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December 18, 2005

Bill Schooler - Dec. 18, 2005

Trinity Parish 12-18-05
Rev. Bill Schooler

Luke 1:26-38

(Sermon Audio Here)

“Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ ” Mary said, “Yes,” to God.

More than 2,150 men and women said, “Yes,” to their country to serve in the Armed Forces, knowing that they might be killed in Iraq, and they were. More than 16,520 men and women said, “Yes,” to their country to serve in the Armed Forces, knowing that they might be severely wounded, and they were. Thousands of men and women say, “Yes,” to their local governments to serve as Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighters, knowing that they might be killed or severely injured, and they were.

So why is it so hard to say, “Yes,” to God who does not want us to die or be wounded? God is calling us to life. In Deuteronomy, God says, more or less, “I set before you this day life and death. Choose life.” Jesus offers us life and offers it to us so that we may have it abundantly. The glory of Christmas is the willingness of ordinary people to recognize and obey God’s claim on their lives, and to say, “Yes,” to God.

Men and women who say, “Yes,” to their country and to their local governments do so, I believe, because underneath their outwardly stated motivations, they want to be a part of those communities. They have a sense of “the other” of connecting to something, someone outside themselves. When they choose to belong, they all undergo some sort of common training that is rigorous, demanding and requires some sacrifice. It is this common sacrifice and often a sense of common suffering that creates a bond between all who enter these communities. This sense of belonging is found in team sports, fraternities, sororities, and other kinds of communal associations. Each one fills a need that is intrinsic to human beings—community.

We are not born to be alone, isolated and disconnected from others. We are born as children of God, into God’s family to belong to each other. Advent is a time in the church year to examine who we belong to—God, the world, our families, our friends, or only ourselves.

If men and women can say, “Yes,” and give their lives and bodies for their country and local governments, why is it so hard to say, “Yes,” to God who wants nothing more for us than life?

Community binds us together and also binds us to God. There is no such thing as a private Christian faith. It is a community of faith. To say we are unworthy to stand before God is true, but it doesn’t matter. We cannot hide behind our own sinfulness and shortcomings as a way of avoiding God’s call to us. God calls us anyway to serve as who we are and with what we have.

Think about it. Mary, who was God’s favored, gave birth to a child out of wedlock who later was executed as a criminal. God enters human life with all its depravity, violence, and corruption. Consequently, the Annunciation ultimately is an announcement of hope for humankind, but only if we say, “Yes,” to God, only if we choose life. God has not abandoned us to the consequences of our own sinfulness. Instead, God sent Jesus as our deliverer.

Being part of a community is not always easy. Communities often contain people we don’t like, especially the ones who don’t agree with us. Like the men and women of our Armed Forces, Law Enforcement, and Fire Departments, being part of community requires training; initial training and continuous training; training in skills, training in how to communicate with each other and the community as a whole.
The church, too, has similar training requirements. After the initial training of Baptism and Confirmation, continuous training in prayer, worship, and participation in the faith community are necessary to grow in our relationship with God.

Advent marks a time in the church year that is critical to our training. God announces to us that God is giving us God’s son. Do we say,”YES,” to that gift, or do we also reject that child and participate in executing him as a common criminal?

What if men and women said “No” to their country and their local governments? What would happen? I don’t believe we can honorably live in a country and say, “No,” when it calls us. I don’t believe we can honorably live in a city or town and say, “No,” when it calls us.

This “yes” business is serious business. We cannot truly become who we are until we say, “Yes,” to God. It is in the “yes” that we open ourselves to accept the obligations and the joys of being part of a community, a community that offers us life and life abundantly.

What if Mary had said, “No?” Would God have looked elsewhere? What happens when you say “No” to God? In my own life I find it increasingly hard to live outside the “Yes” to God. With all the depravity, violence and corruption that is part of human life, I find that only “Yes” to God helps me make sense of it all and offers me a way through it.

I believe a relationship with God is essential to life. For a Christian, that relationship also requires commitment to living in community. Often that is hard to do, but we must do the things we need to do for ourselves to be part of a faith community.

As you know, I serve as a Chaplain at the Veterans Affairs Hospitals in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. In my work with combat vets I am convinced that men and women do not die for God and their country. They do not die for God and their local government. They die for each other. The bonds forged in community are what bind them together.

I believe it is so for us Christians. Our Baptismal vows require us to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves. For me, this means that in order for me to have a strong and growing relationship with God, I must be part of a faith community. It is this church. It is this community that forges my relationship with God and helps me to hear God speak to me in my life.

Albert Einstein wrote of “A Circle of Compassion,” in which he said this.

“A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. And yet we experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical illusion of our consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.”

We can learn to do this as part of a faith community. Such membership teaches us how to love one another. The Christ Child showed us how. “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Each year Christmas comes. The Christ Child is born. New life has once again arrived. Christ has come. Do we say, “yes,” to this child and embrace him? How will you respond? Will you invite this child into your lives? Will you say, “Yes,” to God and to God’s Son and all that implies and be a member of a faith community?