Author: Rosemary Lovelace

Epiphany 5A – Ted Hackett
Today is the 6th Sunday after Epiphany…
      Believe it or not, Lent comes in two weeks…
             And of course, Lent is a penitential season…
                    40 days in which we are counseled to
                    calm things down in our lives…
                          To do some looking at ourselves…

And ask questions about our lives.
Lent is a little like Advent…
Except that over the years Advent has been a season of what you might call : “Joy Creep”….
             The wonderful warmth of Christmas…
Aided and abetted by commercial interests
                          Have made Advent part of Christmas.
                                 We become like kids …
                                        All waiting for Santa …
                                               Putting up decorations..
                                                      Going to parties….
And I for one love it!
    We wear blue instead of somber purple or sackcloth
             We anticipate with glowing expectation…
                    Messiah is coming!
                          Sing out! Go tell it on the mountain!
                                 And I, for one, love it!
But it was not always that way….
When Advent came into the Christian Year in the fifth century, Christmas was getting cranked up in
       the West…
             And it was a penitential season….
                    A time for looking at yourself…preparing,
                          Because it looked not only to Christ’s
                          birth….but his 2nd coming in                           judgement!….
                                 Somber stuff!
The early Church was very aware of the end of the world…
    Jewish rabbis talked about it…and finally Christians
     condensed the Last Things at the end of the world into four…
             Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgement…
Thousands of Advent Sermons were preached on Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgement at Christ’s Second Coming… And those are important things to think about…
      Now since Advent is no longer very penitential….
I think it good to take the Last Things up in Lent….which we still keep for somber reflection..
Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgement….the Last Things.
The Rector has taken the risk of letting me preach twice in a row …and so I will be trying to look at these four Last Things this week and next….getting ready for Lent….
And I want to look at them in what is…hopefully….a kind of different way…
First of all….Hell.
The Western Church has spent nearly two thousand years elaborating the landscape of Hell.
             We all know the scene….
Devils and Imps…fire and brimstone and the foul scent of burning sulphur….
                          Souls writhing in the torment of fire
                          (Or sometimes in bitter cold)…. Suffering terrible pain and anguish….
                                        Without ever perishing.
                                               And….
                                                      This goes on without
                                                      end….
                                                             For eternity!
As the saying goes…. “that’l scare the Hell out of you!”
It’s as Comedian George Carlin said he was taught in Parochial School: “If you aren’t good…God will burn you in Hell forever and ever…because He loves you!”
             There is a disconnect….
The God of love sending people He created…
                          To unspeakable torture…for Eternity!
Historically…the earliest Church did not much deal with Hell….
Non-Christians, it was assumed, did not get a good place in God’s coming Kingdom…
But what really happened to them wasn’t discussed…except for a passing reference to Gehenna…
                    A garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.
                          All they were worth maybe…
                                 That was God’s business… As time went by, and the Church became an institution that was going to be around for a while….
      This slowly changed….
             Unsophisticated barbarians became Christians
The the Church felt it had to really get their attention.
Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century said that when preaching you should: “Scare them with Hell and then comfort them with Heaven”….
And lots of preachers still follow that advice!
                                        But it’s not Christian.
                                               George Carlin was right.
                                                      It is a contradiction. To say that the God of love would sentence any of His creatures to eternal torment….
      Would in fact, diminish God’s Self…
             Not to mention being unfair. Though when we get to Hitler and Stalin….and maybe Putin…finally getting out of Hell… we are offended…
                          We think they can’t repent enough… But….and here’s the tough news…
      If…after they repent…whatever that takes…
             If we can’t forgive them….
                    We also need to repent!
                          Because …as I will suggest….
Being fully in Communion with God… Means being overcome…Overcome… Overcome eternally…With love and forgiveness!
        It means…loving as God loves!
      Being loving and intimate with others…
             With God…
               And with yourself and your deepest feelings!
                     Hell is alienation…
                          Hell is not being able to trust others…
                                 Finding fault with them
                                        Ignoring their needs…
                                               Fearfully rejecting their
                                               offers of intimacy…
                                                      Finally..finally…
                                                             Finding yourself
                                                             alone….
                                                                    All alone… And getting out of Hell takes repentance!
Which brings us to Heaven…
             Probably needless to say….
Heaven is not reclining on clouds playing a small harp…..for eternity!
And it is not, as some medieval theologians suggested…
Looking down and watching the damned writhe in pain in Hell.
                                        Think about it….
If that were how it is with sinners…
      God would not love everything He made…
                    God’s purpose for His Creation…. would be                 incomplete and flawed…
                    And God would not be….God!
Which brings us to the second of the Last Things….Heaven.
As I said….Heaven is not playing a harp from a cloud-couch…
Or enjoying the sight of your enemies writhing in Hell….
                    If Hell is alienation from Oneself…
                          From other people…
                                 From God’s creation…
                                        From yourself….
If Hell is utter loneliness and self-hatred…
      Abandonment…
             Then Heaven is just the opposite! Heaven is overcoming alienation and distrust….
      Heaven is the ability to be intimate…
             Intimate and honest with yourself….
                    With others…including taking the risks!
                          And with God….
Who is, by the way…intimate with us…even we don’t know it!
Intimacy is knowing us better than we know ourselves.
C. S Lewis wrote that in Heaven…everything is more real than anywhere else.
      The grass, for instance is greener and sharper
      than the grass we know in this world…
When souls of the unready are taken in a bus to visit Heaven….they can’t stand it…
                    Even the grass is too real…too sharp…
                          It hurts their feet….
                 And they find themselves in the company of people they despised in this life….
      And they still can’t stand them…
So they take the bus back to dismal Purgatory….or Hell….it’s not clear which…
                    Back to grow until they can stand the
                    utter reality of Heaven!
                          And on the bus back from Heaven…
They bicker with each other and     make each other miserable.
It seems like for them, Jean-Paul-Sartre was right….
                                               Hell is other people. Which…in passing…brings up Purgatory….
      As Hell became more and more real to Medieval people….
                                                                                               It became clear to theologians that most
           people were not bad enough to warrant eternal agony…
                    And so, people…like my Uncle Louie and probably most of us…were not quite ready for Heaven….                           like the people on the bus…
And so they spent time in Purgatory..
                                        Being purged from their sins.
The Orthodox Church and most Anglicans think of Purgatory not as searing torture…
      But as yearning…
             Like a kid looking in a candy store window…
                    Seeing the goodies….but not able go in.
                          It’s kind of torture…
But not the kind of pain that comes with burning…
                                        We call it the “Intermediate
                                        State”…
It’s a place to learn to love others..and to love ourselves!
                                                      And a place to learn
                                                      to learn to love God!
                                                             God is like the
                                                     candy in the store,
                                                                    Only better!
A long time ago….in Buffalo …when I was newly ordained…
A colleague-priest who was serving as a chaplain to a small convent of Episcopal nuns asked me to fill in for him,,,              I nervously agreed …
I celebrated Eucharist for them…we were to have lunch and then I was to hear their confessions.
                          I sat next to Mother Superior… A wise and gentle older lady who was very deferential to me because I was a Priest.
We chatted…pleasantly…
      And somehow the subject of Hell came up…
             I asked her if she believed in it.
                    She said very solemnly…
“Oh yes Father..we have to believe in Hell…it’s Catholic doctrine!”
                                 Then….she got very quiet and
                                 almost whispered to me: “
But I don’t have to believe anyone goes there!”
I think she got it right…
         God will wait us out….
As we press our noses against the candy-store window…
                    Until we get the idea…
Love God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves…
And that takes the grace of God…
      The finally irresistible grace of God…
               Which calls us…even pulls us…
                    To the kind of love with which God loves. Even to loving ourselves just as we are….
                                 Self centered, selfish and angry..
                                        Like the people on the bus…
But we will ultimately be called into the candy-store…
      Into the presence of the Saints in Light…
             Into the presence of God…
                    Into loving…and being loved…
                          In glory everlasting!
                                 Where we can sing Alleluia…
Where we can embrace each other…
                                               And sing Alleluia …
Forever!             

