07 February 2018

Sermon Christmas I John 1:1-18 31 December 2017 Year B


Words are powerful. Despite the old nursery saying, “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me,” most of us know the pain of hurtful words. The words I just repeated, in fact, where taught to some of us as a way of defiance, of shrugging off the hurt of another person’s cruel words. And the fact that we were taught these words as children says something even more powerful. From the beginning of our lives, words have the power to wound.
Words also have the power to heal. Just as words can create woe and wounds in our most vulnerable places; words can also be used to help and heal.
I believe one of the reasons words hold such power over us has to do with their rhythm. Some indigenous peoples in various tribes and nations believe every person, animal and object has a song to sing. That makes sense to me. It makes sense because the rhythm of what we say is as important as the words themselves. A shouted, “Stop it!” in any language has the power to halt us in our tracks. A parent’s quiet murmuring to a baby doesn’t have to make any sense at all; it simply has to have a soothing rhythm. Someone in my family – I really don’t recall whom, but probably my mother – used to say, “Now then; now then.” If you thought much about those two words used together, they make no sense at all. But the repeated rhythm, accompanied by gentle patting on the back, was soothing.
This is why many of us react to poetry and song even those of us who claim not to get much out either or both. It’s not only the power of the words, but the rhythm that shapes our understanding. And just as a new or startling rhythm combined with familiar words can shake us up, so can familiar words and phrases with their accustomed rhythms soothe our souls and help us feel safe.
This morning’s reading from the first chapter of the Gospel of John is an ancient rhythm. It’s a rhythm that translates even to another language. Some of what we hear from the Gospel of John was likely a hymn or song of praise. The words have great power for us, and so does the rhythm. The words tell us a story of Christ from the beginning, and the rhythms make the words sink into us and become part of us.
There, I think, is the real power rhythmic words hold for us. The words become part of us. They sink into our souls. But words also can become so much a part of us they form mere background mumbling or are so automatic we hardly hear them anymore.
By contrast, I remember when I first read scripture and discovered this prologue from John’s gospel. I was completely awed and taken in by the sheer power and rhythm of the words. I hadn’t any idea what they really meant, but they spoke to my soul.
I had the same experience with each Eucharistic Prayer when I joined the church. This was all new to me. And each Eucharistic Prayer was new and exciting because it told me different things about God, about our theology, about being an Episcopalian. I have been uncomfortable from time to time when the words have changed, but I have been comforted by the rhythms even when I wasn’t sure I liked the words. And sometimes I didn’t like the words because they challenged me. The words made me think about God differently.
So it is with the words of Baptism that we are about to say over the water of baptism and the words we say when we baptize Matilda and Cole. The words are ancient words, translated into our own tongue, yet the same or similar words have been said for centuries. The words have power, influence, and poetry. They welcome Cole and Matilda into the circle of God and the church. All things come from God, and the words said at baptism acknowledge that these children come from God and will return to God. The promises we make on behalf of these children surround and sustain their relationship with the God of the Trinity: God the eternal One, God our Savior Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. These are powerful words for a powerful sacrament: the sacrament of Holy Baptism that makes us members of the community of both the living and the dead. These are powerful words that sink into our hearts and become part of us and charge us to do God’s work in a world desperately in need of loving hearts, tender hands, and challenging words. This is poetry that moves us to do God’s work.
So it is with the poetry of the prologue of the Gospel of John. These eighteen verses, take us by word and rhythm through the entire story of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not the details; just the essential things we need to know. Nothing I could say to you, no commentary, no sermon, is as powerful as these words that speak to our souls about God’s story of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of the flesh or the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.[1] AMEN.


The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2017



[1] John 1:1-18 (NRSV)

Sermon Christmas Day 25 December 2017 Proper III, Year B

                                      

         Merry Christmas! I realize that by this afternoon most of the world outside these doors will consider Christmas to be over. I knew someone once who put her tree up on Thanksgiving Day and took it down Christmas Day in the afternoon. By tomorrow, many people will dismantling their Christmas trees and some will already be discarded at the curb on December 26. But here, in church, for twelve whole days, we concentrate on appreciating and entering into the mystery of God come among us in human flesh. This morning’s gospel whisks us away from the manger however, and into a world of power and poetry. John’s gospel asks us to enter a powerful mystery: the mystery that God became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
Contrasting strongly with Luke and Matthew’s familiar Christmas stories of angels and shepherds and mangers and beasts and a baby, John’s gospel is a startling piece of work. John’s gospel whisks away our ideas of the nativity and replaces them with the vast reality of the universe.
         The words of John’s gospel, paint a different reality from the manger and the angels and the shepherds. The reality John’s gospel paints is a poetic and powerful way of telling us that the mystery of Christmas is vast; far greater than shepherds and angels and mangers, and even Christmas trees that end up at the curb. John’s gospel gives us the same mystery that began in the opening of the very first book of the bible: Genesis.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light.

