Second Sunday of Christmas

Matt. 2:1-12

Joe Carpenter sat in his living room. He was exhausted. At times things seem to move so slowly and then at other times life seemed a whirlwind. Now he was looking forward to a simple quiet evening after the whirlwind of the past couple of weeks.

The baby has started to sleep through the night, which has made life much easier. When the baby was waking up at all hours of the night, Joe had trouble making it through work during the day. The regulars to the shop understood, but there were always those who would complain. But now he was starting to get some sleep and that has been making things much better.

Joe had to chuckle to himself, Mar had been getting more sleep, too! Her mood has improved greatly! They really loved their little boy, but he has made life difficult! Things that they used to take for granted, like going out, now had to be planned. And some things were just no longer possible. This little person was depending on them! They had to make sure his needs were taken care of. But when Joe would look into little Jacob’s eyes, Joe knew that things could never be the same. And really, that was alright, Joe would do anything for his little boy.

Joe was just about ready to fall asleep in the Lay-Z-Boy when there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it Mary,” Joe yelled as he walked toward the door. “Who could be here now?” he thought to himself, “It’s late!”

Upon opening the door, Joe was surprised to find three people standing on his front porch. They were dressed as if they were going to a party and they were all carrying presents. These were beautiful presents with shiny paper and big bows. Before Joe could even ask what these people wanted, the woman in front said, “We want to play with Jacob. Can we come in and play with him?”

To say that Joe was surprised would have been an understatement. Actually, Joe couldn’t think of anything to say. To his great relief, his wife, Mary, was standing on the landing of the stairs and said, “Sure, come on up!” And with that, the three people proceeded up the steps.

When Joe got to Jacob’s room, he found Jacob sitting on the floor amid the three visitors. Jacob was laughing and cooing and the visitors were enjoying their time with the little boy. The gifts the strangers brought were opened but laying aside. The real gift in the room was the sheer joy and love between the little boy and the visitors.

As Joe watched the scene, he felt a little guilty. He realized that although he loved Jacob more than he could imagine, he also was a little upset at the time and the things he had to give up for Jacob. Joe was looking forward to getting back into his old routine and back to where things were comfortable. But these people sitting on the floor were opening his eyes to a new reality.

Joe thought that after Mary had Jacob, then things would settle down and return to normal. But things were not returning to normal, the changes were just beginning! Things were not going to ever return to normal. These strangers, sitting here on the floor, were showing Joe a reality he had never even dreamed! The gift was not in a return to normal, the gift was here! Sitting on the floor! Smiling and laughing with the visitors! How easy it would be to forget this simple idea. How easy it would be to consider Jacob just more work, more demands on his time. It would be easy to focus on the things that life with Jacob prevents. And still, life with Jacob brings so many blessings! As Joe watched the strangers and his son, yes! HIS SON! playing, he began to laugh and join in!

What a sight! Jacob, laughing and giggling, his mom and dad, and three strangers; all rolling around on the floor, amid wrapping paper and bows; all enjoying the wonderful love of each other and the wonderful gift of a tiny baby. Anyone who happened to walk by the room at that moment would have thought them all quite mad. But the person who was looking into the room would not have understood; this was not a joy you could just watch, this was a joy you had to live! And live it they did!

Well, eventually Jacob began to yawn and Mary told the guests that it was time for Jacob to be going to bed. Although they did not want to leave, the guests reluctantly went down the stairs. Joe saw them to the door and thanked them for visiting and invited them back anytime. As the strangers walked away, Joe noticed the sky and the stars; they just seemed more vivid than usual. But man, it was getting chilly outside so Joe waved one last time to the guests and closed the door.

As Joe made his way to the Lay-Z-Boy, Mary was walking in from the kitchen with two cups of coffee. She handed one to Joe and then sat down on the couch. She didn’t say much but just look as the steam rose from her cup.

Finally Joe said, “That was certainly odd.”

Mary looked up from her cup and looked squarely into Joe’s eyes. “Yes, it was,” she said. “But it was wonderful too. I have a feeling that with Jacob now in our lives, we will have many more odd and wonderful experiences.”

Joe sat thinking about this. Did he really want his world to change? Did he really want more odd and wonderful experiences? A part of him only wanted things to be normal and boring. But for things to return to normal and boring, his precious son Jacob would be gone too. No that would be too much.

