This is a special musical trombone performance of Silent Night by Drew Kipela at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
This is a special musical trumpet performance by Walter Cano at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan
This is a special musical performance of This Little Babe by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir
This is a special musical performance of Breath of Heaven by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir, with a solo by Tammy Heilman
“In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.” Now, as we begin to ponder this cherished and treasured story, I am going to say something that just may shatter all your preconceived notions about this reading. I must tell you, there is no historical evidence that this census, as told by the writer of Luke’s gospel, ever took place. And, furthermore, unless there is something we do not know, the writer of Luke’s gospel also seems to be incorrect about Quirinius or Herod or both because the traditional dating of the birth of Jesus would locate it during the reigns of neither Herod the Great nor Quirinius. So, what is going on here? Well, Luke is not interested in giving us an accurate historical account of Jesus’ birth because he is interested in proclaiming a much deeper truth, a truth that is full of wonder and awe.
Luke gives us this information, not as history, but as a theological work to tell the story of One who has come into this world to change and quite literally shatter the status quo. The writer of Luke’s gospel gives us this information as a way of setting the political and social context for the appearance of this One we call Jesus and the astonishing, awesome arrival of a brand-new world. The story begins, “In those days…” It begins by denoting a time of census taking and taxes, a time of authoritative orders and pronouncements. Luke begins by telling of a time shaped by business as usual in a world that is organized by accepted oppressive power structures, a world where those in power work to maintain the tired and hopeless status quo. Luke begins by telling about manifest Roman political power, the power of empire and the political elite. Luke begins by naming the way political, economic and social forces shape our lives and minds and hearts to the point where we think that is the only reality. That is the story of the world, that is the human story, the story of our human predicament. That is the story of “in those days.”
The writer of Luke’s gospel begins telling the story of the status quo, tired and hopeless, business as usual human predicament “in those days.,” so that we can begin to grasp the earth shattering, awe inspiring, news that is announced about “This day…!” You see, a new time, a whole new age, has entered the world on “this day…” in the form of a small, vulnerable baby. And, this new time is characterized not by the drudgery of business as usual or the threat of imperial power, but by the inbreaking of the heavenly realm, the wonder of the songs of angels, and the “good news of great joy for all people!” Quite honestly, from the viewpoint of the emperor – the viewpoint of the “powers that be” – the good news of what has happened on this day may even be treasonous. For “this day” has a political dimension; this new time is a direct challenge to the imperial world of “in those days.” There is a new Savior, a title formerly reserved only for the emperor. And, this new Savior comes in the form of a vulnerable little baby, as God is birthing a whole new creation. In the ordinary birth of a vulnerable baby, comes the extraordinary wonder of God becoming flesh – Immanuel, God with us. Can you now begin to grasp the wonder and magnitude of this earth shattering news?
On this night, the news we receive is earth shattering and scandalous. We dare not forget the scandal and magnitude of this earth shattering news, the news of both the cradle and the cross. We dare not be lulled by our culture’s attempts to sentimentalize Christmas. We all do it and to be honest, it even happens in the church.
Think for a moment about how our own hymnody conspires to tame this festival day into something more palatable and … dare we even say … nice. Consider the opening of the beloved carol O Little Town of Bethlehem, “O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie.” Lovely words from Phillips Brooks. But, if we think about the tumultuous history of the Middle East, imagining Bethlehem as peaceful more expresses a longing than an historical reality. And what about Away In A Manger telling us, “The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes?” No crying? Any nurse or doctor would call that a zero on the Apgar score and would start resuscitation attempts immediately. Seriously, while we need these images to help us ponder the wonder and mystery of this night, they also may just be conspiring to sentimentalize the scandal and earth shattering nature of Christmas. Between sentimentality, emotional burdens, and unrealistic cultural expectations, perhaps we need this child of God to shatter and shake up what we’ve made of Christmas. In fact, we need to really listen to the words and fury of the song the choir just sang:
This little Babe so few days old, is come to rifle Satan’s fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold do shake;
For in his weak unarmed wise the gates of hell he will surprise.
The reality is we come together this night to pay honor to the One who subversively came to shatter and change everything! This child’s birth was the plan of a subversive God who snuck into the back door of history on a mission to truly change the world, to truly change creation. Coming as one of us – vulnerable, poor, and powerless – he came to upend the world as we have constructed it.
He came to shatter our selfishness and narcissism, so that we might be able to love God and others and to receive that love in return. He came to shatter our fear of death, so that we might be able to live more fully and freely in this life. He came to shatter and change the political systems which choose who is in and who is out, so that all of God’s children would be included in the kingdom. He came to shatter our tendency of tribalism, pitting one group against another. He came to change our economy of values to build a different one based on valuing the eternal rather than things that pass away. He came to change our ideas of family to embrace a wider vision of God’s family, which includes all people, not just the ones like us. He came to shatter the old regimes of “in those days,” and bring in a whole new regime. Yes, he came to shatter every structure we try to build which puts us first at the expense of everyone else. He came to change us and he calls us to follow in his path.
