advent

Sunday’s Sermon – On the Lookout Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-4

December 24, 2017 Leave a Comment

It’s almost here! Are you ready? This morning marks the fourth Sunday of our eager anticipation for Christmas, and now is the time for our final Advent preparations to welcome Christ once again. We are on the cusp of God’s breaking into the world. And as tempting as it is to launch straight into Joy to the World and Silent Night, this morning I invite you to hold on to that sense of expectancy for just a few moments longer. Let this be for us those anxious and exciting final moments before birth.

Just a reminder, it’s ok if our own experience of this is a little different for each of us; after all, families grow and change in different ways. For some, the load carried is heavy, and you may find yourself out of breath, with swollen ankles, just ready for it to be over. For others, it is joyful expectation that comes with each kick, knowing things are about to change. It may even look like the dedicated work of home visits and paperwork that lead to a dotted line on which to sign for your family to grow. Or, perhaps it has snuck up on you this year, with pangs of labor beginning when you least expect it. Regardless of the path, it has brought us to the moment of birth, the welcoming of new life. And with it, the opportunity to share some of the best news we get to proclaim: a baby is born!

I remember when we were in our pre-natal classes there was a careful list in one of the books of what to bring to the hospital. Among the clothing, snacks and other comforts was a striking item “a calling card or change for the payphone.” Clearly the material was a bit dated, but it reminds us that there was a time when we had to quite literally sit by the phone to receive such a message. That is the moment of waiting that our text from Isaiah captures, as God’s people are on the lookout for a messenger. As Beth Laneel Tanner notes:

In the ancient world, there were no CNN trucks and satellites to send news instantly from one end of the world to another. News came from runners who ran from one place to another, carrying the latest news. These messengers were seen by the sentinels of the city approaching the city long before they arrived. This gap in time led to speculation of the news the messengers were bringing. It was a time of anticipating and waiting, a time of knowing that news was coming, without knowing what the tidings would be[i].

Sentinels took their posts, watching the horizon for these messengers. This is what the morning of Christmas Eve looks like.

For God’s people in Isaiah’s time, though, this posture of waiting might have been more of a bracing for the worst scenario. Remember, this section of Isaiah was written to those in exile, in situations when all hope seemed lost.

Standing in the ruins, it is hard to envision a rebuilt city. Standing in the midst of death, it is hard to believe there will be a time of salvation and shalom[ii].

And yet, the messenger comes. Isaiah calls the sentinels, and us, to attention. It is a powerful moment, not meant to be taken lightly, this dawning of incredible news in the midst of the harsh realities of the world. Here, the words of Poet Jan Richardson are fitting as we imagine ourselves welcoming those messengers. She writes:

Blessed are you
Who bear the light in unbearable times,
Who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable,
Who bear witness to its persistence
When everything seems in shadow and grief.

Blessed are you
In whom the light lives,
In whom the brightness blazes –
Your heart a chapel,
An altar where in the deepest night
Can be seen the fire that shines forth in you
In unaccountable faith
In stubborn hope
In love that illumines
Every broken thing
It finds[iii].

This morning’s text reminds us of the gravity of the good news that is coming. Good news that is the fulfillment of all the promises of restoration and wholeness. Good news that will be a light to the darkness that Israel has experienced. The feet of the messenger tell the story; they come not with the slow, trudging footsteps of one who delivers heavy news of sorrow; but with the light, quick gait of a runner on the home stretch of a winning race that quickens the pace toward the victory tape. Those on the lookout see it immediately and know, even from a distance, that this will be a moment marked for joy. News they may have thought impossible, now is barreling towards them. God has rolled up God’s sleeves and is acting in the world to bring salvation. This is a message worth proclaiming with singing! And it is one that is made visible for the whole world – God’s salvation message has gone viral!

Paul Hanson says that:

It is a timely lesson, in that it reminded a searching people of crucial moments in time that define the meaning of all time, moments that give orientation to those tempted to fall prey to lethargy by placing them in the presence of the source of all meaning. They are reminded of the moment of creation, the mysterious origin of all that is in God’s incisive move against chaos. They are reminded of the moment of the awakening of destiny, the mysterious stirring of hope in the faithful response of the one ancestral couple. They are reminded of the moment of deliverance, the mysterious birth of a nation in divine deliverance from political bondage. And they are reminded of restoration, the return of the God without whom they are lost. Such moments define the meaning of all human life[iv].

