Jews and Christians Both Light Candles

One of my good friends, who was Jewish, died this year.  I did not get to say good-bye.  Tonight, while I am celebrating Christmas Eve, I am going to light candles. Tonight, if he were here, he would be lighting a candle too, on a menorah, to mark the beginning of Hanukkah. Tonight, I will light one for you.

Tonight, in a rare alignment of calendars, marks the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah and the Christian celebration of Christmas Eve.  While Hanukkah is a celebration of a different miracle of light (the mysteriously un-ending supply of oil that supplied eight days of light during battle by the Maccabees which led to the rededication of the Temple in 166 BC), it is an annual reminder that God sends light into the dark places of our world and our lives.  We can celebrate this other truth as well: Jews and Christians alike await the coming of the promised messiah. As the noted theologian, Martin Buber suggested, “Let’s all pray for the messiah-Christians and Jews alike. When he arrives, we’ll ask if he’s been here before.”  As Rabbi Michael Gottlieb puts it, “Christianity dispels a lot of darkness…. In its glow, it challenges Christians and non-Christians alike to consider that which his transcendent, eternal and greater than all of us.” (WSJ 12.23.16)

Tonight, Jews and Christians around the world will celebrate the miracle of light which sustains us during the battles of life. Tonight, Jews and Christians alike will rededicate themselves to worship God and God alone.  Tonight, we will all draw closer to God by lighting a candle which carries the hope that God still is doing miracles.  Tonight, Jews and Christians alike will think about the messiah, the one who, on the last day, we will have the joy of knowing “he’s been here before.”

I never made one effort to convert my Jewish friend to Christianity. I saw no need to do so. God already saved him. As a recent resolution by a German church organization puts it, “The secret of God’s revelation includes both the expectation of the return of Christ in splendor and the confidence that God will save his first-called people.” (Christian Century, 12.21.16) I believe this beautiful statement of faith expresses precisely the sentiment of Paul’s words: “…all Israel will be saved…for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:26,29).

Tonight, I will be thinking of my friend. While I did not get to say good-bye, one day he and I will together say, “Hello. Hallelujah. He is here.” 

Happy Hanukkah, friend. Merry Christmas.

What I Saw at Grant School

Smiles. Possibly because it was Friday; or because the teachers wore Christmas sweaters, or a Mrs. Claus’ dress. I told her she must be Mrs. Claus’ daughter because she looked too young to be the “Mrs.” More smiles. It made me happy that my first impression was of teachers and staff who were happy to be there.  I saw children’s smiles too, on the playground where the kids in snow pants and boots slid down little “hills” of snow, making noises of glee only elementary kids can.  I saw the faces of children from nearly every background. I could see why God would make a rainbow of skin colors, because when they play together in the snow they paint a masterpiece.  No skin color is supreme on the playground, just as God intended.

Great books.  The Kids Hope USA (“KHUSA”) lunch was in the Media Center (what we used to call a “Library”), where I could not help myself from looking at the books. I found one which the Librarian let me borrow called “Need It or Want It?”(C. Herd, Rouke Publishing 2012) “A need is something you must have to live a safe and healthy life. Food, clothing, and shelter…” for example.  “A want is something you would like to have, but do not need to survive. A new video game is an example… .”  Now, isn’t that a perfect Christmas story?

Adults loving the kids.  The KHUSA participants from our church ate lunch with their students, some parents and some teachers.  The reason KHUSA can be in a public school is that the program forbids any speaking of religion or church.  The purpose of the program is to show the love of Jesus to children in need without ever saying Jesus’ name. You spend one hour a week to build a relationship with one child.  You spend time helping with homework, but mostly it is time learning to love each other. Can there be a more profound sermon these children hear each week?

I stopped in the Principal’s office to say “thank you”.  In the midst of the organized chaos of the end of the lunch hour and recess, the Principal, in his fun “Packers” sweater, was kind enough to chat for a few moments. I told him how his school gave me hope for our city’s future. This school was forming a future society which could work. What I saw at Grant School was an Advent song of love, peace, even joy: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. (All their faces bear his light), they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  Hope is here.

Disappointment, Doubt and Jesus

...the mother who feels like she is at her last thread of hope with a "problem" child; the spouse who stares at the wall wondering what happened to the marriage;

…the sick person who wonders when, if ever, healing is coming; the child who struggles to find some way to understand that Mom won’t be here this Christmas;

...the survivors of the storms of life, who wonder why the fire happened, why their loved ones were there.

