A Review of the Book "On Writing" by Stephen King

Title: On Writing

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc

Year: 2000

316 pages

A while ago, I decided that I needed help in getting to be a better writer. A friend of mine, who is a prolific writer, recommended I read Stephen King's "On Writing". I had read some of King's novels a long time ago and I know full well he is known for scary and weird stories meant to give you nightmares, but I guarantee this is nothing like that!

With an amazing sense of humour, King provides both autobiography and "how to" lessons all wrapped up in one book. The writing is incredible as you would expect from such a giant in the world of horror novels.

The "how to" part of the book is definitely geared more towards someone who wants to delve into the craft of fiction writing, but the lessons gained from reading "On Writing" can be translated into any type of writing, whether it be short stories, articles, or non-fiction. While the book is over 20 years old, and the path to publishing might be a little different now (he gives some advice on how to get yourself published), the tools given by King are just as good now as they were two decades ago.

So if you think you might want to be a writer, or already are a writer but wants some tricks of the trade, or if you're simply a fan of Stephen King and want to learn a bit about his life, this is an amazing book. King's skill at writing makes this book one you can't put down, even though it's a non-fiction piece. And trust me, while you get plenty of screams from his usual stories, "On Writing" will give you plenty of laughs.

Deep Lessons Learned from Star Trek

Photo by Hristo Fidanov on pexels.com

I wrote a blog post for Luther’s Seminary’s Faith + Lead about how a life of forgiveness, repentance, and hope is a recurring theme in Star Trek. You can find it on their website by clicking here. I’ve also included the text below:

The word “forgive,” in one form or another, shows up in the NRSV translation of the Bible 132 times. For a word to be repeated that many times, it must be important! Themes of forgiveness also show up quite a lot in Star Trek. I happen to have a longstanding interest in both, and can recognize the points of intersection! In both, forgiveness is an act of love, and God calls us to love not only the people close to us but also the people around us, even our enemies. Most especially, we are called to forgive ourselves.

When Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, he envisioned a world where humanity lived in peace and harmony, and where greed, politics, and hate were no longer a factor in life on earth. The fantasy world of Star Trek has been an important piece of North American culture for decades, its episodes full of lessons on relationships, peaceful coexistence, faith, and many other topics. A life of forgiveness, repentance, and hope is a recurring theme in many of its television episodes and movies.

I strongly recommend Deep Space 9, even if you watch no other series or movie. However, many examples of forgiveness can be found throughout the whole series—likely enough to write an entire book! However, for this article I will concentrate on two specific movies—Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek V: Final Frontier.

Act now, forgiven later

*Spoiler alert* In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Captain Kirk’s science officer and best friend, Spock, dies while saving the ship and crew. Kirk feels a lot of guilt around this event, blaming himself for his friend’s death. Almost the entire plot of Star Trek III is Kirk processing this guilt and then trying to relieve himself of the guilt through reckless actions. He discovers that his friend has been resurrected from the dead through the effects of Project Genesis. (Project Genesis was a theoretical process to terraform dead planets by means of a genetic explosion that would reduce the surface of a planet to its elementary particles.)

He broke plenty of rules by stealing the Enterprise from a space station and going against direct orders not to go back to the Genesis Planet. Kirk acted on his heart and his instincts hoping (and probably knowing) that he would be forgiven later for his actions, especially if he brought back a resurrected Captain Spock. His faith  was in knowing he was doing what was right. Kirk states, “If I hadn’t tried, it would have cost me my soul.”

Keep your pain

Star Trek V: Final Frontier is one of the most corny of all the movies. It is about a Vulcan named Sybok who thinks he has found the end of the universe. Sybok believes that God, or whatever deity someone believes in, will be found past the edge of the universe. He needs a starship to get there and, happening to be Spock’s brother, he decides to convince the crew of the Enterprise to take him there. To convince the crew, he uses his Vulcan abilities to show people their innermost pain and then promises that God has given Sybok the ability to remove that person’s pain.

One example is with Dr. McCoy, whose father was dying from an incurable disease. McCoy released his father from pain into death to preserve the man’s dignity. McCoy had been carrying around that guilt for years because soon after he had let his father die, a cure was discovered. Sybok removed McCoy’s pain to lead him to self-forgiveness.

Sybok truly believed that the way to self-forgiveness was to have one’s pain taken away. However, Kirk’s argument back to him was that “pain and guilt can’t be taken away by the wave of a magic wand. They are the things we carry with us; the things that make us who we are. We lose them, we lose ourselves.”

