Jan. 25th
The Conversion of St. Paul

January 25th is the day the church commemorates the conversion of St. Paul, which is recorded in Acts Ch. 9. This day also marks the end of the Christian Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which begins on the 18th when we commemorate the Confession of St. Peter.

Why do we celebrate the Conversion of Paul? First and foremost we can consider that the Pharisee Saul who we know as St. Paul, was the one who most clearly , and copiously, explained to us what it meant that this Lord Jesus Christ had come into the world. It is through Paul, and I believe through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Revelation of Jesus Christ which Paul received throughout his life, that we are told what the life, death, and resurrection means. We are told through Paul what happens to us through our Baptism, we learn from Paul that we are given a new life when we are claimed by Jesus Christ. The Gospels tell us what Jesus Christ did. Paul is the person who helped us understand what all that Jesus did meant and means for us.

Also we remember that Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul’s mission was to the people who were not of the House of Israel and were not Children of Abraham. That means that Paul’s mission and work was to us. Most of us are not and were not Jewish. But Christ showed Paul that this life of Jesus was not just for those who always were God’s people (and always will be). But that this life of Christ is one which all are welcomed to and that all people regardless of where they are from, what their background is, or who their family is – all are welcome to this life of Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus called and chose Paul, for this mission of letting us understand that the life of Christ and the Church of Jesus calls to all people. It is because Jesus Christ used Paul that you and I can call ourselves Christians today. Paul was also the one who helped us to understand that it was in this baptism that we are literally grafted into the promised that God originally made to Abraham. Paul is the one who helps us see that Christ has made us and made us part of the eternal covenant that God made to Israel.

Paul is an important person. We celebrate what he did after his conversion, but I believe that the story of his conversion itself is full of the good news of Jesus Christ for us. Because knowing what, and who, Paul became we can see the great miracle of what Jesus did in calling to follow.

The miraculous thing about Paul is that he was not, nor did he have any interest in being a Christian before Jesus Christ showed up. I’ve said this is sermons when talking about Paul, that the Pharisee Saul was the bad guy. According to Acts 9, Saul receives letters to go to Damascus for the purpose of arresting any followers of Christ, and to try and stamp out any sparks of Christianity there.

Paul tells us of his life in as a Pharisee that he was responsible for dragging people from their homes, putting Christians in chains, and supporting the authorities in their decisions to put Christians to death for blasphemy. Before Jesus shows up, Paul was really on the other side he was the guy trying to destroy and to break down – to stomp out the first shoots of the new church trying to root in this soil of the Holy Land.

When Jesus shows up all of that changes. We hear in Acts that Paul is struck blind by the glory of the Lord. Jesus shows him the truth, that he is the way and the truth and the light. Paul is literally blind and sits in darkness for three days and neither eats or drinks. What we can take from this is that this Revelation for Jesus so shook Paul that he was simply blown out of the water (as it were). Everything that Paul had ever believed, ever followed, ever known was simply turned upside down and on its head once he met the living Lord Jesus Christ.

Understand that Paul wasn’t trying to destroy the church because he was especially sadistic or mean. He was a faithful Jew, a zealous and devoted Pharisee. To him these new Christians were heretics. People who were a threat to the true faith of Abraham. So Paul was zealously doing what he thought he should, trying to stamp out bad thought that, he believed, endangered the faith. So he pursued with ultimate fervor these people who he thought were a threat to the truth of God and who he probably thought were truly of the devil.

Then he meets Jesus. When he meets Jesus he sees that Christ is the truth that Paul thought he had been defending. Christ’s presence flips a switch in Paul, and completely turns him around. Paul thought he was working to defend the honor of the eternal Lord God. But when he meets the eternal God in Christ Jesus our Lord, he realizes that he was all wrong.

In the grace and mercy of God, Jesus sends Ananias for the purpose of baptizing this man, and welcoming Paul into the eternal life with Jesus. Jesus could have wiped Paul out, he could have caused him to fall over dead. But, instead, Jesus Christ claims the enemy and makes him the great defender of the faith.

Now that is a good story. But for you and I there is a lot of power in this conversion of St. Paul. Because, and I know some of you have heard me say this before. None of you are as bad as Paul. None of you were trying to destroy, kill, and tear down the church. Everyone of us has things we have done, every one of us has committed sins that we regret (if you don’t think that you do then you are lying to yourself). But none of us were ever as bad as Paul. But what did Jesus do with the one who was trying to kill the saints? Jesus made him a saint.

Jesus called the enemy, the broken, the lost – and put him on the right path which is the one of following Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus did that. Paul was trying to tear down, Jesus claimed him and then used Paul to build up the church for his time and for all time.

