I READ A BOOK and didn't preach.

Isaiah 61: 10- 62:3
Psalm 148
Galatians 4: 4-7
Luke 2: 22-40

Whew! We made it. Another year! 2006! Wow! Can you believe it? TWO THOUSAND AND SIX! Remember the Y2K crisis? In case you forget, that refers to the fear that the outdated computer programs running our public utilities would shut down, when the computer dates went from 99 to 00. Working on this anticipated problem consumed the energies of industry and governments for a number of years. Whether through these efforts, or just sheer luck the date rolled over with very little difficulty and here we are six years later.

Milestones are a fact of life. My niece will be a teenager by the end of the month and her older brother will soon be old enough for his “Beginners”. (The first step in becoming a licenced driver) They and their younger brother also gauge their lives by how much they have grown in the last months, by “goals” and “assists” and, when they have time, report cards! At this time of year, I begin to write references for students approaching the milestones of graduation and who are applying for scholarships and bursaries.

In today’s passage from the gospel of Luke there is a reference to another grand milestone: the birth of the Messiah. As was the custom of the day, the baby was taken to the temple at the age of one week for a special ceremony. It was something that any family would have done, at least for every first boy. Yet, on this day, things were clearly different. This child caused quite a stir, at least for two people who frequented the temple. At first there was Simeon. When I was young I was taught that he was an old man but notice that the story does not really tell us his age. I wonder, how many babies he saw come to the temple and how many times he wondered if a particular child could be the one. On this day though, he had no doubts. In fact he felt that he could die in peace now that he had seen the expected child with his own eyes. He could, in all sincerity, ‘die happy’. The grand story of God’s promises to Israel could now continue on to the next chapter and he could rest in peace knowing that everything that God had promised was happening. God’s plan for acting to save his people was kicking into high gear.

It seems that Mary and Joseph were a little overwhelmed that their child’s importance was recognized by both Simeon and the ageing Anna. We are told that she had lived at the temple since she had been widowed and was now 84, which for that time, was extremely old.

New Year’s Day is usually a time for “resolutions’. We resolve to do less of this or that or more of something else. We see the new year as an opportunity to take advantage of our ‘clean slate’ and write our lives in new strokes. At New Year’s we believe that somehow our desire to change will be reinforced by the special ‘time’ that is the NEW YEAR. “Now is the time.”

When we look at the writings about “God’s Realm” there is a lot of talk about time, but not as we usually mark it: “chronos” time. That’s where we get the word chronology. That is how we mark years and decades and millennia; that’s how we mark the entry into teenage-hood, being old enough to drive, or to vote. (This is where I get to put in a plug for the Federal election on January 23 – PLEASE VOTE). Chronos time is important; we couldn’t do without it!

Yet the gospels, at least, talk of time in a different way, they speak of “Kairos time”, or in other words, “the right time’” or the ‘time set by God’. The milestones of our lives can be marked by Kairos time as well but it’s a quality of the heart, more than the mind.

We look at our teenager going out the door with the car keys and we wonder where the child went who needed help to cross the street and tie her shoes and who used to kiss her dad goodnight and want to get into her parents bed to get away from the monsters in her closet. Even while we miss that child, forever gone, we know that God has made it so that things would happen like this. That’s Kairos time.

I was listening to the CBC yesterday about a group of people who are in Guatemala to help build a school in a Mayan community. They are part of the Breaking the Silence Network based at Tatamagouche Centre. This Network is not about ‘charity’; it’s not about the rich helping the poor; it’s about walking together on a journey of faith and justice; it’s about each one l;earning from the other. It’s about building relationships and working together so that things can happen in God’s time, Kairos time.

The thing I’d like to talk about today is what kind of Kairos moments we feel are upon us, what kind of kairos moments we can grasp onto at this point in our lives as individuals, as families and as church community.

Time will pass, but what will our relationship with God’s time be? When it comes to making positive changes in our lives, many of us are great procrastinators . We put things off till a better time; but somehow that time never comes.

As I reflect on Simeon’s brave pronouncement, I think about the kind of faith that we as Christians are called to have. You see, Simeon’s people had been hearing about this Messiah for generations, and more generations. The one thing that gets tired is hope that is never fulfilled. The attitude may well have been something like this: “If it hadn’t happened by my grandparents’ time, or my parents’, it isn’t likely to happen in mine.” Yet Simeon, guided by God’s Spirit, saw God’s salvation and proclaimed it. Who heard him? Maybe only Anna and of course, Mary and Joseph. Maybe more? Maybe they shook their heads and dismissed it as the last hope of an old man.

But, the truth is, that for those of us who call ourselves Christians, our Salvation has come, our Hope has been born and the Time to grasp onto it is Now. The time to live it into being is now. The time that God has chosen to be revealed to the people is here.

We are called to live in the present and into the future. We are called to NOT be bound by the past, not to live in the past, to not let the past limit our vision for the future. We are called to live as if God’s vision were a reality and in so doing, MAKE it a reality.

As we face a new year we have the perfect opportunity to refocus our lives; not only our diet and exercise regimen, to stop smoking, to drink less, or whatever bad habit we’d like to give up or change, but we can also resolve to make our faith front and centre of our lives. We can, with Simeon, proclaim that our Salvation has come. We can proclaim that God’s promises are more than just ‘good ideas.

We read the Bible and remember the stories and we can come to believe that God does not act in those ways anymore or even that God does not act in any way anymore. While it is true that our ideas and beliefs about how God acts in human history have changed we make a grace mistake when we discount the work of God altogether. There are many things that happen which we find difficult to understand, and we can either blame God or take them as signs that God is powerless, OR we can take charge of our own lives and ask God for the strength we need to make the situation better in some way. We can proclaim that God is certainly not absent from our world, but radically present. Just as Simeon saw, in the infant Jesus, the salvation of God, we too can see and proclaim God’s salvation at each and every moment of our lives. Our proclamation can be that God is active, at least in our lives, and we can, with God’s help, make an incredible difference.

We may not all go off to save the world, but we all have neighbours and friends who have a need that we can meet, or help meet. If we allow God’s self-giving love in Jesus to change our hearts we can believe that it can happen for others as well. I wonder what would happen in our world if each and every person of faith believed that each moment was a moment of God’s presence, one in which we can participate in God’s work of salvation for all people. If we lived and served in this way, seeking to emulate God’s self-giving love in the baby of Bethlehem, them maybe, no certainly, God’s salvation will be more real, more vital to more people than ever before.>p> And all God's people said, "Amen".

Isaiah 63: 7-9
Psalm 148
Hebrews 2: 10-18
Matthew 2: 13-23

What is the cost of Christmas?

Some of you may be dreading the credit card bill that will come mid-January - and those decisions to buy “just one more gift” will cone back to haunt you - and you realize that the children have already forgotten the expensive toys or would have been just as fascinated with the boxes.

I don’t think there was a “had to have but really scarce toy” this year but some years parents or grandparents have stood in line for hours in order to buy one of the “only ten per store”, “Tickle Me Elmo”, or “Cabbage Patch Dolls”, or “X-Box” or whatever it has been in a certain year. One year a neighbour of ours wanted to buy her son a “Knight Rider “ car and the only one she could find had a damaged door. The cashier wouldn’t give her any money off because someone would buy it at full price - even if it was damaged - after all, it was the “in” toy for young boys that year.

I was helping a friend wrap presents one day and she asked me to look at a package which was supposed to contain a “bug making oven” (it’s a little like an “easy bake” oven, but it makes rubber insects) and tell her if she had everything she needed. I looked the package over and then had to inform that she had a “bug kit” but no oven, also a crucial part of the set. So being as I was going to Amherst the next day I said I would look for it. After some searching for it at Margolians and then at Zellers I finally found one sitting in an unattended cart at the end of an aisle. I asked the very busy manager, as he almost literally ran by, if the contents of the cart were intended for restocking or if it belonged to another customer and he said, “we just didn’t get it back on the shelf. If you want it, take it and run, it’s probably the last one in town!”

I think if I looked hard enough I might be able to find a green and purple bug made in that oven! If it survived its second move - here to Kings United.

“Take it and run!” Sounds in a way like what the Magi had to do in order to get out of town. It’s what Mary and Joseph had to do after the Magi visited, in order to keep Jesus safe. We are told that they were warned in a dream to flee to Egypt because the king wanted to kill this latest threat to his throne.

While there is no historical evidence for this particular massacre of innocent civilians during the reign of King Herod there is a lot of evidence which shows us that this Herod most certainly could have ordered such a massacre. From what is recorded by contemporary historians it is clear that he was an extremely cruel ruler who thought nothing of wiping out any threat to his throne, regardless of how remote it was.

Clearly it was not the first time it had happened in Israel as Jeremiah wrote about it for his own time. Rachael was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, and was symbolic in a way of the mothers of Israel. And sadly it would not be the last time that Rachel would weep for Jewish children massacred in the name of perverse political power.

What are we to make of this story? It is certainly a long way from the nostalgic picture we like to fix in our minds on Christmas Eve. Why now? Why not in Lent? Why can’t we be left with warm and snuggly feelings at Christmas. Why are we are left to struggle with this story of great tragedy in the midst of the “good news” which is now, presumably, still being proclaimed to the whole world by the shepherds and the magi (whose visit we will explore in more detail next week).

It seems that each morning we open the paper or listen to the news we hear of yet one more horrible thing that has happened in our community, in our own region or in our world. We look at the televison and we see a parent’s plea for the return of a kidnapped child, or the raw grief of a mother whose child has been killed by a drunk driver or the grief of a community which has suffered the loss of several of its young people in a senseless accident. We hear of suicide bombings in the middle east, the latest of which may well have thrown an entire country into turmoil. Closer to home, family violence continues to turn homes from places of safety ton places of terror. Depression takes the joy out of life and is a silent and companion for so many.

And for these people, Christmas is not a story that takes away the pain. After Christmas there is still the empty chair at the table, the sadness that makes it hard to get out of bed, the fear that grips each day. Things have not changed much as the world is still a dangerous and violent place.

We may well wonder where God is in all of this? Why do all these things happen to good people, or certainly to people who aren’t as bad as all those people who seem to be doing just fine.

As we struggle with what his means in our own lives we may need to be reminded that Matthew was not writing to tell his readers what happened, (as if it was just history) but rather his primary purpose was confessing his faith. This Jesus - this baby of Mary’s who was visited by astrologers from far away and sought by a vicious and cruel King was more than just a baby. This baby was to have almost cosmic significance; this chid would change the world.

Not only that - this child’s birth had been anticipated for generations. It’s not that Jesus came “out of the blue” - the prophets had been speaking for some years about God’s plan to save the people. Matthew clearly saw Jesus was the fulfilment of this plan to save the world and show it God’s intention for all of creation. The Gospel of Matthew is saying, “this is the one”, “this Jesus is the one we have been waiting for - the one spoken of since the time of the great prophet Isaiah - see - let me show you.”

This Jesus was like them, not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was born as a refugee into a family who had been displaced by circumstances beyond their control. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees has calculated that there are close to 33,000,000 people word-wide who are classed as “people of concern” - refugees , displaced persons and those seeking asylum.

Many of our ancestors came to the New World because of the potato famine or the highland clearances or some European political situation - and then they systematically sought to persecute and even annihilate the First Nations peoples who were already here. We know they continue to suffer from the situation created by our ancestors.

