From December 31, 2017
By Rev. Shawn Coons

A mountain climber, who had summited Mt. Everest multiple times, was once asked what the secret was to climbing the world’s tallest mountain. His response was, “The secret to climbing Mt. Everest is the same as climbing any mountain. One step at a time.” This reminded me of the old joke, “How do you eat an elephant?” And the answer, “One bite at a time.”

One bite at a time, one step at a time. I’ve been thinking about these bits of advice as we stand at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018.  I imagine looking into the coming year may be a lot like standing at the bottom of Mt. Everest.  Some people will look at it and gleefully exclaim that they can’t wait for what lies ahead of them. The coming year holds challenge and opportunities for new adventures and rising to new heights.

Other people may look at 2018 as one large uphill climb, full of potentially harsh and dangerous conditions. It’s not an adventure to be undertaken, but something that will need perseverance just to get over.

I don’t know which kind of person you are. I don’t know if you are looking forward to 2018 and what it will bring, or the coming new year fills you with a sense of unease for what lies ahead.  Either way, I hope to bring you a word of encouragement from scripture this morning, and that is simply to take the next year one step at a time, and that each step you take, God will be there with you.

This morning, we stand in an interesting place in the church year.  Last week, we celebrated Christmas, and we are now in the midst of the proverbial twelve days of Christmas. Today is the sixth day of Christmas, so hopefully your true love has six gees a laying waiting at home for you.  So we still have the Christmas decorations up here, we are still singing Christmas songs, but we are also moving forward. We acknowledge the season of Christmas and yet life continues. 

This is kind of the theme of our scripture lesson this morning. Things happen in their time and season, but life moves forward through it all.  So let’s listen to Ecclesiastes 3:1-13.

3For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 

9What gain have the workers from their toil? 10I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.

This is the Word of the Lord.

This may be a familiar scripture to you. If you are like me, it brings to mind the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds.

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

And if you are like me, that will be stuck in your head for the rest of the morning.

Often when people quote this scripture or make reference to it, it’s used at a time where things aren’t going well, where something bad has recently happened or is happening.  When someone dies, when an illness is diagnosed, a job lost, a relationship ended. “Everything has its season.”  It’s a way of trying to make sense why this bad thing has taken place. There must be a reason, it was appointed to happen eventually.  It can also be a way of stating that if bad things are happening now, because it’s their appointed time, then there will be a time, a season, where good things happen to. If there is a time to die, there is a time for birth, for new life as well.

But if we look closer at this passage, we will find out that that may not be what is meant here.  The author is not trying to say that there is a divine order to when good things and bad things happen.  It would be great, as we stand on the threshold between years, to look at God’s divine schedule and know which season we are about to enter. Are we entering the time to heal, to laugh, and to build, or should we prepare for the time of mourning and loss? But that’s not what’s going on here.

The author of Ecclesiastes is reflecting on life as he has known it in the past and present, not trying to predict what is in store for the future. The author is listing the good and the bad that has happened, but can make no sense of why it happens at a particular time or at all, and so he simply states that everything must have a time or season for happening eventually.

We don’t know who the author of Ecclesiastes is. The only clue we have to their identity is there self-given moniker, “Qoholet” which literally means “the gatherer” but is often translated as “teacher.”  Ecclesiastes falls into the category of Biblical writing that we call wisdom literature.  Later Jewish tradition says that the author was Solomon in his old age.

But in reality, we know nothing about the author other than what is supplied in the text. Scholars date Ecclesiastes to a time in Israel’s history when they had been divided and conquered. A time of turmoil and rapid change.  One commentator writes:

Qohelet and his audience live in a world of rapid political, social and economic change...It is a world full of inconveniences, inconsistencies, and contradictions. Nothing that mortals do or have is ultimately reliable -- not wealth, pleasure, wisdom, toil, or even life itself. People try to cope with the situation...in various ways. They worry. They are never satisfied. They are obsessed with discovering any formula that will bring success and happiness...They strive to gain an immortality of sorts through fame, progeny, wealth, or accomplishments. They try to gain some control, if not actually secure an advantage in life. Nothing works, however.

