Readings for Christmas Day (III), December 25, 2016

• Isaiah 52:7-10 
• Psalm 98 
• Hebrews 1:1-4
• John 1:1-14

Cosmic Nativity, by Rev. Fred Kinsey
John’s “Prologue”, the opening of his gospel, is considered to be some of the best and most beautiful poetry of the New Testament.  Though theologically complex, which has resulted in multiple interpretations, its sheer magnificence is beloved by all believers. 
 
John’s gospel was written decades later, than the other synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  And John diverts the reader into brand new territory in describing the birth of Jesus.  His parents Mary and Joseph are not to be found in his script, and neither is the manger or the innkeeper, the shepherds or the Magi. 
 
John’s Nativity scene is cosmic in scope, a Savior whose finger print goes all the way back to the origins of the universe: “in the beginning was the Word,” John declares.  Mirroring the creation story in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1, John begins at the moment when all things were made, to describe how the divine nature of Jesus was with God, and indeed, was God – the life and light of all, was there, and was a partner in creating everything that came into being.  Jesus, the Word, was a co-creator with God in making life, indeed was the same as God – and was, and is, the life that is the light of all people, and the light that the darkness cannot overshadow. 
 
But then, without warning, a new character arrives, in the present.  The poem is abruptly interrupted by John, who isn’t even identified as the Baptist, though it’s clear that that is who he is, one sent by God for a specific purpose.  For the primary role of John the Baptist in this gospel of John, is not his ministry of baptism by the River Jordan, which is only later mentioned in passing, or his baptizing Jesus, which is not mentioned at all, but his primary role is to testify, as a witness, that Jesus is the life and the Light coming into the world. 
 
That said, this poem about Jesus, the Word coming into the world, continues merrily on, after John has so rudely interrupted, with the good news that all who believe in Jesus have been given power to become children of God.  And, the final crowning beauty of the Prologue is the announcement of his incarnation, that the Word became flesh and lives among us, God’s glory, full of grace and truth.  All of which, of course, is what John has come to witness to and testify about. 
 
The abrupt, out of sync interruption about John in the middle of this poem, has raised the very serious question that it was, perhaps, a later addition to John’s gospel, by another, unknown hand.  Many scholars see it as, out of place and not fitting here, and so, doubt that it was written by John at all. 
 
And yet, another interpretation is possible.  One I think that fits a larger truth of John’s gospel, and our calling as disciples’ of Christ, even today.  Which is that this grand Prologue, introducing Jesus as the Word of God, a cosmic Christ and co-creator with God, cannot break into our world, without an earthly witness, one who can play host to this event of the Word becoming flesh, and testify to the world, that Jesus came to enlighten and save.  Doesn’t everyone need a witness, another person, to verify and validate their own reality, our alive-ness, that we are somebody! No one is an island, as the saying goes – we need the other.  John, is Jesus’ witness.
 
There was a woman who lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, a faithful church-goer who was known for her unique response to her pastor’s preaching.  Whenever she heard a truth that moved her, she called out, in what became known as her mantra, “So true Lord, I'm one of your witnesses.”  She was beloved, in whatever church around Corpus Christi she attended, and people came to recognize her by that signature, So true Lord, I'm one of your witnesses.  In the academy, the professors who have studied the African-American worship experience call this, “participatory proclamation.”  But in the church, we’d just say, she’s witnessing! 
 
At her home congregation one Sunday, when a state representative running for re-election attended worship, the candidate asked the pastor if it would be possible to say a word about their campaign.  To which the pastor politely declined.  Not in my pulpit, he said.  And out of the pews, guess who stood up and declared with a loud voice, So true Lord, I'm one of your witnesses.
 
All of us are called, in some fashion, to bear witness, to the most important truth alive, that has come into our world, like the woman from Corpus Christi, and like John the Baptist himself.  We testify in word, and witness in deed, that Jesus the Christ is the true light who has come into the world and enlightens everyone.
 
In fact, the purpose of John’s gospel, as a whole, could be said to teach us, to be Jesus’ witnesses, that all might believe, through “us,” as John’s Prologue says.  To believe through John was to receive his witness as true. And throughout the Gospel, to believe truly in Jesus is not simply to agree to information about him.  It entails a person’s total and wholehearted, allegiance and trust, in Jesus.  What’s your mantra?  How can we testify, whether in words or deeds?  Yes, I know him. He is the one sent from God, and he can indeed transform your life.
 
