...and Heaven & Earth were Joined

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
January 4, 2025
2 Christmas
Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a
Psalm 84:1-8
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

God became human and lived among us. Forgiveness and reconciliation were revealed as the way of God among us. Love and service of others were shown as the life of God lived among us, and heaven and earth were joined.

When God was born among us, the baby Jesus, born to a young woman named Mary and her husband, Joseph. They were a couple of teenagers, probably 14 or 15, who had been promised to each other in marriage by their parents. It seems to have been a good match. They had other children together after Jesus was born. They were faithful to God’s call on their lives, and they were faithful in following God’s ways and God’s laws even before Jesus was born. They were good parents, and heaven and earth were joined.

Then, a couple years after Jesus was born, Israel’s mad king thought he might take his throne, and so he plotted to assassinate Jesus and his parents. They fled their country, becoming political refugees, and fled to Egypt. Then, when the king died, they went back to Israel, no longer seeking asylum in a foreign land. Still, felt that they were in danger near the capital of Israel, in the area of Judea, so they went to the region of Galilee, to the town of Nazareth, and heaven and earth were joined. 

We’re still in the season of Christmas, “the hap-happiest season of all”, and we’re not telling the story of the baby in the manger, the shepherds with their flocks, or the angels singing, “glory in the highest heaven.” We’re in “the most wonderful time of the year,” telling a story of attempted assassination. Happy Christmas.

It’s not all bad news, I promise. Have any of you ever been a part of a worship service where the music was playing, the congregation was all joined in together in singing and in prayer, and you could feel the Holy Spirit among you? Heaven and earth are joined, and God’s spirit is with us in worship and in prayer. 

Have you been with a group of friends, enjoying one another’s company, having a grand old time, and also felt God’s presence among you? Heaven and earth are joined, and God’s spirit is with us in love and fellowship.

Then, have you ever been with someone in times of sadness and mourning, you’ve supported them, or been supported when you were mourning. In those times too, God’s presence was felt among you. Heaven and earth are joined, and God’s spirit is with us in the times of loss, in the care and support we give one another. 

Heaven and earth are not only joined in the good times, and God is not only with us when we pray. Jesus and his parents fled an assassination attempt by a mad king and fled as refugees to Egypt. Heaven and earth were joined then, too. We get to tell this story of exile and murder during the happiest time of the year because God is with us even in the death and destruction we cause, and that is reason to rejoice. 

Anglican bishop and author N.T. Wright notes in his latest book, The Vision of Ephesians, that Christians often miss the joyful reality of God with us. According to Christian Post reporter Leah M. Klett, Bishop Wright believes that many Christians have totally misunderstood our faith. Instead of seeing Christianity of God joining with humanity, instead of seeing heaven and earth as joined, many have been taught to think of salvation as escaping the earth, getting to go to Heaven when we die. 

https://www.christianpost.com/books/nt-wright-why-western-christians-have-misread-heaven.html

Jesus is not a portal for good little Christians to flee through once they’re dead. Jesus is the physical joining of God with humanity. Jesus is the cosmic union of God and creation. Jesus is Emmanuel, “God is with us,” or do we really think we live in a world devoid of God’s presence, with God only waiting for us to die so we can be with him? Are our lives really just a proving ground to get to heaven? Are we really just trying to have faith, so that our souls can escape this earth once we’re dead?

That’s not the story of scripture. That’s not the story of the Gospel in the Christian scriptures. The Gospel is the story of God coming to us, not us leaving to go to God. God became human. God joined humanity in our physical bodies. 

The idea of a soul as something different from our bodies isn’t a particularly Jewish or early Christian idea. That’s an ancient Greek and Roman idea. The Gospel is not that faithful enough Christians get to leave the world once they die. The Gospel is that heaven and earth are joined. 

We believe not that we will leave, but that Jesus will return. Heaven and earth have been joined, and at the end of the ages, God will finish this work, and all evil will be destroyed, and all things will be made new.

