Preacher on the Plaza

And There Was Only One . . .   Luke 2:1-20, Isaiah 9:2-7

Christmas Eve 2010

Though I know Christmas Eve conjures up in our minds images of hallowed manger scenes, beautiful people smiling and all seeming right with the world, have you ever stopped to think how crazy God’s plan of redemption was as it began to play itself out on that night long ago?

I mean, really, what was God thinking hanging all of the hopes of the world of the people who were walking in darkness, as Isaiah’s prophecy talked about, searching for a great light on one birth?

Yes, a birth, the middle of the ancient times when medical care was not at its peak—childbirth was very risky enterprise in fact. Yes, a birth of one child, of only one child, given from heaven to the fragility of human hands and a teenage mother at that with little training on child birth or raising! Yes, a birth, of one to a world where anything, yes, anything could go wrong at anytime? Yes, a birth, in horrific conditions that could have easily caused the most willing mother and the most support father and even the most eager shepherds to give up? What was God thinking, I mean really?

If you have any logical senses about you, hanging all your hopes in life on everything aligning correctly as God did in this case; is a pretty stupid thing to do in this world. Life is just too fragile, just too uncertain for the hope that only one plan would actually work perfectly.

Especially in an overachieving region of this world like this one, we are the people of a back-up plan: when we are applying to college or graduate school, it often asked “what is your fail proof school?”

When we are applying for our “dream” job, it is often asked of us, “what is your back-up offer?”

When we are searching for a spouse or a partner to grow old with, during late night sessions with best friends, we often ask, “If I am not with someone by this age, can we be each other’s back-up plan?”

For we are a people who like to know that that the odds of our decisions are working in our favor—and that if plan A doesn’t work, there is an equally good plan B around the corner.

But, in our gospel lesson for tonight, all of God’s hopes for the blessing of all the world were on one womb . . . one night . . . one mother . . . one willing partner . . . one band of shepherds . . . ONE chance to get it right or it would be a fail. For, there was not a back-up plan.  There was only ONE plan.

And, in this one plan, God trusted Mary and Mary’s body . . . as there was no room for error. God trusted Joseph to be there for Mary . . . as we are told no midwife attended to the birth. God trusted the shepherds to respond  . . . as there were no other visitors right away. God trusted the angels to sing . . . . as they were the creators of the first carols. God trusted the star not to refuse to shine . . . as without the star, the shepherds did not know where to go. The only ONE plan was build upon the audacity of God’s trust in everything happening as it should.  

I was thinking this week if there was anything as audacious as this in our modern senses so to compare this to and I thought of a family facing foreclosure on their house, with both the husband and the wife out of work gathering up all the money that that had after buying food for the week for their kids and buying the most expensive lottery ticket.  And, as they bought it, saying to themselves, “This is going to be our light in the tunnel we are stuck in. This is going to be what saves our family from living in the streets. This ticket is going to save our lives.”

Never mind you, that it is commonly known from statistics that one’s chances of winning the lottery on a single ticket are highly unlikely with all of the probability variables. Even if you play a single state lottery (you best case scenario), the chances of one’s winning with a single ticket are 18 million to one.  But, even still, this family buys the ticket, holds on to it and believes it is their one plan out of destitution.

And, so, it was the posture of God that night. Though no studies have been written to qualify the odds of the whole Jesus being born in a manger thing working out, we know the fates of this world were all stacked against this plan working out too.  . . . who could believe that a teenaged mother and a lowly group of animal watchers in a borrowed stable could be a part of something magnificent? What a motley crew!

But, yet we know on that Holy Night, the greatest lottery of all times came to be won as Jesus came forth and became called, Emmanuel, God with Us—welcomed by just these folks.

Though such a story can be hard to believe sometimes, especially for the most skeptical and analytic among us—in the most bizarre of circumstances, God hit the jackpot that night and a child, who was called Christ, the Lord was born and was thriving from the first day of his day in the arms of a mother who treasured all these things in heart. Everything unbelievable happened and the most unlikely of fail-safe plans worked out just as the prophets had spoke of it long ago.

How often, though, our faith is questioned and mocked at this juncture . . . had God lost God’s mind?

Yet, my friends, do we really want a story that makes perfect sense that is fully understandable? Do we really want a God in our lives who is just like us?

I don’t know about you, but as this year comes to a close and I look at all that has gone wrong and all that is not right in this world, I know one thing: that is that I need my God not to be just like me that I can understand, explain away and make into a pretty scene sitting on my coffee table.

