Behold: Luke 2:8-19

Luke 2:8-19 (NRSV)

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. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 

I was at a Bible Study recently where someone told me about an article they read that said that, despite what we say, Jesus is not the reason for the season.

Hmmm...I'll bet not many of us would agree to that on first hearing.

But the article made a strong case, said my friend.

The reason for the season, according to the author, was us.

For us, God stepped down into a smelly barn to be born in poverty as a refugee among animals and strangers.

God came for the world - including for the least likely. For the broken. For the hurting. For the poor and disenfranchised.

And to announce this coming, God's messengers went to a group of outcasts: shepherds.

And the first worshippers after the shepherds were not kings, though that is what we have called them.

They were magicians. Men from another place and faith. Gentiles.

Outsiders.

All of these strangers came to behold the Christ child.

Who came for us.

God is always reaching out and claiming us. Calling us, searching for us. 

Loving us.

The reason for the season is that unfathomable love. That everlasting, uncompromising, all-encompassing love.

So this Christmas, look. See. Behold.

This day is for you. For you God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Merry Christmas! And may the peace of Christmas gladden your hearts always.

Come, Lord Jesus! Amen

Behold: Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1-7 (NRSV)

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Part of beholding - seeing - is looking at the truth of yourself.

Seeing where you are.

Who you are.

Who you really are.

Living, breathing, being in this moment.

Right now.

Mary and Joseph were confronted with a reality in the delivery of their son in a way that undoubtedly they didn't expect or hope for.

Yet the truth was that through faith they were able to live into that reality.

They knew God was with them.

Emmanuel.

God with us.

God meets us where we are. 

God loves who we are.

May God live and move and breathe into your reality this Christmas Season. Whatever your hopes and expectations this year, may God help you to navigate them even when they aren't met.

And may the joy of the truth of this Christmas bring you life and light. 

God of truth, be with me in each moment this Christmas that I may see you clearly and love you dearly. Amen

Behold: Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 7:14(KJV)

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

It's the King James version for today. This week, the word is "behold..."

LOOK!

And the KJV is the place where we find it. It's probably the version we are most familiar with from our childhood.

Behold.

Look.

See what God is doing.

Take a look in the manger. See the young man and woman - strangers in a far away place.

Refugees seeking shelter in a barn. Or cave.

Alone perhaps. Or maybe a kind stranger stops to help them in their hour of need.

Behold their fear. Their hope.

God with us.

Emmanuel.

Is this where you would expect him? Is this where you would look for the virgin to give birth to God with us?

What does it mean to us to really look?

To truly see.

To behold that which we never, ever could have predicted or expected.

Lord open my eyes to see what you would have me see. Amen.

Rejoice: Luke 1:46-48

Luke 1:46-48(NRSV)

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

And so we rejoice with Mary.

We rejoice with her in her lowliness.

We rejoice that her blessing will be found in serving her God and that that blessing continues to us today and for generations to come.

We rejoice that pride is not God's way.

We rejoice that the powerful will not always hold sway over the lowly and God's heart extends to all.

We rejoice that the hungry are not meant to be hungry.

We rejoice that being rich is not the way of salvation.

We rejoice that God's mercy is vast and wide.

2000 years later, the way of the Empire is still not God's way. And yet it is still the way we are confronted with every day. The way we see in our news and on TV and in debates and in politics.

So with Mary we may rejoice that God's abundance and promise and mercy extend beyond our limited notions. We rejoice that God's creativity and grace extends to a Kin-dom where the table is wide and full and robust.

Lord, may my soul magnify your great mercy and love. Amen.

Rejoice: Matthew 7:7-8

Matthew 7:7-8 (NRSV)

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Don't just ask...

Rejoice because everyone who asks receives and everyone who searches finds.

Really?

Yes. Really.

This text can be viewed any of ways. It can be seen as a gift.

Or, a curse.

Because, we have to wonder, what happens if we don't get what we ask for? What happens if we don't find what we are searching for?

Why rejoice then?

It's important I think as we wait this Advent to remember that the gift we are waiting for - that babe in a manger - was not the gift we expected.

The King was not a soldier. Or a power-broker.

The King was vulnerable and small.

So God reminds us to always be asking. Always be searching.

Because in the journey itself we find more than we were looking for to begin with. On their album, the Joshua Tree, U2 sang lyrics that are well known now: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

Yet in that same song, Bono admits "I have climbed the highest mountains, I have run through the fields, only to be with you."

That in the end is the gift. And sometimes, we don't even realize we were looking for it until our life is changed.

Lord, I believe in the Kingdom Come,then all the colors will bleed into one..Bleed into one. But yes, I'm still running.* And you alone can find me and bring me home. Amen.

* Lyrics by CLAYTON, ADAM / EVANS, DAVE / HEWSON, PAUL DAVID / MULLEN, LARRY / REINA, VICTOR

Published by
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Rejoice: Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1-8 (NRSV)

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Among other things, we can rejoice because we have a God who just might get tired of our constant nagging! :-)

OK, that's a little harsh. There are real issues in the world that we pray for. Issues that we should pray always for in fact, as Jesus points out.

And yet, how often do we get tired of waiting to see the results of our prayers?

How often to we wonder if God is listening?

How often to we look around and bemoan that things just aren't right.

Make no bones about it. In those times, we are praying.

And we are being heard.

This time of year it is easy to perhaps confuse God with Santa Clause, and see our prayers as Santa's list.

Yet justice is the primary gift that God offers us this season.

Justice and Mercy.

Justice and Mercy and Salvation.

Justice and Mercy and Salvation.

And Love.

And as we pray constantly for those things ourselves, we are swept up in God's grand plan for the world. We become part of God's Kin-dom on earth.

