Monday, January 26, 2015


Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

Matthew 5:13-16

January 25, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 
            You are the salt of the earth.   You are the light of the world.

            Jesus doesn’t say “you can be” the salt of the earth.  He doesn’t say “you should be” the light of the world.   There’s no “ought” or “would” or “maybe” here.

            You are…

            The Apostle Paul writes, “…we are the body of Christ…” (1 Corinthians 12:27)

            That’s a humbling thought isn’t?

            Doesn’t God have somebody else, somebody better in mind than us?  Can’t we think about it for a while?   Sing a few songs, pray for our Uncle Ernie’s flu, hear a few jokes from the preacher?

            We came here to worship this morning, to see our friends, hear some great music.   What has that got to do with being the salt of the earth or the light of the world?

            Everything.

            Jesus warns those hearing the Sermon on the Mount that under the constant pressure of persecution and oppression their “saltiness” can be worn out, ground down.

​Jesus warns us that under the constant pressure of the contemporary culture…its appeasement, apathy and complacency... we can lose our integrity, our “light” as citizens of the Kingdom of God.   The church can become just another social institution like a spiritual country club or a “Rotary Club for God”. (Nothing wrong with Rotary, great organization but the church is a different thing!)

            We face the threat not of Roman Legions or hostile crowds today but of slowly drifting away from what we really believe and losing the passion for our faith.

            Salt is essential for human survival, it preserves food, it gives flavor.   Light can make the difference between life and death in certain situations.  Yet salt can lose its flavor and light can be hidden.  If we as the church were to dry up and disappear would anyone notice that we were gone?

            The grace we’ve experienced as individuals and the compassion which we bring to the world makes us different, distinctive.   We are not supposed to be like everybody else.  

            Bonnie and I met Tex Evans while we worked for the Methodist church in Kenya 38 years ago.   Tex was with the group of United Methodist dignitaries touring East Africa.   Bishop Lawi Imatheu asked us to take this group on a tour of church projects and the near-by game park to see the animals.

            We piled the ten or so people into the back of our Land Rover and took off.   Mel and Ethellu Talbert were in the front seat, he being the Executive Director of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship at the time, not yet having been elected a Bishop.    Tex was working for the National Board of Evangelism.  

            It was easy to see why.

            Everywhere we went he would jump out of the truck and rush off to greet some people.  Outside of a Methodist school where we stopped to inspect the work, he gathered a crowd of 60 children around him and did magic tricks, teaching them songs.  When we stopped at the Maua Hospital he didn’t stay with the tour but went off to the children’s ward to tell stories and make them laugh.

​When we finally made it to the game park it was mid-afternoon; hot and dusty.   I saw a herd of elephants in the distance and tried one the tricks I had learned from a friend.   I pulled up to a spot in the road that would intersect with the herd, turned off the engine and instructed everyone to be quiet.

            In a few minutes, the elephants were walking right around us, just feet away, sniffing a bit but bothering no one.   The tourists were nervous, especially Mrs. Talbert.   All of a sudden, Tex Evans, opened the back of the Land Rover, jumped out hollering and waving his hands.

            The elephants weren’t phased that much.  Mrs. Talbert was, indeed!  She was furious!  She told me Tex had been pulling stuff like that everywhere they went.  He got back into the truck with a laugh and a boast about getting the best photograph in the group of an elephant’s behind and we took off down the road.

            Rev. Evan had spent his life pastoring churches in the poorest areas of the Appalachian Mountains and the worst ghettos of Los Angeles, with the same kind of energy and humor and love he demonstrated in the few days I knew him.

            He stuck out like a sore thumb.  He was different.  Unique.  Special.  He knew the love of God for him deep in his heart of heart and he wasn’t going to keep it to himself.  He was the salt of the earth.

            Just like we are.

            ​We don’t all have to be raging extroverts and entertainers.   We don’t all have to be missionaries or clergy going off to dangerous places.   Defining our lives by love and grace in the workplace, in our homes or at school makes us counter-cultural in a society of “what’s in it for me” entitlement and conspicuous consumption.

