Incredible Christmas

So this is...

An Incredible Christmas 

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How to totally Celebrate this Christmas!  But first... what is the meaning of this celebration?  

God watched our human brothers and sisters of history, and often watched in pain with how we would hurt and sometimes kill one another.  We had a tough time with sharing, being jealous, wanting to get revenge, create wars believing God was with our side of the story.  You know - our wisdom and ability to see the larger perspective of life was under-developed.  

God had ideas!  When you re-read the 10 commandments you can start to see that God gave us a profound gift in those few statements.  Luther: if you know the 10 commandments well, you know the whole Bible.  

God finally had to admit that we never truly got the spirit of those commands - or we simply assumed others were the bad people.  So... prophets was God's next attempt to connect with our hearts and minds.  Sometimes odd people at best, they spoke words to describe what God could be feeling at that moment in history.  Sometimes their language was harsh!

We didn't understand God's voice through laws or prophets...  People held tight to their ideas of how God should come to save us from Rome's occupation and its powerful armies.  In the minds and hearts the only way God could come was like a powerful King - like King David in the past.  "We need power, perhaps force, a God that is not wimpy... Our brothers and sisters of that time kept looking and hoping. 

While our fore-peoples searched, God came to us in a totally vulnerable child.  Clearly not the kind of power we thought would make a difference for anyone!  But, simply God showing up in a child walking into our lives as a real person is an incredible gift.  Someone that could walk with each of us - right where we are today.  A God that wasn't questioning and putting anyone down.  

The gift of Christmas?  God's presence - God's own heart, wisdom, vision, understanding, etc.  Present to us through people who love us, people who listen to the current chapter of our life journey, people who might listen long enough to get us to feel safe about sharing a need for forgiveness or a need for a caring look, touch, or.... 

God came as a gift that we truly needed then, and as that same gift this year.  But not with the kind of power the world chooses.  Quiet presence of someone who cares can embody Jesus in our times of struggle and our times of joy.  

So... what kind of gift can we give to others we care about that might somehow embody Jesus arriving and transforming our world?  Part 2 - some specific ideas about gifts that might even bring tears to your eyes!  And do you have to buy even one thing?  

 

Who Owns the United States? The Bible speaks concerning Immigrants.

For Many, There Is No 'Home'

Immigration And Faith

how I wish all people knew peace and wholeness.

1976, as a Intern Pastor in Santa Barbara, I joined church members for a weekend of serving in Tijuana Orphanages.  My heart was quick to connect with the young children who had no parents - no one who cherished their smiles, words, gifts.  

My third visit was with a study group: 'Boarder Concerns." Over several days we visited the city dump (its own 'city'), the jail, an American TV factory that looked really wonderful until our study leader shared the rest of the story after our visit there, and we met with many individuals on the front lines of serving and caring for the many who are lost.  

From that time, my heart sinks when I hear the cruel remarks about any immigrant from any country.  Mainly because I have now entered into many lives of people who get blamed for our current fears in the United States.  And, I can't imagine why I was born in Phoenix AZ and supposedly I am more important and safe than the trainloads of scared people trying to find any life that might be better than their previous homeland.  

I caught Pastor Ryan Gear's article on HuffPost speaking to Donald Trump about the Bible Passages that deal with immigration.  He joins me in hoping we can find ways to talk through immigration policies that can help us all come together.  And I believe that many of us are clear that shouting headlines at one another only hurts.  Imagine the fears that are coming to life in children and adults across our country - when we could be talking, praying and acting in ways that grow out of any of our faith heritages!  

Some passages: 

 

Leviticus 19:33-34:

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.  The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.  Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.  I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 10:17-19:

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.  He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.  And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Ezekiel 47:22-23

"You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children.  You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.  In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,' declares the Sovereign Lord.

Jeremiah 7:5-8

If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 

But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

Ezekiel 47:22-23

"You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children.  You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.  In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,' declares the Sovereign Lord.

Matthew 25:37-40:

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" "'The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

Galatians 3:28

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. …

Sabbath as Divine Interruption: It's a gift!

I felt guilty sitting in my dorm room and 'missing' Wednesday Chapel.  And due to feeling guilty or shameful, I know that I could never have been using that time well... nor the time after Chapel had ended.  Guilt can become an ugly fog that misdirects your heart and life for hours!  Who noticed my absence?  But, why was I so focused on what others might think?

It took years to learn that real faith was liberating - freeing.  And, that the mix of rules and procedures had trapped me in a very shallow, and perhaps meaningless place.  

Sabbath?  Of course this type of word became a turnoff!  One more thing I was doing wrong somehow.  Why would anyone want to join a community of faith? 

One day, a campus pastor caught my brain and heart on the actual meaning and gift of Sabbath.  "In the Old Testament, you could farm your field for 6 years, then you need to let it rest for that next year - it needs time to recover after so many years of producing food for you."  Maybe you can already tell where this is going... You and I weren't designed to simply keep going!  We lose so much of who we are, and our own vital gifts go stale, when we don't have time to stop and reflect on who and what we are. 

How to describe this idea of Sabbath.  It's similar to having a good conversation, then noticing that the last 15 minutes often become more genuine, truthful, intimate... real perhaps.  When the conversation is ending, perhaps we feel safe, and tell something that is close to our heart that moment.  Also, I often feel different after being with someone in a hospital, where the conversation starts out at a bit deeper level and our fears are much harder to hide.  It is humbling to be allowed into these conversations, and realize how my previous agenda, and even worries, are gone.  I then feel in touch with much more of God's total creation.  I notice things that were invisible the hour before.

Just this one word - Sabbath - has changed me in many ways.  For at least one day each week, what would you be like with a real Sabbath under your belt.  More confident?  Able to embody peace?  Be a deeper human with growing wisdom?  Be able to truly listen to others and hear even more than the words alone can communicate? 

There are many surprises in store for those who can let go of the early understandings of faith that still guide many of us, and enjoy instead being curious, playful, open to the larger gifts of being on a journey towards a richer faith.  The surprises are liberating! 

You may have something to add in the comments below - I welcome the colors you will add!    Shalom, pastor ken