another way of saying grace

Advent 1a - 2013 Sermon : Another Way of Saying "Grace." 

First Trinity, Chicago

"colors of advent" - taken on Scooter Trip 2007, somewhere between CA and OR

We are human.

And we are animals.

And God promises

to be born among us.

In all of our variety

and in all of our brokenness

Within us. Within you. God promises to be Born.

We embrace one another.

And we mistreat one another.

We love one another.

And we abuse one another.

We often fail to see God in each other's eyes

and act accordingly.

And God chooses

to be born among... us.

We destroy our bodies.

We destroy our relationships.

We hoard

wealth, food, property, medicines.

We worship Greed, and consume Creation until nothing is left.

And God chooses

to be born among... us.

We are Human. We are Animals.

God promises to be born.

We lie.

To ourselves. To our family. To our friends. And to our neighbors.

But especially to ourselves.

We put on an “Ev'rything's-just-fine-and-dandy” face.

Even when the world around us is crumbling.

From death

from debt

from loneliness,

from addiction,

from war, from pollution, from exploiting the earth...

And, God promises

to be born among... us.

We make one another ashamed.

We judge one another. And gossip.

We tear one another down, rather than building one another up.

We conjure up guilt and regret

about our pasts,

our decisions,

our clothing,

our weight,

our spouses and partners

our education, or lack thereof

We conjure up guilt and regret

rather than summoning hope and joy for what is to come,

Rather that proclaiming liberation, deliverance, freedom from our past.

God is born within us.

We forget that love bears all things,

Love hopes all things,

Love covers a multitude of Sin.

We forget that God is Love.

And those who live in Love live in God.

And God

lives

in them.

God chooses

to be born

among... us.

In all of our variety

and in all of our brokenness

Within us. Within you. God is Born.

We are Human.

And we are Animals.

And so was God,

in Christ.

So is God at Christmas—the God whom we anticipate.

God in the flesh.

God made human.

God made one of us.

Christ is Human.

Christ is an animal.

Christ is the Son of God.

And God, in Christ, chooses

to be born among... us.

In all of our variety

and in all of our brokenness,

in all of our talents and skills, and shortcomings.

Despite our past or present,

our status in life

our emotional stability,

our criminal record,

or addiction,

or perfection,

God is much bigger than any of that...

Within us. Within you.

God Chooses to be Born.

May God's promise of new life shine into our community and into our lives.

Amen.