Instead of seeing John the Baptist as an intrusion into the Prologue poetry, couldn’t we see it is a faithful, and true surprise – a surprise like a savior who is born in a lowly barn, because there was no room in the inn?!  John’s Nativity story is an organic interruption, if you will.  The Word, the Son of God, who was with God from the beginning, is born into time and space – into our world as the light of all people, who is life.  And the prophetic voice of John, gives witness to this milestone. 
 
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” 
 
If we close the book here and put it back on the shelf, pleased and satisfied at its beauty and wonder, we have missed the point of it.  The poetry is interrupted intentionally, by the witness of one sent by God, to insure the story is not shelved or forgotten, without everyone possible, knowing the good news.  The Prologue story is a living testimony to life itself, the origin of all life, and the meaning of our life.  Our life is a poetic birth, conceived by the parent of us all, the motherly Father, the savior Child, and the Holy Spirit, the three in one.  We are full of grace and truth.  We are little-miracles of life.  We have seen this glory, and we celebrate it, this holy day, as witnesses, testifying to the truth and the life – the light that has come into the world and shines in our darkness, which cannot overcome it! 
 
The beauty and majesty of our cosmic Christ needs a witness.  John the Baptist was just the first, to testify.  Now there are millions of us, a host of believers whose lives have been transformed by the life and the light, and we pass it on, one candle at a time, to our neighbors and friends and family.  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” 

Readings for the 4th Sunday of Advent, December 18, 2016

• Isaiah 7:10-16 and Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19  
• Romans 1:1-7  
• Matthew 1:18-25

"Dreaming," by The Rev. Fred Kinsey
Everybody dreams.  We just don’t all remember our dreams. 

​How about you? Are you a dreamer? 
 
Many researchers that have studied dreams, say that dreaming occurs during the REM cycle of sleep, usually at the end of your nights sleep, usually in the 8th hour of sleep.  That’s a problem for us, as Americans.  On average our sleep hours have declined a full hour, from 8 hours a night to 7, just when the dreaming REM cycle begins.  So, if you’re one of these average sleepers who only sleep 7 hours a night, that would mean you wake up just when your deepest sleep and dreaming cycle is about to begin.  Of course that’s just an average.  Actual results may vary!  And Researchers do not guarantee dreaming even in the 8th hour.  Nor that you will remember them.  So, sleep at your own risk! 
 
Why do we need dreams anyway?  What are they good for?  Long before Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung’s social scientific interpretations, dreams were considered sacred, and dream interpreters were revered for their gifts.  Dreams were always recognized as messages from the divine, or from the world beyond.  They were warnings or predictions of what was to come, here in this life.  They were much more than REM cycles, regulating restfulness and a good night’s sleep. 
 
Joseph, youngest son of Jacob in the book of Genesis, who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, became a dream interpreter for Pharaoh from prison, and saved Israel from a terrible famine, after he correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dream about the seven bountiful years followed by seven lean years, which none of Pharaoh’s courtesans were able to do.  What a life changing dream that was!  And Joseph always insisted his talent was a gift from God, not to be misused or profited from. 
 
Another Joseph, the one engaged to Mary in our gospel today, is also someone who listens to dreams!  Joseph hardly does anything in Matthew’s gospel – without a dream.  The only other thing we really know about him is that he is a righteous man – according to Matthew’s gospel – which means that he lives justly, as a model of the Christian life, a life fulfilling God’s law, not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law as inspired by the Holy Spirit. 
 
And so, because Joseph is “a righteous man,” he is “unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace”, and “plans to dismiss her quietly”, that is, to divorce her. 
 
Engagement was much more formal in Joseph and Mary’s culture.  Engagement was a legal binding contract between two families, not a decision that two people reach after falling in love.  The couple may or may not even know each other, but was the time for the families to negotiate and haggle over, the Dowry.  And the betrothed husband and wife were legally as good as married, though they continued to live with their families of origin until the negotiations were complete and the marriage finally took place. 
 
Now, in the case of “unfaithfulness”, which is what Joseph assumed when he first heard that Mary was “with child”, the Law of Moses required stoning, the same capital punishment as for adultery.  That’s how serious the institution of Engagement once was.  But by Joseph and Mary’s time, Rabbinic law also allowed for divorce, though usually full of shame for the woman’s family.  And so Joseph, being a righteous man, in Matthew’s estimation, resolves to divorce her “quietly”, wanting to avoid a “public disgrace”.  But for some reason, he decides to sleep on it first. 
 
In Joseph’s REM cycle that night, he dreams quite vividly.  Mary’s child is conceived from the Holy Spirit, an angel of the Lord tells him.  Do not be afraid, Joseph!  You don’t have to divorce her!  I need you to be brave, to stand up to the ridicule you may face.  I want you to have this child, and to name him Jesus.  Go ahead and, marry, Mary!  And finally the angel of the Lord tells Joseph, this is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, that he shall be named Emmanuel, “God with us”. 
 
