Link to the Audio File for my sermon from Sunday, December 27th

Here's the link to the audio file for my sermon from Sunday, December 27th, 2009.  This was the Sunday after Christmas Day and we had more snow.  So we had a smaller crowd, and the preacher didn't always follow the manuscript.  If you want to see where the sermon "started," the manuscript is below, but differs from the presentation in some ways. 

Click here for the link:

http://www.box.net/shared/nimquitqct

As always, thanks for checking it out. 

Merry Christmas. 

The Text of my sermon from Sunday, December 27th, 2009

The 1st Sunday after Christmas Day; December 27, 2009
Park Avenue Presbyterian Church; Des Moines, Iowa
Texts: 1 Samuel 2: 18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3: 12-17
Luke 2: 41-52 * 

 

“What Did Mary Treasure in her Heart?”

 
--} A lot of people believe that Luke’s story about Jesus staying behind in Jerusalem has a lot of symbolism to it.

• Jesus IN Jerusalem;
• His parents searching for him for 3 days;
• Jesus undergoing questioning and answering;

The point, perhaps, being to offer readers and hearers a prelude to Luke’s final chapters—when Jesus will sneak back to Jerusalem again; when he will undergo a different kind of questioning and answering; when the world will languish for 3 days, searching frantically in hope for what seems impossible. Luke’s preparation for the end?—even before we have a full beginning?

 

But Luke’s story is chocked full of interesting facts—not just symbolism, but real details:

• Mary and Joseph were annual pilgrims, who celebrated Passover IN JERUSALEM;
• Jesus would have grown up, going to Jerusalem for Passover, too;
• Jesus, at the age between child-hood and adult-hood, slips away from his parents and stays behind in Jerusalem at the Temple, questioning and teaching with the religious leaders and quite impressing them;
• And Mary again “treasured” all these things in her heart.

It’s an impressive list that demonstrates a number of things we might not have thought about:

• This is an incredibly “religious” family.
• Mary and Joseph were “people of means;” pilgrimages being quite expensive, and they went “annually.”
• Jesus might not be demonstrating the prowess of the “son of God” as much as he was demonstrating what it meant to live a life of faithfulness.
• AND, there’s this business of “treasuring” ALL these things, too.  

These are important details to remember. But there are some other details, too.

 

Mary presents an interesting problem. In all honesty, Mary isn’t supposed to be in the picture. Women didn’t often travel, and especially not for religious festivals. While men are required to pilgrimage to Jerusalem at least once, women are not. While men are required to keep Sabbath observances; women are not. By all rights, Mary would have “stuck out” like a sore thumb; especially in Jerusalem. At Temple, as in every Synagogue, the men worship separated from the women; and it’s an almost certainty that Mary wouldn’t have been in the Temple to “find” Jesus, but at least that Joseph would have to go in bring him out.

 

Similarly, Mary wouldn’t have ordinarily “traveled” with Joseph to Bethlehem, to be registered, either. It’s thought that because she was with child and near to delivering that she left with Joseph so that she would be “out of town,” thusly avoiding social shame. So even in Bethlehem, for the Christmas story, Mary is out of place. And one of the “connections,” is that both at the birth, and then again at the Temple, Mary is said to have “treasured” or “kept” these things in her heart.

 

“His mother treasured all these things in her heart.” “Treasure,” is a word that is related to “to guard or protect someone,” or “to preserve.” In the New Testament, the world appears in the story about putting new wine into old wineskins; the new wineskins would “preserve” the wine. In the Old Testament, the word is associated with the story of Jacob, Joseph’s Father, and Joseph’s brothers. In Genesis 37, Joseph has a dream about his own greatness, of his father and brothers bowing down to him. And the writer tells us, “So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.”

 

At first glance, “keeping the matter in mind” sounds similar to “treasuring all these things.” Both phrases originate from the same kind of word, suggesting that it’s about “remembering” or “preserving the events” for later. But is that really what Luke would have us think Mary is up to?

 

Jacob seems to be planting a seed for later, kind of like “waiting and seeing” what will turn out. Perhaps that’s what we would believe about Mary, that she’s neatly putting away the events, “just waiting to see what would happen.” But she already knows the prophecy about Jesus; she’s heard the voice of the angel. She’s already the insider.