Jesus was born into a situation of extreme poverty. Remember that the magi expected to find the “King of the Jews” in a palace, but instead found him in a stable. We know that a stable is no place to have a baby - even a modern stable is a dirty and smelly place, when compared to a house - let alone a modern hospital.

Jesus was one of the ones fortunate enough to survive an attempt at genocide. We can only think or Rwanda as a modern example of this.

It was into this kind of situation that Jesus was born and it was to people in these situations that his ministry was addressed.

Jesus birth does not call out to us with good news of God’s love and care in our wealth and our health, but in our illness and our poverty and our loneliness and our despair. Jesus birth calls us out of our comfortable places to be the good news to those who are sick or in despair or on the move because of situations beyond our control.

Christmas is not about feeling all warm and good inside, unless that warmth and goodness can prompt us to go out with world changing energy to live the Gospel he came to proclaim.

Jesus birth is quickly followed by this awful story of the slaughter of the innocent children because that is where Jesus is- with those who are in need. That’s where Jesus people are called to be - with those who are in need -

We are called to live the gospel in such a way that we show that the world of pain and suffering does not the final say. It’s not a pie in the sky bye and bye kind of thing; it’s a this world changing kind of thing. Because the world God created is important we are called to add our voices to the cries of the voiceless, to walk with those whose journey is difficult and dangerous and who need companions on the way; to work with those whose efforts are not enough.

When so many of the world’s children are forgotten and seen as disposable we are called to follow the one who welcomed children and called his followers to do the same.

Its not about God sending Jesus to “kiss it better” like a mom can do for the minor injuries experienced by a two-year old, but about a God who is with us - in the good times and in the bad times, but especially in the bad times. It is about a God who comes to us in our need to work with us to bring about a world which is closer to God’s intention for creation. Its about a world where God’s people say to the Herod’s of the world, “You can do what you like but in the end you will not be able to stop the proclamation of right and truth and hope and life. We proclaim the one who was life and who was the light of the world.

Internet colleague, Rev Thom Schuman from Cincinnati Ohio offers this prayer for the Sunday on which we remember all of those innocent ones who suffer. It’s called “for the innocence”

for the innocence for little girls 
who play with dolls,
    and for those
    who are treated 
    like playthings;
 for little boys 
who bounce balls
against a wall,
    and for those
    who curl up fetally,
    longing for the comfort
    of a womb;
 for those
who do not see
another's colour,
but a child of God,
    and for those
    who laugh 
    at another's accent;
 for those who play 
in safe backyards,
    and for those
    whose playground
    is potholed by bombs;
 or those who pray
before climbing into warm beds,
    and for those
    whose bed 
    is a cardboard box;
 for those 
whose hearts are broken
by the suffering 
they see on TV,
    and for those
    whose lives are shatterd
    by indifference;
for all your children,
for the innocents
in their innocence,
we would not only pray,
   but act. 

In this Christmas season may each of us find the words of Emmanuel - “God with us” to be true. In this time of New Year’s Resolutions may the angel of God call us to leave the relative safety of Bethlehem and prompt us to find some way, even if it is small, to walk with those who are lonely, to speak for the voiceless, to welcome the hurting and the vulnerable, to feed the hungry and to offer shelter to the homeless. For it is in those things that the babe of Bethlehem may be found.

Amen.

Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 148
Galatians 4: 4-7
Luke 2: 22-40

I used to love watching All in the Family. One of the things that characterized Edith was her love of detail when she told a story. Archie wanted the meat and potatoes version; Edith’s stories were a seven course meal. In her mind the story had to be connected and everything well explained.

Each of the Gospel writers had a reason for writing and told the story to make sure the readers knew what was important, in the writer’s mind, about Jesus. For Luke, it is Jesus’ connection to his Jewish heritage. Luke wants to make it clear that Jesus did not arise out of a vacuum; but his ministry was intricately connected to the hopes and dreams of the children of Israel.

As Christian community, we initiate children by Baptism. In Jesus’ day Jewish children were brought to the temple and a sacrifice made. This is the setting for today’s passage. It would have been an ordinary and everyday occurrence for this to be happening. Every couple would have done this, but on this day, this child of Mary and Joseph attracted some unusual attention; that of two people in the temple that day: Simeon and Anna.

Simeon and Anna represent the age old hopes of the people for a greater fulfilment of the hopes of the prophets. This infant, this one child, presented at the temple, according to law and tradition, was to be “THE ONE”. He was the one they had been waiting for. He was the one on whose shoulders the promises rested. His birth was the beginning of the fulfilment of the hopes of his people. Simeon was so certain about this that he felt that his life’s work of watching for the one special child was now complete and that he could die in peace.

In the season of Christmas we kneel by the side of the manger and we sing, “What Child Is This?” This Child is the Messiah. This Child is the Son of God? In this Child will be fulfilled all the hopes of Israel; in this child, our hopes will be fulfilled.

Israel had hoped for a leader to make their nation great once again; as great as it was under King David. Yet, part of the problem was that Jesus, when grown, prompted them to see greatness in service to others. As we think about packing our Christmas decorations away once again, we need to decide something about this child, newly born. Is this a child through which we can receive a personal blessing, for ourselves alone or is it a child through whom we can BE a blessing to others.

Christmas is certainly about giving. Stores count on you to buy their stuff so that you can give it to someone on Christmas morning. We all know the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” in which the singer has received a repeating series of gifts over 12 days - the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany. I am told that if you wanted to give your true love all the items in the song the 12 days of Christmas, including of course 12 partridges in 12 pear trees, and all of those milk maids and “lords a leaping’, you should be prepared to shell out about $87,000 dollars.

At Christmas we believe that God came to us in a way that had never happened before; in the human life that was and became Jesus of Nazareth, teacher, healer, and prophet - to name a few.

One of the problems with Christmas is that so much effort is put into the trappings and externals of Christmas that we are exhausted once the turkey carcass is consigned to the green cart and the wrapping paper, bows and plastic packaging has been balled up and gone out with the waste. We dread the Mastercard bill, don’t dare step on the scales, or get our cholesterol checked and endure inevitable whining when the toys that looked so good on television end up in the bottom of the toy-box; broken, forgotten or with dead batteries and key pieces missing.

We want the birth of Jesus to make a difference but somehow that difference never seems to quite stick! Maybe what we need to do is what Mary and Joseph did; which is, take him out of the manger and bring him face to face with the age old hope and dreams of his people. Jesus wasn’t just any baby in any place and time; yet the hope he brings can be relevant to any place and time.

We have to allow Jesus to grow up and to become that teacher whose words have the power to connect our faith with our living. We have to let his actions challenge our ways of doing things. We have to let his ministry influence our lives in ways that really count. The stories of Jesus’ birth are just a beginning, as is the childhood of every human is just the beginning.

But take a serious look at the words of Simeon and Anna, as well as the words of in what we call the “Magnificat”, the songs of the angels and all of those things said about the infant Jesus and we see what are really serious and very grown up issues and problems. There is a lot more here than sweet, gold toned Christmas card messages.

As adult Christians we need to take some responsibility for the change we hope to see in the world. We may hope for the heavens to resound in joy and when we do not hear this resounding joy, we may end up in despair - when what we are really called to do, is to BE the joy we seek.

We can hope for justice and when it does not come we can lose hope or we can BE and ENACT what justice we can, where and whenever we can.

The shepherds went home praising God. The magi returned to their country by another route. Mary and Joseph went back home and raised Jesus so that it was said that the favour of God was upon him. They didn’t stay at the manger and they couldn’t. They had things to do and so do we.

If we are to take Christmas seriously and if we expect to make real difference we have to take this Christmas experience and let its hopes and dreams influence our lives the other 51 weeks of the year.

When our hearts are changed and our lives are seeking to live the change we hope to see in the world; maybe them the whole world will return the song of the angels.

What child is this? This child is the embodiment of human hopes everywhere and through him the world will be redeemed.

Amen.

1 Samuel 2: 18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3: 12-17
Luke 3: 12-17

What a Year!

Not that long ago a friend of mine had a baby. Or at least it seems like it was not all that long ago! She was several weeks overdue and the baby looked about a month old when she was born. I had her picture on my filing cabinet for quite a child; she was the biggest newborn I had ever seen. I was on facebook the other day and saw pictures from the child’s sixth birthday party. I guess I had that picture there for longer than I thought! Where did the time go? Surely six years could not have passed!

In the fall of 1994 I was channel surfing and came across what I thought was a movie featuring an emergency room in a Chicago hospital and the lives of the staff. It was not long before I realized it was a new series and it became one of my favourites.

For 14 more years I waited with baited breath for the first episode of yet another new season. On the last episode of the series, a number of “retired” cast members returned for cameo performances. Rachel Greene, the daughter of the deceased Dr Mark Greene appeared as well, this time a young woman with plans of becoming a doctor herself. We first met her as a young child enamoured with the tv show, “Bananas in Pyjamas”. One of the regulars on the show commented that he had a hard time not thinking of Rachel as “just a child while another shook his head saying, “She isn’t a child anymore!”

Wasn’t Jesus just born - didn’t we just celebrate his birth on Thursday night? Now he’s 12!

Where did the time go? The biblical story is largely silent about Jesus’ childhood. Now on the edge of manhood Jesus is accompanying his parents on their trip to Jerusalem and showing wisdom uncharacteristic of his years and the common carefreeness we know from many twelve year olds. It was Passover, the time of the annual pilgrimage. We don’t know if he had gone before or if this was the first time his parents took him along, but this time he had gotten himself left behind as he lost himself in the discussing of theology with aged grownups. Apparently his understanding of the scriptures and of spiritual matters was astounding!

Of all of the possible stories that might have been circulating about the young Jesus, why would Luke choose this one?

Part of it, I think, is forming another link in the chain connecting Jesus to the story of Samuel; a boy whose birth was close to miraculous and who was called into by God at a young age, even when there were available people more learned and older than he was.

Another part, I am sure, is that they wanted to show that Jesus’ ministry was not something that happened out of the blue, when he turned 30 but that Jesus had been preparing for most of his life.

Perhaps this was the first time in a long while that they were forced to deal with the knowledge that theirs was a special child.

As far as everyone else was concerned, Jesus was just the boy next door. He was friends with their children. Perhaps they had played ball together in the streets; perhaps one of the neighbourhood girls had developed a crush on him. We don’t know.

This is perhaps the first indications of a life which will take him away from his family of origins and change his outlook to a family of world-wide scope.

Jesus cannot be left in the manger; he has to grow. Jesus has a calling to pursue; he has a ministry to undertake.

One of our temptations is to want to stay in that moment at the manger, to keep the shepherds and magi with us just as long as we can. But every parent knows that whatever their favourite age or time in their child’s life was, the child cannot stay there. Children are meant to grow up.

v We too are meant to grow in our faith; we too are a people called on a journey. As we leave the stable and the manger behind we are called to a journey of faith. As we leave our infancy behind we are challenged to grow in both divine and human favour.

I wonder what kind of childhood and early adulthood he really had? We get the idea somehow that he was not a normal child. It’s the one implication I don’t like about “Away in a Manger”; as if crying at the sound of a bawling cow is a bad thing. Jesus probably tested the limits; as most kids do. He probably tested Mary and Joseph’s patience with incessant questions. He probably concerned them as his spiritual insights showed that he was growing up and that he would not be content to stay at home, raise a family and let things in life go unchallenged. What must have it been like to raise a child who knew that he had a special calling from a very early age?

