 By David Sund, Lay Preacher
I love it when the lectionary brings us to Luke for Advent and Christmas. We’re given a fresh opportunity to see the seasonal stories from Mary’s point of view. It’s in Luke that we meet Elizabeth and Anna at Christmas time, and later we are introduced to Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary. This gospel and it’s companion piece, the book of Acts, present a host of 1st century women who are passionate, three dimensional characters who speak and act and participate in Jesus’ inner circle. They articulate their feelings honestly, offer insightful conversation and model admirable responses to crises. Last week we were reminded that the heavenly messenger Gabriel has delivered earth shattering news to the teenage Mary from No-wheres-ville, Galilee (A.K.A. Nazareth). God was taking the initiative: it was Messiah-time and Mary was chosen to be an un-wed teen Mom who would give birth to that Messiah. Mary, as a virgin, is first and foremost, confused! Whatever else she might be afraid of, she’s not afraid to express her confusion! Gabriel gives her a quick course in incarnational theology, and, as if to emphasize the Point that God is in the Miracle business, Gabriel tells Mary that her cousin Elizabeth, quite elderly and previously incapable of having children, is now six months pregnant. At this point Mary consents to a plan in which she has had no say, probably well aware of what the future held: disapproval, gossip, scandal, ridicule, and possibly much worse! This costly consent has inspired countless sermons. I find it amazing that there’s no hint of resentment or resistance. Wouldn’t most of us push back at someone else, unilaterally making risky plans for our lives? I have much more in common with the reluctant Noah than the humble, accommodating Mary! First century Palestine was a dangerous time and place for anyone to be traveling… Patrols of entitled Roman soldiers, Bands of desperate rebel zealots, and ruthless highwaymen were all vying for advantage and control of the rough roads and empty spaces between the Galilean and Judean hill-towns. But Mary is willing to make the trek to cousin Elizabeth’s because she must see for herself. If Gabriel is telling the truth about Elizabeth, then maybe He can be trusted with this news that is about to change the entire trajectory of her own life. If anyone will believe this virgin-birth-business it will be the cousin with her own miraculous story to tell about a truly geriatric pregnancy. As Mary crosses the threshold it doesn’t take a trained midwife to observe that Elizabeth is indeed expecting! After a trip full of questions and emotional upheaval there is a glimmer of hope! When it comes to the mile-stone moments in our lives it is easy to become the stars of our own internal scripts. Isn’t it true that usually, we’re pretty ego-centric when it comes to our amazing, or horrific, or newsworthy head-lines? But Elizabeth is prompted to take a different path. As soon as she hears Mary’s “Shalom” she shifts the attention from herself and offers center stage to Mary. Elizabeth’s personal news is a big deal but her focus isn’t on her own BIG EVENT. With a nudge from the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth discerns that this average teenage girl is carrying an extraordinary child that will transform human history. There is a 400 year prophetic parenthesis between the last words of the Prophet Malachi, and the first words exchanged between Elizabeth and Mary. Malachi, the last of the Hebrew prophets had predicted the births of these two children. 400 years later these two women tie a bow on his message. Suddenly we have a new prophetic era and it all starts with two women, sensitive to the Spirit of God, while trying to make sense of their unusual circumstances. Elizabeth’s first word is the focus for the rest of this sermon. “Blessed!” “Blessed.” In other words, Elizabeth declares Mary happy. Mary shows up at her doorstep a confused, concerned, frightened teen. But Elizabeth, 6 mo. into her own miracles affirms the goodness and grace of God to them both. To paraphrase verse 45 of our text, “You will be sincerely, deeply, truely happy AS LONG AS you choose into the belief that God not just a maker of promises but a keeper of promises. Focus on the promises, not the circumstances, Mary, focus on the promises not the circumstances. Elizabeth IS NOT saying, Mary, you should be happy, or you will be happy but you ARE happy because, just by being here you proved that You take God seriously. In Elizabeth, Mary had found someone who not only accepted her, and opened her home to her, but more importantly, someone who blessed her. And that is all that Mary really needed, all that she was seeking, whether she knew it at the time or not. She just needed to be accepted, loved, and blessed by another. If you reflect on the Creation story, the very first thing that God did after creating Adam and Eve, was to bless them. God created them and then immediately blessed them. The Lutheran priest and author James Laurence puts it this way, “You might even say that God created them in order to bless them. And you might say the same for us...God created us to bless us and to love us; to be in a relationship with us; a relatioinship that is built on love, and filled with grace and mercy. There is nothing that God wants more than to bless us. Each and every one of us were born to be blessed. But, somewhere along the way, the brokenness of this world causes us to forget that we are blessed by God. That forgetting is the root of so many of our problems. Adam and Eve forgot they were blessed and focused on what they thought they didn’t have. And don’t we do that too? By focusing on what we don’t have, we forget that we are already blessed in countless ways. We need to cling to the truth that we are blessed to be a blessing. We are loved to love. We are forgiven to forgive. This world, even the person sitting next to you right now, is just like young Mary. This world, or that person next to you, shows up on our doorstep. Alone, scared, confused, desperate for someone to simply open the door and offer a blessing. Just as Elizabeth did for Mary all those years ago. Elizabeth didn’t change the world that day. She didn’t need to. All she had to do was to open her door, and offer a blessing. God would do the rest. And as Elizabeth said to Mary, in that tender scene, so I now say to you and to myself: Blessed are you who believe this. And may God bless you as you live out your blessing on the stage of the lives of those around you.” I’d like to close with a quote from Henri Nouwen’s book, Life of the Beloved. “To bless means to say good things. We have to bless one another constantly … In our society, so full of curses, we must fill each place we enter with our blessings. We forget so quickly that we are God’s beloved children and allow the many curses of our world to darken our hearts. Therefore we have to be reminded of our beloved-ness and remind others of theirs.” Amen.  By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector
Today’s reading from the Christian Scriptures features Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. The church in Philippi was a well established community in Macedonia who had been supporting Paul’s missionary endeavors for quite some time. They believed in the Jesus Movement, and had dedicated their time, talent, and treasure to the spread of that movement. In my opinion, this letter is some of Paul’s finer work. There are numerous turns of phrase that leave listeners feeling inspired, hopeful, and ready to dig in and be the Church. Both in Paul’s time and place, and today. A few verses after the ones featured in today’s lesson, Paul writes: “I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me” (4:12-13). These are the words that I lean on when life is hardest. When I am afraid or in pain, I pray these words on a permanent loop. It is quite literally what helps me pivot from freezing in the face of the perceived danger into forward movement. They help me remember that any and all strength that I have comes from Christ’s constant presence within us. They give me the courage to face any embarrassment or shame, fear and uncertainty, loneliness or despair. Whatever difficulties lie ahead, Christ is within us, and gives us the strength to keep walking forward. And because Christ is what binds us to God and one another, these words are also a reminder that we are not alone. We have one another, creation, the Church, and the entire human family. So if it’s been a while since you’ve read this letter, or maybe never have - make space this coming week, and read it. It’s only four chapters long. I promise, you’ll find at least one gem to carry with you. The themes that Paul emphasizes the most in this letter are humility and unity. One reason the church in Philippi held so steady was because they really strived to embody those core values. To this day, humility and unity signal a community is healthy and well grounded in their faith. When we’re not caught up in our own ego or insisting things go our way, we become pliable. The Holy Spirit moves in and through us, and something remarkable blossoms as a result. Just think of our own merger, and how each time we leaned into the idea we were better together, something truly beautiful would unfold. One of the natural outgrowths of humility and unity is joy. Paul repeatedly invites the Philippians to rejoice! He is telling them - in the name of Christ, and as a body of Christ: Feel joy! Show joy! Cause joy! We rejoice by navigating life with a gentle spirit. We let those around us know that we are on their side, that we are standing with them in the name of Christ. Particularly those most vulnerable and overlooked. We also rejoice by choosing not to worry about anything. Instead, we make the daily, or even hourly, choice to give everything over to God through our prayer and thanksgiving. We insist on being people of prayer, bringing everything to God. We rejoice! Because when we live this way, Paul writes, “...the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus.” We rejoice!
No matter what else is happening in our lives, each and every day, let us Rejoice. Because when we live this way, “...the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus.” Last Sunday, Bishop Beckwith joined us for a tour of our campus, worship, and a scripture study after the service. When we spoke later in the week, he lifted up our parish’s sense of unity and joy around our mission and ministry, our commitment to being in relationship with our neighbors and the wider community, and our use of expansive and inclusive language in our worship. He described our community as a center of healing in Greenfield. I quite love that image, and I think it accurately describes our community. During this time where there is anxiety and uncertainty for the future, where there is economic burden, where there is a mental health crisis, here at James and Andrew we have the privilege of being a center for healing. We have the great joy and delight of being Christ’s hands and feet in this small corner of God’s world. No matter how strained things may become in the wider world, we can do our small part by continuing to be a center of healing, right here, right now. Collaborating with others as we walk the Way. And what I really love about that image is that it is something we can do and be for a long time, for decades to come. No matter our budget, staff, or campus size; no matter how many members we might have or our energy level - we can be agents of Christ’s healing love in this world. We will find different ways to do so at different chapters of our parish life. But we can be a center of healing in Greenfield. As long as we keep rejoicing. Keep feeling the joy God offers us through Christ and the Spirit. Showing that joy in the way we live our lives. Causing that joy to spread to others through our mission and ministry. The greatest tool we have to keep rejoicing is nurturing a healthy and active prayer life. There are many kinds of prayer, and there’s a time and place for all of them. There are also seasons in our prayer life when we have found something that works and we can coast along. Then there are other seasons when life demands us to expand or deepen our prayer life. To move beyond our comfort and confidence zones. To hold more space and time to be with God, to hold still and listen. To lift up each person in our own circle of care, each group, each project or endeavor. To pray deeply for our small corner of God’s tapestry. Often when we deepen and expand our prayer life, our capacity for joy also deepens and expands. Something new unfurls and blossoms in our spiritual lives. A way becomes clear when it once felt like there was no way. A peace that surpasses any logical understanding takes root in our soul. I know many of you are carrying so much right now. Whether that be an endless list of responsibilities, or the burden of health challenges and aging. I know the headlines can leave us feeling depleted, and make it hard to want to rejoice. We may even feel like prayer is fruitless. But dear ones, it is not. This is the time for us as the Church to be Rejoicing. To feel Christ’s joy. To show Christ’s joy. To cause others to experience Christ’s joy. It is a season to hold a bit more space for prayer. In doing so, we are allowing ourselves to receive the balm of Christ’s healing love, and then sharing that love with God’s world. So dear ones, as we look to the week ahead, I want to invite each of us to reflect: How is our prayer life? Is it time to coast or is it a season of deepening and expanding? Who in our life needs to be prayed for? Also - what do we need to be rejoicing and celebrating right now? Amen. |