December 23, 2012, "A Facetious Tale"

Micah 5: 2-5 Luke 1: 39-55 Centuries Ago, this the Sunday before Christmas was described as “The Feast of Fools!” A Carnival in contrast before the holiest night of all the year. The birth of the Child of God, the Messiah, our Savior and Lord, would turn everything we thought we knew upside down and inside out. Instead of a God, Jesus comes to us as an infant. Rather than the birth of a Priest and King ending one era and beginning a new, Jesus comes to us as the most common, most lowly, most ordinary of births. So a carnival was celebrated this day; both because the word INCARNATE and the word CARNIVAL come from the same root meaning FLESHY, REAL, of SUBSTANCE, and to emphasize that Jesus coming among us changes everything, that we would live differently. Those leading worship this day turned their robes inside out, they put chemicals on candle wicks to make them like sparklers, there was loud raucous singing and bawdy laughter, priests dressing as Jesters, choir members wearing the ears of a donkey, children singing in the worship of God. Two thousands years before that, the Nation of Israel lived in fear. Their kings and leaders had been disgraced. The Economy and infrastructure lay in ruins. The nation had put their trust in the weapons of power, and the Assyrians had destroyed them. Everyone was searching for leadership, searching for where to invest, what to trust, they had been disappointed and disillusioned so many times. Suddenly the prophet MICAH appears on the horizon. In contrast to the Wealth of Kings, in comparison to the pageantry of Priests, in opposition to the destruction of Sword and Fire, Micah pointed to Bethlehem. Cities as we know them, were impossible in the ancient world. There was not a sufficient system of supplying food and water, of dealing with waste to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people, the systems of industry and commerce had not been developed. Most major cities were a thousand people. Imagine 1/4 the population of Skaneateles without Dickens, without the tourists or summer residents. And in contrast to this, the Prophet Micah points to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was not a major city, not even a one camel town. Jerusalem had become the Capital City of King David, Bethlehem was the remote rural home of the birth of David the Shepherd boy. People relate to one another differently in a small town than in a city. In a city one might get lost. In a place like Bethlehem there were numerable contacts with the same people, there was a sense of community, where we know one another and are known. Rather than power and prestige, wealth and the accumulation of stuff, Micah pointed to a place and time where we have been real with one another, where we had connections and community. How very odd, that the Sunday before Christmas, this day before Christmas eve, we would read the story of Mary and Elizabeth! Not the story of John the Baptist preparing the Way. Not the lineage of King David. Not even the Covenant between God and Abraham. But the story of two women long ago, sharing their common experience of being pregnant. Just before this, The Gospel of Luke had described Mary being told she would conceive and give birth to a baby, as confirmation of this the Angel told Mary her kinswoman Elizabeth was also having a child. So if you were Mary where would you go? We do not know much about Elizabeth. She was the wife of Zechariah, who was a Priest of Israel. All their lives they had wanted one thing most of all, to have a child. But decades had gone by and they were unable. Zechariah and Elizabeth were now advanced in years. After the Assyrians, had come the Empire of The Greeks, and now the Romans with their Caesars. In that time, the role of the Priest required staying awake and attentive for when God might speak to the people. Therefore, there was a rotation among the Priests in each village, and it was Zechariah's turn to serve as Priest on call. The Priest listened to the confessions and prayers of the people, then the Priest alone went in to offer the people's sacrifices and prayers, after which the Priest offered Assurance of Pardon and Prophecy of Fulfillment to the people. Zechariah went in to offer the people's prayers and confessions for them, when suddenly what should appear but an Angel of God. In many ways, Zechariah and Elizabeth were symbolic of Old Israel; for generations the Nation of Israel had wanted a Messiah, but now it seemed they were too old and no one believed it could still be. This angel declared that God had heard Elizabeth's prayer and she would be given the birth of a Child who would be John the Baptist, the Herald of the Savior. Overcome, Zechariah laughed, and for this the Priest was unable to speak throughout Elizabeth's nine months. Because he had doubted, because he had disbelieved, Zechariah was unable to offer Assurance to the people, unable to offer Prophecy. Imagine how Elizabeth might have felt... We have this scene in Luke. Elizabeth is alone in her house, cooking. This is not Martha Stewart standing over a Viking Gourmet Stove. This is a home with a mud floor, with an open fire, with no chairs or table, so you stood, or sat or lay on the floor, or squatted. Elizabeth is advanced in age, with graying hair and aching joints, and now on top of this, feeling all the effects of being pregnant. Could you feel any more alone, isolated and frustrated. According to Levitical Law she could not be out in the Marketplace, she could not be among people, besides her own husband had laughed what would people think, what would they say. And to Elizabeth's door comes Mary. I have always envisioned this visit as being like the conversation between a Grandmother and grandchild. Well not my Grandmother, who used to begin letters “I am sorry you broke your arm. I assume your arm is broken because you have not written.” Instead, like my wife's grandmothers, who loved to have visitors to sit beside listening to your hopes and fears and dreams and connecting in ways we as parents never can because we are too close. Here are Mary and Elizabeth, each feeling like a beach-ball sitting on the floor. The wonderful nature of this scene is that the relationship does everything that is needed. Elizabeth was alone and isolated, needing connection and community; and Mary supplied this. Mary was overcome with feelings and experiences like nothing she had ever felt before, and there was Elizabeth to listen and comfort. To the world it was a facetious tale... but to these two, nothing could have been more precious. And according to the Gospel of Luke, who were the first to describe the meaning of the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus, not Archangels, not Priests, not Kings, but these two women connecting together. We all seek connections and community. Ironically, our society has given us more and more stuff, more technology that isolates us and creates games for competition. This has been an extremely hard season for many in our world. First, our world was primed by hostility separating and dividing groups, then immobilized by fear not only that the economy was failing but our leaders were out of control, there was the Storm Sandy that with wind and flood destroyed cities, neighborhoods, businesses, homes and lives. Then there was the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. All of which have left people feeling very afraid, isolated and raw. On this stage, come two pregnant women talking and laughing together, over the meaning of a kick and a cramp. Would that this Christmas, rather than focusing on our Diets, or How many presents, whether we got what we want, we could sit and talk with someone. It is so simple a thing, so real and common we might overlook. It does not have to be about solving the problems of the world, but connecting and sharing.