As delivered on Thursday 19 February 2009 at the Episcopal Prayer Service at Asbury Theological Seminary...
I want to thank this gathering for the honor it is to address you with a homily. I don’t know a lot about the customs, traditions, orders, and page numbers, but you have graciously allowed me to share my thoughts tonight. In fact, my ignorance is multiplied by the fact that I could not ascertain our allocated scriptures in time to prepare something meaningful, thus we will remember Martin Luther on this, his feast day. At any rate, Thanks very much.
In the late nineteen eighties, rock music in the mainstream was ruled by massive bands that would only play to sold out stadiums. Their lyrics and artistry had devolved to the point where all evidence of the artisan was faded out in order to keep records off shelves and money in the calloused hands of the musicians themselves as well as in the callous pockets of those in the music industry. But simmering beneath the surface, primarily on the college campuses, but also in the small towns, in the poor areas of big cities something was afoot. This was not new: good modern music has always come from these places in some way shape or form. Out of this undercurrent came a few people that ultimately reshaped rock music in their image, regardless of the fact that it was not their intent. One of these figures, one Kurt Cobain, kicked and screamed the whole way towards changing the entire popular music culture. This process happened frightfully quickly, which is why you still hear people grumbling nonsense about how Poison could have gone on forever if it weren’t for that skinny twerp. He was a reluctant rock star indeed, deeply resenting the success that got him to where he was on the cultural stage. And yet, Cobain soldiered on for a time before his suicide, creating some of the most memorable music of the nineteen nineties. Cobain’s influence is till felt today among the many strains of popular rock music, a fact that he himself would regard as absurd. After all, he was just a punk rocker from Aberdeen, Washington.
Why would I talk about Kurt Cobain when this is Martin Luther’s feast day? I just could not let this day go by with noting the tangential similarities of early nineties rock and roll and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, that’s why. But do forgive me, as Cobain and Luther are, in fact, very different people; Luther’s formidable mind might explode if he heard the accented twos and fours of rock music’s back beat, and Cobain’s already addled soul would never have been able to withstand the pressure of the medieval church’s outlook on the justice of God.
But Luther was himself a recalcitrant reformer in many ways, was he not? He was not so excited about becoming a monk. He was not convinced that he should become a Doctor of theology. He was not necessarily intent on starting a “Western Protestantism.” Luther was a man of his time, a time of debate and reform within the Catholic Church. But Luther was also a man of conflict and talent. Indeed, there are a great many stories of Luther’s monastic and conflicted piety: confessing all day and night to the dismay of his confessor, living in the constant fear and even secret hatred of the God that damned sinners each just one example of the poles in which Luther existed. Luther is that sort of person that returns the gift of integrity to a dying system, a type of person that has existed since humans could tell each other about each other, a type of person that is certainly found in the person of Jesus, and certainly the type of person that all Christians are allowed to be. Indeed, Luther gives us yet another human model on how to stand in the face of the false and stubbornly yet lovingly defend that which is true, that truth we find in the Gospel, which is available to all of mankind.
Time does not permit to elucidate the contribution Herr Doctor Luther has given the Western Church. This is a prayer meeting and not doctrine class, nor Church History Class. I will not be giving a careful and nuanced explication of Luther’s notion of justification by faith alone, nor any of the other theological precepts we now cherish as part of our Protestant theological heritage and orientation. Rather, I wanted to note three of Luther’s theological concepts that we may take for our Christian journey on this night and perhaps throughout our hopefully many years in service to the master.
1) Corum Deo: “in the presence of God: Luther’s complaints with the scholastic theologians of the medieval period were many, but he certainly hated the idea of a God that existed solely as proposition, or as some unifying theory. No, God refuses to sit within the confines of human categorical analyses. To Luther, God is always with us, always in our business, always advocating for us, always working his justice and mercy. For us as seminarians, may we take this idea and run with it! Never may we allow our studies permit us to confine God to our minds and research papers and rob Him of His person. For it is that triune community of Godhead and personality that is worth worshipping tonight, not some lofty and disengaged ultimate ideal.
