The other day I was scanning the This Day in History section of the newspaper and found listed the Boston Tea Party. Strangely enough, my first thought was that it must have been awfully cold in Boston on December 16, 1773, and that these must have been some brave souls who battled the elements to protest Britain's taxation without representation.
At the soup kitchen earlier this week, one of the attendees told me about an all night camp out at city hall to protest the city's treatment of the homeless. I asked the fellow if he was going to attend. He hesitated for a moment and then said he might. But I could see it in his eyes. He was going to make every effort to be indoors during the middle of the night this first week of winter--as was I.
Would it kill these people to schedule their protests in the summer months when the weather is more accommodating? I'm all for dissent. I'm all for political agitation, but really, I'm from California, and we have certain weather requirements for protests.
Like most folks, I suppose, I want to be comfortable, and so sometimes the easiest road to take is one of compliance. Sure, there may be laws on the books we would like to see changed. There are politicians in office we would like to see replaced. But usually we don't raise much of a fuss. We'll send in our ballot at election time. Beyond that, we'll usually go along to get along. Taking it into the streets even during nice weather is a little too zealous, which is just not fashionable.
So, most of us are like Joseph and Mary. The government says jump, and they say how high? The Roman emperor calls for a census to be taken for the purpose of taxation, according to Luke, and Mary and Joseph dutifully go to their place of birth, Bethlehem.
It is into this scenario where ordinary people are doing as they are told that God's miracle of accompaniment with humanity takes place. And it is into this scenario where Rome's version of reality--that the emperor was the "savior"--was assumed that an alternative version of reality was brought forth--"unto you this day is born in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord." This was nothing short of treason. The shepherds who received the announcement knew it, but they were just shepherds and had nothing to lose. Herod knew it, which is why, according to Matthew, he tried to kill the child Jesus. Luke knew it, which is why he wrote it. Those first readers of Luke's gospel knew it all too well, since they were more than likely being persecuted for their belief in this unsanctioned version of reality.
Whose version of reality are we assuming is truth this week, the most holy week in the year?
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A Charlie Brown Christmas
So in this topsy-turvy world that Mary describes in her Magnificat (Luke 1:39-55), it is wildly appropriate that the children--the least of these (or are they the most?)--will be telling us the Christmas story this Sunday at 10:30am, in there own sweet, innocent way. But don't be fooled by that innocence because their message will be as in-your-face as John the Baptist's message was last Sunday (remember the brood of vipers?).
As haunting as Malachi's question was a few weeks ago, "Who can endure his coming?", Charlie Brown's question rings in our ears just as strongly, "Does anyone know what Christmas is all about?"
And that's where the church comes in. That's where the good news brought by Luke comes in, as Linus matter-of-factly says he knows what it is all about. You know the rest. And if you don't, I'll see you at WPPC on Sunday.
Advent peace (still waiting).
As haunting as Malachi's question was a few weeks ago, "Who can endure his coming?", Charlie Brown's question rings in our ears just as strongly, "Does anyone know what Christmas is all about?"
And that's where the church comes in. That's where the good news brought by Luke comes in, as Linus matter-of-factly says he knows what it is all about. You know the rest. And if you don't, I'll see you at WPPC on Sunday.
Advent peace (still waiting).
Monday, December 14, 2009
That's just the way it is.... Luke 1:39-55
"That's just the way it is/some things will never change/that's just the way it is/but don't you believe them." Remember that song by Bruce Hornsby and the Range from the 80s?
Well, maybe he got that from Luke's gospel, specifically from Mary's Magnificat that is our gospel lectionary reading for this Sunday. This wondrous song that Mary sings describes a world turned upside down from the one she lived in--and ours too.
So check it out: The messiah is to be born of a poor peasant girl and we find her and her cousin Elizabeth out in the hill country gettinig filled with the Spirit with babes leaping in wombs and singing songs about how the world is going to change when this mighty one is born. You know how might makes right and how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? We might think that's just the way it is but don't you believe it, according to Mary anyway. She sings, "God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty."
What if many things we assume to be true about the world are not true? What if reality as we know it is not as concrete as we've been told it is? What is Mary trying to tell us? O to see the world through the eyes of Mary!
Well, maybe he got that from Luke's gospel, specifically from Mary's Magnificat that is our gospel lectionary reading for this Sunday. This wondrous song that Mary sings describes a world turned upside down from the one she lived in--and ours too.
So check it out: The messiah is to be born of a poor peasant girl and we find her and her cousin Elizabeth out in the hill country gettinig filled with the Spirit with babes leaping in wombs and singing songs about how the world is going to change when this mighty one is born. You know how might makes right and how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? We might think that's just the way it is but don't you believe it, according to Mary anyway. She sings, "God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty."
