In this morning's Gospel reading, we hear one of the hard sayings of Jesus. He tells us, "Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword." 

This isn't exactly comforting news. After all, I thought that Jesus was supposed to be the Prince of Peace. And here he is telling us that he's not coming to bring peace but a sword. And then he goes on to describe all the family strife that's going to transpire because of him. What the heck are we supposed to make of THAT?

Well, first, I think that a little bit of context is helpful. Jesus' words this morning are to his closest followers. The 12. They are the ones we heard about last week - when Robin York reminded us that they were ordinary folks, sent on a "mission from God." They were sent to the folks Jesus called "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" and their task was to "cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons." 

We get a sneak preview of this problem of "no peace" in last week's readings when Jesus says, "If they don't welcome you, shake the dust from your sandals and leave that town." There is clearly something about Jesus' message that some will find threatening, if the 12 need an escape plan!

So Jesus tells his closest followers that it's not going to be all sunshine and roses, following him. He warns them that the message that they bring won't always be welcome. That some people, on hearing it, will not call them heroes, but Beelzebul - Satan. He tells them that it's possible that their families, their parents, their children will turn away from them. It's possible that the Gospel message will not bring always bring joy and peace, but strife and discord.

This family strife happens to Jesus on more than one occasion in the Gospels. Members of his family, fearing for his sanity, come to try to silence him. Jesus responds to those telling him that his family has come to try to dissuade him from his ministry by saying that his family are the ones who do God’s will. 

You can see this lack of peace in some of the stories about Jesus. Jesus treated vulnerable people, those shunned by society, with great compassion. Remember the story of the woman who was caught in adultery? She was about to be stoned to death when Jesus came upon her and her accusers. Rather than joining the crowd, he suggested that those without sin should be the first to throw stones. 

But, in an exchange typical of Jesus, he also held her accountable. When her accusers had vanished, Jesus said to her, “Now, go and sin no more.” This compassion for sinners created conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders.

Other “no peace” moments in the early days of the church had to do with the question of who this “Jesus movement” was really for. Were Jesus’ teachings meant to be solely a reform of Judaism? Or, were they intended for the wider Gentile world, as well? Following Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the birth of the church at Pentecost, the question of who was really welcome in the early church became a HUGE one.

No one wrestled with this question more than Peter. Initially, he saw himself as a faithful Jew - and looked at Gentiles with disdain. But following a dream in which God revealed that nothing God made was unclean, Peter was invited  to the home of a Roman centurion named Cornelius, and discovered that the Holy Spirit had preceded him.  

Peter became a passionate witness for a mission to the Gentiles, despite the fact that many other followers of Jesus disagreed with him. The Acts of the Apostles relates the many conversations and councils held to decide the question - and how contentious they were. 

It’s clear from reading the stories of Jesus’ own ministry, and of the early church, that striving to faithfully follow Jesus can lead to strife and division.

So, what do Jesus' words this morning mean for us? I think that there are two messages. One message is a caution and the other is an encouragement.

First, our world these days is one filled with strife and conflict. After our recent presidential election, I saw people from both political parties declaring that they could no longer interact with a parent or a child, a friend or an old college roommate, because of their political views. We call the people with disagree with idiots or snowflakes, extremists or libtards, hatemongers or commies. The words Spawn of Satan were even bandied about. We are seeing a rise in hate crimes and violence against those who are seen as different. 

Let me be clear: Jesus is not encouraging this kind of behavior. I don't think he's telling us that it's OK to demean people or break relationships because we disagree on political points. He's certainly not encouraging violence. Jesus called his first followers to love one another - and to pray for those who might be considered enemies. Dismissing those we disagree with as snowflakes or extremists doesn't fall within the call to love.

Jesus warned his followers, "Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword." What he didn't say was that they should take up arms and fight. (In fact, he said, "Those who live by the sword die by the sword."). 

But he did warn them his followers that following him and being faithful to him could lead to division. Here's how that might play out for us living today. 

Jesus is encouraging us to take faithful stands. As we’ve already seen in my examples this morning, much of what Jesus taught: welcome for the stranger, acceptance of the sinner, healing for the sick, and food for the hungry, wasn't particularly popular in his own day - any more than it is now.

