It’s Still Christmas!

 Scripture:      Psalm 148

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

    praise him in the heights!

2 Praise him, all his angels;

    praise him, all his host!

3 Praise him, sun and moon;

    praise him, all you shining stars!

4 Praise him, you highest heavens,

    and you waters above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

    for he commanded and they were created.

6 He established them forever and ever;

    he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a]

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,

    you sea monsters and all deeps,

8 fire and hail, snow and frost,

    stormy wind fulfilling his command!

9 Mountains and all hills,

    fruit trees and all cedars!

10 Wild animals and all cattle,

    creeping things and flying birds!

11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,

    princes and all rulers of the earth!

12 Young men and women alike,

    old and young together!

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

    for his name alone is exalted;

    his glory is above earth and heaven.

14 He has raised up a horn for his people,

    praise for all his faithful,

    for the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise the Lord!

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Message It’s still Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Yes, it is still Christmas.  It is still time to celebrate the birth of the Child and sing Christmas Carols.  Not everyone gets that.  On my first Christmas as the pastor of a congregation I walked into the church that first Sunday after Christmas, all ready to continue the Christmas celebration - and all the decorations were gone!  The lights, the candles, the tree, the wreaths, the Chrismons, the banners... everything!  So I asked the guy in charge of property stuff what happened and he said, “Christmas is over. I put it away.”  No.  No it isn’t over.  We don’t put Christmas away right after the gifts are opened. There is still lots of time to celebrate and praise God and bask in the light of the Star.  Because Christmas isn’t a Day. It’s a season, a season that begins on Christmas Day.  

When I was growing up we visited family on Christmas.  We would leave our house after church, drive an hour or so into Philadelphia, and stop at the homes of several relatives on both sides of the family, all dressed in our Christmas best, carrying gifts for Grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins.  Everyone’s home looked a lot like ours, with discarded wrapping paper off to one side, opened gifts displayed under a great smelling tree, and sparkly lights and yummy Christmas snacks and boisterousness.  So much noise and laughter.  It was wonderful to go visiting on Christmas. Our last stop was at Aunt Mary Catherine’s house for dinner and when we walked in  . . . It was nothing like all the other houses, or our house.  All the gifts were put away, the tree was artificial and perfectly decorated, the whole house was totally neat and clean with nothing out of place.  Dinner was always delicious.  But it was so tidy. and quiet.  and proper.

To paraphrase Tina Turner, Christmas is never ever tidy.  or quiet. or proper.  Christmas is kind of messy.  There’s a stable ... have ya been in a stable?  Even if the stalls are freshly mucked out, there is straw underfoot, and there’s an odor that’s nothing like a Christmas tree.  And there are animals - not housebroken.  In that stable, with the animals and the straw and the odor - Mary had a baby - another thing that is kind of messy.  There’s pain and blood.  And once the labor is over and the baby is all wrapped up in cloths, who shows up to see this special child?  Shepherds.  Messy, dirty, smelly shepherds.  Not exactly the cream of society.  

But what those shepherds found in that stable was wondrous.  A baby - and there is  nothing more wonderful than a newborn.  The parents gasp in amazement - look, he has toes. Such tiny perfect toes.  And teeny fingernails. Every infant is a precious gift from God.  But this baby was special even beyond that.  This baby was born into this messy world to bring healing, salvation, to all God’s children.  This baby was heralded by angels, lauded by a heavenly choir.  And his mother would hear all these things that the shepherds told her, about the angels and the heavenly choir,  and tuck them away in her heart, treasuring their words, saving them against the day when his mission and ministry would take her baby son away from her.  

The shepherds stayed for a while and left, went back to their flocks glorifying God and telling everyone they met about the amazing things they had experienced.  Mary and Joseph didn’t get to clean up and leave right away.  The baby had to be circumcised when he was eight days old. Mary had to be purified forty days after giving birth with a ritual bath and a sacrifice at the Temple.   And there was the whole registering for the census thing that brought them to Bethlehem in the first place. No one ever mentions that after it’s given as the reason for their trip, but I’m sure there must have been some sort of process for him to deal with.  Roman bureaucrats had paperwork, too, just like ours do.  No, Mary and Joseph didn’t get to skip over the messiness that lay ahead. They stayed in that stable, I suppose (that’s another thing no one ever mentions - whether they found a better place to stay for the next forty days or two years or how ever long they stayed in Bethlehem.). They dealt with the things that came up as they came up.  They had to stay in the moment and not rush off to the next important event in Jesus’ life, the way we do. They didn’t put Christmas in a box and store it away, to be taken out next year.  For Mary and Joseph and their new precious son, Christmas was a day they would remember and celebrate and praise God for every day.

