That's What She Said

Pray. Bowing our head, bending our knee, pledging our allegiance – this is the subversive work of prayer. Corporate prayer in worship is a stay against idolatry. We remember again that our time here is for the re-ordering of our lives: “God is God, and we are not. (And nothing else is God, either.)” The counter-narratives say that our lives depend on capitalism, work, the military, government, our own capacities. Even the simplicity of the Lord’s Prayer says otherwise.

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Arrive. King David, having recovered the Ark of the Covenant, dances his way home. He is essentially bringing God’s Presence back to Israel, and his enthusiastic showing-up dance is unnerving to some (his wife!) who wish for more decorum, more “demure”, in worship. But it matters how we arrive for worship – do we bring our whole (exposed) selves, or do we hold back? Additionally, there are many “Psalms of Ascent” in Israel’s hymnal, designated for climbing the temple mount in Jerusalem – meaning that our ancestors gave some thought to how we gather for worship. As do we. (parts of worship: video prologue, welcome, query)

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Simeon, Anna, and I can die now. Simeon is our final singer. He and Anna have waited many years, decades of waiting, for the fulfillment of one small piece of God’s big promise to redeem Israel and save the world. Waiting is a virtue, a practice, a skill that becomes a disposition for we who are tracing the long arc of the moral universe... (Carissa Robinson is preaching.)

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Angels, shepherds, and all that had been told them. The angelic announcement (the third of four arias in this opera) stokes the shepherds’ curiosity, and they are the first “come and see” invitees. Do we imagine the angels only sang to these shepherds? Or did their song perhaps go to others who were not quite interested enough to drop everything and go?

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Jesus: born under the boot of empire. Luke here situates Jesus’s birth in its political and economic contexts. Babies born now could be similarly announced: “When So-and-So was president, and So-and-So was governor of Texas; when interest rates were thus, and employment was such...” And what would it mean? If Jesus’s nativity happened now, where would it likely take place?

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John, Zechariah, and being filled with God’s Spirit. The songs we sing to our children matter. What are the melodies and lyrics we fill their imaginations with? Songs of longing and lament; songs of empowerment and good cheer; songs that transport our spirits into God’s good future – these are the songs we must sing for generations to come.

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Elizabeth, Mary, and the strength of God’s arm. The story of sisterhood, and the subversive lullaby that rumbles up from Mary’s spirit after some time spent soaking up Elizabeth’s company, are scenes that ignite our own communal spirit. What happens, what becomes possible in your imagination, after spending time with someone who can help you see God’s future? Cultivate those relationships. (And be that sister/friend for someone else, too.)

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle ([email protected]), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Gabriel, Mary, Joseph, and nothing is impossible with God. If Mary’s virginity means anything, it means that God bounds over obstacles to get what God wants. At the same time, God seeks consent for this particular intervention; Mary’s yes is imperative to the forward motion of the story and God’s incoming Presence. (Note: this is a very Mary-centric story, compared to Matthew’s Joseph-centric story.)

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Zechariah, Elizabeth, and what the Lord has done for me. Elizabeth’s “barrenness” was a source of shame (“disgrace”), the brokenness that we associate with bodies that don’t behave as they should according to norms we have inherited. Scripture often speaks of shameful bodies being liberated/received by God – eunuchs in Isaiah 56, for example. The incarnation itself is God’s display of solidarity with our embodiment, and the grace God intends for our bodies as well as our souls.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle ([email protected]), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060

Luke, Theophilus, and the well-ordered account. Luke’s gospel is epistolary, with an intended (if imagined) recipient, Theophilus (“Friend of God”). Luke acknowledges that there are competing narratives of “the events that have been fulfilled among us,” and offers his reporting as “well- ordered.” This is an important assertion: that Theophilus (and the whole audience) deserve an account that assumes their intelligence and their right to know. We who follow Jesus are engaged in this learning/understanding project all the time, in order to guard against those who would twist it to mean other than it does.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or Zelle ([email protected]), or just send a check to P.O. Box 668, Kennedale, TX 76060