Tonight

Tonight we will gather to worship in anticipation of the birth of Jesus.

Tonight is about worship.
It is about a singular moment in history.
Tonight is about hope - that tomorrow does not have to be like today, that the future is held in hands more capable than ours.

Christmas  (the Christ mass)  is about Jesus.  The Word made flesh....and it points us to Dec. 26th and every day after when we are to become the Word made flesh in the world - the hands of Christ in this world for the sake of others. 

Let us rejoice at this divine, cosmic, eternal gift.

Remembering

It wasn't until my husband died that I began to understood the purpose of those memoriam on the obit page in the newspaper.  Memoriams usually have a picture, include the dates of birth and death, and have a message to the deceased.  I always wondered, "Who are these for?  Why do folks pay to have these printed?"

So the remembering will continue.  As long as the lost one is remembered, their life retains value and substance.  As long as some one remembers, the lost one is not lost forever. 

Remembering a loved one lost also keeps us mindful of the frailty of human life, gone sometimes in seconds.  In those moments we are reminded that life is not a contest but a gift.

You honor the fallen by remembering them.  Pray for them by name.  Remember them to the loved ones left behind, then live life full of compassion and generosity and grace. 

"Almighty God, look with pity upon the sorrows of our neighbors for whom we pray.  Remember them Lord, in mercy; nourish them with patience; comfort  them with a sense of your goodness; look upon them with grace; and give them peace."  Amen    (adapted from the Book of Common Prayer)

We weep; we sing

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

This is one verse of the hymn, O Come O Come Emmanuel.  David Lose, professor of preaching at Luther Seminary reflects on his experience when it came time to sing this hymn on the Sunday following the events in Newtown, CT.

“[This is] the verse based on Isaiah’s promise that “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” (9:1), and it’s appointed… for December 21^st, the winter solstice and darkest day of year.

“It was very difficult to sing this past Sunday. But over time I’ve learned… that songs are powerful. Laments express our grief and fear so as to honor these deep and difficult emotions and simultaneously strip them of their power to incapacitate us. Songs of praise and thanksgiving unite us with the One to whom we lift our voices. And canticles of courage and promise not only name our hopes but also contribute to bringing them into being.

“Songs are powerful. But at times also difficult, and the violence of the last days has robbed many of us of our voice. But it will not always be so. We will catch our breath, hold onto each other, remember that we are not alone, and lift our voices once again in lament and praise, promise and defiance.

“Mary sings (Luke 1.46-55) of God’s mercy, promising that God lifts up the lonely, the downtrodden, and the oppressed, not just of her day, but of our own as well. So as we take up her song, we call upon God to remember those families whose children did not come home from school on Friday, those families who already wrapped Christmas presents that will never be opened, those families who will struggle not just this holiday but for many to come. And we beseech God on behalf of all those who mourn, or are lonely, or do not have enough food, or live in places of strife and war, or who struggle with mental illness or care for them, and so many more.”

This is our calling as people of faith; to hold fast those who cannot stand on their own and to bring their cries before God.  As the baby Jesus is born yet again, we look into the cross and give thanks that this world does not have the last word.

David Lose’s column can be found at www.workingpreacher.org

 

Out in left field

That's where the shepherds were.  I feel really familiar with left field since, from my perspective, I wander around a little bit unaware of what is really happening around me.  Can't tell you the number of times I've had to google something or someone because the rest of the world seemed to be on board and I had no idea.

The shepherds didn't have google.  So they got angels.  First the chief angel "the angel of the Lord" and then a whole "multitude of the heavenly hosts."  Angels are understood to be 'heavenly beings' (I have no idea what that means except they clearly aren't us) whose job is to bring a message to humans from God.  We do tend to overlook that a 'heavenly host' means an army from God.  This was a divine invasion of sorts, not a Christmas concert.

Don't know about you, but it might take a whole heavenly host to get me to pay attention to God's particular message because, as I said, I am usually out in left field.

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Little more can be said when the unthinkable happens and the unfathomable is spread all over the news.  No explanations will ever suffice. 

When Herod, nervous that a King of the Jews had been born (based on information from the Wise Men) he murdered all boys under the age of two in order to kill the newborn king.  It is known as the Slaughter of the Innocents. (Mt. 2)

We have witnessed a 21st century version.  The depth of our sorrow is our part of walking with grieving parents and a shattered community.  We pray for those for whom the sight of a manger will forever bring deep feelings of loss.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Having a manger when it counts

I have written any number of stories around mangers to be a part of my Christmas preaching.  This post is different.

Today, a faithful and faith-filled brother in Christ went on to the glory that God has waiting for him.  He was completely aware that his time on this earth was drawing to a close.  It was of little concern for him because he trusted without doubt that God awaited him in the world to come.  He calmly rested as his body shut down.  The child in a manger was the savior waiting for him on the other side.

That's what I mean by 'having a manger when it counts.'
Rest eternal grant him O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him.

"My soul magnifies the Lord"

The Magnificat

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and

        my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

That is what these words of Mary are called (it has to do with how it is rendered in Latin).  This is  wonderful poetry for which much beautiful music has been written.  Evening Prayer includes them in the liturgy.

They are also a call to justice.  Mary is not solely concerned with this miraculous pregnancy simply for her own sake.  Oh no, Mary is announcing the long awaited coming of God's justice: where the proud are scattered; the powerful are brought down, the hungry are filled with good things and the rich are sent away empty. (Luke 1.46-56)

If you have any experience with justice in the real world, you know it is never an easy road.  When you are toppling the powerful and lifting up the lowly there is going to be a lot of push back, a few deaths and a great deal of suffering.  Yet, this is Mary's song and Mary's hope: that God's justice will prevail in this world and in her time.

