Making Choices

You know, life is all about making choices and our lessons really seem to point to that quite clearly today.  You probably make hundred’s of decisions everyday without really thinking about it.  To give you a few examples:  one of the choices you probably made was what to wear to church today.  Another might have been whether or not to eat breakfast.  You might have to decide where to go to eat after the service.

Some of the new choices we are faced with in today’s world are whether or not to get vaccinated and will you wear a mask.  Then there is the question of where do you feel safe to go - to church, to school, to the supermarket, to a rock concert?  Our grandson was exposed to COVID on the first day of school - the girl sitting in front of him tested positive for COVID.  

The movie theaters have reopened, but do you feel safe there?  What about flying?  We have tickets to fly to Kansas City for a Provincial meeting the first week in October.  In all the questions you have to decide if you feel safe in our Brave New World. 

For younger kids the choices might include whether to do your homework or watch TV or go play ball for an hour before dinner.  Older kids might have to decide whether to go to school or to skip for the day.  There are all kinds of choices out there.  There’s alcohol, drugs, tobacco,  promiscuity, or shoplifting.  There are all kinds of pitfalls waiting for us out there.  

Some of those choices should be governed by how we’ve decided to live our lives – if we’ve actually made that decision yet.  This is exactly what Joshua is talking about in our first lesson.  The Israelites are in the Promise Land and the conquest of Canaan is over – the land has been parceled out – and now the covenant with God is being renewed.  “Choose this day whom you will serve... as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  

They had a choice – they could worship and serve the gods their ancestors had in Egypt, the gods of the Amorites, or Yahweh.  And they make their decision – “We, too, will serve the Lord.  He brought us out of Egypt, he did great signs, and he protected us.”  They will worship God and try to live their lives in a way that is pleasing to God.

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We see a similar kind of dynamic working in the Gospel lesson.  We’re picking up the end of last week’s lesson.  Jesus is telling the people that he is the bread of life, and he came down from heaven, and the people are looking at him like he just landed from Jupiter.  “What are you talking about!”  

 

My first year in Huntsville, a man got a box and set it up on campus and started preaching to the students who passed by.  One of the students from St. Stephen’s heard him and called the church.  He didn’t like what the guy was saying - it didn’t make any sense to him.  And he wanted Fr. Jim and me to go up on campus and set this person straight and tell him what God was really like.  

Some of the followers were feeling the same way about Jesus himself.  They’re probably not much different from you and me.  Most of us come to the church searching for deeper meaning in life; something beyond our humdrum existence and our petty problems.  We’re looking for something bigger than we are.  We want a God who can rescue us when we’re in trouble; a God who can take care of the problems that we can’t solve.  We want a God who does not abandon us when the going gets tough; one who understands us; our emotions, our inadequacies, our sins - and who can love us and forgive us anyway.  And here is this man talking about eating his body and drinking his blood, so they made the decision not to follow him anymore.  

Now Jesus is sitting there with the original twelve and he asks them, “Do you want to leave also?”  Peter speaks for the twelve.  He replies, “Lord, where would we go?” --  You see, they've left their homes and families, their jobs and careers.  “You alone have the words of eternal life.”  No one else inspired them like Jesus did.  No one else made their hearts burn within them.  No one else spoke of heaven and life with that kind of authority.  No one else cared about what happened to them.  Why should they turn anywhere else.  

“You are the Holy One of God.”  Jesus had given them the faith they thought no longer existed.  He had renewed their hope for the future.  They understood that this man was different - there was a completeness they felt in his presence that they had never felt before.  You see, God draws us to Himself with longings that we can neither understand nor describe.  It is that spirit that the twelve are hanging on to.   

Words alone are never sufficient to describe our encounter with the divine.  They can never catch the essence or the emotional impact that God has on us.  That’s what the twelve were experiencing - an encounter with the Holy One of God.  And they trusted, that even though they could not fathom what Jesus was talking about, that God was going to work and to move and that one day, some way, they would understand.  

