… We are spending time with some Zoroastrian priests this morning, the Magi. They were natives of Persia (present-day Iran), whose religious practices involved aligning themselves with their god Asha (whose name means “truth”) by way of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. Other core tenets of their faith included the belief in a messiah; practicing generosity/ charity, in order to bring happiness to the world; the spiritual equality of men and women; and being good for the of sake goodness, and not in hopes of a reward.

And before we go any further, we traditionally have assumed there were three of them, because they brought three gifts. But the text doesn’t specify how many magi, beyond using the plural to refer to them (so, there were more than one). In addition, the text doesn’t specify how many are men and how many are women. It’s likely there were both in the party…

Image: The Wise Men’s Dream, Rev. Lauren Pittman, courtesy of A Sanctified Art. Used with permission.

Some things are so familiar, they just feel like home. Walking into our regular coffee place. The way a good friend says our name, maybe a name only they use for us. The first taste of something made from a family recipe that never changes, only gets better. Coffee in hand, we go out into our day, knowing that we have a cup full of home to take with us. The voice of the friend, telling us that, for the duration of this walk, or this lunch, or this phone call, we are safe. We will be heard, maybe even cared for. We are home. The looks around the table when everyone’s taken their first bite, and we all agree: this is home.

Image: Ordinary Glory by the Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman, courtesy of A Sanctified Art. Used with permission.

We have waited and waited for this night—one of the most special and beautiful nights of the year. This is the night when we celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and it’s a celebration we have been planning for a long time.

How do you like to celebrate your birthday?

Image: Ordinary Glory by Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman, courtesy of A Sanctified Art, used with permission.

It’s a strange thing, let me tell you, to learn that you are pregnant from your husband carrying a message from an angel. It is a stranger thing still to learn this news when you are… my age. And in my situation. I think our ancestor Sarah put it well: “At my age, shall I know pleasure?” (I’m sure she was speaking of the pleasure of being a mother. I’m sure that’s what she meant.)

My reaction was, How can this be, seeing as I’m as old as the hills and twice as rocky? But sure enough, the signs I’d looked for all those years ago began to become apparent. The angel had spoken the truth. God had looked upon us with compassion and given us… well, you know all about John…

Image: “Redemption Song,” Rev. T. Denise Anderson, A Sanctified Art, used with permission.

… the first words out of John’s mouth in this gospel of Luke are harsh. “You brood of vipers!” On the one hand, John is settled firmly in the tradition of the great prophets of the Bible: prophets are truth-tellers, and sometimes the truth is ugly. Vipers are known for their exceptionally long, hinged fangs, very effective at injecting venom, and venom can kill you if left untreated. All kinds of people come out to see John, everyone from subsistence farmers and fisherfolk to people in long fancy robes, people with some kind of rank and power. Are they all vipers, or just some? John doesn’t discriminate, his message is for all. The path they are on is dangerous; they will cause grievous harm if they continue…

Image: "Gather Us In," by Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity, A Sanctified Art, used with permission.

It’s just a family story. A regular normal family story that begins with an angel of the Lord appearing to the husband while he’s in the holy of holies of the Temple in Jerusalem. A story that, along the way, has that same husband being struck silent for 9 months because he dares to ask the angel exactly how God is going to perform the particular miracle (the miracle being that he and his wife, at their advanced age, will have a child). (The angel is not having it. “I am Gabriel,” he thunders. “Now you shush.”) And meanwhile, a postmenopausal woman who long her childless state was permanent, is given a very big surprise…

Image: “Berakah” [“Blessing”] by Hannah Garrity, A Sanctified Art, Used with Permission.

Today marks the beginning of the four weeks of the season of Advent. And while this time of waiting and preparing is one of the ways we make ready for Christmas, it’s also a time during which we remind ourselves of these words in scripture, where Jesus promises to return, in power, to make everything new again.