What that says to me, and what the conversion of Paul should say to all of us is – that you are never too lost for God. You are never so bad that God is ever – EVER – going to turn away from you. I don’ t care how mean and nasty you think you are – you ain’t got nothing on Paul. Or the other saints of the Bible who God claimed, turned, and used for his purpose. Like Moses who started off his life murdering and Egyptian, or Jacob who started off his life stealing his brothers birthright and lying to his old blind father, or David who God blessed and protected but then turned from God by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband Uriah killed. All of these are ones that despite their sin and their initial short comings and the way that they messed up and did very ungodly things – God used them and turned them to his purpose.

The point of Paul and all of the Bible is that God will and does forgive and turn you. So no matter what you have done – I hope that Paul can hold up to you that this life with Jesus is for you. Jesus called Paul and Christ is calling us – all of us each and every moment deeper into his life and closer to his heart. We follow by trusting him, and loving and caring for others, and letting Christ be the difference in our lives. WE get to be people who love this broken world. People who can look at things like the conversion of St. Paul and say that all things are possible with God.
Know this, that the same Jesus Christ who turned Paul around, is the same one who is with you, and loves you, and will never abandon you. The same Jesus who calls us to follow.

Feast Day of the Conversion of St. Paul
2012

Icon of the Nativity

I am writing this on Friday the 23rd, but let me take the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas.  I wanted to share with you this icon of the Nativity which is a fairly standard image in iconography and which works together to tell the story of the birth of Jesus.  Remember that Icons developed in an age when many could not read, and the images in them helped to tell the story of the faith and pass that faith on to the people.  The same can be said for stained glass windows, religious carvings, and the many ways that churches have been decorated through the ages.  These images which appeared in the church were not just to make the inside of the building look pretty, they were there to tell the story and help people remember all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So if you take a look at the image there are several parts of the Christmas story which you will recognize.  The center of the icon is Mary reclining after giving birth to our Lord Jesus. If we look at the icon you will see that Mary and Jesus are surrounded with all types of imagery all of which point to the reality of who Jesus Christ is and why he has come to us. 

Notice that this is no stable that our Lord is born in here. In this image we see Christ being born in a cave.  If you were ever to go to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem you would see that Jesus that it was a cave that was being used as a stable for animals.  This was common at the time because caves had a natural roofs.  Notice that the mountain or hill that surrounds the cave are rocky and craggy with almost pointy edges.  This is to remind us that Jesus came into this world which can be sharp, and hard, and can cause us pain and suffering.  If we look at the very center of the icon we will notice that the cave is the darkness which is broken by the light of Christ.  In this particular version we can see the small dot of light shining out in the darkness above the head of Jesus.  Also Jesus is wrapped in the white clothes reminding us of the purity and light that he is which breaks through the darkness of sin and death.

 If we continue to look at the image of our Lord we will notice that what can be seen as a cave, a manger, and swaddling clothes; could also be interpreted as images of a tomb, a burial vault, and bands of cloth that would be used to wrap Jesus body in and prepare him for burial.  This is not because the iconographers are trying to be morbid.  But it is to remind us that this one who is the baby in the manger, is also Christ the Lord who came to die for the sake of the world.  This is the one who would be crucified, die and be placed in the tomb.  But again as we look at this icon which points to the birth and the life of Christ - we are reminded that even through the darkness of death - Jesus shines and is the one who did rise again.  Also we are pointed to the fact that because of him - we too shall rise.

It is important also to notice that Christ is the exact center of this icon and that thereby the story seems to radiate out from him.  Or maybe it is better to say - all of the story - and all of the world is drawn into him who is the light of the world.

Now if we look at the top of the icon we see the star, whose rays are pointing down toward Jesus.  You may also notice that in the star image there seem to be several stars gathered together.  This is not saying that the Star of Bethlehem was in fact a constellation.  It is saying that all of the heavens are pointing down, or kneeling down toward the Messiah.  All of the heavens turn toward him in reverence and awe - and with that all of nature - bows before the incarnate Lord.  The one who made them to begin with.  Also notice that this beam that is coming from the star seem to be splitting the rock in two and there is not a line between Jesus who is on earth and the heavens.  That is because in Jesus Christ the veil that divides heaven and earth has been rent asunder.  Jesus came to us to bring the life of heaven to us. 

Above the manger where Jesus lay we see angels.  These have both literal and symbolic meaning.  They are the literal representation of the gospel of Luke where the angel (on the right) appears to the shepherds and says - Be not afraid for unto you the Messiah has come.  Then right after that the sky is full heavenly hosts singing a praising God in heaven.  So we have the imprint of this story here.

