[Propertalk] 2 Christmas c rcl

[Robert P Morrison]

I finished this late last night. Tomorrow (Sunday) I am engaged in ministry as a Supply priest at a Church 80 miles south east - in Albany, Oregon

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY 	           2 CHRISTMAS
JEREMIAH 31:7-14                       3rd JANUARY, 2010
EPHESIANS 1:3-6, 15-19a	           PSALM 84:1-8
MATTHEW 2:13-15, 19-23   (alternate Gospels – not used    LUKE 2:41-52   MATTHEW 2:1-12)

	I wonder. Did Joseph think that Mary needed simply to get away from it all, after the stress of travelling, giving birth in difficult circumstances, and then putting up with a constant stream of guests? Is that what made the couple so receptive to the idea of going down to Egypt for a few years?
	I doubt it, even if a week or two away after childbirth DOES seem appealing! AND it would give a bit of quiet time to bond with the baby. But that’s NOT what the Gospel story is about this morning.
	In fact, quite the opposite. Mary – and Joseph too – had followed God’s instructions and request right down to the final point. They’d put themselves at risk; they’d risked all sorts of ridicule and gossip; they’d probably stretched their financial resources, maybe even being forced to stop off at a synagogue or two on the way to get a little help from the local rabbi’s discretionary fund.
	I suppose they should have been ready for about anything, Mary having been given notice of all of this in such a strange way. And then there was a lot of confusion about where to stay when Mary was to give birth.
	That was the background to this trip to Egypt. It was done in such a stealthy and sudden way.
	What this suggests for me is something quite disturbing, and it may take some time to digest.
	Think back to the time you made a commitment of one sort or another. Maybe it was to follow a particular course of education and training for what you assumed would be your life’s vocation. Maybe it was commitment to an individual who would become your spouse or your closest friend. Possibly it was to a child or a friend whom you decided would always find love in your company, and joy in learning about life, and about God and all that faith in God implies. Possibly it was something like making a verbal promise to adhere to the traditions and rules of one group or another.
	Just as an aside – when was the last time you read through the Baptismal Covenant – in the Prayer Book pages 304 and 305, with the preceding two also?
	For Deacon Marge and me, I can think of the promises made at ordination – now THEY’RE scary!
	Mary, Joseph, Ann, Harry, Jane, Dick – we all make commitments, pledges, and we can be led to think that there’s be some sort of payback. Somehow, in return for doing our best with the Baptismal Covenant, for instance, we may think that most, if not all of the problems in life will somehow by-pass us. But if we do that, I think we miss the point of God’s interest in us and blessing of us. In fact, the commitment we make becomes for us the challenge to face up to whatever troubles every single person in the world.
	There’s a tendency sometimes to be lulled into thinking that if Jesus is, indeed “God-with-us”, then everything will simply fall into place and there won’t be any problems.
	Robert Browning, the nineteenth-century poet, wrote a poem entitled “Pippa Passes” in which “Pippa’s Song” seems particularly appropriate for this first Sunday of the new decade. It was written about a young, innocent girl in the same sort of way that one might think of the new year, or fresh starts in life – the very sort of thing which Mary hoped was happening through the birth of her child.
	Browning wrote,
	“The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
	The hill-side’s dew-pearled;
	The lark’s on the wing;
	The snail’s on the thorn;
	God’s in his heaven – 
	All’s right with the world!”  1
	Even today we hanker for the sort of world when we can relax when we reach a certain stage of our lives, when we can set aside worrying about making our payments, or getting appropriate medical treatment for health-care issues. And as for Church – the last thing we want is to be disturbed in Church.
	Predictability – stability – comfort – that’s what we want from our religious life. After all, if God loves us, this will always be a place where there’ll be shelter from storms, rather than a place where storms may originate.
	But that’s NOT what happens – here, or in Bethlehem. Jesus is no sooner born that His presence brings stress to those who were just getting to know Him. They were forced to ask themselves questions. What IS it that’s most important to me? More importantly, what do I and we have to do fulfil God’s will, whatever that may be?
	The trouble with so much of life is that we no sooner get settled; we no sooner think we find peace and security; we no sooner find ourselves becoming used to a certain person or situation – a teacher, a routine, a diagnostician, and so on; we no sooner discover what we think is God’s blessing upon our lives; when we’re challenged to rethink, to move on.
	I’m guessing that this is what some people today find most disconcerting about religion and belief in God. What’s the point of a religion or belief in God if we’re constantly having to rethink it? And I have to admit that that’s at least one of the features of Episcopal Worship that I enjoy. There’s a framework that’s steady, that’s soothing, that’s even predictable – until some other person comes in to change the service, and move things around, or, God forbid, actually messes with the music!
	If God IS in charge, then, if folk like Mary and Joseph and all of us here this morning feel that we’ve heard some sort of a direction from God, what are we to make of the fact that we don’t get to stay in that one place, or in the same company, for very long?
