Year C Christmas Day 2024 Traditions 2024

 Year C Christmas Day, 25 December 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Traditions 2024”

Collect: Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

John 1:1-14

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 of the will of the flesh or of 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.

We all have them. We might not see them as Traditions, but we do things in the same way for comfort, for ease, for our brains to go on automatic pilot at times, so our souls can find those still, happy places we need. We also carve out space in our days or seasons to do things with intention. Christmas is filled with Traditions, and that means Christmas is filled with Intention.  

Stephanie and I were married on the 19th, so on our honeymoon we began to read the three Gospel accounts of Christmas from Luke, then Matthew, then John. And then we read the Gospel according to Dr. Seuss. The Grinch is Gospel, or so I think, as there is a conversion when his heart “grew three sizes that day.” 

We got to read those together last night in the Rectory. Another Traditional Ritual is the eating of Chinese Food which comes from my birth family who always went to the Chinese restaurant after the Christmas Eve service. Wonton Soup might not scream “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” to you. But it does to me.

Traditions bring us comfort. Traditions warm our hearts. Traditions make us cozy inside. This sermon itself is a Tradition as it has new sections every year, but the foundational stories are the same. It also helps us get through hard days. It is a touchpoint to better times, to times with those we loved.

Not everyone has merry Christmases, some of them are red and green, but for some, Christmas is blue. Like the old song, our Christmas can turn blue with a loss or during hard times. We are not expected to be perky at all times, no one is. But often people have to pose and put on a happy face if they are struggling because that is what is “expected.”

Faking it makes the struggle even worse. No matter the reason, the season can exacerbate the sense of isolation and shame. 

And we are living in hard times for so many. Economically, socially, internationally. We have come into a time where there is a lack of trust. When institutions and leaders are held in a level of contempt and distrust. And it is a hard way forward. These dark days at Christmas are not new. 

The story around our hymn “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day” is one that always speaks to me, especially when those somber feelings come up during the holidays. The song comes from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A simple song, a throwaway song almost until you hear the words with Longfellow’s thoughts in your mind. Two years after his wife died in a tragic accident, which also left him permanently scarred, Longfellow’s son enlisted in the Union Army in the Civil War. Receiving a grave wound, Charley, Longfellow’s son, was in hospital in Washington, D.C. Longfellow joined him there to help in his recovery. On Christmas Day, in the midst of personal tragedy and in his beloved country ripping itself apart, he penned these words.   

I heard the bells on Christmas Day 

Their old, familiar carols play, 

And wild and sweet,  the words repeat 

Of peace on earth, good-will to men! 

And thought how, as the day had come, 

The belfries of all Christendom 

Had rolled along the unbroken song 

Of peace on earth, good-will to men! 

Till ringing, singing on its way, 

The world revolved from night to day, 

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime 

Of peace on earth, good-will to men! 

And in despair I bowed my head; 

"There is no peace on earth," I said; 

“For hate is strong, and mocks the song 

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!" 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; 

The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, 

With peace on earth, good-will to men." 

And that poem became a song when we are tired and beaten by a world that ignores the message of Hope and Love we share at Christmas. 

One cannot be cynical and call oneself a disciple of Christ. It is as hypocritical as the bigot, the sexist, the blatant sinner. Cynicism is a sin of the heart. And this song reminds us of that, and that Hope conquers all, especially the hardness of our hearts. 

This year, I look to the Christ Child in hope, and in trust. I have to. This year we have had to remain hopeful when we hear names we may not have known before, but now these places are scars on our souls. When we think of Haiti, South Sudan, or Syria, or flooding in so many places including the USA, and so many, too many more tragedies, places where hardness of heart makes it all the worse.  

And in despair I hung my head. 

There is no peace on earth, I said, 

for hate is strong and mocks the song 

of peace on earth good will towards men.

Longfellows words haunt me as surely as Scrooge’s ghosts haunted him.

But it is Christmas, and at Christmas you tell the truth, or so Love Actually says. I have to have Hope.

Speaking of Hope, one of my favorite Christmas traditions is Charlie Brown’s Christmas Special. From 1965, it was controversial even then. The climax of the special is a boy quoting a Bible story. That’s it. But it is everything!

I heard an interesting piece of trivia, and I have shared it the last few years. I am shocked I had never noticed it before. You see, Linus stops the production of the Christmas show rehearsal to tell Charlie Brown the real meaning of Christmas, and he quotes Luke 2 from the King James Version. 

