Scripture: Luke 1:39-55
How often do we really step back and sit in the stories surrounding Christmas? Have we ever really considered what our own thoughts and feelings would have been if we in their shoes? Imagine a scared teenager in a very religious community. Imagine the wife of a priest; a wife who had been barren as long as you can remember and who in advance years ends up pregnant. To top it off the priest is no longer long winded because he cannot even speak and has not spoken for around six months. Ok I think maybe some people might like the silent priest. Have you imagined it just beyond the surface?
Today’s passage begins with Mary setting out in haste to a Judean town in the hill country. In the 2000 years of telling this story we often forget the intensity of the situation. Have you like me so many years just quickly read over this passage as if Mary was just rushing over to Judea for a Thanksgiving meal? I do not really know why, other than the fact that this portion of scripture is usually read between the end of November and December. I know that sounds juvenile but then I hope you weren’t under the impression that you had a really mature pastor.
Imagine Mary after the angel came to speak to her. She was a young girl, she was considered a woman but that mainly means that she was over the age of twelve years old. She was betrothed to Joseph a carpenter. The betrothal process usually took a year, unless the marriage needed to be rushed so her age probably would have been above thirteen years old. This is about the closest we can probably get to knowing her age. She was young and unmarried. She was caught in a situation where she was with child and the announcement she had to make was not one that would be easy to speak of. I will let you in on something, around 14 years ago I found myself in a very similar situation. I was filled with mixed emotions: joy, hope, excitement, dread, and fear. I can explain my situation though. I was able to tell my parents just exactly happened. Mary could not explain. I sat up the night I heard the news for hours. Finally after hours of wakeful sleep I slowly rose from bed, walked the hallway from my bedroom to speak with my mother.
Mary had to say something. She was excited to be obedient to the will of God. In many cases she was like every other woman of that time, hoping to be the one chosen to give birth to the long awaited king. She was excited, she had a religious and spiritual devotion that was off the charts, yet how was she going to tell her folks. By all traditions and legends Mary’s parents were very devoted followers of God. Some accounts say that her father was a priest and her mother was much like Elizabeth. We cannot really know for sure who or what she was in a way that we can know our own friends and family members. Mary in the excitement knew that her parents would have questions of which she could not explain.
Now let us consider Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim. We know very little about these two people because very little was told about them except in tradition. We can learn something from our own emotions though. Imagine if your daughter came to you and told you that she was with child. You are Joachim. What is the first thought that comes into your mind? What is the first words you would say? You are Anne. What is your initial reaction? Are your arms reaching out to a crying confused child or are your hands covering your mouth holding back your own cries. Imagine once again that you are the Mary’s father, are you searching your mind trying to consider the wisdom of your own choices, considering if you or the family had unwisely let Joseph and Mary spend time unattended.
Do you understand the raw emotions that surround the miracle of Christmas? Anne and Joachim knew that there was something different going on. They chose Joseph to be Mary’s bridegroom for a reason. He was honorable. No matter how he thought about it, no one could find a way or a moment of any dishonorable activity. So what exactly will you do? You love your daughter, you trust her even though the story seems a bit far-fetched. Yet you also know that the community will find this hard to believe. They needed some time, they knew that Anne’s sister was with child and they decided that it would help their daughter to help her aunt. So quickly they sent her down to Elizabeth’s.
It is not that far fetched to think that Mary was in many ways sent away in some form. A birth in this manner was not taken lightly in the first century community. At the mere mention of any infidelity an individual could be brought to trial where the end result could be death. The parents had to discretely confirm what was going on without the rest of the community talking about the maternal glow growing around Mary.
Now back to Mary making that journey to the hill country. Imagine the walk. As she walk up the inclines singing the praises of God and the hope for Israel. Giving thanksgiving for having the opportunity to participate in the unfolding or emerging kingdom of God. Then as the path wound down the hillsides and the footing became more treacherous she began questioning why she was chosen, the reality of the situation began to set in. What was she going to do? She was too young to have a baby, she was not married, what were people going to think? Then in the distance she saw the homestead of her relatives and began to grow nervous. She was really about to enter into a life totally out of her control, people were going to say what they say and she was going to have this baby, and the first test was just before her. What would the priest’s family say?
