A Heart of Grace

Wordle

2012-01-25T17:14:00.000-08:00

Just words?

I've seen what people call "word maps" popping up here and there. Visual pictures of words where, those words which carry emphasis (through repetitive use or grammatically) are shown larger than others. The words are then composed together, and form a picture, or a map.

Hmmm....

So I tried it by going here.

And here are the results from a Wordle of this blog. Enjoy!

God Shows Up When You Least Expect It

2010-07-07T08:41:00.001-07:00

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost, Yr. C

Delivered June 20, 2010

Luke 8:26-39

The rash started about a year ago, for one of the members of our congregation.

First on one arm, going up the side,

Then the other, and then it was on her back, and was encroaching her face.

She thought is was just a rash.

She didn't know it was Lupus…

As the diagnosis came, so too did the illness start to ramp up in intensity…

What has followed has been a deluge of infirmity

Symptoms of lupus have been compounded by

Lacking the strength to work she is exhausted by red tape and falling into depression…

Recently tumors were found on her vocal chords…and that was it…falling into darkness, desperate for a Word of Life:

She cries out to God. God I can't take it anymore.

……….

The Demoniac and Legion – Luke 8:26-30

²⁶Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.

This shows how tormented he was – homeless, living in a graveyard, safer among the dead than he was among the living.

²⁸When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me"—

How this strikes me, that the man tormented begs Jesus to be merciful, "do not torment me," perhaps the man has gotten used to the abuse. Because he has acted out due to his own demons, because what he has done – he has become something of a leper – cast out by community, forgotten by family.

²⁹for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) ³⁰Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. ³¹They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

……………

We are legion: haunted by an array of anxiety.

Swarmed by a host of hardships.

Consumed by a culture of contentiousness.

We are legion: It might have started like a pesky rash; but now we are in the thick of it; now it's really getting to us: and we cry out – what have you to do with us, Jesus?

What do you believe will happen when you search for God?

What do you believe will happen when you cry out to God?

The Demons are afraid of the abyss – even when we have a legion of issues, we can often imagine, things could be worse…even the legion hounding the man confess, we don't want to be tormented any longer.

………….

In Kings a different kind of desperation. Elijah has been on the run. He's killed hundreds in the Queen's party – her prophets and more. He's terrified. The legion tormenting him is not internal but external, he's literally under attack.

But he too, like the man hiding among the tombs, is seeking God out.

Elijah cries out…and finds God – not in the Wind, not in the Earthquake, not in the Fire – all places that God is expected.

Elijah finds God in the last place he expected.

Yes in the silence – but in the place he least expects to find God – in nothingness.

…..

Are you searching for God? God is found in the midst of nothingness.

Are you exhausted from running, though getting nowhere? God can still be found.

Or are you hiding out – in the darkness – in the tombs in your mind – and just hoping you can avoid further struggle – God is still a very present Hope.

In the midst of the things we can not see – in the very spaces where we have given up hope – God comes in the least expected places, and gives us life.

…………

For the man consumed by a legion of Demons, Jesus spoke a word of life.

The text says people were so amazed, they were frightened – scared by the goodness of God.

Today people aren't scared of a mighty act of God,

they just simply don't believe it.

And I understand, I understand that it is easy to rationalize a miracle, or perhaps even easier to simply not see them at all.

But I am here to share with you that God is still working today.

Our sister who has been so assaulted by Lupus, having discovered the tumors on her vocal chords that have stopped her speech recently got the biopsy results.

Do you know what the biopsy shows? Nothing.

Nothing. And God is found in the nothing.

She still has Lupus. She has not been guaranteed an easy road.

But she cried out to God and God heard her cry. And God became present in the place she expected the least – in the nothingness of the test results.

Maybe today you are still waiting.

Maybe today you are in mourning.

And to you, and to the whole world; we declare a Word of Life for you in the name of Jesus.

In the Name of Jesus I declare a Word LIFE for you. (Share that with your neighbor) In the Name of Jesus I declare a Word of LIFE for you.

