John 1:43-51

“Sincerity is the key.  If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”   Comedian George Burns said that.

Here’s something another comedian, W.C. Fields, said when caught reading the Bible: “I was looking for loopholes.”

Evangelist Billy Graham has something to say about loopholes: “You’re born.  You suffer.  You die. Fortunately, there’s a loophole.”

Loopholes and sincerity … I bring them up because the character who we’re introduced to in this text is a person who’s apparently quite sincere and isn’t looking for loopholes.  He doesn’t need to look.  He’s just that nice of a guy.

It’s quite a compliment Jesus pays Nathanael at their first meeting.  When Jesus saw Nathanael walking toward him, he says, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

That’s not something that could be said about everyone; many of us, even many of us who have good intentions, tend to be calculating in our speech, weighing what we say to put our best foot forward, or to avoid encouraging someone who’s a pest.

“No deceit,” which is the wording in the New Revised Standard Version, is an accurate translation of the underlying Greek word.  However, I prefer the rendering of the older Revised Standard Version: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.”

Perhaps I prefer “guile” because even the word has kind of a dark sound to it.  A person with guile sounds like someone you’d want to avoid.  Indeed, the word “guile” has its roots in the Old English word wigle, which denotes witchcraft and sorcery.  In modern English, the word has lost the witchcraft connotation, but it retains the sense of deceitfulness, or of “snare.”  (Indeed, the Greek word John used that’s translated as deceit or guile was derived from an even older Greek word meaning “decoy.”)

But Nathanael, Jesus declares on their first meeting, is a true Israelite, without guile – he’s not crafty, not deceptive, and not out to take advantage of others.  The Message paraphrases Jesus’ statement as “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”

What’s more, any Jew who’d grown up learning the Hebrew Bible would immediately recognize other biblical connections behind Jesus’ comment about Nathanael.  Psalm 32:2 declares, “Happy is the one whom the LORD does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit.”  And Isaiah 53:9 describes the suffering servant of God as one who has “no deceit in his mouth.”

So if Nathanael was without guile, it means that he makes no claim about himself that he does not strive to live up to.  He does not wear a mask in public to hide his true feelings.  He gives honest answers.  He’s sincere and upright.  He doesn’t look for a loophole; he’s not angling for some ethical wiggle room.

It was indeed a great compliment Jesus gave him.  …..  A compliment, yes – but there’s irony here.

Because Nathanael has no guile, Jesus calls him a “true Israelite.”  There’s a certain irony in that, for the person in the Bible who was originally given the name Israel, and from whom the people of Israel took their name, was Jacob. He was the one who, as a young man, took advantage of his hungry twin brother, Esau, and persuaded him to hand over his birthright for a bowl of stew.  He’s the one who later tricked his father into giving him the blessing meant for Esau.  He’s the one who later fled from his father-in-law’s house after deceiving him about his intentions (Genesis 31:20).  In fact, even his name Jacob means “He supplants.” (And supplanting is defined as “usurping the place of another, often by underhanded tactics.”)

Yet after Jacob wrestles with a divine figure, God blesses Jacob in the form of a new name, Israel (which means, “one who strives with God”).  It’s not clear that the new name given to Jacob results in a character change, however. Even later that day, after a peaceful reunion with Esau, Jacob deceives him about where he intends to travel next (Genesis 33:12-14).

Jesus’ comment about Nathanael’s being a true Israelite, however, indicates that regardless of how Jacob/Israel behaved, God’s intention for the people of Israel is that they be without guile – people of integrity.  So Jesus’ “no-guile” remark makes Nathanael a model for the kind of character Jesus’ followers should embody and display.

That’s reinforced by one more allusion to Jacob which Jesus makes in his conversation with Nathanael.  After Nathanael declares his belief that Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus tells him that he will see “heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”  That references the dream Jacob had of angels, ascending and descending, connecting heaven and Earth (Genesis 28:10-17).  In the original event, the place where Jacob had the dream, Bethel, came to be considered holy, but Jesus is saying that the angels will ascend and descend upon Him as they did on Bethel. 

 The lesson?  This reminds us that for Christians, Jesus himself is the holy place.  As God dwelt at Bethel, so God dwells in Christ.

So what Jesus is saying is that honest character, like that of Nathanael, is to be one mark of the people of the new Israel – those who respond to the call of God in Christ Jesus, and that, of course, includes us.

Well then, what does it mean for us to be people without wiggle … without guile … without deceit?  Perhaps we can see it better by thinking about what it does not mean.

To be without guile does not mean to be pushovers or naïvely trusting of all comers.  In the animal kingdom, dogs comprise one species that’s surely without guile.  It’s generally easy to know what dogs are feeling, because it shows all over their bodies.  If they’re happy to see you, you know it.  If they’re frightened, you know it.  And so on.  What you see is what they are.  They don’t seem to possess the genes for deceit; they essentially are simple, trusting creatures who can, at times, be easily fooled.

I don’t believe Jesus is calling for us to be dog-simple or easy targets for scam artists and identity thieves.  When Jesus sent his disciples out to proclaim the gospel in the towns of Palestine, he told them, “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Likewise, to be without guile does not mean to deny that we are complex individuals who are sometimes driven by motives that we’re not even aware of, or shaped by experiences and scars from earlier times in our lives.  In the living of our days and in our dealings with others, we sometimes use defense mechanisms such as denial, rationalization, or passive aggression.  When we’re able to be radically honest with ourselves, however, we can work to get past such mechanisms and deal with conflicts in more straightforward ways.  But still, it’s doubtful that Jesus was trying to make us feel guilty for being human.  Being without guile is not a call to deny our complexity, but to live by our highest values.

Consider the TV show House.  Its main character, Dr. Gregory House, is a diagnostician at a major medical center.  He’s clearly a complex man, but one who is filled with guile.  His highest allegiance seems to be to logic, not to honesty or kindness or fair play, and certainly not to God, who doesn’t fit into his view of the world.  Yet those who know him best tell him he’s actually driven by the desire to avoid the pain of honest relationships.

House’s behavior makes for interesting television, but it would be a cold world if everyone were like him.  What’s more, he operates on the assumption that everybody lies, and he frequently reminds his team of that assumption. At times, when faced with a patient whose illness he’s having trouble diagnosing, he sends members of his team to break into the patient’s home to see what the person might be hiding.  He assumes that his patients have not told the truth while giving their medical history.  And sometimes he’s right.  The shows are often a study in guile.

What’s more, to be without guile doesn’t mean that we have no social skills.  Often social skills are taken to assume that we lie in relatively innocent dealings with others; we tell so-called white lies.  We say, “No, that doesn’t look like a toupee at all” when we can spot it a hundred feet away, or “The cookies were great,” when we didn’t like them, or “What an adorable baby!” when we’re thinking, “Too bad she looks like a Cabbage Patch Kid!”

