conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

and...scene!

Okay. I made it through the service. I was told that I evenually turned as pale as the white robe I wore. Yay. I did break into a cold sweat somewhere during the communion service. Yeah. So, I came home and collapsed on the couch. Done.

Thanks to Larry for leading services tonight at Reconciler. There is no way I could do it.

Trish and I leave early tomorrow for Virginia. We fly out of Midway. We'll spend most of our time in Doswell where the internet is still but a myth. I'll blog from Lynchburg. I know that makes you all feel better.

Note: Thieves, we will have a sitter come and take care of our three ravenous beasts. This is not your opportunity to come over and steal the piano. Really.

See y'all around!

sermon: jesus stayed behind

Sermon: Jesus Stayed Behind
The First Sunday of Christmas, 2006
Community Church of Wilmette

Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

This is from a BBC on-line article:

A small group of Iraqis witnessed the execution in a spartan concrete-lined chamber at an Iraqi compound known by the Americans as Camp Justice in the suburb of Khadimiya.

They watched as a judge read out the sentence to Saddam Hussein, 69. The former Iraqi leader was carrying a copy of the Koran and asked for it to be given to a friend.

Footage broadcast later on Iraqi state TV showed a subdued Saddam Hussein being led to gallows by a group of masked men.

He was dressed in a white shirt and dark overcoat, rather than prison garb.

Saddam Hussein was led up onto the gallows platform and a dark piece of cloth placed around his neck, followed by the noose.

When the hangman stepped forward to put the hood over his head, Saddam Hussein made it clear he wanted to die without it…

Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, who witnessed the execution, told the BBC that the former leader went to the gallows quietly:

"We took him to the gallows and he was saying some few slogans. He was very, very, very, broken." (link)

This moment in history is one of the more momentous for me...for many of us I presume. I have been following the trial and the invasion for its duration. Like many people, I learned most of what I know about Saddam Hussein after the first Gulf War and the months leading up to the second Gulf War. Since those moments he has become an almost daily fixture in my life. Newspapers write about him. The television stations broadcast story after story about him…and the ruthless tyranny he held over the people of Iraq…the tens of thousands of people he killed. There is little if anything laudable about his public life that we know about. He was a brutal killer.

And yet the responses to his execution have been mixed. Most, truth be told, have been expressions of pride in the action taken by the courts. This is the fruition of an autonomous nation taking care of its own business. This is an act of justice, the voices say. Others have been voices of vengeance, or questions about why the Arab people would allow an invading nation to hang one of their own. Opinions vary. Loyalties vary. From all the statements available, I find myself gravitating toward a statement from the Vatican…

"A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes...

"The killing of the guilty party is not the way to reconstruct justice and reconcile society. On the contrary, there is a risk that it will feed a spirit of vendetta and sow new violence.

"In these dark times for the Iraqi people, one can only hope that all responsible parties truly make every effort so that glimmers of reconciliation and peace can be found in such a dramatic situation."
- Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican Spokesman

These words from the Vatican are challenging to say the very least…and curious because they don’t deny the need for justice, peace, and a good society. They allow us (and the Iraqis) our desire for such a thing but the Vatican challenges us in how we are to go about achieving them.

And as challenging as they are to us, I believe that they are true, honest and, well, right. Somehow justice needs to be done in our world. We cannot neglect our communities, their desires or pain, whether they are local or global communities. But there are ways of caring for one another, of establishing just communities, that have the virtues and strengths of generosity, kindness, and charity.

It is in this light that I encounter the Colossians passage this morning.

3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

It is good that the government of Iraq, even occupied Iraq, was able to make this trial come to fruition. That there is this degree of autonomy is laudable.

And yet, we as humanity are to clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Paul is pretty consistent in this preaching. He says this as well:

“Do not take revenge, my friends,” says Paul in his letter to the Romans, “but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This gives us a way to begin thinking differently about revenge…and justice.

What is always interesting to me in the reading of scripture is to take a step back and think about what is not being said within it. Confusing? Perhaps. But it is important to think about what prompts such a teaching from Paul. The Bible is not a rulebook so much as it is a narrative and guide. Everything within it is written for and from Christian community. So, for Paul to write such things as Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 3:14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Perhaps this needs saying to the Colossians and the Romans. Perhaps teaching like this is necessary because of the brokenness of the communities. Perhaps there are simply underlying questions for these communities. “What do we do to be just?” they may have wanted to know. "What do we do with our criminals?"

These struggles were present in the life of faith then, as they are now. And they are to be a shared struggle. We cannot go blindly onward individually in the midst of such questions and troubles. We must sit with one another, bear with one another, forgive one another, and love one another through these conversations.

Like Christ in the Temple, we are to sit and talk about the Word of God, to speak of tradition and faith with our peers and our teachers. We must debate with one another and learn from one another, be willing to be changed by one another. It is this willingness that is holy. This is how we are all transformed. The boy Jesus learned from others. We too must learn. The Rabbi Jesus taught others. We too are called to teach.

We can debate whether or not Saddam Hussein had such a will…to learn, to be taught, and to be changed. I am fearful that he did not. I pray that in the end, in his brokenness, he had even the glimmer of such a will. And I pray that God has not left his soul now, even after he has been killed by the state.

What Saddam failed to understand is that there is no difference in the value of one human being over another in the eyes of God. This perceived imbalance of value from one person to another, led to tyranny…cruelty and evil. It led to his demise…he fell from one system of injustice where he held total power into another system in which he held almost none.

At Christmas we remember that Jesus is born to save us all. God comes to us in the flesh, to show us how much he values us all, each one of us without exception. A community that tells this story again and again, sings these hymns and psalms again and again, should and will puzzle over what justice then means.

And, if God blesses us, we will find that Christ is born within our community and justice and mercy are given new birth.

sleep test

Justin did it first.

Find your own pose!

I am still stumbling along. Strep blows. I will me making no appearances at any Christmas/New Year parties this weekend. Today I will write something like a sermon...and that article...right.

hussein is dead.

Here is the story from CNN.

strep

Bring on the antibiotics!

Urf.

urggle

I am sick.

Yeah...went to a morning meeting then to the office. My throat closed up and my sinuses followed. Yay. So, I slept for three hours in my scrubs. I've just finished some chicken soup and crackers. Next I'll go back to bed or pass out on the couch. Both sound inviting.

The Heroes marathon is on. It's almost good. I'll likely put Firefly in soon. I received the entire series for Christmas. I love the show.

So, there is work to do. I have a sermon and an article to write. And then I have to revise the first two chapters of my thesis. My editor, Sarah, sent the draft back this week (Thank you, Jesus.). That was a lovely Christmas gift! I'll revise the chapters over my Virginia trip...if I can talk Trish into letting me bring the laptop.

Y'all have a good night.

pax

Gerald Ford is dead at 93. I remember him...heh...I was six when he left office. Somehow I remember him as kind. I don't know why. Chevy Chase should show up to the funeral. He owes the Ford family both his career and his recovery.

"He is survived by his wife, Betty, 88; three sons, Michael, Jack and Steven; and a daughter, Susan."

here's to the idiots...

This is an interesting article about blogging...and how it does not measure up to print media in terms of content.

Are blogs here just to entertain the mob?

Nobody wants to be an imbecile. Part of it, I think, is that everyone likes shows and entertainments. Mobs are exciting. People also like validation of what they already believe; the Internet, like all free markets, has a way of gratifying the mediocrity of the masses.

Interesting. We could apply this rule to a lot of things and ask ourselves about business or church or government.

feast of the nativity...

Good morning and Merry Christmas! Trish is asleep. We awoke at 4:30 just because, and while trying to convince ourselves to turn over and go back to sleep, there came the strangest sound from the fireplace. Santa? No, it would seem that Mike the Cat frightened poor old Santa away. We had lit a fire when we got home from the service and the gates to the fireplace were open. Mike crawled in to the now cool fireplace to see what it was all about. Soot everywhere. And we were up.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
-- Isaiah 9:6-7

So, now it is eight in the morning and we are awake. Well, I am. Trish, as I mentioned, has gone back to sleep. We regressed a bit last night and inflated the airmattress so we could sleep next to the Christmas tree. Trish made cookies and watched Harry Potter, the first movie. I passed out. Exhausted.

