What do I do now?
Sunday, December 20, 2015
In the past few weeks I have found myself saying, “That’s an angel moment.”
A friend shared with me that she saw a neighbor in the halls of her building and spontaneously asked her over for Christmas dinner. She hadn’t planned on it, it just seemed like the thing to do in the moment. And the neighbor started crying because she had no other place to go for Christmas.
“That’s an angel moment,” I said.
So far this advent we have listened to the angels we have heard, voices from the United Church of Christ,
and from our children, and our church. We have thought about how to be prepared to hear angels, something to do with an attitude of hope and curiosity. Today let’s look at what to do when you have an angel moment. Let’s assume you have discerned a message from the divine. What do you do now?
In today’s story Mary has a dramatic visitation from an angel. The text does not tell us where Mary was when the angel appeared, or what she was doing. I assume she was alone since there are not listed any witnesses to the event. Mary asks, “How will this happen?” The angel says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”
It’s important to note that Mary was not married and that conceiving a child outside of wedlock in her culture could mean being stoned to death. This was not a light thing the angel tells her. The angel is inviting her into what looks like a dangerous situation. The angel tells her that her cousin, Elizabeth, who was past the age of child bearing is 6 months pregnant. The angel says this as proof that “Nothing is impossible with God.”
Mary’s response? “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
I remember the moment I told my husband we were going to be parents. He looked at me in disbelief, turned a little red, huffed out a loud breath, sat down, and asked me to repeat myself. And we had already opened the door to the possibility. Hearing that you will be a parent for the first time can be scary, daunting. Am I ready for this? Do I have everything a baby needs? What kind of world am I bringing this child into? It took both of us, as I’m sure it takes most parents, a while to get to “Whatever she needs, I will do that.” For me it as perhaps not until she was a year or so old and puking all over me I hate puke especially other people’s puke and I told her to just keep on puking on mama that I could have said the words Mary said “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.”
There is a moment in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when he is trying to get the Holy Grail for his father to drink from to save his life. He has a series of clues as to how to get through a maze of booby traps. The final one is “Only a leap from the lion’s head will prove his worth.” Indiana stands at the edge of what appears to be an endless canyon, too far to leap across. Word is shouted to him to hurry, his father is dying. And so he takes a leap of faith, seemingly with nothing to catch him. In my experience, that is what it means to respond to the message of an angel. “Here am I…let it be with me according to your word,” is no less scary a leap of faith than jumping into a canyon. Both have potentially deadly consequences. Indiana Jones does it and finds a camouflaged pathway. Mary takes the leap and finds that Joseph marries her while she is pregnant, saving her from disgrace.
So this is the first thing Mary does when she receives the message from the angel. She accepts it and takes a leap of faith, into something that appears life threatening, that is actually life saving, life giving something bigger than herself and her little family.
I have printed on the backs of the bulletin covers this advent quotes from people who believe we can be in relationship with angels; their advice on how we can encounter angels. One of the themes running through them is that angels do not bring us messages to harm us. This is actually one of the clinical differentiations between a psychotic episode and a mystical experience. What do the voices tell you to do? Mary’s visitor tells her she will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. It does not direct her to harm herself or others. If your angel experience leads you to believe you should harm yourself or others, you need to do what Mary does next, her second response to the message.
Mary seeks coalition with someone older and wiser. In my life, this has meant talking out my mystical experiences with therapists, ministers, colleagues. I have never had an aesthetic experience that told me to harm myself or others, but I still take this step, seeking advice from an outside source. And I do this when angel moments come in the form of mystical experiences and when they come in human form.
There are two young people in our community I have come to understand as angels. And they bring me messages that make me want to say, “Here I am, send me.” They bring me messages that make me want to form coalitions and get advice from those wiser than me because doing something in response to these message is both scaryand bigger than me.
They are Hukun Dabar and Hamida Abdi Omar. They are two of the founders of the Afro American Development Association, which began as a group of students from Concordia, NDSU, and MSUM
who were trying to figure out how to show the value of a college education to their African born parents.
