Sermon for Year C Advent 3 2012

Let it shine

There it is. Do you see it?

The pink candle. Some people call it the rose candle. 

Right there in the advent wreath with it’s three purple friends.

The lighting of that pink candle today

tells us that it is the third Sunday of Advent--

Gaudete Sunday. 

Gaudete, in Latin, means REJOICE.

I have been so ready all week to preach about joy--

Zephaniah shouts,

Rejoice and exult with all your heart...

The canticle sings

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things...

Philippians--oh my! our passage from Philippians is all about joy today--

Rejoice...do not worry about anything ...

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Even Luke’s gospel, if you read between the lines of

John the Baptizers “brood of vipers” shouts,

we see that John is bringing good news, joyful news--

the Messiah is coming.

The vestry has worked for a year 

to create a mission statement for St. John’s--

a mission statement which features joy so prominently--

just as joy is so prominent here in this congregation.

...St. John’s gathers 

joyfully 

to worship God 

and goes out 

with gladness 

to do Christ’s work 

in the world...

So much joy to be shared, to be preached, to be celebrated.

But then the shootings,

the horrific murder of young children and adults 

at Sandy Hook Elementary School 

in Newtown, Connecticut.

Last night I went to sleep thinking

how on earth can I stand in the pulpit 

and talk about joy

when such a slaughter has happened?

You could not go anywhere the past few days without hearing snippets 

of conversation about what happened in Connecticut. 

Sadness. Shock. Anger.

Facebook is covered with postings of prayers and laments.

Even though I do not personally know one single person 

who was murdered in this tragedy,

all I could imagine were the faces of my grandchildren 

on each of those children’s faces.

My heart has been so heavy.

Someone pointed out that we have a word for a child losing their parents--

they become an orphan.

We have a word when we lose a spouse.

We become a widow or a widower.

But there is no word in the English language 

for when a parent

loses a child.

Perhaps that sadness is so deep, so devastating 

that there is no word we can bear

to utter.

We cannot name that kind of pain.

Our suffering is not the same as those who have lost a child

or another member of their family in this tragedy.

But the truth is we all are hurting.

Our compassion, our humanity, binds us together.

God created us to be in community with one another,

to love one another, to care about each other.

It is when one of us becomes unbound, 

disconnected, 

that tragedy often results.

How can I preach about joy today?

Yet how can I stand in this pulpit

and not preach about joy?

Even in the darkest of times,

light breaks through.

Pink candles are lighted.

Joy wiggles in.

There is a table at the back of the church this morning

and it is piled high with winter coats.

Coats that you have generously given

so that the children at the Irene Wortham Center

here in Asheville

will have a new coat this year. 

We know. We know.

For some families in Newtown, Connecticut 

there will be no need for new coats this winter.

Little coats will hang in closets--empty.

This hurts.

But these coats, which we will bless this morning,

are symbols that life is stronger than death--

these coats will be filled--

with children who are alive, who laugh and cry

and do silly things that all children do.

Joy does not give up.

And what a day it is to bless coats--

when John the Baptizer says in our gospel reading,

Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none...

You have come forward and shared.

Well done!

Joyfully done!

Joy is real.

Joy is necessary.

Today we bless a new creche 

donated to this parish by Nancy Anderson.

Nancy is not a member of St. John’s.

She comes here occasionally

and yes, she is friends with some of our parishioners,

yet she wanted St. John’s

      to have this beautiful creche. 

Imagine that. 

This gift will bring us joy in our worship for years to come.

Episcopalians usually don’t bring out the creche until Advent is over

and Christmas has arrived.

But Gaudete Sunday seems like the best of all days

to bless what has been so generously and joyfully given to us.

We need to be reminded right now

that God came to us

as a baby. 

A totally vulnerable little baby.

Joy and hope and love were born that day

in the most unlikely and

impossible circumstances.

We worship an anything-is-possible God.

Today we will also celebrate 

someone who has blessed us repeatedly.

We will celebrate Betty Hayes’ 90th birthday at coffee hour today.

Our hearts are filled with joy.

Most of you know that Betty has not had an easy time lately.

Three heart attacks.

Rehab.

Getting to age 90 is not for sissies!

We celebrate Betty’s life and her presence among us 

with great joy today!

Because even when life is difficult,

even when life is horribly tragic,

God has not abandoned us.

God has not caused or willed the tragedy or the hardship.