I think it was probably the same for the shepherds. I mean, it is not likely that they would go back to their flocks and then be all, “Well, that happened.”. I suspect that for years to come they would be telling that story, and praising God for sending the angels to them.  I think that for them, Christmas kept being part of their lives all the time, every day.  And maybe, just maybe, they were part of the preparation . . . you know, when God told Isaiah “prepare the way of the Lord”.  We tend to think that John the Baptist was it, THE one preparing the way in the wilderness, getting people ready for Jesus.  But I imagine John had some help. I imagine that people had heard the stories the shepherds had told and shared them, and later, when John came and then when Jesus started preaching, they remembered what they had heard about that night in the hills above Bethlehem.  I think that the shepherds and all the people they told about the angels and the heavenly choir and the baby in the manger probably raised their voices like the psalmist did when he wrote the psalm we heard read this morning - not just on the morning of the birth of the Child, but every day for some time to come.  I think for those  shepherds, Christmas was a day they would remember and celebrate and praise God for every day.  Even on the cold stormy days when they had no shelter.  Even when there wasn’t enough to eat. Even when a lamb died, or its mother did.  Even on the bad days, those shepherds could look back and remember the night when the angels came to them and they would praise God.

You might have a day like that in your life.  A day when your life changed, when something happened that you know God had a hand in.  A day you remember every day and praise God for.  I do.  And I tell people about it at every opportunity.  So I think probably the shepherds did the same, praising God and telling their story.

We talk about praising God all the time. We sing God’s praises in hymns.  We use words of praise in our prayers.  We lift up our hands to the Lord when our hearts are moved.  If we hear of a bad accident in which no one was seriously injured, we say “Praise God.”   And we mean it.   But rarely do we call for God to be praised the way the psalmist did.  He did not just praise God himself, but called every part of creation to praise God as well - Praise the Lord all of you, in the heavens, in the heights. All you angels and heavenly host, praise him!  Sun and moon and stars - praise him! Earth and sea and all the creatures - praise him!  Rocks and mountains - praise him!  AND all the people of the earth - the kings and princes, men and women, young and old - Praise the Lord!  For his name alone is exalted!  And he is worthy of all praise

Praise the Lord, all you people,

as the heavenly host did above the hills of Bethlehem that night. 

Praise the Lord, all you people,

as the shepherds did when they saw the child.

Praise the Lord and celebrate Christmas, the birth of the child,

every day, not just December 25,

but on all the days thereafter all the year long.

This is not an easy thing.  It is challenging to praise God on the hard days.  

It is certainly challenging to celebrate the joy of Christmas all year long.

Nevertheless, as Disciples of Christ we are called to carry the Good News.

We are called to bring the light of Christ into every heart we touch.

That light came into this messy world with the babe,

born in a stable, placed in a manger, proclaimed by angels, worshipped by shepherds.

Let each person strive to meet that challenge, 

that discipleship challenge, 

to praise the Lord, every day, in every situation.

Even when life doesn’t seem to be going right,

even in the midst of a pandemic,

even when we are worried and fearful.

Praise the Lord, you who are Christ’s disciples,

Remember Christmas and carry its light with you every day,

and proclaim Joy to the World

How do I love thee?

