Whose Birthday Is It Anyway?

Ready or not, Christmas is coming. 
With every catalog we get in the mail,
with every card we receive,
with every Christmas song we hear in the stores and on the radio,
with every television special we see,
with every advertisement we see and hear and read,
with every invitation we receive,
we know Christmas is on the way.
And, it will come, wether we are ready or not.
And, so we begin to get somewhat anxious about it all, don’t we?

It is almost as though there are two Christmases:
one of the lights and trees and decorations and presents and reindeer and parties and snowmen –
and . . . .  and . . . . and . . . .
The one we talk about in church.

Sometimes, it seems that the two Christmases are not even of the same wavelength.

We know the Christmas story that most of the world around us celebrates – and we know it well – and we participate in it willingly and knowingly – often for very good reasons. 
We like the feeling that comes with giving and thinking about others and going out of our way to make someone’s day. 

But, you know, the earliest Christians did not celebrate Christmas.
    It just was not important to them.

No one knows when Jesus was born . . .
    No one kept a record – maybe he never told anyone – we don’t know
    It just was not important to them.
There is no record of the Disciples ever singing happy birthday to Jesus.

Of course, the first Christians knew Jesus,
they lived with Jesus,
they heard Jesus talk,
they saw Jesus laugh,
they felt Jesus hurt,
they saw Jesus sleep and eat and drink and do all kinds of bodily functions –
they experienced a living breathing person just as you and I experience each other. 

But, after a few hundred years, some believers began to question whether Jesus ever really lived at all.  
He was being remembered and worshiped as more of a god – than remembered as a real living breathing man who lived and died during certain days and years of the Roman Empire.

So, a small faction began to think it was important not to forget that Jesus was a real person. 
And if he was, we ought to remember when he was born. 
Trouble was, nobody knew when Jesus was born.

The very earliest writing we have in the New Testament is a letter from The Apostle Paul, written around the year of 35 AD.
The earliest Gospel we have is attributed to Mark.  The Gospel of Mark was most probably published around the year of 50 AD. 
In the past 60 years, many other documents have been discovered that date back to the very first decades after Jesus’ death.
When we read these documents looking for what they say about the birth of Jesus, we discover one thing in common. 
None of them have anything to say about the birth of Jesus.  Nothing.
It simply was not important to them.

A strong vocal faction of early believers thought it was just plain wrong to celebrate Jesus’ birthday – because that was too much like the world around them did when they celebrated the birthdays of the pagan gods, the Caesars and the Pharaohs.

But, there appeared a major debate in the middle of the third century.
Whether or not we would celebrate it, it would be nice to know when Jesus was born. 
So the speculation began. 
After a careful study of scripture, one prominent theologian of the third century calculated the birth date of Jesus must be May 20 [Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215)]
The debate began.  Others calculated that it must have been  April 18,
others thought it was April 19, and
still others were fairly certain it was  May 28.
One of the leaders of a powerful faction thought Jesus’ birthday should be remembered as
January 2 [Hippolytus (c.170-c.236)]
Others calculated it to be November 17,
others November 20, and
some, March 25.
And, so it went. 
It took over 300 years for the church leaders to agree on a date of December 25 to recognize as the birthday of Jesus.

And, even at that point, the believers were at odds with the culture around them.
Most of the world already celebrated major festivals on December 25:
the natalis solis invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"),
and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers.
The winter solstice, another celebration of the sun, fell just a few days earlier.
There were a lot of major celebrations going on at this time of year in most of the cultures of the world – and they had nothing to do with the church.
So, many believers thought it would be most inappropriate to celebrate Christmas at all.

And, in fact throughout history, there are long periods of years when nobody celebrated Christmas at all.
But, Christians have always had an uncanny ability to find ways to celebrate. 
And, in almost every culture where Christians found themselves, they appropriated local events and customs and made them their own.
And, oftentimes there were movements that would spring up to convince believers they should not participate in the cultural seasonal festivities –
sometimes by trying to convince people to remember the reason for the season,
sometimes by campaigning to put Christ back in Christmas,
sometimes by actually passing laws to ban Christmas celebrations altogether!

Imagine that, outlawing Christmas!
In the seventeen century, you may recall, Christian religious zealots took over the government of England. 
Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan Party actually passed legislation that outlawed Christmas. 
To them Christmas had become a time for lavish and raucous celebration and behavior and commercial exploitation – sound familiar? 
So, that was it. 
Plain and simple.
No more Christmas. 
(Sounds like a Dr. Zeus story, doesn’t it?)

And, it gets stranger. 
The people were outraged.
There was rioting in the streets.
Secret Christmas celebrations broke out all over England.
But, Oliver Cromwell retaliated.
Parliament decreed penalties of imprisonment for anyone caught celebrating Christmas.
Imagine that!
Being rounded up and being put in jail because you dared to celebrate Christmas!

Each year the “Christmas Police” would go through the streets a few days before Christmas warning people against celebrating Christmas. 
Businesses were not to be closed during the day  and there were to be no displays of Christmas decorations.

They went around and broke up any sign of Christmas celebration with force of arms. 

And the people rose up.
And the jails filled to overflowing.

The people would not be denied.
They took to the ballot box and voted the Puritans out of power.
Christmas was back.
The very idea. 
Outlawing Christmas.

Meanwhile, over here in the new country, the zealots persisted. 
Christmas was outlawed and not celebrated in many colonies for years. 
In fact, Christmas remained illegal in Massachusetts until sometime after 1850!

So, there is nothing new here. 
It seems that ever since day one, there was some controversy between what the church thought should be remembered and celebrated
and what and how the world around them celebrated.

Recognizing this historical reality doesn’t really do much to ease the conflict today, does it?
Christmas is celebrated in public schools without singing Christmas songs or telling Christmas stories.
All kinds of merchants appropriate seasonal music and messages to sell their products.
And fa-la-las are sung in synch with cash registers.

And, as it so often happened in the past, today the Christmas of the church gets short-shrift in our celebrations.
For the church, Christmas celebrates one of the most fundamental of beliefs – what is called incarnation. 
Specifically, the incarnation of God – that is, literally, God in the flesh. 
What we also call Emmanuel – God is with us!

The profoundness of this message is shown in the beginning words of the Gospel of John:
this is a time to recall that God existed before time began –
and all things that are and that ever will be were brought into existence by God. 
God is described as the eternal logos – the Word with a capital W. 
And John reminds us that this eternal logos, this Word, this God,
came into the world with flesh and blood –
bridged the gap – came to be one of us – came to live with us. 
And that is Emmanuel means.
God is with us. 
– a profound statement, to be sure.

At this time of year we take time to hear that God is no longer “other”,
God is no longer “out there”,
God is no longer to be appeased with sacred rites and sacrifices,
God is no longer relegated to the realm of religion – apart from where we live and work and play.

So, I am kind of on a personal crusade to never slough over the essential message of the season – the reason we in the church have celebrated the season for so long. 
Because, this is the only place that this message will be proclaimed this year –
you won’t hear it in the schoolroom,
you won’t hear it on television,
you won’t hear it on the radio,
you won’t read about it in the newspaper or magazines,
you won’t hear Rush Limbaugh talking about it,
you won’t hear Charlie Rose talking about it,
you won’t hear Oprah talking about it,
you are not likely to hear your neighbor or friend talking about it.

The bottom line is this:
however touching they are to our heartstrings,
however much we love to hear them and to sing about them,
however much we enjoy the feelings prevalent this time of year,
the birth stories are not really about the baby Jesus.

The birth stories are told and remembered because of the adult Jesus –
and what people experienced with him during his earthly ministry,
and what people experienced because of him after his death –
and what people have experienced through him through the ages,
and what people continue to experience with him day and day out. 

