Reflection on Luke 2:22-40

 

There is one phrase in this entire continuing story of Jesus’ birth and childhood that says everything: "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."  When Jesus is presented at the temple, his very devoted and holy parents offer a sacrifice of two turtledoves and two young pigeons as his offering to the Lord.  This offering gives us a fuller picture of faith as we move from the holidays.

I will tell you what I mean.  You see, the holidays are supposed to be full of cheer and joy.  They are supposed to be times of abundance, giving, and gratitude.  In our society, the holidays are expected to be a big, positive, celebration with family and friends.  And, when they are not, then we go away disappointed and depressed. 

But, this continuing Christmas story that Luke tells puts it all into perspective for us.  Jesus’ parents, Mary and Joseph, gave two turtledoves and two young pigeons as his offering to the Lord.  In other words, they were poor.  They weren’t rich enough to give an abundant offering to the Lord such as a lamb.  They had to use the welfare-like prescription in the ancient law that allowed them to use a more humble animal for sacrifice. 

The first Christmas was not one of abundance, but one of births in small animal sheds and paltry sacrifices.  Jesus was not born into perfection, he was born into reality.

And, reality is full of both.  Reality is full of both angelic chorus and scraping by just to get your next meal.  It is full of dancing and singing with children and loneliness in the hospital bed.  It is full of accomplishments and days of failure.  Jesus, God with us, was born into our reality.  He was not born into the realm of paintings where the scene of his birth is perfect, as is the glowing world around.

Even the baby Jesus himself gets a dose of reality in this scene at the temple.  As his poor family walks around the temple, they are shocked by the righteous man, Simeon, who grabs Jesus and pronounces with joy that he had finally, in his old age, seen the salvation of the Lord.  Simeon prays to God:

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Jesus, from this poor family, is honored with the highest distinction possible in ancient Israel: Messiah.  And, he is blessed for the life that will come.  Simeon also blesses Jesus’ parents, but gives Mary the oddest sort of blessing, and this is where reality starts to sink in.  Listen carefully to what he says: "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:34-35).  Reality. 

Jesus life is destined for greatness, but swords will also pierce.

Reality. 

Yes, this life is about the blessings and joy that come out of nowhere, like the day early on in our marriage that Randele and I were looking at our bills, wondering how we were possibly going to make it through the holidays with some food, much less presents for each other.  And, just as we opened the mail, we found an unexpected letter.  We opened it, and in it was a check.  Someone had thought of us, and wanted to give us a gift.  They had no idea we were struggling.  It was just a random act of love that came at just the right time. 

We felt blessed that very moment.  But, as life tends to do, we also experienced some harsh reality.  The reality was that there would be more days of struggle coming without checks randomly showing up in the mail.  Reality.

This life is full of ups and downs.  This life is full of greatness for us and our children and swords that pierce our souls.  This is life.  It is not the fake perfection of family holidays, but the reality where we experience some joy, but also the days that follow where people get sick, forgiveness unfortunately needs to be granted, and people we love are hurt.  Jesus was born, not into the fake, idealized stuff, but into the reality.

Jesus does grow to be great in wisdom and understanding.  He does grow to be the long anticipated Messiah.  But, no one in an idealized, angel filled stable realizes that being Messiah means something different than one might think.  Yes, it means hoards of followers like a rock star.  But, it also means death on a cross, alone.  It means taking on the sins of a broken world onto an already broken and bloodied body.  Jesus is born into our reality, and it is in reality where he is found.

So, Jesus is present with us through the power of the Holy Spirit when we celebrate another birthday, and when we find out about the cancer. 

He is there when you celebrate the new child, and when you fear for their lives as they wander away. 

He is there when you are filled with faith, giving of your time and money to help others, and he is there in the times when you think only of yourself and cause total destruction. 

He is there bearing both blessing in the good times and grace and forgiveness in the times of struggle. 

He is there beaming with joy during times of greatness, and offering peace in the darkest moments. 

Jesus was placed in a manger, presented to the Lord in the temple with lowly doves and pigeons, and lived the life of a real, struggling person. 

