1/3/16---The Second Christmas

On this first Sunday of the new year, we remember the story of the magi coming from the east. Their story, found in Matthew 2:1-12, is a powerful message for us all.

Many of us have seen, or own, a nativity set that includes these magi, or wise men, at the scene of Jesus' birth. I hate to break it to ya, but they weren't there at the nativity scene. They showed up some time "after Jesus was born." This idea comes from the welding together of two birth narratives, the other in Luke 2, to create a third. Although they were not present (Matthew's Christmas story is in chapter 1), these characters have made their way into our collective memory of the coming of the Christ child. We may call their visit "a second Christmas," for it reveals, for the first time, that Christ came for all people.

These magi, these astrologers from the east, were not Jewish. They did not follow Torah. They were not part of the "chosen" people of God, but they found Christ after following God's light, and paid him homage. They gave him gifts fit for a king. They were the first people Matthew mentions as worshiping Christ! 

Even if the nativity scenes with magi present aren't completely accurate, there is a reason we do it. The shepherds and the magi, to us, may represent an initial snapshot of the folks to whom Christ was sent: the lowly, and the Gentile, that is, not only the high religious folks, but the meek, humble, and the seekers as well.

The magi remind me to “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8). They were the first seekers, and they found Christ by the light of God, the star. May it be for us as well.

In Christ, 

Jack

Christmas Eve 2015---"On This Day"

This Christmas, the message of hope, peace, joy, and love has never been louder in my ears. Perhaps it is because the voice of the world's pain has also never been louder. Usually, I think of the Advent message as a quiet, subdued, dignified whisper, speaking to me as if it were a lullaby. Not this year. I see and hear politicians promoting a message of fear; I hear stories of people overseas fleeing their homes because their lives are at risk; I see groups of people that thrive off of this fear. Perhaps I am paying more attention to the news and current events, but I believe that this is the world we live in. Fear is everywhere.

Luke 2: 1-20 tells the Christmas story of Jesus' birth, and it is a loaded scene. It begins with the phrase " In those days..." It begins in the old time, chronological time, time shaped by "the powers that be." The Emperor Augustus reigns. Time is denoted by who was in power: "Quirinius was governor of Syria." We live in such a time today, too: the time of the census and taxes and authoritative orders and pronouncements; time shaped by business as usual, by the world's accepted power structures; history defined by those in positions of power. So the story begins in the old time---the old age: "In those days..." Even the words sound tired and hopeless.

But something happens! In verse 11, the story ends on "this day." A new time has entered the world--a new age. This is not merely a temporal notation, it is time shaped by the character and quality of the new event that has happened and has changed the world--the birth of Jesus, the Savior, the Son of God. This new time is not characterized by the struggle of business as usual or the threat of "the powers that be," but the in-breaking of the kingdom of God and the "good news of great joy for all the people." From the viewpoint of the emperor--the "powers that be"--it may even be a treasonous time. For "this day" also has a political dimension; this "new time" is a direct challenge to the imperial world of "in those days." There is a new Savior, a title formerly reserved for the emperor. There is a new Messiah, the royal, anointed one who will liberate Israel from Roman occupation. And there is a new Lord, who will inaugurate a new reign. Indeed, this reign is signaled by its announcement to lowly, graveyard shift shepherds, rather than to those in the halls of power. A story that begins with a threatening decree of Emperor Augustus ends with the joyful proclamation and praise of shepherds. This day will not be characterized by fear, but by the freedom and joy of the announcement "do not be afraid."

Jesus accomplished many things for us, one the greatest being taking our fear away. We do not need to be afraid of what is happening in the world, and in our lives. This relief from fear releases us to love God and others, follow Jesus, and courageously act as God's people in the world. Someone may actually come to know God because you are not afraid to relate to them, because you reject the message from the "powers that be" that may divide us.

We live in a new time, and may it be characterized by the hope, peace, love, and joy you receive because Jesus was born, and given to us so that we may have a restored relationship with God.

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Jack Ladd

Sent: Jesus Brings New Life

The holidays bring about so many emotions. Some of us are on cloud nine: we are joyfully anticipating Christmas day, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season, shopping, decorating, and eating the appropriate holiday treats. Some of us, though, dread the holidays. The feeling of loneliness and isolation are never as strong as when the holidays approach. The preparation and excitement are unnecessary and suck the joy right out of the season. Most of us, I venture, are somewhere in the middle. We like the holiday, but get annoyed with all of the "noise," or get easily stressed with all of the prep.