But symbolically we have something more and that is the neat thing about these icons, they speak on several levels.  Notice again the angel on the right above the shepherds.  This angel is standing literally between the ray from heaven and the shepherds.  If you look closely you can see the angels hand is extended and it looks almost like he is giving a blessing.  Why would he be doing this?  Because the birth of Christ is a blessing from heaven to the earth, God is blessing them with the good news of the birth of Jesus and blessing them with the fact that Christ has come. 

On the left we have three angels together.  Why three?  Well quite possibly the angels represent the three members of the Holy Trinity.  There is a famous icon by iconographer Andrei Rublev, which is called The Trinity, and it shows three angels (the three who have come to visit Abraham) sitting down for a meal.  It often occurs in iconography that the Trinity appears in this form as three angels close together. 

You might say, why is the Trinity there when we see Jesus lying in the manger - isn't Jesus a member of the Trinity?  If you had this objection I love you even more, because you are absolutely right.  Jesus is the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.  I think what is going on here is two things.  The icon is reminding us that the FULLNESS of who God is has come and all of the TRINITY has shown up in Jesus.  Also it is reminding us that even though our Lord Christ is lying in the manger - he is still the Lord of all through whom all things came into being.  He is God and nothing will ever change that.  He can be lying in the manger and controlling all of reality at the same time.  So with the presence of the three angels we are reminded that this one who has come is nothing less than the fullness of who God is that has taken on flesh and lived among us. Also notice that this image of the Trinity is on earth, God is touching earth here.  That is exactly who and what Jesus does and is.

 Now as we move to the bottom of the icon I want to point out the small trees and the two images.  The trees are there to represent the Root of Jesse's stem, and the branch of David.  You will remember that Jesus is the promised Messiah from the line of David - that is why the trees are there.

These two other images you might not be familiar with.  There is a pair of women giving a baby a bath, and there is an old man talking to a not so old man.  These images are part of stories which are not in the bible but in the early days of the church were associated with and around the nativity.  I tell them to you because they are sort of fun and you might enjoy them.

The ladies at the bottom left are supposed to be midwives or maids who come to help Mary with the birth.  Part of this story comes from what is called the Protoevangelium of James.  Isn't that a wonderful name?  It was a book from the second century which talked about the life of Mary.  As such it has an account that when Jesus was born Joseph brought in a midwife and a woman who is named Salome to assist with the birth.  After Jesus was born the two women took the baby and gave him his first bath - which we see here.  The ties to baptism should be clear, that in this story (which again is not in the Bible) that we see that the first thing that Christ does in his life in this world is he is washed clean - the link for us being that our first moments in the Christian life are when we are washed clean in the waters of baptism. 

On the other side of the frame we see these two men sitting.  The younger of the two looks distraught.  You may also the younger man has a halo whereas the older man in the coat and hat doesn't.  The sad looking man is Joseph, the protector of Jesus, the adopted father of our Lord.  What is going on here is part of another OLD story about the birth of Jesus - again not a Biblical tradition but something that was known as part of the tradition of the nativity.  (Sort of the same way that Davey Crockett was a real person - but there is also a song that he killed a bear when he was three - yeah that bear thing didn't happen but still a good story).  So here we see Joseph and the story goes that Satan came disguised as an old man.  He sees the already down trodden Joseph and starts to ask whose baby that is.  Satan is essentially turning the screw saying to Joseph, "That's not your baby," or "She's lying to you". 

The significance of this is that it reminds us that this is a remarkable thing which God has done in Christ.  A virgin little girl getting pregnant and having a baby - and by the way that baby is God in the flesh.  Yeah that is crazy and we wouldn't be able to ever expect that God would do such a thing had God not done it.  This image speaks to us then and reminds us that we can't figure out the incarnation and the great mystery of God coming to us by using our mental faculties.  Because what God has done in the incarnation so far defies expectation and explanation. 

God has done something new and amazing - God has come in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I think that is probably enough for today, if you have any questions about this icon, icons in general, or want to see up close a version of what we have been talking about here, come by my office - or send me a question through the contact address on this website. 

I pray that you have a Merry Christmas.  I pray that God will bless you and keep you.  And I hope that you will know the Peace of Christ which passes all understanding. 

And Please - Go To Church.  Jesus will be there, and maybe just maybe the Holy Spirit will speak to you and help you move closer to the heart of God.

In Christ

Pastor Mike

(Sermon reflection from Advent Midweek Dec. 14)                      The question we are addressing tonight is “Can the Devil Win?” I was asked this question by someone who had a real concern, if there is evil in the world, and evil (as we know looks pretty bad) the question was could this evil every be victorious, could the devil somehow over throw or worse – throw down the great and powerful God. The answer is NO! The devil cannot win, the devil cannot be victorious over God. I hope that you had anticipated that answer.

