"You may have heard..." Early Christmas Eve 2016

"You may have heard this story before. Maybe not. Maybe it has haunted you from the first time you put on a bathrobe and had a towel strapped around your head to be a shepherd in a pageant years ago. Or maybe it’s a new story for you–you may have heard about Jesus and Mary and Joseph somewhere, but who were they? Who are they? You may have heard this story before or maybe not. Hear it again tonight, maybe for the first time. I don’t know if it really happened this way, but I know it is true. And I know that you are part of the story. So, come all you faithful and you doubters and you seekers. Come and listen. Come and sing."

"You may have heard that God is like Santa Claus on steroids–the list God makes, you know the one about who’s naughty and nice, lasts for eternity, you may have heard; God always sees you, knows if you’ve been bad or good and has cooked up all sorts of terrible things to do to the bad people--which is most of us–and prepared an unbelievably wonderful place for the few good people who pass the test. You may have heard that. But I tell you, God is way more than an old man with a beard. God is Energy with Personality, God is Love and Light, God is Justice and Mercy, God is Mystery. And God is always loving you. God created you as a miracle, a hope for the world, just like the baby whose birth we celebrate tonight. God loves you so much that God slips into human skin at every opportunity, to show us what it means to be fully alive, to help each other out, to stand up for each other, to care for the earth, to heal all our brokenness. There is no present like this present moment, when God is waiting to be born in us."

"You may have heard that the people with the real power are the ones in the palaces and towers, the ones who make decrees and issue orders and tweets and proclamations. But I tell you that it is the child who cries in the night to wake his parents, the young writer who creates new pathways for imagination, the teen who immerses herself in music to get inside it and so to allow it to flow in new ways through her, the grad student who invents a machine to sweep plastic from the oceans, the single mother who raises her children to be caring and responsible, the refugee who shows the face of our connectedness, the grandfather who shares his wisdom with troubled youth, the old woman who dies with hope and dignity– these are the ones with the real power to change the world. The rulers of the world have no idea what they’re up against."

"You may have heard that you have to be popular and perfect to get anywhere that matters. But I tell you it was to some of the dirtiest, crummiest, most socially awkward, and frankly, not too bright shepherds that God chose to send that angel choir and announce the birth of the Messiah. Introverts and loners–this is our moment! God can find us wherever we are, minding our own business, and enlist us in the saving of the world. The thing is, like the shepherds, you can’t keep that news to yourself. You’ve got to go and see for yourself, and then you’ve got to tell everyone you meet what you’ve learned. Then you can hole up for a few days to re-group, but don’t forget this is too important to hide your light away. Find some folks who’ll love you and let you speak and act in your own timing. And those of you who love to speak to find out what you’re thinking, and who just love to mix and mingle, we need you too. Find a way to tell the Good News that God hasn’t given up on us, and then allow folks time to absorb it and put it into their own words. You may have heard that you have to popular and perfect to get anywhere that matters, but I tell you God made your true self perfect and unique, and living out of that true self is the surest way to get anywhere that truly matters."

"You may have heard that God sends messiahs and rulers to save us, to take us away from the daily, dirty tasks of life, to lift us above our bodies’ desires into spiritual thoughts, to set us apart from those "others"–the ones who don’t think like us or worship like us or look like us or love like us–but I tell you that this night, God shows us how much God loves these human bodies and how we are to be saved–by allowing God to be born in us, to take our places among the animals and stars, to be humble and wise, to listen to people who don’t have the ear of anyone in any kind of power, to be brave and to travel together. It is by the "holy harmony" that God’s coming makes in you that you shall know the truth of who you are and Whose you are, and the truth shall set you free. He is born this night, and every moment, God is always doing a new, unimaginable thing, longing for us to notice and get onboard. We are the ones God has been waiting for. Let us be born this night as well."

Rev. Mary H. Lee-Clark

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Mary's Sermons

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"Sign Posts"-- Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:2-11-- Dec. 11, 2016

A woman who was cleaning out boxes and closets found her diary from a year that had been particularly hard, full of depression, shame, anxiety, and confusion. As she flipped through the pages she found one on which she had written in big letters– "I WANT MY JOY BACK!" underline, underline, underline. (Elizabeth Gilbert, Facebook post)

"I want my joy back." My guess is there are a lot of us who are saying the same thing this year. There’s a reason we light candles, sing, and gather together this time of year–December is DARK and cold in the Northern Hemisphere! Our culture counteracts by hyping up expectations of happiness found in piles of presents,"glossy, manipulative TV specials," [Katie Hines-Shah, christiancentury, 11/11/16] perfect holiday meals, and blissful family gatherings. With those expectations, it’s no wonder we’re stressed and inevitably disappointed. The turkey is dry, travel to relatives is a hassle, the kids (and we) are over-sugared and under-slept.