“The Church,” Bishop Wright says, “is called to be…the small working model of new creation.” We are here to live this new creation as best we can, which we can only do if God truly is with us. If God truly is with us, then, as Paul points out, our battles are not against one another, but against spiritual forces of wickedness, and so we’re told to put on the Armor of God, which is almost totally defensive. 

Bishop Wright points out that many Christians think of this spiritual battle as one we must fight, and that we must constantly fight the demonic. The greater struggle, however, is how so many Christians claim to see the demonic in so many people and groups of people around them. The greater struggle, Wright says, is believing people are our enemies when they are not. That’s what Herod did to Jesus.

Paul said our struggles are with cosmic powers, not with one another, and that doesn’t mean that everything bad is demonic. Everything and everyone that bothers us is not demonic. Herod trying to assassinate Jesus was not demonic. It was the sad actions of a tiny, scared little man.

When we see demons and evil everywhere, we live into this notion that the point of the Gospel is to escape a terrible earth and go to Heaven instead. That’s not the Gospel. The truth of the Gospel is that Heaven and earth are joined. 

Rather than seeing demons everywhere, see God everywhere. God was there when Jesus and his parents fled for their lives. Heaven and earth were joined. Demons didn’t seek to kill Jesus, a scared little man did.

God is there when people beat, rape, steal from, and kill one another. That’s not the demonic fighting humans. When people beat, rape, steal from, and kill one another, that’s humans fighting God. Heaven and earth are joined, and whatever we do to one another we do to God who became human. We don’t get to pin that on demons. That’s on us. 

Humans do terrible things to one another, and our fight is not with one another, but with those terrible things that we do. We are meant to be, we are meant to live as God’s new creation. Heaven and earth are joined, and so we are meant to see God among us. In the good times and in the bad, we are walking among God with heaven all around us. Heaven and earth are joined. Happy Christmas.

So, That Was Tuesday...

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

January 3, 2021

2 Christmas, B

Jeremiah 31:7-14 

Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a

Matthew 2:1-15, 19-23

So, That was Tuesday…

A couple thousand years ago, Jesus was born.  The Creator of the Universe became a human being in human flesh and walked among us, and most people had no idea.  In Australia, some guys were sitting around a campfire playing didgeridoo.  Here in not yet Texas, Native American tribes were bedding down for the night.  For most people around the world, Jesus’ birth was just a regular Tuesday or whatever day it was, meaning that the world kept on turning much as it had for a billion years before.  

I’m reminded of a Coldplay song called, “Til Kingdom Come.”  

And the wheels just keep on turning

The drummer begins to drum

I don't know which way I'm going

I don't know which way I've come

For you I'd wait 'til kingdom come

Until my day, my day is done

And say, you'll come and set me free

Just say, you'll wait, you'll wait for me

Since Jesus’ birth, the world keeps on turning, and God continues to be with us.  We often feel like we are waiting for peace on Earth, and we may get discouraged in that waiting.  Yet for that beautiful promise, we will wait till kingdom come.  God also waits for us to live out the peace we want, knowing full well that we often won’t, and yet, in the midst of that waiting, God is with us.

Now for Mary and Joseph Jesus’ birth was the end of waiting,  a fantastic event.  God had became human and was born with angel choirs singing to shepherds, who then saw Jesus and proclaimed God’s greatness; God’s prophecy to Mary was fulfilled as hope, light, and life came into the world.  So that was Tuesday, or whatever day it was, and then Wednesday came around with an exhausted Mary and Joseph waking up early to an infant crying for milk, with swaddling cloths decidedly wetter and dirtier than they had been hours before.  

Fast forward a couple thousand years, and Jesus’ birth isn’t just some other day which goes unnoticed by almost everyone on earth.  Today, Jesus’ birth is celebrated all over the world, in Israel, in Australia, in Texas.  In every corner of the Earth, people celebrate and give thanks for Jesus’ birth, for God among us, and still, the world keeps on turning.  

