New Clothes (2014)

This sermon was heard at Broadmoor Presbyterian Church in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday December 28, 2014, the First Sunday after Christmas.

This sermon has the same title as another sermon I preached on this Sunday several years ago, but it is quite different. Praise God and enjoy!

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Psalm 148

Colossians 3:12-17

Luke 2:41-52

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

Occasionally I begin a sermon with a caveat, today will be one of those days. Homiletics is the study of all things preaching. My homiletics professors would say that definition is too narrow, but that’s why they are professors. The professors say we should not share too much of ourselves and today I will probably share too much. They say our experiences should not be used to typify the experience of the gospel and I hope I don’t do that. You’ll be the judge.

They also teach scripture and the glory of God must be central to the sermon. If I fail in this, that’s my fault, not theirs.

You see, about a million years ago, when I was in high school, I was a stage rat. Most waking hours after school would find me in the theater. When I wasn’t on stage in supporting roles,[1] I was working in the sound booth on a board so old it had tubes. (See, I told you it was a million years ago!) One of the shows I was in was “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” where I played the unnamed “Farmer.”

If you’ve never heard of it, neither had any of us. It was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the team that wrote “Inherit the Wind” based on the Scopes “Monkey Trial.” “Thoreau” is about the life of Henry David Thoreau seen through a series of flashbacks during, yes, the night Thoreau spent in jail for failing to pay a poll tax. This is neither here nor there really; this is a transition to share something Thoreau wrote.

One of Thoreau’s many books was “Walden.” The introduction to a Thoreau collection calls “Walden” “part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance.”[2] To judge by this sentence, I see it as Thoreau’s assertion that he was the smartest kid in the class. From Lawrence and Lee’s dramatic treatment, I’d say Thoreau thought he was the smartest kid in the class. I say this with confidence because now with humility I have to admit that I have spent most of my life thinking I was the smartest kid in the class.

I say it with humility because in retrospect I know I’m not the smartest kid in class, but like Thoreau, I still try to come up with novel declarations of revelation, interesting spiritual discoveries, and satire. Let’s face it, I’ve given you Pastor Jim’s grandfather sowing his fields riding his bicycle backwards, the Nun-Bun, and RefuJesus. Anyway, I say all of this to share one of the most famous quotes from Walden which is often shortened to “beware of enterprises that require new clothes.” Maybe what Thoreau was getting at is that who we are is more important than what we wear.

To make that point from a theological prospective, this story comes from the introduction of a short book called “Transformational Ministry, Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross:”

In a recent class discussion, a student mentioned a workshop she had attended in which an “image consultant” spoke to the gathered ministers (or church professionals as they referred to themselves).  The consultant pointed to the need for clergy to project a positive professional image.  She told them that, because they are made in the image of God, they should buy only the best clothes, jewelry and accessories, and should make every effort to look as chic and smart as possible.  After the student related her (all too true) story, I paused for a very long time.  I was frankly appalled and, momentarily at a loss for words.

The students sat as the silence hung heavy around us.  Finally, I said: “I guess what I’m trying to picture in my mind is this: how should we look if we are supposed to reflect the image of the God who has revealed himself to us in the tormented shape of a Jewish man named Jesus, crucified on a city dump and discarded by the powers of his world?”[3]

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes indeed.

Isaiah declares:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

            he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.

In Colossians we read:

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 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. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.

Thoreau tells us it’s not about the suit we wear but the one who wears the suit. Scripture doesn’t. Scripture has us take a hard look at the clothes we wear. But more than that, scripture has us look at the clothes we are given and the one who gives them to us. Isaiah tells us that the Lord our God gives us the most glorious clothes. Isaiah tells us that we are given the garments of salvation. We are given the garments of salvation.

We are given clothes more valuable than any we can imagine. Scripture compares this garment to wedding clothes. The adornments are compared to jewels, jewels more costly, rare and plentiful than we can possibly imagine. This is the value of the garments of salvation, not their appearance but their value; more than we can imagine. Receiving these garments, these wonderful garments, our praise shoots forth like the fruit of a miraculous garden, perhaps a garden not seen since the days of Eden.

For this we rejoice, yes we rejoice. Receiving these garments brings joy; joy in receiving salvation; joy that the Spirit of the Living God continues to indwell us. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let Earth receive her King!” [4] As Isaiah prophesies, the Lord clothes us in his righteousness so that our praise may inhabit Zion, Jerusalem, and all creation. Our righteousness? Never. It is Lord’s righteousness that we receive.

Given the garments of salvation, we are to do more than model them on the fashion runways of Milan and New York. We are to more than just wear them. It seems that some folks, especially in some of my least favorite contemporary Christian music, treat salvation and the coming of Christ like waiting on a bus. This is not the purpose of the salvation we receive. We are given a blessing to be a blessing. We are to be a blessing, not a spectator.

Oh yes, the Great Commission tells us, entreats us to go. Go and make disciples… then the rest of Matthew’s gospel tells us of ways to go and make disciples. In his life and his writing St. Paul shows us more ways. Isaiah gives us an image of the garments of salvation like the fine clothes of a bridal party. Paul’s image gives us something more of a work shirt or coveralls.

The man who was one of the greatest Rabbis of the ancient world, a man who had more to brag about than any other man who would boast about his rabbinic pedigree, Paul teaches that being a part of Christ’s body is not something to lord over others, it is for service to others. Thus we dress in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. We bear with one another and forgive as our Lord forgives us. Our clothes are not silk and linen; our clothes are love which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

This is what we wear into the world. This is the gift we receive. This is the gift of our Lord God, which is perfected in Christ, which remains with us in his Holy Spirit and gives great joy. Yet Paul’s life shows us that this joy may not bring happiness, not in the way our world defines it. Saul of Tarsus was blinded. The Apostle Paul was bound, arrested, and flogged. He was left by travelling companions and shipwrecked. But in his faith, faith in the Lord Christ there is joy. Even in our pain we are to share God’s joy with the world. Joy we are to take away from our Walden’s and share with the world. Yes, in our world’s ways we will be crucified; but in Christ, when we choose to seek it, we will find joy.

