Seeing the Messiah for the first time ...

Scripture: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 148; Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40

This first Sunday after Christmas, and the first day of the year, we study Luke’s account of the parents of Jesus presenting him in the temple, naming him, and of his bris, or circumcision, a sacred rite. We also are invited to see Jesus, as Anna and Simeon see him after many years and through the clouds of their life disappointments, uncertainties and experiences. No wonders, no miracles. Simeon was old and waited many years to see the Messiah. God granted his wish. He will grant our wish to see him, too, if we open the eyes of our hearts.

In his sermon, The Rev. Ben Helmer tells us that as the light shining forth in the darkness, we need to examine how we have been living, and that it is time to go to work and be the gifted people God created us to be. To be about God’s business, committed to redemption and bringing graciousness to the lives of all people.

The Rev. Dr. Ozzie E. Smith, in “A Sight for Certain Eyes,” invites us to see what happens when expectant eyes see the Lord’s gift. How can we see with certain eyes in jaded times, with an uncertain economy, high prices, foreclosures, war, and the list goes on…? Look through the eyes of enduring faith and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit as did Simeon and Anna.

In “Has the Messiah Come?” Paul Tillich, in The New Being, questioned how we can know the Messiah has come in a world with the Holocaust, weapons which can annihilate us, and those who are unhealed, hungry and broken.  He sees the character of salvation having the nature of a child. Seeing the Messiah in the mystery of a child. Somehow appropriate this season… and all seasons.

And while we are on the subject of children:

• What expectations do we have for our children as they grow towards adulthood? 
• What are our hopes for them? 
• How do we utilize the resources of our faith communities to support children?
• What protection and guidance do we offer them so hopes and expectations can be realized for their flourishing?  
• What responsibilities do all adults have for children, regardless of whether or not they are related to them by blood or marriage?

May God’s peace and the Holy Spirit be with us and guide us through this New Year. In the blessed name of Jesus, we pray.

Christmas - in Heart, Mind & Joyous Realism

Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20); John 1: 1-14

Although we will not have Sunday  School class on Sunday - enjoy the Christmas eve and Christmas services, and the presence and beauty of the Lord's coming in your own ways - I attach a lesson for those who may be interested. I believe there's a little something for everyone.

 

The Rev. Amy Richter gives us a message from and for the heart with a reprint of  The Rev. Richard H. Schmidt's Christmas: "Let Me Hold You, Dear Little Jesus," from Episcopal Life magazine.

 

Debra Dean Murphy, in "The Logic of the Incarnation,"shares historical and philosophical perspectives of the differing gospel accounts of God's coming to us in the gospels of Luke and John, blending "the familial and the philosophical; the provincial and the universal, the personal and the cosmic. And we find our place in a story that at once traverses the dusty roads of Nazareth and the farthest galaxies of the heavens. For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord: in him was life, and the life was the light of all people."

 

Theologian Bruce Epperly , in "The Joy -- and Ambiguity -- of Christmas," tugs at both our hearts and minds, as he brings us a joy grounded in the realism "that life can be difficult.  But, make no mistake, this is the world in which the Christ-child comes -- the world of grieving spouses, homeless families, frightened immigrants; a world of care and uncertainty. This is precisely where "we need a little Christmas" -- not false hope or a good-time God, but an all-season spirituality, grounded in a love that embraces the dark night and the joyful dawn."

 

"On this holy night, when you are a newborn baby, let us cradle you in our arms. Let us hold you and keep you warm. Now, while you are small and vulnerable, let us watch over you. We want to hold you now, because many times in time to come, you will hold us."

 

~ The Rev. Richard H. Schmidt

 

 

"Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”

Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 or Canticle 3 or Canticle 15; 1 Romans 16: 25-27; Luke 1: 26-38

This week we once again consider Mary's wonderful Magnificat, but this time in conjunction with the Annunciation with the angel Gabriel, and in the context of her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist.

 

This Advent, we have experienced waiting in hope for the miracle of God's promise - then, now and when the Lord comes again. Last week our lessons added the joy, wonder, awe and mystery of God choosing to move in and amongst us. This week we consider themes of redemption, faith, trust, commitment and the freedom God so graciously gives us - both in the choice we have to accept, receive and act on the good news in his gift to us in Christ, and the freeing power of God's love for us when we decide to follow his Christ, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world. What a gift!

 

We see how Mary responded to her encounter with God's will for her, and us. See The Rev. Amy Richter 's "Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.” 

 

How will we respond to God's call for us?

 

 

Joy and Mystery - God in man made manifest!

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126 or Canticle 3 or Canticle 15; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

We have considered the message of being alert, of waiting with hope, of being prepared to receive God's most precious gift to us. We have looked at "Christmas to come," so to speak with the apocalyptic readings of the second coming, and of the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare, and make straight the way of the Lord.


This week we learn more about what God is doing from the Isaiah passage, which Jesus read to his fellow villagers in Nazareth as he began his mission, which is repeated in Mary's beautiful song, a paean of joy. We see it in Isaiah's proclamation; "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, 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..." and in Mary's song, "for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed... He has shown strength with his arm; 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."

In "Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God is in the Manger - Reflections on Advent and Christmas,"edited by Jana Reiss, we consider the mystery of God's incarnation, and God's love of the humble and lowly. The mystery of God made manifest in Jesus, a carpenter in a small rural village.

In his homily, The Rev, Charles Hoffacker tells us to shift our attention from inconsequential routine, predictable small talk, and all things that seem safe because we think we can control them, and be alert to the message God is sending us. John the Baptist turned the attention from himself to one whose sandal's he was unworthy to untie - God's power is shown in humility. Don't miss it!

Joy leaps from the page, and from our hearts as we consider the prophet Isaiah's words, Mary's Song, and the passage from Thessalonians. In “Magnificat! Learning to Sing Mary’s Song” The Rev. J.Carl Gregg gives us links to listen to great musical renditions so that we might experience the joy, excitement and favor of God, this young woman experienced, and marvel how joyous she was in her state at that time - an unwed, pregnant teenager. 

Daniel J. Harrington gives us a marvelous scholarly account of the joy God brings us through people he chooses to bring the message, and who are willing to do God's bidding in "Joyous Witnesses."  Harrington would have us ask:

• Where do you find joy in your life? How do you express it?
• How might you articulate the joy that you find in being a Christian to someone seeking for God?
• The joyful witnesses in today’s readings experienced much suffering. What do you think allowed them to remain joyful?

Make Straight the Way - How Do We Prepare for the Lord's Coming?

Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8

Isaiah 40:3 A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

Mark 1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins... He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."


Last week we read and considered scripture about the second coming in our first Sunday of this Advent season. This week, the gospel lesson is as old as Isaiah, and as new as today, as we study the one who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, this week, John the Baptist and his message of repentance. What does it mean to repent? The Greek word is μετανοια. (metanoia), which means change of mind(set). What in our mindset are we called to change to prepare and receive God's most precious gift?

What can we do to prepare for the Lord's coming this year? How will he come?

The Rev. Dr. Russell Levinson, Jr., "Making Straight the Way," sums up John the Baptist's mission of preparing the way of the Lord:"At least one way of preparing for Christmas is this two-fold call of John - first to repent and turn to the Lord Christ with all that we are, and second, to begin a life of living that reflects our love for others.  In the end, the call seems to say our lives were not created to be our own.  They were created as a glorious celebration to be shared with our parents, children, intimate friends, spouses, and our Lord.  John the Baptist spent his entire life preparing for the coming of Another, and we are called to do the same."