Christmas 1 (C) - December 30, 2018

It's the last Sunday of the (calendar) year, and the last (and first) Sunday of the Christmas season. Next week it will be Epiphany and we will celebrate the coming of the sages and their gifts, which probably happened when Jesus was about two years old. But this week the gospel lesson is about a 12-year old Jesus. Seriously. On Tuesday we celebrated his birth, and now, just 5 days later, he's 12!

There are tremendous parallels between the Old Testament lesson about little Samuel and the story of 12-year old Jesus in the Temple. As I studied I noticed some interesting parallels between the two stories and also some interesting opposites. It was a natural fit with my current turmoil and uncertainty about where I fit into the system of ordained clergy and I realized - once again - that nothing is simple.

The Revised Common Lectionary texts for this week are:
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52

Here's the word cloud preview:

And the sermon:

Let’s start with Samuel.

Samuel’s mother Hannah wanted a baby, even though her husband said “aren’t I enough?” She prayed hard – so hard the priest thought she was drunk. But she was not drunk. She prayed in faith, and Samuel was born. Hannah was so delighted that she sang a song.

But then there’s also Jesus:

A long time after Hannah sang with joy about Samuel another woman was delighted that God favored her with pregnancy. That woman, Mary, also sang a song that we know today as the Magnificat – the same song Hannah sang.

When he was old enough – which is not to say he was all that old! – Samuel went to live in the Temple. He ministered before the LORD before he even knew who the LORD is, and every year his parents came to the Temple. Hannah brought Samuel a little coat.

Jesus, on the other hand, was carried away to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill him. Wanted to kill him SO MUCH that he killed ALL the boy babies, just to make sure. But God was going to have it God’s way and Mary and Joseph kept Jesus safe in Egypt.

But then Herod was gone, and Mary and Joseph would take Jesus to the Temple each year, on a pilgrimage much like that of Hannah and Elkanah. Samuel was already there when Hannah and Elkanah arrived, so nobody would have been surprised to see him talking with the teachers. In fact, Samuel was apparently some kind of prized pupil, since the teachers made a point of complimenting him every year to his parents.

Jesus did not live there, though. Jesus just showed up each year with his parents. And when he sat with the teachers and AMAZED them with his understanding, his parents were exasperated. But so was Jesus, who seemed to think it was the most normal place in the world for him to be and could not fathom why his mother was upset.

And Mary was indeed upset. She kept a lot of things in her heart: the news from the angel that she was pregnant AND a virgin, the Magnificat, escaping to Egypt, going to Temple every year. But this time she was just undone. She took it personally: WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US??

So Jesus WENT HOME, and obeyed his parents. Mary had one more thing to treasure in her heart. And Jesus (just like Samuel) increased in wisdom and years and in the favor of the LORD.


Did you know that Samuel and Jesus had such parallel stories?

We call that a “type” of Christ, and Samuel isn’t the only one – Moses was a type of Christ (the rulers wanted him dead, too, and that’s how he ended up being adopted by an Egyptian princess). Types of Christ have something in common with Jesus. Their stories have great parallels to the life story of Jesus.

And according to Martin Luther, we are all called to be types of Christ, too.

In order for our stories to be parallel to those of Jesus, we have to first realize that when Jesus was born to Mary he became ONE HUNDRED PERCENT HUMAN. It is so critical that it is what we celebrate at Christmas: the God came as a human baby.

And here we are, Jesus and us, all being human together. So then we have to figure out how we know if we are acting out of our broken humanness or out of the perfect humanness that Jesus (and only Jesus) displayed. Because we want to do MORE of the Jesus stuff – and less of our own broken stuff.

This is a pretty important question to me in these days of considering my call into ministry. How do I distinguish between God’s call, and the rules of human beings? How can I tell when it’s me being stubborn or arrogant, and when the system is leaving out people (like me) who have calls that look different than calls have looked in the past?

