Author: Chip Salzgeber

Matthew 3:13-17

I remember that I was in first grade…and it was late winter in Green Bay Wisconsin.

• It was a cold kind of a sloshy day…about 40 degrees…the snow was melting…
• It was after school…and my best friend and I were sitting on a curb watching the thawing water gush down a sewer…
• And we got to talking about church…
• He was Catholic and I was Lutheran…
• And he told me that because I was not a Catholic that I was going to go to Hell…
• And I told him that was certainly not true…and it was really the other way…
• That because he was a catholic and not a Lutheran…he was going to go to hell.
• The Lord be with you.

So…there it is…in one way or another…at a very young age…

• We figure out that God has set us up with a reward and punishment system.
• Yes…I was going to be rewarded for being a Lutheran…
• And my friend was going to be punished for being a Catholic.
• If you are a Catholic…then you will go to the nether world.

Recently someone asked me what I thought Jesus would think of the church were he to return today.

• I think the questioner was assuming I would answer with something like:
• What’s up with those fancy vestments and organ music?
• But instead…I answered: I think he would be curious why his church does not talk about forgiveness of sins nearly as much as he did.

The more I thought about it this week…the more I realized that while I do not think God sets up a reward and punishment system for us…

• I am sure the devil does.
• Because at times I feel trapped in an invisible system of the IF-THEN propositions.

Like he is whispering through the air vents…hey you…psst … If you have done something bad then you are something bad.

• If you really belong to God…then why is your life so hard?
• If you just buy this map…or say this prayer…or manifest this desire…then you can get yourself free.

But it never works.

• And this system of…If – Then propositions and empty promises is of the devil…
• Because in our Gospel reading…Jesus comes up out of the waters of his own baptism…
• And the heavens open and God speaks of belongingness to God and belovedness by God…
• And in the very next verse Jesus is driven into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…
• The waters of baptism are still glistening on his forehead and Satan whispers:
• IF you are who God says you are THEN call down some power and cash and prizes for yourself… you deserve it.
• The glitter of baptism was still shimmering on Jesus’ forehead and Satan was like: Can I interest you in my system of reward and punishment?
• I love that moment in the Lutheran baptismal liturgy…when right before the water touches them…
• Those being baptized are asked:
• Do you renounce the devil and all his empty promises?

It was only after his time in the wilderness telling Satan…away with you…that Jesus began to proclaim the Gospel…

• That Jesus began to proclaim a reality that is more real than the IF-THEN maze we trap ourselves in…
• That Jesus began to proclaim a reality of our belongingness and our belovedness…
• That Jesus began to speak of the reality he called The Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is like a landowner who was just as outrageously generous to those who worked all day as he was to those who worked only a few hours.

• The kingdom of God is like a father who had every right to reject his greedy manipulative no-good son but instead ran out into the road to embrace him as if his no-goodness was no-matter.
• In the kingdom of God…the last shall be first and the enemies shall be loved and I am forgiven and none of the rules and policies and guidelines of the IF-THEN system apply.

Sometimes at the center of my own IF-THEN maze I get stuck in tide pools of resentment toward myself and others…

• Stuck swirling in an eddy of my own remorse.
• Caught in the shame of both what I have done…and what has been done to me.
• Trapped in thinking that I will never be more than who I was in my worst moment.
• And those who have harmed me will always be who they were in their worst moment.

But Jesus of Nazareth comes along and says to us and to all who are trapped:

• You do not belong to the IF-THEN maze…because you cannot belong to what is only an illusion.
• You belong to God and are beloved by God and in his kingdom…there is forgiveness of sins…
• Which means the IF-THEN maze may try and tell you that your failings are inescapable…
• But that is a lie because…if Jesus can defeat sin…death and the devil…
• I am sure forgiving your sin is not going to be difficult for him.

Here’s the thing: We are more than what we have done…Good or bad.

• The people I have grown to love…in my lifetime…have proven this to me.
• And the kingdom of God is like such as this.

Hosts of people for years upon end have seen themselves as only what they did in their worst moment.

• Martin Luther once said that it is not God…
• But the devil who rummages through our garbage looking for already forgiven sins to rub our noses in them and saying: this is who you really are.

But in Christ…who they really are is forgiven and who we really are is forgiven.

• And so is everyone we resent.
• But to know that in the kingdom of God there is pardon for you…
• And for me and for everyone who has ever hurt us is true freedom…
• Because then…we can just stop thinking an eye for an eye is going to help us…
• We are free to stop re-litigating decades old crimes of our siblings…and our parents…and others…
• We are free to stop beating ourselves and everyone else up for stuff in the past.

Reward and punishment systems may be effective for behavior management… (car dealership GM throwing dollar bills all over the table).

• But Christianity is not about controlling the masses…
• Christianity is about raising the dead.
• And forgiveness of sins is the veiled process by which we are raised.
• Because to follow the crucified and resurrected one is to live as a people who get to be wrong…
• We get to be wrong and muck things up and die to our old ideas and be reborn as often as we need it.
• My confession is that I am so often wrong…
• But then I know deeply this grace of God which makes all things new.

So…my friends…I invite you to enjoy your forgiveness…

• It will not be taken away as a punishment and it will not be granted as a reward…
• It is your inheritance as a freed child of God’s kingdom.

So…here it is:

• God who is gracious and merciful…slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love…loves you as you are. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ and by his authority…I declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sin in the name of the Father…Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

John 1:10-18

My friend…Jerry…his American parents…were in Canada when he was born.

