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All that we know of Jesus’ life from the time he was an infant until the time he began his public ministry at about the age of 30, we learn from Luke in today’s reading. At first, it doesn’t seem like much – just one story from his childhood, when Jesus was twelve years old – and yet this story tells us a great deal.

At the very beginning of the story, we learn that Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem each year for the festival of the Passover. When Jesus was twelve years old, they went as usual. The Law of Moses required that good Jews make a pilgrimage to the temple three times a year – for Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacle. There were synagogues in many villages – places for weekly worship, and places for education. However, there was only one Temple and that was in Jerusalem.

The trip to Jerusalem might be very long and sometimes dangerous. The Law of Moses, recognizing this, made an exception for people who lived at a great distance – for them, the pilgrimage to the Temple was required only for Passover. Women and children were not required to make this journey. Only men and male children 12 or older, who were considered adults, were required to make the annual journey. Still many families would make the trip together and large groups from a village would travel together, providing safety and companionship.

So, Joseph would have been required to make the trip annually, but Mary would not have to go, and Jesus wouldn’t have been required to go until this year when he was twelve. Yet, Luke tells us that they went together every year. We see that they took the responsibilities of their faith seriously. Luke, the only non-Jew among the writers of the gospels, wants to be sure that we understand that Jesus and his family were extremely meticulous observant Jews. He wants us to know that Jesus was a true Israelite from birth, and that he was brought up in the moral and ritual life of Judaism. Home, temple, and synagogue formed him.

On this occasion, as in the past, Joseph, Mary and Jesus made the difficult trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem. The distance was about 60 miles, the terrain was difficult and it took several days to make the journey. As was the custom, they went with aunts and uncles, cousins and friends. Children played together as they walked along. Women discussed the things women discuss and men walking together talked about the things of interest to them. They watched out for each other’s children and they traveled as a large extended family. At night, the parents would set up their own sleeping area and the children would leave their friends and spend the night with their parents.

Their annual trek to Jerusalem was a community event. Luke doesn’t tell us anything about what happened while they were there. The events of the eight-day festival were pretty well laid out. Instead Luke focuses on what happened after the festival was over. The family began their return trip to Jerusalem. Children played together. Women walked together. Men walked together. They talked about what had taken place. In the evening, when they set up camp everyone scattered to their own families and Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus was not there. A frantic search began. Mary might have thought he was with Joseph, since Jesus was now almost a man. Joseph may have thought he was with Mary since he was still a boy. As the oldest child in his family – almost an adult - he would have been expected to take care of himself. His friends hadn’t seen him. None of his brothers or sisters knew where he was. No one could account for his whereabouts – and no, nobody had seen him at anytime during the day. Slowly the reality dawned; Jesus was not with them. Somehow, their child had been left behind.

What a horrible night it must have been for Mary and Joseph! It may be hard for us to understand, but Mary and Joseph were not negligent parents. They were simply going about their lives in a normal way. They were making their way home, talking with their friends, paying attention to the younger children and the older relatives who needed assistance. They assumed Jesus was with them. He was supposed to be.

I think this story may be a parable of our own Christian experience. Sometimes we get so absorbed in their daily lives that we do not notice that we have drifted away from Jesus – that we have left him behind. How often have you gone a whole day without Jesus and didn’t realize at all that Jesus was missing? You may not have been doing anything wrong, you were just going about your daily life, enjoying pleasure … making a living … providing comfort … seeking security … appreciating home life. There is nothing wrong with any of these activities. They are normal events of our daily life and they are all good – but they are never to become the first priority of our lives.

In the Ten Commandments we are reminded, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3). In Matthew’s gospel, we read, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33)[i] It is easy to become so absorbed in life that our priorities get out of balance, and one day we discover that there is something missing in our lives.

That is when we start looking for something to give our lives meaning. Our search may take us in many different directions. We may experience that frantic concern and search that Mary and Joseph must have experienced. Can you imagine all the things that were going through their minds as they rushed back to Jerusalem? More than likely, they left the rest of the children with other family members so that they could travel more quickly, and they hurried back to Jerusalem searching for Jesus. It took the better portion of another day to get back to Jerusalem. It must have been the longest day of their lives.

When we are searching for meaning in life, it can be a long search. We may look to all the things that our culture tells us are important – success, possessions, security, family. It is a concern to me when I meet so many young people – and sometimes older people – who think that they have to find that one special person in order to make their lives complete. The reality is that it is not possible for another person to complete our lives and make us happy. That sense of completion and happiness comes from within us. We must first learn to love ourselves before we can love another person or really accept the love of another person.

At some point, we realize that possessions, success, and even people who love us cannot satisfy the deepest longing in our lives. The man who became Bishop Augustine, a powerful influence on the theology and spirituality of the Christian church reflecting upon his conversion wrote a prayer that has become famous, “You have made us for yourself, Lord. Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

When we discover this, it is a great day – the day of finding Jesus. Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem and found Jesus in the temple. When we realize what is missing in our lives and want to find Jesus – for the first time, or for the 50^th time – the place to go to find him is the church. It appears that the temple was not the first place that Mary and Joseph looked for Jesus. They may have gone to the homes of family or friends, or searched the market place or other places that would have appealed to a 12 year old. Finally, they ended up at the temple, where they found Jesus sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. He seemed surprised that his parents had not known where to find him. “Why were you searching for me?” Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Think about it. “When you want a haircut, you don’t go to a dentist. When you want medical attention, you don’t go to a mechanic. When you want legal advice, you don’t go to a nurse. Some people are trained to do certain things. When you want to find Jesus, where should you go? To those who know him, love him,”[ii] and serve him. You go to those who can help you find him.

Luke tells us that Jesus was in the temple sitting with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. This is a scene in which Jesus makes even his exasperated parents burst with pride (after they get over their frustration and fright) because here Jesus reveals himself as a deeply faithful Jew. Here Jesus claims for himself a special relationship with God. Jesus is doing what faithful Jews have always done – ask questions, debate, argue the points of faith and in so doing demonstrate a deep desire to know and understand, to wrestle with the questions, and to grow in the faith.

This is a story that is important to our journey of faith. It is a story that reminds us as parents and grandparents of the need to have our children firmly grounded in the ritual, the liturgy, the fellowship, and the study of the church and the Scripture. Too often, I hear that parents don’t want to influence their children. They want to leave it to their children to decide for themselves. My rather simplistic response is that we don’t ask children if they want to go to school. We don’t ask them if they want to learn to read and write or learn arithmetic.

Yes, the final decision is left to each person – our children included – to decide whether or not to follow Jesus, but it is important for us to plant the seed, water the plant and to show by our example that we believe that having Jesus in our lives is of primary importance. We are to help weed out the distractions, cultivate the good soil, and pray for the strengthening of the root system in our children’s lives, but ultimately the decision belongs to each of us. In the temple on this day, we see Jesus declaring his decision.