The church can add to those disappointments too. We get jazz when we long for Gregorian chant flat–or the other way around–, the sermon is flat or too "woo woo," there aren’t enough kids, the language of the Scripture readings has all been changed, or it hasn’t been changed since the 1600's. We have to sing Advent carols for weeks when we want to sing Christmas carols. I want my joy back.

Of course, in the scheme of things, those are all relatively minor challenges to contend with. Therapists, doctors, and pastors know that this is a tough time of year for lots of people. The loss of loved ones seems particularly painful, as we adjust the number of settings at the table, or remember celebrations of years past. Debt and job loss glare at us. Our aches and pains and infirmities remind us of our mortality.

And 2016 has been a tough year on the political scene. We have all breathed the toxic fumes of hatred, prejudice, fear, accusations, name-calling, predictions of doom. Friends and family members seem like strangers as we occupy opposite political positions. Places of safety and renewing now seem fraught with tension and anxiety, and who knows what the future will bring? I want my joy back.

"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad," the prophet Isaiah sings, "the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing...A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way." If only we could program "the Holy Way" into our internal GPS and be led step by step to that highway of rejoicing! The question is, though, do we really want to go there?

For the first time in a long time–maybe ever–I read the two chapters just before this 35^th chapter in Isaiah, and I have to say that by the time I got to chapter 35, I heard that good news about the desert blossoming as never before. Isaiah has been talking about utter devastation, about the vengeance of the Lord, about how furious God is with the nations for their faithlessness, their cruelty, their greed, their injustice, their exploitation of the earth. (And who can blame God, then or now?) God will execute a scorched earth policy, Isaiah says, in essence, so that the only inhabitants will be the owls and jackals, and thorns will cover the earth. It’s like one of those dark fairy tales, only who knows where or if the sleeping princess lies amidst the brambles?

"Seek and read from the book of the Lord," Isaiah says. After all this devastation, God will gather together a remnant. And then,

"The wilderness and the dry land shall rejoice...Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God....Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert....A highway shall be there, called the Holy Way...And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

"In the bleak midwinter," we sing, "heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign..."

I want my joy back.

Just above that scribble "I WANT MY JOY BACK!" the woman saw that she had written, "...for how long?" For how long will this sorrow or frustration or despair or longing or depression last? "How long, O Lord?"

"Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?" That’s the question that John sent to Jesus from the bleakness of a dark prison cell. "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?" It’s heartbreaking to hear John ask that, John who was so convinced out there in the wilderness as he shouted until he was hoarse that God’s anointed one was coming, that the kingdom of God was at hand, that there was the fierce urgency of now. That conviction and courage had compelled John to speak the hard truth to Herod, about his philandering ways, and now here was John squatting in a dank, rat-infested prison cell. "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?" How long?

Had John staked his life on the wrong promise, the wrong person? For it certainly seemed as though nothing had changed. Guys like Herod were in office, still on the throne, and people like John were rotting in prison. [Debie Thomas, journeywithjesus, 12/4/16] This servant of God, prophet of the Almighty, who had seemed so full of certainty now seemed so full of doubt. "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?"

Jesus doesn’t receive John’s question with judgment or condemnation, though. One commentator says it’s almost relief. "OK, good. You’re willing at last to let go of your preconceptions. You’re ready for the saving work of disillusionment. Now you can get to know me–the real me." [Thomas, op cit.] "Tell him what you’ve seen," he tells John’s messengers. Not some title or slogan or pronouncement, but look at what’s happened, what’s emerging in the lives of ordinary people. Not the fake news, but the real news.

And Jesus says to those around him, "What did you go out into the desert to see, when you went to see the John the Baptist? Someone in soft robes? In other words, a celebrity? They’re in royal palaces, in towers of power. If that’s who you’re seeking, you’ll always be taken in by them and duped. Rather, "this is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’" And even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than this, Jesus said. You can do the same thing. You too can prepare the way of God.

"Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?" John’s question from prison haunts us. He would soon be killed senselessly from a ridiculous promise of Herod to a woman he was trying to impress, and Jesus too would soon enough be in prison and killed by the powers that be. But John, and maybe Jesus himself, did not know what we know, which is how the story ends–or rather, doesn’t. That the prison cell and the gruesome platter, the cross and the dark tomb do not have the last word, that our stories only find their completion in the presence of God.

I WANT MY JOY BACK. The woman who had scrawled that in her diary recognized it as "a cry of stubborn desire" in the midst of her anger and frustration. It was that stubborn desire for joy that eventually enabled her to scrabble her way out, to recognize what she needed to let go of and what she needed to cling on to.

Martha Beck, author and life coach, says that "the Universe is constantly trying to use your JOY as a way of communicating your destiny to you." She explains:

If you feel a hint of joy, that means you’re on the right track. If not, you’re going in the wrong direction. The scattered moments of joy that you feel in your life are meant to be clues. THIS IS WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING; THIS IS THE KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WITH; THIS IS HOW YOU ARE MEANT TO FEEL. [Martha says that] if we refuse to seek joy, believe in joy, trust joy, and follow our joy–then the Universe will resort to using pain and suffering to try to get our attention...but God would really rather communicate your destiny to you through joy. So try that first. Look for crumbs of joy, and trust them. [Elizabeth Gilbert, FB]

Look for crumbs of joy. Remember that joy isn’t that trivial, glittery stuff that advertisers would lead you to believe can be bought. My teacher Tal Ben-Shahar says that joy is the intersection of deep pleasure and deep meaning. John the Baptist knew something hard and flinty about joy, left behind all the trappings of what passed for joy in his culture, and, we

believe, at last was received into the Presence of Joy and Love.

The One who did come, and who is always coming into the world, knew that the only joy worth reaching for, worth giving your life for, is God’s joy–that "God’s joy and our well-being are interconnected" [Bruce Epperly, Adventurous Lectionary, 12/16], that there are, indeed, crumbs of joy strewn along our path, if we would only notice them and take them in–the touch of a loved one’s hand, the face of a child caught up in wonder, the company of loving friends, burying your face into the neck of a dog, the smell of balsam, the satisfaction of service, the thrill of doing a random act of kindness, savoring small bites of delicious food, listening to or making music that feeds your soul.

I WANT GOD’S JOY!–which is my true joy. May that be all we really want for Christmas this year. So may we find it. Amen, and amen.

Rev. Mary H. Lee-Clark

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Advent, the season leading up to Christmas may be an invitation to awaken from our numbed endurance and our domesticated expectations, to consider our life afresh in light of new gifts that God is about to give..." Be ready at any moment for God to appear in your life as inspiration, opportunity, insight, person, possibility.
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Our church's banner photo (above) is of the snowflakes (each one unique just as people are) and the trees... all made by Barbara true-Weber and other creative people of our church especially for Advent 2016. Advent, the season leading up to Christmas, is "an invitation to awaken from our numbed endurance and our domesticated expectations, to consider our life afresh in light of new gifts that God is about to give..." Be ready at any moment for God to appear in your life as inspiration, opportunity, insight, person, possibility.

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"Eating from the Jesse Tree"- Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12-- Dec. 4, 2016

If only the landscape weren’t so familiar–a clear-cut mountain side, a battlefield strewn with bodies and smoldering equipment, whole neighborhoods left in nothing but rubble. Or that all too familiar political landscape–never-ending bickering and name-calling, deadlocked legislative bodies, deals and lining pockets leaving the real issues of communities untouched. Or the devastation of interior landscapes–the house after she’s left, the silence after he died, the ominous dark and density of depression, the relentlessness of pain.

2700 years ago Isaiah looked upon the landscape of his country with utter frustration and disgust, his fellow "prophets," if you could call them that, spouting lies and silliness, the kings of Judah worthless, and the Empire of Assyria looming at the border. Surely God was dismayed at the faithlessness of those who were supposed to be "God’s people." Surely this was not what God intended, this was not God’s dream for the people of Judah or the earth.

So, as he did in times of distress and despair, Isaiah went deep. Got still. Listened. Searched his heart and the landscape of his mind. And at last, he heard the melody.

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hold of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

It’s a rather strange image of hope to offer to a people in utter discouragement and devastation.

