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Advent
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Welcome. Come on back in if you're grabbing a coffee. My name is Jeremy. I'm part of the team here. And I actually get the privilege of leading our team here at Commons.
Speaker 1:It has been remarkable to get to watch how our staff and our volunteers and our community just continues to grow and evolve and take on a very unique place in the city of Calgary. I found myself this week as we get closer to the end of the year reflecting on 2016. That's what you do. Right? At the end of the year.
Speaker 1:But in particular, I was thinking about the amazing work that we are doing with things like our Advent project and our ongoing relationship with children and communities like Calende. And I was just very proud to get to be part of a community like this. But I wanted to let you know that even as we talk about things like our advent projects, we know we're getting closer to year end. And I realize that for a lot of us that means thinking about year end charitable donations. Now we have expanded our team this year.
Speaker 1:We've made some great investments as we head into 2017 with some really exciting things on the horizon as we get set to launch a second parish. But it's also important that we head into this new year in a healthy place financially. And so we have put together a donor report for 2016. You can find that in the top right corner of our web page. But our intent was to tell a bit of the story of the year here at Commons.
Speaker 1:Some of the great things that have happened and continue to happen in our community. But then also to give you a bit of a detailed breakdown of how we have used your donations this year. Now the numbers are not final. Not until our year end is closed and our books are reviewed. But it's really important to myself and to our board that we communicate very clearly and transparently about the resources you have trusted us with.
Speaker 1:And so we absolutely do not take that lightly. And so from all of our team and from me personally, I wanna say thank you for your generosity this year. I wanna ask you to please consider how you might be able to contribute before December 31. So thank you. Now that said, we are of course also in this season of Advent.
Speaker 1:Next Sunday is actually Christmas. And just a reminder, there are no services next Sunday. Four services on Saturday. Everyone will need the rest by Sunday. But we are in that last stretch before the big morning and the mountain of presents and the family dinners and the stocking stuffers and the spiked eggnog and the piles of torn paper and the squeals of delight and yes, the baby Jesus finally arrived.
Speaker 1:I mean we talk about it every year And yet somehow it is still easy to get wrapped up in ribbons and bows and lose sight of that central moment. A vulnerable child in a bed of hay. I mean, Christmas is that time of year where we are almost expected to lose sight of common sense. Am I right? I don't know if you saw this, but Nordstrom's, which apparently we have in Calgary now, is selling a Christmas rock for $85 USD, which is a $193 Canadian.
Speaker 1:I did the math for you. This is the actual caption from their website. This smooth Los Angeles area stone. So it is imported. Let's give them that.
Speaker 1:It's wrapped in rich vegetable tanned American leather secured by sturdy contrast stitching. It is sure to draw attention wherever it rests. And this is my favorite part, actually from the website. It asks a paperweight, a conversation piece, a work of art. It's up to you.
Speaker 1:I mean at least they admit that they have no idea what this thing is for either. This item sold out this week. You cannot buy it. Apparently, Los Angeles is completely stone free at this point. However, I got to admit, if it wasn't $216 Canadian, yes, the exchange rate did drop in the last forty seconds, I might actually buy one.
Speaker 1:I kind of like it. I think it would look nice on my desk. But for $304 Canadian, a pet rock could only ever happen at a time when people's common sense has been obliterated by Christmas. And so I am intrigued by a season like Advent which was meant to slow us down and prepare us for Christmas. To make sure that we don't just stumble our way in with haphazard gifts and less than appropriate intent.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you realize this, but the Christian calendar, Advent, Christmas tide, Lent, Easter tide, Pentecost, ordinary time, that rhythm has actually been around longer than the canon of scripture. So we have been practicing this rhythm of preparation, celebration, preparation, celebration in some form. We have been doing that as the church longer than we have had our bible. And you could think, four weeks. I mean, do you really need to talk about something for four weeks before you just do it?