This is no small thing. For 2000 plus years, people have come together to mark the birth of Christ as God’s subversive way of dwelling among us, shattering our preconceived notions and changing everything for the sake of bringing about something greater than we could ask for or imagine. Tonight, we come together to celebrate this subversive God and mark a vision of the kingdom of God unfolding right here in our midst. And we do this because to you is born this day a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. May the wonder and mystery of this holy child shatter, disrupt and change your life, and bring you renewed hope on this day, so that the grace of God might be planted in your heart and you may more deeply come to know Christ’s love.
This is a special duet choral Christmas Eve performance of Mary Did You Know by Faith Lutheran Church's own Christopher & Paige Lewis.
This is a special trumpet Christmas Eve performance of Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Faith Lutheran Church's own Juliana Lewis.
This is a special musical performance of Climb to the Top of the Highest Mountain by the Chancel Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a special musical performance of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel with the Joyful Noise, Tone Chimes and Gwynne Kadrofske on flute.
It has begun. And, no, I am not talking about Advent. I am talking about the non-stop screenings of those syrupy, sentimental Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel. I am talking about the Disney portrayals of Happy Holidays where there is joy and happiness forever after. I am talking about Madison Avenue advertisers telling us what Christmas should look like and what we need to have and do to make this an absolutely perfect Christmas. I am talking about the TV specials and bill boards and radio ads that give us a distorted understanding of Christmas and a bogus version of what Christmas is all about. I am talking about all the ways media and culture place before us an idealized version of Christmas. We see depicted in all of these settings ideal relationships, ideal children, ideal homes and holiday gatherings, idyllic Christmas dinners where all is bliss and where everyone is all smiles and all is perfection. And, as we look at all of this, I am talking about our tendency to seek out and try to pursue such ideals only to discover that our lives and our experiences never quite measure up!
When talking about this search for the idyllic, theologian David Lose writes:
I suspect our longing for ideals is rooted in the desire to improve, to be always prepared to see potential, a vision for how something could be better. But this admirable, and no doubt evolutionarily productive trait can easily turn aspiration into envy and devolve from a determination to improve to grasping for an ideal that, no matter how unrealistic, nevertheless undermines the reality with which we’ve been blessed. And that, I think, is the greatest danger of idealized pictures – whether painted by Rockwell, created by Madison Avenue advertisers, or concocted in our own imaginations: they lead us to see what we have – and often who we are – as insufficient, unworthy, unimportant.
So, on this first Sunday of Advent, as we look at our gospel reading from Mark, I think we are given an opportunity to begin this season in a different, maybe even healthier way. We are called back to reality as it is.
Initially, the 13th chapter of the gospel of Mark is frightening and chilling to read. And, while it has sometimes been interpreted as a prediction of the future to frighten future generations, we must look at the historical context and think about what was happening when it was written. Mark 13 is NOT a prediction about the future. This writing from Mark follows a long tradition of apocalyptic literature and it is all about providing comforting words to people as they faced their present life and present experience. Mark’s words describe what his readers had already seen their brothers and sisters in Christ experience. Written around 70 CE, Mark is writing to a community of people who were facing horrific situations. Christians were being dragged before local authorities, sometimes by members of their own family. They lived in fear. War was on the horizon and, in fact, already happening as they experienced the Jewish Revolt of 66-70 CE, a war that brought the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. For these early Christians, it felt as if the world had ended, and in some very real ways, it had ended.
You see, when people are experiencing fear and going through great pain, you’ve got to acknowledge that pain, that grief, the seriousness of the obstacles that stand before you and not bury it or cover it up by simply saying, “Don’t panic, everything will be ok.” So, Mark tells these early Christians:
Yes, there is serious pain in the world, in your community. There are wars and rumors of wars. There's strife within families, and even within the family of faith, those called to be one in Christ. And God's name is profaned, an abomination to those for whom God's name is the name of one who feeds the hungry, lifts up the lowly, and frees the prisoner. So, when you see these horrible things happening, don't think it's a sign that the kingdom of God Jesus promised is late in coming or has been derailed. We don't know the day or hour, but we know that God is faithful, and Jesus' resurrection from the dead is a sign to us as it was to Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and our own wounded communities: Jesus is coming, and God's kingdom, inaugurated with Jesus' ministry, is being revealed and finding fulfillment. (Sarah Dylan)
Friends, this same word is Good News for us. There is serious pain in our world. There are wars and rumors of wars. There is strife within our families and even the family of faith. God’s name is regularly profaned and used as a political prop to assert power over the powerless — even by those who claim to be Christian as they twist what it means to be a follower of Christ by enforcing policies that take away food from the hungry, push the lowly even further down, and imprison people instead of setting people free. But, we know something that they don't seem to realize: the person we call Lord is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, who taught and healed, who welcomed the outcast and broke bread with anyone willing to eat with him. It's Jesus, whose way of life and manner of death underscored what his words taught: love your enemies. He truly lived this every day of his life and we are also called to live it every day of our lives. When we know Jesus, the Jesus of the gospels, we know that God is love, and love drives out all fear.
