January 20, 2013, "Water Into Wine"

1 Chronicles 22.17-19; John 2.1-11

How strange … how curious … how wonderful …

The ministry of Jesus begins …

At a party … a shindig … a wedding feast … several days of drinking … lots of drinking … and the wine runs out …

Oh oh … someone miscalculated … too many guests showed up … or not enough wine was ordered … or maybe everyone was just feeling so good, they drank more than should have … 

The wineskins are flat … empty … the wine is all gone … and the host is about to be embarrassed … perhaps not his fault, but embarrassed nonetheless … it’s his party … and guests will talk about him … he’ll become the joke of the town … years afterward, folks will hoist a cup of wine, and say to one another, “Remember when we ran outta wine at the wedding party? What a cheapskate, stingy host … didn’t get enough wine for all of us … well, I’ll tell ya’ this much, if it was me, there’d be enough wine, enough wine for everyone. Wouldn’t run outta wine at my party! No siree, wouldn’t run outta wine at my party.”

But the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, as the poet puts it … things happen … we plan carefully, we set our strategy, and then, the unexpected … the hiccup … the strange twist of fate and fortune … who knows where that came from … who knows why … and there we are, the wineskins are empty … we did our best, or thought we did, or hoped we did, and the best wasn’t good enough … and now we’re about to be pay the price … 

Life is full of blips and bumps … gaps in memory, lapsed promises, dreams ignored, promises made and forgotten, plans gone astray and maybe we did our best, and it still didn’t work out, and maybe we didn’t do our best, and we hoped no one would notice, and sometimes no one does notice … there is the unexpected grace in all life …  we breath a sigh of relief when we finally pile into bed that we made it through the day … it wasn’t as bad as we thought … or even it it was bad, really bad, and sometimes things get really bad … we made it anyway … we came out the other end, and it was okay … not that it was easy … very little about life is easy … but we make it through the day … we make it through the dark night of the soul … there is grace to be had, grace that comes our way, whether we ask for it or not …

Maybe someone else steps into the gap for us … for our sake.

Did the groom know that the wine was gone?

Did the host know how close he was to failure?

He didn’t know it … but others did … Mary’s mother was drinking her share of the wine, and when she held out her cup for a refill … the servant shook his head, and said, “Sorry, ma’am, we’re out … this has been one heck of a party; folks were real thirsty; there’s no more wine left.”

Mary tells her son, “There’s no more wine left” … and he tells her right back, “Woman, what’s that to me? My time hasn’t yet come yet; I’m not ready for this.” 

Was Jesus reluctant to get involved!

Did Jesus have an inkling where it would all go if he took the first step? … “If I do this now, then I’ll no longer be just Jesus the rabbi, Mary’s son, but a man destined for who knows what? … once I say, Yes, there’ll be no end to it … when the wheels of history begin to turn.”

Jesus is fully human … he’s not so sure he wants to say yes … does he know the fateful road that lies ahead of him?

Perhaps he did … and maybe he needed Momma to give him a gentle push to take the first step.

A little more wine for a wedding feast.

Do what he says, says Mary to the servants … and we know the rest of the story.

The wine made by Jesus is the best of it … 

There are so many things in this remarkable story …

I think of Mary ...

She’s an intercessor for the groom, for the party, for the guests.

She doesn’t waste time wondering if her son might do something … she tells him the deal …

I like that about Mary … she’s on the side of the host … she’s not willing to let things take their course … she doesn’t want the groom to be embarrassed … she doesn’t want the party to flop … 

She’s got compassion in her heart.

She’s got some courage, too.

She’s not afraid to put the question to Jesus?

Are you gonna do something about this?

Maybe when Jesus says to his Momma, You think I care about this?

Maybe it’s a rhetorical question … a good question put to all of us … Does God care about the stuff of our life? 

Right now, in our study of Job, that’s one of the big questions - does our life matter to God? Does God even care what’s happening to us? Is God gonna do anything about it, or do nothing about it?

Dear friends, this little story, the wedding at Cana, is a very big story …

Perhaps the story reminds us, that in all of life’s many difficulties and sorrows, there is grace.

And in ways we cannot even imagine, or see, God is at work, because others are at work, too … I wonder how many people are praying for us right now, and we don’t even know it … 

When the headwaiter samples the wine, he’s surprised - it’s the best wine yet.

He compliments the groom for saving the best wine for the last … most parties begin with the best; when folks have had they’re third or fourth cup, or fifth or sixth, then bring out the cheap wine; folks won’t even notice.

Perhaps the groom, already a couple o’ sheets to the wind, simply smiles and enjoys the compliment … the party goes on.

Only a few know the real story … the grace, the grace unexpected, that saves the day.

