"No Place for Them in the Inn"

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 24, 2013

Christmas Eve: 10:00pm Service

Isaiah 62:6-12

Psalm 97

Titus 3:4-7

Luke 2:1-20

“No Place for Them in the Inn”

            Merry Christmas!

            In the gospel passage I just read, Luke writes, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

            “No place for them in the inn.”

            This past Thursday afternoon I had the privilege of participating in the Fifth Annual Interfaith Homeless Memorial Service, sponsored by our friends at Garden State Episcopal Community Development Corporation.

            Many of the people who were in church that day are homeless, there to remember lost friends or maybe just to enjoy the church’s heat, or to get the free meal and the food and toiletries, like toothpaste, that were distributed after the service. Or, maybe, they were there for all those reasons.

            No matter the reason, I’m sure everyone who was there would agree it was a very powerful and moving service. Members of the clergy read Jewish, Christian and Muslim scripture. And one pastor read the stirring, hopeful words of the great reformer activist, Dorothy Day:

            “What we would like to do is change the world--make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended them to do.”

         During the service we prayed and lit candles for the shockingly large number of homeless people who died right here in Hudson County over the past year.

            This year the service was held over at the Old Bergen Church. The church was already beautifully decorated for Christmas – decorated with all the usual poinsettias, wreaths, Christmas trees and the rest – not so different from St. Paul’s.

            And, at first it felt disorientating – wrong, somehow - to be having this kind of service surrounded by all the joyful sights and smells of Christmas.

            But, then I thought, actually nothing could be more appropriate, nothing could be more right, nothing could be more truly Christmassy, than drawing attention to the plight of the poor and the homeless.

            After all, it’s on this glorious night, surrounded by all the joyful sights and smells and sounds of Christmas, that we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Lord, Jesus the Savior. We celebrate the birth of Jesus, born poor and homeless.

            Each year on Christmas Eve we hear the story of Jesus’ birth as told by Luke.

            Luke sets the stage by mentioning the Emperor Augustus – the one who much of the world acclaimed as the King of kings – Augustus, who much of the world worshipped as a god – Augustus, who much of the world thought of as the lord.

            Little did Augustus or Governor Quirinius or any of the other famous and powerful men back in the First Century suspect that God was about to enter the world in the most unexpected way.

            God could have entered the world with trumpets blaring and lightning flashing and thunder rumbling.

            God could have entered the world in Rome, in the emperor’s palace, or in Jerusalem, or some other center of political or religious power.

            But, instead, God chose to enter the world in the insignificant town of Bethlehem.

            Instead, God chose to enter the world through a “nobody.” God chose to enter the world through Mary – a peasant girl the world would have seen as in every way unimportant and unremarkable.

            But, God saw – God knew – that this unremarkable girl was most remarkable.

            God chooses to enter the world accompanied by Joseph, a good man but a man who couldn’t even provide a decent place for his fiancée to give birth – a man who couldn’t do better for Mary and the child than a manger – which sounds sort of nice but is just a fancy word for a feeding trough used by animals.

            God chooses to enter the world and nobody even knows.

            Well, almost nobody.

            It’s the shepherds – low class people, for sure – who are given the inside word first by one angel and then by a multitude of the heavenly host singing their great song,

            “Glory to God in the highest.”

            The young peasant girl Mary must have been so, so tired – so tired after traveling in a harsh land while far along in her pregnancy, so tired after the anxious search for a place to give birth and so tired from giving birth.

            And, yet, Luke tells us, that the young peasant girl Mary treasures the words from the awestruck shepherds – treasures this most amazing experience – and ponders all of it in her pounding heart.

            Of course, this old, old story doesn’t end there in Bethlehem in the feeding trough. There will be much more for Mary to ponder in her heart.

            Eventually Jesus – born on the margins of society - begins his ministry, teaching and healing and declaring that God’s kingdom has drawn near.

            And eventually some politically and religiously powerful men of the world did take note of this teacher and healer – this nobody that a only a small band of disciples sort of, sometimes, recognized as king – and, sure enough, the politically and religiously powerful men disposed of him on the cross – disposed of him as easily and as bloodily as they dispose of countless truth-tellers and troublemakers throughout history.

            And the politically and religiously powerful men thought that was that – they thought that they and the world were done with Jesus.

            They were so wrong.

            Three days later, God raised this man from the dead. God raised Jesus, who had been born to a couple of nobodies and placed in a feeding trough used by animals.

