MAKE SPACE FOR THE MIRACLE: BE READY

“God wants to give you a gift, but you need to be ready”. Now, I don’t know about you, but I wish God would be that unsubtle. Just come out and say this, then I would make sure I was getting myself ready. Then again, maybe a little how I am supposed to get ready would be good too.

Well, let me tell you, I’ve got a few incredible gifts from God in my life, but one of the greatest came to me as a result of Memorial Day Weekend 1996. Now, it didn’t start out that way. Sure, a group of my friends had traveled across the state to go to a baseball game with me. And they were meeting up with my new friends from Toledo. But then the trip up to the game went poorly and worse still, I introduced my new date to my friends. Nothing like time with friends and being stuck in traffic to expose the flaws of a date. By the end of the weekend, I was pretty bummed out, light one ex-date and I had about had it with dating.

But then, my best friend Roger, with encouragement of two other great friends Ian & Jessica, got me to put a personal ad on America Online as one last “Hail Mary”, before throwing in the towel. I put an ad on AOL’s Net Girl, I still cringe at giving that name away. Anyway, I posted it under a screen name created for the occasion and waited and waited some more. Then I got mad at Ian for crashing my computer with an upgrade for days. Then I checked and found out I had two responses. One was from Iowa. So much for the part in the Ad where I said Northern Ohio/ Southern Michigan only. The other was from a woman in Findlay. I’d barely heard of Findlay and never really been there except for brief stops for work.

That woman from Findlay and I corresponded on the internet for weeks, then talked on the phone and final we dated. Within a week of our first date, Cheri and I knew we were going to be married, but we did wait 6 months to get engaged and a year and a week from our first date to marry. And, not to get sappy, but I do bless that broken road every day. But I was only able to go down it because I was ready.

Then again, I’ve had to be ready for lots of gifts from God & Cheri as a result - moving from BG to the hood. Moving from a growing church with a contemporary worship service that fed me, to a church which was not sure it could pay her reduced salary and whose after school tutoring program had to remind the kids (elementary school students) that the gang colors came off when they came through the doors. But I’ve loved those gifts too. Yes, I really did.

Sometimes you’ve got to be ready for big changes to get that gift from God. This week in worship we used a great clip for the second season of the West Wing. The episode is a flash back, after an assassination attempt, to each of the staff joining the Bartlett (the President in the show) Campaign. Josh Lymon was working for John Hoynes, the prohibitive favorite to win not only the Democratic Nomination but the Presidency. There’s only one problem for Josh, he’s already decided Hoynes is not the “real thing”. He can win, but he won’t change the world. Then his father’s old friend Leo stops by and asks him to come to Nashua, New Hampshire and hear former Congressman & Governor Bartlett speak. Bartlett is, at the point, unlikely to win anything. The best explanation the family friend can give for why to come, is because “that’s what sons do for old friends of their father”.

On the way, Josh stops in Manhattan to visit his old friend Sam Seaborn and convince him to join the Hoynes’ Campaign as a speech writer . Sam is about to make partner in one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in the country. He is also about to get married. All Sam needs to do is help close a very well executed deal that will buy an oil company much too cheap oil tankers that can (and eventually will) cause a horrible oil spill without liability. As the two walk and talk on a break, they both question why they are doing what they are doing. As Josh leaves for New Hampshire, he asks Sam, “if I see the real thing in New Hampshire should I tell you about it?”. Sam’s response is “you won’t have to, you have a lousy poker face”.

So, Josh goes to New Hampshire and is blown away. Not by the great campaign, the room is almost empty at the event despite it being the candidate’s home town and the free food. Nor is he blown away by the candidate’s great eloquence “yep, I put the hammer to you and your friends” is not the answer the candidate was supposed to give to an angry constituent. No, he is blown away by a man who would sacrifice votes, possibly re-election, and a chance at the presidency even, to get kids cheap milk. Now, he’s got to tell Sam, who, of course leaves the law firm in the middle of the big meeting to close the deal that get’s him the golden ring. Again, you’ve got to be ready when the chance comes. (Oh, and if you’re excited by a church using West Wing clips, we’re just warming up. Starting in January I will be teaching a class on faith and morals using the West Wing).

But that’s part of what the scripture story we read in worship this week was all about. We read today about Shepherds in Luke Chapter 2. Now, we’ve all come to think of the shepherds as squeaky clean kids in bathrobes in Christmas plays, but they were far from that. They were a pretty lowly, rough and tumble, really scary bunch. But that’s who God gave the job of announcing the gift of Jesus’ birth that night 2,000 years ago. Partially because God was sending a message that Jesus was not going to be the on high king for the chosen ones, but the savior for all of us. Partially because the shepherds were ready to travel and awake.

God gave them a incredible gift, a chance to get in on the ground floor of something amazing, but also God made them leave their comfort zone. They had to leave the fields, go into town and see a baby, all due to a bunch of angels (and see my prior blogs on how much “fun” it is to have angels pop to give you news). But, they took a chance, and were part of the most amazing gift ever, and they and billions of others were eventually blessed.

The common thread of all of these stories, you have to be ready to take a risk when God comes along with a great gift. Cheri and I had to be ready to find each other, thanks in no small part to horrible past dates. Fictional Sam & Josh had to be ready, take the invite, and risk much, to be part of changing their world for the better. The Shepherds too, took the chance they were given and ran to Bethlehem to do it.

The Village is about being ready and taking some risks as well. Tonight, a group of us will be going to Ottawa Park to have an outdoor Christmas Candlelight Service. Why in the world will we be going out into wind chills predicted to be in the teens? Because we think God has given us some gifts and we want to say that to the world in a way that attracts attention. Now maybe no one will show up or maybe multiple people who need to hear about the real gift of Christmas (I’m finishing this afterwards and it was 40 people). But we, as the Village, have and will be taking these risks.

We’re not going to stay in our warm sanctuary, even on the low attendance day of the Sunday after Christmas. Sure, we’ll do a worship service at the Village Sunday Morning, but it won’t be anything normal. First, we’ll have a guest preacher, Paul Nixon, a nationally known, and published expert on church growth and planting. Second, we’re coming in sweats and pajamas. Third we’re going to have some fun with Pizza, and maybe some Wii playing on the big screens. Finally, though, we’re then going out into the world and feeding hungry families at St Mark’s Episcopal Church as they need help doing their monthly community meal.

And we’re going to do lots more in the coming months and years to reach out and give some great gifts, but even more importantly receive some back. Are you ready for God to give you a great gift? Well, if not, better get ready, it could come in your next few minutes on the Internet or who knows where else. So, in the next few days, make some room in your life for the miracle that is Christmas and be ready, Jesus isn’t the only gift you’re getting from God.