The Cold Moon: Time for Reflection, Endings, and Celebrations

As I write this, most of the country is in the cold grips of a winter storm. It is precisely these events that give the Cold Moon her name. The Farmer’s Almanac says that this moon is the Cold Moon because we have just entered winter. Native Americans refer to the moon by this name because of the changes in the natural world, and the midpoint of winter, which we entered with the solstice a few days ago, is the darkest part of the season.

Some may find it odd and even a bit heretical for a Christian minister to be writing about the spirituality of the Moon, but I see nothing wrong with taking part in the energy of creation. I believe that God created all around us and that the essence of God is in all of creation. There is much we can learn about bringing balance to our lives from the natural world, the natural ebb and flow of the seasons, the dying and rising again, and the long rest periods. As much as we might try and deny it, we are part of the natural world and creation, and our bodies respond to the energy in all creation. If we only allow our minds to open, we will see this reality and begin to understand how we are all connected.

This season is also a time for reflection and endings; it is the last moon of the year which will shortly come to a close. Noura Bourni writes, “we’re asked to sit in silence and stillness, ideally contemplating the last 12 months of our lives and allow gratitude to inform our thought process.” Since we are stuck inside anyway, it is a good time for this reflection.

But we are not just to reflect; this is also a time of endings. Shed anything that might be distracting or damaging to your soul and spirit. Write these things down on paper, toss them in the fire, and free yourself from them. There is something healing about putting your pen to paper this way, and tossing that paper into the fire is an act of freedom from those distractions.

In your time of reflection, review what is no longer working for you and resolve to make changes in your life that do not include those things. Then, like distractions, write those down on paper and throw those into the fire. Then, as the fire consumes the unwanted in our lives, bask in the glow and warmth of that same fire that will make way for new life to emerge in you.

This time of the year is also ideal for repairing relationships. Reach out to those we have become estranged from and offer or ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness is essential for our spiritual well-being. Remember that forgiveness is for us, and our soul is critical. The act of forgiveness, even if it is not accepted or reciprocated, frees our soul from the burden it has been carrying and returns the power to us. Forgiveness is a powerful tool in our spiritual life. Ending the year with repaired relationships allows us to begin the new year with a clean slate.

The Cold and last moon of the year is also a time of celebration. We recently began the celebration of Yule; Christmas will soon be upon us, and Hanukkah started a few nights ago. These seasons celebrate light, and now the days will begin to get longer as we welcome the sun’s rebirth.

During this time of light, the light of the season, and the light of the Cold Moon, ask more questions, share your feelings, and be present in the current moment. Doing so will help promote warmth, camaraderie, and optimism during this otherwise cold and harsh period of the year.

Yule: The Rebirth of the Sun

Yule, or the Winter Solstice, is when darkness overtakes the light for the last time, and soon, the days will become longer. For this reason, Yule is often referred to as the celebration of the rebirth of the Sun.

It is hard to trace the origins of the feast. Some say it goes back to Egyptian time, through Mesopotamia, and beyond the Middle East. The selection of December 25th as the celebration of the birth of Christ was to coincide with this idea of the rebirth of the sun with the birth of the Son.

There are many other Christian connections to Yule. The sun reborn at Yule is reborn of Mother Earth, the Great Mother. The Son born at Christmas is born of the woman, chosen by God for her great piety and, in many Christian denominations, is the Mother of the Church. The warmth of the reborn sun brings life back to the earth that has gone dormant, and the work of the Son brings new life into the heart of humanity that, for many, has gone cold and dormant.

Back when we grew our food and needed to store it for the winter, Yule was filled with the belief that what was left of the harvest would get us through the rest of the winter until we could hunt and replant the fields. Therefore, part of the celebration of Yule was the feast and food sharing. This was often a scary time to share from one’s stores since one did not know if there would be enough. But share we do; we give gifts to others from our abundance as an expression of trust that God will bless those gifts and the giver.

There are many symbols for this time of year; the most obvious is the evergreen. Outside my window, where I sit to write, are many evergreen bushes and plants. The evergreen shows off life when everything else looks dead, almost standing there defiantly saying that new life is coming soon. The custom of bringing bits of evergreen into the home was to brighten those long, dreary nights and remind us that the earth would quickly be brought back to life. Likewise, the ornaments that decorate your Yule/Christmas tree remind us of this same rebirth.

The wreath we hang on our doors or windows is also a symbol of Yuletide. The wreath is a circle with no beginning and no end symbolizing the circle of life. Traditionally wreaths are made from evergreen to remind us that the spark of life is always present, even in the bleak midwinter. A wreath on your front door symbolizes a welcome to weary travelers seeking shelter from winter’s dark and chilly realm.

The Yule Log is another symbol of this time of year. Traditionally the log would be cut from the previous year’s Yule tree before it was discarded. That is difficult for those who now use artificial trees, but there are some workarounds.

The tree represents life’s survival of death and, by saving a bit of the tree from the previous year, expresses an understanding of life as an eternal circle but does not end with death. Three holes are often drilled in the log for candles that may represent the goddess’s Maiden, Mother, and Crone or, in a Christian context, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The candle flame brings light to the room, and the burning of the Yule Long brings warmth to the home.

The Yule Cake or the Buche de Noel achieves the same symbolism. The cake is decorated to look like a log. Candles are added to the cake or placed around it for the same purpose and symbolism as the wood log, and by eating the cake, the essence of the Yule Log, warmth, and the reminder of the coming sun/Son become part of us.

But there is also a spirituality that goes along with Yule. Yule is when we stand within the darkness, knowing deep in our souls that the light will triumph. Yule is also the time for a deep spiritual journey to our interior. It is a time to look at the year that is passing and all that we have done and left undone and rekindle that light within each of us. Yule is the season of birth and renewal of the earth and ourselves.

