The God-Bearer

What are we to say about Mary the mother of Jesus that has not already been said.
In a very real sense the problem is that too much has been said, often in a confused way, not only overstating the role of Mary but also making inappropriate claims

This Sunday 15th August is the Feast of Mary the Mother of Jesus and readings are:Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Luke 1:46-55, Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:1-7

There are a number of these exotic claims, (too many to go into in a short homily), and many of them were highlighted and discounted at the time of the Reformation.

She is not for example...the 4th member of the Trinity!

Nor is she the female aspect of the Godhead.

Mary only has a place by virtue of the fact that God chose her to bear the Son.

She is the means by which God connects directly to humanity!

The place where God and Humanity meet.

The Orthodox have traditionally used the expression...Theotokos...God bearer ...

sometimes crudely called by the Westrern Church....Mother of God...which tends to distort our thinking some what.

What is important about Mary is not how she tends to have been deified

but rather that her body is the meeting place of God with humanity.

She is fully human, anything less would make the central Christian truth

that The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1:14) into a crass fairy story.

Thus we see in Mary not a super-hero, but rather a human hero

who responds to God by saying "Yes, I will do what you ask me to do!"

She is not overwhelmed by God and forced to do something against her will

In words that many Christians make their own every day

Mary's response, rather, is to say to God a big YES!

"Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

Also of interest

As we encounter Mary elsewhere in the Gospels we see a series of interesting encounters.

What seems to be interesting about these is their very ordinariness!

As with almost everything in the Bible we sometimes lose sight of the fact about just how ordinary some of the sotories are

The Loss of Jesus

Luke 2:41-52. Mary and Joseph lose Jesus when they take a trip to Jerusalem. Anyone who has lost a child know how awful this can be for all concerned, parents and children!

At a wedding

John:2-10. At a wedding Jesus's mother tries to get him to help her sort out a catering problem!

But who is my mother?

Mark 3:31-35, Mtw 12:46-50 Jesus brings her family to see Jesus and he rather dismisses them. Is she trying to warn him to be more cautious or he'll get his head chopped off

Her station keeping

In John's account of the Passion (and the tradition of the Church) Mary is placed at the Cross. No more awful image is there than Michelangelo's Pieta; the young woman holding her dead son.

It is perhaps the greatest human tragedy, that many parents have shared...having to be present at the funeral of their child

Pentecost Finally we see that Luke places Mary with the disciples and the early community of the believers (Acts 1:14, 2:1-42)

I draw all these to our attention because they show to us a very ordinary Mary and jesus relationship

The incarnation is worked out not in the heavens, but in the midst of life. It is a child getting lost, catering, thoughtless comments, human tragedy which are the groundswell of what God is doing.

Remember what the 'angels' say to the disciples as they stand gazing into the heaven after the Ascension (Acts 1:11)..."Why are you gazing into heaven?" or as they gaze into the empty tomb (Luke 24:5)..."Why do you look for the living among the dead?"

Mary's witness seems to be telling us that God will be worked out

in our human life.

The kingdom of God is amongst us.

This week

• What are we dealing with in our daily life at the moment?
• What might god be drawing out in me through my encounter in my ordinary day to day encounters with other people, with human issues and thereby with God?
• What is God's invitation to me today?
• Can I say "Here am I be it unto me according to your word!"

The icon pictured at the head of this entry is "The Miraculous Icon of Coromandel" it was painted by children of the parish under the guidance of local artist Jenny Poole. It displays the nativity of Jesus and we display it during Advent at St John's Church each year.

What God requires of us...and what we need to do!

Reflections for the week beginning Sunday 19th July (Proper 16) 2 Sam 7:1-14; Psalm 89:21-38; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Read one or more of these readings when you wish to be quiet with God.

(This is probably three-in-one sermons)

This week's readings point us to a range of ways we can respond to the call of God in our lives.

• We should do what God requires not what we think God requires
• There are some fundamental movements that the Gospel will always seek to draw out of us
• God desires healing and wholeness for each one of us and this is a profound dynamic which naturally draws people to Jesus

What does the Lord require?
There is no doubt that David was responsive to God's will, but as we read his story
we also discover that he is sometimes willful and disobedient.

We are all rather like this.
While we may seek to be God's people and to do his will
our understanding of what that will might be is often slippery.
I, for example, sometimes say that my problem with hearing the voice of God
is that I need to be clear when I am hearing God's voice
and when I am hearing Stephen's voice!

I am more than occasionally capable of deceiving myself.

If nothing else when we are tempted to say "The Lord says to me...."
we should have at least a mild suspicion that we may not be quite as clear about this as we think we are.
We should at least test this.
David, for example, says...The Lord says build me a house...
this would seem to be a logical conclusion of his work in establishing Jerusalem
He has fought long and hard to get here
The Ark of the Covenant, the focus of Israel's ambitions
has finally been brought into the city
now there is one thing only to do. Build a temple.
But it is not to be.
This is a salutary lesson....
The Lord's voice is more than the logical conclusion of our thought processes.
At times we act as though that is all it is.
Or even that we are so fully aware of our own thought processes

