Telling the Story:  Noah and the Great Flood

Genesis 6-9

Reading through today’s Bible story this week, I have discovered a second lesson that surprised me.  I needed to hear this lesson because I have failed to use it.

Noah’s story has always been cataloged in my mind as a lesson on relying on God and following His law rather than falling into man’s evil ways.  It is a lesson that I continue to hear throughout the Old Testament in various stories and prophecies.  As long as one maintains complete faith in God, then the earth will never be destroyed.

Certainly that is an oversimplification of the Old Testament and the coming of Christ in the New Testament, yet it was a promise—or a covenant in Biblical language.  This promise gives me hope, but I also found a lesson about patience in Noah’s story this week.

“Patience is a virtue” is a saying I have repeated to myself—and to students—for years.  I really have no idea where I picked it up or even why, but for one reason or another I thought its origin was in Proverbs.  In searching for it, the closest I found in Proverbs were verses 19:11 and 14:29:

• ^19:11 A man’s wisdom gives him patience;
  it is to his glory to overlook an offense. and
• ^14:29 A patient man has great understanding,
  but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

These two verses were the closest I could get and in the Message translation, the word patience is not even used.

Turning to the New Testament in search of lessons on patience, I discovered that only once in the gospels is it mentioned, and that is in “The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.”  That story certainly does not teach patience.

Yet, reading the story of the flood, I realized that the story followed an extensive timeline that I had not acknowledged before.  First, there had been 10 generations between Adam and Eve and Noah’s family.  During that time, the decisions of these people kept leading many farther and farther away from God.  Evil was everywhere (Genesis 6:5):

God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart.

After 10 generations, evilness was out of control.  God’s disappointment leads him to destroy all that he created.

Enter into the story Noah.  Noah was not evil, and his family was not infected by the evil that was swirling around them.  Therefore, God chose him to preserve creation—humanity and the animals.  We have read the story, but reading through all three chapters expanded the time frame from the children’s story preserved in my memory.

1. Making an ark:  not done instantly nor within a week or so; this took months as only a few men were working on it together and its size was beyond anything comparable—it was 450 ft. by 75 ft. which is similar to modern ships, not the small fishing vessels we visualize from the New Testament stories.
2. Loading the ark:  completed, Noah had to round up everybody and pack the boat—seven couples, and up to 45,000 different animals.  Even getting that done, it took more than a day and once they were in, they waited for seven days before the rain began.
3. The rain:  once it began, it lasted 40 days.  This is not 40 days of rain like we are accustomed to, but 40 days and nights of non-stop downpours.
4. The flooding:  after the rain, the flood “surged” for 110 more days.  That means a total of 150 days of flooding—five months!
5. The water recedes:  already the story has lasted much longer than the 7 days and 40 days I had in my childhood memory, now we are looking at the reality of a tremendous amount of waters that must recede—and remember, the ark is in the mountains that are covered by more than 20 feet of water.
6. Looking for dry land:  rain stops and for another 150 days—5 months—the water “decreased significantly.”  The story has now reached 300 days and it is not over yet—Noah is still locked in the ark with the creatures.
7. Finding dry land:  the water may be going down, but where is dry land.  The process of releasing the birds and waiting for their return is longer than a few moments; it takes 40 days after the tops of the mountains are seen for birds to find dry land.
8. Duration of flood:  add up the days and we learn that from the first day of boarding to the first day the bird does not return is somewhere between 370 and 377 days, if we have added correctly.

After reading through the resources and calculating those time elements, I realized that patience had to be a personality trait of Noah’s.  Patience and complete trust in God is why Noah was chosen to preserve humanity and all living creatures.

What is today’s lesson from Noah’s story?  Clearly I had never heard one on patience before, and this week I probably needed to hear it.  When a new year begins, I am still trying to finish the year before.  I can turn my frustrations into a self-destructive mindset.  Shouldn’t I be able to get everything done now!  Decisions can be quick, so shouldn’t the work to get it done be quick, too?

God’s choice of Noah was based on years of faith and how closely he followed God’s law.  What today’s society tends to do is to remove the reliance on God and put the emphasis on getting something done—now!  We fail to wait patiently.  We may take a problem to God in prayer, but we do not allow him the time to provide a solution.  We become impatient and turn away from God.

Noah’s story illustrates that sticking to God’s law–despite all the demands of the world, the shortcuts tempting us, the easy way rather than the right way—God’s law is the best way.  God’s way leads to rewards we cannot even imagine.

God made a covenant with Noah that after the flood he would never destroy all living creatures again.  The sign of the rainbow was a reminder of the covenant, and Noah’s story continues.  God’s patience with the renewed world continues.

Christ was born as another means to maintain God’s promise.  When evil seemed to be overtaking the world, God loved us so much that he chose to send Jesus to teach us how to live a faithful life.  No flood was needed, only love.

If each one of us can maintain the one law, to love one another, then evil can be overcome.  If each one of us uses patience and waits for God to answer or to lead us, then we can transform the world.  When we fail to use patience, we can become our own worst enemy.

The lessons from Noah’s story are lessons that can transform our lives in today’s fast-paced, secular world filled with quick fixes, false promises, and frustrations.  Hold on to your faith, talk to God, and then turn it over to him.  Let go of the problem and be patient.  God’s deadlines do not match our deadlines.

Dear Everlasting Father,

Noah proved that keeping his faith

     was rewarded by your faith in him.

Noah listened, followed, and built

     the ark that safely weathered the flood.

Faith and patience combined

      to transform the world.

Today guide us to keep our faith

     and to follow your commandment.

Today let us listen, follow and do

     what you want us to do.

Let our faith be strong enough

     to preserve the good in our world

     And to defend the world from evil.

Amen.

Telling the Story:  Cain & Abel

Background:  We are moving into a calendar time known as the Sundays after Epiphany:  January 6, 12 days after Jesus’ birth, the day the Wise Men arrived.  The Christmas Story now becomes the story of Jesus’ development into the man with a new message. 

         One of the questions that has floated around in the back of my mind is why do we need to study the Old Testament once we have accepted Jesus as savior?  The more I studied the Christmas Story, I found myself thinking about how a tiny infant would be raised.  The Old Testament was the primary teaching tool for those of the Jewish Faith, and Jesus was born into a Jewish household.  He was educated with the Old Testament.

         The priests, who were the teachers, too, relied on the Old Testament stories to teach the young people the proper rules for living within the faith community as well as the secular community.  In the local culture, the secular world was structured around the Jewish faith.  Even though Jesus was God, the physical human form had to be developed and to be accepted within the community; Jesus had to grow up just like the other kids in the community.

         Looking back at the Old Testament Bible Stories understanding the culture and the educational style is the lens through which various Bible stories will be studied.  One goal is to connect the lesson from the Old Testament to a lesson in the New Testament.

