“He’s not Issam Nemeh”

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

I do a lot of reading and preparation for my sermons (it may not seem like it, but that’s another issue) . And as I read other sermons and commentaries I come across stuff that really is worth sharing but it doesn’t fit the aim of the sermon. At all. So I get distracted and lose the point because I get focused on something that isn’t the goal.

The story is told of a man who went to his doctor to ask if he could help him with his snoring problem. “As soon as I go to sleep,” the man explained, “I begin to snore. It happens all the time. What can I do doctor to cure myself?” The doctor then asked, “Does it bother your wife?” “Oh,” the man answered, “it not only bothers her but it disturbs the whole congregation.”
There was a pop song written and sung by Warren Zevon back in 1990, One verse says:

“I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this”

Mark 1:29-39
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

This is from the Belleville Area independent 15 months ago: “There was a huge traffic jam on West Columbia Avenue in Belleville on Sunday afternoon as hundreds of cars lined up to get to a faith healer at St. Anthony Catholic Church. Channel 7 News had run stories six different times between Thursday and Sunday about the faith healer coming to Belleville and many people came with their sick children, ailing elderly people, and others in wheelchairs, on walkers and with oxygen. Almost 1,000 [people]were prayed over by Dr. Issam Nemeh between 1 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday morning when he finally finished. About the same number had to be turned away, said church members who volunteered at the event.”

1000 people over 12 hours-that’s one person every 1 minute 23 seconds for 12 hours. I’m sure some of you were there or were trying to attend. 1000 more were turned away. Did you hear about it? 83 people every hour for 12 hours.

“Healing services were set for 1:30, 3, and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, but an additional service was added for 7:30 p.m., because of the crowd. The church was full and the overflow was kept in the Father Folta building. Some people who arrived at 1 p.m., didn’t get to see Dr. Nemeh until 8 p.m.

Volunteers stood in the rain directing traffic to ease the jam on West Columbia until Belleville Police told them they couldn’t stand in the street because it was unsafe. They continued to direct traffic in the parking lot and explain the situation to drivers.

One volunteer, who did not wish to be identified, said it was so hard to see those in need turned away, but it just wasn’t possible to deal with all those who came.

“How do you tell the children no?” she asked, saying it was heart-breaking to see. She said at the very end of the session, Dr. Nemeh tried to work in the extra people.

She said people came from the Upper Peninsula, Traverse City, Pontiac, and even Cleveland, where the doctor has a following. A nun from Nigeria arrived.

She said Dr. Nemeh only took one break for the day and that was to eat dinner.”

1000 people in attendance, many waiting for 7 hours, 1000 more turned away.
[When Deacon Dick first started at Trinity he asked if we could have a healing ministry here. I said “sure, but don’t expect too much response-we’ve tried that and not too many people took advantage of it.” But he said, “this is important, even if only one comes for healing, this is God’s ministry.”]

Usually when this gospel is preached you hear about Peter’s mother-in-law. But the real key to this gospel reading is this section: “That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

"Everyone is searching for you." But that wasn’t true. What was everyone looking for? They wanted healing. They wanted hope. People didn’t come to see Dr. Issam Nemeh . They came to be cured. If the gospel stories seem strange to you at times, think of Issam Nemeh-the crowds, the publicity, the overwhelming needs of so many people.

People aren’t listening to Jesus, they’re not hearing him talk about the Kingdom of God-what do they want? They WANT TO BE HEALED. Or they want the demons driven out of them. Jesus came to spread a message that God was in their lives and was calling them to become new-and everyone was coming up to him saying, “hey, that’s great, but could you please cure my wife, my child, my friend-please heal ME.” When you listen to this gospel do you hear it?

