<html><body><div><font face="Arial" size="2"> Part 2 - greetings and blessings, again</font></div><div><font face="Arial" size="2"><br></font></div><div><font face="Arial" size="2">Bob</font></div><div><font face="Arial" size="2"><br></font></div><div><font face="Arial" size="2"><br></font></div><div><font face="Arial" size="2"> So we’re invited, we‘re encouraged to be surprised, yes. But we’re called and invited to be brave also. As God took that tremendously surprising step in coming among us, in our own form, in our own doubts and uncertainties, in our own confusion about what it means to relate fully with one another and respect one another, so we’re brought to see in God the invitation to be present, to accept whatever company we find at the birth, no matter how strange, no matter how unexpected, no matter how changing this may be.</font></div><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>God speaks to us through the helplessness of a human baby and prays that we’ll find in Jesus the courage we need to endure and work through all the uncertainties we face. God, in Jesus, asks us to look around, to see not just one baby. God’s arrival and birth to Mary and Joseph asks us to take from Jesus birth the vision of how God is present all around us.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Almost four hundred and seventy-five years ago, Martin Luther spoke in his Christmas sermon in 1543, “The inn was full ... </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“There are many of us who think to ourselves: </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>‘If only I had been here! How quick I would have been to help the baby!’</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Why don't we do it now?” Luther said. “Why don’t we do it now? We have Christ in our neighbor. We ought to serve our neighbor, for what we do to our neighbor in need we do to the Lord Christ himself.” <sup>5</sup></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Luther said that we react as if we’d go because of what we know now about Jesus. But the surprise of God, the birth of Jesus, the bravery of God, calls forth surprise and bravery from us to go, to look, to respond now, without necessarily stopping to think of exactly who or what that baby is, no matter who or what the adult is.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A Muslim-owned Turkish restaurant in a south-east London suburb is going to be open on Christmas Day. This isn’t so surprising, in-and-of-itself. Many shops are open, here as well as around the world. What <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u>IS</u></b> surprising – there’s that word! – what <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>IS</u></b> surprising is that the restaurant owner and staff will offer “elderly and homeless (people) free meals on Christmas Day so that ‘no one eats alone’.” <sup>6</sup></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This will be no quick burger or a chicken sandwich either, but a full, three-course meal, with choices! <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>CHOICES!</u></b> And it’s not limited to those within a few blocks of the restaurant either. The restaurant announced this twenty days ago and urged people to spread the word on social media and by word of mouth. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“No one eats alone,” God said. “We’re here to sit with you,” said the restaurant owner and staff, because God said, “I’m here to sit with you.” And if God happens to appear ethnically Turkish, that’s not off-the-mark. God, in Jesus, born of Mary, took on the physical characteristics of His time and place – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>ALL</u></b> of them! But then, God left it to us to pick up the joy and the love from there – for ourselves and for everyone.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Let no one ever eat along, or despair, or feel pain – unless that person asks for such time, as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>DOES </u></b>happen. Nevertheless, Jesus, having been born, will stay still.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Of course, the story only starts at the birth of Jesus, and gets into difficulty almost right away. But Jesus says, quite often, “Surprise!”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I pray that none of us will ever get too old to be surprised – surprised by joy, surprised by love, surprised by service – surprised by God.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>NOTES:</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>Metropolitan Diary: The Scarf Blinked”</span></i><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> The New York Times, 7<sup>th</sup> December, 2016<span style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> </span></span><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiozqrh4eLQAhVDzGMKHZB6CXMQFggsMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F12%2F06%2Fnyregion%2Fmetropolitan-diary-the-scarf-blinked.html&usg=AFQjCNGgmCxxzhhy1lcxw44Z6mWJGCuLAw&bvm=bv.140496471,d.cGc"><span style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(102, 0, 153);">Metropolitan Diary The Scarf Blinked - The New York Times</span></a> </span><cite><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal;'><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/nyregion/metropolitan-diary-the-scarf-blinked.html"><font color="#0000ff">www.</font><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0000ff">nytimes</font></span><font color="#0000ff">.com/2016/12/06/nyregion/</font><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0000ff">metropolitan</font></span><font color="#0000ff">-</font><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0000ff">diary</font></span><font color="#0000ff">-the-</font><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0000ff">scarf</font></span><font color="#0000ff">-</font><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0000ff">blinked</font></span><font color="#0000ff">.html</font></a></span></cite><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";'><font size="2">2</font></span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";'><span style="margin: 0px;"><font size="2"> </font></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><font size="2">“Revolutionary patience”</font></i><font size="2"> by Catherine Meeks. Special to The Telegraph, August 9, 2016. </font><a href="http://www.macon.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article94598002.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="2">http://www.macon.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article94598002.html</font></a><span style="margin: 0px;"><font size="2"> </font></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";'><font size="2"> </font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";'><font size="2">3</font></span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";'><span style="margin: 0px;"><font size="2"> </font></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><font size="2">“O little town of Bethlehem”,</font></i><font size="2"> words by Philips Brooks, Hymn 78 and 79, </font><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><font size="2">“The Hymnal 1982”</font></i><font size="2">The Church Hymnal Corporation, The Church Pension Fund, New York, ©1985. </font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";'><font size="2"> </font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>4</span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Murray Perahia, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“The James Naughtie Interview”,</i> BBC Music Magazine, Volume 21 Number 11, August 2013, page 36.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p><h3 style="background: white; margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'>5</span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Martin Luther, Christmas sermon, 1543, quoted in </span><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjS24eU1-_QAhVN7mMKHaFtAdYQFggaMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianitytoday.com%2Fhistory%2F2008%2Fdecember%2Fcelebrating-advent-with-martin-luther.html&usg=AFQjCNFHQmdt0CB3U8kzK_D-z_3s5lTZUg"><span style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(102, 0, 153);">Celebrating Advent with Martin Luther | Christian History</span></a></span></h3><p style="background: white; margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><cite><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal;'><a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/.../celebrating-advent-with-martin-luther.html"><font color="#0000ff">www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/../celebrating-advent-with-</font><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0000ff">martin</font></span><font color="#0000ff">-</font><span style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#0000ff">luther</font></span><font color="#0000ff">.html</font></a><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>see also<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></cite><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjS24eU1-_QAhVN7mMKHaFtAdYQFggkMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stjohnabingdon.org%2Fuploads%2F4%2F7%2F1%2F4%2F4714988%2Fdecember2013_newsletter.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEG_oX2dE6SZSFPIImUvDPt3TC56A"><span style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(102, 0, 153);">a message from the pastor - St. John Lutheran Church</span></a></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><cite><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal;'><a href="http://www.stjohnabingdon.org/uploads/4/7/1/4/4714988/december2013_newsletter.pdf"><font color="#0000ff">www.stjohnabingdon.org/uploads/4/7/1/4/4714988/december2013_newsletter.pdf</font></a></span></cite><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: gray; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>6</span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Muslim-owned restaurant offers elderly and homeless free meals on Christmas Day so ‘no one eats alone’”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></i><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>'This is the most selfless gesture I have ever seen and they should be recognised as a pillar of the community,' social media user says <a title="Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/author/loulla-mae-eleftheriou-smith"><span style="margin: 0px; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith</span></a> Monday 5 December 2016</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/turkish-restuarant-free-christmas-meals-elderly-sidcup-xmas-lunch-offers-a7456686.html"><font color="#0000ff">http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/turkish-restuarant-free-christmas-meals-elderly-sidcup-xmas-lunch-offers-a7456686.html</font></a></span></p><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></body></html>