January 29, 2017, The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

I’m trying very hard to find positive examples for us to follow today. It is certainly easy to find negative examples, so let me try some unfamiliar ground. I have been a life-long fan of Boston teams. I have even been a fan of the New England Patriots, long before they were any good at football. In the decades of the seventies and the eighties, they were a laughing-stock. Now others despise them because they win too much. The difference is the mindset or the culture of the team.

The head coach is often disparaged because people think he cheats, or he wears a dull grey hoodie, or he grunts at press conferences. What he has brought to the team is a no-nonsense approach. Do your job. Good players are let go when they demand too much. It’s all about the team and everyone doing what they need to do to win.

I remember when the Patriots had a few good players – and it was all about a few spectacular plays and maybe a few wins, and maybe some success as a team. I raise this because a change in attitude that everyone accepts has made a great difference in this team. Attitude can make a great difference in our life together as well. Sports metaphors are often stretched to make the wrong lessons. We are not athletes, and we are not seeking success by our natural abilities, nor are we trying to achieve worldly acclaim. We are trying to be faithful together and to live as God calls us. Are we on the right path?

Micah is speaking to people who have lost their way. He is discouraged, and he imagines a heavenly court where the people are guilty of failing to follow God. What is required? Through Micah, God commands that we “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly” with God. All three aspects are with God – not just humility. We are to do right actions – with the help of God. We are to do good things out of love (not fear or pride) – with the guidance of God. We are to be humble, or live in a right attitude towards God and others. This is God’s more articulate, “Do your job.”

Jesus proclaims a similar and expanded message in his sermon on the mount. The blessings sound “spiritualized” compared to a familiar version in Luke. Jesus is not discounting the lives of the poor or the weak. In fact, the attitude he is describing is that of the mass of many poor people who make up the majority, who are trying to live faithfully. The poor in spirit are also the meek. Those who mourn the failure of God’s people are also the ones hungry for righteousness. They are also merciful or compassionate. They are seeking peace, as an act of reconciliation. They are pure in heart. The reward is persecution. They will be reviled and persecuted and spoken about falsely. This is the expected reward of living as Jesus calls us.

Why is this? To accept the ways of Jesus is to reject the ways of this world and it’s values and its rewards. We live under the illusion that our world shares our values. Increasingly this is not true. In the early church, there was a need to stand in opposition to the ways of honor and shame. The church opposed the machinery of the empire. They rejected the conventional measure of blessing – money, status, and power. The early church declared Jesus to be Christ, the anointed one, the Son of God – as opposed to Caesar. They accepted persecution because of this.

When Paul writes to the Corinthians, he no longer praises their gifts and their wisdom. He reminds them of the foolishness of the cross. The message of the gospel is not wise or clever. The good news is a gift that we don’t figure out as much as accept and agree to live into. From the outside it looks foolish. From the outside we are naïve, or stuck in the past. We are not trendy or creative. We have nothing to brag about. We know we are called to follow Jesus, who gives us life. The act of following is the path of living as Jesus lived. We try to do right and we ask for forgiveness when we fail. We have no idea when we will ever arrive at our destination, but we keep on going.

In the past, we could have taken pride in our liturgy or our status as a de-facto established church. No one takes any of that seriously anymore. We have nothing to sell, and nothing to boast of – except the love of God given freely and gladly taken. That’s all we have to offer. It doesn’t look like much, yet it is what changes hearts and changes the world.

God has no need for any of us to be superstars. God needs us to walk the path we’ve been given each day. We are called to live rightly, as God shows us. We are called to do good things out of the love we have been given. We are called to be humble and remember that all that we have is a gift from God. This changes us and it has the potential to change the people we meet.

Coach Belichek says, “Do you job.” That’s all he expects (which turns out to be quite a lot.) We can’t be overwhelmed by all the nonsense we see in the world. We can’t be perpetually outraged by what we hear. (Perhaps we shouldn’t even be surprised.) We can seek to know God and to follow Jesus. This may be even more important than we thought. God will use us to accomplish greater things than we ever thought possible. God will use us to bring light and life to the world.

Hope in a time of darkness, Jan. 22, 2017

In many ways we could say that we live in a time of darkness. We are worried about the future. We worry about violence and a poor economy. Perhaps we are a little short sighted and lack perspective, but right or wrong, we live in a time of great anxiety. We don't need reports that everything is really OK. We don't need some sort of economic measure that tells us everything is progressing as it should. We need the spiritual virtue of hope. We need to grow in our ability to trust that God will bring us what is promised - not just what we expect.

