Daddy, Help Me!

This sermon is one that was based on an exegetical paper for Old Testament (my last one!!!) and written for a local retirement community in Richmond, VA where I had the privilege to preach this morning.

Psalm 27

1 Of David-

The Lord is my light and my salvation,

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life,

Of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the evil ones approached me to consume me;

my adversaries and oppressors,

they stumble and fall.

3 If an army camp against me,

my heart will not fear,

if battle arise on me,

in this I trust.

4 One thing I asked of the Lord,

that do I seek,

to dwell in the house of the Lord

all of my living days,

to see the delightfulness of the Lord,

to seek in his temple.

5 He will hide me in his dwelling place in the evil days,

Hide me in the refuge of his tent,

Raise me upon a rock.

6 Now is my head high,

Over my enemies around me,

I offer sacrifices in his tent, sacrifices of joyful shouts,

Let me sing and make music for the Lord.

7 Hear my voice, O Lord, when I call out,

Be gracious to me and answer me.

8 To you my heart says,

“Seek my face, Lord, I seek your face.”

9 Do not hide your face from me,

Do not turn away your servant in anger.

You have been my help,

Do not forsake me, do not abandon me,

O God, my salvation.

10 My father and mother leave me,

But God will take me in.

11 Show me your way, O Lord

Lead me on a level path

Because of my enemies.

12 Do not give me to the soul of my foes,

Because false witnesses have risen against me,

and he that breathes out violence.     

13 If I did not believe that I will see
the goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living

14 Wait for the Lord,

Let your heart be strong and take heart,

And wait for the Lord.

Today it seems like every kid is born knowing how to swim.  My two and three year old nieces are little water bugs and have been for at least a year.  I wasn’t quite so excited about the water when I was little.  I didn’t grow up being able to go to the pool whenever I wanted- yes, my neighborhood had a pool but it wasn’t great and we couldn’t afford a membership but we did occasionally go to another pool if the housework was done and we had enough time on the weekend (a very rare occasion since both Mom and Dad worked on the weekends).  Not to mention packing up three young girls to go to the pool couldn’t have been an easy task for my parents.  My sister’s and I didn’t get to go to swim lessons every week either, so on these few occasions when we did go to the pool our Dad would jump in and try to teach us.  I will never forget holding onto the side of the pool and extending my legs out behind me and kicking with all of my might while Daddy kept his hand right underneath me to keep me up.  As far as I was concerned that was all I needed- a wall and Daddy’s hand.  Unfortunately I quickly learned that holding onto the wall and keeping Daddy that close wouldn’t get me across the pool and I kept trying- every time we went to the pool I would start at the wall and try to let go.  

The whole swimming thing never really kicked in though until I was in fourth grade and at a pool party with all of my friends.  Nothing is more embarrassing than being the only one who can’t swim, so I just didn’t tell anyone.  Instead I took a deep breath, remembered all that Dad had taught me over the previous years, jumped into the 5-foot section… and swam.  I was beyond excited! That summer I took the swim test at camp in the 10-foot section and even though I wasn’t the fastest or the best, nothing could stop me because I could finally swim!  Every time I jumped into the pool I went through the same process- deep breath, remember what Daddy taught me, and jump.  It always worked.

Today’s Psalm shows David with a very similar attitude about life.  In these first verses we find a person who not only has high self-confidence (something I was definitely lacking until that pool party), but he also had incredible confidence in the Lord- and why not? Life is great! David writes with the tone that sounds like he is relaxing in a floating chair on the pool with a sweet tea and his iPod playing quietly.  Maybe it is during “adult swim” so David knows that no kid is going to come splash him or flip him over so there is nothing to worry about. 

 

David opens his psalm with something that I have always thought of as one of the ultimate praises in the Bible- “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?”  Throughout the whole of scripture the term “light” is used to denote perfect happiness.  David opens his psalm speaking of the perfect happiness that he feels because of the Lord- is there any greater affirmation? For many of us, even if we are only “pretty happy” we feel as if nothing can stop us, so I can’t even begin to grasp just how confident David feels knowing and that the Lord is on his side.  Going on in the text, David answers that question- he is so confident that no one will be able to approach him and if they try, he isn’t even afraid.  David’s confidence and trust in God is so great that an army can come against him and he won’t fear.  I assume that like most other armies they could be carrying weapons, riding horses, and wearing some kind of terrifying clothing while yelling all sorts of things… ok, so maybe I have the movie Braveheart playing in my head.  The point is that David is not praying for protection- he knows it is there.  

I recently found myself talking to a swim coach who works mostly with adults.  I asked him what the hardest part of coaching adults was and he began to explain that adults know too much.  We are aware of the complications that can occur when swimming if we don’t have a strong enough stroke or breathe correctly or tilt our head correctly.  Every summer we see the unfortunate stories on the news of someone drowning, and if we have low self-confidence in the pool we are more likely to remember those stories.  The coach continued to tell me that he preferred coaching children because they have much less fear if not no fear- water is just a big playground to them (I must have missed that memo as a child learning to swim).  Children don’t think things through to figure out exactly what needs to be done and they very likely don’t watch the news and then remember the tragic stories that they might have seen.  Children are more than excited to jump into the water and go- usually the one thing that holds the children back is the fear of the parents who very worriedly slip on the water wings (with good reason) before letting their children jump.  Since I had already been thinking about the text for today’s worship service, I couldn’t help but think about David when these differences were explained to me.  Just as the children have no fear and jump into the pool as if it is nothing, David had no fear and continued through life as if it was nothing- God was on his side and had already given David his water wings and that was all that mattered.  David didn’t waste time trying to think through every possible scenario or technique- David simply trusted.

