CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

 

 

Christmas Eve 2010

Luke 2:1-20

Union Avenue

 

Our Webster Groves Disciples’ pastor and his wife – Jeff and Susan Moore – served as missionary partners in Lesotho, a tiny African country about the size of Maryland and totally surrounded by the country of South Africa.  Lesotho is mostly

mountainous.  One of Jeff’s responsibilities was to teach seminarians.  Professors were often asked to accompany their students to their parishes because the tradition would not allow the non-ordained students to preside at communion.

 

One Christmas Eve Jeff was asked to preach and preside at a student’s parish.  This did not mean traveling the highway.  It was horseback trek up into the mountains.  When they got close to the little church, they could see streams of people on horseback coming toward them.  Startled, Jeff told the student he had no idea his congregation was so large. “It usually isn’t”, was the reply.  As Jeff and the student got closer to the others – Jeff realized these were not families gathering for an American Christmas Eve service…these were field hands …men, mostly … rough, weathered, outdoor guys.

 

Jeff (again perplexed) turned to his student and asked what was going on – why were these the people coming to service.  “Ask them”, the student replied.  And so Jeff did.  And one of the men – still on horseback told Jeff, “You are going to read and preach the story about shepherds receiving the message of life.  We are all shepherds.  That’s our story.”

 

Very, very few of the stories of faith in the Judaeo-Christian tradition have God appearing to the rich, the powerful or the perfect.  And yet, all too often, people do not believe that God is speaking to them because they are not good enough – they don’t go to church enough – they don’t believe fully enough – they ‘sin’.  Unfortunately, the church has perpetuated those mis-interpretations.

 

Appearing to shepherds should verify the notion that God chooses the unexpected to proclaim important messages.  The shepherds in our Gospel were minding their own business.  They were doing their daily work.  There is no indication that they were seeking God or an important mission for God.

 

God sought them.  They listened.  Sure they were terrified – but they listened.  They didn’t run and cower …they listened and accepted the message.

 

Luke tells his story in such a way as to compare Caesar Augustus – the Emperor – with Jesus.  Augustus was being praised as the King of Peace.  He had been able to proclaim Pax Augustus…or Pax Romana…the peace of the world.  He had successfully put down local wars and suppressed piracy on the waters.  There was a stability in the world that had not been known before.  It was a top down, powerful proclamation, maintained by threats, force and brutality.

 

The message that came to the shepherds was entirely different.  The peace that was to come was being brought into the world through a baby …a baby being born in a manger.  Shepherds knew they would never mix in the company of the Emperor …they really were not even going to be truly affected by the decree of peace from Augustus.  But a baby being born in an animal stable was something close enough to them that they were able to believe and follow the instruction.

 

Our storyteller doesn’t give us much about what happened to them when they encountered Mary and Joseph and Jesus …but whatever they experienced they then shared with others …in such a way that all were amazed.

 

Not only is it huge that God’s message came to a bunch of shepherds …and that those shepherds responded well and affirmatively … but that they told others who then accepted the message enough to be amazed.  These shepherds were not English professors, published authors, talk show hosts, or even preachers…they were guys living in the fields with their animals.

 

God made known this message to them and they made known the message well enough to others that the story has circulated the earth and life has changed.

 

Tonight we cross over from the season of anticipation to the time of receiving …from preparation to thankfulness…. from readying ourselves for the gift to knowing how that gift could change our lives.

 

-       The early shepherds were surprised – but they believed and then passed along the story.

-                 The shepherds in Lesotho heard the story and knew it was for and about them.

-                Can we hear the message, believe it is for us, and pass it along so others will be amazed?

 

Non-shepherds that we are, can we listen well enough to hear the angel voices singing for us?  The message is not like an emperor’s decree …it is unlike anything a prime minister, president, senator or even mayor could proclaim about a peace treaty, terror reduction, or calm in our city streets.

 

The message will always start from the bottom, the lowliest and move to include all.  God’s presence is as real and touchable as a baby being born.  God’s love is as distinct from the politics of the powerful as shepherds are from a king.  God’s peace begins with the elimination of strife within one’s soul and continues with the gratitude that will change lives.

 

Are we able to accept the gift of God that is presented to us through Jesus Christ that will not only change the interior of our lives, but also engage us in changing the life of this world?   Are we able to receive the grace of this evening as the transforming power intended and vow to live and share it with others?  Are we able to accept the fact that God breaks through every life breathing and restoring if only we are attentive and responsive to that message?  Are we able to live for the hope that with God’s energy and guidance our lives can be vehicles of justice and peace and redeeming love?

