Ramblings

The Church of Elvis – 1/15/2012

John 1: 43-51

Just a question, are any of you --- besides being members or visitors of this church --- are any of you also members of the Church of Elvis? For those of you too young to know from the 1950's until his death from a drug overdose in 1977, Elvis was a pop culture icon. According to Wikipedia, Elvis Presley "was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century." Elvis as he is often referred to is listed as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King" based on the fact that he is the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular music.

Back to the question with which I started, the Church of Elvis is actually the name of a documentary produced in 2010 that explores how "faith influenced the man and his music and how in turn" Elvis "inspired near religious adulation."

Just think about it with me, as the documentary points out, the Church of Elvis has its sacred texts --- Elvis's records and films. The Church of Elvis has disciples --- fans; and relics --- the scarves, clips of hair. The Church of Elvis has pilgrimages ---Tupelo, Mississippi and Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. The Church of Elvis has a shrine --- Elvis' gravesite. And all the appearances of a resurrection --- reported Elvis sightings.

The Church of Elvis also has one other important element --- impersonators even though these impersonators, people who dress and sing in his style, do not like to be called impersonators because who could really impersonate the King! Rather these missionaries of the Church of Elvis prefer to be called tribute artists.

I bring up this illustration about the Church of Elvis because I think there is a lot of confusion about what it means to be called by Jesus and to be "like" Jesus. We may sing "Lord, I Want to Be like Jesus in-a My Heart" without considering what, exactly, does it mean to be like Jesus? We sing: "To be like Jesus/ to be like Jesus/ all I ask, to be like him/ All through life's journey from earth to glory/ all I ask, to be like him." Some of us have even been impressed by the 15th-century work The Imitation of Christ by Thomas á Kempis.

Nevertheless I wonder are we called to be fans, impersonators, tribute artists or something completely different as disciples of Jesus Christ; to answer that question look at our gospel --- the calling of two people who became disciples of Jesus. One was Philip and the other was Nathanael, and it is their story that may help us arrive at a different understanding than the Church of Elvis.

First, have you ever noticed that none of the disciples are ever like Jesus? For example, in terms of personality and considering their drive to excel, neither Philip nor Nathanael in today's gospel was much like Jesus to begin with. Nor do we have a biblical record of them becoming little Mini-Me's of Jesus.

Philip, according to the biblical record, seems to have had something of the missionary instinct, going to tell his friend Nathanael about meeting Jesus. But although he had a desire to tell Nathanael about Jesus, Philip was not quick to understand that Jesus was not limited by the things that limit others. For example, that's why we hear later that it was Philip who told Jesus that they did not have sufficient resources to feed the 5,000. Philip also seemed not ready to act decisively, for when some Greeks approached Philip about meeting Jesus, Philip took the request to Andrew rather than acting on his own.

And then we have Nathanael. Nathanael is the other man in today's event; Nathanael appears as an honorable skeptic --- a religious skeptic. Hearing that Jesus was from Nazareth, Nathanael wonders aloud if anything good can come from that place. Although he is called Nathanael in the gospel of John, he's usually presumed to be the disciple called Bartholomew in the other three gospels. And there's no detail at all about him under that name in those gospels. He certainly is not outspoken like Peter or even verbal about his doubts like Thomas.

From John's gospel we see that Nathanael does seem to have one virtuous characteristic; for Jesus calls him "an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." That's unquestionably a compliment, but the lack of deceit --- or what other translations call "guile" --- is hardly the same thing as active discipleship. And we also see that even as he starts to believe Jesus is the Son of God, it is not because he has some faith, but because Jesus told him something about himself that a regular human being could not possibly have known.

Regardless of what we see, the point is neither Philip nor Nathanael is a copy of Jesus, but then, did you also notice Jesus does not ask them to be! Instead of asking for fans, impersonators or tribute artists, Jesus simply says "Follow me," and apparently they do --- for the rest of their lives. According to some traditions, both men carried the gospel to other parts of the world and died martyrs' deaths. We have no way of knowing if any of those stories are true, but they suggest that at minimum, Philip and Nathanael remained faithful to Jesus, but not copies.