Actually, it’s possible to be sociable and friendly without lying, though it takes a bit more thought.

More importantly, to be without guile means to live with our hearts open to truth, and not run from it.  It means that when we become aware of unflattering truth about ourselves, we make the necessary changes truth requires of us.  We don’t bend facts to fit some false idea of ourselves.  We’re truthful with others and truthful with ourselves.  And we admit it when we have made a mistake or a misstep.  (Note how Nathanael quickly abandoned his prejudicial statement about Jesus – “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” once Jesus spoke with him.  One commentator describes Nathanael as “a good man, hampered by prejudice, but quite willing to be enlightened.”)  

Have you ever lived or worked around someone who is sneaky?  How did it make you feel to be around that person?  Probably not good.  Fr. Roy Cimagala, a priest in the Philippines, writing about this Scripture reading on Nathanael, says that people without guile are … “humble enough to accept things as they are, never bending them to make the pieces fit [their] own ideas.  Rather, the contrary.  That’s why you immediately feel good every time you meet such persons.  They always exude such welcome and wholesome aura about themselves in spite of their imperfections.  They contribute in making society more at peace and in harmony.”

Make no mistake, living with integrity and exuding a wholesome aura is not the sum total of Christianity.  But living without guile is one expression of loving God and loving neighbor.  

There come times for all of us when to lie, to be sneaky, to take advantage of someone else, to misrepresent our actions, to deny our wrongdoings, or to do some other devious thing would be expedient.  But Nathanael can serve as a reminder for us that Jesus praised living without guile, and so that makes it, well … the Christian thing to do – and isn’t that what we’re called to do?

Matthew 3:13-17

And so Jesus began his public ministry when he was about 30 years old, by coming to John the Baptist to be baptized in the River Jordan.

He then went into the wilderness to prepare himself by praying, fasting and meditating.

When he felt ready, he gathered a small group of disciples and went about preaching the Gospel, healing the sick and fulfilling God’s plan for him.

There is no doubt that Jesus’ accomplishments on earth were monumental.

 But before he did any of those things, he prepared himself through regular study, meditation and practice.

 In other words, Jesus took a lot of baby steps prior to accomplishing great things—from childhood, he listened attentively to his teachers and parents, read the scriptures available to him, engaged in discussions with other scholars and practiced what he learned to understand their values. He did these things regularly, not just occasionally. 

Now, we don’t have much historic information about what Jesus did the first 30 years of his life. 

Some historians believe that he traveled widely to learn the diverse cultures and wisdoms of his time which may have included the countries of the Magi, such as Persia & Egypt and perhaps he even traveled to theFar East. Many of his teachings did not originate with him, but are found in the proverbs of other cultures outside of the Hebrew tradition. For example, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” found in Luke 6:31 is also found in the teachings of Daoism, Buddhism and Hinduism which existed long before Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. 

Some Biblical scholars also believe that for a time, Jesus lived among the Essenes, a Jewish sect responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Essenes’ religious views were often in opposition to those of the Pharisees and Sadducees. This, according to some Biblical scholars, may have been why Jesus was rather antagonized by the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

What Jesus did, each and every day during those 30 years undoubtedly shaped his thinking and beliefs which guided his action. The “big events” throughout his public ministry were the culmination of those baby steps Jesus took on a daily basis. 

It was Lao-tzu, a highly regarded Chinese sage that said, “a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step.” Jesus seemed to have lived his life exemplifying this philosophy. He went about his daily life one step at a time. For example, he did not seek out all the sick people to heal—he simply healed those he encountered or specifically requested to be healed. As a matter of fact, when the crowd around him got too big, he often moved on. He never sought social status or acclamation but instead, sought to be like other ordinary folks. He merely did everything he did to the best of his ability and responded to the needs of the people at hand, day by day, one by one. 

I’m sure many will say that all the attributes Jesus possessed was given him by God and his accomplishments were possible because of his divinity. Perhaps, but if that’s the case, then we don’t have a chance in trying to be like him. 

I prefer to think that we can follow Jesus more closely if we learn by his example. If we simply take similar baby-steps Jesus took each and every day, we can walk closer with him and become more like him, day by day, step by step. 

Baby steps are easy and do not require much effort. Anyone can do it. Yet, each step will bring us further along our life’s journey, making us a better person and a better Christian. The only catch is that we must take these steps each and every day so they can culminate the proverbial journey of a thousand miles. 

For example, resolving to read the entire book of War and Peace is a tall order. But, if we merely commit to reading one page of it everyday, anyone can do it. Likewise, if we commit to reading one chapter, or even one verse from the Bible each and every day, it becomes very doable. 

Here is a small sample list of baby steps that you may want to consider: 
Begin each day with a prayer 
End each day with a prayer 
Give God a minute of your time 
Refrain from making one hurtful remark 
Put away $0.25 for God’s ministry 
Reminisce on one good memory that will warm your heart 
Take a moment to admire God’s creation 
Remember someone’s kindness to you 
Be grateful for something 

Search your own heart and mind for that one thing you can do each and everyday that you believe will improve the quality of your life, and resolve to do it everyday. Remember—the power of the baby steps is in taking at least one every single day. This power of one, when culminated over time will complete that journey of a thousand miles. 

As Jesus did, take each step, day by day and step by step. It’s virtually painless and only takes a minute. Your reward will be great! 

Jesus will be with you every step of the way.

Luke 2: 41-52

Did anyone come to breakfast this morning at your house and announce – “I’m so hungry, I feel as if I haven’t eaten since last year!”?

It’s fun to play with all the brand-new possibilities open to us on January 1.  If you went jogging this morning, then you’ve exercised every day this year.  Get through lunch without eating potato chips or a candy bar, and this year reflects a whole new healthy and perfectly-kept diet regime.  So far this year, perhaps you have never cussed at someone, never yelled at the kids, never forgotten to floss, and never thrown your dirty clothes on the bathroom floor!

On January 1 our whole life can be transformed.  For one day at least, all our good intentions can be jump-started, and all our bad habits can be unplugged.  At least for a few hours (or minutes?), the year is a perfect reflection of our best self.

But January 1 is followed inevitably by January 2 and January 3.  Someday soon we will opt for staying in a cozy bed a few more minutes rather than plunging out into the cold on that jog or walk.  Pretty soon candy wrappers will start appearing in our desk drawer again.  By the 4th or 5th, we will surely have been aggravated enough at a bad driver or a dropped glass or a stubbed toe to have let loose a blue streak of bad words or less than caring thoughts. And by the 7th, our socks are back on the bathroom floor and our dental floss is gathering dust.