Life is just too messy. Life is just too painful. Life is just too busy. Life is just too unfair for it all to depend on humanity’s finite minds can wrap itself around.

For, I want to testify tonight that I need a God who is faithful, even beyond my most faithful friend to bring about something beautiful in my life. I need a God who can work through the most impossible of circumstance to bring about something new, something that I cannot create on my own.

For, I need a God who can’t be explained through apologetics or formulas or charts. I need a God who can align the paths and people and places of this world so that in the midst of darkness a great light is seen again.

For, I need a God who is beyond all comprehension as my ability to fathom mystery is to rational for the conception of something as wonderful as Savior born unto me again this evening.

For, I need a God to do the impossible . . . . to show up, to be present once again and to show me that life is not as it seems just as it is now.

If you are with me with any of this, then I tell you the good news this evening: Christmas, then, is just for you. For just as we have been on this Advent journey all month, waiting for something, hoping for something, rejoicing with what was not yet, and imagining the possibility of loving fully once again: tonight, such blessing is here.

As simple or as stupid as the incarnation of Christ in a the form a baby, years long ago, it is this, it is just this, my friends, which has the power to bring us this Christmas exactly what we are hoping for.  The celebration of God with Us again this year is THE gift of knowing in our darkest days we are not alone, in our most confusing journeys there is always more than meets the eye. In our life situations that don’t make a bit of sense, there is big star out there, guiding us, guiding us home again.

Silent Night, Holy, Night. All is come, all is bright.

Calling all dreamers . . . calling all wonderers . . . calling all grieving friends . . . calling all those who want a life different than you see right in front of you right now. Come, to the table this night. Come and receive the very life and blood of our Savior and Lord. Come, and receive what you are most longing for this Christmas: that yes, Washington Plaza, there is a God called Jesus Christ who loves you and is with you and wants to meet you here tonight.

Thanks be to God.

AMEN

Advent is such a wonderful time to be connected to a church . . .

You are given a sense of family, no matter if you are biologically related to those around you or not.

You are surrounded with opportunities to swap Christmas cookies and share in the joy of spending time with people who know the reason for the season.

There are chances galore to hear good music, sing carols and light candles in celebration of something greater than yourself.

The following are among some of the photos of our church life over the past month of festivities including special worship services, a Christmas concert and other church fellowships. Enjoy!

Two of our choir member share a moment of joy!

Kirby shares with us on the fourth Sunday of Advent Worship Service.

Snow comes to the Plaza!  (And look how beautiful our new puplit on the roof looks!)

The reading of the Christmas story at the Christmas Concert.

Sharing in Christmas treats after the Concert

Ken playing at the service of Light in the Darkness– a service of grief for those who mourn.

It is amazing how good a small group can sound!

Everybody loves a good church business meeting, right? You wouldn’t be a good Baptist if you didn’t love them, of course (well, not always). As Washington Plaza makes plans to host its annual meeting on Sunday (for all of you Methodists out there, it is a lot like Charge Conference), I did some writing today about what I could say about 2010. I share this with you, church folks as a preview with the hopes that you might at least hear some of the good things I want to say about you. And, for those of you in the larger community cheering us on, you’ll know how to keep cheering for us!

This year has been a great year of transition and growth for Washington Plaza. Over the course of the year, we’ve welcomed 17 new members. Some were new to the community; some were long time attendees seeking to become more involved and some were so glad to find a loving and welcoming church like ours in the Washington, DC area after a long search. This group represents an increased growth in the values of our mission: diversity in age, gender, race, sexual orientation and theological beliefs. I couldn’t be more pleased to celebrate these that God has brought to us.

Where would this church be in 2010 without the selfless dedication of our Trustees, our Office Administrator, and moderator?  I am forever grateful for our Facilities Chair, who has managed tirelessly our major repair project. You have no idea the hours that these folks have put in to ensure that the church continues to be a safe and welcoming place for generations of worshippers to come. We are blessed as a congregation to have such dedicated leaders who have given more of themselves to this congregation than anyone could ever ask for! I know you join me in celebrating the (almost) completion of our building repair project. 

We’ve also grown in our spiritual lives together—walking through liturgical seasons of the year such as Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Ordinary Time and now Advent. I’ve offered special courses such as Life Together, Speaking of Sin, Companions in Christ and Advent Vespers which have given congregation members opportunities to deepen their understanding of faith and traditions of the church. Richard Williams, has also be a valuable teacher during weekday classes. The newest weekly class, Lectio Divina, organized by Richard is one of the secret gems of the church which meets on Tuesday evenings to discuss and sit with scripture lections for an hour. Thanks to the leadership some dedicated teachers, the Sunday Bible Discussion class has continued to go strong along with a new Sunday School class which meeting upstairs around the choir members’ schedule. Folks who have never regularly attended a Sunday morning study are now coming to the new class. How great!

