The Wisemen Were Not There?

This is the Sunday we will celebrate as our Epiphany.  Anyone know what the season of Epiphany is?  The Epiphany marks the end of the 12th day of Christmas for Christians.   It started on Dec 25^th and runs through to Jan 6^th the day of Epiphany.  The word Epiphany comes to us from the Greek language and means "manifestation". Since the 4th century, Christians have associated the day of Epiphany, the 12^th day of Christmas as the day the Magi came, which suggests that they could not have been there at Jesus’ birth.   Matthew is the only Gospel which recorded their journey and visit.  When you hear the reading from Matthew today I want you to listen very closely to his account.  You may just get a surprise and hear the revelation.    

Dec 31, 2017 Readings:  Ephesians 3: 1-12, Matthew 2: 1-12

From the Matthew reading, did anyone hear something new?     

First question: How many of you still have your Christmas tree up?

Second question: On the top of your Christmas tree, did anyone have a star or an angel?   The reason I asked the first question is this:  to establish the Christmas season.  For Christians the spirit of Christmas is celebrated not just on one day, but for 12 days.  It starts on Dec 25^th runs to Jan 6^th.  Now if you took your tree down early that's OK folks because trees are nice but they did not exist in the early middle east celebrations.   The 12^th day of Christmas is known as Epiphany and because it falls usually on a week day, we usually celebrate it on the Sunday before.    This is the day Christians would set aside to commemorate the visit by the Magi.  Matthews’s gospel is the only written account of their visit and it suggests that they were not there during the birth but arrived at a home in Bethlehem some time later to visit Mary and the child. We know this to be true because Herod ordered after the Wisemen did not return to him that all male children up to two years of age in the region including Bethlehem, be killed.          

The reason I asked the second question is: It has been suggested that there are two types of Christmas people, star people and angel people. Let me explain. 
Biblically, the Angel represents a messenger.  In the Christmas story, Angels always seem too appeared to those who, not only knew the ancient prophecies but also had enough faith to believe that they would be fulfilled.  On the other hand, it was much different for the star gazers, those who knew of the prophecies but only believe them as legends or stores.  Angels show up early in the Christmas story and continue right through until the birth of Christ.  Marry and Joseph were the first and the shepherds were among the last.  Angels did not point the way to Christ but spoke to persons specifically about who, what and where they were to find the awaited messiah.  The significance of an Angel meant a great deal too the Hebrew people of Jesus’ time.  

The Star also had it significance, it was a sign of those searching, not only those who were of Jewish descent but those who were of a different culture and religion.  Star people were curious seekers interested in knowing but were still unsure, with doubt and questions.  The star represented those on a quest to find out about this mystery and its message from God.  A divine child wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manager?   I believe we are a mixture of both angel and star people.

In the story Angle people are people with roots that are already planted deep in scripture and their faith has become unshakeable.  Angel people believe not because they need to see, but because the voice of God has somehow spoken to their hearts.  Star People are seekers, curious by nature yet sill a little unsure, their roots are seeking to go deeper into the mystery of faith but they are not there yet.  What we must remember here is this:  God meets people wherever you are on your faith journey. 

The Magi or Wiseman in the story were guided by the star.  Because the Star did not speak, it only pointed the way for them, as they journeyed to Bethlehem.    

There are two very important points that are generally missed from the story of the Magi:  The first point is this: preparation.  We often do a great job preparing for the secular Christmas but what about the real meaning, how did your preparations do there?   It is important to note, that the Magi must have spent a great deal of time and energy studying the Hebrew Scriptures and the ancient Jewish prophecies before they began their journey.   The second point is this: these scriptures were not part of their background or their religion.  They were people of the stars, astronomers, astrological thinkers, possibly Greek.  Today we might call them men of science or visionaries or people who think outside the box.  They were seekers of the mysteries of creation, seeking a new kind of King and His Kingdom.   They were apparently open minded to foreign ideas and religions.   They were not confined by a religious tradition or doctrine as so many Christians are today.   They were true seekers and in the end, they were finders.  That, I believe is the lesson for us today, you cannot find the Jesus you need to know personally, by relying on religious tradition, doctrine or one interpretation of faith.  Nor by listing to a weekly sermon or by watching others who seem to have great faith.  It starts with preparation, reading and studying the word of God that is rooted in the Christ, this is where you will find the wisdom to guide you in life.  It is Jesus’ reflection shining through us that is attractive to others as we live out God’s peace, joy, hope, and love for them to see.