The one in the first scenario may wish that things will never ever ever change about this time of year, while the other two think they never will, although they could do with a little bit of holiday cheer, hope, and love.

Consider Ezekiel 37:

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”

When Ezekiel had this vision in the valley of dry bones. he did not seem to see much hope (why would he?). When asked, "can these bones live?" he replied (possibly with a smidgen of sarcasm) "Lord, you alone know." Can you relate to that answer? I can! I probably would have answered something like: "I have no clue, God. You know everything so why don't you go ahead and answer your own question and let me know. It is really possible for things to change like that?" In the middle of a vast valley of death, Ezekiel could not see what God saw---the possibility for new life.

So, this holiday season, my hope and prayer is that you may have new life through Christ. If you are an avid Christmas season enthusiast, may you see and experience the meaning behind it all---to share God's gift to the world in the baby Jesus. If these weeks are some of the most difficult that you face all year long, may God give new life to you and your "valley of dry bones" by showing you the love of God. And for those who are somewhere in between, may God's love show up in surprising ways, maybe even in the joy of picking out a perfect present or hearing that perfect holiday song right when you need it.

In the birth of Christ, God has shown that God is after each of us. Christ is the embodiment of relationship with God, given to us. May God's gift be a blessing to you this holiday season. Amen.

In Christ,

Jack

Sent: Jesus is God With Us

Emmanuel. God is with us. The prophets (e.g. Isaiah 7:14; 41:10) and the Psalms (e.g. 46:7) are covered with language of assurance that God is with us. Scripture speaks about God's presence in people's lives, and with us, in both the Old Testament (e.g. Joshua 1:9)  and New Testament (Matthew 1:23). This is a very common theme in Scripture, and I am so glad it is.

This word Emmanuel has become a defining term of how God relates to the people of God; this is a word that encompasses God's relation to the world. God is with us. 

During this Advent season, we focus on the terms hope, peace, joy, and love. We are assured that God is truly with us through Christ  because Jesus was sent to reconcile, set us free, and Jesus is Emmanuel (we will also discover/be reminded that Jesus brings new life, and Jesus changes everything). God is with us in the pain, the joy, through everything.

I believe that, especially during this special holiday season, that we long for this. We long for the hope, peace, joy, and love that God brings us through Christ. We long for God to be with us, and for all that brings into our lives and into this world.

There is no doubt much pain, confusion, and fear in the world today. Our hearts break for refugees in Europe, our minds are confused by the different messages we are told by our leaders, and we are scared of the world has become. But God says I am with you.

Emmanuel is not a solution to all of these problems.

Last night I was watching a rerun episode of one of my favorite shows "Modern Family." Phil was at a spa, where he started a conversation with some other women there. These women overheard a conversation Phil had with his wife, Claire (he had her on speaker phone), and they gave Phil advice. Claire was voicing her problems, and Phil was offering solutions to them. What the women told Phil was that she was not looking for solutions, she was looking for Phil to be with her, to offer her support and love through her problems.

God knows what it takes to have a true relationship with us. Yes, we look to God for answers, and God is there for us. But I believe that there is no greater portrait of love than to be with someone, with all of your support and friendship. God knows. God is with us.

12/6/15---Sent: Jesus Sets us Free

On this second Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of peace. We will hear a word of how Jesus sets us free. And we will partake in Holy Communion.

Peace, freedom, and Communion.

The Scriptures tell us:

Jesus Christ is our peace. (Ephesians 2:14)

He is the Prince of Peace, 
and the fruit of His presence is peace. (Isaiah 9:6; Galatians 5:22)

Christ comes to bring justice, wholeness, and harmony 
to every relationship throughout all creation.
He wants to continually grant us peace in every situation. (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

Luke 4: 16-19, our focus passage for Sunday, says:

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

        to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

    and recovery of sight to the blind,

        to let the oppressed go free,

 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

In our Holy Communion liturgy, we remember that Christ did what God sent him to do:

Your (God's) Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor,

to proclaim release to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

and to announce that the time had come

when you would save your people.

He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners.

So come this Sunday, ready to be set free from your burdens, ready to be at peace with God and with others, ready to be nourished by the spiritual food that God has made ready for you in Jesus Christ. 