 

But Luke is telling us that Mary treasures ALL these things; and there’s a list. She began “pondering” when the angel Gabriel appeared to her; but she’s also been pondering the words of the shepherds; the prophesies of Simeon and Anna at the Temple, and Simeon who says, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

 

One possibility is that Luke is preparing believers for the “surprise ending” in Jerusalem that is to come at the end of the gospel. But another possibility is what Mary is “treasuring” and “why?” and perhaps, what we need to be “treasuring.”

 

A couple of weeks ago, we encountered Mary responding to the angel and God’s message with, “here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” We “picked her” as a kind of “model” of responding to God’s immediacy. Many of us like that model. God calls, we respond. But surely Mary knows—at least by the time that Jesus is 12—that it’s not always so easy. We promise ourselves that “if” or “when” God calls us, we’ll respond with, “oh sure, God, I’d love to.”

 

But in today’s story, the “model” is “treasuring.” It’s paying attention to the things people say and do—and remembering. And perhaps more than a preview of what’s going to happen at the end of the story, Luke is intentional about us recording the details and “remembering them for later.” Details that might rearrange how we see and know the story—details that may seem insignificant in any given moment, but then become crucial. Details like:

• “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.”
• “Nothing will be impossible with God.”
• “He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”
• “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
• “Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
• “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
• “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

These “details” that Mary seems to “treasure” are a kind of mixed bag—good and bad. But they also carry within them the story of one who is supposed to guide our lives. Details that remind us about salvation, and the costs of working toward that salvation. Details that enlighten and lighten our hearts’ joy; and details that put the fear of struggle and difficulty upon us. Details that liberate, and details that restrain.

 

God is calling us all to a special kind of life in Jesus. No more or less for Mary than for ourselves. God is calling us to take account, to “treasure,” to put inside ourselves “special remembrances.” And I suppose not the kind of “special remembrances” that make us just feel good; but the ones that remind us who this “one” truly is. That this is God come among us; God having us live into a life of salvation.

 

It is striking to me that Mary is not just “remembering” as a parent, a mother; but as a human being—as one of us. She’s “remembering,” because “remembering” is always going to be our guide. “Remembering” not just a birth, or a death, or a resurrection—but all the things that Jesus says and does; the people he meets, the words that are said, the people he liberates, the challenges he puts before us.

 

What’s striking to me is that Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph where incredibly religious—the followed all the rituals, including annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem for Passover. Their lives already demonstrated what it meant to keep covenant with God. Jesus learns from some of the best people; and offers us a similar kind of journey if we are but willing.

 

But if we dare to “remember,” we may find ourselves called and invited into a different way of being—not just defined by what we “hope for,” but by what we’re willing to “do” to host the presence of the living God among us. The details about “who” this Jesus is; what he “says,” the things he “does,” the way he “lives” the stuff he “teaches”—that’s what we need to remember. So that we can make our lives look and be like his. Some people believe Luke may be preparing readers and hearers for the “end” of his story; but perhaps his intention is to prepare us for ours.

 

So “treasure” the details; and keep the for future reference. And reference them frequently and often. From the beginning of your spiritual journey, to the end of your life.

 

--+ AMEN.

 

Link to the Audio File for my sermon from December 24th

Here's the link to the audio file for my sermon from Christmas Eve Worship on December 24th.  We had a major winter storm winding up that evening, so we had a light crowd, and the preacher didn't have a manuscript. 

http://www.box.net/shared/eaut1t8c56

As we celebrate the nativity of Christ and the indwelling of God among us, here's a picture from "our" version of the story from a couple of weeks ago. 

As always, thanks for checking this out. 

A "sheep" getting close to baby Jesus at our annual Christmas Pageant

Merry Christmas! 

The Text of my sermon from Sunday, December 20th

The 4th Sunday of Advent; December 20, 2009
Park Avenue Presbyterian Church; Des Moines, Iowa
Texts: Micah 5: 2-5a
Luke 1: 47-55
Hebrews 10: 5-10
Luke 1: 26-45 *

“The Angel Came, Mary Went, Jesus Lives”

--} Today is the last Sunday before Christmas. For those of you waiting for Christmas—we’re almost there! Is it time to be excited yet? We’re always excited this time of year! And we should be. What’s waiting up ahead of us at the conclusion of this spiritual season is GREAT good news! It begins with promises and is initiated by the announcement that things are underway. The appearances of the Angel Gabriel tell us God is coming.

