12.17.23 "Advent 3 - Joy!" Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Isaiah 61.1-4, 8-11; Luke 1.26-38

It all began with a simple “Yes!” … 

The angel of the LORD came to Mary, with a request, and Mary said, “Yes!”

And so it came to pass - Mary became the mother of Jesus … the Holy Mother of God … Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

Mary said “Yes!” …

A friend of mine recently wrote - “Say yes until you have to say No!”

Another friend said to me years ago, “I’m tired of saying “Yes!”, but I’ll keep on saying “Yes!” because I’m even more tired of what happens when I say “No!”

I celebrate with you today those who say Yes to life … yes, to you and to me …

In my senior year in Grand Rapids Christian High School, the spring of 1962 … as graduation neared, my Bible teacher, the Rev. Morris Faber, invited the seniors to come to the front of his classroom and share their plans.

One after the other, this and that, college and career, and all the dreams that a high school senior enjoys … and, then, it was my turn.

I told the class, I was going to Calvin College, and enroll in the pre-seminary course … and with that, laughter erupted … I mean, serious, raucous, uncontrolled, laughter, and I was laughing right along with all them … I’m sure some thought it was a joke, but it was no joke. I had decided that I would be a minister.

Now, some backstory - I was not what would have been recognized as “clergy” material … I’ll not bore you with the details, but it can be said, that if there were a picture of what a high school senior headed into ministry should look like, it certainly wasn’t me. 

The class laughed, and so did I.

When the laughter died down, Rev. Faber turned to me … all 5 feet, 5 inches of him - and said, “Tom, I believe you will do it.”

I’ve never forgotten that moment of affirmation … as you can tell … Rev. Faber’s word of encouragement, the power of “Yes!” … has stayed with me all these years.

Twenty years later, I was in Grand Rapids for some study, eating at a Russ’s Restaurant, a local chain famous for its hamburgers … and there, a few booths away, was the Rev. Morris Faber and his wife. 

He was recognizable - small in stature, a gnome-like face … there he was, having lunch.

I left my table and walked over to them, introduced myself … Rev. Faber looked at me with that thousand-yard stare common to dementia.

His wife explained to me, and I told her my story … then I thanked Rev. Faber for his confidence in me. His wife thanked me for coming over, and I thanked the LORD that I had the chance to see him again, to thank him personally for his goodness … 

Did he understand what I said?

Probably not … when I left, he picked up his hamburger and continued eating … his wife, with tears in her eyes.

A simple yes … 

Adults who come from difficult circumstances often look back to one or two people who loved them … someone who said “Yes!” to them, again and again … so they made it … scars on the soul, scars on the body, but the power of “Yes!” … the power of someone’s “Yes!”, in the midst of craziness and sadness … 

“You can do it!”

“I believe in you!”

The Power of Yes!

When others say “Yes!” to us, something happens deep inside of our soul - we begin to say “Yes!” to ourselves … 

I suspect Mary had said “Yes!” to herself long before the angel showed up … I suspect God waited until there was enough “Yes!” in Mary’s life for her to say “Yes!” to the angel.

However Mary was reared, whatever experiences she had, it’s evident from the Magnificat, Mary’s song of joy and justice, that Mary had a lot of “Yes!” in her life … and God be praised for that, and for every “Yes!” ever spoken in this world into the face of pain and sorrow, evil and injustice, lies and distortions … God says “Yes!” to a million, billion, gazillion, things: love, life, hope, peace, goodness and justice, fair play, decency, honesty, humility and kindness, mercy and truth.

Paul the Apostle says it well: For the Son of God, Jesus Christ … was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes!” For in him, everyone of God’s promises is a “Yes!”

Which is why one of our alternate banners outside says, “God loves every body” - 

Every kind and type of body - flesh, blood, and bone … every shape, color, proportion, ability, and life … we are our bodies.

It’s “Yes!” that saves the day, and makes a way … it’s “Yes!” that calls for engagement, partnership, compromise, patience, working-arrangement, getting along, and making do.

Mary said “Yes!” to the angel … Rev. Faber said “Yes!” to me … and throughout the years of my work, countless people have said “Yes!” to the LORD, “Yes!” to the calling of God, to the work ahead … to the work of the church … “Yes!” to the cross, because “Yes!” is likely to ask everything of us … to give deeply, profoundly, as near-total as we can, again and again.

“Yes!” is a dangerous word … it gets us into things we didn’t plan on, and sometimes into things we don’t want.

