Chris Yaw

I had coffee with a friend this week.

She told me about how she got fired. It was a job way outside her field of study and interest – one that she didn’t even want. But things had gotten that bad. She couldn’t even hold a lousy job

So she went home to sulk. It was the lowest she had ever been.

Clicking on her computer with one hand, while gripping a pint of Haagen Daz in the other, she found the friend on social media, whose newborn inspired her to comment, who replied he had a job opening, who introduced her to her new boss, who needed help on a current project, that would go south, leading her to a new project, that would lead to years of employment and give her the most noteworthy credential she may ever have on her resume.

Time and again you and I discover that God takes care of us.

It’s rarely in the way we plan. It’s rarely the way we can predict.

But time and again you and I are shown that God can do it.

This Sunday’s gospel will attest to this – as well as 2016 that lies ahead of us.

My wish for us is that we would relax – rest in God, and let go. Friends, time and again God shows us his faithfulness. May we find the faith and strength to believe that God is working everything out – and it’s all going to be OK.

Your cancer’s cured.

Your credit cards are paid off.

You got the job.

Lions won the Super Bowl.

Lions made it to the Super Bowl (for ye of little faith…)

The baby’s healthy.

The Syrian civil war has ended.

ISIS has been crushed.

The Good News of Christmas is better than all of the above.

It’s because we, a desperately imperfect and fearful race whose insecurities and lack of faith create many of the burdens under which we suffer, have been put on notice that the most sought after gift in the universe has arrived: Peace.

Peace that comes from the power we now have to forgive those we hate. Peace that comes from an indwelling spirit that strengthens us to endure paths we dread. And peace that comes from the assurance that our most worried about concerns have been taken care of.

This is why angels sing and shepherds preach.

The Incarnation unlocks the mystery of God’s power that has come to break the chains that are binding us, liberating us to a vast universe of possibility.

God has shown us that he cares deeply about us – about every little thing – and we get a sense of this by imagining if everything on the list above (you can add more) were to actually come true. Think about your joy. And bring it with you to church to share with the rest of us tomorrow.

What’s going to make us happy in these fear-filled times?

Let’s admit to the temptation of our present age that calls us to emphasize personal protection and security, the need to defend, guard, and preserve, the need to ‘look out for number one,’ and to save not share.

But is that really where it’s at?

In 2011, the top 20% of Americans gave 1.3% of their income to charity. Presumably this was because they felt they did not have enough to be more generous – they needed to hold onto more in order to be happy.

In contrast, the bottom 20% gave away 3.2% to charity – more than double, almost triple what their wealthier counterparts gave away.

Now the propensity for lower income people to be more generous than wealthier people is well documented, though its benefits are not nearly as well known.

The fact is that countless longitudinal surveys reveal one consistent measurement of happiness: warm caring relationships. Financial success and the acquisition of material goods rank considerably lower on the list of factors that create contentment. In fact, wealth can become, and often is, a curse. Famous psychologist Karl Menninger once commented that over many decades working in mental health, happy and content people are more likely to be generous people.

All this comes to mind as we head into the Christmas home stretch, and particularly on a Sunday when we will hear a related gospel reading. If we want to have the best Christmas ever, it may mean putting less emphasis on ‘stuff’ and more emphasis on cultivating warm caring relationships. It will call us to generosity and sacrifice, kindness and liberality of heart.

May God give us the faith to be charitable and giving, as well as the assurance that in his hands, we can be as generous as he is.

Jerry Falwell, Jr. says he’s packing a handgun to protect him from Muslims.

Donald Trump wants to stop Muslims from entering the United States.

ISIS is planning God knows how many dastardly acts of violence that nobody will be able to stop.

And believe it or not, they all have something in common: they are frantically trying to escape powerlessness.

At the root of terrorism is alienation, a sense of helplessness, and desperation. ISIS’ ranks are made up of brutal, angry, ruthless, and alienated bullies who have few skills and opportunities that would allow them to succeed in normal society. As the saying goes, desperate people do desperate things.

