Advent day 22: Christmas eve's eve

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; 
      he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.
     according to the promise he made to our ancestors, 
    to Abraham and his descendants forever. "  Luke 1:46-55.

And so we come to the last part of Mary's song.  In this last sentence she speaks of God's help, God's mercy and God's promise.   These are three good things to take with us into an uncertain year ahead.  Mary would certainly need God's help, mercy and promise on more than one occasion in the months ahead of her.  As will we.  Where do you need God's help?  Where have you seen God's mercy?  What promise of God gives you encouragement as you move into the future?  Take time to write and pray about this before the end of the year.

It has been a good practice for me to memorize Mary's song over the past few weeks, and it has been a challenging discipline to post on this blog everyday as I reflected on what the words I trying to learn by heart.  Doing so has forced me to take time away from the seasonal busyness to slow down and do some thinking and praying.  For those of you who have walked through this advent journey with me, thank you for your quiet companionship.  I hope your hearts are feeling more prepared for the coming celebration.

And now it is time to celebrate!  Christ's first coming is such good news it needs a great festivity and some beautiful music. Sing and celebrate heartily tomorrow on Christmas eve.

I will take a break from posting over the rest of the month but will back after the new year.  Blessings!

Advent day 21: On empty

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; 
      he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."  Luke 1:46-53.

God "has filled he hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty."  An ominous warning?  Maybe, especially if one lives in one of the wealthiest countries on earth.  But perhaps it is also an invitation.

Mary's words remind me of  the gospel story (Mark 10) where a rich young man came to talk to Jesus (Mary's son).  The man wanted to know what he had to do to be a part of this abundant life Jesus kept talking about.  He was, you might say, hungry for more.  So Jesus invited him to sell all he had, give to the poor and come follow him, saying he would have treasures in heaven, but the man walked sadly away, presumably because he couldn't leave his wealth.

He has "sent the rich away empty," Mary said.  Or do we send ourselves?

A friend posted this quote recently:

“If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand,...we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it.”
-- Frederick Buechner

Well said, brother Frederick.

Advent day 20: I'm hungry

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; 
      he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."  Luke 1:46-53.

For my birthday last summer my husband gave me a clear plastic bird feeder that attaches with suction cups to the window.  I filled it with sunflower seeds and waited...and waited.  Days dragged into weeks and weeks dragged into months.  One day my husband reported that he had seen a cardinal at the feeder.  A couple of weeks later I saw a cardinal too.  A few weeks later it started---a crowd of feathered creatures sometimes waiting their turn in the butterfly bush, sometimes diving into the feeder with a flutter and annoying  another out.  Titmouse, chickadee, goldfinch, house finch, wren had found a good place to eat.

Sometimes good food simply isn't available to us.  And so we have food pantries and soup kitchens.  We teach creative farming methods in countries where many are hungry.  We care for depleted soil.   We literally follow Christ's call to feed those who are hungry, trusting that one day there will be enough for everyone.  

Other times, however, our stomachs are full but our souls are malnourished.  It can take a long time to learn where the good soul food is to eat.  It's hard to believe that what our hearts really need is God's very self.  God?  That's gotta be boring we think for the longest time.  We don't notice how God's forgiveness and healing is food for everyday.  We doubt we need to hear God's word in the morning.  There is always somewhere to be and something to do.  It takes a long time to realize that the entertainment and busyness we think will bring satisfaction and success does not in the end feed our souls. 

I'm not sure what in the end led the birds to the inconspicuous feeder, but at some point they began to communicate the good news to one another.  Nor is it always clear what brings us to the realization that our souls are hungry for God.  A friend's words? God's grace?  the Holy Spirit?  Good news?  However it happens, people begin to gather in groups around word and communion to love God and love neighbor, and we discover this to be as necessary as bread.  It is what gives us life.

God has filled the hungry with good things, sings Mary, and sent the rich away empty.

Advent day 19- Lowly lifting

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; 
      he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly..."  Luke 1:46-52.

In the previous posts I spoke about my own proud thoughts and negative powers that God is gradually scattering and bringing down in my life.  By hearing these words of Mary in personal terms, I don't mean to trivialize the radical, universal nature of what Mary is claiming here.  As has been so evident in the last week with the Newtown tragedy, we need Christ to come and set things right.  That's the promise.  Nevertheless in the meantime God seems to be carrying out this promise in a behind-the-scenes way, changing individuals and calling groups to be salt and light in the world.

And so today we hear that God has "lifted up the lowly."

I see God's "lifting" work being done in so many ways, in so many places.  A few simple examples:  people in our congregation arranged an afternoon of hospitality to take family Christmas portraits in a troubled neighborhood of the city.  Another team drove to NJ and spent a day helping with Sandy clean-up.  Next week over Christmas break some are volunteering to staff the church-sponsored shelter for the homeless.  This to me is God working through us to lift up the lowly.

