SCRIPTURE: John 1:1-14
TEXT:13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. THEME: INTRODUCTION Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, I retold the story of Christmas, Today I have a different take on the birth of Jesus, from the Gospel of John. I have been in enough meetings, where if someone doesn’t know the answer, they will:
SCRIPTURE The question is, “John why didn’t you begin your gospel on the life of Jesus with the story of his birth?” John would answer by saying, “I did, Jesus is eternal and has always been, from even before our beginning. Only his human self was born. The infant Jesus is the Creator of all things. The next question is “What?” John answers by saying, “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being. In him was life, the life was light, the Light of all people.” Jn1:3-4 Okay let’s talk about light. We already established Jesus as a life bringer at Creation, how is Jesus a light bringer to all people? Because John the Baptist says so. We can add name dropping to our list of how some people avoid answering questions. John said so. Not me so it’s on him. So why don’t we recognize Jesus as the source of life, or light that can dispel darkness in our lives? The new people of God, are not by any blood line, ancestry, or how good or obedient they are. The new people of God are those who respond to Jesus’ love, grace and truth. Jesus’ light shines in our darkness- ‘that we are not good enough’, our darkness- ‘that makes us think we have to believe harder, or do more, or be better’. Our darkness- ‘that thinks our faith is racist instead of diverse and inclusive’. Our darkness- ‘that thinks that we have to earn God’s grace and love’. Our darkness- ‘that errors on the side of righteousness and not on the side of kindness, inclusion, generosity, humanity, or love.’ Jesus’ light shines through all of the religious crap and changes water into wine, speaks to a teacher at night about rebirth, asks for a cup of water from a sociologically inappropriate stranger, heals on the Sabbath, feeds the 5,000 with a morsel of food and refuses to throw the first stone. “9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” Why Children of God? Because this is not about saving ourselves, it is about Living. How we live with God and how we live with others, is about relationships. What is Jesus’ birth about? It is about our being part of the family of God, living with siblings, having extended family and lots of cousins. This is to the Glory of God. The Glory of the father’s only son, full of grace and truth. Who pulls us together as family and dispels the darkness that makes us think that we don’t belong. APPLICATION What are the marks of living as the Children of God? It is the powerful love of God; to accept, transform, forgive, renew, revive, redeem and resurrect. CONCLUSION John begins with answers to the Gospel of Jesus. First with an eternal expression of the Christ, no need to get into his birth story, as is to say Jesus is about birthing Life and light in us. Then secondly about light, showing us how-to live-in God’s love, as God’s adopted children, freed to love others with grace and truth.
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Welcome, we have made it to another Christmas Eve Service with family, friends, and loved ones, to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
My mom told me that when people gather on Christmas Eve for service, they don’t want to hear something new, they want to hear the old story about God loving the world so much that God comes to live among us in flesh and blood. The old story that rings loud and true of how God intersects our lives with the divine and the divine is intersected with humanity. The old story that grounds us and gives us hope in how God comes to enlighten us, to show us how to live in a loving relationship with God and with our neighbors. The old story of the remarkable things God had done way back when, with conception in Mary by the Holy Spirit and how faith too, is conceived in our hearts today by the work of that same Spirit. The old story of how Mary was informed by God’s angelic messenger and the messengers of God we have today through the Bible, our neighbor, our family, those of faith who love us and have informed our hearts of God’s activity. The old story of Jesus being born in the city of his royal ancestor highlighting his Messianic identity through an ancestral faith that also becomes our spiritual heritage through Christ when we believe. The old story celebrating the birth of the Savior for all the people, as an ever-expanding compilation of the people of God. The old story of God’s love being so great that adopts all of us as children of God with forgiveness of our sins just as a parent’s love bridges all kinds of divides. The old story of Shepherds on the hill side, who received the first invitation to come and see. The working homeless of the day doing a job nobody wanted to do, but was all they could do to provide for their families, watching stinking flocks at night, away from their families, shelter less in the cold. Cordially invited to come, go and see. The old story of the angelic choir providing the musical accompaniment to the Good News singing; Glory in the highest and on Earth peace. The old story of a trip to Bethlehem where the Christ child was wrapped in swaddling cloth and placed in a manger. Indicating a welcome that is still extended to us today. The Same old story with a divine invitation to dance together through life and into eternity. The same old story of Jesus and his love. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 1:18-25
