12-18-11 - Is this 16 and Pregnant or the Bible?

Magnificat

            And Mary said “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.  His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendents forever.”

            Mary’s Song is hardly the same tone as the message given to the shepherds and of all the Christmas carols and sentimentalism that we have.  Instead of having peace, we have a Savior who comes to save us, but at the same time brings into chaos and reverses all that is the status quo.  The powerful are toppled, the lowly are lifted up, the hungry are filled and the rich are sent away empty. 

            This massive overhaul of the world sounds great for those who are lowly, but it is also frightening for those who are wealthy and powerful.  But God consistently acts in this manner, serving the poor and bringing down the powerful and wealthy.  Think about this woman who God chooses to be the mother of God.  She is a peasant girl, not a queen or a princess or the daughter of a wealthy family.  And instead of acting through a married couple, he works through one whose pregnancy will be a great scandal.  Think about it, our Lord and Savior is an illegitimate child, born to an unwed, teenage girl.  There is a great amount of shame that society places on this girl.  Mary was not kidding when she said that God looked with favor on the lowliness of His servant.  There wasn’t much lower that God could have gone in society’s eyes than an unwed, teenage girl.  Instead of coming down in glory from the sky and forcing everyone’s eyes upon Him and for the kings of the earth to bow down, he comes the child of this insignificant, scandalous girl. 

            How Mary even finds the strength to sing in joy of God when given this message is beyond me.  She had to either be really naïve or really faithful.  Her life is now being turned upside down, with the birth of this child.  While I don’t have children, I know how much it changes a person’s life.  It is far different than being an uncle, where I am able to enjoy being with my niece and nephew while they are happy and fun, while being able to hand them off when they are being grouchy.  And I know that my mother has not had a sleep-filled night since she had my brother and I, since mother’s worry about their children.  And I know that my brother is now prone to going to sleep around 10 instead of staying up all hours of the night, since he is exhausted by his very active children.  Life changes drastically with the birth of a child, and here is poor Mary, barely more than a child herself, being told that she is going to be entering adulthood and going to have to completely live for someone else, as parents do, without any say and without taking the actions necessary to do so herself.  And yet she sings in joy and in thanksgiving to God.  Her strength and trust is astounding to me.

            But she has seen the amazing power of God, for He has taken her, who physically could not possibly bear a child, and causes her to become pregnant.  And she has seen the favor that God has for the poor, the partiality that God carries for the poor and the outcast.  By being the child of on unwed mother, He has put himself in infamy and in that shame that she would have felt at that time as well.  Christ is born not in victory, or even in mediocrity, but in shame in a reeking stable to an underage, poor, unwed mother.  And he does so by choice and design, not by random chance.  And so Mary rejoices, for she knows that God is with her and with all people who are under the burden of oppressive cultures and practices.    Mary has hope and joy, because God has shown her the many wonders that He can do.  He can make the high and powerful falter and fall and uplifts those who are weak and oppressed.  He shows great mercy to His children and fills the hungry with good things.

            And so we sing “Joy to the World” as well, for we have seen the glory of God and the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord.  For we know that with the coming of the Lord, there will be no more sin and sorrow, the earth will be restored, and that truth and grace, not riches and ego, will rule the world.  We celebrate because God will drastically change our lives, not in the way that we might imagine the perfect world, with us getting every last thing that we want, but will change it so that God’s will is truly done and our hearts and minds will be more in tune with God’s.  Right now our hearts and minds are like listening to a radio station form too far away.  Sure, we can hear what is going on for the most part, but the static makes it hard to listen to and focus upon and we miss words and tones at times.  We can’t make it out completely clearly and it is tiresome, but we do it.  Other channels may seem clearer, but they all play messages of self-importance, hate, and all those things that are against God’s will.  So we struggle to listen to God’s word and seek to live out his calling for us, knowing that we are getting closer to Him and the signal is coming in clearer and clearer and our joy expands exponentially.

