"Soon." Christmas Eve Sermon, 2020

Christmas Eve Sermon, 2020

Luke 2:1-20

“Soon.”

Preached Thursday, December 24, 2020 at Vermilion Grace United Methodist Church via FB Live

As members of my congregation know, I have just barely returned from maternity leave. I gave birth to my first child, Agnes, on September 11. I knew when I was pregnant that I would be returning to work, the church, just before Christmas. And within the first week of my leave, as I reflected on my experience in labor, I actually wrote this sermon - not yet on paper, but in my head, knowing that I would be sharing these thoughts on Christmas Eve. So a content warning, I will be referencing childbirth and labor but only in the literal sense for the introduction of my sermon. 

See, during my labor and the days and weeks that followed I could only pray one word prayers. Christian writer Anne Lammott says that there are really only three types of prayers and they can be summed up in one word each: Help, Thanks, and Wow. And I have found this to be infinitely true.

Lately I have been praying a lot of help prayers. In fact every night I pray a "help" prayer. The prayer is just one word over and over "sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep." And since I'm talking to God I do throw in a couple of pleases. "Please Lord, let us all just sleep. Sleep sleep sleep sleep please."

But there have also been plenty of wows and plenty of thanks.

So much can be said with a wow or a thank you.

Deep appreciation for one's body and what it's been through. Gratitude for community that surrounds you with love. Appreciation for the beauty of nature, whether that be in a newborn's face or the fresh fallen snow.

But the one word prayer that I want to focus on this evening is the prayer "Soon."

Soon. Soon. Soon.

When I was in the throes of labor this is all I could think. All I could pray, in my head or outloud.

Soon. Soon. Soon.

As the pain of birth and labor intensified. I prayed soon. Soon. Soon.

I could only think the word "soon." But there was so much intensity of emotion and thought behind it.

Let this pain be over soon.

Let me meet my baby soon.

Let all be well and healthy SOON.

Soon. Soon. Soon.

The Christian tradition of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas where we prepare for Christ's birth, are rife with labor metaphors and not just because of Mary's pregnancy.

I wonder if Mary prayed the one word prayer of soon:

Let this long journey on camel be over soon.

Let us find a place to stay soon.

Let this child come soon.

Let God do this new thing through me soon.

Soon. Soon. Soon.

Advent is, in a way, us praying a one word pray over and over to God: Soon. Soon. Soon.

Let Christmas be here soon.

Let these dark nights and short days end soon.

Let the world be filled with hope, peace, joy, and love soon.

May we experience Christ's presence with us soon.

Soon. Soon. Soon.

In Advent we wait.

We wait for the celebration of Christ's birth. An event that happened in the past.

We wait for Christmas morning, for gifts and laughter and joy.

And Advent isn't just about Christ's birth, it's about his return. So we wait. We wait for that day where Emmanuel, God With Us, will truly come and dwell among us again, bringing the Kingdom of God to fruition here on Earth.

Our Advent prayers are:

Soon - remind us of the wonder and love of God.

Soon - let us once again experience the magic of Christmas day.

Soon - come into our lives and world once again, Jesus. Redeem us. Redeem all of creation. Make us whole.

Soon. Soon. Soon.

All the earth is crying out in the labor pains of Christmas, awaiting Jesus's second coming. This Christmas, may we recognize the twangs of pain for what they are.

Where there is violence and war may we hear all of creation crying out - bring us peace, Lord! Soon!

Where there is disease may we hear all of creation crying out - bring us healing, bring us hope - Soon, Lord, soon!

Where there is pollution and devastation, eroded coastlines, failed crops - may we hear all the earth crying out - Soon, Lord! Make us whole!

Where there is oppression. Where there is hunger. Where there is isolation. Wherever there are pains in this world may we begin to hear them as all of creation crying out to God: Soon! Soon! Soon!

Soon! End our pain. Soon! Give birth to a new thing. Soon! Let God's Kingdom reign.

Christmas is a reminder that the day of "soon" has already come - God was born into this world in the form of a newborn baby. God is with us. We are never alone.

Christmas is a reminder that soon can come right now. What new thing is God doing in you this Christmas? Where is God calling you to birth peace, hope, joy, and love into this world, this Christmas?

And Christmas is a reminder that soon is yet to come. And we set our eyes on that day. That the final soon has not yet arrived but God promised that it would. That the work that God begun through Jesus will be completed. That one day, God will descend to us again. That one day God will redeem all creation, birthing a new heaven and a new earth where all will be at perfect peace and perfect love. A Kingdom that will know no end, no death, no tears. A Kingdom that will be filled with the power of the resurrection of Easter and the wonder and love of Christmas Day.

And so this Christmas, with all of creation, we pray: Soon. Soon. Soon.

Amen.

Christmas Confession (Based on Isaiah 9:2-7)

Christmas Confession (Based on Isaiah 9:2-7)

Forgive us, Lord, for when we get so caught up in the darkness that we forget to look at the light.
Forgive us for all the time we spend in the valley:
Fighting amongst ourselves
Focusing on worldly success
Just going day to day without rest, praise, or pray.
Forgive us for when we fail to ease the burden of our neighbors. Forgive us still for when we add to it.
Forgive us Lord. Help us repent. Turn our hearts toward you and our eyes towards the sky.
May we see light shining in the darkness. May you increase our joy. May you rescue the oppressed. May you empower all to live into the light and joy of Christmas.
Until that day when there is endless peace and Christ reigns with justice and righteousness, guide our steps ever toward Bethlehem that we may be filled with wonder and love at the sight of Christ the newborn King.
Amen.