For me, at its essence, Christmas is really about Emmanuel. 
That Hebrew word that means “God With Us”.  
For all those early Christians,
for all those writers of faith documents for their communities,
this word reflects what they affirmed had happened in this man from Nazareth –
what they continued to experience long after he had gone –
that Jehovah –
the great I Am –
God Almighty –
Creator of the Universe and all the worlds that are –
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob –
the One God of the faith of our fathers and mothers –
deigned to enter our world and become as we are
to let us know there is no separation now from holy and mundane,
from sacred and profane,
from work and ritual.
No. 
In this man from Nazareth, we see Emmanuel! 
Through this man of Nazareth, we know Emmanuel.
With this man of Nazareth, we experience Emmanuel.
God is With Us.
That’s what we hear.
God is with us.
That’s what we sing.
God is with us.
That’s what we believe.
God is with us.
That’s what we celebrate.
Each and every year at Christmas.
Each and every week in worship.
Each and every morning when we get up.

Emmanuel!  This Christmas.
Emmanuel!  All year long!
Emmanuel!  Every minute of every hour of every day of your life!

We have a story to tell.
We need to find significant ways to celebrate the incarnation and the revelation of this one we call Emmanuel – Jesus our Christ.

Somehow, we have allowed non-Christians to take over our territory, our message, our celebration.
We should be the ones known for partying.
We should be the ones known for celebrating.
We are, really, the only ones that have anything worth celebrating, don’t you think?

This year, let us – you and me – be the ones to tell the stories, to tell the news.
Let everyone who lives shout and sing!
Our God is great and lives among his people!
Emmanuel!  Amen.

This sermon was shared with the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, December 6, 2009, by the Reverend Clyde E. Griffith.

The Season of Advent Begins

Advent begins December 1!

Advent is a time the church concentrates on preparing for Christmas. 

Although the commercial culture in which we live begins the “Christmas” season right after Halloween these days, the church traditionally celebrates twelve days of Christmas beginning Christmas Day, December 25, and ending with what is called The Epiphany, January 6.

And so, this time before Christmas, this time of Advent,
is a time for us to prepare ourselves for Christmas. 

Christmas is so important to our faith. 
It is so basic to our understanding of God and Jesus. 
Without Christmas – and the stories that are told about it –
the rest of our faith would be nonsense. 

I really like Advent and Christmas and Epiphany. 
It gives us a chance to get down to the raw basics and to hear stories that impact our faith and how it gets expressed in our lives.

The Christmas stories are stories of theophanies – encounters with the holy – culminating in the ultimate theophany: Emmanuel! –
the incarnation of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the Creator of all that is,
the great Jehovah, 
into our very lives.
The Christmas stores are stories of cracks that occurred in the cosmic egg that traditionally separates the holy from the mundane –
cracks through which people were able to glimpse the divine,
cracks through which people encountered the holy. 

During this Advent season let us purposefully focus on these encounters with the holy from days gone by – through the stories we hear and the stories we tell.

Through our telling and hearing these stores again, this Christmas, maybe, just maybe, you and I can encounter the Holy.

Oh, I am convinced that we do encounter the holy just as we hear they did in days of yore. 
It’s just that usually, we don’t recognize it when it happens. 
Even when the very skies open and the celestial voices sing, we are prone to ignore it –
perhaps because we are so preoccupied with enhancing our own display.

The stories of our faith are good stories. 
And, they have lasted through the years because they speak of truth – truth that ring to the heart of all who hear them.

But, if we let them remain as stories of people of another time, of days gone by, we do them – and we do us – a disservice. 
For, they are true. 
And they speak to our reality.

This year I invite you on a quest to encounter the holy. 
I am convinced that we can.
I know that we do. 
Let us take this time before Christmas to sharpen our senses and to hone our skills so that, like the people in our Christmas stories, we can point to times the holy breaks through in our lives,
to recognize it when it happens,
and to celebrate when it does.

So, in church each week look for the breakthroughs in the stories of our faith and in the days of our lives.

Pay attention to the messengers of the Lord that come to us – is they did to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds.
 
Be alert to our dreams and heed them as Joseph and Simeon and the Magi did.

Listen for the celestial song – the music of the spheres – as the shepherds heard.

See what happens when hospitality is practiced – remembering  the Innkeeper and the Table of The Lord.

And, we will learn to celebrate the incarnation – Emmanuel! – Christmas Day and every day.

This Christmas we are on a quest to encounter the holy. 

That's what Advent means to me.
A time to prepare for Christmas - an event you don't want to miss - but, alas, most folks will.

Clyde E. Griffith, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Editor@NewCelebrations.com

All Saints Day - Part 3

This Sunday, Christian Chuches all over the world  remembers the saints who have touched our lives.


I have long advocated that every preacher should read John Irving's book, A Prayer For Owen Meany.  

The book begins with these words:
     "I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – 
      not because of his voice,
      or because he was the smallest person I ever knew...
      but because he is the reason I believe in God; 
      I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."
 
That sentence is the seed of the book's story and, in a curious way, it is the seed of our story as well, isn't it?  

All of us believe in God because of someone.  
Christ haunts us in the face of someone. 
We see God in the walk or word, deed or dare of someone. 
We believe in God because of some "Owen Meany",
or some group of "Owen Meany's" in our life. 
We all believe in God because of someone. 
We are all here today because of someone.
Today, think about who that is for you. 

There is no greater power than that of calling forth such belief in another. 
There is no greater power than enabling another person to see life in a way that gives hope and comfort and gladness.  

Each of us has sensed the power of someone who has helped us find our way a little, not so much by their pointing it out to us as by the way they themselves walked –  or walk –  in this wondrous, awful world.
 
Think about those people –  those saints –  who have touched your life – 
maybe unexpected people from unexpected places. 
People who have called forth in us belief and hope and strength.
 
Today is a time for remembering those people.


The Congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard these words as part of a sermon for All Saints Day in 2006.

All Saints Day - Part 2

This Sunday, Christian churches all over the world will be observing the oldest high holy day of them all: All Saints Day.

All Saints Sunday is the church's Memorial Day, a time to remember and give thanks to God for those who have died in the faith.

   All Saints Day is a day on which we remember special people,
people who now dwell with God.
people whom the scriptures and the church call saints.

Now, to be sure, there is much modern confusion about the meaning of the word "saint."
This confusion is due, in large part, to movies and the news reports and all the hoopla about the Roman Catholic "canonization of saints" – and all the rigamarole that is entailed in deciding who is and who is not a saint – as well as to a resurgence of interest in books about "the lives of the saints" or painted pictures of the saints such as icons.

Today there seems to be a renewed interest in the folks the Roman Catholic Church has named saints.
And our news media will even get caught up in the church’s deliberations to qualify a particular person to be known hereafter as a saint.

But, we have a pretty romanticized idea of what a saint is and was.
I have studied some of these people the church has identified as saints and have discovered that every single one of them are people too – they all put their britches on one leg at time (that is if they wore britches at all.)
 
The reality is that in real life, the saints were a pretty motley lot.
In the early years, men thought they were called to spend time in the Syrian desert.
Some stood in the desert and prayed for years on end without sitting down.

Others thought they were to live on top of pillars – as far away as possible from being sullied by being of this earth.  These guys spent their days on top of a pillar preaching and writing epistles.
And people came for miles to see them and to hear what they had to say.
 
One of these desert hermits in particular we know as St. Simeon – known as the holy fool.
It turns out that Simeon’s career started out quite normally.
It was the usual story:
living 29 years in an isolated cave next to the Dead Sea eating only lentils –
first struggling against temptation and then advancing to an alarming degree of holiness.
But, his pious career took an unexpected turn when he left his cave one day and to the city of Emesa in Syria.
 