But, it is in those real lives, our real lives, that he still resides through the Spirit.  The Spirit of Jesus Christ is with you still.  Even if the celebrating is a thing of the past and a harsh reality has settled in.  Even then, he is there.  Especially then, he is there.

Simeon also has his highs and his lows.  He holds the very salvation of the world in his hands.  What a beautiful scene.  A true high.  But, he also prays that he might now go to die.  A true low.  Yet, in the reality of his situation he prays a simple thing.  He prays simply that he may “go in peace.” 

Peace. 

This is what I pray for you.  Peace throughout the highs and throughout the lows.  Peace during times of greatness and times of trial.  I pray for peace for you as you face your reality.  I pray for you the peace of Jesus, the peace that surpasses all understanding.  I pray for you the peace that calms in the face of the storm.  I pray for you the peace that sustains though it all. 

I pray that you might live, filled with Christ’s Spirit of peace, until the last day of your life, and beyond.

Reflection on Luke 2:1-20 Christmas Eve

As the Bible proclaims, there were some homeless shepherds living out in the fields.  They were watching and protecting their sheep, as shepherds are paid to do.  I am sure that it was a fascinating life, lying on the hard ground, counting sheep all night but trying not to go to sleep while doing so.  There was nothing fascinating about the night, just the usual monotony.  But, the boredom of the cold night was broken as an angel pierced the darkness with heavenly glory.

“The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people’” (Luke 2:10).  Great joy is about to infuse the souls of these homeless guys living out in the fields.  The joy is this: “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” (Luke 2:11-12). 

And, these men were filled with joy as they set out quickly to find the child, leaving their many sheep behind to find the one, excitedly telling everyone staring at the baby in the manger about what had been told them by the angel, and then they joyously praised God for it all as they returned to the fields and their sheep. 

These lowly shepherds were the first to be gifted an unimaginable amount of joy brought on by the arrival of the Christ child, and I have to say that I am jealous.

Joy. 

Joy is one of the most perfect gifts that anyone can be given, but it is so hard to find.  How I want that same joy.  How I desire to run into the streets with words of joy and promise on my lips like the shepherds. 

But, it just has not happened this year.  And I guarantee that it is the same for a lot of the people around you.  Maybe, joy has not found you either.  For many, joy has been elusive.

I know of a number of people who have been given the gift of bad news and a hospital bed this Christmas season.  It is a gift in which there is no joy.  Joy is elusive.

I know of those whose relationships have failed, just before the typical togetherness of the holidays.  Merry Christmas!  What a great present!  Joy is elusive.

I know of those for whom the season is more about holding back tears that strain to release than it is about joy bursting forth.  How do you find joy in grief?  How do you find joy when you cannot share it with the one you most desire to be with?  The gift of loneliness is their present.  Joy is elusive.

Rather than angels bursting forth in joyful song, the fields seem a little quiet this year.  It gets to you; the lack of joy.  It gets to me anyway.  So, I went searching for joy the other day in the most obvious of places: the internet.

My first search on the internet for joy landed me on a page with the “best Christmas jokes of all time.”  Here are some of the best, most joy inducing Christmas jokes on the internet right now:

What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? It’s Christmas, Eve!

I know, I know, you can just feel the joy surging within as I speak.

What's green, covered in tinsel, and goes ribbit, ribbit? A Mistle-toad.

I know, I know, you are thinking, “Stop now Pastor Jira or my body will just burst open with Christmas joy!”

Then I stumbled on this one:

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.

"In honor of this holy season," Saint Peter said, "You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven."

The first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. "It represents a candle," he said. "You may pass through" Saint Peter said.
 
The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, "They're bells." Saint Peter said, "You may pass through."
 
The third man started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's glasses.
 
St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, "And just what do those symbolize?"
 
The man replied, "They're Carol's."

Needless to say, the jokes just were not doing it for me.  They fell a little short of bringing great joy.  But, the angel said:

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” (Luke 2:11-12).

The angel’s words reminded me of those videos that you see where parents are filled immediately with joy, tears flowing down the lines of their smiles, as they hold their baby for the first time after giving birth.  There is a very palpable joy that happens when a baby first arrives into your life.