Jesus’ coming was supposed to be this world altering event.  The coming of messiah was said to be the inauguration of a new world of peace on Earth.  We know now that peace on Earth and an end of all strife wasn’t actually going to happen with Messiah’s birth.  

The world altering event of Jesus’ birth went on with normal life for everyone.  The daily grind, the joys of life, the struggles of life, all of that has continued on ever since Jesus’ birth.  Sadly, tragedy had continued on as well.  Even this past Christmas day, in Tennessee, a man packed his RV with explosives and became a suicide bomber, luckily killing only himself.  Killing, strife, and those with power wielding their power cruelly has continued on ever since Jesus’ birth.  

King Herod was a prime example of this.  When the Magi first came to Herod, he asked them when they had first seen the star guiding them to Jesus and based on that date, he had boys two years old and younger killed in his efforts to kill Jesus who was probably about 18 months old at that point.  That’s why the angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt.  Killing, strife, those with power wielding their power cruelly.  As we know all too well, all of those things and more have continued on ever since Jesus’ birth, human pride, greed, and brokenness have continued on even with God among us.  

Of course, that’s kind of the point of Jesus’ birth, isn’t it?  In the midst of killing, strife, and the powerful wielding their power cruelly, God is among us.  God is among us not because we’re perfect or because we’ve made life into a perfect world.  In the midst of human pride, greed, and brokenness, God is among us precisely because there isn’t peace on Earth.  God is among us precisely because we aren’t perfect and we do keep messing up.  God came among us to set us free from that over and over again.

We lose our way.  We forget the beauty of light and life all around us.  Sometimes we become so enshrouded in darkness, and our brains, our minds, and souls become so broken by darkness that we do terrible things like filling an RV with explosives and blowing ourselves up.  We lose our way and we bring about strife on Earth rather than peace on Earth.  

Even in lesser ways than suicide bombing, we lose our way and live into darkness. We get so caught up with deadlines, with worries about the future, with things not being the way they are supposed to be, that we lash out.  We try to force our way rather than follow in God’s way.  We lose sight of the beauty of God among us because after all, that was Tuesday, and Wednesday comes with a whole new set of problems, and so God keeps on giving little epiphanies, little revealings of God’s presence and way among us, to show us the light and set us free from the darkness.  

Even for Mary and Joseph, that next day after Jesus’ birth led to a whole succession of next days, and in all likelihood, they lost sight of the glory of Jesus’ birth.  From diapers, and drooling, and little sleep to chasing after a toddler, climbing on furniture and breaking things, Mary and Joseph began raising a little boy.  Again, Jesus was probably around 18 month old when the Magi came to him.  Mary and Joseph had been raising a toddler for over a year since choirs of angels sang, so they may well have lost sight of the glory of Jesus’ birth.  Once again, even Mary and Joseph may have needed to be set free.

The coming of the Magi was a new epiphany, a new revealing of God among us to the Magi, and through them to people beyond Israel.  The coming of the Magi was also, in all likelihood, a renewed epiphany, a renewed revealing of God among us to Mary and Joseph.  In the midst of raising a toddler, a caravan of strangers came.  They had treasure chests with them, which makes this seem like they were a caravan of Magi traveling together, and when they saw Jesus, they said they had been guided by a star, by some miracle of God, and they followed the star because they wanted to pay homage to and worship Mary and Joseph’s little boy named Jesus.  Then, they opened up their chests and rooted through them, and gave Jesus some of their best loot.  

How random is that?  Here Mary and Joseph are, a year and a half after shepherds and angel choirs, and a caravan of weird Magi show up at their door like some Amazon delivery guy with a package they didn’t order.  I think Mary and Joseph needed that epiphany just as much as the Magi did, just as much as we do.  In the midst of all of the days after the glory of Jesus’ birth, God came among them again to set them free.

