Holy God, your words to the Hebrew people came on the tablets of stone with Moses. More words came from the prophets. We praise you, God, that in the person of Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate now, you have come to us again, to speak your words of love, of life and of forgiveness. Our light here in the sanctuary, and the lights in our homes reflect the light of that first Christmas star. These lights reflect the light that Jesus brings to all.

I pray that each of you may find hope, peace, joy, and love, this season, and always. Whenever, where ever you find them, share them as quickly as you can. Share them with your household and with those you are missing. If no one is around, share them with the sacred universe. Use methods old and new to pass them along. And if you can’t seem to find those positive feelings, check in with someone from our church family. We will save you some hope, peace, joy and love. It is available whenever you need it, for as long as you need it. Let us bring the light of this room out into the dark of evening. May we keep this light in our hearts all year long. Amen.

from Matt. 4: 12-25 and I Cor. 1: 10-18
January 26, 2020

“Now their feelings come so fast there is no time to sort them out. They had watched him die, and now dazzling men said he has risen!”

Acts 10:34-43

34 Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Luke 24:1-12

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

 Spoken words for “New Life” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. The scripture words for today seem to be in the wrong order. The gospel words which we traditionally read second, should really have been first. Some of the women who had watched Jesus die now go to where he is buried. Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James were going to finish some of the burial rituals on his body. They get to the tomb. The stone across the entrance has been moved. Hmmm. It is a heavy stone. What’s going on? Who moved it? Why would they do that? The women did not run to fetch the men, the disciples of Jesus. They went into the tomb. There was no body. Luke says they were perplexed. More whys. Then they see two men in dazzling white who say, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Now their feelings come so fast there is no time to sort them out. Grief at his arrest, trial and death. Maybe anger at those responsible for it. Shock and surprise at seeing the stone moved. Confusion when they see no body in the tomb. Fear at seeing the men who were something else. Amazement and joy at hearing that Jesus is living. Jesus has risen. Yet they had watched him die. They stayed the whole time. The dazzling men remind them that Jesus said he would be crucified and rise on the third day. The women don’t question the messengers. When they tell the now eleven disciples that Jesus is risen, they are not believed. Peter went to look for himself, and peeked in to the empty tomb, seeing the burial cloths lying there. He was amazed. Then he went home.

 Things don’t seem to change for Peter right away. He does not share what he saw, what he thought or felt about it, according to Luke. The women did share their news right away. They acted on what they had seen and heard at the tomb. Some of us share news right away. Some of us go home, and then later act on what has affected us.

 The first words we heard, from the Acts of the Apostles, also by Luke, are a kind of explanation of what the empty tomb meant. Peter testifies that the disciples knew Jesus was special. By the time the words of Peter were written, they believed that he was sent from God, filled with God’s Holy Spirit to do good and to forgive sins. They believed that God raised him from the dead. Peter said that this good news is for all nations, not only those of Israel, whom Jesus first preached to. The resurrection is for us, too.

 I think it is easier to preach about resurrection when we see new life all around us. Some of the trees look different this week. There is the red and green of new buds on them. Our grass is starting to come back. What would Easter look like if it was fall? If we were in Tasmania, it would be fall, and not spring. Easter there is April 21, just as it is here. Would the message of resurrection be as easy to understand when trees are losing leaves instead of gaining them?

 It is, sadly, almost easier for me to speak about resurrection when we have recently lost a loved one. Our hope in the resurrection may ease the grief and loss we feel. If the resurrection of Jesus is only about life after death, what does that mean for us now, while we are living? That is where our spring images help, I think. The dark winters may be tough for us to take. I know we all revel in the sun and warmth while it is here. There is a rush to garden, walk, boat, fish, hike, play golf and get outdoor chores done when winter is over. I rush outside to sit and read, even if it is for sermon research. There is something about sitting in the warmer air that feels better to me than sitting inside. We should, I think, also revel in our community of people as much as we do the warmer weather. It is easier for us to get out and see one another. Those moments we cherish in nature and with others, can be saved up and enjoyed later, when it is winter. I hope we all find some joy in every day. To have no joy at all is to be too close to death, I think. Moments we cherish are new life, just as much as the new leaves and eventual flowers are new life. They don’t always need to be memories. We can cherish the moment we are in now.

