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Christmas Take-Away: Being Alone! A sermon on Isaiah 52:7-10, Psalm 2, John 1:1-14
Christmas Take-Away:
Being Alone
Isaiah 52:7-10, Psalm 2, John 1:1-14
† In Jesus’ Name †
- Deadbeat Doug
The man was a legend in our time, He travelled the world, never really held a job, just did odd things here and there. He could have done so much with his life—he was an excellent speaker to youth, a professional volleyball player, a really good musician.
And he was everywhere and nowhere.
He would show up at your apartment and ask to sleep on the floor, or in the tub, or on the couch. He could easily eat you out of house and home, and never helped with the chores. He would always
push you to the breaking point, then he would move on to another friends, or even just sleep in his battered old VW bug, with the surfboard on top, the old battered guitar and the bag of volleyballs.
But the next year he would show up – you would remember the deep, late-night conversations about God, the incredible times where ½ dozen guitars would be pulled out, or and you would welcome him back with a smile and a hug as you carried everything in….
He was always at home wherever he went.
Dead beat Doug was his nickname at points, or hobo Doug, but the man was at home in the world, and in your refrigerator!
And as I think of all thought about the line in the gospel reading, that Jesus, “became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.” I thought of Doug and how he could do that, even though I haven’s seen him since 1988, I halfway expect him to show up for brunch.
That way of being at home, putting his feet up up and staying a while, can make a huge difference. And as we celebrate Christ coming into our lives and making His home with us—there is one difference, Jesus never leaves.
- Being alone
As we’ve looked at what God promised to change when Jesus came, he took away so much, and today, as we look at Jesus making His home, with us, feeling free enough to put his fee up on the furniture, Jesus takes away something else, the idea that we are alone.
That is why Isaiah says that beautiful are the feet that brings the news He is coming, that’s why David says that the only ones who have hope are the ones who kiss or embrace his feet, like the prostitute who washed those feet with her tears and her hair.
I think this si the easiest day in the calendar, and the most needed ot talk about how God is at home with us, that He removes loneliness from our lives by simply not letting us be alone.
It’s the day when we see Him as a baby, something to cuddle and hold, rather than the omnipotent King of Kings and Lord of Lorrds who is coming to judge the living and the dead, whose Kingdom never ends.
This is the day when being terrified with God is replaced by being afraid we will drop Jesus as we hold him,
Our fear changes to awe, our hesitancy to deal with God is changed to desiring to hold Him, to embrace him,
And then as we read of His life, that awe turns to wondrous joy!!
It is then that beholding His glory change, as we realize we are and will be enveloped by it, not just witness it from afar….
This is Christmas, literally the Christ’s gathering, This is the joyous day, when Christ comes in and makes his home with us…forever! AMEN
Why Doesn’t the Church Understand Pentecost?
devotional thought of the day….
14 But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. 15 As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.” 16 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18 ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? 19 When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they said. 20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” “Seven,” they said. 21 “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them. Mark 8:14-21 (NLT)
298 The faithfulness—in the service of God and souls—which I always ask you for, is not the easy type of enthusiasm. It is the enthusiasm you can acquire in the middle of the street, when you see how much there is to be done everywhere. (1)
Tomorrow is Pentecost, the day when the church celebrates. Unfortunately what it often celebrates is the past, the anniversary of the events nearly 2000 years ago. The Birthday of the Church some call it. While this is true, I think that when we focus on just the event of Pentecost, isolated apart from the daily life of the church, we end up hyper-focusing like the apostles, and we miss the point of the celebration. We also don’t understand Pentecost when we reduce Pentecost to a focus on any gift, or make the case that the gifts are still operative or God the Father has directed the Holy Spirit to cease it’s work. Pentecost is not the time to argue the pros and cons of Pentecostalism, or the Charismatic movement. Yes miracles happened, and we can argue until we turn blue about whether they still do,
When we focus in either way, we lose sight of what Pentecost is, as if we are focusing on the lack of food, and who is to blame for what is, or isn’t happening. We go from trusting in God, to studying why we trust Him. We go from loving God to theology, we go from experiencing is presence (what happened on Pentecost) to celebrating that the church once did know God’s presence.