2) Christus pro Me, pro Nobis: “Christ for me, for us”: Luther never actually systematized a theory of atonement, which may be due to his never having written a formal systematic theology (much like one John Wesley, so when someone says Wesley didn’t do one, just say neither did Luther!) and was much more interested in writing in a more ad hoc, even pastoral manner. But one reality Luther was convinced was that the actions taken by Jesus on the cross were efficient for me and for us. Even though the work of salvation is that of the Godhead, we live in the reality that a savior has worked for us. That reality is present as the Kingdom, and we forget at our peril the personal as well as the communal components of the fact that Christ was on the tree for us.
3) Anfechtung: “dread, anxiety”: An interesting component to Luther’s theology is the struggle of the believer. It strikes me as a bit too German for my tastes, my sunny British blood is a little uncomfortable with this notion that the life of the Christian is lived in the dread anxiety of temptation and on watchful guard from the enemy’s snares. But it is a matter of perspective, which is to say that my Teutonic brother has a point. Christian life is a struggle: against the evil of this world, the injustice we face, and certainly the sins that we still commit whilst in the process of being made more like Christ. We must realize that our faith does make life difficult on some level, but those other two aspects we talked about steel us and encourage us for the difficult tasks given to us.
As a fan of Wesley, I am fan of Luther as we owe a lot to his efforts. Indeed, my work here at Asbury might look very different without the Reverend Doctor. So on his feast day, I suppose I would thank him for riling everyone up and nailing those theses. As a former punk rocker myself for my part, Luther remains a favorite for being so strangely, delightfully, and earnestly subversive. Thanks Martin. An thanks to all of you for Listening!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
An "Outnaugural Adress"
As delivered on February 4, 2009 as my last sermon on teaching staff at Melbourne Community Church
Our scripture tonight [James 4:3-5:20] reveals something about where we place our hope, whether it is temporal or eternal. The rich have their hope here and store it here, which leads them to work injustice. If this thought is a prelude, may it register as a reminder to we who live in this country that we are rich in comparison to the rest of the world. While we need not necessarily feel guilty, we should be mindful of where we place our trust and hope and especially how we treat those around us.
When I thought about teaching James, the first thing I realized was that obviously this was one of those thoughts rooted in the Spirit. It was so obvious because it was something I had often dreaded while reading the letter myself, many times vowing to avoid teaching it for as long as possible. It must be of God because I would never do it on my own. But here some of us are at any rate. We have gone over how Luther feels about James’ letter once a month since the summer of last year. We have learned to quit squirming about faith and works (just to review, read James 4:17 to get a gist) and become active in our faith We have spoken aloud the similarities between the teachings of James and the teachings of Christ himself and perhaps even investigated said similarities for ourselves in the text of the New Testament.
Now considering where the text leaves us this night, perhaps you think to yourselves that we will hear more woe-ing, that I mean to admonish some more injustice as per James’ harsh rhetoric. I assure you brothers and sisters, that this is not the case. Rather I wish to lift up one of those things that makes faith active in our lives though at times we may think it in short supply.
That is Hope.
As I was reading this text again and again to attempt to teach it, It always struck me that there are a lot of difficult instructions, especially when one notices that these instructions are meant to be taken together, in order that life may be lived together and that life together would be understood as how God would have us exist in His Kingdom before the consummation of all things-and after. A tall order for those among us who have trouble getting along with everyone all the time, which is to say, a tall order for everyone. Yet James knew when he wrote his letter that his instructions were certainly possible to follow, just as Jesus understood the possibility of living out the Sermon on the Mount. These thing are not impossible instructions meant only for the hereafter, nor are they meant necessarily to oppress. In fact the opposite is true on both counts. The Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated is to be lived here in the present, and its rule is that of justice; the Kingdom by its nature in Christ’s life, teaching, death, resurrection and return IS hope to all humanity. To add perspective, if even the vilest of sinners may be saved from hell by the blood of Christ, then there is certainly enough hope left over for us to be kind to one another.