In answering that question, they have set up a tutoring program for the children of African immigrants, started an English language course through social service, and formed a council of elders who works with the Moorhead police department to solve issues before they become criminal.
So when Hukun called me last week and invited us to partner with them on the #FMOneCommunity Unity march, I did as Mary did when she was visited by the angel. I said, “yes, of course.” And then I sought wisdom from Bobbie, our moderator, and Bill, our vice moderator, and invited the social justice board into the conversation. Me and Rosanna Walker, on behalf of the Social Justice Board, met the next morning with Hukun, Hamida, and the coalition they had put together. What resulted was 125 people (and 240 donuts) meeting in our parking lot, to make known in our community that we are one, not divided by race or religion, that we love our neighbors.
And, yes, it was scary. There is a local group who kept posting hateful things on our Facebook event, as they did on the candle light vigil that Olivet had a couple weeks ago. So there was fear that the incident in Grand Forks was not isolated, but could be repeated here in direct response to our actions.
And there was the knowledge that media would be there and would want to interview me on camera.
That always makes me nervous. I really don’t like being on the news. But there was also something bigger than me. Something bigger than this church. Something bigger than our community. That’s what angels do- they invite you into something bigger.
And standing at the start of the march, being filmed by the TV camera that made me nervous, Wendy Gordon, speaking on behalf of Temple Beth El, said, “Will I have the moral fortitude to stand up against hatred and xenophobia? … we are here today because we know the words “you are not so different, your teachings are inspiring, we value you, we welcome you,” are more powerful than any words that can be spoken out of hatred, fear, or narrow mindedness.”
And there was this moment of connection, this moment of our church, with our commitment to being a place of welcome, becoming something bigger, joining with something bigger, expanding beyond our walls into our parking lot and then into the community, not because we all believed that same thing about God, but because God just might believe the same thing about all of us.
So what do we do when we hear a message from an angel? Accept it. Check it out with those wiser than us. And step into something bigger than yourself and our one church. That’s what Mary did.
A friend shared with me that she saw a neighbor in the halls of her building and spontaneously asked her over for Christmas dinner. She hadn’t planned on it, it just seemed like the thing to do in the moment. And the neighbor started crying because she had no other place to go for Christmas.
“That’s an angel moment,” I said.
So far this advent we have listened to the angels we have heard, voices from the United Church of Christ,
and from our children, and our church. We have thought about how to be prepared to hear angels, something to do with an attitude of hope and curiosity. Today let’s look at what to do when you have an angel moment. Let’s assume you have discerned a message from the divine. What do you do now?
In today’s story Mary has a dramatic visitation from an angel. The text does not tell us where Mary was when the angel appeared, or what she was doing. I assume she was alone since there are not listed any witnesses to the event. Mary asks, “How will this happen?” The angel says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.”
It’s important to note that Mary was not married and that conceiving a child outside of wedlock in her culture could mean being stoned to death. This was not a light thing the angel tells her. The angel is inviting her into what looks like a dangerous situation. The angel tells her that her cousin, Elizabeth, who was past the age of child bearing is 6 months pregnant. The angel says this as proof that “Nothing is impossible with God.”
Mary’s response? “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
I remember the moment I told my husband we were going to be parents. He looked at me in disbelief, turned a little red, huffed out a loud breath, sat down, and asked me to repeat myself. And we had already opened the door to the possibility. Hearing that you will be a parent for the first time can be scary, daunting. Am I ready for this? Do I have everything a baby needs? What kind of world am I bringing this child into? It took both of us, as I’m sure it takes most parents, a while to get to “Whatever she needs, I will do that.” For me it as perhaps not until she was a year or so old and puking all over me I hate puke especially other people’s puke and I told her to just keep on puking on mama that I could have said the words Mary said “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.”