I wonder?

We cant stay at the manger; and I know that many of us will take down our trees and put away our decorations before the end of the month. But, we are meant to journey with Jesus into a new year of growth and questioning as we challenge and are challenged by our faith.

This is the last Sunday of 2009. As we enter the last year of this first decade of the 21st century we are called to reflect on the year that is passing and called to look ahead to the year that is almost upon us.

As a church we have experienced many changes. We have had our first year of worshipping together, every Sunday, for the entire year. We had one Christmas Eve service for the entire Charge. We are still in transition as a pastoral charge as we begin to take a more serious look at our buildings in relation to our ministry together.

These are not easy things to face. Some of us may feel as if we have wakened up from a deep sleep and are frightened by all the noise and clamour. Some of us may feel as if others have left us behind as they went on our way. Others of us are busy struggling with God’s business and wonder why others are so worried about things we aren’t.

In the midst of this we must live the rest of our lives in faithfulness; outside of what is obviously church-related. How do we live in faith in the complex world in which we find ourselves?

On Tuesday at lunch time I listened to part of an interview of Elie Wiesel. Wiesel, one of the most well know survivors of the holocaust and a now a university professor and international lecturere and speaker. He was interviewed by Criag Keilberger a Canadian activist for the rights of children and second youngest person to receive the Order of Canada. Wielsel said that his mantra was to always “think higher and feel more deeply”.

Perhaps that is our key for living in faith in the new year as we journey away from the manger and into the life of faith. Perhaps this is what Paul was talking about in his letter to the church.

What happens to us is not just about us; we must think and feel in higher ways and more deeply. As Christians, when we let the word of Christ dwell in us, we will grow in ways we could not have otherwise imagined.

If we enter into such growth and struggle then surely it can be said of us as it was said of Jesus; to have found favour with God and with humanity.

Amen!

Jeremiah 31: 7-14
Psalm 147
Ephesians 1: 3-14
John 1 (1-9) 10-18

Let’s Cut to the Chase!

The Gospels of both Matthew and Luke begin the story of Jesus with some kind of birth narrative; Mark’s account begins with the ministry of John the Baptizer. The writer of John’s gospel, begins his with creation itself. Unlike either of the stories in Genesis, his is lacking in detail about the steps of creation. He does not talk about which was the day for the creation of each and every created thing or the formless void out of which God created; his story is much more philosophical. He writes of the Word of God, the Word which was part and parcel of creation, but not a created being. He writes of the Word which became a human being in order to dwell on earth.

Now, it seems that John’s gospel was written for a Greek audience. The concepts underlying this whole idea of “the Word” and the “Word becoming flesh” are based in Greek philosophy. Word in this context is not just “speech” but real power, a power which comes from the very being. You may remember that Genesis tells us “God said let there be light” and it just happened! God said, “Let there be ......” and it just happened.

One of the most significant things I remember from my conformation classes 30 years ago or more is that in this context it is not appropriate to speak of the Bible as the word of God; the phrase “Word of God” is so much greater than the sum of all the words in the biblical story. The Christ is the Word of God. It is as if John had said, “the mind of God, the creative power of God, became a human being”.

Ask any three people who were witnesses to the school-yard brawl or traffic accident and you will receive three slightly different stories of how the incident happened. These stories, while different, are all truthful. If three stories of a complex event are absolutely identical there is a suspicion that they have been doctored to avoid inconsistencies.

The story of Jesus is certainly a complex set of events and the telling of the story often quite different perspectives. John may not have know anything of angel choruses, shepherds and mangers or magi and stars, but he is certainly able to tell a story of a man whose ministry it was to bring people into a relationship with God.

John is not writing for a Hebrew audience who knew about the prophesies and who had the hope of the Messiah as part of their religious faith, for generations. He is writing for foreigners, for Greeks. Not only did they speak a different language; they thought differently.

If John had told the traditional Christmas Story the Greek audience would have replied, “So what?” And really, that is the question with which we are left: “So What?” What difference does this birth have? What difference does it make that Jesus came? John answers these questions even before they are asked.

His story is cosmic in scope and couched in terms of Greek philosophy and thinking. The story of Jesus is no longer the property of those who have been raised in the hopes of a messiah, in the ways that the children of Israel would understand those terms, but is offered to the world - to the world of those who think deeply and ask searching questions about the meaning of life.

John is not writing to an audience that believes because they were told to do so; or because the parents believed. He is seeking to describe the best news he could ever have to share with those who don’t even know they need to hear it. So he tells it in their terms.

How do you talk about someone who is so unique that there are no words to describe him? For the Greek audience that word was the LOGOS, the very energy and being of the one who created all that is. That energy became a human being and I (John) am writing this Gospel to tell you this most amazing story.

Here we are at the beginning of a gospel that is decidedly different than the other three. We have also turned the corner on a new year. Don’t believe the hype about the new decade though; 2010 is the last year of this decade!

Where did the year go? Where did the last 9 go? Wasn’t it just yesterday we were worried about all the computers in the world crashing and the poweer going out! Hey, the people who predicted this didn’t know about winter wind storms. Rexton, (where I used to live) cancelled church last night!

What has happened in this past year. I don’t need to relate to you all of the bad news stories. 32 Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives in Afghanistan as well as three civilians. We have had our own losses and celebrations. We have had our own experiences of the holy God coming to light in out own lives, and no doubt, some of us have had experiences of God’s absence.

We sit here in church on the edge of a new year and wonder what it will be like. What will happen? We don’t know. We may have plans, hopes and ideas but whether or not they will come to pass, only time will tell.

However, as we encounter the beginning of the Gospel of John we are able to discover “advice” for this year. Of course this is proclamation, not advice, but in proclamation we can find our own guidance.

The world of John’s readers was a world in turmoil. John proclaims a peaceful and unifying vision. The Holy God has come among us as a human being. This human being also had those who testified to the light that was in him.

In the darkness of a long January night we are aware that each night has a little less darkness. We are aware that as a people of faith each act of kindness, each act of faithfulness, each proclamation in deed or word that testifies to the light helps to overcome this darkness that cannot ultimately put out the light.

We are not in the dark if we are among those who proclaim the good news of Jesus.

We are not in the dark if we believe with our actions as well as our minds that the power we proclaim is the power that drove back the first darkness at creation.

Listen to parts of this passage again! Listen for the hope. Look for the light in the darkness.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

As you go from here look for the light shining in the darkness; even the smallest of lights can be seen in the darkness, ironically, darkness makes them easier to see!

The light is shining; let us look and in 2010 let us be proclaimers of that light.

Amen.

Isaiah 63: 7-9
Psalm 148
Hebrews 2: 10-18
Matthew 2: 13-23
NOTE: This sermon may never be preached. I decided to do something a little more festive with Dec 26. We are having refreshments and I am reading a story called “The True Meaning of Crumbfest” by Prince Edward Island writer and historian David Weale. It is about Christmas feasting from the perspective of a mouse. Hope this sermon helps someone!

Danger, Danger !

The angel songs have drifted back into silence. The shepherds have gone back to watching their flocks; protecting them from predators and robbers. The magi have gone back to their country by another route. They were warned, in a dream, not to return and give Herod any news he could use.

In today’s passage Jesus faces mortal danger and is whisked away in the middle of the night because of the warning of an angel. Unfortunately the rest of the children in the town are not so lucky and many die in Herod’s attempt to rid his kingdom of a rival king.

That part of this passage is one of those biblical stories that just seems “not right” somehow. Biblical scholars have coined the term “texts of terror” to describe this and similar passages. We wonder, “How and why would a massacre be part of the birth of Jesus? Isn’t Jesus about angel choruses and peace on earth?”

Well, yes and no. Jesus came to the earth in all of its sin and imperfection and this was one of the facts of life in Israel at this time. The country was held in the iron grip of a despicable and heartless tyrant. Anyone from Bethlehem, from the lowest of families, and especially to the royal family itself, could have told you the extent to which Herod would go to keep his power. Herod ruled for about 40 years - after a three year fight to gain control of his kingdom. He kept a private security force and built a number of fortresses so that wherever he went he would never be far from a place of refuge from which he would be able to defend himself. When he suspected a threat from his own family he killed his wife and one of his sons. I read somewhere in Feasting on the Word , Bartlett & Brown Taylor WJK Press that he ordered the execution of political prisoners upon his death so that someone would mourn when he died! He was an insecure and cruel leader. The slaughter of a few dozen children would not have fazed him at all; as long as his power was safe.

When I was in theological school we were taught that each gospel writer had different reasons for writing what he did. Matthew has no shepherds or angel choirs, nothing about a census - neither has Mark, but Matthew has the world view with the arrival of the Magi and Matthew has this horrible sad, sad story.

Matthew knew and we know still that the world is not always a nice place - not only are there natural disasters - but the most difficult things to deal with are the acts of human beings.

Young people in our schools are being driven to suicide by bullying.

Some people are lynched and even murdered because of their race or their sexual orientation - remember Matthew Shepherd.

Then in country after country, hate and the quest for power mean that people are not safe in their own homes - that they have to fear the police or the army even - children are recruited as soldiers - neighbours have killed neighbours because they were of a different ethnic group.

The world is still a cruel place - look again at the hymns we love to sing at Christmas - the images of cruelty and sin and sadness are mentioned there. It is to this broken and fractured world that Jesus came. Matthew’s story is not sentimental; it is filled with the power of the God who became human and came to dwell among us.

The question for us on this ‘day after Christmas’ is “how are we going to embody the newly born Christ? How can we show that God is with us?

The forces of our world here in Canada may not be like Herod, out to literally kill us, but they are out there just the same.

I heard on the CBC the other day just how little you can have to your name - to make you too well off to receive social assistance. The Annual Turkey Drive was looking for 3000 turkeys - that’s 3000 people who need help at Christmas. The help was there but I wonder if will still be needed in February and not there to have? Why do we have poor people in such a rich country? Why are there so many holes in this “safety net” - Why are the rich getting richer and the numbers of poor increasing day by day?

This is to say nothing of the broken hearts, the lonely and hurting people who need someone to live them, to listen to them, to be for them a beacon of hope and understanding.

One of the things this story from Matthew tells his readers is that it was by God’s power that Jesus was saved from Herod so that he would be able to grow and mature and go about his ministry of transforming the world. It is by God’s power that we are able to go beyond what we think we can do as individuals and as a church and embody the Good News in our lives, in our community, and in the world.

Here we are 2000 years later and we are the beneficiaries of this ministry; we are the disciples responsible for living it out - how are we going to extend this proclamation in the coming year?

Amen!

Jeremiah 31: 7-14
Psalm 147
Ephesians 1: 3-14
John 1: 1-18

Every author telling the story of an event or writing a biography of someone’s life has to make choices about what to include and what to leave out. Unless the person was born to famous parents, or was a well-known child prodigy, the childhood stories of someone already deceased might not be easy to uncover. Stories that do not present a clear example of the person’s growing talents, or ability to show leadership, for example, would not likely be included. If you were telling the story of Jesus of Nazareth, how would you start? What would you include? Why are you writing it in the first place? What are you trying to teach or show your readers? What would you leave out, even though other authors saw the event as important?

Each of the gospels which were included in what we know as the Bible answered these questions differently. Matthew’s gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus starting with Abraham. The writer of Mark’s gospel, the shortest one, begins with the ministry of John the baptizer and the author of Luke, who states that the gospel is being written to provide an orderly and accurate account for the mysterious “Theophilus”, begins with the story of the miraculous birth of John the Baptizer.