            That’s one of the reasons we come to church Sunday mornings.   Along with prayer and study and service, worship keeps us ‘salty’, keeps the fire of our faith burning within.

​Oh, I know, you can worship anywhere, at the beach, in the mountains, while playing golf.  But as Theodore Roosevelt once said, “You may worship God anywhere at any time but the chances are that you will not do so unless you have first learned to worship God somewhere in some particular place, at some particular time."

​In corporate worship we move from being separate people with a common need to be fed by God to become a community with a common mission to feed others. That’s what worship can do if we let it.

A weekly diet of music and inspiration and prayer begins to rub off on you.   Pretty soon the idealism of our beliefs begins to make sense.   We come here often enough and pretty soon we might find ourselves praying for the healing of a stranger; bringing cans of food for the poor; volunteering to tutor children in local schools. Pretty soon we will care as much about the people who aren’t here as the people who are.

            Just imagine what a lifetime of worship and service would do to a normal person!

​            This is a training ground for ‘salty’, light shining human beings.  

            In Paul’s list of the fruits of the spirit in his letter to the Galatians, one of the ways we see the work of the Holy Spirit is in faithfulness.  Great or small, God is at work in our faithfulness.

 While we were working in Kenya, Bonnie and I had an unexpected pregnancy. Everything went wrong and within a month Bonnie was very ill.  We rushed her to Nairobi hospital but we lost our first child to a miscarriage.

            It was a traumatic experience for us.  She stayed in the hospital for three days.  I stayed at the Methodist Guest House.

​While doing my laundry there one day, Tex Evans popped his head into the laundry room to say ‘good-bye’.  Their tour was over and they were returning to the USA.  He had heard about our crisis.

            Before he could say “hello”, he told me a story of the last time he was in the hospital.  He was just coming out of surgery, when we woke up with a nurse by his bedside.  He kept his eyes closed and whispered, “Nurse, nurse, come closer”.   “Yes Rev. Evans” she replied.   “Nurse, am I dead?”  “No, Rev. Evans, you’re alive!”  “Oh, I took one look at you and I thought you were an angel and I was in heaven!”

​We laughed.   He gave me a big hug and said, “Your sweetheart is going to be alright.”

            Tex Evans died of cancer about three months after he left Kenya.  Nobody knew he was in pain.  He never complained or let on how serious his condition was.   He just spent every last breathe on earth, loving others, making them laugh, giving out hugs and pointing to the God who had redeemed his life.

            Amazing what a life time of study and prayer and worship will do for you.  Amazing how the commitment to do something good for somebody else can end up transforming our lives.  Isn’t that what faith is all about?
 
We are the light of the world; that light can’t be hidden on top of a hill or under a basket. Let your light shine so all may see your good works and give glory to God with whatever gifts God has given you, in your own way and in your own time.

As Bishop Wesley Frensdorff once put it, “I dream of a church so salty and so yeasty that it would be missed if we were no longer around”.*  

 Amen.

 

 *(“Reshaping Ministry: Essays in Memory of Wesley Frensdorff”, Josephine Borgeson and Lynne Wilson, Editors, Jethro Publications, Arvada, CO, 1990)

 

Monday, January 19, 2015


Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness

James 2:24-28

January 18, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 
In his book Tattoos on the Heart (Free Press, 2010) Ft. Gregory Boyle tells the story of a prison yard conversation with convicts at Folsom Prison while he was a chaplain there years ago.  Teaching a course on short stories Ft. Boyle asked the student prisoners to define the terms they were using for "sympathy, empathy and compassion".

