Gospel text for Sunday 2 October 2022

Luke 17:5-10        The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, `We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"

Reflection       “Jesus, what are you saying to us? How can you possibly call us slaves? Our ancestors were slaves in Egypt and God sent Moses to free them. (Deut 24.22) Our country is splintered by its lamentable history of slavery and we cannot figure out how to heal and move on. We cringe when we think about the fifteen to fifty thousand women and children forced into sexual slavery in the United States every year. Jesus, how can you call us slaves?”

Rather than toss out this text let us take a deep dive into the Biblical Greek. Doulos. In addition to being translated as slave or servant, doulos is also understood to mean one who gives him or her self over to another's will,  or, those who act to advance God’s mission and ministry among people. Doulos, or slave,  can also mean acting without regard to one’s own self interest. The feminine version of the word is doula. Doula actually refers to a midwife, a woman who serves women in childbirth. 

The first time we bump into the word doulos in Luke’s gospel is in the first this familiar scene. The angel of God bursts into unsuspecting Mary’s life and stuns her with the news that “the Lord is with you, has found favor with you,” and that she will give birth to a son destined for great things.  Young, unmarried, peasant Mary questions the Angel, “How can this be?”  The Angel assures her, “With God nothing will be impossible.” Then we hear Mary’s astonishing response, “Here I am, a doula, a handmaid, slave or servant of the Lord. “ (Lk 1.38) 

Mary consents to be a slave “with God.”  She agrees to give her self over to the will of God in order to advance God’s mission. Think about this. Being an unwed pregnant girl in the ancient middle east was a stoning worthy offense so clearly, Mary is acting without regard for her self interest. Mary is choosing to be a slave, doulos, with God.

Like our sister Mary, every one of us is called to conceive and give birth to the utterly impossible;“uprooting and planting a mulberry tree in the sea,” lavishly giving shelter to the homeless, food to the hungry, healing to the sick, wholeheartedly offering welcome to the stranger, freedom to the prisoner, love to the enemy, all of which add up to; unequivocally giving birth to the presence of God with us by subordinating our self interest in order to advance God’s mission in the world; being doulos.

Being doulos, slaves of God, demands we have faith even as small as a mustard seed, faith in the angel’s assurance that, “Nothing is impossible with God.” Still, immediately our minds leap to sit on the fence and make excuses.  “This is too hard. There are too many homeless and hungry and sick, scores of strangers and prisoners and frightful enemies. Climate is changing, politics are degrading. Soon we will have no fresh water to drink nor clean air to breath. What can we possibly do?”

The key is hidden in a seemingly insignificant word. With. “For with God nothing will be impossible.”(Luke 1.37) With God. 

The little word “with” is rich with meaning in the Biblical Greek. Para, with, refers to something that proceeds from one's sphere of power, or from one's wealth. When we accept the angel’s annunciation, “For with God nothing will be impossible,” we are affirming that with our will aligned in the will of God, all that proceeds through us is impregnated with the power and the wealth of God’s presence. Para, “with God, nothing will be impossible.” 

As soon as we wrap our minds and hearts around the idea of being slaves with God we trip over another stumbling block in the final sentence for today’s gospel text. “We are worthless slaves!’ Worthless? 

Turning back to the Biblical Greek achreios is understood to be a hyperbolic reference to pious modesty. We humbly acknowledge that all the good that we do arises, not from us but, from the wealth and power of God’s presence with us. As doulos or slaves of God we call ourselves achreios, not deserving of merit, because we have done nothing more than what we ought to have done; lavishly providing shelter to the homeless, food to the hungry, healing to the sick, wholeheartedly offering welcome to the stranger, freedom to the prisoner, love to the enemy, which all together add up to; unequivocally giving birth to the presence of God with us. 

Is it not just like our wise teacher Jesus to turn things upside down so that rather than being offended when called worthless slaves with God we smile knowing that by the power of God with us “we have done only what we ought to have done?” Brilliant!