There is new life in us, too. We are not the same as we were last Easter. There are changes, great and small, happy and sad, in all of us. What new ideas did we have? Did we meet new people or re-connect with people we missed? Did we try new foods? Read new books or see something new on TV? New things are being introduced at a very fast pace, and we might just want to stay with those not so new things we are comfortable with. Sometimes we have to do new things, because the old things are not possible any more.

 I think we have new life when we care for someone else’s life, when we help, listen or serve them. And when we pray for others. That is what Jesus meant by his commandment that we love one another, a commandment he spoke to his disciples at his last supper on Maundy Thursday. He cared so much for them and for us. He endured the pain of the cross, bringing us an offer of forgiveness and new life. May we respond to that offer with service and forgiveness of others.

Copyright © Rev KellyAnn Donahue

My favorite moment was when one of our elder parishioners sang “Silent Night” with the children in our caroling group. He knew the words.

 

 

 

 

2 Samuel 7.1-11, 16

1 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

 

Luke 1.26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

 

Spoken words for “What made this Advent special?” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Here we are on the fourth Sunday of Advent. Our first reading from the second book of Samuel relays a conversation God was having with the prophet Nathan. He was prophet to King David. The king was thinking of building a house for the ark of God. Things were settled and peaceful for David and the Israelites at this time. He wonders about God’s presence being in the ark, which was in a tent, while David was now in a house of cedar wood. David discussed this with his prophet Nathan, who at first said, yes, go ahead with your plans. Then God spoke to Nathan that night. God said he had been with David when he was a shepherd, and took him from shepherd to king. He will make a house of David and his descendants. In verse 16 God said, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.” This established kingdom, this throne, is more important than a physical house for God.

 

It is this same throne that the angel Gabriel spoke of when he appeared to Mary, as told by Luke in our second reading. The promise God made to David was fulfilled through Mary. We hear Gabriel in verses 31 through 33, “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said yes to this astounding invitation. She said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

 

And Mary settled in to wait for the baby. She visited her cousin Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant with John the Baptist, when the angel visited Mary. Elizabeth’s pregnancy came about with God’s help; she was considered too old to have children. The pregnancies of Mary and Elizabeth were as miraculous as the one of Sarah, the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. After visiting Elizabeth, Mary and her husband-to-be, Joseph, journey to Bethlehem, as they wait for Jesus to be born. Mary started alone on that journey to be the mother of Jesus. The angel came and left. Who stayed? Joseph, the man who became her husband, who somehow believed in what the angel said about Mary’s baby.

 

For Mary the waiting was just getting started. For us, it is nearly over as we celebrate Christmas later today. This year, the last Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve are on the same day. We know the birth story of Mary’s baby, Jesus, and how it ends. Yet the church tells a story of waiting for the four weeks before Christmas. We wait in joyful hope for Jesus to return. We wait for peace. And on this last Sunday of Advent, with a candle for love, we wait a little bit more. In a few hours we will celebrate the birth of Jesus with lessons of scripture, carols we know and love, and with candles that transform our church and light our faces.

 

And we wait for other celebrations, with presents in stockings and under a tree. We wait for gatherings and meals with family and friends. This year the weather canceled some of our celebrations, and may cancel a few more tomorrow. We wait to add something to our treasure chest of Christmas stories and memories. We wait for the memories of Christmas past, some happy, some sad. And we wait for a renewed spirit, a spirit that keeps us company during any dark days that may come.

 

What made this Advent season special? I am asking about things that happened to you, or that you observed in this waiting season. My favorite moment was when one of our elder parishioners sang “Silent Night” with the children in our caroling group. He knew the words. He had such a clear voice. That hymn brought to his door gave him such joy. He thanked me for bringing the carolers by in the daytime, when I visited him this week.

 

This year our church participated in an extra Advent service on the evening of December 3, at the Christ Community Alliance church in Orange. We were there with the Topsham and Waits River churches. There was a fiddle used for the carols, and I loved it. Not many people where there, but the ones who attended were spirit-filled and enthusiastic.

 

I liked the Nativity Set Show and Tell we had on the Second Sunday of Advent. It is a joy to hear people speak about things are special to them. We heard from five people, who told us about their Nativity Sets. That is why we have four Nativity Sets up in our church this year. I think we can keep up them until January 7^th, which is when we will celebrate Epiphany, the day the Wise Men visited Jesus.

 

So what made this Advent special for you? The candles have the same names of hope, peace, joy and love. The possible Scripture readings run in a three-year cycle. The words from last year did not include this part about Mary and Gabriel. The Pageant story does not change. Yet we may see something different, something that moves us, in spite of knowing the words by heart.

