Nagoya Mission

The 2nd day of Christmas - 12-27-2009

Luke 2: 25-40

   We are in the twelve days of Christmas; the period of time between Christmas Day until the beginning of Epiphany.  Epiphany is also a season like Christmas and a word from Biblical Greek that means appearance or manifestation --- God is in human form in the person of Jesus Christ.  The twelve days of Christmas and then Epiphany that follows --- that we can chose to follow or not --- were developed by Christians earlier in history to help us learn and grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

   Today is the second day of the twelve day season of Christmas and according to that Christmas carol, our true love is scheduled to send us two turtle doves to go along with that partridge in a pear tree.  If we were to go along with those who believe that the carol is intended for Christian instruction: My true love is --- God, who on the first day of Christmas gave us a partridge in a pear tree --- Jesus Christ.  The two turtle doves are the Old and New Testament: which together bear witness to God’s revelation in history.[1]

   Luke however is not following a church season or a carol.  Luke sends along a gift on the 8th day of Christmas.  Luke writes “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.”[2]  It is not that Luke has it all wrong or that Christians of an earlier time messed up the timeline, it is that our knowledge of the birth of Jesus and his first thirty or so years is limited by what the gospels chose to tell us. 

   Let us go back to the two turtle doves and the days of Christmas.  According to Luke, it is not until the fortieth day of Christmas that the two turtledoves arrive.  Luke writes “When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons.’”

   The Law of Moses said that this was to take place on the 40th day after the birth of a baby.[3]  And actually, what the law required was that a lamb was to be offered for the sacrifice of purification.  But in case of hard economic times where the couple could not afford a lamb an exception could be made and two turtledoves or pigeons would be acceptable.  This suggests to us that Mary and Joseph were not wealthy, but instead like the vast majority of people, poor living day by day.  In general, Luke reminds us that Jesus was a Jew and that the family observed all the rituals of Jewish families.  But it is in this observance of a ritual that we find out about another important occurrence in the first 40 days of the life of Jesus; we have two --- not doves but prophets --- Simeon and Anna.

   The first prophet is Simeon.  “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.  He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”[4]  Luke doesn’t give any biographical background on Simeon, which has not stopped Christians from filling it in on their own.  We often assume that he was an elderly man, but in fact there is no indication of his age.  And it seems that he appeared to be near death.  This could be because he was advanced in years, or it could be because he was a young man who was dying of cancer or some other sort of unknown disorder.  But even that is conjecture.

   Luke doesn’t say any of this.  What Luke actually tells us about this man is that he was “righteous and devout.”  And it had been revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 

   So on this 40^th day after Christmas, Luke says Simeon was “moved by the Spirit” which means that Simeon was in the Holy Spirit. [5]  Luke then records that Simeon “took” Jesus “up in his arms” and “praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

  “My eyes have seen,” Simeon says.  That’s the work of the Holy Spirit.  For example, it is no mere coincidence that some Christians sing Simeon’s song in worship.  Traditionally Simeon's “song” is sung on two different occasions.  It is first of all the traditional hymn of Compline, the prayer at the close of a day.  Just before we go to sleep at night, we can pray, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace."  Sleep is a picture of death just as rising in the morning is a picture of the resurrection which we surely have in Jesus.

   Later in Christian history, Simeon's words came to be used in worship during the Lord's Supper, with the reasoning being that Christ is no less present in the Lord’s Supper than when His little body was cradled in Simeon's arms.  So after receiving communion some sing, "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your Word, for my eyes have seen your salvation," salvation wrapped not in cloth but this time in bread and wine. 

   But back to our story on the 40^th day of Christmas because although we have spent a great deal of time on Simeon there was another person there that day that surprised Mary and Joseph and onlookers.  In this case, where Luke tells us little about Simeon, we are told a great deal about Anna.  “There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.  She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.”[6]

   Why the detail about Anna’s life when there was very little about Simeon and why the focus on the words of Simeon but not on the words of Anna?  “Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”[7]

   Some of have suggested it could be because Anna was more well known having lived at the Temple for years, whereas Simeon was simply “a man in Jerusalem.”  Luke could also be providing an important connection in that the tribe of Asher is one of the historically “lost” Jewish tribes that largely disappeared after an invasion.  Possibly Anna’s testimony provides support to Simeon because in Jewish tradition, no testimony of one individual, was to be accepted without the confirmation of a second witness --- Anna in this case.  You may remember how difficult Jesus’ trial was before the Jewish court for just that reason.   There were witnesses with half-truths and out-right lies against Jesus, but the Jewish court could not get any two witnesses to agree.