I’ve learned over the years to be a bit more cautious with my “Yes!” … but on the other hand, caution needs to be thrown to the wind sometimes, and maybe more often than not.

One thing for sure: “Yes!” may get us into trouble, but “No!” will get us nowhere. 

One of the components of “Yes!” is trust … trust in life, trust in God, trust in others … life will provide the ways and means of getting something done … because God is involved in all of this … and, yes, we can do it … because that’s how God made us.

It may be difficult … ask Mary how easy it was to bear the child of our salvation and become the Mother of God.

I think of Sharleen Piereson, and George Coulter, 

who said “Yes!” a thousand times over … 

and when the Everlasting Arms carried them away, they heard heaven declare, “Yes! … and welcome home!”

 

“Yes!” opens the door to all kinds of things … some of them will be downright difficult … and some of them good beyond all measure … 

The power of “Yes!” … “Yes!” to each of you, and “Yes!” to life.

It is, after all, Mary’s Sunday.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the LORD is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.

Amen!

December 16, 2012, "What Should We Do?"

Zephaniah 3.14-20; Luke 3.7-18

“Are we there yet?”

“Mommy, Daddy, are we there yet?”

Slightly irritated, Mom replies, “No, we’re not; it’ll be awhile. I’ll tell you when we’re there.”

Is it Christmas yet?

No, not yet!

It’s the Season of Advent, when the church remembers a time before Jesus … the hopes and fears of all the years: Where is God in all of the stuff going on? … Are things moving along by the will and purpose of God, or are we stuck here? God promised to come to us, to come to our aid, to help us - when will that happen? Will it happen? Is faith just so much wishful thinking, or is faith real and good and worth our time? Are there other gods to which we might turn? Is there something else we might do? What should we do?

The people ask John, What should we do?

Here they are, coming out from Judea and Jerusalem to hear a preacher who’s washing away sins in the Jordan … that fabled river … where God’s people so long ago crossed over into the Promised Land.

John gets right to the point …

If you have a little extra, share it!

If you’re in position to make money, don’t go crazy about it!

If you’ve got some power, use it carefully! … be satisfied.

Simple … basic … essential … John doesn’t ask anyone to believe in something, but only to behave well … to prepare the way of the LORD.

What is the relationship between John and Jesus?

They’re family … cousins … Jesus lives in Galilee, in the northern part of Palestine … John lives deep in the Southern Wilderness regions … a man of the desert … dressed in the clothing of the wilderness… eating desert food: roasted locusts and wild honey … 

Cousins in the flesh … but it’s the spiritual relationship that Luke wants us to understand … if Jesus is the Messiah, John is a spiritual Elijah … who prepares the way of the LORD.

The angel’s announcement to Zechariah says it all:

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah wonders how all of this could be … the angel says to him, O be quiet! … and literally, Zechariah is unable to speak until the day of John’s birth. 

The angel saved Zechariah the embarrassment of his own words … such things cannot be explained, and there’s no use trying … words fail to capture the glory of God … God knew that Zechariah wouldn’t keep his mouth shut, so God shuts it for him … sealed his lips, silenced him, quieted him … all Zechariah could do was motion with his hands.

Let all the earth keep silence … the LORD is in his holy temple.

One of my favorite moments in the Bible - the Book of Revelation - the Lamb takes the Scroll, with seven seals, and opens it … one seal at a time … and at the seventh seal, the final seal, silence in heaven, for about half an hour … why the specific note about half an hour? 

Because heaven is a noisy place … singing and chanting and shouting and blaring trumpets … but even heaven knows when to shut up and keep quiet.

For an entire 30 minutes or so - a very long time in heaven to be quiet.

I once led a silent retreat … we began with small increments of silence … folks would go off and find a quiet place, and stay there - no reading, no writing, no walking about, no talking - just silence - we began with just a few minutes, and then on the third day of the retreat, several hours of silence.

At first, everyone found the silence to be intimidating, unnerving … folks wanted to read, write, talk, walk around, do something, anything … but at the end of the retreat, they found comfort in their silence.

The angel silenced Zechariah … Zechariah needed quiet time, and so did Elizabeth … so did everyone around him …

As Ecclesiastes says, There is a time to speak, and a time to keep silent.

John is born, grows up, finds his way into the Wilderness.

