Christmas 1C-"Celebrate Love" 12/27/09

"The Power Of The Word" "Celebrate Love"

Christmas 1C, 12/27/09

John 1:1-14

            Before I begin, I must make a note to the bulletin.  Due to having to run the bulletins early this week, I came up with a title for my yet-unwritten sermon.  After writing it, I realized it needed a different title.  This sermon is entitled, "Celebrate Love."  After all, the power of the Word is love, and it is that Love of God we celebrate today!

Yesterday I walked into a CVS, and watched as the lady was taking down the Christmas Cards from the display, and was replacing them with Valentine's Day cards.  The signage she put up said, "Celebrate Love."  It struck me as bothersome that Valentine's Day, according to the card company, is only when we are to celebrate love.  Everything in me wanted to yell out, "What about Christmas?"  I felt like Charlie in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" when he says, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"[1]  But where was Linus when I needed him?  The music on the radio has already changed back to the regular stations, and Christmas music, like the decorations in the store, has been packed away for another year.  I was struck standing there thinking, "If all of this has changed back to 'normal' so quickly, then what difference does Christmas make after all?  Why do we celebrate it and what does it mean?"  Maybe I'm somewhat cynical, or my tiredness from Christmas Eve was still clouding my mind.  But it did make me really stop and think--Isn't Christmas about Celebrating Love?--Celebrating the love of God found in a baby and that love found in the world all these years later--Celebrating a love that physically came down from the heavens and was there for everyone to see.

         Christmas Eve, in the Church's understanding, is the beginning of the celebration, not the culmination of the festivities.[2] Christmas lasts 12 days, and ends on January 6th when we mark the Epiphany.  We gather in celebration of the birth that starts the story --our story--over again.  Advent is preparation for the big event, and then it's here and the Christmas Eve Lovefeasts start the Birthday Party for our King--complete with food, drink, and candles!  I came across this quote that I thought was so fitting for this season.  The author said, "Remember also that for Christians, this is the birthday party of all birthday parties, one that should spin us into a different place, not simply into exhaustion: 'Christmas is a time for enormous celebration, but also a time for pondering, for reverence, for awe at our sheer good fortune that God sent his only child into our midst.'”^[3]

         If we look at Scripture, we get 4 different views of Christmas.  Luke, the one most commonly read for Christmas, presents Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem with nowhere to stay and thus they end up in a barn with the animal's manger for a crib for the new baby.  Shepherds and Angels appear and sing God's praise over the birth of this special child. We see how God's love came in the unlikely places and was presented to the poor, meek, and lowly. If we look at Matthew, we see no manger, no shepherds, no chorus of angels.  Instead we hear of an undocumented number of wise men and three gifts brought to a home where the holy family is now living.  God's love in Matthew is for everyone, even those from distant lands.  Mark, on the other hand, skips the event entirely, and instead rushing ahead to tell of the adult Jesus.  God's love is powerful and immediate.  And then we have today's reading from John that uses metaphors and philosophy to describe the incarnation of God.  God's love in the logos, the Word, has been present since the beginning.  Often we hear the story of Christmas with all of these stories lumped together into an indistinguishable tangle of shepherds and wise men arriving together at the manger.  In many ways there isn't real harm in combining the stories, as they do help us see a fuller picture of Jesus' birth from various viewpoints.  But I do find it interesting to look at them individually.  Today's Scripture reading let's us focus on John's version of Christmas, though it noticeably leaves out the birth all together.  John focuses more on the incarnation and how God has come into the world to bring love through life and light.  For John, it's ultimately about God's love for the world as we hear later in Chapter 3. "16For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17, NRSV) The Gospel of John calls us to look for the love of God in the world and to celebrate that love whenever and wherever we see it.

         Though love is the focus of Christmas, it's sometimes hard to focus on that love.  I ran across a list the other day about the Top 10 Things WRONG with Christmas.  With all of the craziness associated with the holiday and my frustration at CVS about the holiday already having come and gone, I could resonate with many of these. I have also heard many of you naming these things.  Here's the list.  Do any of these things sound familiar?
TOP 10 THINGS WRONG WITH CHRISTMAS [4]

10. A loss of the sense of the miraculous

9. Not enough peace and joy

8. Feeling like you have to give something or you’re a bad person

7. Credit card bills through next Christmas

6. Insane travel schedules

5. Conflicts with the family

4. Feeling alone or alienated

3. Having to decorate to keep up with the neighbors

2. Hours spent searching for the present for kids or grandkids (etc.)

1. Feeling disappointed—again—by the season

         During the Congregational Lovefeast last Sunday evening, I told a story about a man who, though tired from Christmas Eve's craziness, went to feed his neighbor's sheep.  He paused for a moment, during his actions, when he realized that he was in the manger where it all started. He was standing by the manger on Christmas Eve.  I invited everyone to pause sometime during the holiday to reflect on the meaning of Christmas.  So on Christmas day, I took a few minutes to pause and reflecte.  With nods to David Letterman and Rogers and Hammerstein, I've written my own "Top 10 Favorite Things About Christmas" to help me name where I celebrate love during Christmas.  Before I read my own, I invite you to pause for a minute, take out a pencil or pen, and jot down a few of your own Favorite Things where you Celebrate love this Christmas.  [I invite you to include your list in the comments section of this blog.  See "Comments" below!]
         There are no right or wrong answers here.  Each of our lists will look different.  Having said that, here's my own list.