The Gospel according to John, on the other hand, begins with creation itself. I guess you could say that the writer of this gospel takes the “long view”. Written during a time of heavy influence from Greek thinking and philosophy, this Gospel seems to be much more reflective than the others. In this writer’s mind, the man he writes about will change not only the course of history but creation itself.

At Christmas we focus on the birth of Jesus - but sometimes we don’t really realize that “baby Jesus” is not all that important in and of himself. It is the full grown Jesus; the Jesus who leads, challenges and teaches who is important. It is to him that we need to turn our attention the rest of the year.

What this passage sounds like to me is a hymn - or a beautiful poem - what it says about Jesus is that he always existed, from the very beginning. As the Word, or God’s creative force, he was part and parcel of creation itself. Through the Word everything that was created came into being. God and the Word are about life and light and John the Baptizer was one of the first witnesses to this light and this life, and even the deepest darkness cannot overcome this light.

This God came and lived among us in the person of Jesus; I read somewhere that the Greek words used for “dwelling among us” are the same as for “pitching a tent” - God has come and pitched a tent in our lives, on our lawn, and make no mistake, God ain’t gonna be moving on anytime soon!

One recent biblical translation says that God moved “into the neighbourhood”. In a town or city that could be an area of a couple of blocks or a part of a designed subdivision - the distance your child could walk alone to get to a friend’s house, go to school or walk to the stop where a group of them catch the school-bus - past the houses of people who would loan you a cup of sugar or loan you a rechargeable drill for that occasional project.

Jesus has come to live among us. Jesus has come to be with us, to be like us, to participate in our lives as friend and neighbour.

Why?

It seems that it is because of the darkness. In the beginning there was darkness and the Spirit of God moving over the waters. The first act of creation was “light” - you remember that part of the first creation story from Genesis - God said, “Let there be light, and there was light”.

Yet, we know, as Jesus contemporaries knew, there was a great deal of darkness in the world. The refugee and internally displaced persons camps of the world are filled with people who are fleeing tyranny and oppression. They know darkness. Wars have raged since the beginning of time as one group tried to exert power over another. The people affected by these wars know darkness. A couple wait for their child’s birth with great anticipation but stillbirth or miscarriage ends the pregnancy or the child mysteriously dies of SIDS - these families know darkness. An incident of careless driving ends a life and two families are affected forever - and there is darkness. A diagnostic test reveals a serious or terminal illness and once again the darkness seems to have the upper hand.

I don’t need to go on - you all know about the darkness that can seem so strong that there is a strong possibility that we will be completely overwhelmed - the writer of John’s gospel knew this - things have not really changed that much in this respect.

John’s gospel begins with the proclamation that the power of God overcame the darkness at creation and that same power came to dwell on earth in the person of Jesus, from Nazareth. There were those, like John, who were sent to witness to the Light, and there was the Light.

In his gospel, the evangelist using the name John, is speaking of a reality he can only describe in these stark terms - light and darkness - and it is in terms of this description that he pens the entire gospel - the good news .

Have you ver been in true and utter darkness? A few years ago I took a trip to Cape Breton on my summer vacation and I went on a tour of a coal mine. When we were ready, and after we had been warned, our tour guide turned off the lights, and we were in utter darkness - there was no light - no distant city to light up the horizon - no stars to pierce the sky’s inky blackness - no light whatsoever - and then the tour guide lit the lamp on his helmet - and it was as of a thousand candles had suddenly started to glow - on a sunny day it would take some effort to see the light from that poor feeble lamp, but in that mine, on that day, it was as bright as the sun. I had been down in that same mine about 20 years before that but I had forgotten just how dark it was, with no light. I’d forgotten just how bright that single lamp could be.

We have all had the experience of driving at night, in less than ideal weather and we have noticed that our headlights do not seem as bright as they are on other nights - and of course they are - there is just more “competition” in the night sky, but all we need to do is to slow down and to avoid going so fast that we overdrive our headlights - in certain kinds of snow it is even better just to use our daytime running lights - we must adjust our speed to the conditions and let the headlights do the work they can in that situation.

Sometimes in life what we need to do is to slow down and realize that we are in a different situation, realize that we need that light - that we need that guidance that comes from our faith more than ever - not to charge through life at top speed and to take our time - and rely on the guidance of the Spirit. It’s not a bad piece of advice for any day - but on some days it is even more necessary.

In some of those times we are not aware of the true darkness that surrounds us and therefore we do not notice the light that comes from the Christ and the Good News of his coming among us.

As we learn about Christ this year, as we read the stories - mostly from the Gospel of Matthew let us remember John’s introduction - the Light has come into the world and no matter what darkness we may encounter - the light cannot be overcome by it.

Amen.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13
Psalm 8; (p. 732 VU)
Revelation 21: 1-6a;
Matthew 25: 31-46
January 1, 2012

"Here We Go Again!"

We’ve all been here before! Each and every year, at the beginning of January, we stand looking both backward AND forward, knowing that regardless of what happened in the past and what we have learned from our experiences, the only direction in which we can move, is FORWARD.

New Year’s Eve is usually a time of celebration; when I was a teenager it was the one night of the year I could usually count on getting booked early. The couples for whom I babysat didn’t want to be left holding tickets they couldn’t use because they had no sitter.

It is the time when we send away father time, with his long robe and scythe and welcome the smiling, boisterous baby new year. Some of us ring in the New Year sitting quietly at home with a few friends; some of us go to a community gathering and sing Auld Lang Syne and hold hands and balloons fall on our heads at the midnight hour; some of us are fast asleep and the new year comes without our paying any attention at all.

Janus, for whom this month is named is the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. In painting and in sculpture, this god is usually depicted as having two faces; one looking backward while the other looking forward

Today we look forward to 2012 and back at 2011. We don’t usually have a church service on New Year’s Day (maybe we should) but this year, since it is a Sunday here we are! And really! What a better way could there be for people of faith than to gather and put our hopes for the new year in the context of a service of worship.

I am not sure what the people who put the lectionary together were thinking when they put together the texts we have just heard - but I’ll make an attempt to offer some brief reflections.

There are many different kinds of literature in the Bible as we have come to know it. Indeed some books don’t seem to belong to the Bible at all.

Ecclesiastes is what is usually called “wisdom literature”; a kind of literature that tries to make sense of life based on observation and practical experience. The author os this book is usually referred to as Qohelet, which is translated as “the teacher” or sometimes as “the preacher.”

This passage from Ecclesiastes seems to outline the dilemma of “everything being planned” and “where is human freedom?” This writer is unwilling to say that human beings can do nothing to influence their lives nor is he willing to say that everything in life is within human control. This passage is probably the one I have the most requests (at least for old testament passages) and it seems to walk that fine line between complete human freedom and divine predestination. If we think we are going to live forever we are going to be very disappointed. It is a good thing that there are seasons for planting and harvest; otherwise how would we be fed. It is a good thing to know the seasons or else we would think we could go out tomorrow and plant a few rows of potatoes and hope for a good outcome. Whether we like it or not there is a natural cycle to human life - people are born, they grow up, they age, and then they die. In the meantime though other people have been born and the cycle starts all over again. In all he outlines 28 common human experiences - most are nether good nor bad, they just are - even killing and war have their place, and as we know, have not been eradicated from the human community.

In the face of this reality we can rail against it and become bitter and unhappy or we can engage life in such a way that we can seek the outcomes we regard as good and favourable without staking our ultimate happiness on our ability to completely avoid pain and loss and death and disease.

The advice is the kind of common sense practicality that wisdom is known for! It is good advice for us as we face the new year. Looking ahead at 365 days we have ahead of us to make our choices and decisions or to respond to what happens to us and around us.

Given all of this though, how is a person whose faith is in Christ Jesus supposed to respond to various kinds of need that are around and about. Does our response matter?

It is clear in the passage from the gospel of Matthew that both groups would have willingly helped Jesus, if they had seen him in prison or needing clothing or food. The people given the designation of “goats” were not evil people, they regarded themselves as committed to Jesus after all. They simply did not see the connection between simple, every-day acts of kindness to others as having any connection with their faith. The sheep didn’t either, actually, but they did it anyway - probably because it seemed right to them.

We know from the passage what choice received Jesus’ praise. That’s the reality of the life of faith: we will not always see a direct connection with our faith; we will not always know the answer to the question: “What Would Jesus Do?” and especially if the question is “What Would Jesus Have Us Do” is not clear we need to make up our own minds -

given all of the hunger we see in the world;

given all of the homelessness we see in the world;

given all of the loneliness we see in the world;

given all of these things that we do not like about how the world is today, what is it that gives us more peace and true happiness?

Are we happier if we ignore it and hope that it is “their lot” and will never be ours; or do we do something. At the end of the day what will make us feel more joy about life - looking our for just ourselves or seeking to add some comfort and joy to the lives of those who seem to be lacking it?

What is our resolution this day?

There is a time and a season to engage with the world of pain and sorrow and bring to it some love and care.

Amen.

Micah 5:2
Luke 2: 1-18
Matthew 2: 1-4
Isaiah 9:6

“That Was Then - What About Now”

The prophet Isaiah proclaims,

“For a child has been born for us,
   a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
   and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

When the writers of the gospels put together certain passages from the prophets and the story they were trying to tell about Jesus, we sometimes get the idea that they are telling us that these prophets predicted the birth of Jesus, in the same way that weather forecasters predict the weather - or perhaps in the same way some thought that the end of the Mayan calendar signalled the end of the world, with a specific date attached.

However, that’s not the only way to see what was going on in the writings of the prophets. Prophets arose in Israel at times when the people had forgotten about the ways of their God. Prophets arose when the people forgot that the promises of their God demanded a response. The role of the prophets was to call them back to the way of faithfulness. The role of the prophet was to shine a light into the shadows, to bring them from darkness into light.

Prophets usually wrote and spoke about events and hopes that were very much in their present or in the very near future. In the passage I read as I began my sermon scholars agree that this passage speaks of the birth of a very real crown prince, one who did live to ruler over Israel. The prophets the passage They weren’t all that interested in things that might happen hundreds of years into the future but rather they focussed on what might happen in the near future if the people continued on the path they were on and what could happen if the people changed and became what their calling was, “a light to the nations”.

As the Gospel writers tried to tell the story of Jesus, the one who showed them the heart of God in ways no one else ever had, the words of the prophets came to mind and it was as if the words had been written specifically for Jesus. Which they had not been; and which they had been.

I did not just contradict myself; the prophets can be heard to speak about more than one thing at a time; because they speak primarily about God. The work of the prophets was designed to bring the actions of God and the promises of God from the past into the present; from being a distant ideal to being a present reality.

The story of the birth of Jesus can be seen as something that happened long ago, in a far away place called Bethlehem in Judea in a remote corner of the Roman Empire almost 2000 years ago. We heard the read and reflected upon in the words of those who might have been there. You heard words of awe. You heard words of faith. You heard words of regret.

But, the whole point of reading the story of Jesus’ birth, year after year, after year, is to bring that old story into the present moment.

Now we are not meant to go out tonight and look for stars and shepherds and stables but we are meant to expect the holy God to come to us in unusual, and unexpected but very ordinary ways.

Will we be like the innkeeper who turned them away because his establishment was too full? Will we be like Herod who tried to kill the holy child because his power was endangered?

