It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Loren Tate Mitchell

Original text from 2012

Is 61:10-62:3, Lk 2:22-40

 

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

 

Our cultural celebration of Christmas has now come and gone.  And since we’ve been seeing commercials and hearing the music since Halloween, for some of us it is none to soon! Gifts are unwrapped and Santa is back home in the North Pole.  Soon the decorations will come down and be put away for next year.  You gave gifts and you received them—for some this was Christmas.  Others enjoyed a family get together.  Families came to share a meal, to laugh and talk.  For some this was Christmas.  Perhaps there were others for who Christmas was a depressing and painful time—maybe it was loneliness, shattered families or other health and financial problems.  Christmas means different things for different people. 

All of this is the cultural side but I wonder what Christmas meant for you spiritually?  Were you too busy entertaining and unwrapping gifts, or did you take time off to withdraw from the celebration for a moment and offer a gift to God? Was Jesus born in your heart again or is that something that you have put off until a later date? 

Did you know that the 12 days of Christmas are not actually the 12 days before December 25, but the 12 days after? We have largely forgotten the traditions of the 12 days of Christmas and confused them with the Christmas shopping season, which promptly ends Dec 25.  Widespread experience with the commercial calendar has encouraged a popular (but erroneous) assumption among consumers that the Twelve Days must end on Christmas Day and must therefore begin on 14 December. The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which Christian tradition is followed. Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions, the first day of Epiphany (6 January) and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap. These days are important because they give us a way of reflecting on what the Incarnation means in our lives. Christmas commemorates the most momentous event in human history—the entry of God into the world He made, in the form of a baby. The Logos through whom the worlds were made took up His dwelling among us. So you see Christmas is not over yet, it has just begun.  We have some time left! 

Today’s gospel tells us about a man called Simeon who waited a whole lifetime for Christ to be born.  Simon seemed only to have one goal in life and that was to see the Savior. Scripture tells us that he was waiting for the relief of Israel and it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. 

What a surprise it must have been for Simeon, as well as Anna, and all who saw this bundle of joy with their own eyes!  Here is a beautiful child, but still just a child, no different in appearances from sweet Lily Ridenour or little Carson Hamilton.   What’s more surprising is the message that he has come for all people, to deliver the Jews and the Gentiles alike.  Jesus was not—is not—just a symbol of hope and victory but he came to lead the people into a new self understanding and a new relationship with God. 

 

We’ve been waiting, all of this advent season we have been waiting and now he is here!  Do we recognize him?  If we don’t recognize him we go through life as if it is the land of Narnia… always winter and never Christmas!  You know how I am inspired by music when writing my sermons.  This time my help comes from Christian musicians Jars of Clay who have a song called Carry Me which says this:

 

January 1, I got a lot of things on my mind
Looking at my body through a new spy satellite
I try to lift a finger but I don't think I can make the call
So, tell me if I move 'cause I don't feel anything at all....
Carry Me, I'm just a dead man lying on the carpet can't find a heart beat
Make me breathe, I want to be a new man, tired of the old one, out with the old plan

 

It’s January 1, we’ve got a lot of things on our minds.  The world keeps spinning faster and faster and we have to keep up.  But as the lyrics of the song imply, if we simply go through these motions we become numb until we can’t feel anything at all.  Christmas comes into our lives to revive us, to remind us of the love of Jesus that comes to carry us, to rejuvenate in us a new person!

 

 Just like Simeon, we’ve been waiting to see Jesus and here he is.  Friends, Christmas isn’t over, this story is just beginning!  Are we ready to hear the truth of Christ and accept him?  The truth is that God is on the side of the poor, the sick, the lame, the mistreated—all those sometimes rejected by the affluent, the high achievers. God came to dwell among us for all people.  Joseph and Mary come to the temple as a poor couple with two doves and a pigeon to give as an offering to God. Their child was born in a donkey’s feedbox, they live on the margins of society cast out to the margins by a foreign power.  Here comes Jesus, who grew up to become a wandering preacher with no place to call his home, surrendered by his closest friends into the hand of vindictive powers.  Yet through this child who grew (as every other child does) into a man, Simeon’s prophesy was fulfilled, is a surprise that only God can bring, for God’s thoughts and ways are not our own.  Who could have possibly imagined that God would resolve Israel’s plight through a suffering Messiah?  It is still hard for us to wrap our minds around!  Is this the Messiah that you know?  Do you recognize him?  Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the Messiah we have been waiting for!  Think about it, what kind of things do you typically wait for?  Getting a present, achieving a goal? Landing a job, finding a spouse? Winning the lottery?  Having a child, building a home?  Where does our desire to fill our lives with things end?  In truth, here in this child whom Simeon and Anna recognize, is a greater destiny and a fuller grace.  There is the consolation that your sins are forgiven, your future is assured.  And with our identification with this suffering servant, there is also the assurance that in our problems and our sorrows there is one who has been there before us and comforts us in a way that no one else can. 

