Category: Sermon

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Gifts of the Dark Wood: The Gift of Being Thunderstruck

William Blake: God and Job

“At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4 After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.

Job 37:1-5

This post is adapted from a sermon by Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash, Sunday, March 19, 2017, Princeton United Methodist Church. It is part of a sermon series based on the book by Eric Elnes: Gifts of the Dark Wood: Seven Blessings for Soulful Skeptics (and Other Wanderers), a guidebook for spirituality in a post-Christian world.

Awe is often translated to fear, but it can also mean a mysterious encounter with the numinous —  Ancients thought the sense of awe could carry gods messages from the divine. Imagine the awe of those experiencing the eruption of a volcano, an earthquake, a storm. They created gods so they could feel control over a hostile universe.

When we feel awe, our inner god, we have flashes of intuition .We call our moments of clarity and understanding  – seeing the light – sudden flashes  – being dumbstruck.

Scientists say that opening ourselves to awe – like children do- reduces stress and increases creativity.

Allow time for awe! The wonder of morning light can give a sense of holiness. Or the touch of a baby’s skin.

By taking the time to notice these Creation moments, we can cultivate a sense of holy inner wisdom. Moses and Elijah heard God’s audible voice, but we can try to cultivate an inner awareness.

The psalmists say the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Our encounter with the numinous may make us be humble and open us to the gifts of God’s grace – but the inner voice can also cause us to stand tall As in Psalm 8,  

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals[a] that you care for them? 

Pay attention to your wow moments. Let them help you feel connected and alive. May you hear that voice in the thunder and the silence in the quiet awesome moments of wow.

Or — be thunderstruck. Be aware of God’s presence. Connect the inner you – to God’s voice in that moment – and listen to God’s word for you,

 

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Gifts of the Dark Wood: The Gift of Uncertainty.

Erik Skitch Matson — March 5, 2017 — 1 Corinthians 13:11-12

What is Lent?

Lent was spoken of in the 2nd Century, but then established as Lent with the typical Ash Wednesday in the 6th century under Gregory the Great.

Why? Self examination and Penitence in preparation for EASTER. It is a time for Repentance and Renewal: Giving up things, originally food until sundown (vegetarian), but now it is a more robust “Fasting”. It is also a time for self-reflection, prayer and reading of scripture

Gifts of the Darkwood  

Our sermon series is based on the book Gifts of the Dark Wood by Eric Elnes, a wonderful Lenten book for reflection. In this series we can see our time in the Dark Wood as a gift.

Another book worth reading, “Dante’s Inferno”  is about finding your place in the world at the very point you feel farthest from it. Here the dark wood includes struggle. It is “where you meet God.”

As we explore the Gift of UNCERTAINTY, we realise that this is not a “Typical” gift. We like control, certainty, and understanding, now. So where can we go with uncertainty.?

In 1 Corinthians 13:11-12, we see a flurry of pride, and then a swift shift to vulnerability. I had always known Paul to be the confident leader, with the perfect pedigree and best teachers backing him — he’d fit into Princeton pretty well. But this is not your typical Paul. This Paul is more vulnerable about his own limitations and his own uncertainty. Paul admits that he sees dimly.  What would it take for us to have the courage to admit that our own spiritual vision is dim?

Take a look at the people around you: what would it take for us to dig into the Lenten season, and live in the Dark Wood of our lives together? What would it take for us to have faith, now, in these lives we live.

What would it take for us to be the body of Christ—a body where each member is known, loved, and cared for.

What would it take to be vulnerable with one another about our personal pains? Our sins? Our uncertainties?

We know we want it. We know we need it. But what will it take…?

It will take a Christian Community that has ONE body, and ONE blood. A Christian Community where we—the broken, the maimed, the sinners, and the saints—are welcomed and accepted.

Where at times we are supported, and also where we support others. Where we are known not for our rigid certainty, but our radical faith in the midst of the fluidity of real, human life.

