BS123012

A WONDERFUL LIFE
1st Sunday after Christmas
30 December 2012
Rev. Barry W. Szymanski, J.D.
Minister of Pastoral Care
Psalm 23 [Adaptation]

Lord, you are our shepherd. We will never be in need. You let us rest in fields of green grass. You lead us to streams of peaceful water, and you refresh our lives. We are true to your name, and you lead us along the right paths. We may walk through valleys as dark as death, but we will not be afraid. You are with us, and your shepherd's rod makes us feel safe. You treat us to a feast, while our enemies watch. You honor us as your guests, and you fill our cups until they overflow. Your kindness and love will always be with us each day of our lives, and, Lord, we will live forever in your house!

Reading:
Luke 2:6-20

“. . . 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 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 favours!’ 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.”

SERMON

Who were the shepherds? People who lived close to the land, close to the sheep under their care, individuals in tune with nature. The shepherds had to be in harmony with the world around them, for if they were not, the sheep went hungry and thirsty, and so did the shepherds. Are we called to be shepherds of our own lives? Are we called to shepherd others?

The call to worship this morning was taken from Psalm 23: ‘You, Lord, are our shepherd. We will never be in need. You feed us and let us rest in fields of green grass. You lead us to drink from streams of peaceful water, and you refresh our lives.’

What is the good grass of life given to us those green pastures? What is bogus, false, not fulfilling, poisonous? What is bogus grass? Can the sheep survive on phony grass? Does the divine continually attempt to lead us to the good grass where we can restore our souls? -- and to the still waters where we can establish a relationship with the divine?

What do we do to restore our own souls? And the souls of others? Are we restored in life by the surprises in life? What did not surprise the Shepherds was that a Messiah was promised; or even that a Messiah was born. They did not even seemed surprised, according to scripture, that angels appeared to them. In fact, scripture does not even report that they were shocked that the Messiah of the World was a mere baby. What seemed to astonish them, more than anything else, was that this baby Messiah was born among them.

The birth of the Christ occurred right where they were; in their very turf. -- in their very neighborhood. The baby was born just where they were living! Can we imagine their surprise? What surprises us? Are we amazed at the world around us? Are we amazed at who is around us? Are we stunned to realize that not only the Divine surrounds us, but also God’s creation: people like us? Does the wonder of life itself startle us?

The poet, Hafiz, wrote this, called:

Buttering the Sky

Slipping
On my shoes,
Boiling water,
Toasting bread,
Buttering the sky:
That should be enough contact
With God in one day
To make anyone
Crazy.

http://www.astrodreamadvisor.com/Hafiz.html

Were the shepherds theologians who tried to explain God? Luke tells us that [2:16b-18, 20] The shepherds “. . . found Mary and Joseph, and [also] the child lying in the manger. When the shepherds 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. . . . The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen . . . “ The shepherds did not try to expound upon God. They did not try to comprehend God. They did not try to place God in a box. They just accepted the mystery for what it was: in amazement, wonder, astonishment, simply: in awe.

In my opinion, Frank Capra, the film director, also accepted the wonder and mystery of life. He wrote, in his autobiography “The Name Above the Title”: “It’s a Wonderful Life wasn’t made for the oh-so bored critics, or the oh-so-jaded literati. It was my kind of film for my kind of people…. “A film to tell the weary, the disheartened, and the disillusioned; the wino, the junkie, the prostitute; those behind prison walls and those behind Iron Curtains, that no man is a failure. “To show those born slow of foot or slow of mind, those oldest sisters condemned to spinsterhood, and those oldest sons condemned to unschooled toil, that each man’s life touches so many other lives. And that if he isn’t around it would leave an awful hole. “A film that said to the downtrodden, the pushed–around, the pauper, “Heads up, fella.No man is poor who has one friend. Three friends and you’re filthy rich.” “A film that expressed its love for the homeless and the loveless; for her whose cross is heavy and him whose touch is ashes; for the Magdalenes stoned by hypocrites and the afflicted Lazaruses with only dogs to lick their sores. “I wanted it to shout to the abandoned grandfathers staring vacantly in nursing homes, to the always-interviewed but seldom-adopted half-breed orphans, to the paupers who refuse to die while medical vultures wait to snatch their hearts and livers, and to those who take cobalt treatments and whistle – I wanted to shout, “You are the salt of the earth.And It’s a Wonderful Life is my memorial to you!”