Just what lesson does the Cain & Abel story teach?

Based on Genesis 4:1-15

         How can a story of one brother murdering another brother in cold blood have any positive lesson for Christians today?  Surely we do not need to hear another violent story; there is enough murder and mayhem on the nightly news, on the various drama TV episodes, and in the movie theaters.  Why this story?  How can it possibly provide us any value when the Christmas story is one of love?

The answer may lie in a verse from Mark.  As the New Testament reveals the story of Jesus’ life, the lessons in the gospels focus on one overarching theme:  love one another.  In Mark 12:30-31 the connection may provide the key:

^29-31Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”  (the Message)

Cain and Abel were the first two children of Adam and Eve.  They were born after the couple ate the apple and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  Regardless of one’s understanding of the creation story or the sequential record of humanity’s development, the Bible stories provide a primary textbook for how to live and how not to live.  In Genesis 3 and 4, the story teaches how sin separates humans from God.

Adam and Eve failed to follow God’s law, and they were forced into the real world.  As they began their family, they experienced all the same battles families do now:  the need for the basics:  food, shelter, and clothing.  To provide for those needs, the men took various roles to work for those needs while the women continued to meet the needs by cooking, making clothing, and maintaining the homes.

Living in community, the personalities of family and non-family members differed and greed gets in the way.  The problem may have a different look in the 21^st century, but it is the same problem that has created conflict throughout human history.

Cain worked as a farmer; he tilled the land and raised crops.  Abel was a rancher, so to speak.  He raised livestock rather than till the land.  The products they produced were different so the comparison of their gifts to God seems to be the source of conflict.  Cain provided an offering to God of some of his produce while Abel provided the best meat he raised.

The various interpretations of the offering agree that this is where the conflict begins.  God expected only the best to be offered, not just some of the gleanings.  The fourth verse provides readers the difference in God’s acceptance of the offerings:

Cain brought an offering to God from the produce of his farm. Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat. God liked Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering didn’t get his approval.

The reaction of Cain is the same as a similar experience is for us today:  he became angry.  Whether the trigger for anger is greed—Abel’s offerings were more valuable—or whether it was jealousy because Abel found more favor in God’s eyes than he did, anger took over.

As young children, early Jewish laws were taught from the Old Testament text.  Jesus, just like his peers, went to Temple for teachings and the story was used to teach them the right way to live.  The murder of one brother over the quality of the offering seems petty; yet it demonstrates that sometimes emotions boil up and lead us to make bad decisions.

Today, just like in the beginning with Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and other related family members in the Old Testament, violent reactions occur over the same issues:  greed and jealousy are at the top of the list.  This week in our own metro area, the news has reported murders, robberies, and vicious behaviors that echo the Bible stories of conflict.

Have we learned any lessons?  Hopefully we have, but we need to check ourselves against the guidelines or the commandments that Jesus taught and are recorded in the New Testament.  Mark’s inclusion of the greatest commandment:

“The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.

If Cain had provided the best of his labor to God before anything else was done with his harvest, would the story ended differently?  We cannot second-guess the scripture, but we can learn the lesson.

In our lives today, are we offering God our best?  Are we passionate about our love of God?  Are we sincere in our prayers?  Do we put forth our best in using our intelligence and our energy?  Do we come to worship with the zeal that God is the basis of our lives?  Do we come to thank him for his love, his faith, and his guidance?

Cain did not.  Cain freely decided to murder his own brother out of jealousy and/or greed.  Cain sinned.

And what is the rest of the story?  Sin lead Cain to a frustrating, unhappy life.  Not only did he struggle, but also so did his family.  God did not strike Cain down; but when He did talk to Cain, he continued to show unconditional love despite his sin.

God’s punishment is that the land, where Abel’s blood was shed, would no longer produce well for Cain.  The result forced Cain to become a homeless wanderer trying to find a way to provide food, shelter and clothing.  And . . .

^13-14 Cain said to God, “My punishment is too much. I can’t take it! You’ve thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I’m a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me.”

God did not follow Cain’s behavior and kill him, no eye for an eye, or tooth for a tooth.  No . . .

¹⁵ God told him, “No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over.” God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him.

God demonstrated to Cain what we are to do—he turned away from the sin, punished him, but then protected him.  There is a paradox of sorts in the story, but looking at God’s actions through the New Testament teachings one can see the application of the Greatest Commandment:  ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment  . . .

The story of Cain & Abel might first appear to be one to avoid, but if we look deeply into our personal history and our personal lives, I suspect there is a ‘Cain & Abel’ story hidden within our own lives.  Yet, it is how we deal with our sins that makes Jesus’ story so extremely important.  When we accept God’s grace, work to understand how Jesus was born, lived, and died for us, and then live our faith honestly, then we know that God’s unconditional love will provide us forgiveness and eternal life.

If Jesus can learn from the Old Testament Bible stories, then we can, too.  If we sin as Cain did, we can still turn to God and ask forgiveness.  God loves us.  Jesus loves us.  Do we love God so much that we can follow his example and love those who sin against us?  Remember Jesus’ Greatest Commandment:

^29-31Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”  (the Message)

As we depart today from the safety of our church, let us remember that the stories are there for us to use.  Let us go out and tell the stories so others may understand God’s love.

Dear Loving Father,

Today we hear the Old Testament Bible story

Of Cain murdering his brother Abel.

Let us find the lessons you want us to know,

Let us live the lessons we learn, and

Let us tell the stories to others

So they may also find the joy in Christian living.  –Amen

Have you opened enough gifts this week?  I expect you have.  I certainly hope you have opened up your own gift of faith, too, as we have reviewed how the Christmas story depended on the faith of the prophets, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and even God himself.  The final gift of faith to open is that of the Wise Men.

Twelve days after Jesus was born, these individuals showed up to see for themselves the baby Jesus.  How did it happen that these wise men joined together to make this journey from the East and bring gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh?  Why is their story so important to include in Matthew’s gospel?

These two questions lead me to do some exploring.  I discovered some new ideas that broaden my thinking:

• The term ‘wise men’ has been referred to in other terms—kings, magi, sorcerers, and scholars as used in the Message translation.
• The ‘East” was not Egypt, but probably Persia, Media, Assyria, and/or Babylonia.  These locations were east of Jerusalem.
• The ‘star’ may have been an astrological event such as a comet or even more as implied in the text of Revelation of the Magi, which is an ancient text that has recently been translated providing a new perspective on the traditional story.
• The ‘gifts’ were the three most expensive items available at the time.  These gifts held interesting significance and were portable.  The basic understanding of giving gifts also may have additional significance that we, today, may not understand.

