Advent IV
Sermon for Hope Episcopal Church
Worshipping with St. James Lutheran and St. Brendan's Celtic Community
The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Advent IV - 21 December 2008
Text: Luke 1: 26-38
Other: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55); Romans 16:25-27
Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, one of my favorite authors, has used an ancient Jewish practice of Midrash in retelling today's gospel, expanding it to what might-have-been. Join me in re-imagining from her Mary and her Miracle published just last year:
The sun was nearer to the horizon now, & it slanted through the leaves of the tamarind tree, making pools of golden light on the stone floor. The tamarinds hung from the branches all over the tree, plump & tempting. Late afternoon was a beautiful time.
You don't have to get married, you know, a voice said.
Mary looked around. Nobody was there.
Who's there?
I'm up here. The voice was coming from the tree. Mary looked up. Something glowing was perched in the spot where Mary usually sat when she climbed the tamarind.
Who are you?
My name is Gabriel.
I'm Mary.
I know.
How do you know about me? And that I'm getting married?
I just know. The glow settled itself in the notch between the 2 branches. You don't have to, you know. You can just say no.
I can?
Sure. Nobody ever has to do anything. They can always say no.
But my parents chose Joseph for me. They know me. They do what's best for me.
Yes, they do.
Mary was silent for a moment. The glowing thing in the tree was hard to see; she couldn't tell if it was a person who had a body like hers.
Even Elizabeth's parents chose for her. And she was old. Mary just barely remembered her cousin Elizabeth's wedding.
Yes. By the way, I have a secret about Elizabeth.
A secret?
Yes. She's going to have a baby.
Elizabeth? But she can't have babies! She's been married for so long & no baby ever came.
Well, she's having one now. I have another secret.
You do?
Yes.
Well, what is it?
You're going to have one, too.
Well, I hope so! At least one! More than that, I hope. I always tell people I'm going to have 37.
Well, I only know about the One.
Really? Mary wasn't sure whether or not to believe Gabriel, but she daydreamed about babies all the time. Boy or girl?
Boy.
Oh. Mary wanted a girl, but that was all right. She could have a girl next time. Surely a few of the 37 babies would be girls. Besides, where Mary lived, people always wanted to have a boy first. Probably Joseph would want a boy.
Do you know Joseph, too?
Yes, I come to him in dreams.
Not trees?
I come to you in trees.
You're pretty funny. Mary leaned closer to the glow. What is Joseph like?
He is a good man. He is quiet & gentle. He is strong. He will be good to you.
Well, is he handsome?
I think you're all beautiful. But I came to talk about the baby.
What baby?
The one you're going to have. This is happening soon, Mary. Not years from now, but now.
Now? I'm 13!
Your little boy is going to be like other little boys, but also not like them. You will know this as soon as he is born, although you won't understand what it means for years. Things will happen throughout his life that will let you know that he is different.
Like what?
You will know. Stay alert & you will see.
But I don't see. Different how?
You're all God's children. But this baby will be the Son of God. And you will be His mother.
The Son of God?
He'll be the king.
Like King Herod? No, thanks. King Herod was a terrible king.
Nothing like King Herod. Your baby will be like no other person who has ever lived.
So this is why I'm getting married now? But you said I didn't have to get married. If I'm going to have a baby, hadn't I'd better hurry up?
You don't have to do any of this, Mary, Gabriel said. You can always say no. Or . . . you can be part of God's adventure.
What an amazing choice Mary was given---to be part of God's adventure! Sometimes we forget that she really DID have a choice. Gabriel was right: we always have a choice.
And Mary wasn't the first person given a choice to participate in God's adventure. Noah didn't have to build the ark. Abram could have said, No thank you. I'm perfectly happy in Ur, & God knows where God will send me. Samuel could have assumed he just had indigestion when he heard the voice in the temple. And David was a perfectly fine shepherd boy. Would he have said Yes if he'd known how complicated his life would be as King? We'll return to David in a minute.
The point to ponder is the enormity of Mary's Yes, when she opened herself to the coming of the Holy Spirit to o'ershadow her with God become a baby born to this peasant woman & reared just like one of us—human, an earthling, God who can truly live among us as one of us so that we may learn to live more like God. Perhaps it was only a 13-year-old who could be accepting & believing enough to say Yes to such an awesome & awful responsibility. This year once again we're called to take moments out of the busyness of our holiday preparations to ponder Christmas come again to you & to me.
The medieval mystic Meister Eckhart challenges us all when he tells us "We are all meant to be mothers of God. . . . What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace & if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to His Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time & my culture?"
Mary the mother provides a model as she balances between "pondering what is happening in her heart" & moving to action. The next verses in Luke's gospel recount her trip to visit this same cousin Elizabeth who is also great with child. When this child whom we've heard about the 2 Sundays previous, John the Baptizer, leaps in Elizabeth's womb, & Elizabeth acknowledges the uniqueness of Mary's babe-aborning, Mary's poetic response is the Magnificat, the canticle we recited this morning instead of a psalm.