God’s word came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

There were many who lived in the Wilderness in those days … for prayer, worship, contemplation, reading - spiritual communities similar to monasteries and convents: places of quietness, reflection, silence … a time to settle the mind and wait for the LORD.

When the LORD speaks, as Elijah learned in times past, the LORD is not in the wind and the earthquake and the fire, but in a still small voice - a hush, a breath, a stillness … 

John preaches … and baptizes … and the crowds came to hear him.

John says to them: change your hearts and change your lives … and then you’ll have God’s forgiveness.

There’s something here terribly important … a changed life welcomes the forgiveness of God … and we might well ask, “Doesn’t God’s forgiveness come first?”

Not according to John!

John is preaching to people who know the truth already … who know what God wants, but are reluctant to do what God wants … John says to the people, Do you want God’s forgiveness? ... then do what God wants!

Forgiveness has nothing to do with doctrine and dogma and creeds and confessions … how weary God must be of all our words, our preaching, our songs, our prayers … once again, our nation is beset with sorrow and suffering, and preachers across the land will cry out to their congregations: We need prayer back in our schools, and Bible study … we need to teach creationism … we need to keep women away from birth control … we need to get rid of atheists and Muslims and gays and lesbians and abortion doctors and socialists and Communists and illegal immigrants … and by the way, go out and buy more guns; fill the land with guns; pass laws that make it easier and easier to carry guns … and then we’ll all be happy and safe.

God says, “Be quiet!” … give thought to how you live and the values you hold - and remember, those who live by the sword die by the sword … give thought to how you live: what you do for one another, your care for creation, your kindness to the weak and vulnerable … if anyone makes it to heaven, it’ll not be on points of doctrine, but what was lived … not ideas but mercy … not creeds and confessions, neither prayers nor hymns, but justice rolling down like water and righteousness like and ever-flowing stream [Amos 5.24]

What should we do? The people ask.

If you have a little extra, share it!

If you’re in a position to make money, don’t go crazy about it!

If you’ve got some power, use it carefully! … be satisfied.

Who are the people who ask John?

Those who have an extra shirt and extra food … folks on the better end of things … who’ve made it … who have more in the closet and more in the pantry then other folks … 

The tax collectors … entrepreneurs … deal-makers, money-managers and bankers … go ahead and make money, but do so with restraint … only what’s legitimate, what’s authorized, and no more.

Soldiers of the Empire - probably Jewish mercenaries … they worked hand-in-glove with the tax collectors who relied on the force of arms to extort monies from merchants and travelers … John says: don’t cheat anyone, don’t harass the people with your weapons and power … be satisfied with your pay. 

Share from your abundance.

Restrain your greed.

Don’t bully others and be content with what you have.

Then or now, these are the central challenges that face all of humanity.

Every religion knows these things … Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Jews, Muslims:

Share from your abundance.

Restrain your greed.

Don’t bully others and be content with what you have.

John tells us what to do … 

And when Jesus comes, he tells us the same thing … 

And the same fate befalls Jesus, as it did John … Herod kills John the Baptist for calling Herod’s family to account, and three years later, Herod will kill Jesus.

But we know how the story ends, so to speak … Herod doesn’t win, nor does Rome … no do all the powers of death and darkness … 

The stone is rolled away, Jesus steps out of the tomb … God’s way of saying - I will not give up on you … but let the world know, John’s message is the right one … those who share from their abundance, those who are restrained in their quest for money, those who are satisfied and use power carefully, are on the right track … they enjoy my Father’s forgiveness: they are the light of the world, the salt of the earth … their light shines in the world so bright that the world can see their good works and give glory to the Father in heaven.

Amen and Amen!

The Inn Keeper: Is There Room? - December 14, 2008

Audio Version HERE.

Good morning, Covenant on the Corner … I’m glad to be here … thanks for inviting me.

Let me introduce myself … my name is … uh, well … that’s irrelevant, I guess …
I don’t have a name … as far as the story is concerned …
I’m just the Inn Keeper … in a little tiny town called Bethlehem … and not really an inn at all … just a spare room for folks … not much at all … but it brings in a few extra shekels now and then …

I remember the night … our “good friend” Quirinius was doing a census, so the Romans could tax us all the more – those dirty dogs … we didn’t like it one bit … but, we had to do what they said … “Everyone to their hometown … to register …”

So things got a little crowded … we were full – mostly family … my brother and his wife and three kids … two cousins and an uncle, and an old friend from childhood … plus my wife and my four boys, and two daughters …

We finished eating that night … sitting around the courtyard fire … a fine evening it was … cool and clear … bright stars … we were complaining about the Romans … they leave us alone most of the time, but, you know, they call the shots … they tell us when to jump, and we have to ask, “How high?”