• But because he was born on Canadian soil…he was eligible to become a citizen…
• Or child of Canada…we could say.
• Of course…it was helpful that his parents were in Canada legally.
• Years later…Jerry applied for a Canadian passport…and it was granted.
• He is now a citizen of both the United States and Canada.
• In legal terms…this arrangement is called jus soli…right of the soil.
• If you are born on the soil…you are a child or citizen of the soil.

But…this position has come under fire…especially if the parents are in the country illegally.

• The current debate regarding birthright citizenship raises questions about who has the right to belong…
• Who is considered a citizen and what it means to belong.

The apostle John writes about this issue in terms of birth…with children as the metaphor.

• For example…he says that Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.
• John also tells us that Jesus himself told Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.

It is with this debate that our attention is drawn to verses 12 and 13 of today’s Gospel reading:

• But to all who received him…who believed in his name…he gave power to become children of God…who were born…not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man…but of God.
• OK then…how does one become a citizen of the kingdom of God?
• How does one become a child of God?
• The answer in a nutshell…says John…is not jus soli (right of the soil) …but sola fidei…that is…by faith:
• To all who received him…who
• To be a citizen in the kingdom of God…one must be a child of God.

Verse 12 begins with a simple yet profound idea: receiving Jesus.

• The word means more than just passive acceptance.
• It is an active…deliberate act of taking hold of something…like grasping a tool.
• Or think about a great ship sinking.
• To receive Christ is like jumping into the lifeboat…it is an active gesture.
• To receive him is like the child who…seeing a cupcake with chocolate icing…reaches out and grabs it.

To receive Christ is not a casual acknowledgment of his existence…

• It is a conscious choice to not only invite him in…but to give him the key to the house…
• The garage door opener and unlimited privileges to the fridge.
• When we ask Jesus to take up residence in our life…we are agreeing to follow his house rules…and to defer to him in all things.
• Fortunately…Jesus is not like three-day-old fish…rather…the longer he stays…the better our life becomes!

So…then…John pairs receiving Christ with believing in his name.

• This means that what we receive…we rely on.
• John adds a specific phrase: in his name.
• In biblical times…a person’s name represented their character…authority and very essence.
• To believe in Jesus’ name means to trust fully…to have no qualms about giving him the run of the house.
• Believing in him means giving him the combination to the safe…handing over the family jewels…
• Giving him our ATM passwords and online access to bank accounts.
• We trust in Jesus completely.
• We believe that he is the Messiah…the Son of the living God…and the Savior of the world.
• And when we do believe in this way…God gives us a new identity:
• Child of God.

Okay…So…now we have received him…and we have believed in him…what’s next?

• All of this means little if we do not have legal standing.
• An immigrant to America can love this country and sing the national anthem faultlessly…
• Study English and speak it with less of an accent than a Texan from East Texas.
• Those abilities do not mean a thing without papers that state clearly that the person in question is a citizen of the United States of America…
• And is free to enjoy all the privileges his/her legal standing provides.
• You have a right to belong.
• If someone challenges you about your right to belong…even if he or she shows you an ICE badge…just keep on walking.
• But remember this…because it’s important…
• The Department of Homeland Security has warned all citizens that their COSTCO ID card is not proof of citizenship.

OK then…the right to belong is suggested in the word power.

• The word is not just authority…raw strength or the right to act.
• This is full-on legal right and privilege.
• It means we are children of God…citizens of The kingdom of God and as such protected by the Bill of Rights and Constitution of that kingdom…
• And by the full force of the power of that kingdom. Very cool!

Finally…it is done.

• We are children of God…this is not symbolic…it is a real…spiritual transformation.
• Children of God…we are not just friends of God…we are family.
• And this new status changes everything.
• Our primary identity is now found in Christ…
• Not in our past…not in our failures.
• We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures…
• We are the sum of God’s love for us and our capacity to become the image of his Son.
• As children…the transformation includes an inheritance.
• We are heirs to the promises of God:
• So…you are no longer a slave but a child…and if a child then also an heir through God.
• This is more than membership…it is sonship and daughtership.
• This is not temporary or conditional…
• It is permanent and eternal.
• Children of the heavenly Father…
  Safely in his bosom gather…
  Nesting bird nor star in Heaven
  Such a refuge e’er was given.

Matthew 2:13-23

Herod…who is a ruler on a throne of power…

• And Joseph…who is a peasant in an unconventional marriage.
• One man is powerful…
• And one man is not.
• And yet the text only describes one of these men as being afraid.
• And it was not the peasant.

Matthew’s Gospel tells us that King Herod made the Magi tell him where this baby was…because he was frightened.

• Yes…Frightened of a baby.
• Threatened by a horoscope and a newborn.

And this fear that Herod’s position in life is so tenuous…

• That it must be fortified by sacrificing whoever it takes…
• Is not a theoretical one by the way…
• This Herod guy literally killed two of his own sons because he felt threatened by them.
• Yes…his own sons.

Fear that what he had could be taken away.

• Or fear of not getting what he wanted…
• Turned him into a monster.
• So much so that when he cannot quite locate the right baby…
• The one that is so threatening to him…
• He just sends for all the children two and under in and around Bethlehem to be killed.
• Let us take that in…for a moment.

This is what fear does.

• Fear disguises itself in so many ways:
• As greed…hate…isolation…addiction…
• The list is endless.
• But in the end fear is at the root of all of it.
• And while we might not be murderous tyrants…
• None of us are free from the effects of fear in our lives.
• It keeps us isolated and small and it steals away joy and possibility.