              This Savior that Mary expects is not the sweet baby Jesus that makes adorable baby noises and whose diaper she will have to change.  It is not the sweet innocence of the child that she waits for and the preciousness of a child that makes the heart grow warm.  No, instead she awaits the man that this child will grow to become.  She awaits the one who will change the world, who will go and suffer on the cross so that all people may be saved from their Sin and that all people may see the true price of love and the true will of God, which is that people will serve one another instead of serving themselves each moment of every day.  She awaits the one who turns the mountains into valleys and who humbles the hearts of all the rich and powerful.  Just as we wait, we wait for the day when He shall return and God’s kingdom shall reign and all of His creation will be freed from the bonds of Sin and suffering and death.

            Loving the baby Jesus is easy.  After all, He’s a baby, pure and innocent, adorable and full of life.  Loving our Savior Jesus Christ is much harder.  Because showing our love for Him requires the sacrifice of ourselves and reminds us each day that we are NOT God and that we need to be humble and to be the tools of God, working His mission and calling for us, not our own desires.  We don’t like handling the messiness, it is far easier to deal with the baby that we get to view from afar than it is to deal with the reality of the child, the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and temper tantrums.  Life is easier when we get to ignore the complications caused by having to live for others.  But yet our lives are also emptier when they are easier.  This is not to say that babies fix all the problems one has with themselves and their loved ones, but it is to say that without God’s ever-present mercy and forgiveness, and without serving others instead of ourselves, we are a shell of who we are supposed to be.  The hole inside of us that only God can fill is left open, and there is nothing else that can fill it.  Listening to God and living out his calling for us does come with sacrifice and it is not easy, but it does allows us to see purpose in the world and a meaning to our lives that exceeds our mortal limitations. 

            The world as well has an emptiness to it without the presence of God.  Without God, we live in a world that is filled with corruption, hate, and oppression and without any real hope for restoration or for its betterment.  We look around and see that half of the US population lives in poverty, an even greater amount live without clean water and food to eat in other nations, while the rich keep on getting richer.  We live in a world in which war is a constant, not the exception.  Yet we still have hope and we still sing “Joy to the World” and join with Mary in her jubilation, for we know that God is the Lord of All, because God comes to us in the place of a small child and grows to be our Savior, willingly dying on the cross to save us from our Sin and who reminds us that as long as there is God, there is hope, for God will never betray us or fail us or turn his back on us.  We are the children of God, the God who is partial to those who have nothing and who tells us that we are to serve as He has served us.  The God who loves us unconditionally and who gives us our lives, our purpose, and our forgiveness, all for free.

Amen. 

               

           

12-11-2011 - Who are you? aka, the invasion of the Muppets.

John 1:6-8, 19-28

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.  This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. ²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” ²⁸This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

            “Who are you?”  That is a very powerful question, right up there with “What is the meaning of life?”  It asks us to define ourselves, whether it be with a name or a long narrative or even by saying who we are not.  That is the tactic John uses, He defines himself by who he isn’t.  He makes it clear that he is not Elijah or the Messiah.  In fact, he reminds me of the priest in Rudy, who says “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him.”

            It is not the easiest thing to say that one is not the center of the universe.  Afterall, our personal world is defined by all that we see and do and experience.  I find it impossible to imagine the world through another person’s eyes, and growing up I had a hard time even getting to the point of recognizing that other people did have their own lives and feelings, since they were so unknown to me.  And do not we enjoy being on top and watching other people suffer?  Why else would we have reality TV shows that focus on dysfunctional families and the rounds of terrible auditioners on talent competitions.  Each of these shows allowing us to feel better about ourselves and see ourselves as better than the other people out there in the world.

            Yet here we have John not saying “Here how awesome I am” but rather “here is what I am not, I am not as amazing as everyone seems to think I am.”  He had a very clear understanding of who he was and who he wasn’t.  He was honest with himself and the people around him about what gifts he had and what gifts he lacked.   This knowledge freed John, it freed him to do the best ministry that he could, instead of idling by with ministries that were not true to who he was and he would have been ill-suited to do. 

