Birth Announcements

Luke 2:8-20

“Birth Announcements”

25 December 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            Last night we had a wonderful evening where we heard lessons predicting the birth of Jesus as well as readings describing the night of Christ’s birth. We capped it off with lighting candles so that each of us could hold the light of the world in our hands and physically see that the light of Christ will overcome any darkness in the world if we let that light shine rather than hide such hope from the world.

            We also explored how that whole night was nothing like the neat, tidy, rehearsed night we participated in just a few short hours ago. It was noisy and messy, much like some of your houses were early this morning, or still may be after opening of presents and the Christmas morning tradition of playing with every toy or trying on every piece of new clothing for an impromptu fashion show.

            Nothing about the story is fit for a king. If the location of his birth didn’t make people turn up their noses, the birth announcement sure did.

            I always enjoy getting birth announcements. Years ago, you’d go to the mailbox and find a post card sized piece of mail with some photos of a cute face sleeping or smiling at the camera. Embossed over the photos was a date and time with a name. Occasionally there’d be a cute statement like, “So and So said hello to the world” or “Meet the newest member of our family.” Now I see the same thing, just on Facebook where people can immediately comment on how proud they are, how cute the baby is, and how much they love the family.

            Those with more money, power, or fame will try to up the game, creating a kind of arms race in who can have the best birth reveal. Some families even get photographers and magazines into a bidding war so they can make money off sharing good news           

Regardless of the medium, the goal is to tell those who are important in your life that you have just added to the family.  

On Christmas Eve, we have the most important birth in the world and the most magnificent birth announcement that the world never noticed.

Joseph and Mary aren’t wealthy, they aren’t powerful, they aren’t famous. There is no entourage following them around waiting for the birth of the Messiah, despite a number of people knowing what was spoken to Mary regarding her son’s birth. This was probably like any other birth to a family of their status and income. Jesus is just another boy born into a carpenter’s family.

Yet, just see that birth announcement. Its night in the pasture after a hard day chasing sheep. The shepherds are dirty, smelly, tired. They’ve just finished dinner and are sitting around the fire telling stories of how they have protected their flock for one more day. No one will get fired for losing a sheep tonight. Then suddenly they see something that looks like a man standing in the middle of a bright light. They jump up, not knowing what to make of this intruder. He says, “It’s ok. I bring wonderful news. The Messiah has been born. He’s just over that hill in Bethlehem and he wants to see you.”

These shepherds are wary of this vision for they’ve been harassed and taken advantage of many times in their lives. It’s probably the owner playing a trick on them to see who will leave their flock so he can bring in a new shepherd for less pay. Suddenly, heaven opens up in the middle of the night. Angels descend in full glory. The field shines as if it’s the middle of the day. There is the most moving and perfect melody any of them have ever heard. A peace, calm, and warmth washes over them. It’s unexplainable, but they know something big is happening.

So, they leave their flocks and head to Bethlehem. And, just like they were told, they find the baby exactly where he was supposed to be, in a manger. A piece of equipment they know well. They look at each other with as bemused glance. It’s only then they notice Joseph, Mary, and a few others who heard the cries of a baby and checked to make sure all was well. With knowing smirks on their faces, they tell the small crowd how they ended up in a barn, in Bethlehem while their sheep are alone in the fields.

Some people won’t believe he is the king because the majestic birth announcement everyone was waiting on went to the wrong people. The poor migrant workers received the news first rather than those who believed they deserved the surprise news. It reminds me of a scene from the movie Big Daddy. (Play video)

Did God waste the surprise on the Sonnys of the world, or were they the intended recipient of the good news from the beginning?

Jesus was no ordinary King. Just look at the stories we have of his life. Born to unwed parents who were not of the priestly or powerful families of the day. Christ learned the trade of carpentry because Joseph was a carpenter and people learned the trade of their family. He lived the itinerant life going from town to town with his small group of close friends that had questionable backgrounds of their own. When they stayed in towns, it was with friends rather than in places of power or the Shangri La of the day. Jesus dined with the outcasts of society and died with the label of a defeated revolutionary.

Because we know the rest of the story and not just the bizarre events of this night in Bethlehem, we know that Christ’s birth announcement was received by the exact people to whom it was intended. The people Christ came to save and release from the bondage of the world. We too have heard and seen the birth announcement. All of us who live messy lives with battle scars, we who hide wounds that we have inflicted as well as absorbed, we are the ones to whom the announcement resonates with and uplifts our souls because we are the intended recipients of the glorious news of a proud father. We are part of the family.