And I have found great comfort in the parallels between Samuel and Jesus:

SAMUEL was the ultimate insider. He lived AT THE TEMPLE. The adults who formed him were priests and teachers. He WORE AN EPHOD. Ephods are priest clothing… like when the acolyte or assisting minister wear white robes. It’s something official. From his earliest memories, all Samuel knew was “growing up in the church.” He knew he was going to be a priest.

JESUS, on the other hand, was born far from home and among strangers. Then his parents had to go to Egypt to keep him alive. When they got back from Egypt, they went to the Temple once a year for the festival, but mostly he stayed home and listened to his parents. Oh, Jesus was CLEARLY gifted. When he was 12 the priests and teachers were so amazed at him. But were they amazed because of what he knew, or because he has such knowledge and wisdom AND WAS AN OUTSIDER?

You see, to the casual observer Jesus was no Samuel. Jesus was just a kid who showed up once per year.

AND YET.

Jesus lived his call, as did Samuel. Samuel the insider went on to help Israel navigate their first kings: Saul (who did not work out) and David (who did). The insider Samuel listened to God’s call on his life, and picked out the way-outsider David to become ancestor of Jesus.

Jesus lived the life that teaches us how to live (as only one who was present at Creation would know) and they killed him for it. He loved so hard that the ruling class – the ones who boasted the most about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and about being the Chosen People – those people with the religious power could not stand it.

Samuel followed God’s call by being the little boy on the inside, wearing the priestly robes, and then as an adult picking out the most unlikely of leaders.

Jesus was God by being the boy on the outside, surprising everyone with his understanding and loving without fail.

The little boy Samuel went where his parents sent him, and lived the life they expected. Lived it so well that the priests and teachers thanked Hannah and Elkanah every year.

The little boy Jesus knew where he was to be and he went there – and was astounded when his parents did not realize that it was the right thing to do.

The grown man Samuel was God’s messenger to navigate the brand new thing called “King” that the people wanted.

The grown man Jesus was God’s Own Self, come to earth to navigate the system that had gone so far off course since those days of Samuel, that no longer served the people, that prioritized wealth and power and preservation of wealth and power over the wellbeing of people and service to and love of those who are poor and weak and suffering.

Jesus gave himself over to God’s will completely in his life – in all those times he hung out with the wrong crowd and defied the ruling class by being on the side with the impoverished and persecuted.

And then Jesus gave himself over to suffering, and death.

And then Jesus declared that it was all done. Jesus came back to life. Jesus was Resurrected.

That Jesus who followed God into the Temple instead of heading home with his parents showed us that there is much to learn from the systems. Samuel showed us that people growing up in the thick of the earthly systems are sometimes sent to call people way on the outside.

And from them both we see this:

We can be Little Christs inside of the system – and outside of it.

We can be Little Christs on the political left and the political right, in social work and in business, in work and in play.

We can be Little Christs as women, or men. Within any expression of sexuality or gender identity. Regardless of the health and robustness of our bodies, or the color of our skin, or the DNA that carries so much of who we are.

Because what we learn from the life of Jesus is that we are called. That following God’s call on our lives – the call to love each other in as many different ways as we can collectively imagine - is the most important thing.

And here is the best news of all: We are COMPLETELY FREE to live that life! Inside the system, outside of the system, or somewhere on the edge. Because the Law is fulfilled and we are free to love lavishly, extravagantly, and without any fear whatsoever.

We can be, with Samuel, Little Jesus.

Amen.

Christmas Eve - December 24, 2018

There are four Sundays in Advent but the fourth Sunday often falls close to Christmas Eve. In 2017, they were on the same day. I loved my 2017 Advent 4 sermon and still felt it strongly enough that I did not write a new one this year.

If you would like to hear some delightful thoughts on the Mary and the Magnificat, I invite you to watch this video in which the Rev. Dr. Lauren Winner speaks about a sermon preached by my good friend, Rev. Amy Bradley. Amy knows and loves Mary more than anyone else I know.