            And it’s because Jesus is raised from the dead, it’s because love and life defeat evil and death, that we are here all these centuries later, re-telling this old yet ever-new story here in this beautiful place on this special night.

            It’s Christmas – a joyful time to celebrate – to celebrate like we’re doing right now here in church – a joyful time to celebrate with family and friends – a joyful time to celebrate by giving gifts, by singing, by holding tight to those we love most in the world.

            Maybe, though, we can also celebrate Christmas – we can also celebrate the gift of Jesus – by caring about and caring for Jesus’ own people, Jesus’ own people, the poor and the homeless, the “unimportant” and “unremarkable” people, the “nobodies,” for whom there is still no place in the inn.

            Jesus is surely found right here in church, most especially in the bread and wine we will receive in just a few minutes.

            But, Jesus is also surely found right now huddled in a doorway on Bergen Avenue, or panhandling under the Turnpike overpass, or hoping against hope for a bed at a homeless shelter.

            I mentioned that the other day at the homeless memorial we read a quote from Dorothy Day. Here’s how that quote ends. May it be our prayer on Christmas, and always.

            “… There is nothing we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as our friend.”

            Merry Christmas to you all.

            Amen.

            

God's Helpers

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 24, 2013

Christmas Day: 4:00PM Service

Isaiah 9:2-7

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-20

God’s Helpers

            Merry Christmas!

            It’s Christmas Eve! The day we’ve been waiting for and preparing for during Advent has finally arrived.

            Christ is born.

            The great transformation and renewal of the world has begun.

            And, no matter how many times we hear it, the story of Jesus’ birth as told by Luke never loses any of its power, does it?

            Luke tells the story of Mary, a young girl maybe only 12 years old, pregnant with her first child. She and her fiancée Joseph, a good man, make their way from their hometown of Nazareth to Bethlehem. And once they get to Bethlehem, they can’t find a decent place to stay, let alone a decent place to give birth to a child.

            We can imagine their exhaustion and their fear.

            We’re told that after giving birth Mary placed her newborn son in a manger. Which, I guess, doesn’t sound so bad – and we make it look kind of nice in the nativity scene below me – but a manger is a feeding trough used by animals.

            A manger is where animals eat.

            That’s how Jesus the Son of God was born.

            That’s how Jesus the Son of God spent his first hours on earth.

            Now…not that anyone has asked for my opinion, but if I were God I would have done things very differently.

            With God’s way, only a few people know that the Son of God has been born. Only Mary and Joseph and a few low class shepherds know that Jesus has been born.

            But, if I were in charge, I would have made sure that absolutely everybody knew that the Son of God has arrived in the world.

            If I were in charge, there would have been flashing lightning and crashes of thunder.

            There would have been the biggest parade ever.

            And there would be lots of beautiful music, performed by the best musicians and singers.

            If I were in charge, the Son of God wouldn’t arrive in an out of the way place like Bethlehem but right in the center of the action, in a really important city – like maybe New York, or Washington, DC or Rome or Jerusalem.

            And, actually, if I were in charge, the Son of God definitely wouldn’t arrive as a helpless baby who needs the care of parents. No, if I were in charge the Son of God would suddenly appear as a fully grown, walking and talking adult – ready to teach us all the things that we need to know – a fully grown, walking and talking adult ready to help us and to save us.

            But, obviously – and fortunately - I’m not in charge.

            And God chose a very different – a very unexpected - way to enter the world.

            And when we stop and think about the story of Jesus’ birth to a couple of nobodies in an out of the way place in very primitive conditions, isn’t it amazing that this is the way God chose to enter the world?

            God created the whole world, the whole universe, so that means that God could enter the world any way that God wanted to.

            Yet, God chose to enter the world poor and helpless.

            The newborn Jesus really, really needs the help of Mary and Joseph. And, since we know what babies are like, Jesus is going to continue to need Mary and Joseph and other helpers for a long time.

            And they do it. They help Jesus grow up – feeding him, clothing him, and teaching him.

            Mary and Joseph and lots of other people whose names we don’t know were God’s Helpers.

            Isn’t it amazing that God needs helpers?

            But, you know, that’s God’s way.

            God always reaches out – reaches out to us - for help.

            God wants us – in a way, God even needs us – to be God’s helpers.

