Friday, January 8, 2010

Second Sunday After Christmas Year C 2010

02 Christmas C 10
January 3, 2010

Jeremiah 31:7-14
7 For thus says the LORD:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
"Save, O LORD, your people,
the remnant of Israel."
8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and those in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away; say,
"He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd a flock."
11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob,
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the LORD.

Psalm 147:12-20
12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14 He grants peace within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs--
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!

Ephesians 1:3-14
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.

John 1:10-18
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

(Sermon by Deacon Dennis Mann; Pastor Mike was on vacation)

Good morning!

What did you get for Christmas? That used to be the first question we as kids would ask each other after the holiday season. Did you get what you wanted or in plain terms; were you satisfied with the gifts you received? Our scripture readings today, address a multitude of issues concerning God’s love for us. But the one thing that really stood out to me was God’s incredible generosity to us, the many wonderful gifts he gives us. It all made me think, “how much does God have to give us until we’re satsified”?

When I am called upon to be a speaker, I, like most people like to prepare a consise, cohesive message that will present a clear picture of the concept I am trying to convey. I’m not so sure I have done that today; rather I have come up with a series of related thoughts that will hopefully intertwine and get my point across.

On Christmas day Becky and I made our rounds to all the children’s houses and like so many other grandparents we delighted in watching our grandkids open their presents. It was truly a joyous occasion, everyone laughing and happy. But I observed some things that amazed and troubled me a little bit. I’m afraid that we like most other parents and grandparents have succeeded in terribly spoiling our kids and grandkids, giving them much more than they need or can even appreciate, all out of love mind you and wanting them to enjoy the season and the bounty of our caring. I watched the little ones tear through gift after gift, shredding and throwing wrapping paper all over the place, scarcely stopping to look at what each box held before moving to the next. A virtual feeding frenzy of package opening! Pieces and parts of toys, and clothing were all but walked on to get to another package. Some items were almost thrown out with the trash, due to the sheer abundance of wrapping paper and bows! I had seen this same ritual many times before, but for some reason it really hit a nerve this year. After all the mountainous piles of presents were unwrapped, I watched the kids looking around with some degree of disappointment, that there wasn’t more. Knee deep in presents and gifts, were they still not satisfied? I sat there and really started thinking about gifts, gifts we receive and gifts we give.

Most people associate our practice of exchanging presents at Christmas with the gifts of tribute brought to the baby Jesus that starry night, thousands of years ago, by the shepherds and wise men. How far gift giving has evolved since then! We don’t select and give to our families and friends, simple gifts of love and caring, we have made gifting a mega fest of spending and a frenzied fight for the latest gadget or electronic gizmo!

To me the most curious thing about gift giving these days, and let me start by saying I am guilty of this too, is actually calling someone and asking them what they want for Christmas or a birthday! That’s not gift giving, that’s just taking orders!! Can you imagine how the Christmas story would have read if the wise men had called up Mary on their camel cell phones and asked “Hey Mare, what do you want for that new boy?” Instead of the gold, frankincense and myrrh we read about in the scriptures, it may have been formula, diapers, and a talking Elmo!
But seriously, we have distorted the whole idea of giving gifts of love and kindness into something much less lovely and idealistic than that first Christmas, long ago.

We get angry, upset or hurt if we don’t receive what we want, we feel cheated if we think someone didn’t spend enough on us. We feel we must match dollar for with whatever someone has given us. Rarely do we show proper appreciation for all the simple kindnesses showered on us during the holiday season. We have completely lost our attitude of gratitude.

Sadly, our attitude of gratitude, or lack of that is, has carried over into our relationship with God. God has spoiled us, even with all of the blessings he showers us with daily, we are not satisfied with his bounty, and like my grandchildren, are hungry for more. Always wanting more makes us overlook the gifts we have received and makes gratitude awkward and unfamiliar.

And how different it is with the gifts God gives as opposed to the gifts we receive from our earthly family and friends. Gifts from God are not temporal, they’re everlasting. Guaranteed by his faithfulness and eternal love. God’s gifts do not break down, the warranties don’t expire, and the batteries don’t die. Our gifts from God are not determined by if we’ve been naughty or nice, we cannot place our order with God and what could we ever do to earn the kind of gifts God sends us? Dear friends, children, loving spouses, our very lives, what could we ever do to earn such treasures?

With God, it’s not about us. All the gifts we receive are by grace. The Bible says we are saved by grace, justified by grace, made rich by grace. So, just what is grace? Being the simplistic person that I am, I like the wikipedia definition, “unearned favors from God.” That means gifts that we were not good boys and girls to get, things that we could never be good enough to earn, blessings and treasures from a loving benevolent God. No strings attached, no hidden meanings, no assembly required.

Think for a moment about the magnitude of these gifts of grace. Every form of spiritual blessing, everything we need to survive and thrive here on our earthly home, our inheritance in heaven, and most importantly, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, who redeemed us with his blood, forgave our sins and truly taught us how to love. Jesus is grace personified. John described Jesus as full of grace and truth and that from his fullness we have received grace upon grace. God’s grace is never ending and all encompassing, God has a superabundance of grace for us.

God’s grace is faithful and enduring. Our scripture today from Jeremiah tells us of God bringing the exiles back even after they had turned their backs on him more than once, and promising them bountiful food, flourishing gardens, safety, dancing and gladness, overwhelming, over the top grace. In that same way he welcomes us back from the exile of sin and blesses us with all good and wonderful things. That’s one of God’s greatest gifts of all, forgiveness, second chances; he gave it to the exiles, the children of Israel, and he offers it to us everyday. Even with all these blessings, God has more he wants to give us, but we are too lazy to receive them. I am reminded again of my little grandchildren on Christmas day. One of the youngest after opening stacks of boxes grew complacent and would not open the rest. Just like that little boy we are sometimes so spoiled by God’s goodness, that we will not pursue all of the amazing things God still has in store for us. With the way we often treat God, it’s a wonder he cares for us at all!

We go for days without talking to him, we don’t listen when he tries to talk to us, we don’t treat him as a friend, and often blame him for the troubles and bad times in our lives. Try that with your friends and family and see if you are still on the gift list next year! But even with all that abuse, God’s grace is still there for us abundant and overwhelming.

So how do we respond to the grace we have received from God? We are trained to want more, and expect more, demand more. It is so easy to be discontent. We are like that little child, knee deep in gifts and still looking for more. We need to respond with thanksgiving and gratitude, and love. We need to give God the gifts for a change. There’s no need to call him up and ask what he wants, we already know, our hearts, our love, our faith, and we don’t have to wait till next Christmas.

Amen.

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