Let me return to my point; even though Philip and Nathanael become lifelong followers of Jesus they did not become impersonators or tribute artists. Instead they opened the personalities they already had to be directed by God. No doubt Philip continued to have the same abilities and the same inabilities he had before Jesus called him, and likewise with Nathanael. It was only in their willingness to be used by God that they could be described as Christ like.

That is exactly what we should be thinking about when we are talking about being like Jesus. We are not called to be his twin but his disciple. We are not called to impersonate or be a tribute artist or to acquire a new personality or a new skill set. Certainly we may need to clean up --- repent--- which may entail being careful with our addictive, judgmental or graceless personalities. Nevertheless as we see in today's gospel Jesus asks that we put ourselves at God's disposal.

Think about it. The fact is if we were to really try to be like Jesus in the sense of copying his mannerisms and his way of dealing with daily tasks, we would end up frustrated because we simply do not have that kind of information. And although we have four gospels, none of them is a biography. Instead the gospels are testimonies about Jesus that include some biographical incidents, but even those are told through the lens of the faith of the gospel writer or the conviction of the Christian community to which the gospel writer belonged.

That's especially true in John's gospel, and the writer of John freely admits it. Near the end of his gospel, John writes, "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30-31). The writer of John's gospel in not interested in writing a biography but instead wants what he has written so people come to come to understand what Jesus is saying when he says, "follow me."

I think it is vital for us disciples of Jesus to remember that Jesus never said "Be like me" but "Follow me" because if you look around at the critics of Christianity you would think that most of us are deluded, poor thinkers or mindless sheep. Or we are "evangelical" based on whoever is running for President. To be honest I suppose there are a few who fit that description but those labels in no way cover the broad population of the church. The church is comprised of dull people, smart people, brilliant people, and slow people and people from a range of political views. There are single-talented people and multitalented people. There are cowards for Jesus and heroes for Jesus. In worship, we will find friendly people, cranky people, and irritable people, and unruffled people, shy and welcoming people. The church has its share of both doers and thinkers. There are no types left out.

That is to say that when Jesus calls us to follow him, he does not ask us to cease being the unique persons that we are and become his twin, mirror or otherwise. But rather Jesus calls us to open ourselves to be God's persons. We are striving to be like Jesus in loving God and loving our neighbor, but we have to do that through our own talents, abilities, hang-ups, shortcomings and insights. We are to be disciples, not twins. We are to follow not be tribute artists with white robes and fake beards. Our prayer is to be something like, "O Lord, take who I am, all that I have got and use it for the kingdom. Where I fall short, mold me as you want me to be ..."

Do you remember years ago when there was a fad to wear bracelets that had written on them WWJD --- what would Jesus do? It is a useful way to approach puzzling circumstances. A more realistic version would be, WSIDAAFOJ? What Should I Do As A Follower Of Jesus? But, then, that would be hard to get on a wrist band.

We need to know as much as we can about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, so by all means read the Bible. Let us learn new disciplines like worship, solitude, service, chastity, prayer, sacrifice, etc. And for some of us it is helpful to take a pilgrimage like I have taken to Israel, and followed in the footsteps of Paul through Greece. But more importantly, we need to open ourselves to God, all that we are, so we can allow God's spirit to flow through who we are. We can never be just "like" Jesus, and Jesus does not want impersonators or tribute artists, but we can live in his name so that people catch a glimpse of him through us. Amen.

Spray On Mud – 1/8/2012

Mark 1: 4-11

It's gone. I cannot find it anymore. It's been wiped off the face of the map. It is no longer available for sale. Back in 2005 – 2008 it primary target was weekend warriors. But after the economic problems that began in December 2007, perhaps this product no longer had a market. What was it? Well let me give you a hint.

