Who's On Your List?
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
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Object:
In this week's lectionary gospel text, John the Baptist calls us to prepare for the coming of the "one who is more powerful than I." When the crowds ask him "What should we do?" John is blunt, talking about the need to bear good fruit and specifying what that means: "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise" and "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages." What John seems to be telling us is that to avoid the axe and being "thrown into the fire" we must take care of one another rather than focus primarily on our own wealth and spiritual salvation.
But as team member Leah Lonsbury notes in this installment of The Immediate Word, the me-first dynamic John warns us against is never far from the surface of the messages we hear during the Christmas shopping season. Leah points not only to the nascent greediness encouraged by retailers but also to several issues in the headlines to help us consider how Christians might fulfill John's dictum to bear good fruit.
Team member Mary Austin offers some additional thoughts on the epistle passage and Paul's repeated call for us to rejoice. Of course, it can be difficult to rejoice in the midst of war and deprivation -- but Mary suggests that joy is not something we find but rather something we practice... a spiritual discipline of sorts. We're always waiting for a more convenient time -- yet Mary reminds us that there's no better time than the current moment to rejoice and prepare ourselves for the coming Joy.
Who's on Your List?
by Leah Lonsbury
Luke 3:7-18
In the advertising fury that surrounded Black Friday, a series of clever commercials from Target did exactly what they were supposed to do -- they caught my attention. Each ad has a man and a woman singing Christmas carols, only they're all about shopping at Target, and they're full of kitsch.
The first one I saw was set to the tune of "Do You Hear What I Hear" and featured the recurring characters singing what they read over two teens' shoulders as the teens text back and forth to set their strategy for Black Friday shopping. I admit to laughing out loud at the adults' impersonations of the teens' voices and the man's use of the word "totes" (as in "totally") with a completely straight face.
What's not so funny, however, is the subtext I think I'm hearing in these commercials. See if it catches your attention in this exchange from the texting teens...
Can we also bring Trevor? He's HOT.
I think we should get those DVDs first.
Duh! They're doorbusters.
Missing those would be the worst.
Totes.
Or listen for it in the ad that uses the tune of "Deck the Halls" and has the characters singing "Check out the price of this new flat screen. I'll buy it for Bill, but it's also for me." This little ditty also keeps coming back to the refrain of "You, you, you, you, you... and one for me."
And let's think for a minute about what our subtext is when we make our lists this season. Who are they really about? Are they about taking care of others and expressing our joy in relationship or are they in truth more about ourselves and what we want? And even if our lists begin with pure motives, where do they end? How could we ever keep them free of the greediness that begins to creep in before Halloween and has its official kickoff on that first holiday of the season, the high holy day of Black Friday?
Maybe that "Deck the Halls" refrain would be more truthful if it sounded more like this: "Me, me, me, me, me... and one (or whatever's leftover) for you."
John the Baptist knows this tune well. In our passage from Luke's gospel for this week, he strikes out at the crowds who have come seeking baptism with a sense of entitlement and the assumption that they top the list because they are Children of Abraham. They want salvation for themselves, but their query gets them this: "Bear fruits worthy of repentance."
Change your subtext, friends, John seems to be saying. If you want salvation and all the good stuff that comes with it, bear fruit. If you want to bear fruit, take care of each other. This repentance business isn't about saving your skin and coming out on the top of the list, no matter what the Black Friday or Christmas season ads tell us. It's about a reorientation -- a "turning around" that acknowledges our sacred connectedness, our shared needs, and our salvation -- that is found only in the generosity of love.
What does it look like to bear this kind of fruit today?
On the edge of a fiscal cliff, how do we follow John's instruction to share our second coats with those who have none?
During a season of shopping that began with Black Friday shoppers spending $11 billion in stores despite having to walk through protests of retail workers demanding adequate compensation and humane treatment, how do we hear and heed John's teachings on extortion and fair wages?
How will we bear worthy fruit? Where does that fall on our lists this season?
THE WORLD
The bickering continues in Washington as the fiscal cliff looms ever closer. This week, Republican House Speaker John Boehner called the administration's proposal a "la-la-land" offer, and White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer dismissed the Republicans' plan by saying it "includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate, which loopholes they will close, or which Medicare savings they would achieve."
Not so far away in Virginia, the Watson family is getting fed up with this kind of partisan squabbling. Mom Jody says, "I call it the 'Washington bubble.' Where they have no idea how their choices and their fighting and bickering affects the rest of us."
The Watsons have faced a year-long stretch of unemployment, a cross-country move for a new job, giving up extracurricular activities for their daughters, putting off needed home repairs, and cutting out any extras like going out to eat and to the movies. Things are tight, even with these cost-cutting practices, but things could be worse -- very soon. If the posturing and fighting doesn't end quickly in Washington, the Watsons will face a tax increase of about $3,500 next year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Ryan Grim and Sarah Bufkin report in The Huffington Post that budget talks last year demonstrated just how little "fat" the federal government could trim before the services and benefits it provides would be adversely affected. The bipartisan congressional group reporting on potential cuts found that only $40 billion could be saved by targeting waste and fraud in government operations.
For the Watsons in Virginia who have cut out all the extras, going over the fiscal cliff could begin to threaten essentials like housing, healthcare, and food. But there are also those whose essentials and well-being are already at risk, those who are tenuously held up by social safety net programs -- the same programs that are on the table before the bickering politicians in Washington.
In what they are calling a "grand bargain," Democrats have offered to slash trillions in government spending in exchange for Republican agreement on returning some of the tax rates to their pre-Bush levels. All the spending cuts and raised taxes, Democrats say, will pay off a portion of the $16 trillion in debt the US has accumulated through bailing out a global financial crisis, waging two wars, and enacting a series of tax cuts for the wealthy.
It seems important to ask who this is a "grand bargain" for before making cuts and enacting tax hikes. This kind of compromise, journalists Grim and Bufkin write, will disproportionately affect the poor, the middle class, and the elderly. Here's how...
To make a real impact on the deficit, agricultural subsidies and oil and gas giveaways may also face the chopping block now. But more than anything, lawmakers will likely target Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a host of other social programs that help those with the fewest advocates in Washington, including people on food stamps, veterans, retiring federal workers, home health care workers, and the elderly.
Grim and Bufkin's projections aren't without precedent. Last year in budget negotiations, Republicans identified $20 billion they would cut by "eliminating fraud" in SNAP (the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps). Democrats argued that the number was closer to $2 billion. In his proposal, House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan slashed SNAP funding by $127 billion over the next decade. The GOP-led House of Representatives tried to cut SNAP funding by $16 billion in a year's time, while the Democratic-held Senate approved a $4 billion reduction.
The largest non-defense spending cut won't be to food assistance, though. It's likely to come from non-entitlement health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. During last year's budget negotiations on this front, Republicans made an argument for $300 billion and Democrats for $200 billion in health care cuts. Both sides agreed to $50 billion in cuts to home health care program spending and $17 billion in other areas.
If fiscal cliff negotiations look anything like last year's budget negotiations, it appears that the poor, the middle class, and the elderly didn't make the Christmas lists of those doing the bargaining. Many of the same politicians will be around the table, and they don't seem any less interested this time around in posturing, political bluster, or digging in their heels for the purpose of defeating the other side.
Beyond the halls of Congress, the aisles of Wal-Mart are also seeing their share of squabbling. On Black Friday, frustrated Wal-Mart employees, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and sympathetic citizens staged 100 protests in 46 states to encourage shoppers to take their business elsewhere and put pressure on Wal-Mart to change "unfair labor practices" and "demand better pay for employees." In Lakewood, Colorado, shoppers paused to read the signs of a dozen or so protestors that played off the company's corporate slogan of "Live Better."
Shoppers may have been paused by these protests, but they didn't stop for long. Angelo Young of the International Business Times writes of this...
Customers of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have voted with their pocketbooks, vying to shop away the day despite protests from some employees and labor rights advocates who claim there are a series of abusive labor practices by the world's largest retail chain... American consumers flocked to the company's outlets and cleared shelves without missing a beat... [A] day after its earliest Black Friday sales event debut, the company said it sold 5,000 items per second to 22 million customers between 8 p.m. and midnight on Thanksgiving Day.