There is a moment in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when he is trying to get the Holy Grail for his father to drink from to save his life. He has a series of clues as to how to get through a maze of booby traps. The final one is “Only a leap from the lion’s head will prove his worth.” Indiana stands at the edge of what appears to be an endless canyon, too far to leap across. Word is shouted to him to hurry, his father is dying. And so he takes a leap of faith, seemingly with nothing to catch him. In my experience, that is what it means to respond to the message of an angel. “Here am I…let it be with me according to your word,” is no less scary a leap of faith than jumping into a canyon. Both have potentially deadly consequences. Indiana Jones does it and finds a camouflaged pathway. Mary takes the leap and finds that Joseph marries her while she is pregnant, saving her from disgrace.
So this is the first thing Mary does when she receives the message from the angel. She accepts it and takes a leap of faith, into something that appears life threatening, that is actually life saving, life giving something bigger than herself and her little family.
I have printed on the backs of the bulletin covers this advent quotes from people who believe we can be in relationship with angels; their advice on how we can encounter angels. One of the themes running through them is that angels do not bring us messages to harm us. This is actually one of the clinical differentiations between a psychotic episode and a mystical experience. What do the voices tell you to do? Mary’s visitor tells her she will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. It does not direct her to harm herself or others. If your angel experience leads you to believe you should harm yourself or others, you need to do what Mary does next, her second response to the message.
Mary seeks coalition with someone older and wiser. In my life, this has meant talking out my mystical experiences with therapists, ministers, colleagues. I have never had an aesthetic experience that told me to harm myself or others, but I still take this step, seeking advice from an outside source. And I do this when angel moments come in the form of mystical experiences and when they come in human form.
There are two young people in our community I have come to understand as angels. And they bring me messages that make me want to say, “Here I am, send me.” They bring me messages that make me want to form coalitions and get advice from those wiser than me because doing something in response to these message is both scaryand bigger than me.
They are Hukun Dabar and Hamida Abdi Omar. They are two of the founders of the Afro American Development Association, which began as a group of students from Concordia, NDSU, and MSUM
who were trying to figure out how to show the value of a college education to their African born parents.
In answering that question, they have set up a tutoring program for the children of African immigrants, started an English language course through social service, and formed a council of elders who works with the Moorhead police department to solve issues before they become criminal.
So when Hukun called me last week and invited us to partner with them on the #FMOneCommunity Unity march, I did as Mary did when she was visited by the angel. I said, “yes, of course.” And then I sought wisdom from Bobbie, our moderator, and Bill, our vice moderator, and invited the social justice board into the conversation. Me and Rosanna Walker, on behalf of the Social Justice Board, met the next morning with Hukun, Hamida, and the coalition they had put together. What resulted was 125 people (and 240 donuts) meeting in our parking lot, to make known in our community that we are one, not divided by race or religion, that we love our neighbors.
And, yes, it was scary. There is a local group who kept posting hateful things on our Facebook event, as they did on the candle light vigil that Olivet had a couple weeks ago. So there was fear that the incident in Grand Forks was not isolated, but could be repeated here in direct response to our actions.
And there was the knowledge that media would be there and would want to interview me on camera.
That always makes me nervous. I really don’t like being on the news. But there was also something bigger than me. Something bigger than this church. Something bigger than our community. That’s what angels do- they invite you into something bigger.
And standing at the start of the march, being filmed by the TV camera that made me nervous, Wendy Gordon, speaking on behalf of Temple Beth El, said, “Will I have the moral fortitude to stand up against hatred and xenophobia? … we are here today because we know the words “you are not so different, your teachings are inspiring, we value you, we welcome you,” are more powerful than any words that can be spoken out of hatred, fear, or narrow mindedness.”
And there was this moment of connection, this moment of our church, with our commitment to being a place of welcome, becoming something bigger, joining with something bigger, expanding beyond our walls into our parking lot and then into the community, not because we all believed that same thing about God, but because God just might believe the same thing about all of us.
So what do we do when we hear a message from an angel? Accept it. Check it out with those wiser than us. And step into something bigger than yourself and our one church. That’s what Mary did.
How do we Prepare to Hear Angels?
SUnday, December 6, 2015
Today we hear the story of Zachariah. He is a priest who is serving his bi-annual week of temple service. By lot he is chosen to offer incense in the Holy of Holies, an honor he likely would receive only once in his life. He has been preparing for this moment his whole life.