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The problem is that when you make that decision to follow Jesus, to walk in the ways of Yahweh, you might think that everything is going to be just fine and you’ll never have any problems again.  Actually, there are preachers who make a lot of money by preaching exactly that.  The truth is you’re still going to have problems and troubles, because we live in a broken world.

Remember that choice you have to make?  Not everyone chooses for God, not everyone chooses to do the right thing.  Making that choice is not always easy.  In our lesson from Paul, he talks about standing against the wiles of the devil, and the powers and principalities that come against us.  And he tells us how we can stand against all the assaults of this world.  

There are times and places that we actually feel like we are under assault.  When I used to teach 8^th grade math at a junior high school in Alvin, at one time it got the point that every time I walked into the building I would begin to feel oppressed.  I wasn’t the only teacher to feel that way.  Seemed like the other Christian teachers began to feel that way also.  We formed a group and met at the school early on a regular basis and prayed for the school, and gee, the oppression eventually went away.  Wonder of wonders!

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Back to Paul - he gives us a formula for standing up against opposition and oppression.  He tells us to be strong in the Lord and to pray at all times.  He tells us to be aware that things are going to happen to us that are going to try to draw us away from the Lord.  He says to put on the whole armor of God.  

Paul had been in prison when he wrote this and he had watched the soldiers put on their armor day after day and he thought of a way to use that to teach others how to do battle with these powers that seem to try to drag us down, and to be able to keep the faith.  He says, “dress yourself as a soldier dresses for battle.   Put on the belt of truth.”  You’ve heard the saying, ‘the truth shall set you free’ – if you keep the truth before you, around you, then you won’t be distracted by lies and distortions others tell you.  

Next, you put on the breastplate of righteousness – that’s the knowledge that you are of God, made in his image and you have chosen to follow Jesus and therefore or righteous before God.  And that doesn’t change regardless of anything you do or that happens to you.  

Third, you put on the shoes of peace, that wherever you walk you strive to bring peace, not strife.  It’s not just proclaiming the gospel of peace, but it’s conducting your life in such a way that you demonstrate peaceful ways of co-existing with those around you.

Fourth, you must take up the shield of faith, that piece of armor that catches the darts and arrows that the enemy throws at you to distract you from the task at hand or to throw you off the course you have set for yourself.

Next you put on the helmet of salvation.  Jesus Christ loved you so much that he gave his life for you – regardless of who you are or what you have done.  Once you have made that choice to follow Jesus, that salvation can never be taken away from you.    

And the last thing you do is take up the sword of the Spirit – which is the word of God – given to us as our only offensive weapon.  When you are not sure of what to say, fall back on the word of God – scripture is a great offense as well as a defense.  Use it carefully to inspire and attract those who do not know Christ to become seekers of God’s grace; to experience for themselves how the light of Jesus can redeem their life.  Use the word to draw others to God.

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Joshua says, “Choose today who you will serve.”  Not who you will “worship.”  Sitting in the pews to worship is for beginners.  You only get out of worship what you put into it.  That’s very true – not just with God, but with all your relationships.  You might say that you love someone, but if you never do anything that demonstrates that love, how long do you think they’re going to believe it?  When we make a commitment to God, we need remember that it includes service.  Choose today how you are going to serve the Lord.  Amen.

Where am I going?

For whatever reason, Sam has been singing the opening lines from Paint Your Wagon a lot lately, and it’s gotten stuck in my head. “Where am I going, I don’t know.  When will I get there, I ain’t certain, all I know is I am on my way.”  Do you ever feel like that?  Not sure where you are going or how you are going to get there?  Or even what to do once you do get there?

Sam and I had the pleasure of spending the past week down in Galveston with 20 other retired clergy couples.  There were also 7 members of the Church Pension Fund who led us through a series of talks, exercises and discussions designed to help us look at our life and our goals for living out our retirement and Christian vocation as couples.  The Credo conference that I attended in September did very similar things, but was focused only on clergy.  But this conference acknowledged that spouses are an important part of our life, planning and future.  

