ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

December 28, 2014

Christmas 1

Luke 2:22-40

ENDINGS

Year end

Bucket list

Let go of

Simeon - depart in peace

BEGINNINGS

New year

Hang on to

Possibilities

Presentation-naming

Anna - start of proclamation 

MORE THAN THIS

• I have to admit that I find some of our most common Christmas traditions quite humourous.
• Our bibles give us very little info about Jesus’ birth, so we have extrapolated details over the centuries to fill in the story.
• I will hazard a guess that most of what most of us think we know about the Christmas story is not in the bible.
• Only birth in two gospels:  Matthew and Luke; very different.  Mary Joseph from Nazareth originally or only moved their years later.  Married, not married; manger/shepherds; house/star/magi; don’t get me started about a star above a manger and wisemen at the stable.
• Night time? Time of year?  Dec 25 picked as celebration time not because it was known when Jesus’ birthday was. 
• Winter!  That’s the one that gets me.  We love to have it snowing for Jesus’ birth.  (see snow globe)
• That picture is beyond silly - snow? newborn holding head up?
• Any nativity set, any Christmas card or snowglobe or facebook meme is only our attempt to try and capture that wonderful moment in time.
• To preserve the intersection of the divine and human realms;
• To capture that moment when Immanuel emerges;
• (pardon the winter snowglobe pun) To freeze it in time.
• I appreciate that, but I believe that we do not serve ourselves well when we seek to isolate ourselves in one moment.
• World events:
• War attitudes, must be set aside to evolve into peace (Cuba-US relations);
• Jihadist violence against Canadian soldiers in Montreal and Ottawa - cannot be held so tightly that every Islamic believe in our midst is viewed suspiciously;
• US legacy of racism and concerns over isolated moments of police brutality with racial overtones cannot be held as justification to shoot a person in uniform, just because he is in that uniform.
• Living in frozen time, isolates us from becoming more than we were in that moment.
• Although the birth of Jesus is a moment in time, the significance of God-with-us is more than one moment, more than one night.
• If we are interested in Jesus, we naturally are interested in more than Christmas.
• We are interested in Wonder.  Wonder at how we can experience the Holy among us.
• As Jesus grew, his message was all about knowing God in the ordinary events of life - all about not shielding people from the graces of God.
• Greatest Guide for Living - Love God, Others, Self.
• Love can be a cliché - compassion, respect, acceptance, honest care > class-less living
• If the purpose of Christmas was to begin the Jesus-experience, and the Jesus’ experience is about loving God, neighbour and self; then Christmas is the impetus for living in Jesus’ Way.
• Peace on Earth and Mercy Mild!  Creator and Creation reconciled!

Singing:  #48VU “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing”

LIGHTS OF LOVE

In the morning, the St. David's Sunday School dramatized the Christmas story with great humour and wisdom.

In the evening, people gathered to endure together the longest night.

ALL WE NEED

December 14, 2014

Advent 3

2^nd Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Luke 1: 46-55

(prayer)

There is a fun little song that is traditionally sung at Passover Seder meals.  We have sometimes sung an modern English version of this Passover song on the Thursday before Easter.  It’s at #131 in Voices United.

Ilu hotzi hotzianu

Hotzianu mimitzrayim

Hotzianu mimitzrayim

Dayeinu

Da dayeinu...

If our God had brought us only;

Only brought us out of slav’ry;

And not handed Egypt judgments;

Would’ve been ‘enough’.

E-e-nough...

//

There are fifteen traditional verses to the Dayeinu: five stanzas for leaving slavery; five for miracles; and five for being with God ending with the building of the Temple.

All along the way, the song says - if God had not gone any further in freeing and guiding the people to their promised land, that would have been enough.  Everything after liberation was ‘bonus’.

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Every year at this time, it seems that our society is in need of the message of ‘enough’.

There is so much pressure to be consumers at this time of year - our economy needs it (we are told). Shouldn’t ‘gift giving’ be immersed in attitudes of generosity and gratitude, not greed or guilt.

