Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 2/4/2025
Good Morning Saints -
Your presence here today tells me something about the condition of your heart - that you have *not given in to the storms of despair and whirlwinds of worry coursing through our times - but you have chosen the steadfast, Gospel pillars of hope and courage to steady you!
I am so glad to see you this morning!
You have followed the Spirit of light, hope, and possibility to this familiar place of sustenance - of Eucharist - of love and acceptance - of your beloved community - real people who really care about you and our God!
Please turn to your neighbor right now and smile!
I'm not going to ask you to engage in any conversation with them because I know you, and I could not get you to quiet down!
But that's a good thing, to be among friends, because today we need each other - to buoy us in these dark and stormy, and turbulent waters.
For you have sided with those steadfast and truthful 'Better Angels' who can see something that is becoming more difficult for us to envision:
God's dream of justice and righteousness in our land! Where freedom and tranquility claim victory over apathy and discouragement.
Where the poor, sick, and marginalized find healing and respite. Where the works of liberty, freedom, and peace roll down like rivers from that home of ours that has come - and is to come!
For we stand today at a crossroads.
We can side with those 'Lesser Angels' and throw in the towel! We can stop slogging our way through the blinding sandstorms of injustice and inequity - and just lie down, defeated and discouraged - to be covered with a weighted blanket of dusty depression - and allow the dominating forces of ill will and oppression free reign!
Or we can do what I think we came here to do - and that is to rise up together to meet the challenges of this day! To lock arms in the blessed fraternity of our Gospel - that promises love's victory over evil - and a sure and mighty strength to meet the challenge of the day!
For the God we came to meet does not give up!
The God we came to thank is not desperate with despair!
The God we have come to worship does not lie still and sullen, frozen in a tomb of death.
No, the God we came to honor - who is both sun and shield and gives grace and glory - is alive with hope, brimming with possibility - unfurling the flag to which I beg your allegiance this morning - which is God's banner of courage!
That is the title and aim of my message today: courage!
I suspect not a few of us are in the market for the strength to stand up for what's right! To speak truth to falsehood! To come to the rescue of the oppressed!
As we know, God has called US to do that! By virtue of our baptisms, and by invitation of our Savior!
And my prayer is that Almighty God would hear these pleas and grant each and every one of us an overabundance, a cup that runneth over, a baker's dozen and more, of courage!
And that is where we find Mary, Joseph, and Jesus this morning on this Feast of the Presentation.
They are observing two points of the Jewish Law - first, something called the redemption of a firstborn male child - and second, the purification of a mother after childbirth.
The first ceremony harkens back to Egypt and Exodus 13 when God redeemed Israel from slavery and avoided God's final plague which killed all firstborn children. Each family thereafter, according to Numbers 18, was obligated to dedicate that firstborn male to God's service.
They would make payment of five sanctuary shekels - this happening when the child is 30-days old. That was the Holy Family’s first job.
Their second was to honor the Levitical law regarding the purification of a mother after childbirth. This happened 40 days after a child came into the world and commanded another sacrifice: a year-old-lamb if you were rich, a pair of doves or pigeons if you were not.
The family chose the latter - because they were not rich in the worldly sense - they were rich, though, in something much more valuable.
For this story, in Luke chapter 2, comes as a climax to God's epic work with this holy family.
Just a few verses earlier, Mary and Joseph were presented with the unbelievable and the impossible - that God would bring forth his Son into the world. God had to enlist angels and dreams to persuade them because who would have believed otherwise?
In Mary, meek and lowly, and Joseph, faithful and holy, we see the flame of courage lit when they both said 'yes' to that angel - and to God.
They then went forth to bear and rear an other-worldly child because God had a plan - God had a mission - that this broken down and beat up world was worthy of redemption - and capable of becoming something much greater than it was.
In the courage of Mary and Joseph we see two people who, against the threat of ostracism, shame, and embarrassment, decided to go with God - and against all odds and human reasoning - their courage paid off - for without it, none of us would be here right now.
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Courage comes from the latin word 'cor' or heart - which is why 'cordial' means friendly, your 'core' is the central part of your body, and 'discord' means a lack of agreement, literally, 'hearts apart.'
Cor evolved through France, which added the suffix - to form courage as we know it today - and has been defined as not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
Don't think that Mary, Joseph, and even Jesus was without fear! But they weighed that fear against the importance of something else.
This morning you and I face "something else." Go ahead and name it.
