What’s in a name… and, does a more real Nativity scene still smell as sweet?

First, what’s in a name. 

Actually, what’s in two names – “Emmanuel” and “Jesus”?  We hear both this time of year as we approach the Nativity.  What did our ancestors hear when these names were used – what did they mean to them?  What do they mean to us today?

Oh come, oh come, Emmnauel.  How else did our ancestors hear this name?  What did it mean to use the ancient prophet Isaiah’s words, “Look, the virgin (young woman) shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel”? 


In Isaiah, these words were being spoken by God to one of the earlier kings of Judah (Achaz) who wasn’t so strong in his faith, had fallen off the wagon you might say, and who needed some assertive reminding that evil plans against God’s people would fail, empires trying to dominate the kingdom would not endure, and the earthly king (and his subjects) needed to stand firm in their faith and trust God.  To signal the imminent truth of God’s promise, he would send a sign… not a miraculous sign, but a rather ordinary one – the birth of a child in their community with a special name. 


Emmanuel. It means “God is with us.”  In it’s original context, that was reassurance that God was with the faithful of Jerusalem, even when they seemed to be doomed under attack.  When we hear it today associated with the Nativity, what does it mean to you and me, here in the midst of our modern lives, that “God is with us”?


Invoking of the name Emmanuel at Christ’s birth is a way of calling forth a reminder of God’s covenant, God’s divine pledge of assistance and protection.  If you read the lyrics of the popular song from the Middle Ages, “Oh come, Oh Come, Emmanuel”  it’s clear that invocation of this name is meant to call to our minds liberation from oppression, salvation from all things hellish, and light breaking through any dark shadows.


“Jesus” Both Mary and Joseph, in their own separate encounters with the divine, are told to name their soon-to-arrive child, Jesus – Joshua / Yeshua.  “For he will save his people from their sins.” 


Indeed, “Jesus,” or Yeshua in Hebrew means Yaweh (God) saves.


In contrast to this child being simply a sign of God’s promise, as in the case of the coming of a child named Emmanuel in Isaiah’s time, we’re lead to see that the child being given this special name – Jesus – is divine, an incarnation of God with us in a very intimate and imminent form to save us.


Now, does a real Nativity scene still smell as sweet?


Recently, I was invited into the home of Charleen and Dale Shipps to enjoy a tour of their inspiring collection of nativity scenes from all over the world.  Their joy and discipline in collecting and displaying these hundreds of representations of the Nativity really got me thinking about how we imagine that night. 


Perhaps like me, when you first imagine the Nativity, there’s this quiet, still image of Mary and Joseph neatly robed and calmly posed by a clean, smiling baby staring up at us from nicely tucked swaddling.  All of this set in still relief while there’s calm Christmas music in the background, perhaps “Silent Night.”


Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright… Really?   What if we were to imagine the Nativity scene more realistically as it might have been… and what might that tell us about God’s relationship to us?


Yes, surely this night was holy.  But was it silent, calm, or bright?  I doubt that it was calm and silent considering what was happening.  And I wonder how bright it was literally or figuratively, considering the pain, noise, dirt, perhaps momentarily panic, and oh so many smells surrounding them in this dark place. 


In other stories (Luke), we’re told that an angel had earlier appeared to Mary, a woman of simple means who has yet to consummate her marriage to her husband, and announced that she would bear a child of God who will become great and reign over the “house of Jacob” (read: Israel) forever.  We honor Mary for faithfully accepting this role… but imagine what anxiety and concerns the soon-to-be mother might have carried with that faithful choice to serve the Lord.  She’s not yet married and she’s got to somehow explain to her husband how she has become pregnant and risk everything – her reputation, her security, her relationships, and her life (Deut 22:20-24).  And tonight she is somewhere unfamiliar on a dark roadside about to give birth to God-knows-who; what does she imagine this will mean to her marriage, what is true about who this child will become, and what this might mean to her and her community. 


I wonder how silent she was as she contemplated the implications of all this.