There at the city gate, he found a dead dog on the trash pile.
 
For some reason, he felt called to tie that dead dog to a rope around his waist and drag it through the streets of the town.
Well, that was thought to be just as strange and cruel in those days as we might think.
 
Simeon took to eccentric and scandalous behavior to mock the idiocy of the world and to conceal his identity.
 
We are told that during church services, he would sit up front, eat peanuts, and throw the hulls at the preacher.
 
In the circus, he would wrap his arms around the dancing girls and would go skipping and dancing across the arena.
 
In the streets he thought it great fun to stick out his leg or a stick and trip people as they walked by.
 
He developed a theatrical limp and dragged himself around on his rear end.
 
In the bath house, he ran naked into the crowded women’s section – a no-no by the way.
 
On solemn fasting days he would feast riotously – consuming vast amounts of beans – and amuse himself by passing gas during prayers.
 
Everyone considered Simeon a mad man – an unholy scandal.

Sometime after his death, the secret life of Simeon came to light. 
People started to talk about his acts of kindness –
and about the strange and powerful miracles that seem to happen when he was around.

All the folks that are recognized by the church as saints have very human stories.

But, in reality, a saint is simply a human being, living or dead, that God has chosen, and upon whom God has lavished grace.

The Saints of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard these words as part of a sermon in 2006.

All Saints Sunday - Part 1

This week, Christians all over the world are celebrating All Saints Sunday -
a day that used to be so important to the Church
and to Christians everywhere that it became the basis for Halloween. 

Almost from the beginning, the church has celebrated an All Saints’ Day.  
Sometime in the 9th century, the Western Church settled on the present date to celebrate All Saints Day. 
At one time in the Roman world, November 1st, was the first day of the new year – a natural time to look back on the year past and remember those who are no longer in our ranks.

It is appropriate for us to take some time to think
about what it is we celebrate at this particular holiday. 
It seems to me that Halloween in our country has taken a peculiar turn and has earned a bad rap. 
Many of our Christian friends seem to have given up this holiday to the pagan culture of witches, warlords, demons, and devils, and want to ignore what the holiday has come to be over centuries of Christian celebration: 
A curious mixture of ancient Druid practice, classical mythology and Christian belief.

All the more reason for us to think again about why we celebrate the holidays we do.

In Great Britain, young girls go "souling"  –
singing for cakes in remembrance of the dead. 

In Belgium, its called "Aller Heiligen," and it's a day to say prayers in memory of all the saints who don't have their special day already set aside. 

In Poland, it is called "Zaduskski".  On this day the
church bells toll and it said that God comes on this night to count the souls that belong to the community of the faithful.

In our country, the Cochiti Pueblo Indians celebrate a feast on November 2, which they call "Their Grandfathers Arrive From the West." 

Zuni Indians in New Mexico call it "Grandmother's Day", and young men go from house to house singing songs in honor of grandmothers. 

Not a bad idea, huh?

    We have many ways to celebrate and mark the occasion, but what seems clear is that we all need time and ritual for remembering those who have gone before us. 
There seems to be a common universal urge to remember. 

    Frederick Buechner wrote, "When you remember me, it means that you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are.  It means that you can
summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us.  It means that if we meet again, you will know me. 
It means that even after I die, you can still see my
face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart. " 

I think everyone here has some experience with the truth of these words, wouldn’t you say.
Of the many inspirational stories I have heard from many of you over the past few years is one, I am sure, I can tell without undue embarrassment. 

Many in this room remember, Leota Waugh – Edith’s mother.  I think Leota was in her 100th year when she came in one day in all aglow. 
"You'll never guess who I talked with this week," she challenged.
  Well, I couldn't guess in a million years. 
She said, "My college roommate." 
It turns out that after school, her college roommate moved to the mid-west and they haven't seen each or taked to one another in over seventy years! 
But throughout the years, each of them carried something of the other with them.
Each of them left a mark of themselves on the person of the other. 
And though the years and the miles have kept a distance between them, a telephone call came, and they knew each other. 
They knew each other's faces and spoke to each other in their hearts.

    We need to remember. 
For centuries, the church has known this –  and on All Saints Sunday we remember those persons who
have influenced our faith development,
whose presence is still felt in our lives even thought they now rest from their labors.

This is part of a sermon the Saints of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard in October 2006.

Risus Paschalis: Easter Laughter

Jesus must have been grinning from ear to ear! – grabbing his friends by the neck, hugging and rustling hair. . . .

There is no doubt in my mind that these disciples happy people when they encountered the Risen Christ.

They must have been laughing and carrying on.
They knew the joke was on them, because they hadn’t believed what they had been told.

Long ago in southern Germany, in Bavaria, during the late middle ages there was a custom in many of the Christian churches of that region that seems quite unusual to us.

At the end of the Easter church service, the Easter Mass, the priest would leave the altar and come down among the people and lead the congregation in what was called the Risus Paschalis – which means "the Easter laughter."

It was a time for telling funny stories
and a time to sing comical songs,
and the church would ring with laughter.

Of course the point was obvious, the laughter echoing through the church was a tangible testimony to the merriment born out of the tidings of Easter:
Jesus is alive and loose among us.
All the forces that conspired to lay him in his tomb, the fury, the lovelessness,
the violence, the vaunted powers of kings and empires, they are all made a laughing stock.

Do you get it?
It's a thing to ponder:
the laughter of God,
the laughter of God’s people rolling out into the spring time world from doors and windows of churches where the story is told on an Easter day.

Laughter is a great gift of God,
and I think those ancient medieval Christians in Bavaria were right to give a space for mirth and laughter in the Easter worship of the church.

And so, each year on this Second of Easter we come and celebrate that utterly unique thing that is the Risus Paschalis, the Easter laughter.

Certainly the most obvious element of this laughter is joy.

But, I think there is a great deal more than just joy.

You see the laughter of this day is the laughter that bursts forth when the totally unexpected,
the completely unanticipated,
the utter surprise of a thing strikes us.



OK. Well, here’s the deal:
I have three sets of sermon notes up here.
The 30 minute version cost costs a dollar a head,
And, I have 20 minute version for 10 dollars a head,
And, I have a 10 minute version for $50 a person!
So if the ushers will come forward and pick up the offering and count it, we’ll see which version you paid for!

I think it was Mark Twain, that supposedly told about his idea of a good sermon.
He said, in his mind, a good sermon would have a great beginning and a great conclusion – and they would be as close together as possible.

I think I told some of you about this strange call I got not long ago(?)
Do you remember?
This distraught lady told me her cat had just died and he had been with her for some 18 years.
That cat was family to her.
The only family she had.
And, she wanted to know if I would do a memorial service for the dead cat.

I told her that really, we didn’t do that sort of thing here, maybe she should try one of the Roman Catholic churches nearby and I gave her the phone numbers of two of them.

She thanked me gratefully and said this was all pretty new to her, and that she knew they would want her to make some sort of contribution to their church – what did I think was appropriate for her to offer them?
Would $30,000 be appreciated?

Being no dummy, I immediately blurted out,
“Oh, you didn’t tell me your cat was Presbyterian!”
Let’s talk this over . . .

Imagine, if you can, being part of the group of disciples on the evening of that first Easter day. They had witnessed a disturbing set of events.
Their leader, the one to whom they had sworn their allegiance, the one they thought was going to lead them and the world into a new tomorrow, was tortured, ridiculed, crucified, dead, (for sure,) and buried.
And then, on this third day, they found the tomb in which he was placed, open, and his body missing –
taken by whom?,
removed to where?,
and why?

They suspected sadism, I’m sure.