The messengers run with the news, then pass it on to the sentinels and next all the people of Jerusalem, who are called not just to receive it, but to do something with it; to break into song and proclamation. We are meant to become messengers ourselves; ones who bear light to the world, even in the midst of challenge and who proclaim “Your God reigns.” That is the challenge of Christmas. To both receive and pass on this amazing promise of God’s love and presence with the world. To do so is a holy task. The prophet Isaiah helps get us ready.

With our eyes on the horizon, we can see that the light is coming. As we prepare to welcome the Christ child yet again tonight, may we be particularly attentive to the messengers who bear that light, and then may we be bold enough to become those messengers ourselves. In doing so, we will find the blessing of Christmas. Be on the lookout, the time has almost come. Amen.

Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
December 24, 2017, 10:00 am Service
4th Sunday in Advent

——————————————————————————————————-
[i] Beth Laneel Tanner, “Exegetical Perspective: Isaiah 52:7-10,” Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).
[ii] Beth Laneel Tanner
[iii] Jan Richardson, “Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light,” Circle of Grace (Wanton Gospeller Press, 2015).
[iv] Paul D. Hanson, Isaiah 40-66, Interpretation, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1995)

Sunday’s Sermon – Comfort, Comfort – Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a

December 10, 2017 Leave a Comment

If it is raining outside, then it is highly likely we are having spaghetti for dinner. It’s an unintentional tradition that started in my family when I was growing up, but I just can’t help continuing it. For me, it seems that the solution to a rainy, dreary day is a comforting plate of pasta. Comfort foods are not a novel concept, of course. They tend to have a nostalgic factor or sentimental value to us, and are often characterized by a high calorie count, lots of carbs, or easy prep. Whether it’s fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, or warm chocolate fudge brownies, most of us tend to have those “go-to” favorites after a long day. Of course, in the South, we are known for these comfort delicacies. They are so deeply engrained in us that we may not even notice. For example, it took me a while to realize that my first response when a friend or my husband has had a bad day was to offer them something to eat. In southern culture, if someone is having a tough time, you show up with a casserole, right? It didn’t dawn on me that they weren’t necessarily hungry.

Food, of course, is among the many things that can bring us comfort. As children we have comfort objects – special blankets or stuffed animals. As adults we graduate a bit sometimes to a favorite pillow. Mister Rogers would change his shoes and sweater when he got home as a sign of settling into a comfortable place. The list of what brings us comfort can get quite lengthy.

“Comfort, comfort” are the words from Isaiah. This is a familiar text, and many of us hear it in musical form thanks to Handel’s Messiah. It strikes in us those same warm fuzzy feelings as our other ways of comforting ourselves. We hear it in the context of the holiday season, eagerly anticipating the cries of “Hallelujah!” that will come in just two weeks with the birth of Christ. However, these words are meant to convey a far greater understanding of comfort than a favorite meal or fuzzy robe and slippers. If we aren’t careful, we will gloss over them as lovely Christmas card sentiments and platitudes, and lose the rich context in which they were originally spoken. These are meant to be words of restoration and hope to the people of Israel. To capture the depth of their meaning, we need to hear them aware of the context in which they were originally shared.

Most scholars agree that the lengthy 66 chapters of Isaiah are actually a compilation of several writers, given their structure and literary profiles and thematic approaches. Chapter 40 begins what is known as “Second Isaiah,” or Deutero-Isaiah, believed to have been written around the start of the sixth century. Extending through chapter 55, this section was likely written during the exile in Babylon, earning this author the title of “Prophet of Exile.” He is also known as the “prophet of consolation,” which recognizes the heart of the message these chapters contain. Isaiah is writing in the midst of a people who have lost everything and have been separated from all they knew. Lamentations 1:3 describes their situation:

“Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she now lives among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress”.

The people of Israel were in the throes of crisis, wondering if God was with them or not. As Paul Hanson notes:

This was the Judah addressed by Second Isaiah, a community that saw added to its physical suffering the anguish of being caught in a crossfire of conflicting messages: Israel is a people chosen by a loving God who will care for all its needs. God’s love has turned to wrath. Israel’s God lacks the power to withstand the assaults to Babylon and its pantheon. God is punishing Israel for its sin. God no longer loves Israel. God does not care. What sort of response did this moment of crisis require?[i]

Isaiah’s response was to return the people to a familiar, central concept of their faith. He was providing a sort of theological comfort food, if you will, meant to nourish God’s people during this time of separation. Isaiah reminds those in exile of God’s steadfast commitment to the covenant. Earlier in the Old Testament, such points of clarity have been portrayed in similar ways (see 1 Kings 22:19-24 and the first two chapters of the book of Job): a divine council deliberating about the ultimate meaning and cause of some situation. God gathers a heavenly host together with a simple message to deliver: Comfort! This proclamation reveals the very character of God and intention for God’s relationship with God’s people.

