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Always Winter, yet Never Christmas

12/19/2014

 
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There are those times when all the stars are torn from our skies, and morning will not come. We try to make our way in unlit passages, frightened, desperate and despairing. And yet it is into this impenetrable night that the Child is born. Tearing through the seams of darkness, the Morning Star appears in our eyes and in our hearts. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light!
                                                             - Ann Weems    

READINGS:
O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
                          - Psalm 43.3
 
Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
                           - Psalm 139.12

Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
                            - Psalm 97.11

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.
                             - Isaiah 9.2

REFLECTION:
In a classic series of fantasy novels for children – The Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis spins a tale of life in the imaginary land of Narnia. Narnia, a land of enchantment, magic, and talking animals; yet a land frozen in unrelenting winter; for in Narnia control has been wrested from Aslan – the son of the high king – by a wicked witch. Under her dominance light pales, biting winds blow without cease, the snows pile higher and deeper, and despair creeps ever closer to the hearts of the land’s inhabitants.  Narnia, as Lewis so vividly describes it, is a land in which it is always winter, yet never Christmas.

Always winter, yet never Christmas.  This is a haunting and powerful metaphor, a metaphor appropriate not only for the imaginary land of Narnia, but as well for the actual lives of exile, bondage, and darkness endured by many individuals, some closer to you than you might imagine.

Narnia lives in hearts obscured by darkness, hearts condemned to exile and bondage by their own misused freedom, by forces beyond their control, or by both.  Yet, as diverse as their stories may be, one thing is held in common by all people who walk in darkness.  To a person, they understand that someone has to love them if their darkness is to be truly dispelled; someone has to gaze openly and honestly into their hearts – to see them as they are – and still love them.  Only then, being loved, will they be able to love themselves, to regain a sense of wholeness, and even to reach out in love to others.

It is true; someone has to love you.  If the people who walk in darkness are to see a great light - if we are to complete our journey to Bethlehem and find wholeness and peace - someone must first love us; someone must enter freely into the brokenness of our lives, see us as we truly are, and embrace us in love.  The good news of Advent, my friends, is this: that someone is God.  God, who finds us in our darkest hour of despair and gives us hope; God, who bestows on us peace, not because we deserve it, but simply because we need it; God, whose presence in our lives overflows in joy and celebration; God, who sees us as we are, cherishes us as uniquely valuable; and invites us into a future in which our lives will be both transformed and fulfilled in love.

What am I Supposed to Say?

12/6/2014

 
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"One of the titles by which Jesus is known is Prince of Peace, and he used the word himself in what seem at first glance to be two radically contradictory utterances. On one occasion he said to the disciples, 'Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword' (Matthew 10:34). And later on, the last time they ate together, he said to them, 'Peace I leave with you: my peace I give to you' (John 4:27). The contradiction is resolved when you realize that for Jesus peace seems to have meant not the absence of struggle but the presence of love." - Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC

Scripture: 
3 A voice is crying out:
“Clear the Lord’s way in the desert!
    Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
4 Every valley will be raised up,
    and every mountain and hill will be flattened.
    Uneven ground will become level,
    and rough terrain a valley plain.
5 The Lord’s glory will appear,
    and all humanity will see it together;
    the Lord’s mouth has commanded it.”


6 A voice was saying:
    “Call out!”
And another said,
    “What should I call out?” (Isaiah 40:3-6)


Reflection: Sunday is the second Sunday of Advent, and what we typically refer to as "Peace Sunday."  But in this time in the world, I've found it difficult to figure out what to say about peace.  


While on the one hand we know that the Christmas season can bring moments of peace and stillness as we embrace the "reason for the season" and see so many people doing good things for fellow-humankind, we know that is not entirely the truth.  For we also know that there are places like Ferguson, MO and Cleveland, OH where racial tensions tear at the seams of society.  We know there are places right here in Kansas City where hate crimes outside of a mosque bring sickness to the season.  We know there are places in Syria where war rages on, and places in Africa where Ebola continues to take lives.

Isaiah says to "Call out!" and "Clear the Lord's Way!" but what am I to "call out"?  What can we possibly say that would change these tensions and ruptures in society?  What can we say that will bring healing and wholeness, and peace?  What can we say that will remind people we may not be able to determine who is "right" and "wrong," but that God's way is different, and there is another way?  What can we say that will remind ourselves of the peace that Christ brings?

God is erupting in human history – as God has done before through his prophets and people Israel – but now in a new, incarnated way. This is a big message, but it is an unconventional, upside down one, and one that requires us to "clear the way!" As Jesus’ followers seeking peace, we would do well to remind ourselves that God-in-Christ is both among us, and coming, and if we let him deal with us, we can be changed individually and collectively.  If we let God' erupt in our own lives, then we can experience a glimpse of the peace that calls out "LOVE!"

Come, help us learn more, together, on Sunday!  We welcome all who seek the way of Jesus to the table, and to our faith community.  We hope you will join us!

    Permission to use and stream music in our worship services obtained from ONE LICENSE #A-730652
    and CCLI #36152
    and CSPL #143030. 
    All rights reserved.
    ​

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OPCC
= Overland Park Christian 
RAV = Rios de Agua Viva Iglesia
IHN - Interfaith Homeless Network

CMS = Case Management Services
AIM = Advocacy in Motion
​HBCS
 = Honeybee Community Services
Monarch = Monarch Montessori Preschool
Most other names of groups are 12-step support groups.

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Monday - Thursday: 9:30am - 4:00pm
Friday: 9:30am - 3:00pm


©2013-2022 Overland Park Christian Church
​7600 West 75th Street
Overland Park, KS  66204
(913) 677-4646
office@opccdoc.org
Worship Schedule:
10:30am Sundays In-Person
and Online Live-Stream Worship
913-299-9002 Sunday Worship by Phone