Freedom and the Prisons We Carry With Us

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
February 21, 2021
5 Epiphany, B
Genesis 9:8-17
1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:9-15

Freedom and the Prisons We Carry With Us

So last year, during Lent in the middle of early pandemic lockdown, someone wrote, “This is the lentiest Lent I have ever lented.”  I think we might could say “ditto” at this point.  In all sincerity, we’re still in a pandemic, and we’ve just been through a winter storm that has left us without power, without water, with broken pipes, and during which some have died in their homes from hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning.

There’s a lot of work to be done to fix broken pipes and homes, and there’s work to be done with continued pandemic response, distancing, juggling school and work, juggling work and safety.  With everything going on, now we have the season of Lent?

You bet we do.  The problem with calling this “the lentiest Lent I have ever lented,” is that, while funny, it kinda misses the point of Lent and mischaracterizes Lent as a season of hum drum darkness and sadness.

Lent is a season of joy.  Joy is often thought of as happiness or merriment, a temporary reprieve from the challenges of life, and while there is joy in happiness and merriment, joy is more than that. Joy is also being set free from that which binds us.  Joy is being released from prison, and joy is the work that accompanies that freedom and release.  Joy is gratitude for that freedom, and joy is walking through the challenging times and the happy times with that freedom, freedom from whatever bind us, freedom from whatever prisons we find ourselves in. 

So Lent is a season joy because Lent is a season of repentance, a season of work, and here’s the work:  to accept the freedom Jesus proclaims and to let Jesus release us from prison.  In that freedom and release is the joy of Lent.

Peter said that “[Jesus] was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison…”  What did Jesus say?  What proclamation did he give?  I suppose we don’t exactly know what Jesus said to those spirits in prison, but my assumption is this, that Jesus’ proclamation to those spirits in prison was was the same as his proclamation to the people on Earth:  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”  To those who had died, Jesus proclamation was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Be released from your prison, even you who have died.  That, my friends, is joy.

So Lent is a season of joy.  Lent is a time to repent and believe in the good news.  Lent is a time to listen for Jesus’ proclamation coming to us in whatever prison we are in, and to let Jesus release us from that prison.  

Perhaps some of us have given something up for Lent, a 40 day fast from something in our lives which we enjoy.  What we’re doing there is creating a tiny sorrow, a tiny longing, a tiny prison from which we want release.  We then seek Jesus’ help in this to overcome that longing.  We seek Jesus help to release us in this tiny way so we keep developing our trust and reliance on Jesus.  Giving something up for Lent is one way to practice the joy of accepting Jesus’ freedom, of accepting Jesus’ release.  

Lent is spring training for the upcoming regular season which happens…every day of our lives, ok, so bad analogy.

Another way to live Jesus’ freedom every day is to serve others.  Doing so takes us out of ourselves and our own needs, our own longings and prisons.  In serving others, we often find our problems diminished, that we are doing far better that a we thought we were.  Serving others as we turn to Jesus for guidance and strength helps to release us and give us new freedom.  

So as we have this season of joy to seek further release from our various prisons, in
what prison do you find yourself?  Fear?  Anger?  Scarcity?  Jealousy?  Feelings of discontent and raging against aspect of society that you just can’t abide?  All of these and more are the prisons we find ourselves in, and with Jesus’ help, we can be freed from all of them.  Turning to Jesus every morning in prayer, specifically asking Jesus to free us from our particular prisons.  Spending time each day in meditation to calm our minds and bodies and to give those things which imprison us over to God.  Spending time talking with others, trusted friends or small groups within our church about our prisons and the release we need and the release we have experienced.  Spending time each day with scripture, trusting and getting to know Jesus ever more fully as the one who frees us from our prisons, the one who proclaimed that the kingdom of God has come near.

Remember then also that Jesus’ message of freedom and release from prison is not only an individual message.

In what prisons do we find ourselves in our society?  Prisons of injustice, the wealthy and seemingly important given passes for crimes while many of the poor and marginalized are given heavy sentences.  Prisons of poverty which trap people who work full time for low wages in order to live in poverty.  Prisons of political discourse so  heated and polemical that people are losing their minds.  People are becoming so enraged with political discourse that they will fight, with words, with fists, with guns, even to the death in order to stop those on the other side of the political discourse.  

