feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)
Dearest family,
First of all, Celia and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a joyful, thankful and restful celebration of Christmas, praying that this advent season, you will experience the coming of Father, Son and Holy Spirit to your hearts and households. The context of our lives often appears no more manicured and managed than the outhouse of that inn happened to be two millennia ago. He still comes to us as He finds us. The key to a change in the environs of the heart seems to be less about the preparation (not that there is not a biblical place for that) but more about the transformation that comes simply by virtue of his presence. Were any of those who came to worship, whether sages or shepherds, conscious at all of any other sense, whether the smell of the place, the roughness of the ground they kneeled on, than the sense of the presence of Christ? This Christmas, in the words of the old chorus: Turn your eyes upon Jesus / Look full in His wonderful face/ And the things of earth will grow strangely dim/ In the light of his glory and grace.
On Sunday, I presented a very concentrated Advent message, suggesting ten significant areas of instruction and edification that are patently present in the birth narratives, the explosive text that launches the New Testament. As I’m sitting here writing this letter, I realize there is no way that I can attempt to summarize what I covered, but given the range of reference, and the focus of application, I encourage you to download the Mp3 as a Christmas gift to yourself as a provocation and encouragement to meditate in the text yourself. I began and ended with Zechariah, so I thought I’d do something different and bring you some thoughts about Elizabeth.
As at the beginning of the original Exodus story where we meet those midwives named Shiprah and Puah, where we meet Jochabed, Moses’ mother and Miriam, his sister, so in the story of our Exodus, our deliverance from captivity, equally we meet these incredible women, whose stability and serenity and poise under pressure is so re-assuring given the demands and pains of the situation. If Zechariah comes across as “dumb and dumber” then Elizabeth is certainly “sweet and sweeter”. There is something so alluringly and disarmingly gorgeous about this woman. Despite the crippling affliction of infertility, her womanhood does not seem to have missed a beat, the product of persevering prayer and holiness. Her barrenness was symbolic of the times. Despite every effort to do the right thing, whether characterized by the perfume of love-making in private or the incense of priestly prayer in public, nothing was happening. Seed was continually sown but there was no fertilization, whether in the womb or in the soil of messianic history. Not to have a child was anguish enough but what was unbearable was the public perception of such a state. If children were a blessing from the Lord, then it was assumed that barrenness was a judgment, a sign of shame, a consequence of sin. The whirling and eddying currents of gossip, of imputed shame, combined to weather the soul and erode peace. Elizabeth teaches us so much. The only relief is that when one cannot justify oneself, one can submit trustingly to the judgments of God and trust him to be the defender and the vindicator. After she is pregnant, as she touches her billowing and blossoming garments, there is such power in her almost understated testimony: “The Lord has done great things for me.” God’s loving-kindness had a location. It had earthed in Zechariah’s mouth and Elizabeth’s womb. How we need to know and honor this work of the Word of God – though the sound of it can bring intellectual comprehension, it is also a force that can fling a star into space for wise men and fuel a sperm, and change my life and circumstances too, why not!
God still comes to the last – to those that are on the edge or beyond the pale. It comes to those who believe that the last train has already left and they’re stuck in an interminable waiting room. Mind you, He is the God who seems to specialize in our last hour, in the last moment. When the last garment of selfrespect has been blown off our backs or stripped off us by another, his grace re-clothes us. And it is never an off-the-rack kind, but personally tailored and contoured to the unique shape of our out-of-joint life, with its particular “sloping-shoulder” and “irregular size” circumstances. When the last bit of emotional greenery has been uprooted from our hearts and we feel like a wilderness on the inside, his grace is still in the irrigation business, watering the desert of our barren lives. He still comes to the last and as He did for Elizabeth, He specializes in removing our shame and disgrace, in our own eyes, in others’ eyes, but above all, in His eyes. Is it really surprising that God entrusted Mary to Elizabeth for her spiritual nurture and care? The text says Elizabeth “remained five months in seclusion.” No reason is given. It certainly wasn’t, “I can’t go out till it’s really sure.” She shut herself in to the presence of God. The last, the most shamed, became the first one God thought of to disciple Mary, the mother of His son! The one who was last became the first recorded voice to recognize and identify the child that was conceived in Mary as the Lord and Savior of the world! And what’s interesting is that the shame of being last in the happiness stakes became transformed into an ability to willfully and willingly defer and take the last place joyfully, for did she not say, “Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” The place of hurtful shame had become the place of healing and humility. God still seeks and saves the lost, the last and the least and incorporates them in to his kingdom purposes for the salvation of the world.