So I believe these two things are significant in order to make a connection with our Lord and they are again:  the willingness to personally prepare oneself by reading and studying, and to be open to the spirits leading so you can live out your faith by doing as Jesus did. 

We need the scriptures just as much as we need to see His light cast by faithful disciples and witnesses doing the work of Christ in our world today.

 Do not be afraid to think outside the box, for when you do this, you to just might find “The Christ” in your midst.   May the Lord Bless and Keep you as we conclude our Christmas season and begin the new year of 2018.   

The Christ in Evolution

Ilia Delio, a Franciscan sister and scientist, describes the positive foundation we have in the Universal Christ:

Franciscan theology on the whole . . . emphasized the incarnation as the love of God made visible in the world.  Bonaventure did not consider the incarnation foremost as a remedy for sin {as has been the focus for some Christians} but the primacy of love and the completion of creation.  He recapitulated an idea present in the Greek fathers of the church, namely, Christ is the redeeming and fulfilling center of the universe.  The Christ does not save us from creation; rather, Christ is the reason for creation. . . . Christ is first in God’s intention to love; love is the reason for creation. [1]

Lacking an understanding of the Good News of "The Christ", few have the vision to perceive any coherence between the Source {God} and the Goal {Universal Christ Consciousness}. The Christian message has had less and less significance for thinking people, for scientists, philosophers, social workers, and those trying to find a purpose for the universe.  Unfortunately much of Christianity became merely another moralistic religion.   Its main focus was to “win” over other religions and countries.  This practice, overwhelmingly aligned Christianity with a history of “empire building” not only in Europe but eventually in the Americas through colonization.  This became the acceptable norm rather than representing the whole of creation and cherishing humanity as one in the same. (Romans 8:18-21).  [18] I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. [19] For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. [20] For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Without the cosmic notion of The Christ, Christians can’t understand that God is inherent in life itself, that God is the life force of everything who grows things from the inside.  Hence a tree and it's fruit within the seed or all of humanity both male and female within a single seed.  The Indwelling Spirit was our way of saying that God creates things that create themselves from within! “And the two shall become one to conceive another” In humans and animals this is experienced as sexuality, in plants as photosynthesis. Elements participate in the creative process through electromagnetic fields, fusion, and bonding.  Even celestial bodies experience death and birth. The creative process encompasses growth and growth will always be folks, death is simply a trans-formative stage, a womb of new birth if you will.

Not surprisingly, many Christians ended up tragically focused only on fighting evolution, or singled out social justice issues as the primary focus around human-rights struggles—slavery, women’s suffrage, desegregation, racism, classism, homophobia, policies regarding refugees and immigrants, mass incarceration, and climate change. We had no evolutionary notion of The Christ who is forever “groaning in one great act of giving birth” (Romans 8:22).   [22] We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Yet we should have been on the front line of all of these issues, so our bold proclamation of love and justice could have pulled humanity forward.

The Christian religion was originally intended to grease the wheels of human consciousness to lead us into a way of living out unconditional love, nonviolence, earth care, and justice rather than believing in a system of sayings, rules and rituals.   Mature spirituality serves as a conveyor belt for the evolution of human consciousness. Immature religion stalls us at low levels of well-disguised egocentricity by fooling us into thinking we are more moral or holy than others by what we say rather than what we do.

“Indeed God is not far from any one of us.  For ‘In God we live and move and have our very being’” (Acts 17:27-28).  If this is true, then it has to be true everywhere and all the time.   Small truth is not big enough to save a very large universe folks.

 References:                                                                               

[1] Ilia Delio, Christ in Evolution (Orbis Books: 2008), 6.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Franciscan Media: 2014), 217-219.

"A Love Without Strings!" Isn't that impossible?

Tell me three things you love about Christmas?  Isn’t love great?  Well today, my hope is, to introduce you to the greatest love of all time!

