Year B
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sanctuary’s been decorated for a festival tonight\u2026 for a celebration\u2026 for something that doesn’t happen every day\u2026 the sanctuary’s been specially prepared tonight\u2026 the way we prepare our homes when we’re expecting guests\u2026 maybe particularly esteemed guests\u2026 the wreaths\u2026 and the creche\u2026 and this green tree which represents the promise of life in the midst of winter\u2026 is adorned with Chrismons\u2026 ancient symbols which represent Christ and his ministry…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We’ve lit not only our seven Advent candles\u2026 but the Christ candle in the center too\u2026 perhaps to signify that Christ is the center of our lives\u2026 we’ve got poinsettias whose leaves are sometimes thought as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem which led the Wise Men to Jesus\u2026 red colored leaves which symbolize the blood of Christ\u2026 and the white leaves which represent his purity\u2026 the sanctuary’s been specially prepared tonight\u2026 the only thing that’s missing\u2026 is you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And many of you have decorated your homes for Christmas and Christmastide\u2026 with trees\u2026 and ornaments\u2026 and lights\u2026 and nativity sets\u2026 you may be planning a special meal for yourselves\u2026 or yourself\u2026 I know some families with two or three family-units\u2026 who have quarantined themselves for the past seven-to-ten days\u2026 so they could safely be together for this holiday\u2026 but many of us\u2026 will miss the gatherings of family and friends that we’re used to hosting\u2026 or being invited to join\u2026 we’re not used to being alone\u2026 it’s not what we were made for…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shepherds were not alone\u2026 they were in the fields\u2026 watching their flock at night\u2026 out in the middle of nowhere\u2026 and all of a sudden\u2026 without any warning\u2026 one of God’s angels stood before them\u2026 and God’s glory shone around them\u2026 and they were terrified\u2026 but the angel said to them\u2026 Do not be afraid\u2026 I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people\u2026 for to you is born this day in the city of David… a Savior\u2026 <\/em> and suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host joined that one angel\u2026 praising God and saying\u2026 Glory to God in the highest\u2026 and peace on earth\u2026 among those whom God favors<\/em>\u2026 and those whom God favors have done nothing to earn that favor\u2026 they are favored because God is God\u2026 they are among those on whom God’s grace falls\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve often wondered\u2026 why was it\u2026 that God chose to incarnate two-thousand years ago\u2026 when God did\u2026 I’ve wondered if it was because things in that little corner of the Middle East had gotten so bad\u2026 so corrupt… so legalistic\u2026 so unloving\u2026 that love itself had no choice\u2026 could no longer be silent\u2026 but had to take on flesh and blood\u2026 and remind us\u2026 teach us\u2026 through Word and action\u2026 how things are supposed to work\u2026 have you ever wondered that\u2026 and why not now when things seem to be falling apart all around us\u2026 all that scripture says\u2026 is that Jesus came in the fullness of time\u2026 but it may have been partly because of… philosophy\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n You see\u2026 Judaism was influenced by Hellenistic thought\u2026 and Hellenistic thought was influenced by Platonic philosophy\u2026 which was essentially dualism\u2026 which meant that there was a subtle dividing line… between the body and the soul\u2026 between the idea of an object and the particular object itself\u2026 between the substance of a thing\u2026 that is\u2026 its underlying archetype\u2026 and the accident of a thing\u2026 that is\u2026 its physical properties\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n But Fr. Richard Rohr writes\u2026 the manifestation of the Great I AM\u2026 in Jesus\u2026 was the momentous Christian epiphany\u2026 because for all practical purposes\u2026 the dualistic mind can’t get it’s head around the teaching\u2026 that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine\u2026 and at the same time\u2026 we’ve been unable to fully balance humanity and divinity in Jesus\u2026 which probably explains why we’re unable to put it together in ourselves\u2026 our dualistic minds need to choose one or the other\u2026 we need to see only Jesus as divine\u2026 and ourselves as only