Regardless of how we celebrate, the idea is to be grateful for all we have and for the knowledge that the sun/Son will soon be reborn/born, and the earth will rejoice.

Give you a Sign

Matthew 1:18-25

We have almost reached the end of our Advent journey, but we still have a few days left. The good news is we have managed to keep the candles burning, which means we still have some hope, peace, joy, and, most importantly, love left to give. Our Advent journey has been about waiting and preparing for the coming of the Christ child in just a few days. This time of year can be busy with decorations, gifts, and parties, but I hope you could take some time to slow down and meditate on the extraordinary event that is still yet to come.

Last time we focused on Mary and her yes to the angel when she was asked to be the mother of her Lord and Savior. We talked about the importance of walking in the light of God’s will in our lives, even if we do not know the end of the story. God spoke to God’s servant, and she answered the call. She had questions, as I am sure we all do, but she still said yes.

Today we come face to face with an often-overlooked character in the story of Jesus’ birth, Joseph. I tend to feel bad for Joseph because he is all but forgotten in the story. Mary and Jesus take center stage, and poor Joseph is relegated to a subordinate position, but Joseph also has a calling.

Scripture does not reveal much about Joseph, so we must rely on tradition in our biographical sketch. First, we know that Joseph and Mary were from the same town. Second, we know he was a carpenter by trade and was older than Mary. Third, we know he was a widower and that there are children, but the number is uncertain. Finally, we know that he became engaged to Mary, and looking back, we might understand that Joseph was chosen for this role by God.

Joseph is a reluctant member of the cast in this great story. When he finds out about Mary’s condition, he wants to divorce her, which certainly is his right under the law of the day. But he has compassion for Mary and her family. He is willing to “send her away” to avoid embarrassing situations for Mary and her family. There is an assumption that he was willing to pay for their relocation.

But then, the second of three dream sequences begins, and the same angel that appeared to Mary comes to Joseph in a dream. The angel tells Joseph that all will be well. Mary tells the truth, and the child she carries is to grow up to do great things. Joseph awoke from his dream and took Mary into his own home.

Joseph’s next scene is when the couple is on their way to Bethlehem to be counted as part of the census. Joseph is very protective of his new wife, although he forgot to make a reservation at a local B & B, so they are forced to go door to door looking for accommodations. Finally, they do find a place, and Mary goes into labor. The child is born, and all seems to be well. But, then, all manner of folk start to show up.

It must have been confusing for Joseph and Mary. Sure, they knew their newborn son was to be someone special, but I am not sure they knew all the details, and now, all these people are coming around. They were far from home, without family, and I am sure they were a little scared. But Joseph takes Jesus into his heart as any father does with his child.

I recently saw a depiction of the night that Jesus was born. It was Joseph, holding Jesus in front of him to look into the child’s face. Behind him, almost out of focus, is Mary asleep on the crude bed they fashioned. Joseph is looking at Jesus as if saying, I am here and will not let anything happen to you. No matter what he thought before this point in the story, Joseph is now all in, and he has become the protector of Jesus.

We get brief glimpses of Joseph after this. We see him when the angel again tells Joseph to take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt to avoid Herod and his dastardly plan to kill the child. Joseph does as directed, and this young family, although tradition tells us it is several years after the birth of Jesus and does as directed. They do what they need to protect their family; they leave everything they own and everyone they know and go to Egypt. We do not know how long they are there, but eventually, they come home.

Joseph does what any parent would do, takes care of their children.

I mentioned earlier that Joseph was a reluctant participant in the story, and I take great comfort in that. There is an old saying that God does not call the equipped, God equips the called, and I believe that with my whole heart. Joseph rightfully so had many, many questions, but he trusted in God, and God did not let him down. In many ways, the yes of Joseph is just as important as the yes of Mary. They both have a choice and choose to follow God’s will.

Today’s Advent theme is love, and we see that expressed in what Joseph did. Joseph loves God and his young, new family and risked it all to say yes. He risked his reputation, and he risked his life. But, like Mary’s yes, Joseph’s yes changed not only his life but the world.

There is no mistake that love is the final theme of the four weeks of Advent because without love, none of the rest matters. Unfortunately, we have many examples of people claiming to be Christians, going through the motions but not expressing this sacrificial love we experience this season. In the examples of Mary and Joseph, we see two people not living for themselves but living for another. We see an example of how we surrender our will to God’s will, regardless of the cost.

Today we light the final candle in our Advent Wreath, and it seems fitting that tonight, our Jewish brothers and sisters light the first candle of Hanukkah. The center candle on the menorah is the Shamash, the candle that lights all the others. Without the Shamash, none of the other candles will be lit. So be the Shamash, the one who helps others and the one who lights their way.

I hope you know by now that it is my sincere belief that Love is central to the message of the Gospel. Without love, none of it makes any sense. Love is the only answer—everything that Jesus did, he did out of love. What Joseph did, he did out of love, and everything we do, we have to do out of love. It is really that simple.

Amen

Stand as a Signal

Isaiah 11:1-10

Several years ago, there was a fire in the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, and much of the area was burnt. When something like this happens, we often think of trees and shrubs, but what of animal life? The Smokies are filled with all sorts of animal life that live off the land and require what is there for their sustenance. If it is gone, they have to seek it someplace else.

Several months after the fire, my family held a reunion in the Smokies. We have been doing this for several years, and we rotate around the country so we all have a chance to attend. The evidence of the fire was still present, but the scars had started to heal.

