Saturday, December 31, 2011

"Eight Days In" Luke 2: 22-24; Galatians 4:4-7

I have preached this text before and noted how it confirms who Jesus is.  For some reason this year, as I thought about preaching this on Jan. 1, the day we make New Year's resolutions, it occurred to me merely eight days after this unexpected, improbable birth, Jesus' parents are abiding by the rules. Eight days after the miraculous, everything is getting put back into its proper place and all the "i"s are being dotted and "t"s crossed.

Is Jesus the radical one who calls us to a new way? Or will the institution tame him?  round one seemed to go to the institution.  Of course, we might also note that Jesus works from the inside -- he is one of them, some even argue he was trained as a Pharisee.  But, he is also the one who pushes people beyond the norms.

I suspect most of us tend to like things neat and orderly (we are Presbyterian, after all).  We sort of like the rules, especially if we are the ones who make and enforce them.  How do we follow the Christ, who continually seems to push beyond the rules and expectations?

It has me thinking that maybe part of my New Year's resolution ought include a little subversion!

Peace,

Richard

Monday, December 26, 2011

Reflections on Christmas Day sermon John 1: 1-14

The sermon was a few reflections surrounded by the singing of some more Christmas carols.  It actually felt better than I would have expected, given the limited preparation time spent on this sermon.


Move 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
Christmas did not happen by chance.
It did not happen on one particular day like Dec. 25th.
Oh, the birth of Christ took place on one day.
But the plans started long before.
Long before Christ was born.
Long before the angel visited Mary.
Long before the Israelites were in exile.
Long before life in the Promised Land.
Long before the Israelites were rescued from Israel and led into the Promised Land.
Long before God called Israel a special nation.
Long before Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge.
Even before God breathed the breath of life in humanity.
When the earth was a formless void.
When God looked out over the generations and saw what would happen; saw the betrayal and the sinfulness;
Way back before God even created.
The Word was with God.
And God decided that the desire to love a people.
To love us.
To love you.
That's when Christmas began.
With the gift of love that would overcome everything the future would hold.
Sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
Move 2: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”
I confess that I seldom pick up a baby. I almost never did before I had my own.  There is always someone around who will pick the baby up.  Not that I mind picking up babies.  I enjoy holding them during baptisms.  I held mine, but I don't have this urge to pick up babies.  But, most babies want to be picked up.
I was reminded of a Madeleine L’Engle story. L’Engle spoke of a couple with a very precocious young daughter who was not thrilled at the prospect of having to share the house with a soon-to-arrive baby brother. Soon after they brought the baby home from the hospital, the little girl announced she needed to see the baby – alone. The parents were a bit hesitant, but the girl was insistent, so they agreed, but stood with the door cracked so they could hear what was happening without her knowledge. They listened as she pulled a chair over and climbed up into the crib with the infant, and then they heard her say, “Tell me about God; I’m forgetting.” blog, don't Eat Alone, Milton Brasher-Cunningham, 2/26/10
The baby Jesus begs for us to pick him up, to make him part of our lives.
To have a personal relationship with God.
Sing “Like a child”
Move 3: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
The light of Christ has arrived.
We can play with that image lots of different ways.
We are the light.
Martin Luther: “There are some of us...who think to ourselves, ‘If I had only been there! how quick I would have been to help the baby. I would have washed his linen. How happy I would have been to go with the shepherds to see the Lord lying in the manger!’ Yes, we would. We say that because we know now how great Christ is, but if we had been there at the time, we would have done no better than the people of Bethlehem...Why don’t we do it now? We have Christ in our neighbor/.”
The manger we see this morning is empty. Christ has gone into the world. We are Christ's presence in the world.
Sing “the first Nowell”
Move 3: And 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.”
"Sharon's Christmas prayer" (Sharon was a colleague of mine in seminary who wrote a Christmas poem each year until she died several years ago.  We were in a prayer group together in seminary and remained in close communication through our years of ministry).