         Can you hear the echo of what we heard from John’s gospel this morning?
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What came into being in Jesus was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

This is a different picture of Jesus than the ones we get from Luke and Matthew’s gospels. There are no shepherds or mangers or angels here. Instead we get powerful poetic imagery that draws us into a vast universe created by a powerful and awe-inspiring God. Can this be the same God in the pictures we get from Matthew and Luke? Can the same God who separated the light from the darkness really be born as a tiny helpless baby?
         That, indeed, is the most awe-inspiring thing about the story of Jesus’ birth. That the God who separated the light from the darkness is also the God who became helpless flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. The Christmas mystery is not wrapped in a package under the tree. The Christmas mystery is the powerful God who sometimes seems so vast and so far away, and yet in the birth of Jesus comes closer than we could have imagined.
         The Christmas mystery is a powerful and poetic mystery for us to embrace and hold close. God is indeed “out there,” making the stars, separating the light from the dark and living closely and recognizably with us. And God is indeed still “in here” lying in a manger, waiting to be worshiped and served. AMEN.

The Rev Nicolette Papanek

©2017

Sermon Christmas Eve 10:40 p.m. Luke 2:1-14 Year B


            Every Christmas I notice the lighting displays get more elaborate. Somehow that was only to be expected, particularly in a society like ours, where we always seem to equate “better” with “more”. But what I’ve really noticed in the last few years is the proliferation of displays that seemingly have nothing to do with Christmas. Okay, candy canes I can go. North Pole scenes, sure. Santa Claus has been around for a long time, and although we’ve mostly lost touch with it, he is based on St Nicholas of Myra, an ancient bishop. I can even make a stretch for the lit polar bears I see. I suppose you could say the polar bears came from Santa’s North Pole. But a giant Mickey Mouse? And Scooby Doo? I think the one I saw a few years ago won the prize for mixed metaphors: a snowman with a nativity scene in his translucent, lighted, blow-up middle. I do hope I’m not insulting anyone’s Christmas displays, and maybe they’re meaningful to the people who put them up, but I wonder sometimes what we’re trying to express. I ask myself, what in the world is all this about?
         I’ve come to realize in an increasingly cold, do-it-all-yourself, care-only-about-yourself world, these frantic displays are seeking some semblance of warmth and light and hope. They are what we do to remind ourselves there is something bigger and better than sitting in darkness.
I think it has to do with our basic human need for light. Especially this time of year, as we drew closer to the winter solstice and to the end of the calendar year, and the light continued to fade. All this midwinter display is about our longing for light and warmth and hope: light coming into the darkness, warmth returning to the earth, hope expanding in our hearts.
         The problem with what we do with our lighting this time of year is that it’s a lot like Christmas candy. It’s high in sugar, high in calories, gives a quick fix if we’re hungry, but it doesn’t satisfy. And if you eat enough of it, you’ll end up vaguely nauseated from too much sugar and not enough real nourishment.
         Congratulations then. You’ve come to the place of nourishment. You’ve come to the place of light and warmth and hope.
It doesn’t matter what brought you here tonight. Perhaps you come regularly. Or maybe tonight it was at the urging of family, or friends, or a longing for the tradition of your childhood. Or perhaps you’re not really sure why you’re here. Maybe you just drove by and saw the lights and the sign.  Whatever reason brought you here: welcome. Welcome to the place of nourishment. This is the place where light lasts, warmth continues to warm, and hope returns.
         This is the place God called you to tonight. Like the shepherds in the field in tonight’s gospel reading, God called you out of the field to come into the light.
The light of God’s presence shone around you, and if you saw it, like the shepherds, you were terrified. You might not have known it or recognized it, but God spoke to you and said, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy.”[1] And you came here for some company in your terrifying fear of the darkness that suddenly became light.
         The only thing that will fill our need for light permanently is Jesus, light of the world. God, coming into the world, as a tiny helpless baby, is the light of the world. If you ever thought God could not understand your pain or your joy, remember Christ himself bore the pain of being born. Christ himself was helpless: needing food and warmth and light and hope to survive. A God who knows the pain of abandonment on the cross knows all about our need for hope. A God who knows and bears the pain of being human is a God that can hold out the light in the midst of the darkest night.
         The nourishment that feeds us and gives us light and warmth and hope is available from God in the great mystery of God come among us as a tiny helpless babe. And that same God is the God who died and rose again: the God who gave his body and blood to nourish us not only tonight, but always.
So come tonight. Come to this table for nourishment. Come to this table and let light enter into your very being. This is the mystery of the Incarnation of Christ born in human flesh. This is the mystery of God become flesh and dwelling among us as one of us and so much more than us. This is the mystery that God felt our pain and our sorrow and our joy and gladness. This is the mystery that God is a light to lighten our darkness, not only this time of year but, all year, every year.
God seeks us in our darkness and in our coldness and in our hopeless places. God is there in those places waiting for us with light and warmth and hope. Come to the promise of light and warmth and hope. Come to the place where light lasts, warmth continues to warm, and hope returns. AMEN