I have not written a Christmas/Christmas Eve sermon since Duke Divinity School, however, and as much as I loved that sermon, I was experiencing a different thing this year.

My sermon, though, was more of a curmudgeon's Christmas Eve. As Resurrection Preacher it is not enough to talk about Jesus being born - the Resurrection is the great victory, the culmination of a lifetime - an eternity of God loving us. That is always true.

This year, though, I had just sustained a torn retina and could not go see my father and brother for Christmas. I have been in a waiting place to see how God's rather clear and obvious call is going to play out. It was a rough time, and it was hard to see the celebration. I did not want this to be all thee is. When I heard the Rev. Dana Cassellpreach on Christmas Eve, though, I realized that if a thing is God's will, then starting is the same as finishing. Once God has decided something will happen, then that is the thing that will happen. So once that baby boy Jesus was born, the rest of the story - the life, and the death, and the resurrection - were destined to be. Mere humans could not prevent it although they certainly did try. So yes, Christmas is in the middle... but the end is certain.

The Advent 4 texts are:
Micah 5:2-5a
Luke 1:46b-55 (The Magnificat, or Song of Mary)
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45 [46-55]

The word cloud is quite beautiful, I think:

And now... a Resurrection preacher on Christmas:

Advent is all about waiting. Christmas is all about expectation. The promise that the Messiah would come is fulfilled on Christmas. The presents – the present – the long promised gift from God – God’s own self – the One through whom all was created – has arrived!

But here’s the thing…

It’s only an in-between moment.

All this waiting did not start after Thanksgiving, in Advent. For the people first created by God the waiting started shortly after that good and whole creation was deemed good, and God rested.

Have you completed your preparations? Are you ready to rest? Because that is what God did in the beginning. Creation was complete and God said… yes… this is good.

But of course, that creation was filled up with creatures who could make a choice about whether they would live into God’s fullness, or whether they would seek knowledge. We know how that story ended, and the desire to know for ourselves has gotten humanity in trouble ever since.

God created us, though, and out of that perfect creation, God promised to redeem that creation. The Old Testament is a cycle of blessing and brokenness:

* A perfect creation – and the first fall
* BABIES! – and brother killing brother
* Redemption and protection for Cain, even in the face of murder
* Books and books of God’s specially chosen people turning away from God, and God reconciling with an even greater blessing
* Every time a great blessing, and then a great fall, and then an even greater blessing
* And then… after hundreds of years… the big one.

The promised Messiah.

In a stable, from a teenage woman who was in the care of a man who put up with who knows what kind of ribbing from his friends. Was Joseph the “perfect man”? Probably not by the social standards of his day. Because God did not have a tendency to follow social standards. In all likelihood Joseph was the one who was kind of on the edge of things. Who trudged along with a very pregnant Mary and did the best he could. Which, as far as we know, might not have been very good! But it was enough. And the Messiah was born.

The Messiah is here, but being born is not enough on its own.


We live in breath-holding times. What will happen next? Will the balance of power swing this way or that? When it does, will things get better or worse? How do we even know what better and worse ARE?

As much as we are celebrating that the Messiah is born…

As much as the angels were BURSTING with joy, and went to find anyone who would listen (which apparently were the shepherds out in the field.) Or maybe the angels just needed that much space to make their joy known.

There was so much more to come:

The Wise Men would come and alert Herod, who would then kill so many babies. That wicked evilness… but Mary and Joseph took off to Egypt and the baby was protected.

Jesus’ cousin John would go live out in the woods and (surely!) break every social convention… and call the powerful of the day a brook of vipers, and make then wonder how things should be different… and John would tell them to do what they could.

John didn’t ask for grand gestures, John told them to give out of what they had.

And then that Jesus, the one we celebrate today, had to deal with friends who kept missing the point, with loving people who could not love him, with repudiating people who claimed power in their arrogance and felt that their particular social position gave them the right to harm others, or decide where the story (and thus the accountability) starts.