Jesus is calling us to be faithful. Be faithful to Biblical teaching. Be faithful to his call to love. And to do that whether or not we think it's going to be popular with our friends and family. 

There are currently some pretty contentious debates happening in our country: What's our national responsibility about health care? How do we assure that every child in our country is fed? Who is really welcome here? How do we treat people who are different from us? Do black lives really matter?

How do we decide where we stand on these issues? How do we make sense of the ferocious debates currently going on?

As Christians, our call is faithfulness to Jesus and his teachings. We are called to return again and again and again to the words we find in scripture. And then we are called to use those words to inform our views and plans for action. Even if those views aren't popular with our friends and family. Even if those actions create tension in our relationships. 

Let me be clear - Conflict isn’t ever the goal! Unfortunately (and this was Jesus’ point), it might well be a byproduct of our faithful and prayerful discernment and action.

At the end of the day, our highest calling as Christians is to follow Jesus and his teachings. Our mission from God is made clear in His teaching: love God and love neighbor. Treat the stranger with compassion. Welcome the sinner. Heal the sick. Cast out demons. 

This morning’s teaching from Jesus isn’t an easy one. It’s frankly a passage I’d rather forget was in Matthew’s Gospel! But it’s an important one that serves to guide us in our discernment and in our decision making. And if others disagree - well, we’re to (metaphorically) shake the dust off of our sandals because our highest loyalty is to Jesus. 

Finally, it’s important to remember that the word Gospel means Good News. And there are, alongside this hard teaching, words of comfort and consolation. Jesus reminds his disciples of their value in the eyes of God. God has numbered the hairs on our head. God values us more than many sparrows. And when we take up the cross of proclaiming our Gospel values, we might lose something in this world, but we gain new life in Christ. 

My friend Christine at Brave and Reckless has posted a poetry challenge. While I'm not usually a poetry writer, this one spoke to me. Our instructions were to write about a life experience using only 10 objects. Immediately, I thought about celebrating the Eucharist. Here's my poem:

Communion
Gathered community
Wooden Table
Arms outstretched
Brown pottery plate, with spiral center
Matching cup
Freshly baked bread and sweet port wine
Ancient words, spoken aloud
Hands hold bread and bless
Bread, broken
Meal shared

#brave10objectchallenge

Text: Matthew 5:38-48

This morning’s Gospel passage concludes with what sounds like an impossible command. Jesus says, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” I don’t know about you, but I know about me. I am far from perfect – and if perfection is the goal, I’m in big trouble!
 
I have good news. While there is no doubt that what Jesus asks of us is difficult, it’s not impossible. What Jesus is asking us to do in this passage is to love as God loves. This this morning, I’ll walk us through what’s happening in this passage and then, we’ll explore together what loving as God loves looks like in our own lives.
 
To begin, we have a translation problem. The word that our Bible translators give to us as perfect is the Greek word telios. And while perfect is one way to translate this word, it’s not the best or the only way. Telios can mean complete, mature, and having full integrity, as well as perfect.
 
There’s a version of the Bible called The Common English Bible. It translates this last phrase this way: Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also must you be complete. Each and every example that Jesus gives in this short passage, from going the extra mile to lending to those in need, to praying for and loving one’s enemies all stem from that command to love as God loves.
 
We have been invited, in our own relationship with God, to experience God’s love first hand. Whoever we are, whatever we have done, God’s love and grace is extended to us. Through Jesus’ life, ministry, example, death and resurrection, we have been offered life-giving grace and forgiveness. We have been offered God’s unconditional love. In this passage, Jesus asks us to take that unconditional love and grace that we have been offered and to extend it to others. That’s how we love the way that God loves. That’s what it means to be perfect, to be complete, to be mature, and to have full integrity.
 
One of my favorite passages from scripture comes from the First Letter of John. In the 4th chapter, we read: Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, CEB)
 
I don’t know about you, but I was raised to think of my life of faith as a win or lose proposition with no middle ground. It was either success or failure. Either I got it right, or I failed colossally. I eventually realized that God doesn’t operate this way. God is love. And God extends love to us again and again. As I walk through my own life, I am given many many opportunities to learn the lessons of love – and to extend love to others. If I get it right – good. If I fail, I have an opportunity to return to God’s love for me, receive God’s grace, and then try again.
 
