Day One: A New Beginning
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle B
Day One: A New Beginning
Well I don't know about you, but I took down my Christmas tree on New Year's Day. I rallied the troops and my family and I did what we have come to call "de-Christmasing." The ornaments are removed from the tree, wrapped carefully, and placed in their boxes. The lights come off the tree and are placed under the basement stairs where they go. The angel on top of the tree, a gift from a member of my first parish, comes off last and is lovingly wrapped and placed in a box as well. Then comes the garland around the doors, the mistletoe, the Christmas cards taped all around the walls, the wreath on the door, and finally the tree itself goes out on the curb. Voila! Christmas is over! Now we can get back into our routine and move on with life. In fact, we've been moving on for a week now.
But the truth is that as far as the church is concerned, Christmas isn't over quite yet. As far as our traditions and our history are involved, this day is actually the climax of the Christmas holiday. The Twelfth Day of Christmas is Epiphany. Don't tell the retail stores, but it's still Christmas! We should still be singing carols and telling the stories together! And frankly, that's what we're about today.
Today we continue to celebrate the great gift of God's love in Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate the revelation that has come to us in this child. Indeed, the word Epiphany, means "to show," or to "make known," or even "to reveal." Today we celebrate the reality that in Christ we are a new creation (Ephesians 2:15), called to a new way of being in the world.
Just as the powerful story of creation in Genesis displays God's prowess, so are we created anew in Christ. Before Christ, many of us could be compared to what the writer of Genesis calls a "formless void." But in Christ we are made new and sent by the power of the Spirit to share the good news. Isn't it strange? In a very real way the Christmas story is the creation story all over again. And what a story it is!
God took a formless void and swept wind over the waters. God created light, and day and night, and evening and morning. And, my friends, this was only day one? God was just getting started! God was not even out of breath yet and look what he was able to do!
Today, on Epiphany Sunday we have seen a new thing, too. We have seen God revealed, God present, God with us! And, I need to ask, what have we done on day one? How have we begun this new partnership that we have with God in Jesus Christ? How have we begun to move into the rhythms and the music of the grace that flows our way in this moment? How have we begun our journey of faith?
Friends, let us begin to address this together. Let us begin to ask ourselves where in our lives do we find the formless voids that require God's love and attention through us? Think of it. Pray with me if you will! Are there young people in our community who could benefit from a guiding hand? Are there young people who are lost, headed in the wrong direction, caught in the crossfire, both literally and figuratively? Are there young people in our schools who slip through the cracks of caring into a formless void where learning passes by and skills do not even come close?
On this day of seeing, of revelation, and of new beginnings let us not begin by telling ourselves safe little lies. We know that across our nation, our young people constitute the most underserved population of all. From education to health care, from nurture and family care to emotional and mental care, our children are falling tragically by the side of the road. For so many of them the only way out is to head to the nearest military recruiting office to hear the false promises of the ones who will soon put them in the position of killing ... or being killed.
Is this the future God envisions for our children? Is this why the wind sweeps over the water? Why light appears and night falls? Sisters and brothers, let us be the ones who turn on the light for these youngsters! You and I need to flip the switch so that the corners of these neglected lives are lit up with the light of Jesus Christ! Let us put in the higher watt bulbs of better schools, of decent health care, and communities of love who reach out to offer friendship and hope.
We are born anew with this Christ child who has come, and as ones made new, we can take a powerful lesson from the Genesis story of creation. It's day one for us today. What can we do? It's day one for us today. How can we shine light where the darkness prevails? How can we help the tired and weary to rest when night finally falls?
I believe that across the nation the children call to us in their need. From homes where parents and guardians struggle in poverty, to schools without books or paper; from devastated communities where youngsters turn in desperation to gangs and crime, to young adults who cannot read or write; from the very heart of our young people's lives God's Spirit beckons to us, yearning for our creative and powerful energies to be unleashed in a torrent of new life.
