Repaint! Thinner!

Text: Mark 1:4-11

Focus: The Change that comes from Baptism

Function: To help people celebrate new life

Form: Expository

Intro:

Repaint! Thinner! Joke: Two men contracted to paint a small community church. Being very frugal (cheap), they pinched and scraped to spend the absolute minimum on materials. Then, when they were only partway through the job, they determined that they did not, after all, have enough paint to complete the job. Not wishing to spend any more money if they didn't absolutely have to, they decided they would just dilute the water-based paint they were using so that it would last longer. They did this a couple more times before they finished, which caused striping on the church as the paint got lighter each time it was thinned. The painters had just about gotten to the top of the steeple, when, all of a sudden, the sky darkened, and the rain started to pour down. As the paint streamed down the sides of the church, a voice boomed from the heavens: "Repaint, you thinners! Repaint, and thin no more!"

I got that joke at a web site called: Really bad jokes. It is indeed a groaner.

But it all begs the question that centers around this new to the Jewish people idea of baptism.

John the Baptist told the people, “turn away from your sins and be baptized.”

I attended one of the worship services at Common Spirit a month or so ago.

It was a celebration service of the baptism of two of their young women.

They told us of how they noticed change in their lives since they were baptized.

Then we all sat around and shared stories as we felt led, around our own baptism.

Mine, apparently, was not unique, but it was different than some.

I was blessed that it was my father, like probably many here, who performed the ordinance of baptism.

And I remember the experience that I felt coming out of the water. It looked to me like I could see angels flying around the sanctuary. I don't know what it was for sure, but there were these bright flashes of light that I seemed to see out of the corner of my eye.

They asked me to testify. And I remember telling the people celebrating with me that “it was like a ton of happiness fell on me.”

Sometimes I am reluctant to share that story because what happened to me does not happen very often.

For some, they know that they have what they have experienced as “Spirit baptism” and feel as if they have no need of the physical symbol. They even believe that it might cheapen.

A dear sister in the Lord of mine speaks of how much it was a conscious decision to put on the mantle of peace, justice and to never ever return evil for evil. And that choice has cost her.

And at the same time, she also was overwhelmed by a supernatural experience.

It happens for some, but it isn't the norm.

So what is the norm?

Let us look at the text. When John calls people, he has two phrases that he uses:

“Turn away from your sins...”

“...Be baptized.”

Starting with the first, turn away from your sins:

We have codified that phrase “turn away from your sins” into Christian lingo that may or may not mean anything.

We use the code word: repent.

Hence, the joke.

Repentance literally means turn around into a different direction.

This experience of baptism is about faith. Faith is about trusting Jesus, and not ourselves.

And so, the idea of repentance is very popular among the religious.

Because if Jesus is giving us the gift of eternal life, then there is nothing we can do to earn it.

But we really don't want something for nothing.

We really do feel like we need to earn it.

And so, with the idea of faith, we have something to do, some sort of work to do, in our faith.

And then we have to be very, very careful. Because, if it is now up to us with something to do, and the implication is something to do to earn it, it is no longer this gift of God.

Twice, Jesus used the word repent. In the sermon on the Mount, He said, “repent for the Kingdom of God is near.”

And we sort of covered that already, in one of my sermons, but I forget these things myself.

He is telling them, in context, to change their thinking about what God's kingdom really is.

He is telling them to change their thinking and to stop looking for a political, man-made Kingdom and to think in terms of the wishes and power if heaven.

The second time, He speaks about the unfortunate position of some criminals who endured torture for their crimes by the Romans.

And in context, He is speaking about doing evil.

Wicked acts that harm others.

My boilerplate definition of sin is this: “Anything that keeps us from loving each other, or loving God.”

When we think of sin, we must think of evil.

But if we think of sin in such a way that all we do is prove to God that we have repented, then we do not trust.

God knows our hearts.

God knows that we are not perfect.

God came to save us because we cannot be perfect.

