Advent - week 1: The Redemption of Scrooge

“Bah Humbug, who needs Hope?”

            Bah, Humbug, who needs hope?  In Charles Dicken’s a Christmas Carol, the main character Scrooge seems to have hope in nothing but money.  Bah humbug, who needs anything but money?  Dickens is writing this novel in a time of great disparity between the wealthy and the poor.  For the poor, there is very little hope in the world, there are debtor prisons and labor houses,  For so many, the only hope came from the generosity of others.  And so Dickens writes this classic tale of a man that is so heartless, so hardened, so selfish, so greedy to illustrate that perhaps, just perhaps, hope is at work in the world and can transformed even the coldest hearts.  Dickens had hope.  He had hope for a better future, he had hope that people would awaken to generosity, he had hope that the message and meaning of Christmas can and will transform this world. 

            Seven years after Scrooges’ partner Jacob Marley has died, Scrooge is hard at work on Christmas Eve and is visited by his nephew, Fred, inviting him to Christmas.  : “[Christmas is] a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when [people] seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”   Scrooge will have nothing to do with his only living relative and the famous line, bah humbug is his response.    His next set of visitors are men seeking a generous donation to feed the poor and hungry.  Scrooge refuses to donate anything and proclaims it would be better for those to be dead as to help the issue of over population.  What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer?”   Out of his abundance, he refuses to give to the poor, wishing them dead.  He is a true illustration of selfish greed. 

            Leaving work, and returning to his home alone, when others are gathered together with family and parties, he is encountered by his former partner Marley.  The ghost of Marley is covered in chains and warns Scrooge that this too will be his fate.  He has been chained for all eternity of the sins he committed in life.  He second warning is that Scrooge will be visited by three ghosts to expose to him the hardness of his life and how his choices have a great impact on those around him. 

At one o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the candle-like Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time to his early life. They visit Scrooge's boarding school where Scrooge remembers how his friends all returned home for Christmas but his family did not send for him.  One begins to understand why he has become so hardened towards the Christmas season.  The ghost then shows him another year where his sister Fanie, comes to bring him home.  This is the first glimpse to a moment of happiness, perhaps he was not always a mean, selfish, and cold person.  He is shown a few more happy memories, and one begins to wonder what happened to him that made him so miserable.  The ghost of Christmas past shows us a young man with the potential for a happy and successful future.  Until, until he and his fiancé Belle come to their separation.  She sees that he is more concerned and occupied with his career, with money than for her.  So she leaves him.  What was once a life filled with endless possibilities seems to have established itself as one focused not on family, not on relationships, but merely on money. 

Living with God or living without God.  Living with hope and living without hope.  Others all around him have less than he does, but they are happy, yes, they have worries and concerns and fears but they have not given up on the world. 

Each of us can visit our past, we can look backwards in our own lives and reflect on the events that have impacted us and molded us into the person we currently are.  Some of us can look back and see how we leaned heavily into God’s arms during hard and trying times, others can still feel the pain of a broken heart or the grief of loss over someone or something.  Some turn away from God because of the hardships of life, while others anchor themselves into the hope that God promises and grow stronger through tragedy.  How will we be inspired to share hope in the midst of the world’s heartbreak?

In this first Sunday of Advent, we hope.  We too hope for a better future.  We join the long chain of the human story, of people waiting and hoping.  The prophet Isaiah speaks of a future time, he speaks of a time of peace, shedding hope upon the people that there will be a better future, that indeed there will even be a future.  There will be a time when wars cease and swords will be turned into plowshares and the way to get there is to walk in the light of the Lord.  We still wait for that day, they day when wars will cease and God continues to call us to walk in the light as we journey together into that future day. 

As we wait for the day, God calls his people to stay awake, as we live into God’s hope for this world, we must stay awake.  Scrooge could not stay awake, both literally and figuratively.  He knew the spirit was coming but still he feel asleep, and had he stayed awake in his own life to the Hope of God in his own life, he never would have become such a cold hearted person.  But sleep he did, and sleep we often do too.

Come, all you who are haunted by past disappointments and scattered dreams.

Come, you who feel burdened by the patterns set up early in life.

Come, you who yearn to start anew.

We often set aside New Years as the time when we name our resolutions, the ways in which we seek to change our lives for the better, but Christmas is the time to let our faith be born within us once again, to remind us of God’s presence in our life, not just in the past, not just on the pages of scripture, but alive within each of us.  We light one candle because we understand the human journey, that this is not an instant gratification moment of life, this is a process, a journey of time.  One candle burning bright, chasing away the darkness.  One candle cannot chase away our past, but it can shed light on our hurts and allow us to either find the path of God’s love if we feel we are lost, or the light can help us remain on the path when we are tempted to stray in another direction. 