human\u2026 despite all of the scriptural and mystical affirmations to the contrary\u2026 and the whole point of the incarnation of God in Christ\u2026 was the overcoming of this divide\u2026 it’s reflected in what Jesus said in John 17:22-23\u2026 The glory that you have given me I have given them\u2026 so that they may be one\u2026 as we are one\u2026 I in them and you in me\u2026 that they may become completely one\u2026 so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me<\/em>\u2026 and it’s just exactly what we celebrate this night\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the miracle of the Incarnation\u2026 God did away with the notion that we are mere drones slogging our way toward some heavenly home\u2026 slowly but surely trudging through the earthly muck and mire\u2026 by becoming flesh in this world\u2026 God sanctifies our flesh\u2026 making it possible for us to be agents of God\u2019s grace\u2026 and the life that God\u2019s grace makes possible for us is a life in which we can operate from a place of compassion and love\u2026 it’s a life in which we recognize the turmoil and the tragedy\u2026 the trauma\u2026 and the deep grief of the world\u2026 and simply ask\u2026 how can we help\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one of Flannery O\u2019Connor\u2019s last short stories\u2026 entitled Revelation\u2026 she tells the story of an older woman who finds herself in a doctor\u2019s waiting room\u2026 engaging in small talk\u2026 and looking from person to person\u2026 silently evaluating and judging them\u2026 and she has an unsettling vision of what’s to come\u2026 all of the people she routinely judged are headed towards heaven\u2026 O’Connor describes them as battalions of freaks and lunatics\u2026 shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs\u2026 but behind them\u2026 is a tribe of people whom she recognizes and with whom she identifies… those who were like herself\u2026 who always had a little of everything\u2026 and the God-given wit to use it well\u2026 and she leaned forward to observe them closer\u2026 because they were moving along with great dignity\u2026 accountable as they had always been for proper order… and common sense\u2026 and respectable behavior\u2026 she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n You see\u2026 we think we will be saved by our many words\u2026 and prayers\u2026 and posts\u2026 or by our many deeds\u2026 whether they be charitable\u2026 political\u2026 or religious\u2026 but it\u2019s God’s grace that really saves us\u2026 so we have an opportunity\u2026 to prepare our hearts\u2026 as we’ve prepared our sanctuary and our homes\u2026 to make a place for Christ’s grace to dwell\u2026 and this aspect of Incarnation\u2026 is particularly what we celebrate tonight\u2026 so we have great reason\u2026 to have a Merry Christmas\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 The sanctuary’s been decorated for a festival tonight\u2026 for a celebration\u2026 for something that doesn’t happen every day\u2026 the sanctuary’s been specially prepared tonight\u2026 the way we prepare our homes when we’re expecting guests\u2026 maybe particularly esteemed guests\u2026 the wreaths\u2026 and the creche\u2026 and this green tree which represents the promise of life in the midst of winter\u2026 is adorned with Chrismons\u2026 ancient symbols which represent Christ and his ministry… We’ve lit not only our seven Advent candles\u2026 but the Christ candle in the center too\u2026 perhaps to signify that Christ is the center of our lives\u2026 we’ve got poinsettias whose leaves are sometimes thought as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem which led the Wise Men to Jesus\u2026 red colored leaves which symbolize the blood of Christ\u2026 and the white leaves which represent his purity\u2026 the sanctuary’s been specially prepared tonight\u2026 the only thing that’s missing\u2026 is you\u2026 And many of you have decorated your homes for Christmas and Christmastide\u2026 with trees\u2026 and ornaments\u2026 and lights\u2026 and nativity sets\u2026 you may be planning a special meal for yourselves\u2026 or yourself\u2026 I know some families with two or three family-units\u2026 who have quarantined themselves for the past seven-to-ten days\u2026 so they could safely be together for this holiday\u2026 but many of us\u2026 will miss the gatherings of family and friends that we’re used to hosting\u2026 or being invited to join\u2026 we’re not used to being alone\u2026 it’s not what we were made for… The shepherds were not alone\u2026 they were in the fields\u2026 watching their flock at night\u2026 out in the middle of