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With Jesus At
The Grave The
message I'd like to share with you today comes from John chapter 11. In that chapter is a story about how Jesus
took a family, two sisters, Mary and Martha through the experience of dying
so that they might understand what he means when he says, "I am the
resurrection and the life." The
story begins when a certain man, Lazarus of Bethany, is ill. We do not know his diagnosis, whether
cancer or heart disease, we do know the prognosis - certain death. Lazarus would die from his illness. Lazarus has a family - two sisters, Mary
and Martha, and they all have a close friend who loves them very much - his
name is Jesus. So they send a message
to Jesus, I'm sure hoping that he will come and heal Lazarus - their message,
the one whom you love is ill. Now
Jesus is across the river, so he is no where near In
chapter 11 - a little further down in this story, the Jewish neighbors of
Mary and Martha come to console them.
This is the second experience we have of death - it enters the
community and many more share the experience of grief and loss. That's why we have funeral services, so we
can share our grief and receive comfort from others. There
is another experience, which I have seen many times, and felt myself when my
father died, the feeling of anger. We
can feel angry that someone who could have done something, does nothing at
all. Martha speaks for all of us when
she runs out and confronts Jesus when he finally arrives. She says, "Lord, if you had been here
my brother would not have died."
I can almost imagine her two fists beating on the chest of Jesus as
she bursts into tears. Sometimes we
take out our anger on the doctor who didn't do enough, or on anyone who seems
to be an authority in this event.
Actually, I believe we are angry with God, because we think that what
God means when he promises us eternal life is an uninterupted continuation of
this life. And we don't truly realize
this is what we think until someone close to us dies. "Lord, if you had been here our loved
one would not have died." There
is yet another experience, at some point in our grief we say the words of our
faith, but they have not yet become real for us. We say what we have heard, but which has
never been put to the test. Jesus says
to Martha, "Your brother will rise again." And Martha says, "I know that he will
rise again in the resurrection at the last day." This is common language, but it is not a
consolation to her. It doesn't stop
the anger, and it doesn't help her to know what eternal life really is. When
we are comforting someone we often try to say the right things. And even when we are the ones who are
suffering, we still try and say the right things. It is a burden we place on ourselves. As if by saying the right things we make
everything all right. But inside, we
continue to hurt. Jesus
knows this about us, and so he takes Martha through this experience as well -
he talks with her about what these words really mean. Eternal life is not just words, Martha,
it's real. "I am the resurrection
and the life. Those who believe in me
though they die, yet shall they live."
Jesus
is telling her, as he is telling us, that he is this life, life we can
genuinely believe in. This is not a
Bible passage anymore. This is a
living being. As Lutherans we are fond
of saying that this Bible is like a manger, a cradle, it's value is that in
it we find the living Lord Jesus. The
word became flesh, lived among us, suffered and died, as we all will, and
then rose from the dead to give us life.
Martha has not yet seen her friend Jesus rise from the dead, yet he
asks her if she believes he is the resurrection and the life, and Martha
answers, this time from her heart, yes, Lord, I believe. Her grieving is by no means over, but Jesus
is there with her in her grief, as he is today with us. Now
we might think this is enough. But
Jesus takes us one step further. He
actually goes with us to the grave.
"Take away the stone," he says. Jesus does not aviod facing the fullness of
death. He does not avoid the reality
that Lazarus has died. We might ask,
Lord do we have to do this? Do we have
to take this last step to the grave?
And our Lord says, I am with you.
