Advent 3 - The Right-Now Gospel

A personal belief is that Isaiah offers EXCELLENT poetry!  Lots of people agree, I find.  Take Chapter 35.  Now, there is a picture of salvation.

A sermon that walks through the chapter could be entitled "The Abundant Life", for Jesus said that's what He came to bring.  In the present.  In the right-now.

I've become convinced that the "pie in the sky" gospel is actually a means of totally negativizing the Gospel.  To say it is only in the eternal future is actually more of a detriment to the Gospel than to say there is no eternal future.

I.  Open the chapter with a picture essay of what happens when water hits the dry ground of a barren area.  Study desert archaeology to see what abundance was there when the desert bloomed in ancient times of wetlands.  Portray the effect of nurture on the human spirit.

II.  Review verses 4-7 as a picture of redemption, not focused on the cause of that redemption so much as the visible effects.

III.  Review verse 8.  No one gets de-railed on the Holy Way, but even fools will find their way.  And that's good, for lots of us are rather foolish.  (Thus, saved by grace,not by merit, not a bad theme, is it?)

IV.  Verses 9 and 10...............  the theme, and again, and again.

If our theology says that Jesus came to bring anything less, then we need to review the course material, and study a bit under Professor Isaiah.

Advent 2, Work In Progress

Shifting gears.  Ever do that?  the song, "In The Bleak Midwinter", inspired a "bending" of the lectionary this week.

I..  Bio of Christina Rossetti.  Beautiful model for the Madonna by her brother, a then-popular artist in London.  Suffered in ill health, writer of beautiful poetry, including "Love Came Down at Christmas" and the title piece for this sermon.

II.  Matthew 1:1-17, the missionary and the genealogies, God reaching people through their former beliefs in sacred ancestry.  My criteria?  No.  God's way of reaching THEIR hearts?  Yes.

III.  Grace unexpected and more than expected in Jesus.

IV.  For a communion Sunday - holy grace through common things.

Blessings on your day for the second of Advent.

Advent 2 - His Loved Children

Working toward Christmas, drifting away from the Lectionary, but still doing the adventure of approaching the birth.

For this week, an old story from missions.  A translator-missionary produced a new Bible for a small tribe in then-un-explored Africa.  Matthew's Gospel was first.  A fine evangelist, he had brought tribal leadership into the church, and then had to leave the area for about a year.

On his return, he arrived on a Sunday just in time for worship.  Entering the chapel as the service began, he heard the congregation reciting the opening 17 verses of Matthew.  Now, this was a surprise!

He asked later, and one of the elders told him:  "You know our old ways.  Our religion has been the worship of the ancestors.  A highly honored man could name seven generations before him!  But, this man Jesus, he is greatest of all - here are listed 42 generations of HIS ancestors.  So, we honor him EVERY Sunday with the recital of this great, great honor."

God has not left himself without witnesses among ANY of His children.  While that list may not move my heart, God knows it moves the hearts of children He loves and reaches toward.

And that is the wonder and mystery of Christmas, that God DID love the whole world, and still reaches out to the whole world.

God, give us rejoicing in Your mysteries, even where we don't understand.  Amen.

Raise the Mark

Set the sights high, cause like the old wise men always said:  "Aim at nothing and you'll hit it every time!"

My favorite "box" stores are already into Christmas decorations.  Get your ribbons, bows, wrapping paper, one puffy Santa, a couple of plastic reindeer, and you got Christmas ready!  Nope!

I become more and more convinced that if others want to talk about Santa, I guess they will, and I won't.  Not much point in challenging, anyway.  The only real Santa problem, for me, is that if we tell children for the first 7 years of their life that Santa is real, and then say:  "O.K., never mind, Santa is only a symbol of a generous heart. It's JESUS who is real."  Now, are we preparing them to believe us about Jesus?

But, for me, I like the grand announcements:

http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=1

The blessing worth celebrating:  Psalm 122.

