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YOU HAVE HEARD, BUT
My brother-in-law in Naples Florida, sent me this little story.
A father was approached by his young son who told him proudly, "I know what the Bible means!"
His father smiled and replied, "What do you mean, you 'know' what the Bible means?"
The son replied, "I know!"
"Okay," said his father. "What does the Bible mean?"
"That's easy, Dad .... " The young boy replied excitedly.
"B-1 - B - L -E.” “It stands for "Basic Information Before Leaving Earth."
That's pretty much what Jesus is about in our Gospel lesson this morning - from the 5th chapter of Matthew - we're in the Sermon on the Mount. And in that marvelous sermon 'Jesus is indeed giving us some "Basic Information Before Leaving Earth."
I've always been intrigued by Jesus commanding preaching , when six times in a row’ he begins by saying: YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID - ..... BUT I SAY TO YOU...... Jesus is taking on Moses, he is taking on the ten commandments, and the old testament laws and he is 'tweaking' them. YOU HAVE HEARD WHAT MOSES AND THE PROPHETS SAID, .... BUT HERE IS WHAT I SAY TO YOU ...
He does it three times in today's lesson; he'll do it several more times next Sunday. The Interpreter's One Volume Commentary of the Bible says: in these 'adjustments' Jesus SHIFTS THE FOCUS FROM THE EXTERNAL MEANING OF THE LAW TO THE INNER ATTITUDE OF THE HEART. And right there is the secret to getting our minds around these rather difficult sayings, and it is the punch line for the morning.
JESUS IS SHIFTING FOCUS FROM THE 'EXTERNAL MEANING OF THE LAW TO THE 'INNER ATTITUDE OF THE HEART.
Moses delivered the commandments etched in stone, Jesus wants to make it right in our heart. When you relate to one another, Jesus is saying - do it from your heart.
These lessons seemed so difficult when I looked at them this week, I wondered what in the world I might have said about them over the years - three, six, or nine years ago as our lectionary lessons repeat every three years. So I looked back to 2008, 2005, 2002 - But wouldn't you know it, we usually don't get to this lesson in out readings - when Easter is earlier; This year Easter is so late - the last Sunday in April - April 24 - we have plenty of Sundays in this season of Epiphany to concentrate on Jesus' teachings.
So our lessons have the time to focus on the nitty-gritty of life - anger, adultery, and telling the truth.
Listen to the nitty and the gritty ................ IF YOU ARE ANGRY WITH A BROTHER OR SISTER, YOU WILL BE LIABLE TO JUDGMENT;
IF YOU INSULT A BROTHER OR SISTER, YOU WILL BE LIABLE TO THE COUNCIL;
AND IF YOU SAY, 'YOU FOOL,' YOU WILL BE LIABLE TO THE HELL OF FIRE. SO WHEN YOU ARE OFFERING YOUR GIFT AT THE ALTAR, IF YOU REMEMBER THAT YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER HAS SOMETHING AGAINST YOU, LEAVE YOUR GIFT THERE BEFORE THE ALTAR AND GO; FIRST BE RECONCILED, AND THEN COME AND OFFER YOUR GIFT.
William Willimon jokes and says: BUT I SAY LET THEM PUT THEIR MONEY INTO THE PLATE FIRST, AND THEN TRY TO WORK ON THEIR RELATIONSHIPS LATER IN THE WEEK.
How seriously might our offering here be affected if we didn't give until we had everything smoothed out with all of our brothers and sisters? For the first time in my life I went down to District Justice's office the other week and I filed a 'civil suit' against one of our delinquent, former tenants; we have a hearing set in a few weeks, and I guess I should wait to give my offering till this is settled.
Jesus, not letting the nitty-gritty rest goes on ……YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.' BUT I SAY TO YOU THAT EVERYONE WHO LOOKS AT A WOMAN - OR A MAN - we're not going to let the ladies off - HAS ALREADY COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH HER OR HIM IN HIS OR HER HEART.
I always wonder how those who take the Bible literally handle these next lines ..... IF YOUR RIGHT EYE CAUSES YOU TO SIN, TEAR IT OUT AND THROW IT A WAY; IT IS BETTER FOR YOU TO LOSE ONE OF YOUR MEMBERS THAN FOR YOUR WHOLE BODY TO BE THROWN INTO HELL. AND IF YOUR RIGHT HAND CAUSES YOU TO SIN, CUT IT OFF AND THROW IT AWAY.
