Sunday, December 23, 2012

Micah 5:2-5a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45,47-55

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

These oft-quoted words are the words that begin the book, A TALE OF TWO CITIES, by Charles Dickens and I repeat them to you today because they are words that are true about the times in which we live - just as they were true in Dicken's day, and indeed in the days of Mary and Joseph.

It was, and is, the best of times, And it was, and is, the worst of times.

Today as we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent and we look at the candles that have been lit, the candles of hope, peace, love and joy; I want to ask you all to remember that in these times there is much to celebrate and that this is always true, that there is always much to celebrate, no matter how bad the times are and no matter how much worse we think the times may become.

The Christmas message is that God is with us - Lord Emmanuel, and no matter how many Grinches may try to steal our Christmas, no matter how many negative forces may try to rob us of the hope, the peace, the love and the joy that God intends for us nothing can take from us that which is good, and true, and pure, and lovely, and gracious.

Jesus was born in a world like ours, in fact, in a world even worse than ours, it was a world in which tyranny ruled everywhere, and poverty and hunger and suffering was overwhelming for all but a very few.

When you look at the time of Jesus realistically you might easily think that it was the height of foolishness for Mary to sing for joy to God as she did: what after all was there for her to celebrate but some strange dream, some vision; and a pregnancy that had almost led to her being rejected by her betrothed one, by Joseph?

The times were bad - and everyone knew that they were going to get worse. This was as plain to see as Caesar's armies and Herod's tax-collectors, and the crosses that so often appeared along the roads and highways.

What was there to celebrate in Judea over 2000 years ago?

And what today - is there to celebrate?

People we love get sick and die, children kill by a shooter, our jobs and our security are continually threatened, our children's futures are uncertain, and around the world newly won freedom is turning to into anarchy and chaos, even as millions starve in the midst of plenty.

It was then, and it is now, the worst of times.

But my friends, it was then, and it is also now, the best of times.

I say that because the Spirit that took hold of Mary, and conceived within her a child, is here with us today.

And just as the Spirit, working in Mary, brought forth life and light to the world in the person of Jesus - so it still brings forth life and light to the world through its working in us and in those around us.

That light and that life cannot be destroyed - no matter how bad the times are. In fact that light and that life often appears stronger the worse things get in the world.

The Grinch who stole Christmas in the Dr. Seuss story, tried to steal Christmas by taking from the villagers all their Christmas decorations, all their trees, all their presents, all their food, all the exterior things that they enjoyed so much - and yet Christmas continued despite this theft because the villagers had Christmas inside them.

And as it was with Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth and Zechariah, and so it is and so it can be today with us. So it should be for us today.

I have listened patiently for a number of years as people have told me how Christmas is not like it used to be.

These people, these grinches, keep on trying to steal Christmas by looking at the bad things and forgetting that good things exist too, and that good things exist not in some kind of splendid isolation, but in the midst of all that is, and that goodness shine brightest in those places where it is most needed - right next to the bad things - indeed - often right in the middle of them.

As it says in the Gospel of John - The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.

Where is Christmas today as it used to be?

Where it has always been - among the humble and lowly, and with those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and with those moved by the Spirit of love, the spirit of Christ.

Where is Christmas to be found?

It is to be found in the Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts who collected items for
the poor, and in adults who donated to Operation Santa Claus.

It is to be found too in those cartoonists, who give us in the comic pages some beautiful messages to remind us what Christmas is about.

And it is found even in the most commercial of all places, our Shopping Malls. In one such last week a couple was taking their little girl out of the mall near closing time, and she spied Santa Claus and the helpers getting ready to go home for the night.

She had never met him before and was so excited by seeing him that she literally shook and trembled at the sight. The helprs glared at her and her parents, making it clear that closing time had come and gone and further visitors were not welcome. The little girl tried to break free to run and see Santa, but her parents held her back and tried to explain to her that Santa had a long day and that he had to get back home, but despite all this discouragement the girl just kept shaking and trembling and staring at Santa and struggling to see him, and this too despite the real dangers posed by the swinging around of the camera equipment and rope barriers that was occurring as the photographer packed his equipment.

And then, suddenly, Santa Claus pushed past all his helper and his photographer, and swept the little girl up into his arms. And she stopped trembling, and she was speechless.

He asked her if she had been a good girl - Good Girl, she said. He asked her if she wanted a doll. A doll, she said. A few more questions - and the meeting was over - and the girl went away with her parents and she could not stop talking as she left about what she had seen.