In sorting through these traditional and non-traditional pieces of the story, the source must be analyzed.  Remember that Matthew was written for a Jewish audience.  They knew the Old Testament history and prophecies.  They knew the promises of the 2,000 plus years of their ancestors.  The Wise Men were not Jewish; they were Gentiles.

The Message term ‘scholars’ places a much more familiar image in the 21^st century mind rather than terms magi, sorcerer, even wise men and kings The term ‘scholars’ create a more logical understanding of who these individuals were.  In our contemporary thinking, scholars often share knowledge among themselves.  They seek each other’s views and discuss their hypothesizes.  They check themselves against one and another.  Decisions are made only after they have been checked and rechecked, not only by themselves, but also by other scholars.

The terms used in ancient times—magi, sorcerer, wise men, and kings—do not provide contemporary thinkers the same image.  These images today would fall under the category of magicians, fortunetellers, political figures, and so forth.  Scientists or scholars answer our questions much more authoritatively today.

Of course, a political twist to this story is also one of geography.  Why, in my head, did I have the scholars arriving from the west rather than the east, I do not know.  Egypt always seemed like the source of the Biblical wise men and I knew that the east was not the right direction.  I always viewed Egypt as South and West of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.  Coming from the east meant an entirely different perspective.

Consider the Roman Empire.  At 7 BC, the Roman rule covered an enormous region.  The Roman Empire encircled the entire Mediterranean Seas—from the tip of Portugal and Spain, north to the English Channel, including what is now the Netherlands, down the mountain ridge to the Alps, around the Black Sea, to the Caspian Sea, then dropped south, slicing through to the Red Seas just under the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, and even across the northern coastal regions of Africa.  Whew!  All that land under one country’s rule, yet the birth of Christianity occurred in one, tiny kingdom under the rule of Herod that included the somewhat tiny communities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Then, in this vast expanse of the Roman Empire, a star appeared.  Almost every night, I look out at the stars and find myself awed by the clear, pristine beauty of those bright, twinkling lights in the darkened sky.  I can just stand there, frozen in awe and wonderment, and think about how God works in this enormous universe.

The star is such an important piece in the Christmas Story so I should not be surprised that it captures the Wise Men, the scholars’ attention.  Yet, in our contemporary world, the stars are scientifically explained and we seldom question anything about the stars.  On ancient days, the stars were studied and used for navigation.  There was a dependence on the stars and a change was not to be ignored.

In Brent Landua’s interpretation of the apocryphal Christian writing, Revelation of the Magi, the Magi report the star’s sighting:

. . . And each of us saw wondrous and diverse visions that were never before seen by us, but their mysteries were in these books that we were reading.  . . .  And we were afraid and shook when we saw it.  And we cannot speak about the brilliance of the star of light,  . . . And we rejoiced, and glorified and gave unmeasured thanks to the Father of heavenly majesty that it appeared in our days and we were thought worthy to see it.  (Accessed on December 29, 2011 at www.huffingpost.com/users/become Fan.php?of=hp blogger Brent Landau.)

Simply reading this version of the Star of Bethlehem, as we often refer to it, lifted my spirits.  These scholars, living to the east of Bethlehem, had been studying the ancient prophecies and saved their experience in a written form, too.  The skeptical side of me, no longer needs a scientific explanation.  If the ancient scholars’ faith was answered by the gift of God’s ‘star’ then I should accept the story and let my own faith grow.

In the ABC News report on Landau’s translation of the ancient text, they reported Landau’s finding about the star:

         In the “Revelation of the Magi,” Landau said, the Star of Bethlehem not only led the Wise Men, but also actually became the Christ child.

         “The cave is filled with light,” Landau said, describing the transcribed text.  “They’re kind of hesitant about this, but eventually the star . . . its light concentrates and reveals the small luminous human being…a star child, if you will. . . it’s Christ.” 

         Landau says the ancient text is a lost message from early Christians.  In this version, Landau said the most startling, and controversial, difference is what happened next in the story, when the “star child” spoke to the Magi.

         “Christ tells them, ‘This is one of many occasions on which I have appeared to the peoples of the world,’ “ Landau said.  “So this text may even by saying that there are no non-Christians religions because Christ is the revelation behind everything.”

The final piece to the story of the Eastern scholars in found in the gifts that they bring to Bethlehem.  The words are so familiar:  gold, Frankincense, and myrrh.  Yet even this part of the story has an interesting interpretation.  In the WebBible Encyclopedia, the three gifts represent the qualities or unique aspects of Christ.  The gold is for the role of king, the myrrh is representative of Christ’s death, and frankincense is incense burned in homage to God.  Another source suggests that these gifts provided the financial means for Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt.

The Christmas Story would not be complete without the story of the three wise men or scholars.  As much as we have heard the story, it is the faith of these men that brings us to Epiphany.  Regardless of the wide range of possible interpretations that color the story, the faith of the scholars supports our understanding of the coming of Christ.  We find that our seed of faith continues to grow, blossom and mature.  God’s gift of his child is a gift to us that sustains us, provides us hope, and guides us to love one another as we work to transform the world.

Dear Giving Father,

As we close the Christmas season of 2011,

Let us open up the gift of your unfailing love

For the new year 2012.

Let us experience the same faith

Of the prophets, of Mary, of Joseph,

Of the shepherds, and the scholars.

Let our faith grow so that others may hear

Our story and believe.

Let our faith grow as we continue

To learn, to worship and to serve.  –Amen

“A gift of faith,” you might ask.  Today, of all the days in the year, gifts are those packages all wrapped up under the tree.  The boxes and bags in such bright colorful wrappings, the ribbons curling and dipping around, bows on boxes suddenly stuck to someone’s head.  What a feast for the eyes!

Gifts come in all shapes and forms, so how does faith become a gift?  God gave us the gift of life.  God gave us the earth with all its unique features from the oceans to the mountaintops.  He filled the earth with trees, grass, flowers and all types of living flora, and then he added the creatures—the reindeer, the cattle, the sheep, even the tiniest of insects, and the fish in the waters.

And then, he created us.  We come in all shapes and colors.  We speak different languages, we live in different houses, we work, we travel, we rest and we play.  We are His children and our playground is so large.  In fact, with the gift of free thought, God gave us everything, even the curiosity that sends us out looking at the universe beyond our earthly home.

Remember the gospel John’s first words:

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Everything was God and for thousands of years the people of this world lived, doing good and doing bad.  One of the most vivid Sunday school lessons I remember was the story of Noah.  Forgive me if the pieces don’t really go together, but in my mind this is how I pieced together my understanding of God’s love.

We read how Noah was told to go to build the ark.  God’s hope for us was that the world would live in harmony and we would keep the world like the Garden of Eden.  Unfortunately, free will lead to many destructive situations and the world was not full of peace and harmony.  The people were not living according to the Ten Commandments.  God decided that the wayward people needed to be removed from this worldly garden.

