Can We Still Be Amazed By These Ancient Truths-- Homily for LUKE 2:16-21

Nativity of the Lord
LUKE 2:16-21
Year B
Homily for 1.1.12

This week and next the Lectionary Gospel reading offers us a description of the circumstances that surrounded Jesus’ birth. Today we view Mary and the shepherds and next week Mary and the Magi.

Of course we know that the shepherds were considered to be of low estate in ancient Judea. Theirs was a dirty business, work that took them beyond the ritual purity of then temple. 

One wonders what GOD could have been up to by presenting the news of Jesus' birth to these lower-class men. Someone has said that the angelic host appeared to the shepherds because it was an announcement of their impending lay-off. You see, these shepherds kept sheep for the temple sacrifices, and GOD was letting them know that the last, great sacrifice had just been born, and that soon they would be out of work.

But, I rather think this was, instead, the preview of things to come. Think of the Prophets words that Jesus himself quotes at the beginning of his own ministry:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion...(Isaiah 61:1-3a)

Notice, then, what today's Gospel reading tells us about the shepherds. First, they went to see the child. That is, they acted on the heavenly vision. Second, they proclaimed what they heard and saw:

they made known the message that had been told them about this child.All who heard it were amazedby what had been told them by the shepherds...

And, finally, they themselves praised GOD for the reality of the heavenly vision. This means they were affected spiritually by the presence of the angels and the little baby boy, who was proclaimed to them as Messiah:

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:8-11)

Notice also what today's Gospel reading tells us about Mary. The text reads: 

Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

She had to be amazed at the events surrounding the delivery of this baby. Not only was it amazing that this baby existed in her, but how she must have pondered in shock at the equivalent of the local factory workers coming to the birth scene. This was a very private moment for her made very public indeed!

While, we do not know exactly what was her reflection, we do know what she did. Mary obeyed the heavenly vision and named the child Jesus, which means Savior in Hebrew.

As I pondered over this text there were three questions that surfaced toward an application of this scripture for us today, I wondered:

CAN WE STILL BE AMAZED?

CAN WE STILL PROCLAIM WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD?

CAN WE STILL REFLECT ON THESE ANCIENT TRUTHS?

Christmas Eve Homily 2011

Under the Word

Video Devotion
Luke 1:68-79

(running time 7:01)

On this Holy Night, when the Christian world remembers the coming of the King and Savior, and when that coming so long ago still gives us pause to look forward to what his return for his people will mean for the world, a Pastor offers his Christmas Eve thoughts on that birth, and how it offers light in a world full of darkness.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Homilies -- 2011

Two Homilies:
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Advent
A Homily from Luke 1:68-79, for December 24, 2011

Nativity of the Lord, Christmas
A Homily from  John 1:1-18, for December 25, 2011

Year B

________________________________________________________

CHRISTMAS EVE HOMILY

12.24.11

Luke 1:68-79

During this Advent season I have been thinking quite a lot about darkness. In part, this is because my father died this fall which means Christmas will be a little less this year and somehow, strangely, it will be a little more, too. But, the world seems a little more dark, doesn't it? The world seems a little more troubled, a little sadder, a little more at odds, sinking little by little each day into the abyss.

What can a pastor say to his people that will change this? Sadly, not much. My only hope is to remind you of some important truths this final night of Advent.

If you are at all familiar with the prayer of the church called the Liturgy of the Hours, then you are very well acquainted with the Gospel Lectionary Reading for this Christmas Eve. Today, the Lectionary offers us the passage from St. Luke's Gospel which is Zechariah's Praise song of Prophecy. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is prayed daily during evening prayer.

Let us allow these ancient words to ring out to us anew; let us hear these words as a message of light in the darkness. Hear, now, the living word of GOD:

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace."(Luke 1:68-79)

What a beautiful and powerful text. What a text full of promise and hope. For our thoughts this evening I especially want us to focus on the final two verses:

"In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:78-79)

Here we are promised light in the midst of darkness... 

Notice, GOD, not just in compassion, but in tender compassion, sends the dawn, the light, the morning, to we who live in the night and the darkness of sin and selfishness and war and hate and greed and sickness and the shadows of death. GOD, not some great ogre of the sky, but the tender, compassionate one who is so very close tonight, offers to guide our feet in the way of peace.

That is, GOD has already acted; GOD has already moved toward us. GOD has not abandoned his people. Therefore, if you feel the darkness tonight, and believe me that feeling is real, remember it is not the final word.

Here I am reminded of the Psalm 30:5,6a:

"For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning."

Which also reminded me of the old song taken from that text: Joy Comes In The Morning, written by the Gaithers: 

If you've knelt beside the rubble of an aching, broken heart, 

When the things you gave your life for fell apart,

You're not the first to be acquainted with sorrow, grief, or pain,

But the Master promised sunshine after rain.