Speaking of repentance was not Jesus' forte.

Throughout the gospels Jesus, again and again, speaks of believing. He speaks of trust.

He speaks of faith. He speaks of coming to Him for rest, restoration and healing.

And that is the good news of the Kingdom of heaven.

Focusing on the phrase of repentance, without focusing on faith does a disservice to the concept of grace in the fact that God is the power within us to set us free.

The second phrase of John is “be baptized.”

This is an entirely new practice to the Jewish people.

Imagine a prophet coming on to the scene today who speaks a convincing and powerful message.

And he institutes some new religious practice.

We might think he is crazy, or mixed up.

But although it is a new practice, it is not a new teaching.

Ezekiel speaks of it in Chapter 36:vs 25-27: ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.

God speaks of an heart change that is made possible by the work of God's Spirit inside of us.

We listen, God moves.

And baptism became a symbol of this cleansing, this washing, this removal.

At the Oakland COB in Greenville OH, as well as many other COB churches, there is the painting of a stream around the baptism pool. It symbolizes that the sins which have been washed away flow on down the river, or the drain.

It symbolizes what the Holy Spirit does when God changes our hearts.

My experience was one in which I felt the change happening.

I have shared the story of how when I was a young man, for a few years I turned my back on my faith.

I followed my own desires. I was going to get rich. I was in business and doing pretty well.

But at the same time, I hardened my heart toward others in order to live a selfish life.

And a form of prejudice came into my heart.

I didn't choose to be prejudice, I didn't have it before, though.

I think it was simply a spiritual manifestation of the evil that I was allowing.

And when I came back to God, as quickly as that prejudice had come, it left.

I remember, because I met a person of that genetic group in my church, and was immediately filled with a sense of compassion and love for that person.

I recognized it as the work of the Holy Spirit, softening my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh.

Baptism is the symbol of our willingness to let God transform us into citizens of God's kingdom, the Kingdom of peace and justice.

It is a dedication to a simple life that lives for the welfare of others as much as its own welfare.

It seeks blessing to the land, the people in the land and the entire world.

It moves us to great things.

And it moves us to great sacrifice.

Romans 6:3-4 says that those of us who have been baptized into Christ have been buried with him, to come alive to a new life lived for Christ.

That is how Brethren men, who refused to take up arms in War could give their lives to be emaciated in clinical trials, some of whom died, in order to help the allies liberate Nazi death camps.

They gave their lives for just cause.

And they did it because they died to selfish living and came alive to love everyone else as much as they love themselves.

So let me go back to the joke at the beginning.

Jesus condemned religious folks who used their religion to puff themselves up.

I realize that it is human nature, it is God given nature, to justify ourselves.

How can we love others as much as we love ourselves if we do not love ourselves.

God wants to heal us Spirit, Soul, Mind and body.

And His healing includes healthy self-worth.

But there were those whose hypocrisy was evident to Christ Jesus and He accused them of being: “whitewashed tombs.”

A thin coat of paint is placed on it to mask the death that is inside.

So, in an healthy way, every now and then I ask myself: Am I changes, or just repainted?

God's Selfie

Text: John 1:1, 10-18

Focus: Jesus is God's snapshot of Himself

Function: to focus on how Jesus keeps us together instead of separates us.

Form: Lecture, story telling

Intro:

After a while, you will probably figure out that there are a few people who are my muses, a few people who have had significant influence in my theological journey.

Of the classics, I love reading Kierkegaard, Boenhoeffer, and C.S. Lewis. Of the more contemporary authors, Tony Compolo, Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, N.T. Wright, Donald Miller, Shane Claybourne and a blogger named Byron Flynderson are among my favorites.

But there is one person who doesn't write. I consider him to be more of a Prophet than an author. And he is unique to the Church of the Brethren. He is an artist and he has served as NYC speaker, evangelist, COB Moderator and pastor for years. His name is Paul Grout.

Most of you know him or have heard of him.

