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Christmas Journey, Christmas Eve, December 24, 2016

12/24/2016

A Chinese saying reminds us: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Tonight our ancient story reminds us that we are on a journey. It is said that 45% are traveling during the December holidays; from across town to across the country to be with loved ones.

It is good for us to remember that the story of Jesus’ birth is all about journey. People are on the move. Mary hurries to the hill country home of her kinswoman, Elizabeth. Then as Mary’s pregnancy advances, she and Joseph must journey to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the taxation laws of Rome. Then the shepherds go to Bethlehem see what this thing is that the angel hosts have proclaimed. The prize for the most “frequent travelers” miles goes to the wise men, traveling a long distance from the east.

Why all this going to and fro? Couldn’t God have sent Jesus to a nice, safe house, where Mary could relax, take care of the baby, entertain guests with all their ooos and ahhhs over their firstborn little boy? And what about Joseph; how was a man going to earn a living if he has to take months off the job? What where Joseph and Mary to think of their visitors – on one hand, there’s the poorest of the poor, shepherds – unclean, smelly, uneducated who pop over from the nearby field – then there are these exotic, learned men – foreigners also considered outside the Jewish law -- traveled a great distance at the behest of a star. All have the same goal. A journey to worship the holy one, the son of God.

      It’s a reminder to us: in this life, we are on a journey. We are called forth. For some of us the journey is instantaneous. Faith is there, palpable and we fall on our knees and it’s a thousand miles in a second. For others, the journey is longer. We must leave behind the comforts of the familiar, travel new roads, the miles measured in months, years before we encounter this Holy Child. From wherever we are, we are called forth. Love is about change. There’s not a new mother or father I know, all these years, whose lives weren’t turned upside down, sideways by their little buddle of joy. Anyone of us who has fallen in love will tell of the desire to do better for the person they love. There isn’t a person of conscience I’ve met who hasn’t demanded change in the face of injustice.

    Love is like that. Love is the journey we are on, both inward and outward. Love calls us, in angel voices, in dreams, in a newborn’s cry, and we are wired to respond. From the island of Selfishness to join the land of generous giving. From a place of isolation to caring community (notice it just wasn’t one wise man or one shepherd ) the journey of love requires company. That’s why we tell so many parts of the Christmas story. We need to hear it all. All the ways love journeys around us.

        We are on a journey tonight. We’ve taken a step. We’ve came here for a reason. Not just to hear beautiful music. To sing, To hear scriptures. To light candles. Actually some of us have come tired, lonely, maybe with some doubt. No matter; we came because love has beckoned us from deep in our hearts. This we know to be true: that Jesus has made a long, arduous journey, to be here just for us. A journey so we may know: that we are loved. No matter where you’ve journeyed down life’s ways. You are here. And so is love. To help us journey on: To help us love deeper. To give more generously. To open our hearts to new friends and strangers. It’s just one step at a time. Over time. We’ll get there. Hold this baby, ever so close. As you leave, take him with you. And he will take you places you’ve never dreamed of in this New Year forward.
Merry, Christmas. Amen.

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God's Favor, December 18, 2016

12/18/2016

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Luke 1:26-38; Luke 1:47-55

“Greetings, Favored one! The Lord is with you.” With those words Mary’s world was thrown upside down.

But wait a minute now. You call this a favor?

An unexpected pregnancy. Morning sickness. Forget about clothes that no longer fit. Or no longer being able to see your feet. Then there’s the perils of childbirth – the pain, the dangers, the possibility of death. This is a favor, God?

Some Favor! Mary can’t be much more than thirteen or fourteen years of age, and though betrothed to Joseph–probably since her early childhood–she has not yet been with him and does not plan to be any time soon. Pregnant: what kind of favor is that? Imagine the impact on Joseph’s and, on her family. The gossip in Nazareth will shift into overdrive. Think of the shame. To give birth without a husband in that culture usually meant one thing–you were a prostitute. In fact, an entire tradition will emerge that labeled Mary just that, and the child’s father a Roman soldier. It doesn’t matter that none of that is true. Joseph will surely insist on a writ of divorce and send Mary away into disgrace. Some favor, indeed.

