Luke 24:36b-48

36b Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 And Jesus said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when Jesus had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were unbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.
  44 Then Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sin is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.”

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

Healing God,

Amidst all the stories of hurt and pain,

Death, despair, and hopelessness

We hear all around,

You step into our midst and speak a word of peace.

Give us courage to speak that peace, too.

Give us words to say and hope to share.

Help us witness to your new life and your resurrection

In our lives, and in our world.

Amen.

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I preached my first sermon when I was 13 years old.

I know, I know…overachiever.

But it went like this: I was in 8th grade, it was the summer, and I was at summer camp with my Confirmation class. It was our group’s day to lead worship and as we were planning it out the day before they asked if any of the campers wanted to give the message. I was not particularly interested in speaking in front of the entire camp, but our counselors pushed us a bit, “You know, usually it’s the counselors who give the messages at worship, but we think it’d be really cool if one of y’all campers were to give the message. Who’s up for it?” There was a lot of looking around, a lot of avoiding eye contact and suggestive eyebrow raises…stupidly, I mistakenly caught one of our counselor’s eyes…“Chris…how ‘bout it…?”

“I mean…I have zero idea what I’m doing…”

“Yeah, but, you enjoy this stuff, right? You’re good at it…”

“I don’t know…but I guess… What the heck, I’ll give it a shot…”

I’ve preached before about how I’m one of the weird ones who enjoyed Confirmation, right? Like, it was very interesting to me, I found a passion for a lot of the things that had been running around in my head, and I really enjoyed learning a whole bunch of new stuff that I didn’t know before. I’m still not sure if I would say I was “good” at Confirmation, but I was certainly passionate about it. So this was an interesting opportunity.

But I still had no idea how to preach. I still had no clue how to give a message.

I was talking about it after our planning session with my counselor. “I mean, what do I even say? How do you even give a message?”

“Well, where do you see God?” he asked me.

“I don’t know…everywhere, I guess…”

“Ok…good start…but like, where specifically have you been encouraged by God? Where have you struggled, and what’s helped you to see God through that? What’s something that has brought you comfort? What’s something that has helped guide you during tough times, and how might that something be God at work?”

So I told him about earlier that day, how we were at the archery range for our rotation, and I was getting frustrated because I just couldn’t seem to get the arrow on target, and that was even more frustrating for me because I’m a Boy Scout and like, I’m supposed to be good at things like that. And then I told my counselor how in the middle of all of this he had us all sit down and we talked about focus, and where do we focus in our lives, and do we keep ourselves focused on God and what God is asking of us, or are we focused elsewhere, on any number of things that demand our attention. And I told him how his talk with us was super helpful for me because when it got to be my turn again, I was able to find the target more easily with focus. And how maybe that felt like God a little bit…

“Well, sounds like you’ve got a sermon,” he said. “Why don’t you preach on that?”

And so I did.

And it went great.

And I was really proud of myself.

And that was my first sermon.

All sermons are, are just us preachers, standing up here, waving our arms, talking about where we think we’ve seen God show up in our lives, in the lives of you, our parishioners, and in the life of the world.

That’s it.

Where have you seen God? How has God shown up?

Which is also the overarching theme of all of our Easter season readings. How does Jesus continue to show up after the resurrection?

Whether in a bodily presence to the disciples in our Gospel readings, to how do the first Christ-believing communities reflect what they learned from Jesus long after the Ascension, all of our post-resurrection readings point to where God shows up. And asks the question of us—we, who call ourselves followers of this Christ—how does the world see a different view of the resurrected Jesus through us…through our words, through our actions, through the ways we treat others.

How does Jesus show up? 

Behind locked doors. In the midst of frightened followers. In community. Eating. Healing. Speaking words of peace.

All things I think we can pretty easily identify with these days, right?

Our Gospel lesson from Luke picks up right after a familiar post-resurrection story of 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus, where Jesus walks alongside them, opens the scriptures to them, and they don’t recognize him at first, but Jesus is finally made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Then this morning, Jesus comes and stands behind locked doors again, speaks a word of peace, and eats fish with the disciples. Jesus, again, is made known in a meal. And Jesus goes on to explain the scriptures to these disciples and ends with a kind of urging, or encouragement, and says, “You are witnesses of these things.”