L: Hear the Good News! Christ came into this world, God incarnate, in flesh, while we were yet sinners, This proves God’s love towards us. In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
P: In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
All: Glory to God. Amen.

Christmas Eve Advent Wreath/Candle Lighting Liturgy

Christmas Eve Advent Wreath/Candle Lighting Liturgy

L: Through the darkest nights of the year we have prayed:
P: Come, Lord Jesus.
L: In a world where all can seem lost, we have looked toward this night for hope.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, Bringer of Hope.

*lights candle of hope*

L: Our eyes and ears are bombarded with war, violence, disruption, but at the manger there is peace.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace.

*lights candle of peace*

L: In what is sold as a season of merriment, we know that hardship and grief abound. May we not lose sight of our joy in you.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, Child of Joy.

*lights candle of joy*

L: Our hearts ache to reach out and touch each other, for kindness to spread like warmth, we long for the fundamental need of all humanity: to love and be loved.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, Lover of our Souls.

*lights candle of love*

L: Too long we have walked in the darkness...but on Christmas, 2000 years ago and Christmas today, tonight, a Light has entered the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, Light of the World,

*lights Christ candle*

L: Christmas is here. Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love are here!
P: Jesus is here, Bethlehem's matchless child!
L: Christmas is here! All the world rejoices!
All: Christmas is here! Let us worship Christ the King!

Mini-Devotional on Mary

Normally we hear about Mary and read her song, The Magnificat, on the third Sunday of Advent. This year it’s on the fourth Sunday.

I was particularly pleased to discover this because it’s my favorite passage of Scripture and by it being on the fourth Sunday this year - I didn’t miss out on the chance to preach on “Mary Sunday.”

And Mary has been on my mind a lot lately - it’s kind of hard for me to be going through the season of life I’m currently in - AND it being Christmas time - without thinking of Mary.


Mary doesn’t loom large in our Wesleyan tradition - Wesley barely talked about Mary - except in his “Sermon to a Roman Catholic” he does mention that he believes in Mary’s perpetual virginity - although I wouldn’t call that Wesleyan or Methodist doctrine by any means.


But I think we lose out by our tradition not talking much about Mary - and not in a way that glorifies her beyond recognition as a human woman - but by really focusing on her humanity.


When we think of the birth and child-rearing of Christ, we think of a sanitized version.

But what would it really mean to acknowledge the full humanity of Mary in birthing and feeding Jesus?


To have an infant, a newborn, to have GOD as an infant, a newborn, fully dependent upon a human woman for nourishment and love. For her aching back and swollen feet in pregnancy. For her blood, sweat, screams in birth. For the nourishment of her breasts in infancy.


What does that tell us about God’s relationship to us? To humanity? To women?


That God is willing to be vulnerable with us

That God loves us the way a mother loves a child AND the way a child loves a mother - unconditionally, fully, without hesitation

That God wants to be with us more than anything - not only to hold us in the arms of God - but for us to hold onto God, cradling Divinity, wondering at it, being overcome with the magnitude and joy of it, caring for and nurturing our relationship with the Divine as an all-consuming act of Love, that takes body, mind, soul together…


Let us this Advent and Christmas ponder on Mary, the infant Jesus at her breast, and contemplate how God loves us so.

Advent Wreath Lighting, 4B, Love

Advent Wreath Lighting, 4B, Love

L: Christmas is coming. We feel it in our hearts, in our to-do lists, and in the crisp winter air.
P: Love is coming.
L: The space between us and the Holy is thin - if we just looked up, around, opened the eyes of our hearts we might be able to see angels.
P: Love is coming.
L: Christmas has the power to change everything - it changed everything for Mary. It can change everything for us.
P: Love is coming.
L: May we be ready for Christmas - may we be ready for change - may we be ready for Jesus.
P: Love is coming.
L: And so we light this candle of Love, inviting the God who is love, born on Christmas Day, into our hearts.

*Lights candle*

P: Love is coming - Love is here - God who is Love. God with Us.
All: Amen.

Easter Prayers of the People amidst COVID-19

Let us now with joy and humility, approach the God who conquered death and rose victoriously from the grave, handing over all our hearts and lives before the throne of God, beseeching our Lord in prayer, and crying out:

L: Christ is Risen!
P: Christ is Risen, Indeed!
ALL: Hallelujah!

Christ, you went to the cross, suffered, and died - and yet you still defeated the grave. You broke the chains of sin and death - for us and for all creation. May we never forget the power of the cross. May we never lose sight of the empty tomb. May your praises never be far from our lips.

L: Christ is Risen!
P: Christ is Risen, Indeed!
ALL: Hallelujah!

Our Lenten fast has come to an end. And yet...there are so many in our world who are still wandering in the Wilderness, who cannot yet see the Garden at the end of the journey. We are all still in the Wilderness of the COVID-19 pandemic. Be with us now. Be with those that are sick. Those who are isolated. Those who are fearful. Any and all who are grasping at straws, struggling with their new reality. Guide us all through the Wilderness that every tongue may proclaim:

L: Christ is Risen!
P: Christ is Risen, Indeed!
ALL: Hallelujah!