May you know this for your life this advent, as Elizabeth did for hers, and like her, may you be filled with the Holy Spirit this Christmas. As she named the child “John” may you too accept and name your identity according to God’s definition of your life and not according to “the relatives,” to all those things of the past that have characterized and limited the generations before you. No more “dumb and dumber!” This Christmas, as for Elizabeth, let it truly be “sweet and sweeter!”
DO NOT FORGET THAT THERE IS NO SERVICE NEXT SUNDAY BECAUSE INSTEAD WE ARE MEETING ON SATURDAY EVENING AT 6:00 P.M. FOR OUR FAMILY CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE. ALSO, DO NOT FORGET TO BRING AN APPETIZER! SEE YOU THERE!
Pastorally yours,
Stuart
http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)
Announcements
CHRISTMAS SERVICE: COSC will be holding it’s annual Candle Light Christmas Service at 6pm on Saturday, Dec. 19. There will be no service on Sunday morning, Dec. 20th. Please bring a plate of goodies, ready to serve, to share after the service (sweet or salty!)
MEN’S MINISTRY:
Save the date for the COSC Men’s Retreat, January 30 -31.
If you want to be added to the Men's Ministry Distribution list of men’s ministry activities and announcements email Matthew at matthew.tropiano@navy.mil.
CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR WASHINGTON HOME: Please remember our friends at the Washington Home this Christmas, and share our Lord’s love with a Christmas card to brighten their day. See below for the names and room numbers of WH residents. Cards should be addressed to The Washington Home, 3720 Upton St. NW, 20016 (indicate name, room number and A or B sideas well) and can be given to Terry Colvin, Kathy Gosselin, or Dan McCullough for delivery. Contact Dan if you would be interested in personally visiting the Home as well: 301-762-4408.
NAME Room#
1ST FLOOR RESIDENTS: "A" side of building.
Paul Ethridge 104
Betty Ewing 113
Blanca (Andrea) Schwartz 114
Moya King 123
Myrtel Purnel 126
Walter Brown 135
2nd FLOOR RESIDENTS: "B" side of building
Sharon Carter 203
Jack Bishop 226
Ruth Henderson 248
3rd FLOOR RESIDENTS: "A" side of building
Joseph Lynch 302
Elizabeth (Corty) Andrews 303
Tressie Little 311
Florence Perry 315
Qi Lin 323
Ruby Hart 326
Dorothy Gibson 332
Marie Buckner 336
Lucy McArdle 337
Myung Han 345
Geraldine Gibson (GG) 353
Barbara Bryant 354
Donna Wilkes 356
Nurses fm Sierra Leone – Vintia, Margaret, Christina
HEALING PRAYER TRAINING: We will be conducting training for level 1 on Saturdays from 9:30 - 1:30 pm. on Jan. 9, 24 and Feb. 6. If interested, please contact Deborah in the office. We cannot accommodate walk-ins. Cost is $25 for materials, payable at the first session
Donations for 2009 must be received in the church office (or must be postmarked) on or before December 31 to qualify as a 2009 contribution. Contribution statements for 2009 will be mailed by January 30, 2010. End of year checks designated for Care Company must be made out to “Care Company,” not COSC.
Bulletin Board
Postings not officially sanctioned by COSC.
Ads will be posted for up to 4 weeks. After that time period,
please contact the church office to see if space will permit the
ad to remain posted.
HOUSING AVAILABLE: Spacious, English basement apartment available for $1600/Mo including ALL utilities (and wi-fi) and private parking space. Newly finished, large 1 BD/1 BA basement apt. located at 10 & E NE beginning late Jan or early Feb. Apt includes full kitchen, full size W/D, natural light throughout, ample closet space, and private back entrance. Please contact Kristi Stofer at kpstofer@gmail.com if interested.
HOUSING AVAILABLE: Two rooms available for women in a 4 BR home on Rt. 50, 1 mile South of Clarendon. 2 full Baths, full kitchen, living room, dining room, basement. Washer/ Dryer and storage unit. Upstairs master BR available Jan. 1; smaller downstairs BR available mid Dec. Very reasonable rent. If interested, please e-mail TheParsonageLadies@gmail.com.
For Rent in SE DC, 2BR, 1Bath Home for rent to either a couple/family or to singles wanting to house-share East of the Anacostia. Very cute colonial cottage on quiet one-way street. Partly furnished. Side porch, nice front yard. Friendly neighbors. Share laundry facilities in Basement. Owner lives in Basement. 1200.00 Available Jan 15, 2010. Interested? Please contact Cynthia: 703-371-3392, cryabbafather@yahoo.com.
Christian male looking for Efficiency or 1 BD apartment, preferably furnished, Eastern Market or other convenient location to the Red or Orange/Blue line, contact Alvin at alvinkleong@gmail.com.