Let me take you back to my home in northern Minnesota. When most people think of the northern part of the state, they think beautiful lakes, forests and maybe even Lake Superior. However, my part of the state is flat, and I don’t mean flat with a few rolling hills, but flatter than a pancake. You can see for miles, which means the wind blows without stopping for miles. It’s actually the bottom of an ancient lake bed, Lake Agassi. So it’s not really the part of the state used to create MN visitor calendars or postcards. But, even with the lack of trees and hills and lakes that MN is known for, we do have one natural beauty—the sunsets. They last for an hour and are completely unblocked by nature, or manmade structures. The colors splash across the prairie creating a temporary work of art. As a child, I called the most spectacular sunsets “bulletin covers.” You’ve seen bulletins with beautiful nature pictures and a Bible verse stretched across the front—I believed that the sunsets were the backdrop for God’s words, that God was speaking to someone every time beams of light stretched from heaven to earth. If I was in the car, I would lean towards the window and listen…”what is God saying?” I never heard a “voice” so I figured God must have been sending His voice down to someone else, someone who needed to hear His message using those beams of light. I didn’t understand why the booming, Charleton Hesston “voice of God” never sent me a clear, one sentence command, spoken with a British accent. I kept listening, wondering “what is God saying?” But, as I left MN and left childhood, I think the question shifted to a more “adult” question that we all sometimes wonder “I God saying anything?” I never hear a clear voice, if I did, I’d know God was saying something.
In our Gospel today, the disciples do hear this clear, unmistakable voice of God. They aren’t like us, are they? They shouldn’t have to wonder “is God saying anything?” In 11 short verses, the disciples hear a very clear message from God. Instead of being alone watching a multi colored prairie sunset with faint beams of light coming from the heavens, the disciples experience Jesus in a bright and gleaming white robe standing with Elijah HIM.” It can’t get much clearer than that, can it? But, what do our disciple friends ask on the way down the mountain? “Is God saying anything?” They start to ask all kinds of philosophical questions: “what does he mean, rise from the dead?” ignoring the billowing voice from the clouds, gleaming white robes and long dead prophets standing beside Jesus. And we’re left wondering why God won’t send US such a clear sign, then we would understand what God was saying.
Let me back up for a moment to Mark chapter 8 and list a few of the experiences the disciples just had with Jesus before they went onto the mountain top….in Mark 8 alone, the disciples saw: feeding of the five thousand, they hear from doubting Pharisees, Jesus heals a blind man, Peter confesses Jesus as Christ, and Jesus foretells His death and resurrection. They hear the actual voice of God, they see miracles and yet they still wonder! But, should I be so hard on the disciples? Are we much different from them? Do we not ask “Is God saying anything?” On most days, I certainly do not have the faith of a child, leaning my ear out the car window like I did as I watched God speak through MN sunsets. What about you? Would a gleaming white robe and prophets standing next to Jesus change your faith? We need to stop looking at these short, 11 verse experiences as the only place we see God. We need to recognize that in chapter after chapter of the Bible—and, more importantly—in chapter after chapter of our lives Christ is revealing Himself to us. Through prairie sunsets, through our families, through the bread and cup. All these wonderful places are prime opportunities to see Christ at work.
But what about the dark places? Some of you may be wondering where your prairie sunsets are, questioning where God is in the midst of your illness, job loss, broken relationship or broken heart. I proclaim to you—Jesus is with YOU because Jesus HAS BEEN THERE TOO. Jesus has suffered, like us. He has been abandoned, like us, He has felt pain, like us. The disciples suggest they build a dwelling place for Jesus on the mountaintop. But, Jesus comes down from the mountain because He knows our lives are more than brief, 11 verse, celebratory experiences. If you are far from the mountaintop, far from the prairie sunsets, this Lord and savior is for you because the voice of God isn’t limited to the mountains. God is not just saying anything He is sending us the more extraordinary, and hope filled message we could every hope to hear—I am with you, I am saving you, I am transforming you every day. Amen
Friday, March 13, 2009
Jonah Sermon
I’m not sure how many of you have seen Talledega Nights. In the movie, Will Ferrel plays race car driver Ricky Bobby who has made it big. He has millions of dollars, a beautiful wife and all the success he could ever want. Ricky Bobby even has God, or at least a God he creates for himself. As the family gathers around the table for a meal, he begins the prayer by thanking “baby Jesus” for the bountiful harvest of KFC and Taco Bell. After thanking baby Jesus for his sons, and wife, he thanks the dear lord baby Jesus for his father in law Chip and asks that Jesus will use his “dear lord baby Jesus powers” to heal Chip. His wife then interrupts him and says “we don’t always have to pray to the baby Jesus, you know, he did grow up.” Ricky responds, I like the baby Jesus the best,” his wife interrupts him again and says, “you know what, I want you to do this grace good, so we can WIN tomorrow!” This continues for a while, as Bobby prays to the tiny precious, baby that he likes best. Perhaps Ricky Bobby likes to pray to the baby Jesus best because babies are small, innocent and can’t really tell you that you’ve missed the point of prayer? While this is a movie, I do think that Bobby’s image of God is all that different from many people’s image. We often try to place God in a box, to make Him the God WE want Him to be. Sometimes that’s a harmless infant Jesus, other times, it’s a wrath filled God who is on our side and will really take care of our enemy. We create God in OUR OWN image.
