The Third Thursday In Advent

THE THIRD THURSDAY IN ADVENT

Thursday, December 16, 2010

MATTHEW 13:2-When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"

Yesterday I noted that this was a strange question for John to be asking.  The first part of John’s ministry was preparing for Jesus.  When Jesus was baptized John greeted him at the River Jordan with that words that have become part of our communion liturgy, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Now John is questioning if Jesus is the real deal.  Why?

Remember where John was – in prison.  He was awaiting execution.  Having visited in jails and prisons, they are never pleasant places today.  I can only imagine the dismal circumstances of a First Century prison.  John’s life was unraveling.  He must have felt abandoned, frightened, and despondent.  His heart was so heavy that his eyes of faith were clouded.  We are not told but no doubt John’s disciples returned to encourage John and assure him that Jesus was who he said he was. 

I will always remember the young woman, widowed for the second time and left with three small children, asking me, “Why has God abandoned me?  What have I done to deserve this?”  Her heart was so heavy that she could not see God at work in her life through friends, family and her church working to support her and help her through.  God had not abandoned her but was more present that ever.  But like John the Baptist she could not see it at the time.

SO WHEN have you been called upon to be like John’s disciples to encourage and support someone in a difficult time?  Or when have your eyes been so clouded that you needed someone to remind you that Jesus was still there even though you could not see or feel him?

Stir up your power, O Lord and come.  Come to us and empower us to be your presence in the lives of people who cannot see you.  AMEN

The Third Wednesday In Advent

THE THIRD WEDNESDAY IN ADVENT

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

MATTHEW 11:2-3  ²When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples  ³and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"

How strange that John the Baptist would ask of Jesus, “Are you the one to come or are we to wait for another?”  Is this the same John who earlier in his ministry said of Jesus, “This is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'Prepare the way of the Lord.  Make his path straight.'"?  Apparently John did not recognize Jesus.

Verse four of the Advent hymn All Earth Is Hopeful reminds us that we meet Jesus everyday in our neighbors.  Sometimes we recognize him and sometimes we don’t.

We first saw Jesus a baby in a crib

This same Lord Jesus today has come to live

   in our world.

He is present in neighbors we see

Our Jesus is with us, and ever sets us free.

I have an irrational fear of being confined, locked in.  When I visit the mental health ward of a hospital and hear the door lock behind me, my heart begins to race and my palms sweat.  Imagine my terror, panic, horror when I was called upon to visit a convicted murderer in a maximum security prison.  It wasn’t visiting a murderer that terrorized me but the thought of being locked in, confined like I had never been before. 

The day before my dreaded visit I met a Roman Catholic priest at a funeral.  I told him about my upcoming visit and how I was dreading it.  “Oh,” he said, “I am the chaplain on death row at that prison.  I’ll meet you there tomorrow and walk you through it.”  There is not doubt in my mind that I met Jesus in that man.  I am happy to say that unlike other times, this time I recognized him and thanked him for being present in my life.

SO WHAT experiences have you had when you met Jesus and recognized his coming to you? 

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Come to us and open our eyes to your coming and make us thankful.  AMEN

The Third Tuesday In Advent

The Third Tuesday in Advent

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Isaiah 35:5  ⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;   ⁶then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

If my Aunt Helen were alive today she would be nearly 100 years old.  When she was an infant she developed a very high fever that I’m told lasted several days.  As a result Helen was deaf, unable to speak clearly and had some serious developmental and  physical challenges.  There were no special schools for children with multiple disabilities.  Well meaning neighbors and family members encouraged my Grandmother to “put her away.”  Grandma Reesh would not consider it.  Until Grandma Reesh died, she cared for Helen.  Then Helen came to live with us part of the time.  Consequently Helen with all her physical and mental challenges was a constant presence in my life until I left for college. 

At her funeral the pastor used this Isaiah text and asked our family to try to imagine Helen standing straight and tall, dancing and joyfully singing words that were crystal clear.  Whenever I hear these words from Isaiah, I think of Helen and I get excited about the life to come.  I can hardly wait to see and hear Aunt Helen dancing and singing for joy.

SO WHAT excites you when you think about the life to come?  Remember Peter Pan?  It will be an awfully exciting adventure. 

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Come and excite us about what is to come.  AMEN

The Third Monday In Advent

The third Monday in advent

Monday, December 13, 2010

Isaiah 35:8    ⁸A highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Holy Way;

                        the unclean shall not travel on it,

                        but it shall be for God's people;

                        no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.  Some contemporary translations read, “Not even fools will get lost.”  This reading for the Third Sunday in Advent was meant to give the people of God in Isaiah’s day and in our day hope in a difficult time.  Hope is a gift from God.  But in addition to giving hope, this text makes me smile.