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The Collect and Gospel text for 4th Sunday of Advent, 20 December 2020

 The Collect        Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Luke 1:26-38         In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Reflection        “Purify our conscience.” This is the work of Advent. This is also the work of Lent. In fact, this is the work of our lifetime; to prepare a room in the mansion of ourselves and welcome the light of Christ to be born again and reign through us. If that sounds like a tall order, it is. That is why we need a daily visitation with Almighty God. That is why today’s opening collect is worth praying every single day.

But what does it mean to purify our conscience? I believe it means cleaning out our proverbial attics and downsizing;  discarding our disappointments, annihilating our affronts, casting out complaints, releasing our losses, banishing blame,  shutting the door on shame,.  A daunting undertaking. No wonder we need a daily visitation with God to purify our conscience. 

Now let me be clear. Not everything we experience and store in our attic belongs in the incinerator. The process of purifying our conscience is meant to reform whatever prevents the innocence of our open, empty, receptivity. I hear you protest, “I am an adult. I have a long and patchy past. My innocence was lost when dad took the training wheels off my bike. As a matter of fact, it is probably a bad idea to be open, empty and receptive. Seems like a sure recipe to be exploited or abused.”

Let me clarify. I believe you are speaking of naive innocence. In the context of the purification of our conscience I refer to what I call “wizened innocence.” Please ponder with me the possibility of the open, empty, receptivity of wizened innocence one word at a time.  What does it mean to be open? It means to be honest, transparent and accessible. What does it mean to be empty? Humble, not full of our self. Being empty we are content, not envious or grasping for more. What does it mean to be receptive? It means being sensitive and open-minded, responsive to others and hospitable. To purify our conscience means to abolish whatever prevents us from being honest and transparent, humble and content, sensitive, open-minded and hospitable. It means purging whatever inhibits our wizened innocence. Why does this matter? Why should we bother?

We welcome this process of purification because the work of Advent, Lent and our entire lifetime is to prepare ourselves to be the hospitable mansion in which the Christ incarnates and through which the Christ Light reigns on earth. Here is the wrinkle.  The single greatest stumbling stone in our attic is fear. Fear of being open. “If I am honest and transparent people will see who I really am. I will not measure up and I will be rejected.” Fear of being empty. “ If I am empty I will have no sure footing, no safety net. I may be lacking and suffer.” Fear of being receptive. “If I am receptive I will be vulnerable,  influenced or deceived. People will take advantage of me.” 

Thanks be to God there is an antidote to fear. Every time Almighty God breaks through our conscience to prepare a human mansion in which to incarnate and through which to reign, an angel or prophet appears and proclaims, “Do not be afraid, Mary (Diann, John, Linda, Dave, Susan, Ron, Ken…)  do not be afraid.” 

Then God said (to Jacob), "I am God, the God of your father;  do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. (Gen 46.3)

And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid.”(Jos 11:6)

Then the angel of the LORD said to Eli'jah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid.” (2Ki 1:15)

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid: Zechari'ah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luk 1:13)

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid: Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luk 1:30)

But the angel said to the women (at the tomb), "Do not be afraid: for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. (Mat 28:5)

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid: go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” (Mat 28:10)

God knows we are afraid AND we know that every time one of God’s people steps over fear to say “Yes, here I am… “ their fear is replaced with light that incarnates through them and reigns on the earth.  

Here is the punchline. We are all virgins until we abolish every obstacle, step over our fear and say, “Yes. Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then, with our consent in a baptism by fire, fear is incinerated as the Light of Christ finds in us a mansion in which to live and from which to reign. 

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Gospel text for Quiet Christmas 20 December 2019

Luke 1.26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

Reflection       A teenage peasant girl of unremarkable lineage living among some one hundred and fifty people in a tiny farming village far away from any well traveled trade routes is visited by an angel.*  When the angel arrives this girl whom we know as Mary is not in a temple and as far as we know she is not even praying. So it is no wonder Mary is “much perplexed” when the angel says, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.”