To invest your seed of trust in God, in mountains you can't move,

You have risked your life on things you cannot prove,

But to give the things you can not keep for what you cannot lose,

Is the way to find the joy God has for you,

CHORUS:

Hold on my child, joy comes in the morning,

Weeping only lasts for the night

Hold on my child, joy comes in the morning,

The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight

Hold on my child, GOD is coming close tonight; GOD is at hand in the person of the living and risen Christ. You are not alone in the darkness. Emmanuel is here.

In a moment, when we light our candles one by one, allow that action to be a metaphor, allow it to be a reminder that even in the darkness that is our lives for the moment, the dawn is near, the light is dawning, for...

“In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

__________________________

CHRISTMAS DAY HOMILY

12.25.11

John 1:1-18

(See text below)

TODAY, WE EXCLAIM TO THE LORD:

O Loving God, we celebrate, we rejoice, for the Nativity of our LORD: 

In the mystery of the Word-made-flesh a new light has shown upon our lives... 

We recognize how You, the GOD of glory, have come close, and even now reside among us... 

And, so, with the Angels and Archangels, with the entire heavenly host, and all the powers of heaven we acclaim Your glory and Your tender compassion, saying, "Our GOD has come to us in Bethlehem’s baby...

TODAY, WE PROCLAIM TO THE WORLD:

The Nativity of our LORD allows us to pull out all the stops and to offer the world (not just the community) a symphony of celebration. This music is not the song of triumph -- for we are not home yet, but it is the song of hope -- because new music has been written for the world. There is a new song as background for you, the peoples of the earth, replacing the dirge of death with a lyric of life and giving -- "O death where is your sting, O grave where is your victory?"

So, we proclaim with the ancient prophet who offers his poetry:

Break out together in song,O ruins of Jerusalem!For the LORD comforts his people,he redeems Jerusalem.The LORD has bared his holy armin the sight of all the nations;all the ends of the earth will beholdthe salvation of our God. (from Isaiah 52)

And finally, 

TODAY, WE CONFESS WITH THE CHURCH:

WE HAVE A WORD FROM GOD

WE HAVE A WORD WE CAN UNDERSTAND

WE HAVE A WORD WE CAN ACCEPT

WE HAVE A WORD FROM GOD

The absolute most important truth to confess today is the truth that GOD is not silent! Today's text reads: 

"In the beginning was the Word," 

which means to tell us that the Almighty has not abandoned the world; the GOD who is there has spoken to us. In fact, the New Testament reading for today from the Letter to the Hebrews describes this very theme when it begins: 

"In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets..."

Praise the LORD! We are not left with only our puny minds to figure out who GOD is and what GOD is about in the world. No, GOD has taken the initiative and opened to us his reality. This Word was 

"the light of the human race," and "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it," 

so reads the Gospel for today.

That means, even in the midst of all the brokenness and hatred and greed, even as we see this old world at war with itself, burning up with violence and vice, still the light of GOD's word, his now ancient word, shines in the darkness and shows humans the way to a truly human life.

WE HAVE A WORD 

WE CAN UNDERSTAND

And notice this was a word we can clearly understand. Again the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is instructive:

"In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son..."

The Gospel reading for today puts it this way:

"the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth."

And then later:

"No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side, has revealed him."

GOD's most complete word to us, then, what finally most reveals the Almighty's reality and being, is found in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, whose birth we celebrate today, as the angels and shepherds and later the magi did so long ago. Or, as St.John tells us in his first epistle:

"We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life..." (1 John 1:1)

This word was seen, was heard, was handled, and was discovered to be the source of life. 

Jesus comes to us with the good news and glad tidings of life and light and the offer of a new humanity, a new community. In Jesus we are offered the movement of GOD toward us and for us. In Jesus we see just how close GOD comes, as he takes on our flesh and therefore shoulders the very same brutality of the human condition that we carry. The presence of Jesus with us is a clear word from GOD that humanity can truly comprehend.

WE HAVE A WORD WE CAN ACCEPT

But, the fact that we comprehend this word from GOD, this flesh and blood human who represents us to GOD and GOD to us, does not mean we accept this word. Clearly, not everyone is happy to hear this word from GOD. For, today's Gospel also reads:

He came to what was his own,but his own people did not accept him.

Those with vested interest; those with power and prestige. Those who are of the empire, who hunger to live life out of selfish desires, they will reject this new life with its insistence on service and reconciliation. They want no part of esteeming others, and doing unto them as you would have them do to you.

"But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God."

These words remind us that we have a choice to make. We must personally accept the gift of this Word from GOD as a Word specifically for us -- a word to be practiced. We must accept the Jesus-way of walking in the world as the final path we wish to take for our lives. 

But, as we accept this Word we must also remember that this path of faith which leads the believer through baptism also brings a connection and commitment to the Jesus-formed discipleship community, and to GOD's wider purposes for the world as well. It is a way of life that leads one to true life beyond the personal and the individual to the community, and to the ultimate reclamation of the humanity.

______________

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came to be through him,

and without him nothing came to be.