They must have had some long lists. Wonder whose names were on them?
A group called OUR Wal-Mart (Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart) is working to make sure that Wal-Mart associates make everybody's lists. On the "About Us" page on their website, the organization writes: "We envision a future in which our company treats us, the Associates of Wal-Mart, with respect and dignity. We envision a world where we succeed in our careers, our company succeeds in business, our customers receive great service and value, and Wal-Mart and Associates share all of these goals."
OUR Wal-Mart also claims that employee income, which is often close to minimum wage, is difficult to live on and that employees have faced retaliation from Wal-Mart for speaking out about their struggles at work.
Colby Harris, a Wal-Mart associate from Lancaster, Texas, shares OUR Wal-Mart's concerns. "Unfair labor is working full-time and living in poverty," he said in a press release on Black Friday. "Unfair labor is seeing your health care premiums skyrocket year after year. Unfair labor is being denied the hours needed to support your family. Unfair labor is being punished for exercising your freedom of speech and association."
In an unusually detailed press release about the success of Black Friday sales, Wal-Mart seems to be pushing back against a variety of allegations, including that it tinkers with employee schedules to keep workers from qualifying for company health insurance benefits, it keeps many of its associates in the dark about the number of hours they will be allowed during each pay period, and the employees on the low end of its pay scale have to depend on government benefits that the public usually associates with people who are unemployed.
"I'm so proud of what our more than 1.3 million associates have done to prepare and execute our Black Friday plans, giving our customers a great start to their Christmas shopping season," said Bill Simon, Wal-Mart U.S. president and chief executive officer, in the press release. "We had very safe and successful Black Friday events at our stores across the country and heard overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers."
The press release also included details about the 10% discount all associates receive and the additional 10% executives gave their associates earlier this season as "a special holiday discount... off most food items from November 9 to January 1 to help make the holidays for its associates and their families even more special."
Then there was this: "Also, to recognize those associates who helped serve customers during its Black Friday events, the company is providing an additional 10% discount on an entire basket of goods. Eligible associates who helped execute Wal-Mart's Black Friday events will also receive holiday pay."
What is the subtext of this press release? What is Wal-Mart trying to communicate to the public? What is it saying to its employees? Where are they on Wal-Mart's Christmas list? Where are they on Wal-Mart's shoppers' lists?
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich might have an answer to that question for us. This is what he reported in a recently published essay:
America's largest employer is Wal-Mart, whose average employee earns $8.81 an hour. A third of Wal-Mart's employees work less than 28 hours per week and don't qualify for benefits... Wal-Mart earned $16 billion last year (it just reported a 9% increase in earnings in the third quarter of 2012, to $3.6 billion), much of which went to Wal-Mart's shareholders...
THE WORD
John the Baptist wasn't shy about giving answers either. He is done with those who stand on privilege, disregard those in need, and use their power for personal gain at others' expense. He is shouting and warning and even threatening, because he knows that what he is calling for is "nothing less than a mental and spiritual U-turn" for the crowd that has gathered before him.
Velli-Matti Karkkainen writes of this: "For the Baptist, repentance had less to do with how fervently one prays or how faithfully one attends the worship service; instead, it had everything to do with how one handled riches, executed public service, and exercised stewardship" (Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 68, 70).
For children of Abraham or people like me who were raised in and practically live at church, this might not sound like the "good news" the writer of Luke's gospel claims that it is. Turns out it isn't enough to have the right pedigree or your own pew. Turns out all those hours spent in Bible study were only worth it if what you learned drove you out of the church building and into the lives of God's children to bear fruit. Perfect attendance, hours spent in committee meetings, being a third generation member -- come to find out those things are far less important than doing the hard work of giving away everything above what you absolutely need, living in transparent and sometimes painfully honest ways, and doing the hard and thoughtful work of crafting a life that builds up instead of tearing down and puts all God's people on our Christmas lists (in one way or another).
This just sounds hard and not at all Christmasy. Or does it?
Is not good news... the gospel, to hear that a proper way to prepare for the Advent of the Humble Servant is to let the divine axe cut off our greed, self-indulgence, egoism, hypocrisy, and the like and throw them into the unquenchable fire of God's judgment?
(Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 70)
Perhaps it is exactly what we need to hear during a season when...
-- what we spend on our already comfortable loved ones could stop an eviction for a family just around the corner;
-- we obsess about giving the perfect or most thoughtful gift because of what we think it will say about us to the giver and world;
-- we grow content with sweet baby Jesus in the hay and forget to ask why his parents were on the road in the first place and why no one could find them any room in their home;
-- we cross picket lines to save a few dollars and accumulate more stuff made and sold by people in desperate situations;
-- the carol soundtrack in our heads sings "me, me, me, me, me... and one for you."
This is what we must hear and work we must do individually but with the surrounding strength of the crowd seeking salvation. Just as John's answers were personalized to those who were doing the asking, the answers we seek and find will suit our abilities and situations. When we ask "What then should we do?" we might receive more of a personal challenge than we would like or thought we were asking for, but we can always be sure it will involve acts of justice and mercy we are fully capable of doing. We can be sure the answer to what we ask will demand that we live unselfishly, within our means, and in ways that are compassionate and just, whether it's comfortable for us or not.
John's message is hard and probably even painful if we're responding as we should. I imagine it mostly shouted and with lots of finger-pointing, but if John can't get us there, who can? Whose message will prepare us to make and be the way for the coming one? Can we bear it? Wesley Avram writes of this:
Whose message is strong enough to lead us to the repentance to which we are called? Not the church's, for it is too much a snake pit. Not our own insight -- for we are as needy as anyone in the crowd -- hoarding coats and food when others are in need. We are as the tax collectors -- dependent upon unjust structures for our livelihood. We are as the occupying army -- caught in a culture of exploitation and violence.
(Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 72)
How will we make this mental and spiritual U-turn?
CRAFTING THE SERMON
This week the preacher might consider...
* Inviting the congregation to consider what the healthcare, economic justice, government assistance, or fair labor practices equivalent would be to John's admonition to giving our second coat to those who are without the provision they need.
* Talking through how we tease out the subtext of our Christmas shopping and to-do lists. What do they say about how we intend to bear fruit this season? How do we (in the vein of the Target commercial) put doorbusters before people? How do we engage the hard work of "[letting] the divine axe cut off our greed, self-indulgence, egoism, hypocrisy, and the like and throw them into the unquenchable fire of God's judgment" amidst the bustle, consumerism, and feel-good push of the surrounding Christmas culture?
* Asking the congregation what the fiscal cliff and Black Friday protests have to do with John the Baptist's message. How do John and these current struggles speak to us? What do they ask of us? What fruit do they want us to bear?
* Re-examining what it means to be God's people. How have we understood this in the past? What will it mean for our present and our future? How do God's people live? What do they do? How do they care for one another? How does John's threat that God can raise up other children from the stones if need be land with us? How do we react? How does it change us? How do we hide behind our tradition, national or ecclesial identity, wealth, ethnicity, or position? (Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 70). If these things cannot assure our place as a child of God, what can?
* Thinking about the kind of way is John envisioning. How is he preparing? How are we preparing? When we make the way, how is God born in our midst?
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
Philippians 4:4-7
The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally dedicated to joy. This is the "pink candle" Sunday on the Advent wreath, highlighting a call to joy in the midst of Advent's preparations. This week is sometimes called the "Gaudete" Sunday, from the Latin word for "rejoice." Paul, writing to the Philippians, calls them to an observance of joy. "Rejoice in the Lord always," he reminds them, bringing home his point by saying it twice. The call to rejoice feels like an odd pause in Advent. How can we take a break from our waiting to rejoice in something that hasn't happened yet?
As winter comes to Syria, the fighting between government forces and rebel fighters has leveled cities and created millions of refugees, both within Syria and in nearby countries. According to ABC News, the Red Crescent relief organization estimates that 2.5 million people have been displaced. Many have left home without winter clothing, a way to cook, or adequate money. As one refugee interviewed in the story says, "We brought only the clothes on our back and our names." The letter to the Philippians promises that "the Lord is near," but it may not seem so to the people of Syria after 21 months of fighting.