 
"Well, sympathy," one begins, "is when your homie's mom dies and you go up to him and say, ""....sorry to hear 'bout your moms.""   Just as quickly, there is a volunteer to define empathy.  ""Yeah, well, empathy is when our homie's mom dies and you say, ""....'bout your moms.  Sabes que, my moms died six months ago, I feel ya, dog.""  ""Excellent"", I say, ""Now, what's compassion?""  No takers.  The class collectively squirms and stares at their state-issued boots.  ""Come on now,"“I say, ""Compassion, what's it mean?""  Their silence was sustained, like visitors entering for the first time some sacred, mysterious temple. Finally, an old-timer, down twenty-five years, tentatively raised his finger.  I call on him.  ""Well now,"" he says, all eyes on him shaking his head, ""Compassion, that's sumthin' altogether different.....cause"" he adds humbly, ""That's what Jesus did, I mean, compassion...IS....God."" (Boyle pp. 61-62)

 
This is exactly the same point taught by Jesus.

 
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.  Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  (Luke 6:32-36)

 
The Bible says “God is love”. (I John 4:8)   And “…love is patient and kind; love is not envious or boastful, arrogant or rude”.  (I Corinthians 13:4-5a)

 
Please note this is not just a warm and fuzzy ideal.  Compassion, kindness and love are presented in the Bible as an action, as something we do; which is the point of the writer of the letter James, in our scripture lesson for this morning.  Faith in this God of love without works is dead.
 

Both Protestant Reformers Martin Luther and John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, shared misgivings about the Letter of James being in the New Testament at all.  Both argued fiercely that we are saved by grace and grace alone not by the accumulation of good deeds.  In other words, we can't ever earn God's love by being good enough.  No one can be good enough.  God's love and blessing is a free gift, given without strings attached.  That is amazing grace indeed. (Romans 5:6-11)  

 
Over the years we've come to understand that the writer of the Letter of James wasn't suggesting that we could earn God's love with good deeds but rather that it is impossible to love God without acting like it.  Faith in the parent of Jesus isn't an academic exercise.  It is something we do.  If we worship the God of love we can't separate such faith from our actions. 
 

Wesley suggested that by the "Means of Grace" we can encounter and grow closer to God in this world.    The Means of Grace are found in "Works of Piety" (prayer, fasting, studying the Bible, observing the sacraments, community worship and healthy living) and "Works of Mercy" (doing good, visiting the sick and those in prison, feeding and clothing the poor, earning, saving and giving all one can financially, working for justice in the society).   In spite of his concern about the Letter of James, Wesley insisted in his own way that one can't separate faith from works.   In the end our true religion is how we live our lives.  We 'practice' our faith, and folks like you and me, need a lot of practice.

 
Application companies for our smart devices offer us all sorts of "apps" for health and well-being; Calorie Tracker, Lose It!, Daily Burn, iFitness, Sick of Smoking, Drink Less Alcohol Tracker and Stress Check all give the user an opportunity to pay attention to their health and make positive changes in their lives.   But regardless of how smart the app is one has to use it to make it work.  [Darn it! I’ve put all those weight loss apps on my iPhone and still haven’t lost a pound!  I am still waiting for the App or pill or doctor that will make me lose weight without having to eat less or move more!]
 

The apostle Paul loves lists.  We can find them throughout his New Testament writings.  During this sermon series we are focusing on his Letter of Galatians (5:22-23); "...The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."   Metaphorically these are God's "apps" for our lives.  As we adopt and practice such things as kindness we grow closer to God and to one another.   As we adopt and practice such things as kindness we "reach up, in and out" for God.   That doesn't mean giving lip service to such ideals.  It means acting with them, on them, it means as James insists, that we put our faith into actions.

 
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did.
 

The Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas is a non-denominational community meditation center open to all people of all faiths.  It has become a forum for spiritual conversation about the world and its challenges.  In front of the Chapel is a large reflection pool in which sits Barnett Newman's sculpture Broken Obelisk (1963-67) dedicated to the memory of the vision and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.   The obelisk is an ancient architectural form originating in Egypt now found all over the world in many different cultures.  Obelisks are usually erected as memorials honoring an individual or an event in a nation's history.

 
When Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC he looked across the reflection pond of the Washington Memorial to the tallest stone obelisk (555'5.12") in the world dedicated to the first President of the United States.