            God’s hope for us is that in this journey, we will receive the Christ child into our lives, into our hearts and that, just like Scrooge, we will find moments of transformation and redemption as we engage this world.  Where are our fears, our places where we too hold too tightly, where we depend upon ourselves instead of on God’s abundance? 

            In so many ways, life is so different than in the times of Dickens, but in so many ways it is still the same.  There are still hungry people, there are still families seeking places to live, there are still many who rely on the generosity of others for their very survival.  In and through the church, God has called people to be agents of love to make a significant difference in the world around us.  We are called to be those that listen and hear what others are hoping for.  What are the hopes and fears that surround us and how can we be that place of God’s hope as the Christ child is born once again in this world reminding us of God’s presence in each and every life? 

            Dickens had hope for a better future and he illustrates this through the redemption of Scrooge.  Let us too be agents of hope for a better future, and let it begin with us.  Amen.  

Sermon Luke 8 - the Parable of the Sower

Over the past few weeks, we have been touching on various stewardship topics.  Last week, for All Saints Day, I mentioned those that came before us, giving to this church, creating the place where we are able to gather and worship today.  Prior to that, we had the story of the Ten Lepers, where only one leper came back to give thanks to Jesus.  This is a story of gratitude and thanksgiving, of returning to God our thanksgiving for all that God has done for us, it is also a story of tithing, that one in ten is returned to God. 

            Today’s parable is one of abundance that, perhaps can also be seen as carelessness.  What farmer, what gardener, what sower will just throw seed everywhere?  Before the seed is thrown, the ground is carefully prepared, but not in this story.  In this story, seed is thrown everywhere, reminds me of dandelions, where the seeds float through the air until they come to a resting place, somewhere, everyone, and indeed, those seeds often take root even in the most unlikely of places. 

            Jesus teaches that the seed is actually the word of God.  Is it possible that the word of God is blowing in the wind all around us, floating in the breeze like a dandelion seed, ready to find a resting place?  The word of God is all around us, it is available for all to hear, for all to receive, but does not always find a fertile place to rest. 

            Today’s stewardship theme is discipleship, it is about cultivating our inner being, our spirit, our soul, so that when we hear the word of God in the world around us, it falls upon our hearts and grows.  And not only does it grow, it bears fruit. 

            Our Thursday morning Bible Study group is doing a video series on faith.  According to Rick Warren, there are six stages of faith:  dream, decision, delay, difficulty, dead ends, and deliverance.  In each of these stages, the seed of God’s word is seeking to be heard, seeking to land upon us, seeking to grow within us.  And in each of these stages, if we do not keep our trust in God, stay firm in our faith, seek support from our greater community of faith, these seeds can wither and die. 

            How often do we have a dream, a dream for the church, a hope, a feeling that this might be a ministry to try, and it only stays a dream?  We heard the word of God, we got excited about it, but it landed on the path or in the rocks and couldn’t take root and fully develop. 

            In order to get from dream to decision, requires discipleship.  It requires prayer, and courage, and the willingness to invest resources into the dream.  Disciples listen to the word of God, and seek to live it out in their daily lives.  Turning a dream into reality involves studying the scriptures, listening to how God is guiding us, calling us, speaking to us, and having the faith and courage to put that dream into action.  I can use the birth of Faith Kitchen as an example. 

Pastor Cheri did not have a dream of a soup kitchen in her church until, until one day a person came to the church hungry and asked for some food.  He was given a can of beans and sat outside the church and ate the beans right out of the can.  Pastor Cheri heard the word of God that her congregation could do better than this in providing food for the hungry right outside their door.  And the dream turned into a decision, and Faith Kitchen was born.  And for over 25 years it has been bearing fruit for God in the Dover community. 

But this dream came at a great cost, and risks, and conflict, and the list goes on.  The church gave up their fellowship space Mon – Saturday, they turned their kitchen over to the heavy use of daily cooking, they allowed people into their building that sometimes start fights or are struggling with some pretty severe mental illnesses.  But they heard the call to discipleship, to living out God’s word of feeding the hungry, to care for God’s sheep, to be a light that shines in the darkness. 

The seeds of God’s word comes in all different shapes and sizes.  But for it to land in fertile soil, ready to bear fruit for God, requires discipleship.  And discipleship comes in all different shapes and sizes.  Starting a soup kitchen is completely different than collecting food for a Thanksgiving food drive, but they both bear fruit for God.  Discipleship and Stewardship go hand in hand.  In order to be a disciple, you understand what it means to use your time, talent, and treasure in serving God, in making our hearts a welcoming place for God’s word, for preparing ourselves to bear fruit for God. 

