[Propertalk] 2 Christmas

[robertpmorrison at charter.net]

The Episcopal Church adjusts the Gospel readings from RCL's choices on 1 
and 2 Christmas. This year there are three options for 2 Christmas, and 
I've expanded the first choice - the warning about not sticking around 
Bethlehem, the slaughter of the innocents (which I added in to TEC's 
selection) and the trip to Egypt and back.

Based on that, I wrote this on Sunday evening and will spend the rest of 
the week looking it over and editing.

Happy New Year!

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY  	                THE SECOND 
SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
JEREMIAH 31:7-14	                          		    	    	 
2nd JANUARY, 2011
EPHESIANS 1:3-6, 15-19a		                              			PSALM 84
MATTHEW 2:13-23			  	

	THIS is what Advent is about. THIS is why we – and millions upon 
millions – have been waiting. THIS is what Life is all about – our lives 
as followers of the Son of God – our lives as the brothers and sisters 
of everyone in creation.

	Many families still have guests in their spare rooms. The tables in the 
dining rooms are still extended, almost to capacity, stretching out 
towards the horizon, in contrast to the normal “Mom ‘n’ Pop” size at 
which one can pass the salt and pepper to the other without having to 
call the butler to take it down the length of the table.

	It CAN be exciting to see how many people one can cram into a room. We 
like things large. Especially at Christmas it makes us feel good. I 
remember a scene in the movie “Dave”, about a look-alike being pressed 
into impersonating the President of the U.S. Out at some factory, Dave 
slips his arms into a machine that extends his reach and power, and he 
says, to everyone’s delight, as he stretched the mechanical device to 
its limits, “I once caught a fish ‘this big’”. We DO like to do things 
on a grand scale, don’t we?

However, this is not just a matter of safety in numbers, although that’s 
not altogether a bad thing. It’s simply reassuring to have a lot of 
friends, to know that one can call on any number of people for support 
and encouragement – even for a couple of dollars, if things get out of 
hand.

Maybe it’s because of this understanding of scale, however, that I was 
really surprised when I toured the White House a couple of years ago – 
no, I didn’t stay in the Lincoln Bedroom! – and saw how relatively small 
the State Dining Room is. I thought it would be enormous. Yet the party 
planners manage to get the Heads of State and their spouses and 
entourages, plus the A-list Washingtonians all seated.

Yes, it’s GOOD to know that we all have a home. It’s GREAT to know that 
we all have family and friends. It’s WONDERFUL if we celebrate Christmas 
as a season for twelve full days, and then carry the spirit and 
atmosphere out through the rest of the year.

But just what IS the Spirit of Christmas? Well, for Jesus, Mary and 
Joseph, it meant travelling light and not being able to settle down for 
long in one place. Political wrath, power struggling, control issues – 
they all converged in Herod and contrived to force Jesus’ parents to get 
Him out of harm’s way as quickly as possible. I’d have done the same, I 
hope, if any of my daughters had been threatened. Whatever it takes – 
I’ll do it, as long as the child is guarded and nurtured.

And there, I feel, is the true Spirit of Christmas – the Spirit that 
came, once again, in a dream to advise and to protect. So off to foreign 
territory and strange people went the Holy Family, God’s chosen from the 
Chosen, until they could be sure that nothing would threaten or disturb 
them.

Of course, shelter is only temporary. There’s always SOMEthing to bother 
any family, Holy or not.

The pattern is set down, then – borrowed homes; neighbours with strange 
accents and customs; long, dusty marches with limited travel help; not 
even a clear picture of where and for how long folk may be staying.

Take a look around and you’ll see the same today. I’d bet that if you 
looked up Google Maps, centred this building in the screen and drew a 
circle with a radius of between a half mile and a mile, you’d find folk 
who were pretty close to the situation of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Maybe THAT’S why Fish is just a stone’s throw south of us, and three 
other Churches lie within the circle radius. Maybe that’s why WE’RE 
here.

Nothing against Queen and Takena, but has it ever struck you that maybe 
God wanted to nudge us a couple of miles down the Avenue, to make THIS 
building our home? But surely that could have been accomplished without 
all the arguing, and name-calling, and stress, and frustration, and pain 
that happened. A simple post card would have done it. But then, we don’t 
often treat post cards with respect these days. Facebook and Twitter 
have so much more class and immediacy.

Is God on Facebook? DOES God Tweet?

It would be a heck of a lot more convenient if we could sit in our pjs, 
in front of the fire, and get a word from the Almighty sandwiched in 
between today’s ball games and the latest gossip circulating about City 
Hall, while we scan our computer and i-Phone screens. And, believe it or 
not, it DOES happen that way sometimes.

But today, God’s dropped by here this morning to speak through the 
ancient texts we read, and to say, as Monty Python did, “And now for 
something completely different”. Trouble is, it’s HARD to tell the 
difference between God and Monty Python, sometimes. So we have to 
evaluate. We have to think. We have to listen. Then we have to choose 
whether or not to act, and how to do it.

I’m glad I wasn’t here in Albany back in the days when this congregation 
toured from building to building, even into different towns, before 
settling here. Then to have the water pipes burst and flood late last 
December and early January – that must have made you all feel REALLY 
happy! Then I came! It’s a wonder there’s anybody left!!