Yet, we have walked through times of transition as well. We’ve seen the departure of Glenn to other vocational pursuits and a new direction for the choir through our new music director, Ken. As sad as we were to see Glenn go, we have been blessed to welcome Ken to our fellowship both through membership and as a staff person with a vision for a spiritually driven worship choir. I know Ken has big dreams for what Washington Plaza’s ministry can be in the larger Washington DC community and we’ve already be blessed by his deep sense of faith and musical creativity!

2011 will hold unique challenges for WPBC. We will be challenged to come to a greater consensus about our vision for the future which will then begin to shape all of our future programming. As our reserves have been used to complete our building repairs and to have a balanced budget, our call as a congregation will be to grow in even greater financial stewardship if we want to sustain our current staff and programming. We will continue to be stretched in the area of Christian Education to provide quality programming for children and youth so that all newcomers to the church feel welcomed.  To do all of this, the new Church Council officers which you will vote on this afternoon, will need all of your support. They will need YOU to join in their ministries and share your ideas and passions for ministry.

I still believe that the best of WPBC’s history is yet to be as we all continue working together to strengthen our strong bonds of Christian community and outreach.  There just aren’t other churches like Washington Plaza who are redefining in everything we do the best of what church can be. Let me tell you again how proud I am of you!

Imagine Joy: Isaiah 35:1-10

We reversed the typical Advent order at Washington Plaza this year, doing joy last Sunday and will do peace this coming Sunday. The following is my sermon given on Sunday. The audio recording had a malfunction this week so I thought I’d post it here. Normally, if you are interested in any of the sermons, you can check this link to actually hear them. Blessings!

On this the second Sunday of Advent, we welcome JOY into this New Year, just as we welcomed hope last week.  There are several popular images of this word that you might have in mind upon learning that today is “Joy Sunday.”

 There is the concept of joy as circumstance producing happiness.

The feeling that comes when we reach that long-awaited wedding, or graduation ceremony, or milestone anniversary at work (when we thought we would never make it this far) . . . .  joy as an achievement of perfect circumstance. 

“I made it to this day!” we exclaim.

Then, there is the idea of joy as a feeling of the purest gleeful happiness.

Being happy is one thing, but being joyous is defined as an over the top level of this euphoric feeling. Joy as personified as that perky high school cheerleader that just has a plastered smile on their face at all times to the degree in which you wonder if she had Botox to keep it there because how could anyone possibly be happy all the time?

Joy also understood like the popular song that we often teach to our children (sing with me if you know it): “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, down in my heart? Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart.  I’ve got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart to stay.” Joy is that feeling that bubbles over in us to make us really, really happy.

And, in addition, there is that the idea of joy as selfless love.

This concept is perpetuated in some Christian circles like the one I grew up in where the acronym for the word Joy is spelled out J, for Jesus. Jesus first.

O, for others next.

And, last Y stands for yourself. You are last.

I remember a Sunday School teacher telling me once that “Jesus first, others next and yourself last” is the key to living a life of joy. If you want to be joyful, this concept says always put everyone else first, no exceptions. Joy is 100% about service of others.

Yet, if any of these three statements are indeed true to our experience, then Isaiah 35’s writing about joy in our lection for this morning might then seem a bit off-putting to us from the start.

Because in this word of prophecy, Isaiah’s audience is not experiencing a life climatic circumstance and they are not being advised to just being happy for the sake of being happy, nor are they engaging in self denigrating behavior on the behalf of others; instead this passage paints a picture of joy as a complete re-orientation of a worldview.  Joy comes as good news, yes, but also as a transformative process.

To really spend some time at this juncture in Isaiah, we have to understand a bit more about this transition in the book and how Chapter 35 fits into the larger message of the prophet.  Though we can’t tell from merely picking up our Bible and reading Isaiah from cover to cover, Isaiah is not one cohesive book, rather it is a collection of writings scribed at unique points in Israel’s history.

While scholars debate whether or not Isaiah is indeed two books in one or three, one thing that most agree on is that a huge break or shift in theme happens between Isaiah 39 and 40. With the first part of Isaiah being about judgment and the coming of exile, the second part of Isaiah focuses on a vision of restoration after exile has passed and beyond.