We have heard also a small portion of the story of Samuel, another remarkable child who spent most of his childhood in the temple. It was in the temple that Samuel experienced his call from God that would lead him to become one of the great prophets. It was in the temple that Jesus made the declaration about being about his Father’s business. It is in the community of believers, gathered for worship and study, that we most often are open to God’s leading and guidance. It is when we study the Scripture, pray together, sing God’s praises, and greet one another in Christian love that we are fed spiritually, nourished and empowered to be about God’s business in the world.

Luke wants us - the non-Jews - to understand, that it is through Jesus who is a light to the Gentiles, that repentance and forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to all nations. It is through Jesus that we have become God’s chosen people, holy and beloved. It is because of Jesus that we come together to worship the God who loves us. It is because of Jesus that Paul wrote to the Christians in many cities giving them concrete instructions about how to live their lives.

On this - the first Sunday after Christmas, and the last day of the calendar year, we ought to pay particular attention to the passage Paul wrote to the Colossians, written, by the way when Luke, his beloved friend and physician, was with him. If you are inclined to make New Year’s Resolutions, this is a perfect one to take as a guide. Let me share with you the way the Contemporary English Version translates this passage.

“God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.

“Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful. Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him.” (Col. 3:12-17 CEV)

This will be my prayer for each of you during the next six-weeks while we are separated from each other and while we continue to seek God’s guidance in our daily lives. This is the business of God that we are called to be about, that Jesus showed us by example - even his example as a child.

[i] The thought about this being a parable for our journey comes from R. Blaine Detrick, Favorite Children of the Bible, CSS Publishing Co. Lima OH 1993 pp.96-7.

[ii] Detrick, p.99

The time has come. Tonight is Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is Christmas Day the most joyous and celebrated of all holidays in our culture. Families and friends get together and gifts are exchanged. For some that’s all that Christmas is – a day for receiving gifts. It’s all about Santa Claus. But for many others, including those of us gathered here, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. However, even within the church most people think about Christmas as a singular event. We spend weeks getting ready for it but after December 25^th, it’s over until the same time next year.

No matter how we look at it, the birth of Jesus is not a singular event. “Jesus’ coming has deep roots in the religious and cultural tradition of the Jewish people, and the fact that he came has had ever widening ramifications that show no sign of abating even after two thousand years.”[ii]

The people of Jesus’ day would never have imagined that this Galilean peasant could have the impact he has had on our world. Most of what we know of Jesus’ life – primarily his adult life spans a period of only three years and yet no one has influenced the world as much as he has. Jesus’ birth, ministry, life, death and resurrection are all part of a divine web of intersecting scripture passages and traditions from the past that point to him as the fulfillment of prophecy and the fulfillment of long anticipated hope.

The Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah - and waiting, and waiting. In fact, today, they still wait. This hope is especially intense during times and seasons when life has been so exceptionally difficult that it seems that only divine intervention can help. In the movie Fiddler on the Roof, there is a poignant scene near the end when all the families are being forced to leave their beloved village of Anatevka. Tevya almost prayerfully asks the Rabbi, “Rabbi, we have waited all our lives for the Messiah. Wouldn’t this be a good time for him to come?” The Rabbi with great understanding replies, “We shall have to wait for him someplace else.”

Throughout history there have been widely divergent concepts of what the Messiah would be like when he came. Generally those hopes and dreams tended toward a political and religious leader, generally a warrior, who would destroy the enemies of Israel and restore Israel to the power and splendor of the reign of David. Most people never expected the Messiah to come when he did, or the way he did. The prophet Isaiah came close when he talked about the “suffering servant” who would be a light to all nations.

Luke tells us the story that leads us to Bethlehem carefully weaving together all the strange and obscure events occurring in the lives of the most unlikely persons. His story takes us to Bethlehem “to a stable, and the manger in which the newborn Messiah was laid by a wide-eyed teenage mother as a puzzled, but faithful Joseph looked on.”[iii]

It started in this way. An old priest Zechariah drew the honored duty of burning incense to the Lord. While performing his duty, the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and informed him that his wife Elizabeth, who had never born a child, would give birth to a son even though she and Zechariah were too old to have a child. They were to name their son John and he was to be the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Gabriel again appeared to a teenage girl named Mary and informed her that she would bear a son without the benefit of an earthly father. They were to name him Jesus. That is where our Gospel reading picked up this morning, Mary went to visit Elizabeth. When Mary arrived, the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and she recognized the future mother of the Messiah. The two women shared a secret that the rest of the world had waited a long time to know. As they rejoice in seeing each other and sharing what is happening in their lives, Mary speaks a song of praise that has more to do with her unborn son than it does with her.

That song is what we just heard read. It is called “The Magnificat” from its Latin name. It is easy to miss this song in the midst of the Christmas gospel. It isn’t really very pleasant for most of us at first reading, but it really is very important. You may remember that in the gospels leading up to this week, we have been hearing John the Baptist call us to a radical transformation in the way we live our lives. Mary’s song continues that call. Steeped in the Old Testament, it is closely related to the song that Hannah sang when she discovered that she was going to have a child – Samuel. This song of Mary’s has been called the most revolutionary document in the world. It speaks of three revolutions – or radical changes that God is brining.

The first is a moral revolution. One reading of this verse says, “He has stretched out his mighty arm and scattered the proud with all their plans.” You may have heard the saying, “If you want God to laugh, tell Him your plans.” Christianity is the death of pride. Our focus is to be not on what we can do on our own, but what we can do with God’s help. Certainly, there is a good feeling in doing a job well, but when we focus only on our own skills and our own abilities we tend to miss the possibilities that God can bring.

The second revolution is a social revolution. “He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.” Christianity puts an end to the world’s labels and prestige. Muretus was a wandering scholar of the middle ages. “He was poor. In an Italian town, he became ill and was taken to a hospital for waifs and strays. The doctors were discussing his case in Latin, never dreaming he could understand. They suggested that since he was such a worthless wanderer they might use him for medical experiments. He looked up and answered them in their own learned tongue, `Call no man worthless for whom Christ died.’”[iv] When we realize what Christ did for each and every one of us, it is no longer possible to regard anyone as being beneath us. The social grades are gone.

The third revolution is an economic one. “He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away with empty hands.” This is the piece I don’t like to hear. I understand enough of the world economics to know that in relation to the rest of the world; even the poorest among us is rich. That is not much consolation for who are part of a rapidly growing group of people in our society who have great difficulty finding affordable housing and paying the cost of heat, utilities, gas for their car, and the cost of food and health care. Much of society and much of society’s practices about Christmas are about getting as much as we can. The goal is to acquire the newest, the latest, the greatest. We watched with concern and disgust as people were shot or beaten while trying to acquire the newest latest X-box game system. A Christian approach is that no one dares to have too much while others have too little. The Christian approach is that we are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others; that we have, so that we may share with others who do not have; that it is more important for everyone to have their basic needs met than it is for us to have our wants satisfied.