We have prisons of isolation, prisons in which whole communities don’t know one another, don’t care for one another, and don’t particularly want to…not out of malice, just out of fatigue and fear.  We have prisons of greed, people with so much more than they could ever need finding that it still isn’t enough to sate their desire for more, or that it still isn’t enough to calm their fears of not having enough.

We have prisons of racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and discrimination.  All of these prisons and more, we have in our society, and these are all prisons which we can work with Jesus to dismantle and set ourselves and our society free.  

We can advocate with our lawmakers for greater justice in sentencing.  We can advocate for better wages for essential workers and spend our money at organizations where we know they are paying their workers well.  We can disengage from angry political discourse and seek more civil discourse.  We can get to know our neighbors and check on them during times of winter storms and freezing pipes…many of us were doing just that last week.  We can work with organizations which strive against racism, discrimination, poverty, and injustice.  

Doing any of that work will bring us into a holy Lent and help to free us from our own prisons, as well as to help free society from it’s prisons.  Such is the joy of Lent.  Such is the joy of Jesus who came to free people from their prisons, to free societies from their prisons, to free the world from it’s prison.  Such is the joy of Jesus who came proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 

If It Is of Healing, It Is of Jesus

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
February 7, 2021
5 Epiphany, B
Isaiah 40:21-31
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

If It Is of Healing, It Is of Jesus

Have you ever met people who were basically kinda miserable, at least they seemed miserable.  Overall fairly depressed, kind of a chip on their shoulder, a bit of a me against the world kind of an outlook.  Then you hear them say something to the effect that they have been saved by Jesus, that unlike most people, they won’t be going to hell.  Thanks to Jesus, they get to go to heaven after they die.  Praise Jesus, they’ve been saved.

Ok, but what about this life?  This is the only life we know, and God thought this life was important enough to become a human with us and live a human life here on Earth as Jesus, the carpenter-preacher-healer guy from Nazareth.  See, my question for the seemingly miserable folks who say, “Praise Jesus I’ve been saved,” is not, have such people been saved from a dubious notion of hell?  My question is, have such people been saved from misery in this life?  Have such people been healed?  My notion is that theologies which say believing in Jesus means not going to hell when you die have not really saved anyone, nor have they healed anyone; such theologies have, instead, harmed people.

Did Jesus run around saying, “All of you people are going to hell after you die, but if you believe in me, then I’ll give you a get out of hell free card!”  No.  Jesus healed people.  Jesus proclaimed the good news that God’s kingdom had come near, and he healed people and offered them good news of God’s kingdom here in this world and this life.

How important is this life to Jesus that when he lived this life with us, he healed peoples’ bodies, had dinner parties with folks, and taught about God’s Kingdom here on earth?  Our bodies and our lives are sacred, created in God’s own image, as God’s own children, and so Jesus took great care with our bodies and our lives, offering physical and spiritual healing to those he encountered.

Now, I should point out that not all who sought healing from Jesus were healed.  Some didn’t want the healing he offered. There was the man who wanted to inherit the Kingdom of God, but he wanted all of his stuff more.  He loved his things which couldn’t love him back, and he seemed to love a notion of the Kingdom of God, but not one in which people mattered more than things.  

Some want the kingdom in this life, but they are not willing to give up their way and follow Jesus’ way.  Holding onto their anger and resentment, staying justified in their hurt, and looking forward primarily to life after death, they end up not really healed.  There are folks, like people I described in the beginning of this sermon, who believe they’ve been saved by Jesus, but the Jesus and the gospel they heard was a perversion and a heresy of the Gospel of Jesus.

Think of it as having cake which is this life here on Earth.  Then we’ve got life lived according to the ways of God, loving one another, healing each other, a life with an abiding awareness and love of God and people.  Well, that’s icing on top of the cake.  Then, we’ve got the promise through Jesus’ resurrection of life continuing on after death, a life lived fully in the presence of God and all of humanity together.  Well, that’s ice cream on top of the icing on the cake.  We’ve got a lot of theologies, however, which throw out the cake and the icing entirely, so we’re left with only the ice cream, and then we find out that we’re lactose intolerant.  