Not make-believe, or symbolic, but the wonder of God grappling with human nature, doing battle with death, and turning the chaos into blessing.  You can reference Genesis 1, and the grand poetry of the end of Revelation, and then spin it back to the miracle in the manger.

What a season for those of us called and privileged to proclaim!  And, you know, that means EVERY Christian, one way or another.

Bridging into the New Year (Advent)

From the Vanderbilt RCL listings:   http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=290  gives one of my favorite listings:  The Song of Zechariah.  Paving the way.  Opening the Door.  Bringing it all into focus.

God's long-intended, long-awaited plan to come himself as shepherd and leader, God incarnate, born humble, the whole grand story, starts on this Sunday, as the readings point so clearly forward, that Advent begins next week.

Today in Disciple, we discusses the "page-turning" moments of God's covenant building.  Sarah's son, Hannah's son, Elizabeth's son, and Mary's Son.  Times when God writes history HIS way.

Sarah and Hannah barren, Elizabeth too old, and Mary unmarried, virgin, and too young................ and God turns histories biggest corners for His covenant people.

Superb reflection time for pastors, too, in the reading from Jeremiah 23, as God condemns the pastors who destroy and scatter, and promises to re-gather HIMSELF and then appoint shepherds who will function in the model of the Good Shepherd.

A good week for reflection, that can lead to a fine moment of preaching the Word on Sunday.

Hard to Start

Such a personal long time of working in the pressure of the week, all my working life, I confess this year's planning  is a different sort of thing.  November, the "loose end" of the Christian year, feels different this year.

We delayed All-Saints to November 7, so that suggested a blend of All-Saints and Veterans Day, which worked well.  The text was the closing song from Habakkuk.

A theme coming in from the world around, for this year, is the whole theme of LIFE.  What I hear around me is that "knowing Jesus personally" guarantees eternal life.  What I keep encountering in Scripture is that faith-as-trust-and-obey-Jesus guarantees abundance of life right now.  Last year's Revelation study, focused on the letters to the churches, opened some fresh doors for me on that one.

The Wesley hymns work well with that, never denying the eternal destiny for which the abundant life is a foretaste, but emphasizing that life in the right-now is the major theme.

I find that all wrapped in the word "incarnate" - the Word became Flesh and dwelled in the here and now, to change the here and now.  There is a lot more present than future in all the narrative, and specially as the incarnation redefines what life ought to be, what God intended it to be, all mixed up with neighbors and the world around us.

Soon, we'll be moving into Advent.  Blessings on the way!

Working Toward Advent

This Sunday, doing All-Saints (late is better than early, I suppose) and preaching from Habakkuk.

I.  Write the vision clearly.
II.  Patiently watch, even in the most difficult times.
III.  The Astounding Affirmation.  Even when it ALL falls apart, the economics and the politics, the heritage and even the feelings of self-control lost with a foreign invasion - - even with ALL of that, no herd, no flock, no fruit, I will still trust in the Lord and CONTINUE to be steadfast and patient.
IV.  This is a preparation for the Table on this first Sunday, recognizing that it is from the Lord that our spirits are fed.  Even if everything else was just perfect, the hunger within can only be satisfied by the means of grace.

In study, it's time to begin outlining Advent now.  Seasonal themes will carry November until the end and Advent.

Tomorrow, I really must move on!  Ever been there?

In the Workshop

A previous post listed a few items on the desk for Lectionary A.  Today, a couple more.

From the Disciple series (from Cokesbury), Jesus In The Gospels and Remember Who You Are (a study of the prophets and of Paul) form a really helpful small library.  A friend has used the Disciple study on Luke-Acts as the base for a Sunday School teaching experience for a long time;  everybody is happy with it.

Why these?  To preach means to be a life-time student.  Just out of seminary, I enthusiastically recommended a just-out book to the senior pastor where I served.  "No, thanks, I don't read new books now.  I'm solid."  Now, that is a real conversation stopper!  I admired many characteristics of the man, but that created a distance instantly.