 

Because that is the message for us this evening.  That’s the message the shepherds heard long ago.  It is why we gather.  It is the source of our celebration.  It is the call to us to come together in the name of Jesus – the baby born … but more importantly the one who became the Christ who taught us to give our lives in service and devotion.

 

It is for that message that we come to receive his presence – through the breaking of bread, the sharing of the cup…symbols of his life.  As we receive these emblems may they bear the message that God has for each of us this evening …the message made known to us – and that we are called to make known to the world.

 

Let us prepare now to receive that message God has for us – the birth of new life that will change this world.

FEAR AND GRACE

 

 

Advent IV

Union Avenue

 

In a clergy meeting a few weeks ago, Frank Proctor gave us a test.  He provided the text of a Christmas Pageant and asked us to circle what we knew to be true – according to the Bible – and alternatively to identify the innumerable non-Biblical myths that have been created and passed on over the centuries.  Friday night at the church party Cheryl McNeill did something very similar.

 

We learn through stories and how we remember those stories.  We share stories as a means to tell and perpetuate our own values.  What many of us heard and saw earlier this morning as our children presented the nativity might be different from what any one of them experienced and learned and will pass along.

 

Teaching Biblical stories to our children is hopefully only the beginning of stirring an early interest so that as they grow older more in-depth study will bring greater understanding and opportunity for continuing revelation.  Many of us, unfortunately, continue to rely on those childhood versions of the faith stories – and they get all mish mashed into sweet remembrances without much relevant impact.

 

Every Christmas eve the lectionary suggests we listen to and reflect upon Luke’s version of the Jesus birth narrative.  Once every three years, however, the lectionary suggests (on this last Sunday in Advent) that we consider Matthew’s version.

 

Both of these Gospel writers (according to Biblical scholarship) used the most basic outline that prevails in Mark …a bit cut and dried…but as close to factual as we might ever get.  Luke and Matthew, however, amplified.  They told their stories with more flourish – and from their own perspectives of what was important.  Luke was known to be a physician and tells innumerable stories of Jesus and healing.  He is also known as a true friend of women and emphasizes their role with Jesus.  One of Matthew’s important characteristics is his need or struggle to frame the Jesus story in light of the Jewish faith.  Not wanting to disclaim his own Judaism, Matthew always makes that connection and works at pulling those strings together.

 

The oldest Gospel – Mark – has no birth narrative.  Matthew and Luke have developed their own and details vary … we often combine the stories in our memories relishing what we like better and amplifying what is important to our own lives … all of which is the value of storytelling.

 

Today we get to spend some time with Joseph – often considered the quiet guy just along for the ride.  His part of this faith story, however, can be vital as a teaching tool for us.

 

Matthew begins his Gospel with genealogy – naming 14 generations from Abraham to David…14 from David to the time of deportation to Babylon…and 14 from the deportation to Joseph.

 

Luke obviously didn’t need to do genealogy because his heritage issues were not the same as Matthew’s.  The problem for Matthew, however, then becomes how to connect the dots from the Joseph lineage if we need to keep a virgin birth narrative. Matthew’s attempt to work this out becomes this rather precious story about Joseph, which might be one of the best-kept secret gifts of Advent.

 

 

Joseph was said to be a righteous man.  That probably means he was kind, generous and law abiding.  As the story goes, his fiancé was found to be pregnant.  Undoubtedly, he was humiliated and rightfully angry.  His right – as law abiding, righteous man would have been to expose her as an adulteress. The law would not allow him to merely forgive and forget.  As an adulteress, depending upon the location and spitefulness of the community, Mary could have been stoned to death at the most, and shunned from the area at the least.

 

Joseph being kind and generous – as well as righteous – made a decision to quietly dismiss her from his life.  This was certainly a compassionate and loving act…. and what might be our first treasure from today’s story.

 

We all experience disappointment, humiliation, betrayal.  Besides wallowing in it for a while, a natural tendency is to seek satisfaction in revenge, retribution, or mere venting our pain so we might receive solace and comfort from others.  What are friends for anyway?  And the law – isn’t it to protect us from getting hurt?

 

Our leading man, Joseph, chose a different route.  Choosing that different option put him into a dangerous but ultimately good place.  He was then able to hear God’s voice suggesting an even more absurd pathway for his life.  And that is the second treasure we might receive from his tale.

