You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ When All the People Were Baptized, and When Jesus also had been Baptized ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Seeing Stars ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
Dear Nativity Seekers,
Here’s the secret of Christmas: It doesn’t end on December 25th! It isn’t over once the baby is born! Which is seemingly why the season of Advent
is essential to knowing what to do. If
you’re just figuring on Christmas Day …what God is doing, may be lost on
you!
For the last couple of years, I’ve been drawn to a new Christmastide
melody with an Adventy edge—in a song written by Chris Tomlin but featuring the
voice of Lauren Daigle. Chris and Lauren
are big names in the Christian music world these days. The song’s title is “Noel,” and with soaring
voice lines, it’s now a mainstay on my Advent and Christmas playlists:
Love incarnate, love divine | Star and angels gave the sign
Bow to babe on bended knee | The Savior of humanity
Unto us a Child is born | He shall reign forevermore
Noel, Noel …Come and see what God has done
Noel, Noel …The story of amazing love!
The light of the world, given for us …Noel
Son of God and Son of man | There before the world began
Born to suffer, born to save | Born to raise us from the grave
Christ the everlasting Lord | He shall reign forevermore
Noel, Noel …Come and see what God has done
Noel, Noel …The story of amazing love!
The light of the world, given for us …Noel
“Noel” is a Latin term for “birth.”
More literally, it could be sung—Birth, birth …come and see what God
has done …the story of amazing love …the light of the world, give for us
…birth! As such, it obviously points
to Jesus’ “birth” or nativity, as if pointing to the incarnation.
But the incarnation …begins with a birth and is more than a
birth! The line that always strikes me
is, “come and see what God has done.” This
is a paraphrase of the invitation of the Angels delivered to the Shepherds to
come and witness the birth of Jesus.
…But it is also an Advent and Christmas reminder for me that God …is
still DO-Ing!
While the birth and the Christmas Day have passed, we’re struck with
promises that have not ended …God is still do-ing, therefore the “story of
amazing love” is at least that the “light of the world has been given for us,”
too! BECAUSE Jesus was born, the light
of the world may literally be in our hands (or at least in our hearts!)! BECAUSE Jesus was born, the story of God’s
amazing love also surrounds us. It’s not
just a “moment” in our stories; it’s a ribbon weaving in and through our
stories.
“Birth, birth,” reminds us to be continually “looking for what God has
done” in our lives and the lives of those around us. “Birth, birth” reminds us that the story of
God’s amazing love is wrapped up in our lives, too! Not just a celebration of the birth, but what
the birth signifies—that the light of the world has been given to us—To.
Us.! …So, this can’t just be one date on
the calendar!
So, if you’ve put your Christmas away …maybe think about getting back
out something that helps you recall that we’re looking for more than just a
birth! Rather the birth, is the
beginning—so keep looking for what God has done! Keep up with the story of God’s amazing
love! Keep the light of the world,
that’s been given to you…shining!
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ A Fancy First Century Baby Reveal ...times 2! ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Happy Advent--you miserable sinners! ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ The Road Less Traveled By ...with compliments to Robert Frost ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ ...Out-Waiting the Darknesses and Chaoses of Creation ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
Dear Jesus-Followers and Jesus-Believers,
This year the calendar matches perfectly. December 1st is the first day of
ADVENT! …And Advent is the first season
of the liturgical year. And the first
word of the first season is …* WAIT *.
…Do not pass “GO” …do not collect $200 …do not put up your Christmas
decorations!
—Oh WAIT …some of us already have!
The city of El Dorado’s public lighting was
November 21st!
Restaurants have been blaring Christmas carols
since before Halloween!
And Hobby Lobby …has Christmas aisles that NEVER
go into hiding!
But before you label me a “Bah humbug-er” …
· Consider
that Advent …is not Christmas. When Christians
began celebrating Advent, it was a time of spiritual preparation for
celebrating the incarnation. Like Lent which
preceded the celebration of Easter. Some
patterns of Advent were 6-9 weeks of “spiritual (and other) preparation.”