It may not seem so to the people of New York and New Jersey either. Many people are homeless or still digging out after Superstorm Sandy struck five weeks ago. The president has proposed a $60.4 billion dollar recovery bill to aid the area, covering a large portion of the $82 million in damages tallied up by the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. As the article notes: "The proposal now goes to Congress, where it is likely to become the focus of a fight between fiscal conservatives seeking to limit federal spending and lawmakers from storm-battered areas bent on obtaining even more than what Mr. Obama proposed. Mr. Obama proposed no spending cuts elsewhere to pay the cost, arguing that such emergencies typically do not require offsetting measures." The Lord is near, but it may not seem so to people waiting for relief.
How do we rejoice in the midst of war, political turmoil, homelessness, sickness, divorce, or any other trouble, whether it's national or personal?
Michael Joseph Brown (The Working Preacher) says that "The twofold expression to rejoice echoes what the apostle said in 3:1, 'Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.' Rejoicing is a keynote of this letter. The inclusion of the pantote, translated in the NRSV as 'always,' can also be rendered 'at all times.' The statement calls for an ongoing activity, one not based upon the particular circumstances of the apostle's readers. In one way, this adverb points to the future and its possible trials. The idea then is to keep on rejoicing in the Lord at all times, regardless of what may come upon you."
As Philip Campbell writes in Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1, p. 64], "Joy that emerges from a deep connection with our spiritual source is a far cry from the fleeting rush achieved through the acquisition of the season's latest toy."
We would be tempted to dismiss Paul's call to take up the work of joy, but he writes this letter from prison. Michael Joseph Brown adds, "This continuous rejoicing in the Lord is a very important concept for Paul. It is a distinguishing mark for Christians (see Romans 12:12) and a characteristic of life in the kingdom of God (14:17). It is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It becomes evident during times of suffering and trial (Romans 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 6:10; 8:2-3)." More than the instruction for a random Sunday in Advent, this is a key piece of the work of our faith.
The call to rejoice always comes at an inconvenient time. In Advent, it comes while we're still waiting for the Christ Child, while we're waiting for God's complete rule in our lives, and while we're waiting for personal and national tangles to be made smooth. I suspect that it's always Advent somewhere in our lives. Advent means "coming," but it often seems like nothing and no one is coming to help resolve our struggles. We are always in the middle of something. It's never a good time to set it all aside and rejoice.
Or maybe it's always a good time.
Rejoicing is a spiritual discipline. Paul's call to rejoice in God reminds me of the "fake it 'til you make it" wisdom of the 12-step programs: act "as if" until something becomes real; act like it's reality until it becomes reality.
We rejoice not as a response to something, but as part of the fabric of our relationship with God. We rejoice as a way to deepen our faith, and to separate it from the ups and downs of our lives. We rejoice as a preparation, so we know what to do when the fullness of God's realm is apparent to us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Narcissistic Personality Disorder was first identified as a mental disorder in 1968. Drawing from the DSM (the Bible of psychological diagnosis and treatment), Psychology Today describes NPD as arrogant behavior, a lack of empathy for other people, and a need for admiration -- all of which must be consistently evident at work and in relationships. People who are narcissistic are frequently described as cocky, self-centered, manipulative, and demanding. Narcissists may concentrate on unlikely personal outcomes (e.g., fame) and may be convinced that they deserve special treatment.
In other words, they think the world really does revolve around them.
So why is NPD being deleted from the DSM-V, the latest edition of the diagnostic manual that will come out this January (2013)?
Perhaps it's because cultural historian Christopher Lasch's 1979 book The Culture of Narcissism was right: "To live for the moment is the prevailing passion..." Narcissism has become the norm in our culture.
* * *
In 1994 photographer Peter Menzel and some other photographers went all over the world and took photographs of thirty statistically average families in different locations. He asked them to bring all their material possessions -- everything they owned other than their house -- and then sit in front of it for the picture. The result of this project was the book Material World: A Global Family Portrait.
My reaction to the book was one of shock. Remember, these are statistically average people in their areas of the world -- and what amazed me was how much more stuff the statistically average American family owned compared to the families of other countries. In some places everything the family owned could literally be picked up and carried in the arms of the family who owned it. Americans not so. The American family probably could not have fit everything they owned into the house and two cars that they owned. (It was just released last month that there is now seven square feet of commercial storage space available for every man, woman, and child in the United States.)
A Chinese version of the book, by two Chinese photographers and featuring all Chinese subjects, was released this year. It is called, simply, Stuff.
* * *
A newly released study by the University of Canterbury in New Zealand reveals that when people seek to increase their feeling of well-being, their activities tend to fall into three distinct categories: pleasure, engagement, and meaning.
Activities that are aimed at pleasure tend to increase a person's feelings of happiness, but also tend to be short-lived and temporary. Activities that aim toward engagement and meaning tend to increase a person's overall sense of well-being or joy.
Without separating the categories, here are what the researchers discovered were the activities best and worst suited to increasing a person's sense of well-being:
Top-Ranked Activities
1. Sex
2. Drinking alcohol
3. Volunteering
4. Meditating/religion
5. Caring for children
6. Listening to music
7. Socializing
8. Hobbies
9. Shopping
10. Gaming
Worst-Ranked Activities
1. Recovering from sickness
2. Facebook
3. Housework
4. Studying
5. Texting
6. Going to lectures
7. Paid work
8. Commuting
9. Computer work
10. Washing
* * *
A little girl in my church told me about a science experiment she created for her elementary school science fair.
She and her mother baked some homemade bread, made a peanut butter sandwich on it, and sat it on a table in her room. Next to it she sat a peanut butter sandwich made with a popular, mass-produced bread that she bought at the supermarket.
After a few days the sandwich on homemade bread became stale, and a few days after that it was covered in mold, ruined, and inedible. The sandwich on the mass-produced bread was dry, but it did not get moldy. In fact, she said, it never did mold even after weeks of sitting on the table in her room.
I asked her why she thought that was so and she said, "Because it isn't real bread. You can't save real bread."
Maybe that's why Jesus used real bread and wine for his last supper. Real bread and wine can't be saved up. They have to be poured out and broken and shared, just like real life.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
Yawning isn't just about getting more oxygen to our brain. Scientists have discovered that even in a 100% oxygen atmosphere, people yawn about the same as people in normal atmospheres. The fact is, we still don't know much about why people yawn.
What we do know is that yawning really is contagious. Seeing someone yawn will trigger a yawn in most people. Reading about a yawn can trigger a yawn. Even thinking about yawning can trigger a yawn in the majority of people.
It's just contagious.
So are laughing and crying. When we see others laugh or cry our brain slips into a sympathy mode that makes laughing and/or crying easier for us. And laughing or crying with others tends to make our laughter and tears feel more authentic, more powerful and meaningful.
So, whether we laugh or cry or yawn, the chances are that we will feel better for doing it if we do it with others.
* * *
In one of his poems, W.H. Auden challenges his readers to "practice their scales of rejoicing." Sixteen times the apostle Paul uses the words "rejoice" or "joy" throughout his letter to the Philippians. Strange soil from which a flower as beautiful as "rejoice" could work its way through the hard dirt and finally bloom. Paul was in prison. He wanted his friends to know he was all right, but he also wanted them to know that even in the most difficult circumstances of our lives, we believers can still rejoice.
Christmas is a great time for us to practice our scales of rejoicing. We forget sometimes that Christmas came at a very dark time in history. Poverty was everywhere. The promised land was overrun by Romans. Slavery was an everyday fact. Uneasiness could be found around every corner. To peasant parents, in an out-of-the-way place called Bethlehem, in a drafty barn among the animals and steaming dung, He came into the world. John's gospel gets it right: "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it." Regardless of what the headlines say, what world crisis the media commentators disturb us with, there is cause to sit down and practice our scales of rejoicing. The pianists tell us they never get through practicing their scales. And so every year Advent comes once again. It need not matter how hard life might be, how confusing circumstance may hold for us or some who sit in our pews. Christmas came just for those in need. God is with us all -- nothing can separate any of us from the love of God we find in Christ Jesus. Let us find some time this holy season to sit down and practice our scales of rejoicing.