Once again, we hope because the Kingdom is here; because of the life and work of Christ; because God did as promised and came to us in order to bring us to himself. In Christ, this is the reality that we live in, that God lived among us incarnate as man. This profound mystery of the kingdom, this Gospel, should always fill us with the hope of the first believers to hear the news. In their ears, they heard the call of the master to take away the oppression not just of their own sin, but the oppression of their present circumstance. They knew, as we should now that with the coming of Christ came the end of the old way and the dawn of the new. “Strength for the day and bright hope for tomorrow. These blessings all ours and ten thousand beside,” to borrow from a hymn. The master is still calling us to live in his rule just as those first followers heard all those years ago.
Perhaps in these hard times I am being unrealistic. Perhaps I am coming off as a cheer leader, perhaps this is a bit too much Pollyanna. My response is not Pollyanna: deal with it. For as Jesus always reminded those early followers: ours is not to worry, rather ours is to be waiting, working, ever hoping for his return. We indeed live in interesting times. We have new leadership in our country and for many, that is cause for concern. Abroad there are conflicts and rumors of conflict and for many that is cause for concern. There are new and strange ideas challenging old ones and for many that is cause for concern. It is true that the world is caught in its sin: violent, lustful, vain: false. It is true that the world is a place of inequity and oppression. Brothers and sisters, these are the things that are cause for concern. The injustice that stems from the sickness of sin are those things that put our hope into stark relief. And yet! We must always be aware to give an account of our hope, not only because we want to be good witnesses, but because we know deep down that he whom in which we put our hopes is he who is infinitely good and that is certainly worth sharing. Indeed the hope that we lean on surely does not end the suffering in the world (yet) but it gives us the willingness and ability to aid the suffering in our midst, even to the point where we follow in the example of our Savior by suffering in order that there are those that do not.
This outlandish hope should make no sense to the thoroughly rational man. While we have the benefit of 2 thousand years of Christian reflection to bolster our claims to rationality, let’s be honest with each other and admit that we, by all accounts probably seem pretty crazy. Mind, I speak not because of our peculiar beliefs but because what peculiar activities stem from those peculiar beliefs. It probably seemed pretty crazy for St. Francis to leave everything his father gave him behind to wander in poverty. It probably seemed pretty crazy to hear Brother Lawrence praising God whilst cleaning the dirtiest dishes. It probably seemed pretty crazy for Mother Theresa to live among the lepers and poor of India. It certainly seems crazy to think about telling people about the boundless love of God in a world that seems so easy to ignore in its sin. Or put another way, it seems crazy to be charitable in a time when it seems the most wise to conserve and save. I guess then, that we are crazy. For that hope which makes us alive in Christ, and that love of his for all of God’s children must necessarily activate us to live lives out of an ethic of hope. We simply do not have the luxury of worry or judgment. No, it is God who is concerned on our behalf and judges according to HIS perfect law. Instead we have the riches of charity and mercy to guide our hands, those things extolled by Jesus by his teachings, his life and the writing of his apostles.
That is not to say that our new/old ethic of hope is easy. As a friend of mine is fond of saying: where does it say that the Christian life is supposed to be easy? Certainly not the Bible! I will not even say that there is true consensus on what living life out of Christological hope looks like. One may only look at the phone book and see the number of churches in our city alone to see there are a number of opinions on the matter. One may look at the great volumeof wonderful (an not so wonderful) literature written on the subject. But, dear church, I have some advice if you’ll oblige me:
1) Don’t squash your optimists. They are not all as naïve as they seem.
2) Be not a bystander to works of good. Nor look upon good works as a duty but as a power granted to you out of grace. Exercise your power!
3) Do not fear your “radicals.” Listen to what they have to say and protect them with love and prayer.
4) Pray fervently that God would use you to be a bringer of the hope found in Christ to all that encounter you: individually and corporately.
5) Finally: be bound together in love and bear with each other. Work to build the kingdom together and be waiting together for Jesus’ next visit.
Brothers and sisters, I want to thank you for the years of care you have given me and my wife, and the opportunities this church body has afforded us. It has been an honor to teach and serve your young adults. It has been an honor to rouse your members into attempts at home construction and renovation. It has been an honor to welcome the young people of our community into your doors to enjoy affordable local concerts. It has truly been an honor warbling songs of praise with you as tonight. I thank you for letting me share with you these long months. I thank you for all of your many prayers. I hope our time together was as good and true to you as it was to me. In order hat we fully celebrate our time together I think it best that we break bread together as the church has done ever since it has been a church.