“And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." Everyone wants you. Everyone wants a piece of you. They wanted to be healed, and Jesus kept telling them, “I am a healer, but I am not just a healer, I am starting a whole new life.” It’s not by accident that this passage includes the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law. As we listen to that story, we’re supposed to learn what healing is for. “He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” We are healed-so we can serve, so we can live a new kind of life. We are changed so we can become new. Healing, having our demons cast out-that’s not the end. Jesus doesn’t heal people so they can go back to their old life. He touches us so we can begin new lives.
He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

“For that is what I came out to do.”
What do you think Jesus was thinking about when he got up before dawn and went off to a deserted place? What was on his heart? He came to bring a message about God and what God’s kingdom would be like and he was mobbed with people wanting to be healed.
All the struggle, all the battles in Jesus’ life are set up here in the first chapter. People want Jesus to be one thing-he came for more than that. The disciples don’t understand who he is, or what his purpose is-all they know is that people can’t get enough of him. So they constantly misunderstand.

Kate Huey writes: “This Jesus was no celebrity-of-the-moment, any more than he was a magician (like some) or a rebel leader (like others). And, to him if not to the crowds or even to his closest followers, his purpose was clear. He was not about being a "sensation," or a success, or even popular. What he "came out to do" – his whole purpose – was to proclaim a message, the Message: The [kingdom] Reign of God. Jesus will push his disciples, then as now, taking them in new and unexpected directions, moving on in ministry to do what he came out to do, even if it's not the most popular thing to do, even if it's the very thing that will lead to his death.”Healing is important. We need it, we want it. But it’s not the end. Jesus realizes as he goes out to that deserted place while it was still dark, that if we can we will turn him into Issam Nemeh-only a healer. But Jesus came for more than that. He came to touch us so we could live new lives.
“Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

So I get distracted and lose the point because I get focused on something that isn’t the goal. It’s easy to do. When you’re sick or hurting, when the demons voices are insistent or demanding, it’s easy to lose sight of the purpose.Proclaiming the message-that is what he came out to do. Of course everyone is searching for Jesus, we all want to be fixed. We all want our demons exorcized. We all want the pain to go away. The question is, are we willing to be changed? Amen.

Let's Go Anyway

Sermon 3 Epiphany B-Jan. 22, 2012

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

Mark 1:14-20- 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.
People are always asking me, “What’s your favorite gospel?” I usually say, “well, Luke has the best stories.” But I love the gospel of Mark. Mark was the first gospel written, it’s not nearly as polished as Luke, not even close to being as theological and clever as Matthew, and nowhere near as beautiful or poetic as John. Mark’s gospel is raw and rough, the shortest, and the most poorly constructed. In the gospel of Mark there is an word that is repeated 40 times that says more about Mark’s Jesus than anything else. The word is “immediately”. Mark uses it 40 times in 16 chapters to describe what’s going on. 40 times. What do you get from that? Twice in this morning’s story. There is an urgency in Mark’s Jesus that you never get in the other gospels. Jesus is on a mission, there is no doubt, and everyone who meets him is called to decision. “18And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” 20”Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.”
David Lose asks this question, “What would make you drop everything and pursue an entirely new life? A great job offer? A marriage proposal? The chance to make a huge difference in another part of the world?”
That’s what happens in Mark’s gospel-people see life as a decision, a choice, a chance to make a difference. In the Gospel of Mark people respond-dramatically, powerfully-sometimes even stupidly. But they lead with their faith.
Alyce Mackenzie tells the story about being a young assistant in a large church. And every Sunday the ministry team would line up in the narthex preparing to process in. Every week before the service she, the young assistant would look at the senior pastor who was looking around with a distracted air, and she would say to him, “Paul, it’s 10:55. Are you ready?” He sort of snapped to attention, looked at her and said, "No, but let's go in anyway."
That’s the Gospel of Mark. We may not be ready, but we go anyway. You’re going to hear the Gospel of Mark in the year to come. Listen for people being challenged to make a decision. Listen for people being pushed to make a choice. Listen for the word, “immediately”. And think about what you would make you drop everything and move? We always have a million reasons not to act, not to choose, not to decide, not to do anything. But, let’s go in anyway. Amen.

