To Do Lists

This is the sermon that I wrote for my Preaching and Worship class.  It is based on the lectionary for the 2nd Sunday in Advent (December 9). 

"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-- 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God's salvation.' " (Luk 3:1 TNIV)

We spend our life in a state of constant preparation- picking out the perfect outfit the night before our first day of school; nervously pacing as we wait for our first date and deciding last minute to change outfits for the fifth time; loading the car up with our favorite things from home so that we can have them with us at college; studying for exams; buying that perfect ring and figuring out the best way to tell that special someone that they are the one you want to spend the rest of your life with; the excitement of finding out that you are about to do it all over again with a little one that is your own; planning for retirement and maybe even looking for more full-time care.  As a church we are preparing our building for new adventures and preparing a new budget.  Whether we have only experienced a few of these, or all of them, we have all spent time in preparation.  In fact, many of us might even be in this sometimes stressful state right now as we clean house, bake cookies, hang lights, and prepare for family from all over to come take over our house and eat all of our food… I mean visit.  We have “to-do” lists a mile long, all things needing to be done yesterday and no time to do it today.  In fact, if I were sitting where you are right now, I would probably have a bulletin covered in different lists- alas, that will have to wait until later.

This state of preparation is nothing new- in fact it has been around much longer than our preparation for the first day of school.  We have been told to prepare ourselves since the 6^th century, BCE when the prophet Isaiah told the people to prepare the way for the Lord.  Those to-do lists that cover today’s bulletin? They were not the first to be put there- Isaiah’s call is found once again in today’s reading in Luke.  Here, we find John the Baptist moving attention away from himself and to the messiah that is to come.  'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'  This to-do list only has one thing on it though- to prepare by making straight paths. Right. So is this when we call in our city governments and have them find a way to straighten out all of our roads real quick and fill in those potholes? I know Capital Blvd. isn’t a road that is ready for anyone of any status above “common” to be on- I am convinced my car has to go in the shop every time I drive on that road.  I think it is safe for us to agree that Isaiah and John are NOT talking about the condition of their roads though, but rather about the lives that serve as a pathway for the Lord to move through.

In his commentary on Luke, John Carroll suggests that when John the Baptist announces this word from the Prophet Isaiah, John is issuing “an urgent summons for a commitment to justice”.  There is no direct situation pointed to in this call, likely meaning that John is issuing this summons to all people in a very general circumstance- essentially telling them to reevaluate their life and make any changes that would make it better. This commitment to justice does lead them to focus outside of their own selves though and to look at how they relate to others around them.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is lighting luminaries.  My appreciation for this tradition came when I was young and used to go around the neighborhoods with my Dad’s Boy Scout troop passing out fliers about the upcoming luminaries, packing the sand bags, and then delivering them with instructions of how to set them up on Christmas Eve.  Following the worship service at our church, we would drive around the surrounding neighborhoods where we passed out supplies and drove up and down the streets that were lined with these beautiful candle lit bags.  Even today at 24 years old, my favorite part of preparing on Christmas Eve is lighting the luminaries around our own cul-de-sac, a job that was graciously relinquished to me when my neighbors realized my excitement saved them some extra work.  For me, one of the most exciting parts of this tradition was waking up throughout the night as a child and peering out my window, not just looking for Santa but making sure the candles were still lit because I had been told as that we lit these candles as a way of lighting the path for Mary and Joseph as they traveled to Bethlehem and later gave birth to the baby Jesus- so needless to say, I thought it was very important to make sure they stayed lit throughout the night to make sure that Mary and Joseph could find their way (the fact that we were just a few miles away from Bethlehem did not matter to me).  This form of preparation has recently been taken on as a way to light the road of preparation in other ways- the University of North Carolina at Greensboro lights up all of campus the night before “Reading Day” as students begin their studying for final exams.  I can’t help but look to this image of the luminaries on Christmas Eve and my former nights of studying at UNCG as an example of how we should live in accordance to Isaiah’s call to his people- as guiding points along the long and sometimes dark path. 