Speaker 1:But here's the thing, stretching the celebration doesn't actually mean preparing well. And so this is why Advent was designed to move us not through celebration, but through very different emotions. Darkness and confusion, and hope and frustration. Longing and anticipation, fear and courage. Because as we rehearse these conversations together, as we move through these emotions together, what happens is that we begin to arrive at Christmas having fully felt the significance of this story.
Speaker 1:And for a story that we have heard a 100 times before, that's incredibly important. It's why Scott took us through the unexpectedness of Christmas last week. And not only is Christmas about Jesus arrival, it is about the completely missable way that he arrives. I loved the contrast that Scott brought out between the way that Mary accepts this angelic proclamation that her son, this child born to her, a virgin, will be the Messiah. I mean, that's big news.
Speaker 1:But then twelve years later, after years of changed diapers and scraped knees, after years of wiping away tears and reminding him to eat his vegetables, it's like Mary forgets for a moment just how special Jesus is. And you would, wouldn't you? To be that close to something so beautiful for such a long time, it makes it hard to remember how strange it all is. And for the record, your kids are pretty special too. Even if they've been around for a while, don't forget that especially at Christmas.
Speaker 1:But this is the point of Advent. Familiarity can make even the most fantastical stories seem mundane, and we can't let Christmas ever seem ordinary. Christmas is surprising and unexpected. It's radical and revolutionary every single time we come back to this tale. And so that's where we need to focus our attention today.
Speaker 1:As we wrap up Advent and we prepare to light the Christ candle this Saturday. The revolution of Christmas and how that changes everything. But first, let's pray. God of all hope and joy, open our hearts in welcome that your son Jesus Christ at his arrival may find in us a dwelling place prepared for him. Whatever is in us that reaches for you and your coming, God, would you kindle that spark so that we would wait for more than the party of Christmas, but that we would deeply anticipate your presence with us, Emmanuel.
Speaker 1:Help us to know that this story we rehearse today was the start of a revolution that changed everything for us. Love, incarnate and present and fully with us in history. May we now carry you as Mary did into every conversation, into every encounter, into every relationship we enter this season. May you be birthed into this world again this Christmas through the ways that we love. And so we bring praise today for the fir tree and the wreath and the candle yet to be lit.
Speaker 1:For the hush and the hiddenness and the hope within the bold surprise. For the joy in the promise of your good and gracious son. Your word in flesh, your hallelujah in our hearts. In the name of the one who we await this day, we pray. Amen.
Speaker 1:Okay. It's the final week of Advent. And so I want to begin by reading the lectionary passage for this week. Because this is one of the most significant, but also one of the most beautiful passages within the Christmas narratives. And it comes from Luke chapter one and it starts in verse 46 but this is a poem that we call Mary's Magnificat.
Speaker 1:And it's a poem that she recites after meeting her cousin Elizabeth who upon seeing Mary immediately recognizes the significance of this pregnancy. And because it's the final week of Advent and because we are reading this liturgical prayer, I'm gonna ask that you stand with me as I read today. So please stand. Mary said, my soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
Speaker 1:From now on all generations will call me blessed. For the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm.
Speaker 1:He has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but he has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever just as he promised our ancestors. May the Lord bless the reading of his word.
Speaker 1:You may be seated. Now, as I said, it's incredibly beautiful poem. But there's also a lot of significance in this passage especially as we get closer to the culmination of our waiting. And so we need to back up here just a little bit to get some context. Because even if we haven't been around church for a long time or if we're not particularly familiar with the details of these biblical stories, probably most of us know at least some of the background here culturally.
Speaker 1:Mary is a virgin and she has pledged to be married but one day an angel shows up and says, actually Mary, plans have changed. You see, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you so that the holy one to be born to you will be called the Son of God. That's from earlier in, the opening chapter of Luke verse 35. Now, that might sound like good news to us. Pregnancy is a joyous thing.