Today we especially lift up those who face the daily reality of this pandemic, including health care workers from hospitals to nursing homes and essential workers from first responders to grocery store workers. Protect them from all harm. May they know you are ever by their side. May they feel the power of the Risen King guiding them through their day.

L: Christ is Risen!
P: Christ is Risen, Indeed!
ALL: Hallelujah!

Be with your Church, O Lord. Today our Easter celebration looks more like that first Easter than we are used to. Locked in our homes, uncertain and afraid. We long to be joining our voices together in praise. We long to be in worship together. Remind us that the power of the resurrection does not rely on our traditions or rituals. May we be overcome with the joy of Easter. Help us all proclaim:

L: Christ is Risen!
P: Christ is Risen, Indeed!
ALL: Hallelujah!

And Lord, we ask that you be with the dead and the dying. Give to them the sure hope and assurance of your coming resurrection, that we will be joined with you and all the saints in the Kingdom of Glory.

L: Christ is Risen!
P: Christ is Risen, Indeed!
ALL: Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Christ is Alive! The God who is Love has defeated death. May your hope be founded in nothing less than the promise of the Resurrection. And so now it is with the confidence of Easter people that we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us...

Prayers of the People for Palm Sunday, Amidst COVID-19

Friends, let us come before the Lord in prayer. Praising God’s name, claiming Jesus as our Messiah, and entrusting our lives and world over to the God who is worthy of our praise. Saying:

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

We are in the midst of strife and uncertainty, anxiety and illness and a global pandemic. It is too easy to turn to fear. To bickering and pessimism. Keep us from despair. Deliver us from all burdens and may we find rest and peace in your care.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

Soon the shouts of Palm Sunday will turn to the jeers of Good Friday. We know that we have the capacity for both within us: to praise and to scorn, to accept and reject. To choose that which is life-giving and that which is death-wielding. Forgive us for those times we have joined in with the crowds of Good Friday. Nevertheless,

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

We know that if we were to keep silent, even the rocks would sing out your praises. Your creation rings out your majesty. From the shores of Lake Erie to the first daffodils of Spring. Even among our current circumstances, we join creation in your praise. We thank you for all that is good and well in our lives.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

Today especially we ask that you be with those who work in healthcare: doctors and nurses, janitors and administrators. From nursing homes to hospitals. Protect them. Keep them safe. Help give them the tools and protections needed to care for the sick and the dying. Give them strength and endurance, compassion and peace.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

Be with those workers deemed essential: from factories to grocery stores and everywhere in between. Keep them safe and protect them in their daily task. May you labor alongside them, that they feel your presence with them.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

May your wisdom be given to your leaders: in all levels of government, in all positions of leadership, in the world and in the church. May they make decisions that prioritize saving lives. May their leadership be filled with compassion and love for the least of these.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

Be with our local businesses, Lord. We know and love this town. We know the people in each shop, the workers, the owners, the relationships and mutuality we have with each other. Help us weather out this storm together.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

Be with your church, O God. Scattered, yet gathered. Eagerly awaiting resurrection and yet mourning this year’s loss of Easter traditions. Knit us together at this time. Help us truly embody the love of Christ to each other, to our neighbors, to the world. May we be the Church outside of the building walls.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

And lastly, Lord, be with the sick and the dying. Where there is hope, bring healing. Where there is death, may they find life in you. May all those who are alone in hospital rooms feel the loving presence of your Holy Spirit. May all those who pass from this life be reunited with us in the resurrection that is to come.

L: We choose to say:
P: Hosanna! Praise the Lord!

We join the crowds in praising Jesus this day. We know and claim him as our Messiah. We trust in his unending love and care. May praise never be found far from our lips and may our hearts ever be directed in prayer to the one who always hears us.

And so now with the confidence of children of God, let us pray that prayer that Jesus taught us...

"Hope for the End(Game)" Sermon on Avenger's Endgame and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
“Hope for the End(Game)”
Preached Thursday, February 13, 2020 at ONU Chapel

I can’t believe I feel the need to say this: but this sermon has spoilers for Avenger’s Endgame. I’m pretty sure you’ve either seen the movie by now or don’t care but I wanted to give a fair warning! Also, this is so corny to say but: This sermon also has spoilers for the end -- not the end of the movie, but the end of our world as we know it.

Now, I’m not talking about the apocalypse as Hollywood generally paints it - all pain and violence, fire and brimstone - I’m talking about a more theological topic: I’m talking about what we in the church call eschatology: that is, our beliefs about the last things. About death, judgement, redemption, and resurrection.

Popular Christianity has spent too much time focusing on the apocalypse, upon God’s judgement and wrath, upon rewards in Heaven or eternal punishment in Hell. And this is often at the neglect of the needs of the least of these, the outcasts and marginalized in the here and now. And for many Christians who take seriously God’s commands to love our neighbor as ourselves and who are honestly offended at the hateful rhetoric and fear of death and judgement that often accompanies so-called Christian teachings, well, we’ve chosen to abandon beliefs about the afterlife and about the end all together - saying, “you know - it’s nice if there’s a heaven and all that. But that’s not why I do what I do. It’s not why I love God or love my neighbors. So we put those beliefs about the end to the side -- and we get on fine for a bit. I myself put these beliefs to the side, decided whatever the afterlife or the end held, it didn’t matter - I did this for a couple of years. The problem is, what happens when we don’t believe anything about the end is that we begin to lose hope. We can begin to believe that there is nothing worth fighting for. We can begin to believe that there is no point to any of this and that the world, each other, humanity, all our brokenness - is beyond redemption. We begin to mourn, as Paul says, like those without hope.