The other week in our Monday night study group we learned from our book on church history that apparently a third century Christian scholar by the name of Origen took the Bible so literally in his younger years - and I quote the author: "HE CUT A WAY THE ROOTS OF VICE BY CASTRATING HIMSELF FOR JESUS." Reading history is not all boring. Origen later in life changed his mind on taking the Bible literally and gave us some powerful reasons not to do so - if only our fundamental Christians today would listen.
The final adjustment that Jesus deals with in our lesson is on 'swearing'. YOU SHALL NOT SWEAR FALSELY, BUT CARRY OUT THE VOWS YOU HAVE MADE TO THE LORD. BUT I SAY TO YOU, DO NOT SWEAR AT ALL. LET YOUR WORD BE YES, YES, OR NO, NO. ANYTHING MORE THAN THIS COMES FROM THE EVIL ONE. In other words, if you speak the truth ... you don't have to swear to what you say.
In summary, Jesus is telling us in this lesson today that an angry heart is as wrong as murder. A lustful heart is as guilty as adultery. And a lying heart is not at all what Jesus expects of us.
Some folks like to think that Jesus raises the expectations so high when he says repeatedly ..... "but I say to you" ., .... the expectations are set so high for us that we are just naturally driven into the arms of a loving, merciful, and forgiving God. We can never meet such expectations, for we are all human.
Others think that Jesus is just always pushing us - pushing us to better and better behavior, standards. We can, even as human beings, always set our standards higher we can always - be more and more loving in our human relationships with our brothers and sisters; we can work at curbing our lust; and we can work and work and work on always telling the truth.
The bar is set high when Jesus tells us to live not just by the law, but by our heart. And those who know us best, know where we struggle most and where we fail.
But as Christians, we do have an example to follow; and we do have a book that gives us the basic information before leaving earth. Jesus didn't leave us with an impossible assignment. He left us with his example; he left us with his teachings; and he renews us daily and surrounds us daily with his grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love. God bless; and may we get just a little more right about life - about the Basic Information - before leaving this earth.
Amen.
Let us pray:
We will praise you with upright hearts;
O that our ways may be steadfast in keeping your statues.
We gather here week in and week out to hear your commands, your statues, your teachings, your
instructions.
We praise you for these worship opportunities, these moments of reflection and redirection.
Sharpen and quicken our love for our brothers and sisters .....
Show us how to walk a day in their shoes ....
To experience their misery, their sorrow, their poverty, their hopelessness .. Redirect us to care for their needs; to ease their pain; to sooth their suffering. We lay before you these names of folks we love experiencing difficulty .....
and still others we lift before you .....
Challenge us now to do better ... to give more, to love more, to do more. Show us the brevity of our opportunities, the limits on our time .... Until the day we pick up and fly forgotten and we too join that innumerable caravan
Where we can praise you without ceasing ...
And pray with all the saints these very special words, Our father…….
"You Are the Salt"
According to our Monday night study book - "The People's History of Christianity" when young 'churchgoers' were asked their opinion about 'Christianity' - and remember these are church going young folks - 75% of them described 'CHRISTIANITY AS JUDGMENTAL, HYPOCRITICAL, OUT OF TOUCH, INSENSITIVE, BORING, AND EXCLUSIVE. The author says: "the opposite of LOVE." My plea this morning is - can we do our part to remedy that opinion?
A few months ago I discovered that the hard pretzels I was consuming almost every night from 9:00 till 11:00 - even one cup of those delicious, salty pretzels gave me - something like 65% of my daily sodium intake. In two hours I could easily eat several cups and so from that one source alone I was getting two or three times my daily sodium!
I have since switched to 'unsalted' pretzels - but this week - in order to get more flavor-
I'm going to switch again - this time to corrugated cardboard! We like our salt!
In January - you may have heard - the American Heart Association came out with a new advisory. Ifwe could cut down on our salt intake from 2400 milligrams - to something like 1500 milligrams per day - we could save on health care - about $24 billion a year. We're counting on our politicians in Washington to solve our health care issues when maybe each of us could do our part.
