, where Christ and king, and we compare them to all of the talk of the end of times that we are used to hearing and it sounds drastically different. We are so used to hearing about doom and gloom, about the destruction of the world, but if we read the Bible the world is not going to be destroyed, in fact quite the opposite, the world is going to be made new! All things will be one day restored to the way God originally intended before we perverted with sin. Our vision is that we and all the Earth will be perfected through Christ. So beware of those who come in the name of Christ claiming the end of the world, for we believe in something far more spectacular than that, we believe in a world made new by Christ.

            Next week we will see what it means for us as Christians to live in the midst of a kingdom that has already been established, but has not yet arrived, but as we conclude for today, let me give a little advice on how to interpret what I have said today, I know that what I have said has gone against what many have learned since they were children, I have possibly even angered some of you, and for others it is simply a lot of information to process, so let me with just one word of advice. In the midst of the Nazi attacks on Britain in World War II, in the middle of the fear of invasion, the seeming doom that would come to the nation, an ad was placed all around the nation with the simple phrase, “Keep Calm, And Carry On.”  If there is one take away from this message today it is to keep calm and carry on. That doesn’t mean live however you want, but it means continue to live your Christian life; praying, worshiping, loving each other, and serving the community and the world. Christ doesn’t tell us when he will return, but through the gospels he tell us how we should live now. So in the midst of all of the speculations of war, and economic destruction, when so many once again claim that the world is ending,  keep calm and carry on. Carry on living the life that Christ has called you to live.