In today’s story, we see part of this scene from her husband’s perspective.  Joseph is an honorable man, we might imagine.  He has been given the same name as the famous son of Jacob who was sold into slavery by his brothers, but eventually rose to become a powerful, albeit flawed, leader of exiled people in Egypt.  But we don’t know much about the Joseph who is with Mary on this fateful holy night.  Who knows how he reacted when Mary first spoke to him about her pregnancy? 


Exposing the apparent truth of this situation would expose both of them to ridicule and shame, and actually put Mary’s life in danger. The laws at the time (Deut 22:20-24) might have lead Joseph to at least kick Mary to the curb… is would have been justifiable, in fact, to take her to the gate of the town and have her stoned to death.  But we imagine that Joseph loves and honors Mary and wants to favor his compassion for her more than subjecting her to harsh judgment. 


We’re told that his initial plan is to “dismiss her quietly” – perhaps handing her off to strangers somewhere outside his community where she wouldn’t be judged too harshly and might have a chance at a decent life. 


But just as he had decided to do this, he received a message from God in a dream (not so coincidental that this message comes in a dream, as the more famous Joseph was known to be an interpreter of prophetic dreams).  God’s message is not a harsh admonishment or threat; like the message delivered to Mary, it begins with “Do not be afraid.”  The angel in his dream explains that the child in Mary’s womb is blessed and has a very special mission – to save people from their sins. 


When Joseph awoke, he had enough faith to follow these holy instructions…. but, like with Mary, I can only imagine how he also had to manage his own ambivalence about what was going on, his fears and concerns for the wellbeing of Mary, this child, and their future together. 
“Away in the manager, no crib for a bed…”  Here we have Mary and Joseph who have come to this strange, uncomfortable place in their lives.  They’re huddled together in an unfamiliar place along a roadside, where animals are kept.  It’s cramped, not particularly comfortable, and doesn’t smell so great.  Amid the harsh circumstances they’re in and the possible risks of their situation, they’re being held together by love for each other and faith in words of reassurance from God.


As Mary went into labor, a mother is gritting her teeth and perhaps screaming as she gives birth. A supportive husband is there with both worry and wonder on his face. If any of you have experienced a natural child birth, you can imagine what this scene must have been like, there in a dark barn, near the animals and their feeding trough. Curious animals are coming near to sniff, and the smells and mess are about to increase. 


I imagine this Nativity was neither silent, nor calm.  But was is it bright?


God came to them, and to us, humbly and innocently amid the visceral messiness of childbirth, in an awkward situation, and in less-than-ideal circumstances.


There’s amazing grace and hope in knowing that God comes to us like that – chooses to come to us particularly amid the messiness in our lives, acknowledging our fears and doubts, while also assuring us that we need not fear.


Is there anything going on in your life, or around you, that you experience as a stinking mess?  Have any of you been given unbelievable news in the last nine months?  Have any of you been told recently that “there’s no room for you here” and been forced to make do with whatever shelter and safety you can find?  Are any of you moving forward with some faith, but also wondering how it’s all really going to turn out? 


This week, invite ourselves into a more realistic Nativity and recognize what this means for God’s relationship with us.  No matter what situation you find yourself in, see that Emmanuel comes, Jesus is be born into your lives amid the messiness… and there need be no shame or fear in that – it’s as God intended it.  


See that our Emmanuel comes to us with the wonderment and innocence of a tender child amid all our adult anxieties.  We can’t help but be awe struck by this Christmas gift – God’s love coming to us tender and mild, even when we’re in pain and stressed out.


 I invite you to close your eyes so that it’s dark for a few moments.  Take a deep breath.  Imagine the reality of this Nativity in your own life. 


God is coming to you - a light piercing through even the distance and darkness of this winter solstice…


Jesus is being born - a flame of hope that continues flickering even when worldly circumstances are otherwise very dim…


The Spirit is with us – giving us enough light to see hope through any darkness and witness the birth of our redemption and salvation.


“Son of God, love’s pure light.  Radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.”


Christ our savior is born.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come… and calls us to action.

We are called today by church tradition to a break from any sober reflections and penitential proclivities that might be a part of our Advent awaiting.  Granted, for many of us ‘modern’ Christians here in the United States, today’s break will be more likely from holiday hurriedness or seasonal stress.  Our lighting of the rose/pink candle today, rather than another purple candle, is symbolic of calling our attention to something else.