The authorities or some enemies just wanted to make sure this troublemaker would never be heard from again.

They were afraid.

What did all of this mean for them?

For sure, the authorities would be coming after them now.

What to do?

They gathered behind locked doors – fearing the worst.

So, there they were, wringing their hands, sighing “Ain’t it awful?”
When, lo and behold, the-e-e-e-re was Jesus.
Can’t you just see and feel what happened?

“Oh man, you really did it this time!
You really put one over on us!
You got us good!
And what about the others?
Just wait until they get a load of this!”

You see, the Risen Christ was the punch line of God’s Great Surprise.
The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest surprise in the history of humanity.
Until then, once people died and were buried, they stayed put.

There is no doubt in my mind that these disciples happy people when they encountered the Risen Christ.

They must have been laughing and carrying on.
They knew the joke was on them, because they hadn’t believed what they had been told.

And now the joke is on all those who refuse to believe.

This is the Easter surprise, the Easter laugh, the Easter joy.

C.K. Chesterton wrote that “surprise is the secret of joy.”

And, far from being so solemn and placid like he is portrayed in so many pictures, Jesus must have been grinning from ear to ear! –
grabbing his friends by the neck, hugging and rustling hair.

Zig Zigler writes that “the most destitute person in the world is the one without a smile.”
This is when the disciples broke out of their situation – no longer were they feeling destitute.

A church historian has pointed out that in days of yore, every Easter sermon began with a joke.

Somehow, we have misguidedly equated somberism with Christianity.

Clearly, this was not the case in the very beginning.

Those early Christians were so surprised by their Risen Friend that they must have been ecstatic! – totally joyous –completely joy-filled.

Today in many parts of the world, many Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox countries celebrate Easter Monday as a day of “joy and laughter” with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection.
It is called White Monday,
Bright Monday,
Dyngus Day,
and Emmaus Day in various countries.

It is a time for the faithful to play practical jokes on one another,
a time to sing silly songs,
a time to dance.
It is a time for clergy and lay people to tell jokes and to have fun.

The custom of Easter Monday and Holy Hilarity Sunday celebrations are rooted in the musings of early church theologians like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom that God played a joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead.
You see, Easter is seen as “God’s supreme joke played on that old imposter, death.”

The early theologians called it “risus paschalis” – the Easter laugh.
This theme has been passed down through the ages.

Francis of Assisi advised: “Leave sadness to the devil. The devil has reason to be sad.”

Meister Eckhart, a 13th century theologian, wrote:
“God laughed and begat the Son.
Together they laughed and begat the Holy Spirit.
And from the laughter of the Three, the universe was born.”

Martin Luther wrote: “God is not a God of sadness, but the devil is.
Christ is a God of joy.
It is pleasing to the dear God whenever one rejoices or laughs from the bottom of your heart.”

Easter is the morning when the Lord laughs out loud,
laughs at all the things that snuff out joy,
all the things that pretend to be all-powerful,
like cruelty and madness and despair and evil,
and most especially, the great pretender, death.

Jesus sweeps them away with his wonderful resurrection laughter.

Norman Vincent Peale wrote:
“laughter sweeps away the cobwebs from the mind.”

Paul talks about a resurrection appearance of Jesus before an audience of over 500 people.

One writer ruminates:

“[Now how would you think] 500-plus people react to an appearance by Jesus, the one who had been crucified and buried?
Would they applaud politely? (With a proper Presbyterian clap.)

My guess is that 500-plus folks rose to their feet with a standing ovation.

This was the most incredible comeback story of all time.

They would have jumped for joy and hugged their neighbors.

These 500-plus folks, because of Jesus, had the best belly laugh of their lives.

Easter had taught the 500-plus how to celebrate.”

We ought to pay attention, don’t you think?

Church historians indicate that there is considerable evidence that during the early centuries of Christianity, Easter celebrations went on for days – even weeks.

This picture on our bulletin is very appropriate for today.
Today, many churches all over the country are trying to lift up the hilaritas of the Easter season -- celebrating the risus paschalis: the Easter Laugh.

Laughter has been called God's holy medicine –
the ancients thought it to be exercise for the soul.

What a great idea, don’t you think?
Laughter is exercise for the soul!

In fact, there is a tremendous body of evidence being
accumulated today in schools from Johns Hopkins to
Stanford University Medical Schools and in countries
all over the world – evidence that supports this ancient idea:
that laughter is exercise for the soul and
actually affects our physical and mental health.

Today we celebrate the risus paschalis – God’s easter laugh.

The joke is on the devil.

The joke is on all who still think that life is defined by birth and death.

Jesus taught the early church how to laugh:
how to laugh at death.
how to laugh at appearances,
how to laugh in the face of all manner of difficulty.

Today, we remember God’s great surprise – and the word for each of us:

Turn to John 15:11

Like those early disciples, when you experience the risen Christ – joy is yours.

Paul can say:
“rejoice in all things.
Again, I say, rejoice!”

Easter is a time of deep surprise, the surprise of suddenly realizing that God makes all things right in ways we can never imagine.

On this second Sunday of Easter, I hope you can continue to feel the joy of encountering the Risen Christ for a long time to come. Amen.

Let’s stand and sing the disciple’s song:
I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart.

[If they didn’t know this particular song, they made up one just like it that first Easter night.]

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard this sermon amidst an hour of hi-jinks, bloopers and gremlins during the worship service May, 1, 2011.

The Birthday of A Whole New World

Isaiah 25:6-9
Mark 16:1-8

    Friends, Easter is the birthday of a whole new
world – 
a whole new life – 
a whole new way of living – 
a whole new way of looking at the world –
a whole new religion!

    Every year now, for some twenty centuries,
Christian people have come together at this time of
year to celebrate the single most important event of
their history!

     It was quite natural for the first Christians to
tie this Easter event with the traditional Passover
Celebration –  which had been celebrated each year for centuries to remind people of their unique history and of their unique relationship with their God.

    You understand, it wasn't until after the
Resurrection that the disciple's eyes were opened and they saw for the very first time that what they had been experiencing with this man from Nazareth was indeed a whole new thing. 
It was after the Resurrection that they began to call him the Christ and saw him to be the fulfillment of the Passover –  the promise that had been made each year over and over again for centuries. 
So they began to meet together each week at dawn to celebrate Easter – 
the coming of the new time – 
the new week –
remembering the fulfillment of the Passover.

    In order to understand the full significance of
what they were celebrating, I think we have to go back  to the Hebrew poetic expression of God's relationship with people. 

Again, we are all familiar with the creation stories in Genesis. 
The familiar story with its rhythmical structure of seven days occurs in chapter 1. 
And chapter 2 of Genesis begins another story of creation. 
Now, really, both of these accounts were actually written fairly late in Jewish history –
most probably at the time of King David,
when for the first time people had the leisure to sit
down and write the stories that had been handed down by word of mouth for centuries.

   Verse 7 of the second chapter of Genesis appears to express one of the earliest, most primitive concepts of  the Jew's relationship to God. 
Here, God is pictured as a potter: 
Then the Lord God formed (molded) a man from the dust of the ground, and breathed (a loud breath) into his nostrils the breath of life. 
Thus man became alive!  (Gen2:v7)

    It seems that from the beginning,
they understood every person's breath is God-given –  life itself – 
for the human is critically related to Yahweh,
 the God that shared his breath – 
the symbol for life itself. 
You see, the thing that made the body alive was God. 
God was intimately related to your life experience. [Therefore, a life without God was an absurd proposition.]

    Actually, by the time these stories were written
down (at King David's court) the understandings of God had changed somewhat. 
I’ve talked about this before. 
Through the years a concept of God developed that they could put in a box. 