But in Joseph we see a different kind of man than Herod.

• Joseph was not afraid.
• An angel came from God and spoke love…was love…embodied love…
• Sought to protect love…like a divine can of compressed air…
• And this cast out Joseph’s fear so that he could function the way he was supposed to.
• And here’s one clue…one way we can know that Joseph was not afraid…
• He did not bat an eye when the angel said that his baby and wife were not safe…
• So…he should take his family to Egypt.
• Yes…Egypt.

The place his ancestors were enslaved.

• The place that God rescued his people from slavery.
• With fear cast out…Joseph was able to believe it possible that God’s redemptive work can happen anywhere…even Egypt.
• With fear cast out…Joseph no longer saw everything through the lens of what it was in the past.
• With fear cast out…he was able to beat a king…
• Protect his wife and child…
• And preserve that which is good in the face of tyranny.

Herod’s fear caused death.

• And Joseph’s fearlessness protected life.
• Of course…the irony is that Herod feared this baby for all the wrong reasons.
• The Christ child did not knock Herod off his pathetic little throne.
• History took care of that.

No…Jesus of Nazareth did not overthrow Rome…

• He laughed at Rome.
• He saw Rome for what it was:
• Fleeting. Harsh and demanding and tyrannical…yes…but temporary.

And this child…protected by the songs of angels…

• And the heart of his mother and the fearlessness of his father…
• Came to free the people.
• Free us from the shackles of sin and fear.
• Gospel people are free people and free people are dangerous people.
• Free people are not ruled by fear.
• Free people see Rome for what it is.

And you know what?

• There are angels hovering round us too…good people of God.
• There are messengers of love all around.
• And again…and forever…they say:
• Do not be afraid.  Do not be afraid.
• For in the heart of God there is enough love to cast out fear.
• Herods…of the world…take note.

 

A postscript:Top of FormBottom of FormTop of FormBottom of Form

• Wise women also came.
• Long before they saw
  the flaming star in the sky.
• They walked in shadows trusting the path would open under the light of the moon.

Wise women also came…seeking no directions…no permission from any king.

• They came by their own desire…their own longing.
• They came in quiet…spreading no rumors…sparking no fears to lead
  to innocents’ slaughter.

Wise women also came and they brought gifts:

• Water for labor’s washing.
• Fire for warm illumination.
• A blanket for swaddling.

Wise women also came.

• At least three of them.
• Holding Mary in the labor.
• Crying out with her in the birth pangs.
• Breathing ancient blessings
  into her ear.

Wise women also came.

• And they went…
• As wise women always do…
• Home a different way.

 

John 1:1-14

THE PROCLAMATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

Today, the twenty–fifth day of December, unknown ages from the time when God created the heavens and the earth and then formed man and woman in his own image.

 

Several thousand years after the flood, when God made the rainbow shine forth as a sign of the covenant.  Twenty–one centuries from the time of Abraham and Sarah; thirteen centuries after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt.

 

Eleven hundred years from the time of Ruth and the Judges; one thousand years from the anointing of David as king;  in the sixty–fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel.

 

In the one hundred and ninety–fourth Olympiad; the seven hundred and fifty–second year from the foundation of the city of Rome.

 

The forty–second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus; the whole world being at peace,  Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,  desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since his conception,  was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary.

Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

 

Gathering Hymn: Once in Royal David’s City – ELW 269

 

The Holy Gospel according to John

Glory be to you O Lord

Gospel: John 1:1-14

 

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴ 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.

 

 

The gospel of the Lord.

 

Praise to you O Christ.

 

 

Homily:

 

It is Luke (in his Gospel) who tells us when Jesus was born.

• It is Luke who tells us about the young Mary…nearing full term…traveling atop a mule clopping from Nazareth to Bethlehem…the ancestral home…
• It is Luke who tells us that an innkeeper turned them away for want of a room…
• It is Luke who reveals that the baby was delivered in a cattle pen populated by farm animals…a cow…a goat…a sheep and chickens.
• It is Luke who gives us the touching detail of Mary wrapping the baby in some tight swaddling clothes…
• It is Luke who mentions the shepherds watching their flocks by night…
• It is Luke who describes the amazing appearance of an angelic chorus…
• It is Luke who tells us that one of the angels said:
• Do not be afraid…for see…I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people…to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior…who is the Messiah…the Lord.

Tonight’s gospel reading…though…is not from Saint Luke.

• Tonight’s story of the nativity of Jesus is from Saint John.
• This is John’s account of Jesus’ appearance on earth…and it is quite different from Luke’s version.
• Not that there are contradictions…there are not.

John’s Gospel was the last of the four Gospels to be written…and so he has read Luke’s version of the birth of Christ…and has no intention of retelling it.

• How can you top the magisterial treatment Luke gives to the birth of the Christ child? You cannot.
• It is a moving…emotional…poignant account of a baby surviving against all odds.
• Luke answers the questions as to how…when and where Jesus was born.
• John reveals the why of Jesus’ birth.
• John begins with the words…In the beginning…
• Words that cannot fail to take the reader back to Genesis chapter one.

John takes us deep…pulling back the curtain on the cosmic why.

• John does not begin in Bethlehem.
• He does not even begin with Mary or Joseph or angels or stars.
• He begins in eternity.
• In the beginning was the Word…and the Word was with God…and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
• Sound familiar?
• That opening phrase echoes Genesis Chapter one…verse one:
• In the beginning God created…
• John wants us to think back to the dawn of time…
• To remind us that Jesus did not begin in a manger…he already was.
• This is a great truth John gives us:
• That in the cosmic sweep of all that is and ever was…Jesus is the eternal Word of God.