This is where the remaining Avengers find themselves at the beginning of Endgame. At the end of Infinity War, Thanos snapped his fingers and erased half of humanity -- and not just humans on earth, but half of creation throughout the universe. 23 days after Thanos snaps his fingers, the Avengers find Thanos and realize he destroyed the stones. They can’t undo what he’s done. They can’t just fix it. This is the way things are now. In a fit of rage and grief, Thor cuts the head of Thanos, killing him - but not changing anything.

The movie then skips forward 5 years. 5 year of loss. 5 years of pain and grief. 5 years of helplessness and having no hope of those lost ever being restored. The world that Endgame takes place in is a world that is broken. In a world that is overwhelmed with grief and pain. In a world that the Avengers and all humanity have accepted that they just can’t fix - the problems are bigger than them and there’s not much we can do.

Sound familiar? Our world is kind of like this. We have disease and pain. Climate change and tyranny. Hate and violence. And the problems are just...so big. And often, it feels like there’s not much we can do to change it or to fix anything.

We can begin living like we have no hope -- just like most of the Avengers did.

Captain America.

When they are on their way to find Thanos, before discovering that the Stone are destroyed, Natasha says to Steve:

“This is going to work.”
"I know it will, because I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't."

What he ends up doing is...well, he tells others that they can move on, that they can be better again. In a self-help group, he says: "Brave baby steps we gotta take to try and become whole again, try and find purpose." The only thing is, he doesn’t believe it for himself. He has no hope for his own life. No hope that he will be made whole again - he confesses as much to Natasha back at the Avengers compound saying: "I keep telling everyone to move on and grow. Some do. But not us."

So, Black Widow.

She gets...stuck. With no hope for the future, with no hope that the only family she knew, that made her life better, she just keeps trying to do what she did before. Even when that makes no sense. Trying to coordinate the remaining Avengers, trying to investigate earthquake tremors, and trying to hold on to a sense of normalcy when there is no normal to be had.

Thor.

Thor reacts in anger and grief, killing Thanos. But those powerful emotions with no hope, end up hurting him even more. He gives way into idle pleasures, hopelessness, listlessness, shirking all responsibility - being less than he was called to be. He can’t even picture a bigger hope because he can’t see the hope for himself, either.

Banner says to Thor: "There might be a chance we can fix everything."
Thor says: "Like the cable, that's been bothering me for a week."
"Like Thanos."

And Thor doesn't want to hear hope. He’s not ready to accept it: "Whatever it is your offering. Not buying. Don't care. Couldn't care less." Thor is afraid to admit hope to himself in case he fails again, in case he's hurt again. Eventually, it takes Thor not only having hope in the end, in redemption of all creation, but in himself, too, for him to begin to move toward wholeness again.

And, of course, Hawkeye.

His loss overwhelms him.

He doesn't believe in a future of hope. All he has is loss. All he has is pain. And thus, he turns into someone who acts only out of violence, hate, and revenge. He is turned into someone he is not.

And then, Natasha hunts him down, and gives me some hope and it breaks him, changes him, opens him back up, redeems him:

"We found something. A chance, maybe."
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't give me hope."
"I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner."

I think you’re starting to get the picture of what the lack of hope does to the Avengers. It changes them. It causes them to live as less than who they are and less than they are called to be. Living with no hope makes them resentful, listless, and even hateful. And when we live without hope, the same things can happen to us. It’s hard to have hope in our world - it is. I’ve heard many things about the cynical-ness or pragmatic-ness of Gen Z and Millennials. We know the earth is dying. We know our job prospects are somewhere between bad and worse. We’re worried about World War 3 and ever having a mortgage is almost laughable. But what does this do to us? What does this do to our souls, our relationships, our outlook and actions? We need hope.

Hope changes everything.

So let’s talk a minute about hope.

In Endgame, the Avengers find their hope in the Quantum Realm - in a crazy idea from Ant-Man and in the ingenuity of Tony Stark. They have hope to restore what they lost and protect what they have. This hope changes them. This hope gives them purpose again. Gives them energy to continue fighting the good fight. Gives them a path. This path brings wholeness and restoration to their relationships. With the addition of hope, Tony and Steve mend their fractured relationship saying: "I just want peace. Turns out resentment is corrosive and I hate it...we got a shot at getting these stones..." Turns out, hope for a better tomorrow, creates a better today in our relationships and our willingness to work towards wholeness and redemption.

So where does our hope come from as Christians? Our hope comes from Christ and from the promise of the resurrection and the restoration of all creation. We do not mourn and we do not live as those without hope when we hold fast to a sound eschatology, to a vision of the end that includes the creation of a New Heaven and a New Earth.

That is: when Christ comes again in final victory. Christ will do for all of creation what he did as a first fruit when he was resurrected from the dead. He will defeat all death. All powers of evil. All forces of violence. He will also restore all that God has created. From the planet, to the birds of the air and the animals of the ground, all humanity, the heavens -- all will be redeemed, recreated: restored to that before sin and evil entered this world. Including relationships that have been broken by misunderstanding, by pain, by violence, by death - ALL will be restored.