Imagine, God making everything new. If you’re like me, you’d be satisfied with making everything like it was before—before the pandemic stole so much life and joy from the world. But life before the pandemic wasn’t hunky dory for everyone…

Image: “Awake to Wonder” by the Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity, copyright A Sanctified Art, used with permission.

I think it’s safe to say that the idea of Jesus of Nazareth being hailed as King of the Universe was on no one’s radar when he had the dust of Galilee on his feet, and reached out his hands to bless and heal, to feed the hungry, and to wash the feet of his puzzled disciples. In three of the four gospels Jesus talks continually of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. He offers a sharp contrast with earthly kings: he describes them as ruinous murderers. When asked point blank, “Are you king of the Jews? Jesus answers, “You say so.” The only places the gospels clearly identify him as king are when the Magi are following the star to find him as a small child, and when he is breathing his last on the cross.

Honthorst, Gerrit van, 1590-1656. King David Playing the Harp, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57763 [retrieved September 29, 2021]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gerard_van_Honthorst_-_King_David_Playing_the_Harp_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.

In her book Searching for Sunday, Rachel Held Evans offers a distinction between healing and curing. What we often seek is a cure—removal of symptoms, to be cancer-free, for example. What God offers us—even in Bartimeus’ story—is healing, and that is a more complicated matter. Evans writes,

… there is a difference between curing and healing, and I believe the church is called to the slow and difficult work of healing…[Healing] takes time. It is relational. It is inefficient, like a meandering river. Rarely does healing follow a straight or well-lit path. Rarely does it conform to our expectations or resolve in a timely manner…

Healing of the Blind Man at Jericho, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56661 [retrieved September 29, 2021]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MCC-41326_Genezing_van_de_blinde_te_Jericho_(1).tif.

I grew up with a very particular definition of a “saint.” Saints were people who were so extraordinarily good, they were lifted up by the church for special notice. Joan of Arc, who saw visions that she was called to lead an army. Anthony of Padua who… well, all I really knew about him was that he supposedly could help you find lost objects… which would be great! I was given little books of the lives of the saints and was terrified by some of the ends they met. Really, many terrible NC-17 things happened to them. But the culture of saints as special role models was strong, and I was into it.

Then I became a Presbyterian, and something miraculous happened. I learned that we are the saints. I started noticing where that word, saint, appeared in the New Testament, and I realized it is always used to refer to people who had joined the company of Jesus-followers, all those who were populating the newly forming church. They were the saints. We are the saints…

Image: Dunikowska, Kinga, 1974-. Knocking on Heaven's Door, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55494 [retrieved September 29, 2021]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:K-dunikowska-knocking-on-heavens-door-2004-b.jpg.

… this is the covenant that I will make with my people: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

~Jeremiah 31:33

God wants nothing to separate us—not even law. Luther, John Calvin, and the other reformers felt that legalism was standing in the way of this exact direct relationship God longs for with humanity. And Mark beautifully describes the terms of the covenant: the terms are love. Loving God with all our heart and soul, mind and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. That’s it. Simple. Not always easy.

"Love One Another", from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55171 [retrieved September 25, 2021]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/niznoz/5658062870/.

In only one of the stories we’ve read does the widow end up with “enough.” If we’re going to define Stewardship, we can also define what it’s not: It’s definitely not giving until there is nothing left for you to live on.

But Stewardship might be giving in a way that affirms what you truly value in this life. Giving, for example, so that others will not go hungry. Giving so that the good things you treasure can continue. Giving in such a way that your love for God, your love for other people, and yes, your love for yourself, are expressed and honored.

Strozzi, Bernardo, 1581-1644. Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56615 [retrieved September 29, 2021]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bernardo_Strozzi_-_The_prophet_Elias_and_the_widow_of_Serepta.jpg.

The rich young man comes to Jesus in a state of desperation, and he wants to know…he needs to know: what can I do? What else can I do, to follow where God is leading?

Yes, yes, I’ve already ticked all those boxes, he says. I tell the truth, I manage not to murder anyone, I’m good to the parents who were good to me…but what else?