I chose today’s passage partly because of the baptism we celebrated this morning.  As people of faith, as disciples, we bring our children before the church, dedicating them to God.  Baptism marks a child as part of God’s family, a child of the covenant, and we take vows to raise the child, nurture the child in the faith.  These are all marks of discipleship.  The church is called to surround this child, and every child that comes before us unconditional love and to provide a place of nurture where the child can grow into a compassionate adult.  Hearing the word of God can happen any time in a person’s life, young children have heard the word of God, have had a seed of God’s word fall upon their heart, and dreams have been born, and decisions made, and fruit has been born.  Discipleship does not have an age restriction. 

Friends, the word of God are all around us, something is speaking to your heart, there is a topic or issue that is dear to you.  Hear that dream, pray about it, and seek ways within your own life to cultivate fertile soil within our own inner being to nurture that seed into the fruit of God’s love that is desiring to be born.  Live into your discipleship, live into your baptism, live into being God’s presence of love in this world.  Amen.  

Children's Sunday - dialogue

H:  Who are we?

J:  We are all children of God. 

H:  Are we?  We are all so different, how can we all be children of God?   We don’t even like each other.  We judge each other on our skin color, the language we speak, and the religions we practice. 

J:   Well, God loves us, each and everyone of us.  God does tell us, we should love our neighbors, and not just our neighbors, but our enemies too.

H:  Seriously, we should love our enemies.  No way.  Why would I want to try and be nice to the bully in my gym class? 

J:  Because that bully is a child of God. 

H:   But he doesn’t go to church. And have you seen the crowd of people he hangs out with? 

J:  God still loves him, and that crowd that he hangs out with.  Think about it, if we can’t get along with the people in our schools, why should we expect people in the greater world to get along? 

H:   I know, it seems like there is so much bad stuff on the news.  There are people that are living in the middle of war, there are people that are afraid because of hate crimes, there are people left out because of where their families are from.    

J:   I thought all of this stuff with discrimination was a thing of the past.  But it seems people still find ways to separate themselves from others.   We seem to find ways to make others the enemy.

H:  Wouldn’t it be great if we could find a way to remove the labels from people, the things that make us different, and focus on the things that make us the same? 

J:  It does seem that throughout the world, most people do want what is best for their children, for their families, and for their communities.  Parents work hard to make sure their children are fed, have and education, and medical care. 

H:  So why is there war?  Why is there discrimination?  Why do we not treat people kindly? 

J:  Maybe it is something that we have learned.  Maybe each generation has to ask the question:  Who are we? 

H:  Who are we?

J:  We are God’s people, we are called to be a people of peace, a people of love, a people that show others that kindness does matter. 

H:  Who are we? 

J:  We are a people, like Esther, that need to be a voice for the voiceless.  We need to have courage and faith that God wants a better world, that God wants us to love our neighbors and yes, even love our enemies. 

H:  Who are we? 

J:  We are dancers and football players, we are artists and musicians, we are students and children, we are friends and children of God. 

H:  We are sad and lonely, we are happy and energetic, we are hurt and healing, we are stressed and strong, we are courageous and faithful, we are children of God. 

J:  We are all so different, and we give thanks for the moments where our diversity is celebrated. 

H:  We are like Esther, where we will not let the bad news be final.  We believe that good can come out of the bad. 

J: We see the bad and we believe in the good.

H:  we are a people that believe we are all children of God.

J:  We are are people that dreams of day when we can all love our neighbor and we no longer will say, you are my enemy.

H:  Who are we?

J:  we are learning to be a voice for the voiceless, we are learning to be courageous, we are learning to be faithful to our God.

H:  We are a people seeking to live into God’s new creation in Jesus Christ, where there are no Jews or Greeks, where there are no slaves or free, where there are no male or female, for we are one, we are human, we are God’s children.  

Sermon - Hebrews 12 "What is the Cloud?"

            For those of you that have an iphone, you may or may not know anything about the Cloud.  I honestly don’t know anything about it other than it exists.  I didn’t sign up for it, I don’t know how to put things there, but one day, on my iphone, a notice popped up that my cloud was full.  Really?  How did that happen.  I do know that pictures and my calendar seem to appear on both my ipad and my iphone without me doing anything to make it happen, so it seems the Cloud is definitely at work linking my items together.  And if my cloud is full, maybe there are things there that I don’t need.  So, what exactly is this cloud?  How does it work? 

            I decided to do a little investigating.  I mean, if the cloud is there, and I am using it, perhaps I should know a little more about it.  The icloud safely stores photos, videos, files, contacts, documents, calendars, and music, to name just a few items.  Just this last week, I had to replace my phone, and thankfully because of the Cloud’s existence, I was able to restore to the new phone all of my contacts, apps, and other items I needed.  For some reason my pictures did not restore, but perhaps that is because of the notice previously received that my Cloud was full.  I guess those pictures are just lost.

