The first Sunday of Christmas - December 30, 2012

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

• When I lived and ministered in northern Texas, after our Christmas Day meal, a few of us would get in a car and go out to look at the lights and decorations on the houses. It seemed we never had time to do this before Christmas Day. Among all the lights and decorations and inflatable things on people's lawns, we'd often see what we considered to be a sad sight – we'd see Christmas trees already tossed out for the garbage with the torn wrapping paper... and this on Christmas night!
• I have to admit that we found this troubling. First, for the bunch of us, Christmas was a season, not a one day celebration. Christmas extended until Epiphany. My family celebrated Christmas that way as well. Part of that was to honour the tradition of many of our friends who were Christians of the Orthodox or Eastern Catholic churches. Part of it was our own church traditions. And part of it was simply a desire not to let Christmas go.
• For many of us, there's a desire not to let Christmas go, but to carry on the celebration beyond the usual times for such a celebration.
• Well, there is a way and it doesn't involve keeping our houses decorated for Christmas for most of the year. Our reading from Paul's letter to the Colossians tells us a way to live Christmas rather than simply to celebrate it one day or a few days out of the month.
• As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
• Paul is telling us that we are chosen by God to be holy and in that we emulate Christ Jesus – in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. What Paul called “meekness” is not what we'd understand it to be. For us, being “meek” implies the inability to stand up for one's self, or in plain word, to be a doormat. In Paul's understanding, it is related to humility and the willingness to be small. It is the ability to see ourselves as we are.
• Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
• Forgiveness is certainly a way for us to imitate or emulate Jesus, who forgave his executioners and preached forgiveness to all. This flow from the forgiveness we each have received from God. We only know how to forgive because we have first been forgiven. One more modern translation of the Lord's Prayer puts it this way: “forgive us our sins, and in the same way, we forgive those who have sinned against us.”
• Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Indeed there is no better way to follow, learn from, and imitate Jesus than to love. It is what Jesus called his new commandment, given to his disciples at the Last Supper : Love one another.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.

Being peaceful and thankful are often easier said than done. Still, these are more attitudes and ways of being than emotions or feelings. We need not feel grateful to actually be grateful. In the same way, we need not feel peaceful to believe that Christ's peace is already our's.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

Here Paul reminds his listeners and readers to make use of the Word of God, to teach, to instruct, to correct and to pray. Again, living in the Word of God is more a matter of attitude and dedication than it is a matter of feeling it.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Lastly, Paul tells the Christians at Colossae (and through them, us) to “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Our entire lives, each and every day, can be dedicated to the following of Jesus, making every day a sort of Christmas. There is nothing good or healthy or even joyful that cannot be done in the name of the Lord, not as an act of worship necessarily, but with thanksgiving to God for the ability and the opportunity. I suppose that would also mean that whatever can't be done with gratitude in the name of the Lord, might be something we might not want to do it at all.

So we can be children of the Manger, people of the Incarnation each and every day. I suppose we will take down the decorations when the time comes and I suppose we will look forward to the next year's celebration. I'd hope we would keep the light of the manger, the awe of the shepherds, the gifts of the Magi, and a constant eye to the presence of God within us and among us, each and every day.

Christmas is not just a day; it is a season. Christmas is not just one holiday; it is every day.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Christmas Eve - December 24, 2012

{This sermon was offered at the later service at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Aylmer, ON. The early service's message was done with young kids and puppets. There was no sermon text; in fact, I was lucky to get a word in edge-wise.}