When I was in high school, I was the third or fourth car in a line waiting for a train to pass … I’m not sure if there were gates, or just lights, but when the train passed, the cars ahead of me crossed the tracks, and I did, too … I wasn’t very much on the other side of the tracks when I looked in my rearview mirror only to see a high-speed freight train rumbling through the intersection from the other direction.

I came close that day … close, but no cigar, as they say.

I wonder how many others moments I’ve had that I don’t even know about … when grace unexpected came my way.

How many times have we been saved, all of us, and we didn’t know it? … grace shown to us, and we didn’t see it? … folks interceding for us, and we haven’t a clue?

Life is full of grace … 

We don’t always see it … we can’t always see it … much of it behind the scenes … those who pray and those who serve … parents and teachers, friends and family … the saints of old, and the saints today … 

Water turned into wine.

The party goes on.

Amen and Amen! 

January 13, 2013, "God's Son"

1 Chronicle 22.6; Luke 3.15-22

John the Baptist made quite a splash (yes, a bad pun, I confess).

Baptizing in the Jordan River … with a promise of God’s mercy, love and forgiveness.

John’s message caught the attention of the people … they came out in droves … hungry for hope, eager to hear good news.

John preached mightily … what he said was important, but where he said it was important, too.

Preaching in the Jordan River, where it all began centuries ago when their ancestors stepped out of the wilderness and crossed over into the Promised Land.

We’re starting over today says John … leaving behind the wilderness of sin … to find the Promised Land all over again.

Now get to it, and live a just and faithful life. It can be done; it must be done … and God will help you … more than help you … God lives through you … in you … and with you … God is making a fresh start with us, here and now … prepare the way of the LORD … your sins are washed away … give without hesitation … set aside your old ways … give thanks for what you have … acquire without being mean about it.

The people were expectant … Could John be the Messiah? … the Anointed One, who will save us, restore us, put all things to right, make it all good again?

John quickly reminds the crowds; It’s not me!

There is one still to come … I’m not worthy to loosen the straps of his sandals. I only baptize with water … he will baptize you with Spirit and fire.

Jesus comes to John for baptism - he’s 30 years old … the age when a man finishes his training and becomes a rabbi … 

Jesus prays, the Spirit comes down upon him … in bodily form … like a dove … 

Does the dove remind us of anything?

Noah and the Ark? … water, water, everywhere … Noah sends out a dove, and it returns to Noah in the evening, with a torn olive leaf in its beak … the flood waters are receding, danger passing, death ending, life beginning all over again.

Seven days later, Noah sends out again the dove, and this time, it doesn’t return … the dove has found a home in a new world.

The dove comes down to Jesus … the dove finds a home in a new world … and filled with the Spirit, Jesus builds the house of God.

A house not made with hands … the Most High doesn’t live in houses built by human hands [Acts 7.48].

Solomon built with wood and brick … God’s Son builds with Spirit and fire.

A voice from heaven says, You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.

Jesus is the Son of God … 

Now we have to think in terms of royal families … then, or now, the royal family is present in the sons and daughters, and even grandchildren … when Prince Harry visits South Africa, it’s the whole royal family who visits in his person … it’s the Queen whose presence is felt … Prince Harry is Great Britain, and Great Britain is Prince Harry.

To see the son of a king is to see the king himself … 

Jesus says to his disciples: If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father … I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.

The writer of Colossians says: the Son is the image of the invisible God.

John’s gospel says it well: The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

The Nicene Creed says:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, 

the only Son of God, 

eternally begotten of the Father, 

God from God, light from light, 

true God from true God, 

begotten, not made, 

of one Being with the Father.

Why is this important?

Because we can have some very strange gods … gods of wrath and vengeance, gods of anger and judgment … a god who hates gays and lesbians … a god who doesn’t like science … a god who loves one nation more than other nations … a god who loves some people and hates the rest.

What is God truly like?

Early Christians tried to clear the air … make the point … remove the dross and get to the gold!

If we want to know the heart of God … look no further than Jesus!

If we want to know God’s purpose and God’s intentions for creation … look no further than Jesus!

If we want to know how to treat one another  … look no further than Jesus!

If we want to know God’s ways, and what God desires  … look no further than Jesus!

If we want to know what God is like, and what we need to value  … look no further than Jesus!

If we want to know how to read Scripture and interpret God’s Word  … look no further than Jesus!

If we want to know the price that needs sometimes to be paid in order to follow the ways  of God … look no further than Jesus.

When we look at Jesus, we see God:

God, in the little cradle in Bethlehem town … fleeing with Mary and Joseph from Herod’s rage … in the temple, learning … 

God, in the Jordan with John … in the wilderness, hungry and tempted ... out and about in the hills of Palestine, on a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee … healing, teaching and coming under attack from those who resented his free-wheeling ministry to everyone and anyone … 

God, standing before Pilate, condemned and beaten … spat upon and mocked … taken to Calvary, crucified, dead and buried … because humankind is too blind to see, and too deaf to hear ...

