Sermon for 7-25-10 "Not Quite What Was Planned" Christmas In July, Favorite Things Summer Worship Series

Sermon for 7/25/10 "Christmas in July"

Favorite Things Worship Series

Luke 2:1-20; Isaiah 9:2-7

"Not Quite What Was Planned"

Some weeks just don't go as planned.  Have you ever had one of those?  On Thursday afternoon your TO DO List from Monday is not even half finished, and you can't find the things you have done on the TO DO List anywhere. Well, this was one of those weeks.  As I was driving out of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport Parking lot on Thursday afternoon, the Ticket Reader said, "Have A Nice Day" and I paused for a moment, unsure whether to laugh or cry.  It was not quite what was planned.  Now, I love being in ministry, and I am glad that I can be open to the working of the Spirit.  I say some of this to answer the camper’s question from Mission Camp who asked, “So what does a pastor do all week?”  Let me back up and start at the beginning.

We have been working for months to bring guests from our Sister Church in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, here for a visit.  Roman Brady and I have planned. We've been in contact with Alma and her sister Ninfa from Fuenta Da Vida Moravian Church.  They waited on the US Embassy for Visas.  We purchased Plane Tickets thanks to last Christmas Eve's offering to help foster relationships with Fuenta Da Vida.  We were FINALLY able to have Alma, her son Jordy, and Ninfa's son Fernando come for a visit.  They arrived in Winston-Salem Thursday a week ago.  They journeyed to Laurel Ridge for Senior High Camp this week, and then were to join us here in Raleigh for this weekend to visit. That is until my phone rang Monday morning at 8:50am. 

Roman called from Laurel Ridge to say they had just learned that Alma's brother had died unexpectedly Sunday night and they all needed to return home for the funeral.  So--I spent Monday and Tuesday on the phone with Delta Airlines and Roman trying to rearrange their flights to get them back in time for the Funeral.  (As a side note--Delta Airlines has been phenomenally helpful and kind throughout this whole process--Thank you Delta!!)

As I was talking to the reservationists for Delta, one was asking about Alma and her family.  I couldn't answer most of her questions and finally almost broke down in tears.  I said to her, "I don't know them yet.  I was supposed to spend the weekend with them and get to know them, but now we won't get to.  I am just so disappointed."  It was at that point that I believe the Holy Spirit invited us to have a gathering to honor our guests and take the opportunity, however brief, to get to know them.  The email blast went out, the Facebook invitation was sent, and the party was a GO.

So-we had 30 people at our house this Wednesday evening for an impromptu cookout to meet our friends.  It was a wonderful time!  I took a moment to look around and enjoy the opportunity to watch everyone talking, laughing, playing games, and sharing a meal together.  Everyone showed up with something in hand to contribute to the meal, and we had a feast!  There was so much food eaten, and so much food leftover.  I recall hearing someone say it was like loaves and fishes being multiplied before our very eyes.  Food, friends, and fellowship make a festive, holy combination. 

Thursday morning I brought Alma, Jordy, and Fernando by the church to show them Raleigh Moravian.  Fernando found pictures of his dad and grandmother on our bulletin board, and they named many of the people in the pictures from back home.  Then we hit Interstate 40 and headed to the RDU Airport.  It had been less than 24 hours since I met them when I stood and watched them head through security.  It was a bittersweet moment.  I felt incredibly glad to have met them and had the time that we shared together, and so sad they had to leave and not be here for worship this morning to get to see all of you!

I headed to my car and pulled up to the gate to leave the parking deck. "Have a nice day."  It flashed the message at me, and I paused.  I thought to myself, "Have a nice day?"  My new friends are mourning the loss of a family member.  It's not really a nice day for them.  My week hadn't gone like I planned at all.  It was not really a nice day for me either.  And Sunday isn't going to be a celebration with our friends from our sister church, but instead a time to remember them in prayer during their time of loss. 

 [Suzanne, Steve, Pennsy, Alma, Fernando and Jordy after the party]

Funerals have such a way of changing our plans.  The visit was holy in so many ways, and so wonderful, but it was NOT QUITE WHAT WE PLANNED!  That's when it hit me.  Maybe, just maybe God was helping us to celebrate Christmas throughout this entire week instead of just on Sunday morning. 

Could it be?  I suddenly found myself feeling like Mary in some strange way.  I doubt giving birth in a manger with the animals and overflow crowd gathered around was quite what she had planned.  Births and deaths have a way of changing our plans.  They make us reexamine our priorities and adjust our schedule to reflect the new circumstances.  Our realities are different.  Life is different now, and it wasn't what we had planned.