God is standing right beside us.

Right beside every broken heart in Newtown, Connecticut.

In times of tragedy we need to remember the joy that is promised

     and will be possible once more

     when we are ready.

God is always ready to be born, 

to come into our lives.

We are asked to open the door.

Whenever you’re ready, says God,

I will be here.

I will be here waiting.

We are resurrection people.

We are about life overcoming death,

We are about love being stronger than hate.

We are about light overcoming the darkness.

The pink candle is burning brightly today.

Joy shines in the darkness.

Let it shine.

Let it shine.

Let it shine.

Amen.

Huntin' down Jesus..Sermon for Year B Epiphany 5

Huntin’ down Jesus...

I love our Epiphany banner.

I am so grateful to Betty Hayes for creating this for St. John’s.
We are truly blessed here at this parish
by people with so many different and diverse gifts
and you are so generous in sharing your talents.
Thank you.
Thanks be to God for each one of you.

I love this banner because--well, okay, I will just flat out admit
that WE THREE KINGS has always been one of my favorite hymns.

One of the glorious things about the Episcopal church
is that we have an entire season of Epiphany--
a season when we focus on the Christ light that came into the world
and how we might follow that light.

Epiphany is the season where we reflect on what it means
to follow a star--
or to follow a man who comes walking through a small fishing village
or comes walking, often unexpectedly, through our own lives.

Epiphany is a wonderful season to think about our gifts
and how we are called,
how each of us is uniquely called to follow Jesus
by sharing
that with which we have been blessed.

I like to look at our Epiphany banner
and imagine conversations these travelers are having
on their holy journey.

“Are you sure this is the right way?”
“ I think he’s going to like my gift the best.”

“My feet hurt.”

“Are we there yet?”

They are on their way--a risky journey--but off to meet the king---
only they have no idea
at the point when they set off
that this king will look like an ordinary child--
that this child began his life born in a manger.

Speaking of mangers,
you might have noticed that I moved the manger up here
in front of the altar this week.

It’s empty.
Throughout the month of January it was overflowing
with the diapers you brought--
those diapers are already being put to use
at the Irene Wortham Center.
I saw Liz Huesmann this week--she’s the director of the Wortham Center--
and you know what she said?
She said, “Thank you.”
“Thank you. We are so so grateful to St. John’s”
That’s you. YOU are St. John’s.
Thank you.

So here is the manger.
Empty except for a little bit of straw.

Appropriate for a manger to have straw since it was a feeding trough--
never intended to serve as a bed for a baby.
It was a make-do.
It was an all-they-had.
It was a be-grateful-that-at-least-we-have-this-manger.

But this empty manger
that sits before our altar
is here now because of our gospel reading today.

There are four distinct parts to today’s gospel story.

The first part picks up the story right where we stopped last week.
Jesus and his disciples--Simon, Andrew, James and John--
left the synagogue
and went a short distance to Simon’s house.

We are told that Simon’s mother-in-law is very sick and is in bed.
You did not stay in bed in that time period
because you had just stayed up too late the night before
or because you were feeling a little under the weather.
You only stayed in bed
if you were--literally--deathly ill.
Fevers that put you in bed
were not to be taken lightly.

We are told that immediately upon entering the home,
Jesus went to her, took her by the hand
and lifted her up.
Jesus healed her. Immediately.

Once more we are reminded of whom this man is--a teacher, yes.
but also one who heals. One who brings you back to your whole self.

We are told that Simon’s mother-in-law--we are never told her name--
but we are told that she got up and begins to serve them immediately.
(In case you haven’t noticed,
the writer of the gospel of Mark loves the word “immediately”).

Now there have been times
when I have read this gospel or heard it read
and cringed at the poor woman
who had to get up off her sick bed
and begin serving the men.
Couldn’t she have at least one day off?!!

But I have come to see this verse in a very different way.

When we are healed, when we are made well by the grace of God,
it is our JOY to serve others.
It is our JOY to be back to our routine
of doing the things we do each and every day.

To serve with joy
never diminishes us.
To serve with joy never diminishes us.

Then we come to part 2 of this gospel reading.
By evening the word had spread throughout the village and suddenly,
the whole city--those are the exact words they use---
the whole city gathered around the door of Simon’s house.

I did a little research and discovered that Capernaum
was a small fishing village--really small--
and the population around the time of Jesus
` would probably have been about 1500 people.