Mary’s song, The Magnificat is lovely, but in that loveliness there is dynamite. Christianity is not just a feel good religion, it is about a revolutionary way of looking at and living life. We really should not be surprised. Luke’s account leading up to Jesus’ birth has been radical and revolutionary right from the beginning. God’s actions have not been predictable and polite.

An old woman is pregnant. A young unmarried girl is pregnant. The one who is to prepare the way for the Messiah will end up out in the wilderness dressed in camels hair and eating locusts and wild honey, jumping around calling those good religious people, “a brood of vipers”. The Messiah will not be born to an established religious family with status, wealth and power, but to a poor young girl who is not married. Zechariah, the head of the household, cannot even speak when Mary arrives. The encounter takes place between two women – both of whom are experiencing miraculous births. The most unlikely people are the ones who speak and who have the leading roles in this divine drama.

This radical revolutionary approach will continue. The first people to see the baby Jesus will be shepherds – smelly outsiders. And so it continues throughout the gospels – and especially throughout Luke’s gospel. It is a call to a radical relationship where the standards of the world are turned upside down and inside out and Jesus is right in the center of it all.

The time has come. The invitation has been issued. We are invited to be part of a divine dance in which God is leading the way. It is entirely up to us whether we will follow. In today’s readings we see Mary who decided to follow. “She does not have a sonogram, or a husband, or an affidavit from the Holy Spirit that says, `The child really is mine. Now leave the poor girl alone.’ All she has is her unreasonable willingness to believe that the God who has chosen her will be part of whatever happens next – and that, apparently, is enough to make her burst into song. She does not wait to see how things will turn out first.”[v]

If there are big changes going on with you right now, maybe you might try following Mary’s lead and be open to the unexpected. Trust that God will be with you wherever the circumstances take you.

If everything in your life seems just fine, then hold on; because exposing yourself to the Christian story and opening yourself to the presence of the One who came – and who continues to come into our hearts and lives - may bring new and radical ideas to you. You just might discover that everything you have learned about acquiring as much as possible, getting ahead, being successful or powerful will have a new definition and a new way of being understood.

If you have been seeking to walk faithfully daily with Christ, then you know that you are in for even more of an adventure.

“May your souls magnify the Lord, and your spirits rejoice in God your Savior. For God has looked with favor on you, and all generations will call you blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for you, and holy is God’s name.”[vi]

[i] Title and theme come from Mosser, David N The Abingdon Preaching Annual, 2006, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2005 pp.319-321

[ii] Mosser, p.319

[iii] Mosser, p.320

[iv] Barclay, William. The New Daily Bible Study, Gospel of Luke. 1975, 2001, Westminster, John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, p.19-20

[v] Brown Taylor, Barbara, Home By Another Way, “Singing Ahead of Time” Boston, MA, Cowley Publications, 1999, p.18

[vi] Brown Taylor, p.19

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I wonder what I would have heard had I been there that night. It is a question that annually haunts me. Would I have heard the choirs of angels singing or simply the sounds of barnyard animals shifting around? Would I have seen the star in the sky that night or simply two poor and very frightened kids? Would I have understood the hushed silence of the divine presence, or simply the chill of a cold east wind. Would I have understood the message of Emmanuel, God with us, or would the cosmic implications of that evening have passed me by?

I am convinced that had two people been there that night in Bethlehem it is quite possible that they could have heard and seen two entirely different scenes. I believe this because all of life is this way. God never presents himself in revelation in a manner in which we are forced to believe. We are always left with an option, for that is God's way. Thus, one person can say “Its a miracle, while another says “It’s coincidence."

Tonight I would like to take a moment of personal privilege to share with you a fanciful view of how one participant might have seen the events that night. Many years ago my father wrote a story called “The Nameless Lamb”. I remember hearing it as a child and occasionally after that. This year when we cleaned out my parents’ home I came across his file of sermons and stories that he used during the many services he led as a Lay Speaker. Tonight I want to invite you to enter into the Christmas story in a different way. Try to place yourself in the stable as an observer, as I share with you the story of the Nameless Lamb.

A Christmas story written by Earl H. Briden and shared with children and adults for many years.

There isn’t much to tell about me, for I’m not very important, in fact so unimportant that they didn’t even give me a name. For I’m just a little shaver of a lamb.

I was born a couple of months ago and I live a rather drab life with nothing much to look forward to. Oh, they feed me, and they’re looking forward to next spring when they can sheer the white wool from my back, and then some day when I’m in the prime of my life, they’ll probably use me for a burnt offering. They tell me that’s the purpose of my life, but I’m not happy about it.

Everyday they take us out onto the hillside to graze and there we meet the grownups. You see, the shepherds stay out with the grown sheep all night long, when the weather is not stormy. But we little lambs have to be brought back in the evening and herded into the stable where it is a little warmer; for they tell us we can’t stand the night air. So, here I am back in the stable again tonight, and I’ve found a nice spot in the hay to snuggle down and sleep. There isn’t anything else to do in the barn, just sleep and try to keep warm until morning and then we start the old routine all over again.

There have been a lot of people around here today, for many of them have come long distances to register for the taxes. (That’s one thing we animals don’t have to worry about anyway.) The Inn is filled with tourists, and I guess we lambs are lucky we have this exclusive residence of our own.

I would like to fall asleep now, but things seem restless tonight; I keep hearing voices outside and now there seems to be quite a discussion going on between the Innkeeper and other people. He’s trying to convince them that there isn’t any more room, and they are telling him how important it is that they have a place to stay. OH! Oh! They’re coming in here. The nerve of that man, making us give up some of our space to humans! In fact, he has brought them right over to the spot where I am, and “ouch, you don’t’ have to use the stick, I’ll move.”

So, now I’ve had to move to another part of the stable and the man and the lady have moved into my cozy corner, with all their belongings and their very homely donkey.

Well, it will be alright, I guess, if they quiet down so we can get some sleep. But they continue to talk in low undertones. She calls him “Joseph” and he calls her “Mary.” I can’t see them from where I’m lying now, but there seems to be something unusual going on over there in that corner. It quiets down for a little while and I doze off, then they start talking again and I wake up a bit. Now there seems to be some commotion, and what was that I heard? Did I hear right? Was that the cry of a baby? I think I’d better investigate.

I’ll just sneak over there quietly and see what has happened. Well, what do you know! It is a baby. But it’s not just an ordinary baby, for there is a ring of light encircling his head. I think they call that a halo. And they’ve taken our feed trough, and have lined it with soft hay, and have wrapped the baby in strips of cloth and have laid him in the trough, they’ve made into a manger.