Joe looked up from his coffee and noticed Mary was still looking intently at him. He could read her question in her eyes, was he up to this challenge? Was he sorry Jacob come into their lives? Was he ready to be immersed into the odd and the wonderful? The expectation in Mary’s eyes weighed heavily on Joe. He set his coffee down and got up and sat next to Mary. He kissed her lightly on the eyelids and he felt the tension in her body melt away.

“Yes, my wonderful wife,” Joe said quietly, “this is going to be a wonderful journey. And I suspect you are right, too, in that this will be an odd journey. But God gave us the gift of this child to love and the gift of each other. With all of this going for us, how can we fail?”

And with that, Mary looked up at Joe and smiled. Joe felt the comforting weight of Mary’s head on his chest and thanked God for all the blessings that surrounded him. But just before he was about to drift off, he heard the doorbell ring. Mary stirred and looked at Joe. Joe looked back. The doorbell rang again.

Joe looked at Mary and said, “Do you want to get it this time or should I?”

Christmas Eve Sermon

This is the Christmas Eve Sermon. Sorry for the manner it is here. I really didn't want to retype it so I am being lazy. When the music is cued, the song is Stille Nacht by Mannheim Steamroller. This is probably my favorite sermon. You can click on the pages to enlarge them for easier reading.

First Sunday After Christmas

John 1:1-18

“I’ll be home for Christmas/ You can count on me…”

I think we all know that song. A sad song, really. You also probably know that the song was written during WWII and was one of the top requested songs on the USO tours. I think what that song touches on is our desire to be “home” for Christmas. Whether that is at home with our parents or home with the kids. Christmas seems to pull us back to that place where we feel comfortable and welcome.

What is so sad though, is that as soon as the day of Christmas is over, everything of Christmas seems to get tossed out. Trees come down. Decorations are stored away. Stores put out Valentine’s Day décor. Christmas decorations have been out since Halloween, and now it seems like we just want to pack it all away and be done with it. I have always wondered why we wait so long for Christmas to come, and then once the day has passed, we just toss it all out and move on.

I think it has to do with that feeling of wanting to be home. We really want that “at home” feeling at Christmas. It may not necessarily be a brick and mortar home that we are looking for, but it is the comfort that represents home. Just about any Christmas movie you can think of plays on that feeling. The character may search, but eventually the character finds this “home.” Scrooge has to learn that he cannot find home in his money and George Bailey needs to learn that home is not in some far off country, but right there in Bedford Falls. That search for the ever elusive “home” is what drives the characters. And although in the movies the main character always finds their way home, quite often, we do not. So maybe the long lead-up to Christmas and then quickly moving on to the next event represents first our continued longing to find our home and then our frustration when we don’t find it in the trappings we see around us.

But really, what does it take to make a home? Is a home a place or is it something more? I used to own a home and loved Christmas there. Yes, I miss not having the roaring fire in the fireplace, but there are these really neat DVD fires that even play Christmas music! My fireplace never did that! And I missed having the big Christmas tree and a place to set the twenty-odd nativities I have collected. I even missed not being able to decorate outside. All those things were nice, and all of these things I enjoyed, but those things didn’t make the house a home. What made my house a home were the people that were there and also the cats and the dog that shared the place with us. It was not the place or the things; it was the people and the relationships.

Unfortunately, our society tells us that what makes Christmas is the stuff. There is a line from one of my favorite movies, A Christmas Story, which seems to sum the whole thing up: The mother, seeing the kids about to descend upon all the presents under the tree, says, “Now wait for Christmas to start.” The assumption is that Christmas could not occur without the presents. Our society tells us that Christmas is about the stuff and we tend to believe it. So we get out the stuff earlier and earlier. We want our stuff to make us feel at home. And then when it doesn’t live up to its promise, we pack it all away and move on.

But you know, the thing that the world tells us isn’t really what Christmas is about. Christmas is not about stuff. Yes, Christmas is about gifts, but not the gifts we see advertised in the Sunday newspaper. Those gifts are the things that seem to leave us wanting. But there is another gift, and that is the gift that defines Christmas. That defining gift is God: God in the form of a human who came to earth to be with us. As John says, “The word became flesh and lived among us.” Or we might say, “The word became flesh and made a home among us.” The gift that we are given at Christmas is the gift of Christ himself. And it is in Christ that we can find our true home.

