Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel

Oh, come, oh, come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to you, O Israel

This week we begin the celebration of my favorite season of the church year: Advent. Advent contains within it a sense of longing for something that has not yet come to fruition. A longing for Emmanuel to come and dwell in our midst. A longing for love, hope, peace and joy to be birthed in our lives.

With this theme in mind, we ask oursevles a simple question: What do we long for? What makes us feel like lonely exiles? I know this time of year is difficult for many people. It is not "the most wonderful time of the year" for everyone. As we begin our Advent journey it is important that we name our longings. It's important that we identify the losses we feel so that we can begin the process of letting go of some of them. Without the letting go, our spiritual houses are way too crowded for Christ's loving presence to be birthed in our midst. Therefore, we should think of Advent as a "spiritual garage sale" where we begin to sort through and get rid of the sadness, pain, fear and worry that makes this a less than joyful season.

Sunday Sermon - Psalm 80

1 ADVENT B    Psalm 80    David Eck

11/27/11

I. As we begin our journey through the season of Advent

---We're going to be looking at

---The appointed Psalm texts for the season.

This is going to be our window

---Through which we understand the significance

---Of the birth of our Savior

---And how we prepare for his coming.

Today's psalm is Psalm 80

---Which was one of the earliest psalms I translated

---For an upcoming recording project entitled "The Psalms: Remixed."

The members of Abiding Savior

---Have been my "guinea pigs" for this project 

---Over the past three years.

I appreciate your willingness to journey with me

---Through these powerful texts.

My versions of the psalms are paraphrases

---Where I look at the original Hebrew with the eyes of a poet

---As well as the eyes of a scholar.

I look for poetic connections

---Which are not always obvious at first glance.

---I also try to find the best modern language

---That helps to convey what the psalmist is trying to tell us.

For example, Psalm 133 says that when kindred dwell in unity

---Is is like "the precious oil on the head,

---Running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron,

---Running down over the collar of his robes."

The first questions I asked about this Psalm were

---1) Who is Aaron?

---2) What does all this running oil mean?

After looking at the original Hebrew of the text,

---And researching a little bit of history,

---I translated this verse as follows

---"It's like fragrant oil that anoints the head and flows down the body,

---Bringing holiness and blessing to everyone."

My goal is not a literal translation

---But a paraphrase that helps us

---To enter into the psalms more deeply

---And understand their meaning for modern believers.

I have 30 psalms translated so far

---Over a period three years.

---It's a slow process but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

---It has been a part of my personal devotional time

---And has given me a profound appreciation

---For these beautiful texts.

II.  Well that's enough about the process.

---Let's jump into Psalm 80 and see how it speaks to us

---At the beginning of the Advent season.

The central image in this psalm

---Is a transplanted vineyard,

---And the vineyard is not doing too well.

The emotional feeling this psalm conveys

---Is that Israel was once in a place

---Where it felt safe and protected,

---But that's not the case anymore.

---It now feels vulnerable and open to attack.

The desperation the psalmist feels is seen so clearly

---In verse 4-6 where he says

---"God of Mercy, are you angry with us?  

---Do you not hear our prayers?

---Our tears are the only thing that feeds us these days. 

---Our cup overflows with sorrow.

---It feels like we're fighting with everyone.

---We are a joke among those who wish to do us harm."

WOW!  That sounds like a desperate place to live in.

---But we've all been there. 

---Some of us are there right now.

We've all wondered a time or two

---If God was angry with us.

---We've all let like our prayers 

---Were falling on deaf ears.

Therefore, we can relate to the lament of the psalmist.

---It is a lament that is front and center in the Advent season.

We hear it in the familiar opening verse

---Of a much beloved Advent hymn:

---"O Come, O come, Emmanuel,

---And ransom captive Israel

---That mourns in lonely exile here

---Until the Son of God appear."

The emotional context of this lament

---Is a feeling of loss, a feeling of being disconnected from something.

