When churches get in to conflict. People get dug-in and so much of it is about ego, and couch it in spiritual terms. Clergy like to think of themselves as martyrs when that happens. And, they think of themselves as Daniel being thrown to the lion's den. Or they think of the early Christians being thrown to the animals in the coliseum. There's an author I like who had, in my opinion, a far better analogy for the trials of being a clergyperson. And that is, that being a clergyperson is like being nibbled to death by ducks. That always stuck with me. And as you go home today and think about that, you'll think that's awful. But, it's true.

When I was quite new to the faith, I was always impressed by the story of young Solomon praying to God for wisdom. I thought that was a very good thing to aspire to, so I thought I would pray for wisdom. Yet, when seeking the wisdom of the faith one quickly learns that true wisdom is costly. To gain wisdom one must live through their own failures, and humiliations, and losses, and mistakes, and experiences, and defeats. And, equally important, not just live through them, but NOT deny them. But, be willing to own them and reflect on them...

When I was young and growing up on the farm, my parents who had started life together with literally nothing were incredibly hard workers. They expected the same hard work out of their three sons. We were taught to work hard and to find pleasure in our work. At least that was the theory. Some days we didn't find as much pleasure as we thought our parents felt we should. That being said, with this hard work mentality, I still remember the first time I saw the 1957 movie, 'Bridge Over the River Kwai.' In it, a group of mostly British prisoners of war, were in a Japanese work camp. In the middle of Burma. They were expected to build a bridge over the river Kwai that would be essential for the completion of the Burma Railway. The camp was administered by a rather desperate Japanese colonel named colonel Saito. In one of the most remarkable scenes of the movie, the entire population of the camp is called to stand in formation, at attention, and colonel Saito is marching in front of them - back and forth - berating them. As the soldiers are standing there; they've been in the jungle, they have every form of malaria and other jungle born diseases, they've been working with starvation amounts of food, their uniforms are in rags and tatters, because they've been living like this for quite some time. They're standing there at attention and once in a while one collapses because he's reached utter exhaustion. Colonel Saito is walking back and forth in front of the formation berating them, telling them that they should be happy in their work. It was the ultimate in absurdity. These men have been ground down to the most retched condition and the man responsible for it was so focused on his...

COLD BLEW THE winds along the canyon, moaning in the cedars, whining softly where the sagebrush grew. Their fire was small, and they huddled close, the firelight playing shadow games on the walls, the walls their grandfather’s father built when he moved from the pit house atop the mesa to the great arch of the shallow cave.

“We must go,” the boy said, “there is no more wood for burning, and the strength is gone from the earth. Our crops are thin, and when the snows have gone, the wild ones will come again, and they will kill us.”

“It is so,” his mother agreed. “One by one the others have left, and we are not enough to keep open the ditches that water our fields, nor defend against the wild ones.”

“Where will we go?” Small Sister asked.

They avoided looking at each other, their eyes hollow with fear, for they knew not where to go. Drought lay heavy upon the land, and from north, south, east, and west others had come seeking, no place seeming better than another. Was it not better to die here, where they had lived?

I have been telling the Christmas story for many many years. And, over those years of telling the Christmas story, 2 things stand out for me as being of critical importance.

1) First of all, when it comes to the actual tale of the birth of Jesus, Linus got it right. Those words from Luke are the simple and poignant words of how the Savior came to be with us. No Christmas is complete without them.

2) Secondly, as essential as that Christmas story is, is John's telling of what God was up to in the coming of Jesus. Not how Jesus came, but WHY Jesus came. John tells of a troubled world, that is frozen and cold, and trapped in deep darkness. Starving for light. A light that only God can provide...

Many years ago my father-in-law was visiting his brother-in-law down in Florida. And, let me tell you that is a bad combination. Okay, just take my word for that. While he was there he and his brother-in-law were cleaning out some old shrubs and stumps that were growing along on his brother-in-law's property. When they were doing that they had to dig out a stump from a unique shrub tree called ironwood. Ironwood is really hard. It's so hard they actually ruined the blade on a chainsaw getting it out, but I'm sorry, you're not supposed to use a chainsaw on the ground anyway. That's on them. My father-in-law thought it would be really clever to give me that old hunk of wood that they dug out, and see who many tools I might ruin trying to work with that wood. So, the next time he visited he gave me that hunk of wood. Which was about the size of a loaf of bread. And, he wanted to see if I could make something of it. Because it was kind of a stump that was underground it was filling with all kinds of rocks, and soil, and fissures that were full of sand. It was just a miserable hunk of wood. Well, he gave it to me and I kept it around, hoping that someday I might take the time to work with it. As the years went by it just started to be in my way. Many times when I was cleaning out my shop I would take that hunk of ironwood in my hand. I had a little wood burning stove at one time, and I would throw scraps of wood into the stove to keep it hot in there. Many times I held that hunk of ironwood, which was very unique to me, in my hand, thinking I'd just throw it in the stove and burn it up. I did not have time to mess with it. But, then something nagging at the back of my mind would bother me and I'd say 'no,' and I'd put it back in my scrap pile. This happened for years and years...

You have in your bulletin a couple of scriptures for today, and I'm not going to read both of them. They're both very important scriptures. But I'd rather to read an additional scripture, yet, for you from 1st John chapter 3. Again, this is from 1st John chapter 3, and I guess I should point out, before diving in to this, during the Advent season, the first three Sundays of Advent Season, we have been focusing on the three greatest gifts that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians thirteen. Faith, and hope, and love.

Today our focus is on that word love, but not just any love. When Paul is speaking here he's talking about God's very specific type of love for you, and the very specific type of love you and I are called to practice as the followers of His son. To speak of love we must clarify what type of love is meant here. Our culture has a lot of confusion about this. We are not talking about the type of love mentioned in a Hallmark greeting card. Just as we are not talking about the type of love that is printed on pink boxer shorts that come from Victoria's Secret with X's and O's on them. It might say 'love' on there, but that's not the kind of love we're talking about. And, we're not talking about the genuine love expressed when one hugs a buddy and says, "Hey, I love you, man."

These are all perfectly legitimate expressions of different types of love. But, they are not the love that Paul is describing here. Whereas in English we have just one word that says love. In the Greek Paul uses there are multiple words for more specific kinds of love. Paul is getting very specific in 1 Corinthians. Paul is describing the sacrificial and costly love that God conveys in the person of Jesus. The love that those who follow him are called to practice. Paul helps us to understand this deeper level of love when he says, in 1 Corinthians, "Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy. It is not proud, it does not seek to dishonor others. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in...