Ricky Bobby isn’t alone in perception. Let’s look at our first reading for today. Here is some background: our texts are picked by groups of academics and scholars who, using their resources and knowledge, attempt to choose weekly readings that give us a clear idea of God’s relationship with humanity. But today, as we read Jonah, we are only getting the “happy ending” and we miss the big picture. I think it’s fair to say this small cutting from Jonah only helps to perpetuate the problem of creating God in our own image. All we hear is that an obedient prophet, goes to Niniveh and a loving God saves the people. This friends, encompasses the story of Jonah about as well as Ricky Bobby’s prayer encompasses Jesus. Instead of focusing on the “happy ending,” let’s take a look at the full picture of Jonah. The story of a reluctant prophet and the always patient God. I know I won’t be able to explore everything this book has to offer, so I commend the book of Jonah to you. Get the whole picture for yourself and read this book tonight. (And it’s only 4 chapters).
Jonah is an Old Testament prophet who was called by God to go to the town of Ninevah and tell the people to repent and follow God. Based on this reading, it sounds like Jonah just went to the city and the people repented. Well, if we look at Jonah chapter one, our reluctant prophet decides this mission isn’t for him. Jonah is angry. The people of Ninevah are evil and corrupt, and he knows that God will have mercy upon them if they hear God’s word. Jonah doesn’t want any part of this. This isn’t the God HE created in his mind (a just, wrath filled God who will punish the wicked and raise up the righteous, at least those Jonah deems are righteous, like himself). This doesn’t fit with Jonah’s plan for God. So he runs away and gets on a boat. A storm appears and the boat begins to sink. Jonah realizes he has made God angry. Feeling responsible for the storm, he tells the sailors to throw him overboard, that he has made God angry and if he dies, God will stop the storm. A God made in Jonah’s image destroys unruly prophets. But, the true and just God doesn’t abandon those who run away. The men throw Jonah overboard, the storm stops, and the sailors are spared. But Jonah is also spared. This is where the “great fish” (what we’ve often called “the whale” comes into the story.) You may remember this part from Sunday school. Jonah is bad and gets swallowed by a whale right? Not quite. If you read chapter 1:17, it says “God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah.” The fish is protection, not punishment. The God created in our image sends fish to swallow people who are bad…the true God provides safety even in the midst of disobedience.
Jonah repents and his then spit up by the fish. He then goes to Nineveh to tell the people about God. Immediately, everyone in the town repents, men women, children, even the animals are in sackcloth (a sign of repentance). God decides not to destroy the city, and instead protects the citizens. Again, Jonah is mad. This isn’t how my God works! My God punishes, He shows people what happens if they disobey! The God created in Jonah’s image doesn’t have the power to cause the people of Nineveh to repent, but the true God shows grace to even the most sinful.
Have we caught the theme? The God created in the image of Jonah isn’t that different from the God of Ricky Bobby. God rewards the righteous, by helping them win races, and giving them “worth while” cities to minister in. God punishes those who are evil, by sending his wrath to those Jonah chooses. God doesn’t reward the undeserving! We read the book of Jonah and learn that the God created in OUR image isn’t the TRUE God. The TRUE God keeps walking with us, even when we run away. But that means He keeps walking with our enemies when they run too. The TRUE God provides us with shelter in the belly of a fish when we’ve thrown our lives overboard and we’re sinking. But this shelter is for the “undeserving” as well. The TRUE God chooses not to destroy us when we disobey. But this grace extends to Nineveh, and to all those who we wish it didn’t. And the TRUE GOD’s grace stays with us even when we don’t think this is fair. In the last chapter of Jonah, we find an angry man in the wilderness, praying to God, “I KNEW you were compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Jonah then gets quite dramatic “It is better for me to die than live, oh Lord God, who won’t send calamity to my enemy.”
The God created in Jonah’s image takes away the pain of life through death…through our own death. Dear brothers and sisters, the TRUE GOD does indeed take away the pain of life through death. Though it is not through our own death; but through CHRIST’S death. Yes, the God created in Bobby’s image, or in Jonah’s image, or in OUR image is limited, but the TRUE GOD has power beyond our understanding. Powerful grace, powerful truth, and powerful love. AMEN.
Ricky Bobby isn’t alone in perception. Let’s look at our first reading for today. Here is some background: our texts are picked by groups of academics and scholars who, using their resources and knowledge, attempt to choose weekly readings that give us a clear idea of God’s relationship with humanity. But today, as we read Jonah, we are only getting the “happy ending” and we miss the big picture. I think it’s fair to say this small cutting from Jonah only helps to perpetuate the problem of creating God in our own image. All we hear is that an obedient prophet, goes to Niniveh and a loving God saves the people. This friends, encompasses the story of Jonah about as well as Ricky Bobby’s prayer encompasses Jesus. Instead of focusing on the “happy ending,” let’s take a look at the full picture of Jonah. The story of a reluctant prophet and the always patient God. I know I won’t be able to explore everything this book has to offer, so I commend the book of Jonah to you. Get the whole picture for yourself and read this book tonight. (And it’s only 4 chapters).
