Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 21 Dec. 2014, Advent 4
Year B RCL: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Canticle 15 The Song of Mary; Romans: 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
Names
mean something despite the implications from the lines Shakespeare
has Juliet speak in the tragedy, Romeo
& Juliet.
The
name Rose comes from a name that indicates “fame” & “sort”
as in a “type” or “kind” of something2.
The flower we call a rose has a claim to fame beyond Shakespeare's
writing about it.
The
name Luke, whose Gospel we read today, means “bringer of
light...”3.
Certainly Luke's work brings light to us about Jesus.
In
our Gospel, the angel Gabriel, whose
name means “man of God”4,
brings Mary a message, saying: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is
with you.” A bit more than 6 months earlier he brought good news to
Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth, Mary's old & barren cousin
[whose name means “God is my oath”5]
will have a son who will be named John.
Long
before this, Gabriel is the messenger to the prophet Daniel. So
Gabriel has been God's man, God's messenger, from the Hebrew
scriptures to the Christian scriptures. I wonder if Gabriel is still
bringing God's message to people. I wonder if God has fewer messages
for Gabriel to deliver because God counts on Christians – you &
me – to assure people “The Lord is with you.”
Part
of the Good News we are called to deliver is that Jesus IS Lord &
because of Jesus we can trust that God loves us. Jesus
means "Savior" or "God
saves"6
“His
name expresses his identity & his mission. Since God alone can
forgive sins, it IS God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made
man,...save(s) (us) from (our) sins".7
The
name Jesus “is given to our Lord because 'He saves His people from
their sins.' This is His special role...(By) cleansing (us) in His
own atoning blood.., by putting in (our) hearts (God's) sanctifying
Spirit.. (he) will save (us) from all the consequences of sin...”8
This IS Good News that we are called to share.
How
we are called & how we share it can be as varied as the meaning
of our own names. It may be big or small, near or far, as
is the case of one saint born in Georgia & remembered during
December in the book Holy
Women, Holy Men:
Lillian Thrasher, who died in 1961, was born in 1887 in Brunswick,
GA9.
Her name is from the flower we call the lilly, which symbolizes
innocence, purity & beauty.10
The story of her work as a missionary in Egypt is one of beauty. She
tended more than 25,000 children in the orphanage she founded &
ran in Egypt, the 1st
orphanage established there, which continues to minister today &
for which 85% of its support is from Christians in Egypt.11
This
support is remarkable & a testament to faith: think of the
reports on the burning of Christian churches there. I can testify 1st
hand to the ostracism & low esteem in which Christians are held
that John & I witnessed & learned about 20 years ago from
Christian friends there.
Any
of us may be called to action far away like Lillian or be called to
action much nearer. Whatever ministry God calls each of us to,
wherever God leads us to bring the Good News, we must remember: God –
not you or I – sets the time frame & the agenda.12
“God is the caller; you are the receiver...When God extends a hand
to you, it is
in God's time, not yours.”13
Whatever
calling you receive from God, ultimately you are called to be like
Mary: a God Bearer. And this includes you
my Beloved Brothers in Christ! God calls each of us in a unique way
to this highest of callings to carry God's Son, Jesus, into this
world.14
“God
is calling you to be pregnant with the Holy Spirit.”15
And that includes you
my Beloved Brothers! God calls you to be pregnant – filled – with
the Holy Spirit.
“God
is calling you to put aside all the plans the world has for you &
to follow a different plan...How obedient are you right now? Are you
ready to say, 'Here I am, Lord. Use me.”16
Bibliography
Dios
Habla Hoy: La Biblia.
2da
Ed.
Nueva York: Sociedad Bíblica Americana. 1983.
The
Four Translation New Testament.
Minneapolis: World Wide Publications. New York: The Iversen Assocs.
1966.
Harper’s Bible
Commentary.
General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1988.
Harper’s Bible
Dictionary.
General Ed.: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers. 1985.
Holy Bible with
the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Holy Men:
Celebrating the Saints.
New York: Church Publishing, Inc. 2010.
http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Gabriel.html#.VJW-_drABg.
Accessed: 20 Dec. 2014.
http://www.biblical-baby-names.com.
Accessed: 20 Dec. 2014.
http://www.catholic.org/clife/jesus/jesusname.php.
Accessed: 20 Dec. 2014.
http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/lillian-trasher/.
Accessed: 19 Dec. 2014.
Jewish Study
Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Kautz,
Richard. A
Labyrinth Year: Walking the Seasons of the Church.
Harrisburg: Morehouse. 2005.
The
New American Bible for Catholics.
South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
Ryle,
J.C.
http://www.jesus.org/is-jesus-god/names-of-jesus/what-does-the-name-jesus-mean.html.
Accessed: 20 Dec. 2014.
Tenney,
Merrill C. Handy
Dictionary of the Bible.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. 1965. P.58.
1
http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/what-s-name-that-which-we-call-rose.
Accessed: 20 Dec. 2014.
4
Tenney, Merrill C. Handy Dictionary of the
Bible.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. 1965. P.58.
5
Ibid. P. 50.
7
Ibid.
8
Adapted
by
http://www.jesus.org/is-jesus-god/names-of-jesus/what-does-the-name-jesus-mean.html
from
J.C. Ryle's The
Gospel of Matthew.
Accessed: 20 Dec. 2014.
11
Ibid. Holy
Women, Holy Men.
And
http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/lillian-trasher/.
Accessed: 19 Dec. 2014.
13
Ibid.
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