Sermon 12/13/15
Luke 1:26-45
Home for Christmas: Over the Back Fence
Last
month, noted biblical scholar J. Ellsworth Kalas died at age 92. He was a
prolific author, and I’ve used many of his resources in my years of ministry.
He wrote a whole series of short studies on the scripture that were called
“From the Backside” – the Parables from the Backside, the Old Testament from
the Backside, Beatitudes from the Backside. Each book took a very relatable,
straight-forward approach to drawing out themes from the scriptures, but by
looking at the scriptures in a new light, from a different angle, focusing on
minor characters or small details. My favorite is Christmas from the Backside,
and I have had a particular chapter on my mind as I’ve reflected on Mary and
Elizabeth this week. Kalas includes in his book chapters like “The Scandal of
Christmas” and “Three Votes for an Early Christmas,” and he also includes a
chapter called “Christmas Comes to a Back Fence” that focuses on the
interaction between Mary and Elizabeth and the significance of women to the
birth story of Jesus. He imagines the sharing between Mary and Elizabeth of the
extraordinary happenings both are experiencing, juxtaposed against the common, ordinary
setting of Elizabeth’s home.
We can
envision this conversation between Elizabeth and Mary in a place where women
might comfortably talk together. In the time when Mary and Elizabeth met to
share and talk over their life-changing news, there weren’t many public places
where women might gather for conversation. This conversation, then, is one that
might take place in the kitchen, in the yard, by the fence, certainly a
conversation that took place at home. And it is here, likely at Elizabeth’s
home, in this ordinary place, talking about ordinary and extraordinary things,
that we read of Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit, the first time in
the gospels this happens. We usually think of the Holy Spirit coming at
Pentecost, falling on the disciples as they began the work of the church. But
it fills Elizabeth first, as she rejoices in what is happening in both Mary and herself, saying, “And blessed is she
who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the
Lord.” They both believe, Mary and Elizabeth, ordinary though they may be, that
God is doing something extraordinary in and through them.
There
are, of course, many miraculous things about the birth of Jesus and the connected
stories as told in the scriptures. There are God’s messengers, the angels,
popping in and out of the lives of everyone from Mary, mother of Jesus to
shepherds in fields, and a sky fully of heavenly host. There’s Jesus, born in a
stable, a star that guides the way, and eventually Wisemen from the East who
perhaps practice astrology and bring strange gifts to the baby. There’s
Elizabeth, pregnant beyond the known age of child-bearing. There is, of course,
the very fact that Gabriel tells Mary her child will be the Son of the Most
High God, conceived through this overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. The birth of
Jesus is extraordinary.
But
there are far more things about the birth of Jesus that are entirely typical. Mary
experiences the limitations that unexpected pregnancies place on young women. Elizabeth
feels her baby moving around in her womb. Mary wants to share her news with her
cousin, and be with someone else who is experiencing what she is. Above all, we
know nothing about Mary or Elizabeth that leads us to believe that they are in
any way different from any other women of their time and place. We don’t find
anything to suggest that they were especially pious or holy or spiritual or
devoted or faithful. Perhaps they were, but the biblical writers don’t bother
to share that if that’s the case. And this child, Jesus, who will be born, will
not be of noble birth, will not be born in a palace, will not be born into
luxury or status. He is not going to be born a prince or a king – not by
standards his world will recognize. Despite God’s host of messengers, despite
the shepherds that will come, despite the star, despite the visitors from the
East, I think the normalcy of Jesus’ birth is just as, maybe more important than the
attention-getting uniqueness of it. After all, this is God-with-us, and God can
only be with us if God is really with
us – born like us, born among us, born to experiences that most of us, not just
a few of the elite of us have, born to a regular young woman, like any number
of other children would have been born on the very same day. The birth of Jesus
is ordinary.
We so
often look at the world around us and divide what we see into two realms –
sacred and secular. There are holy things and holy people and holy place –
cross and altars and clergy and churches and sanctuaries – and then there’s
ordinary stuff – our homes, our workplaces, our stuff, our food, and all the
regular people. But that’s not what we see in the Christmas story. That’s not
what we see in Mary and Elizabeth. That’s not what we see in scriptures. Instead,
we find again and again that God shows up unexpectedly in our ordinary place,
and by God’s very presence, by God’s showing up in our regular old lives, they
are made holy. That’s what God does in communion – ordinary bread and cup
become extraordinarily the living body of Christ. In baptism regular old water
becomes a sign of new life, rebirth. Fishermen and tax collectors become
disciples. Children become keys to understanding God’s reign on earth. And two
ordinary women become the mother of the Christ-child and the mother of the
prophet who will prepare his way. That’s what happens when God shows up in our
ordinary – what God touches becomes Holy.
I think
sometimes we spend so much effort seeking out what we think is holy and sacred so
that we can draw close to God. Instead, I wonder if we can start looking for
the ways that the holy is all around us when God shows up in the ordinary stuff
of our lives. Perhaps you’ll notice a holy moment when you are in the midst of
the chaos at a busy shopping mall in these weeks leading up to Christmas.
Perhaps you can make note of the holy in our midst when you see the kind of
gifts children prepare for their loved ones with such care and creativity.
Maybe you’ll experience a holy moment as you roll out the dough for Christmas
cookies, or when you hear a carol on the radio as you drive to work. When you
see examples of God-with-us in the everyday of life, you’re seeing something
holy.
Kalas
writes, “I’m trying to say that Christmas shows us that no part of life is
unimportant to God, and that none of it is beyond God’s interest. And if that
be so, not one of us is beyond God’s care and concern … So if you’re wondering
where Christmas will happen this year, I’ll answer with a question: Where do you expect to be?” Because Christmas
happens where we are. Christmas comes right to our homes, and right to our
hearts. God loves you, God loves me, God loves us enough to become one of us,
to show up in every part of our world, in every aspect of our lives. The gift
that we can prepare for God this Christmas is to offer to God every bit, every
piece, every part of our ordinary lives. And then, get ready: Because everything
God gets to work on can becomes something extraordinary, something holy. And
blessed are we who believed that there will be a fulfilment of what is spoken to
us by God! Amen.
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