Jonah is an Old Testament prophet who was called by God to go to the town of Ninevah and tell the people to repent and follow God. Based on this reading, it sounds like Jonah just went to the city and the people repented. Well, if we look at Jonah chapter one, our reluctant prophet decides this mission isn’t for him. Jonah is angry. The people of Ninevah are evil and corrupt, and he knows that God will have mercy upon them if they hear God’s word. Jonah doesn’t want any part of this. This isn’t the God HE created in his mind (a just, wrath filled God who will punish the wicked and raise up the righteous, at least those Jonah deems are righteous, like himself). This doesn’t fit with Jonah’s plan for God. So he runs away and gets on a boat. A storm appears and the boat begins to sink. Jonah realizes he has made God angry. Feeling responsible for the storm, he tells the sailors to throw him overboard, that he has made God angry and if he dies, God will stop the storm. A God made in Jonah’s image destroys unruly prophets. But, the true and just God doesn’t abandon those who run away. The men throw Jonah overboard, the storm stops, and the sailors are spared. But Jonah is also spared. This is where the “great fish” (what we’ve often called “the whale” comes into the story.) You may remember this part from Sunday school. Jonah is bad and gets swallowed by a whale right? Not quite. If you read chapter 1:17, it says “God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah.” The fish is protection, not punishment. The God created in our image sends fish to swallow people who are bad…the true God provides safety even in the midst of disobedience.
Jonah repents and his then spit up by the fish. He then goes to Nineveh to tell the people about God. Immediately, everyone in the town repents, men women, children, even the animals are in sackcloth (a sign of repentance). God decides not to destroy the city, and instead protects the citizens. Again, Jonah is mad. This isn’t how my God works! My God punishes, He shows people what happens if they disobey! The God created in Jonah’s image doesn’t have the power to cause the people of Nineveh to repent, but the true God shows grace to even the most sinful.
Have we caught the theme? The God created in the image of Jonah isn’t that different from the God of Ricky Bobby. God rewards the righteous, by helping them win races, and giving them “worth while” cities to minister in. God punishes those who are evil, by sending his wrath to those Jonah chooses. God doesn’t reward the undeserving! We read the book of Jonah and learn that the God created in OUR image isn’t the TRUE God. The TRUE God keeps walking with us, even when we run away. But that means He keeps walking with our enemies when they run too. The TRUE God provides us with shelter in the belly of a fish when we’ve thrown our lives overboard and we’re sinking. But this shelter is for the “undeserving” as well. The TRUE God chooses not to destroy us when we disobey. But this grace extends to Nineveh, and to all those who we wish it didn’t. And the TRUE GOD’s grace stays with us even when we don’t think this is fair. In the last chapter of Jonah, we find an angry man in the wilderness, praying to God, “I KNEW you were compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Jonah then gets quite dramatic “It is better for me to die than live, oh Lord God, who won’t send calamity to my enemy.”
The God created in Jonah’s image takes away the pain of life through death…through our own death. Dear brothers and sisters, the TRUE GOD does indeed take away the pain of life through death. Though it is not through our own death; but through CHRIST’S death. Yes, the God created in Bobby’s image, or in Jonah’s image, or in OUR image is limited, but the TRUE GOD has power beyond our understanding. Powerful grace, powerful truth, and powerful love. AMEN.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Samuel's Swallow study
First, sorry that it's been so long since our last post. I will update with pics and sermons soon!
We had a swallow study today for Samuel. He did pretty well and is making progress.
First, the "short, quick" answer: Samuel can now take about 10 ml of fluid by mouth that is fed to him by his speech pathologist. He can also have food pumped into his stomach at a faster rate (in Nov. it was at 45 ml an hour, today we can do up to 175 if he doesn't start to spit up). Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they'll be removing the tube any time soon. We were hoping the tube could come out in the summer, but it will be "at least" the fall before we can even talk about getting the tube out :( So, we are feeling mixed--happy that he has made progress, but a bit disappointed that we aren't as far along as we hoped. When we had the NJ tube (nose tube) placed in Nov. the Dr told us that it would only be in for a few weeks, "at the most 2 months." Now, we're looking at the possibility of having this tube in for upwards of a year....We NEVER expected this.
I guess God is using this year to teach us patience??? I'm not really sure. I tell Shahra that patience is "waiting without complaining" but it's difficult to follow our own advice. We are doing much better than we were in November, but this has still be a very exhausting journey with an ending much farther away than we had originally hoped.
More specific info:
A swallow study is a test using X ray technology to examine how well Samuel is able to swallow. The tech had him eat foods that were very liquid like and foods that were thicker. A healthy baby should be able to eat food that is not thickened at all. In November, Samuel could only eat foods that were pudding thick or thicker. Today, he was cleared to eat foods that are honey thick or thicker (think the thickness of honey). He was not able to eat foods that were nectar thick or unthickened. This means we have a ways to go before he is off the G-Tube and eating everything by mouth.
Well, thanks for all your prayers and thoughts. We'll try to keep everyone updated. Check out the blog for the most recent pics (though I need to update the blog too!!) pjupdates.blogspot.com
We had a swallow study today for Samuel. He did pretty well and is making progress.
