A Midwife for Mary (Christmas Morning)

Written by Veronica Lassen (2005) 

read during worship at Plymouth Congregational Church in Helena Montana

Christmas Morning - December 25, 2016
(click here for the audio for this story)

Of course I gave him “the look”…you know the look. He’s a man and so often forgets the important parts. He’s a good man. I just give him the look to keep him on his toes.

Right now he was about to skip from this young woman being pregnant to a newborn appearing, as if it is that easy – men. Well I’ve something to add.

When I found out about the woman in labor in the stable I hurried out, found the stable boy (my grandson, a good, hard working boy) and sent him to fetch the Midwife. Turns out she was at another birth. It was up to me to attend this young mother. Luckily I’ve helped the midwife at many a birth, so I knew what to do.

A Shepherd’s Story (Christmas Eve)

a Christmas story written and told by Roger Lynn

December 24, 2016

(click here for the audio for this story)

My name is Jonas, son of Jesse, and I am a shepherd. My father was a shepherd, as was his father before him, and so have I been all my life. The life of a shepherd is sometimes lonely and mostly quiet, without much excitement. Usually the most exciting thing that happens is when a lion tries to get one of the sheep. Then things get pretty crazy for a while, but even then nothing you could call real, honest-to-goodness excitement. You know, the kind that makes a real difference in your life. But I want to tell you about one night, a long time ago, when I was only a boy. It’s funny how some things stay with you, but I can still remember that night as if it were only yesterday. 

The Freeing Power of God’s Love (Advent 4)

Isaiah 7: 14-16 & Matthew 1: 18-24

Roger Lynn

December 18, 2016

Fourth Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

In a time of political, social and spiritual turmoil and upheaval, the prophet Isaiah longs for the day when people will trust God and seek God’s guidance, rather than depending on the power of military might and political alliances. Isaiah’s vision is outrageous in its simplicity. He dreams of a time a young mother will be bold enough to trust in God’s presence so completely, to trust in God’s ongoing care so implicitly, to trust in the power of God’s love so totally, that she names her child “God is with us!” In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Isaiah proclaims this vision.

As he attempts to tell the story of what Jesus’ life and ministry was really all about, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew chooses to begin by drawing on Isaiah’s vision. The longing is the same. In Jesus, Matthew sees the fulfillment of Isaiah’s dream. We can get all caught up in discussions about biology, and whether or not the ‘virgin birth’ is literally true. Such debates have certainly occupied the time and attention of a great many people down through the years, and no doubt will continue to do so. And I remain convinced that when we stop there we pretty much miss the point. Matthew is trying to tell us something extraordinary about the profound meaning he finds revealed in the life of Jesus. Drawing on the hopes of Isaiah is one of the tools he uses to accomplish that task. All of the pieces of the story which Matthew tells work together to open us up to the reality that God’s love cannot be contained or understood by conventional wisdom or culturally accepted norms. However we understand Mary’s pregnancy, from the outside looking in it would have been nothing less than a scandal. And yet, Matthew describes it as the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Our Longing for Peace (Advent 2)

Isaiah 11: 1-10 & Matthew 3: 1-12

Roger Lynn

December 4, 2016

Second Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

On this second Sunday in the season of Advent, when the theme of the day is “Peace,” we recognize that deep within us there is a longing to live in a world which is shaped by peace. Not simply peace as the absence of conflict, but peace as the harmonious, interrelated connection of all that is. We look around at the brokenness, the pain, the violence which rises up at every turn, and we instinctively know that life was meant to be more than this. We see the suffering, we hear the cries for justice, we experience the divisions, and we want desperately for things to be different. In this season when “Peace on Earth” is proclaimed on everything from cards to banners to songs, the contrast between our longings and our reality can be stark and disheartening.

The writer of Isaiah 11 knew something about this longing. Life was hard. The Hebrew people living in Jerusalem were a people at war. Violence was everywhere. And Isaiah knew that such conditions did not represent God’s plan for humanity. He looks back with nostalgic eyes to the glory days of King David’s reign and longs for such days to come again. He dreams of a ruler who will rise up and bring God’s peace to bear in the midst of the turmoil of life. It is a sweeping, majestic vision of peace in which even seemingly natural enemies will find a way to co-exist in harmony. The vision ends with the amazing declaration which Isaiah boldly dares to speak on behalf of God – “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God...” (Isaiah 11:9)