Sound familiar? It does to me. Or to quote another line from Ecclesiastes, “there is nothing new under the sun.”  Our lives are full of uncertainty. The world is full of uncertainty. Good things happen, bad things happen, and it can seem impossible to ascribe rhyme or reason to it. What does 2018 hold for us?  Who really knows?

Merry Christmas, eh? 

I’m not trying to bring us crashing down from our holiday high, but as we move through Christmas into the new year, I want to acknowledge that life can be challenging, and life can also be great, but through it all God is with us.  Ecclesiastes says that wealth, power, status, and health may be fleeting and fickle, but God is not.  There are good times and there are bad times, and they will come and go, but God will be by your side regardless.

In changing times, we are called the one who does not change.  The one who came to us, in the flesh, 2000 years ago.  When Jesus was born in the Middle East, when Jesus walked among us, laughed and cried, loved and hurt, when Jesus was arrested and killed and rose again.  We were given new life. We were shown a better way. We were brought into God’s kingdom, here on earth.

But Jesus’ coming didn’t end uncertainty in our lives. Jesus’ coming didn’t put an end to war, and death, and sadness, and mourning.  But we were shown the way to get through whatever lies ahead of us on our journey. One step at a time.

At the risk of giving you another ear worm, do you know the song Day by Day from Godspell?

Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day

Day by day is how we get through each day of the coming year, each day of our lives.  You may be familiar with various 12 step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. The basis of these groups are meetings that members attend to get support and accountability from one another to help them fight their addictions each day. There is a saying among these groups that the most important meeting you will ever attend is always the next one.

The most important day of the coming year is always the next one. And each day begins by trusting God anew.  This year, I’d like to invite you to make it a point of starting your day intentionally by trusting God.  There are a number of ways that people choose to do this.  Many people begin their morning with a reading from scripture or a simple prayer. Others choose a deliberate 5, 10, 15 minutes of quiet prayer and meditation.  I’d like to share with you one particular resource that many have found helpful. D365.org is a website that will email you each day with a short devotional that you can read anywhere that you can check your email. They also have an app that you can get for your phone.

So for your homework today, just think of one small thing you can do each day to connect to God. A time of prayer, reading a verse of Scripture, reading a printed out prayer by your toothbrush each morning. Just one thing.

From December 24, 2018
By Rev. Shawn Coons

Most people are familiar with “the Christmas story.”  The virgin Mary miraculously pregnant, Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem, staying in a manger to give birth to Jesus, angels, shepherds, wise men.

But there is a second story told alongside the Christmas story in the Bible.  And this is not a story of humble beginnings or unimportant people. It is Caesar’s story, and though it often quietly goes unnoticed by Christians at this time of year, for the Jewish people of Israel 2000 years ago the story of Caesar was loud and ever present.

Paul Bellan-Boyer writes about it this way:

“there is this little bitty baby...

If it were up to Caesar, you would never hear his story. Nothing in it is exalted. The poor travelers have no family, connections, or money to give them a place. They carry only a swollen belly of questionable paternity. The newborn’s cradle is gilded with leftover hay and livestock spittle. The witnesses to this glory are the least reputable characters around, shepherds who, filled with angel visions, abandon their flocks.

If it were up to Caesar, you would not dare to: think of responsibilities to any Lord other than Caesar; glorify any Lord other than Caesar; even hint at challenging Caesar’s authority.

If it were up to Caesar, the tables of the powerful would never be overturned. When Caesar hears a story like this, he knows only to crush it, to crucify it. Yet in the starlight of those Palestinian hills and in the candlelight of a midnight Mass, we can glimpse a new reality: where peace comes not from armies, but from justice; where sin withers in the face of truth; where mercy rules the arena of human society; and where love conquers fear.”

Where love conquers fear.  The story of Christmas is a story of love. The story of Caesar is a story of fear.  All Caesars rule by fear. Fear of danger, fear of people of different races or religions, fear of losing your privilege.  But as we heard Mark read a moment ago, love casts out fear.  And love came to us powerfully 2000 years ago to cast out fear once and for all.