And there is now a National Salt Reduction Initiative going on in our country "to reduce sodium content in packaged and restaurant food." They estimate that 90% of us will develop hypertension over our life time. You can guess why I'm talking about 'salt' this morning.
Jesus looks at his disciples and his listeners - in what is known as the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew, chapters 5,6, and 7 - our Gospel lesson today - and Jesus says to the crowds - You are the Salt of the earth. You ARE the salt of the earth.
You don't have a choice; once you say you are my follower - then you are also - my salt.
The New Interpreter's Bible says - YOU ARE NOT BEING CHALLENGED TO TRY HARDER TO BE SALT AND LIGHT - YOU 'ARE' SALT AND LIGHT FOR THE WORLD.
I considered for a moment doing something like a Penn State cheer - when half the fans yell out - WE ARE .... and the other half responds - PENN STATE. We could get a cheer going to remind us - and half of you would yell- WE ARE - and the other half - GOD'S SALT.
WE ARE GOD'S SALT!
And we must not forget it. Ever since my earliest ministry I liked to think of this salt thing - as salt in the potato salad. You can't see us in the salad, we are a very insignificant part ofthe salad - but you can sure tell if we're there or not. You and I go about our daily, humble lives ..... and we don't stand out and we may feel pretty insignificant - but we are still an important, a valuable part of the mix. It may be a few words we say; it may be a quiet action we take; it may be a careful decision we make .... but - we ARE God's salt.
We're also kind of a mysterious ingredient in our society. The mysterious part of salt is that we can use it to melt ice on our side walks - but then when we want to make good, hard ice cream - what do we add to the freezer - salt! And my Dad would never get quite enough salt in there - and we had to keep adding - salt! I know we can explain that scientifically - and we're lowering the freezing temperature - but as a child - add salt?
Add a little salt to flavor the potato salad; add a lot of salt to freeze the ice cream. Two characteristics. I've always found one of the best remedies for a sore throat - is what? Salt water. Gargle salt water. There is this healing quality about salt. We use it to heal our throats; we use it to 'cure' our meat.
We are this salt.
Like salt in the salad - with a little effort we can make a significant difference.
Like salt melting and freezing - there is a mysterious, spiritual, clairvoyant quality to our discipleship.
Like the healing power of salt, we can be agents of healing.
We are the salt. I like to think that Jesus what he was calling us salt - was really looking at us to represent - love, justice, and mercy in the world.
Like salt - we can flavor the world around us with our humble efforts to show love, justice, and mercy.
Like salt - we can mysteriously, quietly make such a difference by treating those we meet with love, justice, and mercy.
Like salt - we can be God's agents of healing by showing love, justice and mercy to all those around us.
Perhaps we can each do our part to change the opinion of those who think of Christianity as judgmental, hypocritical, out of touch, insensitive, boring, and exclusive.
Jesus looks each of us in the eye and says - you are the salt of the earth. Now, go out there and show love, do justice, and offer mercy. Amen.
STONY THE ROAD WE TROD
It was hard to believe that Friday was the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. None of our college student guests this morning were even born. The Challenger exploded just moments after lift off killing all seven astronauts aboard. The crew member who perhaps made the most news was Christa McAuliffe, a civilian, a school teacher.
Also on board was the second African American to make it into space; his name was Ronald E. McNair; he held a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. He was born in 1950 in South Carolina. Interesting, his biography begins by mentioning that he was a 5th degree black belt Karate instructor and a performing jazz saxophonist.
Ronald's brother told a story about him on NPR radio this week. When he was just nine years old, 1959 in South Carolina, Ronald went to visit his local library. He chose two books to check out, but the lady at the desk informed him that - quote - "we don't loan books to coloreds." Ronald was adamant and refused to leave. Finally, the librarian called both his mother and the police to report a 'disturbance' in the library. When his mother and the police arrived, Ronald was now sitting on the counter, waiting. The police asked where was this 'disturbance' ? And all they saw was this innocent nine year old boy patiently waiting for a resolution, and Ronald left the library that day - with his two books.
That kind of tenacity and determination, I guess, landed him the Ph. D. and in 1978 led him to be a NASA astronaut candidate. He flew his first mission on the Challenger in 1984 - the first flight to land on the runway at Kennedy Space Center. His life ended with the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.
I thought his childhood story a fitting introduction to a service that Buzz chose to remind us of the upcoming Black History Month - February. How informed is your black history?