The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2017



[1] Luke 2:10b (NRSV)

Sermon Christmas Eve 4 p.m. 2017 Luke 2:8-20 Year B

         A few years ago I was amused by an article I saw on-line in early December. The United Kingdom-based supermarket giant        Sainsbury’s reported that Nativity plays were sending tea towel sales “through the roof.” Apparently, striped cotton tea towels lead double lives, functioning in the kitchen on a daily basis, but also moonlighting as headdresses for most characters in Nativity plays. Wise men and shepherds, Joseph, the Virgin Mary, all wear these tea towels, at least in the British Isles. It seems that in December, tea towel sales at Sainsbury’s soars from an average of 4,000 towels a week to nearly 12,000. This rise in sales is known in the trade as “The Bethlehem Boost,” according to Sainsbury’s kitchenware buyer.  All this is amusing enough, of course, but my favorite part came at the end of the article.
         According to the spokesperson, regular tea towels sell well, as parents want their children to look their best since many Nativity plays are now videotaped. The spokesperson went on to say that, “…sales of a more sophisticated tea towel, with yellow, blue, brown, and white stripes are also going well. We suspect that these are being chosen by Virgin Marys who want to stand out from the crowd and make a fashion statement.”[1]
         Frankly, I find this article amusing, enlightening, and a bit frightening. It’s certainly amusing; we can all laugh about tea towel sales and Nativity plays. Many of us participated in those plays as a child. It’s enlightening, and actually a bit refreshing that so many Nativity plays are still happening. But it’s also a bit frightening that the attitude of being better looking and more fashionably dressed has even taken over Nativity plays. Perhaps Nativity plays are feeling the influence of U-Tube.
         Setting that aside, however, this entire article reminded me of the best Nativity play I’ve ever seen. Luke’s Gospel tonight is the classic from which most Nativity plays and characters have been modeled. A few years ago in a parish I served, the Sunday School director had an inspired idea. We had a discussion about how many people had mentioned to her that as children, they never got to be the character they really wanted to be. That year, as the children processed into the church, they carried in several large baskets. The baskets were labeled, “Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Angels,” and so on.
At the end of the Nativity play, the Sunday School director told her own story about who she’d always wanted to be in the Nativity play. And then she invited everyone who always wanted to be someone else, or had never been in a play, to put on a costume and join the children in front of the altar. The response was overwhelming.
I’m not as sure of my statistics as Sainsbury’s was, but I think we had eleven Virgin Marys, twenty or so shepherds, a half-dozen Josephs, camels, Wise Men, you name it. And you know, nearly everyone up there, and nearly everyone in the church was teary-eyed.
We might be a bit shocked that parents are so concerned about their children’s appearance that they run out to invest in new tea towels. But, perhaps those parents are answering their own deep longing to be a part of the greatest story we know. Which of us has not imagined ourselves as one of those characters? Be honest now, if you were involved in a Nativity play as a child, did you end up as a shepherd but long to be Joseph? Did you have curly dark hair and watch the blonde-haired blue-eyed girls get the part of Mary year after year? Were you relegated as a sheep when you wanted to be a Wise Man? Did you get stuck as a villager when you wanted to be a camel? Who are you in the Nativity play in your mind and heart? Which of Luke’s characters are you? Are you watching on the sidelines or are you in the middle of the scene as one of the lead characters?
         When you come up for Communion, take a look at our beautiful Nativity set, or crèche. I invite you after the service to come and look. I invite you you to imagine yourself in the scene at the manger. What are your deepest longings about the Christmas story? Who are you in this scene and what does this mean to your life? How can God take that longing to be part of Jesus’ birth and use you and your longing to bring light to the world? How is God calling you to use your longing to do something about the longings of others? Be a part of the Christmas story, the greatest story ever told, and the beginning of the salvation of the world. AMEN.

The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2017