Living and loving this way isn’t easy. The scenes that Jesus describes at the beginning ask us to receive being humiliated with non-violent opposition. Then he asks us to show compassion by giving and lending when we are asked. He concludes with asking us to pray for our enemies and to show them love. This is tough stuff. In my own life, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve failed more than I’ve succeeded. But, then I get up, return to God’s love and grace, and try again. And again. And again.
 
What might this look like? Here’s an example.
 
Perhaps you remember the story of the school shooting in the Nickel Mines Amish Community in Lancaster County, PA in October of 2006. A man named Charles Carl Roberts IV shot ten Amish school girls, before killing himself. Five of the girls died and five were critically wounded but survived. The Amish made the news almost immediately because of their incredible acts of forgiveness. An Amish neighbor named Henry visited Charlie’s parents on the day of the shooting to offer forgiveness. Thirty Amish community members attended the funeral for Charlie Roberts, shielding his family from the news media.
 
One article I read about this event said that “not holding grudges” is a core belief for the Amish in living out their faith. Many outsiders were quick to judge the Amish for rushing to forgiveness too quickly. The father of one of the girls opened a window into what this experience of forgiveness is like. His daughter Roseanna was not killed, but permanently disabled. She cannot walk, speak, or communicate. He said that every day as he watches her struggle, he has to fight back his anger. Every day, he says, he has to forgive again. Several people described this decision to forgive as an active choice.
 
Another part of this story that you may not know is the story of Charlie’s mother, Terri. After she was shown forgiveness and care by her Amish neighbors, she began to reach out. She has developed a special relationship with Roseanna and her family. Until a recent illness forced her to slow down, she went to Roseanna’s house once a week to bathe her, spend the evening with her, and give her family some respite from her ongoing care.
 
What I hear in this story is a whole group of people who chose to love as God loves. It would have been easy for those Amish families to shut out their neighbors. It would have been easy for Terri Roberts to turn away from the pain her son caused. Instead, in that small community, neighbors reached across a huge chasm of pain to love one another as God loves.
 
Our world is growing ever more polarized. We disagree about so many things. We’ve lost our capacity for civil discourse. It’s so much easier to be snarky and dismissive than to engage in the actual work of love. We live in an age when we hang out in echo chambers that reflect our own views. Social media makes it easier to unfriend someone than to engage with love across our differences.  
 
Jesus calls us to love as God loves. To resist violence with non-violence. To care for those in need. To forgive our enemies and to pray for them. We are to do it because God is love and God loves us. Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also must you be complete.

This morning, our Scripture readings speak to us in one common voice. And that common voice tells us that God’s values are different from many of our default human values. Let me say that again. The common voice in our scriptures this morning tells us that God’s values are different from our default human values.
 
Think about it. Our society tells us that the most important thing we can do as humans is to have power. To have wealth. To have prestige. To be successful. To be great again. Listen to the news. Watch a commercial. See a movie. It’s everywhere we look. But, our readings from both Micah and Matthew remind us that those human values are NOT God’s values.
 
Speaking through Micah, God says to the people – I freed you from slavery. I brought you out of Egypt. I don’t want empty worship. I don’t care about the bulls and the rams and the oil in your offerings. I want you. And I want you doing for others what I have done for you. I want you DO Justice. I want you to LOVE kindness. I want you to WALK humbly with me.
 
What does that mean? It means that God wants how we live our lives to reflect who God is and God’s love for the world. And we do that through our DOING of Justice, our LOVING of Kindness, and our WALKING in Humility.
 
The words are tricky. We receive them in English, but because Micah 6:8 is translated from Hebrew, we miss the nuance. Let me try to explain.

Justice is an English translation of the Hebrew word mishpat. To us justice is a legal term, but that’s not its primary scriptural definition. Justice is something we DO to be certain that all the people of the earth have what they need for their well-being. Caring for our brothers and sisters is a scriptural imperative. It’s not optional. Exodus 22 explains it this way: “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan…. If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.”