 
Newman's sculpture was conceived in 1963 and first installed in 1967 before Dr. King's assassination so the artist was not suggesting that Dr. King's dream or legacy was 'broken'.  Rather this abstract expressionism suggests that the past we honor is over and that to truly honor the ideals of our heroes, such as President Washington or Dr. King, it is we in the present that must act to insure such hope in the future.

 
Dr. King once said, “Life’s most urgent question is ‘what are you doing for others?’”

 
Dr. King's faith in the God of love fueled his strategy of non-violent resistance to the racist segregation of our nation years ago.   The fruits of the spirit...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control were not simple ideas to Dr. King but actions the faithful can live by to confront and change the evils in their lives and of this world.

 
As we celebrate Dr. King's work and dream this weekend, which did not end with his assassination, we memorialize the most recent victims of mindless violence in Paris, Pakistan, New York City and Salinas.  Before we despair of the madness of this world, remember that it is active faith, love and kindness that motivates men and women to put on the uniforms of their countries in order to serve and protect.  It is active faith, love and kindness that inspires the emergency first responders, police, paramedics and Emergency Room personnel who day-in-and-day-out save lives.

 
God forbid that you and I ever have to be in that situation or that we would have to face snarling dogs, water hoses and jail cells to fight for our civil rights.   Yet the heroes of the Civil Rights movement are examples reminding us of the central message of our faith.  God is compassion. God is love.  The expression of our faith in loving kindness is powerful indeed wherever we apply it in our lives.  It will be the most lasting monument to our own legacy as well.
 

If we find ourselves lost and lonely, discouraged or confused about God do something good for somebody else and it will change your life and theirs.  Dr. King said:

 
Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.  You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.  You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.  You only need a heart full of grace.  A soul generated by love.

 
Amen.

Monday, January 12, 2015


Fruit of the Spirit:  Gentleness

 
Galatians 5:22-23
James 1:17-22

 January 11, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel
 

The Epiphany season is a liturgical time of year between Christmas and Lent when we ponder the “manifestation of God in the life of Jesus”.  It is a time to celebrate and welcome the light that is born into the world in the life of the carpenter of Galilee, in his teachings and example.  As we begin a New Year, what a wonderful way to seek comfort and strength as we explore and celebrate the fruits of the spirit that Jesus lived by and left us after his death and resurrection.

The Bible has a lot to say about the Holy Spirit.  Jesus promises that after he is gone from this world the Holy Spirit will be always with us as a “comforter”, “advocate” and “friend” (John 14:25-27).  Making sense of that may be a challenge, especially when things aren’t going well in life.  Illness, financial stress, relationship struggles or work obstacles take their toll on anyone, even the most spiritually grounded.   

This Sunday begins a six week sermon series for the Epiphany Season entitled “Fruits of the Spirit”.   It is based on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the young church in Galatia where he lists the “fruits of the spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23).  Paul was big on lists, one of the identifying factors of his authorship.  Just before he lists “fruits of the spirit” he lists “the works of the flesh”.  As a preacher and evangelist he is contrasting those behaviors that kill the spirit vs. those that lift up and build the spiritual life.

The first one we’ll consider today is “gentleness”.   Its importance is no more evident than in how we talk to and about each other. 
 
"The President is an apostate...an imposter...he is ruining the country...he is aiding our enemies...the President is a traitor."   So said the newspapers of our first President George Washington.1

During the Civil War the media said of President Abraham Lincoln, he was "an ape...a baboon...a buffoon...a clown...a usurper...a traitor...a tyrant...a monster...a charlatan...a bully.”  His home town newspaper the Illinois State Register wrote, "How the greatest butchers of antiquity sink into insignificance when their crimes are contrasted with those of Abraham Lincoln."2

There is a lot of concern today about how we talk about and to each other in this country.  And there should be.  There is not enough soul searching about our choice of words and the demeanor of our public conversation about those with whom we disagree.