Back to the oversharing: The past two years have been very difficult for my family. Unemployment (mine), disability (Marie’s), and poverty (shared together) have been our constant companions since the closing of the church in Marshall two years ago. I have been challenged by the despair of grief and sorrow of depression and more. People I thought were in our corner abandoned us. Support I thought would uplift us was nowhere. Grief, sorrow, pain, rejection have been constant companions.

Happiness, well, that was something that left the building a long time ago. Sharing joy is difficult when you feel no joy, but happiness and joy are not the same thing. That was a turning point when the Lord revealed joy and happiness were not only different but oftentimes unrelated. Oh it’s a lesson I continue to learn, but at least I God has not given up on me, nor I on God. So please share my joy as I tell you when I was at my lowest, it was your Pastor Jim who came to see me in the hospital; thanks to you all and praise to God. I treasure that memory.

On that note, there’s a sentence in our gospel reading that gets to me every time I read it. This particular phrase is seen twice in scripture. Once here after the young Jesus is found schooling the Scribes and Pharisees but once earlier when the shepherd boys come at birth, the birth we celebrated a scant three days ago. Each of these times, scripture tells us that Mary “treasured all these things in her heart.” Mary preserves and protects; Mary guards these memories[5] in her heart.

Especially during this time, during this season, we too need to remember who provides us with the garments of salvation, and what is expected of us when we wear them. We are to take this most valuable of garments and wear it into the world like a work shirt so all God’s creation may be blessed by God’s greatest gift. We need to treasure this. Then we need to share what we treasure with those who need to hear this very good news.

As a theater rat, I was a member of our school’s repertory theater company. We would go out and perform at grade schools and nursing homes. I was Linus and Schroeder in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown;” the Shoe Salesman in “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day;” and Weaver #2 in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” I can’t know, but I imagine Thoreau would have been a fan of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Thoreau enjoyed puncturing the pompous. To have a wee tot declare the Emperor is naked would have been right up his alley. Thoreau was truly onto something if he was saying who we are is more important than what we wear. But in Christ we say more. We show the world that what’s important is not just who we are but the one who makes us who we are.

I shared a shortened version of a quote from “Walden” earlier, but now I want to add a bit more to give it some extra context:

“A man who has at length found something to do will not need to get a new suit to do it in; for him the old will do, that has lain dusty in the garret for an indeterminate period. Old shoes will serve a hero longer than they have served his valet—if a hero ever has a valet—bare feet are older than shoe, and he can make them do… But if my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do; will they not? …I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.” [6]

I think Thoreau has a good point, but it’s not a good theological point. In Christ we are called to more. I want us to consider our clothes. I want us to be clothed in the garments of salvation from Isaiah. I want us to intentionally be clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. And there is no better piece of clothing to remind us of this than our baptismal gowns.

To quote Henry Nouwen:

In the waters of our baptism, we are covered in a newness of life. The world of our old life is washed away. When washed, we are fully reconciled to Christ. We are free to fully trust that we belong to God. Dressed in the robe of Christ, we are to free our minds, hearts and souls to be truly free in this world to be ministers of His reconciliation. But it is only in this sacramental relationship that we can accomplish this, otherwise we fall back into our self doubt and self rejection.[7]  

This has been a tough year for us, and I want to thank you. I want to thank all of you for truly being the Body of Christ for my family this year. Happiness, well… but in Christ we are clothed in joy. In retrospect, I wonder if in knowing himself Thoreau denied himself the joy of a life in Christ, and contrary to his public personae falling into self-doubt and self-rejection. Thoreau seemed to be more influenced by the religious than the faithful. This is truly a shame but not so uncommon in his day nor in ours. But judging from his literary works, faith doesn’t seem to be the kind of suit Thoreau would wear anyway. As for me, as for us, as for the Body of Christ, we’ll take joy in the community of our baptism in of Christ over a private Walden any day.

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[1] Remember, there are no small roles, only small actors.

[2] Thoreau, Henry David. Henry David Thoreau : A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod. Library of America.

[3] Jinkins, Michael, Transformational Ministry, Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross.  Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2002, page xi.

[4] This morning’s opening hymn was “Joy to the World”

[5] thre,w, Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. VIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1972, page 142.

[6] Thoreau, Henry David. “Walden, An Annotated Edition.” Walter Harding, Ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1995, page 20-21.

[7] Nouwen, Henri, Bread for the Journey, A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith, December 26 entry.

Treasure--The Verb

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday December 30, 2012, the 1st Sunday after Christmas, the day of the baptism of Mathieu and Chelsi.

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Psalm 148

Colossians 3:12-17

Luke 2:41-52

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

Over the last several weeks when we have been talking about stewardship, one of the words I used is “treasure.” In that context I had been talking about financial treasure, the asset side of the balance sheet. More often than not treasure means something liquid like cash and coin, although there are other kinds of assets like life insurance, stocks and bonds, and real estate. But this introduction to accounting is not our focus today. We’re not talking about treasure as a noun, but as a verb. The New Testament only uses the word treasure as a verb twice, both in Luke’s gospel, and both with the way Mary thinks about her family’s life.

The first time is found early in the second chapter of Luke. The shepherd boys have just heard the blessing of the angel announcing “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” They were so excited and motivated by this message and by the chorus of the heavenly host singing “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” that they took their leave from the fields to go to Bethlehem and see what has happened, this thing which the Lord has told them about. Luke tells us Mary treasured up all these things.