It may come in the last place you expect it, but expect it, look for it, anticipate it. God is here for you right now in a place where you least expect it. A Word of LIFE

LIFE that death cannot overcome.

Hope that cannot be extinguished.

Light that cannot be darkened.

In the place where you least expect it – I declare LIFE – in Jesus Name.

Amen.

We Want to See Jesus

2010-04-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Sermon delivered March 29, 2010 for the service "Thanksgiving in March"

Holy Week, Year C

We want to see Jesus

These Greeks coming to Jerusalem – worshipers of our one God.

Perhaps they saw the procession

Heard the hosannas

Raised their branches in the air

Maybe they threw their cloaks down on the ground.

We want to see Jesus

We heard about the water turned to wine.

We met the woman who had touched his robe.

We encountered Lazarus, raised from the dead.

We want to see Jesus

We hoped he would become the King whose reign would last forever.

We have prayed he’d put an end to the violence and tyranny

We have seen, how he can move a mountain by feeding a multitude.

We want to see Jesus

And we join these Greeks seeking out this Jesus.

We long for an end to war and global terrorism

We cry out for suffering in Haiti, Chile, Darfur

We become twisted by the increasingly bitter atmosphere

That seems to be running rampant in our culture.

We want to see Jesus

And so with the Greeks we approach Phillip.

We want to see Jesus.

…………………………………………….

The response they get perhaps is not the expected one. If we learn anything about this Jesus it may be that he often does the opposite of what we expect.

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies; it bears much fruit.

Those who love their life (in this world) lose it.

Those who hate their life in this world – will gain it all.

Those who love their life in this world are those who have gotten somewhere by getting one over on someone else.

Those who have made themselves stand out by stepping over another.

Those who have seen only the toothpick in their neighbors eye despite the unseen log in their own.

Those who hate their life - in this world - are those who won't stop until all are fed.

These are those who can't stand to see that not everyone has a seat at the table.

These are those who Speak up, Speak out, and Speak with those whose voices are not heard.

These are the ones who will receive the fullness of life.

……………………………………………….

Wesley Autrey, 50yr old construction worker was waiting for the downtown local at 137^th street and Broadway in Manhatten; taking his two daughters 4 and 6 home before work.

Nearby a man collapsed, his body convulsing…stumbled to the edge and fell into the tracks between the two rails. Headlights appeared, had to think quick, he did, and he jumped.

Train brakes squealed Mr. Autrey’s heart pounded, laying on top of Cameron Hollopeter, pressing him into a space about a foot deep.

Five cars rolled over head before the train stopped, grease from the train smudged Autrey’s blue knit cap.

While Cameron had suffered a seizure, he had only bumps and bruises.

Mr. Autrey felt he hadn’t done anything spectacular, he just “saw someone who needed help, and I did it.”

…………………………………………………….

This is what God has done for us in Christ Jesus and it is who Christ has formed us to be – in his body the church.

………………………………………………………

Just as Christ died and was lifted up again, so too new life is given for all who believe – life everlasting and life abundantly.

God’s promise for us is victory over death in order that we might truly live

Our life is found as we give it away to others.

……………………

Autrey’s life has changed.

He was honored last year with a Carnegie Medal for heroism. He launched a foundation aimed at saving kids from the dangers of the streets.

…………………… not immune from brokenness, but held by graciousness.

Our lives are found in the service to others. Our lives are given through the service of others.

…………………………

You have been chosen.

Bears of light

Restorers of the breach

Oaks of righteousness

Pillars of faithfulness

You have been chosen, called, empowered, equipped, to bring salvation to the world.

In the name of Jesus.

Want to see Jesus?

Jesus is sitting across from you, next to you, right by your side.

Want to see Jesus?

I saw her bringing a plate to her mother over here.

Want to see Jesus?

I saw him holding the door for someone over here.

Want to see Jesus?

I see him smiling in the eyes of the children here tonight!

Want to see Jesus?

Jesus is here – for you and me - In you and me.