The ancient Hebrews believed that God lived in the Holy of Holies and that, unless you were blamelessly before God, you would die in God’s presence. If anyone was prepared to receive a message from God, it was Zachariah. The text tells us he adhered to all the laws set forth in the Jewish scriptures. His duty in the Holy of Holies was one way the Hebrews had of maintaining a righteous relationship with God, ensuring their continued prosperity.
So he enters and is surprised by an angel standing next to the altar. He is overwhelmed with terror. This is an emotion well known in our world. Overwhelmed with terror.
The angel tries to call his fears “Do not be afraid.” This is a common phrase to be spoken by angels in the bible. So much repetition tells us that seeing an angel was a frightening thing. And yet, somehow, despite his fear, he finds the courage to question the angel’s message. It was not a message he was prepared to take at face value. He lists the evidence of why the angel can not possibly be telling the truth. He and his wife are too old to conceive. He meets the mystic with logic.
Gabriel begins his response in logic, but then points him back to the mystical. In Hebrew tradition, Gabriel is one of the four angels that stand at the corners of God’s throne. He is a fire angel, a messenger of God associated both the wealth and with ripening fruits- reproduction.[1] He essentially says to Zachariah, I am the one God has put in charge of reproduction. He says his words will be fulfilled in their own time. Zachariah’s belief is not necessary to bring this about. His was to receive and pass on the message, but through his disbelief- his inability to see possibility- this role is taken from him. It is only when the patriarchs of the temple will not take Elizabeth’s naming the baby John that Zachariah gets his voice back, and then only by affirming her.
From his being struck dumb to his confirmation of her name for the child, Elizabeth is the main character of the story. This is unusual in the bible, to have so much of a story center around a female lead character, and it was possible only because Zachariah was mute. It forces us to see Elizabeth as the one blameless before God, the one to whom the prophecy belongs, the exemplar of the story.
So what can we learn from her example?
While Zachariah hears the message from the angel first, he is unprepared for it. He approaches the experience with an attitude of logic and distrust. We don’t get to know in the story if Zachariah was able to communicate what he had heard to Elizabeth. Perhaps he wrote it down and she read it or had someone read it to her. Perhaps he said nothing. The story tells us that Elizabeth remained hidden for five months. We do not know her actions or attitude for that time. I imagine she noticed the symptoms of pregnancy. We know, by the words given her in the story, that she saw the pregnancy as a sign of hope and favor. This is in contrast to Zachariah’s fear and mistrust.
The question I want to explore today is how can we be prepared to hear God speaking, how can we be open to hearing the message that God’s angels have for us in this time and place? If we take Zachariah and Elizabeth as a case study- we might have one positive and one negative example. Zachariah, even though he lived his life according to all the rules and he was in the role we would associate as one who should receive a message from God, when faced with a message from God he was filled with fear and distrust.
Elizabeth, by virtue of being a woman, was considered not eligible to be in God’s presence. She also followed all the rules of her culture, but would have been considered, at best unlucky, and, at worst disfavored by God, because she had never born a child.
This study would suggest that following all the rules of our religion is not indicative of one’s worthiness to receive a message from God. The biggest difference between them was their attitude to the message. Elizabeth appears to have received it with an attitude of hope and curiosity. Zachariah appears to have received it with an attitude of fear and distrust.
The amount of time and attention given to Elizabeth in this story elevates her in importance above Zachariah, highlighting that God’s message is not only for those whose roles or behavior would lead us to expect them to be in conversation with God. It opens us up to seeking God’s word in unexpected places through unexpected people, a theme that deepens as we approach the birth narratives of Jesus.
If you look at your bulletin cover, you will notice this angel grows out of darkness. This is a metaphor both for the fact that angels can be scary “Be not afraid,” and for the presence of God’s message being received even in the darkest and most unexpected of places.