The product was based on the fact that only about 5 percent of people who own SUVs or 4 wheel drive ever take their vehicle off-road, which means that you're more likely to see a Range Rover at Starbucks, for example, than anywhere near a mountain lake. Although car companies like Chrysler show Jeep owners taking long trips over rocks and through streams most SUV owners, most people who have 4-wheel drive, very rarely ever use it. Instead, the look and the possibility of one day actually locking in the four-wheel drive were worth the extra bucks in the purchase price back in the days.

What was that product that was sold to all those people who had SUV's who rarely ever used the capabilities. The product was "Sprayonmud." For a mere $14.50 per quart-sized bottle you could buy actual mud to spray on your vehicle in order to make it look as though you had just bumped back from a wild ride in the wilderness when, in fact, you had been merely hiking through the aisles at Costco or Wal-Mart. The product is no longer available perhaps because with the economic downturn people realized that $14.50 a week to show that you had played with your truck over the weekend was no longer worth it.

Or perhaps it could be because real off-roaders know that the best mud is free and generally available. People who drive over dirt or gravel roads or take their vehicle into the fields of south Texas know that vehicles wear mud not because it can be bought but as a sign of what it really is: a truck or SUV at work. Fake-mudders mark themselves as, well, fakers. To be real you have to work and live where the dirt is.

Why do I bring this up? Look at our gospel, when Jesus burst on the scene in first- century Israel, one of his first actions was to mark his life and ministry with some real mud. He traveled way off-road, all the way out into the Judean wilderness, to see his cousin John. In the manner of other ancient Israelite prophets, John lived a solitary life amid rocks, sand and snakes but preached a message so compelling that people were willing to get their feet dirty to go find him.

I had the honor and privilege to travel in Israel twice in my life and both times in my visit to the river Jordan, one of the startling facts that I noticed is that Jordan by the time it gets to the general area where Jesus was baptized is muddy. It was then and it is now. So in other words, standing there in the notoriously muddy water of the Jordan River, John offered a "baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (1:4). First-century Jews were used to ceremonial washings, but the only one that involved immersion was for those converting to Judaism. John however, called everyone, even ethnic Jews, to be baptized or "marked" as being in need of forgiveness and salvation — human sin being washed away and replaced with a real mark of repentance and confession. John's baptism was, in a real sense, a great equalizer, declaring that rich and poor, Jew and non-Jew, righteous or roustabout drivers of Jeeps all must turn toward God.

But there is a paradox. We do not like to wash dishes in dirty water. Yet John calls his disciples to be "washed," marked, or cleansed in the dirty waters of the Jordan; in a sense intentionally, baptized in dirty water.

In other words, Jesus begins his ministry standing in dirty water, the muddy Jordan. He might as well have said, "Don't expect room service, and a mint on the pillow, filtered water and afternoon lattes." And if we walk with Jesus, we start in the muddy Jordan and we end up dying on a cross that Jesus himself will invite us to embrace.

When Jesus came to the edge of the water, John recognized that he was "the one" who "is more powerful than I ... I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals" (1:7). John is indicating that if anyone needed to skip this particular mud bath it was Jesus. In Matthew's version, John is incredulous that the Messiah would need any kind of baptism — "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" (Matthew 3:14). Yet Jesus willingly steps down into the brown water to take on the same muddy mark as his people.

When we are baptized we take on that same mark in the same muck. Jesus' baptism is the prototype for those of us who would follow him. Perhaps it would be good at the beginning of year, on the day we remember the baptism of Jesus, to review what does our baptism say about us?

First, we understand baptism as a mark of God's favor. Look at verses 9-11. Jesus comes to the Jordan River to be baptized by John and for him it is a form of anointing --- not just with water but with the Spirit. Here we see the Trinity in action: the Son receiving the blessing, the Father expressing his love for the Son, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. Baptism marks Jesus as "the Beloved" in whom God's own nature is revealed and with whom God is "well pleased." It's a powerful expression of the intimacy of God's own relational nature.

