“In Preparation”

This is the devotion I presented this morning (Saturday, December 1, 2012) at Grannie Annie’s Kitchen. I used the lectionary Scriptures (Jeremiah 33: 14 – 16, 1 Thessalonians 3: 9 – 13, and Luke 21: 25 – 36) as the basis for this devotional.

What was it that Simon and Garfunkel sang, “Look around, leaves are brown, it’s a hazy shade of winter.” Clearly when we woke up this morning, every side pointed to the coming of winter.

In the Gospel reading from Luke for this morning, Jesus speaks of the fig tree and how one can see the coming of summer from the changing of the leaves. Our first understanding of time came from our observations of the changing of the seasons, from spring to summer, summer to fall, fall to winter, and winter to spring again. The signs of change are always there for us to see.

There are some, of course, who see the signs that Jesus spoke about, earthquakes, fire, war and destruction, as the signs of the end times. These individuals see in the happenings of the world the destruction of the world by God, not by man. And they cheer and celebrate because they are convinced that they will be the ones to survive and prosper. Never mind that there will be no world for them to inhabit; they will be the ones who win the battle and so they celebrate.

But any celebration that focuses on the now is one without a vision of tomorrow. And if there is no vision for tomorrow, how can there be a promise of hope. And if there is no hope, Christmas loses its meaning.

Somewhere along the line we have forgotten why we have Christmas. It is lost in the commercial hustle and bustle, of the desire to make sure that everyone has a gift that will insure that the gift giver gets something of equal or greater value in return. We fail to remember that the wisemen and shepherds brought gifts to the Baby Jesus but Mary and Joseph did not give them any gifts. And when Christmas is over, the decorations are quickly put away and life returns to normal.

But life after Christmas can never be normal, if we understand what it is about and why we even think about it. And that is why we have Advent, the seaon of preparation. If life after Christmas is supposed to be something different, then we have to prepare for the change. We see the signs; we know that there is a change taking place and we can either ignore the change or prepare for what is to come.

The other day I wondered why God sent Jesus to live with us as a child. Why didn’t he just select someone else? But, God had selected someone else; we call them the prophets and the people have this nasty tendency to dismiss the words and call of a prophet. Besides, the words and call of a prophet are for today, not tomorrow. They may speak of tomorrow but they are speaking to us today. The prophets spoke of the child that would be born and would lead the people.

In a child we see the promise of tomorrow, the promise of hope. In Jesus, the child, we know that there will be a tomorrow, that these are not the end times but the beginning times. Our celebration is not for today but for tomorrow and the tomorrows that will come.

Paul asked the Thessalonians what would be an adequate thanksgiving to offer God for the joy we experience before him because of you. For Paul, it is what the people in Thessalonika are doing that speaks of the world of Christ in this world.

So too is it for us this morning? How can we show the joy and peace found in Christ to the world? Do we speak of the end times and the destruction of the world? I really don’t see how that can ever be.

There is a different story, it is one symbolized by the first candle on the Advent wreath, the light of hope. For if there is hope in this world, there is a tomorrow. For everyone who seeks a way out of the darkness of the world in which they live, a world that perhaps seems headed towards finality and destruction, the light of Christ offers hope.

The story does not end with the coming of Christ; the story begins. And on this 1^st Sunday of Advent, we begin to prepare for the coming of Christ and the child who brings hope.

“Notes for the 1st Sunday in Advent”

These are pieces that I have posted for the 1^st Sunday in Advent (Year A):

29 November 1998 – Neon UMC – Lay speaker

2 December 2001 – Walker Valker UMC – Bishop Lyght presented the message

28 November 2004 – presented the sermon “Time Has Come Today” at Tompkins Corners UMC.

2 December 2007 – posted the message What Is The Guarantee?

28 November 2007 – posted the message “What Season Is This?”

These are pieces that I have posted for the 1^st Sunday in Advent (Year B):

28 November 1999 – presented the sermon “The Light Begins to Shine” at Modena Memorial UMC (pulpit exchange with their pastor who gave the message at Walker Valley UMC).

1 December 2002 – presented the sermon “At What Point?” at Tompkins Corners UMC

27 November 2005 – posted the message “The Time And The Season”

30 November 2008 – posted the message “From The Darkness Into The Light” –

27 November 2011 – posted a summary of messages and posts for Year B – “1^st Sunday of Advent – 2011”

These are pieces that I have posted for the 1^st Sunday in Advent (Year C):

3 December 2000 – presented the sermon “The Hope of Promise, the Promise of Hope” at Walker Valley UMC

30 November 2003 – presented the sermon “The Tree By the Side Of the Road”at Tompkins Corners UMC

3 December 2006 – posted the message “Days of Hope”

29 November 2009 – posted the message “How Can I?” – the meaning of Advent

2 December 2012 – presented the Advent message “In Preparation” at Grace UMC (Saturday morning before Grannie Annie’s Kitchen)

The Candles of Advent

I first published this on 24 November 2005. As I was preparing some thoughts for the 3^rd Sunday in Advent, I thought about this piece. In looking at it, I saw a number of errors that I didn’t realize were in the post. So I have cleaned it up and am reposting it for this season.

This is the season of Advent, a time of preparation for the birth and coming of Jesus Christ. To celebrate each week of Advent, we light a candle on the Advent wreath. But what do the candles mean? There are a number of reasons but here is something to consider.

