The Day of Hope

The Day of Hope

Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-5

Starting in March 2003 during the initial deployment to Iraq the church I was pastoring saw 9 members deployed there in the first year and many more since then, including two friends who has served 2 tours. I had a litany of blessing for the soldier before he or she would leave for deployment which involved prayer, the laying on of hands, and a scripture. For each one I would read this scripture:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze…
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
        Isaiah 43:1-5a

I chose that scripture for one specific purpose – to give hope. Our soldiers are carried on the wings of many angels – courage, duty, faith, dedication, ability, training, honor and hope. May they be blessed and know how very much they give to us – including hope.

Hope is not just for those who fight in foreign lands or face impending danger. Hope is a necessity for all of us. We may be:

• Passing through the waters of concern – for ourselves or a loved one
• Passing through the river of change- a new job, a new person in our lives, a new loss
• Walking through the fire of grief, or the energy of purpose
• Touched by the harsh flames of fear, or the burning ember of loneliness

And still we have this hope. Our creator God walks with us (and will swim if necessary!), crosses the current with arms outstretched to catch us, shields us and carries us.

Hope is the light into the darkest times. Isaiah lived through dark times. Jesus came into a dark time. Yet hope is the gift that tells us there was darkness before and there will be darkness again – but light will still shine and God will prevail. So will we.

We can also see hope when we are living in the sunny light of good times. I see it in the middle school kids at my church who are so smart, faithful and funny. They are so full of hope – they bring me hope as well. We can see it in revitalization of nature every spring, and the hugs and greetings of the advent season in the cold winter.

The opposite of hope is not despair. Hope’s opposite is often the feeling of helplessness. It is when we feel trapped by a situation that we begin to lose hope. This Advent we are reminded that there is no circumstance where God is not present and inviting us to invest our energy, prayer, and passion. There is never a reason to be without hope.

The Day fo Love: Go

Read: Matthew 1:18-25

Reflect: No matter how much time we spend stretching, showering, dressing and preparing – there comes a time every morning we have to grab our keys and go. That’s what the love of Christmas is about – the “love” that is an action verb. God who goes to earth, wrapped in vulnerable flesh, and we who are to go into the world wrapped in the abundant love of God.

It’s easy to get confused about love in its action form. Theologians and seminarians talk about the 4 Greek words for love and what scriptures each one is used in, while people die from hunger every day around the world. Pastors and teachers compel love from their pulpits, while our prison population triples as people are punished, but not healed. Christians sing about love every Sunday while unseen lonely people believe the church has no place for them. Love in its action form is hard for us to understand sometimes.

And yet at Christmas we celebrate Love on the Go – Immanuel – God (Love) With Us. Today’s lectionary passage helps us see what a moving love looks like.

Poet Ann Weems points out frequently how many mistakes we make with our nativity scenes:

* Mary looks fresh as a daisy, after just giving birth,
* Shepherds and 1 or two sheep are present (now, if a shepherd was going to bring his flock, would he only bring one or two of them?),
* The Magi (wise men, kings, etc) are there – even though most biblical scholars remind us every year THAT story is from Epiphany (liturgically) and happened as far as 2 years after the birth historically.

But the biggest mistake she points out is our tendency to put Joseph in the back of the stable. We don’t hear much about Joseph really. He’s always somewhere in the back of the room, looking at Jesus from afar. Poor Joseph, the silent stepfather to the infant king. But the Bible shows through this humble man what love truly looks like.

Love respects

Joseph and Mary are betrothed. In Hebrew tradition, once a girl has passed through temple rites, met the criteria and is certified by a Levite priest to be able to be married her family may sign a wedding contract in her name. The contracted couple enters a period of “Betrothal” during which time preparations are made for the couple to be married. If the groom is not a first born son (living and inheriting the father’s house) he will have to build a house (usually on family property). The bride must work to gather what things she may need – cooking pots, pans, and candlesticks for ritual. Again, if she’s not the oldest daughter, she has to earn these things through working for her family somehow. There is even a “betrothal ceremony” called the “Kiddushin” in which the bride and groom drink wine and exchange rings. In the eyes of Jewish law, the bride is already the property of the groom. When they are ready, the marriage ceremony is performed (“Nissuin”), the glass is broken and the marriage is consummated.