Dec 24 2017 Readings:  Romans 16: 25-27,  Luke 1: 26-38

One of the great theologians and renowned author of our time, Karl Barth, was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School.   Dr. Barth being quite elderly and not well sat quietly in a chair near the podium.  The organizers, out of concern for Dr. Barth health decided that rather than opening the floor to many questions, after his speech, the Presider would ask one general question for all.  The Presider turned to the renowned theologian and asked, "Of all the theological insights you have ever had, can you tell us which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?    It seemed the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put into print.  The students waited in awe, what great insight would this theological giant offer to them.  Dr. Barth closed his tired eyes, and he thought for a minute, and then he half smiled, opened his eyes, and said to those young theology students, "The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so”

Karl is right folks, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest love story ever written!  If it weren't for Christmas we might never have known the intensity of the love that God has for each and every one of us.

Mary and Joseph, far from home because of imperial rule, a peasant very young mother giving birth in unsanitary substandard conditions... There was no fanfare, no religious delegation and no royalty in attendance.  The Lowly shepherds were the first to lay eyes upon the miracle.  Mary just gently laid her newborn in that manger, amazed at the miracle of new birth, gauzing in joyful celebration as they looked at his little face, just like every new parent does.   But this child would be different for He was to be the sign of God’s true unconditional love for the world to see and to know personally. This love would be different because it would have no strings attached. 

True love accepts us for who we really are; there are no good conditions on this love.  God chooses to love us precisely because we are all His and because we are all subjected to our human nature, no one escapes these truths.  So then, let us set aside the myth that we are loved only if we are good, for if that were true, none would be loved.  Let us also set aside the myth that if we are bad we are not loved, for if that were true none would be loved.   How come the same?  Because Jesus' unconditional love brakes all the rules of our human conditional love.  Mary and Joseph had nothing to offer but their obedience to a calling beyond themselves and that is precisely all we have to offer, a calling beyond ourselves.  It is an invitation to trust and surrender our lives over to the care and control of something greater than ourselves. 

Jesus was to be the Son, the true Son of God so patiently waited for, and now, to be born into our world.  This child would be the ONE, the one who was willing to finally embody God’s unconditional love for all to see and experience personally.  Not just some of the time, not when it was convenient, but in every waking, breathing minute of every single day of your life.  Don’t you see, Christmas it is the birth of that love into your world, that is what we are to celebrate folks.    It’s not about being bad or good.  It’s about a love so unconditional that its power transcends good and bad, life and death.   Who would have ever guessed that this crossing of paths, this intersection of the divine and the human, would take place in the remote village of Bethlehem within the Middle East ?  That a child would be born into our world, who would fill His life so much with the love of God, that in Him , thousands upon thousands would be moved to make the incredible claim that they had actually met their God in person.   On Christmas night God would send out a love letter of cosmic proportions.      Unfortunately for so many in our world this cosmic love story still takes second place when compared to the love myth of the big guy in the red suite, Jolly Old Saint Nicklaus.

In fact it is Jesus who breaks that myth and shows us that God’s unconditional love is not based on whether we are bad or good, nor does it demand perfection.  This love offers a forgiveness that isn't given away sparingly either, but recklessly and indiscriminately even to those who have hurt, abandoned or forsaken us.   Unconditional really means unconditional, there are no strings attached.   All who are gathered here this morning fall within the embrace of that love, and that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus.   Romans 8:38.   You see,  that is where the hope, peace joy and love of Christmas is to found folks. 

For on that night and in that baby, the Divine and the human miraculously cross paths.   The infant Jesus is our living, breathing sign of the immeasurable love that God has had for all of us from the very beginning.  It is from this story that our mystery and the magic of Christmas should come.   For John 1 tells us that “Before the word was created, the word already existed: He was with God and He was the same as God”

Christmas is the living promise that we are never ever alone.  Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  No matter where we are in life, no matter in what condition we find ourselves, no matter how far we might stray, or how unfaithful we are, God in Christ, the supreme lover, will pursue us in love for eternity!    Christmas for us should be our beacon of hope, a light that never stops shining for you.

May God in Christ bless each of you and those you love this Christmas.  

What Child Is This

This is my rendition of this wonderful old Hymn, hope you enjoy

Joy and Suffering are companions??

Maybe you have heard it said that money cannot buy you happiness.  But, a friend of mine didn’t totally agree with this and said: it would give you the opportunity to buy you a big yacht and sail up to it real close. 

When you hear the word “happy” what companion would you associate with it?  In other words, what makes people happy?  We often associated it with some body or some- thing.

When you hear the word “JOY” what comes to mind for you?  

Regardless of how you see either of these two words, Joy needs a companion also, what would you think it might be?    

