The Edge of the Darkness

A long, long time ago the Apostle Paul, a man who suffered countless troubles and endured untold persecution, sat down and wrote for the ages, "...giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  (Ephesians 5:20)  We read those words with either wonder or skepticism.  Most of us wonder if such is really possible.  How can anyone live through some of the horrible things thrust upon them and still be thankful?  And, if someone appears to be living in such a way, we wonder if it is not just some kind of stoic act. 

 

What must be understood about the Word of God is that it does not direct us toward a life that is impossible.  It may not be possible if we are depending solely on our own strength and will power, but surely it is something attainable as we learn to live depending on the Holy Spirit.  One thing is certain.  Most of us need some practice in this particular aspect of the gratitude discipline.  As we begin it might be a good thing to look not at the horrible thing visited upon us or someone we love, but to look at the edges.  In other words, do not look directly into the darkness that is surrounding you or your loved one, but look toward the edges.  Maybe this is where being thankful at all times and in everything begins. 

 

It is on the edges of the darkness that we begin to see the caregivers, the ones who are choosing to stand alongside, the helpers, the ones who will not quit, the ones who give the gift of compassion, and the ones who are praying.  As we start looking at the darkness in such a way, we start seeing the things for which we can with integrity be thankful.  Some sufferers come to a place where they name their darkness and declare their thanksgiving to God for it.  As we see them, we are truly amazed and inspired.  Maybe we are not at that place yet, but as we start looking toward the edges of the darkness we are moving in the direction of an even greater gratitude. 

God's Eternity

These days come,

    like a ticking clock

    constantly moving.

Behind I run,

    never ahead,

    not fast enough.

Wishing for more,

    minutes and hours,

    days and nights.

Always knowing,

    days are fleeting,

    few left ahead.

 

Much still to do,

    slowly embracing,

    the left undone.

One day soon,

    the last tick ticks,

    leaving what's left.

What I've done,

    remembered briefly,

    soon forgotten.

Here for a moment,

    there forever,

    God's eternity. 

   

An Old Friend

A old friend surprised me today with a phone call.  We first related to one another as pastor and church member and then after a move to another church, it became a relationship that spoke of friendship.  For over 40 years now we have stayed connected to one another.  Sometimes that connection was nurtured more than at other times, but always enough that it was sustained.  Today's call came after several months of not hearing from one another.  It was truly one of the best gifts of the Christmas season.  

 

Sometimes we forget that friendship is such a precious gift.  I will remember those moments on the phone, hearing this voice that has touched my life for decades, and being reminded of his daily prayers in my behalf long after any other gift given during these days.  It is the kind of gift we can all give.  No money is necessary.  The only cost is a little time.  People are hungry to know they are remembered.  People want to know their life is still valued by others.  People want to know the emotional warmth which comes from the loving and caring touch of a friend.

Perhaps, there is still a gift for us to give before the Christmas season is too far in the past.  Think for a moment about those who might feel forgotten.  Think of those who might feel that no one cares for them or even remembers their name.  Think of those who have been called friend in days past, but who have disappeared from view because of our pre-occupation with being busy.  Think for a moment and then make a decision to reach out again to someone who has been a blessing in your life, but hardly feels blessed at all.  As we have been blessed, let us be a blessing in the name of Christ. 

The Deconsecrated Church

On the third Sunday of June in 1971 I stood and preached from the pulpit of the Stapleton United Methodist Church for the first time.  I would preach from that pulpit every first and third Sunday morning for the next three years.  The Stapleton Church which was a part of a three point circuit was the first one to which I went as one sent by a Bishop.  I was green as green can be.    I was taking classes on preaching in seminary and learning how to preach from that first pulpit at Stapleton.  It was also where I started writing, doing a weekly religious column for the county newspaper.

So, I was saddened a few weeks ago when I heard the Stapleton Church was closing.  The last service was December 4.  It was a moment for formally disbanding the congregation and deconsecrating the building and the grounds so that it could be used for other purposes.  Deconsecrating what has throughout its history been sacred has always been a problem for me.  Can such a thing be done with words and ritual?  Can what has been regarded as holy for over a hundred years suddenly become "unholy?'  The whole business is just unsettling and uncomfortable to think about.

On those grounds and in that building people lives were changed.  How many prayers were prayed on bended knee around its altar?  How many times was the Holy Meal offered and received?  How many times did the baptismal water stir announcing the birth of a new believer?  And what about all those marriages consecrated and funerals of the saints?  In the beginning there was likely a moment of setting the place apart for holy purposes, but that setting apart was made even stronger as one after another passed that way for significant spiritual moments in their lives.  Maybe the record says the Stapleton Church is no longer a holy place, but such is not what I will see whenever I pass that way again.

Another Christmas Past

We call the night before Christmas Day, Christmas Eve.  I am not sure what to call the night that actually belongs to Christmas Day.  Perhaps, the appropriate name for the moment is Christmas Night.  If such is true, then Christmas Night has come and, thus, this Christmas Day belongs to the days known as Christmas Past.  Around here it has been a quiet day.  Small children waking before the sun are memories.  As the years have passed since those days, the Christmas rush has become noticeably slower.  Such is surely true for this day.