Isaiah reminds us of hope in a dark time. Sometimes we hear this prophecy at Christmas time. It is the lands on the border that will see the light first. It is the poor people on the edge who will see God first. Partly, this is a promise that the tribes that never found their promised land, the tribes that never conquered or overthrew their overlords - they would one day get what was promised. It is also a reminder that God always blesses those most in need of blessing first. This is God's preference. The outcasts, the disenfranchised, the poor, the powerless, the forgotten ones are always first in line with God. So we can have hope. We might discover that we are not first in God's line (there are others in more need than us), and that God will rescue us when we think all is lost.

Jesus goes to Galilee. It is the very land that Isaiah prophesied would most need saving. It is a land of many masters - the Romans. Jesus retreats here because John has been arrested by the powers that do not believe in God. It is here that Jesus begins to proclaim good news. It is in this place of darkness and this time of darkness that Jesus proclaims a message of light.

We live in a different time of darkness. We are free to choose our leaders and we can't agree on the directions we should go. Neighbors don't know how to talk to each other. We are surrounded by wealth and abundance and we never seem to have enough and we don't know how to share. Perhaps we have traded good news for something else.

Paul begins to talk about the central problem to the church in Corinth. They are gifted and blessed and they are a mess. They are terribly divided. One group vies against another and they all have favorite leaders around whom they gather. Paul wants none of this. He won't even claim authority over any he has baptized. He won't claim to own any party on his behalf. Paul points only to the gospel. He will only proclaim the power of the cross. He admits that it sounds like foolishness, yet it is the foolishness of the cross that saves us.

How willing are we to embrace the foolishness of the cross in this time of darkness? We want to create a reasonable and a rational answer to the problems of our time. We want people to understand what we are about. We want to create a friendly space foe people to find God's love.  Are we doing this for God or for ourselves? I think the best answer we can give in our time is the message of the cross, not the message of some kind of easy or popular alternative. We have to be willing to proclaim hope in darkness. We have to be willing to walk in the dark places where the message needs to be heard most.

We hear again the call to follow. Peter and Andrew and James and John abandon their nets and follow Jesus to fish for people. It sounds so miraculous. How did they find the courage to drop everything? Perhaps it isn't about them. Their families owned boats. They seem to have a large and profitable enterprise. Perhaps they had the means to take a break from work and follow a Rabbi. It might have even been a point of pride for the families that their sons were studying the Torah. The act of following is interesting, but much more extraordinary is the message! They followed Jesus as he went from town to town. He taught, he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, and he cured every disease and every sickness.

We want to grow as a church. We want to make a difference in this time of darkness. Maybe we have to abandon the desire to find what ever we need to be comfortable. Maybe the gospel isn't about comfort but about hope. We don't need to entertain people. We don't even need to serve their needs (even if we could figure out what people wanted). The good news is first proclaimed in a time and place of darkness. Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to pretend there is no darkness.

We are called to engage the world around us. The darkest parts first! We need courage to enter those dark places and meet people where they are. Can we hear people's fears without judgment? Can we hold the sick and embrace the diseased? Do we have the courage to proclaim good news when we are surrounded with nothing but evidence to the contrary? We will find that (as we suspected) it is not about us. It is not about this church. The gospel is a message of hope if we are willing to give it away without any expectations.

When we are most discouraged is when God can begin to make a new thing in us. When we fail, we have more sense to sit with other people who have failed. When we are sick, we can sympathize with the diseased and the broken. When we can't tell what will happen next we are more likely to look to the promises of God. It is not the path we would choose, but it is how Jesus chose to walk with us. He did not proclaim his perfection, nor does he set up standards that we cannot achieve. He walks through death for us and calls us to follow. The promise is light shining in the darkness.

Following Jesus, MLK Weekend, Jan. 15, 2017

Jesus turns and asks, "What are you looking for?" That's not a bad question for us. What are we looking for? We gather here for many reasons. We are here to worship. Perhaps some of us are here to find comfort or support. Maybe we are looking for an insight to help us live better, or some words of wisdom to help us cope with the crazy world in which we live. The disciples were following the instructions of John and they were following the one to whom he pointed.

John has an odd message. He tells a story about how he would know the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. He tells about seeing the Spirit descend upon Jesus like a dove. He calls him the Lamb of God. Behind all of these odd and cryptic words is a sorting out of place and power. John is powerful and his message is compelling. He is only preparing us for another. I think sometimes we have forgotten to move on. We accept that we must be forgiven and cleansed from sin. Are we ready for the next step?

Two of John's disciples follow this Lamb of God (whatever that means.) Jesus turns and asks them what they are looking for. They ask, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" Some scholars believe that this is a polite way of inquiring if Jesus is taking on any students. His response, "Come and see," is a welcome to learn from him. It may not seem like a change has happened, except that these disciples have taken on a new teacher. This is also a different kind of commitment.