In the strange ways of God, the Cross becomes the tipping point when a new world is birthed … and in three days of darkness, something profound and good is worked out … and on the third day, the stone is rolled away … 

Though it takes awhile, the first disciples come to believe, and cannot help themselves; they must tell the world - Go Tell It On the Mountain; What a Friend We Have in Jesus … He is the way, the truth and the life … believe in him, cast your cares upon him … walk with him, talk with him … abide in his word, and your heart is transformed, your life, no longer your own, but a life lived now for the glory of God … your light will shine, and you will be the salt of the earth.

Jesus builds us up and bids us follow him … though many a dark night come our way … though tears and sorrow remain for us all … there is light at the end of the tunnel, an undying hope greater than death… a promise that God never leaves us or forsakes us.

I close with some recollections - people I’ve known who have shed the light of Jesus upon my life … 

Pastors who preached with intelligence and imagination, with the fire of God’s love … unforgettable memories for a little boy sitting in church, legs too short to reach the floor, and sometimes counting beams in the ceiling …

Teachers who managed to capture my imagination when I was anything but a good student … I went to an excellent Christian high school and college, where religion was in the air, but never hammered … where love was large … where science and faith walked hand-in-hand.

Donna’s parents - faithful people, filled with kindness … Donna’s Dad, an elder with a large vision for the gospel … Donna’s mother, a gracious woman who always signed her name, Mrs. Ruth Geurkink, when it was customary for a woman to sign her husband’s name.

My mother, for whom life was largely difficult and emotionally painful, but it was her faith in Jesus that saw her through and kept the family together … my father died suddenly when I was 22 and six-months married … I recall but a few things of him, but what I remember was a man with integrity, who prayed that his sons would enter the ministry.

And a dear friend, since seminary days, who pursues truth relentlessly, an unstinting devotion to making this a better world, for only the truth can set us free.

The list goes on … those who made my life better because of their faith, and because of their faith, I can do no less than take their faith seriously … and live that faith for myself as best I can … failing much of the time to live up to my own standards, and sometimes, by the grace of God, finding the strength to live well and to love much, to strive in my own way for a world better tomorrow than it is today.

Dear friends, let us remember those who shed Christian light on our life … and promise now to shed that same light on others who come our way.

After all, it’s but a short walk between cradle and grave … it behooves us to be kind … to love one another as Jesus loves us.

Amen and Amen!

January 6, 2013 - "Everyone Needed"

1 Chronicle 22.2, Matthew 2.1-12

Went to the Rose Parade in Pasadena this past week …

A great time was had by all …

After the parade, walking along a very crowded sidewalk, here comes a young man with a loudspeaker, and loud it was.

Ranting on and on about sin … we’re all horrible and hideous sinners doomed to die.

Behind him, another young man, holding the loudspeaker, an embarrassed smile on his face; I felt bad for him.

But not for the big mouth, screeching away at the top of his lungs.

I stopped walking as they approached; it was a crowded sidewalk, and he walked right up to me, shouting into his microphone … he stopped for a moment ... I said to him, “You know nothing; you know nothing at all.”

He looked at me fiercely … not sure if he heard me … he was so busy listening to himself, so busy shouting, to hear anyone else … I know these characters … they behave like jerks and then go home and tell their friends how they were “persecuted for the sake of Christ.”

He stepped aside and continued on down the street, blaring away at the top of his lungs … condemning everyone with a message of hatred and judgment, all in the name of Jesus, of course.

Is this kind of preaching really in the name of Jesus?

We have to be clear dear Christian friends.

Not everything that glitters is gold.

Jesus says, Not everyone who says, ‘LORD, LORD,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. They may prophesy in my name, cast out demons and even do miracles, but they’re not a part of my work. To them, I say, ‘I’ve never known you.’ Get away from me you people who do wrong [Matthew 7.21-23].

And what’s the wrong here that Jesus is getting at it?

Is it murder, theft, violence?

Well, those things are wrong, but that’s not what Jesus is getting at.

The wrong is twisting the gospel, turning it upside down … it sounds like the gospel, looks like the gospel, but it is … something is wrong with it … kinda like spoiled milk: it looks good sitting in the bottle, but pop the lid, and we quickly smell that it’s gone sour.

This is what Jesus means by saying, Beware of false prophets … they may look like sheep, sound like sheep, walk like sheep, but are nothing more than vicious wolves.

Jesus is clear … religion attracts all sorts of folks for lots of different reasons; sometimes religion attracts profoundly unhealthy people … and that’s good, because religion can heal the sick and cure the soul; but sometimes people remain unhealthy, refuse the healing, and produce a “gospel” just as unhealthy as they are.

We need to be thoughtful about all of it … sort it all out … test the spirits

 as John says in his first letter.