While it has been a day filled with a kind of calmness, it has also been one of peace and joy.  Of course, to say "peace and joy" in this season seems almost like saying the expected thing instead of something that has real meaning.  It has been a Christmas Day with time enough to spend portions of it reflecting on how life has been made different because of this Jesus whose coming for us earthly dwellers is celebrated today.  To think about a life without Christ is an impossibility.  While I have not always been the faithful follower I set out to be, He has always been the faithful Lord He promised to be back even before my beginning with Him.

Today I am grateful for this Jesus who directed my future when I was too young to realize how it was happening and who has brought me safely to a place in the journey of faith that I never could have imagined arriving when I started as a believer in Him.  The most important decision anyone of us makes in our life is the one we make concerning this Jesus who was born among us long ago in Bethlehem.  When I decided He was indeed Savior, I made a choice that was blessed by God with a lifetime of grace and mercy.  Those divine gifts given to this poor sinner have made all the difference.

The Vulnerable Word

"Lord Christ, we adore You as the infant Christ.  Teach us how to tend to You in Your self-imposed vulnerability with us..."   The prayer came this morning as I read it from a devotional guide entitled, "Common Prayer."  As I moved from the prayer, my mind went to John 1:14 which reads, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  While it may not always be our first thought, humanity is vulnerable.  Oh, we think of ourselves when we are young as invincible.  As those middle age years start attacking us, we respond with exercise programs which we tell ourselves will keep away all those physical limitations everyone says are inevitable.  And even, as we grow past being old, death is thought of as something that happens to someone else.

 

The truth is that we are all vulnerable.  Very vulnerable.  As Jesus was vulnerable.  Where  in our understanding of human existence is there a clearer picture of vulnerability than birth.  Jesus was born helpless to fend for Himself.  Without loving and nurturing parents, His life would never have been counted in years.  He was born completely dependent on another.  He came into this world naked and empty handed and helpless.  Just like every one of us.  While it might be said that He was dependent on a parent's love, it might more appropriately be said that He was dependent on mercy.

 

And if we are vulnerable at birth, how much more vulnerable will we be in our death.  At that point we will once again experience a living that is beyond our control.  In those final days or moments, we will once again experience a vulnerability that makes us dependent and helpless even as was Jesus on the cross.  And while vulnerability may seem like such a hard and difficult part of life, as it is experienced those who love us are given the opportunity to give gifts of care and nurture and love and compassion which have the potential to forever change their lives.  Such is the gift we bring to our own vulnerability.

Christmas 2017

The time is full
   the hour is come.
   For a moment
   all the world
   stops to speak
   and talk about
peace.
 
Maybe the time
    is still to come.
    For it we hope,
    our hearts long,
    and we pray
    to come soon,
peace.

But, Christ is come,
    and still to come.
    The gift of joy
    and love now
    is fully here,
    Filling us with
peace.

Shepherd's Rock

"Now, my boy, it was a lot like this night.  Really dark.  No stars.  Couldn't see your hand.  The sheep had settled down for the night and we were sitting around the fire next to Shepherd's Rock.  Just like now.  Your Uncle Benjamin had just started one of his stories when all of a sudden he just stopped and pointed over my shoulder into the sky.  It is like I have told your father many times, my son, I had never seen an angel, but I knew in that moment I was looking at one.  We all fell face down in the dirt scared to death.  He told us not to be afraid and to go to Bethlehem.  Hardly had he quit speaking when the whole sky was full of singing angels.  What a sight!

 

And, then, as quick as they came, they were gone.  Pitch black again.  No light but the fire.  Everything was just like it was before the angels except us.  I don't know who said it, but someone said, "Let's go to Bethlehem."  And so we did.  Now don't you ever do what we did.  You don't leave your sheep out here without someone to watch after them, but we did.  We had to go.  The angel told us a baby had been born who was Messiah.  We had to go.  We had to see.

 

We found him.  It was not like we expected.  When we found Him, he was in a hay filled animal trough.  His Mother was no older than your cousin Sarah.  She and her husband did not seem surprised when we told them about the angel.  They just looked at each other and smiled as if people see angels every day.  When we went back into the darkness, we knew the angel who had appeared to us had it right.  The baby they called Jesus really was the Messiah.  We knew it then because everything was just like the angel said it would be and we know it now because the One born way back then hung on a cross till he died and then rose from the grave.  I saw that happen, too.  I know Jesus is our Savior.  I want you to know it, too."

Dreams

I believe that a lot of our living stuff gets sorted out in our dreams.  Certainly, our dreams can be a bit wild, particularly if have watched some thriller of a movie before going to bed.  But, laying those kind of dreams aside, our dreams can help us as we figure out some of the conflicting things about our life.  I am not suggesting that we can become interpreters of dreams, although some people profess to having such a gift, but that we can learn how to listen to what our dreams are saying to us.  When we are dreaming, our sub-conscious gets an opportunity to usurp the rule of our conscious thinking and, inevitably, such can be an enlightening experience.

