One of the great spiritual documents of Hinduism, the Bhagavad-Gita teaches us a great truth, “On this path, effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure”—in other words, attempting to do our best is always success.

And this idea is important for us to keep in mind as all of the readings this week have a sense of urgency—the message is really that, time is short; we should not waste a minute of it doing anything less than the good that each of us is called to by our baptisms. And when did our country, especially, need to hear this message more.  I find myself responding to the nightly news with less than a positive response and I am often reminded by my “better angels” to not go down that same path that I abhor. When so-called leaders act with ignorance, intolerance, racism and other evils; I must remember former first lady, Michelle Obama’s words, “When they go low, we go higher.”

Jonah the prophet, in today’s first reading is told to, “Get up, preach [to the people] as I do to you—or in Jesus’ words, “Come; follow me!” Jonah is told in no uncertain terms, [Respond] “in obedience to the word.”

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians continues the urgency of doing the “right, now!”  In Paul’s time, there was the sense that the Second Coming of Jesus was upon them; that the world as they knew it was coming to an end soon—their time here was short and should not be wasted.

And again, in Mark’s gospel, we hear that “the time of fulfillment “is at hand.  This sense of urgency might be likened to the national movement, #Timesup that demands of us that we be our best selves and do unto others what we would want done to ourselves in regard to sexual abuse and domination of women in all walks of life.

Mark continues with Jesus’ words, “We are to change our hearts and minds.” This reminds me of a commentary I read this past week containing the worry that our country is losing its moral sense—forgetting what we stand for, being willing to accept boorish, selfish and mean stances from our leaders without saying a word—almost as if there is nothing we can do! The commentary urged its readers to remember what our country was founded upon—a nobleness that shone a light to the world and ask if we want to let go of that.

I think sometimes we have the feeling that the problems are too great for us to make a dent in, that we don’t have a chance in making a difference—that we don’t have what is needed to change hearts and minds, to be prophets in our time, but our God has always chosen people who seem less than equipped to do what is needed.

We only have to look at the Scriptures today to see that—Jonah was an unlikely prophet—he ran from God, in the opposite direction of the place God wanted him to go before he headed to his mission in the belly of a whale—you will recall that all of this happened prior to our Gospel selection today. Now whether this story was true as written or part of the imagination of the writer in order to teach us a truth, the point is that our God believes in each of us and will not keep trying to have us respond and live up to our potential.

Paul had to be struck off his horse before God could get his attention! Even Jesus, exegetes tell us, in his humanity had to struggle to know completely who he was, what he was to do and when.  He appeared to the people, in the beginning, as we spoke of here last week, as one like others—John had to point him out and name him as the one they had been waiting for.

So what is it that makes us people who can make a difference?  We must look to our brother Jesus for the answer.  He was one who continually asked his Abba to show him the way—he prayed for guidance and strength—he took the time to become a model for others to follow. Paul, throughout his ministry prayed, “I believe O God, help my unbelief.”

Jonah’s time in the belly of the whale, or again, some other kind of confinement, intended to help him see beyond his own needs,  must have been quite instructive to him and given him the courage to do what he had first run from because once he got to Nineveh, he seemed, in his preaching, to be someone the people couldn’t ignore, for we are told that from the youngest to the oldest, the people began to fast and pray in order to become the people God had called them to be.

When Jesus walked the earth, one of the main professions was fishing—several of his first disciples were fishermen and in Jesus’ call to them, he said he would make them, “fishers of humankind.”

Our task, my friends, is to make Jesus’ call fit our own lives.  From the Scriptures today; we have seen that we must make their message our own.  None of us are in the fishing trade, but each of us is called within the profession we have chosen to model Jesus to our world.  Whether we are teachers, nurses, farmers, business people, in any of many trades, moms and dads, grandparents, wives, husbands, pastors, athletes, students, congress people, writers, actors or any of many other professions; we will be called through all of that to be our best selves, to live our lives extraordinarily well.  That is what people will see in us and attract them to do the same.

