Sermon from January 25th, 2015

The reading:

Mark 1:

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people."  And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets.  Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

The message:

I want to start off this morning by sharing 2 of my favorite fishing stories. (They are also my only 2 fishing stories so I apologize if you have heard them before).  My first experience with fishing happened when I was probably 12 or 13 years old. I saw a sign near the bike path along the water in Brooklyn that said something like “Free fishing lessons on Saturday, all equipment provided”. I thought it would be something new to try, so my family and I showed up at the appointed time. There was a decent crowd of people waiting to get the equipment. After a few minutes, we were given our free fishing supplies.  I was expecting reels, string, poles, bait, hooks, a hat and all of the other stuff I had seen or associated with fishing.  I was given a soda can with a string wrapped around it, a plastic spoon to dig for worms as bait, and an old hook.  The lesson part can be summarized by “put something on the hook and put it in the water”.  After a half hour or so, we gave up and left. Believe it or not, no one in our group (or any other)  caught anything that morning.

My other fishing experience was 15 or so years later.  In one of my first sermons at my home church, I said something about how boring fishing was and shared the story about the can and string from years ago. Norman, one of the people at my church was a retired captain who spent most of his life on the water working in the navy or at various fishing or boat related jobs. Afterwards, he invited me to go out fishing with him, the right way.  The next week, we went out.  He had a small boat in one of the local bays. It was packed with all different fishing poles, reels, and strings.  There was box after box of bait, hooks, shiny things and even some beeping things.  He also had over 60 years of knowledge about the water and fishing with him.  We were out for 3 hours or so, he taught me the basics and we managed to catch 5 or 6 good fish that morning.       

These two stories have helped me understand Jesus call of his first followers with the invitation “come follow me and I will make you fishers of people” in a more realistic way.   Jesus first followers were fishermen. They depended on the sea for the survival of themselves, their families and even their communities.  In fact many of the people Jesus talks to lived near the water and depended on it for the essentials of life like food and transportation. Stories and lessons about the water and fishing were the clearest and easiest way to communicate with them.   People understood the importance of the sea as well as the ups and downs that came with often thankless job of fishing. Times have changed but this metaphor of fishing for people can still mean something to us today, even in our global world of cement, computers, phones, texts, trains, airplanes, cars and frozen, store bought or processed foods (many of which do not resemble anything that came out of the ocean).              

The most important thing to look at for us today, to focus on in this story is that Jesus does not make this invitation “follow me and I will make you fish for people” and then offer then a soda can and string, Jesus teaches them how to fish for people and provides them with all of the tools and equipment necessary to do this work. Jesus teaches by setting an example, by inviting people to follow him, Jesus invites them to see how he interacts with others, to hear what he teaches, to witness how he treats the poor, different and outsider, to experience the power of prayer for themselves, to show that God is speaking to the world with words of love and compassion though works of love and compassion. Jesus reminds them that they are not doing this work alone by constantly pointing to God and referencing the scriptures. Jesus points to the presence of God in the midst of celebration and suffering through the healing of the blind and lame, the restoration of life, the exorcising and chasing out of demons and eventually in Jesus own trial, suffering, death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins.

Jesus does not just teach by example, He also empowers and trusts his followers, along with all of their gifts, skills, abilities, flaws and even doubts. When they are ready, Jesus sends them out to heal, teach, welcome and restore life. Jesus trusts them to share the news of God’s kingdom come, to use their faith and ability to be the church. Jesus celebrates with them in their success, rejoices as God’s work in the world is done and help his followers learn from their failures.  This is one of the times when Jesus is at his most human, excited by understanding and aggravated by doubts, rejoicing in achievement and being annoyed at failures.  

