Sermon for December 16, 2018

 

Sermon for December 16, 2018

Third Sunday of Advent

The Joy of The Lord Is My Strength

Text Luke 1:11-20, 23-25; Isaiah 12:2-6

 

We have reached the third Sunday of Advent. Notice a shift has begun from waiting and longing to excitement and expectation. We have arrived to JOY! I wonder, what gives you joy? And is joy the same thing as happiness to you?

 

In today’s gospel lesson we are focusing once more on the parents of John the Baptist again- Elizabeth and Zachariah. In this portion of Luke’s account, we read the about the Angel Gabriel’s announcement to Zachariah- who was a priest, that he and his wife were indeed going to have a child.

 

I always found it interesting that despite Zachariah being someone who would have spent much time in prayer and worship, leading others in worship that he was not able to immediately believe Gabriel’s words.

 

Now, Gabriel started out by saying, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you will name him John. You will have JOY and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.”

 

Gabriel was letting Zachariah know that his prayer had been heard and honored by God. Not only heard but that it would be fulfilled.

 

Have you ever had something you prayed for come to fruition? Do you remember how that felt?

I have- and I must confess that I was like Zachariah at first- not about to really believe it. You see, sometimes I think we get so used to praying and hoping for something that it is hard for us to accept that what we were praying for has really occurred. Perhaps that is what happened to Zachariah. Maybe he had even given up all together? He is old, after all. Perhaps he and Elizabeth had been praying for decades to have a child but weren’t successful.

 

Well, contrast his reaction to that of Elizabeth’s. Elizabeth did believe it and embraced it. Her reaction is one of gratitude toward God for answering her prayer.

 

Why would it have been such a big deal for them to have a child?

Specifically, a boy? Because sons would be able to carry on the family name. They would be able to help sustain the family economically. Because in this patriarchal system having a male child meant you had value as a woman and as a couple. That is why Elizabeth states, “this is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.” Indeed, she would have been living in disgrace all of those years and now she no longer had to. Their prayer had been fulfilled.

 

So what about you? How did you react when your prayer was fulfilled What did you think? What did you feel? Who did you share your good news with?

 

Now, I need to pause here and clarify that I am not saying that joy

is ONLY about receiving what we pray for. We know that God is not a genie or Santa Claus. Sometimes what we pray for isn’t for us or it isn’t the time for us to receive it.

I am saying, however, that what we pray for IS being heard by God and when we are given the answer to our prayer, we need to embrace it and give God thanks for it. Not doubt it, as Zachariah did but embrace it, as Elizabeth did.

 

I prayed for many years to become a pastor again. I interviewed, I spoke to churches. I searched. I prayed. I waited. In the meantime, I worked as a chaplain. You all know that. Some of those years were very hard but also very rich with opportunity to remind many hurting people that God was truly with them.

But it took 8 long years for my prayer to be answered. I don’t think I doubted it. I was just over-joyed! That finally God was sending me to a church setting again. That God would allow that place to be here in California which made most sense for my family and I.

 

I remember wondering why it took so long. I can only imagine that it was because I needed more time to learn to completely rely on God. Perhaps i needed to be a blessing to all of those patients. Perhaps you weren’t ready for me or my kind of leadership? It happened in God’s time.

 

But notice that Joy and happiness are two different things- are they not? For I am not speaking of happiness. Neither was Isaiah or Luke. We read over and over how Jesus came to bring JOY to the world. Had it been just happiness that He brought, it would have been something momentary and not the event that it was that changed the world forever.

 

Joy is enduring. Happiness is fleeting.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit that bears more fruit.

Joy is choice, not just a result. Archbishop Oscar Romero said this of Joy- “Christians must always nourish their hearts the fullness of joy. Try it brothers and sisters; I have tried it many times and in the darkest moments, when slander and persecution were at their worst: to unit myself intimately with Christ, my friend… it is the deepest joy the heart can have.”(quoted in The Saints Guide to Joy that Never Fades by Ann Ball, 120)

 

Joy sustains us- This is what my friend, the Rev. Matthew Crebbin said on NPR, one year after the Sandyhook massacre when 12 children and teachers were struck down. Matt is the senior pastor at Newtown Congregational Church and went to seminary with me. He said in his interview- “we are not people who look at happiness- the root for happiness is the same root as happenstance or haphazard. Happiness is really rooted in this notion that somehow, we are dependent upon circumstance around us as to where the well be happy or not. And really for people of faith, joy is a deeper sense that we are held in something that sustained us, beyond envy our ability to recognize, sometimes even in the moment.”

 

Friends- the Christian message is not one of happiness. Where we are meant to have faking smiles on our faces all day. It is one of deep joy. A joy that only God can provide. A joy that give us peace in the midst of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.

