what happens when John the Baptist and St. Nick show up at church

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‘Advent Dreams’
Pr Ron Glusenkamp and Pr Ruth Ann Loughry
December 6, 2009


In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

We hear in these words a vision, a dream of cosmic and galactic proportions. A reversal of fortunes so great and grand that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Speaking of dreams and visions we stand together on this second Sunday of Advent and I need to tell you that the other night I had a dream, an Advent dream of sorts. All sorts of things were stirred up (dream music on guitars) It was as if one of Pastor Ron’s Advent Eggbeaters stirred up my psyche. It was Sunday morning, the Advent wreath was lit and all of a sudden I dreamed that Scott Nixon and Dave Craven were playing music. (perhaps a little more dream sequence music).

And the music they were playing was of course, that favorite Advent Song by Bob Marley entitled, “Stir it up.” (and here the boys play a little bit of that) And if things weren’t enough already stirred up in this dream, John the Baptist showed up. Well, actually it was Zach Rodasti the youth choir director as John the Baptist. And instead of having a director’s baton in his hand, he had an axe and he was yelling.

(zach shouts)
"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham or /Luther as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham/Martin Luther 9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And if that wasn’t stirred up enough John the Baptist put down his axe and picked up a pitch fork and said, (ZACH SHOUTS)

"I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

John the Baptist was truly trying to stir up and shake up and wake up the people to announce the coming of God. (More Bob Marley music) Well I got shook up, but I kept right on dreaming. Then, I suppose it was because I had eaten just more than a little bit of my fair share of chocolate before I went to bed and had hung some stockings by the fireplace—St. Nick walked in on this Advent Dream. And not just any St. Nick, but Pastor Ron dressed up as St. Nicholas, from the 4th century.

Hey Pastor Ron! Since you are St. Nick, can I call you Santa Claus?

Well no, Pastor Ruth Ann, because I’m not Santa Claus. You aren’t? No, I’m not. Hmm. I know that things aren’t necessarily real in dreams, but if you aren’t Santa Claus, who are you?

My name is Nicholas and I was born to wealthy parents in a village, which is now near the southern coast of Turkey. My folks raised me as a devout Christian and then they died when I was still young.

Sounds like they were faith formers!

Yes, they instilled in me a commitment to serving the poor and serving God. So much so, that I was made a Bishop of the church when a young man. I liked to give away money to people who needed it – but I truly enjoyed doing it anonymously, so that no one would know. I protected children and sailors, merchants and pawnbrokers: all those on the outskirts of polite society. People thought I was special, but I was only following Jesus’ example.

St. Nick, I think you enjoyed, ‘stirrin’ it up’ just a bit! (more music) Though it was still three weeks to Christmas and all through my house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, I began to remember while nestled in bed, the truth of St. Nick as it came into my head. St. Nick died on this day, Dec 6, in the year 343ad in Myra. He truly became the patron saint of many peoples in many nations. One of the stories that got St. Nicholas the Bishop of Myra connected to Santa Claus, is that he dropped a bag of gold down a chimney and it fell into a stocking, which had been hung there to dry. Throughout the years stories about his generosity and benevolence have been an inspiration to Christians during this holy season.

As I said, it was this Advent Dream that “stirred up” all sorts of things inside of me.
Here we have two different characters, one a hermit the other a bishop. One, John the Baptist, who like the words recorded in Malachi, would be a messenger, For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

The other, St. Nick, instead of handing out fire and brimstone, placed coins in the shoes of children or gave away sweet, little bags of chocolate. Like St. Paul he exemplified an evangelical approach to life and love, And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. IN OTHER WORDS, ( boyz play- Let it be, let it be)

So gentlemen, it could only be in a dream that I might be able to speak to each of you at once. I’m wondering, what would you tell people in Denver, Colorado in the year 2009, about waiting and watching for Jesus this Advent?

(JtB shouting again) My job was to help announce God’s coming reign on earth in the person of Jesus Christ. As you wait through Advent, be bold in telling your friends and neighbors that Christ is coming! Invite them to church! Tell them the Good News! The time is near…get ready.. (swinging snake and shaking pitch fork)

(St. Nick just as adamant) You know these great bargains in stores for Christmas? Buy one coat and when you get the second free, give it away! Give it away! May your actions show that Christ is coming! Love freely! Show people how to follow Christ by acting on your beliefs! Make it real! Stir it up!

As I awoke the next morn (move back to pulpit) it became clear that I’d been given a gift. Two men, living several hundred years apart, both had a message to share with the world about Jesus Christ. My Advent dream helped me see what these two men had in common.

• Both, prepared ways for God to enter into the lives of people.
• Both, paid the price for being faithful to their vision and understanding of Jesus.
• Both spent time in jail for following Jesus.
• John the Baptism ultimately lost his head because he was relentless in calling Herod into accountability. And St. Nick was relentless in showing mercy and being responsible to those who were in dire straights.

The bottom line of this Advent Dream is to embrace God’s dream and vision of a time when
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

JTB and St. Nick exit, and the boys, play a riff or two of Stirrin up – both men dance out

Amen