What is even more impressive to me is that the only thing that David is asking for in these first verses is that he be in communion with the Lord for all of his life.  And what a significant prayer that is as it once again shows us just how much self-confidence and God-confidence David has- enough that he isn’t praying for anything other than to be with God. 

I think I could say that after I learned to swim I was fairly confident- maybe not as confident as David but I was definitely excited about life.  I remember going camping in Brevard, NC with my family later that summer.  The outside temperature was probably in the 90s since it was early August so we needed a way to cool off.  Sliding Rock is a natural water slide in Pisgah Forest- one huge rock that has been smoothed out by the 54-degree water that flows down into a ten-foot deep pool at the bottom.  This water slide is quite popular during the later months of the summer since nothing can cool you off quite like plunging into that pool of water at the bottom.  Well, after watching teenagers go speeding down the rock for about ten minutes I decided not to test my luck but so much and found the slower side of the rock that would only dump me into about six or seven feet of this ridiculously cold water.  Mom and Dad watched from up top with my baby sister- probably at least fifty feet up- while my older sister and I went to slide.  My turn finally came so I sat down on that cold rock, and seeing my big sister waiting in the pool of water after taking her first slide, pushed off.  What I didn’t realize was that I sat down on the edge of the slow side so the current pulled me over and I went speeding down the rock and was thrown into the ten-foot pool of water.  I was terrified and it was as if I had forgotten how to swim- I was sure that I was going to drown.

This psalm takes about as drastic as a turn as my slide down the rock did- in verse seven we find a much less confident David.  “Hear, O Lord, I cry aloud!” We don’t know what has happened, but that isn’t important.  Our very self-confident and God-confident friend is not so self-confident anymore.  We get the idea that David’s incredible prayer that the only thing he wanted, to live in communion with God, wasn’t answered as he pleas for the Lord to not hide the Lord’s face.  David is fulfilling a command given to the Israelites years before, to continually seek the face of the Lord, but it seems that David can’t find it.  Something has happened to shake him and all of the affirmation and praise that we heard in the opening verses has been turned on its head as we feel the fear that David is now expressing.  David’s fear is so great that he even begs the Lord to not turn him away.  It seems that this is quite possibly the furthest David has ever felt from the Lord, however he continues to pray.  We don’t find David cursing the Lord or asking why whatever this is has happened to him, instead we find him praying through a string of imperatives and these imperatives alone create a very real plea- “Hear, O Lord. Be gracious. Do not hide your face from me.  Do not turn your servant away, Do not cast me off, do not forsake me. Teach me your way, lead me on a level path. Do not give me up!” I don’t think it would be a far stretch to say that we have all prayed this prayer at one time or another.  However, through all of these very strong and passionate pleas, David closes his psalm with a word of hope as he reminds himself and his readers that through all of this he continues to believe that he will one day see the goodness of the Lord in this life.

We have all had this moment.  Maybe some of us are experiencing it now.  That moment when we don’t know what else to do other than to pray… if we can even think that far.  Maybe we received bad news about a family member… or maybe the stresses of our economy are hitting just a bit too close to home… maybe we have been presented with a challenge that we just don’t know how to even start handling it… it can be a number of things and unfortunately sometimes it is a number of things all at once.  What we can learn from David is that we can still pray to the Lord- through it all, we can pray.  This is a message that it is woven in all over the Old Testament as our ancestors came across any number of challenges, yet continued to pray.  It doesn’t matter what we say in these prayers and it doesn’t matter if we are upset- as long as we continue the conversation the relationship will continue.  

What makes this just a bit easier is keeping the conversation going all of the time, not just when we are losing all confidence and don’t know what to do.  This psalm can be read in a very cyclical nature, over and over again, that is very real to life.  Do one thing for me- take a moment and listen as I read the psalm once more, only this time when I read the very first line “Of David”, change it from David to your own name and continue to hear the psalm as if it were your own story.

1 Of David-

The Lord is my light and my salvation,

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life,

Of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the evil ones approached me to consume me;

my adversaries and oppressors,

they stumble and fall.

3 If an army camp against me,

my heart will not fear,

if battle arise on me,

in this I trust.

4 One thing I asked of the Lord,

that do I seek,

to dwell in the house of the Lord

all of my living days,

to see the delightfulness of the Lord,

to seek in his temple.

5 He will hide me in his dwelling place in the evil days,

Hide me in the refuge of his tent,

Raise me upon a rock.

6 Now is my head high,

Over my enemies around me,

I offer sacrifices in his tent, sacrifices of joyful shouts,

Let me sing and make music for the Lord.

7 Hear my voice, O Lord, when I call out,

Be gracious to me and answer me.

8 To you my heart says,

“Seek my face, Lord, I seek your face.”

9 Do not hide your face from me,

Do not turn away your servant in anger.

You have been my help,

Do not forsake me, do not abandon me,

O God, my salvation.

10 My father and mother leave me,

But God will take me in.

11 Show me your way, O Lord

Lead me on a level path

Because of my enemies.

12 Do not give me to the soul of my foes,

Because false witnesses have risen against me,

and he that breathes out violence.     

13 If I did not believe that I will see
the goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living

14 Wait for the Lord,

Let your heart be strong and take heart,

And wait for the Lord.

