Next Sunday Is NOT Christmas Eve (at least not in the morning)...

Be careful next Sunday or the Liturgical Police will get you!

Let's get one thing very clear, next Sunday (morning) is NOT Christmas Eve. You can be certain at St. John's Church in Decatur, AL we will first celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Then, the hard work of many will transform our church into a place fit for the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord. Why is this so important? Well, I'm so happy that you asked.

The "Christmas Creep" is a real phenomenon. Many Episcopal clergy, along with clergy people of other denominations, have lamented with good reason the loss of the Season of Advent, as Christmas decorations go up so early that even Thanksgiving seems like an afterthought. You may not be worried. You may think, "What do we lose when we lose Advent?" Well, we lose looking forward with the People of Israel for the coming of the Messiah long ago. We lose looking forward to God coming to fulfill all things at the end of time. And, we lose looking around to see God coming to be enfleshed with us right here, ,right now.

While the twelve days of Christmas, which (oh by the way!) start on December 25th and run through January 6th, capture some of the same themes of Advent, much of what we celebrate during those days are the Nativity narrative of Jesus of Nazareth (shepherds, angels, magi, etc.) and not the anticipation of those events. So, you will excuse me when I want to defend all four Sundays of Advent, for if we lose even one of them we lose much of the hope, anticipation, expectation, prophecies, and simplicity of the Season of Advent. Take for example this coming Sunday morning, if we skip over it then we lose God's Annunciation to Mary. Of course, all of this looking ahead may speak to a larger problem today.

We have a patience problem in society today. I say "we" because I may be the chief culprit in lacking patience. People tell me, "Don't pray for patience, God might actually give you a chance to practice it." GOOD! It's as though we think we have the patience of Job when it's really more like we are Abraham and Sarah waiting for a son. When all we do is look ahead racing to get to the next thing--or as seems to be the case among some of my fellow Episcopal clergy letting Advent 4 slide because well, it's hard to ask people to be patient--then it appears to me we are not walking any significant journey of faith with God. For following Jesus is not always easy or simple or fun or exciting or quick or timely or enlightening or positive. In truth, the way God calls us to walk often gets messy. Just ask Mary who we will miss if we skip over next Sunday morning (Luke 1:26-38).

Mary minded her own business in Nazareth long ago. Out of nowhere a messenger of God came to say, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." Mary though, heard these words not with exceeding joy, but like we might hear a telemarketer on the other end of a phone call who says "Congratulations! You've won a free trip to the Bahamas!" Skepticism, perplexity, and wonderment filled Mary. Sensing the hesitancy Gabriel, the messenger, threw God's cards on the table: do not be afraid, God has found favor with you, and through you, God will bear the Savior of your people and the whole earth. Sound good? Mary could not at first comprehend how this would happen and asked the most practical of questions, as the Common English Bible translation bluntly puts it, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?” It's a good question. At some point later this week I intend on exploring more the Angel's response, but for now I am fascinated with Mary eventually going along with this messy plan of God coming to dwell among us as the means of our salvation.

Mary's response to the courier of God speaks volumes to what our own calling might be not only when dealing with petty church calendar issues (yeah, I know I'm ridiculous), but also with the largest challenges of our lives. Nancy Rockwell's well shared article from two years ago about the mistake of thinking of Mary simply as a supplicant, reminds us that saying, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word," does not come easily. In truth, Mary embodies for us the challenge of waiting--that is even hearing a difficult vocation, saying yes to it, and then carrying through with it. Mary models for us a fulfilled faith that, though full of struggles and challenges--just think of Mary standing at the foot of the Cross thirty something years later-- continually responds to God's call with yes. Though in this day and age, I wonder if we will ever even hear God's call to us to be faithful in the first place. If we are too focused on what comes next will we see and hear the magnificent messenger of God saying to us, "Greetings favored one!"? Will we have the opportunity to know that nothing is impossible with God? Will we miss the chance to bring God into the world?

Greetings Favored One

Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

I love Christmas movies. I know we aren’t in Christmas yet, but I can’t help but watch them at this time of year. I’m sure the Liturgical police will issue me a citation, but I have a hard time not getting ready for Christmas by viewing some of my favorites. My friends in college would laugh at me because I could never make it through Love Actually without crying. When my family first saw Elf we laughed so hard that I thought we would be kicked out of the theater. That movie along with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and It’s A Wonderful Life all seem to be on a similar theme of the protagonist figuring out who he is and what is his place in the world.

My family tends to watch another movie along this same line over the Holidays, although this year we watched it around Thanksgiving. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? Harry Potter is a wizard. Maybe you already knew that. Now some of the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s books are pure garbage, but this one, at least in my humble opinion, does the fantasy writing justice. Without fail though whenever I watch this movie I cannot help but weep uncontrollably, even worse than watching Love Actually. Yes, I’ll admit it. I cry big alligator tears watching a movie about a teen wizard. Let me explain.