And, that sent me down the path of looking up other videos where people are captured by pure joy.  I watched videos of army parents coming home from deployment, entering into their child’s classroom, and the child jumping out of their seat and up into the arms of their parent immediately when they see their parent standing inside the classroom door.  It is pure joy.

And, I watched videos where foster children are given an envelope for Christmas.  And, as they open the envelope and pull out the adoption decree, the tears immediately begin to flow with joy as they realize that they are a part of a family forever.

I even watched a video where a tiger just goes wild with what appears to be tiger joy when the man who rescued and brought the tiger to health reunites with the big cat years later.  The tiger jumps up and embraces the guy in a tiger sort of embrace.  It is pure joy at the arrival of the one the tiger loves.

And, that got me to thinking that maybe joy is not something that can be manufactured.  Maybe, joy is not something that you or I can just conjure up when we are feeling a little down.  Maybe, joy is a gift that can only be given by another.  Maybe, joy is what happens when someone special enters into your life.  Maybe, joy is what happens when love intentionally enters into your life and into your world.  After-all, all of the videos of overwhelming joy had one thing in common: they all included the arrival of someone who is loved.  The baby arrives; the parent returns; the foster child is brought into the family; and the one who cared returned.

“I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people” said the angel.  “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” (Luke 2:11-12).

When God chooses to no longer be distant, and chooses to come down and enter our world in order to be with us, to walk with us, to talk with us, to die for us, and to save us, that is a message of great joy.

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary and let her know that she had been chosen by God to bring the Messiah into the world, when she learned that God was coming to her, that was a message of arrival.  That is a message of great joy!

When the angel came to the forgotten and homeless shepherds in the fields, and told them to go see the savior of the world, that was a message of arrival.  That is a message of great joy!

And, when the shepherds returned from Bethlehem, after seeing the arrival of the Messiah, like a child whose military parent has just come home or a parent who holds their child for the first time, they are filled with a great joy and they tell everyone about the arrival of God’s Messiah.  They are filled with a message of great joy because Jesus, Emmanuel, which means “God is with us,” that one had arrived!

And, maybe this is where we will find some joy tonight.  Jesus has arrived into our lives.  Jesus arrives in your life.  Jesus is overjoyed to draw close to you, yes even you.  The one who chose a young teen from a backwards town, and the one who chose some homeless guys out in a field is overjoyed to draw near to you as well.  Your Lord has arrived.  Your Lord has come to enter into your life again.  God, who once seemed distant, returns home to you in Jesus.  And, when God arrives, great joy comes along.

I pray that you get the gift of that joy tonight.  I pray that Jesus’ Spirit encounters you tonight in a way that brings you the gift of joy that only God can provide.  I pray that God’s Spirit of joy finds a place in your heart, even if it is a broken heart.  May Jesus’ joy enter into the cracks of your broken heart and make it whole once again.  May Christ’s Spirit take up a home in you; filling you with divine love, divine grace, and, of course, divine joy!

Reflection on Luke 1:26-38

The poet, Jan Richardson in her poem “Gabriel’s Annunciation,” captures for us the brief moment of hesitation that washes over the angel, Gabriel before he comes through the door and disturbs Mary’s life forever. 

For a moment

I hesitated
on the threshold.
For the space
of a breath
I paused,
unwilling to disturb
her last ordinary moment,
knowing that the next step
would cleave her life:
that this day
would slice her story
in two,
dividing all the days before
from all the ones
to come.

In the poem the poet captures that beautiful and awful moment before Gabriel announces that Mary will conceive and bear a son, to be named Jesus.  The moment is beautiful because this teenage girl from a nowhere town is chosen to carry the savior in her arms and bring him to the world.  It is awful because her life will be forever changed as she learns what saving the world means: insults hurled at her child, watching anguish wash across his face, and aches of helplessness well up in her heart as her baby suffers right before her eyes on a cross.

You can understand Gabriel’s hesitation to make his announcement as imagined in the poem.  How does she take a step forward into that future?  How do any of us take a step forward when the future looks impossible?

So, we can forgive Mary when she is fearful and perplexed by Gabriel’s message.  We can understand Mary when she is baffled and overwhelmed by the message that Jesus will be great, the Son of the Most High, and that his kingdom there will have no end. 