   Whatever the case for the details about her life but not on her words, the Holy Spirit works through Anna, to confirm the message of salvation and deliverance Simeon proclaimed as He held the living Christ.

   I wish that Luke had recorded more about that day at the temple.  For example, why was Mary and Joseph willing to hand a precious baby over to complete stranger --- Simeon?  And what about the other people in the temple?  They must have thought that Simeon and Anna were crazy.  How could this Child be the Savior and the Light of the world when He had nothing but ordinary rags around him?  This did not look like a mighty Messiah.  This looked like just another poor peasant boy being brought in to the temple to fulfill the requirements of the Old Testament Law.

   However, we do have a few words from Luke about the reaction of Mary and Joseph.  “The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.”[8]  The words of Simeon confirmed by Anna caused Joseph and Mary to marvel.

   What about us in these 12 days of Christmas?  Perhaps, this event during Christmas will give us cause to once again marvel and consider the truth of Jesus Christ as “a light of revelation.”

   What does a light of revelation mean?  God sent “the word” made flesh, as John’s Gospel proclaims.  And as we ponder that flesh, the infant Jesus… opens the gate; unbars the door, for all people on whom God’s favor rests up to today.
   Thus, Jesus as “a light of revelation” means that Jesus Christ reveals the thoughts of many hearts.  And it is that prophecy of Simeon confirmed by Anna that has been proven again and again.  At times Jesus Christ is something to stumble upon, as though he were a stone lying on the path over which we trip.  At times Jesus is a like a sturdy rock against which to lean and lift one self up.  Jesus Christ as a light of revelation reveals the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

   Like Simeon and Anna, we hold in our hands every day, a revelation in our living and in our dying.  That means whether we are living or dying during Christmas or Epiphany or anytime in 2010 in the words of Simeon “a light of revelation” can become ours more fully.   How will that light unfold for us today and tomorrow?  Whether living or dying, may we come to know the words of Simeon more fully: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word; For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all peoples.”  Amen. 

---

[1] http://www.crivoice.org/cy12days.html

[2] Luke 2: 21

[3] See Exodus 13: 2,12 & Lev. 12: 8

[4] Luke 2: 25

[5] Vs. 27

[6] Vs.36-37

[7] Vs. 38

[8] Vs. 33

Christmas - 12/24/2009

 Merry Christmas!

 Around the world, this night mixes visitors and Christians around the manager, the innocent newborn infant Jesus the Christ, the humility of Mary and Joseph, the wonder of the shepherds overseen by a joyous angelic host.  Therefore, around the world, this night is filled with excitement and anticipation, it is Christmas Eve.  However, just as many celebrate, others are less joyous, for tonight is a reminder of loss and pain; not only because of memories of special people now gone, but also that not all is perfect in our lives and world.  

 However, if that is all that brings us to worship this evening, a birthday, tradition, curiosity, happiness or sadness, if they are the only reasons we are here, then I would daresay we would be gathering in error.  Tonight is not just about excitement or anticipation of a holiday yet to be celebrated, although certainly we all need a little of that.  Nor is tonight just another reminder of loss and pain; reminders come all the time.  And an innocent Christ child, humble Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, with an angelic host are wonderful images of an event in the past but tonight we dare not forget the most important profound truth --- Immanuel --- God is with us.
 

How is God with us?  In a newborn child! 
 

Last year, after a children’s Christmas pageant, a young participant came up to the pastor and asked: “What happens to Jesus now?”1  Just before he was going to stumble out some words to this seven year old, he was rescued by the child’s mother, who said quite matter of fact, “She wants to know what is going to happen to the doll.”  The doll?  Oh, right, the doll, in the Christmas pageant.  “What happens to Jesus now?”  The pastor responded “Well, we will pack Jesus away with the manger and the pageant costumes and put them over in the storage closet.”