Now, with all this talk about stuff, it may seem like I am saying that we should just ditch everything of this world. And there are some branches of Christianity that teach that we need to give up everything in the world. But in the gift of the birth of Jesus, we see that world is not something that is despised by God. God made the world and God became incarnate in the world. The world is a gift to us. But also, while the world is a gift to us, it is not to replace the giver of the gift, God. The things of the world are given as an enhancement to our relationship with Christ, not as a substitute to that relationship. But so often, we get sidetracked. We forget the true gift and work to fill our lives with what we think will give us that feeling of home. But in the end, we are left feeling empty.

The word become flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory. The word came to create a home for us. The word came so that we could feel at home. The word came to bring us grace and forgiveness. And isn’t that what we want when we go home? Don’t we want to know that we are accepted, loved, and forgiven even with all of our faults? Jesus came into the world to bring this to us! When we turn to Jesus, we are, in fact, moving toward that perfect home.

Is Jesus welcome into our homes this Christmas? Do we have room in our lives for the little baby in the manger? Do we have room in our lives for the man he would grow to be? Are we able to clear away the trappings of life and let the true light of Christmas shine into the darkness of our lives? Or are we so busy trying to find our own home that we miss the home we have been given?

I’ll be home for Christmas/ If only in my dreams…

If only in my dreams… I think that sometimes the whole Jesus coming to earth thing may feel like a dream. Maybe we think that it is too good, God couldn’t have done this for us. The love, the forgiveness, the grace, the glory! These are not dreams! These are the reality of our faith. All of these things are the Christmas gift that we are given in the birth of Jesus. These are all the things he brought when he came to live among us. These are the gifts we receive through our baptism.

The actual day of Christmas is over. And for many it is time to pack away all of the Christmas decorations for next year. But when we put the nativity back in the box, don’t put the Christ child away too. Jesus, the word, became flesh for us. The relationship established that night is still here for us. That draw we have for home can only be filled in our Savior. As we search for our place to call home, don’t be so quick to move on to the next promise of comfort. Christ our home has come to be with us. Let us clear a place in our heart where that peace of home can grow.

