Gospel text for Sunday 14 August 2022

Luke 1:26- 38 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee, Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the name of the virgin was Mary. And the angel came to Mary and said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Most High God is with you.” Now, she was troubled by the angel’s words and pondered what sort of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Fear not Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Sovereign God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his sovereignty there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have not known a man intimately?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit, She will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the one born will be holy. He will be called Son of God. And now, Elizabeth your kinswoman has even conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for she who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the woman-slave of God; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

Reflection        The big, hairy, audacious idea of conceiving and giving birth to Divine Presence does not end with Mary!

How many young, virginal women did the Angel Gabriel approach who failed to “see, hear, or recognize” Divine Presence with them? How many thought they heard or saw something and decided they must have had too much wine or not enough sleep and promptly dismissed Divine Possibility? How many heard “the call” and dug deep down to the bottom of them selves and choked, “No way. This will never happen to me?” How many young women missed the opportunity to put their body, their very life on the line for the big, hairy, audacious idea of conceiving and giving birth to Divine Presence before the Angel Gabriel found Mary of Judea who, after pondering these things and questioning the angel, wholeheartedly consents? 

What would it take for you to consent to conceive and give birth to Divine Presence today?

I personally fall into the category of a not so young woman who heard “the call” and promptly reacted, “No way!”  Mine was a call to the priesthood, a position that would bend my body and stretch my mind completely out of shape. After all, I am an introvert. I would rather be invisible than in front of a crowd. Daring to preach the Word of God, well, that is for holy people, which I clearly am not. There is nothing about being a priest that sits comfortably with me. 

But that darn angel would not give up; for more than ten years, disturbing my peace, unsettling my life, twisting my gut, sending me to classes and even a convent, hoping to avoid “the call.” Until physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually spent I gave my consent. But, not without declaring, “Oh God you know I cannot do this. I cannot be this. I cannot speak in front of people. I cannot be with dying people. I cannot even say I believe all that the Church claims about you. The truth of the matter is, right now  I am utterly barren. I have nothing to give. If I go down this road, you better show up because I am going to put my faith in the angel’s promise to Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

I consented. God has been faithful, been “with me” every time I ask. The only times I have faltered or failed are when I put my faith in my self rather than pausing to consent to God’s presence and action with me. I am living, breathing proof that “nothing is impossible with God” because countless things are done through me that I cannot possibly do. 

What I have learned is this. When the writer of John’s gospel declares, “The Word became flesh,” he was not only speaking about Jesus. His proclamation is intended for all of us.  The big, hairy, audacious idea of conceiving and giving birth to Divine Presence does not end with Jesus. Rather, it depends on every human being’s consent to be the fertile womb through which Divine Presence lives and breaths and makes us new as “the home of God among the woman-born…” (Rev. 21.3)

What would it take for you to consent to conceive and give birth to Divine Presence today?

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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 Annunciation 24 March 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, 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   I wonder how many angels God sent to whisper in people’s ears; sent to prophets and widows, soothsayers and slaves, Kings, rabbis and peasants?  I wonder how many prospects were just not listening and how many others rather preferred to keep God in God’s distant place, after all, if God shows up right here right now, we might have to step out of our shadows and recast our selves? 

And God kept sending angels whispering, “Greetings favored one. Do not be afraid. It is the deepest desire of my heart to be born of your flesh.  I long to skip and spin, strut and sing, to be holy human. Be assured,  never will I force myself upon you. Never shall I transgress your will. Give me leave to be with you and we will be whole and holy.” No one can count the number of times God whispered this plaintive plea until at last a guileless girl named Mary consented,"Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." 

Wide eyed and innocent, unjaded as a virgin, whoever would have predicted that of all the folks on earth this pubescent girl would be the one to hear the whisper of God tugging at her heart and access the audacity to affirm, “God is with me.”

What will it take for us to rescue God from imperial isolation, to eat the flesh, drink the blood and be holy human? What will it take for us to consent and affirm, God is with me? I know this is not the way the teaching tale is told in the Gospel according to Luke. What if instead of worrying about sex outside of wedlock, old women and virgin’s getting pregnant, the potency of the Holy Spirit, the whole question of extraordinary events that cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws, what if we were to consent to divine presence and agency impregnating every cell and every space of our own being? What if we were to consent to being holy human?