          The evangelist Luke introduces us to not one, but two such favored women. Elizabeth, Mary’s kinswoman, gets unexpectedly pregnant at the end of her life. Mary is found unexpectedly pregnant at the cusp of her adult life. Elizabeth’s pregnancy, despite the chuckles of her neighbors, removed the shame of barrenness. Mary’s pregnancy also incurs shame. So Mary seeks out her the older woman. Elizabeth, whose pregnancy is advanced, affirms her young kinswoman. Together they find favor. Together they celebrate the presence of the hidden, growing Christ. Together they find hope in the midst of the turmoil brought about by Favor

          For us, in our final week of our Advent Journey, the gospel invites us to embrace God’s favor and God’s love even as we are days away from celebrating the birth of Love Incarnate. We pause to remember that God chose two ordinary women to be messengers and each brought forth powerful messengers of Good News. But why would the Infinite One bother with the messy human process of birth, of waiting, growing, changing?   Why take the risk?   How does God see this all as favor? So God’s favor comes uninvited. Or unexpected. God’s favor creates upheaval. God’s favor can turn our world upside down

          I once served for 10 years at Broadway Community, Inc. an outreach program to homeless addicts of Broadway Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. There were told countless stories of the despair of having a child removed from care, of lifetimes of abuse, addiction and living as outcasts. Over time I learned that a main focus of recovery was the work of realizing God’s favor after a/and within a lifetime of suffering. Nothing, not prostitution, not self-inflicted violence or violence directed toward others, not AIDS or cancer or mental illness could stop God’s favor. For many the weight of such a reality sent people back to the street. They couldn’t bear the truth of love after years of rejection. Others banded together, helped each other, heard each other into life – (much like Elizabeth and Mary did for each other). In doing so they found they could embrace God’s favor.

One Christmas, we had a seminarian intern named David join the group. The community of recovery knick-named him “Mr. Happy Face.” They also called him “Jesus” because they told him, “You always have a smile no matter what you do.”   Behind that smile was a story.

David shared the painful struggles of his spiritual journey which led him to seek the guidance from the monks at the Holy Archangels Monastery in Serbia, in the aftermath of the Yugoslav Wars. He described how he was at an all-night vigil at one of the holiest liturgical days of the orthodox calendar, the feast of the Archangels, where thousands were present for hours on end. In the midst of the solemn service a monk’s beard caught on fire, and without missing a beat, the monk waved the fire out. David, holding back laughter left the church.

          Outside the church, David encountered an old woman, with one solitary tooth. She began telling David a tale of distress and dissolved into crying.   The woman was speaking in Serbian and David could not understand a word she was saying. He felt inadequate. He felt the weight of not knowing how to help her, this woman who had probably witnessed so much loss and bloodshed in her life. He wanted to hug her, but he felt awkward. Finally he felt all he could do was gently lead her into the church, where the orthodox liturgy was at the height of its beauty. There, standing next to her, they shared the sacredness of the moment – across the division of language, culture, life experiences, gender and age they found healing and connection. In that encounter, David felt a confirmation – a call, to manifest God’s love.   It was God’s favor. Recovering persons – people of different histories, race and culture, listened raptly to David’s story. They talked about finding themselves in a church -- in the holy season of Christmas – where they found favor come through each other. They could relate to the heartache of the old lady. They could relate to David’s sense of emptiness and not knowing what to do, not being able to understand. They could relate to that connection that came through being in church together – and the power of worship and chant to bridge the divide. We saw how God’s favor transcended age, race, culture, ability.

          God’s favor is not a private experience. It always takes us out of ourselves and puts us in someone’s path. Like Elizabeth did for Mary, what the elderly Serbian woman did for David, like that recovery community did for each other -- we have to be God’s favor for each other. It may be “amazing,” but it is usually not easy. More often than not, God’s grace is demanding and often inconvenient. Who of us expects our lives to be as complicated as Mary’s? Or that of a Serbian grandmother? Or a recovering addict trying to stay clean during the holidays? Sometimes we expect God’s favor to mean a life of blessing and ease that is laid in our lap and demands little of us. However the God who gave all calls us to give our all.

If Mary has anything to teach us today, it is that God’s blessings do not always make life easier. In fact, God’s favor often makes life more complex. God’s grace can draw us into situations that are challenging and demanding, and at first glance appear anything but a blessing. God’s favor can have some hard edges to it.

For some of us, an illness or diagnosis can suddenly changed everything. It dominates every thought and affects every plan. Yet, the Lord is with us.

For some of us, this season of family gatherings and celebrations is anything but happy. Some are grieving the loss of a marriage, relationship or being cut off from children. Some find resurfaced pain of loved ones who have died and whose place at the table is vacant, never to be filled. Some of us are struggling to stay sober or clean in a culture where alcohol and drugs are pervasive. Some of us face financial restraints and maxed credit cards in a culture that has been in hyper-drive, saying buy, buy, buy 24/7. Yet, hear this word: the Lord is with us. God’s favor rests on us.