The work of teacher, or master and disciple is to learn how to live. The disciple doesn't simply learn truths. The disciple desires to become like the master. These disciples are following Jesus. This is what we need to reclaim. We are not coming before Jesus to simply learn more facts. We are here to become like Jesus. Certainly, we believe that Jesus is our messiah, and that we are somehow saved through his life and work. We also believe that we participate in this work of salvation - far more than accepting the truth of it.

As I have been observing, the prophecy we hear from Isaiah points to a future messiah. We cannot help but see how this promise is fulfilled in Jesus. If we pay attention to the work that is described, we see how it can also refer to the people who are saved. The people who are saved become the ones who participate in saving the whole world. "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

This is an enormous challenge. We worry about it in our time. We worry about sharing the good news and about bringing people to God. It seems beyond our ability. How do we talk about Jesus? Will people take us seriously? Will they be offended? Who are we to be so presumptuous? On the other hand, we assume that folks in mega churches have it all figured out, because they are all growing by leaps and bounds and have people packing in on Sunday. I'm not sure either narrative is completely true. The problem for us is that we assume that God's work must follow the way that we are used to working. We collect our assets and use our gifts and talents in the best possible way, hoping that we can convince other people of the truth we know.

We have to unlearn our way of doing things. Jesus doesn't want us to work harder or be smarter. Jesus wants us to follow him. We worry about many things. We want to collect enough money and people to do all the work. Jesus wants us to become like him. We can't imagine how this will help. We are anxious about all our losses. We see ourselves losing ground. Jesus only cares about how we are being changed.

Paul writes the beginning of his letter to the church in Corinth using the format of his day. In naming his audience, he already begins to suggest that the church is bigger than they know. They are very proud of who they are. They are proud of their many spiritual gifts. Those who have many charismatic gifts are especially proud. In his prayer of thanks, Paul acknowledges their many gifts, and also suggests the true purpose. God is making them ready for fellowship with God (and isn't it nice how blessed they are in the present.) Later, Paul will chide them how they use their gifts to divide instead of unite. He will remind them that love is better than prophecy or tongues. We secretly desire great charismatic gifts (of some sort) so that we might draw people by attraction. This is not what we are about.

All we have is Jesus. Interesting programs of beautiful music or the latest technology might make us feel attractive, but it is not the gospel - it is not the good news. The hopeful truth is that God chooses to save us and love us no matter what. God's love does not depend on our attractiveness. It does not depend upon our cleverness. It does not depend upon our wealth or our talents or our building or our heritage. God chooses to love us. Jesus invites us into a way of life so that we might begin to be transformed by the truth of it.

The disciples follow Jesus. That is the work of the disciple - to follow and to become like the master. The disciples (and John) immediately begin to invite others along with them. John gives up his work to share his disciples with Jesus. Andrew finds his brother to come along with them. No one waited until they understood everything or until they had reached some form of mastery. The good news of God's love is not a concept to be unraveled. The good news is too good to keep to ourselves. We are meant to share it as we know it, in all our confusion and imperfection.

It is not that we are so much better than anyone else, or that we know something that others don't. We have been given life and peace. The truth of it is best seen in the living of it. We declare it by loving our neighbor. We proclaim it by setting aside common knowledge and treating the stranger as a sister or a brother. We show the truth and power of God by following Jesus, and ignoring all the other markers of success and fame that we are tempted to follow.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Day. We remember his powerful words and actions. We know we cannot speak or inspire like he did. For him, change was not about being articulate or powerful. He urged people to become like Christ. It is the transformation of people to be like Jesus that gives them the power to change the world.

We may think we are powerless and that our words and actions will not amount to anything. In a sense that is correct - but we are not acting alone. It is God who has saved us and given us a way of life. God's words and God’s will acting through us will always make a difference. We only need the courage to follow and trust God for the result.

The Baptism of Jesus, Jan. 8, 2017

What is an epiphany? We have the image of a floating light bulb over someone's head. It is kind of idea or an insight. There's more to it than thinking. It is also a kind of discovery. We use the language of revelation. It some sort of supernatural message. We get an insight outside of ourselves. We understand something larger than the evidence before us. It is something that was once a mystery and now it is revealed for all to see. The feast of epiphany celebrates three stories. We hear about the arrival of the magi to the infant Jesus. Sometimes we remember Jesus’ first miracle - changing water into wine at a wedding banquet. We also remember the baptism of Jesus. All of these are public proclamations of who Jesus is. The significance is that the message is for everyone.

We often think of epiphanies as private messages. We even carry this into our faith. We act as if we are privileged to know the truth and everyone else is out of luck. I think about this with my leisure time reading. I read a lot of classic murder mysteries. The usual plot begins with some crime or act that is the mystery. The detective (professional or otherwise) comes upon the scene and observes the details and the people involved in the case. Often for the reader it is still a mystery. By the end of the book, the detective explains the mystery, using observations that were available all along, but were missed by everyone else. Holmes often tells Watson, "You see everything but you fail to infer its meaning."