My Top 10 Favorite Things About Christmas

10. Receiving Christmas Cards and photos from family and friends

9. Phone Calls to hear "Merry Christmas" from a distance, especially when you can't be together on Christmas Day

8. Hearing "Morning Star" and remembering back 20 years to when I was the soloist up front.

7. Spending time with loved ones laughing around the dinner table.

6. Watching the Dieners and Choirs' faces as the lovefeast is served

5. The sight of spam, squirty cheese, beef jerky, and other treats inside my Lovefeast bun.

4. Eating together as a church family during the Workers Potluck.

3. The smiles on the faces of the children when it was FINALLY time to put Baby Jesus in the Manger.

2. The smells of beeswax and coffee and the sight of the candles raised in the air at the end of Lovefeast.

1. The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. (John 1:14) [This is how The Message translates the verse, and it's my favorite translation.] 

         At Christmas we celebrate the Love of God that has now taken on human form in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Because God loves us, we can love one another.  And I believe that the more we look for examples of God's love, we find them, even in the unexpected places.  By now many of you know about the ongoing gift that the dieners bestow on the pastors in their Christmas Eve Lovefeast Buns.  If you haven't seen the pictures, I've posted them on my blog and they are worth checking out.[5]  This year at the 7:30pm Lovefeast, our Bun came complete with icing that said, "Love You" in the form of a heart and the letter "U".  Thought it was meant as a good-hearted joke, I laughed and then took it much more symbolically.  God loves me, and sent his son for me.  God sent Jesus for each and every person that was celebrating lovefeast that evening together.  God sent Jesus for each of us.  This bun spoke volumes to me about how God's love spread out from that first Christmas to share that love with each other.  God moved into our neighborhood here on Ridge Road, and we saw it tangibly in the celebration of love that took place.  As the candles spread the light and none were diminished by the sharing, so is God's love spread by the sharing and is not diminished.  It began tangibly in Christ's birth through the incarnation, and continues to spread.  May we continue to Celebrate Love throughout these 12 days of Christmas, and proclaim through buns and candles, through cards and hugs, through all the ways God can speak through us, that God's love has moved into the neighborhood.  Amen.

---

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZw06AbW6Vw

[2] Michael Bennett, "Pastoral Perspective of John 1:1-14" in Feasting on the Word, Volume 2, Number 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009) 140.

[3] [Bill McKibben, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998) 68-69] quoted in Greg Garrett, Reclaiming Christmas: Seeking an Alternative from (www.thethoughtfulchristian.org, 2007) 2.

[4] Greg Garrett, Reclaiming Christmas: Seeking an Alternative from (www.thethoughtfulchristian.org, 2007) 2.

[5] livingonemmausave.blogspot.com (Post for "RMC Christmas 2009: Part 2" dated 12/26/09.)

Christmas Eve at RMC 2009--Part 2

Hi Everyone,
so I have finally had a chance to download my photos.  Unfortunately I don't have any during the service, since I was sitting up front.  I'm counting on David Chervany's photos and look forward to seeing them.  (Here's a link to David's Facebook photos!!  Check them out! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=47474&id=1257733985)

During the Children's Lovefeast at 2:30pm we did have a photographer from the Raleigh News & Observer come and take lots of photos.  They are included in the gallery on their web (photos 19-30).  Check them out here: http://www.newsobserver.com/galleries/gallery/256173.html

RMC's Moravian Youth Fellowship presented their live nativity again on Christmas Eve before the Children's Lovefeast.  It was great to see all of them living out the reason for the season! Check out the slideshow:

There is a (no-longer secret) ongoing joke at Raleigh Moravian where the Dieners (Servers) make special lovefeast buns for the pastors that include various and assorted fillings and decorations.  I posted last year's pictures in an earlier blog.  Well...here are the long-awated photos from this Christmas Eve!  Thank you for the great laughs, and the special additions to my Lovefeast experience! (And see my next post of the 12/27 sermon for more info too!)

During the 2:30pm Children's Lovefeast, the Dieners gave to me:
A squirty cheese and whipped cream-filled bun.  (It harkens back to last Saturday night's MYF Christmas Party and the fun that was had by many there with squirty cheese and whipped cream.)

For an insiders view:

I actually ate this one after the photos were taken.  It was surprisingly good--cheesey with a hint of sweetness!

For the 5pm Lovefeast, Craig and I both received this lovely creation:

I mistakenly looked at it from behind, and missed that smiling (Shrek-ogrey) face.  Instead I thought it looked like this:

Strange, indeed!

(Ingredients list: 1 slice of Spam, Marshmallow ears, gummy Life Saver candy nose, Vienna Sausage eyes, and Squirty Cheese mouth and eyebrows) [On a side note, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not--now everytime I smell Spam, I think "Christmas Eve"!  Thanks for the gift 2 years in a row!]

Not to be outdone, the 7:30pm Lovefeast took the cake!  The dieners said it was "dessert" after our Worker's Potluck that was held between the 5 and 7:30 Lovefeasts for everyone that's there helping.

[The worker's potluck is my favorite part of Christmas Eve--I love the spirit of joy and merriment that is in the air.  I also believe it's much closer to the idea of the Agape Lovefeast, since we are all there worshiping and don't want to leave to go home to eat.  Instead we bring food in and eat together as the family of God!--just my $.02]

[Ingredients list: Hamburger Buns, Gummy Life Saver eyes, Beef Jerky hair, sweet tart teeth, marshmallow ears, whipped cream and red hots smile, and Icing eye brows and writing]

[The book says "Celebrating the Spirit of Christmas" which we certainly did, thanks to these lovely gifts of love from our dieners!]

Merry Christmas from Raleigh Moravian Church! ~Pastors Craig and Suzanne

Christmas Eve at RMC 2009

Yesterday was a whirlwind of cider, buns, coffee, candles, and true joy and merriment!  My second Christmas at RMC was even better than last year.  I'll write more soon, including the photos of my decorated buns from all 3 lovefeasts!
Check out the Raleigh News and Observer's photos from our 2:30pm Children's Lovefeast.  http://www.newsobserver.com/galleries/gallery/256173.html We made photos 19-30 in the list.