Yes…the birth of Jesus is celebrated according to tradition on Christmas Day.

• This is why we are here today…to celebrate a specific birthday on a specific date.
• It makes sense…we all have birthdays…and we have birthday parties and receive birthday gifts.
• This is baby Jesus’ birthday…but John reminds us that Jesus divine nature…has no birthday at all.
• A baby without a birth date!
• The story of this immortal being…clothed now in a mortal baby body…
• Stretching and curling his baby fingers…gurgling and soiling his diapers…begins before time began.

The Greek word John uses is logos…the Word.

• To the Jewish mind…the Word…was the creative…powerful voice of God that spoke the universe into being.
• And so…John declares: This Word…this eternal…divine…creating…sustaining Reason…was with God…and was God.

For those who receive Jesus…life will never be the same.

• Verse 12: But to all who received him…who believed in his name…he gave power to become children of God.
• This brings us back to the birth of Jesus.
• His birth reminds us that it is never too late to experience a new birth…
• To embrace a life that can only be called a new creation.

Our reading tells us that not everyone rejected him.

• This is the offer of Christmas…the purpose behind the Incarnation:
• To turn orphans into children…
• To give strangers a place at the table…
• To transform believers into family.
• We are not born into this family by blood…or by willpower…or by pedigree…but by God’s grace.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us.

• This is Christmas according to John.
• Not a baby in a manger…but God taking on skin.
• Not just visiting…but moving into the neighborhood.
• The word…dwelling…is a reference to a tent…
• That God pitched his tent among us.
• In Jesus…God is not distant…not abstract…not far off.
• He is here…present…with us…Emmanuel.
• And this is great news for those of us who are wondering what life is all about.

This is the true miracle of Christmas.

• Not just that God sent us a message…
• But that he came in person.
• Not just that he came…but that he came full of grace and truth…
• Enough to save…enough to reveal…enough to carry us through whatever darkness we face.

So…while Luke gives us the cradle…John gives us the cosmos.

• While Luke shows us the baby…John shoes us the glory.
• While Luke sets the scene…John sets us up with a purpose.
• The Word became flesh…so that we might become children of God.

 

Prayers of Intercession

Empowered by the news of Christ’s birth, let us pray boldly for the church, creation, and all who are in need.

A brief silence.

The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us, bringing life, love, and joy to a weary world. Gracious God, use our lips and our lives to proclaim the good news of your coming. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

The earth rejoices and the coastlands are glad on the day of your birth. Bring life to barren wastelands, healing where we have caused harm, and bold hearts to respond to creation’s call for justice. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

Righteousness and justice are your foundation, O Holy One. Fill world leaders with your zeal for righteousness and your love for any who are marginalized and oppressed. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

The heavens proclaim your glory and announce that we have been made your own people. Keep watch over all who are spending this holy day alone, alienated, or ill. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

Light dawns for the righteous and joy visits the upright in heart. Fortify us with your grace and fill us with zeal to proclaim the news of your birth to those who long for love. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

From the nurturing darkness of the womb to the tender night of the tomb, you enfold us in your love. We remember with affection those who have died and now rest in your eternal embrace (Keith Waldron). Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

With the joy of Christ’s birth in our hearts, we commend our prayers to you, O God, trusting in your boundless mercy and eternal love, through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.

 

 

Sending Hymn: Silent Night, Holy Night! – ELW 281

 

 

 

 

Blessing

 

The God of love,

Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,

lavish you with grace,

illumine your path,

and increase your joy,

today and always.

Amen.

Matthew 1:18-25

Given Jesus’ pedigree as son of Abraham and son of David…it seems inconceivable that God…

• In his infinite wisdom…would send his Son to be born under questionable circumstances.
• At least it does to those schooled in the wisdom of the world.
• The world values tidiness and appearances.
• If Jesus were running for political office…his opponent would be running negative ads against him…
• Reminding everyone of his illegitimate birth.
• But God does not play by the rules of the world.
• The Lord be with you.

 

Well…here’s the thing:

• God tends to work from the outside and backside of life to bring about his salvation.
• If we re-examine Jesus’ ancestors…in Matthew chapter one…it is remarkable that his family tree includes four other named women:
• Tamar…Rahab…Ruth…and Bathsheba…the wife of Uriah.
• This inclusion of women in a male-dominated genealogy is unusual…
• But these four women were all involved in unbecoming or at least unusual relationships.
• Tamar tricked her father-in-law…Judah (son of Jacob) …into fathering a child with her.
• Rahab was a Canaanite and a prostitute in Jericho.
• Ruth was a foreigner…a Moabite.
• And Bathsheba was involved in an adulterous relationship with David.
• Yet…God worked through these women…
• And these unusual circumstances to advance the line of people through whom Jesus would be born.
• This remarkable story illustrates the reality that God can work through the messiness of human life…
• And how the faithfulness of God’s people can help God aid and abet his mission.

Here is what St. Paul said about Jesus:

• For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…that though he was rich…yet for your sakes he became poor…so that you through his poverty might become rich. (II Cor. 8:9)

 

Jesus did not leave Stanford or Harvard or Oxford.

• He left the throne of glory to become the babe of Bethlehem…
• Born in a stable because there was no room in the inn.
• Why did he do it?
• Because the world sat in darkness…to use Isaiah’s rich metaphor.
• Christmas is not simply the celebration of the birthday of a good man…
• Christmas is the celebration of light penetrating darkness…
• Christmas is the celebration of hope penetrating despair…
• Christmas is the celebration of life overcoming death…
• Christmas is the celebration of salvation delivering fallen humanity.
• They will call him Immanuel…which means…God with us.