The service went really well. I compulsively took notes for myself for next year's service. We'll have a review in January as soon as I can muster up the help. No point in doing a review by myself.

The gifts we opened were all lovely...lots of orange for me, orange clothes that is. Lovely!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support the last couple of days. I appreciate it. And thank you all for the kind gifts. I'll be calling many of you today to say so, but I wanted to write it since I was thinking about it.

Danke.

I received one very surprising gift. A parishoner gave me his collection of bluegrass LP's. He had not listened to them in years, so he figured I would get more out of it. These albums are great. Follow the extended link for the list.

Have a very merry Christmas, everyone.

The Blue Sky Boys - double album of recordings from the 30's and 40's
Jean Carignan at the Newport Folk festival
Buck Stone and Range Company (self-titled)
Jim & Jesse, Live In Japan - double album
Jim & Jesse, The Jim & Jesse Story - double album
Prarie Union, Who Are Those Guys?
Leon Russle & New Grass Revival, The Live Album (HOLY COW!!!!)
The Seldom Scene, Act 1
John Hartford, Slumberin' on the Cumberland
Tulla Ceili Band, Ireland Green (Not bluegrass, but also...Holy Cow!!)
Bryan Bowers, The View from Home
Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, Blue Grass Style
The Dillards, Decade Waltz
The David Grisman Quintet (self-titled)
The David Grisman Rounder Album
David Grisman, Early Dawg
Country Cooking, Barrel of Fun
Charlie Monroe, Who's Calling You Sweetheart Tonight
The Original and Great Carter Family, All-Time Country Hits
Fox Hollow 10th Anniversary Album
Flatt & Scruggs, Greatest Hits
Flatt & Scruggs, The Golden Era
Flatt & Scruggs (self-titled)
Fiction Brothers, Things Are Coming My Way
Jack Tottle, Back Road Mandolin
Hylo Brown sings blue grass with 5 string banjo
The Hotmud Family, Buckeyes in the Briar Patch
New Grass Revival, Barren County
New Grass Revival, Fly Through the Country
New Grass Revival, Too Late To Turn Back Now
New Grass Revival (self-titled)
New Grass Revival, When The Storm Is Over
The McPeak Brother (self-titled)
The Louvin Brothers (self-titled)
Lilly Brothers & Don Stover, Early Recordings
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Michigan Bluegrass
New Lost City Ramblers, Moonshine and Prohibition
Paul Martin and his Old-Timers, Banjo in Hi-Fi
Paul Martin, Banjo Mania
Old & In The Way (Grissman, Garcia, Rowan, Kahn, Clements)
New Grass Revival, Commonwealth
The New South (self-titled) (Ricky Scaggs!)
The Seldom Scene, Act Two
The RFD Boys
The RFD Boys, RFD 2
The RFD Boys, RFD No. 3
The Skillet Lickers, Fiddle Tunes and Songs from North Georgia

And several compendiums from the Library of Congress, National Geographic and others...

There you go...I'll be listening forever. Thank you.

sermon: any ideas?

When you walk into the house you can smell the cookies. The aroma of chocolate and vanilla, sugar and spice (I like ginger best of all.) waft through the air.

Someone I love scurries around the house, wrapping and baking and hiding offerings of love in some closet or even, cleverly, in plain sight. There is hustle and bustle...
And music playing...Still, Still, Still
or
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.
Stories and music - spun sound and silences
a tapestry that is Christmas.

As I peer about the house I see childhood phantoms
in the glitter of lights and the sparkle of ornaments.
Santa Claus has a prominent place on our tree.
So, too, do pixies and sprites
handblown glass, and Wonder Woman
and memories...always memories.

You would think that all the ditractions of the Holiday
would keep the memories at bay, would give even them something else
to do for a while.
But no.

The more decorations
The more chocolate and spice
and especially the music
The greater the memories.
They flood back with a life all their own.
Sometimes cheeful,
Sometimes fearful,
Sometimes...just memories.

I even have memories
that belong to others
at my house.

My father tells a story of he
and his brother careening down the stairs
only to find coal and switches...
and how he and his little
brother bawled...and their parents
panicked, quickly opening the doors
to the parlor of that big
old house to reveal a tree
and gifts from Santa.
"Maybe Christmas is not the time
for practical jokes."
My father laughs now.

I remember the fur coat my mother got one year...
she was seventeen.
I love that coat...even though I've
never seen it. The world was set right
with that coat. You may know the one.

Memories have a love all their own at Christmas.
the good, the bad
And maybe they should.
Maybe it is right that they do.
Because maybe their foolish honesty
inspires us to find God anew.

Tonight there is a memory among us.
And, like the other it too has a life
of its own...perhaps more than others.
No.
This is the memory that gives life to all others...
the memory of a child born
of a young mother
the very first memory the world
ever had was so strong
was so alive,
"In the beginning was the Word."
That it was "made flesh."
"For unto us a child was born!"
For unto us a memory came alive, was born among us...
walked among us
lived and died with us
and rose again, as memories do...
a Holy Memory.

And from that memory, ideas were born...handed down,
passed from generation to generation and more memories
came to be...
They are preserved in our poetry and stained glass
our songs and candle light
our relationships.
These are the brothers, sisters and children of
that first memory. Some of them it seems
have inherited its power.
And they have changed the world.

God bless our memories...

We need the memories
We need the ideas
the fruit and fodder
of the imagination.
May God bless our old memories
the ones wandering freely in our
homes our kitchens
in this sanctuary.
Amd may God be born in
our new ideas, crafting new memories,
making them Holy.

Grace,
peace,
and all good things
this eve and every eve.
Amen.

sermon: knowing mary

Well, this is the first of two offerings for the day. Follow the extended link to read the text. More to come!

Sermon: The Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2006
Community Church of Wilmette

Knowing Mary

Welcome to the Fourth Sunday of Advent…

I need to ask you all to do a favor for me if you can. I need you to hold on tight. Because, believe it or not, it is not yet Christmas. Some of us, maybe a precious few, are finished with our shopping. And for you, it may seem like God has indeed arrived! But for us as a worshiping body, it is still Advent. This is the fourth Sunday of Advent.

We have heard story upon story this season; stories of the end times, of a baptizer named John, of prophets and preachers. We have waited, pondered and prepared. Now it is Sunday, December 24th, the Eve of Christmas. We are so close, and maybe some of us want to dive in and open our gifts.

When I was a little boy we were allowed to open a single gift on Christmas Eve...in hopes that it would stave off the excitement for just a little while. Perhaps it would keep us from awaking our parents at four in the morning. As you can imagine, it never worked. So, I am asking you all not to open a gift early. I want you all to let the excitement build.

Hold on to Advent just a little while longer! There is one more story to hear, one more person to get to know...and she is a wondrous lady...Mary, the mother of Jesus.

What do we know about Mary? We know that she was a maiden, likely 13 to 16 years of age…and unmarried in a culture where her life was at risk because of being pregnant out of wedlock. Joseph could have abandoned her. Her family could have turned her out…even her cousin, Elizabeth. Simply making that journey to visit her cousin could have been dangerous.

Her entire country was oppressed, occupied by another nation...Herod is king...The Romans rule. And though her religion at this time in history is still allowed expression, she is decidedly a second-class citizen, a woman and an Israelite.

We also know Mary is the only person in scripture present at Jesus' birth, death and resurrection. She gives birth to him. She weeps at the foot of the cross. She witnesses the empty tomb.

We know that she has been the object of adoration and conflict. Some of what separates Protestants from the rest of Christianity is our comparative neglect of Mary. Some suggest we do not even know her at all.

So, then it is interesting to note that evangelicals in America are starting to take her seriously again. We are evangelicals, by the way, at least historically...if not in our current posture. Perhaps then we too should begin to reacquaint ourselves with Mary.

Questions arise for me. Is this inquiry is the fruit of ecumenism? Is this interest the result of the voices of the Emergent Church? Or is it that there is a hole in our theology? Again, though we are not particularly conservative, we are evangelicals. Have we missed something by our neglect of Mary? Is there a gap that getting to know Mary would help us fill?

