Wowza!

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Today we’re celebrating Epiphany.  An epiphany is the sudden revealing of the essential nature or meaning of something.  The PARTICULAR Epiphany that we celebrate today is the one that the Wise Guys had when they first saw Jesus.  Even though they had “observed his star at it’s rising” THAT wasn’t their Epiphany.  That wasn’t the moment where they made the connection and really “grasped” the essential nature of Jesus.  Even after they had arrived at Herod’s and were given the new clue that Bethlehem somehow figured into their mystery… even at that point… that STILL wasn’t their Epiphany.  

They had their Epiphany right before they suddenly did something very different.  Right after they saw Jesus THEY WENT HOME BY ANOTHER WAY.  Before this they had been very good rule-followers.  They had checked in with the local king.  They had shared all their research getting their astronomical studies peer reviewed by the local scholars.  They had received all the correct passport stamps and visa documents.  Their camels had been x-rayed for Eastern fruits not allowed in the country.  They had received all the needed sign offs from the religious authorities and had followed all the local customs.  The story shows they were very good rule-followers… until suddenly… they weren’t!  Suddenly they had changed! 

Herod told them back at the castle to “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”  Which, on the front side of their Epiphany, seems like something they most certainly would have done!  They had followed all the rules before, after all.  But NOW, on this side of their Epiphany they had been changed!  Changed to such a degree that it led these wise, rule followers from the East to throw out everything they had planned and promised to Herod before… and go home by another Way.  

You and I may not be so wise that we catch every new star at it’s rising.  Heck, I couldn't even catch Jupiter and Saturn converging last week with astronomers telling me exactly when and where to look!  But even though we aren’t astronomers discovering a new star… we are, you and I… on our own journey of discovery… this journey we call life.  And frankly, after this past year, a Divine Epiphany telling us which way to go from here would be awesome!  

We have just crossed the miserable desert of 2020.  We've taken a couple steps into 2021.  We HOPE we're headed toward an end to this pandemic.  We HOPE this year will have less desert.  So what road will we take from here?  What Way will we take home? I have to say... an Epiphany right about now would be VERY helpful!  

Now, keep in mind that some today, like Herod back then, will have no interest in walking a New Way, Divine Epiphany or not.  No desire for any new understandings of any natures, essential or not.  They will look away from any Epiphany... dismiss any dream.  That's what Herod did then and there are Herods all around us still today... people obsessed only with themselves, their own power, desperate and willing to do anything to keep it, and all the while completely unconcerned about those around them.   

But we're not called to follow Herod.  Our call is to be Wise Ones!  Ones who notice the countless Epiphanies God offers up all around us every day.  The Ones who listen to God’s dreams for us and all of creation!  We are the Wise Ones who hear and unravel the truth and lean into the Way God is calling us to walk through life.  And so our call, like those Wise Guys way back then, is to not just to gather information, but to also get out there and walk that new Way home.  But which way is that?  This is where a Divine Epiphany would help, right?  Maybe a dream, not about us getting a church gorilla, but a HELPFUL dream!  A dream to show us which WAY to walk through this year to come.  A dream to take us home!

And here is the Good News... you and I... we don't actually need a NEW Epiphany to get that.  Jesus is our Epiphany.  Jesus, with his life, death and resurrection has revealed to each of us our essential natures... we are Children of God!  We also don't need a new dream to guide us.  Jesus is our guide and walks ahead of us along the Jesus Way, showing us with each step he takes how to care for the least, last and lost... how to love our neighbor by giving of ourselves.  

Following in Jesus' footsteps... THAT'S the other road home we are called to walk!  It's not Herod's way.  It’s the Jesus Way and the truth is, walking THAT way, no matter what this coming year might bring, will lead us toward an abundant life.  May we, together be Wise Ones in this year to come.  May we not be caught up in the drama of the Herods of our world and may we instead, join together and step by step, walk the Jesus Way through this year to come.  Amen. 

You Shoulda Tooke That Left!

 Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

WOW!  God can sure pick ‘em don’t you think?  Last week we had the gross bug eating, stinky camel hair wearing, nowheresville wilderness living John the Baptist.  This week we get the poor, young, unwed Mary!  God sure picks the one’s no one would ever expect!  But the REALLY funny thing is… God’s still picking highly unlikely characters to announce and bring God’s unlimited grace, love, forgiveness and compassion into the world even today! 

And right at the very top of God’s most “unlikely characters to call” list... IS US!  God is calling US!  You and me together as Christ Trinity Church!  We are being called to proclaim God’s radical new Way for the world.  God is calling THIS CHURCH to bring Christ into this world!  Greetings favored church!  The Lord is with YOU!

