Sunday, December 18, 2011

“No Waiting” RUMC 12/18/2011


“No Waiting”
RUMC 12/18/2011

Have you stood in many lines recently?  Every Santa has a line of children waiting to climb on his lap.  It seems like every parking lot has lines of people driving around looking for the best parking spot, lines of people at the customer service desk, lines of people looking for the best deals, and lines of people waiting at the checkout stand. 
Therefore, I came over to the church early today expecting to see a line of people waiting outside to get in to see Jesus.  There wasn’t one.  I thought our carport would look like the sidewalk in front of Best Buy on Black Friday.  It didn’t.  Why do you suppose that is?  We have to ask ourselves, if Jesus is the reason for the season as we are quick to point out, why don’t  people line up to see him like they line up for those super duper early shopping sales?

I suspect there are many reasons for that, but I wonder…  I wonder if one reason might be that, even in the church, the reason for the season sometimes gets lost in
·         Christmas programs, and
·         adopt a family, and
·         caroling, and
·         mitten trees, and
·         love packages, and
·         Christmas luncheons, and
·         candles, and
·         trees, and
·         nativity scenes and all kinds of “stuff.” 
Instead of being the reason for the season, it would sometimes appear as if Jesus is the excuse for the season.
Now I am not saying that any of that is wrong.  In fact, they are all wonderful.  What I am saying, however, is that perhaps we have let the Christmas story become too routine.  After all, we have heard the Christmas story a hundred times.  After a while, our attention wonders or we tend to nod off.  We start to think we have heard it all before.  HO HUM!
The Christmas story, however, is not HO HUM.  Is it not routine or ordinary!  The Christmas story of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ is one of the greatest and most unique stories in of history. 
I think if we in the church were more amazed at the story, the world would be more amazed.  If we in the church reconnect with that great story, it might touch us in a different way this year.  If it touches us in a different way, we may be able to touch other lives in new and different ways.  I think we all need to step back for just a moment.  Step back from the shopping.  Step back from the preparations.  Step back from the decorations and plans and see the great Christmas truth anew.  Let that ancient story seep into every pore of your being.  Join the shepherds in awe and celebration at the mystery of the incarnation of God.  We need to see the Christmas story through a different pair of glasses.  Today therefore, we are going to look at the passage from Luke that Eloise read for us through the lenses of the first Chapter of John.





This part Luke’s story starts with the shepherds.  They were minding their own business watching their sheep perhaps telling stories around the campfire and trying to get a little shuteye. 
When suddenly, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them.  The glory of the Lord shone around them and they were afraid.”  Now I don’t suppose angels are scary things in themselves.  This angel, however, sure took them by surprise because he also brought a blinding light, an indescribable glory, an unearthly illumination that appeared all around him.  The story says they were afraid.  Who wouldn’t be?  Most of us would be thinking UFO’s and alien kidnapping.
Additionally, when an angel appears you know that something important is going to happen.  When an angel appears in a story, God is about to speak.  The angel is like God clearing his throat and getting everyone’s attention.
John says, “In the Beginning was the Word.  And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  
The word John uses here is LOGOSLOGOS is bigger than our understanding of “word.”  The LOGOS is not a noun or the adjective.  LOGOS means reason
In the beginning was the reason and the reason was with God and the reason was God.  You see Jesus is not just the reason for the season.  Jesus is the reason for creation.  Jesus is the reason for being.  Jesus is the reason for all of life itself.
I also like to think of LOGOS as the messageIn the beginning was the message, and the message was with God, and the message was God.”  Now to the angel is bringing that same message to the shepherds
Of course, they are afraid.



Back in Luke the angel of the Lord said “Fear not for I bring you good news of a great joy.  For to you is born this day in the City a David a savior.”  A Savior?  Yes, it is that LOGOS that word that reason that message that is born in Bethlehem.
It is the very word of God.  The word that God has been trying to convey since the beginning of time.  The word that says
·         I will be your God and you will be my people.
·         Walk by faith and I will lead you.
·         Take your shoes off for you are standing on holy ground.
·         That word says love the lord your God
·         That word  says to  “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”
·         That word says “I will save my people”
The time has come.  The angel says to the shepherds, that God’s word . . . God’s message of good news and great joy is coming to you and to all people.
John says it this way, And the Word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen his glory the glory as of a father’s only son full of grace and truth. 
Most of you have probably never heard the word exegesis.  Exegesis is a Greek word we use for Bible study, which means to draw out the meaning.  Originally, the Greeks used it in theatre to describe the way an actor skillfully interprets a role and makes it a living character for the audience.
Now I don’t understand God’s reasons for a lot of things.  I need someone to draw the meaning out of what God has done.  I need someone to exegete God’s actions so I can understand God's ways.  Jesus is God’s exegesis, God’s message in the flesh,  bringing God’s meaning and reason to life for us.  Jesus is like an actor, taking the word of God from the pages of the Old Testament, and making it come alive in our lives.  He is God’s interpreter in human form to show God’s message for the world; to teach God’s message for the word; to offer God’s salvation to all the world.



