Christmas Eve... Front Porches

Dec. 22013                                                         

Luke 2:1-20
 

There is a story about a pastor and his wife that illustrates the need for us to recapture the childlike approach to Christmas. Supposedly one Christmas Eve their young children were preparing to go to church for the candlelight service. On the way their son asked his father: Dad, are you going to let us enjoy this Christmas or are you going to try to explain it to everybody?

Well… should I explain Christmas or just let you enjoy Christmas?

Let’s do a little of both… shall we?

PRAYER:

Josephine Humphreys, an author of several books, and being from the South was asked, “Why are Southern authors different from other Am. Authors?” After years of pondering that question she came to the conclusion the difference was “Front Porches”. My theory, she says, “Southern authors get their start on Front Porches and watch the town go by.”

Perhaps… you remember this… perhaps you still have a house with a large front porch. I remember growing up in the 60’s when front porches were still larger than back porches, and I remember sitting on the front porch with friends and family as the town passed by.

Then the 70’s came, and suburbia began to spread, and front porches began to shrink.  Back porches, decks and patio’s as they began to be called, grew at a rapid pace. Some of these back porches were even enclosed… As we huddled privately… It seemed the town stopped going by.

While on internship some 11 years ago I served at Spirit of Joy LC, Orlando, Fla. This congregation at the time was part of a new developing community   called Avalon Park. It was a Neo-Traditional community that resembled the perfect Norman Rockwell and Thomas Kincaid paintings with its houses having front porches. Avalon Park even had a downtown like that of an earlier era. It was the perfect 1950’s Americana.

I remember participating at a Christmas Eve gathering at the town center. There was singing of Christmas Carols, there was Coffee & Hot Chocolate, Kids Games, Hay Rides throughout the town, worship & sermon, and yes… Santa. After worship I went on the hay ride around the town. You could feel Norman Rockwell throughout. It was interesting as we passed by all the homes, people would come out on their front porches and wave and shout Merry Christmas as the town was passing by.

Mary & Joseph came to Bethlehem… the town of their linage. But… instead of watching the town go by… they experienced being closed out. The Inn’s were full… there was no more room they were told, but you can stay in that stable over there. NO!!! I need a room… my wife is about to have a baby! Joseph must have exclaimed. They must have thought why God would bring them all this way to Bethlehem and not have a place for them to go. But they did have a place… Mary & Joseph had the use of a stable. They must have wondered what purpose God had in mind.

Shepherds gathered… angels danced in the sky… animals bleated… wise men paid homage…and they must have been somewhat puzzled as to Why? They came because the Lord spoke and pointed them to follow the light.  And… we gathered here tonight because the Lord speaks to us to come to the light… so we do…

I believe we come together not by chance, but for the purpose of witnessing and celebrating the darkness turning to light.

Why Now?    Why Here? I don’t know…

While I believe the Lord gathers us…I really don’t know why you’ve decided you should come here tonight. Perhaps, it’s because of tradition, perhaps mom or grand mom said you better for me… perhaps your searching for something. Perhaps it’s your only time to find a moment of peace. Perhaps you’re lonely, hurting, and the town seemingly just passing by. Some psychologists say, at least 75% of Americans are sad during the Christmas Holiday season.

Partially because there is less day light… but more intently because the world’s full of hurts, unmet expectations, stress, and an array of emotional feelings. For some, there is no love, no peace, no hope, and no joy.

Yet… you’ve come… you come because someone calls you to come.

“Don’t be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy” the angels proclaim.

We come because we are attracted to the light much like the shepherds and the wise men. Just as they followed the light of the star we follow the light as well. It is the light that pierces the darkness of our lives.

The light is called Emmanuel, “God with Us”, and this God of light has called us to come.

Pastor Jim Henry of First Baptist Church, Orlando wrote in a Christmas newsletter of Christmas, “The God of Christmas is the God who works the night shift, punching holes of light in the dark.”

Tonight we celebrate with family and friends the joy of Peace, the joy of Love, and the joy of Hope.

Tonight we come to the Front Porch to see the light and to experience hope… It’s not what we would expect. Not in things, not in other people, not in our ability, but in Jesus Christ…

God with Us, the Prince of Peace, The Light of the world.