Life can present us with a whole lot of good, and a whole lot of bad.  There are times when we live like the little kids at the pool who jump in without a worry in the world, other times we might be more cautious like when I chose to slide down the slower side of the rock, and then there are the unfortunate times when life throws us into the deep end even though we took all of the precautions.  Our own self-confidence actually has very little, if anything, to do with how things happen.

That afternoon when I sat down on the rock, I was sure that I was about to have the time of my life and had already decided I would go down at least ten more times but then I felt myself pick up speed and hit the water- I was terrified, I forgot how to swim, and I was sure that I was going to drown and I probably would have… except that the next thing I knew I was in my Daddy’s arms- the same Daddy who seconds before was standing about 50-feet above me with my Mom and baby sister.  I was cold and shaken up, but I was ok because Daddy had me.

And that is just how the psalm closes.  Many commentators suggest that the final verse of the psalm is not the word of David at all, but rather a salvation oracle.  These final words are the words that we can carry with us throughout all of our days, both good and bad, just as I carry the swim lessons and even more importantly the memory of my Daddy holding me every time I am near a pool or waterfront.  As you go out into the world, remain confident in both yourself and the Lord when possible… but always remember that even when you feel that you can’t handle what life is throwing at you, you can still continue to talk to God and be confident that the Lord is on your side.  In all that you do, remember the final words of today’s psalm-

14Wait for the LORD;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the LORD!

In the name of God, our rock and our salvation, Amen.

 

Let Me See Your Papers

This is a sermon that I wrote for my "Preaching as Pastoral Care" class in response to a situation where the church was casting out others based on the simple fact that the congregation was made uncomfortable by them, due to something they could not control.  Since this happens all too often and is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately, I wanted to post this for people to ponder over. Enjoy!

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

John 2: 15-17

 

           

         

            The opening scenes of the recent film adaption of the classic, “Les Miserable” by Victor Hugo show a man, Jean Valjean, being “released” from slavery into a life where he will always be on parole and must check in with the authorities every 30 days.  As he travels the French countryside in search of a new life, Valjean stops and asks for work from a man who immediately asks for his papers, and upon seeing the terms of his “release” tells him there is no work for him.  Valjean continues his journey, stopping to warm his hands and body by a fire pit but is turned away by the others because of his papers- mind you, these people do not appear to be of any wealthy status and are likely freed slaves as well.  Finally, a priest takes him into the convent and gives him a warm meal and place to sleep.  In the middle of the night, Valjean fills his bag with all of the silver that he can and flees the convent only to be caught by the authorities, beat up, and returned to the convent.  “He says you gave him this,” the authorities tell the priest as they open the bag to reveal all of the silver. 

            Most of us can probably think of a time when we were shunned and cast out by those who we were sure would accept us or maybe we have even done the shunning. It happens in our schools as children who might not dress the same or play the same games are left out of the circle.  It happens in the workplace when someone may not be on the same track as the others- working either above or below standard.  It happens in families when a family member messes up one time too many and the rest of the family is tired of dealing with it.  It even happens in churches when someone doesn’t fit in with the rest of the congregation- maybe it is because of their job, their economic status, where they live, what they believe or how they think.  What it all boils down to is that when someone makes us uncomfortable, we turn them away- sometimes telling them that there is another place to go that could be better for them.

            What I find most interesting about all of this is the similarity to those who Jesus walked among and ministered to.  His community had its own social groups and pinned other groups as “good” and “bad” doing all that they could to keep their distance from them.  The Pharisees and Sadducees agreed on a few things, but not most, while he Herodians would collaborate with the Pharisees to establish grounds for Jesus to be destroyed.  Jews and Samarians were taught that it was wrong to have any contact with the opposite group.  Jews couldn’t decide how they felt about the Gentiles but the overall feeling was generally negative while some Gentiles openly hated the Jews and others were actually attracted to the Jewish religion.  Like I said- we are not too different with our own divisions.

Do you remember the woman at the well? John 4 recounts Jesus’ journey through the Samaritan city called Sychar where he stopped to rest at a well.  While he was resting there, a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus, a Jew, asked her for a drink.  During their discussion about living water, it is revealed that this woman has had not one, but five husbands and the man she is now with is in fact not her husband.  Even today this situation is one that would likely be frowned upon, however they continue talking and Jesus reveals himself to her as the Messiah just before the Disciples arrive.

            Maybe you remember this parable that Jesus told the lawyers in the Gospel of Luke- A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them.  Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii (a denarii is equivalent to about a day’s wage), gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

            If those don’t spark a memory, maybe this last one will- “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.  He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see.  And when the Savior passed that way He looked up in the tree.  And said, 'Zacchaeus, you come down! For I'm going to your house today! For I'm going to your house today!”  This song is one that many of us might remember singing as children learning about the way in which Jesus reached out to this tax collector, a man who no one else in town would have paid any attention to if they could help it.

            What do these three stories have to do with anything? The Samaritan woman, the injured man, and Zacchaeus are all three people who according to society should have never been approached by the one who did approach them.  The Samaritan woman was seen as unclean at best, not to mention the traditions of separation between Samaritans and Jews.  We aren’t told which social class the injured man belongs to, but it is probably a safe guess that the Samaritan should have never approached him.  Zacchaeus was a tax collector- if we can’t stand them now, how can we fault people for wanting to get rid of them then?  However, in all three situations Jesus was the one approaching the unapproachable or teaching this unheard of action.

