Welcome to a New Year! (Liturgically speaking that is) This week we enter into a new year as we begin the season of Advent. With the beginning of Advent this year we are also starting to work with a new lectionary. This is the Women's Lectionary and will push us to view Scripture from a different point of view.
One of the traditions we have developed in the last few years is to have a tree of memory in the sanctuary. This is a place where we recognize the 'blueness' that can accompany the Christmas season and we are invited to hang the names of those we hold in our memories on the tree. The tree will be available starting this Sunday and you are invited to hang your name(s) on it as you arrive. The tree will remain in place throughout the season and you can add a name at any time.
The Scripture Readings this week are:
- Genesis 16:7-13
- Luke 1:26-38
The Sermon title is Congratulations?!?
Early Thoughts: A slave girl who can not consent. A peasant girl where the question of consent is very wide open. These are the two young women who are told that they will give birth in this week's readings.
Hagar has no choice in the matter. The Divine One tells her to return to her place of bondage, her place of abuse and there she will have a child. The child will be the ancestor of many, but will also be a handful -- "wild ass of a man" is what the text says. Are congratulations due in this case?
Mary does not start the story as a slave. But in the end she embraces the role of slave. She offers her body, her being to God. Over the years many people have pondered if she truly had a choice. Could she have said no? And given what we know about the life and death of the child Mary will birth, are congratulations appropriate with this pregnancy announcement?
This Advent we will hear a lot about babies. For each of them the birth is announced by God (or a messenger thereof). For each of them we are told that God has a plan for their life. All told that seems to be a mixed blessing for each of them -- sometimes the mixture leans positive, sometimes it leans negative.
Are congratulations always the automatic response to news of a pregnancy? Or is it a bit more complicated than that?
--Gord
No comments:
Post a Comment