The Christians we have looked up to for centuries… Can we follow their example? Can we create a community, here, in this place, where the hope of seeing Christ face to face leads us to accept our own spiritual vision as dim?

Where does this start? It starts with the Release of Shame. One Body, broken for you; One Blood, shed for you. The Free Gift of Grace transforms us to be the Christian Community that calls itself “The Body of Christ.”

Let us come…

As we take communion, we wonder if, by leaning on each other, our collective vision can be more powerful. Let us therefore go together, as one broken body, through the Dark Wood of Lent.

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Life in Community

Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash – February 5, 2017 –  Isaiah 58: 1-12

As we as a faith community think together about what life in community means for us, I share with you this quote from a favorite author/thinker, Eugene Peterson. He says, “There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life, apart from an immersion in, and embrace of, community. I am not myself by myself.”

Each of the Old Testament passages for this month, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Exodus speaks about God’s intentions around our living in community. This month we will explore what it means to live and serve as God’s people not just as individuals but also in community.

Looking about him at the needs of the homeless, the hungry and the oppressed, Isaiah could no longer keep still. The self-indulgent displays of sackcloth and ashes, he declares, are not acceptable to God! The only true way to observe a fast is by liberating the oppressed, sharing your bread with the hungry, and opening your own house to the homeless!

So let’s go right to the Isaiah text and examine it in a few different ways. At the literal level, and this may be the only time you ever hear me talk about a Bible passage literally, this passage is a prophetic encouragement to the people of God (1) to actively do justice for the oppressed and (2) to show mercy to the most vulnerable. The prophet lists these most vulnerable as the hungry, the homeless, and the naked, all of whom, he says, are “your own flesh.” By this last phrase the prophet relies on the teaching of ;Genesis. 1 and 2 all humans are bone of each-other’s bones and flesh of each-other’s flesh. The prophet understands that all humans are family, for we share a common ancestor. For the prophet, it is only sin that keeps us from acknowledging that we are family, and living as family.

The prophet says that doing such acts of justice and mercy will result in the rapid healing of the people of God. It will result in a renewed and improved relationship with God, in which God’s people communicate with God freely: “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.” God’s people will experience God’s presence.

To ponder an allegorical sense of this scripture, think of Christ’s own example of doing justice and mercy. This passage gives the people of God in the Old Testament an early glimpse of the heart and way of Jesus Christ, and it refreshes our vision of the same. In Jesus’ life and ministry we see him feed the hungry, defend the oppressed, he stands up for women’s right, he loves the outcast, the despised, the rejected, and the sinner, and calls on the rich and powerful to give their money to the poor. Similarly, by sharing in Christ’s merciful self-offering, we share in his merits, most especially in the eternal life he has merited.

With an eye to the moral sense of this passage, we find it right on the surface: we must do the works of justice and mercy the Lord’s prophet tells us to do, using Jesus as our example: both in the things Jesus himself did in the flesh, and in the ways Jesus’ way is multiplied before our imagination by the Christ-patterns of the saints.

Finally in the anagogical sense: Surprisingly, the inspired prophet says “your light will break forth like the dawn.” God’s light becomes our light, for the Church is betrothed to Christ. When we do acts of mercy and justice, we genuinely participate in the eternal and intelligible light who is the Holy Trinity.

Acts of justice and mercy, because they are acts of love, allow us to partake in the divine nature. Acts of justice and mercy are acts of worship, by which we glimpse the comforting presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: we sense that “the glory of the Lord” is our “rear guard.” God protects us, and we glimpse God’s glory (behind us, guiding & protecting us) out of the corner of our eye, though we do not yet see God face to face. We should not miss the opportunity to give acts of justice and mercy to all, especially those in need; for we are most in need ourselves, and God has given us mercy and justification. St. Gregory Nazianzus reminds us that Christians do not just have altars inside church buildings; anytime we see a beggar, there is God’s altar, awaiting our offerings. Continue reading “Life in Community”

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God Imagines…..All Are Equal – 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18

Gerald C. Liu – 3rd Sunday After Epiphany,  January 22, 2017.