            When we were Christmas caroling last week somebody gave me this hat. It says, “Santa’s Helper.” No, I’m not going to put it on. But, maybe we can all imagine ourselves wearing an invisible hat that says “God’s Helper.”

            “God’s Helpers.”

            We know what it meant for Mary and Joseph to be God’s Helpers. But, what about us? What would it look like for us to be God’s helpers?

            Well, one way we could be God’s helpers is by telling people about Jesus and telling people about how much God loves us. Today a lot of people have forgotten about God and God’s love. And there are a lot of people who have never even heard about God and God’s love.

            People – people right here on Duncan Avenue, right here in Jersey City – have forgotten or don’t know about God’s love – the love that we see so clearly today in the helpless newborn Savior.

            But, much better than telling people about God’s love is actually sharing God’s love with people – with our family and friends and our neighbors and, sometimes, even people we don’t know and will never even meet.

            We are God’s helpers when we don’t judge other people.

            We are God’s helpers when don’t pick on people who are weak or different – even when, especially when, everybody else is doing it.

            We’re God’s helpers when we choose to sit next to the unpopular person, when we’re kind to someone we really don’t want to be nice to – when we’re kind to somebody we don’t even like.

            And we’re God’s helpers when we help the many people all around us who are like Mary and Joseph – people who don’t have much of anything – people who don’t have much food or clothing – people who don’t have homes and need shelter – people who are hungry – people who are alone and lonely.

            We are God’s helpers when we share what we have with those who have less.

            We are God’s helpers when we help prepare the world for the great transformation that began in the most unlikely and humblest place in Bethlehem two thousand years ago – the great renewal of the world that continues right here and now.

            It’s Christmas Eve.

            The day we’ve been preparing for during Advent has finally arrived.

            Christ is born.

            Christ is born - not the way you or I would’ve done it, which, actually, would probably look more like the kind of beautiful celebration we’re having today.

            Instead, Christ is born to a couple of nobodies in an out of the way place in very primitive conditions.

            Christ is born helpless.

            Christ is born needing helpers.

            And, today, God still wants us – still, in a way, needs us - to be God’s helpers.

            So, let’s all put on our invisible hats - and be God’s helpers.

            Merry Christmas!

            Amen. 

A Good Man

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 22, 2013

Year A: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 7:10-16

Romans 1:1-7

Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Matthew 1:18-25

A Good Man

            This happens every year, but I can’t believe we’ve already reached the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

            It seems like just the other day I was standing up here talking about our beautiful blue Advent hangings, pointing out the symbolism of the Alpha and the Omega.

            And it seems like just the other day that we started talking about the main characters of Advent: there’s the charismatic and demanding prophet, John the Baptist. And there’s Mary, the young girl, probably just 12 years old, who at great personal risk and sacrifice says, “yes” to God. Mary says “yes” and carries God into the world in the most intimate way imaginable.

            But there is another important Advent character, someone who I recently saw referred to as the “Forgotten Man of Advent.”

            And that forgotten man is Joseph, the character who takes center stage in today’s lesson from the Gospel of Matthew.

            The gospel describes Joseph as “a righteous man.”

            And based on Joseph’s actions, it’s clear that Joseph is a good man.

            Thinking about Joseph the good man I was reminded of the title of a short story by the writer Flannery O’Connor:

            “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

            Not to get too down on my gender, but over the years I’ve heard enough women express exactly those sentiments.

            “A good man is hard to find.”

            Recently I was talking to a woman who has several teenage daughters. She was telling me that she didn’t mind so much when teenage boys looked at her daughters with, let’s say, um, interest. But, she said, it drives her absolutely crazy when adult men leer at her girls – something that she said happens all too often.

            “A good man is hard to find.”

            And that recent conversation reminded me of another conversation from a long time ago.

            Back in the early 1990’s I taught in an all-girls Catholic high school in Newark. Looking back on it, many of those girls had a whole lot more wisdom and maturity than I had back in those days.

            One day in class – I have no idea now what exactly we were talking about – one of the girls said to me, “Mr. Murphy, you don’t understand. There aren’t that many good boys for us.”

            That girl seemed so sad and resigned when she said it. And the other girls all nodded in agreement. It’s a little moment that, obviously, that made a big impression on me. I’ve never forgotten it.

            “A good man is hard to find.”

            I suspect that the situation wasn’t so different back in the First Century. Then as now probably a lot of men were not so interested in keeping their commitments. I’m sure that a lot of men were looking for a woman to be a servant and to be a baby-maker. And probably a lot of men didn’t exactly respect and honor, through word and deed, the women to whom they were married.

