January 1st, 2012:
Call: Isaiah 60: 1-6 Text: Matthew 2: 1-12 Read: Psalm 72 (795) Bringing Gifts New Year's Day is the one holiday that is a holiday Simply because it is a date And not because of anything that happened on the date. It is not like nothing ever happened on January 1 In 1963, President Lincoln - as promised the previous Sept. Signed the Emancipation Proclamation. On a more personal level One year ago today, Bill Eldridge died Six years ago today, Marge's mother died In our household we have already remembered both in our prayers But today is Epiphany Which we celebrate on the first Sunday in January every year And because it is Epiphany, my mind was drawn to other dates Dates of importance For what took place on those dates In the lives of this congregation. The first date was quite recent November 27, 2011 - The first Sunday in Advent Four people (Greg, Jenny, Stacey, and Vivian) stood right here in front of you And promised to serve Christ through this congregation By participating in its ministries by their Prayers, by their presence, by their gifts, and by their service. The second date was also recent: June 12, 2011 - Pentecost Eight people (Dan, Rachel, Leah and Leah) (Samie, Lucas, Garrett, and Taylor) (our confirmation class) stood right here in front of you And promised to serve Christ through this congregation By participating in its ministries by their Prayers, by their presence, by their gifts, and by their service. For others, the dates are different, but the promises made while people stood right up here were the same For Dale and Julie Petry The date was March 9, 2003 They stood right up here and made that same promise For Effa Sullivan The date was January 17, 1999 For both Steve and Christine Thomas And Ken and Carol Willmert The date was December 15, 1985 The date was October 15, 1967 for Betsy Baker The date was April 21, 1957 for Grace Smith The date was March 29, 1942 for Dorotha Van Ness, April 18, 1943 for Vi Cook And March 25, 1945 for Walt Theobald They all stood right up here And they all made the same promise. And over the nearly 200 years this congregation has gathered for worship and service, Hundreds of others joined them by Standing right here in front of you or your predecessors And promising to serve Christ through this congregation By participating in its ministries by their Prayers, by their presence, by their gifts, and by their service. Long before Greg and Jenny and Stacie and Vivian Long before even Dorotha, Vi, and Walt Some men from the east Promised themselves that they would respond to Christ By their presence and by their gifts Those men - those Magi - traveled westerly Following a star, seeking advice, and finally finding the Baby and his mother. Those magi stood in the presence of the new born king And they gave him gifts Fit for someone of his stature King and god, and sacrifice. And now, on Epiphany When we remember those men When we recall their trip When we observe and reflect upon their gifts You and I ask What gift can we bring? Well, What gift can we bring? What present? What token? As we come here to the very spot where five weeks ago Greg, Jenny, Stacie, and Vivian promised Like this year's eight confirmands had promised Like Dale, Julie, and Effa had promised Like Steve and Chris and Carol and Ken had promised Like Betsy and Grace had promised Like Dorotha, Vi, and Walt had promised And like hundreds of others in the past had promised To worship and follow Christ Not only by prayers, presence, and service, But also by their gifts We ask ourselves the question, "What gift can we bring?" Or perhaps more accurately "What gifts can we bring?" For the people in this congregation May not bring him gold, frankincense, and myrrh But we do have a multitude of gifts. Some write well, some sing well, some speak well. Some sew well, some knit well, some paint well, Some smile well Some listen well Some empathize well Some know things that can help Some know people with resources to help Some have time Some have energy. All these are gifts All these gifts are from God. And all are gifts that we want to use and bring to Christian service And so, we, a group of diverse people come together to praise and give thanks to God for all those gifts, Recognizing as the writer of a hymn which we probably should have sung today describes us as: Many gifts, One spirit One love in many ways In our differences is blessing From diversity we praise One Giver, one Lord, One Spirit, one word Known in many ways (and) hallowing our days For the Giver we praise, praise, praise. Using our God given gifts Is how we praise Using those gifts together Is how we proclaim the good news And how we keep our promises we made right up here Not only to participate with our gifts But also to participate with our service. If the magi could bring their gifts, You and I can certainly bring ours For it is so much easier for us than it was for the magi The magi rode mile after mile and day after day To take their gifts to the Christ child For most of us we ride just a few miles and we do so for less than twenty minutes to bring our gifts to the risen Christ The magi had to go home a different way So that Herod would not catch them You and I can linger all we want We can go out to eat and/or attend a public concert We can return home at our leisure Unafraid of being caught by anyone who might do harm to us or to the king to whom we bring the gifts This king was and is a gift to us first by his coming into this world second by his life, his death, and his resurrection and third by continuing to be with us even unto today. As we simultaneously celebrate Epiphany and begin a fresh calendar year You and I need to resolve To follow the examples of both the Christ and the Magi By constantly, consistently and continually using the gifts he has given us Not just for our own good But for the good of this king And for the good of all his/ours brothers and sisters. Just as we promised - right up here! If do we keep that resolution we will bring to life one of the lessons That make Epiphany so wonderful and so important.