In the same way, re-furbishing the old "sermons from the well" doesn't work.  When I hear a joke that is dated prior to 1980, I get something of the same feeling.  You know what you mean, and I know what you mean, but the VAST majority of the listeners tend to tune out, from that point forward.  The conversation becomes a monologue.

Leander Keck, who assembled Jesus in the Gospels has a long list of credentials, and is superb at stimulating the feeling that you are having a conversation with the author.  Take a look.

Tomorrow, I'll publish a sermon on The Lord's Prayer, a good way to move through the seasons, and to cover a fifth Sunday in October.

Blessings.

B

The Social Setting

How do you "set" the Good News.  Maybe in the old hymn-question:  "Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help us on to God?"  Well, yes, Advent does get into the "tough" stuff.  Why wasn't the OT enough?  Why did God need to send Jesus?  Why not just SAY the Word?  Why was Immanuel necessary, anyway?

Because the world, this world, our world, is exactly nothing less than sinful.  It is about the powerful overwhelming and "eating up" the poor.  It is about what Texans call "bidness" without ethics.  It is about the cultural view that the greatest sin is in getting caught.  Consider this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/business/16countrywide.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Anyone who can pay a penalty of that size is amazing, somehow.  And millions dream to be just like him.  And are disappointed if you point out that earning that much is impossible for all except a very few.

What kind of world needs to hear the News?  The challenge is to present the News as the GOOD NEWS, for it is.

This week, I've worked on background.  The original background? The Roman world is long gone, but if you re-read the experience of living in it, as portrayed in Revelation 17 and 18, that world rolls on.  I used to think pre-Civil-War plantation mansions were beautiful, until realizing how they got there.  One person consumed the entire life-energy of hundreds, to spend it all selfishly.  There's no way to "spin" that into a glorious conclusion.  I don't look at the mansions any more.  

Of course, not every one who profits is evil..... not at all........... but there is evil in systems that demolish people as if they were edible.  

Jesus said, "love your neighbor" and that is still magnificently good news everywhere it bears living fruit in this painful world.  It is GOOD NEWS today.

B

Getting Ready with Themes

The theme-package, maybe to be used, maybe not, begins with John 3:16 for Advent I. God initiates the whole thing, and loves the whole world. Not just our part of it, but ALL of it. Not just the part that uses OUR language for God, but God loves even those who don't make ANY effort to find him. And He specially loves those who really do. Even if they call him by the wrong name.

Advent is an adventure, it is finding that God's love is vastly superior to our customs that celebrate that love. And the biggest transition in history has been when people find God and make the big move: from the old "kill the unbeliever" to "persuade the unbeliever in love". You can touch any part of history or human nature from that vantage point.

Advent II, thematic, would be UMHymnal # 387, the full text of Charles Wesley's "Wrestling Jacob", probably ending with Albert Schweitzer's final paragraph from "Quest...": "he comes to us as one unknown..."

Advent III, along the same lines, would take another Wesley hymn-set, UMH # 594 and 595. Jesus is the Word, but finding the Word means much more than reading ink on paper; it also means prayerfully communing with the Holy Spirit who SPEAKS the living word to us. God insists on participating in the moment of hearing.

Advent IV takes Bethlehem as the location, your favorite hymn and text, and the simple blessing: "Bloom Where You Are Planted." Christmas is not a matter of getting the "wow" gift or taking the "wow" trip - - it is a matter of personal transformation which we come to when Emmanuel happens, when God is with us, when the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us.

Soon, I'll post other Advent patterns. I'll probably use one of them!

Blessings, B

Started Today

Ah, the decisions!

Today, I sketched out four sermons to "Advent" our way to Christmas, using the hymns of Charles Wesley, and a three-Psalm Advent 1 option. I'm playing with the idea of an interactive sermon using responsive reading of Psalm 1, Psalm 150, and one of the passionate response psalms of thanksgiving.

