What is Worship?

This post is in response to Larry Belew's open forum at http://larrylines.blogspot.com/ and to help him with the book he is writing titled, "The Four Faces of Worship."

My heart feels like it is about to be ripped from my own chest because of the pain I feel over the subject of worship. It seems the Church today has defined worship so narrowly, we lost our imagination and creativity.

We often think worship is what we do when we show up to church. We sing some songs. We pray. We listen to a sermon. We get a nice benediction, shake hands, and go home.

But I have a dream... that worship is so much more than this. I have a vision for worship as much more than simply what we do but more about who we are and who we are becomming.

Because I do not want to just DO church. I want to BE the Church. I believe we are called to BE the Kingdom of God here and now to a suffering world.

Do I think music, prayer, sermons, shaking hands, and benedictions are a part of worship? Absolutely. Worship is about our Lord calling us to worship, bringing our needs before our Lord, and receiving and hearing the Word. Worship is a time where we are fed, where we are ministered to, where we bring our brokenness before a God who cares.

But I also think worship is about responding to and sharing the Word. Once we hear the Word of God and once we feel the love of God, we must share it. We must respond. God's very breath of love for us demands a response of love... or indifference.

I worship outside of the church building all the time. When I write out a card to a sick person, I am worshiping. When I touch someone who is deemed an "outcast," I am worshipping. When I sit over coffee and share in community, I am worshipping. When I am being who I am called to be, a follower of Jesus Christ- laying down my life in service and love for others, I am worshipping.

We cut ourselves short when we assume worship is merely about being fed by a sermon. We cut ourselves off when we assume worship is only about music. Because worship is also about extending our arms to feed others. Worship is about taking what we learned and sharing it. Worship is about recieving the Word and then giving the Word back out again.

Being fed is good but it is not the end. It is only the beginning.

We went to the zoo today and I watched my little 2 year old feeding the swans, ducks, fish, geese, and anything else around. I gave him little nuggets of food and he would chuck it into the water and watch with glee as the others ate it. The picture on the top of this blog post is of the little ducks my little boy fed today.

As I watched him, I could not help but think about the Church. I could see the people in the church through the actions of my little boy.

He was so excited to receive the nugget. It was a fun nugget. But if my little boy would have choosen to simply hold it in his hand, he would be robbed of a whole lot of joy. That little brown nugget is not much fun to hold onto by yourself. That little brown nugget would cause him to feel dry and lifeless after awhile if that is all he had. It is nice to receive the nugget but it is even better to throw it out to others and to watch them not go hungry anymore. It was way more exciting to watch these little ducks pictured here happy and full than it was to hold onto a brown chunk of food.

So what is worship? Worship is recieving nuggets and tossing them out to others.

And the reason my heart is breaking- is because I fear the Church will continue to go towards death if it refuses to let go of the nuggets. If we go to church to nurse, to eat, to feed only (and being satisfied with this understanding of worship), I am afraid we are going to suffer. And if we decide to respond to God's love (that we so graciously encounter during worship time, in a building) with indifference for the community, then I fear we cease to BE the Church of Jesus Christ.

For when we hang onto the nugget without giving it out, we feel dry. When we ask for sermons, music, and more "worship" time without preaching the Word in love to others, we continue to be hungry for more and more and more.


We do not even realize... it is the demands for more spiritual food in the church building's worship time causing us to be more hungry, causing us to need more.


I believe if responded to the time we do spend in worship (where the Lord calls us, we bring our needs before the Lord, and we receive and hear the Word of the Lord) BY GIVING OUT the nugget of love through personal interaction and love, we would get the spiritual lift we so desperately desire.


And so I am sad, because of the deep irnony. I am sad because what we want is also what we reject. We want to be fed but refuse to feed.


If we do not want to be so hungry, we must let go of the nugget.




Even scripture says something about this. Hebrews 5 says (NCV), "By now you should be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God's message. You still need the teaching that is like milk. You are not ready for solid food. Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and knows nothing about right teaching. But solid food is for those who are grown up."





The Church should be teachers, passing off the nuggets of milk to others. Instead we cry because we want more milk. We want to be fed. We want better sermons. We want more sermons. We want a better pastor.





As for this pastor, I want to be a teacher IN the building and OUTSIDE the building, affecting the world. I want to love my people in the building and spill out to the neighborhood. I want the community to look at the church building and say, "wow, look at how they love me."





But how will those in the commmunity outside our building ever, ever know we love them- if we stay inside our buildings hearing the first lessons of God's message again and again? If we cry for more milk instead of sharing the milk?





And so, because I believe defining worship as something we do IN a church building can be limiting, I am going to propose something radical for Larry Belew and his open forum. I think worship is all everyone says it is (that happens in a building) AND also getting out of the building to love people. Love the outcasts. Love the undesirables. Love the hungry. Love the poor. Love people.





Worship involves being loved and sharing love. Worship involves receiving the Word of God in sermons, prayer, music and whatever else and responding to the Word in acts of love that actually encounter people. Not just throwing money at people in an offering plate at church but to encounter the poor, sick, elderly, and the outcasts is an essential and necessary part of worship.

Grisham's "The Street Lawyer" Meets "The Irresistible Revolution"

I read two books at the same time, crazy enough. John Grisham's "The Street Lawyer" (published by Dell in 2003) and Shane Claiborne's "The Irresistible Revolution" (published by Zondervan in 2006).

One is a fiction story about a rich, white lawyer coming face-to-face with homeless people. The other is about how we are invited (dared even) to love so deeply we breathe life, hope, and imagination into the Church through the experience of "the outcasts and undesirables" (127).

The fiction story paints a picture of the pain and suffering of people who are homeless and the other composes a musical for living out passionate love. When read together, the painting and the symphony are composed into something beautiful, something exciting.

Grisham brings us alongside the life of Michael Brock, a wealthy lawyer who's marriage is falling apart about as quickly as his grasp on life. When a homeless man takes Michael and several of the lawyers in his firm hostage, it changes Michael's perspective on life.

From the homeless man's mouth we read these penetrating questions: "Have you ever been hungry?" and "Have you ever slept in the snow?" The homeless man adds: "You make a lot of money, yet you're too greedy to hand me some change on the sidewalk... you spend more on fancy coffee than I do on meals. Why can't you help the poor, the sick, the homeless? You have so much" (16).

And then Grisham paints a haunting picture for us. Through the mind of Michael, transformed by his experience of the homeless man, we see him walk into a shelter. Michael describes his experience like this: "I gawked in amazement at the sheer number of poor people stuffed into the basement. Some were lying on the floor, trying to sleep. Some were sitting in groups, talking in low tones. Some were eating at long tables and others in their folding chairs. Every square inch along the walls was covered with people sitting with their backs to the cinder blocks. Small children cried and played as their mothers tried to keep them close. Winos lay rigid, snoring through it all. Volunteers passed out blankets and walked among the throng, handing out apples" (75).

Grisham does a phenominal job of using words to place us into scenes where it hurts. It is even more effective when it enables us to see in our mind's eye the pain and suffering Claiborne dares us to touch.

When Michael is helping to feed a long line of hungry people he asks a lady who served for years, "Do you ever get used to seeing these people?" And she responds, "Never, honey... it still breaks my heart" (81).

Shane tells us love is hard. He quotes Mother Teresa saying, "Love until it hurts, and then love more" and adds with a quote from Dorothy Day that love is "the most difficult and the most beautiful thing in the world" (136).

With Michael, we get a glimpse into what it would look like if someone took the time and effort to learn the pain of loving people who suffer.

Before long Michael falls in love with a family, a mother with four children. He plays with the 4 year old and rocks a baby to sleep. He even goes and buys them diapers and other things, hoping to help them. Then something tragic happens to the family and Michael's world is turned upside down. Someone he loved was hurt.

Shane also talks about loving others and says, "we have family members who are starving and homeless, or dying of AIDS, or in the midst of war" (202). And this author pushes us to see beyond ourselves, see beyond our own genetic or national family to see our family is "without border" and is "both local and global" (200). Our family is "extended across the planet" (202).

With Michael, the rich lawyer... we see ourselves. We see someone just like us who learns to love the crying baby and the hyper four year old. We see Michael glimpse into the life of the homeless and then do something about it!

Michael's family and friends think he's gone crazy. He gave up a nice home, lexus, and a job that paid tremendously well, for a tiny little office without matching chairs. He gave up "stuff" for a job from which he could only hope to receive a paycheck.

One friend tells Micahel "it's obvious you've lost your mind" (154). And I hear Shane Claiborne's words ringing out, "what do we do when we are the ones who have gone sane in a crazy world" (21)? For who is really crazy? Michael, the one who loves enough to be amongst the homeless or those who think he's crazy for giving up so much money?

However, if I am honest, there is at least one stark contrast between the books. Grisham speaks of the lawyer as the voice for the voiceless. Someone tells Michael, "the homeless have no voice. No one listens, no one cares, and they expect no one to help them" (104). I am afraid that sentence would cause Shane to have a heart attack from the pain in his chest.