At a risk of over-simplifying it:
you may recall that they were a nomadic people, they traveled a lot –
they traveled through lands occupied by people with other religions. 
They saw that these religions had their holy places:
they had holy mountains,
there were holy caves,
and there holy wells. 
Well, having no geographical references for themselves these wandering Jews knew that their God could not be confined to geography. 
Their God was a traveling God – 
but they came to feel that he needed a home –
God needed a place to be,
a place to rest. 
So they built him an ark, a throne, so he could be
comfortable. 
And they carried this ark wherever they went. 
It became a symbol of assurance:  that God was with them as long as they had the box for him. 
(We have a lot of stories about people stealing the ark. So history began to be recorded in terms of who has the box –  who had God on their side.  God was wherever the ark was.)

    This, then, became a real issue with David as he
set out to bring together two nations of people  –  each with their own traditions and history. 
David thought: The way to unite the country is to unite their religion. 
So, let's build a house to put the ark in. 
It will be a temple and will stand in the capital city as a symbol of God's presence in our new nation and people will always know where they can come to meet the Lord. 
We'll put his box there and everyone will come to know that's where he sits!

    And the temple was built, and became the house of God. 
His box was placed in one end of the building and a curtain was put in front of it – the reredos. 
It was called the “Holy of Holies”. 
[The curtain was loaded with symbolism –
it protected the people from perishing should they see the Lord face-to-face. 
It served the function of keeping God's presence shielded from the people.]

    Now, all of this had become quite institutionalized
by the time of Jesus. 
The temple with its curtain, and the ark, was an important part of the religion. 
For the Jew, there was no question what one had to do in order to be religious, to fulfill the law. 
Leaders, Rabbis, spent their entire lives studying the law – 
and as new situations and questions came up, they wrote new rules to amplify the old law. 
The Rabbis were the authority and it was unquestioned  (except maybe for a few splinter groups from time to time.).

    Of particular significance is that Jesus came
preaching and teaching on his own authority – 
far outside the established authority of his tradition. 
They would say to him:
you totally disregard our tradition. 
How can you go around preaching such
contemporariness?

    And he would say: 
It seems to me that I don't come to put an end to your traditional ways, so much as I come to fulfill the promises of our tradition. 
For instance, look at me. 
I live in the same relation with my Father (your God) as described in the ancient poem of our tradition. 
I live and breath because God lives and breathes in me. 
God is in me as long as I'm alive.
As long as I breathe, he dwells in me and I dwell in him – so, in this sense, my body is more of a temple in the traditional sense, than that building is where you go to worship and hope to find God. 
This is what I preach. 
And whenever the religious law encourages this understanding – it is valid – and whenever it hinders it, it is invalid. 
You think you know how to be religious? 
You don't! 
Your organization gets in the way of your faith!

The New Testament writers took great pains to point  out to us that Jesus came to fulfill the scripture – 
he quotes the Old Testament and interprets the
tradition anew. 
His respect for tradition and history is not questioned. 
Neither is his authority, 
and his authority is unquestionably contemporary to his time.

    Now today, ironically, most of us Christians have
the same concepts and attitudes about our Church and our  religion as the Jews did about their  temple and their  religion at the time of Jesus, don’t we?
 
We have fostered the concept that the church building is God's House – 
we should come here hoping to find God – 
and we should enter, then,  with appropriate reverence
and appreciate the use of music, prayers and ceremony that will uplift our hearts and inspire our souls so our faith may grow. 

There are things we expect from our religion, aren’t there? – 
and there are things we are comfortable with – 
and we identify those things as "traditional" when the tradition may be not really be very old.

    In a real sense,  my call as a laborer among God's people is to seriously come to grips with tradition (religion) that goes back beyond the past 50 or 60 years, even beyond the past 400 years, and beyond the past 2000 years – 
attempting to see the contemporary situation our fathers and mothers in the faith faced,
and how they expressed themselves the way they did (and why they did it that way). 
And then, facing the situation today, [the world around us in the year 2009],
attempt to react in the same manner and express the same faith – 
the same hope for life – 
that was expressed in those old situations. 
This manner informs the things we do here in our worship service on Sunday mornings.

The Easter story is one of encouragement,
of hope,
of enabling dreams and visions of what could be – 
if only.... 

For the story is that Jesus lived as a Son of God –  God lived inside the physical confines of the man Jesus of Nazareth. 
And that was the message the disciples were finally beginning to understand – until Good Friday. 
[Now understand that at this point, Jesus was no different than a dozen other God-men in religious history.]

    But, the significant difference comes when Jesus
dies. 
There, on the cross, we are told, he gives a loud cry –
all that was in his lungs comes out. 
He dies. 
The presence of God escapes from his body. 
Jesus the man, then, is lifeless – 
the body is dead
(and later disappears). 
God left the confines of this "body temple."

    Not only that, but each Gospel writer carefully
records the message that, when this happened
the curtain in the temple was torn in two –
from the top to the bottom. 
God came out of the stone temple –
through the curtain.
No more to be separated and encapsulated in a box or a house. 
No.  He's not there any more.
He is no longer in the body of the man from Nazareth. 
And he is no longer in his box in the temple!

    Where did he go?

    The message was – into Galilee –
back into the world where his followers lived and interacted, as he said he would. 
And his disciples were to go there. 
That's where they would find him. 
Where he said they would:
feeding the hungry,
clothing the poor,
healing the sick,
involved in making the life around them more human,
more hopeful,
more enabling.
They were to join him in his work, and when they did, they knew and experienced the Presence of Christ – just like the old days – even better than the old days!

    You see, Easter tells us of a whole new way of
religion –  a whole new way of religion that's new to
us even 2000 years later! 
The question should be put to each of us today: "Why do you come looking among the dead for the one who lives?"

    You are looking in the wrong place. 
If you want to see the presence of Christ today, get up! 
Get out of here...

    Go.   Go into Galilee. 
Go back home. 
Look around you. 
Go into your worlds and into your neighborhoods. 
Go amongst your friends and family,
the people you encounter during your daily do.
Go find the poor and hungry and needy.
There you will see him. 
Join him in his work. 
Then, then, come back and celebrate Easter every Sunday –
because you enjoy it,
and because you can't wait to share your experiences of the risen Christ with the others in your Church. 
Oh what a church that would be!

   Maybe that kind of church was lost forever in the
2nd century.  Maybe.
But I continue to see glimpses of it with you –
and I continue to stand before you to testify that I've seen this happening here at this church.

    And although some say it is not in the realm of
probability for us –
I am going to continue to work and to preach for the possibility. 
For I am convinced
that we are at the beginning of a whole new world...
the birthday of love and wings
where the ears of ears can awake
and the eyes of our eyes can open
and we can participate in it.

    Friends, the resurrection is for you and for me – 
and we can participate in it – 
by living in a new day in a new way.

    Alleluia!  And amen!


 [The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church experienced this sermon during worship on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006]

It Is Important to Remember Palm Sunday

Today, we remember the parade -- the longest running parade in history!

This parade was extremely significant to the Gospel writers and the early church.
I can think of no other event in the life of Jesus that occurs in all four gospels.

It is important for us to remember Palm Sunday.

It is up to each new generation of believers to keep the story of this moment alive so that Jesus himself lives on in the church.


Today we remember Palm Sunday --
the beginning of the week that was –
Jesus' entrance into the city of Jerusalem.

According to Mark and Matthew this was the first time Jesus ever went to the big city.
Up until now, his entire ministry, his entire life,
had been spent out in the hinterlands, in Jabip,
in little rural communities within walking distance of one another in the countryside known as Galilee.
But, now he went to Jerusalem --
the capital city --
the only big city --
the center of commerce for the whole region --
but, more importantly, the sacred city,
the home of the Temple,
the Holy See of the Jewish faith,
the center of all Judaism.