Joseph and Mary have had their Kiddushin. He owns her. And she’s pregnant. We always carry on about what that must of done to poor Mary’s reputation – but we rarely think about Joseph. If you knew an engaged couple building a house together and she ended up pregnant – who would be your first choice as the paternal candidate? Joseph knows it wasn’t him, and in an act of great compassion, decides to wait before breaking the marriage contract and taking his ring back. He wants to do it quietly and save her from disgrace (even if he thinks she deserves it). Why? Because he loves her, and in his love – treats her with respect. Love doesn’t say, “well she got what was coming to her!”

Respect is a measurable quantity of love. The more you love God, the more you treat God’s creation (including animals, earth and other people) with respect. Love in the active form never humiliates, seeks revenge, or belittles. Love takes the other person into consideration and acts with grace. Notice the scripture doesn’t say he plans to stay with her, or he forgives her – but he does respect her. Sometimes we, in our humanness, decide to wait until we forgive someone before we can respect them – but love respects first and always.

Love believes

So while he is trying to be more than fair with her, an angel appears in a dream and gives him the most implausible explanation on the planet. She’s having a baby, but she’s still a virgin (and she needs to stay that way) and the baby is the child of prophecy who can save people from sin. Its not written in stone, its not done before the 2 male witnesses required by Jewish law, and there aren’t even Angel footprints in the dust on his floor – because it was all a dream. And yet, he believes. Love believes.

Love in its active form believes that God is still God, that the impossible is probable and that mystery has a place in the world of our faith. Rev. Donna Schaper describes a holy person in this way:

“A godly person is someone who faces despair with hope, and meets challenges with love.”

At the moment Joseph feels the despair of a broken relationship, betrayal from his betrothed, and public scrutiny, he faces those ideas by believing in a dream, and having the hope that it’s true. He takes her as his wife, completing the Nissuin but not consummating the marriage (which breaks Jewish law), because he believes in more than religious law. He believes in God and God’s mysterious righteous will.

We need to believe. We need to believe that peace can come to this world, because it is God’s dream. We need to believe God’s love includes and heals and exists for everyone, because our brother/sisterhood is God’s idea. We need to believe that the hungry should be fed, the prisoner should be healed and the widow should be provided for because it is God’s vision. If we as Christians are to walk in the world with love, we need to believe.

Love Stays

The name the angel tells Joseph is Immanuel – God With Us. Notice the parallel –Joseph is going to stay with Mary; God is going to stay with us. In a rational world, Mary doesn’t deserve Joseph but in a faithful world, Joseph stays with her anyway. In our rational world we don’t deserve God, but in God’s faithfulness, God is going to stay anyway.

Love in an active form is staying. It’s the act of being with one another and not abandoning the promises we make. Love means doing what it takes: believing the impossible, forgiving the painful, reaching for the unthinkable, and following the undesirable. If we are going to love the poor, we must “stay with them” (in prayer, in hope, in building projects, in giving, in creating justice and in memory). If we are going to love the prisoners we must stay with them (in writing, in praying, in healing). If we are going to love God’s children we must stay with them (in peace, in hope, in tolerance, in prayer, in action).

That is what this day of Advent is all about. Love – in “go” mode – active and unfettered. I read a note this past week talking about favorite Christmas songs. I didn’t answer it because I have so many – but in preparing this writing I began to ponder what the best song for this day of love is, and I have come up with a favorite. It’s traditionally an Easter hymn, not a Christmas song. But I can’t escape it when I see the baby in the manger and realize all that he set aside to be with me and save me. I hum it when I think of brave, loving Joseph. I hear it in my heart when I think of my beloved Jesus. I sing it when I want to honor God. It is my response and my reflection this day.

Respond:

What Wondrous Love Is This?

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down I did not in silence drown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

Amen.