At the root of bullying, which Mr. Trump and Rev. Falwell are attempting, are the same things. Many of us share their sense of powerlessness. Many of us are also scared. And striking out against a minority, nearly all of whom, are not only innocent, but share our exact feelings of anger and fear, becomes a desperate attempt to give us a sense of total security that will always elude.

As is strikingly apparent, none of us find our best selves in fear and control. We find it in faith and generosity: faith to make reasoned decisions that lift up our best humanitarian virtues as well as to work diligently at binding the strong man that are not vengeful or putative. We remember that faith tells us the world is in God’s hands – not in the hands of terrorists – and a surefire way for the darkness to win is for people of light to turn equally dark.
(P.S. It’s important to note that the vast majority of Muslims would say that ISIS practices Islam the same way Hitler practiced Christianity: both were more far more interested in the political advantages curried by religion than having any sort of deepened spirituality through it. Statistically, the more religious people are the better they become, in terms of generosity, self-sacrifice, and forgiveness, and the less they become violent, aggressive, and cruel.)

I was so bummed when the developers next door took those trees down!

I used to park under them so my black-on-black sedan wouldn’t get so blistering hot under the summer sun.

But they’re building something amazing next door – a posh rest home for the private pay crowd. It’s going to be a state of the art, custom landscaped campus to help retirees enter the winter of their lives in elegance. So the developers did not leave the old walls and footings from the last rest home that stood there. Nope. They are chopping down trees and digging up basements. The high things are being brought down and the valleys are being filled up.

Amazing how that happens when The Builder is up to something amazing.

I’m so tempted to lament the loss of the familiar mountains and valleys that have dotted the pathways of my journey. And on my better days I can’t help but suspect that it’s because The Builder is up to something really, really great in my life.

Careers, relationships, addresses, and the coming and going of children, were all once seen as immovable as the landscape – but that’s not what the journey had in store. Instead, we are being honed and shaped and formed - scars, smiles, and all - to be who we’re supposed to be.

So in keeping with the Spirit of Advent, let us remember that God’s not finished with us. We’re to be alert and open-minded to the ways God is messing with the landscape – and continuing to form us into the kind of people God wants us to be. Take heart. Be not afraid. It’s all part of the plan. God is up to something amazing.

My friend went to a bar because he lost his ticket to the concert.

The rest of us went inside and enjoyed an amazing show. Afterward we met him at the bar. He was chatting with a terrific young lady. They got married.

It was English poet John Keats (1795-1821) who is credited with saying, ‘Life is divine chaos.’ He was apparently trying to describe the reality of the disorder that surrounds us as it relates to the faith that there’s some higher purpose to it all.

This weekend begins the holy season of Advent. And on this first Sunday we are told to ‘be alert’ to the divine chaos of life.

We are challenged to be aware of the hand of the Almighty in the seemingly random occurrences in our lives. Be attentive to the fact that all that’s happening around us has heavenly meaning and purpose. Be alert to the divine chaos that surrounds.

While Advent is about awaiting the arrival of something new, it’s also about looking out for what’s new in the familiar – in what’s going on in the everyday.

Where’s the divine chaos in your world? How does that motivate us to love God and serve others?

Once my dear friend Judy, a nurse, told me a wild story about a patient suffering from mental illness. After the story I asked her to explain the behavior. She told me, ‘you can’t make sense of crazy.’

This comes to mind in the aftermath of the barbaric attacks carried out in France by the Islamic State. There has been much talk about the role of religion in these attacks and in modern public life, given the caustic behavior of a few, regarding how religion should be evaluated.

It is important to remember some of these basics that Episcopalians, and many others adhere to:

1) We must affirm that religious people obviously do evil things. There are few motivators that can be as dangerous and deadly as religious ones. However, it’s all the more important to remember that religion inspires far more good than evil.

2) We should never judge a religion by its extremists. These will always be a minority who will take their religion superficially and literally, bringing their own motives to the table. Instead we should judge a religion by its moderates who compose a significant majority.

3) We must remember that followers of every religion believe their tradition provides them with a genuine path for truth. We need to not only respect this, but value every religion that is not our own.

4) The vast majority of people who hold to religious beliefs and practices do so to improve themselves and the world around them. In most cases, religion provides a channel of positive energy and action in the world.