“How can this be, since I am a virgin?” she asks, still unable to grasp the wonderful and awful future laid out before her (Luke 1:34).

How does she take a step forward into that future?  How do any of us take a step forward when the future looms uncertain, devastating, and impossible?

The teen sat in the waiting room of the hospital staring at the door of the Intensive Care Unit.  She could not will herself to stand up and go through the door.  How could she stare at the destroyed face of the father whose face she traced with her fingers since a baby?  How could she even think about the life of hardship that they would now face after the accident?  She felt utterly alone as she stared at the door, unable to even try to stare him in the eye and face their uncertain future.

She was like Mary, staring at an uncertain future, full of questions.  At the same time, she was not like Mary.  Mary said, “Yes.”  Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” as she stared at her doorway to the future.  The teen stared at the door of the ICU, unable to move.

How did Mary do that?  How did Mary take that first step into a future full of both wonder and terror?  Maybe, she was simply a strong, strong girl.  Maybe, she had some sort of mental fortitude that most of us lack.  Or, maybe the Bible says that God gave her a gift. 

A close look at the text will reveal that this gift from God is not some super-human ability to be strong and make it through.  A close look at the text shows that she was given a much more ordinary gift.

Immediately before Mary brings herself to say “yes” to God’s future, Gabriel announces this gift from God, “And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:36-37).

Mary will not undertake her first pregnancy alone.  The Lord does not allow Mary to face this wonderful and awful future alone.  God has given the gift of Elizabeth; the gift of someone else with whom she can walk, as they both enter into the impossible ways of the Lord.  This is the way God works.

In the beginning of time God looked at the first human and said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner” (Genesis 2:18).  So, God created him a partner so that he would not have to step into the future alone.  This is the way God works.

When Jesus sent out the Apostles to do wonders and deeds in his name, the Bible says, “the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town” (Luke 10:1).  Jesus sent them out in twos.  God gave them each the gift of someone else as they faced their futures.  This is the way God works.

And as Jesus hung on the cross, looking at the one who said “yes” to him, his Mother, the Bible says that Jesus said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” referring to the beloved disciple.  Then the Bible says that he said to the disciple, “’Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home” (John 19:26-27).  Once again, God gave the gift of someone else.  This is the way God works.

I like how the New Living Translation of the Bible translates 1 Corinthians 12:7 for us: “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”  We are made for each other.  It is not good that we be alone.  We are gifts from God to one another so that we do not need to face our futures alone.  This is the way God works.

Of course, the temptation is to “go it alone.”  The temptation is to not want to bother others.  The temptation is to be strong and go it alone, even though God never designed us that way.

Once while picking up fallen branches on our property, Isaac, who was very little at the time, decided that he was going to move this huge branch that had fallen across one of our trails all by himself.  “I can do it Daddy!” he exclaimed when I reached down to help.  So, he grabbed the branch that was ten times his size, bent his little knees, and tried unsuccessfully to pull the thing up into the air.

“If you need help, I am here,” I reiterated.

“I can do it!” he retorted.

He tried again and failed again.  He grabbed a small stick and started smacking the tree and cussing it out with the toddler version of cuss words.  “You stupid tree!”

“You do not have to do this alone,” I said to Isaac.  “We can move it together.”  And, so we did.

“You do not have to do this alone, we can do it together” the teen heard as she sat staring at the door leading into the ICU.  It was her friend from school.  Somehow, the friend knew that she had to be there for the teen.  Somehow, the friend knew that the teen would not be able to do it alone.  Somehow God had created for the teen a partner for just this moment.

“Give me your hand,” she said to the teen.  And, together, the two walked through the ICU doors, into an impossible future which suddenly became more possible with God’s gift of one another.

That is how God works.  Since the beginning of time we were given the gift of one another.  And, you are no different.  Like Mary, stepping into your future is not as impossible when given the gift of someone else.  God gives us the gift of one another, and that is not a truth to be taken lightly or taken for granted.  It is a truth, a gift from God, that stems from the beginning of time with the creation of Adam and Eve, a gift that helped Mary take her first steps into her future, a gift that got the disciples through the death of Jesus until his resurrection and reappearance, and a gift that will get you through your future as well.  God’s Holy Spirit is a gift that draws us together through the good and the bad. 

