December 26, 2021 – Christmas 1C

“Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” Luke 2:41 — 52

“In each of the Gospels, the first words spoken by Jesus yield fascinating insights into that portrayal of his life. Mark’s Jesus strikes a bold opening chord: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news” (1:15). The kingdom remains a central, transformative reality for all who hear and follow, and it forces us to question just where our loyalties truly lie. Matthew depicts Jesus’ response to John the Baptist’s question about who should be baptizing whom (3:15). A critical theme of Matthew’s Gospel will be the higher (at times impossibly higher) righteousness to which Christians are called. John’s Jesus speaks first by interrogating two of John’s disciples about what they’re looking for. Sometimes it seems like God is perpetually asking that question of us, waiting perhaps for our answers to improve.

In Luke as well, Jesus interrogates two people about their seeking—but he’s a 12-year-old, and he’s talking to his parents: “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” This rebuke to Mary and Joseph, like this story in general, both follows the expected order of a pious narrative and startles us with a radical disruption. Jesus is reordering norms and expectations. He is messing with us. And while each of these dramatic, theme-setting inaugural sayings confronts and challenges us, Luke’s is all the more disconcerting because the Savior who is speaking with such authority is still a kid.” (David Keck, Christian Century Magazine, November 27, 2018)

Mary doesn’t understand why Jesus left them – Mary doesn’t understand why he must be in his Father’s house. What Jesus is doing goes beyond her understanding. And this pattern will follow their relationship the closer he gets to his crucifixion. Is Jesus messing with Mary, as David Keck suggests in the passage above, or is Jesus making a point?

I believe Jesus seeks to upset our norms, our expectations, and our understanding. Yes, we will learn so much from Jesus – but we will also walk away with many more questions. Get ready. Jesus is going to be hiding around the corner, and Jesus will appear in your life when you least expect it. Sometimes we are seeking him, but mostly he is seeking us.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, help me understand when I am at my most puzzled, and help me seek when I am most lost. Mostly help me remember that you have the words of eternal life. Amen.

Pastor Dave

December 25, 2021 – Christmas Day

“In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  All went to their own towns to be registered.  Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.  He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:1-7

“In Luke’s nativity scene, he knows something about wanting to order chaotic lives… In fact, his story begins just there, naming upfront the rulers of this world who were responsible for maintaining — and enforcing! — the Pax Romana. Moreover, Luke sets his story amid a census, the act of ordering — that is, registering, counting, and taxing everyone — par excellence. Yet this is only background for Luke; the main action takes place elsewhere, on the fringe, far away from the centers of power, in a little backwater town called Bethlehem, where a scared young girl and her equally scared husband can’t find any decent place in which to birth their first child and so are forced to take refuge with animals, with only dirty shepherds and their even dirtier sheep to notice.

Why does Luke tell his story this way? Even more, why does God do it this way? I actually think it — this whole story — is an indictment of the order, an accusation against things as they are. Do you know what I mean? Let me try to say it another way: I think that by playing out this redemptive story on the fringe of things, just where you’d least expect God to be, God is telling us that the way things usually are just isn’t good enough. It’s almost like God is whispering to us something that deep down we know already but are afraid to admit, even to ourselves: these lives we’ve so carefully created, this world we work so hard to manage, are beautiful, precious, and wonderful … but also vulnerable, fragile, and ultimately insufficient.

Even the best of lives is filled by measures of regret and disappointment, and if we take even a moment to gaze around us we see how many lead lives that are difficult, painful, and all too short. And so God comes not at the center of the world to straighten things out a bit, but on the fringe to call the orders and structures of the day into question and herald a new beginning altogether. Ultimately, Luke’s story — if we’re willing to listen — witnesses to the simple yet scary fact that God didn’t come in Jesus to make things a little better, a little more bearable. God came to turn over the tables, to create a whole new system, to resurrect and redeem us rather than merely rehabilitate us.” (Something More, David Lose, working preacher website, December 18, 2011)

I know that Christmas can be a tough time for people, a dark time of dealing with loss, separation, and loneliness where those experiencing such dark nights of the soul just can’t wait for this time to pass.  My friends, every day, all of our days, all of our moments in time are a gift from G-d.  How we spend that time is our choice.  I challenge you this Christmas, to take some time to examine your relationship with Jesus, and to ponder, like Mary, how you will cherish the time you have, and how you will use your time in the New Year ahead.  Will you squander it, take it for granted, misuse it, waste it, ignore it?  Or, also like Mary, will you treasure it and make the most of it.  Allow the light of Christ to envelope you, and your homes, every day, because in the midst of great darkness, G-d’s light comes to embrace humanity – and the darkness, no matter what it is, will never be able to overcome that light.  We then can prove the ancient prophet correct, for you see, by relying on G-d’s strength, we can be a people who live by the strength of G-d rather than relying on their own strength.  And we can live in confidence and trust in G-d that we can accomplish much while fearing little, we can become vessels through which G-d can minister to the world – all because of a child born in a manger…this is how we can live in and live out the Spirit of Christmas throughout the whole year.

Pastor Dave