We may be paying little or no attention to the witness of Jesus' mother, Mary. We loose something of the man Jesus by doing so.

Often, as our art and hymnody express, we think of Mary only at Christmas, as if her only function in the life of the church was the biological act of giving birth to Jesus. Once we journey away from the manger, her influence is over. We sing songs about how gentle and lowly she was, how sweet, meek, mild she was. We see images of her cradling the infant in her arms or in her lap in our artwork.

In the West we have this passive and submissive version of Mary...sweet and lowly, dressed in blue. We forget what other Christians express more clearly…her role as one of the apostles, as a teacher and leader of the church.

Father Patrick Reardon, an Orthodox priest and scholar, suggests something interesting about Mary and her history. He is curious about the historical origins of the nativity narrative itself. You see, the only scriptural narratives we have of the history of Jesus' life before his Baptism by John in the Jordan are found in the gospel accounts from Luke and Matthew. Thus, these two accounts are literary rarities. In Acts and in Paul's letters, all evangelical preaching begins the story of Jesus at the Baptism by John. No epistles mention an earlier period in Jesus' life. In no other place than the two Gospels do we find the nativity narratives. So, Patrick Reardon wonders, where do we get this information? Where did the stories originate? Perhaps, he suggests, from Mary herself. This is a generous interpretation, to be certain, but it offers us a wonderful portrait of who Mary was.

The Eastern Orthodox Tradition holds that Mary was the first Christian, the first follower of God, the first to accept Jesus for who he was, to open up her life in a profound and transforming way...She does so in accepting her role in the nativity narrative…

The girl who stood before her cousin and proclaimed the words sung for us this morning is the mother of Jesus. What we glimpse in the words from Luke's gospel this morning are the beliefs ascribed to Mary by an oral tradition she knew and shared in. These words are the core of Mary's teaching to the community. Luke remembers them for us.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.

These words are ascribed to the woman who would help teach Jesus to pray the Psalms, to go to the Temple, to be a faithful follower of God. These words are the words of the first Christian. At the very least, this is who the gospel writers understood Mary to be. She was the woman who would sing such a song as this. Getting to know Mary is to get to know the heart of Christianity. We too must learn to sing this song. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord!

Many of us are likely familiar with the slogan "What Would Jesus Do?" Maybe we've seen it on bracelets or on bumper stickers. In general, the imitation of Christ is a laudable notion. The Gospel asks it of us. Many great theologians and saints of the church have spoken and written about it.

But WWJD gets parsed out to some ridiculous extremes.

WWJVF – Who Would Jesus Vote For?
- or perhaps more appropriate for the grammarians in our midst…
- FWWJV – For Whom Would Jesus Vote?
- One of my favorites: WWJD – What Would Jesus Drive

Now these slogans seem strange, foolish even. We atomize the faith, distort it, and turn it into a series of notions about what is right and wrong. In the attempt to remember Jesus, we end up setting aside the richness of the personality of God and resort to simple slogans and catch phrases.

But perhaps there is another way to look at this gimmick. Maybe we should be thinking about Mary instead…WWMB...or WWMS.

WWMS – What Would Mary Do? No. This misses the point and we fall into the trap of the slogans about her son.
WWMB – Who Would Mary Bear? Now we are getting somewhere.

You see, Mary provides an example for us all in the clearest way possible. She opens her life to God's mystery and desire for justice and mercy. She literally welcomes Jesus into her life, becoming willing to be transformed, to be the Christbearer for the world. This is an example we can follow. This is a spiritual metaphor for us. In our own way, each of us are called to bear Christ into the world.

This call is Incarnational…physical, fleshy. We are to put flesh on God. Mary's call is tenable, available to us now...And needs to be given voice now...there is no time when such a message should be silent. We are to advocate as Mary did, to bear Christ into the world...To bring forth the transformation that is wrought in us by God into the world.

True teaching about Mary leads to Jesus, bears up Christ, makes God's presence in the world real and true.

Micah Jackson, a preacher and scholar reminded me that one person who understood this was Jonathan Myrick Daniels. Daniels was an Episcopal seminary student in Cambridge, MA in 1965. He believed he was called to go to Selma, AL and assist with the reconciliation work going on there. His biography has this to say:

Conviction of his calling was deepened at Evening Prayer during the singing of the Magnificat, [The Song of Mary]. "'He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things.' I knew then that I must go to Selma." [he writes,]. "The Virgin's song was to grow more dear to me in the weeks ahead."

On August 14th of 1965, Daniels life would come to an end. He was killed by a shotgun blast while protecting 16-year old Ruby Sales from a man who was trying to keep her from entering a convenience store. The call to imitate Mary can be dangerous...deadly. But this is because it is not a vain call, a lifeless call, or a utopian daydream. Mary is speaking living words...just as she bore Christ, the Word of God. So her words bear the truth.

Daniels was not the only minister moved by the Advent texts. Martin Luther King Jr., a good Baptist and evangelical, had a firm grasp of Mary's witness and the proper place of Advent in the world.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.

Can we see now that these men knew Mary? Their lives enfleshed God, brought God into the world?

Can we see that we are called to know Mary as well, to hear her teachings, to sit at her feet as an exemplary Christian and to work to change the world, to bring justice, to bear Christ into places where mercy has been silenced, and justice is ignored?

It may be difficult to imagine. These examples are so costly. But the call may be costly as Mary's proclamation is costly and dangerous. This is the example of the first Christian…the example of a woman, perhaps meek and mild and dressed in blue, but also a risk-taker, a prophet in her own right proclaiming the day of the Lord.

Knowing Mary gives a clearer vision of what Jesus asks of us.

Knowing Mary means that we cannot simply relegate Jesus to the realm of Good Ideas.

Knowing Mary means we too, the Church, must bear God's witness and give birth to it for the sake of the world.

To know Mary, is to bear Christ Jesus into the world. For God is our salvation, a merciful bringer of justice.

Amen.

let's keep christmas

This is the podcast from last year, but I still like it. Click on the image to listen...

Enjoy the last Sunday of Advent and your Christmas Eve!

saturday prayers

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."

-- Luke 2:25-32 (ESV)

__________________________________
The Revelation of God is not a book or a doctrine, but a living Person.

... Emil Brunner (1889-1966)

When in doubt, pray. This is what I relearn every morning as I rise. I need to still myself, to quiet my heart and mind and listen for God...even in the midst of unbelief. And unbelief comes to be certain. Even as a pastor, and a Baptist one at that (Ah, America.), unbelief comes.

I made good headway on the Advent Four sermon. It is good to hear that others are also doing well. I am going to type up the handwritten stuff and see where I am. Then I'll go to the office to work some more. I have the Christmas Eve meditation on the back burner. It should be ready this afternoon...if all goes well.

I was praying the morning service from Oremus and these passages came to the fore for me.

A Song of the Covenant (Isaiah 42:5-8a)

Thus says God, who created the heavens,
who fashioned the earth and all that dwells in it;

Who gives breath to the people upon it,
and spirit to those who walk in it,

'I am the Lord and I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

'I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind.

'To bring out the captives from the dungeon,
from the prison, those who sit in darkness.

'I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other.'

It is good to know that Mary is in such wondrous company.

If we are so consumed with thinking about Christmas
that we have little consideration
of the meaning of the first Christmas,
forgive us and give us insight.

And thus it is this year. I hope that with each following year, this will become easier, a little more automatic. But we'll see.

Simeon has words of wisdom, and the quotation is a great reminder as well. This baby that we honor this weekend, he is not an idea. And for most Christians, he's not just an interesting and intelligent man from two thousand years ago. This is God, the person, the manifestation of the being whom God has always been. And as hard as that is to recall in the midst of worship planning, that is the truth of it...and that is the burden of it.

Peace to you all today. If the weather is threatening, drink cocoa. That's my plan.

a review

And here you have it, kids! If you are in Chicago in the next couple of weeks, go see the show.

“Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer”
Written by David Cerda
A Hell in a Handbag production at Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., through Dec. 30
Tickets: $15
Phone: (773) 883-1090

By Brian Kirst
Contributing writer

There is a reason that Hell in a Handbag’s “Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer” is on its tenth year and eighth production. It is the most outrageous slice of Christmas pie around and will get you laughing so hard that you will immediately burn off any of those nasty calories that you may have consumed.

