Reflection of Luke 9:28-43

The pastor found her just around the corner of the funeral home, sitting in the long-cut, Georgian lawn, staring forward.

“May I sit beside you?” the pastor asked.

“Sure,” the young woman said with a smile.

The pastor lowered himself, making an indent in the long grass, legs outstretched matching the young woman’s.

He looked over at her face and was confused by what he saw. What he expected to see was anguish. What he expected to see were red eyes and a running nose that required one of the pre-loaded tissues in his breast pocket. The pastor expected to be counseling a crushed soul who needed a savior in a harsh world.

Instead, he saw that the smile that she had given him still lingered as she stared forward across the lawn. Granted, it was a smile with a slight hint of pain, but a smile none-the-less.

“You’ve just lost your husband. I can’t believe you would have a smile left in you.”

“Not just my husband Reverend, but also my grandfather a month ago, and my best friend to an automobile accident two months ago.” After she spoke, there was a great silence. The smile lingered in the silence.

Finally breaking the silence the Pastor stated, “You know, when someone loses so many people in such a short period of time, it is normal to be angry with God. Others question why bad things happen to good people. Still others wonder if God is good at all. This is all normal, in case you’ve felt any of it recently.”

“Thank you Reverend for your words, but I tend not to worry about the things I cannot know or answer. I don’t know why bad things happen to good people or if God intended all of these bad things to happen. Maybe, God wants to prove a point, or maybe they just happened. I don’t know. I don’t get riled up about such things. There are depths to God that I just cannot know, so I don’t worry about them. But, there is one thing that I do know…one thing that keeps me going…one thing that allows me to smile even now.”

The Pastor searched her face, waiting for the answer; waiting as a gentle breeze blew waves across the lawn.

As the woman indicated, there are just some things that we cannot know about God.

Oh, how we wish we could ascend the mountain with Jesus and his disciples, see the glory of God shining through Jesus, and listen in on the holy discussion that Jesus has with Moses and Elijah about the depths of God’s purpose. Oh, how we wish, like Peter, that we could pitch a tent with the three of them, and over the course of a few days be guided and enlightened by the deep truths of the Holy One. But, the reality is: such insights into the divine are short-lived and fade quickly.

One night in college, while I was pondering the depths of grace in my mind, and just on the edge of sleep, I had an insight. It was as if I had been brought up the mountain of God to see the depths of God’s heart. And, for one instance…one brief moment…I felt what it must be like for Jesus to love even an enemy so much that he would go to the cross for them.

It was an empathy that understood their pain, their longings, their misguided desires to fix their world. For one brief moment, I felt what it must be like to have unconditional love with no reservations. But, just a moment later, it was gone.

It’s weird, I remember that I had the experience, but I do not remember what it was like to have that unconditional love with no reservations. That memory blew away just as quickly as it had come. The depths of God that I thought I understood so well are just as hidden after my hike up God’s mountain as before that experience. Some things are not available to us to understand.

Maybe it is because of the inaccessibility of God’s depths…the inaccessibility to the answers to the questions such as “Why do we suffer?” and “Does God intend this evil for good?”…that God does speak out clearly from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

“Listen to him.”

Listen to Jesus.

This is more than just a request to open your ears. It is more than when I tell my granddaughter to turn on her listening ears and she reaches back and actually pretends to twist them to the on position.

Instead, it is the answer to the question, “If God is so hidden, how do I know what God thinks and what God cares about?”

Listen to Jesus. Look at his life. Pay attention to him, and you will see and know all that God desires to reveal to us about who God is and what God cares about.

As we watch Jesus walk down the mountain, we do see, immediately, what God cares about. A child, one of the lowly ones, is brought to him, infested with a terrible spirit. The child spits and snarls and screeches. No one else has been able to give him any help.

Maybe, no one believes that he can be helped. Maybe, no one believes that he is important enough to be helped. Maybe, people are afraid to even look at him. That is what people tend to do when they see the hopeless walking about, they tend to look away.

But, Jesus looked. He looked and he healed. Maybe, we do not know what it feels like to have God’s unconditional love…love that knows no enemies and fears no one…, but we know what it looks like. It looks like giving time to even the most lost of causes. Even people who are the most lost of causes are children of God.

