Pint sized Jesus......

For God so loved the world that he gave his own son

 so that all who believe in him might not perish 

but have everlasting life.   John 3.16

When we restrict Jesus' saving grace to those we find acceptable, those we know personnally, those who look or act like us...or any of a thousand other descriptions that fall short of 'the whole world' we take the beloved Son of God, the Creator of Life and

we cut him down to size to fit into our back pockets, our pre-convceived notions, our rational explanations, our societal norms.  We take the Savior of the Whole World and make him the savior of our small group of friends.

Jesus' love covers us.  Jesus gives us life.  Jesus releases us from the prison of 'making the grade' and 'passing the test' and 'working out our own salvation'.  Working as a Creative Team, God and Jesus (God in Jesus, Jesus in God) love us into new life.

Every part of us.

Every one of us.

All the time.

The day we start believing that......really believing that.......is our resurrection day.  It is the day the tomb no longer holds us.  It is the day our transformation begins, along with a good measure of joy and gratitude and desire to be all in all in Christ.

You can never make the love of God in Jesus too big.  It is too big.  Thanks be to God.
                                                         

Running on empty.........

It was this picture that gave me this thought.  Perhaps the wondrous miracle at the wedding of Cana (turning water into wine) was more than just as announcement of who Jesus is.  Since it is this story which opens John's gospel, I have always engaged the story as a revelation of Jesus. But what if this story is equally a revelation of who we are?  Or, more accurately, how we are?

 Running on empty.  

Those Cana wedding guests were eating, and laughing, and, totally unaware, drinking up the very last of the wine.  Soon this party would be running on empty.  All that fun would come to a screeching halt.

What if this story is about the state of this world?  the state of us?  What if this world functions like a party going full blast totally unaware that, in just a moment, it was all coming to a screeching halt?

What if this story is about our great need, and God's gift of Jesus as Savior?  

Are you running on empty?  Let me introduce you to this Jesus.

Come holy Jesus

Infant holy, infant lowly

for his bed a cattle stall;

Oxen lowing, little knowing

Christ the child is Lord of all.

Swiftly winging, angels singing, 

bells are ringing, tidings bringing;

Christ the child is Lord of all!

Christ the child is Lord of all!   

ELW 276

That is the story we prepare to hear again.....that the infant born in a cattle stall is a holy infant.  God's unique incarnation.  The Anointed One.  Lord of all Creation.  Prince of Peace.  

The beginning of the end.

The end of sorrow and  hate.  The end of fear and longing.  The end of oppression and racism.  The end of all that deals death and crushes God's beloved creation.

Tonight we tell again the story of the moment when the world shifted and 'all that is' began the journey to 'all that it will be.'  It is a tortuous journey that saps our energy.  We struggle to keep Jesus in sight as we wrestle with fear and death and hatred and our own sinful behavior. Each day we try to remember that our hope needs to be in Jesus because nothing else in all creation can save us. 

Tonight we will hear how the hope of the world has been born.  

Don't keep that good news to yourself.  All creation needs the gift of life that Jesus brings.  Let the whole creation cry, "Come, holy Jesus."

A blessed Christmas to you all.  

John the Baptist .....who is this guy?

We welcome Bishop John Macholz today as he reflects on John the Baptist and his appearance in Luke's story.  Luke 3.1-6 John has always been an odd ball character to me. If one reads through the first chapter of Luke and the song of Zechariah which brings it to a close, one discovers that after Zech is done singing, John disappears into the wilderness and  "he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel." Was he alone? What was he doing? Did he have any physical contact with anyone? How many years did he spend there? All questions without answers.  But then he arrives on the scene, in the same wilderness, and begins to proclaim a baptism of repentance; a turning away from sin and turning toward God. We'll hear more from him next week and his language will become a bit, well, abrasive and more personally focused. And therein lies my concern, he seems to be speaking directly to me. In fact, he seems to know me a bit too well! Maybe he doesn't know my sins specifically, but it's pretty clear that he knows I'm a sinner and in that, I am convicted.  When I was growing up, Advent was purple in color and penitential in nature. Sometime, long ago, it seems, it shifted in color and somewhat in nature but not completely; there is still that call to repentance that reminds me who I am and what I have done as John calls me back to the recognition that I am, plain and simple, a sinner in need of changing. And then I realize I cannot do that alone, by myself, left to my own devices.  Which is when the hope and promise of the season arise and arrive as I realize that I can't do it on my own but, the Dawn from on High that breaks upon us can! John is preparing a way for the Coming One by preparing our hearts to recognize that we are desperately in need of this One promised long, long ago. And in that moment of recognition, forgiveness, mercy and hope flood into the darkness of life and bring with it the brightness of a new light and the hope we so desperately need.  John is still a bit odd in my mind but then again, it often takes 'odd' to get me to recognize what is right before my eyes-the need for this Savior and his love and life. Prepare the way!  Many thanks to our guest blogger Pr. John Macholz

Palms and passion

It's called the Triumphal Entry.

Jesus rides a donkey into the city of Jerusalem, taking the route that prophets had laid out for the Messiah.  Crowds gathered quickly, shouting  Hosanna!  Hosanna!  They cut palms and laid them on his path to honor the 'anointed one' who was coming to save them.

That's exactly what he did.  Just not the way they imagined.  Not the way anyone imagined.

Once again God surprised us, coming on a donkey, coming to die.  It is no surprise that many rejected Jesus' claims to be God's beloved one.  We don't like when God's actions upset our apple cart, challenge our definitions of God, and color outside our lines of acceptability.

But then we are not in charge, no matter how hard we try to be.

It's notions just like those that got us into this mess in the first place.
One of the things Jesus came to do was to save us from ourselves.
Hosanna! Hosanna!

What child is this?

What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping,

Who angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King

whom shepherds guard and angels sing.

Haste Haste to bring him laud

the babe, the son of Mary.  ELW 296

Isn't that the big question?  What child is this?

Everyone has questions.  Everyone.

Not everyone is absolutely sure about any of this:

 not about the angels, or the baby, or a Savior, or even God.

So don't fool yourself into believing that there are those who understand

 and those who do not.

Everyone has questions.  

God offers to us this story, full of mystery and grace

and invites us to find ourselves....and lose ourselves in it.

A blessed Christmas to all.

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.