Living the Mystery of the Incarnation Fr. Mark Greenaway-Robbins, December 24th & 25th, 2013.
Part 1 – Midnight Mass In Bethlehem, at the Church of the Nativity, I have knelt, like some of you, at the traditional site of the birth of Jesus. On the outskirts of Bethlehem, I have stood, in what tradition describes, as the Shepherd’s Fields and sung Christmas carols – on a glorious autumnal day. In Nazareth, I have sat awe-struck in the Basilica of the Church of the Annunciation, with the whisperings of the Magnificat in the air. Tonight, as the Crib was blessed these sacred moments, where the veil is thin between heaven and earth, stir in my soul. The glorious interpretation of the Gloria in excelsis, the song of the angels, sung at this Mass carries my being, perhaps yours too, heavenwards. It is as if we can hear that first chorus of praise by heavenly beings. It will soon be midnight, on a Wednesday in the depths of winter, on the western edge of a vast continent, seemingly a world away from the Middle East – in time and space. So what? What does it matter? What difference does it make whether or not we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus the Christ? One year ago, many of us gathered to celebrate the Nativity, here in this sacred space. Yes, the Nativity takes us to the epicenter of the mystery of the Incarnation. How have you changed in the last year since celebrating the mystery of the Incarnation through the Nativity? What fruits will be borne in your life in the year to come through your participation in these mysteries?” I come from prayer, in which asking myself for what cause we are in this world, I have learnt that we are in it only to receive and carry the sweet Jesus, on our tongue by announcing him, in our arms by doing good works, on our shoulders by bearing his yoke, his drynesses and sterilities, and thus in our interior and exterior senses. O how blessed are they that carry him sweetly and constantly! Francis de Sales. Letter 8. To Madame de Chantal. 16th November, 1605.
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The words of Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and spiritual writer, in a letter to Jane Frances de Chantal. We are only in this world to “receive and carry” Jesus, he wrote. How will you receive and carry Jesus in the year to come? “We are each to build a holy house – a life – inside which Jesus and his family can dwell,” writes Mother Hilary the Guardian of the Order of Julian of Norwich. She continues, “in the course of the construction process we are at one and the same time receiving, offering and becoming the radicle hospitality of God… And come what may, God protects our labors and safeguards the image of himself that is coming to birth in us.” (Julian’s Window. Volume V. December 2013. No.4.) So by God’s grace, in the year to come, we can accommodate Jesus and the Holy Family. Our lives can become a place of hospitality, paradoxically for the hospitality of God – a fruit of living the mystery of the Incarnation. We are “to receive and carry sweet Jesus on our tongue, by announcing him,” wrote Francis de Sales. In our time, Pope Francis has spoken on this very point. Anyone, he said in a recent homily, who utters Christian words without putting them into practice hurts oneself and others, because they are based on pride and cause division. (Homily at Mass at the Casa Santa Martha, December 5, 2013.) Here is another fruit of living the mystery of the Incarnation: what we say must be congruent with who we are and how we live our lives, otherwise we cause great risk to ourselves and the Church. Also we can, “receive and carry the sweet Jesus… in our arms by doing good works.” This fruit of living the mystery of the Incarnation is evident in many ways, but a good summary may be found in the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy: To feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty; to clothe the naked; to harbour the harbourless; to visit the sick; to visit the imprisoned; to bury the dead. (Matthew 25:34-40) Lastly, Francis de Sales wrote of the importance of perseverance, since we are “to receive and carry the sweet Jesus… on our shoulders by bearing his yoke, his drynesses and sterilities”. “Anyone who endures to the end will be saved,” said Jesus. (Mt. 24:13) In the mystery of the Incarnation, God’s love for us is revealed. If we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves, then the fruits of the Incarnation may be borne in our lives. Then the angels will have cause to sing: “Glory be to God on High, and in earth peace, good will towards all.”