So in essence, this conference helped us address that burning question in Sam’s mind, “Where are we going...”. I think the disciples, after the death of Jesus had some of these same burning questions.  Where am I going?  What do I do next?  How do I get to my next assignment?  If you remember last week, after baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip was whisked away by the Holy Spirit and set down in Azotus.  But mostly the apostles had to walk where ever they went.  

In today’s lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, our focus is on Peter who is preaching to the household and friends of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion.  Peter is breaking a lot of rules just being in Cornelius’ home and preaching to these Gentiles.  Because the leaders considered this new sect to still be a part of the Jewish religion, they insisted that only Jews were acceptable in their movement.  They wanted to limit who could be included in God’s salvation.  But God had other ideas and He was beginning to spread his net over all people, not just Jews.  

So even though these are not circumcised believers, as Peter preached, the Holy Spirit fell on them all and they began to speak in tongues and extol God.  This is one of those examples where the disciples/apostles had to make an about-face and hurry to catch up with what God was doing in this place.  They not only had to accept the gentiles, but they realized that they also had to baptize them. 

When Peter got back to Jerusalem, he had to defend his decision before the counsel.  He had done at least four things that were wrong.  He stayed with Gentiles in their house.  He ate their food.  He preached to them.  And He had them baptized.  The church was not happy with Peter.

But Peter, even though he had broken the rules, knew that he had done what God wanted him to do.  And that was more important that any rule that had been imposed.  God’s will, not mine, be done.  So, what does that mean for us today?  It means when God leads the way into something new, whether we like it or not, whether we agree or not, we at least need to pay attention.  

The Gospel lesson tells us that we are to abide in God’s love – to obey the commandment is to love one another as God has loved us.  It also tells us that we are no longer servants, but friends.  That means something special - it has deepened the relationship between us and God – we are no longer slaves, but now are friends because the master has made known to us what he is doing in the world.  God is always navigating new pathways into our broken and torn world, and we sometimes have to run to keep up with what he is doing and the way he is reaching out to all people.  

His desire is that all should be saved.  In Chapter 2 of Acts, Peter preaches his first sermon and says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Not if they are good enough.  ..  Not if they believe exactly like us...  Not if they are without sin...  But if they call on the name of Jesus, then they shall be saved.  

Our two lessons from John both speak of love and abiding in the grace of the Lord. Jesus also says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.”  To many of us, in our humanity, question whether we are good enough to be chosen, but the truth is that we are all created in the image of God and he has chosen every single one of us.  All we have to do is answer his call to love, both God and one another.

And if we love him and choose to follow him, then we need to be prepared to go to uncomfortable places and live into the kind of love that he has for all creation.  When I started the journey with God, I told him, “If you open the door, I will step through it.”  That’s the way I’ve lived for the past 18 years.  Walking through open doors and trying not to look back when a door closes.  Following where God leads and very grateful that this last door he opened was right here at my home.

I’m not sure where I will go from here.  I have several short term plans for next month and Sam and I want to do some traveling.   Our collect says, “You have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding...”  We plan to continuing to follow the Lord, because he has already led us into more wonderful places and relationships than we could have imagined.  I plan to continue preaching the love of God to those who will listen and to seek his will for our lives.  I also plan to continue singing a new song to the Lord whenever and wherever I can. I know that God is going to be here with you after we leave and that he will make a way for us to return someday.  

I believe that God has great plans for Grace Church, but you need to be willing to step into whatever role God has for you in follow him.  What is your plan for following the Lord?  What doors are you willing to step through for the Lord?

Hallelujah! Christ is alive!

(Shuffle papers on the lecture. Look around frantically.)  Well, where is it? I know I left it right here on the lecture – and now it’s gone. Sam, did you move it?  Gary?  Janice?  Did either of you take it with you? I know I left it right here, and it obviously isn’t here now.)  How many of you have every lost something, and you know exactly where you left it – or at least are pretty sure where you left it? But when you go back looking for it, it’s gone, just disappeared?   I think most of us have had that experience – and probably more than once in our lifetime.  It happened to me on Friday when we got in to start the noon service - We have a tendency to live pretty fast lives and especially when we are in a hurry we forget things or lay things down without thinking about it.   

