Unto You Is Born This Day . . . A Heavenly Perspective (a Christmas Story)

This story was told as a part of the Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship . . .

(click here for the audio for this story)

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Preparations had been underway for months, and the moment had finally arrived. Well, that’s not exactly right. You see, time is a human construct, so what happens here in heaven falls outside of the normal understanding of time. Did I mention that I’m an angel? Maybe I forgot that part. Sorry. I get ahead of myself sometimes. Let me start again. My name is Khanan-el and I am an angel. You’ve probably never heard of me. I’m not one of the famous names, like Michael or Gabriel. They’re the ones who usually get the big spotlight gigs. I’m just a part of the choir – the “heavenly host” is how some people refer to us. It doesn’t really matter that you didn’t know my name before now. We all have a part to play and when each of us shows up and gives it our best, the results are really quite amazing, whether you recognize me or not. But I’m here now and I want to tell you about something that happened a long time ago (well, at least it was a long time ago from your perspective – from where I sit it was like it was yesterday – or maybe more like it’s still happening and always will be – this time versus eternity stuff is hard to keep track of sometimes). 

Anyway, as I started to say, plans and preparations had been made and the time had arrived for them to unfold and become manifest in the world. My boss (I think the name you know is “God”) is always working on sharing love with the world in new ways that you humans will recognize. (Did I mention that my name, Khanan-el, means the Love of God? I’ve always liked that.) So, God was working on sharing love in a powerful new way because you humans always seem to get distracted and confused about such things. Gabriel had been sent to let a couple of them in on the plan. A lovely young woman named Mary was going to have a baby and God wanted her to know how incredibly special that baby was, so Gabriel was dispatched to deliver the good news. Then Mary’s partner, a really good guy named Joseph, got pretty freaked out by the whole thing and needed to be reassured that everything was going to be OK. So Gabriel took care of that as well. 

The Power of Love’s Weakness (Advent 4)

Luke 2: 1-7

Roger Lynn

December 22, 2019

4th Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Deeply ingrained in the very core of our being is a strong desire for God to come into our lives and into our world and put right what has gone wrong, to fix what seems to be broken. We see this desire acted out in a wide variety of ways down through history and, indeed, in our own experience. But the foundational longing remains the same. It is this desire which underlies the ancient Hebrew expectation of the Messiah. And it is this desire which we express in our observance of Advent. We look urgently for Emmanuel, God With Us, because we desperately need to be healed of our wounds and we know that only God is powerful enough to accomplish such a miracle. So all through Advent we watch and we wait and we prepare to receive again the powerful love of our God who is Emmanuel, revealed in Jesus Christ. 

But in our almost frantic grasping for the power of God to save us, we sometimes fail to notice (or perhaps choose to overlook because it is not at all what we want to find) that God’s power is unlike any power we might expect or hope for. In fact, God seems almost to delight in presenting us with anti-powerful examples of how God works. God’s ultimate triumph comes with the daring risk of losing it all. God’s love is offered to us not in power, but in weakness. Ann Weems gives expression to this theme in her poem, “Unexpected.” 

Watching & Waiting for Unexpected Joy (Advent 3)

Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 1:47-55 & Matthew 11:2-11

December 15, 2019

3rd Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

In this Advent season of watching and waiting, preparing and anticipating, it is helpful to remember who the waiting is for. Christmas has become such a cultural experience, and we are so bombarded by reminders beginning even before Halloween, that it is easy to think of Advent as simply four weeks to get ready for parties and gifts and Santa Claus. And even if we manage to keep our attention focused on Jesus as the real reason for the season, what we quite often find ourselves looking for is the baby born in Bethlehem. We sing carols like “Away in the Manger” and “What Child Is This?”, and we set up nativity scenes with mangers and infants, and we think we have it covered. And there is nothing at all wrong with thinking about the baby Jesus. The miracle of God’s incarnation as Emmanuel, God with Us, begins with that humble birth in a stable. But if we stop there, if our watching and waiting fails to anticipate the rest of the story, then we will have missed most of the power of what God is doing among us. And it is easy to miss, because it is not always what we expect to find, and it is not always even what we want to find. As Ann Weems reminds us, “Our God will be where God will be, with no constraints, no predictability.” 

Last week we met John the Baptist preaching a message of repentance and preparing the way of the Lord. He announced that there would be One coming after him who was more powerful than he could ever be. If anyone qualifies as an Advent role model for watching and waiting and preparing, it is John. Surely he knew who he was waiting for! But then we encounter him again in today’s reading from Matthew, only this time it is at the end of his life and we find him asking Jesus an unexpected question. “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:3) How can this be the same John who called the religious leaders a bunch of snakes because they weren’t taking God’s message to heart? How can this be the same John who only reluctantly baptized Jesus, because he didn’t think he was worthy even to tie his sandals? When he was watching and waiting he was filled with such confidence and certainty, and then when faced with the very embodiment of his anticipation he finds only doubt and uncertainty. Where is the message of faith in that?

Actively Anticipating Peace (Advent 2)

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

Roger Lynn

December 8, 2019

2nd Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

The musical “Godspell” is a modern re-telling of the story of Jesus Christ. In the opening scene, John the Baptist comes walking across the Brooklyn Bridge pushing a cart filled with his belongings. He is dressed in marked contrast to all those who are caught up in the hustle and hurry of the city. And he calls folks to slow down and discover another way of life. The sound of a ram’s horn can be heard echoing through the steel and concrete canyon walls which form the streets and alleys of that place. And then he begins to sing. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord...” And the people respond. Not a lot of people. And the one’s who do are not entirely sure what they are responding to. But they come. They stop what they are doing and they come.

That same call is still echoing down the canyons of our lives. We are still invited to prepare the way of the Lord – both in our lives and in the world. God is always and forever present in our world in amazing and remarkable ways, but we cannot simply sit back and wait for that presence to come to us. The season of Advent reminds us that faith is about waiting and watching for God’s activity in our world. It is about anticipating the coming of Christ into our lives in ever new and ever fresh ways. But as we were reminded last week, we must stay awake or we will miss it. Our anticipation must be active or we will not be prepared to receive the gift which God is offering.

Creatively Waiting in Hope (Advent 1)

Isaiah 2:1-5 & Matthew 24:36-44

Roger Lynn

December 1, 2019

1st Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

As we enter this season of Advent we are reminded once again that the life of faith is a journey. As people of faith we are sojourners – folks who are on a journey with both traveling companions and those whom we encounter along the way. And we need to remember that the journey itself is at least as important as the destination. Advent is a time for us to renew our identity as a wayfaring people who are on a life-long journey following the God whom we find revealed in Jesus Christ. 

One of the things about journeying is that you can never be quite certain where you will end up or how you will get there. It is impossible to predict ahead of time every conceivable situation, circumstance, blessing, or calamity which might come to pass along the way. There is simply no way to predict when the memorable or life changing moments will occur. Nor would I would want to, even if I could. The important thing to remember about journeying is to be prepared and have a good guide. And that is ultimately the lesson of Advent. It is about waiting and watching and being prepared, because we cannot know what lies ahead. But it is also about anticipation and looking ahead with hope, because the One who calls us forth on the journey can be trusted. It is not about knowing, it is about trusting.