What came to be through him was life,

and this life was the light of the human race;

the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

A man named John was sent from God.

He came for testimony, to testify to the light,

so that all might believe through him.

He was not the light,

but came to testify to the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world,

and the world came to be through him,

but the world did not know him.

He came to what was his own,

but his own people did not accept him.

But to those who did accept him

he gave power to become children of God,

to those who believe in his name,

who were born not by natural generation

nor by human choice nor by a man's decision

but of God.

And the Word became flesh

and made his dwelling among us,

and we saw his glory,

the glory as of the Father's only Son,

full of grace and truth.

John testified to him and cried out, saying,

"This was he of whom I said,

'The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me

because he existed before me.'"

From his fullness we have all received,

grace in place of grace,

because while the law was given through Moses,

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God.

The only Son, God, who is at the Father's side,

has revealed him.

Advent 4: Discipleship Beyond Barrenness & Shame -- Luke 1:26-38

4th Sunday of Advent

A Homily for

December 18, 2011, 

Year B

Luke 1:26-38

(See Text below)

The fourth Sunday of Advent shifts our attention directly to the birth of Jesus into the first century world of Judea, with its Roman occupation. Here St. Luke offers us background on the calling of Mary to be Jesus' mother -- even in her virginity, and the story of Elizabeth to be the mother of John the Baptizer -- even in her old age.

Of course, Luke's account falls with much static on post-Christian ears. For the majority it seems rationality demands that we dismiss these words as fable -- a story conveying only a moral, or farce -- a ludicrously, improbable situation.

That this idea is included in the Apostle's Creed:

...conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried...

tells us that the ancients believed St. Luke's account, even if post-moderns cannot so much. To be sure, we are much more sophisticated and nuanced in our thinking than they were, after all.

Interestingly, Luke himself offers the following words at the beginning of his Gospel as a way to introduce as credible what would follow:

"Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed." (Luke 1:1-4)

This has led many to believe that Mary herself gave Luke an account of Jesus' birth. 

I suppose, ultimately, how one comes down on this depends upon where one stands on the possibility of the supernatural (re: beyond the natural) occurring in the world. I confess, I am a more a natural leaning person rather than supernatural, but strangely, I have come to be warmed by this old, old story, and I hold this account as somehow both accurate and important. In short, the truth is here presented to us.

Having said that, there is much in this pericope that demands our attention, not the least of which is St. Luke would have us know that Jesus, even in the face of his mysterious divine origin, is in fact human. Luke presents Jesus’ coming into to the world as we came into the world, and he is plunked down into the same squalor of the human condition as we are.

Advent Under the Human Condition -- Genesis 3:91-5, 20

Under the Word

Video Devotion
Genesis 3:91-5, 20

(running time 8:54)

This latest episode of UNDER THE WORD, a weekly video devotion based upon the Lectionary. This week's installment comes from Genesis 3:9-15, 20. In this devotion we are reminded how Advent is a renewal of the Christ's first coming and an anticipation of his second. We are also reminded how Advent occurs within the heart of the human condition. That is, while there is much good in the world, not the least of which is the very life we have which is the greatest gift of all, there is still the reality of a deep and brutal loss. Today's Scriptures acknowledge this truth, but offer the hope of faith as well.

The TESTIFIER AND THE TESTIMONY -- John 1:6-8, 19-28

3rd Sunday of Advent

A Homily for

December 11, 2011, 

Year B

John 1:6-8, 19-28

(See Text below)

On this Third Sunday of Advent, the Gospel Lectionary reading offers us a description of, "the voice of one crying out in the desert,” whose homily is, “make straight the way of the Lord." This is the prophet/preacher, John the Baptizer. 

Can there be any more of an odd figure to our post-Christian sensibilities than that of this wild-eyed prophet who breaks upon the scene of the Gospel's pages, preaching, of all things, repentance and baptism?

Of course, in that highly charged climate of the first century's political world, any would be revolutionary would be assessed by the establishment (both Roman and Hebrew), calculating the danger and the threat of the revolutionary potential.

But, this was no revolutionary movement, at least not in the way these leaders feared. But to say this may offer you the wrong idea. Actually, John's proclamation offered the ultimate revolution claim, the decisive revolution, really, for the Baptizer is announcing the ultimate alternative to empire:

John answered them,

"I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."

Of course, the one coming after John was Jesus, and he would be proclaimed as the true alternative to empire. He would be claimed as the rightful King of the world.

But, before we get too far afield, we must turn our attention back to John and ask what today’s presentation of the Baptizer has for us, here at the beginning of the 21st Century?

Well, first, I want you to notice what may be the most important words of the text:

"A man named John was sent from God..."

and why was this man sent from GOD?

"He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him."

So, here today we are confronted with 

THE TESTIFIER AND THE TESTIMONY

Trust the LORD Not the Prince

Under the Word

Video Devotion
Psalm 118:1,8-9,19-21,25-27a

(running time 8:54)