Test the spirits … like smelling the milk before we drink it.

Jesus says, You will know them by their fruits.

What is the fruit of that young man strolling down the sidewalk, blaring away about how horrible and hideous everyone is?

The friends with whom we were walking simply dismissed the young man as a religious nut; they were not impressed, nor was I.

There was nothing thoughtful about what he said … he was full of fire, that’s for sure, and he was eager to burn everyone around him. Passion without intelligence; fire without a fireplace, burning everything down around it.

The young man is a hindrance to the gospel … Jesus preached with intelligence, compassion, concern and great wisdom … Jesus had harsh words sometimes, but only for the religious leaders of Jerusalem, the high and the mighty, those who wanted to lord it over others … to the people, Jesus speaks tenderly, with kindness in his voice and always with hope for a new and better day.

Yelling street preachers appeal to biblical characters like Jeremiah by the Temple, or John the Baptist by the Jordan, but that appeal doesn’t fly … social context, the nature of the message, the way it’s delivered, where and how and why - all very different than a screaming preacher with a megaphone marching down a busy Pasadena street after the Rose Parade.

The shouting street preacher in Pasadena knows nothing … he has a few words, a few ideas, but it’s all hatred and harangue, denunciation and damnation … the young man knows just enough to be dangerous; he doesn’t know enough to help anyone.

Believe me, Jeremiah and John the Baptist would stand in line to tell the young man that he knows nothing, and it would be better for him and the gospel, to hush up, go away and leave the world alone until he’s figured out who he is and what the real message of  faith, hope and love is all about.

What is the real message, the real message of faith, hope and love?

Think of everything Jesus does and says. How he says it, and how he does it.

Remember the New Year’s Resolution I’ve asked you to adopt? - to know Jesus through and through … to read the gospels with care, and read them often throughout the year.

What is message Jesus proclaims?

Can it be summed up easily?

Well, not easily, but if we read Jesus, we’re clear, crystal clear, about a few things:

Welcome to everyone.

No one turned away, especially those who’ve been turned away by organized religion … 

Jesus pays special attention to the ignored, the condemned, the lonely and the broken, the weak and the abused … the woman at the well, Zacchaeus up a tree, blind Bartimaeus by the side of the road, the woman with the hemorrhage, little children, the blind, the deaf, the lame and the dead.

Jesus makes a special effort to pay attention to all of them, to give them a second change, fresh hope and life … his words are gentle and kind and welcoming.

One of the finest descriptions of Jesus: He will not break a bruised reed, nor quench a smoldering wick.

If we’re down, he won’t smack us down … if we’re hurting, he won’t add to the hurt … if we’re guilty with sin, he forgives us … if we’re wracked with fear, he assures us … if we’re sad and frightened, he won’t add to the burdens we carry; he lifts our burdens and gives us rest.

That’s why we get to know Jesus … he sets the standard for all of us … what we say, and how we say it … what we do, and how we do it …

It’s open doors and Table fellowship … welcome and affirmation … second chances and then some … no one excluded; no one left behind; no one overlooked.

In our readings for the day, from the Book of Chronicles … a small verse and a simple phrase: David gives orders to gather together the aliens who were residing in the land of Israel … inviting them to be a part of a great public works project … the building of the temple. 

It wasn’t to be, of course.

The LORD says to David, You have too much blood on your hands … the one who builds my house needs to be a man of peace.

It will be David’s son, Solomon, who builds the temple.

But for our purpose here this morning, David’s desire to include everyone, even the aliens living in the land … because everyone has worth … value … importance … everyone counts … all are invited … all are welcomed … social status means nothing to the LORD; for the LORD loves us all.

The New Testament Lesson … the Wise Men from the East - Babylon, Persia … today’s Iraq and Iran … they followed a star and found a child.

The Wise Men are the stars of the story … yes, bad pun … but they’re the heart and soul of Epiphany, the Season of Revealing, when God makes it clear that everyone has a place at the Manger … not just God’s people, not just Israel, or a select group, but the whole wide world, from A to Z, top to bottom, and everyone in between.

Luke’s account of the shepherds standing watch over their flocks at night; who smell of sheep and sweat and campfire smoke … Matthew’s account of the Wise Men traveling from a-far - learned philosophers with gifts of gold, incense and myrrh … the point is clear and simple: everyone welcomed at Bethlehem.

‘Tis a kindly LORD we worship, and a gracious king who governs … he is the healer of our wounds and the balm of Gilead … he is the bright morning star and the rose of Sharon whose fragrance fills every heart with grace … his words are the truth, and his truth always set us free.

That’s the gospel, dear friends … the greatest story ever told, and the finest message ever heard.

Amen and Amen!

December 23, 2012 - "I Glorify the Lord" -4th Advent

Micah 5.2-5; Luke 1.46-56

One of the greatest tales of the 20^th Century, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien and the stories that follow, The Return of the King.