Let’s look forward to the ice cream, to life continuing on after death, but let’s save it till the next life, when the lactose thing will no longer be a problem.  We look forward to the ice cream, but for now, in this life, we enjoy the cake and the icing (gluten free if you need it, nothing like taking an analogy too far).  We enjoy the cake and the icing in this life.  We enjoy life and life with God, loving people  and loving God.  We enjoy the healing of Jesus.  We enjoy the healing of Jesus’ way.  We enjoy the healing of Jesus’ Kingdom:  loving, forgiving, and seeking to heal one another.

As we saw in our Gospel today, if it is of healing, it is of Jesus.  For some, the belief in Jesus and following his ways is enough.  They are healed through that.  For some, debilitating depression plagues them, and belief and practice work to a point, but they still need medicine to carry on.  Well, that medicine sounds like healing, so it sounds like Jesus.  

For some, healing means physical healing from disease.  For some, healing means peace in accepting disease and death, being grateful for the life they had and looking forward with joy to the continued life to come after death.  Both of those sound like healing, so both of those sound like Jesus.

For some, healing means an end to economic insecurity.  Healing means an end to constantly worrying about being evicted, to constantly not having enough food, to never being able to pay medical bills.  For some, healing is an individual or small group affair.  For some, true healing comes from societies and nations changing their ways so that whole groups of people are no longer oppressed, sidelined, or told, “Work harder, get more, and then you will matter.  Work harder, get more, and then you can be healed.”

That wasn’t the way of Jesus; “Work harder, get more, and then you can be healed.”  That’s heresy.  The Rev. Dr. William Barber talked about this heresy when he talked about the term “evangelical” being misapplied by many.  He said in an interview on the New Yorker Radio Hour with David Remnick, 

The term [evangelical] was hijacked, because in the Bible, theologically, there is no such thing as an evangelical that does not begin with a critique of systems of economic injustice.  When Jesus, the ultimate evangelical, that brown-skinned Palestinian Jew, that was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, the ghetto; his first sermon said, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news (evangel) to the poor.’  If your attention is not on dealing with the issues that hurt the poor, the brokenhearted, the sick, the left out, the least of these, the stranger, and all of those who are made to feel unacceptable, you don’t have…evangelicalism, you have heresy…You have theological malpractice.  It doesn’t fit orthodox Christianity.”

Our faith in God, our life with God was embodied in Jesus, and any faith or belief in Jesus that does not deeply and richly involve our bodies in this life is a heretical faith and belief in Jesus.  

After healing people all night, Jesus got up early the next morning to go pray, and when his disciples found him, he said, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”  The message he proclaimed in their synagogues included healing people and casting out demons.

If we want to evangelize, if we want to proclaim our faith, then our ministry will include and even be defined by a ministry of healing.  Jesus’ ministry is a ministry of physical healing.  Jesus’ ministry is societal healing.  Jesus’ ministry is working for justice.  Jesus’ ministry is “dealing with the issues that hurt the poor, the brokenhearted, the sick, the left out, the least of these, the stranger, and all of those who are made to feel unacceptable,” for if it is of healing, it is of Jesus. 

"See The Light. Be The Light"

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

January 24, 2021

3 Epiphany, B

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Mark 1:14-20

“See the Light.  Be the Light.”

Sometimes we hear words which forever change us.  Sometimes these words are very personal, words such as, “I love you,” “I forgive you,” or “I’m pregnant.”  Sometimes the words have a more universal scope, words such as, “I have a dream,” “Be the change you want to see in the world,” or “The only thing evil can’t stand is forgiveness.”  Those words from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mr. Rogers have had life and impact far beyond their utterance.  Those words have worked forever to change people’s lives.  Those words are utterances of the Kingdom of God.

Words of God’s kingdom bring light and life, and they keep on giving that light and life long after they are spoken.  “‘Let there be light,’ God said, and there was light.”  The action of those first words which God spoke into the universe have continued on from their initial utterance, through today, and on into eternity.  God’s words come into the world and spur our action.  

When Jesus approached some fishermen busy plying their trade, he said to them “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Those words forever changed the world.  They brought life and light, and they spurred those fishermen to action.

