A Personal Audience with God?

Advent 4b, Luke 1:26-38 with II Samuel 7:1-16 in b.g. (December 18, 2011)

Does God ever speak to you, ask you for anything?

 

You heard me correctly. I asked you, "Does God ever speak to you, asking you to do or say or give something of yourself to others for God?" These are important questions – not easily answered, for they require much more than words or even thoughts. These questions require obedience in our lives, risks, venturing often beyond our comfort zone.

 

We are somewhat familiar with Mary's story. But I wonder, just how familiar are we? Luke tells us that an angel was sent to Mary. We have our conceptions of angels – like some sort of winged creatures – ethereal, maybe even nice. I am not sure if any one of us truly knows what an angel looks like. But at their core angels are messengers of God. That's right – angels speak something from God to a person or to a group of people.

 

Think about that for a moment. Attempt to think about that from Mary's perspective. She very likely could have been 12-15 years old. She lived in a patriarchal society – that is a society completely and absolutely controlled by men.  Mary's status was determined firstly by her father – and perhaps in a while by her soon to be husband. She didn't have any status, any earning power on her own. Her voice would not have mattered to the society outside of her home, her family.

 

On top of that for a woman to be pregnant who wasn't married was shameful – perhaps even punishable by death. At the very least if she became pregnant – and her fiancée Joseph wasn't the father – well what would he think? What would he do? Would he abandon her?

 

I want us to understand a little bit of what Mary's life was like.

 

Nevertheless God's messenger, Gabriel, comes to Mary – yes Mary, and greets her directly. We are allowed to listen in. "Greetings favoured one. The LORD IS WITH YOU!"

 

It's no small wonder that Mary is perplexed. A representative FROM GOD is speaking TO HER. What sort of greeting might this be? She ponders this, wondering about it.

 

What would you do – if you heard a message from God directed specifically to you?

 

The messenger doesn't stop there though – with this announcement that she is favoured, that God is with her. Oh no! That's only the beginning. The angel Gabriel proceeds.

 

The angel tells her in so many words that she is not to be afraid, that she has found favour with God.  That may be like me telling those of you prone to worry, not to worry. Good luck with that.  Then the angel continues with this incredible announcement. The gist of it is that Mary is to conceive a child and bear a son, and name him of all names, Jesus, which Mary knows means God saves, God delivers, God rescues. Not only that but the angel tells Mary that her son will be great and will be called GOD'S SON and will somehow REIGN FOREVER – that his power will never end.

 

Think about that. It all has to sound impossible to Mary. I mean on so many fronts – that she, Mary, would be the mother of some kind of king. That this king would reign forever. No king had ever reigned forever. And right now – her land was being reigned over by a foreign ruler, who was anything but nice. I suspect that Mary was continuing to ponder.

 

And this is exactly where I love her. She asks this messenger a question. She recovers long from her awe long enough to ask a logical question. "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

 

Good question! The angel continues – with words and language – but they point beyond x's and o's, beyond 1 + 1 = 2. The angel points to God and God's Spirit. Do you remember the creation accounts? The Spirit of God moves over the face of the deep and God speaks. In that act  new life, new creation comes into being. There's some of that here – the Spirit of God will come upon her and overshadow her and the child to be born will be holy – that is set apart, of God. And then (TAKE A DEEP BREATH) he will be the Son of God."

 

I suspect Mary is doing more pondering. But Gabriel is not aloof to her pondering. He gives  her a sign, something she can hold onto for a moment anyway. He tells her of her relative Elizabeth – who is old and past child bearing age. Elizabeth who had so wanted a child – but had never been blessed with one. Well, Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, that old priest, are now pregnant. In fact Elizabeth is in the 6^th month of her pregnancy.... Then Gabriel makes a bold statement. "For nothing will be impossible with God." ....                                     WOWSERS.

 

Perhaps Mary was silent for a long time. The text doesn't give us time frames. But  eventually she is moved to speak. Her words humble me. They are great news. At the same time they are humbling for any who would question God's activity, resisting it, questioning its ultimacy. Do we now hear Mary's response to Gabriel's declarations? "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." .... And Gabriel leaves her.

 

So I ask you, do you ever hear God speaking to you? We may think or feel that it would be impossible. I mean who are we? We are just common, ordinary people. We are people who struggle with loving ourselves, who often don't love others – who often forget to pray. I mean when was the last time you even opened the Bible? We may think, we may feel, what gifts do we have that God would be interested in?