Bear with me as I go personal with this text again.  Today I am sitting in my study hoping to crank out three messages for the coming week.  I never feel more lowly than when I face this task of what to say to the people of God.  I'm an introvert and would rather not speak; to do so drains me.  But the idea that I must speak words that perhaps God can use to nurture and challenge God's people (or perhaps not) is daunting.  And I am aware of my lowliness.  That God's word does come through is a great testament to God's grace in my lowly work and the congregation's great patience.

So here I am, sitting wordless in my lowliness and not feeling the least bit lifted up yet.  Except I keep remembering my morning walk where about a half hour before sunrise there was an amazing flush of rose fire in one quarter of the sky.  For a few minutes only the clouds were vivid.  The browned grass wore a pink, frosty wash.  The dark flowing water of Trout Run became a racing maroon current.  By the time I had hurried up cemetery hill, everything was fading back to a slate gray and cloud cover was closing the slim  sky opening, preventing sunlight from being seen today.

What does that have to do with the scripture text or my task of the day?  Only this and only tangentially: any lowly one who is homeless, any lowly one who faces yet another day of flood clean-up, any lowly one who was unable to sleep last night because of grief over the death of a child, any of these lowly ones might have glimpsed the incredible beauty of God's creation.  While God will lift up all lowly one day in amazing ways, today God offered us free beauty as we plow ahead into our day of lowly and perhaps painful tasks.  A few may have seen it and been lifted up.  That's my prayer anyway.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly...

Advent day 18- Down from thrones

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; 
      he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones..."  Luke 1:46-52.

There are a number of things to which I grant power that only belongs to God.  Other peoples' opinion and, related to that, making a good impression.  Letting the waster of free time have more power than doing some more "productive" things that I sincerely want to do.  My introvert self digging in its heels and yelling:  not another phone call!  Coveting what I use to go out and buy or the traveling I use to do before the economic downturn affected our family. Justifying every little thing I do rather than admitting I am not perfect.   None of these things is worth the power I give them.

Here's the good news:  the fact that I am aware that I give these things power which they don't deserve indicates that God is beginning to bring them down off of the thrones  in my life. I think that God seems to be dismantling the powers from the inside out in a quietly, subversive way.  It's a slow process.  Of course, it has been a long process for the Church which has been singing this song for about 2000 years and waiting for God to come and put things right once and for all.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones.....
.

Advent day 17- The great scattering

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; 
      he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts...."  Luke 1:46-51.

The popular polls would have picked someone else as the mother of Israel's messiah, but God chose to come to simple and sincere Mary instead of the proud and politically powerful.   It was a slap in the face to the influential....an affront to the demented King Herod who couldn't stand, as it turns out, thought of a messiah taking over his throne.  So Herod resorted to the murder of the innocent children in the town Jesus was born to prevent such a messiah from surviving.  Herod died shortly thereafter, perhaps even thinking he had managed to snuff out the upstart messiah's life, but he had failed.  The holy family had escaped to Egypt for a time.   God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 

According to Mathew's gospel, Mary's betrothed husband, gentle Joseph, was figuring out how to quietly divorce her after he had received the news she was pregnant.  Joseph knew the child wasn't his.  His plan was justified; he could only assume Mary had been unfaithful.  And I will assume (reading between the lines) that Joseph's pride, both in terms of his righteous morals and his personal affection for Mary, had been bruised.  But those plans were dispersed by angel Gabriel's arrival with a message from God.  The message changed Joseph's mind.  God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 

Jesus bent down and wrote in the sandy dirt.  A woman caught in adultery had been dragged over to stand near Jesus.  The arresting religious leaders pretended to want Jesus to judge the case.  If he did not condemn her, he would obviously be breaking the Jewish law.  If he did condemn her, he would lose the following of the ragtag masses.  Either way, the religious leaders would win...they thought.  Jesus looked up and said, "Let the one without sin cast the first stone."  He then went back to writing in the sand and waited them out.  One by one, the accusers walked away, and Jesus then absolved and instructed the woman who had been their pawn.  He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

Whether a ruthless king, or a confused and loving fiancee, or the judgmental, self-righteous elite, or whether it is me....He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  Week after week, God works in my heart and in the hearts of all of God's children, transforming us, changing us, teaching us.  Teaching us to think of others rather than pursuing only our own welfare.  Teaching us that surface appearances are indeed deceiving.  Teaching us that our self-righteousness can blind us.  Teaching us not to be controlled by our pride.  Teaching us to wash feet when necessary.  Sometimes it takes a lifetime, but Jesus comes into our lives to scatter the proud thoughts of our hearts so that love will ultimately win.   

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!