What if many things we assume to be true about the world are not true? What if reality as we know it is not as concrete as we've been told it is? What is Mary trying to tell us? O to see the world through the eyes of Mary!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Joy as a Discipline, Philippians 4:4-7
Toward the end of his letter to the Philippians, Paul instructs, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."
We are in the middle of Advent, waiting patiently, with anticipation, for Christmas. And we understand that during Advent, like Lent, we are called to take on spiritual disciplines to help us prepare for the joyful fulfillment of God's promise. So last week we talked about self-examination, purification, cleansing, acknowledgment of sin and repentence, with texts from those in-your-face prophets, Malachi and John the Baptist. Hearing Malachi's haunting question, "Who can endure his coming?" can put us in a somber, introspective, maybe even troubled mood. I would imagine that is the intent; taking an inventory of your life certainly is an important step toward transformation, but it can be somewhat unpleasant when our lives our held up to the prophet's expectations.
Now we get to the third Sunday of Advent, and the lectionary offers us more of the uncompromising John the Baptist (for those who haven't felt pinched enough), but we are also offered this reading from the Apostle Paul, calling the Philippian church to be joyful in the Lord. Indeed, the third Sunday of Advent has traditionally been a joyful Sunday, when we light the pink candle (the color of joy) on the Advent wreath rather than one of the purple candles (color of mourning). We are reminded that anticipation can be a joyful activity. Remember when you were young, waiting for Christmas, when your imagination of what was to come on Christmas Day provided you with intense longing yet great joy, sometimes even more joy than the day itself provided? After all, sometimes reality just falls short of our robust imaginations.
So longing for an anticipated event can bring joy. But I think Paul is saying something more. I think he is saying that joy is a spiritual discipline that needs to be used to keep us spiritually (maybe physically too?) healthy. Rejoice, not just when your planets align and things are blissful, but always. And rejoice, not in your accomplishments or circumstances, but in the Lord.
Just as we take on disciplines of self-examination, repentence and penitence during Advent, we need to take on the discipline of joy. Too often we wait for joy to happen to us, to be surprised by it (as C.S. Lewis said). That's wonderful when joy comes over us as a surprising gift, but Paul says we need to practice it. We need to will it.
How will you make joy happen this week? Don't go looking for it. Create it. Remember, as Paul says, "The Lord is near."
We are in the middle of Advent, waiting patiently, with anticipation, for Christmas. And we understand that during Advent, like Lent, we are called to take on spiritual disciplines to help us prepare for the joyful fulfillment of God's promise. So last week we talked about self-examination, purification, cleansing, acknowledgment of sin and repentence, with texts from those in-your-face prophets, Malachi and John the Baptist. Hearing Malachi's haunting question, "Who can endure his coming?" can put us in a somber, introspective, maybe even troubled mood. I would imagine that is the intent; taking an inventory of your life certainly is an important step toward transformation, but it can be somewhat unpleasant when our lives our held up to the prophet's expectations.
Now we get to the third Sunday of Advent, and the lectionary offers us more of the uncompromising John the Baptist (for those who haven't felt pinched enough), but we are also offered this reading from the Apostle Paul, calling the Philippian church to be joyful in the Lord. Indeed, the third Sunday of Advent has traditionally been a joyful Sunday, when we light the pink candle (the color of joy) on the Advent wreath rather than one of the purple candles (color of mourning). We are reminded that anticipation can be a joyful activity. Remember when you were young, waiting for Christmas, when your imagination of what was to come on Christmas Day provided you with intense longing yet great joy, sometimes even more joy than the day itself provided? After all, sometimes reality just falls short of our robust imaginations.
So longing for an anticipated event can bring joy. But I think Paul is saying something more. I think he is saying that joy is a spiritual discipline that needs to be used to keep us spiritually (maybe physically too?) healthy. Rejoice, not just when your planets align and things are blissful, but always. And rejoice, not in your accomplishments or circumstances, but in the Lord.
Just as we take on disciplines of self-examination, repentence and penitence during Advent, we need to take on the discipline of joy. Too often we wait for joy to happen to us, to be surprised by it (as C.S. Lewis said). That's wonderful when joy comes over us as a surprising gift, but Paul says we need to practice it. We need to will it.
How will you make joy happen this week? Don't go looking for it. Create it. Remember, as Paul says, "The Lord is near."
Monday, December 7, 2009
Third Sunday of Advent
These are the lectionary readings for this Sunday (I tried to copy and paste the texts for this post but blooger won't let me. Any suggestions?):
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
The Luke passage continues the story of John the Baptist, and now John is getting down right personal, calling his congregation a "brood of vipers." He goes on to say, "Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham."
In the adult Sunday school class on Sunday we talked a little bit about what insulates us from the vulnerability and upheaval that can bring self-examination and transformation. For John's congregation, the insulation was their identification as God's chosen ones through the promise made to Abraham. John disabuses them of this idolotry. God requires repentence and good works that proceed from true repentence and trust in God.