Mary's pondering has already borne fruit as her song celebrates God's intentions so different from the ambitions of most humans. With amazement that she has been chosen to bear & rear & cherish this Son, she recognizes God's preferential option for those who are considered no-bodies in society: mercy upon those who are full of faith, while the conceited ones are scattered & their pride shattered (Wall Street comes to mind this year); the mighty cast down from their thrones—do governors have thrones?; & who are the lowly who might be lifted up this year? Mary prays that the hungry be filled with good things, & perhaps we who are more able can remember to support such organizations as the End Hunger Network throughout the year & not be content with Christmas baskets during the holiday.
Certainly, some of the rich are being sent away empty this year, but it will be up to the rest of us to insist that those who are most vulnerable not take the brunt of the current economic upheaval. Perhaps our prayers need to take the form of political activism so our elected officials focus on health care for all & not just for bailing out those whose greed & self-aggrandizement has encouraged all of us to overspend as we fulfill desires as well as needs. Even now, we're being encouraged to continue our compulsive spending habits when it might be more fruitful in the long run to find new ways of making a living rather than depending upon desire for new gadgets gone amok. Yesterday's Chronicle reports that some of our Jewish brothers & sisters commemorate Hanakkah by recognizing the "green" possibilities in their one night of temple oil's expanding to 8 nights. Might we actually learn something this Christmas from those of other faith traditions? A pregnant idea indeed! As we ponder Mary's Magnificat, may our minds & hearts be open to explore many different opportunities we have to align ourselves with God's ways which are certainly not the usual ways of human beings.
Our story from Hebrew scripture this morning reinforces a fresh look at our own desires to please God with what WE think is important regardless of how God's values might be different. King David seemed to get himself in trouble when he wasn't out fighting wars, & at a time of peace, he looked around his new cedar palace & decided he needed to build God a house of worship. Enter Nathan the prophet who doesn't have any better idea until he sleeps on it, perhaps his version of pondering, & God speaks to him, telling him that David doesn't need to build a temple but that indeed, God intends a very different "house" for David—that of a dynasty which God will always favor. God's ongoing presence is promised to David & to his progeny which the Gospel writers take pains to declare includes Jesus as a descendant of David.
As we enter the last few days before the Feast of the Incarnation, may we, too, ponder our response to God's dwelling within us this most inauspicious year. May we enter 2009 aware of the glistening in our tamarind trees when Gabriel might get out attention to offer new ways we may fulfill God's Word in our lives. And as Mary was the meeting place between God & humanity at the time of God's coming among us in Jesus' time, may we join with one another from all three faith communities in the Eucharist where the Incarnate Word still meets believers.
Worshipping with St. James Lutheran and St. Brendan's Celtic Community
The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Advent IV - 21 December 2008
Text: Luke 1: 26-38
Other: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55); Romans 16:25-27
Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, one of my favorite authors, has used an ancient Jewish practice of Midrash in retelling today's gospel, expanding it to what might-have-been. Join me in re-imagining from her Mary and her Miracle published just last year:
The sun was nearer to the horizon now, & it slanted through the leaves of the tamarind tree, making pools of golden light on the stone floor. The tamarinds hung from the branches all over the tree, plump & tempting. Late afternoon was a beautiful time.
You don't have to get married, you know, a voice said.
Mary looked around. Nobody was there.
Who's there?
I'm up here. The voice was coming from the tree. Mary looked up. Something glowing was perched in the spot where Mary usually sat when she climbed the tamarind.
Who are you?
My name is Gabriel.
I'm Mary.
I know.
How do you know about me? And that I'm getting married?
I just know. The glow settled itself in the notch between the 2 branches. You don't have to, you know. You can just say no.
I can?
Sure. Nobody ever has to do anything. They can always say no.
But my parents chose Joseph for me. They know me. They do what's best for me.
Yes, they do.
Mary was silent for a moment. The glowing thing in the tree was hard to see; she couldn't tell if it was a person who had a body like hers.
Even Elizabeth's parents chose for her. And she was old. Mary just barely remembered her cousin Elizabeth's wedding.
Yes. By the way, I have a secret about Elizabeth.
A secret?
Yes. She's going to have a baby.
Elizabeth? But she can't have babies! She's been married for so long & no baby ever came.
Well, she's having one now. I have another secret.
You do?
Yes.
Well, what is it?
You're going to have one, too.
Well, I hope so! At least one! More than that, I hope. I always tell people I'm going to have 37.
Well, I only know about the One.
Really? Mary wasn't sure whether or not to believe Gabriel, but she daydreamed about babies all the time. Boy or girl?
Boy.
Oh. Mary wanted a girl, but that was all right. She could have a girl next time. Surely a few of the 37 babies would be girls. Besides, where Mary lived, people always wanted to have a boy first. Probably Joseph would want a boy.
Do you know Joseph, too?
Yes, I come to him in dreams.
Not trees?
I come to you in trees.
You're pretty funny. Mary leaned closer to the glow. What is Joseph like?
He is a good man. He is quiet & gentle. He is strong. He will be good to you.
Well, is he handsome?
I think you're all beautiful. But I came to talk about the baby.
What baby?