            But, then as now, there were some good men.

            And, it turns out that, in Joseph, both God and Mary find a good man.

            While Luke tells the story of Jesus’ miraculous birth through the eyes of Mary, Matthew tells this earthshaking story from the point of view of Joseph.

            What do we know about this good man?

            We know that he’s engaged, or betrothed, to Mary.

            Now, yes, today engagements are a big deal – often there’s the ring and the engagement party and the wedding preparations and all the rest. But, although it can be upsetting and disappointing, it’s not very difficult to break an engagement. Happens all the time and life goes on.

            But, in First Century Judaism, if you were engaged, like Joseph and Mary, you were as good as married. The two families would have worked out the match. The engagement could only be broken for a really big reason, like, for example, infidelity.

            According to Deuteronomy, a woman in what appeared to be Mary’s situation, was to be returned to her father’s house and would be stoned to death for the shame she had brought upon her family.

            So, when Mary “is found to be with child,” no one would have blamed Joseph for being furious and feeling humiliated. An ordinary man would have simply obeyed the law and sentenced Mary to a horrific and deadly fate.

            Yet, we’re told, Joseph is a “righteous man.” So, even before his dream Joseph was “unwilling to expose her to public disgrace.” So, Joseph “planned to dismiss her quietly.”

            God and Mary have found a good man.

            But, Joseph is better than good.

            In the Old Testament, God often communicates with people by using messengers – angels – and through dreams. In Joseph’s case, we’re told, God uses both methods of communication. An angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him the over the top – who’s ever going to believe this? – news about Mary’s child.

            And what does Joseph do?

            Most of us would have shaken off the dream as ridiculous.

            Maybe the most open-minded of us would have taken the angel’s message seriously but it would have been too hard to swallow our pride, too painful to endure the ridicule of neighbors and family, just too challenging to treat this child as our own.

            Yet, we’re told, Joseph did as the angel commanded.

            And when the child is born, it’s Joseph who names him – signifying that he is the legal father.

            And he names him Jesus, which means God saves.

            In Joseph, God and Mary find a good man.

            There is a tradition that Joseph died while Jesus was still relatively young – that Joseph didn’t live long enough to see Jesus take up his ministry and mission – didn’t live long enough to see Jesus rejected and killed – didn’t live long enough to see Jesus rise again.

            But, there’s no doubt that Joseph shaped Jesus the man, whose life is marked by the greatest righteousness and the most extraordinary mercy – mercy even to those who, according to the Law, should have been stoned for their behavior.

            So, what about us? Men, especially, but what about all of us?

            What can we learn from Joseph’s example?

            Well, Joseph teaches us, no matter what, to take our commitments absolutely seriously.

            Joseph teaches us not to judge but to always show mercy.

            Joseph teaches us to be open to God who is speaking to us in all sorts of different ways – certainly through the people in our lives, maybe through our dreams and, who knows, maybe through an angel or two.

            Finally, Joseph teaches us to take risks, to risk something big, for God.           

            In Joseph, God and Mary found a good man.

            But, a good man – a good person - is still hard to find.

            So, how about us?

            Amen. 

Rejoice! God's Around and We Can Find Him

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 15, 2013

Year A: The Third Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 35:1-10

Psalm 146:4-9

James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11

Rejoice! God’s Around and We Can Find Him

            When I first showed Vanessa Foster the rose-colored vestment that I’m wearing today she said, matter-of-factly, “That’s not really your color.”

            And, she’s right, it’s not really my color.

            So, I’m glad that rose is a color that we only use in church on two Sundays. One is a Sunday in Lent. And the other is, obviously, today, the Third Sunday of Advent.

            This Sunday actually has a special name. It’s called “Gaudete Sunday” from a Latin word that means “Rejoice.”

            Rejoice.

            In the past, Advent was a much more somber, more penitential season than it is now. We used to – and many churches still do – use purple for Advent, just as we do for Lent, the most somber, the most penitential church season.           

            So, for a long time, since the Middle Ages, it’s been the custom that the Third Sunday of Advent is set aside as a break from all that purple penance – a Sunday to rejoice – a Sunday to rejoice that Christmas is getting close – a Sunday to rejoice that God is soon to enter the world as a helpless baby born to a couple of nobodies in an out of the way place in the humblest of circumstances – a Sunday to celebrate that God loves us enough to come among us to live, teach, heal - and die and rise again.

