First Presbyterian Church
Savor Sacred Seconds
January 4, 2009
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Here's a story my friend Skip wrote about some people afraid of the dark.

Once there was a people living in a land of great darkness. It wasn't completely black, but there were a lot of deep shadows that made it scary. So they went to a great teacher for help.

“Teacher, we are afraid. The shadows scare us when we're awake and chase us in our dreams. We want them to go away.”

The teacher said, “Come with me,” and led them to a great cave where it was completely black, and said, “There won't be any shadows in there.”

They went in, but came out pretty quickly, saying, “We can't stay there – there aren't any shadows, but we're still afraid. We are afraid of the dark. What we can't see can hurt us. Let us see what we fear.”

The teacher said, “You're learning. What do you want now?”

They said, “Illumination. Light so we might see clearly.”

“Okay,” said the teacher, and the teacher gave every one a candle . Pass out battery candles.

They went back to their world, but came back to complain some more. One said, “When I hold my candle in front of me, it is too bright, and I can't see anything but the flame, and there's a big shadow behind me and it chases me.”

Another said, “When I hold my light behind me, a horrible shadow comes in front of me, and I'm afraid to move because I might stumble in the darkness.”

The teacher said, “What do you want to do?”

One said, “Let's hold our candles above us, and then light would surround us and our shadows would be small.” They tried that, but that didn't work either.

“It's too hard to hold up a candle all the time.”

“Hot wax drips on our faces.” Our candles don't drip, because they have batteries and a light bulb, not a flame. When there's a flame, the candle drips, like this pink one)

“All I see is people in shadow, and they just see my shadow.”

The teacher said, “I can give you what you want.”

The people said, “Get rid of all the darkness.” So the teacher did, and it was so bright there weren't any more shadows. At first everyone thought it was great, but then they realized it wasn't, and went back to the teacher to complain.

One said, “The glare hurts my eyes, and I have to squint.”

Another said, “I'm hot.”

A wise person said, “I think the problem is the light is outside of us, and our shadows had to go someplace, so they went inside us, so deep the light outside can't reach.”

The teacher said, “You are wise. I can give you what you want.”

The wise one said, “Don't give us what we want. Give us what we need.”

The teacher smiled. “I give you my blessing.” And then the teacher's face glowed with a light that reached out to shine on each one. And the light entered them and began to shine out of them. The shadows surrounded them, but no one was afraid, because the light from inside them made their surroundings glow. And the people moved peacefully and joyfully and did not complain so much. 1Turn on the lights. Collect candles, pray.

Our first gospel reading is found on page 12. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Matthew 2:1-12.

1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

This ends our reading from the gospel of Matthew. Let's listen to the choir interpret it.

Our next reading is Psalm 72. It's on page 533 in the pew Bibles. I'll be reading from my translation, so the words will be a little different. Psalm 72 is a prayer that asks God for a particular sort of king. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Psalm 72:1-14.

1 Of Solomon. Give the king your justice 2,
O God, and your righteousness to a king's son.

2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.

3 May the mountains sustain peaceful well-being for the people,
and the hills, righteousness.

4 May he advocate for the poor of the people, save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.

5 May he stay to help while the sun endures, and as long as the moon,
generation to generation.

6 May he come down like rain that falls on the grazed pasture,
like many showers that water the earth.

7 In his days may justice sprout and an abundance of peaceful well-being,
until the moon is no more.

8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the end of the earth.

9 May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick dust.

10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring a gift.

11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him

12 because he delivers the poor when they call, the afflicted who have no helper.

13 He has compassion on the weak and the poor, and saves the lives of the needy.

14 From oppression and from violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his eyes.

 

This ends our reading from the psalm.

Did you notice that the nations serve this king because he helps the poor? The nations don't do it out of fear of the king's weapons, but out of admiration for his compassion and justice. That seems as unlikely as a just and righteous king. But that's how the prayer goes.

In our reading from Matthew, the wise men, or magi, come to pay homage to another king, a baby without weapons, who will grow up to teach compassion and justice. In two days, the season of Epiphany begins. It's also called Twelfth Night, because it's twelve days after Christmas. Epiphany means arrival. In the western church, the holy day of epiphany is associated with the arrival of the magi, the wise men from the east in Matthew's gospel, or the three kings in our hymn.

Epiphany also means manifestation, when something comes close. It can also mean a sudden insight or understanding. Sometimes we say we have an epiphany when the light suddenly dawns on us.

In the books of Proverbs and Jeremiah, Lady Wisdom was present with God at the beginning of the world, when light first came. The gospel of John has no birth stories of Jesus, but the first chapter does speak of the beginning. Our unison reading begins on page 91. This gospel draws on ancient wisdom tradition to describe how Jesus came into the world and uses the Greek logos tradition to describe Jesus. In Jesus the glory of God was “known and experienced in the world.” 3Listen for the word of God as we read it together in the gospel according to John 1:1-18.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

This ends our reading of God's word.