“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

“Thank you Reverend for your words, but I tend not to worry about the things I cannot know or answer. I don’t know why bad things happen to good people or if God intended all of these bad things to happen. Maybe, God wants to prove a point, or maybe they just happened. I don’t know. I don’t get riled up about such things. There are depths to God that I just cannot know, so I don’t worry about them. But, there is one thing that I do know…one thing that keeps me going…one thing that allows me to smile even now.”

And, she pointed straight ahead. Ahead, the Reverend saw what looked to be a three year old boy spinning with his face to the sky with complete abandon. He recognized the boy as the woman’s son. The boy seemed oblivious to the pain surrounding his world.

“I smile because of him. I smile because Jesus cared that little children be given a fair shot at life…healing them and all. Well, that boy right there deserves the same. He does not deserve a broken mother or a broken world. I smile because I love him.”

The child stopped spinning, and waved to his mother and the pastor. The mother kept smiling and the pastor gave a smile of his own. It was a fake smile, of course. But, for the child it was the reassurance that life can be whole and new and wonderful again. The smile told the story of the cross...of death and resurrection. One does not need to understand the depths of God to understand the need for love.

Reflection on Luke 4:21-30 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Jesus had just stood up and delivered his sermon to the people of his hometown in a way that almost sounded like a political platform. In essence, he preached the core of what he planned to be about during his ministry:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them,

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The crowd goes wild. The people have been completely captured by the gracious words that have come from his mouth.

People envision their own lives filled with release from captivity, with clarity of sight, and freedom, and the restoration of all that once was.

In today’s time, Jesus’ words would create in people a longing for the prosperity and optimism of the 1950s and 1990s. Jobs would return, homes would be built in the suburbs, children would play in the cul-de-sacs, and the stocks would only rise. People's imaginations would wonder to being free from the pains and fears of today’s world.

With such feel-good vibes coursing through their veins, the people smile at Jesus and someone even remarks astonished, “Wow, I can’t believe that’s Joseph’s son!”

Feeling loved and saved by God, they would join together in song, gladly belting out words of love that sound like they come directly from the apostle Paul,

(Sung) “Love, God’s love never ends. Love bears all things, hopes all things. Love endures to the end…”

But, Jesus stops their singing of love cold and the record player scratches loudly making all wince as he proclaims that none of this good stuff is directed toward them.

In a jarring way Jesus reminds the people that God refused to help anyone but a widow and her child in the time of Elijah, and that it was an outsider…a foreigner from Syria…a foreign soldier at that…who was the only one to be healed of leprosy during the time of the prophet Elisha.

The people of Jesus’ hometown automatically, and selfishly, assumed that they would be the recipients of God’s love and favor, not the bearers of God’s love and favor.

This is like a hedge fund manager finding out straight from Jesus that God could not care less about the 3 million dollars he lost last week during the global economic correction. Rather, God cares about the poor families in Flint Michigan who have truly suffered from the toxic pollution of their waters. God cares about the future of the children who may suffer physically because of balanced budgets and tax breaks.

Or, the hedge fund manager might hear that God actually cares about the Syrian refugees who still sink their boats trying to find freedom. And, that through his hearing (and through his wealth) maybe he should at least think about being a part of the solution.

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing sir.”

Jesus’ sermon was not a “feel good” sermon after-all. It was not a promise of self-fulfillment; it was a call to join Jesus in self-sacrifice.

“Not for you…for them.”

For them. Them. The dying widow. The outsider.

No wonder the people tried to throw Jesus off of a cliff.

(Roughly...and I mean rough...to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me")

Jesus loves your neighbor, this I know,

for Isaiah tells me so.

Poor and foreign to him belong.

They are weak but he is strong.

Yes Jesus loves THEM.

Yes Jesus loves THEM.

Yes Jesus loves THEM.

Isaiah tells me so.

Who wants to go to a cross with Jesus?

Anyone? Anyone?

At least the edge of a cliff?

"Come on!" we say. "Faith is supposed to sooth our souls, not place them in danger!"

Because of that idea we can get so full of ourselves and our needs and our wants that we become completely blind to others.

Just because I am preaching these words does not mean I am immune to to that same lulling of blindness and selfishness. I too would prefer a good old “feel good” sermon with some great old hymns any day, compared to facing the fears of helping those who live in the darkest places in life. It is hard to even bring myself to look into those dark places, so I would rather just worry about myself thank you very much.

