What Is God Up to?

We celebrated Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in worship yesterday. Some of us attended an interfaith event held in Westborough last week, a day of inspiration, service, and connection. 300 people, kids, and adults came together to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, and to consider how we can keep his dream of a just an equitable society alive.

In worship, we read Paul's Letter to the Galatians 3:23-29. Paul writes about distinctions of society at his time and how they no longer apply: we are all one, and we are all free. 

How do we live into that, today, with a society that has become even more diverse since the days of Dr. King? It is no longer only "black and white." There are differences in religion, ethnic background, sexual orientation, intellectual and physical ability, income, education, age, political affiliation...  More and more boxes that we place each other in, and judge each other from. 

How do we overcome them? 

One big step, I think, is to realize that these boxes exist in our heads and nowhere else. And they exist in our heads because they were placed there, not because we were born with them. Nobody is born with any kind of bias. Bias is taught and learned. So is fear of those who are different. When you put babies of different racial backgrounds together they will interact without any reservation. Do the same exercise with older kids who have not been exposed to people of other races, and they will be curious. As they grow older still they will become skeptical, even fearful or hostile. Because they hear statements of prejudice and bias, and they internalize them. 

We can't go back and change the way we were raised. But we can try to overcome the boxes that were put in our heads. 

And we can learn from and with our kids. 

One of the questions I asked during my sermon yesterday (quoting Rev. Jeffrey Jones) was, "What is God up to?" Because I fully believe that I am not in control of this congregation, or anything for that matter. None of us are. Do we have influence? Yes. Responsibility? Absolutely. Power? To varying degrees. But we are not in control. God is in control. Instead of praying, "God, please do this or that," we might pray, "God, what are you up to? And how do I get on board?" 

What does God want for this world? How does God want us to treat each other, and our planet? How can we play a role in God's plan?

We won't know unless we ask. 

Being a United States Citizen

I am sharing a personal pledge that I want to make publicly so I can be held accountable. This is my personal opinion and does not represent Trinity Church. 

I am now a citizen of the United States of America. (Also, still, of Germany.)
It is humbling to recognize the circumstances of privilege I came under: I was living in safety and freedom. I chose to search for a job in the U.S. and moved here after I found one. I could move back to Germany any time I want to, and I travel there to visit regularly.

So I think of the many who came here under very different circumstances: Fleeing persecution, discrimination, war and poverty - most likely never to return to the place they call home.

This is my pledge to you, all immigrants, documented and undocumented, and all refugees: As a citizen, I will use my voice and my vote to fight for your rights and your safety. I will never forget your plight and your pain. And I will do everything in my power to educate about basic human rights.

This is also my pledge to other marginalized groups who face discrimination every day: People of color, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, people of non-Christian faiths, people with criminal records, and all others: I will fight for you, too.

Life has been easy for me. I‘ve been very fortunate and blessed but I don‘t deserve this any more than you do. I am not worth more than you are. I admire you and you will always have an ally in me! So help me God.

A New Year

At the end of each year, I like to read through my journal and do a personal "year in review." It's always surprising how much I forget, and how I still get upset about things that I thought I had learned to handle better. It's also an opportunity to give thanks: for time spent with people I love, for experiences I enjoyed, for relaxation and excitement, and for lessons learned. 

And then I look ahead at the new year and all the potential it holds. I don't usually make new year's resolutions but I do think about what I want to focus my time and energy on, what I want to work on, what I want to let go of. 

And I realize time and time again that what shapes my life the most is not what happens to me, but how I respond. So many circumstances are beyond our control: health, decisions made at our workplace, how other people treat us. The only thing we can control is how we respond: With anger, despair, withdrawal...
Or with compassion, openness, courage.
We can accept the things that are beyond our control, and change what only we can: our own attitude.
This year, 2019, I choose an attitude of gratitude, of calm, and of compassion.
Ask me again next year how it went! With God's grace, I believe I will be one step closer to becoming the person God created me to be. Thankfully, God has more patience than I do.
Here's to a peaceful 2019!

Joy

Advent marks the four Sundays before Christmas.  Each Sunday we light a candle symbolizing our light, Jesus, coming into the world. Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy. The first, second and fourth candle on the Advent wreath is purple, a color of repentance and waiting. The third candle is pink, representing the joy we find even in the midst of trials and questions.

We recognize that the holiday season is not as joyful for everyone as we like to pretend. Grief, loss, difficult family dynamics, financial burdens all affect how joyful someone feels. But when we focus on God we realize that we have reason to be joyful no matter what our circumstances may be. We cannot always change the situation we are in. But we can change how we respond to it. If we choose to respond with openness, with humility, acceptance, and gratitude, we can find joy even in the most difficult situations. If we recognize that God is in control and believe that ultimately, God knows better than we do, we can find joy. 

Our youth bell choir played a beautiful arrangement of "Silent Night." Our band sang "Light of the World" by Lauren Daigle: "He is the song for the suffering. He is messiah. The Prince of Peace has come.