First, the "short, quick" answer: Samuel can now take about 10 ml of fluid by mouth that is fed to him by his speech pathologist. He can also have food pumped into his stomach at a faster rate (in Nov. it was at 45 ml an hour, today we can do up to 175 if he doesn't start to spit up). Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they'll be removing the tube any time soon. We were hoping the tube could come out in the summer, but it will be "at least" the fall before we can even talk about getting the tube out :( So, we are feeling mixed--happy that he has made progress, but a bit disappointed that we aren't as far along as we hoped. When we had the NJ tube (nose tube) placed in Nov. the Dr told us that it would only be in for a few weeks, "at the most 2 months." Now, we're looking at the possibility of having this tube in for upwards of a year....We NEVER expected this.
I guess God is using this year to teach us patience??? I'm not really sure. I tell Shahra that patience is "waiting without complaining" but it's difficult to follow our own advice. We are doing much better than we were in November, but this has still be a very exhausting journey with an ending much farther away than we had originally hoped.
More specific info:
A swallow study is a test using X ray technology to examine how well Samuel is able to swallow. The tech had him eat foods that were very liquid like and foods that were thicker. A healthy baby should be able to eat food that is not thickened at all. In November, Samuel could only eat foods that were pudding thick or thicker. Today, he was cleared to eat foods that are honey thick or thicker (think the thickness of honey). He was not able to eat foods that were nectar thick or unthickened. This means we have a ways to go before he is off the G-Tube and eating everything by mouth.
Well, thanks for all your prayers and thoughts. We'll try to keep everyone updated. Check out the blog for the most recent pics (though I need to update the blog too!!) pjupdates.blogspot.com
Monday, January 19, 2009
Our Christmas and Samuel's Baptism
Hi all!We hoped to settle into our Christmas season with a little sense of normalcy. Unfortunately,
it was not to be so.
it was not to be so.
Days before Christmas, Indiana experienced a serious cold snap that lasted a couple of days. The temperature dropping below zero, the weather wreaked havoc on an ill-prepared populace, including us. Water pipes burst in several apartments in our complex. Fortunately, our pipes were spared, but not our living room.
I (Jeff) was at home, with the kids and Tracy's parents. We noticed that water was soaking into our carpet, and we investigated. I couldn't find a source for the water in our apartment, so I knocked on the apartment next door. No one answered, but when I put my ear to the door, I could hear the water gushing. We moved our possessions to higher ground; nothing was lost. We were also the only ones home to inform the apartment office of what was happening in the apartments near us, which by this point had waterfalls pouring from their second floors. We feel quite fortunate and feel for our neighbors, who experienced far worse hardship this Christmas.
But we couldn't stay in our apartment while the professional restorers dried out our carpet. So we stayed in a hotel room from December 22nd through Christmas.
In fact, one night Tracy and I didn't even have the comfort of a hotel room. On the 23rd, Tracy was working late to prepare for Christmas Eve services, and I drove to Muncie to help her. But when we prepared to leave the church later that evening,
the roads were so coated with slick, shiny ice that we couldn't drive our car up the shallow incline that took us to the main road. After slipping and sliding back into the church's parking lot, Tracy and I decided we had to spend the night in her office. We made the most of it. I happened to have an air mattress in the car, as well as a movie we could play on my computer, and we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation while stringing jingle bells for the kids at church to ring the next day. For all our distress, we insisted on having a happy Christmas. We spent Christmas morning in the lobby of the hotel, where they were happy to let us use their tree.
Our happiest moment of the Christmas season occurred on Sunday, December 28th. Samuel Peter Sitota Johannes was baptized and welcomed into the family of Christ. Tracy conducted Samuel's baptism, just as she had done for Shahra. Samuel is fortunate to have four sponsors for his baptism: Andy and Amy Nyren and Kelli and Dustan Smith. Andy and Amy are parents of Ella and fellow Ethiopian adoptive parents whom we met at Luther Seminary. Kelli and Dustan are good friends of ours in our church; their daughter Autumn is close to Shahra's age and their son Micah is close to Samuel's age. 
As Samuel's baptismal candle, we used the candle that Samuel's birth mother passed to us when we met her. Below is the portion of the service we wrote ourselves to introduce Samuel's baptismal candle, which was read by Elisabeth Malzahn, a friend of ours and Pastor John's daughter:
Samuel. In a room in Hosanna, Ethiopia, your birth mother stood among other birth parents. Across from her, among other adoptive families, stood your forever parents. Your birth mother lit this candle as she and other birth parents said a prayer in Amharic: “Through God's divine plan our roads have crossed and these children have created a bond between us. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your willingness to share our burden […] we are the birth parents but from now on the children are yours […] May the good Lord bless all your family.” Your birth mother stepped forward and embraced your forever mother and your forever father, passing to them this candle, as a blessing to you, Samuel, and your forever parents, who have devoted themselves to your care. Your forever parents replied, “Through God’s divine plan, our journeys have crossed and these your children have created a sacred bond between us […] May
God make us worthy to the measure of the gift that your children are for us. May the good Lord bless all your family.”