Advent is nearly over. The Christ child stands at the threshold waiting to be born. Are you awake? Are you ready? Are you willing? Then….

Go

The Week of Joy: Shower!

Read: Matthew 11:2-11

Reflect: So far this Advent we’ve woken up and stretched, now its time to prepare to go out into the world. Waking up is about orienting yourself to the day at hand. Stretching lets your mind and body become involved in your day. But the thing that will really get you ready for work or play is getting in the shower. The shower is the place we wash off the traces of our yesterday and the dust of sleep. Cold or warm, the vibrant water hitting your skin will enliven you and get you ready to head out the door.

The Pink Candle

On the day of Joy (otherwise known as the “pink candle day”) we are encourage to do just that – shower in God’s goodness and blessings, wash ourselves with the forgiveness and love of Jesus and come alive under the flood of spirit. Only in this way can we prepare to go into the world with the good news.

We should be joyous this week – for it is the week of the pink candle. Why pink? The Advent Wreath is a Germanic Catholic tradition that has found a home in many protestant churches in the last 25 years or so. Three candles are purple – the color of repentance – to signify Advent as a time to repent and prepare for Christ. In ancient times Advent was a time of fasting and going without (really contrasts with our currently holiday of cookies and excess, huh?) but on the third Sunday – the day of Joy – the candle is pink to remind us to celebrate because the time of fasting is almost done and the time for the Christ child is close at hand. The pink candle is the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s the amazing feel good shower after hard work. If anyone needs a shower – Christians do.

“Christian Thugs”

On December 13, 2007 in a packed subway in New York City a group of 14 men and women attacked a Jewish man and nearly beat him to death. The reason? They said to him “Merry Christmas” and he responded “Happy Hanukkah”. They ganged up on him and physically assaulted him, telling him Jews killed Jesus. What’s more bizarre than beating someone up so they’ll celebrate Christmas? A man of Muslim faith jumping to the victim’s rescue and fighting off his attackers. The victim, Walter Adler said, “A random Muslim guy jumped in and helped a Jewish guy on Hanukkah - that's a miracle." Right before the first man hit the victim the attacker rolled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo of Jesus Christ. I know how heavy my heart felt when I saw this headline in an article by Christopher Leavitt:

“Muslim Defends Jew Against Christian Subway Thugs”

My first thought is probably the same as yours – those people are on the fringe – they don’t represent Christianity any more than Fred Phelps and his “God Hates Fags” group represents it. I want to believe Christians are still the primary force of good and peace in the world. However, the evidence to the contrary is popping up all over. In just the last 3 months:

1. David Kinnamon from the Barna Organization releases the book “Unchristian” revealing a three year study that showed a majority of unchurched and churched young people (ages 16 to 29) describe Christianity as “ignorant, judgmental, hypocritical, homophobic, and political”.

2. Sherry Shepherd, a self-proclaimed evangelical Christian on “The View” tried to defend Christianity by saying the Bible’s view of creation is correct. When she was asked if the earth was flat or round – she didn’t know that answer. Three weeks later she proclaimed such startling ideas as “Christians began about 200 years before Jesus”, and “Christians were the first people in the world and came long before the Greeks”. Thousands of people begin to blog about the ignorance of the average Christian. (Tens of thousands of Christians begin to declare they are not that dumb). I love Sherry as a performer, but I’m starting to think the best thing she could do for Christianity is to be quiet.

3. Top Christian leaders from eight mega-churches are being investigated by congress for vast financial misdealing. Only 2 leaders cooperated with the investigation.

4. The many news stories about the subway incident all focus on the amazing thing that cultural enemies of the Holy Land (Muslims and Jews) were able to help each other and find friendship in the midst of Christian oppression. No one seems surprised to see the phrase “Christian Thug” enter the national vocabulary.

Okay okay – you’re thinking – “Helloooooooo Rev. Kellie --- it’s the day of JOY, remember?” Yes – Yes I do. That’s what we have this week – the joy that Jesus Christ is among us to showers us with the gospel of healing, power, hope, truth and love. If anything thing can change the distortion of Christianity people are seeing in our country, it is the joy of Jesus.

