Sometimes it’s hard to go home.  Other times it’s hard to leave home.  I remember when I came home from my senior year abroad.  I was full of new perspectives and wild-eyed romanticism.  I was in debt to the government, and my parents, for 4 years of student loans.  And I was still waffling and wavering about whether or not to go to seminary.  I was still full of wanderlust from my European journeys, reading Herman Hess’s “Steppenwolf” and smoking filter-less cigarettes.  That nasty habit didn’t last long, thank goodness!  And neither would my wander-lust!  Though finding home is always somewhat more tricky! 

My parents were very tolerant people.  They had supported 3 of 4 children to that point, going through very good liberal arts college educations, and trying out different majors, like so many hats in a fine shop.  But now it was decision time, and when they asked me what my plan was, I said that I thought it would be nice to get a motorcycle as transportation to some temp job, until I could decide on a real career. 

This, wasn’t the son they recognized!  I had normally been hard working, earnest, and truly a son “without deceit,” much like the disciple Nathaniel.  But, I had lost my direction.  Though I was living at what had been my home my entire life, I had no idea what home meant any more!  I wanted to see the, “greater things than these,” that Jesus promised to Nathaniel, but needed a swift kick in the butt to get there! 

When Jesus is baptized, John the Baptist gives his disciples a swift kick in the back side!  “Here is the Lamb of God,” he told them when Jesus came by.  They leave home and become followers of Jesus, no motorcycle for them either, no place to lay their heads, practically penniless.  First Andrew follows, and then his brother Peter, the Rock on whom Jesus says he will build his church. 

The next day Jesus found Philip, who was from the same home-town as Peter and Andrew, and he called to him, “follow me.”  So Philip left home and became a disciple.  Three for three!  Jesus is building a team of committed followers.  Things are falling into place.  Philip then invites Nathaniel to join them – because they’ve found the one whom all of Israel’s been waiting for.  He just happens to hail from the little berg of Nazareth, down the road a piece.  Nathaniel blurts out, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  So Philip drags Nathaniel along rather reluctantly, and when Jesus sees him and pays him a compliment, identifying him as a standup, honest guy, with “no deceit in him,” Nathaniel, a bit too pridefully asks, “Where do you think you got to know me?” 

What happened to just following when Jesus calls?  Will he break the streak of 3 for 3?  But Nathaniel’s questions and his doubts also break through his calling story so that we learn more about both him, and Jesus.  Jesus is a visionary who sees the goodness of Nathaniel’s soul, “truly an Israelite without deceit,” but Jesus the miracle worker is not the be all and end all of his mission.  When Nathaniel suddenly confesses Jesus is the Son of God, and King of Israel, Jesus answered him, “Do you believe because I said I saw you under the fig tree?  You will see greater things than these,” he tells Nathaniel.  You will even see the dream of Jacob’s ladder between heaven and earth become a reality! 

Today, January 15, is the commemoration of Martin Luther King.  He would have been 83 today.  In his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963 Martin delivered a powerful argument for his non-violent civil disobedience, and with just a touch of tongue-in-cheek sermonizing, a message still relevant to us today.  It includes the now famous phrase: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  He went on to say, “we know from painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given up by the oppressor… Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was ‘well timed’ in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” …but, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”  And after detailing the daily humiliations endured by the African-American community, laced with personal examples, he asked with a bit of irony, but not a drop of pleading, to move beyond the waiting: “I hope,” he concluded, “you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.”   Four months later, from the Washington D.C. Mall, in his “I Have a Dream” speech, he would call this “the fierce urgency of now!” 

I am no expert on Dr. King.  I am not African-American, and have no personal experience of suffering as a minority.  But in the gift of faith given, I feel the call to be a disciple that we all have, to know what it is like to leave home and be focused on becoming a follower of Jesus, a divine demand that pulls us beyond  romanticism and takes us on a journey of transformation.  Martin, on his journey, went literally all the way to the cross.  How far are we capable of going? 

So, there is one thing that intrigues me today about Nathaniel.  When he asked Jesus, “Where [in the world] did you get to know me?”  And Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree [long] before Philip called you.”  No one is completely sure what in the world the fig tree means here!  But one good explanation I like is that it refers to 1 Kings – where the magnificence of King Solomon’s empire is lauded: vs. 25 says, “During Solomon's lifetime... Israel lived in safety, from Dan [the farthest northern part of the kingdom] even to Beersheba [the farthest point south], all of them under their vines and fig trees.”  This quote is picked up again in both the prophets Micah and Zechariah, where “living under the fig tree” becomes a kind of code word for the future hope of restoration for an Israel trying to find itself again, and go back home.  But it was taking that privilege of the good life under the fig tree for granted that was also at the root of Israel’s demise. 

So, Jesus is trying to pay him a compliment perhaps.  To live under the fig tree would mean to be a part of that promise of restoration about to come.  But Nathaniel, like all of us from time to time, confuses the romanticism of that good life with the real thing.  He’s kind of diggin’ the privilege of sitting under that bountiful fig tree.  And that’s when Jesus gives him his Letter from Birmingham Jail speech.  We are not at the mountain top yet, my followers!  The real journey is just beginning.  And the real wonder of Jesus’ ministry is yet to be revealed, when “heaven will be opened and you will see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” 

Nathaniel would like to stay home and have this pretty vision without leaving the fig tree.  But Jes us calls him out!  There’s a “direct-action campaign” that lies ahead for Jesus’ disciples, and it entails carrying our own crosses, and confessing our own prejudice and privilege.  There is no pretty motorcycle to carry you there, but only the epiphany of the beautiful ascending and descending light of Christ which indeed blows our minds, and transforms our lives, like nothing else can.  Only together, are we truly enriched and “find” the kingdom of God, which is abundant life and joy and peace.  Until we all meet under the fig tree, no one can live under the fig tree!  Waiting there is not an option!  Jesus too long delayed, like justice, is Jesus denied!  Come and see!  

Leftover “Bethlehem 2000” merchandise lay dusty in the West Bank souvenir shops in January of 2005.  In the five years since the Pope’s visit to the Holy Land, the anticipated millennial year tourists had vanished, due to the worsening political climate and escalations of violence during the Intifada.  Bethlehem had been spiffed up for the arrival of the nations – the star was a symbol of this pilgrimage – but even now, after the shelling had ceased, the crowds were slim and the gift shops that were a large part of the economy, remained nearly deserted.