Translated into dozens of languages, and made available in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy 12 years ago, and now again with a new trilogy telling the tale of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Wizard, the Dwarves and their quest to reclaim a lost homeland and treasure, taken violently from them by the Dragon who so long ago devastated their lands and destroyed their dreams.

The tale begins with Gandalf the Wizard making an unexpected appearance at Bilbo’s home … it’s been years since Gandalf visited, so Bilbo doesn’t recognize him, and finds Gandalf’s presence unnerving, like What are you doing here? You make me nervous.

Gandalf says, I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.

Bilbo’s response: No way … I’m not interested in any adventures … I wanna stay right here … enjoy my garden, puff away on my pipe, eat my seed cakes and drink some beer - go away Gandalf, I’m not interested.

Gandalf leaves, but not before scratching a secret mark on Bilbo’s front door, and later in the evening, when Bilbo answers a knock on the door, there’s a Dwarf who barges in unbidden, hangs his hat and sits down with Bilbo - it isn’t long before 11 other dwarves arrive, one-by-one and in groups of two and three.

Bilbo is beside himself … no idea what’s happening … they’re eating all of his food and making a mess of things.

Gandalf comes back and tells Bilbo that he’s chosen Bilbo to join with the Dwarves in their quest to reclaim their homeland.

Because Gandalf sees something great in Bilbo … something Bilbo himself cannot see …

Gandalf sees a Hobbit of much courage and resourcefulness … a Hobbit with a proud ancestry … forebears who took on strange adventures, traveled beyond the waters into unknown lands and faraway places … Gandalf sees a Hobbit who will rise to the occasion and do great things … who will not abandon the cause nor leave his friends … but will stay the course, go the distance, finish the work.

I love these stories - the call to adventure … is this not the call of God to all of us?

A call to great adventure?

To travel far and wide, across strange waters, into faraway lands? … or at least across the street or on the other side of town.

To meet strange and wondrous people and all sorts of creatures, great and small … 

Danger along the way there will be … goblins and trolls and orcs … great evil, darkness and suffering … and who knows if we’ll make it or not.

But God sees in us what we often fail to see ourselves … God sees our greatness … God sees what we’re made of, because God made us of good stuff … God sees our true soul, our real character, who we truly are, and who we can be when the chips are down, the stakes are high, and the winds of ill-fate blow against us.

It was true of Mary, I suppose - God saw in this young lady great courage … a strength of character that would see her through the toughest of times … the stuff of a mother for the Son of God.

The angel tells her that she will bear a child, and to name him Jesus:

He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The LORD God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.

Mary isn’t at all sure; How will this happen? she asks.

The angel explains … this is of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit … and even now your relative, Elizabeth, has conceived a son … she who was labeled, unable to conceive, is now six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible for God.

Mary consents with the simplest of words … I am the LORD’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.

Mary hurries off to visit Elizabeth and Zechariah … when Mary greets Elizabeth, the child in her womb leaps and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Elizabeth cries out, God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry.

With all my heart, says Mary, I glorify the LORD! In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. 

There is joy in Mary’s obedience … though danger lies close at hand … but where can any of us find safety, if not in the LORD God Almighty? 

Better to go on a great adventure and meet a bad end - as the martyrs have all known - then to be cowardly and die the slow death of dreams denied and courage refused.

Gandalf said to Bilbo, I’m looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging.

And such an adventure it proved to be.

And what an adventure it is to be a part of what God is doing in this world of ours … 

Come and follow me, says Jesus … 

Like Bilbo, we’re not sure … we’d rather be left alone, but there’s always the knock on the door … and there on the front steps of our soul, a million people who’ve already said Yes! to the adventure … grammas and grampas, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren … the cloud of witnesses too numerous to number … the saints of old who now wear the crown of glory because they were willing to wear the rags of shame for their LORD …

All of them stand at the doorway of our home … they come on in, the moment the door is opened, even before we can say, Come on in … they take their place at our table, and make their plans for the great adventure that still lies ahead … their work unfinished, and they need us … they ask, Will you finish our work? … and they wait for us to say Yes!

They won’t stay in our home forever … there’s but a moment to decide … as the hymn puts it, Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide … 

Within our heart, we hear the call to go … to be great in the things of the LORD, to rise to the occasion, and join the adventure God has arranged.

There is something great in all of us … God knows it … we have great ancestors in the faith … we have good blood in our veins … we’re brave, and maybe braver than we know … our love is strong, and our strength is gentle … and the call of the wild stirs our heart.

Advent is the Season when it all comes to us, and bids us Prepare! 

Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime … very soon we’ll have to leave the comfort of home and family and the familiar … we’ll have to travel some … to Bethlehem … there to see the Savior … 

Shepherds are there … and wise men, too … from near and far … Mary’s Child draws the whole world unto himself … that all the world might know the grace of God and the hope of salvation.

For God has not left behind this world … God has not abandoned creation, and never will … though devils and demons fill this world with darkness, their darkness is only for awhile … God remains the light of the world, and God is fast at work to undo the damages of sin and repeal the deadly decisions humankind makes … in order to renew all things and bring all things together into the great love of God.

God has taken up our cause … 

God has taken on our humanity … 

From within and below … in Mary’s womb for nine months … then in Bethlehem’s cradle … in his parents’ arms as they flee to Egypt, when Herod rants and rages and sends soldiers to do his dirty work.

The great son of God, the Son of the most High, held in the arms of loving parents, taught by rabbis and schooled in Torah … learning and growing in the wisdom of God … baptized by John in the Jordan … and we know the rest of the story.

And Mary sings with all heart, I glorify the LORD! For the LORD has done great things.

For Mary … and for us!

And there’s no end to it!

The work of the LORD goes on … and still and always the call to adventure … in every part of the world, in every generation, time and place … the knock on the door, the guests with their strange talk of faraway places and great danger … comes the moment to decide … 

There will be danger ahead and delight … you will meet people of virtue and you will see great evil … you will know my joy, and you will know my suffering … you will have fine friends for much of the journey, and sometimes you’ll be all alone … it will end badly for some of you, but for all who take up the cross of adventure, it will end well in the end, and in the end, all will be good … for the word of God prevails … the darkness cannot overcome the light … and this is yet my father’s world! 

Don’t give up … no matter what … stay the course and believe … there is always a way, and you will find it.

The lost are found … the blind can see … the world made new.

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Are you ready for some adventure?

Amen and 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!

December 9, 2012 - "All Humanity Will See"

Malachi 3.1-6; Luke 3.1-14

Welcome to the Second Sunday of Advent … 

A little more waiting … as the Psalmist says:

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

We wait for the LORD … but not sitting around twiddling our thumbs … we’re getting ready, doing something, preparing ourselves, our world, for the Messiah.

Prepare the way of the LORD! … and we begin with John the Baptist.

All four gospels introduce us to Jesus through John the Baptist …

John is more than a warmup act for the main show … John is part of the main show … Jesus goes to him for baptism … Jesus affirms John’s work and message … Jesus stands in the River Jordan with John … 

John is NOT the Messiah … John rightly says to Jesus, You ought to baptize me!

But Jesus makes it clear: I’m here with you John … we’re in this together … I will take your message and build upon it … I will say what you say in the course of my ministry … I will point to a level world for all God’s children … a world where mountains are brought low and valleys filled in … 

A world of fairness and opportunity … 

Jesus is more than John … but Jesus is not less than John … Jesus affirms John’s message - Prepare the way of the LORD.

In the Season of Advent, we do well to hear John’s message.

Get ready for the Messiah! To receive him in our time and for our world!

John says to the crowds: Don’t yak about being children of Abraham … God doesn’t care about your pedigree … your ancestry … where ya’ come from or what your mom and dad did … the only thing that counts is here and now … produce fruit, says John, that shows the world what salvation looks like … show the world that you have changed your hearts and lives.

Prepare the way of the LORD!

I do a lot of cooking … I’ve learned some important things:

1. Know the recipe; how it works: what comes first, what comes second.
2. Do the prep work before hand - dicing, slicing, chopping and mincing - measure out the spices, if precision is needed … if you don’t use measuring spoons, be sure you’ve done it enough to know what a teaspoon of salt looks like or tablespoon of salt … do the prep work … have it all there … at hand and ready.

Prepare the way of the LORD.

This is a big deal ...

Because the Messiah is big.

Bigger than we imagine … and sometimes the church makes Jesus very small! 

I’m reading an American history book right now … all about 1919 … the year after World War One ended.

It was a time when women couldn’t vote, and the church pretty much said, That’s right; women ought not to have a voice in the affairs of men … women are inferior and unpredictable; women can’t be trusted to make important decisions … they can’t preach, nor can they be elders or deacons … preachers quoted chapter and verse to make their point, and felt mighty good about it … 

A time when divorced men couldn’t hold office in the church … couldn’t be an elder, a deacon or a minister … preachers quoted chapter and verse to make their point, and felt mighty good about it … 

A time when Americans were spying on Americans for all sorts of reasons - if you were German, your were suspected of disloyalty … if you were Russian, you were suspected of being a Communist … if you were Italian, you were suspected of being an anarchist … and the church said it was good and right to love this nation, and protect it from mongrel races, revolutionaries, agitators, Reds and Communists, and Jews and African-Americans who would undermine the Constitution … preachers quoted chapter and verse to make their point, and felt mighty good about it.