 

Bottom line to all this is that God often works outside convention and even outside religious laws, rules and expectations.

 

It was grace and love – absolute and pure – that allowed Joseph to decide NOT to act as he could …but rather with a compassion for the woman he obviously loved, but couldn’t understand.

 

The grace and love filling Joseph when he decided to NOT make a spectacle of Mary made him amendable to receiving even more grace and love from God.  His demeanor allowed him to be used by God.

 

As exciting as are stories about sudden conversions or being struck by abrupt revelations, I believe Joseph’s story is closer to reality. The revelations that God has for us – the needs that can be presented on our hearts and rendered into our souls – the hopes for our usefulness in God’s purposes all need fertile soil, receptive life and accessible conditions.

 

Joseph had readied himself for an amazing way God was about to use him.  According to Matthew, Joseph was being asked to adopt a child into his own lineage – so that this story of new life and ministry could be linked to the Jewish faith.  It broke all sorts of religious tradition – all sorts of rules and laws.  Most importantly it broke through any fear that Joseph had and allowed him to live a life of grace and love.

 

What about us?  God needs us as well.  Unquestionably, there is a task, a job, a call – perhaps not as big as fathering Jesus – but important, nonetheless.  But how will we be ready to receive the angel – the dream?  First, our lives must be open – full of love that breaks the boundaries of law – risking ourselves through fear and humiliation and being ready.

 

God has a gift for us in this season  … will we know when it comes…? May we learn from Joseph that our open-ness to the gift will make it more possible – living out love allows us to be more receptive to further gifts of love …grace will be heaped upon grace.

 

God is waiting to give the gift …may we ready ourselves to receive

LET’S GO

 

Advent I

 

 

Thanksgiving is much ado about comfort.  In fact, many holidays are such.  We prepare foods that have been family standards for decades.  Many go back to homes of origin – or at least to the homes of parents or grandparents or siblings.  We know what to expect in terms of family behavior – so at least try to stay clear of difficult conversations or anything to provoke wounds opening.

 

Comfort is good.  It is essential for stability.  It is groundwork … grounding for growth and new life.

 

Thanksgiving is now past – even though the turkey may not be completely eaten.  Today we begin a peculiar, culturally subversive season.

 

Retailers started Christmas a month ago.  This year the stores opened earlier than ever on Black Friday. But that’s about Christmas and not about Advent!

 

Advent is a season designed by church leaders in the 4^th century …so no, Jesus didn’t talk about it …Paul didn’t preach it …and the earliest Christians didn’t have a clue about it.  But as the church was expanding around the world at that time, faith practices were being taught.  The concept of seasons of the Christian year was a teaching method…and continues to be so today.

 

Anticipation is a faith practice and it describes Advent.  It is not necessarily a feel-good time because it involves a great deal of work.  It is opposed by the culture because Advent is not about comfort …nor is it really about celebration.

 

Anticipation is excitement and preparation for what has not yet come to pass…but it is knowing enough about what is yet to be that planning needs to occur.

 

Advent anticipation is noticing what needs to be done to ready oneself for what can occur.

 

It is holding some pieces of the puzzle – but not knowing how they will fit together.  Anticipation is believing in a future.  It is about hope.

 

It is all about God …the gifts of God…the way of God …the word of God and what we can do with God’s power.

 

The gifts we receive or give from partners, spouses, children, friends are hopefully celebrations of love …recognitions of who we are or have been to and for others.

 

The gifts of God for which we ready ourselves in this season are about what is yet to come…what is yet to be…and what most of us cannot even imagine – but somehow have to ready ourselves to be active in the process to receive!

 

During the time of our prophet Isaiah the Jewish northern and southern kingdoms – Israel and Judah – had been divided.  The northern kingdom (Israel), however, tried to force the southern kingdom into an alliance opposing the huge Assyrian Empire.  That Empire – the major force of that period in time – had laid siege to the southern Kingdom – particularly the city of Jerusalem.  It was this action that caused King Ahaz (of the southern kingdom) to seek the advice of the prophet, Isaiah.

 

Isaiah’s oracle was probably NOT what the King wanted to hear.  Undoubtedly, he wanted to know that God was on their side and would bring them to a triumphant victory over what was deemed an evil perpetrator.

 

Instead Isaiah comes up with a vision that was hardly even imaginable.  He also uses a phrase that distorts the norm.