I am “geographically challenged”.  I get lost is big rooms.  Recently on a trip to Philadelphia with friends I volunteered to park the car while other entered the Franklin Institute.  Upon exiting the car with our friends, Carolyn remarked, “Are we actually trusting him to park the car?  He’ll get lost and he’ll never find us and we’ll never find the car.”  Guess what?  I did get lost but I found them and we eventually found the car. 

It has nothing to do with Isaiah’s original meaning or its meaning to us today buy this text makes me smile.  It makes me laugh at myself.  The ability to smile and to laugh at one’s self, like hope, is a gift from God too. 

SO WHAT makes you smile and when have you laughed at yourself?

Stir up your power, O Lord and come.  Come to us and give us joy today. AMEN

The Second Saturday In Advent

SECOND SATURDAY IN ADVENT

Saturday, December 11, 2010

ROMANS 15:7  Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God

In the Second Reading for the Second Week in Advent St. Paul gives us some hints on how to wait for the our Lord’s coming.  He says, “Welcome one another.”

We have several Indian neighbors.  When we first moved into the neighborhood, it was Ravi and his wife who were the first and only neighbors to welcome us and offer any assistance in getting settled in a new place.  Several years ago when my son and I were moving a load of 80 pound bricks from the driveway to the back yard, it was Rakeesh and his father (who speaks very little English) who, unbidden, came out of their house and began to help us.  Janeeka knew I liked Indian food.  Often when she made Indian delicacies, she would bring a plate over for me. 

Although these people are not Christian, God was showing me through them what it means to be a welcoming person.  Carolyn and I have tried to follow their example by being welcoming people in our neighborhood and in our lives.

SO WHEN have you been welcomed or welcoming?  Did you understand it to be part of what St. Paul is telling us in his letter to the Romans?  Do you see it as a way of life as you wait?

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Open our lives to be welcoming people .  AMEN

The Second Friday In Advent

SECOND FRIDAY IN ADVENT

Friday, December 10, 2010

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

“THAT WE MIGHT HAVE HOPE” – We are people of hope.  I remember the story of a Jewish man in one of Hitler’s concentration camps who lived with the hope of seeing his beloved wife once again.  When he got word that she had died in another camp, he too died days afterward.  He could not live without hope. 

Today I went to the funeral of one of the church’s saints.  Doris died with hope.  She consciously made the decision to have her respirator turned off knowing full well what it meant.  She was tired of struggling and had the hope for a much better existence, the hope of being with our Lord and her beloved husband, Charlie, also one of the church’s saints.  With that hope she was able to say her final goodbye. 

The pastor’s sermon reawakened in me that hope and the excitement for what is to come.  Many of you have heard me say that my favorite line in all of English literature comes not from Shakespeare or the Bible but from Peter Pan.  When he had been captured by Captain Hook and was forced to walk the blank.  In the water below was Toc, the alligator, waiting for his Peter Pan snack.  Certain death awaited him and he boldly announces, “To die will be an awfully exciting adventure!”  For Doris death was an awfully exciting adventure. 

With that hope I can go boldly into life not fearing its end.  As the candles on the Advent wreath grow brighter each week, they remind me that Advent is a time for hope.

SO WHAT do you hope for?

Stir up your power, O Lord and come.  Come to us and reawaken in us the hope and excitement for what is to come tomorrow and the next day and on the last day.  AMEN

The Second Thursday In Advent

THE SECOND THURSDAY OF ADVENT

Thursday, December 9, 2010

ISAIAH 11:3-4a         His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

                                    He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

                                         or decide by what his ears hear;

                                    but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

                                         and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

Upon first reading these lines I was confused.  Don’t we want a judge who will judge by the facts and not be swayed by bribes or personal feelings?  I want a judge who will judge by what he sees and hears.  Then I remembered Cart Man at Giant, the man who gathers the shopping carts from the parking lot. 

He is a little man who at the first hint of frost in the air bundles up like an Eskimo and has what appears to be a tissue stuffed in both ears.  He always has a hard stoic look on his face and would never acknowledge a smile or a greeting.  So, I made it my goal in life to make him smile or at least acknowledge me.  I was always pleasant, kind and courteous but persistent in smiling and greeting him, commenting on how cold he must be, etc.  Never a response!  Finally deciding he was simply an unfriendly curmudgeon Scrooge, I gave up. 

One afternoon while visiting in the hospital, I met another Giant employee who was the exact opposite of Cart Man, friendly, engaging and always smiling.  I told him about the unfriendly curmudgeon Scrooge who tended the carts.  “Oh, you mean Jim.  He is totally deaf and cannot speak.”  All of a sudden I wanted a judge who would not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.”  I thank my God that God will judge Cart Man and not me and that God will judge me.

SO WHEN have you judged a situation only to find that you were all wrong?  Are you not glad our God is judge and not you?

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.  Come to us and keep us from being judge over others.  AMEN