I’m guessing that you who gather here as St. Alban’s have weekly preachers from within your own community as well as those of us who drop in from time to time. One of the things that is part of preaching for all of us, and always both excites me and befuddles me about preaching, is when the assigned scripture readings are packed with images and themes, but they are not necessarily related one to another. I’m often tempted to ask “how much time do you have” and then, depending on the answer, start in. That is especially the case when the choice is made to go with what is called Track 1 in the long green season of the church, because the first reading is not directly chosen in relationship to the gospel, which is what we have today. But another fascinating challenge in preaching is keeping in mind the point of liturgical sermons is not ultimately to present an interpretation of the text – (what did it mean in its own context – exegesis), but rather how are our lives, we who are followers of Jesus the Christ – here and now in the year 2024 – interpreted in and through these texts? So, what has the church presented us with in our scripture readings today? Looking at two of the four readings; let’s begin with the gospel, the last reading from Mark in this year of Mark, a reading which is about the end of the world: “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed, this must take place, but the end is still to come…” Our ancient scripture readings are like archeological digs – layers on layers of meaning, so…
As Jesus interprets his comments to an insider group of disciples, is he talking about himself (“not one stone will be left here upon another, all will be thrown down”)? Possibly, because Jesus used the temple as an image of himself and this reading is towards the end of Mark’s gospel – the death of Jesus is approaching. OR, is the gospel of Mark, most likely written right around the year 70, reflecting the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Roman army in that exact year? Possibly – and what a blow for Jews – the center of their religion was gone, everything needed to be re-thought and re-shaped. OR, are we hearing a liturgical reading – chosen because today was the first Sunday of Advent, the original beginning of what was known in the medieval church as the fast of St. Martin of Tours (November 11th) – a 40-day period of fasting, penitence (another Lent) in preparation for the celebration of Christmas. The focus of November has been, for centuries, the end of all time, the end of this life as we know it, the month of the dead, the second coming of Christ. Advent still carries these images, even in its shorter 4-week version in our modern calendars.
OR, is this the Holy Spirit – who often seems to align ancient readings with our lives today? If we align our daily news with “many will lead you astray…nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom…this is but the beginning of the birthpangs,” it’s not much of a leap to hear God’s words speaking to us right here and now. Jesus uses the image of a woman entering into labor before giving birth – a time of pain and discord, to describe both political and natural events undoing the order of society as it is known – these are fears and images that have a lot of resonance with us today. We live in a world of wars and violence, of natural disasters, and of huge political strife in this country as well as in others.
Another of our scriptures today is the canticle from First Samuel. This is pretty unusual for our Sunday morning pattern, we generally have a first reading from the Old Testament followed by a psalm. Today we have a story from 1st Samuel, the end of which is the redemption of Hannah as she manages to get pregnant and then bear a son, Samuel. In that culture and time (about 600 BCE in a small town NW of Jerusalem) women were often one of several wives and primarily valued for their ability to bear children. This reading is followed by what is often called the “Canticle of Hannah” in which Hannah gives thanks to God for the gift of Samuel, whom she has consecrated to God’s service.
The imagery of the canticle may seem familiar to you, because it is one of the sources for another canticle we use all the time – daily at evening prayer and next month on the last Sunday of Advent – the Canticle of Mary (or the Magnificat). Listen to a bit of the central imagery of praising God and raising up a righting of political wrongs:
HANNAH: My heart exults in the Lord, my strength is exalted in my God
MARY: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
HANNAH: The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil…The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust, he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
MARY: God has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
The gospel from Mark was framed in a particular way – there will be these things which will happen – many of them horrific, destructive, frustrating, seemingly so misguided – but like the pain of childbirth is followed by new life, so will these times come to an end. Both Hannah and Mary sing of the reversal of how society often works – usually it’s the rich, the greedy, those who already have so much who will continue to claim the resources and leave little for those who struggle. But God’s way is different: the poor will be exalted, God (and all those who are with God) will lift up the lowly, fill the hungry with good things, include the marginalized, and send the rich away empty.
Like an arched roof over all of this is the reality that what we are called to do is join in the work of God, to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world, to recognize the reign of God begun and to grow that – a world in which the poor are lifted up from the dust and the marginalized given relief. The letter to the Hebrews adds its voice to this call of God to go forth from here and change things. In that reading, we are reminded that Christ has opened for us a new and living way – and we approach this new way of seeing, understanding, and relating through the cleansing waters of baptism and our mutual support of each other. “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together…but encouraging one another, and all the more as your see the Day approaching,” the day when all will be fulfilled – not ended – but fulfilled.