Shane says, "Everyone has a voice" and suggests we are "too quick to assume folks cannot speak for themselves" (128). Shane goes the extra mile on this one. He goes as far as to say, "It is a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but become geniune friends and family with whom we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle" (128).

Wow. No longer are the homeless and poor simply "weak" to us. They become family, someone we love like a brother or sister. Someone we would never claim to be voiceless.

What a challenge. What a dare to join the adventure; to join the irresistible revolution... as a friend, as family... to the homeless.

One thing I love to read are Shane's words about how no one is beyond redemption. He says, "We are made of the same dust. We cry the same tears" (266). No one is so evil that we should consider them beyond love, beyond grace, and beyond transformation. Shane says, "how easily we objectify and demonize others" (265) and dares us to imagine another way to view even the people we would deem most evil. He encourages us to "have new eyes" so we might "look into the eyes of those we don't even like and see the One we love. We can see God's image in everyone we encounter" (266).

In Grisham's book, in the last several pages, we see redemption play out in a seemingly impossible way. Love, peace, and hope transform even the wildest of beasts in the end. Grisham could have easily let his book end without a redemptive quality and let the sinners burn for all eternity... but does not.

However, I will not share how this happens! You'll have to read the book to see it for yourself.

"Who's My Family?" Galatians 4:4-7

This is the sermon for Trinity Church of the Nazarene on December 28, 2008 using the book by Shane Claiborne, "Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical," (published by Zondervan, 2006).

When I was growing up, there was a TV sitcom called “Family Matters.” Does anyone remember this show? It was part of “TGIF” on Friday nights and one of the only shows I was allowed to watch.

It was a show about the Winslow family and their annoying neighbor… Steve Urkel .

Steve had a high-pitched voice, snorted when he laughed, broke everything he touched, and always said the same line, “Did I do that?” Which of course, he did. He broke lamps, shattered windows, burned down buildings, and invented disasters.

Carl, the Winslow family’s father would scream out, “GO HOME STEVE” and Steve would respond, “I don’t have to take this, I’m going home.”

And although the Winslow family is completely annoyed with their crazy kid neighbor…Steve ends up becoming a member of the Winslow family.

They take Steve into that house they asked him to leave… when his parents go away (forever).

Steve was even quoted to have told Eddie and Laura, Carl Winslow’s kids, “I’d give anything to have a brother or sister… or parents who call.”

Steve is left orphaned.

And the Winslow family takes him in, in spite of how annoying, pathetic, aggravating, irritating, or infuriating he is.

And by the final seasons, when Steve is lost in outer space… he returns to the Winslow house to hear these words, “Welcome home Steve”

…“Go home,” to “Welcome Home.” That’s quite a shift.

Even annoying neighbors can become family.

Our passage of scripture today is about family, our family in Christ, from Galations 4:4-7.

That first phrase in verse four is best translated from the original Greek, “In the fullness of time” (NRSV). Because to translate it “in the fullness of time” captures the author’s intent to speak of an ongoing work of redemption; the ongoing work of God to redeem all of creation.

“In the fullness of time” captures God’s purpose to continue working on us, to continue creating us, to continue transforming us into who we were meant to be.

If we read this verse, “In the fullness of time God sent a Son,” we understand in the fullness of time, God sends a Son… after reaching out to the people of Israel again and again.

Israel is the annoying neighbor, Steve Urkel, who breaks up everything. The people of Israel are the infuriating group of people who mess up relationships and destroy who they were meant to be in the fullness of creation.

And in the fullness of time, God sends a son to this annoying, infuriating group of people.

We just celebrated the birth of this Son of God, Jesus Christ, this week. We lit our white pillar candle in the Advent Wreath. We put Jesus in the manger scene. Jesus Christ, God’s son is born!

We celebrated this “fullness of time” and continue to celebrate it today.

We celebrate that this Son, shakes everything up we think we understand.

We rejoice in the fact this Son, changes all of creation.

This Son, quakes our very being.

Because this Son, is divine. This Son is completely God. This Son, is heir to the Almighty, Most Holy One.

This son… is the child of God. This Son is connected in his very breath to God.

And we, the neighbors of Jesus, are like Steve Urkel.

We break stuff. We tear apart relationships. We destroy homes. We devastate others.

We are the annoying neighbor who damages everything.

And yet, through Jesus, our brother in humanity, we are adopted into this divine family.

Through Jesus, we are grafted into the family of God.

Through Jesus, we become members of Gods’ family.

Through Jesus, we are adopted as heirs.

One of the most beautiful Christmas songs we love to sing is “Oh Holy Night” and the last verse of this beautiful Christmas song says, “The slave is our brother.”

Wow. The slave is our brother. That’s a packed phrase.

Even though we are the annoying neighbor, the one who does not belong to the family… the slave is our brother.
The slave, the one who REALLY does not belong to the family… is OUR brother

… which means if we are brothers with Jesus… we are IN the family.

That Christmas song continues… “The slave is our brother and in his name, all oppression shall cease.”

Wow. More amazing language.

Because we are all family. Because we are all brothers and sister. Because we are ALL family; adopted into the family of God through our brother Jesus Christ… ALL oppression shall cease.

All pain and suffering shall cease, finish, come to an end—when we realize and act on the fact we are all family.

All oppression and coercion and domination ceases, finishes, comes to an end… when we realize we are all family. We are all brothers and sisters.


So the question becomes… who is my family?

Is the annoying relative who shows up during the holidays my family?

Is the disastrous mess of a person we try to forget is in my family… really family?

Are the people who live next door to me family?

Are the people in the Nazarene churches far out in Western Kansas my family?

Are the Nazarene Churches in California my family?

Are the people in the Methodist church my family?

Are the people in the Baptist church my family? The people in the Pentecostal church? The Episcopalian church?

Are the people who sell me food at the farmers market my family?

Are the people who bag my groceries family? What about the people who made the wheat that goes in the bread I eat?

Are the people who drive by in cars next to me family?

Are people at the airport my family? What about ships and boats?

Are the people in Europe my family? France? Egypt? Israel? Palestine?

Are the people in the Middle East my family?

Are the people covered in dirt to dig in diamond mines in Africa my family? Or working in factories my family?

The people asked Jesus this very same question… except it was phrased slightly different. They asked, “Who is my neighbor?” And what did Jesus say?

He told them a story… about a man who was left for dead on the Jericho road. Lots of people passed by him; even a priest. The one person who stopped to help this dying man was a Samaritan; the filthiest, least-liked person around those days. Samaritans were half-breeds of Jews; they were only half Jew and thus, worthless.

And by using such a radical story Jesus shouts out in response to “who is my neighbor?” EVERYONE is your neighbor.

And so… when we ask, “Who is my family?”

We shout out with Jesus, “EVERYONE is your family.”

Wow. Everyone, seriously? Cause I’m not a fan of that. There’s a lot of people who I do NOT want to count as family members.


There is a man named Shane Claiborne who never ceases to make me want to be a better person. When I watch him, I see who I was meant to be in creation’s purposes.

When I see his life, I see who I can be.

When Shane was in college, he says God transformed his life. He says that he “used to be cool” and then he met Jesus and “he wrecked” his life (41). He says Jesus took everything he thought was good and turned it around. Jesus took everything he thought had value and flipped it upside down.

He went from Homecoming King to sleeping on the streets… for Jesus.

Shane says that most of us become Christians and wonder if there’s more to life than simply laying your “life and sins at the foot of the cross” (38). We get that we’re forgiven but we want to know what we do, now that we are forgiven.

Shane currently lives in the poorest section of Philadelphia, by choice.

He spends his life, literally working to create another world… to actually BE the Kingdom of God here and now. To be who we were meant to be in creation’s purposes.

Shane and his friends have a house where many people live together. They hang out with kids and help them with their homework. People are allowed to drop in their living room at any time and find a place to get water, cry, or even get warm with a blanket. The run art camps and share food… but most significantly, they live amongst the outcasts and the undesirables.

Shane wrote several books, including one I read this week called “Irresistible Revolution” where he talks about the family of God.

In this book Shane says Jesus “had a new definition of family, rooted in the idea we are adopted as orphans into the family of God and that this rebirth creates a new kinship that runs deeper than biology or geography or nationality” for we are a family “without borders,” a family that is “local and global” (200). We are a family that transcends “biology, tribe, or nationality” (200).

We are a “kin-dom” (201).

Shane says we have “family members who are starving and homeless, or dying of AIDS, or in the midst of war” (202).

And Shane treats everyone on the streets, everyone he passes, all the outcasts and all the undesirables… as if they are family. They are not even undesirable to him. They are his family. And he treats them as such.

I don’t know about you but I can see where I fall short of such a beautiful vision for all of creation. I can see where my life does not treat people like they are family.

I can see who I was meant to be and where I choose myself over community.