I think there are times when people give out of guilt - they see such enormous gaps between the financial classes of our society.  Let’s face it, compared to much of the world, we are an extremely wealthy society.  One of my favorite hashtags to search up on twitter is #firstworldproblems.  Many of the comments are funny: both in a humorous and a sad way.  Here a few tweets that I saw this week:

·        Waiting for ice-cream to melt just a little bit so it's soft enough to eat. #firstworldproblems

·        Work gave me an iPad Air, but a normal iPad case for it :( #firstworldproblems

·        I couldn’t hear the TV so I had to stop eating chips. #FirstWorldProblems

·        Day off & the cleaning ladies are here early. Good thing I took my shower early or it could have been awkward #firstworldproblems ;)

See what I mean - funny haha and funny...ohhhh.

//

Sometimes we may give out of the guilt of worrying about our first world problems.  We give to those in more desperate need - in our own area or around the world - hoping to ease some of the guilt.

For the recipients, however, it may not matter - they have needs and if we can help fill them (whatever our motives) it can have good consequences.  It's one of those times that no one gets overly concerned if you are giving for the wrong reasons.

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There is also another issue on the giving-end besides the guilt that comes from privilege - I think that sometimes, we just over-give, we over indulge.
Do you know what I mean?  
I think there can be value for us to think about: when it comes to my own patterns of giving, when is it enough already. 

I’m not talking about overgiving to situations of desperate need.  I mean (if we are honest) I
think that sometimes we give because it makes us feel good and we give too much to people (usually people we know well) who really don’t need that much.

I imagine that we can all think of examples when we feel someone has been spoiled with too many gifts.
And it says more about the giver than the getter.

For some people, they are trying to achieve their own sense of joy and fulfilment by giving lavishly - especially to people we deeply care about.

//

It seems every year at this time, our society needs to hear the message of enough.

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Two good rules of thumb: "It is better to give than receive"; and "the

most appropriate response to a gift is thank you, not is that it?"

I know that I say to my kids (and myself) that it is better to be happy about what you do have than to be sad about what you don’t have.

Dayeinu.  Enough.

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King David had just built himself a huge new house - constructed from the finest imported woods.  It must have been the highlight of the Jerusalem skyline.

Then the lavish selfishness led to guilt. How is it right that the king (a servant of God) lives in a grand house made of cedar and the Ark of God is housed in a tent?  Now, let’s be clear: David’s plan was not to switch homes with the Ark.  Move the contents of the tabernacle worship space into the palace and David would set up home in a tent - no, he was thinking it was time to build a more permanent place of worship.

Since the time of Moses, the Ark of God (the ornate box said to contain the original tablets of the ten commandments) was kept in a tent.  That made perfect sense when the people were nomadic during the time of the exodus.  It may even have made sense in the early years of live in Canaan, but under David, things were very stable.  He had built a new city (Jerusalem) on the outskirts of his hometown of Bethlehem to be his capital city.

As David looked around his new house, he wondered if it was time for a Temple to replace the Tent of the Tabernacle.

David discerns that God is not looking for fancy lodging.  The tent was sufficient - it was enough. 

It was a time of peace.  That should be enough for King David.

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So far in this advent season we have lit three special candles.
We began with hope (where all change and goodness starts); then last week it was peace; today it is joy. 
As I said earlier in the service, joy best flourishes in times of safety and calm.

We all crave safety and calm - so that we can open ourselves up to joy.

Looking at that the other way: it can be very difficult to know joy, when we do not feel calm or safe.

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As the gospel of Luke tells it, Mary was promised in marriage to Joseph.
She has an amazing mystical experience where she encounters a holy messenger.  A messenger who tells her that is deeply valued by her God and that the life she will live will create joy for the whole
world to enjoy.  When it all seemed to hard to believe, the messenger told her - Nothing is impossible for God.

A calm came over Mary, she knew that she was held safe in the arms of God... and she sang:
"My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour."

Her song is a testament to the Will of God that all share in the blessings of Gods creation.  The human patterns of the survival of the fittest and the dominance of strength - the power of wealth - are supplanted by the merciful heart of God that lifts the lowly, fills the hungry and does not heap excess on the conceited and the greedy.

//

Mary feels her life filled with God and that brings her a calm which explodes in joyful song.

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When all that is good and holy comes into the world, the intent is for joy to emerge.  At this time of the year we sing: Joy to the world, the Lord is come!  

And heaven and nature sing!

//

And we NEED joy.  We really do.  Because... too often, too many of us find safety and calm hard to come by.

Oh, how we would long to know a moment of clarity like Mary had, where she could let go of worry and fear and loneliness and fall into into calm safety of the arms of God.

