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"Recognizing A God Thing" Meditation Delivered By Reverend Richard E.
Stetler – December 24, 2013 Centenary United
Luke 2:1-20
Christmas Eve I have always been tempted to walk around the sanctuary some Christmas Eve and ask people what the birth of Jesus means to them. What would you say? Would you give the familiar talking points that we have inherited from our religious background? “I’m here tonight because my family always goes to the Christmas Eve Service.” “Christmas Eve brings back countless memories from my childhood. I love lighting the little candles and singing, Silent Night.” “Christmas always brings me closer to what God did for me.” Religious talking points are easy to remember.
In fact, they dominated the world into which Jesus was born!
His culture celebrated events in their past as Christians do.
We really enjoy our holiday traditions.
However, Jesus was not about talking points of our faith.
He was about changing lives.
As surprising as it may be for many Christians, Jesus’ message
was not about dying on the cross for our sins.
He never preached on that belief during his ministry.
His message was about transforming lives.
Literally translated, the word
transform means
traveling or expanding beyond our
form, or growing spiritually beyond where we are at the moment.
Jesus’ good news was
summarized in just three words, “Love one another.”
He presented that message over
and over again in different forms.
The reason that loving others is so challenging for us is that
religious talking points will not give us that skill.
In order to see others as
God sees us, we have to be transformed.
A number of you may have come in contact with a very unique form
of art work. I was once
standing in front of one of these pieces while visiting Lois’ sister and
her husband. I said to
Ellen who is an excellent artist herself, “Why would you have something
like this hanging on your wall?”
This large picture was filled with squiggly lines.
I assumed it was a piece of
abstract art that she liked. It
was most unattractive. She said, “Just keep looking at it.
It is magnificent.”
I said, “Come on, Ellen, there is nothing magnificent about this thing.”
“Just keep looking at it,” she said.
I could see nothing beautiful.
I even went and got a cup of coffee and returned to it.
She said “Fuzz your eyes.”
I said, “Fuzz my eyes?
What am I suppose to see?”
After seeming endless minutes suddenly my vision was transformed
and I was blown away by the depth of this magnificent picture.
This was my first contact with this kind of art.
All the squiggly lines disappeared and before me was a
three-dimensional picture that the average person would never take the
time to see. This is the problem with religion. For many people there is nothing there but squiggly lines represented by our traditions, rituals, gatherings on holy days and a lot of miracle stories that have little relevance to our lives in the 21st Century. As wonderful as these are for us, they do not transform people. There is a difference between a practicing Christian and a person who has recognized that they are a spiritual being enjoying life in a physical form. Jesus
coming into our world was another way for God to communicate to people
who view their lives as a bunch of squiggly lines.
When
the authentic picture
of life finally came into
focus for the Apostle Paul, he wrote, “Do not conform yourselves to the
ways of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete
change of your mind. Then
you will understand and see God’s love clearly enough so that you can
love one another and remain at peace while doing it.” (Romans 12:2)
God’s transforming power
is all around us but we will never see it unless we are tuned into God
as being an integral part of our lives. On December 22, 2001 an event was unfolding that looked like a
bunch of squiggly lines that made no sense.
What was happening devastated
everyone involved. This
drama was taking place in a rural hospital in The medical staff at Her Mom, Dad and the family’s pastor sat by Sarah’s bedside
waiting for the end to come.
They were not praying for a miracle.
The parents of this little girl were amazing people.
They were thanking God for God’s presence during this very
vulnerable time in their lives.
They literally were experiencing God’s presence so much so that
it was like electricity in the air.
The three of them were transformed people. Their pastor could
only marvel at their faith.
Comfort came to the couple only by her presence.
Sometimes words have little value. Just down the hall from the ICU was the birthing center of the
hospital. A woman had just
delivered a healthy son two hours before.
Her brother and his wife had just arrived in time for the birth.
They had planned to celebrate Christmas with the new arrival.
The new mother’s brother had just come out of the bathroom and
was getting a drink at the water fountain when he overheard two doctors
discussing the impending death of the little girl. He said, “I could not help overhearing your story.
That’s a tough one.
Right at Christmas!” The
doctors briefly explained the situation.
“This really is a shame,” the one doctor said.
“Her condition went undiagnosed
since her birth. If we had
only known her condition years ago, we could have sent her to a facility
that deals with this. The
surgeon who wrote the book on
her condition is out of town and the guy on call wanted Sarah flown
immediately to Children’s Hospital in Hearing this, the man became highly energized and said, “Is the
doctor you had in mind Peter Clemenson?”
They said, “Yes, do you know him?” He said, “Yes, I know him
extremely well. I am Peter Clemenson.
My sister just delivered a baby and we are here to celebrate
Christmas and New Year’s.”
The two doctors looked at each other with a look that communicated,
“What are the odds.”
Clemenson said, “If you take care of the protocols for your hospital and
assemble a surgical team, I’ll dress and scrub.
If this is doable, I would like to introduce myself to Sarah”
When the three doctors entered Sarah’s ICU cubicle and announced
what they were going to do, the emotions of the couple and their pastor
were overwhelming.
Clemenson sat on her bed, took here hand and said, “Sarah, my name is
Doctor Clemenson and I am going to repair your heart in a few minutes.”
Pastor Tina with tears streaming down her face said, “This is a
God thing.” Clemenson
responded, “Well in that case, let’s not keep God waiting.” The buzz of Dr. Clemenson’s presence on the premises spread
throughout the hospital. A
number of physicians returned to the hospital to assist on the surgical
team or simply to watch as a master pediatric surgeon did his thing.
The surgery was long and tedious because the hospital was
ill-equipped with the technology that he had at his disposal in In spite of the odds, Dr. Clemenson gave Sarah’s parents and
Pastor the greatest Christmas gift possible just in time for the big
day. Dr. Clemenson told the
parents that he just repaired the most massive hole in her heart that he
had ever encountered. “Sarah is
a very special child,” he said, “Most children with a condition this
severe die within the first year.
She will require several more surgical procedures, but right now
she is stable.” Currently, Sarah Ann Cummings is now twelve.
Not surprising, she wants to become a doctor when she grows up.
The
birth of Jesus was God communicating to us in a form we could
understand.
God things happen all the
time even during the periods when we believe that our lives are out of
control, lack purpose or appear to be going nowhere. To make sense of
the squiggly lines, we have to study the portrait of our life
experiences until we see what is missed by so many people. Jesus taught that we have to be transformed.
In trying to explain this process to one of the great Hebrew
teachers of his day, Jesus said, “It is like being born again.
This is how dramatic the shift in perception and attitude is once
the transformation happens.”
We never see God’s love.
We can only see the results of that love.
In order to make sense of those squiggly lines of our
life-experiences, we have to be tuned in to God as the Cummings’ were.
Many others would call it “luck,” or “just a coincidence.”
To people who have God in their lives, the incredible things that
happen to them are not just strokes of fate.
They know better.
They were never alone during any of
the valleys through which
they walked. |