            Likewise, we are called to understand our gifts, who we are and who we are not.  Who are we, both as a congregation and individually?  What are the gifts that we have, that we can excel at, that are different from other congregations in the community and what are gifts that we can do together with our brothers and sisters in the community.

            Much like the Muppets, there are needs for the various gifts out there in order for the whole to function.  If every Muppet was Animal, there would be a great drum section, but also complete chaos and very few words said that were understandable or sensible.  If they were all Piggy, there would be too much karate chopping and not enough teamwork.  If only Bunson Honeydews, there would be no Beakers to experiment on.  Each of them need each other, Kermit to introduce, Fozzie to tell bad jokes, Gonzo to fly through the air and be weird, for the whole of the show to work.  Likewise, each of our congregations and individuals have their own gifts that help form the whole of the Body of Christ and allow for the whole body to function and to show the love and grace of God. 

What is it that sets us apart from other faiths and denominations and congregations?  Part of what sets us apart is our Lutheran heritage.  We see God and God’s activity a little bit differently than anyone else and this is something that we need to embrace.  We may not be completely right all the time, since our mortal minds can never fully see the mind of God, but we see God in a way that is full of grace and mercy, we see the Bible in a way that defies the loudest voices in Christendom, and we strive for education in a way that exceeds many others.  All of this we have inherited from our ancestors, but it is formed and shown in distinct ways through the gifts that we have been given.  It is easy to say that the people are the gift of Jerusalem, but it is also true, for without each of us Jerusalem would be a far different place.  It is through each of us that the gifts of Jerusalem are known. 

How well known are our gifts?  Are we just the congregation over the tracks that people seem to know exist, but that’s it?  Or are we something more, are we a people united and filled with the Spirit of God, sealed as the Children of God, ready to shine the light of Christ throughout the community and the world?  I have only begun to see the richness of the Spirit moving here, since I am still new and learning, but yet I know that we are a people that are truly blessed and empowered, capable of marvelous things.  We are more than a building and land, we are the children of God.  Throughout this next year, and throughout our lifetimes, I hope and pray that we may diligently seek out the questions “Who am I” and “Who are we,” so that God’s presence may be more clearly seen in our lives.

One of the most active gifts I have seen here is the gift of ecumenism, of desiring to be with people of other traditions in order to serve the mission of God.  This is a congregation birthed out of a partnership with the Brethren.  Even when I was interviewing here, I could see this desire, as it was hoped that I would be a part of the ministerium in the community, meeting with my fellow pastors of other denominations.  Our council has decided that we will be a part of the pulpit swap in January, where I will go to another Columbiana congregation to preach and their pastor will come here and preach.  We welcome people of all denominations into the ministries of Jerusalem and this coming year we will be working not only with St. Jude’s for Vacation Bible School, but also with First United Methodist.  One of our gifts is that we serve as a bridge between the congregations in the area, as a willing participant in the ministry of God.

This is only the beginning of our gifts and our identity though, and I look forward to us working together to see all that we are capable of as a congregation and individually.  We will also learn who we are not.  John made it clear, that He was not the Messiah or Elijah, because claiming those would be false to himself and would muddy the message.  There are gifts that are lacking here at Jerusalem, and there is absolutely no shame in that.  It is merely reality, since none of us and no congregation can be everything to everyone.  So instead of desiring to be so, and instead of wasting our time and talents on those areas that we lack the gifts to do well, we support those who do those works and have those gifts, uplifting the body of Christ in its many forms.  I will not stand here and claim to know what gifts we lack yet, but that is something which we will have to learn together.