The population of Haw Creek--of the 28805 zip code--is about 17,000.
1500 is a small number.

It is completely feasible that the whole city came out that evening.

Do you know someone who has cancer or Parkinson’s disease?
Do you have a spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s
or a friend who suffers from mental illness or depression?
A baby with a raging fever?

Don’t you think you would be out of the house
and heading down the street--
even if there was a remote hope of healing?
I’d be there.
I hate crowds but I would be there.
Heal me hands of Jesus.

And it didn’t matter than Jesus had already had a long day
and was no doubt exhausted,
he stepped outside and healed people.
He cured many, the gospel says.
I wonder what time it was when he finally got to sleep that night?

But like Simon’s mother-in-law
it seems that what he did,
he did with great joy, with great love.
He served because he knew he was called by God to serve,
to do just this.

We move then to the third part of this gospel story.
We hear that Jesus gets up early,
early in the morning--
when it was still dark--
and he goes out to a deserted place and prays.

Jesus knows what he really needs.
He knows what he needs more than an extra hour of sleep.
He needs quiet and silence and the peace of God’s created world--
and most of all,
he needs time alone with God.
He needs time for prayer.

Jesus knows that he--nor any of us--
are fit for ministry--
and by ministry I mean every single thing we do in a day--
if we do not take time out--time away--for prayer.
That is not easy.

Everything else will hurl itself towards us like angry birds
determined to gobble up
all the slots on our daily calendars.
Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.

Even these newbie disciples don’t get it--the gospel tells us that
Simon and his companions hunted for Jesus.
That’s right--hunted!
The Greek word really means hunted--
tracked down with the intention to capture.
They hunted for Jesus and when they found him
they essentially say,
“What on earth are you doing out here by yourself?
We don’t have time for praying!
There are people who need you! Let’s go! ”
The disciples don’t get it yet.
Sometimes we don’t get how prayer
is the true fuel for ministry,
for our life with God and with one another.

The world has so many needs.
Indeed, part of our call is to attend to some of those needs.
But Jesus is showing us by example
that we must put our need to have time with God---
to have time for prayer--
we must put that need first.
It must be the number one priority on our day’s agenda.

Jesus teaches by example.
Do this.
Take time for prayer
so that you will have the strength and the courage
and the stamina and the heart
for all that will come your way the rest of the day.

W move into the fourth part of Mark’s gospel for today.
Jesus does not chastise his friends for coming to find him,
for hunting him down.
He does not say, “Back off! I’m praying.”

He is ready to go. Ready and willing to serve.
But he also quickly lets them know that his ministry--their ministry--
is far bigger than just Capernaum.

Let us go to the neighboring towns...for that is what I came to do.

And off they go.
Jesus knows what God has asked him to do.
Jesus is very clear about how he is called to serve.
He is called to teach and to preach and to heal.

He does all this--including pray--to set an example for his disciples.
Not just Simon and Andrew and John and James.
but Jesus sets an example for each of us as well.

I put this empty manger here today
to remind us
that we too need to keep our mangers ready and open and empty
so there is room for God
to come in and be born in us.
We need to keep our lives open--
ready to receive and welcome God.

We need to keep our calendars open enough
to have time to be quiet, to pray.

We need to keep our hearts open
so God can find room to live inside of us.

We need to keep our eyes open--just like those three magi in our banner--
so we can see the star and follow the light.

We need to keep our ears open
so we can hear God calling us--calling OUR name--
so we might serve
and do everything with joy and delight.

Advent is like a joy ride...

Advent is a like a joy ride....
Sermon for Year B Advent 3

Now on Advent 1
I said that Advent was like an alarm clock.

Last week, on Advent 2,
I said that Advent was like chocolate.
But today--Advent 3--
I am saying Advent is like a joy ride.

Not the kind of joy ride where you steal a car
and go careening out of the parking lot on two wheels,
laying rubber.
But the kind of joy ride
like the first time you ever rode your two wheeler without training wheels,
or your first motorcycle ride
or just a ride in the car with someone you love,
going no place in particular,
just riding for the joy of going for a ride.

Today is the third Sunday of Advent
and today we have three candles lighted on our Advent Wretath.
Today we lit the pink--or the rose--colored candled.

If you remember we have a rose colored candle today
because this is known as Gaudete Sunday.

Gaudete is the Latin for “rejoice.”
If we were doing the mass in Latin we would say,
Gaudete in Domino semper
Rejoice in the Lord always.

