When I was 12 - Luke 2 - Christmas 1C

When I was 12

Tony E Hansen

Sermon based upon Luke 2:41-52, Psalm 148

Opening prayer

The kids grow up so quickly as Jesus was born just few days ago, and today, we observe that Jesus is now 12. 

There are a lot of things I wanted when I was 12, but I dont think I ever envisioned where I am today. 12 was when some health issues arose for me and changed a lot of the possible directions for me. 

Yet, I went to school and learned from good public school teachers and grew from a little rascal runt into a goof that you see today. I took all of the lessons they gave me over the years and then took the next steps. Sometimes, it worked well, and sometimes, not so much.

Yet I learned from books, teachers and from traditions. Some those I agreed, and some of those I deeply disagreed. Yet, it is in those agreements and disagreements alike is where I learned and grew. 

Today, I look back and hope I built a life that bears fruit not just for myself but for those around me. I did not wait around for things to be handed to me and when I saw - when I see a need - I reach out and help where and how I can.

It is in this way that I have grown over the years, and yes, in the words of Langston Hughes, “life aint been no crystal stairs…”

That I think is the point here, for wherever we are on life’s journey, we got here to now and look at the next steps.

We could hem and haw about how things have been sour in our lives, or we could take the lessons we have been given and move forward. 

It is useful to point out that traditions are evident in this story -showcasing they went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. Jesus followed some traditions as we do today and then later in life questioned many of them and the way they are observed.

That Jesus at 12 was among teachers listening and asking questions to them says that Jesus embraces education and ideas from the teachers. (That is quite different than what we do with teachers in our society.)

Instead of rejecting (or banning) books and wisdom of elders, Jesus learns and grows from what people bring to him.

It is through these, over the years of youth, that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine…”  

That reminds us that wisdom is a gift, but it is a gift that needs attention. 

Wisdom doesn’t just happen. It is a gift that one must cultivate and tend - much like a garden and much like a young mind.

Yes wisdom gets started in our youth - or in our present moment. For what we leave undone is left undone. What we don’t do today and put off until tomorrow, many times never gets done. 

Jesus here, reminds us that, even in youth and in our present moment, we can do the necessary to prepare ourselves, our hearts, our faith and our minds.

On this last weekend of the year, we look with anxious eyes, hearts and minds at the upcoming year. What do we want to accomplish? What do we want to do less, or even remove completely, from our lives?

Yes it is a time of resolutions. Yet I am curious to know why we wait just for a new year to begin resolutions? 

If you want to start losing weight, then today is a perfect day to start, even yesterday.  

If you want to increase your faith and your spiritual well-being, that doesn’t need to wait for a new year, it can start now and continue into the new year. 

If you want to drink less or go dry, maybe another sip is not needed today.

If we want to increase our understanding and wisdom, it can start today and now by diving deep into these words and reading more, listening more and asking more questions, just like Jesus did.

If you want to increase your love of God and neighbor, there are many ways in which you can do that today through the Church and the community. It starts with listening and asking questions.

Yet, make a note to yourself that whatever you hope to do in the new year, that doesn’t have to wait until the new year. I assure you that I have not waited and neither do you have to.

Start that now before you start the inevitable “excuses” worksheet.

Beloved, I pray that you find all that you need is right where you are and all that you want to be is available to you. 

Find the Spirit working with you today and don’t wait for tomorrow. Find that Spirit weaving in and around our church and community. Find that Spirit and don’t leave it in the books, the churches, or the songs but take it with you. 

Better yet, Find the Love of our Creator inside you this day and know that you are what matters - whether you are 12 or 48 or 88. Be in the present moment and know the Creator is with you and in you today.

Learn, cultivate, and grow.

