Putting up Christmas lights is the perfect metaphor for the time of waiting in Advent.  It doesn’t happen quickly, it can’t be rushed, and if you try to rush, the lights become a big tangled mess and/or don’t look quite right.  It’s the same with all that Advent entails.  The more we rush, the bigger the tangled mess we seem to end up in.  That is the beauty of the message of Advent–it is a time to gather the pieces one by one, getting ready step by step.  The irony of the time of Advent, though, is most people DO rush.  The feeling starts the day after Thanksgiving where we rush out to the stores well before dawn to get the best deal or price on that special item.  Then there always seems to be so much to do with decorating, baking, buying, and wrapping that the to-do list gets longer and longer as we try to multi-task.  Our calendars become full of parties and gatherings, all which are fun and festive but fill in the places where we once perhaps had a moment of down time to sit back and rest.

And yet, there are times when we don’t rush.  One person told me about sitting in the living room at the end of the night, a glass of wine in hand, Christmas music softly playing in the background, and the overhead lights turned out as the tree softly lights the room with color.  A look of peace and serenity came over his face as he told me about this evening ritual.  There are also times when we can’t rush.  I had a few friends this December give birth.  Their families have been waiting for 9 months in anticipation of the addition to their family.  But no matter how much they have prepared and how ready they are, that baby only came when it was good and ready.  No sooner, no later.   The baby room was ready, diapers were stacked, and clothes folded but that didn’t rush the baby.

Soon, very soon, we will welcome our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born to save a broken and fallen world.  The waiting will soon be over and hopefully you will have some time to un-rush yourself.  May this be a time of celebration and joyous occasions as you hold dear the gift given to us by God because P.S. there’s more to celebrate each day we live.

Mark 13:24-37                                                                                                                       

This weekend marks the beginning of Advent and thus the first week of the new church year.  As we begin Advent, we enter with anticipation for the Christmas season.  For many young children (or young children at heart) that means looking forward to decorating the tree, the giving and receiving of presents, and Santa and his reindeer.  Of course there is also the anticipation of the Sunday School Christmas program, special concerts, lighting of the advent wreath, and singing the well loved hymns and carols.  The gospel reading for this first Sunday of Advent pulls that anticipation together to help us focus on what the next four weeks holds for us.  It does this by telling us of the apocalypse.  Advent and the apocalypse?  Really?  Yes.  It is our reminder to keep awake and alert to God’s activity in this world beyond our human expectations or abilities to understand.  It was unexpected and hard to understand why God would come to us in human form, in the form of a baby.  And not only a baby, but a baby born in a barn.  God continues to exceed our expectations and fill us with wonder.  God brings encouragement and hope through a baby born in a stable, through a baby that will grow up to die on a cross and who will rise to new life in order that we may have life everlasting.  Unexpected and exceeding expectation.  This week, keep awake and alert to God’s activity in the world.  As you keep alert, please snap photographs on your cameras or phones and email them to Pastor Shannyn: pastorshannyn@saintjohnelca.org  These photos will be shared on this blog because a picture is worth a thousand words.  It is worth sharing because P.S. there is a lot for which to stay awake and alert in these days of Advent.

Mark 13:24-37

24 ”But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.

27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28 ”From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32 ”But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35Therefore, keep awake–for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

The following is Pastor Shannyn’s piece written for the collection of devotions during the October stewardship foc

Matthew 11:28-30

28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

On July 2 & 3, 2011 I preached this text with a heavy heart and in a different manner than my ‘normal’ preaching style.  This text came about in the lectionary cycle sixteen days after the death of my dad.  As I read through the texts for the week I felt pulled towards this passage, thinking about the burdens that were hanging heavy, not only over myself, but over our community.