A couple thousand years ago, Jesus was born to set us free.  The Creator of the Universe became a human being in human flesh and walked among us.  Even with that great coming of Jesus, the light of God living with us in the world, we still lose our way and get trapped by the darkness, and so into that darkness, God continues to give little epiphanies, to show us the light once again and to set us free. 

And the wheels just keep on turning

The drummer begins to drum

I don't know which way I'm going

I don't know which way I've come

For you I'd wait 'til kingdom come

Until my day, my day is done

And say, you'll come and set me free

Just say, you'll wait, you'll wait for me

And That's What Christmas Is All About: Becoming Human On A Lark

Brad Sullivan

Christmas Eve, Year A

December 24, 2016

Emmanuel, Houston

Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

Becoming Human On A Lark

And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.  Every time I hear Luke’s telling of Jesus’ birth, I hear Linus telling the Christmas story to Charlie Brown, letting him know what Christmas is really all about.  Christmas is about the joy of God becoming human and how fantastic it is that God thinks highly enough of us, love us enough, that he actually wanted to be one of us.  How crazy is that?  How great, but is God just totally nuts?  Maybe.  Now, rumor has it that becoming human:  living, dying, being resurrected for our sake, was always part of God’s plan, but what if it started on a lark, kind of just a crazy, whimsical idea?  Imagine Jesus, before becoming human, saying to his Father:

Jesus:               Dad, you know how much we love those humans?

Father:             Yeah, Son.  I do.

Jesus:               Have you ever thought about how great it would be to actually be one of them?

Father:             What do you mean, Son?

Jesus:               Well, we love them so much, I’d really like to be one of them, like how people share their lives and experiences with each other, and they draw nearer to each other through sharing their lives together.  You know how you’re always wanting humans to draw nearer to you?  Well, how much nearer can you get?  We become one of them.

Father:             (considers for a moment)  You know, that’s really not a bad idea.  Let’s see what the Spirit says.  You’ve been listening, I take it?

Holy Spirit:     Of course I have, and I think it’s a lovely idea.  Connect with them, show them how much we care.  You know, it may even be a chance to redeem them.

Jesus:               Hey.

Father:             Hmm, you know that’s a heck of an idea, something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

Holy Spirit:     I know you have.

Father:             They separated themselves from us in the Garden.

Jesus:               So we join ourselves back to them by becoming one of them. 

Father:             Hmm…except there’s still that sin problem.

Holy Spirit:     Oh, there you go again.

Father:             Well, it’s a big problem.

Holy Spirit:     I know it is.

Father:             They keep hurting each other, hurting themselves, putting up barriers between each other, barriers between them and us.

Holy Spirit:     Uh huh. (kind of patronizing)

Father:             We are love.  We don’t have any barriers between us.  It’s not like we can have Jesus go out there and sin.

Holy Spirit:     I know.

Father:             (sigh, exasperated)  All I ever wanted was for them to love each other like we love our-self, like we love them.  It gets very frustrating.

Holy Spirit:     Well you know, if he becomes human, Jesus could join with all of their sins in his death.

Jesus:               Wait, what?

Father:             Oh, now you’re talking.  We could somehow pour all of humanity’s sins onto him so even their sins won’t separate them from us.

Jesus:               Um…guys, I’m not so sure…

Holy Spirit:     It’d have to be a memorable death, too, something gruesome…

Jesus:               Ok guys, hold it.  I was thinking of something simple, like a little weekend tryst…

Father:             Oh, no that wouldn’t do.  You’d need to do the whole thing, you know, grow up, be born…

Jesus:               Ewe!  You’re joking, right?  You’ve seen how that whole birth thing happens?

Father:             You said you love them.

Jesus:               Oye!  They are awfully cute.  Ok, full deal.  When do you think I should be born?  The 1970s had really good music, Star Wars…no, late 1940s, early 50s England.  I‘ll grow up with David Bowie.  It’ll be awesome.

Father:             Oh Son, I’ve got just the place.