I can see where I treat my dog better than I do the homeless.

I can see where I treat my actual biological sister better than I do victims.

I can see where I treat my son better than I do the dying and undesirable.

But in the fullness of time, God sent a son. God sent a Son to shake up our world. To wreck our lives.

To ask us to love the Steve Urkels in our life so much, they become our family.

To ask us to treat the Steve Urkels who break our coffee table, who blow up houses with horrid inventions, who destroy everything we hold dear… to take them in and love them as family.

God came in the fullness of time, born of a woman, in order to redeem us and adopt us in as family, as children of God.

And so tonight, in our evening service… we’re going to start doing something radical.

I preached during Advent about being the Kingdom of God and challenged you to love people in nursing homes and even to shop wisely with love for those who made the things we buy.

But now, now that Christmas is here… we are going to act.

I want to encourage you this afternoon to pray and search for phone numbers. I want us to find numbers of soup kitchens in town, find numbers of nursing homes in town, and find out what is already happening in this town to treat the outcasts and undesirables with love and compassion as if they were family.

See here’s the thing eating away at me.

We are quick to throw money. We are quick to compile Crisis Care Kits (WHICH IS A VERY GOOD THING). We are quick to give money in that red pot for the Salvation Army. We are quick to write our checks.

BUT… do we know any of those people personally?

We don’t know the people who will receive our Crisis Care Kits. We don’t know who is receiving our money from the Evangelism Fund. We don’t know who is eating because of our check. And they are our family!

*

Don't get me wrong. Giving money to support people who live and love amongst the poor is a VERY GOOD thing. But I want more. I'm thirsty to be who I was created to be-- loving all people in the family of God. I'm hungry to truly be in community with people who are different from me.

*

Many of us don’t know the hungry baby with a wet diaper. Many of us don’t know the homeless man. Many of us don’t know the crack addict. Many of us don’t know the lonely woman lying in the bed day after day.

Many of us don’t know them. We are so far removed.

We “applaud” Christ for ministering to the poor but we forget to “care about the same things” (113).

We “adore” Christ’s cross “without taking up ours” (113).

And I have a gut feeling… we will learn more about God in the tears of others than I could ever preach to you. Something tells me in my gut, God will speak louder to us through those who suffer and whom we know personally than my 8 years of education and text-book reading could ever teach.


I want to be able to say with Shane, “It is a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but become genuine friends and family with whom we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle” (128).

So tonight, come with ideas. Come with phone numbers. Pray about where we might discover ourselves laughing, crying, dreaming, and struggling with the outcasts and undesirables.

Because we are going to make calls tonight.

We are going to pick Sunday nights where we go meet people, where we get to know people, where we treat the undesirables as family.

Where they shift from a "they" and become an "us."

Let’s pray:

Dear Lord God,

We come before you with this radical message of love and ask you to transform us. Transform our idea of family. Transform our hearts that we might open them up with compassion for the undesirables. Transform our minds to find room to love those we currently deem unwanted and unworthy.

God, we want to be who you created us to be. But we are so weak. We are so feeble and so needy. We want huge things and do not know how to open our lives, hearts, and minds.

So use the message today and our plans for loving others to make us into who we were meant to be.

As we get to know people in our community who are currently deemed undesirable, poor, lonely, and annoying, change us.

Make us all your family.

Bless us in ways we cannot even imagine or dream up yet.

Make us one in you, one with each other, and one with people who are currently invisible and unwanted to us.

We love you, Lord. Amen.

Pastoral Prayers During Advent

I published a pastoral prayer (on Nov 30) and lamented about how hard it is to hit that "publish post" button for prayers. But since that post, I received more (personal) feedback on that prayer than almost any other post. It seems, my vulnerability to allow my written prayers to be read by others made a huge difference.

Some of you even prayed these words to God yourself. And if I can help you discover a voice and find words to speak to God, than who am I to hold back these prayers?

And so (again) because I care more about God's plan for redemption than I do my desire to keep my prayers to myself, here are the two other pastoral prayers I prayed during the Advent season. The picture you see above is from "scripturepics.org," a great resource for pastors and church ministry leaders.

Pastoral Prayer for December 21, 2008 (4th Sunday of Advent, LOVE):

Lord God, the one who graciously extends mercy and love when you call, create, and redeem us.

Thank you for being a God who continuously reaches out for us, no matter what we do- or who we are.

Thank you for continuing to call us no matter how insignificant we feel.

We come before you in love and adoration for who you are and thus, who you are making us... people who respond to your gracious action with passion, creativity, and imagination to BE your Kingdom- to BE your body to the world, who so desperately needs you.

We lift up the needs of this body to you. * Prayers for my People*

Lord God, take all of who we are- all of who we really are (the lowly and insignificant) and make us into more than we could ever imagine or dream for ourselves.

Take our hearts on this 4th Sunday of Advent and set them on fire with hope, peace, love, and joy. May all we say and do in worship help form us into people who become a part of what you are doing to redeem all of creation.

We want to be a part of what you are doing- it's exciting. It's thrilling.

Thank you for calling us insignificant people to take part in your significant plans for all of creation.

We love you Lord, Amen.

Pastoral Prayer, December 7, 2008 (2nd Sunday of Advent, PEACE):

Lord God of all comfort and peace, draw us near to you even now.

On this day, this second Sunday of Advent- where we focus on the power of your peace, transform the ways we think about peace.

Show us the places and spaces where we looked for ways to replace your peace- the ways we tried to make ourselves safe without any regard to your peace.

And please, dear Lord, forgive us. Your peace changes everything-- even our need to feel secure.

Your plan for creation, your plan for peace, is so much greater than our plans.

Forgive us for loving our plans so much more than your beautiful plans. Forgive us for loving what we want more than what you ask of us.

We submit to you and your plan to redeem all of creation-- in your idea of peace; not our own.

We trade what we want for what you want.

And Lord, bring your peace deep into the suffering of this congregation. *Prayers for my People*

Lord God, be near to those in the places around the world where peace seems impossible. Be with those suffering so imensly around the globe, their very life may end even today... because of a lack of your peace.

Hold them close. It's not fair they suffer so much. It's not fair they die.

With your eyes, we see them.

With your heart, we love them.

With your compassion, we suffer knowing they suffer.

Please dear God, hold the dying, oppressed, and suffering so close to you- they feel your heartbeat and breath. And show us, your Church, how to breathe your peace all around the world... where peace seems beyond our reach.

Remind us nothing is impossible with you.

We love you Lord, set our hearts on fire- even now. To become the kinds of people who love your peace- and have a vision for how your peace can change even the most chaotic places around the globe.

Calm the chaotic waters in our hearts that we might help calm the chaotic waters of those whom you love; even if they are, at this moment, completely invisible to us.

We love you Lord, Amen.

Blessed Among Women, Luke 1:26-38

This is the sermon for Sunday, December 21, 2008 at Trinity Church of the Nazarene. The picture is from "Art in the Christian Tradition" from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. I choose this picture because it reveals the redemptive work God is doing (with the hint towards Adam and Eve in the corner). There are many, many more beautiful depictions of the annunciation. You should really check them out at http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-search.pl (and type in annunciation).

Have you heard any jokes with the intent of making fun of blonds or brunettes lately?

I saw one recently that caused me to laugh out loud.

Apparently during Thanksgiving a Mom wanted to play a joke on her blonde daughter and decided to send her to the store for some last minute Thanksgiving items. Before she returned, she pulled her blonde daughter’s turkey out of the oven, pulled out the stuffing, and replaced it with a Cornish hen. When the daughter returned she took the turkey out of the oven, placed it on the table for serving, and was mortified. She thought she cooked a pregnant turkey.

…. Even though turkeys lay eggs.

Or what about the joke that tells about two brunettes going sky diving? The instructor told these two find brunettes to pull their parachute when they reach the point they can recognize people on the ground. After thinking about it for a moment, one of them quietly asks, “But what if there’s no one I know down there?”

Oh, that one’s bad. But the point is we have fun making fun of people, do we not? Some of us are anti-blonde and some of us are anti-brunette. It is a horrible tragedy in the world. There’s poverty, world hunger... and then there's blonde jokes.

But even a far greater tragedy than this anti-blonde or brunette behavior is the anti-Mary behavior some of us have in the Protestant Church. We almost ignore this person who was the mother of our Lord.

We (good protestants) try very hard to make sure we do not accidently start worshipping her.

It's fairly ridiculous, really. The Bible says Mary is to be blessed among all women. “Blessed among all women,” we fail at this one.

Mary’s song, in Luke chapter 2, says, “Surely from now on all generations will call” Mary “blessed” (NRSV).

But (as Kaza Fraley says) we “treat” Mary “almost like a footnote in the Christmas story; push her to the side. She is an unwanted ugly stepsister, who sits in the corner waiting to be noticed.”

