Readings for Advent 3B: Canticle
15 (Lk.1:47-55)
December 15, 2002
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
A few years ago, Cisco (one of the largest Network Hardware Companies in the world) evaluated and ranked its employees every six months. Those who were ranked in the lowest 10% were fired as the company kept its commitment to "clean out the dead wood." These employees were evaluated on the basis of how much they produced, how many hours they were willing to work, and their perceived value to the company. I often wondered what would happen to employees who had previously been dedicated workers but were going through a rough patch in life. Would they also get the ax? What would happen if an employee had worked hard for years and then later on experienced a divorce, or a death in the family, or depression? It is pretty hard to stay on the cutting edge when your emotional life is in turmoil.
I realize that corporations such as Cisco exist to turn a profit and that they want good performance from their employees. On the other hand, it makes me sad that people are judged solely on how much they produce, rather than on their inner qualities. Real jerks are able to rise through the ranks as is evident by some of the leading CEOs in Corporate America who think nothing of engaging in immoral financial practices. This treatment of employees also makes me sad because it sets a dangerous tone and encourages us to believe that we are human doings and not human beings. It is no wonder that people feel shame when companies "down size them" without any warning. This shame indicates that we have bought into the false belief that doing is more important than being. It also indicates that we have replaced God's voice with another voice who commands us to "get off our duff, to do something, to produce something, to perform, and to earn our keep."
It is into this context that we pray today's opening collect and read Canticle 15, also known as The Magnificat. We began this service by praying: "Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us." I hope you are aware of what exactly we asked God for. You see, God has a different value system than Cisco. When we ask God to stir up his power and come among us, it means that things are going to change in a revolutionary, counter-cultural way. It means that the proud, the mighty, and the rich, will be humbled, and the lowly, the hungry, and the faithful will be exalted. In other words, the pyramid will be turned upside down and God will look favorably upon those who have fallen through the cracks. Reading Canticle 15 will give you great insight into God's priorities.
The words of the Magnificat are placed in the mouth of Mary, one of the most despised people in 1st Century Palestine. Mary was a poor, Jewish peasant; a young adolescent female with no worldly power. Because of her humility, her smallness, her simple lifestyle, Mary was able to say "yes" to God. "Here in the little space of Mary's body, divine fullness became alive."
In a world that says "Bigger is Better" and "The More, the Merrier", we begin to realize that only when we are very quiet can we hear the voice of God. God's way with us is not to overwhelm us with majesty but to live in the "little spaces of life" and to speak there, the quiet words that summon us to faith. As Archbishop Williams says: "It may be our wealth and security; it may be our ambition; it may be our images of ourselves as powerful or virtuous or godly. The world and the Church are still fairly full of people like you and me who walk around, surrounded by inflated ideas and pictures of ourselves that crowd out others and push away God. We need at Christmas above all to remember what Christ says again and again- that there is no way in to God's little space without shedding our great load of arrogant self-reliance, bluster, noisy fear, and fantasy."
Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing" (Jn. 15.5). *"Yet we act, for the most part, as though without us, God can do nothing. We think we have to make Christmas come, which is to say we think we have to bring about the redemption of the universe on our own." What would it look like if we really did depend on God to make Christmas happen? What would happen if you left all of the decorations in the attic this year and bought no presents? And instead, go to someone in need and say, "Here, all I have is Christ." We just might find out that Christ is enough.
*"Imagine a Christmas service where the worshippers come in their holiday finery to find a sanctuary empty of all the glittering decorations, silent of holiday carols. What if on Christmas Eve, people came and sat in the dim pews, and someone stood up and said, "Something happened here while we were all out at the malls, while we were baking cookies and fretting about whether we bought our brother-in-law the right gift; Christ was born. God is here." We wouldn't need the glorious choruses or the tree strung with lights. We wouldn't have to deny that painful dissonance between the promise and hope of Christmas and a world wracked with sin and evil. There wouldn't be that embarrassing conflict over the historical truth of the birth stories and whether or not Mary was really a virgin. And no one would have to preach sermons to work up our belief." Instead, a hushed silence would fill the sanctuary and we would kneel together in the stillness of the evening. A peace would settle over us and the love of Christ would enter that small place in our hearts.
There are many things in our lives that occupy our minds. These many things crowd out the voice of God. In my own personal life what crowds out the voice of God is that I worry too much about growing a church in this very secular society that has strong anti-Christian leanings. This worrying saps my joy, and takes up the room that could have been reserved for the peace of Christ.
So, today I have two questions for you. You are invited to come to the microphone to briefly share your authentic input. The two questions are these:
1. What is it in your personal life that crowds out the voice of God?
2. And what do you think about putting aside the Christmas festivities and instead come to the Church on Christmas Eve and sit in silence, waiting for the Prince of Peace to fill your heart?
(Time is set aside for input from parishioners.)
*"Probably few of us have the faith or the nerve to tamper with hallowed Christmas traditions on a large scale, or with out other holiday celebrations. But a small experiment might prove interesting. What if, instead of doing something, we were to be something special? Be a womb. Be a dwelling for God. Be surprised."
* To Be Virgin, by Loretta Ross-Gotta, in Letters from the Holy Ground, 2000.
| Updated 12/16/02 |
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