Dec 14 2014 Readings:   Isaiah 12: 2-6 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-28

Have you ever heard that Happiness and joy are not the same?   Most of us have experienced happiness as fleeting, it doesn’t stick around for long, it is illusive, a product of the mind.   Worldly expressions of Joy are sometimes called happiness, but happiness comes and goes just like your pay check Folks.  One minute you have it the next minute some body or some “THING” has it.  The Joy found through faith in God and taught by Jesus, is not fleeting and does not require happiness as a companion.    Does that surprise you? 

The Advent Joy is deeper than happiness, once you get it, it is a lasting joy and it is not dependent on you being with or attached to a person or thing.  Joy radiates from its source and your relationship to that source.  Try and think of it as a  knowing, something of the heart, a very present help in times of trouble. Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  IF you know that, it is a major part of your “JOY”

 When you accept this joy, it’s yours forever and no circumstance has the power to take it from you, although you do have the power to refuse it or reject it.   Once you have accepted this joy, the words of scripture begin to speak volumes, not just to your head, but deep within your heart.  Such as Psalm 27: God is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? God is the stronghold of my life: of whom shall I be afraid.  You see the Joy our Advent offers us dispels death, darkness, and quiets our worldly fears. 

As strange as this may sound, biblical Joy is fruit that is produced because of some struggle or suffering in your life.  Does that disturb you?!!   Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, Jesus, any of His disciples and ordinary people like me or you can attest to that.  In James 1:2  we hear:   My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, ³ for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is joy and the ability to endure.  You can’t have one without the other, suffering and joy are companions.  The struggle here is that your mind doesn’t want you to see them as companions.    Yet Joy and suffering as buzzer as it may sound to some are, much the same as hot is to cold or darkness is to light.  As we read the story of Jesus’ birth there is a mixture of pain and suffering for both Mary and Joseph in the beginning, yet on the other side of their difficulties the results are great joy for both of them and the world.   Jesus' death on the cross was a facsimile of this joy.  The brain on its own cannot comprehend joy because it is contained within the heart.  The bible tells us that the Joy offer to us in Advent, the joy of the lord, would be a joy the world would reject.  Somewhere deep down in our hearts we know that you can’t really appreciate light until you have been in the pit of darkness.  You can’t feel relief, unless you have experienced the pain.   Joy and suffering are companions, they go hand in hand.  That is why we sing:   “When the storms of live are raging I hear music in the air.  The song “Over my head I hear music in the air.”

You can’t really appreciate the joy of living that the bible teaches us, until you have learned to work with and appreciate the bitterness of life.  Again, what did James 1: verse 2 say:   My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, ³ for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is joy and the ability to endure.

We also know that continual happiness is a foolish dream, a fragment of our imagination and besides, it’s illusive.  Have you ever wondered why that is so true?    Well, happiness requires tangible things, to hold on to.   Joy on the other hand required you to let go of your things.   One of the greatest examples comes to us from the Christmas story with Mr. Screwed.  As he goes through the reflections of his life with the angle of death he is portrayed as being chained to things.  There he is, dragging them along as the angle of death takes him back through his life.  In the end when he realizes his folly in life, only then are the things he is chained to released and thankfulness and gratitude floods his soul and “Joy takes root in his life.”   

Joy bring you something much greater than happiness.   In joy you will find contentment; people, things and circumstances lose their power over you allowing the greatest gift of Advent to invade your life, “love”.   For Screwed, things became gifts to give rather than to receive.    Now I know that might not be good news for some people, but it should be good news for the people of God.  

I want you to think about this for a moment folks, happiness does not bring contentment, because the feelings are short lived.  The folly of happiness is where it is planted.  Happiness plants itself in a superficial soil where it cannot take root.  The proof in the pudding as we often say is this: soon we slip back into old patterns of wanting someone to fill the whole in my life or the need for more things, so we can be happy again.  It is a vicious circle of unending, happiness then unhappiness.   With happiness contentment is always eluded, you can only get close up to it with your yacht as I joked with you earlier.    Now for the good news folks:  The Advent joy that is offered to us, if accepted, can become rooted because of where it is planted.   Once planted it will begin to take root.  The key to Joy is its soil.  Where do you think it finds its roots?  Anyone want to take a shot at it.  If you do this small exercise every morning Joy will begin to flood your soul just as it did for Mr. Screwed.  Make your Advent new year’s resolution for joy, this:  begin a gratitude journal.  Its that simple!!  True Joy takes root and grows in the soil of gratitude, thankfulness. If you were to take a few moments at the beginning of every day and write just one or two things you are grateful for in your journal you will begin to sense this joy.  As you reflect daily on what you have written and by adding to the list each morning, you will soon begin to see how your “JOY” takes root.  This Joy cannot be taken from you because the roots begin to go deep.   It doesn’t come from people or things, Joy doesn’t just make you happy it begins to fill that emptiness people often express in their lives.  Once you receive it you begin to understand the meaning of a joy-filled life.  