What we need then, to understand is that chapter 34 and 35 are bridges from the pre-exilic prophecies to the post. Or in other words these are two chapters that are really important because they speak to some of the most important truths about both who we are as human beings and who God is as well. Chapter 34 concludes the judgment oracles about those who chose not to walk in the ways of the LORD and Chapter 35 begins for the first time in Isaiah to talk about God’s intervention on behalf of all of humanity.

Thus, the significance of chapter 35 emerges as it becomes THE bridge text connecting Isaiah part one to part two—it’s the first sign of some new direction for this very lost group of people to begin to find their way back to what could restore them to wholeness. It’s a word about re-framing their lives in God’s story, not just what they saw right in front of their eyes.

Some of you might have heard me tell about me and Kevin’s great adventure last October when we traveled through the deserts of Nevada and Arizona to see some of the great southwest. One of the most memorable moments for me on the trip, as a southwest novice, was the car trip we took from the Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon. The thought of such a road trip was exciting because I had never spent an extensive amount of time in the desert. Though the scenery was beautiful and the vastness of the landscape was overwhelming to see from one horizon to the next, I have to admit that I was sort of scared to be making such a trip.

As a person who likes to be prepared, it completely freaked me out to read a road sign that said “50 miles to the next road stop”. Kevin can attest to the fact that even though we had a GPS in our car pointing us in the only direction that we could possibly travel with a full tank of gas, I was still worried we’d be on the wrong road.

I kept asking him, “Are you sure? Are you really sure we are on the right road?” (As if he knew anymore about the desert than I did). Because really, I had visions of us ending up acting out one of those western movies being stuck on the side of the road in the middle of the night trying to sleep while keeping watch for coyotes at the same time.

So, there was one thing I really wanted to make me feel better. And, it was a map. With this, I boasted, I could orientate us to our surroundings. We could see the bigger picture of where we were once again. And, though it took another 100 miles to find a stocked gas station, I insisted when we found it to stop (even though we were at that point only 10 miles from the major highway) to get one. I was finally so happy . . . .

In the same way, the beautiful poetic word of Isaiah 35 was this much craved road map that Israel needed. It was a clear view of what life could be like if they just hung on and kept connected to God’s presence among them.

Look at verse one: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.”

Rejoicing? Singing? How could that be possible you might wonder? As you remember, Israel at the time was exile. They were away from home: life felt like being literally stuck in the desert. They were no longer in the religious majority. They were deprived of some of life’s basic happiness without their political freedom. Doesn’t exactly seem like the time when the leaders among them would gather the people together and break out into a chorus of “I’ve got, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.”

Yet, Isaiah is saying through metaphor, “Though you may not feel like anything good can come in the desert of circumstances you are living in, begin to look with me at life from the Lord’s eyes.” Because as they did, they would begin to see, just as we uncovered with our prophetic text last week about hope—a new world order of restoration.

And, this restoration would have two parts. First, it would be a restoration of the physical creation, the earth. In verse six we learn that “waters would break forth in the wilderness and there would be streams in the desert; the haunt of jackals (the most feared animal at the time) would become a swamp and the grass would become reeds and rushes.” 

 No, longer would the earth work against the plans of God. Floods would not destroy homes. Tornadoes would not crush dreams. Fires would not ravage good crops and so on and so on.  All the earth, according to this prophetic poem would work in harmony with God’s good future.

 And, second, not only the earth, but humanity would find restoration too. Those who were normally overlooked, left out or ignored, would be valued. Those who found themselves in “less than” places in society such as the blind, the deaf, the lame and the mute would find healing that restored not only their bodies but their souls. Human constructed emotional roadblocks that keep all of us from connecting at a deep level both with one another and God would be opened up again on roads with straight paths. All people, according to Isaiah, would return to the LORD not because they were forced to, but because they wanted too.

And, this is where the word JOY is inserted first in this story. Verse 10: “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow shall flee away.”

Upon hearing this beautifully composed word, do you think that everything suddenly changed for Israel? Do you think that they started waltzing back home from exile with a permanent smile on their face as if everything was just A OK?

I have to think not. This was a prophecy after all. But, it is one that ends in joy because something has completely changed about their perspective.

Joy, you see, comes to Israel because God has reminded them of who the Almighty was and is and their story forever has been re-written. Sure, there were still lots of things wrong in their life, sure it might be days and days and days before they got to that one moment when everything was perfect, but it didn’t matter.

What was most important was the particular focus of their vision: upon hearing such a word of the Lord, joy came because no longer did their future depend on their strength, their wisdom, their making the right decisions all the time. Their future was full of joy because it was a part of God’s bigger picture of work in the world. Their future was full of joy because its future rested in God’s time. 