The word translated as kindness is the Hebrew word chesed. It has no direct English translation. It’s related to love, loyalty, and faithfulness. Frankly, kindness isn’t nearly a strong enough word to convey the meaning of chesed. Chesed describes the key element in human relationships – whether that relationship is one of marriage, friendship, or community. It’s also meant to characterize our relationship with God. So, we are to LOVE loyalty, love, and faithfulness in all of our relationships – and to act out of that love. We don’t do it because we are manipulated or afraid, we do it because God loves the world – and we are part of the world that God loves.
 
And, we are to WALK with God. Our walk should be humble or circumspect (both good translations of the Hebrew), to put God first and live in conformity with God’s desires.
 
And, if we’re wondering about what God’s desires might look like, we can turn to the Beatitudes for some ideas. Jesus spoke the beatitudes to a crowd gathered around him on a mountain top. We know the whole speech as the Sermon on the Mount. They were Jewish people, living in an occupied country, experiencing daily oppression from their Roman occupiers.
 
Jesus had good news for those people – and it continues to be good news for us.
 
Because Jesus tells us who and what God values. Once again, we see that the world is turned upside down: Who’s blessed? Jesus says these folks are blessed: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and those who are reviled and persecuted for the sake of the Gospel.
 
Since August, it’s been my privilege to worship with you, work alongside of you, and partner with you for the sake of the Gospel. I’ve heard painful stories of how the racism that infects our country has impacted your lives in the past and continues to do so today. And, I’ve watched you hungering and thirsting for justice. I’ve watched you being peacemakers. And, I’ve heard amazing stories of what DOING justice, LOVING faithfulness in relationships, and WALKING humbly with God looks like in real life in our community.

Text: Matthew 4:12-23
In today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, we hear the story of the call of Andrew, Peter, James and John. They are preparing to go fishing in the Sea of Galilee, when Jesus calls them to follow him. Matthew tells us that they immediately drop their nets, leave their jobs, and follow Jesus.
 
This reading seems a particularly appropriate one for reflection as we worship together in advance of our Annual Meeting. It’s a reading that tells us our common destination as a congregation: The Kingdom of Heaven. And it’s a reading that tells us our common call: Fishers of People.
 
When Jesus begins preaching after John’s arrest, he uses John’s own words: Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near. Sometimes as Christians, we get confused about what Jesus means. Theologian N.T. Wright says that this Kingdom of Heaven isn’t about “our escape from this world to another one, but to God’s own rule ‘coming on Earth as it is in Heaven.”
 
At the end of this passage, Matthew describes how Jesus went about they work of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven near. He says, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” Teaching. Proclaiming. Healing. Those are the relational actions that help to bring near the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s the common destination of this and every congregation.
 
Jesus tells Andrew, Peter, James and John that he will make them fish for people. That’s our common call. Often, when people think about this verse, they think about Evangelism. And that’s certainly one key way to “fish.” But, it’s not the only way. Whenever we reach out to love and serve others in Jesus’ name we are, in fact, fishing for people. That's the common call of this and every congregation.
 
The Sunday of our annual meeting is a perfect day to reflect on how we have been open to the call to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven by teaching, proclaiming, and healing in 2016. And, how doing these things led us to fish for people. It is also a perfect time to begin to talk together about how we see ourselves continuing that journey in 2017.
 
Here are just a few ways that I’ve seen our congregation respond to the call to Teach, Proclaim, and Heal in 2016, thereby fishing for people:

WATTS - We've just finished up our time of service at WATTS - the Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter. Members of Grace and St. Mary's helped set up the shelter, cooked dinner on Wednesday and breakfast on Thursday, worked at the shelter on Wednesday night, helped out again on Thursday morning, and finally worked to break down the shelter. Those actions were ways to proclaim and heal, thereby fishing for people.

Sunday School - I'm impressed with our Sunday School. We have 30 to forty children and teens participating in our program. They are guided and mentored by a number of adults who love and care for them. And they are supported in their learning by so many in this congregation who show up for activities and fundraisers. It's how we teach around here, thereby fishing for people. 

Backpack Program - Every week, our church provides meals for 37 children in the Clarke County Schools whose homes are food insecure. On Fridays, they are sent home from school with enough food to feed them all weekend. This ministry originated here and has now spread to many of the churches in Berryville. All told, 97 children receive food every weekend. It's another way we proclaim and heal, thereby fishing for people. 

