Christmas I: Prologue

Remember the Last Gospel?  The practice began in mediaeval times and continued until the Sixties.  After the final blessing, the priest would move the altar book back to the gospel side and there would read today's pericope [John 1: 1-18], before leaving the altar.  The reason for this practice at every service of Communion was to give emphasis to the central doctrine of Christianity, the Incarnation.   Remaining in our service, however, is the practice of kneeling at the words of the Nicene Creed which speak of incarnation.

Our gospel text is sometimes called the prologue.  It was written separately from the rest of John's gospel and tacked onto the beginning in order to clarify why Jesus is depicted so differently in John than in the earlier gospels.  That is, to explain how the Jesus who said,  "Don't call me good. Only God is good." [Matthew 19:17]  ends up in John saying that he and the Father are one, and a person can only come to God through him.  Also, to counter arguments at the time that John's material was heretical, by featuring a Jesus who is not fully human, but some kind of divine visitor from another dimension.  (Some scholars speculate that "Jesus wept" was added to the gospel to counter the latter objection).  Clearly the prologue reflects decades of the Johannine Community's spiritual experience encountering the fullness of God in Christ.  Ben Herbster, founder of the United Church of Christ, said that in Jesus we see all of God that can be packed into a man!

The community sees in Jesus the logos, which in our text is inadequately translated, "the Word."  In fact, the Greek term cannot be adequately translated into any English word that I know.  The term comprehends the divine creative mind that brought the universe into being at the Big Bang, governs and sustains it.  The logos  holds everything together and allows everything to continue in being and have meaning.  A little like the Higgs Boson Particle.  The logos, we learn here, fully inhabited the person of Jesus, and in him dwelt in the midst of human society to show us what God is like.  For Jesus is hailed as Emmanuel "God-with-us."

The Incarnation is a mystery, a reality to be lived into, not a problem to be analyzed or solved.  It is encountered in heart-experience that leaves a person's life changed forever, the believer transformed and called into new relationship with others, the creation, and God.  Martin Niemoeller, a German theologian of the last century, asked to interview Hitler and was allowed to do so.   He wanted to take a measure of the man.  Later when the bishops at the national synod of the German Lutheran Church stood and swore allegiance to Hitler, Niemoeller walked out, was arrested and then sent to Dachau.  Miraculously he survived that concentration camp and was one of those rescued when the camps were liberated in 1945.  In an interview thereafter, he was asked why he had paid such a price for his principles, and Niemoeller replied, "I pledge allegiance only to the Word-Made-Flesh." And so must we.

Christmas: Three Thoughts

The wait is over, the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus is here.  Let me share three thoughts.

 For us, it means much, much more than the birth of a male child to a poor unwed Palestinian mother.  For is it is nothing less than the conviction that the God who preceded and created the Big Bang, birthing billions of galaxies containing trillions of stars, invaded the time-space continuum he created in order to bring us the salvation we need, salvation from being any less than all we can be, salvation from living anything less than abundant life.  In Jesus, we see the "human face" of God. We see how God loves, how God serves, how God cares, how God suffers with humanity.

Second, the story of the annunciation to shepherds is also very important.  In the culture of the first century, shepherds were accounted about one rung above rubbish.   Yet, Jesus is revealed, not to the wealthy, the powerful, the politically-connected, but to the most marginal of outcasts.  That story reminds us that everyone matters to God -- everyone of God's children -- and especially those who suffer privation, discrimination, and oppression.  He is the Deity who loves the least, the last, and the lost.  And so must we who are his emissaries to the world in our time and place.  As  Mother Teresa said, "God sent his Son, so his Son can send us."

Finally, the God seen as given to covenants, and eternally faithful to all of them, creates in Christ a new covenant open to all of humanity without exception.  That is great good news for us gentiles!  This child is born to deliver his message of a new kind of life for us, centred in the transformative power of radical, unconditional love, and the non-judgmental forgiveness and reconciliation that it demands.  As God's love and care extend to all, so must ours, in a spirit of gratitude and real joy,

I can think of no better illustration than this poem from the outstanding African-American thologian, teacher, and civil rights advocate, Harold Thurman: 

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back in their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
     to find the lost
     to heal the broken
     to feed the hungry
     to release the prisoner
     to rebuild the nation
     to bring peace among people
     to make music in the heart.

 
Happy Christmas!

Advent IV: Mary, from this Side of Christmas

Every year in August on the Feast of Saint Mary the Virgin, commonly called Assumption, we honour our Lord's Mother as, to borrow the Orthodox title of the feast, "Mary in Glory."  We employ names like Mother of the Saviour and Mother of the Church, even Queen of Heaven.  On that feast day we look at our lovely Lady's lifetime of service in complete surrender to God and her heavenly journey to be reunited with Christ at the end.