Well, around 30 AD people didn’t live lives as fast as we do today. At least I hope they didn’t. They didn’t have phones ringing in their ears (literally). They didn’t have baseball and TV and movies and theater and Nascar all vying for their attention – taking them away from church and family on Easter morning. Oh, wait; they didn’t have Easter morning either, did they? 

I’m told that many years ago, there were missionaries on a remote island who were teaching a group of natives about Jesus.  These natives had never heard the gospel story.  They were filled with joy and hope as they learned about Jesus, what he did and said.  Then came Good Friday and the missionaries told them about the arrest, trial and death of Jesus.  Not knowing the rest of the story, they went away with     heavy hearts at the devastating loss of this Jesus whom they had learned to love.  Then on Sunday morning they returned to the missionaries under the shadow of death and were (as Paul Harvey would say) told the rest of the story - the resurrection.  Their joy at learning of the resurrection of Jesus was unbounded.  They leapt for joy and danced around singing and rejoicing.  I think we’ve lost that kind of response to the resurrection story.  Yes, we are happy about it, but in a reserved way.  “Oh yes, Jesus died for us, and he was resurrected and that means we will have eternal life.”  Where’s the “Hallelujah!  Christ is alive!”?  

That first Easter morning was the day after the Passover according to John.  Jesus had been buried in a hurry – but they knew he was dead and they knew he was buried and they knew exactly where he was buried – and they had seen the stone rolled in front of the tomb.  So when Mary saw the stone rolled away, she was very confused.  She ran back to the disciples and told them that Jesus was gone.  Peter and John ran to the tomb.  John being younger reached the tomb first and looked in.  The scripture said that he believed – he believed that Jesus was gone. The scripture also says that they didn’t yet understand the scriptures.  Peter went inside to look around and John followed him in.  So being men, they simply decided there was nothing else they could do.  They may have believed that Jesus had risen and gone to the Father, but there was nothing more they could do.  So they let it go, and they went back home.  Not unusual for the disciples, they misinterpreted the meaning of the empty tomb. Since Jesus had risen and gone to the Father, they accepted that they would not see him again.  

Mary wasn’t quite in the same place emotionally as the men. This was something of a devastating loss for her. For many of us, it’s important to be able to go to the place where our loved one is buried. It allows us to feel close to that person – even when we know “they” aren’t there. Sitting by the graveside can become a place where we meet and speak with God about how much this person meant to us. It can be an acknowledgement that we’re going to miss them, that they were an important part of our life. Even though we know they are gone, it helps us to feel close.  

Mary had gone to weep, to mourn - to grieve in the only way she knew how - to be near Jesus even in death.  But now even that was denied her.  And she missed that opportunity to feel close – to grieve at the tomb where his body lay.  She stayed and not being able to accept that he was gone, she asked the gardener, “If you have carried him away, please tell me so that I may take him away.”  She wasn’t expecting to see Jesus – only his body, so when the person she thought was the gardener called her by name it surprised her, but she recognized the voice speaking her name.  

When we are terribly grieved; when we feel all alone; when we are lost and don’t know where to turn; it is then that the Lord speaks to us.  Through the pain and confusion, Jesus calls us by name.  And he says, “I am here.  I will sustain you.  Do not cling, but go and tell others that I live, that I will come to them also, in their hour of need.”  

The message we receive is that because Jesus has risen and has ascended to the Father, he has escaped the prison of this earthly life and is now available to anyone who need him.  There are stories of children who have never been to church, never heard the name of Jesus,` who in a time of great need meet and are sustained by Jesus.  When we feel the most lost, when we are the most hopeless, that is when Jesus comes to us, in our pain, and through our confusion.  He is there.  He is here!  He is risen.

You are called to continue the story – it is your turn to go out and to tell others that Jesus Christ has indeed risen from the dead.  Our presiding bishop, in his address from Jerusalem reminded us that “Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.”  I can face tomorrow!  You can face tomorrow!     Regardless of what tomorrow brings! 

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!

Cleaning house, Jesus style

Listen to the sermon.          