 

What goes in your diary? What will Facebook pull up for you in 3 years about this Advent of 2017? By thinking of what made this Advent special, we are taking a moment to reflect on what has happened, what we have seen, and more importantly, what we have felt. Days go by and the details of each one may be recalled or lost. What is important is to slow down enough to think and feel. If we take this kind of time every week or even every day, we may find that our overall sense of time is happier and more peaceful. Even for just a moment. The more we do this active thinking and feeling, the more the positive moments will pile up, I think. I need to do this, as deadlines for bulletins and sermons approach. If I pause to think and feel, and not just to fret about the sermon not being ready, I am calmer and the words I need do come to me. That feeling of calm, that feeling of peace, is also joyful, and hopeful. When I feel peaceful, joyful and hopeful, I am more likely to respond to the needs of others with love. I am more likely to respond with kindness and generosity. That sounds a lot like what we call the Christmas Spirit. May this season of Advent be remembered with some peace, joy, hope and love. And may all those good things be yours throughout the New Year.

Copyright © Rev KellyAnn Donahue

 

 

I think there is a kind of peace in repentance and forgiveness. There is peace in learning to get along with others. No one is bothering you, and you are not bothering anyone else.

 

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 40.1-11

1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 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. 5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. 9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 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.

 

Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “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. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

 

Spoken words for “Who Brings Peace?” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. The words in our first reading are from Deutero-Isaiah or Second Isaiah, a person writing from the Persian city of Babylon. He was one of the people taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 BCE. He wrote predicting that their punishment in Babylon is ended. God has promised them that they will get to go home. That predicted event did happen. They did return to Zion, to Jerusalem, 48 years later. The city was a wreck. The people persevered, and the Temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt in 520 BCE. Isaiah’s words told the people that God had not forgotten them. God would keep the promises made to Moses and Abraham. The gospel writer Mark used Isaiah’s words to point to John the Baptist, who pointed to Jesus as fulfilling those same promises.

 

Isaiah spoke of a herald, one who has glad tidings of the Lord God coming with might, and coming as a shepherd. Benjamin D. Sommer said, “Normally, a herald would inform a city that an enemy army was arriving, but here God arrives as a gentle shepherd, not to destroy but to protect.” I wondered about all the times we see Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” and of that way of describing him. It is a peaceful image, but I am not sure how relevant or engaging it is to us now. Then I came across this passage from Antoine De Saint Exupéry, who wrote the children’s book, “The Little Prince”. In his book “Wind, Sand and Stars”, Antoine was describing a shepherd named Bark from Morocco. “And Bark, armed with an olive-wood scepter, governed their exodus. He and no other held sway over the nation of ewes, restrained the liveliest because of the lambkins about to be born, stirred up the laggards, strode forward in a universe of confidence and obedience. Nobody but him could say where lay the Promised Land towards which he led his flock. He alone could read his way in the stars, for the science he possessed was not shared by the sheep. Only he, in his wisdom, decided when they should take their rest, when they should drink at the springs. And at night when they slept, Bark, physician and prophet and king, standing in wool to his knees and swollen with tenderness for so much feeble ignorance, would pray for his people.” Now I get it. The coming one will be a shepherd and gatherer of people. The shepherd is the difference between life and death; members of the flock will not live long without the shepherd. This seems contrary to our ideas of independence and of taking care of ourselves. Some of us like living alone. Yet when we are at our most vulnerable, when we mourn for those we lost, when we need comfort, we read Psalm 23 and speak of the Lord as my shepherd.

 

Who brought this type of comfort to the exiles of Jerusalem? Who brought them peace? Isaiah brought it with his words. Cyrus brought it in reality when he conquered the Babylonians who were holding the exiles. He decreed that they could safely return to Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah. They returned to worship of God, too. They repented of the sin of worshiping the gods of Babylon.

 

About 540 years after the return to Jerusalem, the Romans were in charge of Jerusalem, with a series of governors and kings in local control. One of these kings was Herod. John the Baptist started speaking of the coming of the Messiah, and of a need to repent and turn back to God. The Gospel writer Mark wrote about 30 years after the death of Jesus, using the words of Isaiah to show that John was a prophet just as Isaiah was. Mark used Isaiah’s words to point to John the Baptist, who then pointed to Jesus as fulfilling the same promises God made throughout the scriptures. People were ready to be free of the occupation by Rome, and free of the requirement to worship the Roman gods. That is the kind of peace they were looking for. That is the kind of peace they thought the Messiah would bring; a peace brought by a conquering king.