I am with you. Yes, you have to
take this step, but I will take it with you, and he does. And
standing at the grave Jesus says with a voice loud enough to raise the dead,
and what is dead inside all of us,
Lazarus, come out! And out of the tomb, out of darkness, out of death
itself, the dead man comes walking, walking to Jesus. He is covered, all wrapped up with burial
linen, and Jesus says, unbind him, and let him go. This
is a story about what we mean when we say these words, I believe in the
resurrection to eternal life. Jesus
wants us to know that our understanding of resurrection begins now in this
life, it will only be fully understood in the life to come, but it does begin
now, today. One
of the important things we discover in this story is that Jesus calls the
dead by name. Jesus says, Lazarus
arise. Jesus speaks to us today,
calling each one by name. By naming
our names Jesus assures us we shall have life in his name. Isn't that what a good shepherd does, he
calls each one by name, each one, and leads them to green pastures, beside
still waters where they shall be restored to life. Jesus is the shepherd, we are his sheep, he
calls us by name, and leads us. He
goes before us. Remember, Jesus is the
one who died on the cross. Jesus is
the one who was raised from the dead to make sure the promise of
resurrection. Jesus goes before
us. He is with us today. He is weeping too, just as he wept at the grave of Lazarus, but in
the end he is there to bring us to eternal life, a life we shall share with
him forever. Amen Sermon Preached March 9, 2008 Pastor Larry Not By Bread
Alone Tom
Long who teaches preaching at Princeton tells the story of Leon Wieseltier, the
literary editor of a major politcal journal and the darling of the elite in Quoting
from his book, Kaddish, "In the year that followed my father's death, I
said the prayer known as the mourners Kaddish three times daily, during the
morning service, the afternoon service, and the evening service, in a
synagogue in The
kaddish, this prayer Wieseltier prayed three times a day for a year is not
about grief, pain or loss. It's about
praise. It is NOT a prayer about us
and our wounds, it is a prayer about God and God's greatness. It says, "May his great name be
blessed always and forever. Blessed
and praised and glorified and raised and exaulted and uplifted and lauded be
the name of the Holy One." Three
times a day, every day, Wieseltier prayed these words, "May his great
name be blessed...may his great name be blessed...may his great name be
blessed." Soon
Wieseltier discovered something profoundly unexpected as he repeated again
and again this strange ritual. Wieseltier found his life changed by the
rhythm of prayer. In his words
again... "It
was not long before I understood that I would not succeed in insulating the
rest of my existence from the impact of this obscure and arduous
practice. The symbols were seeping
into everything. A season of sorrow
became a season of soul-renovation." We
sometimes forget two things, first that Jesus was Jewish, and second, growing
up Jesus' life was filled with such practices. It was his custom to go to the synagogue,
Jesus is called Rabbi, the title for someone learned in Jewish Law and
practice. In Matthew especially we are
given a deep sense that Jesus didn't just go to the synagogue to stir up the
crowds and make a scene, he went sabbath after sabbath to hear the lessons,
to pray prayers, "May his great name be blessed...may his great name be
blessed...may his great name be blessed." Somehow we have forgotten that even Jesus
had to learn about his faith; even Jesus was a student. It
should not surprise us then to learn that when Jesus was tested by the devil,
when he was alone and hungry in the wilderness and the devil was trying to
get him to deny his calling and his loyalty to God, Jesus did not defend
himself with clever words of theology, some new thinking about God, no, what
Jesus did was quote the Bible, specifically Deuteronomy. Deuteronmy is kind of like as instruction
manual, it tells us what to do and
what not to do. It was written to describe the children of The
words that served Jesus well in the wilderness were engraved on his heart in
worship. It is written, again it is
written, for it is written. Words he
had heard over and over again. So
it is with us. When we're overwhelmed
by trials and temptations, it will be the patterns of faithfulness learned in
worship, what sociologist Robert Bellah calls the Habits of the Heart, that
will sustain us. They are the
resources that matter most when the chips are down. Do
you know what our congregation's mission statement is? Called in worship, to care for others, by
sharing Christ's love. We are called
in worship, we are called in worship.