I was cleaning out the fridge this week, and found all sorts of moldy and rotten stuff that had been neglected for too long, and I thought, we really have to pay attention to things or everything goes to hell in a hand basket.  That’s why spring cleaning is so necessary - to get rid of all that ‘stuff’ that has accumulated over the year, or sometimes over the years plural.  

I’m reading a fluff of a book called “The Junkyard Man” and it centers around a hoarder who has collected so much stuff that you can’t even find a pathway through his house or his yard.  It sounds sad, but there are people who are like that.  I look around at our stuff and wonder if we are becoming hoarders.  I mean, I have 4 trumpets and multiple containers in 3 different locations for all of the crafts I have started or want to start.  It’s such a pain to go through all that stuff and decide what to keep and what needs to be thrown away.

And then you read today’s gospel lesson and there is Jesus, clearing out the temple from those who have turned it into a market place.  Oh, and maybe I need to clean house, too!  I believe more than anything Jesus is calling us to spiritual housecleaning.  That’s a lot of what Lent is all about - spiritual housecleaning.

When Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt, they were in need of spiritual cleansing also.  Moses almost wore himself out trying to be judge for the people who came to him for help.  So God made a way - rules to live by - rules to govern behavior - a covenant with the people of God.  “I am the Lord your God.  You will be my people.”  It is a covenant relationship based on mutual trust and respect.  God sets out in this covenant what he expects of his people based on his own standards of holiness.

In the first part of our service, we/I recited the summary of the Law.   When he was asked what the most important law was, Jesus replied, “The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is the only Lord.  Love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and all the prophets.”  (Mark 12:29-31)

And the lawyer asked him, “well, who is my neighbor?”  I learned a long time ago that communications depends on understanding and defining terms in the same way.  Two people can say the same thing, but if they define the terms differently, there is no communication.  The lawyer wanted to restrict who he could treat as himself, but Jesus busted it wide open when he indicated all people - even your hated enemy. 

Jesus brings the law down to two greatest commandments – this is the lens through which all interpretation is to be understood.  All 630 laws are to be interpreted in light of loving God and loving your neighbor and the 10 commandments.

The 10 commandments boiled down to two – love God – love your neighbor.  The first four commandments help you understand how to go about loving God – don’t have any other gods, don’t make idols out of anything, don’t misuse God's name, and remember to spend time with God especially on that 7th day when you rest from your labors.

The last 6 commandments help you understand a little bit about how to love your neighbor.  Honor your mother and father – don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet anything that belongs to another…  Jesus is saying that we should always treat others in such a way that we demonstrate our love of God through our actions toward others.  He even defined that elsewhere in scripture when he said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  As selfish human beings, we sometimes have a hard time with that.  Our human nature wants to look toward our own creature comforts first.

Too often, we see Jesus as this gentle person – soft-spoken and meek – and then we get today’s gospel reading and see him making a whip of cords, and overturning tables and yelling at people – and it shocks our sensibilities.  Jesus sees his father’s house being turned into a market place - the people have taken several of the laws regarding temple worship and figured out how to make a profit from it - changing the Roman coin for the temple coin for the temple tax, - providing animals for sell for the sacrifice, etc.

But Jesus is getting ready to totally overturn the system and offer himself as a sacrifice for all time.  Jesus, in reducing his commandments down to two, in rebelling at the temple system, is not doing anything new – not really.  Other prophets have said before that this system of sacrifice is not what God wants.  We read in Micah 6:8   

`He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?   To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 

If we consider that Jesus is prefiguring the end of the sacrificial system, and we look at the timeline, it was another 40 years before the destruction of the temple and the end of the sacrifices.  Jesus’ tirade didn’t really make any difference in the system at that time.  All it really did was irritate the authorities and flag Jesus as being someone to watch – as someone who could be a trouble maker.  And so the countdown began - to Good Friday and the ultimate sacrifice. 