---It is a place of darkness

---Rather than a place of light.

---It is a place of longing for something better,

---A life preserver, a rescue squad,

---Anything that can lift us up

---From the "miry clay," as Psalm 40 puts it,

---And "set your feet upon solid rock."

III.  Brothers and sisters in Christ,

---This is what Advent is all about.

---And if we rush too quickly toward Christmas

---We might very well miss out

---On the emotion conveyed in this important season

---In the life of the church.

This would be a great loss,

---Because many of us can identify

---With where the Psalmist is coming from.

Like the vineyard, we feel a bit uprooted or displaced.

---With an uncertain economy and shrinking incomes.

---We feel unprotected, ravaged by wild beasts of all sorts.

We've experience loss of jobs, loss of loved ones,

---And loss of health which leads us to lament:

---"Our tears are the only thing that feeds us these days.

---"Our cup overflows with sorrow."

We get stressed by the increasing commercialization of Christmas

---That has no room of Jesus

---Amidst the retail frenzy our nation has become.

Even some of our Christmas carols have been hijacked.

---Recently an increasing number of commercials on TV

---Have taken carols that used to proclaim peace of peace on earth,

---But now plead with us to buy more stuff.

God, have mercy on us all.

---Is it any wonder that this particular Advent season

---Makes us feel a little bit displaced?

---We feel like someone has pulled us up by the roots.

---We long for a place where

---Where we can be nurtured, once again;

---A place where the good soil of God's love

---Produces in us a bumper crop of blessing.

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel,

---And ransom captive Israel, indeed!

IV.  There's no doubt about it

---Psalm 80 is grounded in lament.

However, it does not leave us hanging there

---With our roots exposed 

---And our branches vulnerable to predators.

It turns itself into a prayer.

---"Hear our prayer, Great Shepherd," the psalmist pleads.

---"You have kept an eye on your flock

---Since the time of Abraham and Sarah.

---Ruler of the Universe, light the way for us,

---Be strong for us, and deliver us from danger!"

The NRSV pleads "shine forth"…

---"Stir up your might, and come to save us!"

In this season of light, the Psalmists' cry

---Is echoed in the words of a familiar benediction:

---"The Lord bless you and keep you

---The Lord make his face to shine upon you

---And be gracious to you."

The Hebrew here can be best described

---As God smiling on us

---With love, with favor, with blessing.

Thus the prayer of this psalm is that God

---Will "tend the vineyard, once again."

---It asks God to "take care of what which you have planted

---And restore us to our former glory."

This is our Advent hope in the midst of Advent lament.

While the refrain I wrote for this particular psalm

---Is based primarily on verse 7,

---It expands the hope expressed in the entire psalm:

"God, draw us closer to you;

---Smile on us once again.

---Show us your kindness and keep us safe

---Within your love."

Oh, brothers in sisters in Christ

---We are fortunate because we know the end of the story!

---We know that the darkness of Advent

---Does not last forever!

We who sometimes walk in darkness

---Have seen a great light.

---Unto us a child has been born,

---Unto us a Son has been given.

---Authority rests on his shoulders.

---And his name is Wonderful Counselor,

---Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

---Prince of Peace."  [Isaiah 9:2,6]

The Hebrew peace expressed here

---Is not merely the absence of tension.

---It is shalom, wholeness, health and prosperity.

It is fertile soil where our vineyard roots

---Grow big and strong.

---It is a feeling of safety and protection;

---Because if God is for us

---Who or what can be against us?

Advent lament gives birth to Christmas hope.

---The hope that Jesus, our Emmanuel,

---Truly walks with us

---When tears are the only thing that feeds us,

---When our cups overflow with sorrow.

If we find ourselves identifying with the Psalmist's lament this morning

---It is my prayer that we will turn to Christ, the Light of the World,

---And trust that he will fulfill our prayer:

"God draw us closer to you; smile on us, once again.

