Rev. Liz Meade

Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Luke 21:25-31

Today is the first Sunday in Advent – a brand new year in the Church calendar. A time of new beginnings, new liturgical colors, and even new candles in the Advent wreath. To us in the United States, Advent has become a time of expectation and anticipation in our daily lives. And every year, it takes me by surprise.

This year was no different. Thursday we were enjoying the great autumnal Thanksgiving feast, and Friday morning when I ventured into downtown Galena, I found it miraculously transformed into a Christmas village with evergreen boughs and red ribbons, Christmas lights, and bell ringers on the corners. It’s a time of increased stress too: shorter days, colder weather, bigger meals and lots of details to attend to – so that we can ostensibly create for our families and friends “the perfect Norman Rockwell Christmas.” It is a time when we seem to be suddenly under a deadline. Christmas is coming, Advent seems to shout to us; Hurry up. Get ready.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I first looked at the lectionary readings for today because in my own mind, I’m already thinking “Oh….Advent….. Angels we have heard on high….” but instead we get these almost foreboding readings talking about signs in the sky and the second coming. What were the church fathers thinking when they pulled this group of readings from their hats and said, “Ah!!! Here’s what we’ll do to get them all into the Christmas Spirit!!!”

This theme of “Signs in the sky” tends appear in other venues as well – usually about this time of year – in the fall and early winter. This year, CNN reported on the violent storms taking place on the surface of our sun in September and the foot of hail that fell on LA in 20 minutes last week. Even the tabloids pick up on these stories. In the grocery store in Galena a couple of weeks ago, I saw one whose headline read: “ARMA-GEDDON ARRIVES: Signs in the Sky Foretell the End Times!” The side bar mentioned that eerily beautiful red lunar eclipse we had a few weeks ago, as well as the hail in LA. There are over 100 website discussion groups relating to the end-time prophesies of Nostradamus, and next May, Dennis Quaid has a new movie coming out called “The Day After Tomorrow” which is all about psychotic weather. The signs seem to be everywhere.

So when we read the first line again in today’s gospel – “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and UPON the earth distress of nations” Is it any wonder that some of us don’t silently think, “Uh-oh, Afghanistan and Iraq.”

But to focus only on the signs and interpreting them is to be in danger of missing the point of the gospel. What is the Good News in today’s Gospel message? What is Jesus trying to teach us in the readings for today?

We don’t have to look far. Listen to the next line of the passage. Jesus said, “When these things begin to take place, raise up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Jesus shows us that while others start to faint and wail, we, the people of God must not fall into that trap. When we notice the signs in the sky, we, the people of God must know that our Lord is coming for us and that our redemption is drawing near! What marvelous news!

Raise up your heads! Don’t cower and slink about. Don’t run for the hills. The gospel isn’t asking us to dread the second coming – quite the reverse. It is encouraging us to look at the signs – be they a lunar eclipse in Geneva or hail in Los Angeles or a fig tree in Israel...and take heed.

The Good News of the message is – there’s still time. Get ready – scripture tells us. Make straight the pathways of the Lord.

Remember the parable of the ten bridesmaids? (Matt 25:1-3) They all fell asleep and when they awoke at midnight when the bridegroom arrived, only five had enough oil in their lamps to welcome him. The others had fallen asleep and run out of oil. The lessons was – don’t fall asleep. Fill your lamps. Be ready.

And Bishop Weidrich told us two weeks ago in one of his sermons that this the one time Jesus ever cursed his disciples. It was in the Garden of Gesthemane. Jesus returned for his most intense and difficult time of prayer – where his forehead sweat blood – and He found his disciples sleeping? Bp. Wiedrich told us that Jesus was angry when he returned and found them sleeping. Jesus cursed them by saying, “Sleep on.”

Jesus implores mankind not to be asleep in the face of the coming times. “When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads.” Know whose flock you are in and be ready when the good shepherd comes for you. Advent, then, invites us to stay awake – to be prepared – and to know above all else whose we are.

