Americans love good fiction, says pollster George Barna, which seems to be a peculiar opening sentence for a report on his recent survey of what Americans believe about some familiar Bible stories – - including the virgin birth.  It’s not clear what Barna regards as fiction, but the subjects of his survey believe the story of the virgin birth to be literally true .  In fact, of the six stories included in his survey, this one was accepted as an accurate depiction of an historical event by three out of four adults.

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One of my favorite and often-visited websites is that of the Project Gutenberg. There are over 20,000 free books (electronic texts) in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog, a bibliophile’s dream! It’s been a great source of reading material for my very cool SONY Reader.

The good folks at Project Gutenberg have a nice collection of recommended Advent and Christmas readings. Most of these are short enough for a daily reading in addition to your daily lectionary readings.

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Peace – it sounds like such a nice word, but what does it really mean? What does peace really look like? How do we preach peace – especially every year at Advent?

These are just a few questions that went through my head as I was preparing to preach last week.

Below is the sermon I preached last week, Dec 9th, on the second Sunday of Advent.

Title – Yeah Right!
Texts – Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12
Focus – Peace takes work
Function – To challenge

Other information:
Size/style of congregation – average 150 in attendance on a Sunday, Pastoral Style
Spirituality – Head
Advent themes – Hope, peace, joy, and love (some churches focus on peace first and then hope).
My position – Associate Pastor – preaching as a “second chair”
Technique – I like to “weave” the text with present and real life issues and situations, even if it is a line or two here and there.
Other – Some of the organizations listed are particuar to my congregation and surrounding city

Enjoy:

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Our tour bus pulled into the “modern day” city of Bethlehem, just six miles southwest of Jerusalem. After years of mental images associating this small town with Christmas, Magi, and angels, the reality is a disappointment. Bethlehem today is a small Arab town at the outskirts of the major centers and tourist attractions in the area. If it had a twin sister city in my state we’d call it a “hole in a wall” kind of place. Aside from the tourist-trap shops and the unlikely ubiquitous presence of obnoxious street vendors, there is no hint that anything interesting exists in this dusty little town.

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Against the prevailing but uninformed notion that “I am spiritual, but not religious,” Barry L. Callen (professor of Christian studies at Anderson University, editor of the Wesleyan Theological Journal and founding editor of Anderson University Press) counters that religion and spirituality must coexist. In this book, Authentic Spirituality: Moving Beyond Mere Religion (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001. 271 pages. $18.99. ISBN 0-8010-2288-6) he demonstrates how religious practice and tradition are necessary for authentic Christian spirituality.

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So the time is finally here. The season most of our folks long for and the children actually pine for is here but are we as a church ready to fulfill those longings? Recently I sat in a team meeting where the focus wasn’t on planning for the Advent season but it did come up. My sense was that as a church we really weren’t ready for this moment.  By that I mean we were not ready to educate our congregation about the meaning of the season.

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In the midst of preparation to lead a retreat this weekend, with “Home for Christmas” as its theme, I’ve been reminded of the old adage about how the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The idea for this particular retreat came to me as “the holidays” were drawing to a close a year ago.  I had taken a hastily scheduled trip to Portland to spend a week with my younger sister, as she prepared to begin radiation and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.  That ordeal was to begin in January.  Meanwhile, we were to have a week of “sister time,” the week we usually had in August, but this year August had been consumed by our joint effort to connect, or reconnect, cousins – - her children, my children, their children – - whose homes are on opposite coasts.  That was before the cancer changed everything.

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Due warning: this is a rant of uncommon impatience.

Now that I’m on the other side of the pulpit, in the pews as part of the congregation, I find that my impatience with “bad worship” has increased. This summer I got to visit a lot of different churches while traveling to do seminars, consultations, and workshops, often participating in Sunday worship. For the most part I’m able to set aside my critical brain and enjoy the existential experience of worship with a congregation. At times I’m pleasantly surprised by a well-crafted service and a thoughtful sermon. But there are times when I’m tempted to walk out of the worship service when inflicted upon by some of the things that go on during the sacred hour.

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Fall in Virginia is quite a different matter from the same season in New York or Oregon, the other two places in which I have experienced its bittersweet mingling of pulsating life and coming death.  It has always been my favorite season of the year, but here in the steamy South (I know it gets steamier south of here, but this is all the steam I can bear) it is a completely different matter.  Fall, when it finally comes here, is a more about the weather than the calendar, and when the weather finally cools I tap into that combination of renewed energy that comes with a new academic year and the melancholy of remembering that winter will soon close in around us.  My melancholy has an extra depth this year as I watch my sister’s struggle with pancreatic cancer, a struggle she stands no statistical chance of winning, but still we hope. 

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