Opening Litany for Psalm 147:12-20

Pastor: Exult the LORD all you who gather this day and Praise your God on high.

Congregation; For the Lord brings security and blesses the people within your community and grants them peace.

Pastor: The Lord satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

Congregation: When the Lord speaks a command to the earth, those words run swiftly. They spread the snow like fine wool and scatter the frost like ashes.

Pastor: Who can withstand the sound of the Lord’s voice which can be like an icy blast hurling down hail like pebbles from the sky?

Congregation: And yet the word of the Lord brings grace and melts these icy blasts, the word of the Lord stirs up the breezes and melts the coldness in land and hearts letting the waters of life flow.

Pastor: The word of the Lord has been revealed to all people, the Lord’s laws and justice to all nations.

Congregation: The Lord has called us among the peoples of the earth to bring forth the laws and the justice of the Lord. Praise be to God forever, Amen.

Pastor: Welcome to Worship at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church.

Congregation: Where we are Inspired by God’s Love to Praise, Nurture and Serve.

2nd Sunday after Christmas

John 1:1-18

before all time and being
before the light and darkness
was the God of creation
---- the Alpha
before all worlds
---- and Omega
once again in the timelessness of god
who for a brief moment
-------- in this place
-------- this time
Lived among us
the Word and the work of God
uniting
again and always
the Creator and the Creation
the Word and the Work
in one
the Christ
Emmanuel

Contact with the holy

Sunday January 2nd, Jeremiah 31: This is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, ‘LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ 8 See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. When we come into contact with the Holy, singing for joy, dancing for joy, grinning from ear to ear seem to be our only choices. When we come into contact with the Holy, even the blind and lame will be dancing in the streets. This is about the exiles returning to Jerusalem, but it is also a vision of you and I, exiles in the land of “less than” returning to the presence of the Lord, to a land of creation called good. When we return to the Lord from any wayward journey we may happen to take if life, it is as if someone turned on the light and turned up the music. You might try to sit this one out, but you won’t be able to.

Dancing

Monday January 3rd, Jeremiah 31: 12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD— the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. 13 Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. Like a well watered garden the love of God will blossom and bloom in our lives once we welcome the Lord into our lives. It will not remain as we had it, it will not return to normal, it will not be just good enough. What will be will be newness and joy everlasting. Come into the light of the Lord and see what blossoms and blooms in your life. It is amazing what a little light can do.

Destinys Child

Tuesday January 4th, Ephesians 1: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. This does not mean that some are chosen and some are not chosen. What it means is the Christ is predestined to love us and forgive us and care for us. From before the foundation of the world, God has determined that we will be loved. Christ is the way we are loved and life is the result of being loved. Our task is now to go forth and show that same love to others. That is how we watch the love of Christ grow within us.

our destiny

Wednesday January 5th, Ephesians 1: 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. We are predestined not because we are holy and mighty, not because we are righteous and in good standing before our Lord. We are predestined because that is who God is, and how God does in this world. We are predestined because God loves us and wants us to love one another. We are predestined not by merit but by grace. We therefore are called to love one another with that same grace… it is after all our pre-determined destiny.

out of this world

Thursday January 6th, John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. In this world we are limited by time and space. We therefore forget that the God who created time and space is not so limited. In the beginning before the existence of time and space was God. In the end when there is no more time and space there will be God. In the middle where you and I live there is God. And this God brought life to all of mankind. Can you, who are less than God condemn any of your children? Could you who are less than God in the ability to love throw the switch that would bring on the death and eternal torment of one of your children? I wonder sometimes how it is so easy to attribute that barbarism then to God? Is it really who God is, or is it simply our projection? According to scripture, God brought light to the darkness. Perhaps even the darkness of the human heart can be penetrated by the love of God.

spark within

Friday January 7th, John 1: 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. All who believed in his name he gave the right to become a child of God… And those who did not believe in his name?? Perhaps we jump too quickly to conclusions fed from our own darkness in projecting attributes onto God. For in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that lives therein and called it good. Surely even those who did not recognize him still carry that spark of God created goodness within.

Gods goodness

Saturday January 8th, John 1: 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The word that created and called this creation good came into the world not to condemn, but to save. To think that some will be saved while some will be condemned is to say that human badness is badder than the good, the grace that God can muster. If it ever comes to a choice, I put my money on the goodness of God winning every time.