            Jesus lived his life in a way that reached out to “the least of these,” living among the shunned and eating with them.  Jesus’ life was in no way conventional.  The Disciples had a hard time understanding this, probably wondering if this man they were following was even sane.  In fact, we find this in this morning’s reading when Jesus called Levi to follow him; he sat for dinner at Levi’s house where he ate with tax collectors and sinners.  When the scribes and the Pharisees asked why he ate with these sinners, Jesus responded “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

           

            There we have it- Jesus sat and talked with the unclean Samaritan woman, called on Zacchaeus, and taught the lawyers about neighbors through the story of the Good Samaritan because these three people, cast out by everyone else, were the most in need.  Jesus did not come to teach the taught, heal the well, or save the saved.  If that were the point of Jesus’ life here on earth, there would be no point.  Jesus came to eat with the sinners, sit with the shunned, and reach out to the ignored.

            Every week we spend time talking and thinking about the ways that we do and can live our lives in a way that most reflects the life of Jesus.  We would be making a very large mis-step if we were to ignore this very prominent factor of his life.  In a world that is divided based on faith, politics, economy, education, race, sex, and age among countless other divisions, we are given countless opportunities to reflect Jesus’ actions in our lives.  Or not.

            Take a moment to think.  When have you been cast out or ignored because you thought differently or acted differently from those around you? How did you feel? How do you wish the situation had been handled? Now, think about a time when you were the one that cast out or ignored someone because they thought or acted differently from you? Why did you do it? Did it solve any problems? Were they helped by your actions?

            This is a hard thing for all of us to think about, likely because we have all experienced this in one way or another.  It is a fact of life.  We want to be comfortable and when someone or something comes into our bubble that makes us uncomfortable, something must be done about it.  What we need to pay attention to is the way that we respond when this happens.  Our church continually tries to pop our own bubble as we go down the street to the Mayview retirement community and nursing home to worship with the residents every few months; our members drive the van to pick up the elderly and help them to run errands every week; and we work along side a variety of people when we go to the food bank.  However, occasionally the mold is broken.  I have sat in these pews and watched the homeless find a place to sit apart from everyone and I have stood here at the pulpit and watched the unsure slip in and out of the balcony before anyone even knows they were here.  Our response to these people and even our own family and neighbors who might “break the mold” on occasion is what is most important.  We can do one of two things- we can get rid of the change that makes us uncomfortable, or we can find a way to accommodate and most importantly welcome it into our lives as we make adjustments in our own actions and thoughts that may not necessarily reform our lives, but transform them in a way that we can be ourselves as we allow the same freedom for those around us.

            Jesus never cast out or ignored those who might have made him uncomfortable.  Instead, Jesus welcomed them into his life with open arms and an open heart.  Jesus sat with them and spoke with them, learning from them as they learned from him.  I don’t remember any part of the Bible that tells us that Jesus forced his opinion on them or turned them away because he just couldn’t figure out what to do with them.

            Being Christian doesn’t mean that life is made any easier- if anything, it makes it harder.  As Christians, we are called to live a life that reflects that model life of Christ.  At times this might be relatively easy- typically the times and situations when we are most comfortable with the decisions that we have to make.  However, I would venture to say that many times, our call to live a life reflective of Christ is quite difficult- the times when we are pushed out of our comfort zone. 

When I was in elementary school it was very easy to identify most of the Christian students because it was fashionable to wear bracelets with the letters “WWJD” woven into them.  WWJD- What would Jesus do?  These bracelets were traded and collected- some kids would have up to ten on their arm at one time.  Occasionally, they were even just given away to someone who didn’t have one but wanted one.  That was how I got my first one.  If someone had this bracelet that was supposed to make them think twice about their actions, they were accepted with excitement into the world or trading and collecting- if someone happened to have a rainbow or tie-dye bracelet it trumped the multiple bracelets that others wore.  That was the problem though- the bracelet was supposed to make a person think twice about their actions, yet it was the center of a new clique that formed with rules about who was in and who was out, a very ironic situation considering Jesus wouldn’t have any of these rules.  These bracelets served as our “papers” in a way. 

As we look at our own lives- personal, family, work, social, and even church- who are we asking for papers? What do we require those papers to say? Are we turning people away to help them or are we turning them away to help ourselves? What could we learn if we simply poked a hole in the walls of our comfort zone before we took the even harder step to tear down the walls? 

I bet we would see that we have just as many problems as those around us, our different thoughts and beliefs might just be different approaches to the same solution, and maybe- just maybe, we are all looking for the same thing in this crazy journey called life- a way to see the love of God more clearly in our own life.  That person across the street isn’t that different from us and neither is the person down the pew.  Once we are able to recognize this, maybe then we can take a step forward in a way that reflects Christ’s actions and begin to learn from one another.

When the authorities returned Jean Valjean and the stolen silver to the convent in Les Miserables, the response from the priest was not at all what they expected to hear.  “He says you gave him this,” the authorities tell the priest as they open the bag to reveal all of the silver.  “He tells the truth- however, I can’t believe you forgot what I told you last night… these are yours as well.  How can you forget the most precious pieces?” replies the priest, handing Valjean two silver candlesticks.  The authorities release Valjean and leave him with the priest who tells Valjean to take the silver and use it to turn his life around.

In a world that stops everyone in their tracks, asking to see papers that say that what they do and think and feel fits in the pre-defined mold for the day, people look toward the church for acceptance.  If we don’t live as Christ did and break the mold to offer acceptance to those who are different from us in our own personal life and family life as well as here in God’s house, just as the priest in Les Miserable did, how can we live it out in the world beyond these four walls and how can we expect others to extend the same openness to us?