Epiphany 5A – George Yandell

Let me read you a letter to an insurance company about frustrations and disappointment. Maybe you have had similar experiences.

Dear Sir:

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In Block #3 of the accident reporting form, I put quote – LOST PRESENCE OF MIND – unquote, as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a six-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 lbs. of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the brick into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the 500 lbs. of bricks. You will note in Block #11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh 135 lbs.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I LOST MY PRESENCE OF MIND and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone.

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

Fortunately, by this time I had regained my PRESENCE OF MIND and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground – and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 50 lbs.

I refer you again to my weight in Block #11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body.

This encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and, fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked.

I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks – in pain, unable to stand, and watching the empty barrel six stories above me – I again LOST PRESENCE OF MIND – I LET GO OF THE ROPE.//

Flash back 1500 years. The people of Israel could relate to the plight of the bricklayer. They had lost presence of mind, and were being called to account. In the reading from Isaiah, the prophet calls Israel to reject false piety and to shine as a light of justice and liberation. The people of Israel had been freed from captivity in Babylon and returned to Jerusalem from exile, but the time of restoration had proved frustrating, difficult and disappointing. The land itself was now under the control of the Persians. The era of peace and prosperity the people had anticipated had not happened. The country was beset by chaos and violence.

The people complained that even though they performed the expected rituals, God did not respond. The reading for today begins with a summons to the people to hear God’s judgments against them. They claim to honor the Lord and to seek God’s presence “as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God” (Is. 58:2). They had lost presence of mind.

When the people ask why the Lord does not acknowledge their fasts, God responds by proclaiming the difference between the fast that the Lord requires and that which they offer (vv. 3-7). The fasting of the people is corrupt and self-serving as they fight among themselves and ignore the needs of others. “Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high” (v. 4b). In contrast, true fasting requires repentance and turning to God—not economic exploitation and oppression of others. The Lord’s fast is characterized by genuine self-denial and humility that brings justice, liberation, and acts of mercy. When the hungry are fed, the homeless are sheltered, and the naked are clothed, then the people will find salvation. “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly … ” The Lord will be their vindicator and answer their cries. [Adapted from Synthesis for Epiphany 5]

Talk about frustrations- the period between Isaiah’s words and the ministry of Jesus was 5 centuries- the plight of the Hebrew people, the chaos of their lives only increased by the time Jesus was born. Jesus gathered the people who were most oppressed and downtrodden in Galilee and Judea. And he astounded them when he recalled Isaiah and said: “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” These words of Jesus are reinforced in the collect for today: “Set us free from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life” made known to us in Jesus. Liberty of abundant life. That’s what Jesus aspires for us to know. 

 “You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus says to his disciples. “But if salt loses its zing, how will it be made salty? It then has not further use than to be thrown out and stomped on.” [This translation from The 5 Gospels by the Jesus Seminar.]  The “you” is plural, and it is emphatic. Jesus is saying that theology, doctrine, and liturgy can never serve as the true “salt” of the earth. Rather, “It is you, the disciples together” who carry forth this importance.

Salt was irreplaceable in earlier days before refrigeration—the principal means used to delay decay of food or mask its progress. Salt-cured meat may now be a delicacy, but during Jesus’ time it was the only way to preserve meat until it could be consumed.

Jesus says to the disciples, “Have salt in yourselves” (Mk. 9:50a); and again the point is that the followers of Jesus are to be the agent through whom the earth will be saved from impending decay and made more palatable to God. Salt taken from the Dead Sea often was contaminated with other minerals that quickly turned it into a tasteless lump. When it lost this “saltiness,” salt was useless, except perhaps to prevent slipping in wet weather, where it literally was “trampled under foot” (Mt. 5:13b). Israel had been likened to salt. The Church was the New Israel, called into being because the Old Israel had lost its taste (cf Mt. 21:43). The task of the New Israel was to avoid a similar path of “savorless-ness.”

As well, Christians are to be “the light of the world.” Again, it is not theology, doctrine, or liturgy that enlightens but disciples themselves. Huston Smith stated: “Light itself corresponds to consciousness itself. It is the constant background.” (In Parabola, Summer 2001 issue, p. 84.) Like a city built on a hill, the fellowship of Jesus cannot be camouflaged and cannot be overlooked. Such a city is a beacon to its friends and a target to its enemies (5:14b). So it is with disciples as a community as light-bearers. Jesus intends that we become conscious and enriched in the Light.

The clay lamps of Palestine would light an entire one-room house. But the image can be extended and seen to infer that Christians are the light of the cosmos, as well as illumination “to all in the house” (v. 15b). Light is the first of God’s creations (Gen. 1:3), and thereby God is established as the source of all light. The people of faith—those who truly follow Jesus—are to refract this light to others. [Adapted from Synthesis for Epiphany 5] So God means to turn us from petty frustrations and preoccupations and bind us together in light-bringing. Jesus means for us to be Lucifer to the world. Bringer of dawn, light-bearer.  

Annual Parish Meeting

Rector’s report – George Yandell

In my annual reports over the past twelve years, I have said these words, and I’ll say them again: This is your parish. I serve God with you, guided by the Spirit of Jesus. I want to tell what I perceive God has done, is doing, and what God may be leading us to do together.

Do you know what an ‘ear worm’ is? It’s a song or refrain that keeps bouncing around in one’s head – often annoying us. An ear worm can be maddening. The past weeks I’ve been hearing this repeated ear worm – “What a long strange trip it’s been” – from the Grateful Dead’s song “Truckin’”. That’s how I have experienced the life and ministries we’ve extended as Covid restrictions have loosened. It’s like learning how to do Church all over again. Yet it’s still continuing a long strange trip, isn’t it? A vast number of congregations of many denominations across the country have closed or severely cut back their ministries. Our parish has done remarkably well considering all the changes we’ve lived through. If the parish is the bridge for us in living into our baptisms in the company of Jesus, you have been resilient and devoted in serving Christ.

Where is the parish headed? That’s what the newly reconstituted vestry will continue to discern after they start their work in the meeting after this all-parish meeting. 

We are now into our 37^th year as a parish – the founding parents are almost gone. New members are finding Holy Family and becoming part of the ministering body. The results of our pledge campaign have surprised me and made me most grateful. We added 20 new members in 2022. One member transferred out. Our total active membership now is 264. There were no Marriages, noBaptisms and 7 Burials in 2022. We’ll remember the faithful departed by name in the annual meeting. 