For us, baptism is a sign of God's favor as well, but it is favor that is unmerited. We recognize that we cannot fake out God and be something that we're not, so we "come clean" and simply receive the love of God who created us out of earth and sees us as being "very good." No matter how much mud and muck we are living in and through, we can't fake God out rather baptism is a sign that God loves us.

Second, baptism is a sign that we pledge allegiance to a different kingdom — the kingdom of God. And that allegiance is worked out in our service to others. Baptism marks us, sets us apart as different from the world's idea of power.

When the great reformer Martin Luther was tempted, he would often put his hand on his head to remind himself that he was baptized — that he was different, that he could try to resist temptation for example, because of his connection with Christ. Our baptism into Christ calls us to be a different, peculiar and passionate people who are sent out to follow and model Jesus in changing the world.

We are called to "go" into the world and get dirtier serving others not with spray on mud. Nor are we called to find some clean place, cool clear meadow by a shimmering stream in the Rocky Mountains. Although we may be refreshed by those moments and places that are not where we work; no, we are all about the dusty Rio Grande. Our baptism is a commission and a call to go into or return to the wilds of a hurting world.

Finally, have you ever heard the expressions "Cheers" or "bottoms up?" It is done before we drink a glass of alcohol. There is another expression that you may have also heard "Here's mud in your eye." Although there are various ideas of where that expression may have come from, one strong contender is that it is based on the 9^th chapter of the gospel of John. If you remember, Jesus spits on the ground, takes the mud and puts it on a blind man's eyes. The idea is that "Here's mud in your eye" is to wish someone healing and good health.

Knowing what we know about Jesus and the muddy Jordan, healing with mud, and dying on the cross, living as baptized followers of Christ is something we cannot fake. No amount of spray on mud or religiosity can hide who we really are called to be. As Jesus waded into the muddy water, he set the example for us, "here's mud in your eye" in 2012, because if the Son of God is willing to get dirty changing the world, we who follow are blessed because we wallow in the mud.

In the Common – 1/1/2012

Luke 2: 22-40

On a Friday morning in January, nearly four years ago, a young man carrying a violin case entered into one of the subway train stations in Washington, D.C. He found a spot for himself and his violin near the top of the subway station's escalators, where his "neighbors" were things like a trash can and a machine selling lottery tickets. This man opened his instrument case and took out his violin, threw in a couple of dollars and some change in his case as seed money, and for the next 43 minutes began to play as commuters passed by.(For more on the story...)

    But this was no ordinary street musician, and this was no ordinary performance. This was really an experiment set up by a columnist for the Washington Post newspaper. And the musician was not a local performer looking for pocket money; this man was internationally acclaimed violinist and prodigy Joshua Bell.

For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Bell, he is a recognized musician who three days before this little experiment for example, had played at Boston's Symphony Hall, where the "pretty good" seats sell for $100 each. Bell has played before royalty---literally. For a typical performance, his pay averages about $1,000 a minute. And the violin he carried with him? It was handcrafted in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari reported to be worth up towards $3.5 million.

    So why was Joshua Bell performing at a subway station on a cold Friday winter morning. Well as I said earlier, the Washington Post had set up this experiment to answer a simple question; can great artistry and beauty be identified and appreciated in an everyday context. Would people recognize greatness when it was found among the common?

Why do I bring up this experiment? I wonder if that is not the question that lies at the heart of this season --- Christmas--- and today's lesson. Simeon and Anna recognize Jesus --- the greatness that has come among the common. Simeon and Anna recognize who this little, baby boy happens to be whereas others milling about doing their business at the temple are completely oblivious.

I will come back to the Joshua Bell story later, but now let us review the Gospel. Luke presents Mary and Joseph fulfilling two Jewish regulations after the birth of Jesus --- the purification of the mother and the dedication of the firstborn male child. Mary and Joseph are faithful to keep the religious rituals of Jewish Law, which requires that every male child be circumcised eight days after birth and that a woman be ritually cleansed after giving birth.