“I am Christ’s and So are You”

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that no matter who runs the United States, we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Year A, Third Sunday after Epiphany, modified by author.)

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

Well that sounds nice, doesn’t it? We’ve never had a disagreement in this church, have we? I remember at one of the parishes I formerly served in England, there was a weekend morning coffee gathering open to the public. It wasn’t quite as elaborate or hip as the Sunny After Dark coffee house. But it was a significant undertaking for a church comprised mostly of 60 and 70 year-olds. We were located on the “High Road,” which was a main shopping drag, not unlikeNassau St. We’d offer free coffee, tea (usually with milk and sugar) and biscuits (that’s Queen’s English for cookies) to people buying clothes for the kids or themselves or both, getting groceries, and taking care of any other weekend errands. And when everything was finished, as we were cleaning up, boy, if a single cup or saucer was placed on the wrong shelf, or the coffee maker or tea kettle were stored in the wrong cabinet, or if the chairs weren’t rearranged just as they previously were, (The church was small. So, we had moveable chairs in the sanctuary and used it for the social coffee time), you’d think that the world had ended. If anything was out of place, I’d get an earful from church members who were mad at the world.

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

It sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public, but for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists:Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.We are one nation, and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams, and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.

Though the language exaggerates for effect, we can probably nod our heads to the sentiment. Some of our heads may begin to shake, however, at the next line – “The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.” Those words and the occasion where they were pronounced make us want to do something. We have to do something, like Mayor Liz Lempert did when she joined the women’s march in Trenton, NJ yesterday. Maybe some of you were there too. In New York, where I live, there were reportedly 400,000 women, men, and children participating. Lempert told the Princeton Patch, “It is going to be more important than ever that people will stand up and be vocal about things important to them, and to use our collective voice to make a strong statement” (“Princeton Mayor to Participate in Women’s March in New Jersey” in The Princeton Patch, Anthony Bellano, January 19, 2017). Her speech isn’t empty. She isn’t merely saying what sounds good. Her appeal and action to empower social change gets at what Paul urges the Corinthians to do.

I Corinthians is a letter. It’s one of the longest in the New Testament. Paul writes it to a church he founded. He’s a seasoned minister at this point. He’s been proclaiming the gospel for about 20 years. He spent about a year and a half with the Corinthians and at the time of this letter, he hasn’t seen them for about three years. He’s in Ephesus. It’s as far away as Nova Scotia is from us. And even though he writes from a distance, there are pressing church problems that need addressing. We won’t get into the details today. Our focus this morning is his appeal that the Corinthians must unify.

Given all he’s been through with and apart from the Corinthians, when Paul makes an appeal for unity, he doesn’t speak from naïveté or blind faith. He isn’t articulating a platitude or wishful thinking.

He also isn’t just addressing the Corinthians. In verse 2 of chapter 1, he writes, “to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” He’s writing to all of us, including Princeton United Methodist Church, nearly two millennia later.

Still, how do we receive Paul’s words as true, especially today? And how do we live into them? We’re getting close when we as a church believe and declare, “All are Equal.” But that kind of declaration can seem unreal too.

All are equal? Continue reading “God Imagines…..All Are Equal – 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18”

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God Imagines…All Are Welcome

Rev. Catherine E. Williams – Jan 15, 2017 – Revelation 7: 9-17

“God imagines…” signals a divine reality – a reality that exists already as far as God is concerned, although not quite yet as far as humans are concerned. “God imagines” is an invitation to enter a divine space called the Kingdom or the Reign of God, a place that holds the substance of the things we humans hope for, and dream of.

