when joy and sorrow meet

The shepherds received good news that would cause great joy for all people.  So have we.  But sometimes we forget just how good this news really is.  On Sunday we spent time in our worship acknowledging our grief and sorrow during the Christmas season.  We provided an opportunity for any who wanted to acknowledge that grief and the hope we have in Christ by lighting a candle.  In addition, of course, we took that time to remember the victims of the violence in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday and to pray for their families and loved ones.  Joy and sorrow mixed into our worship and for some I imagine it felt strange.  For most of us, however, I hope that strangeness was transformed into the hope and Good News of the gospel.

The night before our worship the cast and crew of the NBC television show, Saturday Night Live, opened their show in an uncharacteristic way.  A children's choir graced the stage and sang Silent Night.  I find it moving and fascinating that, when faced with incredible sorrow and pain, the producers of the show found solace and dignity in a hymn that extols the power of the birth of our Savior.  My guess is that they did not do so because of the strong Christian imagery, so much as the song's portrayal of innocence and peace.  Either way, they found that light in the context of the incarnation, whether they realized it or not.  I pray this will be a reminder to us all that the hope we need, the light we need in the darkest of times is found in Christ, God incarnate, God with us, come to set us free and teach us a new way to live.  I encourage you to listen, watch and ponder God incarnate this day, as we move ever closer to celebrating Christmas.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Stacey

on the job with Jesus

St. Joseph the Carpenter
Georges de la Tour

Joseph may not have been a wealthy man, but he was a working man. The Bible just says he was a carpenter; we know nothing else. He may have been an itinerant skilled worker or may have had his own shop, or he may have had steady work along with other skilled workers working on rebuilding Sepphoris, a city only 4 miles away from Nazareth that had been the site of a Jewish uprising against Rome in 4 BC and had been completely destroyed. The rebuilding was a project that basically took place during the whole scope of Jesus’ lifetime. We don’t know how Joseph used his skills, but for Joseph, going to work was not a break from Jesus. Jesus wasn’t just staying home with Mary (and as Jesus got older, this was literally true), but the one who constructed the raw materials with which Joseph was constructing was right there with Joseph. The one who takes broken lives and makes something useful was guiding Joseph’s hands, making something useful from broken wood.

May the above painting by Georges de la Tour, St. Joseph the Carpenter, be an inspiration for you in your daily grind, whether that’s sitting in an office cubicle, putting on brake pads, teaching children, feeding children, or looking for employment. This is where God has you serving him, at least for today. And Jesus is with you. In the painting we see a tired Joseph at work, and a young Jesus accompanying him. The young Jesus is lit up, the light from the candle brightly glowing off his face and even shining through his fingers, surely yet calmly recognizing the shape of the cross through Joseph’s work.

May Jesus accompany you at work today. May he bring light to your darkness. May he be the Master and you be the apprentice, because he created this position and line of work for you (at least for today). And may his light reveal that the product of what you’re accomplishing as you work, with and for the Lord (not just human bosses), takes the cruciform shape of the redeeming and re-creating of God’s world.

- Pastor Bo Bannister

the point of no return

I read recently (and double-checked with an expert!) that when a plane is heading down the runway, preparing to take off, the captain's hand is on the throttle until the co-pilot says, "V1."  "V1" is the term for the speed at which the aircraft crosses over "the point of no return."  At this point, it is too late to stop the plane, regardless.  It must take off.  Once the "V1" is given, the captain can take his or her hand off the throttle.  The craft and its crew have passed the point of no return.  They are committed, as we say.  The plane will take off.

When the angel Gabrielle announces to Mary that she will conceive, carry and give birth to the Messiah, she is rapidly approaching "V1".  At a certain point in this journey, there will be no turning back.  She, too, is committed.

It strikes me that this is what all of us are called to do in our relationships with Christ, as well.  Cross the point of no return.  Commit to the journey and the mission and Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God, "no turning back, no turning back," for he has done the same for us.

As we move into this first week of the season of Advent, I pray that we will be mindful of Mary's commitment to "V1" and that we will reinforce our own commitments to Christ and his mission, infused with the hope of the season - the promise that because of the incarnation (God's "enfleshment" into our world) we are not stuck in our ways or in our sin.  The Kingdom of God is near!