Annunciation

This Advent reflection is offered by Hank.
The eighth lesson from our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols comes from the gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26-35, 38) in which the Angel of the Lord appears to Mary to announce that she is pregnant with a child who she will name Jesus. This baby will be called Son of the Most High and will inherit the throne of his ancestor David. It is one of the most beautiful passages in all the Bible and also one of the most curious. In Matthew's gospel, the angel appears not to Mary, but to Joseph, assuring him that even though his wife-to-be, Mary, is already with child he is not to divorce her. Again, isn't it fun to recognize how different Biblical writers describe essentially the same event in such different ways? The beautiful thing about Luke's story is in Mary's response. She doesn't question or second guess the Lord (as Joseph does in Matthew). Rather, she simply responds, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your world." O that we could all be so faithful in our own response to God.
(stained glass from Chartres Cathedral in France and painting, The Annunciation, by Fra Angelico)

Tasty morsels

Every day, when I take my dog for a walk, I carry a stick and I keep watch for coyotes and other critters that might find my dog a tasty meal on a hungry, cold evening. We have had several encounters with coyotes and, in my neighborhood, a handful of pets have been lost to the coyotes who roam our arroyo looking for something to fill their empty bellies. No coyote has ever really threatened us, but I am still cautious.

In the seventh lesson from our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols, taken from Isaiah 65.17-25, we hear of a new heaven and new earth where all of creation lives peaceably, including polar bears and huskies in the photo to the right, as well as coyotes and domestic pets in the hills of Oak Park. In this new creation, there will be no more crying or suffering, people will live long lives and will find fulfillment and joy in their work. Wolves, lambs and lions will eat together (vegetarian, of course) and the serpent, symbolic of our sin in this case, will no longer have power. This peaceable kingdom, the new heaven and new earth Isaiah proclaims, is symbolic for the peace in our hearts when we know and experience Emmanuel, the God who is with us.

On Micah

This reflection is offered by Hank
The sixth lesson we shared at our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols came from the writings of prophet Micah (Micah 5:2-4) promising that the Lord of Israel and of Peace shall be born, like the great King David, in the town of Bethlehem of Judea. It is in fulfillment of this important prophecy that in both Matthew's and Luke's gospel accounts, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. It is interesting to note that there are many differences between Luke and Matthew, however. For instance, in Matthew, Jesus' family already lives in Bethlehem and is forced to leave after Jesus is born, fleeing to Egypt to avoid Herod's wrath. In Luke, however, the family lives in Nazareth of Galilee. They travel to Bethlehem in order to comply with the requirements of a government census. After Jesus is born, the family travels to Jerusalem. (click here for a great map of ancient Israel!) Isn't it fun to notice how different Biblical writers describe the same events in such different ways?

promises, promises...

This reflection is offered by Hank
Our fifth lesson in Advent Lessons and Carols was taken from the Apocryphal Book of Baruch (Baruch 4:36-5:9). The Apocrypha refers to those books of our Old Testament canon which are included in the most ancient Greek Bible (the Septuagint was used by, among others, St. Paul) but which the Hebrew canon of Holy Scripture does not include. The books of the Apocrypha are included in some Bibles today, and not in others. In Roman Catholic Bibles, the books are interspersed throughout the Old Testament. In the Bible we use in the Episcopal Church, they are included in a special section between the Old and New Testament, while in many Protestant Bibles, the books of the Apocrypha do not appear at all.

The writings of Baruch come from about 100 years before Jesus' birth, but are set and describe the time during the Hebrew people's Babylonian Exile six centuries earlier. In the passage we read for Lessons and Carols, the people are seen rejoicing as they return in glory to their Promised Land. An unfulfilled prophecy, to be sure, but when taken metaphorically and not literally, the prophecy offers much today as we too prepare for the time when God's promise of fulfillment will be made real through the ministry we all share in the risen Christ. In Baruch, we are assured of God's everlasting care for us and all God's people.

Landscapes

I remember a very rainy, So Cal winter a few years back. There was enough rain, in fact, for the desert to bloom. A desert that blooms was a new concept to me and so I drove out to Joshua Tree in the high desert and Anza Borrego further south and saw with my very own eyes how stunning the desert it is when it flowers. The landscape I had once experienced as barren and dry was bursting with life!