But, Jesus is not afraid. Jesus is not afraid to go into the dark places. In the old version of the creed we say that Jesus "descended into hell." There is nowhere that Jesus fears going, and no length that Jesus would not go in order to save those who dwell in the darkness.

That is love. That is a love that never ends. That is a love that bears all things and never loses hope.

(Sung) “Love, God’s love never ends. Love bears all things, hopes all things. Love endures to the end…”

I once heard an old Jewish parable about a rabbi who invited his friends and a homeless man over for a meal. Seated at the table, the Rabbi's servant brought out the first course of the meal, and set a plate only before the Rabbi and the homeless man. They ate. The others looked on, confused. The same happened with the next two courses of the meal, only the Rabbi and the homeless man, whom they did not know, ate. Finally, incensed that they were all being dishonored, one of the guests complained that they were not being fed.

The rabbi replied, "Why are you mad that someone else is getting something good? Why don't you simply rejoice with them and thank God that they are finally being provided for? Rejoice with them, that would be the loving thing to do.”

Somehow when we pour the foundation of our faith, we envision that we are pouring the base using God’s love. We deceive ourselves though, because we tend to use our own love to pour the foundation of our faith…thinking that it is as good as God’s love.

As you already know, a foundation poured with our own love looks nice, until you get up close and inspect it. Up close you see the cracks, and see the selfishness mixed in. When we construct our own faith, we tend to use poor materials.

Here’s the silly thing though. Jesus already poured a foundation for us. It is a foundation of love for all. It is a foundation of love that would go to any length, especially for the sinner and the unlovable. That foundation is already there beneath our feet in the shape of a cross. We did not need to pour our own foundation at all.

From time to time, Jesus jabs a pry bay into one of those cracks and chip away that top layer of self-serving that we poured on ourselves. There is no doubt that such chipping hurts and can drive people to want to throw Jesus off of a cliff. But, even if we try to get rid on Jesus, no harm done. Jesus will just walk through our attempts to destroy his love.

You cannot kill forever the love that provides the foundation for all creation.

Once our own self-serving love is chipped away, and Jesus' foundation can be seen, it reveals a mosaic of love for the neighbor…even if they don’t deserve it…even if they are an enemy…even if they live in the darkness…even if they are sinners in need of God’s salvation. When Jesus shows us the mosaic of love sunk into the foundation of our faith, we are drawn to see, and care, and love as Jesus loved.

Now, I am not going to pretend that Jesus frees us from our blindness once and then we are completely Jesus-like for the rest of our lives, thanks be to God.

No, the minute Jesus chips away our selfishness we tend to pour more back on. But, chipping away need not be so hard the second time around…or the third time…or the 10,573ed time…that is pretty much where I am at by the way.

Instead, we can use the wisdom of those who have gone before us, who taught us to put Jesus’ love into song. We can sing melodies that repeat in our heads, and remind us that our foundation is Jesus' everlasting love for all. They are words that glimmer of Paul's reflection on love:

(Sung) “Love, God’s love never ends. Love bears all things, hopes all things. Love endures to the end…”

A Reflection in Seven Sentences (Based on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11)

I take issue with Paul’s notion that idols do not speak.

He did not get to look beyond the figures of baked clay and metal
to see the ideologies of the modern world
that fight with the unbending words:

“All or nothing.”

Our idols today speak loudly and harshly,
and they have no capacity
for bending,
for forgiving,
or for showing mercy.

They implicitly say,

“Jesus be cursed”

by claiming to have higher importance than Jesus
and his ethic of love for the poor,
the outsider,
and even the enemy.

But, we have the Holy Spirit to speak for us.

We have the Holy Spirit set ablaze within,
who gives us gifts
for the good of all,
and who melts the ideologies of this world as if they were made of wax.

The gifts of the Spirit look different in each one of us,
but they all point over the heads of the idols of this world
to the words of truth written in the heavens:

“Jesus is Lord.”

Reflection on Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

The people “were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah.” With all the talk of winnowing forks, sorting out and burning the chaff (in other words, sorting out the sinful), and the heavens opening up with the Spirit descending as an actual dove on Jesus, I want to ignore all of that dramatic stuff for the time being and instead focus on something much more boring. The people wondered if John was the one who would save them.