 

Joseph, the guy who stands in the shadows of the Mary narrative is one of those who obviously learned to listen to his dream life.  He was not expecting his wife-to-be to sit him down one day and say, "Joseph, I am going to have a baby."  When she did he knew that her child was not his child.  For him that was fact.  He was left with several choices.  One of those would have been to end the marriage arrangement before the wedding leaving her to explain her own situation.  He could have just walked away leaving her to deal with the community gossip.  Or, he could go ahead with their plans.  The thing she told him about the Holy Spirit conceiving a child within her was a bit much to believe.  It would be for any of us. 

 

Not knowing what to do, Joseph went to sleep.  As he slept, he dreamed. In his dream an angel appeared and in that appearance, he came to know the right thing.  Now, knowing the right thing does not always mean it gets done.  This we know as well, but Joseph dared to follow what he was hearing when he listened to the dream that overcame his conscious mind which was directing him to take the common sense, course of the least resistance, route.  It can happen that way for us, too,  but first we must learn to listen and then dare to live with the faith that enables us to follow what we hear. 

Whisperings

Wherever she walked,
   whispering went,
   like a shadow,
   following her.
No one knew
   what she knew,
   still the talk,
   filled the air.

Knife cutting,
   hurtful words,
   "sinner and slut,"
   "bastard child."
As if not there,
   they spoke,
   uncaring folks,
   gossipers.

No words spoken,
  nothing from her,
  no hateful stares,
  no angry refute.
What she knew,
  none would know,
  until the time,
  was fully come.

The Divine Engineer

If you are one of those who is looking for a sign along the way which reads, "God said, 'Go straight ahead,' " you will likely live your life in disappointment.   The closest I have come to such a sign was when I saw long years ago an arrow sign pointing toward a cemetery which read, "Body Shop."  Actually, it was pointing drivers down the dirt road beside the cemetery, but it did seem otherwise at first glance.  The point is this:  If looking for divine guidance, don't look for roadside billboards or planes writing messages in the sky.

 

Be more like Joseph and Mary.  God needed Joseph and Mary to be in Bethlehem so that the birth of their son, Jesus, would be in accordance with the Scripture.  So, He timed the birth event with a government census requiring Joseph who lived in Nazareth to go to Bethlehem for counting.  In the present moment of that day, no one really saw the bigger picture except for God, the Divine Engineer.  And, then there came that day when it was no longer safe for Jesus, the infant child, to be in the land of His birth.  Herod, the ruler, had murderous intentions so in a dream Joseph was warned and told to go to Egypt.  However, prior to the trip some men from the East brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh which could be used as barter for the trip and to sustain life in a refugee camp.  Once again, we see the hand of the Divine Engineer.

 

Therefore, do not despair if there are no signs to read.  It does not mean that our life is not being moved and directed by the Divine Engineer who is constantly working out the plans He has set for our life.  We may see glimpses of His leading as we look behind us.  It is easier to see His hand as we look in the direction of the past.  To see it in the present and the future often requires a faith we have not yet attained, but are moving toward.  Never accept the fact that life is about mere coincidence.  It is about God.

The Job Descripition

So, what in the world do angels do?  I have often wondered what an angel does that cannot be accomplished by God at work through the Holy Spirit?  Maybe that is just my issue and it concerns no one else.  Of course as is often said in these parts, "there is more than one way to skin a cat."  Just maybe God has many ways of getting His stuff done.  Angels may just be another tool that God has to use to accomplish His work in our lives.

 

As I ask myself, "What in the world do angels do?" I find myself going to a job description offered by the angel Gabriel as he was moving about during those busy days of announcing that God was about to do something new in the world.  When he introduced himself to Zechariah, the soon-to-be father of John the Baptist, he said, "I am Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news."  (Luke 1:19)  The first thing heard in those words is that angels are individuals who are known by God.  Furthermore, an angel has a unique and very personal relationship with God in the heavenly place.  They are sent from heaven into the earthly realm to do the bidding of God and to speak for Him.  And finally, as we hear what Gabriel says, we come to the conclusion that their coming is a good thing.

It is no wonder that Gabriel told Zechariah and Mary that they need not be afraid.  While being in the presence of an angel may have been a startling and unexpected event, there was no reason for either of them to be afraid. Angels are interested in the good of those to whom they are sent.  What they impart as a part of their service and ministry is assistance in bringing the plan of God to fruition in our lives.  Obviously, they do not come to call attention to themselves, but to what God is seeking to do in our midst. 

A New Thing

It is interesting that we do not stay the same.  Though most of us seek to avoid change like we would a rattlesnake, it constantly shows up always taking us from where we were to where we are.  Fortunately, a part of that change often involves a greater tolerance, or understanding of others and a spirit that is not quite so judgmental.  Not even our belief system, or our theology, is exempt from the inevitability of change.  In earlier years I had very little use for angels and any writings about them and now I find myself both interested and intrigued. 