One night, Nicky and I walked up from our rented house to the hotel where several other family members were staying. We had heard that there were bears in the area, but we had not seen any. You see, the bears had come down off the mountain in search of food, and they figured if humans were around, there must be garbage.

While sitting on the patio at the hotel, some bears appeared. It looked like a mother and her cubs; they were rather large but cuddly from a safe distance. We watched in amazement as they moved from one trash can to the next in search of food. Finally, the hotel manager emerged and banged on some pots, and the bears meandered back into the woods.

As we were leaving, someone said that the bears had returned. My instinct was to keep walking in the direction we were heading because I did not want to become their next meal. My wife, on the other hand, had a different idea. So, being the good husband I am, I followed behind her at a safe distance, ensuring there was nothing between me and a path to safety.

We started back up the stairs from the road to the hotel parking lot and when we reached the top, there she was, momma bear in all of her frightening glory. I don’t think I had ever been as scared as I was at that moment or since then. But there was my wife, phone camera in hand, telling the bear to say cheese. I was like don’t say cheese; they might think we have cheese and want to come for a visit!

Anyway, as you can see, we survived to tell the story. The bears were not interested in us and went about their business, looking for food. So the story had a happy ending.

Today we heard some of the more famous lines from the Prophet Isaiah:

“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.”

In other words, peace shall be restored to the earth.

If we go back to Genesis and the creation story, we read that humanity and animals lived in peace and harmony. It literally was paradise. It all changed with the arrogance of humanity, and it continued to get worse. Fast forward millions of years, and here we are, fighting off bears at the trash can! Whatever upset the peace, we are still dealing with the effects today.

However, I wish to point out that this peace comes after what Isiah said last week about judgment and the purging of the bad folks. Before there can be peace, there has to be justice and mercy, for they go together and cannot be separated. Oh, sure, we can talk about healing divisions, and that we are a divided country, all of which is true, but until there is mercy and justice, there can be no peace.

One of the many titles of Jesus is Prince of Peace. As I have said on many occasions, Jesus came to show us the way. He chose to be born like us so we could relate to him. If he had come down out of a cloud with fire and whatnot, how would we be able to relate? Jesus was born to humble beginnings to a race in captivity. He grew like us; he fell down and scraped his knee. No doubt he fell in love and had his heart broken. He had stomach aches, back pain, toothaches, and all the rest. We know from scripture that he felt grief and anger as well as joy and happiness. Jesus came to say look, I offer you a different way, a better way than the way you are headed, and that involves peace.

In a couple of weeks, the theme of Advent is love, and we will talk about love as I believe love is the only thing that matters as it is central to the message of the Gospel. But before we can get there, we need peace.

We often lament that we are divided as a nation, and, as I have mentioned before, I don’t think that is necessarily bad. I think we agree on much more than we let on, but we are so busy yelling and screaming that we are not listening, really listening.

However, there are some things I cannot and will not compromise on or listen to. In the last few years, and even more in the previous few weeks, we have seen a rise in antisemitism, and that just cannot stand. I want to be clear; there is no compromise with people who think Jews, or anyone for that matter, is less than and should be treated differently than anyone else. Any supremacy, whether white or national, is a sin, a scourge on humanity that must be whipped away forever!

Let me make one more point clear; there can be no compromise, none with anyone who wishes to take away or deny fundamental human rights to another based on skin color, economic circumstances, legal status, who they love, or any of the other ways we want to separate people. The people who wish to do that do not want to bring people together; they only want to force them apart.

Isiah is prophesying a time when order will be restored to earth at the most basic level. But where does it all start? It has to start somewhere.

I know it is a somewhat sappy song, and for a time, it was overdone, but there is some truth to the lyrics of Let there be peace on earth. The truth is peace has to begin inside each of us. We cannot fight for peace and justice if we do not practice peace and justice in our own lives. Likewise, we cannot find the middle ground if we despise those on the other side. Sure, we can disagree with their positions, but we must remember that, just like us, they are created in God’s image.

In my work at the Treatment Center, I talk a lot about how much of the spiritual journey is about changing the way we think about things. We need to rewire our minds to other possibilities. This past week we focused on finding our authentic selves to be able to answer the question, who are we at our core? To find that, we need to be able to silence the external and internal voices that want to pigeonhole us and label us.

But we also need to remove malice from our hearts.

When we remove malice from our hearts, we make room for grace and can offer grace. The example used was being happy for someone who excels in their job or gets that promotion that you wanted. So if you see someone getting ahead to excelling, be happy for that person and let them know. Congratulate them for their accomplishment, and by doing so, we remove the malice, and we have extended grace, and the world just became a bit more peaceful. I know it might sound stupid, but it works.

The world that Isiah speaks about does not come about by magic but rather through a lot of hard work and pain. God is not going to snap God’s fingers and make it so; that is not how it works. Remember, God sent Jesus, not an army armed with weapons of mass destruction. God sent Jesus, not a politician armed with hate in their voice. God sent Jesus, the prince of peace, to show us another way, and that way begins inside each of us.

As a child of the 70s, I grew up with great religious movies like Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, and my favorite, Brother Sun and Sister Moon. If you have never seen it, you owe it to yourself to take the time and watch. It is a modern telling or retelling of the story of St. Francis. I think we sometimes forget that Francis was a reformer. Strip away all statues with animals and whatnot, and we see that God’s call to Francis was to rebuild his Church. Of course, he thought it was the physical church outside his village, but it was to rebuild a sense of church through humility and peace.

Francis came from a wealthy family and had everything he could have wanted. But when God called him, he quite literally stood in the town square and stripped away all of his earthly possessions, and humbled himself before God. Francis began to rebuild the physical church, and at the same time, he rebuilt the church within himself.