We learn by regular worship what kind of people we are, whose we
are. Here in worship we learn what
we're made of. When Jesus faced the
devil, he knew who he was. He was
someone who knew that life was more than bread. Jesus was someone who did not put God to
the test: you know, if you do this for me Lord, then, maybe, I'll start doing
what you ask. Jesus was someone who
worshiped the Lord and served only God, not what can make you rich, famous,
or powerful. Jesus did what God asked
of him, he was obedient, not expecting anything in return. Where did Jesus come by this radical
obedience? This moral courage? Where did he get what it takes to withstand
the wiles of the devil? It wasn't in
graduate school, it was in worship, where month after month, year after year,
he heard the word of God and said the prayers, "May his great name be
blessed...may his great name be blessed...may his great name be
blessed." It's not about me or
you, it's about God. Five
years ago now Why
did he do what he did? Where did he
find the moral courage? Words that
were taught to him as a child, repeated over and over, "do unto others" do onto other or It is written, you shall not live by bread
alone. After
his year of reciting the kaddish, Tom Long says that Leon Wieseltier
(Viseltier) went with his family to the cemetery for the dedication of his
father's grave. Huddled in the cold,
the rabbi asked him to read a psalm, "And he shall be like a tree,
planted by the rivers of water" he began. Then the rabbi instructed him to read
another psalm, but Wieseltier (Viseltier) did not read this time, he
sang. Stepping close to the grave he
sang, "The Lord's my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside the still waters, he restores my soul.." and as he sang Viseltier said it was as if
his song grew to make room within it for all the true and punished people who
gathered around it, to shield them with its splendor, to seal them with its
peace. And that dear people includes
some here in worship today, right now, who are being treated unfairly, unjustly,
and can't even talk about it to anyone but God. This psalm Viseltier sang is also for you. Then
the service was almost over, and there was but one thing left to do. Standing there in the cold cemetery,
looking at his father's grave, Viseltier recited once more the kaddish. Like Jesus facing the devil in the
wilderness calling upon the words of faith he had learned as a child, Viseltier stood in his own wilderness and
recited the words he had been given, May his great neme be blessed...may his
great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed." As he put it later "I stood in the
ashes of fury and spoke the sentences of praise. Was that my voice? It was no longer the effusion of woe. Magnified, I said. Sanctified, I said, I looked above me, I
looked below me. With my own eyes I saw
magnificence." After
the devil had showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, which are
apparently his to give to anyone he choses, Jesus said, Away with you satan for it is written,
Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.
It is only then, Matthew says, the devil left him, and suddenly angels
came and waited on him. Where
do our children learn the words and the ways to win a victory over
temptation? Where do they learn that
one does not live by bread alone? to not put God to the test and to worship
and praise God? Where do they learn,
if not here, and from you who bring them here. Amen Pastor Larry Sermon from February 10, 2008 Pastor's Report
- 2007 As
the people of God in this place we have in Jesus Christ the revelation of God's
goodness and love. God cares for us
and so sent his Son into a rebellious world to break down the barriers
separating us from God. Through our life together we share this
reconciliation and the peace it brings. It is a free gift from God. Through
the combined efforts of members of Deerfield Lutheran we continue to care for
others and share this message of God's love. The
church is really about people. People who are called to faith in Christ Jesus
and who are sent on a mission to the world. Jesus asks us to serve, love and
care for others. As witnesses to the love of God, we live lives of service
and love. We do this through all of the ministries supported by In the pages of this annual report you will find many examples of things you can do to share in our ministries. There are opportunities to sing, to teach, to visit, to work and build, to care for those who are needy and to bring people into the fellowship of God's love. We encourage you to reach out to those often forgotten - the poor, lonely, aged, ill, and all who search for God's love. Seven
years ago we took a "leap of faith" and began what was for us a NEW
APPROACH TO MINISTRY where we saw the Christian home as the place where faith
is passed on from one generation to the next.
Our mission was transformed as we worked to equip and support parents
and other adults in this vital undertaking.