The Unexpected Joy

In the lectionary reading – John the Baptist is as worried about Jerusalem as I am about Christianity in the USA. He’s sitting in prison for calling Herod to repentance and he has left his movement to his cousin Jesus to run. But John is hearing strange tales behind the prison walls.

John’s movement was based on repentance – people being sorry for their sins and starting anew. He was, by many accounts, a part of the Essenic movement – believing in self-denial (hence the camel hair coat and locust eating) as a way to purification. He thought the Messiah would come and wipe away the materialism, judgment and corruption from the church and the world. He knows Jesus was sent by God, and he expects to hear stories of mass repenting – people sobbing over their sins and the stock in sack-cloth and ashes rising. He expects evidence of people living simply, selling their goods and giving up status comforts. That’s not what he hears.

John hears about crowds of people being fed luxuriously – as much bread and fish as they can eat. He hears about Jesus lecturing in temple court yards and open fields. He hears about Jesus talking to women, talking about Samaritans, and touching lepers. He hears tales of how much joy people are getting in Jesus’ presence and how he promises them abundant life. John is in prison and Jesus is getting popular! So he sends a messenger to Jesus asking “Are you the one?” – In other words – John is not so sure his cousin was the right man for the job after all.

Jesus answers him by telling him all the joy Christ is bringing. He says, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." Jesus tells John that he is the right one to bring God’s message alive on earth. That Holy Will involves healing people, raising people, and preaching the good news of God’s love.

Jesus then says, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." What does that mean? It means Jesus knows he isn’t doing what John expected. “I know I’m not what you had in mind,” Jesus is saying. “But don’t fall away, because Christianity is full of the unexpected – forgiveness instead of revenge; acceptance instead of hatred; peace instead of war; life instead of death.”

That’s what we need to proclaim this week of Joy – the unexpected amazing joy of Jesus Christ in the world. Don’t just brush away terms like “Christian thugs” as “a few local nuts who don’t go to our church anyway.” – Take that image and destroy it with your joy. Show people how God has healed you and is teaching you to bring healing to others. Reflect your gratefulness to God, and smile – laugh- sing – forgive. Stop acting like some old dowager stuck in a pew who hasn’t cracked a smile in 40 years and shower in the luxurious love and grace of God. Walk into your church, your kitchen, your work place and your prayer place refreshed by God’s love and ready to live it.

The gospel of John tells us what Jesus told John the Baptist to explain why Jesus isn’t turning the culture into self-denying mourning penitents, but freeing them from sin to live full and joyous lives. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17.

Respond: In what ways can you reflect the joy of Christ into a world that needs to see God’s love?
For me:
1. Speak out against oppression – not just the groups or people that oppress women and children and the economically disadvantaged – but when people claiming Christ oppress others as well. I need to stop pretending “Christian violence” (spiritual and physical) doesn’t exist, and start working as a witness to an embracing peace-loving God.
2. Reflect the joy of Christ in my life and my day. I am trying to learn to speak in a way that brings hope, not just awareness and spirit not just knowledge.
3. Take prayer and personal meditation time not just to pray for what ails me and the people I love, but to celebrate God and the gift of salvation in my life. I think I take that salvation for granted sometimes, and I need frequent celebrations of what an unexpected, beautiful gift it is.

The Day of Peace: Stretch!

For each of our four advent Sundays the blog will have 3 components:
Read: the scripture of the week from the lectionary
Reflect: a short meditation about the topic
Respond: A chance to connect with the idea and share your wisdom or experience with someone else. You can email me, leave a comment or just talk with someone (or many) about your answers, but make sure to share the light with others this season. I will answer each question on the blog as my way of sharing with you.
Be blessed this Advent season, and be a blessing.