Thanks again to everyone who helped--diening, making coffee, making candles, ushering, making/folding bulletins, keeping the nursery, reading, playing firefighter (aka blanket holders), etc.  I can't begin to list all the people involved, but I appreciate all of your hard work!

May everyone have a wonderful Christmas and have a moment today to pause and reflect on the true meaning of today--God became flesh and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14, MSG).

Christmas at RMC 2008

The post below is what I wrote last year for my other blog.  With Christmas Eve tomorrow, I thought it was fitting to relive my first Christmas at RMC!  Enjoy!

This was my first Christmas serving at Raleigh Moravian Church. So I thought a few images from Christmas Eve would be fun to include in our blog. We have a congregational Lovefeast the Sunday before Christmas that I presided over. Then we have 3 lovefeasts on Christmas Eve. 2:30 is for families and children and is geared to the children--they do a skit to tell the Christmas Story (Steve made his directing debut this year with the skit and it went very well), sing some kid friendly songs like "Jesus Loves Me" and "This Little Light of Mine." They even include stand up and wiggle breaks to help the kids maintain attention throughout the service. They still get buns and candles, and substitute cider for the coffee. We also added baby Jesus to the manger/putz/nativity/creche that we had been building each week. The other two lovefeasts are at 5pm and 7:30pm and are more traditional.

Here are some images from Christmas:The Latin reads: Our Lamb Has Conquered, Let Us Follow Him. This is one of the decorations on the narthex (Sanctuary entrance area) Christmas Tree.

Even the chandeliers get decked out for the holidays!

This is the Christmas tree in the narthex of the church. It is decorated with stars, candles, and Schierenschitte (German paper cutting).

The youth serve as dieners (servers) for the Children's lovefeast. The candle portion of the service is so beautiful!

During the singing of the last song, the congregation is invited to raise their candles in the air, which is the most beautiful part of the service in my opinion. It takes my breath away every time I see it!

This is the front of the sanctuary with the star, candles and Southern magnolia greenery.

This is our advent wreath signaling the 4th Sunday of Advent--Christmas is here!!



The dieners love giving the pastors a treat on Christmas Eve for the lovefeast. It's tradition. Here is my Lovefeast bun from the 5pm service--sliced and filled with peanut butter, then decorated with marshmallow eyes and smile. I commented afterwards that it was actually really good with peanut butter but the marshmallows made me long for hot chocolate...






So at the 7:30pm Lovefeast, the dieneres (cough--specifically Dee Ann--but I don't want to name names) thought that SPAM would be a good addition to the Lovefeast buns. So here is my eyes wide open, smiling at me SPAM bun. They took my suggestion of Hot Chocolate seriously, so I had Hot Chocolate instead of Coffee. I can't recommend the SPAM, but the Hot Chocolate was YUMMY! I can't wait to see what the next Lovefeast brings...

RMC's MYF Live Nativity

Congregational Lovefeast "Candle Talk" 2009

This is my short "Candle Talk" from the 2009 Congregational Christmas Eve Lovefeast at Raleigh Moravian Church.  It was held on Sunday, Dec. 20th at 7pm.  The Scripture text was: Luke 2:1-20.

So the story goes...The night was much like tonight--cold and dark--it was Christmas Eve.[1]  The children were in bed fast asleep from a long day of waiting for Christmas to finally come.  The father and mother were tired from all the preparations and work that had gone into getting ready for Christmas. The presents were finally wrapped and under the tree.  The dinner dishes were done, the lights and stockings were hung, and the dreaded words of parents-- "Some Assembly Required" --had been conquered.  Bedtime was finally here.

Just as he was taking off his slippers and getting ready for bed, the father remembered he had promised the neighbors on the farm next door he would feed their sheep tonight.  He'd almost forgotten with all the hustle and bustle of the day.  But it was cold and the animals needed to be fed.  So he put on coat and boots, and took off into the cold.  A small lantern lit his way as he trekked down to the sheep's pen.

The lantern reflected off the fresh coat of snow that had fallen that evening.  He arrived at the barn and found the sheep in the pen.  He found the switch and turned on the light.  Combined with the full moon and the lone bulb hanging from the ceiling, he could see despite the darkness.  As he entered the pen, the sheep stood in the corner watching the stranger's every move.  He got down the bales of hay and opened them up in the trough for the sheep to reach easily.  They stirred from their corner, eagerly welcoming the gift the father brought. 

Finally the father was done and it was time to return to the warmth of his home.  "He [reached] up to turn off the bulb, and suddenly [realized] where he was.  The winter darkness.  The glimmer of light.  The smell of hay and the sound of the animals eating.  Where he [was], of course, [was] the manger."[2]  He almost missed the significance.  So instead of rushing home, he paused for a moment to remember the humble beginnings of the Light of the World. Then he headed back home with the lantern lighting his way.  The light perhaps seemed just a bit brighter against the darkness.  The cold perhaps seemed a little less cold. 

"While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn."[3] "The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood."[4] 

As a reminder to us that we celebrate the Light of the World that has come and entered our world, we each receive a candle tonight. We invite you to raise your candles on the last verse of our last song ("Christ the Lord, the Lord most glorious") to signify that Christ does indeed shine brightly in our world.  We also invite you to take your candles home as a reminder of the Christ Child, the Light of the World, has moved into our neighborhood yet again this Christmas.  My prayer is that we may each have a few moments this Christmas to pause and notice where God is present in our world and how we can celebrate the light even in the mundane and ordinary places of our lives. And then whenever you see the candle throughout the year, it will remind you to pause, despite how tired you are, and give thanks for the Light of the World that shines in our lives, just as the father did in the manger.  May the light shine just a bit brighter for us this year as we remember anew the birth of the Light of the World.  Amen.