As you are aware, there is a prayer that is attributed to Frances about peace, and it is a very personal prayer. Francis beings, make me an instrument of your peace. In other words, let peace flow through me to the world. Francis goes on;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O DIVINE MASTER, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console:

To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive –
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

Peace begins inside each of us, and we all have the potential to make this world a better place. Let the prayer of Francis be our prayer this day and every day, Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Amen.

Hope

I have been thinking about hope a lot these last weeks. Not long ago, I was discussing the state of politics in America. Towards the end of the conversation, the discussion shifted to what the other person felt was the non-repairable rift in American political discourse. He went on to say that we are so divided and angry that there is no way we can even come back. I disagreed. It might be pie in the sky, but I have hope that we will return to a more civilized way of interacting with each other.

As a Christian and as a member of the human race, I live in hope. I have to live in hope because I do not have another option. To not live in hope is to give up, and that is simply not part of my plan. I live in hope because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about hope, hope that things will get better. But we have to be part of that process.

On Sunday, we began the Advent season and lit the first candle of the Advent wreath, which represents hope. Someone once said that without hope, we have nothing. So it is no mistake that the themes of Advent begin with hope since hope is the anchor for everything else. 

According to Chan Hellman of the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma, hope is “the belief that your future will be better than today and you have the power to make it so.” Tomorrow will be better, but we have to make it so. But we cannot do it alone.

Hellman says that hope is a simple concept that we tend to make more complicated than it needs to be. Hope involves goals, pathways, and willpower. First, we set the goal, whatever that may be. The next step is to make a plan to fulfill that goal. If it is a long-term goal, there need to be intermediate steps along that path to pile up the wins that keep us going. But none of that is possible without willpower. If we do not have the desire to see that goal being met, we will fail.

Although the goal may be ours alone, we cannot get there alone. Hope is a social construct and requires us to be around other people with hope. Hope is infectious and will draw others to us. I am convinced that the energy we put into the universe is the energy we attract back. If we project positive, hopeful energy into the world, it will come back to us and assist us in reaching that goal.

But beware of those who are, as best-selling author Lara Love Hardin calls them, “hope suckers.” These are the people who suck the hope right out of you. They are so negative that just being around them brings you down. It is hard enough to drag yourself across the finish line. You do not need to be carrying the hope suckers with you.

In Paul’s first letter to the Church at Corinth, he says that faith, hope, and love are the only things that last. (1 Corinthians 13:13) Hope is the anchor; hope is the thing that keeps us grounded and keeps us on the path. The idea that tomorrow can be better is rooted in hope; we must have hope!

When that first candle was lit on Sunday, I was reminded that the candle of hope is the one that will burn the longest and will become the shortest. Christians are called to bring light into the world, and throughout Advent, we are reminded that the light, Jesus, has overcome the darkness once and for all.

Advent is the season of hope. We have that hope because we know that tomorrow can and will be better.

Up to Restoration

Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122, Matthew 24:36-44

My wife and I have decided to host a party. We have been thinking about this for quite some time, and we feel the time is right. We have been thinking about the food that we will serve and how the table will be set. We have given much thought to the decorations and how the casual seating will be laid out so the flow is just right. The seating chart has caused a bit of a problem, but I think we have all the kinks worn out. You, of course, are all invited, so get ready.

It will be a formal affair, with white tie for the gentleman and an evening dress for the ladies. We have contracted with a company to provide valet service, so all you need to do is pull up, and someone will take care of your car. Wait staff will be on hand and moving through the crowd to provide drinks and nibbly bits before the main course.

The plans are finished. Again, you are all invited. The only problem is I am still determining when the party will occur, but you have to be ready. I will send word to you when the time is right. I will give you 15 minutes’ notice, so you must be prepared. All you need to do now is wait.

Welcome to Advent, the season of waiting.

Advent is Christmas’ poor cousin, the one that is often forgotten about until the last minute when we say we forgot to invite someone, but I wonder who that is. Let’s face it; there are no Hallmark Advent stories about lost candles or something like that. There is no Grinch who stole Advent or snappy songs like Rudolph the Purple Advent Candle. So instead, we move right from Thanksgiving to Christmas without even a simple nod of the head to Advent.

I used to be rather militant about Advent and not rushing to get to Christmas. Remember, the Christmas season begins the evening of the 24th of December and lasts until the evening of January 6th. But then I started to soften a bit and decided that if playing Christmas music and setting up decorations makes you happy and brings you joy, go for it. So all I ask is that you take some time for Advent.

Advent is more than the beginning of the Church year. Advent is John the Baptist preparing the way. Advent is also the affirmation of living the in-between of the already and the not yet. Christ has come in the child Jesus, and the church again cries out for Jesus to come quickly again. Do not forget the Advent proclamation of the light of Christ shining still amid the world’s darkness. Advent is a time to lean into God’s future unafraid boldly. If we skip it all, we miss it all.

I mentioned that party and that you all must wait for the time and place. We are not great at waiting. We want it all right now. Instant news. Instant communication. Instant food. But Advent calls us to slow down at a time when society is calling us to speed up. Only x number of days until Christmas. Only x number of shopping days left. The time of year that should be filled with hopeful expectations has become a season filled with anxiety.

Advent sets out four themes for us: hope, peace, love, and joy. Each of those weeks is symbolically remembered with the lighting of a candle each week and the final candle, which we do not have on our wreath yet, the candle that represents Christ.

We spend these days and weeks leading up to the birth of Christ telling the story, and each week we bring a little more light into the world. Advent is about moving from darkness into light. With each bit of the story being told, we allow that light to shine, and finally, the light, Jesus comes, and we see that light has overcome the darkness not just for a moment but for all eternity.