 

Isaiah saw the word.  He didn’t hear the word …he didn’t read the word.  He SAW the word.  Seeing the word of God – the vision of God – takes us to a depth beyond what we normally can ascertain.

 

The vision of Isaiah was more than what the King or the people of the time had known or could ever imagine.  But that vision was and is real … if we can accept it as the truth of God worthy of our seeking and working and hoping and anticipating its fulfillment.

 

And that is precisely why it is the first scripture of an Advent season.  People of faith before us have affirmed it – have believed it – have hung onto its truth – and have given their lives to bring it into reality.

 

God’s hope for God’s world is that all of God’s people will draw together in unity.

 

God’s promise to all peoples of this world is that there can be justice for all … that love among us, as diverse and varied as we are, is the norm rather than the hatred and the vengeance and the strife we know around this world.

 

God’s dream for this world is that joy will be tasted by every one – and not just the privileged, the wealthy or the secure.

 

At some point in history, however, this hope, promise and dream of God (articulated so well by Isaiah) was dismissed or diminished as improbable, impossible, and relegated to the end times, life after death, heaven or the big theme now: the rapture. Well, that is certainly good news!  It means we do not have to work …we can retreat to magic (where God is a mysterious force that pulls strings to make things happen for us like Santa Claus) …we can forget the anticipation uncertainties … and frankly just get onto Christmas joy.

 

But faithful church, Advent is here for a reason.  Advent is a faith practice of hearing and seeing a vision of what could be IF and when we capture the dream of God for us and this world…. and work for its reality.

 

It is about struggling to determine steps for bringing love to people who have never experienced it and have only known fear about survival.

 

It is about tenderly caring for those who have no hope because promise has been based on constant devastation.

 

It is about discovering the untapped resources within our selves that will energize us to deepen our faith, share our faith and serve because of our faith.

 

 

Swords into plowshares – spears into pruning hooks – learning war no more?  There is a small Jesuit chapel on the campus of St. Louis University in which the light fixtures are 20^th century cannon shells, emptied and converted.  They now hold light rather than death…symbols of hope… a taste of Advent.

 

People being fed …. children being loved …. abuse being set aside … justice being sought for all … truth being spoken … Are these not the issues of faith for which we give our lives?

 

The vision of Isaiah calls us into a season of work … a time of opening ourselves to what and how God would mold us as partners in that vision.  The season of Advent takes time …it forces questions …it begs for discovery.  It is all about the anticipation of something new, of something we have not yet known … of something far more than we could imagine on our own.

 

Advent is the time of dreaming and hoping and anticipating with God for what is within us to bring reality to God’s expectation and vision for this world.  It is time – NOW – to go into this season!

GETTING AND DESERVING

Luke 23:33-43

Union Avenue

Increased media presence is the descriptor for this week’s exciting announcement that Prince William FINALLY proposed to his beloved Kate…. on the date of his parents engagement with his mother’s engagement ring.  And it is not just England that is stirring with excitement.  Along with that excitement, however, comes the ridiculous and bizarre.  Story after story about this young woman who is after all:

-                only middle class

-                has parents who both work for a living

-                whose mother has supposedly already embarrassed herself in front of the queen (even though they have never met)

-                who will be the first ever British Queen to have completed a college degree

And then the spin has accelerated about Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth – the succession, if ever, and why or why not… increased media presence.

Paparazzo is a term originated by Fellini in 1960 with his film La Dolce Vita. It comes from an Italian dialect name describing a particularly annoying noise – that of a mosquito.  Paparazzi are considered photojournalists specializing in candid photography/stories of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people.

We tend to think of increased media presence or the paparazzi as exclusively modern and post-modern phenomena.  Today’s scripture authenticates its presence in the ancient world as well.

They didn’t have cameras or microphones, but crowds of talkers and spin artists were standing near this hill of Golgotha…. focusing their activity and words on the man hanging from the middle cross.  Some were dividing his clothing. Some were scoffing – some mocking – some jeering with words they thought he had claimed for himself.  Then, even one of the others hanging on a cross got into the media event and suggested emphatically that a miracle could happen and he wanted the benefit!

Except for Jesus (the man on the middle cross) there seemed to be only one other who was not caught up in the frenzied media or paparazzi.  And that one criminal said to the other criminal – ‘shut up, we are getting what we deserve…he is not.’

And what was Jesus doing with all of this?

Frankly, the story feels like a Fellini script – only a creative spirit could fathom a situation where people are dying and there is such deranged havoc surrounding it.