Read: Isaiah 11:1-10

Reflect: A country farmer went into a local church and was greeted by the stern secretary in the church office.
“Can I help you,” she sniffed. He smelled of dirt and land to her.
“I’d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he muttered through a thick accent.
“What?” The secretary was taken aback by his crudeness.
“I”d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he said again, pointing as the pastor’s picture on the wall.
“SIR!” the secretary chided. “That is REVEREND JONES and he is one of the most respected leaders in our community. We do NOT talk about the Reverend that way and we do not deal with anyone who would. Please leave.”
“Alrighty,” the man said as he turned to leave. “Ya see, I just got me an inheritance of 2 million dollars from my uncle and I wanted to talk about giving a tithe.”
“Just a minute, Sir,” the secretary called as she looked out the window. “I see the Big Pig pulling into his parking space right now!”

Stretching – we all do it. Sometimes for good reasons; sometimes not. Physically and spiritually, stretching is an important part of life. Remember how the Day of Hope told us to wake up? Well, what do you do when you wake up? Stretch. Reaching out with feet or arms, sometimes even turning or twisting to wake the back and shoulders up – most people will stretch before they get out of bed. The message of the day of Peace is to follow that pattern in our walk with God as well. The day of Peace is God’s way of asking us to stretch.

When I read Isaiah’s prophecy – of the child who will lead us to peace instead of war, to justice instead of oppression and to collaboration instead of survival of the fittest – my first thought is, “Well, where is it???”. The child came a long time ago and we still have war, we still have poor, and we still have wolves that eat lambs. Where is this peace we were promised?

It seems as if we are missing an ingredient in this prophecy. Is this like National Treasure or Tomb Raider? Is there a secret knock or code we are missing? Can Laura Croft lead us to a vault that contains the answers to the world’s need for peace? We have the branch from the stump of Jesse in Jesus. He had all the things it says he needed – wisdom, knowledge, power, fear of the Lord, righteousness and faith. So, what do we need to do for him to bring peace? I think we need to stretch.

“Stretch: (Verb) To extend; To reach out.” – Mirriam-Webster Dictionary.

We have not been successful in allowing Jesus to bring peace to our lives, our church or our world because we haven’t been willing to stretch – to reach out.

Reach out past Judgement

Notice we are told he will not judge with his eyes or ears, but with righteousness. We will see peace at a personal and planetary level when we do the same. Our good friends at Mirriam-Webster who gave us the definition of stretch – have an interesting definition of righteous. “Acting in accord with divine law.” Unlike all those “church ladies” (and men) who view righteousness as a reason to be separate from non-Christians or anyone they disagree with – the definers of the word understand that righteousness is not a reputation, an attitude or a description – righteous is an ACTION. It is what you do. It’s a stretch in God’s direction instead of following the “eyes and ears judgment” we are prone toward. In practical example – reaching past judgment to righteousness means instead of looking at someone in the community as an “undesirable”, treat them as someone God desires.

Reach out past Privilege

In the “dog eat dog” (or wolf eat lamb) world we live in, we have all grown to be people of privilege. However, Isaiah prophecies that with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. The Hebrew word translated “give decisions” in the NIV is a word used for court cases. It’s really more like “pass a verdict” – when there is a trial and Jesus will decide for the poor to make things equitable. I often hear folks say, “I didn’t “get” what I have – I worked for it.” Yet, many of these same people went to college on scholarships, or loans or parents. They got a job because they had a friend who worked in the company or they became part of a family business. They rode on the shoulders of previous ideas and advanced a thought someone already had. They used the body God gave them, the brain God gave them and the blessings God gave them. It is time to stretch beyond ourselves and give to others just as we were given to.

Reach out past Fear

Woody Allen said, “The Lion may lay with the lamb, but the lamb won’t get much sleep!” In order for peace to be part of our picture – we must learn to reach out of our fear. Fear divides us. It makes us hoard food, resources, and ideas. Our fear of being rejected keeps us from communication or reaching out to others. Our fear of being different keeps us stuck in a rut with no new input. Our fear of being judged keeps us from opening ourselves honestly and forces us to hide shame and guilt. One of the phrases of Alcoholics Anonymous is “You are only as sick as the secrets you carry.” But to have personal peace, you must reach out past fear and into faith. God will provide. God will accept you. God will forgive you. God knows your secrets and God is ready to heal your fears.

