And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. – Luke 2:7
Dear Disciple of Christ,
I expect few if any of you had the verse above in mind when you clicked to open the devotion today, right? It is what some might think is “out of place.” But if I got you to start agreeing with that, you know there would be a sermon coming somehow (like wondering if there is some place where Jesus doesn’t fit or belong). And you’d be right. My mind would go there. We all agree the Christmas trees are in the attic and only a few of us have started shopping for Christmas gifts (you know who you are and you’re “different” from some of the rest of us who still shop on Christmas Eve). There are no “religious” rules about putting up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving but some traditions in families believe it would be better if there were some of those rules. Everything has a time and a Christmas tree up at Halloween or Thanksgiving just doesn’t seem to fit… or does it?
My whole point is I can remember one of my sermons just before Christmas in Queens. I was as “frazzled” as others were trying to get things done (all the preparations for decorating, parties, presents and wrapping (and add to it additional work and planning for church services, etc., etc., etc.). So as I was pausing from some theological thought in the sermon, I said, innocently enough, “You know, we should really think about doing Christmas in July. Then we could calmly and peacefully focus on the birth and gift of Jesus. If we didn’t have all the harried additional “have to’s” of Christmas (or the Christmas season), we could perhaps really fully enjoy the marking of Christ’s birth.
Now you know that sometimes those “off the cuff” (or “Spirit led”, I believe) comments can have a lasting effect. The very fact that you and I are reflecting on the Word daily with the Faith Matters Devotion was because of one of those comments around “Christ the King Sunday” in 2005 (nearly 20 years ago). I was similarly musing about the New Year and our resolutions to reflect on spiritual growth and grow in discipleship. I said, “Could we really say that it wouldn’t benefit us if we reflected more on the Word? If that’s true, and I believe it’s indisputable, would you like to do that? If each day we read the Word and reflected on it, would we not make some additional spiritual growth? If you’re interested, I’ll commit to sending you some lessons each and every day. I’ll add some reflections on some of the Word as well, for my benefit and I pray, for yours.” That was how the Faith Matter Devotions began and why it made sense for me to offer reflections on my sabbatical from many years ago, with the tool of the Faithful Fridays that you’re reading now.
I know that there have been times when people “left” the sermon I’m preaching to reflect on the Word I’ve just quoted or the theological comment I’ve made or the story I’ve shared. But, because I was still preaching, I am proclaiming and, at the same time, listening to each Word that comes out of my mouth. That (side) thought was not in my notes. I hadn’t made a plan to share that plan with the hearers that Sunday in Church. But when July came around that next year, the idea returned. Sure enough, if you had visited Atonement Lutheran Church that July, you would have walked into Christmas. We put up our “fake” Christmas tree. We had Christmas carols and Christmas lessons and Christmas paraments (cloths on the lectern, pulpit and altar that were the color of Christmas), and, I don’t remember but would expect, Christmas cookies for fellowship. We reflected on the Word in a way that was free from the distractions of the “have to’s” of the Christmas season to focus on the “Reason for the Season,” Jesus and His coming for us.
My point today is not just about taking time to reflect on Christmas but to let the Spirit lead you in your reflections. The beginning of that Christmas in July was (what I believe was) a Spirit led “excurses”. An “excurses” (not all that unusual for the way I preached) was more than meandering or a digression, roaming away from the point I was trying to make. Though others may be “somewhere else” at that point in the sermon, because I’m working from an outline, I’m “in” the sermon. I was reflecting on what I just said. I was expressing my thoughts in the moment as I preached. I was thinking, thirdly, of what was coming next and, most importantly, also hearing what God was saying to me as one of His Son’s disciples. Really. That pretty well describes what was going on in my mind as I preached.
And that’s why sometimes, (often? too often? – sorry) I digressed in preaching. I was listening to the tug of the Spirit making more application of the Word in my life at that moment and sharing that with the hearers in church right then. That is why (perhaps) it is OK for the organists to hear my sermon (my sermons) multiple times on a weekend. If they are like me, they really got somewhat different sermons each time. I did my best to share the Word of what my studies and preparations revealed and then, with great joy, thoughts the Spirit had placed in my heart and mind. To be honest, it was a lot of fun for me to preach. It was a joyful fun that filled my heart and mind and excited me as much at the beginning of my preaching ministry (in December of 1975), as it did when my preaching ministry ended a year and a half ago. Now I have joined other disciples on a Sunday listening for that voice of the Word made flesh and responding to His call to “follow Him.”
I hope and pray you will allow that same Spirit at work in you, lead you to thoughts you did not have except by that Spirit’s power. Listen to the Word. Let the Spirit lead. Happy wandering in your thoughts and life in Christ.
Peace in Him,
Pastor Johnson