Think about that moment. How would you feel if on an ordinary day you are standing in your kitchen, maybe you have just spread some almond butter on toast or ate some ice cream right out of the carton, when from the depths of your being you “hear,” “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.”

Would you be like Zachariah who also had an angelic encounter? You may recall the story. Zachariah, a priest, is serving at the incense altar inside the Holiest part of the temple when the angel Gabriel appears. “When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.” (Luke 1.12-15) Would you be so terrified and overwhelmed that you would be dumbstruck and speechless as Zachariah? The story continues and Zachariah is mute until the day the child is born, thereby proving the angel’s promise. Then Zachariah finally speaks the child’s name “John.” (Luke 1.20)

Or, would you be more like Mary, standing and startled in her humble home? Perplexed by the angelic promise, Mary pauses and ponders, she goes deep inside her soul and asks, “How can this be?” Then apprehending angelic assurance in the depths of her being, “For nothing will be impossible with God,” Mary consents with uncommon faith. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” 

Here is the thing. The incarnation we celebrate at Christmas requires not only the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit, but also the consent of the ordinary peasant girl Mary. Mary could have said, “I must have had too much wine and now  it is making me hear an angel’s voice and have crazy thoughts. Surely my imagination is running away with me. I am just an ordinary girl. Great things are not meant for me.”

Mary could have reacted as did Zachariah and been silenced by  terror and disbelief. Or, Mary could have simply said, “No. There is no way I can consent to be being unwed and pregnant. Do you not understand, I could be stoned to death?”

But Mary rises to the occasion and accepts the angel’s staggering annunciation. “Let it be with me according to your word.” And so begins the intimate dance of humanity and divinity. Mary consents to the seed of divinity planted in her womb and from that moment on it is clear, nothing, no calamity, humiliation or mishap, no sickness, struggle, sacrifice not even death can separate humanity from divinity, because God is with us and we affirm the angel’s promise, “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

In the dark mid winter we listen to the angel of God saying, “Do not be afraid. The Lord is with you. And now, in the center of your being you will conceive the Christ child, the light that transforms the darkness. And your light will be the light of the world and you will help to bring about the kingdom of God on earth by revealing God’s love in your light every day.” 

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*https://www1.cbn.com/BibleArcheology/archive/2010/12/19/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-nazareth

Gospel text for 4th Sunday in Advent, 21 December 2015

Luke 1:26-38        In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Reflection       “For nothing will be imposssible with God.” I believe the most important word in this sentence is “with.” With God. I know from time to time I “hear” this sentence as, “Nothing will be impossible FOR God.” In so doing I neatly cut myself out of the equation. Shirk any personal responsibility. It (whatever “it” is) is up to God. I play no part in “it.” But that is not what the writer of Luke’s text wrote. 

In concert with, in dwelling with, imbued with, sitting with, endowed with, acquainted with, impregnated with, this mere preposition makes all the difference because it locates us in relationshiip “with” God. “With” may also be a statement that characterizes humanity; for people with God all things are possible. I believe it is to all of the above that Mary consented when she proclaimed, “Here I am… let it be with me according to your word.” 

And there “it” is again. What is “it?” It is a simple pronoun referring to a non-gender specific person or concept previously mentioned, about to be mentioned or present in the immediate context.* With her few words in response to the Angel of God Mary consents to every manner of being in relationship with God; Mary claims her relationship by God and with God and in God from before beginningless time, eternally in the present moment. 

Oh how I long to do the same. To put down my fears and unequivocally proclaim, “Here I am God… Let it be with me according to your word.” And I gulp knowing that giving myself unequivocally to God is giving myself over to the cloud of unknowing yet,  it is giving myself to a grandeur so incomprehensible it can only be called God. 

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*http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/it?s=t