Readings:
Isaiah 42:1-9
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17
Audio sermon link: https://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/74/filecollections/422/FF14E288-6C9D-B6CE-B557-8B3B56A62C29.mp3
The season of Epiphany continues, the season in which we celebrate light, revelation, manifestation, the light of God come into the world. We see because of God’s illuminating our way.
Epiphany truly is a moment of realization, the light bulb going on over one’s head, the true AHA moment.
Yet that truth is often hard to understand. It’s a baby, but it’s God; He’s human, yet He’s divine. How do we make sense of this?
Was Jesus divine, but came to us in a recognizable disguise? It may be too degrading to think of a truly divine being in only human terms. Or was he human, but a truly special, holy human.
I’m sorry for the analogy, but it reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live commercial in which Chevy Chase saves the day when two housewives are arguing, “It’s a floor wax. No it’s a dessert topping!” and Chevy interrupts with “Quiet, you two. It’s both!”
Perhaps a more palatable metaphor is an ongoing philosophical discussion in the realm of physics, that of the nature of light. Perhaps this is a more telling metaphor for Epiphany, a season of light. Physicists have constructed theories of light and light travel that are based on both the particle and wave natures of light. In certain undeniable experiments, light behaves exactly as if it were made up of discrete particles much like billiard balls. In other experiments, light forms patterns remarkably similar to those observed in fluid waves. Scientists have been unsatisfied wholly with either theory as neither, alone, can explain all the observed phenomena nor can either alone explain the nature of light in its entirety.
Very much, as Pastor Mohn points out, like the scripture stories of Jesus, neither of these hypotheses is enough, on its own, to, as she put it, account for all the truisms (I loved that expression!). Much like the hypotheses about the physical nature of light, just because an explanation is easy does not mean it’s right; just because it fits neatly in a little box does not mean it offers us the whole truth.
Cut to airport story: your flight’s delayed and they make an announcement over the PA. People rush to the attendant’s desk to inquire about the details and then there’s that one person who skirts the line and perches themselves at the side of the desk, expecting a personal audience with der Fuhrer. Our response? Often it’s “Who do you think you are? You’re no different than us! Who does this person think they are?”
In Jesus’ baptism today, the message is clear: He does not think he’s above it all. He will bear the weight of the tension between the human and the divine … all the way to the cross. He neither requests nor expects any special detour around security, any first class upgrades, no skirting lines with Him. Where the rest of us are quietly awaiting news of when the delayed flight will arrive or next depart, here He is, among us, in the crowd. Jesus is found with the weary traveler, where ever people are tired and hungry, where there is sin and brokenness. God’s heart is with those who struggle and we are called to be in this place with them as well.
For sure, if we do, we will experience discomfort. But this is where God is to be found.
The security we seek is an illusion. Brokenness is innate to humanity. We can not escape it; avoiding it is a folly.
God is carrying us into dark places … and filling them with light, meaning, hope. His place is never exclusive – Members Only. It is always and entirely inclusive.
His is a Big, Big House … with lots and lots of room;
with a big, big table, with lots and lots of food.
With Epiphany comes the realization that God means business … and, most of all, that business is the business of everyone!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Another Way
Readings:
Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
Audio sermon link: http://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/74/filecollections/422/55C2966E-8F65-C873-1A07-FDF5C25E6D6F.mp3
Pastor Johnson weaves the "wacky story of three wise men and a baby king". This baby is not a king anyway anyone has ever understood a king. The background is one of intrigue.
So it pays to consider how we respond to intrigue.
Herod live s life in the folly of thinking he is in total control, a delusion of control that brings him to try to kill the king. He is driven by self-centeredness and a lack of respect. James Taylor sings a Christmas carol I enjoy listening to each year. In it, he writes of Herod:
"Avoid a royal welcome,
Avoid a big to-do;
A king that will slaughter the innocents
Will not cut a deal for you”
The truth in the story lies in the response of the three wise men. They are drawn to the radiance in the manger; they kneel and pay homage. Their key lies in developing the eyes of the heart, ones spoken by Antoine de Saint Exupery’s Little Prince:
Kings are supposed to give the powerful even more power. The word on the streets is that THIS King is a king of justice and mercy. He will lift up the lonely and powerless and turn over the status quo. And this king comes as an infant. An infant who will become priest and prophet.