Lighting the 1^st Candle

Advent begins in the darkness of the year. It is darkness both in terms of sunlight and in terms of our own lives. We see violence, poverty and oppression all around us and we wonder if there ever will be sunlight again. We wonder if the world is meant to ever see sunshine or whether we will always be trapped in the darkness that we experience. But we are reminded that

The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. (Genesis 1: 2 – 4)

And John reminds us that

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1: 1 -3)

We light the first candle of Advent, not so much to relieve the darkness but to bring light into the world. We light the first candle not so God can find us but so we can find our way to God. It may only be one light in the vast expanse of darkness but it cannot be hidden in the darkness. We are able to begin Advent because we have the light and in the light we find God.

Lighting the 2^nd Candle

We light the second candle of Advent first out of fear but then out of joy. We are fearful because it is still dark and we are still uncomfortable being in the darkness. Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, the beginnings of Advent bring fear.

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1: 26 – 38)

Mary was fearful because she knew how society would react upon hearing that she was pregnant. Joseph, soon to be Mary’s husband, was also worried because society would not approve of Mary being pregnant before the completion of the marriage vows. But angels told both that everything was going to be alright and that there was nothing to fear. Joseph understood and stood by his wife to be. Mary exalted in her joy and said

Mary’s Song

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” (Luke 1: 46 – 55)

Mary and Joseph were not the only ones to first fear and then rejoice in the announcement of Jesus’ birth. The first to hear of Jesus’ birth that night in Bethlehem were the shepherds in fields outside the town.

The Shepherds and the Angels

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 1But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2: 8 – 20)

So just like before the angels told Mary and Joseph about the birth of Jesus and they proclaimed the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem, so too do we experience fear in the darkness of the times. But our fear turns to joy because we know that Christ is being born in Bethlehem. Like the angels, we exclaim our joy in this event. So we light the second candle in joy.

Lighting the 3^rd Candle

The third candle is the light of discovery. The shepherds left the manger and went to tell others. And while they were doing so, there were others who sought the new-born child.

The Visit of the Magi

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2: 1 – 2)

We light the third candle because we know others, like the wise men of the east still seek the Christ child. They have heard the Good News first told by the shepherds and they seek to find the child, just as the wise men did. But discovery is never easy, especially in the darkness of the world. So we light the third candle to bring light into the world, knowing that in the light truth will shine and in the truth, people will be set free.

Lighting the 4^th Candle

We light the fourth candle in celebration. Now the light, once so feeble and perhaps overwhelmed by the darkness, glows brightly. We remember the words of John, who wrote

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (John 1: 5 – 9)

Like John the Baptist, we now go forth proclaiming the coming of Christ. In lighting the fourth candle, we now proclaim the birth of Jesus the Christ child is soon to be. We have completed our four week journey and preparation, so we can begin celebrating. With the light of the fourth candle, we can see much clearer than we could a few weeks ago. Like Mary and Joseph, we began this journey in darkness with fear, but our fear turned to joy because we know what the birth of Christ really means. Like the wise men who were guided by the star in the east so too have we been guided by the light of the candles. We come seeking to find the Christ child. So we light the fourth candle in celebration.

Lighting the Christ Candle

Over the past four weeks, we have lit the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Each week the light of the Advent Wreath has grown brighter. And now the circle is complete. The four candles of Advent remind us and direct us towards the center candle, the Christ Candle. Just as the Christ Candle is the center of the Advent Wreath, so too should we make Christ the center of our lives. In lighting the Christ Candle, we are bringing forth a light that is so bright that it cannot be extinguished. As we celebrate the birth of Christ, we bring light into a world of darkness; no longer is the world a place of fear and darkness because fear and darkness cannot survive in a world of light. As we celebrate Advent and Christmas this year, let us take the light of Christ, that light that abides in our hearts and allows us to light the four candles of Advent, out into the world. We take the Light of Christ out into the world to bring the Good News that the sick will be healed, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear and the oppressed will be set free.

1st Sunday in Advent – 2011

Right now, it doesn’t appear that I am going to have much time to prepare blogs for this Advent season. Maybe, as part of my own preparation for the coming of the Lord, I need to step away from the blogging process.

    

In the meantime, the following are pieces that I have posted for the 1^st Sunday in Advent (Year B):

“The Light Begins to Shine” – Sermon given at Walker Valley UMC, 28 November 1999

“At What Point?” – Sermon given at Tompkins Corners UMC, 1 December 2002

“The Time And The Season” – Posted on 27 November 2005

“From The Darkness Into The Light” – Posted on 30 November 2008

What Season Is This?

Here are my thoughts for the 1^st Sunday in Advent, 28 November 2010. The scriptures for this Sunday are Isaiah 2: 1 – 5, Romans 13: 11 – 14, and Matthew 24: 36 – 44.

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I should have posted this late last week or early this week but things have been rough lately and my focus has been on other things. Maybe I am doing what Paul warned the Romans about; focusing on my day-to-day obligations instead of by obligations to God and Christ.

But lately I have found some of my obligations being what I feel I am being called to do with my ministry. In the most recent issue of Connections, Barbara Wendland speaks of her new book, “Misfits: The Church’s Hidden Strength”. (And by the way, if you are not subscribing to Connections, you are missing some great thoughts about the nature of the church!) It could be that because I see what is happening in this world in such a different light that I am a misfit.

I see what is happening in the world and I wonder if I am seeing the same thing as everyone else. When you look at this planet on which we live; when you look at the society in which we live, and the place of the church on this planet and in this society, you have to wonder what season this is. I have no doubt that winter is coming and that we have entered into the Advent Season. But I also wonder if we understand what this season is about.

Is it the season in which we prepare for the Prince of Peace? Or is this to be another season of war and violence, not just in places where we would rather not be but in places that we once were? How can we, when we now the circumstances that forced Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem, live in a world where we are slowly taking on the characteristics of the Roman Empire and not the Kingdom of Heaven hear on earth?