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Part 2 – Mass on Christmas Day “Christ is born. Glorify him.” Our sisters and brothers in the Orthodox Churches of the East greet each other with these words during the Christmas season: “Christ is born.” To which the response is, “Glorify him.” Rather wonderfully, the standard greeting among Orthodox Christians is this: “Glory to Jesus Christ.” To which one replies, “Glory forever.” Our lections at Mass today speak of Jesus as, “the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being,” in Hebrews. (Hebrews 1:3) And according to the Gospel of John (1:14), “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” Whether in Europe, the Middle East, or North America, whenever I worship with Christians of the Orthodox Churches, I love their rich traditions which so often take us to the heart of the mystery which is being celebrated. Today, in the new light of this day, we are bathed in the glory of God’s love as we celebrate the Nativity. We too may cry aloud: “Christ is born! Glorify him!” I am reminded of an occasion when I worshipped with Messianic-Jews, or Jewish Christians, in Jerusalem. A very dear friend of mine was a Hebrew Christian and she invited me to an act of worship. All I can remember is a worship song in which the word “Glory” was repeated. That moment is seared onto my soul. I was worshipping with fellow Christians who were giving glory to God and together we were caught up in the glory of God. For the Hebrews, at the time of Jesus, the glory of God literally dwelt in the Temple at Jerusalem. The miracle of Christmas is this and only this: the glory of God has been made public. The glory of God was revealed and made accessible to everyone in the Christ-child! This is the miracle, the magic and the mayhem of Christmas. Last night, at the Midnight Mass, I ruminated like the oxen in the stable with these words: “One year ago, many of us gathered to celebrate the Nativity, here in this sacred space. Yes, the Nativity takes us to the epicenter of the mystery of the Incarnation. How have you changed in the last year since celebrating the mystery of the Incarnation through the Nativity? What fruits will be borne in your life in the year to come through your participation in these mysteries?”
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So let’s continue to look for the fruits of living the mystery of the Incarnation, as we did last night. Why? Because this is how we can glorify God. I’d like to guide you to what at first may seem an unlikely place. At the back of our Book of Alternatives Services (BAS) we can find the psalter, which is a collection of the psalms. In this edition each psalm is followed by a prayer, known as a “psalm prayer”. I want to read for you the psalm prayer composed for Psalm 135 – it is, I believe, one of the most demanding and challenging prayers in either of our Prayer Books. Please listen carefully because it can help us bear fruits worthy of the mystery of the Incarnation (BAS p.893): God of freedom, you brought your people out of slavery with a mighty hand and gave them a law of love and justice. Deliver us from every temptation to be satisfied with false imitations of your will: with talk of peace that masks the face of war, and thanks for plenty that leaves the poor unfed. We pray for the coming of your kingdom, founded in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. So as we look around our world where might we be delivered from false imitations which “talk of peace that mask the face of war”? Have you noticed something remarkable? In the past few weeks Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali – an Anglican Bishop of Pakistani heritage, Pope Francis, HRH The Prince of Wales and Sayeeda Warsi – a practicing Muslim of Pakistani heritage and Minister for Faith in the British Government, to name but a few, have all spoken out in support of the Christians in the Holy land? Sayeeda Warsi, in a recent speech at Georgetown University, speaking of the plight of Churches in the Midde East described, “a mass exodus is taking place, on a Biblical scale. In some places, there is real danger that Christianity will become extinct”. (http://www.conservativehome.com/parliament/2013/12/the-full-text-of-sayeedawarsis-speech-on-theproblems-facing-christians-worldwide.html) Research by the Pew Centre suggests that Christians are reportedly the most widely persecuted religious group in the world. (www.pewresearch.org) Let’s remove the mask: many of our sisters and brothers are persecuted for their faith. How are we going act in support of them? So as we look around our world where might we be delivered from false imitations of “thanks for plenty that leaves the poor unfed”? This year the General Synod of our Church added a new clause to the words of the baptismal covenant – the promise we make at every baptism. It is this: "Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of God's creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth?" To which the people respond: "I will, with God's help."
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Each of us is called to develop practices which safeguard the integrity of creation. Our Primate Fred Hiltz, through the work of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) is asking us – all Canadian Anglicans – to commit to “work with people and communities to ensure people have enough good, healthy food to eat.”( http://pwrdf.org/2013/introducing-fred-says) In other words, he is speaking of “food security”, which is the availability of food and one’s access to it. Those of us who have had sufficient food to eat today are among those most privileged in our global village. Now is the time to act. We glorify God by living the mystery of the Incarnation! The fruits of living this mystery are to pursue peace beyond the masks of war. The fruits of living this mystery safeguard the integrity of God’s creation - including food security for all people. Here we are, caught up in the glory – the miracle, magic and mayhem of the Nativity. Go and be fruitful in good works. Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
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