Sunday, December 29, 2013

God Redeems

First Sunday after Christmas
with Matthew 2:13-23 and Hebrews 2:10-18

• Paul Harvey used to tell the story of a man whose cozy evening by the fire was disturbed by some small birds outside seeking shelter from a winter storm. Whenever the man would try to get the birds to safety in his barn they'd flee from him. “If only I could become a bird, then they could follow me unafraid.” And the man realized that that is what God does in Jesus Christ – Christ became human in order to guide humankind to salvation.
• I noticed a few times in the Matthew reading that Joseph was a dreamer... Not the only dreamer Joseph. Two things here: One, it was not convenient to take care of Jesus and Mary... They moved (hear: walked) 500 miles away, lived as foreigners, and shortly moved back. Not convenient, but faithful.
Two: There are other similarities between the story of Jesus and the story of God's salvation of the people through the exodus... That other dreamer Joseph also went to Egypt. Jesus was protected from a king who wanted to kill all the baby boys... Moses was protected from a king who wanted to kill all the baby boys... Moses had to flee his home for fear of his life, and he returned after he was told in a dream that it was okay to go back... same with Joseph.
Again, a few things to point out here: Matthew is demonstrating that Jesus is the real deal, that Jesus is vitally connected to the history of the Jews, and God is going to work salvation through this him. The salvation story which identified the people of God for generations points to a salvation story which will identify the people of God for millennia.


• When I told the story of the man and the birds earlier, I was telling it to you, too... It's a great model of the incarnation, and it connects to the suffering we read about in Hebrews... we have a Jesus who is displaced, exiled and homeless... and guess who can relate to that? Displaced, exiled and homeless people... the kind of people God wants humankind to care for. Poor people, suffering people... God wants humankind to embrace and minister to them, and so be involved in the process of the redemption of the world.
And God is telling us Yes, there will be suffering, and by the way, I'm redeeming it.
• Remember the end of the Joseph story? Not the Jesus-Joseph story but the Joseph-and-his-brothers story? When Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers, he tells them You sold me with malicious intent, but God took that suffering and made good come from it. And that's how God works... God takes the suffering of the world, adds human faithfulness and the Holy Spirit, and works good out of it.


• Two words from commentaries:
As followers of Jesus, we have surely been saved from our sin by the grace of our Lord. But unfortunately, being his disciples does not save us from human suffering. Suffering will dog our souls from the day we are born until the day we die, and worry will never leave our minds alone.
The story of Israel is ultimately a story of God’s grace and steadfast love. No matter how many times God’s children turned away, God always accepted their apology and gave them another chance. That's what the gracious deeds of the Lord are: the abundance of God's steadfast love.


God is always working good in the world.
Be a part of God's working.
And God bless you.


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

God Works

Christmas Eve
with Luke 2:1-7, a bit of Isaiah, and Psalm 98:1-3

Psalm 98:1-3 Common English Bible (CEB)

Sing to the Lord a new song
    because he has done wonderful things!
His own strong hand and his own holy arm
    have won the victory!
The Lord has made his salvation widely known;
    he has revealed his righteousness
    in the eyes of all the nations.
God has remembered his loyal love
    and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
    every corner of the earth has seen our God’s salvation. 