History, quite frankly for me in high school and college, was always my least favorite subject, and I have to admit, was responsible for my lowest grades. I couldn't get into it; I couldn't remember dates; I couldn't remember one general, or king, or president from another. But the most memorable history course I ever took - the one that influences me to this day - and even influences this message - was the two semester course I took at Albright College in black history. Albright apparently agreed to hire this adjunct professor from Lincoln University sight unseen. Lincoln as you may know was an all black university, to our surprise the professor was 'white.'
His course gave me a much deeper appreciation and understanding of the black struggle in this country - a struggle that clearly continues to this day. Ingrained in me is an understanding of why the black family to this day has such difficulty staying intact. You and I, as whites, had grandparents, we had great-grandparents who lived as 'family' one hundred, two hundred years ago. That continues to strongly influence our families to this day.
You know the situation of blacks just 150, 175 years ago. Bought and sold as cattle; treated as cattle. They had little semblance of family; it wasn't possible - and that influence continues to this day. It wasn't really that long ago; and we all continue to suffer from the sins of our ancestors.
Just in this past year I had reason to travel through Sharpsburg, Maryland, just a short drive from here - and there - on a street comer - one street being named 'Church Street' - is the stone used as a slave auction block.' The inscription on it reminds us that it was used from 1800 to 1865. There is a picture in the Gathering Area. It is a chilling reminder of our past.
Last year about this time in our shared course with our Unitarian neighbors on 'isms', the session we talked about 'racism', we had the beautiful and talented Jessica Gondwe speak: to us about growing up in Gettysburg. She described how challenging it was growing up in Gettysburg in my son's generation. How her black friends didn't accept her because her father was a professor at Gettysburg College and how her white friends didn't accept her because of her color. She expressed honestly how she thought of herself as a bad person because of her skin. She impressed upon us that she is not a member of the black race or the white race - she is a member of the human race.
Just last week I received from Jessica's mother, Sara, my membership application into the NAACP ..... still influenced by the best history course I ever took.
And then, of course, there is our President of the United States. I have behaved, and I don't think I've used his name from the pulpit since his election. But you know I was a very early and strong supporter; my bumper sticker is still proudly displayed. I even dreamed about him Friday night - that I met him at a store and got to give him a hug, while Linda and Michelle were shopping.
What has disturbed me most since his historic election - was finally put into words - by the speaker last Saturday at our local Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. I was not able to attend, but I read in the paper that Dr. Jill Nelson focused on the 'inequality that she feels exists in the United States - an inequality fueled by those opposed to the election of Barack Obama.
She said: OTHER THAN THE PERIOD OF RECONSTRUCTION, IT IS DIFFACULT TO IDENTIFY A TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY WHEN A WHITE SUPREMACIST AGENDA INFLUENCES AMERICAN POLITICS AS EFFECTIVELY AS TODAY.
Quite frankly it infuriates that people to this day still want to question his United States birth certificate and his Christian faith.
I can understand opposition to our first black president, but as Christians we must not allow that opposition to be based - as so much of it is - on his color. As Martin Luther King, Jr. would remind us over and over again - we can not judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
We all need a course in black history~ we all need a month like February to remind us of our past; we all need a month like February to correct our future. I thank Buzz and the musicians for this emphasis on Black History and for the following llitany taken from the African American Heritage Hymnal.
Let us pray:
O Lord, what do you require of us, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. We are on that walk this morning as we gather to sing, and worship, and pray. Help us to remember our stony past ....
The people we have treated unjustly,
The times we have not been so kind;
The times when pride has exceeded our humility.
We will pray and continually work for the homeless, the hungry, the sick, the forgotten; we pray for the work of our local soup kitchen and food pantry, and homeless Shelter. There are so many in need .....
We continue to pray by name for these special folks among us ......and still others we can name in our hearts .....
Take us now to the mountain top ...
Where we can see freedom and justice for all.
Where no one is without the basic necessities ....
And where faith, hope, and love abide.
We ask this in the name of the one who taught us 'to love one another' ...
The same one who gave us these precious words to repeat ....
Our father, who art in heaven .