Our average Sunday attendance in 2019 was 169. In 2020, our average attendance before we began worshipping outside and online was 146. It was tailing off by early February. In 2021 it was 86. Last year average attendance for our Sunday services was 94. A number more of us report attending our worship services online – I suspect that’s at least 20 more folk on average. This is against the trend nationwide where congregations are experiencing declines of @ 17% per year since covid changed the way people choose to worship, or reinvested in other activities.

For Adult Education online last year, then in person @ 10 folks participated. Online Evening Prayer, Morning Prayer and Evensong has engaged both parishioners and non-members. I am so grateful to those who’ve continued to lead those services. 

Plus there were over 110 people who participated in some way in the parish but are not members. Even during Covid, people are finding Holy Family who might not have been aware of us before.  Just to note – it’s not difficult to join the parish. Talk to me if you’re interested in becoming a member.  

In the diocesan council virtual meeting in November, the financial report showed that in 2021, Holy Family had the 27^th largest budget in the diocese of ATL, out of 115 worshipping communities.

You will hear in the annual meeting about the finances in 2022 and the budget the finance ministry approved for 2022 and forwarded to the vestry – the vestry accepted it unanimously on January 17. Because of increased pledge dollars and more folks pledging, and with a good end to last year with good income and less than anticipated expenses, Holy Family is in good condition financially. You are the reason – your pledges have exceeded past years’ tallies, and you’ve set the table for enhanced ministries in this new year. 118 pledges totaling $465,500. Of that total, $40,000 is in new pledges from 13 new pledgers.

These totals are remarkable. Give yourselves a round of applause. 

Five years ago, a group of us started strategizing with the diocese to accomplish the final goal in the parish Long Range Plan: “Eliminate the mortgage before refinancing is due in 2023.” Members of the 2019 vestry unanimously endorsed this major step. We reasoned that without mortgage payments we can free the parish for new initiatives in outreach, in ministry, and build a strong platform for Holy Family to thrive into the future. And you now know the mortgage is no longer. It has been burned. As the Monty Pythons might say, “It is deceased.”

I am grateful for all of you, especially as we’re learning how to live in this new era. You keep me focused on what’s most important, and you challenge me and one another to love like Jesus. You can read about the work the vestry and parish leaders have been engaged in over the past year in the annual meeting booklet.

We have added new members to our ministries. They’ve brought strength and purpose. You can read about each ministry’s report in the annual meeting booklet.

Worship: The Worship Ministry is chaired by Ric Sanchez, chief verger. With input from the clergy, vergers, altar guild chair, organist/choirmaster, usher chair, greeters, flower guild and others, we evaluate how services are working, and plan future worship. 

After the third Sunday in Lent three years ago, we started taping the services. A crew of us with no experience used cell phones to tape and process the services through Good Friday. Then we had to move out of the nave and have solo worship recording. Michael DeCamp, Steve Franzen, Allan DeNiro and I (sequentially) sweated through the taping sessions, then spent hours trying to upload the services onto Vimeo.  The parish had enough funds in a restricted account to build and equip the new production booth. Bit by bit we learned and gained more experience and recruited more volunteers to produce the services. We were able to move back into the nave in early summer last year under strict diocesan guidelines for recording and streaming. The production team members became primary evangelists for our parish. They always welcome new producers, particularly now for sound production. No prior experience needed.  

Because of our online presence, folks who didn’t know about Holy Family are seeking us out. Some are contributing online. It is evangelism. Thank you everyone engaged in our services for keeping our liturgy dignified, meaningful, and challenging. You can read Ric’s report in the booklet.

Vestry Initiatives-

Long Range Plan: The new vestry needs to plan for and carry out small group input sessions around the question: “What are the most important things Holy Family should be doing?” This will be the third time parishioners’ combined input has given us direction in updating our Long Range Plan. The LRP guides our work and keeps us on task. 

Working with this year’s vestry has been grace-filled. I am most grateful for all they’ve done. See more in Sr. Warden Jeannine Krenson’s report of the vestry. I find it hard as Roger Shultz, Allan DeNiro, and Julie Gooden rotate off vestry. Rosemary Lovelace was elected in last month’s meeting to fill Judy Wyndham’s unexpired term. All of the vestry have done exceptional work over the past year. The calls you made to parishioners, your leadership during the pledge campaign, kept folks plugged in and contributing, against the trends in the prevailing Church culture. Jeannine’s leadership has kept us on track, has generated plans for developing the parish, and has kept me accountable for the whole year.

I’m pleased I get to continue to serve with those remaining on vestry and those who will join us. We actually have fun together, even when we’re focused on sometimes difficult tasks. 

Enhancing Stewardship of Money:

In 2022 the vestry employed the Every Member Canvass program developed in 2021. The response in turning in pledge cards in fall 2022 was stronger than last year. The vestry members gave excellent leadership in planning and carrying out the stewardship of money campaign. It was thorough and participatory. The canvass just ended was exceptional. Your pledging has equipped the vestry to meet the levels needed for funding parish ministries. You can hear more about the pledge results and the new year’s budget from Finance Ministry Chair Jim Braley and Treasurer Dan Ciomek in the annual meeting.

Finance Ministry: Read the report of the Finance Ministry to learn the details of our use of your pledge dollars. I am most grateful for all of your work and especially for the leadership of Jim Braley as chair, and our treasurer Dan Ciomek.

Clergy Colleagues: Holy Family is blessed with four clergy who volunteer in service to our parish. Their ministries for us are grace-filled, generous and essential to our spiritual and emotional health. To have colleagues like these is an asset beyond measure. Not only do they preach, serve at the altar, lead EFM classes, and serve in the Worship Ministry, they do pastoral calls and push outreach efforts, but we also have fun together. I am daily grateful for Katharine, Byron, Ted and now Bill Harkins who, with Vicky, has moved back into the Jasper area and back to our parish.

Conclusions: How are we doing in accomplishing the mission of the parish: “Creating Christian Community: Engaging people in vibrant ministry”? Your input gives direction and support as parish leaders plan for stronger ministries. Your volunteering puts the plans into action. During challenging times, your participation is a gift of community we all need more of. You can read about all the ministries’ accomplishments in the annual meeting report.

Most important question: Are you engaged in vibrant ministry? If not, volunteer. Engage yourself in the work of a ministry or committee. Seek a higher plane of engagement with the Spirit of Christ. Speak with the leader of the ministry. Your ministries through Holy Family help fulfill your baptismal promises. You find colleagues and friends you haven’t known before. Being engaged multiplies your joy as you work with others in company with the Resurrected Lord of Heaven and Earth. This is a remarkable community of love, support and nurturing, not only for one another, but for the wider community. I am honored to serve as your rector.  G. Yandell

Epiphany III – Byron Tindall

The Epiphany has been celebrated by the church since from around the year 200. By about 320, it was a firmly established tradition.