For all but a few of us, most New Year’s resolutions get packed away with the last of the Christmas decorations.  By Epiphany our behavior and the whole New Year are just as tarnished as they were before January 1.

The problem with most of our resolutions is that they are too safe, too sensible and too self-centered.  We resolve to make tiny cosmetic changes in our lifestyles – but refuse to consider restructuring our lives and changing the paradigms by which we live.  Luke’s single story about the boy Jesus offers us an example of what it would mean if we were to transform our lives by making the ultimate resolution, the mother of all New Year’s resolutions, the resolution that ends all resolutions – to declare that from this day forward we will be “about [our] Father’s business.”

Joseph and Mary, their friends, neighbors and relatives, all made the required pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover feast.  But as soon as the allotted time for the holiday was over, they hit the road – anxious to get back to all the chores and responsibilities that filled their lives.  Joseph, a craftsman working with wood, undoubtedly had projects awaiting his attention.  Mary would have had the hundreds of time-consuming tasks it took to keep her family fed and clothed.  Like most of us at the end of an extended vacation, they were probably looking forward to getting back to the comfortable familiarity of their own hearth and home.

But the young Jesus refuses to let his relationship with God be regulated according to some prearranged, culturally imposed schedule.  Instead of going along with the return-to-business-as-usual attitude, Jesus answered the most important call of all – to be about his Father’s business.

What would it mean if we were to act in a similar fashion?  What would it mean to live, not according to human expectations or cultural patterns, but according to what God required of us?  What does it mean to be about God’s business, rather than other people’s business, or even other people’s definition of God’s business?  Jesus discovered at this early age that answering God’s expectations can get you in trouble – even with your own family.  In fact, focusing on God’s business may put an unexpected crimp in the family business. “Business-as-usual” may not be the way God does business.  And the world and the Church can find that unnerving.

The ultimate New Year’s resolution does not challenge us to cut fat grams, or quit smoking, or get to aerobics class twice a week.  The ultimate resolution a Christian can make is to live in the light of divine intentions, not human inventions.  The New Year’s resolution to end all resolutions is to live under the umbrella of God’s expectations and to make it my business and your business to be a part of God’s business.

But this just begs a bigger question: What is God’s business?

God’s business is transformation.  An electrical transformer takes high voltage and transforms it into energy that we can use in our everyday lives. Without a transformer, there could be no light in the darkness, no safety in the storm.  At Bethlehem, God came to us and gave us Jesus the Christ, who transforms in his life the love and power of God into the impulses of grace and justice that the world so desperately needs.

So what does the Christian who resolves to be a part of God’s transforming work on January 1 do on Monday, January 2?  There are two essential requirements: First, we must delve deeply into God’s Word – the Bible. Second, we must go widely into the world.
            1. The Word.  When the young Jesus felt called to live beyond business-as-usual and answered the call of God’s business, he first went to the temple.  In other words, he steeped himself in the meanings and messages of God’s Word. Knowing what God intends for men and women, learning what God has already said and done and promised for this world, is a necessary first step in the transformative process.
            2. The World.  Being about God’s business doesn’t mean we do nothing but sit in the temple – in the church, all day long and discuss theology. Remember that while Jesus started out in the temple, he then obediently followed Joseph and Mary back out into the world.

We cannot be a part of transforming the world unless we stand in its midst.  That is the trouble with our traditional New Year’s resolutions – they never step outside the confines of our own self-centered existence.

What if instead of resolving to lose 10 pounds this year, you resolved to eat according to a diet that could sustain the whole world?

What if instead of resolving to get more exercise this year, you resolved to exercise some spiritual muscles and committed to spend time studying the Bible on a regular basis?

What if instead of resolving to spend less time in front of the TV and more time reading some good books, you resolved to teach those struggling with illiteracy to read those books to you?

What if instead of resolving to spend more “quality time” with your family,
you resolved to involve your whole family in a local mission project that directly serves those in need in our own community?

Your life, your commitment to the ultimate resolution, can help the love of God through Christ to transform the world.  Today is January 1.  A fresh New Year lies unblemished before us.  What do you resolve to be on January 2 – and for the rest of your life?

Luke 2: 1-7

Greetings my friends, and welcome to the finest Inn in all of Bethlehem – with hearty food a plenty to fill your bellies, the softest of beds to rest your weary    bones, and the sweetest of wine to gladden your hearts and take away the chill of the night!  And, it is most fortunate that you are here tonight rather than last night!  Last night … oh, that was a night I will long remember – not only was every bed taken, but every bit of ground here in the courtyard as well!

I thought we would NEVER finish feeding and seeing to the needs of all the people – but we finally did, as we closed the gate for the night and fell into bed ourselves to get at least a couple of hours of sleep before we would have to be up preparing the morning meal for our many guests.

But – just as we were beginning to drift off to sleep, there was a banging at the gate … who would be coming at such a late hour?!  I got up, grabbed a lamp, and went to see – not in the best of moods I might add!  And what I found was – a couple … a man and his wife, who had traveled all the way from Nazareth they told me.  The woman, riding on a donkey, scarcely more than a child herself, was obviously heavy with child – and she and her husband looked very tired.  But I had no choice but to turn them away – there was absolutely no room left for them anywhere.  And then suddenly, my wife was at my side, suggesting that perhaps I could allow them to stay in the stable.  They would at least be out of the cool night air, and they could make beds for themselves from the hay.  And so I pointed them in the direction of the stable, closed the gate, and again headed for bed, knowing that morning would be here all too soon.  And as sleep began to overtake me, the wind began to howl … or was that the sound of a baby’s cry I heard?

And then suddenly – there was a banging at the gate again … and loud voices!  I sprung from my bed, grabbed the lamp, and roared “Who is it that dares to awaken me at such an hour – can you not see that the lights have been put out and the gate has been locked for the night?!”  But before I even reached the gate, I knew who was there … I could smell them – shepherds! 

As I flung the gate open, prepared to show them that they had chosen the WRONG Innkeeper to bother at such a late hour, they began speaking excitedly of having been visited by … angels – who told them of the birth of a child.  I couldn’t completely understand what they were saying, but they spoke of a heavenly choir … singing of the birth of – did they say God’s son?! I told them there was no child here, and that they had better leave before … and then, my wife was once again at my side, reminding me of the couple that was staying in the stable.  Wasn’t the young woman expecting a child?  “Yes – yes!” they said … the angels had said they would find the child in a stable, and lying in a manger.

So I pointed them in the direction of the stable, closed the gate, put out the lamp, and FINALLY got some sleep … but not nearly enough before it was time to get up and light the fires in preparation for the morning meal.  And as the sun rose and people began to rouse from their sleep, preparing to greet the new day, I found myself wondering about the family in the stable.  So I took some fresh baked bread and made my way to the stable – but they were already gone … and all that was left to indicate they had been there was this scrap of cloth in one of the mangers. What did the shepherds say – that they would find the child … lying in a manger, wrapped in bands of cloth.  God’s son … I wonder.  