---Show us your kindness and keep us safe within your love."  AMEN.

----------

Here is the entire Psalm translation without the sung melody on the refrain:

REFRAIN:  God, draw us closer to you; smile on us, once again.

Show us your kindness and and keep us safe within your love.

L: Hear our prayer, Great Shepherd.

You have kept an eye on your flock since the time of Abraham and Sarah.

C: Ruler of the Universe, light the way for us,

Be strong for us, and deliver us from danger! R.

L: God of Mercy, are you angry with us?  

Do you not hear our prayers?

C: Our tears are the only thing that feeds us these days. 

Our cup overflows with sorrow.

L: It feels like we're fighting with everyone.

We are a joke among those who wish to do us harm. R.

L: Master Gardener, we remember

How you transplanted the vine called Israel.

C: You carried it from Egypt all the way to the Promised Land.

You carefully prepared the soil there and planted it.

L: Israel took root and grew like kudzu.

It prospered and flourished

With deep roots and strong branches.

C: So why do we, your prized vineyard,

Now feel so vulnerable and unprotected?

Why do we feel like we've been ravaged by wild animals?  R.

L: Mighty God, we pray that you

Would tend your vineyard, once again.

Take care of that which you have planted

And restore us to our former glory.

C: We promise to be faithful to you.  

Breathe life back into our withered branches

And we will praise your name forever.  R. 

Psalm paraphrase from The Psalms: Remixed by David Eck, © 2009.  Used by permission.

Give Thanks Always and in All Ways

"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." [Phiippians 4:8-9, NRSV]

If there was ever a perfect text for Thanksgiving, this is it. Paul reminds us that the key to being peaceful people is to keep our eyes focused on the blessings that God has given us. I've always been a "glass is half full" kind of guy anyway so this text resonates with me big time. It's very easy for LGBT people of faith to focus on what is NOT going right. It's easy to focus on the hateful speech of those who would try to oppress and demean us.  It's easy to focus on the family that has disinvited us from the Thanksgiving table and other holiday celebrations.

If this time of year is difficult for us, I suggest we follow Paul's advice and focus on the things in our lives that are worthy of praise. Sure, there are haters out there but there are more and more straight people willing to speak out for LGBT equality.  Sure some of our families have been mean and hurtful to us but, hey, many of us have created our own families and have surrounded ourselves with positive, caring people who love us just the way we are. [Wouldn't you rather spend the holiday with them, anyway? It's a lot more fun.]

So my beloved cyber brothers and sisters, my hope and prayer is that all of us will keep our eyes focused on the things in our lives that are honorable, just, pure, pleasing and commendable. It's not only a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving. I't a wonderful way to live our lives and experience the peace and joy God desires for all of us.

Sunday Sermon - 10 Lepers

THANKSGIVING                                "Luke 17:11-19"                                       David Eck

11/20/11

I. Today's gospel lesson is the story

---Of Jesus healing the Ten Lepers.

---It is the appointed lectionary reading

---For Thanksgiving Day each year,

---As well as one Sunday in Year C

---Where we read through the gospel of Luke.

This particular story is unique to Luke

---Who had a heart for outsiders and outcasts.

---The story of the Ten Lepers fits in in well

---With Luke's understanding of Jesus.

There are many ways we can get at this text.

---One way I find particularly helpful

---Is to "try on" each of the characters

---In any given story and see how they "fit" us.

The connections we make with any particular character

---Tell us a great deal about our spiritual life,

---What's going on inside of us.

These connections also tell us something

---About about what resources we need

---To help us navigate whatever challenges

---Life is throwing at us at any given moment.

So, walk with me through the story of the Ten Lepers.

---Try each character on and see who fits you the best.

When we're though I hope that each of us

---Will gain some insight as to how we're doing,

---Both emotionally and spiritually,

---At the start of this holiday season.

