Sermon: Advent IV, Year B: YES!

Sunday, December 20, 2020 

Sermon preached for  

Cathedral Church of St. Paul

By The Rev. Vicki K. Hesse 

The Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B

Text here 

Watch the service here: 

 (sermon begins around 30:00 until 43:00)

 

In the name of God, Creator Sustainer and Redeemer.  Amen.  

Greetings, Favored Ones! The Lord is with You!

Are you perplexed by these words and pondering what sort of greeting this might be? Well, first of all I can tell you that I’m no angel so really, no need to be afraid. 

Secondly, I wondered all week about this strange greeting that Gabriel offered Mary. Imagine what it might have been like for Mary?

…

When my parents were first married (early 1950’s),they lived in a small house on a hill in Manhattan Beach, California. 

One late afternoon in the fall, with the fog rolling in, my mother sat on her porch (probably smoking a cigarette as she loved to do).

A woman came along, walking up the sidewalk by her house.  Her steps were slow, her countenance weighted, her gaze on the sidewalk. My mother did what her mother would have done - she called out to the neighbor in her South Carolina accent, “Hey! Y’all look like you could use a hot toddy!”

Wait, what?  What is that? She replied (the neighbor, Beverly, later became my mother’s best friend). YES she said. YES, I’ll try that.

(Hot Toddy – hot water, honey, lemon, cloves, cinnamon, and whisky, rum or bourbon. You can make a “not” Toddy with no liquor)

Interrupted by grace,Beverly accepted the invitation not knowing what she was getting into…how our lives would forever be intertwined. My mother invited her into the house to rest awhile and to share in conversation. To this day, my Beverly shares in that attitude of hospitality – y’all come and rest a while,for in that conversation we can know each other and share the load. All are welcome in Beverly’s house!

…

In my imagination, King David sits on his front porch, possibly drinking a hot toddy.We overhear the most powerful king of that era, David, in conversation with his friend Nathan the Prophet. 

He wonders out loud,“Hmm… maybe I need to upgrade God’s house from a tent to something a bit more stable? I mean, all the other kings are doing that, too.” Not so fast, God tells David / through Nathan. 

 

God reminds that most powerful King David that God is free from human control. 

God is the one who will appoint a place for all the people Israel.…  

God is the one who will make the house for David, not the other way around.

Once again we are reminded of God’s self-differentiation from human control. And we are reminded of how God will surprise with grace, no matter how powerful or powerless we are.

That’s why Mary’s “YES, I’ll do that,” is a vexing counter to David’s impulse toward God. 

Mary’s response shows the strength of God’s faithfulness even though she is perplexed. This gospel story today is a celebration of reversal.  And it models how stupid hard discipleship is –at such a time as this. Not so fast, God tells Mary, and not so easy. 

The visit by Angel Gabriel, of course, shows God present to the lowest in the kingdom – a girl, lowest in the societal ring,  from nowhereville, lowest place in the region. Although Mary was engaged to Joseph (of the line of David), God shows up to her, The Favored One.

In my mind’s eye, she’s perhaps sitting on her porch, possibly drinking a “not” toddy, snapping beans. Or maybe she’s washing dishes, staring out the kitchen window at the birds, or slopping a mop over the floor, when Gabriel appears.

She comes-to, shaken out of her monotonous work to stop and ponder.  Wait, what?   What’s that you say? YES she said. YES, I’ll try that.

And Mary’s openness to a new self-identity, and her courage to say YES, and her generosity to do so, (even without quite fully understanding the implications) gives me pause. 

Makes me ponder.

This is the challenge we all face. For y’all – we all – are favored ones and the Lord is with you! And God promises today and every day:

• you will conceive new life [in your hearts]
• you will name Jesus as Lord [God’s dream as a priority]
• you will share his love with others
• and God’s love in you will have no end
• – for nothing will be impossible with God!

Can we ponder this, really? [Wait, what?]

• Even as more and more families are experiencing economic hardship, even devastation. 
• Even while the air is heavier and heavier with grief as we list our losses: people, jobs, holidays, opportunities, expectations… 
• Even while we are sad with the collective weight of this pandemic pressing down on us, especially this Christmastime.[1]

 What does this mean?

For…God’s ancient/future greeting to us, as favored ones, means to risk when all the data is not available. 

God asks us to say YES when we are not sure…

•           Taking the vaccine
•           Saying no’ to family gatherings to be safe
•           Risking offense asking others to step back

God asks us to join God in the work of feeding others

•           Like collecting groceries from your neighbors to
•           Pass them on to others who are hungry when we have nothing more to bake.

God asks us to forgive while we cry tears of betrayal. 

God asks us to write a letter to a friend

• while we have nothing more to say “COVID stinks.”