And then… this baby that we are so enamored of tonight made the social powers SO MAD that they killed him. And that… when we finally get to Easter… that is the only reason that Christmas means anything at all.

Because a Messiah who would be born but would only die a normal death was no good to anyone.

So as you remember that Jesus is the reason for the season, or worry that maybe Jesus will get left out of Christmas, just relax. It’s ok. Nothing can take Jesus out of the REAL equation… because in the real equation God won. Love won. Not with the angels and Wise Men and Herod and the priests and leaders of society. Love did not win tonight, or even tomorrow.

But love has won from the very beginning… and every time it looked like an end… and in all the other times that it looks like an end. Love will continue to win and there will never actually be an end.

And THAT is why the angels sang.

And THAT is why I sing tonight.

So go forth and spread that love. Not because Jesus was born but because died and was resurrected and love has won and will continue to reign supreme… so all this joy can last forever, and ever.

Amen

Advent 3 (C) - December 16, 2018

On December 16 I attended the Christmas Cantata at Parkwood United Methodist Church in Durham, NC. It was beautiful, especially the song called "Angels Were Making Their Rounds" by Pepper Choplin. An angel spoke to Zechariah, about John (see last week). An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. And of course an angel appeared to Mary, letting her know that a baby was coming (so yes, Mary DID know that her baby boy would be the Savior.)

That means I did not preach, but the texts this week were (literally) full of rejoicing:

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Isaiah 12:2-6

Philippians 4:4-7

Luke 3:7-18

First the word cloud:

Then the (unpreached) (mostly unpolished) sermon:

Remember that song on Sesame Street… “one of these things is not like the others…”

Our texts today seem like a really good version of that game. We start with Zephaniah saying REJOICE!

And then Isaiah says multiple times “Sing! Pray! For Joy!”

And Paul, in Philippians, says “REJOICE! And AGAIN I say rejoice!”

But then we get to the Gospel lesson from Luke. Wherein John the Baptist looks out at the people who have come to hear them, and calls them “BROOD. OF. VIPERS.”

Wut??

How is it, that on this third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday known for being a bit of a break from the heaviness of this season of waiting, that the Gospel according to Luke is so judgey while the Prophets (not to mention the sometimes curmudgeonly Paul) are all about rejoicing??

Isn’t the GOSPEL supposed to be GOOD NEWS? Isn’t the Old Testament just full of judgment?? What is up with this flip on that “common” knowledge?

Well… for one thing… it is always a bad idea to try to pigeonhole God. Because God can be (and is) judgey or rejoicing whenever and wherever God chooses. But for today… let’s dig in a little bit more.



It turns out that the rest of Zephaniah is super-judgey… although not about the Israelites. The words of rejoicing are because God has promised to deliver the Israelites from all the people around who would harm them.

Isaiah is talking about God returning to God’s people in the midst of much destruction, in the wake of the people ignoring God and simply not paying attention. God is saying – as God so often says throughout the Old Testament – that there will always be reason to rejoice. That even as the people turn away, they will all come together again. And what a day for celebration and rejoicing that will be for both God and the people. Together again, and loving each other anew.

In his love letter to the Philippians, Paul is pointing to the redemption in Jesus. The Jesus who came and lived and died and was resurrected so that the rejoicing is not a coming together after a big breakup, but ALWAYS. Because Jesus has healed our relationship with God forever so instead of rejoicing as we return from time away, we have reason to rejoice always. No more does God turns God’s face away. Because Jesus has walked among us as a real human person.

What we see, then, in each of these passages is a contrast… a contrast between the brokenness and wickedness of the world and the goodness of God. A contrast between all the ways we wander (or run) away from God, and all the ways that we never get very far because God is right there. Just waiting for the moment when we can realize that rejoicing is always our gift to God… and our gift from God.