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Ever since Ash Wednesday, Danny has been threatening to put up on the signboard outside, in place of the sermon title, a sign that says, “It’s Lent.  Give it up!”  I know he’s only half joking, but its catchy so I put it up on Facebook today just to see what kind of response it gets.  Quite often in Lent, rather than specifically giving something up, God gives me something personal to deal with.  One year it was to walk with a cousin through his emotional turmoil and to wrestle with my own beliefs.  Another year I had a broken arm, but it ended up being fun because my temporary cast was a deep purple for Lent.  Then I got the real cast on Good Friday.  I had that one done in white and on Easter Sunday all the kids in the church got to sign my cast with brightly colored markers.  Sam and I left on vacation the next day so I got to show off that cast all the way to Virginia and back.  We still have that cast.  

The reason I’m telling you this, is that God has once again given me something to wrestle with during Lent.  Some of you know that I have been going through a series of medical tests for the last month.  I was just notified on Friday that I do have breast cancer, but the good news is that it is stage zero - meaning that it has not spread beyond the duct it started in. 

And I want you to know that through this whole process, God has been so very gracious.  (And ladies, this was picked up on a routine mammogram in a very early stage, so I would encourage you all to keep current on your mammograms.) It had been 3 years since my last mammogram but when the time had come, God spurred me on to get the mammogram so that it was caught early.  At this stage it is both treatable and curable.  He has placed me in a church family here at Grace who have been very supportive and caring.  I know that God is walking with me every step of this journey and that He is as close to me as the air I breathe.

🎶You are the air I breathe,  You are the air I breathe,

Your very presence, living in me.🎵

I am in the very palm of God’s hand and pray that I may continue to be his witness in and to the world.  

Obviously, we are early in this process, so hopefully we will be able to meet with the oncologist this coming week and look at a plan of action.  I am told that treatment should begin within 6 weeks and will probably entail surgery and possibly radiation.  I guess you could say that God is in the process of cleaning my physical house/ my body.  So I am asking you to keep Sam and I in your prayers as we walk down this path, and I will keep all of you in my prayers. 

Amen.

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Follow that star.

Today we celebrate the Epiphany.  Twelve days after the birth of Jesus.  This is the third week that we have surrounded ourselves with narratives concerning the first month of Jesus’ life.  Today’s story concerns the coming of the Magi, the ‘Wise men’ or Sages who saw a star and left home and hearth to follow a dream.  We’ve been told all our lives that these were Gentile astrologers, and I’ve preached that in the past, but that is not the understanding given in my new study Bible.

It is the Jewish Study Bible, a Bible written by Jews for Jews, Messianic Jews - those who believe in and follow Yeshua Messiah, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior.  Many of the leaders of the Jewish leaders had been carried off to exile in Babylon around 600 BCE when Judah and the first temple fell to Nebuchadnezzar.  

Many years later (60-80), after the Persians had conquered the Babylonians, King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return home, but not all of them did.  Probably close to half remained in Babylon where they had become established with homes and jobs and families.  They were still Jews and they studied the Torah and worshiped Yahwah, the God of the Jews.  So according to my new Bible, these sages were members of the Jewish community established and led originally by Daniel in Babylon.

We celebrate the coming of these sages or Magi 12 days after the birth of Jesus.  We don’t know exactly when they came, but our scripture today says, “after Jesus was born...”  After, not when.  Tradition says it was 12 days later, but from scripture we know that it might have been as much as 2 years after his birth.  After all, it takes time to see the star, search and interpret scripture, prepare for a journey and then travel.

Many of you will remember that on Christmas Eve, I talked about the Son of God lying in a manger and those who heard and who cared enough to go out of their way to see this child.   These Magi saw the star and went out of their way to see this thing that the Lord had prepared.  500 miles out of their way - by donkey, or horse back, or camel, it doesn’t say.  It is estimated that it would have taken them any where from 25 to 50 days to travel one way.  They had to prepare and take their own supplies, there were very few inns or restaurants on this trip.  This was not a small undertaking.  

The important thing is that they saw this star and said “yes” to this journey.  Too many of us might consider this to be a fool’s journey.  Well, today’s gospel lesson is a prime example. Here we have a number of people – the gospel doesn’t tell us how many – tradition says 3, because there were three gifts. Anyway, the Magi are people maybe Jewish, maybe not, who have seen a sign in the sky, who go out of their way to discover what that means.  