The Name of Jesus

Luke 2:21

Sally, Joe, Abdul, Rebecca and Juan
all names
all given to the ones new born
on their day
Names
that in time invoke an image
of who they are
and what they have done
in this world
Names
that speak of love
----------------- hate
----------------- worry and fear
Names that speak of a promise spoken
I will be your God
and you will be my people
Names like any other names
yet special
because of who they speak of
before time
one name was given
a name of love
a name of change
a name of hope
and at the sound of this name every knee shall bow
that name
Jesus
like another name
except
it changed who we
and
the Sallys, Joes, Abduls, Rebeccas and Juans
of this world
will forever be,
the children of God

New Years Eve

Matthew 25:31- 46
The Sheep and the Goats

In the silence of the evening
Just before blessed sleep brings peace
The tomorrow plan begins
Mental notes
To do’s and timing
(when)
That fill the day
Bring that outgrown kids clothes to that lady at work
Struggling
Single
Three kids
And a nice card for what’s her names birthday
(did I see you)
Pick up some cans for the food drive
(hungry)
At church
And write the letter to the editor
(in prison)
On eliminating the death penalty
During my lunch
Sarah looked a bit down on Sunday
Tough times going through a divorce
Perhaps we could have her over for dinner
(a stranger)
I’ll give her a call tomorrow

Blessed be the lives too filled with grace
To notice

The Holy Innocents

Matthew 2:13-18

Among the Pure and Innocent Cries
of a Newborn Child
Come the shrill reminders
of a world
---- and systems
far from that touch of life
a child brings
Far from
the trusting eyes
of love
that want only someone to show caring
Far from this
lies
our world
of agendas
and power and money
shock and awe
collateral damage
and the bleeding, smoldering bodies
of someone else’s child
and the nations play the game
of vying for position
to make the world a better place
through the moans of death
and lifeless bodies
that are the victims of
what we claim
is a better world
Hear that cry
so pure and innocent
of a newborn child
and remember
what power and ambition and money
disguised as caring and freedom
can do

St. John, Apostle & Evangelist

John 21:20-25

Come shine
---- like the rays of hope
---- dancing across the dusty floor
Come shine
---- in a world sometimes devoid
---- of the light
---- that brings new life
Come shine
---- into the lives of the many
---- who live their lives
---- waiting for that something more
Come shine
---- and let the world know
---- life is now
--------- life is here
Proclaimed by the one Jesus loved
From before time
Come shine
---- and live into
---- God’s love
for the sake of the world God so loved

St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr

Matthew 23:34-39

Standing among the fear filled stones
flung
in a desperate attempt to silence
the message
------ alive
---------- They (we) Killed Him
Killed him in fear
of what could
---------- (would)
-------------- be
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem
killing the prophets all the day
Do you not hear
Do you not see
The battle fought for so long
is over
The fear felt for son long
has no foundation
Hear the story
------ of the Christ
spoken on the lips
of the servants
---- who carry the message
---- Christ is risen
---- fear no more

War on God's creation

the Green Dragon appears to be driven by the Greed Dragon, The Religious Right's war on God's Creation  "Green Dragon" video

As an alternative you can read the ELCA statement on caring for creation

understanding neither the Bible nor Science

A new Gallup poll, released Dec. 17, reveals that 40 percent of Americans still believe that humans were created by God within the last 10,000 years. This number is slightly down from a previous high of 47 percent in 1993 and 1999.

Another 38 percent of respondents believe that humans have evolved from more basic organisms but with God playing a role in the process.

A mere 16 percent of respondents subscribed to the belief of "secular evolution": that humans have evolved with no divine guidance. However, this number has nearly doubled from nine percent of respondents in a poll from 1982.

The poll also revealed that beliefs in creationism and evolution are strongly related to levels of education attained. When results are narrowed to those with college degrees, only 37 percent of respondents maintain beliefs in creationism. Meanwhile, the belief in evolution without the aid of God rises to 21 percent.

With regards to political affiliation, a majority of Republicans (52 percent) subscribe to creationist beliefs. This is compared to only 34 percent among Democrats and Independents.

Psalm 148

Pastor: Praise the LORD from the heavens, and in the heights above. Praise the LORD, all angels and heavenly hosts.

Congregation: Praise the LORD, sun and moon and shining stars. Praise, you highest heavens and waters above the skies.

Pastor: Let everyone and everything praise the name of the LORD, for the LORD spoke and they were created. The LORD set them in place for ever and ever and gave a decree that will never pass away.

Congregation: Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding.

Pastor: Praise the LORD you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds.

Congregation: Praise the LORD all you kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.

Pastor: Let them praise the name of the LORD, for the LORD alone is exalted; and the LORD’s splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

Congregation: The LORD has raised up for all people a voice through the praise of the saints, and the people close to the heart of God. Praise the LORD.

