What Will You Proclaim?

Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-20

Tonight, is a night of proclamation and hope! Tonight, is truly a night of expectation and wonder! Tonight, is the night that we experience the pure and unadulterated joy of celebrating the birth of Jesus. And all of us have received the same profound gift. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

This phrase took on new meaning for me this year when I saw the play, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” I heard these words in a new way when the young girl playing the angel – who had a star shaved into the side of her head – pointed a fairy wand into the crowd and said repeatedly, “Unto you!” She did it with such urgency and sincerity that I realized that this message was for me as much as it was for her.

It mattered for me to receive it, and it mattered for her to say it. She said it for the whole audience, as much as she said it to each of us.

I’d like to unpack the gift of those words a little tonight. I know it’s early, but indulge me. These words were given first to the shepherds, then from the shepherds to Mary, then from the shepherds to everyone they met.

This one that was born was the Messiah, God’s anointed one; the one God had chosen to be revealed through; the one who would offer salvation.

This is one of the places that I think the “you” in scripture should be rightly translated as either “y’all” or “all y’all.” It’s not just because I’m southern. It’s because we need to know that this message is for us as individuals who are connected to others and also for all people everywhere.

And that reminds me that the other thing that we need to lift out of this box of words and view with wonder is what it means that Jesus is the Christ who offers salvation. One has to wonder how much of that the shepherds got right. Even they were looking for a political solution or a military warrior king. Did they hear the words “great joy for all people” and really expect it to be for all people?

One can only hope.

How about you and me, though? What will our proclamation be? Will it be about a God that enters into the chaos of our lives, the brokenness of our hearts, and the hopefulness of a people who still expect God to be active and present? I hope so.

Will it be a message like the letter to Titus – one that recognizes that we need to be reminded to try our best to be good and decent people, even as we wait for God to finally fulfill all God’s promises?

Our maybe it will be the kind of thing that isn’t just about words. Maybe it will be about recognizing God’s love for us and the claim it places on our hearts. Then all that we do is a response to the gift we have received – the gift we celebrate at this table again and again and again.

You know, somehow it has not occurred to me in the past that this sacrament is the first gift of Christmas. The first gift is from God, and it received from this table. So, Good Christian friends, let us rejoice in heart and soul and voice that Christ was born for this. Christ was born to restore what is broken and to let us know that even if our proclamation has been off the mark, restoration is still possible.

We see that at the table together, and it plays out in our lives as we demonstrate what we believe. Because, just like the angel, it matters to us to say it just as much as it may matter to the one who hears it. So, this Christmas – and the days that follow, let us proclaim the birth of Christ by forgiving an offense, by letting go of old wounds, by being kind for the sake of being kind, by welcoming a stranger, by appreciating the beauty of God’s creation, by laughing, by weeping with those that weep, by speaking our love again and again, and by recognizing our need to love as much as our need to be loved.

Yes! Let us celebrate the God who makes all things new; the God who breaks open the heavens for shepherds, and even leaves it up to us to proclaim that salvation has come. Even here, even now. And to God be the glory now and always. Amen!

Swim Lessons

So, here I sit, poolside @ the Y. My daughter's class is lined up on the side with feet in the pool. Each in turn are going to one end to swim the length of a lane. Their teacher is in the water with them. A lifeguard with a clipboard has silently joined to evaluate, and another is on the stand and ready to save. The class cheers one another on, or at least they did for the first three. Miraculously they began again when the weakest swimmer began. My heart feels the pang of guilt when another parent cheers with me for my child (I was blogging during his). I can't help but reflect on how this is like the church. Three lifeguards may seem like overkill, but is that not what we have received through Christ? I like he idea that God is in it with us, evaluating our progress, and ready to save. We always need a God who is ready to save. Why else would confession be part of our regular spiritual walk? Then there's the church, called together and given purpose by God. W...

God Has Remembered

First Presbyterian in Lafayette, Louisiana September 12, 2001 – Ordinary 24C Exodus 32:7-14 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Luke 15:1-10 I have a card in my wallet with my name on it. It is not so that I can remember my name. It is so I can remember my grandfather, Samuel Arthur Hutchins - Daddy Bill, who gave it to me years ago. I never asked him why he had it, but it effected me deeply to know that he came across it sometime, somewhere and was moved to keep it in his wallet. The card tells me the meaning of my name, “God Hath Remembered.” I can tell you there were times I wish God would not remember, but that card helped get me through them anyway. It was the only thing remotely Hebrew that I knew the translation of before seminary. So, you can imagine how deflated I was in my late 20’s to learn that although the literal root verb was long memory, the associated noun was simply, “old man.” Hebrew is, of course, a more poetic than literal language, and there is some poetry in the knowledge ...

Emails from Baton Rouge

Clint Mitchel, mentioned in the previous article, is an Associate Pastor in Baton Rouge. They have set up a shelter for expectant and new mothers and are involved in providing assistance reuniting displaced families. I'll post an email here from a list serve that several of my friends from seminary are on. I'll post a few more as comments. Feel free to add your own comments about how your congregation or group is responding. Presently the congregation I serve is taking up a special offering. Some members are also taking in students who have been relocated to VA. Here's what Clint needs/is doing: Martha, Our church has set up a shelter for expectant and new mothers and infants. We are working with people from all over on supplies. Right now, monetary donations are most helpful, partially because the needs are changing from day to day. Our church has set up a fund for Hurricane Relief efforts. To send a donation, please make a check out to University Presbyterian Ch...

Rev. Zach

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