HOW DID IT GET SO LATE SO SOON?

“How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” 
― Dr. Seuss

      Life is short and it gets shorter every day. I was born- it seems like yesterday, in Iowa, back in 1946, but my life as a farm boy was short-lived because we were in Des Moines by 1950. The fifties were great for me. I was a kid, and my cousins and I played sandlot ball and listened to rock n’ roll music. But my uncles moved away, except for Uncle Bill (who fell in love with Aunt Sandy), and my childhood days were over.

      In the sixties, I met Sherry and the time we spent listening to Rod McKuen in her one-room apartment… was paradise. Two of the things that I needed most were peace and acceptance and we found both of them together … until my drinking drove me to the brink of insanity. I hit bottom in ‘76 and entered seminary (as a born-again, second-career student in ‘89). It’s been quite a journey. It’s been mostly filled with ordinary days (kronos time), but it’s also been dotted with moments of deep pain and great joy- with kairos moments that endure forever. There have been times when I’ve let myself down and there have been times when I’ve surprised myself in a good way. But the past is gone. It can’t be relived, and I need to let it go, especially the bad. When I became a Christian I was told that, through Christ, God had forgiven all of my sins and loved me unconditionally … and I’ve embraced this as a wonderful and liberating truth!

      Some people have noted that it was convenient for me to forgive myself so easily and maybe it was- but in Christ, I am free from what was! Praise God. I am also free from what will be… because the future is God’s time. There is nothing I will ever do in the future because the present is all the time there is. The present is our life. It is the stage on which we can love God and others in God’s name. It is the time in which we can love others, forgive others, laugh and cry with others, pray with and for others, and minister to Christ when we see him hungry, thirsty, lonely, naked, imprisoned, and/or wounded. In the ordinariness of each day, we can serve God and rebuild lives if we’re not entangled in our own agenda.

      Advent calls us to be prepared for our Lord’s coming because for everyone, there must be a last day. For everyone, the day will come when tomorrow’s calendar will be unfulfilled. Any day now, Christ will appear. I don’t know when- Scripture notes that even Christ doesn’t know when- and I won’t be able to stop it, hurry it up, or manipulate it. All I can do is be prepared for God’s coming, which is the first order of business for Advent. I’m sure there are many ways of getting prepared for Christ’s coming, but I will mention the ways that I know:

1) Do business with the living God. If you haven’t accepted Christ’s offer to surrender and yoke yourself to him, do it today. Remember the thief on the cross to whom Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Trust in God’s grace, you will be prepared for his coming;

2) Secondly, be a person of love. Be a person who loves those who are close to you, those with whom you work or play, the people whom you see occasionally, strangers, and those in need. Love God with all you have, love your neighbors as yourself, even your enemies, and you will be prepared for God’s coming;

3) Thirdly, we will be ready if we do what Jesus did. If we forgive those who crucify us, preach good news to the poor, feed the hungry and heal the sick, listen to people who have a story to tell, treat every person as a child of God, mourn for a broken world, and pray as if there is no tomorrow, we will be prepared for God’s coming:

4) Fourthly, we will be prepared if we see and respond to Christ as he appears to us each day. We don’t want to be in that crowd (Matt. 25) who said they never saw Jesus hungry, imprisoned, naked, sick, or lonely. Jesus said something like “of course you did,” and you are not prepared to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

       Blink and your child is one.  You blink again and he or she is in college. Then they’re married and you’re a grandparent. Then you’re retired… and if you blink again, you are a widow or widower. One more blink and someone is giving your eulogy. Life is short and it gets shorter every day. How did it get so late so soon? God is coming. The end is near. Be prepared! Amen!

FILLED WITH JOY... AND A DELIGHT TO GOD

      Have you ever been in a place where the sun won’t shine? Have you ever been bombarded with the sounds of conflict- the screams, the sobs- that never seem to stop? Do you know a place where peace is temporary, if it comes at all? Have you ever been in the grips of something that drags you down and won’t ever let you go? Have you ever been part of a relationship that is terribly shattered?Born of despair, pain, and disappointment, you or I, or someone we love, comes to believe that there is nothing to get excited about anymore, nothing to work toward, nothing to celebrate, nothing to believe in. Or an entire community suffers so deeply and so completely that they all live empty and hopeless lives. American slaves come to mind. They lived their entire lives knowing that they would be treated as if they weren’t even human, let alone children of God. The Jews who filled death camps throughout Germany, who were dehumanized and murdered at will, come to mind. It is easy enough to lose hope. People leave us; they walk away; loved ones don’t get well; people won’t forgive us; suddenly we’re all alone; we wake up and see that we’re old; there’s no way that we can do what we had hoped to do; it’s the same old thing every day and there are too many hills. We’ve become jaded and cynical. Nothing is ever going to change.