Self-forgiveness

Forgiveness, at heart, is the restoration of relationship. But it is also letting go of the hope that the past can be changed. When we talk about forgiveness of self, the word guilt easily comes into the conversation. Guilt can feel like a cross that Jesus tells us to pick up and carry. We often beat ourselves up as a failure, we sit in regret, and we crucify ourselves.

In high school, I had a group of people whom I hung around with at lunch and after school. We would celebrate birthdays and Christmas together. We would stay up late on a Saturday night playing cards or watching movies. It felt like we were a pretty tight-knit group.

I knew I was the odd one out because I wasn’t as smart as them and I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school. I followed them to university, but it was quickly obvious that I didn’t belong.

Slowly I was left out of an event here and another one there, and eventually we drifted completely apart. It broke my heart because in my head, I thought we were all best friends.

That was more than 25 years ago, and I still think about everything that happened, wondering where I went wrong. Did I say something or do something wrong? And I often think of them, wonder where they’re at, if they have families, things like that.

Thinking about forgiveness, I know that my work in this story is to forgive them for leaving my life, to forgive myself for those events, and to let go of the hope that the past will change or that these people will return to my life some day. When we fail to forgive, we are just torturing ourselves, bringing tension and bitterness into our lives.

Points to ponder

I have learned a lot from my years of watching Star Trek. When it comes to the theme of forgiveness, here are some thoughts on which to ponder:

1. Forgiveness is hard. Whether we are forgiving others or ourselves, it takes work to process the pain we hold, and the steps needed for bringing forgiveness. It can be important to find someone with whom you can talk things out.

2. Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past can be changed. As Kirk argued with Sybok, without our past, good or bad, we would be someone completely different than we are today.

3. Forgiveness leads to hope. God has given us the inheritance of eternal forgiveness. It is not a reward for good behaviour nor will the removal of forgiveness be used as a punishment.

Forgiveness is extremely difficult to do fully and wholly, but if you keep in mind that what we leave behind is not as important as how we’ve lived, perhaps you will forgive yourself and others just a little bit more easily.

A Church Divided: A Sermon for the Third Week After Epiphany

Our church is divided. It can’t be denied. The church divided itself hundreds of years ago, decades ago, and continues to do so today. So much pain has been caused by the church and people are becoming disillusioned with the institution, and especially with the leadership. The institution of the church is self-imploding. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Or at least it feels like there is nothing that can be done.

That is what we’re seeing in the reading from Corinthians today. Things were not going well in the fledgling Corinthian Christian congregation and matters seemed serious enough to occasion a letter from the Apostle Paul. In-fighting and clique-forming were the norm. Factions were splintering the congregation as people claimed allegiance to one leader over another instead of following God’s way in the central message of the gospel of Christ.

Paul is urging the people to cease their divisions and quarrels and to remember that they were all united by their baptism in the name of Christ. Paul argues that the central message of the gospel is the cross of Christ, and it is through the lens of the cross that Christians are called to regard one another and to treat them accordingly.

We are called to do the same. We are all one in Christ being connected to each other through our baptism in Christ’s name. But how do we do that knowing what’s happen around us?

Like the religious people so fiercely denounced by the biblical prophets, some Christian believers have been or continue to be complicit in supporting or perpetuating prejudice and oppression and fostering division. History shows that, rather than recognising the dignity of every human being made in the image and likeness of God, Christians have too often involved themselves in structures of sin such as slavery, colonisation, segregation, and discrimination which have stripped others of their dignity on the spurious grounds of race, gender, sexuality, and so forth. So too within the churches,

Churches must acknowledge how they have been silent or actively complicit regarding social injustice. Racial prejudice has been one of the causes of Christian division that has torn the Body of Christ. Toxic ideologies, such as White Supremacy and the doctrine of discovery, have caused much harm, particularly in North America and in lands throughout the world colonized by White European powers over the centuries. To argue that the human race is the only race is to ignore that the myth of race has caused the reality of racism. Race is not biological; it is a social construct which separates humanity according to physical traits.

Christians throughout history have excluded, persecuted, and killed those they deemed to be different – Jews, Muslims, gays, witches, heretics, and so on. Today, separation and oppression continue to be manifest when any single group or class is given privileges above others. The sins of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia is evident in any beliefs or practices that distinguish or elevate one type of person over another. As Christians we must be willing to disrupt systems of oppression and to advocate for justice.

There has been much conversation this past week about the Church of England and the agenda for its upcoming General Synod. It had been rumoured and hoped by many that on the agenda would be a discussion about same-gendered marriages. It came out this week that there would be no such discussion.

