Author: lakewooducc

“How many things have we become used to in the course of the years, of the weeks and months, so that we stand unshocked, unstirred, inwardly unmoved.” This sentiment was expressed by Father Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest, condemned as a traitor for this opposition to Hitler. He wrote this shortly before he was hanged in 1945. [In Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas, Plough Publishing House, 2001]

This observation rings so true today. Oh, another school shooting. Oh, more children kidnapped. Oh, another roadside bomb. Oh, another black teenager shot by the police. Oh, another person dies of exposure on a cold winter night. Oh, more of the polar ice cap melted. Oh, another woman beaten by her husband. Oh, another rape on campus. Oh, another company with a billionaire CEO goes defunct robbing the employees of their pensions. Oh, troops sent to another locale. We take this all in like it was a weather report. Oh, rain today. Ok. “How many things have we become used to. . . “

It was similar in Jesus’ day. The people had simply become used to things as they were, right or wrong. They were used to religion that was preferential and condemning. They were used to living under the occupation of Rome. They were used to poverty. They were used to corruption. They were used to ethnic rivalry and hatred. They were used to greed and graft. “How many things we have become used to. . .”

The stories of Jesus show us how he sees the conditions, the circumstances, the ____ of his day. He sees. He sees the injustice. The loneliness. The poverty. The sickness of body and soul. The oppression. The way religion has become twisted. The condemnation and judgmentalism. The lying. The pursuit of that which does not satisfy. The false security of material wealth. He sees the problems. Clearly. With open eyes. And with heart. With compassion. With grief. With honesty.

The stories of Jesus also show us that Jesus sees all the good in the world. And he rejoices in that good, where ever he sees it: In creation, in community, in companions, in those condemned by society. Stories tell us of Jesus seeing the good in Zacchaeus, in a Samaritan woman with 5 husbands, in a woman caught in adultery, in someone who is possessed by demons, in a thief from the cross. Jesus sees all the spectacular, shining splendor of the living of our days. And he is not afraid.

In our holiday celebrations, lights twinkle, decorations delight, gifts elicit gratitude and we enjoy family, friends, and food. We seem to see things anew with awe and wonder. This season many we be stunned one again by the glory and the grief of life. May we be awed by the horror of which humanity is capable. May we vividly feel the raw reality of the world around us. And may the wonder bring us out of the tomb of complacency and apathy to new life.

For reflection: When can you remember feeling shocked? When have you lost sleep over a horrible event that has taken place in the world? What have you gotten used to?

Prayer: In these Advent days, may we awaken to the new life that Jesus brings to us. May we join him in authentic, compassionate living. May we accompany him in self-giving service. May we not be afraid to feel the pain and the goodness within us and around us. Amen.

“When I was young, we walked 5 miles to school each way, in the heat of summer and the dead of winter.” Sure you did! We associate such images with romanticized, embellished, inaccurate memories.

As my children were growing up and complaining about walking a mile or a block to get to school in the relatively mild Florida weather, I told them of how I got to school. When I was in junior high (which is what 7-9 the grade was called) and high school, I lived in Minneapolis. I lived just under 2 miles from my school which meant that we could not ride the bus. So we walked. And it was up hill on the way to school and downhill on the way home. And, yes, we walked when it was – 10º F and – 20º F and on down. My locker was next to a good friend’s and we would put our coats, hats, scarfs, boots, gloves, etc. all in one locker and keep our books in the other locker. This made things more convenient.

This past summer, I attended a preaching conference in Minneapolis. Our daughter and my brother, both pastors, also went. One afternoon I asked my brother to take us to see our church, the two houses that we lived in, and my high school. After visiting the second house, we headed to the high school. As we drove there, my daughter was shocked at how far it was. She commented that it was up hill all the way. She couldn’t believe that we walked it every day. And now that she has lived up north for 5 years, she expressed incredulity that we did this winter, too. I looked at her. “That’s what I’ve told you many times as you were growing up.” Well, evidently, she didn’t believe it until she saw it and she was astounded.

This is kind of how it goes with Jesus. Our faith story tells us that God created the world and gave the people all the information and rules and guidelines that they needed to live in communities of justice and joy. People were given instruction about how to take care of one another and live together fairly for the flourishing of all. But the people stray again and again. They follow other gods. They abandon the principles of justice and mercy for greed and violence. They ignore what God has shown them. They don’t believe it. Things go from bad to worse. We can just imagine God thinking, “I keep telling them what to do, giving them the directions, but they ignore me.”

Then Jesus comes on the scene. He embodies all that God has been saying. He lives out the values and virtues that God has given the people. And those who follow Jesus, those who become part of the communities that form around him, find joy and delight, and meaning. Life has never been this good. And they see that it is just as God made known to them. Do it God’s way and life will flourish. When they experience this with Jesus, then they believe. And they keep spreading and sharing this good news. “Peace on earth, goodwill to all!”

After being told over and over about my walk to school, when seeing it, my daughter commented, “I can’t believe you walked this far to school, uphill, every day!”

“That’s what I told you. Why are you surprised?”

We can imagine people seeing things unfolding according to God’s plan and being amazed, astounded, thrilled. “We can’t believe it was all true! Life really is abundantly good!”

For reflection: What do you hesitate to believe from the teachings of Jesus? How have you had the teachings of Jesus reinforced in your life experience?

Prayer: In this season of goodwill and generosity, may we dare to believe once again that it is all true. That creation is good. That we are good. And that we can care for one another and live together in peace and plenty. Amen.

