Preached on December 24, 2007 at The First Congregational Church of Tallmadge, UCC
Dedicated to my family: Betsy, James, and Saml; and always to the glory of God.
I want to tell you the story Mary and Joseph and their boy Jesus. I want to tell this story because this is the night to tell it, and also because I think that we may find ourselves in this story; I want to invite you to see if maybe you are on a journey to Bethlehem.
Mary
Our story begins with Mary, on an ordinary day during the time when she was betrothed to Joseph, before they were married. Suddenly, an angel named Gabriel stood appeared, and greeted her with strange words. He said “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Mary was perplexed. She wondered what this could mean. Then the angel told her something amazing!
Gabriel said, “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."
This was even more perplexing! Mary asked the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel Gabriel replied, "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. Even 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. For nothing will be impossible with God."
Elizabeth was pregnant? Mary thought. How could that be?
Mary was astonished, and still perplexed, but something deep inside of her trusted these words, and trusted God. When she spoke next, the words came out of her mouth like a prayer: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” And then the angel left, and then Mary waited. She waited, with fear of what would happen when she told her family, when people found out. Would they believe her? What would they say? She waited with no idea what to expect next. She waited as the nights grew longer for this child to be born. She waited, a child yet herself.
I wonder what experiences in your life have made you feel perplexed or confused?
I wonder how God might do something unexpected that will completely change your life?
I wonder where in your life you might agree to help God? When you might also say “here am I, a servant of the Lord.”
Joseph
Our story continues with Joseph. When Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he was crushed. All his visions of a future with Mary and the life they would have had were shattered in this single moment. Of course, Joseph assumed that another man was involved, and that his betrothal to Mary was broken. Joseph decided to call off the wedding very quietly, because he did not want to humiliate Mary by exposing her to public disgrace.
But after he had made up his mind, it all changed on a dark night, when clouds covered the moon and stars, and Joseph lay in a deep sleep. He dreamed, and in his dream an angel of the Lord appeared and explained how Mary was pregnant, and that the child would be very important. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” The dream changed everything. Joseph was in awe as he wrapped his mind around the idea that this child could be from God and that he, Joseph, was the one chosen to name him. In that era, it was the father’s role to name the child, and naming was the official claim of fatherhood. By naming Jesus, Joseph would indeed become his father, and Jesus would indeed become a descendent of the house of David. It was incredible! But still, there were worries. What would others think? Could he handle all that was to come? What blessings and dangers would await a child born of God?
In the midst of these questions he waited. He waited with a trust in his wife Mary, a trust in what the angel had told him in his dream. He waited as the nights grew longer for our child to be born.
I wonder when you have felt surprised, even blindsided by something unexpected?
I wonder how God might be communicating with you in dreams, in experiences, or in the words and face of a friend or stranger?
I wonder what plan for your life you might have to give up for something more important?
Journey to Bethlehem
While they were waiting, the emperor Augustus decreed that everyone in the Roman Empire should be registered in a census. Everyone had to go to the town of their ancestors. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee in the north of Israel, but Joseph was descended from the family of King David, and so they had to travel to the city of David, called Bethlehem. Bethlehem is in the south of Israel. They had to travel past Samaria, past Ephraim and Jericho, even past Jerusalem. It was a long journey, and Mary was soon to give birth. They left their home and all the preparations they had been making for their new family. It was hard to put everything on hold at such a busy time, just because a ruler who lived far away had ordered it.
As they traveled, they saw things they had never seen before. They traversed a land that was sometimes beautiful, other times treacherous, and often both at the same time.
When they finally arrived in Bethlehem, the city was full with people who had come to be registered. Every room in the inn was taken, and there was no one who would take them in to pass the night. The only shelter to be found was in a stable, where they crowded in with the animals who were eating from a manger filled with hay.
I wonder how events in the wider world affect your life?
I wonder what things have pulled you away from your home?
I wonder how you faced hardship along the way?
I wonder how God might be at work in your life, even in the midst of the things you have to do?
Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem was not something they chose or planned. It seems that life often goes that way for us. Sometimes I feel like I would be able to do more good in the world if things didn’t keep coming up. I could help more with the kingdom of God if my life wasn’t always caught up in unexpected work, demands, and journeys. But on this night, when I remember Joseph and Mary, it occurs to me that the things that keep coming up and getting in the way may be the very place where God is. It might be that when we find ourselves in a wholly unexpected place, it will be like Mary and Joseph finding themselves in a stable in another city. In that place, we meet God. Or, to say it another way: in that place, we help to bring God into the world.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Golden Compass and its critics
You may have heard about a recent movie called The Golden Compass, which tells the story of a young girl’s adventure in a fantasy world filled with talking animals. The movie has been in the news because of the criticism coming from some religious quarters. The problem, say the critics, is that this movie and the novel by Phillip Pullman on which it is based (the first of a trilogy), are anti-religion and anti-God. I disagree. I thought the books were wonderful and the movie is a pretty good adaptation, and I think that these criticisms are misguided. Now, stay with me for a bit, even if you’re not interested in the movie, because there is a larger point to be made.
While it is true that Pullman is an atheist, let me tell you about how God and the church are portrayed in his fantasy world. The church is rigidly controlling, manipulative, and even violent in its pursuit of power. The church is against the free pursuit of knowledge and independent thought for fear that their claim to truth will be threatened. Pullman’s God is ineffectual, distant, and uncaring. It turns out that Pullman and I are in perfect agreement: that kind of church should be resisted and discarded. And I don’t believe in that kind of God either.
Pullman isn’t the only bestselling author recently to critique religion. The past years have seen a spate of new books with reasoned arguments that religion is unnecessary, destructive, and untrue. But we don’t have to be defensive. The existence of a loving and gracious God will not depend on the skill or volume of my defense.
Instead of being defensive, here’s what we should try: we can thank our critics for engaging important points and then we can continue the conversation. First, we need to recognize the truth from our critics. The Christian church has often acted very un-Christian. Being honest about it will build our credibility, and guard against it happening again. Second, we need to tell our good news. Religion also has a rich history of standing up for the poor, giving generously, and being the driving force behind social change that grants freedom and dignity to all people. Finally, we need to keep showing a different kind of God by our actions. We need to build relationships with people who disagree. I don’t think that any argument or any book will ever convince anyone of the reality of God’s love if they have never experienced it in the flesh.
While it is true that Pullman is an atheist, let me tell you about how God and the church are portrayed in his fantasy world. The church is rigidly controlling, manipulative, and even violent in its pursuit of power. The church is against the free pursuit of knowledge and independent thought for fear that their claim to truth will be threatened. Pullman’s God is ineffectual, distant, and uncaring. It turns out that Pullman and I are in perfect agreement: that kind of church should be resisted and discarded. And I don’t believe in that kind of God either.
Pullman isn’t the only bestselling author recently to critique religion. The past years have seen a spate of new books with reasoned arguments that religion is unnecessary, destructive, and untrue. But we don’t have to be defensive. The existence of a loving and gracious God will not depend on the skill or volume of my defense.
Instead of being defensive, here’s what we should try: we can thank our critics for engaging important points and then we can continue the conversation. First, we need to recognize the truth from our critics. The Christian church has often acted very un-Christian. Being honest about it will build our credibility, and guard against it happening again. Second, we need to tell our good news. Religion also has a rich history of standing up for the poor, giving generously, and being the driving force behind social change that grants freedom and dignity to all people. Finally, we need to keep showing a different kind of God by our actions. We need to build relationships with people who disagree. I don’t think that any argument or any book will ever convince anyone of the reality of God’s love if they have never experienced it in the flesh.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Sermon - Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord
Preached on December 2, 2007, first Sunday of Advent, at the First Congregational Church of Tallmadge, UCC
Dedicated to the Muslim leaders who signed “A Common Word between Us and You” and the Christian leaders who have responded; and always to the glory of God.
Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14
Advent means the arrival, or coming of God into the world. In our prophetic text this morning, the prophet Isaiah speaks of a future in which peace for all nations will be established by the presence of God in Israel. We understand this as a text about the birth of Jesus Christ when the angels proclaim goodwill and peace on earth. It is also about that future time when Christ will reign over a new heaven and earth, our hope that is yet to come. And so it is a text about Christmas past and about Christmas future, but for us, this is also a text about Christmas present: God coming into our lives today, to bring peace, and so Isaiah’s words are for you and me. “Let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
I am convinced that Jesus Christ is bringing peace into our world, peace into our lives, and peace into our souls. I also know that there are barriers to this peace, and that God will ask us to give up that which keeps us from peace.
