American folk writer Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, once said,

It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

He’s got a point. As Christians, we are well practiced at debating the most minute verses of scripture while completely missing the point of the whole story. We are quick to quote chapters and verses out of context to reinforce our argument or position on any number of issues which the Biblical writers knew or cared nothing about, while at the same time not even being aware of the surrounding context of that verse. We are quick to judge others for breaking some Old Testament law while we ourselves still can’t seem to figure out how to love our neighbors as ourselves or to forgive as God has forgiven us…

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks the blind man. Bartimaeus didn’t ask for money or food or any other basic necessity as he had every day on the streets. Instead, Bartimaeus asked for the impossible. He asked for the deepest longing of his heart, not just to get by for another day, but to see clearly for the rest of his life.

Jesus blessed this man’s faith and restored his sight. Today as we begin this new year, Jesus is asking us the same question… “What do you want me to do for you?”…

…If anyone had reason to feel weary, it was Simeon and Anna. After a lifetime of devotion to God it would be easy to retire and pass the torch to the next generation. Yet they remained faithful to the end and in their final days sang out the hymns of joy and praise that the world might see the light that had entered their darkness.

Christmas is not about a temporary season of hope and joy amid despair. Though the strings of lights may come down in a few weeks, we do not have to return to darkness. When we sing “the weary world rejoices”, is not only on that single Holy Night.

Weariness is temporary. Rejoicing is forever!

In her song of praise, Mary clearly proclaims the Good News of the Gospel of Peace. God lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry. Good news indeed.

That is, unless you are among the powerful brought down from your throne or among the rich going away empty handed. Honestly, I’m not so sure someone like Herod considered this very good news.

One of the greatest struggles in our society is the notion of a zero-sum game. We have been conditioned to believe that we never have enough and that for someone else to get more somehow implies that we get less. If everyone has equal status and is provided all they need, then no one is more worthy or esteemed or privileged than another.

Jesus breaks the chains of oppression, but for those of us who benefit from oppressive systems, do we really want him to?…

…We sing a lot this time of year about worshipping and bowing before Christ our King, but the more surprising question of Christmas is, where are we to find this king and to whom is the invitation to honor him sent? In the Emmaus and Pilgrimage community we often say a prayer that goes something like this. “Lord, bless the one who needs a touch from you the most and bless the one who has the tremendous problem of thinking they have no problems at all.” It’s funny how we sing about God knowing our need and our weakness while we ourselves are often the first to say we don’t need anything and are the last to admit our weakness. As Matthew West writes in his latest song, “Truth Be Told,” we say,

"I'm fine, yeah, I'm fine, oh, I'm fine, hey, I'm fine"
But I'm not, I'm broken
And when it's out of control I say it's under control
But it's not and You know it…

…The good news of the Christmas story is that God meets us first in the manure, not in the mansion. Well, it’s good news, that is, if we’re actually willing to step into the mess and kneel before the newborn king in the manger.

…Like the wise men, our weary world and our weary souls are all searching for a light to follow. Tragically, most of the lights we see today are artificial and easily controlled and manipulated by their human creators. It is rare in our cities and towns to look up in the night sky and see a star clearly enough to follow as the early navigators did across deserts and seas. Perhaps it is all this artificial light that makes us weary in the first place. New York may have a reputation as the city that never sleeps, but with light beaming into our eyes from screens of all sizes day and night, it is a wonder that any of us sleep at all. In truth, many do not, at least not well…

…Either we follow the starlit path to the Light, or we light our own paths into the darkness…

Why do you say, Jacob,
and declare, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
my God ignores my predicament”?

Isaiah 40:27

In our weariness, it is easy to despair. I admit I have personally experienced a level of weariness this year beyond what I have ever felt before. It’s not just about being busy or tired. It’s a weariness that gets deep into our souls the way an icy wind gets deep into our bones…

…This year is different. This year is 2020. In January it was pumped up as a year of clear vision, and perhaps it has lived up to that promise in ways we would have preferred to avoid. 2020 has indeed opened our eyes and given us clearer vision. It has exposed our deepest fears and vulnerabilities. It has intensified the countless battle lines that divide us from our neighbors. And it has brought out both the best and the worst in everyone as we face one trauma after another and struggle to live into the unknown with hope.

Perhaps more than ever, we are a weary people living in a weary world.

That is why I am inviting us to Advent early this year…

… Every day is election day!

• Every day we make a choice between God’s Kingdom and the powers of this world.

• Every day we choose between faithful obedience and sin.

• Every day we choose whom we will serve… God or ourselves.

When we choose God…

• we make a choice against individualism and the assertion of our personal rights and opinions

• we make a choice to put others above ourselves and to serve by humbling ourselves and washing the feet of our friends and our enemies alike.

• we make a choice to be part of God's family, and to live among our brothers and sisters who don’t always look like us, think like us, act like us, or even vote like us.

• we make a choice to love our neighbors as ourselves… even the ones we don’t like…

Let's just be honest, it's been a tough year.

We're finally rounding the corner toward the holiday season and we're looking for hope.

• We hope next year will be better

• We hope the pandemic will end

• We hope political tensions will die down

• We hope we can be reconciled with those who have hurt us and those we have hurt.

• We hope that the final sun of 2020 will not set on our anger and pain.

This year has been a year filled with death…

…Let us not allow those who have died to become a faceless mass. Let us faithfully carry on their legacies in our lives as we seek to live into who God made us to be…