Amen.

For the Healing of the Nations

2007-11-26T08:04:00.001-08:00

For the Healing of the Nations

The following message was delivered Sunday, November 25, 2007 as a part of a sermon series, "Forty Days of Healing"

Texts: Isaiah 42:5-9

1 Peter 2:9-10

John 1:1-4

For the Healing of the Nations

It can be overwhelming

To consider the illness of the nations.

If the Butterfly Effect of Chaos is true – that is – if a Buttefly flaps its wings in China, the result is a tornado in Kansas –

Than so too today when one nation catches the flu,

the whole world contracts a virus.

But today I wish to address three of the symptoms of our global community crisis.

Consumerism may be the most easily recognizable.

A drive for more comes for some as a means to an end: More stuff brings with it a false sense of significance, security, self-worth.

One buys the newest and greatest gadget, car, appliance, home; only to crash on the consumer high when the need hits again for the next newest need.

Consumerism is driven by a market which convinces communities to want what is not needed.

When Ma Bell came out with the first, home-model telephone, the phone came in one color, black. The goal of the company was for every home in America to have a phone in the kitchen. It worked, sales went through the roof.

But once sales dropped off, how would the phone company convince families they needed another phone – most homes had one. The solution – new colors. Red, White, Yellow. And by the time I was a kid in the 70's the phones are bright orange and green, and most homes have several phones.

Today, most of us have phones in our pockets right now.

Consumerism.

It may look like this:

In Syracuse, NY a man arrived at the Best Buy store by 7pm on Thanksgiving evening in order to be prepared for the store's opening at 5am the following morning. His need was so great. And of course he wasn't alone, he was number 35 in line.

But consumerism is a global problem. Visiting Tanzania in 2005 we were given many beautiful gifts carved from the gorgeous wood of an Ebony tree. The sad news is that a member of our companion congregation in Tanga, Tanzania taught us that Ebony wood is being harvested so quickly, for the desire to sell to tourists, that the tree will not be seen in the region 50 years from now. You see it takes 50 years for the sapling to mature to a point where the wood may be used. This generation has no patience, no the desire to invest in the future, but only to make the sale today. The drive of consumerism will mean the end of Ebony.

Second Symptom: Global Crisis is Nationalism

Not talking about pride in a homeland

Not talking about being Thankful for living in a free and prosperous land.

Nationalism is what happens when patriotism is cranked up to a new level –

no matter who the nation is.

Nationalism is when a government becomes arrogant and ignorant towards the needs of the poor, the children, and the elderly;

While maintaining a sense of global imperialism.

Nationalism is an immigrant nation becoming fearful of the immigrant.

Nationalism is when a dictator holds the global economy hostage through the price of a barrel of oil.

Nationalism, like Consumerism is contagious.

While it may begin as political policy…

It quickly spreads into personal practice.

Third Symptom in Need of Global Healing is Classism

Our reaction to this submission may be that this is not a problem anymore.

That we are beyond such a thing as classism.

But today while we would say there is a shrinking middle class

It seems we have a growing intolerance of the poor, the infirmed, the incarcerated.

Our culture – our global culture

- is quicker to give up on those who can't help themselves

and discard those who have not lived up to our expectations.

In the U.S. Families living in poverty struggle to break free from higher costs of living than more affluent communities.

Poor neighborhoods endure higher food prices, diminished educational opportunities, and reduced community resources.

In India the Caste system is no longer legal. But practices of classism continue.

A Dalit - the name given to the outcast – is identified as soon as they step on a bus. They can not even afford shoes. And so, easily identified, they will not find a seat available, and may be harassed by unwelcome neighbors.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so what are we to say about all of this?

What is our response, as the people of God?

Where do we stand? Where do you stand?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We read in Genesis that God made a promise to Abraham.

Do you know what that promise was?

That Abraham would be the Ancestor of Many Nations

– Abraham means = Ancestor to the Multitudes [Genesis 17]

So we see that God's promise was not a promise to one nation – but to all nations.