Benediction:
May the Lord Bless you and keep you
May He make his face o shine upon you
And give you peace.
Go in God’s grace,
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.
Our scripture tonight [James 4:3-5:20] reveals something about where we place our hope, whether it is temporal or eternal. The rich have their hope here and store it here, which leads them to work injustice. If this thought is a prelude, may it register as a reminder to we who live in this country that we are rich in comparison to the rest of the world. While we need not necessarily feel guilty, we should be mindful of where we place our trust and hope and especially how we treat those around us.
When I thought about teaching James, the first thing I realized was that obviously this was one of those thoughts rooted in the Spirit. It was so obvious because it was something I had often dreaded while reading the letter myself, many times vowing to avoid teaching it for as long as possible. It must be of God because I would never do it on my own. But here some of us are at any rate. We have gone over how Luther feels about James’ letter once a month since the summer of last year. We have learned to quit squirming about faith and works (just to review, read James 4:17 to get a gist) and become active in our faith We have spoken aloud the similarities between the teachings of James and the teachings of Christ himself and perhaps even investigated said similarities for ourselves in the text of the New Testament.
Now considering where the text leaves us this night, perhaps you think to yourselves that we will hear more woe-ing, that I mean to admonish some more injustice as per James’ harsh rhetoric. I assure you brothers and sisters, that this is not the case. Rather I wish to lift up one of those things that makes faith active in our lives though at times we may think it in short supply.
That is Hope.
As I was reading this text again and again to attempt to teach it, It always struck me that there are a lot of difficult instructions, especially when one notices that these instructions are meant to be taken together, in order that life may be lived together and that life together would be understood as how God would have us exist in His Kingdom before the consummation of all things-and after. A tall order for those among us who have trouble getting along with everyone all the time, which is to say, a tall order for everyone. Yet James knew when he wrote his letter that his instructions were certainly possible to follow, just as Jesus understood the possibility of living out the Sermon on the Mount. These thing are not impossible instructions meant only for the hereafter, nor are they meant necessarily to oppress. In fact the opposite is true on both counts. The Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated is to be lived here in the present, and its rule is that of justice; the Kingdom by its nature in Christ’s life, teaching, death, resurrection and return IS hope to all humanity. To add perspective, if even the vilest of sinners may be saved from hell by the blood of Christ, then there is certainly enough hope left over for us to be kind to one another.
Once again, we hope because the Kingdom is here; because of the life and work of Christ; because God did as promised and came to us in order to bring us to himself. In Christ, this is the reality that we live in, that God lived among us incarnate as man. This profound mystery of the kingdom, this Gospel, should always fill us with the hope of the first believers to hear the news. In their ears, they heard the call of the master to take away the oppression not just of their own sin, but the oppression of their present circumstance. They knew, as we should now that with the coming of Christ came the end of the old way and the dawn of the new. “Strength for the day and bright hope for tomorrow. These blessings all ours and ten thousand beside,” to borrow from a hymn. The master is still calling us to live in his rule just as those first followers heard all those years ago.
Perhaps in these hard times I am being unrealistic. Perhaps I am coming off as a cheer leader, perhaps this is a bit too much Pollyanna. My response is not Pollyanna: deal with it. For as Jesus always reminded those early followers: ours is not to worry, rather ours is to be waiting, working, ever hoping for his return. We indeed live in interesting times. We have new leadership in our country and for many, that is cause for concern. Abroad there are conflicts and rumors of conflict and for many that is cause for concern. There are new and strange ideas challenging old ones and for many that is cause for concern. It is true that the world is caught in its sin: violent, lustful, vain: false. It is true that the world is a place of inequity and oppression. Brothers and sisters, these are the things that are cause for concern. The injustice that stems from the sickness of sin are those things that put our hope into stark relief. And yet! We must always be aware to give an account of our hope, not only because we want to be good witnesses, but because we know deep down that he whom in which we put our hopes is he who is infinitely good and that is certainly worth sharing. Indeed the hope that we lean on surely does not end the suffering in the world (yet) but it gives us the willingness and ability to aid the suffering in our midst, even to the point where we follow in the example of our Savior by suffering in order that there are those that do not.