It’s this witnessing and testifying—this command to evangelism—that you’ll hear in each of the 4 gospels as some of Jesus’ last words to the disciples. So for Jesus, the most important thing for the disciples to do after the resurrection and after Jesus is ascended to God, the most important thing for them to do…is to witness…is to testify…is to tell the story.

To tell the story of their encounter with Jesus.

To testify to where and how they experienced Jesus.

What will you say about these times we’re living through, church? What will your witness be?

Will you tell a story of having to shut your doors, of being driven apart though invited to worship online? Or will you tell a different narrative of innovation and adaptation, of a church learning how to bring the Gospel message even over the airwaves, of being invited to share in a sacred meal together virtually, having no idea how or why Jesus continues to show up in that meal, yet continuing to trust that Christ is still present?

Will you tell a story of being forced to keep distance, sanitizing everything and wearing gloves to prevent exposure? Or will you tell a different narrative of a church that continued to show up for those in need, donating time and money and energy to feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, mentoring elementary students, and caring for the caretakers?

Will you tell a story of scrolling through your newsfeeds and watching catastrophe after disaster repeat in worn-out patterns on your TV screen? Or will you tell a different narrative of a people who refused to stay silent when people have their lives taken from them by those who took an oath to serve and protect them? Will you tell a narrative of a church that continues to affirm the belovedness and sacredness of God’s children, regardless of their skin color…a church that cries out for justice, that weeps with those who are weeping, struggles with those who are struggling, and fights with those who are fighting for God’s vision to finally be made manifest and real in this place?

The story is yours to tell, church.

People—your neighbors…our neighbors—are starving for good news… How will you feed them?

Your testimony can make real, tangible differences in and for our community. Your words have the power to heal…like Peter and John.

You witness can bring things that seem dead from hopelessness and despair back to life.

Your words have that power.

What sermon will you preach, church?

What witness will you give?

What story of new life and restoration—what story of resurrection—is jumping out of you?

Sounds like you’ve got your sermon to preach right there…

Luke 2:1-20

1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 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. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 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.

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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Please pray with me tonight, church:

Holy God,

Through the birth of a child,

You show us what Love looks like.

Let that Love be born in us again tonight,

So that we might be Love for the world.

Amen.

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A Christmas unlike any other…

We’ve read and heard that line countless times through the years in advertisements and commercials, and you’ve probably not paid it any mind, right? I mean, you’ve probably read and heard that line this year and thought nothing of it or didn’t even notice it…

But think about the ways that’s really true this year…

A Christmas unlike any other…

Back in January and February this year, you might have already started planning your holiday vacations. The thought that Christmas 2020 would be anything other than perfectly and completely normal didn’t even enter your mind. And even back in March and April, we were talking about a very temporary pinch…shut down for a couple of weeks, this thing goes away, we postpone our Easter celebration by a month or so, but we’re back to business as usual by Memorial Day.

No one…no one……thought that we’d still be doing this 9 months later.

But, here we are…

A Christmas unlike any other…

Much smaller affairs. You’re gathering with your immediate household rather than your whole extended family. Following the guidance of the national and local health officials and infectious disease experts, we’re all FaceTime-ing or Zoom-ing Christmas dinner and unwrapping presents, instead of gathering together all under the same roof this year.

It’s why we’re doing this…(*gesture back and forth to camera*)…virtually this year instead of in-person. Setting the example since our county threat level is at the highest “Red” level right now.

And it just makes me wonder if the imbalance and how off-kilter all of this feels doesn’t help us to understand just a bit more deeply how utterly unusual, and truly, how completely backward and upside-down the Nativity story is.

I wonder if the strangeness and the confusion of everything we’re experiencing in 2020 doesn’t actually help to see a little bit more clearly the whole point of this story that’s so familiar to us and that we hear every year.

Because the truth about this story lies in how unremarkable it all is. This story that we all know so well, is a story about God’s preference for the unassuming, the nobodies, the least, and the ones on the margins. And in that way, this familiar story of the birth of Jesus is just like every other gospel story we know so well.