Hope comes first because without the anchor of hope; we have nothing. We are a ship at sea with no ability to navigate to steer in the right direction. Hope is the base, the bedrock on which we build the rest of the structure. If hope is off, all the rest will be off.

We heard and will continue to hear from Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah. In the world of prophets, Isaiah is the biggest, so we need to sit up and pay attention to what he has to say. In verse 4, he speaks of this Messiah:

“He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

These are some of the most famous words and images from Isaiah. These images have found their way not only into the hymns of the Church but into folksongs that many of us grew up with. In addition, these images stir up the hopes and longings of people exhausted by war and violence.

But this text goes beyond all of that. The text’s primary meaning as revealing God’s determined gracious intent for all nations means that it is not a text of future prediction. We often think of these Old Testament prophecies as windows into the future. But it is much deeper and much richer than that.

This test is a breathtaking restatement of God’s ongoing promise to Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel. God promises to bless the people to be a blessing to the nations. Bod will bless the Church to be a blessing to all people, and God will be faithful to the Church for the sake of God’s mission.

I know this might not be easy to hear. We look around at declining numbers and cannot imagine that God is still blessing the Church, but the promise of God is that God is not done with us yet. We have much to do, and God will be with us every step of the way. It may seem dark, but the light has and will overcome the darkness. God will never abandon us.

Advent hope is fully aware of what was, what is, and what is to come.

The promise of the text we heard from Isaiah this morning expands our understanding of hope. Two prominent Protestant theologians of the last century identified the profound paradox of Advent hope. Peter Gomes, the late minister, and professor at Harvard University, once preached an Advent sermon entitled “Humbug and Hope” that questioned shallow understandings of Advent hope. Superficial jollity in a world of suffering and pain is not Advent hope.

Joseph Sittler, Lutheran minister and professor at Maywood Seminary, said that honesty compels us to admit that the track record of humanity is very grim, and there is no excuse for chippy hopefulness. He also admitted that he regularly plants trees. Yet, against all evidence, he said, Christians hope.

So let us plant trees, plan parties, and work to make the world a better place.

I hope we will take some time this Advent season to slow down and ponder what God has done, what God is about to do, and our part in all of it.

Amen

The Season of Waiting

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew 24:36

Let’s face it; we are not good at waiting. We want everything right this second. Instant news, instant communication, insta pot we want it all, and we want it right now. We all seem to be moving at 90 miles per hour with no let-up in sight. We move from one thing to another but never stop to enjoy that thing we are moving from.

Thursday is Thanksgiving, and I am already seeing Christmas decorations starting to appear. I used to be a bit more militant about not decorating for Christmas until at least after Thanksgiving, but I am beginning to let up just a bit. If putting your Christmas decorations up and listening to Christmas music brings you joy and brightens your day, then, by all means, decorate.

But remember that between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the season of Advent, and the season of Advent asks us to slow down and wait.

I recall, as a child having to wait on Christmas morning to open gifts. My brothers and I would wake up but would have to wait whilst my parents and grandmother made coffee and took their places in our living room. So we waited and opened the presents in our stockings, some patiently, others not so much.

It is unclear when the Christian Church began to commemorate Advent. Still, it has been around since at least the Council of Tours in 567, when monks were directed to fast during December in anticipation of the Nativity. Advent is a penitential season much like that of Lent, but it is also a season of hope, hope in the coming of the Christ Child.

Advent is a time of waiting, waiting for the gift of the Christ child, but it is also a time of reflection and affirmation.

Each week of Advent has a theme for us to reflect on. We begin in hope and faith. Faith is the “assurance of things not seen,” Hope comes when we imagine new possibilities. I hope for a better world and the possibility that we will all use our talents to make that happen.

Following hope comes peace. One of the titles of Jesus is the Prince of Peace, for that is what Jesus brings peace. Peace is an ideal, but it is an ideal worth all the effort. However, peace begins with each of us, and we achieve that peace by slowing down and taking time to appreciate what we have and those around us.

Halfway through our journey, we come upon the theme of Joy. The Gospel for this day is Mary’s Song of joy, knowing that she will soon deliver her child and how blessed she feels being chosen by God for this great honor. Anticipation is building as we get closer, and our hearts begin to overflow with joy.

During the final week of Advent, we reflect upon the theme of Love. If I had to summarize the message of the Gospel and the Nativity in one word, it would be love. God’s love for all of humanity is manifested in the birth of the Christ child, for once again, the creator is walking with creation, and the great chasm has been repaired.

The commemoration of Advent began as a penitential season with prayer and fasting, but now it has all but disappeared from the landscape of our faith. These weeks leading up to Christmas are an essential time to slow down and spiritually prepare for the coming season. Do yourself a favor and slow down; you will appreciate Christmas much more if you do.

Open Mouthed Tourists

Luke 21:5-19

A few years ago, I worked as a tour guide at the Old North Church in Boston’s North End. You know the place; it is famous for a couple of lights in the window and a poem. People would visit this renowned church from all over the world, and most are surprised to discover that it is still an active congregation.

I would often get asked, when was the last time a service was held here? To which I would reply, last Sunday at 11:00. There would be this look of astonishment on their faces, and many would just walk away. It seemed hard to comprehend that, except for a few years during the Revolutionary War, services were held at Old North every Sunday.

However, one of my favorite stories involved the painting hanging on the wall above the altar. As fitting its location, it’s a painting of Jesus, sitting at a table with bread and wine before him. As I mentioned, it hangs above the altar as a clear indication of communion. Every couple of weeks, a tourist would point to that painting and ask if that was Paul Revere. I would chuckle and say no, it’s Jesus.