What are your insulators? Well, I'm deserving of God's favor because I'm a .... (fill in the blank with your insulator e.g., Christian, American, church-goer, smart, wealthy or whatever applies).
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
The Luke passage continues the story of John the Baptist, and now John is getting down right personal, calling his congregation a "brood of vipers." He goes on to say, "Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham."
In the adult Sunday school class on Sunday we talked a little bit about what insulates us from the vulnerability and upheaval that can bring self-examination and transformation. For John's congregation, the insulation was their identification as God's chosen ones through the promise made to Abraham. John disabuses them of this idolotry. God requires repentence and good works that proceed from true repentence and trust in God.
What are your insulators? Well, I'm deserving of God's favor because I'm a .... (fill in the blank with your insulator e.g., Christian, American, church-goer, smart, wealthy or whatever applies).
Friday, December 4, 2009
Where is Christ in your life?
Interesting that the Luke passage calls us to preparation, and indeed, this is a theme of the second week of Advent as we prepare for the birth of Christ. So while we are making all the seasonal preparations for Christmas--buying a Christmas tree, baking goodies, indangering life and limb on a ladder hanging Christmas lights--we know we also need to be preparing spiritually for Christ's coming as we examine our lives and repent of sin.
Yet Malachi does not say anything about preparing for the Lord's visitation to the temple. He just says he is coming. There is really nothing we can do to prepare for this advent; it's just going to happen, maybe at the most unexpected time. He then leaves us with that haunting question, Who can endure his coming?
Pearing back at Malachi through the testimony of the early church, I wonder if a faithful interpretion of this text can be that Christ's presence is active in your life right now but maybe not where you most hope for it. We usually identify Christ's presence with a warm, encouraging feeling we have when we sing a favorite song in worship or when a prayer is answered or when everything seems to be going right and we feel blessed. But maybe Christ is most present in our struggles and pain. Maybe that is where the important work of re-forming us more fully into the image of Christ is taking place. This is the work of purification (refiner's fire) and cleansing (fullers' soap). It is not a pretty process, but by this process we are transformed, healed and liberated.
The Apostle Paul understood this process. He could say I am most strong where I am weak, so I glorify in my weakness, because Christ's strength is made perfect in my weakness. The writer Flannery O'Connor expressed it, I believe, in the intoduction to the second edition of Wiseblood, when she said something like--we are defined more by what we cannot do than what we can do. Friends, Christ is to be found in our limitations.
Where are those points of tension and struggle in your life presently? Could Christ be at work there? Can you endure his coming?
Yet Malachi does not say anything about preparing for the Lord's visitation to the temple. He just says he is coming. There is really nothing we can do to prepare for this advent; it's just going to happen, maybe at the most unexpected time. He then leaves us with that haunting question, Who can endure his coming?
Pearing back at Malachi through the testimony of the early church, I wonder if a faithful interpretion of this text can be that Christ's presence is active in your life right now but maybe not where you most hope for it. We usually identify Christ's presence with a warm, encouraging feeling we have when we sing a favorite song in worship or when a prayer is answered or when everything seems to be going right and we feel blessed. But maybe Christ is most present in our struggles and pain. Maybe that is where the important work of re-forming us more fully into the image of Christ is taking place. This is the work of purification (refiner's fire) and cleansing (fullers' soap). It is not a pretty process, but by this process we are transformed, healed and liberated.
The Apostle Paul understood this process. He could say I am most strong where I am weak, so I glorify in my weakness, because Christ's strength is made perfect in my weakness. The writer Flannery O'Connor expressed it, I believe, in the intoduction to the second edition of Wiseblood, when she said something like--we are defined more by what we cannot do than what we can do. Friends, Christ is to be found in our limitations.
Where are those points of tension and struggle in your life presently? Could Christ be at work there? Can you endure his coming?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Indeed, Who Can Endure?
Malachi says, "... the Lord you seek is coming to his temple... but who can endure his coming?"
We'd all like a stronger, more vibrant sense of God's Spirit in our lives and perhaps we make some attempts to make that a reality as we seek God through spiritual practices like corporate worship, prayer, scripture reading and compassionate actions. Yet do we know truly what we seek? The adage, "Be careful what you ask for" comes to mind. Can we endure the divine visitation? What will Christ ask (demand?) of us when he comes after these many weeks of waiting during Advent?
Malachi looked for a messenger who would purify and cleanse like a refiner's fire and fullers' soap. Purification by fire sounds like an uncomfortable process to me. It was the religious leaders (sons of Levi) who were going to be subjected to the heat first. Ouch?