Kathleen O’Connor observes that:

The God proclaimed by Second Isaiah comes in strength with arms stretched out in triumph. But this strength itself is paradoxical, because it is not the strength of a bloody avenger, a violent brute, or a demanding judge. No, this God’s strength appears in a barely thinkable power of gentleness, in tender and caring presence, in intimacy such as a shepherd expresses when gathering the wounded, scattered flock.[ii]

Put another way, this text describes the wonder and glory of God in accessible, relational ways. Through Isaiah, God gives a glimpse of what restoration looks like; one with God at the center; a God who is loving even in the midst of passing judgment and righting the injustices in the world, whether that is lifting up those in valleys or leveling those who sit upon pompous mountains. This is no cheap grace being offered, but rather is the reconciling work of a mighty God. This is what we anticipate in Advent; the arrival of God’s love. Isaiah presents one vision of that for us today.

For God’s people in exile, it was particularly important for them to cling to this image and understanding of God. They were:

in a chaotic situation in which people were tempted either to throw out all forms of the past or to cling mindlessly to tradition out of fear of change, [and so] it was terribly important to maintain a comprehensive vision of reality ordered around one life-giving Center[iii].

Second Isaiah’s words needed to be powerful and persuasive in order to generate the kind of hope and faith that could return them to a relationship with God that would lead them back to Jerusalem. It seems that the promise of God’s love would do just that.

“Comfort, Comfort”; these are words of assurance, and one response to the cries of “how long?!” lifted here last week. They are tender words of promise that can calm and quiet the chaos we experience in our lives, from the gut-wrenching difficult moments of loss to the drama and busyness of a holiday season. Their words can wrap us in a heavenly hug and again focus our attention on the meaning of this time of waiting and anticipation – the Advent of God’s love here on earth. The Advent that came long ago with Jesus’ birth, and the Advent that is to come as we anticipate Christ’s return.

In describing this second Advent, 2 Peter also gives hint to this nature of God. The verses we read today, often misinterpreted and used as fear-tactic texts for the second coming, are rich with an understanding of God’s nature to forgive and love. The people of God are impatient, wondering when Christ will return as promised. Like those in exile, they are questioning if God has abandoned them. To them, the writer of 2 Peter reminds them of their center, just as Isaiah did. He writes that God is “not slow about his promise,” but rather, is patiently waiting so that all come to repent before the day of the Lord. The implication here is that God wants to respond to the world in ways that are loving and gracious, but the world isn’t there yet. While we may argue some with the implications, the writer here seeks to present God in ways that are consistent with the descriptions in Isaiah and others in Scripture, as a God whose steadfast love endures forever. And here, 2 Peter intimates, God has forever to wait.

It’s important, I think, to know the posture with which God waits. Poet Steve Collins describes it this way:

God waits for us,
not like a lion ready to pound
if we let our guard down,
not like an interfering in-law
but like an old friend who’s seen it all before
and likes us anyway,
with whom we can spend time
without having to pretend or explain[iv].

This is Advent waiting; more than the love of a spouse holding a loved one’s purse outside of a dressing room; more than a parent waiting what feels like forever for a toddler to put on his shoes and coat all by himself. This is a waiting marked by LOVE.

“The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” God’s presence and God’s love can and will endure anything. That is the heart of the gospel. Words that bring firm ground on which we can stand, and yes, find comfort.

“Comfort, Comfort”; these are also words of calling. They are in the imperative form in the Hebrew text, meaning they are commands and instructions. As Richard Ward writes:

These words are not just for us to savor like food at a holiday feast. We are in the situation of the celestial ones and the prophets in the text, trying to find a way to speak them to others that God loves[v].

Isaiah’s words are meant to be proclaimed from the high mountaintops. The prophet is given a new message, declaring the glory of the Lord! “Here is your God!” This is the message we are called to shout with our voices and proclaim with our actions.

