Scriptures for Sunday, December 2, 2018
Psalm 25:1-10
Jeremiah 33:14-16
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:24-36

Welcome to the season of Advent, A.D. 2018 !
This coming Sunday morning Worship service will feature the Advent wreath with its five candles, counting up toward Christmas Day.  That evening, we’ll have our annual Chrismon service, in which we highlight the meanings of the handmade decorations on the tree in our Sanctuary.  We are planning our church’s Christmas program for December 23rd and our traditional, candle-lit Service of Holy Communion on Christmas Eve.
You have heard a million times that we should remember “the reason for the season,” God’s radical decision to be born into poverty, to a single mother, in a backwards country, under the oppression of the cruel, pagan Roman Empire. 
Do you agree that that is the reason to celebrate? 
 
If so, what are you doing to act on your belief?
 
My family has celebrated Christmas in pretty much the usual way that our North American culture does: that is, with evergreen trees, colorful decorations, gift-giving, special meals and sweets, music unique to the season, pageants at church and in schools, and holiday greetings by cards or visits.  I believe it’s been like that for most of the folks in our Bethel congregation.
You ought to at least be aware, that it was not always this way among Christians.
The first Christians did not show much interest in when Jesus’ birthday was, but they were extremely interested in getting ready for his return.  In one of the earliest writings in the New Testament, Paul urges the Christians at Thessalonika to behave themselves, so Jesus would not be disappointed with them: may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.  And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.                                     1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
 
“Christmas” began to emerge as a holiday to mark the birth of Jesus Christ in the period of the A.D. 300s or 400s— after Christianity became a legally accepted religion in the Roman Empire.
Christians chose December 25, not because they thought it was Jesus’ actual date of birth, but in order to ‘hijack’ what was then a popular pagan holiday, the “Birthday of Sol Invictus” (the Unconquered Sun), which falls a few days after the Winter Solstice each year.
Before that, Christian holidays were basically the Jewish holidays, especially when Good Friday and Easter— memorials of Christ’s death and resurrection— coincide with Passover.
Fast-forward a thousand-plus years to some of our ancestors who made the Protestant Reformation.  The Puritans (who later morphed into the Congregationalists) regarded as very wicked and sinful the festival of eating, drinking, caroling and carousing that northern European Christmas had become.  In the 1600s they brought to the New World a solemn Christmas holy day, which they observed with fasting and prayer. 
That may strike you as too stark an approach to this season we all have learned to enjoy. 
But today, even most atheists enjoy the trappings of the Christmas season— which is not hard for them to do, considering how little our culture’s traditions have to do with the self-sacrificing God who came to share humanity’s misery and poverty.
What if we Christians were to limit ourselves to only those observances of Christmas that truly honor Jesus Christ ?  What if we hijacked the current, pagan “Christmas” event ? 
Here are some ideas for ways we can buck the materialistic, godless trend, and also find joy !
† Worship God ! – Take part in events where our God is worshiped, thanked, and served, instead of events where it’s all about glitter and getting stuff.
† “Buy Nothing Day”- Choose one of the prime “Christmas shopping days” this year: instead of descending like a locust in a swarm on our local retail temples, visit a shut-in or another lonely neighbor.  There’s no present like the time.
† Buy from good stewards of human labor and of the earth- Check out the New Creation Shoppes, where proceeds go to combat human trafficking, and farmers’ markets, where you can look the grower in the eye and know that the price is going to sustain God’s good earth.

† Give to charities in honor of your loved ones.
 
“Recall Your mercies, O LORD,
    and Your kindnesses— they are forever.”
                                                   -Psalm 25:6

Scriptures for Sunday, November 18, 2018
Psalm 16
Daniel 12: 1 – 3
Hebrews 10: 11 – 25
Mark 13: 1 – 8
“Do you see these great buildings? 
Not one stone will be left here upon another;
all will be thrown down.”                                        - Mark 13:2
Our church year is coming to a close; soon, on Sunday, December 2, the new church year will begin with the season called Advent leading us up to Christmas Day.  This Sunday in worship, we will close the Gospel according to Mark for awhile. 
We began this church year where we will end it, in Mark chapter 13, where Jesus warns his disciples to get ready for a time of persecution and distress, and then the coming of the Son of Man as Savior. 
The beautiful Jerusalem Temple that wicked old King Herod built would indeed be thrown down by the Romans, about forty years after Jesus’ crucifixion.  That prophecy was fulfilled.
We in the church are still awaiting Christ’s final return to gather his people and end the present age altogether.  Now, we seem to be living amid the “wars and rumors of wars” of which Jesus spoke.  We feel that our world today has far too much conflict.  But Jesus is still reminding us, “Do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.   For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines.  This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”                         - Mark 13: 7 – 8
 
