Preached by the Reverend Kati L. Houts at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, December 10, 2006, at the 11:10 am service.
The Second Advent Candle: PEACE
We live in a world where people are not at peace with one another or at peace within themselves. Many years ago, the people of God dreamed of a better world and hoped and expected that God would bring about their desires for peace.
Listen to the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“The Almighty shall judge among the nations, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.”
Loving God: thank you for the peace that comes through Jesus the Anointed. Help us to be peacemakers in all we do and say. Amen.
Today we light the candle of Peace—the Peace that Jesus brings.
The second blue candle is lit.
How I Used Truth
A reading from the Light of Emilie Cady:
We all must recognize that it was the Christ within that made Jesus what he was, and our power now to help ourselves and to help others lies in our comprehending the Truth…that this same Christ that lived in Jesus lives within us. It is the part of himself that God has put within us, which ever lives there with an inexpressible love and desire to spring to the circumference of our being, or to our consciousness, as our sufficiency in all things… It is the “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one”* of which Jesus spoke.
H. Emilie Cady, How I Used Truth, published in Complete Works of H. Emilie Cady (MO: Unity, 1995), p. 142.
*John 17:23
The Light of Wisdom!
Luke 1:26-38
26The following month God sent Gabriel the archangel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to Mary, a virgin pledged to be married to Joseph, a descendant of David. 28The heavenly messenger said to her, “Greetings, blessed lady! The Holy One is with you!” 29Mary was startled, wondering what in the world this was all about!
30“Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her. “God is delighted with you! 31You’re going to have a child; you’ll name him Jesus. 32He will be famous, known as the Son of the Most High. The Almighty will give him a dominion like his ancestor David, 33with full authority over his people. His reign will never end!”
34“How is that possible?” Mary asked the angel. “I’m still a virgin?”
35“It’s like this,” replied Gabriel. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you — the power of God will envelope you — so this holy child will be called the Son of God. 36Your cousin Elizabeth is also going to have a child. They said she was unable to conceive, yet she’s already six months pregnant! 37So, you see, nothing is impossible with God.”
38“I’m the servant of the Almighty,” said Mary. “Let it happen just as you’ve told me.” And the angel left her.
The greatest thing about Christmas morning is the surprises. When else in life do you get to pile several surprises together and sit for an hour enjoying each of them? Christmas morning is wonderful in that way. I can still remember the way I felt as a child, the amazement, the astonishment of Christmas morning. I also felt the same way on my birthday which is 12 days before Christmas. My parents could count on the fact that my excitement over these two significant days would result in my losing my Christmas cookies so to speak. It was the excitement that brought on this inability to keep my cookies in place. Fortunately, I have outgrown that particular expression of happiness. However, I still do love the surprises.
This morning we focus on one of the greatest surprises there ever was, the surprise that took place when an angel by the name of Gabriel appeared to a young teenage girl named Mary. Gabriel surprised Mary with the following:
1. “The Lord is with you, do not be afraid.”
2. “You will conceive in your womb, and bear a son.”
“He will be called the Son of God”
This story of Mary and her encounter with Gabriel is about another servant of the Almighty. She was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus, the son of God. She was somewhat confused about how that was to happen considering her current circumstances of being a virgin, being betrothed to Joseph and really not available for this request if she were to be in accordance with Jewish law. But Gabriel assured her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive a child that would be holy. Despite her confusion, and her need to adhere to Jewish law, she replied, “Here am I, the servant of the Almighty, let it be with me according to your word.” Mary resolved that the word given to her from Gabriel was good enough. She said, “Let it be.”
I know this reminds us of the famous song by the Beatles. It was indeed one of their greatest hits. Listen once again to these words:
“When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me,
Speaking words of wisdom let it be.
And in my hour of darkness,
She is standing right in front of me,
Speaking words of wisdom let it be.”
On that day, Mary accepted her call from God. She obviously had a deep abiding faith in God and trusted God to be with her as she lived out her special vocation. She believed in the wisdom of God and therefore could submit to God’s plan for her. How, often do we find our personal agendas in direct competition with what God would have us do? How often do we ask what are your plans for us God? Mary probably hoped to have a happy marriage in the quiet little village of Nazareth. God however had different plans for her.
