(Dec. 25) Sunday Snippet

Luke 2:8-14 

     

The good news for all of us is that we have the glorious season of Christmas which comes again and again, year after year, to remind us (and) to renew within us, the realization of the wonderful gift to us from a God who sent his only son into the world to take on our faults, and replace them with the Christmas message of light, hope, peace and love. In many of the Christmas stories that are read from Scripture during the weeks before Christmas, we hear of God’s agents, the angels, delivering the message: “Do not be afraid.”

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah to announce that his wife Elizabeth would become the mother of John the Baptist, Gabriel’s first words to him were, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard”. Not long after, Gabriel appeared again, this time to Mary, to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus.  And again his first words were, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God”. 

An angel appeared to Joseph, as well.  He was engaged to Mary and was upset about her pregnancy, but the angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”.

And finally, on Christmas Day, in today’s text, in glorious splendor and light, an angel appeared to the shepherds on a hillside while they were tending their sheep and said to them, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy."

The amazing fact, the extraordinary similarity, the profound parallel, between ALL the characters in the Christmas story - is this - they were just ordinary folk, regular people, common citizens, who, each in their own way, were asked to overcome their fears: people who had nothing to claim, who had no fame, who had nothing to hold onto except  their faith in God.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were elderly, and I’m sure many of their friends and neighbors had much to say as Elizabeth became obviously pregnant in her old age.  Mary, on the other hand, was just a child of perhaps fourteen or fifteen.  She was not married and so was seen by society as a disgrace to her family.

No one would have said anything if Joseph had decided to send her away.  According to the custom in those days, he could have had her put to death.  But because of the angel’s words he stood by her and remained faithful to her, and to God.

As for the shepherds, well, they were considered the lowest of the low.  Bad odor and all, dirty from herding their sheep, they lived apart from the other townspeople, they were looked down upon.  And yet they were the first to hear the news of Jesus’ birth.  ALL of these people were asked to do difficult things, things that were out of character for them,- things we can be sure they never would have decided to do for themselves.  It is no wonder that they were so afraid...

...Christmas is here, once again, and it is the time when God confronts each and every one of us, again, year after year, with whose anniversary this is, with whose day this is, with whose sacrifice this really is…

...Christmas is here, once again, it is the time when God confronts us with whose Son it is lying in the manger - the time when God says to each of us: “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy.”

Like I said before...all of the characters in the Christmas story are just ordinary folk, regular people, common citizens...just like all of US, for we too, you see, are part of the Christmas Story as well - you and I have a part to play - all of us, in own way, are being asked to overcome our fears and move forward in FAITH.  “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news…”  I have big plans for you, I want you to help spread the good news that Christ the Lord, a Savior has been born.

(Dec. 11) Sunday Snippet

John 1:6-8,19-28

John the Baptizer is the voice of one announcing that God is near, begging us to wake up, wanting us to cleanse ourselves, to prepare ourselves for the One who will liberate us.  The Judean priests and Levites who came out to confront him want nothing to upset their stability, their peaceful familiarity, their self-conceived concepts, their ideas, their comfort level, their way of doing things organized around the very ancient time-tested traditions of temple worship. They are deeply invested in their beliefs, their way of doing things - that is why John is such a threat to them.

So naturally, inquisitively they ask John upfront and forthright – “Are you Elijah?”.  It was the Jewish belief that before the Messiah came, Elijah would return to announce his coming and to prepare the world to receive the Messiah. Elijah would settle once and for all which people were clean and which were unclean; he would settle who were Jews and who were not Jews; he would unite the divided; but John boldly, bluntly denies any such honor – “No,” he tells them, “I am not Elijah.”

Then they ask him if he was the expected Prophet.  It was believed by some that Isaiah and, especially Jeremiah, would return at the coming of the Messiah.  Some were waiting for the emergence of a prophet who would be the greatest of all the prophets; but once again, John directly denies any such honor – “No,” he says to them, “I am not he.” Finally they say to John, we need to know, “Who are You?”  That was the burning question.  John’s preaching had touched a chord.  Not even the Sanhedrin could ignore the vibrating strings of John’s testimony.  The expectation of a new king thrilled a nation - as a result of what John was preaching - messianic anticipation filled the air.  They just had to know, they wanted to know, they needed to know, they just couldn’t stand NOT knowing.  So with burning hearts and curious souls they ask more, one last time:  “Who are you?” – “What do you say about yourself?”

“Who are YOU?”  What better way this Advent season for us to put our lives in order, what better way for us to further develop ourselves, to prepare ourselves, to evaluate ourselves…what better way for us to enjoy the moment while planning for the future than for us to consider the same burning, probing question John was asked to answer… “Who do you claim to be?”…

NO, you are not the Messiah; NO, you are not Elijah; NO you are not a Prophet, but YES you have been called to be a VOICE that tells others about the coming of THE King; someone who tells (and shows) others what the Christmas Gift of God’s LOVE looks like.

 

(Dec. 4) Sunday Snippet

Mark 1:1-8

Repent:  A man with clothing made of camel’s hare and a leather belt around his waist who dines on locusts and wild honey, is preaching today, just days before Christmas.

Repent:  The frazzle haired freak proclaimed; now there’s an “advertising gimmick” you’ll never forget; there’s a “catch word” we don’t like to talk about.

In the Zen tradition of the far east is a concept about repentance that I would like to talk about, the idea is expressed in a story about a man who went to visit a great Zen master one day.  Master he said - teach me what I need to know to have a happy life.  I have studied the sacred scriptures, I have visited the greatest teachers in the land, but I have not found the answer, please - teach me the way.

At this point the Zen master served tea to his guest. He poured his visitor’s tea cup, full, and then kept on pouring and pouring until the tea started to run over the rim of the cup and across the table, yet still he poured; tea gushed off the table and across the floor, yet still he poured.  The man sat and watched this until he could no longer restrain himself.  “It’s over-full, stop, no more will go in” he cried out.

“Like this cup,” the Zen master said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations.  How can I show you the way unless you first empty your cup?”

Thus, in a similar kind of way, John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord NOT by building a free-for-all freeway but by probing people to prepare the way by FIRST emptying their CUPS; reminding us all that if we are to have life more abundant, we must prepare by changing direction, by doing things differently, by freeing ourselves from ourselves.

Let us ALL, this Advent, take the time and make the effort to free ourselves from ourselves by emptying our cups.