It’s easy and convenient to bash the media's passion for sensational conflict.  The print, television, radio and internet outlets are full of opportunities for pundits and prognosticators to yell at each other, not just disagreeing but questioning the opposition's worth as human beings.   Considering what our heroes Washington and Lincoln faced from the media of their day should we take comfort knowing that such language is nothing new in America?
 
Or...as my father would constantly remind me...as I railed against the programing on the radio and television stations he would manage over a very successful 50+ year career in broadcasting…."Mark you need to look in the mirror.  You the viewer determine what we put on the air.  You the viewer have all the power.  It is there at the end of your fingertips.  If you don't like what you're hearing or seeing, turn it off or change the channel.  If people don't want to see or hear what we are programming we will know right away.  We make it our business to broadcast what people want."

If that is the case what does the popularity of conflict programming say about us and our desire to listen to and watch people yell at each other and put each other down as human beings?

More than a political or civic issue, the Letter to James in the New Testament would suggest that how we talk to and about each other is a spiritual matter...especially in the church.

Tradition suggests that the author of the letter is the brother of Jesus, mentioned a variety of times as a leader of the early Christian church (Gal. 1:9, 2:9, Acts 12:17, I Cor. 15:7).   The letter is certainly organized as instructions to young Christians on how to live and act in the world and with each other, especially in regards to conflicts over personalities, worship and mission which were dividing his church.

In our scripture lesson this morning the writer reminds the young Christians "...let everyone be quick to listen and slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness...welcome with meekness the implanted word (of God) that has the power to save your souls...be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves..."

The members of James' church had been fighting among themselves about who was spirituality superior, who would sit where during their worship services, who would eat and drink what in the potluck afterwards.   They strongly disagreed on what their mission should be as a church; either to wait for the imminent end of the world or to go out into the community and serve those in need.  The conflict in James' church seems to have been divided along class lines between the rich and the poor, as well.

To these young Christians the author of James sounds just like his Master Jesus insisting that how we treat each other is how we treat God.  That is true in our families, that is true in our communities and that is true in the church.   How we speak to and about each other has everything to do with our spirituality; about the unpopular kids at school that don’t have friends; about the rumors and gossip we pass between ourselves at work, at school, at church or at home; about other members of our family.

I would guess that the old Arabic saying must have come from our scripture lesson this morning; "We were born with two ears and one tongue.  We should listen twice as much as we speak!"

A commitment to listen and learn before we pronounce isn't just about politeness or civility as important as that is.   If we believe that God is the God of all creation and that each person as a child of God is "endowed with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..." (Preamble, Declaration of Independence) then as those seeking to honor that God in our own lives we must extend dignity and respect to all of God's creation and creatures even with those whom we disagree.  

This doesn't mean we can't be passionate about our points of view.  It doesn't mean that we should never be angry.  There are plenty of things in this broken world that deserve our righteous outrage.  Jesus got angry when he confronted the corruption and injustice of his day (Luke 11:42-54, John 2:12-22).  But James warns us to be "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" as is the nature of the God to whom we seek to grow closer (Psalm 103:8).  James suggests that we do that in some very practical and simple ways, being quick to listen to each other before we speak out in anger to or about one another. 

Such an ethic might never make in in the media climate today but imagine what it would do for our families...our church...for our country.

This is the essence of Paul's words in Galatians about the fruits of the spirit.  If we want to know the nature of the Holy Spirit we see it in "...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..." (5:22-23)  In the original language we hear the word "gentleness" translated in English as "meek" in the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the meek/gentle for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, note Psalm 37:11)

About himself Jesus says:
 
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

For all of the software applications now available for our smart phones, laptop computers and tablet devices there isn't one for "gentleness", "humility" or "meekness". 

The Apple Corporation has sold billions of downloads from its App Store, including Facebook, Pandora, Google Mobile, Shazam and Movies by Flixster, Doodle Jump, Tap Tap Revenge 3, Angry Birds and Tap Tap Revenge 2.6.   Apps are a multi-billion dollar business. (SJ Mercury News 01.22.11, C pp1,3)

But the fruits of the spirit cannot be downloaded from 'the cloud'.  They can only be learned and practiced from the heart.