 

Is it not interesting how we often discredit certain things about our faith simply because we have not experienced it?  For example, when we have not seen or experienced a healing which can only be explained as an act of God, we are likely to be one who does not believe in divine healing.  We become one of those who takes such a possibility out of the hands of God and puts it solely in the hands of doctors.  More recently I find myself wondering if I have not done a similar thing over the years in terms of being open to the unseen presence of angels and their ministries in the name of God.

 

Certainly, the Scripture we read during these Christmas days presents a picture of angels all over the stage of human experience.  And, then I think, how many times I have I sung songs like "Hark, the Heralds Angels Sing."   Was I singing something I did not really think was inside the realm of reality?  While I still have my questions about these heavenly representatives of God, it seems that it is impossible to ignore them, or dismiss them if I am truly going to take the Word of God seriously.  Maybe there is something more important here than what I think.  Maybe what the Word of God is saying is actually more important.  Wow!  There is an idea!

The Tickle Prayer

In recent years I have discovered the devotional work of Phyllis Tickle who writes from the Episcopalian tradition.  One of the prayers she repeats again and again in her cycle of praying is one I often hear myself quietly praying as I lay waiting on sleep to come at night.  "Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night and grant Your angels charge over those who sleep.  Tend the sick, Lord Christ, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for Your love's sake.  Amen."  For this novice in the disciplines of prayer, being guided by her in this prayer has been a new kind of spiritual experience for me.

 

For some reason, considering the presence or the ministry of angels has never really been something I have done through my faith journey.  And, here I am now, almost toward the end, praying that angels would watch over me and those I love while we sleep.  It has become a prayer which comes from such a deep place in my spirit that I am often surprised at the way the words affect me.  The prayer creates a mental image which goes beyond my thinking to something which settles in my heart.

 

I must confess to not understanding as much as some about angels and their work for God.  But, I know, too, understanding is not a requirement for receiving blessings of grace in my life.  In the Word I read about these ministering spirits sent by God to interact in the affairs of people like you and me.  For God to choose to do such a thing is certainly a gift of grace.  Put me down as one who grows more and more dependent on grace as I walk a little further in faith with God.  And, if angels are watching over me and those I love while sleep overcomes us, I am surely grateful for this assurance of the unexplainable grace of God. 

Angels

The deeper we get into the Advent season and the closer we get to Christmas, the more likely it is that angels will begin appearing on the pages of the story.  Of course, as any reader of the Scripture knows, angels do have a way of showing up.  One of my favorite angel appearances is found in the Old Testament book of Daniel.  There are many from which to choose.  They seem to have been hanging out with the disciples when Jesus ascended into heaven and in another place an angel engineered a jail break (Acts 12).

 

Of course, angel activity might have been at its zenith around the time of the birth of Jesus.   Both Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were visited by an angel announcing the birth of sons.  Joseph discovered one invading his dream life.  The shepherds in the field on the night of the birth of Jesus were told to go to Bethlehem by angels.  And as pages of the Scripture unfold with the story of the work of God, it seems that angel appearances are rather commonplace.

 

While some of us may think of someone in angelic terms, few of us talk about seeing angels in our midst.  Still, we wonder.  Sometimes we wonder if the rooms of the dying are not filled with watching angels seen only by those whose eyes are beginning to see glimpses of eternity.  Perhaps, there are times such as these when the veil between this world and the world waiting for us is so thin that even some of the more spiritually sensitive souls see them alongside those who are more there than here.  Who is to say?  All we can say for sure is that these heavenly spirits have often done the bidding of God and still remain ready to go in His name.  Some of us may only see them in the manger scenes so frequently portrayed in these days, but who knows for sure who is watching over us and who it is among us that has eyes to see.

Healing Waters

Running now,
    toward the water.
    Feet splashing
    in the shallows.
Knee deep now,
    almost beside him.
    The one waiting,
     the Baptizer.

Eyes that see,
     sin stained souls.
     No hiding,
     scars in the heart.
Hands reaching,
     mine grabbing.
     Desperate,
     Now or never.

Push me down,
     way down deep.
     Too many sins
     for the shallows.
Hold me down,
     not for a moment.
     Keep me under
     Till its done.

What's That, Lord?

"What's that, Lord?.....Could You say that again?  Not sure I got it....Ok, You want to know what I am going to do about what I read a few days ago.  I guess You are talking about that conversation John the Baptist had with some of those who were out to be baptized.....Yes, I remember.  They asked John what they should do and he said, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none..."...What's that, Lord?...You want to know what I am going to do about what I read....Well, I underlined it so I can go back and read it again sometime. 

 

What's that, Lord?...You don't see what is so difficult to understand....Well, no it's not.  I get it.  I am supposed to share what I have with those who don't have anything.....Now wait a minute.  You shouldn't be asking me.  Don't You think it is a kinda personal?...You don't?...I didn't figure You would.  Well, I'll tell you.  I figured I had three or four coats, but just to be sure, I went to the closet and counted....What's that, Lord?...You want to know how many.  You want me to honest....Well, ok, I counted and I was wrong.  I have seven coats, but most of them, Lord, are really old.  The oldest is almost twenty years old and the newest I bought about seven years ago.  So, I got seven, Lord. But, it is not what it seems.

