Dear Emanuel Members and Friends –
"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 to his descendants forever." The Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55
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 to his descendants forever." The Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55
When the time came for their purification
according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him
to the Lord…..Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man
was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that
he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the
Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child
Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his
arms and praised God, saying, "Master, now you are dismissing your servant
in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which
you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the
Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." And the child's father and mother were amazed
at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his
mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of
many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner
thoughts of many will be revealed--and a sword will pierce your own soul
too." Luke 2:22, 25-35
Our Gospel readings for December
include the most poetic passages of Luke’s gospel. After meeting her relative Elizabeth (herself
miraculously pregnant in her old age with the baby who would become John the
Baptist), Mary rejoices in all that God has done for her, deeming herself
blessed. And then, in seemingly
prophetic words, she looks ahead to all that the child in her womb will
accomplish – bringing down the powerful, lifting up the lowly, filling the
hungry, sending the rich away empty. Clearly,
Mary knew that her child would be no guardian of the status quo. Later, after Jesus was born and when Mary and
Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple, the aged Simeon confirmed Mary’s words –
“This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and
to be a sign that will be opposed…..and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
We love the imagery of Christmas, the
decorations, the carols, the manger scenes, the beautiful greeting cards. We love the image of the baby Jesus in the
manger, with his adoring parents nearby, surrounded by sheep and goats and
shepherds and wise men. These images
bring back so many warm memories of Christmases past, the Christmases of our
childhood and Christmases today with our children and grandchildren.
We love the Christ child. The Christ child is adorable and
unthreatening. But the baby will grow
up, will start to ask questions about why things are as they are and to dream
of how things can be. The baby will grow
up to instruct, to inspire. The baby
will grow up to make demands on our time and on our lives.
Perhaps Mary can be an example for us,
as she made room (in her body and throughout her life) for the Christ child. Even though she was “blessed among women”,
she also came to know the meaning of Simeon’s words “a sword will pierce your own
soul”. Matthew’s gospel tells us that
Mary and her family were for a time refugees in Egypt, seeking safety from the
threats of Herod. Luke’s gospel tells us
that Mary was amazed by the responses of Simeon and Anna to the Christ child,
torn between anxiety and relief upon finding the 12-year-old Jesus at the
Temple, conversing with the learned elders there (Luke 2:41-51). We’re told that Mary “pondered all these
things in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Later,
Jesus’ ministry took him far from Mary’s side.
At times, Jesus focused more on his family of faith than on his family
of origin (Mark 3:19b-35). And, of course, Mary was at the cross at the
crucifixion. Strange blessings
indeed…but blessings nonetheless, amid the pain. Our journey of discipleship will likewise
contain both blessing and growing pains that we experience as we mature in
faith, as we are stretched by our encounters with others and expand in our
capacity to minister to their pain. In
so doing, as we join Mary in saying “let it be with me according to your word”
(Luke 1:38) we are conformed more and more into the likeness of Christ (Romans
8:29).
Throughout Scripture, when God has
wanted to rescue God’s people, God sent, not armies, but babies – babies such
as Isaac, Moses, and Samuel in the Old Testament, babies such as John the
Baptist and the Christ Child in the New Testament. We
want God to act quickly and forcefully, but instead, God acts slowly, in out-of-the-way
places, by way of ordinary people, through love. And in order to participate in God’s saving
acts, we need to make room, room for the Christ child, room for the teachings
of the adult Jesus, room for the Holy Spirit, who continues to remind us of all
that Jesus taught. (John 14:26)
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote
these words:
Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room
for Him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because He cannot be at home in
it, because he is out of place in it, and yet He must be in it, His place is
with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not
belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who
are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ
is present in this world. (Thomas Merton, Raids On The
Unspeakable)
May we at Emanuel Church make room
for the Christ child – and for those others for whom the world has no room,
among whom the Risen Christ is to be found.
Blessings for Advent,
Christmas, Epiphany, and the New Year – Pastor Dave
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