          Mary understood God’s favor. She sang of it and nailed it: God’s forever promise to pull down those who think too much of themselves and abuse their power. God’s promise to lift up the poor. God’s promise to fill the hungry with good things that for once the rich don’t get to keep taking. The assurance that those who are self-righteous and self-absorbed will trip over their own grandeous schemes. God remembers. God’s favor made Mary positively radical, not a demure submissive young lady. We know now where Jesus got his vision: Jesus’ first sermon in Luke 4 echoes his mother’s song.   Mother’s favor rests on her son.

          If there is anything to remember this day it is this and this only: God’s favor rests on you. Don’t run away, don’t doubt, only believe. Only one thing is needed in response to God’s favor: to respond like Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant; let it be to me according to your word.” Amen.

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Filled with Expectation - December 11, 2016

12/11/2016

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Luke 3:7-18; Philippians 4:1-13


Union Church is filled with joyful messengers today, from little Union angels to those of the heavenly ranks, to the saints of Philippi, to even fiery John. Listen again to his passion when he calls out to the spiritual leadership of Jerusalem:   “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” This was the little baby we met just a week ago, the joy and delight of his elderly parents, filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, destined to prepare the way of the Lord.

        Yes, the angels are messengers of God’s word just as John is, and people flock to both as we see in the scriptures. Eight out of `10 Americans believe in angels and Pope Francis goes further to assure us that we each are assigned a guardian angel, and would do well attune ourselves to our traveling companion. “No one journeys alone and no one should think that they are alone,” The Pope declared.   Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, responded, to the angel, with fear, Mary and Shepherds had to be first advised not to fear before any conversation could take place.   Yet once we overcome our fear and hesitation, if our heart is seeking God, we find ourselves filled with expectation and hope, seeking God’s will and direction for our lives from our angelic friends. We long to hear a good word, a message, guidance from someone wiser, someone further along the way, be it a prophet, an elder, an angel.

So in this vein, people flocked to hear the message of John in the wilderness. There’s no two ways about it: John was gruff. He was not afraid to denounce the corruption in the spiritual leadership. He didn’t pull any punches. He was an ascetic - yet he was joyful.   He called out sin but more importantly, called out a yearning for wholeness.

“Bear fruits worthy of repentance!” He demanded.   He knew what we could do. Like Paul he insisted we bear good fruit. Remember what Paul wrote to the Philippians? “Let your gentleness be known by everyone…Beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever, is just, whatever, is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise thing think about these things.”    The crowds hungered to hear John talk about this.

John had a way about him. We know about the camel hair coat and eating the locusts and wild honey. We have the pictures of the uncombed hair –wilderness look -- that we associate little we joy – but John – he lived joyfully. The wilderness was a symphony of joy.   As he went about living into his mission – Joy sustained him. He exuded Joy. That’s what drew people to him.
People felt the brokenness in their lives that John was talking about. They felt the wholeness in his life and they wanted what he had.

        So they were filled with expectation. They asked: what should we do?
If you have two coats, share one. John said. Same with food, share your food.
Tax collectors asked, what should we do?   Don’t cheat. John answered.

Soldiers asked: what should we do? Interesting answer here, John didn’t say, leave the army and join the resistance, he said not to exhort money and be satisfied with your wages.

Unless there is sociopathy or psychopathy, profound mental illness, or evil; people are drawn to integrity, goodness, truthfulness, and joy. We want to be around near people who can teach us, guide us, and transmit their energy as if by osmosis. Friday, Forrest and I had a date night and watched the “Mocking Jay Part 2” movie. Every time the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman made a cameo appearance, Forrest squeezed my hand a little tighter. After the movie, we talked awhile. What was it about Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and others, like Robin Williams, John Denver, a Marilyn Monroe, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, creative lights that drew people to them, troubled souls that could exude joy that others hounded from them that they themselves so desperately needed for themselves?

There was a recent national poll about what values were important to pass on to the next generation: Honesty topped the charts (43%), followed by kindness (29%), a strong work ethic (11%) were the top three. There is such a deep desire to communicate and share with one another what is most important in our lives. To find in others what is important in life. However, we must find it in ourselves through our faith formed by the Spirit of Christ.

As we draw closer to Christmas, Advent reminds us of two things.   To cultivate the gift of joy. We don’t have to live in the wilderness or be an ascetic to be filled with joy. Joy is the afterglow of being in the presence of God – the experience and awareness of which we are called to cultivate as part of our walk of faith.   Like Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord, always, again I will say, Rejoice.”   Joy is directly related to God’s grace – which is freely given to us. So all we have to do is just as for it. Be open to it. Let it in. Joy is the reason John could joyful in the wilderness and a just King or Queen could be joyful in his or her palace. A billionaire can be joyful as a beggar.