For this morning’s gospel lesson, we are going to pick up the Christmas story right after the birth of Jesus.  When a host of angels visits a ragtag bunch of shepherds.  Pay attention to the first words the angels speak to the shepherds.

Luke 2:8-16

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

Layton Williams writes:

“Don’t be afraid.” That is always the first thing that comes out of an angel’s mouth. Don’t be afraid. Be ye not afraid. Do not fear. Fear not. However you translate it, angel voices always issue the holy invitation to lean into courage rather than to give into fear.

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God,” the angel Gabriel promised that young, engaged yet unmarried, peasant girl named Mary…In the Gospel of Matthew, the angel delivered that “do not be afraid” message to Joseph, as he dreamt…

The shepherds heard those words as well. There they were, minding their own business, watching their sheep, just doing their jobs when suddenly, brightness broke out all around them and angels appeared.

Don’t be afraid, an angel called. And then the angel told the shepherds of the birth. A birth that was to be good news of great joy for all the people. And the shepherds, like Mary, like Joseph, decided to lean into courage rather than to give into fear. They immediately took off to see what they would find. But again, the first words from holy mouths: Don’t be afraid.

It’s sometimes assumed that the angels are saying “don’t be afraid” because the presence of an angel, a divine and powerful messenger from God, is fear inducing.  That may or may not be the case, but I would suggest that Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds all had reason to be fearful before the angels ever came to them.

As Jewish people living in Israel in the first century, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds were all living under Roman occupation. They were living under the rule of Caesar. And Caesar ruled by power and fear. And this Christmas story is set in the shadow of Caesar, from the start, the author of Luke sets up two narratives, with two saviors.

In the first verse of chapter 2 we heard about a census declared by Emperor Augustus, when Quirinius was governor.  Caesar Augustus was the winner of the Roman civil war.  He was Octavian, the nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar.  Octavian formed an alliance with Mark Antony to rise to power.

Octavian and his ally, Mark Antony, had their inevitable falling out, and went to war against each other.  Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and ended the Roman Civil War.  Octavian--now Caesar Augustus--was given credit for ending thirteen years of chaos.  Many called him "the savior of the world." 

So when the angel’s came to the shepherds to announce that a savior is born, this is the author of Luke’s way of saying “Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not.”  And it is in this moment, when the angels come to the shepherds, that Jesus’ kingdom is being defined in contrast to Caesar’s.

The first people that are told of the birth of Jesus are not the important people mentioned in verse 1. No Emperors, or governors here.  Just shepherds.  And shepherds are kind of sketchy people in that day and age.  One commentator writes:

While shepherds could be romanticized (as was King David), they were usually ranked with ass drivers, tanners, sailors, butchers, camel drivers, and other despised occupations. Being away from home at night they were unable to protect their women, hence considered dishonorable. In addition, they often were considered thieves because they grazed their flocks on other people's property.

But they are the first recipients of the good news that a savior has come. A true savior.

Maybe they were chosen to receive the good news because they would be the most receptive?  Maybe it is those who are lowest and most despised who need a savior the most?  And maybe they are also the ones who need to hear “Don’t be afraid” the most as well.  Living on the margins of society, living in a vulnerable position, one day or loss away from losing it all. That puts a person in a constant state of stress and fear.  Never knowing if today is the day that what little you have gets taken from you.

But the shepherds respond in the best way possible.  They go with haste and joy to see the newborn Jesus, but notice what they do before they go. The Bible records them discussing what’s taken place with one another.  They decide as a group.  The first signs of the new kingdom show us that this is not a top-down system ruled by a Caesar, but a kingdom where all voices are heard and valued, and no one should be afraid.

Fear was a reality 2000 years ago, and it’s a reality for us today.  So much of what goes on around us seems to be driven by fear.  A quick check of today’s headlines gives us plenty to fear.  Powerful corporations taking away our choices, nuclear war, refugees and immigrants, other races, other religions, stagnant wages, crime on the streets, politicians run amok, global warming.