I bought a camel from a sad-eyed Palestinian boy in the streets. Then I bought a whole caravan – which was described as a lead donkey and three camels – this time from a thin man hawking them by our solitary tour bus.  We had been discouraged from “encouraging” these vendors by our tour guides, who understandably didn’t want to be distracted from leading us.  But it was hard to resist the pleas of fathers who spoke of hungry children at home.  It was hard not to notice the dust, disappointment and desperation.  It was hard not to connect with the hope that lit up these faces when we appeared.  Perhaps they’d have enough to eat tonight.  Perhaps tourism would pick up.  Perhaps Americans could do something.

Back home, we ended up giving the lead donkey to our godson Joey.  His younger brother Daniel got the sad-eyed-boy’s camel.  At bedtime, when we presented these far-away gifts to them, we talked about the Magi who followed the star, and their caravans – the single file pack animals banded together to cross the desert with spices and treasures.  In the morning, we noticed Joey had emptied his bookcase!  With the donkey proudly leading the pack, he’d lined up every animal in his room to form a eclectic caravan that switch-backed through the shelves.  Plastic horses, stuffed bears, wooden giraffe, a ceramic piggy bank, an onyx whale, all on an expectant, single-file, upward march, toward… something wonderful, surely. 

Today’s good news begins: “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?  For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage’.” 

So begins the Epiphany text we know so well!  But who really are the players?  Who are the leaders?  And who are the followers?  Sad to say, even our preferred NRSV translation fails us here!  Magi have been translated as “wise men.”  And worship, as in worshiping God alone, has been translated as, “come to pay him homage.”  I love the poetry here, but it somewhat misses the mark. 

There are wise men in this story, but it’s not the Magi who come from the East.  There is a king in this story, but Herod, whose title was: “King of the Jews”, who was a well known tyrant ruling Israel at the time, doing the bidding of Rome, wasn’t God’s anointed.  Herod thinks of himself as king, of course.  And so he is understandably “frightened,” as Matthew says, by the bold claim of the Magi, that a new king has been born!  Herod’s smart enough not to kill the messenger, and plots how to use them to get to his rival.  And so Herod consults the chief priests and scribes, literally the real wise men in this story, trained in theological interpretation of the scriptures and its Messiah’s and Kings, to play along with the Magi.  ‘The prophet Micah foretold of a ruler,’ his wise men report.  ‘A Shepherd-King, to be born in little Bethlehem, the city of David, just a few miles down the road.’ 

In our 1st Reading, Isaiah shouts for joy, “Arise, shine, for your light has come”!  The light of the star, lights the way to, the Star of Bethlehem, Jesus: little child, the Son of God, and Light of the World!  It seems like all the nations are in motion to find this gift!  Only, the wise men of Jerusalem, and King Herod, are content with the way things are, holding on tightly to their positions. 

These feast day texts set the stage for a Season of Epiphany that recognizes we are a people of God on the move.  And so Matthew’s gospel begins with this wonderful story of foreign nations, represented by the Magi, who come to worship the true Shepherd-King.  This gospel begins with the inclusion of, us, the Gentile nations.  Just like Israel had been, we too are a people on a journey; Diaspora is as fundamental to the Magi, as it is to the Abrahamic faiths.  In these days of global migration, as millions are displaced, does the church of Christ migrate, and when it comes time for resettlement, resettle?  How can we be more nimble and ready to mobilize?  Can we be those in waiting, as well as the caravan?

In my first call in Michigan, I considered it a high compliment to our congregation when Beth, who worshiped only occasionally, traveled to our church service because she felt welcome and alive there.  As an outdoors person, she described the feeling she had when coming up to our church doors.  It was as if she was on a hike in the woods, she said, and came upon an encampment of people along the trail!  They were gladdened that she had appeared, but not surprised to look up and see her.  They smiled as though they were expecting someone they didn’t know, and appreciated that she had gifts to bring.  They were happy to be camped together, and in that joy, shared a meal and whatever they had, with all who came along. 

That’s my favorite description of the feel of our communities of faith.  Provisional, like an encampment, with opportunities to gather and worship.  We look up, to see who’s coming, and in them, see God’s glory on the horizon.  Our assemblies ebb and flow, but has a core, a heart, and a hope in Jesus, our guiding star.  

For at our best, we, the church, are a sent people.  “All diasporas are different, and often difficult — but every diaspora also holds the possibility for us of leading new and transformed lives, filled with much hope.” (Francisco Lozada, The Bible as a Text in Cultures: Latinas/os, The People’s Bible, (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2009)

So, who’s leading and who’s following?  We follow the Magi, who followed the star – and don’t follow the wise men, the scribes, for the truth “will not be revealed to the wise and intelligent,” Jesus tells us.  But we also, like the Magi, become leaders and bring others to the manger, to worship the true King, the Christ-child, on bended knee, as servant-Magi, that we may give and receive, the peace and love of Christ.  We are a diaspora people.  We continue to follow the star, and we settle only for a time, there by the manger, encamping with other believers, before going out to find other followers once again.  

Here’s a good game.  I’ll bet you played this for New Year’ Eve last night!  The Garland game!?  It’s a popular old singing game, or at least it was in Germany in the middle-ages, probably played in the local pubs there at the time.  Young men would sing the garland refrain to the women, which went like this:

(Sung to the tune of 
Good news from far abroad I bring
Glad tidings for you all I sing,
I bring so much you’d like to know,
Much more than I shall tell you though.

And then they’d add a new verse, a riddle they made up, singing it to a young woman of their choosing.  If she couldn’t answer the riddle, she had to give her garland to the singer!  And around and around they’d go, taking turns singing and trying to solve the riddles, and exchanging the garlands around their necks.  It reminds me a bit of the old tradition of giving your college ring to your sweetheart, except the Garland Game is more gender-free than this American tradition. 

Anyway, Luther liked the tune of the song and used it, as he did with a number of popular Pub songs in his day, and made it into a hymn for church.  He wrote a whopping 14 verses, and he used the riddle format, you could say, in that, the name Jesus is not revealed finally until verse 12!  Today we sing it as our Hymn of the Day, but we won’t make you sing all 14 of the verses! 

Luther is credited with rewriting the music, and is the one we have printed in our hymnals.  It’s a catchy tune, and even Bach used it in his Christmas Oratorio, and at least seven other of his works. 

It’s not the kind of name-game we choose to play today.  But the melody is easy to learn, and the verses aren’t bad either, for the Christmas season! 

Names!  They have intrinsic meaning, as Paul Tillich, a great theologian of the 20th C. used to say.  Spoken words carry meaning within them so that they point to the thing which they represent.  For example, Jesus is the Logos, or word of God, as we learned last Sunday, reading from John’s Prologue.  Jesus was “with God” in the beginning, and indeed “was God,” the word of God, which is exactly how creation came into being in the Genesis story.  God spoke, and it was. 