Is that all there is?


Watts, George Frederick, 1817-1904. For He Had Great Possessions, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58462 [retrieved September 25, 2021]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordshire_church_photos/413448324 - Martin Beek.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
~Psalm 8:3-4

LeCompte, Rowan and Irene LeCompte. Beauty of Creation, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57016 [retrieved September 29, 2021]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stained_glass_window_Washington_National_Cathedral_2012_06.JPG - Caroline Lena Becker.

…James writes, “The prayer of faith will save the sick,” and then he explains what he means by that. “The Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”

It’s possible that James is talking about prayer that can heal illness, disease, possession.

But it seems at least as likely that he is talking about the powerful healing that can come from simple conversation, whether with God or with another person.

For many people, that is exactly what prayer is: conversation with God…

Koenig, Peter. Casting Out Evil Spirits, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58526 [retrieved September 3, 2021]. Original source: https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.

… A child shows up in our reading from Mark’s gospel this morning, but not until after Jesus gets wind of a fight in the ranks. Jesus and the disciples have been on the road, not a great place to have a dispute (especially if your job is sharing the Good News about peace, love, and understanding). Once they reach Capernaum, home base for many of them, they settle in a house, and Jesus wants to know the deal. What are you fighting about?, he asks. And then it comes out, but only by virtue of their mortified silence. They have been arguing with one another about who is the greatest.

The disciples seem to have bought into the wisdom of the world: status matters. So much so that it causes strife in the ranks of this traveling, healing rabbi who has drafted them into service of God’s Good News….

Johnson, William H., 1901-1970. Come Unto Me, Little Children, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56876 [retrieved September 3, 2021]. Original source: https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/come-unto-me-little-children-11621

… We have two readings this morning that are concerned with imparting wisdom, and they both come on strong. Woman Wisdom pulls no punches. If we are going to ignore her urgent message, she has names she’s ready to call us, and she’s going to laugh when life takes us down. But Wisdom is a life and death matter. As she puts it, “For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them” (Proverbs 1:32).

But if we want to immerse ourselves in a truly practical application of wisdom, James is our man. The brother of Jesus wants to talk to us about talk. Speech. How, in fact, words can cause harm—maybe not physical harm, as with sticks and stones or knives and guns. But real harm, nonetheless. He embarks on an extended metaphor about the tongue—it’s one small part of the body, but it can, in his words, start a fire…

“Wisdom,” oil painting, Titian (1560), Biblioteca Marciana, Venice, Italy; Public Domain, courtesy of Wikiart.com.

He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.
~Mark 7:24-25

Phoenician Anthropoid Sarcophagus, 5th c. BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up absolutely sure that Jesus was an only child. (It’s a Catholic thing.) But later, when I read the gospels with a greater attention for detail, I saw, for instance, exactly how Jesus’ neighbors in Nazareth tried to wave away his mission and his power and his eloquence by focusing on how well they knew him. Not Jesus, they said. “Isn’t his father a carpenter? Isn’t his mother Mary? Don’t we know his brothers—James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? Don’t we know his sisters?” In other words, he couldn’t possibly be a prophet. He couldn’t possibly have the power of God surging through him. He’s just a neighborhood kid.

Image: Mural by Beau Stanton, October 2018; phot by P. Raube, July 2021. More about the artist at http://www.beaustanton.com/.

People are always asking me what it was like, that day. I always start by saying, it was just a normal day… if by normal you mean, a day when the Teacher was around. Meaning, it was a day of everyone dropping their tasks—leaving the bread to rise and overflow the bowl, and the nets to be repaired later, and the seeds to be planted later, too. All this we left, so that we could rush to wherever he was, and listen as he taught, and watch as he healed people. Maybe offer ourselves for some kind of healing. It was that kind of normal day…

Swanson, John August. Loaves and Fishes, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56553 [retrieved May 29, 2021]. Original source: www.JohnAugustSwanson.com - copyright 2003 by John August Swanson.