only what once was mine


only at christmas time


A sermon on Isaiah 42:1-9:

Okay, I’ll admit to an unpopular opinion… I like a proper cold & snowy winter.
In fact, remember watching that show “Full House” as a boy. It takes place in San Francisco, and all the characters have these charmed lives. BUT I remember the Christmas episodes, when things were especially charming, but I could only feel bad for them; they never got a proper winter snow! 

I didn’t realize it back then, but I’ve come to understand part of the reason I like a proper winter is, it makes Christmas all that more powerful.
Now, I don’t mean the way we all imagine Christmas with white, beautiful snow. I mean, the way the promises of Christmas CLASH with crummy winter weather!
Our bishop noted that for us in the Northern hemisphere, Christmas comes at a down time. When the year is winding down. The weather’s getting colder, and the days are getting shorter. 
Which is the point! God comes when we don’t have it all together! When we’re not at our best! Icky winter weather doesn’t undermine the good promises of Christmas! It brings them into greater relief!

So this measly chilly weather just ISN’T doing it! It feels more like November, than the middle of December out there! You can still see the grass, for heaven’s sake! 

It just doesn’t feel like Christmas… 
Which is my real problem; with this weather I can’t seem to get into the Christmas spirit…

*Any of you going through that about now?
Try as I might, I can’t seem to gin up my spirit, either. I’ve tried all the usual remedies: gift-getting, Bach-listening, advent-readings. But it’s not doing. I just can’t seem to fan my flagging spirits…
*You know what I mean?

Well, if you can, you’re actually only ALL the more ready to receive the Christmas spirit!

…Christmas is something of a crucible, isn’t it? 
Between the end of November and the beginning of January, we try and cram in so much. & I don’t mean all the parties, calories and gifts — although there are those. 
I mean all the hope and expectation. That everything will be just right. And   everyone will be there… And healthy. And happy, too! 
It’s a lot! 
We don’t set out to make Christmas so hard; but many years, by the middle of December, we’re already worn out!
It’s hard to live up to it all. To keep our spirits up the way we think we should. 

Truth be told, on a year like this, sometimes it feels like the best I can do, is just try to get through it not too badly bruised 

But, I’m not the only one who’s cranky tonight. Because our scripture for today is a passage that gives scholars conniption fits. You know.

There’s clearly two parts to it. The first part, where God describes The Servant God’s sending. 
And, the second part, where God issues a commission.

But the rub is, The Servant described at the beginning is singular, one person; “He.” BUT the commission, is given to multiple people! Second-person, plural; y’all!
Who is The Servant, and who are all the people being commissioned???

…For us in the pews, though, this problem isn’t real, it’s theoretical. 
We all hear this passage and know The Servant is Jesus, the one who brings God’s justice. And the commission is given to y’all; the servantS of The servant!

Now, at this point, scholars will protest! 
The neat division between the two isn’t all that easy, they say! When is The Servant being described, and when are the servantS being described? 
Because they look alike. Act alike! How can you tell the difference?

Which, believe it or not, is the point! You can’t! Because in the end, real life will eliminate any meaningful differences!

Here; I’ll give you an example: Beginning this spring, we’ve had tough row to hoe. Haven’t we? 
And I don’t mean this merger stuff, although there’s that. I mean the funerals. The diagnoses. The life changes. The hospital visits. That stuff. It’s been hard. Hasn’t it?

Only, what’s happened is, we’ve been shaped. Haven’t we?
Shaped into one body. 
One body, that looks like our Savior’s body… 

God has used these rough edges of life to shave down our lives into the shape of our savior’s!

That’s the reason you can’t tell the difference between The Servant and the servantS! The lives of the servantS end up mirroring The Servant’s life so closely, there’s NO noticeable difference!

That’s what’s been happening to those of us who can’t seem to get into the Christmas spirit, too! Our life has been taking the shape of The Servant! He was born in a manger, not exactly the kind of place that gets your spirit fired up!

When your spirit grows dim, when all you come through the Christmas season with is just another new bruise; your life ends up mirroring The Servant’s! 
It is to people like us, that The Servant comes! Those with flagging spirits and bruised bodies! “(A) bruised reed he will NOT break, and a dimly burning wick he will NOT quench.”

If you’re here, and you can’t seem to get into the Christmas Spirit. If you’re here, and there’s some bruise in your life that’s keeping you from having a holly-jolly Christmas; you are the out in those barren fields of life, I know. But those are the fields God sends the angels to first with tidings of Good News and great joy!

The Servant’s comes to bring God’s unique brand of justice. 
Part of what’s so unique about this justice is that it’s not just about the outcome. It’s also the way The Servant brings God’s justice.

Like, have you ever noticed the way marvel superheroes bring justice? Sure they destroy the villain. But, they also destroy anything else that gets in the way! 
*Pay attend to ALL the collateral damage next time you watch a superhero movie. I promise you’ll be much less impressed

The way The Servant comes bringing God’s justice, though, is reverse to the way superheroes do! Instead of brining justice by destroying evil, AND anything else that gets in the way; The Servant brings justice by saving the folks like us who are bruised and barely burning. Folks those in power might consider collateral damage. 

The Servant takes notice of you and the path your trudge these December days. In fact, The Servant is tender with those of us he takes notice of! He won’t snuff out our flagging spirits or break our bruised bodies in his pursuit of God’s justice! And, he won’t grow tired of this work of his until it’s finished!

That’s, finally, the real reason you can’t tell the difference between The Servant and the servantS. Because The Servant works like those to whom he’s sent; humble and unassuming!
The Servant takes on the shape of your life! He does so, so completely, he’s comes as an infant!

God could have saved us from all way up in heaven. But that’s not what God chose! Instead of doing salvation like some top-down initiative, God got so close it became impossible to tell the difference between The Servant and the servantS!

When your spirits isn’t there! When you’re bruised; your life looks like the life of The Servant! Because The Servant has come to take your life upon himself!
In fact, he does you one better! He’s not just bruised, but broken for you! He’s spirit doesn’t just go dim, he burns it out altogether for you! 

God’s Servant doesn’t look down on your dimly burning spirit, and he’s not too good for your bruises, either! They are the plies of his trade! 

Our Christmas spirit, or lack thereof, it is the stuff Jesus uses to to deliver God’s justice Which is simply another way to say God’s mercy!

You’re already right where you need to be this Christmas; Jesus is busy working the barren stretches of your life to the the place you hear the angel’s message! Making those worn paths of your life to be the road your travel to the manger!

The bruises we’ll get this season, the spirit the grows dim; these are humble gifts we come to offer The Servant. 
And Jesus, in a wonderful act of God’s justice, doesn’t just accept these gifts; he gives you himself. He takes your spirit, and gives you his in turn! He takes your bruises upon himself so that they would become the stripes by which we are healed!

You’re closer to Christmas than you know 

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