Today is the midpoint of our Advent season.  It’s a Sunday that has come to be known as guadete Sunday (gaudete is Latin for ‘rejoice’, the first word of the Indroit often sung on this day).  Some communities might also refer to this day as “Stir up” Sunday because of the first words of the Collect for today:  “Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us…”

"Rejoice" by sculpture D.E. McDermott

Outwardly, we are fast approaching the midpoint of the winter season – the winter solstice – a moment in time when the earth’s axis is tilted farthest from the sun; the time of the shortest day and the longest night. 

Yet, inwardly, it is at that very moment in late December, when it’s the darkest, that church tradition has placed the remembrance of the birth of our Savior Jesus, calling us to celebrate a new light breaking into our dark world.  To paraphrase a popular adage attributed to a 17^th Century Theologian (Thomas Fuller), it’s darkest before a new day dawns.

We’re called today – midway in Advent – to pay attention to the stirring up of God’s power through the reign of Christ our King.  We’re called to action in his new kingdom.  And, we are to rejoice in this.

We might say that the stringent and strong prophet John the Baptist was born to preach in anticipation of the coming messiah.  We’re told that even while he was still in the womb of his mother, he leapt with joy when he sensed their proximity to his yet unborn cousin, Jesus, in the womb of Mary.  

John rejected the conventional world to thrive and preach from the wilderness against corrupt and hypocritical religious royalty, ceaselessly calling people to repentance in preparation for the coming of a new judge and king who would restore God’s honor and reign over Israel. 

Near the end of his life, John reencountered Jesus who had come to him for baptism at the Jordan.  Again recognizing something special about Jesus, John proclaims that it is, in fact, Jesus who should be baptizing him.  John’s sense is validated later as he hears more about what Jesus is up to and how this rabbi’s movement is growing.  John must be thrilled at the thought that the long awaited messiah has come to restore Israel.

But, soon after baptizing Jesus, John finds himself in prison.  In the darkness of his jail cell, shadows of doubt begin looming – is Jesus of Nazareth the messiah we’ve been waiting for, or are we to wait for another?

Jesus hears of John’s questioning and answers him not with a simple yes or no, but by addressing his concerns through invoking prophetic visions from Isaiah and psalmist poetry that would have been familiar to John and asking his followers to then witness to what they’ve seen and heard as they’ve journeyed with Jesus.  Essentially, his message to John is, in the words of Isaiah, “say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear!’ God is among you.”  And, the witness of his followers offers evidence of this.

Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia: Saint John the Baptist in Prison visited by two Disciples

Jesus then speaks to the crowds gathered near him, affirming John as the greatest prophet and telling them that John has prepared the way for the kingdom that has indeed come.

What did the prophets and psalmists say happens under God’s reign?  The blind and the lame are healed; the deaf are made to hear again; the poor and hungry are fed; the imprisoned set free; the barren lands blossom again; and a Holy Way is established, along which no danger lurks, and upon which no traveler is ever be led astray again.

Indeed, the followers of Jesus gave witness to such miracles and this must have gladdened John’s heart – bringing light amid the darkness of his cell, even as he faced his own death.

Interestingly, the next chapter of story of Jesus doesn’t match expectations of the messianic, conquering king that John might have imagined.  The rule of those in power in their time was based on domination by fear and violence – so, it could have been easily imagined that the coming messiah was supposed to conquer Rome with political and military might. 

However, the kingdom of heaven as lived and proclaimed by Jesus, was about victory in the mind and heart through peace, acts of good will, and radical inclusivity.  This counter-cultural vision of a new type of kingdom, in the short term, seemed to only infuriate those in power and earned our Lord a crown of thorns and death on a cross.

Of course, for us, the story doesn’t end there.  We believe that our Lord was raised from the dead so that he might lead a spiritual kingdom in this world, but not of this world.  He leads us now through a reign of repentance where goodness and mercy prevail, and justice is delivered through charity and forgiving love.  Amid any earthly darkness, he comes as divine light with the power to stir up new life within us and restore well being among us.  This is worth rejoicing, indeed.