In all this Jesus, confronts the obstacles to sharing faith, addresses every instance of the crippling thoughts like  “ I don’t know enough”, “I’m just a fisherman”, “I am scared or shy”, “no one will believe me”, or “no one will talk to me”.  To each of these and all the other excuses Jesus responds with love, reassurance that God will be with them and focus on the work at hand.  Jesus knows that it is not going to be easy, pretty or nice work.  It is not simple or comfortable to speak to people about truly deep things, to confront long held beliefs with something new, to be open and exposed to others, to risk rejection.  This brings me to one of the most poignant memories I have of my good fishing trip and perhaps the most important reason Jesus talks about evangelism as fishing for people.  Fish do not just jump out of the water and onto a plate as fish and chips, curried fish or a nice piece of stuffed fillet, Fish leave the water pulling, biting and fighting, they need to be dragged in, killed, cleaned and prepared.  Jesus, from the earliest times in his ministry, from the calling of his first followers, knows that to introduce someone to God’s saving work means to take their life and world apart, to tear people out of their lives of sin, anxiety and fear.   The language we often use around baptism, to die to sin and rise to new life is not an accident or exaggeration, it is a description of what God is doing in the world.

Finally, I invite all of you to take Jesus promise seriously, to share the faith, hope, joy and comfort that is in you, to go and be “fishers of people”, to do so trusting that God is with you in the work

Sermon for January 18, 2015 / Martin Luther King

Sermon for January 18, 2015

The reading

John 1

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth."  Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."  When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"  Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."  Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these."  And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

The message

This morning, we heard readings about God’s call for us to live good, faithful and committed lives, we hear God’s invitation to the comfort, freedom and joy that comes from waking up, going to sleep, working, and doing all things knowing that we are loved by God.  We also prepare ourselves for tomorrow’s holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. the pastor, civil rights leader, theologian and non-violence activist, named in honor of Martin Luther, the founder of our own faith tradition.   To help us think about both, I am going to share parts of a sermon from Martin Luther King Jr.  called “Three Dimensions of A Complete Life”.  King delivered this message at New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago in April of 1967, about a year before he was assassinated.  This is after the March on Washington, the Nobel prize, Selma, countless acts of non-violent protest, the passing of the Civil Rights act and the voting rights act.  By 1967, King had expanded his vision and view of the power of non-violence to confront other issues and troubles in the world. This quickly grew to include our role in the Vietnam war and poverty around the world: The original sermon was probably around an hour long ( I have shortened it considerably.)  The message is based on John’s vision of Jerusalem in the book of revelation, where he notes, The length, height and breath of the city are equal and it is complete:  The rest of what I am going to say here this morning comes from Martin Luther King’s sermon:   

There are three dimensions of any complete life ; length, breadth, and height. Now the length of life as we shall use it here is the inward concern for one’s own welfare.  In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve his own goals and ambitions.  The breadth of life as we shall use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others. And the height of life is the upward reach for God.  Now you got to have all three of these to have a complete life.

Now let’s turn for the moment to the length of life. I said that this is the dimension of life where we are concerned with developing our inner powers.  In a sense this is the selfish dimension of life. There is such a thing as rational and healthy self-interest. A great Jewish rabbi, the late Joshua Leibman, wrote a book some years ago entitled Peace of Mind. And he has a chapter in that book entitled "Love Thyself Properly." And what he says in that chapter, in substance, is that before you can love other selves adequately, you’ve got to love your own self properly. You know, a lot of people don’t love themselves.  And they go through life with deep and haunting emotional conflicts. So the length of life means that you must love yourself.

And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you’ve got to accept yourself. So many people are busy trying to be somebody else. God gave all of us something significant. And we must pray every day, asking God to help us to accept ourselves.  This is what we’ve got to say. We’ve got to accept ourselves. And we must pray, "Lord, Help me to accept myself every day; help me to accept my tools."

Now the other thing about the length of life: after accepting ourselves and our tools, we must discover what we are called to do.  And once we discover it we should set out to do it with all of the strength and all of the power that we have in our systems. We should set out to do that work so well that the living, the dead, or the unborn couldn’t do it any better.

A lot of people never get beyond the first dimension of life. They use other people as mere steps by which they can climb to their goals and their ambitions. These people don’t work out well in life. They may go for awhile, they may think they’re making it all right, but there is a law. They call it the law of gravitation in the physical universe, and it works, it’s final, it’s inexorable: whatever goes up can come down. You shall reap what you sow.  God has structured the universe that way. And he who goes through life not concerned about others will be a subject, victim of this law.

So I move on and say that it is necessary to add breadth to length. Now the breadth of life is the outward concern for the welfare of others, as I said. And a man has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.   This is what God needs today : Men and women who will ask, "What will happen to humanity if I don’t help?  What will happen to the civil rights movement if I don’t participate?  What will happen to my city if I don’t vote?  What will happen to the sick if I don’t visit them?" This is how God judges people in the final analysis.