Look At My Face

Sermon 2 Epiphany B-Jan. 15, 2012
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
John 1:43-51The 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."

Last week we didn’t have a sermon at the 10:30 service because we heard the story of “The Other Wiseman”. But at the 8am I told a story about a book written a year ago. A year ago this month a part-time actress, Elise Ballard, published a book entitled, “Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform”. Ballard went around and interviewed 50 well known people and asked them if they had ever had an epiphany, “a moment of great sudden revelation; an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realization or disclosure”.
Ballard discovered that everyone of them had had an epiphany-and easily remembered it. And afterwards every single person changed their life, they all went home by a different way as the magi did. There was one more thing she learned. “After people began to take action on their epiphanies, circumstances [in their lives] seemed to fall into place so that they could take the next steps.”
Every story that you will hear in Epiphany season in church will be about someone who encountered Jesus and went home by a different way, in other words, they went away changed, they became different people. When did you meet someone and become someone else? When was your epiphany? How were you different afterwards? Think about the wise men, the magi, astrologers from the east who follow a star-and leave precious gifts in a barn. They have their “sudden intuitive leap of understanding” and their lives are never the same.”
This is the 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany, and today we hear a story from the Gospel of John about Jesus calling Philip, and Philip inviting Nathaniel: “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."
Every time I hear the story of Philip inviting Nathaniel I think about an episode from the West Wing. Josh Lyman is a professional political operative. He goes around hiring out to whatever candidate will pay him. But he yearns for a chance to back someone who is a good person, someone who is better than the rest. Josh wants to work for someone who is worth his life. He goes to visit his old friend, Sam Seaborn. Sam says, “who are you working for now, Hoynes? He’s going to win the nomination isn’t he? “ Then he look at Josh and says, “is Hoynes the real deal?” Josh starts hemming and hawing, because he knows that Hoynes isn’t. So Josh tells Sam that he’s going on to New Hampshire to see a little known candidate, Jed Bartlett. Josh says to Sam “do you want me to come back and tell you if Bartlett is the real deal? And Sam says, “you won’t have to tell me, you have a terrible poker face.” In the next episode Sam, the lawyer, is in a multi-billion dollar conference with a client when Josh pounds on the window outside the conference. Same looks up, and all Josh does is this (points to his face which is smiling). That’s how Josh recruited Sam to work for this no name candidate running for president-he let him see his face and it was obvious that Bartlett was the real deal.
Philip says to Nathaniel, “come and see.” And he just as easily could have done this (pointed at his face and smiled). It means, I have found the one-this is the real deal.
One pastor I read about instead of preaching a sermon after reading this gospel had everyone in the congregation sit in small groups and talk about what kind of toothpaste they used. The week after that he had them talk about the car they drove, the next week the team they rooted for. And finally after several weeks of talking in small groups about their lives, he had them talk about their faith and what they thought of Jesus. The point is, he wanted to get them comfortable talking about what they thought, and how they felt about things in their lives before they got to the big one-talking about their faith.
Today we heard the shortest sermon in the gospels-“Come and see.” It’s the story of someone who had an epiphany, “a moment of great sudden revelation; an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realization or disclosure”.-and it’s the story of that epiphany changing their lives.
That’s our calling as Christians-to be so filled with conviction, and grace that all we have to say to someone is, “look at my face” and God will do the rest.

We All Have Epiphanies!