I suspect hearing that unexpected bit of news might have left you feeling just a bit like Mary… perplexed maybe?  Confused perhaps? Maybe even scared?  BUT no matter how you feel about it, God still says to US the same thing God said to Mary...  “Do not be afraid, Christ Trinity, for you have found favor with God!  And now you will bear the Son of God out into the world and his name is Jesus!”  

Like Mary you too might want to ask whatever off-course angel is floating this crazy idea, “How can this be?”  After all, most people in Massachusetts think the state ends at Springfield!  Most of the people in our county think the county stops South of Great Barrington!  So how are WE going to bring Jesus to the whole world?  We do good stuff sure … but the whole world!? Really?

And yet, that angel of the Lord still insists on saying to US the same thing they said to Mary, “the Holy Spirit has come upon each one of you in your Baptisms, and the power of the Most High has overshadowed this WHOLE Congregation!  Therefore the Child that you are to bring to the world is a Holy Child, the child that you are bringing to the world is the Son of God.”  

To any angel in their right mind, they should have made that left turn in Albuquerque or at least not stopped off at Theory Wellness before getting to US!  But before you dismiss that angel in a cloud of smoke, take a minute to remember what God has ALREADY done through this congregation over all these years.  We built a church on the heels of the Civil War and made a point to welcome EVERYONE to worship.  The welcoming continued for differently abled people and then extended to all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.  And over all that time, cookies were baked, meals have been made, funds have been raised and a real difference has been made in the world, both near and far.  In recent years we've added Solar Panels and an Appalachian Trail Ministry and Rainbow Chairs to all of what we've done before… and even through this awful, terrible, no good, very bad pandemic… God has done marvelous things… through US!  Thousands have been fed, a string quartet played, and tens of thousands have been raised, smack dab in the middle of it all!  We really ought to ALWAYS remember that NOTHING will be impossible with God! 

 

When the angel gave God's call to Mary, she said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Folks, angels still visit us just as surely as Gabriel visited Mary.  We are constantly being asked by God to do EXACTLY what Mary was asked to do... to bring Christ to the World.  Our call really is like Mary’s call.  Like Mary’s, it’s not about our own success, status, power, or image.  It’s like Mary’s call.  A call to give of ourselves for the benefit of our neighbors and the world.  This call of ours is just like Mary’s... A call to bring Christ to the world… a call to bring Christ's unconditional welcome and miracle filled healing to a broken world… a call to bring light and hope and build connections across every divide. 

 

It is an incredible thing that God is asking of us, but just like Mary, this congregation is blessed… simply and only because God has said that we are!  May we, like Mary, always remember the blessings we have been so generously given.  May we hear the call of the angels and may we always be open to what God is asking of us next, and always have as our response…“let it be with us according to Your Word.”  Amen

Let Go and Let God

John 1:6-8, 19-28

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 

And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 

He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. 

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 

John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

This Advent we’ve heard Jesus' advise us to practice noticing the small things so we will build our “noticing” muscles and not miss the big things when they come.  We’ve been told to do the work of Jesus, even… and perhaps especially… when God feels distant.  Because, Jesus tells us, and brain science bears it out, that not only does hope inspire us to do the work, but it also turns out that doing the work inspires hope.  We’ve heard to practice “real and deep listening.”  Listening not just to reply… but to really HEAR what our neighbor is crying out in their wilderness times… and perhaps, to even hear the voice of God.  

Then today is St. Lucy's feast day… Sankta Lucia… who in her life lived out those bits of advice from Jesus in the darkness of the Roman persecution.  She wore a crown of candles on her head so she could use both hands to bring bring light and food to those hiding in the darkness of fear and the darkness of the catacombs.  

Today, we also hear very clearly, however, that while there are things we are called to do in dark times, and there ARE wise, creative, and courageous ways of living that will make our lives, and the lives of those around us, better in dark times… this week we are ALSO very clearly reminded that… fixing the darkness IS NOT ALL ON US!  Hear that again… IT IS NOT ALL ON US! 

This week we hear from John the Baptist who is VERY clear that he is NOT the light! “That one IS coming, but it isn’t me.”  And this week we also hear from Mary.  It is GOD, she says clearly, who is the One who does the great things… who shows strength, scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry and sends the rich away empty!