And don’t forget in doing something for others that you have what you have because of others. Don’t forget that. We are tied together in life and in the world.  And you may think you got all you got by yourself. But you know, before you got out here to church this morning, you were dependent on more than half of the world.

But don’t stop here either.  You know, a lot of people master the length of life, and they master the breadth of life, but they stop right there. Now if life is to be complete, we must move beyond our self-interest. We must move beyond humanity and reach up, way up for the God of the universe, whose purpose changeth not.  People become so involved in thinking about man’s progress that they forget to think about the need for God’s power in history. We were made for God, and we will be restless until we find rest in him.  And I say to you this morning that this is the personal faith that has kept me going. I’m not worried about the future. You know, even on this race question, I’m not worried. I was down in Alabama the other day, and I started thinking about the state of Alabama where we worked so hard and may continue to elect the Wallaces. And down in my home state of Georgia, we have another sick governor by the name of Lester Maddox.  And all of these things can get you confused, but they don’t worry me Because the God that I worship is a God that has a way of saying even to kings and even to governors, "Be still, and know that I am God."

In Conclusion, I say Go out this morning. Love yourself, and that means rational and healthy self-interest. You are commanded to do that. That’s the length of life. Then follow that: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You are commanded to do that. That’s the breadth of life. And I’m going to take my seat now by letting you know that there’s a first and even greater commandment: "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, (Yeah) with all thy soul, with all thy strength." I think the psychologist would just say with all thy personality. And when you do that, you’ve got the breadth of life.

And when you get all three of these together, you can walk and never get weary. You can look up and see the morning stars singing together, and the sons of God shouting for joy. 

When you get all of these working together in your very life, judgment will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

When you get all the three of these together, the lamb will lie down with the lion.

When you get all three of these together, you look up and every valley will be exalted, and every hill and mountain will be made low; the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh will see it together.

When you get all three of these working together, you will do unto others as you’d have them do unto you

Amen

If anyone wants to read the complete sermon or learn more about Pastor King’s preaching / writing / life / work,  you can visit here: http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive

Sermon for January 11th , 2015 (First message of 2015)

 The reading

Mark 1:4-11

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.

The Message

Things feel a little different here this morning. Our Christmas tree is gone, the wreaths are wrapped and stored away for next year, the poinsettias, those red plants that filled our church are growing in other places (and a few are still available in the office if anyone wants one). The familiar Christmas carols, the beloved songs that tell the story of God’s love for us, are no longer a regular part of our service. Even at our homes, all of the Christmas gifts are opened, used, returned, or exchanged, the wrapping paper and boxes are recycled, many of the lights are off and decorations packed away.  

Growing up, I never wanted to take down the tree or put away the Christmas decorations. The tree would be dried out and spikey pine needles would be all over the living room floor, I would say, it just needs some extra water and it’ll be okay.  I did not want Christmas time to end.  Even now the little star and lights in our front window at home are still on for a few hours each night. I know that the event of Christmas, the birth of Christ our savior, continues to fill may life, work, and world with comfort, joy and peace, but it is still sad to see all of the external signs of it disappear.  

The fact is though, as a church, we have a whole story to tell, we need to talk about what happened after Christmas, what the child born that night taught and did and why it matters. We are now in the season of Epiphany, the time set aside for us to think about what exactly it was that happened on Christmas. This church season will take us from the days rights after Christmas to Ash Wednesday and that start of Lent. At this time, we follow the stories of the first people, the men and women, shepherds and kings, priests and prophets, who figured out, saw or, had revealed to them, exactly who this child born in a barn that night was.

The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,  The words from Pauls’ letter to Titus which I have repeated so often during this Christmas time  are a great place for us to start this transition to Epiphany, The word Epiphany comes to us from the ancient Greek world,: literally coming from the root word for appear or manifest. Back then, it was used to describe the sunrise or dawn, the appearance of an enemy during war or the appearance of a god to a worshipper. It also had a specific meaning in the study and structure of ancient Greek theater; there Epiphany referred to the big moment in a drama when the main character learns or realizes something that completely changes his or her understanding of what is happening.  In the New Testament the word epiphany is used 5 times to refer to Jesus second coming and once to refer to this birth or post resurrection appearance. 