            Rejoice!

            But, although Advent has lost most of its penitential feel, maybe it’s good that we still set aside a Sunday for the rose vestments – that we set aside a Sunday at this time of year for rejoicing.

            Because, let’s be honest, a lot of us - for many real and good reasons - may not feel much like rejoicing.

            We might not feel like rejoicing because we’re stressed out by the holiday.            

            A lot of us are stressed out by all the running around – stressed out by the long list of the things that we need to do – the stuff we need to buy to get ready for Christmas. A lot of us are stressed out by the fact that we don’t have the money to give our children and grandchildren all that they’d like – all that we’d like to give - for Christmas.

            We might not feel like rejoicing because the holidays make us sad.

            For a lot of us, Christmas makes us painfully aware of all that we’ve lost. Some of us have lost jobs and a sense of security and hope for the future. Some of us grieve broken relationships. Some of us worry about family and friends who are sick. Some of us mourn family and friends who have died. At this time of rejoicing we remember and miss happier Christmases.

            We might not feel like rejoicing because of all the suffering in our community and around the world.

            There’s the violence.

            Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. One deranged young man, armed to the teeth, slaughtered twenty little children and six adults before killing himself. After the massacre lots of politicians talked about finally doing something about gun violence. But, a year later not much has changed. There was another school shooting in Colorado just this Friday. Since Newtown, at least 194 more children in our country have been killed by gunshots.

            Then there’s the poverty.

            When I dropped off our toy donations at Garden State Episcopal the other day, I spoke with someone who works there who was visibly upset. He was upset because so many people – more than ever, he said - were coming to the office desperate to find shelter for themselves and for their families. They were looking for shelter that just doesn’t exist here in Hudson County. He told me the story of one man who works for UPS but doesn’t have enough money for rent. So, what does he do? He catches sleep in a McDonald’s that’s open 24 hours.

            This past week The New York Times ran a remarkable and heartbreaking story about an 11 year-old girl named Dasani. (Yes, she’s named for the bottled water.) She and her family are caught up in the mostly hidden and totally horrible world of homelessness, living for the past couple of years in a squalid and dangerous shelter in Brooklyn. It’s an extraordinary piece of journalism and I urge you to read it.

            At one point in the article, the smart, strong and sensitive Dasani says, “God’s somewhere around, we just can’t find him.”

            “God’s somewhere around, we just can’t find him.”

            Those words have haunted me these past few days.

            “God’s somewhere around, we just can’t find him.”

            I bet that most, if not all of us, at least some of the time, and maybe especially at this time of year, feel just like Dasani.

            “God’s somewhere around, we just can’t find him.”

            Last Sunday, we were reintroduced to that wild and powerful prophet, John the Baptist. John was dressed in camel’s hair and eating wild honey and locusts, preaching repentance, baptizing people in the River Jordan, and calling people to prepare for the more powerful One who is coming.

            And remember how John the Baptist described that more powerful One?

            "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

            Well, in today’s gospel passage we meet up with John the Baptist again, but this time under very different circumstances. He’s in prison. And we know – and probably he knows – his fate. John will be executed.

            So an imprisoned, maybe despondent, and certainly not rejoicing John the Baptist sends a question to Jesus:

            “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

            In a way, like Dasani, John knows that God’s around, but he just can’t find him.

            Maybe part of the reason John can’t find God is because Jesus isn’t exactly what John had expected. Jesus doesn’t seem to be winnowing or burning the chaff with unquenchable fire.

            Listen again to Jesus’ reply: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”

            Yes, there is stress and suffering and violence and despair all around us. The world is so broken that we may find it hard to rejoice. And, like John the Baptist, and mayble like Dasani, we may have all sorts of preconceived notions that make it hard to find God.

            But, Jesus tells us if we look and listen, we find God at work in and through Jesus himself. And if we look and listen, we find God at work right now healing our broken world – we even find God hard work in and through us.

            If we look and listen, if we help each other to look and listen, we find God - and we find plenty of reasons to rejoice.

            Some examples.

            Not even a year ago the Roman Catholic Church chose a new pope – a South American Jesuit who through his gentle and loving example has reminded the world that the Christian life is a loving and joyful life. Pope Francis has declined to judge others and has stood up boldly for the poor and the defenseless.

            This new pope has unexpectedly captured the imagination of much of the world – and just this past week was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year.”