 

I think there is a kind of peace in repentance and forgiveness. There is peace in learning to get along with others. No one is bothering you, and you are not bothering anyone else. The peace allows you time to think, because you are not fleeing or fighting. Jesus was preaching a kingdom of care, one that we have to produce with our own work. He can point to it, but it is our hands that will create it.

 

We have to bring peace where ever we can, to family gatherings, to dealings with neighbors and in our on line posts. We bring peace when we contribute or donate or help others in any way. We bring peace when we visit or care and when we add our prayers together. May we strive for peace instead of striving against each other.

 

Copyright © Rev KellyAnn Donahue

Maybe Jesus did not speak of time the way we humans perceive it.

Isaiah 64:1-9

64 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence—2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! 3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 4 From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. 5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. 8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.

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. 35 Therefore, 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.”

Spoken words for “Waiting in Joyful Hope” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue

 

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our Redeemer. The disciples and other early Christians were waiting for Jesus to come back, waiting for the kingdom of God to start. They thought it was going to be a short time until Jesus returned to earth. Imagine if you had been present to hear Jesus say the words of verse 30 in today’s Gospel reading, “Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place”. Those “all these things” sounded like big things, especially when Jesus said “the stars will be falling from heaven, the powers in the heavens will be shaken and heaven and earth will pass away”. You and his other followers must have continually asked yourselves, “Is it now? Is he coming now?” I can imagine them commenting on solar or lunar eclipses or natural disasters, wondering if they were the signs Jesus spoke of. I think some of them asked these questions the same way when we were younger we asked “are we there yet? Or “is it Christmas yet?” These questions are asked with hope, asked in anticipation of something that is not quite now, but not too far off.

 

But Jesus did not return for that generation, not in their time. The big thing they hoped for did not happen. Some people must have lost faith, stopped telling the stories, and left the Christian communities. Maybe Jesus did not speak of time the way we humans perceive it. Jesus might not have meant generation in terms of human generations, or perhaps the translations or retellings of the story lost the original word. Or maybe Jesus wanted us to think we had just a short time to learn the lessons he had to teach, and that we had to act on them as if he was coming back any minute now. If we thought we had thousands of years before his return, if we did not think the signs were meant to be seen by us, maybe we would fall away from his teachings.

 

We know people in our own time have said that the kingdom of God is coming on a particular date. I have seen posters on telephone poles with a specific date posted for the return of Jesus. Some people read the Book of Revelation and calculate a date or say that certain historical events are the dark events in that book of the Bible. And some people have quit their jobs and sold their homes, expecting that they would be taken up to heaven by Jesus on a certain day. I do not name these examples to belittle or judge those who held them or hold them now. Do I think we are close to the coming of Jesus with power and glory? I don’t know, and won’t know until it happens, if it happens in my time.

It is easier to wait and hope for small things. Things with a date on a calendar. Things not too far off. The small things are more immediate. We can focus on and name many small tasks to be done before Christmas Day: errands, preparations, and rituals that come in a certain order. We focus on the four Sundays of Advent, our Christmas Pageant, decorating the church and our homes, preparing food for Christmas parties, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and attending our Christmas Eve Worship Service. We wait with varying levels of patience and anticipation for these small things. We do wait for modern big things; for governments to pass legislation, the new i-phone, diseases to be cured, justice for all and peace in our time.

How do we manage the feelings that come, when those things we waited for do not turn out as we had hoped? We don’t always deal well with disappointment. It can be difficult to be patient, loving and kind when facing any setbacks. Do we then lower our expectations? Do we perhaps hope for the best and expect the worse? I know I am not always an optimist.

And yet hope does survive. There is a phrase about hope that I recall from the Roman Catholic Mass. “We wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” It was I line I heard every Sunday. It connects the Roman Catholic end of “the Lord’s Prayer” to the kingdom, power and glory of the protestant ending. The Roman Catholics end the prayer with the words “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The connecting words in the Mass said by the priest are “deliver us Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Then the congregation says “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.” The hope of Advent reminds me of those words, “wait in joyful hope”. Not anxious hope, not nervous hope, not faint hope.

