Finally, there is the matter of where and when the three magi met Jesus. We always imagine the magi appearing with their gifts in the manger the night Jesus was born. This may have been true for the shepherds (who are not in Mathew by the way), but it would have been impossible for the magi. Mathew says that the Magi came to Judea ‚ÄúAfter Jesus was born in Bethlehem,‚Äù (Matt 2:1) The Magi do inquire about the location of Jesus’s birth, and are told it was in Bethlehem, but instead of going to Bethlehem they ‚Äúwent on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.‚Äù (Matt 2:7) Thus they followed the star, precisely because Jesus was not easily locatable in Bethlehem, and because the star told them where he was, presumably in Nazareth. The journey of the magi, which started at Jesus‚Äô birth, must have taken years, so it is most likely that the Magi arrived with their gifts when Jesus was about two. This also explains why Herod wanted to kill every child around the age of two or younger. (Matt 2:14)

To celebrate this occasion we decided to take a long journey like the Magi. And like the Magi we wanted to bring with us gifts. But since we could not bring gifts for the Christ child specifically we decided to bring gifts for his brothers and sisters the needy. We organized a canned food drive and collected cans during our pilgrimage which we deposited at a local food pantry. In all, we collected 39 cans of food!

It was not a good night for traveling – the streets were wet with the day’s rain and spurts of water still drizzled down through the sky. The onset of night had shrouded our journey in darkness and the bitter cold began to freeze the water on the streets. Yet we decided to carry through with our expedition.

We all met up at Sarah‚Äôs apartment for some readings, had some hors d’oeuvres, and then we loaded up and headed to Isaac’s. On the way we talked of our own journeys and what gifts we brought into the New Year. When we reached Isaac’s we were welcomed by his wife Katie, and we had a sing along of traditional Epiphany songs, including “Brightest and Best” and ‚ÄúWe Three Kings.‚Äù Then we tromped our way to Union Theological Seminary where we refreshed ourselves with a sort of communion at Paul‚Äôs house before our final stop, visiting an actual newborn baby, courtesy of John and Elizabeth Snodgrass.

It was a night of experiences carrying our burdens through the streets, telling stories on the bus, singing together, and playing with the children. Our short hike through upper Manhattan was surely different from the long trek of the Magi, but in the end I felt the same warmth of community and fellowship that I am sure they must have experienced as they went on their adventure to see the Christ.

First, I think that it is important to really realize how much suffering there is in the world.  On Monday, 5 US. and 13 Iraqi soldiers died in an attack in Iraq along with at least 51 other civilians.  11 Iraqi children were killed in a bomb attack in Iraq over the weekend.  And all over the world people are suffering and dying.  On Monday approximately 1,400 people became infected with AIDS, 95% of them live in developing countries without ready access to medical care.  On Monday almost 3,000 children died of Malaria and 16,000 children died of hunger.

And tragedy can strike us on our own American soil as well.  Every year in the US. 1,500 children die due to abuse and neglect. 3,000 children die as a result of gun violence, 30,000 Americans commit suicide, and 160,000 Americans die of lung cancer.  These are all estimates, but this list of tragedy can go on and on.  It does not include those who die of accidental drug and alcohol overdoses, pollutant caused cancers, car accidents, etc. etc. etc.  When reading a list like this it is hard for the mind (and even harder for the heart) to comprehend.  The individual lives turn into statistics and figures, and even the figures congeal into one big ball of despair that just sticks like a lump in our throats.  We can neither swallow our pain nor let out our cries of anger and sorrow.  And so we become numb to the horror of it all and try to move on with the monotony of our lives.

But then an event happens like the shooting at Virginia Tech.  Comparatively the deaths of 29 students and 4 faculty should just be another drop in the bucket of our world’s sorrows.  But there is something different about this event.  It is not just the fact that the people involved were so young and their deaths were so senseless.  It is all of those things and it is because we can identify with these victims.  We have all sat in classrooms where we felt safe and secure, whether in college or high school.  The students and faculty who died on Monday were all people like us, who had no reason to assume they were in danger, and yet a force of unreasonable terror came and cut their lives short.

Such an event rips away the veil of fog from our minds and shocks us back into the reality of this world.  It loosens the lump in our throats and allows us to morn openly.  When tragedy is brought home we get the chance to revaluate our lives and cry out to God.

So what is a proper response?  How do we eliminate the pain and resolve the conflict between the loving God that we long to know and the cruel world that we know all to well?

