This has been a challenging year for most of us due to various reasons, not the least of which was the unexpected Hurricane in September. Challenge for many others in the world is a way of life.
For example, consider life in the country of Myanmar which was formally known as Burma is a nation about the size of the state of Texas but with a population about the size of Texas and Florida put together. The population is 42 million. It is nestled in-between China, India and Thailand—the Far East. Poverty is rampant. Aids spreads like wildfire. Earthquakes and Cyclones, civil war and starvation all is a way of life. The average life expectancy is now up to 54. Earlier in this year, something happened that caused many of the people who live in the rural areas of Myanmar near the border of China to experience renewed hope. There was spotted a white elephant. According to the Eastern tradition, a white elephant is a sign that peace and better times are on the way. It was a sign for a suffering people that there was hope for a better tomorrow. The white elephant—a sign of better times to come.
Right after the storm hit this year, with the broken pieces of our homes and community scattered all about us, the trees and bushes which were left standing lay barren and lifeless. But then a sign was given. The trees and scrubs began to bud and then flower blossoms and new leaf growth appeared. And although most of us were working like Trojans while running a mild depression, it was a sign that was given that better times were coming. A clear sign was given that although we had been beaten down, we were not destroyed. Though we were perplexed, we were not driven to despair. Although we were broken and taking water we were not finished. Here we had realized how powerless we really are, but a sign was given which brought encouragement and hope. The other night, the starry night was as clear as I can ever remember. Was it a sign? The stars were brilliant in the dark, night sky. And I’ve seen other signs: A generous spirit I have seen in so many of you. So many of you extending yourself to help strangers. Less judgementalness among you. Some who have appeared “hungering and thirsting after righteousness.” Could it be that a better day in dawning? The trees have budded out of season, a clear sign which gives us hope.
The Bible tells us that in the Eighth Century when Assyria had captured the nations of Syria and Judah and was bearing down on Israel, the people were discouraged and frightened about their future. And the Prophet Isaiah told them, a sign will be given. “A new shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse (Jesse was the father of King David, who was to be the ancestor of Jesus); from Jesse, a new branch will shoot forth and will bear fruit. Listen to this promise: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of power, the spirit of knowledge. And in those days, the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion will rest together. The cow will feed with the bear. And they will neither harm nor destroy on my holy mountain.”
I have always appreciated comedian Woody Allen’s great line, “The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won’t get much sleep.” To be sure that is the way the world operates, but the prophet says, things will not always be this way. The God of justice will not always be silent! A sign will be given. A child shall be born. A shoot from the stump of Jesse…and an age of peace will be realized in all the earth.”
For many of you, you have celebrated the season of Christmas many years and heard these scriptures read in your hearing, and yet, peace has not come. We live in a world today which knows the tragedy of natural calamity and manmade disaster.
John the Baptist called upon the Jews of Jesus' day to “Repent of their sins and to do works of righteousness and to bear fruit worthy of their repentance.” ”Said he, you don’t know the peace God offers because you have not repented of your sins and are not doing the works of righteousness. What peace can they have who are not at peace with God? Leo Tolstoy once observed “A good portion of the evils that afflict mankind is due to the erroneous belief that life can be made secure by violence.” Peace like all important things, is a gift! And peace comes a right relationship with God.
In the year 1864, when our city was deserted by many of the early settlers because of the invasion of Government troops from the north and in the months of October, November, and December, witnessed some of the bloodiest events of the War Between the States, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. It was a sad Christmas and a real stretch to think of universal peace of which Isaiah spoke. Peace was little more than a fairy tale or wishful thinking. I wonder sometimes, is peace mealy an expression of wishful thinking?
Longfellow wrote: And in despair I bowed my head “There is no peace of earth” I said, For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good-will to men.” Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead nor doth he sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Peace has not yet come to our fragmented world, but as we draw near to Christmas and the memory of the birth of Jesus and as we come to the altar in Advent and take of the presence of Christ’s broken body in memory of his death and resurrection; we are reminded once again that our faith sees beyond what is to what shall be,
Beyond reality to fulfillment,
Beyond brokenness to wholeness,
Beyond war and sadness to peace and joy!
If you are looking for a sign of better times to come, be open to the signs and sounds of a fast approaching Christmas celebration.