As we read Jesus’ words today, I do see hope in the promise that his words will not pass away, even as the heavens and the earth will. Maybe that means that there will be people to hear the words, act on them, and pass them to the next generation. The words that teach us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. The words that ask us to share what we have. Jesus described the kingdom of God, and whenever we serve others, I think we are creating that kingdom here on earth now. We can prepare ourselves for the return of Jesus by serving others, not only on by working on our individual righteousness. I think we need to temper the watching for signs with watching out for others. I seek to balance the fear I might have about world events and natural disasters with my actions of care for God’s creation and all of us in it.

It is easy to wait for small things, like our Christmas celebrations, and harder to wait for big things like the next coming of Jesus, and the kingdom of God. May our kind and loving actions in small things help us to create hearts that are not weighed down. May we have the strength we need to wait in joyful hope for the things that God has promised us.

 

© Rev KellyAnn Donahue

 

May we all find things to be thankful for, and may our thankfulness last long after our meals are over.

 

Psalm 90

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. 7 For we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. 9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; our years come to an end like a sigh. 10 The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. 12 So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. 13 Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!

1Thessalonians 5:1-11

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

 

Spoken words for “A Message for Thanksgiving” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue

 

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. I took down my Halloween pumpkin man this week. I put my carved pumpkins out to compost. It seemed the right time to do it. The pumpkins were getting mushy and some snow was predicted. The Indian corn on my front door can stay until it is time for the evergreen Christmas wreath. That colorful corn is just for decoration. I can’t or eat it, pop it or leave it for the birds. It has no practical use.

 

The Indian corn is colorful in a season with less color. My leaves are all down. The grass is dying. The snow has not stuck around. I smile when I see the corn on my door, as I head into the house and to the work that awaits me. I need that smile as I listen to the news, adding another event to our prayer list. I need that smile as I notice the shorter days. I need that smile as I add another person to our prayer list. Sometimes trouble is all I see, is all I feel. Maybe you feel that way, too. The writer of our Psalm certainly felt that way. In verse ten we heard, “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.”

 

Time and events push on us, on our ability to smile and feel joy. And if the events are big ones, like earthquakes, shootings or the loss of a loved one, we may feel more than pushed, we may feel almost crushed. In the apostle Paul’s time, the church folk at Thessalonica were feeling crushed by thoughts of the future. There was talk of the Day of the Lord, in which Jesus would return to them. Some of his words, and words of the prophets, spoke of bringing in the Kingdom of God with fire and destruction, and of woe to those left behind. Paul wanted to change their focus. He wanted them to focus on being ready for it, not on exactly when it might happen. He wanted them to live as Jesus taught. Paul said to them, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” He used those words “faith, love and hope” as if they could defend against foes, as if they were physical armor to protect us. And so they can be, as an outlook or attitude we use to keep going in the face of troubles, or discord, or whatever is thrown at us. Leander Keck said “A life of faith, hope and love…will be the best preparation for a future that cannot be known in advance.”

 

We do not know how much time we have in this life. Can we value the days we have, even the ones we label bad days? I think that is what is meant by verse 12 of Psalm 90, “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.” My Jewish Study Bible said, “to count our days rightly”. Easier said than done. Easier on some days than on others.

 

That is what Thanksgiving Day is, a day to pause and give thanks even if we can’t find something to be thankful for. It is a day to count rightly. It is a day we count our blessings. Verse fifteen of the Psalm said, “Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.” Some of our nation’s first Thanksgiving days were not just for counting blessings; they were to thank God for deliverance from religious persecution, harsh winters, and from the spread of war. We know of the Thanksgiving celebrated in Plymouth MA in 1621. There was one in Virginia in 1607. I had not heard about early Thanksgivings in Texas and Florida. Wikipedia says, “Other claims include an earlier religious service by Spanish explorers in Texas at San Elizario in 1598. Robyn Gioia and Michael Gannon of the University of Florida argue that the earliest Thanksgiving service in what is now the United States was celebrated by the Spanish on September 8, 1565, in current Saint Augustine, Florida.” The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by George Washington on November 26, 1789, “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”

 

I was particularly taken by a section of President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863, written by William H. Seward, “And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.” The idea of a national Thanksgiving Day was so important to Sarah Josepha Hale, born in Newport N.H., that she lobbied President Lincoln and others for 17 years to get passed.