Today, we present this candle, a symbol of both passing parentage and indelible bonds, as your baptismal candle. We do this to remember that, even as your forever mother and forever father have chosen you for their own, they share their responsibility as parents with the Eternal Father, who chose you as a beloved child of God, and with this church community, who will help them raise you in the light of Christ. We light this candle, saying to you, “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Jan. 4 Sermon (Happy New Year!!) John 1
If you look around, the holidays are over. Santa, who has been in the mall since he got off his float at the Macy’s day parade on Thanksgiving, is back at the North Pole with his elves. The Christmas trees are mostly put away, and advertisements for weight loss products are again in full swing. We’ve been preparing for the holidays for 2 months, and at the stroke of midnight on January 1st, it’s all over. I don’t know how many of you witnessed this for yourselves on New Year’s Eve. My family, like many, gathered around the TV with friends and watched Dick Clark and Ryan Secrest welcome in the new year with style and pizzazz, all sponsored by Nivea skin lotion. The anticipation rose. All night there was music and entertainment. We even witnessed the now obligatory New Year’s Eve marriage proposal from a recently returned Marine veteran to his beautiful girl. Then, at 11:55, everyone’s eyes turned up toward the big beautiful, crystallized light in the sky. We watched as it slowly began to drop down, then, it seemed like the whole world counted down until “Happy New Year!” Which, I have to admit seems like it is being welcomed with a bit more anxiety than new year’s past. For one golden moment, everyone cheered, strangers embraced on crowded street corners, friends toasted with Champaign. Then, at 12:05, it was all over. The lights went out on the giant ball, and everyone began to make their way back into the darkness. The party’s over and the celebration has come to an end. Time for resolutions, to take down the Christmas lights, time to settle in for the rest of the winter. Pack it up until next year.
But, I ask you, people of God, is that all there is? A short lived celebration to “remember the spirit of Christmas” before we’re engulfed by the cold dark realities of life and winter? For believers in the risen Christ, the celebration continues! The lights in Time Square may dim before 12:15 am, but our light, our life, our hope, shines on. Our human creations of “light” may dim, may fade, may go out of season. However, when we look at John 1:8 we are given a message: “He (John the Baptist) was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light. Human lights go out by 12:15 New Year’s day. Human celebrations don’t sustain us. This is because, family of God, WE ARE NOT THE LIGHT. Our “man made” light may be made to sparkle with the help of crystals, it may glimmer in the night sky like magic…it may even give us a celebratory feeling. But eventually, human light begins to dim. The crystals break, the confetti falls, and the party is over. Back to worries about packing up Christmas trees, and tangled LED lights and plastic red nosed reindeer. Keep them safe in boxes until next year, when we bring it out again.
But fellow believers, God’s celebration doesn’t end with the stroke of midnight. WE don’t have to pack up our light or feel the lull after the holidays. Our party continues. And the grand master of ceremonies tells us exactly how to party on. In our Gospel, John the Baptist tells us how to have the biggest celebration of all “prepare the way of the Lord! We have received one blessing after another!” Unlike Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, we aren’t mere spectators, the MC gives us a part in the party—we are to make straight our paths, to recognize that the Savior has arrived. This isn’t a temporary celebration, a break from our everyday lives—this message is to BECOME our lives, it BREAKS the patterns of the past, and RENEWS us with eternal hope, with an ETERNAL light.
Prepare for the Lord. Not only do we receive this message, we are empowered to spread the Gospel to all people, to make the party grow. How will you let the people in your life know that this party is for them? Because there are so many out there who want to be a part of this celebration. They LONG for a feeling of belonging: why else would so many want to create a party during the holidays? What gifts has God given you to spread the good news of great joy, to tell the world that Christ’s celebration is never over? Or maybe YOU need to hear that message, that God invites YOU to the table, every week, to commune with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You don’t feel like a party? Your sins are too many? Your life not in order yet? Not enough faith? It’s not the right time? Dear friends, when we feel most alone, most filled with doubt, most immersed in sin--that it is the absolute right time to join this eternal celebration. Lights won’t be dimmed when it gets too late, or too sin filled, or too painful. The host will not ask you to leave if you’re too sad or difficult, or lacking the right look.
The party isn’t complete unless you are here. God needs your gifts, your sins, your broken, yet healed being to be with Him. The table is ready, the lights are on, and a meal has been prepared for you. Take and eat, take and drink. The light shines in the darkness, and has OVERCOME it. AMEN.
But, I ask you, people of God, is that all there is? A short lived celebration to “remember the spirit of Christmas” before we’re engulfed by the cold dark realities of life and winter? For believers in the risen Christ, the celebration continues! The lights in Time Square may dim before 12:15 am, but our light, our life, our hope, shines on. Our human creations of “light” may dim, may fade, may go out of season. However, when we look at John 1:8 we are given a message: “He (John the Baptist) was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light. Human lights go out by 12:15 New Year’s day. Human celebrations don’t sustain us. This is because, family of God, WE ARE NOT THE LIGHT. Our “man made” light may be made to sparkle with the help of crystals, it may glimmer in the night sky like magic…it may even give us a celebratory feeling. But eventually, human light begins to dim. The crystals break, the confetti falls, and the party is over. Back to worries about packing up Christmas trees, and tangled LED lights and plastic red nosed reindeer. Keep them safe in boxes until next year, when we bring it out again.