Faith Chests, Faith Nights, Mission Trips and a Confirmation Ministry,
which includes mentoring relationships between youth and adults, are all
parts of this new approach. With
the guidance of Kathy Miles and many, many volunteers this ministry has
flourished. We have helped families
focus on the Four Keys to nurturing faith in the home: caring conversations,
renewed devotional life, service to others, and a deeper appreciation for the
way rituals and traditions shape us into people of God. Last
Spring when Kathy Miles left as our Youth & Family Ministry Coordinator
you said: this work must continue! So
after interviewing well-qualified candidates, Gina Jorgenson was chosen to be
our new Youth & Family Ministry Coordinator! She brings remarkable talent, enthusiasm,
and new ideas to her work here and I'm very excited about what she offers our
congregation. Gina's husband Matt
Jorgenson also joins us as our new overall Music Director. Gina directs our Senior Choir and a newly
formed Revival Choir for youth, while Jeff Quamme continues to direct our
bell choir. Music ministry continues
to be a major strength of our congregation!
We are told 2008 will be a
year of change for our nation. This
will also be true for Deerfield Lutheran.
As we face exciting opportunities for mission and ministry we also
must address several challenges. After
several years of exciting growth in people, programs, and dollars we have
seen our numbers plateau. Worship
attendance and participation in some of our activities have actually
declined. We have to ask why this
leveling off has occurred at a time when our larger community has grown! To assist us in answering these questions
and meeting these challenges I am asking our outgoing Congregation Council
President Jeff Moerke to convene an extraordinary gathering of former council
presidents. We are fortunate to have
as active members at least 12 persons who have served as council
presidents! Since they will not have
the responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day affairs of our congregation,
they will instead focus on the challenges that face us and opportunities we
have to serve others. Pastor Larry Vocational
Awareness - Glimpses of God's Grace Sermon
from January 13, 2008 When
John the Baptizer baptized Jesus, a voice from heaven declares, "You are
my Son, the Beloved..." As
Christians we believe God declares the same to each one of us in our
Baptism. You are my Child, God says,
you are Beloved. And like my Son Jesus
you too have been called by your Baptism to some unique vocation in life. I made you for a purpose and only you can
fulfill that purpose in the way you live your life. Maybe
you're thinking as Renee LaReau does in her fine book Getting A Life, that "I never used to think the word
"vocation" applied to me, or to any of my friends for that
matter. In my mind, vocation was what
my high school teachers talked about when they tried to recruit the boys in
my class to become priests. Vocation
was for those holy people, not for the cast of characters I hung out with and
spent time with. Vocation was only for
people who lived apart from the world, not in the midst of it. It was a pious concept that I never felt I
could relate to. I heard people speak
of "having a vocation" or "being called by God," and I
thought to myself, "Well, isn't that nice...but that isn't for people
like me." The whole concept of
vocation was pretty much an irrelevant mystery. Then
a funny thing happen to Renee as she went through college and graduate
school, developed friendships and entered the working world. "I began to sense that this concept of
"vocation" wasn't nearly as narrow as I'd thought.... I began to
catch some "glimpses of grace," hints that God was at work in the
lives of my friends and family, that each one of us was being called by God
in our own way. These 'glimpses of
grace' took many forms: the looks on some friends' faces on the day of their
weddings, the excitement and energy in my classmate's voice when she was
offered a fantastic job, a great dinnertime conversation with old friends, an
outpouring of compassion at a young person's funeral. Renee
began to sense that there was a greater purpose, a bigger picture that
included all these 'glimpses of grace.'
She recalled reading the words of the spiritual writer Henri Nouwen
who wrote: "My deepest vocation is to be witness to the glimpses of God
I have been allowed to catch." Renee
realized that having caught those glimpses of God, our vocation is really
nothing more or less than how we respond to those glimpses of grace in our
own lives. Again, in her words Through
the grace-filled moments that I experienced, I began to sense that a God I'd
once thought was distant and mysterious was actually quite close and
communicative. I began to think that
maybe the concept of vocation did have
something to do with my own life and the lives of those around me. I began to
sense God did try to communicate
with me, somehow, "[T]hat
certain reactions and feelings I'd had at particular times in my life had
something to do with whether or not I was listening for God's call, whether I
was becoming "me," the person God was calling me to be." Slowly
Renee realized that the word vocation applies to all of us, and has to do
with whether or not we are living the life God is calling us to live. Are we allowing our own unique qualities
and talents to be put to use in the ways God intended? Are we becoming the "me," the
person God is calling each one of us to be. At
a Wedding reception, the Bride & Groom gave each family a cookie cutter
in the shape of a heart. It was their
way of reminding us of that greatest gift of all - the gift of love. Yet, the gift of God's love and the
glimpses of God's grace we see in our lives, while it is always the same God
who loves each one of us, each time God intrudes into our lives and calls us,
each time that happens is totally unique.