How do we justify a world of military power, continued warfare, and the possibility of other countries going to war with the passage in Isaiah for this week that tells us that nations will no longer go to war and people will come together with one common view?

Maybe it is because of my own situation but I wonder what happened to Thanksgiving this year. It was as if the only reason for Thanksgiving this year was so that we can have “Black Friday”, to spend our money on items and materials for ourselves. We hear that the economy is going great but why are there still people without jobs or working in multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. Why is the discussion about making the minimum wage equal to a living wage always made out to be a bad idea, one that will destroy business? If people can’t earn enough to live (and that is what a living wage determines), how can they buy anything?

Is it possible that we have so misconstrued the words of the Bible that we think it is perfectly acceptable in God’s eyes to ignore the poor, the hungry, the sick and homeless because the Coming of Christ means the end of the world? We don’t mind having food drives at Thanksgiving and Christmas so that families and individuals will not go hungry one or two days a year. But why do we even have to discuss food drives, food closets, and similar drives when we say that we are the richest country in the world? Isn’t Christianity a day-to-day thing instead of once or twice a year?

The passage from Matthew speaks of that moment in time that has, I believed, become known as “The Rapture”. I think that Paul’s warning is predicated on that same notion. Too many people today are focused on a point in time that may or may not be coming. If I am not mistaken, Paul spent as much time telling the people to quit thinking about the anticipated Second Coming as he did mending fences and relationships within the various congregations that he helped start.

How can Christians have been motivated to work against slavery, for civil rights, for women’s rights and against war but cannot seemed to be motivated to do anything about these issues today? Is it because we don’t know what season it is?

Our ministry is found, not in the pews or the sanctuary, but in the fields and valleys of our cities and countryside. There are too many unanswered questions that demand a Gospel response for us to be worried about the 2^nd Coming.

Let’s face it. We need to be focused right now on His 1^st Coming, Christmas. We live in a society that seems more interested politically and socially on our cares than we are to what happens to others in the world. And if we don’t start focusing on what happened in Bethlehem some two thousand years ago, if we don’t start focusing on what transpired over the course of the next thirty some years in that area of the country, and if we don’t start focusing on the impact those activities had on the world then and now, this season will have no meaning.

Advent is about changing the course of one’s life. It is about being a misfit in a world that changes the words of the Bible and makes them the words of the uncaring and powerful. It is about being with the weak and the defenseless, the hungry and the poor, the places we often times don’t to be. It is about being with the young baby, born in less than ideal circumstances, certainly not in palace.

As much as we would like to use Advent as a season of preparation for what we want Christmas to be, it is more about how we can prepare for Christ to come into our hearts. Yes, if we do that, the odds are that we will be labeled a misfit in today’s society but it will be a badge of honor, much in the tradition of Paul.

Is this the season in which you continue your life as it has been? Or is this the season in which your life changes? Shall your life be one in which you fit in? Or shall you be a misfit in society but at home with Christ? These are the questions that I leave with you today. I cannot give you the answers but you will find them in your mind and your heart.

“Time Has Come Today”

It seems to me that we are a nation obsessed with time. Were it not the case, why do we have "fast foods"? Why is it so important that we get all of our Christmas shopping done on the day after Christmas? Why is it that one of the best selling books today has to do with a fictional accounting of the end of time, as perhaps first described by Saint John in his Book of Revelations? Why is it that every day, when I pick up Ann at the train station in Beacon, I am overwhelmed by the number of people who have to run off the train and drive like crazy to get out of the parking lot? You would think that people, having spent 70 minutes or so on the train ride from Grand Central Station, would want to take their time getting home as well. But they run off the train and pretend that it is the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race where drivers sprint to the cars to start the race. Still, with all the speed they put into getting off the train and getting their cars out of the parking lot, these speed demons of Beacon end up waiting in line at the light. In rushing to cut down the time of their commute, they end up gaining nothing.

We are a society that expects things now, not tomorrow. Our politics and news are built around sound bites; short little snippets of information designed to fit every decreasing attention span. We allow others to define what it is we believe so that we do not have to take the time to think things through. Are "moral values" really simple statements of opinion without any thought to consequence or outcome? It seems that our education system spends more time preparing students for a day of testing than a lifetime of thinking. Just as with news and politics, students seem to want the information presented in short sound bites, easily memorized and not requiring any analysis or thought. Could it be that our problems with the education system are not because the teachers are incompetent, bad, or ill prepared but rather because we do not give teachers the time to work with their students?

And when it comes to Sunday morning, there never seems to be enough time, at least for church and Sunday school. Somewhere along the line, we have allowed the demands placed on us in the daily workplace to control the time we spend in church on Sunday. No longer is church a daylong event; no longer are stores limited in what they can sell on Sunday mornings. I am not arguing for a return to the time of horse and buggies or the re-establishment of blue laws limiting the sale of items (especially since most of the items that were limited, I didn’t buy anyway). But as technology gave us more freedom to move about and time became more available, church attendance is no longer an expected thing in the lives of a family. Rather, it has become something that must compete with the other events of the weekend, the soccer, football and basketball games, the dance classes, recitals, housework and yard work.

The services of many churches use many techniques to take advantage of time-obsession. Services are designed to fit your schedule. Music is easy to follow and carries no thought with it. A projector shows the words of the hymn on the screen over the altar (that way you don’t have to look up the words in a hymnal). And you may think I am joking but it seems that one of the criteria for being a successful pastor in the Memphis area is the length of their sermons? The most common comment of satisfaction seems to be that we get out of church before the Baptists. This means that we get to Shoney’s before they do and can get the best seats.