First we grieve.  And we grieve knowing that God grieves with us.  In the Talmud there is a story about how the Israelites rejoiced after they crossed the Red Sea and escaped to freedom.  But rather than rejoicing the Talmud tells us that God was weeping for the dead Egyptians who washed up on the shores of the Red Sea, for they were also God’s children.  And again in 2 Samuel we are told that when a plague struck the people of Israel “the Lord was grieved because of the calamity.”(2 Samuel 24:16)  How can we interpret this?  Can God be moved to tears and regret?

In Genesis 6:6 we are told that “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth and his heart was filled with pain.”  And so he sent a flood which almost destroyed God’s creation.  If God could cry real tears, and if God knew the suffering of God’s beloved creation we can be assured that God’s tears would flood the world. There is the old children’s story that when ever it rains it means that angels are crying in heaven.  How fitting it is then that just before the shooting at Virginia Tech the East Coast experienced one of the biggest rain storms in the past century.

I would like to add to this fable a new story.  In Genesis 1:1, before the world was created we are told that “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”  In other words we are never told where this water came from; it was there before creation.  Maybe God contemplated for an eternity before he created us.  Maybe in that contemplation God knew all of the pain and suffering that we would have to go through if we were given the gift of life.  And as God thought about this God wept.  God wept bitterly before the beginning of time for all of the misery that we would suffer in our lives.  So, in response to the horrific shooting at Virginia Tech let us grieve with our creator.

But then God moved on.  God did create us and so God must have had hope that we would be able to overcome this suffering. (Rom 8:18-24) 

There is a proper time and place for grieving.  “There is a time to everything, and there is a season for every activity under heaven.”(Ecc 3:1)  Once the time of grieving has past we must also move on.  We must not let our grief drag us into despair, or numb us back into the fog of indifference from which we have been aroused.  We must transform our grief into action, or we will drown in our own tears.  This action is born of hope.  The hope that we can make a difference and that we can prevent such tragedies from happening.   This hope was instilled in us from the very fact that we were created and it is promised to us by God.

But simply to hope is not enough. Saint Augustine once said, “Hope has two children: anger and courage. Anger at the way things are, and the courage to change them.”  We are saddened by the tragedy at Virginia Tech and we are outraged at a society that seems to breed hatred and violence.  Therefore, let the tragedy at Virginia Tech become a rallying cry to all people who have faith in the Lord and hope in God’s promises.  Let it be a call for us to take action against the evils of our society.  Let us get angry and respond to this act of violent hatred with an act of violent love.  Let us fight this evil, not by pointing fingers and throwing stones, but by letting down our guard and opening our arms.  Let us embrace our neighbors and tear down the walls of segregation that leave people feeling isolated and cut off from their fellow human beings.  Let us expose our hearts and gain strength from our shared imperfections.  And let us turn away from images of worldly power, greed, and violence, and look toward God in faith, hope, and love.  Only then can we begin to dry the tears that threaten to pour down from the ends of the earth and engulf us all.

Iraqi story:

AIDS statistics: http://www.until.org/statistics.shtml

Malaria statistics: http://www.amref.org/index.asp?PageID=50&PiaID=1

Hunger statistics: http://www.bread.org/learn/hunger-basics/hunger-facts-international.html

Gun violence and children statistics: http://www.neahin.org/programs/schoolsafety/gunsafety/statistics.htm

Suicide statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/suifacts.htm

Child abuse statistics: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/fatality.cfm

Lung Cancer statistics: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1x_What_Are_the_Key_Statistics_About_Lung_Cancer_15.asp?sitearea

“If only we could get ahead in life we’d be happy.” A similar thought probably went through the paralyzed man’s head at the pool of Bethsaida (John 5:1-9). He thought if only he could touch that pool he would be healed and he would be happy. But as a blind person I know that physical healing doesn’t necessarily mean happiness. There are plenty of people in the world who are not paralyzed and who are just as miserable. What truly makes us happy is our spirit and attitude towards life. But sometimes our spirit is paralyzed and we need someone or something, like Jesus, to come and kick us off our ass.

We ritualized these ideas at Transmission on Wednesday, March 28. As we all gathered together, we each took change and threw it into a pool of water and wished for the things that “If only we had” would make us happy. Then we read psalm 121 and intermixed it with the chorus from the Beatles song “Help.”