Christmas is found wherever there is caring and sharing, and caring and sharing my friends exists all around us, and nothing and nobody can steal this from us, even when, and if, we live in the worst of times.

God chooses to dwell in the midst of his people, his son was born in Bethlehem, one of the least of the towns of Judah, and he was born to be the servant of many, rather than to be a king.

He spent his time with ordinary people, and he healed and he helped those that others ignored, and he was killed.

But his life was not destroyed. He rose, and he bestows upon all who would receive it his spirit, the spirit of love, and of hope, the spirit of joy, and of peace, and this makes Christmas what it is...it makes this the best of times, for those who believe.

The spirit of Jesus - the spirit of Christmas - is alive this year everywhere.

So many - so very many - are giving birth to hope, to love, to joy and to peace in this way - so many are giving birth to Jesus Christ.

This Christmas ponder the events around you

- consider what God has done
- consider God's very great promises to us
- accept his commands
- act on the promises and you too will give birth to Jesus.

Through you, as through Mary, God will come to bless this world and we will be able, with joy, to say with Mary:

"Our souls magnify the Lord and our spirits rejoice in God our Saviour!"

and with Zechariah:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He has visited and redeemed His people!"

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Sandy Hock Elementary School

the Rev. David Hicks

Lord, we come to you stunned, shocked, grieving … our hearts linked to those for whom this tragedy shall veil their hearts for a long time to come.

Lord, come to comfort us, and come to offer healing and hope to those whose spirits are wounded by the sudden death of ones they love.

Father, where can we turn when the senselessness of hatred and violence rips apart our complacency, save to you? Where is our peace, save in your arms of mercy?

Lord, we cry, Abba, Father! Comfort these your children, you who lost your only child. Embrace the ones among us for whom grief is so raw and fresh today.

We confess our sin, the violence that lurks in us all. We call it anger, hatred, revenge … whatever its name, it is a compelling power within us.

Lord, pull the root of bitterness, the whirlwind of anger, the deadened heart of hatred out of us and restore to us a heart of flesh. Refill us with your peace. Let your love be a lamp to light the way that leads us home.

When all else is stripped away, when all that the world offers us for meaning and purpose is removed, still you, your word, your will, your grace, your holy presence will remain.

ALL: Lord, we place our trust in you. We find our comfort in you. We find meaning that defeats random and chaotic violence in you. For you will wipe away every tear from our eyes and the eyes of our sisters and brothers, and we will be your people, and you will be our God.

In the power of the Resurrection, we pray. Amen.

Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11; Luke 1:47-55; I Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28

Let us Pray - Lord God, Creator and Maker of us all, speak in the calming of our minds and in the longings of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

If we were still using Latin in our services, the first word we would have heard in today's liturgy would have been "Gaudete", or "rejoice". The word is sprinkled throughout today's readings: in the first reading from Isaiah, the prophet proclaims that God has sent him to bring "glad tidings to the poor" and "I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul". The psalm of the day is taken from Mary's Magnificat, in which she exclaims "My soul rejoices in my God, my spirit finds joy in God my savior". The second reading from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians begins with the words "Rejoice always".

These readings have their basis in the Hebrew language, which has more words for joy and rejoicing than any other language and this from a language known for having few words. In the Old Testament, 13 Hebrew roots, found in 27 different words, are used primarily for some aspect of joy or joyful participation in religious worship.

1) Hebrew religious ritual proclaims God as the source of joy.

2) In contrast to the rituals of other faiths of the East, Israelite worship was essentially a joyous proclamation and celebration.

3) The good Israelite regarded the act of thanking God as the supreme joy of his life.

4) As noted in our readings, pure joy is joy in God as both its source and object, like a circle: God gives joy to us and we return it back to God. The Old Testament is a book of joy! The New Testament is a book of Good News! This is God's will for us to be joyful, to pray continuously and to give God thanks in all circumstances.

There is a story told about a man from Louisville, Kentucky, who had to travel to St. Louis on business. This was years ago when Christians still kept Sunday as a very special day. For this man, "keeping the Sabbath" meant not riding the trains on Sunday. Thus, after he finished up his business late Saturday night, he had to stay over in St. Louis until the following Monday morning. On Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest Protestant church. The stranger thanked the policeman for the information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman: "Why have you recommended that particular church? There must be several churches nearby that you could have recommended." The policeman smiled and replied: "I'm not a church man myself, but the people who come out of that church are the happiest looking church-people in St. Louis. I thought that would be the kind of church you would like to attend."