            Rejoice. God’s around and we can find him!

            And, this week the world said goodbye to one of the giants of our time. Leaders came from around the world to pay their respects to Nelson Mandela, this remarkable man who took a free South Africa down the roads of goodness and forgiveness. And his reconciling example and the joyful celebration of his life seems even to have led President Obama to shake the hand of Raul Castro, the leader of our old, old foe, Cuba.

            Rejoice! God’s around and we can find him!

            And, right here at St. Paul’s, so many of us have responded so generously to buying Christmas gifts for needy children, donating small mountains of groceries for the food pantry, and offering over 200 tubes of toothpaste, giving the poor and the homeless the basic dignity of clean teeth.

            Rejoice! God’s around and we can find him!

            So, yes, it’s the Third Sunday of Advent. The rose candle is lit and I’m dressed to match. It’s “Gaudete Sunday,” a day set aside to rejoice.

            And, yes, for many of us, for lots of real and good reasons, it’s hard to rejoice.

            Yet, if we look and listen – and if we help each other to look and listen – we discover signs that God’s around and we can find him.

            Rejoice!

            Amen.

                        

Icons of Preparation

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

Church of the Incarnation, Jersey City NJ

December 8, 2013

Year A: The Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Romans 15:4-13

Matthew 3:1-12

Icons of Preparation

            Last Sunday, I preached about how different the season of Advent is from what’s going on outside in the world.

            As we all know only too well, at this time of year the world drives itself nuts getting ready for what it calls Christmas – and we sure saw a whole lot of craziness during the so-called “Black Friday” this year didn’t we? Violence broke out in box stores as people shoved and fought each other so they could save a couple of bucks.

            Meanwhile, in here it’s not Christmas yet. It’s Advent. It’s Advent - a gift from the Church. It’s a gift that calls us, invites us, to slow down and be quiet. It’s Advent.

            But, the truth is, in the most basic sense what’s going on out in the world and what’s going on in here does have something in common.

            Preparation.

            Out in the world, all of us are preparing for the Christmas holiday. We may love it, we may be indifferent to it, or we may downright hate it. But, we are preparing.

            We’re preparing by trying to come up with the right presents to give to those we love.

            We’re preparing by decorating our homes – sometimes very simply, maybe with just a little Charlie Brown tree – or sometimes very elaborately with blinking lights, elves, wreaths, snowmen, reindeer and all the rest all over the place.

            We’re preparing by making plans to be with family and friends – or just looking forward to some time off from work.

            And a similar kind of preparation is going on here in church. Yes, it’s Advent, but of course we’re thinking about our Christmas services: planning the decorations, the music and all the rest. And, yes, I’m thinking ahead to the three sermons I’ll need to preach over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

            So, both out in the world and here in church, we are preparing.

            Here we’re preparing for the birth of the Son of God in an out of the way place to a couple of nobodies.

            And we’re preparing for the Last Day when Christ will return in glory – the Last Day when God’s kingdom will be complete.

            And, sure enough, the two main characters of Advent are all about preparation. The two main characters of Advent are all about preparation for Christ and preparation for God’s kingdom.

            The Virgin Mary prepares for Christ and God’s kingdom in the most intimate way imaginable – by saying yes to God and bearing the Son of God within her body. We’ll have more to say about her, and her fiancée Joseph, in two weeks.

            And then… there’s the other main Advent character – the wild and powerful prophet who dresses like the Prophet Elijah, who proves his total dependence on God by eating bugs and wild honey. There’s the other main Advent character - the charismatic and demanding prophet we meet once again today: John the Baptist.

            Both the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist teach us, show us, how to prepare for Christ and for God’s kingdom.

            The Virgin Mary and John the Baptist are living symbols of preparation.

            The Virgin Mary and John the Baptist are icons of preparation.

            Today’s gospel lesson comes from the Gospel of Matthew. And, unlike Luke, Matthew either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the background of John the Baptist.

            In fact, Matthew isn’t even all that interested in the fact that John is baptizing all of these people down at the River Jordan.

            No, Matthew is interested mostly in John’s preaching – he focuses on John’s message.

            John the Baptist is presented as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s long ago prophecy: “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

            John the Baptist’s message is “prepare for the Holy One who is coming – prepare for God’s kingdom.”

            And, John the Baptist’s message of preparation is for everyone – preparation for all the people from Jerusalem and all the region along the Jordan – preparation for the really religious people like the Pharisees and Sadducees – preparation for all of us whether we haven’t been in church in, ahem, a while, or we’re here all the time.