Matthew 2:1-12

For those who know these things
who study the signs
     that they might know
what is
     and is to come
Yes
     even they
     who could see the handwriting in the stars
Came
     in search of the one foretold
     the one who would make
     all the searching
          yearning
               seeing
     complete
The Heavens told them
This was the Messiah
     the Christ
          the Prince of Peace
In a world longing so
                    for Peace
This was to be the one
Who would make all the Herods
     in their quest for
          Peace
          (Law and Order at any Cost)
          and Tranquility
          (Change must not come too quickly
                         and upset
               the systems that fill my pockets)
lords
     of only kingdoms
granted them in this world
          by the people
               who wish to have security
                    made up of the
                         bits
                               and
                                    pieces
                                         of
                                              human
                            Destruction
Into this came
             and comes
the Kingdom
     of the one who brings Peace
                                        Shalom
                      even to the Herods
This Messiah
      Born under the star
was here
Breaking into all the might
                                     wisdom
                                            Power
         of this world
                 with the seemingly helpless
                                                                  cry
                                                                       of a baby

surely they will do good

Sunday December 26th, Isaiah 63: 7 I will tell about the kind deeds the LORD has done. They deserve praise! The LORD has shown mercy to the people of Israel; he has been kind and good. 8 The LORD rescued his people, and said, they are mine, they won't betray me." This is an interesting first lesson to the story of Herod’s slaughter of the innocent children while looking for the baby Jesus. God created the world and called it good. God created humanity and called it good. The temptation in the garden was to be like god. Our sin is to react to that small spark that is within us and in some small demonic way act on our desire to be our own little god. Within us is also the spark that God called good. It is the spark that can draw us forward in spite of the troubles and turmoil’s in the world. It is the spark that gives the world hope through the presence of God within each and every one of us. This season and into the New Year, live a life that fans into flame that spark within you that God saw in creation and called good.

carried in the arms

Monday December 27th, Isaiah 63: 9 It troubled the LORD to see them in trouble, and his angel saved them. The LORD was truly merciful, so he rescued his people. He took them in his arms and carried them all those years. And now through Jesus, the Lord has been carrying us all these years and millennia. The Lord has been carrying us and nurturing us all that time to bring out the good within, the spark of God within given to us in the creation of the world and called good. Will you allow the Lord to work through you this coming year and be a spark of Good? As we see the results of a world gone mad with greed and power, will you be a counter voice, a counter life? The Lord will be with you in your endeavors for good and the angel of the Lord will guide you on your way, if your heart is open.

angel light

Tuesday December 28th, Matthew 2: 1 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.2 They asked, "Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." The angels brought the good news to the shepherds in the hills and they came and worshiped the new born king. The angels were the light that drew the sorcerers from the east, spreading the good news beyond the boundaries of existence and acceptability to worship the new born king. It was the old king and those who strove for power and wealth who were too busy, too occupied to see what was right before them. God’s blessings are for all, but all do not see, all did not hear. This New Year be part of the message of hope in a world that all too often sees only the struggle for power. Let those who have ears hear.

know about or know

Wednesday December 29th, Matthew 2: 3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, as were all the people in Jerusalem. 4 Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests and teachers of the law and asked them where the Christ would be born.5 They answered, "In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. Being able to look it up, to know about Jesus, is different from knowing Jesus. Herod was able to find out about Jesus, but not able to find Jesus. When the motivation in our hearts is governed by our desire for power and greed, all we find are empty facts and empty cradles. It is when our heart is open that we begin to see God. This new year, open your heart to the possibility of God in your life, in your heart. If Jesus is just part of your to-do list, you will most likely come up empty handed.

go a differant way

Thursday December 30th, Matthew 2: 9 After the wise men heard the king, they left. The star that they had seen in the east went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was.10 When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy.11 They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.12 But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different way. There is a tale that the star that guided the wise men was not a star but the presence of God, the presence of Christ who shone before them and led them on the way. This gift of the Lord’s leading, the Lord’s calling in life is indeed that light that outshines all other gifts in our lives. God’s leading brought them from a far away land, it led them to the seat of power in the world. Not political, or military or monetary power, but the creative power of love that comes from God. You too can be open to this power of love that will lead and guide you through life. You too can open your hearts to the love of God as your guide. It may not bring you riches, it may even cause you to give away some of the riches you have, but it will be far more valuable for it is the power of love. This new year ahead of you, let the power of God’s love guide you is what you do in this world.

the new Moses

Friday December 31st, Matthew 2: 13 After they left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, because Herod is starting to look for the child so he can kill him. Stay in Egypt until I tell you to return." 14 So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and his mother.15 And Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to bring about what the Lord had said through the prophet: "I called my son out of Egypt." For Matthew, Jesus is the new Moses who is here to lead the people into the new Promised Land. This story of the families run to Egypt and subsequent return is one way to connect that story. The slaughter of the holy innocents is another as the hearers recall Pharaoh’s slaughter of the holy innocents of their ancestors. In the struggles to maintain wealth and power it is often the innocents who become the victims. Like so many in wars for profit, dispensable victims in the quest for more. As Moses led the people from bondage to freedom, so too, Jesus will now undertake the task of leading the people of this world from bondage to freedom. May you in this new year, move from the battle field of power and away from bondage to this system and into the life of freedom that comes only from following the risen Christ.

