A Servant of the Lord

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with
thee; Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death.
This prayer to the mother of Jesus has
been unfamiliar and even uncomfortable to me.
Raised a Lutheran, as I was, there were the three – God, the Father,
Jesus, the Son and the Holy Spirit whom we called the Holy Ghost. There was no female figure in the mix – and
the idea of praying to a intercessor – someone to mediate and somehow speed
along my prayer seemed unreal. Even
though I was named for the Virgin Mary – my siblings are Elizabeth and David –
I didn’t really have a place for her in my religious framework, except as a
walk-on player in the Christmas pageant with the one famous line – “Here I am,
the servant of the Lord. Let it be with
me according to your Word.” So I have come slowly to wondering about Mary and
her place in the heart of Christianity.
And her place in my own heart. What strikes me most about Mary is that
she is a regular Jewish girl, engaged to man named Joseph, living her life in a
righteous way in her small town of Nazareth.
So Mary is like us – doing the best she can, and she is very young by
our standards, though life expectancy was much lower in those times. Then Mary’s world and whole life are
radically changed upsidedown by the
appearance of the angel Gabriel, sent by God.
If I heard from an unfamiliar angel-like apparition that I was chosen by
God to bear the savior of the world my first instinct would be to dial up the
psychiatric department at Kaiser. Angels
don’t break into our lives and turn things upside down now, do they? Or do they?
I propose that angels do appear all the time in our lives – sometimes we
are able to see them and know them and their influence – and sometimes we are blind
to their action in the world. I was
intrigued by Rev. Amber’s ideas about Kronos and Kairos – time as a measurement
and time as exists in the Kingdom of God.
God time and people time. Mary’s experience with the angel must have
been an experience in Kairos – a moment out of the world with the power of
God. I know we strive to achieve God’s
time when we meditate – losing all sense of people time and resting in the time
that belongs to God. I know that I have
experienced some moments out of time along this journey and that they were moments
that I grasped as holy and sacred – I wanted to go back and live in those
moments. So I wonder how Mary thought about her encounter with the Angel. She only asked one question – how can this
be? And when she got the answer – the Lord will come upon you and overshadow
and the child will be Holy, the Son of God, she made up her mind and said
ok. Here I am your humble servant. Let it happen the way you say it will. I’m all in. By the Grace of God I am all in.
I used to be very careful with my time –
raising three children and working full time, sometimes going to school,
too. Time was a precious commodity. So when someone asked me to do something
extra – I had to consider long and hard how I would work it into my schedule.
Sometimes I had to say no, and then after several no’s, people stopped
asking. In some ways I was a hard case –
I was afraid of putting myself out there, afraid of failure or looking foolish. Afraid of acting more important than I really
was. My insecurity stood between my time
and God’s time, more than my busy life did.
And so when an angel broke through in God’s time to put my life
upsidedown, as angels or the spirit do with all of us, I didn’t have that
lovely response Mary had – here I am your servant – I will do whatever you want
me to. I am always dragged kicking and
resisting into the new life God has for
me – and then I see – oh! This is what is meant. For instance, last summer I lost my job as
Nutritional Services Manager at Sonoma Valley Hospital mostly due to my
resistance to the “new” policies about money being more important than the
patients. The way I saw it. And I had struggled for a year with the new
administration to avoid this outcome – thinking I needed my job to survive and
that the Nutrition Department wouldn’t survive without me. To say that I was devastated when they let me
go doesn’t even touch it. But I have
come to see that sacred circumstances have brought me to a new place in my life
– a place of “yes” – now I have time. An opportunity to get the education I
always wanted. And now the Open Cathedral in Oakland. It is amazing how “yes” changes your
life. John Trubina, the deacon who
started the East Bay Open Cathedral, asked me to join them at 2pm on Sundays
and I said yes even though I usually save Sunday afternoon and evenings for my
kids. He asked me to be on the Bishop’s
Committee as Open Cathedral becomes a special mission to the church and I
hesitated and then the words “yes, I’m in” came out of my mouth. I wonder if it was like that for Mary – here
I am, your servant, do with me as you will.
A response in God’s time. And
then later – wondering how it will all work out in people time. So far it has. And spending time with the most poor, forgotten,
hungry folks in Oakland has been an experience in God’s time. Last Sunday afternoon John and I walked under
an overpass in a quiet, dark corner of the city and carried a box of bag
lunches with us. We saw some folks under
a tarp and walked slowly over with our box.
John said, “Would you like some lunch?”
Yes, they said, sure. So we gave
them bags and asked if there were any others.
And out of the corners of the pile of tarp and boxes came three others –
in the end we gave them the whole box and we asked for a photo. They were gracious enough to let us take
their picture which is now on the Open Cathedral website – we told them we
wanted to tell people about how folks lived on the streets and they wanted us
to tell the story. It was an experience in God’s time out of time. Then I went
home and made dinner for my kids – and watched the end of the football game
with them. And wondered in my heart what
it all means. I wonder what Mary did after the angel left. Did she get up and make dinner? Did she feel able to tell someone like her
own mother about her experience. Did she
feel humbled to find herself in God’s time?
I do. I am in awe of God’s time,
I feel afraid to go there, but I love it when I do. When I say yes to God’s invitation I feel afraid
that it is too big for me, but afterwards I am grateful for the moments in
Sacred Space and time. Being a person
for God in God’s time only takes the word “Yes”. Mary’s “yes” to unknown
circumstances and experiences, yes to certain heartbreak and unconditional
love.
What I have found in my beginning
relationship with Mary is the strength to say Yes to whatever God has in store
for me, a servant of the Lord. And I ask
Mary to give me courage by her ultimate example of grace and faith to help me
along the Way.