But I want to tell you why the devil cannot win, and the reason for that is what we have been talking about these last couple of weeks as we gather for our midweek services. The answer is a simple one. You will remember that I told you that God is the great and powerful Lord of all. God is the Creator, it is through God that all things came into being. Before there were any things before there was any creation there was God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And there was nothing else – only God.

But as you will remember God made all that is and nothing that exist would be had not God made it. That means you and I, earth and all the stars, everything in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and even the angels in heaven. The angels are created, the heavenly hosts are creatures – made by God just as you and I are. And the thing is what little we hear about the devil, Lucifer, the great Satan, the dragon – what little we hear of him and where he came from – we hear that this Devil is one who was a member of the heavenly hosts but fell away. Satan was the one who turned from God, and apparently many followed.

But the important thing for us to remember is that even the big boogie man himself, the Devil, Satan, the Lord of Lies and the master of Hell – he is a creature too. Now the devil doesn’t want you to think that. The devil wants you to think that he is some type of primordial eternal force. But that is simply not true. The devil is part of those that fell, those that were created and made by God – but turned and rebelled and went off into the darkness. Because of their anger, rejection, and their desire not to be alone in their torment – they tempt and provoke us. But no matter what – Satan is always a creature, a creation. And guess what – the created – will never and can never overcome or defeat the creator. God in his goodness and his mercy and light is what is and what will be.

Lucifer wants you to think that he has a chance and that he will rise up and therefore being mean and nasty and evil is the way to go – hey it is the way of the world right. But the truth is that the world is passing away. And all that will be left in the end will be God and those he has in his mercy and justice claimed and kept. So no – the devil can’t win.

If you want proof read the Bible. See what happens when an entire Legion, an army of devils, possesses the man at Genneserat. This legion of demons begs Jesus Christ not to throw them into the darkness. They are begging because Jesus who is the incarnation of the Creator of Heaven and Earth could just as easily have unmade those rebellious spirits and they simply would not exist. The demons flee before the power and the name of Jesus Christ – because despite how much the world and the evils that run through it and through us try to testify to their power there is only one true power in heaven and earth and that is God.

That leads us to another topic I want to reflect on tonight – what is sin. If God made heaven and earth and created us in it, what is sin and why is it in this world. God made the world right, why isn’t their just perfection.

Well the answer is quite simple. God doesn’t force you to do anything. God wants you to come to him and to love him. To be able to do that, you have to have the ability and the freedom to chose God, and to chose to follow God. That is for two reasons. One, if you make or force someone to love you, it isn’t love - it is slavery. God doesn’t want slaves or puppets, God wants children. God wants you to be in relationship with him and so God offers his life to you freely, and pours out his eternal yes and welcome of love to you. But God doesn’t make you love him.

You see the thing is, we humans were made to be in perfect and full communion with God. That is how you were made, that is how you were created. That is the reality which is reflected in the Garden of Eden Story when our first parents walked with God in the cool of the evening, talked with God and lived completely and totally WITH our Heavenly Father.

But what happened? We turned away. Temptation in the form of the serpent said, don’t listen to what God said – meaning don’t follow the way God leads you - don’t put your trust in him – you and I know better than God – eat that forbidden fruit. And that is where sin came in. The sin wasn’t that the people ate the apple, but that they thought they knew better than God, they turned away from the way that God was guiding and leading them – and followed their own hearts and desires.

What sin is then is BROKENESS. God wants us to follow him and live in perfect communion and harmony with him – but we BROKE that relationship. We turned away from God. Now instead of thinking rightly that God is the creator, the source of all life, and all that will be AS SUCH WE SHOULD FOLLOW HIM.

We think that we are the masters of our own world and our own universe. We put ourselves into the center of all things and we humans let our desires and our passions lead and guide us through this life. That is the path to destruction. Because we were not made for that. We have broken the relationship with God and we have fallen away from what we are supposed to be.

Sin is not just “Doing what you aren’t supposed to do” – but sin is a destruction of the relationship between us and God that we were created for. If we live apart from God, if we persist in our sin and don’t repent, we are simply rotting away – because God is the only one that can offer us true life. Without him all things end.

The devil would have you think – no do what you want – you have to be you, live out your passions and desires. You have to go with what you feel and look out for number one. And he is right if you want to spend eternity in the grave. He is right if you live for today because tomorrow you die.

But that is not who you are. Because despite this brokenness of sin, despite this severing of the relationship, despite the rebellion of humanity from God. God never gave up on us. God continued to reach out to us, God continued to call us back to himself, God didn’t abandon us even when all hope seemed to be lost – God was there rebuilding, restoring, and offering hope and life. And thousands of years of prophets calling for repentance, and trying to get us to turn from Sin and to turn from ourselves.