And so today, with this sermon, we are going to honor Mary, the mother of our Lord.
We are going to bless her today, among all women. We are going to honor scripture by honoring Mary.

Today we are focusing on the scripture passage where Mary is called to bear the Christ child from Luke 1:26-38.

Mary is a beautiful part of our Nativity Christmas story. She should be “blessed among all women,” as scripture says.

Mary’s response to the call of God on her life absolutely fascinates me. And it should fascinate all of us.

God calls her to bear the Christ child, calls her to do something completely radical, and border line crazy… and she responds just as she should.

She says, “How can this be?”

In other words, “Why in the WORLD would you pick me?” “Of all people, why me?”

She gives a list of reasons why it does not make sense.

She asks questions.

And what she means is… “I’m nothing God, why me? Why in the world would you call little old me, to do something so fantastic and great for your redemptive purposes? WHY me? Why pick ME to bear the Messiah?”

I don't know about you, but this has happened to me before.

Here recently, I began to really understand how poor Mary must have felt.

God asked me to do something really, really radical in November.

I was in the bathroom at Barnes and Noble after writing Advent devotions with Pastor Kaza(from Mulvane) for our congregations.

I was in the bathroom and my life changed forever.

And yes, I feel the need to pause here. Because it just sounds way too cool to move on with the sermon. … I went to the bathroom and my life changed forever.

Anyway, I looked in the mirror and God asked me to do something crazy. And what do you think my response was?

… “How can this be?” “Why in the world would you pick me?” “Of all people why me?”

When God called me to do something radical, I responded just like Mary.

The craziest thing about being called by God is we realize how insignificant we are.

It happened to Mary. “Why me, God, I’m so insignificant.”

It happened to me in the bathroom of Barnes and Noble, “God, why me? I’m so pathetic?”

And… Like Mary, when God calls us we realize we are completely unable to create ourselves. We realize we are completely unable to call ourselves. We are completely unable to redeem ourselves.

God must do the action for us.

We are simply passive recipients of this gracious act of God to call our name to do something radical.

God graciously acts to create, call, and redeem us. And we say, “How in the world can this be?!”

See the truth is: salvation—being saved—is nothing more than little people getting caught up in God’s big plans.

Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon say (in “Lord Teach Us”), “Salvation is the delightful surprise of having your little life caught up in the purposes of God for the whole world” (21).

We are nothing. It is true. We are fairly insignificant. We are just human. We are nothing more than “little lives.”

And so Mary’s response is right on target for normal human response to God's call: "How can this be?"

My response was right, “Why in the world would you pick ME to do that radical thing, God?”

BUT-

When Mary is called… she finds her little servant self caught up in God’s plan to redeem all of creation through bearing the Christ child.

This is salvation.

This is being saved.

This is Mary becoming a co-creator alongside of the Divine Creator. Allowing her body to become the body that bears the Christ child.

And what does Mary say AFTER her questions concerning her insignificance?

Mary says, “I am a servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” (NCV).

And, just like Mary, when God called me to do something really radical in November, I said something super intelligent like, “Uh huh. Okay God.”

Just like our precious mother of our Lord, I said, “Okay, God. Okay.”

After lots of questions and pointing out our insignificance to the divine, in our best moments… we say, “Okay God.”

We respond to the Great and Holy One, in spite of our insignificance, in spite of our “little selves” and we say, “Okay God.”

And as Mary realizes in spite of her lowliness, in spite of her slave status, in spite of any difficulties there may be because of who she is… she breaks out in song.

She finds great joy and her heart is thrilled, excited to take part in what God is doing.

And just like Mary… when God called me to do something radical in November (after my long list of why I was not good enough to be called to do something so big), I wanted to break out into song too.

I wanted to sing too.

In spite of who I really am (at my worst), God picked me to take part of the redemption of all of creation- in a big way.

And suddenly I understood “The Magnificent,” Mary’s song, in a new way. My soul wanted to magnify the Lord, my spirit wanted to rejoice in God my Savior. Because God looked at someone as lowly as me and chose me to do something big, something amazing—to take part in the ongoing work to redeem and draw all of creation towards God.

Because when God called Mary and when God called me, our hearts break out in song. We are filled with joy- that God would pick someone as lowly as us to take part in what God is doing for all of creation.

No longer are we passive recipients of this grace of God. No longer do we sit and just receive the gracious action of God on our behalf.

We get to jump up with creativity and imagination to be dynamic. To be active. To create alongside of the Holy One.

We are called, just like Mary- to have Christ born in us.

We are called, just like Mary- to deliver Christ to the world.

God chose each of us, each of us lowly little people- unworthy to be called. God picked us in spite of any questions we have, in spite of any objections on how we are not good enough—God picked us.

God selected us and called us to take part in what God is doing to redeem all of creation.

We are all called, alongside of Mary to bear the Christ child.

We will not be carrying around Christ in our womb. Only one woman was blessed among all women to do this.

But she was an example for us. She was a model.

Mary was a beautiful example for how we should accept the call of God in our life to become active participants in what God is doing to redeem all of creation.


The question now is: How are you called to deliver the Christ child to the world?

How is Christ being born in YOU this advent season?

How do you bear the Christ child in your body?

I am sure all of you are wondering what God called me to in November, at Barnes and Noble. I am sure all of you are wondering what radical thing God asked me to do… what crazy thing caused me to hold my breathe and say, “Me, really, God? Seriously?”

Well my call continues like this…

While I was in the bathroom at Barnes and Noble, I looked in the mirror. And I heard God say, “Do you remember what you wanted to be in the 5th grade?”

Of course I remembered. I wanted to be a writer.

God said, “Go. Write. Be who I created you to be.”

And my jaw dropped.

That night I sat down at my computer with 1000 questions for God from “What in the world do you want me to write?” to “What if no one wants to read this?!”

And God said again. “Let me take care of all the details. Just write. Be who I made you to be.”

And I said, “Okay, God.”

And so I started to write. I wrote every single night… after working all day as pastor, making dinner, taking care of my 2 1/2 year old, and trying really hard to potty train… I would stay up until almost 1:00am writing, writing, and writing some more.

Before long God spoke to me again. It was around chapter 5.

God said, “I am calling you to create a fiction novel that brings theology to life with characters my people can fall in love with and from whom they can learn.”

And yet again, my jaw hung open.

And I said, “Okay, Lord. Let’s do this.”

I began November 12 and I finished December 12.

That is FOUR WEEKS.

After that radical call of God… and after my humble acceptance of that crazy call… I wrote 29 chapters of a theological fiction novel. At night, when everyone else was asleep.

It is 29 chapters of discovering who we are in God’s plan to redeem all of creation. It is 29 chapters of characters becoming who they were meant to be even when they encounter death and suffering. It is 29 chapters far better than anything little Pastor Christy could have come up with on her own.

It was God’s call on my life. It was God’s choosing me, in spite of who I know I really am, and equipping me for a huge task.

God asked me to deliver the Christ child through a theological ficiton book.

And so I turn the questioning on you again.

How are you called to deliver the Christ child to the world?

How is Christ being born in YOU this advent season?

How do you bear the Christ child in your body?

Mine was in a novel. A novel, that believe it or not has already been reviewed by an editor and the manuscript is set to be bound this week for further editing to prepare for publisher proposals. 5 1/2 weeks now, after God called.

And an artist already created drafts for a book cover, 5 1/2 weeks now, after God asked me to do something radical, something I didn't think I was equipped to do. Something crazy, like Mary, to bear the Christ child through my life.

What are you called to do, to deliver Christ to a world in need of redemption and love?

What is God calling you to do?

And do you have the guts to respond like Mary?

..."I am a servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say."

Coming of our Lord Advent Devotions, WEEK FIVE

Week Five: Ready for the Lord to Come; December 21 through Dec 27. Written by: Rev. Kazimiera I.H. Fraley and Rev. Christy Gunter-Leppert. Since these devotions are for the week of Christmas, we planned only two devotions.

Meditation One: Isaiah 9:2-7

Read Isaiah 9:2-7

As we read through these verses the strong chords of Handel’s masterpiece ring through our heads proclaiming the eternal reign of the Messiah. Isaiah gives a litany of adjectives explaining what kind of ruler the Christ is expected to be. As we look at this list we must always remember we are called to be reflections of Christ to this world.

In this passage we have a description of who Christ is in all his glory. When we encounter the holiness of the Christ who has come, we find ourselves unable to do anything but join Handel’s angelic throngs, fall on our faces and sing, “And He shall reign forever and ever. . .”

Reflection for the Day:
Take time today to meditate on the glory and holiness of God.

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, you are the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
And we come before you this Christmas week proclaiming your authority.
You are the child born us.
Change us as we encounter you in all your glory.

Weekly Action:
Find a copy of Handel’s Messiah and listen to it sometime this week.