Of course, we know that John is not the Messiah, but they did not. They were waiting with great expectation for the one who would come along and make everything right again. John was bold. John was persuasive. John was charismatic. John definitely was not a part of the business-as-usual establishment. Even the soldiers were coming out to listen to him. “Is he the one who will make everything right?”

I focus on this first because, even though I know exactly who my Messiah is, still I find myself searching for someone to fix the problems of the world. “Will he or she finally by the one who will figure it all out and make everything alright?” Or sometimes, more times than I would like to admit, I ask, “Will this thing make everything alright?” We put our trust in so many things each day, expecting them to work miracles.

But, rather than asking you, “What have you put your trust in that ultimately failed?” I will go ahead and offer my life as a humiliation on your behalf. So here we go, a list of people and things that Jira Albers has trusted to make everything right instead of Jesus:

1. Candles and scented soaps. I lit the candles and set them around the bathtub, hoping for an experience of bliss. Instead, I just found myself sitting in a tub with sub-par lighting, and no place to safely rest my head because of all the stupid candles.

2. My dog, Sparky. He was to be my friend at a time when I had very few. And, he was a great dog, when I could bring myself to get close enough to him to pick off all the ticks. And, the licking…I never got into the whole dog licking/kissing thing. Making out with a dog is not a good enough substitute for a girlfriend…just saying.

3. My first car. It was to be my freedom. It was to be my release. It was to be my salvation. It ensured that all my free time was filled with a minimum wage job to pay for gas and insurance. Welcome to the real world Jira.

4. President Bill Clinton. Well, we do not have to say too much more there, do we?

5. My Grandpa. I loved him, and he loved me. We would go on rides in his jeep together, and there were those special times of fishing in the lake with one another. The world was right when I was with Grandpa. And, then the phone call came telling us that he was dead. Even Grandpas are not the eternal Messiah.

Why mention this list? Because, even though we have a Messiah, here’s the reality: it is hard to remember that we have one. There are some days when we are certain that someone or something will make our lives happy and right and good. And, when they fail…as they always do…the feeling is devastation. On those days of devastation, the heavens feel closed up like in the days of Elijah, when God refused to shine on the land and its people. On those days, we feel like the widow as she prepared her last bit of flower and oil for her son and herself. They would plan to eat, and then they would plan to die. Their messiahs had all given out. Everything they looked to and hoped in had dried up, like the blowing soil just beyond their front door.

But, I have news for you: the heavens are not closed up. God has not chosen to leave us dry. Instead, the heavens were torn open and the Spirit was spilled out onto Jesus in the waters of his baptism. And, later Jesus chose to spill that same Spirit upon us.

It is still happening today. They heavens are still torn open, and the Spirit is freely flowing here. Our Messiah has already come, and we have been washed with this saving presence.

That reminds me just how much I like taking time each day to remember my baptism. Here’s how it works; every morning, when you splash your face with that refreshing water and scrub away the grime of the night, you can say boldly, “I am God’s child,” in remembrance of that day when the Spirit was splashed upon you. It’s a great discipline to have. It is refreshing and life-giving. Let’s practice by declaring it loud. “I am God’s child!” “I am God’s child!” “I am God’s child!”

I love this daily morning practice because it reminds me before the day even begins that I do not have to go out into the world looking for a Messiah. I do not have to waste time, putting my trust in people and things that will fail. Instead, I am reminded that Christ has set me free to be who God designed me to be. I am free to go about my day loving the world as much as I want.

Here is an idea. What if, instead of trusting others to fix what we see as wrong in the world…instead of putting hope in a politician or a pastor or someone quite close to you in order to make everything right…what if we simply trusted that Jesus is already on the task of redeeming the world.

Not only that, since we aren’t looking to someone else to fix the world, we can feel free to join in on what God is up to. What if everyone felt free to join Jesus in improving the world, rather than trusting that a politician will do it for us, or worse yet, trusting that scented candles and soaps will magically make the world well?