open our eyes

Saturday January 1st, Matthew 2: 16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. So he gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he learned from the wise men. The powers of evil and greed seldom see the victims in their path. To Herod they were only collateral damage in the quest to maintain power. In his lifelong quest even his own children had fallen in his quest. In the world of God they are not faceless victims, they are the children of God. When we see the children fallen on the wayside, they are the children of God. When we see the hungry in the food lines, they are the children of God. When we hear of collateral damage, they are the children of God. When we hear of children in far off lands, we are reminded that the wise men from far off lands came to worship the King and are the children of God. This new year, let us open our eyes to all who are the children of God.

the Cobert Report on Jesus

Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat

Jesus was always flapping his gums about the poor, but not once did he call for tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Romans

Watch the video here

Comments

I have been amazed over the years to read other blogs with lots of folks making comments and then looking at my blog and seeing in the stat counter that lots of people visit the blog but no one comments.  In the spirit of Christmas one of the gifts I would love to receive would be your comments. 

Opening Litany based on the Gospel for this the fourth Sunday in Advent

Matthew 1:18-25

Pastor: This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Congregation: But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Pastor: As we light this fourth candle, the candle of love in the Advent wreath, we are reminded of how in the birth of Jesus Love came into the world.

Light the fourth Candle of love

Congregation: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth out of love. God created humans in the image of God so they would be able to show love. God worked with, condoled, prodded and even allowed our wayward ways to be rewarded with their natural consequences, all out of love, some of it tough love. In the end he gave his son Jesus as a gift of love to broken and divided humanity.

Pastor: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet Isaiah: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means “God with us”.

Congregation: When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Fear not
Broke into the darkness
Fear not
Into the night of doubt
Fear not
To take this one called blessed
Fear not
As the world is about to change unnoticed
For into this world will come
Not just a son
But the very God of creation
(Immanuel)
To be held by those rough hands
Loved
Kissed
Nurtured
By none other than
Fear not
You Joseph
And he took Mary into his home
And they had a son
And named him
(God with us)
Jesus

Oh, I couldn't do that

Sunday December 19th, Isaiah 7: God spoke to Ahaz and said, "Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!" But Ahaz said, "I'd never do that. I'd never make demands like that on God!" Do we sometimes not ask God for what we want because deep down inside we still want to be in control. If we ask God and we get it, then we have to admit to ourselves that our gracious God is indeed a gracious God and not some automaton that responds to Our doing, Our pleading, Our manipulation. All we have and all we will ever have is a gift from God and that is a hard fact to swallow for many, we want to be in control, god answered Our prayers, we believed and belonged to the Right theology/church. To prove we are Right all we are asked to do us use it for the Kingdom, but then all too often it is simply for our little kingdom (small k). So, Ask, Seek, Knock and Be the Kingdom (capitol K) and let God be God.

Welcome to the revolution

Monday December 20th, Isaiah 7: "Then listen to this, government of David! It's bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you're making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She'll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). There had been miraculous births in the Old Testament, and they had been, like with Sarah, accompanied with the laughter of joy and disbelief from someone unable to have children. Not this time, something new was happening, something that was going to shake up the world. A young maiden would conceive and bear a son and name him Immanuel, God with us. This would be a new beginning for humanity, and new beginning for creation, and new beginning for our relationship with God the creator. This new beginning would be called, Immanuel, God with us. This is not the God with us in the form of altars, idols, circumcision, laws or worship in a specific place, but God in you, God in me, God in Joe and Mary down the street, and God in those we don’t know and even God in those we do know and call our enemy. The call is no longer to find God up in heaven somewhere, but rather God in one another and therefore to begin to treat one another as the children of God and in doing so, our brothers and sisters. Welcome to the revolution, it has just begun.

new moses

Tuesday December 21st, Matthew 1: But after he had considered this, Peace came over him when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." In Matthew the actors are primarily male. Joseph is the one who hears of the impending birth of the Christ child. This day we celebrate that new thing that God did, and continues to do, in the world. This day we celebrate the presence of God in each and every person as well as our call to treat one another in that new light. When Joseph accepted that what Mary was with was because of the Holy Spirit, he experienced peace. We too can begin to experience that same Peace that comes from God when we accept the presence of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit, in each and every person in this creation that God created and called good. This Christmas, may you discover anew the presence of Immanuel in your life and may you be given the double blessing of peace that come with acknowledging the presence of God in all who inhabit this creation God called good.

Child of God???

