Do and Be It while Becoming It

 

Today is the day, 21 days into the New Year – it is a determining day for those who made New Year resolutions; if one has made it to day 21 still working on their resolution, whatever that resolution was, it is well on its way to becoming a habit. Until recently it was said that 21 days makes a habit. Research presented June of 2023 found that it takes 66 days for a habit to be imprinted and a permanent part of a person’s lifestyle.

 

In his letter to the Corinthians, Apostle Paul reprimands and encourages the Corinthian church about the lifestyle they are choosing to live. Paul identifies divisions in the community, practices of ‘old religion’ that remain, acts of immorality, and the non-uniformity of belief within the Corinthian church. His call to the community is to become of one mind and will, to be imitators of Christ.

 

Consider the resolutions of losing weight, lowering blood pressure, controlling diabetes; all are related to the person becoming healthier.  To become healthy, one needs to commit to live as if already healthy. One needs to put things in place to attain health; one practices living a healthy lifestyle by walking, eating more vegetables, drinking less wine, no smoking, getting more sleep, reducing stress- all this gets put in place before one is healthy. The motto for this new life to take fruition: Do and be it while becoming it.

 

Paul writes: From now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none. Those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealing with it.

Each of these phrases that confront us in the letter to the Corinthians are not for us to parse and figure out. Paul is making a point in his argument, suggesting that everyday individual matters are inconsequential, life is not about the individual but rather the unity of the Christian community, and the lifestyle of that community. Paul’s letter continues with emphasis on living as if the kindom of God where at hand, as though the kindom were here. He posits that time – in its present form is running out, that the present form of this world is passing away. He passionately preaches that the return of Christ -the day of the Lord- although expected far off in the future is extremely close at hand. Paul has hinted at this previously in this letter - the day of Christ’s coming is soon.

For Paul, being prepared for Christ’s return and living as though it were already so, requires that the Christian community choose to live – in their everyday actions, habits, and patterns- a lifestyle exhibiting Christ already present.

Be imitators of Christ. Do and be it while becoming it. Live in such away as your actions imitate Christ’s, becoming, not just imitators, but more and more like Christ.

 

Columnist Jeff Poor wrote: The CHURCH is like a GYM. It exists to train, equip, and challenge the body of Christ – to live in the light of the Gospel. But many treat the church like a restaurant that exists to feed and serve regular patrons.

 

An interesting thought, isn’t it? Do you come to church to workout?

Or do you come to the church to be served? Do you come for ‘the soup of the day’ and to pick and choose from the menu? --- Asking for what you want, the way you want it, in a timely and convenient manner; leaving on your plate what you do not like. And depending on how you rate your experience you decide what tip (offering) the server receives.

 

Considering church as a gym, conveys the passion and emphasis of Paul’s letter… The church exists to train, equip, and challenge the body of Christ to live in the light of the Gospel. Working out as a community we are about building faith muscles, strengthening hope, growing capacity for grace, forgiveness, and love to work through us. We learn and train, disciplined in hearing and wrestling with challenging teachings from God’s word and discerning how to apply them to our community and our lives in 2024.

We come to the gym, we come to church – not because we are Christ but because we are passionate to share God’s message to a hurting world and need to be as Christ-like as possible to do it. Changing the world to open up into God’s kindom in this time, - anytime- , requires fitness, balance, unity and health of the faith community. It takes determination, practice, consistency.

 

There has been a national non-profit organization in Canada called ‘ParticipACTION’ (action is written in capital letters for emphasis). Their mission statement is “encouraging people living in Canada to get healthy by getting active since 1977.” They promote physical activity as a vital part of one’s everyday life – as their web-site says, physical activity is “a necessity of life and one of the most important things you can do for your overall health and wellbeing.”

Christ-activity, be imitators of Christ: Christ-activity is a necessity of life and one of the most important things you can do for the overall health and wellbeing of the world.

 

Do and be it while becoming it.

This motto has been interspersed throughout the sermon, and refers to the way Paul phrased his letter:

Now, those who mourn act as though you were not mourning, those who rejoice act as though you are not rejoicing…  Act as though…

 

Have you heard people say that they feel like an imposter or fraud? Have you heard the phrase ‘fake it until you make it?’ While I do believe in honesty, humility, and self-awareness, I believe that humans are always in the processes of becoming, meaning we all act as if we already are a finished product. I act like a leader, a parent, a problem solver, a long-distance runner, capable and put together – even in times when I have no idea what I am doing. I can not count the number of times I act as though I am fearless, as if I am optimistic, as though I have hope, as if I am not shy, as if I am happy, as if I can do it (whatever it might be)…

Over time, acting as though – my participation and action, working out- becomes a habit and part of who I am and how I live.

 

We are in the middle of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme passage is the parable of the Good Samaritan. I preach on Wednesday at First Baptist and am to focus on the question Jesus asks the lawyer, “who was neighbour” to the man who was robbed and left injured at the side of the road? The reflection included in the prepared resources for the day says:  As with the lawyer, we are challenged to reflect upon how we live our lives, not merely in terms of whether we do good or not, but whether, like the priest and the Levite, we are neglecting to act mercifully.