Speaker 1:Certainly a divine pregnancy is even better. I mean as far as pregnancies go in the grand scope of history. But of course, the reality of pregnancy is very different than the expectation or so I'm told. And just like anyone today who might have this type of news thrust upon them, this is scary. I mean, first of all, encounters with angels are scary.
Speaker 1:Just ask the shepherds. Being pregnant at 14 is scary. Can't even imagine that. Being unmarried and potentially alone in this challenge is scary. But being 14, unmarried, potentially alone with nothing but an outlandish story between you and the scornful looks of your neighbors, this is downright terrifying.
Speaker 1:Especially in a culture that was far too bound up in proper appearances. We don't know anything about that. But being an unwed mother in ancient Palestine was an uncomfortable place. Especially when you recognize that there is some indication in the gospels that Mary may have actually come from the Levitical priestly lineage. We're told that her cousin Elizabeth, who she goes to see after she becomes pregnant.
Speaker 1:We're told that Elizabeth is from the line of Aaron. Now, ancient genealogies are notoriously hard to unwind. But this could very well mean that Mary was as well. And if that's the case, then think back to all of the pomp and circumstance and ceremony of Leviticus that we talked about this fall. Because if Mary comes from that place of privilege in her culture, And first of all, the pressure on her to play the part, to be prim and proper would have been extraordinary even within that era.
Speaker 1:But also, the loss of privilege and the fall from grace that she would have experienced by accepting the words of this angel, they would have been profound. The angel says, do not be afraid. He doesn't say there's nothing to be afraid of after all. And so there's this very real moment that sits between the lines of the gospel where we wonder how Mary will respond. And sometimes we move far too quickly here Because, yes, the next line after the angel is Mary and she speaks again and she says, I am the Lord's servant.
Speaker 1:May your word to me be fulfilled. But this is one of those moments where what happens between the lines should cause us to linger a while. Now, Luke is an interesting gospel. There has been this assumption for a long time that the intended audience of Luke was Gentile non Jewish Christians. The outreach to the Jews had long since ceased and this was a thoroughly Christian text.
Speaker 1:That the Luke who the gospel is named for actually doesn't give his own name anywhere in the book. That just comes from Christian tradition. But that he was a Gentile writing to other Gentiles. That may be true. But I would suggest that the consensus today is that Luke is a far more Jewish book than was once assumed.
Speaker 1:There are themes in Luke. They just don't really make a lot of sense or at least they don't seem relevant unless you have at least some understanding of Judaism. And so it could be that the intended audience for this letter was actually far more Jewish than we once imagined. Or there was a category of people in the first century that were known as God fearers. That these were people who were not ethnically Jewish, who weren't born Jews, but they had come to respect even worship.
Speaker 1:Some had even gone as far as to acknowledge the Jewish God Yahweh as the one true God. Now, they weren't really part of the community. They lived to sort of on the edges of Judaism. But they were allowed to participate in some ways although not fully in others. It seems like this group may have been a significant part of the audience that this writer had in mind as he constructs this gospel.
Speaker 1:Either way, what happens is that in the decades after Jesus' death is that you have all kinds of people emerging from both Jewish and God fearing backgrounds to identify themselves with the story of Jesus. This was a very uncomfortable place as well. Alexander Shiah talks about the ways in which early converts to the story of Jesus were shunned by their families. How God fearers were now shut out from the Jewish communities that they had been working so hard to be a part of. We actually have some writings that indicate Jewish families sitting Shiva over converts to the Christian way.
Speaker 1:That means that they acted as if they treated their loved ones as if they had actually died. Now remember, Jewish followers of Jesus, God fearers who recognized the divine in Christ, they weren't trying to convert to a new religion. They saw Jesus as the promised fulfillment of their faith. And yet now, their families, their communities, their support systems were abandoning them because of their willingness to trust this Jesus story. And if that's who's reading Luke's account, and if these people are watching for Mary's response to the angel, this moment between the lines looms very large.