For two months we had been living in a state of tension and fear over flooding issues.  People were moving the items that had sentimental meaning such as scrapbooks along with the other items that told the stories of their lives.  Some moved a few things out of their homes while others moved almost everything they owned.  Those that lived at higher ground generously opened their garages and basements for storage.  It was a stewardship of the space and kindness they held.  I, myself, had planned on moving the items in my office but suddenly that became little concern as I headed to Wisconsin unexpectedly for an unexpected funeral.  Yet, even as I left town my thought was, “Well, if it floods all it will take is a phone call and I know others will move my things if need be.”  What a blessing to know that we as a community were there to shoulder the burdens together.

This passage reminds us that our burdens are not meant to be shouldered alone.  Oxen are often yoked in pairs in order that one is not over taxed.  If an oxen is yoked alone, it is still connected to the driver so the path may stay straight.  This is our reminder that we are not alone on our journey of faith and that we need each other for our faith lives to prosper and grow.  We are yoked together with one another and with Christ so that the yoke is easier and the burden lighter.  Together, we live by faith and together, we walk in faith.

The following is a portion of lyrics from a song shared with me reminding us that together we have come this far–120 years–together by sharing our lives of faith both in burdens and in joys.  Because of one another, our burdens are able to become joys as we reach out to each other in the name of Christ.

                         Come to me, you are weary, I will hold you and softly speak.                                                I know this day seems unending, so I’m sending a little peace.                                I will cradle you close to my chest.  I will take up your burdens and give you rest,       you who are weary if you can hear me, come to me.

As she spoke Jane placed her hand to her heart and said with with closed eyes, “She left an imprint on my heart.”

Throughout our lives people leave their imprint on our hearts and our souls.  Take a moment to think about who these people are and why they made an impression.  Now take a moment to think about the imprint you leave on others.  I’ve found that it is generally not the big ostentatious moments that leave the deepest prints.  Often it is in the quietness of a hug, a smile, sitting in silence without having to talk, or listening to a German rendition of Silent Night, Holy Night on a death bed.

Jesus reminds us that, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  –Matthew 25:40

Please, share your stories, comments, thoughts, and experiences of how someone has left their imprint on you or how you have imprinted someone else.  Because, P.S. There’s More to share.

Philippians 2:1-13 

My second year of seminary I took a class called Reading the Audiences.  The main point of the class was to gain an understanding of how to enter into different faith communities and learn the background, structure, history, struggles, and joys of that community.  At the beginning of each class we began with scripture and a prayer, not unusual at Luther Seminary.  However, in this class we spent all ten weeks with this particular passage as our devotion.  We read different translations, such as the NRSV, Message, etc.  We read it out loud, silently, and with different emphasis on various words.  We read it in pieces, as a whole, and more.  Who knew there were so many different ways to read the same scripture passage!  Even more, who knew there was so much to hear and learn from the same scripture passage!  Each week that we pondered this passage, we heard God speak to us in a different voice.  Sometimes a specific word or phrase caught our attention.  Sometimes we felt challenged and at other times comforted.  At some points confused or even frustrated.  And yet, it was the same scripture passage.  It came to show how much depth there is in scripture and how God speaks to us when we listen.

Often called the “Christ Hymn” we are told by Paul in this passage to have the same mind, same love, and to be in full accordance with Christ Jesus.  Whoa Paul!  Easier said that done!   How can I, a broken and tattered human, be in the same mind as Jesus–the one who has no sin?  How can I, a broken and tattered human, sacrifice the way Christ sacrificed for me?  How can I, a broken and tattered human be humble, obedient, and lay everything out for God?  And then I remember, it is not about “I”, it’s about the work God is doing.

First, Jesus had equality with God and he chose to have this without exploitation and with full obedience.  Then Jesus came in human form, emptied himself out, and became a slave.  Finally, he ascended,  becoming highly exulted so that we may know God through him and remember that God is at work in us the same way God was at work through Jesus.

Christ came to be like us so that we may be like Christ.

This is our reminder that God gives us the desire, the energy, and the will to bring Christ’s compassion in the world.

As your read this passage below (preferably multiple times), what is it that you hear?  What words or phrases jump at you?  What questions or comments to you have?  What do you wonder about?  Please share, for as we explore we realize that we are not done because P.S. There’s More.

Philippians 2:1-13
1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. 

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.