The Merriam-Webster website partially defines Epiphany as:

“1 capitalized : January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ

2 : an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being”

In the lessons appointed for this the third Sunday after the Epiphany, Matthew has Jesus moving from Nazareth to Capernaum after Jesus learns of John the Baptist’s arrest. This move, according to Matthew, was in order to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. Capernaum, located in Galilee, is probably the modern Tell Hum. Whatever the name of the village, anything in Galilee was considered to be Gentile territory and thus looked down upon by the religious elite of Jesus’s generation.

Isaiah and Matthew were using this region considered to be non-Jewish to further what has become the message of the Epiphany for the western church.

Long before Matthew, Isaiah said that the hated Gentiles would one day share in the coming Glory of the Lord.

R.B.Y. Scott, who lived from 1899–1987, was ordained in the United Church of Canada and was an Old Testament scholar. He wrote about the passage from Isaiah in The Interpreter’s Bible,

“This great utterance of exultant faith bursts like the first light of Creation upon the darkness and chaos of the earth as pictured in the closing part of chapter 8 (of Isaiah). Distress is turned into unspeakable rejoicing, with the overthrow of the oppressor, and the coming to the throne of David of a king whose lofty titles betoken a new age of peace and justice.”

Now, back to the Gospel lesson for today. Matthew has Jesus begin his preaching ministry immediately after the move to Galilee. Then walking along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calls one-third of his closest followers, Peter and Andrew, who were to become fishers of people, and then James and John.

For the next few minutes, I want us to consider and think about what Isaiah said about darkness and light. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light….”

The word light is not used as a simile or metaphor in this instance. It is used to describe the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, a place where God’s justice and peace rule.

Jesus, who probably knew the writing of Isaiah, used light as well as a description of his followers.

In Matthew’s account of what we call the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 5, Jesus said to the crowd of followers, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

The writer of the Gospel according to St. John used light to describe Jesus in the opening verses of his gospel. “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.”

The light of all people, not just the Nation of Israel. There’s the Epiphany message again.

In the 3^rd chapter of John’s gospel, in addition to the famous John 3:16, the word light is used as a substitution for the Kingdom of God. “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

The word “light” was used to describe Jesus a long time before any of the gospels were written. In the 2nd chapter of his gospel, Luke explains how Mary and Joseph complied with the Law of Moses regarding the first-born son.

I’m not going to take the time to read the entire passage, but if you want to read it, it’s found in Luke 2: 22-32.

Simeon met Mary, Joseph and the infant in the temple. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Simeon proclaimed the Epiphany message as he said,

“Lord, you now have set your servant free

to go in peace as you have promised;

For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior,

whom you have prepared for all the world to see:

A Light to enlighten the nations,

and the glory of your people Israel.

“…the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: A Light to enlighten the nations…”

All the world…enlighten the nations. That’s what the Epiphany season is about.

For centuries, the Song of Simeon has been used in the Daily Offices of the Anglican Communion.

Think of all the occasions throughout the liturgical year when light is used. The Advent wreath, Christmas, of course Epiphany, the Great Vigil of Easter, just to name a few. Look at the Altar. The torches used at times in the processional and the reading of the Gospel Lesson.

What does all this mean for us Christians in the 21^st Century?

Just as Peter, Andrew, James, John and the other 8 who were called to follow Him, we, too, as has been said many times before, are called to follow and emulate Him as a light unto the world.

Where we find darkness in the form of injustice, poverty, cruelty, hunger, hatred, war or any other situation that demeans any part of God’s creation, the light of Christ must illuminate it through us, both individually and corporately as the church. Remember, darkness despises the light.

St. Francis of Assisi is said to have told his followers as he sent them out into the world, saying something like, “Go forth into the world and preach the gospel wherever you go. Use words only when absolutely necessary.

“…Let your light shine before others.” Amen.

Epiphany II – Ted Hackett

It’s nice to be back at this pulpit again…

To those who know me…I appreciate your prayers.

For others who do not know, the short story is that I fell at a convenience store, hit my head on a pile of firewood and…as it turns out…had a bad concussion and a couple of minor strokes at the same time. I have been spending lots of time with various physicians and the bottom line is…“do the prescribed exercises, rest a lot, wait…perhaps a year…and hope for the best.”

I am better now, but still suffer from short-term memory difficulties and even if I know you well I may not have your name at the tip of my tongue…

Be charitable with me….it is not because you are not important to me!

I won’t say more…enough is enough!

Now then…a Sermon.

Today is the second Sunday after Epiphany…

The time right after the Epiphany in the Church year is dedicated to exploring who Jesus is…particularly to the Gentiles because Jews had very strong ideas about the Messiah who would rescue them…though Rabbis often disagreed with each other about what and when and how the Messiah would do that.

So today…two weeks into the Season of Epiphany…we get this sort of long passage from the Gospel of John which declares over and over, in different ways…that Jesus is the Messiah…

Jesus is the Savior and not just of the Jews, but of everyone!

That’s why the Wise Men who visit Him at the manger, represent the three different races of the world…

He is the Savior of the world!

So if you want, take your bulletin and turn to the page toward the back and follow along as we look at the Gospel reading together. I’ll wait.

First thing…John…the prophet who some people thought was Messiah…declares that Jesus is Messiah…

He calls Him the “Lamb of God.”

The Lamb of course, by Jesus’ time, had become the most important sacrificial animal. 

Lambs were killed…sacrifices…just before Passover and were eaten at the Passover meals.

So Jesus’ sacrifice is foreshadowed…

He is the Lamb of God.

Then the Gospel speaks of Jesus’ Divine Status…His eternal being…The Baptist says: “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because He was before me”…This you see, refers back to the hymn John quotes in the first words of his Gospel…

“In the beginning was the Word…

And the Word was with God…

And the Word was God!”

Jesus is…somehow…God…

Then John “testifies”…“I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it remained on him.”

It’s important to remember the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

If you have ever been to St. Mark’s Square in Venice you will have had pigeons “descend” on you….and if it doesn’t creep you out, they land very gently. This is where we get all the Church banners and windows with the Dove in them.

And toward the end of the reading, Andrew…the Apostle Peter’s brother, says to Peter. “We have found the Messiah!”…

John can’t be much clearer than that…

Jesus is the Messiah, the One who has the Holy Spirit…

The One who is Divine…

Who is eternally Divine…

Who will make the great Sacrifice that will deliver us from Sin and death?!

Who will be the Lamb of God

If you want to push it…You could say, along with Martin Luther…

That “God suffered death in order that we might live!”

“Forever!”

So, really, in less than a full page, John tells us very clearly that Jesus is divine… in fact, probably God!

God who is willing to become a human being and to be a sacrificial victim…a lamb, for our sake. That he is anointed and ordained by the Holy Spirit…

And that he is, in fact, the long-awaited Messiah who will deliver Israel…and all of us…from bondage…the bondage of sin…and will give everyone everlasting life!

That’s a lot packed into one page of scripture…

And it’s wonderful stuff…

By enduring a lamb-like death… Jesus takes away our sin…

And Satan’s evil is undone…    

Alleluia! …

But…    

There is a big problem…

Hundreds dying in Ukraine…

Women and children fleeing while their country is reduced to rubble…

And all over the world people…many children…starving because Ukrainian wheat fields are now rubble.