Speaker 1:Because this audience, these people, they know what this will cost, Mary. Not intellectually, they know it intimately. The loss of privilege, the loss of status, the loss of community, the loss of support, the loss of identity. I can imagine the story in the context of the early church being read out loud as they gathered together during Advent and the person tasked with reading comes to the words of the angel. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus.
Speaker 1:How will this be? Mary asked the angel since I am a virgin. But the angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you and then the orator stops. And he waits and he lets it linger in the air for a moment. So that everyone in the gathering can reflect, they can remember, they can count all the ways that this story has already changed everything for them.
Speaker 1:And then he looks back down at the scroll to collect his words but he lifts his eyes to the audience to speak and he reads, I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled. I can imagine a room just breathing in the significance of those words. The courage of them. You see Mary was a hero to the early church Not just because she was some random kid chosen by God as a vessel.
Speaker 1:She was a hero because she was extraordinary. Fearless and strong and she led the early church into this costly conviction that God was doing something in and through Jesus. But more than that, she led them into this costly conviction that God was doing something in and through us. Now we call Mary Theotakos. The mother of God, the God bearer.
Speaker 1:But for the early church, what Mary taught us was that we all carry Christ within us in some way. And so protecting that and nurturing that, giving life and sustenance and safety to that Christ within you at any cost with extraordinary courage. This is good and it's beautiful because this is divine. There's this beautiful quote from the thirteenth century German mystic Catholic theologian, Meister Eckhart. And often gets paraphrased into English as what good is it if Christ came unless he continues to come.
Speaker 1:And I love that because it reminds me to make Christmas not just a memory or an observation or an anniversary of some incredible thing long long ago, but instead a meeting with the divine who comes to find me in this moment right now. But, perhaps even better is a more faithful translation of Eckhart's German words. Because originally, what he actually wrote was this, what good is it if Mary gave birth to the son of God all those years ago? If I do not give birth to the son of God in my time and in my culture. And what I love about his full quote is that it reminds me to make Christmas more than an anniversary.
Speaker 1:Yes, to know that God is ready to meet with me today just as powerfully as he was two thousand years ago, of course. But also, that I am now implicated in his arrival in my world. That I, in some mysterious way, carry Christ into the world the way that Mary did before me. See, this is why Christmas has to be more than just the heartwarming story at the start of the tale. You can't just skip Advent and move to Easter.
Speaker 1:It doesn't work. Because if we miss God here in this small moment, we will surely miss God there. As you sometimes, I think that the root of all sin is a misapprehension of God's character. Think back to the Garden of Eden. This ancient tale where a serpent tricks the first humans into disobeying God.
Speaker 1:And what does he say? What does he use to trick them? He says eat this fruit. God is hiding something from you. He doesn't want you to know about this.
Speaker 1:He doesn't want you to have this experience. He doesn't want the best for you. I mean the issue in Genesis wasn't just how delicious apples are and how God doesn't want us to eat them. The issue was that we misunderstood who God was. Sometimes, we think God is harsh.
Speaker 1:That he's a tyrant. And so we start to act that way. We think strength means acting like a bully. Sometimes we think God is impotent. That he's harmless and inconsequential and so we ignore him thinking it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1:But the root of all this is a flawed conception of the divine. So all through the story of the scriptures, God is pulling and he's nudging and he's inviting us to come toward him slowly. Bit by bit, he's revealing himself to us. We saw that in Leviticus. The beauty that we can still find even in this incomplete picture of God.
Speaker 1:But here, at Advent, in the womb of an unmarried 14 year old girl in Palestine, God says, I am ready to be completely known. And so the truth of the God behind the universe. The truth of the God who sat behind the stars in the ancient sky, who people looked up and thought they were tiny windows into the heavens. The truth of the same God who sits today behind the known universe which is as of this moment 93,000,000,000 light years across. The truth of the God who existed before there was reveals himself perfectly and fully as a helpless zygote subject to the hormone shifts of an adolescent girl.
