Rise & Serve

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
February 4, 2024

5 Epiphany B 

          I have a recipe for a confection called “earthquake cake,” which, as you might imagine, involves no small amount of chocolate.  The cake has only 5 ingredients so when I make it for a party, I like to ask the guests what they think the five ingredients are.  This involves stopping for a moment and slowing down, trying to savor each bite of this dense, luscious, dark chocolate cake to discover what the ingredients might be.   The first guess is usually sour cream.  No.  Then we move on to heavy cream.  Also, a no.  Cocoa powder? Not a chance.  The five ingredients are a pound and a half of chocolate, 8 eggs, 2 sticks of butter, a little flour and some confectioners sugar.  Put all of that together in the right order and the right way, and you have one amazing, dark, dense, chocolate delight.

          This morning, we need to stop for a moment and savor the gospel reading to figure out what the ingredients are in this healing story.  On the surface, the ingredients seem to be one part bad mother-in-law jokes, one part gender stereotyping, and one part trying to get Jesus to heal every single sick person in town.  We may not find chocolate, butter, and eggs when we stop to savor the story, but we will find some scriptural equivalents that help us understand the whole passage.

          First, Simon’s mother-in-law has no name.  While that is depersonalizing and annoying, her lack of a name also opens the possibility that all of us might identify with her, not as a woman but as someone who has been healed.  When Jesus enters the house, he takes the woman by the hand and lifts her up.  What is lost in translation from the original Greek text is that the same word that is used for “lifted up” is used in at least 5 other healing stories in Mark’s gospel, including when he raises a little girl from the dead.  Later in Mark’s gospel, Jesus refers to himself as being lifted up when he tells the disciples that after he is raised up he will go before them to Galilee.  So there is even more going on here than a simple healing.  This is a resurrection story.

          Immediately after she is healed, Simon’s mother gets up to serve Jesus and those with him, which has opened the passage to much criticism about gender stereotypes in the gospel.  These words can sound abrasive to our 21^st century ears and with good reason.  However, again, the meaning is lost in translation.  The Greek word that is translated “serve” is the same word that is the root of the word “deacon.”  Deacons in the book of Acts are those people set aside to serve, to make sure all are fed, clothed, and housed.  Those deacons are the model for the diaconate, an ordained ministry that models service and leads all of us into deeper awareness of the needs of the world around us and how to meet those needs.  Our own Gretchen Green is one such deacon.  So, while Simon’s mother-in-law does get up off her sick bed and serve, what she models is not servitude, but service as the appropriate response to resurrection.  Jesus himself said “I have come not to be served but to serve.”  In the reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul is very clear that his ministry is to serve. 

          Word gets out about Jesus’ ability to heal and the whole city shows up at his door, bringing all who were sick or possessed by demons.  Jesus healed many, we are told, but many is not all.  He did what he could, then went to a deserted place to pray.  Simon and his companions came hunting for him.  Hunting is a strong word.  They wanted to take Jesus back to finish what he started and heal everyone.  But Jesus keeps moving forward, proclaiming the good news in new places.  And likewise in the 1 Corinthians reading, the apostle Paul serves, saves some, and moves forward.

          When we stop for a moment to discover all of the ingredients that make up the gospel reading, rather than seeing a message that diminishes woman or provokes bad mother-in-law jokes, we hear that the appropriate response to being healed, being lifted up, no matter who we are, is to serve.  What would the church, and the world for that matter, look like if everyone who was healed or loved by Jesus responded by serving others?  What would the church look like if we really faced forward all the time, not looking back at what we have done but looking forward to what we can do, seeing the needs of the world with forward facing eyes and responding?

          What Simon’s mother-in-law teaches us is that while resurrection is a gift, resurrection also demands something of us.  In baptism, we are joined with Christ in his death and resurrection as a gift.  In our baptismal covenant we promise to live as resurrection people.  Simon’s mother-in-law shows us what that means. As a church, Christ Church has experienced resurrection over and over again, most recently as we have moved forward from the pandemic, but this church has moved forward from even greater challenges.  Whether as individuals or as a church, resurrection is a gift that calls us to move forward and to serve, demanding that we actually live the new life we have been given. 

