Wilder View - December 2009

Luke 2:7 …and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

It wasn’t a special day. I was living out my normal schedule. Running from one meeting to another, making phone calls as I traveled, and thinking about the things I needed to do in the free moments at stop lights. I pulled up to the church. Really quick now, I told myself, “you need to get in, get out, pick up ____, ____, ___, and get to the next place. Hurry!”
Then this verse came to my head. “…there was no room for them in the inn.” Wow, what an odd verse to run through my head when I am thinking about getting things accomplished. After all it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet! Why am I already thinking about Christmas? (maybe because it was getting close to the deadline for this article?)

“…there was no room for them in the inn.” The words came to me again. Hmm, I wonder… no, gotta fly, people are waiting on me. I need to get in, get out, and go.

“…there was no room for them in the inn.” Once again, these words floated through my mind. Finally I realized that it was probably the Holy Spirit working on me. So I stopped just a moment and wondered… could it be possible that there was no room in my inn? Well at least in my day? Wait a minute, I already had my personal devotional and prayer time, God; I made room for you this morning…what do you mean, there is no room?

Yet those words swirled around me once again.

My friends, we are entering a time when the world just gets faster and faster. Our calendars are getting fuller and fuller. Our commitments are becoming greater and greater, and maybe, just maybe, we are not making room for the real meaning of Christmas. Maybe the ‘inn’ is the place in our daily lives that we stop to invite the Christ child to help us see the world from the perspective of innocence and fun. How much room have we set aside in our calendar to experience the wonder of birth and life? How much room do we have in our day to be quiet and reflect upon the joy of God’s greatest gift?

This advent, I invite you to stop and intentionally make room…make room in your day; make room in your schedule, and in your life to encounter Emmanuel, God with us!

Happy Advent!
~Pastor Kathleen

Time with Sharon: Finding Hope

December 2009

Said the night wind to the little lamb, “Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night, with a tail as big as a kite.”

It was back in October, 1962, and the Soviet Union and the United States were involved in a crisis centered on missiles the Russians had installed in Cuba. The United States threatened military action if the missiles were not removed. The world trembled and prayed as these two nuclear powers stood eyeball-to-eyeball.

That October, as Noel Regney walked through the streets of New York, a sense of despair was everywhere. No one smiled. Everybody hung on the words of the radio newscasters, waiting, waiting, waiting, to learn if the security that they had known was on the verge of being obliterated.

Noel knew something about war and fear of death. Forced to serve in the German army during WWII, he secretly also served the French resistance, risking his life many times as he shared German plans for harm with the French freedom fighters.

Years later, he and his wife, Gloria, living in New York, worked as a song-writing team. Christmas was approaching, and Noel had been asked to write a holiday song. In this time of thick tension and cold fear, he could not muster any enthusiasm or inspiration.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, “Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the tree with a voice as big as the sea.”

But then one day walking home, he saw two mothers with their babies giggling at each other from their strollers. Their joy transformed him, and filled his heart with poetry. The little ones reminded him of newborn lambs, and he began to muss, “Said the night wind to the little lamb....”As soon as Noel arrived home, he jotted down the lyrics, and Gloria set them to music.
I am struck how this story pivots on a peek into the world of God’s reign of tenderness and goodness, even in the midst of external fear and turmoil. While the East coast sat in the sights of a belligerent world power, God was revealed in the goofy, gurgling delight of children. Hope sprung forth for this songwriter, even as it did 2000 years ago for those who, beleaguered by their lives of poverty and oppression, gazed upon the Messiah child.

Our own era has known some major turbulence this past year too. There is certainly fear, for shrinking saving accounts, another rent check due, and the potential of impending illness. People are still hurting each other in our neighborhoods, in our cities, even in our service bases. There is no shortage of bullies, big and small. But during this season, we are reminded that God is still with us…and will show up in the most amazing places in the least likely container. Who could have imagined that he would choose to present himself where the cows and donkeys were stabled, as the baby of politically and economically invisible parents?

Said the king to the people everywhere, “Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere, listen to what I say!
The Child, The Child sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.”

As we await the celebration of the birth of Emmanuel, we are reminded that Hope is still alive through God’s presence with us. We are never alone, not ever. God’s purposes for healing and wholeness for us continue, even in the face of our present difficulties. Look into the sweet face of a child, and yet again, see the hope for tomorrow revealed. Find the truth on which we may take comfort…

“He will bring us goodness and light.”

May God’s peace and grace be upon you in this season of waiting,
Pastor Sharon