Sermon-1 Epiphany B-Jan. 8, 2012

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

Every season of Advent and every season of Epiphany we hear the story of John the Baptist. I have preached on John over 60 times in my career, or you might say, you have had to listen to my sermons about John many many times. So, I thought rather than subject you to yet another sermon about John the Baptist I would try to give you, THE BIG PICTURE.
Epiphany is the season immediately following the 12 days of Christmas. The length of Epiphany varies, from 5 weeks to 9, and ends at Ash Wednesday. The word Epiphany means unveiling or revealing or manifestation. And we usually talk about it as a surprise, or as it’s defined: “a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence” .There are four stories that are associated with the season of Epiphany-the first one is the coming of the magi, the wise men. We always hear that one on Jan. 6. The first Sunday (today) after the Epiphany we always hear the story of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. When Jesus comes up out of the water we hear God say: ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” This is an epiphany, a sudden intuitive leap of understanding for all the people standing around him at the Jordan. The 3rd story that is associated with the season of Epiphany is Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. We only hear this story once every 3 years but it’s only read I Epiphany. And the last story is always read on the last Sunday after Epiphany-it’s the story of the Transfiguration-Jesus on the mountaintop being transformed into a glowing figure.
All of the stories told in Epiphany every year have to do with Jesus being revealed as the Christ to people who weren’t expecting it, or prepared for it. Epiphany is the season of surprises, of revelations, of the unexpected. There is one phrase that I love that I always associate with Epiphany, and it gets lost so easily. But whenever I hear this expression it always makes me stop and think about my own life.
The magi were wandering, unsure where to go, uncertain what they were looking for. They had lots of distractions on their journey. And then they found a child, and they left the burdens that they had been carrying at the manger. And the story ends with this phrase, “and they went home by another way.” And every time I hear that story, those few words jump out at me- they went home by another way.
Because whenever I hear those words I think, “that’s what Epiphany is all about-an event, an experience that changes our direction, changes our life.” Think back for a moment. Think about people in your life who have touched you, changed you, redirected you. You were going along on your life, and then you met someone, and your life was never the same-because you were never the same.
A year ago this month a part-time actress, Elise Ballard, published a book entitled, “Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform”. Ballard went around and interviewed 50 well known people and asked them if they had ever had an epiphany, “a moment of great sudden revelation; an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realization or disclosure”.
She discovered that everyone one of them had had an epiphany-and easily remembered it. And afterwards every single person changed their life, they all went home by a different way. There was one more thing she learned. “After people began to take action on their epiphanies, circumstances seemed to fall into place so that they could take the next steps.”
Every story that you will hear in Epiphany season in church will be about someone who encountered Jesus and went home by a different way, in other words, they went away changed, they became different people. When did you meet someone and become someone else? When was your epiphany? How were you different afterwards? Think about the wise men, the magi, astrologers from the east who follow a star-and leave precious gifts in a barn. They have their “sudden intuitive leap of understanding” and their lives are never the same.
This season of Epiphany listen for the next 6 weeks, especially as you hear the stories of all the people who are transformed as they meet Jesus. Listen as disciples are called, people are healed, lives are changed. Listen as we hear stories of how people have , a sudden intuitive leap of understanding. And as you hear these old familiar stories, begin thinking about the epiphanies in your own life-the ways you have been redirected, challenged, changed. This is a season when we watch ordinary people going through their lives-when they meet God-and they are never the same.
This is the Epiphany season, a time when people follow stars and dream dreams. It is a good time for us to think about our own journey, our own pilgrimage in life. Listen to the stories of this season and start to wonder, am I ready to go home by a different way?

When Is It Real?