II. The first character we need to "try on" is the leper.

---There are ten of them mentioned in the story

---But, chances are, there were more of them

---Cowering in the shadows,

---Unable to show their faces in the light of day.

Leprosy is something we don't encounter much these days

---Except when we read about it in the Bible.

The modern term for leprosy is Hansen's disease.

---95% of us are naturally immune to it.

---In 1995, the World Health Organization estimated

---That between 2 and 3 million people

---Were permanently disabled because of leprosy at that time.

Furthermore, in the past 20 years, 

---15 million people worldwide have been cured of the disease.

You might also find it interesting to know

---That leper colonies still remain in countries such as

---India (where there are still more than 1,000 leper colonies),

---As well as China, Romania, Egypt,

---Somalia, Liberia, Vietnam and Japan.

But here in the United States, leprosy is a forgotten disease

---That's been confined to the pages of the Bible

---Or exists in a distant country we have no intention of visiting

---Any time in the near future.

This does not mean we cannot identify with the leper.

---In fact, we may have more in common with them

---Than we may first realize.

In Jesus' time, people were labeled as lepers

---For a number of reasons:  Some of them had Hansen's Disease.

---Others had a variety of skin disorders such as

---Psoriasis or other non-contagious skin infections.

Because people in Jesus' time made a connection

---Between disease and sin,

---It was automatically assumed that a person got leprosy

---Because of the sins they or their parents had committed.

---God was punishing them for their transgressions.

Therefore, lepers were labeled as unclean.

---They were forbidden to have contact with family and friends.

---They were forced to live in leper colonies,

---Where living conditions were unimaginably horrible.

---They had to stay there until their leprosy was cured,

---Which rarely ever happened.

Armed with this understanding of leprosy,

---We might find these characters in our gospel lesson

---Fit us quite well.

III.  Some of us know what it is like

---To be labeled as "unclean"

---By both church and society.

We've been treated like lepers

---Because of whom we choose to love,

---Because of illness or divorce,

---Because of what we believe in,

---Because people have judged us

---Without taking the time to get to know us.

Some of us know what it is like to be estranged

---From family and friends,

---With little or no hope for reconciliation.

Some of us have lived on the margins of society,

---Scaping by to make ends meet,

---Grateful for the smallest of kindness we receive

---From friends and strangers alike.

There may be more lepers among us than we can imagine.

---If it feels like this character fits us well this morning,

---There is hope and good news to share!

First of all, Jesus crossed several social and religious boundaries

---To ensure that the lepers felt loved by him.

Without going into much detail

---Jesus was in the region between Samaria and Galilee,

---A place no respectable rabbi was supposed to travel.

Jesus was also ministering to at least one Samaritan

---Which was another "no-no."

Furthermore, Jesus was interacting with lepers

---Which was the biggest taboo of them all.

---But Jesus didn't seem to care

---About these social and religious prohibitions.

He ignored them in order to make the lepers

---Feel welcomed and loved.

This was something they had not felt in a LONG time.

---I believe he does the same for us.

The second word of Good News is that

---Those who have felt like lepers,

---But have also been embraced by Jesus' love and mercy,

---Are some of the best ambassadors for Christ

---Our world has ever known.

Because we know what it is like to be rejected and estranged,

---We are less likely to treat others the same way.

Because we have been welcomed and embraced by Jesus,

---We feel compelled to welcome and embrace others.

It is a gift that the lepers among us need to celebrate

---And claim as our own.

The final word of Good News for the lepers among us

---Is that we also have the opportunity to receive a special blessing.

Ten lepers were healed, but only one returned to give thanks.

---Perhaps the lesson learned here

---Is that a grateful heart is a powerful thing.

If we've always felt like insiders

---We might not realize what a wonderful gift that is.

---However, if we've ever felt like a leper,

---We SHOULD have a deep appreciation for

---The people and places where we feel welcomed and loved.

In our gospel lesson 90% of the lepers miss this final blessing.