* * *
In his blog on Washington Post's online site, Brad Hirschfield reflects on the death of Jacintha Saldanha.
Saldanha, as you're probably aware, was a nurse at London's King Edward VII hospital, where Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, had been admitted in the wake of severe morning sickness. When two radio hosts from Australia called the hospital as a prank, posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and attempting to get an update on the Duchess's condition, Saldanha transferred the call, leading to another nurse disclosing private medical information over the telephone. After it was discovered the call was a hoax, and that a tape of it was circulating worldwide, Saldanha was subsequently found dead in her home. Her death is still under investigation, but it is a presumed suicide.
In his column Hirschfield wonders why the focus of the news accounts is on a celebrity, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the morality play, the presumed suicide of an attending nurse, when "a young woman is dead." He reminds us that our focus should be first on the death of a young woman, and then we can write about celebrities and morality plays.
Hirschfield concludes his commentary with these words: "I am often asked what it means to practice compassion, and while I don't have a single easy answer, I am pretty sure that thinking about the person first, and the story second, would be a good place to start."
Hirschfield's editorial commands us in news stories, and in all stories, to first "let your gentleness be known to everyone."
* * *
Elie Wiesel was recently interviewed by Oprah Winfrey for her show Super Soul Sunday. Among the topics discussed, Wiesel reminisced that soon all of the survivors of the Holocaust will be dead. Wiesel, now 82, has spent all of his adult years informing people about the inhumanity of the Holocaust, and the years he spent interred at Auschwitz death camp.
But Wiesel came to realize that the memory of the Holocaust will not end with the last survivor. Wiesel told Winfrey and the viewing audience, "You could become pessimistic that the last witness -- all the knowledge, all the experience, all the memories will be buried. Then what? So I came up with a theory which I think is valid. To listen to a witness is to become one."
To listen to a witness is to become a witness.
John the Baptist came as one to prepare the way of the Lord. Those who heard his message also made straight the path for Jesus' coming.
* * *
Irish writer Colm Toibin demythologizes the mother of Jesus in his novella The Testament of Mary (which has also been adapted into a play). Like all good literature, Toibin's objective is for his work to make us think and ponder.
The story takes place years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Mary, still traumatized by the death of her son, "has forgotten how to smile." She also wonders, as any mother would, if his death was necessary. She understood early in Jesus' ministry that ratcheting political dangers were surrounding her son. This is why she tries to talk Jesus into averting disaster. Accepting the impending doom approaching her son, Toibin's Mary says: "I realized from the way my breath came and the sudden slowness of my heartbeat that it would not be long before all the life in me, the little left, would go, as a flame goes out on a mild day, easily, needing only the smallest hint of wind."
According to Toibin's novella, Mary understood the meaning of "You brood of vipers!"
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Surely God is our salvation;
People: we will trust, and will not be afraid.
Leader: God is our strength and our might;
People: God has become our salvation.
Leader: Shout aloud and sing for joy,
People: for great in your midst is the holy one of Israel.
OR
Leader: Come and sing, children of God.
People: We rejoice with all our hearts.
Leader: God has taken away all judgment from us.
People: We are declared the heirs of God!
Leader: Let us live as God's children.
People: Let us take care of all God's people and all of God's creation.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Dear God and Father of Mankind"
found in:
UMH: 358
H82: 652/653
PH: 345
NCH: 502
CH: 594
LBW: 506
"We, Thy People, Praise Thee"
found in:
UMH: 67
"Hail to the Lord's Anointed"
found in:
UMH: 203
H82: 616
AAHH: 187
NCH: 104
CH: 140
LBW: 87
ELA: 311
Renew: 101
"Savior of the Nations, Come"
found in:
UMH: 214
PH: 14
LBW: 28
ELA: 265
"Jesu, Jesu"
found in:
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
NCH: 498
CH: 600
ELA: 708
CCB: 66
Renew: 289
"Cuando El Pobre" ("When the Poor Ones")
found in:
UMH: 434
PH: 407
CH: 662
ELA: 725
"What Does the Lord Require"
found in:
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
CH: 659
"My Soul Give Glory to My God"
found in:
UMH: 198
CH: 130
ELA: 882
"We Are His Hands"
found in:
CCB: 85
"I Am Loved"
found in:
CCB: 80
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who calls us all your own dear children: Give us the grace to see one another as siblings who we may care for others as we would care for ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come together as your children, O God. Help us as we praise you and listen for your word to remember that all the peoples of the earth are your dear children who deserve our loving care. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we overlook the needs of others.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are so concerned with our own salvation, and yet we fail to understand that the salvation of others is intimately entwined with ours. We are more comfortable being reminded of what "religious" things we need to do instead of being reminded that it is care for the "little ones" to which Jesus calls us. Forgive us our selfish, short-sighted ways and renew us with the power of your Spirit that we may truly be the Body of Christ in this world. Amen.
Leader: God's love is constant and true. God sends the Spirit to make us clean and whole that we may shine with all God's children.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We lift our hearts and voices in praise to you, O God, who in all your majesty offers your own Spirit and breath to your children.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are so concerned with our own salvation, and yet we fail to understand that the salvation of others is intimately entwined with ours. We are more comfortable being reminded of what "religious" things we need to do instead of being reminded that it is care for the "little ones" to which Jesus calls us. Forgive us our selfish, short-sighted ways and renew us with the power of your Spirit that we may truly be the Body of Christ in this world.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you care for us as your own children. We thank you that you have claimed us as your own and have reminded us that we were all created sisters and brothers of one another. We are grateful for the ways in which your children have cared for us and for the opportunities you offer us to care for others in your name.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We lift up to you our sisters and brothers in their need. We are aware that many suffer from want of the necessities of life. Lacking food, clothing, housing, and a supportive community, they find it very difficult to believe that you or anyone loves them. We pray for them in their physical needs and in their hunger for meaning in their lives.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
What would you think of an apple tree that produced great big bags of garbage? Or a cherry tree that produced nothing but rotten cherries? Not very good apple and cherry trees, huh? John the Baptist reminds people that if we are going to be God's people, disciples of Jesus, we need to act like it. We need to do things that are loving and kind.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Sharing What God Gives
Luke 3:7-18
Object: an axe
Good morning, boys and girls! Do you remember John the Baptist and the things we have been saying about him? We said John was like a bulldozer that made the roads straight. Today, John is talking to the same group of people, and he is warning them to live good lives. This is a world that depends upon us helping each other and obeying the teachings of God. When we don't do those two things, we have trouble, lots of trouble.
Just imagine you were there with hundreds of other people. You can easily see why people have come to hear him. John is big and has a loud voice. He stands down by the River Jordan and looks like he is talking just to you. This is not your kind of crowd. There are some pretty different people hanging out. Some of them are soldiers, others are the hated tax collectors, and I suppose there were a few crooks and some other bad people, but they all seem to be afraid of John. They want to do something that will make them better people because John has shown them how bad their lives are and how they have hurt many. When each group asks what they should do, John answers them and tells them how they can change their lives.
In one hand he has an axe. Does anyone know what an axe is? (let the children answer, then show them the axe) It is a very dangerous tool, especially when it is sharp. John swings the axe over his head and begins to tell the listeners that time is running out for the selfish people. Then with one swoop, he swings the axe and cuts down a dead fig tree. One mighty swing and the tree is lying on the ground. Then he tells the people that the tree had nothing to be proud of. It could no longer provide any fruit. The reason God made the tree was to produce fruit -- but it did produce, so it was cut down.
John told the people that it was the same with them. If they did not do the things they were made for, then they were like the dead tree. John told the people to go and find others who needed them. If they found people without coats and they themselves had two coats, they should give one away. If you find someone who is hungry, give him or her part of your food.
Jesus was going to follow John and teach a lot of the same things to people because it is the right thing to do and because God teaches that kind of living.