* * * * * *


Meditation Two: Titus 2:11-14

Read Titus 2:11-14

Our Hearts are full of anticipation as we know Christmas is all but here. We know the presents will soon be in our laps and our children will be listening for reindeer hoofs on the roof top. We hold our breath in excitement. We sang all the carols and wrapped all the gifts. The tree is glittering in all its glory; all things are ready. The time has come for us to celebrate the coming Messiah.

As we are preparing hearts and our homes for this occasion, we also must be ready for God to make all things complete in us. Our anticipation for the coming Christ should transform us and shape us to be the people we are created to be; reflections of God’s love revealed in Christ.

Reflection for the Day:
How does Christmas renew in us an idea of who God has called us to be?

Daily Prayer:
We anticipate your coming with great excitement.
As we look forward to you, change our lives now, here, in the present.
Make us who you want us to be.

Weekly Action:
Find a copy of Handel’s Messiah and listen to it sometime this week.

Coming of Our Lord Advent Devotions, WEEK FOUR

Week Four: Being Ready for the Lord to Come, December 14th - December 20th.

Written by: Rev. Kazimiera I.H. Fraley and Rev. Christy Gunter-Leppert.

Meditation One: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Read 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Did you ever know someone who had to do everything? For whatever reason, they seem to think if anything is going to get done with any amount of accuracy, they have to do it all; and they have to do it all by themselves. They want to be in control so badly, they convinced themselves no one else can do what needs to be done acceptably. And although everything gets done and everything turns out perfectly, the other people in their lives miss our on the blessings one gets when a person gives of themselves to make something happen. Sometimes we, like David, are called to step back and allow others to work alongside of us as we all work together to accomplish the task at hand.

Reflection for the Day:
Is there anything you feel you absolutely must have control of, in order for it to turn out right? In what ways would it be a blessing to someone else to allow them to work with you to get that one thing done?

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, teach us how to give up control this Christmas so we might allow others to be blessed by working towards the task at hand. Show us how to give up our desire to be the doer and instead let someone else take over that role.

Weekly Action:
Create one new tradition for your family that will help you get ready for the coming of Christ.

* * * * *

Meditation Two: Psalm 89:1-4, 18-26

Read Psalm 89:1-4, 18-26

The people of Israel, even in their unfaithfulness, looked to God expecting faithfulness in the promise of a Davidic King. We know this promise was fulfilled in the coming of the Christ child. Think how those who waited and looked forward to the promised Messiah must have felt as they seemed God’s promise was taking too long. They knew God was faithful and yet so much time passed. It must have been hard for them to truly believe and hope in such a promise.

We too wait for the Messiah to come, and as we look at the world in chaos all around us, it is hard to believe God’s promised Messiah will ever come again. In this Advent season, we must allow our faith and hope to be renewed so we can trust, as the people of Israel did, that God is faithful in all things and God will do what was promised.

Reflection for the Day:
What things in this world cause us to doubt God’s promises? How can you allow God to renew your faith this season?

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, our promised Messiah. Help us to believe in your faithfulness even when horrible things happen around us. We want to trust in your faithfulness, but we often lose heart.
As we get ready for you to come, renew our faith. Give us hope.
Transform our hearts.

Weekly Action:
Create one new tradition for your family that will help you get ready for the coming of Christ.

* * * * *

Meditation Three: Romans 16:25-27

Read Romans 16:25-27

During the weeks leading up to Christmas, we proclaim the good news of the coming Christ and the impact this event brings. At first this event seems small and insignificant, a baby in a humble barn, but in reality this story changes everything.

The truth of a God found in a manger is at the heart of the gospel message Paul speaks about in this passage. We see glimpses of Christ in the Old Testament passages we studied the past few weeks. And because we know Christ has come, we see how Christ was revealed in these Old Testament prophesies and we see how God fulfills these promises to inspire our faith; as we are making ourselves ready for the coming of our Lord.

Reflection for the Day:
In what ways does the Old Testament point forward towards the Messiah who will soon come? How does the fulfilling of these promises strengthen your faith that Christ will come again?

Daily Prayer:
Lord, impact our lives with the shocking encounter of who you are. We see you about to be born into the filth of this earth. We see you coming in the most common way. But you are anything but common- you are the one prophesied in ages past, the one who fulfills the promise, and the one for whom we still hope.

Weekly Action:
Create one new tradition for your family that will help you get ready for the coming of Christ.

* * * * *

Meditation Four: Luke 1:25-38

Read Luke 1:25-38

Just as Mary was pregnant with the coming of our Lord, we too are pregnant with the callings which God has placed on our lives. As we ponder the words God spoke to us throughout this Advent season, let us not be afraid. Although, it may seem what God is calling us to do is too great of a task to carry, let us respond to God in faith, as Mary did, “I am the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.”

Reflection for the Day:
What seeming great thing is God asking you to do?

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, here I am. Let whatever you want for me,
be according to your word
I am your servant, ready to answer your great call.

Weekly Action:
Create one new tradition for your family that will help you get ready for the coming of Christ.

* * * * *

"Comfort as we Prepare for the Coming of the Lord," Isaiah 40:1-11

This picture is from "scripturepics.org" again, and has two candles for the Second Sunday of Advent. On this Second Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of Peace.

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, it was snowing in Maryland. If you don’t know this about me, I grew up in Maryland. That state FAR, far east of Wichita Kansas; near DC.

And in Maryland, it snows A LOT. When the weather person says, “looks like there will be snow,” what they mean is, “looks like you won’t be able to see buildings, trees, the street, your house, or anything else for WEEKS because FEET of snow will pile up.”
Maryland gets feet and feet of snow to the point where everything shuts down.

It has to, or else you would lose small children and short dogs!

And on this particular snow day, my family decided it would be a perfect day for chicken casserole. Doesn’t that sound fantastic? Hot, steamy chicken casserole on a freezing day where you can’t even open your windows because the snow reaches your ground floor.

It sounded great!

Only one problem.

We did not have any stuffing for our chicken casserole.

And so… we began… drum roll please, “THE JOURNEY.”

My Dad, my 4 year old sister, and I bundled up and started walking in about a foot and a half to two feet of snow, to the grocery store a couple of miles down the road.

Now in Kansas, this trip might be slightly easier.

First, because we never get THAT much snow.

And second, because there are NO MOUNTAINS in the state of Kansas.

In Maryland, not only were we walking in 2 feet of snow, but we were walking UP MOUNTAINS.

But I promise, the story won’t say we were barefoot and had to walk up hill both ways.

This is a true story.

So we trudged through the snow up the mountains.

We were frozen.

Most of the time we did not talk.

My Dad held two little girl’s bundled up gloved hands in his own glove covered hands.
We had a goal, a destination, a hope.

We were going to get stuffing at the store, a couple of miles down the road, and then bring it home and eat it.

At one point, during this journey, a neighbor with a HUGE truck that could drive in such conditions, offered us a ride. We said….

“No thank you.”

Why was that?

Why would we turn down a ride in the freezing cold, with snow that came up past a 4 year old’s thigh and a seven year old’s knee?

Why would we turn down a nice, warm ride when we had our eyes frozen shut from ice?

WHY?

Because our journey that day was not entirely about the stuffing.

It was about the thrill of seeking the stuffing.
When we look back and laugh about that snow day we do not call it “the stuffing.”

We don’t call that day, “the snow.”

We call it, drum roll… “THE JOURNEY.”

The journey from my childhood, reminds me of a common passage of scripture we read around Advent.

In fact, the words make up the second song of Handel’s Messiah.

It is called “Comfort Ye My People.”

I’ve been listening to Handel’s Messiah this last week and I’ve been awestruck by the divine inspiration of it.

That second song in the series of several songs… and the passage from Isaiah 40:1-8 say much the same thing.

The Handel’s Messiah song “Comfort Ye My People” says, “Make strait in the desert a highway,” IN A DEEP TENOR, of course. Of which, I could never do justice.

Both the song and this passage of scripture hint at preparing a highway in our hearts for Christ this Advent season.

And if we are going to prepare a highway in our hearts for the Lord THIS season, there are a few things we should think about on this JOURNEY.

This journey to prepare our hearts for the Lord’s coming.

My journey as a 7 year old child might have involved snow and eyelids frozen shut… but this journey is about preparing, in the desert, a way for the Lord, and making strait roads for God.
And if we are on this journey, to prepare our hearts for the Coming Messiah… We must remember:

A. The journey is not a formula.

Scientists may design formulas to make products or medicines.

Mathematicians may create formulas for statistics.

Chefs and cooks might develop formulas for a world famous soufflé.

But our journey to prepare our hearts for the coming Messiah, is not about a formula.

My 7 year old journey was not about a formula.

I did not walk 2 steps per minute and add that to keeping my head up… divided by speaking only one sentence every two minutes to thus equaling me getting to the stuffing correctly.

No. The journey is not about a formula.

And on our journey to prepare our hearts for the coming Messiah, there is no formula.

You do not do A plus B and hope C is full, correct preparation for Jesus.