Things like peace on earth, a welcoming, inclusive community, an egalitarian society, and the total harmony of all creation – these already exist in God’s vision. They are the future that people of God lean into as we go about daily living, but we lean in because we have been inspired by the divine imagination and touched by the divine Spirit in some compelling way. Ever so often we get weary and frustrated, as Jana reminded us last week. Something happens in the home, in the community, in the country or around the world that takes the wind out of our sails. We throw up our hands and throw in the towel – why bother? And then God, for whom this peace, and inclusiveness, this equality and harmony already exists, touches our hearts again through some divine encounter, and we are inspired once more to live and lean into that vision; we become convinced in some uncanny way that this is real after all, and worth pursuing. Such is the power of God’s imagination; such is the work of God’s Spirit in the world. Such was the work of the biblical prophets like John who wrote the Revelation, this book from which our lesson was read this morning.

If you want to see imagination on steroids, you’re welcome to read the whole book of Revelation. Oh it starts off pragmatic enough with letters to seven churches, commending or chastising them based on their faithfulness to God’s ways. And then we get to chapter four and all imagination breaks loose: thrones, heavenly beings, beasts and horses, and dragons. Imagery and metaphor converge upon one another with lightning speed and thundering volume – it’s all so compelling and awesome that books, movies, songs, doctrines, and forecasts of human destiny have all emerged out of this book. But the fantastic tone of the book of Revelation is nothing strange if you understand apocalyptic writings; they envision a just and rightful end to injustice and human wrongs.

When we read the various books of the Bible it helps to think of reading through a newspaper; we interpret what we read according the nature of the writing. So the advertisements, the sports pages, the advice columns, and the comic strips all belong in the newspaper, but we don’t evaluate the information in the advice column the way we evaluate the information in the comic strip. In the same way the psalms, the law, the wisdom literature, prophets, the gospels, letters, and apocalyptic writings all belong in the Bible, but we understand the poetry in a much different way than we understand the prophetic oracles. Apocalyptic writings like Revelation tend to be filled with graphic images of all kinds: from violence and wrathful judgment to peaceful restoration and harmonious resolution to earthly wrongs. It’s a desperate yearning for right to prevail and for wrong to be punished. I just needed to put that perspective in place before I get to today’s vision, which thankfully is one of the more alluring ones.

In Revelation 7 John entered into God’s imagination when he looked and saw “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice saying, ‘salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” (Rev. 7:9-10 NRSV) In these verses, John skips to the end of the cosmic book, so to speak, to give us a glimpse of a community shaped by God’s vision of inclusiveness. Let’s remember that this was God’s vision from the very beginning when he called Abraham. In Genesis, the book of beginnings, God promised Abraham that in him all the families of the earth will be blessed, and that his progeny of the faithful would be more in number than the stars of the heaven or the sand of the sea. I think we’re looking at them here in Revelation. This is what New Testament scholar Brian Blount scholar calls the “innumerable, international multitude” – people from every nation, every tribe, every ethnic group, every language.

The earthly ministry of Jesus also demonstrated this vision of inclusiveness. You may recall the repeated derogatory comments made by Jesus’ detractors regarding the kind of company he kept. His roadies were fishermen and tax collectors.  His groupies came from the palace and from the pub. He was playful with the kids and gentle with the mothers-in-law. Jesus told so many stories about this innumerable international multitude we see in Revelation. His version of “once upon a time,” was, “the kingdom of heaven is like…” These stories illustrated a reality that God imagines where the first shall be last and the least shall be greatest, and where everyone is invited to the great victory banquet – everyone!

This inclusiveness is part of the DNA of God we receive at our baptism and when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God who grafts us into the church and who leads us to maturity works within each of us to develop this disposition of inclusiveness. And doesn’t our own congregational mission statement call us into this vision of God? We are a diverse community, joyfully responding to God’s love and growing as disciples of Christ by nurturing, teaching, reaching, and serving all people. It says right there on the front of your bulletin that all are welcome here: whatever your ethnicity, culture, nationality, faith tradition, age, gender, hair type, skin tone, educational background, profession or trade, sexual orientation, degree of physical ability, state of physical or mental health, whatever your political affiliation – ALL ARE WELCOME. Continue reading “God Imagines…All Are Welcome”

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All Are Equal

 

As part of the “God Imagines” sermon series, Gerald C. Liu will preach on “All Are Equal” on Sunday, January 22.