Harry Potter attempts to save Sirius Black and himself from dementors

Throughout this film Harry Potter, a teenage, orphaned magic maker finds himself chased by dementors. Dementors make one feel as though one will never be cheerful at all every again. These death-like creatures suck the happiness right out their prey. Typically they are used to keep prisoners held within Azkaban, the maximum security containment facility for the most heinous criminal witches and wizards. Yet, they have been summoned to protect Hogwarts, Harry Potter’s school.

All happiness and life itself begins to leave Sirius Black

The scene that makes me cry the most happens two times. A criminal named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban supposedly to find and kill Harry. The dementors have been called to keep Harry safe, but the truth emerges that Sirius never committed a crime and he escaped to protect Harry, his godson. Dementors suck so much joy from Harry and Sirius, as they chase them through the Forbidden Forest that for a moment life appears to leave Sirius. All of a sudden, Harry sees the shape of a stag made out of pure light and joy and life charge through the crowd of dementors sending them in a hundred different directions. Now why on earth would I cry about this scene?

Harry passes out from all that has happened. When he awakes he believes that his father, who had been dead for over a decade, came back to save Sirius and him. Harry had discovered earlier in the movie that his father could cast this stag-producing spell, so he thinkis his father must have produced it in the forest.

A twist occurs in the story that causes Harry and his friend Hermione to go back in time to rectify some things. Wouldn’t that be nice this time of year? So we see the exact same scene from a different vantage point. Harry waits and waits and waits for his father to come, but he does not appear. Finally Harry realizes that it wasn’t his father, but he himself who must cast the spell. He must send a beam of happiness to cast out the life sucking dementors. Now you might think I’m strange for crying at this point in the movie, but it’s probably not for the reason you think. I cry when I see this scene not because Harry saves the day, but for some other reason.

Harry Potter's Stag Patronus

We are here at St. John’s Church a mere four days from Christmas Day. Perhaps you have checked off everything on your to-do list. Maybe everything this year turned out exactly as planned. Possibly all relationships in your life are as bright as they seem to be on the Christmas cards we send to friends and family. However; things might not be exactly the way you had hoped they would be at this time of year. Things are left undone. The list has not been completed. The budget has been abandoned. Family members are angry. At a time when everything is supposed to be “merry and briii-i-i-ight,” you may feel sad, stressed, or like you will never be cheerful at all ever again.

At the Rite I service just before we receive Communion we pray what sounds like a dreadful prayer, the Prayer of Humble Access. It begins, “We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord,” we begin and often take an untimely breath here, which makes it sound like we are miserable scum. Some theologians might even tell you as much. “We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy great mercy.” We cannot trust in our own righteousness, our own right relationship with God, but we can trust in God’s mercy. The prayer continues, “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table, but Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.” In a season of the year when I myself can feel so gloomy and overwhelmed and over budget despite all the advertisements that I should feel differently this prayer helps me to gain my bearings. It’s not about me, it’s about mercy.

Harry Potter did not feel worthy. He kept waiting on someone else to come and save the day. He was unsure of trusting in who he was and the abilities that he was given. We can believe just as much today, and a poor young woman so long ago might have felt the exact same way.

The virgin’s name was Mary. According to someone much smarter than I am, “She is young in a world that values age; female in a world ruled by men; poor in a stratified economy. Furthermore, she has neither husband nor child to validate her existence” (Luke Timothy Johnson; Luke, 39). I grew up in a church that had Mary everywhere: in front of votive prayer candles, on church hangings, and even in a chapel dedicated to her. So it is hard for me to remember that Mary came from NOTHING! She was worthless according to society.

She is unworthy, just like we might feel unworthy. And yet, God chose her not just to prove a point, but to bring salvation into the world. She did not know what to say when Gabriel came to her. We may not know what to say or what to do when God comes to us. We may believe that sinking feeling within us that we are unworthy; however, the story of Mary bearing God into this world proves to each and every one of us that we are not worthless.

Mary responds to God after her confusion wears off saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be according to your word.” You, like Mary are chosen. You are chosen to bring God into this world. God’s Spirit dwells with you just like it overshadowed Mary. In this season when so loudly you hear that you are not worthy until you get everything accomplished on our list, everything wrapped under the tree, and every relationship just like on a Christmas card God is trying to tell you something else. “Greetings favored one! God has found favor with you, do not be afraid, for the Holy Spirit is with you and you are called to bring Christ into this world.” You are chosen. God has made you worthy. Now bear Christ into the world!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.