Holy Mystery – sermon on December 21, 2014
2 Samuel 7: 1-11, 16 After King David was settled in his palace and God had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.’ Nathan replied to the king, ‘Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for God is with you.’ But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: ‘Go and tell my servant David, “This is what God says: are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’” ‘Now then, tell my servant David, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people shall not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leader over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. Your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever before me; your throne shall be established forever.”’
Luke 1: 26-38 excerpts and 46-55 God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
And 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. 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; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but 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.’
Sermon: Holy Mystery by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Such richness in the texts this morning, texts that really invite us into the incredible mystery of the ways of God. My cup runneth over. Let’s start with the reading from 2nd Samuel. I just love this interaction – the humans are so human, and, in my hearing of the story God finds it endearing. There is something about it that makes me think of the little children making a meal for their parents, cooking up a big mess and producing nothing really edible. The thought is so, so sweet, but you wish they’d find another way to show their love. David is pleased as punch with his palace, and, perhaps with a heart of gratitude for all God has done for him, wants to show his love and gratitude in action. He remembers that the ark, holding the Commandments – is kept in a tent, and compares that with the relative sturdiness of his own cedar home. Great idea, Nathan affirms – go for it.
When Quentin and I got married, I shopped for gifts for his daughters. I wanted to get them jewelry, something special and meaningful. I studied their blogs trying to discern their tastes. I really wanted to please them, to communicate that I was paying attention to who they were and what they liked. I have never once seen either of them wearing any of the pieces I gave them. And I confess that it hurts, just a little bit. There is a danger in giving gifts, isn’t there, when we get our own egos connected with them. I wonder if that is why God sent David a message not to bother with the house of cedar rather than indulge the “gift” as loving parents do when their children want to cook. Maybe God worried that David would be overly focused on whether God was enjoying the house, spending lots of time there. Maybe David would only look for God at the house instead of seeing God everywhere.
So God makes it clear – “I don’t want that, David. You haven’t paid close enough attention to know what I am really like. YOU like a house of Cedar, I like to be with you and see to your needs.” God is Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, not the created, sustained and redeemed. It is God’s good pleasure to plant people in a place where they can thrive, but God does not need to be planted to thrive.
But there are also times when God does not want the people planted, but wants them on the move. “Go,” says God to Adam and Eve, to Cain. God scatters the people of Babel when they not only plant themselves, but build up to try and reach the heavens. “Go” is the command to Abraham and Sarah, to Jacob, and Moses. “Go” says the angel to the shepherds, the stars to the Magi. “Go,” is the message to Joseph and Mary in a dream. No wonder we wonder, should I stay or should I go.
And we have a two-part story about the virgin Mary today. In the first, our responsive reading, Mary is told by the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear the Son of God. I did not include it in the reading, but Gabriel also tells her about her cousin Elizabeth who is with child in her old age, and Mary… goes. She went with haste, we are told, to see her cousin, and when Elizabeth greets her with blessing – blessed are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb – Mary bursts into song – “my soul magnifies the Lord.” Mary, like King David, is bursting with love and gratitude for what God has done. But Mary, instead of wondering what she can do for God based on her own ideas of pleasure, contentment or satisfaction, let’s herself get carried away by what else God might do. That’s how she gives thanks, or glorifies God, by letting God work through her, by lifting up what God has done, is doing, and will do. She had no desire to keep God safe and sound in a cedar house.
Now she might have wrestled with this a bit in the process of understanding her son as an integral part of the God who has no need or desire to be “safe and sound.” She scolded him as a 12 year old when he stayed behind in the Jerusalem Temple instead of returning to Nazareth with the family, worrying her terribly. She sought him out when he became targeted as a rabble-rouser by the authorities, wondering if he’d lost his mind. It’s easy to lose track of the deep truths of Life – capital L – when we get caught up in the illusions of day to day living – small L. But how I love this story we have today, in which the truth just erupts from her in this beautiful, excited, passionate way. And I imagine that truth rose again when he was arrested, when he was tried and crucified. It must have come back to her that God was doing great things, that God didn’t need to be kept safe because love is a force that cannot be destroyed, and that God is glorified in acts of love, especially acts of self-giving love, no matter what it looks like in this small L life.
But that wish for safety, that dream of keeping God safe and tame in a cedar house, a grand palace, or in a church, it is understandable. It is so human. (visit to Cordova, show ministry you have, ministry you want)
And remember that Jesus was fully human and had that same struggle at times. I think of his remark to a potential follower that the fox has its den and the bird a nest, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. I hear it not as complaint nor boast, but a truth that may pain him. It’s okay to wrestle with this, to want to plant roots when we are invited to go, to want to flee when we are encouraged to plant roots. We are allowed to forget the Truth about what glorifies God and there is nothing wrong with making our own endearing attempts to take care of God. Because no matter what it is God’s good pleasure to give us rest and to inspire us to hope and to work for things we think are impossible. For indeed nothing will be impossible with God. And in just a few days we celebrate the most amazing gift of Love. Let us remember that this is God, who needs not be planted or contained anywhere but in our hearts. May it be so.