God came himself. God came to us as Jesus Christ. The God in the flesh, who lived for us, taught us, walked with us, and died for us. And the very blood of the Son of God – covers us. The sacrifice of God that says I want you back washed away the sin and rot of all of history. We see in God in Christ Jesus the One who did not give up on us – and though we were wrapped in the bonds of sin and death came and died for us – so that we might be restored to God.

Christ died for our sins, and in that that brokenness has no hold on us. We now know, no matter what the devils might say – that God has claimed us and made us his own. All we need to do is to turn to him and he pardons and forgives. God has done all of that so that you might live an eternal life with him.

Love the Lord you God with all you Heart Soul and Mind and Love your neighbor as yourself. That is what Jesus taught – because that is the way eternal life. Because God is eternal life. And he has claimed you so put your faith and hope in him – and know that all other pretenders are passing away with this world

Amen

December 13th is the Feast Day of Saint Lucy of Syracuse who is also known to us as "Santa Lucia".  Santa Lucia Day is celebrated in most Scandinavian countries (especially in Sweden) and she is remembered today in many Lutheran congregations that have their roots in Scandinavia.

St. Lucy was born in Syracuse in the third century.  She was a Christian but was also betrothed to be married.  However, Lucy believed that to truly follow Christ she needed to sell her possessions and give them to the poor.  So Lucy disposed of what was to be her wedding dowry, giving all she had to the poor and the needy of Syracuse.  Unfortunately this action enraged her fiance' and in an act of vengeance he revealed to authorities that she was a Christian.

 There are differing versions of what happened next, but St. Lucy was arrested and asked if she was a Christian.  She confessed that she would and she would not turn from or recant her faith.  Subsequently the stories vary on how the Roman soldiers tried to execute her.  One version is that they tried to burn her at the stake but she would not burn.  Another is that after several different attempts to kill St. Lucy, her own fiance' pulled a sword in a fit of rage and stabbed her through the throat killing her.  At her death, it is said that she was filled with a heavenly light so bright that it dwarfed the light of the sun and caused those gathered around her to fall to the ground.

So St. Lucy is seen as a symbol of one whose devotion to Christ would not falter, and who testified to this commitment to Jesus with her life.

The question then for us is, How does as 3rd century Italian saint make her way to Sweden and Norway? Santa Lucia, is often known as the Light Bringer.  There is the association with the divine light that filled her at her death, and if you consider the amount of darkness that the northern countries experience in the Winter, one can understand the attraction of this saint of Light.

The story was told to me by a Swedish Grandmother that there was once a time in Sweden when the people were starving.  Winter had grown long and the people waited in darkness.  Then on the 13th of December the people saw a light coming across the waters.  When it arrived there was a great ship filled with food, and standing in the prow of the boat was a beautiful lady who was filled with light.  She wore a white robe and a red sash.  It was Santa Lucia who came with food and comfort for the people of the cold northern lands.

Since that day, on the 13th of December, it is said that you can see the lady in the white robe who is bearing the light wandering along the shores of the lakes of Sweden, bringing light and hope to the people.Admittedly the lady who told me this story had never seen the wandering saint on dark December mornings.

But in commemoration of St. Lucy, on December 13th in Sweden and in homes who have those roots, the oldest daughter will rise early in the morning.  She will dress as Santa Lucia.  She wears a white robe in remembrance of her and our baptisms.  Around her waist there is a red sash which reminds us of martyrdom.  On her head she wears crown which has candles reminding us of the light of Santa Lucia.  (The brave use real candles, but many times electric candles are used).  Tradition is that this young girl dressed as Santa Lucia goes to all the rooms of the house bringing sweets and sticky buns to the family to remind people of both light and the gifts which come to us through following our Lord.

The commemoration of St. Lucy is part of the pre-Christmas season for many people.  What it hopes to do is remind us that the light of Christ is present in this world.  That Christ comes to us in many ways.  St. Lucy was one who witnessed to her devotion to Christ with her very life.  It is also believed that God used this same saint, somehow wrapped in the mystery of God - to bring hope to people far away from where she originally lived and walked in this world.  Santa Lucia - is a reminder to us from God that his light and his love is always active and moving in this world.  That God is reaching out to people even in to the (literally) darkest places of the world, and there is nowhere that God will not continue to shine his light into the darkness of this world and into the darkness of our lives. 

St. Lucy reminds us that God is our hope.  That God is the one who can fill the darkness, that God is with us. As we approach the celebration of Christmas, we await the commemoration of that time when God sent the true light into the world.  When light and life became flesh, and God became incarnate among us in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

  Today is the Feast Day of St. Nicholas.  Who was a real person that our western culture has morphed into a rotund, red and white suited, jolly old elf, that breaks into our homes once a year and tries to make us think that Christmas is about presents and not about Jesus. But that is in no way who the real St. Nicholas was, and on his feast day, I thought it would appropriate to put up some information about the real saint who was a major part of the history of the early Christian Church.