Or will we be like the shepherds who saw the angels and heard their song and went with haste to see the baby - or like the magi who undertook a long journey because they were certain that something of cosmic significance had happened. Will we be like Mary and Joseph, willing to have our lives turned upside down so that the Holy God can be born in our lives at this time.

Christmas is not about something long ago and far away that we remember for nostalgic purposes but it is the retelling of a story with the potential to happen every year, every day - the Holy God coming to dwell with is and to bring peace on earth and good will to all.

In the last Christmas Eve sermon he ever preached, in 1967, the Rev Dr Martin Luther King noted that he found his world a rather bewildering place where there was very little peace, either within or without. At that time his country was at war in far away Vietnam.

Now, even more than then, we must take to heart his words echoing the gospel - tradition, “if we cannot find a way to live together as brothers and sisters we will perish together as fools”.

Christmas contains within it the age old hope of a world made new. This hope is rekindled every time we look into the eyes of a new baby and hear and see the story.

Christmas is about having a part in bringing the good news of this birth of hope to a cold and hurting world. Will you help tell the story in your words and actions this year?

Amen!

1 Samuel 2: 18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3: 12-17
Luke 2: 41-52

Today’s Hebrew Scriptures tell us a childhood story from the early years of the great spiritual leader Samuel and the gospel tells us a story from Jesus’ youth.

As we look at the biblical stories we have to remember that they are neither diary or simple biography. These stories or events are preserved and told for a particular reason. There are no stories of Jesus playing with his friends, or Samuel learning his letters and his table manners - I guess because we can be certain that they did these things, and more, as all normal children do, but they are not as important in the grand scheme of things. What seems to be important is that both Samuel and Jesus be shown as normal AND as unquestionably extraordinary. Samuel’s origins are clearly fully human but dependant upon divine intervention; remember that Hannah and her husband could not conceive until Eli the priest indicated that her prayer would be answered. Jesus’ origins shrouded in much more mystery as what we are told that he was “conceived of the Holy Spirit”.

When we think of the stories of famous women and men of history the few childhood stories which are preserved are written down because they make them stand out in some way and point to the great people they would become. In a biography of a famous person, there is little, if any reason, to talk about the normal round of childhood and schooling because these things are common to us all. What a biography seeks to show the reader are the unusual events or give selected, importnat ones. Indeed, in a biography, the person’s whole life could not be included or it would have to be of encyclopaedic length.

We have probably all heard the story of George Washington, the first President of the United States, chopping down the family cherry tree and when asked if he had in fact chopped down the tree he responded, saying, “I cannot tell a lie, it was I”. The point of the story is not the destructiveness of small boys armed with hatchets (and you could glean that lesson from this story) but the HONESTY of THIS boy when it might have seemed to him that telling the truth was not in his best interests.

Moving north of the border; John A Macdonald, an immigrant from Scotland dropped out of school at 15, after mastering both French and Latin, to start his legal training by working for an experienced lawyer and he was called to the bar at the age of 20. He became our first Prime Minister. Different scholars have attributed his binge drinking to his unhappy personal life marred by illness and tragedy.

Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister on our 5 Dollar Bill, was a 7th generation French - Canadian whose father believed in bilingualism enough to send him away to school so that he could learn English language and culture. Laurier learned to speak English with a Scottish accent and had a law degree from McGill.

These things give us a sense of what the influences were in those people who were our early leaders.

Not to limit myself to the realm of politics we know that Walter Gretzky spent a lot of time and effort helping his young son Wayne to hone his hockey skills. It was not just his own son he helped though. He was named to the Order of Canada for his contribution to minor hockey and for his support of numerous charitable causes.

When they first came out, I watched both “Home Alone” movies. You know the ones in which Macaulay Culkin as Kevin MacAllister is separated from his parents and left to his own devices at home in the first movie and in a luxury New York hotel in the second. He succeeds in catching a couple of thieves and reuniting families, all while being a mere child.

In today’s scripture readings we meet the boy Samuel who is growing up in the temple. It seems that Eli is having better luck with him than he did with his own sons who are described as being scoundrels!

The boy Jesus, on the verge of adulthood, is separated from his parents as they depart from their time in Jerusalem. Each one thinks he is either with the other or with friends. A frantic search finds him not playing games or goofing off or sitting in the police station freaking out, but discussing theology in the temple.

He was not aware of his “status”. In his own mind he was not lost; he was in the most comfortable and most natural place in the world. He was, quote, “In his father’s house”. We cannot really appreciate how radical a statement that would have been. Remember he was twelve, not five or six. It seems to me that part of what he is saying is that he has chosen a different family. In a culture where family obligations were the ultimate rule of life he was choosing a different family. He was choosing the family of God, as he discerned it, and not the family who had raised him, the family of Mary and Joseph. We are told that he returned home and was an obedient son, and we are told that Mary kept these things as treasures in her heart. Perhaps she had tried to go through life, in Jesus’ early years, trying to ignore the angel’s message and the necessity of the late night flight into Egypt and subsequent relocation to Nazareth. Perhaps it was all just over zealousness. Perhaps Jesus was in no danger. Perhaps he would grow up to be a fine carpenter like Joseph and marry and have sons and daughters who would also do them proud. Perhaps they would have a safe and normal life and his specialness would become apparent in a safe and worry free way. Perhaps. Thanks to Anne LeBas for the spark that enabled me to develop this thread. She posts on the Prcl-l lectionary list!

Yet, I think she knew for certain, even as he was being an obedient child, even as he was a growing boy with a hollow leg, that one day he would break her heart once again. It seems that this is the path he would choose.

Jesus’ culture was very big on family! Back then, people’s lives were controlled by their family. You just didn’t step outside your social class or seek to rise above your station or, conversely, fail to rise up to your station (as Eli’s sons had failed to do several generations before) A family’s honour was at stake. Certain cultures take this to extremes as they try to control their children, particularly their daughters, and religious zealots sanction “honour killings” to appease the family’s honour. The Shafia murders in Ontario three and a half years ago are a very extreme and public example of this cultural clash on our own soil. Our Canadian judicial system has, by the conviction of those responsible, that this is not acceptable in Canada.

Jesus, throughout his ministry, said some very ambivalent things about family responsibility. Leave mother and father and follow me. Let the dead bury their own. Yet Jesus did not disparage the law as found in the ten commandments one of which is to “honour mother and father”. It seems to me though that Jesus was viewing the laws through a different lens a lens which sometimes said “this is more important”.

As Christians we have grown in our understanding of the faith in the last 2000 years. In the time of Paul slavery was considered completely acceptable until men and women of faith persuaded others that it was not acceptable for one person to claim ownership of another. When I was in theological school we studied the situation in South Africa and how some churches actually taught that Apartheid was acceptable and sanctioned by God. I still have the book on my shelf, “Apartheid is a Heresy”. Many of us were not sure we would ever see it dismantled.

We know how social pressures in this country and these communities kept women in abusive relationships and how social pressures kept children from reporting sexual or physical abuse at the hands of teachers or religious leaders or relatives (or the reports being listened to)

Sometimes a person reports a crime of this nature and the relatives attack the one reporting it for ruining their family - why did you have to say anything, particularly when it is a long ago crime that is reported - and it as if the reporting is a bigger crime than the abuse itself.

We know that no family or society can function without authority or the rule of law. BUT when those in authority have gone too far and abused that authority something must be done. There must be a more important measuring stick than “do what father says”.

It seems to me that a great deal of what Jesus was saying in his ministry was calling people to a deeper discernment of what the accepted interpretation of his society’s norms and customs. He had a calling that would rock the boat sometimes, his biological family’s, all the time.

What IS God’s calling to us? To keep our noses clean? To preserve that status quo? It used to be that a minister was required, by church law and tradition, “to preserve the peace and good order of a congregation” but now many people realize that a minister’s most effective work can be done by disturbing people and rocking the boat as a way to initiate discussion about needed change. Discernment is, of course, needed in deciding if such disruption is ultimately good or bad.

That’s the way with most of life, change for the good rarely happens without some worry and heartache - change for the better rarely happens without some kind of sacrifice.

As we go through the calendar year 2013 let us be open to the one who calls us and names us family, brothers and sisters of one spiritual family - children of God in Christ Jesus. That One will call us to change, to steadfastness and to the discernment of the difference. May we be open to the Spirit who enables us to tell the difference.

Amen.

Christmas Eve 2013

Here we are, once again, sitting in church, listening to a familiar story, singing familiar carols and seeking the assurance that in a world of change, we can count on this, at least.

We are probably looking for some peace in what might have been a a chaotic tine of preparing for Christmas celebrations, with a few snowstorms thrown in to change our well laid plans and make life not only interesting, but also cold and wet. We are grateful that we are not among the thousands of folks coping without electricity. Some of you have travelled hundreds and hundreds of kilometres to be here; some of you have barely arrived. Now, you just want about 60 minutes of peace and quiet, to set the right mood for the next few, very busy, days.

By New Year’s it will be all over, more or less, and you can take down the tree, toss it to the end of the driveway, pack up the ornaments and nothing much will have changed.

I wonder. I wonder if we have come because its tradition or because we want something which can change our lives, even if it is just in a small way. The readings and hymns are more or less the same every year.

Do we really listen though?

“Joy to the world - let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing.” The writer of this carol saw the birth of Jesus as something which had the potential to change not only individual human hearts but nature itself.

In this carol it is also the nations’ job to prove Jesus righteousness and love. That is a bold political statement. Jesus does not just affect our personal lives, but our political ones as well. As citizens of a democracy, we have the power of voting and having a voice in public policy. Does Jesus love have anything to do with how we vote or for what we advocate? Do we beat down the doors of our representatives looking for things which will benefit us and our families or does the love of Jesus (whose birth is heralded by the heavens themselves) prompt us to look at the bigger picture and what might be needed by others, and might even be at a cost to us?

The magi came from far, far away and their long journey would have been difficult, costly and risky. How far out of our way are we wiling to go to show our devotion to this babe in the manger? What risks are we willing to take?

Do we teach our children that Jesus calls us to help others have enough before we give them some of the things that they want, but don’t really need? Do we live this from January to November, or just in December?

When they realized that they had messed up big time the Magi left on the other road which gave Jesus the chance to escape, but the question is asked of us this year, and every year: what do we need to change in the coming year, to make a more faithful response to the encounter with the Christ child?

These stories and these carols are not just nice words; they are words that reflect a reality with the power to change heaven and earth.

The birth of Jesus changed lives and is meant to change lives.

It’s not just about feeling good and peace-filled and nostalgic. Its not just about cute kids dressed up for a pageant, such as we see on our bulletin cover. There is nothing wrong with those things and those feelings , BUT IT HAS TO BE MORE THAN THAT.

Each one of us has to answer the question, “how is my life different because of this night?”

None of us, by ourselves are going to cure child poverty, or make the world a safe and peaceful peace for everyone but each of us, in our various ways, can do something.

We first must believe that those who have been to the manger must leave to be “change agents” in our families, our communities and in the world. We focus not on ourselves, but on the one who sent us into the world, to be the peace and joy, the love and hope Jesus was sent to bring. We begin with small actions, and as we grow in faith our actions can grow and become more bold, and united with the actions of others we can bring about the good news we proclaim.

We don’t do it on our own of course, but Emmanuel, who has come to us, will remain with us, always and will guide and strengthen us to greater faithfulness.