The gifts the visitors bring portend the future of this baby’s life; gold for the king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh for a prophet who will be martyred on a cross.
And what do the wise men say upon arriving. Sorry, wrong house?
No, quite the contrary. They are struck by the radiance of the child and hit their knees. I have heard Pastor Johnson tell the story about how Hannah, his daughter, was born on Epiphany. I never tire of a father telling of the radiance he sees in the eyes of his child. I remember Pastor Johnson visiting our family when my youngest child, Lorin, was born. How he held him in his arms and smiled. I will never forget that sight. That from the throne of a bassinet, in a baby’s face is all the hope … for a new family. In that bright, shiny moment is a feeling of hopefulness for the future.
Our message today from the scripture: be careful who you make king in your life. Almost always, prophets are crusty; they mix with lepers and tax collectors. We would be served well to develop the eyes of the wise men. To see the radiance in the crib, to view in this light a different nature – one that tells you you are standing in a special moment. And it would do well to remember that these special moments are often wrapped in ordinary places – your kitchen, your driveway, your classroom.
The grace of God is where that radiant light has entered your life – a hug or a touch, a moment of forgiveness. When you see this light, you are in the presence of Christ, you are beneath the star peering into the manger, into the radiance of that bay’s face.
This light is portable. You can take it with you. And it can change a life. Let us be ever so thankful there are moments of great light.
And, as the lyrics to James Taylor’s Christmas carol remind me as I drive around town on a starry evening:
“They tell me this life is a miracle
And I figure that they’re right.
But Herod’s always out there
He’s got our card on file;
It’s a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch,
That Herod’s gonna take a mile.
So maybe me and you could be wise guys too
And go home by another way”
That other way is the way lit with that portable light. And you can take it with you.
We can open our eyes to that moment of great light … take it with us, and go home by another way.
Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
Audio sermon link: http://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/74/filecollections/422/55C2966E-8F65-C873-1A07-FDF5C25E6D6F.mp3
Pastor Johnson weaves the "wacky story of three wise men and a baby king". This baby is not a king anyway anyone has ever understood a king. The background is one of intrigue.
So it pays to consider how we respond to intrigue.
Herod live s life in the folly of thinking he is in total control, a delusion of control that brings him to try to kill the king. He is driven by self-centeredness and a lack of respect. James Taylor sings a Christmas carol I enjoy listening to each year. In it, he writes of Herod:
"Avoid a royal welcome,
Avoid a big to-do;
A king that will slaughter the innocents
Will not cut a deal for you”
The truth in the story lies in the response of the three wise men. They are drawn to the radiance in the manger; they kneel and pay homage. Their key lies in developing the eyes of the heart, ones spoken by Antoine de Saint Exupery’s Little Prince:
Kings are supposed to give the powerful even more power. The word on the streets is that THIS King is a king of justice and mercy. He will lift up the lonely and powerless and turn over the status quo. And this king comes as an infant. An infant who will become priest and prophet.
The gifts the visitors bring portend the future of this baby’s life; gold for the king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh for a prophet who will be martyred on a cross.
And what do the wise men say upon arriving. Sorry, wrong house?
No, quite the contrary. They are struck by the radiance of the child and hit their knees. I have heard Pastor Johnson tell the story about how Hannah, his daughter, was born on Epiphany. I never tire of a father telling of the radiance he sees in the eyes of his child. I remember Pastor Johnson visiting our family when my youngest child, Lorin, was born. How he held him in his arms and smiled. I will never forget that sight. That from the throne of a bassinet, in a baby’s face is all the hope … for a new family. In that bright, shiny moment is a feeling of hopefulness for the future.
Our message today from the scripture: be careful who you make king in your life. Almost always, prophets are crusty; they mix with lepers and tax collectors. We would be served well to develop the eyes of the wise men. To see the radiance in the crib, to view in this light a different nature – one that tells you you are standing in a special moment. And it would do well to remember that these special moments are often wrapped in ordinary places – your kitchen, your driveway, your classroom.
The grace of God is where that radiant light has entered your life – a hug or a touch, a moment of forgiveness. When you see this light, you are in the presence of Christ, you are beneath the star peering into the manger, into the radiance of that bay’s face.
This light is portable. You can take it with you. And it can change a life. Let us be ever so thankful there are moments of great light.
And, as the lyrics to James Taylor’s Christmas carol remind me as I drive around town on a starry evening:
“They tell me this life is a miracle
And I figure that they’re right.