Wednesday December 22nd, Matthew 1: This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Throughout history, many have raised a question and an eyebrow at this. How do we really know this is the case? If your daughter told you she was pregnant and the father was God would you believe her? If your fiancé told you this would, you believe her? All of which are primarily possessive male questions. For the birth of Christ most of us are able to get around these questions and focus on the birth of Christ. Can we not then in some way get around all those nagging questions about our neighbor, our enemy, the others in our life and begin to accept them as Children of God also? Perhaps for all of humanity the question is not who they are or how did they get there, but rather who is God calling them, and us, to be and how do we learn to get along.

save us from ourselves

Thursday December 23rd, Matthew 1: Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. All indications in Matthew are that Mary and Joseph were living in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was a small town outside of Jerusalem. I grew up in a small town of 250 people. Don’t tell me that anyone can divorce quietly in a small town or village. Most times if I drove to fast through town, my parents would get a call before I got home letting them know how fast I was driving and who was in the car with me. The theme of divorce is Matthews way to relating the birth of Jesus back to the midrash stories of couples divorcing so as not to conceive male children after Pharaoh gave that decree that all male children were to be killed (the First Christmas by Borg & Crossan). Matthew is presenting Jesus as the new Moses who will lead his children, and that includes all of us, to a new kind of freedom. Not just freedom from slave masters but more importantly from our own deceits, lies and destructive thoughts and behaviors. Jesus came to save us from the cruelest taskmaster of all, which is often ourselves.

God with us

Friday December 24th, Matthew 1: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." The new thing has happed and is happening today in the lives of those around us. God is with us and has been with us all along. God is with you and God is with me. God is with the people in our churches and God is with those who wouldn’t dream of ever setting foot in any kind of church. This new thing that God has done is both a blessing and a calling. A blessing knowing that God will continue to be with us and that our salvation and forgiveness is already given, a gift from God. A calling knowing that God will continue to be with others in this world and we are called to deal with them, friends and enemies alike, knowing that we are dealing with the children of God. Make no mistake, this does not make them automatically easy to get along with. It does not say that they see us as a brother or a sister, it is after all about our calling not theirs. It does not make things all sweet and wonderful all the time, or even some of the time. It simply compels us to treat one another as brothers and sisters in Christ and maybe, just maybe in the long run, we, or our children, or our grandchildren will know what it is like to live in peace.

Merry Christmas to all

Saturday December 25th, Matthew 1: When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. Merry Christmas to all. When we wake up may the spirit of the Lord call us to be and live as the children of God. May we also follow the lead of the Spirit and bring one another into our lives as brothers and sisters, friends and family. As we look back on the year may we see where we have not done so well as a child of God, a community and as a nation and vow to do better in the year ahead. I pray that in the coming year, we as a individuals and as a nation will begin to see the beauty of the gift of Christmas, the gift of Jesus, God with us, as a gift for all people. I pray we will truly find our footing as a people and begin once again to treat others in this world and in this nation as the children of God with the same understanding most of us would give to our own brothers and sisters. Maybe then we can start to live up to the bold phrase on our money, In God we Trust. And may the spirit of Christmas, may the spirit of God with you, with me, with us, guide you in the year ahead, Amen!

President Obama Should Have Fought This One by Jim Wallis

He should have fought this one. The richest 2 percent of the country just got an extension of tax cuts they didn't need at great cost to us all. President Barack Obama should have been fighting against the self-interest of the very wealthiest Americans long before this. So he is now backed into a corner, and just made a compromise that he thinks is the best deal possible when up against the clock. He got some good things for working families in the payroll tax cut, the extension of unemployment benefits, various refundable tax credits, and the important middle class tax cut. But the president is now presiding over the great redistribution of wealth that has been going on for a very long time -- the redistribution of wealth from the middle and the bottom to the top of American society -- and leaving us with the most economic inequality in American history. This will only grow larger with the Obama "compromise."

Had he fought earlier, he could have answered the issues concerning the protection of the small businesses who are the primary job creators. Obama could have focused the higher tax rates on the very rich and protected those more in the middle who are really creating jobs. But now, most of the people who will be keeping their tax cuts are not job creators. After all, how many jobs will the Goldman Sachs traders create, or the hedge fund gamblers, or the celebrities who dominate our lives? Almost none. On the contrary, they have been the "job destroyers," having wrecked this economy and the lives of so many people.

Let's be clear here. At the root of the crisis was just a handful of banks -- not the banking industry, not business in general, but a handful of very rich people taking big risks. They are already getting richer because of our taxpayer bailout, and now we're giving them more tax breaks and estate tax bonanzas. There is socialism in America, but it's only for the rich. Risk has been socialized for some of the very richest people in the country, and then, the "free market" pain is distributed to all the rest.

The rich are too big to fail in America, while many in the rest of the country really are failing. The president did want to keep some things for average Americans in this compromise, but he lost the big battle a long time ago by not fighting the people whose greed, recklessness, and utter lack of concern for the common good have led us into this terrible crisis. He waited too long to fight, to force a national debate on economic fairness, to counter the distortions of the Republicans who clearly don't mind adding huge sums to the deficit as long as it benefits their wealthy patrons; and who will now seek to reduce the deficit by adding more pain to the rest of us -- especially those on the bottom and increasingly shaky middle rungs of the economy. And now, he and the rest of us are all backed into corners without a way out.