A time for lynching - an average of 200 lynchings a year, mostly in the south, but in the north, too … 200 lynchings, and many more beatings, shootings and burnings … Black soldiers had fought in the war, and many were highly decorated by the French, only to return home to Jim Crow laws and discrimination - black soldiers in uniform were beaten, shot and lynched … some were stripped of their uniforms and made to walk home in their underwear … and the church pretty much turned a blind eye to all of it … and in some parts of the country, the church said it was all right, because people of color shouldn’t be uppity, and they need to know their place … white preachers quoted chapter and verse to make their point, and felt mighty good about it.

A time when interracial marriage was prohibited by law, and if a white woman professed love for a black man, she was considered insane, and the black man a seducer … the church pretty much said, That’s right - it’s an abomination to mix the races … the white race is superior, and the black race inferior … white preachers quoted chapter and verse to make their point, and felt mighty good about it.

It was also a time when white men could rape a black woman without penalty … and have children with a servant girl, and everyone thought, That’s just the way it is … 

A congressman from George proposed a constitutional amendment banning interracial marriage: he said, “No more voracious parasite ever sucked at the heart of pure society, innocent girlhood, or Caucasian motherhood then the one which welcomes and recognizes the sacred ties of wedlock between Africa and America … the term ‘negro’ or ‘person of color,’ … shall be held to mean any and all persons of African descent or having any trace of African or negro blood” [Savage Peace, p.287].

The churches of America closed their eyes to most of this, raised their voices and sang, What a friend we have in Jesus.

Truth be told ...

Women still struggle in the American church and throughout the world …

As for racism, human beings have an infinite number of ways to hate one another.

Doors remain closed in much of the church to gays and lesbians - lots of preachers say it’s all right to hate gays and lesbians - and how they love to use the word abomination -and if gays and lesbians happen to get beat up and killed, that’s okay; some of your may recall the Briggs Initiative of 1978 here in California - to fire all public school teachers who were gay or lesbian … the initiative failed!

In some parts of the world, to be gay is criminal, with prison time and even execution … preachers quote chapter and verse, and feel mighty good about it.

Painful, isn’t it, all this history?

I’m sorry to share all of this with you … it’s painful for me to know such things, and I’m sure it’s painful for you to hear it … but if the gospel message is going to have any real meaning for us, we have to know these things … we cannot ignore the truth … it’s sin these stories highlight, and if Jesus comes to deal with sin, then sin is what we must understand … 

Sin is real, and sin is social … sin rips apart the human community, one from the other, pitting human beings against each other, filling the mind with suspicion and fear … the sins of the past are always the sins of today, wearing differing clothes, using cell phones rather than index cards.

We remember the sins of the church because truth requires it …it’s painful to remember, but memory is the key to honesty, humility, and hopefulness.

Things swept under the carpet will only trip us up again and again.

Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it … 

Our work is far from done!

Wild and lone the prophet’s voice

Echoes through the desert still,

Calling us to make a choice,

Bidding us to do God’s will:

Turn from sin and be baptized;

Cleanse your heart and mind and soul.

Quitting all the sins your prized,

Yield your life to God’s control.

John’s message is vital to our times … keep Jesus big … big enough to open the big doors of compassion and mercy … big doors of intelligence and kindness … big doors that are big enough to welcome God and the world God created and loves.

Our work is far from done!

Prepare the way of the LORD! 

Amen and Amen!

December 2, 2012, "Stand Up and Raise Your Heads"

Jeremiah 33.14-16; Luke 21.25-36

How very interesting …

Jesus talks of things ending.

Just like Jeremiah talked of things ending.

And nobody liked Jeremiah very much … threw him in jail they did … tried to hush him up - Keep quiet Jeremiah - you sound like a traitor - those are seditious words Jeremiah … no true patriot would talk like you do.

No one liked Jeremiah when he talked about the end of things.

And apparently, no one liked Jesus, either … it wasn’t long before the plot to kill Jesus picked up steam and got going … folks didn’t like Jesus, the way he talked about their beloved temple, their wonderful city, full of beautiful architecture and massive buildings, bright and shining, powerful and big … a place of wealth, pomp and circumstance … don’t talk about our city that way, Jesus, you make us feel bad!

This beautiful temple, says Jesus - it won’t last very long. Time is coming when the temple will be demolished; not one stone left upon the other … everything upside down and gone crazy … some of you will be thrown into prison; some of you will die … but don’t be fearful, says Jesus to the disciples.

All of this will give you opportunity.

Opportunity to testify … to speak words of truth … and don’t worry what you’ll say at that moment … I’ll give you the right words to speak, when the hammer falls, when the sword strikes, when you’re on trial, and the world hates you because of me … I will give you the right words!

As for Jerusalem, Jerusalem will come to end.

Don’t hang on to it … let it go … flee to the hills … get out while you can … nothing lasts, and don’t for a moment think it will.