TEXT: 20b”…for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” THEME: Through the Angel’s visit, God expands Joseph’s understanding of his situation with Mary. INTRODUCTION There are two stories of the birth of Christ. One from the gospel of Luke and the other from the gospel of Matthew. We like to treat these like historical documents and assume one left out parts of the same story that the other included. So, we mash the two stories together into one story. These actually are two people who have heard the same story but are retelling it; one to their Ohana and the other to their haole friend. In order to make the most impact to their different audiences, they have left out certain details to focus on other points, to make their story more interesting to their audience. So, in Luke the angel speaks to Mary. That doesn’t happen in Matthew’s gospel, so the take that visit out of our heads as the angel comes to visit Joseph. SCRIPTURE In those days to be engaged is practically being married. In verse 19 Joseph is referred to as Mary’s husband. That is neither here nor there as the more important news is that Mary is pregnant and Joseph was not the father. So, Joseph, being the compassionate person that he was, bends the social religious rules of convention and decides to end his engagement to Mary quietly, so she can marry the father of her child, no harm no foul and they both can go on with their lives. It’s almost as if the angel of the Lord was waiting to see what Joseph would decide, and wasn’t going to show his wings, unless absolutely necessary. Having resolved to dismiss her quietly, the angel goes to work as Joseph sleeps. “Joseph, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” What a dream!? This is crazy, way beyond anything imaginable. What the heck is God doing and why me, why Mary????? Then the angel quotes scripture from the prophet Isaiah (7:14), “the virgin will conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel”. Which means…… (audience participation)? God is with us. It’s not about him or Mary, it is about God and God doing something amazing for the people of God, and for all people. This is where we all make the mistake and wake up from our dreams too soon. If Joseph had stayed asleep for a little longer, he might have gotten more details about what was going to happen in the future and the kind of things Jesus would be doing. So, take the song Mary did you know? And put Joseph’s name in there. The other change is from deliver to adopt. “Joseph did you know your baby boy would one day walk on water…” When he awoke, he did as the angel said, took Mary as his wife. Sheltered her under his protection and provision. Respected her and what God was doing and when she had borne a son, he named him Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, it is the women who names the babies. But in Matthew Joseph does it. Just as the angel said. Taking this baby, conceived by the Holy Spirit but giving to him his identity, his ancestral line, his protection, his provision, his inheritance, his trade, his family, his love and his devotion. For all intents and purposes, Jesus is Joseph’s son, and so Joseph takes him into his household, into his heart and gives him his name. APPLICATION Through the Angel’s visit, God expands Joseph’s understanding of what God is doing. How is God expanding our vision of the church? How is God showing us who can belong to our congregation? In what new ways can the people of God do different things from what they have always been doing? What are some of the rules of social religious decorum that need to bend for humanity’s sake? And if we are willing to bend them, what more will God help us to imagine that we never thought was possible? Marrying an unwed parent with a child that is not our own. Tithing a tenth of our income as an act of worship as a weekly offering to the church. Being forgiven by God for the things we have done just because God loves us. I was watching a ‘Santa Movie’ and Santa was saying how long his naughty list had gotten when it struck me, God doesn’t have a naughty list. Love forgives all of us. How about this? Being able to forgive someone who has hurt us, by not wanting to hurt them back. They still need to stay in jail. They still are a danger to society, but being able to give up our right to hurt them back as much as they have hurt us and by not wanting them to suffer in the same way we have suffered the hurt they have caused, is forgiveness that can heal our wounded soul. They still need to pay for the consequences of their action, that is justice. Forgiveness is way beyond what we think is possible because God loves us all. CONCLUSION In this season where we get ready for Christmas, be awake to the movement of God around us. I met this guy the other day and I asked him how he was doing. He told me not so good. But then we remembered how there had been desperate need and God met that need. Of how there was tremendous pain and God brought healing. In a time of grief God overcame that feeling of loss with comfort. At each time in the past God had met this person and brought them along. This faith history was a reminder that even now, as he waits, because things are not so good, God is with him and is helping, imagining more than what we thought was possible. Joseph’s decision to marry Mary changed his life forever as he participated in God’s unfolding story of love. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:2-11
TEXT: 4Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: THEME: God litters our lives with signs to keep its on track. INTRODUCTION Right after the elections, Christmas began rounding the corner really quickly. We have already finished the first Sunday of Advent “Awake”. Last week with communion we celebrated the second Sunday in Advent: “Alive”. Hope is the main theme of these Advent Sundays, as we expectantly look towards; Christ’s second coming, the coming Reign of Christ, and the Birthday celebration of Jesus. We Hope for different future with newly elected political officials We hope for things to be done in a new way. We hope for peace in Ukraine. We hope for Russia’s warring to cease. We hope for our political parties to stop posturing for winning and work together for its people. And yet our political situation is not as bad as what John the Baptist was facing, being imprisoned by King Herod for speaking the truth about how he took his brother’s wife for himself. How does John know that what he is doing, is what God wants him to do? The theme for this third Sunday of Advent is “A Sign”. SCRIPTURE A minister, in a new location began pastoring a congregation who were just scraping by. The church may not see it for themselves but to their pastor, they will only be able to continue like this for a few more years, before their resources, their building and their membership