Sent: Jesus Reconciles

Advent is upon us! I have to admit, the long season of days after Pentecost, or what is sometimes called "ordinary time," can drag on a little too much for me. For the past few weeks, I have been anticipating and getting excited for the season of Advent. This is a season of waiting for the coming of Christ, so you could say that I was waiting to wait. That might sound strange to you, and now that I have realized this, it is quite peculiar.

I think what intrigues me so much about this season of Advent is the anticipation; the build up; the dramatic longing for Christmas day. I feel like a kid again. I remember getting up on Christmas morning with my brother, and it was commonly agreed upon that we had to try and wake up our sisters before we headed downstairs to gather around the tree. I remember the rule: "not before 6 AM!" I just couldn't wait to enjoy the holy day with my family. Eventually, my sisters would come downstairs and we'd begin opening presents, usually after some bacon and eggs.

It didn't matter that we didn't get along all the time, it didn't matter that we had just argued and fought over the last piece of bacon, or that we didn't wait until 6 to wake up my sisters. What mattered is that we were all there, spending this holy day together.

Looking back now, I can see that Christmas brought my family together. The weeks leading up to Christmas was full of excitement and anticipation...of longing for the day to come where we would enjoy what God has given us...God's very own Son. Looking back, I can see, indeed, that Jesus reconciles. And Jesus continues to satisfy our longing, that is what Jesus does.

This season of Advent, we will be participating in a Bible Study called "Sent." My preaching will coincide with this study, because I really do think God has some amazing things to show us. In the first lesson, Jacob Armstrong says "Advent is a beautiful time, even if you get frustrated with the commercialization and the busyness of it all. There is something beautiful happening in the hearts of people who long for something else, who hope that we will find what our hearts yearn for.In my estimation we are hoping and longing for reconciliation. And the longing is deep."

After receiving the news from an angel that the Messiah had been born, the shepherds "went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them" (Luke 2:16-18).

The ones to whom Jesus was sent became the ones who were sent to bring Jesus to others. That's the deal. That's the reconciliation that God sends us out to do. God has sent Jesus to reconcile us to God, but also us to one another. May it be so.

See you Sunday!

11/22/15---Grace: Means of Grace

Malachi 3:7. which is one of the verses that John Wesley focuses on in his sermon "The Means of Grace," says: "Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?" The prophet goes on to answer the question by saying "do not rob God," referring to tithes and offerings, and "do not speak against God." The prophet encourages the listeners by saying that God will bless them. 

Wesley thinks about it a little differently, although he regarded giving as an essential piece of Christian living. In his sermon, he begins by asking a similar question that Malachi did: "But are there any ordinances now...? Are there any means ordained of God as the usual channels of his grace?"

Glad you asked, Mr. Wesley. Indeed, there are. Acts 2: 42, which may be regarded as the first Christian community (after the Pentecost experience and the first converts), says that "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." These believers were also just baptized. These are the means of grace, the ordinances of God, the channels of grace. These are the ways we experience God's love in our lives and in this world.

Embedded in these means of grace are different ways in which grace can be described. In our Methodist tradition, through the teachings of John Wesley, we know grace to exist in 3 forms: prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying.

Prevenient grace is, literally, "the grace that comes before." It is grace that precedes human decision. Methodists most commonly conceptualize of this form of grace through the ordinance of baptism. More specifically, infant baptism. We baptize babies before they even know about God's love for them because of prevenient grace. Further, it explains why God is graceful to us, even when we have done wrong. It does not matter what we do, grace is available to all.

Justifying grace is the grace that pardons us from our sins. It is the kind of grace in which we understand that we are saved. It is called the assurance of faith, the kind that does depend on what we believe. In a Word document, there is a "justify" feature where you are able to line things up the way you want. This form of grace is similar: as justifying text within a document puts all the words in line, justifying grace puts us "in line" with God. 

Sanctifying grace is our response to what God has done in our lives. Because of our assurance of faith, we want more and more of God's love; we desire holy living. Wesley would say that this is our "going on to perfection" in order to live more like Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. At this point in our journey with God, we have the assurance that God loves us. The idea of sanctifying grace, though, is that God loves us so much that God desires for us to be made new, not to stay the same. This leads to good works of faith and mercy in the world. 

What's incredible to me is that we know God's grace through our own story with God. Notice that these forms of grace are understood within your journey. So, live your story! 

See you Sunday!