 

What's that?...You want to know what I am going to do with seven coats when some people have none....Well, You know, Lord, not a one of them is like new.  I don't just go and buy a new coat every year....What's that, Lord?.....What do You want me to do?  Give half of them away, or maybe you want me to only keep one.  Which is it, Lord?...What's that, Lord?...You want me to decide what I am going to do.  It is up to me.  Tell you what, Lord.  You tell me what to do and I will do it when this cold snap is past.  How does that sound, Lord?...Lord?....Lord?...Hey, Lord, You still listening? 

The Shadow Dweller

John the Baptist is a larger than life character who stands on the stage of the New Testament story.  When Mary was visited by an angel who announced what God was about to do through her, she was told that John's mother, Elizabeth, was pregnant in her old age.  When Mary went to see Elizabeth, it was not just a social visit, but a visit which gave confirmation of what God was doing in and through her.  The word says that a not-yet-born John leaped for joy when the pregnant Mary stood before her cousin Elizabeth.  The two were linked  together in a powerful way by God even before either breathed this earth's air.

 

Though the older of the two, John was the lesser.  Like Jesus he disappears from the pages of the story until his 30th year.   Like Jesus he suddenly appears.  How long he had been a wilderness dweller, no one knows,  All that can be said is that the Spirit moved these two men toward each other at a time ordained by God.  It was not chance that brought them together as adults, but the divine plan which linked them to one another.  John the Baptist was the one who first pointed people to look at Jesus.  He spoke of Him as the Lamb of God.  He encouraged his own disciples to go after Jesus.  Like the Holy Spirit, he did not seek to call attention to himself, but to Jesus.  He was a true servant and shadow dweller.

His life is a reminder to us to live so that people are pointed toward Jesus.  We often live so that those around us are made aware of our individual importance, how much we are needed, or what we have done.  John points us to a higher purpose.  He points us toward a life of enabling people to see Jesus.  When we hear the Baptizer's  message to repent and begin to consider what it means, we soon come to see ourselves as those who need to repent of taking ourselves too seriously and regarding ourselves too highly.  Going from center stage to the shadows is a hard way.  "Father God, keep me from choosing the easy road.  Amen."

Serious Repentance

Serious repentance does not just ask the "what" question.  It insists on asking the "why" question.  Real repentance is not content with naming the sin although it is important to call our sin by its name.  Otherwise, we are likely to regard our sin as something less than it is.  When we are serious about repentance we go beyond naming the sin to asking why we allow the sin to have a place in our life.  We ask "What is there about me that enables the sin I confess?" 

 

If repentance really takes it has to go further than acknowledging the sin itself to looking inward at the core values which direct our outward behavior.  Thus, repentance truly is a matter of the heart.  If we are constantly judging others, we need to ask ourselves why it is necessary for us to verbally destroy people?  Is it a way of letting others know we are better than those who have fallen into chaos?  If we are stingy and greedy, it is important to ask why we cannot respond to human need with generosity?  Is it because we fear there will not be enough for our own needs?  Do we not trust God to provide?  What are the core values which direct our outward behavior and do those core values reflect an attitude of trust and confidence in God?

 

Repentance is serious business for any believer in Jesus.  It is not something we do once at the moment when we accept Christ into our lives and begin the Christian journey.  The deeper we go in this walk with Christ, the more we get in touch with the inner part of us which always seems to demand attention and care even when it puts us in opposition to the Christ we are following.  Serious repentance is not content with knowing that such happens, but persists in understanding why.  Only when we understand "why" does the possibility of turning a different way become an option. "Lord, help me to know my heart.  Amen."

A Misunderstood Word

When John the Baptist started preaching, his message was a simple one.  "Repent!"  The same can be said of Jesus.  His first recorded sermon called those who listened to repent as well.  It would seem that with such an example, preachers would get the idea that being cute with words is not nearly as important as saying what needs to be said with simple understandable language.  I have often remembered one of the lessons taught by my preaching professor at Candler School of Theology.  He told us to preach as if we were preaching to sixth graders.  Now, he was not saying anything negative about the congregation's ability to understand, he was cautioning us would-be-preacher about getting carried away with our own eloquence.

 

There was nothing eloquent about the preaching of John the Baptist.  He spoke about the necessity of looking at self and God in a different way since God was about to do a new thing through His Son, Jesus.  Repentance was the word he used to speak of this change.  When he used it, he was not speaking about some outward lifestyle change such as ceasing to use profanity, or stopping some bad habit, but instead, he was calling those who listened to a heart change.  A heart change has to do with motivation.  It does not have to do with the outward expression of what is in the heart, but the inner working of the heart which cause the outward behavior.

