Christmas Is Not Your Birthday 3. Scandalous Love

Christmas Is Not Your Birthday: 3. Scandalous Love

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

December 15, 2013

      Luke 1:46-49

          On Monday morning Linda and I woke up at 1:00 a.m. to watch the funeral service for Nelson Mandela.

          They gathered in the tens of thousands—presidents, prime ministers, royals, celebrities and ordinary South Africans—all united to say farewell to a man hailed as a global symbol of reconciliation.

          In what has been billed as one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in recent history, representatives from around the world joined street sweepers, actors and religious figures to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela.

          I was moved with emotion as I watched the world come together—what an amazing celebration of a special life.

          All because one person was able to put the past behind.

          All because a country could move forward.

          All so that the world could reflect on the ideals of what is right with humankind.

          I kept asking as I heard speech after speech how Mandela and the whole country of South Africa could put the past behind in such a short period of time.

          I think that it was what could be called Scandalous Love that made it possible.

          Christmas is the anticipated time of year when family members gather to celebrate the best of what we hold dear in our relationships.

          Yet, for some, it can also represent the ominous presence of past hurts and even current relationship pain, making Christmas depressing or lonely.

          The church that Bob and Sandy Young attended in Camarillo will offer a “Blue Christmas Service”. The service is designed for those experiencing the “blues” for whatever reason this season.

          Christmas joy may be impossible because of events such as illness, sudden death of a loved one, or the burden of caring for a loved one, the loss of a job, financial difficulties, strained family relations, that are at odds with bright lights and happy carol singing.

          For some people, Christmas may simply bring up memories of a difficult and troubled past. Perhaps a spouse, child, or parents are away in military service.

          It is okay to not pretend that everything is okay.

          It is okay to not put on a happy face to sing.

          Sometimes it’s better to acknowledge reality, and that helps to make room for a little joy. 

          Christmas is the heralding of God who comes to be with us.

          God is the one who pursues.

          What God wants from us, for Jesus’s birthday and every day, is love.

When We Stray

          One of the most passionate illustrations of God’s love affair with humanity is found in the book of Hosea—a little book tucked away in the back of the Hebrew Scriptures. During Israel’s last days of growth and prosperity the Israelites became lukewarm in their faith and strayed, as God’s people often do in prosperous times and as we sometimes do.

          Israel had wandered from the Lord, who had brought them out of slavery. The prophet Hosea says that despite Israel’s faithlessness, God remains faithful.

          Hosea says it this way,

“Go and love your wife again,

even though she commits adultery with another lover.

This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel,

even though the people have turned to other gods.”

          Now that is scandalous love!

          I have to be honest. This is beyond the scope of human imagination. I would be tempted to walk away from an unfaithful relationship.

          This scandalous biblical account testifies to the outrageous, pursuing love of God for a broken world.

          That is how much God loves us.

          Even though we turn and love something else more, just like a person who is unfaithful in marriage, God will take us back.

          Hosea represents God’s relentless pursuing love. God loves us even while we remain under the influence of unworthy lovers such as

          greed,

                    selfishness,

                             addiction or deceit.

Trusting the Promise

          Mary had every reason to feel betrayed and abandoned by God just as a lover is betrayed by an adulterer.

          She was a young teen, unmarried and pregnant. Imagine all of the layers of economic and social complexity that such an incident would carry for a female adolescent.

          Don’t forget the possible legal ramifications: death by stoning.

          Luke implies that Mary knew the humiliation that comes from poverty. The Greek word used in Mary’s song to describe her life situation is tapainos, which means ‘humble.’

          Mary clung through all this confusion to the promise of God, and sang:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

For he has been mindful

Of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

For the mighty one has done great things for me—holy is his name.

          It didn’t matter what anyone else would say about her condition. Mary hung onto the promise of God, and responded with a song of boundless faith.

          The Christmas story exemplifies how God’s ways are not our ways.

          Mary trusted in God’s promise, knowing God’s scandalous way of working good out of seemingly bad situations.

          Some of us haven’t been listening to the angel’s promise that, like Mary, you are a favored child of God—that God is with you.

          Rather, we have been listening to a negative voice that tells us,

                   “You have royally screwed up. You have disappointed God.

                   You are not favored and God will never be with you.”