He has come, Emmanuel.
Glory to the light of the world.
For all who wait, for all who hunger, for all who've prayed, for all who wonder.
Behold your King. Behold Messiah. Emmanuel, Emmanuel,

Glory to the light of the world."

 

Music touches us in places that words alone cannot get to. It brings us joy. And it makes us want to move!

We also played the video "Joy" by For King and Country - and we danced! (Watch it here if you need some joy in your day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-r7ogDaaEQ) The pews were rockin'. Joy is contagious. Love is contagious. Hope is contagious.

Advent stands for all of those gifts: God wants to bring them to us. And when we are open to receive them, willing to let them interrupt the busyness or our lives and the negativity around us, when we truly let them reach our hearts we cannot help but pass them on. The world needs more joy. The world needs more God. The world needs us to spread it all around. 

Wishing everyone who reads this a joyful, peaceful and hopeful Christmas, filled with the love of God! 

Peace

This is an emotional time of year. Extremely busy for many, sad and lonely for some. And sentimental for most of us. The music, the smells, the decorations, foods, and traditions remind us of times long gone, and of people, we love that are no longer with us to share these memories. 

It's also a bit sentimental because, at Christmas, we tend to romanticize things. Christmas movies, images of the rosy-cheeked Christ child, the hope for peace and that all might be well... And then we realize how much is not well: War, famine, political dissent, gun violence, extremism and hate, destructive changes in the climate.

When you really think about it it's hard not to lose hope. Where is the good news in all of this?

The romanticizing of Christmas shows how much we long for a world at peace, a world without suffering. We want to escape reality for a bit and believe (or pretend) that all is well. 

Denial is never a solution though. It's better to face reality and deal with it. 

Jesus did. He came into our world because it isn't peaceful or perfect. That's why we need him! He came to bring us the peace this world can never give. He came to call us as peacemakers.  

So the good news is, there's still you. And if you long for peace, you can work towards peace. If you open yourself up for the kind of peace God wants to give you, you will receive it. If you choose to live at peace with yourself and with those around you, you can. 

It's not going to be easy. If it were we wouldn't need God. But it is possible. Peace is possible. 

Jesus said so: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." (John 14:27)

Hope

For many, this weekend was the kick-off to the Christmas season: Tree lightings, Christmas fairs, concerts and much more. 

My weekend was a little different. I attended an event about human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Even in this day and age, women and children are subject to unthinkable violence and abuse. Not only, but including sexual violence. Children are forced to do physical labor for 10 hours a day. Domestic workers here in the United States are exploited and basically held as prisoners. It's a business and a successful one. I couldn't wrap my mind around how human beings can inflict such pain on others, just to make a buck. 

If you are willing to expose yourself to this reality, watch the film "Not My Life" here:

https://www.notmylife.org/

Find out how you are supporting slavery in your daily shopping by taking the survey here: http://slaveryfootprint.org/

What gives me hope is that there are things we can do: We can buy fairly traded items like coffee, tea, and chocolate in any grocery store. We can buy our clothing from companies that commit to supporting fair and safe working conditions. We can inform ourselves and inform others. I refuse to give up hope that we can make a difference.

In worship, we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath yesterday, the candle of hope. One small candle can give a lot of light and warmth, and it can light many other candles. This is a symbol of the hope we find in seemingly small and insignificant gestures. Even in ourselves. 

Yesterday afternoon, a group of kids and adults from Trinity went Christmas caroling in local nursing homes. To many of the residents, Christmas is an especially difficult time because it reminds them of what they have lost: family members, their home, their independence. To see a group of young people come in and sing for them was joyful and hopeful. I was deeply moved by the tears I saw in some of their faces, and the laughter. Some of them sang along and others danced! 

There is hope. As long as we still care, there is hope. As long as we believe in the good in people, there is hope. As long as we believe that God is with us, and God wants to build a better world with us, there is hope. Let's take that hope and light up the world with it.

Expectations

That's what this season is all about! Call them hopes or wishes: Kids write their wish list, you may have hopes of a peaceful and festive family Christmas.

But what it really comes down to is expectations. And when our expectations are not met, we are disappointed. 

In the Christian tradition, the season before Christmas is called Advent, which means "coming" or "arrival." As Christians, we expect, we hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We expect we hope for him to change the world and make it better. We don't celebrate Christmas to commemorate something that happened a long time ago. We celebrate Christmas because of the hope it brings us: God came into this world as a human being! Small, frail, poor. God came to be with us, to be like us, and to show us how to live and how to love. 

The reason we still celebrate this is that we still have hope that the world can change. That we can change and live the way Jesus did. Even thousands of years later, we still have that hope. Without it, everything we do would be pointless and meaningless.

Not only do we have that hope, but we also have the expectation. Expectation is a little more certain than hope. 

Having expectations of our family or of ourselves may lead to disappointment.

Having expectations of God never will. In God's time, God will bring what we have every right and reason to expect of God: Peace, love, justice. 

I'm counting on it!