She was five,
sure of the facts,
and recited them
with slow solemnity,
convinced every word
was revelation.
She said
they were so poor
they had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
to eat
and they went a long way from home
without getting lost. The lady rode
a donkey, the man walked, and the baby
was inside the lady.
They had to stay in a stable
with an ox and an ass (hee-hee)
but the Three Rich Men found them
because a star lighted the roof.
Shepherds came and you could
pet the sheep but not feed them.
Then the baby was borne.
And do you know who he was?
Her quarter eyes inflated
to silver dollars.
The baby was God.
And she jumped in the air,
whirled round, dove into the sofa,
and buried her head under the cushion
which is the only proper response
to the Good News of the Incarnation.
Sing #28 “Good Christians Friends Rejoice”


Amen.






Reflections on Christmas Eve sermon

Our Christmas Eve service has Lessons and Carols with a live nativity scene (Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus -- the last baby born in the congregation and his/her parents) and a brief meditation.  I do not have any formal sermon notes, but here is a brief summary of what I preached.

I began by sharing the worship experience at a chapel base of one of our members who is deployed in Afghanistan. They have an Advent wreath with the purple candles on the outer edge, but they do not light the candles.  I noted that the point of the candles, whether lit or unlit, is to symbolize themes related to Advent.  This year the themes were:  hope, peace, joy, and love.

I then invited everyone to reflect not only on what the candles symbolized, but how those themes played out in their own lives.  For example, the Hope candles reminds us that Christ is the hope fo the world.  But what hopes do we bring with us?  Hope for a better 2012?  Hope for good medical tests and treatments?  Hope 2012 is another good year because 2011 has been pretty good.

The Peace candle reminds us that the one born in Bethlehem is the Prince of Peace.  But we arrive longing for peace.  Peace in the world, particularly those with loved ones who are deployed and in harm's way.  Peace in our personal lives because we are tired of the turmoil in our lives.

The Joy candle symbolizes that Christ bring joy to the world, just like the carol we sing.  But, we also arrive yearning for joy.  Not the fleeting smile or laugh that disguises our pain, but the joy that resides deeply in us

The Love candle reminds us that the coming of Christ was an expression of God's love for us.  But, we also arrive with feeling of love or longing for love. For some, we are here with family and friends, or we have had chances to gather with loved ones, and we celebrate that love. For others of us, we are longing to be loved. or we are remembering those loved ones who have died in the past months or years and are not able to be with us.  Or we are reminded of broken relationships.

I then shifted back to the story of worshiping in Afghanistan by noting that the Advent wreath in that chapel does not have a Christ candle to light.  No symbol of the light of Christ.  Our member noted that if felt sort of weird to not have the Christ candle.  She asked the question: "Don't we need the Christ candle to make all the other things the candles represent possible?"

So I declared that the story we tell and the truth we proclaim tonight is that when God sent Christ into the world, Christ did not arrive as a symbol, but God in flesh.  God had heard the longing for hope, the cries for peace, the deisre to know joy and yearning to be loved and God had answered by coming in Christ.    We can dare to be a people of hope,    

I finished by noting that it does not matter whether we light candles or do not light candles, whether we have a Christ candle or not.  What matters is that God has acted.  Christ has arrived to live among us.  Amen.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Advent/Christmas Cantata

We are taking a break from Advent this week for a Christmas Cantata with music provided by a soloist, the Chancel Choir and the Troy High School Jazz Band.  In between songs, we will have some readings about the songs, which is below.  No sermon, really.