Still, God doesn't mean to hide anything from us. We see the truth all around us, and we often fail to see the significance. We look for simple and direct meanings when God would show us depths and complexity. We look for easy rewards when God would show us the first steps of an unknown path.

As I have reminded us in previous sermons, Isaiah is writing to a people in exile. The prophet captures a longing for a messiah, for a deliverer. There is great hope in God's restoration. We can share that hope in the person of Jesus. We can acknowledge that we have been saved. We might rush past the depth of that salvation. Those who are saved are part of God's work of salvation. The second half of Isaiah's words can be to a people and not merely one single messiah. "I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness." We are invited to be the blessing proclaimed by God to others as well as receive it.

Peter's sermon in acts is his own epiphany. He has a dream of unclean animals that God commands him to eat. God tells him, "Stop declaring unclean what I have named clean!" Peter immediately sees that he is to share the gospel to non-Jews. This is obvious to us, but a completely new idea to Peter.

Now Jesus arrives at the river Jordan to be baptized by John. "Why?" John asks. "You should be baptizing me." "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Jesus doesn't need to make himself right or to repair his soul. He is fulfilling righteousness by setting things right, or setting things in place to make us right. He is setting us up a new way. We are made new in baptism. We are also participating with Jesus in creating something new. The Spirit descends upon Jesus and God declares, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. In the same way God's Spirit has descended upon us. We are God's beloved daughters and sons.

We share the new life of the messiah. We also share the work of the messiah. We are not saviors of the world - and we can drop our hyper-responsible and controlling habits that put ourselves in the place of God. We participate in living the new life we have been given. Our very lives are to shine with the truth of God's love.

We often use our religion for all the wrong reasons. We feel shame. We feel judgmental. We talk about God's love and then we build a wall of rules and expectations. We believe and then live as if we don't believe. We are like the characters in a classic murder mystery, who can't believe the truth even when confronted with evidence. We are like the dull police sergeant who can only believe the obvious explanation. Or we are like the relative or friend who cannot believe the evil work of another. The detective finds the truth because she or he sees what is essential and sets aside all the diversions and non-essential information. Which is what we have to do.

We live in a world that values wealth and appearances. We have to see the value that God sees. We were all brought to the waters of baptism long before we had any wealth or power. We were made children of God long before we had beauty or strength or wisdom. Therefore we need none of those things to participate in God's new life. The gifts we have should be used to point to God who has always loved us first. In this way we are an epiphany to others, as we shine the light to the one who is our light. We grow new life by shining new life. We grow in love by living in love.

What do we see in the baptism of Jesus? What have we discovered? Do we see merely a ritual that keeps us safe and saves our soul? Do we see something more? God is always beginning a new work of creation. We are invited to share in the promise that we are beloved children of God – sons and daughters invited to begin a life of declaring the plain mystery of God’s love.

Christmas 2016

About ten years ago, Bishop Steven Charleston reflected that Christmas is a time when we don't want anything to change. We've all heard the Christmas story over and over again. We know all about the shepherds and the angels and the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. We want to sing all our favorite carols. We don't care how Victorian or sentimental they are. We want there to be snow, and poor shepherds, and three wise men.

I've seen my children grow up, and now I share my home with my granddaughter. She has just reached the age where Christmas is fun. She loves all the decorations and the tree and the presents. She doesn't like cookies, but she loves to help bake them. She sings familiar holiday songs, sometimes with her own words. There was a time when our children were like that too. Then they grew up, and got jobs, and fell in love and created their own families. Now, the only thing they really want to do is get together and talk and catch up with each other. The rest of the holiday is a kind of chore to be gotten through.

So I wonder if we really want all the craziness of the holiday? I think we would give most of it a pass if we could. The people we love all have different expectations and we try to meet them. I think that our gathering this evening is a kind of antidote. We don't have to wrap anything, or make anything. We don't have to figure out how to get along with some distant relative. We can simply return to this house and hear again the good news - with no strings (or wrappings) attached. We might even be able to let some of our stress slip away as we hear again the true story about God's gift to us.

The only danger in our sentimental attachment to the familiar story is that we might only remember the truth we knew as a child. The simple message of God's miracle and God's love may seem naive to our adult perspective. We also come with our fears for the world. We hear of war and danger. We live in a divided world where people can't seem to hear each other, much less live with, or have respect for each other. Peace on earth seems like a quaint idea in a world of violence and disrespect.

In our sentimental memory of the birth of Jesus, we have forgotten the revolutionary message. The humble birth of Jesus challenges all the pride and folly that human beings have created. The birth of Jesus challenges all our notions of value and wealth power. His name means, "God saves," and his other name, Immanuel means, "God is with us." This is not merely a hope it is true. The gospel is written in such a way that the birth of Jesus is firmly fixed in a time and place with in a society that people have created for their own ends. The Emperor Augustus called for a worldwide census to exercise control over a world that did not recognize God.