· Just
because the secular celebrations of Christmas have shifted from 12 days
following December 25th, to 6-8 weeks BEFORE December 25th,
doesn’t mean we should readjust how we spiritually move through the seasons.
· The
Bible reminds us of what it means to wait in hope for what God is doing. In our world, it’s easy to get caught up in
our certainty about the birth of Jesus, that we busy ourselves with the
preparation for that event, rather than preparing ourselves to discover the ongoing
manifestations of God’s incarnation!
Advent …is not just a counting down of the days until Christmas! It’s not a season in which we “check off” the
things that must be accomplished for our annual celebrations (shopping lists,
meal preparations, and parties). Advent
is a time to notice our world, and align ourselves with the ways of God …that
almost always are a surprise (like opening a gift on Christmas morning)!
If you’ve already put up your Christmas tree and redecorated for the
holidays …you’re not doing it wrong. But
how well are we anticipating God’s surprises when we’re simply about locking
ourselves into the rhythms of every other Christmas? How ready are we to receive the realities of
God’s incarnation if it must follow the familiar pattern? Can we really see what God has in mind for us
and others, insisting that familiarity decides how we should feel?
When the angel appeared to Mary …it was a surprise. When the angel appeared to Joseph …it was a
surprise. When the angels showed up for
the Shepherds …it was a startling surprise.
And while we are fairly certain that the “good news” of Jesus’ birth is “the
reason for the season,” ADVENT invites us to ask some different questions.
We believe that God is still coming …and not like the first time. Do we know what to look for? Or will we miss opportunities to witness it
because we’re engrossed in sales and wrapping paper and getting it all done
early? What about the peace of God which
passes all understanding—are we pursuing that?
What about invitations to share, to be ready, to live into HOPE, to have
worry salved because God is afoot and coming to us—are we pursuing this?
This Advent we will sing familiar songs. We will observe familiar rituals. We will anticipate Christmas, even though it is already happening for some people. We will try to imagine again what it is like to wait and hope, to anticipate but not jump too soon. We will tell the stories once again and invite ourselves to not be so urgent about the ending. We will walk by faith, and not by sight, until the angels say, “All is calm and all is bright.”
Dear Believers,
Fall is my favorite time of the year.
Along with cooler temperatures, a change in seasons, college football,
and harvest …should be “rest.” In the
fall and winter, earth gets a kind of sabbath rest. The land and soils literally rest, having
given themselves in growing produce. And
I love the celebratory festivals and the gratitude that comes with the
penultimate celebration of this season—Thanksgiving.
But before we get to the “rest,” there’ll be a lot going on! October begins with World Communion Sunday—a
celebration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper that spans the globe, a sign
and practice of our Christian understanding that we are all made one in
Christ.
The second Sunday in October will be marked by a congregational
meeting to elect a new class of Session members, who will join session to lead
our congregation next year. It’s also
the Sunday when we will gather following worship, to share a meal provided by
“Chef” Martin, and receive the challenge budget for 2025.
The first Sunday will be a reminder of how God offers God’s self to
sustain us and our world. God, we might
say, gives the entirety of heaven to ensure human salvation—that God so loves
the world, that God gives us Jesus. The
second Sunday is a reminder about how we can give in ways that help give God’s
kingdom a foothold on earth. We should
be encouraged that we have many ways to support the life of faith—in what we
have to give, or even in our own service—and that each of them, or all of them make
a difference in transforming the world, in building the Kingdom of God.
God gives.
We respond.
God
calls.
We
act.
God
loves.
We
love.
The rest of the weeks of October won’t have special observances, but
each Sunday is the constant reminder that is calling us out of nothingness and
insisting we are loved and valued. …It’s
a message I wish the world understood, and would hear, better! That we are loved and valued even when the
world seems to be on fire with all the things not of God—greed, violence, oppression,
worldly power and glory.