Inspired by the Burl Ives classic, “Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer” tells David Cerda’s musical story of Rudolph, a straight, cross-dressing reindeer. Despite fear and rejection, Rudolph and his friends—Yukon Cornelia, a lobotomized victim of Santa and Herbie, the gay elf who wants to be a dentist, not a bar boy—preserve and ultimately save the day. That they do it with twisted humor, glinted political incorrectness and some groovy, mashed-up tunes, is merely ice cream to the above-mentioned tasty treat.

Tim Howard directs Cerda’s flippant extravaganza with a concentrated looseness and seeming demonic glee. Cerda’s carefree madness doesn’t always connect, but there is as much joy in the bits that fail as in those that succeed. Of those that work extremely well, there is a killer Carol Channing doll, a hysterically drunk Mrs. Claus, Madonna ass tattoos and a dangerously funny Abominable Drag Beast. Jokes about Leslie Uggams and the Crocodile Hunter are gasp and groaners, but deliciously delightful all the same. Cerda’s counter-culture instincts get great play here, too, though he does seem to bash the vacantly smooth, bar boy culture while simultaneously embracing it. There is many a hunky, half-dressed elf floating around in this production and they are seemingly one of the major reasons the audience flocks to this production in droves. Still, contradictions are an art form in themselves and Howard, Cerda and the cast embrace them enthusiastically.

Richard Banden infuses his Rudolph with a sweet determination and strength. He is met, full force, by the delightful Robyn Senchak, who practically steals the show. As Rudolph’s girlfriend Clarice, Senchak delivers a high-octane performance inspired, seemingly, by Blondie, Nabokov and Mia Zapata of The Gits. Ed Jones, as the drunken Mrs. Claus, gives Senchak a run for her money and most assuredly deserves a show of his very own someday. Gino James Generelli gives the smoothest delivery of the three buff elves and his Trailer Trash Barbie is an awesome, freakish delight that is worth the price of admission alone. Lori Lee, Patricia Austin, Aaron L. Smith and Terry McCarthy all also deliver the comic gusto with nary a sweaty brow in sight. Of course the entire cast, to varying degrees, contributes to this mighty tasty brew and it is the lucky audience who comes away drunk with pleasure.

Ultimately, “Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer” is a guaranteed delight for those who don’t take themselves or the holidays too seriously. It should also go down in the theatrical history books as a certified, alternative Chicago Christmas tradition.

into the breach

Okay...

You may see something appear here between now and Christmas...you may not.

I have two sermons to complete...One is entitled "Knowing Mary." The other, more of a meditation than a full sermon (But why are these harder?) is currently titled "Any Ideas?"

There is a space to organize.
There are meals to prepare.
There is last minutes shopping to be done.

The usual.

And it is raining to beat all this morning. The local DJ was joking about how if you had gifts hidden in the basement for your wife, you might want to find a new place to hide them. The storm that snowed in Denver is hitting us with heavy rains.

Anyway, if I don't pop in (Really, how likely is that?), have a great Holiday.

Pax.

newsworthy...

Ah, the peace of the monastery is remarkable. But it appears that not all monastics are fans of the Vatican. Kudos to The Librarian. Okay, in all seriousness...can someone explain this to me? Please? And go beyond the "not everyone in Orthodoxy likes the Pope" line.

And, just so you know, the virgin birth is a scientific reality...sorta.

Real Live Preacher is talking about reading the Bible...a "How To."

Wondrous.

rusty, but...

It went well. The gig, that is. We are so damn rusty. Oy. But the crowd was lively. Many of our fans came out to see us, braving the elements. They held us up when the strings broke, when the feedback loop caused hearing loss, when we forgot the lyrics to a tune...yeah. Some songs went wondrously. God Save Ireland was great. I Wanna Be Sedated was huge. But there were a couple of, um, challenges to our musical credibility. Yeah. That's it.

Thanks for making the show, gang! And we'll see you again soon. In spite of all, they want us back! Wahoo. So, we'll get our stuff in gear...the sound issues especially.

Pax!

band myspace

the verdict is in...

KILT! See y'all at the show tonight.

"brilliant!"

The Young Fogey says that I am "brilliant"...or something I said was. And as he was raised at least in part in the UK, I have no way of knowing which "brilliant" that is. Is it a measure of my genius? (Stifle that laughter.) Or is it that quotidian "nifty?"

Oh, it is so hard to know these things.

Oh, and I posted my sermon from Reconciler for the Third Sunday of Advent.

Follow ye the links therefore!

mary and the girls

The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us.

-John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Good morning, all. I am sitting here enjoying my coffee (Ethiopian Harrar). Trish is still snoozing. I woke up pondering Christmas Eve and the two sermons I need to deliver. The morning service, Fourth Advent, is coming along, I think. I even have a title! (Oooo!) "Knowing Mary" is what came to me last week. I want to tell her story...as much as I can, to ponder in my heart, as Mary herself does, what miracles were brought forth into the world through her willingness to be a prophet. Newman is on to something in that kind of engagement. Debating historical tidbits and their validity is not the point of sharing the story. They do little to nothing to convert the heart. Only imagination can convert. Well, perhaps. Others?

The Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols should be nice. I am ordering and reordering carols and scripture every three minutes. Sigh. OCD anyone? Heh. My sermon for that evening needs to be no more than a meditation...But it is Christmas Eve. We may have visitors. The Nativity is not something to shrug off.

In other news, One of the Girls has a gig tonight (myspace)! We have had a hard time getting together since the early summer, so Girls News has been at a lull. But not tonight! We have been getting together over the last couple of weeks. We have some new music for you...the Ramones ala The Girls. Yeah. Warm up the headbangers! We will be playing at The Horseshoe on Lincoln in Chicago.

One Of The Girls

December, 20 2006 at The Horseshoe
4115 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, Illinois
Cost : FREE
ALL AGES SHOW!

From out of the shadows....One of the Girls rides again! This time we open for Majors Junction. We are so very cool.

So, there you have it. There is, I am certain, more important news in the world...Iverson was traded to the Nuggets. We are not winning or losing the war in Iraq. XRT is playing the "worst Christmas Carols ever" today. But when One of the Girls play, it is the stuff of legend!

So, now, I need to take a poll. Do I wear the kilt tonight? Let me know!

knowing mary

Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming from tender stem hath sprung! of Jesse's lineage coming, as those of old have sung. It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind; with Mary we behold it, the Virgin Mother kind. To show God's love aright, she bore to us a Savior, when half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright, how Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night. To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger they found him, as angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air, dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere; true man, yet very God, from sin and death he saves us, and lightens every load.

This morning I have been thinking about Mary. I am preaching on the Magnificat for Fourth Advent. She presents some interesting challenges for me this year for some reason. I find her words, the Magnificat, an indictment on my life. But I cannot quite put my finger on it. Does this ever happen to you when you read the Bible? Do you ever read a verse/passage and have that kind of experience?

Jorge posted on the Virgin Birth yesterday. He is wrangling in some helpful ways about the whole virginity thing. Is that an apprpriate theological term? "Virginity Thing?" Must be early. Anyway, others have spent some time thinking about preaching on Mary. So, I know I am in good company.

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit exaults in God my Saviour..." These words from the first Christain echo in my heart. I feel as if these are words to live by...or into. I have yet to achieve such openness with God. Mary inspires me to try to live my life so that when an angel appears I not only recognize the moment for what it is...but can respond with something of her courage. Needless to say that I am very new to this journey. Angels are still a rarity for me...much less that kind of courage.

(This is an interesting article on Mary for your procrastinative enjoyment! - Ed.)

Emerging Pensees has been thinking about Mary as well. Mike, the author, is working with fellow Protestants on reclaiming Mary. It is an interesting thread. Give it a read. He was at a gathering with Scot McKnight who recently wrote a book on Mary.

I was hoping RevGalBlogPals had posted the lectionary leanings entry for the week, but they have not yet done so. They are talking about Christmas gifts for pastors from churches. And that is an interesting conversation.