The other time is in our reading from today. You’ve just heard the story so I won’t rehash the whole thing, but here are some highlights: Jesus went with the family to Jerusalem for the Passover. When it was time to go, Mary and Joseph and the family caravan journeyed a day before they said to one another, “I thought he was with you.” It took a day of travel to get back and then three more days before Mary found her son in the temple. For five days the twelve year old Jesus was on his own in the big city and not only was he holding up better than McCauley Culkin in “Home Alone,” but the people who heard him teach were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

The family reunited at the temple and Jesus wondered why it took three days of wandering around the city before finding him in the only place he would be. It was then when they returned to Nazareth that Mary had time to reflect on all that had happened and she treasured all these things in her heart.

Believe it or not, there are two different Greek words to show how Mary treasured, two different verbs. The root of these words means to preserve or protect. To guard is also a definition of the root.[1] It’s the prefixes that make the difference.

The first, the one we read on Christmas Eve, means treasure, but it also means to preserve against harm, to protect, and to defend along with hold and treasure up.[2] Another source[3] says this word means to keep in the way one would keep a memory. It’s like thinking about someone and caring for them. On Christmas Eve it would seem that it would be way too soon for Mary to treasure the memories of her son, not in the way the word is defined here. It’s more likely Mary treasured the memory of the events of the evening. “Scrapbooking of the mind” might be one way to put it.

The version we have today means to keep something mentally with implication of duration, to keep in mind forever.[4] Compared to the Christmas Eve translation of “treasure,” this version is a more careful and permanent storing in memory. This is locking something deep, deep into memory. In this case, in today’s reading, Mary locks this memory deep, deep into her heart.

There is also the implication that this way to treasure something allows a deeper look into the memory. Where the first is like a picture image, this treasuring allows us to think back in time and forward to the implications of what is being treasured. Luke’s gospel tells us that to Mary it’s one thing to have a bunch of rag-tag kids coming to see your son, it’s another when a bunch of Rabbis hang on his every word. That is the treasuring Mary is doing today.

Today we will share a memory worth making. Today we celebrate the baptism of Mathieu and Chelsi. It should be a joyful memory locked into each of our hearts, especially Patrick and Chrystal. I bet there will be some proud grandparents too. What a moment this will be! There will be water, lots of water. There will be water from the font and there will be plenty of tears too. But let me ask you a question, what’s the most important thing about our baptism? Is it the water or is it something else? Friends, it’s something else.

The water is a symbol. Mr. Al gave us all the perfect example of a Christmas symbol in today’s children’s message, the candy cane. It’s not the hard white candy with the red stripes that’s important; it’s what the symbols represent. It’s the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus. It’s the solid rock, the foundation of the Church and the firmness of the promises of God. It’s the name of Jesus and the staff of the “Good Shepherd.” It’s the blood of Christ from being scourged and from the cross, the blood of eternal life.[5] It’s not the thing, it’s what it represents.

In our baptism, water is a symbol of cleaning. It’s a symbol of birth and the womb. It’s a symbol of death and the tomb, both womb and tomb. Water is a sign of chaos in the creation story and in the gospels. It’s also a symbol of refreshing life. The water in the font is as we say a symbol of the living water of Jesus Christ.

There’s nothing overly special about this water. It was taken from the tap in the fellowship hall, a place where we break bread. It is where we have celebrated fellowship dinners, wedding receptions, and bereavement meals. It is where we, this part of the body of Christ shares many stages of life together. The water will be poured from a Marshall Pottery jug. Is there anything that says more about our community than pouring the tap water from a Marshall Pottery jug? This is a symbol; this is how we celebrate baptisms here.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, these are our two sacraments. They are the outward signs of God’s inward grace. They aren’t magical. They’re intentional. Our Lord Jesus participated in both sacraments. Jesus was baptized by John and he instituted the Supper. They don’t beckon supernatural blessings. They don’t cause salvation. What they do is remind us of what Jesus has done and continues to do. Friends, with everything else our sacraments accomplish, they must give us memories to treasure.

So, what do we treasure? Let’s treasure today as we celebrate the sacrament of the baptism of Mathieu and Chelsi. In a couple of weeks when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we should treasure the gift of the meal that satisfies our soul and our palate. When we meet together, let us treasure not the things, but what the things represent.

Over the past two weeks it has been difficult, for me and especially for Georgia. What has been difficult is taking the phone calls from people trying to pick the still warm bones of this part of the Body of Christ.

Last week a woman came to see her Sunday School room which hasn’t existed since the education wing renovation of the 1950’s. A woman who was once a member was here last Sunday suggesting we get into the wedding business because that’s where the money is. I have heard more requests for the family pew than I care to recall. Shreveport TV stations have called to get the scoop. Friends offer comfort in one moment and ask “what happened” in the next, not a move of pastoral care as much as it is a try to get the latest gossip.

What’s sad to me is people wanting the stuff, not what it represents. Some people treasure the things, not what they stand for. What our sacraments stand for is the relationship our Lord seeks with his people, with all creation. Mathieu and Chelsi’s baptism isn’t about the water and the words spoken over them, but the relationships we forged as the body of Christ; relationships that transform time and space, even this time and space.

We will make covenant with these children to be good Christians and good role models and good teachers of the faith we have received. We will promise to support and encourage. We will promise to guide and nurture by word and deed with love and prayer; encouraging these children to know and follow Christ and to be faithful members of God’s holy church. This is what we must remember, this is what we must hold close to our hearts, this is what we must treasure; not the water, but the promises we make over the water.

Mary treasures all of these things in her heart. She treasures the shepherds. She treasures the looks of the people in the temple. Above all she treasures her son who is of her body and not of this world. What do we rejoice? Friends, we must treasure our relationships more than we treasure the treasures of this place and time.

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are things which over time are used and used up. It is the relationship with our Lord and with one another which fade only if we let them. Like Mary, let us treasure these things in our hearts.

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[1] thre,w, Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. VIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1972, page 142.

[2] sunthre,w, A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Christian Literature, Third Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, electronic entry.