Yet, hope and faith in Noah lead to the decision to ask this man of faith to build the ark and fill it so that after the earth was flooded, life could begin again.  The rainbow signaled the end of the flood and the second beginning of the world.  The rainbow, as seen in all the wrappings under our Christmas trees today as well as in our skies on those days the rain and sun play together, is a symbol of God’s faith in us.

As the generations continued, unfortunately God’s faith in us was weakened.  But the promise signaled by the rainbow was upheld.  In fact, God loved us so much that he decided to send his own son to demonstrate the absolute truth about loving one another.  I am sure you recognize John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God had faith in us.  His faith was so immeasurable that it is beyond anything we can possibly imagine.  His faith in us is a gift that was packaged up in the form of a tiny infant who was born under Roman rule, in a crowded town that had no room for his earthly parents.

Have we seen His gift waiting for us under our Christmas trees?  Have we unwrapped that gift?  Have we accepted that gift of God’s son?  The gift is there—it never gets old, never wears out, and never goes out of style.  The gift of God’s love comes in all shapes and colors.  The gift arrives without warning or can be carefully timed to arrive on just the right occasion.  The gift seems to expand as it is used and given to others.  The gift is truly one that “keeps on giving.”

Are we able to accept God’s gift of faith in us?  Are we able to accept God’s gift of his son?  Are we able to open up that little seed of faith and nurture it to grow into the strong, life-force that enriches our own earthly journey?

Today may be the annual tradition of Christmas, but remember that in each and every package wrapped up under the trees, what really is in that package is a gift of love.  Our gifts from one to another are physical ways we demonstrate the love that God has given to us.  We practice giving in ways to remind us of the gifts he has given us.

As we depart today, let us renew our faith in God as well as in ourselves.  We are God’s children, and we have grown in our faith.  Let us open up the gift of God’s love by accepting it and passing it on to others.  No gift should be left in a closest all year long, take it out daily and use it.  Let others see that this is one gift that never wears out, never goes out of date, and never dies out.   God’s faith is us should be accepted and shared.  Let our faith in God be the light and the Word for others needing a gift of faith.

Dear loving God,

Today we worship together,

Lift our prayers to you,

Sing our joyful hymns,

And accept your gift of Jesus Christ.

Today, as we join with family and friends

For a day of joyous celebration,

Be with us, protect us, and guide us.

Tomorrow we return for the day renewed,

Ready to step back into the busy world,

Guide us to open our gift of faith daily.

Guide us to share our gift of faith openly.

Guide us to give our gift of faith to others

So they may find their lives transformed.

–Amen

“I wonder as I wander . . . “

            “I wonder as I wander. . .” probably is one of the most appropriate phrases for me, personally, as any other I might try to apply to myself.  Those five lead words are from one of my favorite Christmas carols–one that my mom would play and sing at our own upright piano in the front room.

I also feel that the premise of this carol must be based on the shepherds’ point of view.  Where else in the Christmas story do we have a group of people sitting outside in the middle of the night simply thinking about all there is in this universe?

The life of the shepherd is so closely connected to the natural world, I find myself more connected to them than any of the others in the story.  Shepherds were so in tune with the sheep, that when one began to wander off the shepherds’ instincts could stop them before they were lost.  The good shepherds never left the sheep, they protected the sheep, they gave them the best pastures they could, and in some cases, they would corral them into caves for protection from the storms.  The sheep were more important than their own selves.

“I wonder as I wander. . . “ lead me to think about just who the shepherds were.  I was surprised to learn that it was not just a male-specific vocation.  A shepherd could be a female as well as a male.  The shepherds were not the great leaders of the community; they were not necessarily of the lineage that placed one in the role of a priest.  The shepherds were the everyday laborer whose responsibility for the sheep was essential to the well being of the entire community.

Sheep provided many staples for the people.  They supplied meat, wool, milk and cheese.  When one sheep wandered off or was lost for any reason, the loss was costly.  The shepherds were likely the most essential worker for the community, but also possibly the most under-appreciated ones, too.

Unfortunately that probably lead to a stereotyping of the average shepherd.  The prophets kept telling the faithful Jewish people that a savior was coming, a new king, or a messiah.  All of these titles indicate someone who was presumably from a family of prominent leaders or priests.  The cultural standards at that time kept the shepherds in a much lower social stratum.

Yet, “I wonder as I wander. . . “ why in the world did the angels decide to reach out to the shepherds and announce to them that the Messiah was born?  Why the shepherds?  Why not the civil leaders of the community?  Why not the priests in the temple?  Why just the shepherds?

Maybe the answer is as simple as understanding the value of these people from the point of view of today’s farmer.  When farmers, and shepherds, are the people responsible for one of the basic human needs—food and clothing—then it makes sense that if anyone needed to know.  The news of the promised savior was for everybody, not just the selected few.

The shepherds’ faith is based on the solid truths of their natural intelligence.  Faith of our farmers, today’s shepherds, incorporates an understanding of this phenomenal universe along with all the scientific knowledge to meet the needs of an entire globe the best that it can.  The natural ebb and flow of God’s world is as solid knowledge for the farmers and the shepherds as the rock foundation referred to in our hymn.  This is the very people that need to believe beyond any doubt that the savior is indeed who he is.

Now, consider the setting.  The shepherds are on a hillside near Bethlehem.  They are accustomed to the view before them, the skies above them, and the ground under them.  They have been here day after day watching, listening, smelling, and feeling all that is going on around them.  No disturbances in the quiet of the day or evening are a good thing.

As long as everything is peaceful, the shepherd is contentedly tending the sheep.  This leads us to another stereotypical image:  the idle shepherd.  This image, as so many stereotypical images, leads one to see the shepherd as somewhat lazy, non-thinking, or playful.  Many poems have created this image by referring to the shepherds who play on a flute, dance in the fields, lie in the pastures and stare idly into the sky.

But, “I wonder as I wander . . . “ if that is a fair image to portray.  The necessity of the shepherds indicates a much different image.  As I stop and think about the shepherd’s character, I realize that possibly the image that should be in our mind is that of Rodin’s statue—The Thinker.

Maybe the shepherds did have more quiet time available to them than many workers.  Maybe in that idle time, their brains were thinking., analyzing, and hypothesizing.  While sitting on the hillside, staring off into the horizon, I am sure that the minds were not lazy, not idle.  Instead I suspect that some of the greatest thoughts were generated right out there on that hillside overlooking Bethlehem.  I am convinced that if I were a shepherd, I would “wonder as I wander out under the sky.”

Look back at the scripture from Luke:

^8-12There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified.

They were terrified!  I would have been, too.  The sheep were quiet, the night sky was clear, and I would have been lost in thought.  The sudden appearance of an angel, much less a host of angels, would have knocked me off my feet.