He is a beautiful baby, with lots of hair and the halo gives off a golden glow which brightens the spot where the baby is lying. He doesn’t cry now, and the mother is speaking to Joseph and saying, “He shall be called Jesus as the angel of God has told me.” The baby is only about an hour old, and already has a name.

It is becoming very light in her now, and that’s strange for it isn’t time for morning yet. There is a great star in the heavens right above this stable, and it is throwing its light directly down upon us. The whole place is lit up and there is a growing warmth around us.

Now there is a tapping on the door of the stable and voices from without. “This must be the place,” they are saying, and now they have come in. Boy, it’s getting crowded in here. They are the shepherds who have been tending the sheep out on the hillside and they are excited and they are saying to Joseph, “The angel of the Lord appeared to us and we were at first afraid. But the angel said to us, `Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ And he said that we will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and singing, `Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace among men of good will.’”

And while Joseph and the shepherds seem amazed at these things, the mother Mary has a twinkle in her eyes and says nothing, but her actions make me think she knew these things would happen and that she’s been keeping a secret in her heart.

The shepherds are kneeling before the Baby Jesus now and raising their faces toward heaven and are thanking God for this wonderful fulfillment of God’s promise to them. They seem to take on a new happiness and now they are telling Joseph, “His name shall be called Emmanuel, as was spoken by the prophets.”

Imagine, I haven’t even got a name, but this new baby, only a few hours old, already has two! I somehow feel that this new baby is interested even in me.

The shepherds have left now, and Mary and the Baby are sleeping again, and it is quiet once more. There seems to be such a wonderful peace that has come over everything since the coming of this baby.

I should return to my stall across the stable, but I don’t want to miss anything and now this morning there seem to be camels approaching. I can hear the rhythm of their hoof beats. Yes, again the door is opening and there are three men, dressed in clothes that make me think they are important men. They carry bags filed with strange things. They are saying to Mary and Joseph, “We have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship Him. The star has led us to this place.” When they saw the baby, they knelt down and worshipped Him.

Now they are opening their strange bags, and they are giving gifts for the new baby to Joseph. They are treasures: gold, frankincense and myrrh. “He shall be called the Son of the Most High, the Prince of Peace.” There they go with more names.

These wise men say that have seen the King Herod and that he sent them to find the baby that he too may worship him. But they are even wiser than the king thinks, for they have read his mind, and they know that he means harm to the child. So they are talking among themselves and one is saying that they should not return to the King but to their own country by another way. They have agreed and are bowing low as they leave.

Boy, this has sure been an exciting time and something tells me that I have witnessed the greatest event of all time. The birth of the Christ Child. I hope in the years to come when the writers tell the story and the artists paint the pictures of this, God’s greatest gift to the world, that they remember to put me in the front, for I was there.

I have always loved Christmas Eve services. There was something very special about being up very late and going to that very special service. Back in those days we used to take our lighted candles with us and I would try very hard to keep it lit as long as I could. Even today the sight of a sanctuary filled with lighted candles and voices raised in singing “Silent Night” brings tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat.

“Christmas Eve is the night for midnight blue skies, cloudless and serene; a night for stars dazzling and tantalizingly close to earth in all their silent glory.”[i] Christmas Eve is a night for mystery and wonder and hope. “When we look into this sacred nighttime sky we are to be reminded that there are something like a million billion billion planets in the universe.”[ii]

“The story is told of Teddy Roosevelt entertaining guests at his Sagamore Hill estate on Long Island. After a late dinner he invited his guests outside to walk beneath the brilliant nighttime sky. After a silent, reverent stroll Roosevelt said, “I guess we’ve been humbled enough now. Let’s go inside.

That’s what Christmas Eve is about – about stargazing toward the infinite to be humble in our finiteness. So in response to the angel chorus and the angel announcement, the simple, rustic stargazing shepherds said, “Let us go even now into Bethlehem to see this thing that has happened…..” And they went inside the stable.”[iii]

“For one thing, they experienced mystery. Luke tells us they returned “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen….” Whether it is Moses and the voice of God from the burning bush, or Isaiah caught up in a religious trance in the incense-filled Temple, or Jeremiah trembling with the inner Word of God, or the shepherds amazed in the presence of angels and Jesus, people through the ages have been awakened by mystery.”[iv]

I read somewhere a long time ago, that it is absurd to apologize for mystery. That thought has always stayed with me, at least in part because so much of what we believe and experience in our faith involves things that can only be described as mystery – things that are beyond our understanding and beyond our rational explanations – and yet they are real. There are many things we do not really understand. I do not understand how my computer works, how pictures fly into my television, or how my voice is transported from one place to another by use of my telephone allowing me to carry on conversations with people who are far away. I do not understand them, but I know that they are real and that they work. If we believe that God is beyond all of these things, then why do some of us think it so important to understand everything about God. It is absurd to apologize for mystery. Rather let us be open to God’s mystery.

“Tonight, let us with the shepherds bow our heads and bend our knees to mystery. Let us with poets and prophets, physicists and philosophers, theologians and hardened rationalists, humble ourselves with the shepherds to be open to mystery which transforms our lives.”[v]

The shepherds experienced mystery that magical night; but they also experienced hope – hope for peace on earth, good will toward all persons.

“The story is told of two farmers conversing in a nineteenth century general store in Kentucky. The general store was the place to exchange gossip and get caught up on the news. One farmer asked the other, `Anything new happening?’ `naw, not much,’ replied the other. `Except I hear Tom and Mary Lincoln had a baby boy. Named him Abraham. Not much going on.’”[vi]

Caesar Augustus of imperial Rome could have said the same thing of this night so long ago. Most of us don’t pay attention to the hundreds of births occurring every hour – not unless it is the birth of our child, or our grandchild, or someone very special to us. Today, we are more likely to be concerned about the large number of babies being born and we wonder about how all of them will be fed and cared for. There are so many people living without hope enduring the present but without any hope for the future.

On this night the shepherds experienced hope when they entered the stable. In Christ’s birth we too have that hope of the divine coming into our lives – not just at Christmas but every day. We have the promise that Christ gave to his disciples in Matthew 28, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” With the shepherds, we can have hope, because we have seen in Jesus more than we have ever yet been able to express.

Even more than mystery and hope, on this night, the shepherds experienced love. If anything can awaken love and admiration it is a baby. Just watch what happens when someone enters a room with a baby. Dignified serious adults suddenly start speaking in child like voices, cooing and smiling. Babies bring a smile to even the sourest face.

One of our Christmas hymns proclaims, “Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, love divine; Love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign. Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine; love to God and all men, love for plea and gift and sign.”