But Herod’s always out there
He’s got our card on file;
It’s a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch,
That Herod’s gonna take a mile.
So maybe me and you could be wise guys too
And go home by another way”
That other way is the way lit with that portable light. And you can take it with you.
We can open our eyes to that moment of great light … take it with us, and go home by another way.
Come to the Feed Bunk
Readings:
Isaiah 7:10-16
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
Pastor Mohn reminds us that even for those of us who are happy, there are moments when happiness is not sustainable, moments we feel we ought to be happier. We’re naturally anxious, apprehensive, lonely, exhausted, where it’s hard to know what to feel, what to be. In these times of curious anxiety, no matter where we find ourselves, we are all called to one, same place: the manger. Whether your road has been through a funeral, a memorial service, a brush with death, a re-birth or re-awakening, all are called to one place.
Pastor Mohn shared that when she joined her Dad for chores on the farm, she often perched on a fence and liked to “watch from a distance”, dressed in her coat and gloves that did not match. When the weather was cold, she had to “take it inside” to the silo shed or the feed bunk. The feed bunk ends up being a powerful metaphor for the manger. We end up there when other places just won’t do. Even, and especially, at the feed bunk, you’re aware of the animals feeding; you’re at the safest spot with the bay and the animals feeding, not removed, at a distance, on the fence, far away.
Even in homes with quaint fireplace cozies, if you scratch beyond the surface, there are rats. The feed bunk calls because it is the safest place to be, where you can bring your baggage … you’re even supposed to … and, even if your coat or your hat doesn’t match your gloves, all are welcome.
Somehow, as Pastor Mohn painted this glorious picture, I imagined the Who’s down in Whoville … on Christmas morning , after the Grinch “stole Christmas” … they gathered together under a star, circled around a glimmering light and held hands, all called to a single, centered place where … they sang … sang a song of thanksgiving for the true meaning of Christmas.
Isaiah 7:10-16
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
Pastor Mohn reminds us that even for those of us who are happy, there are moments when happiness is not sustainable, moments we feel we ought to be happier. We’re naturally anxious, apprehensive, lonely, exhausted, where it’s hard to know what to feel, what to be. In these times of curious anxiety, no matter where we find ourselves, we are all called to one, same place: the manger. Whether your road has been through a funeral, a memorial service, a brush with death, a re-birth or re-awakening, all are called to one place.
Pastor Mohn shared that when she joined her Dad for chores on the farm, she often perched on a fence and liked to “watch from a distance”, dressed in her coat and gloves that did not match. When the weather was cold, she had to “take it inside” to the silo shed or the feed bunk. The feed bunk ends up being a powerful metaphor for the manger. We end up there when other places just won’t do. Even, and especially, at the feed bunk, you’re aware of the animals feeding; you’re at the safest spot with the bay and the animals feeding, not removed, at a distance, on the fence, far away.
Even in homes with quaint fireplace cozies, if you scratch beyond the surface, there are rats. The feed bunk calls because it is the safest place to be, where you can bring your baggage … you’re even supposed to … and, even if your coat or your hat doesn’t match your gloves, all are welcome.
Somehow, as Pastor Mohn painted this glorious picture, I imagined the Who’s down in Whoville … on Christmas morning , after the Grinch “stole Christmas” … they gathered together under a star, circled around a glimmering light and held hands, all called to a single, centered place where … they sang … sang a song of thanksgiving for the true meaning of Christmas.
Christmas comes, as the Whos knew, “not from a store … for maybe Christmas, just maybe, is a little bit more”. Christmas comes in a broken world, in the holding of hands at the manger, where the promise is born. And when we’re all in there, we won’t be cramped. That circle expands to fill the world. Five loaves and two fish feed thousands with plenty left over. The blind will see, the hungry will be fed, hope will be restored, and, when there’s nothing left, He will give Himself … on a cross.
As Jesus the baby becomes Jesus the man, the whole world will become the manger. God will walk up and relieve us all of our baggage … and what’s left over will be enough for everyone.
No matter your road … it’s time. Come … put your boots on, head to the feed bunk and join hands.
Attentive Waiting
Readings:
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
As we continue the Advent journey, Pastor Mohn reminds us that while Isaiah has a future vision of what will come to be, we may have a hard time believing it can happen. John takes an angrier tone, claiming that someday, somehow, something will happen, but we also are called to “act now”.