December, the church’s season of Advent, highlights the disappointments of life in a stark way.  The month in which we are supposed to celebrate Hope, Peace, Joy and Love seems to instead be filled with news or memories of just the opposite. And when disappointments persist to those locked into prisons of despair the mind moves to doubt. Is this Jesus really the Messiah we seek?

We can relate, just a little, to John the Baptist who was so fired up to announce the coming of the Messiah, but who finished his days in prison, waiting for the end of his life which ended with a decapitation. How exactly was Jesus being the Messiah for his prophet, John?  Are you the One we have been waiting for, or is there someone else?  John’s inquiry of Jesus becomes our question.

The mission of Jesus then and now, and the concurrent mission of the Church, is to encounter life’s disappointments and doubts with pictures and stories that people with eyes of faith can see. The child who was to die but now is scheduled to graduate from college.  The men and women with “incurable” cancer who instead become cancer “survivors.”  The poor being fed and clothed. The unjustly punished receiving justice.

Advent’s message is that if you look with eyes of faith, you will see just enough; just enough to see disappointment filtered through the lens of Joy; just enough to replace doubt with Hope. The almost hidden beauty of Advent is the promise that Christ is real, here still, and coming again.  Until then the faithful, today's prophets, can be excused expressions of doubt generated by cruel disappointments, for staring at the empty manger and wondering, Jesus, where are you?  Until then the prophets keep going to tell it on the mountain, Christ(mas) is coming. Just you wait...

Shalom,

Pastor Bill

The Real Meaning of Black Friday

I thought I was ready. I went through the store ads, carefully ripping out the pages which had items I “needed” to buy. I then circled each of the best deals I would head for in each store.  Since my wife, Jill, and I had decided to spend part of Friday doing some Black Friday shopping I was going to take an organized approach to this. So, when Friday morning came, I thought I was ready.

At my first stop I walked in and saw some people in line to check out, and then some more people, and then more and more and more people.  I got to where there was a lady in a red elf outfit wearing a cute little hat and holding a sign that said “The Line Starts Here”, and I took out my phone and called Jill. “I can’t do it! There are hundreds of people in line to check out. I don’t care how much I am going to save, I refuse to stand in this line.  I will come back in January for the Inventory Reduction sales.” As I left I saw it: “Advent Calendar.”  Now, this has promise, I thought. I picked up The Advent Calendar and saw it featured the Elf on a Shelf. Who else?  So this is the new meaning of Advent.

Then it was off to church to join in the decorating of the sanctuary for Advent.  Having no Elf on Shelf in the Liturgical Supplies closet, we got out the Advent Wreath, only to discover we were missing three of the five candles.  So, it was time to head back into Black Friday stores. At my next stop, I was greeted warmly by a young woman from our church. Maybe there was some hope for this day.  While shopping, I was greeted by a girl who attends our church, and we talked about her Black Friday working experience. I could feel peace coming over me. When Jill and I checked out our receipt told us we saved way more than we spent! Now this is joy! 

We headed back to church and finished placing the candles in the Advent Wreath. As I surveyed the sanctuary, now displaying the beautiful dark blues of hope and expectation, and the evergreens in a circle displaying God’s unending Love, I was struck by the starkness of the white candle in the center of the Advent Wreath. And then I understood.  We wait in darkness for the light. We wait in the world, together, in the busyness of life, frantically looking for the best deals.  It is in the world that we seek the signs of Hope and Peace and Joy and sometimes even Love.  But it is in the community that gathers from the world into worship that we experience the coming of the Light.  Millions of people spend (literally) four weeks getting ready, and it all starts on Black Friday.  May they all see the Light of Christmas Eve.

Revolution + 11 Field Report

In Michigan they still do not know who won the presidential election vote.  The rest of the nation knows, and now, eleven days later, while social media still buzzes with joy for the “winners” and despair for the “losers”, I thought I would give you a field report of how it’s going here in one of the states that could have decided the outcome.

The highways are open. Cars are running at 80 m.p.h. in the fast lane. No more road rage than usual. The airports is operating. Airplanes fly in and out carrying vacationers to Mexico and business travelers from Michigan. No hijackings. 5^th Grade Crossing Guards stand at their post before and after school each day and little children, from red and blue families both, make their way safely across the streets of Michigan.

I was able to attend an elementary talent show in which all thirty (30!) acts performed to the delight of their classmates and under the enduring eyes of parents and grandparents. All thirty acts went off without a hint of protest.  There was a girl in a red dress.  And then a large assembly of red-blooded 5^th Grade boys in blue clothing filling up the stage doing 5^th grade boy antics, full of life and not yet realizing that being “cool” requires them to slouch and frown in front of girls and adults. Maybe next year.  The crowd cheered for all of the acts, red and blue. Did I mention that there were thirty of them?