that we are always open and upfront about them

God's unremitting work
Ephesians 2 reminds us that the work of God
is dependent on God and not on our efforts.
This is often a hard lesson for us to learn
We are so focussed on being good and getting it right
that we often ignore completely
the profound dynamic which undergirds the basis of our faith.
God has already acted
and achieved in Christ
all that needs to be done
to perfect his work in creation.
We, often seduced by the notion that salvation depends on our personal goodness or holiness,
need to learn this lesson.
It is God's desire to bring the whole of creation together.
Our common humanity is signified by God's own unity.
Though different and able to be appreciated in many different ways
we are drawn back time and time again to the fact that God is UNITY
In the example Paul gives he is referring to those "who are far off...and those who are near"
those who are inside the covenant (the Jews) and those wo are outside(the Gentiles).
Note that Paul does not say we should work tirelesssly to bring those who are far off closer
he actually says that Christ
has already made both groups into one, and broken down the dividing wall.
We are already one!!
We simply have to reach out and take that
We, like David, don't readily get this
so locked are we into our own egotistical way of seeing things
So Paul reminds us that our efforts need to be directed
not to reinventing the wheel
but to building on Christ
who is already in place as the foundation and cornerstone.
Our work is not invention of new ideas
it is building on the firm foundation.
To do this we need to nurture our own relationship with Christ
through prayer, through worship through service and ministry.
Each time we pray, each time we share in the Eucharist
we are saying I want to be built up
We affirm the fact that this work
established and complete as it is already in Christ
will be worked out in me
and in the world.
It is already established and seeks its fulfillment
Our focus is building on Christ
what ever else we think we might be and do
we only succeed
in so far as we are built on that sure foundation.

Take time
There is a sense in which this is a tireless work
we all know the truth
of what Jesus says
There is an enormous harvest to bring in and all too few labourers!
As we read the Gospel today we recognise that even Jesus struggles to make time to renew himself
for this heavy and taxing work.
We busy folk know the dynamic of this story,
we like to take time to prepare
but we have competing demands
and they crash in all too readily.
Jesus habitually used to find himself overwhelmed by the demands of his ministry
So he would take time to step aside and be quiet.
But today we read, as we do quite often,
that the demands of life run wild
and do not respect Jesus's own personal needs.
We all know something of this.

This does not stop Jesus
from trying day after day to capture this time.
Even, we see, right at the very end of his life
when he could be excused for trying to flee
or to protect himself
Jesus goes out into the garden of Gethsemane to pray.
How easily we forget this!
We often, usually, even habitually
put our prayers to one side.
And then we wonder why we get a bit lost.
It is not only, I think, because we lack faith.
It is because we lack discipline!!
It takes discipline
to continue to build on the foundation.
But that is actually the only thing that will work.
David learns that when you get distracted
and think you are the foundation
then you are heading off in the wrong diretion.
Paul reminds us that
Christ is our foundation
and that we build on him.
Prayer, The Bible, Service, Worship, Eucharist...
these are the places we experience
building and the establishment of Christ's kingdom.
Jesus's experience shows us
that to do this we need discipline,
commitment,
decision to act.
There are lots of competing interests
Christ is the true foundation
already established,
we need to commit ourselves to him
through the disciplined life.

Lest we forget and think that we are the Messiah.
Lest we find our ourselves
building in the wrong place.
Lest we find that our necessary needs are
crowded out.

Pray and act this week
to do one fresh thing to re-establish God's building program
in Christ, on the sure foundation
in a firm, committed and disciplined way.

Courage to trust

Readings for Pentecost 4 (Proper 13) Today; Sunday 28th June include: 2 Samuel 1:1,17-27;Psalm 130;2 Corinthians 8:7-15; & Mark 5:21-43 (This week's reflection was also discussed during Lent)

The Gospel passage is not without its difficulties

Two accounts of people being healed. We often get sidetracked by the fact that the woman with "the issue of blood" as the KJV euphemistically put it is ritually unclean .

I think this was probably the least of her worries!

In different ways people come to Jesus seeking healing. Jairus comes as a man of prestige and religious standing seeking help from someone who is not socially acceptable 

Jesus! 

The woman, I think,is a destroyed person whose sense of personal worth is so low that she cannot even come and front Jesus face on. 

Part of the message that Mark is communicating here is that it doesn't matter who you are 

that Jesus is open to all. More than this, because he is inviting people to respond out of faith 

we recognise that faith requires risk 

Jairus risks his reputation the woman risks being knocked back again. 

What do we risk to be challenged by the Gospel, 

or have we so controlled our experience that we have taken all the risk and challenge out of it.  

Faith will inevitably invite us to move out of the zone where we control everything 

(because we recognise in reality that nothing is actually ours to control) THIS WEEK 

Where does God invite me to trust him and him alone? 

Do I have the courage to do it? 

To risk my reputation/failure or what ever? 

Pray to trust God alone

Faith and risk

During Lent we will be following a local series of lections.If you are looking for the Common Lectionary References try here Revised Common Lectionary

The focus reading in Adelaide Diocese this week is Mark 5:21-43

This passage is not without its difficulties

Two accounts of people being healed.
I am interested that our study notes point us to the fact that the woman with "the issue of blood" as the KJV euphemistically put it is highlighted as ritually unclean .

I think this was probably the least of her worries!

In different ways people come to Jesus seeking healing.
Jairus comes as a man of prestige and religious standing
seeking help from someone who is not socially acceptable
Jesus!
The woman, I think,is a destroyed person
whose sense of personal worth is so low
that she cannot even come and front Jesus face on.
Part of the message that Mark is communicating here
is that it doesn't matter who you are
that Jesus is open to all.

More than this because he is inviting people to respond out of faith
we recognise that faith requires risk
Jairus risks his reputation
the woman risks being knocked back again.
What do we risk to be challenged by the Gospel,
or have we so controlled our experienec
that we have taken all the risk and challenge out of it.

Faith will inevitably invite us to move out of the zone
where we control everything
(because we recognise in reality
that nothing is actually ours to control)

THIS WEEK
Where does God invite me to trust him and him alone?
Do I have the courage to do it?
To risk my reputation/failure or what ever?
Pray to trust God alone