Advent is a perfect time to live into this calling. It happens when neighbors lend a hand shoveling snow, or offer warmth and comfort to those without power. It happens when we send messages of love through Christmas cards or phone calls. It happens when we let someone in to traffic or greet stork clerks with a patient smile and appreciation for their work. It happens when we show compassion to our neighbors. Through Santa’s Caravan, we provide gifts of toys and clothing and food for 175 children, most of whom live in a 5 mile radius from our church. The work has been happening for months, and now is at full force. Yesterday many volunteers prepared the gym; this morning cheerful souls packed food boxes and our children stuffed stockings, and the work will continue into next weekend. This mission of our congregation provides a witness of comfort and a demonstration of God’s love. In all of these and more, we proclaim the good news of God, a God of HOPE and LOVE, in eager anticipation of Christ’s coming.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
December 10, 2017

[i] Paul D. Hanson, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Isaiah 40-66, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1995).
[ii] Kathleen M. O’Connor, “Exegetical Perspective: Isaiah 40:1-11,” Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).
[iii] Paul D. Hanson
[iv] Steve Collins, “God Waits.” Alternative Worship: Resources from and for the Emerging Church, compiled by Jonny Baker & Doug Gay with Jenny Brown (Grand Rapids, MI:Baker Books, 2003) 36.
[v] Richard F. Ward, “Homiletical Perspective: Isaiah 40:1-11,” Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).

Sunday’s Sermon – How Long? Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Isaiah 64:1-9

December 3, 2017 Leave a Comment

I don’t mean to alarm you, but it is now December and Christmas is in 22 days. Chances are, this fact hasn’t escaped you too much. There are numerous ways to count down the days, from functional décor to chocolate filled calendars to large placards at the entrance of a store. As an adult, time seems to accelerate during this month, which is extra full of activities and things to do. But as a child, I remember feeling like Christmas was never going to get here. It couldn’t come soon enough, and I, like many children, would repeatedly ask “how much longer?” We have entered into a unique time of waiting in the next few weeks.

In the church year, this is the season of Advent, a time marked by wonder, and expectation. It begins on the third Sunday before Christmas, and is a time set apart for anticipation of the coming of Christ, both the celebration and commemoration of his first coming with his birth and the anticipation and longing for his second coming which has not yet happened. These two Advents are both marked by the common factors of waiting and anticipation. It is a season in which we ask “how long,” as a sign of our deep yearning for God’s to be with us. And each time we ask this question, we voice our faith, and join God’s people throughout the ages who have longed for God’s presence.

This is the setting for both of our texts today, which begin on a more sober note than the twinkling lights, tinsel, and Christmas parades. Psalm 80 and Isaiah 64 voice serious lament and anxiety about the state of the world. With this,

Advent begins not on a note of joy, but of despair. Humankind has reached the end of its rope. All our schemes for self-improvement, for extricating ourselves from the traps we have set for ourselves, have come to nothing. We have not realized at the deepest level of our being that we cannot save ourselves and that, apart from the intervention of God, we are totally and irretrievably lost. . . . The season thus attempts to capture that spirit of hope in the midst of hopelessness, a spirit of yearning for that which would be too good to be true: some new and unique expression of God’s intention to save a world gone wrong[i].

The traditional theme for this first Sunday of Advent is hope, specifically recalling the hope of the prophets. For Isaiah, we hear it in chapter 64, which comes almost at the end of the book after the Israelites have returned from exile. All should have been restored, but the reality doesn’t reflect that. There is still intense oppression and struggle; a life fraught with challenge. The verses we read today are a prayer for salvation that express two components of true Advent hope:

on the one hand, a deep sense of desperation about a situation out of control is sounded. On the other hand, a bold and confident trust in God is voiced, addressed to a God who can intervene (if God will) to make life peaceable and joyous. Life without God is unbearable. That is the present tense. Life with God can be completely transformed. That is the urgent hope of the prayer[ii].

As our call to worship said this morning, this is not a naïve hope or wishful thinking, but one born out of deep conviction and trust. It is, as Vaclav Havel called it, an “orientation of the spirit,” distinct from optimism, in that “it is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of those it turns out[iii].” Advent is about this kind of hope, a conviction held even in the face of adversity, made possible by faith in God.

In a similar way, Psalm 80 voices hope as well. Its setting is similar to Isaiah, with subscript notes that it is a Psalm of Asaph, which puts it among twelve other psalms (50, 73-83) that are a collection “likely of northern origin, reflect[ing] a strong interest in divine justice, Israel’s history from exodus to exile, and Zion[iv].”