Some stories of John the Baptizer show that he was a rival of Jesus; their disciples sometimes didn't get along. But Jesus and John respected each other. John testified to the light of Christ coming into the world. When Jesus heard that John was killed by King Herod, he grieved. 4 Or he tried to. Jesus was interrupted by crowds who wanted him to heal them and teach them and feed them. He helped them for awhile, but then at night he went to a place by himself to pray. Jesus had to mourn the death of the man who had baptized him, a fellow Jew who risked telling the truth, even to religious leaders who didn't want to hear it. So Jesus knew the importance of stopping his activity and finding a sacred place so he could grieve and pray.

It's not like Jesus' work was trivial or he could call on a substitute Savior to fill in while he was gone. You know Jesus' work: to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to free the oppressed. His work was vital. But so was recognizing the importance of John's death

And if he can slow down his work when something crucial happens, so can we. It's part of recognizing the preciousness of another person's life.

Dr. Jessica Israel wrote about when she learned the importance of slowing down. She works at a hospital that has a hospice unit. Hospice is a program that provides care for people at the end of their lives, and for their families. It's a big decision to go on hospice; it means their medical care doesn't include life-prolonging treatment or procedures. It does include aggressive pain medication, any food they want, counseling, and spiritual care. In Baker City, most hospice care happens in private homes, not the hospital. Years ago, when I was a new pastor, I asked a nurse why she decided to go into hospice work. She told me it was the only place she could do what she studied nursing for – to care for patients, not spend her time on paperwork or meetings. The hospice workers I've met are not reluctant to talk about death and they make it easy for patients and families who want to, to talk about it, too.

Dr. Israel wrote, “I was a third year medical student…It was a big day for me because [I] was going to …[do my first] paracentesis. Patients with advanced liver disease can have something called ascites—too much fluid in the abdominal cavity, which can be uncomfortable and can make it hard to breathe. A paracentesis is a way to remove that extra fluid. You place a needle, and then a catheter, through the skin and muscle under the navel. Then you let it drain…

As I was about to start, my patient became unconscious. Someone called a code and what seemed like a million doctors and nurses ran into the room. They did CPR, pushed meds, used the paddles. I had my sterile gloves on, but I was pushed to one side…After 20 minutes [of compressions, intubation, and electrocardiogram strips] the lead resident said, ‘That's it. Thank you all very much. Time of death 3:15.'

Everyone left just as quickly as they had arrived, and for a moment, my moment, I was alone with this dead man. Me with my sterile gloves, and him…with his mouth open. My eyes filled with tears, and I hoped nobody noticed. I had been so preoccupied by the opportunity to stick a needle into a belly that I overlooked the seriousness of his disease. I covered him with a sheet crumpled at the foot of his bed. I learned that day that I needed to slow myself down, to appreciate the gravity of the moment, the power of time and the depth and proximity of my work. It was a very big deal.”

Years later, “I'm rushing to get everything done… I am on the hospice unit and I go in to see a patient I haven't seen since before the weekend. She is sleeping, and her hair is brushed back from her face. I introduce myself to her son. He tells me he thinks she is comfortable, but had a rough night. I decide not to wake her, because I figure rest is more important than agitating her out of her sleep. I am on my way off the unit when her son calls after me: ‘Can you come back? My mom wants to tell you something.'

I am back at the bedside. This time her eyes are open. I touch her cool hands. ‘Do you want to tell me something?' She holds my hand to her face and pulls me close. ‘I wanted to thank you for this. Thank you.'

There it is again – another moment, another near miss. I was rushing to get the day started. I would not have awakened her. I would have just moved on the next thing I had to do. I would have missed the chance to feel the ‘wow.' It is a very big deal. How quickly we forget, and how lucky we are to be reminded, before it's too late.” 5

The season of Epiphany comes after Christmas, when we are not in a holiday hurry. It's easier for us to be reminded of what is a big deal when we are not so busy with the holiday. Epiphany breaks in just as our non-holiday lives begin to remind us that something great has happened—God's light has come into the world to illuminate us.

How many of you have ever been on a subway in New York City? I think I've ridden a subway there eight times in my life. New Yorkers are known for keeping their heads down while they move around their big city so they can keep their schedules and finish their business. But once in a while, something extraordinary happens that makes them stop.

I read about a scene on the number 4 subway from Woodlawn to Grand Central, described by a person name Subrata Das last October. “A woman and a man, both elderly, sit across the aisle from each other and have an intense conversation in sign language. After a few stops, the car gets crowded, passengers stand shoulder to shoulder on the aisle, but everyone makes room in the middle to let this couple see one another and continue their conversation.” 6

Sometimes we have stop to pay attention, and sometimes we just have to make room for the light to be seen. God's glory is around us and we have received, grace upon grace. Let us pay attention to that which is important. May your new year be full of these moments and may you take time to savor them.

1 Jackson, Skip, “Skip's Sketch, Indianola Presbyterian Church, Life and Times, January 2002, p. 1+.
2 it's plural, justices
3 Borg, Marcus, The God We Never Knew, p.35.
4 Matthew 14:13, 23; Mark 6:46, John 6:15
5 Israel, Jessica L., “Slowing Down to Let the Moment Sink In,” The New York Times, July 22, 2008, p. D6.
6 "Metropolitan Diary," The New York Times, October 20, 2008, p. A26.