{"id":4494,"date":"2023-01-08T21:40:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T21:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/radical-experience-of-acceptance-based-on-isaiah\/"},"modified":"2023-01-08T21:40:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T21:40:49","slug":"radical-experience-of-acceptance-based-on-isaiah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2023\/01\/08\/radical-experience-of-acceptance-based-on-isaiah\/","title":{"rendered":"Untitled"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cRadical Experience of Acceptance\u201d<\/b> based on Isaiah 60:1-6 and Matthew 2:1-12<\/p>\n

I have a very clear recollection of the first time I paid attention to the words of Bobby McFerrin’s arrangement of the 23rd Psalm. I’d heard it before, but I hadn’t LISTENED before. There was a church choir concert in Hollywood, the church I interned at was hosting, and one of the choirs sang it.<\/p>\n

I was in seminary. I was reasonably familiar with the 23rd Psalm. I had expectations of what words I would hear. And then what I did hear was: \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need. She makes me lie down in green meadows Beside the still waters, She will lead\u201d1<\/a> All my breath left me, and I found tears rolling down my cheeks.<\/p>\n

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I went to a progressive seminary. I’d been led by intentional and caring clergy for years. I knew, and used inclusive language for God. I’d heard it used. I knew that the Holy Spirit was feminine in Greek. I knew God wasn’t male. I knew I was made in the image of God.<\/p>\n

And.<\/p>\n

And in that moment in a new and profound way, I felt included as a child of God. This overly common imagery of God as a shepherd translated from a distinctly male image with male pronouns to a distinctly female image with female pronouns mattered to me, to the deepest parts of my being. This is related, I think, to music touching a different part of our beings than logic and rational though. When that choir sang \u201cshe makes me lie down in green pastures\u201d I felt safe and welcome, cared for and most significantly of all, I FELT the reality that I could be a reflection of God as a woman. To hear the metaphor of God as female in that song healed me a little bit. EVEN THOUGH I’d already \u201cknown\u201d all of that.<\/p>\n

Probably because there is a difference between knowing (head) and knowing (body and spirit).<\/p>\n

As I read these epiphany scriptures this week I found myself cringing a little bit at the repetition of \u201cdaughter.\u201d It felt like too much. I wanted to soften it, take it back, make it quieter. It felt like maybe it would exclude those who aren’t female.<\/p>\n

But, I read the textual notes, and Dr. Gafney wrote in them, \u201cIsaiah 60 speaks to a female entity, Zion, Jerusalem, frequently styled as God’s daughter; each \u201cyou\u201d and \u201cyour\u201d is explicitly feminine and singular, rhythmic and repetitive in Hebrew. I have added \u201cdaughter\u201d each place this occurs for the English speaker-reader-hearer.\u201d2<\/a> So, it is truly there, and what is odd is to hear it explicitly in English, \u201cArise, daughter; shine, daughter; for your light has come, daughter, and the glory of the Holy One has risen upon you, daughter.\u201d (Isaiah 60:1)3<\/a><\/p>\n

So, instead of softening the language, I’ve sat with it. What I’veheard is that when God reveals God’s self to us (\u201cepiphany\u201d which is the name of the Sunday we’re celebrating) it often has to do with a radical experience of acceptance \u2013 and quite often a radical experience of acceptance when we were expecting rejection.<\/p>\n

This is where we are gifted with a lot of wonderful power as a church. We are the people who can use they\/them pronouns for God, and let people who are non-binary that we see God in them and them in God. What a gift to be able to give!<\/p>\n

I have often reflected with awe at the impact of this church on those who were raised in it. In the process of preparing celebrations of life for church members, I get to know their families, and I am often struck by how this church has gifted the world with men who are free to be tender and compassionate and women who are free to be strong and clear, and visa versa, and more so. This has been for a long time a place where gendered expectations are put away and space is made for the fullness of God’s gifts in each person to emerge. What an incredible legacy this church has!<\/p>\n

I have heard stories from many of you about your process of finding your way here, and the radical experience of acceptance that kept you here. One story involves sitting in a car in the parking lot and wondering if this church would really have enough love for the one waiting to enter. (You did.) One story involves looking for a long time for a church that could welcome two people with very different needs, and the powerful relief that came when it was offered. You did that too. A lot of stories involve a positive experience of faith in childhood, a developing sense of scientific knowledge and logic, and the wonder of finding a place where faith and knowledge can be held together in peace. Many stories involve a yearning for a community, and a struggle to find one who knows God well enough to know how big God’s love is. (This actually saddens me. I wish every church knew the expansive and epic extent of God’s love.)<\/p>\n

Thanks be to God, that for many people, this is a place of epiphanies. This is a place where God reveals God’s self. This is a place where people experience radical acceptance, and that changes EVERYTHING.<\/p>\n

Arise, daughter; shine, daughter; for your light has come, daughter, and the glory of the Holy One has risen upon you, daughter.<\/p>\n

AND<\/p>\n

Arise, son; shine, son; for your light has come, son, and the glory of the Holy One has risen upon you, son.<\/p>\n

AND<\/p>\n

Arise, child-of-mine; shine, child-of-mine for your light has come, child-of-mine, and the glory of the Holy One has risen upon you, child-of-mine.<\/p>\n

God speaks to all of you, to all of us.<\/p>\n

It strikes me as sort of funny that this story from Matthew is the one that gets called the story of the Epiphany. Of all of the revelations of God in the scriptures, this doesn’t seem like the most notable. Most of the story is about the sages from the East talking to Herod, which I’m quite confident was NOT a strong God-moment. I will give it to them though, the story is courageous. Asking the King of Judea about the one born TO BE King of Judea is not usually a good choice. But, it is the one presented here.<\/p>\n

The story says that they had a God-filled experience in following the star, an even stronger one in meeting \u201cthe child with Mary his mother\u201d and an additional one in a dream that warned them about Herod. So there ARE three epiphanies in this story, but what is the Bible if not stories of the revelations of God’s love?<\/p>\n

It seems to me there are some profound reflective questions gifted to us by these texts:<\/p>\n