What kind of a tree are you? Are you willing to share what you have or are you already dead and do you need to be cut down? I think you are all very healthy trees and there will be no axe for you. But remember to share what God has given you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, December 16, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
But as team member Leah Lonsbury notes in this installment of The Immediate Word, the me-first dynamic John warns us against is never far from the surface of the messages we hear during the Christmas shopping season. Leah points not only to the nascent greediness encouraged by retailers but also to several issues in the headlines to help us consider how Christians might fulfill John's dictum to bear good fruit.
Team member Mary Austin offers some additional thoughts on the epistle passage and Paul's repeated call for us to rejoice. Of course, it can be difficult to rejoice in the midst of war and deprivation -- but Mary suggests that joy is not something we find but rather something we practice... a spiritual discipline of sorts. We're always waiting for a more convenient time -- yet Mary reminds us that there's no better time than the current moment to rejoice and prepare ourselves for the coming Joy.
Who's on Your List?
by Leah Lonsbury
Luke 3:7-18
In the advertising fury that surrounded Black Friday, a series of clever commercials from Target did exactly what they were supposed to do -- they caught my attention. Each ad has a man and a woman singing Christmas carols, only they're all about shopping at Target, and they're full of kitsch.
The first one I saw was set to the tune of "Do You Hear What I Hear" and featured the recurring characters singing what they read over two teens' shoulders as the teens text back and forth to set their strategy for Black Friday shopping. I admit to laughing out loud at the adults' impersonations of the teens' voices and the man's use of the word "totes" (as in "totally") with a completely straight face.
What's not so funny, however, is the subtext I think I'm hearing in these commercials. See if it catches your attention in this exchange from the texting teens...
Can we also bring Trevor? He's HOT.
I think we should get those DVDs first.
Duh! They're doorbusters.
Missing those would be the worst.
Totes.
Or listen for it in the ad that uses the tune of "Deck the Halls" and has the characters singing "Check out the price of this new flat screen. I'll buy it for Bill, but it's also for me." This little ditty also keeps coming back to the refrain of "You, you, you, you, you... and one for me."
And let's think for a minute about what our subtext is when we make our lists this season. Who are they really about? Are they about taking care of others and expressing our joy in relationship or are they in truth more about ourselves and what we want? And even if our lists begin with pure motives, where do they end? How could we ever keep them free of the greediness that begins to creep in before Halloween and has its official kickoff on that first holiday of the season, the high holy day of Black Friday?
Maybe that "Deck the Halls" refrain would be more truthful if it sounded more like this: "Me, me, me, me, me... and one (or whatever's leftover) for you."
John the Baptist knows this tune well. In our passage from Luke's gospel for this week, he strikes out at the crowds who have come seeking baptism with a sense of entitlement and the assumption that they top the list because they are Children of Abraham. They want salvation for themselves, but their query gets them this: "Bear fruits worthy of repentance."
Change your subtext, friends, John seems to be saying. If you want salvation and all the good stuff that comes with it, bear fruit. If you want to bear fruit, take care of each other. This repentance business isn't about saving your skin and coming out on the top of the list, no matter what the Black Friday or Christmas season ads tell us. It's about a reorientation -- a "turning around" that acknowledges our sacred connectedness, our shared needs, and our salvation -- that is found only in the generosity of love.
What does it look like to bear this kind of fruit today?
On the edge of a fiscal cliff, how do we follow John's instruction to share our second coats with those who have none?
During a season of shopping that began with Black Friday shoppers spending $11 billion in stores despite having to walk through protests of retail workers demanding adequate compensation and humane treatment, how do we hear and heed John's teachings on extortion and fair wages?
How will we bear worthy fruit? Where does that fall on our lists this season?
THE WORLD
The bickering continues in Washington as the fiscal cliff looms ever closer. This week, Republican House Speaker John Boehner called the administration's proposal a "la-la-land" offer, and White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer dismissed the Republicans' plan by saying it "includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate, which loopholes they will close, or which Medicare savings they would achieve."
Not so far away in Virginia, the Watson family is getting fed up with this kind of partisan squabbling. Mom Jody says, "I call it the 'Washington bubble.' Where they have no idea how their choices and their fighting and bickering affects the rest of us."
The Watsons have faced a year-long stretch of unemployment, a cross-country move for a new job, giving up extracurricular activities for their daughters, putting off needed home repairs, and cutting out any extras like going out to eat and to the movies. Things are tight, even with these cost-cutting practices, but things could be worse -- very soon. If the posturing and fighting doesn't end quickly in Washington, the Watsons will face a tax increase of about $3,500 next year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Ryan Grim and Sarah Bufkin report in The Huffington Post that budget talks last year demonstrated just how little "fat" the federal government could trim before the services and benefits it provides would be adversely affected. The bipartisan congressional group reporting on potential cuts found that only $40 billion could be saved by targeting waste and fraud in government operations.
For the Watsons in Virginia who have cut out all the extras, going over the fiscal cliff could begin to threaten essentials like housing, healthcare, and food. But there are also those whose essentials and well-being are already at risk, those who are tenuously held up by social safety net programs -- the same programs that are on the table before the bickering politicians in Washington.
In what they are calling a "grand bargain," Democrats have offered to slash trillions in government spending in exchange for Republican agreement on returning some of the tax rates to their pre-Bush levels. All the spending cuts and raised taxes, Democrats say, will pay off a portion of the $16 trillion in debt the US has accumulated through bailing out a global financial crisis, waging two wars, and enacting a series of tax cuts for the wealthy.
It seems important to ask who this is a "grand bargain" for before making cuts and enacting tax hikes. This kind of compromise, journalists Grim and Bufkin write, will disproportionately affect the poor, the middle class, and the elderly. Here's how...
To make a real impact on the deficit, agricultural subsidies and oil and gas giveaways may also face the chopping block now. But more than anything, lawmakers will likely target Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a host of other social programs that help those with the fewest advocates in Washington, including people on food stamps, veterans, retiring federal workers, home health care workers, and the elderly.
Grim and Bufkin's projections aren't without precedent. Last year in budget negotiations, Republicans identified $20 billion they would cut by "eliminating fraud" in SNAP (the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps). Democrats argued that the number was closer to $2 billion. In his proposal, House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan slashed SNAP funding by $127 billion over the next decade. The GOP-led House of Representatives tried to cut SNAP funding by $16 billion in a year's time, while the Democratic-held Senate approved a $4 billion reduction.
The largest non-defense spending cut won't be to food assistance, though. It's likely to come from non-entitlement health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid. During last year's budget negotiations on this front, Republicans made an argument for $300 billion and Democrats for $200 billion in health care cuts. Both sides agreed to $50 billion in cuts to home health care program spending and $17 billion in other areas.
If fiscal cliff negotiations look anything like last year's budget negotiations, it appears that the poor, the middle class, and the elderly didn't make the Christmas lists of those doing the bargaining. Many of the same politicians will be around the table, and they don't seem any less interested this time around in posturing, political bluster, or digging in their heels for the purpose of defeating the other side.
Beyond the halls of Congress, the aisles of Wal-Mart are also seeing their share of squabbling. On Black Friday, frustrated Wal-Mart employees, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and sympathetic citizens staged 100 protests in 46 states to encourage shoppers to take their business elsewhere and put pressure on Wal-Mart to change "unfair labor practices" and "demand better pay for employees." In Lakewood, Colorado, shoppers paused to read the signs of a dozen or so protestors that played off the company's corporate slogan of "Live Better."
Shoppers may have been paused by these protests, but they didn't stop for long. Angelo Young of the International Business Times writes of this...
Customers of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have voted with their pocketbooks, vying to shop away the day despite protests from some employees and labor rights advocates who claim there are a series of abusive labor practices by the world's largest retail chain... American consumers flocked to the company's outlets and cleared shelves without missing a beat... [A] day after its earliest Black Friday sales event debut, the company said it sold 5,000 items per second to 22 million customers between 8 p.m. and midnight on Thanksgiving Day.
They must have had some long lists. Wonder whose names were on them?