For Jesus’ disciples, his words were like Martin Luther King’s words were for us.  “I have a dream,” he said, “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  Powerful words of God’s kingdom that spurred the listeners into action, to make that vision a reality.  

“Be the change you want to see in the world,” Gandhi said.  Believe in God’s kingdom all around you, a kingdom of love, light, and forgiveness, and then be that kingdom.  

Rosa Parks didn’t want to live in a world of segregation, so she lived as though there was no segregation, simply saying, “no,” when she was told to give up her seat on a bus so a white person could sit there instead.  Living out God’s kingdom in places where God’s kingdom is not being lived out by so many is a bold and often scary thing to do.  Truly believing in Gods’ kingdom of love, light, and forgiveness, we find that fear overcome by God’s spirit.  “I have learned over the years,” Mrs. Parks said, “that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

Even something as simple as forgiving someone can be a fearful prospect.  What if they don’t deserve it?  What if they haven’t asked for it?  What if we’re still really angry and just don’t want to forgive them.  In Jesus’ vision of God’s kingdom, we learn to forgive in spite of all of our internal objections, releasing our anger and resentment so that we can be free of it, and the other can be free of it as well.  Forgiveness frees us of the darkness and poison inside of us and keeps that poison from becoming venom which attacks others.  As Mr. Rogers said, “The only thing evil can’t stand is forgiveness.”  

“I have a dream.”  “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  “Knowing what must be done does away with fear.”  “The only thing evil can’t stand is forgiveness.”  Words spur listeners to action and invite them into a new life.  

Jesus was inviting his soon to be disciples into a new life, even before he said, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people,”  “The kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news,” was an invitation into a new life.  Believe that the kingdom of God has come near.  Believe that God is everywhere around you, among you, and within you.  Believe that all is God’s kingdom, that God’s kingdom is here, now.  Believe in that good news, then let that belief be real enough to change your life.

Believe in God’s kingdom and see God’s kingdom all around you, and it will change your life.  As poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God,

But only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

Jesus’ words were a call to see the holy ground all around, to see every common bush afire with heaven.  Jesus’ words were a call to see every person around as a beloved child of God.  Sinners, saints, outcasts, and rulers, all beloved children of God.  Those who were willing to see had their lives changed by Jesus’ invitation to live God’s kingdom, already present, into existence.  

I caught the end of Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem, and I was struck by the invitation she gave.  It was for me an invitation to live God’s kingdom.  She said:

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it

If only we're brave enough to be it

Powerful words of hope and good news.  See the light.  Be the light.  It is near.  Now make it so.  Jesus’ words were powerful words that the kingdom of God has come near.  Then he and his friends made it so.  Jesus’ words of hope and good news are here for us too, to hear, believe, and to let that belief be real enough to change our lives.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;” 

“if only we're brave enough to see it

If only we're brave enough to be it.”

So, That Was Tuesday...

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

January 3, 2021

2 Christmas, B

Jeremiah 31:7-14 

Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a

Matthew 2:1-15, 19-23

So, That was Tuesday…

A couple thousand years ago, Jesus was born.  The Creator of the Universe became a human being in human flesh and walked among us, and most people had no idea.  In Australia, some guys were sitting around a campfire playing didgeridoo.  Here in not yet Texas, Native American tribes were bedding down for the night.  For most people around the world, Jesus’ birth was just a regular Tuesday or whatever day it was, meaning that the world kept on turning much as it had for a billion years before.  

I’m reminded of a Coldplay song called, “Til Kingdom Come.”  

And the wheels just keep on turning

The drummer begins to drum

I don't know which way I'm going

I don't know which way I've come

For you I'd wait 'til kingdom come

Until my day, my day is done

And say, you'll come and set me free

Just say, you'll wait, you'll wait for me

Since Jesus’ birth, the world keeps on turning, and God continues to be with us.  We often feel like we are waiting for peace on Earth, and we may get discouraged in that waiting.  Yet for that beautiful promise, we will wait till kingdom come.  God also waits for us to live out the peace we want, knowing full well that we often won’t, and yet, in the midst of that waiting, God is with us.