Speaker 1:The most powerful, strong, self sufficient concept you can muster in your mind reveals himself perfectly as the most dependent, vulnerable creature in the universe. And this is not a mistake or a metaphor or an oversight. This is who God is. I've said it this way before. That when we are powerful, when you and I, when we get a hold of a bit of power, we wanna prove it and we wanna maximize it.
Speaker 1:We wanna demonstrate it to everyone who we can. But when you are infinitely powerful, then the only thing left is to give that all away. And so God comes and he says, this is who I really am. Love and grace that comes to be with you. Not above you or beyond you.
Speaker 1:Not near you or even adjacent to you, but with you. And in you. And through you out into my world. And so the God who would give up his grandeur to be known does it through a girl who would give up her status to be the God bearer. And through a community who would give up its privilege to carry that message out into the world.
Speaker 1:That is the fragile hope of Emmanuel that you now carry within you this season. You are not God. And you are not Mary, but what you are is the unique creation of an incredible God who longs to transform some small corner of his world in and through you. Because as Mary was and as the early church believed, you are a God bearer in this world. And so this Advent, we have talked about the dark.
Speaker 1:The people walking in deep darkness have seen a great light, but that sometimes you still need to walk the dark path to get home. In Advent, we have talked about the waiting. And sometimes the thing that you long most deeply for, it's on its way and it is coming to you and it won't be stopped, but for now it is still a ways off. And so you will need to learn how to wait well. As I haven't, we have talked about the unexpected.
Speaker 1:And sometimes even God can be hard to notice if we don't pay attention for his presence. That he can slip past us if we forget what he looks like. That we can miss him in the ordinary moments that he just seems to love to occupy. Things like bread and wine and laughter and conversation and gift and giving. But today, on this final Sunday before Christmas, In the Magnificat of Mary, what we realize is that the darkness and the waiting and the humility of it all, all of this smallness and hiddenness, all of this hushed hope we experience in this season, it wasn't meant to sneak God past us.
Speaker 1:It was meant to reveal God to us. Because if we can just get God here in this moment before the beginning, then it will not surprise us when Easter rolls around. And the revolution comes when we least expect it, how we least expect it, through what we least expected to see. The helpless child of Christmas, now helpless on a cross. See, God always was self giving sacrificial love.
Speaker 1:We just misapprehended his character. And so this Christmas, remember that you carry God within you. And that means that within you there is love that will confound even you. Within you is self giving that will surprise even you. Within you right now is generosity and sacrifice that will astonish even you if you can just become aware of it.
Speaker 1:But here's the thing. All of that is incredibly fragile. And so the dark and the weight and the humility of it all will offer to exchange the glimmer of the divine that lies protected inside you for a rock wrapped in leather. Because that's easy. It's tangible.
Speaker 1:It has a dollar value attached to it, and it's readily available with a swipe of a credit card except not the rock because that's sold out. But the joy of Christmas was never that it was easy. It's that it was true. And true has this way of holding on even through the long dark wait. Madeleine Langel once wrote a poem she called After Annunciation.
Speaker 1:And so these are the words I will leave you with on this last moment before the celebration of Christmas. This is the irrational season when love blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason, there'd have been no room for a child. May you keep room for the Christ child this season. In your celebrations, in your home, in your heart, and perhaps most importantly, in your womb as you carry Christ out into his world this Christmas.
Speaker 1:Let's pray. God, thank you for this incredible story where you come helpless and vulnerable as a child in a manger. Not so that you can sneak past us, but so that you can show yourself, you can reveal yourself fully and completely to us. So that we can know that the God who can speak the universe into existence with a word has nothing left to prove. He has only love and grace and self sacrifice left because that is who you are.
Speaker 1:Self giving. And so God, may we recognize you this Advent through the dark and through the wait, through the humility of it all. So that when we come to the celebration of Christmas, we do it noticing you for who you are. You are a great God. And in the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray.
Speaker 1:Amen.