After this I gave an abridged version of a sermon I had given at my seminary a week ago, and we then discussed our desires for happiness, how they help us and hinder us, and where our true help comes from. I told a story about a friend of mine who was born blind. Her parents were devastated and they did not know what to do. They assumed that a blind person could never live a happy and successful life so they sat out to make her life as pleasant as possible. They gave her a bedroom with a radio, tv, refrigerator, and microwave, and she stayed there and grew up into a woman weighing over 300 pounds. The whole time she thought that this was as happy as she could get, but if only she could see she could be truly happy, make friends, and go to college. Until one day a worker for the National Federation of the Blind came and told her to get off her bed and follow. The worker taught her how to accept her blindness and use skills such as cane travel and braille as a means not just of coping, but of living. After a year of training my friend had completely changed. She had lost a hundred pounds and is now going for her doctorate of law degree. This was a true transformation, and I believe that Jesus can effect a similar change in people.

After sharing with one another we ended in silent prayer. It was a wonderful time and the food and fellowship we shared before and after the service was incredible. I was particularly excited because we were able to have the service at my apartment, and I was able to welcome the church into my own home.

Paul Grenier.

For this we come to you in humble thanks giving.

Let us give thanks for all that we have.

Let us give thanks that we have enough to be thankful for.

We thank you for loved ones past and present,

We thank you for friends and family, for mentors, teachers, neighbors, and providers.

We thank you for the many gifts you have given us this day.

For the dawning of the sun, for the new breeze in the air, and for the songs of your creation.

We thank you for the luxuries in front of us, the food that has been prepared for us, the chairs we sit in, and the roof over our heads.

And we thank you for allowing us to be present on this glorious day.
We thank you for our hands, that can do you work, for our ears that can hear your word, for our eyes that can behold you glory, for our nose that can smell the fragrance of the earth, and for our mouth that can speak your word and taste of your life.

But as we give thanks for all that we have, we know that there are many that do not have as much as we do.

We know that there are many who find it hard to be thankful.

There are the sick and lame who may not have eyes to see or ears to hear,

There are the imprisoned and oppressed who cannot enjoy your creation,

and there are those suffering tremendous loss who are racked with grief down to their very bones.

For these people we ask that you give them extra care and love. We remember them O’Lord in the hopes that they may be lifted up out of dispair. We will remember them in the hopes that they will know they are not forgotten, and that they can be at least thankful for that.

For we know that with your love even the deepest darkest night can become like the noon day.

And that is why we pray in Jesus name.

Amen.

In our present day we are fast approaching the last Sunday of the liturgical year, before it all starts over again with Advent. In some traditions this Sunday is called “The Sunday of Doom,” because on that day we think about the future when Jesus Christ will come again and Judge the world. It is said he will break through the murky clouds of this earth with a shaft of light and a trumpet sound and restore the Kingdom of Heaven on this world. (Rev. 1:7)

These two elements created the back drop and the theme for our worship experience last Wednesday night.

We started out with a game, usually played at youth group or leadership events, where everybody gathers in a cluster. Each person then grabs the hands of two other people, at random. Now we are in the natural state of this world, disorganized, confused, and uncomfortable. With a little team work and God’s help we were able to untangle this disorderly knot and create a circle without letting go of each others hands. Once in a circle we heard Matt 18:20 “For where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am, in the midst of them.” Then, we all joined in a rousing chorus of “Jesus Walk with Me.”

After this the lights were turned low and we broke bread and drank wine together. The food was a little delayed, but as we waited and eventually ate, we began to share with each other our own experiences of God. The question, “When have you felt God’s presence, or experienced the divine, in your life?” There were many deep and passionate stories. Some people told of finding God at a funeral in the deepest despair, or when they were far away from home. One person talked about getting lost in the Spirit at a concert where that person was able to sing out with his\her whole being. And still others said they did not find that God came in an epiphonic moment, but rather in small everyday actions.

After our bellies were full of food and our minds full of stories, we passed around a bowl of oil and blessed one another so that our hearts would be full of love.

To close the service, we said prayed together, ending in a unison Lord’s Prayer. Then, because we were trying to create a little slice of Heaven on Earth with our worship experience, we sang “Donna Nobis Pachem,” or “Grant Us Peace.” This quiet song quickly gave way to a spontaneous but quite uplifting chorus of “I Got Peace like a River in my Soul.”

After that, we cleaned up Bowie’s apartment and wished each other well.