Keep in mind, sisters and brothers, that is day one. We don't have to do it all today. Even God took another six days to get the thing finished. It's day one, and the question isn't how we'll finish the job, it's how we'll get it started together. What can we do now? What things can happen moments after we pray the benediction today? Can we offer to help our neighborhood kids with their studies? Can we open our parking lot for basketball? Can we grow a youth ministry that will reach out and invite those young ones who have never been invited anywhere? Can we offer a meal on Saturdays and Sundays so that kids who depend all week upon the public schools won't go hungry on the weekends?
You see, don't you, what is possible because of that baby in the manger? You see what can happen on day one if we decide to act? You know that Jesus told us that we could do even greater things than he did (John 14:12), if we believe.
So the question comes.
Sitting here today, do we believe? Don't nod your heads too quickly, because I'm not talking about belief in the way you may be thinking of it. I'm not talking about belief in the sense that you agree with something or you admit that it exists. That's easy. I believe in God. It's sort of like believing in ghosts or goblins. You believe in them, but the bottom line is that it doesn't change a thing, either in your heart or in this world.
No, the kind of belief that this calls for is a belief that causes you to trust. In fact, that word belief, in much of the New Testament, means "to trust." So let's not ask whether you believe in God's love in Jesus Christ. Let us ask ourselves today this life changing question: Do you trust in the love of God in Jesus Christ? Do you trust God with your life? With your soul?
If we do, if we do so trust, then there won't be any "de-Christmasing" going on around here. There won't be any halt in the celebration because we'll be walking with the Christ child into lives of Christian service! If we trust in God's saving love in Jesus Christ, then turning that love light on in the lives of our hurting children won't be a matter of analysis or discussion. We'll get to it, and do it ... on day one!
If we believe, if we trust, if we dare to live our lives as though we are new creations in Christ, then quite literally, there is no limit to the healing we can offer. There is no bottom to the depth of our compassion. There will be no end to the love that grows within us, our church, our neighborhoods, and our wider world.
It is Epiphany. A time of revelation, of seeing. It is Christmas, still. What gifts, sisters and brothers, can we bring to the child ... to the children today, on day one? What love can we offer, what hope can we build? Let's decide together. Let's do this, together.
Amen.
Well I don't know about you, but I took down my Christmas tree on New Year's Day. I rallied the troops and my family and I did what we have come to call "de-Christmasing." The ornaments are removed from the tree, wrapped carefully, and placed in their boxes. The lights come off the tree and are placed under the basement stairs where they go. The angel on top of the tree, a gift from a member of my first parish, comes off last and is lovingly wrapped and placed in a box as well. Then comes the garland around the doors, the mistletoe, the Christmas cards taped all around the walls, the wreath on the door, and finally the tree itself goes out on the curb. Voila! Christmas is over! Now we can get back into our routine and move on with life. In fact, we've been moving on for a week now.
But the truth is that as far as the church is concerned, Christmas isn't over quite yet. As far as our traditions and our history are involved, this day is actually the climax of the Christmas holiday. The Twelfth Day of Christmas is Epiphany. Don't tell the retail stores, but it's still Christmas! We should still be singing carols and telling the stories together! And frankly, that's what we're about today.
Today we continue to celebrate the great gift of God's love in Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate the revelation that has come to us in this child. Indeed, the word Epiphany, means "to show," or to "make known," or even "to reveal." Today we celebrate the reality that in Christ we are a new creation (Ephesians 2:15), called to a new way of being in the world.
Just as the powerful story of creation in Genesis displays God's prowess, so are we created anew in Christ. Before Christ, many of us could be compared to what the writer of Genesis calls a "formless void." But in Christ we are made new and sent by the power of the Spirit to share the good news. Isn't it strange? In a very real way the Christmas story is the creation story all over again. And what a story it is!
God took a formless void and swept wind over the waters. God created light, and day and night, and evening and morning. And, my friends, this was only day one? God was just getting started! God was not even out of breath yet and look what he was able to do!
Today, on Epiphany Sunday we have seen a new thing, too. We have seen God revealed, God present, God with us! And, I need to ask, what have we done on day one? How have we begun this new partnership that we have with God in Jesus Christ? How have we begun to move into the rhythms and the music of the grace that flows our way in this moment? How have we begun our journey of faith?