In our gospel reading, the new born child, only a week old, is gathered up by his parents from his manger in Bethlehem for his first journey just up the road a piece, to the Temple in Jerusalem.  “After eight days had passed,” Luke tells us, “it was time to circumcise the child.”  A, matter-of-fact bit of information!  But also a reminder that Mary and Joseph were fulfilling the equivalent of the baptismal requirements of the day, and that Jesus was brought up according to the Jewish laws that all children were.  “And [on this day] he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel…” 

Normally a first born son would be given the name of the father.  We already saw this come up in Luke’s story in the naming of John the Baptist.  There was a controversy over his christening!  Should he be named from heaven above, or from the culture below?  When Elizabeth and Zechariah brought him to the temple on the eighth day, and when the priests were about to name him Zechariah, Elizabeth said “no,” the angel told us, “he is to be called John”.  But they didn’t believe her, and went running to Zechariah, who was still struck dumb by angel Gabriel, unable to speak – and he had to write it on a chalk board, and show it to the priests: “his name is John.”  And immediately Zechariah’s “mouth was opened and his tongue freed” to speak again.  Names are important! 

Just so, Jesus was named, not after his father Joseph, but was given a name from heaven above, “given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb,” the name Jesus, which means, God saves.  So, the Jesus story contains a double whammy!  First of all, at least from the perspective of the culture around him, Jesus is not named in the tradition of his family, raising more questions, no doubt, about his unwed parents.  And secondly, this child born in a manger, a feeding trough, is to be called: God saves?  Really?!  A bit presumptuous, don’t you think? 

The date of this feast day has shifted back and forth over the years.  In the fourth century, when Christian pilgrims kept coming to Rome on January 1st, St Augustine greeted them one year, and is reported to have said, “I see you have come here as if we had a feast today!”  And sure enough, as Christians were want to do in those days, they transformed the pagan celebration, in this case New Year’s, a time of widespread license and wild debauchery, and turned it into a Christian holy day.  At first, to offset the pagan partying, it was more like a Lenten day of fasting and solemnity.  Augustine said in his sermon that day, “During these days when they revel, we observe a fast in order to pray for them.” 

But as times changed, so did the commemoration day.  By the 7th C. Pope Boniface called it “The Octave of the Lord,” like the eight days of the Easter Feast, and it became a joyous and celebrative festival. 

And eventually, calling today, the Name of Jesus has come to win out over, the Circumcision of Jesus.  The Jewish tradition was to combine both together, of course, but the gospel emphasizes the naming of Jesus, and made circumcision optional.   

As Jesus grew, he received many different titles, in an attempt to define all that he was and is:  Son of God, Son of Man, Emmanuel, Christ, Prophet, Rabbi, High Priest, Name above every Name, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Light of the World, and Bread of Life, among others.  But none was more apt than Jesus, meaning, God saves. 

Jesus is both a riddle and the most well known name there is.  From heaven above he comes, though he’s born of a woman, here below.  He is savior of the world, but he also empties himself taking on our sins.  He is innocent, a man peace, but he dies a criminals’ death.  He was a poor wandering teacher with no where to lay his head, but he debated the scholars of his day and was raised up by God as our king.  He holds both heaven and earth together in one miraculous whole, a riddle we struggle to apprehend.  But as every Sunday School child knows, the answer is always the same: it’s, The Name of Jesus, “the name given by the angel, before he was conceived [in the womb].”  

Part of the magic of Christmas morning when you are young is the not knowing what to expect.  There is great anticipation for the surprise of the presents under the tree.  What will be inside the wrapping paper you’re just dying to rip off?  The world is a very large place at that age, and Christmas confirms that there is something bigger than yourself in the world that is wonderful and exciting. 

One of the gifts of this season, for the rest of us who are past the childhood stage of Christmas, is the gift of the end of the Iraq war and return of its soldiers.  Though such a controversial war is hard to celebrate, still it is a relief to see families reunited, joined to one another in hugs and kisses, and tears of joy.  Let’s hope the gifts they unwrap this year will be surprisingly wonderful and full of life.  For some, of course, there are certain to be difficulties down the road.  Re-integrating into civilian life will include a wide range of successes and failures. 

A soldier from the war that NPR has followed for some years, Josh Apsey, who at 19 was still a teenager when he enlisted, is now home from Afghanistan once again.  He said he was very idealistic when he first went, excited to be part of something bigger than himself, and, to face the evil that brought down the twin towers.  But by his second tour of duty, he lost that romanticism, and his major motivation became survival.  Between those two tours, he was promoted and put in charge of other Marines, and that responsibility also weighed on him, and he became attuned to the dangers that threatened all their lives.  And then, getting married state-side, he began to appreciate that this was a job that could bring home a paycheck. 

And so when that 2nd tour finished, everyone noticed, Josh was a changed person when he came back – his wife, his parents, and even himself.  Josh feels lucky that since he returned, he’s working at Quantico, Virginia, training other Marines.  And, he bought a house in the country where he lives with his wife and two dogs.  But he’s not the same.  "Sometimes I just feel like I'm a robot,” Josh told NPR.  “I'm just going through all the motions but I'm not mentally and emotionally there,” he confessed.  And Josh says he’s noticed that he's lost the ability to care.  I don’t feel like I’m part of anything bigger than myself.  I used to feel like I made a difference. 

After worship last night I visited briefly with the Hamen’s about their Christmas plans for today.  Their two grandsons from Madison were coming for a traditional Christmas at grandma and grandpa’s house, and I teased them a bit about not spoiling them.  But the fact is, there’s something wonderful about experiencing Christmas through the wide-eyed excitement of children. 

For those of us still seeking the wonder and joy of Christmas, even though we’re past that wide-eyed excitement of childhood, where do we turn?  Well, today we turn the page from Luke’s gospel to John.  We move on from the innocence of Luke’s story of the child born in a manger, surrounded by Shepherds and angels, cattle and donkeys, and we read this morning from John chapter 1, the Prologue of his gospel.  And unwrapping John is a surprise and a delight in another way.  Inside is the gift of the incarnation again, but packaged now as a more complex and rich gift for adults, a theological and poetic masterpiece. 

Like re-opening the book of Genesis, and starting all over again in the creation story, we discover that Jesus was with God “in the beginning,” and indeed without Jesus nothing could have been created.  Jesus the human, is divine too, and “not one thing came into being” without him.  Jesus is the Logos, the Word.  Just as when God spoke and things came into being each of the six days of creation, so Jesus is the word God speaks when life is created out of nothing – light from darkness, land from water, plants and animals, and so on.  And the “life” that Jesus brings, is “the light of all people.”  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  And so, Jesus is our sun and moon, a bright shining star, that leads the way! 