We rush through life, only to get stuck in traffic along with the others seeking to rush through life. We want the answers to our problems, be the mental ones of school and work or the physical ones of food and nourishment, to be quick and easy, so as to spare us the trouble of preparation and effort. We want our church services quick and easy, as if the meaning of the Gospel can be absorbed with quick sound bites and easy visual references.

But did not the writer of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher, say that there was a time for every season and time for every purpose under heaven? Did not the Preacher complain about the quality of life that came when the spiritual needs of the body were not adequately dealt with?

In Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town, Emily dies at the age of 26. She asks the stage manager narrating the play if she can return for a brief visit with her family. He grants her wish but advises her to choose the least important day in her life but will still be important enough. She chooses to return on her 12^th birthday, only to find her father obsessed with his business problem and her mother preoccupied with kitchen duties. Emily exclaims, "Oh, Mama, just look at me one minute as though you really saw me. Mama, 14 years have gone by. I’m dead!" Unable to rouse her parents, Emily breaks down sobbing. "We don’t have time to look at one another . . . Goodbye, world! Goodbye, Mama and Papa . . . Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you! Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it — every, every minute?" (From "Wake-up Call" by Peter W. Marty in Christian Century, November 16, 2004)

Are we so obsessed with time that we fail to see things coming? Is this society obsession with books on the end of time based on a desire to know what the ending will be without living this life? Was the owner of the house so occupied with the other things that he did not see the thief coming?

That is why we celebrate Advent and why we do it over a period of four weeks. We cannot prepare for the coming of the Lord in fifteen minutes or even a day. Rather, we must be in a state of mind that requires patience and time, qualities not often seen in today’s society. There is no urgency to the celebration of Advent but it almost seems as if society demands that it be done now.

But we have to see that Advent is more than just one Sunday. We sleep through God’s signals of alarm and act as if today is like every other day. And if we are casual with today, what chance is there that we will be careful with our lives? What hope is there that we can live less selfishly and more peacefully? (From "Wake-up Call" by Peter W. Marty in Christian Century, November 16, 2004)

We ask for things now but are unwilling to put in the time and effort to make them happen. Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of a hope that there will be a day when God will get God’s way. Isaiah knew that the hope of which he spoke in today’s passage from the Old Testament would not necessarily come in his lifetime. So he wrote in the future tense and pushed the people to walk in the light. (From "Wake-up Call" by Peter W. Marty in Christian Century, November 16, 2004)

Our hopes for the future must not be dashed because the time it takes is too long. Our hopes for the future must be based on the fact that, today, we begin the process that will make the future a possibility, that there will be peace in the coming days, that people will beat their swords into plowshares.

Walter Brueggemann wrote, in reference to Isaiah’s time and ours, "The key question is whether the promissory possibilities of God have a chance in the face of the entrenched geo-political realities." The book of Isaiah expresses profound confidence that God’s promises will prevail — against, within, despite, and through geo-political realities. But this means that it will take time; this means that it cannot occur overnight. It also means that it will take many people working together. What the words of Isaiah offer are the energy and the sustenance necessary to carry out this long journey. (Adapted from The Soul of Politics by Jim Wallis)

It may seem contradictory for me to say this but this journey cannot begin on some other day. It must start today. The time has come today when we must step forth and say that even though we may not know when the Lord will come, we are preparing for that day, no matter the time and the place. Paul’s words to the Romans today tell us that we can no longer wait and expect a quick solution at some other time. Paul is telling us that this is the time to begin and prepare, to lead lives that more reflect the presence of Christ than the lack of presence.

Isaiah encouraged those that heard his words to walk in the light, with the expectation of seeing God’s will enacted. Paul said that now was the time to cast aside all the aspects of your life that prevents you from being a disciple of Christ. As we sing our invitational hymn this morning, I invite you to come to the altar rail this morning. Take a few moments and ask Christ to come into your heart, if not for the first time, again. Take some time this morning as we sing our invitational hymn to consider how you, in the coming weeks, can best prepare for the coming of the Lord. Time has come today for you to make the choice that will allow Jesus to come, not only into your household but also into your life and into your heart.

“How Can I?” – The meaning of Advent

Here are my thoughts for the 1st Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2009. The scriptures for this Sunday are Jeremiah 33: 14 – 16, 1 Thessalonians 3: 9 – 13, and Luke 21: 25 – 36.

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Advent is meant to be the season of preparation for the coming of Christ but as I look around, I can’t help but wonder if I can write about the meaning of Advent.

How do you speak or write of preparation for a day in December when there are so many people in the world today for whom getting through today is more important than anything else? What do you say to a person whose Thanksgiving dinner was, perhaps, nothing more than a bowl of soup and some crackers? What do you say to the person who wonders if they will find a warm place to spend the night, let alone the next few days? What do you say to the family whose son, daughter, father or mother has been told that they will be sent overseas to fight in a battle that doesn’t appear to have an ending? What do you say to the person or the person’s family when they have been informed that they need immediate medical care but the health insurance company refuses to pay for it?

How can you preach a message of preparation when the message of society is to live only for yourself and for today? How can you preach a message that speaks of hope and opportunity for all of God’s children when so many ministers and religious leaders say that only a few are chosen and the rest will be cast aside.

It is no wonder that so many have left the church and there are so many who see the hypocrisy in the words and actions of the church. It is no wonder that so many people view Christmas as a co-opted pagan holiday and Christianity (and probably all religion) as mythical in nature.

As long as the focus of the church, denominationally and individually, is on the members of the church and only on the members of the church, Advent will be nothing more than four weeks of marking time until the church decides to die.