The writer of Mark’s gospel is not pointing us to a future apocalyptic event, but rather a very present one in which Christ’s death and resurrection change absolutely everything we know. For once and for all, in Christ’s death and resurrection, Jesus suffers all that the world and empire and death have to throw at him…and is raised to new life and nothing will ever be the same again! And, that includes our present lives and our present situations.
So, get ready! Jesus is here and Jesus is coming! Do not be afraid! Stay awake and be alert! God comes to us now and is still entering into our lives in ways that align with God’s coming in the vulnerability of a baby in a manger and a man dying on a cross. God comes to us now as we embrace all those we consider “other.” God comes to us now as we collect food for the hungry in the apartments across the street. God comes to us now as we collect warm clothing for the people at Loaves & Fishes. God comes to us now as we work to offer a hope and future to these wonderful young people from Samaritas who are joining us today. God comes to us now, as we are, in our vulnerability, in our messed-up family lives, in our deep brokenness, in our imperfections, telling us we are deeply loved as we are. We do not need to seek the ideal. We do not need to work so hard to measure up.
In the person of Jesus, God is pulling back the curtain of false hopes and perfect ideals in order to reveal a very present reality, the reality about God’s commitment to enter into and redeem our lives and world just as they are. Yes, life is messy and there is so much that is not right in this world. But, newness is on the way, a newness we can trust. So, as we begin this Advent, stay awake and be aware of the many ways Christ appears in the present. Stay alert to see where Christ arrives, breaking through time and space to be present in our lives and the lives of others. Christ is arriving now, in this present moment, choosing to meet us in our messed-up-ness, meeting us as we are, loving us as we are and redeeming us as we are, right here and right now, right before our very eyes.
This is a special musical presentation of Alleluia! Sing to Jesus by the Chancel Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
This is a special violin performance by Rachael Ngasala at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.
Today, we come to the end of the church year calendar and the end of Matthew’s version of Jesus’ ministry. And, as we read this passage which caps the church year, we get high drama, we get harsh judgment, and we get punishment and damnation in eternal fire! As one who stands before you to proclaim the gospel, it is hard to read about such harsh judgment and punishment and then say, “The Good News of the Lord!” That just seems to go against the grain, especially for those of us who believe so fully and completely in a gracious God of love. It is initially difficult to find a picture of a gracious, loving God in this passage. However, if we dig a bit deeper, I think we discover this passage is not so much about punishment in eternal fire, and it’s not the goats or the sheep that matter in this story; it is all about how we come face to face with God every day! And, it really is about a very loving and gracious God!
To better understand this parable, Christine Chakoian, a Presbyterian pastor and theologian, suggests we consider a contemporary metaphor – the reality TV show called Undercover Boss. Many of you have probably seen that show, but for those who have not, each episode followed a different CEO as he or she would leave the comforts of his or her office for an undercover mission in the company. Each would do this to reconnect with his or her work force and examine the inner workings of the company. As they worked alongside their employees, they would get an up-close look at both the good and the bad, while at the same time discovering the unsung heroes who make the company run. Then, at the end of the show and to the utter surprise of the employees, the CEO would reveal his or her true identity and share some observations.
Now, while this metaphor is not perfect, there are some connections we can make to the gospel message for this Christ the King Sunday. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him.” When he does this, he reveals that he has been undercover among them for some time, observing them at work, and it is time for the big reveal!
Yikes! I wonder how Jesus would judge his corporation right now. And yes, I use the word corporation, a word that comes from the same Latin root as corpus meaning body, as in the body of Christ. How is the corporation doing in this present world? How well do we as the community of Christ understand the corporation’s vision statement? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God; blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” How well do we live and function by the company’s creed? “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… and love your neighbor as yourself.” How clear are we about the guidelines for promotion? “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” And, what about the company’s ethics statement, how are we doing there? “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Are we fulfilling the CEO’s mission? “Go therefore, and make disciples.” Just maybe, we need to think about these things and do a wellness check on how we are doing.
And, what about the CEO’s priorities – priorities that always focus on welcoming the outsiders, the least of these, the most vulnerable among us; priorities that reflect a politics of compassion and abundance? “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
I must confess that for most of my life I read this parable in Matthew as a warning about how I must live and behave. I have seen it as a word of judgment saying, “If you blow it, you will be demoted to the realm of the goats!” Now, while personal responsibility and consequences are part of this passage, the real question presented to us is one that asks about the mission of Christ’s corporation – the corpus or body of Christ, the church, the faith community – and whether that mission is being accomplished through the employees.