My favorite image in the prophecy is “and a little child shall lead them.” – I get this image of a whole army of people – young and old, rich and poor, all races, all ages, all orientations, all life-walks following a toddler down the road. It’s a funny picture when you think about it. And yet – anyone who has small children knows – the one thing babies, toddlers and children do more than anything else – is stretch.

Respond: In what ways is God calling you to stretch for peace?

God is calling me to stretch for peace in many ways:

Learn to live without judgement – I need to stop closing my mind and start opening my heart. I want to continue to learn how to help people where they are, not just make a mental commentary about their situation and move forward.

Stop hiding my fears – This new year one of my personal development projects that God and I will work on is for me to stop hiding when I’m afraid, hurt, sad or troubled. I tend to be a “after the fact” sharer, as in “I was really scared” or “that really hurt”. This past year I knew I had a tumor in my throat for 2.5 months before I told anyone about it. Not good! I need to be open to my beloved Jesus, and my lovely partner – as well as myself.

Prayer for my world – I read the news every day (I’m an info junkie) – and as much as I want peace in Iraq, food and medicine in Africa, safe shelter in Mexico – I rarely pray for these things. This year I hope not to simply “know”, but to involve myself in prayer and guidance for the world and my part in it.

The Week of Hope: Wake Up!

For each of our four advent Sundays the blog will have 3 components:

Read: the scripture of the week from the lectionary

Reflect: a short meditation about the topic

Respond: A chance to connect with the idea and share your wisdom or experience with someone else. You can email me, leave a comment or just talk with someone (or many) about your answers, but make sure to share the light with others this season. I will answer each question on the blog as my way of sharing with you.

Be blessed this Advent season, and be a blessing.

Week 1: The Week of Hope

Read: Romans 13: 8-14

Reflect:

A mother knocks on the door of her daughter’s bedroom.
“Sweetie, it’s time to get up and go to school,” she says.
“No,” is the sleepy reply.
“Why don’t you want to go to school? Give me three reasons,” the mother responds.
“First, it’s sooo boring; second, the kids keep giving me a hard time and third, I want to stay in bed, I hate school.”
“I see, well let me give you three good reasons to get up and go to school. First, you can’t just stay in bed all day; second, you are thirty years old, and third, you are the teacher!”

Sleep. Isn’t it wonderful? When asked what the most important invention in the last 50 years is – I skip quickly over things like the artificial heart, the internet and the remote control and think of the thing that most deserves the title: the snooze button. I love the snooze button. 7 more minutes of beautiful sleep. 7 more minutes of warm blankets and soft pillows. 7 more minutes of bliss.

And every 7 minutes the alarm goes off again: telling me its time to get moving. Telling me I can’t stay in bed all day. Telling me a new day is here that is full of God’s mercy and hope and promise. Every 7 minutes the alarm tells me to wake up.

Advent is God’s alarm. We spend all year hitting the spiritual snooze button. We might wake up in Lent just enough to see the path of Jesus’ life and for some Christians the reality of the cross and the joy of the Resurrection is bright enough to get them out of bed long enough to get a glass of living water, but inevitably by the time Pentecost Sunday ends, they will have gone back under the covers. Things in our life can wake us up momentarily but unless one of those things is happening right now – Advent will find you sleeping, comfortable in your relationships and not really wanting to be moving about too much. So God uses these weeks to say:
“Wake Up! The Christ Child is coming.”
“Again?” is our sleepy spiritual reply
“Again and Again and Again,” God responds through the week of Hope
“Didn’t we do this last year?” We whine – pulling our covers over our heads
“The Infant King wants to change your world,” God responds through the week of Peace
“I don’t wanna get up. I’m warm and comfy,” we moan as we fluff our pillow
“There is abundant life in the Manger Throne” God responds through the week of Joy
“What do I get if I wake up?” we bargain, reaching for the snooze.
“You get to be with me fully and forever” God responds through the week of Love
and then, to prove it – Christ is born. Anew. Again. Alleluia.