But, along with such action, the reality is there is also “a waiting” during which we’re not sure, at all, what will happen. While we may be waiting in our daily lives … for that promotion, for the yearly bonus; over paperwork that will feed into our lives … college applications, a loan, and so forth, ALL of creation is “waiting patiently” for God to finish what God started in Jesus Christ.
What does it take to “wait on God” … well, there’s 2 sides:
One part of us asks “What am I going to do until “then”? and answers in “the passive”. Many of us take a “wait & see” approach, like watching the ketchup flow from the bottle, ever so slowly. Pastor Mohn reminds us that this thinking drives John the Baptist nuts! “Repent – they’re coming”. Alternatively, many of us think the world is nuts out there, and we’ll be content to sit tight ‘til He comes and “makes it right”.
I remember one Christmas season when I was traveling with my wife through Penn Station in NYC where I saw a sign for a fenced off waiting area advertising this as the Express Waiting Area. It had the ironic tinge of “non-stop, uninterrupted, accelerated waiting”, but what most characterized it was how it cordoned off its inhabitants who looked out onto the hustle-bustle of the traveling hordes and simply watched passively, waiting for their trains to where ever. It was markedly secuded and passive.
An alternative approach admits that Holy waiting is ACTIVE. A la John the Baptist. “Get out there and prepare ye the way of the Lord!” This active waiting does not necessarily imply “time busy”, but rather “Spirit busy” – stay busy in the Spirit!
Do not confuse this with distraction wherein we tend to make self the center. That takes us to where we’re not paying attention to what we’re waiting for.
Holy waiting is active and attentive, not “busy”!
It is one of being aware that God’s schedule and priorities are not ours. Holy waiting requires us to be attentive, listening to others and their needs. Holy waiting is a calling to live out our lives – in a spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of God.
This Spirit gives us help to see the future … with new eyes … and pull it into the present; it gives us the strength to live attentively; it gives us a different awareness, a different approach to time and our use of it.
Just when you think you understand something, you need to view it from a different perspective!
And if we have the faith to partake of attentive waiting, that view of the hopeful future will be one where the lion lies down with the lamb & all will be led by a little child.
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
As we continue the Advent journey, Pastor Mohn reminds us that while Isaiah has a future vision of what will come to be, we may have a hard time believing it can happen. John takes an angrier tone, claiming that someday, somehow, something will happen, but we also are called to “act now”.
But, along with such action, the reality is there is also “a waiting” during which we’re not sure, at all, what will happen. While we may be waiting in our daily lives … for that promotion, for the yearly bonus; over paperwork that will feed into our lives … college applications, a loan, and so forth, ALL of creation is “waiting patiently” for God to finish what God started in Jesus Christ.
What does it take to “wait on God” … well, there’s 2 sides:
One part of us asks “What am I going to do until “then”? and answers in “the passive”. Many of us take a “wait & see” approach, like watching the ketchup flow from the bottle, ever so slowly. Pastor Mohn reminds us that this thinking drives John the Baptist nuts! “Repent – they’re coming”. Alternatively, many of us think the world is nuts out there, and we’ll be content to sit tight ‘til He comes and “makes it right”.
I remember one Christmas season when I was traveling with my wife through Penn Station in NYC where I saw a sign for a fenced off waiting area advertising this as the Express Waiting Area. It had the ironic tinge of “non-stop, uninterrupted, accelerated waiting”, but what most characterized it was how it cordoned off its inhabitants who looked out onto the hustle-bustle of the traveling hordes and simply watched passively, waiting for their trains to where ever. It was markedly secuded and passive.
An alternative approach admits that Holy waiting is ACTIVE. A la John the Baptist. “Get out there and prepare ye the way of the Lord!” This active waiting does not necessarily imply “time busy”, but rather “Spirit busy” – stay busy in the Spirit!
Do not confuse this with distraction wherein we tend to make self the center. That takes us to where we’re not paying attention to what we’re waiting for.
Holy waiting is active and attentive, not “busy”!
It is one of being aware that God’s schedule and priorities are not ours. Holy waiting requires us to be attentive, listening to others and their needs. Holy waiting is a calling to live out our lives – in a spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of God.
This Spirit gives us help to see the future … with new eyes … and pull it into the present; it gives us the strength to live attentively; it gives us a different awareness, a different approach to time and our use of it.