Our national economic philosophy is clearly now to reward the casino gamblers on Wall Street and to leave the majority of the country standing outside the casino with a tin cup -- hoping that the gamblers are at least big tippers. More tax breaks and benefits for the very wealthiest people in America is not only bad economics and bad policy; it is fundamentally immoral. In a letter to the president signed by over 100 religious leaders, we said just that.

So far, they haven't listened.

Hallelujah

"It's, as I say, a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion.... It's a rather joyous song." ~ Leonard Cohen, creator of the song, Hallelujah. He says: "I wanted to write something in the tradition of the hallelujah choruses but from a different point of view... It's the notion that there is no perfection ~ that this is a broken world and we live with broken hearts and broken lives but still that is no alibi for anything. On the contrary, you have to stand up and say hallelujah under those circumstances."

G                              Em
The night was cold, the air was dry.
G                           Em
The shepherds sat beneath the sky
C                                D                            G
Wondering what the morrow would bring to you
G                                         C     D
The stars, they danced; the sky awoke;
Em                                               C
The heavens stirred and the angels spoke;
D                          B7       Em
An angel chorus singing Hallelujah.
C                  Em            C              G-D-G
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelu -- jah!

The blessed one, no place to stay.
She laid her baby in the hay--
Emmanuel come to the world for you.
The earth was still, yet filled with hope
As in the night the curtain broke
And all of heaven joined the Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

The shepherds came to see this one
New Hope for all born in God's son,
This child now cradled by Mary giv'n for you.
They quietly praised the God above
For showing them this gift of love,
They joined the chorus, shouting Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

Magicians came from far away;
Followed a star to find their way;
It led them to this infant born for you.
They brought him gifts from lands afar,
They praised the Lord for the guiding star;
They added their voices to the Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

This child, who, destined for the cross
Forgives the sins of all of us,
While only asking me to show love to you.
He rose again new life to live,
Still pleads with us this life to give
Inviting all to join the sing Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

song by Leonard Cohen, sung in the style of Allison Crowe with words by Dan Bollerud and James Drury

Opening litany for Advent 3

Pastor: We have looked at the How of Advent with Hope coming into the world symbolized by the lighting of the first Candle of Hope. We have looked into the How of Advent with Justice and Peace coming into the world symbolized by the lighting of the second Candle of Peace. Today we celebrate the Who of Advent with Joy coming into the world by remembering that the Lord called not only Mary, but you and I, to help bring about this God vision of what the world should be.

Opening Litany based on the Magnificat from Luke 1:39-55

Pastor: At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” And Mary said:

Congregation: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.

Pastor: The mercy God extends to those who live in awe of the Lord, from generation to generation. The Lord has performed mighty deeds with his arm and has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

Congregation: The Lord has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

Pastor: Today we light the third candle of Advent, the Candle of Joy, as we remember the Joy that fills our lives as we live our the calling of our Lord to be the bringers of the message of Hope and Peace into the world.

Light the 3rd Advent Candle of Joy

Congregation: Joy comes not only when we remember, but when we participate in what the Lord has done in Mary’s life, and in our lives. The Lord has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

Pastor: The Lord has helped his servant Israel and all those called to be the children of God remembering to be merciful and calling us to be merciful in our lives.

Congregation: We will live lives showing mercy to Abraham and all his descendants, represented by all the sands of earth and all the stars in the heavens forever. For all are called to be the children of God just as he promised our ancestors.”

3rd Sunday of Advent

Matthew 11:2-11

Are you the one
Who is to come
The one prepared for from before all time
(the blind see)
Are you the one
Claimed by the thunder crack
And the dove gently coming down
(the lame walk)
Are you the one for whom I baptized
Calling one and all to run
From the life of games
To the calling of God
(the deaf hear)
You seem so gentle
Not what I expected
When I first leapt in my mothers womb
Not what I expected
Out there at the river’s edge
Not what I expected
(new life)
And yet somehow
(good news for the poor)
more

is this the garden?

Sunday December 12th, Isaiah 35: The desert and the parched lands will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. All the lands of the earth will become as the garden of creation, filled with lush fruits, fragrant blossoms and towering orchards. All people will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. This sounds like the Garden of Eden, but then again, isn’t that an indication of what God wants for us anyway, to live in a land of delight? We can never get there on our own, but we can get a lot closer to that God intended reality in this life than we think. Imagine what would happen if just one nation, starting with our own, decided to shift half of military spending to helping in this world? Imagine what would happen if the majority of the nations decided to follow suit? Imagine!! And you may be able to get just a glimpse of what God intends for humanity, and how far and in what direction we have to go to get there. Imagine a land filled with possibilities for all, not just a few. Imagine a land filled with people who considered others to be their brothers and sisters in the Lord. Imagine children filled with the hope of Advent at what their life may bring and how they could be a part of the great wholeness of God. Imagine….. then live.