The angel proclaimed, “I bring good news of great joy to all people.” In our own congregation, there are people battling cancer and other diseases. There are people who are struggling to put food on their tables and to pay rent, buy medication and put gas in their car. There are people who are grieving the death of someone they love. There are young mothers trying to raise children by themselves. There are couples who are experiencing the stress of life that is tearing at the fabric of their marriage. There are people who are coping with the changes that many years of living bring to our bodies and lives.

The angel says, “I bring good news of great joy to all people?” It is the news of a love that never gives up, news of a love that transforms lives and situations and causes a generous outpouring of money, talent and helpfulness to all in need.

This is the love that sets everything in motion. This is the love that reaches out to us across more than two thousand years. This love is the greatest gift that any of us can receive this Christmas – a free gift given to us because that is who God is.

Now it is for us on this holy night, to bow our heads and knees in adoration as the shepherds did. It is for us to open the door to our hearts wide. It is for us to be ready to receive the “mystery that waits to ignite a cold mind, the hope that beckons to a defeated spirit, and the love that would flood our inner beings with love for God and love for one another.

O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel.[vii]

[i] Fetty, Maurice A. How to Profit from Prophets, Sermons for Advent and Christmas, “The Inner Galaxy” Lima OH, CSS Publishing, 1998, p.69

[ii] Fetty, p.70

[iii] Fetty, p.71

[iv] Fetty p.71-2

[v] Fetty p.73

[vi] Fetty, p.73

[vii] Fetty, p.76

It’s the nightmare of every host and hostess, the guests are due at 6:00 p.m. You arrive home later than anticipated and rush around like crazy trying to get everything finished. At 5:10 the doorbell rings, and your first guests have arrived, thinking the party started at 5:00 not 6:00. Now here is a bit of irony: the house looks great! The tree is beautifully decorated, the table is absolutely gorgeous, the smell of scented candles fills the rooms, and the sounds of Christmas music echo throughout the house. And there you stand in your sweat suit! The house is ready, but you are not.

How many of us does that describe at about this point in Advent? The house is ready, but we are not! The presents are ready, we are not! The travel arrangements are ready, but we are not! Nevertheless, the Guest comes anyway!

John the Baptist urges people to get ready for the coming of the Savior. Not external preparation, but internal. Not the home.... but the heart! We have a week to prepare for Christ the Savior. We need to use the time wisely and prepare for his coming. Ready or not, here he comes!

At this point in Advent, we would like to be hearing heartwarming stories of Christmas, tales about a young girl on the way to Bethlehem, but the liturgical road map for Advent instead of leading us to Bethlehem leads us into the wilderness where we are confronted with John the Baptist.

“He’s not an easy person to fit into our cultural Christmas traditions. I can’t imagine him singing, “Jingle Bells” or trimming a tree.” With his camel’s hair clothing and leather belt and his diet of locusts and wild honey, he’s not the kind of guest you invite for Christmas dinner. Jumping around, shouting at the top of his lungs, “REPENT”, and calling us a “brood of snakes” his message is not the kind of thing quoted in greeting cards. John missed out on the gift of tact, and it is a wonder that the people who came to hear John stayed around to hear the rest of his message. “But the Gospel writers all agree that John is the one who came to prepare the way, to set things straight, to clear the road, to open up the highway for God. He comes like a spiritual bulldozer, pushing away the clutter and plowing through the trash that gets in the way of our coming to God and of God’s coming to us.”[i]

Luke tells us that John “went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 3:3) Sin is the word the Bible uses for our running away from God. It is a universal human condition. In many ways large and small, we have ignored the will of God. In fact, in many ways, we have not only ignored God’s will, but have actively fought against it. At times, we have been defiant children who have denied the claim of God’s love on our lives. Sometimes we act like insolent children who have turned our backs and run away from home. John calls us to turn around and head back home toward God.

He calls us to repent. To repent is to turn around and go in a new direction. Repentance means that we turn from the rebellious path of putting ourselves or someone or something else at the center of our universe and begin walking in the direction of God’s self-giving love.

The Christmas gospel calls us to a radical transformation of human life. “We’re not talking about rearranging the furniture to make room for a Christmas tree. We’re not talking about dusting off the surface of the table so that none of the Christmas guests will notice the dust underneath. We’re talking about radical transformation that penetrates into the deepest part of our human personality and begins to shape and transform us into the likeness of God’s love revealed in Jesus. “[ii]

When that transformation takes place in our lives we will never again be the same. Our behavior will be changed. John says that we are to “bear fruits worthy of repentance“. Specifically he says that if you have two coats you should give one to someone who has none, and if you have food you should do the same. He gives instructions to tax collectors and to soldiers - telling them how they can show their repentance.

However, we mustn’t allow ourselves to be misled, here. John is talking about much more than a change in behavior. If that were all it involved then it would be no more than adding more rules to an already long list of laws to follow. John is talking about a radical change. This is the kind of change that Paul witnesses to in his letter to the Philippians when he tells them to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” True repentance leads to true rejoicing.

John was interested in the content of repentance. Not the package it was in, not what it looked like on the outside, but what it really was all about. John tells those listening to him that it is not about family ancestry or position in the church. God is not impressed with whether or not someone is a Bishop, a Pastor, a Lay Leader, or Custodian, but rather that we are the best Bishop, Pastor, Lay Leader, Custodian or whatever that we can be. People who rest on their laurels or pull rank to demonstrate their power or get their way have no sway in the kingdom of God.

Power and position don’t work and neither does family heritage. John was confronting people who believed that they were closer to God because they came from a people who had once been close to God. It doesn’t work that way. Once you come of age you cannot ride on the strength of a former generation. It doesn’t matter whether your father or grandmother was the pillar of the church; what matters is how you claim responsibility for your own words and actions. God’s mercy belongs to all people, and position or family heritage doesn’t give us an advantage or anyone else.

Once we understand that, then the question is what are we doing today? When the crowd finally understood that, they asked, “What then should we do?” John’s instruction to share a coat or food – isn’t just about coats and food. It is about a spirit of generosity, about caring and sharing and compassion. It is about looking around and being aware of the needs of others, looking at ourselves and seeing our blessings, and then sharing what we have. As I recall, that was the theme of our stewardship campaign this fall – We are blessed to be a blessing – and that is still the call in every area of our life.

“To the tax collectors, John said, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Of course, this isn’t only about tax collecting. This is for everyone. John was telling anyone who would listen that we are to be honest in all of our dealings. Honesty, trustworthiness, truthfulness are demanded by God. This is to be the way of God’s people.

“To the soldiers in the congregation, John said, `Do not exhort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’ Of course, this isnt just for soldiers. This is for everyone. We are to treat others fairly and we are to be content with what God has given us. We are not to envy what others have. Do not steal what belongs to others. Be fair; be content.”[iii]

John’s message is a message for people who think that they are religious. Do not rely on position. Do not rely on family ancestry. Do not rely on the past. Prepare yourself to greet the One who is coming by living in this present day, as God would have you live. Be generous, be honest, be fair, be content with what you have and with the role God has given you to play.