And he said something that I considered profound during an insight session at the 2001 Annual Conference in Baltimore Maryland.

He was speaking about our Brethren heritage of being “people of the Book.”

He was speaking of the Bible.

And he was talking about how Christians have let the Bible cause us to divide and we have fought over meanings and interpretations.

And if you have ever heard him speak, he uses a lot of gestures, his sermons are visual pantomimes or actual works of art.

He used an issue that I have never heard us argue over, but it made a good illustration. He said, for example the debate over creationism verses evolution.

One side can point to these passages in Genesis and say (pick up bible and point to the passage) “see hear! See it! It is as plain as the nose on your face! There are 6 days listed.”

And the other side can say: “Look, before the first day of creation listed in Genesis the text clearly says: “the heavens and the earth existed.” “The earth could have been billions of years old before that time...”

“And, the argument can ensue...

“Instead, both sides should take the book, the passage, hold it to their breasts and say, as an act of worship, to the living God: `wow! God, you are awesome! What a treasure you have given to us for us to begin to try and understand You!'”

And there are a lot of ways that we look at the bible.

My fundamental Nazarene nephew reminds me that the Bible is not a science book and was never intended to be one.

Some of us take it that every word is God breathed by the Holy Spirit and that even though we see different styles, and competing precepts by different authors, somehow, miraculously, God superintended each and every word and therefore it is without error.

Some hold to the original documents to have been led by God's Spirit, but acknowledge that there are minor differences in the transcription of the documents, hence the debate among English Speaking more fundamental believers as to the King James Version versus more modern English translations.

Some believe that it is a collection of stories of people who were trying to explain their own concept of God, and the ideas were very good, so the Church canonized them into the Holy Scriptures.

But all of us -all of us- find meaning, find personal challenge, growth and spirituality, through these words. All of us are sincere in our belief.

Without the scriptures, we would not have a good concept of who Jesus is.

God has given us this gift of scripture that we might behold God.

And John goes on to tell us in this passage that not only did God give us scripture, in this case, the Old Testament, to see God, but God gave us a snapshot of Himself when God became man and walked among us a Jesus, the Christ.

These concepts, these phrases from today's text: “The Word was in the beginning..., ..the Word became flesh and walked among us” explain the mystery of God's purpose in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

And, the text says, in seeing Jesus, we see God.

Now, let us get a little bit esoteric for a minute.

I know I do better preaching when I tell stories.

I know that when I do a sort of lecture to explain things, or try to explain things, people's eyes sort of glaze over and I lose the crowd pretty quickly.

So stay with me for just a few minutes. Please.

This is a little bit of the history of belief in God.

The universe appears to be infinite.

We are taught at a young age that if we shine a laser out into space that the beam of light will never stop traveling if it never hits anything. The end of that beam of light would go on infinitely.

We understand the concept of infinity. We understand that it must exist. But since it has no real end, we cannot prove it. However, it is really the only logical answer.

And we understand that we are finite beings.

It is sort of wonderful that we can understand and believe in a concept, but we can't prove it.

If I am losing you, tell me. Stop me, raise your hand and ask me to clarify it.

We perceive infinity, but we cannot measure it.

There really cannot be an end to the universe because what would be at the end, but more of the same?

We understand the concept of infinity, but by its very nature, we cannot quantify, or measure it.

And we also believe that God is infinite.

God's name: “I Am that I Am” is a description of God's infinite nature. God has no beginning or no end. God's explanation to John was “the one who was, who is, and who is to come.”

Infinite.

That may seem impossible, but something has to have been infinite with no beginning point.

When I was young and trying to defend the faith in the era of science and reason someone asked me where God came from. If I said “His Father” then they could ask where that Father came from and you could go back infinitely.

Somewhere, somehow, something has to be eternal.

Scientists can sort of come up with a beginning, they think it is about 13.8 billion years old. But what existed before that? There is still an infinite amount of time before that.