Joy transforms us – Joy is created in the character of God and Joy was born in the person of Jesus Christ. Advent wants us to have the grace of Joy, to be joyful, to rejoice, to rejoice always, in all situations. To acquire the spiritual maturity and insight to know what this means.   Without Joy, we cannot be ready for Christmas. Without Joy, we have half a life. We are created for joy.
        Second, Advent wants us to be messengers. We may not be angels or prophets, but we can spread the word of God. If we can develop the well of joy within our hearts, if we live filled with expectation that God has more for us to do, that God can do all things through us, God strengthens us, then we too become people of integrity. We can live our lives so that our outsides matches our insides. Our words flows from our hearts.   People will sense the urgency and power behind what we say and do. People will sense the joy in our Spirit in if we carry burdens.
        Like John, we recognize there is one greater, who baptizes with   Holy Spirit and Fire.   However our Advent exhortations, whatever they be, a word, a deed, a song, a prayer, as long as they are done with integrity of spirt and with joy, will have the power to stir a soul to longing, perhaps to awaken a being to question, what shall I do?

We are God’s message, So be God’s love note to someone. Stir up expectations, questions long unasked, possibilities unexplored. Be that message. So Rejoice! You may be that one messenger of integrity, that one messenger of hope, that one messenger of truth, that one messenger of joy that speaks fills someone’s world with expectation this Christmas season. Don’t worry. As Pope Francis said, you have a traveling companion with you, should you get stuck on a word or two. Jesus, promises us the Holy Spirit whenever we need it. Most important, It is the joy of your countenance, the peace of your spirit, the gentleness of your heart, the goodness of your character, and the righteousness of your deeds that speaks louder than before you can articulate a word.   So be joyful. Rejoice. Proclaim the gospel – and as St. Francis once said – use words if necessary. Amen.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/pope-francis-angels-believe-guardian-help
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-nearly-8-in-10-americans-believe-in-angels/

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God Prepares a Way - December 4, 2016

12/4/2016

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Isaiah 40: 1-11; Mark 1: 1-8

Today, on the second Sunday of Advent, with the light of our peace candle shining, I’d like us to reflect upon peace. I would like to talk about voices crying out in the wilderness, to prepare a way for peace. Most of all I’d like to talk about the prophet John who prepares a way for Jesus, the bringer of peace.

The events of the last few weeks have left us emotionally raw. In fairly rapid succession three grand juries (Ohio, Missouri, and New York) have decided not to seek indictments against three white police officers involved in the killings of unarmed Black men. The merits and details of each case have been debated endlessly in all forms of media, in dining rooms, bars, places of worship and schools across America. Chants of “No Justice, No Peace” “Remember Mike!” “Don’t Shoot! My Hands up, Don’t shoot!” and “I can’t breathe” are mantras that have gone reverberated across the nation. Die-ins or lie ins, where activists lie on the ground, pretending to be dead, has become a significant form of protest. Rallies and marches are cropping up across the country, at times blocking bridges and access ways, demanding justice, demanding reform, demanding that the country take seriously the institutionalization of racism, a gun culture, a booming prison-industry, that has impacted on law enforcement practices – and has had a devastating impact on African Americans, especially Black men.

So we take a moment and remember Michael Brown (Ferguson, Missouri), Eric Garner (Staten Island), and Akai Gerley (East New York "Pink Houses"), Tamir Rice, the 12 year old African American boy was shot by police in Cleveland. Rumain Brisbon shot to death in Phoenix. Just the latest links in a chain that goes back decades. Voices crying in the wilderness.

We take a minute and remember Darren Wilson, Daniel Pantaleo, Peter Liang, Timothy Loehman, the unnamed white police officer in Phoenex. Voices crying in the wilderness. Links in a chain that goes back decades.

Aside from the particulars of each case, we would have to be stone deaf not to hear the voices crying, shouting out, these past several weeks. All Advent voices. Mixed in those voices is the familiar voice of the prophet John, calling us to make the path straight for our God.   To make low the mountains. To lift up the valleys. To make the uneven ground level. To create a level, even playing field. When that happens, the prophet Isaiah tells us, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed – and all people – all people shall see God’s glory together.