But these wise men, sort of like university professors of today – single focused – continued on their journey until they came to the Christ child in a house (not a manger) and knelt down before him. They also brought him gifts – gold and frankincense and myrrh – gifts for a king. According to tradition the gifts had special significance – gold represented his deity and purity; frankincense represented the fragrance of his life, and myrrh represented his sacrifice and death. 

But the most important part of today’s lesson is the light – the Magi followed the light and we live in that light.  St. John tells us, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” The Magi followed that light and Herod tried to snuff it out, but it wouldn’t snuff. 

Our first lesson today says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” Jesus had come into the world.  And Jesus has come into our world, too. And the question is, what are we going to do about it?  These Magi said ‘yes’ to God, to following the star.  How can we as individual, and as a church, say ‘yes’ to God?

There is a study in improv where one person throws out an idea.  The next person must say, “yes” and add to that idea.  And this continues around the room with each person saying ‘yes, and...’  We can do that same thing here in church.  When someone comes up with a new idea, instead of shooting it down or listing reasons why not, say, ‘yes’ and think of ways you can help or expand on the idea.  One woman said when her church decided to have a health fair, she immediately thought, I’m not a doctor or nurse, how can I possibly help?  Then she remembered to say, “yes, and...” and she found ways she could be involved and help to make it a success.

Grace needs new ideas on how to expand our fellowship with one another to help us become a solid community in Christ. and to work together to reach out to others.  Several new ideas have been put forth that I believe are worth pursuing.  I would like to see Grace church begin to develop a closer community life through fellowship and working together on projects beyond the Fish Fry and the Pumpkin Patch.  What can each of us do to further a closer bond that brings people in and furthers the life of the parish?  As ideas are put forth, follow the example of the Magi by saying, “Yes, and ...” And find ways to help, expand or promote to begin to make Grace Church a thriving community of Christ’s love once again.  In 2018, as we call a new rector, prepare a place that is welcoming and alive.    

Amen

Are you ready?

When I was a student at Sam Houston University, a friend of mine named Nancy had a date with an Aggie.  Well, Nancy and her date came in early and so we found a fourth and played a game of Hearts.  Contrary to my normal performance at Hearts, I actually won that night.  Several days later, I got the card from A & M from this guy.  It said, "Someday your ship will come in."  You open it up and it continues, "And you'll be at the train station."  

Now most of you know that my name is Nan.   It's not Nancy, it's not Nanette, or any of the other possible variations.  Now, the problem was, this card was addressed to "Nancy Lewis."  So we never figured out if it was intended for me or for Nancy, but we both decided that he was the one who missed the boat.  He just didn’t pay attention – not unlike the five foolish bridesmaids in our gospel lesson today.  They just didn’t pay attention either.

You know, today’s gospel lesson could be compared to when a hurricane comes through.  Let’s say there were ten guys who bought new generators, but when the hurricane came along half of them realized too late that they forgot to buy extra gasoline to run them.”  So by the time they finally figure out that they need more gas than what’s left from when they tried it out, and they go to the station, the power’s already out and the pumps don’t work, and regardless of how sorry they are, or how much they are willing to pay, they can’t get the gasoline. 

Our five foolish maids came with that same mindset where they believed that all they needed was the lamp because this occasion would be just like all the other weddings they had been a part of.  It just never even crossed their mind that this time it might be different.  But it was different and they didn’t adapt to the change – they were unprepared for change.  And even when they began to get an inkling that this time might be different, they did nothing.  They could see that the others had brought extra oil – and now, with the groom’s delay, they had time to go get oil, but they still didn’t use this time for that purpose.  They waited until the end when the reality of the situation was unavoidable and then it was too late.

These were young women from the groom’s household who wait at some distance from the house to escort the groom and his new bride back to the house when he comes from collecting her from her father’s house – and according to one source, they not only light the way, but they also perform a welcome dance to honor the new bride who will be living among them.  