Scientists point to a big bang that started from a quark and they have postulated that it might, or will, return to that point and start the cycle over again. But that does not explain where that original quark came from.

Something has always existed. It is either God, or matter.

I postulate that it takes as more faith to believe that nothing created itself than to believe in God, the creator.

But I digress.

Here is the point of this passage, to me.

God, being infinite wants to have a relationship with us, humankind, but we are finite.

God wants us to know and understand God.

So God, sent a finite portion of Himself to us, in the form of Jesus, the Nazarene so that we can see what parts of God are the most important to God for us to understand.

And let me shore that idea up from the original Greek words used in this passage.

In the beginning was the Word, the Greek word used there is “Logos.”

The word Logos, in this concept can probably best be described as “the words that explain.”

We use it a lot.

For example: the name for the field of study, Theology, is the mixture two Greek words: Theos, the Greek Word for God, and Logos, the Greek word for “word” or “words.”

Hence, Theology is “the words of God.”

Psychology is “the words of the psyche, human mind.”

Biology is the words of bios, life. And etc.

The understanding of, the explanation of, or in very recent terms, the selfie of God.

Jesus is the snapshot of God, given to humanity, God's own self-revelation of God's own self, given to us so that we can understand God.

God's own explanation of God's own self became flesh.

Now, let me re-read verses 14-18 to repeat the process of understanding Scripture that Paul Grout expressed, so that we too can read it and go “wow!”

¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

From Jesus we all receive Grace upon grace.

Law, and from later readings in the New Testament, we read “death” came from the OT, but grace and truth comes from Jesus, the Messiah.

Hearts Laid Bare

Text: Luke 2:22-38

Focus: Jesus' Mission

Function: To help us see that following Jesus confronts and changes our principles.

Form: Storytelling

Intro:

A little over 300 years ago, Alexander Mack and 7 other people were baptized in the Eder River.

Their baptism was seen as an act of treason by the authorities since The Church Territorial Concept forced people to be baptized into whatever faith the count of the County held.

It was a compromise that took place after the reformation was in full force. It was designed to keep people from fighting over which church, or religion, was the best.

Alexander Mack and his cohorts had a heart change. It seemed to them that the only reference to baptism in the New Testament happened to adults who could choose for themselves. It seemed to them that Jesus statements about non-resistance were just as important as the rest of the creed. It seemed to them that Churches had grown into political institutions and therefore, they had become corrupted.

And so, they started studying the Bible for themselves. Which was also an illegal act and out of that the Church of the Brethren was born.

I love our history.

I do not want to imply that it is the only valid one, or that we are the only valid Church. But these people, men and women of equal standing, decided to buck the status quo of their culture in order to be faithful to what they believed in their hearts.

They were called radicals. Back then, it did not hold the negative connotation that it holds today. Today, that term has changed meaning somewhat because of radical Islam.

My next door neighbor is a beautiful elderly Jewish woman. She attended Bear Creek COB with us once, and we attended her Temple with her.

Believe it or not, a hurricane hit Southern Ohio. A Freak storm. The neighbors across the street are Brethren too. Well, it seems that half the neighborhood is Brethren. And the ones across the street invited Kathy, I, my mom, and our neighbor, Charlotte out somewhere else where the tall trees wouldn’t threaten our houses and our lives.

During that meal, our neighbor included us in a discussion of what she called “sincere Christians.”

I like that term better than “radical,” or “fanatic.” Sincere Christians.

But that is what this scripture is about. God will prove the hearts of His followers for their good.

But dealing with the Living God is not always easy:

Mary and Joseph were amazed, by Simeon's words. And so, Simeon says to this to Mary: ^34b-35“This child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against ³⁵and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart.”

Listen to these phrases from Simeon's warning to the parents:

“Destruction and Salvation.... ...Sorrow will pierce your heart... ...people will speak against this sign from God...” and “...reveal secret thoughts.”

God's process for getting into our hearts.

