Micah 5:2-5a (CEB)
As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
though you are the least significant of Judah’s forces,
one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you.
His origin is from remote times, from ancient days.
Therefore, he will give them up
until the time when she who is in labor gives birth.
The rest of his kin will return to the people of Israel.
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
They will dwell secure,
because he will surely become great throughout the earth;
he will become one of peace.
Luke 1: 46-55
Mary got up and hurried to a city in the Judean highlands. She entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. With a loud voice she blurted out, “God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry. Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.”
Mary said,
“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”
Welcome to the third Sunday in this amazing season of Advent.
For the past two weeks we have been reminded through the prophets that we need to make room for, not only the Holy in our midst, but also the outcast, the foreigner, the stranger in our midst.
Last week Mary reminded us that there is always room at the table --- if we are willing
Today I want to let the prophets of old try and remind us that there is always enough and that we have been invited to become co-creators with God.
The sad reality is --- our society operates with an attitude of scarcity.
We saw that clearly at the start of the pandemic with the run-on paper products.
It wasn’t that there wasn’t enough --- the problem quickly became that we started hoarding them for ourselves.
John the Baptist addressed this issue when the crowds found him at the Jordan River and asked to be baptized.
Then John said to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire.”
The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”
He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
He replied, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.”
Soldiers asked, “What about us? What should we do?”
He answered, “Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.”
(Luke 3:1014 CEB)
John reminds us that in order for us to recognize that there really is enough we need to have changed hearts.
We must trust and not be afraid --- because when we are afraid --- we only look our for ourselves.
We must trust God.
John makes this very simple --- the people ask: what does a changed heart look like? and John tells them --- he makes it simple:
If you have two of something, share with someone who has less.
Take the food you have and share it with one person.
We don't need to create a large task force and put together an initiative to cure hunger. That's not what we're called to do in this passage.
We're called to feed people one at a time.
Sometimes the problems seem so large that we feel like there is no way we can do anything.
So we do nothing.
What John is trying to remind us is that there is an opportunity every day to do something --- to reach out to one person.
And if you start doing that --- John tells us our heart will be transformed and our lives changed.
The best way to do this is to open our eyes and take care of the first thing you see.
One of the beauties of the Advent Season is that it reminds us that everything good starts out small
So small it is almost invisible.
Kind of like a baby
This morning, Mary is really the prophet we are called to hear.
Micah reminds us that God is going to do something great through tiny Bethlehem.
An insignificant city that is near Jerusalem
We know the story --- so we know that Jesus is going to be born in this tiny hamlet.
But it is Luke who reminds us that this baby
This child is going to change the world
This child will show us the way
Luke reminds us that this baby is going to be born through a woman ---
Mary (a peasant girl) is carrying this child and is preparing to give birth.
If you have ever been to Bethlehem, you know that it is today a very sad city.
It is a city that has been entirely walled in by Israel
In order to enter or depart --- you must go through a military checkpoint
At the time of Jesus’ birth --- Bethlehem was a little village on the outskirts of the much more significant city of Jerusalem
When you go today --- you are taken to the magnificent 6th century Church of the Nativity and the 15th century --- connected --- Church of St Catherine (The church which broadcasts the Midnight mass on Christmas Eve every year).
But what you don’t realize is that this massive complex of churches, offices, and gift shops sits on top of a number of caves.
Homes were often built over the top of a cave because it provided a safe place to keep one’s animals.
Jesus was not born in a barn, as we often like to imagine, but according to Luke --- Jesus was most likely born in one of these cave animal pens under someone’s house.
Imagine --- the savior of the world --- born in an animal pen.
But that image fits the rest of the narrative.
Micah tells us that this ruler of Israel will be born in tiny --- insignificant --- back woods --- Bethlehem.
While today it is a walled city to keep the people in --- in Jesus’ day there was no wall --- there was very little protection
People kept their animals in cave to protect them from the wolves and theives
God chooses to come to an insignificant --- vulnerable place --- to enter the world.
And then of course there is Mary.
Mary --- probably a 12- or 13-year-old girl
Promised to be married --- and finds herself pregnant.
While in that society it was not unusual for a betrothed girl to get pregnant before the actual wedding --- there was a problem in this one
Joseph knows he cannot be the father!