For that we say 

Thanks Be to God

Preparing Our Hearts - Luke 3 - Advent 3 Year C

Preparing Our Hearts

Tony E Hansen

Sermon based upon Luke 3:7-18, Isaiah 12:2-6,Philippians 4:4-7

Opening Prayer

How easy it is for folks to read texts from the scriptures and close the book.  How easy it is for folks to go to church, walk in hear the good news, and then walk out. How easy it is for us to just talk about God and our faith, but don’t actually live that faith.

This text from Luke is a taste of what John the Baptist preaches and that which Jesus picks up thereafter. 

Here, John lays out clearly what we can do in our regular lives.

“Whoever has two coats must share with one who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise. … Collect no more than the amount prescribed. Don’t extort, don’t push false claims.”

Pretty simple stuff folks. This is wisdom and people wonder, are you the One ? 

No, but there is One who will baptize not just with symbols of water but with the truth and fire of the Spirit.

The question for us who have experienced this baptism, whether youth or observed, what do you do with this baptism of the Spirit in your lives. 

People will hear the words, read the words, walk in the temples and churches, and they will say good things, but then words are all that is there.

Will you do the things that have been commanded of you? To love God and to love your neighbor - all of your neighbors (and your enemies). Are you willing to share your coats, your food, your love and your abundance with those who have none? Are you fair and equitable to people around you.  

Are you willing to be the example of God’s love in people’s lives? 

John tells them, “I am not the messiah for I could not tie the strings of their shoes”, and so do I. 

Titles are just that: titles. We don’t need a title to teach and to live the word of God and to live in these ways.

It is the fulfillment of the word through our thoughts and actions that give life and love.  It is the commitment to faith, hope and love that give life to those around us just the same. 

I am a broken person and always will be, but there is One that is perfect and that has no blemish. There, you will find all that you need and want. There, you will find your heart when you let God come to you and be with you.

And then we don’t wrap that up and tuck it away in a box for next week when we do it all over again. That is not the point of church or religion. That isn’t what we do. We don’t leave these teachings that prepare us for Jesus who leads us into the light of God. 

We take that love, that faith, that hope into the world around us and with us to share with the many.

So yes, this lesson from John prepares us, and gives us specifics. This is what you do. Through our prayers we talk to God and through our actions we live out our love of God and neighbor. Frankly, don’t be a jerk!

Beloved, this is simple stuff, but we like to throw obstacles in the way.  “I just cant today for whatever reason we give…”

Why do we do that? To escape our accountability or our responsibility?  To be lazy with our gifts? Or to live in the familiar gloom of a broken world? - all too familiar feels safe and convenient. 

Yes we have days of long hours or work. Yes, we have people that let us down. Yes we have those who take from us and lie to us.

But we don’t have to stay there. That doesn’t need to rule our lives.

Yes, the broken world wants to shackle us to emptiness, false promises, and materials that don’t have true meaning. “The chaff” 

If you, instead, turn your eyes, your hearts and let God be with us this minute - this hour - this day, you will realize that we don’t need all of that brokenness. We don’t need the chaff. What chaff (not who) do we want to see go away.

Through these words and following the words in our daily lives and actions, if we let these words, the Spirit, enter our lives and be part of our lives, we will find something substantial - far more than emptiness. When you do, we will be truly fulfilled, and there is no other place you will want to be. 

We prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord by witnessing the word of God in our hearts, our minds and and our deeds. 

You may still have to work long ours and people will still do things that disappoint, but we can be the beacon that shines in darkness, in political tensions, in anxious times. We can be the light that is sorely needed. We can be the respite from all that is broken when we let the Spirit be with us.

Let go of the brokenness and let the joy of Christ be with you and in you.

That beloved is liberating and lifting.

That Beloved is…

Thanks Be to God 

Lessons and Carols - Christmas Eve - Year C

Welcome to worship with us!

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24 Dec 2024 | Christmas Eve “Lessons and Carols”

“No Matter Who You are or Where You are on Life’s Journey, You are Always Welcome Here!”

Opening Prayer 

Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our debts As we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory Forever and ever. Amen.

Assurance 

Lighting the Christ candle.

Hymn:  Joy to the World.