 

If we are a people who only lived by circumstances, we would not be able to survive. We wouldn’t want to get up in the morning. We wouldn’t want to keep fighting for what is right, we wouldn’t want to live out our faith through acts of kindness, justice, and transportation. If we were a people who only existed on happiness, we would not come to worship Sunday after Sunday.

 

We would only do it if we felt happy. We would only do it out of habit and not because we chose to believe and serve a God who stopped at nothing to show us what love looks like!

 

We are people of Joy. As such we are called to spread Christ’s JOY into the world. Where is the darkest place in your life- take joy, there. Who in your life needs joy- tell them why you believe in God and how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s love for them.

What will joy call you to do in your own life? Pray and meditate on it. Ask God- who or what situation needs you to bring Christ’s joy to them? It isn’t about being happy. It isn’t about “fake it ‘til you make it.” It is about the joy that comes from God, that give us strength that IS our strength!

Let us be a church that embodies, embraces, preaches, teaches, demonstrates JOY in all circumstances. That is what will give us strength.

 

12.2.18 Isaiah 30

Communion Meditation

First Sunday of Advent

“Waiting and Hoping for Christ’s Light”

Texts- Isaiah 30:18; John 8:12-16

Rev. Elizabeth Aguilar

 

 

Several years ago, while I was still a young pastor, it came to me that everyone is waiting for something. This came to me as I witnessed a series of tragic illnesses and death occur in one of my congregations. It was my honor to walk with these good folks as they waited. All of us are waiting for something. Some are waiting for medical test results. A young person could be waiting to hear if they were accepted in a university or if they were given the new job they had applied to. Someone might be waiting for just the right to time to ask someone to marry them. Others might be waiting for a child to return to their family or for full recovery to happen after surgery or chemotherapy. We wait…

The good news is that we do not wait alone, friends. Christ waits with us.

Advent is a season of waiting and preparation. We wait to celebrate the birth of Christ as we wait for His return someday.

I wonder, what is it that you are waiting for now. How is it that you wait? Do you sometimes believe that your waiting is futile?

Yesterday was World Aid’s Day. I was reflecting on the first patient I had who was dying of HIV/AIDs. He was a beautiful young man. His family lived in Atlanta. They had flown in to be at his side. In ICU, in UCLA.

The way they waited for the end of his life was to read scripture, listen to Gospel songs, tell me stories of his childhood. Wipe his brow, whisper in his ear that they loved him.

They told me the only way they could do what they were doing was because they knew Jesus was with them. How we wait matters.

I don’t want to wait until someone I love is dying to be reminded that God waits with me. And so I am reminding you today that whatever you are waiting for God is waiting for you.

This Advent we have chosen the theme “Surely The Light is Coming.” Every Sunday we will have an opportunity to reflect on this them as we also reflect on the sub themes of hope, joy, peace, and love.

Today as we remember that we wait and that God waits with us, we also acknowledge that as Disciples of Jesus we not only wait but we wait in Hope.

We are a people of hope.

In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus reminds them of the truth of His identity and purpose. He said, “I am the light of the World.” Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

Then the Pharisees questioned him. His answer was to say that He knew where he came from and where Jesus would go to next and that it was the Father who had sent him.

Disciples know who they are and where they are going and who is with them. Just as Jesus did.

We know we are Christ’s disciples. We know who we are because we know who HE is. We know that Christ IS the light of the World and it is He that came to this world to bring light to it. It is HE that we worship, that we serve and that we find our hope in as we wait.

In a moment we will approach the communion table. AS you do so. Ask God to help you to wait. Thank Him for waiting with you. Tell him to fill you with Hope.

And then be encouraged because you do not wait alone. You wait with each other. You wait with Christ and remember that surely the light IS coming!!

 

 

“Do Not Be Afraid” November 25, 2018

Sermon: “Do Not Be Afraid”

Texts are:

Matthew 14:22-32; Isaiah 43:1-3a

Preached on November 25, 2018

Rev. Elizabeth Aguilar

 

Well, as you can see these scripture verses are about trusting in God and not allowing fear to over- take us. The context for the first scripture reading of Isaiah was during the Babylonian exile- meaning the Israelites were being held against their will, in a different land, with none of their possessions, in a different culture, surrounded by different religious customs, and laws as well.  Now, let’s remember –these were the chosen people. So they had to have been wondering why they were suffering so much if God had promised them so much. But now, they are in captivity, instead and not just for a short time but for many year. So yes, they had much to fear.

Thankfully, there was the prophet Isaiah and his words of comfort, wisdom, and warning and here we have his words of deep comfort for them. Here in this portion, we hear him telling them that even in their bleakest moments- no matter what happens to them, they will STILL belong to God and God WILL be with them.