Amen.

Isaiah 63: 7-9
Psalm 148
Hebrews 2: 10-18
Matthew 2: 13-23

“The Love of Power or the Power of Love”

In the 1946 movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, George Bailey , the manager of the “Bailey Building and Loan” is despondent and suicidal as he faces criminal charges over $8,000 in cash that had mysteriously disappeared. We all know that his absentminded Uncle Billy Bailey had unwittingly let it fall into the lap of Henry F. Potter, the richest and meanest man in the little town of Bedford Falls, New York. Potter sees it as his right to own whatever he wants, by any means he wants. When the envelope intended for deposit ends up falling into his lap, he is quite content to see how it will play out. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Like a nosy neighbour, peering through his office blinds with a barely disguised glee, Potter looked on as various people tried to find the missing money. He called the police to bring charges of fraud against the younger Bailey. In the end the whole town turned out to donate money in amounts large and small in order to show their appreciation for all that George Bailey had done for the town and to save the Building and Loan.

The movie calls on us to reflect on what is most important in life and challenges us to look beyond the traditional signs of success to see what is more valuable.

In our reading for today, one of the lesser known events of the “Christmas Trilogy” is recounted. We had Christmas 1 - which begins with the angel’s visit to Mary and ends with the visit of the Shepherds. Then there was Christmas 2 - which ends with the departure of the mysterious Magi, the visitors from the east. Then there is this story we would rather forget: Christmas 3 - the flight into Egypt and the slaughter of the innocents.

Because of the Magi’s faux pas the wicked King Herod felt he had to do everything he could to stamp out this threat to his power. The boys he slaughtered unnecessarily, would have been, to him, collateral damage; to their families, at least, it was a devastating loss.

Throughout the biblical story there is danger and there are those who manage to outwit that danger so that God’s gracious purposes can come to fullest bloom. Of course, this is a common theme in life.

.I doubt that Queen Elizabeth II and her court would worry all that much about rumours of a new prince being born, but in the world of political power there is much intrigue. Abuses of power occur in all kinds of political systems as people do whatever they feel is necessary to hold onto their power. The Queen does not have the power to have people executed on a whim but there are places where such power probably does exist. The ways in which the new leader of North Korea has gone about eliminating threats to his power, including his relatives, is very worrisome. We all know that Canadian politics can have its stories of favouritism, corruption, greed and abuses of power.

But what about us? What about those of us in Canada who have no particular power-filled role? What does this passage have to say to us?

We know there are people who are suffering. There are those who are the victims of crime: physical or sexual abuse, violence, theft, slander, and the like. There are those who fall through the cracks - those for whom there is no “program” to meet their very real need. Our economy which has seen a flood of people heading west to work has put a strain on marriages and on entire communities. At what social, environmental and cost to the rest of the country is the over-emphasis on western oil sands production being promoted. Which powerful forces are being favoured in this? Why, we wonder, are our farmers going broke, when we still buy and use the products they used to grow - right here in the Maritimes.

When we follow the interconnected webs of what has been branded the “military-industrial complex”, we discover the tentacles of a hungry and greedy monster seeking more control and more power and not caring who gets hurt. Rachel is weeping for her children.

Just before Christmas I head that the provincial coordinators of the Christmas Turkey Drive had determined that 2700 families would be needing a food hamper for Christmas. This goal reflects the staggering number of Island families whose work does not provide enough for their families to make ends meet, let alone provide a more extravagant meal at Christmas. Do some math; 2700 turkeys X an average family size of three divided by the total population. It’s a staggering need. The total number of turkeys donated: 4364 is a testament to “Island generosity” but there is still something wrong with this picture! Why are so many not able to make their own living and make their own choices instead of having to depend on the generosity of others?

PEI tourism promotes the “Gentle Island” but there is nothing gentle about families living in poverty. There is nothing gentle about the social disruption caused by the Fort Mack/PEI commute. There is nothing gentle about importing food we can grow because its cheaper to produce it elsewhere while our farmers are going broke.

Rachel is weeping for the children of PEI who are hungry, or missing parents who have to go away to work, or for farmers who want to farm, who are good at farming, but have to find other work because someone, somewhere, decided they could make more money importing cheaper products from elsewhere - with who knows what safety standards behind them.

Rachel is weeping for us when we don’t even attempt to see a connection between what we experience today and what went on in Bethlehem, Nazareth and Egypt 2,000 years ago.

The peaceful owl on today’s bulletin calls us to seek God’s wisdom as we seek a faithful way forward in the year ahead of us.

Please pray with me the words on the back of the bulletin ..................

Jeremiah 31: 7-14
Psalm 147
Ephesians 1: 3-14
John 1: 1-18

How Would We Tell It?

How many different ways can we tell the same story? The way you tell a story, what you include and what you leave out, shows the hearer, or reader, what is important to you, the teller of the tale. One of the first things I learned in history in university was that there is really no such thing as a “pure history” of an event, if by that term you mean, “just the facts and only the facts”. Recording any historical event involves making choices, offering meaning and deciding what to include and exclude and in do doing any hope of objectivity is lost. For example, the story of the taking of Vimy Ridge by the Canadians would be a very different one if told by German troops - but it is the same event. We are learning that the story of early Canadian settlement is told very differently by our First Nations peoples!

All history has a perspective and a point of view. I am sure that an account of the troubles of the Mayor of Toronto would differ depending if you were a supporter or a critic. Rob Ford I heard an interview on Thursday in which someone who supports Ford’s fiscal conservativism indicated that he would be voting for him in the next municipal election in that city. To that voter, Ford’s personal life does not matter. Friends of mine living in Toronto consider him a terrible mayor, partly because of that same conservative stance, but also because they see him as a mammoth embarrassment because of his other, well publicized shenanigans. To them his personal life does indeed matter. When the record of his career is written, it will matter very much who writes it.

How would YOU tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth? Apart from passing mention in secular records, and accounts in Islamic literature, there is little mention of Jesus apart from the Christian Gospels. There are few sources of “alternative opinion”. We must remember that the Gospels do not really attempt to be pure history; each of their writers is attempting to tell the story for the purpose of convincing the reader that this person is worth following. This person’s life meant something. This person had a message that will change everything. Follow Jesus. The gospels are proclamation.

Each of the gospels begins the story in a different way and at a different place. Each of the gospels has a slightly different audience. Matthew and Luke both quote Mark - almost word for word in places and add stuff, that they thought was important.

Matthew’s gospel begins with a family tree, which starts with Abraham, considered the “patriarch” of the faith. Abraham was the one called to follow and because of his faithfulness tot he promise, he became ancestor to a great and mighty nation. Matthew is the only one who tells us of the Magi, who take this story beyond the borders of Israel, for this story, this Jesus, is for everyone, not just the Jewish people.

Mark’s much shorter work does not tell of Jesus’ birth at all; his quick and “to the point” account of Jesus, begins with the preaching of John, the baptizer whose role is to prepare the way for Jesus. John is like a “road builder” - he fills in valleys, cuts off the tops of hills and straightens the curves. (Sounds a bit like the Plan B construction around Bonshaw to me! ) A controversial highway project on PEI

Luke’s story begins with the conception of John the Baptizer, the one who would grow up to become this prophet who would prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry when Jesus had also grown up,

If you know even a little about the Old Testament you can see how similar the story of the birth of John is to the birth of Isaac many generations before. Both sons are born to ageing parents. Both births are clearly the work of God.

Luke’s gospel is the one which gives us the familiar story of the manger, the heavenly choirs and the shepherds. We usually read both Luke and Matthew around Christmas and don’t spend much time worrying that they are from two different writers.

The last of the gospels to be written, John’s, begins way, way back, before Abraham, before Adam and Eve even; John begins with creation. His beginning is much more reflective, mystical, and harder to get a firm grasp on. His story is one of cosmic significance and would have been written for an audience that was accustomed to approaching life in this way.

So we have had the stories of angels and shepherds, of mangers and magi, of predictions and prophets; things you could see, touch and experience. With John we go back to the beginning, to the time before creation when there was God and there was the mysterious “logos”, the Word, that which became flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.

This story is told in terms of light and darkness, and in terms of the utmost urgency. To the writer of this gospel, Jesus and his life and ministry has cosmic significance; Jesus matters. John the baptizer is there as well but he is clearly a witness to the light. Everything points to Jesus who in some mysterious way is the Logos, the Word of God come to dwell in human flesh and human history.

I wonder what the people really thought when they looked at the heavens in the days when it was almost universally assumed that the earth was flat. The vast black sky peppered with shining stars would have been both miraculous and filled with mystery. Beyond what could be seen; beyond that somewhere was God, high up on some kind of throne. Of course, our knowledge of the earth and the solar system has taken away a great deal of the mystery. We no longer believe that heaven can be a “place” like Mars or Venus are “places”. Some of our old views of the universe simply cannot last but the more I read passages such as this, the more they ring with real spiritual truth that is still mysterious and beyond time and place.

What is John trying to say about Jesus? When we peel away their view of the world, we still have the proclamation that in Jesus, the creative power of the universe came to dwell with human beings. This mystery cannot be explained, only lived and lived into.

John’s gospel speaks in terms of light and darkness. It is no accident that the early church, not really knowing when Jesus was actually born, picked the days immediately following the winter solstice for the Christmas celebrations. In the midst of the cold of winter, when snow is falling and blowing into deep drifts, the light is most assuredly returning. Some day, the air will be warm and we can grow things once again. Day by day we notice the extra minutes before sunset - from now until June 21 the hours of daylight will increase. We know this is a natural phenomenon having to do with the solar system and the tilt of the earth but its rational explanation makes it no less a powerful image for the followers of Jesus.

Just as we must trust that summer is on its way, even at the beginning of winter, so must we trust in the way of Jesus in a world that seems to be a world of darkness.

The people of God who follow in the way of Jesus are challenged to be, to believe, and to bring the good news of the “light of the world” to the dark places.

As Christmas gives way to Epiphany we are challenged to live our lives in the light of our beliefs that in Christ the power of creation came to dwell with us. We are challenged to live what we say we believe about the hope that is in Jesus, word made flesh, baby in the manger, light of the world.

Where there is despair, we can know hope, we can bring the hope that comes from God. Where there is sadness we can know joy and we can bring joy. Where there is opportunity to serve we can come and live in the spirit of the one who came to serve and calls us to serve.

Amen.

December 24, 2014

Avon United Church

Hantsport NS

Four Reflections On

Christmas

Reflection 1: We are preparing and celebrating in hope

We sing these words in a familiar carol: "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight".

I wonder: What hopes do we have for the work of the newly-born Christ this year?

Do we really have hopes, or has this celebration become so ordinary that we are not expecting and perhaps not wanting a change, unless it is a change to make our own lives better? We would like a better economy of course so our money will go further or our kids can stay in Nova Scotia. We would like better health for ourselves or a loved one.

There is certainly nothing wrong with those hopes but unless our hopes are tied up with the well-being of the whole of creation we are not truly embracing the radical world-changing power we are welcoming here,

Tonight, I am asking that you include in your hopes, those beyond our circle of friends and acquaintances - not only the people who panhandle outside of our office building or on the streets in the city but also those living on the streets of the cities of India and countless other places and the troubled Northern Canadian First Nations Communities.

We need to ask ourselves, “what is our ministry in the midst of a world of need”. Are we really just begging for ourselves or are we also advocating for those who have no helper.