Again, the metaphor is not perfect and I doubt the primary purpose of the incarnation was for our cosmic Boss to see how the company was running or to experience firsthand the challenges facing the field workers. However, when looking at this parable, the point is that Jesus introduces something new. While his words in this passage reflect the words of the prophets, Jesus adds something new by saying that when we meet the one in need, we meet divinity. Something more than a cup of water or a piece of bread changes hands: “As you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.” We find that when we give the cup, share the bread and share what we have with those in need, we encounter the presence of God in that person in need. We see God!
So, what about that wellness check? How are we doing? If we cannot share freely and fully or if we do not make ourselves available to do so, this indicates that our relationship with God and the world is not as healthy and whole as Jesus’ triumph on the cross makes possible. Loving those for whom Jesus gave his life, particularly those who are undervalued, is a primary expression of our love of God and of our experience of God’s love for us.
As members of the body of Christ we are called to respond to the needy and the hurting. We are called to welcome the stranger and the outsider in the same way that Jesus did. When we see situations like the intense, urgent need regarding these Samaritas kids who would likely face jail, deportation and death when they turn eighteen if they are not provided shelter, we are called to respond and help to offer them a future and a hope. When we actively live such radical hospitality and love for neighbor, we respond to Christ. We respond to the One who himself became totally vulnerable, entering into the deepest needs and pains of the world – even to the point of hanging on a cross, for the sake of all creation. And, guess what! Such radical hospitality reconstructs the social order! When we follow the one whose glory was revealed in the cross, we are transformed. And, the God who became needy and vulnerable for the sake of the world uses us to carry God’s healing, transforming love wherever we go, for the sake of a broken and hurting world.
Acclamation - Hallelujah Praise the Lord from Gospel Mass by Robert Ray - a live performance by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir.
That great theologian, Meredith Grey, a fictional character on the hit television show, Grey’s Anatomy, said in one episode, “At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don’t keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That’s how we’re made. So, you can waste your lives drawing lines and building walls. Or, you can live your life crossing them.” I think there is some truth to what the character of Meredith said. And, while I believe some boundaries are necessary, very needed, and extremely healthy, I also believe far too often we impose boundaries that not only fence us in, but keep others out.
When we meet up with Jesus today he is continuing his journey to Jerusalem, his journey toward the cross. As Jesus and his disciples continue that cross bound journey, they move into a border area, the boundary between Samaria and Galilee, a scary and uncomfortable place. It was a boundary the Jewish people did not like to cross because it took you into the place where those hated and despised Samaritans lived. And, look who Jesus meets at that border – ten lepers who raise their voices and cry out to Jesus saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” These lepers, knowing they are unclean, keep their distance from Jesus, because that is what the law stipulates. By law, they are not to go near those who do not have leprosy. Enduring the status of outcast and unclean they are required to live apart from the rest of society. They are required to live within yet a different kind of boundary, one that keeps them isolated from others. Considered ritually unclean, they were quarantined and treated as objects of revulsion and fear on the part of their neighbors. So, as these ten lepers cry for mercy, not one of them breaks the social conventions that surround their disease as they cry to Jesus from a distance.
The writer of Luke’s gospel tells us Jesus sees these lepers and tells them to go show themselves to the priests. This was also required by law because the priests would have to inspect the lepers and verify their cleanliness. Only then could they be readmitted to the temple and be freed from their status as outcast and unclean. So, they go, and while on their way, they become clean. All ten are healed. But, only one comes back to thank Jesus for being healed. This one leper, when he realized he had been healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude and glorifying God.
So, why did only one leper return to offer thanks? Part of the answer may be found in the identity of this healed man. He alone is identified as a Samaritan. He was considered an outcast, not just because of his disease. He was considered an outcast because he was a foreigner, a disgusting Samaritan. As such, he was twice scorned, twice rejected, and twice removed from community.
It really is interesting that this despised Samaritan is the one who stops to say thanks. The writer of Luke’s gospel again chooses a reviled Samaritan to make a point. And, as he does, we can pretty much assume his point is not about the proper etiquette for saying thank you. Luke is not giving his first-century listeners a lesson in good manners and proper protocol for receiving healing. No. Again and again we find Luke’s Jesus teaching in parables and living in ways that disorient his followers with the shock of something new. Again and again Luke’s Jesus shows the people that God is close at hand, in your neighbor, in those you don’t consider neighbors, in an act of compassion and in a touch of healing.
So, why was it the Samaritan who came back to thank Jesus? Jesus had not made a formal thank you part of the bargain. He simply told them to go and show themselves to the priests. Well, we really do not know why the Samaritan is the only one to return. However, just maybe the writer of Luke was more interested in describing the boundaries of God’s grace, boundaries that ultimately will expand to include even those the world defines as unclean, foreign and impure. Luke seems to be telling us a story about a very daring boundary crossing. A crossing that is daring on the part of Jesus and also on the part of the Samaritan.