What would you give a king?

This morning I had the privellage to preach at Faith Lutheran Parish in Prince George, VA. The congregation is very small- there were only about 14 people in the pews today, but very responsive.  For the first time I think I made the transition from being "ok" with preaching (already an improvement from being terrified to preach) to having a lot of fun preaching.  Since it was a Lutheran church, there were four scriptures read, three of which are referenced in the sermon so I will include all three of those.  This isn't my best sermon, but it was definitely my best delivery so far and just a very enjoyable experience!  I am definitely looking forward to going back again. (I apologize for the formatting in the sermon... something didn't transfer write in the copy/ paste and I gave up trying to fix it!)

Isaiah 60: 1-6

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. ²For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. ³Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. ⁴Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. ⁵Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ⁶A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.        

Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14

¹Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.
²May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
³May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
⁴May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
⁵May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
⁶May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
⁷In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.
¹¹May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service.
¹²For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.
¹³He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
¹⁴From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. 

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, ²asking, “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.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ⁶‘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.’” ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then 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.”
⁹When 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. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On 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. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

           Baby showers- they almost seem as if they are a right of passage in a young woman’s life.  A woman’s friends and family plan a day that focuses on her and her soon-to-be-born child, playing games, eating themed snacks, opening gifts and holding clothes up to a very pregnant belly as if she can tell if it will fit the baby or not.  Baby showers have become a very exciting tradition for most women.  I don’t have any children yet, but I do know that I have enjoyed shopping for the perfect gift for my friends' children.  Should I get a blanket or stuffed animal? Or are diapers a better idea… that will definitely save my friends some money.  When buying these gifts I have to keep in mind what my friends have registered for, what the nursery is going to look like, how much room they will have, and of course if the baby is a boy or girl.  If it takes this much thought to give a gift for a “normal” baby, I can only imagine the stress that would come with trying to figure out what to give to a baby who was the Son of God and the King of the Jews- a baby so important that a star shone to guide the way for all those who came to visit.

The story of the magi is a significant one that serves as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah that was read this morning.  In this story we find a group of magi who are travelling east to see the child who was born King of the Jews.  Word has spread of this baby and these magi are travelling to pay homage and leave gifts that have become very iconic over the years - gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  For any other baby these gifts might have seemed a bit extravagant- I definitely wouldn’t give them to my friends’ babies even if I could afford them, but I have never heard anyone question their presentation to Jesus, the baby King of the Jews.  The gift of gold would have been a very common gift for anyone in monarchy and fit for this king.  In addition to myrrh being a royal favorite due to its aromatic nature, it would have been used for anointing purposes- appropriate for the one who would later be called “The Anointed One”.  Frankincense was a holy perfume only used in the sanctuary, possibly looking forward to when this baby would be worshiped as Messiah with his Father.  However, as interesting as the possible meanings behind each gift are since we have the knowledge of all that happened following this night in the house, I seriously doubt that the magi thought anything more than “what would be an appropriate gift for a king?”  One thing is for sure- these gifts are a far cry from the stuffed animals and blankets that we continually debate over when shopping for baby gifts.

            The magi chose to bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the king of the Jews because of their royal qualities.  These weren’t gifts for just anyone and were probably heavily guarded throughout their journey to the east.  This morning’s Psalm tells us of all that the people asked God to give to the coming Messiah- justice, righteousness, long life through multiple generations.  However, I can’t help but think about those who weren’t able to bring such extravagant gifts to the house the night that the star appeared, reminding me of  two stories that I have grown to love over the years.

The story of the other wise man tells Arteban’s story.  Arteban wanted to travel to see Jesus with the others so he collected three gifts to take with him- a ruby, a sapphire, and a pearl. On his way to meet the others, Arteban stopped to care for a sick man and missed the other guys so he had to sell his ruby to pay for transportation with a caravan. The night before he was to arrive to see Jesus, Joseph and Mary fled with Jesus after what the angel told them about Herod’s search fro the child in order to destroy him, so Arte stayed at an inn. While at the inn, the soldiers came to kill all the baby boys but Arte saved one by paying off the guards with his sapphire. At this point, he had lost Jesus' trail, but he didn't give up. Arte took different jobs over the years so that he could have money to live off of, but continued to save the pearl for when he did finally find Jesus. Word started to spread of the crucifixion and Arte rushed to see his Lord. On the way, he ran into a woman who was going to be sold as a slave so he gave up his last gift, the pearl, to save her. All of the sudden, an earthquake came and caused a wall to fall on Arte. As he lay there, he called up to God "O Lord, how often have I failed you?" to which God replies, "You have not failed me, for you have given to the least of your brothers..."

            A second story that has become quite important to me is the story of the “Three Wise Women” by Mary Hoffman.  This story tells of the journey that three women made when a star appeared- the first woman was baking bread when she saw a star in the distance and suddenly her bread began to rise and was filled with the light of the star.  When her bread was finished baking she took it and followed the star.  The second woman was singing a lullaby to her baby son when they were both distracted by a star in the distance, the light of which made her baby smile so they got up and followed it.  The third woman was telling stories to her grandchildren when she saw a star and became so distracted by it that the star became the focus of her stories.  After finishing her story, the grandmother got up and followed the star just as the other two ladies did.  The three women met just outside of a small village, not knowing how long they had travelled because they were not tired or hungry.  They followed the star for the remainder of their journey, all the way to a small building where they found a young family- mother, father, and baby.  The women asked if they could come in- the first woman gave the loaf of bread to the mother and the baby reached out as if to bless it.  The grandmother apologized for having nothing to offer, but told the family a story of the starlight while the second woman held her own baby as he reached out to the baby in the crib.  The three women left and went back their own separate ways, comforted and filled with the hope of starlight.  The young baby in the crib grew up and showed that fresh bread tastes better when shared, he told stories to anyone who would listen, and taught that the greatest gift that anyone can offer is love.