An assistant professor of worship and preaching at Princeton Theological Seminary, he has degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Emory University, and Vanderbilt.  An ordained United Methodist minister, Gerald  is a minister in residence at Church of the Village, a United Methodist congregation in Manhattan.

He has studied in Germany, served as a minister in England, and did ethnographic research in Uganda for a contributed chapter for The Culture of AIDS in Africa: Hope and Healing Through Music and the Arts, Oxford UP).

Gerald’s text is Revelation 7:9-17, which begins with  …a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

and ends with

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]

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God Imagines: Peace on Earth

Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash – January 8, 2017 –  Matthew 24:1-31

Is this passage anyone’s favorite passage of scripture? Heavy reading isn’t it? It takes me back to time spent with my conservative Baptist grandmother who often lamented that we were moving into the end times, the signs were all around us.

I came to this passage in response to my Annual Conference experience this year. Back in May, New Jersey United Methodist laity and clergy met for Annual Conference. This year our theme for the conference was “Imagine.” Our Bishop, John Schol called us to imagine a new generation of disciples, vital congregations and a transformed world at the 2016. For me one of the most meaningful parts of the conference was a presentation by Dr. Robin DiAngelo who helped us imagine a world without racism. It was revealing and challenging. She challenged United Methodists to develop the skills and mindset necessary to create a world free of racism.  As Skitch, Catherine and I thought about how we as your pastoral team would begin 2017 we felt led to consider what God might imagine for us, for the world, thinking about Peace on earth, all are welcome, all are equal, and all creation in harmony.

,Yet, Is peace possible in a world like this?

That is a question many people are asking, it’s the topic of conversation at lunch tables in Panera and in the nail salon. Don and I even heard a group of 3 or 4 older men seeking an answer to the question this past summer on the boardwalk.

Today, let’s look at what the Gospel according to Matthew says as we consider world peace. The 24th chapter of Matthew’s gospel is filled with Jesus’ predictions about the future. Let me set the scene for you. The disciples had been admiring Solomon’s massive and magnificent temple in Jerusalem. They must have been shocked when Jesus said, “That temple will be utterly destroyed. Not one stone will be left upon another.” Jesus’ prediction did come true forty years later, in the year 70 A.D. The Romans utterly destroyed Jerusalem. Matthew 24: verses 2 and 15 through 22, relates to those awful events of 70 A.D. Indeed, most of that chapter deals with the end of that period in history, the end of time.

You may wonder why this passage// when thinking about whether there is hope for world peace?”

In verses 5 and 11, Jesus tells us that MANY FALSE MESSIAHS AND FALSE PROPHETS WILL APPEAR to deceive many people. Yes, false prophets and false gospels are all around us.

In verses 6 and 7, Jesus also predicted that there would be WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR until the very end. Today there are wars or rumors of war in many countries around the world –  Syria, Turkey, DRC, Afghanistan, Sudan, the Middle East, Central Asia.

Jesus also predicted that before the end of time Christians would face MUCH PERSECUTION. We are told that  more Christians were martyred in the 20th Century than in all of the previous nineteen centuries combined.

The Methodist bishop of Indonesia, reports that his congregations have to post a look-out during worship services. If a roving band of extremists finds a Christian congregation in worship, they will attack them, and the police do nothing. In virtually every country where Christians are a minority, they are persecuted.

Jesus also predicted that there would be AN INCREASE IN WICKEDNESS. But he also said, “Do not be alarmed, for the end is still to come.” Jesus wanted us to be alert and aware, but not fearful. Jesus doesn’t want us to despair or hide under a rock.

Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill was once invited to present the graduation address at a local high school. He gave the shortest address on record, just three words, repeated three times. “Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!” God is also saying to us not to give up but to continue working for the salvation of  the world.