 

But my goodness people SEE MARY. Talk about common, ordinary. She had limited if any education. She very likely couldn't read or write. She had no savings, no financial influence. She had little or absolutely no status in her community. And she was too young to have had a lot of experience in the ways of the world. Comparatively speaking, many of us are more experienced, more talented, have way more wealth and education.

 

But GOD CHOOSES MARY! Let me say that again. God chooses Mary to be the mother of God's only Son. And just as miraculously, Mary embraces God's choice. She doesn't complain. After much pondering and struggle (which I suspect was only the beginning of much more pondering, struggle and heartache) she says, "Here am I, the servant (another word for slave or handmaiden, waitress) of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.

 

Make no mistake people, Mary could have no idea what she was getting herself into – or more correctly what God was directing her to. Nevertheless, we are among the countless billions who have been so richly blessed by Mary's giving of herself to and for her Son, God's Son, the One who comes to earth to challenge and ultimately defeat death and evil, by giving himself over to them.

 

So let me ask you again. Does God ever speak to you? The messenger may take many forms – maybe even once in a while a person dressed in a white dress. Or that messenger may be another person, a plane burning on a roadway, a lonely or hungry person, an employee or employer or friend. I mean God isn't limited in the way God speaks.

 

But it is important for us to listen to and for God. As we listen it is important by the grace of God, to say YES to God. For who knows? Mary couldn't have begun to comprehend what God was about to do in and through her. And maybe , just maybe we may not be able to comprehend what God is about to do through us. To be sure, it isn't necessarily on the grand scale of sending a saviour for the world. But who knows God may work through us, to save, to deliver, to bring hope to just one other person, just one other creature.

 

May God help us in the midst of our unknowns, our fears, our anxieties, our doubts, our anger to listen for, to hear God. When God speaks, as God speaks even now, may we like Mary be moved to say and do,  "Here am I. Let it be with me according to your word". Amen.

           

Beyond Existence, Beautiful Grass

Advent 2b, December 4, 2011 (Isaiah 40:1-11)

Some people seem like they have been and will be there forever: in the middle of our lives. That's the way it was with my Gram. She was there when I was born, the 17^th of her 20 grandchildren. She was there to teach me to tie my shoe laces after everyone else had given up. She was there to see that I ate my fair share of vegetables and fruit although I liked neither. She was there to teach me to think critically. When I refused to do so, she bluntly pointed out that what I had said didn't hold water. She was there on my confirmation day, my ordination day and my wedding day. And she held our first child lovingly in her arms, her 32^nd great grandchild. But soon after that, to me, seemingly suddenly, one day in her 97^th year, my Gram died. She wasn't "there" anymore.

 

Perhaps you've had a similar experience – where you have had a relationship with someone who was always "there" for you, but then suddenly no longer was.

 

Some things seem like they will be there forever. I remember the first church building I literally grew up in. It was located on the corner of 12^th street and 1^st Avenue East. I was baptized there, confirmed there, ordained there and married there. The building lives on – but not the way it used to be. It now houses a Greek Catholic community's worship services. Subsequently it doesn't resemble the "church" I knew and loved.

 

Many things change. The Berlin Wall – seemingly an immoveable fixture, "suddenly" came down over 20 years ago. If you had asked people 2 weeks before that event, few if any would have thought that the wall could come down so soon, if at all.

 

For many people the color barrier in baseball was for a very long time just the way things were. But in 1947 cracks began to appear i that barrier. A young black man, Jackie Robinson, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today there are players from many different nations and backgrounds playing major league baseball. In fact, the leading all time home run hitters, Barry Bonds and Henry Aaron are both African Americans.

 

Even in nature things change. Mountains erupt. Their face is altered. Tidal waves spring out of the ocean. Coastlines are altered. The earth quakes and topography moves. There was a time when "our" coastal mountains didn't exist.

 

The prophet Isaiah knew such underlying realities. He had witnessed the once powerful Israelite empire rot from the inside out. The people refused to listen to God. They were too busy turning a profit to actively care for any who were hungry or poor. They were so busy serving themselves that they couldn't and wouldn't serve God. As a result their empire had become sick and vulnerable. The Babylonians came. The Babylonians conquered them. The King of Judah had his eyes gouged out. Many of the people had been placed in chains and dragged away. Their temple had been sacked. The walls of Jerusalem had been breached. Proud Jerusalem had been humiliated. For a  while God had withdrawn from the people. They hadn't wanted to speak or listen to God. God had obliged – for a period.