                                                                             Amen.

         

         

Values

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
January 28, 2024

4 Epiphany B/Annual Meeting 

          From a very young age, our sons Slocomb and Caldwell have been quite clear about what they value in a church.  First and foremost when they were young was coffee hour, and not just the treats although those were certainly important.  Was coffee hour fun?  Did the adults talk with them or just get on their case for being too loud or having too many cookies?  They took a very wholistic approach to their evaluation of coffee hour.  Secondly, while they enjoyed being with their peers at church, they also valued their relationships with adults who were not their parents.  Did the adults really care about them, listen to them, and involve them deeply in the life of the church, or did they just want to say that the church has kids and then expect them to serve the pancakes at the pancake supper and otherwise stay out of the way?  Those two kids could accurately size up the values of a church in about a nano-second and could be brutal in their assessment. 

          This morning, we see a bit about what Jesus might value in a worshipping community.  The very first thing Jesus does after he calls his first four disciples is take them to the synagogue.  So this community must be important.

          Since this is the first thing Jesus does with his disciples, right off the bat we get the message that worship is a priority for followers of Jesus.  In our own worship life over the past year, we have grown in numbers, in energy, and in joy.  And yet, we still have Sundays where a visitor would wonder where all the people are.  If we go to a restaurant that is empty at peak hours, we wonder what is wrong.  If we go to a restaurant with a waiting list, we are excited for the experience.  The exact same is true for people visiting a church.  Our presence matters and tells people that worship is a priority for disciples of Jesus.

          In the synagogue, Jesus encounters a man said to have an unclean spirit.  We don’t know what that means, exactly, but likely the man has a mental health concern.  What matters to me is that the man was in the synagogue, showing that everyone was welcome there, and Jesus did not pass judgment.  Jesus just healed the man, demonstrating radical hospitality.  Inclusion is a priority for followers of Jesus.

          The healing of the man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue also shows that a worship community is called to be a place of healing.  All kinds of healing can happen at Christ Church.  Yes, Allan and Daniel offer healing prayers each Sunday.  But just as importantly, we can be a congregation that offers healing to those who have been wounded by church or society due to sexual orientation, marital status, race, economics, or anything else that humankind lets divide us.  Being a place of healing is a priority for followers of Jesus.

          Lastly, after experiencing Jesus in the synagogue, Jesus’ fame began to spread throughout Galilee.  How did that happen, you might wonder?  It wasn’t via Facebook or text message or TicTok.  Jesus’ fame spread because people talked.  It’s that simple.  Sharing our experience is a priority for followers of Jesus.

          Based on this passage, and this passage alone, Jesus values four things in a worshipping community.  #1: People show up for worship.  #2 Everyone is actively welcomed and included.  Coffee hour probably falls in this category, as does the full inclusion of children and youth.   #3 Be a place of healing from life’s wounds.  #4 Spread the fame (and the love) of Jesus. 

          On this Annual Meeting Sunday, we can take stock of what people experience when they walk through our doors and how they experience a lively and vital church.  They, like my sons, will size us up based on the welcome and acceptance they experience, and whether this seems to be a place of healing or division.  Last May, I gave you the top secret super simple method for becoming the church we want to be, with vibrant worship, great hospitality, an active children and youth program, amazing music, and meaningful outreach among other things.  Here is the super simple method again: Be That Church.  We have been doing that together through thick and thin over the last 8 years.  I will say this over and over again as we move through these next three months together before I retire at the end of April.  Just Be That Church.  When each and every one of us works to be the church we want to be, Christ Church will continue to grow and flourish for years and decades to come.

                                                                             Amen.