Don’t take my word for it. One of the great spiritual masters, Anthony De Mello, wrote the following in his ground-breaking book, “Awakening”.

Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, and they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. You know, all mystics -Catholic,Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter whattheir religion -- are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to besure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. And in their sleep they are having a nightmare

.

The day of hope is the alarm sounding Advent day we say – our Christ is coming and our nightmare is over.

Paul writes advice to the Roman church – who after facing persecution and trial were more than ready to climb back into bed – and he reminds them the day is come and they can’t keep pretending its night anymore.

“And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Paul reminds the Romans that love is the commandment God gives us, and that the time for love is now. “Don’t keep waiting to love others or share the good news of God’s love. Don’t sleep on it. Do it NOW” Paul seems to be telling them. Paul is also helping them keep hope. The time for Jesus to arrive is nearer than we think (no matter what we think) and we need to keep working with that as a true and blessed hope.

I always thought it was strange to prepare for the second coming in the season where we are celebrating the first. But each coming of Jesus into the world requires the same preparation. We must awaken from our slumber and remember what’s important. We must make our plans to greet Christ and bring as many people as we can with us. We must prepare for the world to change, and prepare ourselves to change with it.

This season: whether you are in your working world halls or shopping malls, look around you with eyes preparing to open wide and see the Christ child arriving to take away your nightmares so that you can sleep in peace, and rise in love.

Respond:

What events of the past year woke you up? Maybe they were events that shocked you into seeking spiritual truth. Maybe they were events you didn’t realize were shaking you awake until much later. Maybe they involved so much joy you woke up laughing. Share these events with someone this week, and reflect and pray for continued sense of hope as you wake up for the child to come.

Events that woke me up this year:

Cathy’s cancer, surgery, and chemotherapy – from that nightmare God has brought us much healing and hope.

Moving to an entirely new place – there is nothing like being lost all the time to make you depend on God.

The Virginia Tech shooting – This happened only a few months after we moved here, and the mourning and sadness I felt was the first real communal emotion I shared with the people of VA. It reminded me of why Christ’s work must continue to be manifest in our world.

Fall – Our first Virginia fall was so beautiful (even though the Virginians complained it wasn’t as pretty as normal) I started seeing God everywhere around me and feeling at home in this new place. I have a hard time meeting people and making friends, but fall has made me bolder, and God has given me hope that I have found a home.

Good Fruitcake: The Dance of Joy

Third Sunday of Advent

Scripture: Luke 3:7-18

How can you tell its Christmas? The fruitcake has come out of hiding. Let me be very clear. I HATE FRUITCAKE. Please do not send it to me for use as a doorstop, hammer, fireplace brick or any other of its fine uses. I do not like it Sam-I-Am. I do not like fruitcake and ham! In my research I discover the main reason for the dryness and icky texture of fruitcake is of course because its made of dried fruit - whithered little chewy bits of what was once live, vibrant and juicy. In our scripture today, John the Baptist points out the same thing in the faith of the people.

John the Baptist is preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah - just like we are supposed to be preparing for the coming of the messiah. He gives us a message to help us get ready for the gifts that God will bring us. His first message: Realize.

Realize who you are and what you are doing. You Brood of Vipers! - Now, that's a nice greeting for Christmas. How would it be if I sent all my Christmas Cards saying "Dear Vipers. Your time is up. Change or be destroyed. Love and Peace, Rev. Kellie" - because that's what John is saying - he points out the religious lives the people have been living are nothing but withered dried repititions of ritual - with no life, no spirit, no honesty and no good fruit. "Make no mistake," John tells them. "The tree that doesn't produce good fruit - (in other words - the fruitcake tree) gets cut down!" This Advent take some time to look at your faith and your life - is your relationship with God vibrant, alive and thriving or just a withered old cycle of go to church, go to work, pay the bills, pray over food? After you get a chance to see where your faith truly is - Redo.