God asks us to be grateful for all we have been given

• even when our 2020 bingo disaster card is filled. 

God asks us to say YES to live upside downly,

• into the right side upness of God’s priorities
• – in the paradox of strong love and tender mercy.

God invites us up the hill. 

Come on in God says, to God’s strong love.

“Stop your struggling. Stop your striving. Stop doing what others think you oughta be doing.  Trust God who knows best how to right-side-up the world. God says You are loved!  You are valuable! You have dignity! You are already enough for God! Right now! You are enough! You are a favored one! You are supposed to be here, in the midst of whatever drudgery task you are completing,

• in the midst of whatever hill you are climbing
• in the midst of these pandemics of disease
• and racial inequalities and incivility…

You are not an accident! God says - Forget the circumstances of your life (Mary did!).  You belong here right now. You are not an afterthought. You are the YES to God’s request to bring God’s dream to fullness.”[2]

This is good news from Mary…This is the promise God made to our forebears, to Abraham and Sarah, and their children forever!

This house of God cannot contain the good news from all y’all saying YES today. 

Let’s bust it out, folks.  We were made for this. 

Today, we can proclaim the greatness of the Lord.

Favored ones, say YES. The Lord is with you

Welcome home.     Amen

---

[1] Inspired by Cameron Howard at https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/pursued-by-love and by David Lose at http://www.davidlose.net/2020/12/advent-4-a-greetings-favored-ones/

[2] Inspired by Bishop Rob Write in his podcast, https://forpeople.buzzsprout.com/952672/6661100-foolish-for-jesus?play=true .

Sermon: Night Shift

Sermon for March 8, 2020

Lent II / A

Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit, MI

The Rev. Vicki Hesse

For readings, click here

Watch video here.

Listen here.

“Take my lips, O Lord, and speak through them;

Take our minds and think through them;

Take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen.

Some years ago I worked a night shift.

That takes some adjusting. 

If you have ever worked a night shift,

you know what I’m talking about.

Night shift work has a special culture,

demanding a special attention.

In offices, you can see the people in cubicles

working in the semi-dark spaces

with their desk light on. 

The phones are mostly silent,

just the sound of typing on keyboards

or the floor-scraping sounds of the mop bucket going by. 

You can sometimes hear the music

eeking through someone’s earbuds. 

Around any city, fewer people are awake in the night, except for the   

·        Police and ambulance cruising streets, awaiting 911 response calls.

·        Bleary eyed parents soothing crying babies.

·        Intimate lovers whispering sweet nothings.

·        Red Bull-saturated students cramming for exams.

Night shift work has a special culture, demanding special attention.

demanding of your body heightened senses

for bumping into other night shift people

as intimate strangers –

sharing the strange vulnerability of the night

while you know nothing about them at all.

So in our gospel today, we hear of one night shift worker,

“…a Pharisee named Nicodemus.  He came to Jesus by night.”  

Imagine Nic just got off his part time night shift

at the scroll-making factory. 

Nic was stewing about this Jesus person

he encountered by day,

and all Nic’s friends were talking about Jesus. 

His Facebook feed filled with comments,

his twitter was a flutter

and even his Instagram notifications were all about this Jesus.

Nic felt his breath rushing, his heart racing, his jaw clenching, his eyes burning …

his heightened senses alerted him.

That night, he knew he needed to see Jesus

and see him right then.

Being a part time religious leader,

Nic had a theological reputation to uphold. 

What better time to have a one-to-one conversation

like his community organizing training had taught him?

So Nic practiced courage, as he was taught,

and told Jesus what was on his mind,

without fear of anyone overhearing his questions. 

“ ‘s up, Jesus?”

“You must be a Divine teacher,

cuz no one can do that God-pointing

and God-revealing you do,

apart from the presence of God.”[1]

For Jesus, nighttime was a great time for a chat.

And after throwing the curve ball

about needing to be re-born,

Jesus explained,

“…being born again is like that –

not something you do, the wind does it.

The Spirit does it.

This is what happens, for God’s sake.”[2]

Nic, being an external thinker, wondered aloud, “huh. how can this be?”

And we wonder, too, (maybe not out loud),

but often at night.  “How can this be?”

Isn’t it often at night that we, too, want to see Jesus?  When we need Jesus.

Isn’t it nighttime when our senses are on alert,

our questions deepen, that yearning tugs on our heart?

Isn’t it often at night that we wonder about the corona virus?

We hear that a former colleague just entered hospice. *sigh* We need Jesus.

We lose a loved one. We gain a diagnosis. We need Jesus.

Our best friend betrays us. We disappoint ourselves. We need Jesus.

Isn’t it often at night that-

We are exhausted, as a queer person,

with the relentless coming out demanded by society

– to new friends, fellow students, casual conversations.