And here comes Jesus – the country-boy,
the itinerant preacher,
a man on a mission –
and a small rag tag band of his followers,
all simple county-folk,
all probably approaching the big city for the first time in their lives.

No doubt there was excitement in the air –
and a lot of fear and apprehension.
They all had heard stories about the city.
How you had to watch yourself at every turn.
They did things differently in the city.
They knew not about city ways, city customs, about city life.

His closest followers tried to talk Jesus out of going:
We've been fairly successful getting the word out around the country-side.
There is still much to be done among our kind of people.
Why rock the boat?
Why move into Jerusalem now?
Why not stay where we are a little longer?

But, Jesus was on a mission.
It was like he was obsessed –
he was drawn to the city –
he had to go.
In spite of the warnings, Jesus approached the city.

Today, we come here and we remember the parade.

It is right for us take time each year to remember, and to be reminded of, the parade.

One preacher asserts that it is the longest running parade in history!

Our parade is older, and far more meaningful, than the Mummer’s parade.

Our parade is older, and far more meaningful than Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

Our parade is older, and far more meaningful than the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the Columbus Day parade, and any “other-Day” parade you can think of.

Our parade could be the original “ticker-tape” parade –
the original million man march –
the original demonstration march.

Parades seem to have a way of stirring up emotions and releasing us from inhibitions, don’t they?
(I believe that is one of the main motivating factors for those who participate in the Mummers Day Parade each year.)
It's what we see in Marti Gras parades.
And it's what we see happening in our scripture reading today.

Contrary to some of the movies you have seen,
not every one in Jerusalem participated in the parade that day.
To be sure, most people didn't know anything was going on – or hadn't a clue what it was about if they did see it happening.
It would have been not unlike a demonstration on Broad Street that ties up traffic during rush hour some times.
Unless you were there, and encountered the crowds, you wouldn't even have known what had happened.
And even if you were there, chances are you wouldn't have had a clue as what they were protesting, or celebrating.

But, the parade into Jerusalem turned into one of the most significant events in the lives of the first century Christians.

This parade was extremely significant to the Gospel writers and the early church.
It is one of very few events all four gospels describe.
In fact, I can think of no other event in the life of Jesus that occurs in all four gospels –
all four gospels speak of Jesus entering into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey
and being ushered through the streets by a parade of folks dancing and singing and carrying on.

It was an important event.
It was a significant event.
It was a meaningful event.
It was an event worth remembering for those early Christians.
I believe that it is an event worth remembering for us, as well.

I think it is important for us to remember Palm Sunday for three reasons:

As they did in Jerusalem that day, it is right and important for us to recognize the Christ that comes in to our busy lives, (even – and maybe especially – when we are not expecting it);
and
As they did in Jerusalem that day, it is right and important for us to take a public stand and give public witness to our faith;
and
As they did in Jerusalem that day, it is right and important for us to party – to celebrate the presence of Christ.

It was Palm Sunday, and the mother’s 3-year old son had to stay home from church because of strep throat. When the rest of the family came back from church carrying the palm branches, the little boy asked what they were for.
His mother explained, “Well, People held them over their heads and waved as Jesus walked by.”
The boy fumed:
“Wouldn’t you know it. The one Sunday I don’t go, and Jesus shows up.”

The city was crowded on that day.
It was the high holy festival of Passover.
In those days there were no Synagogues in the towns around Galilee – so everyone had to go to the Temple in Jerusalem to for proper observance of the holy day.

Jerusalem was the largest city for hundreds of miles – it was a cosmopolitan place populated by people from all corners of the world –
from all walks of life –
and filled to overflowing with tourists –
visitors – pilgrims –
there for the festival.

The narrow streets were crowded with the hustle and bustle of people going from here to there and back again.
And, every once in a while, someone important would come through.
Horses and chariots were used to make a hole in the crowd and move VIPs through the throngs. Oftentimes the VIPs would have entourages moving through the crowds with them and people would have to stand back and make a way for them go through.
So, there were many mini-parades like this through the streets of the city every day of the year – and even more so this day.

And, so the Gospel writers tell us that Jesus entered the city that day with his entourage –
in many ways mocking the VIP parades.

Now, when I think about this story, I think if I were writing the script it would be somewhat different.
I would have Jesus coming in riding on a blazing white stallion, (you know?), kicking up a cloud of dust as He rode along.
The people he passed would be in awe of such a beautiful animal –
but they would be even more awestruck by the man who was riding it.
As Jesus passed by, you could hear the people say,
"Who was that masked man?"

You see, there were bad guys on the loose and Jesus had a job to do.
As he rode into Jerusalem he would quickly size up the situation and form a plan to capture the ring leader of the trouble makers:
Diablo, the Evil One.
There would be a short fight, (like at the OK Corral) but the outcome would never be in doubt.
Jesus easily defeats Diablo.
He handcuffs the devil and throws him in jail.

As a large crowd of people gathers to see what the commotion was all about, Jesus mounts his horse and pulls on the reins.
His pure white stallion stands on its hind legs, neighing loudly, and pawing the air with its
front legs.
When it stands as tall as it could stand, Jesus leans forward in the saddle.
Holding the reins with one hand while lifting his white hat in the air with the other,
he shouts with a loud voice, "Hi Ho Silver, the Lone Savior."
As Jesus road off into the sunset, the music begins to play softly and gets louder and louder.
(The William Tell Overture).
{Adapted from "Not the Lone Ranger, But the Lone Savior," by Roger Griffith}

Well, you know, it really must have seemed rather comic-like to some, when the long-awaited Messiah entered the city –
even though it was all happening according to what the Hebrew Scriptures had said –
the Messiah would come lowly and humble, on the back of a donkey.

While the image should have brought people's minds to the teachings, which one would expect them to recall,
just like us –
in the midst of things happening around us –
they probably did not make the connection,
at least not immediately.
The disciples of Jesus seem to be somewhat confused in the whole thing themselves.

It was, however, a well thought out, pre-planned event, at least on the part of Jesus.
It was in no way a haphazard plan, was it?
It was meant to be an exact representation, which would convey a precise message to all who would see it – hear about it.
We are reminded, nevertheless, that it really did not make all that much sense,
nor was it understood, until after Easter!

While the hosannas and hoopla that accompanied Jesus as he made his way into Jerusalem on the spindly donkey colt may have seemed spontaneous, today’s text from Matthew suggests that he knew exactly what he was doing,
and his entourage even knew exactly what was expected of them.

* Jesus set the stage by calling for the scripturally prescribed animal.

* The disciples acted with complete and immediate obedience – a sure sign that they knew something was up.

* And, apparently, at least some in the City that day seeing Jesus approach, already accompanied by his own disciples and by those he had previously healed and taught, knew what they were seeing.

* Observant Jews, pious travelers on their way into Jerusalem for Passover, had also heard stories of this man Jesus.

Now, as he appeared mounted on the donkey colt, some of the people brought their long-established traditions, their long-held hopes, to life.

They joyfully joined in the moment,
celebrating the symbolic arrival of a messianic figure,
a prophet as foretold,
with the cries and obeisance deserved by such a dignitary.
They recognized and celebrated the presence of Christ in their midst –
even as they had pressing business at hand to attend to.

As we remember and attempt to recreate the moment Jesus processed into Jerusalem,
we reveal a vital truth about ourselves to our friends and neighbors.
This truth is, we are Christians.
Our faith has feet.
This parade is part of a vital heritage,
a history of sacrifice and service,
of triumph and love.
It is up to each new generation of believers to keep the story of this moment alive so that Jesus himself lives on in the church.

So, today, we celebrate and remember.