 Scripture Luke 1:26-38.  NRSV  

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

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Good morning on this 4th Sunday of Advent, Love Sunday.  This is one of the busiest times of the year for pretty much everybody, but especially for church folk, and even more especially for the people of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Selma.  In a period of less than a week we offer no less than five opportunities to recognize the holiness of this season in one way or another.  In case you missed it, Friday night Jordan and Jessica and Friends performed their annual Christmas concert virtually to showcase amazing talents and raise funds for charities dear to their hearts.  This year it was for all of the ministries this congregation supports with monthly donations.  Saturday night was the Annual Community Church Choir concert, also a virtual event.  There were fewer participants this year, but they did it.  Both of these musical celebrations were shown on YouTube and are still available to watch, in case you missed one or the other.  Tomorrow evening is our Longest Night  service, in which we recognize that Christmas is not a very joyful time for some of us.  That will be on YouTube at 7 pm.  And on December 24th at 5:30 pm we will once again offer a Christmas Eve service jointly with the First United Methodist Church, also on YouTube.    All of these events have required a great deal of coordination, planning, and technical skill.  Much more than usual as we are still worshipping online for an unknown period of time, and that is much more complicated to put together than when we worship in person.  I would like to lift up the Quarantine Qrew - Kenneshae, Jessica, Jorge and Joe - who are amazing singers and serve as our worship leaders, and Jordan Williams.  Jordan arranges and organizes all of this. Not just the music, but the technical aspects as well.  He takes all of the disparate parts of the event which either he recorded in the sanctuary or which we recorded individually and sent to him and puts all that together seamlessly. He does this for every Sunday service, but this week he has outdone himself, presenting five beautiful, meaningful, worshipful events for the glory of God.  Thanks be to God.

I titled this message “How do I love thee?” after the sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  Like everyone else, I knew the first line and I had heard she wrote this poem for Robert Browning, who fell in love with her poetry and with whom she had a secret long distance relationship because of her father’s objections.  They did marry and move to Italy, so there was a happy ending.  I had learned those things but. . .  (don’t tell anyone) I had never read this sonnet before Friday!  I really avoided all things that even looked like poetry after my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. McClintock, made us all memorize a very long poem every month and then recite it in front of the class.  This was traumatizing.  It wasn’t until I was forced to read poetry in Freshman English at Chapman University (like 35 years later!) that I discovered poetry wasn’t all terrible.  (My thanks to Dixie Durham) I started to like some of it.  I even started to write some.  So, on Friday I read this sonnet for the first time.  It is certainly a love poem, but it seemed to me more about love of God than love of a person.  So I started reading about her life and works and learned that much of her work had a very strong religious theme.  So, for those of you who have also not read this sonnet or disremember it, I would like to share it with you.

 How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day's

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love with a passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

(Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/how-do-i-love-thee-by-elizabeth-barrett-browning)

Writing love poems or letters to God is not that unusual.  The Song of Solomon, which has parts that seem to be pretty explicitly about human love also has parts that read much more as if God is the person loved.  Rainier Rilke’s Book of Hours is subtitled “Love letters to God.” Some of the female mystics of medieval times wrote about visions that were almost orgasmic in their description of their love for God.  The vast majority of believers don’t quite get to that point, but there are times, often while singing in worship, when we might find ourselves transported - so very much in love with God at that moment in time that our feelings for any human must take second place. It’s that moment. . .When your hands raise up without conscious effort.  When the tears flow unimpeded and unheeded.  When your heart feels so full of love you almost can’t breathe . . .  And there are no words to express how you feel.    

There are some songs that get me that way when I am singing them . . I love you Lord and I lift my voice.  Step by Step.  Here I am, Lord . . .  There are others that take me to that place when I hear them performed.  I imagine you have your own list of love songs you sing to God.  

And God sings love songs to us, when we are listening.  God tells us in so very many ways just how we are loved.  Throughout Scripture God speaks of the relationship we have with each other as that of bride and groom.  Indeed, that feeling we have for God in those moments of transport can be a lot like the way it felt when you looked in your spouse’s eyes and said, “I do.”  Again, the Song of Solomon can be read as describing the intimate relationship existing between God and human.  God speaks to us through the prophets with words of love and affection.  Even when we have been unfaithful, when our attention turned to something else so that we stopped paying attention to our beloved, our God, still God loved us.  

How do I love thee? God asks.  Here, let me show you the ways.  Let me show you what love looks like.  And then, God chose one young woman out of all the young women in the tribes of Israel to bring Love into the world.  To bear a son, God’s own son, who would go out from her house to tell all the world “God loves you.”  And who would teach us to do the same. 

When we say to God, How do I love thee?  Our answer will be seen clearly in the ways we love one another.