There is a biblical parallel to Simeon in one of Jesus’ parables known as “the pearl of great price.”  It is found in the gospel of Matthew.  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”  The merchant finds a pearl which is so spectacular that he realizes that nothing else matters as long as he has the pearl and thus he sells everything else to obtain it.  Now in doing that he has gotten a real bargain.  He may have paid millions for the pearl but it was greatly undervalued since its worth was billions.  When the merchant has the pearl he desires nothing else.  In the same way, when Simeon sees with his own eyes the Messiah, he knows that this is the pearl of great price.  Nothing else matters anymore because he knows the Messiah, the Savior, has come. 

The lesson for us to day is that we should not be content to go through life without truly knowing Christ.  Knowing Jesus is a dream that is within our grasp.  Simeon’s dream can come true in each of our lives, we can know him personally.  We can have a relationship with Jesus as our friend, brother, savior, Lord and king.   There is nothing wrong with our dreams of success, of wanting to be comfortable in this world, to have a family or getting a good education, these are wonderful goals as long as they do not prevent us from experiencing the joy of recognizing Christ.    

Furthermore, if you do know Jesus then be content.  In other words, it makes no sense to be a Christian but to think that true joy and fulfillment are found elsewhere.  This isn’t to say that nothing else matters.  God has given us responsibilities in this world to work and home and school.  God wants us to be involved in the lives of our families and friends.  God desires for us to attend our grandchildren’s ball games and concerts.  True followers of Jesus do much more than sit around reading the Bible and singing hymns.  It is a way of life! But we must remember that nothing is more important than our relationship with God. 

The question is this: Are we finding joy in the great gift God has given?  Are we ready to be a new man, out with the old plan?  Do we understand Christmas as well as Simeon did?  Do we recognize that Christmas is not just one day a year? Do we realize that Jesus’ coming means more than anything else in our lives?  The best way to celebrate Christmas this year is to embrace Jesus as the Messiah, to give thanks to God for what he has done, and to find joy in the gift of our savior. 

When we think about New Year’s Day we think about resolutions!  I’m going to exercise more!  We’re going to eat out less!  I’m going to give up reality T.V.!  We’re going to stick to our budget!  And we will start… tomorrow!   As a week goes by you start to backslide, and then by Feb 1, you can’t remember what you set out to do in the first place.  I have another resolution for you. Replace your old one or add this one to your list. 

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and I want to encourage you today to be like Simeon: live in anticipation of Jesus.  Will tomorrow be that kind of day for you?  Amidst the cleaning up from festivities, on the early drive to work, will you be looking for Jesus?  Don’t live in the land of Narnia… the one that is all winter and no Christmas.  Amen. 

The Trolley Car

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Mitchell family.  Kemper, my 2.5 year old son,  got so many things that he needed and so many great toys to enjoy.  He has played with them nonstop since Saturday afternoon.  He was given a Fisher Price Little People Zoo (with an elephant and a monkey), a set of vehicles from the Pixar movie, Cars (he loves Tow-Mater), and a Daniel Tiger Trolley car with songs and sounds (and a set of Daniel Tiger figures).  Suggesting these toys in a list of things to the family, was definitely a win. 

On Monday morning as I was getting ready for work I could hear Kemper in the living room, talking quietly to his toys, "Where did you go, oh there you are." "No, no, you go here."  I heard the clacking of plastic toys banging together, and the soft, "ding-ding" of Daniel's Trolley.  When I went into the living room to see what he was up to, I found every character from Daniel Tiger, several Little People, Tow-Mater, and Lightening McQueen all crammed into Trolley.  I had a flashback from my study abroad days of riding "the tube" in London during rush hour. 