BTW: Someone stole the Baby Jesus in the Garfield Park neighborhood...um, 32 to of 'em and then dropped them off in one person's yard. Can you imagine waking up to 32 baby Jesuses in your yard? Ha!! That was just reported on the radio. Wow. Chicago is a nutty place, dontcha know.

listening bar
Allison - Elvis Costello
Bigger than My Body - John Maher
Take me to the Pilot - Elton John (Is that the title?)

weekend in review

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 4:5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 4:6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

-Phillippians 4:4-7

I hope this finds everyone well. It was a good weekend here at Chateau Ouilmette. Busy...but good. Things started with Trish appearing on the cover of the Friday section of the Tribune. Hell in a Handbag was featured in an article about misfit holiday shows. Their Rudolph the Redhosed Reindeer was given a favorable mention and the paper ran a picture from the show for the article. Sadly, they have not posted the picture online. Here is the link to the article. I bought two copies. One for us. One for the church. I know. Trish calls it enabling. The secretary (All Hail!) clipped out the half-page picture and posted it on the bulletin board with the words "Open Minds" at the top. People chuckled at the placement. I was a dork and even pointed out to the concessions guy at the train station where I purchased the paper that my wife was in it. He thought it was cool...or at least convinced me he thought so. And really, does anything else matter.

My wife is cool.

Saturday a few of us from Reconciler went to the ECUSA ordinations at the cathedral in Chicago. St James is a lovely place and the Episcopalians know how to use the smells and bells. Wow. Laura, Deborah and Robert were seminary acquaintances who were ordained to the priesthood with three other people I do not know. Laura has been called to serve at Reconciler. There are a few more hoops through which we must jump, but things are looking good at this point. Keep us all in your prayers.

Ordinations are tremendous things. Congratulations to all.

Saturday afternoon was spent rehearsing the Saint-Saens piece that I spoke of in the last entry. Wondrous. I stayed home that night to relax and tweak my sermon notes for Reconciler. It was a good night as well. Trish has an early show, so she was home shortly after nine o'clock. It is good to see the wife on Saturday nights. Rare...and good.

Sunday morning went well. The Saint-Saens made for a wondrous sermon. Heh. I enjoyed singing with the choir. If you work at a smaller church but have a few good soloists in your choir, a small church with a small choir can do this piece. Check it out. We only had three or so voices per part and it went swimmingly.

I spent the afternoon tweaking my sermon for Reconciler. It went well. I'll post it later this week. I am a bit too weary to muddle my way through the notes right now. Suffice it to say that I spoke of Joy. Gaudete Sunday and all...Gaudete! Gaudete! Cristus est natus ex Maria Virgine. Gaudete! Fun. The cantor and I even sang through the old hymn once or twice before the service.

Last night Trish baked cookies. I fixed dinner. We watched The Devil Wears Prada. All in all it was a good weekend.

Peace and all good things to you!

P.S. I sang this hymn at all three services this weekend, the ordinations, and both Sunday services. If you know it, sing out!

1. People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.

2. Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.

3. Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen
God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.

4. Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way.

5. Angels, announce with shouts of mirth
Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.

Have a great day.

hmm...

You know, sometimes a guy just needs to sing. That's what I am thinking. This afternoon I rehearsed the Christmas Oratorio by Saint-Saens. Nice stuff...romantics slowly making their way to the modern have to make a pit stop at Saint-Saens. We also suggested that the entire work could be entitled "Homage to the Leading Tone." Heh. It is fun.

What is more fun is singing...actual singing. It is good to reacquaint myself with my own voice. Strange perhaps for a preacher to say. But there it is. Someone reminded me recently what advocate means...or could mean: to give voice. I guess that is a more literal translation. Who can help me here? My Latin is miserable.

The breathing...the tone, the playing with dynamics...and my most favorite, blending. You know, working your voice into those around you so that its individuality simply contributes to a whole...not that it vanishes per se, though it can seem to do that. But in listening to the voices around me, I can slide in and find where my bass-baritone can hide out or support or, if needed, add something needed at the right time. Thus, the low-c's. Not that the Saint-Saens asks for that end of my range, but there you go.

I love singing. God appears when I sing...in the "loss" of adding my voice to those around my own.

And, yes, I make a lousy soloist. Ha!

Tomorrow at Community Church we will sing in stead of the usual sermon. This is the shared sermon of the choir. Lovely. In the evening I will preach at Reconciler. It is Gaudete Sunday...the joyful Sunday. Lovely. So tomorrow I will speak about joy, Russian hermits, and Taize. I so love the Church.

god bless the life of peter boyle

some news from taize

Christ Jesus, in your Gospel we listen to the call you address to us: "Follow me". And we understand that following you is above all taking the risk of putting our trust in you.

Prayers from Taize

A pilgrimage of trust...It seems that I have missed the boat once again. Young people (Am I young anymore?) from around the world will be gathering with the brothers of Taize in Zagreb for a four day prayer vigil and retreat. Incredible. One noteworhy tidbit is that several church leaders have sent messages, epistles of a kind, to be read to the participants. And they are lovely. Patriarch Alexis of Moscow says this:

Your annual gathering is called a “pilgrimage of trust on earth”. For you the young, as for all, it is very important to look at life as a pilgrimage, undertaken in trust in God. Let us strive to remember how short the road of earthly life is. Each of us can say with David, the holy psalmist: “I live as a foreigner on the earth, do not hide your commandments from me” (Ps 119:19). The awareness that we are foreigners on the earth in no way implies pessimism or a feeling of despair. We Christians are convinced that our earthly journey does not lead to nothingness, but towards a new and eternal life. We must always remember that orienting ourselves only towards money, success, comfort and pleasure takes away life’s meaning. That road seems attractive, but inevitably it leads to a dead-end. Invite rather people of your age to entrust their lives to God; he alone can give us the fullness and the joy of living.

And there you have it...the Patriarch himself sounding more liberal than many of us so-called liberals in the us. So, in truth, his statements are not liberal at all. No. They are Christian. It is sad to me that I immediately go to the false dialectic. But I am an American after all. I live in a "versus culture." When Christianity asks me to simply be, I have to be for or against something.

Simply trust Jesus.
Got it.
Right.

In other news, Mike the cat was out all night. I locked him out on the porch. Oops. Um, so, yeah. I have been trying to make it up to him all morning. Poor bugger. He came inside and promptly threw up. Ah, cats. Ew.

Finally, I just subscribed to Geez. It is a neat magazine. Give it a gander here.

christmas 2006 - the cookie party and dinner

No knowledge, therefore, and no conceptions in this mortal life, can serve as proximate means of this high union of the love of God. All that the understanding can comprehend; all that the will may be satisfied with; and all that the imagination may conceive; is most unlike unto God, and most disproportionate to Him.

... St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), The Ascent of Mount Carmel

Last night friends came over for dinner. It was a great time. We made tons of food and cookies, tots and lots of cookies. Bridgitte and Dan are fun folk. Bridgitte is a friend of Trish's from different several shows. If you saw Caged Dames, then you saw B-Money sing Little Limping Rat. Such talent! Such skill! She and her beau are lovely people and we had quite the time last night. I have posted some images below and linked to larger versions in the gallery. Props to Mandarin Design for the code.

The meal consisted of:

Italian sausage stuffed turkey breast...the stuffing was made with green olives, sausage, walntus, prosccuito (sp) and a little fresh sage.

Asparagus
Baked sweet potatoes
homemade rolls
cheese plate
olives

Good eats.

I am at low ebb again. It is time for a wee break. I have not been to the monastery since the fall. I should try to go again this winter. I may see about another local house or two as well. Three Rivers is cool. But it is far. And if I can avoid a three hour drive, I would like to. A little silence would be good for me.

The Christmas shopping is about complete. How about yours? Have you managed to pick up all the requisite items from everyone's list? Have you sent that letter off to Santa yourself? Don't forget to do that! Or you can send it off to Amazon.com. I understand that they may put the big man out of business.

wednesday in the sun

Just as it is impossible to be at the same moment both a plant and a seed, so it is impossible for us to be surrounded by worldly honor and at the same time to bear heavenly fruit.