Desire

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
January 21, 2024

3 Epiphany B 

          Two out of three years, on the 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany, we hear the story of the call of the first four disciples.  The story goes basically the same way in both Matthew and Mark.  Jesus sees two guys fishing and says to them “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”  And the two guys immediately leave their nets and follow Jesus.  Then Jesus sees another two guys in their boats with their dad mending nets and Jesus calls them and they leave their father in the boats mending nets and follow Jesus.  And each year I get hung up on the whole fishing imagery for making followers of Jesus.  Whether one fishes for a living, or fishes for sport or for relaxation, or recreation, at the end of the day the fish are either thrown back into the water or, where I come from, fileted, dredged in cornmeal, fried, and eaten with a side of hushpuppies.  Neither of those are appealing images for anything to do with Jesus.

          This year, however, I must be channeling my self-righteous inner eldest child because the actions of Simon, Andrew, James, and John seem impulsive at best and at worst, irresponsible.  After a long, hard, hot day of fishing, perhaps following a stranger going who-knows-where to do who- knows-what looks pretty good.  But we know that Simon is married because Jesus will later heal his mother-in-law, and maybe he has children.  So he is going to leave his family to up and follow Jesus?  James and John leave their father in his boat with the hired men.  What kind of sons are they? 

          Lest you think I am being a bit harsh on the first four disciples, throughout Mark’s gospel the disciples will continually misunderstand Jesus.  Simon, who will become Peter, misunderstands Jesus so badly that Jesus will call him Satan and say “Get behind me Satan.  You are not setting your mind on divine things but on human things.”  The disciples will argue among themselves about who among them is the greatest, and James and John will ask to sit at the right and left hands of Jesus in glory.  Sibling rivalry at its finest!  Peter will deny Jesus three times.  These are just a few of the examples in Mark’s gospel where the disciples, especially the first four, are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

          Jonah, on the other hand, goes to Ninevah as God directs and walks across the city proclaiming the message that God gave him.  “Forty days more, and Ninevah shall be overthrown.”  So great is Jonah’s success that the people of Ninevah believed God, proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.  We skip the verses where the animals put on sackcloth, too, which would have been a sight to behold.  But the point is that Jonah’s message was so successful that the people repented and God changed God’s mind and did not bring calamity upon the people. 

          However, the passage also reminds us that this is not the first time God spoke to Jonah.  The first time God called Jonah, Jonah fled the other way in an act that might also have been impulsive and irresponsible, wound up in the belly of a fish, cried out to God, and was spit up on land.  God was literally fishing for people!  Jonah learned the hard way to follow God, and even after his success in Ninevah, needed a real attitude adjustment regarding God’s mercy and grace.  Read what might be scripture’s most humorous story for details.

          Perhaps the point this morning is not about catching people against their will with nets or hooks and deciding whether to throw them back or filet them.  Perhaps the point is that God calls imperfect, impulsive, sometimes irresponsible people and that the only gift we need in order to follow Jesus is the willingness to do so.  Despite Jonah’s initial flight from God’s request to go to Ninevah, after his encounter with the belly of the fish, Jonah does go and the people do respond to Jonah’s message.  And despite Jonah’s very bad attitude about God’s abundant mercy and steadfast love at the end of the story, God does not give up on Jonah.  Despite Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John consistently misunderstanding Jesus, denying him, and leaving Jesus to die alone on the cross, God uses them to create and build the church.

          Jesus came into Galilee, and Jesus comes into our own lives, saying “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the Good News.”  Whatever our imperfections, failures, misunderstandings, or desire to turn and run the other way, Jesus calls us to be part of making the Kingdom of God a present reality just as he called the first four disciples to do so.  The only criteria for following Jesus is the desire to follow Jesus.  What we know that the disciples did not know is that the Good News Jesus asks us to believe and proclaim will change both us and the world.

                                                                             Amen.

Speak

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
January 14, 2024

2 Epiphany B 

In my experience, when I hear my name called twice in quick succession something urgent, either very bad or very good, has happened.  When our children were young, "Mom, Mom" was usually followed by incredibly good news or news of some crisis or other.  Now I hear “Grandma, Grandma” when one of the grandchildren wants my attention.  Once, "Charlotte, Charlotte" was followed by the news of a break-in at our next-door neighbor’s house, and sometimes I get "Charlotte, Charlotte" when I talk about a crazy idea like Christmas in July or Restrooms for Runners or the high goal we set for stewardship.  Having my name called twice seems to mean that someone wants my attention, and they want my attention now.