The Psalm expresses a deep desire to figure God out as the people wait to see signs of God’s presence. The Psalm gives voice to the grief of the people over the impression that God has disappeared. Rather than remain paralyzed and silent, the Psalm gives the voice to move the people from despair to hope. This movement is found in the question “how long?” that breaks the silence and creates a space for truth telling and discovery among the people. The Psalm demonstrates a deep faith, marked by a questioning of God’s purposes that coexists with the affirmation that God is the one who offers salvation and deliverance. As Talitha Arnold notes:

Psalm 80 is an incredible confession, not of sin, but of faith. It confesses the people’s trust in a God who is big enough to hear their hurt, strong enough to handle their anger and pain. It also identifies the congregation as a people who, even in their suffering, have the courage to call on the Lord God of hosts to help them[v].

Both of these texts remind us that Advent is more than just a counting down the days until we get to sing silent night and remember a sweet baby in the manger. Advent is about a deep longing for God’s presence in the world, one that extends to our lives today. Advent ushers us into a season of communal prayer and petition along with the prophet Isaiah and the Asaphites and God’s people throughout the years who have hoped and called out for God to come into our lives yet again. We do this by offering our earnest cries of “How Long?”

How long will it be before things feel “normal” again after we have lost a loved one? How long before we will have a child after several miscarriages? How long will I be out of work? How long until I am able to do the things I love after a surgery or series of treatments? How long until a memory is no longer painful? How long until I am taken seriously or respected? How long will my prayers go unanswered?

And, as many “how longs” as we have in our own lives, there are just as many if not more in our own faith community and in the world. How long until we are on solid financial footing and are no longer laden with debt? How long until our pews are again overflowing each week? How long until the need is gone for something as basic as food? How long until our elected leaders can work together without letting political bias and lobbyist agendas set the tone? How long until young girls are not coerced into sex trafficking? How long until “mass shooting” is absent from our news cycle? How long until all women and men are safe from harassment and misconduct in the workplace? How long until troops come home to their families because there is no longer a risk of war and conflict has ceased?

How long? How long? We cry out to God, over and over again, how long? And then, as the Psalmist does three times, we ask for God to deliver us from the state that we are in. “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.” It is a call for a blessing, a longing to receive something only God can offer. It echoes the Aaronic priestly blessing from Numbers 6:22-27, “may the face of God shine upon you” in ways that are only possible for those who are in the presence of God. And the grammar of this request for blessing is both “wish and declaration,” something we hope to happen and something we already know to be true[vi]. This is the posture of living in between the two Advents of God’s coming.

We know God’s presence coming to us is within God’s ability and the way God has engaged with the world, made manifest in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. And, at the same time, it is a hopeful orientation to the world of what is still possible, of trusting that God can, at any moment, break into our difficult and heavy experiences of longing with a fresh vision and presence.

Advent is about being bold enough to ask God to do just that. It is an expression of hope, based on a deep seated belief that what God has done before, God can and will do again. It’s about adopting a posture of expectation and anticipation of God bursting on the scene. It is about watching and waiting, yes, but also actively engaging in dialogue with God marked by our hope in what God can do. It is about making the active choice to hope, even when that looks like cries of “how long”? May this be our approach to the next 22 days. Amen.

~Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford
December 3, 2017

——————————————————————————————————-
[i] “First Sunday of Advent,” Walter Brueggemann, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa, James D. Newsome, Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV – Year B, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993).
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Vaclav Havel, as quoted by David LaMotte in Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness, (Montreat, NC: Dryad Publishing, 2014), 28.
[iv] William P. Brown, “Book of Psalms,” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. ed. K . D. Sakenfeld (Nashville, Abingdon, 2009), 4:673, as quoted by James K. Mead, “Commentary on Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19,” Working Preacher, December 3, 2017, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3484, accessed 11/30/2017.
[v] Talitha Arnold, “Pastoral Perspective: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19,” Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 1, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).
[vi][vi] Rolf Jacobson, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner,“Sermon Brainwave, #572 – First Sunday of Advent” Podcast by Working Preacher, Posted November 25, 2017, http://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=950, accessed 11/30/17.