 At this the girl looked with horror, “You’re going to put the baby Jesus in a closet?”  Then the minister got it.  Then he realized what she was really asking.  So the pastor picked up the baby Jesus and asked her, “Would you be willing to take Jesus home with you?  Would you be willing to take care of the baby Jesus this year?”  Small hands reached out and took the baby.  “YES! I’ll take care of him all year.  I will.”

 Although we come with a range of problems and joys, Immanuel --- God is with us --- is why we are here.  But, just like any family who first beholds their new born at a hospital or their child at an orphanage, we all quickly realize that no matter how prepared with may be, and whatever else is on our minds … what happens now?  It is a very good question.  We are not here for a one night stand, where we focus purely on our needs, forgetting about any repercussions, and then going on with our lives.  Instead, what happens to Jesus now?

 Just look to those to whom Jesus was first given.  A young, soon to be married woman who comes with the incredible story that an angel had spoken to her, and in grace alone became pregnant.  A man soon to be married who was told by an angel that his fiance is pregnant and he is not the father.  Shepherds, the working poor, taking care of their charges, which are also their wages and the food they eat as they had been doing day after day to whom they are now told to abandon.

 This is to whom Jesus was first given who then had to figure out what next?  Suffice it to say, it was not for perfection that God chose a young woman and a confused father to take the risk, to bear the baby that would change everything.  It is not for perfection that God would have the first visitors to be the poor, living hand to mouth, to leave everything and to come and worship.

 No wonder Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds were afraid.  Maybe we are too.  Will we be satisfied with the messages from the angels --- to Mary, to Joseph, to the sheepherders the message that began: “Do not be afraid.”  I daresay they were not completely with out fear, but they were faithful enough to set that fear aside for a moment for they perhaps realized that as an important as these other issues were --- marriage and livelihood --- in truth, God asks nothing of any of us --- other than to open our hearts and receive the love God offers us … this gift.

 In a 1995 movie The Christmas Box, a woman asked her handyman a question, “What is the first gift of Christmas?”  His first response, a “smart answer,” was, "A tie."  The woman looked sternly at him, and insisted he be serious, so he tried again, more earnestly: He said, “The first gift of Christmas is love.”  She told him that that was a good beginning, but only a very small part of the answer and that he should take time and think it through.  A lot of time passed.  Finally he got it: "The first gift of Christmas is a child."

 Gifts are given with the hope that they will be well received and accepted.  Gifts are given with the hope that they will be found useful.  Gifts are to be enjoyed.  Gifts are oftentimes personal, even though sometimes they are given to a group, a community or a nation.  Gifts are not seeking perfection.  Immanuel --- God is with us --- is a gift.

 What happens to Jesus now?  The child, the gift himself is the good news.  In the Christ child, God --- the gift --- becomes vulnerable.  God's care is left up to human beings --- our very own individual hands and hearts.  This is not a one night stand, full of heat; it is all about the day after and the day after that.  It is about a gift!  Will we receive this gift?  And how will we take this gift home with us … tonight?  Which means, where will Jesus live tomorrow and the day after, the rest of the year?  What will we do with this gift?

 Let me let you in on a secret though, this gift of Jesus --- God with us --- for us --- has the answer all in himself.  Because with this gift of a birth comes the seed of our own salvation on the cross … so what will we do with this gift?  Let’s receive him, accept him and strengthen our connections to him.  God with us!  Amen.

1 http://rememberyourbaptism.blogspot.com/2009/01/sermon-for-christmas-eve-midnight-mass.html

Time - 12/20/2009

Luke 1: 39-45

 “Do religions oppress women?” was a question posed this past week by writer and columnist Nicolas Kristof on his blog for the New York Times.1  Kristof wrote on that issue of women vis-a-vis religion based on a recent speech by former US president Jimmy Carter to the Parliament of World Religions on December 3rd in Melbourne, Australia.  The theme of Carter’s speech was on this point: “Every generic religious text encourages believers to respect essential human dignity, yet some selected scriptures are interpreted to justify the derogation or inferiority of women and girls, our fellow human beings.”2  Carter concluded his speech with the following words: “the justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.3”

 As I read a few of the comments to the blog, I have to admit I was not surprised at the opinions because many of them were not expressing anything I have not heard or read before.  Some comments went into interpretation of particular passages of the Bible and the Koran.  Others used their comments to affirm their view that God does not exist and religion is a human invention, and those who are religious need to get smart.  And still others focused on their own faith, or made pointed further attacks on Christians and Muslims in particular.