One last thing: the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is our Paraclete.  You might not know the Greek word Paraclete, but it literally means, “the one called to the side of another” or “the one who walks beside.”  As you stare at the door to your uncertain future, know that God has given the gift of God’s holy presence.  Through the Holy Spirit, we are given the gift of one who walks beside.  Surrounded by Christ’s Spirit and Christ’s people maybe you too can look at your uncertain future and answer, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

Reflection on John 1:6-8, 19-28

I wish. 

I wish that I could enter into your darkness.  I wish that I could heal your pain and shine some light on those nights when you cry deep into the darkness.  I wish that I was the full moon for you; or even better, the light of the day.  I wish that I could shine the divine light that glimmers new life across your skin and across your soul and make everything better. 

I wish.

But, as the Bible says about John the witness, “he himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light,” I am not the light (John 1:8).  I cannot shine on you or make anything new.  No sores will be healed by my touch.  I am not the creator of life.  I am not the giver of new life.  But, I can point to the one who is. 

He is the one who shined on those first wisps of creation and gave them life.  He is the one who can enter into your locked room at night and provide the light of joy on those dark nights. 

Behold, Christ the light!

I wish. 

I wish that I could free you from your own brokenness.  I wish the failures of the past would not hold you back quite so much.  I wish that you would not dwell on them again and again as you stare at the ceiling and fail to go to sleep.  I wish that you could be free of your failures.  I wish that you would feel truly free to be a child of God.  I wish that the sin that trips you up again and again would simply go away.  I wish that I could be a burnt offering for your sin.  I wish that your failures would burn with me and fade into the ether. 

I wish.

But, as John the witness declares, “I am not the Messiah.”  Instead, he points and says, “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me…Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:26, 29).  Like John the witness, I am not the Lamb of God.  I am not the one who can take away your sin.  I am not the one who can free you from the damage you have caused in the past.  I am not the one who can wipe your slate clean.  Though I can declare forgiveness, I am not the one who can grant it in a way that will actually bring you peace.  I do not take away the sins of the world.  I cannot even take away my own sin!  I am just as broken as you.  But, I can point to the one who can. 

He is the one who promises to take away sin and make you new again.  He is the one who promises to be our last Passover lamb, who once and for all time passes over our brokenness and says, “You are forgiven.  Now, stop holding onto it.  You can let it go.”  He is the one who can save us from ourselves. 

Behold, the Lamb of God!

I wish. 

I wish that I could bring the holy to you.  I wish that I could make this Christmas sink into your heart in a way that the past ones could not.  I wish that I could just make it a rule that you believe, and you would just do it.  I wish that you could know the joy of faith, the peace that passes all understanding, and the hope that still inspires the nations to be the best that they can be.  I wish that you could feel rooted deeply into something greater than yourself.  I wish you would be able to sense the spark of divine presence in your very soul.  I wish you had great faith. 

I wish.

But, like John the witness, I am not the one who can give you the Holy Spirit.  John saw the Holy Spirit fall on Jesus like a dove.  And, as John said, he was only sent to baptize with water but there is another “who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33).  I cannot give you the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I cannot strengthen the divine spark in you.  I cannot blow oxygen on it and make it blaze gloriously within your soul, burning with colors of love and faith.  I cannot make it outshine all the stars, or outshine the holiday projections of snow flakes and bells on the houses, or even outshine the huge, lit up, air filled Santas and Frosties.  I cannot do any of that.  I cannot fill you with the Holy Spirit.  But, I can point to the one who can. 

He is the one who created that divine spark in your soul in the first place.  He is the one who can blow on it, fanning the flames of divine, holy love.  He is the one who can fill you with the joy, the peace, and the hope of the faithful.  He is the one who can create great faith where there once was very little. 

Behold, the Son of God who baptizes with the Holy Spirit!

After-all, none of us are the savior of the world, nor are we even saviors our own lives.  None of us are self-made successes.  None of us created the greatness of our lives out of the chaos at the beginning of time.  None of us. 