The church, for the most part, has forgotten what the Gospel message is and to whom it was given. It wasn’t given to the rich and powerful; it was given to those that the rich and powerful hated and despised; it was given to those who the rich and powerful could not see. It was given to those that society had cast aside or thrown away. It was a message for the ones that society had forgotten.

The church, for the most part, has built walls to keep people out when they should have been opening the doors so that they can come in. We sing of the shepherds, the lowest social class at that time, visiting the babe in the manager but we will not let the lower classes into our sanctuary.

The church is leaving the places where it should be present. You can’t build a successful mega-church in the inner city because the people will not come. You have to build the mega-churches out in the rich suburbs where the money is. And there are more churches concerned with their own well-being than they are the well-being of the people. And if you are out in the suburbs, you don’t have to come into the city, so you can ignore the problems.

And most importantly, as the number of homeless and hungry and poor increases, the church has remained remarkably silent. The church should echo the message of Jesus who spoke of seeking the one lost sheep while our corporations and their supporters tell us that such a loss is acceptable.

The church should be more concerned with the number of people who are hungry and without shelter than worrying about a person’s sexuality and lifestyle. The church should be more concerned with banks and financial firms that reap excessive profits and charge unreasonable and high fees than they are with the music that is sung in church.

Because Jesus was tortured by the political authorities of His day, the church today should be more concerned and not so silent that our country has tacitly approved the torture of individuals simply because their skin is darker and their faith is different.

Because Jesus fed the multitudes and healed the sick, the church today should be more concerned and not so silent that one in six today goes hungry and that the number of people without adequate healthcare increases everyday. But it seems that too many churches, individually and denominationally, feel that poverty and hunger are still signs of sin, not society. And too many churches today, individually and denominationally, feel that it is more important to tell someone who they can or cannot marry and what they can or can do with their body than insure their health and well-being.

There are many churches today making a difference in this world but there are as many churches where the words of Christ are said in a service on Sunday and forgotten before the person has even left the building. It is as if what a preacher says on Sunday has no meaning the rest of the week. Those who say that religion has no meaning or place in today’s society only need to point to what people see in churches today to prove that they are right. Unfortunately, those in church today can’t see the same thing because of the logs in their eyes.

It will take more than just remembering what Jesus said about taking the log out of our own eye before we take the splinter out of someone else’s eye.

And perhaps that is what Advent is about. Maybe now is the time for the wakeup call; maybe now is the time to begin preparing our hearts and minds and souls for Christ.

No matter the situation, we are reminded of a promise made to us through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel that one would come who would execute righteousness and justice. We are reminded by Luke that no matter what may happen in this world, the words remain true.

Time and time again, it has been we who have reneged on our part of the covenant with God. Time and time again, we have walked away from God, turning to Him only when we needed Him. We see Christ not as our Lord but as our servant, to grant to us that which we want. But, time and time again, God has given us another chance.

And that is why we have Advent. We have to prepare for the coming of Christ, not on any particular day but in our hearts and in our minds. The promises are true and we who have heard those words must make sure that they are not forgotten and that the promises made are kept.

The Holy Child will not come to us; we must seek, as did the shepherds that night, the Holy Child. We must cast aside the trappings that society insists we bring with us; Christ will remove the burden of our lives from sin and death but only if we seek Him. Burdened by the trappings of society and unwilling to let go of them, we cannot make the journey.

This is not about doing good works in hopes that such works will get you into heaven. That is a debate for another time and for another place. What it is about is the fact that we are Christ’s representatives on this earth and we are the ones who by our acknowledgement that we are such must do his work. One time, many years ago, I saw the passage to heaven through the good works path. And my minister pointed out that it was still God’s grace, not anything that I could do, that would get me in. But because I had accepted Christ and because I proclaimed myself a Methodist, I had an obligation to work for Christ, to work in the way that Christ worked, and to do what Christ did.

If the birth of Christ is to have meaning in this world, it is because we have decided that Christmas is more than one day out of the year. And that is why we begin the season of Advent, not to prepare for one day but to prepare ourselves for a life in Christ, with Christ and for Christ. We can offer hope to those without hope, who have been forgotten in today’s society. But we must first cast aside the ways and trappings of a society that speaks of wealth and power as a sign of righteousness and pick up the mantle of the servant that Christ offers to us.

The promise of Advent lies in what we do these coming days, not what lies at the end. To speak of the promise is to speak of a new reality, the fulfillment of the Gospel. How can I speak of Advent as the promise of Christ? Because it is, it will be and because we must.

A Sense of Reward

This was the sermon/message that I presented at Tompkins Corners United Methodist Church (Putnam Valley, NY) for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost, October 20, 2002.  The Scriptures were Exodus 16: 2 -15, Philippians 1: 21 -  30, and Matthew 20: 1 -16.

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It was, I believe the explorer Sir George Mallory, who was asked why someone would want to climb Mount Everest. His reply is the classic response for all great challenges, “Because it is there.” President John Kennedy, when laying down the challenge to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade said, “We choose not to go because it is easy, but because it is difficult.” He said so knowing that we had yet to even orbit a man and that the equipment for completing the operation was not even on the drawing boards.

But it is very rare to see such an attitude today. For the most part, any new effort is met with skepticism and reluctance. Any challenge put forth to an individual today is often met with the response “What’s in it for me?” Were there still a sense of adventure in the world today, like there was in the early 60′s, mankind would have a presence on the moon and we would be well on our way to traveling to the planet Mars and perhaps beyond. The International Space Station would be have been completed and done so in a major effort of cooperation and collaboration worthy of its name, rather than piece meal and when ever it is possible.

Yes, there are challenges on this earth that need to be faced and priorities must be made so that those who are without have the basic needs. But when you take away adventure and the reason for going beyond the next curve in the road, you offer no hope to anyone.