Luke’s word that a vision is being fulfilled with Zechariah and Elizabeth, and that the angel Gabriel has visited Mary—is the announcement that God’s story is being brought to fruition. We believe that God decisively entered (past tense) the world in Jesus Christ—a story that begins with Mary and her family and her family history in getting to Nazareth. And while we come to the story from our perspective of “what a beautiful thing to have happen”—the birth of a child—still, worldly realities creep upon this grand invasion for our benefit.

Though we ultimately believe Luke’s story is “all good news,” think with me for a moment about just “what” makes it good?

• Though “chosen by God,” Mary likely has to endure the social criticism of being a young, unwed mother; which may in fact, precipitate her visit to Elizabeth’s—to avoid social scrutiny or bringing shame upon her family.
• Beyond the hardship of being pointed out as someone with lesser morals, the journey to Elizabeth’s and back would have been long and difficult with its own set of dangers; and she was essentially exiled from her immediate family in favor of a distant cousin.
• Tradition holds that Mary and her family were first-century cave-dwellers—which shouldn’t have the stigma we might attach to “cave-dweller” today; they lived as the other 300-400 residents of Nazareth did, on a mountainside. Markings on rocks nearby, dated to the first century, indicated the “location” of some caves being an important site related to Mary; thus, Crusaders who found the marks were the first to build a large church in Nazareth. The picture on your bulletin cover of the “sanctuary” with the altar was believed to be Mary’s home; the other “cave” pictured was believed to have been one of Mary’s neighbors, and depicts better what the living conditions might have been.
• Certainly not people of opulent living, Mary and her family were Galileans trying to make a simple living and serve God. So that “Nazareth” makes a pretty good place for the Angel Gabriel to have appeared looking for humble servants for a specially-chosen mission. Another tradition is that Gabriel’s “appearance” to Mary took place at the well where everyone gathered water. The other pictures on the bulletin are of the famous painting of that story, with Gabriel speaking to Mary who is depicted with the child, Jesus, in her womb; and the actual “well” as it appears in the Church of St. Gabriel, today.
• So this “good thing” we believe God is doing or has done in the world is complicated by our human living. It’s not an “easy” or “simple” matter that God sends an Angel to tap Mary and ask her to bear God’s son. It doesn’t reside on how much or how little we might “believe” in these things, but rather the powerful importance of what God is doing. And not just for Mary and her life—it should also point us to our own lives and invites us to ask the question, “what is God doing in my own life?”—in the midst of MY daily realities?

We celebrate “Christmas”—the incarnation—not because Jesus is born, but because God is changing the world! Our celebration of Christmas—while while it’s related to the details of Mary’s life and God’s special role for her, and the story of Jesus being born—is ultimately the whole story about God’s ability and willingness to change the trajectory of human living. And while the season of Advent ramps up to that famous story we’ll share once again on Christmas Eve, the story about Mary and Elizabeth and the Angel is pregnant with other meanings and themes worthy of our exploration.

For my own self, I almost always hear the “Christmas stories” as being really divorced from the lives we live today. I think of them as “biblical stories” without associating them with my own personal experiences. I don’t often think of Mary as one who surely must have endured ridicule for being an unwed, pregnant, teenager—who’s father and mother may likely have wanted her out of the house to avoid their own shame. That surely, part of why Mary goes to see Elizabeth was not moral support, but to hide the fact that she was with child; and when she returns to Nazareth, Luke portrays she and Joseph leaving for Bethlehem pretty quickly. What else might we know to be true for Mary and Elizabeth because of our own experiences in the world that are similar to theirs?

I’d like to think that we’re past some of those issues in our own time; but we are not. We still presume it to be inappropriate: young, unwed, teenage mothers. In the same way we make assumptions about people who are homeless or “not-properly-documented workers” who come to our country in violation of immigration laws. Or maybe it’s how we react to same-sex marriages.

But what the “true” Christmas story invites us to consider is not just “how” a baby would be born to Mary as a “savior,” but the reality that God chooses decisively to enter our world for the purpose of changing human living for the better. That God comes to us as one inhabiting flesh and blood like ours to help us see it’s possible to live in new ways—even when we have been wrong, or especially when we have done wrong! Jesus’ whole life story represents the possibility of life out of death, and new possibilities where none are envisioned before. And it changes the whole nature of what we know about God and ourselves—beginning with visits from Gabriel and visitations among human beings.

