Advent day 16- Metaphors

And Mary sang:  "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.  His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm...."  Luke 1:46-51.

I love metaphors and use them all the time.  Spirit is wind.  Christ is light.  My granddaughter is sunshine. Books are a retreat.  Uncertainty is a dense fog.  A listening friend is a cup of cold water in a desert.

Mary uses a metaphor:  God has shown strength with his arm.  I managed to disconcert a few people in bible study the other week when I suggested that I don't believe God (as Creator/Father/ first person of the Trinity) has a body as we know it.  God is not literally showing strength by something God is doing with an arm: wielding a sword in battle, tossing bolts of lightening, shaping humans from dust or holding back the sea.

It seems to me that "strength of his arm" used here and other times in Hebrew scriptures is a metaphor for the powerful ways God works to defend and care for God's people.  And that's how Mary, pregnant with Jesus, is using the metaphor, especially if we read the verses that follow (which we will over the next few days.).

But wait!  Once Jesus enters the picture, the metaphor melts into reality.  Jesus actually has an arm, two of them,in fact.  What exactly do we see Jesus doing with the strength of his arm?  Jesus pointing to the other side of the boat for the disciples to throw their fishing nets.  Jesus picking up a child to bless.  Jesus spreading mud on a blind man's eyes.  Jesus taking a whip to the tables of money changers in the temple.  Jesus writing on the ground to divert a group of self-righteous leaders and protect a needy woman.  Jesus carrying a basin of water to wash dirty disciples' feet.  Jesus blessing and breaking bread with "tax-collectors and sinners."  Jesus with arms outstretched on the cross. Jesus uses his arms to defend and care for God's people.  Actually, he uses his arms to save all of humankind.  And that is not a metaphor!

A hymn for advent day 15, for tragedy day 4

Today, on what should be the most joyful Sunday in advent, we acknowledged the grief and prayers we hold for those who have lost their children, family members and teachers in Connecticut this past week.  The following words are from the hymn we sang at the lighting of the advent wreath this week.  It is all about Emmanuel, God with us in the sorrow.  It is about the promise (heard loudly in advent) that he will come again to make right what is unbearably broken.  Although it was hard to do any rejoicing, the words are a call, a plea, for Christ to come into the darkness.....

O come, O Branch of Jesse, free your own from Satan's tyranny;
     from depths of hell your people save, and give them victory o'er the grave.



O come, O key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home;
     make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.

 

O come, O Dayspring, come and cheer;  O sun of justice, now draw near
     Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's dark shadow put to flight.

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

Tomorrow we go back to Mary's song.....

Advent Day 14- How to see a mercy

And Mary sang:  "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.  His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

Somewhere in our confirmation class of 7th to 8th graders, there is usually a discussion about what "fear" of God means. Something about a revealing of God's presence must be fear producing, because angels are forever telling their visitees not to be afraid.  (Gabriel's words to Mary, in fact.)  Eventually, however, our class discussion gets around to a fear of God that equals honor, awe, respect, worship...even obedience. I don't doubt that a healthy respect and awe of God might produce some trepidation at times.  However, Jesus talked about God as "father" in loving relationship with God's children.

Mary says, "His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation."  At first hearing it seems that God's mercy is available to those who honor/worship (fear) God, which may lead one to conjecture that God's mercy is not available to those who do not honor (fear) God.  I would not go for that assumption.  "The sun shines on the good and the bad" as the saying goes.  The whole world benefits daily from the grace and mercy of our Creator and Sustainer.  It we are breathing at all, God's mercy touches us, believer or not.

But I can say this.  If  one is not worshiping, honoring (fearing) God with awe, it is almost a sure thing that one will not be able to see and take notice of the mercies of God "that are new every morning" and all around.  It is only in relationship with the Holy One that a person can see what a loving God is doing in her or his life as well as in the world around.  Like forgiveness.  Like healing.  Like hope.  Like unconditional love.  Worship and honor (fear) of God opens one's eyes to the many divine mercies that one would miss otherwise.

Advent Day 13 with hearts broken

On this very sad night, when children and teachers have been shot to death, when families are desperately grieving, when words fail us, when we wonder what has gone wrong with our world, the season of advent voices our pain and hope for something better:  Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Our world needs your healing and peace.

Advent Day 12--From generation to generation

My great-great-grandfather was a circuit riding Methodist preacher in the hills of North Carolina.  I don't know much about him except his daughter (my great-grandmother Daisy) eloped with a young man attending a worship service.  (And a good match it was, I'm told.)  Daisy's daughter, my grandmother Josephine,  was a bible teacher in a large city church.  Her daughter, my mother, has led small groups of Christians in bible study for years.  And then there's me (and my two brothers).

My mother reminded me of my great-great grandfather when I was down visiting her a couple of weeks ago.  We are told that great-great-grandfather Preacher Hubbard made it a practice of praying for his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and his descendants yet unborn (including me), etc. etc.  Although we do not know specifically what he prayed, we are told that he prayed for us to come to faith in Christ.

So when Mary sings that that God's mercy is for those who fear God from generation to generation, I think of my great-great-grandfather's prayers and am grateful that, although he never saw me, he prayed for me.  Thus, knowing God's mercy from generation to generation is true in our family.  So now it is time for me to start praying for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, etc., etc.