What are we prepared to trade for a world where as many people as possible have their basic needs met?

Whose hopes did Jesus come to fulfill?

Reflection 2 No Room?

25 years or more ago I heard a minister who worked for our General Council Office reflect on this passage from Luke's gospel and what he said has stayed with me all these years. When he read the passage he emphasized it in this way: "because there was no room for THEM, in the inn". Was there a particular reason this couple in great need were excluded from the inn? Did their reputation as unwed-parents precede them? Was a mother giving birth too much trouble? Was this exclusion like so much discrimination, you just know it is because of something beyond your control.

A few years ago there was a major power outage in Moncton and many people in the affected areas went to hotels that had power and heat. That was fine, as long as you had a credit card. People who arrived with just cash, found there was no room for them either!

I doubt the average accommodation in the Bethlehem Inn was a private room with a queen size bed, or two queen size beds and a private bath, with hair dryer and complimentary toiletries. It was probably a crowded floor with a few mats or a layer of straw on an earthen floor.

I begin to wonder, "What needs come to us for which we have no time or room in our lives?" The relative that is always short of money? The once again request for food-bank donations, or the donation can at the store for yet another need that cannot be met by our social safety net - a child in hospital far away or an illness that has left a family strapped for the necessities of life. The friend who calls to talk and talk and talk and whose never changing situation drags us down! The person who is simply "hard on the head and the heart".

What makes us feel that we are the ones who actually need the message of “room in the inn”. Is it a crisis that has occurred recently or is it just an accumulation of changes that have already happened that have left our normally well planted feet on shaky and shakier ground.

25 years ago a young man named Marc Lepine killed a number of female engineering students because in this mind there was no room for them in the engineering field.

Perhaps that is what is at the root of the so-called “Dalhousie Dentistry Gentlemen's Club” turning their female colleagues into objects for their own imagined sexual gratification instead of working with them as respected classmates.

We are celebrating the arrival of someone who was born in a stable because it was the only place available. Surely, in 2000 years of hearing his teaching about welcoming the lost lambs we as a church and a society can do a better job of including everyone.

Reflection 3 : We are preparing and celebrating for peace

It happened at a number of places in France, and perhaps even Belgium, and it was exactly ONE HUNDRED YEARS ago, tonight. The soldiers on each side, in what would become known as “the great war”, were huddled in their trenches for the first winter of a war they had hoped would have been long since over. Gathered around their miniature Christmas trees the German soldiers began to sing. Someone began to sing Stille Nacht and before long, as the John McCucheon song puts it, "in two tongues, one song filled up that sky".

Then, it must have begun with one, and then another, as man after man, put down gun and bayonet and carrying white flags of peace, met in "no man's land" for a Christmas celebration. These impormptu celebrations were said to have included included a soccer game, sharing of special treats and talking about the people whose pictures they carried. Remember that few of these men could speak the language of the other.

Such fraternization was, of course, illegal, it always is in wartime! The top brass on each side were quite upset. After all, ter all how can you fight a war when peace is breaking out all over the place!

By the next Christmas the death and destruction, to which both sides had become accustomed, made such a spontaneous and heartfelt celebration impossible.

Indeed, for many years, those who had been there found few who would believe their story, it had been activelly suppressed and was so implausible.

A few years ago I read a part of an interview with the last know allied survivor of that night who remembered not the singing, but the eerie silence.

If the news of Christmas could stop a war, between those who were actually fighting it; between those whose lives were actually on the line; what can it do for us.

1n 1914, most of the men on both sides were Christians, which is not the case today but I wonder if that should really make much difference. The issues in today’s international conflicts are serious and long running. How can they be met in the Spirit of the one who came to bring peace?

Reflection 4: What's In our Gift?

I receive a lot of cartoons on Facebook. In the last few weeks there have been a number of joke cartoons that depend on a mistake between two siminar words: frankincense and Frankenstein. Yoiu know the magi from the east who brought gold, Frankenstein and myrrh!

Your hear tne news that you are soon going to be a grandparent or an aunt or uncle. Or someone in your office or workplace is going to become a parent for the first time.

What do you do?

You go, get a card and buy a gift. What do you buy the child about to be born to welcome him or her into the family and/or to help out the usually cash strapped young parents?

A stroller, a car seat, a crib, a toy, sleepers or cute outfits for a growing child?

Perhaps you purchase a silver mug or spoon, or a Bunnykins (does that still exist?) plate and cup or ornament.

Now, some of those later items are on the list of "very thoughtful but highly impractical" gifts. I suppose Mr Spock would deem them "illogical" (that's Spock from Star Trek, not the "raising better babies guru".

As we all know, William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are expecting baby #2. That child will be 4th in line to the throne now occupied by his great-grandmother Elizabeth II. I'm not sure if this royal child will receive many normal baby gifts, except perhaps from his immediate family, but no doubt many Commonwealth countries and heads of state will send grand gifts (at public expense); gifts that befit a royal baby. I'm not sure if he or she will ever see or play with any of them. Such is the nature of symbolic giving; its about more than the baby.

Long, long ago, the stars were said to have been signs of the birth of a baby in the far away land of Israel, one who was said to be destined to be "king of the Jews". Magi, those who studied the stars, travelled a long distance and brought with them gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. What's a baby to do with any of that?

Nothing - as I said, that's not the point of a royal gift. The visit of the Magi symbolizes the spreading of the good news of Emmanuel to the world - and speaks of their growing faith. The gold was something fit for a king. The frankincense was for worship; it spoke to his priestly function. The myrrh had a much more sombre meaning; myrrh was a product used in embalming - and it reminds us that Jesus did not live a long life and that his mission would so unsettle the powers that be that they killed him.

The question for us is this: What do our gifts say about our faith and how far would we go to show our faith and/or deliver our gifts.

Christmas is not about us giving our children what they want, but about harnessing the power of the Giver of all Gifts so that true giving can continue "o'er all the weary world" and that “heaven and nature sing”.

Amen.

NOTE: This sermon was not preached because of a snow storm.

Jeremiah 31: 7-14
Psalm 147: 12-20
John 1: 1-18

Home Again!

It’s happening more often than we can imagine in our world. War, violence, tribal conflict and starvation are creating refugees by the millions. Occasionally there is a crisis of massive proportions in a particular country or region and it becomes known, partially by the number of refugees the disruption or event creates. Sometimes refugees are created by natural disasters such as famine or floods.

When I was in high school it was the “Vietnamese Boat People” who came to our shores looking for a place to live - looking to simply live.

I was talking to a colleague the other day who is volunteering with a group that has sponsored a refugee family. At this point the members of the family are struggling to learn English so that they can find jobs and begin to be integrate into Canadian society. They can do very little without one of our official languages so that must come first. Children tend to pick up a new language when immersed in it more quickly than adults but all must learn the language as a necessary first step to finding life and a place for them in this, or any new country. Before they can do this they muste depend on the generosity of others before they can earn their own money and pay their own bills.

Yesterday the story of a couple who had lost all their possessions in a fire appeared on the news-feed on my cell-phone. They were in the hospital, the woman just having given birth when they discovered that their home had gone up in flames. An attempt to thaw frozen pipes is being blamed but this couple now have a new baby and none of the things they had collected for their new arrival.

I have every confidence they will be okay because of the generosity of friends and strangers. The friends and strangers can never take away the event but they can show enough care and support to enable them to begin anew.

A few weeks ago there was a the story in the paper of the woman who had fallen victim to a scam artist and as a result was left with a leaky roof and no way to fix it because she had given all her money to the one who perpetrated the scam. Over the past few weeks, people she knew, total strangers and local businesse have pitched in to help and the good news is that her roof will soon be fixed and other needed repairs attended to as well.

We are used to those stories and most of us have been on one end or the other of such an event at some point in our lives. We are more used to these stories at this time of year but the reality of people in extreme need is not unique to this time of year.

Imagine though that it’s EVERYONE you know, including yourself, in the same boat. Today we have millions living in so-called “refugee camps” and “IDP Camps” . Some refugee camps have been in existence for decades. Imagine escaping in the middle of the night, with only what you can carry, hoping to get back home when the fighting stops, or the flood waters recede but then imagine that time never coming. Imagine having children and watching them grow up and having children of their own while you are waiting to get back to normal. Some people don’t have to imagine it; they are living it.

Imagine a world so turned upside down and inside out that soon no one alive will remember, from his or her own experience what kind of life you left.

This is the kind of scenario that the passage from Jeremiah addresses. In 2015 the situation between the State of Israel and the “occupied territories” and the surrounding nations, mostly Arab, has created a volatile situation which is as probably as far from being solved as it has ever been. When the history of conflict is thousands of years old, there are few easy solutions.

Into hopeless situations such as these comes the word of God through the prophet Jeremiah. The prophet’s message is that their God is a God of life and restoration and hope. The word spoken for the original context, one of exile and hopelessness, would come to have a more universal meaning of hope in the midst of despair.

When the power of Rome had been oppressing Israel for years and the people felt despair and hopelessness the Good News was proclaimed that God was acting to save the people.

Each of the Gospel writers starts the story of Jesus at a different point and for different reasons. We forget and meld them all together at Christmas time. But for today we focus on how John the evangelist chose to tell his story - not with shepherds, not with the story of their forefathers, not with stars in the sky guiding foreigners to the good news but with the “logos” which is, something like, the principle behind creation itself. John may well have been writing for a well educated, very philosophically minded, audience. He chose images from Greek philosophy to try and explain who this Jesus was and what he could mean in the lives of his readers. To go back farther than the beginning is what he wanted to do in order to how that the very creative force of God was in Jesus.

For John, Jesus is far more than a baby born to a poor family in a backwater corner of the Roman Empire. Jesus is more than someone from the line of King Da vid, the great and revered King of Israel. Jesus is more than a teacher and a miracle worker. Jesus is more than divine; Jesus is the logos, the Word, WITH A CAPITAL W, the very creative power of God. You cant get more powerful than that.

In the midst of great darkness there shines a light! When it is very dark it does not take much light for that light to be noticed and when one light is added to another it does not take long for the dark to be driven back.

There have been a lot of quotes on the power of light to drive back the darkness, come across my facebook in the last week or so. That’s not surprising - we are in the time when the light is returning to our dark world - it’s a thing about the plants and the tilt of the earth and all of that, but metaphorically speaking, as a people of faith are a people who love the light and we love what the light can do.

The only thing that can keep our lights from shining is our fear. We may fear that our lights will not be enough. We may fear that our lights will not be intense enough. We may fear that our lights will not be numerous enough or we may fear that our lights will not last long enough.

But that’s not really supposed to be our worry. We worship th God who drove back the pre-creation chaos with the word of LIGHT. Jesus is that very word of LIGHT and hope and creative power. When we follow in his footsteps and in his way we can harness that power in ways that are hard to describe.

It is this power that breaks down prison doors, binds up the broken hearted, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked and proclaims that God’s word is always one of love and liberation and life abundant. It is a way of justice that will not see some prosper at the expense of another.

What better way to begin our calendar year than to say that this is the way in which we will resolve to go - being and showing that light so that no one can ignore it.

Amen!

Jeremiah 31: 7- 14
Psalm 147
Matthew 2: 1-12

Seeking An Alternate Way!

As many of you know I love crime dramas. One of the things that mystifies me though, is when the forensic experts come upon an indoor crime scene at night, they use flashlights to look for evidence (and no doubt they have very good flashlights) instead of turning on the lights! As far as I am concerned, you cant have enough light (unless that light is from an oncoming car on a rainy night).