Well, that was last night, and there is much work to be done this night – so I must be off.  

The stars aren’t nearly as bright tonight as they were last night … did you notice?

Matthew 1: 18-24

Greetings my friends … I’m glad to see so many of you here today.

As one of the longtime synagogue elders here in our villageof Nazareth, I think I know most everyone here.  I’ve watched your children grow up, and in some cases, I’ve even watched you grow up.

Many of you know Joachim, our village tanner, and his wife, Anna.  They are a hard working couple of deep an abiding faith, and have been a part of our community for many years.  They’ve had a good life, and they were so pleased when God blessed them with a child late in life – their daughter, Mary … such a sweet and beautiful child.  It has been a joy seeing her grow up and become a young woman these past … oh, it must be 14 years now.

And then what a blessing it was when Joseph, a skilled and experienced carpenter, came to us from his hometown of Bethlehem, wanting a fresh start in a new place after the death of his wife.  Having recently lost our town carpenter, I have little doubt that God had a hand in Joseph’s decision to come here.

Of course … it is not good for a man to be alone, so many of us found ourselves wondering if he might find himself a new wife from among the single women here inNazareth.  And after a time, he cast his eyes upon young Mary.

As I understand it, Joachim had taken a tanning rack to Joseph for repair, and Mary accompanied him.  As the 2 men were discussing the repairs, Joachim noticed that Joseph’s eyes kept looking over his shoulder … at Mary.  And so he wasn’t surprised when Joseph contacted him to inquire about the possibility of taking Mary as his wife.

Anna suggested that they should perhaps invite Joseph to their home for a Sabbath evening meal, so that they might get to know him a bit better.  I’m told that Joseph couldn’t keep his eyes off of Mary, and that the normally quiet and reserved Mary was unusually talkative, keeping up a steady stream of conversation with Joseph for the entire evening.  Joachim tells me that at one point, Anna leaned over to him and said, “It’s as if we’re not even here!”

Well, it wasn’t too long thereafter that we gathered together to celebrate Joseph and Mary’s betrothal … and what a celebration it was!  Being their only child, and being so thankful that she was marrying a man with a craft that would provide well for her, they provided quite a feast – and the wine … ah, the wine!

And so Joseph and Mary started their life together – what we assumed would be a good and long life.  But then, the rumors started when it was discovered that Mary was with child.  Was it Joseph’s?  If so, this was, at the very least, a serious broach of our tradition concerning the relationship between a man and a woman during the year of their betrothal prior to their actual wedding.

Plus, there was talk of Joseph talking about quietly divorcing Mary … and a dream that both Joseph and Mary had, telling them that their child was to be a special child.  At one point, I even heard that Mary was told that their son would be … dare I even say it – the long awaited Messiah.

When people heard about Mary’s condition, and what was being said about her unborn child, some said she should be driven out of the village.  Some even said that she should be stoned to death for blaspheme with her claims of the child being the Messiah … God’s Chosen One.

But let me ask you … have we not been told in our scriptures, and believed that someday, God would send the Messiah to lead us into a new age of peace and prosperity?  And if we believe this to be the case, who are we to say that what Mary is saying is true or not?  How else would the Messiah arrive, other than through one of the daughters of Zion… one of our people … someone like Mary?

My friends … we have enough troubles withRome, and the recent edict we have received for a census that will require each of us to return to the city of our birth and family heritage, than to be stirring up trouble and fighting amongst ourselves.  I say, let us see what happens – with Joseph and Mary, and their child, and see where we find God’s hand in their lives … then we will know.  Then we will know what to believe.

Thank you for listening to me, and now I would ask that we all return to our homes, and give prayerful consideration to what we have spoken of here.

May God’s peace be with us all.

Advent is a time of preparation and we have made a tradition of getting our sanctuary and, hopefully, ourselves, ready for this special season by decorating the Christmas tree with Chrismons and by singing Christmas Carols – all in anticipation of this season of hope and expectation.

Chrismon is a combination of parts of two words:  Christ and monogram.  A Chrismon is just that; a monogram of Christ that is placed on a Christmas tree.  These monograms or symbols are traditionally made in combinations of white and gold.  White, the liturgical color for Christmas, contains all the colors of the spectrum and reminds us that Jesus brings to us in himself the fullness of what it means to be human; the gold reminds us of his majesty and glory.  We use white lights on the tree to remind us that Christ is the “Light of the World.”

In our service today, you will learn the meaning of each symbol before we hang the Chrismons on the tree. 

Now in the spirit of our gathering, in this special moment, please join in singing “O Come All Ye Faithful” which you will find on the song sheet in your bulletin. 

The FISH is one of the most ancient symbols for Jesus.  When Christians had to hide because they weren’t liked, they would often indicate to one another where meetings would be held by drawing the sign of the fish on the ground. 

Matthew4:19– “And he said to them “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of all people.”

The BELL is a later western symbol that arose from church bells calling people to worship.  It represents the proclamation of the Gospel to the world.

 Mark16:15– “Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.’”

 The ANGEL is a messenger of God, telling Mary and Joseph about their special child, as well as the shepherds when Jesus was born. 

Luke 2: 8-9 – “In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.”

Those of you holding a Fish,Bell, or Angel, please come forward and hang it on the tree.
(Congregation members come forward to hang Chrismons on the tree)

Please join in singing  “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”

When we see the DOVE, we know that it is a well known symbol for peace.  As the Prince of Peace, Jesus assured his followers of God’s love.  They could be at peace. 

Isaiah 9: 6 – “For a child has been born for us … and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The CANDLE represents the light of God entering a world of darkness in the person of the Christ child.

John8:12– Jesus said “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

SNOW adds a symbol of purity to our Chrismon service.  The first snow cleans the air as it covers the ground, leaves, and clutter of autumn.   Jesus was born as a human to make us clean before God.

Isaiah1:18– “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow.”

Those of you holding a Dove, Candle, or Snowflake, please come forward and hang it on the tree.
(Congregation members come forward to hang Chrismons on the tree)

Please join in singing  ”Let It Snow”

The STAR tells us of the Epiphany – the time when the Wisemen saw the bright star in the sky leading them to the baby Jesus.

Matthew 2:2 – “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” 

Our GIFT giving on Christmas morning reminds us of the best gift ever – God’s Son, Jesus.  The Wisemen celebrated that gift with gifts of their own . 

Matthew2:11– “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.  Then opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

The SHIP serves as a reminder that long ago countries separated from the Holy Land by bodies of water started the tradition of celebrating Jesus’ arrival in a ship.  We, like ships carrying precious cargo, can carry the good news of the Savior’s birth to others.   