And when it feels like the world is ending, when everything is lost, when violence and death hold great power, stand up straight, raise your heads, your redemption is near.

Heaven and earth will pass away, or at least, that’s what it will feel like, but my words will endure.

Stay alert at all times.

Pray that you are strong.

Strong enough to escape what is about to happen.

Strong enough to stand before the Human One, the Son of Man, the LORD God Almighty.

Wow!

Sounds serious, doesn’t it?

But that’s Advent for you.

The old must pass away in order for the new to arrive … new beginnings require old endings.

Last Sunday, we ended a series of messages about “end times” … I find it fascinating that our Advent Season begins today with readings from Jeremiah and Luke … readings about “end times” … things coming to an end … important things, beautiful things, powerful things … things we cherish and love and defend … even religious things, spiritual things … holy buildings and sacred places … 

For Jeremiah and Luke, it’s all about Jerusalem … the temple … the center of the world as some thought … the most important city on the face of the earth as some thought … not Rome with all its political power … nor Alexandria with all its learning … but Jerusalem.

The City of David … the city set on a hill … Jerusalem the Golden … the fabled city of the ark, the hopes and dreams of God’s people centered in the music and drama of the temple … it was everyone’s dream to visit the city, especially during a holiday season - like Passover … 

Jesus says: It’s all going to end …

But don’t be afraid, says Jesus … your redemption is near.

A challenge to us … what our eyes see and what God is doing do not easily align for us … 

To our eyes, things may look bad … but in God’s ways and times, the outworking of God’s great purpose is sure and certain.

Stand up straight! says Jesus.

Don’t slouch around like a wet rag … don’t give in to the negative … don’t be Eeyore.

Eeyore is a wonderful little character in Winnie the Pooh stories … Eeyore is a soulful little grey stuffed donkey who is mostly gloomy, depressed, pessimistic and discouraged … 

Eeyore has his ways:

When someone says how-do-you-do, just say you didn’t.

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.

"So it is."

"And freezing."

"Is it?"

"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."

Eeyore walked all round Tigger one way, and then turned and walked round him the other way.

"What did you say it was?" he asked.

"Tigger."

"Ah!" said Eeyore.

"He's just come," explained Piglet.

"Ah!" said Eeyore again.

He thought for a long time and then said: "When is he going?"

The Season of Advent - Stand up straight! says Jesus.

Don’t slouch around like a wet rag … don’t give in to the negative …

Yesterday, December 1, the day Rosa Parks said “Enough!” - on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, 1955, when the bus driver asked her to give up her seat in the “colored” section of the bus for a white man, Ms. Parks said, “Enough!”

Stand up straight, says Jesus … don’t slouch around like a wet rag … don’t give into the negative.

Good things, godly things, are happening … and you can grow and change and evolve, and learn anew the wonders of God’s great love.

“I am what I am” we sometimes say … as if nothing could change … but we can always change … an old dog can learn new tricks … 

Sometimes it feels as if it’s too late … but it’s never too late for God, and it’s never too late for love … it’s never too late to learn more about Christ and grow in his grace.

It’s never too late to be wiser and smarter and kinder and more loving … it’s never to late to learn more about justice and the care of the earth, and how to be generous, and how to think large thoughts and have great ideas driven by the best in humankind’s history, and by the best that God has given to us in Jesus Christ.

I have a friend who always says, “God will provide!”

There’s a certain beauty to this kind of faith … it has the feel of a child’s faith, doesn’t it? “God will provide!”

Mazzy Little Rose, my new granddaughter, knows that Mom and Dad are there, that Mom and Dad will give to her what she needs, when she needs it.

When Jesus tells us to be like a child, Jesus tells us to trust …

My Father in heaven will provide … I don’t know how … I don’t know when … but my Father in heaven will provide.

I think of Huell Howser who recently announced his retirement … his TV program, “California’s Gold” told us stories of the commonplace in an uncommon way … Howser found beauty and fascination in out-of-the-way places, with folks we’d never otherwise see or talk to, in the backwaters and byways of California … 

Howser had good eyes to see how grand people are, and how good is everyone’s gifts … he celebrated everyone, and found delight in all things great and small.

In times such as ours, to have good eyes … eyes to see goodness and hope and beauty and strength … the courage to live in goodness, the faith to believe that God is at work in all things, strength to endure when adversity hammers us on every side, and the greatest strength of all - when we side with God, God stands at our side - yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me!

Hold on and be brave; be smart, be creative, be bold and daring … stand up straight and raise your heads … your redemption is near.

In the midst of adversity, hope.

When walls are falling down, God is drawing near.

When the end comes, there is always another beginning.

My Father in heaven will provide … I don’t know how … I don’t know when … but my Father in heaven will provide.

Amen and Amen!