Then we get angry at our own frustration.

We feel let down by others. We need Jesus.

Isn’t it often at night that-

We are angered and disgusted, even as a white person,

at systemic white supremacy that surrounds us on every side

and of which we are a part while vowing to dismantle,  

while we are learning to listen more

and not assume we know best.  God, we need Jesus.

Isn’t it often at night that-

Our society needs Jesus,

plagued by what Rev. Dr. William Barber[3] calls

the “five interlocking injustices[4]

that are far too often not

at the center of our nation’s moral narrative.:

repeat: the “five interlocking injustices

that are far too often not

at the center of our nation’s moral narrative.:

systemic racism, systemic poverty,

ecological devastation, the war economy,

and distorted and misguided religious nationalism.”

The Rev. Dr. William Barber co-leads a movement:

“The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.”

Barber comes to Jesus in our country’s dark night of the soul

on behalf of people made poor by these interlocking injustices.

He asks Jesus that the Son of Man be lifted up

so that people made poor

may have something to see and believe in and trust again.

“Jesus!” he calls out on our behalf,

“send the Spirit into God’s people!”

to work with and for the 140 million

poor[5]  and low-wealth people who live in the United States –

people from every race, creed, sexuality and place.

140 million poor and low wealth people. That’s 40% of the USA.

Living in the nighttime of five interlocking injustices. 

We need Jesus

Yes, working the night shift takes some adjusting. 

If you have ever worked a night shift,

you know what I’m talking about.

Night shift work has a special culture. It demands attention.

When Nic wondered aloud, “how can this be?”

Jesus was right there.

Jesus was present. 

Jesus kept on showing God’s love.

And, Jesus explained how Spirit works.  

“Think of babies; they are born

and you see their flesh, their outsides, and you gotta change their diapers. 

But the real person is born

when the spirit moves in them

and they grow up and mature and become real people,

formed by the Spirit, the Spirit you cannot touch!”

Jesus continued his conversation with Nicodemus, that night,

Saying: “See, God loves the world –

the whole cosmic creation and every delicate snowflake and tear drop that falls –

God loves with so much deep compassion that

God feels all that suffering, Nicodemus,

… your angry vibrations, your racing heart, your sweaty palms.

God is there.”

Then, Jesus promised:

“God is so present in this world, that in the day light

you will see people with that moving, powerful Spirit

in their eyes and feet and hands, and with a fire in their hearts.”

“See,” Jesus concluded,

“God’s got such a thing for this world, this loused-up planet

that God sent me down here

so that if you don’t believe with your own eyes

maybe you’ll believe mine, or me,

or you wouldn’t come sneaking around at night.”[6]

God’s got such a thing for this place

Then, Nic knew he made the right decision

to come to Jesus by night.

Nic realized, indeed, this demands attention.

So… when we wonder, “how can this be?”

God in Jesus is present for us.

In our dark night of the soul, when we come to Jesus by night,

even if we don’t believe with our own eyes

maybe we will believe that Jesus sees the possibilities

and can set the world right again.

Even if we don’t believe, Jesus believes in us!

And there, with Jesus’ night vision,

we can glimpse resurrection –

a new way and a new hope and a new life that is coming –

but not yet; that’s for Easter!

God is not condemning the world but saving the world.

Because God’s love is that unexpected, that bold, that abundant.

God is making the world right

through Jesus who comes to us, by night.

Filling us with a Spirit of truth, and compassion and drive

and unexpected, bold love so that we can be Jesus’

hands and feet and rushing breath and racing heart

to set the world right again.

We learn a new way to pass the peace

in the days of corona virus.

We find unexpected Jesus-resilience

to explain again to someone what it means to be queer.

We experience in new anti-racism allies

a productive anger to confront white privilege.

We feel deep Jesus-centered compassion

for a friend who needs healing.

See, we can set the world right again

by practicing bravery in the night.

We know how much we need Jesus for

that is where the Spirit gives birth to our lives.

Take courage, friends. This night shift work is hard. It requires attention. 

And God’s attention is trained on each of you

with laser focus love and forgiveness. 

Meet Jesus in the night and be born again by his radical grace.

Now get out there with him and set the world right again!  Amen.

---

[1] As translated in The Message

[2] Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who’s Who, (New York, Harper & Row, 1979), p. 121-123

[3] Cited here https://wayoflove.episcopalchurch.org/episodes/season/2/episode/15 Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach, architect of the Moral Mondays Movement, and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

[4] Cited at https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/poor-peoples-campaign-preserves-king-legacy-targets-racism-poverty-and-militarism/

[5] Cited at http://themississippilink.com/2020/01/24/rev-william-barber-addresses-systemic-racism-poverty-and-voting-rights/

[6] Buechner, Ibid.