Back in Sacramento

We’ve just returned from a lovely but very short visit to Sun Valley, Idaho, where we lived for 8 years before moving to Sacramento.  We had a great time visiting old friends.  Unfortunatley our kids were eager to get back here to see their Sacramento friends for New Years Eve.  Between the trip and Christmas, I’ve been out of the blogging habit for a while, but I should be back now.

Sermon: Let it Be – The Annunciation

Here’s my sermon from the Sunday before Christmas:

Sermon: Christmas

To listen click HERE.

PB Katherine Jefferts Schori on homosexuality and the Episcopal Church

Here’s a great short video clip of Sally Quinn interviewing Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori.  If it doesn’t play, you can see it HERE.

Annunciation Poem

Parishoner Susan Van Dyke sent me this great poem by Denis Levertov.

Annunciation

‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’ from the Agathistos Hymn, Greece, VIc

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always the tall lily.

 Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions courage.
 The engendering Spirit did not enter her without consent.

 God waited.

 She had been a child who played, ate, slept
like any other child – but unlike others,
wept only for pity, laughed in joy not triumph.
Compassion and intelligence fused in her, indivisible.

Called to a destiny more momentous than any in all of Time,
she did not quail, only asked a simple, ‘How can this be?’
and gravely, courteously, took to heart the angel’s reply,
perceiving instantly the astounding ministry she was offered:

to bear in her womb Infinite weight and lightness; to carry
in hidden, finite inwardness, nine months of Eternity;

Preaching this Sunday – The Annunciation

I’m preaching this Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Advent.  The gospel reading is the story that is called The Annunciation, when Gabriel tells Mary about her impending motherhood.  Here’s the text (Luke 1:26-38) and some thoughts:

^{Luke 1:26}In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

If she is “perplexed” at this, just wait . . .

³⁰The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

It is interesting that she does not assume Joseph will be the father and the child will come about in the normal way.  The angel says, “You will conceive.”  Mary could have easily assumed the angel meant that this would all take place after she is married.  But she knew this was something special.

³⁵The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. ³⁶And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.”

I imagine the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy helped Mary.  If Elizabeth, in her old age, can conceive a son, then perhaps this really is possible.  Also I’m sure Elizabeth was an important companion on this scary spiritual journey.  This makes me wonder about the surprising ways in which we are invited to birth God in the world, and the importance of having Elizabeths in our lives — and being Elizabeth for others.

³⁸Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

There was a time when my western mind was very curious about what really happened.  How could Mary have really been a virgin and have a son.  Now I don’t really care too much about the gynecology of the story.  I’m more interested in the spirituality of the story.  God is in the business of bringing life into situations that we think are barren.  Virginity is a state of being unattached — open and available to the movement of the spirit.  We are each called to birth Christ into the world.  (Meister Eckhart said something like, “What good is it if Mary gave birth to the Christ child 1400 years ago if I fail to do so in this time and in this place.”)  Miracles abound and they shatter our expectations of how the world is supposed to work.  We are not alone in experiencing the miraculous movement of God’s spirit.  Saying yes, or “let it be” will change our lives, break our hearts, and move us closer to the Kingdom of God’s love.

2009 will be a great year

After a 2 hour vestry meeting at which we approved the budget for 2009, a vestry member came up to me and said, “2009 is going to be a great year.” This was after approving a budget with about $200,000 in cuts (almost 20% of our budget). We had to make the cuts, not because of a decrease in contributions, but because we have had been deficit budgeting for years. We would somehow manage to make up for the deficit through aggressive “close the gap” fundraising, but I had grown tired of always feeling poor when we get around $1million in contributions. So a few months ago we decided we would stop the crazy practice of deficit budgeting. We would base the budget on expected ordinary income. To right-size our budget, we would have to cut drastically.

And we did. While maintaining our current program staff, we cut every program back to bare bones. It will give us an opportunity to reassess our priorities and our direction. It is not a bad thing to shake up the status quo.

The reason the vestry member’s comment was so striking is because when we were looking at the enormity of the cuts we needed to make, we felt dispirited. But we did it. And we were positive and prayerful. And now, without the burden of the deficit, it feels freeing. Now when we do special fundraising throughout the year, it won’t be to make up for a deficit but it will be for projects that are truly “special.” I feel like a great financial burden has been lifted. 2009 will be a great year.

What’s The Word? The Bible On Gay Marriage

NPR’s Talk of The Nation did a program on the Bible and Gay Marriage.  Here’s the description:

Religious leaders often cite scripture as the basis for their opposition to gay marriage. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and host of the Albert Mohler Program, believes a strict reading of the text forbids gay marriage. But Lisa Miller, religion editor at Newsweek, contends the Bible’s models of marriage are flawed, and its lessons about love actually argue for gay marriage.

Listen HERE.

PB at National Press Club

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori spoke at the National Press Club. You can watch it HERE.

Dullest Blog

I was very busy not doing the chores on my day-off list when I stumbled upon the dullest blog in the world.  It remarkable how funny something this dull can be.  Be sure to notice the comments.  (It’s not like you could miss them since the notice 187 Comments is more interesting than the posts.)