It is odd that we know more about Mary’s aunt and uncle from scripture than we do her own parents. I think there is a reason for this. Mary’s parents were common people, they did not necessarily stand out in the community. I am not degrading from their status or importance to our faith traditions; I am just saying that they were for the most part common. They were well respected and loved but they were not seekers of power. Zechariah was a bit different. He and Elizabeth may have been a bit more important in the community. We know that Zechariah was selected to tend the incense before the most holy of accessible areas of the temple. At least for a moment he was a very important priest. How was this righteous family going to react to Mary?
Did Mary hesitate or did she boldly approach the house? Either way she approached and she greeted her aunt; this meeting is one of the most important events in all of scripture. I say this because the response of Elizabeth could either encourage Mary in her faith or cause Mary to lose heart. With a loud voice Elizabeth cried, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”
Our faith tradition was confirmed by those words. It was at that moment that all hesitation from this little girl exited and she was prepared to face the world. The course was set and Jesus would be born. Even in those ancient days a woman could choose to stop a pregnancy, but from the encouraging words of an old aunt Mary chose life.
She chose life. God chooses to work with willing people. At any moment if Mary decided in her heart that she could not handle this task, God would have honored her decision and Jesus would have been born of another. It is true that God knew that she would be obedient to His call, but he also allows us to choose as well. God does not control every action in our lives like a divine puppeteer but he uses our choices and actions to mold us into the people we are to be. We can only fully see our potential when we open our lives and release ourselves into His hands.
Mary is blessed among women because it is through her devotion and obedience to God that the hope of the entire universe hinged. Mary provides us an example of just how important one life willing to follow God can change the world. One life. One seemingly insignificant life is important. Do we recognize the full value of life? As Friends this is central to our beliefs. We encourage people to live in simplicity, so that we can be free to use all the tools available to us to encourage the lives around us instead of consuming the energies of others. We promote a testimony of peace because each life no matter how much we disagree with them is important. We live lives of integrity because without truth and honesty we cannot encourage others in their life journeys. We encourage the building and support of communities because this opens communication between people so that we can embrace the life in others, and ourselves and we recognize that all people are loved equally by God and should be treated likewise. Life is important.
Mary took a journey from her home to the hill country of Judea contemplating her future and that of her people. She was sent away quickly by her parents who also had to spend time contemplating the future of their daughter and their people would they allow this to continue? Elizabeth stood there and upon hearing the voice of her niece she was filled with the spirit and saw the hope of the universe in the eyes of one life. Each person each had to choose if life important.
I imagine the tears shed between these two women after Elizabeth’s joyous cry. The hope that Mary found as well as the strength that filled both by just recognizing that obedience to God was the beginning of true life. And Mary sang to her aunt:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)
She sang a song about the kingdom of God, a kingdom based on the love of God and mankind. She sang a song about the end of an age and the beginning of something new. The new kingdom is not based on the success in the eyes of the world, but on the honoring of life in others.
How important are the lives around you? How would each of us respond to this pregnant teenager? We do not know how God will mold the lives of those around us. The only thing we can control is how we live our lives and how we respond and encourage the lives around us. Mary could have left her aunts house rejected and broken discouraged from embracing a life with God, but instead she sang.
This is the heart of Advent, and Christmas. It is the hoping for the end of one age and the beginning of another. This week many in the world sat in anticipation wondering if the end of the age would come, many of those people woke up Friday morning thinking nothing changed. But what if the last age did end? What if a new age did come? What if in each of our lives, like Mary, chose to be obedient to God no matter how crazy the path sounded? What if we were to look on the lowly people and cry out joyfully that they are blessed among mankind and highly honored by God? If that happened then we may just see a new age.