This week Christians are gathering in Ecumenical services around the world to reflect on Christian unity and what it is to live lives that imitate Christ. The global Christian community receives reprimand and encouragement, like that in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The Christian community is being called to one mind and will, working as one body of Christ; each community called to act mercifully in their place and time to open the kindom of God for the healing of the whole world. 

With the global Christian community let us workout in the gym called church, so that we be of one mind, one will, one body of Christ working together.

Let us be imitators of Christ.

Do and be it while becoming it.

 

Albert Einstein and Earwigs: Psalm 139 and John 1: 43ff

 This morning I have a warm fuzzy feeling! The reading from Psalm 139 and the choosing of Nathanael in the Gospel, fondly remind me of my high school locker and my first university dorm room. I had two magazine cut-outs each glued to a piece of poster board and displayed on the inside of my locker door, and later, on the bulletin board in my residence room.

 

The first was a black and white picture of the face and head of a sculpture of Albert Einstein. Einstein had a quizzical look on his face, surrounded by wily hair, and great movement in the texture of the skin made of clay. The magazine caption read: how weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! Of course, this caption is quoting Psalm 139: 17. I posted this picture in my locker because it was a constant reminder of my outlook on life and learning; the whole point of school – the joy of wonder and discovery, the pleasure of figuring things out and being awed in the process; the continued pursuit and journey that would never end. To think that God created us this way. I love that feeling of being fascinated and confounded at the same time. And did I ever love questioning and debating, philosophizing and exploring other peoples’ thoughts; and considering God’s thoughts.

 

The other magazine picture was a colourful cartoonish drawing of three earwigs (which is a kind of insect), hanging out in a rutabaga garden. One earwig relaxed under the rutabaga tops, leaning against the stem of a plant. Another nibbled the exposed top of a rutabaga, and the other was just there chatting it up – Three earwig buddies. The earwigs in the picture make me think of Nathanael. Nathanael is minding his own business, or so I like to think, relaxing in the shade of a fig tree; hanging out with whoever else was there. Philip comes up to him and invites him to come meet the Messiah. Nathanael skeptically says, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Although skeptical, Nathanael is curious, so goes with Philip to meet Jesus.

 

Earwigs are one of the most hated insects, not because they pose harm to humans, but because of their nature – how they look, how they congregate. Now you might be skeptical, upon hearing that earwigs are the best defender of your garden spaces – although they might nibble on flowering plants or gnaw into vegetables, they are the insect that keeps other creature populations in check because they have a voracious appetite for slug eggs; aphid, mite, and other insect larvae; they will even eat other insects. They are the scavengers of decaying material. And yet, having these gifts, they are not a beloved creature to human beings.

 

I particularly liked the magazine picture of the earwigs – and hung it in my locker- because they had the best expressions on their faces! They were joyful and playful. I had all kinds of ideas about what they were doing and talking about. And the picture made a despised creature, adorable – an outsider given worth and gifts and joy- what high school student doesn’t relate to this; feeling like the ugly, the left out, the tread-upon– and wanting to belong, to have joy, and to not be despised or picked on.

In some ways, I consider the disciples to be a congregation of earwigs.

Today we hear of Nathanael and his skepticism; but what of the others- we read of Levi the tax collector (ie. traitor), Peter the denier, Judas the betrayer, Thomas the doubter, Simon the Zealot, James and John with fanatical tendencies, Philip (later on) lacking trust; as a whole group they were terrified on the lake, couldn’t keep awake and pray, presented a consistent lack of understanding, and fled the scene- abandoning Jesus on the eve of his arrest. And despite all this ---- their earwig-ness---- those pieces of themselves that were less than stellar, their weaknesses, their human flaws, their ugliness----- none of this stopped Jesus from calling them to be disciples, and to be about God’s work.

 

Nathanael whom Jesus sees before calling him to be a disciple, hears Nathanael questioning, can anything good come out of Nazareth? -which is really a holy-than-thou attitude and an expressed distain for a neighbouring conservative community outside of the city of Jerusalem where all the important stuff happened. On top of this, God having knit together Nathanael’s inward parts, knew him deeply, skepticism and all.  In this Jesus story, it is okay that Nathanael is this way, the skeptic is welcome – in fact chosen to be a beloved disciple.

 

Over the past few years at church council meetings, on our wall murals, in other groups I have asked the congregation to complete the sentence: You know what I love about this church…

My answer this morning is this: You know what I love about this church, I appreciate being fully welcomed, as me; along with my questions, skepticism, earwig-ness (yes, the bits of myself that are weird and quirky). I love that I hear a Gospel where God calls individuals as they are, to do great things within a community. I love that God embraces human weaknesses and works with them; works with and through us.

 

Later this morning in confirmation class we are taking a journey through an historical timeline starting in the 850s, following the lives of selected Christians who were…well… earwiggy. These are faithful Christians who were delightfully weird – not like others of their times. These were people called by God – chosen to be disciples, even thought, they were people who were skeptics, asked questions, pondered how weighty are God’s thoughts and if anything good could come from Nazareth. This group of people are remembered for various reasons: whether martyr, bishop, hymn writer, renewer of society, reformer – all applied the Gospel to daily living and life, being active theologians in asking questions to understand God, faith, and what that meant on the ground.