I can feel bold in asking the question because, I know one thing to be true, your Messiah has come, and Jesus has set you free from all that binds you and holds you back. Sin? Gone. Low self-worth? You are accepted. No matter what binds you, you are free in Jesus Christ. You are free to go from here and love all that you want. No one can stop you. And, the gift of love never dries up. The heavens have been torn open, and the Spirit pours down permanently on us with grace until the end of time. How is that for some good news?

Reflection on John 1:1-18

The confirmation lesson was on that little verse, “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” This is a hard enough lesson for adults to take seriously and apply to their lives, but for one of the students, it seemed an insurmountable task.

She piped up nervously at the end of the lesson and asked, “What about bullies? I try to love and pray for mine, but it doesn’t help. What do you say about bullies, Pastor?”

The question took courage to ask in the first place, in front of other kids, no doubt. But, they clearly were not judging her. Instead, they were looking to me, with hope in their eyes, as if I had the answer to life’s most important question.

I looked at the teen and said the only thing that I could, “Do whatever you need to do to get through this time in your life. Keep praying. Mark a calendar of days until the end of the school year. Change a class to get away from the person. Double down and focus on your school work. Do yoga. Take a martial arts class. Do whatever you need to get through it because, I promise, when it is over…and I promise, it will come to an end…you will be making history and the bully won’t even be remembered. I promise you: God shines a light, even in this dark place. Plus, when it is all done you will have better accomplishments to put on your resume than, ‘I beat up someone weaker than me.’”

I realize that it was not a solution for the teen, but it was hope. It was the same hope found in the Gospel of John. It was a light that shined in the darkness, and I am happy to tell you that the darkness did not overcome that light.

The teen is now an adult who is happily married, with two children, heading up a military support group for spouses who have lost loved ones in our multiple battlefronts. I am glad to see that the light Christ ignited in her was never blown out, and so are a lot of other people who are deep in the throes of grief.

Why is Jesus important to me? It is not because he shows me how to live a good life, through there is a little of that. It is not because I think He will be like Santa and shower me with gifts of wealth and prosperity, I could not care less about that.

No, the reason Jesus is important to me is that when I look at Jesus, I see God. I see a God, who cared enough about the world to come, in the flesh, just so that we might see clearly God's love for us and to reveal clearly to us what God cares about.

Sure, God gave us the 10 commandments, and that helps to show us God’s will also, but the 10 commandments do not tell us the whole story.

They do not show us God’s mercy. They do not show us how much God cares. They do not show us that God is willing to go as far as to come into our dark world, live and love among even the worst of us, forgiving us in the process, go to a cross and die a very grisly death, and then rise again. Jesus did not need to do any of that, but he did.

“A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Why is Jesus important to me? Because Jesus is that light that cannot be snuffed out. Jesus is that light that cannot be overcome by darkness. Jesus is the word made flesh through whom all things were made in the beginning, and through whom all new life can come.

Jesus is the hope to which we cling when the bullies of the world seem to have the upper hand. In him, we clearly see that there will always be new life...there will always be a light in the dark. That is why Jesus is important to me.

You see, it is easy to get stuck in the dark. Just turn on a 24 hour news station in order to see the state of the world, and you will plunge headfirst into the dark depths. What about terrorism? Is there an end to the violence? The darkness.

But, we do not have to turn on CNN or Fox News to find the darkness. People ask, “What about my inability to get healthy? I keep eating the wrong things, even though I know I shouldn’t. Twinkies are great! Will I never be able to be whole?” The darkness.

Others ask, What about my depression? Will the crying every…single…night of the week stay forever?” The darkness.

Others ask in confirmation class, “What about the bullies? Will I always be at the bottom of life?” The darkness.

To all of that I say, a light shine in the darkness, and things can change…even terrorism…even your own self-worth…even depression…even bullies.

Look, Jesus is the one who showed us that when you have run out of wine for your wedding guests, water can be turned into fine wine. God can change things.

Jesus is the one who touches a paralytic and shows us that a sick body does not have to define who you are; a sick body is not the last word. God can change things.

Jesus is the one who cares for well over 5000 people just to show that even hunger does not stay forever. God can change things.

Jesus is the one who shows us that blindness need not be permanent. Maybe there is some hope for our politicians after-all! God can change things.

Heck, even a dead guy who was rotting in the tomb for a while is unwrapped and given another chance to live and love. In Lazarus we see a hint of the fact that even death cannot hold the author of life down. God can change things.