	Maybe what we need to hear this morning isn’t an answer to “Why can’t things stay the same?” or “Why do we have to deal with things and people who disturb us?” Instead, perhaps what we need to hear, once again, is that no matter where we go, no matter who does or does not go with us, no matter what happens to us, God is present. No matter how surprised, or tired, or upset, or angry, or lonely – God IS present, and will hold us carefully.
	No doubt, those who have babies, or begin journeys, or change jobs, or retire and change routines – no doubt all of these people want to live in the hope that God will offer them something that will keep them cheerful when things get tough. But when you get right down to it, what we depend on is that our hope in the loving purposes of God being worked out through our lives – our hope will NOT be misplaced.  And, time and again, this is what has happened – often in the most unexpected way and through the most unlikely people.
	The story of Jesus being taken to Egypt by Mary and Joseph in order to escape violence at home was picked up by the nineteenth century French composer, Hector Berlioz. His oratorio, “The Childhood of Christ” tells of the unrest which Mary, Joseph and Jesus faced and of the violence they had to flee. Berlioz depicts the arrival in Egypt as being filled with just as much danger as they’d faced at home, however, until someone stepped in.
	And it happens exactly as in some of Jesus parables. The Holy Family are rejected by community after community of Egyptians. They feel betrayed by God. They wonder why they left their home. Then an Ishmaelite welcomed them into his home – and Jesus grew up to this pre-teen years in that household, living in friendship with those whose customs, and traditions, and everything else were quite foreign from what His parents valued.
	Some years after Berlioz wrote his oratorio, another French citizen, the artist Luc Olivier Merson visited Egypt, and out of his experience there he produced two paintings of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in the middle of the sandy desert, seemingly alone and unprotected. The fascinating thing about Merson’s painting is that Mary, with Jesus in her arms, is herself nestled in the arms of the Sphinx. She’s offered safety in what could be a dangerous and life-threatening situation by something that both Jew and Christian might dismiss as pagan superstition. 2	
	I know I’ve had similar experiences. I feel drawn to try something new, and possibly I don’t think through what might happen, or maybe I simply cannot tell. Nevertheless, I’ve found comfort, I’ve found encouragement, I’ve found my hope restored – and, as often as not, it’s come from the most unlikely source. This DOESN’T excuse my stupidity – and, in case you’re wondering, there have been such times! But the good news is that even stupidity, or self-absorption, or arrogance aren’t the end of the story for any of us. God’s promise, God’s love can reach into our lives and help us to find clarity of vision for the pilgrimage God asks us all to take.
	This past week I came across two pictures which really made me stop and wonder how God is present, and how God draws us into the most surprising situations. One is of a tent city for the homeless in the Seattle area. Unfortunately, there’s nothing unique about that. Wjhat struck me, though, was the photographer’s comment that he found that the best angle for him to take that shot was obtained by climbing up to the roof of St Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. The tent city was right on the Cathedral’s doorstep. I don’t know in what way, if any, the congregation there is helping to meet the needs of the homeless who’re right there. But it IS a challenge – to congregation and tent-citizen alike.
	A friend wrote me yesterday morning that “The tent city moves from church to church or other place that offers space for it - the congregations support it with meals and other offerings as their gifts allow - like counseling, AA meetings, clothing, a place for showers, job banks.” So maybe there IS something marvelously Ishmaelitish going on among Seattle congregations. 3
	The second picture was of a soup-line at a kitchen in San Francisco and there, ladling out what looked like a heart vegetable stew, was the Dalai Lama. 4
Whom did I expect to see serving stew? But then, does it matter – as long as SOMEone serves. And that’s the hope that God offers us. SOMEone WILL be there for us, no matter what we face this week, no matter how tired or harassed, or confused, or frustrated we may be: God WILL make sure someone is there for us, especially if we have to move out of harm’s way, for whatever reason. Nor need we fear how different or unexpected God’s minister may be.
	Browning WAS right, not in a Pollyannaish way, but in the sense that God is in heaven. And what Browning DIDN’T say was that God is ALSO on earth, moving among us. And all WILL be well. We DO have to deal with all our frustrations and fears. But as long as we remember that all WILL be well, then we can face them with a greater sense of confidence.
	God DOES care! 

NOTES:
1 	Robert Browning: “Pippa Passes”, published 1841 as the first volume of “Bells and Pomegranates”. See http://www.bartleby.com/101/718.html Arthur Quiller-Couch, etc.
2	"Rest on the Flight to Egypt", 1897 Luc Olivier Merson, French, 1846 – 1920 Look at   http://topofart.com/artists/Luc_Olivier_Merson/
3	Thanks to Ann Fontaine annfortaine at me.com See the story at http://www.seattlecourant.com/section/news/189
4	Photos and story at http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1946595_2010952,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1946595_2010987,00.html

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Robert P. Morrison
Lincoln City, Oregon, 97367

541-921-1076