Now for Mary and Joseph Jesus’ birth was the end of waiting,  a fantastic event.  God had became human and was born with angel choirs singing to shepherds, who then saw Jesus and proclaimed God’s greatness; God’s prophecy to Mary was fulfilled as hope, light, and life came into the world.  So that was Tuesday, or whatever day it was, and then Wednesday came around with an exhausted Mary and Joseph waking up early to an infant crying for milk, with swaddling cloths decidedly wetter and dirtier than they had been hours before.  

Fast forward a couple thousand years, and Jesus’ birth isn’t just some other day which goes unnoticed by almost everyone on earth.  Today, Jesus’ birth is celebrated all over the world, in Israel, in Australia, in Texas.  In every corner of the Earth, people celebrate and give thanks for Jesus’ birth, for God among us, and still, the world keeps on turning.  

Jesus’ coming was supposed to be this world altering event.  The coming of messiah was said to be the inauguration of a new world of peace on Earth.  We know now that peace on Earth and an end of all strife wasn’t actually going to happen with Messiah’s birth.  

The world altering event of Jesus’ birth went on with normal life for everyone.  The daily grind, the joys of life, the struggles of life, all of that has continued on ever since Jesus’ birth.  Sadly, tragedy had continued on as well.  Even this past Christmas day, in Tennessee, a man packed his RV with explosives and became a suicide bomber, luckily killing only himself.  Killing, strife, and those with power wielding their power cruelly has continued on ever since Jesus’ birth.  

King Herod was a prime example of this.  When the Magi first came to Herod, he asked them when they had first seen the star guiding them to Jesus and based on that date, he had boys two years old and younger killed in his efforts to kill Jesus who was probably about 18 months old at that point.  That’s why the angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt.  Killing, strife, those with power wielding their power cruelly.  As we know all too well, all of those things and more have continued on ever since Jesus’ birth, human pride, greed, and brokenness have continued on even with God among us.  

Of course, that’s kind of the point of Jesus’ birth, isn’t it?  In the midst of killing, strife, and the powerful wielding their power cruelly, God is among us.  God is among us not because we’re perfect or because we’ve made life into a perfect world.  In the midst of human pride, greed, and brokenness, God is among us precisely because there isn’t peace on Earth.  God is among us precisely because we aren’t perfect and we do keep messing up.  God came among us to set us free from that over and over again.

We lose our way.  We forget the beauty of light and life all around us.  Sometimes we become so enshrouded in darkness, and our brains, our minds, and souls become so broken by darkness that we do terrible things like filling an RV with explosives and blowing ourselves up.  We lose our way and we bring about strife on Earth rather than peace on Earth.  

Even in lesser ways than suicide bombing, we lose our way and live into darkness. We get so caught up with deadlines, with worries about the future, with things not being the way they are supposed to be, that we lash out.  We try to force our way rather than follow in God’s way.  We lose sight of the beauty of God among us because after all, that was Tuesday, and Wednesday comes with a whole new set of problems, and so God keeps on giving little epiphanies, little revealings of God’s presence and way among us, to show us the light and set us free from the darkness.  

Even for Mary and Joseph, that next day after Jesus’ birth led to a whole succession of next days, and in all likelihood, they lost sight of the glory of Jesus’ birth.  From diapers, and drooling, and little sleep to chasing after a toddler, climbing on furniture and breaking things, Mary and Joseph began raising a little boy.  Again, Jesus was probably around 18 month old when the Magi came to him.  Mary and Joseph had been raising a toddler for over a year since choirs of angels sang, so they may well have lost sight of the glory of Jesus’ birth.  Once again, even Mary and Joseph may have needed to be set free.

The coming of the Magi was a new epiphany, a new revealing of God among us to the Magi, and through them to people beyond Israel.  The coming of the Magi was also, in all likelihood, a renewed epiphany, a renewed revealing of God among us to Mary and Joseph.  In the midst of raising a toddler, a caravan of strangers came.  They had treasure chests with them, which makes this seem like they were a caravan of Magi traveling together, and when they saw Jesus, they said they had been guided by a star, by some miracle of God, and they followed the star because they wanted to pay homage to and worship Mary and Joseph’s little boy named Jesus.  Then, they opened up their chests and rooted through them, and gave Jesus some of their best loot.  

