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Making Ready
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6 December 2009 All the kerfuffel in the news the past few days about a pair of social climbing party-crashers is a reminder that even the best of plans can be overtaken and overshadowed by events outside the scope of the planner. Even when we think we know the day’s events, or even the general scope of our life’s plans, other events or other people’s actions can alter our course. A monumental traffic jam on 270. Winning the lottery. An unexpected pregnancy. We’ve all experienced something that redirects our energies and attention. One friend used to quip that “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.”[1] This isn’t the primary message of our gospel readings announcing births to Zechariah and Elizabeth, or to Joseph and Mary, of course. But Luke’s tag that ‘nothing is impossible with God’ is a deeper reminder that when we are centered in living within God’s purposes, even the most disruptive events can yield God’s blessings. Another friend took a slightly different tack. Bob’s oft-used comment is that God could use him much more effectively when he did his homework.[2] I like that in part because of the partnership it assumes. As we read the first chapter of Luke during this Advent season, we retell the two stories about Gabriel’s birth announcements to Zechariah and Mary. Talk about partnership!–with a caveat. Our two stories also build on the ‘homework’/the making ready done by the two sets of parents-to-be. Luke tells us that both Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth are “righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.” Mary and Joseph don’t receive the same direct praise, but we learn that Joseph is a righteous man, of the house of David, and that Mary finds favor with God, presumably because of her strength of spirit and her humility. In other words, they’ve done their homework; they’ve lived within the teachings and practices of their faith. Through the practice of faith, the living of their days takes the form of making ready. So when God takes the initiative and partners with them in unique and specific ways, they are in a position to be receptive and responsive. The main players in our scripture also remind us that God partners with a huge variety of people–from the priest to the unwed mother. Which means there’s room for us–for you and for me. So how does God partner with you? For me, the most recent and most obvious is my parents’ move to Frederick. If things go as scheduled, their furniture and personal items will arrive this week. The move itself began to take form after my trip to Spokane in September. Dad had already looked at a retirement community, and we visited it, plus several others. But one of the visits was an accident. We thought the facility had a memory care unit...but it didn’t. What it did have was a wonderful woman–our Gabriel, who sat us down and told us that because any move is stressful–especially as we get older, make it only once, and make it to the right place. She reminded us that even though Spokane is a beautiful city, none of the immediate family lived near enough to help support Mom and Dad. Multiple trips to the hospital, and the increasing need for more help with Mother’s care made it clear that Dad’s decision to move to a retirement community was a good one. But the whole family was struggling with the ‘where.’ On this end, I’d done homework of my own. I’d looked into some of the local retirement communities, and added to the decision-making mix the possibility that my parents could move to Frederick, where our family and the family of one brother would be much closer–both the enjoy one another’s company, and to offer support as needed. By the time that decision was made, I was back in Frederick, and we started dealing with an avalanche of forms. That part of my parents’ move required preparation of a different kind–and we were blessed by cousins and spouses who offered their help. Don’t misunderstand me. The whole affair has been very intense. It has involved loss and hard decisions and tremendous amounts of work. It has required cooperation between various offices and the retirement community and my siblings, and deep trust and flexibility on all parts. But the move is not without its blessings. In addition to having my parents close by, we have renewed and deepened connections with parts of the family with whom we’d lost touch. I know the decision to move from one’s own home into a retirement community, the decision to uproot a household that called a particular community home for decades, the decision to move to a totally new region is neither unprecedented nor remarkable in our culture. With the exception of the particulars of our specific family, none of this is especially unique–it’s simply the arch our family story has taken. But our simple story is mirrored countless times over, as God partners with us, as God works with us and through us, and graces us with blessings beyond our imagining. The biblical story, the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, of Joseph and Mary; the story of Abraham and Sarah, of Elkanah and Hannah, this story is our story. Stories of people with whom God partnered, through whom God worked; stories of people whose readiness to be that partner are grounded in their practices of faith. On this second Sunday of Advent, we tell again the stories of making ready through the practices of faith, that we may be receptive partners for our still-speaking God. So make ready–that we may hear the voice of the holy and feel the movement of God giving birth to life.[3] *** [1] Richard Norberg, former UCC Conference Minister of the Northern California/Nevada Conference. |