Each of these gifts serve to point us to our greatest gift though, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Christ showed us the never-ending mercy and love of our God, and John was sent in order to testify to that reality, to testify to the Word of God who lived among us and who saves us from our Sin and from ourselves.  It was John who pointed us towards the gift and need for Baptism.  Baptism was not new to the Jewish people, it was a centuries old practice of bathing to remove the uncleanliness caused by a host of actions and sins.  John used water as well to ritually cleanse the people in preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, so that they could be free from the filth of their lives and open to the revelation of God.  But as John said, he baptized merely with water, Jesus comes and baptizes us with the Holy Spirit.  After Christ, the waters of Baptism became more than mere water, but became the vehicle for the Spirit to enter into us, it became the way in which we died to our Sin and are daily cleansed of that Sin.  No longer did we have to ritually bathe ourselves every day in order to make ourselves clean before God.  Instead we are baptized once, freely by God, to make us clean for all time, for we are united with Christ through the activity of the Spirit in the Water.  It is the same spirit that empowers us and fills us with the gifts necessary to do the will of God and to find our identity as Chrstians, followers of our God.

Much like John, we know that there is a God and that we are not Him.  But we also know that we are God’s children, we are the agents of God in this world, called to testify to the light of God and to prepare the way for God into the lives of those around us.  So may we hear that calling and may we live out our lives in hope and preparation.

Amen.

Nov. 11, 2011 - Christ is King!

11-20-2011

Jerusalem

Matthew 25.31-46

³¹“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. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

            Christ is King!  So declares our church calendar, as well as our reading from Matthew.  Christ is King, but what kind of king is he?  There have been many kings throughout history, some good, some not so good, so what kind of king is he?  Luther saw Him as the tyrant raging, while sitting on a rainbow.  Here in Matthew, he is described as sitting on a throne, separating the goats from the sheep.  Whether the throne is out in the field with the sheep and goats or the sheep and goats are brought into the throne-room is unknown, and unimportant, but nonetheless, this is what Christ does as king.

            So, what makes one a sheep or a goat?  What is the difference between the two in Christ’s eyes?  Sheep are those who fulfill the mission that God has set before them, while goats are those who deny that mission.  I had a professor who said it like this, we are called to take Jesus to Jesus to do Jesus.  Taking Jesus to Jesus to do Jesus.  I know, it can sound confusing, so let’s break it down.

            Taking Jesus means to bring the gospel and remembering that Jesus is always with us, as he promised in the Great Commission, where we are commanded to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded and remember that He is with us always, to the end of the age.  Today we fulfill part of that command, as we celebrate the baptism of Ella, and her family promises to raise her within the community of faith and to teach and instruct her with Christian teachings and the to live a Christian life.  And we as a community welcome her, knowing that we are also responsible for instructing her as well and to aid her as a community and family. 

            But in that command we are not called to only be with those within the congregation and those that we know through our families and friends.  We are also called to all nations, to go forth into the world, with Christ with us.  So as we go to be of aid to the poor and the hungry and the thirsty and the imprisoned, we are not alone but we are always joined by Christ, the almighty King of the World.  So what have we to fear when we go out into the world to bring aid and comfort, when we know that the King of all Creation, who will never separate Himself from us is with us?  Nothing, so we go, taking Christ with us.

            And to whom are we bringing Jesus?  We are bringing Jesus to Jesus, for He regularly aligns himself and shows partiality towards the poor and the needy.  As he says in today’s lesson, when we give food to the hungry and clothing to the naked, we are doing these things to Christ himself.  Often we can fall into the trap of assuming that we are always God bringing to others, to the great unwashed.  But the reality is that God is already present in all situations, already suffering with those who suffer.  All we do is bring light to this reality.  But that light needs to be shone, in order that Christ may be seen as active in people’s lives and that God may receive the glory.

            Due to Jesus’ connection to the poor, we are also called to focus on the poor, the abused, and the outcast.  Jesus’ kingdom is not one of gold and fulfilled dreams, instead it is in the outskirts of so-called civilized society, it is where people rely upon Christ alone instead of themselves and on the idols that we create, it is where compassion and mercy are shown.  Jesus reigns when God’s will, which is true worship, is done, which is when we act like sheep, serving and sacrificing for others.  This is the calling to do Jesus, to act out Christ’s teachings and own actions. We live out the gospel when we show people the great mercy and love of God, when we go down into the trenches of society to help people climb out of the pits and the cycles that they have fallen into and cannot escape.  It is not saying “people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and instead realizing that some people lack boots completely, let alone bootstraps.  As Jesus’ loyal subjects, we look beyond the idea of the “self-made man” and instead see all the people who are required in helping to form the opportunities for people to grow and we are called to help create those opportunities, that people may see how important they are in the eyes of God, since we are all God’s children, and that all may see the gifts and the power that they have been given by the Holy Spirit, and the forgiveness that they have been give through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