            None of these three women nor Arteband were able to give the new born king of the Jews gifts that were seen as suitable for royalty.  Poor Arte never even made it to see the baby because he continued to be  stopped along the way and  had to give away each of the fine gifts that he did have.  However, both stories emphasize that the material gift was not necessary, bringing a whole new light to the question “what do you give a king?”

            Imagine you are busy with life - maybe sitting in the office, working over-time as you try to beat a looming deadline or maybe just like the grandmother in the story, you are spending time with your grandchildren.  You look up from what you are doing because you notice that the room got brighter, and you see a star in the distance that you haven’t ever noticed before.  Imagine that you drop what you are doing and follow the path that is lit by the star and find a house where a young family is resting.  What will you offer to this family? 

Just as Arte brought himself to the Lord by way of giving his most precious gifts to those he met along the way, the least of his brothers and sisters, we can bring our most precious gifts to God because it isn't about the material gifts. While material gifts are nice and we can all enjoy them for a time, the most precious gift that we have is OURSELF. As we reach out and help others, whether that be giving food to the food bank or listening to our friends problems, we should give OURSELVES. WE can be one of the magi.

            There is no better time to give ourselves to our Lord than now, as we are making our New Year's resolutions. Why not set aside some time each week to reach out to those that we might otherwise ignore. It could be that we spend some time on the phone with our brother or sister that we haven't talked to in a while because we were "just too busy" or we might visit a church shut-in and let her tell us some stories from when she was younger.  Maybe we can go to the food bank and help sort food or help build a house with the church at Habitat for Humanity. The monetary gifts help the organizations, but they also need help working with what it is they are buying.  Remember, we don't have to go abroad to help someone. Help is needed right outside our front door, and sometimes, sitting across from us at the dinner table.

Nowhere in the Gospel of Matthew are we told that there are only three magi- we are only told that there were three gifts.  For all we know, there was a crowd of twenty in the house that night.  We may not be able to offer such precious gifts as gold, frankincense, and myrrh but we can offer many other things.  We also don’t have to be in a Christmas pageant in order to be one of the magi.  All we have to do is realize that our own life is gift enough and offer it to our Lord who showed us the way in which to live.

            So, this year as decisions are made about New Year’s Resolutions or even just ways that 
we can live in a way that responds to Christ’s life here on earth, a gift in itself, let us remember- we 
don’t have to track down gold, frankincense, or myrrh on amazon.com- we only need to give our life 
and live in the way that the baby king of the Jews and Son of God grew up to teach us.  When we 
hand our life over we are doing more than just giving ourselves- we are recognizing that there is so 
much more that can be done with our life than we can do on our own, and we are entrusting that to our 
Lord.

            A classic hymn for this time of year and today’s prelude, entitled “In The Bleak Midwinter” sums all of this up quite nicely in the final verse-  What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; yet what I can, I give him:  I give my heart.

Are we really Christian?

I have been struggling a lot lately, and only a few people have actually been in the loop about it.  It sucks… a lot, however I feel like it is giving me a whole new view point that will be very important later on when I am called to a church.  I will probably have a few follow-ups to this post in the coming months as I continue to think about this and read a book or two, but here is the initial thought:  I can’t blame people for leaving the church.  Now, before you freak out thinking I am running away or talking trash about God or anything absurd like that… I’m not.  However I spent a lot of time thinking about my actions and those around me and looking at the way we interact and I see it- I see why people hate the church.

One of the biggest criticisms of Christians is that we are hypocritical, and all too often I hear Christians saying “NO! Of course we aren’t! We are GREAT Christians!” blah blah blah. Right.  But we ARE hypocritical.

Over the last several months I have looked at different communities from an outsiders view, paying attention to the way in which they interacted with each other and those on the outside.  What is funny is the communities that claim no faith base but are instead gathered because of another common interest are the ones who are the most inclusive and welcoming.  The Christian communities? Not so much.

I have seen people preach one thing and do the opposite all too often.  “Well Jesus said we need to welcome all people… (10 minutes later) I have no reason, but I just don’t like them and I will give them a hard time because of that.” And that is Christian how, exactly?  Or “We are all brothers and sisters in Christ…. Except for them.”  I can’t say that we help ourselves at all though because we continually say that it is an open table but exclude a list of people.  Basically if they don’t think, look, and act like us they are not allowed.

The most interesting part? I have continually been excluded from various “Christian” communities but the ones that I really have nothing in common with except for the fact I know one person? I am welcomed with open arms.  Now, I can’t sit here and say all this and not be honest- I have done my own excluding in my time so I am in no way saying that I am free of guilt.

This is my question though- why can’t we just embrace each other’s differences and truly live in the way that Christ did? I can’t think of any part of the Bible when Christ said that any person was excluded, but instead he taught that we should reach out to those who otherwise would be excluded, living together as one body.  Just because someone thinks differently from us doesn’t mean that we can’t spend time with them and it definitely doesn’t mean that we should discount them as being “dumb” or “not understanding”.