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. John 10:22 NRSV

This verse from the gospel of John tells us that Jesus was observing the Feast of the Dedication. This is a Jewish festival to honor the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem. The temple had been defiled under the rule of the Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes who was ruler from 175-163 BCE. The temple was used for pagan worship and sacrifices. In the 160’s the Jews mounted a revolt to regain control of the temple so that they could resume practicing their religion. Under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, the temple was reclaimed. It was then purified and a new altar was built. This historic event was commemorated every year by the Jewish people in the Feast of Dedication. The celebration included palm branches being carried around the temple, the singing of Psalms, and the lighting of candles, one a day for 8 days. This festival is the only one connected to a specific, documented historical event. We know this celebration as Hanukkah. So from the gospels we learn that Jesus, as an observant Jew, celebrated the Hanukkah, just as Jews are doing around the world this week. One of the scriptures read at Hanukkah is Zechariah 4:6: “. . . Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the God of hosts.”

The holy festival of Hanukkah is a time of rededication for Jews. In this Advent season, we, as Christians, prepare to rededicate ourselves to the way of Jesus. We remind ourselves of all that he means to us and to the world. And we recommit ourselves to following him. So Jews and Christians together are in a season of dedication.

The story of festival of Dedication (Hanukkah) invites us to rededicate ourselves to:
Religious freedom for all peoples.
Practicing our religious faith through worship and other observance. For Jesus, there was no “spiritual but not religious”!
Eliminating anti-Semitism from ourselves, our society, and the world.
Peace. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.”

For reflection: How have you seen anti-Semitism expressed? How can you work to change such attitudes in yourself, in others, and in society?

Prayer: We are grateful for the opportunity to rededicate ourselves to our faith, to letting God’s light shine through us, and to following in the way of Jesus. May we always remember that the central figure of our beloved Christianity was a poor, Palestinian Jew. Amen.

The Microsoft band will tell you your heart rate, the number of steps you’ve taken, calories burned, and sleep quality. It will keep a run summary and count your calories. It has a clock, a timer and an alarm. It has GPS mapping and a UV monitor. You can also see incoming calls to your phone, get notifications from Twitter and Facebook, see voicemails and texts. You can see your latest emails and calendar. All from a little band that goes around the wrist like a bracelet or a watch.

Our son-in-law works at a Microsoft Store and that’s how I even know that the band exists. What a cool gadget. It sounds amazing.

There is lots of wonderful technology in the world. And there are more incredible gadgets than I could ever have imagined even as a young person. And what computers can do is astounding. I can wear a small band on my wrist that gives me so much information. And on my phone I have access to the entire internet. So much information!

But what do we really know? What does all of this tell us? I want a gadget that takes in certain bits of information and then spits out a long term final plan for a stable, just peace in the Middle East, especially between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I want a gizmo that monitors everyone’s racism. I want a band that tracks everyone’s carbon footprint with a mapping program that shows everyone the progression of the melting glaciers and ice caps and the rising sea level. How about an alarm that rings every time a child in this country goes to bed hungry? Oh, the good we could do with such instantaneous monitoring and tracking! But I don’t think a device with these kinds of capabilities would make it to the Top Ten Most Wanted Christmas Gifts List.

We already have the information that we need to achieve permanent peace, to eliminate racism, to reverse global climate change, and to end hunger. We know all that we need to know to achieve these ends. We have all the facts and figures necessary. What we need is the will. And there is no band or gizmo that will give us the will for these things. For a change of heart, a committed spirit, an transformed will, we can look to Jesus. He changes lives. He works on you until you are softened and pliable and then he reshapes you. I suspect that one of the reasons people don’t take Jesus more seriously, or seriously distort his teachings, is because they don’t like the change of heart that he inspires. And yet, Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in the world. That fact, that gauge, that monitor may be grounds for hope.

For reflection: Think about how you have changed your outlook in some way. What led to that change? Was it information?

Prayer: We have so much information at our disposal. We know so much. We have access to so many ideas. What an incredible and amazing time to be alive! May we trust in Jesus to show us how to process this information and use it for the good of the world. Amen.

It’s that time of year – when people get discombobulated. They forget to go to scheduled meetings. They forget the weekly piano lesson. They forget it’s their day for the carpool. They forget the doctor’s appointment. Things are busy. There are lots of special events. We are distracted. It is easy to loose track of things and to get off kilter.

We think about Jesus as a manifestation of God breaking into human history in a new way. God is doing a new thing. There is before Jesus and after Jesus. That shows up in the calendar designations BCE (before the common era) and CE (common era) previously known as BC and AD.

This in-breaking, this bright light, this manifestation, creates a new reality. It sets a new course for human community. It is drastic and disruptive. It is the advent of a new reality very different from the way things were. It is the initiation of a new and surprising future.

The coming of Jesus should knock us off track, disrupt our routines, and throw a wrench in the works. That is indicative of the cataclysmic shift that Jesus brings into the world.

So, this holiday season, when you find you have missed an appointment, or forgotten to pay a bill, or dropped the ball on returning a phone call, let yourself be reminded that Jesus came to knock things out of whack and it’s no wonder you’re off this time of year!

For reflection: Are there ways that you have felt out of sync this season? How does following Jesus disrupt your world?

Prayer: We give thanks for this time of year with its additional activities and festivities. May they remind us of the good news of great joy to all people that comes into the world through Jesus. May we allow ourselves to be changed and transformed by this disruptive good news. Amen.