The Waiting Room... Scandal

Dec 22, 2013                                                      

Matt. 1:18-25

Prayer

We’ve been waiting in the waiting room nearly a month. And we began this sermon series with the image of pregnant women waiting in a doctor’s waiting room. The waiting room is a good metaphor for us because waiting for the birth of a child can seem long and arduous. In fact… It can be uncomfortable and tiring…. Right Ladies.

We’ve pictured Mary being pregnant and that she’s blessed by God. Joseph on the other hand is at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum than Mary as he can’t phantom how this can be possible. But… it will all come together for the good of all.

We started this series with the angel Gabriel surprising Mary that she will have a baby despite not being with her husband to be. We’ve reflected on how God often surprises us by his love for us no matter how we might live our lives. We’ve also reflected on how there’s need for us to be prepared. Just as expecting parents need to prepare for the birth of a child. We too… need to prepare for our journey of faith as God comes to be with us. Last week… was all about expectations… and how expectations often disappoint us… yet… God loves us nonetheless and we to need to look at how we can love as well. Today… we conclude our series perhaps a little differently than you thought.

In Matthew’s version of this story… there are no angles dancing in the sky.

There are no shepherds on rolling hills.

No songs of praise.

No peace on earth, good will to all.

In Matthew’s version… one could get the impression that this child Mary is carrying is an embarrassment… perhaps even…SCANDALOUS.

Let’s look at this a bit closer as it might help to explain where I’m coming from.

Matthew says Vs 18, “Mary was engaged to Joseph.”

The CEV I use as well as the NRSV describes Mary and Joseph as “engaged.” The NIV describes them as “pledged” to be married, while the KJV says Joseph was “espoused” to Mary.

No matter how you describe it… that means Mary and Joseph at this time were in a contractual relationship, not merely social, as would be the case when talking about “engagement” in our day. This engagement constituted the legal contract and pledge of marriage. The wedding itself was the time when the bride and groom celebrated with others the occasion of actually joining together.

Lutheran Theologian, David Lose says, “For all intents and purposes, Mary and Joseph were married but had not yet moved in with each other or consummated their union. Hence the turmoil created by discovering that Mary was pregnant. It could, as far as Joseph was concerned, mean only one thing: that his espoused wife had been unfaithful. And this is why Matthew describes Joseph as a righteous man -- he lives according to the law. And so, wanting out of what he believes is an unfaithful union, he has two options -- public stoning or divorce. He opts for the latter course, not wishing, as Matthew describes, to expose her to public disgrace and, punishment.”

So… you can see the dilemma Joseph finds himself. Whether or not he’s all that righteous doesn’t matter because he’s going to follow the Law of Moses… Because if he doesn’t he understands this to be scandalous. You can kind-of understand how Joseph might want to deal with this fast & quietly.

Furthermore… because Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience you can understand why he only records a couple of verses about the birth of Jesus.

We’re not used to looking at the birth of Jesus like this. We’re accustomed to seeing the beauty and wonder of the manger birth. We’re accustomed to all the praise and majesty of angels & shepherds &  the star. We’re accustomed to all the pageantry of how Mary & Joseph find themselves in a manger because of no room in any Inn’s.

But let’s not forget the distress, sense of betrayal, disappointment, and a host of other emotions that Joseph must have experienced, or the fear and hurt that Mary would likely have also felt as they sorted out their divinely complex relationship.

Let’s keep in mind the humanness of the event and that Mary & Joseph are flesh & blood… not merely characters in a book or etched on stain glass windows. The more we can imagine them as people like us -- with emotions and ups and downs like us…The more we might imagine ourselves to be people like them – as people who go through all kinds of things, yet whom God uses nevertheless to accomplish God’s purposes.

While… Luke’s version might be more popular with mangers and shepherds and angels and all the drama of Luke…There is something fitting about Matthew’s depiction. Because, truth be told, most people did miss it. There’s no local news team, no camera crews or reporters, no baby showers, nothing to indicate anything was happening. From Matthew’s story it appears just about no one even noticed.

Perhaps, that’s why Matthew records this the way he did.

Perhaps… according to Matthew… if this got out the humiliation of Joseph & Mary would have been too much to bare. Maybe for Matthew, it’s important that Jesus… the Messiah comes into the world just like everyone else.

