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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Not Always What It Seems

By Rev. Jerry Herships

Luke 2:1 – 20

¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

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

Before I get too far in with the preaching portion of our program I want to give a shout out to any people who find themselves here against their will. I’m glad you’re here. Now I know you aren’t here completely against your will – no one held a gun to your head. But maybe a few of you got the “the only gift I want for Christmas this year is for you to come to church with me. If you fall into that category…thanks for being here.

You’re doing a nice thing. I also want you to know that I was you for a lot of years so…if you keep this up, you just might find yourself in seminary in 10-12 years. I hope you will find something to dig in this service.

So here we are again. Not even an hour left. In less than an hour we will be wishing each other a Merry Christmas…and in just over 24 hours, Christmas will have come and gone. Is it going to live up to what we hope for? Are we going to get the gifts we hoped for? Are we going to feel the magic of Christmas? I heard someone say that a few years ago they did not feel Christmas till they heard the Christmas Eve sermon. Wow. Pressure.

            I think sometimes we want and look so hard for something that we sometimes miss it when it’s right in front of our eyes. I think this is what the Angel wanted to avoid. “This will be a sign for you; you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” Remember this angel is announcing a savior, a messiah, the Lord. Do you think the shepherds were envisioning a warrior in a chariot or a king on a throne? I really think that is why the angel tagged it with, “this will be a sign for you.”  “Look for the sign…if you don’t you will screw this up for sure.” The Angel probably thought, “Left to their own devises, they’ll miss it for sure.” And of course this messiah looked NOTHING like what the shepherds expected. In fact, the savior looked completely different.

            I think this happens to us all the time. We think we know what to look for. We think we “know” what the solution is. We think we know what will make us happy. This might be true sometimes, but when we are dealing with things of God (and by the way, what things aren’t the things of God?)…when we are dealing with the things of God, be ready to be surprised. God flips everything around. This Messiah, this Savior….this…LORD…on this night, couldn’t even speak, let alone give orders. Couldn’t even walk let alone march into battle. Couldn’t even make a fist, let alone fight. And yet, on this night… the one who was going to rule the universe was born.

            We have heard over and over again the low shall become high and the high brought to their knees. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. The meek shall inherit the earth. And yet…yet so often we find occasions when it seems like the bad guy wins. The office jerk gets promoted when you or someone you love gets laid off. The blowhards get the bonus and the good guys are the ones staying late at work. This has been a year when too many good people have lost their jobs and maybe you’re one of them. We want to believe in this message of hope that is supposed to be revealed this night. But honestly, sometimes it’s just hard.

            Maybe, maybe part of the reason it’s hard is that, like the shepherds, we are looking for the wrong things. We are looking for a “big-dramatic-God-bursting-in” kind of moment. I think God sneaks in and I think it happens every day.  I think when we are in a situation; things are not always what they seem.

            I think if we are to be the hands and feet of Christ, (and I think we are) that must mean Christ in our day to day life must look like you and me, not some guy in a robe and sandals. What this means is we better be ready to suspend judgment when Jesus comes waltzing through our lives.

            Here are a few examples of when I was expecting a warrior and got a babe in swaddling clothes.

            My mom passed away a number of years ago. My sister was truly her angel during her final days but there were others. I had a family member that would come over and wash and style my mom’s hair when she was too weak to do that herself. This family member would take the time to wash and dry and style and dye mom’s hair to just the way Peggy would like it. It was easy for anyone who heard this story to see that this family member was being the hands and feet of Christ. It can be more challenging when I tell people that the family member that took such good care of my mom was a stripper. This adult dancer acted in such a caring and loving way that it was easy to forget that she maybe didn’t have a job that was viewed in the highest regard. Things are not always what they seem.

            Many of you know I spend a couple of hours a week handing out food and water and socks in Civic Center Park. This is the AfterHours understanding of when I was hungry and thirsty and naked revision. We will always have the same 3-6 of us helping every week but there are others who rotate in and out.

One of the guys who helps will always meet me right at the car and grab a case of water, or a bag of lunches or whatever we need help with. He’s always there with a smile, lending a hand. This again is the hands and feet of Christ. The thing is he’s not from Afterhours. He’s not even from St. Andrew. He is one of the homeless who lives down on the streets around Civic Center Park.

Another guy that helps out when he can is one of the biggest drug dealers in the park. Now I am not condoning being homeless or a stripper or a drug dealer. What I am saying is that God has always used the lowly to surprise those in power. God has always used those on the margins to show those of us closer to the center that things are not always what they seem.

            You might not feel like you have a job that has much of an impact. You might feel like there are so many others who are more “important” than you but never ever confuse your work on earth with the job you have to make a dime.

I got a text this past week from one of the regulars who comes down to the park to help out. He is getting a lot of his friends asking him about where they should donate their time and clothes. I asked him how it felt to become known as the “go to” guy for matters that have to do with the homeless. He texted me back this: “you know, it’s funny, I was just talking about that the other day. My life is more defined by the last year and a half going to the park for an hour than by the entire previous 36 years.” That’s what happens when you open yourself up to being the hands and feet of Christ. You find yourself.

            I think it is no accident that the first words spoken in this passage that aren’t those of the narrator are the four words the angel starts off with…DO NOT BE AFRAID.

These are some scary times and when we step out and be the hands and feet of Christ out in the world, it might feel a little bit odd at first. The people and situations you find yourself in might not always be what they seem or what you are use to.

DO NOT BE AFRAID.

On this night and from every night forward God is with us. Hope WILL win. The story is not over. YOUR story is not over. Even when a situation looks lousy, when it looks like the bad guy is winning, when it feels like you have tried your best and it still isn’t good enough, DO NOT FEAR. Things are not always what they seem.

God Bless and Merry Christmas.