Therein lies the joy. The joy is the chance we have to turn around and become more of the people God calls us to be. The joy is in the arms of God stretched wide in order to let us move. The joy is in the grace of God that loves us enough to wait for us to come back.

Joy is very deep, it is much more than happiness or lightheartedness or some warm fuzzy feelings inside. That’s why Paul says that we can and should rejoice always. Joy is connected to faith and hope and peace. Joy means that we do not let fear take over. It doesn’t mean that we will never be afraid, but that when we do, it is not the driving force behind our actions. It means that we do not let fear take over and immobilize us.

Claim the joy that is yours, joy that can reside even in the midst of fear and sorrow and even grief. Joy is still there, as is strength, because of God. Paul knew that. When Paul wrote the words telling the Philippians to “Rejoice in the Lord always“, he knew the truth of which he was writing. Paul was not a Pollyanna or hopeless optimistic. Paul was a realist and he knew all about problems. When he said to “rejoice always, ... Do not worry about anything,“ Paul was writing from prison. How could he say that from a prison cell? Because he knew, and we know, that God loves us and is with us always. God always gives us a chance to turn around. But God doesn’t do the surface stuff. God is not looking just for outward changes that might fool someone else. God insists on transformation. God wants real content. God is waiting for a real turn-around.

This is the call to us today. To open our hearts, our lives, our very being to God and invite God to help us root out the things which separate us from each other and from God. To cut out the sins and throw them away; to bring healing to the places which are broken, to replace anger with understanding and forgiveness, to see and be open to the possibilities of new life in the middle of the places that feel dead.

Jesus’ birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection brought radical revolutionary changes to the world. At Advent we are reminded of those changes and asked to be willing to let ourselves be changed at the same time. In order to really prepare ourselves for Christmas, we have to follow the road to Bethlehem which goes through the wilderness where we examine our lives, repent of those things which need repenting and turn around to go toward God.

Around us everything is hustle and bustle preparing for Christmas. Within us, let us remember that Advent is really preparing for God’s coming into our lives not only as a child 2000 years ago, but about God’s coming into our lives each and every day.

[i] Harnish, James A. Come Home for Christmas Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1999, p.33

[ii] Harnish, p.34

[iii] Mosser, David N The Abingdon Preaching Annual, 2006, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2005, p.317

Today, on this Second Sunday of Advent, we continue in our preparation for Christmas. Sometimes we really have to work at keeping the core meaning of Christmas in focus. What we do between now and Christmas is shaped by the many spirits of the season that we have inherited. It is a time filled with nostalgia. Often there are bittersweet memories. Unpack the decorations gathered over the years and a flood of stories are also opened. Despite the fact that there are so many secular, cultural, even economic additions to modern celebrations, Christmas is still an event that is rooted in a sacred history. And, when one really looks at it closely, Christmas is a moral commentary on our life today.

Long ago ancient peoples waited for the coming of the Messiah and prepared for the fulfillment of their hope. It was in the context of these sacred remembrances and expectations that the Holy Spirit began to move in the lives of Elizabeth and Zechariah and Mary and Joseph. It would lead eventually to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, whom we know as The Christ. In the midst of that lovely story of hope fulfilled in the birth of Jesus we run up against the story of the birth of John, who would one day be called The Baptist, one of the most foreboding characters of the New Testament. Those who followed him were the poor and wretched of the land, people for whom the culture afforded little hope. His words were like knives, cutting through falsehood and pretense. He was a voice from the wilderness; piercing to the heart of human reality, a messenger pointing beyond himself to one who would come. He saw himself as preparing the way for God's beloved, The Anointed One. When you look closely, this season of Christmas is like that - an advent of the holy, making comment on life as we know it.

The Biblical story is a sacred history - it is a narrative of the Presence of God in all of life. God speaks the Word of life at the very beginning and promises that we are destined for glory. God invites humanity to participate in the fulfillment of the divine hope. God refuses to abandon humanity because God sees the fulfillment, which comes at the end, already present in the beginning. Natalie Sleeth described that process in her wonderful "Hymn of Promise:" "In the bulb there is the flower; in the seed, an apple tree; in cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free! In the snow and cold of winter there's a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see." Even today we are a part of that Biblical story as, in Christmas, we join ourselves to that sacred story. As individuals, and as communities, we live in the Presence of God. What we do will either help, or get in the way of what God seeks to do. That is why, in Advent, we prepare ourselves by listening to the dreams of the ancient prophets, and to those voices in the wilderness - they hold us to the direction of God.

In the Old Testament the prophets, and in the New Testament the angels were messengers - those whose purpose was to announce to the people what God was about to do. Sometimes we don't know who to listen to, and perhaps we only know the truth of what they are saying in retrospect. In any event an effective messenger is one who speaks with authority and authenticity, and one who lives the Message. In every event the authentic messenger is one who points beyond the self. In our day we are numbed by so many messages and promises, given by so many well paid people, and underwritten by those who expect something in return for their investment. It is hard to keep from being cynical. I, for one, have grown weary of all those voices who promise to save the nation, or save the economy, or save the family. As one who dares to take the name Christian, I say to all those competing voices, I know of only one Savior and his name is Jesus Christ. For me this season of Advent is a time of preparing for his coming.

Every properly discerned message from God informs us about what God is doing, or will do. Every properly discerned activity of God carries with it an implied warning. In the case of the prophet Malachi there is revealed a passion for God and a sympathy for humanity. Malachi is not bashful: the time is evil; God is coming to correct the inequity; the temple will be purified; all those who claim to be leaders will be held accountable, and cleansed. The message here is the God will not come until the house is in order. Malachi is saying: "When the temple is cleansed and when the home is prepared, then God will come and set the injustices right." I don't know about you, but I don't know if I ever would or even could be that ready!

Throughout history, in all great movements of faith, there have been three phases: an ethical, a theological, and an aesthetic. Let me explain. At first there is an acknowledgment that things aren't the way they ought to be. A prophet arises, saying the hard word, calling people to repentance, warning them of the effect of their disobedience, offering a hope to those who are faithful. When the people listen and see the need to reform their lives and the lives of their community, then an ethical revolution begins that reshapes the people, preparing them for a new advent of God. That's the first phase. Then, as people begin to reflect on where God is all this, the people come to a deeper understanding of Who God is. A language about God is formed, or reformed, to tell the story of God's sacred history. The people's practice of faith becomes rooted again in practicing the presence of God - their theology becomes their life and their life becomes their theology. That's the second phase. Typically, and at times with unfortunate side effects, this then leads to an aesthetic movement that involves buildings and the practices and the apparatuses of their worship. In this last phase there is enormous risk because concentrating on the beauty of buildings and the correctness of worship practices can lead to decay as people forget the call of God. It is rather like building a boat but forgetting why it was built in the first place and never sailing it.