These appearance stories announce pregnancies. In the Greek Orthodox tradition Mary is often pictured either with a child Jesus, or, Mary is presented with Jesus clearly “en-fleshed” in her womb. You can see that in the picture on the front cover where Gabriel and Mary are talking. So what if our Advent could remind us that we, too, are en-fleshed with the possibility of the living Christ? Not that we physically give birth to a savior, but that by virtue of God’s incarnation (a past-tense event), we are all “pregnant” with the reality that God is with us—a possibility that can change how we live and what we choose.

By virtue of the incarnation we celebrate, we KNOW that Christ has come among us. And that “coming among us” is meant to change us—not just give us a holiday. We are opened to the possibility of changed attitudes, changed beliefs, changed lives—because God came into the world. Mary is perhaps as innocent as we are in the sense that suddenly, one day God appears to her in the form of the Angel Gabriel—announcing new life and new possibilities. If Mary is the model, she begs the question of us: How has God “appeared in your life?”

And as Mary goes quickly to Elizabeth to share the news, perhaps to try and understand better what all this might mean, she remains the model for our own sharing. Christ’s en-fleshment requires a shared contemplation. It’s not so much a private matter between us and God, it needs to be a shared reality with the assumption that Christ is in and through all of us. Mary and Elizabeth a part of the same story, as we know as brothers and sisters of Christ, we are a part of the same story, too.

Christmas is a time, not just for celebrating the birth story of Jesus, but for us to be reminded of God’s work of changing human living. It’s a time for contemplating the times and places that God has appeared to us. It is a time to acknowledge the “pregnant possibilities” that exist in all of us, because God decided to decisively enter the world and become flesh and dwell among us. Let us contemplate those things, as we come again to celebrate and acknowledge what God did, collaborating with Mary a long time ago, and not forget what God intends to do in collaborating with us, as well.

To celebrate Christmas, is to celebrate not just a birth, but the pregnant possibilities in all of us: possibilities that our living can be changed for the better; possibilities that we can carry the Spirit of Christ to others; possibilities that we will discover new yearnings and new ways to participate with God. As we recall Mary’s story, and what we think was an emphatic: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word;” let us ponder not just the holiday that is coming upon us, but also the power of God that works with us and among us. Let us celebrate, not just a festive remembrance of an occasion long ago, but the ability for us to say emphatically, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” And we should know that our living is not the same, because we celebrate the God who came into the world as one of us, to transform and transfigure how we live—so that we live not just for ourselves, but for others.


--+ AMEN.

Here's the link to the audio file for my sermon from December 20th

Here's the link to the audio file for my sermon from December 20th, 2009--the Fourth Sunday of Advent. 

http://www.box.net/shared/0qzd7ljxvl


I used several pictures and reflections from my recent trip to Israel. 

As always, thanks for checking this out! 

Here's the text of my sermon from Sunday, December 13th

The 3rd Sunday of Advent; December 13, 2009
Park Avenue Presbyterian Church; Des Moines, Iowa
Texts: Zephaniah 3: 14-20
Isaiah 12: 2-6
Philippians 4: 4-7
Luke 3: 7-18 *

“What then should we do? Teacher, what should we do? And what should WE do?”



--} By the third week of Advent, perhaps you’re thinking, “we’re at least half-way through!” Surely by now, it’s OK to get into the “Christmas Spirit,” isn’t it?

John the Baptizer called the anxious crowds who went into the wilderness to see and hear him, “you brood of vipers! …even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees”. And even with such harsh words, the crowds were still “filled with expectation” thronging to hear his exhortations and seeking the answer to their questions: “whether or not John might be the Messiah?” So maybe, just “MAYBE,” we’re not so bad off—feeling excited about our own encounter with the coming One.

But I’ve been puzzling over how confusing this time often is for us—Advent or Christmas; kind of like the expectant and anxious crowds who thought John the Baptist might be the promised messiah. We get excited and reverse the seasons, changing advent for Christmas, but we don’t confuse John the Baptist with Jesus, and maybe we should!

When first-century people confused Jesus with the “Messiah,” it was often about Jesus being the one who comes to lead the overthrow of the Romans; the one who would dare to claim a kingship in this world on behalf of God; the one who displaces and replaces worldly powers. But as it turns out, Jesus IS NOT “that” Messiah. And though Luke tells us that those waiting anxiously and expectantly and who heard John, got messianic visions—neither is John the Baptizer. When first-century people confused Jesus with the “Messiah,” it was often about Jesus being the one who comes to lead the overthrow of the Romans; the one who would dare to claim a kingship in this world on behalf of God; the one who displaces and replaces worldly powers. But as it turns out, Jesus IS NOT “that” Messiah. And though Luke tells us that those waiting anxiously and expectantly and who heard John, got messianic visions—neither is John the Baptizer.