Even our own Christian faith is not a stranger to lifting up fear.  Leonard Sweet has said that too often religion spreads fear so that it can sell hope.  Have you ever seen a Christian street preacher?  The ones I have most often seen are the ones yelling loudly about sin, hell, and what happens to you if you don’t believe in Jesus.  They sometimes have signs with horrible things written on them in big blocky capital letters.  God hates this kind of person, or You will burn in hell.

That’s faith by fear.  Believe in God or else.  That’s a threat.

But that’s not what the Christmas story is about. Caesar’s story is about fear. Fear is the tool of those that oppose God.  Unfortunately, it works too often. It’s much easier to appeal to someone’s worst fears then their best aspirations.  But easier is not better.  And we believe in a God that chooses the best way and not the easy way.

The Christmas story is about love. The kind of love that casts out fear.   

So friends, despite whatever else we hear out there, as followers of Jesus, we are invited, called, challenged to be not afraid. To fear not. For we have seen the face of our God and know the incomprehensible depth of God’s love. May we all go from this time of worship, from this Christmas Eve, deciding to lean into courage rather than to give into fear, trusting that God is still at work in this world and even at work in and through us.

Just imagine what could happen in our lives and in this world if we all decided to heed the angels’ voices and to not be afraid anymore.

From December 10, 2017
by Rev. Shawn Coons

In just a few moments I’ll be reading part of the Christmas story from the book of Luke. We are familiar with the Christmas story and the various characters in it. We know the ensemble gathered around the nativity.  Of course, there’s Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.  The shepherds and the wise men.  An angel or two, as well as a couple sheep, a donkey or a cow.  I’m guessing you all have nativity sets at home with all of these present.

But there are other characters in the Christmas story that we often don’t remember, or that we leave behind by the time we get to the candlelight of Christmas Eve.  And I’m not talking about the extra characters you see in some nativity sets. For example, we have an advent calendar at home that has a different Christmas character for each day of December up until Christmas Eve.  24 different ones.  There are the ones mentioned above, but then they add a few more.  There’s one who is a bringing a pizza.  And then there’s also a bag piper.  So much for your silent night.

The passage that I am reading from Luke has none of the people (or animals) listed above.  Instead the only person speaking or acting in the passage is Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, and husband of Elizabeth.  John the Baptist is an important person in the Gospels. He is the one who comes before Jesus to prepare the way of the Lord.  Elizabeth is familiar from the passage before this one, where her relative Mary comes to her after receiving word of her miraculous pregnancy.  And when Mary and Elizabeth greet each other, it is recorded in poetic verse with memorable lines such as “Blessed are you among women!” and “My soul magnifies the Lord!”

But Zechariah doesn’t have as big of a role to play in the typical Christmas story, nonetheless if we skipped over his story and how the Spirit works through him, it is only to our loss.  In some ways, the story of Zechariah and Elisabeth seems more at home in the Old Testament.  When we are introduced to them we meet an older couple, their lives and ancestry rooted in the Jewish tradition and the Jewish priesthood.  And we hear this familiar theme, “ they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.”

Immediately, this will remind many of the story of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, who were well beyond child-bearing years with no children, until God came to them to being them the good news that Sarah was pregnant and would bear a son.  Elisabeth and Zechariah also received this news.  In both cases it was met with skepticism, and in Zechariah’s case his disbelief caused God’s messenger to strike Zechariah mute until his son was born and named.

The passage we will be reading this morning, Luke 1, beginning with verse 67, are the first words he says after regaining his speech. And it is a poetic verse on par with Mary and Elisabeth’s earlier verses.  First recounting the promises of God, and then naming God’s plans for his newborn son, John.

67Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: 68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. 69He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, 70as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 72Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, 73the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us74that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

“To guide our feet into the way of peace.”  Today is the second Sunday of Advent, and on this Sunday we focus on the Advent theme of peace.  In first century Israel, especially at the time of Jesus birth, the Jewish people were longing for peace.  They weren’t currently at war. The people of Israel wasn’t battling any other country at the time. But that’s because they had lost the war.