Christmas Eve – December 24 – Isaiah 55 : 12

December 24, 2016 Leave a Comment

For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

In Upland, Indiana, there is a fascinating tradition at Taylor University that began in the 80s. Once each year, on the Friday before exams, they have a “Silent Night” men’s basketball game. Students dress in outrageous costumes and pack the stands. But there is complete silence until the 10th point is scored. At that point, they erupt in cheers at an unparalleled moment. At game’s end, they sing Silent Night together before continuing on to a campus-wide Christmas celebration.

You can check out the ESPN feature on the 2015 event here:

In many ways, this silent start is a lot like Advent, a time when we are watching and waiting, with bated breath. It is a time for us to focus on what unfolds before us, carefully observing each detail, eager to respond. As this time draws to a close, we find ourselves on Christmas Eve.

Many of us think of Christmas worship as a quiet time. We sing carols about a baby in the manger who doesn’t cry, and a “silent night” when “all is calm.” Truly these images bring us into a sense of holy awe and reverence for the importance of this night.

But Christmas worship is also about the joy that this good news brings, so perhaps we can take a few cues from Taylor University, and as we light candles that fill the room and declare that Christ is born, imagine that 10th point has been made, and erupt with singing “Joy to the World!”

After all, this is news that changes lives! It is the night we have been waiting for! Christ’s birth deserves our unreserved revelry. So smile, laugh, cheer, and even clap in celebration. And in doing so, we will be living into those words given to us by the prophet to go out in joy, a joy that will radiate from us into all the world, and just might make Christmas a bit brighter for those around us.

Written by Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford

Giving Gifts – December 23 – Matthew 2 : 11-12

December 23, 2016 Leave a Comment

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

What gifts are you giving this year? Some parents I know have come up with a plan. In lieu of piles of presents their children don’t really need, they are preparing to give 4 gifts:

Something they want,
Something they need,
Something to wear,
Something to read.

The idea behind this, of course, is to not let consumerism drive the season, and instead to focus on thoughtful and meaningful gifts. While this isn’t quite the pattern we follow in my house, I understand the appeal and the call for us to think carefully about our gift-giving, rather than getting sucked into the need for extravagance.

As Christians, many of us trace our gift-giving traditions to the story of those visitors from the east who presented gifts to the Christ child. I’ve been amused at some comics that have questioned these gifts, arguing that they were far from practical for a newborn. One of my favorites quips that after the magi leave, three “wiser women” show up with diapers, formula, and casseroles for the week. But before we dismiss the magi’s gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh as impractical, we should consider the meanings they bear. These gifts help foreshadow the importance of this little child in a manger, and the story that is to come.

First, gold. This one is the easiest to connect as a valuable gift of wealth, which is often associated with kings. Such a gift might represent Christ’s role as a leader of the people, a king for all the nations.

Second, frankincense, a perfume or incense usually connected with a Deity. This is what was offered at the altar in Jerusalem, that emitted a strong fragrant odor and was considered a symbol of the Divine name and an emblem of prayer. It is a reminder of Jesus’ incarnation, God in flesh.

Third, myrrh, an oil used primarily as a part of preparation for burial. This is the same oil that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea will bring to the tomb in John 19. This gift is ominous, foreshadowing the suffering Christ would undergo through death on the cross.

Together, these gifts carry powerful imagery and symbolism, spelled out neatly in the final verse of the carol “We Three Kings”:

Glorious now, behold him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia, sounds through the earth and skies.

In contrast to the angelic proclamation of a baby, these gifts are the magi’s proclamation of the fullness of God’s story. Like the prophets before them, they bring news that is at once sobering and hopeful – a promise to all the nations for a salvation that will be eternal.

It is in these verses, tucked neatly into the story of an extraordinary birth, that we are reminded of the entirety of the story. Another layer is added to our Christmas expectations, and we discover, in three simple gifts, just how amazing this gift is for the world.

As we prepare to unwrap those gifts under the tree, may we also prepare ourselves to unwrap God’s good news to us, both of the child in the manger, and the one who will become the Savior of all. Then, we will find the true joy of Christmas, which leads us to echo the Apostle Paul in saying “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Written by Rev. Elizabeth Lovell Milford

Matthew Wants Us to Know – December 22 – Matthew 2 : 9-12

December 22, 2016 Leave a Comment

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

No angels with wings unfurled here! No cute baby in a cute little manger! No poor shepherds kneeling in a stable!