And Mary sang:  "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.  His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

Advent Day 11- If a punch bowl were holy

And Mary sang:  "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name."

When I was growing up there was a china closet in the dining room.  In the china closet was a punch bowl that had been handed down in the family.  Actually, the punch bowl still has a special place on the closet's shelf.  It is made of beautiful cut glass and reflects colors in the light.  Our family has only used it on special occasions.  The rest of the time it sits apart safely on the shelf where I admire it every time I go visit my parents.

What does it mean for Mary to say God's name is holy?  One definition for "holy" is set apart.  Is God and God's name like the punch bowl sitting on the shelf, set apart and brought out only for special occasions?  Well, some folks may view God that way, but I don't think that is what Mary is talking about. In fact, I think the opposite is true.

Martin Luther reminds us in the shorter catechism that to make God's name holy, one is offering in prayer that God may become holy in us.  This does NOT mean we are going to become perfect little holier-than-thou creatures.  We will always be flawed on this earth.  And it does NOT mean that we withdraw from the everyday and sit on a shelf apart, so to speak.  Rather, to make God's name holy means that we give God priority in our lives by what we say and by what we do.  We give God room in our ordinary lives to live and love and work and share through us.

Where would a punch bowl be if it were holy?  What if we brought the punch bowl out of the china closet and gave it a space of prominence on the table?  What if it held our ordinary milk for breakfast cereal and later in the day our root beer for a  pizza supper?  Maybe even our popcorn when it was time to watch a movie. Then it becomes a treasure that participates in our ordinary meals and ordinary lives.

In advent we think of pregnant Mary having the treasure of the Word of God, the messiah Jesus, physically growing inside her. Meanwhile, we too let God's name be holy when God's treasured Word is growing in us...all the time, all the very ordinary time.

And holy is God's name!

Advent Day 10- How do you see things?

It's all in how you see things...I mean, how you really see things.  The kind of seeing that is not just through your physical eyes, but, instead, how you see things with your soul paying attention to what God's doing. This "soul seeing"  sees more clearly when praying is happening.  What this soul seeing sees is often invisible to others unless they too are praying with you.

A few weeks ago, a long-term project came to an overwhelming obstacle.  I was ready to quit.  I didn't know how to continue it anymore.  As I often do when discouraged, I retreated into a good book, licking my wounds, feeling rather abandoned by God.  That good book, however, gave me surprisingly creative ideas about a new project.  A project, I thought, that would distract me from the first disappointing one.  My energy began to pour into planning the new project.

But then, a few mornings later in my devotions, it suddenly hit me while praying: this new project wasn't an escape from the first.  It was not a timely coincidence that happened to get me out of my doldrums and self-pity.  It actually was a gift of God doing a great thing. God had not left me high and dry after all.  The new project had everything to do with the first.  God was offering a creative remedy for doing the first project in a different way.  It was all in the matter of "soul seeing."   The turn of events and new opportunity was not a random coincidence, but was God's direct, redeeming answer in an overwhelming situation.

And so Mary sings: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior who has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me......

As I wrote yesterday, Mary could have kept count of all the difficult situations she was facing and, heaven knows, there would be many more painful challenges to come. She could have seen her visit to Elizabeth as an escape from all the hardship she was facing.  But instead, with her soul-seeing heart, she identified what most others could not yet see, how God was doing mighty things in her life...in her body, in fact.  Elizabeth, a woman of prayer, also recognized God's great work in Mary.   With her soul eyes, Elizabeth identified the baby Mary was carrying as the Messiah, not a youthful mistake of passion.  Joseph, a godly man, eventually came to understand the "soul seeing"' truth as well; he would adopt the Messiah as his own son to help raise.  Why?  A mighty God was doing a great thing, not just in terms of their personal lives and little family, but in terms of a larger whole for a greater good.  (The larger whole was the  the world; the greater good was the world's salvation) .  It took the way of soul'seeing for Joseph, Mary and Elizabeth to acknowledge what others could not yet see..

So how do we get our soul-sight working?  How do we see beyond the everyday discouragements that weigh us down?

I don't pretend to have the answers.  God works so differently in different people.  But I can say what helps me, in spite of the fact I must be "blind" more often than not.  I try to take quiet time to listen to God's word in scripture and pray about it....for me that is in the morning, writing in my journal and walking the dogs before I go into the office.  And then, either in the morning or at night, I try to take time to look (and sometimes hunt) for what God has done in the day (or the day before).  Sometimes, in the most difficult things of my life, there is at least something, even if quiet and subtle, for which I can be grateful.  Upon more reflection, that one thing may actually be a mighty act of God that almost got away without me recognizing it.  Most of the time, the lack of recognition is my own fault for not paying attention.  On the other hand, and please forgive me, there are times I really do wonder if God relishes playing hide-and-seek.  If so, why do I need to be so serious?!   God might be inviting us to take a playful delight in hunting out and discovering what and where God has been up to.  So go hunting with your special set of eyes today.

While others thought she was in a serious predicament, Mary, with soul-seeing eyes, joyfully, and maybe playfully, laughed:  The Mighty One has done great things for me!