What then can we then do to promote peace on earth and help God to cleanse this hurting conflicted world?  Here are three things we can do:

  1. Pray for peace continually
  2. Participate in the political process
  3. Stand against prejudice, spread forgiveness, understanding and reconciliation

If this morning you feel the Holy Spirit urging you to be a peacemaker, then  pray with me this prayer of St. Francis. Let us pray:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

Amen.

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New Year’s Day Service – January 1st 2017

Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash:  ‘Jesus’ Birth Gives us a Mission’ – Matthew 2:13-23

On New Year’s Day, Rev. Jana preached on the difficult passage from Matthew. Here are some notes from her message:

 Jesus didn’t come into the world to bring a feast of celebration and contentment, to offer respite from the world. Jesus came to save the world. We Christians have a role to play in that salvation.

The “Massacre of the Innocents” passage in Matthew reminds us that we need, not only to keep Christ in Christmas, but to keep Herod in Christmas. Herod was capable of executing his wife and sons. He was capable of dispatching soldiers to kill infants, and this tragic action is commemorated in The Coventry Carol.

Why do we read this part of the story? It helps us remember the mission that Jesus calls us to. Herod plays the role of evil incarnate, to help us remember what kind of world we live in, and why the world needs a savior.

May we be people who are the hands, feet, heart, and light of Christ in the world. Jesus gives us our mission.  May we work to carry out the mission in the New Year.

Written by Isabella Dougan

 

 

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The Absurdity of Advent: Forgiving Love

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Rev. Jana Purkis-Brash –  4th Sunday in Advent: December 18. Luke 2:15-20; John 3:16

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, next week we will gather for worship to celebrate the birth of Jesus the newborn king.

These last four weeks we have spent in a season of expectation and hope. It is also a season of following — a time when we travel along with the Holy Family as they struggle with the hardships of peasant life in first-century Palestine. The Christmas story, as we have come to know it, includes much drama and tension, and we might even say absurdity.

The drama of Christmas begins in anxiety. An unplanned pregnancy is followed by an imperial summons to Bethlehem. Along the way there are mysterious angelic interventions, improvised accommodations for birth and royal orders of infanticide. Yet, in the midst of such challenging conditions,// newness and promise overflow. There is a father’s word of prophecy, a mother’s song of revolution, gift-toting wise men and praise-filled shepherds. Yes, the long hoped for Messiah will arrive — but not quite as we had expected, another point of absurdity.

When the Shepherds headed into town to see the Messiah I can imagine the whispering that might have taken place. “Did I hear correctly Eli, did the angel say, the sign is a baby that was born in Bethlehem?” Another shepherd says to the guy behind him, did that angel say, “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord?” A baby born// is the Messiah we have been waiting for, it’s absurd!!

Each year as we get ready to close Advent night, the highlight of the evening comes when kids and adults alike are all sugared up and we sing together “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” As we were singing this year I got to thinking,// I wonder how much it costs to purchase all those gifts? Have you ever wondered about that?// You may not be surprised, but I was, to find out that for more than 30 years PNC bank has calculated the prices of the 12 gifts from this song.

Take a guess at the total cost of purchasing all the gifts mentioned in the “12 Days of Christmas” song… This holiday extravaganza would cost $34,363 this year, an increase of just 0.7% from last year. The Consumer Price Index has risen about twice as fast, at 1.7% over the past 12 months.

The gift with the biggest price hike was the cost of two turtledoves ($375), which spiked 29 percent due to a shortage of the birds. Rising wages also drove up prices, with the cost of 11 pipers piping ($2,708) and 12 drummers drumming ($2,934) rising 2.8 percent this year. Granted, I don’t know where you would find them, but they are very expensive.

At $210, a partridge in a pear tree saw the biggest price decline this year. The cost of partridges fell to $20, thanks to an increase in supply. The cost of the pear tree ticked lower as well. While gold prices have gone up and down significantly over the past five years, the cost of five golden rings has held steady at $750.

