Reflections on "Crosses We Wear: Into the Circle"

“Crosses We Wear: Into the Circle” Sept 120, 2020, SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp;  Matthew 1:18-25; Galatians 4: 1-7

Matthew 1: 18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

    and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;[b] and he named him Jesus.

Introduction:  This week the cross I wear is one given to me by First Presbyterian Church, Troy, OH on the occasion of my 20th anniversary of ordination.   Made from clay found in Miami county, the county where the church I served resided, the county in which we engaged in ministry.

I also have two other crosses given to me that are made from nails taken out of old barns that were being torn down in the county in OH where we lived (one was from a barn in a county nearby).

Wear them - several images; when I think of someone taking clay from the ground to shape a cross, I am reminded of images of God like God taking mud and breathing life into humanity and shaping us, or God the potter who molds and gives shapes to our lives.  Likewise, the barn nails remind me of the hands that held the nails and the hammer to build the barn and I think about the hands of God that hold us and shape us.

But, the fundament truth these crosses that were made from elements of the county in which I lived in Ohio is that God is a God of incarnation - that is, God chooses to join us in our lives wherever we are.

In fact, as we know from the person of Jesus of Christ and as we read in the Gospel of Matthew, God sends Christ and calls him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

Move 1:  When we hear the name Emmanuel, we are reminded that the way God chooses to engage us is by sending Jesus to find us where we are.

a.  As some of you know, I referee soccer.  It’s been a little strange refereeing since Covid-19.  The game is played basically the same, but the logistics are different.

1.  For example, no more captions meeting before the game and tossing a coin to see who gets to choose side or ball.  Instead, the visiting team gets to decide, and off we go.  No shaking hands after the game - each team just shouts, “good game,” or something like that to the other team.

2.  Some interesting logistics dealing with parents and spectators.

3. Some fields only allow one spectator per player.

4. Here in Denton at North Lakes park, they have do an interesting on the sidelines where the spectators sit.

5.  They have circles painted in white running up the sideline.

6.  Each family unit (whether one person or four persons) an be in the circle, but it is six feet away from the next circle.  

7.  No moving from circle to circle.  

8.  you and your family are alone in your circle.  

9.   Sort of interesting, bizarre scene on the sidelines.

b. the incarnation means God sends Jesus into your circle.

1. You may be in your separate circle, but you are not alone.

2.  Emmanuel is not just a name or title for the Son of God, but a description of what he does - he comes to be with us.

3.  If you hear nothing else this morning, hear this:  You are never alone because God has chosen to be with you.

5. Paul can write with certainty to the Romans that nothing will separate from the love of God we discover in Christ Jesus, because he knows the God of incarnation who sent Christ to join us in the human endeavor.   

c.    We see this connectedness in the life Jesus lived among us.

1.  He lived a human life.  Frankly, I’m not sure we ever know quite what to do with that truth.

2.  I saw a Peanuts cartoon strip several years ago:  Linus and Charlie brown are eating sandwiches while Lucy looks on.  Linus says, ”Charlie Brown,  hands are fascinating things.  I like my hands! I think I have nice hands!  My hands seem to have a lot of character.  These are hands which may someday accomplish great things ... These are hands which may someday do marvelous works.  They may build mighty bridges or heal the sick, or hit home runs, or write soul-searching novels!  These
are hands which may someday change the course of human destiny!"
 

Lucy, looking at Linus' hands, says: "They've got jelly on them."  

3. We can make all sorts of theological assertions we can make about God, and Christ - but, the bottom line - Jesus came and live among, got jelly on his hands because he is with us.

Move 2:  Jesus joins with us in our humanity, but in his, we see the new humanity. 

a.  Jesus does not become like humans in the way we see ourselves. 

1. We see all our flaws and shortcomings, which are a far cry from the goodness in which God created us.

2.  Instead, Jesus is humanity in all its goodness, the type of person we aspire to be, what humanity looks like in all its created goodness that has not been dragged down by sin.

b.  Jesus is the new creation God calls us to be.

1.  As Paul shares with the Galatians, when Christ comes and joins with us, we are redeemed and are no longer enslaved.

2. We are freed to become new creations no longer bound by the law and sin, but free to all the possibilities God has for us.

3.  In Christ, we see those possibilities lived out perfectly and hear our call to join with him.

Move 3:  As followers of Christ, we are called to grow into those new possibilities.

a.  We remember that when Jesus initiates his ministry, he stands up in the synagogue where he grew up and reads a passage from the prophet Isaiah.

1. Jesus announces that he has arrived  “To bring good news to the poor; to proclaim release to the captives; recovery of sight to the blind; to let the oppressed go free,

and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4: 18-19).

2. How is Jesus going to do these things - by living among the people; by reaching out and touching and healing; by talking to the people; by joining with them and loving them.

b.  As followers of Christ, we are called to incarnational ministry.

1.  Reader’s Digest “Small Wonders” Ann Gilbert:  There is a story about a young mother who was trying to help her four-year-old daughter not be afraid of the dark.  Each evening at bedtime, the mom and did everything they could think of to lay their daughter’s fears to rest.  “You’re going to be just fine,” they would tell her.  “Mommy and daddy are right in the next room; and besides that, God is right here in your room with you, taking care of you.”  One night after this bedtime ritual, the mother was awakened in the middle of the night by a tap on the shoulder.  Her daughter’s familiar voice said, “I know God is there with me, but I need somebody with skin.”

2.  Our call to ministry is to be there with skin on as God’s presence in peoples’ lives.

3.  .  Our Daily Bread continues to be one of the great example of incarnational ministry in which this congregation engages.

2.  it began when a few people looked around the community in which we live and noticed there were people who were hungry.

3.  OUr Daily bread developed out of a dire to feed the people, connect with them, and be there with them

3.  Our Daily Bread feeds people whom you see in the city, right here this portion of the city.

4.  Joins with them on issues of hunger, housing, employment…

c.  Our Daily Bread is now in the process of moving forward with an incredible opportunity to expand its ministry by moving to a new facility.

1. St. Andrew will continue to support Our Daily Bread, but we will have space and time and resources freed up when we no longer house Our Daily Bread.

2. Challenge for us to envision what new ministries God is calling the congregation fo St. Andrew.

3.  As you reflect on that in the coming months, as our leadership ponders “What is next?”  I hope we lay claim to God’s call to incarnational ministry.

4.  Where do we see ourselves joining with others, being there with them in their situation and doing ministry?

5. The God who sends “Emmanuel” to be with us, sends us to be Emmanuel in the world.

Conclusion: Finish with an image from  Martin Luther’s Christmas Day 1530 sermon.

He told the nativity story, in which he portrayed the world as a darkened stage illumined by a solitary pinprick of brilliant light, the Christ-child, who has come to live among us.  Emmanuel, by name.

After telling the story of the incarnation, he suddenly shifts from storyteller and announces to those gathered.

“And if this story is true—and it is the truth—then let everything else go.”

 Let everything else go and “take up Christ’s cross and follow him”

 A cross of incarnational ministry.