As we look forward to 2017, here are two things we’ll talk about during the Annual Meeting. Our question will be, "How do we hear God’s voice calling us in for 2017?"

Shrine Mont Retreat - Clarke Parish has held an annual retreat at Shrine Mont for man years. This year, we will focus on our liturgy. We'll learn about the different parts of our liturgy, working in intergenerational groups. It will be one way we proclaim and teach together. 

Mission Trip - I've heard from many of you that  you miss the regular mission trips that have been part of Clarke Parish's history. This year, we will bring that tradition back! Plans are in the works to go to West Virginia to help rebuild communities devastated by last spring's flood. That mission will proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven, and heal those whose lives have been devastated. 
 
We are called to follow Jesus. To listen and discern his voice calling us to follow him. We are called to be his hands and feet in the world today to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven through our teaching, proclaiming and healing, thereby fishing for people. Will you continue to join together and respond to that call?

Text: Acts 10:34-43
 
Professor James Thompson says that the conversion of Cornelius, the story we hear a small portion of this morning, is the pivotal text in the pair of books written by Luke – the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. In the story, a Roman leader receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, and is baptized along with his household. It’s safe to say that this story changed the course of the early Christian movement, opening the practice of faith in Jesus to those who were not Jewish.
 
There are two related concepts that are important for us as we strive to understand this story and what it means for us. The first is that God shows no partiality because people from every nation who fear God and do what is right are acceptable to God. The second is that this good news about who is welcome came through Jesus, who preached peace.
 
This morning, we’ll start by looking at the whole story of Cornelius, since we pick it up in the middle! Then, after know the whole story, we’ll explore these two phrases and what they mean for us today.
 
Cornelius was a Roman Centurion, responsible for a group of 100 Roman soldiers. We are told at the start of his story that he feared God, gave alms, and prayed constantly. One afternoon, while praying, he had a vision and was told to send for Peter, who was in Joppa. The following day, while he was praying, Peter also had a vision. In it, he saw a sheet filled with animals considered to be unclean, being lowered from heaven. A voice told him to take and eat. After he protested, the voice repeated itself. After a repeated protestation, Peter head the voice of God say, "Nothing I make is unclean." 

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. The Cornelius' servants were there to bring him to Cornelius. When they arrived in Caesarea, at Cornelius' home, Peter said, “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?” Cornelius told Peter about his vision. Peter responded with the passage that we heard this morning. At the conclusion of his speech, the Holy Spirit entered the room and landed on Cornelius and his household. Peter then called for the Gentiles to be baptized. 

This is a remarkable story. In the first century, Jews and Gentiles did not associate with one another at all. It was illegal, according to Jewish law, for a Jewish person to visit the home of a Gentile or to share a meal with them. And, Cornelius is part of the Roman occupying army – he wasn’t just any Gentile, he was literally an enemy to Peter. Imagine, then, what it would have been like to hear Peter say, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality” and then go on to say that in EVERY NATION those who fear God and do what is right are acceptable to God. These words would have been shocking to both Jews and Gentiles.

It was an important and pivotal teaching then – and remains one today. What makes us acceptable to God has nothing to do with externals and everything to do with who we are inside. It’s not about race or class or culture. What makes us acceptable to God is reverence (that’s a better translation of the word fear) which leads to our acting accordance with God’s will because of that reverence. At the very start of Cornelius’s story, we hear three things that Cornelius does: he fears God, he gives alms, and he prays constantly. Cornelius’ almsgiving and prayer follow from his “fear” or reverence.
 
Secondly, Peter says that this teaching came through Jesus, who was “preaching peace.” We tend to think of the word peace as the absence of war. The Hebrew word shalom has a much fuller definition. It can mean: completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, and safety. When Jesus came preaching peace, he wasn’t talking about an absence of war. In Luke’s Gospel, He begins his earthly ministry with these words from the prophet Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This is the kind of peace or shalom that Jesus preached consistently in his Gospel.
 
It’s not a surprise then that Professor Thompson sees this story as so pivotal. Cornelius and his family are acceptable to God because of their faith, which informs their actions. Peter, going against all that he had been taught, recognized God and the Holy Spirit at work, and welcomed them into the Way of Jesus. The early church saw God at work, and opened the way of the Gospel to all people. Without Cornelius and Peter, the work of Paul in spreading the Gospel might not have happened. Without Cornelius and Peter, we might not be here!
 