While there at the Temple Luke also shares that two people are witnesses to the presence of God in this child. Luke tells us how Jesus is recognized and affirmed as God's agent of redemption by eminently reliable persons. First, Simeon testifies to the faithfulness of God and the sight of the child which stirs from within Simeon a song born in knowing that God will indeed bring glory to the people Israel, and provides "a light of revelation to the Gentiles."

In the same way, although Luke does not quote the words of Anna, she conveys who Jesus is. Anna, not Simeon, is the prophet. Yet, both have faithfully awaited the intrusion of a faithful God. Both now witness to the arrival of God's presence in this child.

Yet there is something that Luke does not present that I believe Luke presumes everyone will understand. The Temple was a busy place. Not only was there worship and prayers on the Sabbath, and during the week, but the temple was a constant drone of activity. Besides being in the center of the city of Jerusalem, and home to priests and their families, the Temple complex was like a huge mall during Christmas with shops and stores and the sound of animals being sold for sacrifice.

So what happened? What happened when this poor family with a baby boy came to this busy hum of activity in the center of Jerusalem? Would anybody recognize peace, hope and salvation in a small child?

Let me just for a moment return to the impromptu concert of world famous Joshua Bell. Over the course of 43 minutes, 1,070 people passed by. Before the event, the Washington Post staff was concerned that a massive crowd might gather. The word gets around, people text their friends, and 15 minutes later you have mass chaos at a Metro station during rush hour. Surely that was a distinct possibility!

And then of course it was the fact that a genius was playing. Bell began with a piece from J.S. Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor. Even if that means nothing to most of us, perhaps we should hear from the nineteenth century composer Johannes Brahms who said of this piece of music, "If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind." And that is how Bell began his public performance on that D.C. winter morning.

So what happened? The short answer is: almost nothing. Hidden cameras recorded the entire incident. Three minutes passed before anything happened. After 63 people passed by, the sixty-fourth person turned their head for a split second to notice Bell's performance but kept walking.

It was a full six minutes into this experiment before someone actually stopped and listened to this great musician. In short, during the forty-three minutes of this concert of the 1,070 people only seven stopped to take in the music for at least one minute and of the seven who stopped only two stood for longer than three minutes. One was a woman who happened to attend the concert in Washington DC three weeks before at the Library of Congress who recognized Mr. Bell. She was stunned to see him and stayed transfixed for seven minutes before shyly depositing a twenty in the violin case. And the other was little young boy who stopped to listen attentively and perhaps would have stayed longer if his mother would not have pulled him away. Slightly more --- twenty seven people --- tossed some money into Bell's violin case, totaling a whopping $52.17 ---including the twenty from the woman who recognized Mr. Bell. This is for a man who normally makes $1,000 a minute. Not once did anything even resembling a crowd come together.

After the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post article about the Joshua Bell experiment was published, people wrote to the newspaper writing how saddened they were that American culture and people have gotten to the point that artistic greatness was rejected that morning. Me? I am not sad. Perhaps because you and I are people of faith who recognize that greatness can come among the common. Too be honest, if I had been at that subway station I too probably would not have recognized Joshua Bell --- I hope I would have been able to stop and listen --- but I hope and pray that I would be like Anna and Simeon and that I would recognize Jesus Christ during a busy day.

During Christmas we learn that Jesus Christ brought so much more into this world at his birth. Divine greatness came into this world. Thankfully Simeon and Anna recognized what was happening that busy day in Jerusalem centuries before.

This is a New Year, a beginning in so many ways, perhaps you and I need to take a moment and wonder how we will respond to the miracle of the birth of God's Son in our daily life. Are our lives so busy and our schedules so booked that we have little time left over to take in the beautiful gift of God's grace that he has placed before us in Bethlehem's manger and Calvary's cross and Easter's empty tomb.

Did you notice that Anna and Simeon are characterized by faith? Faith and hope exist together. The Reformer John Calvin said, "Hope is the inseparable companion of faith." Faith believes in God, but hope waits for the moment when this truth is confirmed. Without hope, faith weakens and dies.