Giving something up for peace is evident in what Isaiah says about the people beating their swords into plowshares. Now, let’s think about what this means. In ancient times, strong metal was difficult to come by. Perhaps the only significant metal in a family’s possession would be the plowshare, used by farmers to plow their fields. Plowshares were curved metal blades that turned over the earth as the edge sliced through the dirt. If a nation went to war, there was no extra metal for weapons, and so a farmer would take his plowshare and make of it a sword. He would make of his pruning hook a spear. But notice that now there is no way to till the fields, no way to prune the vineyards. A choice has been made to go to war. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the prophet Joel said “Prepare war….beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.”[1] But the prophets Micah and Isaiah both make the opposite claim on behalf of God: beat your swords into plowshares. Apparently, it was commonly known that these were the choices. You could farm and provide for your family and people, or you had to go to war. You couldn’t do both.
It seems to me that those were times when the consequences of our choices were clear and immediate. To choose one thing is to give up on something else. As the monks say, every choice is a renunciation. If I choose to do this, I have chosen not to do these other things. If I choose to spend my time here, I have renounced spending time anywhere else. To choose war is to give up on growing food, and to grow food is to give up on going to war. It seems to me that such a choice would affect our judgement about when war is necessary.
I think we have lost something that they had. They understood that you have to choose one or the other. We have forgotten that; we think that we can have everything. We think that we can go to war at the same time that we eat our fill and prosper. We think that we can increase our national spending on things like defense and care for the disadvantaged and at the same time reduce our taxes. We think that we can enjoy our vices and be healthy. I have seen advertisements that promise losing weight without effort, making money from the comfort of your home, five easy steps toward a better life. We can have our swords and our plowshares, because this is the age of plenty. But I believe that this is an illusion. Trying to choose everything costs us deeply, but the costs are hidden from us, as if in darkness, and we are not at peace. Sometimes the darkness is comfortable, because it hides the things to which we would rather not pay attention. If a room is a bit dirty, we turn off the overhead light and just light the lamp on the end table. Deficit spending, personal credit debt, long-term health risks, the gradual alteration of our atmosphere: these are costs that are easy to hide, to push off into the darkness of some future day. We don’t see them anymore, and we think that we can choose everything. But the light is coming. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Think of that in terms of your lives in these next weeks. We are told that while we carry on with our normal work and school and responsibilities, we can also give lots and lots of great gifts to many people, send cards, bake sweets, host grand dinners, throw parties, or go out to restaurants, parties, and concerts, pack, travel, return, unpack, hosts guests, change sheets, entertain, and sing carols. We can do all these things, and more that you might be thinking about right now, and we can also receive the gift of Christmas, the peace of the presence of God. Do we really have the energy for all that? Or is it like the swords and plowshares, must we choose one or the other? The light is coming. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
We think that we can fill our lives with pleasure and comfort, and also with depth and meaning at the same time. I think that all the time! I think that I can balance both of those, but if I am honest, then I know that happiness cannot be sought directly. We don’t become happy because of the nice things we get, which is an odd thing to say at this time of year, especially when I’m adding things to my wish list. We can’t package happiness. Happiness only comes to us indirectly while we are pursuing meaning in relationships with family, friends, neighbors, with God. Happiness sneaks in the back door when we have given our lives and our resources away in service to others. Remember it was Jesus who said that those who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who give their lives away will save them. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Think about swords and plowshares in reference to the Middle East. This week we followed as peace talks began again between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Annapolis. I must say that I have read the news with hope tempered by skepticism. Both parties come to the talks with contradictory demands, which they cling to so tightly. It seems that all the world can clearly see the basic idea that for these people to find a way toward peace will demand that both sides will have to give something up. But it’s easier for me to say that than for them, who are holding onto the things that their ancestors have held dear for centuries. Instead of judging them for their stubbornness, I should ask myself, “what am I clinging to so tightly that keeps me from knowing the peace of God?”
What must we give up in order for God’s peace to reign?
You probably don’t know this, but you and the rest of the Christian church recently received an open letter from this Islamic world. It was signed by 138 Muslim clerics, intellectuals and scholars, representing all branches within Islam, and it was titled, "A Common Word Between Us and You.”[2] It is a letter written to initiate important dialogue between our faiths, and it comes not with demands or criticism, but with an emphasis on two things: our common faith in one God, and the centrality of the commandment to love thy neighbor. In November, a response was written by Christian leaders in this country, including John Thomas, the General Minister of the United Church of Christ. They wrote, “We receive the open letter as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians worldwide. In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbors.”