My friend and colleague Sandhya Jha wrote a daily devotional, titled Liberating Love:  365 Love letters from God.   Every day includes a passage from scripture followed by a love note from God to us.  For today, December 20th, the reading comes from Colossians 3:14 “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

and God says

“Today I want to offer you a playful request: what does it look like when you are clothed with love?  Are you decked out in vibrant neon or cool forest colors?  Is it sparkles or silk or denim?  Do the clothes look different depending on the occasion? How will you clothe yourself with love today so that everyone admires your wardrobe? (And when they do, let them know you got your clothes from me...they are priceless.)”  (Chalice Press, 2020.  Pg 355.)

So I present you with a challenge - a Discipleship Challenge.  How will you clothe yourself with love, so that everyone admires your wardrobe? 

Raise a glass to freedom

 Scripture Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 NRSV

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

    because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

    to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

    and release to the prisoners;

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

    and the day of vengeance of our God;

    to comfort all who mourn;

3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—

    to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

    the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

4 They shall build up the ancient ruins,

    they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

    the devastations of many generations.

8 For I the Lord love justice,

    I hate robbery and wrongdoing;

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

    and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants shall be known among the nations,

    and their offspring among the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge

    that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

    my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

    and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

    to spring up before all the nations.

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Sermon   Raise a glass to freedom!

Good morning!    It rained!  Yay!  And today is Coffee Zoom Day!  No, that is not because I drank too much coffee.  I’m not even sure there is such a thing as too much coffee.  No, Coffee Zoom is what we are going to be doing after worship today!   Around 11:15ish, if you’re on our email list, you will get an invitation to join a Zoom meeting.  Well, It says meeting, but it’s really a virtual coffee hour. A chance to see each other almost in person, and catch up on what we have been doing for the last nine months or so.  We’ll be doing this the 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month, and once life is somewhat closer to normal, we will be doing it in person. In the church library/parlor, which is currently getting a face lift.  So, I hope to see you in a little while.

As I am sure you all know, we are currently living under very strict guidelines in an effort to bring the infection rates and number of hospitalizations down.  Right now they are still going up.  So please, stay home if you can, be very careful if you must go out, and wear your mask.  And pray.

Our theme for Advent this year is difficult journey to a beautiful destination.  Very few passages speak to that theme better than this one. The people have been in exile, waiting in despair for their suffering to end.  They have been living in an unfamiliar place, and had been for quite a while and then God tells Isaiah to bring them hope and comfort.  Isaiah is told to ease their grieving and bring peace into their hearts.  To prepare the way of the Lord! To cry out in the wilderness! For soon their time of trial will be at an end.  Soon there will be gladness and rejoicing!  

For the people of Israel in exile, just knowing that God was going to send someone to free them was enough to lift the worst of the burden from their shoulders.  They could wait as long as they knew they were not doomed to be in Babylon forever.  God had proclaimed liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, an end to the oppression under which they had been living for so very long.  They were told they would rebuild their ruins - and we know the Temple in Jerusalem lay in ruins, having been destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar’s armies. Maybe he wasn’t coming right this minute, but for now they could celebrate a bit, assured that their savior would come. 

Kind of sounds like us right now, doesn’t it?  We have been waiting and worrying for over 9 months now, ever since the coronavirus started to show up here in the U.S.  We have been on strict lockdowns and less strict lockdowns and back to strict ones again.  We’ve had to learn about tiers and which one we are in so we know whether we can go out to eat or get our hair done.  We have learned more than we ever wanted to know about hand washing and how respiratory illnesses are transmitted, and we now know the best time to go to the market for toilet paper and disinfectant. Masks are fashion accessories.  For a minute it looked like things were getting better. We started planning for a return to in person worship. And then it got worse, and we are still worshipping online.  We’ve been asked to not spend holidays with family.  Our children are struggling with online learning - and so are their parents and grandparents.  We are experiencing an exile from our normal lives that may seem to us to be every bit as difficult to live under as the exile the people of Judah experienced in Babylon, with no end in sight.  

And then hope peeked over the horizon.  A vaccine was found to be effective in clinical trials, then another vaccine, then a third.  On Friday the first of those vaccines was approved by the FDA, and distribution is about to get underway.  Hope turned into joy, even if just for a moment, because the end is in sight.  We don’t know exactly when that end will come, but we know it will, and that’s the most important part right now. Knowing that this too really shall pass.  