But Jesus did what Jesus always does – he did not feel sorry for himself, or respond to the ‘deserving and getting’ comment’ – he listened to the need of an open heart and responded compassionately, lovingly and with absolute assurance.

Jesus’ ministry is not about getting and deserving … it is not about the frenzy associated with media or paparazzi.  It is always about listening for the needs of others and responding as fully as possible.

In that very moment on the cross, Jesus could not take the man’s hand…could not give him the touch that he had given to so many others in his short life…couldn’t even tell him to rise up from his palette, to walk, to open his ears or eyes.  He did give him assurance – he did extend his own heart …he did what the man most needed.

So dear church, on this last Sunday of the Christian year when we celebrate the Reign of Christ…when we give thanks for the triumphant Jesus …why are we given a scripture text with Jesus hanging on a cross – with significant distractions both at the base of that cross and to one side of the cross …and we have only a few simple words from him.  How do we celebrate triumphantly with this text?

I believe the text gives clarity and focus to our own ministries – near the corner of Delmar and Union, St. Louis, 2010.  We are three different congregations, each with distinctive and significant ministries and important calls placed on our lives.

The paparazzi or media presence might jeer, mock or scoff at our life.  They might say that our glory days are past – when worship attendance surpassed the several hundred seats in each of our sanctuaries, when our Sunday School class rooms were overflowing with students, when the Brinks trucks came to our doors to pick up the offering.

And we can get lost in a response to that mocking.  We can make excuses and spend time trying to explain the difference in times.

Or we can take Jesus’ lead and do what we do best, because we are a part of his ministry of listening and caring, of responding with compassion and love, of healing, of educating, of reaching to those in need as long as we shall live.

This is what we have always done – and it is how our histories claim us.  Our friends of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ bring a history of firsts.  Most of us give thanks for those early Pilgrims who, in 1620, came to the shores of North America seeking spiritual freedom.  But within the heritage of the UCC (formed in 1957 by mergers of Evangelical, Reformed, Christian and Congregational churches) they also have led us through the first act of civil disobedience in 1733 at Old South Church calling for a repeal on the tax of tea, the first African American pastor ordained by a Protestant denomination in 1785, the first American foreign mission society in 1810, the first woman ordained (after New Testament times) in 1853, the first ordination of an openly gay person in 1972, and in 2005 the first US church to support equal rights for same sex couples.

The historic gifts of the Presbyterians are in the manner of orderly and thoughtful discussions and process.  The only minister, John Witherspoon, to have signed the Declaration of Independence was Presbyterian.  Through the years, the Presbyterian General Assemblies have led the larger church in their impressive but hard worked agreements against capital punishment, opposition to gambling, support of gun control legislation, and the continuing support of women around the myriad of issues related to pregnancy and abortion.  The Presbyterian history also has shown us how a large denomination split – between north and south – and was (again through much hard and thoughtful discussion and process) able to reunite in many of its manifestations.

The Disciples – young compared to the other two traditions bring the major gift of an ecumenical spirit.  The first denomination to have an organization devoted to the pursuit of Christian unity, Disciples have long claimed ecumenism as the center of their life.  Always at the forefront of local, national and world councils of churches, Disciples offer leadership and reconciling gifts in the midst of a continually fractured Church.  Another distinctive gift of Disciples has been their journalistic fervor – both within and beyond the denomination.

Added to those historic denominational gifts, Westminster, Pilgrim and Union Avenue have congregational legacies that have formed us … to be who we are.to do what we do … to call us into where we must continue in ministry today.

Because of our various histories … because of our individual make-ups … because of the difference in emphases of vision …together we offer a broader response to Jesus’ call on our life.  Together we can offer a strength that not each of us has alone – especially if we don’t try to resolve those differences rather than celebrating them.

The neighborhood surrounding us at Union and Delmar, the global world in which we are integrally connected, the individuals sitting in the pews next to us …are all waiting for us to fulfill our call in ministry.

IF we follow Jesus – we will neither get caught up in the media presence spin or paparazzi jeering…

IF we follow Jesus – we will not even respond to the question and issue of getting whatever we deserve.

IF we follow Jesus – we will compassionately, lovingly, mercifully listen to the open and needy hearts around us and respond with assurance of time, with fullness of financial resources, with commitment of presence, with faithfulness of understanding … knowing as Jesus did  … that the requirement placed upon us all is to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.