We hear about the New Creation many times in Scripture. One of the most famous passages comes from the 21st Chapter of Revelation:

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

'See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.'

And the one who was seated on the throne said, 'See, I am making all things new.' Also he said, 'Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.' Then he said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.'"

We also hear of the new creation in the Book of Isaiah, a vision of the wolf and the lamb feeding together, the lion eating straw, swords being beaten into plowshares, all nations being gathered together on one mountain, and there being no violence or destruction.

Our hope is found in the promise of the End, the promise of resurrection, and the promise of a New Creation.

We catch a faint glimmer of this new creation in Avenger’s Endgame. Yes, in the fight, people were lost. But the movie ends with people coming back - people being restored: Resurrection

Tell me you don't get goose bumps in that scene when all the Avengers and the armies of the Wakandans, and the Asgardians, and all the sorcerers - when they rejoin the fight! It reminds me of the great cloud of witnesses in heaven. People from all tribes and nations, together as one in the new Creation

In Endgame there are Characters. Relationships. Lives. Redeemed. Made better. Come fully into who they were created, who they were called to be. Like Thor and Nebula and the relationship between Steve and Tony. Now, The Resurrection and restoration, the reversing of the Snapture in Endgame is not perfect. Natasha is gone. Tony is gone. Vision is still gone. Lots of people are still gone and there is still a broken world. But it's a better world because of hope and the world we hope for, the New Creation, will be perfect. Perfected in love.

In the New Creation there will be no evil - Thanos and his troops are destroyed.

Now...it’s 2020. And most people don’t go around talking about the hope of the New Creation of redemption and resurrection. Most people don’t really believe that they can be made whole. Their relationships can be made whole. Our world can be made whole. Is it crazy?

Well, in the words of Natasha: "I get emails from a raccoon, so nothing's crazy any more." As Christians we might say, Jesus really was resurrected from the dead. Death does not have the final say. So nothing’s crazy anymore.

Living with hope is a million times better than the alternative. Living with hope for the future, gives us strength and courage now.
Hope helps us carry on.
Hope helps us to live into the vision of the future - of restored creation. Restored relationships. Wholeness. In the here and now.

In the wise words of the departed Tony Stark, Iron Man:

"Part of the journey is the end...everything's going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to."

Have hope.

Amen.

“Water Has Memory: Pseudoscience & Theology," A Sermon on Matthew 3:13-17

Matthew 3:13-17
“Water Has Memory: Pseudoscience & Theology”

Recently I heard of the concept that “Water Has Memory.”

Okay, full disclosure: I heard it from the Disney movie Frozen 2. The only problem is, I also referenced Frozen 2 in my sermon last week and while I told you that you all needed to go see if because it was full of sermon example after sermon example after sermon example...I wasn’t planning on referencing it two weeks in a row! But it was so fitting for this Baptism of our Lord Sunday. So excuse me as I bring up this children’s movie two weeks in a row.

But in the movie, Olaf the magical snowman, is sharing random facts and he says that the water we drink has passed through at least 4 different humans and animals and somehow, through it all, the water retains the memory. It seems like an aside but actually becomes one of the main plots of the movie as the characters uncover the past through magical water, freezing into still-frame ice sculptures of the past -- because the water has memory.

Now, after the movie I thought...does water really have memory? After a quick, google the answer is “no.” The idea that water has memory was actually introduced by a French scientist whose name I can’t pronounce in 1988 - proposing that water molecules still retain a sort of memory of other substances they have come in to contact with - even after being heavily diluted. But the real fact is that this just isn't’t true. Despite homeopathy using this pseudoscience to support their actually unsupported claims, the scientific community has rejected the concept of water memory. Molecules just don’t work in this way. So despite being incorrect science, the concept still makes for a good fairy tale.

And, actually, while it may be a false scientific statement, I would argue that the concept that Water has Memory would be a true theological statement - I’m not talking about how molecules work or anything about the actual water, really...but I am talking about how we understand water as a theological concept - specifically, the waters of our baptism.


Today is The Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, the Sunday every year in the Christian calendar when we recount Jesus’s baptism and have a service of remembrance for our Baptism. Jesus was baptized to align himself with us, with humanity, with sinners - and as a voice from heaven says “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” when Jesus came up from the waters of the Jordan - we know that in our baptism, we are aligning ourselves with Christ in our baptism and know that in it, God claims as as beloved children of the Divine as well.

Now, in our Baptismal rite, there is a beautiful part of the liturgy where we recount the memory of the baptismal waters. We give thanksgiving over the waters as we recount the many wondrous deeds and salvific acts of God through water.

We remember.

We remember when nothing existed by chaos and God’s Spirit swept across the waters of the deep and brought forth creation.

We remember the waters of the flood and the promise of the rainbow in the sky.

We remember the parting of the Red Sea and God’s people being brought out of slavery, through water, and into freedom.

We remember crossing the waters of the Jordan and entering the promised land.

We remember the waters of the womb in which Jesus, God incarnate, was nourished

We remember the water in which John baptized Jesus.

We remember.

And we ask the Holy Spirit to pour into the baptismal waters before us and through the gift of water and the power of The Spirit to help us remember - to remember that in our baptism we are claimed as God’s beloved, that in our baptism, we have been offered grace, and in our baptism, we become a part of the greater story of salvation - remembered through the waters.