Again, though, we are sitting here in the 21^st century since that eventful night, and we have lost touch with that unique night.  In our busy lives, we race from one chore to the next, from one field to the next, from one business to the next, even from one room to the next.  How can we hear the shepherds’ story without being skeptical?

Maybe we should model their behavior a bit more.  The most wonderful time of the day for me is that hour or two before the sun rises.  I can step outside on the deck, look up at the stars, feel the cool breeze on my face, smell the freshness of the earth, and hear the quiet of nature.  I find it to be utterly awesome.  I find the few moments in that setting as refreshing as a week off work—or maybe even more.  At that moment, my thoughts begin to wander as I wonder at all that God has given me.

If at that moment, the peace and quiet and beauty was suddenly interrupted by an image and lots of bright light, I expect I would have been frightened and need some assurance, too:

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

Being raised in a strong, faith-based community, the news for the shepherds had to be comforting.  This was the news everybody had been anticipating for hundreds, even thousands of years.  This was an event so huge that it had to be checked out.

How could these great thinkers, these vigilant men and women, these quiet, reliable people of faith ignore the angel’s announcement!  How could they explain to the rest of their family and friends what they experienced during the night?  How could they even trust their own eyes and ears?  They were simple shepherds.

As the angel and the host who appeared withdrew from the hillside’s sky, the shepherds started talking.  There was only one thing to do:

“Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Granted, the shepherds had to have been awe-struck, but I would have been, too.  My faith may appear solid, but if I had witnessed something like this in my quiet morning moment, I would be running all over the place.  I would certainly forget all my responsibilities; and as much as I believe, I would want to see.

In fact, I want to see yet today.  “I wonder as I wander out under the sky, how Jesus the savior was come for to die.”  I must believe because the shepherds’ faith is a gift to me.  Their faith has recorded what the angels told them, they saw the baby Jesus with their own eyes, and they spread the word.  I may have thoughts wandering around in my head, but as I wander around my community, I hope I demonstrate a faith as strong as that of the shepherds.  I pray that my faith is a gift for others; just as the gifts of faith are that we received from the prophets, from Mary, from Joseph, and from the shepherds.

Dear God, our Heavenly Shepherd,

As we relive the story of Jesus’ birth,

Thank you for preserving the news for us.

As we race along the days of preparation,

Let us not forget the quiet night on the hillside

When angels shared the news with the shepherds.

As we gather to celebrate with family and friends,

Let us share our own faith so others may know

The gift of faith God, his son and the Holy Spirit

Provides for us each and every day of our lives.

Graciously, amen.

How can any organization fire an employee and then pay off the salary.  How can anybody justify firing a coach from a college program and then pay $6 million dollars to finish the deal?

In any other profession or job, firing means immediate loss of income.  Sometimes there is a severance package; but when the reason for firing is failure to perform successfully, how can anyone justify paying such an exorbitant fee to end the relationship.

Enough is enough.

Then, as if college football were not enough, professional football follows the same practice.

The coach fails–not just one season, but more than one season?  Before you know it–or finally, the coach is fired.  Now failing to produce in any business is a reason to fire someone, but why such an exorbitant severance package.  What message is this sending our young people!

Enough is enough.

If we are living in a society that supports such extravagant severance packages, then the practice needs to be revamped to include the typical blue collar workers as well as white collar workers.

Failure in any job leads to job loss.  But in a society that prides itself in valuing each human being, why are only a select few allowed to be fired and paid for being fired?  What happens to those who end up being ‘riffed’ (reduction in force) when the economy fails?

Enough is enough.

All professions should review their policies on firing and paying severance.  Remember–economic times are tough.  Remember–the generations to come are watching.  Remember–each individual deserves fair play.  Remember–failure is failure at any level of employment.

Enough is enough.

Picture this:  You are sound asleep after an exhausting day working with wood and saws and tools.  Suddenly you wake up and realize you just had this dream that makes no sense at all.  You feel troubled, restless, and bewildered all at the same time.  How come you had this dream?  What does it mean?  It seemed so real.

We all have fallen asleep after a hard day’s work, and we all have been awakened from deep sleep with a troubling dream.  Yet I doubt that any one of us has a dream that comes near Joseph’s dream.

Remember the dream?

God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—’God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

According to Matthew, Joseph knew that Mary was pregnant and had two options:  divorce her or have her stoned to death.   A choice like that would certainly be reason enough to go to sleep and have a bad dream, but this dream did not follow the two options.  Instead it presented a third option, go ahead and marry her.

Understanding this situation Joseph was facing is almost inconceivable among us.   Today’s culture does not reflect the same cultural standards as those in ancient Egypt.  The region we refer to as Israel was where Joseph was living.  The country was under Roman control and King Herod was ruling the region.  The Israelites were still living in this region as Jewish people of faith, but they were subject to Roman law.

Life was focused on meeting the basic needs of the family and living a faithful, fruitful life as a Jew.  The prophets kept telling that a savior or messiah or king was coming, but that promise had been heard for thousands of years.

What would make this year, 7 BC, any different that any other year?  Why should Joseph think that he, of all the men in the Jewish faith, would be serving as a father to that savior?  Why would God choose him?

Don’t you think that when Joseph got up that morning and walked out into the community, he looked a bit shaken!  Did he have bags under his eyes?  Maybe he had the proverbial “deer in the headlight” look or maybe he decided to stay home that day not wanting to run into anybody who might ask questions.

Joseph’s story is given very little space in the New Testament.  The name is a common one throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament.  While looking up Joseph of Nazareth, the father of Jesus, the notations on him are exceptionally limited in comparison to the Joseph in the Old Testament, the one with the coat of many colors and brothers who sold him into slavery.

Yet reading the genealogy listed in Matthew, one can see that even the connection of these two different Josephs is considered important.  The genealogy served specific purposes:

“In societies organized around kinship, genealogies serve as public records that document history, establish identity and/or legitimate office.  The key to legitimacy and identity is a direct, irrefutable familial tie with the past.”  . . .  Genealogies were especially important in ancient Israel because the right to hold important offices was a hereditary privilege.  For example, the priesthood was assured to the sons of Levi, while kingship was reserved for the descendants of Judah and more specifically for the son of David. “  (the Archeological Bible, p. 1559)

The parents of Jesus fulfilled both genealogical purposes.  In Luke, the genealogy provides the biological connection from Mary to David while in Matthew the connection is the legal line connecting Joseph to King David.

But let’s go back to Joseph himself.  I have always had this mental image of a young man, eager to marry a young wife and begin a new family all by themselves.  Our culture has those subtle expectations of young people getting married for the first time—neither having had any sexual relations prior to the wedding.  It never occurred to me that the arrangement between Joseph and Mary was any different than what our culture’s arrangement.