This outlandish hope should make no sense to the thoroughly rational man. While we have the benefit of 2 thousand years of Christian reflection to bolster our claims to rationality, let’s be honest with each other and admit that we, by all accounts probably seem pretty crazy. Mind, I speak not because of our peculiar beliefs but because what peculiar activities stem from those peculiar beliefs. It probably seemed pretty crazy for St. Francis to leave everything his father gave him behind to wander in poverty. It probably seemed pretty crazy to hear Brother Lawrence praising God whilst cleaning the dirtiest dishes. It probably seemed pretty crazy for Mother Theresa to live among the lepers and poor of India. It certainly seems crazy to think about telling people about the boundless love of God in a world that seems so easy to ignore in its sin. Or put another way, it seems crazy to be charitable in a time when it seems the most wise to conserve and save. I guess then, that we are crazy. For that hope which makes us alive in Christ, and that love of his for all of God’s children must necessarily activate us to live lives out of an ethic of hope. We simply do not have the luxury of worry or judgment. No, it is God who is concerned on our behalf and judges according to HIS perfect law. Instead we have the riches of charity and mercy to guide our hands, those things extolled by Jesus by his teachings, his life and the writing of his apostles.
That is not to say that our new/old ethic of hope is easy. As a friend of mine is fond of saying: where does it say that the Christian life is supposed to be easy? Certainly not the Bible! I will not even say that there is true consensus on what living life out of Christological hope looks like. One may only look at the phone book and see the number of churches in our city alone to see there are a number of opinions on the matter. One may look at the great volumeof wonderful (an not so wonderful) literature written on the subject. But, dear church, I have some advice if you’ll oblige me:
1) Don’t squash your optimists. They are not all as naïve as they seem.
2) Be not a bystander to works of good. Nor look upon good works as a duty but as a power granted to you out of grace. Exercise your power!
3) Do not fear your “radicals.” Listen to what they have to say and protect them with love and prayer.
4) Pray fervently that God would use you to be a bringer of the hope found in Christ to all that encounter you: individually and corporately.
5) Finally: be bound together in love and bear with each other. Work to build the kingdom together and be waiting together for Jesus’ next visit.
Brothers and sisters, I want to thank you for the years of care you have given me and my wife, and the opportunities this church body has afforded us. It has been an honor to teach and serve your young adults. It has been an honor to rouse your members into attempts at home construction and renovation. It has been an honor to welcome the young people of our community into your doors to enjoy affordable local concerts. It has truly been an honor warbling songs of praise with you as tonight. I thank you for letting me share with you these long months. I thank you for all of your many prayers. I hope our time together was as good and true to you as it was to me. In order hat we fully celebrate our time together I think it best that we break bread together as the church has done ever since it has been a church.
Benediction:
May the Lord Bless you and keep you
May He make his face o shine upon you
And give you peace.
Go in God’s grace,
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.
Christmas Eve Sermon
As given on December 24th 2008:
Prayer:
Lord God, Thank you for having us here together. Tonight we have gathered to sing, to read, to pray and to enjoy your presence. We hope you are well pleased.
While we always wish to remember the work you did on the tree, tonight we propose to celebrate your birth: in order that we may gather some lesson about the character of your ministry from the nature of your birth.
May the story of your birth teach us how to make our stories line up with yours, may the Gospel narrative enliven and be reflected by the life of the church. May we never cease to draw our sustenance from your generous gift of the Ghost, whom counsels us daily,
Father we thank you for the gift of your Son. In your name, in Jesus’ name and in the name of the Holy Ghost…
Amen.
Homily:
Hello friends! Thanks so much for joining us tonight, the night before the day which a heck of a lot of people have celebrated the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We have done this as the church, and indeed as world culture, for well over a millennia and a half. It’s nice to have precedent.
By the way, since I have editorial control: 3 seminary geek things I like about Christmas time:
1) Laughing when I hear that people steal baby Jesus from nativity scenes. Funny because people get so upset about their graven image and funnier still because it brings new meaning to “personal savior.” Someone at Bible Study said it would be smart to put a Lojack in Baby Jesus. Insert joke about Omniscience here.