[3] Ibid Kittel, page 151.

[4] diathre,w, Ibid Greek English Lexicon.

[5] The Candy Cane Story, http://www.kidtokid.org/candycanestory.html, retrieved December 29, 2012

A Super-Sized Children's Sermon

On this Christmas Eve, I chose to use the children's sermon to bring the full gospel, so while it was called "A Time with the Younger Church," I prefer to think of it as a Super-Sized Children's Sermon. Something happened along the way and the recording did not take, my apologies. On that note...

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on December 24, 2012, Christmas Eve.

Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20

My mom always said that it’s just not Christmas until she heard the story of the birth of Jesus from Luke’s gospel. Now, you all know that it you shouldn’t disagree with your mom so it’s OK to agree with me. I agree with my mom, I don’t think it’s really Christmastime until I hear this too.

One of my favorite holiday TV specials is “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Charlie Brown finds himself having a hard time understanding what Christmas is all about. He gives Christmas cards to the whole gang, but nobody gives him one. He sees great and wonderful Christmas trees covered in tinsel and ornaments and big lights, but the only tree he can get is a scraggly old thing that falls under the weight of one ornament. Even his dog Snoopy gets into the act winning first place in a house decorating contest.

Finally Charlie Brown finds himself on the stage at school getting ready for the Christmas Pageant. He’s upset. He’s sad. He’s confused. Nothing seems right so he cries out, “Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”

Charlie Brown’s best friend Linus walks up and answers him in the best way he knows:

Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace, good will toward men.’”

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

So, what does this tell us about Christmas?

It tells us first that Jesus loves the little children. Jesus loves the little children so much he became a little child. Just like little Kevin in the nursery, just like all of you, just like me, and just like Mr. Al, we were all babies once, just like Jesus. That’s why Jesus loves us so much. He was one of us.

Another sign that he loves children is that as soon as he was born, the angels went and told the shepherd boys. The angel didn’t tell the President, or Caesar the Ruler of Rome. The angel didn’t tell the leaders of the temple or the Session of the church. The angel didn’t go to anyone who most people would think is important, he went to the children.

Jesus loves the little children so much he was one and he told them first. That gives children a lot of credit as far as I’m concerned. If Jesus loves the little children then everyone should love the little children, shouldn’t they?

Do you feel like everybody who is here loves you? I hope you do because I know they love me too.

Now, Jesus has a lot of names. We call him Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace just to name a few. We call him those names because the prophet Isaiah does first. These names seem to be for a grown up for the baby Jesus, don’t they? Titus says “the grace of God has appeared,” doesn’t he? That sounds kind of complicated, doesn’t it?

Well, I’m gonna make it easy. As I told you, Jesus came because he loves us. He loves us so much that he came to save you and me. This is God’s Christmas present to us. Jesus is God’s present to us. How’s that?

Did you know there isn’t a better present? You might find all sorts of neat things under the tree tomorrow, but none of that stuff lasts forever. Now, I think presents are great, I like presents too, but they won’t last forever will they?

And then you have to write thank you notes don’t you?

The present we get that will last forever is Jesus. The gift he gives us is God. That’s where our salvation is too, in God through Jesus!

So, now we need to thank Jesus, do you know how? The first thing we need to do is say “Thank you, Jesus.” Can we do that together?

Then we need to thank Jesus by being good girls and boys. Not like those boys and girls acted toward Charlie Brown. We need to thank Jesus by helping others. We need to do this all the time because with all of these people around you, people who were babies once too, they love Jesus. They say “thank you” to Jesus, and they act like good boys and girls helping others too. So let’s thank Jesus together…

Dear God,

Thank you for your Son Jesus,

Who came as a baby,

To save the world.

Amen.

A Blessing

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday January 1, 2012, the 1st Sunday after Christmas. Have a blessed new year!

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Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Psalm 148

Galatians 4:4-7

Luke 2:22-40

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen

Blessings are a glorious gift, both to give and to receive. The book of Numbers has this blessing given by the Lord to Moses to give to Aaron to give to the nation of Israel:

“The LORD bless you

and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you

and give you peace.” [1]

 This peace from the Lord ends with the coda “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” So lovely, so wonderful, so glorious—the Lord’s words blessing you with the warmth and glow of his radiance shining; the promise of the Lord’s face turning toward you and giving you peace. The blessing, the very words of the Lord coming down and showing favor. Now that’s a blessing.

Sure, it comes from the Lord to Moses to Aaron to Israel, so they weren’t the first to get the word, but the word is meant for them, they are the people of the Lord. That’s the great priestly blessing of the Lord.

As much as it is a joy to bless, this is a blessing we cannot give on our own. This glorious blessing comes from the Lord alone and I say “Amen, thanks be to God!”

But let’s face it; in this day and time, in this economy, with political unrest not just outside the country but within our great nation, given what we know about this world and even scarier what we don’t know; some days the blessings are harder to find. The blessings are often hidden in the sin and sorrow of the world.

In this vein, let’s make something perfectly clear. Luke’s gospel, the source of our reading this morning, has no mention of the magi or their gifts. What it does have is Mary and Joseph offering either a pair of doves or two young pigeons as a sacrifice at the temple for the presentation and consecration of their son. Not a ram nor goat nor sheep nor calf, Mary and Joseph offer two small birds according to the Law of Moses.

We could say that the clinic has a sliding scale and they paid what they could afford.

This sliding scale meant the same thing then as it does now; the parents of our Lord and savior were very poor. There was no gold or frankincense or myrrh to offer at the temple. There was just enough copper in the coffers for them to make those zigzag trips across the Judean plain to make their sacrifice.

Those of you who are parents know about the sudden expenses that come with having children. Imagine being poor and having those expenses. Poverty makes everything in this life more difficult. I know for a fact that for some of us, that difficulty doesn’t take a leap to imagine. From experience you know exactly how the Holy Family was doing financially.

Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century, said this about blessings:

If one should give me a dish of sand and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes and search for them with my clumsy fingers and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet and sweep through it and now would it draw to itself the almost invisible particles by the mere power of attraction.

The unthankful heart, like my fingers in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find in every hour, some heavenly blessings.[2]

Beecher’s point is simple; blessings are often invisible to the untrained eye or inattentive soul. But with the right tools or, as was his point, the right attitude, blessings are all around us waiting to be discovered and celebrated. Luke’s gospel shares a blessing for all to hear.

The temple had its regulars and its residents, one regular was named Simeon. Simeon was a righteous and devout man “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” This could be translated that he was “looking forward to the exhortation of Israel,” but the New Living Translation takes a different tack. It says that he “was eagerly waiting for the messiah to come and rescue Israel.” I often say all translation is interpretation, and this one is a little far out as interpretation of the language goes, but it is spot-on as an interpretation of the situation.

Simeon’s blessing was the first heard by Mary and Joseph. Scripture tells us Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

Scripture then tells us “The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.”

Sometimes scripture has a wonderful sense of understatement, and after what had come to pass for Mary and Joseph over the past year, and especially over the past eight days, in my humble opinion “marveled” would be a start to describe how I felt. “Shock” would be a turn in the right direction. “Awestruck” would be closer but as for me I want a word that has a little more fear in it.

The other blessing at the temple came from the prophetess Anna. She finds the Messiah too. Where Simeon was led to the temple by the word of the Holy Spirit, Anna was all ready at the temple. Anna had spent the last sixty-four years in the temple in prayer and fasting. As a widow, without mention of children, she would have no other recourse than to go to temple and receive a portion of the widow’s share of the offering.

When she saw the baby Jesus, she saw more than just a newborn. Anna took the Lord in her arms and shared him with all who were at the temple looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem; she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child. Anna told them that the Messiah had come.

She acted in accord with Isaiah’s words, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.” The righteousness of the Lord of Zion and the Messiah of the world was in her arms. She called to the nations to see God’s righteousness so all kings will know Zion’s glory.

Paul tells us God walks the earth so that we might become sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty. We are no longer slaves but heirs to the Kingdom of God. Because we are the children of the Lord, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts so that we might cry out “Abba, Father” to our heavenly father.

Then again, as glorious as these blessings are, they come with something more. The blessing Simeon shares with Mary and Joseph is followed by a foreboding prophesy, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

If you want to read between the lines, “falling and rising of many in Israel” can be read as a foreshadowing. Being raised is another way to think of the crucifixion. This could be a prophecy of Christ’s life and death, and the lives and deaths of his apostles and disciples too. It also speaks to the grief of a mother losing her child in one of the most horrible ways the empire could devise.

Oh yes, Jesus, Mary and Joseph are blessed, but there is more. There is knowledge that along with great blessing, life will not be all wonder and glory. With life in a sinful world, God Incarnate, the Lord’s Christ will suffer and with him his people. Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, the exhortation of Israel, he was eagerly waiting for the messiah to come and rescue Israel, but he also knew that with glory would come mourning. It’s the ultimate party killer of a blessing. Yes, you are blessed and you are a blessing in a cursed world.

So here is the truth that the Simeon shares, the salvation of the Lord’s Messiah has come to walk among us. God’s greatest blessing to humanity, the presence, the face of God is here now. There can be no greater blessing than this, Emmanuel, God is with us. Yet, in the midst of this blessing there is something sinister. God is with us and there will continue to be suffering. God will be one who suffers too.

How can we possibly imagine this? The Almighty God comes to earth and this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. God will be with us and God will be spoken against revealing the thoughts and motives of many. The Lord our God will even cause his own mother pain. Stereotypically the greatest fear of any Jewish Mother is that her son will cause her pain like a sword piercing her soul.

As great is the blessing so too as deep is the sorrow and pain.

Now and not yet, this is the way many theologians describe the coming and the blessing of the Lord. Yes, the Lord is with us. Yes our God was born, lived, was crucified, dead and was buried; and on the third day he rose again from the dead. The blessing has come, but pain will still be painful—even in the light of the blessing. Grief will still be harsh, even in the light of the blessing of the Lord.

This is our position in the world. Death has been conquered. Jesus lives! And pain still hurts. The pain and indignity of poverty experienced by the holy family still exists today. In a country where the greatest lie we can believe is that “we” are just like the rich and “they” are just like us, there is wealth beyond imagination and poverty beyond belief. This is true. Yet the words of Rabbi Abraham Heschel ring out in truth, “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.”[3] This is the cry of the prophetess Anna.

Anna doesn’t worry about her poverty. She has been without the general protections of her society since she was about twenty years old. Now, sixty-five years later, living in the temple so that she will have some protection, she finds her Lord, our Lord, and rejoices. She doesn’t worry any more about her position because she knows her savior lives. She sees life like the glass is no longer broken, but filled with living water:

It's all holy ground if we look with spiritual eyes.

It's all holy tastes if we eat with a spiritual mouth.

It's all holy sound if we hear with spiritual ears.

It's all holy smells if we breathe with a spiritual nose.

It's all holy territory if we have a spiritual touch.

Everything is holy if we feel with our spiritual heart.[4]

The truth that Anna shares is that even in a world where there is pain and strife, holy life is enough. Yes there will be pain. There will be sorrow. There will be heartache. There will be poverty. There will be injustice. But it is with those who writhe in pain, cry in sorrow, are broken by heartache, muddled in poverty, and trapped by injustice—that Christ lives.

Christ lives with those who need him, not with those who rely on themselves and their wealth. This is Simeon’s first prophecy. This is Anna’s prophecy. This is our call: live into all of life, the blessings and the pain, because Christ has come to share both with us.