--Amma Syncletica

And again with the links! I am working through my first Advent as the guy in charge of a place with lots of traditions. It is an interesting ride simply trying to get all the ducks in a row. Who knew? So, I am sans any real insights lately. Sorry. Instead, I point you to this series of links about current events and other worthwhile notes.

Not eveyone is happy about the Nativity. But that's okay once you start paying attention you can share your opinion. I just hope its not a losing proposition. Peace on earth, you know. I think Advent is about the seemingly poor fit come to fruition. God and humanity mingle into something graceful.

getting ready...

I have a meeting in about 10 minutes. As always, there are some things to prepare. I am staring down the gun of three liturgies to plan in two weeks. Two of them are unusual, an oratorio and a lessons and carols. So, I am having to pick and choose around the other portions of the liturgy. It's difficult.

here we go e-wandering...

Respect is a word you hear a lot these days. Rich men command it; young men thump their chests and demand it; and old men complain if they don't get it. We need money and sometimes we want power, but our egos crave respect as much as our hearts crave love. Disrespect is so universally hated that the noun itself doesn't carry enough power to satisfy us. So we've made it into a slang verb.

"Don't you disrespect me!"

Good morning, all! Today is going to be a busy one, so I thought I would toss a few links your way. Enjoy!

Poper Benedict has something to say about nonviolence.
Non-Newtonian Fluid...the march of the penguins redux?
The Ref+ has no sermon to post? Why? He was out wassailing with the bishop. Anglicans! There's just no tellin'!
Here's a little doodad on megachurch churchishness.
Interstitiality is thinking about pop music.
How to throw out your clothes...go here.
Someone is lost in the Dells.
How do reincarnation and a mother swap have anything in common?
Counting the days until all that shopping is done!

Posted By:veni veni immanuel

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

And there you go...

sabbath part five: blessed are...

O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Blessed are you, God of mercy and might,
with tender comfort and transforming power
you come into our midst.
You remember your ancient promise
and make straight the paths that lead to you
and smooth out the rough ways,
that in our day
we might bring forth your compassion
for all humanity.
For these and all your mercies, we praise you:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Blessed be God for ever!

This week Megan, Christopher and I are blogging about Muller's chapter on blessing, It is Good. I think Megan in right...as is Christopher. Muller gives the notion of blessing very short shrift. But maybe I beleieve so because, like Christopher, I too am often asked to lay hands on people and ask for God's blessing. Perhaps. Blessing is a huge thing for me.

I have so many memories around the laying on of hands in my work. At Lutheran General, I did this every day...sometimes anointing with water in stead of oil...but asking for blessing over the living and the dead. Incredible.

At Reconciler we offer an anointing of oil at every service. Often people will come forward while we prepare the communion table to receive this blessing. Amazingly, some return the blessing to the pastor by holding or kissing the hands that have blessed. This gentle act of intimacy always moves me deeply. Bless the hands...

When the early Baptists were debating about what ordinances to keep around in the liturgical life of the church, many congregations and associations actually kept the ordinance of laying on of hands deciding that it was as important as baptism and the Lord's Supper. Sadly, that historical strain and corresponding practice seems to have waned a bit. But what a great notion! I would love to reclaim it. God's touch...Jesus blessed, healed and loved with his hands. Should we who profess to follow Jesus do any less?

Here I need to confess a certain covetousness. I recall my first Anglican/ECUSA ordination. At the end of the service, the priest(s) remain up by the communion rail. And those wishing to receive the laying on of hands by the newly ordained may do so. I stood in line and waited for my turn to receive that blessing. There are ways to possibly misconstrue this act (More mojo in the hands right after ordination?). But essentially I understand it as a mutual blessing. I bless my friends by honoring their new position in the life of the church. They bless me with their prayers. Powerful stuff. And I remember that the first time I saw this I thought "Well. Damn. This is something I will not get to do. What a sadness." I confess that was shallow and more than a little selfish.

Well, at my ordination a friend honored me greatly. Dave, a good ol' Anglo-Catholic sort, came to me at the reception immediately following the service. He and I often tease one another and our traditions. It is all in good fun. But the differences are real.

Dave is taller than I by a good six inches. He approached, congratulated me and then took off his hat and asked for a blessing. At first I laughed and figured he was teasing like we do. But he was not. He asked again in all sincerity. And there in the middle of the fellowship hall I placed my hands on his bowed head and asked for God's blessing...thanking God in my own heart for such a blessing from a friend.

Indeed, as Muller says, life is good. And often we need to be reminded of this through acts of blessing. We need to sanctify more and not less frequently. Bless the tree you decorate this season. Bless your food before you dine. Bless your pets and your children. Bless your friends. Bless those who hate you. Bless those you hate.

It is a tall order, this act of blessing. But in it we name God's work in the world.

sermon: preparing the way

Sermon: Preparing the Way
Second Sunday of Advent, 2006
Community Church of Wilmette

Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6

I want to know what preparing the way looks like.

This passage of scripture is always a puzzle for me. It is such an unusual story, if you think about it.

For our call to worship, we prayed together the Song of Zechariah. Zechariah, for those of you who do not recall, was the father of John the Baptist. Scripture tells us that he was a priest in the Temple. And when it was his turn to go into the Holy of Holies, he met the angel Gabriel. Gabriel informed Zechariah that he was to be the father of a great prophet who would announce the coming of the Messiah.

Zechariah was an old man. And like any one of us might do when visited by Gabriel, he froze in fear…and said the first thing that came to mind…which happened to be a little foolish. He simply suggested to the angel that he might be too old to be fathering a child…and that his wife too, was, well, “getting along in years.” Gabriel’s response was to strike Zechariah dumb. This, I am told, is why to this day we do not speak of a woman’s age to this very day.

Zechariah did not speak again until the day of his son’s briss. And when he did, according to scripture, the words that came from his mouth were the prophetic words that we prayed together just minutes ago.

“And you, my child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways…” (Luke 1:76)

John was to take no wine or strong drink…”The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.” (Luke 1:80)

And what an appearance!

Locusts and honey.
Camel’s hair.
And a call to salvation through repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!” Isaiah’s words ushering out of the mouth of the son of a once-mute priest. What a fabulous story!

And I stand before you this morning puzzling still over those words delivered thousands of years ago…

…I want to know what preparing the way looks like.

Perhaps it looks like the twelve steps from Alcoholics Anonymous.

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

Indeed, something like this could be a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. I know that when I first encountered these steps I did not think it was possible. I still balk when I read them all together. I still wonder how to manage such a work.

But with the help of a sponsor who said simply: Do one step a year. Just focus on one step a year. So, for one year I kept repeating: I am powerless. This is unmanageable.

(I am approaching my sixth anniversary. So, according to the schedule, I am going to ask God to remove my defects of character. If there is anything that you would like to add to this list, feel free to approach me.)

I had to learn two lessons those first months. One was humility. The other was hospitality. The first is pretty obvious. Humility has to come with any spiritual discipline. And the twelve steps are no exception. That does not make it any easier, but at least it is a guidepost set firmly at the head of the trail. Humility. I am powerless. I cannot manage my life. That is one heck of a prayer…a declaration to make to ourselves and to God.

Hospitality is the other thing I learned. I learned it from the example of my sponsor.
He approached me.
He offered himself to me.
He offered to lead me through one of the darkest times in my life. He offered to show me light if I were willing to seek it. And he never once looked upon me with anything but compassion and friendliness.

I was welcomed in. I was offered a seat at the table, a cup of coffee…and an opportunity to speak, to tell my own stories. Really, is there a greater gift? One day I asked my sponsor about this. Why? Why such treatment? And he said, “Because doing so reminds me of the journey. Helping you helps me.”

As I understand it, we are never alone in this process…this seeking and discovering of God’s work in our lives. We guide and are guided. We are hospitable…and humble.

I want to know what preparing the way looks like.

Locusts and honey, the proclamation of God’s presence in the midst of turmoil and tribulation.

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler…”

John speaks as a citizen of an occupied country. His life was in turmoil as were the lives of his fellow citizens. He speaks out of tribulation. And, as history will reveal to us, the tribulation would not end with the coming of Christ.

The Gospel is not the absence of tribulation, but the presence of the very people of God in the midst of such times pointing the way to God, shedding light in the darkness.