One thing many people have forgotten in their Christian pilgrimage the duty to be joyful. Maybe one of the reasons that Jesus used a little child as the sole embodiment of the kingdom of God is the innate joyfulness of children.

One writer tells of her trepidation at seeing the slums of Mumbai. The poverty was overwhelming and hygiene all but lacking. Nonetheless, the air was filled with the laughter of children at play.

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross speaks movingly of an even worse situation. Visiting a children's barracks in one of the German death camps after the Second World War, she had expected to see evidence of horror. Instead, the walls were covered with drawings of butterflies, a universal symbol of joy.

For those of us who are adults, one of the things that make Christmas so joyful is seeing the wide-eyed expressions of wonder on little faces. Children know about joy. Somehow we adults seem to lose that awe and wonder somewhere along the road to grownuphood.

There's a story I read to which some of you may be able to relate about a woman's remembrances of her grandmother, Gagi. At the time of her grandfather's death, at 90 years of age, her grandparents had been married for over 50 years. Gagi felt the loss deeply. The central focus had been taken from her life, and she retreated from the world, entering into an extended period of mourning. Her grieving lasted nearly five years, and during that time, her granddaughter visited her every week or two.

One day, she visited Gagi expecting to find her in her usual state of quiescence. Instead, she found her sitting in her wheelchair beaming. When she didn't comment quickly enough about the obvious change in her demeanor, Gagi confronted her: "Don't you want to know why I'm so happy? Aren't you even curious?" She went on to explain: "Last night I got an answer. I finally know why God took my husband and left me behind to live without him. Your grandfather knew that the secret of life is love, and he lived it every day. He had become unconditional love in action. I have known about unconditional love, but I haven't fully lived it. That's why he got to go first, and I had to stay behind. All this time I thought I was being punished for something, but last night I found out that I was left behind as a gift from God. He let me stay so that I too could turn my life into love. You see, you can't learn the lesson after you die. Love has to be lived here on earth. Once you leave, it's too late. So I was given the gift of life so that I can learn to live love here and now."

On one of her subsequent visits, Gagi told her of something that had happened to her that day. "This morning, your uncle was upset and angry with me over something I had done. I didn't even flinch. I received his anger, wrapped it in love and returned it with joy." Her eyes twinkled as she added, "It was even kind of fun, and his anger dissolved."

Though age continued on its course, Gagi's life was vigorously renewed. In the last days of her life, the granddaughter visited her often in the hospital. As she walked toward her room one day, the nurse on duty looked into her eyes and said, "Your grandmother is a very special lady, you know...she's a light." Yes, love and joy lit up her life and she became a light for others until the end.

The nurse in the story speaks of Gagi as a light. In John's gospel, when our Lord receives news of John the Baptist's death, he comments to his disciples: "This man was a light, consuming and revealing, but you wished to rejoice exceedingly for a while in his presence."

That one verse has stayed with me for many years and I have tried to live it to the best of my ability.

If we were to take Gagi's theory to heart, we would realize that obviously we're not ready to go yet either. We are still "works-in-progress".

At this time of year, we need to let joy into our hearts. If your heart is aching this Advent season for any reason: the loss of love in a marriage, the memory of someone you love who is now with God, concern about a teenage child, concerns about your health, don't let despair defeat you. If you have recently lost a loved one and that person could come back and stand before you right now, they wouldn't tell you to continue to grieve for them. They would tell you: "I am at peace; you be at peace also. That is my wish for you." If something stands in the way of joy, let it go.

One of the things which I have seen stand in the way of joy is people taking themselves or what they do too seriously. We need to laugh at ourselves, because others will be more than willing to do so for us. When I believe someone is being too serious, I will often joke with them in the hope that laughter will bring them back to reality. We are eminently laughable at - I know that I am - and what we do is just a job or an appointed position, something that in the big picture is not worth getting upset about with another person and something which could be taken away in the twinkling of an eye.

Enjoy life, relish every moment, for we know not the day nor the hour. Find someway this special season to defeat the blues. Consider doing something for shut-ins who have no one to care for them. Do something positive, something heart-warming, something that will bring someone else joy. For joy has a way of boomeranging and giving the person who gives it more joy than the one who receives it. I read recently that we ought to "practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty".