Which may be the point… that being… Jesus came as one of us. That Jesus was born like we are… Lived as we live… Loved and laughed and suffered as we do… and died as we will die… which points to another scandal… The Cross. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

For now… we wait… we’re not quite there yet… God is still at work… and he promises to love and save us… to supply forgiveness and grace in our rough and tumble world. Perhaps… in our waiting… we can come to see and understand that there’s nothing all that exceptional about having a baby, except that God works through it to draw us closer to himself and to his love and grace for us.

 

The Waiting Room... Expectations

Dec 15, 2013               

Matt. 11:2-11

 

Prayer

We’re still waiting in the waiting room waiting for baby to be born. Remember the image I asked you to have? That of pregnant women waiting in a doctor’s waiting room. It’s starting to get uncomfortable and… ladies I’m sure you can’t wait for this to be done with. You’re in the final weeks and you want nothing more for it to be all over with. Perhaps you’re getting moody… and impatient… right guys… we’re ready too for it to be over with. Soon… and very soon this baby will be born… then a bunch of new expectations will arrive.

We’ve been reflecting this Advent season on waiting. There’s something about waiting that’s both exciting and agitating. Like being pregnant and waiting for your child to be born. It’s exciting when you first learn your going to have a baby. But as time goes and the baby grows it gets… well… uncomfortable to say the least.

We don’t like waiting… we are an impatient people… Our attitude, at least as Americans is… “we want it and we want it now.”

We’ve reflected on the past weeks about being surprised by God’s love and we’ve been encouraged to make preparations for what God is going to do next. And today our reflection will focus on Expectations.

Our gospel story today is a great illustration about expectations. John the Baptist is in jail and he has heard about what Jesus is doing. And he’s curious if Jesus is the one Messiah all the prophets have spoken of. I find this puzzling… didn’t John baptize Jesus? Didn’t he see and hear the Spirit of the Lord come upon Jesus? Didn’t John say all those things about the one coming that’s more powerful than he… So much so that he wasn’t worthy enough to tie his shoes… YES… it’s all in chapter 3.

So… I find this rather curious… that now in chapter 11… he wants to know if Jesus is indeed the Messiah. Really John… you see... the Jewish people had been waiting and expecting God to do something. That God would send them a Messiah to rule the kingdom. They’re expecting God to punish the Romans and return the land back to them. They’re expecting God to fix their situation. That’s why John sends some of his followers to find out… "Jesus are you the one? Or are we to continue the wait?" Perhaps, John wants to really know if all his work was worth the effort.  Jesus says, "tell John… all the things I’m doing"… that should be proof enough.

What are your expectations this Advent season?  This Christmas season? Maybe you like me find that your expectations are often not met. Every Christmas as a child I waited and expected my dad to somehow recognize me and my efforts at trying to please him.

Each and every Christmas I was disappointed.

Each and every Christmas I would try harder… and each year nothing but disappointment.

Each year I hoped Christmas would be better for me, but it never turned out that way.

For many years I struggled… though it’s not as much a struggle as it once was, but nonetheless I see myself and others who have such great expectations about trying to satisfy others only to be disappointed. Each year we dream for it to be different this year. And each year we wait with the expectation of acknowledgement.

I believe we sometimes see God in this manner.  We work hard and try to meet such lofty expectations of what we think God wants from us. Or, we think we have met the threshold, only to be our own disappointment because we think we’ve failed and that God is the disappointed one. I thought this. I thought I was good… did what I was told… sacrificed… did the right things. Those were the expectations. I thought I met them. You see… Jesus says in our story… what sort of person did you go out to see? What did he look like? What did you expect? Did he look like a prophet? What were your expectations? What did you think John would be like? Well Jesus… I thought…_______________.

Then Jesus says that John the Baptist is the greatest person ever born on the earth… think about that!! Today... when you look at John the Baptist you find a man we would dismiss as a lunatic and a vagrant. John wouldn’t be on most people’s guest list for Christmas dinner. The Jewish people were expecting a king, and someone who would bring back the glory days of the kingdom. Jesus says, “John is the best person ever born on the earth!” Expectation disappointment for the Jews again. Furthermore… What does that say to us about Jesus?