As we enter into this time of open worship and as we anticipate the excitement of Christmas. I pray that we will take some time just to consider and image what the emerging kingdom of God in each of us will bring.
Scripture: Luke 1:68-79
Imagine an oppressed people. Imagine an empire that is bent on progress at all costs, one keeping those that have position in that position, and people spending all they have just to appear to have status in the empire. Imagine religious groups bent on keeping some sort of handle of influence over the people that they serve; yet losing a grip with each passing moment. This is the setting of the greatest science fiction stories. The story of Dune, Star Wars, and many others all has a similar theme. The theme where the balance of power is tipping, hope is cast on a redemptive person, betrayal, romance, and sacrifice.
There is a reason these themes make great stories; it is because these are the stories that drive our lives. They are not just stories in books, on stage, and on the silver screens; they are the stories in that we all find ourselves in. These stories allow us to escape for a moment from the struggles of our own lives and imagine just for a moment that we are in someone else’s shoes. It is this stepping outside of ourselves that allows us to rethink our lives and our approach to life.
We think of stories as being something that is untrue. Early in our educations we are taught the difference between fiction and non-fiction. In our minds fiction is not real they are fantasy and non-fiction is factual reality. For the most part this is true, but have you read a good story? The good story is one that mixes the fiction and non-fiction. A good story is one that is a parable, one that teaches as well as entertains. Star Wars speaks of a balance between the forces of light and dark. Dune speaks of greed and the control of scarce resources. Star Trek speaks of the explorative curiosity of humankind (well humanoid kind). All speak of philosophy, theology, science, sociology, desperation, and Hope.
Myth and legend are stories, stories based on fact but also embellished with entertaining aspects to keep the attention of the audience. My favorite authors or Novelists actually spend most of their time researching the ideas in their stories, so that they can present the facts within their stories and educate their readers. Michael Crichton, the author of the novels Jurassic Park, Sphere, and State of Fear would study areas of quantum physics, environmental science, and genetics to such a degree that in his stories he would actually site the sources he used. One of my newest favorite writers Kathy Reich, whose character inspired the TV series Bones, is an actual forensic anthropologist in real life, and at the end of each of her books she will enlighten people in the science of her trade. These myths, or stories shaped cultures. They inspire higher learning, as well as new ideas of social interaction. The Greeks, Romans, Celts, and Hindu all had stories that encouraged their people. Universities grew out of the influence of the great writers of antiquity. The basis of our western civilization has developed in part out of the stories and myths of Plato. We look at these stories and mark them as fantasy but even these fantastic stories give hope and encouragement to all.
A story can be used to assist in the teaching of the masses, although it is sometimes hard to glean the facts from the creativity. We can learn powerful truths from the writings of William Shakespeare or CS Lewis. Those that scoff at the power of a story, fail to recognize the ability the storyteller has in shaping the world. Where would we be today without Narnia, and Middle Earth?
A new hope, the theme that inspired a generation in the movie Star Wars, is a myth that is much like those of the ancients. The quest of the Jedi is not that different than the desires of many cultures that are ruled by totalitarian regimes. That same theme are present in our world today even though we are informed that the story took place long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. This new hope is the theme of the New Testament.
The writings of scripture are mainly story. Do not get me wrong I am not saying that scripture does not convene truth, but much of scripture is written in literary forms. There are poems, parables, narratives, fantastical apocalyptic stories, and legal descriptions. These literary forms shaped a nation, and changed the world. During the period of time between what we say is the closing of the Old Testament and the New, the leaders of the people of Israel studied the scriptures. They knew many of them by heart, but even in the vast amounts of study there were aspects of these scriptures that they could not fully grasp. The prophets caused the greatest struggle. They had a history and a future that seemed to strangely apply to their present situation. To look at prophecy is often like looking at one of those 3-d posters what looks like a bunch of spots until you squint and unfocus your eyes, then once you get a glimpse of what lies behind it suddenly becomes clear.
