Annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Our annual Christmas Eve worship service celebrates, in the light of the story of the birth of Jesus, the re-birth of hope. The service will include readings from Christian and Muslim traditions and more. We’ll hear the prophetic words of Maya Angelou and Howard Thurman. And, of course, we will light candles and sing “Silent Night.”

Attend in person at 624 N Broadway or via Zoom at <http://bit.ly/uusaratoga-worship>.

OOS Dec 24, 2024.docx

Homily

Note: What is below are more like notes that Rev Joe spoke from than a full text or transcript.

Can I Choose the Path I Have to Walk?

Rev. Joe Cleveland

December 24, 2024

UU Saratoga

 

The question that I keep coming back to this past month and a half or so is this: Can I choose the path I have to walk?  

The Christmas story is full of people facing this sort of situation.  And I think the first thing that I learn when I look at it is that maybe there wasn’t a path that they had to walk.  There was a situation that confronted them.  First, they had to acknowledge how things were, and then they had a choice about what they would do next.

In the Gospel of Luke, in a part that comes before what we heard read today, The angel Gabriel goes to see Mary.  She is told that she will have a child and name him Jesus, and that God will give this child his ancestor David’s throne.  The poet Denise Levertov contemplates this story, and ends up concluding that the way we are told this story puts the emphasis in the wrong place.  Levertove says,

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.
       The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
     God waited.
She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness [. . .]

 

She did not cry, ‘I cannot. I am not worthy,’
Nor, ‘I have not the strength.’
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
                                                   raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
                              consent illumined her.
The room filled with its light,
the lily glowed in it,
                           and the iridescent wings.
Consent,
          courage unparalleled,
opened her utterly.

Mary meets what is confronting her openly and with curiosity.  When the angel first shows up and shouts “Greetings, favored one!” (Luke 1.28) Mary is simply curious:  “… she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” (Luke 1.29)  When the angel tells her that she is going to have a child, again, she is curious – she is finding the situation to be curious — and she asks “How can this be?” (Luke 1.34) 

It’s interesting to me that in the Qur’an’s version of this story, Mary or Miriam is still curious.  She doesn’t rage or object, she wonders what is going on and how can this be?  When she learns what is going on, she makes a decision.  In the Gosepel of Luke, Mary says to the angel, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1.38)  Maybe this is a path that she had to be on, there is a situation confronting her that she has no control over.  But she does have control over what she will do next.  The main characteristic of Mary is that she is curious, she ponders things in her heart.  She doesn’t fly off the handle.  She isn’t simply reactive.  She asks questions.  She wonders.  She ponders.  And then she says, “Here I am.”  

 

It makes me think of jazz.  


you have to know what the melody is before you can improvise

musician has the melody, a set of chord changes.  

But they contemplate and ponder and open themselves to the song. 

They listen and then they experiment and try out different melodies, different chords. 

They play the song, but they don’t just play the song.  They play with the song.  They say, here I am, and then they play.

 

I like to know what the situation is that is confronting me.  That’s why I like using the translation of the Gospel of Luke that uses the word “guestroom” because that is a more accurate translation of the Greek word. 

 

When we are confronted with puzzling, potentially overwhelming situations

when we are confronted by situations over which we have no control

may we be curious

may we wonder

may we ponder

 

and may we have the courage to reply

Here I am.

I know what the values are that I serve. 

May we open ourselves to what’s real

May we open ourselves to our values

Here we are.

May we do the next right thing.

 

And when we do the next right thing, 

we are the gift

we are the present

that this moment needs.

 

So it is. May it be so. May we be part of making it so.



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