And, for at least this moment, the moment where we as the people of God, the Baptized, are gathered together, where the Holy Spirit is present, and where we are remembering...this water holds all those memories. The Baptismal Waters have Memory. And they remind us - they tell us - of God’s saving acts, of our title as Beloved Child of God, of our alignment with Christ.

For our Baptism is a participating in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of our Lord -- we align ourselves with Christ fully - something we also remember as we share the bread and cup in Holy Communion--- we believe that the Baptismal Waters, full of the Holy Spirit, Full of the Power of Memory, well, they fill us with the reality of what it means to share in the body of Christ - that we are a part of Christ’s body, a part of the mystery of the incarnation, called to the ministry of the least and the lost, alongside Jesus, that we are one in Christ, the only body Christ has in this world, that we, with Christ, have died to sin and death and that we, with Christ, the first fruit of the Resurrection, await the resurrection of the dead and God’s Kingdom of Peace.

Woah.

If my sermon just took a hard turn into the mystical, I hope you’re still with me. Because, yes, the theological concept of water having memory, of what happens in Baptism, it is mystical, it is mind boggling, it’s why we call the Sacraments a Mystery - because God works in holy and mysterious ways. And, it is beautiful. It is soul-nourishing and strengthening. And these Baptismal waters remember - and help us remember - we are beloved children of God, we are one in Christ, we are co-laborers with Christ in the story of salvation.

So today, you will be invited to come and remember your Baptism and then to share in Holy Communion. To dip your hands in this water, to bring the water to your forehead, and let its power, it’s memory - wash over you. You will be invited to take a stone from the water as well if you wish, to carry with you as a tangible way to remember your baptism. Then you will be invited to join in Communion, to remember Christ’s salvific acts, to taste, see, and remember the Goodness of the Lord.

And you are invited, when you leave this place, to remember the power and memory of water. We who live on the shores of Lake Erie know the power of water - it’s why after a hard day many of us may find ourselves at the water’s edge: letting the sounds of the waves wash over you, bringing memory, comfort, and peace. When you look at the waves of Lake Erie, when you are nurtured or sustained by water, when you wash yourself with it, when it falls from the sky, nourishing the earth - let the memory of water wash over you, too. Let it remind you of God hovering over the waters, God guiding God’s people to freedom, Jesus, nurtured in the waters of the womb, baptized in the Jordan. And let it remind you of your baptism - that you are beloved, that you are a child of God, that you are part of the Body of Christ.

Because Water Has Memory.

Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving for Easter Sunrise

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

God of the Easter Morning, Of Life, New Beginnings, and Sunrises - it is right, a good, and joyful thing to give praise to you. To gather together in the early hours of the dawn as women gathered at your tomb and encountering you this Easter morning.

We remember how Jesus, on his last night with his disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus gathered to eat with his friends. And on that night before Jesus died, when he was gathered together with his disciples, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you,
do this in remembrance of me."
When the supper was over, he took the cup, blessed it, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant,
poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

We also remember how you went to the cross, was buried, and then three days later defeated death. It is in awe and wonder, praise and thanksgiving that we offer ourselves up as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s sacrifice for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Holy, Loving God, pour out your Spirit on us gathered here
And on these gifts of bread and juice.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ
That we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,
With the Holy Spirit in your holy church,
All honor and glory is yours, Almighty God,
Now and forever, Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving for Lent 4A

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

God of the Wilderness, it is with thankful hearts that we praise for in all your Majesty - all seeing, all knowing, all present.

After Jesus’s baptism, he went into the wilderness to prepare for his ministry and to learn better Who he was, the Son of Man, God incarnate. God enfleshed, living as we live.

We too are in the wilderness in our Lenten journey, trying to tell left from right, up from down, confused and bombarded on all sides. Give us a safe, restful place to process, lead us beside the still waters. And help us too, to open our eyes and our hearts to new ways of seeing and new ways of living - as you showed us in the example of Jesus.

On his last night with his disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus gathered to eat with his friends. And on that night before Jesus died, when he was gathered together with his disciples, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you,
do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup, blessed it, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant,
poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

It is in awe and wonder, praise and thanksgiving that we offer ourselves up as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s sacrifice for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Holy, Loving God, pour out your Spirit on us gathered here
And on these gifts of bread and juice.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ
That we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,
With the Holy Spirit in your holy church,
All honor and glory is yours, Almighty God,
Now and forever, Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving For Lent 3A

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
God of the Wilderness, it is with thankful hearts that we praise for in all your love and Glory - that you are ever reaching out to us - even in the Wilderness of our hearts.

After Jesus’s baptism, he went into the wilderness to prepare for his ministry and to learn better Who he was, the Son of Man, God incarnate. God enfleshed, living as we live.

We too are in the wilderness in our Lenten journey, too prone to isolating ourselves, too prone to thinking we can do this alone. Save us from ourselves - may we find surprising connection and companionship in you, each other, and our neighbors. Help us experience you in the Wilderness, experience Jesus in our lives.