But you’re all here. There are others, out of town, or otherwise busy 
this morning, who’re part of our worshipping family. Somehow not only 
have you stayed together through the moves, and the struggles, but we’ve 
grown, we’re nurturing one another. Despite the strain we’ve 
experienced, we laugh a lot. AND we’re there for one another.

There’s the old joke about Mary and Joseph, and how short-tempered they 
were with one another on the way to Bethlehem, how Mary rode Joseph’s 
ass the whole trip. Then she probably did the same all the way into 
Egypt.

But the point is, despite the horrendous hardship, the tiredness, the 
fear for the future of the infant Jesus, despite all the uncertainty of 
keeping one step ahead of the law, and of finding someplace to stay – 
despite everything that could have raised everyone’s irritability levels 
to an undreamed-of peak, that Holy Family kept on, and kept together; 
and, wonder of wonders, through God’s incredible grace, people responded 
to them all along the way – giving them an animal shelter, a room, 
probably more than a few jobs for Joseph so he could pay their way as 
they moved.

How often have I heard that expressed in this building. “I’ll work, I’ll 
do anything, I just need to find shelter for the night before I move on, 
or get into my apartment,” or whatever it is.

I have to think carefully – both on those occasions and right now – how 
did and do I respond? Some have wondered about leaving the back door 
unlocked when I’m in the building. Yes, it DOES mean that anyone can 
come in. But THAT’S the point, isn’t it? THAT may be why God nudged us 
down Queen Avenue!

It’s not supposed to be about safety. If it was about safety, Jesus may 
not have been born – to Mary, at any rate. She and Joseph might have 
defied the government regulations on several scores. They may never have 
returned from Egypt – the Bible doesn’t use the word “fleshpots” just 
for fun! But Jesus, Mary and Joseph didn’t put personal safety first. 
They went with that part within them that responded to God’s guidance 
and requests.

And what I like to think about, from time to time, is the way in which 
all sorts of folk responded, as agents of God, to open their doors to 
them, no matter what the risk.

	A couple of sentences show just what God may get us into. The Los 
Angeles Times reported about the Afghan Mission of the International Red 
Cross, speaking about the increased civilian casualties in that country, 
as ordinary people, many simple farmers, are caught between the Afghan 
government, international forces, and insurgent groups. A direct quote 
out of that country is, “Out in the rural villages in conflict-afflicted 
areas, there might be an armed group visiting a family in the evening 
asking to be sheltered or asking to receive food. The very next morning 
another group might come challenging the very family asking why the 
enemy has been sheltered.” 1

The danger isn’t confined simply to the Holy Family. The danger might be 
described as a contaminant – it affects everyone who comes into contact 
with Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It’s possible that turning that Holy Trio 
away from a front door wouldn’t keep safe those inside either. Someone 
down the street might have seen the strangers stop to talk with the 
inhabitants, and turned them in to Herod, or whoever else might offer a 
few coins to an informant.

So what ARE we to do? – because this IS what Advent was and remains all 
about. This is what the fuss was about – putting all those symbols of 
Jesus’ ancestry and heritage on that barren tree.

All that we CAN do is to live in faith. All that we CAN do is to live in 
hope. All that we CAN do is to live in love – as Christ loved us, and 
gave Himself for us – continually – an offering and sacrifice to God – 
AND for and to us.

We can’t be faulted for picturing the last week of Jesus’ earthly life 
when we think about sacrifice. But all those different homes; all those 
dusty journeys; all those strange, unsettling hostesses and hosts – NOT 
having anyplace to call “home” – THAT’S a sacrifice too. And Jesus, Mary 
and Joseph made it – again and again.

THAT’S what Advent is about. THAT’S why we celebrate Christmas for so 
long – so that, when Epiphany comes, with its message of God’s 
incredible inclusivity, we’re beginning to get the idea that moving, 
that doing things differently, that changing – even allowing other 
people to sit in our pew – these are O.K.; as are leaving doors 
unlocked; and helping folk find shelter; and sharing what’s on the 
refreshment table after liturgical worship. We ALL have a chance to 
entertain family and stranger again and again.

The scary thing is, it’s NOT always easy to tell who the Herods are out 
there, waiting to kill a project, to cut short a life, to deprive an 
individual or a community of whatever gives them a spark of dignity, and 
of self-worth, and of hope.

But then, it’s NOT always easy to tell who God is out there either.

There IS good news, though. While all this is going on, God calls people 
to open their doors – to us and to any who need shelter, and a hug, and 
a shoulder on which to cry in frustration – and maybe a phone and an 
address at which a job offer may bring transformation into hope and 
dignity.

But that’s another sermon.

NOTES:

1 	"Out in the rural villages in conflict-afflicted areas, there might 
be an armed group visiting a family in the evening asking to be 
sheltered or asking to receive food. The very next morning another group 
might come challenging the very family asking why the enemy has been 
sheltered."
	Reto Stocke, head of the Afghan mission of the International Committee 
of the Red Cross, speaking of increased civilian casualties in 
Afghanistan as ordinary people, many simple farmers, are caught between 
the Afghan government, international forces, and insurgent groups. (Los 
Angeles Times)
Via	Sojourners 16th December, 2010	sojourners at sojo.net


Robert P Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban
PO Box 1556
Albany OR  97321   541-921-1076 (cell)
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