Christmas Cantata December 18, 2011; FPC, Troy; 3rd Advent
Richard: “o Come, O come Emmanuel classic Advent hymn.
Traces its origin back to at least the 9th Century when a series of Advent antiphons were sung each day the week of Christmas. Each antiphon began with “O” and were followed with a biblical title for the Messiah.
The current hymn rendition in our hymnal has three of those titles: “Emmanuel, Dayspring, and Desire of Nations. This classic Advent hymn not only calls for God to come, but explores the breadth and depth of that God who comes and will come again.
But enough about Advent. This morning we are going to take a break from Advent and Christmas.
The Gospel of Luke tells us that after Mary heard the shepherds' story talking about being sent to find the Christ-child in Bethlehem, she “treasured their words and pondered them in her heart.”
The birth of Christ creates a sense of wonder. Imagine, God choosing to come down to earth in the flesh.
John Jacob Niles captures that sense of wonder in the folk song “i Wonder As I Wander”
Bill sings first two verses of “I Wonder and I Wander”
Stephanie: John Jacob Niles grew up in Louisville, KY and was first exposed to folk songs by an African-American field worker. His love for folk songs led to his writing his first folk song at age 25.
Niles served as a fighter pilot in WWI. He reportedly asked every soldier he met in Europe to share a folk song they knew, which Niles then catalogued, wrote down the lyrics and memorized the tune.
AT the end of the war, Niles continued his music training at the Cincinnati conservatory. From there he became a star opera singer performing to standing ovations on the stage in New York City.
Niles felt the urge, however, to become a music historian, who would discover and document songs that were quickly being lost in the world of radio and the booming music industry.
Niles began traveling the Appalachian mountains in pursuit of more folk songs. The library of music he uncovered has an important place in music history. One of those songs he discovered was “I Wonder As I Wander.”
As the story goes, on a cold December day in North Carolina, Niles found himself in a small, mountain town. No holiday music was blaring from car radios or from the stores. The holiday season was being celebrated in silence.
A silence that was broken by the lone voice of a young girl who softly sang a song Niles had never hear. When Niles asked her where she had learned the song, she told him that her mother had taught it to her and her grandmother had taught it to her mother. Niles had the young girl sing it again and again as he scribbled the words and memorized the tune. For Niles, it seemed to be part spiritual, part Irish ballad.

As Niles shared that song with the musical world, he sought to discover more about its origins, but he never learned saw the girl again or learned more about its origin.
A gift from a child, who sings about the gift of a child.
Bill finishes the next two verses.
Richard: The next song our choir sings will be the familiar “Away in the Manger” sung by most of us since we were kids.
At the heart of the song is a very simple tune and three short verses. Of course, the tune you know for the song depends on the what tradition was followed by the person who sang you the song.
The most familiar tune to us was how the American hymn writer James Murray presented “Away in the Manger” in his 1887 children's songbook. He also attributed the hymn to the great Reformer Martin Luther, even noting that he had sung the song at night to his children, which led to vision of German mothers singing the hymn to their children at night. In fact, German mothers had never heard “Away in the Manger” until songbooks from the United States made their way to Germany. If you are familiar with Johann Strauss Waltz #4, you will recognize it (transposed down a fourth) in the first half of this melody.
The second tune associated with “Away in the Manger” has its origins in the late 19th Century as well. It was written in 1895 by William J. Kirkpatrick for the musical Around the World with Christmas(1895). Kirkpatrick, too, attributed the words to Luther.