Today we see her from the beginning of that life journey and experience in fullness her poverty, humility, and humanity.  Our feast day is called in the East 'o Evangelismos, the good news, and indeed the birth of the Christ Child is great good news for humanity.  (In Eastern artwork, the Archangel Gabriel is pictured dressed as a deacon because of deacons' special role of reading the Gospel to the congregation.)   But consider that the message must have sounded like really bad news to Mary.  In agreeing to become the Mother of God, she was signing her death warrant, as unwed mothers were routinely stoned to death.  (Only Joseph's incredibly kind notion to divorce her quietly would have saved her from that fate.  In that society, a woman's only value was in childbearing.  In New Testament Greek the word for woman is literally "walking womb."  And that womb must bear only a child sired by her husband.  Mary's unexpected pregnancy would have been seen as an insult to Joseph.)  And, besides Joseph's disdain, she would also be rejected by her family and friends, and society in general.  She would likely have ended up in prostitution to survive.

Many people are unaware that Mary is very important to Muslims.  In reality, unlike protestant Christianity, Islam embraces, explicitly or implicitly, all the key Catholic teachings and traditions about her!  There is far more material about Mary in the text of the Qu'ran  than in the New Testament.  Following the passage equivalent to today's reading (Lk 1:26-38), the Qu'ran describes Mary's going away to a deserted place to the east.  There she asks herself, what did I just agree to?  She is tired and afraid, and prays for death.  At that point a rivulet of water forms under her feet and dates fall from the tree, quenching her hunger and thirst.  She sees this as a sign from God that he will always be with her to help her in the journey to which she agreed--and God is.

From then on, she is fully in track with God's will.  In her Magnificat, she speaks of God's will that the mighty rich be knocked down a few pegs and the common man raised up.  Obviously God is not keen on gross income inequality. What should it say to the Christian when we have a new tax policy in our country that will widen that gap between the wealthy and everyone else?  What is the Gospel saying about that?  I'm not answering that question.  I am leaving that question with you to ponder as an example of how our faith can impact the real world.

The amazing life of Mary begins with the annunciation, with her "Yes" that made our salvation real.  She will go on to be the "model disciple,"  a model of faith, obedience, service, trust, prayer, and perseverance.  We experience a deep sense of gratitude this morning for the blessed Lady who brought us the One whose birth we will celebrate again in just a few hours.   Just as she was Theotokos, the God-bearer, so let us be people who bring the Holy One into our culture in our time and place.

Unmasking Santa

The World Extra article of the same name today ponders the agony of parental discomfort in having to fess up to children that they have lied to them in the Santa Claus charade.

Episcopal parents don't have to worry, because we simply explain to our children that they have been teased as to the identity of the beloved figure.  We let them know that Santa is not fake or made-up, but his actual identity is that of Saint Nicholas, the early bishop of Myra, Turkey, who is patron saint of children and who, during his lifetime, anonymously left presents for many children, and did other benevolent acts on behalf of God's beloved young ones. On one occasion, he even paid the dowry of a young girl to help her avoid being forced into prostitution.  In various ways, this beloved saint was committed to showing God's love for others.

We explain that Nicholas is alive but in heaven and, so, he cannot personally bring gifts to earthly children.  Instead, he must rely on parents, loved ones, and friends to be "agents" in giving gifts at this season.  We and millions of others have the privilege each year to be partners with Nicholas in the joy of gift-giving.  And that is no lie!

Gaudete Sunday: John in the Dock

Delegates of the religious establishment arrive to ask John the Baptiser who he is.  His responses require a little unpacking.  First, he says he is not the Messiah.  What does that mean?  "Messiah" simply means anointed person and the Hebrew moshiach is used in Hebrew Scripture for anyone subjected to anointing for some person, e.g. someone being ordained to priesthood or to kingship.  Specialized use of the term really began with King Josiah who sought to reform both the religion and the state, made some headway, but ultimately failed.  Thereafter people began to speak of another monarch in the line of David who might come to straighten things out.  Many thought Messiah would arrive when Jewish fortunes were at a low ebb.

Expectations varied widely, some expecting a Messiah who would become the ideal Davidic king; others looking for two separate political and civil Messiahs.  In any event, all agreed that Messiah would throw off the oppressor (Rome) and restore Jewish statehood, then all of the other nations would see the brightness of Israel and convert to their God, whereupon the Kingdom of God -- a perfect world -- would appear, and the righteous dead would rise to join the party forever.  John the Baptiser makes it clear that he is not the one being awaited.

He is then asked whether he is Elijah.  Remember Elijah was assumed into heaven (the same language applied to Enoch and to our Lord's Blessed Mother).  People in Jesus' time and culture envisioned that to mean that the historic Elijah, never having tasted death, would simply return, in advance of the messianic age.  The Baptiser disavows that identity as well.