What does this story mean for us? It seems to me that we are very good at dividing the world up into us vs. them. We are black or white. We are gay or straight. We are Republicans or Democrats, liberal or conservative, rich or poor, legal or illegal, from here or away…. You name it, and we can place ourselves in one category or another and then take sides against those who differ from us. It does seem to a part of human nature. Maybe at some point divisions served an evolutionary purpose, but they don’t serve us now.
 
God shows no partiality. Those who fear God and do what is right, as shown by Jesus who came preaching peace, are acceptable to God. The story of Cornelius and Peter invites us to see God at work in the lives of people who are like us and people who are very different from us. The story of Cornelius and Peter invites us to recognize that worshipping God and doing God’s will are the two things that God requires of us and of all people. The story of Cornelius and Peter invites us to step out beyond our comfort to embrace those whom God finds acceptable.

My Mama, Barbara, would be 91 today if she were still alive. This picture of her makes me smile. She's got a kind of mysterious, Mona Lisa-like smile. I wish I knew what she was thinking. And that bow! I've got a box of them in my closet. She apparently loved big bows when she was a girl - and saved them her whole life. 

It's hard for me to put the disparate pieces of my mother's life together: the girl who loved big bows doesn't quite fit alongside the woman who wore her hair in the same wash and set for the entire 48 years that I knew her (and goodness knows how many years before that). And that Mona Lisa smile doesn't quite match the woman who learned to see life as a series of disappointments. 

When I look at pictures from Barbara's childhood, she seems carefree - and free to be herself. Somehwere along the line, someone or a series of somethings taught her that life was NOT carefree and that her self wasn't good enough. I'm grateful that a week before she died, I was able to say to her, "I wish you could see yourself the way that others see you." Her response was our family's typical response to a conversation we didn't want to have, "How 'bout them Red Sox?" At least we both laughed.

I thought about all this conversation again tonight after reading Facebook. Each year on her birthday, I post a few pictures along with a remembrance. My feed began to fill with other remebrances - from Grafton, from Western Mass, from Berlin, NH, from California. People who knew my mother, primarily through me, reflecting on what they appreciated about her. A class act. A beauty. A card shark. A firecracker. I loved her. I miss her. All true and all things I loved about her, as well!

I think if Barbara were alive today, she'd be astonished to read these words. Somewhere along the line, that confident girl lost some of herself and never was able to find it again.

It's a cautionary tale really. And one I often need to remember myself. We're only here for a short time. Don't waste this beautiful life worried about not living up to others' expectations or standards. Be your beautiful self with whatever big-bow equivlaent you need to shine. Be a class act. Be a firecracker. Be yourself. Take your inspiration from the girl with the Mona Lisa smile.  

Scripture Text: Matthew 1:18-25
This morning, we hear the story of Jesus’ birth as the Gospel of Matthew tells the story. It’s not the one we’ll hear next week on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We’ve got no census, no trip to Bethlehem, no inn, no shepherds, no angels. Instead, there’s a young girl and her fiancé and an unexpected pregnancy that causes a crisis. The key to our story this morning is that Joseph, the aforementioned fiancé, is righteous.

We’ll start by taking a look at what that word righteous means. Then, we’ll explore how Joseph’s righteousness plays out in this story. And finally, we’ll take a look at how we are called to live righteously in our own lives.
 
Righteous and righteousness appear in the Bible 579 times! That’s 344 times in the Old Testament, 109 times in the Apocrypha, and 126 times in the New Testament. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel alone, the word righteous appears 77 times. And, in the much shorter Gospels, righteous appears 32 times. That’s a lot of righteousness! Noah is the first person described as righteous in Genesis 6, and the righteous are encouraged to continue their righteousness in the final chapter of Revelation. It’s safe to say that righteousness is a concept that is shot through our Bible from start to finish. But, the problem with churchy words is that they often wind up defining themselves. It's not super helpful to say that be righteous is to live in righteousness. So, what does righteous really mean?
 