Why is Jesus important to me? Because, “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.

Jesus in important to us because in him we see that the reality that is today need not be the reality of tomorrow. Jesus can always create something new.

I have to admit, this is sometimes hard to trust. The darkness can seem so oppressive. And, I also have to admit that for me, this hope is sometimes no more than a flicker of light in a dark room. But, here's the thing. Once that light is lit, no matter how dark the room, no matter how small the light, the light still baths you with its flicker. The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light, and that hope is a gift of God especially for those in the dark places.

Reflection on Luke 2:41-52

The girl just showed up in the church one day. The Pastor had gone into the sanctuary to place her sermon in the pulpit, and there the girl was, just lying on her back in one of the pews, moving her hands slowly through the air…apparently listening to some music.

“Can I help you?” the pastor asked the girl. She had red hair and looked to be about 13.

“No, I’m fine,” the girl replied, continuing to listen to her music.

The pastor just stared at her for a second, but the girl did not budge or give any sign that the conversation was going to go any further. It certainly was not against the law for someone to hang out in the sanctuary of a church. The doors were open while the parish secretary was in the office. And, once or twice the pastor had seen an old woman in the sanctuary praying, but this was completely new.

“Just so you know, we will be locking up in about 45 minutes.”

“I know, the hours are on your door. Thank you.”

And, that was that. The girl remained until it was time to lock the doors. She smiled politely and went on her way as the pastor and the secretary also went out the door.

“Well, that was a strange day,” the pastor thought.

But, the strange day became a strange week when the teen was found in the sanctuary following school during the subsequent days. The redhead was still lying in the pews, but she chose a different pew each day…trying to get a different perspective of the place the pastor supposed. Friday came and the pastor decided to have a talk with the girl.

“You are more than welcome to come here; I just want to say that right away. But, quite frankly, no one comes here during the week. Why did you start coming?”

The teen looked at the pastor and then at the ceiling again. “I don’t have anything else to do. My parents are working, and don’t pay any attention to me anyway, and my friends are all in sports.”

There were all kinds of places the teen could have gone after school that were much more exciting, the mall, the library, the pet store downtown…any number of places with other people to interact with.

“So, what made you think to come here?” the pastor inquired.

“God,” the teen replied simply. “I think that God needs to get to know me a little, so I came to His house.”

How could you argue with that logic? The redhead sparked the story of the young Jesus in the pastor’s mind. When Jesus was 12, his devout family journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. On the way home from the festivities, Jesus’ parents searched among the large extended family, but Jesus was nowhere to be found. Where they did find Jesus eventually (after three days) was in the temple talking with the teachers.

“Jesus where have you been? We have been worried sick!” Mary and Joseph exclaimed.

But, Jesus simply replied, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

There were some obvious differences between Jesus and the girl, beyond gender, of course. Jesus’ parents cared enough to desperately search for him. Apparently, the redheaded girl’s parents did not. Jesus was engaged deeply in conversation with the teachers in the temple, answering their questions to astonishment. This girl simply laid on the pews with apparently little knowledge of God.

But, one thing was the same: they both wanted to be close to God the Father. They both wanted to be in their heavenly Father’s home. Jesus felt at home in the temple, and with her feet hanging over the edge of the pew, apparently so did the teen.

With that realization, the pastor felt something strange: she felt jealous of the girl. The redheaded girl's desire to know God was so pure. Her certainty that God would just show up at some point was so…just so…well, full of faith.

How many years had it been since she took the time to sit patiently, expecting the Lord to come to her? Pastors get caught up in the daily grind as much as any other person. The Pastor suddenly wished that she had that sort of pure desire…that sort of pure faith that God would show up for her. Maybe, God could show up for the girl.

“Jesus is here you know. Well, through the Holy Spirit Jesus is lots of places, but Jesus is here too,” the pastor began to teach.

“I know. That's why I'm waiting.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that we can hear Jesus’ voice if we just crack open the bible. I’m willing to read it with you if you want. Can we do that together?”

“Sure, why not. It beats staring at the ceiling. You know, you have a boring ceiling pastor.”