Archbishop Justin Welby released a statement that essentially showed no support for any sort of blessing or marriage for same-gendered couples. In fact, the emphasis of his letter was directed more toward the treatment of the church by the media than addressing the people harmed by these actions.

The Archbishop's announcement has caused ripples throughout the queer Christian community and reflects another example of a cause of Christian divison.

Christians are failing to recognise the dignity of all the baptised and are belittling the dignity of their siblings in Christ on the grounds of “difference”. Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr memorably said, “It is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of the shameful tragedies, that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated hour in Christian America”. This statement demonstrates the disunity of Christians. This division runs counter to the unity that God desires for the whole of creation.

Tragically this failure to recognise the dignity of all people is part of what has divided Christians from one another, has caused Christians to worship at separate times, and in separate buildings, and in certain cases has led Christian communities to divide.

Now, not all Christians distrust, demonize, fear, caricature, and separate themselves from each other. We can also find voices of inclusion, embrace, toleration, and even celebration.

How can we live our unity as Christians so as to confront the evils and injustices of our time? How can we engage in dialogue, increase awareness, understanding and insight about one another’s lived experiences?

Let us be open to God’s presence in all our encounters with each other as we seek to be transformed, to dismantle the systems of oppression, and to heal the sins of racism. Together, let us engage in the struggle for justice in our society.

Oppression is harmful to the entire human race. There can be no unity without justice. We need to confront all instances of oppression and bring forth justice for all. We are all human. We all deserve the dignity of living the truth of our lives, to live as we are, to embrace our differences in the knowledge that we are all children of God deserving of love, peace, and salvation.

And we all belong to Christ. It is the gifts and the life experience of the people of the church that gives the most complete picture and witness of the body of Christ and where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are experienced and exercised. It is not an act of charity to reach out to those different from us or our way of being Christ’s person in the world, or who have been taught the faith differently. It is an act of faithfulness, an extension of the faith of Jesus, to seek communion with all those who call upon the name of Jesus. If we belong together to Christ, we must belong to one another.

Our church is divided. But it doesn’t have to be. It is up to us to bridge the divides and bring unity as baptized people of Christ. We must find ways to work together as the undivided Body of Christ, not with the goal of all being the same, but to embrace all humanity as they are, in all their differences, and as loved Children of God. Amen.

Come and See: A Sermon for the Second Week After Epiphany

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In our gospel story today, we have a bunch of people gathered at the Jordan River. These are people who have decided to follow the teachings of John, which likely made them cast outs from their faith communities, or maybe they were already cast outs. Jewish Christians kicked out of the temple and other Christians feeling like aliens in their communities.

So, now they gather as their own community on the banks of the Jordan because that’s where John is hanging out. This area has now become their home, the trees their shelter, and the river their source of life.

And these people don’t just hang out with John because he’s a cool guy. They all think he is the Messiah. They come to him to be baptized, to join his following, and to learn from him. But John keeps trying to tell them – “I’m not the Messiah! I’m only the opening act! Someone else will be coming after!” But I guess no one believes him. Or perhaps these are people who have been searching for someone or something the save them, and here John is, right in front of them. So why would they wait for this mysterious “someone else”?

One day, while everyone is hanging about the river, doing whatever daily things they would be doing, John sees Jesus walks by, points and says, “Look! There he is! There’s the one I’ve been telling you about! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” But everyone just ignored him and kept on with their business.

Day after day, John pointed Jesus out to his disciples trying to convince them to go talk to him. Finally, two of John’s disciples – Andrew and an unnamed person – finally caved and went to see Jesus.

The question that the disciples have for him is interesting. You’d think they would say something like “who are you?” or “hey, John tells us you’re the Messiah” or something like that. Instead, they call him teacher, which means to me they are starting to take John’s words to heart. And they follow it up with “where are you staying?” Are they checking up on him? Do they want to see where he lives? Maybe they are making sure he has a place to stay. It also feels to me like they were preparing to invite him into their space, especially if he didn’t have a place to stay. At the same time, it’s often easier to meet someone new on familiar turf, like your own home. In that way, I think “where are you staying” is a welcoming offer to come over to their house and stay a while.

In response, Jesus said some pretty inviting words himself… “come and see”. Jesus is inviting these two disciples of John to spend time with him. As did all these people hanging around the Jordan river, Jesus has created a home for himself, a temple of his own. And now he is inviting these two into his sacred space.

And it wasn’t a short visit. Andrew and the other disciple ended up spending the entire day with Jesus! By the time they were done talking it was 4 o’clock – time to get home! Nothing more is said about the unnamed person, but Andrew must have found what he was looking for during that visit. As soon as he got home, Andrew ran to find his brother, Simon Peter, and declared excitedly, “we found him! We found the Messiah!”