That’s right. We live in a
world on fire with all the wrong kind of things, and we are still loved and
valued by God who insists and invites us to claim other ways of living. A God who gives us Jesus, who loves us, and
whom we’re invited to share with others.
Something we share sacramentally, and something we share in the ritual
of breaking bread with one another.
This season in which we share warm meals, remind one another about the
hard work we’ve participated in and given, we share not only the promise of
God’s love, but also the grace that there’s more work to do. So join us in celebrating God’s love in the
next few weeks, and then being mindful of sharing the celebration with those
around you!
Dear Believers,
I’m returning this month to one of my favorite places! Not really a “place,” but more of a
“reality.” The “place” moves each year,
so it’s never the same “space” even. I
could say, “it must be the people,” but each time, many of the people change,
too. Yes …one of my favorite places is
Stewardship Kaleidoscope—an annual conference grounded in stewardship education
and generosity, giving and fundraising, where the topics almost always come
closely akin to the difficult financial realities churches and church leaders
are facing …but each conference always traffics in unmitigated joy!
Most of the time, when someone says, “stewardship,” most people
(especially church people) think, “money” or “conservation"—or sometimes,
the conservation of money! Which leads
church people to thinking about the lack of members …and decline …and sadness
or even shame. Put a bunch of these
folks in the room and you can’t imagine there’d be much joy—but you’d be
wrong! Because stewardship is God calling to us to share in what God
provides; where there’s no lack of resources, no shortage of love, no
absence in the face of need, where we’re met with an abundance rather than
enough. For conference-goers, who may
register for and show up all down in the mouth, worried and scared, afraid of
not having what they need for their congregations, the conference becomes a
lived in promise of the Psalmist decree—“weeping may endure for the night, but
JOY comes in the morning.” For most,
simply showing up will end long nights of worry and anxiety!
Most of us often think we know “JOY.”
But I’ve found over the years that JOY—born of gratitude—often goes
missing in our lives. Yes, most of us
would say we experience times of joy; but I’ve learned by experience and with
others, that these are like puddles after a rain, arriving and departing again,
leaving us …wanting. That even though we
maintain lives rooted in worship and spiritual practices among a supportive
community of fellow believers, our Joy is not always deep or abiding …and I’ve
been shocked to find you may not even notice it! You won’t even wonder where all your joy
went; then, you’re hanging out with people who understand gratitude …when you
realize your lack.
Stewardship people know that JOY is almost always born of
gratitude. And gratitude is like a
muscle that needs to be built up and exercised.
One of the easiest ways to begin is adopting language of gratitude—asking
yourself: “What am I most grateful for?”
And “What am I lease grateful for?”
Simply talking “gratitude” begins to reveal the reliably JOYFILLED
crevasses in every day. But when you
begin talking about gratitude, you more easily discover how to live IN gratitude;
and when you LIVE IN gratitude, you can have different responses. Like, having car trouble—you can be “least
grateful” for the trouble, but “grateful” for a friend who can give you a
ride. “Least grateful” about having to
find money for a repair; but grateful your store of riches includes someone who
can give you a ride to Wal-Mart. Stewardship
people see differently, somehow knowing a deep, abiding sense of God’s
presence, love, and joy.
Stewardship people realize the whole economy of gratitude works the
other way, too. You hear stories like,
“I didn’t want the waitress to be happy with a 15% tip for good service; I
wanted her to feel ecstatic and know the joy of real appreciation.” Or “That man might have been just fine with a
$20 bonus for going out of his way, I just wanted to see the look on his face
when it was a $50 bill instead!” And …it’s
never about the money; it’s always about passing around JOY! …Joy that somehow always finds a way back to
the one who gives it.
It’s been one of the great privileges (and joys) of my life to serve
on the planning team for the conference for nearly a decade. It’s taught me that joy is almost always
right in front of me. And that’s surely
been true, at First Presbyterian Church in Camden, too! I’m so incredibly grateful for your
witness and all that God’s love has provided for us!