Ellen Ferrell was one of the most significant teachers in my life.   Well in her seventies she was one of the leaders of St. Paul's UMC in Reno, Nevada when Bonnie and I were assigned there in 1982.  We had just spent three years as missionaries in Northern Borneo.  St. Paul's was in danger of closing, down to less than fifty members.  They offered us a compensation package of $ 16,500 a year and a beautiful parsonage for us and our two sons with indoor water and electricity; we felt like we won the lottery!  But the greatest blessing was falling in love with people like Ellen.
 
A lifelong Methodist, the daughter of a Tennessee country doctor, Ellen would visit my office every Monday morning with a gift; sometimes fresh baked bread, maybe greens from her garden.  We would have a cup of tea together and chat.  Then she would graciously go over my sermon from Sunday and tell me everything that was wrong.

And she was so gentle about it.  "Pastor Mark, calling the evangelist Pat Robertson a charlatan from the pulpit because he predicted the end of the world for the 12th time on TV last week is an unseemly thing to do for another preacher..."   "Pastor Mark, could you use another illustration for love and devotion other than the San Francisco Giants, not everyone likes baseball as much as you..."  When Joyce got mad about the chartreuse green alter curtain behind the cross and stormed out one Sunday morning threatening never to come back to church, it was Ellen who suggested the next day that I not run too fast after her.  “If Joyce were to find another church it might be the best thing for her and for St. Paul's.”  And she was right!

Ellen was a gracious, loving and humble lady that lived her Christian walk each and every day.  As she died from lung cancer...having never smoked a day in her life...I visited with her each week.  We prayed together.  I would read her Psalm 139, her favorite.  And she taught her pastor what it was to be a "doer of the word and not just a hearer".
 
It means to listen and learn from each other before we speak out with anger and resentment.  It means to assume the worth and dignity of each and every person and treat them like the child of God that they are.  It means to feed and water that seed of gentleness in our lives that it might become the fruit of the spirit.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

1              George Washington's Legacy of Leadership,  A Ward Burian, Morgan James, 2007, p. 252

                George Washington, William Roscoe Thayer, Nabu Press, 2010, p. 219

                George Washington and the Origin of the American Presidency, Rozell, Pederson & Williams, Praeger,

                2000, pp. 189-190

 

2              Presidential Anecdotes, Paul F. Boller, ed., Penguin, 1981, pp. 122-146

Monday, January 5, 2015


Arise, Shine! 

Isaiah 60:1-3
 
January 4, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 
            Now what?

            The feasting is over.  The champagne bottles are empty.  Cities around the world now have to clean up their New Years parties. 

Tomorrow we start the diet to lose the weight we so quickly put on in December.  The choir’s song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Morn” will change to “I Hear the Bills from Christmas Morn” as we now have to pay for our gift giving.  There are only a few weekends left of football.

So now what?

December is about hopes and dreams.  January is about reality. 

We observe Epiphany this Sunday in the church calendar, traditionally the day when the Magi arrive at the manger scene in Bethlehem to honor the new born king with their gifts marking the end of the 12 days of Christmas.

Along the way they became embroiled in the corrupt politics of Herod the Great.  No sooner had they visited the baby than they high tailed it for home!

December is about hopes and dreams.  January is about reality. 

Four hundred years before the birth of Jesus, in the post-exile period when Israel is rebuilding after its destruction by the armies of Babylon, the prophet Isaiah foresees on the horizon of history a time when Jerusalem and its Temple will be “a light to the nations”.    In the original language this word will become the root for our English word “ethnic” and “ethnicity”.  In other words, God’s light will shine on all peoples, races and nations across all boundaries.  The prophet will say:  “For I know their works and their thoughts and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory.” (Isa. 66:18, note Acts 2:1-13)

These words are assigned for Epiphany because the Magi were not Jewish.