The first thought I had was, wow, if Pixar and PBS characters from different universes can dwell together, why can't we?  As an adult, when I play with him, I find myself wanting to keep all of the characters and parts separated.  I want the Little People with the zoo animals, and the Daniel Tiger toys with the trolley, and all of the Cars characters lined in a row.  They don't go together.  When is it that we lose that sense of imagination?  When do we begin to separate people into categories and labels?  Such divisiveness must be learned....because in a small child it does not exist.  What is it that Christ called us to do, have the faith of a child? 

How do we move ourselves beyond fear, hatred, ignorance--to a place of understanding and harmony? There is such separation around politics, religion, the color of a person's skin.  There is such pain and misery in our world that goes overlooked--how can we not see our brothers and sisters in Syria?  How do we regain our childlike faithfulness in Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves?  I believe we have to intentionally place ourselves and our interests in places that matter. We must invest our time into engaging people who are different than ourselves. Simply out of respect. Simply for understanding.  Simply out of love.

God's kingdom is surely more like Kemper's trolley car than the world in which we live. Perhaps, this Christmas, this is the gift I will pray for...more trolleys.   

Oh That You Would Come Down

Nov 30, 2014

Isaiah 64: 1-9

Mark 13: 24-37

 

Oh That You Would Come Down

In her book, "Bright Valley of Love," Edna Hong tells the story of a handicapped boy named Gunther who, after WW I, ended up in an institution in Germany for physically and mentally challenged children.

At the home, he finally found a loving, Christian atmosphere after having suffered several years of severe rejection and abuse.

His best friend at the home was Kurt, and they did a lot in helping each other get over some of the painful memories of their earlier childhood.

One year during Advent, Kurt was asked to light the Advent Wreath during the chapel service.  As he was doing so, he collapsed and was gripped by a severe seizure.  He was obviously very ill.

After he was taken to the clinic, the pastor made an effort to continue with the worship service until finally Gunther cried out in anger and frustration, "Everything is broken!"

All the other children turned and looked at Gunther.

"Everything is broken," he said again.  "What's so great about Christmas?"

"Everything is broken."

 

That's pretty much the way the prophet and the people felt in today's reading from Isaiah. The people had been in Babylonian exile for a long time. Everything they had cherished had been taken from them. They cry out, "God, everything's broken. Don't you care? Why don't you split open the heavens, get down here, and straighten everything out, for everything's broken?"[1]

 

Perhaps you can also understand this sentiment.  The prophet captures our lament so well.  Our world is broken, why won’t you make yourself known to us God, clear as day so that we can know and understand your will for us and why all of the horrors of the world are happening. 

There are so many atrocities in our world and we feel helpless to stop them.  Individuals are being tortured and beheaded in the Middle East, political and religious violence is King.  There are villages in Africa where boys and girls go missing every day, ripped from their families to fight someone else’s war, or be innocent victims of it.  In some Asian countries people are actually dying from fatigue, from working too much.  The world is choking with pollution, slowly decaying at the hands of its stewards, actions that cannot be reversed.  In our own nation, that which we call “the greatest country in the world” thousands of people line up in the wee hours of the morning to feed their consumerist hunger, but pay little attention to midterm elections or PTA meetings that guide their children’s education.  Innocent children are fearful to go to school because someone might break through the door with a gun and end their lives.  There is prejudice and intolerance of all shapes and sizes and it is known at every age, every gender, and every color.  We are kidding ourselves if we think not, for if it is still being aired on the nightly news like so much dirty laundry, it exists, no matter how deeply we try to bury it. 

So yes, Lord, Please come down! In these days, in these hours where all we see and hear are acts of senseless violence near and far… Lord won’t you break forth through the clouds, come down and end all of the hatred, all of the bloodshed.  Won’t you come down and tell us all that is meant by your Holy Word.  Won’t you come down, let your face shine upon us and remind us of how to love?

“Advent finds us still longing, as we are in every year, for peace in the world.”[2] What is so great about Christmas? Everything is broken.