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

• There's a story told of a pastor with a family. The family included a young daughter. This daughter had a lot of trouble getting to sleep one night. It seems she was afraid of the dark.
• Her father – as a good pastor – assured her that there was nothing to fear in the dark. There were no goblins there and not boogie-man. Besides she always had God there with her. God would never leave her and would be with her always.
• The little girl appeared not to be satisfied by this. She said “I know that, Daddy! But I want somebody with skin on!”
• Maybe we're all like that: we know God is present with us, but we want somebody “with skin on.”
• Is that too much to ask? Now that we think about it, did we ever ask for that?
• As Christians, we're quite used to a Christmas- based understanding of how God relates to humankind. Maybe we're too used to the scene of the manger, the shepherds, and even the wise men. It becomes “cute” and “safe.”
• Please don't get me wrong! I like everything about and around Christmas. I do the “cute” thing at the early service with a children's sermon involving puppets and such. I do the “safe” thing as well; I enjoy looking at Christmas trees and I'm fascinated by the Weihnachtspyramide ... as many of you know.
• However we're too used to this. Maybe if our breath doesn't catch and our eyes don't open a little wider when we face the lights and the crèche and the powerful story of the singing of the heavenly choir on that night so long ago... well, maybe we need to take a second look with fresh eyes.
• Maybe we need to remember how afraid we are of the dark. Maybe we need to remember that there are no goblins or boogles lurking there, but there are things we'd rather not look at or be seen by. We know God is with us and we still need to remember that we need “somebody with skin on.”
• That is what Christmas is all about. Our gracious and loving God loves us so much that he became “somebody with skin on.”
• Our gracious and loving God loves us so much that this “somebody with skin on” subjected himself to what everybody goes through.
• This “somebody with skin on” became poor both in comparison to what he really is and in comparison to many people of his time and of any time.
• Christmas involves “somebody with skin on.” John the Evangelist puts it more theologically and more poetically: “The Word became flesh and made his home among us.”
• Luke the Evangelist puts it this way, the words of the heralding angel to the terrified shepherds: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
• To go even further, the apostle Paul wrote this to the Philippians: “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness...”
• All of these words are moving and powerful. I don't think we could live our lives without them. They tell us what we need to know about what we want to know.
• What do we want to know? It's really simple, isn't it? When it comes to living our lives, we all have that same longing that the little girl in the story I told earlier had.
• Our gracious and loving God knows what we long for and it is what God wants as well. What we want and hope for is “somebody with skin on.” That is what we celebrate with special emphasis this night.
• “The Word became flesh and made his home among us.”

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent

• I started this sermon earlier this week, with the hope of coming to some wonderful insight to share with all of you. We're deep into Advent and the preparation for Christmas, both in church and in our homes and places of business and there's always something to preach upon whether it is Paul's exhortation to joy and gentleness or where we might find the Good News in John the Baptizer's rather direct “fire and brimstone” preaching to the people of his day.
• Then events caught up with me. First came a report of a man wounding 22 children and an adult at a kindergarten in China. Details were sketchy, but it was known that the man used a knife.
• Later Friday brought the news of the horrendous tragedy in Newtown, CT in the United States. I don't think I need to go over the details of this tragedy, so I'll just say that a large number of very young elementary school students as well as teachers and school administrators were shot and killed in a terrifying situation at the school.
• Then there was Saturday. News reports came of a man shooting and wounding 3 people at a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama before a police constable shot and killed him. My heart sank once again.
• I'm almost afraid to look at the news from now on. Yet, I need to. I need to know what is going on, as much as it tears me up. I've gotten to the point where I don't have any words to say. I couldn't possibly speak to the horror of either of the situations; there are no words that could make any difference. Prayer almost seems too simple and there are no words appear to come from God that would be enough to heal the hearts of those who suffer from such violence.
• Since then, the blaming has begun. The violence is laid at the door of the pervasive “gun culture” of the United States, the lack of prayer in schools, the absence of armed teachers in the school, or the use of psychiatric medications and their side effects. The fringe groups are calling this God's wrath and punishment over gay marriage. I'm waiting for in inevitable shriek that says the federal government planned and did this action as a provocation and an excuse to take away law-abiding citizens' guns.
• Frankly this stuff sickens me about as much as the incidents themselves. Families are grieving and small people want to make political hay from the tragedy.
• I hope we're thoughtful people and won't jump to such conclusions.
• We are still left with some echoing questions; Where is there meaning in such senseless violence? Where is grace in such grace-less moments?
• I don't have the answers. To say “It's God's will” would not help anyone and I think it would be a horrible lie. The killing of innocent children would NOT be the will of God, even though God would permit such a thing to happen. To cry out for vengeance would more likely play into our personal desires to play God than to offer some comfort to the grieving and broken people involved. To jump to conclusions about what caused it or who was behind the incident could be either hysteria or selfish opportunism.
• So where are we. The best place we might be is in mourning for shattered families and a shattered peace. Many of us – too many of us – know what it is suffer violence and to endure loss. This gathering of Christians knows and feels.
• Maybe John the Baptizer's preaching holds something for us today. Let's get beyond his calling names like “brood of vipers” and go to his answer to the people's question, “What then should we do?”
• John responds in his blunt, prophetic style: Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise... Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you... Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."
• For us today (no tax collectors or Roman legionaries among us so far as I know), the preaching of John is very real, very powerful, and really very simple. Justice... Humility... Community... Concern for others...
• Justice - as the tax collectors were told to collect their proper amount, as the soldiers were told to be honest and not stoop to extortion, we are reminded that we are not to see others as means for us to get rich... or famous... or powerful.
• Humility and Community– Take your pay, John tells the soldiers, and be content. Two-coats should share with no-coats and food is the property of all. We're all in this together and we'll only get where we're going together.
• Concern for others – None of us are the center of the universe. As I said, we'll only get where we're going if we go together.