If a dishonest judge eventually caves because of nagging, how much more will the Ground of All Being reach out and give us reason to rejoice for being part of the great plan of love for this world?

How much more will God give us cause to rejoice?

Lord let me lips and my heart be in constant prayer. Amen.

Rejoice: Philippians 4:4-5

Philippians 4:4-5 (NRSV)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

We're at the homestretch of Advent.

And so rejoice.

The Lord is near.

Do you ever think about that?

About the Lord being near?

And that being a cause to rejoice?

As Advent draws toward its closing, and we have both "watched" and "prepared," it is now time to rejoice.

It's what you do when you feel in the air that good news is coming!

When change - needed change - is coming.

Rejoice in the Lord always seems perhaps sometimes hard to do. There are times, perhaps, when it feels too dark to do so.

Times when it seems like terror is winning.

Crime is succeeding.

Violence is having its way.

And yet still that is what our Lord desires from us.

Rejoicing.

And perhaps when we do, we will see the truth that is fully holding sway. 

I rejoice in you Oh Lord! Remind me always - even in fear - that you have the eternal reign over this world. Amen

Prepare: Luke 1:8-17

Luke 1:8-17 (NRSV)

Once when (Zechariah) was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The beginning of the story of John the Baptist - he who comes to prepare - begins before his birth. Even before John was a twinkle in his father's eye, the world was being made ready.

First to be made ready is his father Zechariah. Zechariah was a priest, and in his old age. He and his wife, Elizabeth, had no children, so life was most likely fairly regulated for him. He knew when his priestly duties were, and he knew how to do them. 

He wasn't prepared himself then for what would happen next and fear took hold of him.

And so how does the angel begin to prepare him?

"Do not be afraid" is the most common admonition of messengers of God. 

And always - ALWAYS - following "Do not be afraid" is a charge to do something. Do not be afraid is the way to be prepared for everything that God will send next.

In this season of Advent, "do not be afraid" seems to be more appropriate as a word of preparation than ever. Fear seems to be prevailing wherever we turn.

Fear of refugees fleeing torment and persecution and death.

Fear of a whole religious group.

Fear that makes us cling to weapons and see violence as a viable alternative.

Fear that makes us see our neighbor as an enemy.

But our God says to us just as the angel says to Zechariah: "Do not fear."

To prepare for our God we are charged to live in faith and love and courage.

Not fear.

Not violence.

Not separation.

Fear takes an awful lot of space in the heart. Instead, says the angel, hearts will be turned. Rended and torn in two so that they can make room for the Lord. 

What fears are taking up space in your heart this season for you? Time to sweep them aside so that love can come.

Love come and banish fear away. Amen.

Prepare: Joel 2:12-13

Joel 2:12-13(NRSV)

Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
    rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
    and relents from punishing.

To rend something is to tear or rip it apart in two. Often, in mourning, Hebrew people would tear their garments in two in their grief.

So to prepare for our coming Lord, rather than tearing apart our clothing, God seeks our hearts to be torn in two.

To be opened up.

Ripped apart from those things that keep us from God.

Do you remember what it is like to have your heart broken? It isn't normally something we seek or long for to happen.

Yet the breaking of our hearts makes us softer and more vulnerable. 

It creates space for something new to happen inside of us.

Through us.

To us.

What is it that breaks your heart today?

Whatever it is, can that breaking apart lead to a breaking in by God?

Create in me a new heart, Oh God! One that is ripe for your arrival! Amen 

Prepare: Micah 6:6-8

Micah 6:6-8(NRSV)

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

Think back to the biggest dinner party you ever hosted. Or maybe the time you had a very special guest.

You wanted everything to be perfect probably, am I right?

You cleaned. You cooked. You decorated. 

And if you are like me, your house looked like it never, ever does the rest of the time!

For some people, the word "preparation" conjures up a level of stress that involves twisting ourselves into knots to make everything just so.

So the idea of our God coming???

Well, you don't get a bigger or more important guest than that.

The Hebrew people, like many of us, wanted to make sure they had everything just so when they were in the Lord's presence. 

Things just had to be perfect.

And yet, what is it that the Holy One wanted?

Not the best offerings.

Not our firstborn.

Not even the best china or finest wine or cleanest house.

Instead our God wanted us to turn to our neighbor with kindness and seek justice for them.

And then turn back to God to walk alongside that same God in humility.

That's it.

Love God. 

Love neighbor.

As we prepare for the coming of this same God in the most humble way possible, can our hearts burn with justice, kindness, and humility so that we can be ready for the Kingdom to come on earth?

Prepare my heart Lord, not for my idea of perfection, but instead for your idea of perfect love. Amen

Prepare: Isaiah 40:2-4

Isaiah 40:1-4(NRSV)

Comfort, O comfort my people,

    says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and cry to her
that she has served her term,
    that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.

No image is more indelible to the season of Advent than John the Baptist. The prophet is heralded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke by words from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah: words that are as familiar as John himself.

For the Hebrew people, the passage from Isaiah spoke of hope and promise. After all they have been through - all they have lost - God promises them comfort and a new life.

So as John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness, how much a reminder must it have been that God was active in the world, seeking to comfort and heal and make new.

This Advent season, perhaps more than others in my near memory, the need for God to come into our midst is palpable. The news has been rife with violence - mass shootings, acts of terror, people forced to flee from their homes - and with division, both political and religious.

Yet in the midst of our wilderness, we are called to prepare for God's coming. We are called to prepare despite how dark things may seem.

We are called to prepare because of how dark things may seem.

Violence, anger, division will have their time, but they will not have their way in finality. 

Instead both the prophets Isaiah and John tell us that the Lord is going to be doing something new.

So get ready!

Lord, in the midst of this season of darkness, prepare my heart for your coming. Amen.