Let me tell you a story…. It’s about a duck named Joe. Joe was a wild duck who lived up in central Wisconsin and every fall he would notice signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. He would sense the coming cold weather, notice the first frost, and the shorter days. And Joe and his friends would begin to prepare. They spent their days practicing V-formations and endurance flying. And at night, they would return to the safety of the marsh to feed and store up their energy. And finally, guided by the stars and other signs in the sky, Joe and his friends would start the long and dangerous flight to South Padre Island in Texas – where they would spend the winter. It was a long and tiring and dangerous trip, but they were prepared. One year, Joe noticed a farm in southern Missouri – he was about halfway to Texas by then – and he saw a bunch of tame, barnyard ducks being fed corn by a kindly farmer’s wife. And Joe decided right then and there that he was tired of the journey and he made the decision to investigate farm life. So he dropped out of the formation, veered hard to the left and dropped into the barnyard. The wild ducks looked back at him – worried that maybe he had been hurt. But they flew on. And Joe didn’t care; he knew his friends would fly back to Wisconsin in the spring, and he would rejoin them then – on their trip north. When Joe landed, the tame ducks were glad to share their abundant supply of corn with him. Joe was happy with his new friends and when it got colder, he was even allowed to sleep in the barn. It was a good life. He had never been so well fed and his shoulder muscles never got sore anymore.

But by spring, Joe was tired of the barnyard and the tame ducks. The rains came and there was duck-doo everywhere, so when Joe saw his friends flying overhead, he decided to leave the barnyard and return to Wisconsin with his flock. The wild ducks looked down and called to him and encouraged him and Joe took a running start, and started to fly, but he had gained a lot of weight and hadn’t practiced flying much that winter, so he mis-judged his take-off and flew right into the side of the barn.

He clunked to the ground – and the wild ducks flew on. “Oh well,” Joe reasoned, “I’ll just wait a few more months and fly south with them in the fall.” But when the wild ducks flew by in the fall, Joe was still out of shape and hadn’t been training with his flock all fall, so he simply didn’t have the strength to lift himself up out of the barnyard. The seasons progressed and his friends continued to call out to him every time they passed overhead, encouraging him to follow them, but his attempts to leave were all in vain.

Eventually, the saddest thing of all happened. Joe no longer paid any attention to his old friends. He hardly even recognized them – for you see, Joe had become a barnyard duck. Joe had forgotten who he really was and whose flock he belonged to.

Do we do that? Are any of us in danger of becoming figurative barnyard ducks? Because when we become the human version of barnyard ducks, we lose touch with who we really are – and whose we are. When my children were little, every night we would pray and at the end of the prayer, I would conclude by making the sign of the cross on their foreheads saying – “Andy – or Alec – You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

It’s a line from the Book of Common Prayer we use during baptisms. I often use it when doing hospital visitations, or when someone is dying. It’s a lovely thing for us to be reminded whose we are. And Advent becomes a wonderful time us to reclaim our lost identities and to remind ourselves who we really belong to.

Sometimes we slack off – simply because we are so human. It’s not always easy to discipline ourselves to hang in there for the long haul. And sometimes, lets face it, the easy life IS easier. Staying in bed on Sunday mornings starts to feel like a viable alternative when it’s snowy and cold outside – and the golf course looks pretty appealing on a warm spring morning. But those choices are the start of a long downhill trip. Joe thought he’d just check out the barnyard for awhile and thought he could return to his flock whenever he wanted to. But he couldn’t. Ultimately, he even forgot that he was a wild duck. He forgot who he was.

As we decorate our homes and set up nativity scenes for Christmas, we may yearn for the old comforting images of manger scenes, the star in the east, the wise men and the angels we have heard on high. But if we yearn for only that – the birth scene in a manger – we will almost always be vaguely disappointed that Christmas Day itself didn’t turn out as beautifully Rockwell-ian as we thought it should.

So rather than putting our hopes in twinkle-y lights and new pre-made velvet bows from Michael’s, this year, let us remember the real Christmas past.

The Christmas when God came – in the person of the baby Jesus – a totally vulnerable and defenseless human baby who then infused that very human-ness with His own Divine goodness and love.

Jesus Christ – the perfection of all that is – seen and unseen – given to us as the ultimate Christmas gift. Because in Christ Jesus, the sacred and the secular were joined – not separated. That’s what Christmas is. And that is who we belong to.

Advent challenges us to believe that with the arrival of the baby Jesus, God made it possible that ALL creation – ourselves included – exists in God. And it challenges us to believe that God permeates ALL that exists – including us. Advent asks us to contemplate the possibility that we, in all our human-ness and in all our vulnerability and in all of our sinfulness – have that very same spirit of God – that same Spirit of Love – in us.

Advent says to us….notice powerlessness. See the image of a homeless baby – Emmanuel – “God with us” – and remember how powerless we all are. Then remember that Divine love -- which God himself infused into that little baby – has also been infused into you and me.