 One of the great examples to illustrate this is; a women going through a full term of  pregnancy.  Often the joy of finding out turns to fear, then you become uncomfortable, your body begins to loose it shapeliness.  Often rashes brake out; there’s morning sickness, and major mood swings often occur.  It doesn’t stop there either: soon you feel the pains of labor, then and only then comes the JOY?   Mothers tell of the overwhelming joy at the birth of a child, Great JOY!  You can bet your boots that Mary experienced all these things before the birth of her baby Jesus. 

This was the experience of Mary and Joseph on that wonderful night.  Joy did not mean that their troubles were over, but the joy Jesus would bring to the world would last for eternity.  Joy is the quiet confident assurance of God’s love and work in your life.

Isn’t that GREAT!   

" The Second Week In Our New Year"

Isaiah the Prophet 600 years before the prophecy is fulfilled he proclaims in chapter 9 verse 6 of his writings:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

 In the world you live in what does the word Peace mean for you?

The Hebrew word for peace is “Shalom” Anyone know its full meaning? 

Hebrew words often go far beyond our English interpretations. Each Hebrew word conveys feeling, intent and emotion. Shalom is more than just simply peace as we would say it in English; it is a complete peace. It is a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, of well-being and harmony. “Shalom”

I want you to keep this passage in mind as we discuss today readings:  In “John 14:27  ²⁷ “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does.”    

Dec 7 2014  Psalm 85 2 Peter 3: 8-15 Mark 1: 1-8

 Last Sunday we took a look at the Hope Advent 1 offers us.  Advent is the season to revisit, reflect, and marvel at the prophecy and the miracle that came to us as a babe in the manger, and the reasons for His coming.  One of the reasons was to give us hope and that hope resides in the fulfillment of a prophecy yet to happen, just as it was for our Jewish ancestors.  The arrival of the Christ child was the fulfillment as promised, a Messiah for the Jewish nation, truly the Prince of Peace.  The Messiah was to be their hope that would save them from the oppression and domination of the Roman Empire.   Our hope also lay within prophecy.  It is the promise that Jesus will return, however that might occur and free us from our bondage to a modern day worldly Empire that is clearly running out of control.  We can see how this worldly Empire works in today’s world economy, within corporations, in governments, and religious groups and it’s not pretty folks.  Often you will find at their core, the Savior Syndrome.  People start with good intentions I’m sure, but as these tribal groups become institutions by gaining more and more power and control, they begin to see themselves the almighty authority. Those who want to lead us often portray themselves as masters of the turnaround.  In their minds, nothing good happens until “THEY” get to lead us, for they hold the truth.  Their promise is always that they can turn around the general incompetence of their competition.  The unspoken word is that they alone can SAVE us, and bring order out of our kayos.   Now I ask you to think about that folks, we see it dictatorships, it is there in democratic governments, it is in the church, you can even find it within ordinary folk,  and their lack of good sense is,  I know the truth and the way, trust me, I’m here to save you.    Jesus cautions us, there will be many a wolf in sheep’s clothing claiming to be your Shepherd.  Mark 13: 6.  I don’t know about you but it’s extremely easy for me to become prideful, allow my ego to rule, or to try and hide my predigests.  Are we not all venerable to these common human flaws?   John the Baptist admitted, I am not the way nor do to I claim to be your savior, I am his servant sent to prepare for His coming.   We today, who claim to be his followers, are called to prepare the way for Jesus’ return.  In fact, I believe that this is the complete essence of Advent.  We, the faithful, are to prepare the way for others, and it is not to the malls folks, but to the manger where our hope for a new world order really lay.      