 

What does it mean to say that God is with us?

• It means that God cares enough for us that he seeks to invade the chaos of our lives.

 

A friend…Judy Gunther…pretends to go shopping each Christmas season in the Nordstrom   department store at the Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh…PA.

• She pretends to go shopping at Nordstrom because the store is so upscale that she rarely purchases anything there.
• But she goes there during the Christmas shopping days because the ambience is spectacular.
• Judy gets herself a Nordstrom shopping bag…fills it with tissue paper…
• And meanders around the store…
• Enjoying the decorations and listening to the live music playing in each department.

 

On one of these Christmas visits to Nordstrom…Judy was on the top floor…where the most expensive dresses were for sale…

• When the doors of the elevator opened and an impoverished woman stepped out.
• When Judy saw this woman…she fully expected that a couple of security guards would show up momentarily to usher the woman out of the store.
• After all…this woman…who was shabbily dressed…was not the kind of person who could afford to buy much of anything at Nordstrom…
• Let alone one of the expensive dresses for sale on the top floor.
• But instead of security guards…a tall…stately saleswoman appeared and went up to this woman.
• She asked: Can I help you…Madam?

 

Yes…said the woman in a raspy voice…I want a dress!

• What kind of dress? inquired the saleswoman. A party dress was the answer.
• You’ve come to the right place…the saleswoman replied. We have the finest dresses in the world.

 

Indeed…they did! The least expensive dress on the rack of evening gowns cost just under a thousand dollars.

• The two women looked over the dresses as they talked about which color would be best…given the woman’s coloring.
• After a discussion that went on for more than ten minutes…they picked two dresses off the rack.
• Then the saleswoman said: Follow me…Madam. I want you to try on these dresses to see how you look in each of them.

 

Judy was flabbergasted.

• She knew the saleswoman must have realized that this woman did not have the means to buy any of the dresses for sale in the store.

 

When the two women went into the dressing room to try on the dresses…

• Judy went into the dressing room next to theirs…
• And she put her ear against the wall so she could listen to what they said.
• After a while…she heard the woman say:
• I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to buy a dress today.

 

The saleswoman answered:

• That’s quite all right…Madam…but I’d like you to take my card.
• Should you come back to Nordstrom…I would consider it both a privilege and a pleasure to wait on you again.

 

Judy was more than surprised by the kind and respectful way in which this saleswoman treated a woman…

• Who had not the means to buy anything in that upscale store.
• This saleswoman did what a Christian should do.
• In all probability…she treated everyone she met in her everyday encounters in the workplace as Jesus would treat them.

 

The meaning of Christmas?

• Isaiah said it all nearly three thousand years ago:
• The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son…and they will call him Immanuel…which means…God with us.
• When God is with us…we are empowered to live in extraordinary ways.

Matthew 11:2-11

The year was 1809…all of Europe was living in dread of the armies that threatened to sweep the continent.

• Napoleon Bonaparte was on the move.
• In every city of Europe…from the alehouses and marketplaces of the common people…
• To the salons of the upper class…they were talking of little else but marches…invasions and battles.
• Newspaper headlines screamed out the latest atrocities of the emperor of the French.
• Something else…however…was happening in the Year of Our Lord…1809…besides the campaigns of Napoleon…a quieter thing…a subtler thing.

On the 12^th of February…1809…in a little backwoods cabin three miles south of Hodgenville…Kentucky…a baby boy was born.

• His parents were dirt-poor…subsistence farmers.
• They could not read or write.
• Yet their newborn baby boy…Abraham Lincoln…
• Would grow up to become president of the United States.
• And in the eyes of many…he would become one of our greatest presidents.

The influence on world history of that one baby…Abraham Lincoln — born in 1809…is beyond measure.

• But back then…anyone in the know would have insisted that Napoleon’s campaigns were the pivotal events of history.
• Nowadays…the name Abraham Lincoln is a household word…
• But who among us can remember the name of even one of Napoleon’s victories?
• What we remember is Waterloo…his greatest defeat.
• The Lord be with you.

Is it not…just like God to work through a baby…rather than a general?

• Our Lord is a Lord of life…rather than death.
• A giver of hope…not despair.
• A God who…in causing the infant Jesus to be born…
• Hits the world with the force of a hint.

Like the newspaper reporters of 1809…John the Baptist was seeking to read the signs of his times.

• John looked around him and saw that the world was not a happy place.
• His people…the chosen people of God…were oppressed by the Romans.
• Tax collectors swindled widows and children.
• Roman soldiers were billeted in the towns…their very presence an insult to the Hebrew people.
• The king was a pampered autocratic potentate.

Prepare the way of the Lord …shouts John…his voice crying in the wilderness.

• Bear fruit worthy of repentance…he warns the Pharisees…for even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees.
• John looks around…in other words…and sees it is not
• He looks to God to break into history at that very moment and set things right.

Sometime later…John is in prison when he hears of the growing fame of Jesus of Nazareth.

• He sends some of his disciples over to investigate…to talk with Jesus.
• Are you the one who is to come…they ask…or are we to wait for another?
• Jesus’ reply is simple: Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight…the lame walk…those with a skin disease are cleansed…the deaf hear…the dead are raised…and the poor have good news brought to them.

It is not the sort of answer John was expecting.