      It’s easy enough to lose hope, but here’s the good news-the really, really good news: God is doing a new thing! When the Israelis returned to their homeland, after their time in exile, they encountered a land that they hardly knew. Oh, the Temple was still where it used to be, but it was in ruins, and they were facing resistant as they tried to rebuild it. The houses that they once lived in were destroyed, the vineyards they had planted were barren, and things looked broken for as far as the eye could see. No one would have blamed them if they had given in to a feeling of hopelessness… but God said (Isa, 65:1ff): “I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” It’s not a matter of perspective, regret, or coming to grips with what was, the former things will not come to mind… because God is the God of life and tomorrow is God’s time. “Be glad… ; for I’m about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.” There’s a day coming where joy, not wealth, will be on everyone’s mind. “No more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime…” No more infant deaths, no more shortened lives. Death, it seems, was never God’s plan and his future will be about life! “My people shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit” They will be neither exiles nor wanderers, but instead, stable and secure. “Before they call I will answer… and the wolf and the lamb shall feed together…”

    God is NOT done with me yet, or with you, or with anyone else, or even this world. God is creating a radically new order in which people with see the Imago Dei (the Image of God) in each other… before they see anything else. God is creating a new order in which life- it’s length and quality- will be valued by everyone. God has written his law on our hearts… so that we can love one another and work for justice in his name, even it causes us discomfort… and clothe him, feed him, and visit him, whenever we see him naked, hungry, or in prison.God is doing a new thing… and we are called to participate in his re-creation, in ways big and small. 

      It is my prayer that each morning, we not only take stock in all that we’re grateful for, but that we also embrace ways in which we can be a new creation in Christ. Maybe we can pray for someone whom we don’t want to pray for; maybe we can visit someone whom we already know will be difficult; maybe we can put another bill in the kettle or the plate; maybe we can add our voices, even if it’s just around our tables, to those voices who are challenging the way things are regarding … discrimination (in all of its forms), health, income, violence, opportunity, and more. Throughout the day we can look for moments when we can brighten someone else’s day, lighten someone’s burden (if only a little), let someone know that he or she is somebody worth loving, and even spread the news that God is creating a new order in which we will find joy in living together… and be a delight to him at the same time! Amen!

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HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

     In 1621, when their labors were rewarded with a bountiful harvest after a year of sickness and scarcity, the Pilgrims gave thanks to God and celebrated His bounty in the Harvest Home tradition with feasting and recreation. To these people of strong Christian faith, this was not merely a revel; it was also a joyous outpouring of gratitude. Fellowship, prayer, and gratitude. A focus on God, community, and blessings. 1620 had been a very tough year, but the Pilgrims had a wonderful harvest in 1621. So John Allerton (with his kids- Bartholomew, Mary, and Remember), William and Mary Brewster (plus their kids- Love, and Wrestling), Francis Easton, Richard Gardiner, Miles Standish, the Hopkins (including Damaris and Oceanus), Edward and Susanna Winslow, and Richard Gardiner sat down with 34 other Pilgrims and a large group of Native Americans … to give thanks to God. It is likely that they feasted on wild turkeys, geese, ducks, beans, spinach, cabbage, blueberries, plums, and grapes … but their focus was on God’s blessings and their own togetherness.

      398 years ago, Thanksgiving was about joy and gratitude. The people had fun together. They played games, but their joy was anchored in God’s blessings. Today, many people have narrowed their sense of community to just a few family members and for some, God has taken a backseat to football. In 2019, Thanksgiving is, for some, a day without work and the kickoff to the Christmas season. Some of us do well to simply stay awake and avoid talking about God and/or current affairs.

      Yet, there are many who continue to hold God and God’s blessings at the center of their festivities. You are among this crowd. I know that and I wish each one of you a Thanksgiving that’s filled with gratitude, joy, grace, and your favorite dish-to-pass. When I was a kid, our holidays were celebrated in a secular way. Church was not part of our Easter. Christmas was about kids and gifts. Alcohol was always lurking as a potential problem, but we certainly tried to give our kids the best Christmas possible.

