Happy Holidays

With the conclusion of Christmas Eve service, I am on holidays until January 3rd of the new year. I've arranged for the Rev. Christine Crawford to cover any pastoral emergencies that might arise. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

sermon excerpts: "Of Shepherds and Sacraments"

Luke 2: 1-20

We are familiar with the Christmas story, almost desensitized to the fact that the expectant couple was shuffled off to sleep with livestock. I understand that the inn was full, and maybe it’s a cultural difference, but I find it hard to believe that no one offered their room to someone obviously in need of comfort. Or maybe our societies aren’t so different after all – the philosophy of “as long as I’m OK” prevails. The arrival of the Messiah intended to change that.

Throughout his ministry we know how Jesus reached out to the poor, the sick, the disadvantaged and the oppressed. So it is entirely in keeping with this justice-based approach that the shepherds were the first ones to hear the news of Christ’s birth. Angels brought the message to them in the middle of the night, right off the bat. They weren’t the most important people in Bethlehem, surely there were plenty of descendants of David that would have been housed in richly furnished palatial rooms, but these others did not receive word of the Messiah’s coming.

It’s interesting to note that these common shepherds were at the top of the guest list. It was the simple, ordinary shepherds who receive this world-changing news. We don’t know their names, who they are, just that they were shepherds. And isn’t that so much like Christ’s ministry? Bringing goodness and hope to the ordinary, everyday, hardworking, average person.

Now, on a night like tonight, remembering the birth of the Saviour, it seems counterintuitive to celebrate the sacrament of communion, a ritual based on the betrayal, crucifixion and tortured death of Jesus. It helps to remember that communion is a holy celebration of community (there’s a reason why the words sound so much alike). It is a universal invitation to taste of God’s grace. But we also recognize it for the meal that it was, a gathering of friends in a time of holiday.

In recognizing God’s holiness in ordinary everyday things, in simple bread and wine reminding us of Christ’s ministry and commandments, in a baby boy and ordinary citizens of the countryside, we see that great and wonderful things are possible. So as we receive the elements of food and drink, our spirits are nurtured and fed as we remember the fullness of the Christian story: the promise of new life, the agony the world’s unbelief and the still-enduring message of hope, justice, and shalom.

All this from a not-quite ordinary birth in a stable of a too-crowded town, reaching to all of us who are seeking meaning and purpose in life, in struggles and in community. In Christmas and Communion, we celebrate Christ. Blessings of the season to you on this night and always. Amen.

sermon excerpts: "All in the Family"

It is no surprise that the traditional family was not for the Son of God. Society has moved on from the traditional and legalistic notion that marriage was a business transaction, and a means of tracking inheritance processes. The woman as property of one man, her father, becomes the property of another man, her new husband. So when people bemoan the lack of respect we have for traditional marriage, I hold back a chuckle.

The cultural expectations in the time of Mary and Joseph put them in a difficult position, what with the news that she is pregnant with the Holy Spirit’s baby. Joseph could have reacted in so many different ways. He could have gone to Mary and called everything off, pressed charges, had her punished, even put to death even for adultery, according to the laws of the Bible. He could have gone to Mary’s father and demanded that they renegotiate the bride price because she’s damaged goods.

The fact that he didn’t do any of these things, that he paid attention to his dream, signals that he was a man of faith and trust. Joseph was convinced that he was a better person when he was with Mary, that they would be able to become a family. And in the eyes of the public, he would become a bit of a joke – the guy who believed his fiancée when she said she got pregnant by God!

In the face of community suspicion and disapproval, Joseph goes ahead and marries her anyway. They create a family, and certainly not one that would be “normal” or “traditional” by any means. He would love and raise the child of Mary with as much care and dedication as if the baby was his own.

We have a glimpse of what this might have been like as our society has seen parenting become more complex with blended families, shared custody and the legal right for a child to have more than 2 parents. Maybe Joseph realizes that families are messy complicated entities with lives of their own. Joseph chose to be with Mary and create a family with her, regardless of how that happened. It was not the legally proper thing to do, but it was the right thing to do.

On this day of love, we uplift the value of gritty, real-life love that accepts imperfection and flaws. Of course it is an unfortunate caveat of our world that I must also say in the very next breath that any situation that is filled with abuse, fear and intimidation is not love and should not be presented as such. True family and community life are meant to nurture and support one another, to work for the best of everyone involved.

Still, as unconventional and unique our lives and relationships and families may be, we do all share one truth, a truth found in Christ’s name. Emmanuel is God with us. God is with us in the families that are created for us and that we create for ourselves. We find God within the persons closest to us, even within ourselves. That is the promise of Christ: that the prophecies are fulfilled leaving us free to live in the spirit of God’s laws, rather than the literal, translated, and interpreted letter of the law.

Ideally, we offer the benefit of the doubt, unconditional support and loyalty, because we believe that God is with us, and God is within those around us. Living in relationship isn’t always easy, it may not seem worth it sometimes, but the mystery of compassion, care and prayer for one another lends strength, purpose and hope to our days and nights. God’s love and care surrounds us, is with us. Theologians call it “incarnation”; I call it being part of the greater human family.

Ready for The Swell

People going to The Swell worship service on Friday are meeting at Trinity at 5:30 p.m. to arrange carpooling.

The advertised theme is "Whatever", with a throwback to 2002's song "My United States of Whatever":