Our current situation, of course, is not like the Babylonian Exile, even though it might feel like it.  They were in Babylon for 70 years! They raised two generations there.  They did not know if they would ever be able to go back to their land, or worship in the Temple, or see whatever relatives were left behind.  They could have lost hope.  They could have assimilated.  They could have turned to the gods of Babylon . . . but they did not. They never lost faith in the God of Israel.  They never stopped praying - although for a long time their prayers were more like “My God, why have you forsaken me?” than “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord.”. What they gained was humility - because these exiles were the elites.  They weren’t the farmers and the servants and the fishermen.  Those were left back in Judah along with some few to rule over them for Babylon so the land would continue to be profitable for the conquerors.  No, the exiles were mostly leaders, the nobles, the wealthy, the ones who thought they were all that, who ignored the poor, who allowed injustice to flourish in their own country.  So they learned what it felt like to be at the bottom instead of the top of society. They learned to not take their accustomed lifestyle for granted.  And they learned that God loved them, no matter what.  I imagine that when they did return home they danced for joy along the way, like David danced when they brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.  I imagine that when they got home, they raised a glass to freedom.

Fast forward 500 years and the people of Judea were waiting, watching for the signs, praying for the one who would come to deliver them, once again, from the conqueror. This time the arrival of the Messiah would be much less obvious, and his purpose not exactly what they expected.  This time, instead of physical freedom they would receive spiritual freedom. They would be liberated from the chains of sin and sorrow.  Freedom would come, not to an entire nation all at once, but to each person as each heart opened to accept the Christ.  We have seen how Jesus gathered his disciples, one or two at a time.  The crowds came to hear him and have their bodies healed by him, but the body of those who followed him closely, day in and day out, who sat at his feet and learned from him, who traveled with him where ever he went, grew more slowly.  And even they didn’t understand what it was they were waiting for.  To come to that understanding they would have to walk the most difficult of roads, the road that led to the crucifixion.  And from there to that most beautiful, most joyful event - the resurrection.  

I titled this message “Raise a glass to freedom!’ - yaaass, another Hamilton reference.  Because when you think about it, we do that every Sunday.  Every Sunday we celebrate the freedom we have found in Christ by raising a glass, or a chalice, or a even a coffee cup, during the Lord’s Supper.  Every Sunday in the words of institution, we tell the story of that difficult journey, and we celebrate the resurrection, and we anticipate our Savior’s return. 

In Advent we wait.  Just as the exiles in Babylon waited, and the people of Judea under Rome waited, so too we wait to welcome the Christ child in just a few weeks, and for our Savior’s return, whenever that might be.  For he told us he would return.  We don’t know when.  But we know he will.  So we wait with joy in our hearts and on our lips, for the coming of Emmanuel, God with us.

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Discipleship “Challenge”

You know, most years we talk about not losing the meaning of Christmas in the excitement of shopping and parties and gift wrapping and Christmas music and trees and stockings and stuff. We talk about how important it is not to let the secular Christmas rooted in commercialism overshadow the manger.  Most years we, as a congregation, will gather canned tomatoes to help our neighbors through Selma Cares, or go caroling at the Selma Convalescent Hospital and take little gifts for the residents, or buy gifts for a needy family through our Angel Tree.   This year we can’t go out as readily and put coins in the Salvation Army bucket - or for that matter, volunteer to ring the Salvation Army bell.  This year is entirely different.  We aren’t able to do all those things we’re used to doing.  So how do we carry the message of Advent, how do we spread joy in 2020?  

I challenge you, as Disciples of Christ, to go out and tell it on the mountain.  Not an actual mountain, necessarily, but from whatever place your voice can best be heard.  Maybe that’s Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or TikTok or YouTube or at work, or on the phone, or in your Christmas cards.  Remind people that God IS with us.  Right now people need to hear that.  Right now your friends and colleagues and even family members need to know that God IS with us, and God will always be with us, no matter what.  Tell them about your Hope for the future and about the Peace and the Joy that you receive through your faith.  Tell them that Emmanuel has come and will come again.  

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Highway to Heaven

Scripture Isaiah 40:1-11. NRSV   

Comfort, O comfort my people,

    says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and cry to her

that she has served her term,

    that her penalty is paid,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

    double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries out:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,

    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be lifted up,

    and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

    and the rough places a plain.