Advent is a reminder for us that God’s voice is still there, still crying out from the wilderness is the promise of God’s love for his creation.  Because he did, in fact, come down once, for the salvation of all and left us with the promise that he would return again.  Oh yes, we confess that it would be wonderful if he would make his grand entrance right about now.  Right in the middle of a violent school yard, a drug trafficking thoroughfare.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he would open the heavens and stand between innocent people and the sword that threatens to cut them?  Yes, Lord, come back to us and stand in the midst of the shattered glass, the burned out buildings, the broken homes and hearts of so many Americans who have forgotten the moment when you told Peter that the violence has to end, “put down your sword.”   Advent is the reminder.  God’s time is not our own. There is still time.  He will return. 

Rev. Katheryn Huey writes, “No matter how bad things are, we are reminded that we belong to God, and that all the earth belongs to God, and we believe that God breaks into this reality regularly. Sometimes, this inbreaking is dramatic and publicly celebrated: one thinks of the fall of apartheid in South Africa, for example, or the fall of the Berlin Wall. Sometimes it's felt in private consolations and reconciliations, a relationship restored by forgiveness or a return to health. "The coming of Advent," Patricia E. De Jong writes, "jolts the church out of Ordinary Time with the invasive news that it's time to think about fresh possibilities for deliverance and human wholeness."”[3]

The reading from Isaiah today claims that God has hidden his face from his people.  Is it that God has hidden God-self or that the people have become too blinded by their own vanities, prejudices, and sins, to see that God is still very much present and active. 

Rev. Beth Scribienski wonders, “So, has God hidden then or is it that they're lives no longer cultivate life. What does it mean when it feels as though our lives are no longer a proper environment for life to grow? What happens to our relationship with God when our lives become infertile? At what point does it feel God has hidden as opposed to we have ceased to support life? 

“We begin our journey of Advent pointing the finger at ourselves not at God. And yet so often when we believe God is hidden we fault God. We focus on the hidden part of the equation and not our part. I wonder if we are not a little bit like a child with her eyes closed,” Scribienski wonders, “Not willing to look at what's going on, perhaps frightened by loud sounds. If I can't see God, then God can't see me either. The writer, the prophet is asking us to open our eyes and look around. I can't help but wonder if when we open our eyes, we will find that God is not hidden at all. In fact, God is beside us saying, "I can see you." And perhaps that is why we keep our eyes closed.”[4] Because when we stop to think about it, we are ashamed of what God sees.

 

As we beg that the Lord would come and make known to us the answers for all of the questions we ask, let us do so with our eyes open.  With full awareness of the role that we are called to play in this world as followers of Christ. Jesus broke down political, social, and religious barriers everywhere he went.  He walked through hated Samaria and sat with a sinful woman while she drew water from a well.  He had dinner with tax collectors and other reputable sinners.  He touched those who were deemed unclean.  He turned over the tables in the Temple and called out the hypocrisy of Jewish and Roman leadership.  And he spoke of dying so that we might live. And in living into that grace I believe he expected that those who followed him would do the same.  That those who follow him would lose their lives to gain it: to let go of the comfort, the complacency, the status quo and open our eyes to the promise of his return, a return we are called upon to help him usher in, even now.  Amen.    

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[1] Bass Mitchell, www.homiliesbyemail.com  internet accessed 11/25/14

[2] Kathryn Huey, www.ucc.org 11/29/30

[3] Ibid

[4] Beth Scribienski  www.bethscrib.com 11/25/14

Make Way

December 7,  2014

Isaiah 40:1-11

Mark 1:1-8            

 

Make Way

 

Rev. Steve Goodier relayed a story from Hollins University graduate Annie Dillard in his reflections. “In her book Teaching a Stone to Talk (Harper Collins, 1988), Annie Dillard reveals a sad, but poignant story. She tells of a British Arctic expedition that set sail in 1845 to chart the Northwest Passage around the Canadian Arctic to the Pacific Ocean. Neither of the two ships and none of the 138 men aboard returned.

Dillard argues that Captain Sir John Franklin prepared as if they were embarking on a pleasure cruise rather than a grueling journey through one of earth’s most hostile environments. He packed a 1,200 volume library, a hand-organ, china place settings for officers and men, cut-glass wine goblets and sterling silver flatware. Years later, some of these place settings would be found near a clump of frozen, cannibalized bodies.