Just when you think you understand something, you need to view it from a different perspective!
And if we have the faith to partake of attentive waiting, that view of the hopeful future will be one where the lion lies down with the lamb & all will be led by a little child.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Voyage of Discovery
Readings:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
As we begin the Advent journey, Pastor Johnson breathed life into The Word and its message for us today – that we live our lives, day to day, hoping for something to change ourselves. The change that Advent calls for is to see the world with new eyes, through glasses that appreciate each day as a pure and total gift, a blessing from God.
The challenge: Tomorrow, at the start of our day, we should seek to ask ourselves this question:
“Is this the day I’m going to do something different? Is this the day I’m going to accept Jesus as my role model for being an agent of change? Is this the day I will have a bold enough vision, a big enough dream to be a person of the light in a world of chatter, busyness, distractions and noise? Can I find a kind way to rattle someone’s cage of complacency or entitlement … and say how wonderful life is?”
Or will I buy into the news media’s constant barrage of concentrating on the things that divide us all, on confrontation, turmoil, strife, war, and a culture that tends to view modern life through lenses of individual accomplishments, the zero-sum game, and the rat race that the world can become … if we CHOOSE to view it that way.
From a sermon of the same name, Barack Obama once heard preached, he recalls in his book, The Audacity of Hope:
“Our culture fixates on where our values clash. Spend time actually talking to (people) and you discover (we are more alike than different). We are at an empathy deficit. Empathy calls us to take task. No one is exempt from the call to find common ground. Talk is cheap. Empathy must be acted upon. If we aren’t willing to pay a price for our common values, if we aren’t willing to make some sacrifices in order to realize them, then we should (collectively) ask ourselves whether we truly believe in them at all. (Our values) demand deeds and not just words. (In so doing), we are all shaken out of our complacency. We are forced beyond our limited vision.”
I have a quote framed in my office that I find myself looking at more and more, the older I get, not so much because it’s becoming any more the truth, and only because I am only now becoming more aware of that truth:
”The voyage of discovery requires not seeking new landscapes, but rather having new eyes.”
Professor Keating, the unconventional and counter-cultural professor who introduces his poetry students to the defunct Dead Poets’ Society has them stand on his desk to ‘view the room’. In so doing, he reminds them:
“Just when you think you understand something, you must view it from a different perspective.”
In Washington, DC, the police gathered handguns confiscated in the nation’s homicide capital. The artist Esther Augsburger welded the handguns together to re-create the image of a large plow blade, reminiscent of the scriptural text from Isaiah:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
As we begin the Advent journey, Pastor Johnson breathed life into The Word and its message for us today – that we live our lives, day to day, hoping for something to change ourselves. The change that Advent calls for is to see the world with new eyes, through glasses that appreciate each day as a pure and total gift, a blessing from God.
The challenge: Tomorrow, at the start of our day, we should seek to ask ourselves this question:
“Is this the day I’m going to do something different? Is this the day I’m going to accept Jesus as my role model for being an agent of change? Is this the day I will have a bold enough vision, a big enough dream to be a person of the light in a world of chatter, busyness, distractions and noise? Can I find a kind way to rattle someone’s cage of complacency or entitlement … and say how wonderful life is?”
Or will I buy into the news media’s constant barrage of concentrating on the things that divide us all, on confrontation, turmoil, strife, war, and a culture that tends to view modern life through lenses of individual accomplishments, the zero-sum game, and the rat race that the world can become … if we CHOOSE to view it that way.
From a sermon of the same name, Barack Obama once heard preached, he recalls in his book, The Audacity of Hope:
“Our culture fixates on where our values clash. Spend time actually talking to (people) and you discover (we are more alike than different). We are at an empathy deficit. Empathy calls us to take task. No one is exempt from the call to find common ground. Talk is cheap. Empathy must be acted upon. If we aren’t willing to pay a price for our common values, if we aren’t willing to make some sacrifices in order to realize them, then we should (collectively) ask ourselves whether we truly believe in them at all. (Our values) demand deeds and not just words. (In so doing), we are all shaken out of our complacency. We are forced beyond our limited vision.”
I have a quote framed in my office that I find myself looking at more and more, the older I get, not so much because it’s becoming any more the truth, and only because I am only now becoming more aware of that truth:
”The voyage of discovery requires not seeking new landscapes, but rather having new eyes.”