As we sit with the beautiful image of the best birth announcement we’ll ever receive. Let us join with the shepherds and not just treasure receiving the news and do more than just post the photo on our refrigerator or make a short, happy comment on Facebook. Rather, let us go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born glorifying and praising God for we have been selected to see and hear the greatest birth announcement in history.

A Messy Night

Luke 2:1-20

“A Messy Story”

24 December 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            How many people love getting messy? For the young ones among us I would imagine quite a few like getting messy. Playing outside in the mud and dirt. The mess we make when baking cookies, especially Christmas cookies as we not only make the batter and get that everywhere, but all of the green and red sprinkles that we are still finding in July. But, as we get older we tend to avoid messes of all kinds.

            We have to keep our rooms neat and tidy, lest anyone discover that we are messy and lead messy lives. We can’t track dirt inside the house. How many here have endured the shower from the tap outside before being allowed to enter the house only to immediately go through another shower to get you completely clean.

We won’t even let people think one part of our lives are messy. We airbrush and photoshop the photos we post online so that people think we have perfect and neat skin. We put on happy smiling faces here in church lest people assume our lives aren’t perfect and that we don’t struggle in any area of our lives.

The fear of being messy even led to a TV series filmed in the US, and eventually Australia, called “Dirty Jobs” where Mike Rowe went and found some of the messiest jobs in America and spent a day or two walking along with those who America deemed unlucky to have such a messy career.

But, as we learned about the people who clean porta potties, clean out sewers, spray down the vats that make wine and beer, mix and lay concrete on our roads, sweep chimneys, etc. we saw people who may have had “messy” jobs but that were upbeat and happy people. How could someone with such a dirty job and lifestyle be so happy?

Which brings us to tonight and the birth of Christ. How in the world could the Messiah arrive in a messy stable in Bethlehem to an unwed mother as a tiny, needy, messy baby? This makes no sense. Rarely do stories of heroic leaders begin with the future king’s birth in a barn full of common animals. Even more unique is the fact that Jesus’ birth stories admit his lineage may not be perfectly neat. There could be questions as to his claim to the throne because Joseph wasn’t a priest or royalty, he was just a simple, messy carpenter.

But, maybe that is the point. God chose to become human not because God needed to, but because God wanted to become human to show us a different way than the world provides. Life is messy, full of troubles and frustrations, and no matter how much we try to hide the mess, it’s still in the closet, under the rug and furniture, or collecting in the corners we can’t quite reach.

            By entering the world in a messy way, God showed us God would be there in the mess of life. We call Christ Emmanuel, God is with us. And no matter the mess we make or find ourselves in God is truly with us. We couldn’t say that if God entered the world in golden splendor attended to by a royal court with all of the worldly money and power he desired. We need a savior that is with us, one of us. One that is at home with the nice and the messy. One that befriends shepherds, tax collectors, lepers, Samaritans, etc. By being one of us and knowing first hand the mess of the world and our lives, he truly is our Savior and that is the Gospel truth of Christmas.

A Different Peace

Luke 1:26-49

“A Different Peace”

18 December 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            If I were to tell certain seminary classmates of mine that I was preaching on peace to military men and women of many different nations at a military chapel in Singapore, some of them would make a number of assumptions about us and the message I would preach.

            Some would expect a sermon in which I would look at the congregation and tell us we are all in the wrong profession, that violence is never the right answer and that the only Christian answer to war and the military is absolute non-violence. There’s probably a few thoughts rattling around in some of your minds about that approach and you are probably forming some strong opinions on the whole idea of pacifism and it’s place in the church and the world. I’m not a pacifist, so you don’t have to worry about that sermon today. But, pacifism has a place in the church and it is a viewpoint to which those of us in military should carefully listen. For we can learn a great deal about ourselves and our reasons for serving in the military by wrestling with those ideas.

            Others of my seminary world might just chuckle and say, “Good luck with that” thinking how do you even broach the topic of peace with a group that has been in active conflict, some even in active combat, for the last 15 years. There are many on active duty, as well as veterans, that know of nothing but combat and continuous deployments in harm’s way. I would even venture that every person here today can name at least someone who didn’t come home from the front line.

            But, I think preaching peace from a military perspective to a military audience is easier than discussing war and peace to a congregation of people who haven’t served (and their partners). Issues of war and peace, especially the drastic and stark cost of war, are things to which the members of a military congregation are all too familiar. It is something we all think about at some time or another.