Looking back at the culture of 7 BC, I discovered that the culture was very different than what we are accustomed to here in 2011 AD.  The term engagement we use when a couple commit themselves to each other is very different than being “pledged” in ancient Jewish culture.  Not to mention that the decision was made by the parents rather than by the young couple independent of the families.

According to Jewish custom, the parents arranged the marriage of Joseph and Mary after which they are “pledged,” which meant that the arrangement was final and no intimate relationships could occur until after the marriage ceremony.  Interestingly if the arrangement was broken or if some form of infidelity occurred, the man could divorce the woman.  If there was a case of adultery, both the man and the woman would be stoned to death.

Another surprise I discovered was that the apocrypha* suggests that Joseph was older, had been married, had children and became a widower prior to becoming engaged to Mary.  According to the culture, when he discovered Mary was pregnant, he had a choice of divorcing her or having her stoned to death.

Whether Joseph was older or whether he was a young man waiting to marry Mary as his first wife, the story does not change.  Joseph was a man of faith—or as Matthew states, “Joseph, chagrined but noble,” was unwilling to cause Mary harm or embarrassment.  After his dream, he chose to accept God’s message from the dream and remain with Mary.

In a culture where the men are leaders of the family, where the men control the household’s decisions, where the women were second class citizens at best, and where disgrace could lead to death by stoning, Joseph made a decision that transformed the world.  He believed.  He trusted God.  He demonstrated faith.

Today, as we move one week closer to the celebration of Christ’s birth, lets take a mental snapshot of Joseph.  Whether he is young or old, when he woke up after that dream, what do we see?  We see a man who is willing to risk his own reputation and standing within the community because the angels in his dream told him how important the child Mary was carrying would be.

I think the picture we have would reflect a sparkle in his eyes, a bounce in his step, and a resolve in the set of his chin that demonstrated how God’s love could do anything.  Joseph was chosen just like Mary was.  God knew that despite all the possible obstacles the decision to stay with Mary and to rear the Messiah, a man of faith as strong as Joseph’s would help transform the world through the love demonstrated by his stepson Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father,

In all the haste of preparing for Christmas,

Let us stop and thank you for a man of faith.

Thank you for Joseph, who was so confident

In your decision to have a son,

That he listened to the angels in his dream.

Help us to listen, even to our dreams,

As you tell us how to share our faith

Help us as our faith continues to grow

To know that we can follow your lead

Loving one another

And transforming the world.

Amen

*An interesting viewpoint:  How old was Joseph?

Accessed on December 9, 2011 at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08504a.htm.  This is a site which is also the Catholic Encyclopedia.

It is probably at Nazareth that Joseph betrothed and married her who was to become the Mother of God. When the marriage took place, whether before or after the Incarnation, is no easy matter to settle, and on this point the masters of exegesis have at all times been at variance. Most modern commentators, following the footsteps of St. Thomas, understand that, at the epoch of the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin was only affianced to Joseph; as St. Thomas notices, this interpretation suits better all the evangelical data.

It will not be without interest to recall here, unreliable though they are, the lengthy stories concerning St. Joseph’s marriage contained in the apocryphal writings. When forty years of age, Joseph married a woman called Melcha or Escha by some, Salome by others; they lived forty-nine years together and had six children, two daughters and four sons, the youngest of whom was James (the Less, “the Lord’s brother”). A year after his wife’s death, as the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Juda a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age. Joseph, who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates; a miracle manifested the choice God had made of Joseph, and two years later the Annunciation took place. These dreams, as St. Jerome styles them, from which many a Christian artist has drawn his inspiration (see, for instance, Raphael’s “Espousals of the Virgin”), are void of authority; they nevertheless acquired in the course of ages some popularity; in them some ecclesiastical writers sought the answer to the well-known difficulty arising from the mention in the Gospel of “the Lord’s brothers”; from them also popular credulity has, contrary to all probability, as well as to the tradition witnessed by old works of art, retained the belief that St. Joseph was an old man at the time of marriage with the Mother of God.

“I am bursting with God-news”

            Today really throws us into the hubbub of Christmas season.  Watching the news, we plan our weekends, check the sales ads, and keep adding to our calendar.  How easy it is to overlook the very cause of all this activity.

Place yourself back 2,000 years and consider what your daily life would be like:  up early to start the day–the women probably first because the cooking had to start.  The infants had to nurse, the toddlers probably needed cleaning up, the flatbread needed cooking, and . . .  how was a woman to do it all!

Now throw into this morning routine daily worship time and prayers.  The men are up and leading the worship before hurrying off to make a living whether it was making nets, tents, building a house, trading or even farming.              The daily routine looks quite different today, but there is still that basic structure in everybody’s life.  The differences are in the appliances and the family structures.  Practicing one’s faith typically is not a priority in the morning while everybody is racing about getting ready for the day.

Maybe that is one of the reasons we struggle to understand Mary’s story.  Mary was a young, poor Levite woman.  Her world at that time revolved around learning the woman’s role in maintaining a home.  She was engaged to Joseph so I am sure that she was trying to put together her own “hope chest” as we know it.

Then suddenly, in the midst of the daily routine, Gabriel appears!  There you are working by yourself, no one else present, and this angel appears.  Saying that Mary was startled might be an understatement, yet, she listened—and believed.

Would you have believed so completely?

Luke, as you may remember, was writing to Theophilus using every skill he had to convince the interested listener that Jesus’ story from conception through crucifixion was true.  The story begins with Mary’s faith.  Does yours?

Consider Mary’s situation as outlined in the Life Application Bible’s study notes:

Mary was young, poor, female—all characteristics that, to the people of her day, would make her seem unusable by God for any major task.  But God chose Mary for one of the most important acts of obedience he has ever demanded of anyone.

Yet, God chose her.  It did not mean that her life was suddenly going to be transformed into one of simplicity, ease, and honor.  Rather, accepting such news meant an extremely difficult life—a life filled with . . .

. . . pain:  her peers would ridicule her; her fiance’ would come close to leaving her; her son would be rejected and murdered.

Mary had faith.  She trusted God to use her as he wished.  What an amazing sense of faith she demonstrated!

Luke’s inclusion of Mary’s story still mystifies many.  As we work to grow in our faith, the virgin birth of Jesus is commonly one of the most difficult foundations of Christianity for today’s faithful to accept.  Yet Luke, an educated medical doctor of that century, included it in his story.  If anyone could have disproven the virgin birth, he could have.  The study notes continue:

These three facts can aid our faith:  (1) Luke was a medical doctor, and he knew perfectly well how babies are made.  It would have been just as hard for him to believe in a virgin birth as it is for us, and yet he reports it as fact.  (2) Luke was a painstaking researcher who based his Gospel on eyewitness accounts.  Tradition holds that he talked with Mary about the events he recorded in the first two chapters.  This is Mary’s story, not a fictional invention.  (3) Christians and Jews, who worship God as the Creator of the universe, should believe that God has the power to create a child in a virgin’s womb.  (emphasis added)

Do you have Mary’s faith?  Do you have the confidence of Luke?  Do you, as               21st century Christians believe that “God has the power to create a child in a virgin’s womb?”

