Epiphany: The light of the world

Epiphany, which we celebrate on January 6, marking the beginning of the Epiphany season (until Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday in March), is a day and season in which we emphasize light, or more specifically, acknowledging Jesus as the light of the world.  As the beginning of John’s gospel tells us: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  In him was life and that life was the light of all humankind.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.  The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.

In the beloved prayer attributed to St. Frances (see BCP p. 833) we pray "…where there is darkness, let us sow light."  Where do you see darkness and where light - in the world, in yourself?  In reflecting the light of Jesus, where someone is dehumanized, treat them as if they, just like you, are made in the image and likeness of God; treat them as if they are Christ, himself.  Where there is the darkness of isolation, be the light of companionship and community.  Where there is the darkness of contempt, be the light of compassion.  Where there is the darkness of hate and cruelty, be the light of the love of Christ.  Where there is the darkness of violence, be the light of peace.  On the day and in the season in which we emphasize Jesus, the light of the world, be the light that shines in the darkness that the darkness will not overcome.

Marc Vance
Associate Rector

Christmas message from Anne

 Dear friends,

As you may know, I am a big fan of the comics section of the newspaper.  Recently the Family Circus strip showed the Dad stringing Christmas lights outdoors as little Billy says to him, “Christmas lights up the world, doesn’t it, Daddy?”  Indeed it does.
 
‘Tis the season for Christmas lights, twinkling and brightening houses and neighborhoods. They make me smile when I drive anywhere on a cold, dark evening. But the way that Christmas lights up the world isn’t really about bright holiday bulbs. It’s about the Son of God coming into our world to be with us, taking on flesh to dwell among us—even and especially in the darkest places of our lives and of the world. As we hear in the prologue to the Gospel of John, What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
 
Jesus was born in a dark time, the child of poor parents unable to find lodging in the midst of their long and uncomfortable journey to meet the stringent tax regulations of their oppressor, the Roman Empire. That first Christmas had no cheery flashing lights and tinsel-covered trees; no candy canes or reindeer, no eggnog or fancily wrapped gifts. It had none of the trappings that we tend to associate with Christmas. They weren’t needed.  What makes Christmas Christmas is the simple, stunning birth of the baby Jesus, God incarnate and man divine, the light of the world then and now and always. 
 
I look forward to celebrating with you the coming of the light of the world; and I very much hope that you will take part in one or more of our upcoming Christmas services:

• Christmas Eve Family Service, December 24 at 3:00 PM with Children’s Pageant, Children’s Homily, and Candle-lighting
• Christmas Eve Festive Eucharist, December 24 at 8:30 PM with Special Music and Candle-lighting. (Christmas music by the choir and bellringers will begin at 8:00 AM)
• Christmas Day Eucharist, December 25 at 10:30 AM
• Service of Lessons and Carols, Sunday, December 29 at 10:30 AM

As is customary here at St. Andrew’s, there will be a special Christmas offering again this year. Christmas offering envelopes will be available in the church beginning this Sunday. You may also give online by clicking here.
 
Friends, in the coming days I pray that you will indeed experience the way that Christ’s birth lights up the world, even the darkest corners.  May you never forget that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not, cannot, and will not overcome it.
 
Blessings of light and life to each of you.  –Anne

Love them anyway

The last Sunday of Pentecost, what we call Christ the King Sunday, always seems like a juxtaposition because it is the Sunday before we begin the Church’s new year, the holy preparatory season of Advent, and yet, depending on the year, the Gospel reading is about Jesus hanging on the cross or preparing for that.  The bottom line is that the cross would not be possible without the incarnation and the incarnation would have been pointless (or nearly so), if not for the cross.  Both - the incarnation and the cross - are momentous signs of God’s immeasurable redemptive love for God’s creation.

As we read in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  And continuing in the third chapter of John’s Gospel: God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that all who believe in him should not perish but have ever lasting life.  Despite the fickleness of humanity toward God and God’s creation, despite all that they did to Jesus, through it all, God loved (and loves) us anyway.

As we continue through this blessed season of our Lord’s nativity, contemplating the things of this world that necessitate Jesus’ sacrifice and our own fears and complicities and insults we endure, it may be helpful to be reminded of the Paradoxical Commandments by Kent Keith (often attributed to Mother Teresa):

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Be successful anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People need help but may attack you if you help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

Any way you look at it, the bottom line is the same: Whatever people may do, love them anyway.

- Marc Vance

 

 

Prepare the way of the Lord

The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command.—Baruch 5:8

In The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, the tree is the symbol of love.  The tree gives her leaves to the Boy she loved to make a crown, her apples so that the Boy could make money, her branches so that the Boy could build a house, her trunk so that the Boy could build a boat, and her stump so that the older Boy could sit and rest.
 
God gave his Son as his symbol of love to the world.  Jesus was the tree and we are the branches.  We can rest in his arms whenever the need arises.  Jesus would end his life nailed to a tree, that was made into a cross, and wearing a crown of thorns so that, following his death and resurrection, we would have life everlasting. Trees don’t live forever, but through the miracle of nature they are reborn.  During this season of Advent, we are preparing for the birth of the Christ Child.  Many of us have or soon will have a tree in our homes – a symbol of the season.  We will adorn its branches.  We will place gifts for loved ones and friends under those branches.  We will enjoy the joys of the holidays. 
 
Some us will participate in the Angel Tree for students at Sedgefield Elementary School – selecting “angels” from the branches of the tree, buying and wrapping gifts, and placing them under the tree’s branches to share joy with others.
 
But…let us also remember the giving tree and the gift of God, our Father, as we prepare our hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus and for the expectations of a happy holiday season.  The tree gave all that she had to give so that the Boy could have the necessities of life.  God gave his Son so that we might have life everlasting.  May we, as our time, gifts, and talents allow, remember others throughout this time of reflection.
 
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.—Luke 3:4b-6
 
- Bill Wilds

The Power of Presence

The past two weeks haven’t been the happiest or the most hopeful for me, so I’ve been trying more than usual to attune myself to God’s presence in my everyday life. Sometimes I get caught up in feeling like I’m just one small, insignificant person. What difference can one person make?

As I tuned my heart and mind toward the present moment this week, I found myself thinking more and more about the power of presence. I’ve been feeling it lately as I mourn the loss of Becki Shamblen. I didn’t realize how much I had come to anticipate seeing Becki several times a week around church. I got used to the sound of her footsteps back and forth from the sacristy, as I sat working alone in my office. I got used to bumping into her in the nave on a weekday and exchanging a few words. Would Becki have considered me a close friend? No, and that’s okay. But her loyalty to the altar guild, as well as several other ministries, became a source of encouragement for me. Her devotion to her faith strengthened mine.

I remember I felt it at the beginning of this year, too, after Bill Wilds retired. Bill used to appear in my office doorway, and not always because we had church business to take care of. Did Bill and I ever solve world peace in our workday conversations? No. But the joy he took in his service made me more joyful in doing mine.

Recently a neighbor of mine was going through a difficult time and sought my support. This is someone I see often but do not have a close relationship with. Somehow, though, in our short interactions, I became known to her as someone who was grounded in faith and someone she could trust. Apparently, just by just being myself, I had been a source of strength for someone without knowing it. The power of presence.

As we head into Advent in a couple weeks, we’ll all be able to ponder the power of presence: Immanuel, which means “God with us”. God came to earth as a baby. Babies are inherently helpless. What can a baby possibly do for a hurting, divided, violent world? As we celebrate Christmas and hear the stories of the groups of people who came to visit Jesus, we are reminded what it all started with: simply being there. The power of presence.

- Ginny Chilton