That leads us to the Second gift in Advent, the gift of Peace and it asks us to consider a question.   Jesus said “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you.  I do not give it as the world does.”  John 14: 27.  What is He telling us here?  I always thought I knew what peace meant, but Jesus claims that His peace is different from our understanding of peace, He claims it is a peace the world does not know.  So, may I suggest that we begin with the peace we do know?   After war or conflict our leaders make peace, right, but the peace has never lasted, why? Can anyone help me out here ---WHY?  {Discussion time}   Now I don’t know about you but in my own personal family, and in the many church families I have been a part of, there were many attempts to make peace but again it never lasted for long, something or someone always broke the peace.  Has that been your experience here on the Island too?   Are you with me Church!!!    There have been peace packs made with aboriginal peoples all over this world, but they too have not lasted?  WHY?  I think your getting the picture folks.  It would appear that we are incapable of bringing to the world a lasting peace on our own.  The peace we offer is somehow tainted, flawed or incomplete.  I think it is because we humans hold tight to our pride, often it is our ego that rules, and our jealously and predigests are often hidden and if we were honest with ourselves, you could probably add a few more flaws of the flesh to the list.   Now if I were to get stuck there, if I don’t grow by feeding on the word of God, I would be left with regret and despair, confusion and kayos.  But FOLKS the first gift we are offer in Advent, is the gift of HOPE.  With Jesus as our mentor there is always HOPE for change and a new beginning.  Let us not forget the prophecy that was written in Malachi 3:1 and fulfilled by God, that one of us would prepare the way for the Messiah, his name would be John the Baptist.   He would prepare the way for the Prince of Peace who offers His own peace, not to the world but first to the lowly shepherds and now to you.   It is an inner peace that can put out the fires of pride, ego, jealously, predigest, hatred, revenge.  It truly is an everlasting inner peace that the world cannot understanding, it opens the door so you can truly forgive your enemies.   If you haven’t accepted it for yourself first, how then, can you expect to show Jesus'  peace to your family, a neighbor or to the world?  For we cannot give to the world something we ourselves have not yet received.  If you don’t feel this inner peace yet, do not despair, keep doing good, for God is still seeking you, God wants you to receive all the Advent gifts.  That is why we get to celebrate Christmas over and over again. God doesn’t give up on us folks, God is persistent in the rescue of His children to the end of the ages our scriptures tell us.  Trust in Him, surrender to Him and embrace the prophecy for it will come to pass.       

 For those of us who have already begun to surrendered our pride, our ego, our religion, jealously, and our predigests we have a responsibility, to share what we have received from Bethlehem and bring Jesus’ Hope, Peace Joy and Love to the world.     Jesus said “ My peace I give to you” not to the world, but to you personally.   After you have accepted His offer you won’t have to tell others with words, Oh no, they will see it your contentment and your compassionate acts of love for your neighbor.   “Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God”.     Jesus is telling us: “I am the Lord of Peace the only source for genuine Peace.  I give you this gift, not as something separate from Myself, but as part of who I am.”  You cannot just grab this blessing on the run folks.   You need to set aside time for focusing on Jesus and enjoying His Presence.  There you will begin to understand this gift He offers.

"Happy New Year Folks"

Did you know that Advent is the first week in the New Year for Christians?  Well Happy News Year folks.   

So I challenge you to take the next four weeks before Christmas and make at least one New Year’s resolution per week.  The first resolution will come from the word Hope, because the first Sunday in Advent asks us to ponder our Hope for this season.  

We often struggled with this word hope because we cannot hope for something we already know or already have experienced.  May I suggest that for many, the Christmas season is very venerable to repeated traditions we already know or have experienced, making it very hard for the first word of Advent “Hope” to take root in us?

So!! What is it that you HOPE for this Christmas?    

 Nov 30 2014

Advent One:  Readings: Isaiah 64:1-9  Psalm # 80, 1 Corth.1: 3-9 Mark 13:24-37

It may sound strange but many people I speak with these days have expressed an uneasiness about the holiday season?  That the secular buying and celebrations have taken over president from its original meaning.  How many of us here today really look upon the season as a time of rest and reflection as central to the season?   A time of hope with great anticipation that something new and exciting is going to be birthed in your life.  It is about a birth you know, no pun intended!  

How many of us have said or have heard others say they actually are not looking forward to Christmas at all?  What is wrong with this picture folks!!!?