Andrew dragged his brother to see Jesus the next day at which time both of them become disciples of Jesus.

It’s quite the of story of transformation – for Andrew, Simon Peter, and the unnamed disciple. And I would imagine for John as well. He would have been excited that some of his disciples finally had the courage to believe what he had been saying and to accept Jesus’ invitation to a conversation.

As a priest, I can certainly identify with John. Spending my time calling people to Jesus. Encouraging them to simply have a conversation with him. Pleading them to listen to what he has to say. In this gospel passage, John is trying to make people see what’s in front of them – Jesus, the Messiah. One of my jobs as your pastor is as John’s was in this story – to show you that God is amongst us, whether we see and recognize God or not.

As a person, I identify with Andrew – someone who has “found the Messiah.” In my home church of St George’s in Transcona, there is a wooden chair that is engraved with the words “I AM HERE.” When I first started attending there, I was just finding my way back to the church, working on rediscovering my faith. At the time, there were chairs instead of pews and for the Monday night contemplative service, the chairs were brough into a half circle. The wooden chair, which was typically along the wall, was brought closer to the circle. There were many services where I looked at that chair, reading those words over and over.

One service in particular, I remember reading those words as I had many times prior and feeling a presence in that chair. I knew at that moment I had seen Jesus. I knew at that moment I had felt his presence. I knew at that moment I had found my Messiah and knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to God, dedicate myself as a follower of Jesus. It was then that I decided to turn myself towards doing more service to the church. It was then that I had my “Andrew moment”.  It was then that I knew that God was with me, whether I recognized God or not.

Immanuel: God is with us. And, through Jesus, God is inviting us into conversation. God is using us to bring light into the world. With the same gift given to John, and to Jesus, and to all the other disciples, God has empowered us with the gift of the Holy Spirit through our baptism. Through this gift, we are empowered to believe God’s message, to take God’s message to heart, and then to go out into the world and share the good news that God is among us and loves us persistently and consistently.

Even through our doubts and worries, God is inviting us to “come and see” what the world could be; a world where we are loved – fully and unconditionally.

Amen.

Gifts to Save a Mother: A Sermon for Epiphany

I have to admit that each time I go to write a sermon, I learn new things. You know how it is? When you read something again and again, you discover things you didn’t see before. And when reading more commentaries, there are always new perspectives to be found.

            The story of Epiphany is not an unfamiliar one. As we all know from our nativity sets, some very special guests attended the birth of the Jesus: wise men from the east, bearing gifts for the newborn king - gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11 states: "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." So, Epiphany is a festival that commemorates the visit of the magi from the east and symbolizes the manifestation of the baby Jesus to the world.

            But is that how the story really goes? There are many questions that arise from Matthew’s version of the story, and there are many perspectives of this tale.

In fact, the scriptures aren’t very forthcoming with the details around the arrival of the magi. Compared to the Bible’s account of the royal visit, the story we tell is often padded with a bit of extra information. History and tradition have done their part to fill in the details regarding these visitors, including their number, names, and the timing of their arrival.

            For example, it isn’t very likely that the magi were there for Jesus’ birth. Unlike the shepherds who went to Bethlehem right after the angel had told them, “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior” (Luke 2:11), the magi arrived later. From their initial sighting of the star to their arrival in Bethlehem after a stop in Jerusalem, considerable time would have elapsed. After all, Herod ordered all boys under the age of two to be killed, not just infants a few months or weeks old (2:16). Moreover, verse 11 says, “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother.” By then, the holy family would have long since left the temporary shelter where the shepherds first visited for more appropriate lodging.

One aspect of the visit that has largely escaped alteration is the list of gifts presented to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11 goes like this, “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.”

Upon this verse, much folk theology has been built.  The story of the wise men, or magi, or astrologers, coming to visit Mary is an important part of our cultural understanding of Jesus’ birth. One thing needs to be clear, despite what the song says, they were not kings. There isn’t really a reason to believe there were three of them. There were three different gifts, but no where does it number the men. I don’t bring this up to make any grand theological point other than to remind us of how often we read into Scripture, and how difficult it can be to unpack centuries of tradition.

Now, if you’re wondering what use an infant would have for these gifts, you’re not alone. The primary significance of the gifts lay in their great value; they were indeed gifts fit for a king because gold, frankincense, and myrrh are expensive luxury items. These valuable gifts were clearly intended to honor Jesus, but it’s possible they carried another meaning.