runs out. Already they are finding it difficult to find leaders from within themselves to fill all of their officer positions. The upcoming generation does not want to put their time, energy or money into fixing antiquated buildings. Young adults keep away in fear that they will be recruited to fulfill the agenda of the older generation. This seems senseless to them, building maintenance and business meetings are not what they imagined the church to be about. So, this pastor simply asked the key leaders of the church to spend some time during the week, observing where they might have seen God doing something in their community. When they come back together, they will report their findings. What do you see? A prayer for a sore knee which got better, a hybrid Bible study with someone from the mainland also engaging in the good news, preaching which helps interpret our faith in the world today, those who were riddled with guilt are experiencing the love of God and those who were trying to escape death have turned their focus to living with hope of a better tomorrow. The hungry are fed and the cold are given blankets. And God has provided for the church through their fund raisers. Jesus asks, “Why did you go to see John in the wilderness? What did you see?” An example of one living their faith in God in a real and genuine way. His relationship with God was not bought with sacrifices, but through a change in perspective. God is not an unreasonable Judge who holds our fate but is as a loving Parent filled with love and grace. John preached a message about turning towards God and release through forgiveness. John did not preach about how to escape tribulation, suffering or death, but, and I paraphrase, “If you think this Baptist is a prophet, just wait for the one that’s coming.” John was preparing the way for Jesus so that we would be able to live; loving God and loving others, and then be equipped by the Holy Spirit for mission. APPLICATION We need encouragement to keep us going along a course of faith with hope. Leaving Egypt for Canaan took huge leaps of faith. Wandering around in the desert is an analogy of our faith, journeying with God. What are the signs that keeps us moving in God’s directions? Miracles, healings, visions, angelic visitation are rarities, but for most of us, we will have a slow healing, a course of therapy or a vaccine. The study of a book will open our eyes to envision our revealing God in a new way. The Angelic visit we will have will be by caring friends who show up just to check in on us. Here are a few life experiences that are signs that sustained hope: when we had strength to persevere even though things were hard, when we were able to have ease even though it should have been a lot harder. Living on the edge financially but always having the funds to pay our bills. When provisions came in unexpected ways. When God brought the people, we need into our lives. Protection when we have been threatened. We don’t know why but some of the choices we have made just ‘out of the blue’ have had amazing results or resulted in our avoiding calamity. Coincidence/Serendipity being at the right place at the right time. When the fruits that were produced by our actions were also a blessing to others. When what we were doing for God was hard and took a lot of effort and was draining and seem to have no end, but we also had a sense of peace about what we are doing and as we persisted, we felt energized. That’s what the Bible is, it is a record of human experiences with God and often times their experiences with God are our experiences too. Maybe not parting the Red Sea but having God help us out in a tight spot. Here are another set of signs: Prayer opens us up to an awareness to what God is doing with both answered and unanswered prayer. God does not just do what we wish for but teaches, shapes and forms us through prayer. Praying helps us to become more attuned to the heart of God and God’s will in our living. God brings people into our lives with wisdom, skills, encouragement, talent, generosity, kindness, smarts and faith. Scriptures cross references our experience with our ancestors in faith through their stories with God. In the same way we can have a passage rattling around our brain as a word of encouragement, as an insight, as a mantra to get us through a particular hard season. Sometimes God will use a song, a hymn or a saying to be just what we need for that chapter of our lives. Trusting in God, the plans God has for us, finds ways for us to keep moving forward. And then there are times when we have gone on what we know, before our feelings come. We grieve the lost even though we know God’s promises and when the feelings catch up our faith is renewed, we are comforted and can move on. Then the musing of others can strike a chord in our hearts and be a sign of how God is moving in the same way in someone else’s life. These are all Signs along the way that keep us on track with God and our hope alive. CONCLUSION I didn’t choose the gospel readings for Advent but was able to see these passages from Matthew as a collection of hope; Awake: waiting and being observant to God’s activity. Alive: Living provocatively according to God’s ways, living what we believe. A Sign: God leading us, encouraging us and showing us that we are on the right path. Next week we will “A-magine”: seeing what God sees so we can join God in what is beyond what we thought was possible. These themes help us to have hope as we wait for the second coming of Christ, as we wait to celebrate the birthday of Jesus and as we wait to see what our newly elected leaders will do. We can be actively Aware, Alive and looking for A Sign of God In whatever era we find ourselves because God will be journeying with us into the future. There will be signs of God’s help, presence, provision, protection, healing and love all along the way to keep us on track and to give us hope. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 3:1-12