And, if we think that we are great because of our own efforts…if we think that we are basically wonderful, sinless people who need no one to save us, then as 1 John 1:8 declares: “we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 

The truth is: the best any of us can do is point to the one who can save.

Like the Christmas trees, the best we can do is point up to the light of the world. 

Like the shepherds, the best we can do is point our bodies toward the light of the Christ child and walk in that direction. 

Like the wise men, the best we can do is follow the light and then point our faces to the ground, humbly offering the gifts that we bear to the light of the world. 

Like John the witness, the best we can do is point to Jesus Christ, the light of the world. 

In all we do and say, we can point to the one who died for the world, and who also raises the world to new life; Jesus Christ. 

So, have faith, not in me, but in Jesus.  Have trust, not in me, but in Jesus.  Have hope, not in me, but in Jesus. 

My own body will fail and disappoint.  My own body can love you, but in an imperfect and faltering way.  My own body cannot give you new life.  My own body can only point to the one who can, the light of the world, Jesus Christ.  But, that is more than enough.  Being one of those who points others toward Jesus is more than enough.

The fact that I can only point to the light of the world means one thing though; you may have to wait.  I cannot make anything happen in your life right now.  I cannot make your pain go away right now.  I cannot make your guilt evaporate this instant.  I cannot make joy fill your heart this holiday season.  That is up to God and God’s timing. 

So, you may need to wait. 

But, that is what this season of Advent before Christmas is all about is it not?  It is about waiting, with hope.  It is about waiting with faith.  It is a season of trust.  But, we do not trust in ourselves or our neighbors.  Rather, we trust in the Lord. 

Wait for the Lord, be strong, have faith.  Our Lord is near.

Reflection on Mark 1:1-8

 

Have you ever considered that you are a part of God’s story?  Seriously, have you ever sat down and considered that all that Jesus Christ is up to in the world is not simply ancient history contained in a musty old book, but rather that everything Jesus is up to is a story that continues to this day through you.  The devoted preacher who wrote the gospel of Mark thought so anyway.  He titled his gospel simply: “The Beginning.” 

The first words of Mark’s story about Jesus’ life and ministry are not simply another form of “once upon a time,” but rather, they are the title of the whole book.  We call it the book of Mark, but it really should be labeled “The Beginning.”  

Is that not fascinating?  Mark is saying that you are about to hear the story about the very beginning of Jesus’ eternal ministry.  He gives no indication that he is going to talk about the end.

And, that clears up the mystery of the last words in the gospel of Mark where the story ends with the women running from the tomb of Jesus Christ in “fear.”  That is the end?  It just leaves you hanging right there with the women’s fear.  What happens next?  Well, Mark does not tell us.  It just stops, waiting for more to be said and written.

The end of the gospel of Mark is like getting out the popcorn, oil, salt, and pan; popping the popcorn in the pan until the lid lifts, and simply leaving it there…no pouring into the bowl, no salting, and no eating.

It is almost as if Mark wants you to know that the end of his gospel is not the end of the story.  The story of Jesus Christ has sequels; one of which even includes you.

That puts everything into perspective a little bit, does it not?  You see, it is one thing to go to church on Sundays, be kind to our neighbors, and to allow God to be a part of our story from time to time, but it is quite another thing for us to be a part of God’s story. 

Have you ever thought that years from now, believers could be cracking open their Bibles and reading about the “Further Acts of the Apostles” and reading about you?  It is possible, because you are a part of Jesus’ continuing story!

That makes life infinitely more interesting.  At a crossroads in her life a woman once asked me, “Why did I lose my really great career in the legal field?” as she sat in the middle of the floor of her new home daycare with several children lovingly hanging off of her shoulders.  Her question was genuine, so I did not answer, but looking at how those children loved and trusted her, I was pretty sure that I knew why.  The story she was trying to write was all done, but Jesus’ story was continuing on.  She was a part of a bigger, unfolding story.

There are so many times in life where the story we are trying to write seems to hit some sort of writer’s block.  We somehow cannot make the story end the way we wanted it to end.  But, do not despair, because it is not your story to write.  Jesus is still writing his story through the power of the Holy Spirit and that story contains you. 