Now, I have to admit that the reason I began to pay more attention to this situation was because I saw it happening more to myself and heard about it happening to people that I am very close to.  I will also admit that I have made some different choices than I would have months ago because I have taken the time to really think about the situation and who would be affected and how.  I still screw up sometimes, but at least I am trying.  I lose patience too easily with those that “don’t think” and realize that I am losing patience because I am falling back into bad habits.

We exclude people from communities that preach inclusion.  When people come in our doors expecting to find an inclusive community and don’t, can we blame them for leaving? Can we blame people for being fed up with us because we preach one thing and act another? I think not.  What we can do is become more intentional about making sure that our actions and words follow the teachings of Christ- that we listen to what others believe and think and do and reserve our judgment.  No one gave any of us a paper saying that all that we do and say is right, so how can we say that because someone isn’t exactly like us is wrong?

Our country is built on a system that allows for people to think, vote, and lead differently.  We live in a world with hundreds of religions and government systems, allowing all of us to live in different ways.  In any situation where there is more than one person, there will be differences.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  What is wrong is when we force our own beliefs on others and fault them when they don’t conform.  I am a Christian and am even studying to be a minister, but nothing makes me sicker to my stomach than when someone decides they need to preach to me and tell me why I am destined for Hell or need to be saved.  Don’t ask me what I think and then don’t even give me a chance to tell you before you tell me what is wrong.

I have said it before and will say it again- I don’t write this blog to impose my opinions on others, but rather to work through my opinions, beliefs, and thoughts for myself.  I might ask questions and urge whoever might read this to think about something, but I never tell anyone that they must do what I write about.  If I do, I hope you will let me know so that I can make sure I don’t accidentally do it again.  With that in mind, here is my question from all of this…

What can we do, Christians or not, to live a life that welcomes the lives of others in a way that we truly can be free… after all, we live in the United States of America.  This is where people who are persecuted in other countries escape to, in hopes of finally finding freedom… but are they really?  Are we living our lives in a way that encourages differences or forbids them?  What can we do so that no one suffers because we couldn’t deal with the fact that they are different?

The Ultimate Gift

This was my sermon for December 30 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC.

⁴¹Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. ⁴³When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. ⁴⁴Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” ⁴⁹He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s domain?” ⁵⁰But they did not understand what he said to them. ⁵¹Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

Luke 2: 41-52

One of my favorite shows lately is “Little Mosque”- the story of a growing Muslim community in a very small Canadian town where a small protestant church, about the same size as Westminster, has opened its doors and converted their fellowship hall into a mosque.  Each episode chronicles the struggles, both humorous and serious, of the community as people of many beliefs come together.  One of my favorite episodes deals with a wedding gift for a young Muslim couple that no one knows anything about.  The young couple goes to everyone they know and talks about how wonderful this gift is and how they can’t wait to use it, hoping to trick their friends into actually saying what it is used for.  After a long day of “research” they find out that the family member who sent the gift to them actually re-gifted because they had no idea what it was for.  We have all been there at some point, trying to figure out why we were given something or what its function is.  About ten years ago our family was given a very pretty and interesting plate shaped like a flower- huge purple petals, yellow center, and green leaves.  There was no denying that it was a pretty plate but there was also no denying that it matched absolutely nothing in our house.  Mom tucked it away in a cabinet for us to see again and again over the next five years, always wondering if we had any use for it yet.  It finally found a new home where it was loved in a white elephant gift exchange.  Maybe some of us are struggling with that now as we try to find the right place to put that “wonderful” gift from your co-worker where you can confidently say that you set it out right away while only you know that it was strategically placed behind a few things.

            I wouldn’t be surprised if people felt the same way about Jesus when he was born- all of this excitement and traveling and for what?  Mary was told that her son was the son of God, however I am sure that did not make the labor process any easier.  Joseph probably had high expectations for this kid, maybe expecting him to be born and immediately pick up a hammer and work beside Joseph.  Shepherds were called to by angels and went immediately to see this precious child, and all he did was lay there in the manger and probably cry.  The animals saw this baby in their food and doing nothing but knew that for some reason, even though it wasn’t terribly visible at the time, this was ok.  This child is the son of God, but he looks like a normal baby!  

            Thankfully, Luke doesn’t take long to get to the point and almost immediately we find the twelve-year old Jesus in the temple.  It is left to our imaginations what happens in the twelve years that have passed but I can only imagine that Jesus had his fun and caused his own amount of trouble just like any other kid.  I’m sure Mary and Joseph wanted to wring his neck after the third time he came running through the house with muddy feet and he probably didn’t always go to bed when he was told to.  However, that is not important.  What is important is what we find in today’s New Testament reading.

            In today’s text we find what is supposed to be the role model family as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus travel to Jerusalem to observe Passover according to the Torah just as they always do.  Everything seems to have gone smoothly until the return- Jesus is missing.  Now, remembering that Jesus is only twelve and thinking about our own children both at home and at the church we can probably understand why Mary and Joseph thought little of his disappearance at first, figuring that he was with some other travelers in the crowd.  However after a few days have passed they realize that something wrong and they return to Jerusalem, probably wishing they had given Jesus that Camel Phone he had asked for on his last birthday.  The fun begins when they finally reach Jerusalem a few days later and find a completely unphased Jesus in the temple and acting quite unlike most twelve year old boys today- he is sitting with and asking questions of the teachers and my guess is it must be a pretty great conversation if they aren’t shooing him away as if he was any other twelve year old boy. 

