wp-plugin-bluehost domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/salvagh0/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Text: Romans 8:4b-17, Luke 4:18-19<\/em><\/p>\n There are a number of personality inventories out there, but one that has captured my imagination lately is the Enneagram. It describes people in one of nine categories, like the reformer, the achiever, the loyalist and the peacemaker (which is me). I now affirm that I am excited about my future.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to be completely honest and admit that I haven\u2019t been very excited about my future lately. Partly because there is so much unknowing in my future. In our future. Where there are unknowns, there are also fears. Fears as we begin to imagine what might happen. What is ironic is that I don\u2019t imagine Ebenezer Scrooge was the type of man who spent much time worrying about the future. His focus seemed to be on the present moment, his present moment, and making every penny count. Oh, what we wouldn\u2019t give for that kind of glimpse into our future! Scrooge is taken into his own future and allowed to see the end of his story. Standing in his own bedroom, the Spirit shows him his own body, \u201cplundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for\u2026\u201d (Stave 4). And he asks a question that resonates in my heart: Are these the things that will be? And then he cries out, begs the silent Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come to listen: In catching a glimpse of his own past, present and future, Scrooge discovers that he doesn\u2019t want to be the same person that he was. The story of our Christian faith is a story of redemption and transformation. Often, it is by looking back on the mistakes of our past that we are spurred to repent and make changes in the future.<\/p>\n It is when we look around us at the injustices and inequities of the present moment that we discover ways we can change our way of being in the world.<\/p>\n Sometimes, it is in imagining the worst case scenarios of the future, naming our fears for what might happen, that we discover that there are changes we can make today in order to prevent them from becoming a reality.<\/p>\n I heard recently an interview with outgoing California Governor, Jerry Brown. No matter what you might think of his politics, I found this piece of advice he had for his successor to be profound: The very story of Christmas is God\u2019s answer to that question. You see, God looked out at our future with all of the bad decisions and pain and grief and suffering that we experience, and God saw not a future that would be, but a future that might be. And then that earthly ministry was given to us. The Holy Spirit poured out upon us, empowering us, filling us, transforming us, so that we might head into the world and make change ourselves.<\/p>\n Ebenezer Scrooge had lived a life of selfishness. He saw only his counting book and the success of his business. As Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, all of us who are born of the Spirit are set free. We don\u2019t know what the outcomes of medical tests might be\u2026 but we can walk with one another through a journey towards wholeness and offer joy and hope. Wherever we go, whatever we do, in the midst of the mess and the beauty of life, we have been set free to embrace our hopes rather than our fears because we know that we are not alone in the struggle. Text: Romans 8:4b-17, Luke 4:18-19 There are a number of personality inventories out there, but one that has captured my imagination lately is the Enneagram. It describes people in one of nine categories, like the reformer, the achiever, the loyalist and the peacemaker (which is me). Every morning, I get a little sentence or two…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nEvery morning, I get a little sentence or two in my email that has a thought of the day related to my type.
\nToday\u2019s was an invitation to claim a new affirmation – \u201cI now affirm that I am excited about my future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThere is the unknowing about what will happen with the denomination next February.
\nThere is a whole lot of unknown in the political landscape of the world \u2013 nations experiencing unrest, treaties that are fragile, innocent lives caught in the middle.
\nThere is the unknown that comes in our work\u2026 in our families\u2026 in our health.
\nCan we do enough to prevent severe climate change?
\nWill the infection spread in his leg?
\nHow will the economy impact our workplaces?<\/p>\n
\nThese fears make it very hard to be excited, much less find the joy represented in the fourth candle on our Advent wreath.<\/p>\n
\nHe was turned inward, unable to see the hopes and fears of the people around him, and seemed to not really even care about his own future story.
\nUntil the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come arrives with the third chime of the bells.<\/p>\n
\nTo know with certainty what the outcome of an election would be.
\nOr which course of treatment we should choose.
\nTo be able to see the impact of the decisions being made today.<\/p>\n
\nHe is taken to the home of the Cratchit\u2019s and the realization hits him that the son of his employee, Tiny Tim, has died\u2026 the death of an innocent that surely would have been preventable with better access to medicine and care and food for strength.
\nAnd the man is shaken to his core.
\nThe future that Scrooge discovers is a worst-case scenario.
\nIt is our fears come to fruition.
\nA life lived without love that makes no impact on the world around it.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAre these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of the things that May be, only?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nOr of things that may be only?
\nIs the future set in stone?
\nOr can it yet be changed?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been\u2026 Why show me this if I am past all hope?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe whole trajectory of his life has changed in this one night.
\nAnd the good news, the blessing, the joy of this moment is that he can change. He does change. And he can make change in the world.<\/p>\n
\nIt is the story of the possibility that we can change and that we can make changes in this world.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cImagine what could go wrong, and what could go wrong in the worst possible way. And after you imagine that, then take careful steps to avoid it\u2026 You gotta stand back and try to look over the horizon and say, \u201cOK, what are the things that may not go right?\u201d How do we correct that? How do we deal with it ahead of time?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhat could go wrong?
\nWhat could go wrong in the worst possible way?
\nWhat can I do to correct it?<\/p>\n
\nA future that could be changed.
\nAnd so God came down and entered our lives.
\nGod was born among us.
\nImmanuel.
\nAnd our Lord looked around at what had been, our past and history of struggle\u2026
\nAnd looked around at what was, the present oppression and yearning of the people\u2026
\nAnd Jesus recited the words of the prophets and declared a transformation, a new way of being in the world:
\n\u201cHe has sent me to preach good news to the poor\u2026
\nTo proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind\u2026
\nTo liberate the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBut in the middle of the night, that visit from three ghosts turned his world upside down.
\nIt was the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, setting him free from the shackles of what had been and empowering him to live the life that might be.<\/p>\n
\nWe are set free from our past mistakes.
\nWe are set free from our present selfishness.
\nWe are set free from the fears of what might be.
\nAnd we are empowered and strengthened to claim a new vision of what might be for the future.<\/p>\n
\nWe cannot see the end of conflict in this world\u2026 but we can speak up for peace and reach out to our own neighbors in love.
\nThe final decisions our denomination might make in a couple of months are still to be determined, but we get to choose how we will continue to love and care and support one another, no matter what those decisions might be.<\/p>\n
\nYou see, the one who breathed life into creation is the same one who cried out from the manger in Bethlehem is the same one who walks with us through the trials and sorrows of today.
\nAnd while we cannot control every piece of the future, we do know that God is already there, ready to meet us.
\nFor that reason, we face the future unafraid.
\nNo matter what may come, God is with me\u2026 God is with you\u2026 and I\u2019m excited about that kind of future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"