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field , keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo , the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid . 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold , I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes , lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying , 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 

“That’s the meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown.” Linus, being a cartoon character, is defined in simple ways. He is a believer, trusting or naive, depending on your point of view. He also is comforted by his security blanket and sucking his thumb. NOT your normal hero. He holds tight to his protection from his insecurities, and most of us cannot think of Linus without it. 

But if you go back to watch the video, and I did a couple of times to make sure, while he is quoting Luke, a most amazing thing happens. As soon as he says “Fear not!” his hand disappears from the screen and it returns without the blanket. The boy who is so timid, so fearful, goes center stage and let’s go of his fears, or at least his comfort from his fears. His “security” dropped at his feet. You see, the one who can stand with Linus, the one who can stand beside Longfellow in his pain and grief, the one who can stand beside me in my weakness and insecurities and you in yours has come into the world. “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”  

Maybe that is the greatest Christmas Tradition of them all, and it started with Mary unsure if she would be stoned for being pregnant and unwed, then Joseph wondering what people will think, then the Shepherds afraid of the heavenly host, and then all the way down to us. And we gather still under threat of civil strife, terrorism, wars and rumors of war, the collapse of our democracy, and so many other big, bad things, we hold onto hope and offer it to a suffering world. Immaneul, God-with-us, encourages us and is with us through all of it. That is Christmas, and always will be. The words of the angels come to us today, “Fear Not.” And that my friends, is a Tradition to keep, especially in 2025! Let it be our rallying cry. Let it be our shield, whatever this year may bring. “Fear Not!” Amen

Year C Christmas Eve Late 2024 Eyes with which to See

 Year C Christmas Eve Christ Mass, 24 December 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Eyes with which to See”

Collect: O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

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, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- 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 the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Two Thousand Twenty Four years. Give or take a few, we mark the night when Christ was born. We celebrate the light that he brought into the world, and we place it on the nights when the days are getting longer bit by bit and the light is more present.

We are made to be in the light. Our bodies need Vitamin D, which, while needed, is something which comes from being in the sunlight. Or, if you are like me, melanin poor, I need to watch my sun exposure, and I have to take pills. But Vitamin D, originally from the sun processing in our bodies, affects our bone health, our mental health especially around depression, our heart health, aids in nerve transmission, and may even help us fight cancer in our bodies. We were made to be in the light. This is so important to remember in these darkest of days when the northern hemisphere is turned away from the sun.

In my youth, with a younger back and hips and knees, I used to spend time exploring dark places. Nothing immoral, but caves deep, and dark, and wild. There was one in particular I spent many hours in called Crossroads Cave in Bath County. I did this exploring as part of the ministries at Camp Alkulana run by the Richmond Baptist Association.

One of the great experiences was taking kids from the inner city who never had been in a place without street lights, they had never really experienced physical darkness in any real way.

One of the many glories of the cave was seeing a wall 20 feet tall in one of the many corridors. And in this wall was layer upon layer of sedimentation. And in those thousands of layers in those 20 feet of sandstone were seashells. Year upon decade upon century upon millenia of seashells. I would tell the campers that for millions of years God made life that no one would know about until a special few, like them, were able to see it and see the glories of God and God’s goodness. And then we would go deeper.

About a mile into the cave we would snake and burrow our way to a place we called the Pit. We had to shimmy down a chimney about 15 feet and get to the bottom. Once everyone was safely down there we would ask everyone to turn off their lights. There was always one child who thought we were going to scare them, and try and leave theirs on, but the ring of light shining pink through their fingers would be visible. It was so dark in the pit that even that bare little light would show.

Darkness is the absence of light, and after every one sat fully in the dark for about a minute I would ask them to wave their hand in front of their eyes and many of them would “see” their hand. They did not. They could not. But their minds, so used to the light, saw in the darkness even though it was impossible.

Friends, we were made for the light. Like with Vitamin D needs, our brains are wired to see the light even in the dark. And I do not think it is just our eyes and brains, I believe that our very souls are designed for the light as well.

And that is why the Church chose these days for our celebration of Jesus’ birth. We did not have a date, but We believe him to be the light of the world, and that his light shines in the darkness and the Darkness cannot, will not EVER overcome it. Even in our darkest nights of the soul, we can picture him with our souls’ eyes, knowing him to be there despite our senses not being able to affirm it. Those eyes of faith looked ahead to him for thousands of years and our eyes look back knowing that the fullness of time is fulfilled and we are awaiting the Culmination of his return.