The Israelites went out into the desert, not knowing what was before them, only that they were headed for the Promised Land. But the moment they became hungry, they began complaining. “Are we to die in the desert at the hands of the Lord when we could have had our fill at the dinner table in Egypt?” they cried, conveniently forgetting the life of slavery that went with that life.

The workers who worked the full day complained that they should have gotten more because they worked the most, forgetting that payment was made at the discretion of the landowner who paid them and it was the amount they had agreed to receive. You cannot complain when what you get is what you were told you would get.

It is hard to determine the reward that we should get for the work that we do. It has always amazed me to read about John Wesley and the early troubles he encountered in the development of the Methodist movement. We wear the badge of Methodist quite proudly, knowing that it was an epithet of slander and hatred.

Wesley openly opposed those who practiced what he called a lukewarm Christianity. He labored to bring every area of his own life into submission to Jesus Christ. His zeal, along with that of the other members of the fledgling Methodist revival, provoked ridicule. The name “Methodist” was given to this group because of their methodical devotion to daily rituals and the discipline they imposed on their lives.

Yet, even with a semi-monastic existence and a devotion to good works, each of these Oxford Methodists could claim the receipt of certainty found in God’s love. Their toil and labors, their strict self-examination, rigorous spiritual discipline, sacrificial good works left them far short of peace and joy promised in the Gospel. Later, Wesley would speak of these times as being in a “spiritual wilderness.”

The meaning that Wesley so desperately sought came only after that momentous night at Aldersgate when he welcomed the presence of the Holy Spirit into his life. It was this Presence which gave both John and Charles Wesley the sense of peace and comfort so often stated in the Gospel. It was the same for Paul; as we read in his letter to the Philippians, it was the presence of Christ in his life that gave the meaning to his (Paul’s) life.

Wesley never sought to create a new church; in fact, he remained a minister in the Church of England all his life. What he sought to do was to bring a sense of purpose to the stated mission of the church, to give meaning to the words of the Gospel. How should we measure the results of Wesley’s work? It can never be said that he understood what he had accomplished, but no less a source than the Cambridge Modern History stated that the most positive influence in eighteenth-century England was “John Wesley and the religious revival to which he gave his name and life.”

But what Wesley sought could not have been accomplished had he not accepted the Holy Spirit into his life that night at Aldersgate. There is no way we can ever seek to gain any rewards if our rewards are tied to earth. Perhaps my favorite Bible passage is Ecclesiastes 3 (“To every thing there is a season”). It speaks of our time under earth; but in chapter 2, the Preacher spoke of the futility of a life spent trying to gain everything there was, as if it would provide the meaning of life. Just as Wesley saw that nothing was possible without the presence of the Holy Spirit, so too did the Preacher point out that life without God was meaningless.

There is nothing wrong with seeking rewards for what we do; it is perhaps only natural. But it always amazes me when I read about some individual who no one knew and everyone ignored who gives a college or university a tremendous amount of money simply because it was the right thing to do. At least one church received the money to build a parsonage because, on one Sunday, the congregation was nice to a stranger passing through. Nothing was said but this stranger was made to feel welcome one particular Sunday. And many years later, a check from the estate was mailed to the church. The reward for simply doing what is right can never be measured in the present time.

Tompkins Corners United Methodist Church is faced with a challenge. If this congregation is to go beyond the present time, there are those who must step up, who must face the challenge without any sense of reward or entitlement. It is not a challenge to do everything by themselves, but rather pick an area of leadership and help the entire congregation move into the future. There are some that will say that it cannot be done and if no one picks up the challenge, that will be the case.

In those days prior to that wondrous encounter with the Holy Spirit at Aldersgate, John Wesley was near death. Because he saw his method as a failure, because he saw his missionary work in Georgia as a failure, Wesley came back to England prepared to die. Yet, he did not die but rather he surrendered his soul to the Holy Spirit. In turning over his life, he gained that which he sought. He may never have understood the reward that came with his work; such rewards are only measured through the pages of time. But he did gain a sense of peace that he had long sought.

So too is it for us. We may never gain a sense of reward for the work that we do now. But that is not why we do it; we do it so that others may gain the reward of having Christ as a presence in their lives. And that may be the best reward we can ever experience.

What Is The Guarantee?

Here are my thoughts for the 1st Sunday in Advent.  May this be a season of happiness and peace for you and your family.

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There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the two most important dates on the Christian calendar are Christmas and Easter. But why are they so close together? Wouldn’t it be better to have scheduled the two events six months apart in order to maintain a semblance of balance in the calendar? Wouldn’t it have been better to have scheduled these two events in such a way as to maximize the impact of each date?

Christmas is the day we celebrate Christ’s birthday. It is interesting that when the church was in its own infancy, there was a feeling that we shouldn’t even celebrate His birth. Since the church was living at a time when the birthdays of other gods were celebrated, many felt that to celebrate Christ’s birthday would diminish its meaning.

Of course, the suggestion that the shepherds were in the fields the night of Christ’s birth puts his birth either in the late Fall, say November, or early Spring, say March. The actual date of December 25^th wasn’t chosen until 336 AD, after Emperor Constantine made Christianity the Empire’s favorite religion. It was also chosen to co-opt the pagan celebration of Saturnalia. But prior to that time, January 2^nd, March 21^st, March 25^th, April 18^th, April 19^th, November 17^th, and November 20^th all received consideration. (1) Now, if it had been up to me, I would have picked one of the spring dates.

But, if we celebrated Christmas in March or April, then there would be times when Easter and Christmas are at the same time (and even on the same date) and it would not be right or logical to be celebrating both Christ’s birth and death at the same time.