And if American U.S. voters make certain decisions…Ukrainian resistance will be killed off…

Women are being ground under the heel of a perverted, medieval Muslim regime in Afghanistan…

Poor people are shivering on the streets of Atlanta…

Some died in the recent sub-zero temperatures.

In Africa…people are killing one another in the cause of political power…

And in this country…there is no shortage of people who will cynically play the American people off against each other…simply to gain the illusion of power…

And political and economic power is always an illusion…

Powerful people are usually scared…

A reporter once asked the billionaire J. Paul Getty if he had enough money…

Getty said: “No, I need just a little more to be safe!”

Greed comes from fear…

And the fear comes from thinking we are all alone…

Thinking we have to take care of ourselves…

And, of course, there is never enough to ensure safety…

Jesus told the parable of the rich man who spent his life piling up riches to be secure…

And when he had an enormous amount…

He died in his sleep! 

We can’t protect ourselves from fear and anxiety…

And fear and anxiety are the Devil’s tools…

As he tempted Jesus with power and wealth…

So he tempts us with self-sufficiency and the illusion of security…

So what does that have to do with Jesus?…

God and Human, walking around in Palestine talking about the “Kingdom of God?”…

What does it have to do with a man in simple clothes and no possessions telling people, in effect, to sell their possessions, give them to the poor…and trust God?

Certainly he isn’t telling us to do that…

That’s crazy…that’s stupid…

That’s…unrealistic…

But Jesus says….over and over….that …somehow…

This is the Kingdom of God…

The strange freedom that St. Frances and others have found when they gave everything over to God…

They knew…we know that the Kingdom of God…in its perfection…is not here…

And it doesn’t look like it will come soon…though we just spent Advent praying for it to come…

And under the circumstances,

Very few of us can sell all that we have to follow our Lord…

Because what really binds us…

What really haunts us at night…

What really prevents us from taking care of others…

What really prevents us from loving…

Loving our neighbors…

Loving those different from us…

Even loving those who are mean,

What prevents us….is…fear and distrust…

The Kingdom of God…

Sure…not the Kingdom in its fullness…

When the Lion shall lie down with the Lamb…

But a little piece of the Kingdom…

A momentary flash like lightning when the Landscape of the Kingdom of God is revealed to us…and then goes dark again…

A foretaste of that kingdom of perfect fulfillment and grace…

The kind absence of fear and anxiety…

The experience of peace and joy that we may have glimpsed on Christmas…

The Peace of God that passes all understanding

The unutterable joy of the Kingdom of God!

Jesus said: “The Kingdom of God is among you”…

In those wonderful moments when you watch your granddaughter see the Christmas tree and her eyes widen…

When you give someone you love a gift they have wanted…

When you visit the woman in jail who has no family…

When you work a food kitchen…

When you bend to speak to a homeless beggar…

In those countless moments of grace                                 

There is the Kingdom of God…

There is a glimpse of the Peace of God that passes all understanding!

And you become the bearer of the Kingdom…

If I may dare to say it…

In those moments…you like the Blessed Mary…Are the bearer of Jesus Christ. You are a sign of God’s Kingdom!

1 Epiphany – George Yandell

The account of the baptism of Jesus begins a pattern in the ministry of Jesus we don’t take seriously enough: Jesus continually pushes those in his kingdom movement to serve. Stanley Hauerwas says John was calling Israel to repentance as a nation. Jesus is all about Israel turning to God, because the kingdom of heaven, where the poor are blessed, is coming. [Adapted from an article in the “Christian Century”, January 2023 issue.]  He doesn’t limit the power of God to his own ministry. Matthew’s story of the baptism, when set with the other gospel accounts, offers a subtle but powerful pattern: the grounding, the program of the Messiah, is imbuing power to all those who come after Jesus to continue God’s mission of bringing new life. [ibid]

When John the baptizer protests that he should be baptized by Jesus and not Jesus by him, it foreshadows what will come further on in the gospel: Jesus demurs claiming for himself messiah-like authority and power, as many expected the messiah to do. John wants to reverse the action about to take place. The messiah Jesus intends John to continue his own work; Jesus expects to carry out his mission alongside John. Jesus intends them both to serve the earth rather than ruling it. [ibid] His passion for God means he takes the form of a servant, as Paul says in Philippians.  He is a different messiah than most expected. 

Jesus insists regularly from this point on that the power to heal the world is from the Holy Spirit. Jesus builds his mission by submitting to the Spirit’s power then sharing it with all who come to him, multiplying its effect. [ibid] As the Acts reading has it, Peter says, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears god and does what is right is acceptable to God….The message God sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.” // Jesus is Lord of all people.

Dom Crossan has said that John the baptizer was ritually re-enacting the Hebrew people crossing the river Jordan into the promised land after the death of Moses. [Notes from lecture at Calvary Church, Memphis, Feb. 27, 2008.] So all those who came out into the wilderness to the Jordan River and were baptized by John were crossing over into a new promise. They entered a new expectation through the water of the Jordan. 

Recognizing Jesus as the reason for his baptizing ministry must have made John shake with amazement and wonder- the holy Spirit had moved him to initiate his baptizing movement, and in front of him was the one for whom he was preparing. For John, Jesus himself WAS the promised new kingdom of God.

The spirit that Jesus imbues is not limited to his own band of followers. Holy Spirit work is diffused and more radical than we in the Church often care to admit. We don’t have a franchise on the good news and its action of renewal and grace. Sometimes the ‘greater things’ that Jesus foretells that his colleagues will do, is done for and at the hands of outcasts or those outside the circle of belief: tax collectors, Roman soldiers, Samaritans. Those of us who are baptized and regularly come to the table and know we are beloved by God don’t have an exclusive franchise on the Holy Spirit’s kingdom work. 

We should expect that words and actions of truth, justice and healing will be spoken outside our walls for us to see and hear. Deeds pleasing to God will be carried out by those who don’t worship with us nor follow our program of ministry. Whenever we think we’ve established the turf for doing Jesus’ work, the Holy Spirit sets up camp just beyond our program’s reach. [Christian Century article adapted.]

Once I was taught a lesson about exclusive claims to ministry. I was a young priest, the vicar of St. James the Less Church in Madison, TN, a suburb just north of Nashville. I was confronted by a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor in a clergy meeting. The group of us met regularly to pray and carry out mutual ministry. We were planning the annual community Thanksgiving service and deciding who we should invite to participate. Someone suggested we invite Ira North, the pastor of the world’s then largest Church of Christ- the conservative group sometimes called Cambell-ites. That gigantic Church was two miles from where were meeting in the Roman Catholic Church. I piped up, “We don’t need to invite him, he’ll never come- his congregation looks down on the rest of us as not being true Jesus followers.” The Adventist pastor said, kindly, “George, I’ve discovered I need to be with folk most different from me to see how God works through them. I vote we invite Ira to participate in the program.” And all of us voted to invite Ira and his congregation to participate. I never forgot what the Adventist pastor told me.

If every Baptized Christian is to be a minister of God’s unending blessing on all creation, then we take our bearing from the promises made in our baptisms. They direct us to be as deeply immersed in the world as Jesus is. [ibid] Our baptisms open us to God’s kingdom work, whoever does it. Our baptisms drive us to cooperate wherever the Spirit inspires people to submit to the Spirit’s power. The program of Jesus demands we share the work of the Holy Spirit with all who are placed in our path, multiplying its effect.  Let us renew our Baptismal Covenant on page 292 of the Prayer Book.