2) Protestants talk just a little more about Mary than usual around this time. Not too much…but a little more.
3) People who are not typically generous, are around this time of year. More on that later.
Of course, Christmas Eve comes at the tail end of what many in that millennia and a half plus time span have called Advent. Advent, within the church being the liturgical time we set aside before we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. So. Here we are at the end of that time. Many see a service like this one as the church’s way of saying “Hey! I’m not done with you yet!” Many would probably be right and I must confess that sentiment will become all to clear as I continue this homily.
When I started writing this homily, I came to a stopping point ad looked back on my words. I must admit that I was ashamed upon further reflection of the words I had so carefully parsed and committed to screen. In order to give you a better idea of the timbre of my message, imagine a birthday party where some of your closest friends showed up. Now imagine this was an open invitation and there were some people there who you’d like to know, but had thus far been unable to garner much of their attention. Now imagine the guy putting on the birthday party taking the time to yell at the finds al the while making the invited strangers feel really awkward. Imagine how you would feel when you walked into the party and found Angela from the Office dressing down the whole room. I was being Angela from the office: my least favorite character.
There was a bit that I liked that did not completely miss the point and that is where we will start tonight: I want to reflect a little on some people in the nativity accounts besides Jesus, Mary, and Joe. In Matthew, we are introduced to the Magi. In Luke we journey with shepherds. By looking at these groups and how they interact with Herod, angels, and One Messiah, that we may get a interesting idea on how amazing Jesus’ birth was and what it meant to the whole world.
Without going into too much detail, time is limited after all; the Magi were gentiles from the east. As such, they were outsiders to the revealed work of God insofar that they might be aware of the Hebrews and their peculiar monotheism but they would not be, say, “in the tent,” having working knowledge of the books of Moses and so on. How fascinating is it then, that Matthew, probably writing to Jews, has these gentile astrologers taking the time out of their busy stargazing schedule to come and recognize the Messiah being born. The Shepherds of Luke, are pretty much the scum of the earth as far as Israel is concerned; smelly, dirty, haggard, ceremonially unclean, and basically the last guys you would want to be around as the incarnate Lord is born…
But they are treated to an ancient outdoor extradimensional arena rock concert by none other than the angelic hosts. Something must be up with this whole incarnation thing when dudes that smell like sheep are invited over to see this Messiah person.
But this is at the poetic heart of the Gospel isn’t it? Quality time with Christ is open to all; for Matthew, especially to these crazy gentile astrologers, for Luke, especially these dirty old ranch hands. The miracle of the incarnation was meant to be experienced and enjoyed by all people regardless of race, station, or smell. It still inspires awe in modern day Magi and Shepherds who come to hear the voice of the Master.
Now, we could go a certain rhetorical direction and try to see if our personal stories line up with these ones. This is called ‘spiritualizing.’ I have looked down this road and found it to be dangerous, mostly because this road bypasses the point. In fact, I think the real hero of the nativity story is Mary anyway. What would you say to God after he sends an angel to tell you something crazy like “virgin birth?”
Practicality aside, the point here, now, is not so much whether you are a Shepherd or an Astrologer, or the Blessed Virgin. The point is that the greatest miracle of all time, even more astounding in my opinion than even creation, even more spectacular than parting the red seas, and way more long lasting than turning water to wine, although maybe as awesome as his resurrection, happened that night so long ago in the most humble of places. This miracle, not just the birth by a virgin, but the coming of God in the form of a man, this mysterious incarnation, is somewhere close to the theological heart of the Gospel.
I don’t want to get to technical with the ins and outs of this profound reality, but I do want to explore what the generosity of God and his gift of Himself in His Son. It is by this gift humanity receives the invitation to be reconciled, to have its relationship fully restored, to its estranged Creator. It is by this gift that humanity may be reconciled to itself, with the fullness of what it means to live together in due time. This gift holds the promise that even the thrills of modern technology, democratic elections, and even Nintendo Wii cannot even touch: the restoration of what humanity was supposed to be all along. In Jesus, we have life as it was meant to be with the grace from the Father to make it a reality in a fallen world with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to keep our feet planted when the ground is prone to shift.