Sermon-4 Advent B-Dec. 18, 2011
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
As most of you know, my mother passed away 12 days ago. I was in Texas this week. Constantly people kept coming up to me saying that I seemed to be taking her death very well (meaning that I wasn’t crying or breaking down). And I kept saying, “it’s because it isn’t real to me. ” I hadn’t seen her in 3 weeks, and it just didn’t feel as though she had left. So I went to every place that I had seen her the last year-to the bed in the nursing home, to the place in the dining hall where she ate, to the chair she sat in a lot when she read and worked her crossword puzzles. I kept trying to feel her passing by looking at the places where she had been. But every place I looked she still seemed to be there. She did not feel gone. A second thing that happened was that whenever I told someone that my mother had died, they immediately told me about a loss they had suffered. It was as if they wanted to say, “yes, I understand, this is real for me, too.”
I was thinking a lot about that this week, and thinking about today’s sermon. I began thinking about how hard it is for me, and I assume for others, to feel that something is “real”. It is not easy.
The first person ever to have a nativity scene was St. Francis of Assisi. You know why he did it? The first crèche? He did it to make the birth of Jesus feel more real for people. He wanted people to understand God coming into the world-he wanted them to believe it- “St. Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene[3][4] in 1223 at Greccio, Italy…..[6][7] Staged in a cave near Greccio, St. Francis' nativity scene was a living one[3] with humans and animals cast in the Biblical roles.[8] Pope Honorius III gave his blessing to the exhibit.[9] Such[exhibits] …. became hugely popular and spread throughout Christendom.[8] Within a hundred years every church in Italy was expected to have a nativity scene at Christmas.”
In a sense every sermon, every story has that as a goal-to make God real, to make God alive. It is not easy. We have made God so distant, so far away, so untouchable, that it is hard to ever believe that God is real, God is near, God is active, that God is still alive in our lives. At Christmas we try to convince everyone the unbelievable belief that God came as one of us. It can be hard for us to believe that God is real.
Novelist Ron Hansen writes: “Each day at noon the bell of Holy Angels Catholic Church slowly gonged, and if we schoolchildren weren’t at lunch or recess we were instructed to stand and recite “The Angelus.”
“The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,” our teacher would say. Our memorized response was, “And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.” Which was followed by the prayer called the “Hail Mary.”
At the next gong, the teacher recited, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” And we said, “Be it done unto me according to thy word.”
Another “Hail Mary,” another gong, and then the final petition, “The Word was made flesh,” to which we added, “And dwelt amongst us.”
Some fifty years later I still recite “The Angelus” when I hear a church’s noontime bell, and that recitation is a regular reminder of the crucial importance of the announcement and acceptance in our gospel passage from Luke.”