  

And that, my friends, is true for us in OUR darkness as well.  In the midst of THIS… all of THIS… This pandemic, virus deniers, anti-maskers, microchips in vaccine conspiracy theorists, overwhelmed nurses and doctors and morgues, with more Americans dying each day than at Pearl Harbor or on 9/11.  In the midst of nearly 300,000 of our neighbors in this country who have died in this pandemic.  In the midst of ALL of THIS, we are reminded today that All of “THIS” is NOT for us to bear alone, fight alone, or to solve alone.  

We have our part that we can do.  The work of Jesus, caring for our neighbors by wearing masks, washing hands, staying home.  But both Mary and John remind us today that for all the rest of it… God is the One who sends the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness can not over come it!  And we are reminded of EMMANUEL… God IS with us!  And that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ WILL come again. Always. Into every darkness.  Including this one!    

So today, in the midst of all of THIS that we have endured for months upon months and will need to endure for probably another half a year… in the midst of all of THIS that is oppressive and overwhelming and exhausting beyond measure… I invite you all to join me in giving all the parts of  “THIS” that we can’t fix, control, or even understand… over to God… the One who can and does bring light out of darkness.  The One who can and does calm the storms of chaos.  The One who can and does bring healing to the nations.    

Let us together then… “Let Go and Let God”… Let Go and Let God do God’s great things in our dark times, show God’s strength, scatter the proud, cast down the mighty, lift up the lowly, fill the hungry and send the rich away empty!  I invite you all to join me as we pray a litany for healing, and hand over all of our worries, fears, sickness, grief, horror, and darkness to God in prayer… 

A Litany for Healing

God the Father, you desire the health and salvation of all people.

We praise you and thank you, O Lord.

God the Son, you came that we might have life and might have it more abundantly.

We praise you and thank you, O Lord.

God the Holy Spirit, you make our bodies the temples of your presence.

We praise you and thank you, O Lord.

Holy Trinity, one God, in you we live and move and have our being.

We praise you and thank you, O Lord.

Lord, grant your healing grace to all who are sick, injured, or disabled, that they may be made whole;

hear us, O Lord of life.

Grant to all who are lonely, anxious, or despondent the awareness of your presence;

hear us, O Lord of life.

Mend broken relationships, and restore those in emotional distress to soundness of mind and serenity of spirit;

hear us, O Lord of life.

Bless physicians, nurses, and all others who minister to the suffering; grant them wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience;

hear us, O Lord of life.

Grant to the dying a peaceful, holy death, and with your grace strengthen those who mourn;

hear us, O Lord of life.

Restore to wholeness whatever is broken in our lives, in this nation, and in the world;

hear us, O Lord of life.

Hear us, O Lord of life:

heal us, and make us whole.

Prayers for the Pandemic

Let us pray for all who suffer in this pandemic.

Merciful Lord, you sent your Son to be our peace. Help all who are suffering with sickness, isolation, economic hardship, fear or grief to find in Jesus strength and peace, so that their trust in your promises may be renewed; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Let us pray for recovery from sickness.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of those with Covid-19: Mercifully hear our prayers and grant to all your children, the help of your power, that their sickness may be turned into health and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Let us pray for those who minister in healing.

Almighty God, source of human knowledge and skill: Guide physicians and nurses and all those you have called to practice the arts of healing. Comfort them in their grief, support them in their exhaustion, and strengthen them for the days ahead by your life-giving Spirit, that, by their ministries, the health of all people may be promoted and your creation may be glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Let us pray for those who desire our prayers.

Blessed Lord, we ask your loving care and protection for those who are sick from Covid-19. Take from them all fears and help them put their trust in you, that they may feel your strong arms around them. Touch them with your renewing love, that they may know wholeness in you and glorify your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Let us pray for those mourn.  

O Merciful Father, you have taught us in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve your children;  Look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants for whom our prayers are offered.  Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their souls with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them, and give them peace.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Let us prayer for all who have died in this pandemic.

Into your loving hands, O God, we commend our brothers and sisters who have died in this pandemic.  In your infinite goodness, wisdom, and power, work in them the merciful purpose of your perfect will, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Amen

Let us pray with Sankta Lucia on her day.

