Epworth United Methodist Church

Epworth United Methodist Church
Rev. David Weekley, Pastor
December 6, 2009
Luke 1:68-79

Advent Communion Meditation

This morning’s reading from the gospel of Luke is known as Zechariah’s Benedictus. It is the prophecy of a priest named Zechariah.

A child has just been born to Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth; this child will grow up to become John the Baptist, the one who will prophecy the coming of Jesus, call people to repentance [i.e. to change the direction of their lives] and who will actually baptize Jesus in the Jordan River.

Luke tells us, “his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy.” [Luke 1:67]

The word we sometimes use today to indicate an attractive, powerful leader or superstar is “charismatic”, and it literally means someone who is the recipient of the divine gift of being ‘filled with the spirit.’

Filled with this charisma, this Holy Spirit, Zechariah rejoices through this prayer because he senses that God is doing something new, making a bold decision to enter into human life and rescue people from their hopelessness and despair.

Zechariah prophecies, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; you will go before the Lord to prepare the way, to give knowledge of salvation to God’s people by the forgiveness of their sins.” [Luke 1:76-77]

In these verses Luke is telling us about both a Mighty Savior [i.e. Jesus], and the prophet of this Savior [i.e. John the Baptist].

Luke is also reminding us that God does not generally work alone: when God something there is usually at least one human person involved, sometimes two, an often times an entire community.

The result of this divine intervention, this gift of charisma, will be that “the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. [Luke 1:78-79]

But notice again that while the gift of these two children is a work of God, like all of God’s action in the world, peace does not exist in a vacuum either: peace also requires human action, human cooperation with the divine.

There’s a new movie coming out this month called, The Human Factor.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, this movie is also about charisma, God’s Spirit at work through a cooperative human being and community.

Talking about the movie, Clint Eastwood remarked, “Mandela has great charisma…he had the charisma to bring the country together. The unique way he does it is what this story is all about.”

Eastwood’s new movie tells the story of how Mandela worked to unite his racially and economically divided country in the mid 1990’s.

Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994, after spending decades as a leading opponent of apartheid, the white government’s official policy of racial segregation.

His opposition to the policy of apartheid had resulted in 27 years in prison, but in 1990 he was released, and then, in 1994 elected president.

In 1995 South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup Tournament.

Now, Rugby was a white people’s game, and the South African team was entirely white, representing a country that was 80% black.

The team also bore a symbol, a leaping gazelle called a ‘springbok’ that reminded most black South Africans of the country’s racist history.

A black president who had spent 27 years in prison opposing racism, faced with a white Rugby team; you might think Nelson Mandela would not look favorably on those players.

But you would be wrong.

Mandela arrived at a press conference wearing a rugby jersey and cap with a springbok on it and said, “These are our boys now. They may all be white, but they’re our boys, and we must get behind them and support them in this tournament.”

The very next day the Springbok team coach took the whole team to the prison where Mandela had spent nearly three decades of his life behind bars.

The coach said, “This is the cell where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. He was kept here for 27 years by the racist policies of our government. We tolerated his imprisonment for all those years, and yet he has backed us publicly. We can’t let him down.”

The tournament opened, and the Springboks played beyond everyone’s expectations, making it to the final game.

President Mandela was in the stands, wearing a Springbok jersey.

During a timeout, he brought a South African children’s choir out of the stands, and they led 65,000 people in singing a black African miner’s song.

When the Springboks went back on the field, they were unstoppable.

They won the world rugby championship, and for the next twenty-four hours whites danced with blacks in the streets of South Africa.

Perhaps for the very first time, they saw each other as one community, citizens of a multiracial country.

Zechariah prophesied, filled with the charisma of God, “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” [Luke 1:78-79]

This prophecy came true again in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Tournament.

The way of peace appeared in an inspiring and instructive way.

It required a gift, a charisma from God- and it required human cooperation.

Can we here today take this Scripture and story to heart as we prepare for Christ’s coming among us?

I am not a Nelson Mandela, this I understand. But I also was imprisoned for twenty-seven years, bearing the burden of being a transgender person in a country and a church that discriminates and often condemns people like me and other members of the LGBT community.

I told my story to you, because I believed you, too understood discrimination and judgment.

My hope and prayer was that together, with the charisma of the Spirit, we would move forward into a new sense of community, and together create a truly multiracial, multicultural and truly diverse community known as Epworth United Methodist Church.

I realize it has only been four months, yet so far this is not what has happened.

My experience is that we remain economically and racially divided, perhaps even divided over LGBT issues as well; I do not know.

What I do know is that I hear complaints everywhere about my salary and the church finances, about the car you surprised me with and graciously gave to me two years ago when our old Volvo was unfixable and I had taken at $17,000.00 salary cut to come here as your pastor.

What I do know is that I hear complaints that I am not friendly enough, not in the office enough, not in the Japanese-American community enough, not anything enough.

Well, I certainly believe I am friendly, and caring, and spend as much time in my office as is productive- doing most of my ministry outside the office, as in most church communities.

I am not an extrovert, in fact I am pretty introverted, but I love talking with people one on one, and if you invite me to tea or coffee or just to visit, I will gladly visit with you.

What I do know is that one of our newest members told me she has found a different church because after trying to become part of this faith community for over a year she still feels like an intruder.

This is not what I expected as the result of sharing my story, or as the fruit of more than two years as your pastor.

This is the time of year to reflect and to meditate on the rich mixture of divine charisma and humanity that came to earth, and to us, in Jesus.

It is also the time to take seriously what Jesus’ life can teach us and about the way God can work through us both as individuals and as a community, if we will allow it.

After all, Jesus was both fully divine and fully human, and both are essential for walking in the way of peace; both can be present in us as well.

There are three things for us to ponder in our minds and hearts today and in this advent season:

1. Jesus honors the humanity of every person he meets: As the letter to the Hebrews points out, “Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God.” Jesus does not despise the humanity of the people he meets but honors everyone as a child of God.

So did Nelson Mandela, when he said about the Rugby team, “They may all be white, but they’re our bots, and we must get behind them.” And so did the coach of the rugby team, who said that because President Mandela backed them publicly, “We can’t let him down.”

2. Jesus also knows that divine gifts such as charisma require human community to really be effective: Even Jesus needed John the Baptist to become, “the prophet of the Most High…to go before the Lord to prepare the way.” [Luke 1: 76] Zechariah needed a community to hear and to respond to his charisma [i.e.Spirit] filled prophecy and to respond in faith. President Mandela needed the Springbok coach, and the Springbok coach needed Mandela, and they both needed a diverse community of blacks and whites willing to support the team together.

3. Finally, the combination of charisma and humanity leads us to a new way of living together in this world- what Zechariah calls, “the way of peace” [Luke 1:79] Peace is not simply escape from the hands of those who hate us, or rescue from our enemies, or even a period of time in which we are free from violence- be it verbal or otherwise. No, peace is a way of life in which we serve God without fear or bigotry.

The way of peace and community is not simply the absence of conflict; it is the presence of holiness and righteousness and justice: this means being devoted to God, and dedicated to a right relationship with God and with one another.

Holiness, righteousness and justice- these are the qualities of a life of true peace.

In this season of Advent can we honor our common humanity?

Can we move beyond economic, racial, ethnic, gender, generation, or any other sense of division?

Might we share in Jesus honoring of our humanity, and learn how to love and respect each other?

Jesus the Christ is with us, among us, and supporting us as we walk the way of peace in our diversity: May we not let him, or each other, down. Amen.