This morning, we hear the Lord call "Samuel! Samuel!"  Since Samuel was a young boy, the need for calling his name twice might be simply to wake him up.  But I think there is more to the double name than that.  Three times the Lord calls to Samuel, although only the first time by the double name, and three time Samuel gets up and goes to see what the old priest Eli wants. Eli doesn't want anything and finally figures out that the Lord is calling Samuel.  So Samuel went back to bed and the Lord came and stood there, calling as before "Samuel!  Samuel!"  Now the Lord has Samuel's attention and Samuel replies "Speak, for your servant is listening."

"Samuel, Samuel" is not the first time in Scripture we have heard God call someone's name twice in rapid succession.  In the story of the near sacrifice of Isaac in the book of Genesis, just as Abraham takes up the knife, we hear the angel of the Lord call "Abraham! Abraham!" and say to Abraham "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him."  God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would number the stars in the heavens would be null and void without Isaac.  Later in Genesis, God spoke to Jacob in a dream and said "Jacob! Jacob!"  When Jacob said "Here I am," God said to him "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there."  Jacob obeys, and this is how the Israelite people get to Egypt, where they will eventually wind up in slavery and need Moses to deliver them in the Exodus.  In the book of Exodus, God calls to Moses from the burning bush "Moses! Moses!"  When Moses replies "Here I am," God proceeds to tell Moses to go to Pharaoh and deliver God's people from their suffering in Egypt.  Each time God calls someone's name twice in quick succession, something urgent is at stake.

The lectionary, our schedule of scripture readings for each Sunday, allows us to stop the reading from 1 Samuel immediately after Samuel says "Speak, for your servant is listening."  If we stop there, we have a short, almost sweet story where young Samuel responds to God and is willing to hear what God has to say.  The problem is, if we stop there, we don't hear what God has to say.  In every other case of double-name calling, what God has to say changed the course of the history of God's people.  So, just as Samuel was willing to listen to God, so should we.

        What God has to say is difficult and does not seem like good news at all.    God has hard words to say about punishing the house of Eli because Eli's sons were blaspheming God and Eli did not restrain them.  We know from the beginning of the reading that the word of the Lord was rare in those days and visions were not widespread.  In other words, we are told that the faithfulness of God's people was lacking.  In Eli's family in particular, the priestly family, Eli's sons, who were also priests in the temple, were abusing their status as priests.  Someone is needed to speak the truth to power, and Samuel is chosen.

This is a turning point in the history of God's people.  God will now raise up kings to lead the Hebrew people, not more priests.  From here we get the stories of kings Saul, David, and Solomon.  We know from the rest of the story that the kingship of Israel will be a checkered affair, no pun intended, with some great high points, and some distressing low points, and will not last forever, either.

Throughout Scripture, God calls people to bring about the change God desires.  While we may sometimes feel like the word of the Lord is rare in our own day, and visions are not widespread, I believe God still raises up people to accomplish God's goals for us.  We celebrate a prime example of that this weekend.  On Monday, we celebrate the life of someone who was called by God to speak the truth to power, to point out injustice and oppression.  I don't know of any story where Dr. King heard an angel of the Lord say in a dream "Martin, Martin" but we do know that he had a dream.  Dr. King summarized that dream with the words of the prophet Isaiah "I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight and ‘the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."  Dr. King's dream was God's dream~ that oppression and injustice will be no more.  Dr. King's life, and sadly his death, marked a turning point in recognizing the fundamental right of all people to justice and equality.  And just as the people of Israel never turned quickly in response to God's call, neither have we and God continues to raise up people among us who point out all manners of oppression and injustice and show us the path of justice and equality.

