Mary Said, "Let It Be Done"

This is the final weekend of Advent, a season of preparation to receive the Christ, the Babe of Bethlehem, the Prince of Peace, the King of kings. Maggie and I have had some fun in visiting other congregations the past few months. Since she had to work Sunday (December 21) we decided to visit our good friend Fr. James Cooper at St. Vincent's Catholic Church in Osceola on Saturday night. I know Pastor Cooper to be an excellent preacher with some dry wit mixed in. The Gospel for this weekend is the Visitation of the angel to Mary. The story tells us that the angel greeted Mary and called her "favored" or "blessed." She was to have a baby, who would be called Jesus and he would save His people from their sins. The problem is that Mary and Joseph were not yet married. If she turned up pregnant it could mean death by stoning. Plus Mary simply didn't grasp the concept. She told the angel that she was yet a virgin and this seemed impossible. The angel assured her that with God all things are possible. She replied "Let it be done...." Father Cooper pointed out that in Latin the word for let it be done was "Fiat." He likened it to the automobile company "Fiat," and stated that Mary was a vehicle. Mary would become the Mother of God, but she would not be God. Mary was a vehicle by which the Light of the World entered into our human story. She was the vehicle by which God became flesh and dwelt among us. Because of her agreement to fiat, a vehicle, our world has not been the same, thanks be to God, nor will it ever be the same again.

Most Christians will agree that Mary became the vehicle by which God took on human form in the person of Jesus the Christ. While I believe in the virgin birth, I acknowledge that not everyone believes that way. Regardless of your personal conviction, Mary was the vehicle. I don't believe God would have chosen a woman who had already known a man, but that is my conviction.

Regardless, Mary was a human being. She was a living, breathing, 98.6 degree person who was like you and I. She was mortal like us. So, if God used this young woman as a vehicle what would make any of us believe that we are not vehicles? God wants to use each one of us as a vehicle of grace and mercy and kindness and compassion and helpfulness and peace and love. This Advent I have been thinking a lot about family and friends. I always do, but I think this year I have done so more than usual. I also think a lot about how blessed I am. I have a wonderful family. We are all well fed. We are all normally healthy. We all have a roof over our heads and a warm comfortable place to live and sleep. So then I think about the little child who is abused by a parent or family member. I think about the little girl or little boy who will go to bed hungry on Christmas Eve. I think about that child who will not wake up on Christmas to Santa gifts under the tree. I think about the child who has a terminal illness, who may not see the next Christmas. I think about the child who has lost a parent or was abandoned. And I think, "Am I a vehicle of God to this child?" "What have I done to show the Christ Child to this child? Am I a fiat?

Then I think of the old man or woman, somebodies little child, somebodies brother or sister, somebodies mother or father or grandparent that is homeless, alone, hungry, cold, sick, huddled over a steam vent. I remember several years ago in Kansas City a bitter cold spell like we are having now. Many homeless people froze to death. The missions were far over full and most of the church doors were locked. What kind of fiat, what kind of vehicle, was the church? It had placed more value on their precious brass than on the life of a homeless person. I think of the victims of warfare in places like Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, India, and a dozen other places. I think of the parent who has lost their entire family and I ask, "Am I a fiat of God's love to that person?"

I wonder, if the Angel came to me......to you......to the Church (which is all who claim the name of God) and said, "Behold, you are the chosen fiat. You are the chosen vehicle to bring peace to the battered family. You are the vehicle to bring healing to the sick. You are the vehicle to feed the cold, sick, hungry homeless person. You are the vehicle to open your doors to the cold, the sick and those that mourn. You are the vehicle to bring God's forgiveness to the abuser, the sex addict, the thief, the murderer. If the Angel came to us as the people of God, as the Church, as said, "You are the vehicle," would we say "fiat -- let it be done." Let's ask ourselves that very important question. The Baby was born in Bethlehem many years ago. The way he is born again day after day and year after year is when we say, "Fiat......let it be done," and become God's vehicle.