And John stands in the midst of the wilderness. John stands in the darkness, in the desert, in the empty places.
And, surprise, there are people there. I sometimes still find myself there in the wilderness. Perhaps sometimes you do as well. Wandering. Listening after a voice. Seeking a little guidance.

Perhaps preparing the way looks like the twelve steps with its system of admission of powerlessness and accountability for wrongs committed…Much of the gospel would suggest so. “A baptism of repentance…” The twelve steps are about repentance and forgiveness…but first, repentance.

Perhaps.

Perhaps it is simply the act of lending a hand, of being hospitable to one another, to the strangers who enter into our lives. The day that I learned to receive help, I learned to be hospitable to Christ in my life. I learned to welcome others into my life. I learned to give as I learned to receive. I never knew how to properly give until I learned that lesson. And that is the slow learning of being Christ in the life of another.

This is what the twelve steps have taught me about being Christian.

If we want to take the Twelve Steps seriously in what they may say to us as Church, then we cannot confuse hospitality with Evangelism. A friend of mine reminded me that Evangelism is advanced Christianity. It is the twelfth step of twelve. We are all called to it from the beginning, but it is more than issuing an invitation…hospitality is in it, but it is only a part of it. We must first find our own salvation…repentance and forgiveness of sins…before we can offer it to another. But offer it we must.

It is Advent…a time of hospitality.
This is a time when we invite one another
The stranger
The outcast
The burdened mother
The infant
in as Christ in our lives.

We prepare to receive God into our lives…we invite God in.

A voice cries out in the wilderness. Can we join him?
Can we grasp the hand of John the Baptist and stand at his side preparing the way?

Brothers and sisters, this is our call…our vocation as Church…to seek the hand of God and to offer it to all the world.

Advent is upon us.

Prepare the way of the Lord.

sermon preparation

Nothing is so easy to men of goodwill as goodwill itself, and this is all that God requires. Every act of goodwill permanently and sensibly increases goodwill. Trifling acts of goodwill are often more efficacious in this way than great ones. A flower given in kindness and at the right time profits more, both to giver and receiver, than some vast material benefit in which the goodwill is hidden by the magnitude of the act. Some little, sensible, individual touch from the hand of our Lord may convert the heart more than the contemplation of His death for us.

... Coventry Patmore (1823-1896), The Rod, the Root, and the Flower [1895]

Preparing a sermon is an interesting task. I have so many thoughts running through my noggin at any one time. Yesterday's readings fly in and out (Megan, sitting and reading is a lovely thing. I need to do more of it. I enjoy it so.) of my brain. Then there are links like Dylan's usual helpfulness. I like who comments on her posts and what they have to say as much as I like her posts. Real Live Preacher, various professors and the like. It can sometimes be a stunning array of preachers and teachers. Lovely.

Then there are my own musings...What is John preparing for. What is the Way? Why are there still followers of John the Baptist? I was mistaken for one by some Armenian Orthodox when I was a chaplain. They were relatively new to the country and Baptists as such were still unfamiliar. And in the stress of the hospital they went to what they knew. And I want to know if we are all called to be prophets of the Most High God. I have a basic assumption there, but you know how these things go. And the sermon title? I need to get used to using this tool. The title this week is "Preparing the Way." That is an entirely useless title. Ah well. I take the sermon seriously. You don't know what someone may hear in it. But the title thing...I dunno.

And for some odd reason, St. Augustine has been flitting about in my mind as well. It's not that he's unwelcome. It is just that he seldom visits. Calvin would me mortified! Usually Chrysostom pays a visit, but seldom St. A. Anyway, here is a picture of my desk at work. This is how my brain looks...Taize, Augustine, Iona, ECUSA liturgy, Hauerwas, mandolin sheet music and a random e-mail. I walked in this morning and found it this way. No choreography necessary. I laughed at myself. So, I thought I would share it.

Trish and I put up the Christmas tree last night. I posted some images in the gallery in the Chateau Ouilmette album. Take a gander. Some of them are very dark. Sorry. I am still learning how to take pictures with this camera.

Well, I should get back to work. This morning was very productive. But there is more to do...plus a lunch meeting. Oy. Now, why is it that my pants don't fit? I just don't understand!

thursday sabbath moment

Fundamentalism will be thwarted not by doing more ardent historical work, but by seeking out a sounder construal of Christianity. - A.K.M. Adam, p.30 Faithful Interpretation

The ancient rabbis teach that on the seventh day, God created menuha - tranquility, serenity, peace and repose - rest, in the deepest possible sense of fertile, healing stillness. Until the Sabbath, creation was unfinished. Only after the birth of menuha only with tranquility and rest, was the circle of creation made full and complete. - Wayne Muller, p.36 Sabbath

Finally, a little stillness. I have come to realize the importance of being a regular somewhere. It is something I know, something I even preach from time to time to my friends when we gather in our favorite places. Having a place to go, where they know your name (Yes, think Cheers theme song. Norm!), can set up your coffee beverage before you order it, can rightly ask you about your life, career, family...these places are precious. I am slowly finding places here in Wilmette that provide such a place of Sabbath for me.

One such place is Alchemy. It is a coffee shop near the Linden Purple Line stop. So, come on up some day. It is splendiferous. This morning, I dropped Trish off at the Metra station and made my way to Alchemy. One of the members of my church is the proprietor. I thought that fact would actually keep me away. But it has had the opposite effect. It is fast becomming a hangout for me in the morning. Here are a few pictures for you. Blair, the proprietor, said I could post the images...as long as they did not include him. Done!

Alchemy exterior.

Sign. Sign. Everywhere a sign!





Blair loves this reel-to-reel stuff. It's lovely music.

Herb Alpert this morning.





Seating is limited.





Yes, I brought some reading with me.
Thus the quotations this morning.

jolly old st nicholas

Almighty God, in your love you gave us your servant Nicholas of Myrna a perpetual name for deeds of kindness both on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the holp of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and rigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen
- Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2000

Today is the fest day of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myrna (not New Smyrna Beach like I used to believe.). This is usually the evening when Trish and I will put up the tree and such. We are not the Christmas Eve tree setteruppers. But we don't like the notion of having a tree up from Halloween on either. The Feast of St. Nicholas works well enough for me. He was supposedly a good guy. This is from Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2000:

Nicholas is famed as the traditional patron of seafarers and sailors, and, more especially, of children. As a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists in New York, from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus.

The book also says that he was possibly an attendee at the First Eccumenical Council of Nicea in 325, he was popular in Europe in the late eleventh century, especially Italy, and that in England over 400 churches were dedicated to him. Lots of sailors in England...and some kids, too, I guess. But what is it with the Dutch? Interesting.

This icon just cracks me up. Oy. Veh.

Pray for us, St. Nicholas!

thinking about hymns...

The strength of differential hermeneutics lies in its capacity to ascribe disagreement to causes other than error or ignorance. On this account, we can expect interpreters often to disagree with one another, even as we expect the best interpretations to adduce carefully reasoned cases to justify their conclusions...the practice of differential hermeneuticsattenuates the spirit of contentiousness, better befits the capacities and limitations of mortal interpreters, and admits a fuller range of interpretive expression than does an integral hermeneutics.
-A.K.M. Adam, p.16 Faithful Interpretation: Reading the Bible in a Postmodern World

Ecce quod natura mutat sua iura:
Virgo parit pura dei filium.

Beholde and see how that nature
Chaungith here lawe: a mayden pure
Shalle bere a chielde (thus seith scripture),
Jhesus, oure savyour.

Beholde, the flease of Gedeon
Wexed wete, that no dewe fel on;
Beholde, the yerde of Aaron
Unmoysted bare a floure.

The prophete Isay seith thus:
"A mayde shall bere a childe to us
Whose name shall be called Jhesus,
Oure helpe and our socour.

"A yerde shall goo oute of Jesse rote
Wherof a floure shall ascende full soote."
This floure is Crist, oure helth and boote,
This yerde, Mary, his boure.

Seynt Mathew seith in the gospell,
"A mayde shall bere Emanuell,
That is to sey, God with us to dwell,
That lovely paramour."

Forsoth, to us is borne a chielde;
A sonne is yeven to us full myelde
Of virgyne Marie undefielde
To cease oure grete langoure.