What the confirmation class will notice is that not all these figures had the exact same beliefs, that from one generation to the next different questions were asked because the world was a different place, so too each generation had and has their own understanding of God, and what faithful living is. What the class will learn is that although not the same, the continued asking of questions, continues a tradition of the challenging and reforming of church and disciples’ beliefs. – our beliefs.

 

The season of Epiphany began with Jesus’ baptism, Pastor Adam our guest preacher last week, reminded us over and over that God, in baptism, calls each one beloved. You are beloved. I am beloved. We are beloved!

The season after Epiphany continues with the calling of Nathanael – a skeptic- to be a chosen disciple.

 

You know what I love about this church, I can be who God created me to be and know that I am beloved  – even though I am weird, messy, weak, and unique; and I can ask, or rather am encouraged to be skeptical, ask my questions, to ponder God’s thoughts, and I will be included, called, and chosen -with all the other adorable earwigs that make up a congregation.

 

Those two pictures, Albert Einstein and the three earwigs, were taped up in my locker because they represented who I was and who I aspired to be. They were personal affirmations and mantras in picture form. They reminded me that I am beloved.  I am called. I am wonderfully made. I am chosen. I can ask questions and be skeptical. I can be me. I can be earwiggy -different than the world around me, and that is okay.

And with delight and joy, playfully consider and wrestle with the thought and question

 – How weighty are your thoughts O God! And can anything good come out of Nazareth?

CHRISTMAS EVE 2023 – Accompaniment: the Greatest Gift

The Christmas season is full of music – concerts – chorales, choirs, cantatas, symphonies, presentations of Handel’s Messiah. Church choirs spend much time preparing for this night, to joyously add their voices to the choirs of angels; to give glory and praise to God. The Church has a compendium of Christmas carols and music that spans centuries. Churched people generally have beautiful memories of the music of Christmas. At Resurrection in Halifax a shared memory is: O Holy Night, sung by a soloist, supported by an accompanist; and Silent Night sung as a congregation accompanied by candlelight.

Now can you imagine, O Holy Night sung without accompaniment? Or Silent Night, sung without the accompaniment of candlelight?

So too, Handel’s Messiah -and the Hallelujah Chorus, without the symphony orchestra and choir supporting the soloists? Can you imagine celebrating Christmas without the accompaniment of sacred music?

 

Accompaniment, according to the Cambridge dictionary, is defined as something done in support of something else. The classic example is musical accompaniment, music that supports someone who is singing or playing an instrument.

 

Accompaniment is the Greatest Gift, the gift of Christmas; something done in support of something else.

Is this not incarnation? God chose to become human. God chose to set-aside God-self, to accompany humankind by literally entering humanity and physically walking the land with human beings, side-by-side through the messiness of life. This is the wonder and mystery of Christmas – the gift of incarnation- the gift of accompaniment.

 

Circa 1513, German painter and architect, Albrecht Altdorfer, painted The Birth of Christ. His painting has the Holy Family snuggled in beside a crumbling brick wall, with the structure of a wooden beamed house above, empty of walls. Web-gallery describes the scene, the stable in the lower level of the building with the house above in a state, so ruinous, that an additional miracle may be found in its not having collapsed upon the Holy Family. Centuries later, on the First Sunday of Advent 1943, Bonhoeffer writes in a letter from prison to his parents: Altdorf’s ‘Nativity’ is very topical this year, showing the Holy Family and the crib among the ruins of a tumbledown house. However did he come to paint like that, against all tradition, four hundred years ago? Perhaps he meant that Christmas could and should be kept even in such conditions; in any case, that is his message for us.

Because of war with its destruction and chaos, because Bethlehem is within the occupied Palestinian territory, because all roads into Bethlehem are closed; a trend this Christmas has been for nativity scenes to be placed in or covered with rubble, tumbled bricks, chunks of concrete, and broken boards. God is once again born into a place with no room or no access, into extenuating and uncomfortable circumstances, and into a land shadowed in conflict and oppression. This year, Altdorfer’s nativity, like it was for Bonhoeffer in the throws of WWII, is poignantly current.

 

The ELCIC has been and is an accompaniment church with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land. Accompaniment has been the Canadian church hearing and sharing the ELCJH’s story; walking and learning from each other about peace, the practice of faith, the interpretation of scripture, theological reflection from an unexplored perspective; it has been advocating for the return of land and open borders through letters to the Prime Minister. Accompaniment is working with the Anglican Church of Canada on joint declarations and on the ground, supporting schools, hospitals, peace initiatives; it has been delegates attending the ordination of the first Lutheran Palestinian woman minister; it has been raising a month of expenses to pay for the salaries of ELCJH’s school staff who can not work in the war-torn chaos. Accompaniment is holding a people in our heart – our breaking hearts - and not growing weary of praying for peace in Jerusalem.

Accompaniment is remembering a baby born in Bethlehem and holding that Mystery and hope for a people, in a time and place where it is difficult to see the star, to hear the angels, to be excited as the shepherds, to pause at the manger, and to witness Emmanuel, God-with-us. Accompaniment is holding Mystery and hope for those who may not be able to at this time, keeping Mystery and hope alive for today.