Now, I don’t have children but I do have nieces who can be very troublesome, so I can almost understand how Mary probably felt when she found him- and it wasn’t the warm fuzzy feeling that her son was the Child of God.  Right away she asks her son why he has put his father and herself through all of this and making them sick with worry.  This is when we find Jesus’ very first words in the Gospel so of course they carry a whole lot of meaning- the young Jesus asks his mother why they even looked for him, that surely they knew he would be in his Father’s domain.  While Jesus may not necessarily be referring directly to the building of the temple itself but rather among the activity and people of his Father, it is very interesting and important to note that the temple served as the center for Israelite life all the way back to the time of Samuel when the temple was finally built in a permanent location.  Jesus’ response is a loaded response if I ever heard one- not only was he not concerned, but he cancelled out Joseph as his father.  Here we find what one commentator refers to as Jesus’ “precocious understanding of himself” not as the son of Mary and Joseph, but rather as the Son of God.  This is probably the first time that Mary has thought of her special gift in a very long time.  This is when we see that the angels were right in all that they told the Shepherds in the field- that baby in the manger wasn’t just any other baby and gift from God, he was THE baby and the ULTIMATE gift from God.  Jesus’ twelve year old escapades bring that to the surface for the first time, and from here on out we are never given the opportunity in the Gospel to forget it.  

One of my favorite movies to watch this time of year is “The Ultimate Gift”, based on the novel by Jim Stovall.  This movie tells the story of a young man named Jason, probably in his late twenties, who has always had everything handed to him on a silver platter and never wanted for anything.  His grandfather has recently passed away and has supposedly left Jason a gift, only he has to complete a series of tasks to receive this gift.  At the end of a very long twelve months Jason has completed the twelve tasks set out by his late Grandfather and has consequently received a series of immaterial gifts such as friendship and hard work.  In the end, Jason also receives just a few billion dollars to use in a way that gives these same gifts to others and is appropriately called “The Ultimate Gift”.  I have recently read the sequel to this book and movie, “The Ultimate Life” in which Jason is taken to court by his very jealous and greedy family.  In order to keep control of the Ultimate Gift, Jason must once again prove that he did truly learn his lesson from each task and can pass the lesson and gift on to others.  Throughout the year-long trial, Jason not only passes the gifts onto others, but must keep continue to remember the words of his grandfather as he gave each gift to him through a series of videos, as well as all that he experienced first hand as he received them.

Jason is not terribly unlike Mary who, having been reminded that Jesus is God’s Son, has to remember all that she was told and saw when she conceived her son and gave birth.  From this point on, she will continue to raise Jesus with her husband Joseph, but they have been reminded and Jesus is obviously very aware that there are far greater things waiting for him beyond working next to Joseph in the woodshop.  As much as Mary has likely enjoyed her time with her son as they celebrated birthdays, enjoyed family dinners, went to temple, and were simply a family she must now take the time to remember a much greater layer that exists in her little boy and begin to allow that layer to come to surface for the rest of the world to see.

Jesus’ time in the temple is only the first of many, many occasions in which he begins to show his family and the world the way in which we should live.  Jesus has laid the first of many, many stepping stones and it is up to not just Mary, but to all of us to remember the promises that came before and all that comes after in a way that doesn’t just live in our minds, but rather in our hearts and most importantly our actions.

This past Tuesday many of us gathered with our families and friends to celebrate a very joyous holiday.  Presents were given and received, food was consumed, and laughs were shared.  We may not have known what to do with some of our gifts or maybe we did and just didn’t quite see why it was given to us.  The what is not the point though, but rather the how.  The gifts that we received over this past week were given with love, in hopes that they would bring a smile to our face and joy to our heart and show us how much our friends and family care for us.  Just as the friend sent the mysterious gift to the young couple in “Little Mosque” to recognize their engagement and celebrate with them, and just as our family friend gave us a very pretty plate for Christmas to show us that they remembered us and were thinking of us, God gave Mary and the whole world his one and only Son to remind us that God is with us always and to give us a new way to hear God’s word in our lives.  The fact that Jesus’ first words in the Gospel of Luke relate him as the Son of God is not anything to take lightly- this is a reminder of the true gift that the little baby in the manger was, and all that he will one day be.

Beginning in the temple and continuing throughout the rest of his life, Jesus laid out a path for us to follow- a path that showed us how to share the love of God through the way that we live our lives, a way that doesn’t just reach into our own lives but into the lives of those that are around us.  When Jason’s grandfather left him “the ultimate gift” it wasn’t so that he alone would learn these twelve important life lessons, but so that he could share them with the world.

Jesus started his journey as the true ultimate gift by sitting with the teachers in the temple and asking them questions.  We can start our journey by reaching out to our neighbors, family, and friends with the love of God and Christmas joy in our hearts.  Maybe we simply need to give them a hug or maybe it includes spending an afternoon at a soup kitchen.  For others it might be sending a card just to say that you are thinking of them.  

Jesus was given to the world as the one and only, true ultimate gift.  He isn’t the kind of gift that gets put on the shelf to be admired from afar and only brought down to be dusted.  He definitely doesn’t belong in a kitchen cabinet until we find a use for him.  Jesus is the gift that gets carried around with us everywhere we go, just as young children carry around their favorite Christmas presents to show off to any and everyone that they meet in the coming days.

It turns out there really was a reason for the shepherds to come to the stable, for the animals to relinquish their food, and for Mary to go through the pain of childbirth.  Sure, Jesus may have appeared to be like any other baby at first but there was so much more to come and even after he reminds his earthly parents of his purpose, even Jesus recognizes that he has some growing to do and returns home with Mary and Joseph and the text says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.”