So, the Samaritan alone returns and, if we look at his posture, we discover that he comes close to Jesus and humbly lies down at Jesus’ feet. Of the ten who were healed, this despised foreigner is the one who breaches the boundaries and moves from a life of isolation to one of grateful intimacy. While the other nine perform the necessary rituals and practices, he alone feels obliged to say thank you. And maybe, just maybe, in his need to say thank you there was a yearning for intimacy with God, a sense that faith cannot simply mean performance of ritual. Faith requires relationship. Faith – something that in itself is gift – lures us, grasps us and draws us into relationship with God, a relationship that is healing, intimate, humbling, and yes, even dependent.
I cannot help but wonder if part of the illness we are seeing within today’s culture and climate is due to a deep self-centeredness, a viewpoint that assumes we are right, that assumes we are entitled to what we have. We draw deeply entrenched boundary lines and walls, and we will not cross those lines. We become so preoccupied with our own needs, our own wants, protecting what we have while attempting to justify our unwavering position and perspective, that we maintain our distance from others while holding on to an illusion of absolute independence. In doing so we continue to create divisions among people, cast others aside as unclean, and attempt to make others appear as outcasts.
“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back.” One turned back from maintaining the protection of distance, turned back from going his or her own way, turned back from self-justification, turned back from the illusion of independence and knelt down at Jesus’ feet, proclaiming ultimate dependence on God. And, in doing so, gave thanks and showed deep gratitude.
Gratitude! The truth is, gratitude is an expression of our need for others, of our need for God. We cannot live within our deeply entrenched boundaries, live at a distance, and become truly healed at the same time. And, the fact of the matter is, all that we have, all that we think we are entitled to, all of our stuff, our health, our position, our job, the list goes on and on, all is gift. One UCC pastor puts it this way, “Like the food that nourishes our bodies, these things do not grow up independently within us, but are literally foreign, alien to us, gifts from beyond ourselves that lure us into mutual interdependence with all others who have been embraced by a God who reached beyond the boundaries that we and the world have established to tell us we belong!”
When we begin to grasp this, the fact that all is gift, we begin to know gratitude. And, it is gratitude that teaches us about the truth of our very lives – the truth that we live in a profoundly interdependent world. The strength and health of our communities, our country and the health of our very selves comes to us as gift when we live in relationship to others.
The healthiest people I know are those whose lives are not lived as the self-made man or woman, living within their protective boundaries. The healthiest people I know are those whose very lives express deep gratitude as they have reached across boundaries to enrich and embrace others and be embraced by others. The healthiest people I know are those who know that to be truly well requires the embrace of the alien grace of Christ’s daring love, the embrace of the God who crosses all boundaries to love us where we are and as we are and make us God’s own.
This is a special musical performance of Keep Your Lamps by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir.
This is a special musical performance of Open The Eyes of my Heart Lord by the Joyful Noise Childrens Choir.
Over the years, I have participated in a few hundred weddings. For most of them I served as the musician. And, since I have been ordained, I have officiated for several weddings. Through this plethora of wedding experiences, there is one thing I have learned: a wedding is one of the most emotionally charged events people ever experience. And, quite honestly, because weddings are so loaded with emotion, they are fragile events containing great potential for mishap and disaster. Even the smallest issue can create emotional explosions as people are stretched thin and as deep feelings and personal issues easily rise to the surface. There are tears, profound hope, joy, and sometimes even anger, resentment and frustration. Even buried grief often comes to the surface during wedding events. And, when these things happen, it is always interesting to watch how people respond or react to the challenges. Frequently, in the chaos of the moment, they are simply unaware of what is really happening, unable to recognize what is causing the emotional explosions and expressions.
So, as we hear today’s gospel reading, it is quite significant that at the end of his life, literally during the last week of his life when he knows he is about to die, Jesus chooses the metaphor of this most human, emotionally weighted event as the context for a teaching parable about the kingdom of heaven.
To understand this parable, it is helpful to understand wedding customs of that day. Guests would assemble at the home of the bride where they were entertained by her parents as they waited for the groom. Then, when the bridegroom approached, all bridesmaids and guests would light torches and go out to meet the bridegroom. Everyone would then walk in procession to the groom’s home where his parents were waiting. The ceremony would take place and it was followed by an extended banquet which would continue for several days.
So, in this story that Jesus tells, the groom does not show up on time. Several hours pass and many in the wedding party fall asleep. Then, at midnight, they are awakened as someone loudly shouts out, “He’s coming.” Well, the bridesmaids wake up to get moving and ready. They trim their lamps and head out to meet the groom. However, five of the ten have used up their oil and have none left. And, as they attempt to borrow from the other wiser bridesmaids, their request is rejected. They frantically begin searching for oil and miss out on the procession. Then, when they finally get to the groom’s home, they are locked out and turned away. Jesus ends this story by saying, “Keep awake! You do not know the day nor the hour.”
