PAST SERMON 2009 #15
by Reverend Judith Alltree, delivered on Sunday December 20, 2009,
at the Church of the Holy Spirit. (Advent IV)
Response to a Call…
There was a memorial service held here yesterday, for someone who was by all accounts a truly remarkable man: a wonderful and loving brother and son, husband, father, and grandfather; a loyal, dedicated and passionate friend, mentor and teacher; a scientist who loved the arts; an inspiration to all who knew him. All those who spoke of him were clearly deeply grieving the loss of such a great man, yet at the same time, to use his daughter’s words, “were blessed” to have known him. It was the kind of tribute that is rarely heard, and left me feeling in awe and perhaps a bit sad that I had never had the opportunity to meet this rare and gifted man.
There was a common thread that ran through each of the tributes: the great sense of God’s call that this man had felt his entire life, that sense that God was leading him which others observed in him even from his youth. But one incident in particular stood out for one of his eulogists: although a preeminent scholar and professor, teaching in a major university, he chose to leave the relative comfort and security of this position to return to the school of his youth to become its principal. While many were surprised initially at this move, ultimately most were not; it was believed that the Professor’s response to the request to become principal was not so much his response to the school as it was his response to God’s call, one which he answered unhesitatingly.
This response meant leaving all he had achieved behind. There would be no going back after this move. The young speaker explained that like St. Paul, and all of the other disciples, having made the choice to respond to Jesus’ call to follow Him, there was no turning back. Their old lives essentially ended, and new ones began. All that had been was now done, all that would be was before them.
So it would be with the Professor. A deeply devout man, and a faithful one, his relationship with God was so strong that after reflecting on the possibility of leaving his position at the university, ultimately, for him, there was no choice. This appeared not to be viewed on his part as a sacrifice, rather, it was the fulfillment of a life’s promise, made to him by God, fulfilled in his own life’s work. It was almost as if he had been waiting for this particular call most of his life. To an outsider, this would clearly have been a difficult choice; for the Professor, it was clearly a choice that was not difficult. While the university lost a gifted professor, the school gained a principal whose legacy already spans generations and continents, and will continue to inspire others for generations to come.
I thought about how this one man’s life affected so many others, as I looked around the room and saw that almost every man in the place wore their Old School Tie, out of respect for the Professor. And I thought about it again when I re-read the Gospel: a quiet little story about two women, from two different generations, both pregnant under rather extraordinary circumstances, and I suddenly saw “God at work in a deeply personal way that just happens to change the world!” (p. 94, “Feasting on the Word”)
What happens when we answer a call from God? Mary was actually given a choice, and gave her “yes” as a response: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord [she said]; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) This is an important distinction that needs to be made. God chooses us for various reasons, but also gives us the freedom to say “No”. Mary chose to say “Yes” which, under her life circumstances, was about as dangerous a thing as she could ever have done.
Elizabeth, married for many years, barren, conceives unexpectedly — which shocks her husband, always something that I laugh about. There was no question from God to her; her child was a welcome gift, and the pregnancy elevated her status among her women friends, something that Mary’s pregnancy would most certainly not do among her peers.
In fact, Mary leaves her village and family almost immediately upon being given her news from the Angel, leaves, I always believe, to protect the life of her unborn child. Nice Jewish girls didn’t get pregnant before they got married, and steps would have been taken to ensure that this baby might never have been born. Mary’s “yes” to God gave her a certain courage and a determination to see her task through, and to prevent anyone else from taking measures that would cause harm to her child.
So we find the two women, cousins as their sons would be, greeting each other with obvious joy, yet there is more to their greeting: there is recognition of the new life. Mary knows she is pregnant, Elizabeth does not, but their unborn children recognize each other! The Holy Spirit speaks through Elizabeth: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”, and Mary responds with her song, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked on the lowliness of his handmaiden…” (Luke 1:46-47)
The new life is not just another child; this child is the long awaited Messiah! While the rest of the religious world is looking up, waiting for the Advent of the Lord, the King of Kings, God looked down “on the lowliness of his handmaiden” and gave the task of God-bearer to a child. And she said yes.
I am not asking you to compare yourselves to Mary in a direct sense, or to make a comparison between the beloved Professor and Mary, but I ask you to think about this: when, in your own lives, have you felt called by God? Has it been welcome, or terrifying? Has it been something you could deal with, or was it something that you had to give a lot of thought to? Did you say yes? If you did say yes, what did it do to your life, or is that something you can’t answer yet? Another question might be: did your “yes” affect the lives of others? Was there a positive aftermath? Do you have any sense of these things?
As Christians, we know how Mary’s positive response to God affected countless numbers of people throughout history and into the present. Yesterday, I was given a glimpse into the life of one man and of how his “yes” to God affected the lives of many others.
In these last few days before Christmas, when the lineups are ridiculously long and our tempers and patience become shorter, while you are waiting, which is what Advent is all about, I ask you to think about Mary and Elizabeth, about the inspiration of their pregnancies and their children. Then think about all those people in your life, the people God has put on your own path, who have inspired you, protected you and loved you in similar ways as this. Then thank God for those people. And then, like Mary, sing: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour”!
AMEN.