While these maids wait for the groom they grow drowsy and fall asleep.  Someone likened the five foolish maids to everyone’s worst nightmare…  Well, maybe not nightmare – but that common dream so many of us have – each our own versions – about not being prepared at the appropriate time.  My particular dream usually has to do with going to class to take a test – in my dream, not only have I not studied for the test, but I’ve never even attended the class and I’m not sure where it is.

These young ladies have participated in other weddings and they don’t expected this to be any different.  Like the foolish maids, we, too, may be resistant to change.  We often expect everything to stay the same – like there’s some kind of status quo that’s never going to change.  We do this in our personal life, in our professional life and even in our church life.  Maybe we have a good thing going, and we expect it to stay the same.  Then it doesn’t and like the five foolish maids, by the time we recognize that there is a problem, it’s too late to reverse the situation.  It’s like a wife (or husband) who doesn’t realize there’s a problem with their marriage until their spouse asks for a divorce.  Or like parents who overlook the signs of alcohol or drug abuse by their child until they are called by the police.  There could be any number of scenarios that we could imagine or name.  

Churches can be just as blasé about what is going on in their parish.  They can be just as resistant to change as individuals.  They like to see new people come in – but that causes discomfort if the new people are different.  One of the churches in our diocese decided that they needed some way to incorporate new people into their church family.  And sometimes it’s just too long to wait for the bishop to come, so they’ve come up with a service of “inclusion” – they call it the “Liturgy of Belonging.”  We have actually used this here in the past.  There is a little service after The Peace when a family has expressed a desire to become a part of the parish family.  Patterned somewhat after the Baptism service near the end, the priest turns to the congregation and asks:  

Will you welcome (name/s) into this family, embrace their gifts, their needs, and their dreams?  Will you recognize that their presence and participation will change the shape of the body and help it grow in new ways?  Will you support them in their journeys, and assist them in their ministries?

And the answer is:   Yes! Yes! Yes!

This is very intentional in the realization that when new people are added to a congregation, there will be change.  And it is very intentional in recognizing the need for new blood in the church and the change that will occur and the intention to accept that change.  I guess that you could consider it to be something like a marriage ceremony.

Like the maids in our story, maybe we’re waiting for something to happen in our lives.  The five wise maids anticipate a future that involves them and they want to be prepared.  We may be anticipating a change in our lives also.  We may be waiting for the birth of a child, or for a phone call that offers us a job…  maybe for our child to graduate from high school and leave for college...   news from the doctor’s office…  that special person to pledge to share our life with…  All these circumstances are going to create change in our lives.  We have to be prepared to face that change regardless of what it brings.  If we are not willing to grow and change, then we will stagnate and die.  

It reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: “all you have to do is suit up and show up and the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.”  Well, maybe sometimes that doesn’t quite get it.  You have to be accepting of whatever is going on, and willing to fulfill your part, whatever that might be.  But it’s about being prepared and ready to do your part.    

Notice that this is a wedding feast – not a funeral.  It is a joyous occasion – an occasion for celebration.  And also notice that the participants are not alone – even in the waiting.  When things go slow, when nothing appears to be happening – when you wait for the future to reveal itself to you – you are not alone.  There is always someone there with you – with similar questions or doubts or struggles – but ready to sit with you and share what is happening.  It is not unlike what is happening here at Grace.  We know that a new rector is long in coming, but knowing that the vestry is now receiving names and preparing to go out, even this month to visit and interview, we have to be prepared.  We also know that a new rector is going to change the dynamic of Grace, and we each have to be prepared for that change. 

This whole story is considered to be somewhat allegorical.  Scholars are very careful to point out that we are not to consider it a complete allegory.  The difference between the two groups of bridesmaids is said to be their faith preparation.  It takes faith to wait – faith to sustain us during the long night watches.  It takes faith and courage to change when that is needed.  It takes knowing and believing that when the Lord calls us to wait or to make changes in our life, that he will give us the strength and the tools to accomplish what needs to be done, or to survive the changes that are made.  We prepare our lives, our hearts and our minds so that when the Lord comes, we may go in with him, rejoicing and may feast at the table that he has set for us.  Are you ready for the changes that are coming?