Israel was an occupied country. The Romans had long ago conquered Israel and their rule was law.  So when Zechariah speaks about God raising up a savior who would save Israel from their enemies. He meant the Romans. When he says that God will bring light and guide our feet into the way of peace. He is expecting a messiah he will bring about peace by fighting the Romans and throwing them out of Israel.  Zechariah, would have been a typical Jew of his time and recall the stories of Hebrew scripture where God was often on the battlefield with the armies of Israel. God led them in battle to defeat and conquer their enemies of old. Peace in Israel was brought about by the mighty hand of God against their enemies.

But we begin to see a clue that this isn’t what God has planned for Israel. Mary is not carrying in her womb a military messiah who will bring peace through might, but one who with the dawn from on high will bring about the tender mercy of God.  In Zechariah’s poetic passage he uses imagery and words from Isaiah chapter 42.  In this passage, there is a servant of God described. One who will be “a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind.”

A light to the nations.  Not the general of one nation. But a light to all nations.

For the people of Israel, and for us today, there is a monumental shift in how peace is achieved that becomes reality through the incarnation, through Jesus taking human form.  During this time of Advent, you may remember that we look to and prepare for Jesus’ coming, not just 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, but to when Jesus comes again, at the end of time to fully realize the Kingdom of God.

Sometimes when looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus we talk about the apocalypse, which is often described at times in the Bible with striking and almost violent imagery. Dark skies, the sun and moon turning red as blood, turmoil across the earth.  For many Christians, the apocalypse has come to serve as code for a cosmic and spiritual war to end all wars. It will be a battle where God will strike down and conquer any enemy of God and Christians throughout the world.

But does this sound like how Jesus would bring about peace?  Through violence, through war, through conquering? Does this sound like the Prince of Peace?  James Alison in his book Raising Abel suggests a different way of looking at the end of time when Jesus comes again.  He asks us to look at the second coming not as apocalyptic but as eschatological.  Eschato-whu? 

Eschatology is a fancy word for a how Christians talk about the end of time.  Not the end as in the finish, but the end as in the completion, the goal, the fulfillment.  When we talk about eschatology, it’s not about how the world will end, how the world as we know it will be destroyed.  We talk about how the world should end up, how the world should be when all is right and God’s purposes are achieved for all creation.

James Alison compares Apocalyptic vs. Eschatological:

Apocalypse is about a violent ending to the creation, a retribution by God against the tyrants, and the vindication of God's people. Behind this understanding of the completion of all things is a God who is a super version of ourselves. He will redeem and cleanse the world from its violence and evil, by using even more violence.

In apocalyptic thinking the hope is in God’s ultimate sacred violence [whereas in] eschatological thinking… the nonviolent God is rescuing us human beings from our own violence.

A key part of apocalyptic thinking is a dualistic us and them, good and evil mindset.  The sheep will be separated from the goats, and we inevitably think we can perceive the lines of that separation, despite long experience that we get it wrong.

When Zechariah spoke his words of prophecy about the coming savior who would rescue Israel from its enemies, he didn’t know what he was saying. Yes, Jesus would come to get rid of our enemies. But not by fighting them, but by loving them. Ghandi once said, “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.”  And Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying, “the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

But long before any of those were said, Jesus taught people to “love their enemies” and to “turn the other cheek.”  Jesus knew that true peace wasn’t achieved by destroying those opposed to you, but by loving them until they were no longer your enemy.  This was a powerful and strange message to those in Israel who were looking for God to take care of their enemies and give them what they had coming to them.

It’s a powerful and strange message to us today as well.  We live in a time and place, where too many people are looking to strike out against their enemies, where too many people are looking for enemies where there are none.  Some of our leaders have discovered that the quickest way to power is not to unite people, but to divide, to label this group or that group as the enemy. To look for those who are of a different faith or a different skin color, and turn their followers in anger against them.

Some leaders even claim to do this in the name of God and Christian faith.  But a true leader from God doesn’t look to make enemies out of neighbors, or create enemies for personal or political gain. A true leader from God seeks to create neighbors out of enemies, and to lead and live in such a way that enemies are not vanquished or conquered but loved until they are enemies no more.