Jesus reassured John and his followers that the kingdom of God had indeed come.  And Christ continues to work through us to advance the kingdom today.

Every time we come to this table, we are reminded that we’re living members of his body.  We feed on him in our hearts with spiritual food and are sent into the world in peace, with new strength and courage, to love and serve our neighbors as Christ, with gladness and singleness of heart.  God’s kingdom is come when we accept Christ into our hearts.  God’s will is done on earth when we act with Christ to fix our world, starting with the repair of broken relationships. 

This morning we take a moment to step out of the hurry “the holidays” and potential stress of the season.  We’re here to acknowledge that we’ve been called to action as disciples of a newborn king.  We rejoice for what is possible in our families and communities when God’s love is stirred in and among us.

Profound transformations are possible in our lives, the lives of our loved ones, and in the lives of our neighbors when we, following our Lord, share the gift of patient faith, remain steadfast with hope amid pain, and, even when it costs us something precious, compassionately work to relieve suffering and restore dignity. 

Amid the darkness of the approaching winter solstice, let us celebrate the light that has come into the world… a perpetual light that lives in and warms our hearts. 

I invite you to close your eyes. 

Take a deep breath.

Imagine that we’re in the stable with Mary and Joseph.  Coming into the world is life that will bring greater joy than we’ve ever known. 

As this newborn king grows in our hearts, may we will be stirred to action in his name by his example. 

May we love God with all of who we are and with everything that we have. 

As we truly begin to love our neighbors as Christ loves us, imagine what gifts are possible through our actions in his kingdom:

• All around us, people can be restored to health and wellness.
• Those who could hear nothing before can begin listening to the living Word.
• Those who fear they have nothing can learn of the abundance available to them.
• Those who are stuck can be made to move again.
• Those who can not see can be given vision.
• Those considered unclean can be redeemed and made acceptable again.
• Those suffering hunger can be fed.
• Those thought to be dead can be resurrected to new life.

AMEN.

Business leaders teach church leaders. Trinity Wall Street? Nope... Willow Creek.

Excerpt from the article: "If you ask organizers and attendees why corporate types, especially non-Christians, have any business telling church folks how to run their organizations, they repeatedly cite a popular paraphrase of John Calvin -- "all truth is God's truth." (Reading Calvin's actual words in his seminal Institutes, you can see why they paraphrase: "If we believe the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth, we shall neither reject nor despise the truth itself wherever it shall appear, unless we wish to insult the Spirit of God.") "The church has been closed to the world for too long," says Caine. "Jesus learned from everything and everyone. He says in John 17, 'My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.' We need to dialogue with those who are not of our faith, and bring our brains to the table.".... Willow's openness to leaders from outside Christianity -- whether Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic, or atheist -- attracts consistent criticism from some conservative Christians. "What they bring is knowledge of organizations that do not have biblical truth as their driving force," says David F. Wells, a professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary near Boston. "Willow Creek has confused what leadership is in a company and what it must be in a church. We're in a very different orbit from the corporate world. Our objective is night-and-day different.""

Ready to Learn: Some 7,000 pastors and laypeople filled the Willow Creek sanctuary for its Global Leadership Summit in August. | Photograph by Saverio Truglia

WWJD? See what Dusty Garner organized this week at Kansas State

Bless you, Dusty, for your courage and fortitude in following the Spirit in love in organizing such a powerful witness to God's inclusive love for us all amid voices and forces that make it difficult to experience that truth.  

A little lost in time this morning

Awaking to recognize that 4 month ago (Aug 3) I came to Kansas for interviews; 3 months ago (Sept 3), I spent the first night in my new home in Kansas; 2 months ago (Oct 2), I was back in California co-presiding for 1st time at a wedding; and 1 month ago (Nov 3), O was participating in my 1st clergy gathering with new colleagues here in the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas. 

Kairos and Chronos dance together at times :-)

(visual resonance around this with works of two Spanish painters from different periods)

Salvador Dali

Antonio de Pereda