My understanding of the epiphany, the one I want to share today, comes out of that theaterical meaning, The season of the epiphany begins with the same two events each year, the arrival of the wise men or magi with their gifts for the newborn Christ and the baptism of Jesus by John, 30 years or so later. In each story, we see that this child born on Christmas, was no ordinary child, not even close. This child was God with us.  Our understanding of how God interacts with us and our world, of how God forgives, of how God keeps promises, of how God expects us to live and care for each other, all completely changes.    

With the story of the three kings and their gifts, we see God’s plan to heal and restore us. The gifts tell a story: the gold indicating Jesus kingship and royalty, the frankincense (an incense used in worship) shows Jesus divinity and the Myrrh (a perfume used to anoint the dead),  foretells that Jesus would bring salvation to the world through his death and resurrection. We do not know too much about these travellers, although there are a lot of stories around them, we are not really sure who they were, where they came from, or even how many made this trip. (historically, people have assumed one each, 3 gifts = 3 people, but there is no real reason for us to think that). All we basically know is that these travellers are among the very first people to figure out what happened on Christmas and since they are complete strangers and outsiders, they show us because of Christmas, God’s kingdom has plenty of room for all people.       

In the first sentences of Mark’s Gospel, we have the other story that is central to the season of the Epiphany, the story of Jesus baptism. In Mark’s Gospel, there is no Christmas story, no shepherds in the fields, no sheep wandering around, no angels singing, no donkey ride to Bethlehem, no birth announcements, no star and wise men.  In Mark, the story of Jesus, the story of God’s saving work in the world, starts with John the Baptist, the Baptism of Jesus and the start of Jesus healing, teaching and public ministry. Mark, which is the earliest and shortest Gospel, has a sense of extreme urgency. In Greek, the words “Kai Ethos” (and immedieatly) occurs at the start of every few sentences throughout the book.  Within the first few sentences of his gospel, there is the epiphany, Jesus identity is known, we hear God’s voice declare “you are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased” and then Jesus work begins.  There is Christmas in this story too, we hear the forgiveness of sins and the keeping of God’s promises, we see the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, and we see the grace of God appearing, bringing salvation to all.   

Not a sermon for January 4th, 2015

On Sunday, January 4th we held our Christmas play so I did not have a sermon.  I wanted to post something so I have included my article from our January Newsletter. Come back next week to read the first sermon of 2015

Each Christmas, I have three traditions that are part of my way to express and share the news that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. The first is that at every Christmas service where I can control the decision, we sing “I Wonder as I Wander” after the sermon.  This song, written in the poverty and isolation of rural America, tells the story of Christmas with faith and truth.  For me the first few lines “I wonder as I wander, out under the sky, how Jesus the savior was born for to die, for poor ordinary sinners like you and like I” , express the incredible news of Christmas better than any other carol .  

The second tradition for me is to share civil rights leader and theologian Howard Thurman’s poem “The Work of Christmas” in a sermon, newsletter or other communication at some point in the weeks after Christmas. (Here it is in a newsletter)   

When the song of the angels is stilled,

 When the star in the sky is gone, 

 When the kings and princes are home, 

 When the shepherds are back with their flock, 

 The work of Christmas begins: 

 To find the lost, To heal the broken, 

 To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, 

 To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers, 

 To make music in the heart.

The third tradition is my message on Epiphany, the day when we remember the 3 magi or wise men bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, symbols of Jesus power, divinity and death. During my time here at St Jacobus, this story has helped me to understand our ministry of sharing space and providing a place for churches to worship. In the story of the 3 kings, the star leads these visitors to the newborn Christ, pointing to the place where Jesus was.  After they arrive,  leave their gifts and Jesus moves with his family, the star disappears, its work is over, it no longer points to Jesus. Today, almost 2000 years later, the church of Christ in the world is the star, we point to Christ. In a world of darkness, sin, violence, pain, greed and suffering, we offer a light of love and hope.  Here, as 600 or 700 people a week gather in our space as part of 5 different churches, to worship God in 5 or 6 languages, our star shines brightly;  as 150 plus families entrust us to teach their young children with faith and care, our star shines brightly;  as we welcome new people, learn from each other and encourage one another in our ministry, our star shines brightly; as we work together to make our community better; our star shines brightly, as we show the world that God's love is for all people, our star shines brightly; as we to proclaim Christ our savior is born at Christmas; our star shines brightly.