---

[1] Adapted from Frederick Buechner's story in "Christmas" from Whistling In The Dark: A Doubters Dictionary (NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 1988) 29-30.

[2] Frederick Buechner, "Christmas" from Whistling In The Dark: A Doubters Dictionary (NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 1988) 30.

[3] Luke 2:6-7.  NRSV.

[4] John 1:14.  The Message.

"What Then Should We Do?" (Advent 3C, December 13, 2009)

Advent 3C: "What Then Should We Do?"

December 13, 2009

Sermon for Mountain Laurel Moravian Fellowship, Laurel Springs, NC

Luke 3:7-18; Isaiah 12:2-6

         Welcome to the 3rd Sunday in Advent.  Advent is the time of preparation and waiting that proceeds Christmas. It's true, this is a beautiful time of year, and preparations are important.  We are getting ready for God to become flesh and blood in a little baby. But is that all there is to prepare for?  Advent is also a time to be aware of the already-not yet living that we find ourselves in.  Christ has come once as a baby, and left us with the promise to return again. He's already come, and has not yet arrived.  So we wait...

         Advent is a time when many of us want to focus on the good that is among us: lovely lights, gifts galore, decorations, caroling, and cocoa by the fireside.    And then we come to worship today and hear John the Baptizer's words to us.  Ouch.  Probably not the comforting, ohhing and cooing, "a beautiful newborn baby is almost here" message of good news we were expecting to hear.  This is a section of Luke's Gospel that recounts John's preaching just before Jesus is baptized and enters the scene.  It's not a passage that we likely think of when we think about Advent.  But John's words are instructions for living for the coming of the Messiah onto the scene.  They help us to know what life is to look like as we prepare, so these words are part of our Lectionary readings for Advent.   John was sent to prepare the way for Jesus.  John doesn't mince words.  He gets straight to the point and makes sure that everyone hears it--Brood of Vipers and all.  It's a tough passage to hear and a tough passage to preach, but the Lectionary includes it, so in our Advent waiting, we tackle John's words today.

         John's words come as a warning and at the same time a proclamation of Good News, as it says in the last verse of today's section. "So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people." (verse 18).  It so clearly says it's good news, but who finds this to be good?   How could calling folks a "Brood of Vipers" (verse 7) constitute good news?  One commentator I read compared the phrase Brood of Vipers to calling someone in your own family a name--you can do it because you love them.[1]  John loved the people he was baptizing, so he was able to preach words of tough love to them.  He was filled with God's love and the good news is that everyone can be apart of that love too.

         As I read through the passage, one question stuck out to me because it is repeated.  If three different groups asked the same question, it must be important.  The question is, "What then should we do?"  First the crowd asks, then the tax collectors, and third the soldiers.  They hear John's words calling for repentance and actions that demonstrate belief, and they want to know how they should respond. Repentance for John is a 180-degree turn from old ways to new life that puts God first in their life and refocuses their lives on love.  Each time John answers the question in a way that relates to their lives and gives them actions that are to be undertaken. “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”  “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”  “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” (verses 11, 13, 14  NRSV)  John is not just interested in beliefs that should be professed.  John is teaching ethical living as a sign of the change in their lives that is associated with repentance and baptism. At the most basic level, I believe John is telling the folks gathered around him to love each other.  This love is a love that doesn't end with baptism, and doesn't end once Christmas day passes by.  This is a practical, ethical love that lasts throughout the year.  It's a love that repairs homes, feeds the hungry, and visits the lonely.  It's a love that passes out clothing and helps support a camp for children who are ill.

         "What then should we do?"  As I've thought about this question all week, I have been reminded over and over of what is being done in this community.  This faith community is a testament to work that is happening in Ashe and Alleghany counties because the Moravian Church loves people here.  We are willing to put our hands and feet to work and live the ethical, loving life that John calls us to.  I noticed in your bulletin that Mountain Laurel collects food to distribute in the area.  I have heard about the work you all are doing with Camp New Hope for sick children, not to mention all the relationships that are being fostered through Laurel Ridge and Mission Camp.  There are so many examples!  We are all part of God's love that is being manifest in this community.  God loves us all, and we are living out God's call to share that love. 

         I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes that fits well with what John is preaching in the passage.  Mother Teresa said, "We can do no great things, just small things with great love.  It is not how much you do,

but how much love you put into doing it."[2]  The things John is preaching may seem radical, but really they are just every-day actions that make a lasting impact on those who are involved.  Sometimes it means just being open to where we can lend a hand.  Last Sunday I went with the youth from Raleigh Moravian to visit the Men's Homeless Shelter in downtown Raleigh.  We go most First Sundays of the Month to deliver clothing, sing with the residents, and share God's love through our presence.  In December the tradition is to take lovefeast buns and hot cider to have an informal lovefeast with the men gathered there.  After they received the gifts of clothing, the youth passed out the lovefeast.  Once we were heading home, we walked outside and one gentleman who hadn't been inside stopped and asked me a question.  He said, "Do you have a Christmas present for me?"  I don't know why he wasn't in the receiving line for clothing, but he hadn't gotten anything from our group and we had passed out everything we had. All I had were the extra buns, so I handed him a bun.  It wasn't a full meal; it wasn't a warm blanket; it was a small, leftover bun.  But afterward as I've thought about the love that went into it, it was a small thing done with great love.  What then should we do?  Pass out Christmas presents of love to everyone we meet, and thus share God's Good News of love.