The one you're going to have. This is happening soon, Mary. Not years from now, but now.
Now? I'm 13!
Your little boy is going to be like other little boys, but also not like them. You will know this as soon as he is born, although you won't understand what it means for years. Things will happen throughout his life that will let you know that he is different.
Like what?
You will know. Stay alert & you will see.
But I don't see. Different how?
You're all God's children. But this baby will be the Son of God. And you will be His mother.
The Son of God?
He'll be the king.
Like King Herod? No, thanks. King Herod was a terrible king.
Nothing like King Herod. Your baby will be like no other person who has ever lived.
So this is why I'm getting married now? But you said I didn't have to get married. If I'm going to have a baby, hadn't I'd better hurry up?
You don't have to do any of this, Mary, Gabriel said. You can always say no. Or . . . you can be part of God's adventure.
What an amazing choice Mary was given---to be part of God's adventure! Sometimes we forget that she really DID have a choice. Gabriel was right: we always have a choice.
And Mary wasn't the first person given a choice to participate in God's adventure. Noah didn't have to build the ark. Abram could have said, No thank you. I'm perfectly happy in Ur, & God knows where God will send me. Samuel could have assumed he just had indigestion when he heard the voice in the temple. And David was a perfectly fine shepherd boy. Would he have said Yes if he'd known how complicated his life would be as King? We'll return to David in a minute.
The point to ponder is the enormity of Mary's Yes, when she opened herself to the coming of the Holy Spirit to o'ershadow her with God become a baby born to this peasant woman & reared just like one of us—human, an earthling, God who can truly live among us as one of us so that we may learn to live more like God. Perhaps it was only a 13-year-old who could be accepting & believing enough to say Yes to such an awesome & awful responsibility. This year once again we're called to take moments out of the busyness of our holiday preparations to ponder Christmas come again to you & to me.
The medieval mystic Meister Eckhart challenges us all when he tells us "We are all meant to be mothers of God. . . . What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace & if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to His Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time & my culture?"
Mary the mother provides a model as she balances between "pondering what is happening in her heart" & moving to action. The next verses in Luke's gospel recount her trip to visit this same cousin Elizabeth who is also great with child. When this child whom we've heard about the 2 Sundays previous, John the Baptizer, leaps in Elizabeth's womb, & Elizabeth acknowledges the uniqueness of Mary's babe-aborning, Mary's poetic response is the Magnificat, the canticle we recited this morning instead of a psalm.
Mary's pondering has already borne fruit as her song celebrates God's intentions so different from the ambitions of most humans. With amazement that she has been chosen to bear & rear & cherish this Son, she recognizes God's preferential option for those who are considered no-bodies in society: mercy upon those who are full of faith, while the conceited ones are scattered & their pride shattered (Wall Street comes to mind this year); the mighty cast down from their thrones—do governors have thrones?; & who are the lowly who might be lifted up this year? Mary prays that the hungry be filled with good things, & perhaps we who are more able can remember to support such organizations as the End Hunger Network throughout the year & not be content with Christmas baskets during the holiday.
Certainly, some of the rich are being sent away empty this year, but it will be up to the rest of us to insist that those who are most vulnerable not take the brunt of the current economic upheaval. Perhaps our prayers need to take the form of political activism so our elected officials focus on health care for all & not just for bailing out those whose greed & self-aggrandizement has encouraged all of us to overspend as we fulfill desires as well as needs. Even now, we're being encouraged to continue our compulsive spending habits when it might be more fruitful in the long run to find new ways of making a living rather than depending upon desire for new gadgets gone amok. Yesterday's Chronicle reports that some of our Jewish brothers & sisters commemorate Hanakkah by recognizing the "green" possibilities in their one night of temple oil's expanding to 8 nights. Might we actually learn something this Christmas from those of other faith traditions? A pregnant idea indeed! As we ponder Mary's Magnificat, may our minds & hearts be open to explore many different opportunities we have to align ourselves with God's ways which are certainly not the usual ways of human beings.
Our story from Hebrew scripture this morning reinforces a fresh look at our own desires to please God with what WE think is important regardless of how God's values might be different. King David seemed to get himself in trouble when he wasn't out fighting wars, & at a time of peace, he looked around his new cedar palace & decided he needed to build God a house of worship. Enter Nathan the prophet who doesn't have any better idea until he sleeps on it, perhaps his version of pondering, & God speaks to him, telling him that David doesn't need to build a temple but that indeed, God intends a very different "house" for David—that of a dynasty which God will always favor. God's ongoing presence is promised to David & to his progeny which the Gospel writers take pains to declare includes Jesus as a descendant of David.
As we enter the last few days before the Feast of the Incarnation, may we, too, ponder our response to God's dwelling within us this most inauspicious year. May we enter 2009 aware of the glistening in our tamarind trees when Gabriel might get out attention to offer new ways we may fulfill God's Word in our lives. And as Mary was the meeting place between God & humanity at the time of God's coming among us in Jesus' time, may we join with one another from all three faith communities in the Eucharist where the Incarnate Word still meets believers.
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at 11:17 AM
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