"Samuel!  Samuel!"  In a time when the word of the Lord seems rare, and visions seem scarce, then, as now, people are called to speak the truth to power to make God's vision for the world a present reality.  Some will be called by visions in the night, and others will be called by what they see in the daylight.  Dr. King also said "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."  We are all called to respond with Samuel "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening," hear what God has to say about the injustices in the world, in the community, and in our own lives, and respond with the courage and conviction of Samuel and Dr. King.

         Amen.

 

Show up!

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
January 7, 2024

The Feast of the Baptism of Jesus 

          On Ash Wednesday each year, we have a special service for children and their parents.  The service is not the one from the Book of Common Prayer, which, while meaningful for adults, really doesn’t work for 6 year olds.  Instead, we look at the ashes and pretend to make little humans with them, using our imaginations to blow the breath of God into the ashes the way we are told in the book of Genesis that God created humans from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into us.  Then, as in the other Ash Wednesday services, we are marked with the ashes in the sign of the cross.

          I ask the children whether they pack or buy their lunch and if they pack their lunch, how they know which lunch is theirs.  They know which lunch or which backpack or which jacket is theirs because it has their name on it.  When we are baptized and anointed with oil in the shape of the cross, or when we are anointed with ashes on Ash Wednesday, that is Jesus’ name being written on us in divine permanent marker.  We belong to Jesus.

          This morning, we hear the voice of God claim Jesus as God’s own beloved son.  The account of Jesus’ baptism in Mark’s gospel is so short that we read the account of John the Baptist from the second Sunday of Advent in order to have a gospel reading of more than two sentences!  But I am glad that we hear about John the Baptist again this morning because the contrast between John the Baptist and Jesus is fascinating.  We hear John the Baptist’s job description-to baptize for the forgiveness of sins.  We watch as all the people flocked out to the wilderness to be baptized.  We have a visual for what John was wearing-camel’s hair with a leather belt.  We are told, but would prefer not to taste, John’s diet of locusts and wild honey.  And we hear John’s words about the one who is coming after him.  In this short passage, we learn quite a bit about John the Baptist.

          What do we know about Jesus in this passage?  Next to nothing.  In Mark’s gospel, Jesus emerges from Nazareth to be baptized with no mention of his birth or childhood.  We have no clue what Jesus wore or what he ate and he says nothing.  He just shows up.

          Because Jesus was willing to show up and be baptized, three astonishing things happen.  First, the heavens are torn apart, the very heavens that God created.  Then the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.  This is the same spirit or breath of God or wind from God that swept over the face of the waters at creation.  That spirit infused Jesus with God’s presence.  Lastly, a voice from heaven said “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  In case the open heavens and the dove are not enough to connect Jesus with the Creator, God makes it very clear with God’s own voice, the voice that called creation into being, the voice of the Lord that the psalmist tells us is a powerful voice that breaks the cedar trees, splits flames of fire, and makes Lebanon skip like a calf.  The voice of God makes things happen.

          Jesus’ baptism is all God’s action.  Jesus just shows up, open to God’s action.  The God who created the heavens landed on Jesus and claimed Jesus as God’s own.  Then, as we will soon hear, the same Spirit immediately drives Jesus into the wilderness for forty days where he was tempted by Satan.

          Likewise, our baptism is all God’s action.  Yes, the church pours the water and anoints with the oil. But without God, the water is just water and the oil is just oil.  We baptize babies in the Episcopal Church because babies model just showing up.  Just show up and be open to being infused by the Spirit of God and marked as Christ’s own forever.  Baptism does not mean that we will never enter any wilderness where we would rather not be.  Baptism means that no matter where we go, we belong to Christ and God’s spirit dwells within us. 

          We can easily think that our Baptismal Covenant is what we promise to do in order to be baptized. But nothing could be further from the truth.  We reaffirm our baptismal covenant at every baptism and on baptismal feast days like the Baptism of Jesus because that covenant is how people live who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.  We promise to be faithful in worship, to repent from evil, to proclaim the gospel in word and action, to work for justice and peace, to seek and serve Christ in all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being not to earn bonus points from God but because we believe that this is the way people who have been marked as Christ’s own forever live. We believe that this is the way the Spirit of God works through us.  And we keep that covenant with God’s help, the spirit of God with which we were sealed at baptism, because we cannot keep those promises alone. 