Psalmist writes (30:5) “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” The prophet Isaiah affirms this truth saying “The dry land shall be glad and the desert shall blossom and rejoice.” And Jesus who willingly suffered that we might have life, said: “Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy will be full. (John 15:24) In this Advent season, we long for the experience of joy when hopes are fulfilled. When peace becomes a reality. When faith becomes visual.
Joy is an evasive experience which usually happens unexpectedly to us while we are on the road to somewhere else. It is not a goal which we work for and then achieve. Rather, it is a gift which comes to us when we least expect it.
For many this year in particular, joy is a distant experience, coming but not yet. We live in hope of this coming day of the Lord’s appearance which will bring relief, redemption, restoration. Probably, most of us are not yet there. Our roofs still leak, the insulation still smells, and the insurance check is still in the mail. The bridge on Cervantes Street is still down. The Cervantes diner will open soon, but not yet. Other people in the neighborhood are decorating their houses, but we are hesitant. We hear the Christmas carols, but in our heart we don’t want to buy anything as things are the furthest thing from our mind or desires. We have seen the foolishness of loving the things of God more than God, but there is a pervasive emptiness if not sadness.
Last Summer we had this burglary at our home which cleaned our home of all the jewelry and electronics.
A storm and a theft—really enough is enough.
The theft didn’t bother me too much as the jewelry I could take it or leave it, but I did miss the TV. Obviously, Jane was the one who was most personally affected by the loss of jewelry mainly because of some treasured gifts from my mother. One of the thieves was in time captured which led to an interesting search on the internet under an alias name. Apparently, pawn shops have to list the names of persons who pawn anything on the internet. A few pieces of the lost jewelry was found and when Jane went with the detective to one of the rather sleazy pawn shops, she discovered what was among some of the most precious pieces of the lost treasure—it was a diamond cluster ring which my mother had given to her at the grave of my father. The joy of discovery and recovery found expression in her tears which bathed the dirty counter and floor of the pawn shop.
This experience of joy was not unlike what I witnessed one day at the airport when I saw the noisy, tearful reunion of a young American soldier with his family. I was to learn that he was arriving home for the holidays coming from a deployment in Iraq.
This experience was not unlike what I experienced one day in one of our local hospitals when the surgeon told a family I was visiting with, the surgery was fine, no cancer, should be home in a few days.
You have occasionally, sometimes, once in a while experienced Joy. Remember, when you were on the tram to Disney World when you experienced joy. Or maybe you were on the tram leaving Disney World when you experienced joy. You were watching your children sing in the choir. You received your report card, and your worst fears were not realized. Joy comes unexpectedly, occasionally, sometimes.
In the 8th Century before Christ, the Prophet Isaiah who lived in Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah, and who would be the prophet of the nation for 50 years from 740-687 B.C. spoke harshly for years to the people of the nation concerning their sins. He had said things like: The blood of all will stain the rivers of the land. “God hates all of the nations, for all have sinned against his holy ways, and He will punish all with a harsh and painful rod.” You have robbed the tithe of God. You have neglected the needs of the poor. You have failed to worship the Lord your God. And you will be punished and carried into exile and will suffer banishment from the Lord’s presence. He had said: “I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. The Lord is bringing up against you the waters of the mighty river and it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks and it will sweep into Judah and you will be a broken people. The heavens will tremble and the earth shaken as God will punish the world for its evil. ”
So the Prophet had predicted and lived long enough to experience the coming time of national destruction, and sure enough, the nations had begun to fall. First Syria, then Israel, and then Judah. Foreign soldiers became instruments of punishment in the hands of an angry God. Someone said to me, Sometimes I think I know too much about certain people.
Isaiah had been one of the prophets who had said: “Cheer up brother the worst is yet to come”, But then came a new day and a radical change in Isaiah’s harsh words, a shift from judgment to comfort, from harshness to gentleness, like from darkness to light, from despair to hope.
From the very beginning, as seen occasionally in the first half of the Book of Isaiah, the prophet had shown evidence of hope for a better tomorrow, that bad times could change, that better times could come.
He had envisioned a day when the people who walked in darkness would see a great light,
A day when swords would be beaten into plowshares”
A day when the wolf would lie down with the lamb,
And on one particular day, he woke up in a better frame of mind. His face had lost it’s scowl. And his words were no longer biting and harsh. He spoke without the sound of bitterness. And he said:
God Will Come To Save You. Chapter 35—…In spite of your sins…weak knees will be strengthened. The fearful were encouraged by the words “Be strong, fear not, Behold your God will come and save you.” The eyes of the blind will be opened, the lame will leap like a deer, the tongue of the dumb will sing for joy. The dry land of the wilderness shall break forth with streams of living waters. The cactus of the wilderness will blossom in unique beauty.