Surprisingly I hear these statements coming from regular church going folks.  So then, why has this season become for so many, a season of burnout, sickness, and depression, not a season of hope, of well being with the enthusiasm and   excitement of new beginnings?   As I mentioned earlier for us it is the beginning of a new year in the church.  It should be for us at least, a time of resolutions for our New Year.

I don’t know about you, but for me, I often find it difficult to understand God's perceptions of our world, but we certainly know we are out of sync with God’s precepts.   Let me give you a cute example of mans perception verses God’s perception.   One day, little Jimmy was laying on a hill in the middle of a meadow on a warm spring day.  Puffy white clouds rolled by and he pondered their shape.  Are you with me Church, have you ever been there?  Soon, he began to think about God.   "God?  Are you really there?" Jimmy shouted out loud.  To his astonishment a voice came from the clouds. "Yes, Jimmy? What can I do for you?"   Seizing the opportunity, Jimmy asked, "God? What is a million years like to you?"   Knowing that Jimmy could not understand the concept of infinity, God responded in a manner to which Jimmy could relate. "A million years to me, Jimmy, is like a minute."  "Oh," said Jimmy. "Well, then, what's a million dollars like to you?" "A million dollars to me, Jimmy, is like a penny."   "Wow!" remarked Jimmy with excitement, "I’ve heard that you are a generous God, could you please give me one or your pennies?"   God replied, "Sure thing, Jimmy! Just wait a minute.   Little Jimmy wasn't ready for how God sees things was he?   What about you, are you ready for a new way of thinking when it comes to Christmas and the season of Advent?   Are you waiting with hope and anticipation that God will revile a new perspective for you this year?  Don’t you want things to change so something exciting can happen to you this Christmas?    Often we repeat the same old traditions every year expecting it to be different, but hope cannot be found there.   The great Mathematician Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result."

Our text this morning from Mark seems an unlikely scripture for Advent but for the modern day church it is the place to start:  With hope and a promise for Jesus’ return, for that is what our modern day Christmas is supposed to be about folks.  

Our hope is not that the baby Jesus will come again, no! That event has already happened, our hope cannot be found there.   Our hope should be that the prophesy of his returning spirit will manifest itself in our hearts and we will begin to see the truth about our material Christmas and its celebrations that have gotten way, way out of hand folks.

As we approach the First Sunday of Advent this year, let us remember it was quite different for the Jewish people of Israel, why, because the events of our Christmas had not yet happened.  Their story of waiting with hope and anticipation certainly had nothing to do with Mary and Joseph, shepherds watching their flock or 3 Wise man from the east.   They were not waiting for a modern day Christmas, as our traditions have developed over the years:   they were waiting with hope for the fulfillment of a promise from the old testament or Hebrew scriptures and they waited believing in a generous God who would give them a Deliver.    Literally, there hope was for a Savior who would free them from their bondage and slavery to the Roman Empire that dictated their lives.   Is it not the same for us today folks, don’t we want to be saved from the shopping malls and the credit debt of Christmas, freed from traditional expectations and obligations that weigh us down and tire us out.   May I suggest we are to controlled by the world’s economy as empire.   How many of us here today can relate to our Jewish roots.   Many of us feel enslaved by expectations that are tied to the secular holiday and are not really connected to the spirit of the season.     The Jewish people were hoping for a Messiah and the promise of new world kingdom.    Is that not our hope too,  that a Savior might come once again and save us from this materialistic and violent world, in essence someone who can save us from ourselves and show us how precious we and life really are!!   

So I ask the question once again:  you wait with hope and anticipation for what?  Remembering that you cannot hope for something you already know or have.  Hope doesn’t exist there.  Where do I start you might ask?  Well!!   

There should be much more in our Advent than the retelling of the old, old story.   Advent is also about a new story in the making.  It is about your story, your life, your hope, your future.  It is about your personal relationship with God.   Jesus tells us to be awake and alert, for the day is coming when He will return to rule this new heaven and a new earth and he wants to find you as one of the builders of this new kingdom.   He also tells us that we will never know the mind of God nor will we ever fully comprehend God’s timing for His return, but prophecy tells us He will, come again, embrace the mystery folks.    Let us then begin our new year with the hope that the resurrected Spirit of Christ will invade you personally this season:  That you will surrender to Him and become one of the builders in the new kingdom, and that you will find yourself safe in the fold when He comes again.   You hold the power of Hope within you.  

                             "Hope Always Births Something New"