Loving God, for the salvation of all, you gave Jesus Christ as light to a world in darkness:  Illumine our world sunk deep in pandemic darkness with the light of Christ.  With St. Lucy as our inspiration, help us to bring your light into our world, as she brought light into the catacombs of her world.  Through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen

A Panda Walk Into A Bar

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way;

the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’”

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

A Panda walks into a bar.  He eats shoots and leaves.  Now, did that Panda just eat a meal of bamboo shoots and leaves, OR did that Panda, eat his dinner, pull out a gun and blast his way out of there to avoid paying the bill?  How about this one… is it, "A voice cries out! 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.'”  Or is it, “A voice cries out in the wilderness: ‘prepare the way of the Lord’.”  Are we being told to start a highway construction project out in the wilderness OR are we being told to listen to the guy who lives out in the wilderness?  How about this one... Let’s eat, Grandma!  Is this ol’ cousin Ralphie just inviting grandma to the table for the family meal... OR, has ol’ cousin Ralphie, started channeling Hannibel the Cannibal and wants to serve roasted grandma for dinner with a nice chianti?!

How can we know which way it is?  Punctuation?  Sure, if you’re reading it in English, but there’s no Oxford comma in Biblical Hebrew or Greek.  Fortunately our brains are wired to make the calculation for us based on our past experiences.  Since ol’ cousin Ralphie’s never shown any cannibalistic tendencies before, Grandma’s likely to be just fine.   

Figuring out the world we encounter each day based on our past experiences is part of how we were created.  Those experiences taught our ancestors not to pet the Saber Toothed Kitties and that tar pits where terrible swimming holes. This way of sorting out the world around us works really, really, really well most of the time... right up to the point… where it doesn’t.  Because, while most of the time it does work, sometimes our past experiences blind us to what’s really going on in the present.  All those past experiences with cousin Ralphie have taught us he’s not a cannibal.  BUT the day he shows up at dinner screaming, “LET’S EAT GRANDMA!” while revving up his chainsaw?  That’s probably NOT the day to ONLY trust our past experiences with cousin Ralphie! 

Sometimes, we encounter times when we need to let go of what we have been TAUGHT in the past and instead really LISTEN and SEE what is in front of us in the now.  That’s exactly the case with the first lesson and the Gospel today.   When Isaiah first spoke those words it was with the voice of HOPE... it was the voice of promise, forgiveness and life!  It was a voice telling the people they would soon be walking a highway across the wilderness back to home!  But, when those VERY SAME WORDS came flying out of John the Baptist’s mouth, they carried a VERY different message.  John didn’t have a message of hope.  It was a warning!  The LORD is coming and the people’s crooked ways needed some serious straightening out!  BOTH were voices crying out.  BOTH had something important to tell the people from God.  BOTH used the VERY SAME words.  But unless the people REALLY LISTENED they would miss what they really needed to hear.    

The fact that these same words take on different meanings doesn’t make Isaiah “right” and John the Baptist “wrong” or vice versa.  What it does though, is to teach us the importance of REALLY listening, and not just assuming that our past experiences are always all we ever need, forever and ever amen.  Assuming (in addition to that thing that assuming does) can lead us to a trap that much of our country has fallen into head first.  A trap that says, for ME to be “right” YOU have to be “wrong.”  My experience of life is how “real” life goes.  If you say your experience of life is different than mine, then you must be lying and your experience is just fake news.  When we fall into that trap, when we fail to really LISTEN to those around us… fail to listen to the ones crying out in the wilderness of their lives, we deny them the dignity with which God created them.  

Failing to listen to our neighbors cry in the wilderness is bad enough, but failing to listen also puts us in danger of missing what God is trying to tell us, through them.  How often do we dismiss the voice of those crying out of their wilderness, simply because it’s not a wilderness we’ve personally experienced in our own lives? 

My experience of life, for example, does not include the wilderness of injustice that is poured relentlessly on those with brown or black skin.  But when black lives cry out in the wilderness of a life experience I know nothing of, does that make their life experience untrue or invalid?  NO!  If a black life cries out in the wilderness, telling me where he experiences rough places in their life, then it is my calling as a Christian to LISTEN.  At the very least I’m called to honor the dignity of that life by listening.  But their cry in the wilderness MAY ALSO be a call from God to do what I can to make rough places a plain.  

Really listening to the life experiences of someone from a different world is hard.  Really listening means understanding that their experience and ours can be as different as Isaiah’s and John’s, but that each experience, like Isaiah’s and John’s, is fully true, AND, at the very same time, vastly different. 

This Advent we were advised last week to take time to practice noticing the small things, so our noticing muscles are limber enough to notice the big things when they come.  This Advent we’ve been advised to DO the work of Jesus, even while Jesus feels very far away, because the work itself can give us hope in our waiting.  To those sound bits of advice from Jesus, today’s lessons ask us to add the Spiritual practice of really listening to our neighbors, and just maybe within their crying wilderness voice we might also hear the voice of God.  Amen.