Church bells as a way of seeing that God is real. When I read that story I thought of me looking at mom’s chair where she always sat. I told a woman on the plane that my mother had died and she immediately said, “I know what you’re feeling-my father died 12 years ago.” We use images, reminders, sounds, smells, and especially memories to help us understand and to know.
We use these ways to help us remember and to feel. We use these ways for us to believe that something is real.
Kate Huey writes in her weekly column: “And that brings us to how God is doing such wonderful and seemingly impossible things here in this story about Mary and an angel's astonishing announcement. We note that it isn't called "The Request," or "The Invitation," but "The Annunciation." And we suppose that God could have chosen to save the world, to fulfill God's promises of old all on God's own; after all, nothing is impossible with God. However, this humble but earth-shaking conversation tells us that God wants humanity to be part of the effort, even if it makes things much more complicated and even difficult (which it does): "God intends to draw Mary and all of us into what God is doing," Brian K. Peterson writes, "and God apparently is not willing to do this behind our backs or without our own participation" (New Proclamation 2008). And this is what, in some mysterious way, makes Mary's story our own, or at least it makes her story something we can understand much better.”
God uses a human, a young girl, a birth, a child, to show us, to teach us that he is real. God uses us to break into our world.
I’ve told you several times about a parishioner who was here when I first came (and has long since passed on). I would take him communion, and he would say to me, “ok, father, I’ll take communion, but I want you to know that I don’t believe in the Virgin Birth.” I’d ask him, “how about the Resurrect ion?” Not a problem, he’d say. “The feeding of the 5000?” “Oh yeah, I believe that”, he responded. “Then why,” I’d ask, “is the virgin birth such a problem?” “It goes against science!” he replied. I would say, “None of the story is scientific!” And he always responded, “yeah, but the virgin birth is just too much of a stretch!”
Maybe it is too much of a stretch, but it shows what lengths God will go to, to make us believe that his love, his presence is real.
Today we hear the story of God using Mary. It is a wonderful story, full of drama and charm-but is it real for you? When you hear it do you think, “what a cute little story!” Or does it have power ?
I think for something to be real for us it has to be part of us, in us, something w can see and touch and feel. It has to be part of our lives, too.
Barbara Brown Taylor quoting from the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart once wrote:
"We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? Then, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of God is begotten in us." (Meister Eckhart, quoted by Barbara Brown Taylor in her sermon, "Mothers of God" in Gospel Medicine).
Today we hear the story of a young girl who said yes, “use me”, bless me with this terrible blessing. We have made it beautiful, and sweet and miraculous. But that is not what we need to do. For this story to be powerful and life changing for us, it must also be real. We have to see that God is still being born, still calling unlikely people, still asking if we are ready to be his servants. Is this story too much of a stretch for you? Or is it possible for God to be born in you, also? In other words, does this story feel real for you? Amen.