Can you imagine what life would have been like if Mary had chosen not to accept her call? We have no idea. God may have found someone else but the fact remains, it would not have been the same without Mary. Have you ever considered what life would be like if certain people had not answered their calls by God. Life is not just about us as individuals but us as God’s children, interconnected by the one who loves us best. What we do and decide affects all of us whether we understand that connection or not.
Remember the movie classic shown every Christmas “It’s A Wonderful Life”? It is a powerful story about a man who finds out what life would have been like if he had not been born. No one would have benefited from his good deeds as he would not have been there. He thought he was a failure and that everyone would have been better off with him. What he discovered is that no one is born to be a failure. He saw the unhappy conditions of how life would have been without his being there to offer his gifts and talents. He came to the realization of how all of us are connected in this life and how important we all are to one another.
Now I know that Mary’s call was unique. Nobody before or since has been called to do what Mary did. She was called to be the mother of the son of God, Jesus. And yet, you can’t hear the story of Mary’s call without thinking of your own. Our encounters with God often show some of the same pattern as Mary’s. There is unknowing, confusion and even fear. The call comes to us from God. It is not of our own devising or something we though of or planned. It is something God gives.
And yet at the same time we, like Mary, still have some say-so in the matter. Mary as mentioned earlier could have said no. So could we. We can say “No thank you God, I am quite happy with my life the way it is. It may have a few ruts but they are my ruts. I may be living only for myself and my projects, but at least they are mine. I’m not so sure that I want to have my life caught up in anything much larger or complicated. You can say all that when the call comes, and all of that is perfectly understandable. Despite our decisions, God’s love for us remains strong. But, like Mary, you can also say yes, and that can make all the difference.
Mary was indeed surprised by her visit from Gabriel and even more by God’s request or call, but surprises are important events in our lives. Chuck Swindoll wrote, “surprises come in many forms and guises: some good, some borderline amazing, some awful, some tragic, some hilarious. But there’s one thing we can usually say—surprises aren’t boring.” Surprises are woven through the very fabric of all our lives. They await each one of us at unexpected and unpredictable junctures of our lives.
Take the story about the professor who sat at his desk one evening working on the next day’s lectures. His housekeeper had laid that day’s mail and papers at his desk and he began to shuffle through them, discarding most to the wastebasket. He then noticed a magazine, which was not even addressed to him but delivered to his office by mistake. It fell open to an article titled “The Needs of the Congo Mission”.
Casually he began to read when he was suddenly consumed by these words: “The need is great here. We have no one to work the northern province of Gabon in the central Congo. It is my prayer as I write this article that God will call someone to this place to help us.” Professor Albert Schweitzer closed the magazine and wrote in his diary: “My search is over.” He said let it be to God and gave himself to the Congo. Did this little incident happen by chance? I think not. I believe it was one of God’s little surprises.
On this second week of Advent we celebrate “peace”. Peace, a gift given to us from Jesus that we are to share. When we say let it be to God in answering our call, we are opening the door for new birth within us. We are allowing the creative power of God to do something extraordinary with our lives. Our call could be that of helping to activate the peace of God for a world that is very much in need of it. Remember, God loves you for all you are and for all you are becoming in Christ Jesus. And that my friends is a lifetime guarantee. Amen.
God of peace and love, you bring to us this day and all the days of our lives surprises that call us to be a part of your divine plan. May we, like Mary, have the courage to say “let it be”. Our lives and other’s lives will be made better just by our having the courage to say yes. We also ask you to be with those who could not be with us today due to illness, vacations, or incarceration. We ask for travel mercies for Grant, Ed, and Robert. Thank you God for Sunshine Cathedral saying yes to answering your call for a mission group to be formed in Jamaica. May it continue to grow strong in sharing your peace and unconditional love. Continue to bless us God as together we affirm our love for you:
We are an important part of your plan. We say yes to your call for us.
We are not failures. We are your important miracles
We say yes to the one who loves us best.
And so it is. Amen.
