December 20, 2021 — “The White Elephant” — Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 

“Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south, and goes around to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow. All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has already been, in the ages before us. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.” Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 

White elephant:” The “white elephant” gift concept has morphed into a phrase associated with tacky gift swaps, sometimes made at church outings — other times at school or other social functions. It originally stems from literal “white elephants”, which South Asian royalty often kept as vanity pets. In contemporary language, the White Elephant encompasses anything huge and expensive that requires more money than its actual value to maintain. 

“Vanity of vanities: all is vanity.” This is one of the statements the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes makes in this Old Testament book. The pointlessness of human activity is the major theme of the book — at least at the beginning — until the author comes to realize like Job, that G-d’s laws must be kept, whether keeping them results in happiness or suffering. We all need to remember that G-d “…causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45) There will be times where we are down, and will feel as if G-d is “kicking us” — that all is vanity and pointless. But, we need to place our faith and trust on the sovereign nature of G-d — that G-d has everything worked out — and, like Job states in the midst of his own suffering: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away — blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, sometimes we feel as if all is vanity. Help us to remember that you always want the best for us, and that you will defend us on our good days, and our bad. Amen.

Pastor Dave 

December 19, 2021 – Advent 4C

“In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.” Luke 1:39-56

Christmas is just two days away if you have forgotten.  Soon we gather to celebrate the birth of Christ.  Funny, you now, since we have “just” found out that Mary is pregnant.  Jesus will be born on Tuesday – it is the shortest pregnancy ever.  I am kidding of course. But when we compress time like this, as the lectionary does to us, we tend to lose a lot of the story. We forget what these pregnancies meant for both Mary and Elizabeth. For Elizabeth, this pregnancy was the answer to prayer.  For Mary, it would be the beginning of joyous and difficult times. After all, she is young, not yet married, and has learned that G-d has selected her to bear the “Son of the most high God”.  Imagine all of the thoughts that must have been running through her mind.  And yet, we have nothing of those concerns in our text. For example, today we have the women celebrating the news of their pregnancies. The other day I heard a commercial on television that said, and I quote: “Imagine knowing you are pregnant the moment it happens. (pause) Science is getting close”. I stopped when I heard this commercial because I couldn’t imagine knowing immediately that my wife was pregnant. How could they do that? But considering Elizabeth, she had all but given up ever hearing that news. She was older, she was barren, and she would have all but given up ever hearing that news. And Mary, she is so young – and not yet married. She in no way was expecting to be “expecting”. So imagine what their conversation would have been like. But we have nothing of “that” conversation. What we do have is what is printed in the text: “Mary enters the house and greets Elizabeth. And Elizabeth says Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb…why has the mother of my Lord come to me?”  That is all we have, well except for the wonderful, poetic words of Mary’s Magnificat. But we have nothing of the kind of conversation we would expect. I would have expected they would have said something like “I can’t believe it” – and “The Lord is Awesome” – and maybe even a “Now what?”

Both of these women have a unique perspective – Elizabeth is advanced in age – Mary is so young.  Of course, how would the men in their lives responded. What was Zechariah thinking or doing? We know that he wasn’t saying much, initially, because he was struck mute for not believing the Angel of the Lord when the news came that he was to be a father. And Joseph, we know that he pondered dismissing Mary quietly. 

All four of these individuals have many things to consider – but they have two things in common that holds them all together. First, we know that these individuals were just ordinary, common people of Israel. Yes Zechariah was a priest, but he literally disappears from history once John is born. Joseph also disappears, after Jesus’ twelfth birthday, when the couple loses Jesus on a trip home from Jerusalem and they find him in the Temple. Elizabeth’s claim to fame is in being married to Zechariah, and being a cousin of Mary. And Mary, is just a young Israelite that catches the eye of G-d.  Luke makes sure that he reminds us that these people are not among the rich, famous or powerful of their time. The second thing that binds these people is their rock, solid faith. Mary says it all: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”  These “nobodies” are chosen by G-d, who acts in their lives, and then sends them out to fulfill their calling.

This Christmas season, I want you to ponder some things: with the gift of Jesus born into your hearts anew again this Christmas day, I want you to consider where your priorities are in regards to your faith, and to your faith lives? Do you need to reassess the time you give to your family, to your church, or to your savior Jesus? You may say, well I am just an ordinary person with many responsibilities and I am just too busy.  Well, remember, Zechariah, Joseph, Mary and Elizabeth were also just ordinary people, living their lives, trying to survive, trying to do what they thought was right.  Sometimes things happen in our lives that snap us back to reality, and to what really matters. My friends, life is fleeting. This Christmas hold onto and cherish your family and ask G-d to help you to discern what you can do to share the gifts that G-d has gifted you with. No matter what your age, G-d is calling you whether you are ready or not. You have all you need – your faith and trust that G-d can and will lead you great adventures.    

Pastor Dave