"We never did it that way before" but we might this time.

Also, the plan is to develop four hymn-based sermons, four Gospel sermons, four OT/Psalm sermons, and four Epistle sermons. That starts tomorrow, and will run through October. By November I really have to decide, I suppose.

Comments along the way? Appreciated!

Getting Started

There's a deep well, after doing this for 45 years, but the well is mostly a taken-apart listing, since every sermon is re-written for every new situation. And radically.

So, for this year, I stack the books. Christian Believer (by UMPublishing) is for theme-based theology, the reading guide that accompanies it for anecdotes and historical reference. Oxford Annotated Bible is the basic, a couple of newer translations, and King James for some of the magnificent poetic expressions.

Sounds pretty ordinary, but then preaching has to "seem" ordinary, even when there are subtleties. G. Ray Jordan, another generation's "preacher of note" used to say: "The giraffes can reach what they want, just make sure you feed the sheep. But, make sure, when you get it down there, make sure it is still fodder."

I'm doing Advent this month, and I'll post (or at least intend to post) four reflections per week, on the four lessons. For reference, I'll go to the Vanderbilt Library lectionary pages. Good art work and poetry there, as well.

If you're so motivated, a comment or response might shape the future of these small pages. Illustrations come from life, so there will be some, but you have better ones.

Thanks for looking in.

Bryan

Ancient and Modern

Some things are Universal. Egyptians, Roman, Greeks, Mayans, Aztecs, Anasazi - - - - Everyone has made an emotional linkage between the returning/lengthening of days in the winter solstice, and the assurance of new life - EVERYBODY. Take a moment to look at the enormous effort to carve out Chaco Canyon.

There are just some Hard-wired Human-Nature Universals:

1) Blood and Sacrifice secure blessings - universal. Look at the phenomenal Mayan-king ritual requirements.

2) Death/crossing the river/sunset - universal poetry from the Egyptians to the moderns.

3) New life/Sunrise/New Birth - universal pictures from Easter Eggs through Roman holidays through the basic building blocks in all of us.

When God sets his sights on a target, He hits the target! He built the heart and connects to it in His greatest Act: incarnation

When we set out to preach the Incarnation and Advent, we tap into a whole reservoir of poetry and imagination, pictures and remembrances, in which 20 minutes of preaching may contact hours worth of imaginings within the mind of the hearer. When we celebrate Christmas and solstice together, we've linked powerful, mind-changing concepts.

My devotional readings begin early, re-visiting the incarnation passages, and the theologians who celebrate incarnation, from the Philippians hymn to the moderns.

The Book Stack

A friend in college was a debater of some skill. When he wrote a paper for a seminar, he had a pattern learned from debate competition.

He began with an outline, and beside the desk, a stack of books, all marked with passages to use. With an outline and a stack, he could produce a defensible seminar paper in an evening.

Another friend retired years ago. His present devotional life is to outline, stack the books, and prepare a lectionary sermon every week. Occasionally he actually does get to deliver one. But the spiritual exercise is ongoing. It is who he is.

So, it's September now. The faith-building, faith-expressing ritual that expresses who we are is leaning toward the last Sunday of November. Some of us will deliver sermons, some of us will simply do the spiritual exercises we love, that make us who we are.

Either way...... take heart, it's a godly calling, isn't it?

Nouns Become Verbs

That's a mark of distinction! Like Google. It was a noun, now it's a verb. Here's one to show how it happened: George Washington Carver. Google that.

What a great biography. Pick it up in Wikipedia or a handful of other full-coverage spots, and it gives a great insight.

Here was a man who looked at poverty, lack of opportunity, discrimination, other negatives, and just seemed to say: "OK, never mind that - what's to do?"

He developed a program to grow more peanuts. There was a surplus and angry farmers. He very quickly began discovering/inventing alternative uses.