Amen.


Luke 1:26-38
Advent 4B
December 18, 2011

The Names of God

The Names of God

I am Who I Am, Holy Father,
Immortal, Jehovah, Source of All Blessing, Adonai, Invisible, Glorious, Alpha
and Omega, Supreme Being, Divine
Presence, Creator of the World, Theos, King of Kings, Lord of Hosts, Lord of
Light, Ancient of Days, Redeemer, God of Israel, God of Abraham and Sarah,
Deliverer, Yahweh, Holy Light, All Knowing, All seeing, Elohim, Mighty Warrior,
Eternal Father, Allah, Spirit of the Living God, Omnipotent, Lord of Space, The
Source, The Guide, Heavenly Father, Deus, God of Jacob, Breath, King Eternal,
Maker of Heaven and Earth, God our Maker, Three in One and One in Three, Great
God, Elaha, Creator Spirit, Shield, Fortress, Lord God Almighty, Divine Power, Comforter,Umma,
Mother, Father, Abba, Papa, Daddy.
Everything we relate to in our
world and in our lives has a name. Names
define objects and people; give us history or tell a story; show us how to
relate to whatever is being named. We
name our children after those we love, we name our pets after the way they
look, or their breed name, or something we love, some extension of ourselves.
My beautiful doggie, Freckles, was so named because of the many black spots she
had on the white part of her coat – and it was her personality, too. Like a freckled kid, happy, free. My daughters carry their Grandmothers’ names
– my mother was Janet and my mother-in-law was Gerrarda Maria. My daughter Christine is named Christine
Gerrada Maria – for a great aunt of mine who died young and for her paternal
grandmother, who died too soon. And
Christine has another name – she was called Eun Yeung by her foster mother in
Korea – it means pure blessing. Christine carries in her names memories and
hopes and lots of love. She’s a living anthropological study in human migration
–including her Swedish immigrant Great-Grand Aunt, her Dutch Grandmother and
her Korean birth names given her at the beginning of her life. Her names tell about her history, a little about
who loves her, where she has been, what is hoped for her, who she belongs to,.
Names are very very important. They define our relationships.
In Jewish thought, a name is also not just a random combination of sounds. Names conveys the nature and essence of the
thing named. They represents the history and reputation of the being named. The
first Name used for God in scripture is Elohim. The word is a masculine plural
of a word that looks feminine in the singular (Eloha).This is an ancient word
for God, gods, or powers. In current culture we mostly refer to God as a
masculine being. The earliest written
form of the Germanic word god comes from the 6th century CE and is
pronounced ǥuđan. It is generally agreed
by linguists that Gudan meant either "to call" or "to
invoke". The Germanic words for god were originally neuter that is, neither masculine or feminine—but during the spread of
Christianity to the Germanic people the word God took on a masculine context.
This gives us our first inkling of who or what God is. And that first idea is a
question – Is God male or female, or both, or neither.
What else do we know
about God? Generally, God is most
often thought of as the supernatural creator and overseer of the Universe. Theologians
from many different backgrounds agree to a few concepts of God: infinite
knowledge, unlimited power, presence everywhere in the world, perfect goodness
and eternal existence. No wonder we have
so many words and names for God. The
concept of God is too big to wrap our arms around. How is it possible to be in
relationship with someone so unimaginably omnipresent? Maybe that is why there are people who don’t
believe in the existence of God. It’s just too big a problem to figure out who
God is and how I am in relationship with him or her or them. Or some people want to be able to
scientifically prove that God exists.
One of the saddest people I have known is a scientist who I dated
briefly a long time ago. He tried so
many times to empirically prove the existence of God and failed. So he could not let himself believe, even
though he wanted to. So he was without a greater being and I think that was a
lonely thing for him. We often speak of God calling us – Just as the