We are in the wilderness these days. On one hand we usually associate the wilderness with deprivation, danger, temptation and chaos: it is the wild. It is stark and bleak. On the other hand, the wilderness also represents a place to make things plain, to strip down to the essentials, for solicitude, to clear our heads and renew our hearts. The wilderness becomes a place of revelation and formation, and redemption.   Both situations exist simultaneously. That’s what makes the wilderness a challenging but also transformational place.

So today, we find ourselves in the wilderness.

In this wilderness some see bravery and courage. Others see the ugly face of racism and prejudice. They see racism woven itself into the economic and social fabric of our country, so finely woven it isn’t seen by white folk. Some see all the protests and looters and claim people are making divisions between the races that doesn’t exist.

What do you see, in this wilderness? What voices are you hearing?
Here’s what I am finding in the wilderness: (please bear with me here):

The Number 1 cause of death of black men ages 15-34 is murder.
Overall, young African Americans are killed by cops 4.5 times more often than people of other races and ages.
Black people were about four times as likely to die in custody or while being arrested than whites.
What these numbers show is that 5% of black males who live in the United States are in prison or jail, 2% of Hispanic males, and less than 1% of white males.
The United States has the highest prison population in the world, (2,228,424), topping even China which has 4x the population. The US has second highest documented incarceration rate in the world. To put it in another way - , the US is 5% of the World population and has 25% of world prisoners.
That one in six black men had been incarcerated as of 2001. If current trends continue, one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime.
Prisons has become a growth industry, it is becoming increasingly privatized. It’s a lucrative industry. The two biggest prison corporations earned over 3.3 billion dollars in profits – with wages as low as 25 cents an hour, while the top executive of Corrections Corporation of America makes 3.7 million a year.

The black community is quick to make the connection that the prison system didn’t take hold until the end of the Civil War, with the official abolition of slavery, that the prison system took hold. The 13th Amendment officially abolished slavery for all people except those convicted of a crime. Prisons were built in the South as part of the backlash to Black Reconstruction and as a way to re-enslave Black workers.

Now that may seem like a lot dry, academic sounding talk. We know statistics may be manipulated. They provide us with a starting point, a viewing point to begin to find our way out of madness. To do the work of preparing the way for Jesus and his gospel of righteousness. To expose sin. Further, as we prepare today to bring food and clothing over to the Church of Gethsemane, with its specialized ministry to the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated – we need to enter their lives. We are not in the business of giving handouts, but in rebuilding lives, seeking justice. We need a real connection to our sister Church.

I can’t help but sense that we got a lot of leveling to do. Some mountains got to come down. Some valleys need exalting. Some rough patches need smoothing. We have some Advent work to do. So here in the wilderness with all these opinions coming at us; we remember Jesus’ words, about that part of his vision of setting captives free. At the same time, as we remember the incidents that led us into this wilderness, I think of my niece and her husband, rookie police officers with the Cleveland Police Department, and I pray for their safety too. I pray that they become part of the solution.

What is important is that we take advent time to set the captive inside each of us free. Each one of us has something weighing us down. There’s many ways to be enslaved. One of the things we need to learn in this wilderness is that peace is an inside/outside job. We need it in both places: in our hearts the peace that comes through repentance, change and forgiveness; the peace that comes from becoming whole people. Then there’s the peace that whole people carry in the world when with courage, they bring the mountains down, they exalt those valleys - the peace of a level field.

Here we are, in our Advent wilderness. Will we find danger? Will we run away? Or will we find our solutions together? Like Carmelo, who is putting an event together to take place here January 10, called “Shine a light” with concerts and speakers on race, poverty, violence and law enforcement. People are joining protests – churches are sponsoring book studies, discussions, getting educated, learning, growing and connecting. A lot is happening today. There are faith-based protests happening this Friday and Saturday, here in New York City. All these activities, steeped in prayer, tears and reflection are providing a way out of the wilderness into peace.

God shows us the way out of the wilderness of our making. God is faithful – God did not lead us here to leave us here but to find peace – here and out there. In bringing down the mountains. Lifting up the valleys. Creating safe spaces level spaces, smooth places. As we are about the work of peace, that’s where we will see the glory of our God revealed – and all people – young and old, black & white, brown or yellow, gay or straight, rich or poor, male or female will see it. Together. So the question remains: What will we do? Amen.

- See more at: http://www.businessinsurance.org/prison-industry/#sthash.u32a9HY2.dpuf
http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf

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Christmas Journey, Christmas Eve, December 24, 2016

God's Favor, December 18, 2016

Filled with Expectation - December 11, 2016

God Prepares a Way - December 4, 2016

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