There is no guaranteed way that if you do THIS… then THAT will happen.
There is no way to guarantee if you “make a strait road” or “level ground” or “raise up valleys” in a specific way, then you have successfully prepared your heart right for God.

Famous scholars, teachers, pastors, speakers, and even theologians might come up with a great formula for heart preparation.

But like grass even that fades like a flower in the field.

These things all pass away. But the Word of the Lord stands forever.

The transformational Word of the Lord stands forever!


Because the journey is not about a formula.

It’s not about a long list of things to DO.

It’s about a transformation of who you ARE on the journey- focusing your eyes on the Holy One who’s Word never changes.

B. The journey is also not a prescription.

When I was 7 years old on this journey, I did not swallow the stuffing in order to forever find eternal happiness.

You do not take a pill and thus find salvation and a perfectly prepared heart for the coming of our Lord.

You do not listen to the preacher in order to figure out how to shake the mountain in the “right” way for God. There is no pill to take in order to prepare your heart in the right way for God.

There is no prescription you follow on this journey, to prepare your heart for the coming Messiah.

Because the journey is not about a formula or a prescription.

It’s not about a long list of things to DO.

For so long as a young person, I searched for the RIGHT THING TO DO, to have a right relationship with God.

But I learned, it is not about what you do.
There’s a big difference between doing and being.

Who you are becoming is so much more important, holds so much more weight than doing a long list of the “right” things.

It’s not about a long list of things to DO.

It’s about a transformation of who you ARE and who you are becoming on the journey- focusing your eyes on the Holy One who’s Word never changes.


C. The journey is also not about fake comfort.

When I was a 7 year old, in the snow, freezing to death, with my eyelids frozen shut, my Dad did not say, “It’s not that cold.”

He didn’t say, “it’s no big deal.”

It was FREEZING. He could not have spoken such crazy words without his teeth chattering anyway.

He told me, “yes, it’s cold. But I’m going to hold you and your sister’s hand on this journey. Yes, it’s freezing. Yes your nose looks like it’s going to fall off. Yes, this is horrible. But I’m here, holding your hand on this journey.”

That’s comfort. That’s a Godly comfort.

Godly comfort acknowledges pain and suffering- not denying sometimes life really hurts but offers hope anyway.

Godly comfort holds your hand; in the midst of pain.

Listen to the first verse of our Isaiah passage in the original Hebrew. It’s beautiful.
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm” meaning, “Comfort, comfort my people says God.”
That’s beautiful.

“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm.”

Fake comfort says, “it’s no big deal someone you loved died. They went on to a better place.”
Fake comfort swallows back the normal tears of grief.
Fake comfort puts on a stern face and imagines towards heaven while forgetting this life.

We are not REALLY comforted when we simply wipe away our own tears, hold back the flood, swallow our pain, and put on a smiling face because we’re such “good and right” Christians.

Godly comfort does not ignore the fact that death is still God’s final enemy.
It does not overlook the pain death causes.
Godly comfort does not pretend death and suffering is tearless.

Godly comfort cries alongside of the ones grieving from death and loss.
It mourns together from the pain death causes.
Godly comfort feels the pain together, in community, and then… and then… offers hope.

Godly comfort offers hope.

Godly comfort reminds us that death has already been conquered once.
It reminds us that God raised Jesus from the dead- and our Christian hope- is that one day ALL the dead in Christ will rise again.

The journey is not about a formula. The journey is not a prescription. The journey is not fake comfort.

It’s not about a long list of things to DO or things good Christians ignore because they don’t feel pain. It’s about a transformation of who you ARE on the journey- focusing your eyes on the Holy One who’s Word never changes.

The journey…. Is a journey. It’s a voyage, an expedition.

And if we are going to prepare a highway in our hearts this Advent season for our Lord, we must prepare our hearts WITHOUT a formula, prescription, or by using fake comfort.

And no, I’m not giving you another formula to follow by telling you NOT to follow one.

There is no “magic wand to drive all our problems away” (sermon, “Miracle of Comfort,” Sermons from Seattle by Edward F. Markquat).

I’m urging you to see the journey is not so much about what we DO… as formulas, prescriptions, and fakeness implies—that’s a whole lot of DOING.

But this divine journey, preparing a highway for the Lord is more about who we are BECOMMING, as the people of God who TOGETHER, preparing our hearts for the coming Messiah.

It’s about together BEING the kinds of people who take that “divine tissue” (as my friend Pastor Kaza Fraley calls it) and wiping away each other’s eyes when we suffer the pain of death and loss.

It’s about BEING the kinds of people who are not afraid of suffering WITH people, taking God’s divine tissue, and wiping each other’s eyes.

It’s about BEING a community who comforts each other.

“Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord.”
“Nachmu, nachmu ammi, yomar elohekehm.”

... For soon, God’s cosmic highway is going to be seen by all in the person of Jesus Christ.

...For we know as Handel’s Messiah’s most famous song says: “Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

This Jesus, changes everything on this journey. This Jesus, became one of us… a human baby, still completely divine- and holds our hand, like my Father did for my sister and I… showing us God’s cosmic highway that goes right through our hearts to the world.

Coming of our Lord Advent Devotions, WEEK THREE

Week Three: The Word of the Lord to ComeDecember 7th - December 13th, written by Rev. Kazimiera I.H. Fraley and Rev. Christy Gunter-Leppert.

* * * * * *

Meditation One: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Read Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

We talk frequently about being filled with the spirit of the season and relate this to the generous gifts we give those whom we care about and love. However, when we allow ourselves to be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, our generosity becomes obvious in how we treat the people whom we usually ignore and overlook.

Allowing the Spirit of the Lord to be upon you is about giving your change to the person with the bell, wrapping a present for an anonymous angel on a tree, giving a toy to an unknown tot, and so much more. It means reaching out and giving yourself to those who you feel are beneath your love, generosity, and charity. It is about making the unseen seen… making noticeable those who walk in and out of your life daily... and creating visibility for those who are almost invisible to all walking by them.

Reflection for the Day:
Who are the people you overlook in your life? How can you show the true spirit of the season, the Spirit of the Lord, to them?

Daily Prayer:
God, show us the people who have been invisible to us. May your good news radiate our hearts to open our eyes. And with newly opened eyes, teach us to proclaim your good news to the overlooked and ignored. Give us your eyes to see the work of the coming God to the oppressed, those who mourn, the brokenhearted, and those trapped in hopelessness.

Weekly Action:Can you think of a person who is often overlooked? Find a way to reach out to them and bring the light of Christ to their life.

* * * * *

Meditation Two: Psalm 126

Read Psalm 126

God gives us a dream as Christians to be restored as the people we were created to be, through the work of the One who is coming. God envisions for us to become the kinds of people who love God and neighbor above all. This dream, like that of the children with sugar plums dancing in their head, often times seems as fictional and fake as the sugary dreams mentioned in that famous poem. However, this dream is the reality of the work of the Christ to come.

Reflection for the Day:
What ideas or themes that we embrace as Christians seem to be a fanciful dream beyond our reach? How do you allow God to make them a reality in your life?

Daily Prayer:
Lore God, take our sugar plum dreams of your work and make them a reality for us.
Show us who you intended us to be before the Fall – before we choose ourselves over you.

Weekly Action:
Can you think of a person who is often overlooked? Find a way to reach out to them and bring the light of Christ to their life.

* * * * *

Meditation Three: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24


Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Joy is a word heard often this time of year. We tend to think joy is a feeling we must maintain if not just for this season, but on a continual basis as Christians. When Paul wrote these words, calling for Christians to rejoice always, he was not asking us to maintain cheerleader peppiness at all times. Joy is a way of life, a thought process that results from trusting and relying on a God who is faithful in all things. Because we know our God loved us enough to come into this world and live as we live, we are able to rejoice in a world full of pain, heartache, and turmoil. It also gives us the hope we need to look forward to the day when God will set all things as creation was intended.

Reflection for the Day:
How many Christmas Hymns talk about rejoicing? What are the reasons these songs call for there to be joy in our lives? In what ways is there joy in your life because of Jesus Christ?

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, give us joyful hearts. Remind us joy is not fake happiness but your peace radiating through our trust in you. Use this week to show us the joy Jesus brings and teach us how to respond joyfully in each moment.

Weekly Action:
Can you think of a person who is often overlooked? Find a way to reach out to them and bring the light of Christ to their life.


* * * * *

Meditation Four: John 1:6-8, 19-28

Read John 1:6-8, 19-28

We see many different Christmas stories, both secular and Christian, all around us. We can see the truth of the light of Christ, even in the most unreligious of these stories. They tell us we should show love and kindness by giving of ourselves to each other. They tell us we should not make fun of or shun those different from ourselves, and encourage us to share the things we hold most dear with those who have less than we do. If we look hard enough, many times even the most secular stories testify to the light of Christ.


Reflection for the Day:
Think of one secular Christmas story. How does even a story like this reflect the light of Christ? In what ways can you reflect the light of Christ just as this story does?