Professor Keating, the unconventional and counter-cultural professor who introduces his poetry students to the defunct Dead Poets’ Society has them stand on his desk to ‘view the room’. In so doing, he reminds them:
“Just when you think you understand something, you must view it from a different perspective.”
In Washington, DC, the police gathered handguns confiscated in the nation’s homicide capital. The artist Esther Augsburger welded the handguns together to re-create the image of a large plow blade, reminiscent of the scriptural text from Isaiah:
“…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares”
That image also brought back to mind my days in graduate school when I asked why the rather long, and complex computer programs we were to learn and run were called, respectively, Hickory and Isaiah. The first, Hickory, was used to study the behavior of wood germane to the Colorado region where the code was written. The latter was named by a fellow student, Tim Dewhurst, who wrote the code that simulated metal forming processes. My friend is today a professor at Cedarville University where he spends equal time enriching Christian lives as performing 3-dimensional analyses of complex metal forming operations.
Rather than slabs of metals in a processing plant, Tim saw a language that helped put in some technical perspective how to alter the view of one form to another. Like Esther, he saw the world with ‘new eyes’. Esther did not see guns, but a welded monument of hope.
Do we wear those kinds of glasses? Do we have that kind of hope … that seeing things differently will allow us to, through God’s grace, change the way others view the world?
If we do, Jesus and Pastor Johnson reminded us, the world will likely, on more than an occasion, see us as fools. Pastor Johnson posed an Advent question for us to consider:
“Are we courageous enough to be called a fool for the cause?”
We are promised that, if we do, Jesus will walk that road with us every step of the way, but we are asked to start today! Today, we are tasked to offer a word of kindness, of peace, a word of hopefulness where one is usually not found.
We are to see beginnings where others see only ends. We have to discover the Word by wearing new glasses, by adopting new eyes. The landscape’s what it’s been. We are tasked to view it from a different perspective.
But, first, to do that will require that we see today as a gift and ask:
“With whom will I share that gift? To whom will I give that gift back?”
There’s an old adage that goes
“The love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay. Love isn’t love … ‘til you give it away.”
Our gift of today is very much the same.
In Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town, Emily is allowed to return from the dead to experience, again, one day of her life. Mrs. Gibbs is somewhat insistent in declaring to Emily “Choose and unimportant day. Choose the least important day of your life. It will be important enough.”
Despite that advice, Emily returns on her 12th birthday to find her mother obsessing over seemingly insignificant details in the kitchen and her father otherwise overly preoccupied. She quickly realizes that humans are preoccupied with their petty occupations and small thoughts, and know little of true joy and happiness. Stimson reminds her afterward:
“Now you know what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on the feelings of those about you. To spend and waste time as though you had a million years. To be always at the mercy of one self-centered passion or another. Ignorance … and blindness!”
We don’t have time to even look at one another. We’re too busy getting from one place to the next to see what’s in between, to just enjoy or realize or BE in the moment. We’re too busy making Christmas plans to appreciate that there even IS a Christmas and come to peace with what a gift it really is.
But … WHEN we do it, when we slow down enough to get a glimpse of it – BOY, is life ever good.
Pastor Johnson and Barack Obama are reminding us and tasking us, as Jesus did, to take action today. For we do not know the day or the hour. And that day will most assuredly come, perhaps when we least expect it.
In the meantime, there are blessings to have, people to love, empathy to be acted upon, moments to be grateful for and appreciative of. We’re not talking about Christmas gifts or business meetings, or those things that seemingly can’t be placed in perspective enough for us to enjoy our daughter Emily’s 12th birthday.
We’re talking about our very souls.
So Pastor Johnson asks us to consider Jesus’ call:
“Is this the day I’m going to do something different? Is this the day I am going to have a vision, a dream big enough? Is this the day I will be a person of the light, forced beyond my limited vision?”
As Barack Obama ends his discourse on taking action:
“To do otherwise would be to relinquish our best selves.”
Rather than slabs of metals in a processing plant, Tim saw a language that helped put in some technical perspective how to alter the view of one form to another. Like Esther, he saw the world with ‘new eyes’. Esther did not see guns, but a welded monument of hope.
Do we wear those kinds of glasses? Do we have that kind of hope … that seeing things differently will allow us to, through God’s grace, change the way others view the world?