          Over and over again, God calls us to show up and let God work through us to change the world.  Over and over again, God calls us to show up in the places that need to hear the good news of God’s love and let that love pour through us.  Over and over again, God calls us to show up as people who have been marked as Christ’s own forever and live so that people know to whom we belong.                                             Amen.

Redemption

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal

December 24, 2023

Christmas Eve

My grandmother was a great collector of S&H Green Stamps. For those of you who were born after 1975 or so, Green Stamps, or their cousin Gold Bond stamps, were the precursor of the current redemption programs such as bonus points, frequent flyers miles, or cash back. Whether Green Stamps or frequent flyer miles, the principle is the same: the more you spend, the more stamps or miles you earn, which you can redeem for various items, travel, or a rebate check. In my grandmother’s day, life was low-tech, so when she went to the grocery store she received 50, 10, or one point stamps based on how much money she spent and which store she was in. The stamps were dispensed by a machine that had a dial like a rotary dial phone, another relic of the past. The stamps had to be licked, and then they were put into a collection book that had 24 pages. When all the pages were filled, at 50 points per page, the books could be redeemed for household items and other things. I know this Green Stamp trivia because my sister and I took great delight in licking Green Stamps and sticking them in the redemption books, and our grandmother took great delight in figuring out what to get with her Green Stamp books at the local Green Stamp store. So far as our grandmother was concerned, she was getting things free, regardless of how much money she had to spend in the process.

Tonight, we celebrate the birth of the Savior and Redeemer of the world who comes to us as a baby and is greeted by shepherds and angels.  But whenever I hear the word "redemption," or "redeem" or "redeemer," despite my years of theological education, my mind goes immediately, not to Jesus, but to Green Stamps. Redemption is a pretty cut and dried process by which we save up something we earned until we have enough points or stamps to redeem them and claim something we want. The theology of Green Stamps would then be something like "if we are very good, and earn enough points in our lifetime, we can redeem those points at the end and claim eternal life."

Fortunately, the theology of Green Stamps is not the theology of Christmas. The theology of Christmas is that redemption is the very love of God bursting into the world in a new way.  Tonight, instead of instructions about how to earn enough points to merit redemption from sin and death, we hear the story of the birth of a baby at an inconvenient time, in an inconvenient place, to unwed parents who are probably a still a bit baffled about how all this came to be, complete with a great light display and singing angels, and some shepherds who leave their sheep to their own devices and to go visit this newborn baby. What does this story have to do with the redemption of the world?

First, we learn that redemption is nothing we can earn, no matter how many points we try to save. From the story of Gabriel’s visit to Mary announcing that she has been chosen to carry the Christ child, to Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and the recognition of the child within Mary by Elizabeth’s unborn child, to the events of Jesus birth, the primary actor in this story is God.  The gift of God’s redeeming love is God’s work, not ours, and a gift, not anything we can earn or save up for.

Secondly, God’s redeeming love breaks in on us in the midst of our everyday lives. Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem to be registered, presumably for the purpose of paying taxes, when Jesus was born. The shepherds were tending their sheep when the angel appeared to them out in the fields. No meals had been planned, gifts purchased, or special events organized. The Christ child was born in the midst of people doing ordinary things. But that does not mean that everything stayed the same. In the Christmas story, the shepherds did return to their sheep, but they did so glorifying and praising God. Mary, no doubt exhausted and a bit confused by her strange visitors, treasured the words of the shepherds and pondered them in her heart. God’s redeeming love is an extraordinary gift that we experience in the midst our ordinary lives, but that love also changes our lives in ways we cannot predict or control.

Lastly, God’s redeeming love is not a private matter. The story tells us that the skies lit up and the heavenly host sang out the news of Jesus’ birth. The message of the angel was one of great joy for all people. After visiting the newborn Jesus, the shepherds "made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them."  The story of Jesus’ birth calls us to be witnesses to God’s redeeming love. 