• One of my favorite Christmas movies is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I'm not sure a move like that could be made today... it's tough to make a movie that's religious, much less that actually proclaims the Gospel. You know, when they come to the end and Charlie Brown cries out: “Isn't there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?” and Linus calmly says, “Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you. Lights, please.”
And he launches into that reading from Luke that we shared earlier tonight: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the city of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men.'” That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
• No, I'm not sure a movie like that could be made today... I think there are a lot of things that have changed about Christmas since Linus answered Charlie Brown's question back in 1965... It seems that a lot of people are hypersensitive about people, especially public figures, even *mentioning* God... Somehow “freedom of religion,” which is rightly protected by the Constitution, has been twisted into “freedom from any public mention of religion that I may find offensive.” Somehow Christmas has become practically synonymous with a season of market frenzy, guilt, and overspending. Add to that the variety of economic stress, social pressure, and medical troubles that always seem to increase, and for many Christians it sure feels like we live in dark times.
• But these are not the only days of darkness the people of God have known, neither are they even the darkest days the world has known. There have been hundreds of thousands of people who have lived entire lifetimes waiting in the darkness for something light. And if that something light were left up to people alone, we'd be waiting in the darkness still.
• But God has done marvelous things. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, we read... those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
• Indeed, the Lord has made his salvation known... The psalmist writes in Psalm 98: The Lord has made his salvation known. Do you know what that word “salvation” is in Hebrew? “Yasha.” Same root as the word Yeshua, the name of Jesus. God saves. God brings light into the world. God enters into a world filled with various darknesses and leads us into light. The Lord has made Jesus known, the salvation of the world.
• And we here at First Church are not afraid to say the name of Jesus. We're not afraid to bear that light into Barboursville and Huntington and beyond, we're not afraid to give God all the credit and all the glory, we're not afraid to say, Yes, the Lord has done marvelous things, the Lord has made his salvation known, and his name is Jesus. He is the light of the world, and it is the light of Jesus we celebrate and that we will shout to all the earth.
• In a moment we will celebrate God's light in a special way. We will pass out candles and then light our candles from the one light, the Christ light; we offer the light to you and ask that you would offer it to your neighbor. While the light is being passed, we'll join our voices together in the timeless classic “Silent Night.”
And at the 11pm service:
Before we do that, we'll take Jesus into our lives in a very special way as we participate in Holy Communion. We will join together with people across borders and centuries and say Yes, there is room in my heart for Thee, Lord Jesus.
I'll now ask some ushers to pass the baskets around. Please take a candle, and take a communion cup – the cup includes juice and a wafer as well, so that we might commune together. After these elements have been distributed I'll lead us in the communion liturgy.


• Friends, the light of the world is not ours to keep to ourselves, but to share with all the world. We nurture the light and allow it to grow in us and through us. Though we blow these candles out, we carry God's light in our lives.
• Joy to the world!
• And now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, now and always. Amen. Merry Christmas
Please join us for Worship 11am Sundays
We will begin the year
with John Wesley's Covenant Renewal Service on January 5,
and Sunday School for all ages at 9:45am

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

One Sign Fits All?

Fourth Sunday of Advent
on Isaiah 7:10-16 and Matthew 1:18-25

Advent, season of preparation for the coming of the Lord.
Time to remember the birth of Christ
AND to look forward to the return of Christ...
live in such a way that you represent and resemble Christ,
and so increase His visibility in the world.
The context of Isaiah and Ahaz is that Judah (Ahaz's land) has foreign armies advancing on three sides. God is telling Ahaz that those armies will be no more in a matter of months/years... 
In the midst of war, God says TRUST me, I am with you in real time and in real issues...
On to Joseph, God says TRUST me, I am with you in real time and in real issues... Joseph's commitment was not a one-time thing. By not dismissing Mary Joseph took on the public scrutiny of suspicion or ridicule... either he was a liar that he'd not slept with Mary or he was a fool for believing nobody had... Joseph's “yes” (combined with Mary's “yes”) was a lifetime, year by year, month by month, by week, by day, raising a child.
God says TRUST me, I am with you in real time and in real issues...
The sign Isaiah related to Ahaz, Matthew revived 700 years later as a sign of God's presence with Joseph 2000 years ago, and it remains a sign for us 2000 years later... for Ahaz is dead, Isaiah is dead, the woman and child that were signs to them are dead... Joseph is dead, Mary is dead...
and Jesus is alive.
The witness of scripture is that God is with us and God is for us.
It is God's desire to be with us in real time and in real situations.
On Friday I saw FB friends from Hershey posting about the death of a senior from the high school... a young man named Mark took his own life. I don't know Mark or his situation, but between 30 and 40,000 suicides per year... that's every 15 min. Tenth highest cause of death in the nation.
D'ya know the highest risk group for suicide? Men, 70+.
God is with them. And we in the church need to pay attention & be present.
We in the church need to let them know that God is good and life is worth living.
I thought it might be teens. (3rd highest cause of death for teens, btw)
D'ya know that gay teens are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than straight teens?
God is with them. And we in the church need to pay attention & be present. We in the church need to let them know that God is good and life is worth living.
And answer me this: when did God send Jesus for the salvation of the world? When they were sinless and with their act together? When did God embody love? When was God with people? God blessed the undeserving world while it in sin and darkness lay...
In times of emotional distress... God is with you.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to the distressed.
In times of national distress, like war (a la Ahaz)... God is with you. & with vets.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to those torn by war.
In times of economic or political distress... God is with you.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to the distressed.
In times of medical distress... God is with you.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to the distressed.
Like Laney Brown, who turned 8 on Friday... Laney has leukemia and last night THOUSANDS of folks gathered outside her Reading PA home to sing Christmas carols...
http://readingeagle.com/article/20131221/NEWS/131229987#.UrZpBdJDuNY