Instead of little Jesus in the manger, his humble parents Mary and Joseph, the cloistered and somewhat chaotic chorus of the animals and angels, John’s Prologue waxes boldly of a universe spoken into existence by Jesus, the Word of God, created for us “who received him.”  And believing, having faith in him, he gives to us the gift of life, new and abundant life, a gift we are still unwrapping and newly delighted with.  Now we too are the chosen people. 

This is a gift for your “second tour of duty,” in this life.  One to help you see and believe that there truly is something bigger than yourself, something to enable you to care again, to hope and love again.  Here is a God that gifts us, with a surprise that we can’t wait to rip the wrapping paper off! 

And receiving it, we know we can make a difference again – make a difference here in this world, which we see through our all too old eyes that have experienced – the loss of loved ones, the disappointment of separations, the hurt of addictions, the insensitivity and hate of discrimination and injustice, wars, poverty and natural disasters.  Yet it is here, it is precisely here, that Jesus empowers us to be agents of grace and truth.  God is an incarnational God, and God can work in and through us, even though we don’t feel up to, or feel worthy, of it.  Something bigger than us has come very close to us, has shown us favor and loves us, and gives us permission to “make a difference in the world”. 

Where will you make a difference in the world in the coming year?  Do you know that experience in your life?  Or are you still seeking that deeper, richer meaning?  Where will we, as Unity Lutheran Church, make a difference in the world this coming year? 

Some of us have done tours of duty beyond what we ever imagined, and we might like to hang it up!  But the one who is bigger than ourselves does not let us go.  The little new born child in Bethlehem, is also the Logos, the Word who is with God, and who is God, and who has chosen us.  Jesus lights up our lives whenever we open our eyes to this miracle. 

As John’s Prologue says: “And we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”  

The angels announce the joy and peace of a new born king, a savior, who is coming to occupy his rightful place in the world.  It took place in Israel, when Quirinius was governor of Syria, under Emperor Augustus.  Only- the emperor has no clue it’s taking place right under his nose!  How is it, if it is true, that the 1% can be so impotent to the blessings born into the world of the 99%? 

“This will be a sign for you,” the angel tells the frightened shepherds.  “You will find the child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in [a feeding trough, called,] a manger.” 

Out in the shepherd’s fields the angel is suddenly joined by a heavenly host of angels, and, beaming down in the wilderness, the glory of the Lord shone around them.  In that enlightened moment, the Shepherds, and even the sheep, are more aware of God’s presence – and present to the world – than Augustus is!  Jesus will occupy the whole world, animal kingdom and all, everyone and everything. 

For Jesus is not king like the rulers in Rome.  Jesus will rescue even one sheep who strays away from the 99, so that none are lost.  Jesus is born with the 99%.  Why would… Emperor Augustus, or Governor Quirinius, be aware of a child born in a manger in Bethlehem?  Who cares? 

The handlers, and campaign managers, the Vice-Presidents of Development and Public Relations, working day and night to keep Augustus, or, Wall Street for that matter, happy and in power, were not looking in backwaters like Bethlehem for the next contender or politico, the next protestor or prophet.  The shepherds “keeping watch over their flock by night” weren’t on their list of contributors that they kept in their breast-pocket, just on their list of outcasts: poor, unwashed, dreamers. 

So, feathering their own nests and hob-knobbing with the rich and famous, they missed the chorus: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among people of divine favor.”  Dreamers!  Likely story!  Yet Jesus was born, occupying his rightful place in the world – a manger. 

Occupy Wall Street came into our lives this Fall.  Born of some illegitimate step parent, occupying a city park that turned out to be private property.  And yet, in the beginning, no one noticed as they slept there.  Banging their drums by daylight, the 1% barely batted an eye.  Unwashed, unemployed, dreamers!  But quickly the slogan, ‘we are the 99%,’ began to catch on, all across the country.  People recognized that something had been born into our world: a hope, an answered prayer, an understanding that things have gotten enough out of control, and needed to be put right again.  A gift had been unwrapped, beyond politics, and certainly beyond politicians.  There is a 1% that’s taken control of more and more of democracy’s decisions, and they don’t seem to care who we are, or what our lives are like. 

It may be hard for anyone, including us Christmas worshipers, to love the shepherds.  But their message, when it comes from a heavenly host, cannot be denied: after seeing the child lying in the manger, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God” and “they made known what had been told them” and what they saw with their own eyes, “about this child.” 

It’s the message, not the messenger!  Jesus came as an outcast, born of a virgin, an unwed mother, born in a feeding trough, a manger, surrounded by an entourage of lowly shepherds.  Jesus remained poor, unwelcome by those learned scholars he regularly outwitted, and the priests he eagerly spoke the truth to about their hypocrisy.  Jesus was called a friend of sinners and tax collectors.  He was a stumbling block to insiders, the stone the builders rejected. 

Yet, we love this story!  We welcome the message of Jesus love, and ponder it in our hearts!  Jesus came to occupy the whole world, not by force, as kings do to countries, not by the nepotism of religious privilege as priests do, or by the economic exclusion of financial systems as the 1% have.  Jesus came to occupy a manger as an innocent baby, to be baptized in a river by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be led out into the desert, standing up for us to the forces of evil, to heal and make whole the lowly, the 99, and to be lifted triumphantly on the cross for our salvation, obedient to God, who lifted him up from the grave. 

Jesus’ occupation has many Titles: Savior, Prince of Peace, Healer, Wonderful Counselor, Deliverer, the Bread of Life, Redeemer, the King of kings.  He comes to occupy his rightful place in our world – to occupy our lives and our spirits with his Holy Spirit. 

We love this story!  And with the outcast shepherds, and all the 99%, God sends us out again to live our lives as a people, occupied by the Messiah, the Lord, with joy and thanksgiving.  

The days were short and overcast; the nights long and dark.  The long awaited savior-king was hidden in plain sight, tucked safely away, far from royal palaces and jealous emperors.  The world hoped for deliverance from the darkening days of December, daring to anticipate new life, and perhaps even a rescue for an occupied people.  God had promised.  And now faith hoped for the unseen to appear. 

The plan was basically to turn the world upside down with a little innocent baby.  Luke’s picture of God begins by lifting up the lowly, choosing a maiden as mother of our LORD, naming her, ‘most highly favored lady.’  She was engaged to a great guy, they hadn’t even lived together yet, and still she was to give birth, because the “Most High” God would provide the seed.  It was to happen quietly, in the little town of Bethlehem, the city of David, in the shadows of Jerusalem.  The royal greeting party would be poor disdainful shepherds, not princes, but perhaps ancestors of David, who himself had roamed those same Shepherds Field’s centuries earlier.  The holy couple barely made it in time, traveling a long distance from Nazareth – there should have been a sign there, “Emergency Parking Only,” for the last available spot the pulled into.  Mary would lay the new-born king in a manger, a rough hewn feeding trough for barnyard animals, so that, in addition to the coarse and cursing shepherds, even the donkeys, camels and sheep would testify to creations’ redemption by the Prince of Peace. 