The most common definition of righteous is living a life pleasing to God. This most often gets demonstrated in how a righteous person cares for others. Here’s an example from Isaiah, chapter 33: Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil, they will live on the heights; their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks; their food will be supplied, their water assured. Later, Isaiah describes righteousness as something we can put on like we do an article of clothing. We are called to be righteous - to live lives that are pleasing to God, as demonstrated by how we care for others.
 
What does all this have to do with our story this morning?
 
Mary’s fiancé Joseph was a regular guy living an un-extraordinary life when an unexpected thing happened. All we know about him, according to Matthew, is that he was righteous. He was living a life pleasing to God. He cared for others and he was not interested in oppression.
 
Joseph learns that his fiancé is pregnant, and he knows that there’s only one reasonable explanation for a pregnancy. And he knows that he was not a part of that reasonable explanation. So, Joseph draws a logical conclusion – that his fiancée Mary has been unfaithful to him. It’s not an unreasonable conclusion.
 
In first century Palestine, marriage practices were different from ours. At the moment of betrothal, the couple was already considered married, although they were not yet living together. The legal system of patriarchy favored males. Joseph would have been well within his rights to make a big public fuss. He could have made a public accusation, and divorced Mary in a way that would have caused her great public shame. In fact, it might well have led to her death. It certainly would have destroyed her social standing – and likely would have forced her into slavery or prostitution.
 
If their marriage, like so many in the first century and throughout the ages, was something that had been negotiated by their parents, then Joseph might have even taken a great deal of pleasure in shaming Mary. After all, his male reputation would have been at stake. So, Joseph could have salvaged his ego and his pride at the expense of Mary, her child, and the future the mother and child might have together.
 
Instead, Joseph stopped. He took a breath. He didn’t act oppressively. Matthew says it’s because he was righteous. His righteousness prompted him to decide to quietly divorce her, another legal option open to him. In this scenario, Mary and her baby would still have a difficult life, but Joseph would not have violated her.
 
Joseph’s pause makes all the difference. Because in that moment, God intercedes. An angel, a word which simply means messenger from God, appears to Joseph in a dream and communicates and unexpected and decidedly illogical reality about this child Mary is carrying. It doesn’t make any sense. And yet, Joseph believes this messenger and takes his righteousness to a whole new level.
 
So, what does all this have to do with us?
 
It seems to me that the options open and available to Joseph are very much part and parcel of the human condition. As we move through this thing called life, we are given countless opportunities to serve our egos or to serve God. We are given countless opportunities where we can act rashly or we can act righteously. The choice is ours.  
 
Except that it’s rarely that easy, right? We’ve been shaped and formed by experiences that don’t always bring out the best in us. We’re busy. We’re stressed. We’re broken. We look out for ourselves first, almost by instinct. So what hope is there?
 
For me, the first step is always awareness. I know what God hopes for from me and from each of us. Righteousness. Living a life that is pleasing to God because of how we treat others. We can take that quote from Isaiah 35 that I referenced at the beginning, and put it in contemporary language: Walking righteously. Speaking truth. Despising oppressing. Being honest in our economic practices. Not gossiping. Turning away from evil. This is what living a life that is pleasing to God because of how we treat others looks like.
 
And, when I can’t do it all on my own, which is regularly, I plead with God in my prayers to give me these gifts. I ask God to send angels who can guide me in living this way. And when I realize I’ve blown it, I ask for forgiveness, and move forward to try again.
 
Our world today could use more righteousness. On this fourth Sunday of Advent, I invite you to join me in using Joseph as your model.   AMEN.

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10
 
This morning’s reading from the prophet Isaiah is a poem that embodies hope. Addressed to those living in exile, it promises that God sees the plight of the exiles and promises to act to restore them to their home on Mount Zion. This poem is a word of hope to us, as well. From that age to this one, God sees the plight of God’s beloved and promises to make a Holy Way to guide us home.
 
In 587 BCE, the Babylonians conquered Judah, destroyed Solomon’s beautiful temple, and took most of the residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside into captivity in Babylon. They were forced into slavery and to remain in exile in Babylon. This exile continued for over fifty years, until the Persians conquered Babylon, and their king, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return home.
 