This is the stone cutte of the hille,
Criste borne of Marie us untille
Without synne in thought, dede, and wille
To save us fro dolour.

This chielde shall be the Prince of Peas,
Whose kingdome shall ever encrease,
Wherof the peas shall nevir ceas
But encreace day and houre.

Seint Anselme seith, "So Criste did pas
Thurgh Marie myelde, as his wille was,
As the sonne beame goth thurgh the glas,
That mayde full of honoure."
(link)

It is that time of year when my brain begins to register the fact that Christmas carols are bing sung,played, and ruined across the country. Heh. I don't want to rag on anyone's musical expression...at least not where it may be stored in random electrons. So, suffice it to say that I make my own corrections by bringing to the fore the carols I enjoy, the songs that feed my soul. Ecce quod is one of them. The Latin refrain is what I remember...it lilts along in a wondrous way. The Anonymous 4 has recorded a lovely version of the carol. Give them a chance sometime if you have not. I love the ancient carols. I like the faithfulness they express, the creativity they take with the Nativity, playing in the images and the narrative, connecting dots where they may. The Nativity is an expansive narrative, a wonderland where grace turns the natural order upside down...where active faith changes everything...

We should take a cue from this tradition if we do not already. Live into the story...find the warm nooks within it. Play in the narrative. Write your own midrash, if you will. Paint your own landscape. Play in metaphor.

the day off...

Ecce, Deus Isaiah 12:2-6
Surely, it is God who saves me; * I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, * and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing * from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say, * Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;
Make his deeds known among the peoples; * see that they remember that his Name is exalted.
Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, * and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, * for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

A nap is in the works. I have been puttering and doing laundry this morning. It's been a good day to be inside. Lovely, really. The fireplace has been crackling. The snow is a lovely blanket on the ground. And it is cold. I love it.

And, yes, I have been playing with the camera built in to this little computer of Trish's. I so love this little machine. I can see why people love Macs. Technocrack. Amazing.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Megan and her friend have posted about Sabbath and Wayne Muller. I really don't have much to add except that it is likely that singing and the breathing needed to sing well has always been sabbath for me. The constant attentiveness to breath and sustaining oneself within it for the expressed purpose of creating or bringing to life art is a tremendous thing. It is Sabbath for me. So is what I am about to do.

Take care. Enjoy your day. I am going to read a little on the couch and then nap.

Adieu!

monday morning linkage (updated)

Just some links for your enjoyment this morning. (I keep finding more. So check back in.)

Micah is a priest! Huzzah!
Old news, but the ABC and the CBF will share their biennials this year. And here I thought I left that particular baptist group.
Megan has brought a friend into the Sabbath conversation...and he is most welcome!I'll get to my post later today.
Rich has this very interesting post about how the Republicans will have to get it together.

As Jorge said, this is good to know...I guess.
Finally, AKMA posts this muse about the importance of theology. I agree with him. Surprise! Heh.
New!Larry is talking about worship. Interesting. Is there something about being evangelical that makes the focus of worship different? Perhaps so! So, the question is: Is the worship service an appropriate tool for evangelism?
New! The Theobilly posted his sermon. Gotta give props to a fellow dumbass baptist. Amen, brotherman. Amen.

sermon: heaven on earth

The preaching went well. I had fun playing and singing the tune, though I have clearly gotten very rusty on the guitar. Oy. I have added strikes and blue text to indicate the changes I made in the pulpit.

Sermon: First Advent, 2006
Community Church of Wilmette
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler

Peace on Earth
- U2

Heaven on Earth, we need it now
I'm sick of all of this hanging around
Sick of sorrow, sick of the pain
I'm sick of hearing again and again
That there's gonna be peace on Earth

Where I grew up there weren't many trees
Where there was we'd tear them down
And use them on our enemies
They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you

And you become a monster
So the monster will not break you
And it's already gone too far
You say that if you go in hard
You won't get hurt

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth

Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth

No whos or whys
No one cries like a mother cries
For peace on Earth

She never got to say goodbye
To see the colour in his eyes
Now he's in the dirt
Peace on Earth

They're reading names out over the radio
All the folks the rest of us won't get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann, and Breda
Their lives are bigger than any big idea

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth

To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth

Jesus and the song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth

Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth
This peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth

The song is entitled Peace on Earth and is by the rock group U2, from their 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

Their lead singer, Bono, has become quite popular lately for his many political activities…in his work to undo systems of poverty and to bring more awareness of the effects of the AIDS pandemic on the third world and emerging nations.

And he has been a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq. But this song was written before our war broke out, before the Twin Towers fell. It’s not about Iraq. So, if you went there, like I did, if you made that assumption, it’s good to know that the assumption belongs to the hearer.

The fact that my imagination takes me to thoughts of the conflict in Iraq is more about where my grief is located, where I perceive a lack of peace in this world. It is simply in my conscious mind. That’s all. For each of us there is likely something, some time, or a place that resonates with this song…with the grief expressed.

Bono has his own political agenda to be certain, but the notion he shares, the struggle he shares is common to us all. He grieves and wants to know where God is in the midst of the struggle he perceives. For each of us there is likely something, some time, or a place that resonates with this song…with the grief expressed.

This is what I find in this song.

It is not a question of whether his political position is correct, but whether or not he is asking the right questions in the first place…if he is asking the right questions of God. He is speaking out of that place of confusion and hurt. In scripture, the psalms and in other places, this would be called a lamentation. Bono laments. And in singing the song for you this morning, in listening to the song before, I find myself in the midst of my own lament.

I plead for understanding and justice, for God’s mercy for all. O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

ButFor, “hope and history won’t rhyme.”

Bono seems to be waiting for the Lord. He prays and begs for some sign. “Jesus, can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line?”

Peace on Earth.

Many of us, too, find difficulty in understanding the proclamations of the holiday season when they are juxtaposed with the world we live in. Some of us don’t look forward to time with family. It is stressful and difficult. Some of us find grief at Christmas and not joy. We find that we say with Bono…“Jesus in the song you wrote…these words are sticking in my throat…Peace on Earth.”

Feelings such as these don’t seem to belong to Christmas, or to Advent. But if we take a closer look at the scripture passages for this morning, we may find that such frustration does indeed have a place. Jeremiah speaks of a promise fulfilled in the midst of difficult times, earth shattering, difficult times. And he does not imagine some panacea for the people. Jeremiah is speaking of a real salvation, a political shift in the landscape. He is not speaking of something that simply resides in the imagination. He proclaims something human, something possible, and someone real.

33:14 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 33:15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 33:16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness."

Jeremiah speaks of real salvation because he is speaking of real grief and real struggle.

So too does Jesus in our passage from Luke. So often, I believe, our tendency is to fall into the trap of wondering why Jesus sets up this impossible timeline and why Luke holds on to it in his retelling of the Gospel story. We start thinking in terms of hours and days and weeks. We may find ourselves reading the newspaper trying to find the signs of Christ’s coming. “Heaven on earth,” we say, “we need it now.”

The Advent of God is the preparation, the waiting for what is…The end times are at hand…they are now. They always have been. God is here. God is the Great I am, Emmanuel, the Word, the Alpha and the Omega. Whenever God appears the world collapses upon itself.

And this morning the symbols and strange language in Luke find their meaning in God’s promise of peace. With the coming of Jesus, peace is the natural order of things. Anything else is out of alignment. It is not the other way around. Thus, like Bono, we proclaim hopefully: Peace on Earth.

Brothers and sisters, we do not worship the God who is The Great I Will Be. We worship the Great I AM.

Peace on Earth!

Bono seems hesitant to me. I think he find hypocrisy in the words. But only at first. For me, in the repetition of the phrase “Peace on Earth,” it becomes a proclamation. And the proclamation becomes stronger. The song becomes something other than a lament.

It is a rally cry, a statement not simply of belief, but of a divine reality revealed. Bono proclaims its presence, not its possibility. And in doing so he indicts all who cannot live in peace, who will not live in peace, who refuse to live in peace. And he proclaims God’s enduring presence.

Bono is not the first to do this. Longfellow gifted us with a similar statement. Many of you know these words…

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of