It is not a common thing anymore to hear preaching that is repentance oriented.  To preach about repentance means taking sin seriously which is not something done today.  The sinful heart is not seen as something to be crucified, but as something to be tolerated.  People are not so interested in doing away with the sin in their lives as they are learning to live with it.   These are not the responses John the Baptist sought as he called them to come into the river for  baptism of repentance. "Father God, keep me away from being content with the easy to live with response.  Amen."

An Unexpected Moment

Baptism of the Lord Sunday which shows up on the Christian calendar in early January was always one of my favorite Sundays for preaching.  I would preach on baptism and life in Christ, but before the sermon I would announce that at the end of the sermon there would be an invitation for anyone not yet baptized to come forward to profess faith in Christ and to be baptized.  Rare were the Sundays when someone did not surprise themselves by coming forward in response to the invitation.  It was an exciting moment of worship as I waited at the end of the sermon to see who the Holy Spirit was going to move to profess faith in Christ and to be touched by baptismal waters. 

 

It may have been true that no one came to worship on one of those Sundays expecting to be baptized, but it was also true that I learned to be surprised if it did not happen.  Those folks who showed up at the Jordan River to hear John the Baptist preaching probably did not go expecting to be baptized.  It is not likely that they woke up one day and said, "Hey, let's go down to the river today and be baptized by the wild eyed preacher!"  Most likely they went with more curiosity than desire for God, but God was about surprising stuff in those days and many left with the river water still wet upon them. 

 

Advent is a season unlike the other seasons of the Christian year.  We find ourselves surprised that John the Baptist, that old rough looking character from the wilderness, gets the spotlight for so long when we really want to see Jesus, particularly the baby version of Him.  John was announcing that new things were happening.  Baptism was a sign that something new was being offered by God as baptism was not something needed by a practicing Jew.  As we consider this appearance of John on the Advent stage, we can only wonder what surprising thing God desires to be about in our lives.  "Lord, open my eyes and heart to the new things of Your kingdom.  Amen." 

An Old Friend

An old friend, (well, we have been friends a long time) really introduced me to John the Baptist.  It was not exactly one of those, "Bill, this is John.  John this is Bill" moments, but an introduction, nonetheless. Russ and I shared together week after week with some other clergy guys in a weekly preaching group.  I was no stranger to this baptizer who always shows up in the early days of Advent when everyone is looking for baby Jesus, but Russ opened my eyes to see this man who readied the way for Jesus in a new way. 

 

John the Baptist would not be the kind of guy a father would want his daughter to bring home with the announcement, "Dad, this is the one."  As my friend often pointed out, no one would John to show up in their church.  He was a wild eyed Bible thumping guy who dared to call those of the religious establishment a bunch of vipers.  No wonder he won no popularity contests.  He lived out in the wilderness around the Jordan River, had the smell of locust on his breath, and his beard stayed sticky with honey.  He wore no designer clothes, only clothing made from camel.  Most likely folks could smell John long before they saw him.

 

But, he is an important character in the story of Jesus as well as in the Advent season.  His voice was and continues to be like a trumpet announcing that things are getting ready to be more different than they have ever been.  He points to Jesus as the One who is going to make it happen.  John made no attempt to build up a large following as today's preacher's do.  His only concern was that those who came to listen to him were pointed toward Jesus.  Today's preachers should take this page out of John the Baptist's book on how to do ministry.   "Lord, make me ready for whatever it is that You want to do new in my life.  Amen."

Come, Lord

Again, I'm waiting, Lord,
   not for some epiphany,
   or extraordinary thing.
     Just waiting,
     alone now,
     but hopeful,
Soon, Lord come.

They say, "Look up, way up,"
   as He left, He returns,
   ascending and descending.
     Watching now,
     eyes tired,
     still searching.
Your coming, Lord.

Praying, working, serving,
   no idle hands or heart,
   busy and attentive.
       Expectant,
       longing,
       desiring,
Your Kingdom, Come.

Be Attentive

I will confess at the beginning that I have this thing about people who live with their eyes on the one hand that is raised slightly in front of their face as if it is guiding them through life.   Of course, these folks are not admiring their hand, but monitoring the little screen around which the fingers are draped.  I suppose it is all done in the name of being connected.  But, connected to what is what I wonder?   Are they connected to a false image of someone else's life?  Or, are they so indispensable that the work place will cease to function without their input?  Or, maybe they are just connected to whatever because life is so boring.

 

It seems that people are so attentive to their hand held device and the pseudo world it presents that they are no longer attentive to the world through which they are moving.  When the Word of God tells us in these early days of Advent to be attentive, to watch, to stay in a state of readiness it is telling us to be on the lookout for Jesus breaking into our world.  It is a moment we are likely to miss if we are looking no further than our hand.  The truth is we miss a lot of important moments with Jesus because we are not looking.  We are not watching where we are.  We are not expecting a divine breakthrough.  We give sacred status to the mundane and ordinary and miss out on the holy.