But why is Easter when it is? And who came up with that wonderful method for calculating when Easter occurs? (2) It seems to me that because the first Easter was held during Passover, Easter and Passover should occur at the same time. And while this does occur every few years, the methods used for the determination of the two dates do not match.

While it seems that Christmas was the decision of a single individual, Easter was decided by a committee. After the Council of Nicea met in 325 AD and settled the Arian controversy, they began debating how to determine the proper date for Easter. Other than stipulating that Easter be celebrated on a Sunday, the council could not resolve the matter and left it for another committee to make the final decision.

In part, the difficulty was due in part to the nature of the church. Churches in the eastern part of the Roman Empire wanted to follow the Jewish calendar because the majority of their members were Jewish converts; churches in the western part of the Roman Empire favored a date that matched the spring equinox because the majority of their members came from pagan roots.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the 18^th century that churches in the west began using the method of Dionysius Exiguus where Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. The problem of when Easter is scheduled wasn’t completely resolved because of flaws in the Julian calendar which had the beginning of spring (as determined by the spring equinox) slowly moving back into February.

Even with the development of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, there are still going to be differences between Easter as celebrated in western churches, eastern churches and Passover still exist. The actual date for Easter will vary over a period of some thirty-five days. That is because Easter is essentially based on a lunar cycle and the combination of lunar and solar cycles can get very complicated. (3)

Now, it really doesn’t matter who scheduled Christmas and Easter or when they actually occurred. What does matter is that it is not the day that we hold holy but rather because of who made it Holy. (4)

As it is right now, we spend six months of the year in “ordinary time” and then, when Thanksgiving rolls around, we madly rush through the four weeks of Advent to Christmas. We pause very briefly in January and February in order to set up things for Lent and Easter and follow it with the Easter Season leading up to Pentecost. Then we coast from June to November when we start it up all over again.

We see people who haven’t been to church in six months but who feel that somehow attendance now “validates their parking ticket” or somehow justifies their inactivity during the rest of the year. For so many people, the church and Christianity are these two dates and it is what you do on these two dates that matters most. But Christianity is not set by the calendar; it is set by what is in one’s heart.

So it is that we begin the Season of Advent, a time when we prepare for the Coming of Christ. And despite what some may say about the Gospel reading for today (5) being a description of the Rapture, we are not preparing for the end of the world but for the coming of the one person whose presence in this world can change the world. Too many people speak of these days as being part of the end times and use this passage from Matthew as part of their justification.

But the Rapture and any consideration of the End Times do not come from the Bible but from a single interpretation by a 19^th century minister, John Darby. Granted, the concept of the Second Coming is not new. The people of the churches to whom Paul wrote (6) felt that the Second Coming was close at hand and they had stopped doing the work of the church. That is the basis for Paul’s warning in the Epistle lesson for today.

People were expecting Christ’s return and they had quit doing their own work and the work of the church in preparation for Christ’s Second Coming. But to stop doing what you should and are expected to be doing because you expect to be called into God’s Kingdom at any minute is as foolish as not expecting the Kingdom at all. One of the reasons for today’s Gospel reading is to point out that you need to be prepared at any time for the call.

But this preparation does not mean that you should walk around with an air about you or an attitude that says that you will be going and others won’t. Jesus held his greatest criticism for those who held themselves above others and felt that they were the only truly righteous ones. Having been told on too many occasions that I am doomed because I do not live my life as others dictate that it should be lived, I can understand why Jesus would say this and have such thoughts. If there is any hope in this world, it comes from the promise of salvation through Christ and not what others may say. There is no guarantee in this life other than the one that it is given to us through salvation.

The one thing that can destroy Christianity is the attitude that so many Christians have that they will be the ones who are taken in the moment described in the Gospel. From this attitude comes arrogance and that is not what Christianity is about. We are called to bring people to Christ, not scare them away. But we have to understand what it means when we say we are Christ’s disciples and when we seek to make others disciples..

The word “disciple” does not necessarily mean “a student of a teacher” but more “a follower of somebody.” Discipleship in the New Testament means to be a follower of Jesus, to go on a journey with Jesus. Journeying with Jesus also means to be in a community. Discipleship is not an individual journey but one done in the company of other disciples. While it is a journey on a road less traveled, it is a journey done in company with others who remember and celebrate the presence of Jesus in their lives.

And discipleship also means being compassionate. “Be compassionate as God is compassionate” is the defining mark of a follower of Jesus. Compassion is the fruit of the life in the Spirit and the ethos of the community of Jesus.

The Christian journey is a life lived from the inside out, a life in which the things we experience within — dreams, memories, images, and symbols, and the presence of him whom we encounter in deep silence — are in constant tension and dialogue with all that we experience without — people, events, joys, sorrows, and the presence of him whom we encounter in others. Thomas Merton repeats a suggestion of Douglas Steere that the absence of this tension might well produce the most pervasive form of violence present in contemporary society. “To allow one’s self to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns,” Merton writes, “to surrender to too many demands, to commit one’s self to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. Frenzy destroys our inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

One of the most critical tasks of the local church is to enable people to become “journeyers” rather than “wanderers.” This suggests that the leadership of a congregation needs to be serious about their own journeys, to the point where they are willing to share their experience with others, not as those who have arrived but as fellow journeyers able to receive as well as to give. . . .