Lighten Up

Sermon-3 Advent B-Dec. 11, 2011
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
I think it’s because basically because I grew up unchurched that I am fascinated by church traditions. People who grow up immersed in church take all these things for granted-but every time I learn of an ancient ritual I always feel like, “wow-this was there all the time and I am just now finding out about it!!??
For instance, today is Gaudete Sunday. Usually by now someone has asked me “did you run out of purple candles and have to substitute a pink one?” A thousand years ago the season of Advent was almost as strict as Lent-with fasting and prayer. Because the season could be very exhausting, it was decided to give everyone a break. So on the 3rd Sunday of Advent every year, people , in a sense, were given a day off. Instead of the penitential color of purple, rose (or pink) was used. People were allowed, even encouraged, to feast and celebrate. The opening verse of the chanted Introit was “Gaudete in Domino semper” rejoice in the Lord, always…And so this is known as Gaudete or Rejoice Sunday (and in the Anglican church “Stir up” Sunday). We try to have our chicken soup dinner and fellowship on this day, and we light a rose colored candle as our way of taking a break in a dark season.
Everything in Advent is pointing away from the messengers-pointing ahead to the one who is coming. Listen, again, to this interaction from today’s Gospel:
1:19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"1:20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah."(Anyone remember the tv show from the early ‘90s, Dinosaurs “not the mama”)1:21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No."1:22 Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
Who are you? What do you say about yourself? The people want to know who John is, why did he come-and John’s response is to deflect , turn aside, to redirect the answer. He’s like all those pictures of Sacajawea, the Native American woman who helped lead Lewis and Clark across the northwest-try to find a picture of her where Sacajawea isn’t pointing away from herself..
Nope, not me, John says -I’m not the one.(“Not the messiah”) “He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”
This whole passage from John the gospel writer revolves around identity-who Jesus is, who we say he is-and who are we.
There’s a movie out: “Cowboys and Aliens”. In the movie a famous outlaw, a man who robbed, stole, and murdered is abducted by aliens and afterwards can’t remember who he was or what he ever did. Everyone keeps coming up telling him how evil and mean he was, however he can’t remember. Eventually he has to make a decision to either go back to what he was, or to become the person people need him to be.
The town preacher has faith in him. As the preacher is dying he saysto Lonergan, “the people need you to lead them, and Lonergan replies, “I’m not a leader, I don’t help people.The preacher’s last words to him, are these: "God doesn't care about who you were. He cares about who you are."
Advent is the season when we can turn around. We can stop worrying about who were we, and begin thinking about who we are going to be. Advent is the 4 week season when we can look ahead and point towards the light that we’re heading for. Advent is a short time just before the coming of the light, that we can reimagine who we are and who we want to be-regardless of our baggage. John the Baptist keeps saying in today’s reading-“I’m not the one-but I can show you who he is.”I’m not the messiah-but I can lead you to him.
There is a new documentary out called “Serving Life” (Oprah’s network showed it last summer). This is from a review of that documentary by Reverend Dr. James P. Wind “Serving Life takes viewers inside Louisiana's notorious Angola Prison. This maximum security prison has the reputation of confining within its walls "the worst of the worst"-rapists, kidnappers, and murderers. The average sentence for its inmates is more than 90 years. 85 percent of the people who enter the prison will never go anywhere else.
[We] are first to the prison and then to a group of inmates who have just volunteered to serve in the prison's hospice. … we get a view of prison life-and of human transformation-that is very rare.
The film follows the four new [prisoner hospice] volunteers into the difficult but strangely beautiful work of caring for the dying. …. what the [documentary] offered viewers was a close-up view of a powerful process of human and community formation, where people became more than they were before …Viewers confront the fact that under some circumstances, contract killers and drug dealers can surprise us with an unexpected grace and humanity. The prisoners in Angola have something to teach us about redemption and compassion. How many of us accompany the dying so well?
There are deeper treasures in the film, if one looks closely. The inmates play cards with and tell jokes to the hospice patients. They sing, read Scripture, and pray. They make quilts to keep the dying warm. They make funeral palls with open hands and butterflies embroidered upon them. They take four-hour shifts keeping vigil as patients near death. ….There they were with their worlds of difference working together in one community of compassion.
….." Somehow in the midst of the deepest human despair, hatred, and suffering imaginable, a group of dying patients and life-sentenced prisoners become a community of reciprocity, a congregation if you will, that teaches people to reach beyond their own needs and care for others.
….. Under certain circumstances, even the people we give up on can change and do amazing things. The most elemental human practices-caring for the dying, reading texts, keeping vigil, singing, feeding, bathing-can do so much more than we imagine. I was stunned to watch hardened criminals soften as the film unfolded. As they became a community of compassion, they began to talk about the terrible things they had done that led them to Angola, to take responsibility for their lives, and to seek to repair the worlds that they had made and dwelled in. ….. Sometimes we need to step away from all the familiar distractions that complicate our lives and our communities of faith and go to a strange place like Angola to get our bearings.
The hospice workers of Angola are not the light-but they bear witness to it. John the Baptist was not the messiah-but he led people to him. We are not the light, but our lives can point towards it.
This is Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday, Stir up Sunday. It is not Christmas, but it is a good day to “ begin to talk about the things we have done that lead us to where we are, to take responsibility for our lives, and to seek to repair the worlds that we have made and dwell in.” We aren’t the light-but we can be a reflection of it.
One preacher I was reading said, “this is the day we should tell everyone to “lighten up”.