It is my hope that the comfort and joy of Christmas continues to fill your hearts, minds and lives with the peace that only God can offer.

Sermon for December 28. 2014

The reading

Luke 2
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed--and a sword will pierce your own soul too." There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

The message

In the days leading up to Christmas this year, I had a few appointments and stops to make that required going past the Queens Center Mall. Some of the stores were open 24 hours, the streets around the mall and exit ramp on the lie nearby were backed up for blocks, often looking more like a parking lot then roads you could drive on. The sidewalks were almost unusable as well, every foot of space was crowded with people, bags, boxes, toys, tvs and other packages. Since I finished all my shopping already I didn’t have to actually go in the mall but I can imagine it was a rather uncomfortable place to be. On Thursday, Christmas Day, Knok from the Church of Grace to the Fujianese drove us home from his church’s Christmas celebration. We drove past the mall around 4 O’clock and it was closed. Things were quiet, there was no traffic, the sidewalks were empty, the doors were closed and the lights were all turned off. After the past few days of chaos, it was hard to believe I was even passing by the same place again, so much had changed there. It had gone from the chaos of last minute Christmas shopping to the eerie abandoned quiet of a totally empty space that was built for tens of thousands of people to work and shop in. I imagined that if someone did not know it was Christmas and he or she walked past the mall, they would know something very significant was happening to create that sort of change, that complete stop of all the activity of the past few days.

That’s why as I passed the mall on Christmas afternoon, I thought this experience would be a good way to look at what happened that day in Bethlehem, when the grace of God appeared, bringing salvation to all, when Christ our savior was born. I also thought it would be a good way to understand the encounter that Simeon has with the newborn Christ and his family that we hear reported to us in the Gospel reading. The scene at the mall, the story of Jesus birth in a barn on the outskirts of the world, and this moment in Simeon’s life when the promise that he would see the messiah is fulfilled are all connected since they are all times when everything suddenly stopped. At Christmas, over 600 years after the first promises of the Messiah were heard. God’s grace appeared, bringing salvation to all. Things would be different now, God’s promises would be clearly and openly for all people. God’s peace had come to the world, not a regular ordinary peaceful feeling, but one that can only come from knowing our sins are forgiven by God’s grace and that beause Christ is risen, we will arise. The shepherds stop, leave their lives behind and seek the baby that the angels sang about. Kings and leaders stop their regular business and concerns as they shake with fear, (as we will see when we talk about the story of the epiphany or three kings). Things would definitely not be business as usual between God and the world and us and each other. At Christmas, the relationship between us and God now has no room for confusion, it is one of grace, welcome and love. It is a life when God walks with us, so we can go in peace and live our lives in peace,

Honestly, this example of a mall on Christmas day as an example of God’s stopping peace entering the world is sort of lacking. Not because its bad but just because it is not big enough to show the power of Christmas. This Christmas marked the 100th anniversary of one of the most significant events of peace in history. In 1914, after the first few months of World War I were underway, There was a grassroots, naturally occurring truce in the trenches to celebrate Christmas. World War I just stopped. During that Christmas cease fire, enemies who a few hours before were killing each other in numbers never before imagined in war, were now celebrating Christmas together. Eyewitnesses report singing O Come all Ye faithful in Latin together, French and German carols going back and forth, small gift exchanges of cigarettes, books, candy, having an opportunity to pick up, properly honor and bury the dead. World War I stopped for a time, because it was Christmas. The soldiers had a few hours in the midst of where they saw their enemies as people, who understood that the people in the other trenches also had families, loves, faith, fear, and hope. Many wondered what exactly it was they were fighting for, After the prodding and encouragement of military leaders, World War I would restart after Christmas and continue for years until over 35 million people died.

If they stayed with it, If the soldiers on these front lines maintained this ceasefire, we are left to imagine a world where WW I ended after only 4 months and a few thousand deaths, a world where WW II may not have happened . Here we have a story, a short vision, a serious glimpse of what can happen when we take God’s message seriously, when we see one another as people loved by God, when we go into the world understanding and sharing Simeon’s words: "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel”,

May the joy and comfort of Christmas, fill your hearts and minds with the peace only God can offer.