---Perhaps the story is told so that we improve on that percentage!

IV.  The second characters we need to "try on" are Jesus' disciples.

---"But they're not in the story" you might respond.

---I would argue that they are in the story...Jesus NEVER traveled alone.

---In fact, no one traveled alone

---On the road between Samaria and Jerusalem.

The disciples are there.  Trust me.

---They just don't want to get involved.

They are somewhere in the background

---Wishing they were somewhere else,

---Perhaps disapproving of Jesus' actions,

---Unwilling to cross those social and cultural barriers,

---Unwilling to get their hands dirty.

Often times we identify with the disciples in the gospel stories

---Because they are most like us.

---Common, ordinary working folk

---With a passion for following Christ.

But in this instance they are M.I.A.

---And we are left to ponder what this says about us

---As followers of Jesus.

Let's be honest, it's easier to be the church

---In the warmth and safety of this building.

---It's easier to be the church

---As we write a check to the ELCA Disaster Fund

---Or Food For Fairview.

Being the church in these places is important,

---But the real work and ministry of the church

---Is out there in the trenches.

We cannot read the gospels any other way.

---Jesus was always willing to roll up his sleeves,

---Pick up his towel and basin,

---And serve those in need.

If we find ourselves always standing in the shadows,

---Content to watch from the sidelines,

---Then should ask ourselves what's keeping us

---From joining Jesus among the lepers.

Are we afraid of what others might think?

---Does it make us nervous

---To venture into unfamiliar territory?

---Have we been conditioned to believe

---That it's wrong to associate with "those kinds of people?"

There are many reasons for standing in the shadows.

---But I believe that the same Jesus who welcomed the lepers

---Invites us disciples to "fish for all kinds of people"

---"To take up our cross and follow him."

It's quite clear where he goes in our gospel lesson.

---Are we, as his disciples, willing to follow?

V.  The final character we need to try on is Jesus.

---For some of us, this is hard to do.

After all, Jesus was the Son of God.

---He performed miracles and healed people.

---He died on the cross and rose again.

Who do we dare compare ourselves to THAT?

Well, I think we do so humbly and reverently,

---Recognizing that we are called to walk where Jesus has walked.

---After all, he commanded us to follow him.

Therefore, at the very least, we can be his "intern."

---We can watch and learn.

---We can tag behind him like a kid brother or sister

---And try to imitate what he does.

If we identify with Jesus in our gospel lesson

---We need to be prepared to go way out of our comfort zones.

---We need to be prepared to be misunderstood

---And to be criticized by well intentioned people.

We need to have the faith that God's love knows no boundaries.

---Then we must be willing to cross those boundaries

---In order to bring love and healing to those who need it the most.

Jesus walks in some pretty risky territory in our gospel lesson.

---He's in a region

---Where good rabbis are not supposed to go.

---He's among a people

---That good rabbis are not supposed to associate with.

---He's reaching out with hope and healing

---To the most desperate of souls;

---Some of whom appreciate his efforts,

---Some of whom cannot bother to turn around and say "thank-you"

Jesus is where he is, and is doing what he is going,

---Because God's love leaves him no alternative.

---Jesus knows that no one lives outside the boundaries

---Of God's love, forgiveness and mercy.

Therefore, Jesus has no choice but to venture into forbidden territory,

---To love the most hopeless and helpless of people,

---And restore them to community:

---Community with God and community with their neighbor.

If we identify most strongly with Jesus this morning.

---It's a beautiful place to be, but it's not an easy place to be.

There is a cost to following Jesus.

---We may or may not be willing to pay it.

VI.  So, as I bring my thoughts to a close this morning.

---I hope we will all walk closely with our gospel lesson this week.

---I hope we will try on each of the characters

---And see which one fits us the best.

---I hope we'll listen carefully and let this story challenge us

---With the life-transforming power of Jesus' love.

AMEN