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.