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
Friday morning when I could have been in my office working on this message, I was in Frederick, Maryland, at the Red Cross Blood Donation Center. This very nice lady called the office on Thursday and spent ten minutes telling me how good, and strong, and plentiful, and valuable, and 'scare' my platelets are. 'A positive' platelets she said are universal; they only last five days, and so many cancer and leukemia patients need them.
It takes 90 minutes to donate; the beds are extra comfortable, well padded, even heated; you can watch a movie while you donate; and we'll give you a fleece blanket as a gift. I told Cally when I hung up, that she was so sweet and so convincing that if she had said come to Frederick Friday morning and give us all of your blood, I would have said, "What time?"
I'm not a big movie fan and so I took my copy of the Monday night study book, "A People's History of Christianity." Anyone here ever give platelets? It's not a 'double red', as I have sometimes done. When you give platelets, you~ can't read. You can't read because they put needles in both arms - and for two hours I couldn't even scratch my nose. I don't know if the blood was going in one arm and out the other, or out both and in both, or what; I didn't look. I chose the old movie, "Forest Gump."
I had forgotten many of the good lines; like early in the movie when he said that his mother always compared life to a box of chocolates; "you never know what you're going to get."
Later in the movie his former lieutenant, now having lost both legs in Vietnam, sarcastically asks Forest if he's 'found Jesus'. And of course, Forest answers, that 'he didn't know Jesus was lost.'
All of which reminded me - and I am getting around to the gospel lesson - but that line reminded me of a story I heard recently. The town drunk was coming home one night when he walked by a revival service. People recognized him and called him over to the tent. Before he knew what was going on, they were leading him over to the creek for baptism.
Now standing in the middle of the water the preacher takes him and pushes him under, holds him for awhile and then brings him up. "Did you SEE Jesus?" The drunk says, "No, I didn’t see Jesus.”
The preacher grabs him a second time, puts him under, holds him just a little longer, brings him back up. "Did you SEE Jesus?" The drunk, spitting and sputtering now, says, "No, I didn't see Jesus."
O.K. A third time the preacher holds him under, even longer this time, brings him back up and yells, "Did you SEE Jesus?" The drunk coughing and gagging, yells back: ARE YOU SURE THIS IS WHERE HE WENT DOWN?
The preacher was asking: Did you see Jesus? Today in our gospel lesson Jesus is addressing each one of us with the question: WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Each one of us, I suspect, would come up with a different answer - I can't answer for you - WHAT ARE YOU REALLY LOOKING FOR IN JESUS?
Those are the very first words out of the mouth of Jesus in the Gospel of John. WHEN JESUS TURNED AND SAW TWO DISCIPLES FOLLOWING, HE SAID TO THEM: WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
And typical of John's gospel, the conversations in John don't seem to make a lot of sense. Because in response, all these two amateur disciples can think to say to this one - that has just been labeled - by the 'preacher in the creek' - as the 'Lamb of God' - all they can think to ask is - is a rather silly question: WHERE ARE YOU STAYING? And Jesus says: COME AND SEE.
THEY CAME AND SAW WHERE HE WAS STAYING, AND THEY REMAINED WITH HIM THAT DAY. IT WAS ABOUT FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON.
Who cares? Of all that we might like to hear about this first conversation on this first day with his first two disciples - all we find out is a location and the time!
And yet, in such a simple fashion, the writer of John is introducing to us THE LAMB OF GOD, THE SON OF GOD, THE SON OF MAN, THE MESSIAH, THE RABBI, THE SON OF JOSEPH, THE KING OF ISRAEL - all names that John uses for Jesus within the confines of his very first chapter.
I believe John is making the case - and I am making the case this morning - that Jesus was to become all things to all people. Jesus was able to attract fishermen and tax collectors; he attracted carpenters and lawyers; he attracted rich and poor; he attracted young and old; he attracted educated and uneducated; he attracted the powerful and the powerless, he attracted women and men; he attracted those like him and those foreign to him. He attracted.
Everyone of his disciples was attracted to him for a different reason. This appeal, this charisma, this magnetism, has happened from that first day when JOHN SAW THE SPIRIT DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN LIKE A DOVE - to this very day. To us. Everyone one of us here today has our own personal reason for our admiration. Something about our life ... our hopes or dreams, a painful moment, a deep sorrow, a handicap, a weakness, an illness, an injustice, a discrimination, our persuasion - no matter what it is - we can somehow mysteriously - identify with Jesus.