Zechariah is one of those men that saw the picture behind the surface. The prophets of old would often speak in cryptic forms giving some sort of surface message that would catch the original attention of the people. These surface messages included things like agricultural failure, weather patterns, and military battles. When these surface messages are the reason many included the teachings of the prophets in scripture, but there were cryptic messages lingering behind the surface that many knew were there but they could not quite make out. These are the reason many refused to accept them as authoritative. The Pharisees readily accepted the teachings of the prophets, while the Sadducees only accepted the books of the law. It is not any wonder why there were different preferences in the two major groups because one focused mainly on temple worship ordained in the books of Moses, where the other group focused on cultural influence that enjoyed and used the expanded cannon.
Zechariah was from the priestly order of Abijah. At first glance we may think of this as being something like a denomination or religious group, but the priestly orders were basically groups that would rotate and cycle through the year. There were twenty-four courses that would 2 times during a rotation as well as during the mandatory feasts so they would serve in the temple for a total of 5 times a year. The order of Abijah was the eighth in that rotation. These priests would serve for only 8 days. So we have a priest, serving in the temple. We do not know much about Zechariah, except he served in the temple and had a remarkable experience there.
If the temple was dominated by the Sadducee order of Jewish tradition, then it actually makes this story pretty remarkable. If the Sadducees were mainly focused on the books of Moses, and gave little to no credence to the prophets then Zechariah would most likely be Sadducee. This would give us some insight into his doubt when an angel visited him while he served in the temple. We know he doubted and because of that he could not speak from the day of the visit until the day that his son was born.
What we read today is the blessing He recited over his infant son. All at once all of the law and all of the prophets came into focus. He saw laying before him the beginning of a new hope. He tenderly looked down at his son, the son he and his wife Elizabeth waited so long for, and he spoke with great emotion.
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from the high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79 NRSV)
A new hope is upon them. I remember very vividly the first time I held my son, the emotion that I felt that day; I sense in the words that Zechariah spoke. I can imagine that he said these words with tears of joy in his eyes. That day I held my son, it felt as if the meaning of life suddenly began to become clearer. Not that it became crystal clear but I was beginning to see some shapes just under the surface. Zechariah was in a place just like that; he had devoted his life to serving in the temple. If you wanted to know the deeper meanings behind all the temple process Zechariah could tell you. Yet in this blessing you can sense that suddenly in the matter of moments every one of those ceremonies suddenly began to deepen. The prophets became more authentic.
A new hope is upon us. The priests and the rabbis of the first century were all very aware of the social tension around them. It was very clear that something big was on the verge of happening but they really could not place what that was. For some they delve deeper into the prophets to see if maybe God spoke when their ears were closed, some focused on religious service, others just thought if they adapted then maybe they to ward off the trouble at least for a time. The dawn from high will break upon us. Dawn is the start of something new. The beginning of creation was marked with light; we mark the start of the day by the coming of first light.
Dawn marks the beginning, and the new hope is rising. Today many are looking at life very critically. Our culture is full of skeptics. For a skeptic the only source of authority is experience, first hand observation. But along with that is the thought that even though something is observed they do not believe that what they see as truth can be relegated to others. This leaves us as people of truth into a new day; we seem to be sitting in the darkness in the shadow of death. What we hold as most important is challenged in ways that we just do not feel equip to handle. Before all we had to do was know the research, answer the questions better than others, but no one really cares to enter a debate anymore. Skilled debaters can still encourage people but their words do not hold the same authority as they did a generation ago. What holds authority in a culture not willing to engage in discussion? Story.
Your story is the most powerful force in today’s world. Your experience through life’s trials can encourage others to investigate for themselves. The story needs a central theme, a hope in hopelessness, and a mission to fulfill. Zechariah ended his blessing over his child by saying that God will guide our feet in the way of peace. We can have a story but in that story needs some action. Our life and lifestyle must reflect the story that we speak for our current culture to accept it as having any authority. We as a people, and as a meeting to advance into this new dawn should be guided in the path of peace. Our money and our witness must point to the direction. Our actions and our words must speak the same mission. Our religion must be authentic in theory and in practice. It does not matter if our theology is sound and well supported by scripture if we fail to promote a life with God by helping those in need in some way.