Redo the priorities in your life. You can tell the difference between fruitcake and pie. One is dry, withered and nasty, the other full of sugar, taste and goodness. If you can tell your faith has become dull ritual or spiritless wandering - then redo your priorities. "What should we do," the Vipers ask John. "If you have two coats, give one away. If you are a tax collector, collect only what is due," is his answer. Be right in life and right with God. Get rid of materialism, greed, selfish desires. Stop cheating yourself. Stop cheating God. Be a faithful partner. Give quality work. Do your own homework and be thankful. Check the priorities you have for you life. Where is God, and the worship of God, on the list? Is your life producing Good Fruit? In not, then change it. Once you start living the kind of good life God desires there is only one response: Rejoice.

Rejoice in your faith. After the nasty viper crack and some serious talk about trees and fire the Bible says John went on to preach the GOOD NEWS. Rejoice - its true, you have a problem - but GOD has the solution. God is ready to make the tree of your life full and vibrant again. While researching this sermon I discovered a number of websites with fruitcake recipes. Oddly enough, most of the recipes involved the use of some kind of alcohol. Now what does that tell us? It tells us fruitcake is so terrible we even have to get IT drunk to enjoy it! But among the websites I found was the "Society for the Preservation of Fruitcake" - people who simply rejoice in the tradition, fun and (so they say) flavor of fruitcake. Although I will never agree with them - I can understand their spirit. They rejoice in what is good. On this day of Joy when we seek to dance with God in lively steps - let us take a moment to realize where we are in faith, redo our priorities, and rejoice in the God who loves us.

Time is Coming: The Path of Hope

First Sunday of Advent

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16

The prophet Jeremiah was delivering his message from prison. How did he get there? He told King Zedekiah that because of Judah’s idol worshipping, sinful ways they would be carried off as slaves, the land would be taken, and all they had would be lost. Imagine a guest preacher coming here today telling you that because America has lost its focus, become materialistic, given up on the right to freedom of speech and because of that God was going to give Osama Ben Laden the power to conquer our country, make us slaves and we would never be America again. You’d be a little ticked off. You might not even invite him to stay for snackies! If you were a King, you might put him in jail.

One of the reasons most people don’t read the whole book of Jeremiah is because he was so gloomy. While sitting in prison he comes up with something we need to hear on a day like today – a message of hope. Jeremiah is telling us things that give us hope in this holiday season and hope in our lives.

The Day Will Come – Jeremiah advises them the day will come when it will all change. When God is no longer willing to allow the slavery to continue and will bring God’s people back to their focus. The day will come for us when we lose the greed and oppression of this world. Its going to happen, Jeremiah says. It’s going to happen here too. We can continue to walk forward in confidence and surety. The day will come for our hope, and our future. The day will come for our healing, our relationships, our jobs, and our journey to move forward. The day will come when we will go to heaven, and the day will come when we will bring heaven to earth.

It Will Be Different – “I will create a branch from the line of David in those days”, God says through the gloomy profit. It’s not going to be one of the old branches. It’s not going to be the same leaves from the same tree. Its going to be a whole new branch, grafted in. God is going to change this Christmas for you. God is going to change your life for you. We all have our holiday routines and rituals – but not this year. This year we are doing something new. This year we are going forward in hope to see Christ’s birth through new eyes and ideas. This isn’t Christmas like Grandma used to make. This will be Christmas like God makes it.

It will be God – “A new name will be given”, Jeremiah continues. And what is the catchy new name of this project to save the people, and return them to the focus of their faith and life? The Lord Is Righteous. I have to admit, it’s not very catchy. I would have preferred something more marketable – like “Jehovah Jamboree” – but God’s not about marketing, or getting “buy-in”. God’s interested in coming to earth as a child who grows up to be a rabbi, dies to be a savior, and returns in spirit to be the bridge of connection. This Christmas will have a new name, and it will be God’s name, God’s time, God’s plan. God has enough space for candy canes, silver bells and Best Buy sales – but those will never take the place of the manger. This year, commit yourselves to remembering your focus, renewing your first love and name this season by a new name.