Mary’s faith is a gift even to us.  She accepted Gabriel’s announcement and accepted all the ramifications that came with the pregnancy.  Her faith was necessary for the fulfillment of Old Testament prophets including Zechariah’s.

Thank goodness Mary did accept the news of her expected motherhood.  Thank goodness she had an ally in Elizabeth.  I am sure that having a cousin who was in very similar circumstances helped her—helped both of them–manage the emotional challenges within their community, too.

After Gabriel departs, Mary decides to visit Elizabeth.  She, having been born and raised in the Jewish faith–also in the line of Aaron, one of the tribes who were priests—is received in faith, too.  Elizabeth must have known that Mary was going to give birth to Jesus, the Messiah.  Even Elizabeth’s unborn son John knew:  the baby in her womb leaped.

Regardless the translation of the Bible, they all say that the baby leapt.  And the two women shared in their excitement.  Luke’s scripture, remember was written after talking to Mary herself, and he adds the song found in verses 46-56:

I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

Elizabeth and Mary had worshiped faithfully and this hymn echoes that of Hannah’s in I Samuel.  Hannah’s song is Mary’s song, and she turned to those words to praise God.  Their faith was a gift that God rewarded with the gift of a son.  Faith carried them through their pregnancies and even through the ministry of their sons.

We sing the praises throughout the Advent season.  Our hymns are filled with words from the scripture.  We return to those familiar words of our worship as we remember the gift of Mary’s faith, of Elizabeth and Zechariah’s, too.

Dear Father,

Thank you for the gift of Mary’s faith:

A faith so strong that you chose her

To be the mother of Your Son.

Help us to grow our faith

Through worship, study, and service.

Let Mary’s faith reflect in our lives

So others may see how Your love

Truly transforms our lives.

Amen.

Scripture basis:  Luke 1: 5-20     The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold (from the NIV)

 ⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. ⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

 ⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

 ¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. ¹⁶ Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

 ¹⁹ The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”

The Prophet’s Gift of Faith:  Zechariah’s story

The weather forecast looks a bit bleak.  Cold, rain and grey skies makes us a little less energetic.  Yet don’t we want to check on the weather forecast daily?  Why is it that we listen with heightened interest when the weather comes on?  And think about how you can be in an entirely different room when you hear that familiar alert sound saying turn to channel 17 for the weather alert.

We listen eagerly for the sunny, warm days that allow us to plan for special outings or certain tasks that need to get done.  Then when we hear the forecast for a thunderstorm or even worse–tornado or blizzard—how do we react?  Do we place our faith in the meteorologists who tell us what is yet to come?

Of course there are the skeptics out there who simply see all the failures of the meteorologists.  They may listen intently to the weather, but they choose to disregard what they say.  They may decide to rely strictly on what is outside the door when they step outside.  They certainly do not put any trust in what is predicted.

That same skepticism is found in the Bible.  The record of the Jewish people throughout the Old Testament shares the results of those who listened to the prophets with faith and those who listened but then ignored what was forecasted.  The same reactions compare to those we have to the weather forecasts.

Yet for thousands of years, generation after generation a group of prophets kept forecasting the arrival of a Savior, the Messiah, or a King.  Many kept holding on to that promise, but many chose not to listen.  The promise never seemed to be fulfilled.  Why should they believe any longer?

            Consider the fact that for 2,000 plus years, the faithful tribes of Israel were always being told that they were going to have a new leader, someone who could make right all the wrongs they had suffered while in captivity and while wandering around the desert.  The prophets kept predicting this person’s coming, but he never seemed to materialize.  The faith of the Jewish people waivered just like the people who fail to heed the tornado, hurricane, and blizzard warnings.

Then came Zechariah.  Here was a man who was born and raised to serve as a priest.  The prophets in the Old Testament followed the same tradition, being born into the avocation of the family line.  Zechariah was fulfilling his duties as a member of the priestly division of Abijah.  His turn to supervise the burning of incense placed him in the temple when the angel Gabriel appeared with his news.

The scripture from Luke, carefully answers all the concerns of the new Christians or those still not completely convinced of the truth in Jesus’ birth.  In this opening Luke’s gospel, the prediction of Jesus’ birth was delivered, despite Zechariah’s inability to speak words.  Since everybody knew Zechariah was faithful so the anticipation of the savior’s birth is renewed.

Where does that place us now over 2,000 years since then?  Do we have the same level of faith that Zechariah had or do we ignore the story because it is just like the weather—coming and going, never matching the predictions?

They had heard it before, what could be different this time?  Even Zechariah struggled to believe it and questioned the angel Gabriel:

¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹ The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”

Even, Zechariah questioned Gabriel so how could everybody else, whether from a line of priests or from any other lineage, believe such a prediction?

This first Sunday of advent, the prediction that Luke opens his gospel establishes the connection of a faithful, patient servant to the prophecies of the Old Testament.  Zechariah’s experience demonstrated how faith is rewarded.  For the faithful attending temple and for those who heard the news, hope revived and faith was rewarded.

Has Luke revived your faith?  Has Zechariah’s story caused your seed of faith to grow a little bigger?  Has God ever gone back on his promise?  Have you doubted the mystery of Christ’s birth?  Or have you simply believed?  Remember that as long as you have even the faith the size of a mustard seed, you will receive the gift of eternal life.

Dear Loving and Giving Father,

Years and years separate us from the birth of Your Son.

Many have given up their faith because they do not believe

The story told so long, long ago in a country far away.

The prophets had long given the faithful hope,

But 2,000 years hope faded and faith was tested.

Zechariah, faithful all his life, even questioned Gabriel,

Still God sent a message of hope to those who still believed.

Now, another 2,000 years later, their remain the faithful,

But so many have allowed their faith to die.

During the Advent Season, help us to nurture the seeds of faith

So the world can be transformed once again.

Amen.

Genesis 1:31-2:3   (from the NIV)

1:³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

2:¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.  ² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

The seventh day, He rested.  Today is that seventh day, a Sunday before Thanksgiving.  Are you resting?  The harvest season is over, the holiday season is racing toward us, too.  Rest seems impossible.  Thanksgiving, as a holiday, is losing its significance as a day to stop and thank God for all that he has given us, blessed us.  Today you may rest, but remember God is the creator, the very source of our existence.

