ADVENT I Year C 2006

     Welcome to the first Sunday of our short Advent season.  How are you all doing? It is a busy time of the year. Folks, take care.

     I’ve already been caught in three traffic jams....two because I went near malls- and I wasn’t even there for some Christmas shopping– and the third was on Friday night when the wind was so wild and the rain came down in sheets and ten different roads in the valley where closed.

     A colleague, the rector of Mediator in Allentown, was just in England. She went for the Confirmation of a Godson. As she left Heathrow airport, near the car rental lots, she saw a traffic sign... a very British traffic sign...

Inside the light red/orange diamond it read:

Changed Priorities AheadChanged Priorities Ahead. 

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The Holy Habits:

Ways We Draw Near to God

An Advent Study

at St. Margaret’s Emmaus

"In recognition of the church’s tradition of calling us to work, pray, and give for the spread of God’s kingdom, all members of the Episcopal Church are encouraged to develop a personal spiritual discipline that includes, at a minimum, the holy habits of daily personal prayer and study, tithing, Sabbath time, and weekly corporate worship."

General Convention and Diocesan Convention 2006

Advent I - Sunday, December 3, 2006          Prayer and Study

Daily Personal Prayer

We respond "to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words." BCP, p. 856

Scripture Reading and Study

"We understand the meaning of the Bible by the help of the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church in the true interpretation of the Scriptures." BCP, p.851

Advent 2 - December 10, 2006      Sabbath Keeping

"...we are free to make choices: to love, to create, to reason, and to live in harmony with creation and God." BCP, p. 845

                    Exercising daily by walking with God. Being grounded.

Advent 3 - Sunday December 17^th  Giving and Tithing

We believe it is our duty "to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God." BCP, p. 856

Advent 4 - December 24, 2006   Corporate Worship

"...We unite ourselves with others to acknowledge the holiness of God, to hear God’s Word, to offer prayer, and to celebrate the sacraments." BCP, p. 857

Isn’t that wonderful?

Instead of "Beware Lane Changes" or "New traffic pattern"...

Changed Priorities Ahead.

Advent is about changing our priorities.

     It is about shaking off the affluenza of our culture and living the adventure of faith. It is about looking around us and this good earth and seeing the abundance of our lives and our call to share with others and our call to care for this world.

     Advent is not a church program... it is a church season and attitude of spirit-filled promise and advent-ure.

Think of some Advent words...

Awake, Arise....

Behold, Come...

Deliver...

Expect...Fulfill....

New...Now...

Watch, Wait, Wonder....

     St. Paul writes to the Church in Thessalonica. He is writing to some of the first Christians- the men, women and children who had to learn how to live– how to watch, wait and wonder–  now that they had experienced the joy of learning that Jesus overcame death and the grave. They are to wait for the return of Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior, coming in a cloud. That is– coming for all people to see and to know and to experience. They look for the coming of Christ as the Lord of the Cosmos, of all the heavens and earth.

     They were making their way– day by day, when St. Paul writes and tells them to "strengthen your hearts in holiness."

And that’s the changed priority, as I see it.

In this hurried holiday season—

Take care.

Take care of yourself.

Take care of your spirit.

Beware of the merchandising hype that leads to disappointment. There is no perfect Martha Stewart/ Opra Winfrey/ Bing Crosby Christmas.

Beware of losing your focus of faith. Don't let yourself get hungry, anxious, angry, lonely or tired. (H.A.L.T.) Ask for help. You cannot make Christmas happen by your own actions.

Beware.  Yes, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." But the Reason for Jesus is you, and you and me. God came as an infant child, to live among us...  So that we might see how very much God loves us.

[Pointing to the large vinyl "Holy Habits" banner near the Advent wreath...]

The Banner.  Holy Habits.

     During Advent, we are going to look at the ways that the Church has found people can strenghten their relationship with God in Jesus Christ. These Holy Habits have been commended to us by the national church in General Convention, by our own Diocese at October’s convention and by our Vestry by affirmative vote in November’s regular meeting.

There are the four "holy habits" as the Episcopal Church is currently describing them.

     Please don’t think of this as a check list of things you need to do. And it’s not even a Chinese take-out menu. You know, one from column A and two from column B.

     Most of you already have Holy Habits of prayer and mediation and action and worship. This is just a framework to give us all a similar vocabulary. I remember the first time someone asked me to hand a spanner from a tool box. I was clueless. I picked up an adjustable wrench and asked: "Is it this thumb thing?" When you know the names of the tools and their uses, you realize that all problems are not solved with a hammer.

     When you understand the Holy Habits, you can see some of the possibilities and the potential of caring for our spiritual selves and our community of faith.

     This morning, my assignment is to speak about "Prayer and Scripture Study".  I was going to print out a bibliography. An annotated bibliography. An extensive list of books and articles for you to look at.

But then I decided that you only need two books–

[Holding two paperback books with orange covers up for all to see.]

No, not  Idiots’s Complete Guide the Bible nor  Idiot’s Complete Guide to Prayer.

How about two books you all should already own?

An annotated Bible.

     Footnotes are good. How could any of us survived reading Shakespeare in High School without the footnotes?

And a copy of The Book of Common Prayer.

     Actually, the editor of the Idiot’s Guide to Prayer recommends our prayer book. As does the Harvard list of great American writing. Some of the oldest prayers in the tradition of the Church are found in it.

     Please look at your copy later today. If you don’t have a copy at home, take one of ours from the pew. Borrow it. Long term loan. Maybe your Santa can bring you a new one.

     Make sure you see the pages that include the short forms of morning, noon and evening prayers for individual use. Beginning on page 136.

Two books.  And...Two things I know.

     First, scripture says that the best place for a devout Jew to study Torah and the sacred scrolls in Jesus’ time was under a fig tree. The best place I know to study the Bible is ...in a small group. You don’t need an expert guide. Just some like minded people who can commit to one time slot. Members of the group can read the same story or text from different translations. Someone may even do a little advance study to see what the passage meant when it was written and how the Church has understood it over the years. Then together, you can see what that passage says to you today. What is God calling you to say or do this day?

     Second, books about prayer may be valuable reading. But the real value of prayer is just doing it. Don’t worry about all the ways and all the words you do not know. Just be turn your attention to God who begins all prayer and say in response... "Hello."

      Sometimes I try to wrap my mind around fancy church worship words... like "hallowed be thy name." What is "hallow"? To make or keep holy. How do we "hallow" God’s name? Certainly not by ignoring God.

Maybe "hallowed be thy name" is just "hello-ed be thy name."

"Hello, God.  It’s me."

Then you might chose one of the oldest prayers of the Christian faith...

"Thank you. Thank you."

Or

"Help! Help! Help!"

     If that’s too many words for you, be still. Be still and know that God is God. And you are God’s beloved.

     Your handout this morning has lots of bullet points. [Attached at end.] Our goal this morning is not to throw them up on a screen for a power point presentation. Those bullet points are guideposts for us a we walk in the journey. Those items may raise questions.There are people here who can answer your questions about them. Clergy. EFM graduates. An aspirant for Holy Orders. Several lay readers.

Together. Together we can look at the Holy Habits which can help us have

AMEN.