Ooops
And he decides to do the honorable thing and break off the engagement quietly.
Instead --- God speaks to Joseph and convinces him not to abandon Mary and this soon to be born baby.
We find Mary, traveling to a Judean town in the hill country to visit her pregnant relative Elizabeth --- the village of Ein Kerem claims to be the town of Elizabeth today.
Regardless, in our text this morning we find Mary coming to visit Elizabeth.
This morning we lit the candle of “love”
Yet in the text selected by the Revised Common lectionary for this day --- the word love is nowhere to be found.
While love might not be found --- there are some powerful emotions to be found in this text.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed
AS I read and study this and I am left asking myself a question --- who does God love?
I have been accused of preaching that God dislikes (I don’t like the word hates) but that God dislikes the rich and powerful.
You read a text like this --- and it is easy to believe that.
God seems to be saying that he loves the lowly and downtrodden.
When we understand the historical context of this text --- I think it brings some things to light.
The people of Israel were suffering greatly under the Roman Empire.
Unfortunately --- whenever one group of people believes that they are entitled to exalt themselves above another group of people and exploit that group of people, it always leads to an uprising of the people.
And that uprising almost always leads to a violent and bloody end.
This is exactly what happened in Israel.
About seventy years after Jesus was born, Israel rebelled against Rome and they were crushed, mercilessly.
The temple was utterly destroyed
As I read this, I am forced to ask myself”
Are there any places where the proud are exalting themselves over the weak?
Are there any places where rich and powerful people are exploiting and hurting the lowly and the hungry?
Are there any voices crying out to stop the injustice?
It could be easy to take this text and preach:
Cast down the mighty,
Send the rich away.
Fill the hungry
Lift the lowly
But where is the love?
A few years ago, Richard Rohr wrote this in his daily meditation:
“Over the years, I met many social activists who were doing excellent social analysis and advocating for crucial justice issues, but they were not working from an energy of love. They were still living out of their false self with the need to win, the need to look good—attached to a superior, politically correct self-image.”
“Untransformed liberals often lack the ability to sacrifice the self or create foundations that last. They can’t let go of their own need for change and cannot stand still in a patient, compassionate, and humble way. It is no surprise that Jesus prayed not just for fruit, but ‘fruit that will last’”
Untransformed conservatives, on the other hand, tend to idolize anything that lasts, but then avoid the question, ‘Is it actually bearing any fruit?’”
Rohr always kicks me in the rear
The political climate of our nation --- and our denomination --- can make it hard to love.
We think we are RIGHT and the other is WRONG!
These divides create walls of mistrust and hurt --- and difference of beliefs that make it hard to even look the other person in the eye.
I think Mary and Elizabeth --- these marginalized women --- are trying to teach us something if we will just listen.
Is Mary leading a violent revolution to overthrow Rome?
No --- she reminds us that:
God has brought down the powerful and lifted up the lowly.
God has filled the hungry and sent the rich away.
Richard Rohr always seems to get to the heart of the matter.
“Without the contemplative mind, all our talk about and action for social change and justice can actually do more harm than good.”
“Action needs to be accompanied by contemplation for us to stay on the journey for the long haul. Otherwise, we’re just constantly searching for victims and perpetrators, and eventually we start playing the victim or perpetrator ourselves.”
It is God’s job --- not ours.
Our job is not to tear down --- it is to sow love
I am convinced that God does not hate rich people.
What God hates is arrogance and oppression.
God does not love poor people because they are poor.
God hates it when people are mistreated and will always stand to defend the weak.
Rohr reminds us that the love of God --- if we allow it --- strips away the false self in us.
If we think our identity is wrapped up in our wealth and power,
God will humble us and readily allow us to lose everything.
If we think our identity is wrapped up in our poverty, or being the victim,
God will equally strip that away and remind us that we are loved and valued.
God brings down the mighty and lifts up the lowly.
Not so that the lowly can now lord it over the mighty in some sort of twisted justice.
Rather, God strips away those false selves and reminds us that each human being is a beautiful creation of God, and we are all equal in God’s eyes.
This is the love that we find in that cave --- in that stable in Bethlehem.
May we experience that love again as we look out from the manger and at the world with the eyes of God.
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