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Your Faith Journey

All of us are on a journey of faith in our lives. At Faith Lutheran in Okemos, Michigan we bring people one a journey of faith each week and share that journey with the world.
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Now displaying: December, 2017
Dec 25, 2017

This is a special musical trombone performance of Silent Night by Drew Kipela at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

Dec 25, 2017

This is a special musical trumpet performance by Walter Cano at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

Dec 25, 2017

This is a special musical performance of This Little Babe by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir

Dec 25, 2017

This is a special musical performance of Breath of Heaven by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir, with a solo by Tammy Heilman

Dec 25, 2017

“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. 

 

Dec 25, 2017

This is a special duet choral Christmas Eve performance of Mary Did You Know by Faith Lutheran Church's own Christopher & Paige Lewis.

Dec 25, 2017

This is a special trumpet Christmas Eve performance of Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Faith Lutheran Church's own Juliana Lewis.

Dec 6, 2017

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.

Dec 6, 2017

This is a special musical performance of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel with the Joyful Noise, Tone Chimes and Gwynne Kadrofske on flute.

Dec 6, 2017

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.

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