Cod chooses to be found in an infant, not in royalty. In a back alleyway, not a palace. Visited by animals and their caretakers, not by dignitaries. Born to an unwed teenage mom and tradesperson dad, not the king and queen of some province. Heralded by angels and celestial bodies, not by trumpeting and royal decrees.

This story is about God choosing the completely unexpected to reveal God’s self to a world in desperate need of saving.

And in this way, maybe 2020 is precisely the year to help us understand this.

Maybe this is the year for us to finally understand that giving is so much more rewarding than receiving.

Maybe this is the year for us to finally understand that the least, the lost, the downtrodden, the outcast, the looked-down-upon, and the ones of no account are the ones we should be listening most closely to if we want to know about God’s incredible love.

Maybe this is the year for us to finally understand that the child, God’s gift of love, that draws us together, holds us so much more tightly than all the hatred, vitriol, division, and rhetoric that seeks to drive us further apart.

Maybe this is the year for us to finally understand that how we show up with God’s love speaks so much more loudly than what or who we say God’s love is for.

Maybe this is the year for us to finally understand that the world is indeed weary…full of hopes and fears…and that by showing up as the hands and feet of Christ to serve and love those whom the world seems to have left behind or forgotten is what God hopes for us this year.

Love is born, once again, this night, into a world desperate to receive it. Our job is to not leave that gift lying in the manger, but to carry it and share it with reckless abandon and extravagant abundance. The same abandon and abundance with which God has loved you, o dear child.

There is no more perfect year to share this gift of love.

Our hearts are breaking for it.

Our spirits are longing for it.

Our very souls are aching for it.

This year, more than any other, is when your showing up with love will have monumental effects.

This year, more than any other, is when your showing up with love will have incalculable consequences.

The Light has come once again to illumine the dark places.

This year, more than any other, you carry with you the Light of the World.

And by sharing your light with those around you…those you meet throughout your week, or month, or year…by bringing light to dark places…by caring for others who need to be cared for and loving others who need to be loved…God’s love and God’s dream for the world will grow and become more brilliant than ever.

The light will shine in the darkness.

And the darkness will not overcome it.

Merry Christmas, church.

A Christmas unlike any other…

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a young woman engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The young woman’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by the angel’s words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his dominion there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am only a young woman?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

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Please pray with me this morning, church:

God of Love,

Stir up your power,

And break in to our world.

Help us to be vessels of your love.

Loving and caring for this world

With the same love you have shown to us.

Amen.

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How do you show love?

What does love feel like to you?

How do you know when you’ve been the recipient of love?

There are lots of things that I love.

I love a good beer, especially the darker ones around this time of year. I love baked goods, which is usually a good thing around this time of year.

Unfortunately, neither of those things is particularly helpful on my diet, so I just don’t get to tell beer and baked goods how much I love them quite as often this year.

I love traveling…not doing much of that this year…

I love to cook for people…lots of cooking, not so much the other people part this year…

I love watching my kid learn something new…lots of that this year…

We use “love” as a pretty encompassing term in English. We use it often for things that we really, really, really like, or things that, you know, give us pleasure. We use “love” when we talk about people. But I wonder if the word “love” isn’t just a little watered down for us given that we use it in so many different scenarios.

The Greeks had 4 words for “love”, each describing a different kind of relationship.

The Spanish language has like 5 different ways of expressing love…there’s an attraction, a desire, a strong desire, a conditional liking, a way for saying that something pleases you, plus 1 or 2 others…

So what do we mean when we talk about love?

On the 4th Sunday of Advent, we typically talk about love. If you’ve been keeping score at home, we’ve gone through hope, peace, and joy, and now we’ve arrived at love. There’s a sense that as the days and weeks of Advent have gone on and built up, there’s a kind of pressure that building. When you stack anticipation and expectation one on top of another and add to it and stretch it out over 4 weeks, it builds and it builds and it builds…The waiting becomes less patient. The expectation becomes more pressing. The anticipation is more frenetic.

What might have started as a rather innocuous refrain of “Come, Lord Jesus” now becomes more impassioned, more pleading. Our cries to God have become more urgent as we’re now begging God to do the very thing that the prophet cried in the 1st week of Advent, “Rend the heavens and come down, O God”—rip open the very fabric between the earthly and the divine. Gentle choruses of “Comfort, my people” turn to earnest imploring of God “O Come, Emmanuel”—and do it quickly.