The anthem the choir will sing combines both tunes that historically have been used for this song.
Listen as an author we do not know tells us a story about the God we come to know in birth of Jesus Christ.
Choir sings “Away in the Manger”
stephanie: When Christ comes into the world, he revolutionizes our understanding of what it means to say that God is all-powerful and God is love.
God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen” revolutionized church music. Through the 15th century, church music was written in Latin and had dark, somber melodies. In response, many church members wrote church songs, that is songs that told God's story, to upbeat tunes that were light. Lively and written in the common language of the people.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” became one of those popular church songs that was not allowed to be sung in the church until the 19th century when the Anglican church, in part because Queen Victoria loved this type of song, began allowing it to be sung in church.
In our time, we do not quite understand what the original writer meant because our English is far different from English spoken in the Middle Ages. To best understand this song, we must know that “Rest” means “make,” 'merry” means “Mighty” and that there should be a comma after “merry.” In other words, the title of the song in our language would read something like “God make you mighty, gentlemen” as a comment on what God will do for us.
Jazz band plays “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
Richard: The Christ-child we welcome at Bethlehem grows into the one who calls us to give up our old lives and become new creations.
James Montgomery, the author of “Angels, from the Realms of Glory,” knew what it was like to make changes to his life. He was born the son of Irish Moravian missionaries. While his parents served in the West Indies, he was raised in a Moravian community in Ireland. His parents died in the mission fields.
James flunked out of seminary and bounced from job to job, often unemployed and homeless. His became a writer with an editorial zeal for the issues of Irish independence from English rule and opposition to slavery government.
On December 24, 1816, however, his editorial ire gave way to a poetic sharing of the birth of Christ as told through the eyes of the shepherds. This poem became the basis for the hymn “Angels from the Realms of Glory.” This shift in writing material reflected a shift that took place in his life. He went from Irish revolutionary back to the Moravian church and mission work.
Ironically, an English composer, Henry Smart, took Montgomery's poem and put it to the the tune “regent Square.” Smart was a self-taught organist who composed and played the last 15 years of his life blind. He composed this tune during the period of blindness. Smart's harmonic melodies became part of the church music revolution in England that add beautiful melodies to songs so that congregations could sing them.
As Presbyterians, we should have a special interest in this tune because it was specially composed for Dr. Hamilton, who was putting together a hymnal. Dr. Hamilton served as pastor of London's Regent Square Presbyterian Church, also known as the “Cathedral of Presbyterianism.”

Choir sings “Angels, from the Realms of Glory”

Stephanie: Our final song of the cantata is the African-American spiritual, “go Tell It on the Mountain.” As we know, our church hymnody has been greatly influenced by the songs sung among the slaves in America. What a witness to the saving power of God that we discover in Christ to realize that from the oppression of slavery came such beautiful and powerful songs that speak of God's saving power.

Shortly after the Civil War, John Wesley Work, and African-American choir director in Nashville, TN decided that the new generation of African-American southerners who were not slaves could best claim the spirituality of their ancestors by learning the music they sang. He began a quest that continued with his son and grandson (both of whom became accomplished singers and music historians) to discover, save and add harmonies to the spirituals first sung in the fields by slaves.

Got Tell It on the Mountain's” lyrics were untouched, but the music was rearranged into anthem style,w which allowed the Fisk Jubilee Singers (from the historical black college Fisk) to introduce the song to our country and the indeed the world as they traveled performing concerts in the late 19th century. It now stands as both a powerful witness to the African-American spirituals and Christmas songs that tell the story of the birth of Christ.

Jazz band plays “Go Tell It on the Mountain”

Richard: We have the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ sung, now go and tell it by word and by deed.

Information found in Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Ace Collins, 2001 (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan) and various sections of wikipedia

Monday, December 12, 2011

Reflections on "Bringing Good News to the World" Isaiah 61: 1-4; Luke 1: 39-55

Some weeks, the sermon just flows with less work; other weeks, the more I work, the more difficult the sermon writing seems to get.  This sermon happened to fall into the latter category.  The more I worked with the text, the harder the sermon got.  I was still adjusting it moments before the Chapel service, and then readjusted it between services, and would like to have a shot at readjusting it again!  Although, I think I would throw it out and start over again.

Perhaps the stumbling block related to the realization that both texts were less cheery and more challenging.  Sometimes I get a bit self-conscious about using Advent hymns and preaching prophetic texts in December.  Whatever the cause, I had about the worst case of sermon struggles that I've had in a long time.