• John spent his life anxiously scanning the horizon for a Messiah thundering in with the reins of a chariot in his hand.
• A righteous general at the head of an army.
• The Messiah John’s expecting would cast the Roman overlords from the land…
• Free political prisoners from their cells and re-establish true worship in the holy Temple.

Jesus’ claim to prophetic authority is of a very different order.

• He speaks not of judgment and destruction but of health and peace…light and love.
• Go ask the ones who used to be blind…or lame or leprous…Jesus says…
• Go ask the ones who once were deaf…or dead or mired in poverty…they know who I am!

The sign of this Savior’s coming is not the scorched earth of a vengeful army…as John imagines.

• No…it is…echoing the poetry of Isaiah…a fresh…green shoot sprouting forth from the stump of Jesse.
• In Jesus Christ…God does indeed hit the world with the force of a hint.
• A hint of new life for those hungry to hear good news.
• A hint of new life for you and for me.

Jesus was born in a stable…not a palace.

• Who could have predicted that the little boy playing in the wood shavings of Joseph’s carpentry shop is God’s own son?
• Who…indeed…but Mary…his mother.
• Mary…who talked with the angels?
• It is Mary who first comes to understand the full force of God’s hint.
• That day in the Temple at 12 years of age…as Jesus stands there astounding the learned scribes with his wisdom.

When Jesus sets off on his three-year ministry…he walks the dusty roads in battered sandals like anyone else.

• He breaks bread in the cheap inns and humble roadhouses of the common folk.
• Can anything good come out of Nazareth? They ask in ridicule.

Then comes that day on the high mountain apart…when Peter…James and John gaze in wonder at their Lord and master.

• His clothes have become dazzling white…such as no one on earth could brighten them.
• When the vision of Transfiguration is over…everything returns to normal…except for their memory of the force of God’s hint.

After his resurrection…there’s the time a few of them are walking with a stranger to Emmaus.

• As the stranger breaks bread at supper…their eyes were opened…and they recognized him.
• When you are suddenly hit by the force of a hint…you know…somehow…you just know.

God still speaks to us that way:

• In hints and whispers…in glimpses out of peripheral vision…in dreams and intuitions and portents.
• The touch of our Lord’s hand on this earth is exceedingly subtle.
• God’s touch comes…most often…not with a trumpet’s fanfare…
• But with a gentle beckoning…a call to come home.

What hints of God have we been hearing this Advent?

• Christmas is still the time of year that brings a bounce to the step and a twinkle to the eye.
• This time of year is positively laden with hints of Christ’s presence…
• If only we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Christmas…quite simply…brings out the best in a great many people.

• We are all more likely to give…more likely to attend worship…more likely to reach out to neighbors during Advent and Christmas than at any other time.

The One Thing that makes a human life complete is not a thing at all.

• It is a person…the person born under a star in Bethlehem long ago.
• So many of this season’s joys are quiet ones…suggestions…hints…of a greater glory yet to come!
• Listen carefully this week.
• And we will all sense the force of God’s holy hint!

Matthew 3:1-12

Imagine this: An envelope arrives in your mailbox.

• It appears like any other holiday card.
• It is a plain white envelope…not green or red.
• When opened…the card does not portray the holy family…a starlit night or shepherds or wisemen.
• Instead…there is a burly figure with a grim look on his face.
• And the inside of the card reads:
• Happy Advent…You Brood of Vipers! signed…John the Baptist.

John arrives every year on schedule…doesn’t he?

• On the second Sunday of Advent…this strange figure steps right out of the desert and right into to our festive preparations.
• John dresses like an ancient prophet in camel’s hair.
• He works in the wilderness…not in a civilized city.
• He preaches with sternness…
• And he calls everyone who can hear him to repent.
• The Lord be with you.

Repent is a verb that makes us uncomfortable.

• And that is because we conclude that Christian faith is primarily about behavior…
• Defined by what we should or should not do.
• As the old adage puts it: Don’t drink…dance or chew…or date the girls that do.
• So…preaching becomes a harangue against bad behavior…however described or imagined.

In times of moral confusion…some have found it helpful to make a list of do’s and don’ts.

• Wrongdoings go in the don’t
• Right-doings go in the do
• The instruction is clear: move from the bad column to the good column.
• Straighten up and fly right…change your ways.
• Behave better than before.
• In that kind of religious system…we really do not need a living God…we just need a list.

A funny thing happens when we live only by a list of behaviors.

• We start grading the items on our list.
• Some sins are perceived as worse than others.
• For some reason…smugness and self-righteousness never make the list.
• Neither do greed or abuse of power.
• So…there is no real possibility of repentance…and so…we just return to the list.

John the Baptist did not maintain a list of sins.

• Instead…he invited people into the presence of God.
• John never barked at people to change.
• Instead…he announced God was knocking at the door.
• The kingdom of heaven has come near…he said.
• And this is the proper context for forgiveness.
• John the Baptist does not wag his finger at bad behavior…
• Instead…he points to God!

His singular sermon is that God is coming toward us.

• And his message brings everybody to the desert.
• His invitation is to have all sins and mistakes washed away.
• God is closing in on us.
• And perceiving it…we will clear the air…straighten our paths and get in closer fellowship.

I knew a Lutheran minister who spent every Friday night in a dingy bar.

• He did not go there to drink…but to spend time with people.
• It was unnerving…especially for those who had been his confirmation students.
• They had gone out for a night on the town.
• And when the pastor walked in…the patrons always grew quiet.
• A few slipped out.
• Others laughed and turned away.
• But many found him easy to talk with.