Maybe, like the radio stations that are already saturated with Christmas songs, you are ready to be over it, already, and get to the adorable baby in the manger (not to mention the day(s) off from work and the Christmas presents !). 
There is no bad reason to say, “Come, Lord Jesus!” !
But part of our mission as followers of Jesus is to carry on, abiding in the peace that Jesus gives, even in the midst of fears, rumors, and many terrible events.
This past Sunday, we had a lot of good things to do during our morning worship time, and I decided to leave out a part of what I had prepared for the sermon.  Here, while I am on the subject of living through stressful times, I want to share it with you. 
In 1 Kings 17, we read that God sent prophet Elijah to wicked King Ahab of Israel to tell him, “As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before Whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”  To put it another way, Elijah was telling Ahab that God was cursing the Kingdom of Israel with drought— and the famine that goes with drought— until further notice.  This meant that the people of the land would be suffering, not only because of King Ahab’s wicked behavior, but also because the heavens gave no rain and the ground grew no food.  Troubled times !
So Elijah executed the mission God gave him, but then he had to run away to escape the wrath of wicked King Ahab.  Elijah was living through a bad time, himself !  At first, he camped out in the wilderness, where God sent ravens to deliver his breakfast and supper, and there was a brook for water.  Pretty rough !  And strange !  (Have you ever had your meals delivered by birds?)
But when the brook dried up— hard times !— God told Elijah to travel far North, leaving Israel for what today is Lebanon: “I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” (1 Kings 17:9). 
Elijah found her near the town gate, gathering sticks.  He called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”  As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”  This, when she was about to starve.
So first, God commanded birds to take time out from their full-time jobs as birds to feed the prophet in the wilderness.

​Then God commanded the widow of Zarephath to use up the last of her tiny food supply to feed the foreigner who was loitering around outside town. 
All this during a drought and a famine.
Read the whole story in 1 Kings 17.
But don’t be too surprised that God keeps calling us to persevere through some strange and difficult times. 

Scripture readings for Sunday,
November 11, 2018 (Veterans' Day, Armistice Day)
Psalm 146
1 Kings 17:8-16
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:28-34

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
     the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
     the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers;
     He upholds the orphan and the widow,
  but the way of the wicked He brings to ruin.
                                         - Psalm 146: 7 – 9
Criminal justice reform !  End jail overcrowding !
Health care for all— especially for those with disabilities!
Mental health care for whoever needs it!
A nation that rewards goodness!
A nation that respects and appreciates folks who come from other countries!
Adequate support for children and elderly folks!
Proper consequences for evildoers!
 
OK— by the time you see this, the election will probably be over, and we will once again wait and watch to see whether the all-too-human beings who get elected will do their jobs well or poorly, justly or unjustly, cruelly or compassionately. 
But as I write this, I am looking forward to voting for candidates who I believe and hope will do right and do it well.
But I have to keep in mind that none of the candidates are God— even if I believe that my picks are generally on the side of the angels.  They will make mistakes.  They will not entirely succeed.  BECAUSE only God does everything perfectly, I have to hold this advice in front of me: 
          Do not put your trust in princes,
                in mortals, in whom there is no help.
                                      (same Psalm, verse 3)
One `criterion for evaluating a leader is, Does she or he serve his or her own interests and those of their friends ?  Or does she or he do what is best for the most people, especially the most vulnerable people, even if it hurts her or his own interests ?
 
This week in the gospel according to Mark, we read how Jesus warned the people against pompous and self-serving leaders.  And then we read how Jesus called attention to a poor little widow who gave two tiny copper coins toward maintenance of the Temple.  “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”                                                         - Mark 12:43-44

Rev. Jimmy Watson, in his book, Jesus Is Still Speaking Through the Gospel of Mark, says: “Have you heard the story of a pig and a chicken being chased around a farmyard by a man who wanted ham and eggs for breakfast ?  The pig ran faster because it knew it would have to give its all, while the hen only had to make a contribution.”
Rev. Watson goes on to relate this to something else we will be remembering, this coming Sunday:
“Good stewardship is more than just contributing.  Good stewardship is sacrificial.  A good example of this truth concerns our veterans.  Veterans are men and women who have given, or at least offered, everything they have.  They have been asked to make the ultimate sacrifice— hopefully, for a good cause.  Soldiers are like the pig in that story rather than the chicken.  They know that they may have to give their life for the greater good.  That’s the ultimate in terms of stewardship.”  (pages 147-148).
As followers of Jesus, we look to his example of giving his all for us and for all humanity.  He made the ultimate ultimate sacrifice.  “... he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.”                        - Hebrews 9:26
In the case of the poor widow who gave all she had to live on, I question how that worked out for her !  Did she stagger home afterward, and just starve to death ?  Did some of Jesus’ disciples chase her down and invite her to have supper with their group ?  Did she step out of the Temple courts onto the street and immediately (miraculously) receive a nice job offer with a pay advance ?
I question a lot of things. 
Like, Will we citizens make the effort to watch out for our public officials and hold them accountable to truth and justice ?  Will we citizens reclaim the challenge President Kennedy once issued, to “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” ?
Will we prove the truth of the saying,
          “Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
               whose hope is in the LORD their God...”    ?