Christmas gift

Yesterday some friends gave me a bottle of Pyrat rum, XO reserve, from the British West Indies, in a very pretty presentation box. This stuff is luscious! It has strong, smooth flavors of orange peel and caramel, with a hint of lime. I only take a very small sip at a time of this 80 proof elixir, and mixing it with anything, except perhaps an ice cube, would upset its wonderful balance.

St. Stephen's Day

Today is also called "Boxing Day" in Britain.

Happy boxing!

The Song of Heaven and Earth

Christmas Eve homily, 2008

Scripture – Rev. 5
8When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."
11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 14And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen " And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Sermon
I like to brag about people I know. Not name-dropping, trying to connect myself with someone famous, but telling stories about my friends and what they do, saying things like, “Did I tell you about my friend X? He combines tenderness and toughness towards children in a way that matures them but without bruising them, and they keep coming back for more.” Or, “Did I tell you about my friend Y? She helps people turn their lives around, getting them out of toxic habits and showing them the love of God.” I have some pretty amazing friends. They make good stories.

The Advent sermons this year at City Presbyterian Church have been about the songs in the first two chapters of St. Luke’s gospel: The Song of Zecharias, the Song of Mary, the Song of the Angels, and the Song of Simeon. Tonight we look at one more song, in the fifth chapter of Revelation. This is a song that all heaven and earth sing, praising Jesus, whose birth we celebrate tonight, and it shows the whole sweep of his mission to rescue us. It connects to the other songs in Luke, and, like them, it praises God and Jesus whom he sent. All these songs brag on Jesus and say how great he is.

By the way, have I told you about this Jesus? Very God of very God, He was God with God from everlasting, from before time, and yet, when we, his people, rebelled and got ourselves into such trouble that it would destroy us, he took on our humanity as his own to come and rescue us.

What do you mean impossible? Well, yes, I suppose so. There are people, some very smart people, who say that. If you already know what’s possible for God and what isn’t, and you know that incarnation isn’t included in the possibility list, then either this didn’t happen, or maybe, just maybe, God can do what we don’t understand.

Let’s make it even more of a problem. This Jesus was born to a virgin. Oh, yes, of course that kind of thing doesn’t happen. People back then knew it too, so when his mother became pregnant, it caused a typical small-town scandal. His mother, Mary, was poor and only engaged to be married, to a carpenter named Joseph, and he was prepared to break up with her quietly, but angels appeared to both of them to tell them that God and not man had caused this pregnancy. Confusing and Scary? I should think so! The first thing angels usually tell people is not to be afraid, they are that scary! But anyway, Joseph and Mary stayed together, and so God in human flesh was born.

And name the baby “Jesus,” which means “Yahweh saves.” Pretty cool name, huh? And he grows up to be a teacher and a miracle-worker, healing people of diseases, calming storms, and teaching people how to love God and each other.

What? Well, yes and no, he had a big following and was respected by quite a few people, but the authorities didn’t like him much. Why? Well, because he was and still is too much of a challenge for anybody. He’s God, after all, and we are fundamentally in rebellion against him. But he heals our hearts so we can really, really hear him, so we understand that he himself is our light and our life. And that shows us the darkness and death that we have preferred. He is real bread and living water, and that shows us the ashes and dust that we have mistaken for food. Can you see how big a challenge that is, to tell us that our attempts to be self-sufficient are a sham and a fraud? To call our treasures junk, to call our banquets poisonous, to call the kings of this world upstarts and imposters? Yes, you can imagine how much trouble THAT caused. And it caught up with him.

Ha! Yes, you have that right. “If he was really God, don’t you think he would see what would happen?” Oh yes, he did. Just by being himself he stirred up trouble, and he did it on purpose, he did. So the God-man appears, and the powers of this world take him down.
No. No. They didn’t just “try” to take him down. They did it. They did. And that’s the darkest part of the story. They killed him, and in a very painful, grotesque way, by nailing him to a cross.

