Year C Advent 4 2021 Hopeless

 Year C Advent 4, 19 December 2021

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Hopeless”

Collect: Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Luke 1:39-55

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

This season is one of hope, one of expectation, but it is also one of surprises. And surprises, by their very nature, come from places unexpected.

Mary, most likely a young teen, walks 60 miles or so to drop in on her much older relative out of the blue. Mary had just been surprised by the angel Gabriel who announced that not only was the Messiah to come, but to be birthed by her, a nobody in the backside of a forgotten region of a mighty empire. No one expected anything from there, even the folks who lived there. Surprise!

That is the nature of God, playing the long game, sneaking in unaware to deliver miracles at the bottom of the ninth inning, or what felt like it anyway. God has a way of usually using the ones normally picked last, or better yet, the ones ignored altogether.

The Grace of God abounds in the story of Mary, the Theotokos, the God-Bearer, and just as much in Elizabeth her cousin, Mother of John the Baptizer. You may think that miracles stopped a long time ago, but Grace, whenever it appears, is a miracle, and beats even the Law of Tooth and Claw the world expects us to play by.

I have been drinking too much coffee lately, even more than usual, trying to keep pace with the season this year. One night, mulling things over, I remembered the story of a sleepless night Christian speaker and author Tony Campolo shared. Dr. Campolo’s day job was as a sociology professor, but a profound Christian thinker and minister.

He tells a story of being in Hawaii for a speaking gig, and because of being from Philadelphia, his body clock is all off and finds himself going to a diner at 3:30 in the morning. A “greasy spoon” on a sketchy side street is the only place open, so he goes in and orders a donut because he could see it on a covered tray. He was scared to think what went on in the back.

As he sat there, a group of provocative and boisterous women, 8 or 9 in number, came in, street walkers by trade. I jump now to Dr. Campolo’s own words…

It was a small place, and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was loud and crude. I felt completely out of place and was just about to make my getaway when I overheard the woman beside me say, "Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm going to be 39."

Her "friend" responded in a nasty tone, "So what do you want from me? A birthday party? What do you want? Ya want me to get you a cake and sing 'Happy Birthday'?"

"Come on," said the woman sitting next to me. "Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that's all. Why do you have to put me down? I was just telling you it was my birthday. I don't want anything from you. I mean, why should you give me a birthday party? I've never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?"

When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women had left. Then I called over the fat guy behind the counter, and I asked him, "Do they come in here every night?"

"Yeah!" he answered.

"The one right next to me, does she come here every night?"

"Yeah!" he said. "That's Agnes. Yeah, she comes in here every night. Why d'ya wanta know?"

"Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday," I told him. "What do you say you and I do something about that? What do you think about us throwing a birthday party for her—right here—tomorrow night?"

A cute smile slowly crossed his chubby cheeks, and he answered with measured delight, "That's great! I like it! That's a great idea!" 

Harry, the owner, arranged a birthday cake, and Dr. Campolo went to a store for decorations and the poster board to make a big sign reading, “Happy birthday, Agnes!” He got there around 2:30 a.m. to start decorating, and crepe paper streamers were all over. And around 3:15 the place was packed with everybody for the surprise party for Agnes.

…the word must have gotten out on the street, because by 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes and me!

At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open, and in came Agnes and her friend. I had everybody ready (after all, I was kind of the M.C. of the affair) and when they came in we all screamed, "Happy birthday!"

Never have I seen a person so flabbergasted so stunned so shaken. Her mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle a bit. Her friend grabbed her arm to steady her. As she was led to sit on one of the stools along the counter, we all sang "Happy Birthday"' to her. As we came to the end of our singing with "happy birthday, dear Agnes, happy birthday to you," her eyes moistened. Then, when the birthday cake with all the candles on it was carried out, she lost it and just openly cried.

Harry gruffly mumbled, "Blow out the candles, Agnes! Come on! Blow out the candles! If you don't blow out the candles, I'm gonna hafta blow out the candles." And, after an endless few seconds, he did. Then he handed her a knife and told her, "Cut the cake, Agnes. Yo, Agnes, we all want some cake."

Agnes looked down at the cake. Then without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, "Look, Harry, is it all right with you if I, I mean is it okay if I kind of, what I want to ask you is, is it O.K. if I keep the cake a little while? I mean, is it all right if we don't eat it right away?"

Harry shrugged and answered, "Sure! It's O.K. If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home, if you want to."

"Can I?" she asked. Then, looking at me, she said, "I live just down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, okay? I'll be right back. Honest!"

She got off the stool, picked up the cake, and carrying it like it was the Holy Grail, walked slowly toward the door. As we all just stood there motionless, she left.

You may think that miracles stopped a long time ago, but Grace, whenever it appears, is a miracle. A miracle happened in Honolulu that night. And Grace beats even the Law of Tooth and Claw the world expects us to play by. That could have been the end of the story. But when miracles happen, there are ripple effects. It is usually more than one person affected. Mary received Grace; Elizabeth received Grace; and through them, we are able to receive Grace, too. The story ends this way…

When the door closed, there was a stunned silence in the place. Not knowing what else to do, I broke the silence by saying, "What do you say we pray?"

Looking back on it now, it seems more than strange for a sociologist to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But then it just felt like the right thing to do. I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed and that God would be good to her.

When I finished, Harry leaned over the counter and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said, "Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?" In one of those moments when just the right words came, I answered, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning."

Harry waited a moment and then almost sneered as he answered, "No you don't. There's no church like that. If there was, I'd join it. I'd join a church like that!"

Wouldn't we all? Wouldn't we all like to join a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning?

Well, that's the kind of church that Jesus came to create!

This story is told by Dr. Campolo in his book, The Kingdom of God is a Party! And Mary and Dr. Campolo remind us that all are welcome to the party, but some people need to be invited in especially because they have been repeatedly taught that they are not welcome. Agnes and her friends in our story and the Shepherds at the end of this week, not one of them would have thought that the invitation that comes in the form of a simple baby applies to them. Which is why we can be like the multitude of the heavenly host and welcome one and all, and especially some.

To quote Mary this time instead of Dr. Campolo, hear again these words…

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Each and every day, we are given a chance to magnify the Lord, too,  by caring for those in need, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry, and proclaiming the greatness of our God. We do it in small acts of great Love. We surprise the world with Grace, freely given as it was freely given to us. Amen