Yes, we would have to be bold and humble as Mary… and very very careful because claiming our identity as holy human God bearers is risky business. But that is the story we are preparing for this Lent, the story of Jesus, fully human and fully divine, who pays the ultimate price for claiming his identity. But, for today it is enough to respond to God’s whisper, “Greetings favored one. The Lord IS with you,” by ever so humbly and audaciously consenting to recast ourselves as holy human.

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Gospel text for the Annunciation 17 March 2018

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     How willing are we to affirm, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word?” After all, this is saying, “Yes, yes,” to certain uncertainty. It is saying, “ Yes, yes,” knowing that the things that frighten us most are likely to happen to us. This is where we squint and wonder, can we find our confidence in the angel’s proclamation,“Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God?” This is where we wrestle with the question, “Is it possible that God finds favor even with me?”

As an unapologetic human who has tripped over more stumbling blocks and succumbed to more temptations than I care to recount, I must confess I was and to a great degree still am, shocked to experience God’s favor. For decades I refused to utter the word G-O-D because it represented all that I rejected; intolerance, injustice, inequity, condemnation and punishment. A distant deity preoccupied with my impending transgressions had no gravity with me. 

To say that I was stunned when a warm and consolatory God arose from the depths of my cadaverous dark night does not begin to translate my metamorphosis. Suffice to say, because of God’s favor toward me, I said, “Here I am,” and today I am a priest in God’s church - and still stunned by my transfiguration.

Last week when Arizona’s retired Episcopal Bishop Kirk Smith introduced the Presiding Bishop Curry to a church full of clergy, Smith referenced the now famous sermon that Curry preached at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. (Did you know that more people have listened to that sermon than any other sermon in history?) Being the unpretentious extrovert that he is, Curry explained that he was stunned by the enormous response and initially confounded. Until he realized, people from across the globe where astonished to hear a Christian speak of love. The narrative about Christians, at least in the US today is, Christians are angry, loud and exclusionary people who engage in hate group activity against abortion and LGBTQ people. Christians are inordinately concerned with deciding who will or will not get to heaven. This is the way Curry summarized it, “The dominant way Christianity is seen in the culture is not the way of love.” 

Like me, too many people hear this message about God and Christianity, have no use for it and turn away. How can folks believe God has found favor with them when the people (read clerics and other leaders) who speak for God’s Church express hostility, prejudice and malevolence toward them? 

Looks like those of us who have encountered a God of love, forgiveness and inclusion without exception need to stand up and give voice to this version of God in the world. Of course, the prospect is unnerving if we think we have to rely upon ourselves to speak up. But the good news is, we don’t have to put our faith in ourselves to find the efficacious words and the salient moments. All we have to do is say,”Yes, here I am Lord, let it be with me according to YOUR WORD,” and there we have it. 

The Word God is with us. We can depend on it. The Word God enables us to do all things and to renew all things.   The Word God with us empowers us to show the world that our God is God of mercy, compassion, justice and peace.  Do not be afraid. God has found favor with you.

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Gospel text for The Annunciation of Mary 22 March 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      I wonder what would happen if God came to our front door? How would we feel? What would we do? Would we fall face to the ground as did the old prophet Ezekiel? More than once! (Ezel 1.28, 3.23, 43.4, 44.4) Might we be more like Daniel who describes his encounter with God this way,  “The men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them so they fled. No strength remained in me; for my vigor turned to frailty in me and I retained no strength. … While (God) was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling?” (Dan 10. 7-11) Perhaps we would be more like  Elizabeth’s husband the priest Zachariah, terrified, overwhelmed with fear and left speechless for ten months following his encounter with the angel of God. (Luke 1.13,22)

Or, might we be more like Mary? I wonder if we would accept God’s favor in coming to us and in so doing consent to our inherent goodness? “Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you.” I wonder if we would stay conscious as Mary and engage the Angel of God with questions? “How can this be?” I wonder if we would believe the counsel that “Nothing will be impossible for God?” I wonder if we would look at our lives, the problems we are facing, addictions, depression, our estranged child, our rocky relationship and remember, “Nothing will be impossible for God.” Can we see the relevance of this passage for our every day living? Can we accept its gift when we believe we are in an impossible situation?

Cancer, infertility, death of a loved one? An unplanned pregnancy, student loans, old hurts too deep to leave behind? The cost of child care? The cost of elder care? The millions of people throughout the world who are being displaced and persecuted? The thing is, when we focus on what is impossible for us rather than on what is possible with God, we throw up our hands and bury our heads in the sand. 

But, when we listen with Mary and choose to believe the words, “Nothing will be impossible with God,” we can boldly say, ”Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”

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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