He told me: I discovered that if I go to them…they admit on Friday night what they would never confess on Sunday morning.

• If they trust me…if they sense that I come in the name of a God who accepts them as they are…
• Some of them take amazing steps in response to God’s love.
• Now…this is the very definition of repentance.

But what about that brood of vipers?

• This is John the Baptist’s critique of the religious leaders who joined the crowds for his baptism.
• These were the Pharisees and Sadducees…easily identified by their elaborate clothing.
• Curious…isn’t it…that they were attracted to John’s message?
• Was it the spectacle?
• Did they come out of curiosity?
• Were they hungry for an encounter with the Holy?
• We really don’t know.

What we do know is that John did not grant them special privileges.

• The Pharisees were the Bible Keepers…guardians of morality… purists in every regard.
• And they came to hear the preacher who dined on locusts.
• The Sadducees were the high brows…the liturgical elite…the religious nobility…
• And the families from which all the high priests were named.
• Well…John would not give them an inch of preference.
• He accused them of seeking baptism to slither out of hell.
• Their privilege and celebrity were not enough to put them on the right side of God.
• To paraphrase John: It does not matter who your ancestors were…you are all a brood of vipers.
• His verbal ax struck at the root of their presumption.

So…here’s the thing: John was saying that nobody can fake the spiritual life.

• Either we are living it…or we are not.
• Either we are responding to God’s approach through a generous and holy life…or we are not.
• Are we showing up only for the benefit of an appearance?
• Or are we preparing a way for the Lord to reach our hearts…our souls…our minds…our strength?

Advent announces that God is drawing near.

• Tugging at us to make a way for God to come closer…
• Removing the roadblocks…straightening the highway…lifting the valleys and leveling the mountains.
• No more faking it or putting on appearances…just being real.
• This is our spiritual work for the season.
• Replacing the artificial with the truth.

Advent invites us to surrender to God…which is always a surrender to grace.

• We do not let down our guard because we fear that God will hurt us.
• We let it down because God is moving toward us…
• And God can heal us.
• And God can make us new.

Matthew 24:36-44

Today we enter again into this four-week season of Advent.

• The church year begins with Advent as a time to return to waiting.
• A time to prepare.
• A time to get back in touch with our ancestors in the faith…
• Who watched and hoped and anticipated with great joy the day when God would bring peace on all the earth!
• When at last…the prophesy of old would be fulfilled.
• For a child would be born!
• A new kind of king who would reign over all…establishing peace through justice.
• Ushering in a new day…resting on the Anointed One…
• So that no more would oppressive empires rule over the people.
• No more would distress cover the land.
• No more would despair break backs.
• But the dawn of the Light would rise for love…joy…peace and hope to rule in every heart!
• Advent is the season that returns us to God’s promise as we await ancient echoes to come…
• Come Lord Jesus! Dwell among us…be for us the Way!

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.

• And the gospel of Matthew turns us almost to the end of the story.
• To a day…shortly before the crucifixion…when Jesus sat among his disciples in the Temple.
• Teaching them to guard themselves.
• No matter what happened…Jesus did not want his followers to be led astray.
• For the path of the Anointed was not streets paved in gold.
• But the way of the cross.
• A giving of Life for True Life to flourish.
• Jesus might as well have recited the words of the Psalmist:
• Put not your trust in princes…in mortals…in whom there is no help. For when their breath departs…they return to the earth…on that very day their plans perish (Psalm 146:3-4).

We cannot help but notice in the 24^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel the use of catastrophic images…

• As disciples of the Way sought to read the times.
• The verses of this part of the gospel are how we get ideas of an eventual
• When some…the faithful…will be taken.
• And others will be left behind.
• (This is really an image of how nations conquered other nations…the conquering nation would take the best and the brightest…and leave the old and sick and less able behind).
• Texts like Matthew 24 are one way we have gotten elaborate notions of what is called
• Millennialism is a religious belief…that is dependent upon an understanding of a Second Coming of Jesus that includes a final tribulation…
• Judgement…with a golden age before or after…
• Depending on which religious flavor you like…
• That will lead to a world yet to come.
• This is how we get the idea of being left behind…
• Torment for some…release for a handful…
• The kind of Christianity that turns a lot of people away…
• Because it is based on biblical ideas that fail to read the gospels in their total breadth and scope.

So…forget for now about the end of time.

• What we have here in Matthew 24 is a picture of the world as it is…all too familiar to us.
• A world of things we know and a world of things we do not know…
• Which Jesus wants to make sure his followers understand.

There are things in the world…Jesus says…that are known and that can be anticipated.

• Look at the fig tree…which Jesus points out to his followers in another portion of this lengthy lesson that Jesus was giving…
• When his disciples were terrified and wanted to hold some certainty that would allow them to be prepared.
• Fig trees remind us that winter gives way to spring.
• Summer sunshine ripens the fruit on the branch which brings about the harvest of autumn….
• The earth’s bountiful yield.
• All of nature reminds us that there is a pattern and order and regularity in the world…
• The very basis of science and technology…and it means that we have a measure of control…
• Without which life would not be feasible.
• The very world around us teaches that there are some things upon which we typically can rely.

At the same time…the words of Jesus also offer the other half of that lesson.

• Concerning the things that are unknown.
• Something the wise never take for granted.
• Not so we live with a sense of dread about the other shoe always about to drop.
• But so…we do not find ourselves feeling robbed by life…
• Or worse yet…blaming such troubles on ourselves or God or others…
• When…in fact…difficulties are a part of life.
• Because life is both ordered and reliable AND it is hazardous and unpredictable.
• However much we may feel in control…we always are vulnerable.
• We know that we always are susceptible to the unexpected and the unplanned…
• That suddenly throws our routine lives into turmoil and confusion.