Again, we go back to Luke:  And this shall be a sign for you.  You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’  A What?  The shepherds had to be thinking you have to be kidding.  We could believe a savior, a messiah, but baby?  And a baby lying in a feeling trough to boot?  … That is a little much.  OK, maybe the shepherds weren’t thinking that, but that’s what I would have thought, “you’ve got to be kidding. “
Look at it in John’s words “He was in the world and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.  He came to what was his own and his own people did not accept him.”  It had to be hard.  This was almost unbelievable.  The miracle is that some did believe.  Some did understand.  Some did get the message.  Some did see the meaning.
Thank God that you are among those with eyes to see and ears to hear.


Finally, Luke says, “they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger.  When they saw this they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them…The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.”  Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to be there?
I have been to the Grotto of the Nativity, the traditional place of Jesus’ birth.  It is certainly not very impressive, not very big, not very special by earthly standards.  Nevertheless, what a place!  I will never forget the coolness of the rocks, the flickering of the candles, and the gold star that marks the place of his birth.  Of all the events in human history, I suspect more of us would want to be at the birth of Christ than any other time.  It is about so much more than the baby in the manger.
The shepherds knew it.  They understood that this was no normal baby.  Maybe not completely, but to the best of their ability they believed.  Because they believed, they were saved.
John says, To those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband’s will but born of God.”  
This is not just a warm fuzzy story of a mother and baby, a father and a crotchety old innkeeper.  This is the story of salvation to those who believe.  Not those who were present, but to those who believe he gave the right to become children of God.  That’s the crux of the whole Christmas story.  Not trees gifts dinners and programs.  Through these amazing events, we can become children of God.  Having faith in these events, and the savior born that night, gives us new status before God.  No longer are we merely creatures.  No longer are we merely rebels.  We are not mere sinners.  By Jesus Christ, his birth, life, death, and resurrection.  We stand before God as CHILDREN.  We are beloved children of the heavenly father with our savior Jesus Christ at our side.

There are many lines around Christmas time.  The line you pick will largely determine the kind of Christmas you will have and the kind of person you become. 
·         You may be waiting in the gift buying and receiving line.  That is the kind of Christmas you will have.
·         You may be waiting in the family time together line.  That is the kind of Christmas you will have.
·         You may be waiting in the “I wish Christmas weren’t on Sunday because I could sure use a long weekend line.”  That is as deep as your Christmas may get.
·         You may be waiting in the let’s get it done and over with so we can get back to normal line.  You will get back to normal, and nothing will change in you.
·         You may be waiting in the "I hope it never ends- because when it does; I have to start paying off my credit cards line.”  Sorry Jesus pays the price, but not that price.
Let me tell you about a place where there is no line.  There is no waiting here.  Leave those lines.  There is plenty of time for that.  There is no waiting in aisle Jesus.  No waiting for hope, or love, or joy, or peace, or salvation.  Salvation has come--- here --- now-- for you.
           
Where is the line to see Jesus?  It is right here.  Right now.  Let us get our hearts in line and pray together.


Saturday, December 3, 2011

“An Amazing Response to an Amazing Visitor” RUMC- 12/4/1011




In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.  The virgin's name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."  But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  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.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 
Mary Said Wohoo!!  That means I’ll get a long weekend (unless Christmas lands on Saturday or Sunday!)  I’ll receive lots of gifts.  I’ll get to enjoy the black Friday shopping and maybe get some great deals.  I wonder if my credit card has a high enough balance.  Maybe I had better ask to have it increased just in case. 
Can you picture Mary sating; I can’t wait until Halloween is over so I can get a tree and get it decorated.  Maybe one of those pretty pink flocked trees.  Oh, Oh, and a blow up snowman in the front yard.  (I’m not sure what a snowman is, but I have to have one to go with my reindeer.)
And the food.  Let’s see. I’ll make 7 kinds of candy, no 8 I can’t forget the divinity.  And deserts and more deserts, but no fruit cakes.  Ick!  Oh I wonder if Joseph’s parents will come over for dinner.  Maybe I had better get an extra table from the synagogue just in case.  Oh, there is so much to do.  I am so happy. The family, the lights, the bells, the gifts-- oh yea the gifts that’s what Christmas is all about.  Thanks Angel.  I have to go get ready now.

Of course that is NOT the way Mary responded.  But that is exactly  my point.  There are so many distractions, detours and diversions in our Christmas celebration that sometimes we find it hard to get to Christmas.  The young woman impregnated by the Holy Spirit, is not nearly showy enough for today’s Christmas.  The Son of God born in a stable interferes with our self-gratifying consumer driven shopping orgy.  The animals and shepherds just make too big of a mess this time of year.
I hate to intrude on your celebration of Christmas, whether it is consumer driven, family driven, nostalgia driven, or exhaustion driven; but I have to point out that most of us completely miss the point.  Christmas has to go deeper than gifts and shopping.  We have to get deeper than family.  We have to get deeper than white Christmas and frosty the snowman.        We have to get beyond the glitter, beyond the glow.  Christmas at its root is a spiritual thing.  It is a message for your soul and your spirit.  Let us get beyond all the extras and get to the spiritual heart of the incarnation of God coming for our salvation.

