Learning

I learned two things tonight:

1. That I have a very, very long driveway

and 2. That if you don't shovel/plow your driveway for two weeks and it snows a lot in one day, you may not be able to get in your driveway. You may get stuck.

One could assume I learned these things because I couldn't get in my driveway tonight because of all the snow on the ground so I parked my car at the church parking lot after getting a snow shovel. One could also assume that I spent a great deal of time shoveling off my very, very long driveway and freezing my legs off while I did it. One could also assume that the effort I put into shoveling all that snow payed off and I was able to put my car in the garage for the night.

I love snow! No really... I do... even after shoveling my very, very long driveway. In fact, I sort of enjoyed shoveling my very, very long driveway. I do enjoy shoveling snow... I'm kind of weird like that I guess.

There's at least a foot and a half of snow, possibly two, on my back deck right now and it's supposed to keep snowing tonight. Woo hoo!!!

Kate

Busy!

I think the past several weeks (read at least a month, probably more) have been the busiest in a while and probably the least successful for me posting anything new up here. It just seems that any time I'm not working, I'm either sleeping or trying my best to have fun to balance out all the work I've been doing. I'm enjoying my job right now, but it's just keeping me so incredibly busy.

I'm in the middle of teaching Revelation. We've had two sessions so far and this Sunday will be my third. We'll then take a week off for the annual meeting and then I'll teach the final three sessions the following three weeks (ending right before Lent begins). So preparing my lessons each week takes a good chunk of time and energy - but I'm having fun. Last week 66 people showed up for my class! 66 people! Up from 50 the week before. It's nuts. But a good kind of nuts. Must be doing something right I guess. If you're interested in the materials I've got up on the web from the past two sessions, click on the following link and look toward the bottom of the page: http://www.loloh.org.

In addition to teaching, I'm preaching this week and then there's always the normal meetings and the like that are keeping me busy. I'll probably post my sermon at some point in the near future (here's hoping I remember/find the time/find the energy to do so). So we'll see.

Last night I went with out seventh grade girls to visit one of our members who has been paralyzed from the neck down since he was 18 (he's now 44) and in a long term care facility. The trip is part of our confirmation program and each of our four groups (8th grade boys/girls, 7th grade boys/girls) make individual trips to see Don. I always enjoy visiting Don and I try to see him every two weeks or so for pastoral visits. Last night was an additional visit and it was a really good visit. Don's always good about laying things out for the kids. He's not afraid of questions either. But the other cool thing is that the visit is mutually beneficial. The kids enjoy getting to know Don and he really enjoys getting to know them. It brings a bright spot to a day that may otherwise be a bit mundane for him, particularly since he's been confined to a bed for the past several months. What was really kind of cool was watching some of the girls connect with Don - especially those I didn't think would. So that was pretty cool.

Well, I'm pretty tired and there's more to do over the next couple of days. So I'm heading to bed.

More later... at some point.

Kate

It's been a while...

I guess it's been almost a month since I last posted. Things got kind of crazy as Christmas came and then went and now things are still crazy - in fact I would hazard a guess that they might be even crazier. But it's all good.

So for Christmas, my parents and brother came into town. It was definitely good having family here. For Christmas Eve, we had one morning service (Advent 4) and then three Christmas Eve services (4:00, 7:00, and 11:00). By the end I was beat and didn't leave the church until 1:30 Christmas Day morning... but it was definitely worth all the time and effort. It was also real good for me to be part of the community on Christmas. Honestly I don't think I could have asked for a better Christmas.

I preached on New Year's Eve and am posting the sermon at the end of this post (finally). My parents, who weren't originally going to see me preach, had the chance to do so. Every one of the snow storms that hit Denver over the past three weeks, hit Albuquerque first. Snow managed to cancel several flights including my parents'. They figured it out before they left here on Saturday and rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 1. My brother left New Years Eve late in the afternoon but didn't get back to Albuquerque until the 1st either. Snow and fog wound up canceling his flight from DFW to Albuquerque that night. But everybody eventually made it home - just a bit later than expected.

Now I'm back in the swing of things. I start teaching a six-week course on the book of Revelation this Sunday so a bunch of my time this week has been spent prepping for the first session. Some class materials will be posted on the Lord of Life website soon - so if you're interested, check it out at http://www.loloh.org.

So that's what's going on - craziness. But all good craziness. =)

Sermon – December 31, 2006

Text: Luke 2:41-52

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." 49 He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

I absolutely love the month of December.

I love the month of December because for just a little while, routines are broken as we prepare for Christmas. I love Christmas carols, I love the lights, I love the smell of Christmas trees, I love the cold, crisp air and how it makes me want to curl up in front of a warm fire. I love watching children as their eyes light up when they see a big Christmas tree with lots of ornaments. I love watching friends and loved ones open gifts – wrapping paper flying in the air and a slight smile as they see what’s been obscured by the paper for the last several days.

I love worship on Christmas Eve. I love the hymns we sing, how they remind us of the power of a little baby. I love singing Silent Night by candlelight and seeing everybody’s faces lit by the warm glow of their candle.

I love how God breaks into our routines. I love that God comes as a child with promises of big things. I love how for just a little while, even if it is only a brief moment, all the world’s problems seem far off because the solution is right here before us.

I love the month of December because of Christmas.

And now it’s over.

Now everything returns to “normal” even though it’s still the Christmas season.

Lights are coming down off of houses. Soon there will be no more small, twinkling lights to brighten our nighttime journeys. Christmas trees are coming down and the ornaments are being packed away carefully – waiting for the next time they can grace the branches of a tree. Even all the decorations here will be taken down soon.