5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

    and all people shall see it together,

    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out!”

    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

All people are grass,

    their constancy is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades,

    when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;

    surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades;

    but the word of our God will stand forever.

9 Get you up to a high mountain,

    O Zion, herald of good tidings;

lift up your voice with strength,

    O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,

    lift it up, do not fear;

say to the cities of Judah,

    “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Lord God comes with might,

    and his arm rules for him;

his reward is with him,

    and his recompense before him.

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;

    he will gather the lambs in his arms,

and carry them in his bosom,

    and gently lead the mother sheep.

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Sermon   44. Highway to Heaven.   Peace.  

Good morning.  According to my weather app Sunday is expected to be a beautiful, clear and cool December morning.  We continue to worship online today and that will most likely continue for some weeks to come.  I send out an eBlast on Tuesday afternoons to keep you informed about that, and any other information that might be helpful in between newsletters.  If you think you should be getting emails and are not, please text me or let us know via the website or our Facebook group.  Meanwhile, stay home if you can.  Be careful when you must go out.  And please, wear your mask.  

Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent - Peace Sunday.   Today we light the 2nd Advent Candle.  Today we hear God tell Isaiah to comfort the people, to let Israel know that her time of trial is at an end. . . that the Messiah will come soon.  We hear God’s voice crying out in the wilderness, telling Isaiah to prepare the way, to bring down the mountains and lift up the valleys so that the way of the Lord will be smooth and easy to travel. Shortly thereafter, of course, God says “Go tell it on the mountain!” which one would think would be hard to do if the mountains and valleys had all become plains?  I don’t quite understand that, but as Miss  Marple once said, “Well, it’s the Bible, dear.  I’m not sure you’re meant to.”. (The Pale Horse, Agatha Christie).   God directed Isaiah to speak to the people, to bring peace into their hearts, to assure them that all would be well.

It is Peace Sunday.  We are anticipating the coming of the Prince of Peace . . . but it is not a peaceful time. We are expecting the Prince of Peace. . . and the world is on fire, with wars and threats of wars and assassinations and many thousands of refugees fleeing ethnic cleansing, and a global pandemic.  Our world is not peaceful, not at all, and we are looking for the Promised One, the one who will bring peace into our hearts and into the world.  And we wonder where on earth that Promised One might be.  Where is the one who will save us, who will lead us out of captivity?  

Marchae Grair is a Spiritual Director and Director of Public Relations and Outreach for the Unitarian Universalist Association.  In the Still Speaking daily meditation on December 3, 2020, she said:

“In our current political climate, I witness people searching for the next change-makers who will save us all. I even find myself reading and scrolling through Facebook trying to identify the next great hero instead of wondering what kind of hero lives in me . . .

 . . .  Some treat Advent as the time we wait for the one who will save us; however, Advent is the time we wait for the one who gives us the blueprint to save ourselves.

And she quoted from a song by India Arie, titled “What if?”

We are the ones we've been waiting for

We can change the world

Our love can change the world”   

Wait, what?  WE are supposed to lead the change?  WE are supposed to be the ones to save the world?

I titled today’s message “Highway to Heaven.”. Quite honestly, originally I was thinking of  “Stairway to Heaven” and singing it to myself, but that’s really more appropriate to the story of Jacob’s ladder than to Isaiah.  Highway to Heaven, however, does fit this scripture pretty well.  You might remember watching the show when it was new, or maybe you like watching 1980s TV online.  If you don’t know the show . . . Michael Landon (of Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie fame) played Jonathan, an angel on probation, trying to earn his wings by traveling around the country helping folks with life challenges and difficult decisions.   He didn’t perform miracles...although I do remember one episode when a person whose very soul was in jeopardy happened to look up to see the cross on top of the church was lit - very much like the cross on top of our church.  But in this case, the power was out in the whole neighborhood, so the cross could not possibly be lit, unless  . . . maybe God did it?  The angel didn’t do it - didn’t have the power to do it, so yeah. God did it.  These are not stories of Jonathan snapping his fingers and miraculously fixing things for people.  What he did was help people find their own way, simply presenting them with possibilities.  Like the time he introduced a young homeless boy to a man whose ex wouldn’t let him see their son . . .and then just let whatever was going to happen, happen.   He didn’t show up to save anyone.  He was sent there to help people find their own way to making the right choices.  He may have helped inspire someone, but they did the work.  They made the decisions and the necessary changes themselves.

