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<div> Forwarded, wi<font size="4">th<font size="4"> thanks to Judy Boli for her <font size="4">qui<font size="4">et</font> wit in our time of need</font></font></font>:<br>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black"><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid blue; padding-left: 3px;"><pre><tt>“The tooth fairy will never believe this!”</tt></pre></blockquote></div>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org><br>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Sat, Dec 22, 2012 7:51 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Advent 4C<br>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>Dear Friends,
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “ChristMass Isn’t for Cowards!” or
“Nurture that Seed!” and deals with the Gospel (Luke 1: 39-55). Here
it is:
Do you remember this story? An Ecunet friend was working for Meals on
Wheels. Occasionally, she would take her four-year-old daughter on
her afternoon rounds. The little girl was unfailingly intrigued by the
various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and
wheelchairs. One day my friend noticed that her daughter was staring
at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As she braced herself for
the inevitable barrage of questions, the child merely turned and
whispered, “The tooth fairy will never believe this!” Do you recall
when the angel Gabriel asked Mary if she was willing to be the mother
of Jesus? In today’s language, her answer would have been
“Absolutely!” You know the old saying, speak first; think later.
After the angel left her and reality set in, she must have suddenly
realized the situation she was in. You know how- in the story about
the four-year-old- “the tooth fairy will never believe this!” Well
that was Mary’s situation as well- not the tooth fairy; not her
family; not her friends; not the townspeople; and probably not her
beloved Joseph. In our culture, being an unwed mother is no big thing
anymore; but in those days, having a baby out of wedlock often got you
stoned to death. What was she to tell all these people when the baby
began to show and they asked who the father was—“I didn’t do anything;
it’s God’s baby!” And their probably answer: “Oh, really!” When you
think about it, at first being the mother of the Messiah must have
sounded really wonderful, almost like being the queen mother; but for
most of her life, it would be as Simeon predicted in Luke 2: 35: “You,
Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger.”
The dagger started piercing her soul when she had to tell Joseph, and
he almost put her away privately to spare her death. She had a brief
relief, as we heard in today’s gospel, when she went to see her cousin
Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist), but as we must also do- she
couldn’t run away forever; she had to go home and face everybody.
Then there was the trip to Bethlehem (the city of Bread- where Jesus,
the Bread of Life was born); the trip bouncing give-or-take 50 miles
on the back of a donkey; the trip on which her water probably broke;
the trip that resulted in no place to give birth but a barn and no one
to help her but an inexperienced husband (men weren’t allowed in
birthing areas in those days). Next, finding a house and building a
life with her child and husband, only to be visited by the wise men
and sent by God as a homeless refugee to Egypt, to escape Herod’s
murder of all the Jewish boys two years and younger. Watch the dagger
pierce and twist even more. She endured a return to Nazareth, and
then the strangeness of her son. When he was twelve, he wasn’t even
sorry when he made the family come all the way back to Jerusalem for
him. He only said, “Didn’t you know I must be about my Father’s
business?!” – strange way to talk to parents, especially in those
days. Then, when he was a young adult and she asked him to do
something about the lack of wine at a wedding, again- strange words to
a mother: “Mother, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet
come.” She watched his popularity grow and then wane, with people
talking about him and wondering if he was crazy. When she and his
brothers finally went to get him and take him home, he refused to go
with them and said, “These who listen to God’s will are my mother and
my brothers and my sisters.” Ignoring her motherhood must have
twisted that dagger predicted by Simeon a little more. Finally, she
watched as her beloved firstborn son was beaten and tortured and
crucified naked, between two thieves on a compost heap. She must have
wondered if the angel Gabriel’s visit had just been a dream or even a
devil-trick. She had to suffer through the hard times, through Good
Friday, to get to Easter. But she, like Job, hung in. Remember Job’s
statement about God: “Even though He slay me; yet shall I trust Him!”
But after Good Friday comes Easter; after crucifixion comes
resurrection! She was there in the upper room when he appeared! She
was mentioned as one of the faithful of the early church. Because of
her endurance, we have power for living; grace for dying, and eternal
life as our sure promise.
Where are your struggles? What ideas, dreams, plans are you
struggling to give birth? What is causing the dagger to pierce you
own soul and then twist and turn and torture? Did you notice Luke 1:
37: “Nothing is impossible for God!” Say it with me. (Nothing is
impossible for God!) Say it again. Do you believe it? Whatever God
has in His plans for you- you can do if you believe it. Nothing is
impossible for God. When Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the
Holy Spirit, she had no idea what was ahead. When God plants a seed
in you, you also have no idea what is ahead. All you can be sure of
is that (if it’s worth anything) it will involve pain and struggle and
discouragement; but if you don’t give up it will also involve glorious
delight and fulfillment. Friends, ChristMass isn’t for cowards!
Christian life isn’t for cowards! May you allow the coming Christ
Child to strengthen your spirit that you may have the power to claim
full life in Christ.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
wisdom statements either is or will be posted on our parish web site.
The address is: <a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.com" target="_blank">http://www.stpaulsepisag.com</a> .
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan
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