Jesus was born into a place we would find very familiar. He was born at an inconvenient time for his parents. They found accommodations where they could. The barn they used suggests their poverty and powerlessness. The angels bring news to the shepherds because they were the only ones awake at the time. There is also something disruptive and subversive about this story. God does not call on the Emperor Augustus. He doesn't appear to King Herod. God doesn't call out the priests or the religious leaders. God uses Mary and Joseph, and announces good news to shepherds (not the most intelligent or highly respected people.)

This is a reminder that God doesn't participate in all our worries. God takes no sides in our endless wars. God desires no division between races or classes. God doesn't choose the rich over the poor or the powerful over the weak. Every intractable problem we have created is all our own. God chooses a different way. God meets the weak and the poor. God empowers those our society would reject. God chooses those that the world casts aside. God turns the world upside down. This is good news for the poor, and perhaps a problem for anyone invested in the status quo.

God does not meet us within the world we create. God isn't bound by our expectations. God dwells with the poor and the humble. God seeks those who are broken and grieving. This is a truth beyond our sentimentality. God does not meet us in our power and within our control. God meets us most closely when we have nothing to give and can only receive. God meets us most closely when our hand are empty. God meets us when we have run out of ideas and we are at the end of our line. God can begin to work in us when we get out of the way.

This is the place where God is. God is in a barn full of animals. God is on a hillside in the middle of the night with simple shepherds. God is with an unwed mother as she bears her first child. God is with her fiancé who has come along not knowing how things will work out. God is with a people who are oppressed by the pride and fear of a more powerful people. God is with those who maintain the oppression because they don't know what else is possible.

God is with anyone who feels alone and lost. God is with the widow and with the estranged family member. God is with those who are lost in addiction and shame. God is with the unemployed and the people living one paycheck away from eviction. God is with the stranger and the refugee. God is with anyone who practices another religion, or increasingly, no religion. The Spirit of God is always moving in all these dark places seeking to proclaim the good news of God's love. Where are we? Are we with God?

We gather in sentimental remembrance of Christmas's past all the way back to the first Christmas. I hope the truth is a great comfort and an inspiration for us to love. We will sing with joy all the old tunes we love. We will take heart that God does not forget us, even if we live in time where it seems to good to be true. The great truth is that God has already arrived in all those places that we find to dangerous to visit. All our shame and fear are nothing to God. God would have us discard these useless burdens and take on the good news.

The amazing truth is not the sentimental story of two millennia. The amazing thing is that it is still true. "I am bringing you good news of great joy to all the people. To you is born this day a savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord!" It is true right here. It is true right now.

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2016

The sign of the birth. What does this mean? We know in our own lives what it means to expect a child. We worry about the health of mother and child. Maybe we plan and collect furniture, clothes, and books of names. There is a joyful expectation and we wonder what will happen. The birth of a child is still a sign for us. It is a sign of hope. It is a reminder of what's most important. We remember the miracle of life.

What's going on in Isaiah? Ahaz is king of Judah. There is a great empire, Assyria to the north, and they are conquering all their neighbors. Israel (the northern kingdom centered in Samaria) has made an alliance with Syria (centered around Damascus.) These two kingdoms want Judah to join them against Assyria. Ahaz is afraid of Assyria and would rather pay tribute. Isaiah has been encouraging him that it is the right way, and he offers a sign to encourage him.

Ahaz seems to offer a humble reply, but it is a false or empty humility. He won't ask because he doesn't believe. Isaiah offers a sign anyway. A young woman will bear a son. (Some commentators believe that this is Ahaz's wife, who is about to birth Hezekiah.) The sign is not a virgin birth. The sign is the child itself. The child will be called Immanuel, meaning, "God is with us." The sign is that as soon as the child knows right from wrong, he will be eating curds and honey (simple, local food - whatever is available after a long siege.) and by the time the child grows this old, the two kings besieging Jerusalem will be gone and conquered.

I suppose that this proof is offered to encourage Ahaz in that moment. It is also given to remind Ahaz in the future. When deliverance comes, he might be tempted to congratulate himself on his wisdom and statecraft. He might even lend his faith to the power of Assyria. Instead, this sign reminds Ahaz that it has been God all along who protects and guides him. This might even help Ahaz to deepen his faith and perhaps teach his own son how to be a faithful king after him.

I explore this old historical reference so that we can see the context of the dream of Joseph. He too is offered a sign. He is encouraged to take Mary as his wife and to accept the child born of the Holy Spirit.