All the excitement, the anticipation, is gone – gifts have been opened and no one wonders what might be in the really big box under the tree. Big meals have been eaten and now leftovers will soon be gone too. Family and friends who were visiting for the holidays have either already left or will shortly. Many of us have already returned to work and in a few short days the rest of us will go back to school or work as well.

Back to homework, back to basketball practice, back to piano lessons. Back to phone calls, back to computers, and back to noisy offices. Back to bedtimes and new episodes of our favorite television shows. Back to normal.

Even for Mary and Joseph, things eventually got back to normal.

All the wonder of Jesus’ birth… the virgin conception, a visit from the angel Gabriel, Elizabeth’s child leaping in her womb and Elizabeth’s pronouncement that Mary was the mother of her Lord, visits by shepherds who told of Gabriel appearing to them, singing choirs of angels, and a visit to the temple during which Simeon and Anna foretold great things for Jesus. All these great and glorious things were over and suddenly Jesus was 12 years old.

We don’t know what happened in those twelve years, but one would assume a lot of “normal” stuff for a very extraordinary boy – dirty diapers and all the other stuff that babies manage to produce, cries of hunger and the desire to be held, first words, first steps, cuts and scrapes when he fell in the dirt, bruises from where he bumped into a table, a boo-boo from when he got too close to the fire, runny noses and coughs, laughter, tears, and an occasional toy left in the living room…

Things were pretty normal for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. All the excitement, the anticipation, the glorious songs and great gifts of his birth quickly faded into the background. It was easy for Mary and Joseph to forget who their son really was – what he was meant to be.

It’s easy for me, for us, to forget as well. The wonder, the amazement, is lost in the normalcy of life. We get stuck in our routines, lost in our own world.

We get lost in the routines… going to bed at a certain time, getting up at a certain time, having that first cup of coffee of the day, getting ourselves to school, getting ourselves to work, getting through the day, grocery shopping, sports and other activities, Milkshakes and Ministry, meetings… lost in the normalcy of it all.

Mary and Joseph got lost in the normalcy too. Just when the twinkling lights of Jesus’ birth and the stories of the shepherds faded away, just when things were so incredibly normal, something very abnormal happened. During the yearly visit to Jerusalem for the Passover, Jesus stayed behind.

“Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, [Mary and Joseph] went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends.”

Discovering Jesus wasn’t among their relatives and friends, panic started to set in.

Where is he? Is he ok? Did he stay behind? Why would he disobey us like that? He wouldn’t do that to us – he’s a good kid. Then there must be something wrong, something’s happened. What could have happened to him?? I hope he didn’t get lost somewhere! I hope he’s not hurt!

Swept up in the ordinary, Mary and Joseph forget who their son was. They anxiously searched for three days, panic stricken. Didn’t they remember all the wondrous things they were told about Jesus? Didn’t they remember that Jesus was to be a great king? Didn’t they remember that this boy was blessed by God? Didn’t they remember that he was the son of God? Why didn’t they trust that he was ok? Why didn’t they look in the temple first?

Twelve years of normalcy was enough to cause them to forget. It was enough to forget the face of the angel Gabriel. Enough to forget the words of the shepherds. Enough to forget the feelings of worthiness. Enough to forget that the face of their twelve year old boy was in fact the face of God.

But Jesus breaks into the fog of their forgetfulness, doing great things that bring the wonder and amazement of his birth back. Jesus reminds Mary and Joseph that life is never really normal now that he’s here.

“After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

He was simply sitting in the temple, presumably the whole time Mary and Joseph were looking for him. Too bad they didn’t have cell phones… they may have known sooner.

But Mary, in typical motherly fashion, couldn’t contain her anger. Even though she was amazed at what she saw, she blurts out, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”

Silence.

But Jesus reminds his mother, or really reminds us, who he is – “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”

Typical 12 year old.

How can you forget what you have seen? How can you forget what you have heard? Do you not understand who I am?

Is the normal stuff of our lives enough to forget about the wondrous things of Christmas? Is it enough to forget about all that we’ve heard, all we’ve seen? Is it enough to forget about the feelings of security and comfort? Is it enough to forget that we have seen the face of God in a little child?

Is it enough for us not to understand who Jesus is – enough for us to search in panic for our savior who has been where he should be all along?

I am always sad when December, when Christmas, is over because I know that as I return to what is normal, the feelings of Christmas: the warmth, the security, the wonder, and the amazement; quickly subside. I want to carry those feelings with me through the entire year, through my entire life. I don’t want to search in panic like Mary and Joseph.

But right at the very point when I forget, right at the very point we forget, Jesus breaks into our routines and reminds us that life is never really normal now that he’s here.

He reminds us every time we come to worship and hear the stories of his life, of his death, and of his resurrection. He reminds us on Ash Wednesday and all through Lent. He reminds us on Maundy Thursday and just when it looks like all hope is lost on Good Friday, he comes back to show us how abnormal life really is on Easter.

Jesus breaks in and reminds us when a five year old confidently says, “I know Jesus loves me because he died on the cross.” Jesus reminds us of who he is every time a child is born – a child made in the image of God.

He reminds us in words of promise spoken at a funeral or in the hugs we receive from friends and family while we mourn.

He reminds us every time we go to the City Mission and stand with our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate. He reminds us every time we travel to Biloxi and see the devastation Mother Nature can cause and how people there are rebuilding not only homes and buildings but hearts and souls as well.

Even now, as we are standing at the doorstep of a new year, a year that promises more frenzy, more anxiety, more worry, Jesus makes us pause for a bit and reminds us that he is the Son of God. No need to worry, no need to search for him. He is right where he should be, right where we need him to be, the entire time.

December might be over, Christmas may be almost over, but the child we love so much, we need so much, Jesus, continues to be with us the entire year round. Amen.