Let’s hear it again:

But now, this is what the Lord says- he would created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you a blaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (and verse 5 says: Do not be afraid, for I AM with you. )

Don’t you love that? God the creator of the universe used his prophet Isaiah to remind them that they are NOT alone. They BELONG to Him. He knows them So well, he calls them by name. AND no matter what tragedies, what calamities, what persecution, what suffering they will face- He will ALWAYS be with them.

I work with people who need this reminder every day. They are on hospice care. They and their care givers need to be reminded of this truth- that God is still with them, has not forgotten them and that they have nothing to fear because of that.

I do feel it is my job as their chaplain to remind them of this truth; that these words of Isaiah are for them as well, today, in their own situation. Yet, I do not tell them they are crazy or that have little faith if they do feel fear.

In fact lately, I have been in awe at the fact that God has created us with the capacity to FEEL so much. Think about it. How many different emotions do you experience in just an hour, a half hour, or less? Probably hundreds.   I mention this because I do not want us to think that our fears are unjustified or unfounded or that that they are a sign that we are somehow emotionally or spiritually, weak. No, God gave us the capacity to feel deeply and sometimes we do have much to fear. And those fears are real.

What do you fear the most? I know that lately our country has been experiencing much fear, collectively. This is on top of our own personal fears, of course. We have the Ebola epidemic in Africa which has now reached our shores. Some of the fear can be of course media driven but nevertheless there it is. I have a close friend who works as a flight attendant with United Airlines. Recently her and her colleagues were given a document explaining how they are to treat passengers with suspicious health issues. I have some friends who are chaplains in hospitals. They too have had to go under extra training with their infection control department to make sure they know how to protect themselves should they come in contact with a patient with Ebola or some other highly infectious disease. We  are now in conflict with this new terrorist group, Isis.   And of course, we have the media telling us that we are to fear our borders and those wanting to cross it because they will take all that belongs to us. The list goes on and on, doesn’t it?

So yes, we have much to fear- whether it is as a country, as a group of concerned citizens and as individuals too who must face our on-going personal difficult situations as well: serious illness; job loss; under-employment; family conflict and discord; etc…

Notice that Isaiah stated “when you pass through the waters… when you walk through the fire…” I take this to mean that we WILL face trouble. We will struggle and yes we will suffer at times.

The pain that some of my hospice patients feel IS real. The fear of losing their loved ones which their care –givers are feeling is also real.

So what is it that you fear? And how are you handling that fear? Are you like Peter in our Gospel story of today, who, trusts Jesus just enough to go out to him but then when he loses his focus he begins to sink? For me this story is precisely about keeping my focus on Jesus. There is so much to distract us from our faith in Him. Some are clamoring for our attention. Our problems, the media, problems our family and friends face as well… Much of it is legitimate. However, the key is to keep our gaze on Him.

When I was a youth I used to take Mexican folkloric dance lessons. I remember learning that what my instructor had told us was true. Her instruction was that we needed to keep focus on a certain object as we made our quick turns. If we did not, we would get dizzy and fall.

I don’t know about you but I must admit that sometimes I do not keep my gaze on Him.  I tend to talk a good talk. I am a stable source of assurance for my patients and their care-givers that God IS with them, no matter what and I believe it as I say it but when I am in the middle of my own crisis, I can easily feel overwhelmed with worry and concern. But it is harder to remind ourselves that yes, God meets us in OUR fear as well.

We limit God, however. We forget that Jesus said that he came to give us ABUNDANT lives. So, instead we settle for very small lives. Why? Because we fear and do not trust.

Friends, I am here to remind you that the God of the Universe, the God who stopped at nothing to show us His love and even sent His SON for our salvation does not want us to live in fear. He wants us to live in trust. You might have every reason to fear. BUT it is how you handle that fear that matters. Do you hold on to it, do you use it as an excuse? Do you allow that fear to identify you? OR will you release it and take the risk of finding out that God is really with you and will really help you with that problem/ that “Thing” that you fear and that He will actually help you not only to overcome the fear but to conquer it AND to find a solution.

My prayer is that whatever stands in the way of your fears as individuals and as a congregation- that you leave those fears at Jesus’ feet and that you allow Him to help you conquer and get to the other side of it. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for November 18, 2018

Sermon for November 18, 2018

Thanksgiving Sunday and Stewardship Sunday

Psalm 136:1-9; Luke 18:18-30

Sermon Title: Giving Gratefully And Generously

 

I like to begin my sermons by giving some context to the scripture reading. In today’s Gospel lesson we are presented by a rich ruler. For the gospel writer Luke, this rich young ruler represents the wealthy and greedy of the day. Earlier in the same gospel according to Luke, Jesus has already contrasted the actions and behavior of the rulers/ those who were “in charge,” against what he believes the disciples should be about- which was, humility, service, love of neighbor and one another.