Next week we celebrate the second most important feast in the Church's liturgical year after Easter. It is a day of rejoicing and of "joy to the world". Love came down at Christmas, as one seasonal song goes, and with it came joy, the ability for us to overcome sin and sadness, because our Lord loved us enough to become one like us. As in the chorus of the song we just sang last week, "Rejoice and be glad. Blessed are you, holy are you. Yours is the kingdom of God."

May joy be yours this Christmas season.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8

Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen

Hagar the Horrible is one of my favourite cartoon strips.

One of my favourite Hagar strips is the one in which Hagar is addressed by a Monk.

In the first frame, the monk, Bible tucked under his arm, an expression of peace on his face, says to Hagar, "Remember, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

In the next frame, we see the monk disappearing over the horizon, and we see Hagar, looking out at us - saying - "But I enjoy cursing the darkness"

How many of us enjoy cursing the darkness?

How many of us would rather complain about what is wrong than to add to what is right? To feel sad or upset, or angry, about what is going on around rather than to change it? To cast stones and criticize what is happening, rather than to gather up the stones and build from them a new and better thing?

You think it is a silly question maybe? That no sane person would want to feel upset or angry?

Well, all I can say is perhaps we are not as sane as we might be.

Advent and Christmas is a strange times of year for many of us. A time in which, as we prepare for the coming of the Son of God, we often feel down, disappointed, and anxious. A time in which instead of feeling joy, we feel despair. A time in which instead of rejoicing, we fret and worry and drive others insane.

You know, as I anticipate the coming of the Lord, as I look forward to Christmas Eve, to the candles, to the hymns, to receiving in my hands the bread and the wine, I am amazed by the number of grinches that exist around me, the number of people who grump and complain about how Christmas is corrupt, how our songs have been stolen, our gifts cheapened, our hopes made trivial, and our dreams destroyed.

I am amazed by how I hear around me the voices of doom, by how people tell me that nothing is as it was, and that Christmas has become nothing but a merchant's delight, and that what is supposed to be a time of faith and hope has become nothing but a time of a greed and despair.

Where is our faith?
Where is our conviction?
Where is our sense that indeed God has come to us in Jesus and that he had overcome the power of darkness?

Do we enjoy cursing the darkness?
Do we enjoy it more than we enjoy lighting a candle?

This is the season of good news, the season of preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord, the season of celebration, of rejoicing, of praising God for what he has done, and what he is doing, and what he will yet do.

But can you tell? Can people look at us and say "Yes, something special is happening! Something good is going on?"...

Every year at Christmas I want to cry with John the Baptist and with Isaiah the prophet. I want to cry with them:

Get with it. Get an attitude! See what is really happening! Prepare ye the way for God! Look for his coming in power! Make his paths straight! Know that the time of vindication and of peace is at hand! Rejoice and be glad - for while there is darkness in the world - there is also light, and the light is stronger than the darkness, the darkness cannot overcome it."

I want to cry - Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Comfort,, O comfort my people. The Lord comes with might, his arm rules for him, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom..."

There is so much good around us. There is so much power and righteousness at hand.

What does the Monk say to Hagar??? It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness...

My friends,. a candle has been provided to us. A light has been granted unto the world, and it 's power is unquenchable.

So what are we doing???
Are we letting the enemy win???
Are we cursing the darkness rather than lighting a candle???
Are we dithering, rather than preparing the way of the Lord??

Think of the good news! Get an attitude! Prepare the way of the Lord. Celebrate the good news instead of cursing the bad news....

Do you really want good news? Then look for what is good, look for God - and you will see that not only is he is coming, you will see that he is here.

Who can account for the mothers who feed their children before they feed themselves? Who can explain the men who spend their spare time in lodges and societies dedicated to helping others? Who can account for the little ones who hug and play with their neighbours?

What keeps the food banks going? What explains the tenderness of a young married couple? What makes sense of the feelings that come to us when we see a baby take her first steps?

Advent is about preparing for the coming of the Lord - but you know - that getting ready is not, for us, a getting ready for a future coming, it is an opening to the God who is already with us, an opening to the Prince of Peace - who came to us as a babe in Bethlehem, and who, after his resurrection, is Lord in heaven above.

Are we prepared?
Are we open?

Fred Craddock, a well known preacher and scholar, tells the story about a young pastor who visited an old lady who was very sick in a hospital.