In the middle of God’s instructions, Isaiah asks a question. “Cry out?  What shall I cry? People are inconstant.  Their faith, their willingness to do Your will withers like grass, fades like a flower in the field.”  People are inconstant.  Yes.  Yes, we are. It is not easy to stick with it, whatever “it” might be.  We know this.  We find evidence of it every year in about February when people’s intentions to do good things wanes a bit.  New treadmills get dusty.  We start having more cheat days than diet days. We skip our new daily meditation time, just this once.  We grow weary of all the good habits we are trying to develop.  We start out great.  We can do things with enthusiasm  .. for a while.  But as time goes on, our enthusiasm fades.  

God knew this long before Isaiah was born.  We are, after all, God’s creation.  God knows us better than we could ever know ourselves. God’s many centuries of experience with people made it crystal clear. People are inconstant.  Even knowing that we don’t listen well, we don’t follow directions well, we don’t stick with resolutions well, or even keep our own promises well, God still offers another chance. Just as the judges were sent to rescue Israel and defeat whatever enemy threatened them from generation to generation, so too would another come to deliver the people of Judah out of the hands of Babylon and return them back to Jerusalem.  And so it happened.  Cyrus the Great defeated Babylon and freed the people of Judah, even helped them to rebuild the Temple. 

Time went by and oops! It happened again.  Judah fell to another oppressor.  But this time they didn’t so much “do what was evil in the sight of God” as they had all those other times - worshipping other gods and whatnot. They simply stopped doing the important things.  They stopped caring for those who had no one else to care for them - the poor, widows, orphans, alien residents in their land.  Strict adherence to laws became more important than healing the sick or helping the injured person at the side of the road.  Justice became a matter of who could bribe the judges best, or pay off the loudest mob.  The leadership considered it best, more politically expedient, to just try to get along with the Romans than to stand up for their over taxed, over burdened citizens.  They lived under the Pax Romana - but not under the Peace of God.  Many looked back to the Prophets of old, seeking hope in the words of Isaiah and others that God would once again send a Savior to rescue them. 

And as we know, God did send another.  This time victory would not come at the point of spears and swords.  This time the Promised One was sent to save Israel, not from an outside oppressor, but from herself. This time she would be saved from the grip of self-centered sin. This time God would send someone to change their hearts for all time, someone whose influence would last longer than a generation, someone who looked nothing like the generals and princes who had been sent in the past.  This time God would send the Prince of Peace.  And instead of riding at the head of a mighty army, this Messiah would walk the land, speaking truth to power and to those with no power.  

This Messiah would change the world, one person at a time, one heart at a time.  

This time Peace would be an inside job, with each follower, each believer walking alongside the Christ through all the mountains and valleys of life’s highway.  

Know this,  

We can more easily discern the will of God when we are not fussing and struggling against our present reality.  

Faith in God and hope for the future are the tools that level the mountains and raise up the valleys and make the highway straight.

When we have peace in our hearts, when we stop fighting our present reality, 

when we accept that just for this moment we are right where we are supposed to be.

then we can rest in the arms of our God, like a lamb in the arms of her shepherd, 

knowing that God will lead us in the right direction, 

that Christ’s peace will lead us to make the right decisions.

The Prince of Peace is coming, not to change the world all by himself, 

but to bring peace into our hearts so that we can.   

Let us open our hearts to welcome him.

Just keep going

  Scripture Mark 13:24-37.  NRSV   

But in those days, after that suffering,

the sun will be darkened,

    and the moon will not give its light,

25 and the stars will be falling from heaven,

    and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

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Today is the first Sunday of Advent. It is the first day of the Church year, which is, as most of you know, the calendar I pay the most attention to.  I have been known to completely miss national holidays.  So, we have Advent candles, Christmas decorations, and music we only hear at this time of year.  