Matthew wants us to know! We are dealing with royalty. We are dealing with a King.
But where is the palace? Where are the royal entrapments? Where are the royal attendants?
Magi rejoiced at a simple rented house. Just a poor, rented house where Mary and Joseph stayed while they paid homage in Bethlehem. Inside, only a poor mother with child in her arms. No fatherly King with broad smile passing out cigars. No elaborate furnishings. No guards asking for ID’s as the Magi entered. No royal caretakers of a new prince.

Matthew wants us to know! This King is unexpected. This king won’t be recognizable. This is not the universe as usual. This is the universe turned upside down. This is the unaccepted. And the world order is turned around.

This will be the King of the disenfranchised! This will be the King of the poor in spirit! This will be the King of the mourners, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted, the oppressed. This is the New Order. So, Rejoice!

Matthew wants us to know! Rejoicing in tribulation is now possible. Not because everything is all right. Not because everything will end happily ever after. Not because life is without suffering, free from poverty and starvation, full of getting what we want. Not because evil world orders have been conquered.

But because Magi rejoiced over finding, not a palace, but a simple house with mother and child. To this child, not to a palatial prince, they offered gifts.

My wife, Susan, often shames me without so much as a spoken word. She rejoices in helping. Or so it seems. Rides for friends to a multitude of doctor appointments and hair appointments. Rides for a bothersome, mentally challenged woman to weekly meetings they share and the multitude of phone calls she places each week that Susan patiently answers. The multitude of things she does each week for our church, our family, our neighbors with no complaint. One can hear the joy as she talks about each of these, and others, when finally arriving back home, often tired and hurting from afflictions. I have learned to bite my tongue and find joy in her joy. I should probably say that to her more.

Matthew wants us to know! The Magi, searching for a King, rejoiced over finding a simple house with mother and child. Finding real joy, too, is different now. It’s found in ways we help others, not in gains for ourselves! It’s found in not in thinking inwardly, but acting outwardly. It’s found in simple, little, mostly unnoticed acts of love.

It’s found in a simple, poor house where lives mother and child, not a palatial palace.

Written by Rev. Cuyler V. Smith
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
The mission and outreach programs of the church that meet the New Testament imperative to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners,” etc.

December 21 – Philippians 4 : 4-7

December 21, 2016 Leave a Comment

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If you don’t know Paul’s story, you might think the Advent text for today is hopelessly naïve. But the Apostle Paul was no Professor Pangloss, thinking that everything happens for the best in the best of all possible worlds. He writes these words while he languishes in prison awaiting trial. If he is talking about this same imprisonment in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, we know that he was “so utterly, unbearably crushed” that he “despaired of life itself.”

So what does Paul really mean when he tells us to rejoice? N.T. Wright suggests that “rejoice” might better be translated “celebrate,” in the sense of the celebrations commonly held in the Roman Empire to offer thanksgiving to the ancient pagan gods or the newest “gods,” the emperors themselves. The current emperor would be referred to as “son of God” and was praised for bringing peace to the world—through conquest, of course. We can begin to grasp the seditious nature of Paul’s words—and perhaps why he was in prison—if we understand that “rejoice in the Lord” may really mean to celebrate the fact that Christ is King, and Caesar is not.

So how do these thoughts relate to the Advent season? Matthew’s gospel makes clear that King Herod grasped the prophecy that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem and would be a threat to his reign, so much so that the Holy Family had to flee into Egypt to escape his wrath. But Herod, like Caesar, failed to grasp that the kingship of Jesus is much more countercultural than they could have imagined. It’s based on love and not coercion. So Paul tells us to celebrate quietly and graciously and lovingly as we play our part in serving God and humanity by making God’s good creation what it was intended to be. It is in this hope of the coming of God’s kingdom that the prisoner Paul tells us not to be anxious and to turn everything over to God in prayer so that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds.

I did an interview a couple of weeks ago with someone who until recently held a good deal of power within a particular corporate structure. When asked what he was proudest of, he listed some things he had done to make life better for the most vulnerable in his organization. Then he said he was proud that he had followed the advice of one of his mentors to do everything professionally as though it would appear the next day on the front page of the paper. He said he was still able to look himself in the mirror because he resolved years ago never to do anything he was asked to do that was unethical, even if it meant he was fired on the spot.

In Philippians 4:8, the next verse after our reading for today, Paul calls on his listeners to do whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, and whatever is commendable. That’s what my interviewee has obviously attempted to do, and that is something to which we can all aspire as we celebrate the Christ child and the hope he brought into the world.

