In Luke’s Gospel, Emmanuel comes into the world in a manger, runs back into it from a pigsty, resurrects as a stranger on the Emmaus Road, and visits all the margins of life in a forgotten Galilee. But whether child, or outcast, or stranger, Emmanuel is received by mamas and daddies, sisters and brothers, friends, kindred, all, with outstretched arms, ready to embrace God’s presence. There is a whole world out there ready to live out kin-dom moments by simply modeling the radical hospitality of Jesus.
A Harvest of Joy
I am, however, intrigued by the notion of harvest. In the pages of our canon, we will find thousands of examples of people who received the presence of God with purpose. And here in this congregation, we will find dozens, perhaps even hundreds of women and men, and little ones, too, who reveal the nature and character of God’s love to us and for us. And yes, somedays, and especially in a harried pre-Christmas season, we feel a bit broken and battered. But somehow there are still mothers, both youthful and seasoned, who dare to hope; and there are still women who wage peace because it’s too important not to, and there are still neighbors, who help us find abundance, even in messiness, and remind us to sit at a table, and rejoice together.
One Little Light
But still, one little candle, one audacious voice, helped changed the world. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah would heed Isaiah’s future counsel, and under Hezekiah’s reforms, Judah would return to the worship of YHWH. And even in the siege of his city, Hezekiah chose to listen to Isaiah’s voice – he chose to believe that somewhere out on the horizon, God’s world was still coming. He looked to the light of one little candle.
A Holy Racket
But let me tell you, friends, God isn’t here to zap us. God is here to love us. And if we are to be an expression of God’s love in the world, an expression that our world desperately needs to know, and right this very minute, then we must make a holy racket.
Stand By Me
The Psalmist tells us we belong to the God of Jacob. Jacob’s God is with us, and Jacob’s God is our strength and refuge. And because we belong to Jacob’s God, anything can happen children of God, anything can be!!!
Turning Over Stones
We can’t spend our lives banking on representations of God. We must spend our lives believing in, and banking on the reality of God. It is not the systems created to serve God that continually salvage, and resurrect, and recreate our lives and spirits. It is God that continually salvages, resurrects, and recreates our lives and spirits. And when our faith in institutions is stronger than our faith in God, our judgement becomes muddied, and our future becomes veiled.