          The Bible contains the testimonials of innumerable people who failed. Like David, in spite of his courageous faith committed adultery with a woman and had her husband murdered.

          What a royal disaster!

          But who among us has not royally messed up?

          God’s scandalous love is what the message of Christmas is all about.

          In spite of our failures, God wants us and comes to bring us back.

Practicing Scandalous Love

          When Mary faced the shocking and confusing news of her virgin pregnancy, she immediately sought out wise counsel from her older cousin Elizabeth. There is no question that this young pregnant teen would be hit with plenty of criticism.

          Mary didn’t need negativity; she needed encouragement. The first words that this confused young girl heard from her cousin’s mouth was and encouraging reminder:

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!”

          How many miracles are aborted because of put-downs, sarcasm, and negativity?

          We cannot carry God’s miracles full-term, apart from the encouragement that comes from being connected to a tight network of mature sisters and brothers of faith who encourage us in God’s purpose.

          Encouragement.

          When is the last time you encouraged a young person?

          Earl Harrison offered me encouragement on Friday as we played golf—and boy did I need it!

          We were on hole #7 on the east course at Rancho Canada. It is a short par 3—only 110 yards. The problem is that the Carmel River is between the tee and the green.

          For some reason the river psyches me out. My ball goes in every time.

In fact, I hit six in a row in the river on Friday—one right after the other. They were brand new balls. Earl didn’t even laugh. He just said, “Try it again, Norm.” I did. And I hit another and another in the river.

          God not only offers encouragement but also forgiveness. When forgiveness is offered, wandering people are drawn back home.

          Jesus came to earth as a tiny baby in humble, scandalous circumstances to restore broken hearts. That is the love we celebrate at Christmas, and it is that kind of love that we are called to show in return.

          Christmas is all about seeing what might be, instead of what is.

          That’s what Elizabeth did when she welcomed an unwed mother with joy.        That’s what Mary did when she rejoiced in God’s favor.

          That’s what Jesus did when he entered the world to save us and bring justice to the poor.

          Many Grinches threaten to steal our joy at Christmastime.

          We think we are buying the right gift for someone, but it receives a cool reception.

          The rush of the season, long lines and slow traffic replace our joy with frustration. (This week someone cut in front of me. They had a Jesus sticker on their car. That made me even angrier!)

          Some relatives try our patience.

          After the season passes, unmet expectations dampen our spirit, and the holiday blues move in.

         
          More than we would like to admit, we allow the craziness of the Christmas season to be the Grinch that comes into our hearts to steal our joy.

          The heart of the Christmas message can give you a new perspective. In essence, God says to you, “I have stepped into the world to bring you joy. That is why I sent Jesus. Circumstances and people may disappoint, but your joy can be filled in me.”

          This is what the Christmas story is all about.

          Two themes begin to emerge in the Gospel of Luke:

                   Servant hood and joy—the one follows the other.

          On this third Sunday of Advent, we are reminded that authentic Christian living requires service:

                    waiting on others,

                    ministering to the needy,

                    lifting up the fallen.

          Joy.

          It’s what Jesus came to earth to give us.
          After receiving Elizabeth’s blessing, Mary bursts into a song of praise.

“My soul magnifies the Lord,” she says,

 “and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.”

          God has “filled the hungry with good things,” says Mary.

And there is the key to Christmas joy.

          The little-known secret of Christmas is that our joy is full when we study and learn from

Mary as servant, God as servant, Jesus as servant,

and we become servants ourselves.
When we do, our joy will be full.

          George Bernard Shaw said,

“This is the true joy in life,

the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one:

the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap,

and being a force of nature instead of a feverish,

selfish little clod of ailments and grievances,

complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

          It is because of the Scandalous love of God that we can experience overflowing joy today.

          Let’s sing: I have the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart!

         

         

         

Christmas is Not Your Birthday 2. Giving Up On Perfect

Christmas Is Not Your Birthday: 2. Giving Up On Perfect

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

December 8, 2013

     Luke 1:26-38

                Clay Berling has a sense of humor. In an effort a little more laughter he sent these epitaphs. He says that they are from actual tombstones.

Harry Edsel Smith

Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the

car was on the way down. It was.

In a Thurmont, Maryland, cemetery:

Here lies an Atheist, all dressed up

and no place to go.

Here lies Johnny Yeast.

Pardon him for not rising.