These astronomers or astrologers followed the romantic dream of a star in the east.  They were searching for “the Kings of the Jews”, although they were not Jewish themselves.  In fact, the Jewish faith abhorred their profession. The Magi were considered pagan and unclean by the orthodox.  Yet in another one of God’s countless surprises, these gentile magicians are sent as the Welcoming Committee for the Messiah.

God’s activity in history is not only for the chosen few.  If we ever feel smug and secure in our status as Protestants or Americans or as members of the righteous middle class, beware.  God is not exclusive.  As much as certain churches, preachers and religions will try to convince the world that their particular expression is the only way to heaven, God sent pagan soothsayers to worship the new born Messiah, while the righteous and holy were afraid of the news.  That star in the east shines over all people and nations.  We have no patent on God.

The Magi come to find a King.  But this one would rule not by force and power but by love.  He would hold children on his lap and claim they were closest to God.  He would eat and work with street people and the homeless.  His army would not march to victory until after he had died, disgraced and abandoned.

We sing “Jesus is King” with visions of Presidents, Generals, CEOs.  The Magi searched for one of these.  But reality was a babe in a manger.

Although it brought them great joy, the Magi’s journey brought great animosity and violence to others.  The Good News of Jesus’ birth was met with hostility by the political and religious establishment of his day.

 Good News has enemies.  That’s reality.

 Fred Craddock writes, “It is no mystery why One who gave himself to loving the poor and neglected of the earth, would be killed; there are institutions and persons who have other plans for the poor and neglected.”

The vested interests of the “Herods of the world” have and will always resist the Magi’s Good News; so the Gandhi’s and the Martin Luther Kings are assassinated.  Just when the Cold War is over, new enemies spring up in Iraq and Afghanistan, demanding the Pentagon’s money and our children’s courage.

 The Magi followed the romantic dream of a star.  And it lead them into deep reality.

 Do you remember Bret Harte’s story “The Luck of Roaring Camp” (Harvard Classics Shelf Fiction 1917), in which he tells of Roaring Camp, the meanest and toughest mining camp in California.   Murder and theft were common.  It was a place inhabited exclusively by men, with one exception.  Her name was Cherokee Sal.  She died while giving birth to a baby girl.

 Without a mother to care for the child, these rough men were suddenly thrust into the awkward role of providing for the needs of the little girl.  They began by placing her in a box with some old rags.  But that didn’t seem right, so they sent one of the men 80 miles over the mountains to buy a rosewood cradle.   Another man traveled all the way to Sacramento to purchase some silk and lace blankets which they used to make the baby comfortable and warm.

Seeing the beautiful cradle with the new blankets made the men realize just how dirty the floor of the cabin was, so they scrubbed the floor on their hands and knees until it was clean.   Then they noticed the dirty walls and windows of the cabin.  So they washed the walls, windows and ceiling and put up curtains.  The change in the baby’s surroundings was amazing.   But not just in the cabin.  The men, who had been used to loud, angry talk and occasional fighting, had to give up their bad habits because the little girl could not get her sleep in the ruckus.

When the good weather came, they would take the little girl in her cradle and set her by the entrance to the mine so that they would see her when they came up the shaft.   Somebody noticed how dirty things were so they planted flowers and made a nice garden there.  It was all quite lovely.  The miners would bring the little girl shiny stones they happened to find in the mine.

But, that was not all.  When some of the men would pick the baby up to hold her, they realized just how dirty they were.  It wasn’t long that the general story was sold out of soap and shaving gear.  

That baby changed everything.

One could say the same for the baby born in the Bethlehem manger.  The light of his love and grace continues to expose the darkness of our world and illumine the pathways out of it.  Like the rough hewn miners of Roaring Camp Christ’s light still offers each of us transformation.
 
After fifty years of war, destruction and slavery Isaiah could see the day when Israel and Jerusalem would be restored and its light would shine to all peoples.  That day came with Jesus’ birth.

 Whatever reality we will face this New Year…..good or bad….Emmanuel, God is with us.

 As we take Holy Communion together this morning to start off that New Year our prayer is that Christ’s light will continue to surround us, guide us and keep us and those we love from all harm.

Amen.