It is God’s generosity that we model on Christmas. Therefore, for all of our bluster, so long as people give on Christmas, the point is always at least symbolically referenced, and thus Christ will never be expunged from Christmas. So long as there is good will towards men and generous tidings, no whim of culture can exorcise the will of God as imprinted on this season. If you would oblige me a suggestion: Be generous materially this season, especially for those in need. For if God had to become man of flesh and bone in order to fulfill His plan, what good is generosity in words only. Furthermore, Jesus came to give good news to the poor. What news is it to the hungry to be saved only after death? What better news is it to have the opportunity to eat or be safe or to be comforted? Thus, we as people following after God’s gift in Jesus are again able to reflect God’s generosity by caring for those whom he guards and loves but the world so easily forgets.
And perhaps here we can connect our stories to Magi and Shepherds: as they were people who had no business entering into fellowship with the God of Israel. And perhaps we are thus. But the fact remains that Jesus was born. He left the comforts of eternity and stepped into linear human history to bring us back. Christmas 2000 years ago was the beginning of the work of redemption wrought by Christ in his earthly life, work that culminated in his death on the cross and his the work that continues in his church all these years later. If perchance you are here without knowing that Jesus has come to meet you too, I hope and pray that the Christ we have sung to and about, prayed to and reflected on, is someone that you would care to know and perhaps to love.
Thanks for listening, Christ’s peace be with you.
Benediction:
The Lord Bless you and Keep you and make His face shine upon you, And may he bring you peace:
Go in the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
Lord God, Thank you for having us here together. Tonight we have gathered to sing, to read, to pray and to enjoy your presence. We hope you are well pleased.
While we always wish to remember the work you did on the tree, tonight we propose to celebrate your birth: in order that we may gather some lesson about the character of your ministry from the nature of your birth.
May the story of your birth teach us how to make our stories line up with yours, may the Gospel narrative enliven and be reflected by the life of the church. May we never cease to draw our sustenance from your generous gift of the Ghost, whom counsels us daily,
Father we thank you for the gift of your Son. In your name, in Jesus’ name and in the name of the Holy Ghost…
Amen.
Homily:
Hello friends! Thanks so much for joining us tonight, the night before the day which a heck of a lot of people have celebrated the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We have done this as the church, and indeed as world culture, for well over a millennia and a half. It’s nice to have precedent.
By the way, since I have editorial control: 3 seminary geek things I like about Christmas time:
1) Laughing when I hear that people steal baby Jesus from nativity scenes. Funny because people get so upset about their graven image and funnier still because it brings new meaning to “personal savior.” Someone at Bible Study said it would be smart to put a Lojack in Baby Jesus. Insert joke about Omniscience here.
2) Protestants talk just a little more about Mary than usual around this time. Not too much…but a little more.
3) People who are not typically generous, are around this time of year. More on that later.
Of course, Christmas Eve comes at the tail end of what many in that millennia and a half plus time span have called Advent. Advent, within the church being the liturgical time we set aside before we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. So. Here we are at the end of that time. Many see a service like this one as the church’s way of saying “Hey! I’m not done with you yet!” Many would probably be right and I must confess that sentiment will become all to clear as I continue this homily.
When I started writing this homily, I came to a stopping point ad looked back on my words. I must admit that I was ashamed upon further reflection of the words I had so carefully parsed and committed to screen. In order to give you a better idea of the timbre of my message, imagine a birthday party where some of your closest friends showed up. Now imagine this was an open invitation and there were some people there who you’d like to know, but had thus far been unable to garner much of their attention. Now imagine the guy putting on the birthday party taking the time to yell at the finds al the while making the invited strangers feel really awkward. Imagine how you would feel when you walked into the party and found Angela from the Office dressing down the whole room. I was being Angela from the office: my least favorite character.
There was a bit that I liked that did not completely miss the point and that is where we will start tonight: I want to reflect a little on some people in the nativity accounts besides Jesus, Mary, and Joe. In Matthew, we are introduced to the Magi. In Luke we journey with shepherds. By looking at these groups and how they interact with Herod, angels, and One Messiah, that we may get a interesting idea on how amazing Jesus’ birth was and what it meant to the whole world.