 As I said, I was not surprised although as a Christian and thus a believer the issue does concern me.  The reason I bring this up at all, is not to further that debate but rather I was struck by the timing; the question on religion and women comes from a secular columnist - Kristof quoting a Christian - Carter on the very week that we remember two important women in the Bible, the coming together of an elderly pregnant woman --- Elizabeth --- with a young pregnant woman --- Mary!  Is this all part of God’s timing?

 If you don’t believe me, just look at the opening words of our gospel: “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.”4  Why that time and why the hurry?

 We readers do not know how long this was after Gabriel’s pronouncement that Mary was going to have a child.  However the Greek phrase, translated as that time suggests it was quickly after the visit yet even that is slightly ambiguous.  There is also the speed --- why the hurry?  Christmas was more or less 9 months away.  And why not talk with Joseph first or her parents?  Perhaps Mary hurried before anyone found out she was pregnant.  If a young woman was discovered to be pregnant before marriage in those days it would be scandalous and sometimes even deadly.  And of then of course maybe Mary wanted to discuss the message from Gabriel with Elizabeth.  Or conceivably she wanted to congratulate her cousin Elizabeth on her pregnancy to which Gabriel had either informed or confirmed to Mary.  “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.  For nothing is impossible with God.”5  Perhaps Mary recognized that she needed another pregnant older woman to talk to.

 Or possibly Mary got ready and hurried to see Elizabeth because that would be confirmation of the message from Gabriel.  Gabriel had given Mary a sign to assure her that the incomprehensible news he had just given to her about her own pregnancy was true.  And Mary believed the Word she heard and did what the Word invited her to do.

 Whatever the reason, I am not only impressed with the rush and timing of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth but we also need to remember the overarching timeline in that God promised the Messiah would be born to a virgin.  “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”6  For anyone to believe that Mary was truly a virgin, she had to be unmarried.  In those days, a marriage ceremony wasn't complete until the couple consummated their marriage.

 Furthermore timing is just over the horizon in that God also promised that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”7  So here we have a decree by the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus that would result in this promise being fulfilled in nine months, Joseph taking his betrothed a very pregnant Mary sometime after the birth of John to Zechariah and Elizabeth to Bethlehem.

 As the Bible constantly illustrates however, God's timing takes us by surprise.  Look again and the meeting of Elizabeth and Mary.  Not only is Mary in a rush to see Elizabeth but there is another context of the meeting.  A gathering where God’s timing with Elizabeth seems to have moved too slowly --- an elderly woman pregnant late in life, and where God seems to have moved too quickly, a young woman Mary pregnant before marriage; a gathering of Mary and Elizabeth, John later to be the Baptist and Jesus to be the Messiah.  What is the response to this event in God’s time; John leaped, the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth blessed Mary as a woman and for Mary’s faith and Elizabeth gave a blessing on the unborn Jesus.

 All this reinforces two things we know about God's timing.  First of all, it's always perfect.  God is not early and is not late.  It may not be according to our timetable, personal or historical --- it was not perfect to Mary or Elizabeth, Joseph or Zechariah --- but God's timing is always perfect for God alone.  Secondly, God's timing is always purposeful.  God knows what God wants to accomplish.  And in this wisdom and with this power, God makes it happen at just the right time for God.

 That means that like Elizabeth, some of us may have been praying for a long time for something to happen.  And like Mary, some of us may find that our lives have been all disheveled this year.  Or perhaps we are a little of both.  In either case, in this meeting of Elizabeth, Mary, Jesus and John, God reminds us that God does not seem to be operating on our timeline.

 Furthermore, look again at Elizabeth and Mary; two ordinary women who could have been overcome by two extraordinary events in God’s plan for salvation.  But just looking at it from that view would be to miss the point of God’s love and grace altogether.  Mary and Elizabeth are special to us because they are ordinary and God chose them to be in God’s plan of salvation.

 Paul described it this way: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”8?

 As we prepare to gather at the manager to celebrate the arrival of the Christ child, it is not simply to remember God’s timing in the past, or to prepare for God’s timing in the future when Christ will come again.  We gather at the manger because God’s plan for salvation is also at work in us.  Are we not the same as Mary and Elizabeth, men and women, children of God, heirs through God for this moment, for this time?