If we do, Jesus and Pastor Johnson reminded us, the world will likely, on more than an occasion, see us as fools. Pastor Johnson posed an Advent question for us to consider:
“Are we courageous enough to be called a fool for the cause?”
We are promised that, if we do, Jesus will walk that road with us every step of the way, but we are asked to start today! Today, we are tasked to offer a word of kindness, of peace, a word of hopefulness where one is usually not found.
We are to see beginnings where others see only ends. We have to discover the Word by wearing new glasses, by adopting new eyes. The landscape’s what it’s been. We are tasked to view it from a different perspective.
But, first, to do that will require that we see today as a gift and ask:
“With whom will I share that gift? To whom will I give that gift back?”
There’s an old adage that goes
“The love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay. Love isn’t love … ‘til you give it away.”
Our gift of today is very much the same.
In Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town, Emily is allowed to return from the dead to experience, again, one day of her life. Mrs. Gibbs is somewhat insistent in declaring to Emily “Choose and unimportant day. Choose the least important day of your life. It will be important enough.”
Despite that advice, Emily returns on her 12th birthday to find her mother obsessing over seemingly insignificant details in the kitchen and her father otherwise overly preoccupied. She quickly realizes that humans are preoccupied with their petty occupations and small thoughts, and know little of true joy and happiness. Stimson reminds her afterward:
“Now you know what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on the feelings of those about you. To spend and waste time as though you had a million years. To be always at the mercy of one self-centered passion or another. Ignorance … and blindness!”
We don’t have time to even look at one another. We’re too busy getting from one place to the next to see what’s in between, to just enjoy or realize or BE in the moment. We’re too busy making Christmas plans to appreciate that there even IS a Christmas and come to peace with what a gift it really is.
But … WHEN we do it, when we slow down enough to get a glimpse of it – BOY, is life ever good.
Pastor Johnson and Barack Obama are reminding us and tasking us, as Jesus did, to take action today. For we do not know the day or the hour. And that day will most assuredly come, perhaps when we least expect it.
In the meantime, there are blessings to have, people to love, empathy to be acted upon, moments to be grateful for and appreciative of. We’re not talking about Christmas gifts or business meetings, or those things that seemingly can’t be placed in perspective enough for us to enjoy our daughter Emily’s 12th birthday.
We’re talking about our very souls.
So Pastor Johnson asks us to consider Jesus’ call:
“Is this the day I’m going to do something different? Is this the day I am going to have a vision, a dream big enough? Is this the day I will be a person of the light, forced beyond my limited vision?”
As Barack Obama ends his discourse on taking action:
“To do otherwise would be to relinquish our best selves.”
The Counter Cultural King
Readings:
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
Lay Preacher: Jan Veseth-Rogers
Jan began her sermon with notions of astronomy and America’s space program, of the necessarily tedious attention to detail that studying and exploring the cosmos require, the tough challenges that must be met and overcome. Of memories of Peggy Whitson, the first female in charge of the International Space Station.
But Jan is right to remind us also that Jesus never calls himself a King. When asked if he is King of the Jews, his response is “It is you who say that I am”.
This is not the kind of King people understand. He responds in ways they do nt expect. He surprises them with his words and deed ….
The Son of Man came to seek out the lost. He is here not for the well, but to aid the sick. He came to turn the world upside down. He came with an abundance of love and compassion for the sinful, the broken, the lost.
He came for us.
His was to be a counter cultural King who turned the rule book on its head.
In the topsy-turvy world that Jesus would come to show us, He used His power to stay on the cross rather than to save himself.
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
Lay Preacher: Jan Veseth-Rogers
Jan began her sermon with notions of astronomy and America’s space program, of the necessarily tedious attention to detail that studying and exploring the cosmos require, the tough challenges that must be met and overcome. Of memories of Peggy Whitson, the first female in charge of the International Space Station.Surmounting these challenges and reckoning with the cosmos often conjures images of Leonardo DiCaprio on the bow of the Titanic shouting, “I’m King o’ the world!!!”
Or Peggy Whitson exclaiming, “I’m queen o’ the world!”
Today, Jan reminds us, is the last day of the liturgical year, but it is eerily empty of any jubilation. Christ is soon to come, but as King cut of a different cloth. This King, Jan reminds us, is given vinegar to drink; he is taunted, scoffed, mocked and ridiculed. This is the one who will be crucified with a sign above his head proclaiming “This is the King of he Jews”.