            When we begin to fully embrace that power and forgiveness, we are capable of changing lives and the world around us.  Our God truly is an awesome God, and we are the hands of God, so we can do some really awesome things.   There is a reason that there are so many Christian Hospitals, such as St. Elizabeth’s and no hospitals based around secularism and atheism.  And there is a reason that the faith of those outcast and persecuted under the Romans still stands, while we name our pets over Roman emperors.  It is because God is the true King of the World, not Leo, or money, or nations, or mere humans, but Jesus Christ.  And we are a part of his great kingdom, we are the hands that bring about that kingdom in the lives of people.

            Not only do we go out into the world, but we also instruct and aid one another.  We are called to be a community of faith, not a set of individuals.  We are called to be part of a kingdom, not our own separate groups.  We are called to be united, to show one another the strength that God has given us and to use that strength together to make a difference in Columbiana and the surrounding area.  But we cannot do it divided, we cannot be God’s hands if we fight amongst and against one another.  So we gather together on Sundays, in order that we may be strengthened by our connections with one another, so we may learn and be recharged together, and we may come up with new ideas together on how to be God’s hands.  We learn to serve together as a community, we learn our history together as a community, and everything becomes a bit clearer together as a community.

Christ’s kingdom is here and now, in this room and in this world.  Christ is the King, so let us follow and obey him, so that His will may be done and when that final day comes we may be united, all of us fit to be called sheep by our King. 

Amen.

12-4-2011 - The Word of God

12-4-2011

Jerusalem

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. ²Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
³A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. ⁵Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ⁶A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. ⁷The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. ⁸The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.

⁹Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” ¹⁰See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. ¹¹He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

The Word of our God will stand forever.  This line from Isaiah is echoed in last week’s reading from Mark, “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”  The Word of God is something permanent and powerful, but is also something that is commonly misunderstood.  We in the Lutheran church have a three-fold understanding of the Word of God.  With a small w, it can mean one of two things, either the Bible or proclamation of God, such as in sermons, but also in classes and conversations.  Both of these are important to understanding the nature of God, but they are not God.  The Bible was inspired by God and tells us of the rich history of God active in the world at a certain time, but it is not God.  As Jonathan Rundman says in his song “Little Bible”, “Little Bible you could never give yourself to die for me, No blood ran through your pages on that crucifixion tree.  I will pay attention to the message that you bring
But written word and Living Word are very different things.” 

            Our scriptures are the guide that we have for God.  They tell us about God and His overall plan and desires for his children, but it is not the same as experiencing God and it comes to us from a certain worldview that is foreign to us.  The Bible is a great tool for beginning out journey of seeing God and for living the Christian life, but it is not God or a magical book that needs to be put on a shelf and never touched.  It is to be read and marked in and devoured by our hearts and minds, and examined as one of the ways that God speaks to us, but remembering it is still a product of human hands.

            The spoken word is much the same.  We believe that these discussions and preaching are inspired by God.  Yet I understand that I am not God up here speaking to you, no matter how big of an ego boost that is.  Instead preaching is another way that the word of God is heard by God’s children.  The story is told and retold, and in conversation we dig deeper into that word.  But again, this word is not the embodiment of God, but rather a way to begin seeing God more clearly.  The written and spoken word are like seeing God dimly through colored glass.  We can make out the form, but not the detail of God.