 “We are all meant to be mothers of God,” wrote Meister Eckhart, a medieval mystic and theologian.  “What good is it to me,” he continued, “if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes places 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 and my culture?  This, then, is the fullness of time: What the Son of God is begotten in us.”9
 God’s timing is everything and the fullness of time is now as well.  Amen.

1 http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/does-religion-oppress-women/
2 http://www.cartercenter.org/news/editorials_speeches/parliament-world-religions-120309.html
3 Ibid.
4 Luke 1: 39-40
5 Luke 1: 36-37
6 Isaiah 7: 14
7 Micah 5: 2
8 Galatians 4:4-7
9 Gospel Medicine, Barbara Brown Taylor, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cowley Publications, 1995. p. 153

The Virgin Mary - 12/13/2009

Luke 1: 26-38

 I believe that if you ask many people about the significant differences between Christian Protestants and Christian Romans Catholics you are likely to hear in the conversation some of these thoughts: well, Protestant Christians emphasize a personal relationship with Jesus --- no mediation or intercession is required; Protestants do not need a leadership telling individuals what to believe and Protestants do not worship Mary. 
 What interests us about those generalizations --- as a group of Christians from a varied background tonight --- is that last perspective I mentioned --- Protestant Christians to not “worship” Mary.  For without getting into a debate on history or the particulars of that view, it may surprise some of you to know that in the past twenty to thirty years there has been a resurgent interest in Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Protestant circles.  This renaissance has resulted in numerous theological and devotional publications geared to Protestants.1
 What that new found interest has meant in local Protestant churches and among pastors I do not know but I would suspect this new found interest has provoked more discussion and thought around the person of Mary.  However, I also suspect that one aspect of this Protestant re-examination of Mary and her place in our faith life that may or may not be receiving much attention is our “relationship” with Mary.2  By “relationship” I mean --- Mary in the faith life of Christians, as the mother of Jesus.  Yet a relationship with Mary is exactly why some Roman Catholic Christians say she is so important.  Professor Carole Baker from Duke Divinity School described the issue this way: Protestant “resistance often comes in the form of Mary being turned into a metaphor, or a mere example, that Protestants can find ‘useful’ for reflection on their own life.”3
 So what do you think about Mary?  Is Mary an example, someone who is simply “useful for reflection” or is there something more?  Can a Protestant Christian have a “relationship” with Mary? 
 Let us begin our time thinking about Mary tonight with some thoughts on today’s gospel termed as the “annunciation:” the revelation to a young virgin woman --- Mary --- that she would conceive a child.  “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.  The virgin's name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you.’”4  What was Mary’s response to the angel?  “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.”5
 Interesting combination don’t you think?  Mary was “highly favored” and “greatly troubled.”  Initially we may think Mary may be disturbed at the appearance of an angel --- that would be natural.  But in Luke’s retelling of the event he does not focus on that or even if it was an issue, rather we are told that Mary was troubled “at his words.”  So what words troubled Mary; “Greetings, the Lord is with you, or you who are highly favored?”  I think it is the words “highly favored.”
 To be favored by God normally would lead one to think that you were going to have an easy life full of success.  I think we --- unsurprisingly with poverty and wealth --- believe the “favor” of God is in terms of blessings.
 But that is not entirely accurate.  For example, where is there the first mention of God’s “favor” in the Bible --- the story of Cain and Abel.  “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.  But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.  So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”6  Shortly after in Genesis we have the story of Noah: “So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth?men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air --- for I am grieved that I have made them.’  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”7  Those two early examples immediately call into question “favor” only as a blessing because Cain was to later kill his brother Abel and Noah, his family and assorted life would unhappily ride surf while creation drowned.
 Thus when we hear that Mary was greatly troubled at “his words” Mary’s reaction possibly might have been, “Oh, so I am ‘highly favored’, am I? ... ”  Well, sure enough, the angel Gabriel continues by first offering words of reassurance and then reiterating his opening words; “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”8  Then Gabriel describes what that favor means.  It is not wealth or an easy life.  Mary “you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”9  Mary will be the mother of the “son of the most high.”
 How does Mary react to the fact that she has been “favored” with a child?  With a question, “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “Since I am a virgin?”10  Gabriel, the angel who stands in the presence of God answered, describing that what will happen will not be like as between a man and a woman; God will “overshadow.”11  In other words … a mystery --- a miracle --- grace alone.12  Gabriel reinforces this by sharing the news, possibly for the first time, “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.”13  Gabriel concludes with “For nothing is impossible with God.”14  Mary counters with: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”15
 What does this all mean for us as we think about Mary?  Well, from the onset, we see that Mary is far more than simply a biological vessel for Jesus.
 I believe we must begin with the fact that she was “highly favored.”  Meaning that as we see from other stories in the Bible where someone is “favored” their life may or may not have had an impact on being chosen.  In the story of Cain and Abel “favor” revolved around an offering and in the story of Noah, “favor” was related to Noah being “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.”16  Meaning for whatever reason Mary was “favored” --- chosen --- by God to be the mother of his son.  As New Testament scholar Fred Craddock noted: “we must be careful to notice that none of her qualities is offered as the reason God chose her; that reason lies tucked away in the purposes of God.”17
 We could speculate on her life --- as many have done prior to her being chosen --- but suffice it to say for some reason only known to God, Mary was favored.  And by some miracle --- by grace alone --- she will be pregnant with a boy.
 So is that not the same as you and I?  We have been informed of a miracle, to a virgin mother, centuries ago.  This miracle is the son of the highest God.  This miracle will be a son who will bring a Kingdom that will never end.  And like Mary we can respond; troubled as she was troubled, with questions like Mary asked questions.  And like Mary we have the opportunity to act in response; “I am the Lord’s servant.”  Thomas Long professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology writes, Christians “… are in language school learning how to speak and act as people of God, trying to acquire the vocabulary and customs of God’s people.”18 
 We do not worship Mary but in her life we can see our own.  Yes, we can have a relationship with Mary in so far as she like others in the Bible provides us the means to speak and act as people of God.  God in grace has shown favor to us, chosen us.  God’s power works through people like you and I as it did in Mary.  So, in Mary we find the vocabulary to speak as people of God, “I am the Lord’s servant.”  In Mary we find the vocabulary to prepare for new life that is taking hold.  Amen.