Advent and Christmas are about the birth of Jesus, and the good news his life and ministry is to all who believe in his name. It is a story of how God gives power to us to become children of God. But sometimes we forget! That is why prophets, in every generation, are always calling us to prepare the way of the Lord. God is always reforming the people of faith, and needs to!

The scriptures of Advent invite us, perhaps even warn us to prepare the way of the Lord. The phrase `the way' is a common biblical metaphor for courses of nature, modes of human and divine conduct, attitude, habit custom, undertaking, plan, purpose. We refer to the ways of men and of nations; John the Baptist announces "Prepare ye the Way of the Lord"; Jesus refers to himself as "The Way, the Truth, and the Life.” It is a common image and most useful.

When Jesus refers to himself as The Way, he is saying that it is only in the course and direction that He will show to us that we will ever hope to come to God. When Jesus refers to himself as the Truth, he is saying that it is only by the words he has spoken that we will be able to see the fullest perspective of human living. When Jesus refers to himself as the Life, he is saying that it is as we become like him and do what he has done that we will discover the fullest meaning of life. Picture a guide in unfamiliar territory showing the way to what will be a new and blessed home. In the old American West it was the function of a scout to move far enough ahead to guide the main party to the ultimate goal. "Behold I send my messenger before me to prepare the way..."

Whatever wilderness we live in today, we have a word of hope. No matter how confused, or divided or discouraged we may be over the affairs of our nation, there is a way through this wilderness. No matter what losses we have suffered, or how abusive some people can be, or how disappointed we may feel over how things have turned out, there is a way through that wilderness. Even when familiar things come unstuck and the center does not seem to hold, there is a way through the wilderness. People of faith are assured that God abides with us still, Emmanuel! Because of that we can live in the expectation that one day we will hear the announcement that God is taking action to make things right. That is what the first Christmas was all about - people who lived long years in faith and expectation, prepared to hear good news! Suddenly God is with us in the birth of a holy child in Bethlehem. It hasn't changed in this year of our lord 2006!

I read once of the story of a teacher who had been assigned to visit and help hospitalized children so that they wouldn't get too far behind in their homework. She had received a call from a teacher about one of her boys. She took the boy's name and room number. She was told: “We're studying nouns and adverbs in his class now, I’d be grateful if you could help him with his homework so he doesn't fall too far behind the others.” It wasn't until the visiting teacher got outside the boy's room that she realized that it was located in the hospital's burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a boy horribly burned and in great pain. Since she was already there she knew that she couldn't just turn and walk out, so she awkwardly stammered, “I'm the hospital teacher, and your school teacher sent me to help you with your nouns and adverbs.” The next morning another nurse on the burn unit stopped her and asked her, “What did you do to that boy?” Before she could finish a profusion of apologies , the nurse interrupted her: “You don't understand. We've been very worried about him, but ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back, responding to treatment... It's as though he's decided to live.” The boy later explained what had happened - he had completely given up hope, until he saw the teacher. It all changed when he had come to a simple realization. With joyful tears he expressed it this way: “They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they.”

When people who have lived in darkness and the shadow of death begin to live in hope and expectation, they begin to prepare the way of the Lord. To live that way means that life changes. When life changes, we begin to discover God in the process. That, dear friends, is what Christmas is all about. In the birth of the Christ child we have the announcement that God has not given up on the world and will not give up on the world. God has not given up on us and will not give up us! It is time to get ready again. God is sending a messenger of good news to us, planting the seed of hope that will bring forth the new life that is promised to those who change their ways and make ready for the coming of the Lord.

“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and all people will see the salvation of our God.”

When I went shopping the other day I quickly and efficiently grabbed the items I had gone into the store to get. I knew what I wanted and where to find them. The store was familiar to me and I knew what to expect. All of that changed when I came to the cracker aisle. The crackers I was looking for weren’t there. I looked up and down the aisle. I went back to the place where they should be. I found the same brand but a different kind. Under my breath, I started to grumble about how once again the store had stopped carrying the specific item I wanted. I looked again, more carefully this time; willing them to be there. The crackers I wanted were right where they were supposed to be. I almost didn’t see them, because the packaging had changed. The color of the box was different and there were other changes to the outward appearance. I knew what I was looking for and expected to find it; but almost didn’t because my vision was clouded by my expectations.

Something similar happened when Jesus was born. The Jewish people had been waiting a long time for the Messiah to come. They knew what to expect. They knew what he was supposed to look like or be like. They were expecting a royal figure and a warrior. They were looking for someone like King David; someone who would lead them into battle, defeat the Roman government, take back the throne and restore Israel to her former glory.

God, of course, had other ideas. What they were being sent was a baby born to a young woman of humble and lowly estate. The child wouldn’t even have a proper place to be born; and certainly wouldn’t be born with the attendance and fanfare that one would expect for someone as long-awaited as the Messiah. What they would get was a man who would at first earn his living by working with his hands; a man who would walk among them, who would tell them stories and who would tell them that they were waiting for the wrong thing. What they would get was a man who would tell them that the Kingdom of God wasn’t coming by military might but was already present among them and in them.

What they needed was someone who would prepare the way for this Messiah; someone who would point out the differences between what they were expecting and what God was sending. What they needed was someone who would prepare them, who would correct their theology and show them a new way of looking at their expectations. What they would get was John; the man we know as John the Baptist or John the Baptizer.

Throughout Luke’s gospel, we will see time and again how Jesus acted differently than people would have expected, how the Messiah was a surprise, and the very first clue we have is Luke himself. Luke was a Gentile – not a Jew. Right at the beginning, Luke tells us that he has undertaken the task or writing down an orderly and well-researched account of what took place. Luke writes with the careful attention of an historian, telling us what was happening in the world at the time of the events he describes. Luke pays a lot of attention to the barriers that Jesus breaks down – to the ways that he is different than the Messiah that was anticipated. Both Matthew and Luke have a genealogy in their account, but Luke goes all the way back to Adam, the beginning of the human race, while Matthew goes back to Abraham, the beginning of the Jewish race. As a Gentile, as an outsider, it is important to Luke to show the inclusiveness that Jesus represents. Repeatedly in Luke’s gospel, we will see Jesus as the friend of outcasts and sinners, as including those who were the last, lost, and least in Jewish and Roman society.

Since this Messiah is so different than what was expected, and because Luke is setting forth an orderly and well-researched account, he starts with the preparation and that is the role of the season of Advent. Advent is to prepare us to recognize the One whom God is sending.