There will be a highway in the trackless desert.
The desert is parched ground. Sharp rocks. Shifting sand. Burning sun. Thorns that cut. Wavy oasis ever beyond reach. The desert is a place where trails lead to nowhere. Blood, sweat and tears. Hot days and cold nights.
Says Isaiah, there will be a highway in the desert. The highway is direction, ease of travel, going somewhere. A destination in mind. And, this highway will be called the “Way of Holiness”. None will be on it says the redeemed of the Lord, for those who are ransomed will return to the Holy City. And the sounds of singing and gladness and joy will be heard by all.
This was a day of a new message from God through Isaiah. It was a day like the day when John the Baptist sent word to Jesus when he had heard of his ministry of God’s love. And John’s disciple asked Jesus: “Are you the one or shall we look for another?” And Jesus said to the disciple “You go and tell John that “The eyes of the blind are opened. The ears of deaf are unstopped. The lame leap like a deer. The hungry are fed, and the mute tongue shouts for joy!
This will be a day like the one envisioned by John in the Revelation when sorrow and sighing will flee and gladness and joy will overtake them.
And so we come to the Advent, hoping to hear a word or experience something. And then, it happens. In the midst of the challenging days of a hard life, joy comes unexpectedly. Joy comes like a winged creature, Joy comes in the morning. It comes as it came one day to a young girl named Mary in Judah when her firstborn child was born in a stable. Joy comes like it did to the nation of Judah, under siege and in exile, when a new highway is announced across a trackless nation that would end the time of trial and restore the nation to the ways of God.
Families all have Christmas traditions some are good ones and others are poorly conceived, but a tradition is something which happens over and over till it becomes established. I hope you have established some good traditions or at least are beginning to establish some. It is the way of establishing one's faith and family memory and also a way of bring order in an otherwise cluttered and messy season. That’s why we sing familiar carols at Christmas. Attend Christmas Eve Communion services and light candles and talk about hope, peace, joy and love. It’s a tradition!
One of our family’s Christmas traditions is the annual unpacking of the nativity scenes and enjoying seeing them during the holidays. The lovely Nativity scene which graces our Sanctuary was purchased many years ago in New Orleans by Johnny Hoefflin who for the last decade has spent Christmas in heaven. But isn’t this scene lovely. All nativity scenes are lovely in their own way. We have a number of them. One of them is carved in wood and came from the street just in front of the Church of the Cavity in Bethlehem of Judea. Sadly, because our world is broken, there will be no celebration there this year. In spite of brokenness and the difficulties of this year, we unpacked the old nativities into our home. One came from Mexico with the rich colors of a Hispanic flare. One from Serbia, tiny straw figures with hemstitched clothes covering the holy child. One was forged in ceramic by my mother and given to us many Christmases ago. One which we bought in a Kmart store 42 years ago to celebrate our first Christmas together. This year as we unpacked everything, in one of the nativity scenes, Jesus was missing. As we talked about it and looked for him, we remembered another year when the baby Jesus went missing. That particular year, he kept coming and going. He would appear for a while and then would disappear. The little figurines sat in the holy scene surrounding an empty manager. After studying the situation we discovered that one of the grandchildren kept putting Jesus in his pocket when he was visiting our house. And of course like most things in little boy’s pockets, in time the old sticks, frogs, pennies, and little plastic baby Jesus go through the washer and into the great beyond. That being the case, I would always search my grandson as he left the house that Christmas reclaiming the baby Jesus. But nevertheless, one year, the baby Jesus did not reappear. At first I thought that was a bad sign, that Jesus was missing. When Jesus is lost, this is not good. Is this good? No, this is not good.
But the more I thought about it, I began to think, “Well, although Jesus is missing, at least I know knew that he is somewhere in our home, somewhere in this messy season. And if he is going to be lost, I at least felt better that he was somewhere within the confines of our home, So Jesus is no longer in the Manger, where one would expect to find him, but rather he is somewhere else, God only knows where he is, but for sure he is somewhere.
I have over the years, found it difficult to keep Jesus in one place in my life as he keeps disappearing and then reappearing somewhere, sometime unexpectedly. But what I have discovered is that when he is not where I expect him to be, I have realized that he is not lost, he’s just missing. An MIA—Missing In Action. He is missing, yes. But he is in action.