What is that Promise?

That the God who is the source of Light, the Creator of Life is with us graciously giving us all we need.

The Promise is that Christ; the Light of the World has come to us, to all the nations, and is now in us.

Hear this again from Isaiah

Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

⁶ I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

⁷ to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

From this passage we experience who God is, who we are, and our role in the healing of the world.

We who believe – we are recipients of the Light – inheritors of Gracious Life!

And now we are called to carry the light – to bring forth the kingdom of God.

The Light brings healing as we are claimed CHILDREN of God.

As sons and daughters of our gracious God,

our view of the economy is different.

We do have enough, we are worthy, and we are significant.

A parent will teach a child when they have enough. It happens this time of year every time a child sees a commercial for a new toy and mom or dad or a grandparent says, "You don't need that toy, you have enough."

In experiencing God's grace through a relationship with God, we learn we have enough too.

We don't need to consume to satisfy; we are okay with who we are.

Because God cares for us and God gifts each of us;

we all have something to share.

As sons and daughters of the source of life

we are transformed from consumers, to stewards.

The Light brings healing

because we are called to be CITIZENS of the Kingdom of God

Now as Citizens of the Kingdom of God we can see that we are more than Americans or Mexicans, Russians or Chinese, French or Liberian;

we are siblings in one family.

In 1 Peter we see The Light of Christ unites us into one people, one holy nation.

So we see now that as the light has gone out to all nations,

In the light of Christ we become one people, one race, one body.

Because of the light we can see across borders

and are called to find just solutions and policies

which treat others as fellow citizens in the Kingdom of God.

Healing happens through us, by the light when this view intersects our politics.

Healing happens through us when this view influences our policies.

Finally, the Light brings healing because in the Light

ALL are welcome, ALL are invited, All gifts are valued.

To teach about Tanzania we've sometimes shown a panoramic map of the World at Night. If you can imagine this map in your mind you might see what you expect to see. Showing the lights of the world, you can see the developed nations clearly. The Northeast regions of the US and around Los Angeles are two of the brightest spots on the map. Western Europe is bright, parts of China…

Africa is noticeably dark.

When we landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania you couldn't see lights on the ground as you can flying into Philadelphia. As you get closer, the only light is a dim orange glow of charcoal fires on the road sides.

It might fool you.

For the continent is bright. The faith is strong. The church in Africa is growing faster than any other place in the world. The light of the World is present.

If we were to take a "Light of Christ" photograph of the world, Africa would be the brightest light on the map! Thanks be to God!

The Light is Bright – And its' glow brings healing to those who see it.

There is Healing for the Nations – The Light of Christ is in the world

– The Kingdom of God is Here

In you, in me, The Promise of God, for the Healing of the Nations.

Amen.

Give to Live

2007-05-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

I'm a pastor, so maybe you expect me to be a "tither," but even so, hang with me here a minute.

Growing up in a "church-going" household we learned about giving to church at an early age. 10 percent of my allowance had to go in the basket when the Sunday School collected an offering.

I can remember feeling ripped off that my allowance was only $.90, instead of One Dollar. Of course, my allowance WAS $1, it's just that the $.10 came right off the top, and into a miniature envelope.

But giving to church certainly felt like a law.

When I was 20 years old, and began checking out churches as adult, giving still felt like a law.

Even worse, it looked like dues.

If you pay so much, you get in the club. Once in the club, you get to demand what the club does for fun - after all you've paid for it, right?

But then I started reading the Bible, looking for giving as examples.

I couldn't help but to notice that right away, God is the biggest giver of all.

God giving light.
God giving life.
God giving everything needed for the good life.
God giving humans a second, third, fourth chance after they mess things up.
God giving Jesus, so that EVERYONE who believes won't die.

God gives. It's just what God does.

And if you believe that God has created you and me in God's image (and called us good,)
Then we are Good Givers! It's in our nature.

So giving to God is not a law, not a requirement, and certainly not dues.

Giving is who we are. Giving is our nature...