//

We are not all at that place, where joy comes easy.  And that's because we don't have enough of the building blocks of joy in our lives. 
//

Worry and fear are not easy things to release.

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But one of the things that helps is to experience the gift of knowing that "I am not alone."

And by knowing, I don't mean an intellectual insight.  It's not enough to hear those words and try to convince ourselves of their truth at the level of the mind.  We need to know this by real experience.
Joy is more possible when we actually lift the lowly and feed the hungry, and embrace the lonely and comfort the grieving and calm the anxious and rescue the fearful.

When we all have enough of "that", heaven and nature will truly sing!

//

Let us pray,

Look on us with favour, O God.  Inspire us to build joy in in the lives of those around us.
Amen.

#134MV "Dreaming Mary"

WE ARE MORE

December 7, 2014

Advent 2

2^nd Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

(prayer)

Today I want to share with you the story of a great Christian: Moon IkHwan.  I am grateful for the United Church grassroots worship resource called “Gathering” for sharing IkHwan’s story.

//

IkHwan was born June 2, 1918.  His father was a minister, who had studied in a seminary in Toronto.  IkHwan and his is father lived through the time of Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula.  The Japanese rulers treated the Koreans very poorly - even trying to force them to not use their native language, Koreans were forced to take on Japanese surnames, cultural artifacts were destroyed (sound familiar?).  During the second world war, Koreans were conscripted into the Japanese army. 

IkHwan studied to be a Christian minister like his father.  He was a good student, learned Hebrew and Greek.
Years later, IkHwan helped create a Korean translation of the Bible - which is still used and read today - the GongDongByunYuk (the Korean Common Translation).

Being a Christian in Korea in the early 20^th century was not easy.  Speaking out could lead to confrontations with police - many people were beaten (mostly students, as is so often the case when it comes to protest movements); some were sent to jail; some died.  These kind of crackdowns are brutal attempts to silence voices crying for justice.

Moon IkHwan and his friends continued to stand up for what they saw as ‘right’ - and because they believed in God’s love for them, they were full of courage. 

IkHwan had a poem-song rolling through his head - words that gave him hope.

With the wings of our mind on the wind flying,

to the silent breathless earth God's love sending,

let the brave justice flag wave high above,

to the heavens and the earth freedom bringing. (#698VU - verse 1)

//

The Japanese colonial rule of Korea ended with the end of the second world war.  But as with Europe, the victors divided the spoils - along the 38^th parallel.
At first, the Soviet Union administered the northern half of the peninsula and the United States, the south.
In 1948, two separate governments were formed in two separate nations, which we call: North Korea and South Korea.
“Sovereign States” might be an overstatement as this was the time of intense cold war politics.

Two years later in 1950, the North invaded the South and the Korean War began.  There was an armistice in 1953, followed by the establishment of a 4km wide demilitarized zone near the 38^th parallel, which to this day is patrolled by both North and South Korea and other international forces.  Technically, there was no formal end to the Korean War and the Korean people remain divided by an artificial cold war line.

//

Moon IkHwan and some of his family were on the South side of the DMZ and other family members were in the North.  Many Korean families were divided as such.

The story goes that, one day as he sat reading his Bible, IkHwan got an idea - he would protest the division of his people by walking walking from one side of the country to the other.

IkHwan walked north.  When he got to “the line” he just kept walking.  The border guards tried to stop him.  They shouted; they threatened him with jail, but IkHwan just kept walking - past the guns, past the tanks - right over the line.  No one stopped him.  Maybe the poem in his heart gave him strength.

Moon IkHwan kept on walking until he reached his family’s home.  There were hugs and tears and a nice reunion. 

After the visit, IkHwan walked South.  When he got to “the line” again, there were people waiting for him - some family, some supporters, some police waiting to arrest him - which is what happened as soon as he crossed the line.  He was not allowed to see any of his family.  In fact, he never saw his mother again, because by the time he was released, she had passed away.

But that ‘walk’ was not the only time Moon IkHwan ignored the lines in the sand.  He was a preacher, an activist, a theological professor and a faithful person of God - who lived out what he believed.  He was a vocal and active opponent of military dictatorial rule in the South (it didn’t get a democratic leader until 1988).  He spent ten scattered years in prison after five different arrests.  He was released from jail in early 1993 for having made another unapproved (and therefore illegal) visit to the North to talk with leaders about possible reunification. 