 

The gift of incarnation, the gift of accompaniment on God’s part, is astonishing and radically lavish. What love! What grace! Imagine a love so unconditional: that God chose to become human to show humans to what length God will go to love them; to accompany them, to love and accompany us.

Often in Christmas carols, the symbols and lyrics boldly speak of the end of Jesus’ life. An example of accompaniment from the end of the Gospel of Luke is the walk on the road to Emmaus. The disciples have found the tomb empty – Jesus was crucified and laid to rest, and now, is said to have been raised from the dead. Two friends are on the road talking of this mystery, when a stranger on the road joins them. The stranger accompanies the two friends, listens to their incredible story, and speaks words from Moses and the prophets that have direct bearing on the events of the past few days. The stranger – in the breaking of bread- at the end of the walk, is recognized as the Christ. Christ accompanied the two friends, walking with them in their grief, in their quest for understanding, and in their hopes of the fulfilment of the promises of God. Accompaniment addressed and ministered to the broken heart and loneliness of the friends following the death of their teacher; accompaniment made that which was broken, whole. The friends comment on how their hearts were warmed in the stranger’s presence.

 

On Christmas Eve, we hear the angels proclaim, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all. The First Nation’s Version of the New Testament interprets the angels’ words in a profound way, having the heavenly hosts of Luke 2: 14 give thanks saying, ‘All honour to the One Above Us All, and let peace and good will follow all who walk upon the earth.’ Let peace and good will follow all who walk upon the earth – that certainly sounds like accompaniment, a blessing of the angels who ask for peace and good to follow, as in accompany, all who walk upon the earth.

 

How does this sit with you? The thought, - the blessing of the angels- that peace and good accompany you, accompany communities of faith, and accompany humankind? The nativity story, witnessed and experienced as the Holy Family, with the gift of new life while sheltered in a precarious place in a troubled world, is the gift to be received this night. It is God’s gift of incarnation. God’s accompaniment with us – in all the chaos and trouble of the world. That makes tonight special, it produces that warm feeling we have in your hearts. This gift of incarnation, God’s accompaniment, elicits feeling, elicits a response. Over the coming weeks as we hear stories of Jesus being taken to the Temple by his parents, his baptism, first miracles, the calling of disciples, these stories illustrate that being around Jesus changes people and their lives. God incarnate changes us too; when our hearts are open to receiving that which is around us- like tonight relaxed and joyous in this space.

 

The angels’ blessing in some ways is a prayer that humans will turn around and see the peace and good that are following them, that are right there accompanying them. God is present! This changes everything.

American psychologist and author Rolo May wrote: Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings. It is based on the experience of one’s identity as a being of worth and dignity.

 

The feeling that Christmas Eve elicits – our warmed hearts and the joy of being here together – accompanied by sacred music and candlelight… accompanied by Emmanuel; this emotion fulfils our nature as human beings. It is this joy found in the fulness of our nature as human beings that responds, that wants to carry on beyond tonight to birth hope in the rumble and struggle of life around us, to go into a hurting world and bring some form of peace, goodness, and wholeness. Christmas Eve reminds us that accompaniment is the heart of God’s relationship with us, and how it is that we experience God’s unconditional love.  And so it is that our gift to hurting world is accompaniment – the Greatest gift.

 

Merry Christ mass to you, as you

accompany people – where they are- as they search for love, acceptance, welcome, forgiveness, whatever is good and true and beautiful. With joy hold each of these, along with hope and faith, for those whose hearts and circumstances can not witness the miracle of tonight. Continue to accompany the world around you with the peace of Christ. Amen.

 

 

Advent 2023 - WEEK 3: The Greatest Gift - PONDER

 

PONDER – Luke 1: 26-38

And Gabriel came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” … Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ -vs. 28, 38

 

 

I thought about a gift of a different kind for which I am grateful. The giver likely didn’t realize she was giving a gift.

At church on a Thanksgiving Sunday we were asked to pray our thanks during the prayers. One person who has really serious eating disorder problems thanked God for her troubles.

The gift is, it caused me to think how often, if ever are we humbled to thank God for our troubles that actually help strengthen us and make us who we are especially while going through them? – Mary

 

We have all heard interviews where the interviewee is asked, ‘Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?’ The response is generally positive with the interviewee expressing what has been learned through the experience, the joys that have been mixed with the troubles, the person one has become because of the trials. I think that Mary the mother of Jesus, if asked, would have said, ‘yes, I would do it all over again.’

 

Ponder for a moment the ‘troubles’ you have endured, the less than savoury aspects of your life, your secrets, and your disappointments. All of these contribute to who you are and to whom you will become. There is a process in therapy circles where clients are invited to ponder the stories from their life and re-write the script. The process has a person take an experience from their life and tell the story with a focus on goodness and healing.

