Sermon for Advent 4: Cloth for Cradle: Readings Micah 5, Luke, Hebrews

Revd. Deacon Christine Saccali – St Paul’s Athens

 

May God be on my lips and in all our hearts. AMEN

Her name was Miss Betts and she used to work in the pharmacy in the town in uk where I grew up. She had retired and lived near us but every day we would see her walking briskly up and down that same route with scarcely a break. She was on the move all the time, without respite and at a fair lick. The same goes for a man I see on my drive down to church and other days who parks the car at Aghios Stephanos and starts fast walking  at a rapid pace past Kapandriti , where I live now, which is also some considerable distance. The same route all the time.

Today it is the fourth Sunday of Advent – how do we feel we have travelled through these four weeks of peace, hope, joy and today love? Have we rushed through without a glance not pausing on our way to Bethlehem or have we savoured the journey, reflecting as we go? If I am honest, I am dragging my feet a bit this year and plodding on. I find it odd that I don’t write and receive many Christmas cards any more and not only from dear departed family and friends That ecards have replaced the traditional ones. Call me old fashioned.

I have been reading a book entitled On the way to Bethlehem which was on my shelf. It is all about leaving baggage behind and arriving at Bethlehem, Ephrathah named in our Micah reading, unencumbered. I have found it helpful and it has helped me to pause, lighten my load and mood.

Our readings today give us focus on Bethlehem and on two pregnant women Elizabeth and Mary. Only Luke records this story and it is an extraordinary one. The encounter helps us slow down before the rush of Christmas. It is not clear why Mary early in her pregnancy would wish to see her much older cousin in mountainous Judea  who was six months further ahead in an unexpected pregnancy, though one can imagine. It was a journey of some 70 miles and we are told she stayed three months.

Mary greets Elizabeth  but Elizabeth’s greeting is even more extraordinary as is the reaction of the foetus in her womb who we know will become John the Baptist who we have spent a couple of Sundays thinking about. Luke is the only evangelist to give any background to John, remember. Luke is a lover of stories and songs and weaving them into his accounts along with the protagonists even women and as a doctor may be paying attention to pregnancy detail. The baby skipped the Greek word is eskirtise in the womb – think of our heart skipping a beat. A baby moving is joyous, usually, to the woman carrying it, the movement miraculous as a sign of life. I have been privileged to feel that quickening as the writer Sarah Ward entitled one of her books. I also have known the disappointment of a failed early pregnancy and infertility. And we must remember how common it is for men and women despite the great strides made in science.

Scripture tackles all of this from Sarah to Hannah in the Old Testament to these two unexpected pregnancies of elderly Elizabeth and very young Mary , in different circumstances and spectrums but both called by God and pregnancies announced by His messengers, angels. No wonder they want to be together at this bewildering but sacred time.

The tone is set: as had been foretold to Zechariah and probably shared with Elizabeth their baby was full of the Holy Spirit and although they were expectant of the Messaiah, they accepted their son’s role as secondary to the child Mary was carrying. More than that, Mary’s womb  is seen as the Ark of the Covenant and just as David danced before that in joy so does the baby in the womb. We rejoice too at that meeting full of the Holy Spirit.

But so much for Luke, our main gospel for this year C. When you put the other two readings alongside what you get is the longer view. We see God patiently, carefully, slowly preparing for the revelation of His son, the long awaited Messiah. In Micah we see the prophet picking up on the significance of Bethlehem whose importance has already been fulfilled in his time as the source of David, the great king of Israel.  We are not finished with Bethlehem, though. Hebrews, too, makes the Davidic connection by putting words into the Messiah’s mouth that were originally ascribed to David in Psalm 40. Now God’s Son coming in bodily form surpasses all other sacrifices for ever.

All these steps of God’s plan help remind us of the way to Bethlehem. However we feel at this time as we approach the Christ child again, there is God’s grace before us unfolding. For many, the festivities are not anticipated with joy but with dread for whatever reason. It is good to acknowledge that both to ourselves and others. And we cannot always summon up the child in us to recognize the Christ child in the crib.

Hang on a minute where is the manger and the Christmas Tree ? Don’t worry they will be going up soon. What we have today over there is a bare crib .

In previous years, there have been blue Christmas services here and we have also had after service a time of sharing and prayers for baby loss. Today you have been given a ribbon or a piece of cloth and that cradle over there on the prayer table where you can place it to make an alternative crib and reflect on this year and your journey  or a world or church situation.Or you can take it home and use as a book mark or place elsewhere. Or you can just leave it in the pew as this idea does not appeal or has no relevance to you. If however, you need more strips there are plenty available to be given to others.

Cloth for the cradle. We remember that cloth is important for the birth and death of Jesus: material used as swaddling bands in the manger to protect the infant, make it feel safe and make his limbs strong and straight. Φασιωνω  fasiomata still recommended by my mother in law on the birth of my son nearly forty years ago. Let’s think of that as we wrap presents how Jesus was wrapped up and presented to us. Jesus clothes were also divided up and torn after the crucifixion. Cloth for the cradle has become a popular service in some churches.

As we journey on our final stage towards Bethlehem the vital thing is to savour the moments, remembering other journeys maybe, while valuing this one and not rushing  around like the crazy world outside. Love came down at Christmas. Let us share that love here at St Paul’s in our services and out in the wider community.

I end with an Advent poem by Ana Lisa de Jong

If you are like me, by years end your heart has closed a crack, or is full to brimming,

with the weariness of grief unpacked still, with the challenge of task and test, following one on from the next.

The debris of life leaves a brittleness, a shell that might hold a smile intact but leaves us gasping underneath.

We have had enough.

Weary travelers needing more than light relief, in need instead of the miraculous,.

We need Advent, its quiet pilgrimage to which the beloved draws hearts, directs steps.

To Hope which becomes a beacon to which we reach, and then carry high so that others might light their candles from our weak wicks.

And Peace , which immeasurable in its healing arts invades the corners of our hearts, exposing the bitter and painful depths to catch the light.

And then to Joy  that starts to spark and recharge itself anew, at the remembrance of one who waits upon us to make him room, to reach that still and quiet place above which his guiding star rests,

To which Love suddenly breaks the silence with the sound of life.

AMEN