nowhere\u2026 and all of a sudden\u2026 without any warning\u2026 one of God’s angels stood before them\u2026 and God’s glory shone around them\u2026 and they were terrified\u2026 but the angel said to them\u2026 Do not be afraid\u2026 I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people\u2026 for to you is born this day in the city of David… a Savior\u2026 and suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host joined that one angel\u2026 praising God and saying\u2026 Glory to God in the highest\u2026 and peace on earth\u2026 among those whom God favors\u2026 and those whom God favors have done nothing to earn that favor\u2026 they are favored because God is God\u2026 they are among those on whom God’s grace falls\u2026 I’ve often wondered\u2026 why was it\u2026 that God chose to incarnate two-thousand years ago\u2026 when God did\u2026 I’ve wondered if it was because things in that little corner of the Middle East had gotten so bad\u2026 so corrupt… so legalistic\u2026 so unloving\u2026 that love itself had no choice\u2026 could no longer be silent\u2026 but had to take on flesh and blood\u2026 and remind us\u2026 teach us\u2026 through Word and action\u2026 how things are supposed to work\u2026 have you ever wondered that\u2026 and why not now when things seem to be falling apart all around us\u2026 all that scripture says\u2026 is that Jesus came in the fullness of time\u2026 but it may have been partly because of… philosophy\u2026 You see\u2026 Judaism was influenced by Hellenistic thought\u2026 and Hellenistic thought was influenced by Platonic philosophy\u2026 which was essentially dualism\u2026 which meant that there was a subtle dividing line… between the body and the soul\u2026 between the idea of an object and the particular object itself\u2026 between the substance of a thing\u2026 that is\u2026 its underlying archetype\u2026 and the accident of a thing\u2026 that is\u2026 its physical properties\u2026 But Fr. Richard Rohr writes\u2026 the manifestation of the Great I AM\u2026 in Jesus\u2026 was the momentous Christian epiphany\u2026 because for all practical purposes\u2026 the dualistic mind can’t get it’s head around the teaching\u2026 that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine\u2026 and at the same time\u2026 we’ve been unable to fully balance humanity and divinity in Jesus\u2026 which probably explains why we’re unable to put it together in ourselves\u2026 our dualistic minds need to choose one or the other\u2026 we need to see only Jesus as divine\u2026 and ourselves as only human\u2026 despite all of the scriptural and mystical affirmations to the contrary\u2026 and the whole point of the incarnation of God in Christ\u2026 was the overcoming of this divide\u2026 it’s reflected in what Jesus said in John 17:22-23\u2026 The glory that you have given me I have given them\u2026 so that they may be one\u2026 as we are one\u2026 I in them and you in me\u2026 that they may become completely one\u2026 so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me\u2026 and it’s just exactly what we celebrate this night\u2026 Through the miracle of the Incarnation\u2026 God did away with the notion that we are mere drones slogging our way toward some heavenly home\u2026 slowly but surely trudging through the earthly muck and mire\u2026 by becoming flesh in this world\u2026 God sanctifies our flesh\u2026 making it possible for us to be agents of God\u2019s grace\u2026 and the life that God\u2019s grace makes possible for us is a life in which we can operate from a place of compassion and love\u2026 it’s a life in which we recognize the turmoil and the tragedy\u2026 the trauma\u2026 and the deep grief of the world\u2026 and simply ask\u2026 how can we help\u2026 In one of Flannery O\u2019Connor\u2019s last short stories\u2026 entitled Revelation\u2026 she tells the story of an older woman who finds herself in a doctor\u2019s waiting room\u2026 engaging in small talk\u2026 and looking from person to person\u2026 silently evaluating and judging them\u2026 and she has an unsettling vision of what’s to come\u2026 all of the people she routinely judged are headed towards heaven\u2026 O’Connor describes them as battalions of freaks and lunatics\u2026 shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs\u2026 but behind them\u2026 is a tribe of people whom she recognizes and with whom she identifies… those who were like herself\u2026 who always had a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1056"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1061,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1056\/revisions\/1061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}