God Bless You and God Bless America!
Have a Blessed and Holy Christmas.......Go forth and be God's vehicle.

I Saw God Today

A friend recently said that she experienced "God with skin," after another had offered her a special prayer for strength. I thought about those three words a lot and wondered what it would be like to see "God with skin on." What would God look like? Would God be tall or short, slim or plump? Hmm, "God with skin on." Would God be male or female, young or old, dark skinned or light? God with skin on. What an interesting thought.

This has been a difficult few days in the life of our small rural community. A fallen warrior, an American soldier, son, brother, husband and father was taken from us in the fight for freedom in a place called Afghanistan. He was critically injured by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). Captain Rob Yllescas was only 31 years old, far too young to be taken from his wife and daughters, other family members, friends and comrades.

The service for Captain Yllescas was the most stirring I have ever witnessed and that's saying a lot since I have been an ordained pastor for more than 23 years. I saw many service men and women who either had been deployed or will be. Some were officers others non-commissioned officers and others of lesser ranks. Some were female and others male. Some were very young while others had been in the service for many years. I looked at those brave souls who all volunteered to put on the uniform of their country, take up arms and protect the cause of freedom her and abroad and I saw God with skin. I saw VFW and Legion members from every war from WWII to Korea to Vietnam and others in between and I saw God with skin on. I saw the Patriot Riders on their motorcycles in sub-freezing weather and I saw God with skin on. I looked through my tear clouded eyes and saw young and old with tears in their eyes and I saw God with skin on. The shortest verse in the Bible is only two words, "Jesus wept." And today I saw God with skin on weeping. I am so proud of those men and women who serve and have served. I hope you will join me in always thanking them for their service. Today, I visited with a major and an E-6 and thanked them for their service and their reply was, "Thanks for paving the way." I saw God with skin on and he was weeping, he was proud, he was grieved, he was clergy, he was wife and daughter and son and brother and friend and hero. That's it isn't it, God is one of us.

Sunday morning we awoke to the horrible news that a young man named Jason Haack had been killed in a motor vehicle accident while apparently checking cattle. Jason was one of the finest young men you could ever hope to meet. Like the famous Will Rogers, Jason never met a stranger. I coached him in track for a time until chronic injuries forced him to stop. When I would see Jason with that big cowboy hat and boots I saw God with skin on. Jason like Rob was far too young. Now I see his classmates and those of other classes in shock, trying to make sense out of a senseless tragedy. I see them searching for someway of expressing their feelings and I see God with skin on.

It is true that God had and has skin on. God put skin on and became Jesus Christ. That same God with skin was beaten beyond recognition, nailed to a cross, mocked, died and was buried for Rob and Jason their families and for you and I. God put skin on to show us what real hope looks like. God with skin on was a tiny baby in Bethlehem, a carpenter's son in Nazareth, a teacher a brother, a son and friend who came for one reason and one reason only......for each of us. Scripture said, "He died once for all." He didn't die just for the Jew or the Greek, but for the young soldier and the teenager and the heros on motorcycles and YOU AND ME.

Hmmm. God with skin on. What an interesting thought. Some are so hung up on stereotypes of God that they fail to see him when he puts skin on. While I believe that God is gender neutral because scripture tells us that God is spirit, I also believe when I looked at Robs wife and daughters I saw God with skin on. There is a song, "What if God was one of us......a slob like one of us?" Well, my friends God is one of us. Several years ago during a morning Bible study for mostly older women someone asked, "If Jesus were to come today how would you know it." My beloved second mother, Marge Haggard, said, "It's easy. I've seen him." She was saying in a sense that she had seen God with skin on. Would you like to see God? You can and it's easy. Look at the widow, the widower, the child, the wounded warrior, the person next door. Look deeply and you are likely to see God with skin on.

Yes, it's been a difficult few days for our little spot on planet earth. But wait a minute......it's also been a wonderful few days because "I Saw God Today," and God had skin on.

God Bless America and God Bless You and God Bless the American Soldier!