St. Nicholas lived in the third and fourth centuries and was the Bishop of Myra (which is in modern day Turkey).  During his lifetime he was reputed to be a man of great piety who was known for the working of miracles.  It was said that during Nicholas' tenure as Bishop a famine broke out in Myra.  While this was going on a ship docked at the city full of grain, which was the property of the Emperor.  Bishop Nicholas asked the sailors to leave some of the grain to relieve the starving city.  The sailors were hesitant at first but relented after the Bishop promised them that God would make sure that they had the amount they needed for the Emperor.  The sailors off loaded the wheat to feed the city, and when they arrived at the royal palace they were astonished that they had their full allotment of grain for delivery.  That which had been offloaded had been miraculously replaced.  What had been taken off was enough to feed the city for two years - it was no small portion that had been left in Myra.  For this and many other miracles of healing and demonstrations of the power of the Most High, Nicholas was known by the name Nicholas Thaumatouryous (Greek) or Nicholas the Wonderworker.  

How then did this fourth century saint become associated with reindeer, and sleighs, and presents.  Well the first thing we need to know is that our modern name of Santa Clause - is simply the Dutch for Saint (SANTA) and Nicholas (CLAUS).  But the tying of St. Nicholas to presents and generosity goes back to the generosity of the Saint himself.

 The famous story of St. Nicholas is that in Myra there was a father who had three daughters.  In that time if you were going to get your daughter married (at least to a respectable person) you had to provide a wedding dowry, money that would be given to the groom to help the new family as they began their lives together.  However this poor father didn't have enough for a dowry.  So St. Nicholas feeling sorry for the man, went to the man's house at night and threw a bag of gold through the window - so that the first daughter could be married.  Traditions of the story differ as to whether St. Nicholas went back on three consecutive nights, or did this over a period of years as each daughter came of marrying age - but the story holds that St. Nicholas secretly provided this gift of a dowry so that each of the girls could be married.

One version of the story, says that the Father hid in the house on the last night so that he might see who was throwing the bags of gold into the window.  The Father caught St. Nicholas and began to thank him for his generosity in providing for his daughters.  St. Nicholas then looked at the man and told him that thanks should only go to God, for God is the provider of all good gifts.

 From this, the tradition rose in Central and Eastern Europe of leaving gifts on St. Nicholas Feast Day of Dec. 6th.  In many places around the world this day, children woke up to find that "St. Nicholas" had left a small gift in their shoe.  Usually is is something practical like a set of pencils, or an orange, or maybe a bit of candy.

So it made sense in years later when people began to more regularly make Christmas a day of gift giving, in remembrance of the great gift which God has given to us - JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD - that people would transfer the gift giver Nicholas into this day of celebration and we would have children around the world awaiting Santa Claus.

Other points of interest about St. Nicholas are that he was very likely present at the Council of Nicea and was therefore a part of the Church's affirmation of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and that Christ is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The Council of Nicea is where we got our standard confession of faith - The Nicean Creed.

I don't know how much you know about saints and how they are treated after they die.  But usually pieces of the saint's body are distributed out to many churches and sent to many places as holy relics.  Yes it is a rather grizzly and grim practice (if you really want to be shocked look into what happened to the body of St. Thomas Acquinas after his death - when it was made into relics).  But this was not the case for St. Nicholas.  Most of the remains of the saint are in one place - strangely enough that place is not Myra in Turkey but in the town of Bari, Italy.

St. Nicholas is entombed at the Basilica of St. Nicholas.  Today, 1500 yrs after his death, the bones of St. Nicholas The Wonderworker, still secrete a clear and aromatic liquid which is called myrrh by the church.  This liquid secreted by the bones of the saint is claimed to have healing properties.

So that is a little on the Saint who is the true Santa Claus.  He was devoted his life to the service of God, who gave and helped his people, and who hopefully reminds us that Christmas isn't about presents, it is about the Christ who Nicholas followed and served.

Blessings be to you Now and Always

Pr. Mike

This is a re-post of the article I wrote for our Advent Newsletter.  I wanted to make it available to you, and I pray that God will continue to bless you as we live in this time between the times.

From Geeseytown/Newry Dec. - Jan 2011 Newsletter

The Advent Season is just around the corner (and depending on when you read this may be upon us) and I wanted to take a few moments here to talk about this season, what it is about, and some of the themes that we will be encountering as we are in this season of preparation before Christmas. That is what Advent is, a season of preparation, a time when we remember that we once waited for the birth of the Messiah.

I want to point out that there is a strange tension that exists in this season. On one hand we are waiting for Christmas, for the time when we can celebrate the birth of “Sweet Little Baby Jesus Asleep in the Hay”. When we finally get to Christmas we will have all those familiar images of shepherds, and cattle that are lowing, and stars, and mangers. We will, at Christmas, have all those “Sweet” images that surround the birth of an infant and the wonderful announcement that “Christ is Born”.