Finally he is asked "Are you the Prophet?"  That means the biblically-foretold Prophet like Moses.  John the Baptiser likewise disavows this identification and goes on to stay who he actually is:  a voice crying out in the desert, as foretold by Isaiah, a forerunner of the One the world awaits.  We understand in that identity a charismatic prophet sent to pave the way for Jesus, whose appearance comprises God's decision to reach out to humanity by sending one who will manifest the Divine, showing how God loves, lives, serves, and suffers with us.  It is all about divine initiative.

Two stories relating to Saints in the Episcopal Calendar to illustrate the point.  First, the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who resisted Nazism, denounced the Lutheran Church's support for Hitler, and was imprisoned.  Fortunately he was able to have writings smuggled out of the concentration camp.  In. 1943, he wrote a reflection on Advent saying that it was like his prison cell.  He said that he prayed and hoped and pottered around the room but eventually realized that the cell door could only be opened from the outside.  So, with our salvation.

Second, Saint C. S. Lewis, Anglican theologian once compared Advent to a time when faithful partisans are sitting in a hidden place listening to the wireless [radio] when the hearers learn of a rescue mission afoot.  Their king is going to parachute into their enemy-occupied territory to personally lead his followers.

The world today is in darkness, but the Light comes with Christmas, to open the door, to lead his people to liberation -- to set us free, so we can begin to set the world free.

Advent II: End of Exile

Those of us who did hard time in a seminary can attest that the book of the prophet Isaiah is actually a composite of three successive works.  First Isaiah, as it is called, is about the downfall and exile of Jewish people to Babylon.  People with marketable skills and physical strength were taken, primarily from the southern kingdom of Judah, to what is modern-day Iraq and insinuated into the general population.  First Isaiah tell us that the exile ended when Cyrus, King of Persia, allowed the small minority of Jews who wanted to return to the holy land, to do so.  Second Isaiah says no, it was a bigger deal.  God decided via Cyrus to release the captives who had double-paid for their past sins and would now receive, not further punishment, but redemption and consolation.  YHVH makes a proclamation in the heavenly council, for the God of Israel is still seen as a king presiding over his court of lesser Canaanite gods.

Here is how another biblical prophet in part describes the situation:  "Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory of God...Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look towards the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.  For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies, but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory as on a royal throne."  (Baruch 5: 1,5-6) 

For Second Isaiah the liberation from Babylon has three characteristics.  First it is a re-enactment of the original Exodus from Egypt.  Second, it is a revelation of God, of who God is.  And third, it is an invitation to liberation, not a forced return home.  Scholars estimate twenty percent came back; most had been assimilated, were successful and comfortable.  And in fact, to this day, the Babylonian Talmud written during the Exile, is considering the highest-ranking Jewish biblical commentary.

In the gospel for the second Sunday of Advent, we have John the Baptiser proclaiming yet another act of liberation coming in human history.  The One for whom he is forerunner will come to bring us out of an exile as real as the Egyptian or Babylonian experiences.  We shall be freed from sin, from being any less than all that we can be.  We will find ourselves freed from our addictions, our many compulsions, and all those "lesser gods" that keep us held bound, that prevent us from returning to our spiritual homeland.

Let us ask ourselves this Advent:  What are those things keeping us in captivity in our consumerist, imperialistic, self-absorbed society?  Where do we need to learn to move on and not remain stuck in the past?  God is still liberator, and the invitation to liberation stands open to all who will accept it.

Advent I: Stay Awake

In the steep hills of northeastern Tennessee there is Frozen Head State Park.  Nestled in Morgan County, situated between the county seat Wartburg and the community of Petros, it is the location of the unusual endurance event known as the Barkley Marathon.  The competition has taken place since 1986, and it consists of five twenty-mile segments, each one-third on-trail and two-thirds off-trial.  The dates of the race are not published.  Applicants who are approved are notified of when to report and assemble at midnight the first night.  There they learn that a big conch will be blown sometime from then until the following noon, signalling that the race will commence one hour thereafter.

The time-span of the competition is a mere sixty hours.  The off-trail segments ensure that not a few hikers will get lost and that various hazards may be encountered.  Those who participate must decide whether to sleep and how much sleep to take.  Some do not sleep at all for the duration, to improve their chances of success.   Since this gruelling activity began thirty-one years ago, 15 people have finished to claim the coveted distinction of a Barkley Marathon victor.  The gentleman who directs the program goes by the moniker Lazarus, and warns potential applicants that "it won't turn out as you planned."

This true story encompasses what we need to hear in this Advent season of preparation for annual remembrance of the birth of Jesus:  be awake, be aware, and be prepared for the unexpected.   Most of us will be kept busy with holiday shopping, family activities, community activities and parties.  Christians need to see beyond the glitz and busyness of consumerism and self-absorption, to stay awake and aware of a world suffering violence, oppression, injustice, and starvation. We've a world waiting for real, radical change at the hands of us who are called to be servants and transformation agents in the spirit of the One we await.