 

The Scripture says we are to be on the lookout for Jesus.  The One who ascended in the clouds has a return event already planned.  But, this does not mean we are to become sky watchers who look up so much they cannot see what is front of them.   And what is in front of us?  A thousand faces who come to us as the Son of God.  To see those in need is to see Him.  To see the ones who suffer is to see Him.  To see the ones hopelessly locked in impossible circumstances is to see Him.  Watch.  Look for Him.  Be attentive to His presence in the present moment and in the ones still to come.  Be ready.  He appears at His choosing even when we are pre-occupied with what is in our hand.  Missing Him should not be an option.  "Father, forgive me for my obsession with myself and create in me a desire to look for You.  Amen."

In the Dog Fennels

When I was racing toward ten years old, we live out on the edge of Waycross, Georgia in an area of town known as Hebardville.  It was a neighborhood and our street was one of those places that had not yet reached wall to wall house status.   Next to our house was a large corner field filled with dog fennels that soared high over a ten year old boy's head.  I beat down trails and made round clearings big enough to be my own personal hiding places.  I remember laying out in those clearings surrounded by towering dog fennels watching the white puffy clouds drift by on summer days.  I was sure if I looked long enough I was going to see God who I was convinced lived up there and might be caught peering down at me over the edge of one of those clouds.

 

While I never did see God riding across the blue sky on one of those big white clouds, I suppose I could say it was the beginning of a lifetime of being on the lookout for Him.  The truth is we never know when He is going to show up.  Sometimes it is in the midst of the most ordinary moments of our life.  Sometimes His coming is so extraordinary that it gets framed in our memory as one of those mountain top experiences.  And, surprisingly enough, we have also learned after a life time of struggles that He most surely can be seen and experienced in those dark moments when everything seems to be turned upside down. 

 

These days of Advent tell us to keep our eyes open.  We are to watch.  We are to be ready.  We are to experience what it is to live with expectancy.  God is always on the prowl.  He is more constant and faithful than anything or anyone in our life, but He can also be very unpredictable.  Advent reminds us to be doing what we should be doing every single day of our life.  Every single day of our life we should be living as if God is going to be meeting us in the next moment.  When we live with such expectancy, no moment is mundane and every moment is filled with the holy.  "Father, I want to be one who has eyes to see and who sees...so bless me.  Amen."

Like the Kingdom

For some time now I have been watching those soaring white barked sycamore trees that stand near the branch on the edge of the hayfield.  Maybe waiting is a better word.  Or, maybe the right word is anticipating.  Three years ago my youngest grandson who was four years old back then discovered the way those big-as-your-face sycamore leaves come drifting down to the ground.  The two of us watched those leaves as they started their journey to the earth and we ran and tried to catch them.  He ran, rolled on the ground, and laughed from deep in his belly as he tried to catch one.  His exuberance and laughter made a boy out of this old grandpa who ran and laughed beside him.  It has become a yearly ritual and each year I wonder if this year will be the last that a grandson wants to catch falling sycamore leaves with his grandpa.

 

So, as I watch those trees, there is a lot of anticipation.  I anticipate not just the moment of the falling leaves, but the boy laughing.  I anticipate sharing the unbridled joy again with him.  It must be like this in the Kingdom of God once it has fully come upon us.  Oh, I know Jesus said that the Kingdom is near, even here, but it is also still coming.  I suspect that the coming part is going to be exceedingly more wonderful than anything I might could imagine.  Surely, it will be filled with unbridled joy, deep belly laughter, and a giant exuberance for life.  Surely, it will be filled with young boys and their grandpas chasing sycamore leaves.

 

It seems that my Advent mantra this year has been those words from the most famous prayer ever prayed.  "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..."  Even as I have watched the sycamore tree, I have been watching those words, waiting on them, hoping that they will one day soon come to pass.  There is this part of me, and most likely it is true of all of us, that longs not just for a better day, but a new day.  We long for that day when our tears will turn into laughter, our cautious living will turn into rolling in the grass, and our death will become our life.  "Lord Jesus, make me hunger and thirst for the things of Your Kingdom.  Amen."

Waiting and Watching

They said to get ready and to watch.  So, I set out to do it.  Knowing what was coming and knowing I wanted to see, it was the only thing which made sense.  Before darkness fell heavy on the ground, the old gray pick up truck carried me to the middle of the hay field where there was an unobstructed view of the eastern sky.  At first there was nothing to see.  Just the darkness.  And, then, there was a hint of light.  My eyes started searching as if they wanted to be the first ones to see.   There on the horizon appeared a sliver of orange.  For a moment the glory that was about to abound seemed like it was banded to the edge of the world unable to rise, but suddenly it leaped and raced upward as a bright orange globe bent on filling the sky with glory.

 

I remember another time when I was told to get ready and to watch.   It was not some unknown "they" who told me, but someone I trusted.  How many now during the early days of Advent have I read those words of Jesus which told me to watch, to be ready, to be attentive?  How many times have I heard those words from the sacred book telling me that as Jesus had ascended into heaven, so He will come from heaven?  How many times have I been caught looking?  How many times have I set out to look for Him and to see Him as I set out to watch a full moon rise gloriously in the night sky?