In our insurance policies there is found a phrase “an act of God”. I have discovered that if you say “ACT of God” a number of times and fast enough, it becomes “Action of God”. What this refers to in the insurance policies, and we have learned to pay attention to the fine print, An act of God is regarded as “An act occasioned exclusively by violence of nature without the interference of any human agency. It means an act, event, happening, or occurrence, due to natural causes which implies entire exclusion of all human agency.
Therefore, a Killer hurricane that destroys our homes is “An act of God”? Or least it is by Black’s law for insurance purposes, but this has nothing to do with the intent of God. Destruction is not on his mind, save our sinful or evil ways. He is more interested in building up than he is in tearing down.
But it bothers me to even use the phrase “An act of God” as though God was at fault. Sometimes this attitude leads the uninformed to attribute actions to God which have nothing to do with his will.
For example, is the death of teenagers wearing no seatbelts in a speeding, runaway car an “act of God”? No. Do the deaths which occur in Iraq every day, are they an act of God? No. Does the violence on our streets and the hatred in our hearts or the ugly way that some people talk about other people, is that an act of God? No. The Scott Peterson murder trail in California has received such press. He has been found guilty by trial. Who knows the gory details of the death of his wife and unborn child. Whatever the details, was this an act of God? No.
No good can come from tragedy, but God is not the source of all tragedy, suffering, and untimely deaths. I have often wondered to myself about the affirmation in Mitch Albom’s book “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”, “There are no random events.” The author states that “Everything is planned”, but although I would like to believe this, frankly, I don’t think so.
Jesus is the Messiah working for justice, blessing the children, building up and encouraging a downtrodden people. He is not out to destroy, tear-down, and break-up. He is not involved in everything.
If You Understand That God Is The Author of That Which Restores, Then You Can Say ‘Act Of God’ Then He Becomes “Action God”, And That He Does! He led the children of Israel through the waters of the sea and through the wilderness to the Promised land. He brought them back from exile. He brought Jesus back to life after he was crucified, dead, and buried.
Phil Barnhart writes in a lovely Advent Book that Jesus will come “to free us, to give us hope, to rule in our lives, and to raise us up.”
Jesus is not missing, he is just not where we though him to be. And the reason he is where he is because there is pain, brokenness, tears or heartbreak. He is there as Messiah, freeing, giving us hope, freeing us and raising us up.
We depict Jesus’ birth as taking place in a lovely, pastoral scene with stable and a manger but the reality of the first appearance was that it was a smelly, noisy, cold place. It was not exactly where one would expect to find the Messiah born. It was likely a cave with rock walls which dripped water and dirt floors. Isaiah said, in the midst of the 8th century with the Assyrian armies taking aim at Judah, and the dark clouds of destruction on the horizon, a child will be born and it will be like a light in the darkness, and he will be called Emmanuel, God with us!
God is always where the action is. We might lose him, but he will not lose us. He will come to you.
Even to this very day, Jesus doesn’t stay in our neatly structured places like Sunday Worship or our nativity scenes. He keeps disappearing. Missing because he is in action. He is in the midst of our cluttered, complicated messy and difficult lives. He is in war zones. He moves on to other communities where there are people facing storms of a different kind than we are facing, and he is there as he is yet here. He is Emmanuel—Godwith us. He is present touching and healing, knowing all about your most undignified secrets and loving you anyway, guiding you into a life of integrity and Godliness. Jesus is not lost, he is just not where you have stored him, in the neatly packaged boxes of your life.
I must admit that our nativity set looks a little odd with no baby Jesus at the center, but in my heart, it feels right that he is not there. Based on what I have seen over the years, Jesus is not lost. He may not be where you put him, or where you might like to keep him, but he is not lost. Just missing from your vision or your consciousness for awhile. I have found him to appear in the most mundane and ordinary of places, when I least expect him. Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. Even now I believe he is doing the work of peace in a war torn world. He will not stay merely admired in the manger for long. He is at work in the world and invites us to join him. He is Emmanuel, God with us” in the action of our lives.
Today we celebrate the Nativity. There was Joseph and Mary, the father and mother, and the baby Jesus.