I guess I can understand the Radical nature of the early Brethren.

What they saw was a dis-connect between the teachings of Jesus and the practices of the Church.

Hmmm.

It appears that they were opposed to religion, or a form of religion that they believed merely went through motions and didn't focus on actions.

In essence, we all are.

And yet, the more I meet other believers, the wider and broader the size of God's Church becomes, the less apt I am to ever criticize the sincerity of another.

So who, are the ones who will speak against Jesus as a sign from God?

Who are the ones destined for destruction?

I do not know. Neither do I understand these words of this prophet.

And never will I be the one who ever tries to make that judgment.

Instead, I think of myself: Sincere Christians.

Being sincere.

I think one of most profound Christmas Eve messages I ever heard was at the big Downtown Methodist Church in Lancaster, PA.

I got to know the preacher, because he and I performed the marriage of my daughter to her husband.

My Daughter's husband's family comes from old money.

And the Church does a good job ministering to people who come from lots of money.

Her mother in law has one of those voices that should be in the Opera.

We loved the 11:00 PM service. Her Mother in law sang, the music was beautiful, the decorations were incredibly opulent.

And I do not envy that pastor his job. We joked about it once. He had a picture, a comic picture from the New Yorker Magazine framed on his desk.

The Picture showed a couple in incredible opulence. She is wearing a full length mink coat, she has diamond studded opera glasses in her hand. The Husband is wearing a Tuxedo and a top hat. And, this is sort of “casual dress.” Well, it was their Sunday dress.

The couple is standing on the steps of a big huge Cathedral, presumably in New York City. And the caption is her speaking. She says: “It is amazing how he preaches that, without offending us.”

And this preacher was in a similar circumstance. His parishioners had to have seen that cartoon. But they loved him.

And his message was really good. The whole theme of it was this, a good Brethren bumper sticker: “God bless the whole world, no exceptions.”

It is a contrast to the circumstances that Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, Simeon and Anna were in.

Simeon prophecies how this Baby will be the savior of the world.

So, I get the Salvation of many, but I don't get the destruction of many.

I understand it unless I see it from Simeon's perspective.

Waiting, the text says, for Israel to be saved.

I suppose that inherent in this idea is understanding that for Israel to be saved, then the nation that was enslaving them had to lose its power.

And, I suppose the prophet understood that people just don't voluntarily lay down that kind of power for the good of others: Hence: “The destruction of many.”

So instead, I love the idea of that sermon in that Methodist Church: “God bless the whole world, no exceptions.”

None. Bless them all.

Perhaps Simeon is still at the level of thinking that the Messiah is going to be either a political, or a military leader who will throw off this yoke of oppression.

I wonder if that part of the prophecy is merely Simeon's hope in his understanding of what the Messiah will do.

But Look at the two other statements.

To Mary, he says: “A sword of sorrow will pierce your heart.”

And, this Baby will expose the secrets of everyone's hearts.

God knows our hearts.

God reveals to us, our own hearts.

And those who live honestly with God, those sincere believers that my neighbor mentioned, are the ones who are saved by listening and letting God change their hearts.

Perhaps the ones who are destined to destruction are those who either ignore the prompts in their hearts, or lie to themselves.

Again, God does that judging, not me.

I have enough to deal with in my own heart.

Simeon seems to have a glimpse of the mystery of who Jesus was.

Jesus came to save the world.

And it wasn't just from its sins.

Jesus came to foment the prophecy from Isaiah that “the lion and the lamb will lay down together and a little child shall lead them.”

Jesus came to bring about God's kingdom.

The whole picture was this: God was in the world reconciling the world to God and to others.”

And when I see those two phrases: “pierce my heart” and “have the secrets of my heart exposed” I realize the power and the work of the Holy Spirit to help me see myself as one whom God can use in spite of who I am and what I have done, or because of who I am and what I have done.

Sharing the Wonder, Christmas Eve Devotional

Intro: Christmas Eve Worship is one of the highlights of my entire year.