This, is the gospel good news – and, a story no publisher would touch for decades!  This was a crazy mixed-up, upside-down story!  It took a community of faith, not the usual chosen ones, to get it. 

Mary herself was unconvinced at first, confused really, since she was a virgin.  The why, the how, the where and when, none of it, could really be explained.  But then neither could the pregnancy of cousin Elizabeth, who, well past menopause now, was 6 months pregnant.  And the angel Gabriel would only tell Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy, he will be called Son of God.  …For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

So why did God choose to come into the world in this way?  Was God some kind of rabble rouser?  Did God want to change things up just for the sake of change?  Why not come as a real King, like Emperor Augustus?  Or be born in the Temple or in Rome, instead of in a manger, surrounded by the livestock of poor laborers?  Why come to a virgin not yet married, and to her guy no one knew, living far from the house of David, who himself was trying to make it as a carpenter?  Why?

Last week, as I passed by the “Our Lady of the Underpass” shrine driving home in the steady rain, I could see a woman kissing the concrete wall.  Her two teenaged sons stood on either side of her.  She must have been very devout, or perhaps there was a service of some kind?  I haven’t seen that many flowers in a while!  Maybe there had been a Los Posadas gathering?  I go by from time to time, but not usually so late, or after dark.  But the lights, twinkling from many Guadalupe candles that grey December evening, were attractive and warmed the spot of much devotion amidst the cold concrete of its surroundings. 

The apparition of Mary first appeared in 2005 at this Fullerton Avenue underpass of the Kennedy expressway, a perfect image of the praying icon of the Mother of Our Lord!  Though others saw the Virgin of Guadalupe, or thought it was connected with the election of the new pope at that time.  A sign next to the image reads: “Emergency Parking Only!”  It’s a site reserved for crash investigations – and, now also for appearances of the holy family!  Except for those bouquets of flowers and twinkling lights, it is not a pretty place, by any standard.  It’s also a regular corner for panhandlers, as cars coming off the freeway wait forever for the stop light to change.  And homeless beds, made of sleeping bags or blankets, regularly come and go. 

“Our Lady of the Underpass” describes both a well revered shrine for the ardent faithful, and a tongue-in-cheek moniker for a pointless dripping on a public industrial wall, created, most likely, by an abundant use of salt one snowy winter.  Perhaps just another reminder of the polarized society we live in? 

Yet, like the church itself, it’s not the permanent shrine that we worship.  The church is the gathered assembly of the people who understand that God can and does take human form, and by the Spirit, calls us to common purpose.  God lives and breathes through faithful believers.  It is the people who are the church, the shrines come and go. 

Why would God choose to come into the world in this way?  Why would God send an angel to announce the birth of the Messiah to Mary, or draw a salty image of her on the Fullerton underpass?  Why would God choose a virgin, an unwed mother, in an out the way village, to be the God-bearer?  And why would God choose to appear in a dirty, noisy accident investigation site with the panhandlers and homeless, next to a sign, “Emergency Parking Only?” 

Perhaps there is a little bit of the rabble rouser in God!  Not to promote change just for the sake of change, of course, but in order to announce restoration to the poor, to bring healing to the sick, to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and lift up the lowly and disdained.  To make ordinary and lowly people into favored and royal people, and to empower us to be God’s hands and feet, and souls, in the world. 

The urge to build shrines goes at least as far back as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who built altars to the living sovereign God upon first entering the Holy Land at Shechem, Hebron, Jerusalem and many other locations still revered today.  Who knows how long “Our Lady of the Underpass” will endure, but it is not surprising that God would choose to appear there or that thousands would flock there to pray, give thanks, and hope for God to act in their own lives, to be lifted up and raised to new life.   

I suppose in a way that is our prayer in Advent, that God would come and rescue us – our lives, our lost society, our greed and entitlement, our sorrows which seem out of control and un-listened too – that our prayer is that sign, Come into our world and into our lives, Lord Jesus, right here next to us!  Here, we have put up a sign, “Emergency Parking Only” reserved for you, the God for whom “nothing is impossible.”  

_Out of all the candidates in all the debates, after every pundit had written him off, John the Baptist, had suddenly surged, and was leading the polls in the race for Messiah.  Most of the candidates had taken turns leading the pack at one time or another, while the man from Galilee stayed steady, waiting.  They didn’t know yet that John had made a backroom deal with cousin Jesus, to become the Anointed One, and that John would soon throw all his weight behind him. 

 

So John called a press conference on his home turf, the banks of the River Jordan.  It was down near the wilderness where the Israelites first entered the Promised Land.  Moses had passed the torch there to his protégé Joshua.  All John’s followers gathered, along with the Press Corp and the lawyers of every candidate, of the priests and Levites.  John felt more like Moses than Joshua, understanding at last that his ministry of baptism was preparing the way for the Anointed One.  So John, “a man sent from God” all agreed, to be as clear as possible, called a press conference, as the national campaign for new leadership was in full swing.  And so the writers and reporters from Jerusalem trudged all the way down from the capital, over to John’s open air headquarters on the Jordan River.  And he was a good speaker.  Electric!  He could draw a crowd.  John had modified his stump speech.  He was “a witness to the light.”  “He himself was not the light,” but “he came to speak about” that one, and point to him. 

 

This was an audience that could help get the message out, he felt, and help him clearly point to his successor.  There is one “who is much greater than I, who is coming.”  It’s not about me, John told them, but “so that [you] all might believe”. 

 

But the very first question was, “Who are you?”  You’re the One, aren’t you!  John took a deep breathe, realizing this was not going to go well.  I know what you’re trying to ask, you want to know if I’m the Messiah, the anointed one.  So let me say this as clearly as I can, “I am not the Messiah.”  I am here to baptize with water, to cleanse people in preparation for the Messiah to come.  Think of this river as one big giant Mikvah, like the purifying baths you use in Jerusalem in preparation for going to Temple, except this is a font for the whole people of Israel, to get ready together.  I’m preparing the way, that’s all, for a new recreated Israel, a new Temple, a new Joshua, Jesus of Nazareth!  He will lead you on the right path. 

 

Okay, let’s try another question.  You there from the Jerusalem Times, go ahead.  “Mr. Baptizer, if you’re not the Messiah, are you Elijah?”  Okay, listen, “I am not Elijah,” John said.  You know very well that Elijah’s return would be the same as admitting I was the Messiah.  I am not! 