But fellow believers, God’s celebration doesn’t end with the stroke of midnight. WE don’t have to pack up our light or feel the lull after the holidays. Our party continues. And the grand master of ceremonies tells us exactly how to party on. In our Gospel, John the Baptist tells us how to have the biggest celebration of all “prepare the way of the Lord! We have received one blessing after another!” Unlike Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, we aren’t mere spectators, the MC gives us a part in the party—we are to make straight our paths, to recognize that the Savior has arrived. This isn’t a temporary celebration, a break from our everyday lives—this message is to BECOME our lives, it BREAKS the patterns of the past, and RENEWS us with eternal hope, with an ETERNAL light.
Prepare for the Lord. Not only do we receive this message, we are empowered to spread the Gospel to all people, to make the party grow. How will you let the people in your life know that this party is for them? Because there are so many out there who want to be a part of this celebration. They LONG for a feeling of belonging: why else would so many want to create a party during the holidays? What gifts has God given you to spread the good news of great joy, to tell the world that Christ’s celebration is never over? Or maybe YOU need to hear that message, that God invites YOU to the table, every week, to commune with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You don’t feel like a party? Your sins are too many? Your life not in order yet? Not enough faith? It’s not the right time? Dear friends, when we feel most alone, most filled with doubt, most immersed in sin--that it is the absolute right time to join this eternal celebration. Lights won’t be dimmed when it gets too late, or too sin filled, or too painful. The host will not ask you to leave if you’re too sad or difficult, or lacking the right look.
The party isn’t complete unless you are here. God needs your gifts, your sins, your broken, yet healed being to be with Him. The table is ready, the lights are on, and a meal has been prepared for you. Take and eat, take and drink. The light shines in the darkness, and has OVERCOME it. AMEN.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Sermon Dec. 21 (Ref. to Ethiopia)
I’d like you to take a moment and hear the words of introduction to our Gospel reading for today “Luke makes clear that God comes with good news for ordinary people (Mary) from little-known places (Nazareth). This king will not be born to royalty in a palace, but to common folk in a stall.” In the midst of a gospel including angels, a virgin birth, and prophecy, I think we tend to lose sight of the ordinary that is intermingled with the extraordinary. The entire story of Christ’s birth has miraculous elements—a savior coming to earth in the form of an infant, multiple encounters with angels…in our western, modern eyes, shepherds, riding on a donkey and a baby surrounded by animals has a bit of a mysterious, glowing, Disney like quality to, doesn’t it? But this Gospel, this extraordinary good news, is for ordinary people from ordinary places. For Christ coming as Emmanuel, God with us, places God among God’s people. Not above, in some far off kingdom, but not mystically below people either. If you will indulge me, the reason I emphasize the “ordinary” in this extraordinary story comes from a radical shift in the way I have come to view Jesus’ birth since our last trip to Ethiopia to bring home our son. Before the trip, I focused on the extraordinary. But in a small hut about 2 hours outside Addis Ababa, in the midst of shepherds and subsistent farmers, I encountered Emmanuel, God with us.
In order for newly adoptive parents to gain a better understanding of their child’s birth country, we take a day trip south, to see the countryside, the people, and the type of homes our birth children lived in before they came to care. Along the 3 hour bus trip, we passed literally thousands of round wooden, thatch roof huts covered with clay. Every week, the group of newly adoptive parents stop at one of these huts and are invited in by the family. We are able to take pictures, look at the crops, and experience, for a brief moment, what life is like for those living in rural Ethiopia where most of our children were born. I imagined how strange it was for this family. A bus full of mostly white, westerners pulls up to their home every week, gets out and starts taking pictures of their ordinary life. Though I’ve seen cows and goats before, I have half a dozen pictures of these animals. I know what a pot and pan look like, but I even photographed these items. The group of 20 who have descended upon this ordinary home are welcomed to touch the walls, take pictures and basically walk around the farm for about 20 minutes. The whole experience was wonderful, but a bit bizarre. What are the Ethiopians thinking? If someone came to my home and started touching my walls, I would think them a bit strange.
The homes are about the size of my HTLC office and house an entire family or extended family, perhaps 12-15 people? live in this hut. One section of the round hut has a kitchen area, another corner is a sleeping area, though there are no beds. A fire pit is in the center of the hut. But, on the other side of the home, the cattle and sheep lay in their stable--grazing, living, providing for the family just as animals did in Jesus’ day. This was a family of shepherds. The little boy held his lamb, and other sheep grazed on grass outside the hut. These were not decrepit conditions. The people took great pride in their homes, painting designs on the outside, and creating beautiful pots which doubled as art work for the walls. I didn’t feel pity, or despair for this family, and I’m not telling you this story to evoke pity or despair from you. I felt Emmanuel, and knew what it meant for GOD to be truly WITH US, among the shepherds in a small Ethiopian hut.
For the first time, I wondered, “what is it like to hear the story of Christ’s birth if you are born in a situation similar to his, when a manger isn’t a last resort, but commonplace?” How different this story is for me as I humbly consider that my son was born in conditions not to different from those we read about in the Gospel. Emmanuel…Today, at the end of 2008, almost half the world’s population lives on a dollar a day. TODAY, half the world’s population will hear (not READ, but HEAR) the story of a baby born in a manger, visited by shepherds, to a young, scared, newly married girl, and hear the ordinary. TODAY, the shepherds living in a small hut in Ethiopia have a deeper understanding of what it was like to live in Bethlehem in Jesus’ time than we ever could.