         What then should we do?  Share God's love. John makes it plain and simple.  The Good News of God's love is shown through the simple gifts of coats and food.  Sharing what we have, not taking more than we need, being content and thankful with the gifts God has provided. This is truly Good News that all of us can hear--not just during Advent, but throughout the year.  The Advent preparations we make are for Christmas for sure, but they also help us throughout the year to life lives prepared to share God's love and Good News with everyone we encounter.   May the preparations we make this Advent season help us to share God's love this Christmas and throughout the year!

 
Benediction: May the God of HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in LOVE this day and always.  In the Name of the Triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

---

[1] Frederick Buechner, "Love" in Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC, rev. and expanded (NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993) 65.

[2] Various sources

RMC's Putzing Advent-ure Thursday Night

Thank you to everyone who came out to Raleigh Moravian's Putzing Advent-ure on Thursday!  We had a wonderful visit at Keith and Chancy Kapp's house and also in the church Fellowship Hall.  Here is another slideshow of photos from the event on Thursday!  Thanks again to Gay Sharon Brothers for the idea and help, Chancy Kapp for planning and help, and Carole Martin!  Thanks also to Kristina Leighton for coordinating, setting up and cleaning up the food.  Thanks to the many families who contributed to the Putz (Nativity/Manger/Creche) display--we ended up receiving 47 displays for our event!  If you have ideas for next year, please contact me (Pastor Suzanne)!  I greatly welcome feedback and ideas!!

RMC's Putzing Advent-ure

RMC hosted our first annual Putzing Advent-ure on Wednesday, December 9th (and it continues Thursday, December 10th too!) in our Fellowship Hall.  This event is a chance for our church community to pause for a few minutes and focus on the waiting and preparations of Advent.  We have many folks in our community who collect putz displays (nativities/manger/creche) from different places or have one that is special to their family.  We invited everyone to bring one (or more) that they wanted to share with everyone else as part of this event.  Since this was our first time, we hoped to receive 20-25 sets--well, we were shocked and very excited to receive 46 different sets from ALL OVER THE WORLD!!  We have many from the US, Central and South America, Asia, and Europe.  We also have a number of them that were handmade by people in our community.  It's truly a blessing and joy to be able to share these with each other as we journey through Advent during our Putzing Advent-ure! 

We began the journey at Walt and Gay Sharon Brothers' house to see their elaborate display. Today we are invited to visit with Chancy and Keith Kapp in their home to see their putzen as well!  Join us from 3-6pm at the Kapp's house.  Call the church office for more info 919-787-4034.

If you wern't able to come on Wednesday, please plan to stop by tonight from 6-8pm in the Raleigh Moravian Fellowship Hall to view these putzen, pause for a breath during Advent, and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ as we all prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child.

Check out some photos from Wednesday's event!

http://www.slide.com/r/9otCP4Tj1j8Rte4Rk1F3-NkWk8IVXlNW?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Silent Monks "Singing"

If you like Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" or if you need a good laugh this holiday season, check out this Silent Monk Choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFCeJTEzNU

Hope for the Waiting: Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent (Advent 1C)

Advent 1C

11/29/09

"Hope For The Waiting"

Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36

Happy New Year!  Welcome to the First Sunday in Advent, which marks the beginning of the New Church Year.   There aren't the typical new years celebrations: no fireworks or "Auld Lang Syne".  But we do have a lit Advent Wreath and a glowing Star that have appeared since last week's worship.  These signs help to point us in the direction and prepare us for the coming of God-with-us Emmanuel. But we are not there yet, and so we wait.   

Advent is a time for waiting and breathing, not a time to rush too quickly from one thing to the next.[1]  I believe we miss something if we rush too quickly to Christmas.  Advent helps us to pause, take a breath, and prepare, not only our homes and church, but our hearts and minds for what is about to come.   

For some people Advent is a strange practice amid the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations.  Advent has been compared to the hush that falls over the crowd just as the conductor takes his baton, raises it in the air, and pauses for that o-so brief moment before the symphony pulses with glorious music.[2]  It's that last minute check of costume and make-up before the actress takes the stage and the curtain is raised.  The audience and actors all pause and wait, wondering with anticipation what the future holds.  Observing Christmas without Advent is like celebrating Easter without passing through Lent and Good Friday--it's possible, but the meaning can get lost so easily because our hearts and minds aren't fully prepared.[3]  


We are one of thousands of churches around the world that live into the liturgical church year cycle and welcome the New Year today with Advent.  The tradition of the liturgical church year has developed since the earliest church.  The Lectionary-assigned Scripture readings that help guide our worship are from an evolving process that began in the 4th century and developed into the Revised Common Lectionary in 1992.[4]  The Revised Common Lectionary includes a 3-year cycle of texts that were chosen to highlight different holy-days and events in the life of Christ and the history of the church.  Each Sunday has four texts to choose from--an Old Testament reading, New Testament Letter, Psalm, and Gospel reading.  It also helps us to hear a wide variety of Scripture over the course of the years.  In case you are wondering, we are beginning Year C in the cycle today, and will focus on the Gospel of Luke most of the year in our Gospel readings.  

Advent lasts 4 weeks and is followed by Christmas--a season 12 days long that starts on the eve of December 25th.  But we're not there yet, even though it's hard to tell by looking outside. I have been hyper-aware of Christmas preparations this year.  I found it downright disturbing to see Christmas Trees and decorations for sale during the 2nd week of OCTOBER.  And the wreaths were hung by the shop buildings with care--before Halloween.  It seems that in years past Thanksgiving was overshadowed by Christmas Shopping, but this year, even Halloween got overshadowed.  Really?  Halloween.  Do we need to make the commercialization of Christmas last over 2 months?  Will "Merry New Thanksgive-o-ween!" become the new standard holiday greeting? 

