From ‘Uh-OH’ to ‘Ah-HAh!’: Attitude RUMC December 12, 2010

From ‘Uh-OH’ to ‘Ah-HAh!’: Attitude

RUMC December 12, 2010

Isn’t that beautiful?  The Magnificat is one of the most beautiful songs of the Christian faith - it’s Mary’s Song.  But it is not just beautiful it is powerful.

  William Barclay writes: "There’s a loveliness in the Magnificat but in that loveliness there’s dynamite." 

The former Archbishop of  Cantebury, William Temple, warned pastors about the magnificat. You see, during the last days of the British occupation of India, the police often visited church services because of the Christian community’s support of the Indian Revolution.  He told pastors not to use the Magnificat in worship because "It’s a most revolutionary canticle!"

It seems innocent enough when Krystyn Getty’s sings it. Her angelic voice could calm any troubled soul.  The song just relaxes me and makes me feel warm inside.   But that is not the  whole story.

It happened this way:

The angel visited Mary one day. 

^26-28In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

   Good morning!
   You're beautiful with God's beauty,
   Beautiful inside and out!
   God be with you.

 ^29-33She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

   He will be great,
      be called 'Son of the Highest.'
   The Lord God will give him
      the throne of his father David;
   He will rule Jacob's house forever—
      no end, ever, to his kingdom."

 ³⁴Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."

 ³⁵The angel answered,

   The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
      the power of the Highest hover over you;
   Therefore, the child you bring to birth
      will be called Holy, Son of God.

 ^36-38"And did you know that Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."

   And Mary said,

   Yes, I see it all now:
      I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.
   Let it be with me
      just as you say.

   Then the angel left her.

This is a miracle story.  Not just because the angel of the almighty God, named Gabriel, appeared; not just because of the annunciation; but because the angel appeared to a previously unknown child, from an anonymous family, that lived in a virtually unknown city, located in a region considered by most people to be utterly insignificant if not backwards.

But wait. . .  if that weren’t enough of a miracle, the divine  messenger brings word to the little girl that she is going to be pregnant, a teenage mother. She knows that this means people will look down upon her.  They will talk, as people do.  They will label her, and call her unkind names. In those few moments with the angel, her reputation and prospects for marriage crumbled.  Without any chance of marriage, she is doomed to a life of gleaning in the fields and begging.  That would be better, however,  than the other option of becoming a prostitute.  Better, . .  but just barely better.

The way I look at it, the big miracle here is that Mary does not run away, tearing her hair out, and screaming!

Isn’t that what most young girls would do?  This is the most frightening, humiliating, life-dream crushing, hope killing news Mary could have received.  It is a huge “Uh-OH”

‘Uh-OH’ I’m going to be pregnant.  ‘Uh-OH’ what will Joseph think. ‘Uh-OH’ what will my parents and the rest of the village think? ‘Uh-OH’ Will it hurt?  ‘Uh-OH’ Will it loose my figure?  ‘Uh-OH’ Will I be a good mom?

The story goes on to say “Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea.” She went to see Elizabeth

What was she thinking?  Did she get scared?  Was she ashamed?  Did she intend to hide out with the favorite Aunt hoping this spirit would not find her and cause her to be  pregnant?  It doesn’t say, and I don’t know.  While she was there, however, another message came to her. This one from Elizabeth  who was also pregnant with the one we shall come to know as John the Baptist.

As soon as Elizabeth saw Marry, the baby John leapt inside of her.  He probably let out a great big kick.  Elizabeth confirms the Angel’s message by saying “Blessed is she who has believed that what the lord has said to her will be accomplished.”

That is when Mary breaks forth in this song.

The message translation does a beautiful job with the lyrics to her song.

I'm bursting with God-news; 
      I'm dancing the song of my Savior God. 
      God took one good look at me, and look what happened— 
      I'm the most fortunate woman on earth! 
   What God has done for me will never be forgotten, 
      the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. 
   His mercy flows in wave after wave 
      on those who are in awe before him.