The writer of Matthew’s gospel is asking this question, “What shall we do while we wait for Jesus to return?” The early Christian community to which Matthew is writing had to constantly adjust to the reality that Jesus did not soon return as they had expected. By the time Matthew wrote this gospel, the discipleship community may have been waiting for Jesus’ return for fifty years or more. Most of the eye-witnesses were likely dead. The church had spread, but it had also been oppressed. The Temple had been destroyed, wreaking havoc on Jewish and Christian communities. Where was Jesus? This story communicates the message to Matthew’s community that their mission was to wait expectantly and in the meantime, live faithfully, live courageously in the midst of persecution, live with hope, stay awake and aware. As we hear this parable, our context is very different and we have been waiting much longer than Matthew’s community. Yet, living and waiting faithfully, courageously and hopefully is still our mission. Our call is to stay awake and be aware of God’s presence as God comes to us.
The point of this whole parable is a call to live expectantly, hopefully and aware. As Christians, our hope rests completely on our trust that the God who created the world continues to love this world and continues the process of creation until the project is complete. Our hope rests in the promise that God will continue to redeem and save the world by coming into it with love and grace, in the person of Jesus Christ.
Now, as I say this, I am very aware of the horror, despair and chaos of the last several weeks. We have not only seen natural disasters, we have seen the horror we humans are capable of rendering upon others, like the massacre in Las Vegas and then the shooting last weekend at a Texas church. There are times in human history when the forces of oppression, injustice, violence and torture make justice, compassion and love seem so very fragile. And, in the face of such horror, our hearts scream out the unanswerable questions, “Why, God, why?” and “Where is God?” But, like those early Christians, in these chaotic times we are called to wait, to live in hope and to stay awake and aware. You see, living in the hope that we are given in Christ does not mean we are immune to the harsh realities of history. It does mean that we live confidently and expectantly, trusting that the Lord of history continues to come into life with compassion and redemption and hope. And, it means staying awake and aware so we can see how God is very present to us in each moment.
To become aware of God’s presence in our lives, we have to accept what is often difficult, particularly for people in a success-driven culture. We have to accept that human culture is in a mass hypnotic trance. Far too often, we are sleep-walkers and unaware of God’s grace and presence to us. We human beings do not naturally see; we have to be taught how to see. And, this happens as we live together in Christian community, as we participate in the work of the faith community, as we couragesously gather together despite situations that might otherwise create fear, and as we weekly gather together to receive God’s living Word and be fed by the very life of God. As we wait, even in times of chaos, these are the things that enable us to stay awake and aware as God is always present to us and as the God’s kingdom is always coming, breaking into history and breaking into our lives.
The good news in the midst of all of life’s challenges is this: the bridegroom will come, the bridegroom is always coming, and the love of God will continue to appear in our lives in surprising and unexpected ways. You see, Jesus Christ comes when Christian people live in hope and never give up. Jesus Christ comes when faithful disciples express love and compassion and work for justice, even in the face of violence and fear. Jesus Christ comes when we see God’s presence in people who are different from us, when we are able to see our Muslim neighbors, immigrants, refugees, and people whose sexual orientation is different from ours as people created in God’s image and dearly loved children of God. Jesus Christ comes when those who suffer know they are ultimately safe in God’s love. Jesus Christ comes and the kingdom breaks into earth when faithful people live in hope, not fear, and give themselves to the work of God’s kingdom and God’s reign.
I was reading an article this morning about a cosmic encounter that will take place early tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning, the planets Venus and Jupiter will pass each other in the sky. But, the interesting thing is, you must be awake before sunrise if you want to experience this cosmic encounter. This news made me again realize that cosmic encounters are happening to us all of the time as the God of creation, the Cosmic Christ, surprisingly breaks into our lives. But, we need to stay aware and awake to recognize these cosmic encounters.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning! Wait with hope and stay awake! The bridegroom is on the way.
This is a special musical performance of Blest Are They with a solo by Diane Hill.
This is a special musical performance of Special Music - Allegro from Duetto I by Mozart Amadeus Mozart performed by Sara Heft and Chelsea Thibodeau
I love the gospel of Matthew. Matthew was written to communicate the Jesus story to early Jewish Christians and, let me tell you, the writer of this gospel really knew how to tell a story! Beginning with Chapter one, verse one, we hear Jesus called “The Messiah.” The writer of Matthew begins by setting us up for something amazing, something big, something life changing and something surprising by naming Jesus as the Messiah. There had been many would-be messiahs popping up around that time in history, as there have been throughout history. Most of them got the people hyped up about the political scene and Roman oppression. There had been great expectation among Jewish people that a messiah would soon arrive, a messiah who would use military might and power to free them from Roman oppression. So, Matthew’s version of the Jesus story begins by latching on to that expectation and announcing Jesus as the long promised, awaited Messiah. The writer of Matthew continues to build on that expectation by linking Jesus’ genealogy to royalty as King David is named an ancestor of Jesus. The story even includes royal sages from the East who come to pay homage to this newborn Messiah. Then, the knowledge of a newborn king is so threatening to the present Jewish king, King Herod, that Herod has all the infants he can locate massacred. The presence of this newborn king Jesus is so compelling that even powerful Herod fears him.