 

But the whole press corps was in an uproar, “Well then, who are you?  What’re we going to tell everyone back at the Capital?”  Tell us something about yourself we can print, preferably something juicy! 

 

Okay, write this down, said John, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”   The press corps was atwitter now: isn’t that a direct quote from “the prophet Isaiah”?    I thought he said he wasn’t a prophet?  But we could definitely spin a story with that. 

 

Today, there are many Biblical Scholars who think John was, at one time, every bit the ‘player’ Jesus was.  He probably had Messianic pretensions of his own.  He had a large following.  His ministry of baptism was his signature, his campaign platform.  But after being arrested, and shortly thereafter beheaded in prison, is likely when he was written into the story of Jesus who had an even greater following.  John’s execution came to foreshadow Jesus’ own, but the postscript and heavenly crowning, which confirmed Jesus’ anointing as Messiah, was totally unlike John, or any other candidate, in that time, or since, a resurrection as the first-fruits of the dead, bringing light and life to all.  John’s ministry of baptism prepared the way, and pointed to the true Light, “the light shining in the darkness,” the “Light of the world.” 

 

‘Listen,’ said John, if you guys don’t want to get baptized, that’s up to you.  But I can tell this, “among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”  Believe me, you’re going to be doing a lot more interviews with him, in Galilee and Jerusalem! 

 

At the Nazareth Lutheran Church in St. John, V.I., where I was last Sunday, Pastor Carlyle Sampson entered the ambo, to preach from Mark’s gospel about John the Baptist.  His modest open air church a block from the banks of Cruz Bay was full.  The people, rich and poor, native born, tourists and other resident main-landers, listened with rapt attention.  Now, I have to tell you, Kim and I heard him preach last year when we were there, and we introduced ourselves as fellow pastors in the Lutheran Church.  So when he called us this past winter from the Lutheran Center here in Chicago, we were happy to join him for dinner and get to know him and his ministry a little better.  Speaking from first hand knowledge, I can tell you Carlyle Sampson is nothing if not a fiercely simple and upright man, a model of humbleness.  And so when Pastor Sampson described the straight forward and humble ways of John the Baptist last Sunday, how he lived in the desert and single-mindedly was preparing the way for Jesus, I felt he could have been describing himself, and that he knew of what he spoke.  Pastor Sampson wants nothing more than to point to the true light, the one who is coming, the one we all want to meet, who we all crave to know, and have found in some way to be the answer to our deepest questions, and who is the salvation and healing for all our longings in this life, for he is the anointed king, the one who’s the redeemer of our lives. 

 

“I baptize you with water,” said John to the Press Corps, as you wait with anticipation for the Messiah.  But do you know he is “standing among you” already!  Why are you coming here to listen to me if you’re not going to get baptized?  If you will not be baptized with water, surely you won’t be able to be baptized with the Holy Spirit! 

 

Who am I, is not the right question, says John.  Who is the Son of God, where is he, and what is he up to now?  That’s what you should be asking.  “He was sent to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor…,” a jubilee year, as the prophet Isaiah said!  

 

Like John, our mission is to be voices and pointers to the anointed Messiah too.  We point to the Jesus born in a manger to undocumented, unwed parents, as the savior king.  We point to Jesus, friend of tax collectors and sinners, healer of the outcast, the marginalized and scapegoat-ed.  When we are pointers and voices to the gospel, we are re-created and chosen to be a community and support each other in this ministry.  We don’t have to be the Savior, but we are ‘elected’ none-the-less, to be witnesses, who point to him. 

 

Call a press conference; alert the media, for, He is coming soon!  Christ the new born king is coming soon.  

The only thing that felt Apocalyptic about Thanksgiving this weekend, was the full and pregnant feeling I had after eating and drinking to my hearts content.  Not sure if it was the plate of turkey and all the trimmings, or the dessert – or should I say desserts: pumpkin, apple and pecan pies – and I had one piece of each!  And so, ready to burst, a handful of us decided to go out for an evening walk and get a little exercise.  It was a beautiful Wisconsin night, above average temperatures and clear as a bell.  Far from the big city, the sky was lit mainly by the stars.  The Milky Way was clearly visible along with the 1,000 plus closer stars of our galaxy, and they were made all the brighter because the moon had been darkened in it’s new moon phase.  In the east, the orange-ish glow of Jupiter also stood out.  We could all pick out the Big Dipper, which sat on the northern horizon like a pot on the stove.  Then Mitchell, the youngest, called out, “Look, a shooting star!”  Suddenly, we were all on the look out for something to happen in the sky.  Was it a sign?  “Keep awake” –for you do not know when another star will fall!  But after a while we walked on, happy that the beauty of the sky seemed unchanged, the Dipper forever in the north, like a cherished old kitchen pan you can count on in the cabinet. 

As Jesus sat across from the Temple with Peter, James, John, and Andrew, he instructed them: “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.”  

Chapter 13 of Mark is often called, “The Little Apocalypse”, after the apocalyptic passages in Isaiah and Daniel, and later in Revelation.  Albert Schweitzer popularized the Little Apocalypse, however inaccurately, about a century ago.  He believed that, when Jesus said “this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place,” that Jesus meant his second coming would take place.  So, disappointed that Jesus’ prediction had not come true, Schweitzer left the church, though he continued to cling to the mission of Jesus, going to fulfill a life of good works overseas in Africa. 

Today we know that the Little Apocalypse was actually not just a disembodied prophecy about an other-worldly second coming, but a specific map of history happening in and around Jesus and the early church.  As in all Apocalyptic writing, it arises in times of great distress, like war and displacement.  Daniel, of course, was written amidst Israel’s hopelessness, exiled to Babylon, and it helped strengthen their faith when they were tempted to give up. Mark’s Little Apocalypse was written during, or immediately after, the Jewish War from A.D. 66-70, in which the Brigands of Israel were finally defeated by the Romans, and the Temple was destroyed and burned to the ground.  So apocalyptic – first and foremost – addresses the community in which it arises.

In the first verses of Chapter 13, the disciples marvel at the beauty of the Temple.  And Jesus responds: ‘Go ahead, take a good look at it’ –and it was a magnificent, with its meticulously milled, massive stones, the gold inlay, towering above the city of Jerusalem.  But Jesus predicts, “not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”  Then, sitting down on the Mount of Olives across the valley, the disciples ask him, “when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?”  The whole rest of the chapter then, the Little Apocalypse, is Jesus’ answer to Peter, James, John and Andrew.  The wars he describes were the Jewish Wars of their generation.  Two of the worst earthquakes, we now know, happened in those years, of which Jesus makes mention.  The images of a ‘Son of Man’ coming in the clouds is almost a verbatim quote from Daniel.  And so today we know that Jesus’ prediction, that the Temple would fall, and he, the Son of Man would arise, did happen within a generation, or 40 years time.  And Jesus’ final word to the disciples as they look at the Temple from the Mount of Olives is, “Keep awake,” a message to them for the Passover festival about to take place, as much as it speaks to us today.   