So far so good.  So far the song is easy and beautiful and lovely. So far the song is a beautiful testimony to Mary’s faith in God and trust in what God is doing.  So far the song is a testimony to the faithful response of a scared little girl, upon finding out that she is about to give birth to God himself.

Mary made the move from “Oh-OH to AH-HA” and faithfully accepted her role in the salvation story.

Now we turn to the radical part.  The middle of the magnificat is so radical that I even read a story about a wealthy suburban church where the pastor would only used the first half of the magnificat because he didn’t want to upset his people.  I’m not afraid so here goes. . . The song goes on. . .

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly; 
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.

It’s revolutionary because the world’s values are turned upside down.  Our values are turned upside down.  We may even be turned upside down.

Whether we like to admit it or whether feel like it, economically speaking, WE are among the world’s proud, and powerful and rich and the magnificat should make us uncomfortable. 

Whether we like to admit it or whether we feel like it or not, our nation is among the world’s proud, and powerful and rich and the magnificat should make us uncomfortable.

We should be uncomfortable because we are targets.  We are the among those at whom God is taking aim with the upside-down , inside-out, radical act of incarnation.

Understand this. . .  we are targets not because we are comparatively wealthy.  We are not targets because we are comparatively powerful.  We ARE targets because all these things tend to make us proud.  We are targets because all of these things tend to cause us to trust primarily on ourselves and our things rather than God.

Hebrew poetry is famous for its parallelisms.  Saying the same thing different ways.  That is one of the great study tools for Hebrew poetry like the Psalms. 

The first line here is the Key line he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. The lines about bringing down the powerful and sending the rich away empty are in my opinion parallel lines.  They illustrate what is meant by the scattering the proud.    Basically the promise is those who put themselves on a pedestal are going to get knocked off.

Hey my pedestal partners!  We better hope our pedestals are not very tall.

In some ways I think our response to the magnificat represents our advent journey.

We enter Advent thinking “this is easy.”

We enter advent thinking “this is beautiful”

We enter advent thinking it is about silver bells, candles in windows, trees and gifts.  We proceed through advent thinking it is about cute little angels, curious shepherds, a romantic story about young love, an adventurous little journey, and the fulfilling of all the old promises.

But if that is all we see in advent we are headed to be knocked off of our pedestals.

If that is all we see in advent we are among the most prideful of the proud and we deserve to be knocked off our pedestals and land hard on our butts.

Advent is also about preparing for a new life, a new world and a new age!

Advent is also about the coming of the perfect almighty God into our sinful world and lives.

Advent is also about the appearing of the God of righteousness among the  unrighteousness of our culture, politics and relationships.

Advent is also about turning everything we think we have under control, upside down and revealing who is really the master of our lives and  the universe.

Advent Is also , like the magnificat, not  just sweet and sentimental.  Advent is about radical change for a world and for people who need to be radically changed.

The advent attitude then should not just be one of eager anticipation for the sweet baby Jesus, all neatly wrapped up in swaddling “bows” for us to ooo and aaaah over.

Our advent attitude should be two pronged: UH-OH and AH-HA.

FIREWORKS video

UH-OH here comes Jesus.  AH-HA  he’s coming.

UH-OH here comes the one who turns the world upside-down.  AH-HA  we need to be turned upside down.

UH-OH here comes the God who is always sticking his nose into my business, AH- ha I guess my business  isn’t really my business anyway.

Our attitude ought to be UH-OH here comes God with his no sinner left behind policy. AH- Ha God isn’t content to leave me in my sin.

Like The magnificat, Advent is a strange blend of UH-OH and AH-HA.

May this be a season of advent be for you as much  UH-OH as AH-HA.

And may it be for you as much AH-HA as UH-OH.