At this point you and I could consider the question if you and I recognize Christ around us this Christmas season. Are we hopeful we will see Christ in the common? But I want to consider a different direction. Just think. Not only was that Temple busy that day, but Anna and Simeon could have left Jerusalem long before and emigrated to one of the prosperous urban centers of the Roman Empire where others had settled. Or Anna and Simeon could have joined one of the religious communities seeking answers in the wilderness environments like the community at the Dead Sea. Or Anna and Simeon could have sought enlightenment through philosophic teaching or one of the "newer" religions spreading through the Mediterranean world. Yet they stayed in Jerusalem. They continued worshipping without wavering at the Temple. They remained where they had been called. They were steadfast in their hope.

The same is for you and me. Because of the Holy Spirit you and I have been drawn to this place at this time. It would be easy for us to go to one of those churches with all the programming and music and preaching. It would be easy for us to abandon the Christian faith and go to one of the many "newer" religions. Yet we are here faithful and hopeful that Christ is alive and at work in all that is around us.

The crowds may walk past without even a passing glance, the crowds might put in a token penny or quarter in the form of kind words or Christmas rituals, but the Holy Spirit has led us to realize that something greater than great happened during Christmas in a land half around the world and Holy Spirit find hope here. God became one of us so that by God's redeeming work we would be made at one again with God. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." Savor it. Relish it. Live in it. On this New Year Day and forever. Amen.

Christmas Day – 12/25/2011

One December, over twenty years ago, when I lived in Nagasaki, Japan, one of the students at the Women's Junior College where I taught part-time, came up to me with a new English/Japanese New Testament. This student waited until everyone had left and then timidly asked where she could find the Christmas story in this book. The class knew I was a Christian and we had spent several lessons talking about the Christmas holiday.

    I helped her find the story from the Gospel of Luke in the first and second chapter. The following week, she came up again after class and asked, with an air of disappointment in her voice, "I read the chapters but, where can I find out about Christmas trees?"

    Ah, Christmas! We may grin to ourselves at the unawareness of the young woman or we may sadly shake our heads at the mixing of faith and culture that has now become Christmas around the world. Yet if those are our only two reactions, then perhaps we are not really as honest as we should be on this Christmas Day. Are we that far removed from that young woman? Do we ourselves really know how Christmas really works?

    Perhaps we need to state the obvious, that the cultural and religious tradition like Christmas that we experience in the United States, takes years, even centuries, of formation until it becomes the event it is today, enshrined in the global consciousness in one way or another. I am here to tell you that Christmas works for us --- certainly by peeling those same layers of Christmas tradition --- but more importantly we need to let Christmas take us into unfamiliar territory!

    How can we peel some of those layers around Christmas away? One way we can do this is to uncover the greed and passion, danger and death and remember that Christmas nearly did not happen.

    Scratch the surface of the Bible and dig beneath the peaceful Christmas card image of Mary and Joseph and the baby, and you are going to find surprises. Take a close look at the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and you'll be stunned by the danger and death that permeate the original day. Christmas moment by moment hung by a thread.

    For example, take a young, poor, pregnant woman — nearly ready to deliver — and pack her off on a 90 mile walk and 1300 foot climb. There is no mention of any transport for Mary in the Bible, we just make an assumption she rode on a donkey. She could have just as likely to have walked those 90 miles.

    And of course, the child is born in an animal shelter. Think about it. Answer is, back then, as in many non wealthy areas of the world today, a lot of children do not survive those conditions. It was not a sterile environment for the child or mother. It was not your state-of-the-art hospital birthing center. Child mortality was quite high. Yet, Jesus survived as did Mary.

    But as I said more importantly than peeling the layers away from around Christmas, we also need to let Christmas take us into unfamiliar territory. However, although we may know that the Christmas tree is a European, pagan import, and there are no Christmas trees at the stable in Bethlehem it is not easy to let Christmas take us into unfamiliar territory. Christmas not only comes with a story that nearly did not happen but it also comes with a great deal more; hope, faith, light all which calls on us to give muscle to our aspirations and dreams. That's not easy.