Or Peggy Whitson exclaiming, “I’m queen o’ the world!”
Today, Jan reminds us, is the last day of the liturgical year, but it is eerily empty of any jubilation. Christ is soon to come, but as King cut of a different cloth. This King, Jan reminds us, is given vinegar to drink; he is taunted, scoffed, mocked and ridiculed. This is the one who will be crucified with a sign above his head proclaiming “This is the King of he Jews”.
But Jan is right to remind us also that Jesus never calls himself a King. When asked if he is King of the Jews, his response is “It is you who say that I am”.
This is not the kind of King people understand. He responds in ways they do nt expect. He surprises them with his words and deed ….
The Son of Man came to seek out the lost. He is here not for the well, but to aid the sick. He came to turn the world upside down. He came with an abundance of love and compassion for the sinful, the broken, the lost.
He came for us.
His was to be a counter cultural King who turned the rule book on its head.
In the topsy-turvy world that Jesus would come to show us, He used His power to stay on the cross rather than to save himself.
In so doing, Jan tells us we are tasked to
Follow the King who follows his call
Today we celebrate the topsy-turvy, the ‘it ain’t what it appears to be’.
In the final chapter of the Indiana Jones trilogy, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana must pass through a labrynth by correctly choosing, at one point, the Holy Grail from among a collection of some 100 chalices and goblets. Many are encrusted in rare jewels, others ornately constructed from rare and valuable gold and silver. Indiana reaches beyond these, way to the back and, after hesitating with his fingers circling it, chooses a small and simple goblet, handcrafted from common and ordinary wood. As he tightly wraps his fingers around its stem, he says, “This … this is the cup of a carpenter.” The gatekeeper looks at Indiana, with a wisp of a smile, and tells him “You have chosen wisely.”
Let’s do the same. Let’s look with new eyes at the world this Advent, and see, among all the ornate and glittery showiness of this world, the simple cup of a carpenter; the quiet and ordinary way that God chose to have his Son enter the world. Let’s celebrate the counter cultural King.
Follow the King who follows his call
Today we celebrate the topsy-turvy, the ‘it ain’t what it appears to be’.
In the final chapter of the Indiana Jones trilogy, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana must pass through a labrynth by correctly choosing, at one point, the Holy Grail from among a collection of some 100 chalices and goblets. Many are encrusted in rare jewels, others ornately constructed from rare and valuable gold and silver. Indiana reaches beyond these, way to the back and, after hesitating with his fingers circling it, chooses a small and simple goblet, handcrafted from common and ordinary wood. As he tightly wraps his fingers around its stem, he says, “This … this is the cup of a carpenter.” The gatekeeper looks at Indiana, with a wisp of a smile, and tells him “You have chosen wisely.”
Let’s do the same. Let’s look with new eyes at the world this Advent, and see, among all the ornate and glittery showiness of this world, the simple cup of a carpenter; the quiet and ordinary way that God chose to have his Son enter the world. Let’s celebrate the counter cultural King.
Thanksgiving
Today may easily be the most awe inspiring day I have ever spent in Mt. Zion Lutheran Church since arriving here 7 years ago this November. The music, the liturgy, the testimonials and the sharing all spoke a similar message to me. That message is one of comfort from business as usual, a challenge and encouragement to think outside the box, an acceptance of things easily rejected elsewhere. We reveled in each other and our common home where we celebrate more how alike we are to one another than different from one another; where we breathe our individual gifts into ‘the mix’ and collectively harvest the rewards for God’s will to be done. We spoke honestly and courageously to eachother and told one another what we meant to one another and committed ourselves to continue being a living presence for one another. We guaranteed each other we would never be alone in a lonely world; we offered our continued collaboration with each other in a competitive world. We reaffirmed our vows to one another to continue to ‘contribute to the cost of the ride’ within our home and continue to serve beyond its walls in our community. We smiled, we hugged and we felt the overriding presence of a God who created us so individually unique and yet to coexist in peaceful harmony in community. We celebrated that community in a way I’ve never experienced before. I can say no more …. Except that there may be a website listing of the words chosen by us to describe all that we mean to one another. When that compilation is ready, you will find the link to those heartfelt feelings right here. I would encourage you to read them again and know that the very people who sit next to you in Church are family. We are family. And Mt. Zion is our blessed and sacred home away from home, the home to which we always seem to return .. again … and again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)