First Lesson: Creation - Genesis 1:1-5 

Hymn: O Come O Come Emmanuel. 

Second Lesson: Covenant - Genesis 9:12-16 

Reflection for Genesis  – Creation and Covenant

Hymn: O Come O Come Emmanuel (refrain). 

Third Lesson: Compassionate and Forgiving God – Psalm 103: 1-8

Hymn: O Little Town of Bethlehem. 

Fourth Lesson: God of Peace and Justice – Micah 5:2-5; 6:6,8

Reflection for Micah and Psalm 103 - God of Peace and Justice.

Hymn: It Came upon the Midnight Clear.

Fifth Lesson: Angels announce to Mary – Luke 1: 26-38 

Solo : Ave Maria (Schubert)

Sixth Lesson: Birth – Luke 2: 1-7 

Reflection for Luke - Birth

Hymn: What Child Is This. 

Seventh Lesson: Shepherds Visit – Luke 2:8-16 

Offertory:

Hymn: Angels We Have Heard on High.

Eighth Lesson: Foreigners Visit – Matthew 2:1-11 

Reflection for Luke 2:8-16 and Matthew 2:1-11 - Shepherds and Foreigners.

Hymn: The First Noel.

Eighth Lesson: God’s Promise Fulfilled - Luke 2:28-40 

Hymn: O Come All Ye Faithful. 

Ninth Lesson: The Incarnate Word - John 1:1-14

Reflection for John 1:1-14 – Promises Fulfilled with Divine Love.

**Lighting the Candles 

Hymn: Silent Night.

Benediction:

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Tony E Hansen presiding.

* Please rise as you are able spirit and body. 

** Please make you way to perimeter of the Church for lighting the candles, sharing the light of Christ, and singing of Silent Night.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, ©1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Portions of prayers, ©2021 Local Church Ministries, Faith INFO Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH  44115-1100.  Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.  All publishing rights reserved. 

Wren, B. 2008. Advent Christmas and Epiphany, Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship. Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville. Reproduced with permission.

Hope - Luke 21 - Advent 1 Year C

Hope

Tony E Hansen

Reflection based upon Luke 21:25-36, Psalm 25, Jeremiah 33:14-16

Opening prayer 

Happy season of Advent! 

We light the first candle to represent hope as one of the many sacred gifts we are given.

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise…”

The Luke text offers ominous tones of distressed nations, roaring seas, and people fainting. Just what we need in folks that don’t think we are moving towards “peace and gladness.”

As people pray the words of the psalm “do not let my enemies exult over me…. Let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.”

So “stand up and raise your heads, redemption is drawing near.”

God shakes things up all the time, and as we think of Jesus in a manger, we are here reminded that the power of God is beyond comprehension. That power coming into this world can be a terrifying thought. 

Yes God’s power is majestic, all-encompassing and will fulfill, and yet that power is humble and compassionate in its delivery. 

What does that mean for us? 

This text isn’t necessarily about scaring us into believing but to raise our awareness and to be attentive. 

We have to be attentive, not just for the words and voices we read in Advent, but what attentive means in our lives. This is how we are attentive to the people around us (friend, foe, or neighbors near and far) and how we bring hope to people. 

This is a chance for us to reflect on that notion and to analyze how that can look in our lives (for we all know we fall short.)

Advent is a season of preparation not just for the day of gift giving with family and friends, but what the reign and power of God means for us and in us. It beckons for us to see that reign in our lives and what we do not just as expressions of authority and supremacy for that belongs to God. 

This power is the compassion that walks with neighbors, feeds the homeless, cares for the sick, protects the innocent, teaches the good ways and invites all to sharing. This is God leading the way and through Jesus, we have the word fulfilled and living.

So yes, we are reminded that our creator will lead “the humble in what is right and teaches the humble the way.”

Beloved it is for that and for all that is possible with God, we place our faith and trust. We have hope that all is possible. And then, we say …

Thanks be to God.