God is with us and God is for us.
It is God's desire to be with us in real time and in real situations.
& that's a sign for all times... one sign that fits all.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Sing, Sneetches!

Second Sunday of Advent
from Isaiah 11:1-10 and Romans 15:4-13

Advent, season of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Time to remember the birth of Christ AND to look forward to the return of Christ... live in such a way that you represent and resemble Christ, and so increase His visibility in the world.

• "I love you and there's nothing you can do about it."
Tell someone that.
How's it feel to say?
How's it feel to hear?
Not everyone hears that every day.
Not everyone says that every day.

• Looking at the passage from Romans 15 what do you notice? Paul's repeated reference of the Gentiles, and praising. Four times, from the Law (Deuteronomy), the Prophets (Isaiah), and from the writings (Psalms).
"Gentiles" has to do with "outsiders".
What would cause Gentiles / outsiders to praise or rejoice?
Well, what would cause anyone to rejoice?

We rejoice at freedom from burden or grief or pain.
We rejoice at feeling of belonging or of being loved.
We rejoice at feeling of peace or unity.
These are conditions that come as Christ increases in the world.

Sneetches loved their own kind, happy to have defined “in” and “out” kind. But Sneetchdom was broken. Not all Sneetches could sing. Not all were loved. There were Gentile Sneetches, "outsider" Sneetches. They longed for love, longed to belong, longed not to be judged. 
And it took a breaking in to Sneetchdom for change to happen, and happen it did... and their worlds were expanded.

May our traditions inspire and encourage us to reach out to others for the glory of God, that there may be no outsiders, that others would look at the church and see hope and help instead of judgment and division, that more would praise God, and that none would feel unloved.


Read from Advent Calendar for today, LIGHT first candle, candle of hope, and second candle, candle of Christ the WAY.
Pray thanks for salvation, strength for bearing light, increasing Christ light in the world


Childrens' Special Music

Sunday, December 1, 2013

What's New?

First Sunday of Advent (Year A)
from Isaiah 2:1-5 and Romans 13:11-14

• Happy New Year! (Advent is the beginning of the Christian calendar, so the first Sunday of Advent is like the first day of the calendar year).
What do folks often do at New Years? Make resolutions... typically having to do with some kind of personal discipline. Perhaps you'll join in a personal discipline for Advent.

• On the one hand (OTOH), this Advent season is a first for us, (my first Advent here in Bville), and on the other hand (OTOH), here we go again, getting ready for Christmas. Just a few days ago we celebrated being thankful for what we had, just hours before unmatched shopping frenzy for things we don't need. (Black Friday 2013 included a shoplifter shot by a cop in IL, a shopper pepper-spraying a WM manager in NJ, a stabbing in VA over a parking space. On our way to 3.9% increase in holiday spending over last year.)

• What's new? OTOH Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun. And OTOH, “I am making all things new” (Jesus in Rev. 21:5, see also Isa 65:17 “I create new heavens and a new earth.”

• Advent, season of preparation for the coming of the Lord.
Time to remember the birth of Christ AND to look forward to the return of Christ.