            Perhaps we have pondered whether a routine underway will suddenly become an extended sail halfway across the world because someone decided to light the proverbial fuse that blew the diplomatic powder keg to smithereens. Or, we have been called in the middle of the night and told to pack our bags for an undisclosed location, leaving the family wondering what is going on and nervously watching television and waiting by the phone for any news regarding our loved one.

            Regardless of how the situation drives us to think about peace, we have all pondered what peace would mean to us directly. Personally, I am a staunch advocate of the military working itself out of a job. I’m not someone who goes around quoting Clausewitz on a regular basis, but if we are truly diplomacy through another means, then there is a way forward where diplomacy is not needed. A place where people of different beliefs, races, cultures, economic status, etc. all can be together without the thought of competition and conflict. When we reach that place, we are out of a job (as are all politicians and others involved in statecraft). I want that world, I long for that world. And, I believe that is the world for which creation groans.

            As followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace, we know not only that such a vision of a world is possible, it will happen. The victory is won and peace will reign over the word at some point. So, this Advent as we wait on Christ we are also anticipating not just his birth in the Christian story, but also on the Kingdom to come.

            However, true peace is much more than a matter of removal of conflict and war.

Today a teenage girl has just received some shocking news. For the parents among us, what would you say, how would you react if your 13 year old daughter walked in and said, “I’m pregnant?” Would her saying an angel told her the child would be the Messiah change your reaction? Would you send her off to get a psychological evaluation?

While your face and demeanor might project an air of calm, I highly doubt the true reaction to such news would be one of peace. Perhaps some anger directed in multiple directions for a variety of reasons. Extreme worry on how to care for the child, how that news would affect schooling. I would guess there would be a great deal of worry as the most prominent reaction/emotion from that news. And that is just a small snapshot of emotions and reactions from someone with a western perspective in the 21^st century.

In the first century, we’d have to add in the whole idea that Mary could be cast aside by her fiancé, her faith community, even her parents. If that were to happen, it would most likely ensure the death of her child, and perhaps even herself. I can’t imagine the cloud of thoughts swirling around in Mary’s head upon hearing the news. I can only see the chaos of her life to come as an unwed mother in the first century. And that is where I go wrong.

Mary is a pillar of peace in the midst of this chaotic storm. Mary calmly asks, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Then, after Gabriel explains what is going on she replies, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.” My response would be nothing close to those calm responses to Gabriel telling me anything much less that an unexpected child, who would just happen to be the Messiah, was on the way. Don’t we all wish for such presence and calm in the midst of chaos?

I guess it’s only fitting that the mother of the Prince of Peace was so calm during this whole process. We never read of Mary having a struggle with the whole idea of raising the Messiah. Perhaps in the back of her mind she wasn’t all that convinced he was the Messiah. Maybe she was just preoccupied with raising a normal child. While she had the typical dreams any parent has of a healthy and successful child, the main goal is to focus on raising them right.

Maybe Mary was chosen because of her ability to maintain peace in the midst of a storm. Because, even though he was God, Jesus learned from her. And we can see her peaceful influence on Christ’s life and, by extension, the life we are called to lead. Just like Mary, in his most desperate moment of chaos as he literally walked to his death and hung on the cross, the peaceful demeanor of Christ is striking. The way he calmly dealt with Pilate, the way Jesus told the disciples to not strike out against those who were coming to take him away, the loving way he dealt with Judas, all of it shows peace. Not only the peace we are called to live out, but the peace for which we all long.

On Saturday, we’ll gather here and celebrate with songs and a retelling of the chaos of the birth of Christ. The angels on high, the Magi making a dangerous journey and having to go home by another way, cows mooing, sheep bleating, a baby crying and dependent on his mother for everything. And we may forget the peace that flows through the story.

Over the years that baby paid close attention to the peaceful calm of his mother. Did God need to learn peace? Of course not, but we need to see a human demonstrate a calm, steady, peaceful presence in the midst of the chaos of life. And what a chaotic life Mary was living with the circumstances surrounding the birth of her child. It’s easy for us to dismiss Christ’s call for us to be peacemakers because Christ is God and we are not. We can never meet his standard. But, we can be peacemakers like Mary.

If we seek to find the peaceful way to make it through the everyday chaos of life, then we will naturally find the way to peace on a more global scale. Let Mary guide us and be our example for true peace. A peace that is grounded in a faith that God is with us, Emmanuel. Once we learn how to maintain peace in our own lives, then we will be the example of peace to others. Through that type of peace we will finally achieve the peace Christ is bringing where “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth with be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. 