Establishing strong relationships among our faiths will require that we give up stances of superiority or exclusive claims to righteousness. We will have to make difficult choices and sacrifices. But isn’t it better to have our plowshares than our swords? Instead of staking our interests by the sword, we could put our plowshares to work and raise a crop of understanding, service, and peace. Let us walk in the light of the world.
Isaiah’s words paint for us the vision and hope of the Christ child, the prince of peace. Isaiah says:
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Amen
[1] Joel 3:9-10
[2] See http://www.acommonword.com/ for the letter and Christian responses.
Dedicated to the Muslim leaders who signed “A Common Word between Us and You” and the Christian leaders who have responded; and always to the glory of God.
Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14
Advent means the arrival, or coming of God into the world. In our prophetic text this morning, the prophet Isaiah speaks of a future in which peace for all nations will be established by the presence of God in Israel. We understand this as a text about the birth of Jesus Christ when the angels proclaim goodwill and peace on earth. It is also about that future time when Christ will reign over a new heaven and earth, our hope that is yet to come. And so it is a text about Christmas past and about Christmas future, but for us, this is also a text about Christmas present: God coming into our lives today, to bring peace, and so Isaiah’s words are for you and me. “Let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
I am convinced that Jesus Christ is bringing peace into our world, peace into our lives, and peace into our souls. I also know that there are barriers to this peace, and that God will ask us to give up that which keeps us from peace.
Giving something up for peace is evident in what Isaiah says about the people beating their swords into plowshares. Now, let’s think about what this means. In ancient times, strong metal was difficult to come by. Perhaps the only significant metal in a family’s possession would be the plowshare, used by farmers to plow their fields. Plowshares were curved metal blades that turned over the earth as the edge sliced through the dirt. If a nation went to war, there was no extra metal for weapons, and so a farmer would take his plowshare and make of it a sword. He would make of his pruning hook a spear. But notice that now there is no way to till the fields, no way to prune the vineyards. A choice has been made to go to war. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the prophet Joel said “Prepare war….beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.”[1] But the prophets Micah and Isaiah both make the opposite claim on behalf of God: beat your swords into plowshares. Apparently, it was commonly known that these were the choices. You could farm and provide for your family and people, or you had to go to war. You couldn’t do both.
It seems to me that those were times when the consequences of our choices were clear and immediate. To choose one thing is to give up on something else. As the monks say, every choice is a renunciation. If I choose to do this, I have chosen not to do these other things. If I choose to spend my time here, I have renounced spending time anywhere else. To choose war is to give up on growing food, and to grow food is to give up on going to war. It seems to me that such a choice would affect our judgement about when war is necessary.
I think we have lost something that they had. They understood that you have to choose one or the other. We have forgotten that; we think that we can have everything. We think that we can go to war at the same time that we eat our fill and prosper. We think that we can increase our national spending on things like defense and care for the disadvantaged and at the same time reduce our taxes. We think that we can enjoy our vices and be healthy. I have seen advertisements that promise losing weight without effort, making money from the comfort of your home, five easy steps toward a better life. We can have our swords and our plowshares, because this is the age of plenty. But I believe that this is an illusion. Trying to choose everything costs us deeply, but the costs are hidden from us, as if in darkness, and we are not at peace. Sometimes the darkness is comfortable, because it hides the things to which we would rather not pay attention. If a room is a bit dirty, we turn off the overhead light and just light the lamp on the end table. Deficit spending, personal credit debt, long-term health risks, the gradual alteration of our atmosphere: these are costs that are easy to hide, to push off into the darkness of some future day. We don’t see them anymore, and we think that we can choose everything. But the light is coming. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Think of that in terms of your lives in these next weeks. We are told that while we carry on with our normal work and school and responsibilities, we can also give lots and lots of great gifts to many people, send cards, bake sweets, host grand dinners, throw parties, or go out to restaurants, parties, and concerts, pack, travel, return, unpack, hosts guests, change sheets, entertain, and sing carols. We can do all these things, and more that you might be thinking about right now, and we can also receive the gift of Christmas, the peace of the presence of God. Do we really have the energy for all that? Or is it like the swords and plowshares, must we choose one or the other? The light is coming. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
We think that we can fill our lives with pleasure and comfort, and also with depth and meaning at the same time. I think that all the time! I think that I can balance both of those, but if I am honest, then I know that happiness cannot be sought directly. We don’t become happy because of the nice things we get, which is an odd thing to say at this time of year, especially when I’m adding things to my wish list. We can’t package happiness. Happiness only comes to us indirectly while we are pursuing meaning in relationships with family, friends, neighbors, with God. Happiness sneaks in the back door when we have given our lives and our resources away in service to others. Remember it was Jesus who said that those who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who give their lives away will save them. Let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Think about swords and plowshares in reference to the Middle East. This week we followed as peace talks began again between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Annapolis. I must say that I have read the news with hope tempered by skepticism. Both parties come to the talks with contradictory demands, which they cling to so tightly. It seems that all the world can clearly see the basic idea that for these people to find a way toward peace will demand that both sides will have to give something up. But it’s easier for me to say that than for them, who are holding onto the things that their ancestors have held dear for centuries. Instead of judging them for their stubbornness, I should ask myself, “what am I clinging to so tightly that keeps me from knowing the peace of God?”