Imagine what could be!!!

Monday December 13th, Isaiah 35: Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come and bring justice, God’s true justice and grace, Our Lord will being salvation to all creation. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy. We again turn to visions of the Garden returned, God’s vision for humanity. It can also be seen in the context of today’s Advent Gospel as a calling for all followers of God. Again, imagine a world where energies are focused more on helping than on ego agendas. Imagine a world where the children of God care for the feeble hands, the old tired knees, and fearful hearts and bring them the newness of Advent, with new beginnings and new hope. Imagine a world where the blind see and the deaf hear, where the lame sign up for dancing lessons and the mute for singing lessons. Imagine a world where the children of God at least make this a priority rather than personal piety. Imagine what could be!!! God does!!

Joy is the awareness of God’s presence in your life

Tuesday December 14th, Isaiah 35: The fullness of God’s love and grace will fill every heart and the sounds of Joy will fill the universe as the throngs of all creation enter into the presence of God with singing, and everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake all of creation, and sorrow and sighing will flee away forever. Joy is the awareness of God’s presence in your life, in your heart. Finding God is never a search out there somewhere, through some program or Bible Study or the “right” religion (remember, “right” religions are always the wrong ones). It is a matter of becoming aware of what is already inside you, inside everyone, the presence of God. When you discover that within you, all creation and all heaven sings for joy. Discovering that presence of God in another is when you begin to see the meaning of God’s gift of love in the world. To discover and see the presence of God in your enemy, is to know the basis of God’s justice and God’s peace in this world. Iraq, Sudan, Israel/Palestine, North and South Korea etc, etc, etc….. are only possible with the immature and self-centered concept that you have a relationship with God and others do not. Only when the world begins to see the presence of God in their enemy will they begin to see the gladness and joy God has in store for all of us.

Don't grumble against each other, brothers

Wednesday December 15th, James 5: 7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! James was written quite a long time after the resurrection. Making sense out of what they perceived as having to wait too long was foremost in their hearts and minds. My theory is that the second coming must wait until all humanity begins to grasps that the world is not made up of us and them, only an expanded “us,” and we begin to see one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Even James was able to get at least a glimpse of it in verse 9. Maybe you can begin to get a glimpse of God’s heavenly intention for earth today too!!

so, what did you expect?

Thursday December 16th, Matthew 11: 2 John was in prison when he heard what Christ was doing. So John sent some of his followers 3 to ask Jesus, "Are you the one we should be looking for? Or must we wait for someone else?" 4 Jesus answered, "Go and tell John what you have heard and seen. 5 The blind are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People with leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. What do you see and what do you hear the church doing today? What do you see and what do you hear in your life today? In some places what you hear is the bringing of joy, the bringing of healing, hope and peace in this world. In other places, only fear of the end time’s judgment of others. What are our churches, those who read this in the internet as well as our little church in south Anchorage doing to demonstrate God’s presence in the world? And then we have to ask ourselves what are we called to do? What is one more thing we can do in 11 to counter the rise of self-centered and destructive fundamentalism in the world?

Dancing with the stars??

Friday December 17th, Matthew 11: What sort of person did you go out into the desert to see? Was he like tall grass blown about by the wind? 8 What kind of man did you go out to see? Was he someone dressed in fine clothes? People who dress like that live in the king's palace. 9 What did you really go out to see? Was he a prophet? He certainly was. I tell you that he was more than a prophet. John the Baptist would never make it on any of the “idol” or Dancing reality programs. What drew others to him and his message not his good looks or charisma? His message was one of hope, Hope that they could start anew, hope that the world would be a better place for their children, hope that they would find some meaningful part in the process. His message also brought Peace at the awareness of God’s presence in their lives. His message brought Joy as the caught on that they were being called to be a part of the Kingdom here and now. All there wrapped up in ugly cloths and short and sometimes nasty demeanor. We still talk about John, Just imagine what could happen of you let God work through you?

welcome to joy

Saturday December 18th, Matthew 11: 11 I tell you that no one ever born on this earth is greater than John the Baptist. But whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. There were miraculous births bringing spirit filled leaders to the people of God in the Old Testament and John was the last of that Old Testament line. Zac and Elizabeth, John’s parents were too old or barren to have children, as was Sarah and Hannah before them. John’s calling was to introduce something new that God was doing. In the New Testament we start anew with a miraculous birth, this one from a young maiden, some say virgin. John’s greatness was to bring an end to what was and to usher in what will be. What he ushered in and the reality in Jesus is salvation for all of creation, including ourselves. Welcome to the Advent week of Joy.