Yesterday I sat in the back of this Meeting looking over a crowd gathered to celebrate the joining of two lives in marriage. The family was emotional, but what I saw that spoke even louder than the vows uttered was the love and emotion expressed by the kids that sang. Kids whose lives were touched because one man and one woman chose allow their feet to be guided in the pathways of peace. They sang loudly the very pews shook with raw joy because they were excited to praise the God. They experienced God because people were willing to get involved in their lives. Many would have over looked them or called them a drain on the culture, they were orphans or children affected by a life threatening disease unable to fully support themselves. Yet they were here celebrating
We are involved in that in a small way, but not everyone can see that. We cannot take our sister, or our coworker to Uganda to show them what our offerings are doing for these precious children. But we can knit hats for babies and talk to the parents as we volunteer, telling them our stories and where we find hope. We can speak through our art and express where we find hope. We can cook a meal and serve those without a home. We can encourage the poor by helping them find work. We can help the undocumented workers gain full residency status by volunteering to help fill out paper work. We can be guided in the pathways of peace, or release others to serve in those areas.
The dawn from the high will break upon us; will we hide in the shadows of the past or stand out in the emerging light?
As we enter into this time of holy expectancy let us consider this blessing over this child that was destined to announce the coming of the King. Let us join with Zechariah in the celebration of hope, and open our eyes to things we did not think possible. And let us share the stories of our life in word and in deed with hope in the God that provides for each new day.
Scripture: Mark 9:30-37
There are many confused people all around us. They are searching for something, anything really that might make them feel accepted, loved, wanted, and needed. The songs we just listened to were released by a band a couple of years ago, Mumford and Sons, they speak of the hunger and the emptiness found in the world. They recognize a darkness that seems to be enveloping their communities, and the world around them. A darkness that seems to have many faces: poverty, war, and environmental decline.
This is an emptiness that has been around since man first walked out of the God’s Garden. Yet there is something that keeps urging them to look back and search for something that they may have known but forgotten, even generations back. This void of the soul is spoken of throughout scriptures in many terms, things like the hardening of the heart. Theologians speak of it in other terms, one spoke of it as being the God shaped vacuum. Mystics spoke of it in more imaginative terms like the cloud of unknowing or the dark night’s journey.
There is darkness in the world that seeks to consume every aspect of humanity. No one is truly safe from its effects. It seeks to shade the light in its shadow sucking life into its black hole of despair.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
This passage from the first chapter of John speaks of this war between the darkness and the light. It alludes to the darkness corrupting and sucking life out of the world but the light holding its ground. John wrote this gospel after several years of walking with and remembering his life with his Lord. But even he as a great saint, an apostle sent out by Jesus Himself to carry on the ministry He started did not always or even fully understands what life with God meant.
He as a young man walked with Jesus during Jesus’ ministry. He was with Jesus during this trip mentioned by John Mark in his Gospel called Mark. Jesus was teaching them as they traveled through Galilee to Capernaum. I can imagine it would be like a discussion in the car that many of us have had with our friends, coworkers, and children. There was a spontaneous conversation about the deeper things of life. During this particular discussion Jesus tried to explain how the light would over come the darkness.
“The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” Just imagine for a moment if you were there during that discussion. You were walking along the dusty road with rocks slipping into your sandals. You had hopes that finally the king had come and would drive away the Orc-ish Romans, the darkness plaguing the nation set apart to be the light of nations. Now the one that you thought was king was telling you straight up that he was going to be killed. What does that mean? How would that affect your future? Would it happen before or after he rose to power and delivered the nation?
They were asking questions in their minds that each of us would have asked. You yourself probably wondered about a few more that you would have asked. Then he spoke about rising again? Was this whole discussion metaphorical or was Jesus speaking of literal death and resurrection?