In a Uniontown, Pennsylvania, cemetery:

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake,

stepped on the gas instead of the brake.

          I cannot begin the message today without reflecting on the life of Nelson Mandela, the iconic anti-apartheid leader and political prisoner who rose to the presidency of South Africa.

          I could give a whole message on his life but let me share a few of his quotes.

            “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

          “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

          “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

           “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

          “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

         

          And, a quote from Mandela’s jailer: “He was my prisoner, but he was my father.”

          It is amazing how the world has changed in our life time because of one person. Mandela may not have been perfect but he brought about powerful change.

          Let’s talk about change.

          I became aware of the fast pace of change in our world this past Friday when I saw a Tesla car parked outside of one of the finest hotels here in Carmel. A yellow electrical cord was strung from a hotel window, across the side walk to the opposite side of the car to charge it.

          I wonder. Will we soon have charging stations outside all hotels?

          Tesla’s are not perfect but they are bringing change to automobiles.

          Charles Kettering said, “The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”

          Christmas traditions are changing, too.

          Some stores were open on Thanksgiving this year.

          I wonder when stores will start staying open on Christmas?

          I am aware of how my Christmas’s are changing.

          I don’t send near as many cards as I use to.

                   I wonder—will we soon be sending only email greetings?

          I don’t buy as many gifts as I use to.

                   I wonder—will we soon only be giving gift cards?

         

          The message today is: It is okay to give up on having a perfect Christmas.

          Christmas may have brought the unexpected to your life this year. But even in the midst of the unexpected, God shows up.

          Sickness, death, divorce, unemployment.

          Life gets messy. 

          In the midst of your mess, God shows up!

          No matter what you are struggling to overcome,

                   no matter what life issues have come our way,

                   God promises to show up.

          Christmas is God’s vivid reminder that amid the uncertainty,

                   God shows up to bring you peace purpose, joy, hope and wholeness.

          Your Christmas this year might not be perfect but Jesus birth was not a perfect experience for Mary either.

          Jesus was born in a stable.     

          Wherever there are animals there is dung. I know that first hand.

          And where there is dung, there are flies.

          Walking in the way of Jesus is neither safe nor predictable.

          Sometimes we have the idea that when we do right,

                   wrong is not supposed to show up.

          And if we are faithfully following Jesus,

                   then life isn’t supposed to get messy, but it does.

          The Gospel of Luke wants us to know how complicated Mary’s situation was. How emotionally prepared would a twelve to fifteen year old be for this life experience? No wonder the angel said to Mary, “Do not be afraid.”

          We have to understand the Immanuel event in the context of what Mary was experiencing at that moment.

          Miracles never happen outside the context of mystery and mess. The miracle of the incarnation was no exception.

          That is why it was important for the angel to say to Mary, “The Lord is with you.”

          The first premise of faith—

                             knowing that God is with you,

                             that you are favored,

                             and that God is the pursuer in the relationship,

                             regardless of circumstance—

                   begins right here.

          In our non-perfect world

                    In our non-perfect Christmas’s

                    We remember that God not only came to us but also is still here.

          Like Mary we are favored but not perfect.

          God’s favor cannot be earned.

                    God comes when we are doing everything wrong.

                    God comes when we are doing nothing.   

                    God comes whether we are being naughty or nice.

          Why?

                    Because God loves us and we are highly favored!—

                             Even as our children are highly favored by us as parents.

                    You are highly favored by God because you are God’s.

          But that does not mean bad things will never happen.

          God’s love and favor on us don’t mean that the path of faith is going to be neat and predictable. Bad things happen to good people.

          As I was writing this sermon I got the call from Jackie Wendland that Mark was in ICU. I was devastated. He’s my golfing buddy—one of my best friends.

          Good people go through pain.

          Nowhere does the Bible promise that a life of faith will always make sense or follow a predictable path.

          I have often wondered why God entrusted Mary with the responsibility of being the mother of the Savior of the world. She was an immature adolescent who would have probably failed a Bible exam.

          So why did God choose Mary? 

                    I believe that it is because Mary had proactive faith.

          A person with proactive faith doesn’t live in the paralysis of doubt and disillusionment.

          Instead, a person with proactive faith actively pursues God’s purpose and presence in the midst of any situation, even when doing so doesn’t make sense.

          I must admit that doubt is a reality for me at times.