Too many times I must confess to hardly looking.  Or, maybe there have been those times when I looked so hard, I could not see.  Whatever the case, I sense that my life has been too much about missing what I should have seen instead of seeing the One for whom I was told to watch.  This Jesus has a history on this earth.  He also has a present.  And most assuredly, He has a future that includes being seen and known in a glory not yet seen with these eyes of mine.  "Lord Jesus, help me to see You coming in the paths I walk and in the future You will reveal to me.  Help me be ready. Amen."

The Sounds of Advent

I was listening for the sound of hamburgers sizzling on the grill when I heard the sound of wind stirring in the top of the nearby towering pecan tree.  I know wind does not make any noise, but suddenly small limbs were moving and the brown leaves that had been tenaciously hanging started their final journey.  As they became captive to the wind and bounced off branches, there was a noise that heralded the final flight.  I watched as they were driven above the garden, some drifting aimlessly and some moving as if driven by a powerful force.  Regardless of how they flew, all made it safely to their final resting place where they would wait to become part of the nurturing power of the earth.

 

What was left was a pecan tree now empty and bare.  Limbs were like stick silhouettes suspended in the graying sky.  The final act was completed as brown leaves lay silent beside the already fallen pecans on the ground.  It sometimes seems that in these winter months when so much lays dormant that the trees and the earth are resting.  They are resting and waiting.  The tree once so full of life now waits for the next Spring when mysteriously a power will come forth from the dirt which holds its roots.  Can  barren trees long for such a day, or are they content to wait until that nurturing power brings life again?

I suppose it is too much to ask a tree, but to ask the tree is to hold the same question up to the one who sits by the grill waiting for one sound only to hear another.  When the human soul seems stripped and nothing is left but despair, can it really hope for a day when once again life giving power will sound its coming?  Maybe these souls of ours need those moments when there is nothing to do but wait for the Spirit to come from whence He will to bring His mysterious renewing power to bear on our lives.  "Father God, as these trees rest and wait on You, so teach me to live.  Amen."

Advent 2017

Ours is a day when evil and chaos seem to have the upper hand.  Hardly, a few more than a few days passes before some grim and tragic reminder greets us in the evening news.   Impossible to comprehend violence and unexplainable evil seems to surface in the most unlikely places.  And, if that is not enough, so many are going through their own version of hell.  Homes are torn asunder by divorce, sickness brings suffering and death into our family circles, and people who appear to be happy are being robbed of joy by terrible loneliness and disappointment.  Who among us does not long for a better day!

 

Advent comes each year on the Christian calendar as the first season of the liturgical calendar.  Too often it is simply noted as the season which prepares us for Christmas as Lent prepares us for the celebration of the Resurrection.  Actually, Advent has little to do with Christmas and more to do with this longing within us that is more appropriately spoken of us as hope.  Advent encourages us to hope again.  Sometimes life is so hard and difficult that we live without hope.  Or, if we speak of hope, we only do so because we know it is how we are supposed to live as Christians.  It is not because we are hopeful.

 

The truth is that hoping is a daring leap for many of our day.  How do we hope when everything about life says that it is only a thing for fools?  How do we really long for a new day when it appears that there is nothing new under the heavens as far as our life is concerned?  Advent tells us to hope.  It tells us wait for our hope.  It tells us to wait for it is surely coming.  When we gather to worship, we pray the Lord's Prayer which has those words, "...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..."   Such is how Jesus taught us to pray and such is how the Spirit dares us to hope. 

Table Talk

The church expresses its most authentic self when it gathers around the table for the Holy Meal.  In such a moment the crucified Christ and the cross is squarely in the midst of its life.  There is no whitewashing the gathering.  It is not a social gathering, but one where the centerpiece is the bloody sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the One known as Jesus. It is a moment made necessary because of the sinfulness of those who gather in that holy place.  Were we not sinners in need of divine forgiveness, no one would need such a Table on the center stage of the sanctuary.

 

How we talk about that moment has always seemed important.  How we talk about it reveals much about those who partake of the holy meal.  In my United Methodist tradition, the meal is served to those who kneel at an altar surrounding the table.  There have been times when folks have talked about "taking communion."  Yet, the truth is that the Table is not a place for taking, but for receiving.  The things people take at the Table are not worth having.  It is what we receive that matters.  What is taken are things like being seen by others, the benefits of pietistic posturing, and a personal sense of spiritual worth.  What is received is an abundance of grace that leaves us overwhelmed and grateful.

In the teaching moments which were afforded to me over the years, I always encouraged people to kneel with open hands as the holy meal was offered.  Open hands cannot take, they can only be filled.  Only hands do not demand, they can only receive.  It is a remembrance this old preacher remembers with such clarity.  An altar lined with open hands spoke of hearts being opened to receive those abundant spiritual blessings being offered and freely given by the Broken One of the Cross.  There was no greater privilege than to stand in that place as the one who served Jesus by serving those who were waiting.