“Bringing Our Gifts,” Rev. Jason-Paul Channels, 1/3/16 (text only)
“Bringing Our Gifts”
Heart of the Rockies Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Fort Collins, CO
by the Rev. Jason-Paul Channels
January 3, 2016
Matthew 2:1-23
Mt. 2: 1-11
In the time of King Herod, afte Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Epiphany is coming up soon, on Wednesday in fact. Despite what our nativity scenes may tell us, 12 days after Christmas is the day we celebrate the arrival of the Magi to see the baby Jesus. Their visit was accentuated by the gifts that they brought, Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. It is fun to think about the gifts they brought, and to wonder what would we have brought to the baby Jesus? Our time to breath image and bulletin cover were light-hearted thoughts about what could have been brought, as well as a prompt for us to think about what do we bring to Jesus now?
Individually we must answer this question on a regular basis as Christians. The easiest and often the first off the lips of people is the giving of financial resources. The hardest answer is usually what do we give of our hearts, our lives, our time, our priorities, our energy and our focus? At the start of this new calendar year, at the cusp of Epiphany I invite you to examine this question for yourself. To make this something that you work to answer each week, each day in this new year to come.
Mt. 2: 12-13
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’
We just finished a great season of the Church. The journey through Advent into Christmas is a beautiful and meaningful journey. It is a time that we are surrounded by cultural reminders and in some ways cultural support for our faith preparations and celebrations. No matter where you fall on the spectrum of the “war on Christmas” there is no other season, practice, holy day of our faith that garners such attention from outside the Church. But that season is over and we are back in a time when the Church and our faith seems to fade back into the obscurity and irrelevance it experiences most of the rest of the year.
It seems strange to say it—irrelevance. For an American institution that held such cultural dominance for more than half a century. To say that the Church has faded into a corner seems almost ludicrous. But in many ways it has. Just like all politics being local, Church influence and relevance has been local as well. In many places the Church has been pushed into a marginalized role/presence/voice by the radicalization of people with fringe beliefs ignored after hearing their protesters shouting the same three sentences over and over. No longer seen as having a prophetic or challenging voice, but instead a crying for a return to the past when it held power and control. Seen as having only a single topic focus that was held by all “good Christians” in all of the many single topics that people claimed.
In many ways the Church has been seen as so bizarre, so out of touch, so weird, so not normal that it no longer is taken seriously. Sometimes it has a quirky charm that people still like to experience once or twice a year. Sometimes it allows for a different and nostalgic look at the world. Sometimes it even does some really fun and creative and imaginative things. But those times are often lost quickly in the midst of the spells of gloominess, the fits of rage or anger, the lashing out in wounded defense, the retreating back inside away from the ever widening world.
Now I could argue much of this as untrue. As incomplete pictures that ignore much of what the Church is and does. But in other ways the “lost season” of Epiphany till Lent is a true representation of the Church’s lost connection to the world over the last 30 years. The Church is no longer connected and engaged with people like it used to be, like we were during the Advent season.
Part of this is because when we were so engaged we tried to stay away from things that would cause us trouble. We as the Church stayed silent repeatedly on issues and questions that people had been crying out for answers on, help with and grace for. This part of the legacy of the modern Church is one that we not only have to recover from, but one that we must acknowledge.
Whether it be the Church’s response to AIDS, Apartheid in South Africa, LGTBQ issues, the remnants of the Cold-War, Immigration, the environment, abuse of people especially children and women, addictions and addictive lifestyles, equal access for women, mental health, economic disparity, community violence, or any number of other things the Church has either tried to stay completely out of the conversation or hedge its bets, or even worse act like they were engaging the situation but really just talking about it.
Some of these the Church was anything but silent on, speaking vehemently about some of these, and in many cases speaking up for the perspective not only on the wrong side of history but on the wrong side of the Gospel. Some of it the Church is still essentially silent on. Silent because they don’t want to rock the boat. Silent because they don’t want to cause a scene. Silent because they don’t know what to say or they can’t find anything in the scriptures that they can seem to fit to the question. Silent because the reality can challenge too deeply and too powerfully the theology and practices of the past. Silent because they too often chose to be on the outside looking in with no way to enter the conversation.
That in part is the impetus behind the name of our series this month “Speaking into the Silence.” This was chosen with the possibility in mind that each year in this season of early new year, we might look at things/issues that the Church has been silent on that maybe it should have something to say about/to.
The same I think is true for those who face issues and struggles with mental health in their daily lives. That they feel like they are caught on the outside looking in. The world is no longer accessible to them because life is shown to be a particular way in our tv shows, magazine pictures, Facebook posts and Pinterest boards. Life as the world defines it is filled with wonderful vacations with loving families, long walks on the beach holding hands with a lover, children and parents sharing together in crafting or biking or laughing.
There is no other option for what things might be like. Struggles and challenges are cropped out of pictures or stories or even worse the place it shows up is in prescription drug ads promising that with this one pill you too can have all of this…its just this simple.
Some who are going through this themselves or helping a loved one through the journey can barely remember when they were able to think about the future from a perspective of abundance and possibility instead of a perspective of fear and lack of options or resignation that so much is off the table.
The Church of all places should know how to live in a world sitting on the outside looking in, close enough to see what is deemed normal and regular and accepted but not quite there. For this is the Christmas and the Gospel story. Just like the Church has this moment when the culture around decorates for the holiday and it says Merry Christmas and seems to be such an easy an attainable thing to return to and then we hit Epihany and we are no longer so close. We no longer seem to have anything to bring that fits with what people are expecting or hoping for. We seem to bring not the gifts of the magi but the gifts of the shepherds…ourselves.
Bringing ourselves as an offering is what we are hoping to do in this month and our emphasis on mental health. We were hoping to be able to say that the Church has some gifts it can bring and share and give. That the Church can not remain silent on this issue in the lives of so many. That we can not just hide it under the rug or push it aside or think that with enough faith or prayer it will just all go away. In our book study starting tomorrow and our Sunday school class starting next week and our workshop/community event we are inviting this Church and our community to begin to Speak into the Silence the culture and the Church has maintained on this issue for so many years. And as we do so see what WE might be able to share of our gifts in response. Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund will be leading our workshop panel, it is her book we are reading, and she will be here January 24 to preach and teach our Sunday School class. We hope that you will find one of these ways to engage with us in this wondering, this journey, this exploration of what does the Church have to offer, to give?
Isn’t that the same with us. Aren’t there many times in our lives that we know our faith has something to say about what we are seeing and hearing yet we either can’t work up the courage to say it, or are unsure what should be said? Aren’t there many times that we just don’t know what gifts to bring, what words to share, how to have our faith speak at all to the question or situation. The Magi I am sure had no idea what to expect or what to do when they found this new-born king at the end of their long journey. But they brought what they could and shared what they knew and what they had.
This is where what are we giving to Jesus comes into play. When we are coming to Church to get. When we are concerned about what we will take away. When we are focused on what we can reach or become or accumulate from our faith then we get worried about these things instead of what we are bringing to Jesus we are getting even further away from what the Christmas Story shows us. The Shepherds and the Angels and the Magi were proclaiming and sharing the good news of Emmanuel, they were bringing to the baby not hoping to get from the baby. Yes some brought amazing and expensive gifts. Others only brought themselves. As Christians that is what we are called to do, to offer, to bring to the risen Christ our Lord and Savior.