A Voice! Advent 4 C Luke 1:39-56 Micah 5:2-6 Hebrews 10:5-10

My friend had a baby last week.
My heart leaped for joy when I heard that this precious bundle had arrived. 
Mary and Elizabeth were close.
And they shared the joy of expecting babies at the same time.
Elizabeth, an old married woman who had hoped for so long to bear a child;
 Mary, a young woman who had not even dreamed it would happen so soon.
 Both waiting for their babies, talking, speculating, planning for the future.
Did they sit and knit and sew baby clothes?
Did they discuss diapers and feedings and plans?
Did they have any idea what their sons would be like? What they would do?
How they would preach?
They could not have known. For now, they sit, they wait, they feel joy.
Mary's heart was not pierced with the sword yet
But still she fretted. What would Joseph do? What would he say?
The story of Joseph's acceptance of the baby news is not in Luke;
We read it in Matthew.
When we read Luke, we have poetic license to wonder.
Did she tell him before or after she visited her cousin?
Did she just let him see the baby belly when she returned to Nazareth?
How did he respond?

But then I think, could a woman so afraid of being publicly shamed have sung such a song?
Was her heart 'right'? Was her faith deep enough to believe that all would be well?

The lack of Joseph's voice goes along with the lack of Zachariah's as he has lost his voice for his doubt.
This leads us to perceive the greatest story ever with its beginnings in the wombs of two women.
Women have no voice in first century Judaism.
Women are to be silent.
Women cannot speak in public; not even to a family member.
Women have to walk a certain number of paces behind a man.
Any self-respecting Jewish man will not touch a woman in public as any one who might be bleeding is considered unclean...and well, you never know if women are bleeding.

But God has chosen to announce the birth of HIS SON with the voice of a woman;
Yes, we have heard the voice of an angel.
But now we hear the voice of a woman; a young woman; probably a young teen
And she responds to the voice of an old woman; 'past child bearing age.'

The older woman who gives birth to the prophet represents the past.
The young woman who gives birth to the savior represents the future.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan 18-25, 2009

The world council of churches has proclaimed this a week of prayer for Christian unity.

Ecumenism "refers to initiatives aimed at greater religious unity or cooperation. In its broadest sense, this unity or cooperation may refer to a worldwide religious unity; by the advocation of a greater sense of shared spirituality across the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. "(http.en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Ecumenism)

Jesus prayed in John 17 "that they may be one."

Let us be one. Let's quit arguing over nonessentials and work for peace and love throughout the world.

There is only one God. This God loves us all. Let us love another as God loves us.

What I want for Christmas

1. No more hurting children. When will adults learn that children are the most treasured gift anyone could ever receive? When will we learn to treat children as people with feelings? When will we learn to take our children to church when they wake up and cry Sunday morning to go to Sunday School?
2. No more hatred. Jesus talked about murder beginning in the heart with hatred. If people learn to forgive and control their feelings by giving them to God, there would be no more violence.
3. No more hunger. According to the United Nations World Hunger Program, every 3.6 seconds someone in the world dies of starvation. I see my Christmas wish coming true when I see a community willing to help its hungry people.
4. No more gossip. Nothing can be more destructive to a church or community than idle words that spread like wildfire. This Christmas have a deaf ear and a mute mouth. If you don’t hear it you can’t spread it. If you do hear it, don’t spread it. If you hear an item of concern about an individual, ask that person, not everyone else in town. Give people the benefit of the doubt.
5. No more alcoholism.
Don’t buy the liquor this Christmas. You might drink too much, get angry, hurt someone you love—even your child or your spouse. It’s not worth it. Drunk driving accidents go way up around the holidays. We don’t want anymore tragedy. Leave the alcohol alone.
6. True Peace. The biblical idea of peace is found in the Old Testament concept of shalom. Much more than an absence of war, this peace permeates into the very heart of humanity. It means more than serenity, more than calmness, more than safety. It is the idea of complete harmony between God and humanity that leads to complete harmony within oneself, with creation, and with others. As we continue to read the Bible, we find the only way to shalom is through God’s Christmas gift to the world, his Son Jesus Christ. If you search for this peace, ask Jesus to forgive you of all wrong and to come into your life. Contact a local pastor for spiritual guidance.
7. An optimism of grace. This optimism tells me that my list is not just idle wishes, it is the hope of Christmas, the desire of a God who sent his only begotten Son into the world to make all these wishes come true.

Ordinary 19 C Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 What is a hero?

My perspective on heroes changed as I lay flat on my back once again looking at the ceiling of an ambulance. One hero inserted an IV into my left hand as the other hero attached the heart monitor. The first hero kept assuring me I was stable now and to try to relax as I shook with horrific shock. I knew I must be stable when I did not hear the sirens as we drove down the country road at 70 miles an hour. Yes, they were speeding, but I must be ok. I'm breathing, my heart is beating, I must be OK.

Earlier that evening as I worked at church camp on the Oklahoma/Texas border I had made the stupid mistake of wearing flip-flops in the grass. I KNEW I was allergic to fire ant stings since I had another ambulance ride 3 years previous due to a tiny sting. Why had I done something so idiotic???

As I felt my heart race and my face swell, my daughter saying, "Mommy, use your shot!" (EpiPen), she & I ran to the camp nurse instead. Let's just say there was a horrible mistake and the EpiPen did not go into my leg. I fell on the floor and told Lisa (a close friend) to call 911. Someone ran to get my husband.

Everything is foggy from then on until I got in the ambulance. For 10 minutes I faded in and out...never quite losing consciousness but "zoning" and not able to speak or move. Lisa and her husband, Doug, took control and found an inhaler and a nebulizer to try to keep me breathing.

Lisa and Doug are heroes. Dwight, the camp director and a long time friend, is a hero. I heard his voice through the haze...and he drove my husband to the hospital and drove us both back to camp...I heard the prayers of the camp director through the haze as 200 campers were in chapel and knew what was going on in the back of the room....Yes, a little ant can cause such a fiasco.

Hebrews 11 is about heroes of the faith. When Abraham set out on his journey he was simply obeying God and not planning to be a hero. When Sarah gave birth to Isaac she simply did what mothers do...love their sons. None of these biblical heroes set out to be famous. They did the task in front--sometimes with protests (Moses)...yet finally obeying God...and the community of faith remembers the journey they took.

Lisa, Doug, Dwight, Chris, Shane, you are heroes.