Many a saint received visions in dark places. Like Hildegaard of Bingen whose visions of the beauty of God’s grace and love that she experienced as the divine spark of God’s creation, came only when she was in the most painful throws of migraine headaches. In the darkest times of humanity we can find the pure jewels of God’s message, like diamonds pressed under weight and darkness from carbon.
My niece was born in August of 2001. On September 11th, when she was barely a month old, my sister called me overwhelmed with fear, “What kind of world did I bring this child into? I don’t know if I want my children to grow up in this darkness.” Shortly before my daughter was born, the United States invaded Iraq. I called my sister and said, “This is why you and I need to bring children into the world. So that we can raise them in the light.” I honestly believe the only satisfactory response to darkness is light. The only righteous response to violence is peace, to hostility is love, to our own racism is curiosity.
How can we be prepared to hear the message of angels? I don’t pretend to know the message that God is speaking to us, but our story today teaches to give preference for hope over fear, for curiosity over distrust. And our contemporary social sciences back this up.
“New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has theorized that innovation is fueled, in part, by the "curiosity quotient" of innovators. The psychologist Todd Kashdan asserts that curiosity has all kinds of life-enhancing benefits, such as improving personal relationships. Author Ian Leslie’s recent book Curious contends that curiosity may be the "most valuable asset" of any society that aspires to progress and creativity.”[2]
There is power in curiosity, in seeing things as possible, instead of noting why things are impossible. If we are to be open to what God is saying to us, if we have the chance to be good listeners, we would do well to have an attitude of curiosity. When confronted with a situation that might invoke fear or mistrust, try instead to see it with a curious mind. Why would the person who scares you act in that way? Why is it you distrust the situation? Might there be another way to interpret it?
The tools of curiosity are openness, questioning for understanding, noticing without judgment, the joy of learning. We can see these things in Elizabeth. She does not dismiss her pregnancy as impossible. She notices the symptoms and seeks to understand them. And she is full of joy. May it be so for all of us in this time of darkness. Amen.
[1] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6450-gabriel 12/5/15
[2] http://www.fastcodesign.com/3045142/3-ways-embracing-curiosity-can-change-your-life 12-5-15
The ancient Hebrews believed that God lived in the Holy of Holies and that, unless you were blamelessly before God, you would die in God’s presence. If anyone was prepared to receive a message from God, it was Zachariah. The text tells us he adhered to all the laws set forth in the Jewish scriptures. His duty in the Holy of Holies was one way the Hebrews had of maintaining a righteous relationship with God, ensuring their continued prosperity.
So he enters and is surprised by an angel standing next to the altar. He is overwhelmed with terror. This is an emotion well known in our world. Overwhelmed with terror.
The angel tries to call his fears “Do not be afraid.” This is a common phrase to be spoken by angels in the bible. So much repetition tells us that seeing an angel was a frightening thing. And yet, somehow, despite his fear, he finds the courage to question the angel’s message. It was not a message he was prepared to take at face value. He lists the evidence of why the angel can not possibly be telling the truth. He and his wife are too old to conceive. He meets the mystic with logic.
Gabriel begins his response in logic, but then points him back to the mystical. In Hebrew tradition, Gabriel is one of the four angels that stand at the corners of God’s throne. He is a fire angel, a messenger of God associated both the wealth and with ripening fruits- reproduction.[1] He essentially says to Zachariah, I am the one God has put in charge of reproduction. He says his words will be fulfilled in their own time. Zachariah’s belief is not necessary to bring this about. His was to receive and pass on the message, but through his disbelief- his inability to see possibility- this role is taken from him. It is only when the patriarchs of the temple will not take Elizabeth’s naming the baby John that Zachariah gets his voice back, and then only by affirming her.
From his being struck dumb to his confirmation of her name for the child, Elizabeth is the main character of the story. This is unusual in the bible, to have so much of a story center around a female lead character, and it was possible only because Zachariah was mute. It forces us to see Elizabeth as the one blameless before God, the one to whom the prophecy belongs, the exemplar of the story.
So what can we learn from her example?