The voyage was doomed when the ships sailed into frigid waters and became trapped in ice. First ice coated the decks, and the rigging. Then water froze around the rudders, and the ships became hopelessly locked in the now-frozen sea.

Sailors set out to search for help (possibly delirious from lead-poisoning from the cans which preserved their food), but soon succumbed to severe Arctic weather and died of exposure to its harsh winds and subfreezing temperatures. For the next twenty years, remains of the expedition were found all over the frozen landscape.

Dillard reports that the crew did not adequately prepare either for the cold or for the eventuality of the ships becoming ice-locked. On a voyage that was to last two to three years, they packed only their Navy-issue uniforms and the captain carried just a 12-day supply of coal for the auxiliary steam engines. The frozen body of an officer was eventually found, miles from the vessel, wearing his uniform of fine blue cloth, edged with silk braid, a blue greatcoat and a silk neckerchief – clothing which was noble and respectful, but wholly inadequate.”[1]

We scoff at such an ill-prepared voyage, at the captain who was either absolutely inept in leadership or so arrogant he thought he was all set and ready to go.  But, it begs the question, how prepared are we for what lies ahead of us in life?  I mean for the things that truly matter.  As we wait for the coming of the Messiah, are we prepared to accept his presence in our lives?  Have we made way, made room for the Spirit of the Lord to truly dwell within us?

 

This is what John the Baptist was urging his followers to understand as he preached from the banks of the Jordan River. His job was to prepare everyone for the one who was coming, the one who would baptize not with water but the Spirit.  It is interesting that in the time of Jesus, baptism would have been used as a way to introduce Gentiles into the Hebrew faith, but here, John the Baptist calls all people to repent and be baptized.  John the Baptist feels that the Jewish people need to turn around, to be reborn as God’s people.  God is doing a new thing.[2]

 

I can’t help but think of this holiday season with its shiny wrappers, twinkling lights, and glittering bows.  It is a lot easier for us to focus on the glories of our cultural Christmas than turn our thoughts to the necessary work that lies beneath it for us as Christians.  You’ve probably seen signs or heard people saying, “He is the reason for the season.” A quip to remind us of what Christmas is all about.  Well, our readings from Isaiah and Mark encourage us to do the same.  If we focus on the trappings of the commercial holiday, we are no different from the ship captain who needed his fine china on the frozen seas.  We are ill prepared, we miss the Holy Day because of the holiday. 

 

Isaiah tells us that a way must be made, a path must be cleared, a highway paved. How we prepare for the coming of the Son of God varies for each individual.  For some of us it is seeing the cup as half full instead of half empty.  For some of us it is overcoming greed or envy.  For some of us it is learning to forgive, letting go of anger and hostilities that boil below the surface.  For some of us it is recognizing our arrogance or the belief that we are already, like the ship captain in our story, well prepared. 

“But, it is John the Baptist’s physical and spiritual location that most clearly tells us what this new reign is all about. Mark’s description of the Baptist is meant to invoke images of the prophet Elijah who is in 2 Kings 1:8 described as having a garment of hair and a leather belt around his waist. But the emphasis on John’s location (“wilderness” and “countryside” are mentioned three times) makes clear that the new reign, and its Messiah, do not come from the religious and social center, but the margins—the unknown, the unsanctified, the uncomfortable.”[3]

Michela Bruzzese argues, that such preparation also extends beyond the self.  “Taking John’s example, we who await the Messiah can also “Prepare the way of the Lord” by seeking out our own “wilderness”—that which is beyond our comfort zone. Since everyone is welcome to this new reign, we can prepare Jesus’ way by reaching outside our comfort zones to connect with someone different (you choose the difference: economic, racial, religious, political party, age, etc.). What is important is that it is not a natural connection but one that will take time, energy, and understanding to cultivate.” We can learn from the Apostle Paul, who “knows from experience that such a task is no easy matter but promises that God will be present and “patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”[4]

How do we prepare for the coming of the Messiah?  We repent. We repair.  We make way: a clear, straight path into our lives. We make room in our hearts for the Spirit who so desperately wants to fill us this season.  Amen.