Each of us, like snowflakes are utterly unique. So our callings, our vocations, are not
like the cookies made with a cookie cutter, but like snowflakes, each takes
on its own unique shape because of the way we have seen God's call and
responded to it in our lives. In
our Baptism liturgy we light a candle each time a person is baptized, and we
recite these words of Jesus, "Let your light so shine before others that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Each one of us is called in our Baptism to
be a little light. Luther was bold
enough to call us "little Christs" - in becoming the people God
intended us to be we show others God's love.
Again in the words we use in Baptism, "we bear his creative and
redeeming word to all the world."
The way we catch glimpses of God's grace is through the glimpses we
catch of one another sharing and bearing God's grace. One
of my mentors introduced me to the Jewish writer, Chaim Potok, and this story
about how he became a writer. From an
early age Chaim felt he was called to be a writer, but when he went to
college hos mother took him aside and said, "Chaim, I know you want to
be a writer, but I have a better idea.
Why don't you be a brain surgeon.
You'll keep a lot of people from dying, and you'll make a lot of
money." Chaim replied, "No
mama, I want to be a writer." He
returned home from vacation. His
mother pulled him off alone and said, "Chaim, I know you want to be a
writer, but listen to your mama. Be a
brain surgeon, they keep a lot of people from dying, and you will make a lot
of money." Chaim replied, "I
want to be a writer." Thus
the conversation went on throughout his college years until, at the end, his
mother in desperation again said, "Chaim, you're wasting your time. Be a brain surgeon. You'll keep a lot of people from dying,
you'll make a lot of money." In
exasperation Chaim says to his mother, "Mama, I don't want to keep
people from dying. I want to show them
how to live! I want to be a
writer." Maybe you are being called by God to be a brain surgeon, I don't know, but I do know we live out our Baptism by sharing what it means to live. And to really live we have to live the life God intended us to live. Your ministry in life may be doing what you are already doing - being a husband, a father, a son, or a wife and mother and daughter - a teacher or a truck driver - a writer or a welder. But with this difference - that you see yourself as being God's person in and for the world. Whatever you do - if you're Brett Farve it's playing football - you do it for the glory of God. The things we do to bring glory to God are the things we do to help one another live life and enjoy it. When we do that, we hear God say, You're my child, my beloved: in the waters of Baptism I made you mine, now go forth and let your light shine so others can see it! Pastor Larry "Places To
Remember" One
of the things we do to you in church is immerse you in the story of Jesus.
It begins in Holy Baptism when we immerse you in water and God's Word,
even before you understand what that Word is all about. We're all a little like Helen Keller was
before her teacher unlocked the door to language when she signed the word
"water" on her hand and poured water on the poor girl. So
we pour water on Lily and Grace and place the sign of God's love, the
cross, on each of them. And then in a
loving family and a caring congregation we keep immersing them in the life of
Jesus, who we have just learned, is Emmanuel, God with us. In
the scriptures that's how God comes to us - at particular times and in
particular places. In the Bible, and
in our lives, the pull of place can be very strong. I love driving through
the old neighborhood when I go home at Christmas. I'll drive past the old Bright place and
remember Birdie Bright having us stack wood in her basement, and then paying
us with horehound candy which we'd politely put it in our mouths, saying
mummmm good as we'd thank her, and then spit it out again as soon as we were
safely outside. Across from her house
is the field - now so much smaller than I remember it being when I was a kid
- where we played football in the Fall and then ice skated in Winter. These are places I still remember, and they
live in my memory to this day. I think
we've all hard wired to have this strong sense of place, and this sense of
place is strangely tied to our memories.