How random is that?  Here Mary and Joseph are, a year and a half after shepherds and angel choirs, and a caravan of weird Magi show up at their door like some Amazon delivery guy with a package they didn’t order.  I think Mary and Joseph needed that epiphany just as much as the Magi did, just as much as we do.  In the midst of all of the days after the glory of Jesus’ birth, God came among them again to set them free.

A couple thousand years ago, Jesus was born to set us free.  The Creator of the Universe became a human being in human flesh and walked among us.  Even with that great coming of Jesus, the light of God living with us in the world, we still lose our way and get trapped by the darkness, and so into that darkness, God continues to give little epiphanies, to show us the light once again and to set us free. 

And the wheels just keep on turning

The drummer begins to drum

I don't know which way I'm going

I don't know which way I've come

For you I'd wait 'til kingdom come

Until my day, my day is done

And say, you'll come and set me free

Just say, you'll wait, you'll wait for me

“I love this plan; I’m excited to be a part of it!” - Mary, Teenager, Mother of God

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
December 20, 2020
4 Advent, B
Canticle 15 (Luke 1:46-55)
Luke 1:26-38

“I love this plan; I’m excited to be a part of it!” - Mary, Teenager, Mother of God

Christmas Card Design by Parker Fitzgerald

https://www.cleansingfire.org/.../a-contemporary.../

“Do not be afraid,” Gabriel said to Mary.  He said this in response to Mary’s rather non-plussed reaction to his initial salutation, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you,” to which Mary seems to have responded about how you might expect a young teenager to respond.  “Huh.  That’s a rather odd way of greeting me, but ok, let’s see what this guy has to say.”

“Do not be afraid,” Gabriel said to Mary, but Mary doesn’t seem to have been all that afraid.  Maybe she was a particularly brave and trusting young woman.  Maybe she particularly devout in her faith, and she does seem to have been pretty devout.  Maybe it was also a good thing that she was a teenager and still invincible like all teenagers are.  Had she been in her mid 20s, it might have been more of a cautious response.  “Ok, so what’s this gonna mean for me, and how’s this all gonna go?

“Well kiddo,” Gabriel would’ve responded, “not long from now, your ankles will swell, you’re gonna have a hard time sleeping and getting comfortable in general, you’re going to be in a lot of pain during the birth, and you’ll pee just a little bit every time you cough for the rest of your life.  Oh, and most of your family will at least initially thing you’ve cheated on Joseph and brought shame upon them, but hey this child is gonna be hugely important, so your parenting of him has to be…not perfect, but at least better than sub par.  So, hey, hey, it’s ok, don’t be afraid.”  

See, Mary didn’t seem to be afraid.  All the reasons why following God’s plan would be rather troublesome for Mary, those things didn’t get in her way.  The plan was pretty much for Joseph and her to get married and have some kids anyway, so Mary seemed rather thrilled at the whole idea.  Once Gabriel left, she sang a song about how great it was not only for her, but for all people, that the Holy Spirit was going to conceive a son in her womb.  Her response to Gabriel was not a timid, “Let it be with me according to your word,” but an enthusiastic, “Oh heck yeah, let it be with me according to your word.  This is fantastic.”  

See, teenager:  idealistic, trusting, ready to take on the world and know that is messed up, beautiful, and worth saving.  Mary understood that she was part of God’s kingdom on Earth.  She was part of God’s story of redemption, part of God’s story of restoration.  She was like Princess Leah in Star Wars, ready to take on the whole Empire, stand up to Darth Vader, and lie to his face because she believed in something greater than herself and saw herself as part of a larger story of justice, of ending oppression, of lifting up the lowly, and casting down the mighty.  

[God] has shown the strength of his arm, (Mary sang). He has scattered the proud in their conceit.  He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.  He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.

All of these things, God has done, Mary sang, in joy and excitement.  She knew, and trusted, and loved the God whom she served, and she couldn’t wait to be a part of God’s story and to see what God had in store for Israel and the world through her and her son.  She didn’t know exactly what was coming, but she knew redemption was coming.  She knew restoration was coming.  She knew wrongs were going to be righted.  She knew that God’s kingdom was coming.