But where does it go from there?
Does our marching have a destination?

If all we do at the conclusion of Palm Sunday is hunker down and hide our identity, then like those folks that welcomed him with shouts in Jerusalem, we too are abandoning Jesus the moment he gets off the donkey.

How can we justify going back to life as usual when we have just shouted in the arrival of our king,
our messiah, our Savior?
How can we become true participants in the longest running parade in history — the Jesus parade?

It seems to me that the essence of a parade is a party atmosphere and party spirit.
And the faith question for each of us today is:
Can your spirit party even when everything around you is falling down and coming apart?

Can you trust and obey Jesus enough to party through the jeers as well as the cheers?

Can you wave palm branches and sing hosannas in good times – and in bad times,
in the midst of sorrows as well as celebrations,
on Good Friday as well as No-Name Saturday and Easter morning.

Today, we need to remember there really should be one membership requirement for all those who would join the Jesus parade:
Do you promise to party and celebrate the God who became one of us in good times and bad, for better and for worse?

Any church that parades around its block or its neighborhood singing, waving tree parts, and carrying on should also require all its congregation, as part of their membership vows, to sign a party agreement form: you get kicked out if you can’t/won’t party.

What is making us a hardened-heart, stiff-necked people?
What is making us closed-eared, stone-faced, frostbitten?
What is sapping our joy?
What is shutting down our parade?
What is sending us scuttling home to hide?

I think the message for us is that we need to keep the party going
and to keep the parade moving – in good times and bad.

It’s a matter of faith.
It’s a matter of faith affirmation.
It’s a matter of affirming in the face of the whole world around us that Christ is head of our life – come what may, no matter what.

You can’t join the Jesus parade and not celebrate.
When you join the Jesus parade, you party.
You wave your hands and dance for joy –
not just when life is going your way –
but even when that Perfect Storm called Good Friday hits with all its might.

Palm Sunday reminds us to party on people –
in good times and in bad.
Christ is here.
Celebrate!
Hozanna!
Amen!

This sermon was delivered to the congregation at The Connecting Place: Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, March 28, 2010

Observing Lent the Lord's Way: Fast

I am convinced that if we did observe Lent the Lord’s way,
it could change our perception of reality
and leave us in a much better position to know what happened on that first Easter morning so long ago.


Well, I have mentioned before:
When I graduated from the university, some of my friends  graduated "Cum Laude," it means "With Honors."
And, a few of my friends graduated "Magna Cum Laude" it means "With High Honors."
And I even had a close friend who graduated "Summa Cum Laude" it means "With Supreme Honors."

When they called my name, I believe the phrase they used was "Magna Cum Pellidentium." 
I looked it up.  It means, "By the skin of your teeth."

That is so like so many of us when it comes to knowing about and practicing our faith, isn’t it?
We practice our faith Magna Cum Pellidentium – don’t we?

So, on this Third Sunday in Lent, 2013, we are continuing our quest to see the Lord would want us to observe Lent.
Jesus actually left some pretty specific instruction what we should be doing – but, we tend to skip over these instructions, because . . .

But, I am convinced that if we did observe Lent the Lord’s way,
it could change our perception of reality
and leave us in a much better position to know what happened on that first Easter morning so long ago.

The first week of Lent we observed the Jesus took a time out before he began his earthly ministry.
And, very early on, believers saw the benefits of doing that as well.
We are told that Jesus took 40 days to off, fast, and confront his demons.
The early believers thought we should take 40 days as well to prepare for our ministries.
In fact, they saw wisdom in taking 40 days each year just before Easter to prepare ourselves to receive and understand and properly celebrate what Easter reveals to us.
So, the first week, we were reminded to take time to take a time out each day between now and Easter.
 
Last week, we looked at how our Lenten observance should be totally incognito – off the radar – out of the public eye.
In fact, Jesus said, to be sure to wash your face and comb your hair – so no one will know what you are up to.

And, so today, I am looking at tackle the notion of Fasting.
We know what fasting is, don’t we?
We have heard about people who fast,
we have read about people who fast,
perhaps even a few in this room have fasted in the past.
While we know what it is,
fasting is certainly not main stream for us,
or for anyone we know, is it?

But, we know what fasting is. 
The dictionary definition is going without food and/or drink for a period of time. 
We are told that Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness before he began his ministry.

Gandhi fasted.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Fasted.
Peace demonstrators fasted.
Some prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center fasted.

In fact, fasting seems to be something some people do in an attempt to attract attention to their cause.

Personally, I have never understood this on at least two counts:
I am sure that I could fast for a week – or even 40 days and 40 nights – and no one would care. 
No one would notice.
Nothing would change.

And, secondly, I know you will find this hard to believe, but when I go without food, I get cranky.
I know, it is so against the image you have of me, but I do get cranky when I go without food for too long.  
I am unbearable. 
I know, it is hard to believe, but ask Suzanne.
When I was discussing this with my daughter, she asked, well how long have you ever gone without eating.
I responded: “Oh, eight or nine hours.”

We know what fasting is:
Going without food and/or drink for a period of time.  
People of the Jewish faith knew what fasting was.
In fact, it had become a sacred act – something a person did regularly in order to gain favor with God. 
Fasting and offering animal sacrifice were part and parcel of how they expressed their faith. 

The early Christians knew what fasting was. 
After all, they were Jews at first,
and fasting was still practiced as a way of humbling oneself in order to get your priorities in life straight. 
So, we are told, Jesus fasted before he began his ministry – for 40 days and 40 nights, we are told.
[By then, I would be soooo cranky.]

Because it was so widely practiced, we are told that Jesus felt like he had to address the issue right there during his sermon on the mount. 

When you fast, he says.
Not if you fast, but when you fast.
You do it, you know you do, so listen,
when you do it, don’t do like the hypocrites do by putting on a sad face and making a show of it,
but make sure you wash your face and comb your hair so others won’t know what you are doing.

Wash your face and comb your hair is good advice.
When the practice of our religion is done in public for all to see – for people to see how holy you must be, it is wrong, Jesus said.
Good advice. 

But, there is a problem with our understanding of this fasting concept. 

Long before Jesus, 3-400 hundred years before Jesus, this prophet appeared in Judea and began spouting the weirdest things. 
This prophet spoke for the Lord God. 
He spoke with authority to the priests and to all the people. 

Everyone knew him and recognized his authority. 
They listened to him and even came to him for advice.

The people of faith came to him with their complaints.
Look, they said. 
What’s happening here?
What’s going on?
It seems as if the Lord has abandoned us. 
We have been left to cope all alone. 
We hear nothing from the Lord. 
Bad things happen to good people – and we don’t know why.
We pray and nothing happens.
We fast and nothing happens.
What gives.
Why should we fast if the Lord never notices?
Why should we starve ourselves if the Lord pays no attention?

And, the 58th chapter of Isaiah tells us that in response to those complaints the Lord said:
The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers.
Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight.   [You get cranky, the Lord says.]
Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?
When you fast, you make yourselves suffer;
you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on.
Is that what you call fasting?
Do you think I will be pleased with that?

And, then to everyone’s surprise, the whole concept of fasting gets completely redefined.
Do you think I will be pleased with that?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to get my attention?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to get my favor?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to influence what happens to  you?
Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?

If you fast to have influence with the Lord God the Creator of the Universe and all there is,
your faith is on the wrong track.
If you think ANY of your faith rituals is going to influence me, you have another think coming. 

And, then, Isaiah drops the hammer:
The Lord says words they did not want to hear –
Words WE do not want to hear today.
"This is the kind of fasting I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
This is what it really means to worship the LORD.
Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don't  [ever] turn away your relatives.