It's an old story, but a workable story for this year's work. Whether you use Sullenberger or Carver, or want to be challenging and re-correct the current re-writings of the story of the founding fathers, there's lots in biography to get your attention.

I like using a modern bio, an OT bio, and maybe a parable together. How's your preference?

On the Desk

It's on my desk as I begin. It connects me with the Church Fathers, the Reformation, and pattern-makers of the 20th century.

It's a short course in what we believe: Christian Believer from Cokesbury. The best part: Readings. J. Ellsworth Kalas asked a large group of former students to contribute short selections that had been the most influential for their Christian faith and growth. Out of those, a group working with him selected, according to the basic doctrines to be presented. The result is an inspiring collection.

The introduction:

"Step into the sandals of a first-century Christian believer walking along the road in Galilee. You stop to exchange greetings with a stranger. As you talk, you casually scratch the shape of a fish in the dust with your walking stick. The stranger notices, smiles, clasps your hand - you've met another believer."

Symbols and words. Preparing preaching is preparing to "nurture in" an "ah-ha" moment. The message we scratch into the sand, and shape into Sunday morning words, can, by the work of the Holy Spirit, convey God's intended word, always much more than the words we speak.

Preparing in a Hot-Button Age

The man just asked a simple question: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Jesus just gave a simple response: Show me a coin.

It was a totally loaded political hot-button question: translated - - is it lawful to collaborate with the Roman occupation army?

Jesus response was as complex. Why are you carrying Caesar's image in your pocket? Is THAT lawful.

I seem to remember there were some folks who understood the moment, and set their course to kill Jesus. Remember, Jesus was not killed for being gentle, meek, mild, and non-offensive. Jesus was killed for offering the Kingdom of God as a purification and fulfillment of the eternal purposes of God.

The weather man, giving a senior-citizens' program, was asked about global warming. His answer was careful: "I don't like to comment on issues that are purely political." Some folks say that if lots of people define an issue as political, then preachers should have no comment on it.

Jesus didn't get the memo on that. There is no "button" hotter in our time than "taxes for Rome" in the first century. Israel rebelled, Israel lost in a long conflict that ended with the drama of Masada.

Preparing to preach from Matthew, what is our "style book"? What focus leads our thoughts? Is it political correctness (big problem for preaching from Matthew!!) or is it a loyalty to the definitions, goals, perspectives and wisdom of Jesus?

Starting early, do we have that talk with ourselves and God in our private prayer place, and decide, yet again, to preach the Gospel?

Getting Ready

My friend Sam often says: "Read Matthew; he tells it like it is!"

Matthew is central to Year A, with a touch of John and Luke thrown in. Advent is always a strong season in A, and it is fun to anticipate how to do it.

This year, I take in a new asset, Sullenberger's autobiography of life-long preparation for a critical moment. You remember Sully, the airliner pilot who safely water-landed in the Hudson. It turns out that he not only had a life-long love for the "art of the airplane", he also had great experience as an accident investigator. His research specialty related to that?

Sullenberger had studied every safe and not-so-safe emergency water landing on record, and all of the military research on those landings.

Preparation counts. It will this year, too.

First Prep

Almost the end of August, so it's time. I've sorted some files, looked over things that "really worked", and decided to say "hello" with this new blog.

It's Year A, starting with Advent 2010, and a good time to begin a summary. It will be a three-year project, working in parallel with other writings. Several years ago I discovered Kir Shalom (http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermon.html) as a wonderful resource when I was geographically remote from the kind of stimulating conversation that feeds faithful work.

They offer good things. I'll offer things here that have worked (and now work on a weekly basis) as I've preached through the lectionary pattern several times.

Each week, we'll do a little prep-time, then in Advent, move directly into sermon and service design and preparation. If anything is useful, plagiarize at will!! Do much!!
And praise God for all sorts of things that might get stirred up!

Blessings