Pondering the Time Being – Bill Harkins

Luke 2:15-21

2:15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

2:16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

2:17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;

2:18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

2:19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

2:21 After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

In the Name of the God of Creation who loves us all, Amen.

I bid each of you good morning, Happy New Year, and a heartfelt welcome to Holy Family on this first Sunday after Christmas!  Just a week ago we heard the lovely narrative from the Gospel of Luke, telling us of the earthly origins of Jesus in the form of the birth and infancy narratives of which we are all so fond. The Gospel of John, in contrast, does not include an account of the birth of Christ as do Luke, from whom we hear this morning, and Matthew, both of whom are ever the storytellers. They charm us with angels and shepherds, a virgin birth in a stable, a villain named Herod, and heroes in the form of peripatetic kings. John, who is more of a theologian, gives us in those first 18 verses pure poetry in the form of a lovely Christological hymn and a dazzling, paradoxical conundrum: the light by which everyone sees came into the world, yet the world did not see it. And this morning we hear of the shepherds who also needed to bear witness in person to the light, and Mary ponders in her heart these words.

These mysteries can sometimes raise as many questions as they answer. For example I wonder if, when Mary says, “Let it be with me according to your word” after Gabriel’s announcement in Luke (1:38), the temptation is to consider her as passively surrendering to God. But her Magnificat suggests otherwise. She boldly reminds God of who God is. The God of “our ancestors” is the one who “scatters the proud” and “brings down the powerful from their thrones and lifts up the lowly” (vv. 51, 52). Mary’s word of consent in Greek (genoito [“let it be”]) recalls God’s first command in creation: “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3). By agreeing to God’s word, Mary is mandating God’s creative, justice-making word for the world, the Word whom she will mother into being. Knowing the power of Mary’s agency, I can easily imagine something left unsaid by Luke after Mary sang her song: God whispering in awe, “Let it be.” 

We, too, dear ones, participate in this Holy narrative. The 13th century philosopher, theologian, and mystic Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) echoed this: “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?”  What might it mean for us to ponder in our hearts, as flawed and finite human beings, this Divine invitation to be light bearers, here and now? How do we ponder and discern this Incarnational invitation even as we, too, are vulnerable to not seeing the light that may shine in our midst? How do we live into the invitation, the mandate, to let the same mind be in us which was in Christ Jesus? It is so easy to forget.   Are we, like the shepherds, willing to make the arduous journey to bear witness to the light? And perhaps more important, are we willing to be light bearers ourselves?

Last year, on the night after the winter solstice, my running buddies and I ventured once again into the darkness of the trail, with our headlamps lighting the way until we reached a place we affectionately call “Beech Cove.” Deep in the woods, alongside a lovely brook, we turned off our headlamps and let the darkness settle in around us. The water could be heard in a new way, and above us Orion and Perseus were visible. Wendell Berry, our American treasure, wrote this about the dark: “To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet, and dark wings.” Anyone who has spent time in the woods at night will know the truth of this poem, and its paradoxical lesson that we know the light, in part, because we are willing to become familiar with the dark. And, sometimes we know the dark by virtue of the fact that we are human, and vulnerable, and in spite of this, amid our darkest moments, we see glimpses of light. May we be mindful and discerning, lest we fall into a simplistic, binary sensibility of light over darkness. “The light shines in the darkness, and darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1) The witness is not that the light abolishes the darkness; the light is known as light because it burns in the dark.

And this is where the Gospels of John and Luke speak to one another, in dialectic fashion perhaps. Now, in Christ, we can gaze upon God, both human and divine, just as light—the Word—is both particle and wave, and in seeing Him we see who we were meant to be. We are reminded of W.H. Auden’s similarly paradoxical Christmas Oratorio in which he wrote: “To those who have seen the child, however dimly, however incredulously, The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all…we look round for something, no matter what, to inhibit our self-reflection.” This being human can be so very hard, until we remember that we are held in the hands of a God who chose not to leave us alone.

Some 25 years ago now, I was serving a small parish tucked away the mountains of north Georgia. I was by now was teaching full-time, and very early each Sunday morning Vicky and I would make our way up I-575 to this wonderful place where I began my formal journey to the priesthood under the wise and watchful tutelage of the rector, also a bi-vocational priest. The people there were warm, and gracious, and forgiving of my rooky mistakes, my awkwardness with the liturgy, and my efforts to find my voice in the pulpit. They were, and they remain, a grace-filled blessing for us. On this particular Christmas Eve I arrived mid-afternoon to prepare for the 4:00pm service. That year, as was true this year, winter came early, and stayed long. As I drove north the radio was replete with warnings about freezing rain, sleet, and snow. The second service that evening was to have been an ecumenical effort, with our parish hosting the choirs of the local Lutheran and Catholic churches and by late afternoon both had canceled for fear of driving the icy mountain roads. Shortly after I arrived, amidst the excitement of the preparations for the services to come, a parishioner mentioned to me that his father lay dying in the local county hospital, and asked me to pray for him, and for his family. I gave him a hug, told him I was sorry, and that I would remember his father in my prayers. And I was swept up in the services that continued through the evening, and ended with the midnight mass. The weather continued to worsen, and I began to wonder if I would be able to make the drive back home where my family waited, having attended services closer to home on that wintry night. By midnight the sleet could be heard against the windows as Luke’s Gospel was read, and the light indeed shone in the darkness of this deep December winter night. After the final service of the night I walked out into the storm, and, perhaps foolishly, decided to try to make it home. I wanted to be with Vicky and the boys to celebrate Christmas with them the next morning, and I wanted to sleep in my own bed.

Slowly, I made my way from the church into town. As I came to the intersection that would take me out to the highway and home, the light turned red, and as I applied my brakes I slid on the ice midway into the abandoned intersection, my car, now pointing left, to the east, and my right-hand turn signal blinking on and off, keeping time with my windshield wipers in the frozen darkness of that dark town. And, sitting thus askance in the middle of the road, my blinker now meaninglessly indicating a right-hand turn, I remembered my parishioner’s father, lying in the hospital down the road to the left. So, I turned left. A couple of miles down the two-lane road lay the old county hospital, ageing and almost defunct, with a newer, much larger facility now just down the highway towards Atlanta. I made my way up the icy steps to the lobby, where a pitiful Christmas tree now bereft of most of its needles, worthy of a Charlie Brown Christmas, sat forlornly on an institutional metal table now bending beneath the weight of too many decorations. The reception desk was empty, and I paused at an intersection of four hospital corridors leading off like spokes on a wheel, or like being at the center of a cross. I was lost.