      However, as I remember, God was always mentioned at Thanksgiving. Our friends and families were not religious … but Thanksgiving reminded us that we were blessed by God. A generous God. A God without any denomination. A God without any expectation from us. A God to whom many of us gave no thought at all during the rest of the year. We didn’t think about God much, but on Thanksgiving… one of the elders and eventually, one of us, would lead everyone in prayer before we ate. “Thank you, God, for giving us so much. Thanks for blessing us in so many ways. On this day, we remember you and thank you for remembering us. Amen,”

      That was it, but I always looked forward to this prayer. And given my own struggles with faith, it was a reminder that God is good. Have a great Thanksgiving. pk

OLLIE, OLLIE, OXEN IN FREE

Today is a Sunday on which many churches will celebrate All Saints Day and/or Reformation Day, which was October 31. I considered these because I find deep meaning in lifting up the saints who have gone before and on whose shoulders we stand… and in a time where things need to be reformed, including the church, I was tempted to preach on the five tenets of the Reformation- Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Christus, Soli Deo Gloria- because Scripture, Grace. Faith, Christ, and Praise are foundational to our journeys.

But today, is also a Sunday in which our lectionary invites us to preach on Luke 19:1-10, and so I will. The passage is about a wee little man named “Zacchaeus,” but it is addressed to each and every one of us who seeks Christ and grace, and feels small in a variety go ways. There are books and articles written about Zacchaeus, but the passage says at least this much to me:

1)Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus and we don't know why. Perhaps he wanted to tell his story, maybe he wanted to repent, or get out from under his guilt. It’s hard to say.  Some commentators suggest that it was simply curiosity that motivated Zacchaeus to run ahead and climb a sycamore tree, but I suspect it was more than that. However, his motive doesn't matter. He wanted to see Jesus;

2)Zacchaeus made considerable effort- running ahead, climbing a tree- to see Jesus. He didn't know and couldn’t control what Jesus would do, but he could control what he would do. He had no way of knowing what would happen, but he did put himself is a place to see Jesus. He did what he could do and that’s good advice for us,

3)Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ name. He knew who he was. He knew that Zacchaeus was not only a tax-collector, but a chief tax collector who oversaw the collection of taxes and the payment of tolls on Jericho’s well-traveled road. He knew that Zacchaeus didn’t have a friend in the world. He knew him like he knows us, but instead of judging him…

4)Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house for a meal, which is a personal and intimate thing. I know many people whom I consider to be good friends with whom I have not dined. Eating together, especially in a home, is a personal and vulnerable thing. Instead of chastising Zacchaeus, Jesus sought to know him better. This is an important thing for us to keep in mind.

5)There was excitement in the air and a sense of urgency. Jesus’ invitation was not one of those “we’ll have to get together someday” invitations, but rather, hurry now, because we’re dining today. It was the right moment and both men seized it. The Bible tells us to choose God while God is near, to not let Jesus pass on by, no matter how long we’ve waited, how much we’ve sinned, of how many obstacles there are. Our lives have pasts and most likely, futures, but they are lived in the now.

6)Many of the men in the crowd immediately began to grumble because Jesus was dining with a known sinner. We all know that we’re known by the company we keep, but now we come to verse 8, which is either a sign of Zacchaeus' transformation in response to God's grace... or Zacchaeus' claim that he was already handling his duties in a righteous way. Scholars are debating this because the NRSV (and others) translate verse 8 as a promise for the future- "Look, half of my goods, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much" while the ESV (and others) suggest that Zacchaeus was defending the righteousness that he was already displaying- "Behold, half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have cheated anyone, I restore it four times."

7)I suspect that most of us want to think that Zacchaeus was converted by Christ's visit, and he may have been. But the greater point is this: in either case, he was saved because the passage ends with these words, “Today salvation has come to this house because the Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.” Our eternity starts today. Heaven waits for us, but in Christ we are already part of the throng. We are saved now and I suggest that we would change the world if we lived as if this was true! 

“For God so loved the world that he sent his Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish.” “Whoever lives and believes in me shall not die, and whoever dies believing in me shall live.” Do we believe this? That God has his eye on us? That God hears our prayers and see our tears? That God wants to meet us? That Jesus is knocking on our door? Do we hear Jesus calling, “Ollie, Ollie, oxen in free?” Do we believe that Jesus died to set us free and know that, when the Son sets us free, we are forever free? God is not only around. He is not only waiting. He is searching for me and for you, and for those we know and love- the good ones, the not-so-good ones, the tall ones and the short ones, the ones who are trying hard and also the ones who have never even considered it. Zacchaeus was short- really short- but we all feel small at times, and some of us feel small much of the time. None of us is worthy, but Jesus would love to dine with us. And he will today. Let us stand and sing our communion hymn.