The
second chapter of Matthew is shaped by this sense of place as well. Matthew
seems obsessed with particular places. The first part of the chapter leads us
along with the magi to Afterward,
they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod with news of the child.
Likewise in a dream, Joseph was warned to take the child Jesus to So
it was that Mary and Joseph fled with the child to And
Joseph went, as the dream guided him from one particular place to another. To
the district of Galilee to make his home in a town called From
But
place is important for Matthew. Place
is important to God. The place where you are now is important to God,
wherever that place may be. It might be a small town like the place where I grew up. It might be
a city where you barely know your neighbors. It may be a nursing home or an
army base far away from what you consider "home". That place,
wherever it is, is important to God. Because God longs to dwell there with
you, in that particular place. Dear
people, I want you to know in these days after Christmas, in this week where
we begin a new year that Jesus was born so that we would know God is not far
off, not in some other place, but here in this place. Wherever you are, Jesus
longs to be born there, I'm not making this up. This is the word given to us
in the very first chapter of Matthew when an angel appeared to Joseph in a
dream. "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife," the angel
said, "for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."
Then, as he does so often, the gospel writer points to the words of scripture
saying, "All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord
through the prophet, Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they
shall name him Emmanuel", which means, "God is with us." Emmanuel, God-is-with-us. Not God will
someday be with us or God was with us. God is with us. In the places
where we were born, a small town in Wisconsin, or Guatemala, a big city.where
neighbors sometimes don't know each others' names ~ in whatever plase, where
acts of kindness can and do bridge barriers of great difference. In this
place where you are right now, in After the resurrection when
Jesus brought his disciples to a mountain in Pastor Larry Sermon from Dec. 30, 2007 The
Child In Our Hands We've just celebrated
Christmas, the miracle of the incarnation, God coming to us in human flesh,
which can be understood this way: God has come to us as a
human infant, God has placed "God the Son" in our human hands
giving dignity to our humanity and also to our calling as parents to love and
nurture our children in faith. Infant Jesus grows to
become an adult who tells his followers none of you live by bread alone, what
you really need is God's Word if you want to grow to the full stature
intended for you in God's eternal kingdom.
Jesus insists that God's Word is essential for life, for real life
that is abundant. On Christmas Eve, waiting
for worship to begin, I'll hear children as well as adults asking questions
about the furnishings and decorations in our sanctuary. Many wonder what "that thing with the
water in it" is. Or what is that
supersized candle beside it? I'm not sure what they say about the Bible
readings or my sermon. Is recognizing a Baptismal
Font or a Christ Candle or knowing who King Herod was necessary for
salvation? No. We do not earn our salvation through our
knowledge of liturgical furnishings or grasp of Bible history. We are saved by our trust in a gracious God
who has intervened in our lives by sending us Jesus who first comes to us as
a tiny infant - the child in our hands. It's a strange thing, but
God's plan to "save us" involves going through the entire process
of getting born, growing up, learning what it takes to live, dying and
rising. What we call
"salvation" involves a lifelong process of learning and growing in
faith. Knowledge alone does not save,
having a relationship does. A parenting expert says to
parents: "The quality of the relationship you have with your child
will have a greater bearing on their future well being than the amount of
money you can provide, the education they receive from private or public
schools, or the influence of their peer group." In other words, you can quite literally
make or break your child with your relationship. So my question for this New
Year for all of us: What kind of relationship do you have with "the
child in our hands" who is Christ among us? Pastor Larry “No
Room" Without
exception, at this time of year, I get to hear story after story of people
being treated badly. It seems to get
worse the closer we get to Christmas.
Because I'm a Pastor folks expect me to be shocked. Pastor, how can people behave that
way? Well I read the Bible, I'm not
shocked. This is the way Titus in the
New Testament describes us "we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient,
led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in
malice and envy, despicable, hating one another." Titus is describing us when we rely only on
our own self righteousness rather than on God's goodness and love. My
favorite cartoon character has a round head and is missing some hair on top. I'm
talking about good ole Charlie Brown.