What must we give up in order for God’s peace to reign?
You probably don’t know this, but you and the rest of the Christian church recently received an open letter from this Islamic world. It was signed by 138 Muslim clerics, intellectuals and scholars, representing all branches within Islam, and it was titled, "A Common Word Between Us and You.”[2] It is a letter written to initiate important dialogue between our faiths, and it comes not with demands or criticism, but with an emphasis on two things: our common faith in one God, and the centrality of the commandment to love thy neighbor. In November, a response was written by Christian leaders in this country, including John Thomas, the General Minister of the United Church of Christ. They wrote, “We receive the open letter as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians worldwide. In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbors.”
Establishing strong relationships among our faiths will require that we give up stances of superiority or exclusive claims to righteousness. We will have to make difficult choices and sacrifices. But isn’t it better to have our plowshares than our swords? Instead of staking our interests by the sword, we could put our plowshares to work and raise a crop of understanding, service, and peace. Let us walk in the light of the world.
Isaiah’s words paint for us the vision and hope of the Christ child, the prince of peace. Isaiah says:
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Amen
[1] Joel 3:9-10
[2] See http://www.acommonword.com/ for the letter and Christian responses.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Season of Advent
There is something about the seasons of Advent and Christmas that touches me very deeply. For me, the most meaningful affirmations of the gospel and of the Christian mystery are found in this season. At the end of the hymn “O Come, All Ye Faithful” when we sing “word of the father, now in flesh appearing,” and the voices all sing strong above the organ’s fullness, I am struck anew by the wonder of knowing God in so close a way as humanity. And the further mystery of the incarnation is that we believe that God is found not only in the flesh of Christ, but also in our own humanity, because the church is also the body of Christ. Suddenly, I’m looking for the famous “word of God” in everyone I meet, even when it seems unlikely. I think that this insight is a marker on the trail toward peace on earth.
I am also moved by the symbolism of light and darkness. Christmas is in the darkest week of the year. During all the weeks of advent, our nights grow longer and our days shorter. But we do not allow the darkness to overcome us! We dispel it by adding lights to our advent wreath, one more candle each week. We light our houses and our trees. Finally, we gather on Christmas Eve in the sanctuary, where no light shines through the windows, and we light our own candles. And all of this is to say that we will not stand by while darkness grows. We will bear light against the dark.
What I hope we are really saying is that when the darkness of hatred, fear, prejudice, war, and injustice grow, we will respond with the light of kindness, love, honesty, peace, and justice. The word of God will be made flesh, and as it says in the gospel of John, this is the light of the world, and the darkness shall not overcome it.
I am also moved by the symbolism of light and darkness. Christmas is in the darkest week of the year. During all the weeks of advent, our nights grow longer and our days shorter. But we do not allow the darkness to overcome us! We dispel it by adding lights to our advent wreath, one more candle each week. We light our houses and our trees. Finally, we gather on Christmas Eve in the sanctuary, where no light shines through the windows, and we light our own candles. And all of this is to say that we will not stand by while darkness grows. We will bear light against the dark.
What I hope we are really saying is that when the darkness of hatred, fear, prejudice, war, and injustice grow, we will respond with the light of kindness, love, honesty, peace, and justice. The word of God will be made flesh, and as it says in the gospel of John, this is the light of the world, and the darkness shall not overcome it.
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