On his last night with his disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus gathered to eat with his friends. And on that night before Jesus died, when he was gathered together with his disciples, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you,
do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup, blessed it, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant,
poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

It is in awe and wonder, praise and thanksgiving that we offer ourselves up as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s sacrifice for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Holy, Loving God, pour out your Spirit on us gathered here
And on these gifts of bread and juice.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ
That we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,
With the Holy Spirit in your holy church,
All honor and glory is yours, Almighty God,
Now and forever, Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving for Lent 2A

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

God of the Wilderness, it is with thankful hearts that we praise for in all your Majesty - that which we know and that which we cannot know.

After Jesus’s baptism, he went into the wilderness to prepare for his ministry and to learn better Who he was, the Son of Man, God incarnate. God enfleshed, living as we live.

We too are in the wilderness in our Lenten journey, looking to the hills for help; asking questions with Nicodemus; trusting in you. You, the God that we know and yet cannot know. Help us experience you in the Wilderness. And we do come to know you better through the example of Jesus.

On his last night with his disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus gathered to eat with his friends. And on that night before Jesus died, when he was gathered together with his disciples, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you,
do this in remembrance of me."
When the supper was over, he took the cup, blessed it, gave it to his disciples and said:

"Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant,
poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

It is in awe and wonder, praise and thanksgiving that we offer ourselves up as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s sacrifice for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Holy, Loving God, pour out your Spirit on us gathered here
And on these gifts of bread and juice.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ
That we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,
With the Holy Spirit in your holy church,
All honor and glory is yours, Almighty God,
Now and forever, Amen.

Post General Conference 2019 Sermon (Transfiguration Sunday)

Luke 9:28-43a

“In the Valley”

Preached March 3, 2019 at Vermilion Grace United Methodist Church

Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday of Epiphany before Lent begins. Every year on this Sunday, we hear from one of the Gospels how Jesus went up a mountain top with his disciples and they saw him transformed - transfigured - which I learned means to transform into something more beautiful or elevated. Transfigured - what a beautiful word, how beautiful must the sight of Jesus been, his divinity on display. Dazzling, filled with glory. That same dazzling beauty that made Moses hide his face, that, according to Exodus, made the skin on his face shine. It is the kind of beauty that would make you want to stay awhile to appreciate the view - not just the view of a mountaintop, God’s glory - that which I see and stare at and appreciate when I am at the top of a mountain! Like this mountain view that made my heart just want to burst forth with “How Great Thou Art!” but also to see God, God’s self, in beauty and glory and splendor that we cannot imagine.

This is what we remember this Transfiguration Sunday.

But for me, there is only one problem -

Friends, I feel so far from the mountain top.

Last week the General Conference of the United Methodist Church met in St. Louis and in what was, for me and many, a heartbreaking decision, voted not only to keep our current exclusive language surrounding LGBTQ inclusion in the church in matters of ordination and marriage, but we also strengthened our penalties for pastor’s who have charges filed against them and tightened Board of Ordained Ministry requirements.

My friends, this valley is low and dark.

The pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in America shared an article this week where he said he would have doubts about getting through the ordination process with our new rules - let along young, called, and equipped LGBTQ leaders who are trying to follow God’s call to serve their church.

I can’t even see the path to the top of the mountain.

Another leader in the denomination, Tom Berlin whose “Defying Gravity” sermon series we studied last October, said that the passed Traditionalist plan is a virus that we are injecting into the system of The United Methodist Church and will make us very sick.

The sunlight is hard enough to see through the trees, let alone the glory of God shining bright.

And this vote was not just a vote for the Traditionalist plan, but a vote against the One Church Plan, the plan that allowed conservative pastors and churches to remain conservative and hold their stance on same-sex weddings and ministers while allowing progressive clergy and pastors a way forward - the only way many believed that United Methodists could stay united. A plan that it is reported, over 70% of U.S. United Methodist Churches supported.

God! Do you hear me in this valley?

And even if you agree with the Traditionalists Plan’s and The United Methodist Church’s stance on same-sex weddings and LGBTQ ordination - and I want to say that I WANT to be in Church with you all still, I WANT The United Methodist Church to be a big tent Church where all are welcome, and those who disagree can sit down and talk and listen and love one another...But even if you agree with General Conference’s decision, which I know there are people in our church who do -

I want you to not tune this sermon out. I want you to not get angry with me and spend the rest of the time thinking about how you will give me a rebuttal. I want you to listen to my grief. To listen to the grief of our fellow LGBTQ United Methodists. I want you to open your ears and your heart to what God has to teach us at the intersection of this week’s Gospel lesson and the events in our denomination. Friends, please, stay with me. Let us work through this TOGETHER as a church.

And I want you to recognize the harm we have done and the blow to the witness of the Gospel and our Church that we have done to ourselves.

This past week, at one point over 35,000 people were watching our livestream. Newspapers and news channels, national and local aired stories and clips of the infighting in the United Methodist Church. On a National level, people saw how we the people call Methodists treat each other (and we know it can happen at the local level too) and how we treat those who are asking to be loved and accepted - and a whole lot of people saw this, saw us, our congregation representated, and said, “No thank you.”

We want to be a church with young families? How can we expect them to darken our doorstep after the General Conference? Social media was filled with young people who were eyeing the United Methodist Church and now want nothing to do with us. During General Conference, in about 12 hours, over 15,000 United Methodists under the age of 35 signed a petition imploring the Church to listen to our voices and accept the One Church Plan. This statement was then read from the Conference floor. These voices were ignored. Why would any young person want to go a to a church where they weren’t listened to, respected, and loved for who they are?