A friend of mine is about to graduate from school. My wife and I wanted to get a nice gift. We discussed our price range, and I immediately went over our goal. But you know what...our friend is worth it, the gift is perfect, and it makes me feel really good!

I'm excited when I buy a good gift!
I get a charge out of spending "a little too much" on someone.
I enjoy watching someone receive a gift.

How about you? If you feel good when you give, it's because God created us as givers.

Give Generously
Give Graciously
Give to Live

Post a comment on how you feel when you give generously.
What keeps us from giving?

Here's two places you can make a Good Gift:
St John's Mayfair Legacy Fund
ELCA Good Gifts

Sermon: Look at What Our God Can Do!

2007-04-27T10:51:00.001-07:00

Easter Vigil

2007

Genesis 1, Isaiah 55, Romans 6

Luke 24

"Look at What Our God Can Do!"

Look at What Our God Can do! (When I point to my eye you say, "Look at what our God can do!" Are you ready? [point])

Did you hear how great God moved in Creation?

Every 10 years or so science changes how they believe the world was created. In Genesis, it's not that science is refuted (science is the gathering of knowledge, science is a gift from God), it's that science still comes as an understanding of how God worked in creation.

What we believe is that God is the creator of all – not was the creator, is the creator, God creating the world then, is today creating and recreating the world.

A Caterpillar into a Butterfly…how exactly does science explain it?

How does a caterpillar turn into a butterfly?

# This is not easy to explain. One could say that inside the chrysalis the caterpillar changes clothes and turns into a butterfly. Actually, what happens is that the caterpillar structures are broken down chemically and the adult's new structures are formed. To be more blunt, the solids of the caterpillar completely liquify and then form the new solid structures of the butterfly.

Right, a body is broken, transformed, and comes back to life, ascending into the winds?

[point]

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

In Moses God raised up a leader who no organization would have ever hired.

Moses would not have made it through the candidacy process…issues of family of origin…a sense of entitlement, abandonment, and lack of commitment…wondering when he might run away again in avoidance…not to mention his speech impediment, perhaps induced by a childhood lack of confidence along with his lack of identity.

And God used Moses, and those around him, to lead a mass migration of people off the African continent and into (by way of wandering) a land given as a gift of God to God's people.

[point]

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

God did it again in North America a little more than 150 years ago.

When her slave master died in 1849, Harriet Tubman decided to free herself from slavery. With the assistance of the network of the underground railroad Harriet claimed freedom from herself, she became a "conductor" on the underground railroad and freed hundreds through her leadership.

I know in our quick-fix consciences 150 years ago seems like a long time ago…consider the Exodus of North American Slaves, God's beloved, some 15,000 years after the Exodus of Hebrew Slaves, God's beloved.

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

God is still at work in leaders, in freedom marches, in rallies for justice.

Maybe God is working in you, to do justice and love kindness…

Maybe God is working in one of our young people who will become a great leader one day.

We pray that God is at work in Darfur, leading their people to freedom. Maybe God is raising up a young woman, or a young man, who will lead their people forward.

I pray God is working in us, that we too, might be leaders to end the Genocide.

When it comes to Freedom:

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

A year ago this week Dina asked me to visit a friend who was sick, and to gather with the family for prayer.

Today, Dina is here to be baptized.

Our mission is to plant seed of God's love through witness, outreach, and the Word! WOW

God's promise is, when we put that Word on the street, with Acts of Witness, and Works of Love, God does not disappoint, God completes the work through us for the sake of the world.

What God begins today in Dina, and in Noel, what God has begun in us, God will continue until it is complete.

In Baptism today

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

And now the story of Jesus is the story of God's Victory over evil, over suffering, over death.

This Jesus,

Gives sight to the Blind

Allows the Deaf to Hear (sometimes with lips, with signs, with love)

Heals the Sick and the Dead are set Free

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

In Jesus God is a

Father to the fatherless

Mother to the Motherless

Hope to the Hopless

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

Our God is a Path in the Wilderness

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

A great Shelter from the Storm

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

On this night, we celebrate the creation, we give thanks for the freedom, we claim our inheritance and we join the resurrection.

