Listen to the Women

 Luke 1:39-56 Advent 4 December 22, 2024

 

Most of what we think about the

Christmas story

comes from the Gospel of Luke.

Some comes from Matthew, but Mark & John have nothing about

Jesus birth. Luke has the angels, the shepherds, the innkeeper, the manger

and most of the rest of the imagery we associate with Christmas.

 

One thing that stands out about the beginning of Luke’s story about the 

birth of Jesus is that the men are basically silent in it.

The story starts out with the Angel Gabriel announcing

John the Baptist’s birth to Zachariah, John’s soon-to-be father.

Zachariah asks the angel how this is going to happen

since he and his wife are very old.

The angel is annoyed by his doubt and Zachariah 

is silenced for several chapters, until John’s birth happens.

 

And Joseph has nothing to say in the entire gospel.

The story of Jesus birth really belongs to the women.

 

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,

Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel who tells her she’s going to

have a child. She asks how this is going to happen

(basically the same question that Zachariah asked,

but the angel wasn’t annoyed by her question for some reason)

The angel explains it, and Mary says,

“here I am, I’m ready to do this thing”

 

Then Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth,

who was pregnant with  the baby who would be John the Baptist

and the baby jumps in her womb when Mary walks in the house.

Elizabeth gets the whole picture of what’s happened with them,

that both of their children have been specially created and

called by God. And then Mary sings this Song that we heard today.

What is called the Magnificat.

 

Now some people have characterized Mary

as shy, reserved, passive, helpless even.

Maybe it’s the stereotypical view of a woman,

or some people’s hope of what women should be.

 

But there is nothing shy or reserved about Mary’s song.

What these women talk and sing about is about how God

will completely overturn, the unjust society they live in.

 

She sings:

“God 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.”

 

The Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez argued

 that any reading is fruitless that

"attempts to tone down what Mary's song tells us

about the preferential love of God for the lowly and the abused,

and about the transformation of history

that God's loving will implies."

 

The women are talking about the complete undoing

of the world which favors the rich and tramples the poor.

A world where, not only are the poor lifted out of their poverty,

but where the rich and powerful are relieved

of their wealth and power.

Kind of subversive of those women, wasn’t it?

And it’s been there in the bible the whole time.

  

Mary lived in a world where the rich had palaces

and servants and whatever their hearts dreamed of,

and where regular people – who did all of the useful work –

struggled to get food, and healthcare, and housing and

the basic necessities of life. Much like today’s world.

 

The wealthy and powerful in this world are constantly

tearing things down and remaking  structures

to be more profitable for themselves

and for other already wealthy people.

 

Mary’s song is saying that it’s God’s will to do the opposite:

to tear down the structures that

make just a few people wealthy and make it so that

the hungry are fed and the poor have good things.

And that the baby that she was carrying would

somehow start the process to make that happen.

It seems like, maybe, we still have to figure out how.

 

We’ve made Mary into the poster child for meek and mild,

for passive acquiescence. But she was really a revolutionary.

 

During the 1980’s, the corrupt government of Guatemala

banned the public recitation of Mary’s song.

People outside the faith can hear it.

They knew what it meant and how powerful it was.

 

What Mary’s song is saying is that God does not want

the rich to be rich while the poor stay poor.

God does not want grocery stores to make 

record profits while people scrounge around and struggle to afford food.

God does not want billionaire business owners

whose workers cannot afford basic necessities of life.

God does not want healthcare CEO’s to get million-dollar

salaries while people die from being denied cancer

treatments, or from rationing their insulin.

God does not want bankers who get rich from overdraft fees.

God does not want politicians who become millionaires

while cutting food stamps, military benefits, Medicaid,

and social security, and keeping the minimum wage at 7.25 an hour.

God does not want the mighty staying up on their thrones,

while the poor stay down in the dumps.

And God does not want women to stay silent.

 

We try to make this story about Jesus birth

so domesticated and sanitized.

Meek and submissive women, little happy babies,

sweet mangers and farm animals.

 

We try to cram the square peg of

Mary and Elizabeth, and God’s will, and the meaning

of Jesus birth into this round hole that we developed.

So that it doesn’t challenge anything in the world as it is.

So that it keeps up the status quo of our society.

 

But the truth is, this story does not fit into our

world comfortably at all.

Just like Jesus did not fit into this world comfortably at all.

It’s two women hoping for the time when

God would overthrow the structures

that make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

 

Is this bad news or good news?

I guess it depends on who you are

and where you stand on things.

 

But this is always the good news of Jesus birth:

God cares about us.

 

God cares about this world and the people in it.

Each and every one of us.

No matter what our status in life.

God cares about our politics and our relationships,

and our governments and how we treat each other.

God so loves this world.