1 See for example: The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus. Scot McKnight, Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press. 2007. and Blessed one: Protestant Perspectives on Mary, Edited by Beverly Roberts Gaventa and Cynthia L. Rigby. Louisville, KY: Westminster: John Knox Press. 2002
2 What Should We Say About Mary, Carole L. Baker, The Center For Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2009. p. 93.
3 Ibid.
4 Luke 1: 26-28
5 Vs. 29
6 Genesis 4: 3-5
7 Genesis 6: 7-9
8 Luke 1: 30
9 Vs. 31
10 Luke 1: 34

11 Luke 1: 35
12 The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Brown, Raymond Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990. p. 680.
13 Luke 1: 36
14 Luke 1: 37
15 Luke 1: 38
16 Genesis 6: 9
17 Luke, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Fred Craddock, Louisville, John Knox Press. 1990. p. 28
18 Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian, Thomas Long, San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2004. 32.

Waiting - 12/6/2009

Mark 12: 38-44

 In the first year of office of Prime Minister Hatoyama, when Masaaki Kanda was governor of Aichi Prefecture, during the High Priesthood of Emperor Akihito, the word of God came to attendees of Meito Christ International Church, in the city of Nagoya, Japan.  They all went into all the country around the region of Chubu, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; “As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the Way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.  Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.  The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.  And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’”

 Does that not get your missionary zeal going?  Do not today’s words affirm that we need to put on our counter-cultural attitude, the mantle of John the Baptist and prepare the way of the Lord! 

 
 So what do you think?  Has not the word of God come to us?  Is it just a confidence thing?  Perhaps we are like the church to which the John of Revelation writes --- “lukewarm?”  Or is there something else?
 

 On many, many occasions we talk about the Christian life in terms of imitating Jesus … of following Jesus.  And I think that is right.  But, that makes we wonder, as we get ready once again for the arrival of the birth of our savior, what are we are to make of this “prepare the way” of the Lord --- because to “prepare” would somehow seem to ignore our reality.
 Did not what John in the wilderness do and say not already happen?  In other words has not Jesus already come?  Has not Jesus the Christ been crucified, resurrected and ascended into heaven?  Has not Jesus the Christ told us that he will come again?  Are we simply reviewing a historical event explained by Luke, a timeline for the history books: the Hebrew Prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus, the Apostles, and then Paul?  Nothing against those who have not heard about Jesus, but rather it seems to me the reality is we really are just waiting around.Well, let us think through this.