And, I am convinced that there is much, much more of Jesus’ story to be written!  Now, understand that I have no idea how that story going to play out.  I am not the writer of the story, Jesus is.

And along those lines, I would like to simply say that since this is Jesus’ story, and not mine, I am very cautious about making any predictions about the chapter of the story in which we currently live.  People still talk about the end being near, but just as we have heard the past two Sundays, not even Jesus knows when the end of the story will be written.  So, maybe, before we claim that our current worldly mess must be the end of the story, maybe we should consider the possibility that it is, instead, a new sequel currently being written by our Lord.

After-all, the world has fallen apart before!  The world of the ancient Jews fell apart in a massive way when God allowed the Babylonians to come and destroy their cities and destroy their faith.  People were ripped from the own God-given land, hauled off to foreign nations, and it seemed like the end. 

But not so fast, Isaiah 40 tells God’s people to look out to the horizon.  And, if they were to do that, they would see that God is on the way.  “See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”

In other words, the people were at the start of a new story, and the Lord, their shepherd, was on his way. 

And, the shepherd of the people did come.  John the Baptist pointed right at the shepherd and called out, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 

John was pointing to Jesus Christ.  He is the one with the power to heal the destruction of the past.  Jesus will be the people’s shepherd. 

Threats of destruction do not always mean the end of the story.  To the contrary, the destruction of the Jew’s homeland was just the “beginning” (there’s that word again: beginning) of a new chapter in God’s story: a story that would eventually lead to Jesus Christ.  Come to think of it, when you have the power to rise from the dead, maybe there is no end to the story? 

I think that the writer of Mark understood this.  He writes no proper ending to Jesus’ story because when even death does not even bring the final chapter to a close…what ending could you possibly write? 

Jesus is the end.  The Bible teaches us that he is the Alpha and the Omega…the beginning and the end.  And, since life and love are a part of Jesus’ very existence, pumping through his veins, then I imagine that the end of his story probably looks a lot more like life and love than it does sin and death.

In fact, I am here to tell you today, O people of God, that no matter what junk is filling up your story right now; no matter what hardship is threatening to tear your life apart; no matter what confusion has been brought into your life, none of it is the end of your story.  Life and love is the end of your story.  Resurrection from hardship and death is the end of your story.  Jesus is the end of your story. 

Look out to the horizon, O people of God.  Jesus is on the way. As Isaiah says, “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…”  In other words, clear out anything that is in the Lord’s way!  Jesus is on the way.  A new chapter in his book is about to start.

And, that brings me to the concerns that John the Baptist really wants us to talk about.  There is likely stuff in the middle of your road, making it hard for you to see Jesus coming on the horizon. 

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

Are there sins or vices or pleasures or addictions blocking the path and keeping you from seeing Jesus clearly?  Are there other, more important concerns like jobs or perceived obligations or political expectations getting in the way of your vision of the savior?  Or, perhaps, you are one of those people who see Jesus clearly, but the Jesus you see is not the type of person you expected.  Do you have images of God that need to be cleared out of the way so that you can finally see the one, true God on the horizon?

John the Baptist has an answer for all that blocks you from seeing Jesus.  Allow yourself to be dunked under the water.  “Be baptized!  Repent of your sins!” John the Baptist shouts!  He truly hopes that all that sin, all of those things that turn you from God, might be washed away for good.

How did we get to this point anyway?  How did our vision get blocked?  What happened to cause us to forget that we are a part of Jesus’ story? 

Do we sometimes forget that our lives matter to God?  Do we forget that we have been baptized, not just with water, but with God’s very presence through the Holy Spirit?  Do we forget that today’s problems and struggles are not the end of the story? 

You are a people of the one true story.  You are a people of the resurrection story.  And, you are a people who look for Jesus on the horizon and wait for Jesus to come.  

You are the people of God who wait patiently to see where Jesus will lead; waiting to see how the story will play out; and waiting to take the next step in life and love with your savior. 

Jesus is your shepherd after-all; the one who will lead you into the next chapter of his story.  So, make the path straight, wait patiently, and excitedly look for the Lord to arrive.