LK 2: 22-40

Laterally Luke…Christmas 1…Revised 2017

Take Simon - ‘righteous, devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, Holy Spirit being upon him’ - together with Anna - ‘prophetess, not departing from the temple, worshipping, fasting, & praying night & day’; what a formidable combination they make! Would that every congregation had combinations like Simon & Anna!

Whatever else we explore in the readings at this time of year, a main thrust in them is that God consistently works from the ground up, not from the top down. There is no trickle down effect in the way God’s Kingdom, God’s Rule works. God chooses & works with people who have little or no standing in the public eye. People like Zechariah & Elisabeth, Mary & Joseph, foreign astrologers, today’s Simon & Anna, a scruffy-looking & way-out, in more than one sense, Baptiser. Even you & I qualify if we’re more tuned into God than into ourselves.

Today’s church is mostly adrift as much as society in general. Rapid social change - the fastest since evolution began - has left many looking for, even longing for leadership to ‘trickle down’ from where someone has been elected to, or seized power. The lesson from Scripture is that meaningful change the way God sees it happens from the bottom up; as faithful people are called, & respond, to God & God’s way of looking at & doing things! (Church leaders are no more able to put things to rights by pontificating from the top than politicians - of any stripe - are!)

God works through people like Simon & Anna, to stick to those two now, out in the margins of life. People who are called to think & act laterally as God calls us into His confidence to be ‘righteous, devout, looking for the consolation of Israel (& a new Israel), Holy Spirit being upon us’ & ‘prophesying (in the best biblical sense of that word), not departing from the temple, worshipping, fasting, & praying night & day’. 

That’s the only way the world can be put to rights, & it will happen in God’s time & space, not ours. There are no short cuts. And there are likely to be more crowns of thorns in the short term, than golden ones. More crosses than thrones. But do it, do things, God’s way & praise & peace win out as God’s time frame kicks in!    

LUKE 1: 26-38

Laterally Luke…Adv.4 (Christmas Eve)…Revised 2017

If we happened to find an ancient parchment with just this passage on it, might we wonder what kind of God it is who sends an angel, an archangel at that, with such a message to a young woman? ‘Disruptive’ comes to mind. But that’s a healthy corrective to the common view of a ‘comfortable & comforting’ God. A question like, ‘How does the God we believe in compare with Mary’s God?’ might open up some possibilities. Do we see ourself, like Mary, as the servant (slave!) of God, willing to be disrupted in the outworking of God’s plan, or not?

Mary doesn’t appear to be at all disturbed by Gabriel’s appearance on the scene; only at the message he delivers! I have a strong belief in ‘angels & archangels & all the company of heaven’. Maybe because, so far, my contact has mainly been protective & guiding rather than disturbing as Mary is disturbed. The word LK uses is a strong one implying a ‘stirring up’, as in, ‘stirring the waters’; of the possibility of a new creation emerging?

The late Peter Gomes, once Preacher to Harvard University, says ‘Mary joins the the line of unwilling & troublesome prophets for whom God’s call is an unsolicited interruption of the routine…..Why me? Why now? Why Mary?’.¹ We don’t usually think of Mary as a prophet, do we? What is a prophet? One answer may be, ‘One called to speak God’s word into being’ or words to that effect. Mary becomes a unique prophet by being called not to speak God’s word into being but give birth to God’s Word made flesh! In what way are we being called to make God’s Word a reality? Why me? Why now? Am I / are we open enough to God’s call to become even a ‘small p’ prophet in whatever situation we’re called into?

Once we discern God’s will, &, preferably, having checked that out with godly persons, the putting of it into action depends, with God’s help, on us. God stood by the Prophets, though things didn’t always happen the way they thought they would or should. Why would God now desert those of us called to the ‘small p’ kind of ministry? Have faith that God is still as real & as close as Mary discovers God to be when she makes her amazingly faith-full ‘acceptance speech’ & proves she is God’s ‘slave’; dependent upon God’s grace, as she carries out the unique role she has been given in human history.

To end on another thought from Peter Gomes on this passage, ‘God chooses for reasons known only to Him….When God chooses you, you are chosen.’ The only response fit for any of us to make is Mary’s, “ I’m God’s slave; may all this come true!’ On which note Gabriel’s done his job, & departs the scene. Do we have any doubt, though, that he’s always there in the wings?!   

¹ Sermons, Harper SF, 1998, p.11