Some churches even have special vestments for this Sunday--
rose colored vestments.
These rose colored vestments are only worn twice in the liturgical year--
once on the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)
and once on the fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetere Sunday)
(remember our Laughter Sunday dinner on Laetere Sunday this past Lent?)

Both of these Sundays are seen as special times of refreshment,
feasting and joy.

Today we “officially” celebrate the joy of the coming birth of Christ.
Some people even call the pink candle the joy candle.

Some of you know that I have been away part of this week.
I was helping lead an Advent retreat up in Valle Crucis.
I offered several meditations about Advent.
One of those meditations was about joy.

Even though I know there are several of you who were at the retreat,
I want to share some of those same thoughts with you here today.

I think joy is so important.
We can tend to think that being religious or pious
is only about being somber and serious and holy holy holy
in a rather fierce sort of way.

I have been part of a clergy group this fall
that has meant a great deal to me.
One of the others in that group is a woman named Joyce Hollyday.
Some of you may know Joyce--
she is active in prison ministry
and especially active in the opposition of the death penalty.
She is a UCC minister
and was the associate editor of SOJOURNERS magazine,
as well as the author of several books.

Joyce shared this story with our group one morning.
A friend of hers has been a church worker
in a Salvadoran refugee camp in Honduras.
She said that one of the refugee women
asked her why she always looked so sad.

Yvonne, the relief worker, talked about the grief she felt
over all the suffering she was seeing in the refugee camp.
She told the refugee woman that she was committed to give all of herself
to the struggle of the refugees.

The woman gently confronted Yvonne, saying,
“Only people who expect to go back to North America in a year
work the way you do.
You cannot be serious about our struggle
unless you play and celebrate
and do those things that make it possible
for you to really give a lifetime to it.”


Every time the refugees were displaced and had to build a new camp,
they immediately formed three committees:
a construction committee
an education committee
and “the committee of joy” (comite de alegria).

Celebration was as basic to the life of the refugees
as digging latrines
or teaching their children to read.

We must not forget joy.

Can you imagine how our churches might change
if we had a Committee of Joy?

Yes, that’s right--
what if we had the outreach committee,
the altar guild, the stewardship committee
and the committee of joy?

Imagine how our country might change
if the most powerful committee in congress
was not the Committee on Appropriations
or the Ways and Means Committee
but the Committee of Joy.

The Committee of Joy that makes sure we celebrate, play, laugh, rejoice.

Maybe Advent is a good time
to not only install a committee of joy in our churches
or our Congress
but to install one in our own lives.

Look in the mirror tomorrow morning
and say to yourself.
"Happy Advent!
I am now appointing you a member of your very own
Committee of Joy."

Imagine waking up each morning
and sitting down at the breakfast table with your cup of coffee
or your glass of orange juice
and making your to-do list---
...pick up milk at Harris Teeter,
...call about an appointment
to get snow tires tires on the Honda,
...write the first draft of my sermon---
...and oh yes!
What would the Committee of Joy like to do today?
What rejoicing and silliness and laughter and play
and celebration of life
should be on our list today?

Maybe we need to reserve the FIRST place on our to do list each day
for the Committee of Joy.
Maybe we all ought to go out this afternoon
and buy a great big pink candle
and put it right in the center of our tables at home!

We must never forget how short life really is.
We must never forget to enjoy life,
to allow ourselves to be happy.

Our scriptures all sing out this message of joy today.

Isaiah speaks of the “oil of gladness”.
Our psalm tells us that we will “reap with songs of joy.”
Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, writes,
“Rejoice always...”
And the heart of the message in the gospel of John
is one of good news, of great joy--
John is giving testimony to the One who is coming,
the One for whom we will soon stand and sing,
“Joy to the World.”

I know it is almost a mortal sin
for an Episcopalian to sing Christmas carols
before the end of Advent,
but you know the Christmas carol,
“God rest ye merry gentlemen”?

I was shocked when I discovered the placement of the comma.
That’s right --the comma.

You see it is not God rest ye, merry gentlemen.
Instead it is God rest ye merry, gentlemen.

You could cross out the word gentlemen
and still have the true meaning of that joyful carol.
GOD REST YE MERRY.

It is a perfect prayer for a holy Advent.
Especially a holy Advent 3.
God rest ye merry.

Here’s to pink candles!
Here’s to joy rides!