John the Baptist was known as a “fiery” preacher and teacher, which at least was part of his appeal. So he’s right in his element talking about the ax at the root of the trees not bearing good fruit and being cut down and thrown into the fire; or the chaff burned with unquenchable fire; or even what seems to be the “fire of purification” as the “one after him” is said to “baptize” with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It might be a “curious” message, but hardly a “popular” one with judgment in the offing for lots of folks. But when the crowds ask, “what shall we do,” something extraordinary happens.

In the heart of John the Baptist’s instructions to the crowds we find an incredible “Jesus message” of social justice and righteousness:

“The crowds asked John, ‘What then should we do?’ and in reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ John said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ and John said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages’.”

Suddenly, John is about more than a “threat” of “fiery punishment,” but rather has a fiery spirit for justice being served—promising not detrimental consequences but a new way of life—the same kind of life Jesus will go on to embody and teach. Compare these verses with Jesus’ later ministry, and we’d find a lot of similarities for Christ-followers; but knowing that John the Baptist appears before Jesus’ ministry is established, and the comparison is backwards. Jesus appears more like John the Baptist rather than John the Baptist looks like Jesus.

So if John the Baptizer is being confused with the Messiah, it’s not that he’s being confused with Jesus; it’s his prophetic voice and fiery message that seems to match the “promised one.” John is in the wilderness, appearing as if he’s building a popular following with fiery preaching and the promises of the winnowing fork and burning chaff, speaking to what is to come. And Jesus should be proud.

So, if there were a bunch of people just waiting around so “see” Jesus…? If there were a bunch of people just waiting around, hoping to “walk in Jesus’ ways”…? If there were a bunch of people, thinking that Jesus and his ministry might be “interesting,” at least…? …John the Baptist surely must be a surprise—not because of his fiery reputation, but because of his social-justice viewpoints. If there were a bunch of people just sitting around and “waiting” for Jesus, perhaps a better opportunity is provided by actually listening to John’s perspective.

• Whoever has two coats must share one (even in this cold weather!);
• Whoever has food must do likewise (even if you don’t have a double-supply);
• Take in no more than your share, or what you’re actually due, or have earned—really;
• And be satisfied with your wages, never resorting to false means to obtain more.

Surely, John the Baptist already has in mind what Jesus will eventually proclaim: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.”

Luke clearly sees John the Baptist as Isaiah’s “voice” crying out in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord.” But John the Baptist isn’t simply an “announcer” that “Jesus is coming.” Instead, he too is a “proclaimer,” one who claims the present time and the present kingdom to be Christ’s own—but not by virtue of Jesus’ coming, all by itself. Instead, John proclaims a whole new way of being, a whole new ethic for those who would be looking for Jesus. John the Baptist issues any would-be believers the challenge of not just waiting for Jesus to “come,” but to get to work living the Kingdom’s values. Because living the kingdom’s values sets the stage; and when the stage is set, Jesus comes—not in fiery judgment, but final salvation. If you want to celebrate Jesus, then demonstrate the ways of the kingdom where Jesus resides; so that he may come and be at home with us.

At the beginning of this so-called “holiday season,” when “Thanksgiving” often marks the acceptable beginning of the rush toward Christmas celebrating—with shopping and parties and programs all coming earlier and earlier as if December 25th comes with the plague—we used to believe that we were getting ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But by this third week of Advent, we grow weary of the waiting. Maybe we still are trying to celebrate Jesus’ birth as we try to remind ourselves frequently and often that “Jesus is the reason for this season;” but John the Baptist opens the door to a whole different kind of “preparation” doesn’t he? Saying to the “brood of vipers” who seemingly wanted to escape the realities of their own day—“who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” We too, can be so busy with our Christmas rush and our Christmas fuss that we can’t see anymore those who have no coats or less food; those who are taken advantage of; those threatened with violence. And our focus on our holiday celebrations—while filling us with cheer—is precisely the kind of escapism John the Baptist accuses the “brood of vipers” of.