Daily Prayer:
May our lives be a story of your light in this secular world.
And may our testimonies this week make the work of the coming God evident to those around us.

Weekly Action:
Can you think of a person who is often overlooked? Find a way to reach out to them and bring the light of Christ to their life.

Pastoral Prayer, Nov 30 2008

If you ever prayed to God out loud where others could hear, you probably know how hard it is to let others hear your words to God. And if you ever wrote a prayer to God and let someone see it, you probably also know how hard it is to share it.

Stanely Hauerwas published a book of his prayers and lamented in the preface about how difficult it was to make these prayers so public. I understand his plight. I write out my prayers quite often but I rarely share them except on Sunday morning during Pastoral Prayer time or on the occasion when I pray out loud with my dear and close friends.

But this particular prayer, the one I have written here, is a pastoral prayer for Nov 30, I believe others may want (or perhaps even need) to read. Although it is hard for me to hit "publish post" on a prayer, I am doing it because I care more about you and God's plan to draw all of creation towards redemption than I do how I feel about making it public.

So disclaimer, lament, and whatever else aside... Here is the pastoral prayer I wrote to God, to be prayed out loud during the pastoral prayer time, for the First Sunday in Advent, 2008.

Lord of all hope- hope that shines like light in darkness. We come before you, thankful for the hope you bring us- in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If you are powerful enough to overcome death, to raise Jesus from the dead, certainly we can have hope in any situation we face. Certainly we can hope you have the power to breathe life into our painful moments, into our trauma, and into our suffering.

It is you, Lord, who gives hope in suffering.

And we pray for those in our community who may be suffering- who need your breath of hope this First Sunday of Advent.

* Prayers for my people and their loved ones *

Lord God, give us hope, even in suffering. Help us to see your tears, your love for us- in the midst of our suffering.

Help us to feel your arms around us when we cry, and when we hurt.

Change our misconceptions of a God who wills our suffering.

Change our misunderstandings that see you as a strict and angry God who might care about others-- but certainly not me.

Transform our false beliefs of you... that we might see you for who you really are- a God of love- a God who is fond of us, a God who sheds tears alongside of us, a God who suffers WITH us.

Make this change in us, dear Lord, that we might become people with your eyes of love. People who see our neighbor and love them as you love them.

Help us to see and love our neighbors physically next door to us.

Our neighbors in the buildings closest to us.

Our neighbor farmer in Kansas.

Our neighbor who grew the wheat overseas that made our bread (that touches our lips and makes us strong).

Our neighbor overseas who grew our coffee beans (that keeps us awake and alert even now).

Our neighbors we see and the neighbors who's life work feeds and sustains us... and we do not even know personally.

God help us to love all our neighbors. The visable ones and the invisable ones.

And help our lives to reflect your love to all of them, even the ones we cannot see; especially the ones we cannot see, who are easy to ignore and forget about in daily life.

God, we love you- with a love that is returned to you, a love that came from you- gracious, mercy-filled love, that you've penetrated our very being with even today.

Thank you for loving us.

Amen.

Coming of Our Lord Advent Devotions, WEEK TWO

Week Two: Preparing for the Lord to Come, November 30th - December 6. Written by: Rev. Kazimiera I.H. Fraley and Rev. Christy Gunter-Leppert

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Meditation One: Isaiah 40:1-11

Read Isaiah 40:1-11

Throughout the Old Testament, God's people are compared to a wayward bride who turned away from her husband to find fulfillment in other places. Far too often, it is easy to get caught up in the culture of this world and allow it to lure us away from the things of God. But even in our unfaithfulness, God is still a loving, faithful, and committed husband who speaks kindly to us and calls for us to return. In this season of preparation for the Lord's coming, we need to hear God's voice as we are called to return to God.

Reflection for the Day:
In what ways have you wandered away from the habits of God? Take time to allow God to gather you back into God’s loving arms, so you will be His, and only his; whole and complete once again.

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, all too often we are like the wayward spouse, finding pleasure in the things of this world instead of being faithful to you. Forgive us for our unfaithfulness. Forgive us for turning our backs on your glory, beauty, and light. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being committed to us, no matter what we've done or who we've allowed ourselves to become.

Weekly Action:
Find one person in your life who needs forgiveness, reconciliation, or restored hope. Go to that person and allow God to work his actions and speak his Word, through you, to them.

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Meditation Two: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

Read Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

As we prepare ourselves for the Lord to come, cry out with the Psalmist. Hear what God says. Too many times we try to speak for the Lord and act on God’s behalf in our own whole-hearted and misguided attempt to change God towards what we think is best.

Mary allowed her son, Jesus Christ, to be born in her and change her. In this same way, allow God's actions to shape and move us instead of attempting to shape and move God towards us. Being prepared for God to come means we are ready to allow God to change us and be born in us.

Reflection for the Day:
How do you attempt to force God's hand instead of allowing God to be the mover and changer? Do you ever pray simply to move and change God to your will? What can you do about these misguided attempts?

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, change us. Forgive us for the times we passionately thought we were acting as you would act but were so wrong. We are simply putty – play dough - the clay. Mold us, so that we would be shaped by you.

Weekly Action:
Find one person in your life who needs forgiveness, reconciliation, or restored hope. Go to that person and allow God to work his actions and speak his Word, through you, to them.

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Meditation Three: 2 Peter 3:8-15a

Read 2 Peter 3:8-15a

How many Christmas cards do you see with the phrase "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men?" As humans we often feel peace and goodwill are beyond our reach and control. Knowing God is coming at a time God alone is preparing; and God is the Alpha, Omega, beginning and the end, allows God to create two things within us. First, it unleashes God to change us in ways that prepare us to receive Christ in all his fullness, which brings goodwill to all of creation. And second, it also allows us to be agents of God's peace in a chaotic and backwards world.

Reflection for the Day:
Where do you see God's peace and goodwill changing your life and those who pass through your life? How does seeing the peace of God allow you to prepare for the Lord's coming?

Daily Prayer:
Lord God, as you prepare us for your coming- show us how your plan for peace and goodwill on earth involves us. Show us how your peace and goodwill are within our reach and control because it is you who is in us.

Weekly Action:
Find one person in your life who needs forgiveness, reconciliation, or restored hope. Go to that person and allow God to work his actions and speak his Word, through you, to them.

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Meditation Four: Mark 1:1-8

Read Mark 1:1-8

In the same way Santa Claus calls for children to prepare themselves for his coming by asking them to live exemplary and perfect lives, John the Baptist hollers from the desert for us to prepare for the coming Christ. We need to be like children heeding Santa's call and turn, as John calls for us to do, away from living to please ourselves alone and live as ones given over to the goodness of God.

Reflection for the Day:
Look at the way the children around you are changing the way they live to be prepared for the fictional coming of Santa. Think of ways you can allow God to change you as you prepare for Christ's coming.

Daily Prayer:
Lord, we want you to change the way we live and act so we might be prepared for you. We want to be the kind of people who are formed by you to change the world with you coming light and life.

Weekly Action:
Find one person in your life who needs forgiveness, reconciliation, or restored hope. Go to that person and allow God to work his actions and speak his Word, through you, to them.

Expectations for God, Isaiah 64:1-9

Notice the picture for this week's sermon is taken from "The Shack," by WM Paul Young (see the previous blog for a book review). Notice in this picture that it is snowing, the shack is covered with winter, except on little leaf patch; still green, still living. This is quite symbolic. In the midst of horrible tragedy, hope peaks it's head out in the love of God.

This is the sermon for the first Sunday in Advent, November 30, 2008 at Trinity Church of the Nazarene.

Horrible things happen.

In today’s world, horrible things happen. Not many people will be in line to dispute this claim.

War creates havoc for countries. Violence is committed in the name of justice, innocent people are slaughtered, the unjust die. Families are torn apart as their sons and daughters go off to war.

Genocide is even worse. People die because of the color of their skin. Or like in Rwanda in 1994, people die based on the name of their ethnic group. Bodies are left strewn in the streets. Blood is shed.

Horrible things happen.

Families are torn apart by divorce. One spouse cheats on the other. Families crumble, children are lost.

People go hungry. They find themselves on the street, wishing someone could help them, desiring to eat anything; dirt even. They get worms. They get sick. They die.

Horrible things happen.

People we love die. We watch people we love suffer. We watch our loved ones become depressed. We watch them wish for things they cannot have. We stand at our loved ones caskets and cry out in horror and pain.

Horrible things happen.

There is deep suffering in the world. And it’s horrible. It’s awful. It’s horrendous.
Let’s call it what it is; it’s horrible.

I have a very dear pastor friend who was all excited about the birth of his baby girl… until she didn’t have a heartbeat one day.

People’s responses to this horrible event in my friend’s life were quite stupid. Many people said… “God needed another angel in heaven.” Or, “it must have been what God wanted.” As if God wanted or willed the death of his baby girl.

But this was not my response to him.