 

For instance- Years ago, I was in a car accident. I could tell a captivating story with all the details of the accident and ensuing trauma. Or I can chose to tell the story from a perspective of healing- my friend and I weathered a scary experience together; emergency workers were efficient and attentive as they cared for us; both of us were given exercises that changed our ability to move/helping us as we age; I grew as I learned how to manage fear and flashbacks; I have received a greater capacity for empathy for people facing similar circumstances; and in the moment when death is more than a shadow I have experienced that quiet moment when all stands still – and there is peace. All this is gift!

 

The ‘Nurturing the Good’ meditation continues: “feel the gift of life that is pulsing through your veins now and let yourself feel thankful for it. Feel the gift of life that surrounds you every moment, everywhere you go. Feel this gratitude in your body. Let yourself be nurtured, strengthened by it. And notice if there are any ideas arising about how you might create a beautiful past today or soon, for yourself and those you care about.” ---- Carolyn

 

Following the car accident, I had a renewed gratitude for life, and then life moved on.

This Advent, meditating on PAUSE, PREPARE, PONDER, I have once again renewed my gratitude for the gift of life! The gift of another day! I have found such joy in this, that regifting LIFE is the gift I strive to share in the world.

 

Money is not the only commodity that is fun to give. We can give time, we can give our expertise, we can give our love or simply give a smile. What does that cost? The point is, none of us can ever run out of something worthwhile to give. ---Steve Goodier

 

 

Holy One, we give thanks for our troubles.

Encourage and strengthen us to learn along the way.

Open us to knowingly walk with others through the challenges of daily life,

and day-by-day may we so filled with gratitude for another day,

 that we re-gift LIFE to the world. Amen.

 

ADVENT 2023- WEEK 2 - The Greatest Gift

As Christmas Eve falls on the fourth Sunday of Advent, we mark a shortened Advent season, three weeks. This three-fold devotion focuses on the verbs: PAUSE, PREPARE, PONDER. The devotions include readings and focus verbs, as provided by Augsburg Fortress’ Sundays and Seasons, and contributions from congregation members on the theme of ‘gifts given and received.'

photo credit: Rev. Lidvald Haugen-Strand

WEEK 2: PREPARE – Luke 19: 28-40

 

You will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ – vs.30-31

 

‘Nurturing the Good’ meditation (mentioned in yesterday’s devotion) invites participants to ‘feel’ gratitude:

“Let yourself bring to mind other things you feel grateful for. How your body is still functioning right now, your heart still beating, your lungs expanding and retracting, your skin protecting your flesh.

Let yourself connect with gratitude for the presence of beloved people or pets in your life…

Now let yourself open to gratitude for the world around you, the Earth that is supporting you…”---- Carolyn

 

Have you considered that the Earth is supporting you? Or that an abundance of gifts have been (are) laid in your path? The donkey-colt in the story from the Gospel of Luke was a gift waiting for Jesus. The disciples go and retrieve the donkey for Jesus to ride for his final entry into Jerusalem. The palm branches used to worship Jesus were a gift waiting for the gathered crowd along the side of the road where the parade took place. Time and space is imbued with waiting gifts.

 

I received the gift of a caring high school teacher, who’s support and guidance changed my life.

His gift has put me in positions to pay it forward.

I am forever grateful, and, that without a doubt, God placed this person in my path. – Bill

 

I am both comforted and excited by the idea that there are gifts all around us. It changes my perception of the world I interact with. To consider that everything I perceive is a gift – means each item is special, has intention, is meant for someone or some creature. It gives me pause – is this gift for me or is this gift for someone else? Is this a shared gift?

 

I recently read, when money realizes that it is in good hands, it wants to stay and multiply in those hands. – Idowu Koyenikan (Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability)

It reminded me of people whom I have met that articulate their life through stories of receiving gifts. Perhaps you know a person who constantly talks about being in the right place at the right time, the one for whom the stars align, the one who repeatedly speaks of being blessed, or prayer after prayer being answered.  The person isn’t necessarily more blessed – it is that the person experiences the good – is prepared (open) to accepting and using the gifts ready and waiting in time and space. These gifts from the universe, gifts from God, gifts from Mother Earth – are freely given.

 

The Bible verse from Luke about the donkey, reminds us that Advent is a time of waiting and hope. We wait for Christ to come again. We are reminded that the Christmas story is a story of God’s gift of incarnation, a story that has gift after gift to open, all the way to the tomb of Easter morning.  Walking with their teacher, Jesus, the disciples unwrap gifts of epiphanies into God’s character, new interpretations of scriptures, and renewed hope in the kindom of God. Each gift received expands their experience of God’s unconditional love. After Jesus’ death, the disciples, now Apostles, re-gift the world with the gift of the gospel. Preparing hearts to be open to the greatest gift.

 

Holy One, we give thanks for the abundance of gifts,

ready and waiting in time and space.

Encourage and strengthen us to tell our story from the perspective of gifts received.

 Prepare us to be used as your gift to others. Amen.

The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ

 

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

This is how the Gospel of Mark begins.

And as the Gospel unfolds, it is an action-packed message where the characters presented are in your face – calling for repentance, a change of understanding and being, and a reordering of one’s life so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming.