A group called OUR Wal-Mart (Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart) is working to make sure that Wal-Mart associates make everybody's lists. On the "About Us" page on their website, the organization writes: "We envision a future in which our company treats us, the Associates of Wal-Mart, with respect and dignity. We envision a world where we succeed in our careers, our company succeeds in business, our customers receive great service and value, and Wal-Mart and Associates share all of these goals."
OUR Wal-Mart also claims that employee income, which is often close to minimum wage, is difficult to live on and that employees have faced retaliation from Wal-Mart for speaking out about their struggles at work.
Colby Harris, a Wal-Mart associate from Lancaster, Texas, shares OUR Wal-Mart's concerns. "Unfair labor is working full-time and living in poverty," he said in a press release on Black Friday. "Unfair labor is seeing your health care premiums skyrocket year after year. Unfair labor is being denied the hours needed to support your family. Unfair labor is being punished for exercising your freedom of speech and association."
In an unusually detailed press release about the success of Black Friday sales, Wal-Mart seems to be pushing back against a variety of allegations, including that it tinkers with employee schedules to keep workers from qualifying for company health insurance benefits, it keeps many of its associates in the dark about the number of hours they will be allowed during each pay period, and the employees on the low end of its pay scale have to depend on government benefits that the public usually associates with people who are unemployed.
"I'm so proud of what our more than 1.3 million associates have done to prepare and execute our Black Friday plans, giving our customers a great start to their Christmas shopping season," said Bill Simon, Wal-Mart U.S. president and chief executive officer, in the press release. "We had very safe and successful Black Friday events at our stores across the country and heard overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers."
The press release also included details about the 10% discount all associates receive and the additional 10% executives gave their associates earlier this season as "a special holiday discount... off most food items from November 9 to January 1 to help make the holidays for its associates and their families even more special."
Then there was this: "Also, to recognize those associates who helped serve customers during its Black Friday events, the company is providing an additional 10% discount on an entire basket of goods. Eligible associates who helped execute Wal-Mart's Black Friday events will also receive holiday pay."
What is the subtext of this press release? What is Wal-Mart trying to communicate to the public? What is it saying to its employees? Where are they on Wal-Mart's Christmas list? Where are they on Wal-Mart's shoppers' lists?
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich might have an answer to that question for us. This is what he reported in a recently published essay:
America's largest employer is Wal-Mart, whose average employee earns $8.81 an hour. A third of Wal-Mart's employees work less than 28 hours per week and don't qualify for benefits... Wal-Mart earned $16 billion last year (it just reported a 9% increase in earnings in the third quarter of 2012, to $3.6 billion), much of which went to Wal-Mart's shareholders...
THE WORD
John the Baptist wasn't shy about giving answers either. He is done with those who stand on privilege, disregard those in need, and use their power for personal gain at others' expense. He is shouting and warning and even threatening, because he knows that what he is calling for is "nothing less than a mental and spiritual U-turn" for the crowd that has gathered before him.
Velli-Matti Karkkainen writes of this: "For the Baptist, repentance had less to do with how fervently one prays or how faithfully one attends the worship service; instead, it had everything to do with how one handled riches, executed public service, and exercised stewardship" (Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 68, 70).
For children of Abraham or people like me who were raised in and practically live at church, this might not sound like the "good news" the writer of Luke's gospel claims that it is. Turns out it isn't enough to have the right pedigree or your own pew. Turns out all those hours spent in Bible study were only worth it if what you learned drove you out of the church building and into the lives of God's children to bear fruit. Perfect attendance, hours spent in committee meetings, being a third generation member -- come to find out those things are far less important than doing the hard work of giving away everything above what you absolutely need, living in transparent and sometimes painfully honest ways, and doing the hard and thoughtful work of crafting a life that builds up instead of tearing down and puts all God's people on our Christmas lists (in one way or another).
This just sounds hard and not at all Christmasy. Or does it?
Is not good news... the gospel, to hear that a proper way to prepare for the Advent of the Humble Servant is to let the divine axe cut off our greed, self-indulgence, egoism, hypocrisy, and the like and throw them into the unquenchable fire of God's judgment?
(Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 70)
Perhaps it is exactly what we need to hear during a season when...
-- what we spend on our already comfortable loved ones could stop an eviction for a family just around the corner;
-- we obsess about giving the perfect or most thoughtful gift because of what we think it will say about us to the giver and world;
-- we grow content with sweet baby Jesus in the hay and forget to ask why his parents were on the road in the first place and why no one could find them any room in their home;
-- we cross picket lines to save a few dollars and accumulate more stuff made and sold by people in desperate situations;
-- the carol soundtrack in our heads sings "me, me, me, me, me... and one for you."
This is what we must hear and work we must do individually but with the surrounding strength of the crowd seeking salvation. Just as John's answers were personalized to those who were doing the asking, the answers we seek and find will suit our abilities and situations. When we ask "What then should we do?" we might receive more of a personal challenge than we would like or thought we were asking for, but we can always be sure it will involve acts of justice and mercy we are fully capable of doing. We can be sure the answer to what we ask will demand that we live unselfishly, within our means, and in ways that are compassionate and just, whether it's comfortable for us or not.
John's message is hard and probably even painful if we're responding as we should. I imagine it mostly shouted and with lots of finger-pointing, but if John can't get us there, who can? Whose message will prepare us to make and be the way for the coming one? Can we bear it? Wesley Avram writes of this:
Whose message is strong enough to lead us to the repentance to which we are called? Not the church's, for it is too much a snake pit. Not our own insight -- for we are as needy as anyone in the crowd -- hoarding coats and food when others are in need. We are as the tax collectors -- dependent upon unjust structures for our livelihood. We are as the occupying army -- caught in a culture of exploitation and violence.
(Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 72)
How will we make this mental and spiritual U-turn?
CRAFTING THE SERMON
This week the preacher might consider...
* Inviting the congregation to consider what the healthcare, economic justice, government assistance, or fair labor practices equivalent would be to John's admonition to giving our second coat to those who are without the provision they need.
* Talking through how we tease out the subtext of our Christmas shopping and to-do lists. What do they say about how we intend to bear fruit this season? How do we (in the vein of the Target commercial) put doorbusters before people? How do we engage the hard work of "[letting] the divine axe cut off our greed, self-indulgence, egoism, hypocrisy, and the like and throw them into the unquenchable fire of God's judgment" amidst the bustle, consumerism, and feel-good push of the surrounding Christmas culture?
* Asking the congregation what the fiscal cliff and Black Friday protests have to do with John the Baptist's message. How do John and these current struggles speak to us? What do they ask of us? What fruit do they want us to bear?
* Re-examining what it means to be God's people. How have we understood this in the past? What will it mean for our present and our future? How do God's people live? What do they do? How do they care for one another? How does John's threat that God can raise up other children from the stones if need be land with us? How do we react? How does it change us? How do we hide behind our tradition, national or ecclesial identity, wealth, ethnicity, or position? (Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1], pg. 70). If these things cannot assure our place as a child of God, what can?
* Thinking about the kind of way is John envisioning. How is he preparing? How are we preparing? When we make the way, how is God born in our midst?
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
Philippians 4:4-7
The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally dedicated to joy. This is the "pink candle" Sunday on the Advent wreath, highlighting a call to joy in the midst of Advent's preparations. This week is sometimes called the "Gaudete" Sunday, from the Latin word for "rejoice." Paul, writing to the Philippians, calls them to an observance of joy. "Rejoice in the Lord always," he reminds them, bringing home his point by saying it twice. The call to rejoice feels like an odd pause in Advent. How can we take a break from our waiting to rejoice in something that hasn't happened yet?
As winter comes to Syria, the fighting between government forces and rebel fighters has leveled cities and created millions of refugees, both within Syria and in nearby countries. According to ABC News, the Red Crescent relief organization estimates that 2.5 million people have been displaced. Many have left home without winter clothing, a way to cook, or adequate money. As one refugee interviewed in the story says, "We brought only the clothes on our back and our names." The letter to the Philippians promises that "the Lord is near," but it may not seem so to the people of Syria after 21 months of fighting.