The good news of this season is not just to be found in the Christmas birth story—but the new world God is bringing into being in Jesus. John the Baptist sets the tone, points anyone who would seek to follow Jesus toward the pathway of Jesus’ ministry—selfless giving, and caring for others as much as or even above ourselves. And while we’ll all do a lot this season to think of others, and we’ll add in a little extra for various organizations and “good causes,” we’ll still be way over-focused on things that aren’t “the reason for this season.” Listen to the prophet when the others ask, “what then shall we do?” And be a prophet, a “preparer” for Jesus’ way—by taking up the mantle:

• Whoever has two coats must share one (even in this cold weather!);
• Whoever has food must do likewise (even if you don’t have a double-supply);
• Take in no more than your share, or what you’re actually due, or have earned—really;
• And be satisfied with your wages, never resorting to false means to obtain more.

And you will be blessed by God, and be a blessing to others.

--+ AMEN.

Here's the link to the audio file for my sermon from December 13th

Here's the link to the audio file for my sermon from Sunday, December 13th, 2009.  This was the 3rd Sunday in Advent. 


http://www.box.net/shared/2slr83h4na


As always, thanks for checking it out! 

Here's the text of my sermon from Sunday, December 6th

The 2nd Sunday of Advent; December 06, 2009
Park Avenue Presbyterian Church; Des Moines, Iowa
Texts: Malachi 3: 1-4 *
Luke 1: 68-79 *
Philippians 1: 3-11
Luke 3: 1-6 *

“A Prophetic Proclamation”


--} The problem with “Advent” is that it was never intended to be an extended celebration of Christmas. Yet for most of us, the so-called “Christmas Season” is the month-long holiday stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas—oddly enough, the same time the church traditionally celebrates “Advent.” “Advent” is not Christmas. And part of our problem is the reality that the Church asks us to celebrate “Advent,” while the world is inviting us to celebrate “Christmas.” Too often, we either find ourselves struggling with the dissonance between the two “celebrations,” or defending our Christmas frivolity from those liturgical types who seem to want to take Christmas away from us. Perhaps, there is a better way.

Advent doesn’t have to mean the assassination of Santa Claus!

For “Christmas” the so-called “reason for the season” is the birth of Jesus Christ. But for “Advent,” the “reason for the season” is not just “Jesus’ birth”—and I know that sounds strange. “Advent” is a season of watching and anticipating God’s promised coming; it’s an invitation for us to begin thinking about what it means for Jesus to have come into the world, but also, to be identifying the ways that Jesus is already here. It’s a pointing toward God’s penultimate event in Christ that begins with the incarnation; but it’s also an identification with the ways we see and know God being present. Like “Lent,” Advent can be a time of admission that the world isn’t right and that God in Jesus Christ is doing something about it.

So if we turn our attention a little bit toward this season in the midst of our holiday rush—what should Advent mean for us as Christ-followers? Today’s scripture readings send us in the direction of a backward glance—turning us away from Jesus for a moment and pointing us to God’s ongoing work. The prophet Malachi speaks of a promised “prepar-er;” and Luke begins his gospel—not with Jesus, but—with the story of John the Baptist. And we’re looking not just at the characters or the promises, but the proclamation they offer for the world—proclamation that matters because it invites us to consider the contrasts we see with the world around us.

John the Baptist is a good place to start, announcing himself as Isaiah’s “voice of one crying in the wilderness—prepare the way of the Lord.” Because sometimes in this season we get caught up in the fact that there is one “miracle birth” and it belongs to Jesus. But we think that, only because we haven’t read the Bible very carefully. Luke begins the story of Jesus by telling us about the birth of John the Baptist. In Chapter 1 Luke tells us the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, about their heritage in the House of Aaron, and about how Elizabeth was barren. Zechariah, who was serving in the temple, is visited by an Angel who tells him:

“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. 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.”

And then Zechariah is struck “mute” because he doubted the angel’s words—believing that he and Elizabeth were too old to bear children. Clearly another story about “life” out of “death” besides “Jesus”—birth out of barrenness—John’s story leads to OUR story, because people are wondering what will become of John because clearly the Lord’s hand was upon him.

This season is not just about anticipating the birth of Jesus, but of anticipating the fulfillment of God’s promises. And it isn’t just a backward look to the story from long ago, but an invitation to consider our own stories. Because the Bible teaches us that BEFORE Jesus comes, there is a time of preparation; before the SAVIOR can be received, the promises must be received. And that’s why BEFORE we unwrap the SAVIOR in our Christmas pageants, we ought to be unwrapping the promises of God for us in the here and now.