The rampant commercialization of the holiday has almost at times zapped my hope for something different--something simpler.  Now before I go any further, I must first say that I love Christmas--I love the music and decorations and yummy smells that permeate the season.  I love spending time with family and friends and smelling the Beeswax and evergreen that fills the air.  But I have to consciously hold my love of Christmas in tension with the waiting of Advent.

If you came today expecting to hear about Christmas, then you are likely disappointed.  Our assigned Scripture Texts today do not include the birth narrative of Jesus.  It's not yet time to sing Joy to the World or Silent Night.[5]  Today is the day, instead, to begin anew to live into the hope of the waiting and longing for another day as we sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  This morning through our assigned texts we heard the Prophet Jeremiah speak of a promise from God spoken to comfort a people amidst destruction and war, and we heard Luke's Gospel tell of a time to come when Jesus will return again.  These passages, especially when held up together in Advent, help us to see our own lives as part of the ongoing narrative of God's people who live into the already-not yet waiting for Christ.  We know he has come in the flesh and will come again this year at Christmas--and yet he hasn't arrived in the second coming.  We hear the words of hope from Jeremiah's time as they live in the midst of war and impending conquest at the hands of the Babylonians.  Life isn't easy for these people, and things sometimes only look like they will get worse before they get better.  At the same time we hear Luke's recounting of Jesus' words just before his crucifixion about his return to earth in the future.  For the early church in Luke's time, the Resurrection has come and gone, Jesus said he would come back soon, and it's been 2 decades... where is he?  We can almost hear the Gospel writer asking, "Maybe it's time to reframe our thinking about when he'll arrive, and instead wait expectantly."  And so we sit with hope in our hearts and wait.   

I've thought a lot about waiting with hope in the past week, as I've wondered where I see hope in our world today.  Sometimes if you are anything like me, we have to be intentional to look for hope because it is so hard to find amidst all the bad news and Christmas consumerism.  Where in the world is God at work giving us signs to wait with hope and, at the same time, fulfilling the promise to be with us forever?  I posed the question of where we find hope to my Facebook page to see what others had to say.  I asked, "Where do you see hope these days?"  One person named watching younger generations volunteer to help those in need--noting the example of the Moravian Youth Fellowship from here that went gleaning a few weeks ago to gather sweet potatoes for the Food Bank.  She said, "Maybe because of the [youth] willing to do that, love still stands a chance in the world."  Another person said, "Love Wins, and God is love."  Yet another person claimed the beauty around her in creation quoting, "I see skies of blue and clouds of white, the bright blessed day and the dark sacred night, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world."  God is indeed at work around us giving us signs of hope to hold on to in the waiting times. 

On my search for hope to help with this waiting of Advent, I began looking around intentionally for signs.  Signs of God's presence and what is about to take place, signs of the breath just before the curtain rises.  Then I woke up one morning this week and saw it--right there in the window--my two Christmas Cacti were blooming.  Not just one bud, but three flowers open, and the rest of the plants about the burst open.  I am always amazed when these plants bloom, given my track record of over or under-watering.  One of these plants is quite old.  The other one is an off-shoot of the first that I rooted years ago, and has become another beautiful plant, so they sit in the window almost like a sign of rebirth and new life.  Seeing these blooming plants led me to look with new eyes again--where else do I see sign's of God's hope in my midst?  Well, the plants I got at the plant sale are still blooming.  My biggest surprise was the Gerber daisy from earlier this year.  It is still alive and blooming now too.  Now if you had seen this a month ago, you would have agreed with me that the daisy had no hope of survival. I had actually given up on it, due to my over abundance of watering, but I just hadn't thrown it in the compost bucket yet.  I'm still amazed it's blooming, especially now.  It's the end of November and I have beautiful plants flowering!  What signs of hope for these damp, dark November days.

Jeremiah's words likely took his listeners by surprise, much like the flowers did me.  During Jeremiah's time, things were tough.  The Babylonians were pressing down about to overtake the city.  Jerusalem was about to be destroyed.  Jeremiah sat in jail because officials were trying to keep him quiet.  He had been the prophet of doom and gloom for quite a while.  If it could be cursed, he had cursed it.[6]  Things were so bad, it seemed as though hope left town and had taken a vacation.[7]  Amid these tough times, we hear Jeremiah's words, "14The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”" (Jeremiah 33:14-16).  A new branch will spring up from a dead stump, or a flower will grow from a dead daisy.  These words brought hope and comfort.   

If the new growth from the dead stump wasn't enough, the previous chapter of Jeremiah told of his prophetic sign from God to purchase a plot of land.  Jeremiah declared that some day, "houses and fields and vineyards shall again be brought in this land." (Jeremiah 32:15).  Though it seemed foolish to buy land while an enemy army prepared for battle, God's sign of hope shone bright in those dark days.   Signs of hope for a people longing to hear that God's promise through the covenant with Israel would be fulfilled.  Justice will prevail, and it will be God's justice that reigns supreme.  People will live out God's call to love God with their whole hearts, soul, mind, and strength, and love their neighbors.[8]

So where are your signs of hope to help with this Advent waiting?  What do you see when you look around with new eyes, just waiting for that curtain to rise and the actors to take the stage?  What blooms in your heart to prepare you for the coming dawn?  How is God at work as you take a moment to breathe this Advent?  Do you hear the whispers?  Do you see the signs?  Where do you find hope for the waiting? 

Poet Dom Helder Camara writes, "The Spirit is Breathing/ All those with eyes to see, / women and men with ears for hearing/ detect a coming dawn;/ a reason to go on.// They seem small, these signs of dawn,/ perhaps ridiculous.//   All those with eyes to see/ women and men with ears for hearing/ uncover in the night/ a certain gleam of light/ they see the reason to go on."[9]      May we all wait with hope this Advent.  Amen.