Mark goes on to say that they did not understand what Jesus was saying and they were afraid to ask him about it. Fear is darkness. Darkness was right there among the disciples trying to corrupt the closet friends to the light.
Well they walked on and the disciples probably fell back a bit because they did not know what to talk to the teacher about, and they picked up a different subject matter. I imagine that this second private discussion was spun off of the discussion of Jesus’ pending death, so they were trying to determine where in the line of succession they would fall. Corruption is seeping deeper into the lives of the disciples as they begin to plot their alliances and playing their political clout.
They arrive at their destination, and Jesus asks them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” Again there was silence. How could they tell the king that they were arguing about who would take His place, because in nearly every revolutionary order plotting the overthrow of an empire that would be an act of treason against the cause. It shows weakness and they knew it.
Jesus does not push the issue instead He looks out among those in the camp and He sees a child among the followers. So he calls the disciples over to Him and they go to this child. Jesus takes the kid into His arms and begins to teach using whatever is around to illustrate the point. And He says, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
A child, a common child one of probably a few dozen that was hanging around that camp taught these respectable adults what it meant to be a true follower of the king. We can learn much from this illustration about what it means to be a leader. A child is in the process of learning about the world around them. Their eyes are wide open looking at every aspect of their environment. They see things differently. A child observes a mother getting pleasure from receiving a gift of flowers, so the child runs out to pick every dandelion in the yard so that they can bring her joy. They may even include other weeds that most of us adults would dig up or spay with an herbicide. A child asks questions and they are full of wonder. They will walk all day exploring if we would let them, just to find out what is over beyond what they can see from the door. Many of the greatest scientists of the world had child like abilities to wonder and desire to explore.
Jesus is saying that if you want to be first in the kingdom, the number one thing is to welcome the children. What that means is not only having a church full of kids, but to interact with the kids. To walk with them as they explore, to invest our time and energy teaching them and assisting them as they learn the boundaries of their own abilities. If we want to be true effective citizens of the kingdom we need to bring the sense of wonder back into our culture. And to be effective leaders we should be willing to do what ever we can to walk with people as they learn and explore aspects of life.
To bring back the sense of wonder is a difficult thing. With the corruption darkness brings, there is also a squelching of wonder. Poverty kills a child before they have a chance in many ways. A hungry child sits because they lack the energy to explore. Many children live in a poverty of affection; their parents are so busy trying to feed them that the child fails to develop senses of love and belonging. These children are starved for attention in any way possible and seek it out in the darkness that begins to suck the life out of them. We are seeing the product of the attention starved generations.
Those attention-starved people of the western world are the ones that have the greatest spiritual hunger, but they do not realize it. They fill their lives with so much junk they look like their lives are perfect but reality is that they are malnourished. Their lives are filled with spiritual junk food. Their empty soul is being filled with quick empty calories, which turns into apathy and obesity.
Our culture is a picture of unhealthy spirituality. We must change the direction, and to do that means that all followers of Christ must begin to interact with the world. Our greatest need is not money but time. If the followers of Christ would take the time to teach people to manage their money and time so that they could then invest love in their families we can begin to change our communities. If we as followers of Christ would change our lifestyles just a bit and invite someone else to eat with them when they go out they can possibly spark a spontaneous conversation that may change the direction of someone’s life.
If we were to examine our own lives we could see where the darkness is creeping into our lives, and into our communities. The interesting thing about darkness is that it leaves when light is present. As we enter this time of open worship let us shine the light of Christ into our own lives. Let us allow Him to show us ever so gently where our own arguments and politicking has allowed the darkness of our adversary to gain a foothold and cause our testimonies to fail and cause spiritual malnutrition in our lives. We cannot share what we do not have.
James the brother of Jesus says that we do not have because we do not ask, or we ask for the wrong reason. And if we draw closer to God that He will come closer to us. We do not need to fear God, he is the source of light and life. He is the vine that feeds the branches of our lives. And He is the friend that walks with us down our own dusty roads. Let us now seek Christ and let Him lead us down that road.