Advent 3 Year B

Advent 3 Year B John 1:6-8, 19-28

Ok, I have a very deep and profound truth to share with you. If I had heard this truth earlier in my life, it could have literally saved me hundreds of dollars! Are you ready? Ok, here it is: Owning an instrument does not automatically mean you can play it. If this were so, then I would almost be able to be my own orchestra. I would be able to play the drum, the piano, the hammered dulcimer, the harmonica, the penny whistle, the fife, the Jew’s harp, and, oh yeah, the recorder.
That is a list of the instruments that I either own or have owned. My piano is currently trapped in a house in suburban Chicago, something to do with a remodeling project that went wrong. But the others I have somewhere. The problem is that although I have the instruments, I am not really able to play them. Granted, I can hammer, toot, or pluck out something on most of them, but as far as really playing them, I’m not so hot. I guess if I buckled down and really practiced, I may actually be able to play something. But as long as I just let the various instruments sit there, I will not get any better.
Then, of course, there was my attempt to sidetrack the whole process of learning. I was trying to figure out what it was that people did when they did something like playing the piano. I wanted to know what was going through the head of the person playing, what were they thinking. My one piano teacher said, “I don’t know. My fingers just go to where they need to be. It is not like I actively think about it.”
So, why is it that my piano teacher does not have to think about playing the piano, but for me it is an almost painful endeavor? The simple answer is practice. The more I would practice, the better I would get. The more I would practice, the more automatic the playing became. I didn’t become better by just owning a piano, or a dulcimer, or a recorder, I had to pick up the instrument and practice it. And it could not just be some kind of haphazard kind of practicing; I had to put a concerted effort into the practice.
Now I guess the one instrument that makes me feel the most guilty is my dulcimer. A member of one of my former congregations made this instrument especially for me. It is a beautiful instrument. The person who strung the dulcimer told me that it should be around for generations. But even though it was beautiful gift that was made for me and given to me, it really does me no good unless I take it out and intentionally practice.
I have spent this time talking about my various instruments neither to show off nor to air my personal shortcomings; I did it as a metaphor for our faith. We have been given the gift of salvation through Our Savior Christ through his death and resurrection. Like the dulcimer, it is a gift that has been made special for each of us. And like the dulcimer, this gift of salvation will last for generations. The salvation we find in Christ is ours no matter what we do with it, but how we, quite literally, “practice” our faith makes a lot of difference.
I am sure the person who gave me the dulcimer would be saddened to know that I am not making full use of the wonderful gift I had been given. It was given so I could make music with it and get the most enjoyment out of it. In the same way, I am sure it saddens God when we do not make the most of our faith and salvation. Making the most of our faith is what we are told to do in today’s epistle reading.
When we first look at this reading, it looks like some kind of “pie in the sky” sort of thing. Be joyful always? Pray continually? Give thanks in ALL circumstances? This has got to be a joke, right? How can we possibly always be joyful? How can we possibly pray continually? It has got to be impossible to give thanks in all circumstance. But that is what we are told to do! So if we are told to do it, there must be some way we can, in fact, aspire to this which seems impossible.
Well, just like we can practice an instrument, we can, and should, practice our faith. We need to work on building a strong, secure faith. A faith that can be joyful in the midst of troubles. A faith that can pray even when prayer is difficult. A faith that will allow us to give thanks in ALL circumstances. A faith that has a strong and sure foundation. We have the gift and the promise of salvation, but just like an instrument, unless we practice using this salvation, we will not be able to get the full benefit.
How we get the full benefit out of our faith is by practicing joy, prayer, and giving thanks. It is really that easy. All we need to do is do it! We need to practice being mindful of the blessings that we have and practice being joyful. Like learning an instrument, at first it will seem odd and feel a bit uncomfortable. But as it become more and more of a habit, it will suddenly become second nature.
Our lives actually are made up of a series of habits. It is these habits that allow us to go through the day without having to think about every little thing. It’s our habits that help us to get out the door on time in the morning. It is our habits that help us to not fall flat on our face. As we practice something, as in an instrument, we learn to make it a habit. It is in learning the habit of prayer, joyfulness, and thankfulness that these things become something that happens at all times. And in having these happen all the time, our outlook on life and the world will change.
You may have seen done this before, if so, I am asking you to try it again. What it is is an experiment in awareness. The ushers will be passing out some dot stickers. What I am asking you to do is to place these stickers in places where you will see them and notice them. Each time you see a dot, take a brief moment and briefly look around you. Thank God for those things you see in the world. Thank God for the house, car, building you are in. Thank God for the life you have.
Not only will this help you to develop an attitude of prayer and thankfulness, it will also help you to develop a disposition of Joy. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is something that can change depending on if you find a parking spot close by or they have the sale item in stock. Happiness is a transitory state. Joy is a way of viewing the world as something that is wonderful. Joy is a filter through which we look at life. When we develop an attitude of prayer and thankfulness, joy will naturally find its place in our life.
As with my dulcimer, our salvation is a free gift that was made especially for each of us and is given to us. But also as with my dulcimer, salvation doesn’t do much for us if we don’t practice it and then go out and use it. God has given us the gift of salvation not so it can sit on a shelf and look pretty, it was given so that we could use it and enjoy it. And the more we use it, the more it becomes a part of who we are. John spread the word in the wilderness, not because he wanted to make a scene; he spread the word because faith that was within him just had to let it out.
As we approach the celebration of Christmas, let us consciously work toward an attitude of prayer and thankfulness. And as we approach the celebration of Christmas, let us watch how the spirit of joy builds in our life. And as we make prayer, thankfulness, and joy a habit in our lives, watch how ways that God brings new life into our existence.

Advent 2 Year B

Advent 2 Year B Mark 1:1-8 The Rev. Benton Quest

I really can’t believe how far we have come; some of the images we have in the Bible are so distant from anything that we usually experience. We talk about lighting candles to bring light into the darkness. But we are a people who are hardly EVER surrounded by darkness. We have electric lights; we have televisions. We have portable DVD players. Even for those of you who may have a portable DVD player in your car, you still have to admit that it is odd to see a car driving down the road flickering with the light of a television.

For us, a candle does not so much bring light; for us, a candle is usually used just for atmosphere. When we want light, we just flick a switch. If we wanted light, we would normally not think about lighting a candle. But in Biblical times, lighting a candle was the means of bringing light into a house; and with this light, one could be safe and more productive.