 

 

 

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[1]Rev. Steve Goodier,  stevegoodier.blogspot.com 

 

[2] Bass Mitchell, www.homiliesbyemail.com

[3] --Michaela Bruzzese  http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2008/12/christmas-presence

[4] ibid

Life Is A Highway

Advent 2011

Is. 40:1-11, 2Pet 3:8-15a

Life Is A Highway

 

A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God!”  This sounds like a lot of work to me!  Every valley has to be lifted up and every hill has to be made low so that the uneven ground is level.  All of the rough places have to be made plain; there can’t be any boulders or desert shrubs in the way.  Every obstacle must be obliterated, there is no going around them, and the path must be straight!  This seems especially daunting to me because I can’t cut a straight line to save my life!

In response to this command from God, the voice of the prophet responds, “All people are like grass; their constancy is like the flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass.  The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of our Lord will stand forever!” 

These familiar lines from Isaiah 40 connect with 2 Peter because both remind us of human frailty and our limitations, they both remind us that we are nothing compared to the scope of God.  In Isaiah we are given hope in the promise that God’s word will stand forever, though all else fades.  2 Peter reminds us that God’s watch keeps a different time, God’s tendency is patience, and God’s surprise entrance calls us to readiness!  What a gift it is to us that God is more patient than we are! I’ll be honest with you, on life’s highway there are days when I experience road rage, where my impatience at yield signs and slow moving vehicles gets the better of me! But, God’s delay in the coming of Jesus shows God’s patience with us and gives us many chances, more than we deserve; to repent and come to trust fully in God. 

When this familiar word came from Isaiah to the Hebrew people, they had been in exile for almost 50 years!  They feared that the Lord had abandoned them; patience had ebbed into acceptance and assimilation into the Babylonian population.  God’s chosen people had become comfortable in their situation as hope that God would save them died out.  We too live in a type of exile.  Consider the way we live amidst terrorism, violence and threats all around us.  We live with unease at poverty, racism and materialism.  We too seem to fake our faithful response to God’s mystery.  We go with the flow because we feel that we are helpless to change it and convince ourselves that we can’t do anything about it because we are just too busy already with the work of the church.  And we find ourselves impatient with the word, “wait”.  We’d rather have some definitive word from God.  Why doesn’t God just come down here and do something about it!  The prophet’s message strikes a chord with us as we realize how easily we are enticed by the latest trends, the freshest stories.  We are inundated with more news that we can absorb. Choices overwhelm us!  We too need to hear the new song in the foreign land of too much stuff, too many choices!

In 1992, singer/songwriter Tom Cochrane had his biggest hit with “Life is a Highway.”  The song was made popular again in 2006 when it was used in the Disney Pixar film, Cars and performed on the soundtrack for that movie by Rascal Flatts.  The song opens with these words:

Well, life's like a road that you travel on There's one day here and the next day gone Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand, Sometimes you turn your back to the wind There's a world outside every darkened door Where Blues won't haunt you anymore For the brave are free and lovers soar Come ride with me to the distant shore…

These words remind us of the ups and downs of life and the way we respond to it.  Sometimes we bend under pressure, sometimes we stand and face difficulties and sometimes we turn away from them.  But, then you have a promise:  There is a world outside every darkened door where the blues won’t haunt you anymore.  Friends, that world is the one in which strive to we live, to know the promises of God, where we know the truth and proclaim it to others that in God the blues won’t haunt you anymore!  Prepare ye the way of the Lord!

The question is begged of us in 2 Peter today, “What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of God?”  Who do you want God to see when he comes to greet you? The picture you see below is one from my days of work in retail.  When I was working at Saxon Shoes in Richmond, on slow days I used to love to run stock.  I’d build myself a fort of shoe boxes stacked waist high as I piled them all according to size.  Then I would make space for them in the stock rooms and fill in the gaps.  I remember many a time when I would be up on the ladder and as my friends would come into work they’d come back and visit with me, we’d catch up on our lives and share the latest Saxon gossip.   Sometimes there would be four or five of us congregated back there, just laughing it up and having a good time.  Then, the boss would appear in the doorway and suddenly I had four or five helpers there handing me boxes!  Suddenly, what was a one or two person task had five employees working on it!  We didn’t want to boss to catch us being lazy! And I won’t lie to you, as you can see from this photo, sometimes I was the person who was caught doing nothing!