Friends, let us begin to address this together. Let us begin to ask ourselves where in our lives do we find the formless voids that require God's love and attention through us? Think of it. Pray with me if you will! Are there young people in our community who could benefit from a guiding hand? Are there young people who are lost, headed in the wrong direction, caught in the crossfire, both literally and figuratively? Are there young people in our schools who slip through the cracks of caring into a formless void where learning passes by and skills do not even come close?
On this day of seeing, of revelation, and of new beginnings let us not begin by telling ourselves safe little lies. We know that across our nation, our young people constitute the most underserved population of all. From education to health care, from nurture and family care to emotional and mental care, our children are falling tragically by the side of the road. For so many of them the only way out is to head to the nearest military recruiting office to hear the false promises of the ones who will soon put them in the position of killing ... or being killed.
Is this the future God envisions for our children? Is this why the wind sweeps over the water? Why light appears and night falls? Sisters and brothers, let us be the ones who turn on the light for these youngsters! You and I need to flip the switch so that the corners of these neglected lives are lit up with the light of Jesus Christ! Let us put in the higher watt bulbs of better schools, of decent health care, and communities of love who reach out to offer friendship and hope.
We are born anew with this Christ child who has come, and as ones made new, we can take a powerful lesson from the Genesis story of creation. It's day one for us today. What can we do? It's day one for us today. How can we shine light where the darkness prevails? How can we help the tired and weary to rest when night finally falls?
I believe that across the nation the children call to us in their need. From homes where parents and guardians struggle in poverty, to schools without books or paper; from devastated communities where youngsters turn in desperation to gangs and crime, to young adults who cannot read or write; from the very heart of our young people's lives God's Spirit beckons to us, yearning for our creative and powerful energies to be unleashed in a torrent of new life.
Keep in mind, sisters and brothers, that is day one. We don't have to do it all today. Even God took another six days to get the thing finished. It's day one, and the question isn't how we'll finish the job, it's how we'll get it started together. What can we do now? What things can happen moments after we pray the benediction today? Can we offer to help our neighborhood kids with their studies? Can we open our parking lot for basketball? Can we grow a youth ministry that will reach out and invite those young ones who have never been invited anywhere? Can we offer a meal on Saturdays and Sundays so that kids who depend all week upon the public schools won't go hungry on the weekends?
You see, don't you, what is possible because of that baby in the manger? You see what can happen on day one if we decide to act? You know that Jesus told us that we could do even greater things than he did (John 14:12), if we believe.
So the question comes.
Sitting here today, do we believe? Don't nod your heads too quickly, because I'm not talking about belief in the way you may be thinking of it. I'm not talking about belief in the sense that you agree with something or you admit that it exists. That's easy. I believe in God. It's sort of like believing in ghosts or goblins. You believe in them, but the bottom line is that it doesn't change a thing, either in your heart or in this world.
No, the kind of belief that this calls for is a belief that causes you to trust. In fact, that word belief, in much of the New Testament, means "to trust." So let's not ask whether you believe in God's love in Jesus Christ. Let us ask ourselves today this life changing question: Do you trust in the love of God in Jesus Christ? Do you trust God with your life? With your soul?
If we do, if we do so trust, then there won't be any "de-Christmasing" going on around here. There won't be any halt in the celebration because we'll be walking with the Christ child into lives of Christian service! If we trust in God's saving love in Jesus Christ, then turning that love light on in the lives of our hurting children won't be a matter of analysis or discussion. We'll get to it, and do it ... on day one!
If we believe, if we trust, if we dare to live our lives as though we are new creations in Christ, then quite literally, there is no limit to the healing we can offer. There is no bottom to the depth of our compassion. There will be no end to the love that grows within us, our church, our neighborhoods, and our wider world.
It is Epiphany. A time of revelation, of seeing. It is Christmas, still. What gifts, sisters and brothers, can we bring to the child ... to the children today, on day one? What love can we offer, what hope can we build? Let's decide together. Let's do this, together.
Amen.