This is the way Charles Schultz introduced him 57 years ago when in
the first Peanuts cartoon ever we see two kids sitting by the sidewalk
infront of their house - a little boy and a little girl - and the boy sees
this round headed kid coming down the sidewalk and says to the girl,
"Well, here comes ol Charlie Brown." They both watch as Charlie with a big smile
on his face walks by. The little boy
says to the little girl, "Good ol Charlie Brown....Yes, sir!" and again as Charlie passes he says to the
girl, "Good ol Charlie Brown."
In the last frame, when Charlie Brown can't hear him, the little boy
says to the little girl, "how I hate him." Did
I tell you Charles Schultz was a Christian?
In this cartoon and in all the cartoons he will ever draw, he offers a
Christian commentary on our world. In
Peanuts, Schultz isn't just telling quaint stories about children, he's
describing the human condition the way the New Testament does. To make sure we get it, Schultz gives us no
relief in his second peanuts cartoon, Patty is walking down the street
sweetly reciting the verse, "Sugar and spice and everything
nice," In the next panel she
spots a much smaller child, a little peanut, and she smacks him across the
face, and in the last panel she says, "that's what little girls are made
of." Charles Schultz has no
illusions about what we are made of. That's
the human condition, folks. That's how
we treat one another. Who hasn't been
lied to, cheated, treated badly. I
could also ask, who hasn't returned the favor and treated others with the
same contempt. In various ways, maybe
it's simply by neglect - like neglecting the poor we talk so much about and
do so little for - in so many many ways, we all behave badly. That's what the Bible calls sin, and we all
have been there. So, no, I'm not
shocked when I hear stories of meanness.... even at Christmas. It's
also part of the gospel story we just heard, the story we listen to with such
warm and sentimental feelings. Little
Baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph in the manger. We forget why they're there, don't we. Luke says there was no room in the inn, but
of course there was, there was plenty of room. And
this is The Holy Story, left to our own devices we will refuse to make room -
even for Jesus. I marvel at the number
of folks who tell me they have no place for worship. I assure them,we have plenty of room here,
join us. Then some will open up and
tell me the real reason has to do with how shabbily they've been treated by
self righteous Christians. So the last thing they want to do at
Christmas is go to a church with "people like that." My
father-in-law in his retirement kept books for his cousin who ran a small
town tavern. He often told me the best
day of the year for business was Christmas.
People would flock to the bar to get away from their relatives, their
neighbors, many who described themselves as Christian. So when I can, I'll
apologize for the way we have treated one another as Christians, but I also
ask, let's be honest. Is anyone really
good all on their own? Are any of us
without sin? That was Charles
Schultz's message in Peanuts. Using
children and humor, he got us to be honest about our real condition: we're
all sinners, therefore, we all need saving.
The central message of the New Testament is this "God was in
Christ reconciling the world to himself." Later
in his life, Charles Schultz told us that story this way. Perhaps you've seen it. It's Christmas time and Charlie Brown is
feeling like a total failure, no one is listening to his directions for the
annual Christmas program that he's in charge of. Charlie Brown is so angry and frustrated he
wants someone to please tell him what Christmas is all about. And then Linus, to Charlie Brown's
surprise, recites from memory his part in the play. He
tells of how Mary brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for
them in the inn. And how there were in that same region shepherds abiding in
the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore
afraid. And the angel said to them,
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good news of great joy...for unto you is born
this day in the city of And
Linus, who is truly God's messenger says, "that's what Christmas is all
about Charlie Brown." The
Bible doesn't say anything about believing in ourselves, our own goodness,
our own capacity to get it right or to make it right all by ourselves. No, instead it promises us a Savior. There was no room for him the night of his birth. Later on we tried to push him out of our world on a cross. But the good news is this: God didn't let us succeed in either scheme to get rid of Him. He got born anyway, even in a barn, and he accomplished his saving mission, even on a cross. So he's here with us tonight, just as he promised. That, indeed, is what Christmas is all about.
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