Before all this, John lays out a warning: “Who warned you...?” What he is saying is “Take this seriously!!” John's preaching is not just a novelty to be experienced. He's not out in the wilderness, dressed in a hair shirt and eating grasshoppers for fun and financial gain or for the people's entertainment. He's a prophet of the old mold. He is serious and he asks his listeners to be serious about it, too.

It terrible to say that the events of the past few days should make us think about how we treat each other and what we value. It might be more terrible to think that these events WON'T make us think.

John's preaching stands parallel to the events of the day. We still have to prepare for the One Who Is To Come... and not just by putting up lights and wrapping presents. As John would say “Bear fruits worthy of repentance. ”

Sermon for Advent II - 9 December 2012

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius... the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

• Luke seems to take great pains to declare who was in charge when John began his ministry. He mentions the name of the Roman emperor, the Roman governor of the area, the puppet rulers of the surrounding places (all of whom were propped up by Roman power), and finally the names of the high priests of the Temple, powerful functionaries put in office yearly by the Roman government. But in reality, do we really care? Is it really that important who held the reins of power?
• Let me ask you this:
• Who is the mayor of Aylmer?
• Who is the chief executive of Malahide Township?
• Who is the premier of Ontario?
• Who is the prime minister of Canada?
• Do these people matter to us? Probably so. Besides electing them or their party at various times, they have various things to do with how we live.
• Who do we talk to to have that pothole fixed?
• Who do we complain to (or about) when various things don't work in the place we live?
• Besides that, another reason to know who's who in government is to situate event is time.
• If I were to mention “Rae Days”, I'm sure most of you here could tell me what you were doing and what you were involved in then, even if you could not tell me the exact dates.
• Luke mentions that list of rulers to situate John and his message and ministry in real history. There were a number of calendars in use at the time, and to mention in what year of what emperor's reign something happened, allows anyone to find the time when John appeared.
• John's preaching was at a certain real time in history. He preached to real people in real places and talked about real things. What he had to say was not said in a misty time of myth and legend, in the 'fabled halcyon days of yore', if you will; it was said at this place, at this time, to these people.
• John's message was important to the times because he proclaimed the fulfilment of the promise of the Messiah. He was setting the stage in a way and preparing the people in calling as he did for a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.
• This coming of the Messiah took place in a very real situation. That is why Luke mentioned all those rulers. To put the coming of the Messiah in a certain place and frame it in a certain time helps to make it real for those who would read or hear the Gospel.
• Admittedly, we are not as familiar with the politicians mentioned in the passage as people of Luke's time would have been. Still, it helps us to place the ministry of John and of Jesus in real life.
• And that is a very, very important thing.
• If we separate God from our daily lives, we might as well forget the whole thing.
• We do not follow or worship a God who is unconcerned with our lives. We do not follow a Saviour who is unfamiliar with the troubles all of us face. Jesus came into our world to be with us.
• I had a professor in seminary who said something in class that has always stuck with me. While discussing God's salvation and God's concern for the people, he said in a very powerful voice for such a small man:“God doesn't save souls; God saves people!”
• Because God saves people, there is no aspect of our lives that God does not reach out to. That reach may bring blessing or healing for all aspects of our lives are not equally healthy. God wishes us to be whole and that is where holiness will be found. If we are redeemed and saved as whole people, then all flesh shall see the salvation of God – all creation will be redeemed; all that exists, within us as well as beyond us.
• This may take some work, as people say. The refining (to use Malachi 's words) and making straight (as Isaiah puts it) happens to us every day in the lives we live at home, in the workplace, in school, with friends, with family, and even by ourselves.
• We meet God where we meet everything else – in the struggles, the defeats and the victories of our daily lives. It is there our redemption takes place. It is there that God molds us into what we are to be and what we are to become. If that sounds like an extensive construction and renovation project, you are absolutely right. I may be a bigger job than the raising of valleys and the lowering of mountains that John filled his preaching with.
• Never fear; our God is up to it.
• Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