 

Not in some airy fairy, kumbaya, greeting card way.

But God really, really cares about things here.

Enough to get buried deep in and get messy and dirty.

 

God loves us enough to be born into this

very complicated, hypocritical, messed up world.

God cares enough to live with us, and die for us.

And who wants to change this world

so it works for everyone.

So, listen to the women

as their soul proclaims the greatness of God.

Be the Change

 Zephaniah Luke 3:7-18

December 15, 2024

 

I think Prophets were kind 

of like the news analysts of the time,

the op-ed writers of their era, 

or the political bloggers

They didn’t really address personal, 

individual problems

they always looked at the whole country or world

and told everyone where they went wrong

from the top down, and what the possible

consequences and sad fates were: 

They knew doom and destruction would fall on everyone.

 

Although the prophets used ancient terms,

the analysis of their times sounds a lot like that of ours:

corrupt and greedy leaders, religious leaders who’ve lost their way,

the apathy and hopelessness of the people,

and a lack of compassion for the poor and outcast.

 

And then, like now, the prophets knew that the country

and the world  were not on a good path,

but everyone felt unable or unwilling to

do anything about the situation.

 

Zephaniah is not a big player in the prophet hit parade.

He’s called a minor prophet.

This book or letter is only three chapters long.

the first two chapters are the same kind of analysis

that we’re used to hearing from the prophets,

God is not happy with Israel who refuses to get their

act together, destruction will be coming in one form or another.

And then they will want God, but they’d grown so distant

from God, they won’t know how to find God.

The word Zephaniah means “ Yahweh hides.”

 

They say Zephaniah was written pre-exile period

meaning before the Jews were conquered

by Babylon and other countries.

In other words, it was a time when things were still hanging together,

but there was a sense that things  could fall apart at any time,

the fabric of the society they knew was crumbling.

 

But after this inevitable destruction and collapse,

Zephaniah goes on, there is hope, God doesn’t stay hidden forever.

The collapse will be followed will be followed by rebirth and resurrection, 

God will be there and the relationship with

God and God’s people will be restored

and things will be back on the right track.

 

As we heard in the part we read today,

Zion is God’s daughter, and God will renew her,

her fortunes will be restored and everything will be

better than it was before.

 

And the evidence that the time has come will be this:

All the oppressors will be dealt with,

the lame will be saved and the outcast will be brought home.

 

Things will come back together,

but they won’t come back together in the same way.

Things will be reassembled in God’s image

things will be done in God’s way.

 

This seems to be a theme in all the prophets, major and minor.

Falling apart, coming together,

and the new way will be closer to God’s way.

They always end with a hopeful analysis of the future.

But it is always kind of passive on the people’s part.

God will be the one to rebuild.

I mean, the people were active in creating the mess, but

God is alone in bringing things back together.

  

Now we have John the Baptist, who is our prophet

news commentator for the coming savior.

John the Baptist is saying basically the same thing

as Zephaniah and the prophets have been saying,

but in a much more colorful inflammatory way.

It was better for ratings, I guess.

 

“You brood of vipers, who told you

you could escape the wrath to come?”

He made a spectacle of himself and people did pay attention.

No one will be able to escape the consequences.

Everyone was in the same boat. Rich and poor,

faithful and not faithful, we’re all children of snakes.

 

But even though it’s more of the same as from other prophets,

it’s different. John is talking to individual, regular people,

not just to whole nations and rulers. He’s telling them and us,

that we have a role to play in this whole thing.

 

The people there asked him “What exactly should we do?”

Now, I’m not sure what they were expecting from John the Baptist,

but he was living like a wild man, alone in the wilderness,

eating bugs and just whatever he could find on the ground.

 

Maybe they thought he would tell everyone

to drop out of normal life, wear a camel’s hair coat and

and eat locusts and twigs with him in the wilderness

and wait for God to reappear.

 

But no. John tells them:

“If you have two coats, share one with someone who has none.

If you have any extra food, share that too.”

Then he tells the tax collectors not to over collect from people,

and he tells the soldiers not to extort money from vulnerable people.

 

He’s not telling them leave their lives

and hide in the woods and wait.

He’s telling them to go back to their cities and villages 

and just behave differently, 

to not use their position or job to take advantage of other people, 

to treat others with kindness,

and fairness and justice,

in other words, to be the change in the world.

 

Like Zephaniah, John is saying that after the problems and distress

to come, God will be reordering the world in this new way,

but in a little shift from Zephaniah and the prophets of old,

John is saying that we have an opportunity to be part  

of the reconstruction, part of the rebirth, part of the resurrection.

We are participants in the change that

God has in store for the world.

We don’t even have to wait for the

destruction and the wrath to come

we can start the reconstruction and rebirth now.

