Sermon of the Week
On the Way to Christmas: Prepare the Way

A Sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on December 9, 2018.
Second in an Advent Sermon series.

Keywords: Flannery O’Connor, Ruby Turpin, Refining, Advent, Purification, Grace.

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
Malachi 3:1-4
and Luke 3:1-18

We’re on the way to Christmas.

Last week we embarked on the journey of Advent,
this season of watching and waiting.

We lit the first candle,
and we read biblical passages that propelled us into the future
and we talked about apocalypse, the unveiling of God’s coming again.

Today, our reading sends us in the opposite direction.

On the second Sunday of Advent,
we are pulled into the distant past
and we hear the words of the ancient prophet, Malachi.

Malachi was a harbinger.

The bible likes people like that:
people who help us make sense of the present and to get ready for the future.

The Story of John the Baptist is like that, also,
and these two passages go really well together,
because John picks up where Malachi left off,
which is one reason we always turn to John the Baptist
on the Second Sunday of Advent.

But this year, let us consider Malachi a bit more closely.
Malachi tells us about someone who is coming “to prepare the way for the Lord.”
This messenger, Malachi says, will purify people’s hearts.

God is sending an emissary
who comes intending to cleanse your souls.

It all seems a bit presumptuous, doesn’t it?

In the midst of our pre-Christmas hustle and bustle,
the church trots out some primitive prophet
who promises us an Advent scrub-down.

Is that really what we need right now?

You would think that the lectionary
could come up with a few encouraging words at this time—
assuring us that we will make it through another Christmas,
instead of cheekily suggesting that
before God arrives, we need a bath.

One of my closest pastor mentors, Mark Ramsey,
used to read a lot of Flannery O’Connor.

I know that, because he’d always be talking about O’Connor’s works in his sermons

You can always learn a lot about your pastors
by the things she preaches about,
the movies he goes to see
the television shows she favors.

Mark loved the Saint Louis Cardinals,
had a soft spot for a sharply-written television thriller
and liked to read literature that helped us understand who we are
and why we do the things we do.

I had to ignore the fact that he was a Cardinal fan.
Nobody’s perfect. [Read more…]

Sermon of the Week
On the Way to Christmas: Keep Alert

A Sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on December 2, 2018.
First in an Advent Sermon series. #pcusa

Keywords: Advent, Mini-Apocalypse, Charlie Brown Christmas, Salvador Dali, Clyde Butcher, The Avengers, Waiting.

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
Psalm 25:1-10
and Luke 21:25-36

Last night we had a great little concert here at The Kirk.

The Don Accurso Orchestra set up here on the chancel
and filled the sanctuary with the classics,
some Duke Ellington, some traditional Christmas music.

It was lovely, particularly since it’s the first Sunday in Advent,
and our wonderful friends on the Worship Team
helped hang the greens in our Sanctuary yesterday morning.

The dessert after wasn’t all that bad either.

I was talking with one of Don’s family members who was here.
Don passed away just a few weeks ago
and this concert had been on his calendar for months.
We know that when Don put a concert on his calendar
they play the concert.
Sometimes contracts follow us even beyond our passing.

I was talking with her about just how fitting it all was,
the music, and the way that the sanctuary looked,
all bedecked with garlands of evergreen and red ribbon
and all the things we do to mark this time of year.

It is such a wonderful time of year, for the most part
even when there are blue moments, for many of us
that make even the most fitting times bittersweet.

And so I’ve been thinking ever since about all the things I love about this season.

Not Christmas.
We’re not there yet.

Three more Sundays to go until Christmas,
so you still have time to get all your gifts, do all the wrapping
go to all the parties, get your Christmas jammies
and make plans to ponder your New Year’s resolutions.

Lots of time.

But this moment before Christmas, this season of watching and waiting,
this is the season of Advent.

She was asking me if this is my favorite time of year to be a pastor
and that’s a tricky thing to answer,
because there are lots of little things that go on all year
and its hard to pick out a favorite among all of them.

But I told her I do love this time of year.
I love the lights, twinkling in the still darkness,
particularly just a few of them,
like a candle in the window or a luminary on the front sidewalk.
Those are beautiful.

I’m not sure my mind quite can get around
these new massive light displays
which people apparently have to upgrade their electrical box for
so that it can handle all of it.
They’re coordinated with music, using a computer.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re great.
Every year we join a neighbor family and go around town looking at the lights.
We grab some ice cream first and map out a trip.
There are websites where you can find “the best lights”.
For example, I recommend that you find Candy Cane Lane.

Some of them even broadcast the music they’re flashing to
on a local radio transmitter
and you can pull up close and tune your radio just right
and listen and watch and marvel at everything
flashing blue and white and red and green
in complete coordination to Mannheim Steamroller or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

But for me it’s the simple display, a few lights here and there
braving the dark nights of December
that give me pause,
that take my breath away this time of year.

And I love the classic movies on TV:
sure, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34^th Street
but also Elf and A Christmas Story and a Charlie Brown Christmas.

Actually, the music last night reminded me a lot of a Charlie Brown Christmas,
and I could close my eyes and see Charlie and Lucy and the gang
walking around looking for just the right tree.

There are a lot of things I love about this time of year.

You probably have your own things, too:
Hot chocolate with marshmallows.
Putting ornaments on the tree.
Baking Christmas cookies or decorating gingerbread houses.

We all seek out our hallmark card moments
even as we know our lives are more complex and messy than that.

But what I don’t like very much is the waiting. [Read more…]