She knew that God’s kingdom is a kingdom of love, a kingdom where God’s power is used to lift up the lowly, to feed the hungry, and to show mercy.  God’s kingdom is a kingdom of love in which our power and our wealth are used not to gain even more power and wealth for ourselves.  In God’s kingdom, our power and our wealth, whatever power and wealth we have, are used to lift up the lowly, to feed the hungry, and to show mercy.  

At Emmanuel, we are using what we have to lift up the lowly, to feed the hungry, and to show mercy.  We are helping to provide food for mothers and their children who are getting on their feet at Gracewood.  We got to help a couple of families this Advent through Angel Tree.  We are helping to provide food and shelter for people experiencing homelessness through Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church.  We’re helping children through our support of MAM’s back to school program.  We’re providing prayers and prayer quilts through the Daughters of the King and our sewing ministry.  We’re helping people recover and rebuild after disasters have destroyed people’s homes.  These are some of the many ways we get to be a part of God’s kingdom through our life at Emmanuel.  

At Emmanuel, in the year of COVID and social distancing, God is also proclaiming the good news of Jesus in twice daily online prayer, in weekly online worship, and in a live Nativity to a neighborhood who just had a new church move in.  In the crazy of the COVID, Emmanuel has chosen not to be afraid, but instead to be like the teenage Mary saying, “Oh heck yeah, let it be with me according to your word.”  

Do not be afraid, God tells us, for fear leads to turning away from God’s kingdom.  Fear keeps us small.  Fear keeps us focused on ourselves.  Fear tells us that we aren’t enough, that we don’t have enough, that we can’t do the right thing, that we won’t be ok. Now, we all have fears, and we all are afraid in various ways.  The key is not to let those fears rule our lives.  

Mary may well have had some fears of losing her family, of losing her husband, but her teenage brain saw the beauty of God’s kingdom, saw the light of God’s presence burning throughout creation and said to her fears, “Nah, it’ll be ok.”  So how do we get past our fears and keep that teenage brain gloriously excited about living God’s kingdom and saying, “Nah, it’ll be ok,” to our fears?

One way is to follow the advice of Jedi Master Yoda, to “Train [ourselves] to let go of everything [we] fear to lose.” Imagine living without those things that we fear to lose, and feel God’s presence with us even in that loss.  Jesus had the same advice for a young man who, like Mary, wanted to live God’s kingdom, but who also many possessions and was afraid to give them up.  “Go and sell all that you have, and then come, and follow me,” Jesus said, and the man walked away sad because he didn’t want to give up what he had.  His stuff, and fear of living without his stuff, kept him from living God’s kingdom.  He could not let go of that which he feared to lose, so he no longer had the teenage brain to see the beauty of God’s kingdom and say to his fears, “Nah, it’ll be ok.”

In this time of Advent, of preparation for Jesus always coming into the world, we are reminded to train ourselves to let go of everything we fear to lose.  We are reminded of Jesus’ teaching to let go of whatever is keeping us small and focused on ourselves.  We get to hear again the Angel Gabriel’s words, “Do not be afraid.”  

Do not be afraid of losing what you have in the service of others.  Do not be afraid of losing what you have in the service of God’s kingdom, for God lifts up the lowly.  Train yourself to let go of everything that keeps you from living God’s kingdom.  Spend time each day in prayer, seeking God’s will and way.  Pray over what you have and what you fear to lose, and pray that all of it may be used for God’s kingdom, whether by you or by someone else.  Talk and pray with others, your family and friends, seeking together how to follow God’s will and way, how to live God’s love, redemption, restoration, justice, and mercy.   

That is the way of God’s kingdom and the way of Mary who knew, and trusted, and loved the God whom she served and couldn’t wait to be a part of God’s story.  She saw the light of God’s fire throughout creation, loved God’s plan and was excited to be a part of it.  

“I love this plan; I’m excited to be a part of it.”  In addition to being a quote from Bill Murray in Ghostbusters, that is the response God is looking for when we catch a glimpse of God’s kingdom and our part to play in it.  Fear schmear.  “How is God calling me to be a part of God’s story of love, redemption, restoration, justice, and mercy?”  What makes my non-fearful Mary-like teenage brain say, “I love this plan; I’m excited to be a part of it,” and “Oh heck yeah, let it be with me according to your word?”