Luke2:10-11 – “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Those of you holding a Star, Gift, or Ship, please come forward and hang it on the tree.
(Congregation members come forward to hang Chrismons on the tree)

Please join in singing ”I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing”

The empty CROSS symbolizes the risen Christ, the redeemer of humankind.

1 Corinthians1:18– “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

The CANDY CANE represents the shepherd’s staff, with Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  The colors symbolize the blood and purity of Christ.

John10:11– “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

The EVERGREEN TREE symbolizes eternal life, even in the midst of the winters we encounter along life’s journey.

John3:16– “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” 

Those of you holding a Cross, Candy Cane, or Evergreen Tree, please come forward and hang it on the tree.
(Congregation members come forward to hang Chrismons on the tree)  

Please join in singing  “Oh Christmas Tree”

BENEDICTION

“May you each be blessed with love and joy and true meaning of this Advent and Christmas season.  May we seek to live in the light of Christ’s love and be ready when Christ comes.  And may we carry the peace of God wherever we go so that we may share God’s peace with all we meet.”

Matthew 25: 1-13

The parable before us this morning is perhaps the best known biblical illustration of what is commonly referred to as Murphy’s Law.

Of course, nonbiblical, contemporary examples abound.  

You’ve made arrangements to receive a call from a client on your cell phone at 3 p.m.and you’ve been taking calls all morning, but as 3 p.m.arrives, your battery goes dead, you don’t have a charger, and you miss the call.

Your 6-year-old kid has been rehearsing her part as a turkey for the Thanksgiving school play about the Pilgrims.  When you get to the performance, you take a couple shots, the battery dies, you don’t have a backup,  and you miss the shots you really wanted.

You’re close to being late to work, and to make it on time, the universe needs to cooperate.  And, of course, it doesn’t.  You have a flat – bad enough, but then you discover that the spare is also flat.  This all happens today because yesterday you told your boss you were late because you had a flat tire – which you didn’t.  Now you do.

Or, it’s mid-evening and you’re reading some trash novel, and your neighborhood has a blackout.  Not to worry: You’re a fanatic about preparedness. You reach for the flashlight, which you store in the space below the kitchen sink, and push the switch.  Then you remember that a flashlight is just a metal tube in which to store dead batteries.

It’s Murphy’s Law.  The correct version goes like this: If anything can go wrong, it probably will.  Notice “probably.”  That’s not much comfort.  You can get a slice of bread and examine it on both sides, but you cannot predict which side will land on the kitchen floor – until you butter it.  Then you know.

The good news is, if we know ML, then it’s possible to invert it, because ML is part of the universe as well.  Thus, if anything can go wrong, and probably will, then the law itself can go wrong.  But to invert the law, certain things need to happen.

Some of the women of our biblical text were aware that it’s possible to invert ML, and they took steps to do so.  Notice that none of these women went to the wedding reception unprepared.  They all had oil in their lamps.  In that respect, early in the evening, there was no noticeable difference between the so-called “wise” five and the “foolish” five.  Moreover, they all became weary and took a nap while waiting for the party to begin.  The only difference between the women, unnoticed at first, is that some carried a spare vial of oil on their person, just in case ML reared its ugly head.

Oil was as important then as now.  Maybe the “foolish” women didn’t carry an extra supply of oil because it was expensive.  Who knows?

This is a parable, so some elements may have symbolic meaning.  Consider, for example, the lamps.  The lamp, according to Proverbs 20:27, can be considered the light of the Lord in the human spirit.  It is this light which might fade or burn out in a person.

Oil is widely regarded in Scripture as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  The implication is that without the Holy Spirit, our light fades and grows dim.

The five “wise” women carried an extra supply. When they refueled, recharged, renewed their light source, they turned to an extra resource outside of themselves to save the day.  This is a reminder that we cannot expect that the resources we have in our “lamps” will be sufficient for all times and occasions.  We must realize that in the ongoing experience of living in the world, the fuel will begin to run low.  The question is: Are we carrying an external source of extra fuel?  Do we know how, when our spirits grow dark, when the light seeps from our souls, to replenish the supply?

The “wise” women were in no mood to share their oil with the “foolish” women when the Bridegroom finally showed up.  And who can blame them?  They needed the oil reserves to take them through the rest of the evening, because at midnight, the celebration was just getting’ started!  Their party hats were on and they’d need that oil to celebrate into the early hours of the morning.

That said, it should be different in the Church it seems to me. 

The success of the Church in the world is predicated in part on its taking advantage of critical opportunities.  If the Church misses the moment, the moment may be lost.  In the parable before us, the arrival time of the Bridegroom is unknown: The failure of the five latecomers to respond to the Bridegroom’s call – a tardiness occasioned by their lack of readiness, is a classic “u-snooze, you-lose” moment.

This parable is often interpreted as pointing toward what we commonly call Jesus’ second coming.  But why not consider the possibility that the “Groom” is calling the Church now?

The Groom calls the Church to the banquet now, to fulfill its mission now, to open the door of opportunity now, to take the step of faith now.

It may very well be that the Church, as well as our local church, is snoozing – if not snoozing, there’s a real sense of waiting, wondering what’s going to happen next.  But in this parable, Jesus offers no specific condemnation of the women who fell asleep.  They all did.  However, when the trumpet sounded, when the call came, when the bells were rung, five of these women were ready; the others were not. The first five snoozed, but didn’t lose because they were ready should the trumpet sound.  The other five should not have been snoozing; they should have been shopping for oil - for some candlepower.

Do we need candlepower?  A church with candlepower is a church that shows and glows.  That is, it’s a church that shows up – it has the candle of preparation.  The spadework has been done.  The foundation has been built.  The groundwork is finished.  The plans have been drawn up.  Everything needed for the success of the mission has been gathered.  A church with candlepower has its candles.  It shows up – with candles at the ready, wicks trimmed.

It also glows.  It has both the candle and the flame.  It has an external source of power that gives all the prior preparation its explosive and enlightening energy.  A glowing church is one which is more than a mere candle – a congealed pillar of paraffin that’s apt to melt in a puddle if a heat source is inappropriately applied, but rather a torch that lights the way.  Such a church is a church which prays, a church which studies, a church which worships, a church which remembers the sacraments, a church which offers praise and thanksgiving.

With such a church, Murphy doesn’t stand a chance.