Consider then, the story of Jesus’ birth in Jesus’ time and place. Ordinary. Do we really believe Mary was the only pregnant woman riding in on a donkey to Bethlehem that night? How then, do we hear this story and marvel in the ordinary? How do we reside with Emmanuel? How do we reconcile that justice come out of such places, born among cattle, sheep and shepherds? A dark, seemingly hopeless place springs forth hope for the world? How do we respond to an Emmanuel who dwells among a proud people who love and value their children, yet can not raise them? God’s SON, sent to a world that can not hold Him? A world that will reject Him? Yet from the simple place where cattle graze, hope is born? Christ coming as a simple boy in a manger isn’t a sign of Him lowering Himself below us, to an awful, sad place, but rather being born as so many are and were born. How different the story is to those also born among grazing cattle.
That night, I went back to our guesthouse to sleep in my bed, but I couldn’t sleep, thinking of the huts, the hard ground and cattle as I lay in my bed. I touched, cried, and prayed with members of the family of God, knowing they would go to sleep on a dirt floor that night. Our tears were the same, our sadness the same, our GOD the same. But I slept in a bed, fully aware that Emmanuel slept on a similar dirt floor next to shepherds. Knowing that Emmanuel STILL lays down next to those who sleep on dirt floors. That Emmanuel hasn’t left the scared, pregnant teenager. That Emmanuel is WITH US. In the midst of the extraordinary, let us not overlook the ordinary, the Emmanuel who unites His people, the people who were scattered in the darkness, in the wilderness, but are now joined together as the body of Christ. His light will not burn out, but shines equally bright for all the deserving, the undeserving, of every tongue and creed, every tribe and land. Emmanuel IS justice, the only justice in a barren, beautiful, broken, holy, splintered, whole, unjust, just world. Emmanuel IS the ordinary, extraordinary light that shines among us in the darkness, in the wilderness, in the barren, hopeless and hope filled places of our lives. Out of the wilderness, we hear, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Emmanuel is here. AMEN
In order for newly adoptive parents to gain a better understanding of their child’s birth country, we take a day trip south, to see the countryside, the people, and the type of homes our birth children lived in before they came to care. Along the 3 hour bus trip, we passed literally thousands of round wooden, thatch roof huts covered with clay. Every week, the group of newly adoptive parents stop at one of these huts and are invited in by the family. We are able to take pictures, look at the crops, and experience, for a brief moment, what life is like for those living in rural Ethiopia where most of our children were born. I imagined how strange it was for this family. A bus full of mostly white, westerners pulls up to their home every week, gets out and starts taking pictures of their ordinary life. Though I’ve seen cows and goats before, I have half a dozen pictures of these animals. I know what a pot and pan look like, but I even photographed these items. The group of 20 who have descended upon this ordinary home are welcomed to touch the walls, take pictures and basically walk around the farm for about 20 minutes. The whole experience was wonderful, but a bit bizarre. What are the Ethiopians thinking? If someone came to my home and started touching my walls, I would think them a bit strange.
The homes are about the size of my HTLC office and house an entire family or extended family, perhaps 12-15 people? live in this hut. One section of the round hut has a kitchen area, another corner is a sleeping area, though there are no beds. A fire pit is in the center of the hut. But, on the other side of the home, the cattle and sheep lay in their stable--grazing, living, providing for the family just as animals did in Jesus’ day. This was a family of shepherds. The little boy held his lamb, and other sheep grazed on grass outside the hut. These were not decrepit conditions. The people took great pride in their homes, painting designs on the outside, and creating beautiful pots which doubled as art work for the walls. I didn’t feel pity, or despair for this family, and I’m not telling you this story to evoke pity or despair from you. I felt Emmanuel, and knew what it meant for GOD to be truly WITH US, among the shepherds in a small Ethiopian hut.
For the first time, I wondered, “what is it like to hear the story of Christ’s birth if you are born in a situation similar to his, when a manger isn’t a last resort, but commonplace?” How different this story is for me as I humbly consider that my son was born in conditions not to different from those we read about in the Gospel. Emmanuel…Today, at the end of 2008, almost half the world’s population lives on a dollar a day. TODAY, half the world’s population will hear (not READ, but HEAR) the story of a baby born in a manger, visited by shepherds, to a young, scared, newly married girl, and hear the ordinary. TODAY, the shepherds living in a small hut in Ethiopia have a deeper understanding of what it was like to live in Bethlehem in Jesus’ time than we ever could.
Consider then, the story of Jesus’ birth in Jesus’ time and place. Ordinary. Do we really believe Mary was the only pregnant woman riding in on a donkey to Bethlehem that night? How then, do we hear this story and marvel in the ordinary? How do we reside with Emmanuel? How do we reconcile that justice come out of such places, born among cattle, sheep and shepherds? A dark, seemingly hopeless place springs forth hope for the world? How do we respond to an Emmanuel who dwells among a proud people who love and value their children, yet can not raise them? God’s SON, sent to a world that can not hold Him? A world that will reject Him? Yet from the simple place where cattle graze, hope is born? Christ coming as a simple boy in a manger isn’t a sign of Him lowering Himself below us, to an awful, sad place, but rather being born as so many are and were born. How different the story is to those also born among grazing cattle.