Lets look beyond the personal for a moment to our national community life. What would a divine visitation in health care reform look like? Most folks see the need for some kind of reform of our health care system. We religious folk might even pray for a system that is more just and compassionate. Yet we might also fear the possible consequences like rationing, lack of freedom in making medical treatment choices and long waits. Over the Thanksgiving weekend with my extended family I heard expressions of horror at having a health care system like the Canadians. Do they have it so bad? We don't want to have to endure these inconveniences even if we do have a system that is more just.
Examine yourself this week. If Christ's coming into your life requires some sort of purification, what might that look like for you? What sort of dross needs to fall away in the crucible of God's love?
We'd all like a stronger, more vibrant sense of God's Spirit in our lives and perhaps we make some attempts to make that a reality as we seek God through spiritual practices like corporate worship, prayer, scripture reading and compassionate actions. Yet do we know truly what we seek? The adage, "Be careful what you ask for" comes to mind. Can we endure the divine visitation? What will Christ ask (demand?) of us when he comes after these many weeks of waiting during Advent?
Malachi looked for a messenger who would purify and cleanse like a refiner's fire and fullers' soap. Purification by fire sounds like an uncomfortable process to me. It was the religious leaders (sons of Levi) who were going to be subjected to the heat first. Ouch?
Lets look beyond the personal for a moment to our national community life. What would a divine visitation in health care reform look like? Most folks see the need for some kind of reform of our health care system. We religious folk might even pray for a system that is more just and compassionate. Yet we might also fear the possible consequences like rationing, lack of freedom in making medical treatment choices and long waits. Over the Thanksgiving weekend with my extended family I heard expressions of horror at having a health care system like the Canadians. Do they have it so bad? We don't want to have to endure these inconveniences even if we do have a system that is more just.
Examine yourself this week. If Christ's coming into your life requires some sort of purification, what might that look like for you? What sort of dross needs to fall away in the crucible of God's love?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Prophets Galore: Second Sunday of Advent
The beginning of Advent marks the new year in the Church liturgical calendar so what better time to begin a new thing, a blog that shares some of my thoughts about the upcoming lectionary texts and allows others to share their thoughts and questions? Hopefully this will allow you to be involved in the sermon even before you hear it on Sunday and thereby give you a more full experience as you hear and respond to the biblical texts. Hopefully it will allow me to respond to your thoughts and questions in crafting a sermon for Sunday and thereby make me a better preacher. Who knows, maybe you'll provide me with great material for my sermon, though I would not identify the source of anything shared here without the writer's approval. I'm always on the look out for wisdom and insight. So here goes.
At no time does the Church seem more out of kilter with the world than during Advent. Everyone around us begins celebrating Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving (sometimes before), while the Church begins celebrating Christmas on Christmas Day (sometimes Christmas Eve) and throughout the two weeks of Christmastide. By the time we start celebrating Christmas, the culture around us has stopped and moved on (usually about Dec. 26).
Case in point: Our lectionary texts for last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, were all apocalyptic in theme. Who wants to hear "there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves Luke 21)" or sing O Come, O Come, Emanuel when one has been shopping among Santa Claus and Christmas trees while listening to White Christmas? And this Sunday we'll still not get to the main characters of the birth story like shepherds or even Joseph and Mary, but rather we get prophets, plenty of prophets. The shepherds are so harmless and cuddly, but no, we get the refiner's fire spoken of by Malachi (even his name is scary) and that wild-haired cousin of Jesus, John the Baptist.
In your Bible, read Malachi 3:1-4 (I tied to paste the text here but haven't figured out how to do that yet). Then read Luke 3:1-6.
What are you initial reactions to these readings? Do they seem incongruous with the "holiday" season? Do they disturb you or encourage you?
More on these texts tomorrow. Have a great, or perhaps I should say penitential, week!
At no time does the Church seem more out of kilter with the world than during Advent. Everyone around us begins celebrating Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving (sometimes before), while the Church begins celebrating Christmas on Christmas Day (sometimes Christmas Eve) and throughout the two weeks of Christmastide. By the time we start celebrating Christmas, the culture around us has stopped and moved on (usually about Dec. 26).
Case in point: Our lectionary texts for last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, were all apocalyptic in theme. Who wants to hear "there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves Luke 21)" or sing O Come, O Come, Emanuel when one has been shopping among Santa Claus and Christmas trees while listening to White Christmas? And this Sunday we'll still not get to the main characters of the birth story like shepherds or even Joseph and Mary, but rather we get prophets, plenty of prophets. The shepherds are so harmless and cuddly, but no, we get the refiner's fire spoken of by Malachi (even his name is scary) and that wild-haired cousin of Jesus, John the Baptist.
In your Bible, read Malachi 3:1-4 (I tied to paste the text here but haven't figured out how to do that yet). Then read Luke 3:1-6.
What are you initial reactions to these readings? Do they seem incongruous with the "holiday" season? Do they disturb you or encourage you?
More on these texts tomorrow. Have a great, or perhaps I should say penitential, week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)