Keeping Christ in Christmas is an annual appeal. On this evening the last few years I have mentioned how St. Francis had the first Nativity Scene eight-hundred-and-ONE years ago tonight. Francis wished to make real in a palpable way the presence of Christ for those in the village of Greccio in Italy that night. But it is not performative, to have Christmas we do not add Jesus and stir.

One of the big things that being a Christian can lead us to see is that Christ is always present. Christ is in Christmas. Let us rather say, do we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear Christ in our Christmas, no matter how our Christmas is.

Those shepherds in those fields so long ago were invited to come and see. The angels invited them, directly. Kings may have gotten their star, but the shepherds got the formal invitation. The first singing telegram. 

But don’t imagine the cute shepherds we will see in our Epiphany play. Bathrobes and towels held on by ropes. The message of Jesus and its radical nature says much by who God includes. 

The Gospel of Luke is all about bringing in those apart, those who normally were picked last if they were recognized at all. That would have been the shepherds. They were on the bottom rung of the 

Shepherds were considered unclean religiously and “less than” socially. They had daily contact with unclean animals, in constant contact with the manure, blood, and the insects that surrounded the sheep. And this would have been worse when they were caring for them while giving birth. That is why they were “abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Shepherds would have to kill predator animals to protect their flock, which made them unclean under Jewish law. 

They were considered social outcasts and were on the lower rungs of the social ladder. They were treated similarly to tax collectors and dung sweepers. Shepherds were often uneducated and unskilled. Shepherds were often regarded as untrustworthy and irreligious, not that they would have been allowed to participate because of their unclean status. They were not allowed to testify in court. Because of all of this they were banned from entering homes and the temple. They were banned by people, but not by God.

These humble shepherds were the ones about whom God said, “Make sure they get an invite.” And that is the beginning of Jesus’ story. I see Christ in that act. And I am led to wonder who we need to invite in.

In Carl Jung’s office, the eminent psychologist had inscribed above the door to his home, “Bidden or not bidden, God is present.” Vocatus atque non vocatus, deus aderit. There are many supposed origins of the phrase from the Delphic oracle or Erasmus. I always associated it with Jung. Whatever.

But the idea remains, do we see Christ in the face of the stranger, or not. In the depths of the darkest of days, is God there or not?

It comes down to faith. Without eyes of faith, we will never see it. Without ears believing we will never hear it. With the gift of those eyes and ears, we cannot help but see God’s fingerprints if not Godself any and everywhere. 

Even in what has become a secular Christmas story, God is there. Go and read the original. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is less about making Scrooge good, but whole. The Ghosts haunt him by showing him his life: his past heartaches, his present heartbreaks, and his heartless future. But in this most secularized story, if you go back to the original you see it is about Spiritual rebirth It must be with us each and every day so we can say like Scrooge, 

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

As Christ promised, “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b) That is for Scrooge and for us, still.

I do not know where you are this Christmas Eve. Maybe you are feeling it. Maybe you are not.

The shepherds were huddled around their campfire surrounded by the stars, faint lights all. Then the glory of the choir of angels astounded them, but even that paled in comparison to the light they pointed toward. The light that came into the world that it made, and that light was life. The light and life of the world.

Maybe you can hear the angels inviting you into the beautiful circle in such a humble setting, or maybe you are like Scrooge, so loathing of self that it blurs his view of humanity. Feeling it or fleeing it, God is there. Immanuel, God with us. God is with us now. God was with us then. God is with us always, bidden or not.

Jesus came to show us what already was. And made it clear that it always would be. 

This Christmas, my prayer for all of us is that we hear that invite into the glow of the holy, to sense the light even if it remains unseen. May your Christmas Presence, C E, be so very present. And may your presents, T S, be a reminder of that. Amen

Year C Advent 3 Rejoice, really?

 Year C Advent 3, 15 December 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Rejoice, really?”

Collect

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Luke 3:7-18

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Rejoice, my friends! Again I say rejoice!

This is the rose Sunday of Advent. Rose, mind you, not pink, the proper liturgists insist. Though for the life of me, I cannot tell the difference between Rose and Pink. 