So now, as our Lord once blessed his people,

The LORD bless you

and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you

and give you peace.

Amen

---

[1] Numbers 6:24-26

[2] Henry Ward Beecher, found on HomileticsOnline.com, http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1531, retrieved December 30, 2011

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid, Adapted from Jonathan Kramer and Diane Dunaway Kramer, Losing the Weight of the World: A Spiritual Diet to Nourish the Soul (New York: Doubleday, 1997), 305.

Looking for Jesus

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday December 27, 2009, the 1st Sunday After Christmas.

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

For me, it has become impossible to read today’s gospel reading without thinking about the movie “Home Alone,” the 1990 comedy starring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to France for Christmas vacation. This notion is seemingly inspired by this tale from Luke’s gospel.

In the movie, as the McCallister family hurries into a shuttle waiting to take them to the airport, an annoying neighbor child piles in with the McCallister’s spouting on about his family’s vacation plans.[1] When it comes time for mom, Kate McCallister, to count heads in the van, she mistakenly counts the neighbor child as one of her own. On the plane the parents are sitting in first class and the kids in coach, so this mistake is not caught until well after the family is in the air.

Whoops, Kevin is home alone in Chicago and the family is on the way to Paris.

Jesus shares a similar situation as his family leaves Jerusalem to return home after the festival ended. As the clan leaves, while there is apparently no head count, presumably each parent thinks the young Jesus is with the other. While there is no annoying neighbor child in a knit cap being mistaken for Jesus, I can imagine the scene of the family setting up camp after a full day of travel when Mary and Joseph look at each other and say, “I thought he was with you!”

Whoops, Jesus is alone in Jerusalem and the family is on the way home to Nazareth.

If you are going to lift plot lines, you ought to take from the best.

In the movie, Mom’s trip from Paris to Chicago takes several days. Mary and Joseph return to Jerusalem taking two travel days, one out and one back, before they are in the same zip code as their son. Then they spend three days in Jerusalem before finding Jesus. This is a total of five days on the road and in town looking for a twelve year old who his parents fear is all alone in a major city after a major festival. Imagine losing a twelve year old at Times Square on New Years Eve or worse, in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, that would be close to the level of terror Mary and Joseph experienced every moment they were looking for Jesus.

They finally find him in the temple. And when Mary and Joseph arrive, they were in shock. He is not alone; he is with the teachers of the law where all who heard him were amazed at his understanding; his questions and his answers. When his parents find him, is Jesus received with relief? Well, of a sort. “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Does this sound familiar to any parents here this morning? He is received with relief overwhelmed by a scolding.

If I am not mistaken, Kevin got the same reaction from his Mom when she finally found him home alone and safe.

While the differences are many, there is one very significant difference between little Kevin McAllister and Jesus of Nazareth that I want to make clear. Kevin was at home at the family manse in Chicago. Scripture doesn’t place Jesus’ residence at the homestead in Nazareth. No, according to verse 49 Jesus is at home in the Jerusalem temple.

Being found after three days of searching, and two more days of travel, Jesus asks “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Jesus asks this question as if there should be no question about where he would be or where he should be. He was at home in the temple, of course. It is as if he asks Mary and Joseph and the world “Where else would you expect to find me?”

Where do we expect to find Jesus? Looking for Jesus, looking for God; is our holy journey. Jesus is found in body and in spirit, in praise and in worship, in word and in work; and as is obvious by our reading, Jesus is found in the temple. Jesus is found where He is worshipped. For us, for Christians, the church is where we look to find the Lord Jesus.

Jesus is found in the Word written and proclaimed. Jesus who inhabits all scripture is found in our Call to Worship. Jesus is found as we “Praise the Lord from the earth… young men and women, old and young together. Let us praise the name of the Lord.”[2]

Jesus is found in our proclamation. We say that Jesus is Lord, he is sovereign. In words more familiar to us, Jesus is in charge; all power and authority are his now and forevermore.

We say that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. We say that he is fully divine and we say that we are not. We say that he is fully human and we say that in the fullness of his perfection he is more human than we will ever be.

We say that he is God and he is the Son of God. He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from where he will come to judge the living and the dead.

We look for Jesus in the visible signs of God’s invisible Grace. We look for Jesus in the mystery of the sacraments.

In the waters of our baptism, we are covered in the newness of life. The world of our old life is washed away. When washed, we are fully reconciled to Christ. We are free to fully trust that we belong to God. Dressed in the robe of Christ, we are to free our minds and hearts, bodies and souls to be truly free in this world, free to be ministers of His reconciliation. Only in this sacramental relationship can this happen, otherwise we fall back into our self doubt and self rejection.[3]

Nourished by the Lord’s Supper, we are fed the bread of life and the cup of salvation. We rest in the promise that it is Christ who comes to the door and knocks. He calls us and if we hear and invite him in then we will eat with him, and he with us. We invite no one to this table; we give thanks that Jesus invites us to come, taste, and see that the Lord is good. We remember that in these gracious acts of Jesus Christ, we take the bread and the cup and joyfully celebrate his dying and rising as we await the day of his coming in victory.[4]

As much as we are called to look for Christ in the church, by the Word and sacraments we are called to take Christ into the world. It is important to remember that the world looks at us while looking for Jesus. It is in wearing the clothes of Christ that we become the body of the Lord in the world.

Colossians provides us with the most excellent way to wear the clothes of Christ, to become the body of Christ in the world. We are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. We are to bear with one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, we are to forgive one other; just as the Lord has forgiven us we too must forgive.

Above all, we are to clothe ourselves with love that binds everything together in perfect harmony. Letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, we are called in the one body. And we must be thankful letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly; teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. With gratitude in our hearts, we are called to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever we do, in word or deed, we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is the time when we begin to make New Year’s Resolutions. We must resolve to improve our relationship with one another and with the Lord God Almighty. We begin with remembering our baptism into the body of Christ. We are to be clothed as Samuel was in this robe of white, this robe representing our membership with the baptized wearing this robe as Jesus wore his; as Jesus wears his faith in the water of his baptism.