The traditional interpretation of the gifts goes something like this:

1.      Gold: Gold is a precious metal and available only to royalty and nobility. It is a gift for royalty, so giving Jesus this valuable gift acknowledged that he was part of a royal line.

2.      Frankincense: Frankincense is an expensive perfume or incense that was burned as a part of ceremonial worship in The Temple. This gift signifies Jesus’s divinity.

3.      Myrrh: Myrrh was most commonly used among wealthy Jews as an anointing oil for the dead. Thus, the myrrh is seen as a foreshadowing of Jesus’s death and a reminder of his mortality.

When we look at what our tradition tells us about these gifts, it makes sense, right? Jesus is a royal king brought to us by God to live with us on earth only to die for us on the cross. Looking at it, perhaps the gifts fit just a little too perfectly, though. I mean, how would strangers from the East have known Jewish ritual customs of the Temple? And it doesn’t say that they worshiped him as a deity.  Instead, they “paid him homage.” Also, isn’t every baby mortal? Why would anyone need to be reminded that a king will someday die?

If we look at things from a different perspective, maybe there is another significance behind the gifts brought to Mary and her son that night?

Frankincense and myrrh have been used for medicinal purposes for over 5,000 years in places like India and Saudi Arabia. I can’t vouch for their specific purpose or their effectiveness, but these magi would have had that knowledge and obviously thought that Mary might need these medicines after given birth to a baby. Perhaps even the baby himself might have needed some medicinal care.

Though we often sing “Silent Night,” anyone that has been anywhere near the birth of a child knows that there is nothing silent about the experience. Giving birth is a messy and dangerous. Today a mother dies in childbirth once every two minutes. In many parts of the world, it is the most dangerous thing a woman can do. And it’s not like Mary gave birth in a full-staffed hospital. No matter which gospel account you read, Mary’s pregnancy didn’t end in clean, sterile conditions.

So, while we have retrospectively given divine significance to the gifts brought by the magi, it is quite possible that they brought these gifts with practical reasons in mind. It is quite possible that without the gifts from the magi, Mary would not have survived the birth of Jesus. Though Mary gets the short end of the stick through much of the book of Matthew, this act of gift-giving is a reminder of how important a mother is to a child. By choosing to give especially frankincense and myrrh, the magi were valuing the life of a woman.

Perhaps on this day of Epiphany we can remember to not only celebrate the revelation of the baby Jesus, but to also remember Mary, a woman who risked her life in many ways to give birth to the Messiah, the king of kings, and to remember all who may be risking their lives to carry their babies to term and who may be delivering their babies in less-than-ideal circumstances.

Find a women’s shelter near you. Bring to them a gift in honour of Mary – diapers, onesies, blankets, socks, lotions, shampoos, and more. Phone ahead and see what they need. This small act of mercy might help a mother care for her child. And just maybe, a relationship will begin to build between you and that shelter, between the church and that shelter. Like the Magi so long ago, may we pay homage to the newborn King by making sure his mother survives.

A Review of the Book "Broken Ribs and Popcorn" by Geoff Kirbyson

Title: Broken Ribs & Popcorn

Author: Geoff Kirbyson

Publisher: Great Plains Publications

Year: 2021

440 pages

I am a huge Winnipeg Jets fan. I remember watching game after game throughout the 80's and 90's, some of them from front seat at ice level at the old Winnipeg Arena with my dad, and wondering why we just couldn't beat those darn Edmonton Oilers. Of course, the Oilers were a magnificent team back then, but I still kept rooting for my home team!

When I saw "Broken Ribs and Popcorn" on the shelves at my local bookstore, the tag line really caught my attention. How did the Winnipeg Jets become the best team in the NHL's most offensive era to not win the Stanley Cup? As a super fan from that era, I was excited to find out.

However, this book was an absolute horrible read. The writing is atrocious and felt like reading run-on sentences. The stories skipped around and honestly, there really wasn't much talking about the Jets. There was a ton of story about the Oilers and a few other teams and a whole bunch about John Ferguson, but for my appetite to learn about the Jets from the 80's, there wasn't nearly enough story. I was surprised to read that Geoff Kirbyson was a sports writer! "Broken Ribs and Popcorn" felt amateur and peripheral.

There were parts I still enjoyed reading because there were pieces of history I didn't know about, so at least I learned a few things. However, if you're looking for a history book about the Winnipeg Jets, this is not the book to read. I haven't read many books I wouldn't recommend to others, but this is definitely one of them. I'm not even sure I'll bother keeping it in my collection.