But before we get there, Advent isn’t a picture of nice and sweet and comforting little scenes. Listen to the gospel texts and the voice of the prophets as we go through the next four Sundays. We hear about stars falling from heaven, we will hear about the moon turning to blood and the sun becoming as black as sack cloth, and in the middle of all of this is this wild and crazy John the Baptist wearing camel skins, eating bugs, and screaming for us to “REPENT!” because the Lord is coming.

What is going on here? These two things don’t seem to go together. Images of the stars falling and the wild man yelling at us don’t seem to go along with babies and mangers. But there is a reason for this. Because although God did this unbelievable thing of being born, of lowering himself to come into our world in a human body like we have – Jesus Christ was and always will be the one true God of all.

Jesus is one with the One and Only God, that God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Old Testament. In fact the very one who shook the top of Mt. Sinai, who divided the Red Sea, who fed the people manna in the wilderness, the one who created all that is. It is this same, this very same one who was born to a virgin girl in a little cave in Bethlehem. Our Lord and Savior is not just the “Sweet Baby Jesus”. Our Lord and Savior is that God Almighty, our incarnate heavenly Father who holds heaven and earth in the palm of his hand, and who is the very power that brought all things into being.

What Advent tells us is that this is the one who is coming. The great Ancient of Days from whom power streams forth like fire, that is who is coming. The Lord who divides the waters and whose intentions creates all that is, that is who is coming. The Lord whose very word is truth, and whose truth is like a two edge sword cutting through evil and darkness, that is who is coming. The one who is life itself, the one who is more than we know, the one who is in all things but is not limited by anything, the one before even his name the demons shriek and cower in fear, that is who is coming. Jesus Christ, Lord of Heaven and Earth, Judge of the Nations, the Gateway to Eternal Life, the one who is Eternal Life itself, he is the one who is coming. By doing so this great and powerful Lord of lord and King of kings, is rearranging and changing all expectation and turning the world and all of creation upside down and on its head.
That is why during Advent we hear these messages that point to this Lord who is coming. The Lord who was promised. The Lord who is greater and more powerful than all that can ever be and all that we can ever imagine. Jesus is coming everybody, and that changes everything.

That is exactly why we hear of the ground quaking, the heavens shaking, and we are told to repent, to turn to abandon our evil. Because the one who is all power and might – the one who is simply “GOD ALMIGHTY” is about to show up.

Advent, is therefore, about getting our attention. It is yelling at us to “WAKE UP!”, and to “PAY ATTENTION!”, because God is here.The tension of Advent then is that we have these messages telling (or yelling at us) to look for the Lord to repent and to do what we ought, because the great and powerful one is coming. But when he gets here what do we see?

When great and powerful Lord of all arrives, we see the little baby. We see that God who is all that we have said and so much more than we can imagine has come to us in a way we couldn’t have imagined. Jesus comes to us, the one who deserves all glory, laud and honor, as the one who has none of the honors that the world bestows. Jesus is born as the lowest of the low, among the poorest of the poor. Jesus is born homeless, only the breath of donkeys and cows to keep him warm, and a teenage mother to protect this little child.

That is how God comes. The amazing thing is that Advent reminds us that God, who is all that can imagine God to be, came to us not in glory but in lowliness. God who is all that is, came to us in a way that we might come to him. Not crouching because we are terrified by his power, but God lovingly invites us to come to the stable, and to look down into the manger, and to see the Savior of all.

So this Advent season, and this Christmas season, we are called to remember that it isn’t just about “Sweet Little Baby Jesus”. It is about the Great God who stands over the heavens and who controls all of creation – that is the one who comes to us. Advent reminds us that though we may want to run to the manger – this isn’t just any little baby we are dealing with. This is life itself, and life comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord – so that we might come to him.

With that, May God Bless you and Keep you this Advent and Christmas season.
In Christ
Pastor Mike

A few months back I posted a reflection from my friend, Rev. Randy Jones of Messiah Lutheran Church, Montgomery, AL.  Pastor Jones has written another article which originally appeared in Messiah's newsletter and he was gracious enough to share it with us.  I hope you enjoy it and his reflections.  This post originally appeared in the Messiah Lutheran Church newsletter September 20ll.