            John’s message is preparation.

            John the Baptist is an icon of preparation.

            OK. Preparation. So, according to John, how do we prepare for Christ and for God’s kingdom?

            John’s message is simple but oh so hard.

            Repentance.

            We prepare by repenting. We prepare by repenting.

            Repentance.

            Repentance isn’t just saying sorry for the wrong things we’ve done, though that’s part of it – and hard enough.

            Repentance is a complete turnaround of our lives.

            For some of us repentance might mean that, with God’s help, we stop being so self-centered and instead consider the needs of those around us – our family and friends; the people beside us in the pew; our neighbors; the people panhandling on Bergen Avenue; the people we dislike or disrespect or maybe even hate; the people around the world who make so much of the stuff that ends up wrapped under our Christmas trees.

            Repentance is a complete turnaround of our lives. 

            For some of us repentance might mean that, with God’s help, we start being a little kinder to ourselves; that we respect our own dignity as a beloved child of God; that we stop letting people use us as a doormat; and that we take care of ourselves: body, mind and spirit.

            The details of repentance are different for each of us. But, for all of us, repentance is a complete turnaround of our lives. Our old self is drowned in the water of baptism and we are reborn – we are turned around into a new life, better prepared for Christ and for God’s kingdom.

            John’s message is preparation – preparation through repentance.

            John the Baptist is an icon of preparation.

            But, of course, John and the Virgin Mary aren’t the only living symbols of preparation. They aren’t the only icons of preparation.

            In fact, when Nelson Mandela died on Thursday, the world lost another powerful icon of preparation.

            Mandela’s death wasn’t unexpected but so many of us were still saddened by his passing. It was moving to see the various news reports and also all the posts on social media, on facebook and twitter.

            Lots of people posted great and inspiring Mandela quotes.

            But, here’s the one I like the most:

            "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness."

            “Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.”

            When I read that I thought Goodness and Forgiveness aren’t just two roads to a beautiful South Africa. Goodness and Forgiveness are roads to the Kingdom of God – the kingdom we’re preparing for right now.

            During his long twenty-seven year imprisonment, Mandela could have become bitter, angry, self-centered, or even just broken. But, instead, he became a living symbol of preparation.

            And because he had prepared, when the time of his release came he was ready – ready to lead South Africa not down roads of hatred and revenge but instead down roads named Goodness and Forgiveness.

            During those long years on Robben Island, Mandela became an icon of preparation.

            So, here we are. Today is the Second Sunday of Advent.

            We’re all about preparation. Out in the world we’re preparing for Christmas by shopping, decorating, planning and all the rest.

            Here in church, we’re preparing for Christ and God’s kingdom by slowing down and quieting ourselves. We’re preparing by remembering Mary, John, and now, Nelson: icons of preparation.

            May we prepare.

            May we repent.

            And, this Advent, as our lives are turned around, may we journey together down the roads of goodness and forgiveness – roads to the kingdom of God.

            Amen.

"Slow Down. Quiet. It's Advent!"

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 1, 2013

Year A: The First Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm 122

Romans 13:11-14

Matthew 24:36-44

“Slow Down. Quiet. It’s Advent!”

            Today we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent – today we celebrate the start of a new church year.

            And, just like on the worldly New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day that we’ll celebrate a month from now, today is a good day to take stock of where we’ve been over the past year.

            And, today’s also a good day to make some resolutions for the future.

            As I look back over our time together, I’m amazed at all that God has accomplished here at St. Paul’s - all that God has accomplished, in and through us. I’m impressed by all the work we’ve been able to do together, with God’s help. And, I’m so grateful for all the ways that God has grown our ministry here in this special place.

            To get ready for this morning, to prepare for this New Year’s celebration, I looked back over my calendar to refresh my memory – and yours – about all the things that have happened over the past seven or so months.

            We once again welcomed the neighborhood to enjoy a Fun Day on our grounds, with lots of happy children bouncing away in our driveway; we re-started the 8am Sunday service and introduced three weekday services that have been much better attended than anyone dared to expect; we gave a well-deserved lifetime achievement award to Althea Maynard – the first such award given by St. Paul’s in way too many years; we shared the joy of Pauline and Nigel as they made their vows right here at our altar; many of us participated in an interfaith prayer service for our new mayor and council at Mt. Pisgah AME Church.