We live our lives with such lofty expectations and that we must do so much to garner love and acceptance that we often miss the one expectation of God’s love. And that love my friends… is that God loves us no matter what. Even when we break God’s heart, when we disappoint, when we fail to be the kinds of persons God wants us to be…God expects us to love Him, and when we don’t, God still loves us nonetheless. It doesn't make sense does it!

As we enter this final week before Christmas lets lower the expectations we seem to place on ourselves and others and just love others and ourselves no matter what happens. Let’s forget about  trying to please others and just love them nonetheless. Let’s just try and open the door of our hearts and let God and others in…

NO EXPECTATIONS necessary.

  

The Waiting Room... Prepare

Dec. 8, 2013                                                        

Matt. 3:1-12

Prayer

We continue our Advent Series, “The Waiting Room” today. The image of waiting for baby to be born is appropriate for us during Advent because that is really what the season is about… 

    Old Testament Hebrews waited for their   
    Messiah. 

    The Jewish people are waiting for their
    Christ. 
    We are waiting for the return of Jesus.

And the Advent season is the season of waiting for God to respond and it gives us an opportunity to give some retrospection to our lives.

Last week God surprised us by coming to Mary & Joseph telling them they would have a baby to be named Jesus. We are reminded this too is a surprise for us because this seems like a strange way to save the world. I believe the biggest surprise for us is that God is doing this because He loves us. That God is sending his son… indeed sending himself as a sign of his love to us and for us. Furthermore, God also is telling us in today’s gospel story to prepare ourselves as well.

 “Someone is crying in the wilderness, get the road ready for the Lord, Make a path for Him. “Turn Back” to God! The kingdom of Heaven is coming.”

Just as parents prepare for the birth of a child by getting all the necessary things to care for that child, we too need to prepare our lives & hearts for the journey of faith.

You gotta love John the Baptist… is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. To be so bold in his proclamation, to be so convicted of his faith in God. How many of us wish we could come close to this kind of faith.

John uses the word “TURN BACK”  … many versions say “REPENT”

The Greek word used is:

Met-a-noi-a.. means, “To Make Change” or “To Turn Away From”.

This is most often looked at negatively… more to the point that I need to give up something. It means I’ve done something wrong and I have to apologize or make restitution.

Today… I would like to invite you to experience “More” this Advent & Christmas season. Rather than take a broad view of how you might make change in your life. Let’s consider “Metanoia” and how we might do this for the remainder of the Advent season as we sit in the waiting room. Just maybe this might help us for the months that follow.

Get a pen or pencil… there are some in the pews… and take the back of one of the inserts in your worship guide…

Create a To DO List of all the things that need to be done before Christmas

Example: Shopping…Cleaning…Gift Wrapping… Grocery Shopping

Jot down all the things that need to be done.

Jesus challenged the religious people of his time of their religious patterns, rules, rituals, prejudices & arrogances, and the mechanical relationships & understandings of God.

Share some of the lists…

Create a List of what you Hope Christmas will be like.

Example: For the family to get along

That love will be demonstrated.

That the world will find peace

The future of Cana…

Our Isa reading says, “Deserts will bloom, everyone will see the splendor of the Lord, be of good cheer, God is coming, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will walk.”

Share some Hopes

With Christmas Hope in mind… review you’re TO DO List.

Circle or check those TO DO tasks that are the most important.

There are many tasks that seem important, but don’t contribute to the larger vision & hope of the season.

What can you make change at that would help you prepare for a far-less stressful Christmas?

What change would help you prepare for a far better relationship with your family?

What would you have to do to help you experience Hope & Joy?

Closing:

As we continue to wait in the waiting room and as we prepare for the season, the journey of faith is not about less, but about living with more.

Bishop Craig Satterlee of the NWLower Mich Synod says, “how we wait for the Lord is more than the anticipation of a college student waiting to come home for Christmas; it’s more like a woman in a maternity ward, waiting for the Christ to be born anew, to be born in you, waiting for the living Christ to come to life in your living. Christmas, then, is not a day on the calendar but that moment when the Christ becomes alive in you. When the Christ becomes real to you.

This is really about inviting you into the kinds of hopes, dreams, and even adventures that God promises all those who are willing to leave the familiar and venture down another way.

I want to invite you to re-imagine Repentance & Change… Metanoia as a joyful opportunity for us to experience the hopes & dreams God has for us, it is a gift not an obligation.