 

Look around. Haven't empires ended in our life times? The Great British Empire, the third Reich. Even the American Empire seems to be teetering on the edge. Whom shall its people believe or trust? In Canada, the "true" north strong and free, it often isn't safe for women to walk the streets alone. We pick our children up from every event, because we have fear about them being alone. Many of us have installed "security" systems in our homes, because we are afraid of being robbed and or vandalized. Fear is something we know up close and personal.

 

Isaiah knows the reality of such experiences. He hears a voice telling him to cry out. "What shall I cry?" he asks. The response is, "All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass!"

 

Do we realize that we are grass? Do we know that someday, sooner or later, our lives here too will end?

 

If we do acknowledge and live with such reality, how shall we live?

 

I remember a hit song from the late 60's or early 70's. It went like this: "If that's all there is my friend, then let's start dancing, let's break out the booze and have a ball. Such a song isn't a sign of hope. It is a song of resignation. If life is just going to end, if so much of life is mortal, unjust and beyond our control, well then let's party for this brief moment we have.

 

Some people choose consciously or unconsciously to live like that. They work at not actually reflecting upon their lives or the lives of others. They attempt to engross themselves in their daily tasks and pleasures so that the questions of purpose, of deep honest relationships, of what will endure, and of what ultimately matters are drowned out.

 

Others despair, giving up. The temptation is to "exist" as if nothing really matters, so who cares? This is not "existence". This, in reality, is death.

 

The Judahites now exiled in Babylon experienced the derision of their captors. The exiles are tempted to give up. Some try to fit in, to exist. But God does remain silent.

 

God speaks to them and to any who will listen through the prophet. Yes, all people are grass (mortal). Yes, the grass withers, the flower fades. BUT – THE WORD OF OUR GOD STANDS FOREVER.

 

The prophet exhorts the people to remember. Remember God's promise made long ago to their ancestors Abraham and Sarah. They would have descendants. And after a number of struggles and questions, they did. God promised also that they would have a land. And after a number of struggles and deep questions, they did. Truly, in that moment, they didn't have that land. But God hadn't given up on them or God's promises.

 

Finally, God's promise had spoken to them of being a blessing to the nations. Could this be possible, for a people where so many had turned their back on God, who were even now exiles?

 

The prophet proceeds. He is to cry, "THE WORD OF OUR GOD STANDS FOREVER... SAY TO THE CITIES OF JUDAH, 'HERE IS YOUR GOD'! THE LORD GOD COMES WITH MIGHT."

 

Incredibly, some of the people do hear. God's Word isn't merely "words" but translates, is fleshed out into action. Cyrus of Persia comes to power. Cyrus declares that the people of Judah can return to their homeland. Once again, they have a land. God's promise is kept!

 

All flesh is grass! We need to experience this truth within ourselves. We will not live here forever. Nor will the institutions that we pledge our allegiance to be here forever. We are mortals. Our "creations" are also similarly finite.

 

Yet, instead of giving up, of feeling and acting as if there is no point, no reason nor purpose for living and life, hear the prophet. "The word of the Lord stands forever." God's promise to love, to care for, to intervene on behalf of all people, stands. God's love for the entire cosmos, people and creation is real!

 

Who else but God can truly lower mountains, raise the valleys, smooth out the rough spots? This is true in our own lives and times. Mountains of prejudice, of self-destructive and addictive behaviour can be lowered.  Valleys of poverty and injustice can be filled so that new life can emerge. The rough places of uncertainty and confusion can be smoothed over by God who sends His Son to be light for the world.

 

Not that we are to stand idly by. God does keep God's promise. But, we are to trust God, to serve God by listening to God and acting in responsive ways. God loves us. God loves each and every person. Might all experience God's presence and love!

 

Even though we are grass, the Spirit of God blows on us. Will we receive that breath daily? Will we be open to God directing us, body, mind and spirit, individually and collectively, following the direction of that breath? Don't we see that the mountains and valleys of our lives and the lives of others can be changed for the better?

 

Remember: the Word of the Lord, God's promise stands forever. God's promise is translated into action Christ Jesus and then through Christ even in us. May God help us to receive this active, living Word in the very middle of our living so that we and others may not just "exist" but truly live. Sometimes grass does become beautiful. Amen.