We have our own stories about Joseph. He is often depicted as an old man. This explains why he is only referenced in the birth stories and he is absent from later stories. This also gives us a reason for Jesus to have brothers and sisters. They can all be his stepfamily, and Mary never has to have normal relations with Joseph, and we can keep her in an ideal celibate state. Thankfully, in the Episcopal Church, we don't have to hang onto these fussy ideas about Mary. I think she is a more powerful figure if she isn't set aside on some special plane of existence, but allowed to live a remarkable life among us.

Perhaps Joseph has his own children, or not. Perhaps he is young, or old. The story says that he is righteous, meaning that he seeks to do the right thing. Since he has found that Mary is pregnant and he is not the father, it is within his legal right to have her stoned. He is trying to do the right thing beyond the law, so he is planning to break off the engagement quietly, and Mary would return to her own family. Instead, he has a dream. He is a carpenter, or a builder. He doesn't seek proof or arguments. He is a dreamer (like another Joseph long ago.) He is open to God. He is open to whatever new and unexpected thing that God will do.

The child is named Jesus (or Joshua), meaning, "God saves." This seems to be a fulfillment of Isaiah - a virgin will conceive and bear a son. What's the miracle? What is the sign? It's not Mary, although the birth is miraculous and Mary is blessed. The miracle is the child. The child is a sign of how God is with us. Ahaz didn't want a sign. He didn't believe that God was with him. (He was trusting in his military alliance.) Joseph wasn't looking for a sign, yet he was seeking to do the right thing. He was open to the will of God - he was not demanding what he thought was God's will.

Jesus is not born yet - in our liturgical year. We still have time to prepare for the coming of Jesus. I'm sure we all have lists of things to do to get ready. We are expecting celebrations and gatherings. We are still getting ready. Maybe some of us are still seeking quiet and reflection to make our hearts ready. Some of us have the happy and also anxious preparations to welcome a refugee family of Syrian Kurds on January 3rd. Whatever our worry, we may never be ready. It's a good reminder that it isn't about us. Joseph reminds us that this is a story about God's work. God will be with us. God will save us.

I'm not arguing that we be passive. All the good and righteous things that we seek to do we are still responsible to do. The story is not about our perfection, but about finding God's presence in the life we have. Joseph will be a stepparent. Each blended family we know is a blessing built upon something broken. He is taking on a responsibility (which is noble) because there is no one else present to do so. Other fathers and mothers take on this work in the midst of divorce or death, and somehow with love create new life.

Something new is being created by God. Like Mary, and like Joseph, we are invited to accept whatever God desires to birth in us. Perhaps we can set aside some of our plans of perfection and accept what grows among us. Perhaps we can set aside the perfect present we are trying to buy, the perfect tree we are trying to decorate, the perfect gathering we are trying to arrange. Perhaps we can close our eyes and dream. What might God be trying to create in us?

Third Sunday of Advent 2016

It’s not uncommon in times of anxiety to look to the past. This is a time of year for nostalgia. We bring out old decorations. We make grandma’s cookies. We buy our kids toys that we remember. This is not merely escape. We are connecting ourselves to the truth of the story. We are remembering what we’ve been through, and how we hope to get through the next round of uncertainty.

Scripture often sounds like an echo. One verse reminds us of another. The prophets remember promises made in the past. They look to the stories of God’s great works as a way to interpret how God will return to us. The beautiful poetry of the return in Isaiah evokes creation and it has images of the exodus. Even so, God will create something new. Redemption and return will touch the whole of creation. All the people of the earth will be restored to God.

This season we offer our own hopes for peace and goodwill. I wonder how much we believe it will happen. Maybe someday, but not right now? On any particular Sunday morning we can sing the great hymns of faith and feel pretty good. Then we switch on the news on Tuesday and it all seems so far away.

It is good to remind ourselves that the act of faith is not based upon how we feel in any particular moment. We exercise the greatest faith when things seem most bleak. The Apostle James writes to Christians who are not finding it easy to wait. I’m certain that they were suffering persecution. It’s possible that these were Christians forced to flee from Jerusalem (and legend has it that this is James, the brother of Jesus.) James reminds them to be patent in persecution. He even reminds them that they must be patient with one another. We have to work at building community even as we wait for our salvation (and especially in difficult times.)

We gather with a fallacy that because God has saved us that everything ought to be easy. Our salvation is only the first step. We have to grow in our re-creation. We have to stretch ourselves and go deeper in our faith. We will discover along the way just how much we have to let go of. We will discern our true gifts and our true calling. All of these things keep changing as we grow and the world around us keep changing. We can’t escape the stress and confusion of life. Jesus urges us to jump right into the mess, and find our way.

John the Baptist is in prison. I’m sure he wasn’t feeling comfortable or strong. In his weakness, he sends a question to Jesus. “Are you the one, or should we wait for someone else?” Maybe John didn’t think his ministry would end in prison but in revolution. Maybe he thought he would see more conversion and transformation.