The music, the participation, the time taken to honor God and just say thanks. The fact that we have a time to gather in the midst of a very busy season to just stop and embrace the wonder of Jesus birth reminds me of the wonder of my own salvation.

Perhaps one of the most significant Christmas Eve Worship Services that I ever experienced happened outside of the Church building.

The congregation I pastored while my Children were in their younger formative years did not have a regular service.

So, we always made a fine meal. We dressed up. We got out the China and the crystal.

And after the meal was over, it was everyone's job to help clean up the kitchen.

The sooner it got done, the quicker we got to the presents.

Kathy and I just couldn't wait. So presents were opened Christmas eve.

One year, just as we were finishing the dishes, and the excitement in the kids was growing, a knock came to the back door of the house.

The parsonage was 100 yards from the off Ramp on I-69. Across the interstate was a Stuckey's Gas Station. They always closed at 6:00.

Two young men were stranded in a broken down car.

Their families lived an hour away.

I let them use the phone, they called for a ride and we waited, and waited, and waited for their ride to come.

Imagine the living room of the house with 4 children who have patiently endured the fancy dinner, cleaned the dishes without complaint, distributed the presents into groups per individual recipient and then were forced to wait for over an hour.

All four Children will tell you that this was the most meaningful Christmas to them.

The wonder of excitement to Children is in the presents.

The wonder of excitement of parents is the delight of the Children.

And I think, that the wonder of excitement for God is in hope that Christmas engenders in a broken world.

Love's Memory is Long

Text: Luke 1:26-38, 2 Samuel 7:1-11

Focus: Love (Advent 4)

Function: To help people understand the love of God for us.

Form: Storytelling/

Intro:

Sometimes in the scriptures, we read of conflicts that happened between different people.

Some of those conflicts were born out of human greed. But at other times, those conflicts were born out of competing passions about the things that are important to God.

Paul, who wrote most of the doctrine of the NT, was not unfamiliar with conflict. Sometimes, Paul was right, and sometimes he was wrong.

Paul was a Pharisee. He was raised in an extremely legalistic and conservative environment.

His first, after conversion conflict was with Peter.

Peter's upbringing was also conservative, but since he was merely a fisherman, he did not have the benefit of the education that Paul had.

Both of these men grew in their faith. Peter, was rash, quick to action and in some ways, perhaps a little bit bull-headed.

And they came to a conflict. Peter was back and forth between the importance of the letter of the law. And he vacillated. When he was with Paul, the letter of the law was not so important.

When he was with the followers of the Apostle James, men who still regarded the letter of the law as very important. Peter switched back to what I would describe as the security of black and white rules.

And Paul publicly called Peter out about his two minded approach. Peter, grew in his faith. And a conflict between the two men was averted.

That doesn't mean that Paul was perfect. He too, was a little bit bullheaded.

John Mark, the author of the gospel of Mark, was a traveling companion with Paul and Barnabas.

But he was young, and on their first trip, he got homesick and abandoned his fellows.

Barnabas was known for his ability to encourage people. Barnabas is sort of my hero in this because of the way that he always made exception for people's weaknesses.

So, when Paul and Barnabas got ready to revisit the cites they worked in, they had a disagreement over taking John Mark.

Barnabas was quick to forgive. Paul was not so quick.

And, many theologians that God used the difference to separate the men and double the work.

Other's see it as the fact that even though we are forgiven, even though the Holy Spirit is in us and that Spirit is working with our conscience to do the right thing, sometimes we ignore God's prodding and do our own thing.

They divided.

And later on, near the end of Paul's life, we read how Paul repented of his unforgiveness toward John Mark and requests his presence back with him.

Love's memory is long.

His memory of John Mark was not of the disappointment, but of his value.

I love that story because I think of the times in my own life when I have been separated from others.

And I think of the way that God continues to work inside my own heart to forgo my pride and forgive. Or, to forgo my pride and repent.

