MARY GIVES US A SLIVER OF THE DIVINE Advent 4 Yr C Dec 20, 2015

+Do we really need Mary? I mean other than the wonderful traditions around Christmas, when we think about the Christian Way, do we really need a figure like “Mary,” do we need the trek to Bethlehem on the donkey? Do we need no room at the inn? Do we need the stable? What would we, as Christians, be if Jesus had arrived as a fully grown being, beginning his ministry as he did---with his baptism by John, his retreat into the temptations of the wilderness? Where would we be if Mary hadn’t entered the picture, if there wasn’t any “ “God Bearer?” Do we need Mary?
This came up at Bible Study on Tuesday and the discussion which followed was awesome.
“Who is Mary” I asked? “She’s the anchor,” came one response. Someone else said, “I’d have a harder time with a Savior who wasn’t part human in the regular sense---I think it’s important that Jesus was born the same way we were. A savior born like we were is incredibly humbling and fraught with possibility----Jesus has to know what it’s like to be us, because Jesus is us.”
Another person added, “God, by choosing to come and be among us through Mary and the Holy Spirit sealed the deal. Jesus has our humanity within him and we, each and every one of us, has some of his divinity within us.”
“Jesus has a piece of humanity within him and therefore—and this is the fraught with wonder, awe and possibility part—we have a piece, a sliver, of Divinity within us.”
A Sliver of Divinity.
I love this metaphor and I thank Jo Meachem for creating it and for the rest of the Bible Study folks for fleshing it out.
I don’t know about you, but for me,  it’s pretty easy for me to accept and embrace, indeed to LOVE, the notion of Jesus’ humanity. It brings me great joy, incredible peace and solace in times of tribulation to know that Jesus, too, took on skin and walked this earth as a human being.
But the idea that through his being born of Mary, through God’s desire to be fully among us, we have a portion of God’s Divinity within us, has always been a more difficult concept to understand. We usually don’t talk about divinity, this light of Christ, being within us in specific terms we tend to talk about in more ethereal “Holy Spirit” terms.
But the incarnation of God--the birth of Jesus Christ---is what unleashes the earthly arrival of Divinity.
 To ignore that until after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension is a mistake, because if there is one thing I know about God it’s that our relationship with God is just that—a relationship, a give and take---God gives to us, we receive it (or not) and then through that reception we are strengthened, prodded and pushed to do all sorts of things we never thought we could. By doing this, by accepting God into our lives lock stock and barrel we spread that light to all those we encounter. We do our part, God does God’s and eventually peace, love and light will fill this world.

But when does it begin?
At our baptisms? Sure at that liturgy and within that sacrament the Holy Spirit is invited—usually by our parents and godparents-- into our hearts and minds and souls. BUT does the sliver of divinity only begin then?
No way.
Think about a baby.
A newborn.
Try and tell me that in that newborn there isn’t already a sliver of the Divine.
Of course there is. My friends, through Mary and the Holy Spirit we’ve been given the Divine within us. It’s just a sliver...not because God is miserly with God’s Divinity but because we are human. We have independent thought, we have free will….it is up to us to take that sliver of divinity, that kindling of the Holy One and ignite it.
We do that in and through our work as Christian people. We do it at School 54, the Food Pantry, the Pet Food Pantry.
We do it by standing up against income and opportunity inequality in the City of Buffalo.
We do it by saying no to Gun Violence and working diligently to counteract the fear-mongering of the gun lobby.
We do it by demanding that we, as a country, remain true to our founding principles of liberty and justice for all.
We do it by following the command of our Baptismal Covenant to seek and serve Christ in all and to respect the dignity of every single human being.
Through Mary we are given the spark of New Life in Christ, we are given a sliver of the divine, we are given the greatest gift of all time. Through Mary. So yes, Virginia, I think we do need Mary, for Mary builds the bridge between this world and the next, Mary gives us Jesus, Mary raises Jesus, Mary nurtures Jesus. We need her and thanks be to God, we have her and that splinter!
Now, on what is most likely the last sermon many of you will hear me preach as your rector (I’ll be preaching Christmas Eve, Christmas and next Sunday, but this feels like the last day we’ll be together as a family—just us) let me leave you with these words:
Never ever forget that splinter of the Divine within you.
And remember this about splinters: they often hurt.
Being bearers of Christ’s light to all whom you encounter will not always be easy. But carry on, for the world needs you.
Splinters are annoying.
Being bearers of Christ’s light demands honesty, courage and grit. Endure my friends.the future of this place rests on your shoulders. You can do this. What do you want the Church of the Good Shepherd to be? Who do you want sitting in the pews next to you, how will you find your way in this new world where church attendance seems such a low priority while the need for hope seems to be so great? You can figure this out. Pay attention to each other, never forget the world right outside these doors and know that just as God will never leave you, neither will I. You are in my prayers now and always. I thank you for who you are, I look forward to who you will become and I am grateful, beyond words, for the honor and privilege of being your priest and rector.
God loves you. No exceptions. Never forget that.
Amen.