Today is also the Sunday we were supposed to be back in our sanctuary for in-person worship.  Sadly, that was not possible.  In Fresno County, as in much of the country, the number of cases, the percentage of positives out of all the tests given, the number of hospitalizations - all of those numbers are going up, making it much less safe to gather in groups.  To give you a picture of what that looks like - in the seven day period that ended on Thursday there were 85 new cases in Selma.  The week before there were 69 new cases.  The week before that there were 50.  It is good to stay in and stay safe.  It is an act of love to stay in and stay safe.  

So, Advent.  This year the first Sunday of Advent is bookended by Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  It is without a doubt the busiest shopping time of the year, with the possible exception of the day after Christmas.  Even this year.  Retailers are reporting unexpectedly high sales especially in things like decorations and items to make being at home more comfortable, more entertaining.  I would like to remind you, however, that Advent is not just the Christmas Shopping Season.  It is a season of waiting and preparation.  And yes, buying Christmas gifts, baking and sending cards is preparing, but during Advent our focus is preparing for the coming of the Child and the second coming of Christ - both at the same time.  This year we are focusing on prophecies around both of these events.   

Today’s reading from the Gospel according to Mark speaks of the end of days, that day when all persons will be judged, both the living and the dead.  That is the day the Son of Man, the Messiah, will return in glory and gather to himself all his people from everywhere in the world.   The belief among the Jewish people of Jesus’ time was that upon death each person goes to a waiting place, which they called Sheol.  And there they would stay and wait until that last day, when (according to the Pharisees) all would be resurrected in the body and brought into God’s presence.  (The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, rather that everyone would remain in Sheol for all eternity.)  Jesus speaks of the signs by which we would know that the end was near.  He said that this generation would not pass away before that time came.  His disciples assumed that meant it would happen during their lifetimes.  That didn’t happen, so we fall back on only God knows when that day will come.  Jesus tells his followers that, as they had no way of knowing the actual date of his return, it would be best if they just stayed ready all the time.   Over the time of his earthly ministry he made that point repeatedly, as in the parable of the bridesmaids in Matthew, and the sleeping doorkeeper in this passage.  Later Paul would caution the churches he established to be prepared, even to the extent of remaining unmarried and celibate until that day came, because he, too, believed Jesus would return soon - next week, a month from now, possibly in a couple of years, but soon.  In 1 Corinthians he says - if you are married, stay married.  If you are a slave, serve your master. If you are not circumcised do not seek circumcision.  Just keep going as you are, until the end.  For at the end is glory.

If you read my Daily Journal on Facebook you know that I have been focused on this topic lately.  Especially the “we don’t know what is coming next” part.  I dislike not knowing what’s coming next.   Really dislike it.  I like to plan stuff way in advance if at all possible.  I mean, I am currently planning my sermons for January.  I’m trying to figure out what Ash Wednesday might look like in Covid time.  I know what these things entail under the circumstances I have known since I started attending Treasure Coast Christian Church in Florida.  But now?  When I don’t even have any idea when we will be worshipping in person again . . . We have decided that we will return to in person worship the Sunday immediately following Fresno County’s return to the next tier of restrictions, but that gives us less than a week to completely shift from online to in the sanctuary while live-streaming the service for those who for whatever reason do not attend in person.  Like, maybe you live in Texas (Hi Allyson, my niece!)  So I’m a little freaked.

I mean, never mind the end of the world.  I just want to know when I can go get a pedicure. I want to know when all of this will be over.  Jesus says, be alert.  Keep awake.  Be ready all the time, because we have no idea when that time will come.

I am in good company at not knowing what our future holds.  Scientists and medical folks can only give us their best guess about what to expect, as they’ve never done this before either.  Dr Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Health, said in a recent interview, “Tomorrow remains to be written and we are all its authors.”  Whatever happens down the road comes as a direct result of what we do today.  If we are prepared for what happens, if we just keep going, keep slogging through the difficulties and uncertainties, then just as the bridesmaids who tended their lamps and the doorkeeper who stayed awake to wait for his master had their hopes fulfilled and their vigilance rewarded, so too will we.  

Thomas Merton expressed hope in times of uncertainty this way: 

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

nor do I really know myself,

and the fact that I think I am following your will

does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you

does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though

I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. 

Amen

Jesus said be alert. Keep awake.  Just keep going.  Walk forward in hope.  

The Lord will make a way somehow, and see us through.