I am probably stepping on toes here. Heck I am doing the unique trick of stepping on my own toes, or at least the way I’ve talked about Pentecost in the past. All those errors above, I’ve made them, I’ve lived them.
But Pentecost is not the past, what happened on that day hasn’t stopped happening, the work of the Holy Spirit is still going on today, this Feast, this celebration has never stopped.
The Holy Spirit is still bringing people to hear God’s promises, He is still working through those of us called into a relationship with Jesus, the same way He was working through the apostles and those that worked alongside them. (remember there wasn’t 12 gathered, there was 120!) THe Holy Spirit is still revealing the work of Christ, and that every promise of God is fulfilled, that Christ died, rose and will come again. Pentecost is that time that St. Josemaria describes, when enthusiasm doesn’t come easy, but it comes from being in the street, seeing the work that needs to be done, and knowing the Holy Spirit is doing that work, through us.
The Holy Spirit is still cutting open man’s hearts, and replacing them with living hearts, He is still baptizing people and granting them repentance, The Holy Spirit is still a gift, living and active in each of us that trusts in Christ, a promise to our children as well – and to every person that is far from God, through us.
The Holy Spirit is at work, revealing that we are the people of God…. revealing how deep the love of God for us in Christ., revealing how the hope we have is the hope for this world. Hope for Ethiopian Eunuchs and the person we are sitting next to at Starbucks. Hope for the Ethiopian Jailer and the police officer that drives through our town, for people like Lydia, the seller of purple cloth, and the supermarket clerk.
We need to be people who don’t just celebrate Pentecost as a feast of the past, we need to be people who live in the reality of Pentecost, who are the ones who the Spirit is working on, or working in and through. For this is the life we have been raised into, in Christ.
May we see thousands baptized into Christ in the days ahead, as we treasure this Pentecost, this outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His people!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1429-1431). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Why is it still Monday?
Devotional/Discussion thought of the day….
I woke up this morning, with this dreaded feeling…
I thought it was Monday – and I had a longgggg trek ahead of me until Sunday, the day that makes sense of it all.As I get to my office, and look at the preparations for my trip to China – I find myself doing the same work I would do on a Monday… It’s eerie… and even a little scary..
Especially given yesterday… I don’t want to relive that day again. Ever… and if it is only Monday… I will have to.
Oh God, why does it feel like Monday… again!
I got through it, only by the grace of God, only by a remembering what the sermon passage is for this week – Romans 6:1-11 – the incredible discussion of what it means to be baptized. to be one who has died completely with Christ, that we may find our resurrection with Him. It is there we find our strength – in realizing what God HAS done to us, is doing in us, because He claimed and washed us in baptism, and the most precious part of that gift – He has given us His Holy Spirit – to dwell in us, to strengthen us, to comfort us….to help us live in His peace.
It is no wonder that a pastor/priest could write:
“You want to be strong? Then first realise that you are very weak. After that, trust in Christ, your Father, your Brother, your Teacher. He makes us strong, entrusting to us the means with which to conquer—the sacraments. Live them! (1)
Ultimately, these sacraments, these means of grace do make us strong! Not because of who we are, for we do not deserve them, we do not deserve the blessings. But He gives us His grace, our life in Him, the peace, the mercy, the love and comfort, in ways that go beyond our comprehension, beyond our understanding. That is the work He is doing… in us. It is the means by which we realize and know we are living in the presence of God – the One who would have us call him Abba… Daddy. The God who revealed to us His work, that we would come with boldness and confidence into His presence.
Rejoice! The Lord has had mercy on us! Even on Mondays… or the days that seem like it!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2375-2377). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