While Advent is a penitential season, there is joy in our penance. Why? Our prayers are heard. Forgiveness is extended. We have much for which to hope.

The stage for our Gospel reading can seem so hostile in the first reading. But there is hope and redemption even here. It may seem harsh, and that is the style of the prophets to give us a wake-up call we cannot ignore. As our passage finishes, “So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.” Even in his harshness, this is GOOD NEWS to the people. To the Brood of Vipers and the repentant sinners who were thronging to hear him and receive his baptism of repentance this was life-giving GOOD NEWS.

Though it hits our ears harshly, think of someone standing beside a road, yelling. “You idjits, STOP! The road you are on is certain doom! The bridge is out and this way leads to certain death!” You might get upset he called you an idjit, but he is trying to save your life! John directed his ire with intent at the religious elite who worried in minutia about doing right, but were not concerned with being right. They went through the motions without once thinking of transforming their heart and mind. They thought they were right by the right of their birth. But then they see John standing against them, which they were not used to. They thought their birth credentials were enough, and their self-righteousness added to their sanctity.

This is John, the whack-a-do it seems, trying his best to wake up our complacency and have us change the path we are on. But to some of those coming to him to be baptized, they were doing it because it was the thing to do. Nothing more. A cultural fad that will soon pass. All the performance, none of the repentance. Some of those were not trying to change their ways, they were just taking a dip.

You can see him winding up the pitch. In their finery and robes he sees the religious leaders coming but he knows who they really are…

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”

John was wanting people to change their ways. They need to do what they ought to do, what they already know how to do.

[Paraphrasing] Do you have two coats? Let someone he does not have one have the one in your closet.

Are you a tax collector? Then take only what you should, not extra to line your pockets.

Are you a soldier? Do your job, do not use your power to abuse those in your path.

This way of standing up to the powers that be was refreshing and got the people to thinking…

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah…

People were filled with expectation. That is where we are as well. We are in Advent. We are in hopeful anticipation. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

We want things to change and we want things to change wholesale.

There has been a horrifying and fascinating moral debate in our country over the last week and a half. When the CEO of United Health Care was assassinated in broad daylight in New York City I do not think a single person in this country questioned what the motive would turn out to be. We knew in our guts. Our health care system is broken and insane, even with great strides in recent decades. The costs are astronomical and rising for worse things delivered. My increased costs for my insurance is insane. We talked about it at last Monday’s Finance Meeting. We all know that things are wrong. What the suspect in the shooting did was wrong. It is unjustifiable.

But…

And therein lies the moral quandary. As soon as I said, “But…” some of you may have expected me to take a turn there. Ease your minds and fears. Violence is never the answer.

There are several that would finish the sentence that starts with “But…”

As if to prove my point that there are problems in our world, the McDonald’s employee who called 911 which enabled the suspect’s arrest was reported to not be eligible to receive the reward money collected because they did not call the tip line, but 911 instead. There was a public backlash. A correction was made. I saw this yesterday:

“…it could take time before the McDonald's tipster gets a financial reward for assisting in the case. Additionally, the employee might not take home the full $60,000, after paying taxes on the reward.” [Source CBSnews.com]

Insult to injury. We are living in a broken and hurting world. We know there is a problem but we await leadership and courage to fight billion dollar industries who fund the leaders’ campaigns. Is change even possible. People frustrated resort to murder thinking that might make a difference. Sin is alive and well on planet earth as you all know full well.

Friends, it has been 2,000 years and we are in hopeful expectation that one day, some way, things will get better. Jesus started a revolution to turn the ways of the world upside down. John prepared the way. Next week Mary will prophecy through her Magnificat. And we sit her in our penance, preparing our hearts and minds for what is to come.

If you read through Scripture it seems like God repeatedly chooses the side of the powerless, and reminds us who have two coats that maybe we could do with less. One of my favorite thinkers of the 20th century, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote: “Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless, and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.” Hear that again…

“Christianity preaches the infinite worth 

of that which is seemingly worthless, 

and the infinite worthlessness 

of that which is seemingly so valued.”

That is the revolution we are talking about. Not a revolution with guns and violence, but one of the heart. A place where the least of these receive and those with the most are content. The last are made first and the first are made last. That is what John the Baptizer preached to his Brood of Vipers. He loved them in a harsh way so he could break through the hardness of their hearts and perhaps make way for Jesus and his teachings to come in.