Germanic meaning of God’s name means we
call to or invoke God. We feel God
calling to us and we call back. There is
no way to prove it, even though I know God calls to me as well as I know my own
name.
So we are in relationship with a supreme
being with many names who we cannot see or touch or taste or smell. But we can hear God’s call. That is not a small thing. What else do we
know about God? As Christians we believe that Jesus is God coming into the
world as a human being and that through knowing Jesus we have a chance to know
something about God. In the Gospel according to John we read: “In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Here is another
name for God – The Word, in the form of Jesus who brings to us the Word of God.
John goes on to say ,”In him was life, and that life was the light of all
mankind. The light shines in the
darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” Our relationship with Jesus is
about knowing the lightness and truth about God and being assured that that truth
will not be overcome.
In our Gospel reading today Jesus is not
happy about names that religious leaders of his time call themselves. Jesus tells us not to call anyone teacher,
rabbi or father because these are some of the names of God. The behavior of religious people who pretend
to be better than others offends Jesus because they act like they have the
inside track with God. They wear special religious clothing out in the street
and pray on the corners so everyone can see them. He says, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3therefore, do whatever they teach
you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they
teach. 4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on
the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to
move them. 5They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they
make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6They love to have the place of
honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7and to be greeted with respect in
the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.” It seems that these
people have forgotten that our relationship with God is like that of a child to
his or her father – a father who loves and cherishes them. I know that all human fathers are not like
this. God our Father is the ideal father
– one who loves and nurtures his or her children with the love of both a mother
and father. The child is innocent and
humble of heart. The child leans on God
and is protected and cared for. The
religious people Jesus is criticizing here -and in the following verses he
really lights into them – these people prevent others from coming to God the
Father by putting impossible barriers in their way – barriers like education,
or proper dress, or manners, or status of birth. These people are shut out by the rules and
regulations of the religious structures of Jesus’ time – and it makes Jesus
angry. Who are God the Father’s
children? Jesus says , “The greatest
among you will be your servant. For
those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will
be exalted.” The Kingdom of God belongs to those who know God as the nurturing,
loving, caring parent and who humble themselves to serve in God’s kingdom in
the service of those who have become the least in society. Our Psalm today is a
recitation of many things that can go wrong for human beings – they wandered in
a wasteland, were hungry and thirsty, suffered in prison, were subjected to
bitter hard labor, lived in darkness, suffered affliction because of their
sins, and got lost at sea. But in every case, when the people called out to
God, God heard them and blessed them, filled them with food and drink, saved them
from the crashing waves, made cities for them to live in, freed the prisoners
and saved the people from the hand of
the foe. We come to church to praise our
loving God for all the good things God has done for us. The psalmist says, “The upright see and
rejoice but all the wicked shut their mouths. Let the one who is wise heed
these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.” Let us pray. We thank you Lord God for all your good and
loving care for us. May we go and do
likewise to the least of your children. Amen.