 For Luke, the appearance of John the Baptist signals the beginning of the end.  The time has come to a certain place and certain time; “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar …..”  Those words of Luke are similar to the opening lines of the other prophetic books, the beginning of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and Isaiah.  As well as the time, we the readers know that the place and details of the birth, the growing up and adult hood of Jesus are complete.  Now we have come to the beginning of the end when the Word of God has come to the last of the Hebrew prophets, the son of Zechariah the priest, John.

 It does not come to John in the city or small town but in wilderness?  Is John an “Essene” a member of a strict, separatist Jewish sect living in Qumran by the Dead Sea who felt that the religious establishment in Jerusalem was corrupt?  Is it personal; John alone as if a hermit?  Is it metaphorical; being in the “wilderness?”  Does it re-call perhaps, the formation of a people into a covenantal relationship with God?  Whatever the case, Luke joins all the other gospels and reinforces not only that the time, John has come to prepare us for the messiah, but also emphasizes John’s call by quoting from Isaiah 40.  In the original Hebrew, “prepare the way” literally is to remove stumbling blocks.  For example, another reference for the phrase "prepare the way" is found in Isaiah 57: 14; “And it will be said: ‘Build up, build up, prepare the road!  Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.’”

 Moreover, Luke joins the other Gospels, in that John does not claim to possess anything that he can give; all John has is an act of preparation, the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins --- so the people will be ready when the holy one comes.

 Now let us return to us, in this time of Hatoyama.  For Luke and the other gospels John fulfilled scripture and created a favorable environment, making it easier for Jesus to enter into and operate in the lives of the people. But does this necessarily mean we are to do the same?  Are we not all just about waiting?  Or we about preparing the way?

 In short, yes … that is the paradox … it is both.  In Advent we await very aware, every single one of us, that things are just not as they should be.  We are also aware that what John prepared came among us and will come again.

 The key for us centuries later is that the Word of God is not only a history of God’s coming to humanity, and an event for the future but also for … now.  It is nothing other than the history of love, God’s love for us; a light that grows and one to which we follow in this darkness.  As we wait out this paradox of the Word of God our time is complicated by the fact that the world is full with a thousand voices all day long assaulting our hearts and souls.  For it is the world of the Satan --- the adversary, the accuser, the prosecution; or Lucifer --- the bringer of light and revelation that is really darkness and death; or Mephistopheles --- the self-doubt created by the questioner.

 For example, have you heard about the Death Clock?1  It is a site on the internet where you enter some simple information about yourself like your date of birth, your sex, your body mass index and whether or not you smoke.  It will then calculate when it is expected that you will die.

 I think that information is pretty morbid, so not only are we bombarded with voices taking us away from God, but I also know that time is passing for those of us who are waiting.  Whether it passes quickly or slowly, time is all we have.  The question is, how shall we use it.

 You see every year we go through this same routine right before Christmas, a child who will later to die on a cross; the revelation of God in a life; Jesus the Christ.  It is a revelation that is forgiving and loving as well as prophetic and healing.  It is a revelation that is paradoxically historical but through out all time.

 So we wait.  As author and pastor, Barbara Brown Taylor eloquently said, “there are all kinds of waiting.  There is the tense dread-filled waiting of those whose hope is gone.  There is the resigned waiting of those who for whom a spade is always a spade.  There is even a kind of waiting, in which one collects” signs of the end times “like souvenir spoons… get the whole set and the end comes!”2

 For me I wait in this paradox of the Word of God who came and who will come, at the same time living to “prepare the way” in my own life and in a small way in the lives of others.  So, what preparations do you and I need in this time in whatever way we are waiting?  How do we prepare for the coming of the savior in this age of Hatoyama and does it matter that some are totally oblivious?  You tell me … because I do not believe that I am the only one who feels that things are not just as they should be.  I do not believe I am the only one who has not interest in watching a death clock.  Do you think there is anyone else who feels that way?  Wait in comfort and joy and Prepare the way of the Lord.  Amen.

1 www.deathclock.com
2 Bread of Angels, Barbara Brown Taylor, Cowley Publications: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1997. p. 160