When Joseph wakes up, he recalls all that the angel of the Lord told him.  And being a righteous man he takes Mary home as his wife, and he names the son Jesus.  Joseph will also have two other dreams, one that warns him of Herod’s plan to kill the baby Jesus by slaughtering all the infants in Bethlehem, with instructions on his escape route to Egypt, where the other Joseph also saved the people of Israel, once upon a time.  And then a 2nd dream that tells him Herod has died, and the coast is clear to come back to Israel.  Joseph doesn’t do anything without a dream, without the word of the Lord to guide him. 
 
The Holy Spirit is the director in this drama.  And, thank goodness Joseph likes to get a good night’s sleep!  Both Mary and Joseph are the righteous and holy actors. 
 
The Holy Spirit, according to our Evangelist today, sees to it that Joseph will do the naming of Jesus, adopting him into his family, the family of David, and the royal line of Israel’s greatest king, from whom many predicted the Messiah would come.  And the Holy Spirit sees to it that we know Jesus’ other name, Emmanuel, “God with Us”.  As the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in Mary, so the divine nature of Jesus is, “to be with us”.  As St. Paul said in our 2nd Reading: “God’s Son, [is] descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness.” 
 
This is only the beginning of Jesus story.  But it bears a remarkable resemblance to the end of Jesus story.  There too, the drama and passion of Jesus is in the hands of God and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus’ power resides in his willingness to be vulnerable to the powers of this world, trusting completely in the power of the invisible God.  Jesus allows himself to be vulnerable to human flesh; vulnerable to the Law, and our temptation to use it to our advantage. 
 
Joseph too, is this kind of a vulnerable character.  He is vulnerable to what others will think of him, but overcomes his fears and is willing to let the word of God speak to him and change his mind.  He is vulnerable, even to death, in answering this call from God, by taking Mary as his wife, and thus garnering the attention of King Herod. 
 
Do we dare to dream and be open to the H.S?  Like the prophecy of Peter on Pentecost who quoted Joel, “your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams”. 
 
In this increasingly sleep deprived nation, where the voice of the divine is sometimes forgotten, sometimes used to produce fear, can we honor the Holy Spirit, and the voice of God that is breaking in on us and our vulnerability, offering to guide our lives, and produce mercy and justice?  Do we dare to dream dreams?  Do we dare to follow the Savior who became vulnerable to flesh, the law, and death itself in order to show us the way? 
 
Sleep away, all you dreamers!  Yet be warned, the best laid human plans may evaporate under the pillows of the Holy Spirit – who may turn and transform us towards the kingdom and realm of the holy. 
 
Dream away!  The Advent of the Lord is upon us, and God is about to do a new thing!     

Readings for December 4, 2016, Second Sunday of Advent

• Isaiah 11:1-10  
• Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 
• Romans 15:4-13  
• Matthew 3:1-12

New Road, by Rev. Fred Kinsey
Building a road in the wilderness is routine, if you’re a logger with a bulldozer.  I saw roads like this when I lived in Michigan.  The roads are necessary, especially for selective cutting, where you only take down the fully grown trees, which then lets more light in, helping the other trees to grow to maturity.  But the Bulldozers – which can move pretty much anything and everything out of the way in preparing a new road – also did some tearing down, of course, some seedlings, flowers, and the like, are destined to be casualties.  Symbolic of these wilderness roads, is the pungent smell of fresh soil being turned over – a whole new way has been made, for the logging trucks to come!
 
“In those days [after Jesus was born, says Matthew,] John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
 
John saw himself as a prophet, whose calling was to make ready for the coming Messiah – in the wilderness – which was not just a random place.  The wilderness, or desert, was highly significant for the chosen people!  There was probably no symbol that was more formative for Jesus’ fellow Jews than the Exodus, or wandering in the wilderness for 40 years!  The release from slavery in Egypt, and journey back home to the Promised Land, was a journey through the place of a great wilderness, the Sinai desert.  And the Exodus wasn’t a straight path, but had many twists and turns, due to the doubts and disobedience of the people.  Yet God was true in word and deed, and when the chosen people finally believed and trusted, their Deliverer brought them to the land of milk and honey. 
 
Isaiah of course, the prophet of the Exile some 1000 years later, was recalling and riffing on this Exodus theme, when he called for the Israelites to repent and prepare the way of the Lord – also in the wilderness.  This return from Exile in Babylon, near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, was a slightly different wilderness.  But it led to the exact same border crossing as the Exodus did, the crossing over from desert, to the Holy Land, into Israel, by way of the Jordan River. 
 
