“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:26-38

“A few months ago, Walter Bruegemann, said something at our annual Celebration of Biblical Preaching that I haven’t been able to forget. “Few of our people,” he said, “imagine God to be an active character in the story of their lives.” And I suspect he’s right. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that our people don’t believe in God. It’s more that, day in and day out, God seems to most of them (and perhaps to us) as fairly passive; you know, that if God is doing anything, it’s pretty much hanging out in the background, watching, waiting, being supportive, encouraging. Kind of like the refrain of the Bette Midler song of a few years back, “God is watching us, God is watching us, God is watching us…from a distance.”

That’s not, of course, the biblical picture of God. Sure, God watches. But God also gets involved – God does things, all kinds of things — great and small, mighty, mundane, or miraculous, God is constantly at work. More than that, God regularly uses other people to point out and tell about what God is doing….there is…a lot of important ground laying between Gabriel’s “Greetings, favored one,” and Mary’s “Let it be according to your word.” Mary is, by turns, perplexed, confused and perhaps troubled by the angel’s words. And how could she not be? She is, as she protests, still a virgin. Morever, she is common, ordinary, of little account in her world and definitely not the stuff of legends…and she knows it. Only after expressing her wonder and dismay, and then hearing again Gabriel’s affirmation and promise, does she manage to summon the courage to believe that God has indeed favoring her by working in her and through her for the health of the world.

Do we think God is done interrupting people’s lives to use them for the health of the world, or might we imagine that God is still doing things just like this? Further, might we look around at the people…and see them as those persons who are also favored by God and through whom God plans to do marvelous things. Perhaps not conceive and bear the Son of God, but so what — that one’s been done already anyway! But think how many other wonderful things there are that God wants to accomplish through us, so many that you and I couldn’t begin to count them all. And yet…people are in all kinds of places and positions to do those wonderful things.” (David Lose, Favored Ones, Dear Working Preaching website, December 11, 2011)

“I am Yertle the Turtle, Oh, marvelous me!  For I am ruler of all that I see.”  Do you remember that children’s story by Dr. Seuss?  Yertle was the Turtle King, at least he was the king of his pond.  And one day Yertle decides that his kingdom is too small.  So, he plans on expanding his kingdom.  But, because he is a turtle, he can’t see much beyond what he can see from so close to the ground.  So he decides that he must go higher, to see what else, and who else he can rule. So, he commands his subjects (the other turtles of the pond) to stand on each other’s backs in an attempt to get higher, to see further, to increase his kingdom.  Yertle begins with a nine turtle stack, which allows him to see more – which is temporarily satisfying.  But soon he needs more.  So he commands two hundred turtles to stand on each other’s backs – all while repeating “I am Yertle the Turtle, Oh marvelous me! For I am the ruler of all that I see.”  Well at the bottom of this very tall stack of turtles is a little turtle named Mack. And he begins to complain about the weight.  His shell might crack.  Why should he be a part of this foolishness for the King?  Finally, after Yertle thinks he is the highest of any other person or thing, the moon rises higher than the King.  He decides to go even higher, and with that thought, Mack the little turtle leaves a loud “Burp.”  And the entire stack of turtles falls to the ground, and the King Yertle becomes king of the mud.

Do you ever feel like “King of the Mud?”  I do…..especially around Advent and Christmas.  Now, I do not see myself as a King of anything: my home, my church, my relationship with my wife.  But, we each have a sense of being in control of one thing – our own thoughts, our own actions, our own decisions. So, during this season, it takes me some time to keep my head up and eyes on what is coming next, because it is so easy to get caught up in the craziness of the season – I feel as if my kingdom (whatever that might be) is collapsing because I get so busy.

Expectation is a theme this week in Advent.  Expectations are those things that define that which we anticipate.  The easiest way to explain this is the fact that we call a woman who is pregnant with child “expecting.”   What was Mary expecting when G-d said that she will bear a son?  Did she expect that this son would be the long awaited Messiah?  Mary was ready and willing to serve as a lowly servant – just like little Mack.  But too many people want to be Yertle – feeling their own importance, wanting to be in the lime-light, wanting to be at the top.  Their lives are defined by pumping up their own importance by expecting others to serve them – and expecting others to point to their importance.  We have seen many Yertles in our country, in the world.  Nero, Castro, most of our political figures today, Jim Jones and the People’s Temple cult

The truth of humanity is the fact that not enough people care to be the ones at the bottom of the turtle stack bearing the burden of the work and stress for no recognition.  But of course what was true of the society of the 1^st Century Palestine is true in many parts of our world today – if you are born into wealth, or status, or you acquire it through whatever talents you have, you obviously are smarter, prettier, and more deserving and so you expect to be at the top. Every morning we remember our baptism, we remember who we are and whose we are – beloved children of God who have received the greatest gift we could ever receive…..Grace upon Grace upon Grace through the cross.  And then we go forward remembering these words: Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify you Father in Heaven.

Pastor Dave

If I Could Ask One Question of Ananias and Sapphira, I would ask “What Were You Thinking?”

“But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!” Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.” Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.” Acts 5:1-11

The early believers were so filled with the Holy Spirit, being ministered to by the tremendous power and Grace of the Apostles, that they were of one heart and one mind. They were of one mind so much that they held all of their possessions together, sharing them willingly with those in need. If someone sold land, the money from the sale was given to the Apostles to be used as needed. Two members of this group were Ananias and his wife, Sapphira; they also had some property which they sold. Part of the profit from their sale was kept back by the couple, and Ananias only laid a part of the money at the Apostles’ feet. However, Ananias made it seem that he had given all of the money to the group stating he did not hold any back.

But Peter, being filled with the power of the Spirit, knew instantly that Ananias was lying—not just to him but to G-d—and exposed his hypocrisy then and there. Ananias fell down and died. When Sapphira showed up, she, too, lied to Peter and to G-d, saying that they had donated the entire proceeds of the sale of the land to the church. When her lie had been exposed, she also fell down and died at Peter’s feet.

Some speculate that these two deaths were from natural causes. Perhaps Ananias died from shock or guilt, but Peter pronounced Sapphira’s death before she died, and the coincidental timing and place of their deaths indicate that this was indeed G-d’s judgment. The question is why. Why would G-d kill two people for lying? 

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a difficult story, since to our 21^st century perspective, dying for the sin of lying seems extreme. But the true reason seems to come under the banner of hypocrisy and example. When a small group is working so hard to maintain the community, following certain rules and working to maintain harmony, order and faith, when someone breaks the rules, then consequences will follow – and sometimes harsh consequences. In trying to find a contemporary example of such a community, I believe the military might serve as a good example. When recruits are trained in “boot camp”, following the rules and knowing that your fellow members are of the “same mind” is important for the future cohesiveness of the group. One or two “weak links” will keep the entire group from meeting goals and objectives. From the perspective of the small community of believers, if the sin of one or two is not dealt with, harshly and swiftly, the doubt and fear of others will begin to destroy the cohesiveness of the group.

Was it necessary to “kill” both Ananias and Sapphira? Well, that is a question you can ask G-d once you move into your room in heaven. My question for Ananias and Sapphira is “What were you thinking?” What question do you have for this mysterious couple?

Pastor Dave