So, they cracked open the bible together. The pastor had the perfect story to begin with. It was the story of a boy lost from his parents, who found his heavenly Father. The pastor hoped that the teen would find hers also. And, she did.

Or rather, her heavenly Father came looking for her, and she was found.

Reflection on Luke 2:1-20

She held the words close, just the same as she snuggled the baby close. We hear her actions described as “ponder.” Mary “pondered” these things in her heart; as if she were pondering whether to take a Mylanta for her heartburn or not.

But, it was so much more than pondering. It was much deeper than simply thinking about what she had heard. She held the words of the shepherds so close it seemed as if she desired to be one with those words. And maybe she did. After-all, the words that promise something wonderful “for you” are the sort of words that can change your life.

It is one thing to say, “Jesus came to the world to save it.” We hold general theological proclamations such as that as dearly as we hold the words “I’m loving it” as you bite into a paper thin McDonald’s sandwich patty. But, some words do catch us and do have the power to shape us.

Therefore, it is quite another thing to say, “God decided to come to the world for you." “Jesus brought forgiveness for you.” “The body of Christ given for you.” These are words that we can cherish…and we do.

So, the promise of the angel that the shepherds excitedly recited to Mary, “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” she treasured these words and held them close. God had not only come to her, through her even, but also for her. God has not only come to the world, but has also come for you.

These words are a gift that you put into little box next to your heart. But, it is not the kind of box that you lock up to keep safe. In fact, you want to peek inside and enjoy the promise that the box contains.

It is like when the child of a soldier finds out his parent is coming home from oversees for Christmas. As that child, you would hold tight onto that sort of promise for all its worth. And, when you felt lonely, you would peek inside from time to time, refreshing your soul with the hope of seeing your parent once again. But, God’s promise is so much more than that.

It is like the girl on the sidelines of the dance floor who has no date, but heard from a friend that the guy she has a crush on is going to sweep her onto the dance floor. You would hold close that sort of promise, peeking in from time to time until he actually came and held out his hand. But, God’s promise is so much more than that.

The words that Mary holds close are the ones that promise that the very power that spoke us into existence is coming home, in the flesh, "for you"…to be with you.

Bill was your typical hard worker on the maintenance crew. He had a huge bushy beard, a couple teeth were missing, and he was able to fix anything with some putty and duct tape. He was a great guy. He would have a beer or two or three to support an ailing friend at their benefit which was always held at the bar. He was a guy’s guy.

One year I invited Bill to church on Christmas Eve. “Come on, it is a beautiful service in a great church with great people.”

Stroking his beard he replied, “Thank you very much, but I’m sure a guy like me doesn’t belong there.”

We were silent for a while, except for the sound of our paint scrapers: metal on wood. Then I decided to share something someone had once told me, “You know Bill…the shepherds were just cheap labor like us. No one cared about them. They weren’t welcome in the fine establishments of their time. But, God sent an angel just for them…just to tell them about the Savior of the world. Christmas Eve services are for people like us Bill.”

“For us you say?”

“For us. Even for you Bill.”

“Well, that was probably one of the best invitations I’ve ever heard,” Bill said with an honest smile.

For you.

Jesus does not wake up in the morning and put on some flesh just so he can come down and punish us or seek vengeance for the missteps we’ve all certainly taken throughout our lives. If he had intended that, he would have come as a mighty warrior or a heartless governor. Instead, he came as a baby. Someone we can hold close…someone who is for us…someone who is for you.

Those words seem awfully familiar: “for you.”

When we gather at the table we hear that the bread and the wine (and the forgiveness and the heavenly love that the wine and bread hold) are “for you.” "The body of Christ given for you.” "The blood of Christ shed for you.”

In a world full of darkness where we fear the future and often feel alone, we hold close these words, “for you” in a small box close to our hearts.

It is not locked because we need to open it up and take a look whenever the darkness appears to be too much. We open it and hear the words, “I have come for you” echoing out.

It is a promise to give us hope and give us confidence to take a step forward into the future, even if the future seems dark.

It is also the promise that binds us to one another because we all hold the same words close to our hearts.

Jesus is the joy of all people. He is God with us. He is love come close to each of us. He is the one who gives us hope. Heavenly joy and hope come to the world through Jesus. That means, Jesus also comes “for you,” and I tend to think that is a pretty good Christmas gift.