“From ‘Uh-Oh’ to ‘Ah-Hah!’: Attention”

“From ‘Uh-Oh’ to ‘Ah-Hah!’: Attention”

RUMC Second Sunday in Advent 2010

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

 (Isn’t that just like the government?  They sit up there at that state house and make decisions with hardly a thought of how much it will disrupt our lives.  It’s SO frustrating!)

 All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.

(singing:  I’ll be home for Christmas. You can plan on me.  Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree….)  

He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

(Oh!  I have to remember to wrap that gift for Rebecca.  I KNOW she’s going to have that baby this week!)   

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

 (Shoot!  I think I forgot to write down the confirmation number for our hotel stay in Cedar Rapids.  Uh Oh!  I don’t even think I remember the name of the hotel.  What do I do now?)

Does that seem familiar to you?  We’ve all been there haven’t we?  We have all had days when we have been so distracted, tuned out, or busy that we can’t even attend to even the little things in life, let alone the big things.  Doctors Call that ADD Attention Deficit Disorder.  It has been described as part of your brain is going 10 miles an hour, and the other part is going 100 miles an hour.  It would be like nailing one foot to the floor and running a marathon . . .  around and around and around.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not making light of a serious problem.  In fact, I think ADD might be more prevalent than we ever imagined.  Not as a medical diagnosis, but as a spiritual diagnosis.  Spiritual ADD.

Though not medically recognized I think Spiritual ADD is very real.

Spiritual ADD is fundamentally an inability to take the time to attend to the things that matter most to us.  It might be described as the spirit trying to go 10 miles an hour while the rest of you is going 100 miles an hour.  We do this because we live in a 100 mile an hour world.

·         When the speed limit is 55 MPH how fast do you drive?  If was 65 how fast would you drive?  Never fast enough is it.

·         What kind of restaurants are the biggest in the world?  Fast food?

·         Why are commercials customarily 30 seconds?  Because that’s all the longer we can pay attention.

·         Have you ever sat at your computer that processes information at the speed of 1 GHz per second, and complained that it was too slow?

Why are we like this?  Because we live in a 100 mile an hour, 1 gigahertz per second, microwavable, fast food world.  We expect our spirituality to work the same way.  And it simply doesn’t!

Another symptom of Spiritual ADD is a lack of attention.  We attend, but we don’t pay attention.  Your bodies might be here but your minds are somewhere else

·         Do you remember what I preached about 2 weeks ago?  If not that could be a commentary on my preaching, or it could be a sign that your attention was pulled too many different ways. (By the way, I had to look it up too- so I include myself in this Spiritual ADD)  I preached about our need to be generous and burned the money at the beginning of the sermon.

·         When you get home do you remember the prayer concerns that have been shared?  People share their deep hurts and hopes and we forget them!  Why?  Because we are attending but not paying attention.

·         Do you remember the Bible passage from your devotions this morning or yesterday?  Isn’t that supposed to stick with us so we can meditate on it and our lives revolve around it?  But often they seem to bounce off like a ping pong ball.

This is one of the reasons Christians are accused of being hypocrites.  We show up . . .  we attend, but we don’t pay attention, and our lives are not changed.  Technically I suppose it is hypocrisy. Mostly it is just sad.

Our ADD spirituality, characterized by the frenzy of our activity, by an inability to pay attention to that which is really important.  Spiritual ADD drains us of the joy of salvation. That which is supposed to fill us with hope frankly drains us dry.  Call it burn-out, call it exhaustion, call it dropping out.  Call it what you will- it feels as though we have been abandoned by God.

Into the midst of that comes John the Baptist. The camel hair wearing. Locust eating, freaky cousin of Jesus.  He almost comes out of nowhere shouting “prepare the way.  Repent.”    John’s job was to get people’s attention.  Just as God had been trying with varying success to get our attention since creation went awry.  God had used floods, and fires, judges and kings and prophets and teachers.  Miracles and threats.  Sure people would pay attention for a while, but then the spiritual ADD would take over. Kind of a spiritual amnesia.  And they would be right back where they started.

