December 23, 2012

Bulletin December 23, 2012 4^th Sunday Advent C

Micah 5:1-4; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-47

What a wonderful set of readings to prepare for the great feast of Christmas: “God with us.” Not only is God with me and each person every second of our lives; everything works out in accordance with His plan. So am I conscious of God’s movements or am I hung up on the way I want things? I remember a former bishop once giving me some advice when a certain set of people were very controlling … he said, “It’s like when we were kids and playing with some friends…everyone was having fun…but one said, “I want to do this…if we don’t I’m going to take my ball and go home.’ So the bishop said, let them go home with their ball and you enjoy the people you’re with, not those who only want it their way.”
In being ‘tuned in’…‘aware’…’open’ to look at things that happen in my life with eyes on God’s presence and providence, I can see how He is always drawing me closer to Himself and His love and leading me closer to the person He created me to be.
I see in the readings today how God ‘surprised’ the Jewish people with His plans for the coming Messiah. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah; very little is known about him but that he came from a very obscure village in the foothills. The introduction to his writing says “With burning eloquence he attacked the rich exploiters of the poor, fraudulent merchants, venal judges, corrupt priests and prophets.” His writing is short: seven chapters, seven pages. His prophecy today shares how the messiah will come from an insignificant village rather that the Royal City of Jerusalem. This new ruler will rule like a shepherd who leads, protects and provides for those in his care. I look back at my life and the many directions it has taken and the times that I thought, ‘I’ll just never get through this?’ And I did…God was so present…yet how often I just complained and didn’t express my gratitude. Now I look at His way…and it was definitely right…and He led me, protected me and cared for me each step of the way. God’s way enabled me even in the hurts and sufferings to be strong and to touch others with ‘I know how you feel.’
Reginald H. Fuller’s acclaimed work ‘Preaching the Lectionary’ beautifully explains Paul’s epistle today: “This reading is also used on the feast of the Annunciation (March 25), a day with which this Sunday has much in common. It is one of the most important passages in Hebrews, for it defines Christ’s sacrifice as the offering of His body (that is, the instrument of His will) in obedience to His Father. This, says, the author of Hebrews, building upon Psalm 40), is the whole raison d’être of the incarnation. Christ took a body so as to have an instrument by which to offer this perfect obedience to the will of God. The choice of this reading today is a salutary reminder, needed particularly at this time of year, not to dissociate the incarnation from its supreme goal, the atonement. Bethlehem was the prelude to Golgotha.” Paul is telling me that doing God’s will is supreme in my life. Jesus came into the world to do His Father’s will. So what is God’s will for me… to be in heaven forever with Him. How do I accomplish this…by living, by loving, by being Jesus to each person and situation that God places me in? God is where I am at now…the present is the way I am brought to salvation; not the way I would like it to be. And the ultimate example of this is Mary.

She certainly didn’t plan on being the mother of God; she certainly didn’t envision the circumstances around His birth. I’m sure she thought they would live in this nice little house in Nazareth around family and friends. Going to Bethlehem, giving birth surrounded by animals with no creature comforts, and then having to pull up roots and run away from a tyrant who was jealous and watching out only for himself wasn’t part of her thoughts. The predictions by Simeon of the pain and horribleness of what would be offered no comfort I’m sure. But she knew and trusted that God would not desert her; would not embarrass her; would be leading, protecting and caring for her, Joseph and Jesus every step of the way. She comes to Elizabeth to shout out her joy and gratitude to God. Elizabeth is so inspired that she proclaims her faith in the child that Mary is carrying. She realizes that she is in the presence of God and she expresses her joy. How often do I realize that I am in the presence of God? I could say that it happens in church or in joyful celebrations or in the amazing beauty of God that surrounds me. But God is just as present in the street person holding up a cardboard asking for money. He’s in the leper I saw in Haiti that I had such a hard time in embracing; He’s in the beautiful great grand niece that I just christened; He’s in Jesus on the cross with his bloodied body and dying for me and all.

Mary asked for help every day to keep her focus on God and His plan. Did she understand it…NO…did she want to peek in to the future…maybe…but she stayed focused on the now where God showed Himself. These next day’s I’m entering into the stories surrounding the birth of Jesus. God’s Son came into the lives of ordinary people and transformed them. God made these people part of His plan for the salvation of the world. Somehow I’m a part of that plan too; that’s the only way life makes sense. God’s loving plan continues to be worked out in and through me. Am I open to God’s plan? Am I asking for the help that I need to live through each moment of His plan? Do I trust as Mary trusted that God will not desert me, will not embarrass me, but will be leading, protecting and caring for me? So I reflect on thoughts from Sacred Space 2013:

• Do I realize that God is with me each moment but even more importantly God is within me?
  
• So I have the ability and giftedness to share God’s life-giving presence in my body, in my mind, in my heart and in my interaction with others. This is how I envision Mary…do I do this or do I hold more of myself in just for me?
  
• God loves me just the way I am now. Do I love others that come into my life just the way they are ‘now’? What do I need from the Spirit to let this happen?
  
• “When I encounter someone for the first time, do I perceive and respect that person as a son or daughter of God? What about the people I meet on a day-today basis?