I think Mary’s response to the angel’s visitation is instructive.  Immediately she says "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."  There are three things I see just in this sentence that I want to share with you.
First, Mary believed.  How many of us, if we saw an angel and received a message that we were to have a child and he would be the savior of the world, would rub our eyes and shake our heads.  We would think we were hallucinating.  We would check to see if someone spiked our diet Pepsi wouldn’t we?
I suspect we would try almost any explanation before we believed what we had seen and heard.  Not Mary.  Mary just believed.  Do you know what that is called . . .  faith.  Mary responded with faith. 
Christmas is first and foremost a season of faith.  The fundamental question of Christmas is not what am I going to get, or can I squeeze one more gift out of my bank account.  The fundamental question of Christmas is do you believe?  Do you have faith?  Do you believe that Jesus really is the son of God?
If we don’t believe that Jesus is the son of God then the whole celebration is a sham. 
Without faith in Jesus as the incarnation of God himself, Christmas is nothing more than the festival of selfishness that Target or Wal-Mart says it is.
This faith is foundational to Christianity.  Without faith in Jesus as the only begotten son of God, there is nothing else.  There is no Christmas.  There is no Easter.  There is no church and there is no salvation.
Christmas is first and foremost a festival of faith.

The second lesson I see is Mary’s response is her humble worship of God.   Mary knows right off the bat that this is not about her.  She could have said, “How lucky am I.”  “How wonderful am I.”  “Look at me, the mother of God.”  But she doesn’t. She names herself as a SERVANT of the Lord. Later with Elizabeth, she sings "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.”
Mary has no illusion about her greatness. She makes no mistake thinking that this is about her purity.  This is not about her worthiness. Mary knows that she is in need of a savior just as much as the rest of us. She knows this is about her salvation.  She says, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  This is about the fact that God, the only magnificent God beside whom none can stand, has given her a savior- and placed him in her womb.  Because of that she rejoiced- she magnified God, she gave glory to God, she worshipped God and gave all the praise and recognition to God.
We too  can rejoice at Christmas because God, the only magnificent God beside whom none can stand, has given us a savior, and placed him in our hearts.  That is what Christmas is about.  It is about humbly magnifying God, giving glory to God, worshipping God and giving all the praise and recognition to God.
Christmas is not about us, it is about God, and we need to approach it with humility and awe.

First we have faith in Jesus Christ as God’s son. 
Second we know that God sent Jesus for our salvation and we are to respond in humble awe.   
Finally, Mary had no illusion that she could return to the way things were. In that moment, in the blink of an eye her whole life had changed. .  Besides the fact that babies change everything, she was a 13 or 14 year old mother- had a fiancé who was not the father, and she having a  baby in a strange city in a stable. Life doesn’t get any more upside-down than that! 
 You know Christmas really messes up our December too.  Christmas often falls during the middle of the week, there are extra worship services, extra company, extra shopping, extra expenses, extra obligations, our regular songs aren’t on the radio, we have to find room for a tree in the family room, we have to put away the regular nick-knacks and get out the Christmas decorations.  Christmas just turns everything upside-down. 
Not just Mary’s life, and not just our Decembers.  Christmas changes the whole world.  Mary knew that when she sang,
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”
The truth is that the changes in Mary’s life and our lives are nothing compared to the way Christmas changed the whole world. Human life would never be the same after that first Christmas.  I cannot even imagine what the world would be like without the presence and influence of the Christian Church.  I cannot imagine what life would be like without the promise that things can be different if we have faith.  I cannot imagine anything that has changed the world more than the birth of Jesus Christ. 
Yet, for many people Christmas comes and Christmas goes and we breathe a sigh of relief that things are back to “normal.” 
No!  Christmas shouldn’t just change a month.  It should change our lives.  At Christmas, we are celebrating the greatest event in all of history, the coming of God to the earth as one of us.  The incarnation of God to save sinful people from their sins.  How could life ever be the same?  How can we ever be the same?  No!  We should walk away from Christmas changed people ready to change the world for Jesus Christ.

I don’t know what I would do if an angel appeared to me, let alone what I would do with a message like Mary received.  I do know that Mary teaches us about the true spirit of Christmas.
·         A Spirit of faith
·         A spirit of humble awe
·         A spirit ready to be changed and to change the world.

What about you?  What kind of Spirit do you have this Christmas.  I am trying very hard not to be distracted or discouraged by the nonsense I see in the secular Christmas Binge. I hope you are too.
Remember :
A Spirit of faith
A spirit of humble awe
A spirit ready to be changed; and to change the world.