I'm Awake!

 Mark 13:24-37

But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

When Jesus spoke these words, he was talking to a people living in political chaos, surrounded by death and violence, trapped in an economic system that made the wealthy, ridiculously more wealth on the backs of those who wondered how they were even going to make it through tomorrow, and to all of that there seemed to be no end in sight.  I know, it’s hard to relate to Bible times!  To people in those sorts of times, Jesus says, “Keep Awake.”  But Jesus is NOT saying “tough it out.”  Instead, when Jesus tells us to “Keep Awake” what he’s trying to do is to teach us two techniques so that can equip us to live hopefully, through even the most trying of times.  

Brain research has since backed up what Jesus taught.  When we are living in easier, more hopeful times, (you remember those, right?) our brains release chemicals that make us more confident… more positive.  And when our brains are made more chemically confident and positive, we naturally DO more positive and hopeful things out there in the world.  That’s not surprising.  BUT, what Jesus knew then, and science has born out since, is that it works the other way round as well!  When we DO those positive and hopeful things in the difficult times, our brains release those same chemicals and those chemicals give us the feelings of confidence and hope, even during the darkest of times.  Author Amy Cuddy calls it, “Fake it until you become it!”  

 

Jesus used the image of the slaves and the doorman to illustrate this technique.  If we continue to do the Master’s work… even through the darkness… even while the Master is gone and even though we have no idea when they might get back… if we keep doing the work Jesus has given us to do… acts of generosity, gestures of compassion, care and healing and justice for the least and the lost and the last… if we keep doing the Jesus’s work, we’ll find that the work ITSELF transforms our minds, giving us more positivity, confidence and hope… even in this thing called 2020!

The second technique Jesus gives us comes from the power of NOTICING.  Jesus knew in difficult times, we would be tempted to pull up the covers and wait for it to pass… put our heads down, grit our teeth, and wait for the darkness to pass.  But Jesus also knew that covered up and hunched over we’d inevitably miss the good stuff… the blessings… the gifts that God sends to us EVEN in the midst of the darkest of times.  With the covers pulled up over our heads, we’d likely miss even really BIG stuff, like stars falling from the sky!  So Jesus advises us to PRACTICE our noticing on the little things.  Notice little things like a tiny bud on a branch waiting hopefully for Spring.  A single leaf hanging onto a tree.  A new bird coming to your feeder.

Again, Jesus knew then, what brain science has since shown to be true.  When we NOTICE things, our brains become measurable more flexible, more creative, more collaborative… more AWAKE!  The science has even found that it doesn’t actually matter WHAT you notice!  It’s the act of NOTICING itself that builds our psychological flexibility, which then allows us to see new possibilities, which then helps us find new solutions and then see a way through even the longest times of darkness. 

Today is the beginning of Advent.  A season that in “normal” years calls us to these Spiritual practices of NOTICING and SERVING.  Because this year is anything but “normal”, I know the temptation is out there to just chuck out Advent and just get straight on to Christmas!  But I think this year, precisely because it ISN’T A NORMAL year, we need these practices Jesus has to teach us more perhaps, that in any other year.

This Advent, we’re not learning something for the future from Jesus.  This Advent, learning from Jesus how to “Stay Awake!” is EXACTLY what we need to get through life for the next six months!  So, this Advent let us take up the PRACTICE of noticing!    Start by noticing the small things.  Buds on a tree, the colors in the sunset, the song in the background and the stars in the night sky.  Noticing those small things will limber up your Noticing Skills  so that you can better notice the bigger things… the joys, generosity, compassion and love that are always there but in times like these, seem hidden and overwhelmed by darkness.  

This Advent, let us take up the practice of doing the Master’s work even when the Divine feels very far away.  Take up those acts of service, compassion, love and generosity, not out of some lofty spiritual pursuit, but because doing those things literally have the power to transform our minds, making it possible for us to SEE light, even in the deepest, longest, sort of darkness.

This Advent, perhaps more than any other Advent, is an Advent where “Keeping Awake” by using these techniques that Jesus teaches can have a real and immediate effect on our lives right now!  So my fellow travelers through the darkness of political chaos and pandemic, I invite you to join me this Advent, to “Keep Awake.”  Amen.  

Try Not Getting Turned Around

 Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We’ve all driven in Boston.  We know traffic signals are only timid suggestions and that turn signals are signs of weakness.  We also all know that even with a GPS you can easily get turned around and end up in the right place but on the wrong level of a stack of roads headed toward Salem when you meant to be going to the Cape!  