But we try not to complain too much - life is mostly good for us … and it was good to see some of the family and my old friend … the dinner was good, and we were enjoying a last cup of wine …

And then a knock at the gate … “Now what?” I groaned … I got up and went to see who it was …

I opened the peephole … a young couple standing there … in the moonlight, I could see her leaning on him … she didn’t look so good …

“Do you have some room?” he wearily asked … “we’re here for the census … we don’t know where to stay … and my wife … she’s due any time.”

“Oh my,” I said … “there’s no room for you in the inn.”

Well, THAT was a fateful remark …

Down through the centuries, I’ve been the bad guy of Bethlehem … I’ve been scolded and scorned … thousands of sermons preached about me - what a crummy guy I was … “no room in the inn” – shame on me, shame on any of us who have no room for Christ … well, you know the story … you’ve probably heard a few of those sermons a time or two … even musicals and stories about me, what a louse I am.

But let me tell you the rest of the story.

“Come on in,” I said to that weary young couple.
I opened the gate and they made their way into the courtyard …

“We have a few more guests,” I said to everyone gathered around the fire …

And then turning to the young couple, “What are your names?”
“Joseph and Mary, from Nazareth … we’re here for the census.”

“Sit down,” I said, “you must be hungry.”

My wife came over with a couple bowls of stew and some wine … yes, they were hungry, and tired, too.

And from the looks of it, the young lady was close to her time … she looked a tad bit miserable … and what a shame to have to be on the road at a time like this …

“We have no room in our living quarters … but we can put you in the stable area … it’s not much, and the animals are in for the night … but I just put in clean bedding, and it’ll be safe and private for the two of you … we’re glad you’re here, and we’ll make room for you … it’s gonna be just fine.”

“And Joseph, was your daddy Heli? I knew him some years ago; fact is, we were shirttail relatives … they moved away and I never saw them again.”

Joseph nodded and said, “We moved to Nazareth – my dad thought they’re be a little more work up north. And there was, and I’m a carpenter, too, just my Daddy.”
Looking around the courtyard, he said, “Thanks for letting us in; it’s been a long time since I’ve been back in Bethlehem.”
Mary smiled and leaned her head on Joseph’s shoulder … she was tired.

We put up their donkey … and their few belongings … and took them to the stable … a quiet corner; safe and private … and the rest of us headed up to the living quarters … we were all tired and ready for sleep.

Well, wouldn’t ya’ know it …
My wife awakened me in the middle of the night … “It’s time,” she said.
“Time for what?” I asked, sleep clouding my mind.
The young lady is going to have her baby.”

My wife and my sister-in-law stepped down to the stable area … the rest of us, now wide awake … listening, waiting … goodness, this on top of everything else …

Our women helped the young lady … Joseph came up to sit with us … he was worried, I could tell … he sat on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around his knees … a quiet man, he was.

Well, it wasn’t long before we heard the first cry … my wife poked her head up to the living area and said, “It’s a boy!”
Thank God for the women … they had things well in hand … and when the child was cleaned and wrapped, they put him in one of the mangers … clean straw, comfortable … it’s the best we could do, and not too bad at that.

So ended the hope of any sleep for us … but who cared … new life was here … and that’s always a miracle … and who knows, he might be the Messiah.”

Every household wondered when a boy was born – Is he the One?

Will he set the people free?
Put the world right?
Get rid of the hated Romans?
Rebuild Israel?

So there we sat … too excited to sleep … too tired to do anything else …

Toward morning, there was some rapping at the gate … “Now what?” I fumed to myself …

I walked to the gate, and opened the peephole – a bunch of shepherds … what in the world are they doing here?

“Can I help you?” I asked warily …

“You won’t believe why we’re here. Sorry to disturb you so early, but we saw angels in the sky – no, we’re not drunk – we really did; we really saw angles … they sang to us, and told us that a Savior had been born in Bethlehem … that we would find him wrapped in simple blankets lying in a manger …”

“You’re the first house on the road … do you know of a newborn in town?”

Do I know of a newborn?

Yup, you came to the right place, all right. A boy, just born a few hours ago, right here … a young couple from Nazareth, here for the census.”