• We celebrate the forward vision in Isaiah that God has a beautiful plan in place... 
...in the midst of the darkness LIGHT is coming, 
...in the midst of depression and desolation, there is HOPE for RENEWAL.

• Any crafters here? There's a certain pride to making something... Counted cross-stitch, woodwork, maybe you're a gardener or decorator.
Did you ever start a project and not finish it? I've got cross-stitches I started twenty years ago that remain unfinished...

Here's the thing, God finishes God's projects.
God finishes God's projects, and I daresay God delights in the process as well. 
And we are a part of God's project, and God delights in us.

There's a word for God's finished project and that's “shalom” – it has to do with the ideal, the complete, the perfect, the whole, and yes, peace, and that is what we hope for and anticipate especially in Advent. In fact right now our unlit Advent wreath is both a reminder of the unfinished work of the Lord and a way of watching the light come into the world. We'll light one in a few minutes, as we begin or rather take a next step in that journey.

• Of course as you prepare for a journey you gotta dress appropriately. I'm a runner, and I'm thankful that as I prepared for a Thanksgiving Day run I had my winter running clothes because it was 20 degrees out. You gotta dress appropriately, and our passage from Romans not only says It's time for the journey to begin – you know what time it is, the night is almost over, the day is near – it's time for the journey to begin, now get dressed properly. Dress yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (LJC), don't be selfishly indulgent (hello, Black Friday), do live as light – live in such a way that you represent and resemble Christ, and so increase His visibility in the world.

• There's a sense about Advent that is like the season of Lent, in that preparation is a discipline of sorts. The way to “dress yourself with the LJC” is to plan time with Him, for study and devotion and prayer, to live in a way that others will see Him and will want to know more.

• One other thing about Advent, this season of increasing the light of Christ in the world while discarding the ways of darkness... it's easier to see in the dark if there's someone with you or near you who has a light. Some of you may be that light – you have been able to overcome darkness in your life... SHINE that light so that others may see. Walk with those of us who need to hear how Christ has been with you in overcoming temptation and adversity. Some of you may be the light, and others of you may NEED the light. That's why we're the body of Christ, and that's why it's great to worship God on your own but we NEED to prepare the way of the Lord together. It's easier to see in the dark if there's someone with you or near you with a light, and ultimately we have Christ with us. Let's help others to see.

• I have devotional calendars for everyone – enough for everyone as individuals, but I'd encourage you to do as family. Reading from the first day:

God is not asking for ALL of your time, but He is asking for 100 percent of the time you are able to give to Him. Don't rush through a Bible verse while you are eating breakfast and listening to the weather report. Don't wade through a devotional reading five minutes before you fall asleep from a frenzied day... Ten minutes of completely undivided attention and time will give you a better spiritual journey than thirty minutes of squeezed-in time...

Doing this will get you to Christmas prepared instead of surprised, ready for the Christ-child.

• LIGHT first candle, candle of hope

We light this candle as a symbol of Christ our Hope.
May the light sent from God shine in the darkness to show us the way of salvation.

• Pray thanks for salvation, strength for bearing light, increasing Christ light in the world
• Into Advent Communion liturgy (responses on UMH p. 13)



Isaiah 2:1-5 Common English Bible (CEB)

1 This is what Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of the mountains. It will be lifted above the hills; peoples will stream to it.
3 Many nations will go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the Lords mountain, to the house of Jacob’s God so that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction will come from Zion; the Lord’s word from Jerusalem. 4 God will judge between the nations, and settle disputes of mighty nations. Then they will beat their swords into iron plows and their spears into pruning tools.
Nation will not take up sword against nation; they will no longer learn how to make war.
5 Come, house of Jacob, let’s walk by the Lord’s light.

Romans 13:11-14 Common English Bible (CEB)

11 As you do all this, you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith. 12 The night is almost over, and the day is near. So let’s get rid of the actions that belong to the darkness and put on the weapons of light. 13 Let’s behave appropriately as people who live in the day, not in partying and getting drunk, not in sleeping around and obscene behavior, not in fighting and obsession. 14 Instead, dress yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t plan to indulge your selfish desires. 



Benediction
1 Thess 3:12-13 - May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.