Why did he let them do this? It was part of his plan. These people he came to rescue, we, the rebels against God, needed more than an example, because we couldn’t have followed it. We wouldn’t have wanted to do so. We needed more than a picture of the kingdom of heaven, because it wouldn’t have interested us. We had twisted ourselves so badly that we needed to be re-made. We were so deeply, thoroughly infected that—well—the problem wasn’t like a bad kidney that could be pulled out or replaced and we would be better. No, the badness, the anti-God-ness, the me-first-ness, the I-will-be-my-own-God-ness, was in every cell and atom and breath of our being. The whole thing had to be destroyed, we had to be done away with and re-created. And that’s why he died. We were included in his death, so that, when he died, we died. No really, we did. Yes, it sounds absurd, but reality is like that. Ask a physicist who looks at sub-atomic particles, an astronomer who looks at the edge of the universe, or anybody who deals with small children. Reality is just strange when you see it the first time. And then you see it, and you see the wonder of it.

Of course, the people who loved him and followed him didn’t see it, either. They were caught by surprise, even though he had tried to warn them. They were terrified, because it looked like Death and Sin had killed him who was Life and Holiness. It looked like the Dark had put out the Light.

But on the Sunday morning after that dark Friday, the tomb they buried him in was empty. Angels appeared again, frightening people the way they do, but saying that Jesus had risen from the dead. And then he himself shows up to his followers. And he’s not just a spirit, he has risen in his physical body. He eats and drinks with his followers and hangs around for 40 days, then is taken bodily into heaven. And our new life, our new creation, the new “us” is in him. You might think that center of our life is in this material body that we daily clothe and feed, but no, our life is hidden in him in heaven. That’s why we can treat our bodies with respect and care, but ultimately live dangerously, because our life is hidden with him.

Why care about our bodies? Oh, because they are wonderful gifts from him. After all, he shows us the goodness of the material world by taking a body for himself and living in this world that he created.

Why not just go to heaven right now? Because he lets us take part in his mission, his war, his conquest, to proclaim that Jesus is Lord of every bit of the world that rejects him.
No, not by smashing the people who resist, but by loving them. It’s Jesus who is Lord, and his lordship is like him—gentle, loving, not giving up but patient, insistent, unrelenting and, ultimately, winning. If there’s any conquering to do, then he does it by melting the coldness of hearts. Yes, there will be real opposition, opposition that is equipped with power, wealth, gossip, and malice. We are here as invaders in a world where they think they are lords. And so we will have to oppose people who fight against Jesus, but our opposition must be like his, not like theirs.

And, finally, we come to our text. The people of Jesus are often the powerless, the poor, the despised. But in the book of Revelation he reveals himself to be the beginning and end of all things. He works in and through and around us, so that the victory is his, and we share his victory with him. The book of Revelation is like an ancient Roman triumphal parade. We see all manner of bizarre sights go by, strange creatures doing strange things, with choirs going before and after, singing these songs of praise, proclaiming that Jesus has conquered all darkness and sin and death. His enemies, these spiritual powers that opposed him and killed us, and the people who have refused God’s love and lordship, are also in the parade, bound in chains and thrown into a pit.

In Chapter 5 we see and hear the choirs, all heaven and earth proclaiming that this lamb who was killed has rescued us and brought us home, safe and alive. This God took on our flesh and became one of us that we might live with him. And so he is worthy to “to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And all heaven and earth sing, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." And in chapter 11 the choirs sing, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And if we hear the music of Handel in their voices, that’s not a bad thing.

And so tomorrow we open presents and eat holiday food, and we sing songs about this Jesus, the God-man, who was born and died and was resurrected and ascended for us. Let us give thanks for this great gift of himself that he gave us. And, having received him, let us live in him and by him. And let us pass this gift along to others, loving them as he loves us. And let us brag on our Savior, maybe start a conversation by saying, “By the way, have I told you about Jesus?”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.