There is no historical reason to believe that Jesus was born on December 25. As unbelievable as it sounds, it seems that Jesus’ birth and childhood wasn’t all that important to the very earliest Christians. Yet, as their understanding of Jesus and his mission grew, it made sense to the subsequent generations of Christians to place the birth traditions in that season of the year when the journey into darkness turns the corner toward the light, omce again. We know the longest night of the year is December 21 and that every day after that has an increasing amount of daylight! Of course, that only lasts until the 21st of June when it starts going the other way once again . It is a yearly cycle which has happened since our solar system came into being.

The symbols of light and darkness were deeply embedded in the Hebrew scriptures. As you will recall there was only “darkness” and “the deep” before creation; the first act of creation was to create “light”. This “light” is more than plain, simple, everyday “light” it is symbolic of understanding and spiritual awareness.

The star which is said to have guided the Magi from the mysterious “east” to the child Jesus, is depicted as a literal light in the sky but it is also a symbol of the insight and enlightenment given by God. Any light given by God and is equated with spiritual knowledge.

Light is one of those words that is hard to describe without using the word itself. If you are a scientist you might define light in this way: “electromagnetic radiation composed of tiny units called photons and behaves both like a wave and a particle”. To be honest, that is about as “clear as mud”! Of course, there is visible light and light that cannot be seen by the naked eye. However, while that explanation might make for a good crime solving problem for Detective William Murdoch, it does not really satisfy the heart and the soul.

Just as any two consecutive days never have the same amount of both daylight and darkness, we humans are always changing, always “going somewhere”, always on a journey. As Christians we are called to follow the example of the Magi and discover the light of God, to leave by a different route, and then proclaim the discoveries we have made to others.

We are not the same people we were at this time last year; some of the changes we have undergone were welcome, some not! The people and situations we have encountered have changed us, whether we like it or not and that is as it should be.

Our yearly journey has brought us to January 3rd, the tenth day of Christmas. If you follow the silly, repetitive Christmas song, today is the day our “true love” gives us ten Lords a leaping. (As long as they leap to my bidding and then go away on Wednesday, I’d be fine with that! )

The Gospel of Matthew is the only one to tell us of the strange visitors from a far away eastern place. From the information provided in the text it is thought they might have been Zoroastrians, a religion centred around messages from the stars. It is thought, also given the information in the text, that their journey might have taken up to two years (given the parameters of Herod’s paranoid slaughter of innocent children) For a number of reasons we prefer to see them arrive on the heels of the shepherds but that’s our need; its not supported by the text. Notice that there are three gifts; ther’s no mention of three Magi. The gifts of the magi introduce a mood of foreboding into the Christmas season; while the gift of gold is fit for a king, the gift of myrrh is for a burial.

The Magi make an understandable blunder, in looking for Jesus in the palace,; after all, where else would a king be born! Yet, in an era of political intrigue and unrest, someone more astute might have wondered if the King of the Jews was going to usher in a “dynasty change”. Regardless, it was an error which almost cost Jesus his life. According to the story, the blunder did cost the lives of many others! That’s not an uncommon thing - wicked and paranoid leaders often execute those who are deemed to be a threat to their power. That much has remained unchanged.

When the error of their ways was revealed to them, they left by another route, in an attempt to protect the life of the child king.

Many years ago I left Wallace to go to a meeting of Truro Presbytery in Kennetcook. The instructions said something like this: take the road to Windsor and follow the signs for Kennetcook. I thought I was following he directions when I read the instruction to mean that I had to go all the way to Windsor before I looked for the signs for Kennetcook. It did not help that the road sign for Kennetcook, coming from the direction I was taking, had been taken out by a snowplow the weekend before. I arrived, a bit late, but needless to say, I went home a different way!

Sometimes something changes us so much that we can never be the same again - we have to go home by another way! Sometimes there is no going “home” and we have to find a new place to hang our hat, as it were!

I talked to you a few weeks ago about Advent resolutions - about making changes to the way you saw the world because of the wait for the reign of God, the wait for the Christ-child. I suggested you try a simple task: I asked you to put the phrase “Jesus was a refugee” on your frige and see if that changed how you see refugees in particular and those in need, in general. I had hoped that it would challenge you to see the nightly news with the eyes of faith, justice and compassion Jesus called us to have.

Some people use the excuse that “Bible times” are not “our times” and that this makes much of the social and political commentary in the scriptures irrelevant. While it is challenging to draw parallels between the scriptures and our times, they are most certainly relevant for our day.

We sometimes look at the Bible Times with rose coloured glasses and we forget that the people of Jesus day lived under Roman rule, which was especially brutal. We forget that their lives added a whole new meaning to the term, “taxed to death”. Their lives were often, “nasty, brutish and short”. While different, their challenges to a life of faithfulness were at least as complex and daunting as ours are.

There is no excuse allowed for waiting for a better time, for a better economy, for the kids to leave home, or whatever it is that is keeping us from a commitment - we have to make the commitment in the midst of all of that stuff in our lives.

Really, if we don’t, there will always be something to keep us from it! There will always be one more thing on our “to do before” list.

The birth of the Christ Child and the visit of the Magi call on us to make our own journey and our own proclamation.

Like the Magi we may be called to cross the boundaries that normally separate people. Like the shepherds we may have to get up from our work, leave it behind, if only for a short time, and put our faith and our amazement into action.

The one thing that isn’t really an appropriate response is indifference and inaction. Once we have heard the good news, once we have seen the light, we must get up and put our new faith into practice.

Amen.

Jeremiah 31: 7- 14
Psalm 147
Matthew 2: 1-12

Seeking An Alternate Way!

As many of you know I love crime dramas. One of the things that mystifies me though, is when the forensic experts come upon an indoor crime scene at night, they use flashlights to look for evidence (and no doubt they have very good flashlights) instead of turning on the lights! As far as I am concerned, you cant have enough light (unless that light is from an oncoming car on a rainy night).

There is no historical reason to believe that Jesus was born on December 25. As unbelievable as it sounds, it seems that Jesus’ birth and childhood wasn’t all that important to the very earliest Christians. Yet, as their understanding of Jesus and his mission grew, it made sense to the subsequent generations of Christians to place the birth traditions in that season of the year when the journey into darkness turns the corner toward the light, omce again. We know the longest night of the year is December 21 and that every day after that has an increasing amount of daylight! Of course, that only lasts until the 21st of June when it starts going the other way once again . It is a yearly cycle which has happened since our solar system came into being.

The symbols of light and darkness were deeply embedded in the Hebrew scriptures. As you will recall there was only “darkness” and “the deep” before creation; the first act of creation was to create “light”. This “light” is more than plain, simple, everyday “light” it is symbolic of understanding and spiritual awareness.

The star which is said to have guided the Magi from the mysterious “east” to the child Jesus, is depicted as a literal light in the sky but it is also a symbol of the insight and enlightenment given by God. Any light given by God and is equated with spiritual knowledge.

Light is one of those words that is hard to describe without using the word itself. If you are a scientist you might define light in this way: “electromagnetic radiation composed of tiny units called photons and behaves both like a wave and a particle”. To be honest, that is about as “clear as mud”! Of course, there is visible light and light that cannot be seen by the naked eye. However, while that explanation might make for a good crime solving problem for Detective William Murdoch, it does not really satisfy the heart and the soul.

Just as any two consecutive days never have the same amount of both daylight and darkness, we humans are always changing, always “going somewhere”, always on a journey. As Christians we are called to follow the example of the Magi and discover the light of God, to leave by a different route, and then proclaim the discoveries we have made to others.

We are not the same people we were at this time last year; some of the changes we have undergone were welcome, some not! The people and situations we have encountered have changed us, whether we like it or not and that is as it should be.

Our yearly journey has brought us to January 3rd, the tenth day of Christmas. If you follow the silly, repetitive Christmas song, today is the day our “true love” gives us ten Lords a leaping. (As long as they leap to my bidding and then go away on Wednesday, I’d be fine with that! )

The Gospel of Matthew is the only one to tell us of the strange visitors from a far away eastern place. From the information provided in the text it is thought they might have been Zoroastrians, a religion centred around messages from the stars. It is thought, also given the information in the text, that their journey might have taken up to two years (given the parameters of Herod’s paranoid slaughter of innocent children) For a number of reasons we prefer to see them arrive on the heels of the shepherds but that’s our need; its not supported by the text. Notice that there are three gifts; ther’s no mention of three Magi. The gifts of the magi introduce a mood of foreboding into the Christmas season; while the gift of gold is fit for a king, the gift of myrrh is for a burial.

The Magi make an understandable blunder, in looking for Jesus in the palace,; after all, where else would a king be born! Yet, in an era of political intrigue and unrest, someone more astute might have wondered if the King of the Jews was going to usher in a “dynasty change”. Regardless, it was an error which almost cost Jesus his life. According to the story, the blunder did cost the lives of many others! That’s not an uncommon thing - wicked and paranoid leaders often execute those who are deemed to be a threat to their power. That much has remained unchanged.

When the error of their ways was revealed to them, they left by another route, in an attempt to protect the life of the child king.

Many years ago I left Wallace to go to a meeting of Truro Presbytery in Kennetcook. The instructions said something like this: take the road to Windsor and follow the signs for Kennetcook. I thought I was following he directions when I read the instruction to mean that I had to go all the way to Windsor before I looked for the signs for Kennetcook. It did not help that the road sign for Kennetcook, coming from the direction I was taking, had been taken out by a snowplow the weekend before. I arrived, a bit late, but needless to say, I went home a different way!

Sometimes something changes us so much that we can never be the same again - we have to go home by another way! Sometimes there is no going “home” and we have to find a new place to hang our hat, as it were!

I talked to you a few weeks ago about Advent resolutions - about making changes to the way you saw the world because of the wait for the reign of God, the wait for the Christ-child. I suggested you try a simple task: I asked you to put the phrase “Jesus was a refugee” on your frige and see if that changed how you see refugees in particular and those in need, in general. I had hoped that it would challenge you to see the nightly news with the eyes of faith, justice and compassion Jesus called us to have.

Some people use the excuse that “Bible times” are not “our times” and that this makes much of the social and political commentary in the scriptures irrelevant. While it is challenging to draw parallels between the scriptures and our times, they are most certainly relevant for our day.

We sometimes look at the Bible Times with rose coloured glasses and we forget that the people of Jesus day lived under Roman rule, which was especially brutal. We forget that their lives added a whole new meaning to the term, “taxed to death”. Their lives were often, “nasty, brutish and short”. While different, their challenges to a life of faithfulness were at least as complex and daunting as ours are.

There is no excuse allowed for waiting for a better time, for a better economy, for the kids to leave home, or whatever it is that is keeping us from a commitment - we have to make the commitment in the midst of all of that stuff in our lives.

Really, if we don’t, there will always be something to keep us from it! There will always be one more thing on our “to do before” list.

The birth of the Christ Child and the visit of the Magi call on us to make our own journey and our own proclamation.

Like the Magi we may be called to cross the boundaries that normally separate people. Like the shepherds we may have to get up from our work, leave it behind, if only for a short time, and put our faith and our amazement into action.

The one thing that isn’t really an appropriate response is indifference and inaction. Once we have heard the good news, once we have seen the light, we must get up and put our new faith into practice. Amen.