He entered the room and saw person lying on the bed, gasping for breath. H decided to have a short visit, not to tire her. He asked, "Would you like me to pray for you?"

She nodded yes.

"What would you like me to pray?" asked the young preacher?

"I want you to pray that I will be made well, that God will give me health.", the old lady said.

The young preacher gulped. But he prayed, praying something like, "God, if it be thy will, restore this sister to health. However, let us accept thy will, so that whether she receives her health or not, she will know that you are still close to her."

When the prayer ended, the old lady's eyes flashed open. She sat up. She startled the preacher by throwing her legs over the side of the bed. She stood up. She stretched out her arms. She turned around to the astonished young preacher and said, "I feel better. I feel a great deal better. In fact, I feel like I have been healed.!"

With that she walked out of the room, headed down the hall toward the nurse's station, shouting, "I am healed!"

The young preacher staggered out, went down the stairs, out the door of the hospital and into the parking lot. As he stood at his car, before opening the door, the young preacher looked up. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" he said.

There are a lot of people who believe in God, and who yet miss the good news.

For them God is always coming, but never here. God is always promising, but never delivering. God is always near, but never quite in touch....

But it ain't so!

God lives. God is here. And God is coming here.

You can see it in the face of a new born baby. You can see it in the gaze of young lovers. You can see it in the look of old married couples. You can see it within your own hearts, when you take time to look.


God will accomplish his purpose. The kingdom will come. The question for us is - will we get an attitude? Will we be a part of the fulfilment of God's purpose? Will we light a candle? Or will we curse the darkness?

May his name be praised day by day. Amen!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Isaiah 64:1-9 and Mark 13:24-37

Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen

I imagine that each of us can remember what happened when we were students back in school and the teacher announced that she was just going to step out of the class for a minute.

I am sure you can remember words like

"Now class, I'm going down the hall to the office to make a call. While I am gone I am going to trust each one of you to act like ladies and gentlemen. Each of you have your work to do - I am going now and I'll be right back."

And I am sure you can remember what happened after she got out the door.

When the teacher is away, there is a test, a test that many people failed.

In my school days I remember vividly that all heck broke loose. Some kids worked - or tried to - while other kids made spit-balls, paper air-planes, and other missiles; others wandered around between the desks - talking to one, poking another, and so forth.

Sometimes the whole affair got organized - one or two kids would stand near the door, listening for the teachers return, while their buddies ransacked the room, wrote notes on the board, or did something to one of the teachers books.

My friends, right now the teacher is away - we are living between times, in the times between Christ's first coming -as a babe in the manger and his second coming - as Lord and Judge.

We live between beginnings. And the question that the gospel poses for us today, while we are in this state is quite simply: are we going to pass the test set for us by our teacher's absence? Or are we going to fail that test - just as so many of us did back when we were in school?

The way I figure it - most of the New Testament is concerned with the problem of God's absence. When Jesus was here with us in the flesh - that was one thing. But in his absence, in the time between his first Advent and the next - what of our discipleship?

Things between us and God tend to be fine, when we are in here, at worship, eating the bread, drinking the wine, touching and tasting the goodness, the near presence of God. But what about later, when you walk out the church door and you are back in the world? What then?

Isn't a little bit like it was back in our school days? Some do their work - some can be trusted, and some can not.

You know - the amazing thing about our faith - is the faith that God puts in us.

Especially when you consider how so many of us behave.

Yet, even so, God has put us in charge of the classroom, each with our own work to do, and all he says to us as He does this is "do a good job - behave well - and be alert for my return."

Christ is coming again, and we need him to come again, too many of his class have become unruly.

But, while we long for his return, as Israel longed for his coming in the Old Testament reading this morning, while we long for the time when the classroom will be a place of harmony and peace - for the time when all things will be finally straightened out, the time when the wicked will perish and the faithful at last receive their reward, while we long for this time, we need not be overly concerned about just when it will come we need not worry because we have our work to do in the meantime and because we can trust God to honour that work, and to keep his promise to be merciful and kind to those who have lived by faith in him.

The teacher will come, and the faithful and the unfaithful alike will see him coming, they will see him coming with his angels in the clouds with great power and glory - and the angels will be sent out to gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven, and there will be justice, and there will be peace - a peace greater than that which came when our earthly school teachers returned to their classes - a justice more just than that which was meted out when the teacher opened her classroom door to behold what her students had done.

This is our hope. This is our Christian faith. And this is the time in which we show our Lord that we can be trusted.