As long as there is humanity, there will be brokenness. A small number of us will do despicable things to one another in the name of most anything. Sometimes the motives will be understandable, many times they will not. But in these times of pain and chaos, let’s avoid the temptation to distance ourselves from the very thing God gave us to better cope with them and to assist the victims: our faith.

O Lord, whose love for France surpasses all human affection; Comfort those gripped by pain and grief; blanket hearts that beat with fear; enlighten them with the assurance of love's victory over death. Strengthen aid workers, families, friends, and strangers, whose work it is to assist and rebuild that which has been brought down. Grant us the wisdom and courage to shun vengeance and embrace justice, that those who do evil may be held accountable, so that peace and tranquility may reign. We ask this in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, who with the Father and Holy Spirit live and reign forever. Amen.

Humans are programmed to follow the path toward these:

comfort

ease

status

wealth

power

prestige

and safety.

And we are programmed to avoid the path toward these:

discomfort

difficulty

low status

poverty

powerlessness

humility

and danger.

Yet following Jesus is much more about the second path than the first.

Name a decision we’re facing today and ask yourself which of these paths it takes you down. It may help you make the right choice.

The Top Ten Things You are Likely to Hear in a Michael Curry Sermon (assembled by our Standing Committee and presented at a reception the Diocese of North Carolina held for the new PB in D.C. the night before the installation.):

10: “This morning I lift my text from…
EVERYONE: Anywhere but today’s propers!”

9: “Now bear with me, I’m going somewhere with this!”

8: “God didn’t put you on this earth just to use up oxygen!”

7: “I’m not going to be up here long”

6: “If you’re breathing, God’s calling”

5: “We have a God! And that God raised Jesus from the dead.”
EVERYONE: “I don’t know how he did it, but he did!”

4: “When Israel was in Egypt land,”
Everyone (singing): LET MY PEOPLE GO!

3: “One more thing and then I’m going to sit down.”

2: “There is a balm in Gilead…”

And the Number one thing you are likely to hear in a Michael Curry sermon:

GO!!

My friend Chris is an amazing copier salesman.

He makes an average of 240 phone calls a day in an industry that averages 30. He wakes up early and goes to bed late. He wins awards. He gives speeches. He’s a millionaire. When it comes to copiers he’s all in.

The temptation for you and me to do 20 mediocre things versus 6 great things is huge.

Most of us don’t do it.

Yet it doesn’t mean we can’t.

Each one of us has the ability to go all in on our relationships, our careers, our families, our hobbies, and most importantly, all in with Jesus.

In Sunday’s gospel we will hear the story of rich people putting lots of money into the temple treasury and about one woman who gave her last cent. We will hear Jesus commend this woman because she was the only one who went all in.

Jesus is looking for people to go all in.

What are we waiting for?

What’s holding us back?

What does this look like in our lives?

Isn’t it time we go all in?

It takes me weeks to paint a room.

No, I’m not a bad painter, I’ve been doing it for years. In fact once I get started it only takes me a couple of hours.

Here’s what takes me so long: I begin with the fact that the room needs painting. Then I mentally walk through the steps needed to get the job done: calling my sister for paint colors; remembering where the drop cloths and paintbrushes are stored. Then I imagine where I’ll start painting, usually the ceiling, but then the walls and trim. I imagine dipping the brush into the paint, and if I will use a roller or not.

In other words, most of the time I spend painting is done inside my head – visualizing what might become of an ugly room.

When we hear Jesus talk about faith – and the believing that precedes the seeing – I think this is close to what he meant.

Visualizing shoppers in downtown Detroit is where Mike Illich begins.

Daydreaming about hundreds of people using Lanier copiers is where my top salesman friend Chris tees off.

And imagining drinking a beer without a cigarette is where my friend Michelle started.

While few of us believe, “if it can be imagined, it can be done” – we are certainly wise to believe that, “if it can be imagined, most things can be done.”

What do we need to start daydreaming about? What is the Spirit asking us to imagine? Do we realize that visualizing is often more than half the battle?

Chris Yaw

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