Advent is God’s invitation to respond. The question becomes, “How will we respond?” “How will we share that divine power of Love that God put into each of us with someone else today?” “How can I be God’s instrument of love and compassion in the world today?”

Theologian JB Phillips put it this way in his book, “When God was Man”:

"Suppose Christianity is not a religion but a way of life, a falling in love with God, and, through Him, a falling in love with our fellows. People who follow that Way know beyond all possible argument that they are in harmony with the purpose of God, that Christ is with them and in them as they set about His work in our disordered world. If anyone thinks this is perilous and revolutionary teaching, so much the better. That is exactly what they thought of the teaching of Jesus Christ.”

The yearnings we experience for “the perfect Christmas” are nothing more than God prodding us to accept the divine power in ourselves and in each other and to change the world with it.

And unlike the tabloids, which forecast doom, Advent is a time for us, as believers, to accept the divine gift God has bestowed on us in our Baptisms and to respond. Christ has died, Christ is Risen and that Christ will come again. Are we ready – or have we fallen asleep? It is from there that we must greet Christmas and all that it means to each of us.

Please pray with me. Almighty God, You have come to us in the form of a baby – and infused his humanity with your love and divinity. Allow us, each day, to see you in every part of your creation. And reminds us every day of our responsibility as members of Your body to change the world and to show to every person we meet, the divine love you inscribed in our hearts. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" Luke 3:1-6

~ no summary currently available ~

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9

One of the great modern mystics, Evelyn Underhill, described the Christian life this way: We are like the English sparrows. They weigh only 1-1/4 oz, and every year they migrate across the oceans to their grounds for the winter. They do that out of a sense of instinct that drives them on. But as they make this torturous flight, in the darkness, across the oceans, there comes that point at which there is no turning back. There's no food ahead, until they land. There's no relief until they come to their destination. Evelyn Underhill said that this is much like the Christian life. Once we give ourselves to Christ, once we are bound to him, once we are born again and made new, there is no turning back. Just as the sparrow, in all of its weakness, must be sustained by God, the same is true of you and I. That becomes a picture of what our Advent preparations are about -- coming to that place of understanding that when life is very dark, and we're not even certain what the next destination is -- we only know that God is driving us to a new place. It's in that new place that we discover that he will lift us and carry us.

In the passage from Philippians today, that's set aside for the third Sunday in Advent, we have a sense of what Underhill is talking about in the words of Paul. "The Lord is near," he writes. That's the point of our Advent candles, that we know that he is coming. There is no turning back. Paul then gives us three implications of the nearness of our God. First, we are called to worry about nothing, to be anxious in nothing. Secondly, we're to be prayerful in everything. And thirdly, we are to be thankful in anything.

Let's think through the implications of this. The Lord is near; do not worry about anything. There was a temperance leader who coined a word when he said: "Anxiety is aetheistical." The picture there is that as we come to understand at some level beyond the sparrows that God is sustaining us and worry can fall away. Robert Frost said something very important. He was most scared, he said, of those people who were most scared. That's not the call of the believer. Jesus said it this way: Look at the birds of the air; look at the lilies of the field. Those flowers don't toil or spin, yet Solomon in all his splendor was not adorned as they. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. Some years ago, there was a little book that was popular that said, "Don't sweat the small stuff." Then in parenthesis it said, "It's all small stuff." That's what Paul would have us understand. That's what the lighting of the third Advent candle means. The Lord is near, and your perspective changes. In most of our homes of those who have teenagers, this happens: A kid comes in a little bit after the curfew, and the mother or father says, "I was worried about you!" What's the first thing the child says? "Don't you trust me?" Then the parent usually follows up with, "Yes, I trust you -- it's those other bad drivers on the road that I don't trust!" The point is this: that teenager has it right. If you're worried, you're not trusting. Paul would say to us, the Lord is near; therefore, be anxious in nothing. Change your perspective. We were looking at it yesterday in the Rector's Bible Study as we were studying 1 Peter. Peter says, do you have trials? Are you suffering? Is there some great tribulation you are going through? I wonder what the sparrow feels when he is in the darkness, and can't know how far off the land is, as he's flying over the seemingly unending ocean. Peter says, these tribulations are for a little while. That would be the picture that Paul has for us, and that the third candle means for us. With the Lord near, you and I don't have to be anxious about anything. All of this is for a little while.