While our own individual lives should serve as their own pathway and even vehicle for the Lord, I can’t help but think how much easier it is to see on a dark, cold night in December when there is more than one single luminary.  When we drove down the streets that were lined with bags, we almost didn’t need the street lights overhead.  As a college student on UNCG’s campus, I could have studied by the light of the couple-thousand candles throughout campus.  However, the only reason that the multiple luminaries are as bright as they are together is because each light is holding its own individually.  As we look at our own lives, we should find ways to make our own light shine brighter whether that is big or small, and then continue to find ways to shine brighter as we go further down our own paths.  Once our lives are shining brighter, we can then look to our relationships with others and find ways to make the multiple lights shine brighter together.  This is when we find the pathway full of light and it is ready and prepared for the Lord.

It is not always about preparation though- preparation leads up to something, otherwise there would be no point to it.  Isaiah assures us that our preparation of a straight path for the Lord leads to the valleys being filled and mountains and hills being made low, crooked and rough roads being made straight and smooth.  Just think- if you didn’t make to-do lists, spend time choosing outfits for school and dates, setting up a nursery for the baby on the way, or planning for retirement what would happen when the big day finally came? What if we didn’t take the time in session meetings to go over changes to our budget a hundred times? Well, you would be late for school or that date, the baby would never make it out of your room because you definitely wouldn’t have time to set-up a nursery once it arrived, you would be without a job and nothing else to do, and we would have no idea how much money we have or what can be done with it. We prepare so that when the big day or event comes, nothing goes wrong.  We prepare so that we can enjoy.  The valleys are filled and mountains made low so that we can easily maneuver and see better what is happening thanks to our preparation.

To me, the greatest point of all in John’s recount of Isaiah’s words is what happens after we prepare- all of humankind will see salvation, a point that is unique to this Lukan account.  All of humankind.  Not just the Disciples that followed Jesus on his journey to the cross.  Not just those hearing Isaiah’s or John’s voice at that time.  Not just Presbyterians, or Baptists, or Methodists, or Lutherans- ALL of humankind.  This is the point when everyone hearing these words probably realized that whoever was coming was much more than they could ever imagine if EVERY human would see salvation when they came.  Throughout the last few weeks we have spent time talking about how we relate to others that may or may not be like us- well, this assurance is exactly why that is important.  ALL of humankind will see salvation so it doesn’t matter what it is that we think about others because they are in this mix as well, whether we like it or not.

I am sure that all of us remember the excitement of getting ready for a big day- the world seems to be moving faster and there is not enough time, your palms might be sweaty, your mind is racing, you double check every last detail to ensure that it is perfect.  The craziest thing to think about is that in this time of Advent and preparation, we are not just preparing for family to come visit or for the new Church budget year- we are preparing our lives and our hearts for the one who will be born, the baby that did and continues to change the world.  We all know that babies don’t stay babies for long- sometimes it even seems like they are only a baby for one short day, and it is as this baby grows up into to the man that we know as Jesus Christ that we see the valleys filled, mountains made low, and crooked and rough roads made straight and smooth.

So, take a moment and think about how you can make your own life’s path a little straighter… how can you make the pathways of your relationships straighter?  Maybe this means that we relax a bit more, or become more aggressive in the way we take things on.  Maybe we need to spend more time focusing on ourselves rather than everyone else, or maybe we need to spend more time focusing on others than ourselves.   These changes can be any number of things for any person, but what is important to remember is that we all have our own light burning right now, we just need to continue to make it burn brighter. The brighter each individual light, the brighter the pathway as all of the lights come together. Because sometimes you can't make the path straighter until it is lit enough that you can see the bends.

All thanks be to God, the one who gave us our only to-do list and lit our candle so that we could see it and prepare appropriately.  Amen.

