December 24, 2016 – Christmas Eve

Silent Night, Holy Night, All is calm, All is bright, Round yon virgin Mother and child, Holy infant so tender and mild,Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace!

On this date, December 24, 1818 the Christmas carol “Silent Night” written by composer Franz Xaver Gruber was first sung at St. Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf , Austria. A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. He had already written the lyrics of the song “Stille Nacht” in 1816. Before Christmas Eve, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service. Both performed the carol during the mass on the night of December 24.

On Christmas Eve, as the services are concluding, the congregation will light small hand-held candles and the lights are lowered in the Nave. The congregation begins to sing Silent Night as I read the beginning of the Gospel of St. John. It is a stunning moment – a time everyone should experience. It is a liminal moment – a moment when time seems to stop and G-d’s Kairos time takes over – and the entire congregation feels as if we are surrounded by the Holy Spirit. If you have never experienced this moment, I encourage you to find a Lutheran Church near you, for I am sure most congregations have a similar moment during their Christmas Eve services. After all, Christmas is about the coming of Christ almost 2000 years ago – a moment in time that changed the world – though the world did not yet know it. And Christmas is about reliving that moment on the 25th of December, but not leaving Christ until Easter comes along.

The challenge for you and me is to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit every day – and any effort we put forth each day, to spend time remembering the love of G-d found in Jesus, is a good start.

Pastor Dave

December 23, 2016 – 1 Days Until My Head Explodes, Or Devotions to Prepare Us For Christ’s Coming

“Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” Genesis 37:5-10

“Pharaoh dreamed…there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears.” Genesis 41:1-7

On this date, December 23, 1888 the painter Vincent van Gogh, deep in the throes of a bout of severe depression, cut off his left ear with a razor, and sent it to a prostitute for safe keeping. He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Today, Van Gogh is regarded as the poster boy for tortured starving artists – though his paintings today sell for millions.

The Christmas season for me is a time of torture – mostly because of the rampant materialism that is attached to this holiday. For Christians, this is the second most important holiday in the church year, second only to the resurrection of Jesus. But without the birth of Jesus, we could not have the life, death and resurrection. Remember this season that G-d came to earth, came to you and me in the baby Jesus. This is what Christmas is about, Charlie Brown – not getting the new BMW (trademark), unless that stands for “Baby Messiah for the World”.

Pastor Dave