Greetings In The Name Of Christ Emmanuel!

I pray that you and your families are well. Even as I write this message, I acknowledge that we are still waiting for the answered prayers that soon we will move beyond the Coronavirus, political divides, natural disasters, and the many questions about the future Church.  The Advent and Christmas season is a mix of celebrations and lament. Let us continue to pray and support those who struggle at this time of the year. 

Additionally, as we end 2021, let us end the year by giving thanks for God’s providential care in our lives. Throughout this year, signs of hope peeked through cloudy days with vaccines, the ingenuity of congregations, a rebounding economy, significant movements of justice, and families previously separated reunited in celebration. For all these things we offer thanks.  

The prophet Isaiah made the proclamation, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7). In fulfillment of this prophecy, the birth of Christ was an intervention into history, interrupting humanity’s dismay and complacency with what was. The narrative needed to be reframed. Some had come to believe life would never change. Life was thought to be fixed for those privileged to be blessed with ease, and those burdened with suffering were supposed to be doomed to a trajectory of dismay. The babe Jesus, in an unexpected time broke the 400 years of Biblical Silence also called the “Intertestamental Period.” The last prophet to speak in the Christian Cannon, Malachi, encouraged hope founded upon the divine promise of healing for the nations and a reward for the righteous. The world was promised a bold prophet like Elijah, who would proclaim a message of reconciliation. The prophecy explicitly names the reconciliation of relationships. It seems the will of God begins and ends with restoring relationships between humankind and the Divine and humanity with one another. 

Additionally, we are challenged to hope against hope. According to Richard Rohr, “Hope is the patient and trustful willingness to live without full closure, without resolution, and still be content and even happy because our satisfaction is now at another level, and our Source is beyond ourselves.” The story of Mary reminds us of that our more significant hope begins with a surrender to God’s will. Brian McLaren said “In Luke’s telling of the birth of Jesus, God aligns with the creative feminine power of womanhood rather than the violent masculine power of statehood. The doctrine of the virgin birth is about subverting violence. The violent power of top-down patriarchy is subverted not by counter-violence but by the creative power of pregnancy. It is through what proud men have considered “the weaker sex” that God’s true power enters and changes the world” (Brian D. McLaren, We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation (Jericho Books: 2014), 68, 69–70). Mary surrenders to God, and we follow her model striving to be as bold in the faith. We desire to be pregnant with possibilities and holy aliveness. The Church must never forget her call to be bearers of this good news. How will you tell this story this Christmas?  How are you prepared to tell this story in the coming year?  

The Post-Covid Church charge has not changed. We are the heralds tasked with telling a better story. We are eyewitnesses that miracles are possible, and grace abounds. We are prepared to grapple with hard truths that challenge deep-set norms of privilege and superiority. We are ready for “oneing”, seeing all people in the Imago Dei. We are about turning over tables of injustice, creating space, and welcoming home those who have been on the outside of life.  

This Howard Thurman poem says it best: 

“When the song of the angels is stilled, 
When the star in the sky is gone, 
When the kings and princes are home, 
When the shepherds are back with their flocks, 

The work of Christmas begins: 
To find the lost, 
To heal the broken, 
To feed the hungry, 
To release the prisoner, 
To rebuild the nations, 
To bring peace among the people, 
To make music in the heart.” 

 From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year! 

 Rev. SanDawna Gaulman Ashley