On one particular day, I was feeling rather cheeky, and when I was asked the question about the painting, I replied that no, it was not Paul Revere; it was Jesus who completed his assigned mission. I received some rather interesting stares, and I could tell it was all being worked out in their minds.

People are easily distracted from the reality that is going on all around them. We see what we want to see and ignore what we do not want to see. We have an idea, a preconceived notion of what something is or is not, and our minds fill in the rest. For example, tourists come to Boston to see historical sights; they do not expect that any of these places are still being used for what they were initially built for, including a church.

In today’s Gospel passage from Luke, we listen in on a conversation Jesus is having in the Temple. The Temple they were standing in was the Second Temple built about 538 BCE. The first Temple, the Temple of Solomon, was built in 957 BCE and replaced the tabernacle, which was constructed under the direction of Moses. Unfortunately, this Temple was sacked a few decades later, and it was not until 538 BCE that a new one was built.

Details of the construction of the Second Temple can be found in the Book of Ezra. Construction of the Second Temple took 21 years to complete after being called for by Cyrus the Great. In comparison, the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, took 83 years to complete, and Boston’s Big Dig took 15 years. However, I am not sure the construction of the Temple made as much of a mess of the traffic in Jerusalem as the Big Dig did in Boston.

When picturing the Temple, one must imagine more than one building. Yes, the place of worship, the building that held the altar of sacrifice, was one, but the Temple precincts comprised many buildings. But the Temple was the grandest of all the buildings and the largest.

Now, Jesus is sitting in this building with his followers, and he is talking about the destruction of this building. They would know the history and that it has been destroyed before, but they cannot imagine it happening again. Those with Jesus naturally want to know when this will happen and will there be any signs, and Jesus tells them not to be distracted.

He goes on to describe what some of those distractions will be. Beware, Jesus says of those who will come and say that the end is near. There was a time when the world was coming to an end just about every week. One TV preacher or another, no doubt in need of a new plane or an expansion of their mansion, would say that the world was ending, and you needed to send them all of your money. I’m not sure why since the world was ending, but I will let you meditate on that.

Even today, people are constantly looking for signs, but even Jesus tells us that he does not know, so don’t worry.

Jesus says, “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.”

Then Jesus offers these words of comfort, “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.” So, we have that to look forward to.

All distractions.

Distractions are designed to make us look the other way. Make us give up and choose a different direction or give up all together. But what Jesus offers us today is hope, which we must cling to.

Hope is an essential aspect of the Christian life. Actually, I think hope is an important aspect of life in general.

We had a national election on Tuesday, and it might have gone differently than you had hoped. I remarked that the critical part was that the system worked and there was no violence.

The next day I noticed some prominent people making fun of some candidates and not picking at their policies or lack of policies but at physical features of physical disabilities. This angered and depressed me that in 2022 we have come to this. Why is it that every disagreement was to devolve into childish name-calling? Disagree with the other side and what they believe, but when the conversation devolves to Middle School name-calling, it is all over.

As I am prone to do on occasion, I expressed my thoughts in the social media realm and, as one can imagine, was greeted with opposition from some quarters. The essence of the conversation boiled down to the fact that people are so angry and divided that this is what is left. My response was that I disagreed, that adults can, and should, rise above petty nonsense and that we agree on more than we think. The disagreement comes on how we fix what needs fixing, not that things need to be fixed.

The conversation continued, mainly with the people who disagreed with me, restating their objections. In the end, I was told that this was an idyllic view of humanity, with which I disagreed. I said I disagreed because I hoped for a better tomorrow. I have hope because I have no other choice. Hope drives me forward because hope brings life, and the opposite is unacceptable.

I will admit that it might be a little “pie in the sky,” but I honestly believe we can change.

I recently began a new job as Spiritual Advisor at a drug and alcohol treatment center. For many people, this is their last stop before jail or something worse. This past week we talked about gratitude and the power that changing the way we think about things can change the world. I came across a quote that impacted me, “if you are breathing, you can make a change.” It does not matter your situation, and maybe worse days are ahead, but if you have breath left in your lungs, you cannot give up; you can make a change.

Jesus never promised that our lives would be easy. In fact, he said on several occasions that if you follow him, life will be difficult. However, the promise that Jesus made and makes is that although life will not be easy, he will be right there with you.

Jesus came to earth the way he did; he was born sort of life us. He lived his life the way people of his age did. He fell in love, had his heart broken, stubbed his toe, skinned his knee, and had friends and relatives die. He was persecuted, tried in a mock trial, and sentenced to death. All this was done so we can relate. God took on the frailty of human flesh, so we had someone to show us the way through the good times and the bad, which involves hope.

Friends, last week I challenged us to make a difference, to work to bring God’s kingdom to earth, not in the future but now. We cannot wait for some politician to do it; we need to do it. We need to make it happen, and we have to have hope that it will happen.

Do not be distracted by what the world wants, do not be distracted by what you see and hear on the news. Instead, keep your eyes on Jesus and remember, if you have air in your lungs, you can make a change.

Amen.

Who is a Veteran? Remarks at the Town of Hull Veterans Day Ceremony

Reverned clergy, elected officials, fellow veterans, citizens of the great Town of Hull, and my fellow Americans. Thank you to our Veterans Agent, Paul Sordilio, for asking me to come here today and to share a few thoughts about Veterans Day.

A few years ago, I found myself at Arlington National Cemetery. Although I had been to Washington several times before this, I had never visited Arlington. It is a quiet place of reflection where one can hear the wind passing through the leaves and, on occasion, horses’ hooves as they carry another veteran to their final resting place.

As I walked the lanes, pausing now and again to wonder about those buried there, I was reminded of the poem, In Flanders Field. We will hear it read later in this ceremony, so I will not read it now except to say that those marble stones placed row upon row reminded me of the poppies.