 

There are other verses in today’s scripture passages which have thanksgiving themes. Psalm 90 verse 17 said, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!” In this verse I see the work of our hands as the ability to feed ourselves and all others. Meals are a big part of Thanksgiving. And so today we will assemble and deliver thanksgiving food and baked goods to families and individuals. Verse 11 of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians said, “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.” Perhaps we can encourage those we have Thanksgiving Dinner with, in spite of a desire to tear down or criticize them. Perhaps our presence with family and friends will build them up, will put a smile on their faces. I always smile when I see that people are in our pews on Sunday morning. And lastly from our scripture readings, I want to mention verses 9 and 10 from Paul. “For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.” That is the hope that helps me handle the bad news and the bad days. It is a hope we can share, the same way we share our food. I hope everyone has company for thanksgiving, and that no one is alone. May we all find things to be thankful for, and may our thankfulness last long after our meals are over.

 

© Rev KellyAnn Donahue

How are you doing at living into your titles?

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

9 You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. 11 As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, 12 urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 13 We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.

Matthew 23.1-12

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Spoken words for “Living Into a Title” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Paul spent months or more with some of the churches he visited. He did not bring much money with him. He needed the hospitality of the church people at first. In our reading from his letter to the Thessalonians, he reminded them that he worked when he was there. He wanted to earn his keep. He did not want his needs for food and shelter to burden them. Paul was a tentmaker. He preached to them and did physical work, too. Part of his preaching involved encouraging them to lead lives worthy of God, and he seems here to have led by example. He lived into the title “worthy of God” and expected his followers to do so.

 

The scribes and Pharisees, according to Jesus in our next reading, are not living into their titles. Jesus said they know the law and their words should be followed. It was their actions he criticized. He said they were more concerned with being seen about town than they were concerned with following the law. They were not leading by example. In Verse 4 he said, “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.” I think those burdens were some of the laws from the book of Leviticus. Perhaps he meant the Sabbath law of no work to heal or feed a person in need, but one could lead animals to drink on that day. Or maybe he was referring to the fact that the purity laws for priests were applied to all the Jews. Laws relevant to priests, who were handling animals for food and Temple sacrifice, might not be needed for everyone. Jesus could have been talking about the required Temple offerings and taxes. Any of these laws could have been eased or removed by the Jewish authorities. The scribes and Pharisees were the authorities.

 

Jesus seems to object to their use of the title “rabbi”. He referred to the scribes and Pharisees, and then addressed the crowds and his disciples, as he said, “They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.  But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.” He was not praising the scribes and Pharisees; he was insulting them. His followers were told that the greatest, the exalted among them will act as servants. His last line from our text today was “All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” I think Jesus rejected the titles and expected them to do the same.

 

Yet I do have a title. You gave me the title of Pastor. And because you did give me that title, the UCC granted me the title of Reverend. In our scriptures are the words of Moses and the laws of Leviticus. You expect me, your Pastor, to speak about those words and laws. They can be a heavy burden, just like the burdens Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees created. I can use heavy words or lighter ones.

 

How else am I like a Pharisee? There is my robe and my stole. I wove this stole and I like to tell everyone I made every stitch of it. Putting on my robe and stole makes me feel dressed appropriately for the job and title of pastor. It is a professional appearance, in my opinion. It is out of respect for you and for the title. I am starting to sign emails and letters with the words Rev Kelly when doing church business. It is taking me some time to get used to both titles. I feel I earned them, but I do not feel that the titles make me a different person. It can be embarrassing to hear what people think the titles mean, how they think I should behave, or how they think they need to behave around me. Like apologizing if they swear in front of me. There are expectations that come with my titles. Expectations from you, from me and from God, who communicated expectations using Jesus and the prophets.

 

Jesus wanted his disciples, and us, to focus on being humble. I think we have a humble self when we to strive to follow the Ten Commandments, and to follow the Golden Rule. We need God’s help to do this. We do see and judge the actions of others; we look at their actions in light of those rules. A humble self does not regard others with contempt, even when we see their sins. Our humble self admits what wrong we did and does not look at the sins of others as a way to put them below us in our eyes or to think that God puts them down, either. I am not sinless, not more holy, not full of more grace, not higher in God’s eyes than anyone else. My humble self is aware of the need for help and grace from God to avoid sin. I need that grace to live into my titles.

 

How are you doing at living into your titles? Wife, mother, sister, daughter? Does it seem easy and fun all the time? Husband, father, brother, son? Same for you, do you always get it right? Jesus criticized the scribes and Pharisees for knowing the law, speaking about it, and not acting on what they taught. I see that criticism as a lesson for us about living into our titles. Jesus spoke about the law and showed us by example how to follow it, how to live into it. Paul did the same with the Thessalonians. He reminded them in verse 12 that he had been “urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory”.