While Zachariah hears the message from the angel first, he is unprepared for it. He approaches the experience with an attitude of logic and distrust. We don’t get to know in the story if Zachariah was able to communicate what he had heard to Elizabeth. Perhaps he wrote it down and she read it or had someone read it to her. Perhaps he said nothing. The story tells us that Elizabeth remained hidden for five months. We do not know her actions or attitude for that time. I imagine she noticed the symptoms of pregnancy. We know, by the words given her in the story, that she saw the pregnancy as a sign of hope and favor. This is in contrast to Zachariah’s fear and mistrust.
The question I want to explore today is how can we be prepared to hear God speaking, how can we be open to hearing the message that God’s angels have for us in this time and place? If we take Zachariah and Elizabeth as a case study- we might have one positive and one negative example. Zachariah, even though he lived his life according to all the rules and he was in the role we would associate as one who should receive a message from God, when faced with a message from God he was filled with fear and distrust.
Elizabeth, by virtue of being a woman, was considered not eligible to be in God’s presence. She also followed all the rules of her culture, but would have been considered, at best unlucky, and, at worst disfavored by God, because she had never born a child.
This study would suggest that following all the rules of our religion is not indicative of one’s worthiness to receive a message from God. The biggest difference between them was their attitude to the message. Elizabeth appears to have received it with an attitude of hope and curiosity. Zachariah appears to have received it with an attitude of fear and distrust.
The amount of time and attention given to Elizabeth in this story elevates her in importance above Zachariah, highlighting that God’s message is not only for those whose roles or behavior would lead us to expect them to be in conversation with God. It opens us up to seeking God’s word in unexpected places through unexpected people, a theme that deepens as we approach the birth narratives of Jesus.
If you look at your bulletin cover, you will notice this angel grows out of darkness. This is a metaphor both for the fact that angels can be scary “Be not afraid,” and for the presence of God’s message being received even in the darkest and most unexpected of places.
Many a saint received visions in dark places. Like Hildegaard of Bingen whose visions of the beauty of God’s grace and love that she experienced as the divine spark of God’s creation, came only when she was in the most painful throws of migraine headaches. In the darkest times of humanity we can find the pure jewels of God’s message, like diamonds pressed under weight and darkness from carbon.
My niece was born in August of 2001. On September 11th, when she was barely a month old, my sister called me overwhelmed with fear, “What kind of world did I bring this child into? I don’t know if I want my children to grow up in this darkness.” Shortly before my daughter was born, the United States invaded Iraq. I called my sister and said, “This is why you and I need to bring children into the world. So that we can raise them in the light.” I honestly believe the only satisfactory response to darkness is light. The only righteous response to violence is peace, to hostility is love, to our own racism is curiosity.
How can we be prepared to hear the message of angels? I don’t pretend to know the message that God is speaking to us, but our story today teaches to give preference for hope over fear, for curiosity over distrust. And our contemporary social sciences back this up.
“New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has theorized that innovation is fueled, in part, by the "curiosity quotient" of innovators. The psychologist Todd Kashdan asserts that curiosity has all kinds of life-enhancing benefits, such as improving personal relationships. Author Ian Leslie’s recent book Curious contends that curiosity may be the "most valuable asset" of any society that aspires to progress and creativity.”[2]
There is power in curiosity, in seeing things as possible, instead of noting why things are impossible. If we are to be open to what God is saying to us, if we have the chance to be good listeners, we would do well to have an attitude of curiosity. When confronted with a situation that might invoke fear or mistrust, try instead to see it with a curious mind. Why would the person who scares you act in that way? Why is it you distrust the situation? Might there be another way to interpret it?
The tools of curiosity are openness, questioning for understanding, noticing without judgment, the joy of learning. We can see these things in Elizabeth. She does not dismiss her pregnancy as impossible. She notices the symptoms and seeks to understand them. And she is full of joy. May it be so for all of us in this time of darkness. Amen.
[1] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6450-gabriel 12/5/15
[2] http://www.fastcodesign.com/3045142/3-ways-embracing-curiosity-can-change-your-life 12-5-15