Participating in God's Plan

Fourth Week of Advent

**Please note this service is based on the format from “Out of the Blue” © 2022 by Barn Geese Worship. Used by permission of Barn Geese Worship and adapted by Rev. Jennifer Marlor.

**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.

Introduction

For God, change can be small, evolutionary, atomic. A crumbled resistance, a slightly different direction, a fresh idea in the middle of the night.

For God, change can rain down like a tempest, a flood in every street that sweeps into our lives with energy that does not yield or listen.

God is urgently waiting to finally arrive.

God, we have been waiting for you, too.

Yet you often arrive before we notice: in the place we did not expect, in the word we did not hear.

Do not be afraid, your angels always say, right before you change a life.

You are here to change this place. We are not afraid.

Thanksgiving for Baptism

God, you have given water your power to end and your capacity to nurture life again. So, we remember the rainwater that fell on Noah and his family, a flood that no creature could return to the cloud. We remember the water of the Red Sea that stepped aside to let your people walk to liberation and swept away the enemies of freedom. And in Advent, we remember that your salvation breaks forth like water from a womb: a sign that your child will be born to us once more, and nothing can stop this. In the waters of baptism, we have been submerged in this same powerful sign.

God, pour out the water of life. Carry us in the current of your irresistible will. Pull us with the steady tide of your tenderness. When we swim against you, sweep us into your mercy. We cannot control your salvation; your love flows everywhere, even over our heads.

God, thank you for the water that breaks the grip of the world and erodes the edifice of sin. Thank you for the water that nurtures life as it begins again. Amen.

Gathering Hymn – Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel (ELW #257)

            Listen Here

The Greeting

Peace to you and welcome, from the God who has always known you, the Savior who is already born, the Spirit who listens before you ask.

And also with you.

Lighting of the Advent Wreath

In deep blue darkness, lighting a single candle creates only uncertainty.
Light dances around uncertain shapes, and the dark refuses to yield its secrets.

The flame from the candles on our Advent wreath represents our flickering glimpse of the goodness God has hidden in divine darkness.

In time we will apprehend every blessing hinted from ancient prophecies and prepared under the cover of deep darkness.

But not yet, not fully.

There is a moment when we no longer need a light in the darkness. Perhaps dawn has come to fill every corner of the room with sunlight. Or, we have grown so familiar with our surroundings that we can find our way without sight. Or, the person we have longed to know now rests by our side, peacefully breathing.

God’s goodness has always grown quietly in our midst, like the infant who has grown just out of sight, just beyond our touch.

This final candle represents the moment we see and hold, out of the blue, God’s promise for ourselves.

 

Prayer of the Day

Let us pray.

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. With your abundant grace and might, free us from the sin that hinders our faith, that eagerly we may receive your promises, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Readings

A reading from the book of Isaiah (7:10-16)

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

Word of God, Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

            Listen Here

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

    you who lead Joseph like a flock!

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth

    before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.

Stir up your might,

    and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;

    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts,

    how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears,

    and given them tears to drink in full measure.

You make us the scorn of our neighbours;

    our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;

    let your face shine, that we may be saved.

A reading from the letter from Paul to the Romans (1:1-17)

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you – or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish – hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’

Word of God, Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation

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The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. (1:18-25)

Glory to you, O Lord.

            Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

    and they shall name him Emmanuel’,

which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

The Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Guest Sermon - Frank Logue

God breaks into human history bringing divine plans to fruition through ordinary people. We see this pattern all through scripture, from the patriarch Abraham to the persecutor of Christians, Saul, who becomes the Apostle Paul. And from Deborah and Esther, who bring hope to their people, to Mary Magdalene, who was a witness to the Resurrection sent as the “apostle to the apostles” with the Good News.

 

This pattern of God working through people is no less true in the most important divine plan in history, as the Word became flesh in Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. God used Mary and Joseph in a plan to turn the world upside-down, which was really setting everything right once more, in Jesus. Knowing them as St. Mary and St. Joseph can hide the fact that, though this couple was amazing, unique in all history even, they were also very much human.

 

In our Gospel reading, we see that Joseph is a person with hopes and dreams for his own life, who found himself taking this critical role in history. When we meet Joseph, he is engaged to Mary and learns that she is pregnant. God uses a dream to get Joseph’s attention. Joseph hearing from an angel in his sleep is not so different from what you and I can experience. Sure, we can sometimes have dreams that get our attention, but we can also find the Holy Spirit breaking into our imagination. More often, God uses messengers to get our attention, like Mary’s relative Elizabeth, who confirmed what Mary had already heard from the angel. God often uses other people to assist us in seeing what God is doing in our lives. A godly friend can be very important as we test out whether our great idea is something the Holy Spirit is prompting us to do.