LOOK AT WHAT OUR GOD CAN DO!

AMEN

Sermon: In the Midst of Darkness

2007-04-27T08:35:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve, 2006

Luke 2

"In the Midst of Darkness"

It had bee the longest three days of their lives. This had not been the easiest of pregnancies. The surprise conception would have been enough, Joseph had nearly ended the relationship, they both had relied on their faith to get to this point. But traveling the rough terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem had not been easy.

When they started the journey they had their spirits up, were ready for the trip to Bethlehem. Singing songs, playing word games with the scenery they passed along the road. But the journey hadn't been easy. They couldn't imagine three days feeling any longer. Mary couldn't imagine that she'd ever be so worried about her child, as she was during these three days for the baby still within her. Until now it always seemed something to be proud of, Joseph being in King David's family line that is, now it seemed like a burden. And when they finally arrived in Bethlehem, the end of that third day, the long shadows of the rough road had given way to a dark, starless night.

In the midst of that darkness. Of the shame Mary felt every time an inn refused. Of the exhaustion the young couple felt, even before labor pangs began, in the midst of this darkness, (pause) the baby kicks, and Mary's cheeks flush, and she remembers the light.

When the angel had come to tell her of God's favor upon her, a bright light had shone all around.

And when Joseph's impulsive anger turned to understanding because the spirit had visited upon him, there was a light, a brightness in Joseph's eyes and smile.

And when they had entered Elizabeth's home, singing out in joy, it seemed the whole house was illuminated with happyness. And Mary remembered what the angel had said, she was carrying the Light.

Chris Gardner's father walked out on him when he was three. He vowed he would never walk out on his son. In the new release "The Pursuit of Happyness" Will Smith takes on a role, playing the life of a real person, which is more meaningful than chasing aliens and playing a person whose real life takes more strength than the Greatest, Mohammed Ali.

Chris Gardner is a man who slowly, loses everything, his wife, his car, his home. Chris' son, Christopher, is his life, and when he was born, he made a vow that he would never leave him.

-In his pursuit of Happyness Chris Gardner meets a stock broker on the street, upon seeing his fire red ferrari asks, "what do you do, and what did you have to do to get to where you are." Upon this man's advice Chris applies for an internship, and gets it. But the six month internship doesn't pay, part of what contributes to Chris and his son losing first their apartment, and then a hotel room.

On the darkest of nights, Chris locks himself in a subway bathroom. With his son, asleep, held tightly against his chest, Chris blocks other patrons from coming in the door with his foot, and can't sleep through the fear and the tears. In this darkest of nights, He holds onto his son. The light for Chris is essential to life. It is by moon lights some nights that he studies for his internship. Without the light in scanner he sells, he would have no money at all. But most of all, his son is his light. Their light for each other, will carry them through the darkest of days. Wherever they go, they go hand in hand, and Chris would make it through his internship, and today, the light shines from him brightly.

Have you come in from the darkness? Do you come tonight out of obligation or tradition, but have grown cold to it's effects? Do you come tonight searching for this holy one to make a difference, to inspire, to fill needs or fulfill your dreams? Do you come tonight lonely or lost, in search of significance? Do you come mourning and grieving the loss of a loved one? Or do you come personally satisfied with those around you and your comfortable Christmas scene, but broken hearted by the violence of our world? Have you come in from the darkness?

For the Shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night, darkness was all around them on that hillside that night.

It wasn't just the darkness of the starless sky, it was living life as a lonely, insignificant shepherd.

Often reserved for young men and women – shepherds could have been 12-15 years old.

Because of the nature of this dirty job, and the way a shepherd tends to take on the smell of a wet sheep that sleeps outside, the shepherds were outcast, separated from family, friends, community.

No one was inviting the shepherds over for a holiday party, or taking them out for a cup of coffee or a beer.

No one was inviting them to worship either, they weren't welcome in the temple.