Here comes John the Baptist.  He says “STOP!”  Well, not exactly but that is the spirit of what this wild man from Galilee says.  He says “STOP.  STOP waiting because the promised one is at hand.  STOP running around at 100 miles an hour or you’ll miss him. Stop doing religion and live faithfully.   STOP For God sake STOP.  For your sake STOP.  Just STOP.

Last Spring I did that.  I’ll admit that I slipped back into my busy crazy mode recently, but this sermon has pulled me back.  The stop sign was a line by John Ortberg.   There is nothing in the spiritual life can be done in a hurry. Let me say that again slowly . . . there is nothing . . . nothing in the spiritual life that can be done in a hurry.

When a child has ADD they often give them Ritalin or a related drug.  The odd thing is that Ritalin is a stimulant.  Exactly the opposite that you would think to give a child like that.  If I took Ritalin I would bounce off the walls.  When a child with ADD takes it, it synchronizes that 100 mile an hour side of their brain and the 10 mile an hour side. 

Today I want to prescribe some spiritual Ritalin for you. I can’t think of a better gift for a people so busy and pulled so many different directions.  I can’t think of a better gift for a people who have trouble focusing on the spiritual things of life.   I can’t think of a better prescription for a people suffering from Spiritual ADD.   My prescription is just as counterintuitive as Ritalin.  It runs directly against common sense.  My prescription is STOP.

My prescription for a busy life is STOP.

My prescription for a frenzied life is STOP.

My prescription for a “packed too full” “How can I pack 5 more things into my day” life is STOP.  STOP RIGHT HERE.  STOP RIGHT NOW. 

STOP trying to be all things to all people and be the best you can be for God.

STOP trying to be the perfect holiday host and just be a guest in the heart of God.

STOP attending to church and be attentive to the word of God as we proclaim it and teach it.

I know it is scary; but just STOP.  I suspect that you will realize, as I did, that the blur you saw out of the corner of your eye just might be Jesus. 

Last spring when I did this.  John the Baptist would have included me in the brood of vipers.  I just knew I was way too important to slow down, and I had the to-do list as long as my arm to prove it.  After a week my to-do list “I stopped driving myself crazy, to attend to what God was doing in my life and in the life of those around me”  You know what?  And after a week my to-do list was shorter than it was when I started. 

Though I have slipped a little (OK more than just a little) this fall.  I am committed to going back.  I quit!  Right here and now, LET’S QUIT!

Let’s quit running around like we are the most important people in the world.

Let’s quit doing things just because someone else thinks we should. 

Let’s quit reading the Bible with distracted minds. 

Let’s quit spending our worship time thinking about all the things we should have done.

Let’s quit our frenzied pseudo-lives and distracted Para-Spirituality.

Right now.  Let’s just quit and leave out Spiritual ADD behind.

My prescription:  STOP everything and call God right now.  Just STOP.  For your own well being and your relationship with God I prescribe that you just stop.  The nice thing is you can take this prescription as often as needed.  You can’t overdose. 

Many of us enter Advent and the Christmas season with a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs and instead of singing an angel song we groan ‘Uh-Oh.’

Advent should not be a season of Uh Oh.  Advent should be a time of moving from the HO HUM of our daily lives to the ‘Ah-Hah!’ of realizing that life and the world will never be the same.

I know you are saying ‘Uh-Oh’ right now.  I can’t stop.  I have too much to be done.  I can’t give up my self-importance.  Because I really am important.  I can’t give up my spiritual ADD.  Because I kind of like not paying much attention.

But, trust me.  Try it, and I pray that as Christmas Morning dawns, and the Christ child cries, you will see the dawning of new life.   And instead of crying Uh-Oh’ you’ll be shouting ‘Ah-Hah!’

AMEN

(I think I can do that.  I wonder if anyone else will?)