What are we looking for?
Listen to the New Interpreter's Bible: WHY ARE THERE SO MANY NAMES FOR JESUS? EACH DISCIPLE SEES SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN JESUS AND BEARS WITNESS IN HIS OWN WAY.
EACH DISCIPLE CAME TO JESUS WITH DIFFERING EXPECTATIONS AND NEEDS - ONE NEEDED A TEACHER, ANOTHER THE MESSIAH, ANOTHER THE FULFILLMENT OF SCRIPTURE - AND EACH OF THESE NEEDS WAS MET.
And all these centuries latter we mysteriously meet here on Sunday mornings - because we are longing to have some deep 'need' met. We may have tried lots of other places and lots of other ways, but somehow and for some reason and with some hope, we keep coming back to this place and to this Lamb of God.
Again the New Interpreter's Bible: WE MUST NOT LIMIT JESUS TO PRECONCEIVED CATEGORIES AND EXPECTATIONS - BUT WE MUST KEEP OUR EYES OPEN FOR A SURPRISING REVELATION OF GOD.
WHEN NEW IMAGES OR METAPHORS FOR UNDERSTANDING JESUS ARISE IN THE CHURCH, THEY ARE OFTEN MET WITH SUSPICION IF NOT OUTRIGHT HOSTILITY FOR NOT BEING 'ORTHODOX', OR BEING CONTRARY TO 'TRADITION.'
SUCH ABSOLUTENESS RECLUDES FRESH AND VITAL CALLS TO DISCIPLESHIP.
THE PANOPLY OF TITLES AND IMAGES FOR JESUS IN JOHN 1 SUGGESTS THAT TO INSIST ON ONE NAME FOR JESUS IS TO MISS THE FULNESS OF HIS IDENTITY.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? How often might we miss Jesus in our daily contacts, because of our 'orthodox', traditional views of Jesus?
Last Sunday in our communion service we used that much repeated phrase: BLESS ALL OF US IN OUR EATING AND DRINKING AT THIS TABLE - THAT OUR EYES MAY BE OPENED, AND WE MAY RECOGNIZE THE RISEN CHRIST IN OUR MIDST, IN EACH OTHER, AND IN ALL FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED.
I remembered from many years ago visiting Lou Hammann's office on the campus and he had this fascinating poster on his door - . of about 25 different images of Christ. I went on line on Friday and I googled: THE MANY FACES OF JESUS. You can see some of the results that my printer printed, until it gave out; that's about half of what was available. I hope you'll take a look at those images and realize all that Jesus has meant to so many different people in so many different lands over so many different centuries.
Remembering that Jesus' first words to his first followers was to ask them: WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? For all these hundreds and hundreds of years, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Israel.. .... seems to have fulfilled that question - in abundance.
To insist on anything less is truly to miss the fullness of his identity.
Let us pray:
You have multiplied your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you.
Were we to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be counted.
God you are so infinite; we are so finite;
you are so unlimited; we are so limited.
Praise, honor, and thanksgiving be unto you. Help us see your son in all for whom he died .....
The child who will never know peace; the family who will never find security;
the homeless, the poor, those suffering from discrimination - to this day.
We so honor the one this day who gave his life to defeat discrimination, and segregation, and hate; help us to keep his words ever before us to judge people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
We thank you for the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
We continue to pray this day for those near and dear to us ....
Dear God, give us the wisdom to see the good in every life;
to see the best in those we meet;
to nurture the best in those around us;
to truly see Christ in the eyes of our neighbors.
For when we open our eyes to the least, may we see him best. And when we open our mouths, we are priviledged to repeat his words... Our Father....
A DIMLY BURNING WICK
I'm going to pick up where I left off on Christmas Eve; one of our final readings was one of my favorite Christmas Poems - "Everywhere, everywhere Christmas tonight."
24 hours later Linda and were landing in Kahalui, located between two volcanoes on the island of Maui. 3 p.m. in the afternoon, it was sunny and 80 degrees. I couldn't wait to exchange my sweat shirt and long pants for a t-shirt and shorts.
And there, everywhere we looked - was Christmas; Christmas trees decorated, lights blinking; there were signs of Christmas everywhere. Megan and Mike had an eight foot white pine tree beautifully decorated; cut down just recently 'up-country' - that is about half way up the 10,000 foot high volcano - Halieakala. Even the large, life-size - image of a whale in their local play ground - was sporting a beautiful Christmas lei around its neck, if whale's have necks!