Now jump ahead another 500 years to our gospel reading, and this is the place John the Baptist chooses.  He too is crying out in the wilderness, on the eastern banks of the Jordan River to “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”  And John is wearing a familiar wardrobe, the “camel’s hair coat” and “leather belt” of Elijah.  The prophet Elijah, everyone knew, would return in some form, to herald the coming of the Messiah!  And so, all the parts were coming together – John the Baptist as Elijah; Isaiah’s proclamation to make his paths straight in the wilderness; and this place, by the Jordan River, where Moses and Nehemiah had led the chosen people back to the Holy Land.  Matthew shows how all the signs are pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. 
 
And, continues Matthew, “the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to John, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan,” in a ministry of repentance. 
 
But this was no mere tent revival or campfire get together!  Repentance is much more than individual forgiveness of sins.  That’s a part of repentance, but as the word indicates – repentance is a new start, and literally means to turn your whole self around, and with your whole life, to go in a new direction, down a new road.  Repentance is about new life in Christ, about transformation, about coming up out of the baptismal water, a whole new person, who’s found a new path! 
 
“…it's time for repentance to make a comeback,” blogs The Rev. Evan Garner, “It's time for repentance to be the new cool.  Because repentance isn't about feeling sorry for yourself; [or] a simple diagnosis of all the things you've done wrong in your life.  Sin – [with a capital “S”] – isn't a list of misdeeds.  [It’s our] human condition [which] is the wrong-way path that we are on.  [And] Repentance is the turning around that we need to get on the right path.”
 
This is the power of baptism for us, even today.  Did you feel the transformative call in the baptism of Amelia last week, or for Erin in her adult baptism in September?  Are we using the gift of our baptism “daily” as Martin Luther taught us in the Small Catechism?  “What then,” Luther asked, “is the significance of a baptism with water?  Baptism signifies that the old person in us, with all sins and evil desires, is to be drowned and die through daily sorrow for sin, and through repentance,” says Luther, “and on the other hand, that daily, a new person is to come forth and rise up to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” 
 
We live in that in-between state.  We are both sinner and saint, both repent-ers and receivers of new life.  Baptism “brings forgiveness of sins, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it, as the words and promise of God declare,” concludes Luther. 
 
And so it is always through the loving Grace of God, and not our own merit, or even our own decision.  In other words, nothing we do or don’t do, can save us – not even the rite of baptism itself.  Baptism is only effective when we believe in the grace of God, by daily gathering up the courage, one more time, joyfully, oreven when we’re not feeling it, to live as the new person we were raised up to be before God in righteousness and purity.  Salvation is God’s gift, and baptism is that immersion, into the depths of the water, to be washed clean and to be launched on a whole new journey, on a new straightened road. 
 
John the Baptist came to prepare the way.  He was the forerunner to Christ.  He baptized with water for repentance, to make us ready.  We the people, in a way, are the straight new path, prepared and hopeful, waiting in the wilderness for the Messiah to come – waiting like in Advent. 
 
But John was only partially right, as it turns out, in his prophecy about Jesus!  John was right that “one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  I baptize you with water… but the Christ will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  But the part about  “His winnowing fork… and gathering his wheat into the granary; [while] the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire,”  not exactly.
 
Certainly, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, at Pentecost, as we know.  And also, with the Spirit’s wind, there was fire.  But it was not the unquenchable fire John prophesied, but more like the “burning bush” fire that Moses witnessed, when God spoke to him.  The Pentecost fire manifested itself as individual tongues of fire, flames over the heads of the disciples that did not consume them, but empowered them to carry-on the mission of Jesus, and gave them the confidence and joy to turn around and go down a whole new road. 
 
Jesus himself did not include a ministry of baptism, either at the River Jordan, or anywhere else, as John did.  But Jesus did refer to his journey to the cross, as baptism into death, a sometimes lonely walk in the wilderness, that would not be in vain, however, but would lead to the Promised Land, a gracious gift from the Father that would take him, as the Son of God, through the nearly impossible eye of the needle, from suffering and death, to a whole new road, in resurrection, the sign and promise for us, that through our baptism into Christ, we too might have new life.  As St Paul says in Romans, “We have been buried with Christ by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” 
 
Plowing up new roads in the wilderness is not without loss, and little deaths, but they can be, and are, worth the suffering, to the degree that they prepare the way of the Lord in our lives, to bring the health, salvation, and healing God so desires for each of us. 
 
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!”