Consider this statement:

God is love, and love is best expressed toward something or someone else—so God created the world and people as an expression of his love.  (from Life Application Bible’s study notes, p.5)

Traditionally today’s Americans usually can say that Thanksgiving is a time to honor the Pilgrims and their feast of thanksgiving.  Yet the history of Thanksgiving is more complicated than one might think, and nowhere in a web article by Jennifer Rosenberg, an historian and author, does a reference to God appear:

The first Thanksgiving was held in the fall of 1621, sometime between September 21 and November 11, and was a three-day feast. The Pilgrims were joined by approximately 90 of the local Wampanoag tribe, including Chief Massasoit, in celebration.  . . .

. . . It wasn’t until October 1777 that all 13 colonies celebrated a day of Thanksgiving. The very first national day of Thanksgiving was held in 1789, when President George Washington proclaimed Thursday, November 26 to be “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer,” to especially give thanks for the opportunity to form a new nation and the establishment of a new constitution.

Yet even after a national day of Thanksgiving was declared in 1789, Thanksgiving was not an annual celebration.  . . .

. . . when the United States was torn in half during the Civil War and Lincoln was searching for a way to bring the nation together, he discussed the matter with Sarah Joseph Hale, editor of the Godey’s Ladies Book and author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

On October 3, 1863, Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation that declared the last Thursday in November (based on Washington’s date) to be a day of “thanksgiving and praise.”  . . . On December 26, 1941, Congress passed a law declaring that Thanksgiving would occur every year on the fourth Thursday of November.   (Accessed on November 19, 2011, at http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/thanksgiving.htm.)

Despite the historical development of Thanksgiving, one must go back to Genesis and look at those first verses:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . .

Today, we eagerly wait for Thanksgiving Day.  For many, the entire week is a break from the usual routine.  Many travel, some cook, some make their Christmas lists, and some plan out the football schedule.  Where in the week do we stop and say thank you, God, for all that you have created for us, for all the talents you have given us, for all the blessings of family, friends, and freedom that we have?

Granted, we do say thank you, but is it heartfelt?  In fact, stop and consider the doxology we sing each week.  The words keep surfacing in my mind:  Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Do we realize that we give thanks each time we sing this?  Do we honestly believe God is the source for all that we have and that we are?

God is love.  God is creator.  God is in a relationship with us, or we in a relationship with God?

John 1:14-18

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John [the Baptist] testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” ¹⁶ From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

The gospel John was written by the apostle John, the son of Zebedee, a brother of James, and nicknamed “Son of Thunder.”  His gospel differs from the other three, but the purpose is undeniable— “to prove that Jesus is the Son of God and that all who believe in him will have eternal life.”  (from the Life Application Bible’s study notes. p. 1866).  His audience are new Christians or those who still are not sure, but searching for answers.

Thanksgiving in the US may be a legal holiday honoring events in our history, but Thanksgiving is also faith-based.  John refers back to the creation story in Genesis in the first verse of his gospel:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  ‘He’ refers to Jesus as the scripture excerpt states.

We read the Bible, study the context, consider what life has historically been, and even what our own experiences are.  We easily state that we believe God sent his own son, Jesus, to be with us.  Yet, do we fully comprehend that Jesus is God?  Do we stop to consider that God’s relationship with us was so important that he felt compelled to be physically with us to demonstrate his love?

Would the Pilgrims have had the faith, the strength, even the endurance to pick up their lives in England and board the ship for an extremely long, difficult journey to a land filled with unknowns.  Their faith had to be absolute.  Their trust that God was with them carried them through the Atlantic storms, through the landing on an unchartered shoreline, and into the wilds of an unknown land.

Would that faith have developed if God had not loved us so much that he joined us on earth as the human being Jesus Christ?  The Old Covenant that God had with the faithful tribes of Israel was not working.  God is love, and despite all the prophecies, despite all the warnings, despite all the blessings that God gave the people, they continued to miss His message.

This week, during all the activities of the Thanksgiving weekend, stop and consider whether love is the foundation of all that we do.  God did not give up on us, he sent his son Jesus Christ to shake things up, to give us a New Law that was easy to follow:  love one another.

Thanksgiving Day, when we gather with our family and friends, share in that blessing and thanks.  Thank God for his enduring love.  Thank God for caring enough to send His Son, the very best, to teach us how to love one another.  Thank God for the love that carried the Pilgrims to an unknown world because they believed in that love.

Each week, we practice thanksgiving in the doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son,  . . .

God is love.  God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to demonstrate love so we can love one another.

Isn’t Thanksgiving just the right time for us to thank God and to praise him for all that he has given us?

John 16:5-16

⁵ “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. ⁷ But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

¹⁶ “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

Ending the doxology with “Praise Father and Son” does not complete the prayer.  Instead a third name is listed—Holy Ghost.  Do we understand the importance of including the Holy Ghost in the doxology?

The story of Christ could have ended with his resurrection, but would God’s love have continued?  The gospel of John provides insight into how God continues to demonstrate love even after Christ returns to God.

The subheading in John 15 is foreboding:  “Jesus Warns about the World’s Hatred.”  The world that was swirling around Jesus and the Apostles was very similar to any day along the timeline of history.  Evil is always present just like love is always present.  Still, the task of making sure that the disciples continued teaching Jesus’ message was a concern.  Jesus assured them that they were capable of keeping and spreading the message of loving one another.

The subheading in John 16 is “Jesus Teaches about the Holy Spirit.”  Living in any century always carries challenges, but the Apostles needed to know how they were going to manage without Jesus to lead them.  In verses 5-16, Jesus identifies the Holy Ghost by explaining that only when he leaves will the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth–also known as the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit–come to them.

The Holy Spirit is God’s love within each and every one of us.  Not only is the Holy Spirit the counselor for us, but also it is the Spirit of Truth.  With the Holy Spirit we are given the heart and the knowledge to manage living in the earthly world.  We are tasked to love one another and without the Holy Spirit we would be unable to determine right from wrong, from knowing what needs to be done to share God’s love with one another.

Look again at John 16:13:  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.   The Holy Spirit becomes God’s love transformed into service and love to one another.  We are blessed by God’s love, and we are God’s love to one another.

Thanksgiving Day, 2011:  a day to give thanks and praise for all that we have.  Thanksgiving is a day of worship, a day filled with the joys in our lives.  Thanksgiving is a day we, as Americans, can thank God for the Pilgrims and our ancestors who acted on faith so that we can meet together and worship.  Thanksgiving is everything we share in the doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  –Amen.

Dear God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,

Hear our prayer today;

Thanks for this world you have provided us.

Thanks for the gift of your Son.

Thanks for empowering us with the Holy Spirit.

Through your love,

May we continue to serve one another

So they may know your blessings, too.  –Amen