Christmas Sermon 2014

The reading

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,  training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds

The message

The Grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. Originally, those 10 words were going to be all I said for tonight’s sermon.  I wanted to just stand up here for a few seconds and simply say “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all”, announce the next hymn and start to sing  one of my favorite songs “I wonder as I wander”.  The Grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, is the description of Christmas from Paul’s letter to Titus, his friend and fellow missionary in the area of Crete almost 2000 years ago.  This letter, the final communication between Paul and Titus was written to encourage Titus in his work, correct false teachings and remind him that he is part of the larger church.  Christmas is central to that work.

I went as far as walking up and down in the church aisle on Monday, practicing The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, saying those few words with different tones, speeds and volumes. After all, I figured if a pastor was going to only say just a few of someone else's words at one of the most crowded and beautiful church services of the year, he should, at least spend the time to make sure they are clear and easy to understand.  I expected that there would be reactions. It would be something remembered, something outside of everyone’s ordinary church experience, something people would go home, talk about and tell others.  After practicing for a bit, I imagined people being unsure of what happened, looking around at each other, going “that’s it?”, “is he finished?”, people sending text messages to loved ones at home saying: “get the ham in the oven, we’ll be back earlier than usual”, some people thinking “if church was like this every week, I’d come back” and others being disappointed, Wanting to hear more about the religious meaning of Christmas in a world  just plain overcome with secular, retail, and social meanings to this holy day.

I am still talking though, so I obviously decided that this would not be the shortest Christmas sermon ever. The reason is simple enough, It’s actually an illness, something called Sudden Rich Syndrome (which honestly sounds like a disease we want to have). It’s a way psychologists, social scientists and others try to understand and explain why so many people who earn large sports and music contracts or win the lottery for 5, 10, 50, 100 million dollars or more end up in debt or bankrupt within a couple of years.  Most of the time, this collapse is caused by waste, fraud, poor management, theft, stress, just not knowing what to do and not having any honest help to do it. It is not a personal failing, race or cultural thing, this happens to all different people around the world.  It all comes down to the fact that dumping a huge amount of money on someone and walking away from them is not really a formula for success.  People are not prepared to actually win and to actually receive what they have dreamed of. People are often just not ready or able to handle that much change. 

This is not the shortest  Christmas sermon ever because to just say "the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all" would make it seem like Christmas is about God dumping salvation on us and walking away, leaving us to figure out what to do with this grace jackpot.  Christmas is more then that. It is a time when God's Grace appears for our salvation and also when God stars to walk with us, a life and story that shows us what to do with the grace that appears on Christmas, .a journey where, in the words of the carol, “Jesus our savior was born to die for poor ordinary people like you and like I”, a life that shows us love, welcome, care and salvation for all people.  ,

This is not the shortest  Christmas sermon ever because Christmas is not about 20 or 30 second sound bites, out of context clips, twisting words, looking right, saying things just to annoy, anger, illicit a response, get viewers, sell books, sell advertisements or get some attention at any cost.  We have enough of that sickness infecting the world right now.  Christmas offers us a different vision, a world of complete relationships, where people with faith in God's care and trust in God's promises, love each other in the complexity, pain, struggle and confusion of the world. Seen this way the church, this community is a place of wondering and learning together about how to share this grace that appeared on Christmas.       

This is not the shortest  Christmas sermon ever because right before the verse, I keep saying “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, are other verses, including “slave obey your master” and “woman obey your husband”, some of the most difficult passages for us to reconcile with a faith that teaches welcome, love for all and inclusion.   I am still talking because I know if someone read just those verses a few sentences away from tonight’s word, and then threw the book of Titus away,  he or she would miss Christmas.  It is a very sad and dangerous thing to talk about just one piece of God’s story. 

This is not the shortest Christmas sermon ever because in the rest of our reading from Titus tonight, we hear that Christmas is an invitation to change, a call to celebrate by letting the grace of God that appeared, bringing salvation to all,  shape our lives, to live in the comfort and joy that comes from knowing our sins are forgiven and that our God loves and cares for us, to celebrate Christmas by being a people zealous for good deeds. Now is the time for me to stop talking and for us to start living the news of Christmas: The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all.