 

We aren’t merely passive recipients of God’s good will,

God will work through our hands and feet and mouths.

And we will be signs that the resurrection is happening.

 

We will have an active role in dealing with the oppressors,

saving the lame, and bringing the outcasts home again.

We are the agents and the sign of God’s new order in the world.

 

When we treat someone with kindness who doesn’t deserve it,

when we forgive, even when someone isn’t sorry,

when we treat all people with respect,

when we welcome the stranger,

when we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

When we do those things that we can do right now,

We become part of the God’s restoration.

 

And all the stuff we do together,

Like serving in our food pantries, working with Backpack Buddies,

Habitat for Humanity, caring and nurturing others,

praying for each other, making our congregation a

place of welcome for all, when we write letters to leaders,

when we stand up for what’s right, when we pray for others,

when we forgive and understand, when we share grace,

whatever we do to help reform the world in God’s image

those are all signs that God’s plan is already working,

and we are a part of it.

 

As we sit and wait for Christmas, for Jesus to return,

and whatever else we are waiting to face in the coming years,

John is reminding us to not lose the light of Christ in our hearts.

 

Even when everything around us seems dark and evil,

Even if the whole world loses their way,

the light of Christ in our own hearts can be our hope

and can even be the hope in the world.

 

John Baptized with water, but there is another coming

who will baptize with fire. A fire meant to light us up and move us.

And that is why the word John had in the end was good news

for those at the Jordan and for us right now.

 

You, Brood of Vipers!

Who told you to flee from the wrath to come.

Don’t run away from the troubles of the world.

Go back there and do something about it!

Be the change that you want to see.

 

And have faith that God will save the lame,

gather the outcast,

and will change our shame into praise.

Know that God will bring us home.

The Beginning is Near

 Luke 21:25-36   Advent 1   December 1, 2024

 

I read an article that was written actually a couple of years ago,

which said that with the events happening in this country and in this world:

wild fires, hurricanes, climate change, wars, terrorism, political upheaval,

the pandemic, division, and threats of everything –

that an increased number of people are experiencing

things like anxiety, depression which they usually attribute to trauma,

even from people who haven’t had direct trauma.

The world’s become too much for lots of people to deal with.

 

And it said that one of the issues that people are having is

they are resorting to “apocalyptic thinking”. The article used those words.

People who are overly stressed about the events in the world

are looking out for signs that every moment is the beginning

of the end of the world, or at least civilization as we know it.

 

This kind of thinking actually re-traumatizes us, it prevents us from

thinking and acting rationally, and it justifies bad behavior.

In apocalyptic thinking, people who differ from us

become enemies and agents of the end we fear.

When we raise everything to the level of apocalypse,

then we live in a constant state of reactivity and emergency.

 

The article said we have to stop thinking that 

everything that happens is a sign of the end of everything we know and love.

I thought that had a lot of wisdom in it. Stop the apocalyptic thinking.

 

The reading today is not helping out with that, I know.

This chapter in Luke is called a “little apocalypse”.

Every first Sunday in Advent, we read these little apocalypses.

It doesn’t seem very Christmassy really.

 

Each of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke)

has these little apocalypses. They all start out with things that we fear:

Terrible suffering, wars, hatred, persecution, 

vitriol from family, natural disasters. And then, after that, things don’t get much better,

the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give out light,

the stars will fall, and the powers of the heaven will be shaken.

Very scary indeed.

 

And they’re all punctuated by Jesus plea to “Keep Awake”

Keep alert, stay on guard to watch out

for the signs that others might be ignoring.

Be attentive to the signs and know the future through them.

In other words, to have apocalyptic thinking.

Apparently, Jesus and the Gospel writers have not read the article from

Psychology Today or whatever I was reading.

 

Jesus wants us to keep awake during all this and notice the signs.

But what for? Why should we keep awake?

Does Jesus want us scared and nervous all the time?

Does Jesus enjoy our anxiety?

Is this a way to scare us and to control our behavior?

No, I don’t think Jesus is telling us this to raise our

anxiety, Jesus actually wants to lower it.

Advent is not just about waiting for Christmas

and waiting for the baby Jesus birthday.

It’s about waiting for Jesus to come again.

When we hear that, waiting for Jesus to come again,

it probably fills us with dread, and who can blame us?

Over the last century or so, people have developed elaborate

fictions about how all this will all happen.

 

When we think of Christ’s second coming, we get images of

world-wide destruction and dystopian social scenarios,

and no one can seem to do anything about thwarting it

because it’s “God’s will”.

It’s like we’re pawns caught in a battle between good and evil

That does sound terrible. More anxiety and worry.

More throwing up of hands and giving up,

more reactivity, more bad behavior.

 

But the truth is, we don’t know what the end will look like.