            One sight states the following:  Think of iCloud Drive as any other remote volume, external hard disk, network drive, or storage service. You can create new folders, drag and drop stuff into your iCloud Drive from your Mac or elsewhere, and you have the option to save files and data from apps into your iCloud Drive. This isn't rocket science, folks. It's a hard drive in the sky that you can access from all your devices.

            What exactly is the Cloud?  It is something out there, something that I cannot see or touch but I know it exists.  It seems to be all around me, since I can access it at just about any time.  It holds valuable information, or at least valuable information for me.  My cloud and your cloud are part of the same system, but are still somehow separate from each other. 

            What exactly is the Cloud?  On this All Saints Day Sunday, we hear a passage about being surrounded by a great Cloud of witnesses.  All of the people, lives, souls that have come before us are not gone, they are a part of a Cloud of witnesses.  Just like the icloud, they are all around us, invisible, untouchable, and yet accessible.  Present with us in particular moments of our lives when we remember them, celebrate them, miss them, grieve for them, continue learning from them.  When we pick up an item given to us by them, perhaps an image or voice, or smell returns to us.  Just a few weeks ago, I grabbed a towel out of the cabinet and when I smelled it I was instantaneously transported back to my grandmother’s house in Iowa.  Just like that, from the smell of a towel, there I was standing in her bathroom, remembering her.  The Great Cloud of Witnesses, we remember them on this All Saint’s day, we remember that just like our modern technology, their presence is here. 

            Sometimes it takes spending a little bit of time to learn about something.   Today, we spend a little bit of time learning more about the Great Cloud of Witnesses all around us.  In a sense, we can down load and store items there, through our prayers, through our memories of our loved ones, through the love that has been shared over a lifetime. 

            Just sitting here in this sanctuary, we are surrounded by the Great Cloud of Witnesses that came before us.  Through their stewardship, their love for God, their love for the community of faith, their calling to be in ministry here in this region of NJ, this church was built, cared for, and sustained throughout the generations providing us a place to gather.  If only these walls could talk, can you even begin to imagine the number of prayers said, baptisms and weddings celebrated, tears shed as funerals were given.

            The passage in Hebrews does the same thing, it names all of those faithful people that came before, and how through faith, they trusted in God and built an amazing foundation upon which both Judaism and Christianity are built.   

            Returning to the source I mentioned earlier:  Think of iCloud Drive as any other remote volume, external hard disk, network drive, or storage service. Think of the Great Cloud of Witnesses as a remote, external, network or storage service of God’s faithful people that came before us, paved the way, built a foundation of ministry for us to continue upon. 

You can create new folders, drag and drop stuff into your iCloud Drive from your Mac or elsewhere, and you have the option to save files and data from apps into your iCloud Drive.   We can create new ministries, continue faith traditions of the past, remember our story as a continuation of past, present, and future, as we pull from sources all around us.

This isn't rocket science, folks. It's a hard drive in the sky that you can access from all your devices.  This isn’t rocket science folks, it’s God’s love in the sky that we can access from all of our devices. 

            I kind of like it, this notion of the Cloud.  If apple can create it, why surely can’t God?  Why can’t we be surrounded by our loved ones, the faithful, the courageous?  If apple can create it, why can’t we believe that God already has?  When we stop and think about how our own lives have been so truly blessed by those that have come before us in the faith, and how we too, are blessing the lives coming along beside us and behind us, blessings, blessings all around us, through us, to us and from us. 

            One pastor shares this:  One can't help but be inspired by this text.  It is a clarion call for the church to continue to fight the good fight of the gospel.  The winning witness of our heroes stirs us to persevere.  Their stories remind us that we are not the first ones to run the race of faith.  Faithful saints before us have run the same race, fought fatigue, battled discouragement and won!  This text reaches out like a postcard from heaven and dares us to run the race to win.

They say, nothing can really ever be deleted from the internet.  Once it’s out there, it is out there.  Well, the same can be said about people’s lives that have lived the race of faith.  We can go outside and walk through the cemetery, and some of those gravestones can no longer be read.  But the lives lived are still a postcard from heaven, still a message of God’s love, still people that lived and shared their faith and their love that traveled from one generation to the next.  The great web of being that connects to another and to another, the ripple effect that generates outwards and never stops.  Can you even begin to imagine how your life just might influence someone else 200 years from now?  It will, it will be taken by this generation and passed along to the next, the name may be forgotten, washed away by time, but the examples of faith, the commitment to the church, living out faithful stewardship to God, will all become a part of the Great Cloud and will be present to the future as God’s presence of love, hope, determination, and perseverance.