Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

The beginning of Jesus' story is so important. More important, apparently, than the next 25 years of his life. And so, we are awakened to the reality of how his life began. Jesus, God Incarnate, began his earthly journey seeking refuge, searching for sanctuary in a world that was hostile to the idea that the poor and the lame, the outcast and the blind, the orphan and the widow were Kings and Queens in the eyes of God. This was a message very unwelcomed by tyrants like Herod.

Paul refers to Jesus as the faith of God. And then we are reminded that this life we live, in relationship with God, is not about our faith in God. It is about God's faithfulness towards us.

What amazing, good news we hear. The savior, the long-awaited Messiah has been born. Help is here. Salvation is here. And not only that he's been born in a humble place, an accessible place. The Messiah born truly among us, in a way our eyes and hearts can behold. We can soak in the comfort of this good news this morning. Longing for good news of any kind. Recognizing the extraordinariness of the good news here.

They are surrounded by noise and inconvenience and then a birth happens. This is not how births are supposed to go. This is not how the story is supposed to go. And then the shepherds, this is not how their night is supposed to go. Everything is interrupted. Interrupted by the grace of God. This is an interrupting grace that transforms the lives of the people who are present in our story. This is not a story about the people who earned the right kind of Christmas. This is not the story of the people who got it just right so Jesus would come. There's nothing idealistic about it. It's too true of a story to fit into that mold.

But this is the work that we are meant to do together as a church. We are meant to live a life in such a way that our eyes are opened to the reality of God constantly visiting us in this world and constantly inviting us into the work of blessing. It's hard right now. It's scary right now. It's so strange out there and we're feeling so isolated and alone. And the idea of being told it's our job to bless this world can feel overwhelming.

"Breath. The Ruach. The wind that swept over the face of deep at the very beginning of creation. The pulse of life. Find your breath. Use your voice. The breath is there for you from the moment you begin until you take your last. Breath is so essential to life, yet we often don't realize we're doing it. Evangelism works that way, too.

The beginning of new life in the Church requires these tools and more to guide her and provide support for the difficult process of giving birth to Jesus in the world. You too must visualize the Kingdom. Repeat the refrain of our mantras. Move with the Holy Spirit. Adapt. Change. Cry to God for help. Give thanks in all things and for God's sake, breathe."

This Advent season we are again invited to prepare the way of our Lord. We are invited to enter the season in a quieter way. Acknowledging the tumult around us on so many different levels, allowing ourselves moments of respite, even rest. And in this quieter place might we listen more carefully, more intently, for the voices that guide us to Christ. Might we release any preconceptions of who those voices might come from, how the bearers that this good news will be dressed, or what they will eat, what they might say or do. Let us be open to how the Holy Spirit manifests before us and the invitation we are given to participate in this season of waiting and expectancy.

"You know, such a tragic experience can really bring the temporal nature of life and its meaning into very sharp focus. On a personal level it gets me to wondering, what is next, and I think in our guts at the very core of all our beings we all want to know what's next. The disciples wanted to know that too and they repeatedly asked Jesus, "What's next?"."

We are so discomfited by the anger of God that we ignore what God is angry about. We are so overwhelmed by the possibility that God is right about us in these areas where we have fallen short of the love for which we were made. So we say, "well, I just can't hear what God saying because God's just being so bombastic. All of this language about fiery judgment and weeping and gnashing of teeth, I just can't hear what you're saying God. I need you to be nicer to me and then I can hear." We are tone policing our Lord and Savior.

The truth of our gospel today is that we all have something to learn. We all need to fill our flask. We need that oil, that fuel, that drive to keep us going. We need what the wise ones have and in order to get it we have to want to learn.