And do the disciples keep awake?  Certainly not when they return to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives less than 48 hours later.  Jesus asks them to wait for him while he goes to pray and simply stay awake, stay on watch.  But three times they fall asleep, and then the Temple guard walk right up and arrest Jesus.  Not until the cross and resurrection, will they truly wake up! 

The “Little Apocalypse,” like earlier forms of it, are prophecies delivered in the midst of national crisis, which map a way out for a hopeless people.  As we too get more and more cautious and fearful in these times, lean more and more on simple and seemingly secure answers, Jesus, in the tradition of the prophets imagines a whole new world that God is going to bring even as we see the sky falling.  Something new is about to break in!  The old is giving way, and we must give our undivided attention to it.  Endings are opportunities for new beginnings, and God will not be satisfied with former traditions that have lost there traction as the former things are passing away. 

I remember the first Faith-based Community Organizing Training I went to.  In a workshop, an eager but perplexed student, asked Stephen Bowman, one of the leaders, “it seems like we are being trained to be some rather radical change agents in our parishes, and yet most of our people are traditional in their faith.  How will we convince them?”  Without hesitation Stephen answered: “you don’t have to convince them.  The people of your parish are people with families that care about the communities they live in, and no matter how traditional people are, they will stand up for what is best for their family life and neighborhood.  Justice and fairness is in their interest.” 

The darkened sky’s and falling stars of apocalyptic times are sometimes misused by false prophets to fill us with fear, and take away the power we have as change agents in the world.  But Jesus gives us a real map to follow through times of crisis and testing.  Jesus empowers us, during days where hope is in short supply and we are unsure if we even have a future, in days such as these when we face tough economic times, both in our society and in our congregational budget, and even the powers of heaven look shaken up. 

We know this is true because Jesus, the Son of Man, assures us that he is also the Son of God.  When in times of great peril, the Temple, the place where God had traditionally resided for centuries, was falling down, Jesus gave up his body, his life, to be raised as a new temple, a much more universal and available temple, where all could see and meet God wherever they live, and worship.  And miraculously, we, the Gentiles, were invited in!

We too, Keep Awake, knowing that the Son of God is alive, and will lead us through all uncertainty, offering us courage and a way through every fearful day and hour.  On this first Sunday of Advent, we have hope.  The world is so full of excess and false leaders, but it is also pregnant with a new Savior, about to be born into our world, born as one of us.  “Keep Awake!”  

‘Each week, the TV show, “Undercover Boss,” follows a different executive as they leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover assignment.  Their mission?  To examine the inner workings of their own companies!  Working alongside their employees, they see the effects that their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organizations, and they get an up-close look at both the good and the bad, while discovering the unsung heroes who make their companies run.  To the utter surprise of the employees, the CEO reveals his or her true identity at the end of the show.  They meet face to face and share in a conversation about their company. 

It sounds a lot like what Jesus reveals to his disciples in this Christ the King gospel reading from Matthew. "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him." Then, to everyone's surprise, he will reveal that he has been undercover among them for some time, but truly a different kind of boss.

When Todd Ricketts became CEO of the Chicago Cubs, he took a turn on “Undercover Boss” and went into the beloved stands of Wrigley Field as –you guessed it- a beer vendor.  In conversation with them afterwards, Ricketts revealed that he was impressed with the good humor and strong work ethic, which his staff had as they faced daunting challenges, demanding fans, and discouraging games.’  Certainly that was true if Mr. Rickets happened to have run into Lois Lyse, long time Unity member, hard working, good humored, and an usher at Wrigley Field for a dozen or more years.  ‘It may be scandalous to compare Christ with a beer vendor--especially for the perpetually losing Cubs--but it’s encouraging to think that the Son of Man, our "enthroned king" might actually be happy with the work we're doing’ under discouraging conditions, demanding times, with sometimes daunting challenges. ( HYPERLINK "http://www.christiancentury.org/contributor/christine-chakoian" Christine Chakoian, Christian Century)   "You who are blessed by my Father,” says Jesus, “well done, good and trustworthy servant.” 

The contemporary Icon of Jesus I posted on the Friday Constant Contact email called, Christ in the Margins, portrays Jesus, looking through a barbed wire fence, his pierced hands grasping the strands of wire.  And, as you contemplate it, it makes you wonder, is Jesus inside, looking out from this confinement, or outside, looking in? 

On this final Sunday of the Church Year, Christ the King Sunday, the sweep of Jesus life is now revealed.  Jesus, the innocent victim of judgment, had become Judge at the end.  Jesus is reigning from an apocalyptic throne at the right hand of God, but he derives his glory from his servanthood, his acceptance of the cup God gave him to drink, as the crucified king.  Jesus, who knew defeat, is now victorious!  He is all-powerful, in his vulnerability.  Jesus came to reveal the realm and kingdom of God, a wholly other culture of life, emptying himself here in the midst of our human culture of death – or as the Hymn of the Day says, “a different rule of righteousness, a different kind of king.” 

And that’s also how Matthew describes the sheep at the kings’ right hand, “the righteous.”  The righteous ones are those “blessed by God and who inherit the kingdom prepared for them since the foundation of the world.”  Much like those who are “blessed” in the Beatitudes – the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness – the coming Son of Man chooses the sheep, not for their knowledge of doctrine or their good standing in the community, but for their actions toward “the least of these” here in the kingdom of this world.  The Son of Man welcomes those who care for the hungry and thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and imprisoned. 

Jesus, like Todd Ricketts posing as a beer vender, goes undercover in our world.  Not just to be judgmental, but to tell us ahead of time, to prophecy, and to illuminate the kingdom of heaven for us already, now.  Jesus invites us to be followers, and to join him on the journey.  In a sense, the journey, our discipleship, is all we have here, punctuated by the occasional and unpredictable mountain top experience of arrival. 

So the choosing of sheep and goats reveals most of all that, “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  Jesus not only reaches out to the least of these, he is one of them, the hungry and thirsty, the outcast and naked, the sick and imprisoned.  If you love Jesus, if you are a follower, it will become a part of who you are.  The way to God is the way of Jesus.  And the way of Jesus is to instinctively care for the least of these, knowing that we are dependent on one another.  How do we know?  Because of the gospel good-news.  Interestingly, the disciples, pre-Easter, did not know.  They have to ask Jesus, “when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty, outcast or naked, sick or imprisoned?” 