Ok, so lest I lead us all into heresy forever, I pretty sure that conversation never took place, but I love the idea of God becoming human, of Jesus being born, on a lark, as someone who really loves someone else and simply wants to spend more time with them.  That’s what Christmas is all about.  God saying to humanity, “I love you, and I’d really like to spend more time with you.”  That may seem awfully simple, but I believe nothing in creation has greater healing power than relationship and love.

In Eden, we walked with God, naked and unashamed.  There were no barriers to our relationships with God and no barriers to our relationships with one another.  Over time then, we kept on and keep on putting up more and more barriers to each other.  Initially, we decided that we wanted knowledge:  Adam and Even ate from the tree of knowledge.  There was much unknown in creation and the fear of the unknown began gnawing at us, eroding our trust in God, until we decided that we desired knowledge more that trust, and the first barrier to relationship was raised.

Then we felt ashamed for what we had done and so we hid, and we covered ourselves with fig leaves, and the next barrier to relationship went up.  Then God came and found us and asked what had happened, and we lied, passing the buck onto the serpent, passing the buck onto Eve, rather than fessing up to our fears and our lack of trust, and so another barrier to relationship went up.  We went from naked and unashamed to hidden and full of shame, and ever since then, we’ve continued to put up barriers to relationships, as broken people raising defense mechanisms to protect ourselves from harm.  The result of course, is that we end up harming our relationships with God and with each other…wars, murders, fights, broken friendships, all because we choose not to trust but seek instead to protect ourselves from harm, when the risk and trust of relationship is really the only thing that can heal us. 

So in order to heal us, God gives us the very risk and trust of relationship that we so desperately need.  God gives us himself, naked and unashamed, vulnerable as a newborn baby:  Jesus, born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph, a young couple, faithful and kind.  They were not great rulers.  They had no great power to offer God any great protection once he became human.  God decided to trust us with the vulnerability of his human life, offering us his vulnerable, naked, and unashamed self, trusting in nothing more than the care of two loving and faithful parents. 

See, God wants us to love and trust him and so God chose to love and trust us.  God also knows that life is hard, and knows we’re not always great at trusting anyone, especially someone who hasn’t walked in our shoes.  So, God became human to say, “I love you, and I think you humans are pretty fantastic.  So I am going to show up in your life, naked and unashamed, so that you can trust me, and if you will allow it, I will take down all of the barriers that you have put up.”   

That’s what Christmas is all about.  That’s a pretty serious deal, God healing humanity by becoming one of us.  At the same time, I have to think that for the creator of everything to become human, he’s got to be kind of crazy, whimsical, fun too.  Imagine God as a toddler walking around in his creation, living amongst his beloved humans, constantly delighted by what’s around him.  Imagine 2 year old Jesus running around constantly thinking, “This place is great!  Look at that tree; I love that tree.  Ooh, a lake!  I think I’ll go swimming or maybe walking.” 

The very fact of the incarnation, God’s crazy notion to become human and live here with us shows us just how fantastic it is to be living here on this earth and that in God’s eyes, we really are pretty fantastic. 

We also need to remember of course, that life is also not always fantastic, that life is sometimes rather terrible, that we are sometimes rather terrible, and on Christmas we celebrate that Jesus came to live that part of our life too.  God gets the messy parts of our lives, the times in our lives and world when things are far from fantastic.  Jesus claimed even those bad times and those bad parts of our lives as his own when he became human.  That’s what Christmas is all about.

The greatest gift God ever gave us was the gift of God’s-self.  God gave us the gift of being naked and unashamed with us, loving and trusting us so that we might once again be naked and unashamed with him and with each other.  The greatest gift we can give each other, then, is the gift of ourselves, fully living, loving and trusting one another.

Jesus became human so that we could love each other in and through the bad times and the good times, and then see each other and see this world and think, “this is fantastic.”  Jesus became human so that we could remove our barriers, trust each other and trust God, and then love fully, love with whimsy, love on a lark.  That’s what Christmas is all about.  Amen.