These things that fill our heads are fictions, made to scare us.

They’re fabrications based on little bits of interpreted scripture.

We don’t know what will happen and we don’t know when it will happen.

And of the many times we have been convinced that the end was nigh,

it’s never happened yet.

  

I mean there were times in 2020 when I was waiting

in line to get into a grocery store at 6:30 in the morning

that I was sure the end was upon us, but I was wrong about that.

During 9-11, I thought the end was upon us, but I was wrong about that.

And even though those were tough times, we’re still living

in one of the most peaceful times in history.

I’m sure in many eras were far worse and seemed more like the end.

But here we still are: worried and anxious.

Maybe our problems stems from our understanding of what an apocalypse is. 

These fictional predictions of the end make it

sound like apocalypse actually equals destruction.

It’s been used so much, that apocalypse actually does mean destruction.

 

But the word apocalypse is from the Greek

and it means “uncovering”, “revealing”, “disclosure”

it’s not about the end of the world, but the uncovering of God’s presence.

 

All of these little apocalypses in scripture end in the same way:

there is fear, there is suffering, and then there is Jesus.

The suffering and fear are just a preamble to God’s presence with us.

They are an assurance to us that God is near.

When the sun is darkened and the stars are falling,

and things seem to be getting seriously worse for all involved,

that is the time that Jesus will be there and we will truly know God’s power.

Jesus says in this Little Apocalypse:

“Now when these things begin to take place,

stand up and raise your heads,

because your redemption is drawing near.”

 

Redemption is “regaining of something” in exchange for payment, 

or clearing a debt. When all those signs happen in the world,

it’s a sign of God regaining the world.

 

I am sure that we will see some more scary things in our lifetimes.

We might be tempted to hide our heads and avoid everything,

or we might want to look too close and predict doom at every

turn whip ourselves into a frenzy. But that’s not what Jesus wants us to do.

Jesus wants us to remain awake, with hopeful anticipation.

 

Our expectations about Jesus second Advent

should be shaped by what we know about Jesus first Advent:

 

Jesus came to us at a time of terrible hopelessness.

A time in history of corruption, poverty, and desperation for most people.

But Jesus came as a child, he lived and suffered with us,

he taught about God’s love, he taught us about love for one

another, about God’s abundance, and about forgiveness.

And finally Jesus poured out his love for all creation on the cross.

 

Then the sun was darkened then and the powers of heaven were shaken,

but when humanity gave Jesus the worst it could in the crucifixion,

God gave us the best in the resurrection.

The second coming of Christ should be a welcome presence,

the arrival of our dearest friend. It is the beginning of our salvation.

The destruction of time and corruption of good, isn’t the end,

it’s the opportunity for all things to be made new again.

 

Back in Texas, I went camping in Big Bend

right on the Mexican border with a group of people from church.

The sky there is beautiful at night because it’s so dark

you can see more stars there than I have ever seen.

And one of the nights that we were there,

There were a lot of shooting stars.

 

Most of the people had gone into their tents

and the few of us were sleeping outside and we started to notice them.

We spent the next couple of hours lying there on our cots

in our sleeping bags monitoring different parts of the sky and saying,

“to the right, to the left, down, up.”

And everyone would look to catch a glimpse.

 

Even though I was ready for bed before we saw them,

I was wide awake looking at them.

My eyes were open and I was super-alert.

I didn’t want to miss any of them,

and I was responsible for looking at my part of the sky.

I didn’t want to let anyone down.

I saw about five shooting stars myself,

but all of us must have seen around thirty shooting stars together.

I felt the excitement of them, even if I didn’t see them with my eyes.

  

This is the attentiveness that Jesus is calling us to.

To wait with one another in hope, not dread.

to keep each other alert, to be aware.

But not to look not with anxiety, but with hopeful anticipation.

To raise our heads because our redemption is drawing near.

 

Jesus is asking us to wait and watch for God’s presence.

God always shows up the most brilliant

amongst pain, and sorrow, and suffering.

 

Jesus asks us to keep awake and alert.

And to do it together, so we can point these signs out to one another

like shooting stars in our field of vision,

and when we fall asleep, or get cynical or exasperated,

or too anxious, or crazy, or just plain tired,

someone else will be there to keep watch and remind us.

We can see God much more together than we can alone.

 

There is suffering in every time, in every era,

in every community, in every life-time.

Jesus tells us to not look at those

moments with hopelessness and fear.

But to look at them with anticipation.

To look at them and wait for God to be revealed.

The apocalypse, the revelation.

The ravages of time and the corruption of what’s good,

isn’t the end, it’s the opportunity for all things to be made new again.

For God to be renewing it all.

 

So let’s have those apocalyptic thoughts,

But know it’s not the end of the world,

but that it’s the beginning of everything.