ALL WE NEED

December 14, 2014

Advent 3

2^nd Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Luke 1: 46-55

(prayer)

There is a fun little song that is traditionally sung at Passover Seder meals.  We have sometimes sung an modern English version of this Passover song on the Thursday before Easter.  It’s at #131 in Voices United.

Ilu hotzi hotzianu

Hotzianu mimitzrayim

Hotzianu mimitzrayim

Dayeinu

Da dayeinu...

If our God had brought us only;

Only brought us out of slav’ry;

And not handed Egypt judgments;

Would’ve been ‘enough’.

E-e-nough...

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There are fifteen traditional verses to the Dayeinu: five stanzas for leaving slavery; five for miracles; and five for being with God ending with the building of the Temple.

All along the way, the song says - if God had not gone any further in freeing and guiding the people to their promised land, that would have been enough.  Everything after liberation was ‘bonus’.

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Every year at this time, it seems that our society is in need of the message of ‘enough’.

There is so much pressure to be consumers at this time of year - our economy needs it (we are told). Shouldn’t ‘gift giving’ be immersed in attitudes of generosity and gratitude, not greed or guilt.

I think there are times when people give out of guilt - they see such enormous gaps between the financial classes of our society.  Let’s face it, compared to much of the world, we are an extremely wealthy society.  One of my favorite hashtags to search up on twitter is #firstworldproblems.  Many of the comments are funny: both in a humorous and a sad way.  Here a few tweets that I saw this week:

·        Waiting for ice-cream to melt just a little bit so it's soft enough to eat. #firstworldproblems

·        Work gave me an iPad Air, but a normal iPad case for it :( #firstworldproblems

·        I couldn’t hear the TV so I had to stop eating chips. #FirstWorldProblems

·        Day off & the cleaning ladies are here early. Good thing I took my shower early or it could have been awkward #firstworldproblems ;)

See what I mean - funny haha and funny...ohhhh.

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Sometimes we may give out of the guilt of worrying about our first world problems.  We give to those in more desperate need - in our own area or around the world - hoping to ease some of the guilt.

For the recipients, however, it may not matter - they have needs and if we can help fill them (whatever our motives) it can have good consequences.  It's one of those times that no one gets overly concerned if you are giving for the wrong reasons.

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There is also another issue on the giving-end besides the guilt that comes from privilege - I think that sometimes, we just over-give, we over indulge.
Do you know what I mean?  
I think there can be value for us to think about: when it comes to my own patterns of giving, when is it enough already. 

I’m not talking about overgiving to situations of desperate need.  I mean (if we are honest) I
think that sometimes we give because it makes us feel good and we give too much to people (usually people we know well) who really don’t need that much.

I imagine that we can all think of examples when we feel someone has been spoiled with too many gifts.
And it says more about the giver than the getter.

For some people, they are trying to achieve their own sense of joy and fulfilment by giving lavishly - especially to people we deeply care about.

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It seems every year at this time, our society needs to hear the message of enough.

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Two good rules of thumb: "It is better to give than receive"; and "the

most appropriate response to a gift is thank you, not is that it?"

I know that I say to my kids (and myself) that it is better to be happy about what you do have than to be sad about what you don’t have.

Dayeinu.  Enough.

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King David had just built himself a huge new house - constructed from the finest imported woods.  It must have been the highlight of the Jerusalem skyline.

Then the lavish selfishness led to guilt. How is it right that the king (a servant of God) lives in a grand house made of cedar and the Ark of God is housed in a tent?  Now, let’s be clear: David’s plan was not to switch homes with the Ark.  Move the contents of the tabernacle worship space into the palace and David would set up home in a tent - no, he was thinking it was time to build a more permanent place of worship.

Since the time of Moses, the Ark of God (the ornate box said to contain the original tablets of the ten commandments) was kept in a tent.  That made perfect sense when the people were nomadic during the time of the exodus.  It may even have made sense in the early years of live in Canaan, but under David, things were very stable.  He had built a new city (Jerusalem) on the outskirts of his hometown of Bethlehem to be his capital city.

As David looked around his new house, he wondered if it was time for a Temple to replace the Tent of the Tabernacle.

David discerns that God is not looking for fancy lodging.  The tent was sufficient - it was enough. 

It was a time of peace.  That should be enough for King David.

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So far in this advent season we have lit three special candles.
We began with hope (where all change and goodness starts); then last week it was peace; today it is joy. 
As I said earlier in the service, joy best flourishes in times of safety and calm.

We all crave safety and calm - so that we can open ourselves up to joy.

Looking at that the other way: it can be very difficult to know joy, when we do not feel calm or safe.

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As the gospel of Luke tells it, Mary was promised in marriage to Joseph.
She has an amazing mystical experience where she encounters a holy messenger.  A messenger who tells her that is deeply valued by her God and that the life she will live will create joy for the whole
world to enjoy.  When it all seemed to hard to believe, the messenger told her - Nothing is impossible for God.

A calm came over Mary, she knew that she was held safe in the arms of God... and she sang:
"My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour."

Her song is a testament to the Will of God that all share in the blessings of Gods creation.  The human patterns of the survival of the fittest and the dominance of strength - the power of wealth - are supplanted by the merciful heart of God that lifts the lowly, fills the hungry and does not heap excess on the conceited and the greedy.

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Mary feels her life filled with God and that brings her a calm which explodes in joyful song.

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When all that is good and holy comes into the world, the intent is for joy to emerge.  At this time of the year we sing: Joy to the world, the Lord is come!  

And heaven and nature sing!

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And we NEED joy.  We really do.  Because... too often, too many of us find safety and calm hard to come by.

Oh, how we would long to know a moment of clarity like Mary had, where she could let go of worry and fear and loneliness and fall into into calm safety of the arms of God.

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We are not all at that place, where joy comes easy.  And that's because we don't have enough of the building blocks of joy in our lives. 
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Worry and fear are not easy things to release.

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But one of the things that helps is to experience the gift of knowing that "I am not alone."

And by knowing, I don't mean an intellectual insight.  It's not enough to hear those words and try to convince ourselves of their truth at the level of the mind.  We need to know this by real experience.
Joy is more possible when we actually lift the lowly and feed the hungry, and embrace the lonely and comfort the grieving and calm the anxious and rescue the fearful.

When we all have enough of "that", heaven and nature will truly sing!

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Let us pray,

Look on us with favour, O God.  Inspire us to build joy in in the lives of those around us.
Amen.

#134MV "Dreaming Mary"