Words of Welcome

Mount Shasta from South Gate Meados Psalm 148 “Praise the Lord from the heavens!”  “Praise the Lord from the earth!”  “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.” (Ps. 148: 1, 7, 13).  With these words, the Psalmist calls us to join together in worship as we continue the Christmas journey on this last Sunday of the year and decade. During this Christmas season, we encounter Emmanuel, the child born in Bethlehem, who reveals the message of the incarnation that “God is with us.”  In this celebration, we’re reminded, as Gregory of Nazianzus puts it, in him “the heavenly one is now earthly.” Because “Christ is in the flesh, exult with trembling and joy” [ Festal Orations , p. 61]. We began our service singing “All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing; Alleluia, Alleluia!” This hymn is a paraphrase of  Saint Francis’ “Canticle of the Sun,” which is itself rooted in Psalm 14

The Holy Family and St. John the Baptist - Willem Van Mieris - DIA  Here on Christmas morning, as many of us gather in the Spirit of Christmas, I wish to share the meditation shared at Central Woodward Christian Church during our Christmas Eve service.  John 1:1-14 Christ is born, give glory; Christ is from the heavens, go to meet him; Christ is on earth, be lifted up. “Sing to the Lord, all the earth,” and, to say both together, “Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice,” for the heavenly one is now earthly . [Gregory of Nazianazus, Festal Orations, p. 61]. I think these opening lines of Gregory of Nazianzus’ oration “On the Nativity of Christ” offer a useful summary of why we gather together on Christmas Eve. We’ve come to greet and meet the “heavenly one [who] is now earthly.”  On Christmas Eve we enter a mystical world. We’re invited to contemplate John’s message that the Word of God assumed flesh and dwelt among us so that we might see his glory. Tonig

Wedding Procession - Peter Bruegel the Younger Romans 1:1-7 It’s the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we’ve lit the Love candle, and the sights and sounds of Christmas are all around us.  The lectionary offers us a reading from Matthew 1 , where we find the story of an angel who visits  Joseph and informs him that Mary’s child should be called Emmanuel, because in this child God is with us. It also offers us a word from the opening greeting of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Since Paul hasn’t ever visited this congregation, this greeting is a bit longer than in some of his other letters. He wants them to know to whom he belongs. Paul introduces himself as a servant of Jesus and an “apostle set apart for the gospel of God,” which has its roots in the promises given through the prophets and recorded in Scripture.  This gospel or good news is focused on Jesus, the Son of David and the Son of God. Paul reveals to them that God has called him to share the good news of Jesus with Gentil

Fishing on the Williamson River, Oregon James 5:7-10 It’s been a while since I was in the pulpit, so I might be a bit rusty. Therefore, please be patient with me! Not only am I asking you to be patient with my reentry, but also with the topic of the day. Talking about patience as a virtue in the middle of the busiest season of the year, might not seem the wisest thing to do. But here we are. We have this word from James who asks us to be patient until the coming of the Lord. We hear this word when the world around us is rushing about getting ready for the holidays. There are gifts to purchase, meals to plan, and parties to attend. Some of us have family members needing to be picked up at the airport. That’s one of my tasks for tomorrow since Brett is flying to Metro Airport a few hours before I have to be back for the Council meeting. Some of you might be getting ready to head out of town to visit family or friends. In the midst of all this rushing about, James the

Underground Railroad Memorial, Detroit   Joshua 3:7-17 “Shall we gather at the river, where bright angel feet have trod, with its crystal tide forever flowing by the throne of God?”  The people of God had finally reached their destination. The Promised Land lay on the other side of the Jordan. Joshua gathers the people at the river’s edge and tells them to follow the Ark of the Covenant into the river. The Ark of the Covenant is the sign of God’s presence with the people. If you’ve seen the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark , you know what the Ark looks like. Joshua tells the people that when the feet of the priests carrying the Ark touch the water, the river will part, so they can pass to the other side on dry land. We gather this morning at the river’s edge to prepare for own river crossing experience. It’s called a sabbatical, and for the next three months you and I, in different ways, will be reflecting on the River Crossings theme. Just so you won’t forget the th

View from Mount Nebo Deuteronomy 34:1-12 When we lived in Santa Barbara, we would occasionally hike to Inspiration Point. It wasn’t the highest spot in the area, but it was high enough so that on a clear day you could see the entire coast. We could see the Channel Islands poking through the fog to the West. We could look south toward Ventura and then up the coast to where the state takes a sharp turn to the north. Of course, we also could look down on the city below. We would look for our house and the church. We would find the schools where Brett attended. We would situate the Mission, the Arlington Theater, the Court House, and Stearns Wharf. Climbing a hill or a mountain gives you a different perspective from what you can see from the valley floor.  Our climb to Inspiration Point might not compare with Moses’ visit to Mount Nebo, but it gives me a sense of what he might have experienced that day when God took him up the mountain to see the Promised Land. Moses had

Isaiah 43:1-7 Just a few days back some of us crossed the mighty Mississippi on our way to and from the General Assembly in Des Moines. As far as I know, nobody tried to wade across the river. It’s too deep and too wide to wade across. We either drove across bridges or took a plane to Iowa, because unlike Moses or Joshua or Elijah, none of us appears to have the power to divide the waters.  Whether it’s a river, a lake, or a sea, water plays an important role in the biblical story. The very first sentences of Genesis declare: “when God began to create heaven and earth—the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and wind from God sweeping over the water—God said ‘Let there be light.” (Gen. 1:1-3 Tanakh ). That was the first day of creation, but on the third day of creation, God separated the waters so that dry land could appear ( Gen. 1:9 ).  Throughout the biblical story, people cross bodies of water, are baptized in water, or seek

Luke 10:25-37 Who wouldn’t want to be a “Good Samaritan?” We’re so used to connecting the word “good” to the character of the Samaritan it’s easy to miss the scandalous nature of this parable. What if there’s nothing good about a Samaritan? No one in Jesus’ audience would have applied the word “good” to a “Samaritan.” Do you still want to be a Good Samaritan?  If you go back to chapter nine, you’ll discover that Jesus ran into trouble in Samaria. He was turned away from a village because he was heading toward Jerusalem. Fortunately, Jesus didn’t follow the advice of James and John who wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume the village, but that goes to show that something is up in the story of the Good Samaritan ( Lk 9:51-56 ).   Not long after Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan villagers, he sent out the seventy to preach. After they returned from their mission trip, Jesus was approached by a lawyer. Now, I need to let you know that Luke doesn’t seem to like l

Luke 7:36-50 The Fourth of July holiday celebrates freedom, but freedom can come in forms that have nothing to do with where you live. Sometimes freedom is internal, which is the case in the story we’ve heard today. It’s a story about a woman who lived in a certain town, who heard that Jesus was having dinner at the home of a wealthy and influential man named Simon. She decided to crash the party. We need to use our imaginations to picture the scene. Simon and his guests would have been lying on cushions, with their feet toward the wall and the tables probably laid out in an u-shape in front of them. The woman, whose name Luke doesn’t reveal, slipped in unnoticed. She stood at the feet of Jesus and began to weep. When her tears fell on his dusty feet, she knelt down, loosened her hair, and began to wipe the wetness of her tears from his feet. Then she kissed them. Finally, in an act of great sacrifice, she broke open an alabaster jar of ointment and began to anoint