                               

Life in a Fishbowl

This is a sermon that I recently wrote for my preaching and worship class, meant for congregation that is small and trying to grow.  On a day when the nation seems to be more split than it was two days ago, I think that this text and sermon carries a heavy message that applies to this situation as well.  My only prayer is that we can come together as nation, standing firm in our faith and working together to bring our nation back.  Think about what you say before you post on someone's facebook status and think before you post your own- one of the things I love so much about the United States is that we are able to have our own opinion and we should not be losing friends over the way in which we post it (this goes both ways y'all...).  But I digress- here is the sermon.



^"12Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. ¹⁴Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4: 12-16

“You live in a fishbowl”—this is something that has been told to me in warning since my sophomore year of college when I took a job as a Resident Advisor.  Every student that I worked with was watching my every move and would base their actions off of that.  Since taking that job, I have never moved out of my little fishbowl.  Not only do I report to multiple committees now, but I live next to my professors.  At Union, we even have a classroom that is referred to as “the fishbowl” because of its rounded shape and the fact that the top half of the room is all glass and anyone walking around the second floor of the Early Center can look down into the class room and see everything that is going on.

Today’s technology helps no one in this fish bowl situation, and unless you have been one of the lucky few to avoid not just Facebook or Twitter, but any search engine, cookies on your internet browser, or even a smart phone, you live in a fishbowl as well- one where everyone knows everything that you are doing.  Even if you do not post updates on Facebook, people can tell what you are doing (or at least assume) based on what your friends are doing or what organizations you like or even what the basics in your profile say.  When you search for something on Google, you can now expect that product to show up in ads on every other page you visit while on the internet.  There are constant warnings going out about how Company X is tracking your phone and knows where you are and what you are doing in some way or another.

The downside to this fishbowl (as if there is actually an upside) is that we are constantly being judged based on the decisions that we make on a day to day basis.  Just think about the last few months and two big decisions that people were asked to make- Did you go to Chick-Fil-A or boycott when people split because of the company’s stance on gay rights? Who are you voting for in today’s election?  Now, think about how people have responded to your actions.  I imagine that you had people both support you and also those who became very upset with you.

Today’s text takes this fishbowl to a whole other level as we are not only assured that the Word of God is alive and active in the world, but that it is so active that it can judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts- that there is no part of us that is hidden and we are laid bare to the eyes of God.  We are essentially living in a crystal clear, smudge free, and decoration free fishbowl where every part of us is known, not just our outward actions or miniscule thoughts- we have been made vulnerable, a state that no one likes to be found in.  Even further, the text says that there is ONE who must render an account- not two, three, or four.  So now, we are not only laid bare and every little perfection and flaw is made known, but there is no second opinion.  This is not the presidential election where millions have a say in whether or not one person deserves or can do a job, and there is no “like” or “comment” button for all of our Facebook friends to have their say in the matter.

Before we get hung up on the fact that we have no option for a second opinion, let’s look further into the text.  Now that we have been assured that God not only beyond our actions, but sees our intentions as well (something that is both comforting and not) we are reminded that we are not the only ones to be put through these daily tests that may make those intentions not look so great.  Here, we are assured that our high priest Jesus Christ is able to sympathize with us, that he too was tested as we are.  Jesus, too, was laid bare before God’s scrutinizing word but remained faithful, as we are reminded throughout the preceeding text in this sermon to the Hebrews- “He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house” and later “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house”.

The twist then comes in the way in which we respond to this very vulnerable situation that we are in.  In his commentary on Hebrews, Stephen Long says “True faith must be bold both when it is under attack and when it is not.”  When we look back at the very first verse of today’s passage, we do in fact find words that point to the fact that our faith is being heavily scrutinized and is seemingly under attack- the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, separating soul from spirit and joints from marrow.  However, this is not saying that God is trying to attack us, but rather that God is looking so much further than any person you meet in the grocery line or in the world of technology. 