If that is not enough, the writer of Matthew then tells us about a mighty prophet who enters the scene, John the Baptist. John arrives wearing strange clothing, living in the wilderness and eating bugs, while shouting out and calling people to repent. This wild prophet said, “Turn around – if your life journey is going down the wrong road, turn around and go the other way!” And, with that he began announcing that One who is even more powerful than he is coming, One who “will be powerful enough to bring justice on the wicked and set things right.” (Feasting on the Word, p. 239.)
Well, the stage has been set and excitement levels have been raised. We can almost hear the trumpets blaring as they announce the coming of this new powerful leader. The day has finally come. This is the day that the new leader people have been hearing about is going to make his first major public appearance and they expect something big. People’s excitement levels are shooting off the charts as they sit down on the mountainside and strain their ears to hear what this new, powerful leader is going to say.
So, this new leader climbs up the mountain, just like Moses and David and Elijah, those great leaders from the past. And then, when he finally speaks, he gives his inaugural address and they are not only surprised, they are astounded. They are totally taken aback when they do not hear anything about using power to take charge of the situation they are in. As a matter of fact, what this Messiah is saying has nothing to do with rescuing them from Roman oppression. As he begins to speak he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” He goes on with a whole series of blessings and then says, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven…..”
What?? Rejoice and be glad when you are persecuted? This was definitely not what they had been looking for or hoped for. No. Not only are his words something they did not expect, Jesus also begins his message by saying, “Blessed.” Now, the Jewish people knew their Hebrew scripture and they knew the Psalms. They knew that the great Law psalm, Psalm 1, begins with exactly the same word, blessed. You see, Psalm 1 begins like this, “Blessed is the one who walks not in the way of the wicked but in the way of the Lord.” And, ashar, the Hebrew word for blessed, really means something like “You are on the right road.” So, what Jesus is actually saying is, “You are on the right road when you are poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. You are on the right road when you mourn, for you will be comforted.”
Now, do you begin to understand how astonishing and surprising these words of Jesus were to people 2,000 years ago? This was absolutely NOT what people expected to hear. And, you want to know something else? These words are not what we expect to hear either. You see, we live in a world and culture where the Beatitudes we hear seduce us into believing:
Oh yes, the list goes on and on and on…..
Well, today, Jesus gives us life-giving words that do not fit into the you are on the right road boxes we have created! Today, Jesus is calling his disciples, including each one of us, to walk a very different road. He is calling us to walk the road that is the way of his will for our lives and for this world. And, that road looks very different from the road we hear about day in and day out in our culture. In fact, Jesus is describing a road that is totally countercultural!!
Jesus is calling us to walk the road he initiates, to walk the road that draws us into the very life of God, the road that leads us into the world that is truly real, the road where we will find the deepest and truest meaning in life, the road where we will find life that truly matters! Jesus is saying:
Jesus’ words to us today are not just empty platitudes and promises about something that will happen at some point in the future. No. As Jesus speaks, his words to the people on the mountain and to each one of us announce a whole NEW world. His words announce a whole new world that is breaking in upon us, a world that he is inaugurating, and a world he brings to us. His words are all about the very real world of God, the very real world that becomes flesh and blood through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus calls and invites us to walk with him on the road he is walking, the road where we will find the deepest, truest meaning in life. This is the message the writer of Matthew’s gospel wanted to tell, because the truest gospel in this Sermon on the Mount is Jesus, the One who gives the sermon, the inaugural address: he is the sermon made flesh. (Feasting on the Word, p. 240)
This is a special musical performance of O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir
I will never forget my first piano recital performance in college. I loved to perform and really make good music, but I did NOT like performing from memory. Performing from memory has always been a terrifying experience for me. Anxiety would rule my entire being as I would try to perfectly remember every note on the page and all the precise fingering while implementing every little nuance to create something that sounded like real music and not just a bunch of notes. You see, I was a perfectionist, very focused in on myself. Anyway, there I was on stage in the performance hall playing from memory, performing the first movement of a Mozart sonata. I will never forget the way my right foot shook as I tried to properly use the pedal the way it should be used for playing Mozart. My foot shook terribly because fear controlled my performance. I feared I would have a memory slip, I was fearful of what everyone was thinking, I feared making a mistake and I feared I would fail! Fear permeated my performance and fear held me in bondage. And, the truth is, I did have a memory slip and had to fake my way through it until I got back into a place where I remembered the notes. While only the instructors knew what happened, fear and the desire to be perfect held me captive, preventing me from making the music I so longed to create.
There is a name for this kind of fear that is so rooted in self achievement, so focused in on self, so focused on how one is looked upon by others, a fear that permeates everything one does including the desire to be perfect. It is called sin.