I called it what it was. Horribly tragic.

I called it “a tear in the very heart of God.” It’s horrible. God did not like or want this either. I responded to this tragedy by calling it what it was; horribly tragic for them, horribly heartbreaking for me as their friend to suffer alongside of them, and it was horribly sad for God.

Horrible things happen.

I read a book this week (yeah, I know. This week I read a book, go ahead and make fun of me, I’m used to it, and I actually read more than one book this week). Anyway, after you finish poking fun…

This book was called “The Shack” by WM Paul Young.

Young tells us the life story of Mack. He is raised by a father who abuses him, runs away as a teenager, and eventually goes on vacation with three of his youngest children without his wife Nan. Through a series of events out of Mack’s control, his youngest 6 year old daughter, Missy, is kidnapped and presumed brutally murdered. It is very real, it is descriptive, and may be worse to read than watching an episode of CSI.

Mack cries out to God in anger, not understanding why God allowed such a horrible thing to happen to his baby girl. He does not trust God. He is frustrated in the midst of trauma.
And sometimes we cry out to God in our own horrible situations just like Mack or when we see horrible things going on in the world saying, “God, where are you?” And we say things like, “Weren’t you the God who did something so great before… for others? Where are you now that I want something?” We cry out to God, “Why don’t you just crack open the heavens and show us yourself? Why don’t you prove yourself to us, show us who you really are?”

And sometimes what we really mean is, “Do what WE want and save this suffering. Who are you anyway, God, all powerful or non-existent?”

When we feel like God is silent or absent even, we box up God. We get angry God is not acting in miraculous and extraordinary ways. We stop trusting a God who does not act in extraordinary ways, exactly the way we want God to act.

We get mad, just like Mack, for not stepping in and saving our Missys.

Mack cries out to God, “If you couldn’t take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?” (92).

How true does that ring? How often do we utter the same exact words?

Much like our passage in Isaiah today. The people cry out to God to reveal, like God did in the Exodus event. They cry out for a symbol, like fire, to see God revealed in the world in the midst of their extreme pain and suffering.

If this is not a request for proof of God’s power, I’m not sure what is. “Tear open the skies,” “let your enemies know who you are.” These are all requests to see God’s power—crying out to God to show a great revelation in the world.

They even blame God for hiding. Verse 5 in the NCV translation did not quite hit the depth of the actual language. It is better translated in the NRSV (which is the version I used to check my Greek homework; make sure I translated it right). J It is better translated, “because you hid yourself, we transgressed.” In other words, because you were absent, God, we sinned. They are blaming God for being absent, for not being there, for leaving them alone. They are blaming God for their sins.

But a few verses later… we see the real problem, and apparently Isaiah, speaking on behalf of the people, knows the real problem.

Verse 7 says, “no one worships you or even asks you to help us.”

Ah, see. This makes sense, here. This is the real problem. “No one worships you or even asks you to help us.” Well, duh. Maybe it’s not God who’s absent. Maybe it’s the people who are not worshiping God or asking God for help. Maybe this is the real problem for the people of Israel.

Hmmm, how often are we just like the people of Israel? How quick are we to blame God when the real problem is we turned away from God?

When we look at Mack, he had dropped away from God too. He was blaming God for his 6 year old, Missy’s death.

And the cool thing about this book is that God does tear open the heavens in a revelation.
Once you make it through watching the horrible tragedy unfold (or “The Great Sadness” as the book calls it), you walk with Mack to the shack where Missy was killed.

You watch the blood stained floor transform into the stage where God shows Mack how valuable he is and you watch Mack shed his previous view of God for a relational, loving God he can trust.
When Mack asks God how could he expect God to take care of him when God obviously did not take care of his Missy who was brutally murdered, God says, “Mack, I’m so sorry” and tears stream down God’s face.

Because God was hurt by what happened to Missy too.

Mack sees God's pain. God is hurt and broken because of Missy's death too. No child should suffer like that. And Mack watches as God redeems the horror of his daughter’s murder to draw him closer to God. Not that Missy died in order to bring Mack closer… but that God is so good, God can redeem the most horrendous things, the most horrible things, to bring glory.

Which brings me to ask:

How often do we, right alongside the people of Israel, cry out to God for miracles? How often do we cry out and say, “Do what we want, save this person, stop the suffering, do what we expect in huge, dynamic ways.” How often do we scream out to God for the extraordinary, for the miraculous, just like the people of Israel in this passage in Isaiah?

How often are we like Mack, painful things happen to us and we cry out to God… “How can I trust you?”

We are desperate for hope, desperate to trust our Creator, desperate for answers on how a good God could allow such horrible things to happen in the world.


Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the Sunday where we focus on Hope. We lit the first candle in the advent wreath to remind us of the hope we have in Christ.

And in Isaiah 64, verse 8, is where we see the real hope begin. After verse 7, where they figure out what the problem is—(that THEY are the problem, not God)…. Verse 8 offers hope.

They say, “Lord, you’re our Father.” And they cry out, “we’re clay- you are the potter.”
Basically, the people are finally getting the right perspective. Instead of screaming out blame on God in the midst of horrible, horrendous things and instead of crying out for huge miraculous signs and wonders that involve fire and mountains shaking… they declare God as their Father and make themselves moldable to God.

This is a huge shift.

This is a huge reallocation in thought process.

This is a huge change in perspective... To go from trying to mold God to saying they can be molded by God.

Mack makes this shift in the book too. Mack goes from not trusting God to blaming God for his pain… to learning how to return love to God.

Mack makes that huge shift. Mack has a huge reallocation in thought process. Mack has a huge change in perspective.

Mack begins to be molded like clay in the hands of the potter.

See, the great hope we have, is embedded deep in the perspective that we are to be molded by God.

We are to be molded by our potter, the one we can trust. The one who loves us even when we blame God for not intervening on behalf of our Missys in extraordinary ways.

Our hope this Advent season is found in the God who is present and active in EVERY moment. Whether it is huge and we call it miraculous, extraordinary even. Or even if it’s small, and ordinary…. And we call it common.

Whether it is EXRAORDINARY AND the heavens are torn apart, whether the mountains quake, whether our enemies are proven wrong, whether fires comes… Whether God comes in three persons who sit down to dinner with us, like God does for Mack.

Whether it is COMMON and we gather for worship like we do every week, whether we put a bandage on our finger, whether we breathe, whether we eat… and any other common thing we do.

Whether its an extraordinary moment or a common moment, God is present and active. God is not absent.

This is amazingly hopeful, even in the midst of horrible things we see around us. God is still present and active… in the common times, in the horrible times, and in the extraordinary times.


And the exciting thing about Advent… is that the heavens WERE torn open. The mountains DID shake. God DID come in an extraordinary way.

God became human, became a little, poor baby who gave up power, strength, and control… to show us a better way. To show us how we might BECOME the kinds of people who move mountains and BECOME God’s agents of redemption for all of creation.

The people of Israel asked God to come shake things up and God DID shake things up.
Here we are, today, all shook up… even in the midst of tragedy.

This is the meaning of “Emmanuel,” God with us. God tore open the heavens, gave us a huge, miraculous, extraordinary gift of Jesus Christ.

And the hope, this Jesus Christ brings, is what we celebrate today- on the first Sunday of Advent.


No matter what you are facing today. No matter what horrible things you are going through. No matter what you see around you that makes you cry out.

No matter if you, like Mack, scream… you didn’t break through and act in this moment… how can I trust you? No matter if you blame God, like Mack did.

Remember… God is a God who is present and active in EVERY moment. God is a God who is present and active in the ordinary and in the extraordinary. God is present even tragedy, loving humans, crying alongside of us when babies die (like for my pastor friend) or we lose people we love.

God is just as present in your common moments as God is present in the extraordinary gift of Jesus Christ.

God desires to cradle us in God's arms, as a mother does her child, and heal our wounds.

And God is holding your hand, with tears streaming down God’s face… as you suffer and are in pain… crying out for God to tear open the heavens.

God never left you.

Just open your eyes and look.

God is speaking to us in the same way God speaks to Mack in this book:

God says: “I’m very fond of you.”
God says, “You are special.”
God says, “My love can go beyond even your stupidity.”

Close your eyes as we pray… and let God’s loving arms envelop you.


Prayer:
God of all hope, even in the midst of tragedy, we come before you and confess how we really feel. Sometimes we blame you for our pain. Sometimes we think you don’t care. Sometimes we fear you’re not even there. Forgive us.
Help us to see the tears streaming down your face as you hate the tragedy and pain too. Help us to feel your love for us, even in the midst of trauma and horror. Help us to see you for who you really are, a God of love who’s open arms extend to us.

Help us to feel your arms, cradling around us- loving us for who we are, and help us to feel your love in the midst of thepain we face.

And help us to see you're present in every moment, extraordinary and miraculous like Jesus' birth or even in our common and pain-filled moments.
We love you, Lord.
Amen.