Benediction: May the God of HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in LOVE this day and always.  In the Name of the Triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

---

[1] Frederick Buechner, “Advent” in Whistling In The Dark: A Doubter’s Dictionary (NY, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 1988) 3.

[2] Buechner, “Advent” in Whistling In The Dark, 3.

[3] http://www.cresourcei.org/carols.html

[4] http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/index.html  For the Moravian Version of the Revised Common Lectionary, see http://www.mcsp.org/resources/res_wor_res.htm and click on the Lectionary Link for a downloadable PDF version.  There are many great resources on the web about the Lectionary, but one of my favorites is www.textweek.com .

[5] http://www.cresourcei.org/carols.html

[6] Frederick Buechner, “Jeremiah” in Perculiar Treasure: A Biblical Who’s Who (NY, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 1979) 66.

[7] Gary Charles, “Homiletical Perspective” in Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 1 (Advent through Transfiguration), eds. David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2009) 3. 

[8] Deuteronomy 6:4; Leviticus 19:18

[9] Dom Helder Camara, “The Spirit is Breathing” in Imaging the Word: An Arts and Lectionary Resource, ed. Kenneth T. Lawrence (Cleveland, OH: United Church Press, 1994) 78.

Practicing Advent

I ran across this article today that I think is worth reading for anyone, like me, who struggles with the consumerism approach to Christmas.  Author G. Sujin Pak explores the Lectionary Texts for Advent and how they lead us to preparations that go counter to what our culture teaches.  Take a moment and check out: 
http://faithandleadership.com/content/practice-advent-season-preparation

Advent Preparations

So this year, I have been hyper-aware of Christmas preparations around town, and maybe, just maybe they are coming earlier this year than ever.  Is it just me? 

We were in Lowe's Hardware during the 2nd week of OCTOBER and they already had the Christmas section setup and ready.  The trees were on display and lit--ready to be taken home and set up ASAP!

Then, mid-OCTOBER brought out the Christmas wreaths on the outside of Crabtree Mall. 

In Target during the 3rd week of OCTOBER brought a Target shopping trip that caused me to feel like I was in the Twilight Zone-- I was walking down the aisle looking for something-or-another, and found the Hollow-mas section.  One side of the aisle was filled with candy and costumes, while the other side contained wreaths and ornaments.  It was bothersome on so many emotional levels to mix the aisle--my mind made me just walk away, and I felt I needed to just stop and shake it all off, like a dog after a bath.  I was bathed in this mix of holiday baggage and it was just too much to take.

So NOVEMBER brought ads for 24/7 holiday music on streaming live internet radio, and then today... November 16th, we mark the start of 24/7 music on the regular radio.  On one hand, I'm surprised they waited 16 days into November to start it.  On the other, it's 2 weeks till Advent even starts! 

I said recently, and I don't know if I read this somewhere or what, but reaching Christmas without pausing for Advent is like celebrating Easter without living through Good Friday... the holy-day still arrives, but it means so much more when we live into the preparations in life-giving ways.

All of this preparation just causes me to think more deeply about preparing my heart and home for the real reason for this whole season.  Not to get cliche, but I really do want, more than ever it seems, to put Christ back in "CHRIST-mas".  I am tired of the date for the Christmas season continually being pushed back earlier and earlier.  So this year, I'm trying to think differently about the season.  As I prepare to preach on the First Sunday in Advent to the theme of "Hope and Expectation," I am trying to wait with real hope and expectation to discover anew the reason we have all of this celebration in the first place.  I've been collecting websites and resources to help me refocus, and I thought I would share those with you too.  May these help all of us keep our eyes fixed on the poor, humble child who started the biggest revolution of all--Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  May your preparations be blessed and may you find your heart truly ready to recieve the Christ Child again this year.

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/site/

http://www.faith-at-home.com/

http://www.gracecathedral.com/advent/

http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/

http://www.geezmagazine.org/

Gleaning Sweet Potatoes at Yam Jam 2009

This comes from a newsletter article I wrote for RMC's November Newsletter...

On Saturday, October 17th at 7:30am 18 RMC members and friends gathered in the parking lot to head to Johnston County to glean Sweet Potatoes. We joined others from around the Triangle at the Society of St. Andrew's annual "Yam Jam" to glean food for the local food bank and other agencies in the area (http://www.endhunger.org/). Gleaning is a biblical principle of taking the leftovers from the harvest for those in need. It is mentioned in Leviticus 19:9-10; Leviticus 23:22; and Deuteronomy 24:21. Gleaning is most well known from the book of Ruth.

We had fun and helped make a difference at the same time! After a good morning of hard work digging, bagging, and transporting potatoes to the trucks, we had lunch and headed back home. We left the field with a little more dirt in our shoes than when we started, and the satisfaction of knowing that some people who struggle to have enough food are now able to enjoy nutritious sweet potatoes that would have otherwise remained in the fields to rot.

Afterwords the Society of St. Andrew sent us thanks:

"Thanks for making Yam Jam a Huge Success!


This is what you helped accomplish :)
We had 829 volunteers (that’s the biggest number yet!).
We collected 84,010 pounds of sweet potatoes.
We distributed them to more than 50 agencies around the Triangle and beyond!


That means our volunteers filled about 10 bags each, and helped give 252,030 servings of fresh, nutritious sweet potatoes to our neighbors in need."

Recently I ran across this article about Gleaning.  Check it out...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1102/p07s01-lign.html

"We are Family" Sermon for 10/11/09 Anniversary Lovefeast (Proper 23B-Mark 10:17-31)

October 11, 2009
Sermon for Anniversary Sunday Lovefeast
Proper 23 B Mark10:17-31
"We Are Family"

In March 2001 I journeyed with 4 friends to Amsterdam for Spring Break. We were living in Heidelberg, Germany at the time for a semester abroad. I knew there were Moravians in the area, and so on Sunday morning we set out on an adventure to attend worship at one of the Moravian churches in the Amsterdam suburbs.[1] My 4 friends had never heard of Moravians before, and none of us spoke Dutch, but they decided to join me for church that morning.