            We began major work on our 91 year-old organ – cleaning, tuning, repairing, and now replacing the bellows (I’m told one more week to go, by the way); we welcomed choristers from Los Alamos NM; we had another hugely successful summer camp; we hosted the Garden State Episcopal CDC volunteer dinner – dazzling the volunteers and staff with overflowing hospitality; we had a very well-attended and fun book signing for our own first-time novelist, Emily Barker; we’ve collected small mountains of food for the monthly food pantry at Incarnation; we’ve grown closer to our two Jersey City sister churches – a closeness that was manifested at the amazing worship service we shared at Liberty Park.

            We’ve had five baptisms; we’ve blessed backpacks, book bags, a pack of dogs, two nervous cats - and one stuffed animal; we hosted our first JC Friday arts event; we’ve welcomed the awesomely talented Gail Blache-Gill who has given a burst of new life to the music here at St. Paul’s; we’ve begun a powerful and moving monthly healing service at Liberty House Nursing Home; just last week we rededicated the repaired and restored stained glass window outside the parish hall; we had a Celebration of New Ministry to end all celebrations of new ministry; and an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service so beautiful that it sent all of us who were here into a spiritual high.           

            Parishioners who had drifted away have returned to St. Paul’s. And new people have begun to make their spiritual home here with us.

            God’s been really busy here at St. Paul’s.

            We’ve been busy. We’ve been really, really busy.

            The truth is, I like to be busy. And it seems that you like to be busy, too.

            And there’s more to come. Just look in your bulletin. (Not now, that’s rude. But, later on!)

            And there are things ahead that have a sense of urgency – getting the Sunday school going, doing something about the floor in here, and facing up to the need for air conditioning and handicapped access.

            But, while we’ve been doing all these wonderful things and thinking about and planning for all that still needs to be done, sometimes I’ve also been concerned that maybe we’ve been taking on too much. Maybe we’ve been too busy. There’s always the danger of overdoing it, of trying to d too much too soon; of getting overwhelmed, and there’s always the very big danger of church burnout.

            There’s always the danger of getting caught up in all this busyness and losing sight of why St. Paul’s is here – forgetting why we’re here - there’s the danger of getting so caught up in our busyness here and also in the rest of our busy lives that we lose touch with the God who we meet in Jesus.

            And, ironically and unfortunately, the build-up to Christmas that began on the so-called “Black Friday’ makes many of us busier and more crazed than any other time of year. We end up exhausted from running around shopping, decorating, and forcing ourselves to be merry even when we really don’t feel like it.

            But, the Church, in its wisdom, shows us another way – offers us a better way. The Church offers us a break from the busyness of our lives – and even a break from the busyness of church.

            This year we bought copies of a pretty wonderful poster that’s been around for a while. Maybe you’ve seen it before. It offers daily suggestions on how to keep a holy Advent.

            But, the heading says it all: “Slow down. Quiet. It’s Advent!”

            “Slow down. Quiet. It’s Advent.”

            Advent, these four Sundays before Christmas, is the start of a new church year.

            There is the “alpha” part of Advent, when we look back to the events leading up to the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago to a couple of nobodies in an out of the way place, in the humblest of circumstances.

            And there is the “omega” part of Advent, when we prepare for the Last Day when Christ will return in glory. Advent is a time to prepare for the Last Day, which, Jesus tells us, will come without warning – the Last Day, which will probably not come anytime soon, but you never know.

            So, we prepare for the Last Day by paying attention.

            We prepare for the Last Day by being mindful.

            We prepare for the Last Day by being on the lookout for God at work – on the lookout for God at work in the world around us – on the lookout for God at work in our lives.

            And God has surely been hard at work – is hard at work – in this place.

            “Slow down. Quiet. It’s Advent!”

            So my prayer is that during these four Sundays of Advent, a less busy St. Paul’s will be, more than ever, simply a house of prayer.

            My prayer is that over these four Sundays we busy people will look back with gratitude over all that God has accomplished here, in and through us.

            My prayer is that while out there the world goes nuts getting ready for Christmas, in here we’ll really reflect on the wonder of Emmanuel, the joy of God with us.

            My prayer is that while out there the world exhausts itself getting ready for Christmas, in here we’ll really be on the lookout for God at work in the world and in our lives.

            It’s Advent. Happy New Year.

            Slow down. Quiet. It’s Advent!

            Amen.