In So Cal, we know what it is like to experience drought, heat, and fires. Likewise, we know how life-giving a good rain is in our desert landscape. In the fourth lesson from Advent Lessons and Carols, the prophet Isaiah uses images of the desert in bloom and streams flowing through the parched desert lands as metaphors for God's salvation. Through Isaiah's proclamation, God promises that our hearts will be refreshed and life brought to the thirsty landscapes of our souls.

An apple a day...

In the third lesson from Lessons and Carols, the prophet Jeremiah proclaims God's message of forgiveness for Israel and Judah through the new covenant established between God and God's people. God will write the law upon our hearts so that our very being will becoming the embodiment of God's promise!

The concept of a covenant between God and God's people is central in the Hebrew Bible as well as the Christian scriptures. Covenant necessarily implies a relationship between God and humanity. It is the promise of God to love and care for us and the promise of humanity to love and obey God. The God who covenants with us is not a God that is unaffected by our suffering but rather it is a God that is in intimate relationship with all of humankind.

In Lessons and Carols, each lesson is accompanied by a musical reflection. Epiphany Schola, offered Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, a poem set to music as the reflection on Jeremiah's proclamation. In this poem, the mystical apple tree became another image for the covenant of God with God's people. The apple has quite a symbolic history in the Christian tradition, most notably as the forbidden fruit in the garden that caused our fall. Yet, in the same garden is also the tree of life. Christ as our apple tree, our tree of life, is the other option for us in the ancient and ancestral garden symbolizing the new covenant of Jeremiah's proclamation - a promise of transformation from sin and suffering into wholeness for all of God's people and all of creation.

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
the trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.

Be prepared...

This reflection, by our Vicar Hank Mitchel, is the second installment in our series of Advent reflections based on the readings from Lessons and Carols.

The second lesson in our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols came from Isaiah 40:1-11 where the prophet cries, "Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God." The passage includes the words, "A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" During the season of Advent, the church always reads of John the Baptist, the one who called all who would listen to prepare for the coming of God. In Matthew's Gospel, John is identified as the one about whom Isaiah spoke, quoting the words exactly, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." It is difficult to miss Advent's greatest theme: Prepare for the coming of God!

Icon of John the Baptist from www.coptic.net

Origins

This year at Epiphany, the season of Advent and the new church year began with the traditional service of Lessons and Carols at 5 p.m. on December 2. We heard 9 lessons of our salvation history from the fall of humankind, the promise of a savior, and the birth of Christ. Offered as reflections upon the lessons, Epiphany's Parish, Chorister, and Schola choirs sang anthems and hymns as well as leading the congregational caroling.

The first lesson, Genesis 3.1-15, tells the story of Adam and Eve, and the fall of humankind. Traditionally, this story from Genesis has been interpreted as the origin of original sin, a doctrine of the church that teaches the sinfulness of all people from birth and our need of redemption(see also Psalm 51.5). However, this interpretation of Genesis is unique to Christians among the three Abrahamic faiths that also include this story in their holy scriptures. The doctrine was first conceived by St. Augustine and his belief that unbaptized infants who die are hellbound, because, for Augustine, humanity without God's grace has no other option than sin.

As with any doctrine of the church, original sin has many problems. It has helped me to remember the passage from Genesis, upon which the doctrine of original sin is based, is a creation myth and not a blow by blow account of what the first man and woman were up to. A myth is not a terrible thing. Myths illustrate much deeper truths than a simple news story on Eve's disobedience ever could. This myth tells us about desire, innocence, knowledge, temptation, love, pain, and despair and the place of God in all of those very human experiences. The richness of its multiple layers of meaning may be explored with our God-given imaginations preventing the limitation of its interpretation only to the story of our original sin. This limitation, in fact, would seem a sin itself.

Source of Light

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

This is the collect (the prayer that "collects" the intentions of the people) for the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the church year. Advent is rich with so many levels of meaning. Remembering the birth of Jesus, this is a season of anticipation, keeping watch for the justice of God to come to its fulfillment, bringing light to a world living in darkness. We prepare for the glory of God to be born in all of us again this Christmastide.

The icon, depicting the annunciation from Luke 1.26-38, is housed at the St. Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai. It came to the United States as part of the Getty Museum's show Holy Image/Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai. Click here for wonderful history of St. Catherine's, one of the oldest operational monasteries in the world.

The Epicenter will offer reflections on this most holy season in the church year. Let us know what you think! Many blessings as you prepare in anticipation of God's glory dwelling within you!
(Icon from the collection of St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai)