God says: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

 

God moves in down the street and wonders, "Won't you be my neighbor?"

Isaiah 9:2-7

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

This sermon was preached on Christmas Eve at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles in Hoover, AL. The readings above, as well as the life of Fred Rogers guided this message. A video of the sermon may be viewed here.

Holy God, may my words be your words, and when my words are not your words, may your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen. 

 

The Reverend Fred Rogers—better known as Mr. Rogers—was once asked why his television show had such a lasting impact, why children—and adults—felt seen by it in a way few programs ever managed. His answer was simple.

 

He said that whenever someone came into his studio—child or adult, guest or stranger—he tried to imagine a sign hanging around their neck that read:

Please do not judge me.
Please try to understand me.
I am doing the best I can.

 

And then he said something even more striking.

He believed that the greatest gift he could offer another person was not advice, not correction, not even answers to life’s big questions…
The greatest gift he could give was his presence.

Because when someone stays long enough…
listens without rushing…
refuses to abandon another to fear or shame…
something quietly but permanently shifts.

When someone shows up for us in this way…

We begin to breathe differently.
We begin to trust.
We begin to hope.

We feel connected.

We feel seen. 

It is yes, a human interaction, but it is also divine.

When someone honors us in this way, it is as though the interior mansions of our lives—our very souls—begin to be remodeled.
The furniture gets rearranged.
New space opens up within, between, and among us.

Not so that we will have more capacity—
but so that God might dwell with us… within us. 

That God and we might dance together… living not just around each other, but with one another.

 

Tonight, we celebrate not a passing presence, but a dwelling one.
On this Holy Night, we remember that God did not create the world, then retreat from it.

On Christmas Eve we marvel at the truth:
God came close.
God made a home among us.
God moved into our neighborhood, 

And asked, won’t you be my neighbor?

 

The Gospel writer Saint Matthew picks up the Prophet Isaiah’s divine name for our God-turned-neighbor calling Jesus—Emmanuel meaning: God-with-us. 

 

How and where did God-With-Us choose to be our neighbor?

Returning to our Gospel lesson for tonight, Saint Luke is clear: God did not enter in myth or legend, but in the middle of history.

Note the details:
A census.
A journey.
An occupied people.
A world where power is held tightly by the few…

Messy and much like our own day.

 

Isaiah names this reality plainly: darkness.
Not just night, but despair.
Not just fear, but exhaustion.

And into that world—not a perfect one, not a healed one, not a deserving one—into our world, a child is born.

Not in a palace.
Not behind walls of protection.
Not at the center of wealth or influence.

But in a place meant for livestock (our equine and bovine neighbors).

God-With-Us arrives in complete vulnerability.

And friends, that is a crucial ingredient in the miracle of Christmas.

 

But, it’s not all of it. For elsewhere in Holy Scripture, we read something else essential about God’s entering into our world.
In the First Letter of John, we are told plainly: God is love.

Which means that if God is love,
then God-With-Us is also Love-With-Us.

Not as a feeling.
Not as an idea.
But as a person.

Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of the World.

 

John will later put it more poetically:
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

God-With-Us did not hover at a distance.
Love-With-Us stayed with us.

However, if you follow the story long enough…

 

You may wonder, But Seth what about the Ascension? Didn’t Jesus leave then?

As we remember, God coming to be with us, it’s only good and right to also ponder what about when God seemingly left us.
And here our siblings in Orthodox Christianity offer a striking legend.

 

This old story from the Church of the East imagines that as the risen Christ Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles—still afraid of being left behind—reached out and clung to him. They held onto his feet. And as Christ rose, they held onto one another, forming a living chain between earth and heaven.

 

As they climbed higher and higher, Christ Jesus did not shake them loose. I think that is because in the Incarnation, God brought heaven to earth—making ordinary human life holy, and in the Ascension, Jesus forever bound earth to heaven—not by leaving us behind, but by drawing our very humanity to the right hand of God the Father, into the very Divine life of the Trinitarian Community.

 

Even the Ascension, then, is not a story of departure, abandonment, or absence. It is a story of communion.

 

This means that tonight, we do not simply remember a birth. We proclaim an eternal presence. 

God-With-Us is here. 

God-With-Us has always been here. 

God-With-Us will not abandon us.

 

And in a few moments, that same God-With-Us will come to us again—
not as an idea to be considered,
not as a metaphor to be decoded,
but as bread and wine.

 

Ordinary elements.
Everyday food.
The kind of things that sustain life and mark celebration.

 

And in them, God reminds us that divine presence is not reserved for mountaintops or holy moments alone,
but is woven into daily nourishment and quiet abundance.

Even now, God is choosing nearness…

Still choosing to dwell with us—
hidden in plain sight at this table, yes…
and revealed again and again in the world we inhabit.

 

God-With-Us meets us in the faces of friends and family,
in the love of those seated beside us,
and in the tenderness we offer and receive.

 

God-With-Us also resides in the stranger who needs our care,
in the neighbor who carries a burden we cannot see,
and yes—even in the one who challenges us, resists us, or stands opposed to us.

 

Because God-With-Us is not only among us—
Love-With-Us is within us, all of us.

The same God who called creation into being,
the same God who holds all things together,
is here—
now—
with and within each one of you, each one of us.

 

So, hear the good news of this Holy Night:
You are not alone.
You have never been alone.

And God will reside with you forever. 

 

For we have an attuned God loving us.

We have the gift of God’s divine love within us. 

We have within us an everlasting spring of a Love so abundant that the heavens could not contain them on their own…

So, Love spilled over forming and inhabiting all of Creation…

Because God eternally gives not only divine presence—but also stays with us in an everlasting relationship…
Staying, abiding, refusing to leave—that is who God is.

And, when Christ Jesus came among us, we were given another sign to hang around our necks. This one reads:

God loves me. 

God understands me.

God knows I am doing my best.

 

For God is with you in your joy and in your weariness,
in your hope and in your doubt,
in this moment and in every moment still to come.

 

God-With-Us came to be in relationship with you and with us. Love-With-Us came to dwell among us—and never left. 

Emmanuel has moved into the neighborhood, and he is wondering: 

Won’t you be my neighbor? 

Won’t you be one another’s neighbor?

Pondering Things

The words of Luke 2:1-20 sound so familiar to me that I have a hard time not glossing over the text as I read it. Regardless of the year in our cycle of Scriptural readings we hear Luke’s Nativity narrative at the primary celebration of Christmas—maybe Christmas Eve, maybe Christmas Day, or maybe both. Not only this, but chances are if you go to a Christmas pageant, then Luke’s words will make it into the production. The repetition of the story can have a profoundly negative effect, as we miss the beauty and absurdity of the story of Jesus’ birth.

When I force myself to slow down enough to take in the details of the Third Gospel’s Christmas message I find myself hearing the words in my head in a British accent. No, I don’t think I’m crazy, this anglophile-hearing of the tale is a force of habit. Every year my family maintains a tradition of listening to the Festival of Lessons and Carolsbroadcast around the world from King’s College, Cambridge. This year—like most years—Luke 2 makes it into the service—twice! The sixth and seventh lessons tell of Mary’s and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and the angels’ visitation of the shepherds respectively. Sadly though, the Festival’s seventh lesson stops after the 16^th verse leaving out a phrase that calls us to a bold task in this season when we call to mind the Advent of Christ past, present, and yet to come!

As the shepherds arrived at the manger they told Mary of their angelic visitors. Shepherds finding a baby wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger seems difficult enough in the town of Bethlehem, but that these instructions came from an angel makes it all the more outlandish. Now imagine being Mary who after just giving birth in a barn now finds herself being visited by a pack of smelly shepherds! If some farmers or factory workers burst into a maternity ward demanding to see a patient today security would be called. And yet, as strange as this seems the shepherds’ message and Mary’s response—that bit that is helpful to us—might be even weirder.

The sheep-herders tell Mary that her child will be the Messiah and that this message came from angles nonetheless. We might expect that Mary would kick these messengers out of the stable for being lunatics who claim to have been visited by God, but something else happens. Mary who had also been visited by the angel Gabrielle had the ability to accept these words instead of reject them because she had such faith in God that even the unbelievable to her was believable. Unlike others who were amazed and perhaps too perplexed by the shepherds’ words to receive them, Mary pondered all these things in her heart. She let the words pass her defenses and into her soul!

We, like Mary, are called to allow the crazy message of Jesus’ birth to hit us square in the heart. Even though our instinct might be to just gloss over what we are hearing because these words come around to us this time each year, we are called to model our faithfulness after bold Mary who in turn shaped her life of trust after God’s own! The God of all—the infinite, the omnipresent, the omniscient, Almighty One—became the vulnerable baby lying in a manger. That little child, who could not speak a word, cure others, or even take care of himself came to be the Messiah, the Savior of us all. The wild juxtaposition of the God of all coming to dwell in an infant child who had to rely on others strikes me as a crazy act of faithfulness on God’s part. God trusted in human beings to take care of the baby Jesus. This is wild and it is something that I must ponder, not just with my head, but also in my heart. 

May we spend time this season hearing Luke’s message of Jesus’ birth and like Mary ponder all these things in our hearts!  

Why Are You Searching?

Merry Christmas! That’s right we’re still celebrating Christmas here at St. John’s. We’re slowly creeping with the Wise Men towards Epiphany when the light of Christ will be made manifest to the whole world. You can see the Wise Men have progressed from behind the altar on Christmas Eve to the offertory basin table last week to over on the piano now. Having been raised Episcopalian and being pushed to continue celebrating Christmas for the whole twelve days, I have never understood the majesty and mystery of Christmas being confined to one day.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not pointing a finger at those who have already taken down decorations. I know life is busy, other stuff has to happen, but to me it is such a sad sight to see all the marvelous build up to Christmas come crashing down immediately after we sing Silent Night on Christmas Eve. Trees come down on Boxing Day. All the twinkling lights are put away soon afterward. Is there a sadder sight in the world than those inflatable lawn Snowmen or Santa Claus once the air has been let out of them?

Even if your decorations are securely boxed up in self-storage I invite you to dwell a little longer in the Season of Christmas, for the Incarnation is not so much to be understood as it is to be experienced. We struggle with what it means to have God come among us. I can do my best to preach on this mystery, but all my words will fall short of capturing the love that brought heaven and earth together. So, instead of rushing on, I think we must stay here a little bit longer in the manger, in Jesus’ childhood, in the glow of the light of the world, so that we can ponder and experience more fully Emmanuel. Otherwise Christmas Day ends and everything deflates like the blow up Santa Claus, and we are left light-less in the dark and cold of winter.

So how do we sit here with him who came to save us? Back before most folks had un-decorated for Christmas there was a sign in a yard that read: “Wise Men Still Seek Him.” While I wish it said wise people still seek him, it would not make as much sense, seeing as though the Magi were men and not people. Still this sentiment beckons us to continue to wonder and wander seeking God with us. When we attempt to find the incarnate God, I think we make it too complicated. We go on elaborate pilgrimages, we pay for expensive retreats, and we take on unruly disciplines, instead we do well to search for him in the most obvious of places. This was precisely the dilemma that Mary and Joseph went through in today’s gospel story.

It was the Festival of Passover and every good Jew was in Jerusalem. This meant that people were everywhere. Those going would travel in large groups, dozens and dozens of people from small towns walked and rode with one another. For this reason, parents would often not worry about their children, especially as their children reached the age of maturity. Jesus was almost an adult at age twelve, so Joseph and Mary would have been more worried about their other children.
For some reason, I get an image of Home Alone, the movie, when Kevin’s mother finally realizes they have left him home alone in Chicago while they traveled all the way to France. At the end of that film Kevin and his mother are reunited with a joyful embrace. This is not what I see happening in today’s gospel. Mary says, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” I can see Mary grabbing Jesus by the ear when she says “Child!” Make no mistake this not a loving sort of nickname, this rather is an insult towards the almost “of age” Jesus.

This is the only canonical instance of Jesus as anything other than a baby or a full grown adult. Even in early puberty, he possesses such wisdom. All had been amazed at him, but what is more amazing is his response to his anxious parents. “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” They had gone all over the place looking for him, but with these two questions the young Jesus pierces through the generations and gets us to wonder for ourselves why are we searching for him, as we ought to know that Jesus is still dwelling in his Father’s House.
Yes, at this point in time Jesus was speaking specifically of the Temple. And, yes as Christians we believe that we have been adopted as children of God through faith in God’s death conquering love in the work of the Cross and Resurrection. So, the Holy Place has been expanded beyond just one spot to all of Creation. And yet, here we are worshiping together in God’s House.

I remember the first time I walked into this church. Evan brought me through St. Mary’s Chapel. The lights were off, it was night. He flipped on the lights and tears welled up in my eyes. I was stunned by the beauty of this place and by the holiness of this space. I could feel the walls and ceiling dripping with over a hundred years of prayerful devotion. Immediately, I knew that Jesus was here, the Spirit was here, God was here.

The Season of Christmas is about God coming to dwell with us. Sometimes we rush through life, we rush through our services, we rush through seasons, such that life never seems to slow down at all and we miss God who is with us. In this season of the Incarnation when God became flesh and dwelt among us, we are invited to sit a little longer in the manger and in the mystery. Jesus wants to know why are you looking for him? And if you want to find him, looking here is a good place to start.

John 1:1-18: Let's Play "Guess the Present!"

Merry Christmas! I have a confession to make to you this morning. This is only the second time in my life that I have ever been to church on Christmas day. Yes, I know. It’s strange. A priest has only been to church one time on Christmas day. Well, my family custom on this day was to wake up, check out our stockings, eat our traditional breakfast, and then tear into our presents. Typically by this time in the day, as a child, I was well on my way to playing with whatever toy or game I had received. In that spirit, I actually want to play a game with you all this morning. I know. It’s strange. Playing a game in church on Christmas day. This is not why you came, but I think you might enjoy this.

Now, this game is actually an adaptation of another game. My friend, Nathan Carlson, a member of St. Thomas down in Birmingham, taught me his game a few years ago. Nathan is a teacher and soccer coach at Homewood High School. He’s creative, he’s funny, and he’s caring. The game he plays is called, “Guess What’s Underneath My Shirt!” As baffling as it might be, the game is simply played by guessing what is underneath Nathan’s shirt. He might hide a toaster oven and the objection of the game is to guess toaster oven. Maybe you get to keep the object, but probably you just get the satisfaction of knowing you were right.

Well, this morning I want to play the Christmas version of this game entitled, “Guess the Present.” I imagine you might already be pretty good at this. We all tend to look at the presents underneath the Christmas tree and we make a guess at what’s underneath the wrapping paper. Well, the game is played in much the same way. I will hold something up and you guess what is held within the packaging. If you guess correctly, then you have the satisfaction of knowing you were right.

Round:
1. Lamp shade

2. Clock

3. Mystery Present

In this third package it could really be anything. It just looks like a box. Who knows what it could be inside this mystery present? While we are thinking about what is held within this paper, I wonder why it is that we give one another presents at this time of year. Why do we give gifts at Christmas time?

Perhaps it has something to do with St. Nicholas. He was the 4th Century Christian bishop of Myra who supposedly would go around to poor families and pay their daughters’ dowries leaving money and sometimes food in a family member’s shoes that would have been left on the outside of the house. Some still celebrate the tradition in early December as they put their shoes out and wait for presents to fill them up. Actually if you leave out a stocking you are in some way celebrating St. Nicholas. Still I don’t know if this is the real reason why we give each other presents now. I wonder what is in the mystery present.

But why do we give each other presents? Maybe it is because we like each other. We appreciate one another, and we want to show that gratitude in giving one another a gift. Perhaps… Really, I have to know what is in this mystery box! If it could be anything, what do you wish it is? A picture of a beloved relative? A gift card? Keys to a new car? A check for a million dollars? Alright, I cannot stand it anymore… I am going to open this present!

There is nothing inside, just some gold paper. I wonder why there’s nothing in it. Sometimes we cannot sense with our sensory perception the gifts we are given. We may not be able to see, touch, taste, smell, or hear a gift, but that does not mean it is not given to us. I believe this is the case with the gift that we receive in today’s gospel.

The good news of John opens with a mysterious song that focuses upon the Word. “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 comprehend it not.”

God, in His infinite abundance, goodness, and love created all things by speaking things into being through the Word. All of this that we see, touch, taste, smell, and hear has been made and made good through the Word of God. Yet, like a mysterious present that we cannot figure out, sometimes we do not understand this present that we have been handed. “He was in the world and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him,” John says. I believe that we give each other gifts at this time of year to take part in God’s abundant gift giving. We attempt to show one another our appreciation by participating in God’s gifting.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” The gift that we have been given is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. When God came into the world through the Word of God we were given the clearest gift of God’s abundant love for us. Through God becoming incarnate all of creation and we ourselves were made holy vicariously.

God’s Word also brought true light into the world. “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” This light was brought into the world through the Word of God. It enlightens us all. In this the darkest time of year for us in the northern hemisphere we are reminded that the true light enlightens us all. We have this light within us. Each of us has this light within us. The Christ light burns inside.

So as we go forth from here celebrating Christmas, celebrating the Word of God made flesh and dwelling with us, let us also take with us the light of Christ. When we meet our family, our friends, and our neighbors that light burns within us, and it burns within them as well. Remember that all whom we meet have been made holy by God’s coming to be with us. Remember that God has given us all the gift of coming to be with us. Remember that we all possess Christ’s light within us. Amen.