First Sunday in Advent - 2 December 2012

"Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”

• Our new church year begins at the old one ended – with emphasis on the end of all things. These are not things that are easy to hear. We often take the signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God as an end of things. And we humans love to focus on the end of things, don't we?
• If you doubt what I just said, think back a bit. The so-called Mayan calendar ends this year and some folk are scared. The huge stone that holds the calendar of the Mayan people ends this month, December 21^st , in fact. {So there's only 19 more shopping days!} Some people have jumped on this and say that since the calendar ends, the world must end, too. Scholars have consulted Mayan elders about this and they say they know nothing about it. A friend of mine says that like all calendars, when it ends, you go back to the beginning and start over.
• Do you remember the doomsday posters and billboards that were up and visible in our own area not too long ago. A “prophet” said that the world would end on a certain date and told his followers to rid themselves of all their earthly goods and be ready for the end of the world. We all know that it didn't happen at the time predicted.
• Once again, we've reached Advent and we hear the age-old cry to “Watch!” and to “Stay awake!” Once again we might wonder why watch and stay awake. Again we might wonder what we watch and stay awake for.
• The double focus of the season gives us an answer or at least some hints.
• In Advent, we look back to the coming of Christ among us as the Word made Flesh. We hear the ancient prophecies that sustained the people of Israel over the long years of waiting for their redemption. Those prophecies sustain the Jewish people even today, as they wait for Messiah. In those prophecies, we are made aware of their faith and also of their longing for redemption and salvation. Some of this is reflected in our Advent music. Is it possible to sing or hear “O Come, O come, Emmanuel” and not be aware of that age-old longing?
• Of course, our Advent celebrations prepare us to celebrate the birth of Jesus those many years ago. The old stories will be told, to the delight of children... of any and all ages. We need time to get our spirits ready. The season of Advent allows us to build strength and anticipation over a period of time. At one time, it was a period of external preparation with included fasting and considering what our Christmas celebrations are like, there might be some wisdom in that!
• Finally, Advent turns our attention to the final things, to the things that are yet to come. Here the advise of Jesus to his disciples – which includes us – comes into play. "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”
• Jesus teaching and preaching are full of images that would be familiar to his listeners. Using images from their every-day lives would bring the message to them in a way they could better comprehend. Here it is the blossoming of the fig tree and all trees. It is possible to tell the seasons from how the trees respond to the change of the seasons. Now if there ever was a congregation that would understand this passage, at least in understanding how to look for the coming season by new growth, it should be this one!
• New growth means a new season and this new season is the continual message behind our celebration of Advent. We look at what has happened and we look to what is yet to happen. We don't know exactly what will happen or what the time-line will be. We don't know what this new season will look like. We just trust in the promise that it is coming, like the promise of Spring and new growth that is held in every winter. This is why Jesus would tell his disciples “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
• So why should we watch and wait? Simply because a prophet or two tell us to? Not at all! We watch and wait because everything we know of God tells us that God is not finished with his people or his creation. Redemption and salvation have been promised and renewal and re-creation are taking place.
• This is what we watch for and wait for. We watch for the fullness of salvation and the re-creation and renewal of all that God has created. Our lives, physical, spiritual, and what-ever else there might be are included in that renewal and re-creation. Jesus points to the fig tree and indeed to any tree as a sign and a reminder of this.
• Change is frightening. No one really wants to use a brand new but unfamiliar hymnal, do they? Yet change comes, wished for or not, welcomed or not. We can desire it or we might try to avoid it, but it will come. To refuse to watch for it might be to be caught unaware. And if the change is from the action and will of God, being caught completely unaware could be at the least unfortunate and at worst disastrous.
• Advent is our yearly reminder that all time and every season is ultimately in God's hands. It is also a yearly reminder of just what lengths to which God would go for our salvation and our lives with him. The reminder is just what Jesus said – as simple and as powerful as the trees outside our windows.

"Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”