You know that brood of vipers that John was addressing? Well, they were all people who would have been familiar with the judgment and rejoicing of Zephaniah and Isaiah. They were people who were so accustomed to thinking of the rejoicing side that it had not occurred to them that God might be unhappy about how they were responding. John is calling them to task, saying

Y’all! It’s not just the Babylonians! God did not preserve you so you could mistreat each other!  Yet look what you do to your own people.  God has consistently promised you all the good, so why are you so petty? How have you forgotten who God is? That God is the One who has loved you and been the reason for rejoicing since the beginning?

Just like that brook of vipers who had taken God’s goodness and turned it into judgment and meanness towards others, it is pretty easy for us to jump on John’s judging words and think
* Well, yes, how could they miss what God wants! Good thing we have Jesus!
* Or, The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!
* Or, What is WRONG with all those people? Why don’t they just do better?
* Or the biggie… “I’m doing ok and have enough money and things so I must be ok with God.”
And yet, that is basically what John was telling those viper-people that they were doing wrong!

So if we are acting like the people John was talking to, does that mean we will respond like they did when they said “Wait, what? What should we do?? How else are we supposed to see things?? If prosperity isn’t a sign of God’s love, THEN WHAT IS??”

If John were here today, right now, I think he would respond to us pretty much the same way he responded to the people then:
* Share from your abundance! If you have more than you need, give it away.
* Don’t put getting getting money above relationships.
* Don’t abuse your power to get more money and power.

If we all think about it, and admit the truth of our actions, those instructions are as weird and unbelievable to us today as they were back when John spoke them.
* How much stuff do you have cluttering up your space that you simply cannot afford to give away?
* How often does your work or your own personal interests take priority over the needs of other people (even the ones you love?)
* How often do you use your power and privilege to avoid consequences, even as you shrug and turn away as others receive far more than their fair share of (often underserved) consequences?

John got the people thinking and questioning… questions like
* Wait, isn’t money the indicator of how successful I am at living my life?
* Wait… don’t people get what they deserve? So if things are going badly it means they just aren’t living right?
* Now wait… it feels like I never have enough as it is… how awful would it be if I had even less stuff? Aren’t the people with all the riches and glamor and cool stuff the ones we should all be like?

As surprising as it seems there are people living right now who have found that the answer to those questions are not at all what they expected at first. They find that Yes I can live on less! No I don’t need all this stuff after all! Hey, I’m actually happier without the pressure to lead “the glamorous life.” And the hardest one… Maybe sometimes bad things happen to people who don’t deserve it any more than I do.

And in thinking those things, John had their attention. He had brought that brood of vipers to a point of noticing. They were ready to meet and pay attention to Jesus.

They were ready for a Savior who would exceed John in offering a message of hope.

They were ready to respond as the Philippians did.

They were ready for rejoicing, the rejoicing that had been promised by Zephaniah and Isaiah and so many others.

And so here we are, on the third Sunday of this year’s Advent season… ready for Jesus.

Ready for the Jesus who would live a life with no social power (and rejecting the social power that was offered to him.)

Ready for the Jesus who chose people and relationships over money and power every single time.

Ready for the Jesus who threatened the social order so thoroughly that they killed him on the cross.

Ready for the Jesus who would not stay dead and in whose resurrection we are given the freedom to do as Paul taught the Philippians in so much love:  REJOICE! Again and again and again! REJOICE!

Rejoice! Be gentle! Worry not! Be at peace!

Because in this waiting time of Advent we know how the story turns out.

Against all odds, the baby Jesus is coming.

The Jesus who will survive secular rulers who were afraid of him.

The Jesus who will thrive and grow.

The Jesus who is here now, loving us in our confusion.

Loving us as countercultural radicals.

Loving us so much that we can actually do this thing.

We can REJOICE!

REJOICE!

And again… REJOICE!

Because Jesus is coming… and all is well.

Amen.

Advent 2 (C) - December 9, 2018

On December 9 pretty much every house of worship in Durham and surrounding areas was closed because of a big snow - 9 inches at my house! We knew the snow was coming and in preparing the yard for the slush to come, and being pretty sure no one would ask me to preach, no sermon got written. I did spend some time in the texts, though.

Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 1:68-79 (as the Psalm)
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6

It's a shame, because this set of lessons is about John proclaiming the way. The Malachi lesson is prophecy that John would come. The passage from Luke 1 is Zechariah singing about the birth of his son John. And the passage from Philippians is one of those love letters that Paul wrote to his beloved people. Malachi said somebody like John would come. Zechariah said he had come. And John lived up to that promise, proclaiming.

The thing about the lectionary is that in three years these same texts will come around and I will have a chance to study and preach them then, whether to a group of living people, looking at me face to face, or in some other form. I can't wait to find out what the texts say to me then.

A New Year (the one called "C") - December 2, 2018

Each year, sometimes after Thanksgiving, or maybe early in December, churches all over the world start a new year. The season is called Advent. For denominations that use the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), a new set of readings starts. On December 2, 2018 the congregations of the ELCA (Lutherans) started year C. In Year C the gospel lessons focus on Luke.

A lot of the sermons I post here were just written as part of my spiritual discipline and will never be preached. But for the first Sunday in Advent, 2018, I preached at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Durham, NC. At the time of this posting no video was available.

The four RCL texts of the day were:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
and
Luke 21:25-36

It might be helpful to read those texts, or at least the lesson from Luke, before reading the sermon.

Here is a word cloud of the sermon, made with the Wordle application available here.

And now... the sermon.

Come Holy Spirit. Make these words to do your will. Amen.

(I spent a good long time craning my neck, looking up around the sanctuary space, and then asked if anybody knew what I was doing.)

It’s from the gospel lesson. You see, I keep hearing about
• distress among the nations
• fear
• foreboding
• the weather (and the sun, and moon, and stars) are all shaken up

And so it seems like the thing to do – at least according to today’s gospel lesson – is to STAND UP AND RAISE MY HEAD

It’s such an open position…. Kind of exposes the critical arteries here in my neck

It also means I can’t see my sermon notes… or my phone… or any of my stuff.

But I see so much else! Because when I stand up and raise my head I can look around. I get curious about what is going on. I can even notice that the world appears to be falling apart, that people are suffering, that we live in a world that is disordered and groaning in pain.

And when I stand up, and look around, I can also notice something else happening:

I can notice REDEMPTION IS NEAR.

***

I’m going to confess something to you now: I do not like this message very much.

When life are terrible and I cannot see anything good.
• When my world is falling apart and I don’t have a job or any idea of what job will come – or when
• And the world around me is exploding with pain and hunger and little children are put in harm’s way and everybody blames everybody else
• And people are doing crazy, harmful, dangerous things with drugs and explosives and guns
• When all the rules that I thought explained how the world works are broken one by one and it seems like nothing is sacred…

Given all that, it is just really hard to believe that THAT is when redemption is near, isn’t it? Shouldn’t that be a sign of the destruction of everything?

Common sense would say yes, those are sigs of the end… BUT… nonetheless…

That appears to be EXACTLY what this gospel lesson is telling us. In fact, in Bible paraphrase called The Message, it says this:

It will seem like all hell has broken loose

And that is what brought it on home for me.

Back in the day, the sun, the moon, and the stars were what shaped daily routines. Today we can go to work in the dark, come home in the dark, and never even know if it was cloudy or sunny. For us, life is dominated by something different:
• The economy and wealth and money
• Politics
• Media (social and otherwise)

Electronics have in some ways taken the place of the sun, the moon, and the stars in shaping our lives.

Everything is messed up. - - - - Like all hell is breaking loose.

And if that is what is happening, then according to Luke… REDEMPTION IS NEAR.

I’m sure there are people who would say it is not that bad. But think about it… if it’s not that bad, then how bad does it have to get before we realize that yes, in fact, REDEMPTION IS NEAR?

HOW CAN THIS BE??

Seriously!