Dear Lord - I am hurting today. I am mourning. I am angry. I am sad. I am raw. And I know a lot of United Methodists - gay, straight, whatever - are in this valley with me! Are you in this valley? Or if you’re not hurting over THIS - have you ever been in a valley? Have you ever lost something or someone you loved dearly? Have you ever been mourning? Have you ever wondered if you would ever make it to the mountain top to see the glory of God again? Have you ever had the only thing that reminds you of your baptism been the tears that you’ve cried? Have you ever been lost or afraid? Sick or hurt? Dismayed and angry? Have you ever prayed that God would take your valley and transfigure your pain into something beautiful?

Well, here is the Gospel message for you today. Here is the Good News.

Jesus did not stay on the mountain top. He came down to the valley.

I find it interesting that in this week’s lectionary reading, it is an option to read past verse 36. That is, we could, if we chose, end today’s reading on the mountain top. As readers, it’s optional to stop at the top. But we know in life, we have peaks but we spend most of our time in the valley, it is not optional for us, we have to come down - and Jesus joins us here.

Jesus comes down from the mountain, goes into the valley, and immediately encounters the world’s pain:

Great crowds seeking direction.

A man pleading for his son’s life

A child, sick and helpless

A generation, faithless and lost


And yet, Jesus chooses to not stay on the mountain top, but comes down from the peak and all it’s glory and worship and he comes down into the valley and he heals this child and Scripture says “all were astounded at the greatness of God.”

I like the Common English Bible translation here that says: “Everyone was overwhelmed by God’s greatness.”

If we just took at that last sentence: “Everyone was overwhelmed by God’s greatness” and polled people - does this take place on the mountain top or in the valley? I bet a lot of us would vote “mountain top.”

But the Gospel, the Good News, is that this takes place in the valley!

In the valley we can be overwhelmed with God’s glory - in the valley we can catch glimpses of the transfiguration that happens on the mountain top - in the valley, in the midst of sickness and grief and our day to day world with its divisions and exclusions and pain - Christ does not abandon us but brings us healing.

Just as those in the valley saw the glory of God in Jesus, so we in the valley catch glimpses of what the mountain top is like, we catch glimpses of the Kingdom of God. We catch glimpses of what it will be like to meet God face to face - indescribable beauty. We catch glimpses of what it will be like when all of our WORLD is transfigured! When our Churches are transfigured! When the pain and hurt and trauma and sin is removed from us and we are all made dazzlingly beautiful before God! - but we can’t stay on the mountain top. We live. We breathe. We are in relationship with each other in the valley, in the midst of the grief, pain, and suffering of our world.

The Church exists in the valley. We are not called to ministry and mission on the mountain top - no! We cannot stay there! We cannot pitch tents there to worship God! We must come down from the valley - we must leave the doors of this building - and go into a generation that is lost, seeking meaning! Into the crowd of those who are weeping! Into the crowd of those who are crying out for love and acceptance! Into our broken world AND our broken churches!

AND it is our job as followers of Christ in the Valley to share glimpses of that beautiful transfiguration, of the Kingdom of God to everyone else down here with us. WE are called to be the mountaintop. WE are called to view each other, to view EVERYONE, as Christ views them - beautifully transfigured. WE are called to help the world see the Church transfigured! Not to be a church of exclusion, clergy trials, punishment, and schism - but a church transfigured into something so beautiful that it overwhelms us with the Glory of God.

I want people to come to know Christ not in spite of the church but because of us!!

And so once again, I come to today’s Good News:

Christ is with us in the valley.

With the help of Christ, we will, one day, reach that glorious mountain top and stay there…

Christ views all of God’s children, including you and me, including those who feel so far away from God, and including beautiful, fabulous LGBTQ children of God - in the shining light of his love and glory.

And Christ invites all of us to this table - a shining reminder of the Mountain top in the valley - a table that no one is ever excluded from - a table where all are equal at the feet of Jesus, a table that know no limits, no boundaries, it knows no dividing lines of age, race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, class...it only knows love and acceptance.

And so as we, in the midst of our valleys, as we come to the table today, let us catch a glimpse of our lives, the Church, the world, transfigured - and then let us leave from this table with a vision to make it so.

Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving for Baptism of the Lord Sunday

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right and a good and joyful thing to give thanks to our God, creator of all things.
God’s Breathe swept over the waters of chaos, bringing forth life.
God’s Spirit entered into the water of the womb,
bringing forth the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

A newborn child, water, breathe, bread, cup, wine -
God’s presence fills and speaks to us through the ordinary.

When Jesus was baptized, he took his place among us,
sinners and your Spirit anointed him to bring Good News
of life, love, salvation, healing, and freedom to the world.

And so, on the night before he gave himself up for us,
he was gathered together with his disciples at a table like this,
he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread,
gave it to his disciples and said:
"Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you,
do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup, blessed it, gave it to his disciples and said:
"Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the New Covenant,
poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

It is in awe and wonder, praise and thanksgiving 
that we offer ourselves up as a holy and living sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s sacrifice for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

God of our Baptism, pour out your Spirit on us gathered here

And on these gifts of bread and juice.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ

That we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.

By that same Spirit, remind us of our shared identity as Christ’s Beloved Children,
bestowed upon us by our Baptism.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, 

With the Holy Spirit in your holy church,

All honor and glory is yours, Almighty God,

Now and forever, Amen.