    Where or what is this unfamiliar territory? Where is this unknown? Well, to find may mean to simply hold out our hand and let Christmas grab hold.

Tony Campolo, author, pastor and sociologist, tells a Christmas story about a deacon in a church who was not doing well. One day the pastor said to the deacon, "I have a small group of people who want to go to the senior home and put on a worship service once a month. Would you drive them?" The deacon agreed.

    The first Sunday the deacon was at the senior home, he was in the back with his arms folded with an attitude, thinking about all that he should be doing. All of a sudden, someone was tugging at his arm. He looked down, and here was this old man in a wheelchair. He took hold of the old man's hand and the old man held his hand all during the service. The next month that was repeated. The man in the wheelchair came and held the hand of the deacon.

    This continued for months until around Christmas and then the old man wasn't there. The deacon inquired and he was told, "Oh, he's down the hall, right hand side, third door. He's dying. He's unconscious, but if you want to go down that's all right."

    The deacon went and the old man lay still as all life support had been removed. The deacon took the man's hand and prayed that God would receive the man, that God would bring this man from this life into the next and give him eternal life. As soon as he finished the prayer, the old man squeezed the deacon's hand and the deacon knew that he had been heard. He was so moved by this that tears began to run down his cheeks.

    He came out of the room and as he did so he bumped into a woman. She said, "He's been waiting for you. He said that he didn't want to die until he had the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time." The deacon was amazed at this. He said, "What do you mean?" She said, "Well, my father would say that once a month Jesus came to this place. 'He would take my hand and he would hold my hand for a whole hour. I don't want to die until I have the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.'"

    I do not know if that young woman in Nagasaki ever was able to see the tree for the forest, to see Christmas through the holiday. Nevertheless I had the opportunity to share the Christmas story with her. Not only the harrowing story of Jesus born to a young woman in a stable, but that Christmas continues to this day.

Do we let Christmas take us into unfamiliar territory ---- because if we let Christmas grab our hand, our other hand becomes Jesus to others, and when that happens — Christmas happens. Merry Christmas. Amen.

Rudolph – 12/24/2011

Christmas Eve

On a December night in Chicago, Illinois, a little girl climbed onto her father's lap and asked a question. It was a simple question, asked in children's curiosity, yet it had a heart-rending effect on Robert May.

"Daddy," four-year old Barbara asked, "Why isn't my Mommy just like everybody else's mommy?"

On the couch lay his young wife, Barbara's mother, Evelyn, racked with cancer. For two years she had been bedridden; for two years, all Bob's income and savings had gone to pay for treatments and medicines.

To help his daughter understand, Bob May answered his daughter with a bedtime story. The answer he gave his daughter on his lap was also to bring him to fame and fortune. It was also to bring joy to countless thousands of children and become part of the American Christmas experience. On that December night, Bob cradled his little girl's head against his shoulder and began to tell a story...

"Once upon a time there was a reindeer named Rudolph, the only reindeer in the world that had a big red nose. Naturally people called him Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."

Bob May finished the story of how Rudolph one Christmas night solved Santa's problem of flying in the fog, sleet and snow with his red nose glowing brighter than ever. In Bob May's story Rudolph guided Santa safely to every chimney that night. Rain and fog, snow and sleet; nothing bothered Rudolph, for his bright nose penetrated the weather like a beacon.

To the question of "Daddy, why isn't my Mommy just like everybody else's mommy?" Bob May in his story about Rudolph tried to communicate to Barbara the knowledge that even though some creatures of God are perhaps different, they may enjoy the miraculous power to make others happy. And yes, their life was different that Christmas compared to others, but although different, it did not mean that it was not special.

The story goes that little Barbara laughed with glee when her father finished. As many of you may know however, the story does not end there because Bob May had a job. That job was to help a large department store, called Montgomery Ward, prepare a children's coloring book and story to be handed out to children at their stores. That was in 1938, the year his daughter came up to his lap, but also the year Bob May wrote up his story for Montgomery Ward.