Without going into too much detail, time is limited after all; the Magi were gentiles from the east. As such, they were outsiders to the revealed work of God insofar that they might be aware of the Hebrews and their peculiar monotheism but they would not be, say, “in the tent,” having working knowledge of the books of Moses and so on. How fascinating is it then, that Matthew, probably writing to Jews, has these gentile astrologers taking the time out of their busy stargazing schedule to come and recognize the Messiah being born. The Shepherds of Luke, are pretty much the scum of the earth as far as Israel is concerned; smelly, dirty, haggard, ceremonially unclean, and basically the last guys you would want to be around as the incarnate Lord is born…
But they are treated to an ancient outdoor extradimensional arena rock concert by none other than the angelic hosts. Something must be up with this whole incarnation thing when dudes that smell like sheep are invited over to see this Messiah person.
But this is at the poetic heart of the Gospel isn’t it? Quality time with Christ is open to all; for Matthew, especially to these crazy gentile astrologers, for Luke, especially these dirty old ranch hands. The miracle of the incarnation was meant to be experienced and enjoyed by all people regardless of race, station, or smell. It still inspires awe in modern day Magi and Shepherds who come to hear the voice of the Master.
Now, we could go a certain rhetorical direction and try to see if our personal stories line up with these ones. This is called ‘spiritualizing.’ I have looked down this road and found it to be dangerous, mostly because this road bypasses the point. In fact, I think the real hero of the nativity story is Mary anyway. What would you say to God after he sends an angel to tell you something crazy like “virgin birth?”
Practicality aside, the point here, now, is not so much whether you are a Shepherd or an Astrologer, or the Blessed Virgin. The point is that the greatest miracle of all time, even more astounding in my opinion than even creation, even more spectacular than parting the red seas, and way more long lasting than turning water to wine, although maybe as awesome as his resurrection, happened that night so long ago in the most humble of places. This miracle, not just the birth by a virgin, but the coming of God in the form of a man, this mysterious incarnation, is somewhere close to the theological heart of the Gospel.
I don’t want to get to technical with the ins and outs of this profound reality, but I do want to explore what the generosity of God and his gift of Himself in His Son. It is by this gift humanity receives the invitation to be reconciled, to have its relationship fully restored, to its estranged Creator. It is by this gift that humanity may be reconciled to itself, with the fullness of what it means to live together in due time. This gift holds the promise that even the thrills of modern technology, democratic elections, and even Nintendo Wii cannot even touch: the restoration of what humanity was supposed to be all along. In Jesus, we have life as it was meant to be with the grace from the Father to make it a reality in a fallen world with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to keep our feet planted when the ground is prone to shift.
It is God’s generosity that we model on Christmas. Therefore, for all of our bluster, so long as people give on Christmas, the point is always at least symbolically referenced, and thus Christ will never be expunged from Christmas. So long as there is good will towards men and generous tidings, no whim of culture can exorcise the will of God as imprinted on this season. If you would oblige me a suggestion: Be generous materially this season, especially for those in need. For if God had to become man of flesh and bone in order to fulfill His plan, what good is generosity in words only. Furthermore, Jesus came to give good news to the poor. What news is it to the hungry to be saved only after death? What better news is it to have the opportunity to eat or be safe or to be comforted? Thus, we as people following after God’s gift in Jesus are again able to reflect God’s generosity by caring for those whom he guards and loves but the world so easily forgets.
And perhaps here we can connect our stories to Magi and Shepherds: as they were people who had no business entering into fellowship with the God of Israel. And perhaps we are thus. But the fact remains that Jesus was born. He left the comforts of eternity and stepped into linear human history to bring us back. Christmas 2000 years ago was the beginning of the work of redemption wrought by Christ in his earthly life, work that culminated in his death on the cross and his the work that continues in his church all these years later. If perchance you are here without knowing that Jesus has come to meet you too, I hope and pray that the Christ we have sung to and about, prayed to and reflected on, is someone that you would care to know and perhaps to love.
Thanks for listening, Christ’s peace be with you.
Benediction:
The Lord Bless you and Keep you and make His face shine upon you, And may he bring you peace:
Go in the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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