Of the many Christmas traditions that we treasure is the singing of Christmas carols. Many of you have memorized the words of a number of them, but if you didn’t grow up in the church many of them which come from the English tradition use some ancient words and ideas which are very unfamiliar especially to the children. Sometimes the children use their own words as we sing the carols. For example, one year I hear a child singing beside me, “Noel, Noel, Barney’s the king of Israel”.
Just in case anyone is confused at this point, we do not recognize Barney, the purple dinosaur, as the king of Israel. No, we celebrate today the birth of Jesus, the true king of Israel, the Word made flesh, Very God, of Very God, the Light of the World, The Messiah or Saviour of all. In the baby born in Bethlehem of Judea, long ago was the incarnate presence of the Creator of the Universe.
One of the many joys of the ministry is seeing in the hospital young families just after a child is born and before they go home and to consider all the changes life will bring for the family and for the people the child will touch over the years. Some will grow to be an engineer and design great buildings and bridges, Others will provide help and healing for the sick. Some will be teachers and shape the minds of the next generation. Others will become political leaders and preachers and influence the lives of all of us.
This year we have had 24 new babies born in the church family. New babies? well, I guess that if you are a baby you are new. We have two babies that are due any moment. (from two church families). They are each looking for a baby just any minute. I thought at the 9:45 AM service last week, when one pregnant member knelt down for communion. Well, here he comes! Right here in the church, right here at Christmas, Right here at the altar. Just like a pregnant church member trying to upstage the baby Jesus.
I can remember so many of you on the day of your birth and touching your head with my hand and praying over you a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing. And then you grew up. And look at you now. Oh let me rephrase that: “Look at you now.” I remember as though it was yesterday, when a young father said to me with tears in his voice as he held his newborn in the hospital: “The birth of this child will change my life forever.” I thought to myself, “More than you now know my friend”. More than you have any idea. I said nothing however, as he would find about the changes soon enough. Our babies do change our lives.
I have often wondered about what Mary and Joseph thought about the baby which was born in Bethlehem of Judea so long ago. Did they know?
Did Mary Know When She Kissed Her Little Baby That She Kissed The Face Of God?
Did Joseph And Mary Know That The Child That They Delivered Would Soon Deliver Them?
Did They Know That The Sleeping Child Which They Held For Warmth Was The Great “I Am”?
Did They Know That One Day He Would Say “I Am The Way, The Truth And The Life”?
What Did They Know?…
I don’t really believe that any of us have any concept of the extent of the life we hold when we hold our baby. I know that sometimes when I hold a baby in baptism, that the child pulsates with possibilities. We have no clue as to the things this child will accomplish. The children come not from us, but through us and are a part of a greater purpose than we can conceive.
Joseph and Mary were so very young and inexperienced. There was the lovely obedient response of Mary to the mystery of the coming birth and the strong character of Joseph who did not run away, but stood by. Stood his ground and although he did not understand all that was taking place, stood by his commitment and took Mary to be his wife.
At least in the case of the birth of Jesus, he was not born in a fine hospital or home, but in a rock cave on a dirt floor; but what he did have was a mother and a father to adore him and stand closely by to love and cherish him. They didn’t know who he really was, but they knew enough to love him and enable him to grow up in such a way that he would accomplish God’s purpose for his life. Do we know who he is?
Some years ago, when Sunday fell on Christmas Day, I drove to Church when we had only one service that day, and about on 14th Avenue and Cervantes Street, I saw a man stumbling down the cold street obviously inebriated and there was a little boy about 9 years old with hands in his pocket and an angry frown on his face following reluctantly. I knew nothing about what the kid was feeling, or what had happened or not happened. I only knew that it was Christmas morning and that my children had awakened to the land of plenty and something didn’t feel right in the scene before me. I didn’t do anything but drove right on by, but in some way, to this very day, my commitment to build a church and community that is children friendly and enhancing the development and self esteem of children was born on that Christmas Sunday now 15 years ago. To this very day, I pray for the children in foreign places like Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Zimbabwe and those who live on 14th Avenue , because of the vision of that young, angry boy walking down a long, lonely street on Christmas morning. We never know how far a single child will go in accomplishing great tasks for the Lord. We never know. Consider the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem of Judea to the poor parents named Joseph and Mary. Born in a stable fit only for animals not for a King of Israel.
This church was born on a Sunday morning in the Christmas season of 1821, now 183 years ago. It was born for the children of Indians and the settlers of this area. It was born in hope that the children would find purpose, peace, joy and love and come to know and serve Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.