Upon finding the church, we were warmly greeted by a number of the members and they were excited to welcome a Moravian from North Carolina. We felt so incredibly welcomed into their community that day as person after person came over to say hello and introduce him or herself. This congregation was made up of immigrants from Surinam in northern South America. Thus worship was in Dutch and Surinamese. You can imagine our surprise when the pastor greeted us in English during their welcome time. Though I didn't understand anything else that was said, I followed the service because of the familiar rhythm that it had. Afterwards, we were quickly whisked away to the fellowship hall for their coffee hour, which turned out to be more of a feast--a lovefeast. They continued worshiping and fellowship together after the service around cafe tables and over coffee, tea, and lots of Surinamese goodies. My friends kept asking me if I was sure I hadn't met these people before, because we were certainly being treated like long lost family members. I don't think I've ever felt so welcomed into a congregation where I didn't know a single person, and that day, I saw a glimpse of what it truly means to be brothers and sisters in Christ.


Our Gospel reading this morning is likely a well-known passage sometimes referred to as the "rich young ruler" or the "parable of the camel and the needle." There is much that could be said about this particular passage. It describes the issue of wealth and discipleship, but there is another aspect that I wanted to briefly look at today. Verses 29-30 near the end of the passage describe a family relationship that Jesus is re-ordering within God's kingdom. Jesus' call to follow him as a disciple will cost the man his family relationships. His wealth was likely from a family estate or inheritance that Jesus was asking him to give up in order to follow. In the culture at that time, family ties were very strong and were held in highest esteem. Children were to honor their father and mother until death and assure them proper burial. There were few things worse than forsaking the family. Jesus was asking for a major sacrifice, which would separate him from his family in addition to his wealth. But in return for his following the call to discipleship, Jesus is promising him a new family and new relationships that will far surpass what he has known.


Jesus is redefining family relationships into kingdom of God relationships. Jesus' call opens up the familial relationships to be inclusive of all disciples, instead of family relationships being exclusive of blood relatives only. In fact, some people today refer to God's kingdom as God's kin-dom (removing the "g" from the word) to help focus on the familial relationships that Jesus calls us to. Jesus' call of discipleship for this man was to follow and the reward was a new family to belong to in this life, and eternal life in the age to come.


As I've thought about this idea of family and kin-dom relationships this week, I keep coming back to the idea that we are al a family. We use the terms brothers and sisters intentionally. Our involvement and the language we use here in church helps us to live into the reality that we are a part of God's family. Following Jesus brings us into the family of God.


For 56 years Raleigh Moravian has provided a family atmosphere and connection for many people. Some of you were born here and grew up as a part of this church family or helped start this community 56 years ago. Many of us have moved to the Triangle with jobs or school and left family behind in other cities and towns across the country and world. Connections to this community have created a family for us--a home away from home. Thanks to the technology we have today, following Jesus and being disciples who live and work and worship in this community doesn't always mean we leave our blood relatives behind. Though, as we heard from Laura Hartley last week, this is still a reality for some Christians around the world whose families disown them when they convert to Christianity like one of the pastors from the Moravian church in Nepal.


Whether we were born here or joined this family later in life, are visiting today or plan to stay around for a while, we are here as brothers and sisters in Christ's family who just shared a meal together. It is here where we can be ourselves, ask tough questions together, grow in faith together, take steps outside our comfort zones together, and encourage one another to further our following of Christ's call to be disciples. At it's best, a family is here to encourage one another in the faith and hold one another up when times are tough. Our church is a place where we can practice living into kin-dom values that Jesus is calling us to in this world and in eternal life in the age to come. But it takes intentionality to remain open to all those disciples, our brothers and sisters, who are following Jesus' call.


As I've thought about being brothers and sisters in Christ, I was reminded of the TV show, Cheers, and their theme song,


"Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name." [2]


Though some might find comparing church to a TV sitcom Bar from the 1980s a stretch, I believe there are some similarities. God's call to be in relationship with one another and know each other's name in the family is important as we are all formed into God's family filled with brothers and sisters around the world. We gather here in worship to remind ourselves that God is bigger than our worries and fears, and that we can lean on one another when we need a hand. Everyone wants to be known by their name, and we can all benefit from hearing our name spoke--we are beloved children of God and siblings with one another. Everyone has a seat at the table and is invited to partake in the meal that is offered to us, whether that is the body and blood of Christ, the bun and coffee of fellowship, or the casserole being served at the potluck.


In talking with visitors and new members, many of them comment on how welcome they feel here in this community, and that is a very good thing. But it's also a challenge to us. Jesus is calling all of us to kin-dom relationships, and we must be intentional about remaining open and welcoming of those we have in our midst. Do we know their names and are we glad they came? Do we know each others names and are we caring for one another? Are we all helping one another grow in our faith and love of Christ as we follow Christ's call?


As we continue into another year as members of God's family located here at Raleigh Moravian, let us hear Jesus' call to discipleship to come, follow Christ with renewed vigor. And may the Holy Spirit help us to be a place where we can keep practicing being part of God's Kin-dom, welcoming everyone to the feast that Christ offers us, and helping one another walk in the fellowship and love that Christ provides. After all, we are family, we've got our brothers and sisters right here. Amen.

[1] Amsterdam Suid-Oost Congregation, Evangelische Broedergemeente (Moravian Church in Holland) http://www.ebgzuidoost.nl/

[2] "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo - Taken from the Cheers TV show Theme song Lyrics