This good news of Jesus Christ, as delivered by Mark, is counter-cultural to our experience of church and understanding of what happens here, and what is expected of us. In Advent we focus on hope, peace, love, joy – we have taken the characters as presented by Luke, Matthew, and John  - and fallen in love with them; the shepherds, Mary, Elizabeth, the angels, the wise ones. We have fallen in love with the beauty of words: “in the beginning was the Word, the word was with God, the word was God.”

The characters from the Gospel of Mark, cry out, THIS is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ –

Be forewarned, be prepared, this good news upsets the world as you know it; it upsets the very foundation of who you think you are. It most definitely upsets people and systems with power and authority – for their ears do not hear the voice as good news.

 

Mark in his opening paragraph introduces two characters – one with a description that is a character of characters.

John the Baptist is introduced as a voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.

Dressed like a wild man, he is preaching and teaching, offering ritual outside of the Temple authority. People are flocking to him. Religious authorities are upset. So too is the Roman endorsed ruler, as John points fingers outing the ruler’s sin. Because of the good news, John the Baptizer is beheaded.

 

Jesus, the second character, is first introduced to us by John the Baptist as– one more powerful than I

Similar to John, Jesus teaches and preaches, performs miracles, and people, especially the poor, flock to him. Religious authorities get upset. So too the Roman authorities get upset. Because of the good news, Jesus is crucified.

 

The Gospel of Mark quickly tells the story of the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. It is the shortest of Gospels, every word testifying to the nature of Jesus and the good news. The original ending of Mark ends at the empty tomb with an unfinished sentence, they (the disciples) where afraid for…

 The gospel doesn’t end; Mark doesn’t write, “Here ends the good news of Jesus Christ.” The good news continues through time with characters that bear witness – that cry in the wilderness- calling for repentance, a change of understanding and being, for people to reorder their lives so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming.

 

There are a lot of characters who have filled this role through the centuries. In the first two weeks of December the Church commemorates a number of good news bearers; today I will mention 4 and a group. Such characters are commemorated on the day of their death – it is astounding that the following characters’ deaths fall in the season of Advent, a season of repentance, turning our hearts to reorder our lives so that nothing gets in the way of the Christ’s coming.  The characters are, like John the Baptist -crying in the wilderness- to the twentieth century church.

 

Four American women – Dorothy Kazel, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan-

These women were missionaries in El Salvador; Catholic activists who protested government oppression of the poor, provided humanitarian aid and in that role were accused of promoting political opposition to the regime. Because of the good news, Dorothy, Ita, Maura, and Jean were abducted, raped, and murdered Dec. 2, 1980

 

Francis Xavier –A missionary to Asia, the first to Japan, he was a Jesuit who had taken a vow of poverty and chastity. Francis faced opposition and in places practiced Christianity with new converts underground to avoid persecution. He spoke out against Spanish-Portuguese colonists when he discovered their oppression of the Indigenous people he was sent as missionary to.  Because of the good news, Francis died Dec. 3, 1552 -from an acute illness while waiting on a boat for permission to enter mainland China.

 

Nicholas or better known as St. Nicholas- Was Bishop of Myra which is in the territory of Turkey. Legends of his work describe devotion to God and love and advocacy for the poor; redistributing wealth, providing doweries, secretly giving. His voice in the wilderness included speaking out against heretical factions in the early church and refusing to comply with traditional religious practices of the Romans. Because of the good news, Nicholas was imprisoned for a time. He died Dec. 6, 342

 

Ambrose – Was governor of Northern Italy. He converted to Christianity, was baptized and became Bishop of Milan. He gave away his wealth and served the poor. He was a famous preacher who defended Christianity and spoke out against opponents of the faith. He took on the role of trying to mediate conflict between Emperors; his political views and actions related to his faith. Because of the good news, on one occasion, Ambrose and a group of believers were threatened by Gothic soldiers. He died Dec. 7, 397

           

Sancta Lucia- was a wealthy young woman who, on becoming Christian, devoted her life to God and gave her possessions to the poor. At the time Roman persecution of Christians was in full steam; she took food and aid to the Christians hiding in the catacombs. Because of the good news, Lucia is martyred Dec. 13, 304

 

The Sunday resource, Sundays and Seasons by Augsburg Fortress c2023, for this week wrote:

The beginning of a TV series is about world building: we are introduced to the characters, places, and events that are important to the unfolding story. We may encounter new people along the way and new truths may be revealed, but the beginning sets the parameters for the narrative. Final episodes of long-running show are much anticipated as we wonder how the story will end. Like an excellent pilot episode, the beginning of Mark’s gospel begins to build a foundation for the dramatic narrative that will follow. We are introduced to characters: Jesus the Son, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist, and the people in need of confession and forgiveness. A defining event – John baptizing in the wilderness – and foreshadowing the One who will bring about reconciliation and resurrection set the stage for the narratives that will follow.

 

When we investigate the characters presented, there are clear parameters – the voice calling in the wilderness – calling for repentance, a change of understanding and being, and a reordering of one’s life so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming.; the good news changed the very essence of the characters. Receiving the good news, the characters devoted themselves to God and gave their possessions to the poor; they spoke out against oppression and held firm to the faith…even when – or particularly when- it was counter-cultural and meant persecution, imprisonment, death.