The gifts of living our lives extraordinarily well will be obvious to those around us: peace, love, understanding, kindness generosity, patience, mercy, and so on and we will be irresistible.  Not that we always do it perfectly, but that we try!  And as the wisdom of the Bhagavad-Gita teaches, we will always be a success!

People will want to know what makes our lives so meaningful and we can humbly tell them that we try to walk in the footsteps of our brother Jesus and that it makes all the difference. Amen? Amen!

Friends, our song today is—“Arise, shine, your light has come!”  We know that light attracts light, or we might say, “Good attracts more good!”

Another name for this feast is the “Epiphany,” which means, “manifestation.”  The Bethlehem star was seen by astrologers, also known as “kings,” and they were apparently so taken aback by its light that they put their lives on hold to follow its light.  A good question for each of us to ponder this day and week might be, what parts of my life would I be willing to put on hold or to perhaps change to follow this Star?

The astrologers’ understanding from a scientific viewpoint was that the showing of a new star in the heavens had to coincide with an equally grand event on earth, so they could do nothing but follow its light to where it might lead.

We, friends, are the recipients of this great event on earth! We have lived our lives knowing that Jesus, first born of our living God lived among us in time and each of us have been called to continue shining his light.

We conclude our official celebration of Christmas with this feast today, even though some of us might still be looking forward to celebrating Christmas when family members are able to gather, such as our family, this next weekend.  This is good though because, as you have noticed throughout the official Christmas season; we have prayed that the joy, peace and love experienced at this wonderful time of year might continue on throughout the year.  Remembering Isaiah’s prophetic words, “Arise, shine, your light has come,” seems to call us to more than twelve days, to, in fact live our lives, sharing the light that Jesus came to bring.

I believe we would all agree that we live in a time where much light, much goodness, is needed. Martin Luther King Jr. also spoke prophetically when he said, “Darkness cannot put out darkness, only light can do that.”

The psalmist today is prophetic as well as he/she tells us what the true leader, true follower of the light will look like: One who rescues the poor when they cry out and the afflicted when they have no one to help them—having pity on the lowly and the poor and save their lives.  This doesn’t sound like Washington’s “trickle-down” policy of caring for those in need is what is being called for here.

An example closer to home is “Ashley’s Angels,” a non-profit organization which was started in 1997 by a driver for Ashley Furniture who discovered that a young girl was living with her mother in their car.  He worked with others to get these two into housing before Christmas that year and succeeded.

Seeing all the good this did for these two, the light of goodness spread throughout the larger organization that has distribution centers in Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.  They work with schools to determine need and then raise the money needed to give every child in the designated family winter clothing, shoes, if needed, clothes, a blanket and a special Christmas present.    This past Christmas, 1,356 children were helped.  The non-profit, along with Ashley employees raised $262, 000 in support of the program.  Only light can put out darkness.

In our present times, from the White House down through Congress, it seems the thought is, to care for those who have the most and somehow, those at the bottom will be taken care of.  The writer to the Ephesians calls the lie to this type of distribution:  “All are heirs—all are members of the one body.” To me that says—all are equal!  In other words, “the light shining in the darkness” means that we must care for all—equally, no exceptions and support only those programs that do just that!

The gifts of the Christ Child were gold, frankincense and myrrh—that same Child lives today in all we meet in need—may we always see him/her and give from our plenty.  Amen?  Amen!

 

 

One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas Season is to sit in front of the Christmas tree and look at the lights along with the decorations and think about where each of them came from.  The most special ones are from family and friends over the years and speak to those relationships, for that is really, what Christmas is all about—relationships.  And of course, the primary relationship is between God and us and God’s generosity in becoming one-with-us, Emmanuel!

We name today, “Holy Family Sunday” in deference to the earthly family of Jesus—Mary and Joseph and more than likely, other children who came to this couple due to the love they shared with and for each other.  Jesus, our brother, most assuredly, was raised within a family of much love and caring to have allowed him to give back so much love to the world in which he lived and grew “in wisdom and grace.”  Nothing comes from nothing,” an old movie line goes.