 

And Paul was not exalting himself, not claiming that all the words he spoke were his alone. He said to that church family, “We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.”

 

It is hard work to live into a title with humility. It is work we can do with each other. We have God’s words of the Ten Commandments and the golden rule. May we hear the words and live the words, with humility, forgiveness and hope.

 

© Rev KellyAnn Donahue

 

I want to honor all of the saints we lost this year, and in other years, too.

 

Psalm 34:1-10 and 22

1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. 9 O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want. 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.  22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Revelation 7:9-17

9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Spoken words for “Our Saints” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue

 

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Today it is time to discuss that word Redeemer that I have been saying every Sunday. That opening sentence is from the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible Psalm 19 verse 14. The author of the Psalm is asking God for help in resisting temptation, and to be forgiven. God is the one who brings the author back from temptation and sin, in the same way one might pay ransom to a kidnapper or to a hacker threatening to keep your computer data. The redeemer is stepping in to help pay or cancel a serious debt that is hard to pay back. The redeemer does this out of grace and lovingkindness. The redeemer is God.

 

In the New Testament, the word redeemer from the Old Testament was applied to Jesus. He said he was sent from God, and he taught about resisting temptation, repentance and forgiveness. By the time the book of Revelation was written, the death of Jesus was seen as a sacrifice, the same way a lamb was to be sacrificed in the Temple. It was a seen as way to pay for breaking the law, a way to pay for sin.

 

In our reading from Revelation, that author John of Patmos had a vision that might be of heaven. He saw God and the Lamb on a throne. The Lamb might represent Jesus as the one sitting next to God. Both redeemers are there; God and Jesus. The people gathered in their washed robes are from all nations. I think that means that everyone has a chance to be there, in that heaven. I think we are all given a choice to lead lives that follow the golden rule and that all of us can be forgiven by God.

 

It is in that sense of inclusiveness and hope that we use this reading on All Saints Day. Which saints am I talking about? Our saints. The protestant church thinks of saints as those who are baptized or confirmed or who in some way acknowledge God and Jesus. The Catholic Church names someone a saint after prayers to them are said to have resulted in a cure. And there are other saints, like the apostles, and martyrs. I have a few books of saints. I am sure they are listed in many places. We can honor those saints today as well as our church folks. I want to honor all of the saints we lost this year, and in other years, too. Some are in our Steeple Lighting list. The list I read during the pastoral prayer was taken from the prayer list in our bulletins.

 

What about those on our list or in our hearts and memories that are not church goers, not believers in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? I honor them, because they were part of our lives, because we care enough about them offer prayers for them. They made us who we are, helped us grow, taught us to care. We may not have liked them every day we knew them. We can love those we don’t always like.

 

Why are we doing this service? To look back at those who have gone. To look at them with respect and to hope they are in God’s care. I would like us to learn to feel a little grief or sadness in this place, and to know that this is a safe and good and right place to feel those feelings. We feel them in small doses, with people we love and trust and share with. We see that it is healthy to feel them. We can get through it together, get through it knowing that others feel as we do, or, if they don’t know exactly how much or how little we loved a saint, we know that they are willing to sit with us while we feel it. We are not grieving alone. Imagine how much I love you, to be willing to share these feelings with you. God loves us all much more than that.

 

Sometimes we do not want to grieve. Sometimes we are afraid that we will never get out of our tears once they start. Look around you. Smile or make a funny face. We are not smiling alone. If you can smile for a second or two, maybe you can stretch that into a few more seconds.

 

We are here to comfort each other as we remember our saints. We comfort each other with words, with hugs, with prayers and with our tears. We don’t have the power to heal grief, but we stand beside you   as you grieve, now and in days to come. All our saints are loved and cherished by God as much as they were loved and cherished by their family and friends, by all of us here. I think God helps us heal, even if we don’t feel it now. Helps us get through the next minute, the next hour, the next day. And one day, we look back on a tough day, the day of a funeral or of All Saints Service, and we feel some healing, some lessening of our pain and grief. That is hope. The looking for a day that is better than this one. A day with more smiles. A day that we feel as much joy as we do in the fondest memories of our saints. May we look forward to the day when we will be with all of our loved ones, and with God.

© Rev KellyAnn Donahue