Christmas is the celebration that, in Jesus, God’s redeeming love has burst into the world in a new way.  That love will transform our lives, our ordinary lives, just as that love transformed the shepherds and Mary.  That love will be revealed not just on special occasions, but as we go about our everyday lives.  That love not only brings us comfort and peace, but spills over so that our whole lives can speak to the love and work of God in the world, not just in the future but now. "For to you is born this day" in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord."

Amen.

A House for God

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
December 24, 2023

 4 Advent B

Our two sons were backseat theologians at a young age.  One Sunday morning when the kids were probably 2 and 5 years old, we were driving to church when a voice from the back seat offered this theological insight.  "God has large hands."  "Really," I responded.  "Why does God have large hands?"  The answer: "To give the children lots of candy."  The truth of the matter was that our priest at the time was six foot five, did have large hands, and enjoyed giving candy to the children when they visited the office.  So, God must do the same thing.  Another Sunday morning, one of the kids wondered what kind of pajamas God wears.  "What makes you think God wears pajamas?" I asked.  And from the back seat "I wear pajamas.  I am made in the image of God.  So, God must wear pajamas, too."  Apparently, our kids knew that they are made in the image of God but in their young minds that made God in their image rather than vice versa.

But our budding 2 and 5 years old theologians are in good company this morning because King David is doing exactly the same thing.  David is now the King of Israel.  He is settled in a lovely house of cedar, which he is no doubt enjoying, when he realizes that while he, a human being even if a king, lives in a house, the ark of God stays in a tent.  David certainly prefers his house to a tent, so wouldn't God also prefer a more permanent dwelling?  Surely what David likes, God would like, too. 

And while David will eventually build God a very fine house, for now, God tells David that God's very identity is in being among the people.  God says "I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle."  God is the God of outrageous promises for God's people.  God promised to create a great nation from the then- childless Abraham and Sarah.  God promised to free those very people from slavery in Egypt. And God promised to establish the people in the Promised Land.  Throughout the Israelite's long sojourn out of Egypt, through the wilderness and to the Promised Land, God had always been one step ahead, leading them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to make good on God's promises.  God has always been willing to go first into those outrageous promises.  How can God possibly go first if God is contained in a house?

          This story was not written while the Israelites were enjoying peace and prosperity under David's rule.  2 Samuel was written while the Israelites were in exile in Babylon several centuries later and God seemed profoundly absent.  The people needed to be reminded that God was not contained in the Temple, which had been destroyed. God's very nature was to be out among the people, dreaming grand dreams, one step ahead of them, bringing them closer and closer to the time when they could return home.  In 2 Samuel, David is not prevented from building God a temple because David has committed murder as is the case when the story is told in 1 Kings. David is prevented from building a temple for God because God will build David a house-a house not of cedar but a house and a kingdom that will last forever.  When the life the Israelite people know in the Promised Land has come to an end, their temple has been destroyed and they have been deported from the land God gave them, they are reminded both of God's presence with them and God's promise that, despite the current circumstances, God will establish a house of David that will last forever. God has made good on outrageous promises before. God can be trusted to make good on equally outrageous promises now.

This morning, we hear that God's outrageous promise to David will come to pass through Mary.  If we hear this story with new ears, as if we have never heard the words of the angel before, we will hear a bold and absurd plan being presented to Mary.  She will conceive and bear a son who will be the Son of God.  Mary's first and logical response to this radical change in the direction of her life is quite understandable. "How can this be?"  But once the angel explains what God has in mind, and reminds Mary that “With God, all things are possible,” Mary says "Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word."

In the child Mary carries, God will be out among the people in a new way.  The Christ Child, the Son of David, will lead us into what is perhaps God’s most lavish and outrageous promise.  The house of David that will stand forever will be built with love that is stronger than hate, good that is stronger than evil, and life that is stronger than death. 

                                                                             Amen.