Recognizing God at the Door An Advent Sermon (Luke 1:39-45) December 8, 2013 First Church of Christ

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Cornelius Banks
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1 Recognizing God at the Door An Advent Sermon (Luke 1:39-45) December 8, 2013 First Church of Christ I remember the first time I felt a baby move inside me - I had to put a hand out to steady myself. It was like the sparkling of carbonation bubbles only with more purpose, a current pushing in water. The quickening, they call it the first time you feel life move within you. It took my breath away the first time I recognized that a hand had pressed against me from the inside out. Eventually I could recognize the feel of an elbow, a foot, a knee, a shoulder and as my time got nearer, I d get a whack if I did something the baby didn t like. I ll never forget the feeling of an infant inside me with the hiccups...anyone who s lived with a pregnant woman knows about this who here has seen or felt a baby move in their partner or Mom s belly? One of the most remarkable things I remember is the way the baby would stir and turn if my husband came near and said something to me; my second child would get active when he heard his big brother s voice come near. This didn t happen for every voice, it happened for the voice of one the baby knew well someone he heard all the time. It was just hours after Conor was born, that 3-year old Morgan ran in to meet his brother and called his name, and Conor turned at the sound of Morgan s voice a voice he d known his whole small life.

2 So the thought of John leaping in Elizabeth s womb when Mary came to the door tells me something very, very real a baby would only leap like that for someone he knew intimately and it really is no surprise to me that a baby prophet like John would recognize the one who made him: the presence of Emmanuel, God-with- Us. The further we get away from our own childhood the harder it is to remember. Older kids are less in touch with this knowing, teenagers much less so and by the time you are a grownup it s a distant memory. I think children are much more in touch with where they came from before birth they still believe in things you can t see or prove; magic is still possible! They trust easily and completely, and they look at us with eyes that see only the best in us. They are more connected to their bodies, their instincts, than adults are, and there is a peace, a calm about them so many of us lose as we grow. They haven t yet been hurt by the world, as we have. Younger people remind us of what s really important in life: the capacity for deep rest, (even a thunder clap can t wake many of you when you re sleeping!) unending curiosity, excitement about learning something new, the joy of being tickled and helpless infectious giggles, the sparkle of naughty fun and the need for frequent hugs. Children know many important things we forget later in life.

3 What did the infant John know when Mary came to the door? What was it that he recognized in her? Can this moment in time for the infant John teach us something about recognizing God that we also knew in the womb, that we, ourselves, have forgotten? As Dr. Jay did last week, I d like to turn to Jesus himself for clues about how we might recognize him. The first is this: (a reader stands up) Luke 4:16-21 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favour. And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. In the past, when I listened to this text, I heard Jesus identifying himself as the one anointed by God to be the messenger of the good news. But this week when I read this, I heard something more Jesus says, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your

4 hearing - this scripture is not just about an anointed person, but about how earth will be transformed when the Realm of God has come. Jesus is saying, the New Jerusalem is here, today. For the gospel writer, Luke, then, Jesus is the New Jerusalem, in which all wars and suffering cease, in which peace and love reigns forever, in which the people of God are delivered. And here it is again a little later in Luke word of Jesus ministry has been coming back to the adult John the Baptist at the Jordan River. Finally, John sends some of his followers to check it out. (A second reader stands up and reads:) ( (Luke 7:20-23) When the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind. And he answered them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me. To me this really illustrates the point I made earlier, that children know so many things we forget as adults for here is the same John who, while in the womb, knew Jesus in Mary, recognized the presence of God in him at the door, and yet as an adult was asking, Are you the one who is to come? And Jesus answers him

5 by describing the realm of God come to earth as in Isaiah s prediction, the new Jerusalem shining like a jewel in the sun. How can we wrap our heads around that? How can you understand with your mind what is a 3-dimensional, transformed universe? Well the answer is, you can t. As every infant knows, you have to understand with your being, the place that perceives without words or thought, the place that knows. So how can we get back to this place of knowing? Take a moment with me, if you will, and I ask you to put your hands on your body, perhaps one over your heart and one on your stomach and let s take a moment to simply breathe into our bodies in silence. Can we become so still, so deeply tuned in that we can feel our lungs filling with breath, notice the beating of our hearts? Kids, can you fill up your belly into your hand like a balloon? Feel the balloon rise and fall as you breathe? (silence) While you are here in this place, with a little less thought and a little more intuition, hear this scripture one more time, and see what you may know about recognizing the one who made you? (Play The Spirit of the Lord )

6 I invite you to open your eyes if they have been closed This is ancient wisdom that people in all the major faith traditions know Jews, Muslims, Hindi, Buddhist. Christians and others all have contemplative practices for bringing us back to our whole selves, the place of knowing. When we are in this place, even if we can t think how to bring about world peace, we can feel it we can know it and it is out of this knowing that we can live it. When Jesus proclaimed that he brought in him, with him the New Jerusalem - deliverance for all God s people he meant exactly this. It is in and among us, in our small gatherings of family and community it is here (point to self and to them) now that God s realm lives and it comes when we live it. So every time we work to get back to this place inside us that knows and recognizes the presence of God-with-us Emmanuel, it is amazing what miracles begin to happen. You ll see how those who usually turn a blind eye on other s suffering, suddenly now begin to see; and those who normally turn a deaf ear to what is right, stop and listen; and those whose lives are locked in the prisons of fear and hate find their cell door is already opened. God-with-us, Emmanuel, the New Jerusalem, is here.

Luke 2:41-52 Blue Bible pg 1091

Luke 2:41-52 Blue Bible pg 1091 Jesus First Words (Luke 2:49) Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father s business? God the Father s business is about Saving Sinners