Jesus answers back, echoing the prophets, “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news.” This is what John was preparing for. Salvation comes to those who thought they’d never get it. Did you hear the edge to it? Who hears good news? The poor. Who gets healed? The blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf. Who gets new life? The dead.

In a confusing and backward and inside-out way, Jesus says that salvation comes to those who are unequipped to look for it. We worry so much about how we look or what people think about us. We are anxious about our place in the world. None of this will save us. It is those very aspects of our lives that we wish to avoid and hide that Jesus uses to save us and recreate us.

There are other worries floating around in the world. When we see injustice, it is still our duty to stand up and fight for what is right. We worry about jobs, we worry about money, and we worry about the weather. Mostly we need to do what we must and trust God to take care of us (and acknowledge that God has done a pretty good job so far.)

Maybe we can let go of the need for perfect holidays. We have more than enough to do in simply loving our families, our friends, and our neighbors. More than ever before, if we can make time to listen to each other, it will go far. When we go through the holidays and we see a family ornament, or taste familiar cookies, part of the joy is in how we got through everything. The blessings have not all been easy. We have also fought and cried. We’ve held one another in our losses. We’ve had to regroup and start again. That’s what we are remembering too.

What have you come to see? Someone in soft robes – an easy message. Nobody needs that. We need the whole truth, and a reminder that it is often hard – and God has been with us always. In a time of worry and confusion, God is still with us.

Second Sunday of Advent 2016

John the Baptist always seems so mad. What is he angry about? He has a particular ministry, and unlike many of us, he seems to have found some success. He doesn't seem satisfied. Even when the important people show up, it only seems to make him angrier. "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee the wrath that is to come?" Is he really taking the elite down a peg or two? I wonder if he might be directing his angry words at us. After all, we are the upright, spiritual people of our day. Maybe he is challenging our hypocrisy.

John challenges us to pay attention to our own blindness. The Sadducees were part of the temple religion, so they were tied up in the system of sacrifices and temple worship. The Pharisees were more local and close by. They taught and served in synagogues, helping people interpret the law and live correctly. Nothing is wrong with either of these paths of spiritual discipline. We follow similar ways of living out our faith. The blindness comes in when the religious leaders failed to see the burdens they were creating. In their zeal to live in full compliance with the law, they raised the bar so high, only the wealthy or those with empty schedules could hope to live up to it.

We are more reasonable, yet we create our lists of what it means to be good people - deserving people - wise people. When we are not aware, we judge the poor. We judge or avoid the sick. We look down on people who have problems - all the while assuming that people get what they deserve - and when we are doing OK it's because we deserve everything we have. We easily forget our parents, our teachers, and our partners, who have all helped us along. We take our health and property and good jobs for granted. If we are unaware, we act as if we deserve our blessings and other people deserve their suffering.

The divisions we create are not what God desires. God's plan is to have all people come together to worship and rejoice. Paul reminds the Christians in Rome that their faith is a gift from another people who hoped for what God is now doing. Paul writes to a somewhat divided church. It was originally run by Jewish Christians until the emperor drove all the Jews out of Rome. The remaining gentile Christians had to take on leadership roles. When the Jewish Christians were allowed to return, there was quite a bit of conflict around leadership and values. Paul reminds them that God's plan is to bring them all to a place of blessing. We get our hope from the Jews and we are called to glorify God together.

The prophet Isaiah shares a vision of a future messiah. The spirit of the Lord will rest on this messiah. There is a list of actions that this inspired messiah will do, and in all things this messiah will act with righteousness. Every act will restore or establish a new and ordered world where violence will not be needed. Even animals will live in peace. A toddler will be able to lead them.

Of course, when we hear these words, we think about Jesus. He is the perfect fulfillment of all these hopes. Of course, we have only seen the beginnings of this fulfillment. We still live with injustice and violence and war. Judaism does not recognize Jesus as their messiah. They read these words and imagine this messianic figure as not simply one man, but as a people (much as how Israel describes an historic figure and also the people descended from him.) The Jews hear these words and they see themselves. They hear this as an aspiration for what God imagines for them. They will not only be saved by God, God will inspire them to be a people who bring salvation to the world.

This is some of what Paul is sharing with the church in Rome. We are to glorify God together. The spirit of the Lord is upon us. We have wisdom and understanding and counsel and might. We have knowledge and we delight in the fear of the Lord. We do not judge by what we see or hear. We judge the poor with righteousness and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Perhaps we lack the authority to strike the wicked, but we can fight for what is right. God calls us to be blessed and to be a blessing to the world.