Choosing one corridor, I walked halfway, about to turn around, when a nurse appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and said “You must be here to see Mr. Lewis.” “Yes. I am,” I said, wondering how she could have known. “This way,” she said, leading me to a single room where a man lay amidst a tangle of tubes and wires, his breathing shallow and raspy with the aid of a respirator. I turned to ask the nurse about this, and she was nowhere to be found. Carefully, I made my way into the room, and stood for a moment beside the bed. Suddenly I felt very tired, and a little out of place. I did not know this man—had never laid eyes on him until this moment—and I had only a passing acquaintance with his son, our parishioner, whose comment earlier in the evening somehow, mysteriously, led me here. I did not know what to do, or say. I pause here to remind myself, and all of us, that I was by now a professor of psychology and religion and pastoral care—the irony of which did not escape me in that moment—but I felt as if I were wandering a trail alone at night, without a light to guide me. I was in the dark. I said a perfunctory silent prayer—I had thoughtlessly left my Prayer Book in the car—and I turned around and left the room. I wanted to go home. About half-way down the hall I heard the nurse call out behind me. “You probably already know this,” she said, “but the last sense we lose before we die is the ability to hear. I just thought you would want know…If you didn’t already know…which you probably did.” And then she disappeared into another room. I stood there for a moment, feeling foolish, but somehow emboldened, and I went back down the hall and into the room. This time, I carefully made my way into the tangle of wires and tubes, and sat on the bed, and took his hands in mine. And I prayed out loud, in a clear voice. I asked God to shepherd this man’s transition home, and to welcome him there, and to bless his passing and be with those who loved him, and comfort them. And I told him that God was with him, and would not leave him, ever, no matter what. And I sat there for a while, listening to the sleet hitting the windows and the respirator breathing in and out, and the sound of my own breathing, now calmer. And then I went home. Before I left, I tried to find the Christmas angel so cleverly disguised as a nurse, and I could not. Where had she gone? Had she been there at all? Could this dying man hear me? I do not know. But I do know this; the light of the forlorn Christmas tree in the darkened lobby of that old hospital has stayed with me, and reminds me that the Word on that evening penetrated even the darkness of my inadequate, hesitant, finite, and all too human brokenness. Grace. That’s the word. Sometimes, in the darkness, despite ourselves, we catch a glimpse of it…and of the light from which it comes.

Each human soul, my sisters and brothers, is sacred and unique, and Christ dwells there, too. Let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus, so that each of us might in the particularity of the “time being,” and the sacred landscape of our souls, give birth to that light. God has poured upon us the new light of God’s Incarnate Word. Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives. Amen

Christmas Day – George Yandell

C. S. Lewis always liked to say that God has a way of making straight paths into crooked lines. 

Sometimes when meeting folks who are unfamiliar with the life of the church or its ministry, it might help us to repeat this mantra: “You know—most of us are just not able to schedule a crisis.” That seems so true of our lives, whatever ‘crisis’ we might face – a crisis of illness and death, or the crisis of unexpected joy and good fortune; we simply cannot schedule what eventually shapes a great deal of our lives. Our life of faith is about seeking and accepting the unseen hand of God when it moves, and accepting the uncertainty of where it may lead us. 

I imagine ‘crisis’ was very much on the minds of Joseph and Mary as they fulfilled their state obligations of census and taxes on the road to Bethlehem. Has it ever been easy to schedule the birth of a child? In those weeks that would become our first Advent, on that night that would become our first Christmas, I’d guess that Joseph and Mary might have thought or uttered the word “crisis,” either under their breath or in the depth of their hearts. “What in God’s name is going to happen next?” 

The unseen hand of heaven was moving through their lives, all the tables turning, and they had no way of knowing how or where things might end. No way to make a market forecast. No real plan B or C, except to hang on for dear life, and bed down where the Lord might make a place for them — a stable, a manger, unknown surroundings filled with nothing but God’s promise, and ultimately God’s love. 

One of the most powerful insights C. S. Lewis ever shared is that all of Western history—all of its wars, its art, its music, its literature; the great cathedrals of Europe, the Sistine Chapel, the discovery of America, the rise and fall of kings, tyrants, and governments—all have hinged on the simple beauty of a girl saying her prayers. A young woman at prayer has shaped the world we have inherited, the world we share, and the world we give to our children. That young woman is Mary, and the prayer she offers is one of faith, courage, and hope in the face of what for her, and for Joseph, must have been a “crisis.” 

In what “best of all possible worlds” would a young woman ever desire to have her child born on the road, in the back of a garage, in the presence of a man who was not actually the father of her child? And yet, it is Mary’s crisis, it is her faithfulness, that opens another doorway to how we live our lives and the history that we build and share on our journey.

Mary holding her baby in a stable, in a garage, is one of the reasons that we know God has compassion on those who suffer uncertainty and tragedy in life; because that is how Christ himself enters the world—in the midst of the worst of all possible circumstances. The baby who arrives in Bethlehem is not on the world’s schedule; He is the unexpected guest. This baby is the crisis none could foresee, but whom everyone ultimately will desire and need.

If we are traveling the crooked lines hoping to make a straight journey, God travels with us. God comes to guide, encourage, laugh with us. God comes to weep with us, and dry our tears. God knows, from the inside-out of a crisis, what it means to take the detours as we make our way home. 

Be at peace, my friends, the King of Peace was born into our uncertainties so that we might know the certainty of his love. God is with us.  (Adapted frm the Very Rev. Alston B. Johnson, St. Mark’s, Shreveport, LA, as reprinted in the Anglican Digest, Autumn 2013.)

Christmas Eve – George Yandell

Who or what affects you most strongly in the birth story of Jesus? With whom do you identify? Is it Joseph? Or the inn-keeper, or the shepherds? What about the other guests in the inn? I suspect many of us identify with Mary. Maybe it’s too much to focus on Jesus – but we might be well-served this Christmas to do so. 

What exactly are the ‘inn’ and the ‘manger’ described in Luke? Those terms fit well with what we know from the later Ottoman Empire. Its ruined caravansaries still border the Silk Road in central Turkey. (Caravansary literally means “camel-caravan-palaces”.) A more primitive version of those structures was likely found in Bethlehem. The inn had a gated enclosure with a central courtyard for the animals; around that were covered rooms without doors from which the animals’ owners could keep an eye on their livestock. Toward the back there were regular closed rooms. Luke mentions those details not only to emphasize the poverty of the holy family, but to be as accurate as possible. As the census drew so many to Bethlehem, the closed and private rooms were gone, and so were all the covered and semi-private ones around the open courtyard. Therefore Jesus was born among the animals in that open courtyard and laid in one of their feeding troughs. [Adapted from The First Christmas, Borg and Crossan, 2007, p. 150]

Had you ever considered that Jesus was born under the starlit sky, no roof, nothing but starlight to be one of the first blurry sights his eyes caught? It gives me a chill, then an understanding. As a gospel passage quotes the grownup Jesus, “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head” but under the heavens.

What about the shepherds? The frightened shepherds became God’s messengers. They organized, made haste, found others, and spoke with them. Don’t we all want to become shepherds and catch sight of the angel? I think so. [Adapted from DorotheeSoelle in On Earth as inHeaven, Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993].

“Mary treasured all these things in her heart.” All beautiful, all touching, but what must it really have been like for a young mother giving birth in a cold, dark stable?For her, life already had been tough. She was, after all, questionable.

Pregnant and not yet properly married, the villagers probably whispered. Birth is messy and scary at best, but in a stable, or a parked car, or a tenement house, or a shack built on a garbage dump? Many women today can relate to Mary’s concern and fear. Our manger scenes, our art, our music are often too pretty, too warm, too safe.