This same difficulty in understanding would also go for our understanding of a voice in the wilderness. Do you realize that just 100 years ago, the loudest sound you might hear during the course of an average day would be the bray of a donkey? In the noisy world of today, the bray of a donkey would probably not even be noticed.

To people of Biblical times, candle light would have meant safety and productivity, not just a warm light to soften the look of fine lines and wrinkles. To the people of Biblical times, a voice in the wilderness would have been a call to something important, not just some kids playing by the creek. Both of these symbols probably resonated more deeply with our ancestors than they do today. But part of our job as followers of Christ is to explore these symbols and see how they can take on a richer meaning in our lives today.

Today, especially, we are talking about the voice in the wilderness. For us, a voice in the wilderness would be something that we would probably more away from if not ignore all together. But from a Biblical perspective, the voice is something that calls us to look up from our daily lives and to try to figure out what all of the fuss was about.

We also need to ask why John was calling people out into the wilderness in the first place. There was water in the town, why not baptize them there. Why make people leave the town and come out into the wilds.

Well, to truly make a change, we need to get out of our normal surroundings. Whe we remove ourselves from the “usual,” we can truly see our lives with fresh eyes. It is not coincidence that when you go on a retreat, you leave, you often go out into the wilderness. You do to someplace that is beyond your normal surroundings. I had a professor in seminary who said that we go to foreign countries not to learn about that country’s culture, we go to foreign countries to learn about our own culture. It is in going out into the wilderness that we can most clearly see our life. So John calls us out into the wilderness so that we can take an honest look at our lives. John calls us out, away from the grind of life se we can learn about ourselves and see those things that may be tripping us up.

You may not have considered it, but our Sunday worship experience is also to be one of those “wilderness” experiences. Worship draws us out of our daily life. Worship calls us to see life from a new perspective. What happens here, in this sanctuary, is NOT supposed to be like what happens out there. What happens here is supposed to give us a fresh perspective on what happens out there.

Now, of course, as Christians, the ultimate voice calling us out into the wilderness is that of Jesus. Jesus calls us to move out of our daily lives and look back with a fresh perspective. Jesus calls us to be different from the world that surrounds us. But what are some of the other voices we hear? What other wilderness are out there? Who else is calling us to take a fresh look at our lives?

We have voices from the past that call us into the wilderness. People like Augustine, John Chrysostome, and Luther call us still to look at our scripture in ways that still feel new and challenging. Another voice from the past was Martin Luther King Jr. He called us into the wilderness of equality for the races. He called on us to see the privilege that Caucasians enjoy without even realizing the privilege. He called on us all to spread that privilege to all the people, not just keep it in a select group.

But we also have voices calling us today: We have Gene Robinson and Catherine Jefferts Shori, both of whom are voices calling, not only us in the Episcopal church, but to all people of faith; calling us away from our antiquated views of what represents a Christian or a family, and toward a view of seeing all people with the love that Christ has for all of us.

When we listen to these voices, what we hear are those who are not speaking the easy message or the popular message. What we hear in their message is a call to live a truly authentic life; a life that values others as much as we value ourselves. The call out into the wilderness is not necessarily pleasant, but it is a journey that is important for us to make.

It is also a call that will not be silenced. John called out from prison. Martin Luther King called from the jail. Jesus calls us from the cross and continues to call us from beyond the empty tomb. Even when we try to stop up our ears, the message will continue. The voices in the wilderness will continue to sound until we listen.

But we don’t get off that easy. Listening is not a passive thing. We don’t just hear the voice, we act upon the voice. And not just act, we go out and spread the word. We become the voice. When we hear the message, we become changed. When we take the message of Christ into our lives, we can’t help but pass it on.

When the people responded to John’s message in the wilderness, they received the gift of baptism. When we respond to Christ’s message in the wilderness, we not only receive the gift of baptism, we receive the gift of forgiveness, and love, and caring, and acceptance. When we receive the word of Christ into our hearts, we become a new creation. The light that we represent in the Advent candles brings light into our lives and changes the atmosphere of our souls.

During this time of waiting and preparing, keep your ears open to the voices in the wilderness. Keep aware of how you are being called to move beyond the hustle and bustle of the world and go out into those places that are scary and unknown. Listen for those voices that are urging you to broaden you horizon. And then, do more than just listen. Then Act!