Pastor Randy Jones Writes:

Greetings to you all in the beautiful name of Jesus. I’ve been reading again so hang on to your bonnets. I saw the results of a poll in one of my journals this week that gave me pause and then confused me. The title of the poll was “God’s Role in Natural Disasters.” Here are the results for each assertion presented:

God controls everything in the world: 56% agree
Natural disasters are God’s way of testing faith: 40% agree
Natural disasters are a sign from God: 38% agree
God punishes nations for the sins of its citizens: 29% agree
(Christian Century: September 20, 2011; pg. 9)

There are two things about these numbers that bother me. First, the idea that God controls everything in the world makes me wonder why St. Paul would say that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” if God controls everything which includes humans. Second, there is a disparity in the following numbers. If 56% think God is in control, then the following two numbers should also be 56% and the last question would be unintelligible to them given my first assertion.

If God controls everything in the world, then doesn’t it make sense that everyone would be at peace and everyone would be prospering; there would be no sickness or hunger in the world. If God controls everything, then you and I were not created in the image of God and the writer of Genesis would be wrong; after all we are capable of love, we are creative, and we are able to make choices both right and wrong. Put succinctly we would be automatons. So my point here is that while God is omnipotent, God has chosen to limit his influence in this world.

That, however, does not mean that God is not here in the world with us. According to the creation accounts of Genesis it is God’s creative Spirit that has infused the cosmos with order and life. It is only by God’s presence that the creation is sustained and continues to exist. All of this despite Stephen Hawking’s position (sorry I had to say that).

As for natural disasters, we have all heard them called “acts of God.” That is an unfortunate way of speaking about things that happen as a result of this marvelously complex world on which we live. Every natural disaster is only a disaster for humans who happen to be in the way of weather, fire, or earthquakes. All of these things we call natural disasters benefit the very life of the Earth.

For instance, if lightening did not exist our atmosphere would not be breathable, floods deposit new fertile soil in low lying lands, earthquakes are the result of the shifting of the tectonic plates which allows magma to come to the surface and create new land, etc. etc. etc. Unfortunately, there are so many of us humans that we too often find ourselves in the path of these “disasters”.

Are natural disasters a sign from God? In a sense yes. They are a sign that God’s creation is still alive and well. We should thank God everyday for that fact because if these things didn’t happen then the Earth would be dead and lifeless like Mars and we would not exist.

Finally, if we are to believe that natural disasters are punishment then we have to ignore Jesus’ reference to the tower of Siloam incident in the Gospel of St. Luke. Listen to this.

At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them-do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” (St. Luke 13:1-5)

It’s pretty clear that Jesus puts the kibosh on the idea that God punishes sinners in this way.

Everyone is at the mercy of this world and its events; some caused by nature and some caused by human pride and arrogance. Jesus will not allow us to blame his Father for these things. I also want to add another reason I don’t believe God punishes us for our sins by sending natural disasters upon us. If God punished us in this way, it would mean that Jesus’ death and resurrection were for nothing and mean nothing. It would mean that Jesus’ death and resurrection didn’t free us from the eternal consequences of our sins. It would mean that we are still dead in our sins and unforgiven, and yet that forgiveness is pronounced by Jesus while he is on the cross.

I personally am not interested in questioning something that God has been clear about for almost 2000 years. I take Jesus at his word when he says, “this is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (St. Matthew 26:28)

So, my sisters and brothers, there you have it. We live on a planet that is alive, thanks be to God. God gave us a brain with which to think and learn. When we tempt disaster by building our homes on the Gulf Coast, that’s our fault not God’s because we know that a hurricane WILL come in the future. We know that tornadoes are going to touch down here in Alabama; we need to have a plan for that instance and also know that we can’t plan for every possible situation. So, we do what we can do to make sure we are safe in this world, and trust God with our lives when we die. In the meantime Jesus tells us, “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.” (St. Matthew 6:34)

What then are we to make of all this business? Well, when we say that God is love, that means God loves us enough to leave us to our own devices. Out of God’s great love for us we are given the freedom to make choices for ourselves. God told Joshua to tell the people of Israel that, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

When we say that God is love, we know that means God loves us enough to give his Son for us and to us. Jesus is our proof of God’s great love for us. When we choose Jesus’ will over our own will, we live not only today but forever. We are able to live Christ’s life today simply because we know that his life is forever, and living our Lord’s life means we live not for ourselves but for others. In this way we know the abundant life Jesus promised to us. When we know that God has given his Son to us, we can never believe that God punishes through natural events.

This world is most certainly a difficult place in which to live, but God is with us in the person of Jesus the crucified and risen Christ. Every Sunday God gives us the broken body and spilled blood of our Lord Jesus to sustain us in this life. God gives us our sisters and brothers to accompany us in our journey. Life, my brothers and sisters, is in the journey so let us live it faithfully and joyfully. Let us enjoy this life with God as we work to bring God’s shalom to this world.

May God continue to bless you and keep you always.
Shalom Pr. Randy

For more information about Pastor Randy Jones visit Messiah's website at www.nonprofitpages.com/messiah/