“Mary treasured all these things in her heart.” I’m sure she treasured the lovely things, the joy of the shepherds, the pride Joseph felt, the birth of her beloved Child. But she also treasured the troubling things, the questions, the fear, the tensions—she held them in her soul, dealing with them with courage and faith.

The example of Mary is profound. We might learn how better to treasure many things in our hearts and let those treasures teach us to be more human, [more loving, more trusting]. [Adapted from Susanna Metz in “Synthesis,” December 2019 issue.]

If we focus on Jesus, we come to realize we are gathered to celebrate and make known what is unique to Christianity alone: that God has become one of us. In this neonate, suckling at his mother’s breast, is the enfleshment of God. Here lies God’s ultimate self disclosure, God’s ultimate risk-taking, God’s bright exclamation point to the proclamation God makes at Christmas: “I love you!”

Some call it the “vulgarity of God” to stoop so low, to descend so far, to leave Power and Glory so far behind. And the miracle of miracles occurs in a nameless place, to obscure peasant Jews, broke and fearful, who simply seek to start a family and to live a decent life for this their first-born child. The only witnesses are livestock and shepherds who arrive later, looking like people from a homeless shelter. No trumpets, no fanfare, no attendants, no OBGYNs or nurses, no incubated nurseries to announce the world-changing event, or to make the birth any safer or easier.

This is God in the raw. Who could have invented such a story but God? Some call it the “scandal of particularity.” The Timeless has entered time. The Boundless, Limitless One has become limited. The Nameless has become named. The All Powerful has become the most powerless of all—a newborn child. The Universal and Unlimited One has become “particularized,” in a specified time and place. [Adapted from King Oehmig in “Synthesis”, December 2013 issue.]

All of the participants together tell us we are to participate with God in bringing about the world promised by Jesus’ birth. Rather than waiting for God to bring heaven to earth, we are to collaborate with God. [Adapted from The First Christmas, Borg and Crossan, 2007, p. 241] Christmas is the mandate for all Christians to make God present every day, in every precinct. God is with us. We are all included.

Morton Kelsey once said, “I myself am very glad the divine child was born in a stable, because my soul is very much like the stable, filled with strange, unsatisfied longings with guilt and animal-like impulses, tormented by anxiety, inadequacy, and pain.  If the Holy [Child Jesus] could be born in such a place, the One can be born in me also. I am not excluded.” [Morton Kelsey, quoted in “Anglican Digest”, Winter 2016 issue, p. 30.]

In just a moment, you’ll hear and are invited to sing the first 4 stanzas of the haunting hymn [60], “Creator of the Stars of Night”- the mystery of the birth of Jesus is expanded when you consider the prologue of the Gospel of John. “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. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

The infant Jesus, looking at the stars above the manger in the courtyard of the inn- that infant son of Mary and Joseph- he was looking up at the stars he had created. It kind of blows the mind, doesn’t it? The Christ made flesh, living among us, is God’s agent, God’s own son. This moment, we are breathing atoms of air that Jesus himself breathed. The stars above us, he knew as creator. Listen and join in singing if you wish, to a part of Hymn 60, printed in your service sheets. I hear the mystery expanding as the music sings of the impossible- the creator of the stars of night is born among us. 

Advent – 4A – George Yandell

I knew Mary. She was in first through third grades with me and she went to my Church. Mary was a freckle-faced strawberry blond who walked home from school with me. Her eyes were crossed and she wore light blue-framed glasses with thick lenses that swept up at the temples. She was shy and didn’t talk much. Sometimes in class she had to step up close to the chalkboard and squint to make out the figures Mrs. McGuffy had written. Once in Sunday School class, Mary was being made fun of by two nasty little boys because she couldn’t see too well. I’d never heard Mary raise her voice before that, but she lit into those two boys – “You don’t think I can see you making fun of me. I can. I’m smart, and I know lots of things you don’t know. For one, my name means ‘one who is loved.’ I know that God loves me, and even loves you. But I don’t know why He loves you. But He does.” And they were stunned to silence. As were all of us third graders. She earned my respect in a big way. For years after, whenever I heard about Mary, mother of Jesus, I always pictured her with light blue glasses, in the image of my friend Mary from down the street. They may have more in common than you’d think.

Mary of Nazareth was given a new title by teachers of the Church almost 175 years after Jesus’ birth. By 451 her title was considered orthodox and accepted widely by the Church. The title = Theotokos = God-Bearer. In today’s gospel, we’re like flies on the wall when Joseph wrestles with the fact of Mary’s conception. When the angel appears to Joseph in a dream and calmed his fears, urging him to wed Mary, the angel tells him to name their son Jesus. You can actually read that passage, “You shall call his name ‘Savior’ because he will save.” The gospel writer distills all that the angel told Joseph, saying, “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, ‘Look, the young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.’”

Such is the nature of hope for us. God is erupting in human history to be with us. Time collapses around events when the eternal intrudes into the finite. For God, there are (at least) two kinds of time: Fat time and skinny time. Skinny time is clock time – it only goes one direction – it is long and lean. Called in Greek “chronos”. My watch is called a chronograph, and so it is. Fat time is eruptive explosive time, time without boundaries. Fat time is birthing time. Infinity exists in fat time now – God who has no beginning and no end, lives primarily in fat time. In Greek, “Chiros.”

The prophecies Mary recounts in her song says that God makes fat time happen in skinny time. The result is that the low will be exalted, the hungry filled with good things. Essentially, God’s love will reign on earth; in fact, it already does reign. God is in the process, therefore the process is already full.

For this group of Christians here called out, hope is the pooled desires and needs of us all. It is hope that we will be transformed into the people of God’s love. Hope is faith facing the future. Mary gives us the template for living that hope. Mary began that process of transformation, yet unfolding. It requires us also to say “yes” to God daily. Our hope is too precious to be soft-pedaled. We need to live toward God as she did.

You can imagine, then, when leaders of the Church proclaimed Mary as “God-bearer,” that some would balk. Lots did. Yet the wisdom of the Church says that we can call Mary no less than the bearer of God than we can call Jesus any less than God’s own Son. The hope of Christians everywhere is fulfilled. It has all come to pass. A young woman said “Yes” to God, and Jesus was conceived in her womb. The event to come has already happened – we’re embraced by God’s Son even while we’re humans on this tortured earth. We are graced with heavenly hope – hope that took flesh and was nurtured in the womb of a peasant woman. “Our spirit rejoices in God our Savior.”

So what does Mary mother of God have in common with my neighbor Mary? I believe Mary of Nazareth was a simple young woman of faith, maybe 13 or 14 years old. The two Marys both stood up for themselves, and for others of us. I learned from my neighbor Mary that quietness doesn’t mean weakness. Same with the mother of Jesus. She opened her heart, her entire self to God, and became the bearer of God’s love. For that she was blemished in the eyes of her future husband, and certainly her family. Yet she was brave beyond expectations. And she led others to believe, beyond what they thought possible. More than anything, the two Mary’s have taught me that seeing with the heart is soo much more important than seeing with my eyes. That’s why when I think of Mary, I see God rejoicing with her, and all of us who stand up and proclaim God’s love come among us.