But what is this particular portion of Luke’s gospel all about? A lot happens in this exchange between Jesus and the ruler. Eventually, we see that the ruler sounds defeated as he knows he cannot do what Jesus instructs him to do (which was to give his possessions away.) Then, Jesus seems to give him hope by saying that the ruler might think it’s impossible for him to do this but that nothing is impossible for God!

The main part of this scripture portion is the rich ruler’s erroneous belief that indeed there is something he can do to inherit eternal life- as if it is all about him and NOT God’s grace! But, of course, that concern wasn’t what Jesus wanted him to focus on at all. It isn’t just the future that matters, it is the here and now that maters! If it were about works (only or primarily) than the gift of God’s grace would not be necessary, or much less “sufficient” as the Apostle Paul calls it.

Perhaps, Jesus is calling the ruler to TRUST God with what the ruler loves the most (his wealth) and give it to God.

We all have something we love the most. It can be a person or a thing. But do we love it more than God also?

The scripture reminds us that ALL things come from God. What we return to God needs to be given in humility, in trust. Not to “earn our way into heaven” (because we can’t anyway) but to be Christ’s disciples, people willing to put Him first and foremost.

As time goes on you will hear me preach, teach and talk about what it means to be disciples of Christ. Disciples of Christ know their priorities. It is to serve, to give, to love.

Our world and our nation is hurting. Our own state of California is literally and figuratively on fire. Of course, I know I am not saying anything new to you.

We cannot stand idly by as the amount of people in need keeps growing. For, disciples give courageously and compassionately, to others.

This church has been called to be a blessing to this community and to people around the world. In order to do that we must give of our money, our time and our talents.

We can not ALL give a lot of money because not all of us have a lot of money to give. However, we can be generous in our giving. Whether that is serving others through various ministries here, or pledging 10% of your salary, or both- God will use it. I can guarantee you of that.

But let us give not because we somehow think that will guarantee our way into heaven- as the rich ruler was thinking. Instead, let us give because it is Biblical to give, because God commands us to give; because it is the right THING to do, because people are hurting now more than ever, because we CAN do amazing things for this community through giving.

You can indeed pat yourselves on the back. I’ve read and heard of the amazing ways you have given to other organizations, ministries, people. You have helped transform the economic reality of many a person. You have been a force of transformation, healing, hope and safe haven in this community for 128 years to be exact!. That is quite a legacy of love! But we can not just look toward the past, we must look toward the future b/c again- the world needs our hands, feet, and financial resources. Too much is at stake.

 

That legacy of love includes all that we do- worship, finances, how we work, learn and serve together, too. And we know that giving of our gifts- both monetary and talents is a form of worship. It is actually a form of exercising spiritualty. It is a sacrifice and it is an also an honor. If we chose not to give generously of our times, talents or treasures then not only do others miss the opportunity to be blessed but we too miss the opportunity to know the joy of giving.

I have a fun fact: did you know that the topic that Jesus spoke most about was money.  Money mattered to Jesus. What people did with their wealth mattered. How people shared mattered to Jesus. How people demonstrated their love for God by sharing their resources with others, mattered to Jesus. If it mattered so much to Him then shouldn’t it matter to us as his modern day disciples and followers?

We are poised in the best location of Chula Vista- right here in down town. We have an amazing staff team. We have dedicated members, lay leaders who tirelessly serve out of their dedication, love for God and for their neighbors.

So, yes, we can be grateful for ALL that God has allowed this church to do and be in this community and in the world. Thank God for that legacy. We can also be grateful for what God WILL do through us in the future to continue to be a blessing to others.

We serve a generous God. We are called to be generous as well. Let us be so.

In a moment you will have an opportunity to fill out your pledge cards. There are many ways for you to give- of your time, of your passion, your interest and yes of your money.

This Sunday I ask that we take some intentional time to be in prayer and reflection about what it is that God is calling us to this coming year. IS God asking you to give more of your money to this congregation? IS God asking you to volunteer and serve in a particular ministry? If you have already filled your card out then pray that God blesses that decision you have already made. If not, then pray that God gives you discernment and a sense of obedience to fill out the card in the way that you think God is inviting you to do so.

 

I’m going to open up this time in prayer and then after I finish praying, Lionel will play some soft  music as we fill out our cards and spend some individual time in prayer. Then a few moments later the ushers will come forward to receive your offering for today and your pledge cards.

Let us pray.