It may not seem so to the people of New York and New Jersey either. Many people are homeless or still digging out after Superstorm Sandy struck five weeks ago. The president has proposed a $60.4 billion dollar recovery bill to aid the area, covering a large portion of the $82 million in damages tallied up by the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. As the article notes: "The proposal now goes to Congress, where it is likely to become the focus of a fight between fiscal conservatives seeking to limit federal spending and lawmakers from storm-battered areas bent on obtaining even more than what Mr. Obama proposed. Mr. Obama proposed no spending cuts elsewhere to pay the cost, arguing that such emergencies typically do not require offsetting measures." The Lord is near, but it may not seem so to people waiting for relief.
How do we rejoice in the midst of war, political turmoil, homelessness, sickness, divorce, or any other trouble, whether it's national or personal?
Michael Joseph Brown (The Working Preacher) says that "The twofold expression to rejoice echoes what the apostle said in 3:1, 'Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.' Rejoicing is a keynote of this letter. The inclusion of the pantote, translated in the NRSV as 'always,' can also be rendered 'at all times.' The statement calls for an ongoing activity, one not based upon the particular circumstances of the apostle's readers. In one way, this adverb points to the future and its possible trials. The idea then is to keep on rejoicing in the Lord at all times, regardless of what may come upon you."
As Philip Campbell writes in Feasting on the Word [Year C, Volume 1, p. 64], "Joy that emerges from a deep connection with our spiritual source is a far cry from the fleeting rush achieved through the acquisition of the season's latest toy."
We would be tempted to dismiss Paul's call to take up the work of joy, but he writes this letter from prison. Michael Joseph Brown adds, "This continuous rejoicing in the Lord is a very important concept for Paul. It is a distinguishing mark for Christians (see Romans 12:12) and a characteristic of life in the kingdom of God (14:17). It is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It becomes evident during times of suffering and trial (Romans 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 6:10; 8:2-3)." More than the instruction for a random Sunday in Advent, this is a key piece of the work of our faith.
The call to rejoice always comes at an inconvenient time. In Advent, it comes while we're still waiting for the Christ Child, while we're waiting for God's complete rule in our lives, and while we're waiting for personal and national tangles to be made smooth. I suspect that it's always Advent somewhere in our lives. Advent means "coming," but it often seems like nothing and no one is coming to help resolve our struggles. We are always in the middle of something. It's never a good time to set it all aside and rejoice.
Or maybe it's always a good time.
Rejoicing is a spiritual discipline. Paul's call to rejoice in God reminds me of the "fake it 'til you make it" wisdom of the 12-step programs: act "as if" until something becomes real; act like it's reality until it becomes reality.
We rejoice not as a response to something, but as part of the fabric of our relationship with God. We rejoice as a way to deepen our faith, and to separate it from the ups and downs of our lives. We rejoice as a preparation, so we know what to do when the fullness of God's realm is apparent to us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Narcissistic Personality Disorder was first identified as a mental disorder in 1968. Drawing from the DSM (the Bible of psychological diagnosis and treatment), Psychology Today describes NPD as arrogant behavior, a lack of empathy for other people, and a need for admiration -- all of which must be consistently evident at work and in relationships. People who are narcissistic are frequently described as cocky, self-centered, manipulative, and demanding. Narcissists may concentrate on unlikely personal outcomes (e.g., fame) and may be convinced that they deserve special treatment.
In other words, they think the world really does revolve around them.
So why is NPD being deleted from the DSM-V, the latest edition of the diagnostic manual that will come out this January (2013)?
Perhaps it's because cultural historian Christopher Lasch's 1979 book The Culture of Narcissism was right: "To live for the moment is the prevailing passion..." Narcissism has become the norm in our culture.
* * *
In 1994 photographer Peter Menzel and some other photographers went all over the world and took photographs of thirty statistically average families in different locations. He asked them to bring all their material possessions -- everything they owned other than their house -- and then sit in front of it for the picture. The result of this project was the book Material World: A Global Family Portrait.
My reaction to the book was one of shock. Remember, these are statistically average people in their areas of the world -- and what amazed me was how much more stuff the statistically average American family owned compared to the families of other countries. In some places everything the family owned could literally be picked up and carried in the arms of the family who owned it. Americans not so. The American family probably could not have fit everything they owned into the house and two cars that they owned. (It was just released last month that there is now seven square feet of commercial storage space available for every man, woman, and child in the United States.)
A Chinese version of the book, by two Chinese photographers and featuring all Chinese subjects, was released this year. It is called, simply, Stuff.
* * *
A newly released study by the University of Canterbury in New Zealand reveals that when people seek to increase their feeling of well-being, their activities tend to fall into three distinct categories: pleasure, engagement, and meaning.
Activities that are aimed at pleasure tend to increase a person's feelings of happiness, but also tend to be short-lived and temporary. Activities that aim toward engagement and meaning tend to increase a person's overall sense of well-being or joy.
Without separating the categories, here are what the researchers discovered were the activities best and worst suited to increasing a person's sense of well-being:
Top-Ranked Activities
1. Sex
2. Drinking alcohol
3. Volunteering
4. Meditating/religion
5. Caring for children
6. Listening to music
7. Socializing
8. Hobbies
9. Shopping
10. Gaming
Worst-Ranked Activities
1. Recovering from sickness
2. Facebook
3. Housework
4. Studying
5. Texting
6. Going to lectures
7. Paid work
8. Commuting
9. Computer work
10. Washing
* * *
A little girl in my church told me about a science experiment she created for her elementary school science fair.
She and her mother baked some homemade bread, made a peanut butter sandwich on it, and sat it on a table in her room. Next to it she sat a peanut butter sandwich made with a popular, mass-produced bread that she bought at the supermarket.
After a few days the sandwich on homemade bread became stale, and a few days after that it was covered in mold, ruined, and inedible. The sandwich on the mass-produced bread was dry, but it did not get moldy. In fact, she said, it never did mold even after weeks of sitting on the table in her room.
I asked her why she thought that was so and she said, "Because it isn't real bread. You can't save real bread."
Maybe that's why Jesus used real bread and wine for his last supper. Real bread and wine can't be saved up. They have to be poured out and broken and shared, just like real life.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
Yawning isn't just about getting more oxygen to our brain. Scientists have discovered that even in a 100% oxygen atmosphere, people yawn about the same as people in normal atmospheres. The fact is, we still don't know much about why people yawn.
What we do know is that yawning really is contagious. Seeing someone yawn will trigger a yawn in most people. Reading about a yawn can trigger a yawn. Even thinking about yawning can trigger a yawn in the majority of people.
It's just contagious.
So are laughing and crying. When we see others laugh or cry our brain slips into a sympathy mode that makes laughing and/or crying easier for us. And laughing or crying with others tends to make our laughter and tears feel more authentic, more powerful and meaningful.
So, whether we laugh or cry or yawn, the chances are that we will feel better for doing it if we do it with others.
* * *
In one of his poems, W.H. Auden challenges his readers to "practice their scales of rejoicing." Sixteen times the apostle Paul uses the words "rejoice" or "joy" throughout his letter to the Philippians. Strange soil from which a flower as beautiful as "rejoice" could work its way through the hard dirt and finally bloom. Paul was in prison. He wanted his friends to know he was all right, but he also wanted them to know that even in the most difficult circumstances of our lives, we believers can still rejoice.
Christmas is a great time for us to practice our scales of rejoicing. We forget sometimes that Christmas came at a very dark time in history. Poverty was everywhere. The promised land was overrun by Romans. Slavery was an everyday fact. Uneasiness could be found around every corner. To peasant parents, in an out-of-the-way place called Bethlehem, in a drafty barn among the animals and steaming dung, He came into the world. John's gospel gets it right: "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it." Regardless of what the headlines say, what world crisis the media commentators disturb us with, there is cause to sit down and practice our scales of rejoicing. The pianists tell us they never get through practicing their scales. And so every year Advent comes once again. It need not matter how hard life might be, how confusing circumstance may hold for us or some who sit in our pews. Christmas came just for those in need. God is with us all -- nothing can separate any of us from the love of God we find in Christ Jesus. Let us find some time this holy season to sit down and practice our scales of rejoicing.