This is the rhythm of Advent.

This is what Advent does.

It’s a season of building anticipation.

But church, it’s not as if we don’t know what’s coming on Thursday night.

The urgent building of Advent doesn’t seek to deny that Christ is already born. In fact, I think Advent serves to reinforce that reminder. We’re forgetful people, and so we can get caught up in living as if God hasn’t already done the thing that we’re begging to do. In all our pleading with God, we forget that God has already ripped apart the veil between the earthly and the divine, come among us as an infant, already arrived…we forget that God has already done that, and charged us with living as if that’s true.

Because if we really believed that’s true, I have to believe…that we would live very differently.

God has already made God’s home among us.

Yet we look to the heavens for signs of God’s presence, instead of out…to our neighbors…to our friends…to our families…to the members of our communities…

In our reading we heard from 2 Samuel, God says to the king David, through the prophet Nathan, “Why do you want to build me a house? Why do you want to build a temple for God?” God had been traveling with the Israelites through the wilderness in a tent and a tabernacle. This was a God on the move. Why would you want to plant God in a box?

Besides, God says, I, the Lord, am going to make you a house—a family…a people—you and your house…the line and the family of David…will be established forever.

This God is not one to be boxed in.

And in our Gospel from Luke, Gabriel tells the young woman, Mary, that the child she will give birth to is to be called “child of God”, and this is the one to reign over the house of Jacob—the house of Israel—and of this kingdom there will be no end. In the child, Jesus, God has made God’s dwelling among God’s people. God’s holy habitation is in, with, and among God’s people. God’s house is the people of God.

This God is not one to be boxed in.

This is a deeply helpful reminder for me as I stand here and preach to an empty Sanctuary. I posted on my Facebook page a couple of weeks ago a wide shot of the Sanctuary with Danny standing behind the camera with the caption: “The real behind-the-scenes of New Hope Lutheran Church.” and I commented under that that I used to love the stillness and quietness of an empty Sanctuary, but that I had grown to resent it over the past 9 months.

An empty Sanctuary used to be a place for me to calm my racing thoughts and a space that I could be in quiet conversation with God. Now it just reminds me of how much I long to see it full again.

Friends, I don’t need to tell you about all this pandemic has taken away from us. I grieve with you…truly, I do. This is not the kind of thing we study in seminary. There’s no course for surviving a pandemic. Mostly, we’re just making it up as we go along. Which sometimes is the best any of us can hope to do.

But reading these scriptures this week has renewed some spirit within me. I’m reminded that this building…these walls…have never been where God dwells.

These seats will be full again…in time. We will gather for worship again…once our sound system and live streaming cameras are finally installed and new COVID-19 case counts have come down from their astronomic levels. We will gather back here again…soon…but it won’t be because God is here.

It will simply again be the place that the people of God happen to gather.

The building is staying closed for now, but we are still worshiping.

The building is staying closed for now, but God is still being praised.

God’s dwelling place…where God resides…is among you.

You are the body of Christ.

So where do you see God in your neighbors…your friends…your families…the members of your communities…?

God is found in acts of love between people. Through ELCA Good Gifts providing a lifeline for folks in developing countries. Through Project SMILE making Christmas a reality for those who need an extra hand this holiday. Through our many projects with Armstrong Elementary, literally serving our neighbors, to inspire them to continue showing up for school, whether virtual or in-person, every day. Through the scholarships for the students at our sister congregation El Buen Pastor in El Salvador. Through a kind word, simply saying thanks, smiling with your eyes behind your mask…to those who are serving you through this pandemic…whether at the drive-thru or the grocery store, or the doctor’s office. Through sending thank you cards to our healthcare workers at Sugar Land Methodist or St. Luke’s or Hermann.

What other ways can you show God’s love?

What other ways can New Hope show God’s love in our neighborhood?

This isn’t rhetorical, I really want to know. If you have an idea for how we can be the hands and feet of Christ in our community if you have an idea of how we can show God’s love even more, would you let me know? Would you email me at pastor@newhopelc.org and tell me your idea.

I’d love to hear it.

Because that’s where God is found.

In the love shown and shared between people.