In God’s time, they would return home.

In God’s time, the promised Savior would come and show them the way.

In God’s time, Jesus would connect all humanity with the story of God—in ways seemingly impossible in the measure of time before.

In God’s time, you and I would be born and come to be in this place, in this moment, to hear or hear again what is our faith story: a story that did not begin with us, but a story we are too invited to participate in so to see the future a little more clearly too.

So, in this New Year, how is it that more joy comes into the lives of us who seek to follow Jesus Christ? It begins, with a declaration on our part that our lives are not about our circumstances and the quality thereof. Sure, we all have “high” moments in our lives when we feel like things are so good that we are floating on a cloud: the start of a new wonderful job, the beginning of a new dating relationship, or a perfect weekend surrounded by all things that we love and cherish  . . . .

But, I feel, if you and I want true JOY in our lives—joy that out lasts the good moments of our days—then we must begin to get to know God’s story just a little bit better.

And, by this I mean, we have to know the Bible. We have to commit ourselves in the coming year to begin to study scripture on a regular basis so that the stories of our faith have a chance to seep into our consciousness just a little bit more. How could we possibly see ourselves in God’s story if we don’t have a clue what it is about? And, there is no better time to do this than now when there’s so much cultural encouragement  to tell our friends why Christmas means so much to our faith! To have joy, we must know our story!

But, even as we have knowledge of our story, JOY comes to those vessels who are willing receive it (even if the pot of who we are isn’t perfect). I was talking with a friend the other day and she was telling me about how she was struggling to make sense of her life. There were countless things she could say were wrong with it while at the same time, countless things that were more than amazing, even holy. We talked about how it is commonplace in Western cultural mentality when someone asks you how you are doing you have to pick either, “I am fine. Or, I am not.” Somehow having joy in the juxtaposition of all of life’s happiness and sorrows is just not allowed.

But, this, is where we, as a people of faith, get to make straight a different kind of life highway. We can live in this juxtaposition.

We get to say to one another and to the larger community around us that while, yes, it is true, that this and this, and this is just not well in my world, joy is still possible.

Why? It is possible because the worth of our lives aren’t merely wrapped up in how good circumstances we can muster up in the present tense. Our worth is not wrapped up in the accolades attributed to our name during our end of the year reviews. Rather, joy is possible in all things because we are living in God’s karios time, not the world’s chronos, time. 

I’m here to testify today that restoration, healing and wholeness IS on the way to your life and to mine.  Though the process of getting from point A to B might be a rough ride, God’s goodness will see us through. And there’s no ifs ands or buts about it: it is coming and it coming soon!

And, so today, let us come to the table and reenact our story of faith and as we do, let us come rejoicing. As we hobble along, may the joy of the Lord be our strength that keeps us singing about what is present deep down in our hearts.

AMEN

Advent to me has always been a mystery.

Maybe it is because I never celebrated it in the churches of my childhood, so I still feel new at the practice.

Maybe it is because there is a strangeness is waiting for the coming of the Christ child when we know that Christ has already been born.

Maybe it is because the themes of Advent are often not concrete but of a “come, let’s dream” nature, and I’m much more of a concrete kind of girl.

But last year, during our Advent Vespers services (which we’ve started as a new Washington Plaza Wednesday night tradition), my foundation in Advent seemed a little more sure for the first time. Layers of Advent’s mystery began to unravel a little more.  Through communal discussion, I realized that Advent’s calling is about newness. It’s about beating the world to celebrations of “Happy New Year” and reorienting ourselves into the world order of the kingdom of God.

There’s a reason the Advent words are love, peace, hope and joy: we all need more of these things in our lives if we are ever going to attempt anything new. It’s good to start of the New Year thinking about them . . . .

I’ve been particularly drawn lately (again) to the writings of Henri Nouwen. This reading encouraged me again to think about the theme of calling as associated with Advent. Maybe it is true, that Advent is calling all of us to something new. And, maybe that something new is closer to our heart than we ever imagined.

Nouwen writes in The Inner Voice of Love:

When you discover in yourself something that is a gift from God, you have to claim it and not let it be taken away from you. Sometimes people who don’t  know your heart will altogether miss the importance of something that is part of your deepest self, precious in your eyes as well as God’s. They might not know you well enough to be able to respond to your genuine needs. It is then that you have to speak your heart and follow your deepest calling.

Let us be God’s gift to the world this Advent season! Who knows what the New Year will bring?

If you are in town this week, join us at 7 pm tonight in the sanctuary for our Advent Vesper service!