Is it the cries of the marginalized, transgendered, or immigrants piercing the silence? Is it the threatening plight of poverty, inequality, or hatred? Is it the darkness of the unknown or the lack of control we feel over out destinies?
You may think that courage is not for you. You weren't born with it. In fact, you have a track record of avoidance edging on cowardice!
We are in good company then - as Moses, David, and certainly Simeon and Anna had their stories of doubt.
Simeon and Anna, each deeply spiritual and devout Jews - waited in the Temple for the Messiah for decades. They had the courage to believe they would see the accomplishment of God's dream.
Against all odds, they had the courage to daily offer prayer and praise to God. We can just imagine how many people looked down on them as they walked past, shaking their heads in mockery. 'What fools!' they must have heard, time and time again. But they had the courage to stick to their guns - to hang on to God's promises.
And in the euphoria that followed, when the Messiah came into their midst, Simeon burst forth with an anthem of praise that has buoyed the Church ever since:
"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word!"
Anna would not be far behind, adding both praise and prophecy that would first dazzle then puzzle the holy family.
And in them, we see ourselves: faithful believers whom God has given promises.
And we face the same headwinds they did - of doubt and despair, given voice by a cacophony of contrarians:
'You'll never see the justice and beloved shalom for which humanity longs!'
'Our nation and this world are bound for shipwreck and ruin on the tumultuous waters of pride, selfishness, and hypocrisy'
'There is nothing to be done in a world where truth becomes lies and lies become truth!'
But friends - don't fall for it!
Don't take the bait!
For rising strong, high, and mighty upon the smoky battlefield upon which we struggle - is unfurled and unflappable, that bold and breathtaking banner!
With ardent defiance and a faith burnished in the refiner's fire, you and I give our salute and allegiance - to God's banner of courage!
And we know it well!
For we have seen our God triumph before. We have been a part of battles that were surely lost! We have seen the chips down, the odds long, and the grim reaper rehearsing his victory dance - BUT only to be turned away as things turned around - and that enemy saw defeat - by that good and gracious force that has and will win.
Friends, let us not be as those without hope, writes St. Paul, but let us hold fast to the plans and promises of God!
Our job, our only job, is to have courage.
So how do we do this?
Some will say that courage is not something we're born with - rather it is something we cultivate! It is the sure and certain fruit of careful planting, watering, and pruning.
So, we were all born with the seed. It's up to us to help it grow. It is like a muscle we must exercise, a fire we must stoke, the water of a deep well that must be pumped to the surface!
Courage grows when nourished! It will fill our heart when we feed it! And we do this in two ways: by tethering it to our deepest values and convictions; AND surrounding ourselves with a like-minded community.
The hope for creation is not some pie-in-the-sky optimism birthed of evolutionary need to find purpose for the day. But it finds its grounding in the promises of God that have made a home in our hearts.
There is a resonance with the Scriptures that depict the triumph of love over evil. Time and again we see courage at work: We see Moses out-duel Pharoah, David slay Goliath, Jesus rise from death.
Our sacred texts tell us, over and over, how we should live - how we should talk - how we should behave. Courage is commended in the face of contrary evidence. Stephen needed it to fight I'm off the stones. Paul needed it to confront critics. You and I need it to walk in the peace, serenity, and joy that is eternal life.
We also nurture courage when we pay attention to our own hearts.
We have noted the programming of our own souls, noticing how nurtured we are when we help - and how harmed we are when we hurt.
We are *not our best selves when we covet, hoard, and threaten! Hurting others hurts us!
The whispers of our heart tell us a story:
That bickering and vengeance are the Snickers bars that give us sugar highs, then the heart attacks - versus the whole foods of forgiveness, grace, and mercy that provide the true nourishment we need to go the distance.
And lest we set goals that are too lofty to reach - let us remember that courage is usually not about grand, heroic gestures. It is almost always about small, everyday acts:
Acts of support toward truth and honesty. Acts of defiance against injustice:
Speaking up when you see something wrong, even when it's uncomfortable.
Standing up for the marginalized, when it's unpopular.
Speaking truth to power, even in the face of harsh penalty.
Friends, let us take courage - in the small and the great acts we do to choose hope over despair, justice over indifference, and love over hate.
For the road ahead is not easy.
There will be times of discouragement and overwhelming, fraught with temptations to simply give up.
But may moments like these not lead us to despair but summon us to courage.
Courage to remember Isaiah's words. "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
For we have spotted that banner amidst the battle - the clouds have parted to reveal its truth - the saints are gathering in strength and number - to join us in uniting and standing firm in the fight, under God's banner of courage.
Amen.