Who was John? How would today’s readers of the Scripture know that they should pay attention to John? How should the people of John’s day know that they should pay attention to him? The answers to these questions are all wrapped up in the story of John’s birth, and Luke wants us to know about it.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous people, both from priestly families. They had been married a long time but they did not have any children and they were beyond the age for childbearing. On the one occasion in his life, when Zechariah had the privilege of performing the evening sacrifice and burning the incense an angel appeared to him and told him that he and Elizabeth would have a son.

In the Bible, when an old and childless couple give birth, it is time to pay attention. In Genesis 12, we meet Abraham and Sarah, a childless couple advanced in years. In Chapter 21 they give birth to Isaac and the nation of Israel has its beginning. The book of First Samuel opens with Hannah and Elkanah, a childless couple advanced in years, giving birth to Samuel, who becomes the new prophet of the Lord God, the one who will anoint Saul and later David to be Israel’s first two kings. Luke begins his story with Zechariah and Elizabeth a childless couple advanced in years, giving birth to John, who would prepare the way of the Lord. Each time we find in the Scriptures a childless couple advanced in years giving birth, we can be sure God is at work. Pay attention, for God is breaking into history.

When Zechariah came out of the sanctuary, it was clear that something had happened to him. He was dazed and could not speak. When his duties in the temple were finished, he went home and soon enough, Elizabeth was with child. When their baby was born and it was time to name him, everyone assumed that the boy would be named after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No, His name is John.” Zechariah’s people argued with her, until Zechariah signaled for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” Then he was able to speak and he explained what the angel had said.

This is the second sign that should make us sit up and take notice. In Bible times, the first-born would often be given the father’s name and especially so when the child had been long awaited. When Abraham and Sarah had a child, one would not have expected the child to be named Isaac. When Elkanah and Hannah finally had a child, one would not have expected the child to be named Samuel. When Zechariah and Elizabeth had a child, one would not have expected the child to be named John. The introduction of a new name into the story line is a sign that God is at work and that we are to pay attention.

John bears watching. Pay attention to this one. God is breaking into history and John will have an important role in preparing the way for the One who is coming. In John, God is giving the people a “heads up” so they will recognize the Messiah whom God is sending. As we prepare, we will be looking some more at how John prepares the people. We will pay attention to what John says, so that perhaps we will recognize the One who is to come.

We know that Jesus came a long time ago. Yet when we gather and celebrate communion we also proclaim that Christ will come again. In the meanwhile, we try to pay attention to Jesus’ teaching that the Kingdom of God is here among us and in us. We try to understand what it is that Jesus taught and what it is that God expects from us. Because we have heard the story so many times, it is easy to think we know it well. We know what to expect. We know what Jesus is going to say – or rather, we know how we will hear what he is going to say. John’s job is to correct the theology of the people of his day, and prepare them to hear something different than what they were expecting.

“Advent is first of all about the future, about the Christian hope for a new heaven and a new earth as a gift from God. It is tied to Christmas because it is in the person and work of Jesus that we glimpse (as fully as humans are able) what God has in mind for the future. Jesus is in a true sense a picture of the future.

“For that future, we are to wait in hope. We are to pray for its coming, as The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to do. (The word “advent” means “coming”.) Above all we are to wrestle with this truth: Although we have in our minds ideas about what God’s final reign will be like, these may be as imperfect as the ancient hope that Messiah would come as a military leader to overthrow Rome. When Messiah came, his birth and life were so unlike what was expected that even many devout persons missed the point. So we also are in danger of doing the same if our understanding of God’s final reign of righteousness is so tightly closed that we give God no freedom to work in divinely appointed ways that may mystify us and that certainly will surprise us with their newness.”[ii]

[i] Most of the content of this sermon comes from a sermon by this title in The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2006, edited by David N. Mosser, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2005 pp. 303-305

[ii] Stookey, Laurence Hull This Day – A Wesleyan Way of Prayer, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2004 p.107

Do I need to tell you that today is “Pledge Sunday” or “Consecration Sunday”? You all know that. You all think you know what I’m going to say. “She’s going to ask me for money. But I’ve already made up my mind what I’m going to give.” Is that in your mind? You are not alone then.

Ben Franklin thought the same thing many years ago. In his autobiography, he tells of how we went to church one day, and these are his own words: “I perceived the pastor intended to finish with a collection and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had, in my pocket, a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five gold pieces. As he proceeded, I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and I determined to give the silver. And he finished so admirably, that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector’s dish, gold and all.”[i]

Well, I don’t pretend to be a great orator, and some of you are probably thinking, “She already preached a stewardship sermon last week. Do we really need to hear this again?” So, let me give you a brief theology of stewardship. A steward is someone who manages another’s property, finances or other affairs. So when we talk about stewardship, we are talking about our handling of that which belongs to God.

The Book of Genesis tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and planted a garden and put humans there to take care of the garden. Now, I know that there is a great debate about creation and evolution and how all of this fits together and I’m not going to get into that debate. However, for me the bottom line is that all that we have, and all that we are is a gift from God. That comes through clearly in our passage from Hebrews today.

I know that the style of writing in Hebrews is often convoluted and difficult to understand, so let me try to tell you in a nutshell what today’s passage says. It used to be that priests went to the temple everyday to offer sacrifices of animals that were supposed to take away sin. However, it didn’t really accomplish a great deal. Christ then came along and made one sacrifice. He gave his own life. It was a perfect sacrifice for imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that was needed. So now, we can, without hesitation – walk right up to God. Eugene Peterson, in The Message, finishes the passage this way, “So let’s do it. … Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worship together as some do, but spurring each other on.”

I love that last section, “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love, and helping out. … spurring each other on.” I think that’s a big part of what we are about as a congregation. We have good news – great news! And this news has been entrusted to us. It is our job to share it with others.

When some people look at a church budget – or spending plan – they see all the bills that need to be paid. They see electricity and oil and salaries and repairs and numbers that can be depressing. Now, I understand budgets and numbers, and when I look at a church budget I see numbers; but I see more than numbers. I see people. I see ways of being in ministry, ways of being inventive about encouraging love and sharing the good news about what God has done for us and continues to do for us every day.

I see children learning about God’s love in an environment where they are loved. I see safe sanctuary policies that say that we care enough about all of God’s children to be sure that the people who teach our children, and who work with our youth, are people who are safe for our children and youth to be around. I see people sharing the love that they have experienced with those who most need to experience that love.

I see women who have experienced the death of their spouse and know that sorrow, reaching out to others who have more recently experienced that heartbreak. I see people at every stage of life sharing their stories and experiences with others who are dealing with similar issues. I see others praying – often for people they don’t even know. I see people offering gifts of music to help us worship God in a way that speaks to our souls. I see men and women gathered to study the Bible and to share their understandings with each other, as they try to learn more about the things that will help them in their journey of faith.

I see groups who may not know a lot about what goes on inside our sanctuary, but find something here that helps make their life more manageable. Sometimes it’s food to feed their hungry children. Someti