When I said “census,” the shepherds spit on the ground … how we despised our overlords …

I opened the gate, and in they came – “Good grief, what a smell.”

I took them to the stable, and what a chatter … they poured out their story … there they were, in the hills, watching the sheep late at night … nodding off … when suddenly, angels … a whole bunch of ‘em … singing … loud … and one angel in particular … a big thing, said … “Don’t be afraid … we’ve got good news for you …”

“And then, poof, they were gone … just like that … so, now what? We were pretty shook up, but we figured we’d better see what’s up, so here we are.”
“And it’s true what those angels said … a child wrapped in simple blankets, lying in a manger. This must be the One.”

We were all amazed by their story … you know - sometimes you hope for something, you hope for a long, long, time … and then it happens, and you don’t know what to do with it.

Those smelly shepherds took leave and headed back to the hills, and there we stood … mouths hangin’ down to the floor …

“What in the world was that all about?”

And that’s what I remember about the first night …

There was no room in the guest room, and our quarters were full, but we made room for them in the stable, and that’s all they needed. They were decent folk, and we did the best we could.

They stayed with us for a couple of weeks … on the 8th day, our rabbi came by and the boy was circumcised, and they named him Jesus – “God saves” – what a great name, in this crummy time of ours … faith, hope and love … it’s gonna work out for us … we people of the covenant don’t ever give up … we believe that God will save us when the time is right.
A few days later, off they went to Jerusalem for their purification and to present their firstborn to the LORD.

That was the last we saw of them.

After their visit to Jerusalem, they returned home to Nazareth.

And that’s the end of the story … at least for thirty years … until we began to hear strange reports … “a prophet has arisen in the land … a man of authority … who speaks clearly and forcefully about the kingdom of God … who heals the sick and casts out demons … his name is Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth …”

Was this the little boy born in our home that night so long ago?

Well, there’s always more to a story then meets the eye, but let me pause here for a few moments …

I want you be clear about one thing – I’m not a bad guy. What the centuries did to me wasn’t right. But everyone loves to have a bad guy, I guess, and it was easy for folks to single me out.

Glad to know that you’re finally getting the story straight … it took a long time, but that’s okay. I’m a patient man.

Your archeologists have been really helpful, digging around like they do … well, they’ve actually uncovered some ancient homes in Bethlehem … they have a better idea … we were a small town …

We didn’t have inns, so to speak … Holiday Inns or Ramada Inns with dozens of rooms … we were a small town, and my wife and I were blessed to have a little extra space – you see, our homes were built with a stable attached … we slept on the upper level, and the heat of the animals warmed us during the night … and attached to our quarters, a guest area … folks thought we were pretty well off …
We cooked our meals and ate in the courtyard most of the time … we have a wonderful climate, you see, sort of like you folks here in LA – we’re outside most of the time.

When Luke says, “There was no room in the inn,” the word for inn really means living quarters, and he’s right, there was no room – we full up with family and friends for that dadgum census.”

But we MADE room that night.
I guess there’s always room, and a little more food for weary travelers.

And if I may, let me remind you that our God is content with whatever space we have to give.

Sometimes you Christians forget just how humble God is … what with your big buildings and fancy schmancy programs … we Jews had our problems, too, with that big temple of ours, and the Pharisees and the Sadducees all decked out in their extravagant robes and prayer shawls with the long fringes … would you believe, they competed with one another for just how fancy it was, and how long the fringe?

So, we’ve had our problems, too.

But that night in Bethlehem, we learned again what we always knew … our God is a humble God … loving and kind, and doesn’t ask much of us … and doesn’t need much of us … just a little room will do, whatever we have to offer.

Sometimes you Christians put too much pressure on yourselves … as if God were so fancy, and you had to have your soul just right, your life in order … but God doesn’t work that way … God doesn’t need the best, whatever that means … God just needs a simple place in your heart, and maybe, just maybe, THAT is the best!

No one ever gets their life all straightened out … things are too hard for that.
So, don’t wait until you’ve got everything put together … that’ll never happen in this life … but that’s okay … it’s amazing what God can do with us when we’re willing to let God in …

Everyone has a little place somewhere, just right for God …

That night, I knew I had room, and so do you, dear friend.

Just open the door and let God in … Jesus will be born in your heart … I don’t know how it works, but it does.

Thanks for having me here this morning … God bless each of you … and the next time you’re in Bethlehem, stop on by … we’ll find room for ya’, even if it’s only in the stable.

Amen!