All these extravagant gifts are for a true love. As a matter of fact the Hallmark Channel is showing a movie centered around these gifts to a beloved. Still, the real message of Christmas is not the gifts that we give to each other. Rather, it is a reminder of the gift that God has given to each of us. We are God’s true love, you are God’s true love.

This gift of love keeps on giving. This gift comes in the birth of a baby and the death of a man who gives his whole life to and for us. Jesus comes as forgiving love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” In that gift of forgiving love also comes eternal life.

As we think about God’s gift of forgiving love, there are a few things I’d call to your attention: Continue reading “The Absurdity of Advent: Forgiving Love”

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Longest Night Service – December 20, 2016

Rev. Catherine E. Williams – The Gift of Love: 1 John 4:7-12

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This evening we are featuring lavender, butterflies, and love. I confess I don’t know that I can string these together with sufficient credibility. Our Stephen Ministers got together earlier this year to brainstorm what we would like this evening to look like; we ended up with lavender, butterflies, and love. There is a great amount of symbolism in each of these elements, and I hope you can connect with any or all of these themes – according to your preference or your need. But for my short reflection this evening, as I inhale the calming fragrance of lavender, and enjoy the visual inspiration of the colored butterflies, I want to take advantage of the reflective, contemplative nature of this service and think for a little while about  love as a gift.

The gospel reading begins with the apostle encouraging us to love one another because love is who God is, and if we say we are people of God we are pretty much saying we are people of love. And yes, I’d be the first to acknowledge that some people and some situations make it much easier than others for us to respond as people of love. But think with me for a moment about a time when you received love from another person, a time when you felt loved. What was that like? Was it the time you sat across from a grandchild who suddenly looked up, caught your adoring eyes, and blew you ten kisses? Was it a time when you were at one of your lowest moments and got an unexpected phone call, note, or text message that said someone was thinking about you? Was it the expression on the face of someone whom you knew was just as in love with you as you were with her or him? Was it the meals, cards, calls, flowers, or other signs of care that you got while you were sick? Was it the earthy smell of someone who reminded you of your granddaddy who always told you, you were his favorite? Whatever it was, I’m guessing it stirred something deep inside of you that made you feel valued, accepted, uplifted, and cared for, among other things. Love, in whatever form, does something to us; it touches the image of God in us and puts a little shine on it, it reminds us who we are, it can sometimes change how we see ourselves.

Love, in God’s dictionary, is not an abstract idea. It doesn’t stay in the feeling zone, or simply roll around in the mind. God’s kind of love is active. It extends itself outward, it shifts its center of gravity to include others. Isn’t that what God did in sending Jesus Christ to earth? God so loved the world that God extended himself outward in becoming like one of us. That’s why Christmas in so many different ways, is about giving and receiving love; to me the gifts only really matter if they are expressions of love. And it’s a good thing God’s love didn’t come to us in a limousine or a private jet, else we’d have reason to be suspicious about whether it was really meant for everybody. No, God’s love entered the world in the lowliest of ways so everyone – from the least to the greatest – could see it, could hold it. Whether shepherd or king, whether carpenter or priest – God’s love is available to all.

thSo I’m recommending that we keep our eyes and ears open for the ways in which God’s love comes to us during this season? I have to say that just like the paradox of a Messiah in a manger, God’s love comes to us in unexpected ways. Yes, it would be nice to get a phone call from that estranged son or daughter, but let’s not miss God’s love in that unexpected gesture from a friend or coworker that somehow moved us. Yes it would have been nice to be staring out the window at lush green leaves warmed by Florida’s summery sun, but let’s not miss the glorious glow of a wintery New Jersey sunset that leaves a glow around our heart. I’m inviting us to be a little more mindful this Christmas, a little more open to the myriad ways in which God’s gift of love is born into our lives again and again. Continue reading “Longest Night Service – December 20, 2016”