 

God does not make anyone act but rather invites us to take part in what God is doing in the world. In Luke’s Gospel, we read of how the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, with Mary later responding, “Let it be with me according to your word.”

 

Here in Matthew’s Gospel, we find Joseph wanting to do the right thing. Breaking an engagement took a divorce decree, and divorce had to be requested by either party and witnessed by three others to be legal, so it was not as easy a matter as it might be today to end an engagement. Joseph wants to handle this in a way that would not harm Mary. Then an angel comes to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

 

Joseph believes the dream and Matthew tells us, “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife.” Joseph accepted the invitation to participate in God’s plan of salvation, just as Mary had already done.

 

So, Joseph marries Mary. She has a child whom Joseph names Jesus, which means “God saves.” God will save and God will do it through Jesus, but Mary and Joseph were essential to the plan. Mary had to consent to the pregnancy and Joseph to the marriage.

 

God rarely acts in history with this sort of intervention. Jesus will anger a hometown crowd with this assertion years later, saying, “The truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

 

Through the Incarnation, we see how God acts, even in the extraordinary case of the birth of Jesus. While God becoming human in Jesus is a once-in-all-history event, God does regularly prompt people like you and me to take part in God’s hopes and dreams for our world. We are invited to participate in what God is doing through serving others, as though we are serving Jesus.

 

Jesus describes this in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, describing the actions of the faithful: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Those who cared for others will be surprised, not knowing that they cared for Jesus, who will then explain, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

 

This parable is all the more poignant when we see Jesus’ humble origins. The King of Creation was not born in a palace to a life of luxury. After Jesus is born, Mary and Joseph will take him to the Temple to offer two turtledoves; the Torah required a lamb together with either a turtledove or a pigeon to be offered for the birth of a son or daughter. However, Leviticus 12:8 noted that poor families could offer two birds instead, as a lamb would present a financial hardship. The Holy Family qualifies for what amounts to a hardship discount. Jesus will later serve others on the road where he is frequently a guest who relies on the hospitality of others, as a stranger welcomed by others. Jesus sees the needs around him everywhere among the members of his human family.

 

God will find a way to care for those in need, using someone else if we fail to respond. God will work out God’s purposes through whoever is willing to listen to the promptings of their hearts. While you and I will not be invited to such a momentous task as Joseph, we no less can take part in what God is doing. Jesus makes it clear that small acts of providing food for the hungry and drink for the thirsty are of eternal significance. In these small yet meaningful ways, we get to participate in the coming Reign of God by being God’s hands and feet in the world. This is part of how God breaks into human history, bringing divine plans to fruition through ordinary people.

 

As we journey these last days to our celebration of Jesus’ birth, our eyes should be open anew to how God is giving us the opportunity to respond to a divine invitation. For in caring for those in need, we are serving the Emmanuel, the God who is with us, in Jesus. When we show care for those who would otherwise be lost and left out, we are doing so for the one whose First Advent we celebrate, even as we await Jesus’ coming again in glory. Amen.

Hymn of the Day – 'Twas In the Moon of Wintertime (ELW #284)

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Advent Creed

We believe in God:

The Source of all things.

The God of Abraham and Sarah.

The Holy One who freed the slaves from Egypt.

The God who is steadfast love and mercy.

The God who made a straight path in the wilderness and who promises to make all things new.

            We believe in Jesus:

The Messiah, who is Emmanuel: God with us.

He is King-of-Kings yet born of Mary.

Jesus showed God’s love through healing and teaching,

Jesus chose the way of servant-suffering by dying on a cross.

After three days he rose from the dead.

He is the Lord, the first born of the new creation.

            We believe in the Holy Spirit:

The One who inspires faith.

Who has spoken through the prophets and preachers and common people,

The One who breathes new life into the church and the world,

The Lord and giver of life.

Who is making all things new.

We believe that God is still creating,

We believe that Jesus is present with us.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is calling us forth in love and mercy.

This is our hope, this is our faith. Amen.

Prayers of Intercession

As we prepare for the fullness of Christ’s presence, let us pray for a world that yearns for new hope.

 

Silence

God our shepherd, let your Spirit move with power throughout the church. Give discernment and wisdom to our bishops, pastors, deacons, and lay leaders. Take away our fear, so that we serve and love, confident that you are guiding us.

God, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God our source, awaken us to the beauty of the earth and the marvelous variety of life. Unite humankind in repairing and caring for your creation. Protect creatures and habitats in peril due to rising seas and warming temperatures.

God, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God our vision, raise up leaders in every nation who dream of freedom and justice for all people. We pray for the work of international organizations that promote peace and human rights.

God, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God our helper, come to the aid of all who cry out to you. Shelter migrants, refugees, and those fleeing war and famine. Bring relief to individuals and families experiencing hunger, homelessness, or impoverishment. Comfort any who are isolated or lonely.

God, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God our Emmanuel, you are with us in our life together. We give you thanks for gathering us in worship and fellowship, and we remember those who cannot be present. Watch over those who travel. Heal the sick and speed their recovery.

God, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God our hope, you bring life out of death, and you promise to be our God forever. Shine upon the faithful who now rest in the fulfillment of your promise and bring us also into your blessed reign of peace.

God, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

God of our longing, you know our deepest needs. By your Spirit, gather our prayers and join them with the prayers of all your children. In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

The Peace

The peace of Christ be with you always.

And also with you.

Offering Hymn – It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (ELW #282)

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Offering Prayer

Let us pray.

God, we have labored and toiled for our money

and our time and our families and our freedom.

We have cherished what we thought was ours.

Yet in a moment, we recognize that every truly good thing

was a treasure we had taken from your open hand.

We give you these gifts as a sign of your love and faithfulness.

Use them to grow more hope in this world.

All this we ask in your holy name.

Amen.

Great Thanksgiving

Holy Jesus, be our guest. For you are already here.

God is with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts in praise.

We lift them to our God.

Let us give thanks to the God of our salvation.

It is right to give our thanks and praise

Holy God, once you made humankind you could do nothing but love them.

Holy Spirit, once you called the prophets,

you gave them words to afflict and words to heal,

and they could do nothing but speak them.

Holy Jesus,

once you committed to take the human frame,

you walked the path to the end.

You did not rush through childhood.

You never used your power for yourself.

You faced your enemies on their terms.

You taught your friends until they learned.

You allowed yourself to die the same way you were born:

as a fragile person,

in a filthy place,

where bare flesh and blood were spilled to give life.

This is rarely a kind world,

but you love it anyway.

This was rarely an innocent world,

but you saved it anyway.

We are rarely peaceful people,

but you have swaddled us in peace.

We will always hunger for healing.

Nurse us with grace

 

Sanctus

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While Pilate rested in his palace,

and the city of Jerusalem slept,

while the priests set their plot in motion,

the disciples sat down at the table.

The bread was on the table;

the wine was in the glass.

This was the night for which Jesus was born.

 

Even if you know this is part of God’s plan,

you might still grieve.

To say goodbye to your closest friends,

who do not know you will die.

To end the chapter of friendship with the one you love,

before they turn away.

Even good days bring sadness and loss.

And it was a good day, that final day, filled with certainty and hope,

when Jesus lingered at the table and took that bread and cup.

           

That night,

the night in which he was betrayed,

our Lord Jesus took bread,

and gave thanks,

broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

 

Again, after supper, he took the cup,

gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying:

This cup is the new covenant in my blood,

shed for you and for all people

for the forgiveness of sin.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

At a meal like this, we savour the food while it lasts;

we cling to love before we step out of reach.

And we pray that God will give us each day the blessing we share in this place.

Holy Spirit, just as you made a stable into a nursery fit for the sovereign of heaven, you make this table a holy cradle for salvation.

You fashion this bread and wine into the presence of Christ’s love.

And you make us your people, who can never separate from you again.

 

The Lord’s Prayer

So, we pray as Jesus taught us.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those

who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

forever and ever. Amen.                       

Invitation to communion

People of God, come to the table

and encounter the God who waits to love you.

Thanks be to God!

Distribution of communion

Table Blessing

The body and blood of our Lord

Jesus Christ strengthen you

and keep you in his grace.

Amen.

Prayer after communion

As we have feasted around the table, let us pray.

Faithful God,

in this meal you have remembered your mercy,

bringing heaven to earth in the body and blood of Christ.

As we wait for the day when all your promises will be fulfilled,

sustain us and strengthen us by this holy mystery.

Guide us toward your promised future,

coming to birth in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Blessing

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: And the blessing of God almighty, ☩ the Son, and the Holy Spirit be amongst you and remain with you always.

Amen.

Sending Hymn – Go Tell It on the Mountain (ELW #290)

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Dismissal

God, we do not know the end to which you call us.

God, let us be your servants, wherever this road goes.

God, you could have judged us, but you chose us.

You have made us worthy so we might speak your words.

You alone guide us down the path that leads to life.

Every other path is no longer a path for me.

Go in peace. Serve the lowly.

Thanks be to God.