"get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
[Be]  generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,

This is what this religion is all about.
This is what I notice.
This is what gets my attention.
This is the Lord’s work.
Later on, Jesus picks up this theme when he says this is what is going to be on the final exam –
this is what you will be asked about during your orals –
this is what you will be judged on.
Because this is our calling.
This is what we are to be doing.
This is what we are about.
Our faith is about living for others. 
When we give of ourselves for another, we make the ultimate call.
Jesus would say, when you do these things for these people, you doing these things for me –
you are doing these things to me. 

For sure, this requires radical reorientation.
This goes so against what we were taught –
and what we learned so well –
and what we all bought in to.

Its not about me.
When it is about me, it is a distorted reality.

For the promise is made –
and has been so many times throughout history – and there are some people in this very room –
who can vouch for veracity of the promise:
when you work toward these ends,
when you do this ministry for others,
when you live your life so others may live better,
you will have great rewards.

"Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun,
and your wounds will be quickly healed.
I will always be with you to save you;
my presence will protect you on every side.
When you pray, I will answer you.
When you call to me, I will respond.

That’s the promise.
That’s the bargain.

"If you put an end to oppression,
to every gesture of contempt,
and to every evil word; 
if you give food to the hungry
and satisfy those who are in need,
then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon.

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

This is the kind of fasting the Lord wants.
This is the kind of fasting the Lord responds to.
This is the kind of fasting that is part and parcel of our faith. 
This is the kind of fasting that is an integral part of how we might observe Lent the Lord’s way. 
This kind of fasting is an important component to an appropriate Lenten observance. 

It’s the Lord’s work.
And it is what we are to do.
Amen.

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service  on the third Sunday of Lent, March 3, 2013.

A Lenten Awe-roebic Exercise: Fast (It's the Lord's Work)

When you fast, be sure that you wash your face and comb your hair.

During Lent this year we are looking at various Lenten Practices – what I have called awe-robic exercises – that we do pretty routinely whenever we come to worship here at Christ Church –
Awe-Robic Exercises which, if lifted up and practiced, could change our perception of reality and leave us in a much better position to know what happened on that first Easter morning so long ago.

The first awe-robic exercise we looked at was to Observe Lent.
By consciously setting aside time on a periodic basis to consider how our faith affects our life, we take the first step toward awe-awareness – being aware of the inspired nature of the created world in which we live.

Then we looked at the importance of regular worship participation for our well-being.

And, today, we tackle the notion of Fasting.

We know what fasting is, don’t we?
We have heard about people who fast,
we have read about people who fast,
perhaps even a few in this room have fasted in the past.
While we know what it is, fasting is certainly not main stream for us, or for anyone we know, is it?

But, we know what fasting is.
The dictionary definition is going without food and/or drink for a period of time.

We are told that Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness before he began his ministry.

Gandhi fasted.
Martin Luther King, Jr. fasted.
Peace demonstrators fasted.
Some prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center fasted.
In fact, fasting seems to be something some people do in an attempt to attract attention to their cause.

Personally, I have never understood this on at least two counts:
I am sure that I could fast for a week – or even 40 days and 40 nights – and no one would care.
No one would notice.
Nothing would change.

And, secondly, I know you will find this hard to believe, but when I go without food, I get cranky.
I know, it is so against the image you have of me, but I do get cranky when I go without food for too long.
I am unbearable.
I know, it is hard to believe, but ask Suzanne.
When I was discussing this with my daughter, she asked, well how long have you ever gone without eating.
I responded: “Oh, eight or nine hours.”

We know what fasting is:
Going without food and/or drink for a period of time.

People of the Jewish faith knew what fasting was.
In fact, it had become a sacred act – something a person did regularly in order to gain favor with God.
Fasting and offering animal sacrifice were part and parcel of how they expressed their faith.

The early Christians knew what fasting was.
After all, they were Jews at first,
and fasting was still practiced as a way of humbling oneself in order to get your priorities in life straight.
So, we are told, Jesus fasted before he began his ministry – for 40 days and 40 nights, we are told.
[By then, I would be soooo cranky.]

Because it was so widely practiced, we are told that Jesus felt like he had to address the issue right there during his sermon on the mount.

When you fast, he says.
Not if you fast, but when you fast.
You do it, you know you do, so listen, when you do it, don’t do like the hypocrites do by putting on a sad face and making a show of it,
but make sure you wash your face and comb your hair so others won’t know what you are doing.

Wash your face and comb your hair is good advice.
When the practice of our religion is done in public for all to see – for people to see how holy you must be, it is wrong, Jesus said.
Good advice.

But, there is a problem with our understanding of this fasting concept.

Long before Jesus, 3-400 hundred years before Jesus, this prophet appeared in Judea and began spouting the weirdest things.
This prophet spoke for the Lord God.
He spoke with authority to the priests and to all the people.

Everyone knew him and recognized his authority.
They listened to him and even came to him for advice.

The people of faith came to him with their complaints.
Look, they said.
It seems as if the Lord has abandoned us.
We have been left to cope all alone.
We hear nothing from the Lord.
Bad things happen to good people – and we don’t know why.

We pray and nothing happens.
We fast and nothing happens.
What gives.
Why should we fast if the Lord never notices?
Why should we starve ourselves if the Lord pays no attention?

And, the 58th chapter of Isaiah tells us that in response to those complaints the Lord said:
The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers.
Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. [You get cranky, the Lord says.]
Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?
When you fast, you make yourselves suffer;
you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on.
Is that what you call fasting?
Do you think I will be pleased with that?

And, then to everyone’s surprise, the concept of fasting gets completely redefined.
Do you think I will be pleased with that?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to get my attention?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to get my favor?
Do you think that going without food and or drink for a period of time is going to influence what happens to you?
Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?

If you fast to have influence with the Lord God the Creator of the Universe and all there is, your faith is on the wrong track.
If you think any of your faith rituals is going to influence me, you have another think coming.

And, Isaiah drops the hammer:
The Lord says words they did not want to hear –
Words we do not want to hear today.
"This is the kind of fasting I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.

This is what it really means to worship the LORD.
Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don't [ever] turn away your relatives.

"get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
[Be] generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, "

This is what this religion is all about.
This is what I notice.
This is what gets my attention.
This is the Lord’s work.

Later on, Jesus picks up this theme when he says this is what is going to be on the final exam –
this is what you will be asked about during your orals –
this is what you will be judged on.

Because this is our calling.
This is what we are to be doing.
This is what we are about.
Our faith is about living for others.

When we give of ourselves for another, we make the ultimate call.

Jesus would say, when you do these things for these people, you doing these things for me –
you are doing these things to me.

For sure, this requires radical reorientation.
This goes so against what we were taught –
and what we learned so well –
and what we all bought in to.

Its not about me.
When it is about me, it is a distorted reality.

For the promise is made – and has been so many times throughout history – and there are some people in this very room – who can vouch for veracity of the promise:
when you work toward these ends,
when you do this ministry for others,
when you live your life so others may live better,
you will have great rewards.

"Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed.
I will always be with you to save you;
my presence will protect you on every side.
When you pray, I will answer you.
When you call to me, I will respond."
That’s the promise.
That’s the bargain.

"If you put an end to oppression,
to every gesture of contempt,
and to every evil word;
(10) if you give food to the hungry
and satisfy those who are in need,
then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon."

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

This is the kind of fasting the Lord wants.
This is the kind of fasting the Lord responds to.
This is the kind of fasting that is part and parcel of our faith.
This is the kind of fasting that can only increase our awe-awareness.
This kind of fasting is an important component to an awe-robic exercise program.

It’s the Lord’s work.
And it is what we are to do.
Amen.

This is a portion of a sermon delivered from the pulpit of Christ Presbyterian Church, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, on March 7, 2010.