That night, I went back to our guesthouse to sleep in my bed, but I couldn’t sleep, thinking of the huts, the hard ground and cattle as I lay in my bed. I touched, cried, and prayed with members of the family of God, knowing they would go to sleep on a dirt floor that night. Our tears were the same, our sadness the same, our GOD the same. But I slept in a bed, fully aware that Emmanuel slept on a similar dirt floor next to shepherds. Knowing that Emmanuel STILL lays down next to those who sleep on dirt floors. That Emmanuel hasn’t left the scared, pregnant teenager. That Emmanuel is WITH US. In the midst of the extraordinary, let us not overlook the ordinary, the Emmanuel who unites His people, the people who were scattered in the darkness, in the wilderness, but are now joined together as the body of Christ. His light will not burn out, but shines equally bright for all the deserving, the undeserving, of every tongue and creed, every tribe and land. Emmanuel IS justice, the only justice in a barren, beautiful, broken, holy, splintered, whole, unjust, just world. Emmanuel IS the ordinary, extraordinary light that shines among us in the darkness, in the wilderness, in the barren, hopeless and hope filled places of our lives. Out of the wilderness, we hear, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Emmanuel is here. AMEN
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Panda Nebulizer & Normalcy
Samuel got a new nebulizer this week. A nebulizer is a machine that dispenses a mist of medicine to protect the lungs. Well, our last nebulizer looked like a piece of medical equipment. Our new nebulizer looks like this:
It's a creepy panda. The kind that stares at you, even though it's plastic. I don't trust the thing, it looks like it could come to life. And attack you in your sleep. Like a gremlin, from Hardee's book 3 (1986, remember it? we had to remove that book from our home). Yeah, i have a gremlin panda in my house, and i'm afraid i may have gotten it wet...and the darn thing messed with my clocks, so now no one is safe.
It's a creepy panda. The kind that stares at you, even though it's plastic. I don't trust the thing, it looks like it could come to life. And attack you in your sleep. Like a gremlin, from Hardee's book 3 (1986, remember it? we had to remove that book from our home). Yeah, i have a gremlin panda in my house, and i'm afraid i may have gotten it wet...and the darn thing messed with my clocks, so now no one is safe.(an apology for those who are not children of the 80s and don't know what gremlins are. And my apologies as well to those who think I've gone nuts and fear a plastic medical device....)
Things are going well on the home front. Last week Shahra and I had a "mommy party" and went shopping in Indy. I bought shoes, and we had lunch with friends. For the first time in over a month, I felt like things may one day feel normal again. We could just be mommy and daughter, shopping and eating lunch. Though it sounds small, it was such a hope fulled moment, because I really didn't know if things would feel normal again. It gave me hope.
Today, we had some more "normal" moments, and I appreciated them so much. (to back up for a moment) the first sign that something was wrong with Samuel involved speech, or the lack of it. As soon as we got home, I noticed that Samuel was making gutteral verbalizations and wasn't making any sounds from the front of his mouth. This is the opposite of normal speech development (thanks Prof T. and Linguistics 301). Babies should make sounds (like ma ma ma) using the front of their mouth first, then work their way to using other parts of their mouth to make sounds (like Geee, which he was doing).
Anyway, this was a sign of his problems. This week, we had a wonderful, happy, normal moment: Samuel started making "mama ma" "mba mba" and "ba ba" sounds, (using the front of his mouth). It feels SO good to hear him doing what he should.
We also had Dr. appointments today with the lung and stomach doctors--everything looks great. We'll follow up in 1-2 months. We've been told someday, in the not to distant future, this will all be over, and now I really believe it.
A word on grace and Christian love:
My congregation has shown all of us an amazing level of love and support during this time. For various reasons, I was really worried how people would be about Samuel's illness, my illness and the missed days of work. How would they REALLY react to the broken place we were in? Would they support us, or question my abilities?
The gestures of support, from meals, cards, gifts, and prayers have been humbling. I've talked before about the vulnerability and subsequent trust this experience has built for me, but here are some moments that showed me what grace really is:
When someone from the synod visits your child in the hospital and you're wearing monkey slippers and haven't showered in 2 days, humility hits you like a ton of bricks. When you're so sick you have to miss church (as the minister) and a couple drives 30 minutes to your messy, messy home with a meal 30 minutes after the service, you feel humility and love. There was no judgement about the mess, no anger about my inability to be at work, just concern for me and my family.
I asked the rhetorical question during my sermon: "some people may wonder where that light of hope has gone, because we don't see it, do we? My voice broke, and tears began to flow. You expect people will think you've lost it and can't do the job. After, I was greeted with 75 hugs and assurances "I'm praying for your family." I have experienced grace. It is in our most broken, uncontrolled, frightening times when we are finally forced to trust those around us, to allow them to do for us, and to experience the love they have to share.
I'll end for now. Thank you all for your love as we continue to return to "normal"
Tracy
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