TEXT: 12b “he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary…” THEME: INTRODUCTION Last week we began our Advent journey, towards the birthday celebration of Jesus, with a look at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. It talked about being awake as we wait for Jesus’ second coming. Waiting requires our paying attention to what God is doing in the world. God is always on the move and is, as the slogan of the United Church of Christ says; “still speaking”. So be Awake. In today’s passage, we have two different ways to reconcile our relationship with God; one at the temple in Jerusalem, and the other is at the Jordan River. SCRIPTURE This week, We are introduced to John the Baptist the prophet, speaking God’s words to the people of God, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has come near.”. Matthew dresses John like the Old Testament prophet Elijah in camel hair cinched with a wide leather belt, eating locusts and honey in the wilderness. Then puts the words of the Prophet Isaiah are in his mouth, “Preparing the way of the Lord, making his way straight.” The People of Jerusalem of Judea came to be baptized by John in Jordan, confessing their sins. After being captive in Egypt as slaves, the Jordan river was the entrance way into the promise land. Repenting the direction of their lives towards God, baptism is the sign of this new commitment with God. Reconciling with God in this way, people let go of their sins as they confess them, entering a new beginning with God. This was the same life-giving ministry that was done by the Pharisees and Scribes at the temple in Jerusalem. Only without the exchange of currency to temple money, the purchasing of a sacrificial animal as a payment for their sin, and the intercessory of a priest to petition their reconciliation with God. To right ourselves before God in Jerusalem had become ritualized and expensive. While what John the Baptist offered, although remote, was unregulated and free. The Pharisees and Scribes showed up to be baptized. John called them a brood of vipers trying to escape a coming tribulation. This is not the reason to be baptized. What will save is a heart turned towards God. Not even tracing a lineage to Abraham will save. Here is a bit of foreshadowing of Jesus’ Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as John says that God can create a people of God from lifeless stones. The old way of connecting to God through a family’s ancestral tree is not a substitute for having a relationship with God, that way is being chopped up and thrown into the fire. The only way to bear fruits of reconciliation is to turn our focus away from ourselves and place the focus of our lives on God and God’s ways. Then John points them towards Jesus, “The one coming is so great even he is unworthy to untie his sandals. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Baptism is like a signature on a contract. Our turning towards God is signed with a water Baptism. Our participating in the mission of God is signed with a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. Our lives are shaken up in this way from living for only ourselves to living in relationship with God like how a winnowing fork will shake up the wheat on the threshing floor. Wheat has the potential to be a life-giving grain (seed) or just a husk, rubbish, chaff. We are all wheat with the potential of producing life or chaff, seed or rubbish. As we turn towards God what do we do with the rubbish in our lives and how do we live in life giving ways? APPLICATION Are you beginning to see how precious and valued we are to God? Our story with God is unique, and so is the love we share with God. Coming to God does not need to be harder than it has to be. So, salvation is moved away from the temple and back towards God. For John the Baptist at the Jordan, away from the trappings of the temple, all it took, was our turning towards God (and God would do the rest). How do we live as Seeds full of the potential of life? Turning towards God is being open to change. How God loves and forgives us, influences the way we love and forgive others. As our relationship with God changes, from running away from God and hiding, to running towards God and enjoying God’s company. As a result, our tastes, enjoyments, investments, values and company changes. Our perspective changes. We live with the realization that we are seen as Good and loved by God. This is why God sends Jesus; to us. To Earth, to live among us, to teach us how to live with God, not just obey God, but live for Christ in the community, at our work, in our schools and in our families. As the way we live affects others, and they influence others in the same way, in the many areas their lives touch, spreading the Reign of Christ broader and nearer. God does not see us as Junk, as needing to be fixed, but as valued and needing to be loved. That is why Noah and his family with all of the animals are saved. God’s loving us is life giving not death escaping. So, when we become unafraid of death, we can be freed to Live the best life that we can with God. Pray, read your Bible, use your imagination, be awake to what God is already doing, be creative, listen to God’s “still speaking” voice. Talk to others of faith, read the Christian thinker of the day and discern the will of God and have faith to live. CONCLUSION The week before last, I went around with a group of ladies from our church taking care of administrative business of our church. At every office we went to, they engaged the personal in fun conversation and then invited them to come to our church. They were not pushy, evangelistic, or judgmental. They were engaging, funny and inviting. They showed the fun they were having living their lives for Christ at our church. I was happy to see them in this light. Last week I met this guy who was invited by his relative to come to a church. He did, was called up to the stage and gave his life to Christ. His life was transformed. He is rough around the edges but his heart is for good, honestly, hard work and God. He has many stories of what it means to live according to God’s ways in his daily life and at work. He is by no means perfect, but who is? We are all being worked on in our relationship with God as the handiwork for Christ. These are seeds of grain taking to life. Sharing the life, they have found by turning towards God, in how they live. Alive |
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April 2024
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