If you just thought she was a pretty little thing on the Christmas cards, well, I guess you'll just have to re-think that one.

Counting down....or anticipating joy?

Even the simplest of Christmas celebrations requires a bit of extra work especially for all those with several young children, yet perhaps if all you are doing is 'counting down' than it is time to re-set the 'Christmas prep' meter.

Maybe if the days of Advent were seen as 24 days to build peace and family strength around the coming Christ child, the fury of it all would die out, and we could work on anticipating the joy of Christ's birth.

What are you doing to make this a season when peace truly comes to all humankind?

Behold! part 2

When we last saw Joseph he was confronted by an angel saying, "Behold."

Behold!  I have good news.  Behold!  Take the pregnant Mary to be your wife.  Behold! Do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid to have your value system turned upside down, to put aside the rules by which you had governed your life, to be told up is down and down is up.

Joseph went along with the request.  Perhaps it was the news that the child of Mary's was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was to have a special name and all that convinced Joseph to go ahead with the wedding.

But I would guess that the decision to act counter to all the societal norms by which he had been formed was the greater challenge for Joseph. In a culture where men prayed prayers of thanksgiving that they were not born a woman, Joseph was being asked to take a back seat, give up his male perogatives and take into his house, include in his lineage, a child who was not his.

I think that Joseph had to overcome a bit of ingrained pride.  He did it; he acted as the angel requested.  There is no indication that the decision haunted him in the night. 

I'm not so sure it would have been the same for me.  We often say 'Pride goes before the fall'.  In Joseph's case, however,  pride must go before the fulfillment.  Would I have been as willing?

Behold! part 1

This is the Behold! of the angel who appears to Joseph.  This is that 'behold.'

This 'behold' is about to ask Joseph to re-define his entire world; to turn everything upside down and inside out.  This is not some casual change (a new smartphone)  or even a mind-bending change (consider what it would be like if today, out of the blue, the government announced that we would all now drive on the left instead of the right!).  This is bigger than that.

This is about meaning and purpose and things eternal.  This angel is asking Joseph to shift everything that he has been taught, and I would imagine, held dear at some level, and set it aside for a new path and a new way of acting.

"Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife."  Joseph thought he was going out on a limb by considering quietly divorcing Mary so to save her from public ridicule.  The rules he had ordered his life by did not really support even this merciful solution. 

Now the angel was telling him to set all this aside and trust in God by taking Mary as his wife, even when the child she was carrying was not his own.  He was to take this child into his family and include him in his family's lineage.

Angels bring messages, but not always messages we want to receive.  Watch for Behold! part 2

Who's calling?

"I need to remind myself every now-and-then that when I am called to help someone they are not calling me......I am being sent by Him (or Her)."

Blessed to be a blessing...........Amen

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

When Jesus approaches the city of Jerusalem in his last days (according to Matthew) he weeps, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!"  Mt.23.37

As we approach the celebration of the Christ child's birth in Bethlehem, we must also keep a picture of Jerusalem in the background, for the import of one is dependent on the events in the other.
In 2012, we are challenged to keep a realistic picture of Jerusalem (in all its political, historic and religious depth) on our mind as well lest we make the incarnation of God in Jesus as sentimental picture of familial warmth. 

That is, if Jesus is in fact at the center of God's plan for all creation, then that ancient city of Jerusalem, still wracked by political agendas and religious extremists, continues to be a part of God's plan for the world.

A good friend has been traveling with an official Lutheran delegation and has had as conversation partners speakers from Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, from the far right to the far left on both sides.  His trip has drawn to a close and here is his final post, a quote fromYossi Klein Halevi, a  journalist in Israel

              "When I become too immersed in the political work of a journalist, I sometimes hear
              the words of Sheykh Ibrahim: 'There are enough politicians in the land of the prophets.
              But where are the prophets in the land of the prophets?' I tell myself that it is precisely
              in times like these that the beautiful teachings of faith become either real or mere
                    sentiment. More than ever, the goal of a spiritual life in the Holy Land is to live with  an open heart at the center of unbearable tension."

We are called to just such a life, lived on the razor's edge of reason and trust, clarity and mystery, and a hope that passes all understanding.  Shalom

Faith as business

Every year every ELCA congregation is asked to complete a parochial report.  It is a report filled with  numbers and percentages that is intended (I think) to adjudicate the health of the ELCA.

How many new members?
How many baptized?  adult?  children?
How many confirmed?
How many died?
What is your average worship attendance?
How is your membership defined by racial/ethnic group?

Along with people numbers, we submit $ numbers as well.  Assets, income, benevolence, expenses.

Every year in every congregation I have served we have submitted our parochial report, and on time as well, so please don't read the following as the complaint of a disgruntled and uncooperative member of the clergy.

Numbers have nothing to do with faith, faithfulness, spiritual growth and ethical living.  Numbers have nothing to do with trusting in God when all indications are that God is not paying attention.  Numbers are easy to count and to report, that's all.  (Still many congregations don't even do that little bit).

Choosing to live in the footsteps of Jesus, serving food at the Samaritan Center, giving to disaster victims in NY area, building a pre-school in Zambia, expanding the opportunity for our young people to attend camp, visiting the sick and shut-in, praying for people we do not know, figuring out how to live and die faithfully.....that is the hard stuff.

And there is no place for that on the form.
Let's keep doing it just the same.