Bringing Good News” December 11, 2011; FPC, Troy; 3rd Advent;Isaiah 61: 1-4; 8-11; Luke 1: 39-55
Introduction: If I had titled my sermon after I was done preparing it, the title would have changed to something like, “Be careful what you ask for!”
Move 1: The Israelites to whom Isaiah prophesies are not where they want to be or who they want to be.
a. They find themselves in Babylonian exile.
    1. Taken from their homeland.
    2. Living as strangers in a foreign land.
    3. Treated as far less than equals.
    4. Looking at their relationship with God and noting the many ways they have sinned and turned away from God.
    5. They look at where they are, they look at their lives, and they long for something more.
b. Enter the prophet Isaiah.
1. A messenger bringing them good news.
    1. Common phrase from this section of Isaiah
    2. A recognition that the Israelites desperately need some good news.
      c. The good news brings them life giving hope..
          1. The messenger arrives with good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-heated, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
    1. An offer of redemption for the people of Israel who want something different.
  1. But be careful what you ask for.
    1. as the messenger will explain a few verses later, the good news for the Israelites also reflects the new way of life to which God is calling them.
    2. The good news of freedom and release and comfort comes from the God who desires those things from the Israelites as well.
    2. God brings good news to the Israelites and a chance for new life, but God also demands that they change their ways.
    3. that they live the good news.
Move 2: Generations later the people of God are still not where they want to be.
a. God sends the messenger.
    1. More than a messenger, the Son of God is on his way.
    2. A baby to be born to Mary.
    3. A sweet, angelic baby; no crying he makes.
b. But listen to how Mary describes the child she will bear.
  1. Mary does not look like the rough, John the Baptist.
  2. The words she speaks may be set to music as admired as a mother's beautiful comment on the baby in her womb.
  3. But she describes her baby in terms of the demands he will make.
  4. His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
    He has shown strength with his rm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
    He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
    he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
    He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
    according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
  5. Mary's poetic words bring the same message as John the Baptist – “repent!”
  6. again, the link between the good news God sends God's people and the call to change their live.
  7. The good news is that God is coming in Christ to bring them to a new place in life; the challenge is the God expects them to be changed.
Move 3: We are not who we want to be and where we want to be.
a. One of the truths I have learned about the Christmas season is that at times it can be difficult.
    1. For some of us, we struggle to feel any joy at this time of year. We hear the call to be joyous, but we cannot move beyond the fact that we are not who we want to be and the world is not what we want it to be.
    2. For many of us, we celebrate and feel the joy, but every once in a while we get this sense that things are not quite how they should be – maybe you sing about the Prince of Peace and wonder why are world is still at war; or you find yourself at a family gathering and wonder why you still have broken relationships.
    3. WE can join with the Israelites who were not where they wanted to be, who need to hear good news.
            4. We have this sense that the Christ-child is indeed the good news we so desperately need.
      1. So we welcome the baby born to Mary as our life-giving hope.
      2. But with that life-giving hope comes the call to change our lives. To be people who free the oppressed and comfort those who mourn.
      3. It is not enough to receive the good news; we must live the good news and share it with others.
        b. Rev. Fred Shuttleworth died in October; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Shuttlesworth
            1. African-American minister;
            2. Civil rights leader in Birmingham.
            3. Worked with Martin Luther King, Jr.
            4. Peaceful demonstrations, but fiery.
            5. Often paired with MLK, Jr.
            6. Antagonized Bull Connor police chief of Birmingham
            7. Some have said that his antagonistic relationship with the police chief was part of the reason the police chief gave the order to turn the dogs on the marchers and spray the fire hoses.
            8. Many historians pinpoint that as a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement.
            9 As photos of snarling dogs attacking marchers and powerful streams of water knocking people down (Rev. Shuttleworth suffered injuries from the water), it caused the nation to stop and say, “This is not who we want to be.”
            10. To get where they wanted, they had to free the prisoners of segregation.
            Advent is a time when we are invited to assess our lives – to examine who we are and where our world is and contemplate who we want to be.
            Be careful what you ask for – the Christ-child comes to bring us good news; but he will grow into the one who calls out to us, “Follow me!”

Conclusion: Caroling; Caring Bridge; Family member crying as we sang and hugged me and she said, “You'll never know how much this meant to us.”

People not where they want to be. Hearing the words of hope sung and discovering the one who brings them good news.

Hear the Good news. Christ comes to show you the way to that new place you desire. Hear the challenge – Christ calls us to follow.

I consulted Prof.  Elna K. Solvang sermon notes this week in my sermon preparation.  http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=12/11/2011