Creating Space this Advent

Sermon-2 Advent B-Dec. 4, 2011
O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
Mark 1:1-8The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,who will prepare your way;the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:'Prepare the way of the Lord,make his paths straight,'"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."

2 Peter 3:8-15a But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.

“In the Old Testament when a prophet sent a message to King Ahaziah of Israel, the king asked the messengers, "What sort of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?" The messengers reported to the king, "A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist." When king Ahaziah heard that description, he concluded immediately, "It’s[the prophet]- Elijah the Tishbite" (2 Kings 1:7-8).” That’s how a prophet was know in Israel-how they dressed, and what they said. Prophets spoke hard truths and lived severe lives. Needless to say, very few prophets lived til old age. They spoke unpopular words and made a living offending people-especially those in power. But a prophet was a truth teller, someone who told others what they needed to hear.

John the Baptist was considered one of the greatest of the prophets. In Advent and in Epiphany every year we hear his story. Mark the gospel writer starts off Jesus’ life, not with his birth, like Luke and Matthew, and not with a poem about creation (in the beginning) like John. Mark the 1st gospel writer begins Jesus’ story with John the Baptist, a prophet, telling the people of Israel what they needed to hear.
So, Jesus had a warm up man, someone to get the people ready-his cousin, John. John’s job was to wake people up, get them on high alert. His job was to open people up for the main act that was to come. John the Baptizer was supposed to tell people the truth, so that when the messiah came they would be ready to follow. Hold that thought.
Who is the dominant character leading up to Christmas for us? Who is in every commercial, on every child’s lips, the addressee for every letter at this time of the year? That’s right, Santa. Tuesday is the feast day for St. Nicholas. Santa is everywhere. One commentator I was reading wondered, “what if John the Baptist was Santa?” Instead of cookies and milk you would leave out locusts and honey. Children wouldn’t go up to show John their list of what they wanted for Christmas-they would kneel and confess their sins. In fact, John could care less what we wanted for Christmas, he’d tell us how to live different lives, and that it’s time to shape up. Advent is John’s season, but he doesn’t do a good job as a mall Santa. As one preacher Alyce MacKenzie) wrote: “John would make a poor Santa on a fire engine. Instead of throwing candy canes, he'd stand up and shout, "This year better be different! Going through the motions of …Christmas will not guarantee you joy, peace, or the perfect gift on Christmas Eve!"”

Pastor Sharron R. Blezard says that if she really wants her house cleaned, she throws a party. She knows the deadline of a party will make her work nonstop getting the house ready. Deadlines do that for us, as much as we hate them. They force us to get our house clean. Christmas is the deadline. This year, what are we going to do to get our hearts ready in time?
Over the years I have passed on lots of advice about what to do, how to act in Advent to get ready. Today I’m going to give you a little John the Baptist as you prepare for Christmas. As often happens I turn to Alyce MacKenzie who made what I thought was a great point about getting ready in Advent. This is what she wrote:
“When I first started out in ministry, I thought being a minister meant being so strong that I didn't need support from others. I was walling myself off from others, putting on a good face to my colleagues. A good friend of mine, also a pastor, saw through my game face and said to me, "Isn't it funny how sometimes what we think is our greatest strength is really our greatest weakness?" It was as if she had slapped my face. What do you mean by that? I asked her. "You already know," she said.
Proverbs 27:6 says, "Profuse are the kisses of an enemy, but well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts." [Alyce continues]
I once preached a sermon on that text and afterwards two men from the congregation came up to me. Gus and Roy were retired and had been friends and members of the church for years and years. Roy said, "Your sermon reminded us of a time a couple years ago when we were both in a Bible study on Jesus' teachings about not judging. Gus said to me privately after one session, 'Roy, you really need this verse, because you tend to see people's faults before you give them a chance to show their virtues.' That made me angry, but later I realized he was right. And I thanked him for it."
If you think I’m going to encourage you to be honest and truthful with a friend as you prepare your heart this Advent, you have misjudged John the Baptist. That would be hard to do, telling someone you care for a hard truth. But that doesn’t get our hearts ready. Rather, this is a good season to ask someone you really trust for a hard truth about yourself. Can you do that? Do you trust someone enough to let them tell you something difficult about yourself, something you need to change? I hear the voice in my own head saying, “Why would I do that? Why would I ask someone else to tell me something I don’t want to hear?” What you’re doing is asking someone to be John the Baptist for you. What you’re really doing is trying to get your heart ready for Christmas. Go up to someone you really trust, a good friend, someone you believe that not only is honest, but also will tell you the truth with kindness. Someone who will help you get your heart ready.
There’s a reason we start our Advent worship each week with the 10 commandments. I’m not trying to get you to feel worse about yourself-or more self-righteous. I’m trying to get you to begin examining your life and faith, to really get your spirit ready for Christmas.
How can we expect joy, if our lives are too busy, too full? Where would there be room in us if we are so consumed with all the stuff that goes on around Christmas? This Advent, we have a deadline. Clean your house. Go to someone you trust and ask them to tell you something you really need to know about yourself-a truth. Start clearing out some space inside of you. We have a word for this in Christianity and it really started with a character named John the Baptist. It was how he prepared people for Jesus. The word is “repentance” and it means turning one’s life around so that we can be more open to God. Amen.