 

The end of the story – the end of the Gospel of Mark – the end of the good news of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed… the good news of Jesus Christ is being written as I speak, as we live. The characters described this morning, are voices crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. This moment in God’s time, it is on us to repent, to be changed in understanding and being, to reorder our life’s so that nothing gets in the way of God’s coming. It is time for us to live as voices in the wilderness, the living of our lives by completing the sentence, because of the good news of Jesus Christ…

ADVENT 2023 - The GREATEST GIFT

 

The GREATEST GIFT 

As Christmas Eve falls on the fourth Sunday of Advent, we mark a shortened Advent season, three weeks. This three-fold devotion focuses on the verbs: PAUSE, PREPARE, PONDER. The devotions include readings and focus verbs, as provided by Augsburg Fortress’ Sundays and Seasons, and contributions from congregation members on the theme of ‘gifts given and received.’

WEEK 1: PAUSE – Matthew 6: 25-34

 Strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. -vs. 33

 

In a meditation for ‘Nurturing the Good,’ Kaira Jewel Ling, begins by inviting people to pause in gratitude.

“We share a practice of embodied gratitude…

Begin by settling into the body. Feel the breath, notice the environment, be aware of sounds, and connect with sensations in the body. Open to what’s here in the body and mind, with acceptance and kindness… Now I invite you to appreciate yourself for your practice and the many ways that you are open to learn and grow. Something in you is energetic and motivated to grow and deepen.”                                                                                                                                                              ---Carolyn

 

The more mature I become, my understanding of the kindon of God changes, as does my idea of striving for the kindom. Pastors, from my experience, strive really hard to engage their congregations, to provide excellent worship, to teach and mentor faithful living, to serve other people, to be involved in their community, to cast a vision of God’s mission, to grow hope, and to work at building the kindom of God. Pastors can spend so much energy striving, that the point -the greatest gift- gets lost in busyness. I wonder if ‘striving’ is not a pushing forward, accomplishing, or progressing, but, rather, found in the practice of the three verbs: pause, prepare, and ponder.

Often, I hear from wizened and well journeyed congregation members a variation of

“We are gifted with another day!” The phrase is spoken with a reverence that is full of gratitude and contentment. There is a sense of peace given through the statement, that right now, at this moment, we have received a precious gift; all is right and good.

 

I gave my Mother a red leather pocketbook about 10 by 11 inches with a loose handle for Christmas. This was when I was going to early college. It was unusual in its expense. I was happy to give it to her.

Usually our family exchanges lists of what we would like to receive to eliminate unwanted gifts. I put on my list items I haven’t had time to go for on errands.                   ---Sandra H.

 

As I try to embrace this elder wisdom of giving thanks for the gift of another day, and practice embodying gratitude, I pause to consider what to do with this gift. Another day gives more time to express love through gifts, be responsible to creation when giving , give gifts that are needed. Surely the gift of a another day is not for me to keep for myself: so how will I live this day? Can my gratitude and love be given back so that the kindom of God is more present in the world?

As I paused, to think about this, the following quote popped into my media feed:

 

The bread which you hold back belongs to the hungry; the coat, which you guard in your locked storage-chests, belongs to the naked; the footwear moldering in your closet belongs to those without shoes. The silver that you keep hidden in a safe place belongs to the one in need. Thus, however many are those whom you could have provided for, so many are those whom you wrong --- St. Basil

 

As I practice embodying gratitude, I now turn to prepare and ponder:  

I have been given the gift of another day. I wish to not waste it and strive to re-gift it through extravagant love.

 

 

Holy One, we give thanks for the gift of another day.

Encourage and strengthen us with life.

Open to us moments to share this gift back into the world,

seeding the world with gratitude and life. Amen.

 

 

Kairo Jewel Ling, We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons on Moving through Change, Loss, and Disruption (Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 2021), 105-106, 107.

Advent Collage

 In Mark 13: 35 we read: Therefore, keep awake---for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: keep awake.

In the next chapter, Mark 14, we find:

Vs 17- When it was evening, Jesus came with twelve… and they had supper.

Vs 33- After supper Jesus took, Peter, James, and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. Jesus said, ‘I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here, and keep awake. … and Jesus went off in the garden to pray. We know this story – three times Jesus returns to the disciples and finds them, not keeping awake and praying, but rather sleeping.

In vs. 68 – Peter is in the courtyard of the high priest’s house, where he denies knowing Jesus. The time …Peter went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And again, the servant-girl, on seeing Peter, began again to say to the bystanders, ‘this man is one of them.’ Again, Peter denied it.

And chapter 15 begins, as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation …they bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him to Pilate.

This story that leads to Jesus’ arrest and death marks time, exactly as predicted and forewarned, in Mark 13. It is an example to future generations of what it means to: Therefore, keep awake--- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: keep awake!

 

I have always anticipated with joy walking through the Season of Advent. The mood of the season, the words of the hymns, the ritual of the Advent wreath, and the tension in the scriptures read – along with the shortening of daytime hours, resonates with my heart and sense of being in the world.

Advent, to me is like a collage – a few of my favourite things, juxtaposed with the suffering and troubles of our times.