Joy

Isaiah 61:1-11

“Joy”

11 December 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            On this the third Sunday of Advent, we explore joy. But, what exactly does it mean to be joyful or to have joy in our lives?

            We could search for a textbook definition and find ideas such as great delight, happiness from something satisfying, elation, someone or something greatly valued or appreciated, glad feeling, etc. But, I think there is more to joy than what the dictionary says. Something has been lost in the interpretation of that word over the years.

            Perhaps the best place to look to see true joy is to just watch a young child grow up. Now, while I don’t have any children of my own, I am fully aware that children aren’t always the fountain of bubbly joy, smiles, and love that we might lead everyone to believe. Young children can be quite tempermental and are known to have bouts of behavior that are trying not just on their parents, but anyone around them.

            That being said, young children exhibit more joy on a day-to-day basis than most adults. Perhaps this is because each day brings new wonders and learning through new discoveries. Maybe there is less in the world distracting them from God. Whatever it is that allows them to find joy everywhere, as we grow we seem to lose that ability.

            So, it’s a true blessing to have a church community here that has young boys and girls roaming our pews, singing their hearts out, playing during worship, running around during the passing of the peace laughing and bringing out smiles from all the stuffy adults in the congregation.

            How we approach those full of joy here in these walls matters more than we may know. How many times have you seen the younger members of our community out at the Terror Club or in the NEX and their faces light up and they run over to say hello, give you a high five, or show off a new way to do a fist bump? Because we allow and encourage joy on Sunday, there is permission to live into that idea beyond these walls. Keeping joy alive when the world is trying to mute the melody of joy in our lives and make us dampen any strong emotions is important. What we practice here matters to the world.

            This section of Isaiah is starkly different than the surrounding sections. Chapters 60-62 offer a glorious future for the devastated Jerusalem. Because there was a double portion of shame upon Israel, they will now receive a double share of joy. Plus we hear the good news of Christ in the first verse, “The spirit of the LORD GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners.”

            Whenever we hear the Gospel of Christ proclaimed, it is a cause of great joy for those with ears to hear and this is no different. Isaiah is speaking as the voice of God proclaiming that the end of Israel’s pain and suffering is nearing its end. The prophet is proclaiming release from Babylon, those who have endured will be the oaks of righteousness, roots of faith for the new community to come.

What a joyous vision not just for Israel, but for the world!

            Who doesn’t want a world where there are no prisoners because there isn’t any violent crime? Just think of having the safety and security we feel here in Singapore regardless of where we travel in the world. A world where we can truly get to know each other because we aren’t afraid of what someone may do to us or because we’re always wondering what someone’s angle is for being polite and friendly to us. If there is no need for prisons because we aren’t fearful of others then imagine just how well we could get to know each other. How amazing would it be to sit in a true cultural exchange where there are no agendas but to just know each other?

            Who doesn’t want to ease the brokenhearted? A world where even if tragedy still occurs there is a place of healing and a balm over Gilead no matter how deep and infected the wounds of our hearts became. No matter the wrong done by or to someone, they are aware of the deep, cooling, soothing relief of forgiveness and love that we all so desperately need in our most painful times. A place where we are all loved to the point that there is no need for us to harbor resentment or anger towards another.

            Oh what joy would we see if all of the captives were set free. Right now there are 45 million people trapped in slavery and 30 million who tried to escape chaos and destruction in their own land by setting out for countries full of hope only to find themselves longingly looking at a new life through a screen of razor wire and tall fences from the flap of their patchwork white tent that many families before them also used in the refugee camp they must now call home. What joyful news release would be to those families and what amazing gifts springing forth are being kept from the world while they sit and wither on the vine. Fresh eyes looking at a situation with fresh energy can provide results unheard of previously. Just look at the popularity of consulting firms to come in and overcharge companies for the privilege of looking at something from a new angle.

            So, how do we bring this joyful news to the world? In all honesty that will be harder than it sounds. Somehow we need to focus on the root causes of joy. If we work to “bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners” not only will we spread joy to the world, but we will hear the joyful melody in our hearts much louder.

The group Rend collective has a song called Joy that can help people move to joy in their lives and spreading the joy in others. (Play Song) When we play God as the song of our hearts we set the captives, including ourselves, free because God is the joy in our lives. Just like with our youngest members, let’s turn up the volume of the God song in our hearts to drown out the noise of the world so that all we hear and give to the world is the Joy of the Lord.