This is when our true faith comes out- knowing that we are being so heavily scrutinized, are we able to stand firm?  In knowing that we have been laid bare and examined in such a way, we can find comfort that we can and do find grace and mercy from the single one that is able to render an account on our lives and thus stand firm.  No where in this text does it say that we will be shut out or up, or that we will be told how disappointed God is because of the flaws that are found.  Because of this, we find ourselves able to approach the throne of favor and we can be confident that we too will find mercy and grace for the many ways both known and unknown to us, in which we need it.

In today’s world we are all too eager to render our own account for each situation we come across.  One that I hear all too often is that of smaller churches.  I hear that as a small church, we all talk in a country accent and can’t sing a hymn without an organist.  We have no choir and the pastor is the only one in the office.  I also hear that we have lost hope and are barely hanging on.  I hear this though, from those who do not look at what the church is actually doing, those who do not see every last bit as God does.

Sure, we have our faults- our roof might be a bit leaky sometimes, our parking lot is small, our pews are not filled.  Some might even become upset with us when they hear that we are not purchasing the new hymnals, even though it is because we know that we cannot afford it right now if we are going to make other things happen.  We even make changes to the way that things are run, not necessarily to better preach the Word of God, but to appeal to visitors.

However, when I look at everything else that our church is doing today, I see events like our recent health fair that took place despite the rain- an event that only happened because of the dedication of every person in this room who came out and set-up, manned tents, mingled with visitors, and cleaned up.  I think of the times when people have driven down to Camp Albemarle for the day, to help clean up a camp that is only recently being utilized by one of our youth.  I see the packages of food that show up on doorsteps of those members that are in need, or absent from church for whatever reason.  Finally, I see the love that radiates from the pews every Sunday morning, the love that gathers in the lounge both before and after worship, and the love that circles around the dinner table downstairs once a month.  The incredible thing is that is only what is one the surface- what do you think God would see?

I would beg to argue that God doesn’t care about the leaky roof, small parking lot, empty pews, or choice of hymnals- but rather God simply wants our hearts to be in the right place and our faith to remain strong.  This is why we can find comfort and motivation to keep pushing BECAUSE we are laid bare before God and God sees the reasons behind everything, offering us nothing but grace and mercy the whole way through and that this is the only account that matters.  Being vulnerable is not something that anyone wants to do- especially when they are working so hard to change in a positive way.  It is hard to ignore the opinion of the person who comes through the door and sees the cosmetic flaws and leaves, but we need to remember that what matters is the opinion of the one who sees the heart of every person who is sitting in the pew, as well as those outside these walls.

When we turn our hearts to God, ready and willing to receive God’s unending grace and mercy that is given despite all of our flaws, we are not only admitting that we are not perfect but that we do need assistance.  When we do not give into the tests of this life and give up but rather stand firm in our faith, we are recognizing all that our merciful high priest can and does do for us in our daily lives.

This confident yet very vulnerable turn to God goes two ways though when we move into our daily lives- when we are tested and judged by others, and when we feel the urge to the do the same.  Knowing this, take a moment to imagine that neighbor or friend whose Facebook posts you don’t agree with, who came to the office with a Chick-Fil-A cup when you drove past, or who has the opposing election sign in their front yard.  Think about that person who came through the church doors however long ago that you thought, “Oh, they just won’t fit”.  Now, think about whose account matters--- it is the account of the same one who accounts for you and me.  These people, even though they are not of the same mind, action, or appearance as our own individual selves or as our church, will find grace and mercy from the same God that we find grace and mercy with, the very same God who sees every last bit of our lives and hearts but does not turn us away.

When you leave this place today, do not try to cover up yourselves from others but be your true self, standing firm in what you believe.  Do not fear what is said but find comfort in the fact that these are only earthly opinions and have no claim on any part of your life.  Find comfort in the fact that God knows your true self, your intentions, and your heart and that this very same God who sees what you might prefer to remain hidden, will not push you away or say “tough luck” but rather give you unending grace and mercy- you must only stand firm in your faith and approach God knowing that only God can get you through, just as God got Jesus Christ through.

Thanks be to God, Amen.