The more I have thought about Jesus' whole life, the more this week feels interwoven with Scripture.  So many different stories from the Bible include tales of plans changed, journeys re-routed, and lives forever altered.  Just looking at the beginning of Luke--we see the old couple, Elizabeth and Zechariah, told they are finally going to have a child [Luke 1].  This was an answered prayer, but not what they expected.  Mary and Joseph were engaged, but their wedding and life together took a sudden and unexpected turn when she was visited by an angel [Luke 1].  I seriously doubt this was what she planned as she looked through the latest Bridal catalog, visited the local Bridal Boutiques, and filled out their personalized stone tablet on The Nazareth Knot.com registry. 

I doubt the innkeeper planned for the crowds that showed up due to the census being taken [Luke 2].  He was probably surprised to receive the knock on the door by this sojourning couple.  I imagine Mary was clearly about to give birth, and he found himself offering the best hospitality to this young couple that he could given the circumstances.  At least they were in from the weather, had straw to keep warm, and a place to lay their heads.  He might have even called in a midwife or local woman to be there to help with the birth--that is if time allowed it.  Speaking of "If time allows"--A year ago today my youngest niece was born, but it certainly wasn't what her family had planned for her birth.  She arrived so quickly that they didn't even make it to the car to head to the hospital.  Thankfully 911 was only a call away, and the paramedics arrived in time to help cut Lexi's cord.  When we got the phone call, we called 2 other family members just to confirm the story!  Births often don't go as planned.  Mary and Joseph knew that very well.

As for the shepherds in the fields trying to stay awake and guard the sheep... they were startled to be surrounded with a host of angels that night [Luke 2].  Perhaps they were sitting there, rubbing their eyes, and nudging one another, just trying to see if what their eyes saw was really happening?  It wasn't the night they had planned.  That night should have been like the night before--sitting peacefully in a field listening to the crickets chirp and the sheep doze on the grass.  What a tale they had to share!! “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10b-12)

I know many of us have been looking forward to Christmas in July today, and I've had some great conversations about Christmas!  At the Blood Drive on Monday, Carolyn Watts shared a quote with me from a seven-year-old named Bobby.  He said, "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."  I think that's pretty profound.  Christmas is all about Love. 

[Pastors Craig and Suzanne with our Decorated Lovefeast Buns from Christmas 2009.]

I must confess I love Christmas music, candles, decorations, and all the merriment of the Christmas season.  I love A Charlie Brown Christmas playing on TV and decorating the tree.  I love Christmas Eve Lovefeasts and the expectation of what yummy treats will appear inside my Lovefeast bun this year. And right about now those cold temperatures would feel mighty nice.

This was my lovefeast bun from the 2nd Christmas Eve lovefeast last year!

But celebrating Christmas in July, or any time besides December, allows us to celebrate without all the societal expectations of shopping, overspending, often-uncomfortable company parties, and overbooked schedules.  It helps us, I believe, to focus on what is most important--the good news of a baby that was born to show God's love to the world in the most tangible ways possible.  The prophets had promised this baby for centuries, and yet he arrived in a way no one planned.  The Light of the World is here. "For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." [Isaiah 9:6 NRSV] 

At our potluck on Wednesday night, we had the opportunity to spend time together in a room soaking in the love that was being shared.  There was no wrapping paper or bows strewn across the floor... instead there were people whose plans had been changed in unexpected ways because of both a death and a birth.  A family member was being mourned, and yet in the midst of that sorrow, God's love shone in the darkness.

I must tell this one story from the potluck.  When I arrived home on Wednesday from picking up Alma, Jordy, and Fernando in Winston-Salem, I opened the fridge.  In there was a bowl of dessert that I knew I hadn't made.  I asked Steve where it had come from.  He said his co-worker had seen my posting on Facebook about the potluck, and just happened to have the ingredients at home to make this chocolate cherry dessert.  So she showed up at work on Wednesday with a dish for our party just to make sure we had enough food.  God's love shines in the darkness and in the sweetness of chocolate and cherries.

On this past Wednesday and today, and hopefully every day, we celebrate a feast of love and joy and share the Good News that death does not have the final word.  In fact, Jesus' death didn't end as planned either.  The sorrowful disciples found out their plans had changed in quite unexpected ways when their loved one walked through the wall and joined the party.  Jesus' whole life and ministry did not go as people expected, and Jesus came to show God's kingdom often happens in unexpected ways as well.  It's the small things, like a bowl of dessert, that often show us God's kingdom of love at work.

May the Good News of Christmas cause us all to pause and reflect on the birth of God-With-US--Emmanuel.  Christ the Lord.  We can and should celebrate every day that the Promised Messiah has arrived, most unexpectedly and not at all how we planned, and our lives are forever changed by God's gift of love. Amen. 

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