That’s how things are in this state where the tension over the election results plays out in the halls of political power. The people have spoken, although we don’t know what they said yet. But, there is a fine line between acceptance and resignation.  Both the “winners” and the “losers” have an obligation to give meaning to what “the people” said. 

I received an email from a friend who wanted to know how to give to a Michigan-based woman  our church supports as a missionary who is raising money to serve Muslim refugees in Greece.  His rationale for giving is that “Christian charity and compassion toward Muslim refugee families is of vital importance.” I suppose that he figured now is the time to act; to do something positive. 

Life goes on. Everything seems the same.  And everything is changing.  And that is what a modern American Revolution looks like in the field eleven days later.  What are you going to do about it?

The Revolution of 2016

Remember the Revolution.  The American Revolution, that is. We are a nation which was born out of a revolution. People from many nations gathered together in a rare common cause against a king. We, the people on the other side of the ocean, wanted to be independent and people fought and died for that cause.  I don’t know if a revolutionary spirit is passed on genetically or socially or spiritually, or some of each, but the Revolution is one critical thread that binds together this nation’s history.  Some of us are, at heart, revolutionaries.  The amazing thing is, it is not always the same people who are revolting against the government. But, it seems, someone is always in the beginning, middle or end of some sort of revolutionary movement against some “king.”

The genius, (and while this is a word used too often and without care, in this case I think we can say our Founders did find a collective genius), their genius idea was that it would be brilliant if future revolutions happened not with wars but with a ballot box.  The history of the right to vote is, of course, full of stories of mini-revolutions. But, with the huge and desperately sad exception of the Civil War, we have made our way forward without a full-blown war. Sure, there were periods of violence (battles for Labor Rights and Civil Rights being two notable examples), but the genius of the Founders reveals itself every four years when the powers of our national government change hands without military involvement as we elect and inaugurate a new President.  In the context of world history this is a rare accomplishment, that we can have what amounts to a “revolution” without a war preceding or following the changing of the guard.  We should thank God for this gift.

Did God choose the choice of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, or did we the people choose while God looked on?  Regardless, we had one choice which was cast as “the king” and one choice which was cast as “the revolution.” Now, we the people have chosen, by the actions of those who voted and the inactions of those who stayed home.  But, regardless of how one analyzes it, the revolution of 2016 happened.  It behooves us to respect and honor the choice of the people. That is the American spirit, and it is also the spirit which God urges upon the Church.

The way forward will happen under God’s watchful eye. But, if history is any indicator, there will be another revolution. May God bless President-elect Trump and the transition process, and may God give us a way forward in peace and revolution. God, please bless the U.S.A.

And Then It Rained

And then it rained.

Time stopped. For 17 minutes, baseball time stopped. The umpire said the rain wasn’t supposed to fall on the ballpark in Cleveland, but then, unexpectedly it did. Hmmm.  The Cubs were living a movie script no one would dare write because the plot twists, if you made them up, would not be believed. World Series, Game 7, the Cubs with a small lead, then a bigger lead, then an insurmountable lead; until the Indians scored late off the sure-fire relief pitcher who never gives up a home run, until this game. And then, with the score tied, the Cubs in a seeming freefall, it rained.

The Cubs players moved inside, into the strength and conditioning room, and an impromptu team meeting was held, the pep talk reminding the team to focus not on winning or losing, but on “how we got here.” Someone said, “This is going to make it sweeter boys.” And then the rain stopped.  It took almost as long to remove the tarp covering the field as rained.  And then the game resumed.

Then boys and girls, women and men, fans reliving childhood dreams and creating lifetime memories of “where I was when it happened”, as that last toss from a charging third baseman to the glove waiting at first was squeezed into the joyous final out, they all screamed, yelled, smiled, shouted, cried tears which said, “Cubs Win, Cubs Win, Cubs Win!!!”

History will tell you that the team which won was the “Best Team in Baseball” in 2016.  And when you are living into the destiny that comes with that label; when you are dealing with 108 years of angst and frustration and waiting, well, sometimes you just try too hard.  Sometimes you need to step back and remember, we don’t have to do anything special, we just need to play the game.  But it is hard to find time to remind a team of that in the final innings of the final game.  Unless, of course, the storm clouds suddenly shift just enough to persuade the umps, “time to stop the game”.

Following the historic, epic, monumental win the television picture showed Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations, bouncing his young son and just as he turned to kiss his wife, he quickly looked up to the sky from when the rain had come and, I swear, I saw him mouth the words that spoke for a nation of Cubs fans, “Thank you.”

And then it rained. Thank You, indeed.