This Sunday is for families because really, all families are holy, or at least have the possibility of being, “holy.”  I would dare say, most, if not all families begin with love, because that is what is best in all of us—we are, in fact, hard-wired for this best of gifts.  Life sometimes takes families in different directions, but at their beginnings, love is there.

Love isn’t always easy, either within families, or within the greater world and that is why, as we talked about on Christmas Eve, it is so important to live, “in the present.”  This week’s Scriptures do, in fact, call us to do just that—live in the present.  In the best of times—we can do what Sirach asks in regard to caring for our families—showing respect, kindness, love, understanding and mercy.  As we attempt to live in the present, it will mean that we have to let go of past hurts and just keep looking and reaching out toward the good, and expecting to see the good in those that we may have difficulties with in life.  The importance of the past is to learn from it, taking its lessons into the present where we can effect change.

Our families, for good or bad, have a deep effect on each of us, for this is where we came from.  Most parents love their children fiercely and in the best of times, parents let their children know of their love for them.  In some cultures, it was thought that letting children know this one special truth, that their parents love them, would in fact, spoil them.  In actuality, the opposite is really true—the “not telling,” or showing the love, dampens the relationship. We are each in need of knowing that we are loved, that we make a difference, and today might be a good day, to let those closest to us know of our love, and especially if we haven’t done it in a while.

Paul tells us beautifully today, in his letter to the Colossians, what this love looks like: clothing yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Each of us friends, have these gifts, because each of us came from God and God, we know, is good.  Anything we encounter in life that is not good, is not of God.

This past week, Robert and I viewed the movie, The Big Short which is basically the story of the 2007 economic housing bubble collapse. The piece that I was struck with in the telling of this tale was the greed that was operative in so many banks and money-lending organizations at this time.  Greed became infectious and the more one had, the more one wanted and the moral compass within some humans that spoke of treating others fairly, was thrown to the wind.

Paul continues in his letter today speaking of heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, saying that over this, we must put on love, which binds the rest and makes them perfect.  He also instructs us to be thankful and to do whatever we do, in Jesus’ name.  Think what a different world it would be if we did everything in Jesus’ name! There would be much that we would think twice about doing!  Finally, Paul cautions us to take our relationships seriously—couples in love should avoid bitterness; if we are blessed with children; we shouldn’t nag them, less they lose heart.

Recently, I was reading ten suggestions for the New Year from Jim Wallis of Sojourner Magazine.  I was struck by his first suggestion—that we who claim to be “Christian,” or followers of a different religious group, would basically take what we believe and hold it in one hand, and the newspaper ( or our world) in the other.  For us, that would mean, the words and actions of our brother, Jesus must be in our thoughts, the very fiber of our beings and every action we do must reflect that memory.  The acronym, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) is a question that should always be close in our consciousness as we live our lives.

Our readings for this Holy Family Sunday conclude today with the beautiful gospel from Luke telling the story of Mary and Joseph presenting the baby Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem as prescribed by the law.  So what should this story tell us? First, it tells us that Joseph and Mary followed the dictates of the law that guided their lives.  God had been faithful and it was their place to be faithful too!

Secondly, it is important for us to remember the context within which this gospel took place—Mary and Joseph and the baby were, “on the run” as the baby’s life was in danger from one who was into his power and control, yet they made the decision that this point of righteousness must be done.  Presenting Jesus at the temple was a must  and it was within that action that their very life’s purposes were confirmed—this child put into their safe-keeping, was the “Messiah of God,” as was proclaimed by Simeon and Anna.

As we reflect on the lives of Mary and Joseph; it seems logical that there must have been times in the everyday-ness of life that they doubted all that was ahead of their sweet baby, so this confirmation was so important and one that, as Scripture says, Mary “would treasure in her heart.’

The more we can allow these Scriptures to come alive for us, the more the stories will affect us and allow us to live in like manner. There will be times in all of our lives that we will doubt God’s presence much like Mary and Joseph doubted, but that is the time for us to go deeper, to remember all that we believe in, all that we professed to at our confirmations, that renewed our baptismal promises made for us as babies and then move forward on the words of Jesus, that he would never leave us, but be with us—always! Peace and love and a blessed New Year!