Today’s reading from the Isaiah was written to those living in slavery and exile in Babylon. It’s the same message that God gave to those living in slavery in Egypt many generations before this one. God hears your cries. God sees your plight. God will act to deliver you from this horrible situation.
 
This morning’s poem is filled with signs of hope. The desert will blossom. The barren and rocky places where the jackals live will become swampy marshland. Those who are weak and infirm, including those who have been harmed by the Babylonians, will have their health restored. And, God will bring the people home. God will make a Holy Way – a path in the desert – that will bring them back to their home in Jerusalem on Mount Zion. And, here's the good news – it's a path that is so straightforward that “not even fools shall go astray!”
 
From that time, all those millennia ago, to this day, these words continue to be God’s promise to us. God hears our cry. God sees the plight of God’s people. God will act to make a way forward, a way of health and healing, that will lead us back to God. It’s striking that when John the Baptist sends word to Jesus to ask if he’s the one, Jesus’ response echoes many of the signs that Isaiah foretold: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
 
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that we are living in a particularly scary time. Our news is filled with stories of people in perilous situations. The news out of Syria is horrific. Our relationship with China seems super rocky at the moment. ISIS continues to wreak havoc in a variety of places. In recent weeks there have been earthquakes, a tsunami, tornadoes and forest fires. In the United States and around the world, right now, young women are being trafficked and sold as sexual slaves. We continue to read about issues of racism in our country and abroad. In my own circle of friends, people I know and love are struggling with cancer, the loss of loved ones, the ending of long-term marriages, and prolonged unemployment.  
 
Periodically, I shake my fist at heaven and ask God to get busy on this blooming desert and Holy Way home thing. Haven’t we been waiting long enough? I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to ask if it hasn’t happened yet, after 2500 years, are we foolish to keep hoping. In another passage from Isaiah, the prophet cries, “Why don’t you rend the heavens and come down?” Yes, God. Please. Now.
 
I have some words of hope born of my reading of scripture and my own deep convictions, that I fall back on when I am in that fist-shaking mood.
 
First, we are all just a breath away from that moment of homecoming. When we take our last breath, we will be brought into that world where, as the book of Revelation tells us, “Death will be no more; sorrow and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” When we breathe our last, we will walk that Holy Way to a new way of being where “all things will be made new.” It doesn’t change my desire to want this world to look more like the world to come – but when all hope feels lost, it’s helpful to remember that this world is not the end of the story.
 
Second, for Christians, we see Jesus as the fulfillment of that promise that God makes in Isaiah 35. Jesus’ answer to John the Baptist shows that he saw himself as that fulfillment, as well. When we live fully into our calling as followers of Jesus, loving God and loving our neighbor, we become part of God’s way of making that Holy Way.
 
Which leads me to my third point of hope. Here I quote that great theologian Mr. Rogers (who was, in addition to being my children’s television hero, a Presbyterian pastor). Mr. Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” Everywhere we look we are given the bad news. It’s because bad news sells. But if you sift through that bad news, you will find the helpers. You’ll find those who run towards the danger, not away from it. You’ll find those who are working hard to make the desert bloom, the irrigate the barren places, to bring healing to those who are in pain.
 
Here’s a concrete example: In the African American community, there’s a saying – that God will make a way out of no way. In other words, when it looks like there is no way to go forward, God will make a path. During the height of the Jim Crow laws and racial segregation in this country, African Americans worked together to make a way out of no way. They developed ways to address their needs and aspirations that fostered values of community, service, and mutual support. Prayer, music, and worship were a vital part of making that way for many people. When ways forward were closed to them because of race, they made new ways forward.
 
Jesus tells us that we are to love God and love our neighbor. That word love isn’t just an emotion. In Greek, it’s an active action verb. It’s another way of saying “be a helper” or “make a way out of no way.” How is God calling each of us to live that out in this day and time? It’s a question for each one of us.
 
Right at this very moment there are those among us who are having the very best moments of their lives. And there are those going through the worst things imaginable. Most of us are probably somewhere in the middle. God’s promise to each of us, wherever we are on this journey is that God sees us. God hears us. God restores us. And God is building a Holy Way, with whatever helpers show up, to lead us home. Some days, we are desperately in need of those holy helpers. Other days we are the helpers. AMEN.