            Luckily we also have the everpresent Word of God with a capital W.  We have God Incarnate, Jesus Christ, who came to us here on earth and emptied himself and took upon our flesh to be with us.  Jesus Christ is the very Word of God, here with us, the Word that speak s to us each day of our lives and that survives all things.  Much like the energizer bunny, He keeps going and going and going.  Even after being crucified and buried, He could not be stopped.  As opposed to grass and people and books, Christ never fades or falters.  Instead he lives on and will stand forever. 

            Yet there is a promise that Christ carries as well.  The promise that we shall stand forever too.  Sadly we at current time do fade and wither, yet we are given the promise that the day will come when we shall be joined with Christ and in that eternal life.  We shall stand longer than the mountains when that time comes, and that is what we look forward to this Advent season and every day.

            And as we prepare, we are to prepare the way of the Lord, make everything level and easy for God.  This was a common practice in the times, when royalty was coming the people would strive to make the way as easy as possible so that the king would not be taxed by the journey and could ride into the city in glory.  Much the same is done today.  Think about all the millions of dollars that are spent on preparing cities for the Olympics.  There are buildings that still stand unused in these cities, since they don’t have the resources to tear them down and build something more useful. 

            But here we are preparing the way not just for some human king, and not for some sports event, but rather we are preparing the way for God.  We are preparing the way for His triumphant return, when all shall be brought into completeness and every knee shall bow at His name. and so we prepare, by being like John and spreading the gospel of the Lord, proclaiming the word of God to all people, so that they may know that God is our Lord and that God is with us and promises us amazing things and that He will always be present with us, never to wither or fade.  For the Word of God conquers all and gives life to all.

            So we make straight the way for Him, through our lives and the using of our gifts.  And the way needs to be made straight not in the city, which is thought as safe in those times, but rather in the wilderness, in the areas that are frightening and different from what we are used to.  We go into these places to bring the comfort and the peace and the assurance that God gives to his children that know Him.  We go and level the playing field, fighting injustice and aligning ourselves with the poor and the abused and oppressed so that they may have a chance to escape the cycles of poverty, underneath which so many lives have been destroyed and lost.  We go to bring healing and comfort, for we know that our God is one who brings comfort and healing and peace and who leads us like a good shepherd leads his flock.  One who holds us close, desiring to be close to us at all times, who comes to us in the Spirit and in our communion each week.  This is the God that we bring and this is the God who cares for us, in order that we may prepare the way for Him. 

            And it all begins with how we live our lives.  If we focus only on winning or forget those who are outside our circles of friends, then we have already lost our way.  Grover Levy sang a song entitled “If you want to lead me to Jesus” in which he sang “Your message is clear you sound so sincere your intentions are good.  The forgiveness of sin life without end I'd believe it if I could.  But I've watched from afar and I've seen how you are with the people you're around And I don't see a trace of the love and the grace you talk so much about If you want to lead me to Jesus you'd better find a better way.”  Our mission as the church is to live out the message of Christ in word and deed, not to meet a budget or to increase membership or have the most beautiful church in the world or have the coolest social club, it is to do mission and to help people find their gifts so that they may see God and do His mission and as well.  We do it all in preparation, all for the sake of our God and King.  We prepare the way for God to be seen in their lives by living out that mission and supporting one another in doing the work of God.  That is the other way that Levy sings about, the way that is not about our individual accomplishments and of hollow words that are spoken out of rote, but rather it is about living in the Light of Christ, living out the Word that is given to us in written, spoken, and living forms, and living out our callings as Christians. 

            In our confirmation class this week, we discussed how the 2^nd commandment which is “Thou Shalt Not take the name of the Lord in vain” does not just mean not swearing and cursing, but also realizing that we are named as the Children of God and our actions speak towards God and how people are going to see God.  If we go around acting as if God does not matter in our lives, then that is how God is going to be seen by others around us.  In doing so we dishonor the name of God and His word becomes a discordant, ear-piercing sound or completely silent, instead of the life giving Word that it truly is. 

            So let us not bring dishonor to that name and set up roadblocks, but instead let us prepare the way for our God, embrace His eternal Word, and share with all around the ways that God has touched our lives and helped us through our times of trial, and may we be that comfort to others as well. 

Amen