Whether a sheep or a goat, they don’t know.  They have to ask.  But we, on this side of the grave, know already.  Christ is risen!  The cat is out of the bag!  The victim, has become the Victor!  Jesus is on both sides of the barbed wire fence – the prisoner has come to set us free!  The beer-vender-boss, knows us inside and out, has lived our life and invites us to follow him into a life of service, and blessedness. 

The culture of this world, with it’s promise to reward the successful with more success, teaching them to lord it over others, has been inverted and overcome by Jesus.  Following Jesus to the cross we experience the power of love, a stumbling block to the world.  Jesus, the one judged on the cross, is the merciful Judge at the end.  We learn forgiveness in Jesus’ pardon of his executioners, and view the threshold of a new culture of life, in living for the least of these. 

The God on high, a ruler we so wish to save and protect us, comes and humbles himself to live among us in human form precisely as one of the least of these.  This is truly a different kind of undercover boss and king.  Jesus ushered in the culture of love and justice that can unite the world, and create abundant life.  This is the culture prepared for us from the foundation of the world.  The end has been revealed – and this good-news will not be put back in the box.  “Come to the banquet – you who have been blessed by my Father,” eat and be satisfied – for I am with you, even now, until the end!  

For it is as if a banker, going on a cruise around the world, called a meeting of his vice presidents, and entrusted the company to them.  Make loans to any family you can, who wants to be a home-owner.  I don’t care what they have for a down payment, 10 %, 5%; don’t worry about their credit risk or job situation.  Just make the loan, we have to compete!  And, in the mean time, I’ve got my managers in the finance department working on those new Credit Default Swaps, 24/7.  They’re like, blipping golden!  It’s, heads we win, tails they lose.  The markets love it.  And I promise, we’ll all get handsome bonuses when I get back.  Any questions?  Good, get to work! 

And so his servants eagerly rolled up their sleeves.  It was their chance to shine, and they knew what he wanted for the company.  They learned how to cozy up to the Federal Trade Commission and minimize their criminal risk, and how to pay politicians for their elections, and the media reported prosperity for all, as they hailed the steady climb of the almighty markets.  Those entrusted with 2 talents made 4, and those with 5 talents turned it into 10.  It was all working, and they sat in the lap of “abundance” more and more.  No one said anything about how the loans they made weren’t backed up by much of anything, and practically no one knew how the company stood to gain even more if the CDS’s were defaulted on – basically they were a trade that has a high probability of doing nothing, but a small possibility of producing a nice return.  Upside with no downside. (Wikipedia) 

But the one who had received the one talent went off and hid it in a plain old savings account, in his neighborhood bank. 

After a long while the banker returned from his cruise to settle accounts.  The ones who had doubled their money in the markets, and by making loans to new home-owners, were praised by the bank owner.  ‘Well done good and trustworthy vice presidents.  You have been trustworthy with just a few of my billions, I will put in charge of many more.’  “Come on in and share my happiness.” (Edward Sweitzer trans.) 

But the one who received the one talent was not so lucky.  Master, I knew that you were a harsh man and you didn’t care about bending the rules to earn more and more money, even from those you didn’t know, and in neighborhoods you’ve never set foot.  So I was afraid to lose it and I went and put it in a conservative savings account where I live.  But I’m sorry to say, because the bank defaulted and was closed in the Great Recession, and my house is under water, it’ll be a while before I can pay you back. 

But the rich owner said, you “lazy” bum.  I knew you didn’t have it in you.  If you knew how I was passionate about making money, why didn’t you learn how to invest, and bundle CDS’s in the market, and show me you’re worthy of living like a king?  I’m sorry, but you’ll have to give your house to J. P. Stanley Sachs over here with the 10 talents.  “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”  And another thing, you’re fired. 

How do we view God in this gospel parable today?  Although it is about money – a Talent, by the way, equaled at least 15 years of annual earnings – still, the purpose of parables, is to teach us, and challenge us, about the kind of God that is revealed in Jesus. 

This is one of only two parables in Matthew that do not begin with the familiar, “The kingdom of God is like…” introduction.  Does it make a difference?  Is the rich owner to be compared to God, and to Jesus, in this parable, or not?  There are so many ways to turn it and see it, yet, nothing seems to add up in the parable, if you know what I mean, to make a coherent picture of who God is!  If the rich owner is God, the analogy is often made to the generosity of a God giving us good gifts, like the 5 Talents, an amazingly large sum.  But how does this square with a God who punishes a guy, who only tried to hold on to the master’s money and not risk losing it.  Especially when you compare it to the parable shortly before this about the Unforgiving Servant who was also entrusted with large sums of the master’s money, and though he squandered it, wasn’t thrown into the outer darkness, but gets pardoned – instead of being punished, was given generous grace!  And, turning the parable another way, we find that the one who hid the money in the ground, was only performing what was the standard practice of the day.  Believe it or not, people did bury their money for safe keeping.  While “usury,” on the other hand, investing your money with a banker to make interest, was expressly prohibited in the Hebrew Bible.  And so, as we try to get a handle on who God is, nothing adds up in this story. 

But, in trying to read this parable with fresh eyes and an open heart, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks, when I heard the rich owner say, “For to those who have, more will be given and they will have an abundance; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”  In our context today then, the rich owner is just the opposite of what Jesus has been preaching throughout this gospel.  This might very well be the story of greed in the world, told through the down to earth example of a very unfair bank owner, who rigged the system in his favor, invited in all those who wanted to play his game, and didn’t care about the losers, in fact, blamed them, called them lazy, and deserving of what they got.  At least on one level, it’s a parable about the Great Recession we’re in, and how our society is stuck. 

It’s no coincidence either, that this story falls right before next week’s gospel for the last Sunday in Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday, and the story about the separation of the sheep and the goats.  Today’s story is really just Part I of a two part episode.  Stay tuned!  In next week’s gospel, Jesus reveals the real judgment, reminding and amazing us once again, who God is.  Jesus welcomes the sheep -- those who care for the ones who have lost their savings, their pensions, and their homes, while the goats who ignored them, get anything but eternal happiness!

Jesus’ practice has been to reach out to the marginalized, and bless the poor in spirit, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  He never preached that ‘the rich deserve to get richer, and those that have nothing should lose everything.’  You might hear that from a pulpit preaching the Prosperity Gospel.  But the God we know from Jesus’ words and deeds, is a God who welcomes all servants of healing and loving, giving and sharing.  And that’s a whole different banquet of joy than the invitation to come on in and share the happy spoils of the rich owner.  If we know nothing else from Jesus’ teaching, we know that his giving knows no ending, and that it is his love for us, that is a deep well of endless riches – a whole different banquet!  Come on in and share the joy of this feast!