Who was Lost?

One of the interesting differences between ancient times and today is the absence of the nuclear family. Life was communal back then and people traveled and worked in kinship groups. So Mary and Joseph were not very worried about Jesus until it became evident that he was not with them. This is a good metaphor for how we may treat our spiritual lives. We think we are traveling with Jesus and then we look up and Jesus is not there. We have to go search for Jesus and where do we discover Jesus? In the Temple doing his Father's work.

This scripture stimulates a reflection about what are we searching for and where do we expect to find it?

Christmas or New Year's Eve?????

The title for this post should really be Christmas I or Ephiphany. In the liturgical year, there is a choice this Sunday between celebrating the first Sunday after Christmas or moving the feast of Epiphany from Jan 6. to Sunday Dec. 31. We are celebrating the First Sunday after Christmas.

Here is the gospel.

Luke 2:41-52


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 house?” 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.

This is the only story of Jesus as a young boy. I'm looking at the theme of obedience.

Elizabeth and Mary moments

I have Sunday's sermon done for Advent IV. This is unusual for me to have a Sunday sermon done by Wednesday. I outlined yesterday. My subject is around looking at how Mary and Elizabeth supported each other. We don't travel our spiritual paths alone. We travel with God, with those who affirm our relationship with God and with those who need our afirmation. This is why it is so important to be part of a community. We all have moments where we are Mary running with haste to see someone who we know and hope will understand what God is doing with us. We also have Elizabeth moments where we feel new life leaping inside us when we are visited by someone so full of the spirit.

I'm working on Christmas Eve now. I'm working on how we find stability in Christ in this day and age. What is it about Jesus that keeps us grounded. Where do we go when we need to find the stabiity.

As far as Christmas Day, I"m wondering what to do. I have heard about John's wonderful stories. I'm praying to see if that is something I should continue. Or perhaps God will give me a Mary or Elizabeth moment between now and then that makes it clear what Christmas Day should be.

Blessings on everyone during this busy season!
Julie

Where do we start?

I will start with Advent IV which is Sunday at 10:00 am and then Christmas Eve. The Gospels for these two services are right next to each other so I would like to preach a sermon on Sunday morning that leads to the sermon I am preaching on Christmas eve. My husband suggested that I just write one long sermon and say "to be continued" on Christmas Eve!

Here is the scripture for Advent IV. It is Luke 1:39-45.

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

What leaps out at me (no pun intended) is the last verse. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." How blessed are we when we believe. Those moments where we have a sense that God is in charge and working out something in the world. And then there is Elizabeth who is so overjoyed to see Mary. She "recognizes" her as the mother of God. More on this later.

Christmas Eve of course is the story of the birth of Jesus. The Gospel is Luke 2:1-14.

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

I have already decided on a theme for my Christmas Eve sermon. Sandy Steffens brought me some of her writings about Christmas. I was touched by a poem she wrote called "A Christmas Gift". There is a line in the poem that says "The home or a church becomes the stable place. The stable place is where Christ is. Jesus is in the stable and where Jesus is becomes stable. I am leaning toward preaching about the peace that come from being stable or in the stable with the infant Jesus.

If you have any favorite stories for Christmas day, let me know.

Saying YES!

The Gospel we are using this week is
Luke 1:26-38
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

This week we will watch the children as they lead us in the liturgy of the Word. I will not be preaching a full sermon but I am planning on talking to the children about Mary. She has always been an incredible example of discipleship for me. A young woman saying yes to God. How often do we willing go to God in prayer? How many times do we have to see what God is asking us to do before we jump in? I'm not sure how I would react if I had an angel come to me in a dream. I would probably dismiss it as craziness. But there is a certain craziness in thinking that God came to be with us in this world at that particular time and place. But here we are almost 2000 years later still contemplating God's actions and giving thanks for it!

Metanoia - Greek word for repentance

I have heard too many street preachers yelling "repent". I now prefer the term metanoi which means a change of mind or the Hebrew Bible term "shub" which means a turning of life. The people of God are called to a continuous repentance. A repentance that will allow us to greet and live with God. It is a repentance for relationship. People can change and God empowers people to change. The call this Sunday is repentance. The call of preparation means to turn ourselves away from the world and the distractions and turn ourselves toward God. To get "right" in our relationships with each other and with God.

I think you can tell where I'm going with this week's sermon. John the Baptizer in 2006 would probably be standing on a corner telling people to turn back to God. I'm convinced that we can't prepare ourselves for what is to come (God's Kingdom) just like we can hardly understand what has already happened (God's action in Jesus). What we can do is turn to God and let God prepare us for whatever God is calling us to be and to do.

Advent II Preparation and Reconciliation

The first few verses fix the time and political circumstances of this story. It is interesting that the prophet is actually none of these "important" people who are ruling with fear and intimidation. Instead the word of God comes from an unknown prophet coming out of the wilderness. John urges us to repent. Turn back to God. What keeps us from God? Turning back to God is the first step in our spiritual lives. We typically have to make this step over and over since there are many distractions that turn us away from God. So what does keep us from God. My list would take up too much storage space. The distractions are endless. I agree with the first comment on the last post that this time of year, the distractions are multiplied! It is hard to be intentional about our spiritual lives when there is so much clamoring for our attention.

What is the biggest distraction this time of year are people's expectations for the Holiday. Many of us are caught up in meeting particular expectations about gift giving, decorating, cards, dinners, parties, and most important relationships. This is a tough time of year for those who have lost loved ones, people who are in the midst of breaking up, and families that have had some difficult times. We all look to the Hallmark Christmas card ads and wonder why we aren't like them.

How could John's words make a difference in our lives this year. How do we make straight the path for the Lord? What obstructions do we need to get out of the way?

A thank you and then a start on Advent II

First of all, a big thank you to all of you who told me that you are reading the blog. When I didn’t see a lot of comments, I assumed no one was reading it! So feel free to read away. I do enjoy comments. Let me know if you need technical help making comments. Even putting a comment like “interesting” is helpful because it tells me I’m on the right track. A comment, like “boring” would be helpful as well!

If you heard Advent I, I have now made the UTO box the centerpiece on my table for Advent. It is amazing how this little blue box has become a reminder of my attempts at a serious spiritual practice of thanksgiving. I have a lot to be thankful for! I really appreciated all the work that got done at St. Peter’s last week. There was a steady stream of men and women cleaning out files, landscaping, fixing things, doing bulletin boards, and of course the new power point presentation we have up before the service. Get to church a few minutes early and meditate on the latest Advent poem.

OK, here goes for Advent II. More on preparing the way of the Lord. Here are the readings: Malachi 3:1-4, Philippians 1:3-11, and Luke 3:1-6.

Here is the Luke reading:
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

So how are you preparing for the Lord?