Joshua 3: 7-17

Imagine the scene.  It’s 1950, and in Carnegie Hall, just off Broadway in New York City, an historic event is taking place.  The famous venue, which has hosted world-class musicians and singers throughout its history, now for the first time, sees a gospel singer take the stage, a “colored” singer at that, as she would have been called then.  She glides to the stage and stands before a sea of faces that are not like her face – at all … lot of white folks there!  But then the orchestra plays and, from the depths of her soul, her powerful contralto voice brings forth the words:
   Roll, Jordan, roll;
   Roll, Jordan, roll;
   I want to get to heaven when I die,
   To hear old Jordan roll.

Mahalia Jackson was born on October 26, 1911, in the Black Pearl section of the Carrolton neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana.  Little Halie, as she was known then, grew up in a ramshackle three-room house on Pitt Street that housed 13 people and a dog.  Mahalia was named after her Aunt Mahalia, who was known as “Duke,” because she was the undisputed “boss” of the family living in those close quarters.  Mahalia’s father was a dockworker who later became a Baptist minister, and her mother worked as a maid and laundress.

Little Halie suffered from a birth defect called genu varum or “bowed legs,” and doctors wanted to correct them through surgery.  Her aunt, however, would have none of it, and instead had her mother rub the child’s legs down with greasy dishwater.  Even with her condition, little Halie never stopped dancing for the white woman whose house her mother cleaned.

Halie’s mother died when she was five, leaving the rest of the family to decide who would be responsible for raising her.  Aunt “Duke” became her guardian, and forced Halie and her siblings to work from sunup to sundown.  Aunt Duke would always take out her white gloves to check their work.  If the house wasn’t cleaned perfectly, Halie was beaten.  If one of the other relatives was unable to do his chores, or clean at her job, Halie or one of her cousins was expected to pick up the slack.  School was completely out of the picture.

Still, there were glimmers of hope.  Halie loved to sing, and church became her outlet.  Halie’s Aunt Bell told her that one day she would sing in front of royalty. Wonder if the grown up Halie thought of that prediction on that night she stood on the stage of Carnegie Hall?

She began to sing regularly at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, where she was baptized.  In 1927, at the age of 16, she and her relatives moved from New Orleans to Chicago as part of the Great Migration.  At a church service in her new home, she sang an impromptu version of her favorite song, “Hand Me Down My Silver Trumpet, Gabriel.”  She was invited to join the choir, began touring with the group, and soon landed a job as a soloist, collaborating with Thomas Dorsey, known widely as “The Father of Gospel Music.”

In 1936, Halie married a man named “Ike” Hockenhull, ten years her senior, who encouraged her to sing secular music because there was more money in it.  She refused to do so, and would keep her promise to sing only sacred music for her entire life.  She left Ike in 1941 because of his unrelenting pressure to sing secular songs, and because of his gambling addiction.  She signed with Decca Records in the early 1930s, but while her singing was great, the gospel music genre didn’t make much money, so she was dropped from the label.  In 1947, she signed with the famous Apollo label, and there she began to have commercial success.  Her 1948 recording of “Move On Up a Little Higher” sold eight million copies, which was a staggering number for the time, especially for a gospel recording.

Two years later, there she was, standing on the stage at Carnegie Hall.  It would not be her most famous performance, however.  She sang at President Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961 and, in 1963, she would sing stirring renditions of “How I Got Over” and “I’ve Been ‘Buked and I’ve Been Scorned” at the March on Washington, on the same stage where Martin Luther King Jr. would give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Mahalia Jackson died in 1972 at the age of 60.  Singer Harry Belafonte would eulogize her as “the most powerful black woman in America” – a title that might have seemed impossible for a bow-legged, orphaned, and abused little girl growing up on Pitt Street.

   O, children, you ought to been there,
   Yes, my Lord!
   A settin’ in the Kingdom, to hear old Jordan roll.

Mahalia Jackson’s story is one of many in which people overcome great obstacles in order to reach their full potential.  The children of Israel, themselves a people without a home, wandering around in the desert after escaping from their own Duke-like task masters, came to the banks of the flooded Jordan River and saw it as an insurmountable obstacle to the realization of their hopes and dreams.  The Promised Land lay just on the other side, but the barrier was too great – too great, of course, unless it’s God who’s leading the way.

No wonder the Jordan River and the Promised Land were favorite metaphors for the slaves of the Civil War era and in the civil rights movement. Michael P. Graves and David Fillingim in their book More Than Precious Memories: The Rhetoric of Southern Gospel Music, shed some light upon the imagery and metaphor of the Jordan river and the Promised Land for the Civil War-era slave: “The themes of ‘Jordan’ and ‘Canaan’ have biblical connotations, but surely there is some influence from another source of songs in the South. The Jordan River was a euphemism among Southern slaves for the Ohio River. If slaves could cross the Ohio River into free states, then they would be made free.  In essence, the area north of the Ohio river was viewed as the Promised Land.  Slave songs used the Jordan River and the Promised Land to communicate about freedom.”

As they stand at the river’s edge, God offers the Israelites freedom, but with it comes a challenge – step into the raging water, and see what I will do. Trust me, be faithful, and watch what happens.  This isn’t the kind of miracle that simply happens for the Israelites.  In order to see it become a reality, they have to be willing to take a step – a risky step, toward the promise that waits on the other side of the river.

“When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap” (v. 13). Imagine the feeling of those priests with the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders, walking up to the river bank, knowing that their first step into the river could be their last ever if the current caught them.  It’s a scene that brings to mind a similar one in the New Testament when Jesus invites Peter to step out of the boat in the midst of a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:22-33). Faith means getting your feet wet.

Of course, as the story goes, when the priests dip their toes in the water, God’s promise becomes a reality.  The waters stand up on the north side of the crossing we’re told, and the people cross over on dry ground.   The people move from becoming a wandering, aimless, marginalized people to being a landed people with an identity that can come only from the God who cares for them.  God made it possible; faith made it a reality.

Nobody would have been surprised if little Halie Jackson had simply settled for life as a poor child, eking out a living in the back streets of New Orleans.  Sure, she had a natural talent, but everyone has some kind of talent that can make a difference in the lives of others.  She could have settled or, when she began to have some success, she could have compromised her beliefs in order to land the certainty of a big payday.  Many people come to a major barrier in their lives and decide that it’s just better to stay on the desert side of the river than to risk any more pain.

Remember that old adage: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice.”  Mahalia Jackson practiced not only her singing, but her faith. The Israelites practiced for 40 years before they crossed over.  Truth is that if we want to overcome the obstacles in our own lives, then we’re going to need to practice being people who trust that God will make a way for us when there seems to be no way.  That trust, that faith, however, isn’t merely a passive wishing that God would do something for us.  It means that we’re willing to keep walking in the right direction, no matter what’s in front of us.

Mahalia Jackson overcame obstacles through her faith and participated in a movement that changed the world for many people.  What are you … what are we willing to do in order to break through our own barriers, and, with God’s help, change the world?
    Roll, Jordan, roll.