December 2010 Newsletter Article

As I write this I remember back to 20 years ago today. After years of working in sales, corrections, construction and teen centers, after four years of seminary, I had received a call to Christ Our Savior Lutheran to be their pastor and was ordained amid much pomp and ceremony. When my son Erik saw my son Jesse (a handsome 10 year old with teeth and a mullet) leading the procession carrying the cross with a couple dozen pastors following behind he remarked with some concern, “O No, Now they’ve gone and made Jesse a pastor too!!!” My daughter Rhea with her hair poofed high read the lesson from Corinthians. My first official act was to baptize my youngest daughter Liz. My second major task, one not taught in seminary, came the next week when I worked on the furnace to get it running on a cold Sunday morning before worship.

Over the years, styles of ministry, understandings in theology, and the needs of the community, like our hair and clothes styles, have changed. When I started here in ministry communion was served only to those ten and up who had received instruction and “understood” the meaning of communion as if any of us could grasp the full meaning of communion were we to study it our whole life long, communion being one of those things being better understood through experience than knowledge. At my ordination I introduced the song “Borning Cry” to the congregation which was still coming to grips with the “Green Book,” and over the years our music has morphed into a wide variety of hymnody that is still not quite up to the modernity of style listened to on the car radios traveling to and from worship. When I started I had an Apple IIC with 128K and dual disk drives at home, the church had a Wang that took up the better part of a desk and used 8 inch floppies, it sat in the back room largely unused. We currently send our newsletter out on the internet, have a web radio station and are on facebook and twitter and are near the top of the list on appropriate google searches. My cell phone is 100xs the computer my Apple IIC ever was. We were on the cutting edge of ecumenism back in those days by sharing our worship space with Christ Church Episcopal, since then they have moved on, Turning Point has moved in and we are the only church in Alaska that is signed onto the interfaith Charter for Compassion. We have tweeked our worship service, our musical style, our organization, how we get the chores done, our technology and many parts of the building but we are rapidly coming to a place where something more drastic is needed.

After years of tweaking enough to get by, the burner in the furnace has been replaced, and now after years of tweaking enough to get by, the very essence of how we identify, and how we do “church” is changing, and may even have to be replaced, and it appears that we can either get on board or be left out in the cold.

Worship attendance in the US peaked two Sundays after 9-11. Since that time attendance across the nation decreased significantly up to 2007. From 2007 to today churches in general have seen a similar decrease in attendance. During that time there was some continued growth in the “Mega-churches” in the country, but they too are now facing a similar pattern and as their numbers decline below a critical mass and they too will soon feel the pinch. When I graduated from Seminary it was understood that about half the kids left the church after confirmation, but they came back after their first child was born, now less than half the kids even go through confirmation and of those the percent that stays or returns to active participation in worship is about 10% and declining. It is estimated that by 2020 less than one in ten 20 year olds will have ever set foot inside a church for any reason. I assume that does not include non-gathering events like voting, but it does include such things as funerals, weddings and other rites of passage along with worship. My library is full of books with titles like, “Kicking Habits,” “The second coming of the church,” Why Christianity must change or die,” and “We are here now” and though helpful no one has a magic pill. Leonard Sweet describes it as a tsunami of change coming and we can either surf it or go under. Not very encouraging I grant you and not the kind of message I want to bring to you on my 20th anniversary. But still, we are the children of God and we are not without hope. In Isaiah 11 we hear of another time when a far greater calamity than this was on the horizon, the words of hope that a new shoot will come up from the stump that seemed all but dead and gone can give us new hope today also. New life and new hope is the hallmark of our God and that is the good news. The bad news is that this new life seldom looks like the old life. So the question we will be dealing with in the next few years is this; what needs to die, what do we need to let go of, in order to allow this new life in Christ to grow?

A hint comes when we discuss the issues regarding human sexuality and the church. We as Lutherans can often feel confident in our enlightened sensitivities, that is until we turn the discussion to most of the 20 year olds out there who look at us like we are dinosaurs for even considering something they settled in their minds years ago as even being remotely interesting or controversial. When we bring up continuing conversations with Baptists, Methodists and Catholics on theological issues they wonder why we aren’t marching arm in arm with Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindu’s to confront the injustice in the world and our propensity toward war as even a viable solution.

I do not know if we will survive the tsunami that lies ahead but I can tell you that without a willingness to accept change, and most likely drastic change, we surely will not. This is not something I can do; this is not something any pastor can do. There will be many steps in the journey ahead but in addition to walking through the process of deciding what needs to die before we can move on, we must each discover within ourselves what is so important about our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can no longer hold it in, but we must share it with others. There is a part of me that is looking forward to the journey ahead, if nothing else we might find, if we can let go of our dear old friend “used to be” that we actually like surfing.