It had been 200 years since the death of King David, that ruler that Judah seemed to refer to as the model, the beloved king, yet Isaiah remembers the mixed record of King David, with his seductions, his betrayals, his wars, his infidelities. There was no "golden time" before. Judah doesn’t need another king like that. Maybe, Isaiah dreams, God will bring another shoot from Jesse–a new and better ruler, one with qualities that God longs for in a ruler–"a fearsome knowledge of Yahweh, extraordinarily discerning wisdom, unbending counsel, this one’s strength in words of truth and power." [John Holbert, patheos, 12/8/13] I found myself won-dering if there might have been a daughter of Jesse, not just all the sons who were paraded in front of the prophet Samuel to be anointed king. After all, it is through the mother that Jewish lineage is traced, though you’d never know it from the Bible. I couldn’t even find the name of David’s mother in the Bible, and as it turns out, it isn’t in there. It’s in the Talmud, though, the accumulated commentary by the rabbis of Torah, and there it says that David’s mother was Nitzeyet, daughter of Adael. You learn something new every day. Anyway, it’s a little diversion –a daughter from the stump of Jesse-- but then, who knows where Hope will come from?

"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." A strange image. So often we think of shoots sticking out of stumps as "suckers" and do our best to seal them off. It’s hard to feel confident in a future that comes from a sucker. It sounds like a loser. We prefer winners.

A shoot is a fragile thing, vulnerable to cold snaps, or being hit too hard, or not enough moisture. Vulnerable to death, in other words. We know that branches grow at their edges, at their ends, and a stump–without leaves to process their chlorophyll–seems like a dead end, literally. But it’s been discovered that the roots of trees that grow near each other are so intertwined that any who do have leaves, produce the chlorophyll and energy that is shared through the roots. The community of trees literally keeps its members alive.

"A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord–the breath or wind of God–shall blow over and rest on this one, the spirit/breath/wind of wisdom and understanding, the spirit/breath/wind of counsel and might, the spirit/breath/wind of knowledge and the fear of the Lord."

Back in the 1990's, there was an experiment called the Biodome, which attempted to make a totally self-contained biological environment. One of the baffling disappointments was the trees. They had sunlight, water, nutrients, but they didn’t stand tall. They flopped over. As it turns out, the missing element was wind. Trees actually need wind occasionally to blow and create microcracks in their trunks and branches. Just like bones, that are stronger where they’ve been stressed or broken, so trees need the stress of wind. "We actually need storms in life," as one preacher put it. [Rev. Whitney Rice, sermonsthatwork, 2 Advent 2013] "The spirit/breath/wind of the Lord shall blow over and rest on this one," Isaiah wrote, this branch from Jesse’s tree.

And it won’t be just the human population who will be transformed, led in a new way by this little one, this leader of wisdom and understanding, compassion and counsel. The whole of creation will be transformed. The rule and order of nature will be changed and overturned .

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

This is indeed a new kind of peace. When the leopard lies down with the kid, that baby goat’s not going to get much sleep, we think. What happens when the more powerful of these pairs gets hungry? Will the lion really be satisfied eating straw? This time of peace or shalom "is creation time," writes Walter Brueggemann, "when all God’s creation eases up on hostility and destruction and finds another way of relating." [cited by Kate Huey in sermonseeds, 12/7/13]

Can we imagine a new kind of peace, along with a new kind of ruler?

It’s a dream of an impossible possibility, as Bruce Epperly puts is, of enemies becoming companions, children safe from harm, wise national leadership, a world without war. It has never happened, but it still judges the world, it is still the ideal, the goal toward which any and all of our endeavors must reach. [Bruce Epperly, Adventurous Lectionary, 12/4/16] Indeed, we still long for it, still sing Isaiah’s song every Advent –"When God is a child there’s joy in our song, the last shall be first, and the weak shall be strong, and none shall be afraid...."

A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse... It will not happen overnight. It is a fragile beginning, but each of us has a stake in tending to it, we each have a role in bringing this shoot to branch to bud to blossom, so that we may eat of its fruit. Every child is potentially that leader. What was said to John the Baptist as an infant by his dead stump of a father Zechariah might be said to every new-born–"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go to prepare God’s ways..." Align with those ways, that child-become-man cried out in the wilderness. Live into the dream God has for us. Repent. Prepare ye the way!

You know the dream. Sing it with me. "When God is a child, there’s joy in our song. The last shall be first, and the weak shall be strong. And none shall be afraid." (Brian Wren)

Rev. Mary H. Lee-Clark

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