Then Paul continues: "In everything, by prayer, let your requests be made to known God." Be prayerful in everything. There's a great Dennis the Menace cartoon, where Margaret is shouting at him, "Dennis, don't you remember I'm not speaking to you!" In the second panel, we see Dennis looking heavenward, saying: "Thank you, Lord!" Everything takes on that aspect of understanding in which, wherever we find ourselves, God is near, and therefore we need to be in prayer. Remember the context of this letter? Paul is in prison. He's grown old, and he's at a place where he recognizes that some of his greatest hopes and dreams will probably remain unfulfilled. He still desired to travel on to Spain, and it doesn't look like that will happen. But, God is near, in that prison. Don't worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer, let your requests be made known to God. I remember as a boy, probably age 10 or 12, as an acolyte in my church on Sundays on which we had communion, we would always sing a hymn as we were going forward for communion. "Let all mortal flesh keep silence," the words say. That became an incredibly holy moment for me. The staff knows that they have to hold me back from singing that every Sunday here! For me, that was a great moment of closeness to the Lord. The context in my own life as a little boy, we would sing that hymn, and there would be great peace in my heart. Even though the Viet Nam war was raging, even though every night we turned on the t.v., and the death counts were related, and the battle scenes were in front of us, on Sunday mornings in that church, as I had on my white acolyte gloves, I would stand at the stairs and help the little old ladies up the stairs, and every one of those verses of that hymn represented a prayer to God, and the needs and concerns on their hearts. Recently, I talked to the rector where I grew up, and he was telling me about some of the different people that I knew as I was growing up. I knew each of their lives had been given to the Lord, and that they didn't need to be anxious about anything, and that their lives were lives of prayer. That's what Paul writes for each of us, that the Lord is near, and therefore we are prayerful in everything.

Then thirdly, Paul says: "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Anxious in nothing; prayerful in everything; and thankful in anything. Think about Noah for a minute, on that 39th day when he walked out onto the deck of the ark, was he still thankful? I like that picture because it is a reminder to me that we're not called to have a polly-annish walk through life; we're not called to be resolutely cheerful. But we are called, in having God's perspective of him being near, to give thanks. I would say it this way: When we are born again in Christ, it is God's promise to him that we will never be abandoned children. Paul would say to us today, have you bound yourself to Christ? It's in that place that the anxiety goes, and the thankfulness comes, and the prayer is released. Another story from my life as a boy: My elementary school was on the highest hill in Kansas City, at 920'. My house was on a hill across the way. There was a vacant field behind my house, and we would fly kites there in March when the wind would blow across the prairie. I remember as a little boy, my dad took me and my brother out one day to fly a kite. As the kite went higher and higher then I'd ever seen anything go, and the string began to sing in the wind, I became fearful. I was worried that the string would break, or the kite, which seemed to be vibrating and alive in the wind, would somehow not be able to sustain itself. I almost begged my dad, saying that we had to bring the kite down. But my dad was adamant; that was what flying a kite is all about, he said. I don't remember this, but I know what happened next, because my dad was laughing and running across the field trying to catch the string, because I had let go! Of course, when there is no tension on the string, a kite cannot soar. I believe that's a metaphor for our own Christian lives, that when we are bound to Christ, there's a great freedom that lets us, like those English sparrows, go distances and places we could never see for ourselves in our own limited freedom. But bound to Christ, we soar.  Paul would say to us, and our Lectionary has us read on this third Sunday of Advent: The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing. Be prayerful in everything. Give thanks in anything. And then this will happen: "The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The Lord is near.

Heavenly Father, in those moments when it is very dark, and the water is very deep, and we need you to lift us up to a new place, we pray just that: That you would sustain us, that you would guide us and direct us, as we are bound to you, in Jesus' name, Amen.

 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. Luke 1:39-56

~ no summary currently available ~

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. John 1:1-18

~ no summary currently available ~

 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Her'od is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Her'od. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son." When Her'od died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archela'us was ruling over Judea in place of his father Her'od, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazore'an." Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

On this first Sunday of the new year, we read about Joseph and the visions that he received from the angel of the Lord. Joseph was told of what to do, and where to go. After he took his small family to Egypt, he was told of the next step that he should take. Wouldn't we like to have our lives laid out before us so clearly!

Last year at about this time, I saved an article from USAToday that listed several prognostications for the coming year. It's interesting to look back and see how closely those predictions came to what actually happened. Unfortunately, they were not only wrong, but they missed it by a mile! But people love to read predictions. We love to read about such things as who will be elected, what will happen with the economy, what will happen overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, it's important to remember that old saying: "He who speaks of the future, speaks as a fool." Only God knows the future. He speaks of some of the future to Joseph, in order that he might protect the baby. I would love to be able to tell you what will happen at church, in our community, and in the world in the coming year. But instead, we are called to faithfulness simply for today. Tomorrow will be there for itself.