It’s so easy to find an enemy and pray for that they get what’s coming to them, but that is not what we are called to, Christians.  In Matthew 25, we have a somewhat apocalyptic passage where Jesus comes back at the end of time to judge the nations based on how they treated those who were poor and in need.  And it can be easy to read it as a passage where God takes our enemies and gives them the punishment they deserve.  Jesus separates them like sheep and goats, the sheep, the good ones on one side going to eternal reward, and the goats on the other side, headed for eternal punishment.

But I want to read to you a continuation of this story, written by Andrew Prior. It’s not from the Bible, but it rings of truth to me, and maybe to you as well.

A great silence settled over the stockyards. Many among the sheep had expected to go to the other place. They had, after all, not lived well. But some small mercy on their part had them standing here kingdom bound. A few shifted uneasily. Some of that charity had only been to shut up and get rid of beggars on the street.

n the other yard, people who had worked long and hard, and sacrificed much for God gazed dully at the ground. It was so obvious now− how could they have not seen that doing the right thing while leaving someone unloved was an absolute contradiction of the kingdom?

A small lamb squeezed its way between the fence rails and limped into the middle of the goats. The king rumbled, "You! Lamb! What are you doing there?" The lamb quavered before the roar of the king."

You said you would draw all people to yourself." (John 12:32) The Great King said nothing. The lamb paled. "Blessed Paul said, 'One man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.'" (Romans 5:18) Still the King was silent. "He said, 'For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.' (Romans 11:32) And he said, 'all will be made alive in Christ.' (1 Corinthians 15:22) And he said− "

"Enough!" said the King. "What do you propose to do, little lamb?"

"I… I think I will stay with the goats, sir. They need someone to care for them."

And the King laughed a laugh of great joy. "Someone has understood! Someone has really loved! They have seen. The only judgement is love." And the King was gone, and all that remained was a Lamb standing among the people, goats and all.

Zechariah’s words call through the ages to us today, on the Sunday of Peace, in a world where peace seems far and enemies seem near: The dawn from on high will break upon us, 79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

And so we pray for peace, we pray for an end to our enemies, not to their end, but to the end where we are enemies no longer.

From December 3, 2017
by Rev. Shawn Coons

Everybody talks about New Year’s resolutions. But how many of you have ever heard of Christmas resolutions? Maybe you haven’t heard of them, but I’m willing to but you’ve made a Christmas resolution.

The video we just saw talked about “getting Christmas right” and Christmas resolutions are all about getting Christmas right. These resolutions aren’t made on Christmas necessarily, although they can be, they are usually made in the stressful moments of this season.

·         Next year – I’m getting all my shopping done in November!

·         Next year – we’re not going overboard with the presents.

·         I’m tired of sending Christmas cards out in January, I’m starting them in July next year!

·         We’re doing Christmas simpler next time.

·         Next year we’re putting our tree up before Christmas Eve.

·         Next year we’re taking our tree down before Easter.

Any of this sounding familiar?

I have my own personal resolutions each year regarding our Christmas lights outside. I really enjoy Christmas lights, both seeing them and having them on our hoe and in our yard. Over the years, I’ve bought white lights, blue lights, multi-colored lights, icicle lights, warm lights, cool lights, C5s, C9s. I’ve put them on the roof, on our trees, along the walk.

And each year, I wish I would have done something different. A different color, style, placement. I’m never quite satisfied.  Last year, I don’t think I put up any at all because I couldn’t figure out what would look best. I wanted the get it right.

There can be so much pressure to do Christmas right.  To meet the expectations of family, kids, parents, in-laws, distant family. To meet our own expectations of making Christmas meaningful and reflective.

How do we get Christmas right?

I’ve got good news for you this morning. I have the answer to that question. And it’s a pretty simple answer. We don’t have to get Christmas right. That’s not our job.  Our hope - and this is the first Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Hope - our hope is in the fact that we don’t have to get Christmas right, because God already has.

Advent and Christmas are not about what we do, but about what God has done and God will do. The simple fact is we aren’t going to get Christmas right. We are fallible human beings, living in a more than fallible world. At times our Christmases are going to be less than perfect. At times our lives are going to be less than perfect. At times our world is going to be less than perfect.