We are nourished in his faith by the bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper. By this meal we become empowered through the Spirit of the Lord to be Christ’s presence in the world. Nourished in this sacrament, as Jesus is God with us, we are called to be the hands and feet of God with the world.

I am not saying that we will become Jesus, but our call, our vocation, is to become more Christ-like. And this is a noble and worthy goal. It is truly the only one that matters. It is how we participate in Christ’s work of reconciliation.

Let us look for Jesus here in the church, and then go taking Jesus out of the sanctuary and into the world for those who also seek him.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Alone, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/ accessed December 31, 2006.
[2] From the 148th Psalm, paraphrased from the Presbyterian Book of Worship.
[3] Nouwen, Henri, Bread for the Journey, A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith, December 26 entry.
[4] Christmas Communion Setting, paraphrased from the Presbyterian Book of Worship.

Mary Treasured All These Things

This sermon would have been heard on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2009 had it not been for inclement weather.

Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

I have found it difficult to find an appropriate message for this evening. By itself, that’s no different than any other message. Often I wrestle with the sermon, and occasionally I lose the struggle. But Christmas Eve should be different—it’s one of our highest, holiest days. This is an important service. This is such a visually rich passage that I ought to have lots to say. We ought to have lots to say about this evening, the eve of our dear Savior’s birth.

We are met first with the people of power, the people who can tell others what to do. These are the folks who say “jump” while the rest of the world cries back “how high?” Roman Emperor Augustus and Syrian Governor Quirinius tell the world to jump. Joseph and his fiancée Mary jump to Nazareth. Just to make matters worse for their journey, the babe in her womb was responding to the call to jump in his own way; he was making his own commotion from within Mary.

Then we reach the seventh verse of this chapter, the verse that begins with Mary giving birth. Now, you can tell here that scripture was written and edited by men because this event is described with one word in the Greek New Testament and three in most English versions. She gave birth. You who have given birth can tell me with authority that this deserves more than just three words.

Then she swaddles the infant Jesus, placing him in the cold stone manger. We are used to thinking of the stable and manger in the way we think of western livestock, but this is not true of that time and place. The stable was most likely a cave, and the manger a carved out hollow in the rock. No matter how uncomfortable we might think our common manger scene is; being swaddled and laid on cold stone raises the ante significantly.

We begin our reading with Augustus, imagining his fine palace in Rome, with a whim causing the world to be counted. Now we have a newborn resting in a bed of stone, hewn out of the wall of a cave. These are the extremes we live in this evening.

We are then given the story of the young boys keeping watch over their flocks. These boys were the lowliest of their families. They were the youngest and given the most dangerous job in the field. They were to protect the herds and flocks from the wilds that surround them in the dark. It was just like any other cold desert night for the shepherds, until the angel of the Lord appeared with the glory of the Lord shining around them. Scripture tells us “They were terrified,” of course they were terrified!

And then, then they hear those famous words, “Fear not!” Just hearing those words from the heavenly host would frighten me even more. Then they receive the good news, the gospel of the Lord. Born this day in the City of David is the Messiah, the Lord. Then the host pipes up again singing “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

So the shepherds go to see the Messiah. Scripture does not say whether they took their herds and flocks or not. I imagine they did. It would have been wrong for them to leave their flocks, their families’ livelihood, to the elements and the wild. So they went with haste, flocks in tow, and descended upon the manger scene.

Imagine the noise. Dozens of boys and hundreds of sheep coming into town like a circus train to see the Christ child. They shared the gift they had received from the angel, the good news of the Lord with Mary and Joseph with anyone who would listen. The story must have been told dozens of times, each time sharing the glory of the Lord found in a manger in a tiny Judean backwater.

This is our story, this is the first story we tell. This is the story of how God Almighty came to earth, not in power and glory and in victory; but as a helpless newborn child.

This is our story, not of God who comes to the seat of power, not to Augustus and Quirinius, but to shepherd boys and livestock.

The one who is fully human and fully divine, so like us and so completely different than us, God came to earth as a helpless babe.

God meets creation right where we are, meeting us just as we meet one another.

And one thing about this story sticks out for me from verse 19; Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. Mary treasured these things holding them in her heart, keeping the moment as it was, and as it would be, forever.

She treasured the words of the young shepherds, the shepherds who told her what the angel said about her son. She treasured the sight of her infant son, swaddled in bands of cloth, lying in a feed trough. She treasured these things from a cave in the trappings of abject poverty, not as a guest of the inn, nor as a privileged citizen of Rome.

She pondered these things too. She knew her son was the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ, but to be told these things again by the shepherds must have been wonderful, and glorious, and frightening. She was told who her son is, and would be, and had no idea what shape these things would take. And she did this, looking at a fresh, new life.

Mary treasured these things. This strikes me because I feel the joy and the wonder of treasuring these things, and I hope you do too.

Ah, the things worth treasuring…

I treasure the moment.

I treasure this service this evening, with wonderful song, glorious lights, and wonderful friends.

I treasure the infant who lies in the stone manger, with the buzz of the shepherds, and the bleating of the sheep around us.

I treasure them here in rural Arkansas, not in the mansions of our world. I treasure these things, and ponder them in my heart.

I hope you have taken some time tonight to think about the things you treasure too. I hope you ponder them in your heart. We receive many wonderful gifts from the Lord our God and these gifts need to be treasured and pondered; especially the gift of a young infant, swaddled in bands of cloth, lying in a stone manger. Let us treasure these things and ponder them in our hearts, just like a young girl did once in the Nazareth.

Now I've Seen Everything

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday December 28, 2008, the First Sunday After Christmas.

Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 148
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:22-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Rick Reilly is a columnist for ESPN the Magazine. In this week’s edition, he tells the story of what he calls the “oddest game in high school football history.”[1] Faith High School in Grapevine, Texas played the Gainesville State School on Grapevine’s home turf, but after these facts, everything else was the Texas High School Football equivalent of The Twilight Zone.

The team from Gainesville hit the field running a 40-yard spirit line before crashing through a banner that said “Go Tornadoes.” This is nothing unusual. It’s like many other high school football games until you learn that the fans who filled the spirit line and made the banner were from Grapevine.

Yes, visiting team’s fans and banner were courtesy of the home team. More than 200 Faith fans sat in the Gainesville stands cheering on the kids from Gainesville. The visitors were cheered by name and there were even cheerleaders from the home team rooting on the visitors.

This sounds so very odd, especially in Texas where high school football is not only its own religion but has temples in every corner of the state. Still, there is one thing I haven’t told you about Gainesville State; it’s one of the Texas Youth Commission’s twelve secure institutions. The TYC is the Texas juvenile corrections agency and Gainesville State is a maximum security youth facility.

According to their literature, “The [Texas Youth Commission] provides for the care, custody, rehabilitation, and reestablishment in society of Texas’ most chronically delinquent or serious juvenile offenders. Texas judges commit these youth to TYC for felony-level offenses committed when they were at least age 10 and less than age 17.”[2] Yes, the Texas Youth Commission has maximum security facilities and they play football against Texas high schools.

Talking about the game against Grapevine Faith, Gainesville’s QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah recalled, “I never in my life thought I’d hear people cheering for us to hit their kids. I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!”[3]

Our Gospel reading begins as Mary and Joseph went to the temple in Jerusalem to present their son as required by the Law. The temple had its regulars and its residents, one named Simeon. Simeon was a righteous and devout man “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” This could be translated that he was “looking forward to the exhortation of Israel,” but the New Living Translation takes a different tack. It says that he “was eagerly waiting for the messiah to come and rescue Israel.”

I often say all translation is interpretation, and this one is a little far out as interpretation of the language goes, but it is spot-on as an interpretation of the situation.

Scripture continues, “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Again, the New Living Translation puts this a bit differently. It begins, “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.”

Simeon had seen what God had promised him. He was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah, the Christ, and he has. He wasn’t promised that he would see great deeds. He wasn’t promised that he would see the final redemption of Israel. He wasn’t promised that he would see the end of Roman oppression, the end of poverty or freedom in justice.

He was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah, he did, and he was overjoyed to see the baby who would fulfill far more than he could ever hope or imagine. It was as if he told the Lord, “Now I’ve seen everything, now let your servant die in peace as you have promised.” Simeon was ready to die once he had seen everything. We have everything too, but the Lord does not want us to die, the Lord wants us to live.

Returning to Reilly’s story:

The thought of providing a cheering section for Gainesville State started when Grapevine Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, “wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team.” I think it’s important to note that Coach Hogan wanted to do something “kind.” He didn’t pity the boys in jail. He didn’t fear them either. He wanted them to receive kindness.

“Faith had never played Gainesville, but Coach Hogan already knew the score. Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 [touchdowns] all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

“So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the [Faith high school] faithful to do just that. ‘Here's the message I want you to send:’ Hogan wrote. ‘You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.’

“Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, ‘Coach, why are we doing this?’

And Hogan said, ‘Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.’”

There were fourteen kids being shipped by bus from the Red River to a spot just north of DFW to play football. In eight games they were winless and had scored just two touchdowns. They planned on getting beat again by a well coached, well supplied suburban team; and that was the least of their worries.

Imagine what these young men were used to being called from the stands. Imagine what they had to look forward to on the long bus ride back to Gainesville, in cuffs. This is what Coach Hogan did, and he imagined what would happen if this experience would be turned on its ear.

Let me continue using Reilly’s words:

“So for the first time ever, supported by a couple hundred real fans and cheerleaders, maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game’s last two touchdowns. Sure Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end, but still.”

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray. Everyone was taken aback when Isaiah asked to lead the prayer, but this is what happens when the Holy Spirit gets in the way of our expectations. “Isaiah said this: ‘Lord, I don’t know how this happened, so I don’t know how to say thank You, but I never would’ve known there was so many people in the world that cared about us.’”

Reilly wrote, “And it was a good thing everybody’s heads were bowed because they might’ve seen Hogan wiping away tears.”

“The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, ‘You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.’

“And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they’d never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.”

Luke’s gospel and Reilly’s story remind us that we will be shown everything God promises we’ll see, it’s how we respond to what we see that is important. These stories show that we have two choices about what comes after we see everything, we can live or we can die.

Simeon was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah before he died. God’s promise fulfilled, it was Simeon’s time to be dismissed because his eyes had seen the salvation that comes from the Lord. This was Simeon’s promise, but it’s not the promise the Lord makes us.

We are given the promise of the Lord’s Messiah as a light of revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of God’s people Israel. We have been shown this glorious sight. And receiving this vision, we are called to continue taking it into the world. We are called to do more than die happy. We are called to live as the continuing light of God’s revelation.

It is amazing what Coach Hogan and the good people of Grapevine did for a small group of teens that need encouragement. They gave the most valuable gift they could; they gave them the message that they are “just as valuable as any other person on the planet Earth.”

What do we give? Where does the Spirit guide us? Or do we just wait to die happy?

Riley ends his article this way:

“Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

“Hope.”

I end his article saying Amen.

[1] Reilly, Rick, Life of Reilly, ESPN the Magazine, cited from ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3789373, retrieved December 24, 2008. Quotes from Reilly’s article are found in quotation marks throughout this sermon. Thanks to Rick Reilly, Glory to God!
[2] Overview of the Juvenile Corrections System in Texas, http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/about/overview.html, retrieved December 27, 2008.
[3] Reilly notes the TYC only releases first names.