With that proviso, I would like to talk about the hallmarks of this church in the coming year. Here are some things that we can be thinking and praying about for St. Mark's for 2004.

First of all, in 2004, St. Mark's will be a place of growth. Each of us will be growing in our individual spiritual lives. As you walk through the next 365 days, think about ways in which you might be challenged, ways in which you are thinking about new things, and ways in which you are growing. In our own schooling, it's not so much the particular classes that we attend that leads to our overall education and learning, but rather the fact that we want to learn. Our attitude is what's important. There is growth to be had in each of our lives. Spiritual growth can come through a certain Bible Study we might attend, or a Lenten discipline we might adopt, or a retreat we will make time for. St. Mark's will also be a place of growth as seen through the actual numbers of families attending. For Christmas Eve this year, we decided to add a 3:00 service, and as a result, we predicted that we would have fewer numbers at the 8:00 service. Instead, it turned out that we had 145 at the 8:00, up from 125 last year! When people's lives are touched spiritually, they find themselves encouraged to worship, to fellowship, and to serve. And if we're not growing, then we need to ask ourselves, what is wrong? We need to see where God is acting, and put our resources there. People are still moving into the Fox Valley area. With a physical move to a new location, people tend to think about other types of transitions they'd like to make, such as a move towards God and towards a new church home. We will also see growth in the influence of our leadership. Our diocese wants input from us. They want to know how we are thinking and praying. Our vestry has put out some well-thought out statements. People will look to our leadership for encouragement. We all love the beauty of our historic chapel, and our modern church building. We have been given a treasure, and we don't want to hide it under a bushel.

Secondly, in 2004, St. Mark's will be a place of hope. We all have good news that we can share with others. We have witnessed many baptisms and confirmations in this place. We see hope expressed by the parents of children being baptized, a spiritual hope that they have on behalf of their children. We see hope expressed by those who come forward to be confirmed, as they decide to make known their faith.

In 2004, St. Mark's will be a place of forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness is available to everyone. This is something we want everyone to hear when they come through those doors.

St. Mark's will be a place of healing and wholeness in 2004. We want everyone to be able to look back and say, yes, I've been healed, or I've become more whole. In whatever darkness we are experiencing, God has healing for us.

Finally, St. Mark's will be a place of service in the coming year. We see this in the volunteers who rang Salvation Army bells during this Christmas season, or in those who donated Cathedral Shelter baskets, or in those who provided Angel Tree gifts. We see it in those who work at the homeless shelters -- at Lazarus House, Hesed House or at the Soup Kitchen. We recognize that we have been given much, and therefore we want to give more away. A challenge for us to remember is that it is harder for us to give time than it is to give money. Ask yourselves this year, where will we serve? What will God have me do this year?

There is so much more I'd like to tell you, to fill in the details for the coming year! But unfortunately, I can't do that. Just like the people of Israel were sent into exile as slaves in Egypt, and then were delivered to the promised land, so was Jesus sent to Egypt and then brought out to Israel. Our own lives have a similar rhythm. God acts, and brings us to a new place. This pattern happens over and over, even if we'd like to know ahead of time what is going to happen, but don't!

I'd like to end with a simple legend that you might have heard before. As the Holy Family was fleeing to Egypt, Joseph spotted a cave. He led his family into the cave, thinking he might be able to hide from Herod's men, who were searching for them, according to Herod's orders. As they settled far back in the cave, a spider who inhabited the cave watched with interest. "This must be the baby Jesus," thought the spider. Looking over all the treasures and gifts that the family had received, the spider wondered, "What might I be able to offer?" Suddenly he knew what he could do. He crawled to the cave entrance, and carefully spun a thick web over the entire opening. Just then, Herod's men -- who were searching the hills -- came across the cave. One of the men was about to go into the cave to search, but one of the other men called out to him: "Don't waste time searching that cave… Look at the entrance; it's completely covered with a spider's web. No one could have gone in there recently." And that is how the Holy Family was protected on their way to Egypt. It's a great imaginative story. But what will happen in 2004 depends on us. Will we be open to experiencing growth? Will we look to the hope that we have in Christ? Will we accept God's forgiveness and healing, and offer it to others? How will we serve? How will God use you in this place in 2004?