Deuteronomy 34: 1-2

It used to be that high school reunions were the one time when you found out, after all those years, whatever happened to, say, that old girlfriend, or the football captain, or that geeky kid who sat in the back of the room and only fooled with his calculator.  You’d get a bunch of paunchy, middle-aged people together in a banquet hall and swap stories and speculations about the fate of classmates, and then that geeky kid would pull up in his Mercedes – bought with all the money he made because he’d founded some wildly successful Internet company. “Revenge of the Nerds,” indeed.

Today, you only need to get on a social media site like Facebook to find out what happened to those long-lost classmates, who are all eager to tell the world that they’re alive and doing fine, even if they never became a beauty queen or a star pro-athlete.  Still, not everyone is logging on to the web, and there are still some of those people in your past you always wonder about, and for whom no one else seems to have the information.  In an age that’s saturated with information about people’s lives, it’s still possible for some to live under the radar – their lives remaining a mystery to all but themselves.

If you’re a celebrity, however, you’re never too far from the prying eyes of fans, even if your heyday was decades ago.  A website called, “What Ever Happened To?” (weht.net) is dedicated to tracking down the fate of celebs who have faded from the public eye.  People who know, and even those who speculate, can post updates about their favorites.  

Some fun examples:
* 60s and 70s teen idol Bobby Sherman, whose hits like “Little Woman” and “Easy Come, Easy Go” topped the charts, became an EMT and reserve police officer, serving in the LAPD and in San Bernadino, California.
* MC Hammer, whose hip-hop anthem “U Can’t Touch This” was a sensation in the early 90s and whose wealth was estimated at around $30 million, is now a gospel minister, after losing much of his fortune when his career as a rapper tanked.
* Remember that Mikey kid from the Life cereal commercials in the 70s?  He was last seen as an advertising exec in New York.
* And how about the diminutive Dr. Ruth, who got America talking frankly about sex in the 1980s?  She is in her eighties and, after receiving several honorary degrees, is still getting people to talk about sex on her website (drruth.com).  Did you know that she also trained as an Israeli sniper back in the late 1940s?

You might want to look at the site and come up with some of your own favorites.  Point is, it’s a lot of fun to find out what ever happened to some of your favorite famous (or infamous) people.

Some famous folks, like their everyday counterparts, just seem to disappear off the map.  Amelia Earhart, for example, is one of the folks whom Americans have been wondering about for decades, ever since her small plane disappeared in the South Pacific in the 1930s.  Every so often, someone claims to have found the wreckage, and a recent expedition may have found bone fragments that could be determined to be those of Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan.  

Stay tuned … we still don’t know where Jimmy Hoffa is, or what happened to D.B. Cooper after he parachuted out of an airliner with $200,000 in 1971.  

You might say Moses is the Amelia Earhart of the Bible.  He goes flying up to Mt. Nebo and goes completely off radar.  No one hears from him again, except for that little “Transfiguration” conference mentioned in the gospels.  So whatever happened to Moses?

If you’re thinking in terms of a “where are they now” retrospective about Israel’s most famous Old Testament figure, most casual observers would wonder first what happened to Moses after that climactic moment when he brought the Ten Commandments down from Sinai.  After all, that’s about where Cecil B. DeMille left a long-bearded and fabulously handsome Moses/Charlton Heston standing at the end of his 1956 epic film.  Sure, as the story goes, Moses had facilitated all the plagues in Egypt, led the people out of slavery, held up his staff and made the Red Sea part (with God’s help, of course).  But after getting those commandments, Moses becomes, to many people, a kind of wandering executive trying to keep the Israelite company afloat for 40 years until the payoff of the Promised Land would come.  In a “What have you done for me lately?” culture, Moses easily fades from the screen.

Students of Scripture know that there’s a lot more to the story.  Moses does more than just administer; he’s the one who largely keeps the Israelites from becoming a thirsty, wandering mob.  Deuteronomy ends with a capsulated description of Moses’ career that indicates that he was more than just the guy with the tablets.  Moses knew God “face to face” (34:10) and was “unequaled for all the signs and wonders” that God had sent him to perform – not only inEgypt, but among his own people out there in the desert (v. 11-12).

Earlier in Deuteronomy we learn that Moses was one who could even prevail upon God with his prayers to preserve a rebellious people (9:25-29). When the spies came back with a cowardly report of what awaited the people across the Jordanin the Promised Land, Moses was the one with courage among a people of cowards, (1:26-33).  Without Moses and his leadership, you have to wonder whether or not those people could have held together for 40 years.

And yet, like most great people, Moses was not without his flaws.  The generation he had led out of Egypt and through the desert for 40 years would die before they reached the Promised Land.  Moses would, too, but only because he had given into anger one too many times.  In Numbers 20:1-13, Moses is again dealing with the grumbling of the people, who want water.  God tells Moses to speak to the rock and water will come out, but in his anger Moses wants to prove to the people that he is a powerful leader and thus strikes the rock instead. Moses, in effect, usurps God’s authority.  God tells him (and Aaron), “Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them” (Numbers 20:12).

While a new generation of Israelites is preparing to cross over the river into the long-awaited Promised Land, Moses is preparing to step off the stage. While he won’t put his toes in the water of the Jordan or on the land of Canaan, God does give him one look, one panoramic view of all that the old man had been longing and struggling for all those years.  Moses could see all the places where the tribes of Israel would settle, and would hear God’s covenant promise echoing once again.  ”This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants,’” says God; “I have let you [Moses] see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there” (Deuteronomy 34:4).

Moses leaves no famous last words from that last encounter on Mount Nebo.  The writer of the end of Deuteronomy seems to think this was not really the kind of deathbed situation that often marks the end of a great life.  Sure, Moses was 120 years old we’re told, but “his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated” (v. 7).  He seemed to have had no problem hiking up the mountain.  And yet, in a very understated fashion, the writer says that Moses simply died there in Moab and was buried in a valley, “but no one knows his burial place to this day” (v. 6).  …..  “Moses has left the building” … but he left a legacy.

Of course, the questions abound: How did he die, exactly, other than the fact that it was at “the Lord’s command” (v. 5)?  Where is Beth-peor?  Who buried him?  Was he really buried, or is there something missing from the story? Has anybody been searching for his grave?  How would you know it if you found it?

Then there are the questions that this story raises that are a little more personal to us.  Imagine working for something the vast majority of your life, suffering for it, enduring for it, but then never seeing the work to completion. Think about a medieval stone-mason working on a cathedral who dies before his decades-long work is completed … seems tragic in so many ways.  Tragic, that is, unless you see your life as an investment that outlives you.

We don’t know what exactly happens to Moses there inMoab, but we do know that his legacy echoes way beyond the Promised Land.  He never got to set foot in it, but his legacy, his life, and his inspiration continue to lead others into promised lands of their own.

Bruce Feiler, in his recent book America’s Prophet: How the Story of Moses Shaped America, writes about how Moses’ legacy became a foundational narrative for the American story in ways like:
Columbus comparing himself to Moses when he sailed in 1492 …. Thomas Paine, in Common Sense, comparing King George to the pharaoh …. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, in the summer of 1776, proposing that Moses be on the seal of the United States …. Harriet Tubman adopting Moses’ name on the Underground Railroad …. Abraham Lincoln being eulogized as Moses’ incarnation …. Martin Luther King Jr., likening himself to Moses on the night before he was killed.  …..  For hundreds of years, one figure stands out as the surprising symbol of America: Moses.

Truth is that, for most of us, our lives may not be the most biography-worthy, nor will we likely turn up on one of those “Where are they now?” sites after we’re gone.  But when we invest our lives, as Moses did, in being faithful in the present, then we begin to create a future for others that will live long past us, even if our names are one day forgotten.

Whatever happens to us, we know that what we do for God lasts way beyond us.  

 We may never see our own self-proclaimed Promised Land, but the promise of the Kingdom of God is that one day, we’ll get to see how everything, and everyone, turns out!

Matthew 21: 33-46

You can hear the rats rummaging through your cupboards. You wake up to cockroaches crawling across your bed. The faucet leaks. The door sticks. Water damage has left a hole in your ceiling with light peering through from the apartment above. Several questionable characters have begun sleeping and selling dope out of the unlocked basement below. The toilet? Well, let’s just say it isn’t pretty. The radiator turns all 600 square feet into a sauna in the winter and the lackluster A/C unit strapped precariously inside your only window ensures it stays just as toasty during summer. You’ve complained to the owner. When he actually picks up your call – which is about once every 2 to 3 years – he simply chuckles and reminds you that “Hey, $3,500 a month is a steal for a New York studio!” And ya’ know what? He’s right. You’re stuck.

For many New York residents, living in a dangerous and disgusting apartment is a tough reality. With housing so scarce and affordable rent almost nonexistent, a good number of New Yorkers find themselves at the mercy of a slumlord; building owners who hold their tenants hostage with “cheap” rent, yet in return refuse to protect their dignity or safety by maintaining their facility according to even the most modest of living standards.

The problem has gotten so out of hand that the City of New York launched a watch list for its worst landlords. It’s a website that allows angry, rat-bitten tenants to lodge official complaints, and prospective renters to search and see if the apartment of their dreams could end up a roach-infested nightmare. The nastiest of slumlords not only find themselves facing fines from the city but, worst of all, the scorn of other New Yorkers.

Such problems are nothing new. Deep in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus offers a parable about what else, but a rough relationship between owner and tenant. However, in Jesus’ story it’s not the landlord who abuses his power and fails to care for those living on his land. No, it’s the tenants who take advantage of the landowner’s trust and generosity.

Jesus had entered the final week of his life. It was time for any doubts about his mission and message – among both his disciples and enemies alike, to be cleared away. It was time to increase the intensity. So Jesus laid out this accusatory parable. In doing so, he opened the oven, cranked it to 450 degrees, and filled the air around him with blistering heat, bringing his ministry in Jerusalem to a full boil.

The message was clear. God is like a landlord who has leased a vineyard – God’s kingdom, to Israel as laborers. The time has come for God to demand fruit from the workers, seeing faith in God’s promises, and trust in God’s messengers. God wants the vineyard producing a wine that leaves the boundaries of the kingdom walls and fills the entire world with the goodness of what God grows. But, according to the parable, rather than produce a measurable crop for the owner, the vineyard’s residents have sat on their hands and have nothing to show the landlord. And as if that weren’t bad enough, they’ve ignored the warnings of eviction and murdered every agent (think prophet) he’d sent to represent his interests.

“Enough is enough,” Jesus proclaimed. A time was at hand when “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:34). God is no nasty slumlord. Israel, however, was an unfaithful, unfruitful tenant. The time of eviction had come. The time for new tenants – faith-filled, Messiah-following, cross-focused tenants, had arrived.

And gee … soon after saying all of this, Jesus would be arrested. Go figure.

Here’s the thing. It’s tempting for Christians today – you know, the presumed “new tenants” working the vineyard, to read these words as simply a rebuke of the old guard. But that would be terribly shortsighted. No, if the landlord feels the need to recount stories of previous renters who failed to pay on time, threw parties that garnered visits from the police, and who dared to paint walls without permission (landlord’s hate that), he’s not simply reminiscing about the past. It’s no doubt meant as instruction and warning for the current tenants as well.

Now, do I believe God is about to kick the Church out of the kingdom and start from scratch? No, I don’t think that’s in the plan. I don’t see his parable as being a threat to us, but reather as being highly instructive for us. From it I believe we can discern what God’s expectations are for those who’ve been given the task of living in the kingdom, producing fruit, and sending wine into the world.

This is a parable about stewardship. You know – managing God’s stuff on God’s behalf. And I believe there are two central aspects of stewardship. The first is what we’ve been entrusted with and the second is what in the world we’re supposed to do with it.

As tenants we’ve each been entrusted with two things it seems to me: the Good News of the Gospel, and our personal, worldly goods and talents. Both come from God. Both are to be used in service to God. The Gospel is the message that despite humankind’s universal rebellion against God’s authority, God desires a reconciled relationship with us, and has pursued us through the sending of prophets, and even Jesus, God’s Son, so that we might be fully aware of what God’s expectations are for us as laborers in the vineyard of God’s kingdom, and how much we are unloved – unconditionally.

We must also recognize that all things – the clothes on our backs, the dollars in our wallets, and even the rented ceilings above our heads belong to God, and are on loan to us from God. King David reminds us “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1, NIV). God owns everything. It’s simply been leased to us. “We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” (1 Timothy 6:7). We are renters of everything and owners of nothing.

But as we see in the parable, it takes more than simply knowing how blessed you are and who the owner is to be considered faithful. The jerks in Jesus’ parable understood all that. No, good tenants,  solid stewards do something with the Gospel and their goods. They produce a crop, making sure it brings blessing to the world at large.  

What kind of tenants are we … you knew that question was coming, right? We have been entrusted with much. We are the new inhabitants of God’s incredible vineyard. Life-giving wine must flow from its walls.

And so. On this World Communion Sunday, as we gather around the Table of the Lord with our brothers and sisters in faith from around the world, let us dedicate ourselves anew to being the tenants that God would have us be, producing a vintage that is robustly sweet with God’s love and mercy for ALL people.

Like the button says that I wear almost every day: God bless the whole world – no exceptions!