Maybe this is why John is angry. He has no patience for us when we cross our arms and pass judgment on our neighbors. The world is full of frightened and angry people. Our neighbors bear burdens we have never seen. How can we bless them with good news? Unlike lent, when it is appropriate that we look into our hearts and consider our own sin, we are called to something more in advent. We are getting ready for the coming of our messiah. We are called to do more than clean up our act. We are called to be light to the world around us and bring our neighbors along. The judgment we are given is not to discern what is wrong - we are called to discern how we can glorify God together.

We are already filled with God’s Spirit. God has chosen us for new life. This gift means nothing if we do not share it. We are called to proclaim good news with all wisdom and knowledge and understanding and strength. This assumes that we have received this message deeply in our hearts. We can declare the renewal of the world because we ourselves have been renewed. This what John wishes for us. We need the courage to discard our good-enough selves and humbly accept the new life and different God is offering. Only then will we have good news to share.

First Sunday of Advent, 2016

I hope you all had many opportunities to give thanks this week. It is an antidote to the anxiety and uncertainty of our times. We can always get caught up in the rush and worry that seems to be always present. I hope that many of us had the chance to take a pause, gather with family and friends, and count our blessings.

It may also be helpful to remind ourselves that we are not the first people to live in uncertain times. The first pilgrims had a kind of celebration after their first harvest. They shared it with local Indians as a way to solidify their alliance. We imagine pilgrims feasting. They were probably eating more simply, with whatever they managed to grow over one season. They were sharing with their neighbors because they were desperate for allies. They were still mourning the loss of most of the original settlers who had died of cold or starvation or disease.

Jesus sounds grim as he speaks of the end of the world, but Isaiah sounds hopeful. His promise may have been written just before the fall of Jerusalem or while the people waited to return. He describes a hope that one day all of God’s people would gather on God’s holy mountain. Instruments of war will be turned into farm tools. All the nations of the world will seek God as teacher and judge.

Some of us gathered at Temple B’nai Israel for our Thanksgiving service. We prayed and sang together. We were reminded that God has commanded us to give thanks, to rejoice. We are not yet one people worshipping one God, but we practiced what it might be like.

The early church, which passed down this message of joy, did so in a time of anxiety and fear. They were glad that they knew a word of hope, and they looked around and assumed that their hope would be fulfilled very soon. They faced persecution and punishment for their beliefs. They didn’t know how they could continue to fit in, in their society. They prepared for the return of Jesus.

They prepared for the advent of their King. This is where we get the word. In ancient times, a city would make great plans for a visit from a king or the emperor. They would have to clean up the streets. They might erect monuments to mark the occasion. This extended time, this parousia; this advent suggested that everyone was part of the work of getting ready. The “advent” did not mean simply the day that the king arrived. It encompassed all that had to be done to welcome the king.

The early church felt that they were in that time, and so are we. No matter what the church calendar says, we are getting ready for the return of Jesus. How do we do this? First, we remember what we believe and who we are. We are God’s children, blessed with the good news about God’s love. Second, we do as Paul suggests in his letter to eth Romans. We put on light in a time of darkness. We dress, we act, and we embody what it means to be Christian. We may not be perfect, yet we live the good we know how to do. We share the good news as we can articulate it. Finally, we pray to God to intervene and bring about the promise. This is not our work alone. We call on God to show us the way and we call on God to equip us – and to make a way.

We have been given word that a family may be coming to us from the Congo. New Start Ministries has been scrambling a bit to find interpreters who can speak with them, and we have some possibilities. We were prepared to be ready for the unexpected. We knew from eth start that we would not really know what we needed until we needed it. This is good practice for us. We are so used to efficiency and order that we don’t know what to do with the disorder of life. We believe, we trust, that God will show us what to do.

When Jesus describes the last days, he talks about the days of Noah. Most people didn’t know that their world was about to end. We have to learn to live without expecting a warning. Then Jesus describes pairs of people, suddenly one goes missing. Is this the rapture? It’s difficult to say whether it’s better to be the one missing or the one left behind. (Taken away to be judged or taken away to be saved?) Without explaining, Jesus tells us about a homeowner who would stay awake if they knew when a thief was coming. So we need to stay awake.

We need to keep awake. We need to be aware of what God is doing around us. The exercise of faith is doing, and it is also believing that God will act. The antidote to all our worries is to give thanks for what God has given us. God has blessed us and God has called us. God has also given us gifts to share. We cannot truly be thankful if we hoard our gifts in fear. Generosity is an expression of true faith.

So we will pray for true peace – not calm, but a desire for justice and bounty. We will work for peace – not an acceptance of the status quo but an active seeking of the good of our neighbor and the stranger. It is not easy work. In our day, we will be misunderstood and targets for angry people. We seek God’s peace for them as well. That is who we are. That is where we are headed. We are getting ready for the coming of our king.