Moon IkHwan passed away in 1994, at the age of 76.  His life gave hope to many people in his country and throughout the world.

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We are more than the lines that get drawn around us.  One of the messages of Advent is that we should be excited about the possibility of more in our midst.

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John the Baptist preached that people were more than their shortcomings - more than their times where God was ignored.  John not only believed in the love, grace and mercy of God - he acted on it.

He called into the crowds and invited people to search their own hearts for the desire to ‘be more’.

And those so inspired would come down to the waters and allow themselves to be renewed - coming up from the river, a new creation - a renewed child of God who knew both grace and mercy.

The best definition of Grace that I know is to say that it is getting what we don’t necessarily deserve; Mercy is the other side of the coin of God’s Love - not getting what we might honestly deserve. 

John not only preached this - he offered people the chance to experience the truth of it.

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But there was more... When people were too eager to praise John, he spoke of ‘one still to come’ who could show the world even greater grace and mercy.
John would not even try to compare himself to this ‘one’ - he would not even claim to be in the same league.

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In Jesus (the one of whom John spoke), God’s love (grace and mercy) would be made manifest - tangible, real.

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I know that I am preaching to the choir - literally and figuratively - when I say that Christmas (and Advent which leads to it) is more than fancy decorations, parties and presents under a tree.

It is even more than being with family, sharing joy - dare I say it is more that giving to others.

All of the things we associate with this time of year (both commercialized and spiritualized) do not paint the whole picture. 

There are still lines to cross; still divides to be broken.

//

My facebook friends might have seen my post from Wednesday after the second US grand jury in a week declined to charge a police officer for killing an (admittedly large-in-stature, but none-the-less) unarmed African-American male.  Now, there was a big divide of opinions about the case in Ferguson MO - was 16 year old Michael Brown an imminent threat to Officer Wilson’s life, so that he needed to be shot dead in the street.  But, there is a much more united outrage in the case of Eric Gardner in Stanton Island, who died as a result of a violent chock-hold takedown because he was simply suspected of selling single cigarettes and the ignoring of his cries of “I can’t breathe”.  Ironically, on the day that the grand jury decided that Officer Daniel Pantaleo would not be arrested, over 80 protesters were arrested.

My post was my own outrage at the propensity in our society to want to move quickly out of a time of tension.  There is a call for people to not protest, to not block streets, to not enter onto an NFL field with your hands up (implying ‘don’t shoot’), to not disrupt the lighting of the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree (no justice, no tree), to not be upset when a police car just drives up within ten feet of a 12 year old boy in Cleveland who has been brandishing a pellet gun and the officer shoots him dead only two seconds after stopping the vehicle.  We can’t do those things because they serve to divide us and raise tensions.

More so, there is a call to pretend that the racial divide in the US doesn’t exist - that these are isolated incidents.

My post was that, when our society of broken in this way, we need to live with the tensions - to feel the real pain of the division.  Maybe then and only then, we will find the courage to not just paint over tensions and divisions so that we can ignore them for a while, but to change so that the tensions and divisions are erased. 

We need to be more than we are today.

To do that we need the attitude of humility that John the Baptist expressed.  “It’s about more than me.”

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Moon IkHwan drew courage from his faith - enough that he could walk past guns and tanks to visit with family.  IkHwan endured prison and isolation so that a dream of a united people could be kept alive.

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As people of God - as followers of Jesus - we are more than the divisions and societal categories of people.

Decades after his birth, Jesus would openly flaunt his acts of welcome - dining with sinners, welcoming the outcasts, challenging those who held the powers of oppression and violence.

We know that this time of year has to be more than feeding our own selfish greed.  But this time of year also needs to be more than the celebration of baby Jesus’ birth - it needs to be more than the good works we trot out once every twelve months.

This new season, new church year needs to be a renewal of our greater purpose: to live out the love of God in everything we say and do. 

Inspired by the story of Moon IkHwan, we can make long-term commitments to the concepts of grace and mercy - to put ourselves on that ‘straight paths’.

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Let us pray:

God, you show us the paths of restoration and peace.  May we trust in your tenderness and love.  Amen.

And now, let’s sing together Moon IkHwan’s song of inspiration:

#678VU “With the Wings of Our Minds”