Martin Luther understood sin. He was plagued by his own sin before he discovered God’s unmerited grace. After that great discovery, he talked about sin in a different way. He talked about it in a way that really makes sense. You see, sin is much bigger than simple immorality or immoral behavior. Sin is really the way in which we as people focus in upon ourselves. Sin is when our focus is on the “I” or the ego. It is when the self becomes all important without a thought for God or neighbor. Sin is when we put ourselves in the place of God. And, there are many symptoms of sin. Symptoms include immoral behavior, alcoholism and various forms of addiction, the multiple ways in which our behavior and actions intentionally hurt and attack others, the hateful things we say to others and about others as words become weapons, the way we consider ourselves superior to others. The list goes on and on. And, with sin there is often this sense within us of not measuring up. So, we need the gift of the Law to reveal to us our sinful nature. I like what Nadia Bolz Webber says about sin and the Law. She writes:
Sin is the fact that my ideals and values are never enough to make me always do what I should, feel what I should, think what I should. And anything that reveals those “shoulds” to me is what we call The Law, the Law being the very thing Paul in his letter to the Romans said reveals sin. The “shoulds” in our lives are the things that make us see how far off the mark we are. No matter what we think the “shoulds” are – personal morality and family values and niceness and conservative political convictions or inclusivity and recycling and eating local and progressive political convictions…..there is always always, no matter how hard we try, a gap between our ideal self and our actual self. (NBW 2012 sermon, Why the Gospel is More Wizard of Oz-y Than the Law, on Patheos)
Martin Luther had experienced the weight of the Law and knew what it was like for the Law to convict him. Luther was agonizingly aware of the gap in his own life between his ideal self and his actual self. He was tormented and tortured by his own sin as he found himself unable to measure up to the way he thought he “should” live. Then he discovered the passage we just heard from the book of Romans and it not only changed his life, it changed the world. He discovered salvation is all about God’s grace and it has absolutely nothing to do with works. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do to earn it. In this passage he discovered the truth about grace and that truth liberated him from the bondage he had been in. Luther discovered that this truth about God, as Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, is what really makes you free.
You see, when we try to fulfill all the “shoulds” in life, thinking that is what determines our worth and value, we are in bondage. The Gospel good news is very different. Again, listen to what ELCA pastor, Nadia Bolz Webber says about this good news. She writes:
[The Gospel is] more Wizard of Oz than [the Law and the “shoulds.”] The Gospel is a because because because because proposition. Because God is our creator and because we rebel against the idea of being created beings and insist on trying to be God for ourselves and because God will not play by our rules and because in the fullness of time when God had had quite enough of all of that God became human in Jesus Christ to show us who God really is and because when God came to God’s own and we received him not, and because God would not be deterred God went so far as to hang from a cross we built and did not even lift a finger to condemn but said forgive them for they know not what they are doing and because Jesus Christ defeated even death and the grave and rose on the 3rd day and because we all sin and fall short and are forever turned in on ourselves and forget that we belong to God and that none of our success guarantees this and none of our failures exclude this and because God loves God’s creation God refuses for our sin and brokenness and inability to always do the right things to be the last word because God came to save and not to judge and therefore…..therefore you are saved by grace as a gift and not by the works of the law and this truth will set you free like no self-help plan or healthy living or social justice work “should” [or] can ever do.
People, to enter fully into the glorious liberty of the people of God, we really need to spend more time understanding this gift of grace and thinking about the freedom we have been given in Christ. The greater church needs to spend more time thinking about the gift of freedom we have been given. The church, by and large, for far too long has had a poor record of encouraging freedom. The church has focused on “do’s” and “don’ts”. The church has spent so much time inculcating in us the fear of making mistakes that the church, itself, has made us like ill-taught piano students; we play our songs, but we never really hear them, because our main concern is not to make music, but to avoid some flub that will get us in ditch. “Even the body of the church has been so afraid we will lose sight of the laws of our nature, that the Church often cares more about how we look than about who we are; made us act more like the subjects of a police state than fellow citizens of the saints.” [Robert Capon in Between Noon and Three. p. 148] For far too long, the church has focused on “do’s and don’ts” in regard to people’s behavior and not focused on truly understanding the gift of grace we have been given. You see, when we truly begin to understand grace, we no longer have to justify who we are and what we do, we can then simply respond by living into the fullness of the freedom of God.
So today, as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we give thanks for the Law and for the Gospel. You see, it is the Law that puts us in the place where we can fully hear the gospel. And, quite honestly, when truth is spoken without apology or hesitation, it can often be hard to hear and there is a way in which it will crush us. But, it crushes us so that we can be put back together. And, it is that Gospel word of grace that truly puts us back together and re-forms us. This re-forming happened to me when I realized I did not have to be perfect and it was even ok if I failed. God loves me and accepts me as I am, flaws, failures and all! This is the re-formation that is always happening in our lives. This re-formation is how we are called to live and this re-formation is also God’s call to the church. Live into to the freedom of God’s grace and be re-formed into the people God calls you to be.
This is a special musical performance of Guide My Feet by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with a solo performance by Chris Lewis.
This is a special musical performance of I Will Call Upon His Name by the Joyful Noise children's choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.