* * *
In his blog on Washington Post's online site, Brad Hirschfield reflects on the death of Jacintha Saldanha.
Saldanha, as you're probably aware, was a nurse at London's King Edward VII hospital, where Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, had been admitted in the wake of severe morning sickness. When two radio hosts from Australia called the hospital as a prank, posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and attempting to get an update on the Duchess's condition, Saldanha transferred the call, leading to another nurse disclosing private medical information over the telephone. After it was discovered the call was a hoax, and that a tape of it was circulating worldwide, Saldanha was subsequently found dead in her home. Her death is still under investigation, but it is a presumed suicide.
In his column Hirschfield wonders why the focus of the news accounts is on a celebrity, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the morality play, the presumed suicide of an attending nurse, when "a young woman is dead." He reminds us that our focus should be first on the death of a young woman, and then we can write about celebrities and morality plays.
Hirschfield concludes his commentary with these words: "I am often asked what it means to practice compassion, and while I don't have a single easy answer, I am pretty sure that thinking about the person first, and the story second, would be a good place to start."
Hirschfield's editorial commands us in news stories, and in all stories, to first "let your gentleness be known to everyone."
* * *
Elie Wiesel was recently interviewed by Oprah Winfrey for her show Super Soul Sunday. Among the topics discussed, Wiesel reminisced that soon all of the survivors of the Holocaust will be dead. Wiesel, now 82, has spent all of his adult years informing people about the inhumanity of the Holocaust, and the years he spent interred at Auschwitz death camp.
But Wiesel came to realize that the memory of the Holocaust will not end with the last survivor. Wiesel told Winfrey and the viewing audience, "You could become pessimistic that the last witness -- all the knowledge, all the experience, all the memories will be buried. Then what? So I came up with a theory which I think is valid. To listen to a witness is to become one."
To listen to a witness is to become a witness.
John the Baptist came as one to prepare the way of the Lord. Those who heard his message also made straight the path for Jesus' coming.
* * *
Irish writer Colm Toibin demythologizes the mother of Jesus in his novella The Testament of Mary (which has also been adapted into a play). Like all good literature, Toibin's objective is for his work to make us think and ponder.
The story takes place years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Mary, still traumatized by the death of her son, "has forgotten how to smile." She also wonders, as any mother would, if his death was necessary. She understood early in Jesus' ministry that ratcheting political dangers were surrounding her son. This is why she tries to talk Jesus into averting disaster. Accepting the impending doom approaching her son, Toibin's Mary says: "I realized from the way my breath came and the sudden slowness of my heartbeat that it would not be long before all the life in me, the little left, would go, as a flame goes out on a mild day, easily, needing only the smallest hint of wind."
According to Toibin's novella, Mary understood the meaning of "You brood of vipers!"
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Surely God is our salvation;
People: we will trust, and will not be afraid.
Leader: God is our strength and our might;
People: God has become our salvation.
Leader: Shout aloud and sing for joy,
People: for great in your midst is the holy one of Israel.
OR
Leader: Come and sing, children of God.
People: We rejoice with all our hearts.
Leader: God has taken away all judgment from us.
People: We are declared the heirs of God!
Leader: Let us live as God's children.
People: Let us take care of all God's people and all of God's creation.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Dear God and Father of Mankind"
found in:
UMH: 358
H82: 652/653
PH: 345
NCH: 502
CH: 594
LBW: 506
"We, Thy People, Praise Thee"
found in:
UMH: 67
"Hail to the Lord's Anointed"
found in:
UMH: 203
H82: 616
AAHH: 187
NCH: 104
CH: 140
LBW: 87
ELA: 311
Renew: 101
"Savior of the Nations, Come"
found in:
UMH: 214
PH: 14
LBW: 28
ELA: 265
"Jesu, Jesu"
found in:
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
NCH: 498
CH: 600
ELA: 708
CCB: 66
Renew: 289
"Cuando El Pobre" ("When the Poor Ones")
found in:
UMH: 434
PH: 407
CH: 662
ELA: 725
"What Does the Lord Require"
found in:
UMH: 441
H82: 605
PH: 405
CH: 659
"My Soul Give Glory to My God"
found in:
UMH: 198
CH: 130
ELA: 882
"We Are His Hands"
found in:
CCB: 85
"I Am Loved"
found in:
CCB: 80
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who calls us all your own dear children: Give us the grace to see one another as siblings who we may care for others as we would care for ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come together as your children, O God. Help us as we praise you and listen for your word to remember that all the peoples of the earth are your dear children who deserve our loving care. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we overlook the needs of others.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are so concerned with our own salvation, and yet we fail to understand that the salvation of others is intimately entwined with ours. We are more comfortable being reminded of what "religious" things we need to do instead of being reminded that it is care for the "little ones" to which Jesus calls us. Forgive us our selfish, short-sighted ways and renew us with the power of your Spirit that we may truly be the Body of Christ in this world. Amen.
Leader: God's love is constant and true. God sends the Spirit to make us clean and whole that we may shine with all God's children.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We lift our hearts and voices in praise to you, O God, who in all your majesty offers your own Spirit and breath to your children.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are so concerned with our own salvation, and yet we fail to understand that the salvation of others is intimately entwined with ours. We are more comfortable being reminded of what "religious" things we need to do instead of being reminded that it is care for the "little ones" to which Jesus calls us. Forgive us our selfish, short-sighted ways and renew us with the power of your Spirit that we may truly be the Body of Christ in this world.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you care for us as your own children. We thank you that you have claimed us as your own and have reminded us that we were all created sisters and brothers of one another. We are grateful for the ways in which your children have cared for us and for the opportunities you offer us to care for others in your name.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We lift up to you our sisters and brothers in their need. We are aware that many suffer from want of the necessities of life. Lacking food, clothing, housing, and a supportive community, they find it very difficult to believe that you or anyone loves them. We pray for them in their physical needs and in their hunger for meaning in their lives.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
What would you think of an apple tree that produced great big bags of garbage? Or a cherry tree that produced nothing but rotten cherries? Not very good apple and cherry trees, huh? John the Baptist reminds people that if we are going to be God's people, disciples of Jesus, we need to act like it. We need to do things that are loving and kind.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Sharing What God Gives
Luke 3:7-18
Object: an axe
Good morning, boys and girls! Do you remember John the Baptist and the things we have been saying about him? We said John was like a bulldozer that made the roads straight. Today, John is talking to the same group of people, and he is warning them to live good lives. This is a world that depends upon us helping each other and obeying the teachings of God. When we don't do those two things, we have trouble, lots of trouble.
Just imagine you were there with hundreds of other people. You can easily see why people have come to hear him. John is big and has a loud voice. He stands down by the River Jordan and looks like he is talking just to you. This is not your kind of crowd. There are some pretty different people hanging out. Some of them are soldiers, others are the hated tax collectors, and I suppose there were a few crooks and some other bad people, but they all seem to be afraid of John. They want to do something that will make them better people because John has shown them how bad their lives are and how they have hurt many. When each group asks what they should do, John answers them and tells them how they can change their lives.
In one hand he has an axe. Does anyone know what an axe is? (let the children answer, then show them the axe) It is a very dangerous tool, especially when it is sharp. John swings the axe over his head and begins to tell the listeners that time is running out for the selfish people. Then with one swoop, he swings the axe and cuts down a dead fig tree. One mighty swing and the tree is lying on the ground. Then he tells the people that the tree had nothing to be proud of. It could no longer provide any fruit. The reason God made the tree was to produce fruit -- but it did produce, so it was cut down.
John told the people that it was the same with them. If they did not do the things they were made for, then they were like the dead tree. John told the people to go and find others who needed them. If they found people without coats and they themselves had two coats, they should give one away. If you find someone who is hungry, give him or her part of your food.
Jesus was going to follow John and teach a lot of the same things to people because it is the right thing to do and because God teaches that kind of living.
What kind of a tree are you? Are you willing to share what you have or are you already dead and do you need to be cut down? I think you are all very healthy trees and there will be no axe for you. But remember to share what God has given you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, December 16, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