                    What about you?

          I know that I am not alone in this.

          Mother Teresa’s decades-long battle with feeling God’s absence gives me hope. She spoke of the ‘darkness of faith,” referring to the almost forty-decade period of her ministry during which she felt an absence of God’s presence.

          At one point she said, “The silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.”

          God came to earth as a baby who was thrust into the experience of the oppressed refugees of the world.

          God came as the victim, not the victor, fully identifying with the marginalized—

          the child sold into slavery, the person in a concentration camp, the child infected with HIV, and the orphan in Darfur.

          Christmas is the story of this vulnerable God-turned man, who became a refugee in Africa.

          And God continues to show up in such places of pain.

          God never intended for you to handle life’s unexpected turns by yourself. The life of faith is developed and encouraged within the context of community.

          God shows up and speaks to us through others who have experienced similar struggles and come out on the other side.

          Life doesn’t always make sense.

          God uses our painful experiences to become the seed of hope for someone else’s miracle.

          Why did God choose Mary to be the mother of Jesus? Because God knew that even when life didn’t make sense, Mary would choose to continue to serve God.

          Last month was quite a month for me. It was difficult.

                   I made the decision to retire.

                   We made two round trips to Pennsylvania.

                   My mother died.

          There are all major life events.

          Through it all I am amazed at the peace I felt and I’m grateful for so much support.

          So when Christmas comes around during an imperfect season of life, and you just don’t feel like celebrating, remember:

          it’s not your birthday;

                    it’s Jesus birthday,

          and by celebrating Christmas,

                   we are celebrating someone else who suffered, too.

          Life is not about staying safe and living comfortably. The call to follow Jesus is a call to give your life to him—to join God’s mission.

          We were never promised a reward in this life.

          The real rewards are found in the joy and peace that we experience through serving others.

          Even in the midst of the unexpected, the messy, and the devastating, you can still fully expect God to show up.

          No matter what you are struggling to overcome God promises to show up.       This is truly what Christmas is all about:

                   in the midst of all our messes

          —poverty, genocide, environmental disasters, wars, terrorism, religious hate and bigotry, divorce, cancer and yes, even death—

          God shows up.

         

          Many of us are so stressed by trying to

                    --live right, eat right, think right, act right, speak right, parent right, exercise right, look right—trying to be perfect—

          that we've forgotten the joy of Christmas.

         
          'God is with us' means precisely what it says—that God has become part of the human family, warts and all ....
          We may well not be pimps or prostitutes,

                   or social outcasts or murderers,

                   but each of us is a tangle of ambiguity,

sometimes good, sometimes bad,

sometimes kind, sometimes mean,

sometimes faithful, sometimes faithless—

          and sometimes, perhaps, even wondering if the Christmas story is really true.

          A soldier was concluding sentry duty on Christmas morning in bombed out London when he came upon an orphanage. The soldier went inside just as the children were tumbling out of their beds. He noticed a little fellow standing alone in the corner so he approached the lad and asked, "And you, little guy, what do you want for Christmas?" The lad replied, "Will you hold me?"

          The soldier, with tears in his eyes, picked up the boy, nestled him in his arms, and held him close.

          Emmanuel means "God is with us." God is with us with open arms telling us that it is okay to give up on being perfect.

                                                          Prayer
          Compassionate God, as the days are getting shorter, we wait for the One who will come and redeem us. As we live in the joy of this season we remember there are also many for whom the holiday season isn’t one of good cheer.
          We pray for those who cannot see the light in the darkness, that they would find hope in the promise of the Christ child.

          We pray for those who grieve this Advent season, fearing the first Christmas after losing a beloved one, that they would know your comfort and find hope in the promise of the resurrection.

          We pray for those who struggle to feel joy because they’re mired in mounting bills and in despair for lack of employment, that they would have faith that you will provide.
          We pray for our military families whose tables have an empty seat this Christmas, that they would rely on you for strength and protection.
          We pray for those whose family dynamics make holidays not a time of festive joy but of stress and anger.

          We pray that through your grace, hearts can be softened, old hurts can be released and a door might be opened to reconciliation.

          We pray for Mark and Jackie Wendland and Bob and Nancy Schwartz.
          We lift our joys and give over our concerns, those we have spoken and those in our hearts, to your tender care. Amen.