Arlington is a fantastic place for the private soldier buried alongside the general, and such care is shown in each place. I watched in silence as the guard changed at the Tomb of the Unknown and marveled at how the stones beneath the feet of the guards is worn from their pacing in all sorts of weather, constantly guarding those whose name is known only to God.

One cannot help but feel a sense of gratitude begin to well up inside of oneself for their lives and their dedication to the service of their country. They lie in peace, for their time of fighting has ended.

But I am reminded that today, and this might sound strange, it is not about them. Yes, we need to keep their memories green in our minds and our hearts, but today is about the living, about my fellow veterans standing before me, and to you, I say thank you. Thank you for your dedication and thank you for your duty.

At the 11th Hour, on the 11th Day, of the 11th Month, the guns went silent, and the War to End All Wars came to a close. The guns fell silent, and the long process of restoring peace began. The following year, Armistice Day was commemorated for the first time to remember those who had fallen and in celebration of the victory, they helped to achieve.

An Act of Congress in 1938 made November 11th an official holiday as “A day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.” And in 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day in honor of all veterans who have served in times of peace and in times of war.

Although we come from varied backgrounds, we share the ideals of duty, honor, and country. Veterans have been answering the call of our country since those first days on a village green not far from here. They have given the best years of their lives in service of a people and to secure those freedoms that we all hold dear: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We owe these men and women more than one day to say thanks, for we are indeed the home of the free because of the brave.

There is one group of veterans who answered their country’s call that until recently was not shown the respect they deserved. These men and women responded to their countries’ call to fight a war that no one wanted to fight, not that anyone wanted to fight a war. They answered the call and did their duty, but when they returned, the country that called upon them did not treat them very well. If you are a Vietnam Veteran, please stand as you are able so that I might say thank you for your service. You did what so many did not want to do. Thank You!

So, who is a veteran? A veteran is a person who has served their country. Many fought in wars, and many, like me, served during peacetime. We served on land, on the sea, and in the air. Many continue to serve their community as elected officials or volunteers.

Many of us were young when we joined up. I was 18 years old and had never been away from home. I remember that day in September when I raised my right hand and swore an oath with the words first used in 1789.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

That oath did not expire when my enlistment expired, and I renewed that oath years later was I became a commissioned officer.

I was excited and a little nervous about being on this new adventure. I was not sure what to expect. We boarded buses that took us to Logan airport for our flight. I had only flown a couple of times before, so this was exciting. We arrived and boarded another bus to take us to our destination. After what seemed like an endless amount of paperwork, we turned in for the night, and I had a chance to reflect on all that had happened.

It all changed at 4:30 the following day when the lights suddenly burst on, and a galvanized trash can came bouncing down the aisle of the barracks. I had no idea where or who I was, but I was being yelled at for something.

We made friends we would have for life and friends who understood what we went through because they were there. Friends we trusted to have our backs when the times got tough and can still count on today. Our time in the service changed us forever.

Many of us received wounds from our time in the service. Some of those wounds can be seen, but many cannot. Physical wounds heal over time, and thanks to advancements in medicine, limbs can be replaced and function almost as good, if not better, than the original.

But time does not heal all wounds, and many, far too many of our brothers and sisters suffer from constant reminders of the things they saw and they the things they did, and we owe them so much more than we have given them; we can do better, and we must do better.

Data shows that on a single night in January of 2022, 33,136 veterans were homeless. That number is down from previous years but is still way too high. On average, 17.2 veterans commit suicide each day, each day! Although that number is down, it is still way too high. We must do better.

There is a cost to war that is not always discussed, and that is the human cost. Unfortunately, for many of my fellow veterans, their war has not ended; their battle rages on as they seek the care they deserve in a system so underfunded that it is overwhelmed and sinking under its own weight. Thanks to caring people like Craig Wolfe, our veteran’s agent, Paul Sordilio, and so many others, Hull does a beautiful job caring for our veterans, but we need to do more.

Friends, if you want to thank a vet today, you need to be their voice and advocate and work to secure the benefits and care they deserve. When they stand, raise their hands, and swear the oath to defend us, they need to know that we will protect them when they return. These men and women stand on walls, in the desert sand, and on the decks of ships, and they have our backs the least we can do is to have their backs when they return.

So today, as you go about your day, remember to thank a vet. And tomorrow, when you see that veteran standing on the street corner with the cardboard sign asking for a few dollars, give, and thank them for their service. Talk to Craig Wolfe about the items he is collecting for the Veterans at the VA in Brockton and give. Maybe stop by a cemetery, find a veteran’s grave, and say thank you.

But more important than all of that is to be their voice. So pick up the phone and call those you elect to represent you. Thank them for all they have done for our Veterans in the past and insist that we need to do more.

Thank you, Town of Hull, for the care you provide for our Veterans. Thank you for being here today. God bless all of you. God Bless the Town of Hull. And God Bless America.

Sermon: Man Out on a Limb

Luke 19:1-10

Two kittens shut down the B and Q lines of the New York Subway system for about two hours one day a few years back. The B and Q are two of the main lines that run from Brooklyn into the heart of Manhattan. A two-hour disruption will cause a problem, no matter what time it is.

One morning, a Thursday at 11 a.m., two scared kittens were spotted running down the tracks right next to the third rail. That’s the one that carries the power, 600 volts – not transformer power, but enough to use up all nine lives. So, they decided to cut the power to the whole line. And for almost two hours, the commuters and subway officials waited while a few went on a subway safari to rescue the flustered felines. But, alas, the kittens managed to stay out of reach long enough that the disruption was no longer tenable. So, since the kittens weren’t in visible danger, they returned power to the rail and started the local trains and eventually the express trains but issued an alert inviting the drivers to keep a lookout for the strays.