When people asked how to change their ways it was about Doing, not Believing. It was about changing who they were, not a change of clothes and a haircut. It was about giving coats and taking only what was required and not abusing power.

But I bring us back to the Pink, I mean, ROSE candle on our Advent wreath. We have looked at how bad the world is. We have looked at how bad we are. And then I have the audacity to say that we should rejoice, really? Really, Rock? 

Yes, that is the point of this Sunday. “Rejoice in the Lord, always. Again I say, rejoice.”

I rejoice because I can. My attitude is my choice. No one can steal the hope and promise I have in Christ. No one. If I give it away that is on me, no one else.

I rejoice because I see light at the end of the tunnel. I might not make it, in this life anyway, but I rejoice that we will get there one day and the Kingdom of God will reign. Moses said the same, and Martin Luther King, Jr. They could see where we will get, one day. One day.

I rejoice in that we have passed a time of bleakness and fear. Like a parent whose child’s fever starts to go down, I thank God and I rejoice. Like a patient who is told that the cancer is shrinking and responding to therapy, I rejoice because it is better today than it was yesterday. Like someone who faced their worst fears and learned that when they hit bottom, the bottom is solid and they can start the ascent back up, I rejoice.

I rejoice because I hope, and I have the power to hope because I rejoice. We all have a choice, friends. We can choose to spiral downward, and there are a lot of reasons to feel that. Or we can choose to spiral upward, there are hints and glimmers and promises from those I believe that let me feel that. I can choose my trajectory. You can, too.

You can if you are in a brood of vipers, or tax collectors, or soldiers, or any one on the wrong path, you can turn around and change your ways. In a word, you can repent.

I close today, as did our Philippians passage for the day. St. Paul says it pretty well…

Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Year C Advent 2 WED 2024 A Hard Story To Tell

 Year C Advent 2 WED, 11 December 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“A Hard Story To Tell”

Collect

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

John 7:53-8:11

Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.* When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’* And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’

This is one of the hardest stories of Jesus to tell. Not because of the outcome, but because this type of beauty is so rarely seen in the world.

We like to tell the story of the Feeding of the 5,000, because it takes Jesus to do it. None of us facing the catering of that many people could rise to the occasion with that list of ingredients.

We like to tell the story of the raising of Lazarus, or the healing of the paralytic, or the healing of Blind Bartimaeus. They are easy stories to tell because there are no expectations to change our ways or to be different.

This story, however, is not miraculous. Any one could do it. We could do it. And therein lies the rub.

Someone is caught in the act. This woman had to be or she could not be condemned. Stones in hand and arms raised, the righteous were waiting for Jesus to say the word. And here is where the miraculous UN-miracle takes place.

Jesus doodles. Everyone was waiting for him to give the affirmative. The woman was anticipating the first blow. Maybe she was wondering why it was just her who was there in the dirt in the dirt when it takes two to tango. 

And Jesus says the unexpected. “Sure, go ahead, but just make sure you are without sin before you throw that stone.” 

We so readily want to jump to the righteous side, or what we think is the righteous side. We so readily want to join in the condemnation.

No one argues that she was guilty. She was.

However, what Jesus brought to their attention was that she, and every single one of his listeners, too, were in need of Grace. That is what makes this story so amazing.  That is what makes this story, as a preacher, so hard to tell.

When have I condemned someone instead of reaching out to them in love and working to make them whole?

When have I been searching for stones to join in with the crowd before they looked too closely at me?

When have I been the woman, not being able to look anyone in the eye in shame and fear? Resigned to a fate out of my control?

This is a miracle we all can live. I cannot feed thousands out of my lunchbox, or raise the dead, or make the blind to see. But I, and we, can choose to be like Jesus and care for those who need it most, the pariahs, the outcasts, the least of these. The Guilty. The supposed Innocent. The everyone-everywhere humans. Each of us.

And when I find myself with a stone in my hand, maybe I can drop it, take off my cloak, and cover the one standing naked in front of me instead of adding to the shame and mockery. And that is where the miracle takes place. In our hearts we are raised to new life in Christ, instead of being condemned for being so hard. Remember, that was Pharaoh's sin when he took on Moses, hardness of heart. 

I find this story hard to tell because of how many times I have failed to live it. May God be forgiving of that, too.

God forgive us, like Jesus forgave her. And that is a story that will be told over and over and over again. Amen