This parable can be like driving in Boston.  It's easy to get turned around inside of it and headed in the wrong direction if we’re not careful.  So to keep from heading off in the wrong direction NOTICE first, before anything else, that ALL the sheep and ALL the goats… all the nations… all the people... in all the world… ALL are gathered together by the Good Shepherd. NOTICE, this parable says, “You HAVE ALREADY BEEN gathered together and wrapped up eternally in God’s infinite, unconditional love!"  It does NOT say, “Do good stuff and that will make God love you.”  It does NOT say, “Do bad stuff and you’ll burn.”  

So now that we’re all starting off on the right road with this thing, let's see it is really all about. The first group of people in this parable were so enamored by this gift of love, that they just followed along with the one who first loved them.  They fed the hungry, gave the thirsty something to drink, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger and visited the prisoner. But they didn’t do all that to EARN anything.  They did all that simply because the One who loved them first was doing all those things and they just wanted to tag along! “When did we do THAT?” they all said!

In their minds, ALL they were doing was following the ONE who loved them first and loved them without condition!  They did "Jesus sorts of things" simply because those were the things the one who loved them was doing!  Again, the direction Jesus is driving this parable is really important to notice.  FIRST, Jesus loved them. THEN, they followed because they wanted to be with the One who loved them first. THEN, because they were following him they naturally fell into doing the things Jesus was doing… like feeding the hungry and healing the sick and all that.

This parable is telling us that our lives are lived out as a RESPONSE to the love we have ALL, ALREADY been given. A love given up-front by God without conditions.  God doesn’t wait for us to put a “good deed” in the vending machine and only then drop some divine love down the chute!  NO!  God scoops us all up, sheep and goats alike, and loves us beyond measure and never ever stops.    

The question for us in this parable then, is how will we RESPOND to that gift of love?  We can either believe God’s love for us and tag along with Jesus, living our lives in the footsteps of the one who did the scooping and the loving… or we can choose not to.  We can either go to the sorts of places Jesus went, hang out with the sort of people Jesus hung out with, and do the things Jesus did… or we can choose not to.   

But regardless of how anyone chooses to respond to God’s love for them, God’s love for them NEVER changes… REALLY!  Now, that doesn't mean there aren't any consequences for the response they choose.  It just means that God's love for them isn't one of them. But the simple truth is, that when you choose to live your life diving deeper and deeper every day into God’s infinite love for you, you will inevitably have a VERY different life experience than if you live your life on the run, constantly fighting off the truth of God's love for you.  

It’s sort of like a mother’s love for their toddler.  Her love for her child is solid, both when that child’s little head is nestled peacefully into her chest AND when that same toddler arches his back, screams, and kicks, and tries to throw himself out of her arms.  Mom loves him regardless, through tenderness and tantrum alike.  But one of those child’s responses to his mother’s love is gracious, peaceful, and filled with joy, while the other response, well... feels to both of them pretty much like hell.  

That’s the way God is.  We are fully loved, both when we are acting like sheep and when our goatside is showing.  Both when we’re the angelic child, nesting in to our Divine mother’s arms and when we are arching our backs like demon spawn.  Regardless, we live every moment of our lives, scooped up in God’s loving arms.  There’s simply NO question about that.  The ONLY question is the one we answer new every moment of our lives... “In this moment, knowing I’ve been scooped up in God’s infinite, unconditional, and loving embrace, how will I will I choose to respond to that love in this moment?  Will it be sheep-like or more goat-esque?”  

This is where our choice REALLY DOES make a difference.  Our choice here makes a difference in the lives of the people around us… it makes a difference in the world around us… and it makes a difference in whether each moment we live feels to us, more like eternal punishment or more like eternal life.  Amen.

Return on Investment

Matthew 25:14-30

“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

They were asked to MANAGE the money.  Not hold it.  Manage it.  A Talent in today’s money is half a million dollars!  This wasn’t lunch money.  This was investment portfolio money and they were asked to manage it when the Master was gone, the same way the Master did when he was there.  When he returned, two had doubled their portfolios.  The other one had dug a hole and buried it and the master was furious!

  

But why?  Why was the Master furious?  He didn’t lose money.  He actually made 3.5 million!  So, why?  The answer, is that to THIS Master, the money didn’t matter!  What THIS Master cared about, more than the money, was the relationships.  Did the people he entrusted really KNOW him and trust him at his word?  Two of them did.  They took what they had been given and managed it the way the master had when he was home.  Yeah, they doubled his money and I’m sure he didn’t poo-poo the profits, but for THIS master, the money wasn’t the MOST important thing!  What this master REALLY valued was that when he entrusted them with his wealth... they BELIEVED him and followed in his investing footsteps.  The other slave, though, acted out of FEAR and buried his portfolio.  

