Sermons

A Christmas Tale
by Roger C. Lynn

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My name is Jonas, son of Jesse, and I am a shepherd. My father was a shepherd, as was his father before him, and so have I been all my life. The life of a shepherd is sometimes lonely and mostly quiet, without much excitement. Usually the most exciting thing that happens is when a lion tries to get one of the sheep. Then things get pretty crazy for a while, but even then nothing you could call real, honest-to-goodness excitement. You know, the kind that makes a real difference in your life.

But I want to tell you about one night, a long time ago, when I was only a boy. It’s funny how some things stay with you, but I can still remember that night as if it were only yesterday. We were on the hill just outside of town. The sheep were scattered around the hillside, and we were gathered around a fire near the top of the hill. There were several of us watching that night, and I was the youngest. I had only recently been allowed to stay out in the fields at night.
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Roger C. Lynn * December 16, 2005 * an article featured in The Moscow/Pullman Daily News

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I love Christmas and most everything that goes with it -- decorating the tree, seeing all the lights around town, sharing gifts with family and friends, receiving cards, caroling, the food, time with family, all of it! And some of what I experience at Christmas speaks powerfully to my faith -- the wonder and mystery of God's presence in our world, the surprising ways in which that presence is manifest, even in the birth of a baby in a manger, the comforting message of the angels that we need not be afraid. This may well be my favorite time of year.

And at the same time I am enjoying all of this, it is also important for me to remember that my experience is not everyone's experience. My faith traditions are not everyone's traditions. Allowing the ubiquitous nature of Christmas in our culture to obscure the reality that not everyone is a Christian and not everyone finds meaning in Christian traditions does not serve us well. It holds the potential of leaving people alienated, and it cuts us all off from the rich diversity of the American "melting pot" experience.
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Isaiah 61: 1-4 & Psalm 126 * Roger C. Lynn * December 11, 2005

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In his letter to the Thessalonian church, the apostle Paul writes, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances." (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18) It's as if he wants to make sure we know that he's talking about a new way of understanding these ideas. How are we supposed to have joy all the time? We can't spend every moment of the day praying -- we have to eat and sleep after all. Offering thanks no matter what just seems foolish. But what if Paul has something else in mind? What if he is pointing us to a different way of experiencing life? What if joy (at least as Paul understands it) is not dependent upon the external circumstances of our lives?
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Isaiah 40:1-11 & Mark 1:1-8 * Roger C. Lynn * December 4, 2005

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It is a question that gets asked a lot at this time of year, particularly in university communities like ours. Are you going home for the holidays? Home -- it's an idea that looms large in our collective consciousness. Sometimes it is a real place, loaded with memories -- sometimes it is an imaginary place which stands in contrast with our actual experiences of family. But whether real or imagined or some combination of both, we seem to resonate with the idea of having a place where we belong, where we are valued.
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