How can the sign of all things good – of redemption of the broken universe – be signified by all things bad?

Could it be that God is nearest when circumstances are worst? That the pattern is so predictable that it’s like seeing trees bud out when the weather gets warm? It’s not just a happy coincidence that sometimes God shows up in tragedy… it’s the way of the universe according to Jesus!

Interesting, I think, that when we are most likely to be distracted by our frustration or pain or hopelessness…

• When it looks like everything is a mess and all anybody will do is scream at each other…
• When putting trust in Jesus instead of in money or politics or even “common sense” seems like the craziest thing ever..
• In times of unemployment
• In times of debt

THOSE are the times when we are being asked to stand up, and get our noses off the grindstone
• To move forward into the kingdom of God and trust that God will provide everything we need to do what God is calling us to do…
• To keep believing that there is important work to do
• To realize that we can follow Jesus regardless of the political climate or your particular side of the political aisle

When things are at their worst, God draws nearest and redemption is near.


None of this stuff is new, of course. In today’s Old Testament lesson, Jeremiah tells the people that the promises God made to the WHOLE people of God will be fulfilled. The fulfillment will come in a particular way called “The LORD is our righteousness.”
• Not money (or worrying about debt) is our righteousness
• Not politics is our righteousness
• Not even having worldly power is our righteousness

THE LORD is our righteousness. The LORD who comes near us when things are at their worst. That is the redemption. That is the righteousness.

So today… is your heart weighed down with “dissipation and drunkenness”? With squandered resources and overindulgence?

Do you want to hold your hands over your ears and sing LALALALA, or go buy some nifty gadget (that will probably go mostly unused), or go to one more lavish party, or put on blinders so that the only opinions you have to engage are the ones you already hold?

Do you think “well, I would like to give more of myself, or spend time with the people I love, or share my gifts with people who have different gifts… but really, I don’t have time because I have to go to work… this project can’t wait… I have to take care of my own”?

Luke calls that a trap.

The trap of forgetting from whence our righteousness comes.

The trap of not looking up in hard times but instead looking down, drowning out the world outside of us.

And the way out of that trap is to STAND UP! RAISE YOUR HEAD! Look around in curiosity as you wonder what is actually happening around you. Because in that seeking you will find

REDEMPTION.

You may find that you can offer a moment of redemption to someone who is struggling, someone you would not have noticed with your head bent down, focused inward.

You may find a moment of redemption being offered to you as someone stands ready to offer you a hand, or a shoulder, or a listening ear… someone you would not have noticed with your head bent down, focused inward.

You may see that there are people everywhere engaging in small acts lending moments of redemption of the poverty of others and redemption of the poverty we harbor inside of ourselves.

All that redemption - - - - because the kingdom of God is here now, even if we can only see it dimly most of the time.

Jesus has been here to show us how to live, how to pay attention to each other, whom to forgive (hint: everyone, even the unrepentant) and whom to love (hint: everyone, even the ones least like us)

Jesus has been here to show us how to listen to each other with compassion instead of judgment.

Jesus, who was here, and showed us a better way to live, and then we killed him for it… we, the church in-group that did not want our comfort disturbed. We, the broken people who are completely incapable of living as the good and perfect creation that came through Jesus in the beginning.

In this time of waiting, this time of realizing who we are, and how much we need a Savior, we can LOOK UP and know that the baby whose birth we are waiting to celebrate in just over three weeks has already brought what we are waiting for.

We can look up at the cross and see Jesus.

More crucially, we can live into this waiting time knowing that the Jesus on the cross has been resurrected and will come again. That a Jesus who could die and not stay dead can also bring redemption out of the worst of times.

We can remember that
• Christ has died
• Christ is risen
And in the worst possible moment
• Christ will come again.

So stand up! Raise your heads when you really just want to say I cannot EVEN stand this anymore. And in that moment – that exact instant just before despair – know that redemption is near.

Because that is the very moment in which you are most equipped to spread redemption far and wide.
Amen