Like those slaves, our Master Jesus has entrusted us with God’s portfolio of riches… love, justice, compassion and grace.  And what does the Lord require we do with those riches?  The prophet Micah summed it up nicely: do justice, love kindness, and humbly follow along in God’s footsteps.  So what will we do with this portfolio of God’s immeasurable wealth?  A portfolio of riches filled to overflowing with love, justice, compassion and grace.  It’s a question for us as individuals.  It’s a question for us as Christ Trinity Church and really, particularly at this moment in history, it’s also a question for our nation.  

Some will respond to this challenge out of fear.  Dig a hole and attempt to convince themselves that God is just fine with the way things were… fine with the injustice, immorality, racism, the oppression of the poor and marginalized and that religion and politics shouldn’t mix.  Out of the fear of the hard work required to invest God’s portfolio in the world, some will say that we should just bury the past pains in a hole in the ground along with God’s investment mandate and just move on.  

As tempting as that approach may be, particularly as exhausted and anxious as we all are in this moment of history, that's not what our Master has tasked us to do!  You and I both know that if we just bury the racism, hatred, division, selfishness, and greed it will inevitably come back to the surface again.  Maybe it would take a year or two.  Maybe four or eight.  But in the past it has always come back to the surface when we’ve chosen to bury the hard truths and the pain, instead of investing God’s portfolio of love, justice, compassion and grace into that brokenness.  We all know that if we bury it again, we’ll be right back where we started in no time flat, without having grown God’s riches by even the paltry percentage you get from a savings account!  

But we can chose another way.  We could choose the path that 2 out of 3 parable slaves recommend!  We could instead, courageously accept the portfolio God has given us to manage… the immeasurable wealth of love, justice, compassion, and grace… and we could AGGRESSIVELY invest that into our own lives, the life of our church and community, and into the world.  And if we did THAT… perhaps… just maybe… in one, or two, or four or maybe eight years down the road, we might find that our aggressive investing of God’s portfolio of love, justice, compassion and grace into our world might just have given, not only us, but the whole world a powerful return on investment. 

There are many ways to invest God’s portfolio in the world but here are three hot investment tips for our time.  For those who have been harmed by another, you could choose to invest God’s portfolio in forgiveness.  Forgiveness doesn’t ask you to forget, or pretend the harm done to you never happened.  Nor does forgiveness ask you to put yourself at risk of being hurt in the same way or by the same people again.  But the potential return on investment with forgiveness is tremendous.  For those of you who have been harmed, it will not undo the past, but investing here has the power to set YOU free from the heavy burden of resentment and anger that you have carried since that pain was first inflicted upon you.   

For those who have harmed another, I would recommend investing God’s portfolio of love, justice, compassion and grace in repentance.  Repentance doesn’t ask the ones you harmed to forget, pretend it never happened, or even offer their forgiveness to you!  This is your investment, not theirs!  But the potential return on investment in repentance is enormous for you as well.  Repentance will guide you onto a new path that you may have never known even existed before!  A path that winds through confession, making amends, and then leads you to a new and infinitely more abundant life for yourself!  A life lived on a path of building people up rather than tearing people down. 

And finally, there is atonement… AT-ONE-MENT.  This is advanced investing for those who have previously invested in forgiveness and those who have previously invested in repentance.  Having done the investing that each needed to do on their own, they can now together begin to invest God’s rich portfolio of love, justice, compassion and grace into creating a shared new beginning, a shared a new future… a shared new life.  The return on investment for Atonement is literally limitless.  It can change the world. 

May each of us with courage and boldness, stop burying the portfolio we've been entrusted with! Instead may we each invest the riches of God into ourselves, our neighbors and the entire world around us… and perhaps, if we can do that, when our Master returns we too will be called Good and Faithful.  Amen.  

Bridesmaids

 Matthew 25:1-13

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

This is one of Jesus’ parables of judgement.  It, and others like it, were told by Jesus as he was approaching Jerusalem for the last time.  They’re difficult, and we’d all rather have a passage from Jesus that easily echo’s Bishop Curry’s saying, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.”  But here’s the thing… the parables of judgement and Bishop Curry’s saying are NOT incompatible.  They actually complement one another.  Let me show you.  