Dear Friends, we wish you all the merriest of Christmases with family and friends wherever they may be. We are grateful for each one of you and you give us hope as we move into the New Year. Our gift to you is the following homily–may you each have the best gifts of Christmas time–peace, love and joy! Pastor Kathy and Robert 

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Christmas is here once again with all that it means to each one of us. We all have a past of memories, many good, but also some we may choose to forget at this festive time of year. We know from all the Christmas stories that we view each year as part of our Christmas traditions, that the message is very simple –it is really all about, love.

It is true though, that we sometimes, myself included, get caught up in pieces of the past that don’t reflect the goodness that this celebration of love calls us to.  Some of the pieces include past hurts, times when we were misunderstood or not accepted, times when we were blamed for things that we had no control over.

So when we come then to this wonderful time of year that calls each of us to open up our closed hearts, even for a time, we may manage to do just that, for there seems to be a need within us to be Christmas people—rising to be our best selves. And the miraculous thing, my friends, when we make these efforts, the good flows back to us ten-fold. Not that we do good to have good return to us, but it seems to work that way.

An op-ed article this past week in the Winona Daily News by Gina Barreca gives some clues for how to allow our Christmas holidays to be simple, good and life-giving, given that each of us brings, unwanted “baggage” to the feast, unfinished business and other hurts.  Barreca’s answer is simple—“live in the present!” We many times can’t change or totally fix the past and when we continually take that path, “wearing down that road,” to no avail; we most effectively miss, living in the present and enjoying all that is there.

The prophet Isaiah tells us on this night that we are “people living in darkness” but that our hope is in seeing the light of Jesus that comes on this night, and really, whenever we choose to live in the light of his ways.  Joan Chittister reflects on this Christmas Eve—“We must come to realize where there are no lights and take some there –to the hospitals, and dark neighborhoods, and nursing homes and prisons and shelters, and refugee centers—every day of the year.”

Paul, in his letter to Titus speaks of the “light of Jesus” as our “salvation” and when we choose to follow the light, we become, “eager to do what is right.”

A friend recently shared the following story as an Advent reflection, but I think it works well as a Christmas reflection too, as it indicates how we can more easily, “do what is right.”  This story that I would like to conclude with comes to us from Jay Cormier. It goes like this:

In Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, [that I just proclaimed for us] the innkeeper is not mentioned, but he really is the linchpin of the whole Christmas story, Cormier says.  Were it not for him, Jesus would not have been born in a poor stable but in the Bethlehem Ramada.

It is the innkeeper who presumably refused a room to Joseph and Mary, forcing them to find shelter in a barn.  All Luke says is that “there was no room for them in the inn.” But every Christmas pageant includes the innkeeper, often portrayed as a gruff old bird who cannot be bothered with a poor carpenter from the sticks and his young bride.  Sometimes he is the harried host, overcome with the demands of running a hotel during the busy season.  And once in a while, the innkeeper is a compassionate soul who sympathizes with these poor travelers and offers the only hospitality he can.

The innkeeper never realizes who he is turning away.  It is a busy time; guests and customers need to be taken care of, and the place is filling up faster than he and his wife can keep up with.  “Nothing personal folks—it’s the busy season.”

Cormier goes on to say, “We should not be so quick to ridicule:  we are all innkeepers when it comes to this Child.  Things need to be taken care of; our lives fill up faster than we can cope.  “Nothing personal, Jesus…”   The innkeeper’s plight is the challenge of Christmas: to make room in our homes and hearts for this Child, to make room for him both when he is welcome and when his presence is embarrassing and inconvenient.  Some words from Henry David Thoreau for this night are these: “Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eye for an instant?”

Throughout this Christmas Season let us place ourselves in the “role of the innkeeper” and that each person we encounter, no matter our immediate situation, let us see in them the face of the Christ Child who is in need of our gifts of warmth, compassion and peace.

And if we can do that friends, then we will indeed be living “in the present” as Gina Berraca encourages in the op-ed piece, and that is a “present” we will be ultimately glad that we opened!  Merry Christmas to each of you!