 

That is exactly what Peter is teaching against!  We don’t know when God is coming, in fact it shouldn’t matter because you should behave in holiness and Godliness at all times!  The scriptures are telling us to be prepared for anything!  Think about the ways you prepare for other things in your life.  For those of you who like camping I bet you have a packing list of important things to take, you probably have all of your gear organized in one location.  Before you cook thanksgiving dinner or host a holiday party I bet you make a list of what you need to buy at the store and get all of your recipes out on the counter.  How is it that we can be so ready for these things, and feel completely unequipped for the coming of Christ? Jesus comes at Christmas, Jesus comes soon, Jesus comes NOW!    Jesus comes in the homeless guy who stands on the street with a sign begging for food.  Jesus comes in the best friend who asks you to keep her cancer diagnosis a secret.  Jesus comes in all forms, usually in the most unsettling and least expected ways.  We can prepare all we want for the coming of Jesus but the truth is we will never be completely ready, things never go as planned.  But, what we can control is what kind of persons we will be as we wait. 

We are called to be patient and trustful.  Waiting for God isn’t idle hand wringing or twiddling of thumbs but expectant and servant filled.  We are called to strive to be found at peace without spot or blemish.  In other words, we are to live as God’s people, not just as an inner journey of waiting but an outer journey, living life in the way Jesus Christ lived in the world each day.   We are called to be at peace, to know God’s love and grace.  This peace is not the absence of turmoil but rather the peace of God which passes all understanding.  Being servant filled particularly during this season means we need to slow down during this season not speed up. This is easier said than done, is it not? It is about finding a balance in our lives between our culture’s holiday demands and what our faith says about being a Christian during Christmas.  I'm not saying you should boycott all Christmas parties or vow not to travel this year, but rather spend some intentional time reflecting on the hope that the birth of Christ brings into our world!  Maybe this means you start an advent wreath tradition in your own home or dedicate time each day to prayer.  Maybe this means that as you put up your Christmas tree you thank God for something with each ornament you hang.  As you wrap those gifts consider why the shepherds came to Jesus' side, and why the wisemen brought gifts to him.  The answer I think you will find is two-fold.  Love, love for the child there in the manger and love for the God who loved us so much that he sent his only son.  And second, Hope, in Jesus we catch a glimpse of hope that the world can and will be changed.

What are we as a congregation preparing for?  Is whatever we are preparing truly focusing on the coming of Christ and our job to make the path straight? Are we actively waiting for the Lord’s return or are we twiddling our thumbs? Maybe we are waiting for more people to come through our front doors!  Maybe we are waiting for the other shoe to drop, because mainline churches are diminishing and we wonder if we will be next!  Friends, we are required to be engagingly expectant.  Perhaps it is time to challenge the ways we think about ‘doing’ church.  Perhaps it’s time we beg the question, what are we missing at church, and rather than sit back and wait for someone else to do something, we jump in ourselves! Do we want the boss to catch us sitting in the pews, sitting behind the pulpit twiddling our thumbs, or do we want God to see us trying our best to build a highway to God through the wilderness that is our society, our country, our world?  I don’t want God to catch me laying down on the job!  We are called as followers of the Way to reveal God’s glory to the world!  God is present and preparing even now to restore God’s people.  God will abide with us and help us find a way through whatever wilderness we find ourselves in, in whatever exile we find ourselves trapped.  God is at work regardless of how things appear.  He is building a road in the wilderness, breathing new life over decaying grass and withering flowers!  We are called to daily open our hearts and minds to God’s transforming grace. 

Another verse from  “Life is a Highway” says this: They knock me down And back up again You're in my blood I'm not a lonely man There's no load I can't hold, The road's so rough this I know, I'll be there when the light comes in, Just tell 'em we're survivors.  The world threatens to knock us down, it threatens to overtake us, to overwhelm us, but God is with us, the Spirit of Christ is within us, we are not alone!  It is difficult to wait, it is difficult to live in peace, a life without blemish but God’s love never falters. God’s Word stands forever. The season of advent reminds us that as we wait for the birth of Christ within us, we are given plenty of time to lead lives of holiness and godliness dedicated to being disciples of Christ.  Because of God’s patience and grace, we are survivors.  Amen.