Think about a wedding… yours or someone else’s… doesn’t matter.  More specifically think about the people in that wedding party.  Who were they?  Were they professional, exquisitely chiseled wedding actors with years of well honed experience… experience built week after week doing 52 weddings every year?  Were they wedding mercenaries hired to create a flawless wedding experience?  NO!  Of course not!  The wedding party has your brother and your sister in it.  It has your best friend and a college frat brother in it!  And why is that?  Why does it have THOSE people in it… a gathering of people you KNOW who are the MOST likely to do something to make the day less than flawless?  You pick them because you KNOW them!  You LOVE them and you want them to be WITH YOU through the whole day!  

So knowing that, what makes those “wise” bridesmaids “wise” in this parable?  Biblically, being greedy, fearful oil hoarders and uncaring of others is not “wise” behavior so it likely wasn't that.  That means there must be something ELSE that makes them “wise.”  And what about the “foolish” Bridesmaids?  Was it just because they didn’t pack enough oil?  That sounds good except that Jesus is FOREVER forgiving people who fall short of the glory of having enough lamp oil, and every other sort of sin as well so I don’t think that’s what makes them foolish.  That means there must be something ELSE that makes them “foolish.”

Well, it turns out the reason the “foolish” are locked out is right there in the text itself!  The Bridegroom never says they are locked out because they ran out of oil, or didn’t plan well or failed to find a 24 hour Standard lamp oil station. The text says they are locked out because, the Bridegroom didn’t know them.  “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”   

Here’s what I think is going on.  The groom in the story is Jesus and the wedding party is THE wedding party, the Kingdom of God, the Feast of food rich and well aged wines, Heaven, the Sweet By and By, or whatever else you want to call it.  ALSO keep in mind that in first-century Jewish weddings… EVERYONE in town was ALWAYS included in a wedding party… So when Jesus sets this parable at a wedding, Jesus is reminding us that at his eternal wedding party, EVERYONE is invited… all of creation... EVERYONE gets in the door through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection.  The Groom (Jesus) has asked you and me to help light the way for the guests who haven’t arrived yet, which makes us the bridesmaids!  BUT, here’s the KEY to this whole story... Jesus asks you and me to be his bridesmaids and to shine a light into the darkness of this world, NOT because we’ll do it perfectly or flawlessly but for the same reason you asked the people you asked to be in YOUR wedding!  Jesus asks US, simply and ONLY because he LOVES US!  

Jesus, of ALL people, knows exactly who he’s getting in his wedding party!  He knows us!  He knows that he’s getting people who sometimes plan well and sometimes don’t.  Sometimes fear makes us selfish, and other times we’re the most generous people in the world.  The Groom loves us anyway!  With or without enough oil, with or without the shoes that go with your tux (I’m talking about you Andy Ericson!).  But that’s the ONLY reason Jesus wants us in the party.  Would he like us to be helpful and light the path?  Sure!  But that’s completely bonus!  The MOST important thing is that WE ARE WITH HIM at the wedding! 

And THAT’s what made the other bridesmaids truly “foolish.”  They DID NOT BELIEVE the Groom’s love was unconditional.  They somehow, got the FOOLISH notion in their heads that the Groom would ONLY love them if their lamps were full of oil and burning brightly.  So, they FOOLISHLY abandoned the groom to run off and find some oil, which they FOOLISHLY thought was what the Groom cared about and because they did that, it was clear that they really DID NOT KNOW HIM.  They were “foolish” and we are “foolish” when we stop believing that God’s love for us is absolutely unconditional.  We are foolish when we run around in the dark, worrying about the world as if God does not have it all in God's divine hands!  We are foolish when we try to be God or try to MAKE God love us.  No matter what it is, when we think we need to MAKE God love us we are FOOLS, because God has loved us from before we were dust and always will.   

So, my fellow beautiful, blushing, Bridesmaids… Be Wise!  Stick close to the Groom!  Don't leave the party!  Stay confident in God’s love unconditional, unlimited love for you!  Shine your light while you have oil BUT in those times when your oil runs out and life gets really dark out there, remember, it’s not the oil Jesus cares about… it’s YOU.  So stay put, don’t run around like a chicken with it's head cut off.  Just stick with Jesus in those dark times and remember THIS:  The light the groom is carrying… the Light of Christ is more than bright enough to light the path to the wedding banquet for you and for ALL of creation… it is bright enough to see us through any dark and worrisome time of national transition or anything else the world might throw at us.  It is a light that shines in the darkness and there simply is no darkness out there that can overcome it.   Amen.