It was all truly a reminder - that Christmas is 'everywhere'. All brought about by the remembrance of a birth in a manger and specifically in the Hawaiian Islands - brought about - by a small band of UCC missionaries who departed from New England some 200 years ago. They were inspired to leave family and friends - never to be seen again - in order to spread the word about this tiny, helpless, innocent baby born in a manger.
And tiny, helpless, and innocent - is pretty much the way he would live his 33 years of life. Our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah this morning wonderfully describes how this 'servant of God, my chosen, in whom my soul delights' will navigate his way through life.
Will he go about as some loud, boisterous, obnoxious evangelist - with a microphone and a pulpit? NO. HE WILL NOT CRY, OR LIFT UP HIS VOICE. OR EVEN MAKE IT HEARD IN THE STREET
Will he come with great and fearsome power and strength, ready to bulldoze his way through people's lives. NO, EVEN SOMETHING AS FRAGILE AND WEAK AND DELICATE - AS A BRUISED REED, HE WILL NOT BREAK
Will he come like a whirlwind, like a hurricane, like an earthquake, like a tsunami, extinguishing and annihilating all that is before him? NO. NOT EVEN A DIMLY BURNING WICK WILL HE QUENCH. Can you picture it? A DIMLY BURNING WICK ............. HE WILL NOT QUENCH. SO meek and mild, quiet and gentle will he come. Not as the world expects - but as God the Almighty wills it.
And this servant's assignment will be what? Isaiah introduces the assignment in verse one - and repeats it twice before verse four is over.
HE WILL BRING FORTH - JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS. HE WILL FAITHFULL Y BRING FORTH JUSTICE.
HE WILL NOT GROW FAINT OR BE CRUSHED, UNTIL HE HAS ESTABLISHED JUSTICE IN THE EARTH.
Quite an assignment. Quite an assignment for one who WILL NOT BE HEARD IN THE STREET, for one who WILL NOT BREAK A BRUISED REED, and who will not QUENCH EVEN THE TINIEST BURNING WICK. Quite an assignment.
Isaiah the prophet wrote his words - more than 2500 years ago. Can we still believe in his prophecy? Can justice still be accomplished in the earth? Are we more hopeful or do we become less hopeful as we live out our years?
Christmas Everywhere is such an encouraging reminder that HE WILL NOT GROW FAINT AND HE WILL NOT BE CRUSHED UNTIL HE HAS ESTABLISHED JUSTICE IN THE EARTH.
For one born in a manger; for one who will not 'shout in the streets' or break a reed, or quench a wick Christmas everywhere is a lesson that after all these centuries ... and after all of our disappointments and doubts HE WILL NOT GROW FAINT OR BE CRUSHED.
The Laymen's Bible Commentary concludes:
THE WORK WILL BE DONE; THE WORK OF JUSTICE WILL BE DONE .... QUIETLY, PATIENTLY, AND WITHOUT VIOLENCE.
My favorite Psalm 103 reminds us - as we begin this new calendar year of 2011.. WAIT FOR THE LORD. BE STRONG AND LET YOUR HEART TAKE COURAGE. YEA, WAIT FOR THE LORD. JUSTICE WILL COME - QUIETLY, PATIENTLY, AND WITHOUT VIOLENCE. AMEN.
Let us pray:
Ascribe to the Lord, 0 heavenly beings,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of God's name. Worship God in holy splendor.
And this day, we do; right here and right now.
As our ancestors did so faithful, so we too continue to pray for justice:
for the children who will not receive an education;
for the families who will always be refugees;
for the hungry whose next meal is always uncertain;
for the dying whose expectations go unfulfilled.
Dear God we pray for hope amid our despair;
we pray for comfort amid our questions;
we pray for stamina in a world filled with challenge ....
We pray now specifically for these beloved individuals and others who are constantly on our minds ....
Dear God though so often we feel like a reed that is bruised,
And a wick that is so dim grant us peace for the year ahead;
grant us hope, and grant us the courage to continue the struggle for justice.
In the name of the servant, the chosen one, the one in whom You are well pleased, we ask our prayers and we repeat the words you taught us…. Our Father…
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