And Jesus didn’t come 2000 years ago to help us make the world better. Jesus came to make the world better, because we hadn’t done such a good job with that up until that point.

Our gospel lesson today is a prime example of that.  We are going to read form the 13th chapter of Mark. This section is sometimes called “the little apocalypse.”  Scholars believe the gospel of Mark was written in the latter part of the first century. When Roman persecution of Judaism was rampant and the Jewish Temple was destroyed by the Roman government.

So it should be no surprise to hear Jesus, in the gospel of Mark, speaking about turbulent times and how to get by in a less than perfect world.  Mark 13:24-37

24 ‘But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
   and the moon will not give its light, 
25 and the stars will be falling from heaven,
   and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 
26Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. 27Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

28 ‘From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he* is near, at the very gates. 30Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Beware, keep alert;* for you do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’ 

This is the Word of the Lord.

When we read apocalyptic passages like this one, it can be helpful to think of them as what one scholar calls, “crisis literature.”  There was something going on at the historical moments the passage was written, and the author and/or the author’s community had questions about the power and righteousness of God.

These words came at a time when the Christian and Jewish foundations were shattered, and their world was coming down around them.  The destruction of the Temple represented a catastrophe of divine presence and a violent break with the continuity with the past. The Temple was a center of religious life, but also political and economic life, too.

And it was destroyed.

It was to this community that Jesus’ words were addressed:

the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken

Now this may sound scary to us, but remember this would sound familiar to the 1st century Christians.  Jesus wasn’t describing something that might happen, he was describing what was happening.  This passage isn’t predicting turmoil in the world, it is acknowledging it. Not only, acknowledging it but then Jesus goes on to say, don’t worry because when your world is shaken that may be the moment when God comes back.

In the 21st century we think of apocalypse as a bad thing. apocalypse to us means the world as we know it coming to an end through nuclear war, zombies, aliens, or some other larger than life, Hollywood blockbuster scenario.  But to those first century Christians the apocalypse meant that God was right around the corner, ready to come on stage and save the day.

The scary apocalyptic events were already happening to them, so their hope was in looking for signs that God had not left the building. So when Jesus speaks of signs to come, and portents in the sky, the early Christians looked eagerly for those signs.  Because they were the announcement that God was coming.

If you are familiar with Batman, those signs were kind of like the Bat signal. If you saw it then you knew that Batman was probably not far behind.  This is why we don’t have to worry about making Christmas right.  Christmas is about God making the world right, making the world whole, making us whole.

Advent literally means coming, and it is the time when we not only look forward to Jesus coming to Bethlehem, but we look forward to Jesus coming again to make things whole and right.  So if this Christmas, things don’t go according to plan. It’s OK. If right now in your life, things aren’t going according to plan it’s OK. Right now, if your world is falling apart around you. It’s OK.

God is coming to make things right. God comes to make things whole.

There is a wonderful story about Russian composer Ignace Yan Paderewski. It seems one evening he was scheduled to perform at a great concert hall.  In the audience of black tuxedos and long evening gowns was a mother with her fidgety nine-year old son.  His mother brought him in hopes her boy would be encouraged to practice the piano if he could just hear the immortal Paderewski.  So, against his own wishes, he had come.

As she turned to talk with her friends, the boy slipped from her side, and without much notice from the sophisticated audience, the boy sat down at the stool, staring wide-eyed at the black and white keys, he put his small fingers upon the keyboard.  He began to play "Chopsticks."  The roar of the crowd was hushed by hundreds of frowning faces turned in his direction.  An angered audience began jeering at the boy, booing and hissing for him to be taken from the stage.

Backstage, the Paderewski overheard the sounds out front and quickly put together what was happening.  Hurriedly, he grabbed his coat and rushed toward the stage.  Without one word of announcement, he stooped over the boy, reached around both sides and began to improvise a counter melody to harmonize and enhance the tune.  As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear:  "Keep going.  Don't quit son.  Keep on playing.  Don't quit. I'm right here...don't quit!"

Advent is the time when we hear Jesus right behind us, whispering in our ear, “Keep going.  Don't quit. Keep on going.  I'm right here."