The “Christmas Season” wants to teach us that it’s all about Jesus’ birth—God’s gifts, our gifts, God’s love, our love. Christmas, in the familiar forms we often celebrate it in, can often clash with what we really do believe about God and about Jesus. Listen to one of my seminary classmates reflecting in his blog this past week:

“I have no desire to "Bah, humbug" our culture's celebration of Christmas. I love trees, presents, Santa, and the whole bit. But we in the Church should surely realize that good cheer, nostalgia, and a brief upswing in charity won't begin to deal with the brokenness of our world. Only God can do that. At Christmas, we celebrate the fact that in Christ, God has acted. And we draw comfort and hope from the promise that God will bring peace on earth in God's time. But for now, let us spend some of Advent contemplating the ways that we are a part of a broken world that needs saving.”

Notice the difference?

Christmas is the celebration that God has entered the world in Christ Jesus—in his birth. But God’s entering the world, isn’t about a birth-story—as wonderful as the one we tell always is. God’s entering the world is about peace and hope; about God’s promises of fixing the brokenness and saving the lost being made true—not just for a season, but forever. And the “beginning” of the Jesus story comes in the voice of the prophets who “prepare the way of the Lord.”

I believe that if we have a faithful ministry on Jesus’ behalf, we must become “prepar-ers” like John and Malachi represent. That WE must become people who work to prepare the world for the “something new and different” that Jesus and his life represent. And it’s hard, because it calls us to proclaim a different kind of message for the world. Not one of traditional “Christmas cheer,” but one that finds the realities of God in Christ.

Because the story of Jesus begins in the story of the prepar-ers. Those who are willing to go out on a limb and proclaim something different. And only when all is prepared—the paths straight, the valleys filled, the mountains made low, the crooked straight, the rough places smooth—shall everyone see the salvation of God. So while we celebrate Christ being “born,” the church proclaims a message beyond that one, too. We’re not just remembering a birth a long time ago in Bethlehem but that God entered the world purposefully—to save it. To save us from the brokenness of violence, hunger, homelessness, prejudice, sin—just to name a few. But we have to have courage enough to take up that mantle. We have to be willing to WORK toward that promised coming by straightening, filling, and smoothing. We don’t just have to take the world as it comes; we have the joy of proclaiming the realities of the kingdom of God that draw us beyond the difficulties we wrestle with.

In this season’s celebrations, it’s probably really easy to loose sight of the fact that:

• Our government just announced a huge increase in troops being sent to Afghanistan; they’re going “to make peace,” but we know they’ll have to use violence as a means to “make that peace.” In this season when the message is “peace,” how do we boldly offer Christ’s different way?

• Our government is supposedly “working” on “fixing” the brokenness that is “health-care in America”—so that more people can have basic medical care; but while the debate drags on, how many people will continue suffering because they don’t currently have proper medical care? How do we boldly offer God’s promises for a world where the measure of “care” is how well we tend to “the least of these?”

• And our city leaders are once again facing the challenges of meeting the needs of the homeless in our community; winter “camps” are visible again along the river. (Not only is it winter, when the trees leaves don’t hide this reality quite as well, but more and more people are joining in to help build shelters that some claim might be “unsafe.” But come on—how much more “unsafe” is a structure that might burn, versus the freezing cold that claims lives, too!) In this season of Christ’s birth, when we recognize more prominently that “foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head;” how do we dream of different human possibilities and proclaim God’s promises of safe-keeping for all?

In the midst of this season, the promises of God say something to us as Christ-Followers do they not, about who we are and whose we are—because of Jesus—and the kinds of things we ought to stand for or even “say” out loud. And like shouting “Advent” every time we hear “Christmas carols” this time of year, we’re invited to go against the grain—if for no other reason we believe that God has decisively entered the world in Jesus Christ to say something different to us about our way of life.

We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus has come into the world—to save it. We believe that the kingdom ways of God are different from the ways of the world. And as a the people of God, where is our gumption to prophetically proclaim this different voice. One that not only celebrates Christ’s birth, but attempts to “prepare the way;” not just for the Christmas story as a familiar “theme,” but to prepare our hearts, our homes, and announce for others around us, God’s better way.


--+ AMEN.

Link to the Audio File for my sermon from December 6th

Here's the link to the audio file for my sermon from Sunday, December 06th, 2009. 


http://www.box.net/shared/38bxq3i73p


This was the second Sunday in Advent. 

Thanks for checking it out.