Written by Tom Scott
What am I passionate about at Heritage? I love our education program and the opportunity to teach an adult Sunday school class for the last 23 years. I love the fact that Presbyterians are so open to new perspectives, to metaphorical and poetic language, and to studying biblical texts in historic context.

December 20 – Luke 1 : 46-55

December 20, 2016 Leave a Comment

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

The dictionary says JOY – is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness
Delight, joyfulness, jubilation, triumph, exultation, rejoicing, happiness, gladness, glee, exhilaration, exuberance.
Imagine the joy that Mary experienced as the angel Gabriel told her she was to give birth to the Son of God “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” and then the exhilaration and sheer delight she felt as she anticipated the birth of Jesus.

Live the joy of family, the delightful holiday decorations, the pleasure of holiday foods shared with loved ones, as imagining the triumphant elation that Mary felt upon the birth of Jesus.
Live the joy of the season that is expressed in the colors and sounds and scents and tastes of the season, as we anticipate and prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

Kay Warren, the author of “Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough” has an interesting definition of “Joy”:

Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of her life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.

She goes on to clarify that there is nothing about happiness in her definition because life comes in ups and downs or good times filled with happiness and bad times filled with pain and sorrow. These two tracks, both joy and sorrow, run parallel to each other throughout your life. If you look down those tracks to the horizon, the tracks become one and that’s how it will be for us as the joy and sorrow merge into one. “The day we meet Jesus Christ in person and see the brightness of who he is,” it will all come together for us and make sense.

As I read the words of Luke 1:46-55 and think about Kay Warren’s definition, and the analogy of the train tracks, it brings to mind that in Luke 1: 26-38, Mary has just been told that she will conceive and give birth to the Son of God and in spite of concerns that she’d be shunned and ridiculed and possibly even stoned, she responded in worship and praise. “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Mary endures the trials of pregnancy and the pain of delivery and experiences great joy upon the birth of Jesus. The tracks of joy and sorrow merge as one.

I believe that the tracks of joy and sorrow merge over and over throughout life until that day when we finally meet Jesus Christ in person and see the brightness of who he is and it all makes sense.

Written by Kaye Mero
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
I’m most passionate about being part of the endless possibilities that I believe lie ahead of Heritage Presbyterian Church. Based on the incredible selflessness and the willingness of the members of our congregation to join in to do the work of our church both physically and financially, I believe we can accomplish anything we desire.

December 19 – Luke 1 : 39-45

December 19, 2016 Leave a Comment

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

JOY. .a feeling of great pleasure and happiness, something or someone greatly valued or appreciated, according to sources. Our joy…our children, new home, new job, promotion at work, travel, etc., seems dismal when we consider the news Mary brought!! Mary, a teenager to become the mother of Jesus!! Elizabeth, her kinsman, an older woman expecting a child coming together to rejoice at the news!!!! What a reunion of relatives when Mary came to share this exciting news with Elizabeth!

How Mary must have felt when she was told she was to be the mother of Jesus, so young and not married. Me? Why me? We see that trust was the strong point here. Her belief is God carried her through any questions she MUST have had!

As we begin celebrating the birth of the Christ child, let us direct our thoughts toward others… service to those needing help for their families; food, clothing or a kindness shown in other ways. Our JOY in helping others can be a tool, not just for others but for ourselves.

Let us ‘Go out in Joy’ celebrating with others the news of Jesus’ birth and celebrate not just during this Advent season but every day of our lives so that others can see Jesus in us.

Written by Mary Ann Nicholas, who has served as Elder at HPC, Angel Bells, and Hope Circle
What am I passionate about at Heritage?
“My love of Heritage is for the many people who show love daily not just to members but to the community, going out of their way to make visitors feel welcome.”

Sunday’s Sermon – On the Lookout Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-4

Sunday’s Sermon – Comfort, Comfort – Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a

Sunday’s Sermon – How Long? Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Isaiah 64:1-9

Christmas Eve – December 24 – Isaiah 55 : 12

Giving Gifts – December 23 – Matthew 2 : 11-12

Matthew Wants Us to Know – December 22 – Matthew 2 : 9-12

December 21 – Philippians 4 : 4-7

December 20 – Luke 1 : 46-55

December 19 – Luke 1 : 39-45

Food Pantry

Church News

Upcoming Events

Worship