Their darkness was not just the barren sky, it was their search for significance, their desire to be wanted.

Until the darkness was broken with a light from on high. The brightness and glory of the angel startled the shepherds with fear. Some, taken their shifts to sleep awoke with a fright.

But the words for those in the darkness is Fear Not, I bring you good news. To you a Savior is Born, to you the light of the world is given, to you, God comes,

And to the shepherds, and to us, as the angel confirmed the good news, we are given a light, and so we join Chris in the pursuit of Happyness, we join Mary and Joseph in carrying the light. With them we follow that star to Bethlehem

The Shepherds couldn't wait to get there…

And falling on their knees, the manger before them. Here, they were satisfied, here they felt so significant, here they experienced peace, here they received a gift of life, a gift of light! Here was the light, come into the world. Come to live in us. Come to be the bread for the world that gives life, even when we die. Here was the light that gives hope and joy passing all human understanding. And this light began to glow. And that light, the light of the World, the light of Christ, is a gift to each of us, and when released, gives light to the whole world.

Bob Paeglow and his wife had just moved into their new home with their two children. Bob was an x-ray technician, Leanne, Bob's wife a nursing student when Bob felt a call to go to Medical school and serve "many people." It was a pipe dream, they didn't have the money, Bob didn't have the grades. But he got in to Albany Medical College, the only school that would take him.

He graduated at the top of his class, and the hospital hired him, he could have been set. But this hadn't been why he was called.

So he decided to use his gifts to go to Africa for Mission trips, spending personal money and personal time, but wasn't enough, and when he came home, he couldn't help but to think about the poor in his own West Albany neighborhood where Bob grew up, and the mission trips weren't enough.

So Bob gave up his job, sold his house, and open a full service grace station for people in need in Albany.

Koinonia provides primary care and mental health care to the poor in the West Hill neighborhood and beyond. Dr. Bob has worked for 5 years without a salary to make this care possible. Leane has labored beside him as the office nurse and now as a Nurse for the Neighborhood Health Advocate Program, as well as the Neighborhood Association President. This is how Dr. Paeglow, hear the glow in his name, this is how he carries the light, in receiving the Association of American Medical College's 2006 Humanism Award winner, Dr. Paeglow says that, "I've come to the realization that life is not designed for our comfort, or pleasure, but for us to discover our gifts and contribute what we can to make life better for others." Bob's way to carry the light, was to give away what he had. This is how we carry the light too – we give that light to each other

This evening, in from the darkness, we too are witnesses to the light. We can not go home the same, for whatever reasons we came, we go home with light. This is God's gift for us, This is God's gift for the world, this is the gift we have to share with the world. This light of the World, came that we too might be the light, you are the light of the world.

Mary fell asleep that night, pondering all of this in her heart, the brightness of the light was all around.

The Shepherds went back to their fields that night, never to forget what they had experienced, seeing all which God had told them through the angel, and proclaiming praises to God.

Here this Day, in the City of Philadelphia, A Savior is born, Jesus is the light of the World, Carry the Light!

Amen.

What is the Shape of a Christian?

2007-04-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the shape of the new light bulbs?

They're funny looking, curly-Q. Expensive too - sometimes up to $4

But these light bulbs could save the world.

No, not like Spiderman or something.

According to EnergyStar.gov

"If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a [compact flourescent bulb], we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars."

Think about that - the shape of one, could change the world.

This is what God does for us in Christ.

God changes our shape.

We are re-shaped, created to give great light - amazing energy - transformational power for the sake of the world.

What is the shape of a Christian?

We are formed and shaped by culture - to follow the trends, to consume all things, to work for the self.

In Christ we are re-formed around the shape of the cross - to be counter-cultural, to give graciously and generously, to serve the other, to welcome the outcast.

This is the light of Christ in us - re-shaping us, re-forming us, centered in sacrificial love.

This kind of light - has the power to change the world.

With this Light, You have the power to change the world - God's light is in you.

Matthew 5:14-16