In his Markings, Dag Hammarskjold records some of the often agonizing turning points that were the occasion of the deepening of his remarkable journey. One entry in this journal describes with particular wisdom that sense of creative tension which is the mark of wholeness. “The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you,” he writes, “the better you will hear what is sounding outside. And only he who listens can speak. Is this the starting of the road toward the union of your two dreams — to be allowed in clarity of mind to mirror life, and in purity of heart to mold it?” Ultimately, this is the question we all must ask, for it is the question Christ asks of us. (7)

We are faced with a challenge today. In light of the violence that seems to be so much a part of our society today, in light of the poverty and homelessness that seems to be so much a part of our lives today, in light of the injustice and oppression that seems to be the norm rather than the exception, what do we say? What do we do?

We can say that the violence, poverty, and oppression are signs of God’s wrath for the sins of unnamed souls. But when innocent children are killed and other lives are destroyed through senseless violence, will we cry out to God that it is His fault?

Our only answer to war seems to be more war. We hear today that the present administration is moving to fix the housing crisis. But they are not doing so to help homeless people find homes or let people keep the homes that they bought; rather, they are working to help the banks whose policies have helped to fuel the crisis not go out of business. The temple stood when Jesus threw out the money changers but it fell when the people sought war as the answer to oppression.

This is the Sunday we begin the journey that ends with the birth of Christ. We may not know when Christ was actually born but we have the guarantee that He was born and He came to bring peace on earth. The Old Testament reading today (8) speaks of the people turning their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks, and working with other nations so that war will be no more. If we are part of the community of Christ, then that is what we should be doing. If we are a part of the community of Christ, then we should be working to insure the sick are healed, the homeless have shelter, the hungry have food, the blind see and the deaf hear.

If we decide that we do not want to be a part of the community of Christ, then there is no guarantee as to what comes next. But if we decide to be a part of the community of Christ, then and only then do we have the guarantee.

(1) Adapted from http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2000/dec08.html

(2) The Astronomical Society of South Australia offers a “simple” method for calculating Easter up to and including 4099 AD. They even offer a computer program that will do the calculations for you. Go to http://www.assa.org.au/edm.html.

(3) Adapted from http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2000/apr20.html

(4) See footnote 1.

(5) Matthew 23: 36 – 44

(6) Romans 13: 11 – 14

(7) From Mutual Ministry by James C. Fenhagen

(8) Isaiah 2: 1 – 5

The Time and The Season

Here are my thoughts for the first Sunday in Advent.

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If one only glanced quickly at the readings for today (Isaiah 64: 1 – 9; Mark 13: 24 – 37), it would be very difficult to think of them as Advent readings. But the calendar says that it is late autumn, the days are getting longer, and it is the time for the season of Advent. So how is it that readings that have almost an apocalyptic overtone are used for Advent?

Advent is the time and the season for preparation, the preparation of the coming of Christ. But it is a joyful and peaceful season. The apocalypse, especially in the writings of the Book of the Revelation of John, is neither joyful nor peaceful. But the word apocalypse simply means to reveal or to uncover. For this season we must reject the literal notion of the apocalypse and focus on its true meaning, its meaning for the here and now.

During Advent, the voices of the prophets come through loud and clear, preparing us for the coming of God in human form. Should we not hear the words of Isaiah, “we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth,” as a wake-up call?

But just as the prophets provided cold clarity about what it means to be God’s people and what our responsibilities are to each other and to God, so too did they remind us that God refuses to give up on us.

This is what Paul is telling us in his letter to the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 1: 3 – 9) Paul writes, “I give thanks to God always, specifically those who are members of the body of Christ.” He is assuring us that God has already given us the strength we need to bear whatever comes in our life. Perhaps we should use this blessing in those moments in church where we pass the peace of Christ between friends and strangers. Who knows what might happen if we say this and find out that we truly mean it?

The common notion of the apocalypse is one of destruction and death, of completion and ending. But the apocalypse is more a sign of things to come, a sign of hope. After all, even Christ’s words are an offering of the hope that is to come, not the destruction. Christ’s words are directed towards a destruction of our own making, not God’s work. And if the destruction that we fear is ours to make, so too is the chance for peace and hope, but only if we come to Christ. Again we hear Paul’s words, telling us that God gives us the strength we need to bear whatever comes our way.

The Preacher wrote, “to every thing there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Advent is a season of preparation, of preparing for the coming of Christ. We think of it more in terms of His birth rather than in terms of His Second Coming. But perhaps we should think of it more in terms of the rebirth of our community, of our chance to focus on a community for the new age. The words we hear today are a reminder that we, as a people, share in the same call to purpose proclaimed by Isaiah. We are the people who are the clay, to be formed by God. We are the work of God, for His purpose and His end.

Jesus tells us that just as the fig tree knows when it is time to put forth its shoots and then its fruit, so too will we know when it is time. But it is something that we know only through Him, not without Him. If we try to tell what time of the season it might be without Christ in our lives, we will never know. If we see the readings for today as a sign of the end, we will never have the opportunity to see the joy, the peace, and the hope that are to come.

We sing of God’s help in ages past but that is not all there is to the song.

United Methodist Hymnal #117

Not only do we sing of His help in ages past, we sing of His help in days to come. That is what this season is about. We do not fear what has past; we rejoice in the chance to make things right and celebrate the birth of Christ and the chance for the birth of a new community. As we reread Isaiah’s words, we see that they are words of hope, that though things may seem bad, God is still hear amidst the darkness and desolation of the time and season.

This is the season of Advent; this is the season in which we prepare for the coming of Christ. We celebrate this coming as a birth but we are reminded that we should celebrate His coming as the crucified and risen Savior, who has come to bring hope, peace and joy into the world. Let us resolve today to open our hearts and, as we look upon the babe in the manger, we let the Christ come in. And as we let Christ into our hearts, let us resolve to work in the world around us so that life begins anew, a community that seeks joy, peace, and hope.