Naturally, in a day of instant commentary on anything and everything, the opinions were many and various. From the animal lover who praised the compassion of the administrators – or questioned why they gave up so soon just to keep the trains running on time (with the inevitable Mussolini quote tossed in) to the commuters who were patient or not, and the conspiracy theorists who speculated that terrorists in catsuits were behind it all, not to mention the anti-government voices who blamed the president at the time for letting the cat out of the bag. Bah-dum-bum.

The argument centered around one point. Were they worth it? And before you get all heated up, let’s make a shift here. We’re not talking about kittens on a subway track. We are talking about a little guy out on a limb.

Zacchaeus is an interesting character. He is not only a tax collector but the chief tax collector. So, as you can imagine, he was not well-liked in his community for two reasons. One, he was the tax man. Two, being the tax man meant you sided with the government over your fellow Jews. We can infer from what is written about these guys that most of them were corrupt and took more than they reported.

I have shared before about my experiences in Romania. I helped run a nonprofit there for a few years and would often visit the various sites we were supporting. After a few years of hitching rides, I decided it was time for me to drive. You think driving here is bad…

Anyway, if you violated one of the many written and unwritten traffic laws in the country, you, as one would imagine, would get pulled over by the police and issued a citation. You paid the fine to the police officer right there. You did not go to court and hope to have it dismissed; nope, it was cash on the barrel head.

They had these little coupon books and would tear out a coupon that would match the fine. So say the fine was $5, the police officer would tear our 5 one dollar coupons and give them to you. Of course, once back at the station, the police officer would have to reconcile his bool with the cash.

You did not always get the correct number of coupons to match the fine. It was a very different situation if you were an American and had American dollars—sort of like Zacchaeus.

So, Luke sets the stage for us. Again, Zacchaeus is the chief tax collector. He is the one that would come to your house and take all you had if you owed the government. He was the guy that recruited all the other guys, and he was rich. In Luke’s gospel, things don’t always end well for the rich, so immediately, we get an idea in our minds where this is going. But is it?

Zacchaeus hears that Jesus is coming to town and decides he wants to see him. Most rich people would send a memo and ask Jesus to go to their office to see them, but Zacchaeus does not do that. Instead, he runs, not walks but runs down the street where Jesus is going to be passing by. Keep in mind Zacchaeus, although despised, is still a pillar of the community, and he is running down the street to see some passing evangelist. Then it gets even crazier.

Because, as Luke mentions, he is “short of stature,” Zacchaeus, the great man has to climb a tree so he can get a glimpse of Jesus.

Now, we need to take a brief pause here. We have no idea why Zacchaeus has decided that he needs to see Jesus. Notice scripture does not say he wants to speak with Jesus, get a blessing from Jesus, or anything else. Zacchaeus wants to “see” Jesus. Maybe he is curious about what this is all about. Perhaps he does not want to be left out of the water cooler conversation at the tax office the next day. Whatever his motivation, nothing will get in his way.

Here comes Jesus. People are all over, some shouting, some looking on with skepticism, and Zacchaeus up in his tree. Jesus stops in the road, looks up at this curious little man in a tree, and calls to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” Jesus calls him by name and says that he “must” stay at his house. We do not know why Jesus singled out Zacchaeus, but he did right there in front of everyone. Jesus is going to stay in the home of the most despised man in town.

Again, we don’t know Zacchaeus’s motivation. All Luke says is that he wanted to see Jesus. “Trying to see who Jesus was” (verse 3). Why? Was it a change of heart? Was he worried about competition? Was it hope or fear? Or a little of both? We don’t know. And apparently, that doesn’t matter.

Now, this is the real curious part of the story. The transformation, the change in behavior, the giving away of half of what he has, and the desire to pay back four times if, notice he does not admit to anything here if he has defrauded anyone. All of this happened because Jesus said he was coming to dinner. So Zacchaeus came down that tree transformed.

At least there is the appearance of a change. We have to take a deeper dive into the words being used here. Zacchaeus tells Jesus that he “will give” and he “will give back,” but the original text says, “I give” and “I give back,” not future but present. Is Zacchaeus one of the good guys? Is this way Jesus is coming to his house?

The crowd certainly does not think so. They start to grumble when Jesus says he is going to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”

The crowd is not happy that Jesus is going to dine with sinners. “He is not worthy of such an honor,” they say. Jesus, stay on course. Stay out of the gutters, off the side streets, out of the trees. Keep to your own kind. His kind, the sinner kind, is not worth bothering with.

But by going to Zacchaeus’ house, Jesus is saying he is my kind. A child of God. If Jesus ignores him, he ignores you. He did not come to ignore the ones willing to go out on a limb to see him—the ones who put their reputation on the line. The ones who throw proper decorum out the window and, with child-like ambition, climb a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus as he passes by.

Luke leaves us wondering what was in the mind of Zacchaeus when he ran down that street and climbed that tree. He does not leave any clues about his motivation. Zacchaeus took a chance; he risked it all to peek at Jesus.

No matter what, Zacchaeus is worth it, and so are you. No matter what anyone else thinks, we are worth the effort, the disruption, and the inconvenience of loving.

Now ask yourself this question of this passage: “Where are you in the story?” Are you standing with the crowd, shaking your head at those people who aren’t worth it? Or are you standing next to Jesus, inviting yourself into the homes of those others think are sinners? Or perhaps, are you too out on a limb, hoping for a glimpse of Jesus and a whole new way of living?

By the way, seven hours later, they found those kittens, named them Arthur and August, and decided they were worth it.

Amen

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