After hearing his love for life, who can top Frank Capra? And who can exceed is acceptance of every kind of individuals? After reading Frank Capra, I ask myself if I have that kind of acceptance? And I ask whether I am able to shout about my love of life? -- my acknowledgment of life’s mysteries? Am I open to: the mystery of the universe, of stars, of atoms? the mystery of birth? of people? the mystery of death? the mystery of plants growing out of cracks in sidewalks?

When I realize that there is more to life than mere breathing leads me to the vital awareness of the divine. And awareness leads me to restlessness. And restlessness leads me to probing. I want to know more. Then I discovered the Spirit-of-Life! Did you ever try to describe the concept of the divine to a 3 year old? What about a 30 year old? There is a difference -- but I don’t always know why. At one age the question ‘Why’ is asked over and over again…. in the other age, some people seem so jaded – so weary of the world – even bored. I found the wonder of life, both of life itself, and of the life of the spirit, in what the Psalmist wrote to us in Psalm 34:8-10: “O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

Why did the Psalmist talk about our sense of taste? He used our taste sense to describe what is good? -- good like chocolate? -- and happy as at a birthday party? And while young wild lions may go hungry, the Lord will satisfy us! In our spiritual lives we begin to notice more than nature. We begin to notice something in nature. We begin to notice someone in nature. We can look to the languages of God? Nature, Earth, Creation, Animals, Plants, Stars, People, a transparent world, Scripture, Inspired Words, Dreams, Inspirations from the Holy Spirit of God, The-Word-Made-Flesh-Who-Dwelt-Among-Us. Jesus wants us to realize that God is not in heaven, but that the ‘Kingdom of God’ is right here – and he wants us to work for it -- to bring it about.

Did the shepherds grasp that the Kingdom of God is now possible? -- that this little newborn infant, maybe 8 or 9 lbs., would soon be working to bring about the Kingdom of God? Is that why they “glorified and praised” God? After I meditate on the shepherds, I have to ask if I glorify and praise God? Where in my spiritual life am I? Is the Lord present? Or is God still somewhere else? Is God in my heart and mind and soul, my very being? Regardless of my thinking about it, where is my God? - is God in my heart? - have I allowed God to fill my soul?

And is my God the real God? What is real? What is divine? When Zechariah knew that his son, John the Baptist was to be born, he made a prophecy about his son: Luke 1:68-73. Zechariah looked to the real God--- the Divine present in the world. This is what Zechariah said: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us . . . Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holycovenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth she also had an proclamation which could easily be our declaration about ourselves in relationship to our God: Luke 1:46-47. “Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” My question every day is: What does my soul magnify? Or Who does my soul magnify? Does my spirit rejoice in God my Savior? Or in something else? The birth of Christ is celebrated at Christmas: the spirit of Christmas is not just peace to all of goodwill, but more than that, for we are able to join with the “. . . multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, . . . “ Luke 2:13b-14a.

We can stand in continual surprise at the mystery of the divine, of God incarnate, one among us, in this natural world; this should leave us in almost speechless adoration. This is the wonder that we hear in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians 1:15-22. “[Jesus the Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. AMEN.”

Just as I cannot improve on Frank Capra’s wonder of life, I cannot improve on the Psalmist’s view, nor of Zechariah, nor of Mary, nor of Paul. But I can join with them and the shepherds to glorify and praise God.

I invite you to join with them and me and be amazed at God, and his world, and the incarnation: God-with-us. God-WITH-us! Amen.