Does all of this seem like good news?

• Maybe not…if we are riding on top of a beautiful wave…
• Feeling all-powerful and totally in charge.

But remember the setting of this gospel.

• Written shortly after the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed forever…
• Except for that still-standing Western Wall.
• It is good news to hear from the Anointed…the One crucified…yet resurrected.
• It is good news to hear that sometimes life will feel like the thief in the night…
• The mysterious disappearance while harvesting the fields.
• The random occurrence of one being struck by lightning while the next is left totally fine.
• The truth is: life is both known and unknown.
• The activity in our lives that we can control.
• And the unexplainable action of other forces upon us.

So…in the season of Advent…our surest comfort is to remember the story of the God who lives among us.

• Born a vulnerable baby.
• So fixed on loving us that our own flesh and blood would become the instruments through which God chooses to work.
• In all of life’s knowns…in all of life’s unknowns…let us trust fully in that!

Luke 21:5-19

Well before the hurricane season begin… (on June 1^st) …we read and hear news reports with information that announces:

• How to stay safe when a named storm or hurricane is on its way.
• We are reminded of making two big mistakes:
• Panic…which can cause us to do the wrong things.
• And fatalism: which leads us to do nothing at all.

 

We are encouraged to make sure our houses are bolted or strapped to their foundations…

• We should make sure we have several weeks’ worth of supplies like water…food…batteries.
• And we need to have an evacuation plan.
• It is also important to get to know our neighbors better.
• In short…the urgency to always be ready.
• The Lord be with you.

 

In today’s gospel reading…Jesus is teaching in the temple and tells the people to watch out and not be deceived.

• While people marveled at the temple’s grand scale…
• Its construction…its massive columns and its decorations…
• Truly one of the wonders of the ancient world…
• Jesus said: The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another…all will be thrown down.

 

Jesus describes the terrible end that the great temple of Jerusalem will come to.

• But even as he begins to describe the end of all things…
• The terrible Day of the Lord…
• He makes it clear that we cannot use earth-shaking events as a reliable guide that the end is finally at hand.

 

Solomon’s temple…the first temple…had been destroyed by the Babylonians…

• After which the Judean leadership had been led into exile.
• After Babylon’s fall and upon the return of the exiles…
• The people envisioned rebuilding their lost temple.

 

But the effort was neglected because of political opposition…

• And exhaustion and the problems of day-to-day living.
• Prophets like Haggai and Zechariah called the people back to the great task…
• But it took decades for the temple to be rebuilt to the point where it could be used…
• And centuries until…under the leadership of the evil and much hated Herod the Great…
• It was brought to a state of magnificence.

 

God’s people must have felt that everything else could be destroyed when the great Day of the Lord came…

• But God’s temple would surely be left standing.
• So…many would have viewed Jesus’ prediction about the temple’s destruction as scandalous…
• And even treasonous.

 

It would be as if a well-known American claimed that our national landmarks in Washington DC would face destruction.

• In fact…Homeland Security would investigate us if we were to make such claims.
• The words of Jesus were no less startling…
• Clearly because he was talking about the Day of the Lord.

 

Amos made it clear that the Day of the Lord would be no refuge for God’s people.

• Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
• Why do you want the day of the Lord?
• It is darkness…not light.

 

So…in our passage…Jesus points to signs and wonders…

• Natural disasters…wars and civil unrest…as normal events in the movement of history.
• These were not to be interpreted as signs that the end was at hand.

 

Not even the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple…

• A political event that was still a few decades in the future when Jesus spoke these words… (70 AD).
• Meant that the world would end.

 

Just as we here in Florida take seriously the predictions of major hurricanes and are to be prepared…

• So too…should we…take seriously the words of Jesus not only about the end…
• But about the dangers of the world before the end.

 

Governments and nations may fall…

• The earth may shake…and tsunamis may lay waste to coastlines.
• And for this reason…we honor Jesus by imitating him in service to the poor…the neglected and the oppressed.
• In this way we demonstrate that Jesus reigns now…in our hearts…
• And will reign upon the earth eternally.

 

At the start of this millennium there was a great deal of fear-mongering about Y2K…

• A computer glitch that was supposedly going to lead to the total breakdown of society and mass chaos.
• Many people stored supplies such as generators and extra food and water… against that event.

 

January 1, 2000, came and went and many people in Elkhart County, Indiana sold their generators and used up their supplies.

• Thirteen months later…a massive ice storm hit that led to loss of power in some places for many days and weeks…
• During the coldest part of winter.
• Some individuals who had prepared for an apocalyptic Y2K meltdown were totally unprepared for an ordinary natural disaster.

 

In his essay…The World’s Last Night C.S. Lewis said:

• The best way to prepare for the end of the world is to be found at our post…
• Working for Jesus…and through Jesus…
• To serve those who are suffering in the world.

 

It is OK to look to the sky at the great astronomical wonders and study the political news that Jesus warns us about…but more importantly…

• We are to serve the widow…
• Wash the feet of the disciples…
• And offer a cup of cold water in his name.

 

And whether we are alive on the great day of his return…

• Let us store up our own survival supplies:
• The Word of God.
• The body of Christ…
• Found right here in our church family.
• And the strength we find in each other to do God’s work and be God’s hands and feet…
• In ministry and in mission.