As a child -and I will admit today too – I enjoy making collages. A collage is art created by collecting different scraps of material (sounds, paper, fabric, buttons and bobbles, photos, et cetera) and combining them together into one work; a work where pieces overlap, juxtapose, complement, change perspective. Pieces can: be indecipherable, alarmingly dissident, take on different meaning, and miraculously bring a union to disjointed scraps, form beauty out of chaos, and illustrate a hope that the broken and incomplete can be made whole in community.

 

The Season of Advent is a collage of scripture – in the next few weeks we hear scraps of Gospel, from Mark, John, and Luke. For those who follow the daily lectionary readings, Matthew texts get included too. Each has its own peculiarities and thrust. Each its own story of who this Jesus is, whom we are waiting for. At this time of year, pieces of the Gospels get all mixed up, the pieces we like and the ones we don’t care for so much.

Today’s reading -by itself- is an excellent example of an Advent collage. The author of Mark picks and chooses from scripture and tradition. In chapter 13 he has included thought and word from Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah, and Jesus. There are apocalyptic images, end time and present day, prophecy, a foretaste of the feast to come, the reading of signs, common knowledge… all these combine into one text; one piece of art.

A collage is a curated piece of this-that-and-the-other-thing that is a working out of thought and feeling. Each piece added gives a new perspective in relation to the scraps around it. A collage is a way to make sense out of the senseless; collect details, and form patterns to create order in chaos; and apply sensibility to bring different elements together to explore connection and form relationship.

 

Swedish musician Jens Lekman describes the relationship of bringing together dissonant pieces this way: The beauty of the collage technique is that you’re using sounds that have never met and were never supposed to meet. You introduce them to each other, at first they’re a bit shy, clumsy, staring at their shoes. But you can sense there’s something there. So you cut and paste a little bit and by the end of the song you can spot them in the corner, holding hands.

 

The notes in my Oxford study Bible, summarize Mark 13: 3-37 as one unit, with one theme, an: Exhortation not to be distracted from the movement by distressing events. One needs to read carefully so as not to get caught up in the apocalyptic images and words from the prophets that Jesus uses.  Jesus’ point is to caution against an apocalyptic interpretation of historical crises. This oppression by the Roman Empire is not the end of the world. Centuries before, centuries after, when times are difficult humans look to and expect the end to come; imminently.  

The proclamation of the Gospel is that the Jesus’ movement – God’s kindom- is present and working in the midst of historical crises. Jesus’ followers are called to remain disciplined in practice, vigilant in resistance, and endure hardship, and before all to hold hope that a resolution of ‘this’ historical crisis is near – the time however is unknown, so followers are told to ‘keep awake.’

 

As a child one of the things I enjoyed about making collages, was the collection of items because it included all of my senses. I had a collection of handpicked unusual rocks, snatches of ribbons, and unique buttons. I kept scraps of brightly coloured and neatly patterned papers, and interestingly textured fabrics. The items I collected gave me pause, gave me joy, a moment of wonder, imagination, intrigue,a chance to experience beauty.

Today my collage making is through words – sermons in particular. I have a journal where I write phrases, snippets of texts, interesting quotes, and new words I am introduced to. I spend my week collecting scraps of news, sifting through sections of scripture, conversing with people, practicing the disciple of faith, enduring historical crises, reading apocalyptic type signs of the times… what you receive on Sunday morning is a weekly collage where I bring together the scraps and pieces of the week in an attempt to make sense of it all, to interpret and wonder at the moments God’s kindom was present, to proclaim that the historical crises of our times do not hold us bound, that it is not the end of the world, and that with discipline, vigilance, and endurance we can be the kindom. We can be scraps of joy, hope, peace, and love.

Perhaps we are asked to ‘keep awake’ because each of us – when awake, living intentionally to resist that which is not lifegiving – are not individual pieces but a collage – unified, together, beautiful, and a created order amidst the fragmentation around us. Our Advent role – being scraps of Christ’s coming- creates a collage of grace in the chaos of our times; just like American sculptor Louise Nevelson said, I make collages. I join the shattered world creating a new harmony.

 

 The Gospel of Mark tells listeners not to waste God-time fretting about the end or deciphering when it will be, rather focus on the Movement – Jesus’ movement – life, death, and life; teaching, preaching, healing, being present with compassion, peace, hope, unity, love, grace.

 

Our journey through Advent, confronted with today’s scripture collage, Jesus is telling us like it is, like it could be, like it will be. Take a look around us – at a hurting and chaotic world. The scripture is not to scare us with apocalyptic images, but rather to have us pause and ponder our part in the Movement, and to reassure us to endure, to carry on regardless. Art critic and poet Donald Kuspit expresses it well: Collage is a demonstration of the many becoming the one, with the one never fully resolved because of the many that continue to impinge upon it.

 

Together we are a collage, pieces that come together to bring God near, there is always room for the addition of pieces to the collage – a continued Movement  -  a community that shares the task of ‘keeping awake.’

Keeping awake to share an evening meal. Keeping awake to pray in the garden. Keeping awake at cockcrow to proclaim ‘we know Jesus.’ Keeping awake at dawn to bear witness that in death there is life.