As time goes on, instead of remembering the pain, or the loss, we remember the love and the beauty of the image of God inside others.

God heals us through love. And memories remind us to love others.

God's Love, God's promise, is long.

And that is sort of the beauty of the promise made to King David from the 1^st text we read this morning.

He is promised by God that someday the Messiah will be born from his bloodline.

And if you are Jewish, the hope of being the parent to the Messiah is one of the greatest hopes they could have.

God loves everyone. Everyone. There are no exceptions. God loves the greatest and the weakest. In my spiritual journey the last few years, I have had to remind myself that God loves both the oppressed and the oppressor.

That is hard for me to handle because inside all of us is a longing for Justice and a sense of mercy toward the oppressed. Isn't that why we come to worship?

God loves everyone.

But David responded to that love.

David was not afraid to say back to God: “I love you! Thank You! Praise You!”

And God made this promise to David. God said: “David is a man whose heart is after mine!”

God rejoices when we too take up His cause of justice.

As a matter of fact, it is the job that God has left the Church on the face of the earth to accomplish.

And so, 1,000 years later, God fulfills that promise to David.

But more than that, David was born around 1,000 years after Abraham. And God made the same promise to Abraham. For Abraham, it is now 2,000 years later.

I think about that.

Both David and Abraham are dead.

In our thinking, we say to ourselves, what good is a promise, what good is a hope, what good is an inheritance, if we die before it is given?

But God is not only the God of the living, God is also God of the dead.

Jesus told the Jewish leaders that their Ancestor, their Father, Abraham still held on to the promise of Jesus' coming.

God's promise, God's love is long. God remembers to keep God's promises.

I used to always consider the incarnation of Jesus to be this miracle of God's expression that,as we sing in O Holy Night: “To our weaknesses, no stranger, He knows our need...”

I always pictured the beauty of knowing that God has firsthand knowledge of humanities sufferings. And therefore, God can heal our pains.

But that just limits God.

It is much more.

I can't relate, but I admit I am a little bit jealous that I never got to feel life building inside of me.

Jesus, God, knows the intimacy of perfect protection as He heard Mary's gentle voice and sensed her heart beating.

Jesus, God, knows the intimacy of nursing at the breast and feeling that incredible bond that a mother and a child have.

Jesus, we surmise, experienced firsthand the wonder of human creation as he worked along side of his earthly father in Joseph's wood shop.

Jesus enjoyed the childhood innocence of playing games with other children.

I remember when I was finally old enough to see over the counter top in the kitchen as my mother was baking.

Then, she always made some extra pie dough for my twin brother and I to bake cinnamon-butter-brown sugar delights in a muffin pan.

God Himself experienced human love, and suffering firsthand in the incarnation.

Christmas season reminds me just how much God loves humanity.

And, when I think of the suffering aspect. When I think of the beauty of the baby's birth, and the terror and suffering of the cross, knowing that God experienced firsthand the Yin and the Yang of it all, I go back to the first Sunday of Advent. The Sunday of Hope.

Because of Love, the 4^th Sunday, we can hope.

To me. Hope is the biggest message of Advent. I am glad we start with it.

It does not minimize peace, because that is our mission as Christians.

It does not minimize joy, because that seems to be the expression of peace.

But hope is what we count on.

And Hope is proven in God's love.

We long for the day, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when black men are no longer afraid to walk down the streets of our cities.

We long for the day when the world embraces our ideal that everyone is our neighbor and we cannot justify ourselves by excluding some because of the color of their skin, or where they were born.

With hope, we long for the day when true justice rules. With hope, we work for the day when true love binds the hearts of everyone.

And we do it because even though it took 1,000 years for David, 2,000 years for Abraham. God will not forget. God's love is long.

So, as we celebrate Christmas and enjoy the beauty of human love, connection and family, we also remember the mission and the purpose of the Incarnation.

And we too, pick up that mission.

AMEN?