Ten years later, some 6 million copies of the booklet had been given away or sold, making Rudolph one of the most widely distributed books in the world. Bob May purchased the rights back to the story from Montgomery Ward. After that, the Rudolph phenomenon really took off because May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and melody for a Rudolph song. Marks' musical version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," recorded by Gene Autry in 1949, sold two million copies that year and went on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time, second only to "White Christmas."

So why do I tell this story that is now so much part of the American Christmas season? Christmas is about a Christ who brings light and hope. And Rudolph is a wonderful story to help us remember the spirit of the season.

However, the story of Rudolph has a downside that is not part of Christmas. If you remember the story revolves around the fact that Rudolph had this unique characteristic – a shining red nose. Of course that nose is the reason Bob May created and told the story to tell his daughter; we're all a bit like Rudolph. Some of us taller than average, some us thinner than average, some of us smile more often, some of us are better at Art, or Math, or Music. We're all a bit unique like Rudolph - and that's good. But sometimes it is not so good, because like Rudolph we might get teased and bullied.

Rather do you remember what it is about that story that takes away from Christmas? Do you know what it is about that story that is not true to Christmas? According to the story one stormy night when Santa asked Rudolph to use his bright nose to guide the sleigh, --- then and only then did everyone love him. That's what is wrong about the story. Everyone thought Rudolph was special because of what he could do.

That part of the Rudolph story is also what makes the story wrong from Christmas, because all too often we think we are loved when we can achieve something useful. Everything will be ok if we either try to be the same as the other reindeer or we do something heroic. Our friends, family, and society may love and value us only because of what we can do for them. That's what is wrong about the story of Rudolph during Christmas. We can try and prove we are worthy of other people's love. We can think "If my nose glows brightly enough in the dark" we will be accepted and loved.

Our world revolves on either trying to fit in or around performance - how fast we can run, what marks we can get, what degrees we can collect, what awards we receive, how much work we can do, how much money we can earn OR how much our children can achieve.

The whole point of Christmas however is that our abilities our unique gifts, the families we belong to, the study or work we do, are only part of who we are, and not the main ingredient of Christmas. God sent Jesus to be with us, Immanuel --- God with us--- not because we may or not fit in or of what we may or may not achieve, earn or not earn, do or not do; we are loved because of whom we belong. It is for that reason why the angel said to Joseph, "Don't be afraid. Mary will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." What is our sin? Well one of our sins is that we sometimes believe, that we do not need God and that all we need to do is perform a little harder, be a little better, save a little more, live a better life, have no problems, be tested a little less often and everything will be better.

The wonder of Christmas is that God does not choose us or love us when we are useful to God. Nor does God ignore us because we are different and considered to be useless. With God we don't have to be noticed. With God we don't have to turn to our Barbara's and tell them a story about a reindeer to help them come to terms being different. Each of us is loved by God and God sent his son to restore that relationship.

In life we too can act like silly reindeer, we can be horrible to people and ourselves. We can especially be horrible to others because by their race, sexuality, religion, or social status. Furthermore, we can be horrible to ourselves because of what we think we do not have … or should be like.

As Christians we need to be careful about how other stories become part of Christmas, but do not tell the real meaning of Christmas. No matter how appealing those others stories may be, God chose his son Jesus to be born among the poor and the meek. God came through Jesus to show us that God goes out of God's way to show us that God's way is not our way.

Because of God's passionate love and involvement with humanity, we have been delivered from futility and endless self-seeking. God loves humanity with a love that is stronger and purer than any of our loves; God has come to give us new life.

Bob May's bedtime story of Rudolph helped his daughter cope and made him a lot of money, but did not save his wife. She died that very same winter. God sent his son, not as a good bedtime story for children or to be a good moral tale. God sent his son to save us so that even death will not separate us from God. Immanuel --- God with us. Amen.